Kate Middleton

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine Elizabeth; née Middleton; born 9 January 1982), popularly known as "Kate", is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. William is second in line to the thrones of the sixteen Commonwealth realms, and if he becomes king, she would become queen consort.[1] Catherine grew up in Chapel Row at Bucklebury, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, England.[2] She studied in Scotland at the University of St Andrews, where she met William in 2001. They started a romantic relationship that continued until a break-up lasting for several months in 2007. However, they continued to be friends and rekindled their relationship later that year.
Prior to the wedding, Catherine attended many high-profile royal events. Once their relationship became public, Catherine received widespread media attention and there was much speculation that she and William would eventually marry. Their engagement was announced on 16 November 2010, and they married on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey.

Prince William & Kate Middleton Partake in (Other) Royal Weddding Festivities


Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal tour of Canada: Duke and Duchess meet young Canadians


Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress Revealed - The Royal Wedding - BBC


Royal tour: Prince William and Kate Middleton visit teaching centre as William does CPR on a dummy







Biography

The Royal Family of the
United Kingdom and the
other Commonwealth realms

HM The Queen
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
HRH The Prince of Wales
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall
HRH The Duke of Cambridge
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge
HRH Prince Harry of Wales
HRH The Duke of York
HRH Princess Beatrice of York
HRH Princess Eugenie of York
HRH The Earl of Wessex
HRH The Countess of Wessex
Viscount Severn
Lady Louise Windsor
HRH The Princess Royal
HRH The Duke of Gloucester
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester
HRH The Duke of Kent
HRH The Duchess of Kent
HRH Prince Michael of Kent
HRH Princess Michael of Kent
HRH Princess Alexandra
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Early life and family
Main article: Family of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
Catherine was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on 9 January 1982 and christened at St Andrew's Bradfield, Berkshire on 20 June 1982.[3][4]:32 She is the eldest of three children born to Carole Elizabeth Middleton (née Goldsmith), a former flight attendant and now part-owner of Party Pieces, a private company with an estimated worth of £30 million,[5] and Michael Francis Middleton, who also worked as a flight attendant prior to becoming a flight dispatcher for British Airways, currently also an owner of Party Pieces. Her parents married on 21 June 1980, at the Parish Church of Dorney, Buckinghamshire,[6] and in 1987, founded Party Pieces, a mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations.[7][8] Catherine has a sister, Philippa Charlotte, known as "Pippa" (born 1983),[9][10] and a brother, James Middleton (born 1987).[9][11] The family has complained about press harassment of Pippa and their mother since Catherine's engagement.[12]
Catherine's paternal family came from Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, and her great-grandmother Olivia was a member of the Lupton family, who were active for generations in Leeds in commercial and municipal work.[13] Her ancestors include The Rev. Thomas Davis, a Church of England hymn-writer.[14][15][16][17] Carole Middleton's maternal family, the Harrisons, were working class labourers and miners from Sunderland and County Durham.[18]
Catherine's parents were based in Amman, Jordan, working for British Airways from May 1984, to September 1986, where Catherine went to an English language nursery school,[19] before returning to their home in Berkshire.[20] After her return from Amman, Catherine was educated at St Andrew's School near the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire, then briefly at Downe House.[21] She continued her studies at Marlborough College, a co-educational independent boarding school in Wiltshire,[22] followed by the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland where she met William. She graduated with an MA (2:1 Hons) in the History of Art.[23]
Career
In November 2006, Catherine accepted a position as an accessory buyer with the clothing chain Jigsaw.[24] She also worked part-time until January 2011 as a catalogue photographer, webpage designer and marketing officer for her parents' firm "Party Pieces". In 2008, it was reported that she had quit her job at Jigsaw to become a professional photographer, intending to take private classes with photographer Mario Testino, who had taken several well-known photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales and her sons.[25] Testino later denied that Catherine was going to be working for him.[26]
Public image and style
Catherine is admired for her fashion sense and has been placed on numerous "best dressed" lists.[27][28][29] She was selected by The Daily Telegraph as the "Most Promising Newcomer" in its 2006 list of style winners and losers.[30] Tatler placed her at number 8 on its yearly listing of the top ten style icons in 2007.[31] She was featured in People magazine's 2007 and 2010 best-dressed lists.[32] Catherine was named as one of Richard Blackwell's ten "Fabulous Fashion Independents" of 2007.[33] In June 2008, Style.com selected Catherine as its monthly beauty icon.[34] In July 2008, Catherine was included in Vanity Fair's international best-dressed list.[35] In February 2011, Catherine was named the Top Fashion Buzzword of the 2011 season by the Global Language Monitor.[36]
Relationship with Prince William
Catherine's status as the undeclared girlfriend of William brought her widespread media coverage in Britain and abroad and she was often photographed on her daily outings. On 17 October 2005, she complained through her lawyer about harassment from the media, stating that she had done nothing significant to warrant such publicity.[37] In February 2006, it was announced that Catherine would receive her own 24-hour security detail supplied by the Royalty Protection branch (SO14). This fuelled further speculation that she and William would soon be engaged, since she would not otherwise be entitled to this service.


Catherine with Prince Harry, June 2008
No engagement was forthcoming and Catherine was not granted an allowance to fund this security. Media attention increased around the time of Catherine's 25th birthday in January 2007, prompting warnings from both Charles and William and from Catherine's lawyers, who threatened legal action. Two newspaper groups, News International, which publishes The Times and The Sun, and the Guardian Media Group, publishers of The Guardian, decided to refrain from publishing paparazzi photographs of her.[38] Catherine attended at least one event as an official royal guest, William's Passing Out Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006.[39] In December 2007, it was reported that Catherine had moved in with Prince William at Clarence House, the residence of the Prince of Wales in London.[40] Clarence House later denied this.[41]
On 17 May 2008, Catherine attended the wedding of William's cousin Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly, which the prince did not attend.[42] On 19 July 2008, she was a guest at the wedding of Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman. William was away on military operations in the Caribbean, serving aboard the HMS Iron Duke.[43] In 2010, Catherine pursued an invasion of privacy claim against two agencies and photographer Niraj Tanna, who took pictures of her over Christmas 2009.[44] Catherine obtained a public apology, £5,000 in damages, and legal costs.[45]
Breakup and reconciliation
On 14 April 2007, The Sun newspaper broke a "world exclusive" suggesting that Prince William and Catherine had split up.[46] Other media outlets, such as the BBC, confirmed the story as the day progressed. The couple decided to break up during a holiday in the Swiss resort of Zermatt.[47][48] Clarence House made only one comment about the relationship's end, according to The Times, stating, "We don't comment on Prince William's private life".[49] Newspapers speculated about the reasons for the split, although these reports relied on anonymous sources.
The original report in The Sun quoted a "close friend of the couple" as saying that Catherine felt William had not been paying her enough attention. The paper highlighted reports that William had been spending time with other young women and said the Prince, aged 24 at the time of the split, felt he was too young to marry.[50] A report in the Daily Mail blamed a desire by royal courtiers not to "hurry along" a marriage announcement, and William's desire to enjoy his bachelor status within his Army career. The Mail also suggested that a friend of William encouraged the Prince to take a "careless approach" to relationships. The same article suggested that Catherine had "expected too much" in wanting William to demonstrate his commitment to her.[51]
In June 2007, Catherine and William insisted they were "just good friends" following reports of a reconciliation.[52] Catherine and her family attended the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, where she and William sat two rows apart.[53] The couple were subsequently seen together in public on a number of occasions and several news sources, including the BBC and the Daily Mail, stated that they had "rekindled their relationship".[54] Catherine also joined William and Charles on a deerstalking expedition at Balmoral[55] and attended the wedding of William's cousin, Peter Phillips, even though William, due to a prior commitment, did not. In April 2008, Catherine accompanied William when he was awarded his RAF wings at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.[56] On 16 June 2008, Catherine attended William's investiture into the Order of the Garter, along with the Royal Family.
Engagement and wedding
Main article: Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton


The newly married Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace
Prince William and Catherine Middleton became engaged in October 2010 in Kenya, East Africa, during a 10-day trip to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to celebrate William passing his RAF helicopter search and rescue course.[57][58] Clarence House announced the engagement on 16 November 2010.[57][59] The couple married in Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011,[60] (St. Catherine's Day) with the day declared a bank holiday in the United Kingdom. Estimates of the global audience for the wedding range from 300 million to two billion people, whilst 24.5 million watched the event live in the United Kingdom.[61][62]
Royal duties

Public appearances


The Duke and Duchess meet with U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at Buckingham Palace a few weeks after the wedding.[63]
Catherine was formally introduced to public life on 24 February 2011, two months before the wedding, when she and William attended a lifeboat naming ceremony in Trearddur, Anglesey in North Wales.[64] A day later they appeared in St Andrews and launched the university's 600th anniversary celebrations. On 16 February 2011, Clarence House announced that the Duke and Duchess's first royal tour of Canada would take place in July 2011.[65]
In May 2011, shortly after the wedding, and while Prince Charles was in official visit to the United States, Clarence House announced that the Duke and Duchess would visit California after their Canadian tour. It was the Duchess of Cambridge's first visit to the United States.[66]
She recently handed out medals to the members of the Irish Guards.[67] Catherine visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization to attend a citizenship ceremony, on 1 July 2011 in Gatineau, Canada. The newly married Royal Couple were on the second day of their first joint overseas tour. They were joined by thousands of Canadians taking part in the Canada Day celebrations, which mark Canada’s 144th Birthday.[68]
Titles, styles, honours and arms

Royal styles of
The Duchess of Cambridge

Reference style Her Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Ma'am
9 January 1982 – 29 April 2011: Miss Catherine Elizabeth Middleton
29 April 2011 – present: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge[69]
Catherine's full title and style is Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis,[citation needed] Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus.[69][70][71] Unlike the majority of royal brides, and in contrast to most previous consorts-in-waiting for over 350 years, Catherine does not come from a royal or aristocratic background.[72][73] On the morning of their wedding day on 29 April 2011, at 8:00 am, officials at Buckingham Palace announced that in accordance with royal tradition and on recognition of the day by the Queen, Prince William was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.[71][74]
Honours
Honorary military appointments
Canada
5 July 2011 – present: Canadian Ranger[75]
Honorific eponyms
Awards
Ontario: Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award, University of Waterloo, Waterloo[76][77]
Coat of arms
Arms of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
Notes
The Duchess bears the arms of her husband, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, impaled with her own arms. Catherine's coat of arms is based on those of her father Michael Middleton, which was granted to him by the College of Arms on the 19 April 2011. Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, the senior officer of the College of Arms, helped the family with the design.[78]

Crest
Coronet of a child of the Heir Apparent
Escutcheon
Quarterly 1st and 4th Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langed Azure (England), 2nd Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory counterflory of the second (Scotland), 3rd Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (Ireland), the whole differenced with a label of three points Argent with the central point charged with an escallop Gules (Prince William); Impaled with a shield per pale Azure and Gules, a chevron Or, cotised Argent, between three acorns slipped and leaved Or (Middleton).[78]
Symbolism
The dividing line (between two colours) down the centre is a canting of the name 'Middle-ton'. The acorns (from the oak tree) are a traditional symbol of England and a feature of west Berkshire, where the family have lived for 30 years. The three acorns also denote the family's three children. The gold chevron in the centre of the arms is an allusion to Carole Middleton's maiden name of Goldsmith. The two white chevronels (narrow chevrons above and below the gold chevron) symbolise peaks and mountains, and the family's love of the Lake District and skiing.[78]
Previous versions
Her previous coat of arms depicted a lozenge shaped shield of arms which hangs from a blue ribbon, this symbolised her unmarried state. This version of the arms is now used only by her sister Pippa as it denotes an unmarried daughter of their father Michael Middleton.[78]
Ancestry

In a study of the ancestry of Catherine, William Addams Reitwiesner uncovered that she shares ancestors with her husband Prince William; the closest relationship is via William's mother and Catherine's father through a common descent from Sir Thomas Fairfax and his wife Agnes (or Anne) Gascoigne, daughter of Sir William Gascoigne and his wife, née Lady Margaret Percy.[79] This makes the couple fifteenth cousins.[80] Sir Thomas Fairfax and Agnes Gascoigne are through Catherine's great-grandmother Olive Lupton, daughter of a Leeds cloth merchant Francis Lupton and his wife Harriet (née Davis) – Fairfax being an ancestor of Lupton.[81] In turn Lady Margaret Percy[82] is descended from Edward III.
In his original publication of Middleton's ancestry, Reitwiesner uncovered circumstantial evidence, that has since been disproved, suggesting that Catherine and William were twelfth cousins once removed with common descent from Sir Thomas Leighton and Elizabeth Knollys, the latter a cousin once removed of Elizabeth


Popular culture

Following international attention regarding the wedding, Lifetime aired a TV movie entitled William & Kate on 18 April 2011, in the US.[83] The film premiered in the UK on 24 April 2011.[84] Catherine[85] was played by Camilla Luddington[86] and William by Nico Evers-Swindell.[87] TV programmes were also shown in the UK prior to the wedding which provided deeper insights into the couple's relationship and backgrounds, including When Kate Met William[88] and Channel 4's Meet the Middletons.[89]
A second TV Movie is also being produced that covers much the same ground as "William & Kate". That movie titled William & Catherine: A Royal Romance stars Alice St. Clair as Kate Middleton and Dan Amboyer as Prince William[90]. Of note in this second television movie is the appearance of Jane Alexander as Queen Elizabeth and Alias alum Victor Garber as Prince Charles. According to The Hollywood Reporter the movie is scheduled to air August 27, 2011 in the United States on the Hallmark Channel [91]. The movie was filmed in Bucharest