Kate Middleton's Biography

Who is Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales?

Catherine Elizabeth Middleton better known as Kate Middleton was born on January 9, 1982 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

Kate Middleton was raised in Bucklebury. Her schools were St Andrew's School in Pangbourne, Downe House in Thatcham, and Marlborough College in Wiltshire.

Like Prince William, Kate Middleton studied History of Art at St Andrews University (although the Prince switched to geography). Kate gained a 2:1. Before that Kate went to St Andrews school in Pangbourne, and Downe House girls' school in Berkshire, where she was bullied. At 14 Kate went to Marlborough College.

Kate is the eldest child of Michael and Carole Middleton of Bucklebury, Berkshire, who have a business called Party Pieces. Mrs Middleton used to be an air stewardess. Kate has two siblings: James, and also Pippa Middleton

Kate Middleton and Prince William shared a town-house in Fife together with two others whilst studying. According to The Scotsman's article, Who Should William Woo, Kate's father felt that the media were making too much of Kate's friendship with the Prince: "People do not seem to realise that there are two girls and two boys sharing the flat at the university. They are together all the time because they’re the best of pals - and yes, cameramen are going to get photos of them together. But there is nothing more to it than that. We are very amused at the thought of being in-laws to Prince William, but I don’t think it is going to happen."

When she was 21, Kate Middleton walked down the catwalk in her underwear for a student fashion show.

At school, Kate excelled in hockey and tennis. She also enjoys skiing and has been on several skiing holidays with Prince William and other royals.

After University, Kate Middleton became a fashion accessories buyer at Jigsaw, which is owned by her friends John and Belle Robinson, however, she left in November 2007.

In December 2006, Prince William was commissioned as an officer in the British Army and it was the first time that Kate Middleton was Prince William's guest at a public event attended by the Queen.

Often the press compared Kate Middleton favourably with Prince Harry's girlfriend at the time, Chelsy Davy.

In March 2007, Kate Middleton accused the Daily Mirror of harassment. It was her first complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. In The Guardian report on Kate Middleton's complaint, it mentions: "The Sun's royal photograph, Arthur Edwards, let slip ... that Prince William had told him that he would marry Ms Middleton, his girlfriend of four years, but not for several years."

On April 14, 2007 it was announced that Prince William and Kate Middleton had split up. However, on 6 July 2007 The Sun reported that the pair had rekindled their romance and that Prince William and Kate Middleton were 'closer than ever'.

In August 2007, The Sun reported that Kate Middleton and Prince William were spending time alone on Desroches Island in the Seychelles.

In 2007, Kate Middleton was voted the world's top natural beauty in a poll by Fox's biscuits.

According to the BBC in their article, In quotes: William and Kate, when Prince William and Kate Middleton split and before they got back together Royal commentator James Whittaker commented: "I just don't think she had the breeding quite honestly and I'm not being snooty I'm being factual."

Kate Middleton's family, includes her grandfather on her father's side, who was a pilot after the war, whilst her great-great-great-great-grandfather, James Harrison, was the first in a line of coal miner's on her mother's side. According to The Telegraph's article about Kate Middleton's family: "In the 1930s Dorothy, Miss Middleton's grandmother, moved from the North East to Ealing in west London with her father, a carpenter, and her mother. Dorothy married Ron Goldsmith, a young engineer, and the couple had Carole. After school, Carole trained as a flight attendant and met Michael Middleton. They married in 1980. Kate, christened Catherine, was born two years later." Kate has a sister Pippa Middleton and a brother James.

Although in January 2007, lawyers for Kate Middleton appeared to have succeeded in persuading photographers to stop harassing her, by October 2007, Prince William and Kate Middleton were complaining that they had been aggressively pursued by photographers as they were driven away from a London nightclub, Boujis.

On 9 November 2007, the Daily Mail article, Kate quits her fashion job as rumours grow of an engagement, reported that Kate Middleton had left her job at Jigsaw "amid speculation that a royal engagement is on the horizon."

In April 2008, Kate Middleton found herself in the news again when Prince William caused controversy by landing an RAF helicopter into the garden of Kate Middleton's family home.

On 16 November 2010 it was announced that Kate Middleton had got engaged to Prince William and that they would marry in the spring or summer of 2011. He had proposed to her while they were on holiday in Kenya in October 2010. It was later revealed that Kate Middleton and Prince William would marry on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey.

On 29 April 2011, the day of William and Kate's wedding, it was announced that Kate Middleton would become Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge.

In December 2012, it was announced that Kate was pregnant.

On 22 July 2013, the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy George Alexander Louis weighing 8lb 6oz.

On 8 September 2014, it was revealed that the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant with her second child and, on 2 May 2015, it was revealed that she had given birth to a girl, Charlotte, weighing 8lbs 3oz (3.7kg).

On 4 September 2017, it was revealed that the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant with her third child.

On 23 April 2018, she gave birth to her second son Louis Arthur Charles.

In September 2022, following the death of the Queen, and the former Prince Charles becoming King Charles III, William became Prince of Wales, and Kate became the Princess of Wales.

In January 2024, she underwent abdominal surgery.

In March 2024, she revealed that: "The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment."

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