Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine Elizabeth "Kate"; ''née''
Middleton; born 9 January 1982) is the wife of
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. The Duke of Cambridge is second in line to the thrones of the 16
Commonwealth realms and, should he eventually become King, she would automatically become his
queen consort.
Catherine grew up in Chapel Row at Bucklebury, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, England. She studied in Scotland at the University of St Andrews, where she met the then Prince William of Wales in 2001. Their engagement was announced on 16 November 2010, and Middleton attended many high-profile royal events before they married on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey.
In 2012, she was selected as one of ''The 100 Most Influential People in the World'' by ''Time'' Magazine.
Biography
Early life and family
Middleton was born at
Royal Berkshire Hospital in
Reading on 9 January 1982 and
christened at St Andrew's Bradfield, Berkshire on 20 June 1982. She is the eldest of three children born to
Carole Middleton (née Goldsmith), a former
flight attendant and now part-owner of Party Pieces, a
private company with an estimated worth of £30 million, and
Michael 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, and in 1987, founded Party Pieces, a
mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations. Middleton has a younger sister,
Pippa and a younger brother,
James Middleton. The family has complained about press
harassment of Pippa and their mother since Middleton's engagement.
Middleton's paternal ancestors were from Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. Her paternal great-grandmother Olivia was a member of the Lupton family, who were active for generations in Leeds in commercial and municipal work. Her ancestors include the Revd Thomas Davis, a Church of England hymn-writer. Carole Middleton's maternal family, the Harrisons, were working class labourers and miners from Sunderland and County Durham.
Middleton's parents worked for British Airways in Amman, Jordan from May 1984 to September 1986. In Jordan, Middleton went to an English language nursery school before returning to their home in Berkshire. After her return from Amman, Middleton was enrolled at St Andrew's School near the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire, then briefly at Downe House. She attended Marlborough College, a co-educational independent boarding school in Wiltshire, and graduated from the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland with an undergraduate MA (2:1 Hons) in the History of Art. While a student at St. Andrews, she met Prince William.
Career
In November 2006, Middleton accepted a position as an accessory buyer with the clothing chain
Jigsaw. 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. Testino later denied that Middleton was going to be working for him.
Public image and style
Catherine is admired for her fashion sense and has been placed on numerous "best dressed" lists. She was selected by ''
The Daily Telegraph'' as the "Most Promising Newcomer" in its 2006 list of style winners and losers. ''
Tatler'' placed her at number 8 on its yearly listing of the top ten style icons in 2007. She was featured in ''
People'' magazine's 2007 and 2010 best-dressed lists. Middleton was named as one of
Richard Blackwell's ten "Fabulous Fashion Independents" of 2007. In June 2008,
Style.com selected Middleton as its monthly beauty icon. In July 2008, Middleton was included in ''
Vanity Fair''s international best-dressed list. In February 2011, she was named the Top Fashion
Buzzword of the 2011 season by the
Global Language Monitor.
The Duchess is known for mixing couture pieces, often by British designers, with 'High Street' retail fashion. Designers worn by the Duchess include Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, Issa, Jenny Packham, Beulah London, Alice Temperley, Erdem and Catherine Walker; high street labels worn by the Duchess include Reiss, Zara and L.K.Bennett.
In January 2012, she was voted 'Headwear Person of the Year'.
Relationship with Prince William
Middleton's status as the undeclared girlfriend of Prince 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. In February 2006, it was announced that Middleton would receive her own 24-hour security detail supplied by the
Royalty Protection branch (SO14). This fuelled further speculation that she and Prince William would soon be engaged, since she would not otherwise be entitled to this service.
No engagement was forthcoming and Middleton was not granted an allowance to fund this security. Media attention increased around the time of her 25th birthday in January 2007, prompting warnings from both The Prince of Wales and Prince William and from Middleton'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. Middleton attended at least one event as an official royal guest, Prince William's Passing Out Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006.
On 17 May 2008, Middleton attended the wedding of Prince William's cousin Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly, which the prince did not attend. On 19 July 2008, she was a guest at the wedding of Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman. Prince William was away on military operations in the Caribbean, serving aboard the HMS ''Iron Duke''. In 2010, Middleton pursued an invasion of privacy claim against two agencies and photographer Niraj Tanna, who took pictures of her over Christmas 2009. She obtained a public apology, £5,000 in damages, and legal costs.
Breakup and reconciliation
On 14 April 2007, ''
The Sun'' newspaper broke a "world exclusive" suggesting that Prince William and Middleton had split up. 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.
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". 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 Middleton felt Prince William had not been paying her enough attention. The paper highlighted reports that Prince 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. A report in the ''Daily Mail'' blamed a desire by royal courtiers not to "hurry along" a marriage announcement, and Prince William's desire to enjoy his bachelor status within his Army career. The ''Mail'' also suggested that a friend of Prince William encouraged the Prince to take a "careless approach" to relationships. The same article suggested that Middleton had "expected too much" in wanting Prince William to demonstrate his commitment to her.
In June 2007, Middleton and Prince William insisted they were "just good friends" following reports of a reconciliation. Middleton and her family attended the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, where she and Prince William sat two rows apart. 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". She also joined Prince William and The Prince of Wales on a deerstalking expedition at Balmoral and attended the wedding of Prince William's cousin, Peter Phillips, even though Prince William, due to a prior commitment, did not. In April 2008, Middleton accompanied Prince William when he was awarded his RAF wings at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell. On 16 June 2008, she attended Prince William's investiture into the Order of the Garter, along with the Royal Family.
Engagement and wedding
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 Prince William passing his RAF helicopter search and rescue course. Clarence House announced the engagement on 16 November 2010. The couple married in
Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011, (
St. Catherine's Day) with the day declared a
bank holiday in the United Kingdom. Estimates of the global audience for the wedding ranged around 300 million or more, whilst 26 million watched the event live in the United Kingdom.
In October, several months after the wedding, Commonwealth leaders approved a change in British royal succession law that allows daughters of future monarchs to have equal rights to the throne.
Royal duties
Public appearances
Middleton was formally introduced to public life on 24 February 2011, two months before the wedding, when she and Prince William attended a lifeboat naming ceremony in
Trearddur,
Anglesey, in
North Wales. 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.
In May 2011, shortly after the wedding, and while The Prince of Wales 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.
In June 2011, the Duke and Duchess handed out medals to the members of the Irish Guards.
The Duchess 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.
On 2 November, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the UNICEF Supply Division Centre for supplying food to malnourished African children in Copenhagen, Denmark.
On St Patrick's day, 17 March 2012, the Duchess carried out the traditional awarding of shamrocks to the Irish Guards at their base in Aldershot; this was her first solo military engagement.
The couple is due to visit Malaysia, Singapore, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands as a part of the Royal Jubilee celebrations in 2012.
Patronages
In March 2011, William and Catherine have set up a gift fund held by
The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry to allow well-wishers who want to give them a wedding gift to donate money to charities they care about instead. The gift fund supported 26 charities of the couple’s choice, incorporating the armed forces, children, the elderly, art, sport and conservation. These causes are close to their hearts and reflect the experiences, passions and values of their lives so far.
In January 2012, the Duchess announced the first charities which she will support.
These are:
The Art Room
The National Portrait Gallery, London
East Anglia's Children's Hospice (EACH)
Action on Addiction
She will also be a local volunteer leader with the Scout Association in Anglesey, north Wales, her marital home.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
name | The Duchess of Cambridge |
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dipstyle | Her Royal Highness |
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offstyle | Your Royal Highness |
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altstyle | Ma'am
}} |
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9 January 198229 April 2011: ''Miss'' Catherine Elizabeth Middleton
29 April 2011present: ''Her Royal Highness'' The Duchess of Cambridge
Catherine's full title and style is ''Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus''.
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. 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.
Honours
Honorary military appointments
; Canada
5 July 2011present:
Canadian Ranger
Honorific eponyms
;Awards
: Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award,
University of Waterloo,
Waterloo
Arms
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 19 April 2011. Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, the senior officer of the College of Arms, helped the family with the design. |
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Year adopted | 19 April 2011 |
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Coronet | Coronet of a child of the Heir Apparent |
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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). |
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Symbolism | right|100px 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. |
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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.
}} |
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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 Prince 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. This makes the couple fifteenth cousins. 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. In turn Lady Margaret Percy is descended from
Edward III.
Middleton's maternal great-great-grandfather John Goldsmith was married to Esther Jones at St John's Hoxton in 1850.
On a February 9, 2011 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen told her studio audience via a letter from the New England Genealogical Society that she is Kate Middleton's 15th cousin via their shared common ancestor Thomas Fairfax.
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|1= 1. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
|2= 2. Michael Middleton
|3= 3. Carole Goldsmith
|4= 4. Peter Francis Middleton
|5= 5. Valerie Glassborow
|6= 6. Ronald Goldsmith
|7= 7. Dorothy Harrison
|8= 8. Noel Middleton
|9= 9. Olive Lupton
|10= 10. Frederick George Glassborow
|11= 11. Constance Robison
|12= 12. Stephen Charles Goldsmith
|13= 13. Edith Eliza Chandler
|14= 14. Thomas Harrison
|15= 15. Elizabeth Temple
|16= 16. John Middleton
|17= 17. Mary Asquith
|18= 18. Francis Lupton
|19= 19. Harriet Albina Davis
|20= 20. Frederick Glassborow
|21= 21. Emily Jane Elliott
|22= 22. Gavin Fullarton Robison
|23= 23. Sarah Ann Gee
|24= 24. John Goldsmith
|25= 25. Jane Dorsett
|26= 26. Theophilus Benjamin Chandler
|27= 27. Amelia White
|28= 28. John Harrison
|29= 29. Jane Hill
|30= 30. Thomas Temple
|31= 31. Elizabeth Myers
}}
Popular culture
Following international attention regarding the wedding,
Lifetime aired a TV movie entitled ''
William & Kate'' on 18 April 2011, in the US. The film premiered in the UK on 24 April 2011. Middleton was played by
Camilla Luddington and Prince William by
Nico Evers-Swindell. 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'' and
Channel 4's ''Meet the Middletons''.
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. Of note in this second television movie is the appearance of Jane Alexander as the Queen and ''Alias'' alum Victor Garber as the Prince of Wales. According to The Hollywood Reporter the movie is scheduled to air 27 August 2011 in the United States on the Hallmark Channel. The movie was filmed in Bucharest.
References
Bibliography
}}
External links
Engaged! Prince William and Kate, LIFE, 25 April 2011
"Popular girl who caught royal eye", ''BBC News'', 31 March 2005
"Royal wedding: Family tree", ''BBC News'', 13 April 2011
Cracroft's Peerage
Category:1982 births
Category:Living people
Category:Alumni of the University of St Andrews
Category:British duchesses by marriage
Category:British princesses by marriage
*
Category:English Anglicans
Category:English socialites
Category:House of Windsor
Category:Mountbatten-Windsor family
Category:Old Marlburians
Category:People educated at St Andrew's School, Pangbourne
Category:People from Bucklebury
Category:Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
Category:People from Reading, Berkshire
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