Catherine
Duchess of Cambridge (more)
Catherine at Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa, 2011
Spouse	Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (m. 2011)
Full name
Catherine Elizabeth[fn 1]
House	House of Windsor
Father	Michael Middleton
Mother	Carole Middleton (née Goldsmith)
Born	(1982-01-09) 9 January 1982 (age 30) Reading, Berkshire, England
Religion	Anglican (Church of England)

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine Elizabeth "Kate"; née Middleton; born 9 January 1982)^[1] is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and member of the British Royal Family. 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.^[2]

Catherine grew up in Chapel Row at Bucklebury, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, England.^[3] 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. Catherine has created a major impact upon British fashion which has been termed as the "Kate effect", and in 2012, she was selected as one of The 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time Magazine.^[4][5]

Biography[link]

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 Sarah, Duchess of York
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Early life and family[link]

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.^[6][7]:32 She is the eldest of three children born to Carole (née Goldsmith), a former flight attendant and now part-owner of Party Pieces, a private company with an estimated worth of £30 million,^[8] 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,^[9] and in 1987, founded Party Pieces, a mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations.^[10][11] Middleton has a younger sister, Pippa^{[12][better source needed]} and a younger brother, James Middleton.^[12][13] The family has complained about press harassment of Pippa and Carole since Middleton's engagement.^[14]

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.^[15] Her ancestors include the Revd Thomas Davis, a Church of England hymn-writer.^[16]

Carole Middleton's maternal family, the Harrisons, were working class labourers and miners from Sunderland and County Durham.^[17]

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^[18] before returning to their home in Berkshire.^[19] 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.^[20] She attended Marlborough College, a co-educational independent boarding school in Wiltshire,^[21] 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.^[22]

Career[link]

In November 2006, Middleton accepted a position as an accessory buyer with the clothing chain Jigsaw.^[23] She also worked part-time until January 2011 as a catalogue photographer, webpage designer and marketing officer for her parents' firm "Party Pieces". Despite this, at one point she was given the nickname 'Waity Katie' by the media for her apparent lack of work ethic and seeming desire not to do anything except to wait for a wedding proposal. ^[24]

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 Middleton was going to be working for him.^[26]

Public image and style[link]

Catherine is admired for her fashion sense and has been placed on numerous "best dressed" lists.^[27][28] She was selected by The Daily Telegraph as the "Most Promising Newcomer" in its 2006 list of style winners and losers.^[29] Tatler placed her at number 8 on its yearly listing of the top ten style icons in 2007.^[30] She was featured in People magazine's 2007 and 2010 best-dressed lists.^[31] Middleton was named as one of Richard Blackwell's ten "Fabulous Fashion Independents" of 2007.^[32] In June 2008, Style.com selected Middleton as its monthly beauty icon.^[33] In July 2008, Middleton was included in Vanity Fair's international best-dressed list.^[34] In February 2011, she was named the Top Fashion Buzzword of the 2011 season by the Global Language Monitor.^[35]

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'.^[36]

Relationship with Prince William[link]

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.^[37] 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.

Middleton with Prince Harry, June 2008

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.^[38] 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.^[39]

On 17 May 2008, Middleton attended the wedding of Prince William's cousin Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly, which the prince did not attend.^[40] 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.^[41] In 2010, Middleton pursued an invasion of privacy claim against two agencies and photographer Niraj Tanna, who took pictures of her over Christmas 2009.^[42] She obtained a public apology, £5,000 in damages, and legal costs.^[43]

Breakup and reconciliation[link]

On 14 April 2007, The Sun newspaper broke a "world exclusive" suggesting that Prince William and Middleton had split up.^[44] 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.^[45][46] 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".^[47] 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.^[48] 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.^[49]

In June 2007, Middleton and Prince William insisted they were "just good friends" following reports of a reconciliation.^[50] Middleton and her family attended the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, where she and Prince William sat two rows apart.^[51] 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".^[52] She also joined Prince William and The Prince of Wales on a deerstalking expedition at Balmoral^[53] 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.^[54] On 16 June 2008, she attended Prince William's investiture into the Order of the Garter, along with the Royal Family.

Engagement and wedding[link]

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 Prince William passing his RAF helicopter search and rescue course.^[55][56] Clarence House announced the engagement on 16 November 2010.^[55][57] The couple married in Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011,^[58] (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.^[59][60]

In October, several months after the wedding, Commonwealth leaders pledged that they would implement changes in British royal succession law to allow daughters of future monarchs to have equal rights to the throne.^[61]

Royal duties[link]

Public appearances[link]

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.

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.^[62] 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.^[63]

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.^[64]

In June 2011, the Duke and Duchess presented medals to members of the Irish Guards.^[65]

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.^[66]

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.^[67][68]

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[link]

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.^[69] 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.^{[70][71][72][73][74]}

In January 2012, the Duchess announced the first charities which she will support.^[75][76]

These are:

• The Art Room^[77][78]
• The National Portrait Gallery, London
• East Anglia's Children's Hospice (EACH)^[79]
• Action on Addiction

She will also be a local volunteer leader with the Scout Association in Anglesey, north Wales, her marital home.^[80]

Titles, styles, honours and arms[link]

Titles and styles[link]

• 9 January 1982 – 29 April 2011: Miss Catherine Elizabeth Middleton
• 29 April 2011 – present: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge^[81]

Catherine's full title and style is Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge,^[81] Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus.^[82][83]

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.^[84][85] 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.^[83][86]

Honours[link]

Royal Monogram

See also List of honours of the British Royal Family by country

Honorary military appointments[link]

Canada

• 5 July 2011 – present: Canadian Ranger^[87]

Honorific eponyms[link]

Awards

•  Ontario: Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award, University of Waterloo, Waterloo^[88][89]