The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood.

Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent American dramatist and member of the Class of 1905 of The University of Michigan, one-fifth of Mr. Hopwood's estate was given to the Regents of the University for the encouragement of creative work in writing. The first awards were made in 1931, and today the Hopwood Program offers approximately $120,000 in prizes every year to aspiring writers at the University of Michigan. According to Nicholas Delbanco, UM English Professor and Director of the Hopwood Awards Program, "This is the oldest and best known series of writing prizes in the country and it is a very good indicator of future success."^[1]

Previous Hopwood winners include Brett Ellen Block, Max Apple, Lorna Beers, Sven Birkerts, John Malcolm Brinnin, John Ciardi, Tom Clark, Lyn Coffin, Cid Corman, Christopher Paul Curtis, Mary Gaitskill, Robert Hayden, Garrett Hongo, Lawrence Joseph, Jane Kenyon, Laura Kasischke, Elizabeth Kostova, Arthur Miller, Howard Moss, Davi Napoleon, Frank O'Hara, Marge Piercy, William Craig Rice, Ari Roth, Davy Rothbart, Betty Smith, Ron Sproat, Keith Waldrop, Rosmarie Waldrop, Edmund White, Nancy Willard, Beth Tanenhaus Winsten, and Maritta Wolff.

Contests and prizes[link]

The Graduate and Undergraduate Hopwood Contest[link]

Awards are offered in the following genres: drama/screenplay, essay, the novel, short fiction, Nonfiction, and poetry. These awards are classified under two categories, Graduate or Undergraduate, except the novel and drama/screenplay, which are combined categories. Award amounts for this contest vary, but usually fall in the range of $1000 to $6000.

Summer Hopwood Contest[link]

This contest is open only to students who take writing courses during spring and summer terms. Awards are given in the categories of Drama or Screenplay, Nonfiction, Short Fiction, and Poetry. Novels are not eligible for the Summer Hopwood Contest.

Hopwood Underclassmen Contest[link]

This contest is open only to freshmen and sophomores who are enrolled in writing courses. Awards are given in the categories of Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry.

See also[link]

• University of Michigan
• Arthur Miller

External links[link]

• Hopwood Awards
• University of Michigan

Notes[link]

1. ^ http://www.michigandaily.com/content/30-winners-named-hopwood-awards

• Napoleon, Davi: The Rewards of the Hopwood Michigan Alumus, Spring 1999. A past winner and judge explores the values and dangers of this literary competition.

Sara Houghteling (born 1977) is an American novelist and educator.

Biography[link]

She was born in 1977 and graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in 1999. She received her Master's in Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Michigan in 2003. She was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to Paris, first prize in the Avery Jules Hopwood Novel Contest, and a John Steinbeck fellowship. She teaches high school English at the Marin Academy.^[1][2] In 2009, she became engaged to fellow Harvard alumnus and writer Daniel Mason, author of The Piano Tuner and A Far Country.^[3] After focusing on lost art looted during World War II for her first novel, she is currently writing her second book on a pianist searching for Hindemith's lost piano concerto after ruining his right hand practicing Brahms' Piano Concerto in B-Flat Major.^[4]

Pictures at an Exhibition[link]

Houghteling's first novel, Pictures at an Exhibition, was published in 2009 by Alfred A. Knopf.^[1] It won the Edward Lewis Wallant Award and has also been released as an audio book, read by Mark Bramhall.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Short stories by Sara Houghteling in Harvard Magazine
• Review of Pictures at an Exhibition in the New York Times
• Art and Arms - An interview with Houghteling on Guernica Magazine.

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (March 2009)

Christopher Paul Curtis
Christopher Paul Curtis at the University of Michigan-Flint
Born	(1953-05-10) May 10, 1953 (age 59) Flint, Michigan, United States
Occupation	Writer, Hip-Hop musician (2004-2012)
Genres	Children's literature
Notable work(s)	Bud, Not Buddy The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 Elijah of Buxton

Christopher Paul Curtis (born May 10, 1953)^[1][2] is an American children's author and a Newbery Medal winner who wrote The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 and the critically acclaimed Bud, Not Buddy. Bud, Not Buddy is the first novel to receive both the Coretta Scott King Award and the Newbery Medal. His book Elijah of Buxton (winner of the Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, and a Newbery Honor) is set in a free Black community in Ontario that was founded in 1849 by runaway slaves. His latest book, The Mighty Miss Malone, was released in January of 2012.

Biography[link]

Christopher Paul Curtis was born in Flint, Michigan, on May 10, 1953 to Dr. Herman Elmer Curtis, a chiropodist and factory worker/supervisor, and Leslie Jane Curtis, an educator. Curtis is an alumnus of the University of Michigan-Flint (UM-Flint). Curtis is the father of two adult children from a previous marriage and two daughters, Ayaan Leslie, born in 2010, and Ebyaan Hothan, born in 2012 to Curtis and his wife, Habon Aden Curtis. Christopher modeled characters in Bud, Not Buddy after his two grandfathers—Earl “Lefty” Lewis, a Negro league baseball pitcher, and 1930s bandleader Herman E. Curtis, Sr., of Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression.^[3] The city of Flint plays an important role in many of Curtis's books.

Leslie Lewis Curtis

.

Dr. Herman Elmer Curtis

Education and Work[link]

Curtis is a product of the Flint Public Schools system. He attended Dewey Elementary, Clark Elementary, Pierce Elementary (in the Academically Gifted Program), Whittier Junior High School, McKinley Junior High School (where, in 1967, he became the first African-American student to be elected to student council in the school's 32-year history), and Flint Southwestern High School. Graduating from the University of Michigan-Flint in 1999, he received his bachelor's degree at the same ceremony where he was the commencement speaker.

Every year since 2008 Curtis has returned to the University of Michigan-Flint to host the Christopher Paul Curtis Writing Challenge, a program instituted by Dr. Rose Casement and Dr. Fred Svoboda. During the program every fourth-grade student in Flint comes to UM-Flint's auditorium to hear a presentation by Curtis. Afterwards they are provided with a story starter that Curtis has written and given the challenge of finishing the story. A winner from each of Flint's elementary schools is chosen by the teachers to return to UM-Flint with their families for an award ceremony where Curtis and Dr. Casement announce an overall winner. The stated goal of the challenge is to expose Flint's youth to the university environment and to encourage writing as a means of expression.

The summer after graduating from high school Curtis became a member of a Lansing, Michigan based theatrical/musical group called Suitcase Theatre. The group was directed by Powell Lindsay and performed musical numbers and the works of Langston Hughes. The group toured and performed in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France, England, Canada, and the United States.

Curtis spent his first 13 years after high school on the assembly line of Flint’s historic Fisher Body Plant #1. His job entailed hanging car doors on Electra 225s and LeSabres, which, he later claimed, left him with an aversion to getting into large cars, particularly Buicks. After quitting Fisher Body he took a series of low-paying jobs. He worked as a groundskeeper at Stonegate Manor housing cooperative in Flint, Flint campaign co-manager for United States senator Donald Riegle, customer service representative for Mich Con in Detroit, temporary worker for Manpower in Detroit, and warehouse clerk for Automated Data Processing in Allen Park, Michigan. Curtis took a year off of work to write his first novel, The Watsons Go To Birmingham: 1963. He wrote the novel in longhand in the Windsor Public Library.

Curtis has been a full-time author and lecturer/speaker since 1998. He then became a world-famous rapper in 2004, with the stage name L-toe.

In 2009 he received a Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa from the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

After a theatrical film is released in 2014, Curtis will direct SpongeBob SquarePants episodes airing in 2015 and later.

Published works[link]

The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 - When Kenny's 13-year-old brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble, the Watsons head from Flint, Michigan, to Birmingham, Alabama, to visit Grandma Sands, the one person who can shape Byron up. But the events that shake Birmingham in the September 1963 will change Kenny's life for ever.^[4]

Bud, Not Buddy - It is 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him. The book was released in January 2002.^[4]

Bucking the Sarge - Luther T. Farrell has got to get out of Flint, Michigan. He just needs to escape the evil empire of the local slumlord, his mother.^[4]

Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission - When Russell's dog, Rodney Rodent, jumps into a mural to chase a demonic-looking gnome and disappears, the Flint Future Detectives are on the case.^[4]

Mr. Chickee's Funny Money - Mr. Chickee, the genial blind man in the neighborhood, gives 9-year-old Steven a mysterious bill with 15 zeros on it and the image of a familiar but startling face.^[4]

Elijah of Buxton (2007)

The Mighty Miss Malone - (2012) This book is set in depression-era Gary, Indiana, and Flint, Michigan. The work is a spin-off from Bud, Not Buddy and is narrated by 12-year-old Deza Malone.

Awards/Honors/Nominations[link]

THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM-1963

• Newbery Honor Book.
• Coretta Scott King Honor Book.
• A Publisher's Weekly Best Book Of The Year.
• A New York Times Book Review Best Book Of The Year.
• A California Young Reader Medal Winner.
• A Maine Student Book Award Winner.
• An American Library Association (ALA) Best Book For Young Adults.
• An ALA Notable Children's Book.
• A Horn Book Fanfare.
• A Texas Lone Star Reading List Title.
• A Bank Street College Best Book Of The Year.
• A Massachusetts Children's Book Award Winner.
• A NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies.
• A NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book In The field of Language Arts.
• A New Mexico Land Of Enchantment Book Award Winner.
• An Arkansas Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award Winner.
• A Society of Children's Book Writers and illustrators Golden Kite Award Winner.
• A New York Times' Top One Hundred Books Of The Year, 1996. (The only book for young readers to be so honored.)
• A Jane Addams Peace Award Honor Book.
• An American Library Association Top Ten Best Book/Quick Pick.
• An International Reading Association Notable Book For a Global Society.
• An Indiana Department of Education Read Aloud List Book.
• A Bulletin For the Center of Children's Books Blue Ribbon.
• A Booklist Top 25 Black History Picks for Youth Book.
• An International Reading Association Young Adult Choice.
• A 1995 Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award.
• A New Mexico Land Of Enchantment Book Award Winner.
• A Top Choice List of 2000 for Children's Literature.
• A Virginia Young Readerr's Program Book.
• A Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee.
• A Nevada Young Reader Award Nominee.
• A Nebraska Golden Sower Award Nominee.
• A Missouri Mark Twain Award Nominee.
• A Minnesota Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award Nominee.
• A Michigan Reading Association Children's Choic Award Nominee.
• A Kansas William Allen White Award Nominee.
• A Illinois Rebecca Caudill Award Nominee.
• A Hawaii Nene Award Nominee
• A USBBY Janusz Korzak Literary Prize Nominee.
• A New Hampshire Great Stoneface Book Award Nominee.
• A Tennessee Volunteer State Award Nominee.
• A South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee.
• A Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee.
• A Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee.
• A Oklahoma Sequoyah Young Adult Book Award Nominee.

BUD, NOT BUDDY.

• A 2000 Newbery Medal Winner. (First African-American man to win the award.)
• A 2000 Coretta Scott KIng Author Award Winner.
• A School Library Journal Best Book Of The Year.
• An International Readers Association (IRA) Children's Book Award For Older Readers.
• A NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book.
• A Publisher's Weekly Best Book Of The Year.
• An ALA Best Book For Young Adults.
• An ALA Notable Children's Book.
• A New York Times Notable Book.
• A Bulletin For The Center of Children's Books Blue Ribbon book.
• An Arizona Young Readers Award winner (Teen Category).
• A Florida Sunshine State Young Reader's Award.
• A Virginian Capitol Choices List.
• A Massachusetts Chiildren's Book Award Honor Book.
• A New Mexico Book Of Enchantment Book Award Winner.
• A Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award Winner.
• A Young Reader's Choice Award.
• A Sugar Maple Awards Winner Grades 4-6
• A Hawaii Nene Award Winner.
• A Kentucky Bluegrass Award Winner.
• A Kansas William White Award Winner.
• A Tennessee Volunteer State Award Winner.
• A South Dakota Prairie Pasque Award Winner.
• A Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Winner.
• A Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Winner.
• A SCBWI Golden Kite Award Winner.
• A Great Lakes Booksellers Association Children's Chapter Book Award Winner.
• Booklist Top Ten Historical Fiction For Youth.
• A Louisiana Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee.
• A Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Nominee.
• A South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee.
• A Wyoming Inidan Paintbrush Award Nominee.
• A Wisconsin Golden Archer Book Award Nominee.
• A Ohio Buckeye Children's Book Award Grade 6-8 Nominee.
• A North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award Nominee.
• A Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee.

MR. CHICKEE'S FUNNY MONEY

• A Parent's Choice Gold Award Winner.

BUCKING THE SARGE

• An ALA Best Books For Young Adults.
• An ALA Notable Children's Book.
• A Great Lakes Booksellers Association Children's Chapter Book Award.
• A Booklist Children's Editors Choice Award.
• A USA Today Best Young Adult Book.
• A SCBWI Golden Kite Award For Fiction Honor Book.
• A School Library Journal Best Book Of The Year.
• A Texas Tayhas High School Reading List Title.
• A Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Book Of The Year.

ELIJAH OF BUXTON

• A Newbery Honor Book.
• Coretta Scott King Award Winner.
• A School Library Journal Best Book.
• A Parent's Choice Gold Award Winner.
• IRA Notable Book For A Global Society.
• A Publisher's Weekly Best Book.
• A Booklist Editor's Choice.
• A Scott O'Dell Award Winner.
• A Kirkus Best Book.
• A Horn Book Fanfare Book.
• A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book.
• A Booklinks Lasting Connections Book.
• A TD Canadian Children's Literature Award Winner.
• A Governor General's Award Children's Text Finalist.
• A Canadian Library Association Book Of The Year.
• An NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book For Young People.
• A White Ravens by the International Youth Library of 2008, Germany Award.
• A Geoffrey Bilson Award For Historical Fiction For Young People Award Winner.
• A Jane Addams Peace Association of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Book for Older Children Honor Award.
• A Great Lakes Book Sellers Association's Children's Chapter Book Award.
• A Red Maple Award Nominee.
• An NAACP Image Award Nominee.
• A 2008 Michigan Notable Author Award Winner

Christopher Paul Curtis appeared on The Tavis Smiley Show on PBS on January 11, 2005.

His name has also been part of an answer on the long-running quiz show Jeopardy. The $1600 answer in the category "Hey Bud!" on January 13, 2005 was: "Christopher Paul Curtis won a Newbery medal in 2000 for his children's book, Bud, Not... this." A teacher answered correctly.

He also appeared on The Today Show Book Club to answer questions about his book with Al Roker in 2007.^[5]

Curtis won the 2009 Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature, which honors a "nationally acclaimed author who has made a significant contribution to the field of literature and young adults".^[6][7]

References[link]

• Official Christopher Paul Curtis Website
• Christopher Paul Curtis at Random House
• Christopher Paul Curtis Interview on the Today Show

Christopher Paul is an American convert to Islam and member of al Qaeda, who has pled guilty to acts of terrorism. He is currently serving a 15 year prison term arising from those charges.

Born Paul Kenyatta Laws, he changed his name to Abdulmalek Kenyatta in 1989, but then to Christopher Paul in 1994.^[1] He pled guilty to planning terrorist attacks in a plea agreement that calls for a 20-year prison term. He had been indicted on April 12, 2007 on the following charges: conspiring to support terrorists, conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and providing support to terrorists. He was charged with planning to set off bombs in Europe and the United States.

He received training from al-Qaeda in the early 1990s in Pakistan and Afghanistan.^[1] He is reported to have stayed in the Beit ur Salam guesthouse, a guest house reserved exclusively for graduates of Al Qaeda training camps. Then in 1999 he went to Germany to train terrorists planning to attack Americans at overseas resorts. He was also alleged, in August 2002, to have met two other men in a suburban Columbus coffee house where they discussed terrorist attacks. The other two men were convicted of separate acts: Nuradin Abdi for a plot to blow up an Ohio shopping mall, and Iyman Faris for a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.^[2]

Paul is an American citizen, resident of Columbus, Ohio.

See also[link]

• List of notable converts to Islam
• Islamist terrorism

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} "OHIO MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO BOMB TARGETS IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES". Department of Defense. 2008-05-03. http://www.dodig.osd.mil/IGInformation/IGInformationReleases/Paul_plea_local.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-14.  mirror
2. ^ "Ohio man pleads guilty in alleged terror plot", http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080603/ap_on_re_us/overseas_terror_plot;_ylt=Aly91J9HRVRlSI03GwGoHfVvzwcF, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, AP, June 3, 2008

• Local al-Qaida bomb suspect appears in court
• Ohio man accused of joining al-Qaida, planning bomb plots in Europe
• U.S. Man Accused of Plot to Bomb Resorts
• Ohio man charged with helping al Qaeda

This United States biographical article related to crime is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

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
v t e

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]

Arms[link]

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 19 April 2011. Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, the senior officer of the College of Arms, helped the family with the design.[90] Adopted 19 April 2011 Coronet 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).[90] 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.[90] 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.[90]

Ancestry[link]

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^{[better source needed]}, daughter of Sir William Gascoigne and his wife, née Lady Margaret Percy.^[91] This makes the couple fifteenth cousins.^[92] 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^{[better source needed]} is descended from Edward III.

Popular culture[link]

Following international attention regarding the wedding, Lifetime aired a TV movie entitled William & Kate on 18 April 2011, in the US.^[93] The film premiered in the UK on 24 April 2011.^[94] Middleton ^[95] was played by Camilla Luddington^[96] and Prince William by Nico Evers-Swindell.^[97] 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^[98] and Channel 4's Meet the Middletons.^[99]

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.^[100] 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.^[101] The movie was filmed in Bucharest.^[102]

Footnotes[link]

1. ^ As a titled royal, Catherine holds no surname, but when one is used, it is Mountbatten-Windsor.

References[link]