Kate Middleton

Princess Kate - Biography

Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Middleton was born on the 9th of January 1982 in England at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, Berkshire (around 29 miles outside of London). She is the eldest of three children born to her mother Carole Elizabeth (née Goldsmith), at the time a flight attendant, and Michael Francis Middleton (born 1949), a flight dispatcher (later an airline officer) for British Airways.

She was raised in Bucklebury, Berkshire. Her father's family came from Leeds, West Yorkshire, her mother's family, the Harrisons, were working class labourers and miners from County Durham.

Kate has a sister and a brother, Philippa Charlotte, known as "Pippa" and James William.

Her education began at St. Andrew's school in Pangbourne (Berkshire), then she was briefly at Downe House, before moving on to Marlborough College, in Wiltshire. She went on to study Art History at the University of St Andrews, in Fife (Scotland) where she graduated with a 2:1 (Hons). It was while at University that she first met Prince William.

In 2006, Kate began to work for the clothing chain Jigsaw as an accessory buyer, but gave up this job the following year announcing that she wished to become a professional photographer. It's possible that the media attention she was receiving by this time made working at Jigsaw difficult.

It was reported that she had been introduced to internationally famous photographer Mario Testino by Prince William with whom she would be taking private classes. Mario Testino has taken a number of famous royal portraits and so this seemed to be accurate but later he denied that he was teaching her and the story died.

Princess Kate - Media Sensationalism


Ever since the relationship with Prince William was made public Kate has been both hounded by and sensationalised by the media making accurate information hard to come by. The association with Mario Testino is a case in point. Due to public interest it seems unlikely she will be able to lead a normal day to day life again.

In October 2005 she complained (through her lawyer) of constant media harassment, stating that she had done nothing significant to warrant such publicity and in 2006 it was announced that she would receive her own security supplied by the Royalty and Diplomatic protection department. Since that time she seems to have become more adjusted to intense media attention.

This attention has led to many rumours and stories about her (most of which are probably inaccurate but serve to sell tabloids and glossy celebrity magazines).


Princess Kate - Breaking Up and Making Up!


In April 2007 Prince William and Kate Middleton broke up for a time the story being widely reported. Reasons were feverishly speculated on by tabloids eventually settling on the fact that Kate felt William was not paying her enough attention - while William felt he was too young to get married (at 24). Some media sources speculated that Royal Courtiers were trying to rush the couple into a marriage too quickly.

Whatever the real reasons, Kate and Prince William officially remained "good friends". This friendship seemed to grow again through the years and again the media speculated that the relationship had been rekindled. This was finally officially confirmed on the 16th of November 2010 when Clarence House announced that the couple were to marry the following year. This date has now been set to be the 29th of April.

Princess Kate - Style Icon


Over the years Kate has become a fashion icon in many publications and magazines, praised for her stylish dress sense. She has featured in a number of best dressed lists. This attention seems likely to only intensify when she is married.