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Kate Middleton

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Kate Middleton
Born January 9, 1982
Reading, Berkshire, England
Parents Michael & Carole Middleton

Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Middleton was born on 9 January 1982. She is the former girlfriend of Prince William of Wales. William is the elder son of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and second in line to the throne of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms, after Prince Charles.

Contents

Early life

Middleton was born at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, Berkshire, England and was baptised in the Church of England.[1] She is the elder daughter of businessman Michael Francis Middleton, an airline officer at the time of her birth and related to the well-known Lupton family in Leeds. Her mother, Carole Elizabeth (nee Goldsmith), was a flight attendant. Her family has coal-mining roots tracing back to Hetton-le-Hole, in the City of Sunderland in England. Middleton's parents now own Party Pieces, a mail order company that sells children's party paraphernalia, and are millionaires.[2] She has a younger sister, Philippa ("Pippa") and a younger brother, James.

Middleton was raised in Bucklebury, Berkshire, in the south of England. [1] She went to St Andrew's School, Pangbourne until she was 13 and then attended the public school Marlborough College (the same school William's cousin Princess Eugenie of York attends), where she passed eleven GCSEs and three A-level exams. Like the Prince, Middleton was a student at the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. She graduated in mid-2005 with a 2:1 (Upper Second-Class) degree in History of Art.

While attending the University of St Andrews in 2001, Middleton met Prince William of Wales. At the time, Middleton was in her first year at St Andrews. From around Christmas of 2003 to April 2007, she and Prince William were involved in a relationship that was subjected to intense media attention.

Relationship with Prince William

Middleton's status as the girlfriend of Prince William brought her widespread media coverage in the UK 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 much publicity. In December 2005, the German magazine Das Neue published photos of the exterior of Middleton's parents London flat where she stays during the week, revealing its location in Chelsea. This prompted a security review by police amidst concerns for her safety and a report in the London Evening Standard news paper that Prince William was considering going to the European Court of Human Rights over concerns for Middleton's and his own privacy.

In February 2006, it was announced that Middleton would receive her own 24-hour security detail supplied by the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department. 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 occurred, and Middleton was not granted an allowance to fund this security. However, media attention greatly increased around the time of Middleton's 25th birthday in January 2007, prompting warnings from both Prince Charles and Prince William and from Middleton's lawyers, who threatened legal action. As a result, two newspaper groups, News International and The Guardian group, decided to refrain from publishing paparazzi photographs of her.[3]

Middleton attended at least one event as an official royal guest, Prince William's "Passing-Out" parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on December 15, 2006. It was reported by the Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, that she was invited by the Queen to Christmas lunch in 2006, which would have made her the first unmarried partner of a royal to be asked to the festive celebrations at the royal estate of Sandringham House near Sandringham, Norfolk. Middleton declined the offer, preferring to spend Christmas with her own family. The article claimed she refused to attend any future gathering with the Queen and Royal Family unless she and William were married.[4] According to the December 2006 issue of People,[5] a palace "insider" stated that Middleton was not at this time being groomed or being advised to be a future princess.

Nevertheless, retailers such as Woolworths were preparing commemorative merchandise to be ready should an engagement announcement occur.[6]

Recent

In early 2006, it was rumoured that Middleton intended to found her own mail order company. However, a key investor stepped down, and Middleton decided to hold off on this plan. In November, 2006, she accepted a position as an assistant accessories buyer with the British clothing chain Jigsaw, a company owned by close family friends of Middleton.[7]

The Daily Mail tabloid reported, that after passing out of Sandhurst in December of 2006, Prince William was told that if he wished to pursue an Army career, Kate Middleton could not travel with him on Army time or live with him on base unless they were married. According to the article, the couple were told that since Williams's professional obligations, such as charities and public engagements, were likely to increase, along with his military duties, they either needed to get engaged or cool the relationship off for a while, an anonymous security source reported.[8] Prince William himself has stated that he does not intend to marry until he is at least 28.[5][9]

End of relationship

On Saturday 14 April 2007 The Sun Newspaper broke what it announced as a world exclusive that Prince William and Kate Middleton had split up.[11] Other media outlets such as the BBC confirmed the story as the day progressed.[12] Clarence House has not commented on the break-up. It is expected by many that the main cause of the split up is to do with the media pressure on her, as well as Prince William. It has also been said by the Daily Mail that the cause of the break-up was Prince William's lack of attention towards Kate Middleton.[13] Other speculation by the Daily Mail about the shock split includes William's recent partying and "wandering eye", Kate's supposed desire for media attention, the couple's long distance relationship as William trained with the military and Kate worked in London, and William's supposed claim that the relationship "lacked fun". The obvious comparisons between Prince William and Kate Middleton's split and that of Prince Charles and a young Diana Spencer. Many Palace insiders feel that Kate might be "the one that got away". There is specualtion that Kate's longing for a commitment and the Royal family's pressure for William to marry later in life has conflicted.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Wilkes, David; Hale, Beth (2005-08-05). Did Kate's pushy mother send her hunting a prince?. Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  2. ^ Alderson, Andrew (2005-12-03). William may turn to human rights court to protect Kate. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  3. ^ Rubin, Courtney; Nudd, Tim (2007-01-16). Kate Middleton Seeks Privacy from Paparazzi. People. Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  4. ^ Nicholl, Kate (2006-12-16). I'm not coming for Christmas until we're married, Kate tells Royals. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  5. ^ a b Tresniowski, Alex; Williams, Ashley (2006-11-29). Is Prince William Ready to Wed?. People. Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  6. ^ No engagement yet, but royal wedding souvenirs in the works. cbc.ca (2006-11-17). Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  7. ^ Kate Middleton lands job with fashion chain Jigsaw. The Daily Telegraph (2006-12-01). Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  8. ^ Churcher, Sharon; Collins, Laura. Get engaged or cool it with Kate, aides tell Officer William. Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  9. ^ Larcombe, Duncan. thesun.co.uk : I'm Too Young to Marry. The Sun. Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  10. ^ Bracchi, Paul (2007-03-10). Prince William has a very savvy young lady.... Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2007 April 14.
  11. ^ Wills and Kate split (The Sun)
  12. ^ Prince William splits from Kate (BBC)
  13. ^ [1]

External links

 


Original article / information obtained (seeded) from Wikipedia [7]