Prior to her wedding, the Duchess attended many high-profile royal events. She has been admired for her fashion sense and has been placed on numerous "best dressed" lists. Once their relationship became public, Catherine received widespread media attention and there was much speculation that she and Prince William would eventually marry. On 16 November 2010 the office of the Prince at Clarence House announced their engagement, with details announced one week later. Catherine Middleton married Prince William on 29 April 2011 (Feast Day of Saint Catherine of Siena) at Westminster Abbey.
Early life and family
Catherine was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on 9 January 1982 and christened at St Andrew's Bradfield, Berkshire on 20 June 1982.:32 She is the eldest of three children born to Carole Elizabeth (née Goldsmith), a former flight attendant and now part-owner of Party Pieces with an estimated worth of £30 million, and Michael Francis 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 successful mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations. Catherine's two siblings are a sister, Philippa Charlotte, known as "Pippa" (born 1983), and a brother, James William (born 1987). The family have complained about press harassment of Pippa and their mother since Catherine's engagement.
Catherine's paternal family came from Leeds, West Yorkshire, and her 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 Rev. 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.
Catherine's parents were based in Amman, Jordan, working for British Airways from May 1984 to September 1986, where Catherine went to an English language nursery school, before returning to their home in Berkshire.After her return from Amman, Catherine was educated at St. Andrew's School in the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire, then briefly at Downe House.She continued her studies at Marlborough College, a co-educational independent boarding school in Wiltshire, followed by the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland where she met William. She graduated with a 2:1 (Hons) in the History of Art.
Career
In November 2006 Catherine accepted a position as an accessory buyer with the clothing chain Jigsaw. In September 2007 it was reported that Catherine was planning to give up her job as an accessory buyer to become a professional photographer. It was announced[citation needed] that she intended to take private classes with photographer Mario Testino, who had taken several well-known photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales and her sons. Catherine and Testino apparently were introduced by Prince William. Testino later denied that Catherine was going to be working for him.
Public image and style
Catherine has been featured in several best-dressed lists and 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.[27] Catherine was named as one of Richard Blackwell's ten "Fabulous Fashion Independents" of 2007.[28] In June 2008 Style.com selected Catherine as its monthly beauty icon. In July 2008 Catherine was included in Vanity Fair's international best-dressed list.In February 2011 Catherine was named the Top Fashion Buzzword of the 2011 season by the Global Language Monitor.
Prince William
Catherine's status as the undeclared girlfriend of 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 Catherine would receive her own 24-hour security detail supplied by the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department. This fuelled further speculation that she and William would soon be engaged, since she would not otherwise be entitled to this service.
No engagement occurred and Catherine was not granted an allowance to fund this security. Media attention increased around the time of Catherine's 25th birthday in January 2007, prompting warnings from both Charles and William and from Catherine'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. Catherine attended at least one event as an official royal guest, William's Passing Out Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006. In December 2007 it was reported that Catherine had moved in with Prince William at Clarence House, the residence of the Prince of Wales in London. Clarence House later denied this.
On 17 May 2008 Catherine attended the wedding of 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. William was away on military operations in the Caribbean, serving aboard the HMS Iron Duke.[38] In 2010 Catherine pursued an invasion of privacy claim against two agencies and photographer Niraj Tanna, who took pictures of her over Christmas 2009.Catherine 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 Catherine 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 Catherine felt William had not been paying her enough attention. The paper highlighted reports that 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 William's desire to enjoy his bachelor status within his Army career. The Mail also suggested that a friend of William encouraged the Prince to take a "careless approach" to relationships. The same article suggested that Catherine had "expected too much" in wanting William to demonstrate his commitment to her.
In June 2007 Catherine and William insisted they were "just good friends" following reports of a reconciliation. Catherine and her family attended the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, where she and 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". Catherine also joined William and Charles on a deerstalking expedition at Balmoral and attended the wedding of William's cousin, Peter Phillips, even though William, due to a prior commitment, did not. In April 2008 Catherine accompanied William when he was awarded his RAF wings at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell. On 16 June 2008 Catherine attended William's investiture into the Order of the Garter, along with the Royal Family.
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 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,with the day declared a bank holiday in the United Kingdom.
Public appearances
Catherine was formally introduced to public life on 24 February 2011, two months before the wedding, when she and William attended a lifeboat naming ceremony in Trearddur, North Wales. On 16 February 2011 Clarence House announced that the Duke and Duchess' first royal tour of Canada would take place in July 2011.
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 and therefore has no title of her own. On 29 April 2011 Prince William was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus; Catherine's full style and title hence is Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus.
Coat of ArmsArms 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. Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, the senior officer of the College of Arms, helped the family with the design.
Crest 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).
Symbolism The dividing line (between two colours) down the centre is a canting of the name 'Middle-ton'. The acorns (from the oak tree) is 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.
Previous versions Her previous coat of arms, granted on the 19 April 2011, 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 a spinster daughter of their father Michael Middleton.
Ancestry
Catherine shares many ancestors with Prince William. The closest relationship via William's mother is a common descent from Sir Thomas Fairfax (d. 1520/1) and his wife Agnes Gascoine. The closest relationship via William's father is a common descent from Sir William Gascoine (d. 1487) and his wife, née Lady Margaret Percy. The Daily Mail also contends they are both descended from Sir Thomas Leighton (ca. 1530–1610), Governor of Guernsey from 1570 to 1609, and his wife Elizabeth Knollys (1549–1605), who was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth I.