Catherine Middleton

**Catherine, Princess of Wales** (Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; born January 9, 1982), is a member of the British royal family. .

Kate became Duchess of Cambridge after her marriage with Prince William on Aprill 11, 2011. The couple have three children: Prince George of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince Louis of Wales.

## Early Life

Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on 9 January 1982 into an upper-middle-class family. She was baptised at St Andrew's Bradfield, a local parish church, on 20 June 1982. She is the eldest of three children born to Michael Middleton (b. 1949) and his wife, Carole (née Goldsmith; b. 1955), a former flight dispatcher and flight attendant

By the early 20th century, the Middleton family had married into the British aristocracy and benefited financially from trust funds which they established over 100 years ago. Her Middleton relatives, including her great-grandmother Olive Middleton, played host to members of the British royal family in the 1920s and 1930s. Her mother's family are descended from coal miners, and have been described as working-class. She has a younger sister, Pippa, and a younger brother, James

She was baptised at St Andrew's Bradfield, a local parish church, on 20 June 1982. She is the eldest of three children born to Michael Middleton (b. 1949) and his wife, Carole (née Goldsmith; b. 1955), a former flight dispatcher and flight attendant, respectively, who in 1987 founded Party Pieces, a privately held mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations with an estimated worth of £30 million. Her father's family has ties to British aristocracy and benefited financially from trust funds which they established over 100 years ago. Her Middleton relatives were reported as having played host to British royalty "as long ago as 1926".

## Education

He attended St. Andrew's School in Pangbourne, Berkshire, [5] until he was thirteen years old. Upon reaching high school, she was enrolled at Marlborough College a private school. There, Catarina became a popular and sporting girl, acting as captain of the field hockey team [5] and organizer of the school's tennis games. It passed eleven exams of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs) and three exams of Advanced Level (A-level).

After finishing her studies at Marlborough in July 2000, Catarina opted for a gap year before university. She was studying at the British Institute in Florence, participating in a volunteer program in Chile, and in a program for the Round the World Challenge, in the Solent Strait. Some sources claim that Catherine enrolled at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland, because she was the same one that Prince William had chosen and that she was persuaded by her mother to abandon her first choice of university.

However, this story is considered pure fiction by those who know the Middleton family, especially because, at the beginning of the University, Catarina was dating Rupert Finch, at the time, a senior law student and William had an affair with Carly Massy-Birch , also a student. At this university, she graduated in Art History.

## Official appearances

On March 31, 2004, the lovers were finally caught kissing in the Klosters Mountains, when the prince confirmed their courtship. The relationship would have blossomed between weekends at Queen Elizabeth II's property, Balmoral Castle, in country houses and in Catherine's apartment in London's Chelsea neighborhood. The two would also travel to Kenya together in the summer of 2005.

On June 23, 2005, Kate and Guilherme graduated from St. Andrews, respectively, in Art History and Geography, in a ceremony attended by Queen Isabel II, Prince Charles and his wife Camila, Duchess of Cornwall. From then on, Catarina would live in London.

## Titles

* January 9, 1982 - April 29, 2011: *Mrs. Catherine Elizabeth Middleton*
* April 29, 2011 - September 8, 2022: *Her Royal Highness, Duchess of Cambridge*
* September 8, 2022 - September 9, 2022: *Her Royal Highness, Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge*
* September 9, 2022 - present: *Her Royal Highness, The Princess of Wales*