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Catherine, Princess of Wales (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton on 9 January 1982), often searched for as Kate Middleton, is the wife of William, Prince of Wales, the heir to the British throne [1][2]. This page uses only the information published by the Royal Household on royal.uk.
Early life and education
The Royal Household records that Catherine was born to Michael and Carole Middleton at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, on 9 January 1982, the eldest of three children, and was christened at St Andrew's, Bradfield, on 20 June 1982 [1]. From May 1984 the family lived for two and a half years in Amman, Jordan, where her father worked; she attended a nursery school there [1].
Back in West Berkshire from September 1986, she went to St Andrew's School in Pangbourne until July 1995, and then to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where she took A Levels in Chemistry, Biology and Art [1]. During a gap year she studied at the British Institute in Florence and took part in a Raleigh International programme in Chile [1]. In 2001 she enrolled at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 2005 with a 2:1 in History of Art; she first met Prince William there [1].
Marriage and family
On 29 April 2011, Prince William and Catherine Middleton were married at Westminster Abbey [1]. They were known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge until September 2022, when, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III announced that his elder son would be known as The Prince of Wales and his wife as The Princess of Wales [1][2].
They have three children [1]:
- George Alexander Louis, born 22 July 2013;
- Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, born 2 May 2015;
- Louis Arthur Charles, born 23 April 2018.
Early childhood work
The Royal Household describes early childhood as the Princess's central cause [1]. In March 2018 she convened a steering group on the years from pre-birth to age five; in January 2020 she launched the survey "5 Big Questions on the Under Fives"; in June 2021 she launched a new initiative to drive awareness of the impact of the early years; and in 2023 she and The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood launched the "Shaping Us" campaign [1]. In February 2022 she visited Denmark to study its approach to early childhood development [1].
She has also worked on children's mental health, including the Heads Together campaign with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex, and on access to the outdoors: in 2019 she designed "Back to Nature" gardens for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which led to a permanent play garden at RHS Wisley [1]. In May 2020 she created the Hold Still photography project with the National Portrait Gallery, which drew over 31,000 entries [1]. Since 2021 she has led the Together at Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey [1].
Patronages and military appointments
The Princess is Royal Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (Wimbledon), the Lawn Tennis Association, the Rugby Football Union, the Rugby Football League, SportsAid and The 1851 Trust [1]. She became Patron of the AELTC and the LTA in 2016, when Queen Elizabeth II handed on several patronages [1].
In August 2023 the King appointed her Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm, Colonel-in-Chief of the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards and Royal Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Coningsby [1], a role previously held by the Prince of Wales [2].
Public role
The Princess carries out engagements across the United Kingdom, joins the Royal Family in welcoming heads of state on state visits and attends the Remembrance ceremony at the Cenotaph [1]. Her first overseas tour with her husband was to Canada in July 2011; she later made solo visits to the Netherlands in 2016 and to Luxembourg in 2017 [1].
Licence: this article is original GOTHA text, released under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Its sources are summarised or briefly quoted.