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Kate Middleton Profile |
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Birth Date: January 9, 1982
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Birth Place: Reading, England
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Birth Name: Catherine Elizabeth Middleton
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Height:
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Biography |
Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born on January 9, 1982,
in Reading, England. She is the first of three children for
Carole and Michael Middleton, who both worked in the airline
industry when Kate was born. Her parents later became
millionaires after they started up Party Pieces, a
mail-order firm that specializes in items for children's
parties.
Middleton grew up in Berkshire, in southern England, where
she spent an unassuming childhood and adolescence as a
student at Marlborough College, the same institution
attended by William's cousin Princess Eugenie. In 2001, she
met Prince William of Wales while she was in her second year
at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The pair
eventually began dating, and by the end of 2003, they were
seeing each other exclusively. They eventually moved in
together, along with another couple from St. Andrew's, to a
cottage outside Fife during their third academic year.
The couple did their best to keep the relationship a secret
from the British press, but by April 2004, they were seen
openly in public during a spring ski trip in Klosters,
Switzerland. By the following year, the UK media was already
forecasting a Royal wedding.
Middleton graduated from St. Andrew's in the spring of 2005
with a B.A. honors degree in history of art. As she became a
very public figure through her relationship with the prince,
she began experiencing the frustration of being hounded by
the press during much of her waking hours. In October of
that year, she issued a complaint through her legal
representative concerning harassment from members of the
media. Two months later, a police security review was
launched after a German publication revealed the location of
her London apartment.
By February of 2006, rumors of a royal engagement swelled
when it was rumored that Middleton would benefit from a
24-hour security watch to be provided by the Royalty and
Diplomatic Protection Department. This could only happen if
she were to become engaged to Prince William, and as no
engagement was announced, no security detail was granted.
Middleton joined the British clothing chain Jigsaw as an
assistant accessories buyer in November 2006. A spokesperson
for the Royals commented in a feature that appeared in the
December 2006 issue of People magazine that, by that point
in time, Middleton and Prince William felt they may be
rushing into things too quickly and were in no hurry to tie
the knot in the near future. |
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