Kate Middleton has accomplished what many us non-aristocratic women wish we could – she came from a middle-class background and, against all odds, married a prince! It’s a modern day rags to riches story, featuring a very relatable young woman. Since so many of us are fascinated by Kate, let’s take a look at 10 things we didn’t know about the Duchess of Cambridge!
10. Lived in the Middle East
Although she was born in Reading, Berkshire, England, she spent two years (from the age of two to four) living in Amman, Jordan, while her parents were working for British Airways. Her father was a flight dispatcher and her mother was a flight attendant.
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9. Bullied
She briefly attended Down House, all-girls boarding school when she was 13 but was bullied so her parents transferred her to Marlborough College, a co-educational independent boarding school in Wiltshire.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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8. Working Class Background
Her family background is working class. Her maternal ancestors worked as laborers and miners.
Photo by Harry Page / Rex Features
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7. The First
She was the first person in her family to go to university. She graduated from the University of St. Andrews in 2005 with a degree in art history.
Photo By NILS JORGENSEN / REX FEATURES
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6. Aspiring Photographer
In 2009, she worked as a photographer’s assistant to Count Nikolai von Bismarck, Annie Leibovitz’s muse, for two weeks.
Photo by Rex Features
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5. Sports Star
When she was a pupil at St. Andrew’s School in Pangbourne, Berkshire, she excelled at tennis, hockey, swimming, netball and rounders. She also took part in plays, learned ballet and tap and was a skilled flutist and singer.
Photo by Rex Features
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4. Pip and Squeak
She and her sister Pippa were nicknamed Pip and Squeak when they attended St Andrew’s School in Pangbourne, Berkshire.
Photo by Richard Young / Rex Features
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3. Childhood Dream
Kate had such a wonderful time at St Andrew’s School in Pangbourne, Berkshire that she told her mother as a child that she wanted to go back and teach there when she grew up.
Photo By REX FEATURES
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2. A Strange Coincidence
During her gap year, she studied Italian in Florence, Italy, and then went to Chile to take part in a Raleigh International adventure. Months before she joined the program, Prince William had also joined Raleigh International and completed an identical 10-month expedition in Chile.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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1. Beautiful Kate
By the end of her freshmen week at St. Andrew’s, she had been crowned the prettiest girl in her dormitory.
Photo by Stephen Lock / Rex Features