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Duchess of Vogue

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A sports freak, philanthropist and trendsetter, she is a jewel in the British crown.

From an unknown undergraduate to a prominent member of the Royal family, she is the first commoner to marry a Prince in more than 350 years.

She was number one on Vanity Fair’s annual Best Dressed lists in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Family

Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born on January 9, 1982 in Reading. Her mother was a flight attendant and her father was a flight dispatcher. Kate is the eldest of three children.

In 1987, Kate’s mother founded her own mail-order party goods company which turned out to be a success making the Middleton family millionaires.

Education

Kate attended exclusive boarding schools but her time there did not come without its conflicts. Due to bullying and taunts she had to leave her all-girls boarding school. She did not receive a warm welcome in her new co-ed school.  

However, Kate did well in her studies, passing 11 GCSEs and three A-level exams. She also took part in sporty activities like tennis, hockey, netball and athletics.

In 2001, Middleton became a student at the University of St Andrews—the first in her family to attend college.

Enter Prince of Wales

In 2003, Middleton and Prince William of Wales began dating. The couple kept their relationship a secret by agreeing to not hold hands in public, or be seen sitting together at dinner parties. She graduated with an honors bachelor’s degree in art history without any hiccups.

In 2004, Kate was caught by paparazzi while on a royal family ski trip. Her relationship with William became the subject of intense scrutiny and, by 2005, she was a tabloid favorite.

In 2006, it was announced Middleton would receive her own 24-hour security detail from the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department. This led to rumors that Middleton was being groomed for a position of royalty.

As the girlfriend of the prince, Kate found it difficult to get a job. The position had to be considered respectable by the royal family and in 2006; Kate managed to find an acceptable position as an assistant accessories buyer with the British clothing chain Jigsaw.

Royal Breakup

In 2007, Kate and the Prince publicly split. Allegedly pressured by the royal family to either propose or let Kate move on with her life, William broke off the couple’s five-year relationship.

Royal Marriage

Kate and William announced their engagement in 2010. The prince proposed during a vacation to Kenya, and presented Kate with his mother’s engagement ring. In 2011, five months later, the couple married in London. Shortly before the wedding, Queen Elizabeth conferred Kate with the title of Catherine, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge.

The event was watched by 26.3 million people in the UK alone and 500 street parties were held to commemorate the wedding.

Royal Duties

The Duchess’s first official engagement after the wedding came in May, when she and her husband met Barack Obama, the President of the US, and First Lady Michelle Obama. In June 2011, the Duke and Duchess presented medals to members of the Irish Guards.

In November, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the UNICEF Supply Division Centre for supplying food to malnourished African children in Denmark.

On St Patrick’s Day in 2012, the Duchess carried out the traditional awarding of shamrocks to the Irish Guards at their base in Aldershot; this was her first solo military engagement. A month later, she gave her first speaking engagement for the opening of the Treehouse, a charity of which she is a patron.

The Duke and Duchess were announced as Ambassadors for the 2012 Summer Olympics, alongside Prince Harry. The Duchess attended both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics. In August, the Duchess attended the Paralympic Opening Ceremony accompanied by her husband.

Royal Privacy

In 2009, before her engagement, Kate was awarded £10,000 damages and an apology from the photographic press agency Rex Features Ltd after she was photographed playing tennis on Christmas Eve while on holiday.

Three years later, post marriage, it was reported that a French magazine, ’Closer’ and the Italian gossip magazine ‘Chi’, had both published photographs of the Duchess sun-bathing topless while on holiday.

The British royal family became involved in a legal battle to attain the rights to the photos, in hopes of preventing other publications from printing them. A judge ordered the French magazine to hand over the photos within 24 hours of the court’s decision.

In 2013, Chi published the first photos of Catherine’s exposed baby bump, taken during her vacation. The British press refused to publish the paparazzi shots out of respect for the couple.

Whilst the Duchess was visiting the Blue Mountains in Sydney a picture was taken of her bare bottom as her dress blew up. Many newspapers refused to follow the ban imposed by British media and published the picture.

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