Kate Middleton and Prince William’s relationship goes a long way back. The two first met when studying at university and, as is the case with many others, their union hasn’t been a perfect Cinderella story.
Kate and William have had their fair share of troubles. Ultimately, though, the couple made it through – today, they are one big, happy family.
Kate Middleton has always looked amazing, but the secret behind her seemingly eternal agelessness has never been revealed. That said, one expert has now claimed how the 40-year-old manages to retain her youthful looks. When looking at photos of the Princess of Wales without makeup on, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that she’s simply a natural beauty.
When Kate Middleton was growing up, she could never have even imagined that she would become a real-life princess – and future Queen. She was born on January 9, 1982, in Reading, England, to parents Michael and Carole Middleton.
Her father, Michael, worked as a flight dispatcher; her mother, Carole, was a flight attendant. However, when Kate was very young, her parents started a new business together, one which turned out to be a success story.
The couple founded the company Party Pieces, selling party supplies and decorations via mail. It quickly grew into a huge company – and made the Middleton family very rich. As a result, it wasn’t strange that Kate Middleton attended costly and prestigious boarding schools from an early age. These include Downe House, Marlborough College, and St. Andrew’s Prep School.
She reportedly spent nine years at St Andrew’s – in 2012, Kate returned to the school, saying it gave her some of her “happiest years.”
“In fact, I enjoyed it so much that when I had to leave, I told my mother that I was going to come back to be a teacher. While that didn’t quite happen, I was thrilled to have been asked back today on St. Andrew’s Day,” Middleton said during her visit.
”It was while I was here at school that I realised my love of sport. Sport has been a huge part of my life, and I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunities I had to get outside and play in such wonderful open spaces – though sadly there was nothing quite as glamorous as this in my time!”
Indeed, the Princess has very fond memories of her childhood.
One is of her grandmother, which helped Kate later on in life when she and Prince William had their own children.
“I had an amazing Granny who devoted a lot of time to us, playing with us, doing arts and crafts and going to the greenhouse to do gardening, and cooking with us,” Kate said on the podcast Happy Mum.
“I try and incorporate a lot of the experiences that she gave us at the time into the experiences that I give my children now.”
William and Kate both studied at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. The couple met through friends, though Kate was allegedly timid at first.
“I actually went bright red when I met you and scuttled off feeling very shy about meeting you,” she recalled.
“William wasn’t there for quite a bit of the time initially, he wasn’t there from Fresher’s Week, so it did take a bit of time for us to get to know each other.”
William, meanwhile, didn’t recall their first meeting, saying he had to “wrack his brains” to remember it.
In the beginning, William and Kate were nothing more than really close friends. However, as the years at university went by, things became more serious.
The two eventually started dating. Reportedly, it all began at a student fashion show. As reported by Insider, Kate caught William’s eye with an outfit that cost only $40.
According to the documentary, The Day Will and Kate Got Married, which aired in April of 2021, that specific outfit changed everything.
“A switch had been flicked, he suddenly saw her in a different light, and I really believe that was the turning point in their relationship,” Katie Nicholl, Vanity Fair’s royal correspondent, said in the documentary.
They fell deeply in love. Though the outfit Kate wore was very special to him, William explained that everything changed as soon as they started hanging out.
“We were friends for over a year first and it just sort of blossomed from then on,” William told The Telegraph. “We just spent more time with each other and had a good giggle, and realized we shared the same interests.”
William and Kate spent a lot of time together getting to know each other at university. In 2005 both of them graduated: Kate Middleton earned a degree in art history; William in geography.