Prince William and Kate Middleton Read online

  Title Page

  PRINCE WILLIAM

  and

  KATE MIDDLETON

  By

  Chris Peacock

  Publisher Information

  This electronic version published in 2011 by

  Andrews UK Limited

  www.andrewsuk.com

  This edited version, including layout, typography, additions to text, cover artwork and other unique factors is copyright Andrews UK 2010. No part of this digital publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission of the copyright owner.

  Copyright © Chris Peacock

  Cover Design by Nick Tiseo

  The opinions in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

  The right of Chris Peacock to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All images used in this work are believed to be either in the public domain, or available for use under a creative commons license. Credit for images has been given where required. However if you are the rights owner of any images featured and have not received suitable credit, please contact the publisher for a correction.

  Although extensively researched, this book is based on information sources and news articles from across the world. The author is happy to correct any factual inaccuracies or credit information sources if requested.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you, as always, to everyone who has made this book possible - His Royal Highness Prince William and Kate Middleton, of course, but also my friends and family who have kept me sane during the long, arduous hours of research and writing.

  I’d like to say a special thank you to my publisher, Andrews UK, who I believe are truly forward-thinking in their approach to publishing in the modern, digital age. If you have written a book, why not send it to them for consideration!

  Other people who deserve a notable mention include Redonculous, ‘Kid’, Angel, Maximus Hobbs and Kiwi. Thank you all for being great.

  Prince William

  Image courtesy of Robert Payne

  Kate Middleton

  Image courtesy of Nick Warner

  The Birth of a King

  At three minutes past nine o’clock pm on the 21st June 1982, William Arthur Philip Louis of the House of Windsor was born into the best known royal family in the world. His mother, Princess Diana endured a sixteen-hour labour to give birth to a healthy seven-pound one ounce baby. So was to begin the life of one of the most popular royals of modern times.

  Not only did crowds gather outside St. Mary’s hospital in London, but also thousands of people clustered around Buckingham Palace to hear the announcement that a future King had been born. Interestingly, William was the first heir to the British throne ever to have been born in a hospital!

  The next day, schools called special assemblies to announce the birth, and the British national anthem – God Save the Queen (as the ruling monarch was, and still is at the time of writing, Queen Elizabeth the Second) – was sung around the country.

  The birth meant that William was second in line to the throne, behind his father, Prince Charles (Charles, Prince of Wales). In fact, William is the heir to the thrones of no less than sixteen independent states: The United Kingdom (of course), but also Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, The Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. The high proportion of Caribbean territories in this list is a hint to the expanse of the British Empire in times gone by.

  Buckingham Palace

  Many will know that royal families (and other ruling classes) across the world are often related. William, when crowned King, will be the first monarch since Queen Anne to be descended from Charles I (the British king who was executed after the English Civil War against Oliver Cromwell’s forces). This ancestry comes from his mother’s side – The Spencers (as in Lady Diana Spencer) are also distantly related to several American presidents and British Prime Ministers.

  William is even descended from Kind Harold (Harold Godwinson), the King who died (an arrow in the eye some say) at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Although the ruling houses of England have changed a number of times in the last thousand years or so, this ancient royal bloodline is traced right through to the modern day.

  Prince William’s Coat of Arms

  Since the day he was born, the public have been fascinated by Prince William. How would he grow up? Would he resemble his mother or his father? How would he cope with the pressures of modern royalty in the celebrity era? What would he do as a career whilst waiting to inherit the throne?

  Time, of course, would tell. One of the first major events of his life was his baptism into the Church of England (of which, when King, he will be the Supreme Governor). This happened in the music room at Buckingham palace, and was carried out by Robert Runcie, the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time.

  William’s birth was commemorated in many different ways, from the usual British fare such as mugs, teatowels and plates through to the Royal William Rose, a flower introduced a few months after he was born.

  A quick search of eBay for ‘Prince William Birth’ will demonstrate to the reader just how many items were produced – thimbles, goblets, miniature bells, spoons – a whole host of memorabilia to show just how popular this future King was from day one.

  Kate Middleton

  Kate Middleton was actually christened Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, and was born before Prince William on the 9th January 1982. She was born at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, and is the oldest of three children.

  On her father’s side, she is descended from the Lupton family, well known in Leeds for generations in commercial and municipal work. It may be a surprise to some to learn that her maternal family were working-class labourers and miners. Most, however, welcome this fact as proof that the royal family has accepted that the elitist relationship forming of old (including – to a certain extent – some forms of arranged marriages) is a thing of the past, and the world is very different today.

  The Royal Berkshire Hospital

  Image Courtesy of Sue Wallace

  A Royal Education

  William’s has been educated throughout his life at independent schools, his first being Jane Mynors’ nursey school which he went to for one year, first when aged three. During his time there he acted in two plays (which his parents attended), and even sang a musical solo.

  At the age of four, he transferred to Wetherby School, a school for boys in Notting Hill in West London. Wetherby is known as a ‘pre-prep’ school (pre-preparatory), the sequence of independent schooling in England being nursery -> pre-prep -> prep school -> public school.

  During his time at Wetherby (a white stucco double-fronted Victorian building in the Italianate style so favoured of the Notting Hill area), William was noted to have a flair for English and Spelling. He was also praised for his swimming abilities, and entered the school gala, which was held every March. In his last year at the school (when he was seven), William won the Grunfield Cup, given to the one boy who displayed the best overall swimming style. Again, his singing talents were also on show, as he took part in the Christmas concert each year he was there, and showed his thespian skills in the school play in his final year.

  Ludgrove school in Berkshire was his next port
of call, which William attended for five years (from September 1990 until July 1995). One of the most notable events during his time there was when he was hit on the side of the head by a golf club in an accident on the school’s putting green. Prince William was rushed by ambulance to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London (possibly the most famous children’s hospital in the world), where he underwent an operation. It turned out that William had suffered a depressed fracture of the forehead – but was not knocked out at the time of the accident!

  In his time at Ludgrove, William proved himself to be a strong budding sportsman. He picked up his love of football here (William supports the English Premier League team Aston Villa, known as the ‘Claret and Blues’), as well as demonstrating his continuing abilities in swimming, and trying his hand at basketball and cross-country running. He also took part in the father-and-son Clay Pigeon shooting competition with Prince Charles, and the mother-and-son tennis competition with Princess Diana.

  A View of Eton College

  In September 1995, William started at the World Famous Eton College (most often known as just ‘Eton’). Eton was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI, and was originally known as ‘The King’s College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor’ – of course, Eton is a stone’s throw from the royal residence of Windsor Castle.

  Eton is often referred to as ‘the chief nurse of England’s statesmen’, and is classed by the Good Schools Guide as ‘the number one boys’ public school’. Royalty from across the world have been educated at Eton for generations, as well as well-known figures from England’s current Prime Minister David Cameron to James Bond creator Ian Fleming. The list of famous Alumni has not just one but multiple pages on the well-known website Wikipedia, demonstrating just how good an education Eton gives to its pupils. An education, of course, fit for a king.

  Eton Quadrangle

  Image courtesy of jtriefen

  Despite the school’s history, the royal family had a tradition of placing royal children in Gordonstoun shool (where William’s father, grandfather, two uncles and two cousins attended). However, Diana’s father and brother had both attended Eton, so there was still some tradition followed!

  Unusually for the British press (with their worldwide reputation for not always ‘playing by the rules’), an agreement was made that William could study free of intrusion from the paparazzi in exchange for regular updates from the royal family regarding his life and progress. The head of the Press Complaints commission said at the time ‘Prince William is not an institution; nor a soap star; nor a football hero. He is a child: in the next few years, perhaps the most important and sometimes painful part of his life, he will grow up and become a man’.

  Eton College Chapel

  Image courtesy of Herry Lawford

  Once again, at Eton William showed himself to be an excellent sportsman. He captained his house football team, and took up water polo. In addition to this responsibility, he was also joint Captain (at Eton known as ‘keeper’) of Swimming, House Captain of Games, and (in his final year) House Captain.

  William was also one of twenty-one prefects, which as Eton is known as being in ‘Pop’. He acted on stage, including taking a part in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, which was watched in 1998 by The Queen and her husband The Duke of Edinburgh.

  William showed a sensitivity to others from an early age. When he was fourteen, he asked his parents not to attend the most important day of the school’s calendar – the Fourth of June celebrations – as he believed that their presence, and that of their bodyguards (and possibly the invited press) would spoil this ‘parents’ day’ for his peers. William’s parents accepted his request, and his ‘unofficial nanny’, Tiggy Legge-Bourke attended in their place.

  William was also appointed secretary of the Agricultural club, and even received Eton’s Sword of Honour, the school’s highest award for a first-year army cadet (children at public schools in England are often introduced to cadetship in the armed forces during their school years). He was also the fastest junior swimmer at Eton in ten years.

  Princess Diana was noted as saying ‘My boy’s got a good brain, considering how hopeless both his parents were’. William gained a total of twelve GCSE passes (three even taken a year early), including top marks in English, History and Languages. One wonders how much he had to learn about his own ancestors in his history studies!

  William chose to study Geography, English and History of Art at A Level, choices that would define his further education at university, and of course shape his adult life.

  Kate Middleton

  Kate attended St. Andrew’s school in the picturesque town of Pangbourne in Berkshire, and briefly attended Downe House school. Her public school of choice was Marlborough College in Wiltshire – a co-educational establishment (both boys and girls) as opposed to Eton’s boys only rule.

  At school, Kate was described as level-headed, popular and talented. One of her former classmates said she was ‘an absolutely phenomenal girl – really popular, talented, creative and sporty’. Just as Prince Williams’ sporting prowess was demonstrated throughout his education, so was Kate’s, with her captaining the school hockey team, and playing in the first pair at Tennis.

  Kate was also academically bright, described by a college master as ‘an A grade pupil across the board’.

  Bridge over River Thames in Pangbourne

  The Death of Diana

  It was during his time at Eton that the shocking event of Princess Diana’s death made headline news worldwide – on the morning of the 31st August 1997.

  Princess Diana

  Despite internet theories of conspiracy, the sad facts of Diana’s death were that it was a tragic – if perhaps preventable – accident.

  The accident is generally accepted to be attributed to the driver, Henry Paul, who was over the drink-drive limit and lost control, and to the motorbike-riding pursuing paparazzi.

  At the time, William was staying at Balmoral Castle at the time with his brother, Prince Harry, and his father, Prince Charles. Charles waited until the morning to tell his sons of the accident, to which they must have been devastated.

  With Diana and Charles having separated in 1992, and divorced in 1996, the two young princes must have experienced some of the family heartache that children across the world feel when their parents are no longer in love. If one tiny element of positivity could come out of their situation in the early nineties, it would be that William would understand family issues more than a member of an elitist group who would never experience the issues that trouble people across the world. However, for her life to end so tragically short, one cannot begin to imagine the pain and grief this caused to her children, unless, perhaps, one has experienced the same.

  A huge, worldwide outpouring of grief was shown at Diana’s death. She had been immensely popular with people from every country across the world. People loved her elegance, intelligence, her work for charity (whether this was highlighting the problem of landmines in former warzones, or being pictured with children suffering from AIDS – at a time when public awareness and understanding of the illness was patchy at best).

  Many sites around the world became temporary memorials to Diana, the largest being outside the gates of Kensington Palace.

  Although most people felt terrible grief for Diana (the days following her death will be forever remembered as possibly the largest public outpouring of grief in history), for her two sons it must have been terrible.

  Princes William and Harry have barely spoken about the time of her mother’s death. Many will remember them walking behind the carriage containing her coffin at her funeral.

  However, more than ten years after her death, William accepted the responsibility of royal patron of the Child Bereavement charity (remember, he was only 15 at the time) – a charity to which Diana was closely linked during her lifetime.

  William said ‘lo
sing a close family member is one of the hardest experiences anyone can endure. Never being able to say the word ‘Mummy’ again in your life sounds like a small thing. However, for many, including me, it is now really just a word – hollow and evoking only memories.’

  It is certain that William’s life has been shaped – to a certain extent – by the tragedy of his mother’s death. He has always said that he will ‘never stop wondering’ about what happened in the tunnel where the car crashed, and one can only hope that – at some point – he will reach a certain nature of closure on the events.

  However, it can be assumed that William would from that day onwards have a real aversion to intrusion of the press, a distrust – if not hate – of the paparazzi, or at least those elements who hounded Diana in her last few weeks.

  Perhaps some things changed for the better after the events of 1997. For a while, at least, the press would keep to agreements respecting privacy, and across the world regulations came into effect regarding the nature of ‘celebrity’ and some definition given to public and private life.

  University Life

  After taking a gap year, in which he trained with the British Army in Belize and taught children in Chile, William enrolled at the University of St. Andrews in 2001. Initially he chose to study History of Art, and caused the number of applications to the university to swell considerably – a statistic put down to the number of females applying to the university in the hope to meet the Prince!