How was the childhood of the Princess of Wales?
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The Princess of Wales launched her new early childhood campaign this week which aims to “give generations of children the best start in life”.
And as Kate Middleton, 41, promotes her Shaping Us campaign about the importance of the first five years of a child’s life, FEMAIL has looked back on its own formative years.
Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born to Carole and Michael Middleton at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on January 9, 1982.
He previously revealed that he had a “very happy” childhood, spending several years living in Jordan, where he learned Arabic, along with his siblings Pippa and James.
The family moved back to Berkshire, where the athletic Kate excelled in school; She eventually turned 18 and attended St Andrew’s University, where her life changed forever when she met Prince William.
As the Princess of Wales launches her new early childhood campaign which aims to “give generations of children the best start in life”, FEMAIL looks back on her childhood. Kate is pictured here as a child.
Kate is the eldest of three children; her sister Pippa, 39, was born in September 1983, while her younger brother James, 35, arrived in April 1987.
The royal on Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast in 2020 said: ‘I had a very happy childhood.
“It was a lot of fun and I am very lucky to come from a very strong family. My parents were very dedicated.
The Middletons’ home was a small terraced house in the village of Bradfield Southend until the age of two when the family moved to Amman in Jordan, where Michael, 73, worked for two and a half years as a manager for British Airways. .
From the age of three, Kate attended Assahera Nursery School in Amman. She told Giovanna: ‘I really appreciate now as a mother how much they sacrificed for us.
“They came to every sporting game, they were the ones shouting from the sidelines and we always spent family vacations together.”
The family lived in a rented two-story villa, near a park and the kindergarten where Kate attended.
Kate attended the nursery with around twelve other children between the ages of three and five, all coming from a variety of countries, including Great Britain, Jordan, Japan and the United States.
The children learned English and Arabic and celebrated Christmas and Ramadan every year.
Kate pictured here as a toddler at daycare in Jordan, with her sister Pippa. Her family moved to Amman when she was two years old because of her father’s job.
A source close to the family told the Mail: “Jordan was a very happy moment for everyone.”
But Mr Middleton often had to say goodbye to his wife and young daughters as they flew back to the UK, where they still owned a redbrick semi-trailer in Bradfield Southend, Berkshire.
In September 1986, the family returned to their home in West Berkshire, and the future royal began studying at St. Andrew’s School in Pangbourne, where she stayed until July 1995.
The princess was not only engaged in her lessons and sports, but was also passionate about arts and crafts, cooking, and gardening.
She told the 2020 podcast: ‘I remember from childhood, my amazing grandmother devoted so much time to us.
Kate (front row, centre) is featured in a hockey team photo during her time as a pupil at St Andrew’s School in Pangbourne
Kate has spoken often about how much she loved her childhood and the love and joy her parents brought her and her siblings. Here she is pictured as a baby with her mother, Carole Middleton.
‘Playing, crafting, cooking, gardening. I try to incorporate that into the experiences I give my children now.
“Also the environments in which they divide their time: having a happy home and a safe environment.”
In 1990, Kate and Pippa joined the local Brownies club where they hiked, played sports, sewed and earned badges.
During her time at St Andrew’s Prep, Kate took up sports and showed an interest in theatre, taking on the role of 11-year-old Eliza Doolittle in the school production of My Fair Lady.
Kate has spoken of loving her time at her £16,950 a year school, even visiting St. Andrew’s in November 2012.
Something of a star pupil, the future royal thrived at St Andrew’s Prep, where she won prizes in both sport and music.
Michael Middleton with his daughters Kate and Pippa in Jordan, where the family lived from 1984 to 1986
According to a fellow student, Kate thrived in the close-knit family atmosphere at school.
There was also the Under 12/13 rounds team for which Kate, listed under her full name Catherine Middleton, was named the season’s leading scorer.
She was also a great swimmer and athlete. On sports day she won the 200m Under 12/13 in 31.24 seconds and set records in both the long jump and high jump of 4.14 meters and 1.39 meters respectively.
On the day of the awards show, her prowess was rewarded with the Calvert Cup for rounders and the Leslie Cup for outstanding overall sporting achievement for a girl.
Kate attended St Andrew’s Prep in Berkshire from 1986, when her family returned to the UK, until 1995.
Kate was also captain of the school hockey team and a great tennis player.
In recent years, the Princess of Wales has met two of her teachers from St Andrew’s; Denise Evans-Allford was the Duchess’s physical education teacher, while Kevin Allford taught her French and German.
Allford told the Press Association that Kate was a “very conscientious and hard worker.”
He added: ‘Obviously, she was the same in sport. She was a tremendous athlete and swimmer. I was in charge of swimming and she was very, very good, just like her sister.’
The future royal had a brief stint at Downe House, an all-girls boarding school in Berkshire.
Kate (left) with her younger sister Pippa (left) as bridesmaids at their uncle Gary Goldsmith’s wedding in 1991
The Princess of Wales was in school for just two terms after revealing she was picked on by other girls.
As a day girl, not a boarder, she was outnumbered in the clique environment of a girls’ school, you understand.
And alumni say her reticent manner and gangly appearance made her easy prey for more assertive classmates.
The revelations come ahead of a book that purports to reveal why Miss Middleton’s parents removed her from Downe House, where the fee is £10,000 per quarter.
Kate (front row, left) is pictured in a rounders team photo during her time as a pupil at St Andrew’s School in Pangbourne
Susan Cameron, who ran Downe House for seven years, told The Mail On Sunday: ‘Yes, there would be teasing.
It’s all part of the normal competition to grow, to establish a pecking order.
“Girls are cliques by nature and can be quite cruel… They can sense those who are a bit weaker, or who haven’t shown their strengths yet, and it’s those girls who are likely to end up being teased or teased.
“I think it’s fair to say that she was restless and not particularly happy. Maybe in Kate’s case, she just kept quiet and didn’t say anything.
The Princess of Wales revisiting her old school St Andrew’s Prep in 2012. As a former captain of the hockey team, she gave the sport a chance.
The Princess of Wales then enrolled at Marlborough College co-educational boarding school in Wiltshire in 1996, where she studied A-level Chemistry, Biology and Art.
Kate thrived at Marlborough College between 1996 and 2000, making many friends and joining the hockey team, which her sister Pippa later joined.
The royals enjoyed their time at Marlborough College, where they remained until the age of 18, before attending St. Andrew’s University, where they met Prince William.
This week, the Princess of Wales has been promoting her Shaping Us Early Years campaign, which aims to increase public understanding of the crucial importance of the first five years of a child’s life.
The Princess of Wales pictured here at Leeds Kirkgate Market, during a visit to the city to raise awareness of the unique importance of early childhood.
Led by The Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, the campaign seeks to “transform the issue of scientific interest into one of the most strategically important issues of our time.”
Earlier this week, he launched his new ‘Shaping Us’ initiative, which he described as his ‘life’s work’ to a glitzy reception at BAFTA in London, before meeting locals in Leeds to discuss the scheme on Tuesday.
This is a long-term project for the princess, beginning with a child’s development and the importance of the formative years.
‘You will further explore the importance of a child’s social and emotional world’ and the meaning of relationships, environment and experiences.