KATE MIDDLETON. First woman since Lady Diana bore the title of Princess of Wales and still very popular with the British, will Kate Middleton be up to it?
[Mis à jour le 13 septembre 2022 à 15h44] Kate Middleton is the new Princess of Wales. A title intimately linked to Lady Diana, the last to have worn it until the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The death of the sovereign has pushed Prince William on the first step in the order of succession to the throne of England, a place which is accompanied by a waltz of royal titles including the prestigious Prince and Princess of Wales. If the wife of King Charles III and now Queen consort Camilla had renounced this title for fear of the reaction of the British towards her, the new qualification of Kate Middleton, known as “perfect Kate”, to the title appeared very naturally to the Commonwealth subjects.
A tour de force for the one who appears to be the most popular member of the royal family, just after the late queen, in a YouGov poll of the second quarter of 2022. Kate Middleton is even more popular than her husband, Prince William, third in the hearts of the British according to the same study. A popularity that has always enjoyed and is maintained by the Princess of Wales having found her place and playing the composition of the “Firm” – nickname given to the royal family – without false note. Discreet and with many princely commitments alongside her husband, Kate Middleton will have to hold this role for a long time still without disappointing but with more responsibilities. A task that could only be a formality for the one who will be called upon to become queen consort when Prince William succeeds his father, King Charles III, on the throne. This moment should not come immediately, however Kate Middleton could already overshadow Camilla who, after twenty years spent on the arm of Prince Charles, still bears the scars of the “Wales War”.
Kate Middleton is however one of the protagonists of the cold war between prince William and prince Harry and his former relations with his sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, have not always been courteous according to the words of the two women. But here again the Princess of Wales is doing well with the British, as evidenced by the images of the couple’s joint outing in front of Windsor Castle on September 10. While Kate Middleton was expected by almost everyone, Meghan Markle was at times shunned by people who came to pay tribute to Elizabeth II.
Kate Middleton’s absence noticed at Balmoral
Much loved by the British, Kate Middleton was able to surprise more than one when she did not go to Balmoral on September 8 to be at the bedside of Queen Elizabeth II during her last moments. Prince William did indeed travel to Scotland alone, but the Princess of Wales has a good excuse for staying in Windsor: the royal couple’s three children were returning home that day. Kate Middleton therefore played her role as a mother by staying with Georges (9 years old), Charlotte (7 years old) and Louis (4 years old). The Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge, however, found the arm of her husband Prince William during the first moments of mourning in London.
The absence of Kate Middleton in Scotland was all the more surprising as she and her husband had already become closer to the sovereign in recent months. In particular, they left their residence at Kensington Palace in London in favor of a cottage located in the Windsor estate where the queen had taken up residence before going to the Scottish castle of Balmoral for her traditional summer residence.
Biography of Kate Middleton
Catherine “Kate” Middleton was born on January 9, 1982 in Berkshire. Daughter of Michael and Carole Middleton, a couple who made their fortune with a company selling party accessories, “Kate” is the eldest and has a sister Philippa, known as “Pippa” born in 1983 and a brother, James born in 1987. Her destiny turns at the turn of the 2000s when she meets Prince William, heir to the British crown, at the Scottish University of Saint Andrews. Married since 2010, the couple have had three children and embody both the tradition of the monarchy and a certain dose of modernity, which make Kate and William very popular personalities with the British despite the conflict between them and the Harry couple ( William’s younger brother) and Meghan Markle.
His meeting with Prince William
Kate Middleton joined the prestigious University of Saint Andrews in Scotland in the early 2000s. It is there that she meets Prince William, whom she quickly dates with living together in a roommate with three other friends. Their relationship was revealed by the English tabloids in 2003 and they lived together in Saint-Andrews until 2006, when their university course ended. After a brief separation in 2007, the couple’s engagement was officially announced on November 16, 2010, a month after a vacation in Kenya. The engagement of the future king of England according to the protocol made the front page of the English press, especially as Kate displayed in the following days the engagement ring of Diana, the mother of William who died in Paris in 1997.
The wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William
It was in front of 2 billion viewers that the couple married on April 29, 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Images of a jubilant crowd outside the balcony of Buckingham Palace and in the streets of London have gone around the world. At the same time, the couple received the titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The children of Kate Middleton and Prince William
Kate Middleton and Prince William had three children, George born on July 22, 2013, Charlotte born on May 2, 2015 and Louis born on April 23, 2018. In the order of succession to the throne, it is George who is logically called to reign one day, after his grandfather Charles and his father William. The couple and their children settled in Kensington Palace in London, a residence which they left in 2022 for a cottage located on the Windsor estate, near the privileged residence of Queen Elizabeth II.