The Princess of Wales this week launched her new early childhood campaign which aims to “give generations of children the best start in life”.
And while Kate Middleton, 41, promotes her Shaping Us campaign about the importance of a child’s first five years, FEMAIL looks back on her own formative years.
Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born on January 9, 1982 to Carole and Michael Middleton at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.
She has previously revealed that she had a “very happy” childhood, living in Jordan for a number of years where she studied Arabic alongside her siblings Pippa and James.
The family moved back to Berkshire, where athletic Kate had excelled at 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; Sister Pippa, 39, was born in September 1983 while younger brother James, 35, arrived in April 1987.
The king on Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast in 2020 said: “I had a very happy childhood.
“It was great fun and I’m very lucky to come from a very strong family. My parents were very dedicated.’
The Middletons’ home was a small semi-detached house in the village of Bradfield Southend until the family moved to Amman, Jordan, when he was two years old, where Michael, 73, worked as a British Airways manager for two and a half years.
Kate attended Assahera Kindergarten in Amman from the age of three. She told Giovanna: “Now as a parent I really appreciate how much they sacrificed for us.
“They came to every sports game, they were the ones on the sidelines who yelled and we always took our family holidays together.”
The family lived in a two-story rented villa near a park and the nursery where Kate attended.
Kate attended kindergarten with around twelve other children, aged between three and five, all from different countries including the UK, Jordan, Japan and America.
The children learned both English and Arabic and celebrated Christmas and Ramadan every year.
Here Kate is pictured as a young child in kindergarten in Jordan with her sister Pippa. When she was two years old, her family moved to Amman because of her father’s job
A source close to the family told the Mail: “Jordan has been a very happy time for all of them.”
But Mr Middleton often had to wave goodbye to his wife and little girls as they flew back to the UK, where they still owned a red brick home in Bradfield Southend, Berkshire.
In September 1986 the family returned to their West Berkshire home and the future royal began at St Andrew’s School in Pangbourne, where she remained until July 1995.
In addition to being devoted to her classes and sports, the princess was also passionate about arts and crafts, cooking and gardening.
She told the 2020 podcast, “I remember my amazing grandma dedicating so much time to us from childhood.
Kate (front row, C) is pictured in a photograph of the ice hockey team during her time as a student at St Andrew’s School in Pangbourne
Kate has often spoken about how much she loved her childhood and the love and joy her parents brought to her and her siblings. She is pictured here as a baby with her mother, Carole Middleton
“Playing, doing handicrafts, cooking, gardening. I try to incorporate that into experiences that I now give to my children.
“Even environments where they divide their time – a happy home in a safe environment.”
In 1990, Kate and Pippa both joined the local brownies club, where they went on field trips, played sports, did crafts, and earned badges.
While at St Andrew’s Prep it, Kate turned to sport and expressed an interest in theater by taking on the role of 11-year-old Eliza Doolittle in the school’s production of My Fair Lady.
Kate has spoken of loving her time at her £16,950-a-year school and even attended St Andrew’s in November 2012.
Something of a star student, the future royal thrived at St Andrew’s Prep, where she won awards in both sport and music.
Michael Middleton with his daughters Kate and Pippa in Jordan, where the family lived between 1984 and 1986
According to a classmate, Kate thrived in the school’s close-knit, family atmosphere.
There was also the U12/13 all-round team, for which Kate – listed under her full name Catherine Middleton – was named top scorer of the season.
She was also an avid swimmer and athlete. On sports day, she won the U12/13 over 200m in 31.24 seconds and set records of 4.14m and 1.39m in both the long jump and high jump.
On the day of the award ceremony, her skills were rewarded with the Calvert Cup for all-rounders and the Leslie Cup for outstanding overall athletic performance by a girl.
Kate attended St Andrew’s Prep School in Berkshire from 1986, when her family returned to the UK, until 1995
Kate was also the captain of the school’s hockey team and an avid tennis player.
In recent years, the Princess of Wales has reunited with two of her teachers from St Andrew’s; Denise Evans-Allford was the Duchess’ PE teacher while Kevin Allford taught her French and German.
Mr Allford told the Press Association that Kate was a “hard worker and very conscientious”.
He added: “Obviously she was the same in sport. She was a great athlete and swimmer. I used to be the swimmer and she was very, very good, just like her sister.”
The future king 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 her uncle Gary Goldsmith’s wedding in 1991
The Princess of Wales was only at the school for two terms after revealing she was being teased by other girls.
As a day girl, not a boarder, she was a minority in the clique environment of an all-girls school, one understands.
And former students say her reserved demeanor and lanky looks have made her an easy duck for more assertive classmates.
The revelations precede a book that claims to open the lid on why Miss Middleton’s parents withdrew her from Downe House, where fees are £10,000 a term.
Kate (front row, L) is pictured in a Rounders team photo during her time as a student 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 of growing up, of establishing a pecking order.
“Girls are naturally clique and they can be quite cruel … You can sense those who are a little weaker or 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 unsettled and not particularly happy. Maybe in Kate’s case she just went quiet and didn’t say anything.”
The Princess of Wales revisited her old school, St Andrew’s Prep, in 2012. A former ice hockey team captain, she tried out the sport
The Princess of Wales then enrolled at the co-ed boarding school Marlborough College in Wiltshire in 1996, where she studied chemistry, biology and art at A level.
Kate thrived at Marlborough College between 1996 and 2000, making many friends and joining the hockey team later joined by her sister Pippa.
The Queen enjoyed her time at Marlborough College, where she remained until she was 18, before attending St Andrew’s University, where she met Prince William.
This week, the Princess of Wales promoted her Shaping Us early years campaign, which aims to increase public understanding of the crucial importance of a child’s first five years.
Princess of Wales here at Leeds Kirkgate Market on a visit to the city to raise awareness of the unique importance of early childhood
The campaign, run by the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, aims to “move the issue from a scientific interest to one of the most strategic issues of our time”.
Earlier this week she launched her new initiative, Shaping Us, which she described as her “life’s work”, with a glittering reception at BAFTA in London, before meeting with locals in Leeds on Tuesday to discuss the programme.
This is a long-term project for the princess, beginning with a child’s development and the meaning of the formative years.
It will “explore more deeply the importance of a child’s social and emotional world” and the importance of relationships, environments and experiences.