She is married to William, Prince of Wales , heir apparent to the British throne. Born in Reading , Catherine grew up in Bucklebury , Berkshire. She was educated at St Andrew's School and Marlborough College before earning a degree in art history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where she met Prince William in and graduated in She held several jobs and pursued charity work before their engagement was announced in November The couple have three children: George , Charlotte , and Louis.
Following her marriage, Catherine has undertaken royal duties and commitments in support of the British monarch. She has represented the royal family on official overseas tours and has played a significant role in various charitable activities by undertaking projects through the Royal Foundation , with her charity work primarily focusing on issues surrounding early childhood care, addiction, and art.
To encourage people to discuss their mental health problems, she envisioned the mental health awareness campaign Heads Together, which she launched with her husband William and brother-in-law Harry in April Catherine's relationship with the media has been closely scrutinised, particularly regarding her efforts to maintain privacy amidst significant media attention and public interest.
The media have referred to her impact on British and American fashion as the "Kate Middleton effect". Time listed her as one of the most influential people in the world in , and Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born on 9 January at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading into an upper-middle-class family with ties to the landed gentry. She was baptised at St Andrew's Bradfield , a local parish church, on 20 June Middleton's family moved from Bradfield Southend , Berkshire, to Amman , Jordan , in May , where Catherine attended an English-language nursery school.
Despite being offered a place at the University of Edinburgh , [ 35 ] Middleton took a gap year , studying at the British Institute of Florence in Italy and travelling to Chile to participate in a Raleigh International programme. After her graduation, Middleton and her family faced intensive tabloid press scrutiny due to her relationship with William. Middleton and William became engaged in October , at a remote alpine cabin on Mount Kenya [ 65 ] during a ten-day trip to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to celebrate the prince's passing the RAF helicopter search and rescue course.
