Kate Middleton: 8 Frequently Asked Questions About the Future Queen, Answered
Asked and answered. We’ve rounded up some frequently asked questions about Kate Middleton. Since marrying Prince William in 2011, the 42-year-old has firmly established herself as a star in the British royal family.
1. How did Kate and Prince William meet?
The Prince and Princess of Wales met as students at Scotland’s University of St Andrews in the fall of 2001. They lived in the same dorm, had some of the same classes, and even ate breakfast together as a friendship blossomed.
William and Kate later lived in an off-campus apartment with two friends when their relationship turned romantic. (A sheer dress for a fashion show also played a part.) They graduated in 2005, and briefly broke up in 2007 before getting back together, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
2. What was Kate Middleton’s degree?
Although she’s now a full-time working royal, Kate graduated from college with an art history degree. Fun fact: Initially, art history was also William’s major but he later changed it and got a degree in geography.
3. How old was Kate when she married William?
Born on Jan. 9, 1982, Kate was 29 when she married William on April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey in London, England. Their five-month age gap meant William, whose birthday is on June 21, 1982, was 28 at the time.
4. When did William and Kate get engaged?
They got engaged in October 2010 on a trip to Kenya. Kate called William’s proposal a “total shock” in their November 2010 engagement interview because they’d been traveling with friends (via Mirror).
William proposed with the sapphire and diamond ring that once belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana, after carrying it in his backpack for about three weeks. “I literally would not let it go,” William said.
5. How many siblings does Kate Middleton have?
Kate is the oldest of three siblings born to parents Carole and Michael Middleton. She has one sister, Pippa Middleton, 41, and a brother, James Middleton, 37.
Known to be close to her family, Kate doesn’t live very far from her parents and siblings. Carole and Michael still live in the Middleton family home where Kate, Pippa, and James grew up in Bucklebury, a small town in Berkshire, England. Pippa and James also live in the same town.
As for Kate, she and William live in Windsor, England, approximately a 45-minute drive from Bucklebury, at Adelaide Cottage with their three kids.
6. What’s Kate Middleton’s legal name and official title?
When Kate married William in 2011, she became the Duchess of Cambridge. Together, she and William were known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge until King Charles III took the throne in September 2022.
The king then passed his former title, Prince of Wales, on to William and the Princess of Wales title, last held by Diana, on to Kate. So, they’re formally known as the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Kate was born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton. After going by Kate as a child and young adult, she switched to her full name, Catherine, as she got closer to officially joining the royal family. (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle still call her Kate which is reportedly a sore subject for William.)
7. How many children do Kate and William have?
The couple are parents of three children. William and Kate first became parents in July 2013 with the birth of their oldest son—and the heir to the throne—Prince George, who is now 11.
Two years later in May 2015, they welcomed a now-9-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, followed by another son, Prince Louis, 6, in April 2018.
8. What kind of cancer does Kate have?
This one has no answer because Kate never revealed the type of cancer she was diagnosed with following abdominal surgery in January 2024. She underwent preventative chemotherapy in in the spring and summer before announcing she’d completed treatment and was “cancer free” in September 2024.
