Prince William and Kate Middleton have had quite a calm summer. The couple, alongside their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, have had a few weeks off. The royal couple usually has a hectic schedule, but this year, they decided to block it off to focus on quality time with their children.
The last year has been full of ups and downs for the royal family, not least because of Queen Elizabeth’s passing. But despite this, Kate Middleton has far fewer worries about her life as a royal compared to the life she lived before she and William met while studying at the university.
Kate’s parents were once wealthy from a successful business. But as we all know, money doesn’t buy happiness. When the Princess of Wales was young, she was bullied and pranked by her classmates and even switched schools. However, the pranking didn’t stop. And just before Kate headed off to the university, a prank from one of her co-workers left her mortified and embarrassed.
Kate Middleton has become one of the most popular royal family members among the public, if not the most popular one. While she continues with her passionate projects, patronages to highlight mental health, and meeting people nationwide with a big smile, her life has not always been that easy.
Kate Middleton was bullied during her early school years
When the princess grew up and was attending school, she was bullied.
Kate Middleton first enrolled at the all-girls boarding school Downe House, which was meant to be a significant step towards learning everything she needed for adult life. However, it turned out that the school – which her parents Carole and Michael reportedly paid around 28,000 pounds in tuition for – became a nightmare for Kate.
The young girl studied at the school during the day but didn’t stay there full-time, meaning she never had the chance to lodge with other students. Bonding with them was made more complex as a result, and Kate was even bullied.
A friend at a later school, Gemma Williamson, previously told the Daily Mail: “Apparently, she had been bullied very badly, and she certainly looked thin and pale. She had very little confidence.”
Kate was only 13 when she started school at Downe House in Berkshire. Every girl was a high achiever, and according to Kate’s former classmate Emma Sayle, the princess hated that her school was “cliquey.”
“It is a very cliquey school, and there was a lot of pressure,” she told RSVP Live, as quoted by Express.
“The girls were all high achievers, and there were lots of girls with eating disorders. Everyone wanted to be the best, the fittest, the prettiest. I think Kate was miserable from the start.”
“Being especially slender and a head taller than her peers, she stood out for the wrong reasons and was teased for being gangly and lanky,” royal expert Katie Nicholl added.
“Kate found she was out of her league”
The fact that Kate started at the school two years after her peers added to the fact that she didn’t ‘live’, and was a significant factor in why Kate was poorly treated, according to former Downe House student Georgina Rylance.
“It does make a difference going from eleven,” another former Downe House student, Georgina Rylance, told the Sunday Times, as per royal expert Katie Nicholl. “You have two years of bonding, your first time away all together. Even some of the most popular girls in my school had a hard time when they came in at thirteen.”
In her book Kate: The Future Queen, Nicholl gives another insight into Kate’s tough time at Downe House and the toxic environment which was her everyday life.
As a kid, she was a great hockey player. However, her school only offered lacrosse. Kate had never played lacrosse in her entire life. Sadly, despite having the courage to try out, she didn’t make the school team.
“Even when it came to sports, where she should have excelled, Kate found she was out of her league,” Nicholl wrote. “The predominant game at Downe House was lacrosse, which she had never played, and there was no hockey on the curriculum.”
According to Kate’s old headmistress, Susan Cameron, the fact that Kate blew the tryout was a “crushing disappointment” for the young girl.
Eventually, Kate decided to tell her parents about everything she had endured and the bullying that took place.
Even then, some claimed that Kate was “too sensitive.” Susan Cameron, then headmistress of the school, said she may well have felt like a fish out of water or “unhappily not in the right place.”
Kate Middleton transferred to another school – it changed everything
“Certainly, I have no knowledge of any serious bullying at all. But there’s what everyone calls bullying, and there’s actual, real, miserable bullying where someone had a dreadful time,” Cameron told the Mirror.
“That certainly didn’t happen. Yes, there would be teasing. It’s all a part of the normal competition of growing up, of establishing a pecking order,” she continued.
“Girls are cliquey by nature, and they can be rather cruel. If you’re attractive, too, that can be seen as a threat. They can sense those who are slightly weaker or who haven’t shown their strengths yet, and it’s those girls who are likely to end up being picked on or teased.”
“I think it’s fair to say she was unsettled and not particularly happy. Maybe in Catherine’s case, she just kind of went quiet and didn’t say anything,” the former headmistress continued, later saying that if Kate had been badly bullied, she wouldn’t be the woman she is today.
Ultimately, Kate Middleton ended up leaving and moving to another school. Marlborough College – with a tuition of 12,000 pounds a year – became her new home in 1996. The then-future princess thrived there, and this was also the place where she met her first boyfriend.
Upon returning from the summer break when she was 16, it appeared that many things had changed for Kate. She had impressed many by being great at hockey and cross-country running. According to her former classmate Gemma Williamson, “every boy in the school” fancied her as she had become “an absolute beauty.”
Kate Middleton’s final summer job
Her former teacher, Denise Alford, said that a significant change in her appearance occurred after the removal of her braces.
“Pippa was a tomboy but Kate had lost her braces and looked stunning,” Alford told the Daily Mail. “She was apparently top of the ‘Fit List’ which boys would sometimes pin on the walls. Kate’s confidence grew.”
Kate attended Marlborough College – which housed about 930 pupils – between 1996 and 2000. Afterward, she decided to enroll at St Andrew’s University, and we all know what was fated to happen there. She met her real-life prince – and today, Katee Middleton is the future queen.
While life certainly took a very different path for Kate when she met William, the summer before attending St Andrews meant work, as for many others.
The then-future princess had to make money for herself and worked as a deckhand on a Challenger yacht based in Southampton. In her book, Kate: The Future Queen, author Katie Nicholl wrote about Kate’s stint at the fleet of yachts.
According to one of the skippers, Cal Tomlinson, who worked with Kate, the princess was “very professional” and “confident but very assuming.” Moreover, Tomlinson said that Kate always “mucked in.”
While Kate Middleton was a hard-working deckhand at the yachts, a summer job must include plenty of fun. She and her colleagues had a great time – but it turned out that they also enjoyed pranking Kate at her expense.
Became the victim of cruel condom prank
One of Kate’s duties was giving the passengers a safety demonstration before entering the yacht, including how the life jackets worked.
But one time that was about to go down, Kate’s colleagues played a prank on her. However, she, just like today, stayed professional.
“When she pulled the toggle, the thing inflated, and a load of condoms fell out,” Tomlinson recalled in Katie Nicholls’ book Kate: The Future Queen, as reported by the Mirror.
“She was mortified and very embarrassed. She took it more seriously than the others might have, but she wasn’t thrown off her stride.”
Tomlinson added, “She was angry at first, but she settled down, and I don’t remember her ever getting them back.”
Not unlike any other royal, Kate Middleton’s every step is being reported on. That also includes her outfits; in recent months, some have come under heavy criticism. But it hasn’t just been fashion experts who have criticized her – and other royals – outfits over the years. Even Kate’s father-in-law has had his doubts.
During her first-ever royal tour abroad with William, Kate and her husband wore cowboy hats, which, at that point, even left the then-prince Charles livid. But all and all, as Kate has become a dear family member, the now-King Charles has quite another view of her.
King Charles considers Kate Middleton as the ‘daughter he never had’
When Prince Harry was born, Charles was claimed to have told Diana that he wanted a daughter instead of another son. But as it stands today, the king not only has two sons – but also considers Kate the daughter he never had.
When Prince William and Kate Middleton joined Charles and Camilla at the premiere of the James Bond film No Time To Die, the public beautifully witnessed the excellent relationship between the king and Princess Kate.
Pictures of the two showed Charles greeting his daughter-in-law with a kiss on the cheek, and during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee earlier this year, another wonderful moment was caught by photographers.
As Kate and William arrived at St. Paul’s Cathedral for the thanksgiving service marking the Platinum Jubilee, the couple greeted Charles and Camilla before taking their seats.
“It’s a delight”
When they walked towards each other, Charles blew Kate a kiss, which was adored by royal fans.
“There’s little doubt that Charles would have loved a daughter (he’s really quite a softie at heart) and it is said that he was disappointed when Harry turned out to be a boy,” former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK!.
“So, for King Charles it’s a delight that he gets on so well with Catherine. He made efforts with Meghan too… but that has obviously not worked out.”
Bond added, “He has watched Catherine grow into her role, find the causes she truly cares about, and has supported her endeavors. I think Charles admires and appreciates the solid family network [that] Catherine has created for William.”
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