Early life and family

Catherine was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on 9 January 1982 and christened at St Andrew's Bradfield, Berkshire on 20 June 1982.[3][4]:32 She is the eldest of three children born to Carole Elizabeth Middleton (née Goldsmith), a former flight attendant and now part-owner of Party Pieces, a private company with an estimated worth of £30 million,[5] and Michael Francis Middleton, who also worked as a flight attendant prior to becoming a flight dispatcher for British Airways, currently also an owner of Party Pieces. Her parents married on 21 June 1980, at the Parish Church of Dorney, Buckinghamshire,[6] and in 1987, founded Party Pieces, a mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations.[7][8] Catherine has a sister, Philippa Charlotte, known as "Pippa" (born 1983),[9][10] and a brother, James Middleton (born 1987).[9][11] The family has complained about press harassment of Pippa and their mother since Catherine's engagement.[12]
Catherine's paternal family came from Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, and her great-grandmother Olivia was a member of the Lupton family, who were active for generations in Leeds in commercial and municipal work.[13] Her ancestors include The Rev. Thomas Davis, a Church of England hymn-writer.[14][15][16][17] Carole Middleton's maternal family, the Harrisons, were working class labourers and miners from Sunderland and County Durham.[18]
Catherine's parents were based in Amman, Jordan, working for British Airways from May 1984, to September 1986, where Catherine went to an English language nursery school,[19] before returning to their home in Berkshire.[20] After her return from Amman, Catherine was educated at St Andrew's School near the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire, then briefly at Downe House.[21] She continued her studies at Marlborough College, a co-educational independent boarding school in Wiltshire,[22] followed by the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland where she met William. She graduated with an MA (2:1 Hons) in the History of Art.[23]