Striking, private, and almost royal: Kate's Story
(Agencies)
2010-11-18 10:15
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Middleton, 28, now describes that as an unhappy time, but she did not sit home and mope. She was photographed partying in a thigh-skimming mini-dress with friends and devoted time to training for a challenging charity rowboat race.
The couple soon reunited — and have spent as much time together as possible since, although William has been busy with his military training, which often keeps him away for weeks at a time.
Now that their relationship is back on track — and her entry into the royal inner circle assured — Middleton's family background is coming under increased scrutiny.
She is a commoner who does not come from the highest segment of British aristocracy, where birth has been rewarded with great wealth for generations. But Middleton's parents have made millions from their party supply business, Party Pieces.
They live in Bucklebury, a pleasant village that is part suburbia and part rural England, where most of the ample houses are obscured by high hedges. It is a place where many drive Range Rovers — at about $100,000 a pop — to make it easier to ford the dirt roads when they occasionally flood.
Middleton, an avid sportswoman who likes to ski and hike, is popular there, mostly because she has not put on airs since getting close to William.
Local resident Brian Ward said Middleton is ready for her new role.
"She is well suited," he said. "Lots of people round here know her very well because she is a very ordinary girl and she goes down the local pub. Our cricket team used to use the pub down there as their base in the season, and on a Sunday she'd be in there and she'd talk to us as she would anyone else. No one would ever know who she was."