Kate Middleton might have been a “commoner” in technical terms, but before marrying into the most well known family in the world she led quite the lavish lifestyle.
Since becoming the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate has swapped the wild night out at Mahiki for state dinners and family tiaras, but how much family money did she have before marrying Prince William?
Kate might have replaced the high-street frocks and tops for Gucci blouses and Alexander McQueen coats but the Duchess grew up quite comfortably. In a highly televised global special, Kate married her prince at Westminster Abbey, in London on the 29 April 2011.
Kate was born into an upper-middle class family as the daughter of Michael and Carole Middleton, who had their own fortune.
Kate Middleton: Fortune before becoming a royal revealed
The 37-year-old mother of three – who gave birth to a second baby boy in April last year – was worth approximately £5 million – according to global wealth tracking firm Wealth-X – before joining the Royal Family. Although some estimates put her net worth as high as £7.3 million.
Kate’s wealth is mostly in cash because she doesn’t have a personal portfolio of property of artwork.
Kate was born in Reading in 1982 and attended public schools such as Downe House and Wiltshire’s Marlborough College, which cost up to £36,000 a year.
The Duchess of Cambridge then went to St Andrews University, which is where she first met her husband-to-be, Prince William.
Despite her royal partner and affluent parents, Kate took up a part-time job as an accessories buyer for the retailer, Jigsaw, after she graduated – which would have helped her build her own fortune.
Kate was previously reported to have been involved in her parents events based company Party Pieces, working on catalogue design and production, marketing and photography.
Carole Middleton set up the company in 1987. Fed up of not being able to find party supplies on the high street, Carole decides to set up her own party business to help parents in the same situation.
In a statement for her website www.partypieces.co.uk, Carole speaks about her humble beginnings selling kids party supplies from her garden shed, she said: “Party Pieces began as a way to make it easier to celebrate those special events with friends and family.
“In 1987, I had two young children and was pregnant with my son, James. We had come back to the UK from living abroad and I was a full-time mum. I didn’t want to miss out on my children growing up, so I considered starting my own business,” Carole told Good Housekeeping.
The business eventually grew and in 1995 moved to a warehouse. After University, Kate, Pippa and James Middleton worked for the business too.
“Catherine stated the First Birthday brand – she chose the product and looked after all the imagery and the catalogue production.”
Her parents company is now worth an estimated £30,000,000.
Much of Kate’s net worth came from her family’s business and she worked for them up until just months before her wedding.
While she was based in London, the Duchess lived in her parent’s £1.4 million flat in Chelsea.
Kate and William had one of the most watched weddings in history when they got married in April 2011.
Since the wedding, her new worth saw a huge spike, as the Royal family is estimated to be worth around £66 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Recently Kate and William have been pictured attending the naming ceremony of Britains’s new polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough in Birkenhead.
The happy couple were seen meeting royal fans and ship officials on the day, smiling and posting for photos.
The event was also attended by Sir David Attenborough, which the ship was named after.
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