Kate Middleton: Snapshot

Kate Middleton: Five Fun Facts

1. Kate Middleton, who worked as an accessories buyer for British fashion chain Jigsaw, once had her sights on launching her own kids' clothing line.
2. After months of grueling training, Kate Middleton was forced to drop out of a charity rowing race across the English Channel. "It's a safety thing," Emma Sayle, captain of Middleton's ex-team, told PEOPLE. "The boats aren't designed for the sea. It's dangerous enough as it is without the world's paparazzi [chasing] us."
3. In March 2002, Prince William paid $200 to sit front row and watch a bikini-clad Kate Middleton walk down the runway of a student-run charity fashion show at University of St. Andrews.
4. In 2006, Woolworths created commemorative plates and mugs with Kate Middleton and Prince William's likenesses, amid engagement rumors that turned out to be false at the time.
5. As Kate Middleton prepared to celebrate her 25th birthday in 2007, a group of Kate aficionados launched the Unofficial Kate Middleton Fan Club. Their first announced meeting was held outside one of Middleton's favorite nightclubs, Boujis.

Kate Middleton: Biography

1990s

Bucklebury Babe

Michael and Carole Middleton, self-made millionaires who run a mail order company selling children's party toys, raise their three children in the genteel village of Bucklebury, England. Their oldest daughter, Kate, attends the $35,000-per-year boarding school Marlborough College and excels at field hockey and cross-country running.

2001

Fall

St. Andrews Friendship

Middleton attends the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where Prince William of Wales is also a student. Both major in art history before becoming close friends (William will later change his course of study to geography). That March, the dashing prince forks over $200 to sit front row to cheer on Middleton in a student-run charity fashion show. Middleton's walk down the runway in a sheer black sheath over a bandeau top and bikini bottom marks her first brush with the British press.

2002

Fall

Coed Roommates

Middleton and William, along with the Prince's Eton College pal Fergus Boyd and another female student, move into a four-bedroom apartment near the town center. Middleton doesn't see their platonic arrangement as "a big deal," says a pal. One local begs to differ, telling PEOPLE, "Everybody knows he is with Kate. They are together."

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Kate Middleton: Special Feature