By Daily Mail Reporter


Portrait of a princess: Kate Middleton, aged three, on a family holiday in the Lake District


With pigtails and big blue eyes, the toddler playing on holiday in the Lake District looks like any other energetic - albeit adorable - three-year-old.

But little did the Middleton family know they were capturing an early portrait of the future Queen of England.

These images of Kate show the idyllic childhood that led to a fairytale ending as she is given her first Royal biography.


They appeared today on the special Royal wedding website to celebrate her forthcoming marriage on April 29 to Prince William.

It reveals that she was educated in a nursery school in Jordan and her expertise at the high jump at Marlborough College in Wiltshire - and where she also completed her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

The site also releases previously unseen family pictures - copyrighted to the Middleton family - of Kate, including one of her and a white bow-tied Prince William, taken on their graduation day at the University of St. Andrews.

'Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born to Michael and Carole Middleton at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, on 9th January 1982. Catherine is the eldest of three children," says the biography.

Baby face: Kate, pictured aged five, hasn't changed that much in the last 23 years


'Catherine was christened at the parish church of St Andrew's Bradfield in Berkshire on 20th June 1982.

'In May 1984, at the age of two, Catherine moved with her family to Amman in Jordan, where her father worked for two and a half years. Catherine attended a nursery school in Amman from the age of three.'

It also reveals details of her gap year in Florence.

'In September 1986, the Middletons returned to their home in West Berkshire, and Catherine started at St Andrew's School in Pangbourne, where she remained until July 1995.
'Catherine went on to Marlborough Co
llege in Wiltshire, where she studied Chemistry, Biology and Art at A-level.

Exotic childhood: Kate, with her father and sister Pippa in Jerash, Jordan, lived in Amman for two years


'Catherine also took part in sport on behalf of the school, playing tennis, hockey and netball and participating in athletics, particularly high jump. Catherine completed her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award at Marlborough.

'Leaving Marlborough College in July 2000, Catherine undertook a gap year in which she studied at the British Institute in Florence, undertook a Raleigh International programme in Chile, and crewed on Round the World Challenge boats in the Solent.

'In 2002, Catherine enrolled at the University of St Andrews, Fife, from where she graduated in 2005 with a 2:1 in History of Art. Catherine continued with her interest in sport at University, playing hockey for the University team. Catherine first met Prince William when studying at the University.

'Since completing her degree, Catherine has worked for Party Pieces, a company owned and run by her parents. Alongside her work for the family business, Catherine worked in London as a part-time buyer for the clothing company Jigsaw Junior.

Happy couple: Kate and Prince William have their picture taken on their graduation day at St Andrews


'In 2008, Catherine launched First Birthdays, a junior brand to Party Pieces. Her role within the family business included catalogue design and production, marketing and photography.

'Catherineb's hobbies include recreational sports such as hill walking, tennis, swimming, sailing, and the arts such as photography and painting.'

Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding website has had over 500,000 visitors since it was launched on Wednesday.

Clarence House confirmed that the site has also had more than 2 million page views as well.

However the site will come to an end some time after the wedding on April 29.

Future Queen: After graduating, Kate went on to work as a part time buyer for Jigsaw before working for her parents' company Party Pieces


The site, which promises to share all details in the run-up to their big day, was clicked on by viewers from 180 countries in the first eight hours alone.

It includes a virtual tour of parts of 775-room Buckingham Palace, with visitors getting a good look around - although the Queen's bedroom is off limits.

The site - officialroyalwedding.org - has a video of the pair's official engagement interview in December plus footage of William, 28, and Kate, 29, revisiting their university town of St Andrews last Friday.

All grown up: The engaged couple returned to St Andrews last week


A spokeswoman for Clarence House said: 'It has had a huge number of unique visitors and we hope people are finding it useful, which they seem to be given the figures.'

The site will run for 'a little while' after the wedding but eventually it will close and Kate will have her own biography on The Prince of Wales' website, which already features William, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cornwall.


Source:dailymail