From Her University Degree to Her Past Gig as a Waitress, Why Kate Middlton Is an Unlikely Queen
Unlike most previous queen consorts, Princess Kate's no aristocrat: She comes from a middle-class English family. Parents Carole and Michael Middleton worked for British Airways before starting their own now-defunct party supply business.
When Prince William ascends the throne, Kate will make history as the first spouse of a British monarch — male or female — to have earned a university degree. She studied art history at Scotland's University of St Andrews and graduated in 2005.
While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got engaged just a year after they met, William didn't propose to Kate until 2010 — eight years after they started dating as college students. The British press cruelly nicknamed her 'Waity Katie.'
Prior to joining the royal family, Kate toiled as a deckhand at a marina, 'did a bit of waitressing' while at university, she's said, then worked at fashion retailer Jigsaw and her parents' company after graduation.
Kate was 29 when she married a 28-year-old William in 2011 — far older than many others in her position: Princess Diana was a 20-year-old bride; Queen Elizabeth II said 'I do' at 21; and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was 22.

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