Kate celebrates 38th birthday as royals digest Harry and Meghan’s shock move
The duchess and husband William have enjoyed a series of highlights over the past year, but the new decade has started with a royal crisis.
The Duchess of Cambridge is marking turning 38 as the royal family comes to terms with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell decision to step back as senior royals.
Harry and Meghan made the announcement, without consulting the Queen and the Prince of Wales, on the eve of Kate’s birthday.
Harry and Meghan also split their household from Kensington Palace, then left the Royal Foundation they co-shared with Kate and William.
In a television documentary, the Sussexes spoke of their struggles, with Harry saying he had “good days” and “bad days” in his relationship with William.
The slimmed-down monarchy has shrunk further after star players Harry and Meghan said they intended to step back as senior royals, and become financially independent.
The past year’s highlights for the duchess, who married into the royal family in 2011 and became a future Queen, have included a successful tour to Pakistan with William.
The couple visited the Hindu Kush mountain range, a traditional Kalash village and the Badshahi Mosque, played cricket and travelled in a tuk tuk.
Louis celebrated his first birthday in April, and Kate was there to take an excited Charlotte to her first day at school in September.
The duchess also co-created a wilderness garden for the Chelsea Flower Show, where her children paddled in the stream and had a go on the rope swing.
In November, as part of her focus on improving early years support, Kate spent two days privately shadowing staff at Kingston Hospital’s maternity unit in London, taking part in home visits with midwives.
In an open letter marking the start of 2020’s designated Year of the Nurse and Midwife, she praised the care and kindness provided by midwives across the country.
The duchess attended Christmas Day church at Sandringham in Norfolk with the Queen and other members of the royal family.
The Cambridges brought along George and Charlotte to the traditional festive outing for the first time.
She was christened at the parish church of St Andrew’s Bradfield in Berkshire on June 20, 1982.
Amman in Jordan was home to Kate and her family for a few years in the mid 1980s, where she attended a nursery school from the age of three, before returning to Berkshire.
At the age of 13, she went to the exclusive, private Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where she part-boarded.
She was dubbed “Waity Katie” for her patience during their long courtship, and was described by William in their engagement interview as having “a really naughty sense of humour”.
Kate – now an HRH and a future Queen consort – is patron of 19 charities and organisations, and has focused her charity work on helping children have the best possible start in life, particularly surrounding their mental health.
