For eight years now, Kate Middleton is being groomed to be the next Queen. As soon as he married Prince William and became a member of the royal family in 2011, she started to prepare herself to sit beside the throne of the King.
William and Kate were a couple for a decade before they got married. Kate Middleton and Prince William first met in 2001 at St. Andrews University where they were both first-year students. Like normal couples, the two also experienced the ups and downs of a relationship.
They managed to keep their first break up a secret but that was not the case on their second split in 2007. The public went into a frenzy when news about their split made it to the headlines. At one point, Kate's parents, Michael and Carole, were reportedly worried about their daughter's safety as paparazzi are always on her tail.
Daily Express royal correspondent Richard Palmer claimed that the pair broke up, at the time, because Kate Middleton wanted time to reflect on any decision that she is about to make. Prince William, on the other hand, gave Kate a breather from the royal scene.
During those years as young lovers, the now-Duchess of Cambridge has learned to accept the pressures and pains of being on constant media probe. Kate Middleton followed the royal protocol and has been scrutinized by the public even before she became a member of the famous family.
Though she acted as royal at the time, Kate Middleton wasn't entitled to the privileges that members of the family have such as police escort. This means there are times that she was swamped by reporters without someone guarding or swooping her away from them.
The rest of the events that transpired between the two are history. Kate and Prince William got back together and eventually tied the knot in 2011. From then to now, Kate Middleton has learned a lot.
This made royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith to believe that Kate is very much aware about the demands of being a member of the royal family long before she officially joined the monarchy. Smith said Kate Middleton now has all the armor that she needs to be William's Queen.
"She knew enough, she'd seen enough and she'd experienced enough, so she was very well aware of what the responsibilities and demands were going to be," Smith told PEOPLE magazine.
Smith is confident that the mother-of-three has all the knowledge and the poise to be a great Queen. In fact, Kate Middleton is often referred to as "regal" by royal sources because of her increasing confidence in reigning on the side of her husband, Prince William.
