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It’s hard to imagine, but there was a time when Prince william aristocratic friends did not believe Kate Middleton was good enough for the future king. In fact, the prince’s friends believed she was a social climber who did not deserve to enter their social circle, which led to merciless bullying – and there was one cruel nickname in particular that they gave her. gave to her and her sister, Pippa Middleton, Therefore. Read on to find out what it is, and for much sweeter names these royals have given each other, check out William and Kate have endearing and embarrassing nicknames for each other.
Kate was socialite before she met William.
Kate’s rapid rise from her upper-middle-class (and very comfortable) upbringing as the eldest daughter of Carole and Micheal Middleton was aided with the success of her parents’ mail order and online party supplies business, Party Pieces. The upward mobility of the family allowed the Duchess – along with Pippa and their brother, James – to attend exclusive private schools and eventually landed Kate at St. Andrew’s University, where she met William in 2001.
Kate and her younger sister have always been each other’s best friends and were among the young socialites of London who were regulars at the city’s fanciest clubs and parties before the future Duchess met William ( and again, during their brief breakup in 2007). And for more on who wanted it to happen, check out This Royal Once Encouraged Prince William to Break Up With Kate Middleton.
It was the British media that first gave him the nickname that caught the attention of the Prince’s friends.
Kate and Pippa’s ubiquity earned them the offensive nickname the ‘Wisteria Sisters’ in British media who slyly believed women were ‘very decorative, terribly fragrant and with a fierce ability to climb’. The name stuck with William’s friends who didn’t think Kate was in the “right class” to date a future king.
Kate certainly looked for the role (her understated style echoed a young princess diana) when she started dating William. His penchant for the basics of the “Sloane Ranger” wardrobe – the Ascot-worthy Philip Treacy hats, bespoke blazers, DVF wrap dresses and Barbour jackets – has not stopped critics. In 2008, the columnist of the company Vicky ward written in Vanity Fair that Kate was the target of vicious ‘sniping’, writing: “There are a lot of snobbish slurs from people who, despite Middleton’s obvious attributes, believe the monarchy must stop marrying” out “of its class.” Ward noted that some people have compared Kate and Pippa to Jackie kennedy and her sister, Lee bouvier, because of “their obvious desire to ‘get married well’.” (Jackie became the first lady of the United States after marrying John F. Kennedy; Lee married Prince Stanisław Albrecht “Stash” Radziwił and became a princess.) And for more on Kate’s younger years, check out Kate Middleton was bullied in school for being “too skinny and sweet.”
The criticism extended to Kate’s parents, and her mother in particular.
Criticism from William’s friends spread to Kate’s parents, particularly targeting her mother. The future Duchess was keenly aware that some of William’s friends were making fun of Carole’s “Doors to Manual” past (she once worked as a flight attendant for British Airways). Ward noted that one of William’s posh friends had even been sniped about the Middletons alley at their family home, saying, “His parents have a tarmac [paved] drive, for god’s sake. In the UK, a “tarmac” drive is considered by some to be “new money” as opposed to large estate engraved drives.
Biographer Andrew Morton also wrote of how William’s friends treated Kate “abominably” in the early days of their romance. “While she was considered a ‘pretty and sane’ girl, there were those in royal and aristocratic circles who thought the Middletons were too much in the middle of the road for the house of Windsor,” he observed. And for more royal news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
It took years, but Kate silenced her critics.
With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s tenth wedding anniversary just a few months away, it’s clear Kate has silenced her critics and has become one of the most popular royals. She is also considered to be the family’s secret weapon in the face of Megxit’s double crisis and the pandemic.
Those hurtful names that William’s friends once sneered at have been replaced by a neat name: the future Queen of England. And for more on how she’s preparing to fill those shoes, check out Why Kate Middleton’s relationship with the Queen is “stronger than ever.”
Diane Clehane is a New York-based journalist and author of Imagining Diana and Diana: The Secrets of Her Style.
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