Kate Middleton: Family, Wealth and Background

[Duchess]

by a lot of people's wallet's indeed, but at the time of the post(i don't remember when i made it) i don't think either of them had come into the inheritance left to the by their mother and it may have even been before the QM passed away. at any rate, i agree with you, since then, william has come into money is able to enjoy a lot of luxuries that most people can only dream of.

[zembla]

I think it seems useless to speculate whether she has enough money or the right pedigree for William. It seems like they have backed off recently, afterall they only gave Autumn heat about her own background about 2 weeks before the wedding. William should be no better than Peter in picking a bride who didn't grow in old money aristocracy.

[Duchess]

diana grew up in old money and it didn't do her any good.

[Amelia]

And Sophie didn't yet she seems to be doing quite well. Maybe it depends more on the person than their parents financial status.

[Principessa Cano]

First, it is important to understand that social class and economic status are two different things in England. Kate's family may have some wealth from their business but they are middle class.

Secondly, her family's net worth has been reported at anywhere from 3 to 5 million pounds. This is their net worth which includes her flat and their house. That doesn't leave a lot of liquid assets. And in today's real estate market million pound/dollar homes are not that rare nor are they the domain of the fabulously rich as they were once seen to be.

Thirdly, I used the phrase "family's net worth" because Kate herself is not worth much. She may be working for her family but I doubt she earns a lot. Some people have speculated that she might have a trust fund but there have been no reports of said trust fund, so at this point it is pure speculation.

So is Kate rich? No. I doubt it.

[magnik]

Originally Posted by Principessa Cano

So is Kate rich? No. I doubt it.

As you wrote she is not but her family is rich more or less.

[randomlyKeira]

I think Kate's "rich/not" status is a matter of opinion. To the typical family, who make between 35-60,000 pounds a year, she would be considered "rich", but to certain people that even I know, this family would not be even a blip on a radar of wealth. A true rich/aristocratic family in the UK would have had to have been more than two generations of "wealth", which makes Kate very "middle class" compared to people with family trees that can be traced hundreds of years back. Some of those aristocratic families are no longer wealthy though, which gives the more recently moneyed families a chance to climb the society ladder the way families a few generations back could not do.

And this sentence is very true:

Originally Posted by Principessa Cano

First, it is important to understand that social class and economic status are two different things in England. Kate's family may have some wealth from their business but they are middle class.

[zembla]

If Kate's family lived anywhere else, they would be considered upper class with the amount of money they are worth, especially in America. Probably more noveau riche, like the people who live in Beverly Hills.

It's just that England is all about titles and class is very well defined. Even if you're rich, without a title...it's a sticky situation to get in with that crowd.

[KateFan]

Kate Middleton or her family is not rich by any means or compared to the British Royal family. The are certainly upper middle class and have a successful business. Her parents home is not a millionaire's home and you wouldn't certainly call it an estate. St.Andrews is not even expensive at all. I know because I looked up their tuition and fees online. If anyone is rich it is Chelsy Davy.

[Ella Kay]

Welcome to the board, KateFan!

Surely very few people in Britain are rich compared to the Queen. The Middletons, financially, are certainly upper-class; all reports signal that Party Pieces is a multi-million dollar business. But they're self-made millionaires, and how you got your money seems to have as much to do with class status in Britain as how much money you've got.

[Duchess]

there are plenty of people in Britain whose wealth far surpasses that of the queen. the queen's personal wealth is estimated at 300 million GBP. there are approximately 32 Billionaires living in Britain.

[Skydragon]

Originally Posted by KateFan

Kate Middleton or her family is not rich by any means or compared to the British Royal family. The are certainly upper middle class and have a successful business. Her parents home is not a millionaire's home and you wouldn't certainly call it an estate. St.Andrews is not even expensive at all. I know because I looked up their tuition and fees online. If anyone is rich it is Chelsy Davy.

Welcome to the forum,
You are probably right when you say that they are not rich compared to HM.

I would however point out that the Middletons, even with the money they have made, could only be considered middle class.

Originally Posted by Ella Kay

The Middletons, financially, are certainly upper-class; all reports signal that Party Pieces is a multi-million dollar business. But they're self-made millionaires, and how you got your money seems to have as much to do with class status in Britain as how much money you've got.

Yes, how much money you earn has nothing to do with being upper class. Upperclass normally comes from the social position of your family and not from your own achievements or wealth

[branchg]

Kate's family is certainly well-off, but "rich" is a relative term. Compared to today's megafortunes of billions, the Middletons are simply successful and financially secure.

She is definitely comfortably off compared to say, Sarah Ferguson, when she married The Duke of York. So, that shouldn't be an issue one way or another.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by Skydragon

Yes, how much money you earn has nothing to do with being upper class. Upperclass normally comes from the social position of your family and not from your own achievements or wealth

Britian is a country where apparently the class system still influences the way people think. But it's already changing, otherwise William wouldn't be dating a girl like Catherine.

Or here in Germany: my aunt recently died, well, she was not my aunt direct but my mother's cousin. But I attended her funeral anyway. Her grandfather had been a nobleman, owner of a grand estate close to Berlin. When her father left her mother, her mother with her infant daughter returned to the estate of her family where my aunt grew up in close connection with her relatives. But then the war was lost, her grandfather dead and they had to flee, my aunt being a student back then. The estate was confiscated by the communists. So they had to live in one bedroom and living-in kitchen in an appartment shared with 3 other families (including sharing the bathroom) in Munich. My aunt studied while working to support her mother and grandmother for the rest of their lives. She got a little bit of help from her cousin, a countess whose family had fallen on hard times themselves due to the wars.

My aunt was just a normal teacher, supporting her family and being able to buy the half of a semi-detached cottage in the Greater Munich area. But when she was buried, even the doyenne of the noble family attended the funeral, small and frail in her wheelchair, surrounded by those of the family resident in Bavaria. Was my aunt middle-class or upper-class?

I don't think it's that easy anymore to put people in their "class" from the fact of their birth. It may matter much more eventuelly how they behave, IMHO, what kind of overall ethic/character traits they got from their ancestors/millieu and how they personally put their background to use in their own life.

Even the upper class in Britain has been known to embrace people if they behaved like a true lady/gentleman, their pedigree no issue then. And to shun people with the best pedigree if they behaved abdominally. Yes, of course, according to the rules of a given time, but still.

So the question of Catherine being rich or pedigreed should not matter anymore today, as long she herself, as a human being and a personality, is embraced by the highest ranks of a country which still has ranks and orders of precedence. We all know how Charles fought to give the love of his life the place she deserved in his opinion in the pecking order of Britains Precedence-system and I have no doubt William will follow his father's example once the day comes for him to make his decision public.

[CasiraghiTrio]

It's pretty simple. It seems that in the UK the Middletons are considered wealthy middle-class because they are wealthy non-aristocracy, and only aristocracy/nobility can be "upper class" per say. It's funny to me because all those footballer families the UK tabloids love so much are wealthy as hell but just "wealthy middle class". So all that money can't alter their middling social position. In Britain, "class" is based on social ranking, whereas in the US it is based on financial standing for the most part.

[Incas]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

...as long she herself, as a human being and a personality, is embraced by the highest ranks of a country which still has ranks and orders of precedence.

This just means the class system is as much about pedigree and money is about a mind set: the aristocratic echelon have the sole RIGHT to judge the rest of the society and to determind their worthiness as human beings. A few years ago, Kate was reported to have said William was lucky to go out with her. Wether she said that or not, I think she would be in the right mindset if she did in order to put up with the constant judgements from upper-, middle-, and the BS-class.

[branchg]

Well, this was reportedly one of the many issues that led to a cooling off period between William and Kate. Many of his friends and associates are aristocrats from the landed gentry (as is always the case with British royalty), and they were said to be quite condescending to Kate and the notion of her marrying him. That, combined with William's need for "space", led to their brief separation.

It's never going to be easy for her and a marriage will bring many new pressures to both as The Queen ages and Charles gets closer to becoming King. Hopefully, they are both being realistic about what their future life will look like if they marry.

[Skydragon]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

Britian is a country where apparently the class system still influences the way people think. But it's already changing, otherwise William wouldn't be dating a girl like Catherine. -Snipped-
Even the upper class in Britain has been known to embrace people if they behaved like a true lady/gentleman, their pedigree no issue then. And to shun people with the best pedigree if they behaved abdominally. Yes, of course, according to the rules of a given time, but still.

I don't know that it is such a change, it has always been accepted that one of the ways to join the upper classes was through marriage, even unsuccessful ones gave the divorced person an introduction to others from the upper classes.

What has changed is the attitude towards 'ordinary' people, those who were not born into the upper echelons, who as you say are normal decent people. They are now more likely to be allowed into the drawing rooms as friends. One woman I met deserved to be called a 'Lady' more than some of the actual ones I know!

Your aunt would still, by virtue of her birth have been considered a noblewoman, therefore upper class. Money or loss of it does not alter your status.

[Menarue]

My grandmother, whose family lost a lot of their money, always referred to the family as nouveau pauvre. Upper classes were people who had plenty of money but were not noble, now lower middle class is quite often a title conferred on people who would have been considered working class not that long ago. Times have changed but I don´t think that the people surrounding the BRF have changed that much.
Even the beautiful Grace Kelly´s family had a problem, a close male family member wasn´t accepted in a rowing event in England because he had worked with his hands and was not considered a gentleman. This, nowadays seems unbelievable.

[magnik]

Times are changing...