The Duchess of Cambridge: Family, Wealth and Background

[cute_girl]

Originally Posted by Ava Elizabeth

As far as I know, she went to a very fine school, costing 70 000 dollars a year, anf her father is very succesfull. I thinks she is quite upper class, judging from the fact that she now goes to the same school as William, St. Andrews, who is a very fine school as well.
I do not think you will find any "average" , middle- class people there, but of course I could be wrong.

cant count that,she went there by a scholarship.

[Idriel]

Originally Posted by cute_girl

cant count that,she went there by a scholarship.

Really? How do you know that?

Kate is not upper class. In the UK, your class is defined by your birth, not by how much money your parents make. Upper class is aristocracy and old bourgeoisie. Someone born into working class will stay working class till death even if he makes a billion. (I'm not beeing snobbish at all here, that's just how the class system works in the UK)
Kate comes from a middle class family (little bourgeoisie). Her parents made quite a lot of money through their business, which is successful. She is rich enough to live the same kind of lifestyle as William (the ski holidays, the gap year travels, the social life, etc.), but she's not a millionaire. Before going to Saint Andrews, she was not part of William circle of friends which are mostly upper middle class and upper class.
From the Sun:
'The eldest of three children, student Kate, 22, grew up at her parents’ £1million home in Bucklebury, Berks.
Like sister Pippa, 20, and brother James, 16, she went to £22,000-a-year Marlborough College, Wilts.'

1 million pounds = 1 500 000 € or 2 000 000 dollars

[cd_1]

i guess shes rich, she is a millionaire, right? she lived in a million dollar house, after all.AND if she can afford to have the same lifestyle as the prince, so shes really rich.

[cute_girl]

unfortunatly I cant remember where I read about the scholarship but I can remember it was from a valid source.
about her life style things u mentioned like skiing,traveling and etc in east anyone from a middle class family(not neccerily rich but only making good money)can afford those facilities too.also I've never seen anything special about her clothing or jewels to show that she's come from a millionaire family.

[Idriel]

Originally Posted by cute_girl

about her life style things u mentioned like skiing,traveling and etc in east anyone from a middle class family(not neccerily rich but only making good money)can afford those facilities too.also I've never seen anything special about her clothing or jewels to show that she's come from a millionaire family.

Absolutely cute girl. Having the same lifestyle as Will does not mean having millions in the bank.
But I don't think her clothes or whatever show anything about her wealth. William does not look like a millionaire neither (jeans and pulls most of the time) but he is one.
About Kate being millionaire because she lives in a millions pounds house: I'll say in Europe a house is most of the time the most precious good people own. Plus she has brothers and sisters. So I guess maybe her parents own one or two millions but Kate herself is not a millionaire (particularly in pounds).

[princess_juicy]

Kate does have a very nice house it appears,I think that it would be easier to get into the circle if you were wealthy but you need poise,grace,skill,personelity,ect. to charm them but money would help as it does in many other scenerios. Sarah Faerguson came from a very wealthy family,her father was some polo trainer or something,I read on some biography that her social life @ school wasn't impressive but she was in an internatonal circle.....she actually knew Andrew long before they got married,they knew each otehr before they started dating anyone really.... Kate Middleton's parents run a party toy thingy buisness and Chelsy Davy's dad is tied to that Mugabe dude down in Africa and her father also owns a hunting lodge,type of thing. Every other girlfriend they have had pretty much has wealthy parents,including Laura Gerard,jecca craig,arabella musgvrave. I doubt william and harry care that these girls are wealthy I think it's just that these are the people they know more!

[Nathalian]

I agree with Princess.....if they´re going to marry them...they don´t look at their fortunes......It´s ridicule thinking that Will and Harry would be that kind of person...

[ailstalia]

living in a million dollar house doesn't mean wealth. i live in a million dollar home and its TINY. my parents drive acuras. def not rich

anyway, wills is super rich himself. money wouldn't matter to someone who has more than enough for himself and a family for the next few generations

[segolen]

LOL ! Yeah, you are right ! Living in your parents Milion $$ house does not make you rich yourself. I agree.
And Wills could be rich, but he is not A super rich.

[Elspeth]

living in a million dollar house doesn't mean wealth. i live in a million dollar home and its TINY.

Somehow I knew, reading that, where you lived! Have just looked at your profile and had my suspicions confirmed. I used to live in that area until a few months ago; house prices are unbelievable in that area.

OK, sorry for derailing the thread! Back to your regularly scheduled discussion...

[ingenue]

where are the links to fotos of kate?

[tiaraprin]

Well, where I come from in the USA, a million dollar home does mean at the very least being a millionaire. If you can afford it, you have money. You may not be Bill Gates, but you aren't lacking for anything in life.

I live in a tiny studio apartment. If you are living in a tiny million dollar home Elspeth, you are being ripped off. A million dollar home here will get you more!! But then again, I don't know what your definition of tiny is.

[Elspeth]

I'm not the one living in a tiny million-dollar home; that's ailstalia. Have a look at her profile and then check out the data. I'm looking at one listing in that city; 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 68 years old, 1200 square feet, 1-car garage, listed for $989,000. And one with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 52 years old but remodelled, less than 1000 square feet, 2-car garage, $1,095,000. One with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2-car carport (no garage), 53 years old, 1900 square feet, $1,274,000. And those are typical prices. She absolutely is not exaggerating.

Plus, remember, if you've got a large loan on a million-dollar house, you are not only not a millionaire, but you're paying a huge chunk of change to the bank every month. The only good thing is that real estate appreciates fast there, but the problem is that when you buy, everything is correspondingly more expensive.

[tiaraprin]

All I can say Elspeth is your British Pound would buy more here!! That is a rip off!! The real estate prices in NY are sky high, but you beat us--that is really scary!!!

A million US dollars would get you at least 6 bedrooms, large acres of land, 6 bathrooms (some with jacuzzis), a swimming pool, library, a huge kitchen, formal dining room, and a large foyer. It could also get you servant living quarters depending where you are buying!

Here in NY, only the truly wealthy buy these homes. Sometimes you will find some nitwit who thinks he/she can do it, but they declare bankruptcy.

[Elspeth]

This IS the USA we're talking about; like I said, check out her profile. Property in most of Britain is nowhere near as expensive.

Check your PMs in a minute; I'm going to send you some data.

BTW, I think I'm probably misleading people cos you're the second person today who assumes I live in the UK; I'm British but I live in the USA.

[ailstalia]

it IS slightly misleading ok, so i lied a bit, our house is worth a bit more around 2 mil?, but my parents thought that the public education was worth it. And money is better spent on a home than private schooling right? I wonder what most rich people see in private/boarding schools for secondary schooling. It seems like wasting a lot of money when the children learn the same thing anywhere.

[Elspeth]

I think a lot of the time, people send their kids to private school because of who they meet and how much easier it is to get into a good university, and often to keep them out of the state schools. I mean, you know that however good the local state school is near Highgrove, the Prince of Wales wasn't going to send his sons there, and it wasn't just because of security concerns.

[Frothy]

Frankly I doubt Kate and PW asked each other who their ancestors were.

I hazard a guess Kate has a pretty good idea who PW's ancestors were!

[sparks]

I think she's pretty well-off..I mean I don't think her family is like a billionare..but they have money!!!

[segolen]

yes, she is, according to the british understanding of " rich"