It was always a public knowledge that the Duchess of Cambridge is a family girl. A simple middle-class English girl with grounded upbringing. Catherine is super close to her family. Since coming into the limelight, her family has never over-stepped the boundary and respected the Royal Family by remaining discreet and loyal to both Catherine and William.
Apart from family, Catherine has few friends who have been part of her life for a long time. Although The Duchess has a very public life her friends always stayed away from the media and public attention. The close-knit group of a few people who are fiercely protective of Catherine and William’s life never spoke publicly about them.
Their loyalty and protectiveness was the biggest reason behind William and Catherine choosing most of their friends as God Parents to their three kids. Today, I am going to talk about Catherine’s female squad. Her family and friends that have been with her for most of her life.
Carole Middleton
Catherine’s mother Carole Middleton is a strong woman with strong family values. Born in the middle-class family, Carole worked as a flight attendant in British Airways before starting her own party supply business ‘Party Pieces’ in 1987. The Middleton Matriarch is fiercely protective of her all three children and plays a big role in Cambridge household. After giving birth to her first child Prince George in 2013, Catherine turned to her mother for support and moved to Middleton Manor for a few weeks. It was reported that after seeing how close Catherine is to her family and what a wonderful family environment Middleton Household has, William promised to make sure that Middleton family will always be in the front row when it comes to his own family and he kept his promise.
Pippa Middleton
Catherine’s younger sister Pippa is one of her first close confidantes. with the difference of just 20 months, Catherine and Pippa are more than sisters. Both sisters share wardrobes to secrets. Pippa once during an interview said, ” We spend a lot of time together. We still do a lot together as a family. And I think that’s really the heart for all of us is having a really close family that we can sort of be normal with each other, treat each other normally. And that’s sort of kept us all, you know, affixed to the ground.”
Pippa herself is expecting her first child with husband James Matthews in October 2018. Prince George and Princess Charlotte were Page boy and Flower girl at their Aunts wedding in 2017.
Emilia Jardine-Paterson
Emilia Jardine-Paterson is a common friend of both William and Catherine. She is William’s teenage friend and met Catherine at Marlborough College. When William and Catherine broke up in 2007, Emilia reportedly accompanied Catherine to Ibiza to help her overcome the heartbreak.
An Interior designer by profession, Emilia helped Catherine in the renovation of Kensington Palace Apartment and Anmer Hall. Emilia is married to David Jardine-Paterson, William’s Eton Contemporary. Willliam and Catherine chose Emilia as Prince George’s Godmother in 2013.
Sophie Carter
Sophie Carter has been friends with Catherine for more than a decade. She was first seen publicly with The Duchess in 2008 at Wimbledon. Later on, Catherine penned a letter to the Club stating, “My friend and I had such a fantastic time and it was great to be able to enjoy the day knowing we could have a little peace and quiet if things got too hectic.”
Part of Cambridges’ incredibly close-knit circle of friends in Norfolk, Sophie was seen at Church Service with The Royal and Middleton Family in 2017, at Catherine’s birthday bashes in Norfolk. Sophie dated William’s close-friend Thomas van Straubenzee. Both Sophie and Thomas are Princess Charlotte’s Godparents. In September 2018, Sophie married Somerset-born Robert Snuggs at which Prince George was a page boy and Princess Charlotte was a flower girl.
Trini Foyle
Trini Foyle is also Catherine’s school friend. They met at Marlborough College and since then she is friends with Catherine. Trini was seen with Catherine regularly in 2007 when William and Catherine broke up.
Trini was also seen having strolls in Kensington Garden with Catherine. She was among the friends sitting in royal box watching Cirque du Soleil in 2014 at Catherine’s birthday when Catherine was expecting her first child.
Hannah Gillingham Carter
How Marlborough College made a big part of The Duchess of Cambridge’s life, it shows from her friend list. Catherine’s other close friend is Hannah Gillingham Carter whom she met at Marlborough. Hannah is married to The Duchess’ another friend Sophie’s brother Robert Carter. Another amusing fact is the couple tied the knot in 2012 on The Duke and Duchess’ first wedding anniversary. Hannah is Prince Louis’ Godmother.
Alicia Fox-Pitt
A loyal friend of Catherine’s from her Marlborough College days, Alicia Fox-Pitt shares The Duchess’ love of everything sports. in 2007, when William was finding out how much he loves Catherine, Catherine joined a famous Sisterhood rowing team, which planned to cross the Channel for charity via Alicia Fox-Pitt.
Apart from having her own friend squad, Catherine is also very close to William’s notably close group that includes Straubenzee brothers, Guy Pelly, Mr and Mrs Meade, Oliver Baker.
