WILLIAM
PRINCE WILLIAM'S early years will forever be overshadowed by the death of his mother Princess Diana. Images of the 15?year?old Prince and his brother Harry, 12, marching solemnly behind her coffin are etched on the memory of all who watched her funeral in 1997. It was a defining moment and the fact that he appears to have emerged without a trace of bitterness is to William's immense credit.
It was the fervent desire of his mother that William should have as normal a childhood as possible. Yet with the burden of the destiny that he carries it was never going to be entirely possible. When he was a little boy he is said to have expressed a desire to become a policeman so that he could look after Diana. Harry, replied: "Oh no you can't. You've got to be King."
William was raised in apartments 8 and 9 at Kensington Palace, which were combined in 1981 to create Charles and Diana's London residence. His nanny Barbara Barnes, whom he affectionately called Baba, took charge of his early upbringing.
He attended Ludgrove School in Wokingham, Berkshire, then Eton which went against the tradition started by Prince Philip of sending royal children to Gordonstoun.
William was nicknamed Wombat by his doting parents but his childhood was scarred by the disintegration of their marriage.
The constant thorn of Charles's relationship with Camilla in his mother's side was not easy to bear and he felt Diana's unhappiness at being marooned in a loveless relationship with his father.
They might have tried to hide it from the children but William's parents were often at war. He is said to have been deeply shocked by his mother's infamous "three people in this relationship" television interview for the BBC.
Diana was a hands?on, loving mother whose approach to raising her boys was very different from the rather aloof style of parenting which was the norm among the previous generation of royals. William has inherited that warmth and has an easy way with people, reminiscent of Diana at her best.
Determined that William should have a wider view of life she took him to McDonald's and he accompanied her on visits to meet Aids victims and residents of hostels for the homeless.
William says: "I was influenced a lot by my visits to hostels with my mother when I was younger. I learned a lot from it, more so now than I did at the time."
In 1991 there was a scare when he was accidentally struck on the head by a golf club wielded by a friend at school and suffered a fractured skull. However any lasting damage from his childhood is emotional.
For years William never spoke in public about the loss of his mother but in a candid interview in 2009 he said: "Never being able to say the word 'mummy' again in your life sounds like a small thing. However for many, including me, it's now really just a word ? hollow and evoking only memories."
Yet he has many fond childhood memories as well, including a good relationship with his grandmother the Queen.
He says: "Being a small boy it's very daunting having the Queen around and not really knowing what to talk about. I'm probably a bit of a cheeky grandson."
KATE
THE upbringing of Kate Middleton was solidly middle class with none of the traumas suffered by her husband. Born at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading in 1982 she grew up in a modest, red?brick semi in the village of Bradfield Southend, Berkshire. It was bought by her parents Carole and Michael in 1979 for ?34,000 and Kate had her own small bedroom.
Kate used to love dressing up as a clown in giant dungarees and playing musical statues. She once revealed that her favourite childhood memory was of the "amazing white rabbit marshmallow cake mummy made when I was seven".
Along with her sister Pippa and brother James she was christened at the village church. Both parents worked for British Airways ? Michael was a manager, Carole was a flight attendant ? and they've been happily married since 1980.
In 1984 when Kate was a toddler a posting for her father took the family to Amman, the capital of Jordan. They returned to the UK two years later in time for Kate to start primary school and her parents launched their party planning and supplies business. When she was eight years old Kate joined the Brownies.
Apart from having a colourful uncle Gary, Kate's childhood and family life were mercifully free of scandal. She has revealed that her nickname used to be Squeak as in Pip and Squeak.
In common with William, Kate has a scar on her head ? hers is the result of a childhood operation.
She loved her prep school St Andrew's in Pangbourne, Berkshire, so much she once told her mother she wanted to be a teacher. Kate adored swimming, hockey and netball. When she was 10 she played the lead role of Eliza Doolittle in a production of My Fair Lady and carried on acting until she went to university.
The only hiccup seems to have been in her early teens when she dropped out of Catholic all?girls school Downe House in Thatcham, Berkshire, after two terms. It has been suggested that she was bullied because of her gangly figure and shy personality. Intriguingly this unhappy period is not mentioned in her official biography, published by Clarence House before her marriage.
Later Kate thrived at Marlborough College, Wiltshire, and did well in her GCSEs and A?levels.
After leaving Marlborough in July 2000 Kate took a gap year during which she studied at the British Institute in Florence, undertook a Raleigh International programme in Chile and crewed on Round The World Challenge boats in the Solent.
Kate was rumoured to have had a picture of Prince William on her bedroom wall when she was a teenager but has laughed off the claims, stating in her first television interview. "He wishes. No, I had the Levi's guy on my wall, not a picture of William ? sorry."
In contrast to William's childhood Kate saw her parents supporting each other, taking care of the children jointly and building up the family business. Recently Michael and Carole moved to a ?4.7million manor house.
Even during the days of their courtship William is said to have loved spending time with Kate's family because the stability they enjoy was something he never really experienced within his own home.
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