11 things we learned about Kate Middleton from a new tell-all

Kate, The Future Queen

Wills and Kate related pre-marriage? Kate wearing camo? These are just some of the revelations made in the new book, Kate: The Future Queen by author (and royal insider) Katie Nicholl. Read on for 11 juicy reveals from the tell-all book (in stores now).

1. Kissing cousins?

William and Kate are fourteenth cousins once removed. “Genealogists are able to trace the Middleton lineage to King Edward III through Sir Thomas Fairfax, a wealthy aristocrat born in the seventeenth century,” writes Nicholl. Fairfax married Anne Gascoigne, a descendent of the King and the couple had two sons who “gave rise to two lines of descent.” Nicholas, the older son was distantly related to Princess Diana’s family while the younger son, William, was related to the Middletons.

2. ...or kissing roomates?

The couple were in fact roommates long before they were a couple. At the start of the couple’s second term at University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the two moved in with two other friends to share a house, which they continued to do for the remaining three years of university.

3. Kate was bullied

Kate finished St. Andrew’s (Prep) School when she was 13 and started at a new all-girls school, Downe House. Unlike her time at St. Andrew’s, she didn’t board overnight at Downe and some say she missed the opportunity to truly bond with fellow boarding students, in turn leading to her alienation. She also didn’t make the sports teams, was attractive and struggled to keep up with her peers in terms of academics. Add to that the cliquey environment of Downe House, and Kate soon found herself the target of bullying. She pulled out of the school in the second term.

4. She hunts

Kate is an avid hunter and has joined not only William but her father-in-law Charles, on numerous hunting adventures. However, her first Christmas as a future Queen, she didn’t hunt despite the fact that she’d been looking forward to it. “Kate had been looking forward to shooting but was told that in the presence of the Queen, a lady does not take a gun, so instead she would have to stay with the beaters, whose job is to flush the birds from the thicket into the direction of the guns,” writes Nicholl.

5. She's connected

Kate is distantly connected to two celebrities — British pop singer Chris de Burgh (of Lady in Red fame) and film director Guy Ritchie (Madonna's ex).

6. But did she work?

When Will and Kate’s romance was looking serious, the Queen Mother expressed concern about Kate’s lack of established career. The Queen describes herself as a working Queen and noted she had no idea about what Kate did for a living and was concerned that Kate didn’t have a firm career in place. After all, the Queen expected the monarchy to lead by example…so how would it look if William proposed to a woman who didn’t have a stable job?

7. She's got a jealous streak

In the early stages of their relationship, Kate had niggling concerns about past interests of William’s who continued to have a role in his life, including Carly Massy-Birch and Jecca Craig. She seemed to have gotten over that since their wedding guests included Craig and two other ex-girlfriends — Arabella Musgrave and Rose Farquhar — and two of Kate’s ex-boyfriends, Rupert Finch and Harry Blakelock (shown).

8. She's a jock

Kate’s got a hard-core sporty side to her — she’s played field hockey, rowed, swam and more.

9. They had a promise

The couple broke up for some time in spring of 2007. However, they reunited by June and in August the twosome took a trip to Desroches, a luxury island in the Seychelles. It was there the couple promised they would get married. Three years later, they were engaged in Kenya. When they left for that trip, only Queen Elizabeth knew William was travelling with a diamond-and-sapphire engagement ring that had been his mother’s, with the intention to propose.

10. She sells skirts

Well, specifically the see-through skirt she wore at the charity fashion show where she caught Will’s eye prompting him to utter, “Wow, Kate’s hot!” While the skirt’s designer, Charlotte Todd, had sworn never to sell what she considered a piece of fashion history, when someone offered up $118,000 cash, she gave up the skirt.

11. She's a DIY person

For her wedding, Kate passed on using a professional make up artists and opted to do her own makeup in her dressing room. Her trademark look? A smoky-eye. She did however have a professional on hand for camera touch ups.

Click here to see Will and Kate's newest addition, Prince George!