As the Princess of Wales celebrates her 41st birthday, we take a look at at some of her famous moments as a royal over the years.
2011
How can we not begin with her wedding to Prince William on 29 April 2011? After an eight-year relationship, William and Catherine announced their engagement in November 2010. They were married the following April at Westminster Abbey, and Catherine became Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, and Lady Carrickfergus.
2012
On 1 March, Catherine joined The Queen and The Duchess of Cornwall for a visit to Fortnum & Mason to view their range of Diamond Jubilee products. This would be the first major engagement that The Queen and two future queen consorts would undertake together.
2013
William and Catherine’s first child, Prince George, was born on 22 July 2013 at St. Mary’s Hospital. The birth of the future king was celebrated around the world.
2014
The Cambridges undertook their first official tour as a family of three in April 2014, visiting Australia and New Zealand over a period of three weeks. Though it was a long tour with a wide range of engagements for William and Catherine, the engagements with baby Prince George proved the most popular. The family is pictured here on 20 April at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Prince George received a toy bilby after a real bilby was named in his honour.
2015
William and Catherine’s second child, and only daughter, was born on 2 May 2015. Princess Charlotte occupies a unique role in royal history: she is the first daughter who was not displaced in the line of succession by the birth of a younger brother (Prince Louis in 2018).
2016
On 22 April, US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama paid a visit to Kensington Palace to meet with William, Catherine, and Prince Harry. Though this alone would be enough for a front page story, Prince George arriving in his bathrobe to meet the Obamas became the iconic image of this meeting.
2017
August 31 2017 marked 20 years since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace was transformed to feature Diana’s favourite white flowers, and William and Harry, joined by Catherine, pay a visit on this special day.
2018
On 23 April 2018, Prince Louis was born at St. Mary’s Hospital. He is William and Catherine’s youngest child.
2019
In 2019, Catherine designed, alongside landscape architects Davies White , the RHS Back to Nature Garden. It was inspired by Catherine’s love of nature and the outdoors, and was meant to inspire children and families to play outdoors and use the outdoors as an outlet to support their mental health.
The Back to Nature Garden was on display at RHS flower shows across the UK (including the iconic RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which saw members of the Royal Family visiting the space) before becoming a permanent display at RHS Wisley.
2020
In the midst of the pandemic, Catherine launched a photography exhibition with the National Portrait Gallery: Hold Still. Meant to be a ‘snapshot’ of life in the UK during the pandemic lockdowns, over 30,000 citizens submitted pictures with 100 ultimately chosen as part of the exhibit. Her Royal Highness ensured that the photos were on display in rotating exhibits across the UK, and ultimately published a coffee table book of the final 100 portraits.
2021
In arguably her most iconic red carpet look to date, Her Royal Highness stole the show at the premiere of the latest James Bond film, No Time To Die, in September 2021. Dressed in Jenny Packham and looking like a Bond Girl (the gown was part of a capsule collection inspired by iconic Bond Girls), Catherine helped usher in a slight return to normalcy with the return of film premieres.
2022
On September 8 2022, the Duchess of Cambridge’s life would change forever following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The very next day, she became Princess of Wales, a title she will continue to hold until she one day becomes Queen Consort.
