Kate: A Biography

by Marcia Moody

The perfect book for admirers of this remarkable young woman, this biography marks a crucial moment in the history of the British royal line.

With the long hoped-for announcement of Kate's pregnancy, popular sentiment towards the British royal family has rarely been higher. At the center of this upsurge in affection is a woman who has captured the heart of a nation and who, at the side of her husband, Prince William, is ushering in a new dawn for the United Kingdom's reigning family. For their first child, regardless of gender, will succeed William to the throne, due to planned amendments to the rules of succession to the British Crown. This biography examines the woman who has done so much to revitalize the public image of the royal family, covering her early years, her family, her time at St. Andrews University, her meeting Prince William, their early relationship and its trials, the wedding, her new official role, her style, and, of course, her pregnancy.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Royalty, Biography Memoir, British Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

Reviews

[moonaish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Przyznam, że biografia całkiem lekka, przyjemnie się czyta, mimo wielu błędów w druku. Do historii nic nie mam, to jest biografia, ale sposób jej przedstawiania.....Straszne idealizowanie Kate, jej każdego ruchu, zdania, według mnie taka postawa nie powinna mieć miejsca w biografii, to jest biografia, a nie średniowieczna literatura parenetyczna 😦😦😦. Każdy zabieg idealizacji Kate można byłoby zamienić czymś ludzkim, bo tutaj jej przedstawienie nie było ludzkie. Cała ta idealizacja skończyła się po ślubie z Williamem (dzk Bogu🙏🙏🙏), wtedy zaczęły się wszystkie skandale, prześladowania przez prasę, zasady itp. Kolejna sprawa- za mało informacji. Za mało informacji w książce, błagam ta książka nie była jakaś mega długa, ale więcej informacji, jakiś ciekawostek, rozszerzenie historii byłoby bardzo na miejscu. I właśnie to najbardziej zawiodło mnie w tej książce. Ale tak czy inaczej, według mnie warto i jestem zadowolona, że ją przeczytałam i miałam okazje dowiedzieć się trochę więcej o życiu Kate! Heavy on trochę😦😦😦 7/10

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enlightening biography about the woman who has done so much to revitalize the public image and global acceptance of the royal family. Kate truly does mark a crucial moment in the history of the British royal line not only because of her "common" upbringing and bloodlines but because of the fresh new modern feel she takes with her wherever she goes. This book provided some interesting information about her childhood that I have never read about before and it even includes some colour photos not to mention the beautiful cover! In the end, I had a great time reading a biography about the highly adored Kate Middleton who deserves so much credit for her work, respectful style and for successfully jumping into royal life with ease and grace.

[Jules · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I have ever read. For the most part it's nothing more than a summary of Kate's royal engagements and her wardrobe. Also the author seems to be such a big fan of Kate that even though she mentions criticism of her but in each case it is simply dismissed as false, but with very weak arguments against it. Very poorly edited as well, there's hardly a page where there's not a word missing or a typo. Don't waste your money on this!!

[Mafalda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estive indecisa entre as 3 e as 4, mas acabei por optar pelas 4.
A Kate sempre foi uma figura que chamou a atenção. Há algo nela que me cativa... e fiquei curiosa por saber mais sobre ela. Quando vi este livro, não pensei duas vezes.
Tive receio que fosse aborrecido (e confesso que tornou-se um bocado no fim, quando começou a relatar as obrigações reais e os eventos e as marcas ) mas não. O livro cativou-me, prendeu-me e adorei conhecer o antes dela. Adorei mesmo! Nunca a imaginei desportista, por exemplo.
Outra coisa que não gostei no livro foi um pouco de repetição que tem. Fala de algo aqui e, mais a frente, ao fazer referência a isso, repete um bocado de novo. Não acho que seria necessário.
De resto acho que fizeram um excelente trabalho!
Uma escrita leve, vai relatando as coisas naturalmente, como se fosse uma história que nos tivesse a ser contada (senti-me muitas vezes num conto de fadas eheh) e ainda trás 2 cadernos com fotos! Confesso que podiam ter posto bem mais. Adoro vê-lá :D
Esta tambem foi a minha estreia nas biografias e penso que é um tipo de livro aprovado. Talvez comece a ler mais deste género :)

[Caelyn Pietila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kate a biography, written by Marcia Moody, is the biography of Princess of Whales and England Kate Middleton. It tells the story before she came of royalty. Kate lived a normal life in England, and it was in college when she met the love of her life; Prince William of England. It shows how their relationship developed and how she never dreamt of becoming a princess. I would use this book in a high school classroom. I think a creative lesson to use this book would be in a world history class. If the students are learning about England and their government of anarchy, it would be fun for the student’s to read a biography of someone in the royal family. Many women look up to Kate Middleton, so I do not think males in the class would enjoy this project nearly as much as the women.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it was a fairly enjoyable book, a quick and easy read, I gave it a lower rating because it really wasn't anything new. There didn't appear to be any first hand information, the author quoted interviews and newspaper articles and anecdotes that have become well known. There were also errors both typos and factual ones including giving the date of Princess Diana's birthday as July 7. It wasn't a trashy sort of tell all, and didn't try to portray Kate or her family as a bunch of greedy social climbers or Prince William as a wild womanizer as other books have. It was just a nice pleasant biography of the woman who will be queen and possibly queen mother one day. A good way to pass a very hot summer day.

[Richelle Ludwick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A guilty pleasure read, but really wasn't that pleasurable. I would have enjoyed reading far more about her experiences growing up, rather than rambling lists of charity events and clothing designers. Also: when it came to describe her visit to Ottawa Canada, much of the events and activities described were not accurate (I lived a few blocks from Rideau Hall at the time) and it left me doubting the accuracy of everything else I was reading.

[Fátima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Li em português, mas não encontro aqui a edição.
Uma biografia muito detalhada e simpática.
Gostei especialmente de ler como os príncipes se conhecerem e como foi o inicio do namoro.
Quem gosta de seguir a vida dos monarcas de Inglaterra (pois no livro acaba por falar de toda a família)deve ler este livro.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to pick up and put down or continually read. Not normally a royalty follower, just had a wish to read.
Like others I could have easily read more about Kate's childhood, however it makes you realise how carefully Kate has to make choices or not make them once William and her are together, incase she became a royal. I really felt for her on occasions.
I is worth reading.

[Jacinta Pozzar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting insight into her early life and the world she has been introduced into, although the high amount of shockingly obvious spelling and grammar errors made me wonder if the author was just as careless with her research and facts.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing. I was hoping to learn more about Kate herself, especially her early years, not the evolution of her clothing styles and designer preferences.

You will not be missing anything if you should never pick this book to read.

[Mariangeles Montero hüttich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nada que no sepamos los lectores de Hola! Pésima edición. Pésima. Es una lectura ligera. Puro chisme.

[marcia frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Princess Kate's history

Very well done. The author gave us a good description of her introduction to the royal family. Great historical reading.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's OK. Fairly easy and somewhat interesting to read and/or skim. One entire chapter dedicated to clothes and accessories is a bit much.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Don't agree with previous negative reviews, don't let them deter you, it is fantastic.

[Hilary Ryder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, quick read. Author is very pro-Kate and not too much in there you wouldn't get from reading elsewhere, but fun.

[Cindy Nagel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed but did find things a little dull at times...though I imagine it's difficult to write a biography for someone in their 30's.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly written to say it was a journalist. It was literally a document and was at times, a list of who's who and I found that didn't add to the story of Kate's life.
I read this as a book challenge, chosen as 'someone I admire' however, as I was reading it, I became to admire her less and less.
Her education was 27k, more than Eton and she went back to Prince William after he wasn't particularly plesant to her. Not quite the 'girl power' figurehead I thought

[Hema Latha · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story has so much potential, to give an insight into how a common person transformed herself into royalty. However, the writing is mediocre at best. The book made for a hard read, as the content did not flow in any particular rhythm.

I did not learn anything more about Kate or her transition into Royalty through out the book. The one area where the book really did a good job was about focussing the lens on Kate's fashion choices.

[Kathie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really struggled with this one. It felt very disjointed and spoke less of Kate and more of everything happening around her. So much emphasis on who else went to events, every tiny detail of what people wore and very detailed descriptions of buildings and landscapes. It's not what I expected from a book titled Kate.

[Jennifer Lynn Boggs · Rating 1 out of 5]

What Kate Wore

If I had wanted to buy a book that consisted of page after page after page of descriptions of what Kate wore on every occasion from college till her second year of marriage it wouldn't have had biography in the title.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Kate Middleton (who doesn’t?), but this book is not well written. There are grammatical errors and a lot of fluff.

[Tyra Warrington · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was alright nothing overly good.

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

It was a great book, it just didn't have some of the most recent facts and story's of Princess Kate.

[Alexandra Knowles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being a Royal Watcher most of my live, this is not new information. I easily could have compiled all interviews into one tome, as Moody has done. Yawn.

[Kill irvine · Rating 5 out of 5]

K at🍎🍎

A very good read . Very positive about all the royals. 😍love Catherine and william. Beautiful we family. Diana would be very proud of her boys.

[Przytulajka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sama biografia jest napisana w sposób lekki i przyjemny. Jednakże zastanawiam się nad tym, czy autorka sprawdzała niektóre informacje.

[Andrew ✝️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

As far as pages, I felt like Elle Woods in 'Legally Blonde' on 179. Reading this felt like taking a test. Chapter Eleven had me wondering the following: what. does. this. have. to. do. with. Kate?? Reminds me of a chapter in a biography about Prince Harry. Chapter Eleven was called 'Her Royal Hotness,' and had nothing to do with Kate. It was about her sister Phillipa, more known as Pippa. This chapter also towards the end didn't have anything to do with Pippa, and ignored the title of the chapter when it swerved to talking about Kate's brother James. Maybe the author should've just written another book if there were things to say about people other than Kate. I mean, this book is called 'Kate: A Biography.'

I actually sped-read chapters 10 and 11 because they dragged. I sadly have to concur with another reviewer on here that there was a lot of name dropping in here. Also, I didn't see the need to put so much emphasis on what people were wearing as I read chapter 10. A brief mention is fine, but this is supposed to be a biography, not a brochure.

Once I was nearing the end, I began speed-reading again, but for the first time, skim-reading To be fair, there was new stuff in here because of when the book was published compared to others I've read, but this was something of a bore, sadly. I also noticed another similarity to the book which I linked above. Much like Prince Harry, the poor Duchess was given the fairy dust comment. I recommend this if you need something to start a fire.

My note:
October 19th, 2017:
Pg 179, 69.92%: "I feel like Elle Woods when she got her test scores back in 'Legally Blonde.' This book feels like taking a test and I've made it to 179..."

[Rebeca Núñez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante si te interesa la realeza y/o te gusta leer biografías. Esta bien escrito y es de lectura amigable. Cuando me lo puse a leer en serio, no me costo nada terminarlo. Es muy respetuoso aunque también real, por lo que si esperan chismes amarillistas se van a decepcionar.

[Ana Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guilty pleasure...