11 Weird Facts You Never Knew About HRH Kate Middleton, Duchess Of Cambridge

Kate Middleton is finally on her way to becoming the Queen of England someday. To commemorate (and to simultaneously drown our sorrows about not becoming a princess ourselves,) here are 12 facts you might not have known about HRH Duchess of Cambridge and her marriage to Prince William:

Fact #1: When Prince William and Kate walked down the aisle, Kate was 29, making her the oldest royal bride ever. (Most royal brides in history have typically been teenagers. Even William's mother, Princess Di, was barely 20 years old when she married his father, Prince Charles.) Although, according to statistics, this actually gives her a better chance at a longer future with William. Studies have shown that couple who marry closer to age 30 tend to divorce less than their younger counterparts. 

Fact #2. Unlike most other brides, Kate didn't have to stress and fret over the details of her gigantic, royal wedding. Aside from picking her bridesmaids, which included her sister, Pippa Middleton, Kate's only other responsibility was "to look fabulous and be the perfect royal bride," as all of the other arrangements were made by the royal staff.

Fact #3. If the royal couple's first press conference is any indication, Kate wants to be called by her given name, Catherine, and not her nickname, Kate. So, we're all going to have to get used to it! Besides, Queen Catherine has a regal air to it, and, if she and William go the distance and become king and queen, she will be the 6th Queen Catherine of England.

Fact #4. The future Queen Catherine may have scored her late mother-in-law's 18-carat sapphire and diamond engagement ring, but that doesn't mean that her brother-in-law, Prince Harry, was left to go to Zales to pick something out for Meghan Markle. Prince Harry reportedly inherited Princess Diana's Cartier watch. (Funny enough, although the sapphire ring is "very special" to Prince William, neither Princess Diana nor Prince Charles picked it out! The Queen did. We wonder if Princess Diana would have picked out Kate's ring if she were still alive?) 

Fact #5. Kate has seemingly made it her life's work to become a Queen (Seriously, she waited 8 years to marry Prince William; that's longer than most people's first marriages!). Kate was allegedly assigned 4 bodyguards from Scotland Yard to protect her around the clock, as she adjusted to life in her new public role.

Fact #6. Unlike Prince Charles and Diana's relationship, where it was Diana who was the most popular of the two, many people are wagering that Prince William will be the star of his and Kate's relationship. Already, Kate seems comfortable playing the straight role in Prince William's on-going comedy routine. During their first press conference, the Prince claimed that when he and Kate first met in college, "she had 10 or 20 pictures of me up on her wall at university." "No," Kate replied, "it was a Levi's ad..." "It was me in the Levi's," Prince William snapped back. Among all of the things that Kate says she is counting on William to teach her, we hope there will be a lesson included about witty zingers and how to effectively use self-deprecating humor to keep a press conference interesting.

Fact #7. When asked what they love about each other, William mentioned that Kate had "plenty of habits" that he loved to tease her about. We're happy to know that the soon-to-be British princess has just a touch of neurotic tendencies. She also reportedly can drink William under the table, which makes her a girl after our own heart.

Fact #8. Although there were reports in the past that Prince Harry thought his brother was making a mistake "dogging back to Kate," after their breakups, it seems that, in the end, Miss Middleton won both him and the rest of the royal family over with her good manners and quiet charm.

"I am delighted that my brother popped the question!" said the junior prince in a statement. "It means I get a sister, which I have always wanted."

Meanwhile, Prince Charles supposedly snipped, "They've been practicing for long enough," and Camilla called the news "wicked," which automatically boosts the coolness factor of Kate's future in-laws by several points.

Fact #9. Although she's already considered to be a style icon, there's no doubt that more attention will be paid to each outfit that Kate wears now that she's a Queen0in-waiting. For example, the royal blue dress that she wore during her engagement press conference was made by the London-based brand Issa.

Fact #10. After the messy divorces of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and Prince Andrew and Fergie, it's being speculated that Prince William and Kate might be the first royal couple to sign a pre-nup.

Fact #11. Kate may not have grown-up being treated like a princess, but according to royal expert Katie Nicholl, that's a good thing!

"She is middle-class, she's not an aristocrat. She's a real breath of fresh air for the House of Windsor. So, absolutely, she's going to change it, but I think for the better. She and William (are) the future of this monarchy, of this House of Windsor. They're going to take it forward into the 21st century, and I think they'll do a great job."

Margeaux Klein is a freelance writer and digital strategist whose written for the Huffington Post, Bustle, HelloGiggles, Newser, New York Daily News, Time Out New York and others.