The Duchess Dictionary: Berkshire

The county of Catherine's birth, Berkshire is located in south-east England. It's a county of historic origin and has been known as the Royal County of Berkshire since at least the 19th century, due to the presence of Windsor Castle (Eton and the Ascot racecourse are also located within the county).

Berkshire shown within England.

The future Duchess of Cambridge was born on 9 January 1982 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, as were both her siblings. At the time of Catherine's birth, her parents lived in a semi-detached Victorian house in Bradfield Southend, near Reading.

Baby Catherine was christened at St Andrew's Bradfield, near Reading, on 20 June 1982:

After a two-year stay in Jordan, where her parents worked for British Airways, Catherine was enrolled as a day pupil at St Andrew's School, near Pangbourne, Berkshire. St Andrew's is an independent, coeducational day and boarding preparatory school. Catherine's sister Pippa was also a pupil, as was in earlier years John Le Carré, the spy fiction writer. Fees nowadays start at £4,900 per term for Years 3 & 4 and go up to £5,400 per terms for Years 5 - 8. Catherine was a pupil there from 1986 to 1995.

School colours are green and white, and its motto is Altiora Petimus, or "We seek higher things". The school boasts a 54-acre park and is very big on sports and outdoor activities.
The undated photo below shows Catherine (front row, centre) and the rest of the school's hockey team:

During her time at Pangbourne, Kate appeared in a school production of My Fair Lady as Eliza Doolittle. A charming video of her singing in a cockney accent survives! Her co-star in the musical was Andrew Alexander, who went on to make acting his profession and has appeared in Downton Abbey as Sir John Bullock, a one-time love interest of Lady Rose.

Catherine returned to St Andrew's as a Duchess, on 25 November 2012, when she joined pupils for a day of activities (including a spot of hockey) to mark St Andrew's Day. It was her last public engagement before her first pregnancy was officially announced.

  

After attending girls' only Downe House School in Berkshire for just two terms as a day girl, Catherine moved on to Marlborough College, a co-ed school in Wiltshire, as a boarder.

At the time of the Royal Wedding, the couple's choice of anti-bullying charity Beatbullying as one of those guests and well-wishers could donate money to lead to widespread press reports claiming that Catherine's move to Marlborough had been due to bullying (Daily Telegraph article here; one of many Daily Mail articles here; Richard Palmer for the Daily Express article here).

Catherine's parents, Carole and Michael, who have lived for years in Bucklebury, Berkshire, bought a grand seven-bedroom Georgian mansion in the village in 2012, to afford them (and the Cambridges, who are frequent visitors) more privacy than their former, smaller property: