is Kate Middleton really "middle class"?

[hatwoman]

she seems lovely and I know, in theory, she's not gentry, but I strongly suspect that if I met her I'd think she was quite posh.

[TheNextMrsDepp]

She went to a posh independent school. Money, not gentry.

[MelinaM]

New money! left to manual

[JarethTheGoblinKing]

Who gives a shit?

[MelinaM]

Off with their heads! Vive la Republic!!!

[diddl]

She doesn´t sound posh.

[southeastastra]

yes

[MassiveKnob]

nouveau riche

[seeker]

Nouveau.

I bet when she was a child there was a lounge and a toilet in her house.

[Bucharest]

Agree with seeker.

Very Pushy Parenting went on there. (didn't she only go to St Andrews because William was going?

Bet her mother is a 'mare.

I like Kate though, she has proper calves.

[Bucharest]

[poorbuthappy]

I almost just posted, oh I didn't know her family had livestock! But you got in there first...

[PrettyCandles]

Technically she's a commoner - but can you see that label going down well nowadays ?!

[slug]

Well I couldn't afford the fees

[LoopyLoops]

Fees for that kind of school are simply staggering, aren't they?

[Notterrysmine]

In the last 10 years there has been a substantial hike in school fees, I would imagine that when her parents started paying the fees they weren't that high.

My mother was horrified that 2 schools that I went to as a child, (I left 3 years before Kate), are now 3 times, and 4 times the fees that she had to pay. After the conversations of why am I not sending the grandkids there.

[diddl]

But money doesn´t equal posh, or even middle class.

[Notterrysmine]

And the money was well spent - I've just posted a really poor grammatical post.

[GoingToBonnieDoon]

I think I'd call her upper middle class, because the schools/lifestyle she has enjoyed are above what most would call middle class.

[EdgarAirbombPoe]

woah...those school fees are sharp. higher than the local unattainably expensive private school here...

i think it begs the question: do you need a title/titled family to be UC, or is money enough?

at least upper middle class.

[MollysChambers]

Oh FFS! Why does it matter?

[maktaitai]

Not a bad overnight rate though, better than a Travelodge at short notice.

[Hassled]

I think in all these debates you have to ask yourself "what would Jane Austen say?". And JA would not call someone "in trade" upper class . They didn't inherit their wealth - that's the stumbling block.

But as Molly points out, in the grand scheme of things it matters not one jot. She's rich and pretty and has nice teeth (and apparently nice livestock).

[AbsofCroissant]

Well, Dave Cameron is allegedly middle class, with £300mn in inheritance and titled family knocking about all over the place, so why not Kate.

Now, if I start calling myself middle class will someone give me a few million? Thanks.

[diddl]

Depends whether you look at her alone or include her parents, I think.