Princess Kate - The Athlete Under the Tiara

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Princess Kate Rowing for a Cause in 2007

(All photos courtesy The London Daily Mail)

With all the "Royal Wedding" talk going on Friday, some people have been critical about the perception of royalty and where women stand in it. Princess Kate is looking to change that.

The first princess with a degree, Kate was a commoner raised by an upper middle class family. She has a solid work ethic, which she gained from her partents, and yes, did compete in sports.

Kate (circled) on her prep school rounders team

When she was younger, Kate played many sports and was a decent athlete. She was an all-star on the rounders team, was a competitive swimmer, and a goalie on her netball team. Going into the upper grades, she competed in basketball and cricket.

Princess Kate sterring the Sisterhood Rowing Team

Although she was less active in sports throughout college; in 2007 she became a part of the "Sisterhood Challenge" rowing team, which brought several celebrities, athletes, and business women together to raise money for children's charities. Their goal is to row the English Channel, and did so that year. Although Kate had to drop off the team by request of the Royal Family, she helped raise over $200,000 for the group, and the team is still together.

This isn't the only sports related charity she is involved with. In lieu of wedding gifts, the royal couple asked for donations to be made to 27 charities, including PeacePlayers International-Northern Ireland, which encourages using sports as a way to promote peace. Their motto is, "Children who play together can learn to live together." Also, Ocean Trust UK, which teaches young people how to sail, encourages teamwork, and build self-confidence.

On a funny side note, Kate allowed some rugby songs to be incorporated into the wedding, which is Prince Williams favorite sport.

As a Princess, will we Kate continue to play sports? Maybe or maybe not. The hope is, however, she continues to prove that even if you want to be a Princess, you can still take up sports and be an independent woman.

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There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

NiamhG says:

Unfortunately it would be surprising if she does compete, seeing as how she was asked to drop out of the rowing race. I read one article saying the other rowers were very disappointed and felt let down, might not be willing to ask her again. Pity, as she is giving up a lot of privacy, would be great to keep something.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at 2:00pm EDT

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