Rare Images of Kate Middleton Before She Became a Princess

This is what we’d call a throwback photo! If anyone was ever wondering if Kate was adorable as a kid, here’s our answer. She couldn’t possibly be cuter with those cheeks. And as we can see here, Kate always had a winning smile, as evidenced in this photo from her days at St. Andrew’s Prep School. We can easily see all three of her children’s features in her face when she was younger.

So now we know: Yes, Kate always had shiny, pretty hair. Although she certainly has the help of stylists, it’s easy to see that her great hair definitely comes naturally. She’s had the same face all these years (of course, she’s gotten older and matured a bit in the meantime) though, so we could have easily picked her out of a lineup.

We’d recognize that pretty face anywhere!

Everyone has to have at least one year where they have a bad hair day during school photos. Here’s Kate’s! Even at that, it’s a relatively mild bad hair day, too. But it’s cool that she has all of these school photos to look back on, all while wearing the same uniform. It really shows the way that she’s grown over the years. It has to be so much fun to compare them all.

Through the years, Kate’s style has been ever evolving, but none of it compares to those wilder years before she married William and became a member of the royal family. Even though her outfit itself is still relatively conservative, her whole look is a lot more laid-back than it is these days. Check out Kate in 2005 when her hair was a little more wild — and so were her earrings.

Now that’s a bold costume jewelry look.

Once upon a time, before Kate was a duchess, she had to pick up her dry cleaning just like the commoners. Again, check out those earrings! Of course, Kate still runs her own errands when she can — especially when her kids are involved. It was probably a lot easier for her to do those errands in the old days, even though as this photo shows, there were still photographers documenting her every move.

Any time Kate wears skinny jeans, we always love the way she looks totally put together but super casual all at once. But seeing jeans on Kate isn’t quite as common as it once was. In her pre-royal life, she was wearing jeans a lot more often — especially in an outfit like this one. We can’t think of the last time we saw this woman carrying her own bags, let alone doing it while wearing jeans on a rainy day.

There’s usually no reason to pick on Kate’s style (she is almost always on point), but this pre-royalty look is a little questionable. Overall, it’s cute (and we know Kate loves houndstooth) but the black with the brown and the black-and-white print — we’re not loving it. But this look was in style during the time this photo was taken, so we’ll give her that much.

Oh, Kate! How adorable is she in this sweet beret, cozy scarf, and pale blue jacket?! Destined for style icon status, even if she flubbed a few times. Still, this is a woman who loves using a good accessory to complete her look, including hats, scarves, and coats — all things she’s wearing in this photo. She’s just doing her best to pull off an early 2000s look, y’all, and she’s not half bad at it!

This is an image we wouldn’t expect to see now (not by a long shot), but just like everyone else, Kate was young once. And unfortunately, that meant that her wilder years were caught on camera and will be around forever. Here, a tan Kate is out clubbing. It sounds scandalous, but it’s just another day in the life of Kate circa 2007. Let her have fun before she commits to a life of royal obligation.