Kate Middleton: The princess-in-waiting

It's easily the most-anticipated celebrity wedding of 2011. The world is watching as Britain's Prince William and bride-to-be Kate Middleton prepare for their wedding to be held on April 29.

To add to the wedding buzz, Kate Middleton's family has released a selection of family photos on the couple's wedding website.

The website has already attracted nearly two million hits since it was launched last week.

Five images from the Middleton family album have been made available, as Kate Middleton and Prince William move towards their wedding which is scheduled to take place at London's Westminster Abbey.
(AP Photo)

In this picture, Kate, aged three-and-a-half, is seen climbing a rock while on holiday in Lake District.

In her biography posted on the couple's wedding site, Kate reveals that her hobbies include hill walking, swimming, sailing, photography and painting.
(AP Photo)

This click shows Kate, aged four, with her father and sister in Jordan, where the Middleton family lived for two and a half years.
(AP Photo)

Kate Middleton smiles following her graduation from St. Andrews University, Scotland, on June 23, 2005.

She graduated with a 2:1 (Hons) in the History of Art.
(AP Photo)

The two met at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, starting out as just friends but quickly became boyfriend and girlfriend.

After a courtship of eight long years, the marriage is going to be nothing short of a dream run for both. This is going to be another mammoth Royal wedding for Britain after Prince Charles married Diana.
(AP Photo)

William proposed to Kate during a vacation in Kenya last year and gave her the oval blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds from the jeweler Garrard that Charles had given his mother.

William said he carried the ring around with him for weeks as he sought the right moment to pop the question.

Kate Middleton showed the ring with obvious pride. She described the proposal this way: "It was very romantic, and it was very personal."

In a poignant symbol for William, his betrothed wore the sapphire and diamond engagement ring that belonged to his late mother, Diana.

"I thought it was quite nice because obviously she's not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all. This was my way of keeping her close to it all," William said.

Recetly, Clarence House Press released the official pictures of Prince William and fiancée Kate Middleton's engagement.

Posing in a stunning white Reiss dress, Kate and William were caught embracing.

The photographs, few formal and the other more casual, portray William and Kate, both 28, holding each other in 16th-century St James' Palace.(AFP Photo)

The photos were taken by celebrated fashion and celebrity photographer Mario Testino on November 25, 2010 in St James's Palace, London, more than a week after the couple's engagement was announced.

"I am very happy to have been asked to cover this historic moment that the whole world was waiting for. They are in their prime and brimming with happiness. I have never felt so much joy as when I see them together," Testino said.

Peruvian-born Testino is also the author of some of the most famous images of late Diana, Princess of Wales. (AFP photo)

Prince William and Kate Middleton bubbled with joy during their first public appearance since the palace announced their engagement after more than eight years of dating.

"We're massively excited," William said in the televised interview that marked the first time they have spoken publicly about the trials and tribulations of their love affair, which dates back to their days as university freshmen. "We're hugely excited. We're looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together."

The interview reminded many of a similar TV appearance by William's parents, Prince Charles and Diana, shortly after they became engaged. At that time, Diana seemed frightened of the limelight and withdrawn; by contrast, Middleton seemed at ease in front of the cameras.

She said she wished she had met Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997. "I would love to have met her. She's an inspirational woman," Middleton said.

The marriage will link Middleton — whose parents, self-made millionaires, founded a successful mail-order party supply business after working in the airline industry — with William, scion of one of the richest families in the world.

The royal wedding represents a chance for the Windsors to start anew. Middleton brings youth and glamour to a monarchy tarnished by divorce and scandal. There is already warm public support for William.

The union also has important implications for the monarchy's line of succession. Kate and William's first child would move ahead of his younger brother, Prince Harry, to become third in line to the throne.

Midddleton attended Marlborough College, an elite private school, where she played tennis and field hockey, before studying art history at St. Andrews. After graduating in 2005, Middleton worked as a buyer for the fashion chain Jigsaw. She is now employed by her family's party-planning business.

William has tried to lead a normal life, training to become a military helicopter rescue pilot, but has also become accustomed to extravagant vacations at the world's most exclusive hideaways.

The two met as freshmen at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, starting out as just friends but quickly becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.

While Charles and Diana often seemed tense at times during their brief courtship, William and Middleton seem relaxed and comfortable together.

They are both the same age — unlike Charles and the much younger Diana — and they have lived together in shared student housing, giving them plenty of time to really know each other.

Royal officials said that while Middleton is commonly known as Kate, her official name is Catherine Elizabeth. She will be named Queen Catherine if William, as expected, eventually takes the throne.