Princess Victoria, Duchess of Cambridge
Princess Victoria | |||||
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Duchess of Cambridge | |||||
Born | Victoria William Lauren Charles Cattrall 30 December 1992 Wales House, Albany, New York | ||||
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House | Hanover | ||||
Father | William VI | ||||
Mother | Kim Cattrall |
Princess Victoria, Duchess of Cambridge (Victoria William Lauren Charles Cattrall; born 30 December 1992), known previously as Lady Victoria Cattrall, is an English professional tennis player, activist, and a member of the British royal family. Born as the illegitimate daughter of King William VI and actress, Kim Cattrall, Victoria originally lived out the majority of her childhood years in the United States alongside her mother before subsequently relocating eastward to the United Kingdom instead. Then, upon being introduced to tennis by her royal half-aunt, the Princess Royal at the age of twelve, Victoria's interest in the sport would begin to gradually develop over time, with the princess initially taking part in several local tennis competitions herself on a generally active basis. Soon afterwards, in 2011, Victoria was able to win her first Wimbledon Championships tournament that year, after having initially finished runner-up to Serena Williams in the previous year. Then, Victoria would proceed to win another Wimbledon Championships title in the following year of 2012, before promptly announcing that she would be taking a temporary break instead from the sport. Nevertheless, not long after her return to the championships, Victoria's professional career was marked with further overall success, with a double 2017 and 2018 win so far at the French Open tournament, aswell as including her most recent victory at that year's US Open tournament, which came about after a rather contentious final against Naomi Osaka. Later on, around August 2021, Catherine publicly stated that her participation in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships tournament would be her last in her professional tennis career, before further stating that she is expecting to entirely retire from the sport itself on the same year.
Having personally endured a considerable amount of media scrutiny throughout her childhood years as a result of her rather illegitimate birth status, Victoria herself has since been personally outspoken against what she referred to as a "vapidly sensationalist media culture", along with being generally outspoken aswell on other social media issues, which includes both cyberbullying and media privacy. Furthermore, in addition to being an outspoken opponent of anti-Semitism in general alongside her half-sister, Queen Alexandra, Victoria herself has also become known for her various anti-war statements, which primarily revolves around her own primary criticism of the ongoing War on Terror conflict, which has often garnered the princess both praise and criticism from the general public.
Early Life
Victoria was born on December 30th 1992 as the firstborn but illegitimate child of William, Prince of Wales and English-Canadian actress, Kim Cattrall. Born Victoria William Lauren Charles Cattrall, she was first named after her own mother, whose full name was Kim Victoria Cattrall, followed by the likes of her own father, William, Prince of Wales and afterwards her own paternal grandparents, namely King Charles III and Queen Lauren themselves, while also sharing her mother's distinct Cattrall family name.
On the surface, despite being the firstborn child of a British heir apparent, Victoria herself was immediately excluded from any potential succession rights, as neither the Prince of Wales nor Cattrall herself were ever married to one another at the time of Victoria's birth. Irrespective of this, despite her rather illegitimate status, Victoria's upbringing proved to be rather stable overall, as a result of a confidential agreement reached between Victoria's parents with the British royal family and government, whereby Victoria and her mother would be provided with a considerable amount of financial aid in order to alleviate any potential woes, along with the granting of the courtesy title of Lady to both the younger and older Cattrall themselves. At the same time, by the Prince of Wales's own courtesy and approval, both Cattralls were allowed to take up residence at the royal residence of Wales House itself, which had then served as the princess's own birthplace, along with being a secondary residence for members of the British royal family in the United States. Furthermore, beginning from the age of three, despite finding herself then distantly separated from her father due to the latter's ascension to the throne, both Victoria and Cattrall continued to remain in contact, either directly or indirectly with Victoria's own biological father, whom despite his newfound duties, was nevertheless able to travel abroad to the United States on various occasions, thereby allowing a young Victoria to establish a rather respectful and warm relationship with her own biological father. On the other hand, following the marriage between Victoria's mother to an American audio equipment designer, Mark Levinson in 1998, a then six year old Victoria was said to had a rather "dismissive and indifferent" approach towards her stepfather in particular, with the older Cattrall herself later noting on how a young Victoria would "burst into leaps of joy in the presence of her biological father, while otherwise receding into a state of moodiness in the presence of her stepfather instead".
In addition to that, Victoria's apparent interest in the game of tennis would also begin to develop over time, as a result of the young princess herself being exposed to the sport itself by her own father during his many visits to their New York home. Soon, it was not long before Victoria's own interest in the sport would quickly catch her father's eye, leading the latter to subsequently have the young princess enrolled in a tennis academy for children, thereby allowing her to hone her skills further in the sport, particularly during the weekends, when she would often have the most amount of time available to spend at the academy.
Afterwards, beginning from the age of seven, under the direct sponsorship of her own biological father abroad, Victoria was enrolled in her first educational institution, namely the Westmere Elementary School, located in Albany, New York, and not far from their own Wales House residence nearby. However, unbeknownst to the young Victoria, in a joint concerted effort involving both her mother and the school's administrators, Victoria, in addition to being officially enrolled in the school under her own full name, would also have her then stepfather, Mark Levinson be documented as her official father instead, in a ruse meant to allow the young Victoria to undergo a relatively normal life in public without also attracting unwanted attention arising from her own controversial biological ties to her father, whom was the reigning British monarch at the time. However, while the ruse itself proved to be overall successful in its primary intention, it was otherwise believed that on the other hand, it also contributed significantly to the deterioration in the already strained relationship between Victoria and her stepfather, Mark Levinson, whose mandated appearances at events held by the school in the place of Victoria's own biological father proving to be a major sore spot for herself.
Moving to the United Kingdom
Eventually, around 2003, after just three years into learning at her New York primary school, a now ten year old Victoria subsequently found herself relocating eastward to the United Kingdom, following a contentious divorce involving her mother and stepfather, which was reportedly caused by Victoria's mother having accepted an offer from Victoria's own biological father, King William VI, to begin living in the United Kingdom instead, where the latter believed that the young soon-to-be princess would be more accustomed to, an assumption made more plausible by the fact that both William and Victoria have already shared a deeply respectful and loving relationship with one another, despite their years' long separation. Soon enough, the two's initially concealed entry into the United Kingdom would eventually become known to the general British public, when the two were photographed together with the main members of the British royal family in an official Christmas-themed photograph that year marking their apparent official inclusion into the rest of the royal family itself.
Soon afterwards, in adjusting to their new life in the United Kingdom, both Victoria and Cattrall would begin to appear more frequently alongside members of the royal family in public events and alike, while Victoria, along with her own younger half-sister, Alexandra, proceeded to enroll together at the Primrose Hill Primary School in London, where despite being somewhat socially isolated by her new classmates in the first few days or so, Victoria was otherwise noted extensively by her teachers as being a "slightly above average achiever", along with having a supposedly "unbreakable passion and interest" in both the subjects of English and Science.
Personal Life
Titles & Honours
Soon after she was born, Victoria was rather initially known as Victoria Cattrall, before being subsequently awarded the title of Lady just a few weeks afterwards. Later on, upon reaching the age of ten, Victoria was eventually given the title of Princess of the United Kingdom by her father, the King and later by her own half-sister, the reigning Queen Alexandra, whom then made her Duchess of Cambridge on February 2019 in recognition of the general success she has accumulated so far in her professional tennis career.
Honours
National & Commonwealth
- United Kingdom - Dame Grand Cross of the Most Gallant Order of British Excellence
- United Kingdom - Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Charles III
- United Kingdom - Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
- United Kingdom - Lady Companion of the Most Ancient and the Most Noble Order of the Thistle
- United Kingdom - Member of the Royal Family Order of King William V
- United Kingdom - Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order
- United Kingdom - Member of the Order of St. George
Foreign
Ancestry
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