Kate Middleton and Prince William on a visit to St Thomas’ Hospital in March 2016.
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The Gist
Prince William’s friends reportedly had a “bizarre” nickname for Kate Middleton and her family while the couple were students at the University of St. Andrews.
According to royal biographer Katie Nicholl, the fivesome were known as “the OM Middletons” because they were always together.
The family’s close bond was also on display during Kate’s 2024 battle with cancer.
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s fairytale romance famously began at the University of St. Andrews, and though it’s been over two decades since then, new details about their origin story continue to come to light. Take, for example, the couple’s college-era nicknames. According to royal biographer Katie Nicholl, the future king’s friends had a “bizarre” (in the words of The Daily Mail) moniker for Kate’s family: “the OM Middletons.”
“William’s friends jokingly refer to the close-knit family as ‘the OM Middletons,’ meaning the ‘On Masse Middletons’ because they are always together,” Nicholl wrote in her 2011 biography, The Making of a Royal Romance.
Kate Middleton with her parents Michael and Carole at the Sovereign’s Parade in December 2006.
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Kate’s family of course includes her parents Michael and Carole, her brother James, and her sister Pippa. Today, the fivesome remain close as ever, especially in the wake of the future queen’s cancer diagnosis. Kate underwent chemotherapy treatment for most of 2024 and announced that she had gone into remission in early 2025.
“For her and her family, it was a challenging time, and I know for us and our bigger family it was a challenging time,” James later told The Times. “Being there for someone is such an important part, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be on your terms, and it shouldn’t be on your terms. It should be on their terms—unconditional. ‘I’m not doing it for something in return. I’m doing it because I love you.’ And that’s the simplest way of really demonstrating love. You can do it in all these various fancy ways, but actually, it is just generally being there.”
Kate and Pippa Middleton at Wimbledon in July 2019.
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James and Pippa Middleton at the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla in May 2023.
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William, for his part, is also close with his in-laws. Indeed, the Prince of Wales “was given another family with Carole and Michael Middleton from a very early age,” royal biographer Robert Jobson told Us Weekly, adding, “I think he counts on Carole and Michael very much as his second mom and dad, really.”
“The Middletons are a traditional family, which is why William enjoyed being around them so much,” fellow royal biographer Ingrid Seward said in a similar sentiment shared with Hello!.
Michael and Carole Middleton at William and Kate’s wedding on April 29, 2011.
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In their 2010 engagement interview, William himself said, “Kate’s got a very, very close family. I get on really well with them, and I’m very lucky that they’ve been so supportive.” He called Carole and Michael “really loving and caring and really fun,” and said they were “really welcoming” and made him feel like “a part of the family.”
Read the original article on InStyle