Every royal fan knows
that The Duchess of Cambridge is a
talented photographer, as she’s demonstrated with several photos of her children released in
honour of special occasions.
What was less certain
until now was who exactly inspired the mother-of-three to pick up a
camera.
A new interview in
the Sunday Express might just have the answer, however.
Claudia Acott Williams,
the curator of Kensington Palace‘s new photography exhibition Life
Through a Royal Lens, has shared that the Duchess revealed it was her
paternal grandfather, Peter Middleton, who sparked her interest in photography.
Speaking to the newspaper,
Claudia revealed that Kate told herself and other staff at Historic Royal
Palaces, the charity that manages the parts of the palace that are open to the
public, that her grandfather was a gifted photographer in his own right.
The curator said:
“Her grandfather was a very good photographer. When she was a child,
he would show her his slides. It was him who taught her how to take
photographs.”
 |
| The talented royal shares a family passion for photography |
Mr Middleton was a former
RAF pilot who died at the age of 90 in November 2010. After his death, it was
revealed that Prince William had joined the Middletons to celebrate the
landmark birthday.
It had previously been
reported that Kate picked up some photography skills from her father, Michael Middleton, but it
seems that the family connection goes even further back.
The 40-year-old Duchess is also
clearly keen to pass on her passion to others, even organizing the photography
initiative Hold Still to encourage people to capture their
experiences during the lockdown.
 |
The Duchess launched photo exhibition Hold Still during lockdown
There were 31,000 entries
from photographers of all ages with 100 final images chosen to appear in
a digital exhibition.
Speaking about the news
that the photos would be turned into a book, Kate said: “Through Hold
Still, I wanted to use the power of photography to create a lasting record of
what we were all experiencing – to capture individuals’ stories and document
significant moments for families and communities as we lived through the
pandemic.”
