Getting a gift for someone who is about to have everything in less than a week is a mind-wrecking job, but Kate Middleton’s family rose to the challenge and got her the perfect gift – a coat of arms. Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, custom-built a family crest to highlight their daughter’s royal wedding on the 29th of April, barely a week from now.
Working hand-in-hand with an artist from the College of Arms, the Middletons fashioned a coat of arms shaped like a lozenge and is hanging from a blue ribbon; the ribbon signifies that Kate is still officially single. The three acorns in the coat of arms represent Kate and her other two siblings Pippa and James. On the other hand, the oak tree is a symbol of the place where the family lived and grew for 30 years – west Berkshire. Other details like the division on the middle of the crest is a lose representation of the family’s last name, Middle-ton. The gold chevron symbolizes “Goldsmith” which is Carole’s maiden name.
Thomas Woodcock, the artist who helped design the crest, said that although having a coat of arms is not compulsory, it might come in handy as she is marrying the Prince of Wales. Artists will remove the blue ribbon after the wedding and place Kate’s shield in the middle of her husband-to-be’s coat of arms, signifying that the two has become one.
Some aristocrats, however, rolled their eyes on the Middleton’s family crest; saying that the crest should have included balloons as the family started in the party supplies industry. Although the public has learned to accept that Prince William is marrying a commoner, some members of the British royalty have not.
