The photo has been released to coincide with Kate’s chat on Giovanna Fletcher’s podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby, in which she opens up about being mum to George, Charlotte and Louis.
She also speaks about her difficult pregnancies and using hypnobirthing when welcoming all three royal kids in the extremely honest interview – organised to raise awareness for her 5 Big Questions survey.
One of the main things she discusses is mum guilt, admitting she faces a “constant struggle” leaving her children to carry out her royal duties.
Asked if she’s affect by it, she replied: “Yes absolutely – and anyone who doesn’t as a mother is actually lying.
“Yep – all the time, Even this morning, coming to the nursery visit here – George and Charlotte were like ‘Mummy how could you possibly not be dropping us off as school this morning?’
Related Slideshow: Things to know about Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Provided by Photo Services)
The Duchess was born as Catherine Elizabeth Middleton in Reading, England, on Jan. 9, 1982, to Michael (L) and Carole Middleton (R). While her father was an airline officer, her mother was an airline stewardess.
For a few years in the mid-1980s, she lived in Amman, Jordan, while her father worked for British Airways.
During her school days, the royal excelled at sports, drama and music. Tennis, hockey and netball are some of the sports that she enjoyed.
She was in a co-educational boarding school – Marlborough College in Wiltshire, England, the same school as Princess Eugenie of York (L).
She first met Prince William in 2001 while both were students in residence at St Salvator’s Hall at the University of St. Andrews.
She graduated in 2005 with a Master of Arts from the University of St. Andrews.
She is almost six months older than her husband Prince William, who was born in June 1982.
The duchess, who’s five feet and nine inches tall (175.25 centimeters), wears shoes in sizes between 5.5 and 6 depending on the brand.
Before marrying into the royal family, she worked as a part-time buyer for less than a year for the clothing company Jigsaw Junior in London.
The royal couple’s first official event together after getting engaged was the launch of the new RNLI lifeboat “Hereford Endeavour” at Trearddur Bay, Wales, on Feb. 24, 2011.
On her wedding day on April 29, 2011, she wore Queen Elizabeth II’s tiara. Named Halo Scroll Tiara, it was made by Cartier in 1936, and was gifted to the then Princess Elizabeth by her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on her 18th birthday in 1944.
She holds three royal titles — Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn when she’s in Scotland, and Lady Carrickfergus when she’s in Northern Ireland.
Catherine is a patron of several charities, most of which focus on children’s welfare, including The Royal Foundation, Action on Addiction, The Art Room, SportsAid, Place2Be, and The 1851 Trust.
The Duchess loves photography. In 2009, she worked with photographer Annie Leibovitz’s muse, Count Nikolai von Bismarck. She also regularly takes portraits of her children, which are released on their birthdays and other special occasions.
In 2015, she passed Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Advanced Open Water Diver qualification, becoming a certified diver.
Known for her high standard of royal fashion, she reportedly wore more than 25 outfits during her tour of Canada and Los Angeles in July 2011.
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian launched a limited-edition shoe, named “The Duchess,” which she had designed especially for the Duchess’ 30th birthday in 2012. Kardashian said: “I’ve created a special shoe just for Kate.”
After becoming a part of the royal family, the Duchess gave her first public speech in March 2012, during a visit to the East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices facility in Ipswich, England. Ever since, she has delivered speeches around the world.
Her first official portrait was unveiled by artist Paul Emsley at the National Portrait Gallery in London in January 2013.
The royal enjoys cooking and tries recipes from “Great British Bake Off” star Mary Berry (R). During an event in March 2013, she told Berry: “I’m a big fan of your cook books and your cakes.”
She has twice been selected as one of the most influential people in the world by TIME magazine, in 2012 and 2013.
She is a huge “Downton Abbey” (2010-15) fan and even visited the set of the hugely popular British drama in 2015.
(Pictured) Greets Hugh Bonneville and Laura Carmichael during an official visit to the set of “Downton Abbey” at Ealing Studios in London on March 12, 2015.
For the first time in her life, she consented to a magazine shoot in June 2016, appearing in a 10-page spread for Vogue’s centenary issue.
(Pictured) A visitor looks at two portraits of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, taken in the Norfolk Countryside by British photographer Josh Olins, at the Vogue 100: A Century of Style exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London on May 1, 2016.
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“It’s a constant challenge – you hear it time after time from mums, even mums who aren’t necessarily working and aren’t pulled in the directions of having to juggle work life and family life.”
She also says she sometimes feels guilty about the parenting decisions she makes.
She said: “[You’re] always sort of questioning your own decisions and your own judgements and things like that, and I think that starts from the moment you have a baby.”
She goes on to explain how she deals with the guilt, relaying something a “very wise man” told her.
She said: “The more people you have around your children who are safe and loving and caring, the better.
“So yeah – it was a real weight off my shoulders that actually it’s not totally my responsibility to do everything, because you know we all have good days, bad days – and you can dilute that with others who aren’t on that particular day struggling.
“I think it makes such a difference for your child, keeping them as constant and happy as possible.”
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