Kate Middleton gets her very own coat of arms in time for Royal Wedding (and handily it can be used for the family business too)
Their ancestors include carpenters and coalminers a world away from the nobility.
But yesterday Kate Middleton’s family were awarded their own coat of arms.
Although royal bride-to-be Kate was entitled to apply for a heraldic design in her own right, it was her father, Michael, who actually entered the petition.
This gives his entire family – including his other children, Pippa and James, as well as wife Carole – the right to use the emblem. By Richard Hartley-Parkinson & Rebecca English
Garter Principal King of Arms and Senior Herald in England, Thomas Woodcock unveils the new Coat of Arms for Kate Middleton's family
The design is simple, with three leafy acorns representing each of the couple’s three children – an idea suggested by Kate herself.
Acorns were chosen for the analogy that they grow into great oaks. Oak is also a symbol of England and strength, and West Berkshire, where the children were brought up, has many oak trees.
Most eye-catching is the gold chevron in the centre of the design representing Kate’s mother, Carole, 56, at the heart of her family. The colour is a reference to her maiden name, Goldsmith.
Herald painter Robert Parsons sketches the new Coat of Arms, unveiled today
The cover sheet of the souvenir Royal Wedding programme
WHO CAN USE THE NEW CREST?
If another person were to use the Middleton crest without prior permission, they could find themselves before the
Court of Chivalry
- a court that has sat once in the last 279 years.
The only judge in the court is the Earl Marshall and was last convened in 1954 when Manchester City Council complained that the Manchester Palace theatre had used its crest.
The council asked the theatre to stop using the coat of arms, but it refused and the court ruled in the council's favour. When the case came forward there was a lengthy discussion about whether or not the court still existed.
wow ... luckyy girl!!!