Royal Wedding: The Other Kate Middleton
Kate of Concord, Mass., goes about her day job as name-twin plans royal wedding.
April 15, 2011 -- Kate Middleton wants everyone to know that she's not being fitted for a wedding dress, or going to any rehearsal dinner. Indeed, she isn't getting married at all.
No, Kate Middleton of Concord, Mass., isn't getting married April 29. Instead, she'll be going to her regular day job selling bikes and hosting spin classes at Ata Cycle west of Boston.
The other Kate Middleton is still fully expected to go through with her fairy tale wedding to Prince William.
The Massachusetts Middleton discovered six years ago that she shared a name with another -- more famous -- Kate when she applied for a job. "I got a call back and the person said I didn't know you dated Prince William. I said I didn't know that either," said Middleton, who promptly googled her name and read a slew of articles about Kate Middleton's romance with Prince William.
Things died down for a few years and the Boston-area Middleton largely forgot about the British one until the Royal couple announced their engagement in November. "After that it really snowballed," Middleton said. "I got all these followers on my Twitter account @ATaCycleK8. My co-workers have started to tell people I've gone out for tea if people ask for me at the cycle shop. And my new nickname is Spinderella."
The Massachusetts Kate Middleton is 32 and has brown hair. Her friends say she bears a passing resemblance to the other Kate, 29, but that's about it. This Kate loves cycling and her dogs. No, they're not Corgis. And this Kate says she has no desire to have stamps, coffee mugs and tea towels bearing her likeness.
Still, she's trying to have fun with the coincidence that her name is in the news. In the past week, she has fielded non-stop interview requests from across the country.
But the whole thing become a little tiresome recently when Facebook shut down her account because they accused her of using a false name. The social media company also removed all the photos tagged with her name. "They kind of erased me a bit so I had to tell them I have no affiliation with that lady in England but my legal name really is Kate Middleton," she said, to which her mom in Louisville, Ky., will attest.