Kate Middleton: How duchess's great grandmother lied to serve as nurse in WW1
THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE’S great grandmother, Olive Middleton, lied about her marital status so she could volunteer as a forces nurse in the First World War.
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Civilian women wanting to play their part in the Voluntary Aid Detachment needed to be unmarried or widowed.
So in her application Olive ticked Miss as her marital status – despite having wed Richard Middleton the year before.
In a photograph from the time Olive is seen sitting with colleagues at Yorkshire’s Gledhow Hall, which belonged to her cousin, the Baroness Airedale.
It was used to station VAD nurses.
History teacher Michael Reed, from Melbourne, Australia, said: “The Australian grandson of Baroness Airedale gave me a photo of Kate Middleton’s great-grandmother, Olive, in her Red Cross nursing uniform in 1915.
"She was from a wealthy family and wanted to help.
"Tragically, her three brothers died during the war.”
Olive’s caring nature, he added, “was very much like Lady Diana, Prince William’s mother”.