Kate Middleton's first full year as a royal proved to be a very busy one — and that's only counting her public engagements, not all the behind-closed-palace-doors Illuminati initiation rites she undoubtedly had to endure. (Why else would she have changed her hair, for example? Spoiler: photos coming up.)
There were lots of mundane princess duties to endure — hugging babies, accepting cheap bouquets, opening hospitals/schools/theaters/doors, and making pointless small talk with foreign dignitaries or, worse, children who, in the good old days of the British monarchy at least, would have been lucky to scrub Buckingham's kitchen floors. Fortunately, though, there were new and exciting opportunities too. 2012 saw Kate's patriotism run riot at the Olympics, her best dance moves showcased on her tour of Polynesia, and her otherwise unfortunate morning sickness confirm the United Kingdom's future ruler. Here, a roundup of her highs and lows:
1. She got to pet a large dog.
2. She got to wear a traditional Polynesian hat that made her look a little bit Amish.
3. She got to rappel in a Malaysian jungle.
4. She got to dance wearing a grass skirt.
5. More dancing, because.
6. She got pregnant.
7. She got to pass gas in public.
8. She got to RSVP "no thanks" to all sister Pippa's book-launch parties.
9. She got to make lewd jokes about coconuts.
10. She got to wear big hats.
11. She got to wear small hats.
12. She got to ride in ceremonial carriages.
13. And more carriages, because taxis are gauche.
14. She got to look at a big paper dragon, which is nice.
15. She got to practice her royal wave.
16. She got to play hockey with Team Great Britain.
17. And she got to play hockey in heels too.
18. She got bangs.
19. She got to catch a train with the queen.
20. She got to watch a student fashion show — and didn't laugh.
21. She got to sample the food at fancy London food store Fortnum & Mason.
22. She got to do the wave (lots).
23. She got to be adorably enthusiastic at the Olympics.
24. And adorably outraged at the Olympics.
25. And adorably worried at the Olympics.
26. And even more adorably worried at the Olympics.
27. And then she got adorably enthusiastic at the Paralympics too.
28. She got to go canoeing, without needing to do any of the work.
29. She got to go to hospital with acute morning sickness.
30. She got to spoil some commoners' chess game.
31. She got to wear a very modest headscarf.
32. She got to ogle potentially naked footballers in a Jacuzzi.
33. She got people to carry her.
34. She got to wear frameless hipster-glasses safety goggles.
35. She got to drink water instead of wine.
36. She got to play Ping-Pong (badly).
37. She got to poke a child with a stick.
38. She got to ride in a ski lift.
39. And finally, um, well, she got naked.
