Duchess Kate's mother Carole Middleton gives first-ever interview: What we learned

She's the mother-in-law of a future king and the grandmother to another yet we've hardly ever heard from Carole Middleton, mom to Duchess Kate.

That changed over the weekend when British newspaper The Telegraph published the first-ever interview with Middleton, 63. It was a long time coming, 13 years after her daughter began dating Prince William at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. The pair have been married for seven years and have three children.

Though much of the interview focuses on the 30th anniversary of her mail-order party-supply business, Party Pieces, there were a few nuggets about her daughter and famous in-laws.

Here's what we learned:

The mother of the future queen of England once lived in public housing: Middleton, whose maiden name was Goldsmith, spent the first six months of her life living in a government-subsidized apartment and left high school at 16 before returning to finish her degree. However, because her parents couldn't afford college, she decided, "I’d see if I could get a bit of money together and fund myself."

She got a couple of entry-level jobs, first as a department store corporate trainee, then as a secretary for what would become British Airways, later trading a typewriter for the uniform of a ground crew member at the airline. The lingo, she says, was akin to learning another language and "almost like being at university." It was there that she met her future husband, Michael Middleton, who was six years older.

She used Kate and Pippa as models for Party Pieces: The future royal appeared on the cover of a Party Pieces catalog blowing out birthday candles.

Middleton read gossip stories about herself up until last year:  "Well, I thought it was better to know what people thought," she explained to the Telegraph. "But it doesn’t make any difference. I’m not really sure how I’m perceived now,’ she says. "But the thing is… it is really normal – most of the time."

She concedes, "It isn’t normal, maybe, to go to Louis’ christening or Catherine’s wedding, but, in the end, they’re all family events."

She was "involved lots" with her daughters' weddings: That being said, she told the Telegraph, "I think the most important thing, as a parent, is to listen to what your daughter wants. You can have all the ideas in the world, but it has to be about them. And don’t muscle in on the guest list." 

Thanks to royal staffers, who organized Kate and Williams' April 2011 wedding in under six months, Middleton says, "I honestly don’t think I was any more stressed than any other mother-of-the-bride."

She's known as "Granny Middleton":  That's how Prince George and Princess Charlotte refer to Middleton, and six-month-old Prince Louis and Pippa's newborn son will likely follow suit. It may not be as adorable as Prince George's nickname for Queen Elizabeth, whom he calls "Gan-Gan," but it's still a pretty cute moniker. 

She feared "losing" her family as her children grew: Middleton doesn't come out and say she was afraid Kate would be swallowed up by the royal family, but she does allude to such a concern.

"My biggest fear was that I’d lose my family, but we’ve stayed close," she says of her three adult children. "There are times when they say, 'Can you do this, or that?' and I can’t quite. But they like the fact that I work." 

She doesn't like shopping or being photographed: Though Middleton understands that as the mother of a royal, she's going to be snapped, that doesn't mean she enjoys it. She professes to "hate it," actually. 

And although her daughter regarded as one of the world's most influential tastemakers, Middleton isn't as much of a fashionista as you might expect. For one thing, "there aren't enough (clothes) for women my age." 

For another, clothes were never something she and her husband felt were worth investing in. They preferred to spend money on property, their children's educations and family vacations.

Kate got her disciplinarian streak from her mom: The royal, who has occasionally been seen giving Prince George and Princess Charlotte talkings-to, clearly learned a thing or two from her own mother.

 "I think one of the most important qualities of a good parent is discipline," Middleton says. "That doesn’t mean you’re strict, but routine is vital. Maybe structure is a nicer word. You can’t suddenly start teaching them about politeness at 13. You have to do it from the start."