Kate Middleton, a.k.a. Duchess of Cambridge, planning quiet celebration for 31st birthday (PHOTOS)

GlobalPost

Kate Middleton, a.k.a. the Duchess of Cambridge, turns 31 on Wednesday.

Despite having much to celebrate, including a new baby, the wife of Britain's Prince William will be "spending her birthday privately," a St. James's Palace rep told Us Weekly.

Us quoted "a source" as adding:

"She just wants something low-key. I suspect she will spend it at her parents' house."

Her mother and father, Carole and Michael Middleton, live in Bucklebury, Berkshire. It would be a second family gathering of sorts after Kate — or Catherine as she prefers to be known — and William spent a much publicized Christmas with the in-laws there.

In the past year, the IBTimes wrote, the Duchess has "turned a household name and one of the most talked about women on the planet, gracing the pages of countless fashion magazines."

She has also "impressed the world with her unique style, sporting a wardrobe of colorful dresses, basic pumps, simple jewelery and the occasional skinny jeans."

However, the Huffington Post pointed out that the mother-to-be had been keeping a low profile since being hospitalized in December with a form of acute morning sickness, called hyperemesis gravidarum.

She also limited her public engagements while she recovered.

But it seems the low profile is nothing new in the life of this relatively private public figure who married William on April 29, 2011 in a Westminster Abbey ceremony beamed live to millions and with an estimated audience of billions.

For her 30th birthday last year, Middleton celebrated with an "intimate dinner for family and friends at Kensington Palace," Us wrote.

More from GlobalPost: Kate Middleton celebrates 30th birthday 

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