LONDON (Reuters) – Kate, the Princess of Wales and wife of Britain’s heir to the throne Prince William, is recovering in hospital after undergoing abdominal surgery, Kensington Palace said on Wednesday. Here are some facts about her: EARLY LIFE: * The eldest of three children, Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, 42, was born on Jan. 9, 1982, into a middle-class, rather than aristocratic, family from Berkshire, west of London. * Her father Michael worked as a pilot and her mother Carole as an airline stewardess before setting up a mail order business selling party supplies. * As a young child, she l…