Kate Middleton was hitherto being in the news for her beauty, dressing and for being The Duchess of Cambridge. Now, the world knows an unknown fact about the pretty lady, that she has a 3 inch scar on her temple which was a result of childhood operation.

A spokesman for the Duchess at St James’s Palace confirmed last night that it was the result of surgery as a young child. ‘The scar related to a childhood operation,’ they said.

The palace declined to discuss what kind of operation because it was, they said, a private matter.

Senior royal sources also confirmed that it had been ‘a very serious operation’ but declined to comment further.

John Scurr, consultant surgeon at the Lister Hospital in London, said it was unlikely to have been the result of a tumour. ‘I really doubt it was any serious medical condition and I would say it is as a result of an arteriovenous malformation – a birthmark – being removed, ‘ he said.

Kate is not alone in having a prominent childhood scar on her head. Her husband, William, bears a large zig-zag mark on his forehead as a result of being hit with a golf club when he was 13. He calls it his ‘Harry Potter scar’.

The duchess was conducting her first solo engagement as a member of the Royal Family, standing in for her father-in-law, Prince Charles.