Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal romance is well documented, and now that The Crown season six is out, royal fans and casual viewers alike are seeing the recreation of their love story.
But how did William and Kate really meet?
The official story goes they met when they were both students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, during their first year there, crossing paths for the first time in their dorm, St. Salvator’s Hall, in September 2001. “I actually think I went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you,” Kate said to William years later in their engagement interview.
However, they may have met a few years earlier. In 2013, royal correspondent Katie Nicholls wrote in her book Kate: The Future Queen that Will and Kate actually met before university. “Until now, it has always been believed that William and Kate first met at St. Andrew’s,” she said. “In fact, they met a couple of years before, in the summer of 1999 when Kate was at Marlborough and spending time with the ‘Glossy Posse.'” (The “Glossy Posse” were William and Harry’s friends.) Nicholl also writes that Kate told friends on her gap year that she had met William once or twice.
But back to the engagement interview. Kate added, “Actually, William wasn’t there for quite a bit of the time initially, he wasn’t there for Freshers Week, so it did take a bit of time for us to get to know each other but we did become very close friends from quite early..”
“We obviously met at university,” Prince William said at another point in their engagement interview, “at St Andrews we were friends for over a year first and it just sort of blossomed from then on. We just spent more time with each other had a good giggle, had lots of fun and realized we shared the same interests and had a really good time.”
William’s romantic interest in Kate was reportedly sparked during a charity fashion show in March 2002, their second semester at St. Andrews, where William whispered to his friend Fergus, “Wow, Fergus, Kate’s hot!” At the time, Kate was linked to a fourth year student named Rupert Finch.
Prince William and Kate Middleton return to where they met, the University of St Andrews, in 2011.
Their second year at St. Andrews, Kate and William moved in together, living at 13A Hope Street with two of their friends. Their romance began at some point during this time—and the rest is history.
Elsewhere in The Crown’s final season, the show imagines a moment where a young Kate meets Princess Diana (never happened) and speculates that Carole Middleton masterminded their relationship behind the scenes.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the news writer for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
