William and Kate’s fairytale romance began when they first met as students at St Andrews University.
Initially, they were just friends, sharing a history of art course, living in nearby accommodation, and bonding over sports and fitness with regular morning runs.
Their relationship might have remained purely platonic if not for a turning point. Kate participated in a charity fashion show at the university, which changed how William saw her.
Having paid £200 for a front-row seat at the show in spring 2002, William was reportedly so impressed when Kate walked the runway in a transparent dress that he turned to a friend and whispered: “Wow, Kate’s hot!”
Ingrid Seward, editor in chief of Majesty magazine, previously revealed: “Kate and William’s relationship began as a friendship, but when Kate did that catwalk show, that was the first time he really looked at her as more than a lovely friend. Early dates were very simple.
“They used to go to a place called Ma Bells and they would be very discreet. Often William would turn up and Kate would appear later but they wouldn’t be together. William wanted to keep it under wraps as long as he could.
“They shared an apartment together in their second year and that’s where their relationship moved up a pace.” William and Kate spoke about the start of their relationship when they sat down for their engagement interview in November 2010.
Tom Bradby asked the pair: “When did you first set eyes on each other and what did you think?” William replied: “It’s a long time ago now, Tom, I’m trying to wrack my brain. We obviously met at university – 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 realised we shared the same interests and had a really good time.
“She’s got a really naughty sense of humour, which kind of helps me because I’ve got a really dry sense of humour, so it was good fun, we had a really good laugh and things happened.”
Tom then asked Kate, “What did you think of William? It’s clearly not quite the same as meeting your average university student, or maybe it was, what was your first impression?”
The future Princess confessed: “Well I actually think I went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you. 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.”
The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton took place on 29 April 2011
The couple is blessed with three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
