How William wooed Mrs Wales
Family life is very important to Prince William. Shortly after the birth of his fi rst child, he made it clear: ‘For me, Catherine, and now little George, are my priorities. And Lupo.’ And on the anniversary of his mother’s tragic death, he and Catherine honoured her memory by taking Prince George to meet his great aunt, Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale. Only time will tell if his adored aunt will play as an immediate part in the young prince’s life as Carole Middleton, but one thing is for sure, it was the latest in a series of conscious decisions by someone who has always quietly done things his way.
Much has been made of the fairytale romance of the middle-class girl from Bucklebury who went on to marry a prince. That she stalked him. That she chose to give up a place at Edinburgh University and took a gap year out in order to go to St Andrews at the same time as William. That she put her life on hold to wait; earning her the rather unpleasant nickname ‘Waity Katy’.
Yet anyone who has observed Prince William since childhood would know that this is not a man who is easily persuaded against his will. In fact, at times, it was William who was doing the waiting. Described by his wife as a romantic, like all romantics he would view marriage as, hopefully, a life sentence, so why rush it?
According to a bestselling new book by the Royal biographer and commentator Katie Nicholl, the couple first met not at university as has been believed, but in the summer of 1999 while the young Catherine was a student at Marlborough. Two of Catherine’s best school friends were Alice St John Webster and Emilia D’Erlanger. Alice, and Emilia, the niece of the 10th Viscount Exmouth, were part of William and Harry’s group of out-of-school friends, known as the ‘Glosse Posse’ because they lived in Gloucestershire near the Prince of Wales’s Highgrove estate.
Being so close to the girls, it was only a matter of time before Catherine and William met. ‘We all knew as teachers that that year group was moving in Royal circles, they were friends,’ says Mrs Patching, her housemistress. When they returned to school that summer, Alice told friends that William had asked for her number, but Catherine has never mentioned this early teenage encounter.
It has long been rumoured that Kate followed William to St Andrews. Katie Nicholl secured a series of exclusive interviews with Kate’s former teachers who revealed that the young Catherine was due to go to Edinburgh University and had a place on the prestigious History of Art degree but she decided to take a gap year and reapply to St Andrews at the last minute. Suggestions have been made that her mother Carole had persuaded her to change because Prince William was going there. Only Kate really knows what made her uncharacteristically throw caution to the wind and change her mind. It was a risk but she ended up at St Andrews at the right place, at the right time and in the same halls of residence as Prince William. The truth appears to be much more to do with the kind of last-minute decisions that we are able to make when young and free.
Her cousin Lucy, an undergraduate at Bristol, was studying Italian in Florence and had badgered Catherine to join her; tempting her with the city’s historic backdrops and a chance to see some of the treasures she would eventually be studying. There was also a chance for Catherine to study Italian, which she did, at the British Institute, and enjoy a carefree year that all young women with a passion for the arts can only dream of.
Those who knew her during her time in Florence say that rather than an obsession with Prince William, in fact she was heartbroken after the break-up of her fi rst boyfriend, a handsome senior at Marlborough called Harry Blakelock. ‘When Kate arrived she was really hung up about this boy from Marlborough called Harry,’ a friend told Katie Nicholl. ‘…He was the only boy she talked about and I don’t even think it was that serious. They definitely didn’t sleep together. I got the distinct impression she was still a virgin.’
Italy was the right decision for Catherine and cleared her mind so that when she moved into Room A31 at St Salvator’s ‘Sallies’ hall of residence in September the following year, she was fully prepared for the tough degree course ahead. As fresher’s week drew to a close, William moved into Room B31 on the floor above her, surrounded by a ready-made group of friends, some of whom were, like him, Old Etonians.
Known at once as ‘The Sallies Boys’, it didn’t take them long to spot ‘Beautiful Kate’, as she was crowned by the other Sallies residents at the end of fresher’s week. While she was initially more reserved than many of the other young women, her natural beauty was apparent. Tanned and fit from her regular early-morning run or swim and dressed in jeans, fitted jumper and signature cowboy boots, she radiated an outer freshness and an inner confidence.
Despite being the third in line to the throne, friends say it took William a couple of weeks to summon up the courage to ask Catherine to join him and his friends for breakfast. He immediately remembered her and the two quickly discovered they had plenty in common. When it came to socialising, William kept a low profile. He kept his distance from the many clubs and societies on offer to the students, although he did join the water polo team and in order to keep his swimming technique up, swam each morning, with Catherine, at the luxurious Old Course Hotel. Within a few weeks of the first semester, their friendship was firmly established and as their mutual friend, Laura Warshauer, noticed: ‘They had each other’s backs and looked out for each other.’
Catherine with Olivia Bleasdale, one of the Glosse Posse
But being linked with women was no ordinary matter for the future King of England. Any whiff of romance was pounced upon by the press and had the potential to cause both him and the young woman distress, their families being hounded or their every move charted. It is a lesson he learnt very young and one that has driven him to protect his in-laws from intrusion. It is almost certainly the reason that he took so long to show his hand, and ask for hers. Although that is not to say he didn’t know what he wanted. Clearly, he had decided early on that Catherine was the woman for him.
In March 2002, Catherine took part in the now famous Don’t Walk Fashion Show in the university hall. An event designed to raise money for charity. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the evening would be more popular if William were to attend and while the organiser, Charlie Moretti, played water polo on his team, they needed as much help as possible. Hope came in the form of Catherine. She was as close a friend to the prince as it got. Indeed, at the start of the second term, when it came to sorting out accommodation for the second year, William had asked her, along with his friends Fergus Boyd and Olivia Bleasdale, to share a house with him – an invitation Catherine had accepted.
Charlie had managed to secure donations from designers, including the young Charlotte Todd. Catherine was given one of Charlotte’s sheer skirts to wear. It was a new world to her but as friend Andrew Sands remembers: ‘She was actually a great model.’ Moments before it was her turn to take centre stage, she decided to dispose of the chunky knitwear she was supposed to wear over Charlotte Todd’s see-through skirt and instead, as Sands recalls, ‘hoisted up the skirt and made it a much better-looking dress, which she wore over her black underwear.’
It worked: she shimmied down the catwalk, her long curly hair braided with ribbons, her wasp-like waist, washboard stomach and toned legs visible through the sheer dress. William barely knew where to look. ‘Wow,’ he whispered to a friend. ‘Kate’s hot!’
The show was a huge success and at the end of the evening both Catherine and William ended up at a party at 14 Hope Street where, according to friends, the platonic friendship changed forever when the young prince lent in and kissed the girl who was, and remains, his best friend.
Kate: The Future Queen, by Katie Nicholl, is published by Weinstein Books, priced £12.99.
Much has been made of the fairytale romance of the middle-class girl from Bucklebury who went on to marry a prince. That she stalked him. That she chose to give up a place at Edinburgh University and took a gap year out in order to go to St Andrews at the same time as William. That she put her life on hold to wait; earning her the rather unpleasant nickname ‘Waity Katy’.
Yet anyone who has observed Prince William since childhood would know that this is not a man who is easily persuaded against his will. In fact, at times, it was William who was doing the waiting. Described by his wife as a romantic, like all romantics he would view marriage as, hopefully, a life sentence, so why rush it?
According to a bestselling new book by the Royal biographer and commentator Katie Nicholl, the couple first met not at university as has been believed, but in the summer of 1999 while the young Catherine was a student at Marlborough. Two of Catherine’s best school friends were Alice St John Webster and Emilia D’Erlanger. Alice, and Emilia, the niece of the 10th Viscount Exmouth, were part of William and Harry’s group of out-of-school friends, known as the ‘Glosse Posse’ because they lived in Gloucestershire near the Prince of Wales’s Highgrove estate.
Being so close to the girls, it was only a matter of time before Catherine and William met. ‘We all knew as teachers that that year group was moving in Royal circles, they were friends,’ says Mrs Patching, her housemistress. When they returned to school that summer, Alice told friends that William had asked for her number, but Catherine has never mentioned this early teenage encounter.
It has long been rumoured that Kate followed William to St Andrews. Katie Nicholl secured a series of exclusive interviews with Kate’s former teachers who revealed that the young Catherine was due to go to Edinburgh University and had a place on the prestigious History of Art degree but she decided to take a gap year and reapply to St Andrews at the last minute. Suggestions have been made that her mother Carole had persuaded her to change because Prince William was going there. Only Kate really knows what made her uncharacteristically throw caution to the wind and change her mind. It was a risk but she ended up at St Andrews at the right place, at the right time and in the same halls of residence as Prince William. The truth appears to be much more to do with the kind of last-minute decisions that we are able to make when young and free.
Her cousin Lucy, an undergraduate at Bristol, was studying Italian in Florence and had badgered Catherine to join her; tempting her with the city’s historic backdrops and a chance to see some of the treasures she would eventually be studying. There was also a chance for Catherine to study Italian, which she did, at the British Institute, and enjoy a carefree year that all young women with a passion for the arts can only dream of.
Those who knew her during her time in Florence say that rather than an obsession with Prince William, in fact she was heartbroken after the break-up of her fi rst boyfriend, a handsome senior at Marlborough called Harry Blakelock. ‘When Kate arrived she was really hung up about this boy from Marlborough called Harry,’ a friend told Katie Nicholl. ‘…He was the only boy she talked about and I don’t even think it was that serious. They definitely didn’t sleep together. I got the distinct impression she was still a virgin.’
Italy was the right decision for Catherine and cleared her mind so that when she moved into Room A31 at St Salvator’s ‘Sallies’ hall of residence in September the following year, she was fully prepared for the tough degree course ahead. As fresher’s week drew to a close, William moved into Room B31 on the floor above her, surrounded by a ready-made group of friends, some of whom were, like him, Old Etonians.
Known at once as ‘The Sallies Boys’, it didn’t take them long to spot ‘Beautiful Kate’, as she was crowned by the other Sallies residents at the end of fresher’s week. While she was initially more reserved than many of the other young women, her natural beauty was apparent. Tanned and fit from her regular early-morning run or swim and dressed in jeans, fitted jumper and signature cowboy boots, she radiated an outer freshness and an inner confidence.
Despite being the third in line to the throne, friends say it took William a couple of weeks to summon up the courage to ask Catherine to join him and his friends for breakfast. He immediately remembered her and the two quickly discovered they had plenty in common. When it came to socialising, William kept a low profile. He kept his distance from the many clubs and societies on offer to the students, although he did join the water polo team and in order to keep his swimming technique up, swam each morning, with Catherine, at the luxurious Old Course Hotel. Within a few weeks of the first semester, their friendship was firmly established and as their mutual friend, Laura Warshauer, noticed: ‘They had each other’s backs and looked out for each other.’
Catherine with Olivia Bleasdale, one of the Glosse PosseBut being linked with women was no ordinary matter for the future King of England. Any whiff of romance was pounced upon by the press and had the potential to cause both him and the young woman distress, their families being hounded or their every move charted. It is a lesson he learnt very young and one that has driven him to protect his in-laws from intrusion. It is almost certainly the reason that he took so long to show his hand, and ask for hers. Although that is not to say he didn’t know what he wanted. Clearly, he had decided early on that Catherine was the woman for him.
In March 2002, Catherine took part in the now famous Don’t Walk Fashion Show in the university hall. An event designed to raise money for charity. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the evening would be more popular if William were to attend and while the organiser, Charlie Moretti, played water polo on his team, they needed as much help as possible. Hope came in the form of Catherine. She was as close a friend to the prince as it got. Indeed, at the start of the second term, when it came to sorting out accommodation for the second year, William had asked her, along with his friends Fergus Boyd and Olivia Bleasdale, to share a house with him – an invitation Catherine had accepted.
Charlie had managed to secure donations from designers, including the young Charlotte Todd. Catherine was given one of Charlotte’s sheer skirts to wear. It was a new world to her but as friend Andrew Sands remembers: ‘She was actually a great model.’ Moments before it was her turn to take centre stage, she decided to dispose of the chunky knitwear she was supposed to wear over Charlotte Todd’s see-through skirt and instead, as Sands recalls, ‘hoisted up the skirt and made it a much better-looking dress, which she wore over her black underwear.’
It worked: she shimmied down the catwalk, her long curly hair braided with ribbons, her wasp-like waist, washboard stomach and toned legs visible through the sheer dress. William barely knew where to look. ‘Wow,’ he whispered to a friend. ‘Kate’s hot!’
The show was a huge success and at the end of the evening both Catherine and William ended up at a party at 14 Hope Street where, according to friends, the platonic friendship changed forever when the young prince lent in and kissed the girl who was, and remains, his best friend.
Kate: The Future Queen, by Katie Nicholl, is published by Weinstein Books, priced £12.99.