In 2002, when Prince William and Kate Middleton’s friendship was blossoming, he went to see her strut her stuff down a catwalk for a charity fashion show and made a cheeky remark to his friend Fergus Boyd.
Kate Middleton, then 20, walked the runway as a model during the annual Don’t Walk Charity Fashion Show which takes place at the University of St Andrews. This is the university both she and Prince William attended and where they met studying the Art History course (though William later moved to geography). The fashion show raises money for charity every year and is used to showcase both the works of students and professionals.
Prince William’s remark about Kate Middleton in the fashion show
William’s decision to attend the 2002 show was a last-minute one (though we don’t think he had to pay the £200 per ticket fee). He attended with his classmate and later housemate, Fergus, to watch Kate participate and made quite a brazen comment to his friend.
Kate wore black underwear with a see-through, brown-tinted, dress as she took to the runway. The piece was designed by fashion student Charlotte Todd.
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Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett wrote in their book, Royals At War, the royal turned to Fergus and whispered: “Wow, Fergus, Kate’s hot!” The authors add this was a “thunderbolt moment” for the young Prince who had been pining for Kate for some time.
Another model who also took part in the show later commented: “Kate was great on the catwalk. She and everyone, including William, knew it.”
William and Kate’s first kiss didn’t go to plan
A few months after the fashion show, Kate Middleton, Prince William, and two of their friends moved in together before the royal couple started dating later that year. However, it wasn’t without hiccups as the first time William kissed Kate, it didn’t quite go as the now Prince of Wales would have liked.
At the time, Kate was with someone else, Rupert Finch, and he kissed her at a party in a room full of people. She is said to have pulled away and been “shocked” by her now-husband’s move.
One of their friends who witnessed the moment said Kate “played it very cool” because she didn’t “want to give off the wrong impression or make it too easy for Will.” However, the friend added, it was easy to see William was “smitten” with his classmate.
The insider claimed: “It was clear to us that William was smitten with Kate. He actually told her she was a knockout that night, which caused her to blush. There was definitely chemistry between them.”
The couple went on a break
It wasn’t always plain sailing for the royals as in 2007, five years after Kate Middleton’s iconic fashion show appearance, she and Prince William broke up for a brief period. It was apparently over William, now 41, not wanting to spend New Year’s Eve with the Middleton family. The pair seemed to split over a phone call and “looked upset” but wasn’t crying, according to a former colleague.
They alleged: “It was clear it was William – and definitely a tiff. Around the middle of the day, she was pacing the car park outside the office on her mobile. A few people noticed because it’s a pretty unusual thing to do. She’d deliberately gone outside to take the call because she didn’t want to be overheard.
“Kate was walking up and down and looking upset as if she was having an argument. But she didn’t cry. Word went ‘round that it was William, and they were having problems. Now it’s clear what it was all about.”
They continued: “When she came back to the office, she didn’t say a thing and disappeared for the rest of the day. We didn’t think anything about it at the time. But looking back, the call was definitely a girlfriend-boyfriend tiff.”
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