The fairytale romance between the Prince and Princess of Wales was one ‘strategically’ orchestrated by Kate, reveals a source.
Prince William and Kate Middleton – who celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary yesterday – met while studying at St Andrew’s university in Scotland in 2001, but that was no coincidence, reports Elle magazine.
According to Cambridge-educated royal historian Robert Lacey, Kate, 42, enacted an airtight ploy to capture the future king, one which involved ditching her university in favour of one attended by William and even enticing him with a dress.
In Lacey’s 2020 book Battle of Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, he depicted a young Kate as a ‘strategic lady’ who made sacrifices to get what she wanted.
He wrote: ‘Kate was very strategic. She gave up her place at one of Britain’s premier universities, Edinburgh, and opted for another one [St. Andrews] that probably didn’t have the same academic standard.
She had already been to Edinburgh to get her flat accommodations sorted out but switched universities and switched her courses to history of art because that was William’s. She delayed her own education by a year and even takes the chance she won’t get into St. Andrews’.
The historian also shared how the future royal planned to dazzle William during a student charity fashion show – one which William is thought to have paid £200 to enter.
It’s no news that Kate – 19 at the time – stunned onlookers and later on the public with that now very famous risqué see-through dress.
However Lacey explained that it was an added racy touch that would ensure she captured the future king’s attention.
In the book, he described Kate as walking down the runway at the student show – aptly titled ‘The Art of Seduction’ – before stripping off an extra layer of clothing to reveal her svelte physique.
The move would reportedly lead William to comment to his friends ‘Wow, Kate’s hot.’
The famous fashion exhibit It is said to be the turning point in the couple’s relationship, as they eventually went from close friends to developing romantic feelings for each other.
The dress itself, which cost £30 to make, is now so significant in the love story between the two students, who went on to marry and have three children, that it sold for a staggering £78,000 at auction following the catwalk show and became one of Kate’s best-known fashion moments.
The dress marked a seminal moment in cementing Kate’s reputation as a style icon – but perhaps even more significantly, it turned Prince William’s head and, from then on, the two St Andrews students became romantically involved.
Until that night, William thought of solid, dependable Kate only as a sympathetic and sensible friend. For it was her wise counsel which had helped him through his first-term ‘wobble’ when he felt miserable and was torturing himself about whether to quit the university at the Scottish seaside town.
During her daily routine, Kate rarely deviated from what one friend described as ‘a very public school look of Ralph Lauren shirts, V-neck jumpers and jeans’.
Accounts of what happened at an after-show party vary. It is generally agreed that, having had a bit to drink, William complimented Kate lavishly, then made a clumsy pass: a kiss on the hand, according to one account; a bolder move, in another version, with him ‘leaning in’ for an amorous ‘smacker’.
Either way, Kate decorously rebuffed him.
Despite a reportedly clumsy beginning to their romance; something certainly appeared to shift – and within a few weeks, both had dumped their respective partners.
They had both started at the university six months earlier, and the Prince had already identified Kate as a possible flatmate for the house-share he was putting together for his second year.
They got on well and shared an interest in sport and the outdoors, as well as a ‘naughty’ sense of humour.
William also felt he could trust Kate – something incredibly important to him given his public profile.
It is more than likely they would have got together anyway but their mutual friends – key bit-part players in the Royal romance and all present at the fashion show – concede that the dress stirred William’s interest and made him see the Berkshire-born beauty ‘in a different light’.
Designer Charlotte, who later decided against a career in fashion and worked at Bristol aquarium, recalled: ‘I didn’t know who Kate Middleton was and I didn’t put her in it. It was just pure chance.
‘I made it as a skirt, but others pulled it up on Kate and she wore it as a dress. Maybe if it hadn’t been see-through, William might not have noticed her.’
For years afterwards, the dress remained at the back of a wardrobe at Charlotte’s mother’s home. Charlotte said she realised its significance only when the couple announced their engagement in November 2010.
The dress is a part of fashion history – the moment William could first have fallen in love with Kate – and that makes me really proud,’ she said. ‘That picture has been used so much over the years. I always wonder whether Kate is embarrassed about it, or liked it.’
Kate had a place at Edinburgh University in 2000 but gave it up and took a gap year in Italy, reapplying to St Andrews for 2001 after William’s place became public.
In Kate: The Future Queen, by Mail on Sunday Royal Editor Katie Nicholl, it claims Kate’s mum, Carole Middleton held a secret summit with William to ask whether he planned to propose to her daughter.
Kate achieved two As and a B in her A Levels – the grades she needed for Edinburgh – and the university was her first choice. William achieved an A in geography, a B in history of art and a C in biology and won a place to study history of art after a year out.
Applications to St Andrews rose by 44 per cent after the news emerged, meaning Kate’s decision was risky as there was no guarantee she would get a place.
Jasper Selwyn, a careers adviser at Kate’s former school, Marlborough College, and house tutor Joan Gall both confirmed her first choice was Edinburgh.
Mr Selwyn said: ‘Kate’s firm choice was Edinburgh and that was confirmed.’
According to her house mistress, Ann Patching, the change of heart came as a surprise.
She said: ‘After she left school, Catherine made some different decisions, but why she made those decisions I don’t know.’
In 2007 William and Kate split amid rumours she disapproved of his party lifestyle and his reluctance to propose.
A make-or-break holiday followed and Kate reportedly gave William an ultimatum. According to the book, the pair then made a pact to marry and have children.
However in Christmas 2009 Kate’s mother, Carole Middleton, reportedly took William aside to discuss a possible engagement.
A friend said: ‘She put some pressure on William to let the family know where it was all leading.
William reassured her the relationship was very much on track and that there would be an engagement soon. Carole trusted William and put her faith in him.’
