Prince William and Kate Middleton Read online

  Whilst at University, although officially enrolled under the name William Wales, his friends referred to him as Steve – an ‘identity’ created to ensure if journalists overheard the conversation, they wouldn’t realise to whom the friends were referring to.

  William was known to a close group of friends at university as living as normal (if privileged) life as possible. One friend said that when William was choosing leathers for a motorbike, he asked him ‘should I get this one in blue or that one in black?’. When the friend suggested he get both, William replied ‘Are you kidding? These cost £1000 each!’.

  He was also known for being generous, often walking into the pub and buying a tray of 20 shots for his friends. William regularly invited groups of his friends to one of his residences for a party. One friend recalls that after drinking a little too much, William suggested he sleep in a ‘spare room’. The friend noted that when he woke up and walked to the staff entrance, a butler greeted him, asking ‘Would you like any breakfast, sir?’

  Although he tried to keep a low profile, William always had bodyguards present – at least within a close distance. On one occasion, during a party, his bodyguards were situated in a kebab shop down the road (where else?!), when there was a fire alarm in the party building. The Prince switched off the fire alarm, but in doing so also switched off the covert surveillance cameras. Within seconds, the bodyguards burst into the room, surrounding William, and demanded to know what was going on!

  Another instance of ‘over-zealous’ but perhaps prudent security was when William was walking home, drunk, and noticed a pellet gun in his friend’s jacket pocket. William took it, and held it up in the air. With amazing pace, two security guards appeared with a look of great alarm – so ‘Wills’ through the gun to the ground and just carried on walking!

  United College at the University of St Andrews

  It was whilst Prince William was studying his History of Art course at the University of St Andrews that he met Kate Middleton. She had also joined the same course, but was apparently first noticed by the Prince when she took part in a fashion show – where she modelled in her underwear!

  Their friendship blossomed, aided by their closeness – not only on the course itself but the fact that they lived together at the University for four years. When William had what was described as ‘a wobble’ at the end of his first year – he was not convinced he was studying the right course at the right university – Kate was credited with convincing him to stay.

  William did however change the course he was studying, taking up geography instead. He would eventually gain an upper second class honours Scottish master of arts degree – the highest ever obtained by a British royal). Kate Middleton also graduated with a 2:1, in her original choice of History of Art.

  When he graduated, The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall all turned up to watch. William gave ‘special thanks’ to his grandmother The Queen, as she had been ‘a little under the weather’ at the time.

  Regarding his graduation, William said ‘I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at St Andrews and I shall be very sad to leave. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has made my time here so enjoyable. I have been able to lead as ‘normal’ a student life as I could have hoped for and I’m very grateful to everyone, particularly the locals, who have helped make this happen’

  William even took the time to visit the local police station in Fife to thank local police for their ‘constant support’ during his time in the area.

  Initially, the press kept to a similar agreement to that which had been held whilst William was at Eton – they would not intrude on his life as long as the royal family gave regular updates to the press about his progress.

  However, it wasn’t long before it appeared that the press had reneged on this agreement. Despite efforts to keep their blossoming relationship secret (or at least low on the radar), the press announced them as a couple. Regular liaisons between the two of them alone at weekends at The Queen’s Balmoral estate were hard to keep too secret, and before long it was generally accepted that the Prince and Kate Middleton were an item. William and Kate were first pictured together in 2005 during a holiday to Klosters ski resort, to which photographers appeared despite the Royal Family’s efforts to keep it secret.

  Moving Into Adult Life

  In 2005, William attended the four day Regular Commissions Board in Wiltshire , where he was judged as suitable to become an army officer. This enabled him to apply to Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst, where he would take his first steps in his army career.

  The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst

  Image courtesy of Antony McCallum

  Sadly, during 2005, the British paparazzi began to live up to their reputation. Tabloids published a picture of Kate just going about her daily life (in fact, she was just riding a London bus!), and Kate complained to the newspapers and magazine editors asking them to respect her privacy. Her lawyers claimed she had been followed ‘day and night’ by photographers. Once again, the press agreed to ‘take things easy’, and assured Kate – and the royal family – that they would respect privacy.

  On the 15th December 2006, Prince William graduated from Sandhurst. Many members of the royal family attended his ‘passing out parade’, including The Queen and Prince Charles. Kate was also present, and received a huge amount of press coverage as papers speculated as to how serious their relationship was. This parade was the first time that Kate had attended a high-profile public event as William’s guest – and the rumour machine went into overdrive.

  At midnight, William received his army commission, officially being confirmed as a lieutenant. He joined the Blues and Royals as a troop commander, in a specialist armed reconnaissance unit.

  To prepare him for the role (William was keen to get on the front line – no special treatment for him!), he spent four months training at the army’s Bovingdon Camp in Dorset.

  Around the same time, Kate – always interested in fashion – had accepted a position as an accessory buyer with retailer Jigsaw. Having been previously shown herself to be a bright, talented woman, Kate focused her efforts on beginning what she hoped to be a prospective career.

  One must commend Kate for her ability to have some balance in her life at the time – being the girlfriend of a future king cannot be easy, and starting work in a ‘normal’ career must have been hard whilst press continued speculation about the depth of her royal relationship. However, she followed in tradition from Princess Diana, who – in her early years of adulthood – worked as a playgroup teaching assistant, hostess and nanny.

  Again, the British paparazzi came into view, when much media attention focused on Miss Middleton around the time of her 25th birthday (in January 2007), which was greeted very badly by both Princes Charles and William. Not only were the royals upset, but also Kate’s lawyers threatened legal action against the press. Once again, two newspaper groups – News International (who publish The Times and The Sun) and Guardian Media Group (The Guardian) agreed not to publish paparazzi pictures of Kate.

  The Break Up

  The press can never resist reporting on the royal family however, and in April 2007, The Sun announced that the Prince and Kate had split up.

  As the day progressed, reliable media outlets (such as the BBC, who have traditionally had a better relationship with the royals than the red-tops) confirmed the news. Most supporters of the royals seemed to be upset by the news, as a relationship of nearly three years would have – in earlier times – usually reached an engagement announcement at this point.

  In fact, according to some reports, it was just this expectation which had fuelled the break-up. Ever cautious, Clarence House (Williams’ spokespeople) made just one announcement – that they ‘don’t comment on Prince William’s private life’. However, sources close to the couple suggested that William wanted to enjoy a form
of ‘bachelor life’ within the army – with one friend reportedly encouraging him to take a ‘careless approach’ to relationships.

  It was also reported that Kate was keen for William to demonstrate his commitment to her – ideally with a proposal of marriage.

  This difference in opinion about the direction that their relationship was taking is a common story amongst many couples today. One party wants commitment, the other is not willing to offer it. It seemed that during their holiday in the Swiss resort of Zermatt, things had come to a head, and the couple had decided to split up.

  The Resort of Zermatt

  Who can blame either party for the break-up? Can any of us imagine being heir to the throne, under constant media speculation, training to protect his country (his country!) in the fields of war, with friends leading fun, bachelor lifestyles? Or what if you were in a relationship with a man you loved – a future King – but you read reports of him spending time with other women, and wanted proof of his feelings for you.

  One cannot blame either William or Kate for their seemingly different priorities. In these days of 24-hour worldwide news, where both truth and rumours travel at the speed of light, could any relationship positioned in such an intense spotlight ever work? Was William wary of committing too early to please his subjects as (some suggested) his father had done with Diana?

  Reconciliation

  A few months later – in June 2007, some sources close to the couple suggested that they were an item again. In fact, an announcement of a reconciliation was never made – but then, of course, neither was confirmation they were together in the first place, no was there any comment about the split!

  Whether the timing of the reports was accurate or not, it is clear now that a reconciliation did happen at some point, and it is sensible to assume that it happened at this time.

  From this time onwards, Kate appeared to be gradually ‘reintroduced’ to the public, although steps seemed to be taken not to fuel rumours too wildly.

  At the Concert for Diana (at Wembley Stadium) for instance, Kate did attend – however she sat two rows away from the Prince. William commented that they were ‘just good friends’, yet it is hard to imagine that two ‘good friends’ who had been in a relationship for a number of years would still be on such amicable terms if getting back together was not on the cards!

  Other events at which Kate was spotted included joining William and his father Prince Charles at a Deerstalking expedition at Balmoral – where their initial relationship had flourished. Kate even attended the wedding of Prince William’s cousin – Peter Phillips – despite the fact that William himself couldn’t be there!

  In April 2008, it truly seemed that the relationship was back on track, with Kate accompanying William to the award of his RAF Wings at Cranwell, and a few months later attending the Prince’s investiture into the Order of the Garter – a hugely significant ceremony during which an order of Knighthood and the absolute highest pinnacle of the British honours system was bestowed on William.

  The public’s love for William increased even further around this time, as it was announced that he had performed active service in war-torn Afghanistan, helping to man a large military transport aircraft, and even help bring back to the UK the body of a fallen soldier (known as ‘repatriation’).

  For an heir to the throne to take part in active service must surely have been a very difficult thing for his army superiors to manage, yet William’s commitment to not being treated differently to his fellow recruits must be commended. Obviously, certain protocols were followed – for instance his crew members were required to refer to him as ‘Billy the Fish’!

  Soldiers in Afghanistan

  As with many young people, Kate appeared to decide that a ‘normal’ career was not for her. Reports suggested that she was planning to give up her job as a buyer, and wanted to train as a photographer.

  Interestingly – again linking to William’s mother Diana – Kate was reported to have intended to take classes with world-renowned photographer Mario Testino, someone who had taken a number of well-known photographs of the Princess.

  More Work for the Armed Forces

  In 2008, Prince William spent three weeks at the Britannia Royal Navy College, training with the world-famous Royal Marines, as well as on ships, submarines and with the Fleet Air Arm.

  Always one for playing his part, William even took part in a secret underwater mission (during a subsequent five-week deployment on HMS Iron Duke in the Caribbean). He even assisted his crew in capturing a vessel carrying forty million pounds (around sixty-five million dollars!) worth of cocaine.

  Despite William’s wishes however, it was clear that he would not be able to dedicate his career to full-time active service. The logistics of keeping his deployments private were of course a consideration, plus the huge risk of an heir to the throne being in some of the world’s most dangerous war-zones were not a situation top-brass would want.

  Yet William still found a way to dedicate his time to the armed forces. Initially he joined a non-operational flying team with the Army Air Corps, and then transferred from the Army to the RAF to train as a full-time Search-and-Rescue helicopter pilot.

  Although William has proved to be probably the most popular royal (alongside the public’s love for his mother), the press can still take delight in ‘errors of judgement’ – although in William’s case these have mostly been seen as ‘cheeky stunts’ rather than outright ‘bad behaviour’. William used a ten-million pound army helicopter to fly himself and his brother Prince Harry to a stag weekend on the Isle of Wight – landing him in hot (or at least lukewarm) water with the press. Once wonders how they would have reacted had Harry been the pilot – many people hadn’t forgiven him for his poor taste of dressing up as a Nazi for a fancy dress party…

  Shortly after the stag weekend stunt, William was ‘at it again’, landing his helicopter in Kate Middleton’s back garden! It was a sure sign that the relationship was back on, and what young lady could resist that kind of gesture? He was certainly a knight (of the highest order we must note), and definitely in an armoured vehicle – if not shining armour!

  Despite these somewhat negatively received reports, William was a fantastic advert for the RAF. Military top-brass were reported to be ‘savouring the fabulous publicity’ that the Prince had bought to the force.

  An RAF Chinook Helicopter

  In January 2010, after having graduated from the RAF’s Defence Helicopter Flying School at Shawbury, William transferred to the Search and Rescue Training Unit in Anglesey.

  Reports suggest that the Prince’s operational tour will last around three years, ensuring he remains with the armed forces until 2013. Starting as a co-pilot, one is sure that William will take on full piloting duties in the near future, having demonstrated himself to have a natural ability for flying.

  Once again, at Christmas in 2010 Prince William showed his desire to ‘muck in’ with his colleagues. He put duty before family, and followed a tradition of unmarried servicemen to work on Christmas Day – having Christmas dinner with RAF colleagues in a forces canteen at his base! As on many previous occasions, the public loved this, and William continued to cement himself as a much-loved royal. Kate reportedly spent the day with her family in Berkshire, perhaps happy that media attention on her had subsided in recent months.

  An Engagement is Announced

  Not long before his show of selflessness at Christmas, the British public (and many people worldwide) were thrilled to hear that Prince William had proposed to Kate Middleton during a holiday to Kenya – and that she had accepted!

  One month later, in November 2010, Clarence House announced that the couple were to marry, and that the wedding would take place on the 29th April 2011.

  One wonders whether the press easing off on reports of the couple during 2009 and 2010 helped the situation, or perhaps if William’s active duties
in defending his country had given him a maturity that had not been present back in 2007. Whatever the reason, both parties seemed truly in love.

  A further link with Princess Diana was made, with the engagement ring being the same 18-carat Sapphire one of William’s mother.

  The Clarence House announcement was most likely the best news received by supporters of the British Royals since that regarding Charles and Diana’s engagement almost thirty years previously. Despite its brevity, the statement said everything that needed to be said – ‘The Prince of Wales [Prince Chalres] is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middeleton. The wedding will take place in the spring or summer of 2011, in London. Prince William has informed The Queen and other close members of his family. Prince William has also sought the permission of Miss Middleton’s father.’

  It was reported that The Queen was ‘absolutely delighted’ for both Prince William and Kate Middleton.

  An Illustration of the Interior of Westminster Abbey

  And so we are brought up to date. At the time of writing this book, preparations are being made for the Royal Wedding. One can only speculate about the lavish celebrations that are planned – although we know that the ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey, the venue of The Queen Mother’s wedding and the terribly sad and moving funeral of Princess Diana.