‘I went bright red when I met you’: Prince William and Kate Middleton’s very different first meeting stories tell who fell first and who fell harder

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that underneath all the pompous outfits and strange traditions, the royals are just people. It’s kind of strange to think that Prince William and Kate Middleton met just like any other couple would.

The couple began dating in secret and it was a long time before the rest of the world would come to learn about their relationship. Of course, the whole world would soon come to find out about the two dating and fawn over the young couple. Public interest in William and Kate fully peaked in 2011, with their royal wedding being broadcast in multiple countries.

After their engagement was announced, the couple spoke to the press, with William revealing how he proposed to Kate while on holiday in Kenya. Interviewer Tom Bradby then asked the couple to explain how they had first met, with William and Kate both sharing their initial reactions to meeting each other. However, both of their stories differ quite a bit. 

How did Kate and William meet?

The pair met in 2001 during their first year of university while both attended St. Andrews in Scotland. Although, it seems there wasn’t a romantic spark initially, with William struggling to remember their first meeting: “Well it’s a long time ago now Tom, I’m trying to wrack my brain about it all, but obviously we met at university, at St. Andrews and we were friends at first.”

The two remained friends for over a year with William admitting that, after a while, they started spending more time together and realized they shared the same interests. According to an article from the Mirror, William began to look at Kate in a different light after she took part in the University fashion show in 2002, turning to a friend and whispering: “Wow, Kate’s hot!”

Kate on the other hand recalled turning bright red upon meeting the prince: “Well I actually think I went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you.” She explained how it took a bit of time for the two to get to know each other as William wasn’t there for quite a bit of time, arriving after freshers week.

It sounds like Kate certainly fell for the prince upon their first meeting. Of course, after a year of being friends the two began to date, keeping it very lowkey at first, arriving to venues separately so as not to draw attention etc. Since then, the two’s love for each other has continued to blossom, and although they’ve gone through their rough patches, they’ve managed to stick it out.