Secrets Behind Kate & William’s Relationship From Andrew Morton’s Book

Prince William and Kate Middleton have a relationship that goes way back. They first met during their university days, but they didn’t immediately begin dating. The two have always been very tight-lipped about their romance — even to this day. Thanks to Andrew Morton, Princess Diana’s biographer, we have uncovered numerous secrets about the couple’s relationship:

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35. When Kate Caught His Eye

During the “Don’t Walk” charity fashion show during their first year, Kate walked the runway in a sheer shift dress over a bikini. According to an insider, William turned to his friend and murmured, “She’s hot.” Kate was normally so demure, so William was quite surprised (along with other people in their circle) that she walked the runway in such a revealing ensemble.

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34. Everyone Thought Kate Was Hot

Upon starting university, Kate was nicknamed Beautiful Kate. Guys were constantly checking her out. Kate and William’s university friend Michael Choong recalled, “Guys would go to the canteen for breakfast and they would eye up Kate. They’d be joking, ‘who is going to date Kate?’ Then someone would turn to Will and remark, ‘Obviously, you’ve got the best chance.'”

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33. Their Friendship

Prince William and Middleton were friends for months before the fashion show. They met during their first term when they were both in the History of Art program. They had classes together and then they found out that they had both volunteered with Raleigh International in Chile during their gap year.

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32. William Was a Ladies’ Man

Prince William was known for having a roving eye during university. When he would enter a room, he would check out all of the “female talent,” and he and his friends would even rate girls they would see in the college dining hall. Someone in his circle told Andrew Morton, “Everyone thinks Harry is the naughty one. Not true. William is a ladies’ man.”

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31. They Were Going to Be Roommates 

Prior to the fashion show, Will and Kate had made plans to live together during their second year at St Andrews along with two other students, Olivia Bleasdale and Fergus Boyd. At the time, he didn’t consider the pretty brunette to be anything other than a friend.

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30. William’s Girlfriend

During the second semester of his first year, Prince William was dating Carly Massey-Birch, who was also a student at St Andrews, but their relationship was short-lived. She broke up with him for someone else. While she had initially been excited to be dating the heir to the throne, she quickly tired of the lengths to which she would have to go to hide their relationship.

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29. Kate’s Boyfriend

During her first year at St Andrews, Kate was dating a fourth-year student named Rupert Finch. According to Andrew Morton, “[h]e had a reputation for throwing ‘noisy, champagne-filled parties,'” which even Prince William attended. The romance ended at the end of Kate’s first year when Rupert graduated.

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28. Moving On

Following his breakup with Carly Massey-Birch, William moved on with one of her friends. According to Andrew Morton, she was “a tall and beautiful strawberry blonde.” The two were spotted on one occasion openly making out at one of Kate’s boyfriend Rupert Finch’s parties.

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27. Common Interests

While living as roommates, it became clear that Middleton and William shared a lot in common, including outdoor pursuits, amateur dramatics, sports and a sense of humor. They would play tennis together and she would often join him for an early morning swim at a local five-star hotel.

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26. Relationship Beginnings

While the two were good friends while they were living together, the friendship almost seamlessly became romantic. Their friends noticed the change almost immediately, but the exact moment when the friendship became a romance is difficult to spot.

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25. Keeping It Private

In public, William’s relationship with Kate was much like the other relationships he’s had. In public, they didn’t show any signs of intimacy but, according to a friend, in private they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. “They are both frisky people,” a friend told Andrew Morton.

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24. Kate Began Changing

Once Kate became romantically involved with William, her behavior changed. While she was initially seen by others as “sweet and unassuming,” she started becoming “more reclusive and restrained.” Before William, she was more available to hang out. After the relationship began, she wasn’t able to go out because she had “to meet Will.”

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23. She Treated William Like a King

While Kate wasn’t readily available anymore to hang out with friends, she made herself more than available to William. According to Andrew Morton, she treated her boyfriend “like a king.” She was always the first to wake up and she would make sure to fix breakfast for him.

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22. Continuing to Live Together

For their third year of university, William moved to a new place, a farmhouse house on a large private estate on the edge of St Andrews, and he invited Kate along with two of their friends, Alasdair Coutts-Wood and Oli Baker, to live with him. Life in their new digs was much more opulent than their previous home. William bought an antique polished mahogany table, which seated 18, and he would regularly host black-tie dinners.

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21. William Was the Boss

According to Andrew Morton, in Kate and William’s relationship, she was naturally “diffident” and would allow William to make most of the decisions. Unfortunately, her decision to defer to him in most matters meant that she was always in the position of having to compromise.

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20. Kate Became More Isolated

While Kate wasn’t untrusting of people prior to her relationship with William, her relationship with him changed that. As he was instinctively cautious of people outside his circle, Kate began to mirror this view and kept friends of hers who did not know William at a distance. As a result, she became more and more reliant on his circle of friends.

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19. She Felt Taken for Granted

Since their new place was so far from the city center, the couple found themselves spending a lot more time together, which wasn’t always good. William could be “obstinate and strong-willed” and he wasn’t always sensitive to how his girlfriend felt. According to Andrew Morton, there were definitely times where she felt that she was “taken for granted” and “treated like a servant rather than his girlfriend.”

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18. He Kept Her on a Tight Leash

A friend of theirs, Michael Choong, told Andrew Morton that William didn’t always treat Kate especially well. “He could be flip and curt with her. She didn’t like it when he ignored her and got into a conversation with someone as though she wasn’t there. He expected Kate to run after him and the longer they knew each other the more he seemed to keep her on a tight leash.”

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17. On-Again, Off-Again

William and Kate’s relationship wasn’t particularly stable. In fact, it was pretty turbulent. They would get into fights and then break up, only to get back together. “It was an edgy relationship,” a friend of theirs told Andrew Morton. “They were always in and out.”

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16. She Wanted More Commitment from Him

According to Andrew Morton, their differences really came down to the fact that she wanted more of a commitment from him. “She simply wanted more from him, in terms of emotional commitment and support, than he was prepared to give at that stage of his life,” he wrote.

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15. He Would Act Like He Was Single

William would sometimes act like he was a single man. At one point during his undergrad, he was caught while he was in London partying at a nightclub called Purple, dancing with a bunch of young women who were clearly not his girlfriend.

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14. Kate Was Always Loyal and Steady

Despite the turbulence in her relationship with the prince, Kate didn’t falter. Instead, she continued to be a loyal and steady presence in William’s life. According to Andrew Morton, she reportedly told a friend, “He’s lucky to be going out with me.”

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13. She Wasn’t Considered of the Same Stock as William

While Kate was seen as being “pretty and sensible,” there were some in royal and aristocratic circles that felt that she and her family were “too middle-of-the-road for the House of Windsor.” One Scottish nobleman told Andrew Morton, “It was felt that she wasn’t from the right stock. William was expected to find a suitable bride among the aristocracy of European royalty. One of his own kind.”

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12. Waity Katie 

While William went off and began a career in the military following his graduation from St Andrews, Kate spent her first year out of college without work, which earned her the nickname “Waity Katie.” “It seemed that, rather than attempt to break through the glass ceiling in commerce, Kate was happy to wait for her prince to slip the glass slipper on her foot — hardly a role model for an ambitious generation of independent young woman,” Andrew Morton wrote.

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11. William’s Inability to Commit

According to close friends of William, Kate continued to want more of a commitment from him, but he wasn’t so sure that the grass wasn’t greener on the other side. In March 2007, he was photographed during a night of drinking in a nightclub with one arm around a blonde woman and his other resting on a Brazilian woman’s breast.

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10. He Ended Things

The following month, in April, the prince ended things for good. Friends noted that he was unwilling to commit and felt as though he could do better. Following the split, he was spotted at Mahiki, a nightclub in Piccadilly, dancing to The Rolling Stone song, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

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9. Kate’s Friends Were Happy It Was Over

When Kate and William broke up, her friends did not shed any tears and most were happy that it was over. “During her time with William, she upset a lot of her friends by not making the effort to see them,” a friend in her circle told Andrew Morton.

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8. She Became More Social During Their Break

During the break, Kate joined a group of female athletes called The Sisterhood that was planning to paddle a Chinese dragon boat across the English Channel. While she was initially quite absorbed in the grueling training sessions, it was not long before William began pursuing her again. Her teammates noticed her on her mobile phone after practices talking to him and she started bringing him up in conversations.

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7. Officially Back Together

It was clear at the Concert for Diana in July 2007 that William and Kate were back together. She sat a row behind him and his brother and was caught frequently glancing in his direction. The night before the concert, she spent the night with him at Clarence House and then at the concert’s after-party, the two spent the whole night dancing together, completely “oblivious to the stares of other guests.”

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6. Secret Reconciliation

Even though the Concert for Diana was the first indication that the couple had reconciled, it turns out that they had been back together for several weeks and that the breakup only lasted five weeks. According to Andrew Morton, they had met at Clarence House back in May and Kate had attended a party at William’s Army camp at Bovington where they were seen kissing on the dance floor.

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5. He Was Attracted to the Normalcy Kate Offered

William really enjoyed how normal life with Kate was and he also really enjoyed how stable and steady her family was. He was so close to them that he would call Michael Middleton “dad.” A Middleton family friend told Andrew Morton, “The Middletons are a very close family who have meals together, watch movies, play sports and go on holidays together.” This kind of closeness is what William ultimately wanted.

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4. William Really Thought He Could Do Better

One of William’s close friends told Andrew that William really was convinced he could do better than Kate. “He thought he could do better, but realized very quickly what he had given up. William saw pictures of Kate coming out of Boujis or wherever looking stunning and without a care in the world. Quite frankly, he didn’t like the idea of another guy enjoying a roll in the hay with his girl.”

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3. He Was the Reason There Relationship Was Turbulent

According to one of his friends, William was the reason he and Kate had such a tempestuous relationship while they were students. “They had an up and down relationship at St Andrews because of his refusal to commit. After the break-up, he realized what he really wanted in life.”

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2. Kate Dropped Out of the Sisterhood

After getting back together with the prince, Kate was advised by her lawyers to drop out of The Sisterhood. When she broke the news to the organizer, Emma Sayle, she didn’t take it so well. According to Andrew Morton, she told Kate, “Remember, this is not just for charity, it is for yourself. Please don’t drop out. For the first time in your life, you are actually doing something for yourself.” The Sisterhood never heard from Kate again, and the whole experience left a really bad taste in Sayle’s mouth. “It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I rue the day I ever met Kate Middleton. She is a lovely girl, but everything that comes with her — the paparazzi, the egos, and Clarence House — make it a nightmare,” she said.

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1. They Lived Together Before Marriage

Unlike other royal couples, William and Kate lived together before marriage. When he was transferred to the Search and Rescue Training Unit at RAF Valley, Anglesey, Kate moved in with him. The two lived a very quiet life. A close friend of theirs told Andrew Morton, “She cooks supper, they watch TV and go to bed. It works for them. What other people would find boring, they love. They love the normalcy of it. They are very into each other.”

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