Kate Middleton began dating her future husband Prince William when the couple were students at the University of St. Andrews. He was reportedly smitten early on, while Kate played a longer game
After almost 13 years of marriage, the Princess of Wales knows her husband inside out.
But back in the early days of their university romance, Prince William wasn’t the only man vying for Kate’s affections. In fact, the royal couple were friendly flatmates before romance blossomed, with Kate, 42, embarking on a relationship with another student at the University of St. Andrews.
Rupert Finch was in his final year of studying law when he reportedly went out with the future princess, then a first year student of the history of art, for just under a year in 2001. “Kate actually had another boyfriend when she first got to St Andrews, Rupert Finch, who by all accounts was a nice man,” a source told the Daily Mirror.
“Prince William, he kind of expressed a bit of interest but I think Kate was still playing hard to get. He wasn’t terribly sure if she was interested.”
Rupert, who works a solicitor, went onto marry Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs in 2013, and they have three children together. He has remained friends with Kate, who was a guest at his wedding to Lady Natasha.
Back to her fledging romance with her future husband, in her 2011 book, The Making of a Royal Romance, author Katie Nicholl claimed William, 41, once told Kate, “she was a knockout… which caused her to blush”. But she said Kate had a clever tactic to keep William on his toes.
“She played it very cool and at one point when William seemed to lean in to kiss her, she pulled away,” she wrote. “She didn’t want to give off the wrong impression or make it too easy for Will.”
“When I first met Kate, I knew there was something very special about her,” William later said. “Then I knew there was possibly something I wanted to explore there, but we ended up being friends for a while.”
The friendship involved shared interests in sport, skiing and art. They enjoyed morning swims together and William invited Kate to join his regular breakfast table.
A key moment in the couple’s friendship turning into romance reportedly came in March 2002, when Kate wore a see-through dress over a bra and knickers at a charity fashion show. “It was clear to us that William was smitten with Kate,” a friend told author Katie Nicholl of the night in question. “He actually told her that she was a knockout that night, which caused her to blush.”
But after six years together the couple famously split in April 2007, with William said to be having doubts about their relationship. They were apart for three months and in that time the Princess reportedly dated shipping heir Henry Ropner.
“I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you’re younger,” she later said of the split. “I really valued that time for me.”
If Kate meant to make her significant ex jealous by rejoining the dating pool after their break-up, it worked. The couple married in 2011 with children George, Charlotte and Louis.
