Who was Kate Middleton Before She Met Prince William?
From unassuming St. Andrew’s student to future queen, Kate Middleton has lived out her fairy tale with Prince William in the public eye, impressing royals and civilians alike with her grace and steadfast commitment to her royal role. (No, that’s not a dig at Meghan Markle, though it is an area where they differ.) But Kate wasn’t the regal mom of three we know her as today when she first caught William’s eye in college — and that’s the Kate whose identity we’re trying to uncover. From royal biographers, close friends, and more, here’s what you never knew about Kate Middleton’s early life before she met William.
From the second that Kate was first linked with William that fateful night at St. Andrews, her past has been ogled and evaluated by anyone with a curiosity for who might capture the future King’s heart, and the list isn’t short. We know that Kate mysteriously decided to switch her university choice to St. Andrews at the last minute, after finding out that William would be attending, and we know that she came from an aristocratic yet hard-working family. We also know that, when William made the brief decision to take a break, that Kate swelled into her own as a socialite party-hopper and toned rowing champion so quickly he had no choice but to return to her. So, who is this determined, potentially strategizing gem of a woman who would go on to steal William’s heart? When you met Kate Middleton at age 18, before she had ever kissed her future husband, who did you meet?
Read on for things you may not have known about pre-royal Kate Middleton.
A version of this story was originally published in 2021.
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She Had a Working Class Background
Both Michael and Carole came from fine English families, with Carole’s ancestry tracing distantly back to the Queen Mother and Michael’s family belonging firmly to British aristocratic circles. Even so, Carole and Michael’s “working-class” positions as a flight attendant and flight dispatcher, respectively, reportedly made Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall question whether Kate was posh enough for William to marry. In the end, of course, we know who won that war…
She Was Shy & Awkward as a Young Girl
Per Royals at War, the first friend Kate made at new school Marlborough describes the now-Duchess as “shy and gawky,” while another says she was “thin and pale,” with “very little confidence.” Her new tutor also contended that the Duchess was so nervous in her early days that she hardly spoke much at all — but all describe her warming up to her friend group within the year.
She Co-founded a Drinking Society
Kate Middleton also decided to shake things up at university by co-founding a female drinking society at St Andrews University because, as the Guardian reports, “She co-founded a girls’ drinking society [at St. Andrews], ‘annoyed that the old ones excluded women’ – but no one remembers her getting very drunk.”
She Modeled for Her Parents’ Brand
In the early days of the firm, Kate and Pippa often modeled for the catalogue of her parents’ brand.
In a blog post in 2017, Carol confirmed this via Mirror, saying, “Over the years, all my children have played a huge part in it, from modeling for the catalog to developing new categories for the brand.”
She Showed Promise as a Salesperson
While growing up (and a bit after her university days), Kate used to help out mom Carole with the business — and apparently showed great promise.
“Catherine and all the making of a fantastic trader,” said one of her colleagues from the time. “Everybody thinks of her now as a mother and future queen — whatever that means. But she’s got a shrewd eye for profit and a very hard head on her shoulders.”
She Took an Insanely Cool Gap Year
Like her future husband, Kate took a gap year. She decided to go to Chile after finishing high school to go work with a sustainable development charity called Raleigh International. Then she went to Florence and crewed boats on the Solent, per Marie Claire.
She Originally Wanted to Go to Another University
So apparently, Kate was initially accepted into the University of Edinburgh in 2000. She took a gap year, and royal biographer Katie Nicholl claimed she decided to go to her second choice after Prince William’s acceptance, per PS.
She Was Part of a Social Group Known as the ‘Glossy Posse’
Kate, due to her elite schooling before St. Andrews, was already a part of an exclusive, wealthy social group known as the “Glossy Posse” before she and William properly met at St. Andrews — though her involvement in the group certainly made it easier for her to cross paths with the prince, with whom the Glossy Posse was known for partying.
“A number of her girlfriends were paid-up members of the Glossy Posse of Berkshire-Gloucestershire socialites who parties with the princes,” royal biography Finding Freedom contends.
Royals at War further identifies the Posse as a “group of privileged teens letting off steam” by haunting “the bars and clubs of rural Gloucestershire.”
She Had an Adorable Nickname in School
Kate Middleton previously revealed that her nickname in primary school was “Squeak.” According to OK magazine, she told some pupils at St. Andrews University that her nickname was inspired by the school’s guinea pigs. “There was one called Pip and one called Squeak, so my sister was called Pip and I was Squeak,” she said.
She Used to Moon People on Campus as a Prank
Here’s a story we never thought we’d hear about Kate Middleton! According to former classmates at Marlborough, Kate had a serious pranking streak, and mooning people on campus was her favorite gag.
“She did, however, have a childish love of pranking, which saw her go through the uncharacteristic phase of mooning surprised male students from her dorm windows, a habit that inspired the affectionate nickname Middlebum,” Royals at War recounts. “Clambering up to the dormitory windows, to the amazement and disbelief of her chums, Kate would drop her pants and treat passers-by to the sight of her bum, wiggling comically in the window. Kate would scream with laughter as cheers from the appreciative crowds outside egged her on.”
She Was a Natural Athlete
Kate isn’t just taking part in all these royal rowing, running, sailing, and whatever-else events to be a good sport: she’s actually always been the first to sign up for any team sport and makes herself known on the field. In high school, she was captain of the swim team as well as playing netball and hockey.
Kate Was a Bit of a Theater Kid
Along with being a superstar in sports, Kate Middleton was also a bit of a theater kid. She played Eliza Doolittle in a school production of My Fair Lady, and you can see a bit of her performance here!
She Used to Love This Gift From Her Christmas Stocking
Mom Carole Middleton got a bit nostalgic around the holidays this year, reminiscing about Kate, Pippa, and brother James’ old favorite Christmas stocking gift in their youth: a Flexi-figure.
“I find that the smallest present can be the one that gives the most enjoyment and entertainment to children,” Carole mused. “I remember that when they were young, my children found flexi-figures like these totally absorbing.”
She Briefly Lived in Jordan as a Child
For nearly three years of Kate Middleton’s childhood, she lived in Jordan, specifically in the capital Amman. The Middletons moved there in 1984 when her dad Michael Middleton worked for British Airways. While living in Jordan, Kate attended an English-language nursery school.
She Had a College Boyfriend Before Prince William
According to Tatler, “at the time of the fashion show, he was reportedly her casual boyfriend and a tall, dark and handsome aspiring lawyer in his fourth year at St Andrews.” Kate was with a man named Ruper Finch in 2001, and while they broke up later, he was invited to her and Prince William’s wedding in 2011.
She Was Bullied in Boarding School
While at the Down House all-girls boarding school, it was revealed she was picked on mercilessly by other girls for being “thin and pale,” per Mirror.
She Loved Clubbing
While Kate’s love for dance never died, her clubbing days are definitely a thing of the past. Before she became a royal, she wore more laidback clothes and partied until late at night, per Woman and Home.
Her High School Teachers Called Her “Hardworking”
Two of Kate’s teachers spoke with Hello: Denise Evans-Allford, her former PE teacher, and Kevin Allford, her former French and German teacher.
Kevin said that Kate was a “hard worker and very conscientious. Obviously she was the same in sport. She was a tremendous athlete and swimmer. I used to be in charge of swimming and she was very, very good, as her sister was.”
