Royal fans all know where Prince William and Kate’s love story began – but not everyone knows how exactly it blossomed.

Viewers of The Crown’s last series caught an imagined re-telling of how they met at St Andrew’s University, but as experts have regularly pointed out, the Netflix series is historical fiction. Yet the couple have previously given glimpses into the day they first met at an event for freshers, while experts have written in more detail about the early days.

Played on-screen by Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy, the young William and Kate are shown becoming friends and harbouring relationships with their respective partners, with the prince meeting Carley Massey-Birch and Kate going out with Rupert Finch. She even brings her boyfriend – a fourth-year student at the time – home for Christmas, later telling mum Carole: “You’ve always loved the idea of me and William together.”

William and Kate pictured in 2011 ( 
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But whether or not any of this was ever said is up for debate, with the senior royals having reportedly never watched the series. What is known, however, is what William did say after first realising his romantic feelings for the friend who would later become his wife.

Kate had been participating in a student fashion show at the university, wearing what is now a famous dress leaving little to the imagination. It’s widely reported that William, who was watching the show, turned to a friend whispering, “Wow, Kate’s hot”.

The art history students were friends for a while before their relationship blossomed, and even lived together in the small Scottish student town. In an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby after announcing their engagement, Kate revealed she went “bright red” and “scuttled off” at their first meeting.

William told ITV at the time: “We moved in together as friends because we were living together. We lived with a couple of others as well, and it just sort of blossomed from there. We just saw more of each other, hung out a bit more, and did stuff.”

The couple revealed they had lived together as friends before romance blossomed ( 
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Getty Images)

Royal author Kate Nicholl’s 2013 book Kate: The Future Queen, reveals the night of the fashion show had been a pivotal moment in the two’s relationship. Mutual friend Andrew Sands tells the author the pair were spotted getting very cosy with one another at a party afterwards, saying: “They kissed at the end of the night.”

He recalled: “They were both standing up in the corner of the living room, and I recall seeing them out of the corner of my eye. It was dark, there were lots of people, and the music was playing very loud. Everyone pretended that they weren’t taking much notice, but it went round St. Andrews like wildfire afterwards.” And while The Crown may show keen Kate going after William, friends claim the opposite is true.

She was seen initially pulling away from the prince at first, perhaps worried about the rumour mill going into overdrive. This is backed by Tina Brown’s 2022 book, The Palace Papers.