On June 15, 2024, the world watched as Catherine, Princess of Wales, triumphantly returned to the spotlight during the Trooping the Colour ceremony. After months of speculation about her health and the announcement of her cancer diagnosis, a majestic Catherine walked onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace with her husband. Prince William and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, And Prince Louis. Amid the cheers of the crowd, Catherine gave the grinning William a radiant smile and a photo of this tender moment went around the world.
The mature, glamorous couple standing on the balcony were miles away from the casual, carefree college students first photographed on the Swiss ski slopes of Klosters 20 years ago, but the ease, love and mutual respect seen there remain the same.
Prince George of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour on June 15, 2024 in London, England.Getty Images.
Prince William met Kate Middleton in 2001 when they were both freshmen at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. “I turned bright red when I met you and scurried away very shyly,” Catherine told William in their first interview together.
The two art history students (Prince William later switched to geography), both sporty and rather shy, soon struck up a close friendship. “We became very close friends quite early on,” Catherine recalled. They also had a lot of fun. “Kate has a really cheeky sense of humour, which kind of helps me because I have a really dry sense of humour, so it was a lot of fun,” William said.
In March 2002, Catherine came to the attention of the press – and reportedly Prince William too – when she strutted down the catwalk as part of a charity fashion show. “The British press has had its eye on her classmate Kate Middleton, 21, ever since she modelled in a see-through dress for a charity fashion show in St Andrews,” the Daily news identified in 2004.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, tries her hand at archery during a visit to the 3rd Upton Scouts Hut in Slough, London, England, on May 8, 2023, under the watchful eye of Prince William, Prince of Wales.Getty Images.
In their second year, the platonic friends, who had both dated other people, decided to share an apartment with their classmates. Fergus Boyd And Olivia Bleasdale. The next year they moved to Belgrove House, a charming cottage outside Edinburgh. Catherine was occasionally mentioned as one of Prince William’s circle of friends. In 2002 the Daily Mail quoted a friend as saying: “(Kate) is a very pretty girl but very modest. She is very lively but also very discreet and loyal to William.”
The shy prince, for his part, tried to protect all his girlfriends from the glare of publicity. “Every single girl I’m with is the subject of a lot of speculation and that annoys me quite a bit,” he said in 2003. “Even more so because it’s a real torment for the girls. These poor girls, you know, who I’ve either just met and been photographed with or who are my friends, are suddenly thrown into the spotlight and their parents are being called and so on. It’s a bit unfair to them really.”
