Prince William almost made a major decision after having a bit of a ‘wobble’ – until his father Charles managed to talk him out of it when he returned home for Christmas in 2001
Prince William had to be talked out of making a huge decision that royal aides felt would be a ‘personal disaster’ for the future king.
There was great excitement when it was revealed William would be attending St Andrews University in Scotland – and in September 2001 he began his first term, studying Art History. According to royal author Robert Lacey in his book Battle of Brothers, uni life wasn’t quite what William had expected and he reportedly “had not anticipated quite how ‘boring’ – his word – life in a small Scottish seaside town could be”.
For a prince who everyone instantly recognised, navigating student life was a challenge; his nights out were “clouded” because all the other students were fascinated by him, and he wasn’t enjoying his course. In the end, William only spent two of the 13 term-time weekends at the university and would often go home to London or Highgrove.
It all came to a head when he headed back for the Christmas break. He confided in his father that he wanted to leave the university and move elsewhere. According to Lacey, Charles originally agreed with his son, but soon changed his mind after speaking with his private secretary Sir Stephen Lamport, who also confided in deputy private secretary Mark Bolland. Palace aides were concerned the situation could cause a ‘personal disaster for William’ and that the Prince ‘would have been seen as a quitter’.
Indeed, his grandfather Prince Philip had a typically no-nonse response to the news, reportedly saying: “William needs to knuckle down and not wimp out”. Charles’s spin doctor, Mark Bolland, later lifted the lid on how they dealt with the issue, telling Lacey: “It was no different from what many first-year students go through. We approached the whole thing as a wobble, which was entirely normal. St Andrews had a flexible course structure and when they heard that William might be happier majoring in geography, they made sure there were no roadblocks.”
After working out a new plan, the aides went back to Charles and suggested he should “demonstrate a more fatherly backbone”. So over Christmas, Charles did just that and sat his son down for a heart-to-heart. It worked, and William agreed to go back to St Andrews. The decision changed much more than his education. Returning to Scotland meant William grew closer, and fell in love with Kate Middleton, who he would go on to marry in April 2011.
William and Kate famously met for the first time in 2001 at St Andrew’s, where they enrolled on the same course and lived in the same halls. And it was Kate’s now legendary appearance in a charity fashion show in March 2002 that famously kicked off their romance. William reportedly paid £220 for a front row ticket for the catwalk event – and just as well, because 19-year-old Kate came sashaying down the runway wearing nothing but a sheer stocking dress over black underwear. As she strutted her way past the prince, William is said to have turned to his friend Fergus Boyd and whispered: “Wow, Fergus, Kate’s hot!”
But Kate’s cool head prevailed – and she let her prince do all the chasing. Royal reporter Simon Vigar said: “When they were at university at St Andrews, I have it on good authority that one of the few girls not chasing William or trying to catch his eye was Catherine. If that’s true, she played an absolute blinder. He was definitely the target of lots of Sloaney girls there at university, but it wasn’t until the infamous fashion show that William noticed Catherine.”
