Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal Romance: From St. Andrews to the Crown

Prince William married Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey, with 1,900 guests, one million street spectators, and two billion television viewers. The couple met in 2001 as first-year students at St. Andrews University in Scotland, where both studied art history and lived in St. Salvator's Hall. Their friendship grew over shared meals and ski trips. Romance sparked after Kate modeled in a charity fashion show in a sheer dress, prompting William to call her 'hot.' They moved off-campus with friends and began dating, keeping it private until paparazzi captured them skiing in Klosters, Switzerland, in March 2004; The Sun ran the headline 'Finally... Wills gets a girl.' Both graduated in June 2005. The British press had agreed to a coverage blackout during university, but afterward tabloids criticized Kate's middle-class background, calling her family 'the Middle-Class Middletons' and dubbing her and sister Pippa 'the wisteria sisters.' Kate worked as a buyer for Jigsaw. In 2007, the couple split due to William's military duties and partying photos, but reunited later. William proposed in October 2010 at Mount Kenya's foothills with his mother Diana's ring. After Queen Elizabeth's death in September 2022, William became Prince of Wales and Catherine became Princess of Wales, a title formerly held by Diana.