Dinner… and a scandal. Prince William wasn’t thrilled when his romance with Kate Middleton was unveiled during a university dinner party.
Videos by Suggest
The prince met his future wife at St Andrews while they were both students. Initially, they began as friends. However, their relationship took a romantic turn when Kate caught William’s attention by modeling a semi-sheer dress at a charity fashion show in 2002. That same year, the couple moved in together with two classmates.
Royal author Robert Jobson disclosed that the couple had been keeping their relationship under wraps until one of Prince William’s exes publicly revealed their connection.
According to Jobson in his new biography Catherine, the Princess of Wales per The Mirror, “among the student community, it was an open secret that they were a couple.”
It was one of William’s ex-girlfriends who officially revealed their relationship. According to Jobson, a “revealing moment” occurred during a dinner party attended by friends of both William and Kate, including his ex, Carly Massy-Birch. Carly “perhaps unwittingly” exposed the couple during a tipsy game of ‘Never Have I Ever,’ which, as Jobson notes, caused much embarrassment for the prince.
A Party Game Led to a Revelation About Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Relationship
He referenced the work of fellow royal author Katie Nicholl. She explored the significant events of that night in her 2013 book, Kate: The Future Queen.
“[Carly] announced, ‘I’ve never dated two people in this room’, knowing full well that William was the only one who had because Kate was sitting next to him.” one of the party’s guests told Nicholl.
The guest claimed everyone at the dinner was left “in shock.”
The guest claims William “shot a thunderous look” at his ex. “I can’t believe you just said that”, he reportedly said. “We knew they were together, but it was the first time William confirmed his and Kate’s relationship in public,” the source explained..
Despite his initial frustration, William managed to overcome the incident, and he and Carly maintained their friendship. She was fortunate to receive an invitation to their wedding at Westminster Abbey in 2011.
Carly and William reportedly had a brief romantic involvement during his first semester. Her parents have confirmed that they dated for less than two months and even shared dinner parties together.
“We got on well, but I think we would have got on well even if nothing had been going on romantically,” Carly later explained, per The Mirror. “It was very much a university thing, just a regular university romance. There wasn’t really a club at St. Andrews. We tended to go to pubs and bars, and there was always a good dinner party going on.”