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The story of how Prince William and Princess Kate met at the University of St. Andrews is the stuff of royal legend, but it turns out William’s marriage might not have happened if he’d made one major choice. The future King enrolled at St. Andrews in 2001 and met fellow first-year student Kate Middleton, who lived in the same dormitory. However, the 19-year-old struggled with feeling “unsteady” during his first term and tried to leave for another university—until King Charles stepped in.
In Robert Lacey’s book, Battle of Brothers (via Hello!), the author described how Prince William initially thought the Scottish school wasn’t for him. “As the term progressed, the winter weather soon grew cold, grey and austere, and he found it difficult to make new friends,” Lacey wrote. “He missed his brother too.”
The King’s former press secretary, Colleen Harris, added that William “was really nervous when he arrived,” especially because of the intense press attention at the time. “He was very unsteady for a while after that.” Over Christmas break, Prince William told his father he wanted to leave St. Andrews and enroll at the University of Edinburgh instead.
Per Lacey, Charles’s team feared Prince William would be seen as a “quitter” and that the “Scottish people” would consider the move a “snub.”
The King (then the Prince of Wales) and Prince William are seen as William arrived at the University of St. Andrews in September 2001. | Credit: Getty Images
William ended up staying at St. Andrews and graduated in 2005. | Credit: Getty Images
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However, The King—then known as the Prince of Wales—was more “understanding,” as Prince William later recalled. “I don’t think I was homesick. I was more daunted,” William said of his initial feelings at school, per the book.
“My father was very understanding about it and realized I had the same problem as he had probably had,” he continued. “We chatted a lot and in the end we both realized—I definitely realized—that I had to come back.”
Although Prince William did return to St. Andrews, he ended up changing his major from art history, like Kate, to geography. The university “had a flexible course structure and when they heard that William might be happier majoring in geography, they made sure there were no roadblocks,” royal PR consultant Mark Bolland told Lacey.
If he’d left for the University of Edinburgh that January, it seems unlikely that Kate Middleton would have become Prince William’s wife and the future Queen. Although the couple had met in the autumn of 2001 and were friends, they didn’t start dating until 2002. However, another Middleton did attend Edinburgh: Kate’s younger sister, Pippa.