On June 15, 2024, the world watched as Catherine, Princess of Wales, triumphantly returned to the spotlight at the Trooping the Colour ceremony. After months of speculation about her health and the announcement of her cancer diagnosis, a regal Catherine stepped onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace with her husband, Prince William and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, And Prince Louis. As the crowd cheered, Catherine smiled brightly at William, and the photo capturing the tender moment was released to the world.
The mature, charming couple standing on this balcony are a far cry from the carefree, casual college students first photographed on the ski slopes of Klosters, Switzerland 20 years ago, but the comfort, love and mutual respect 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 the Trooping the Colour parade on June 15, 2024 in London, England.Getty Images.
Prince William first met Kate Middleton in 2001, when they were both first-year students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. “I actually blushed when I met him and ran away because I felt so shy,” Catherine told William in their first joint interview.
The two art history majors (Prince William later switched to geography), both sporty and quite shy, soon formed a close friendship. “We became very close friends very early on,” Catherine recalls. They also had a lot of fun. “Kate has a really mischievous sense of humour, which helps me because I have a really dry sense of humour, so it was great fun,” William says.
In March 2002, the press—and rumored Prince William—took notice of Catherine when she walked the catwalk in a charity fashion show. “The British press has had their eye on 21-year-old schoolmate Kate Middleton since she modeled in a sheer dress for a charity fashion show at St. Andrews,” Daily News recorded in 2004.
Watched by Prince William, Prince of Wales, Princess Catherine tries her hand at archery during a visit to the 3rd Upton Scout Camp in Slough on May 8, 2023 in London, England.Getty Images.
In their sophomore year, two close friends, both of whom had dated other people, decided to share an apartment with their classmates. Fergus Boyd And Olivia Bleasdale is an English actress. The following year they moved to Belgrove House, a lovely cottage outside Edinburgh. Catherine is occasionally mentioned as one of Prince William’s close friends. In 2002, Daily Mail To quote a friend who said, “[Kate] is a very lovely girl, but very modest. She is very cheerful, but also very reserved and loyal to William.”
For his part, the shy prince has tried to shield all his female friends from the public eye. “There’s a lot of speculation about every girl I date and it really annoys me,” he said in 2003. “It’s even more annoying because it’s really painful for the girls. These poor girls, you know, who I’ve just met and taken a picture with, or they’re friends of mine, suddenly they’re in the spotlight and their parents are called and so on. It’s a bit unfair to them.”
