There’s a common piece of royal family folklore that suggests Prince William and Kate Middleton’s relationship origins can be traced back to the now-Princess of Wales’ risqué appearance in a fashion show when the couple were students together at the University of St Andrews.
Parts of the story are definitely true. It’s true that, in March 2002, Kate participated in the “Don’t Walk” charity fashion show. It’s true that Kate turned heads in the show by wearing a sheer dress (which was designed by Charlotte Todd) and black underwear. And it’s true that her future husband was in the audience for the iconic moment.
Kate’s iconic see-through fashion show dress on display in London in 2011, along with a photo of her wearing it on the runway in 2002.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
While the folklore of the moment suggests that the fashion show marked the moment when William realized he was romantically interested in Kate, this part may not actually be true. According to the Daily Mail, royal author Sean Smith claims in his new 2025 book, Sophie: Saving the Royal Family that the royal couple were already “quietly dating” by the time Kate took her famous walk down the runway.
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“Kate had been introduced to William because they were on the same course, History of Art, and in the same student block, but had yet to have a chat,” Smith writes in the book, according to the Daily Mail.
According to Smith, the couple actually bonded over a pretty unexpected (and down-to-earth) topic: Sports.
“That changed when he discovered she knew about rugby and could have a decent conversation about it,” Smith writes. “She became the only girl in his set of well-to-do public school types who always sat together at lunch and dinner.”
If Smith’s intel about Will and Kate’s earliest days is correct, the couple actually managed to date under-the-radar for several months before the March 2002 fashion show moment that so many assume sparked their romance.
“They started dating in the Christmas holidays and were already a discreet item by the time William publicly commented on how fit she was at the now-famous charity fashion show in which she sashayed down the runway in a transparent dress revealing black underwear,” Smith writes of the beginnings of the couple’s relationship.
As iconic as the story of sparks flying at the fashion show at St Andrews is, the idea of Will and Kate pulling off a rare, under-the-radar royal romance for months before anyone realized they were together might actually be even more legendary.
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Prince William
Princess Catherine
