The Crown changes how Prince William and Kate Middleton first met
Part 2 of The Crown season 6 focuses on the first meeting and burgeoning romance between Prince William and Kate Middleton. However, the show changes how...- Part 2 of The Crown season 6 focuses on the first meeting and burgeoning romance between Prince William and Kate Middleton.
- However, the show changes how the couple first crossed paths, suggesting that they met in a chance encounter while Princess Diana was still alive.
- The Netflix series is correct in portraying that both William and Kate had other love interests before they finally got together.
Since it first arrived on Netflix in 2016, The Crown has faced criticism for changing real events or imagining private conversations in order to heighten the drama of the series. Season 6 is no different as the way in which Prince William and Kate Middleton first met has been unexpectedly tweaked.
The Crown changes how Prince William and Kate Middleton first met
The opening scene of episode 7 in The Crown season 6 takes place in December 1996 and reimagines how Prince William and Kate Middleton first crossed paths with one another.
We see a young Kate Middleton shopping in London with her mother Carole. When they leave the store, they see a crowd gathered across the street, surrounding none other than Princess Diana and Prince William who are helping to raise money for charity by selling the Big Issue magazine.
The pair hurry over and Kate asks her mother for some money to make a donation and buy a copy. Both she and William lock eyes and are speechless until Diana reminds her son to thank Kate for her generosity.
This sparks something of a crush for Kate as we later see her cutting the prince’s photo out of a magazine.
- READ MORE: Meghan Markle ‘insists’ on calling Kate Middleton by her ‘nickname’ – unlike other royals
How Prince William and Kate Middleton met in real life
In reality, Prince William and Kate Middleton did not meet until several years later.
It has widely been reported that their first meeting did not come until they attended university together in 2001.
However, according to biographer Katie Nicholl in an interview with Time, they met shortly before heading to St Andrews University as they shared similar social circles and crossed paths briefly in a “very casual and informal setting.”
After they both ventured off to university, the pair were placed in the same dorms and were also on the same course as each other.
As depicted in The Crown, Kate initially planned to go to university elsewhere but ended up deciding on St Andrews, a potentially risky move as applications to St Andrews rose by 44% following the news that Prince William would be attending.
Initially, Kate and William’s relationship was platonic and they both dated other people during their studies.
However, William’s view of Kate changed in March 2002 when she famously modeled a sheer dress during a university fashion show and they would become romantically linked a year later.
The iconic dress, which was designed by Charlotte Todd and cost less than £30 to make ($50), sold in 2011 for an eye-watering £78,000 ($125,000).
Other love interests
Before they began dating, both William and Kate had other romantic interests during their time at university, something which is accurately depicted in The Crown.
In the Netflix series, we see William date a fellow student called Lola Airedale Cavendish Kinkade before she breaks up with him when she discovers him flirting with Kate in the library.
In real life, William’s girlfriend during his first year of university was called Olivia Hunt according to Grazia.
Kate, meanwhile, is shown to briefly date a young man named Rupert Finch. Unlike the fictional Lola, Finch is a real person and has remained friends with Kate since their relationship ended and has been in attendance at royal events per Cosmopolitan.
Season 6 of The Crown is available to stream in full on Netflix after Part 2 arrived on Thursday, December 14, 2023.
