Before Kate Middleton Dated Prince William, She Pretended to be His Girlfriend

Just because Kate Middleton is the future Queen of England doesn’t mean the role came easy. In fact, the 37-year-old duchess once had to fend off a flirtatious woman who hit on Prince William during a college party.

According to Katie Nicholl’s book Kate: The Future Queen, the altercation took place during Middleton’s freshman year at St. Andrews. When she attended a party thrown by someone named Oli “Hairy” Baker, she noticed some competition from afar.

“Kate and I were eating brownies,” said Laura Warshauer, one of Middleton’s classmates. “Kate was never a big drinker—she didn’t need alcohol to give her confidence. Will was getting really hit on by this girl at the party, and it was getting quite uncomfortable because he couldn’t shake her off. He was being really polite, but this girl just didn’t get the hint.”

Cue Middleton pulling one of the oldest tricks in the book: pretending to be his girlfriend.

“All of a sudden, Kate came up behind him and put her arms around him. He said, ‘Oh, sorry, but I’ve got a girlfriend,’ and he and Kate went off giggling,” Warshauer added. “He mouthed, ‘Thanks so much,’ to her in a really exaggerated way, but Kate was the only girl in the room who could have done that. And that was just a month after we started university.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you become part of the royal family.