The early years of Prince William and then-Kate Middleton’s courtship have been analyzed ad nauseum, but Robert Jobson tried to dust off some old stories and make them new. Jobson’s new book is Catherine, the Princess of Wales: The Biography, and the Mail has spent several days publishing excerpts from the book. There’s apparently a big section about Will and Kate’s big 2007 breakup, and just how nervous the Middletons were that Kate couldn’t land the plane and get the ring. In all of the many books about their courtship, I’m always struck by the sheer short-sightedness of the Middletons’ endeavors to get the ring. Yes, they put a lot of time, money and effort into catching a prince, but they had no idea what to do once they got him. A tale for another day perhaps. Some highlights from Jobson’s book:
The 2007 breakup: She’d waited several years for him to make up his mind, and quite suddenly he had. Prince William, then the world’s most eligible bachelor, had decided it was just too soon to be tied down to Catherine Middleton. He celebrated their break-up with an alcohol-fuelled night at the Mahiki nightclub in Mayfair with his close pals. ‘I’m free!’ he shouted as he slipped into a drunken version of the robot dance. He then told his friends that they should all ‘drink the menu’, which they more or less ended up doing. Naturally, Catherine got to hear about these juvenile antics. They seemed to mark a humiliating end to the romance that had begun when they were both students at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
The pursuit of Isabella: The gossip columnists had a field day. Some claimed William ‘had his head turned’ by another young woman — the beautiful socialite Isabella Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe. They’d met years before on holiday in Greece. But despite being single at the time of William and Catherine’s break-up, Isabella was apparently unkeen on becoming a royal girlfriend, feeling it would limit her career prospects as an actress. This did not cool William’s ardour: he reportedly tried to woo Isabella, visiting her several times at her family home. Despite his evident crush, she apparently rebuffed his advances.
When Will & Kate met for the first time: What’s less well known is that Catherine and the Prince first met when she was at Marlborough, and it was then that they actually became friends. ‘There was plenty of socialising [between pupils at both schools] back then, and they were known to each other,’ said a senior source close to the Middletons. ‘I understand he invited her on a few things.’
Kate’s university switch: Initially, Catherine set her sights on Edinburgh University to do a History of Art degree, even confirming her place. But doubts crept in at the eleventh hour, and she decided to take a gap year first, which she largely spent abroad. Why then, on her return, did she subsequently apply to the University of St Andrews? The gossip mill would later go into overdrive, not only alleging she’d changed her mind because she’d heard William was going there, but that her mother had encouraged her to catch the eye of the Prince. This is ‘utter nonsense’, said a source close to the family. Indeed, it had been confidently expected the Prince would attend Trinity College, Cambridge, like his father.
The courtship years: Already — with no sign of an engagement — Catherine was being labelled Waity Katie, and criticised for first working for her mother’s Party Pieces business rather than starting a career, then taking a part-time job as an accessories buyer at Jigsaw. There were also ‘raised eyebrows’ in the Royal Family over her frequent trips to Mustique in the southern Caribbean. Her boss at Jigsaw had given Catherine the use of her luxurious villa on the island for private romantic holidays with the Prince — hardly a perk afforded to most employees. Catherine knew William wasn’t in any hurry to propose, and the truth is she was prepared to wait until he was ready. After all, they were in love — weren’t they?
The breakup phone call: As Catherine approached her 25th birthday in January 2007, he unexpectedly cancelled plans to attend a New Year gathering in Dundee, arranged by the Middletons. She sensed something was wrong. It certainly wasn’t helping that newspapers were confidently predicting a royal engagement. Soon afterwards, seemingly out of the blue, William — now a 2nd Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals — telephoned her to suggest that they split up. He told her they both needed ‘a bit of space’ to ‘find our own way’, and he was unable to promise her marriage. In an emotionally charged 30-minute conversation, they both acknowledged they were on ‘different pages’. It was a devastating blow to Catherine, who felt doubly let down at being dumped over the phone. Though it wasn’t the first time William had called time on their relationship, it felt final.
Jobson also did a lot with “how Kate won William back” in 2007 – she listened to Carole’s advice and Kate went out partying as often as possible, especially with William’s friends. Jobson claims that William was worried that he would have to work hard to woo Kate back, but she literally came back to him as soon as he snapped his fingers. It’s an interesting sliding-doors scenario to consider: what would have happened if Kate hadn’t gone out drinking and partying constantly after the breakup? What if William had his head turned by someone else who was actually into it? Anyway, Will and Kate were always ill-suited for one another. Carole is the only one who ever thought they would be perfect together.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, archived photos courtesy of WENN.