Prince William has been married to Kate Middleton since 2011 (I know, it feels like a lifetime ago). Three kids and a bazillion royal appearances later, and Prince William has settled nicely into fatherhood and married life. But before that, Prince William had a legit bachelor party with 20 of his close friends at a country estate in Norfolk, England before he and Kate became the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Of course, the secret all-male soirée was planned by Guy Pelly (who later became Prince Louis' godfather) and William's brother Harry (William returned the favor for Harry's 2018 wedding) with “military precision” after their original plans for a water-themed celebration with speed boats and water skiing were leaked to the press. But the details of the event eventually made the way to The Sun, of course.
In attendance alongside Prince Harry and Pelly were Thomas van Straubenzee, Ed and Hugh van Cutsem, and Tom “Skippy” Inskip, who all agreed on a “what goes on tour, stays on tour” secrecy pact before their bachelor weekend was underway. The event took place at the historic Hartland Abbey, which is a former monastery and dates back to the 12th Century. It's owned by the Stucley family, whose son George is a close friend of Prince William's, and who was also in attendance. Can you imagine if they had asked him to use his estate and not invited him? My imagination has run wild.
A source told The Sun: “On the Friday night the boys met up for what was to be a low-key evening. They had booked out the whole estate to ensure privacy and Lady Stucley’s son George personally made sure that no one knew who was coming. On Saturday morning they had a hearty breakfast before heading outside for an hour’s clay pigeon shooting. They had a competition to see who was the best shot, but it didn’t get too competitive. While there, they polished off several bottles of vintage port.” Vintage port! How fancy! My friend's bachelorette party just drank Mad Dogg 2020.
The men also took advantage of the sunny weather and the fact that Hartland Abbey has its own private section of coastline, and spent the afternoon surfing at Speke Mill, a spot located a couple of miles to the south.
The bachelor party wasn't as wild and crazy as some may have expected. The weekend was far from a royal version of The Hangover. The same source told The Sun: “It was a relatively tame stag weekend by a lot of people’s standards. It was just about a group of lads having a good time without their other halves.”
But that doesn't mean that William wasn't victim to the typical bachelor party shenanigans. No, they didn't attach him with strippers: The men got caught up in a rousing game of The Name Game, where each player having a post-it note stuck to their forehead with the name of a mystery celebrity written on it. They then take turns asking questions to try and discover whose name appears on their Post-it. Each question you ask, you take a drink before. The source shared, “Apparently the boys had written The Queen on William’s post-it note. It took him several questions before he worked out why everyone was laughing.”
Oh, you wild and crazy kids!
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