Kate Middleton First Saw Prince William In-Person When They Were Nine Years Old

If you're even a pretty casual royal fan, then you probably know the official story of how Prince William and Kate Middleton met. As legend has it, they were both students at the University of St. Andrews and Kate was adorably awkward and the rest, as the ubiquitous "they" say, is history.

But, as it turns out, that wasn't actually the first time their paths crossed IRL. Way back in Will and Kate's elementary school days, their schools, Ludgrove Prep and St. Andrews Prep, used to play each other in sports. According to royal expert and biographer

Katie Nicholl, this is actually when Kate first got a glimpse of Will in the flesh.

In her book Kate: The Future Queen, Nicholl writes:

And no, Kate was not immune to that excitement (in her defense, she was nine and a celebrity/literal prince was on her school campus).

"I remember when William came to play hockey," Kate's former teacher Denise Allford said. "The boys wanted to know why so many cars had stopped on the way in because it was unusual. It was William's protection officers and bodyguards, and it caused quite a stir. IT went round the school like wildfire."

Naturally, once word spread that Will was on campus, everyone wanted to get a look at him. As Nicholl (a little dramatically, but understandably so) points out, "It was the first time Kate had set her eyes on the young prince, but certainly not the last."

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