Kate Middleton Pretended to Be Prince William's Girlfriend Before They Dated

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published 23 March 19

Here's a fun story from the Will and Kate dating archives for you: One time, when Prince William and Kate Middleton were in college—but before they were dating—Kate had to step up and pose as Will's fake girlfriend to help him fend off a particularly thirsty girl at a party.

In her book Kate: The Future Queen, royal expert and biographer Katie Nicholl relays the story, which apparently happened during the future Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's freshman year at St. Andrews, at a party thrown by Oli "Hairy" Baker.

Will and Kate's classmate, Laura Warshauer, shared the story:

How could Will not have fallen in love with Kate after that? Of course, they were already close before Operation Thirst Patrol, which is why Kate felt comfortable coming to Will's rescue at all, but this incident could only have deepened that bond.

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Kayleigh Roberts is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, covering celebrity and entertainment news, from actual royals like Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle to Hollywood royalty, like Katie Holmes and Chrissy Teigen. She’s a Ravenclaw who would do great things in Slytherin. To learn more about her, google “Leslie Knope eating salad GIF.