Kate Middleton Once Pretended to Be Prince William's Girlfriend Before They Were Dating

• Back before they were dating, Prince William and Kate Middleton became fast friends at college.

• During one amazing show of friendship, Kate posed as Will's girlfriend to save him from an aggressively flirty girl at a party, according to royal expert and biographer Katie Nicholl.

• Will and Kate's classmates say that Kate was the only friend of Will's who could have gotten away with the move, which she sprung on him without notice to rescue him from the flirtatious partygoer.

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:

"Kate and I were eating brownies. 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. 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. He mouthed, 'Thanks sos 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."

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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