Kate Middleton's Friend Reveals the Future Duchess "Wanted to Save Herself for Someone Special"

Kate Middleton's friend revealed that she didn't date much in high school because she "wanted to save herself for someone special." Royal biographer Katie Nicholl described the situation in her biography, Kate: The Future Queen.

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  • Even though other students at the school Kate Middleton attended in her teens were dating a lot, the future Duchess of Cambridge didn't show much interest in boys during her high school years.
  • According to royal expert and biographer Katie Nicholl, Kate had a few crushes and short-lived teen romances, but nothing serious.
  • Gemma Williamson, who went to school with Kate at the time, explained that she always "got the distinct impression that Kate wanted to save herself for someone special."

Kate Middleton wasn't super interested in dating as a teen, apparently.

In fact, according to one of her best friends from the time, Kate seemed to be waiting for her Prince Charming from day one.

In her book Kate: The Future Queen, royal expert and biographer Katie Nicholl shares some stories of Kate's early crushes—and an interview with Kate's classmate, Gemma Williamson, who explains why she believes the future Duchess didn't date as much as her classmates.

According to Nicholl, Kate had a short-lived fling with a "popular and kind" boy named Wood, who was a boarder at her school and the captain of both the rugby and tennis teams. Kate also had a crush on a "floppy-haired" classmate named Willem Marx, but she didn't really take part in her school's dating scene—which was apparently pretty lively.

"I got the distinct impression that Kate wanted to save herself for someone special," Gemma told Nicholl. "It was quite an old-fashioned approach, especially at Marlborough, where half of the pupils were already having sex."

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Kayleigh Roberts
Weekend Editor

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.