Prince William Was the Real Royal "Playboy" During His 20s, According One of Kate Middleton's Friends
"That’s something Kate has always known and accepted—it was part of the deal, if you like..."
- Back in the day, when Prince William and Prince Harry were both unmarried men playing the field, Harry had more of a reputation for being a ladies' man than Will.
- According to a friend of Kate Middleton's, however, Will was really the royal playboy in the family.
- In an old interview unearthed by Express, the royal source described Will's "roving eye" in his 20s as being "part of the deal" and something Kate "has always known and accepted."
If you could teleport back to 2007 and ask the average royal fan who was the bigger player, Prince William or Prince Harry, most probably would have said Harry, who was still in the midst of his scandal-filled, bad boy period.
Not so, apparently—at least according to an old friend of Kate Middleton's. In an old Daily Mail interview unearthed by Express, the royal source said that, back in 2007, Kate was pretty much ready for Will to propose (common knowledge), but that he "simply wasn’t ready to settle down" with her yet.
The source added that, in addition to playing the waiting game for Will to put a ring on it, Kate had to deal with another less-than-ideal habit of her real-life Prince Charming.
"He has always had a roving eye, far more so than Harry, who is meant to be the family playboy," the source said. "That’s something Kate has always known and accepted—it was part of the deal, if you like. I suppose in that respect, she would have made a perfect Princess of Wales."
Oof. That "roving eye" played a role in the couple's 2007 breakup, according to the Express report. Of course, once Will and Kate reunited after their split, they were stronger than ever and the breakup famously taught Will that Kate really was the one for him.
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Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. 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.
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