
Long before they were the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton were (almost) regular college students. A recently-resurfaced video, shared by fan account @teatimewiththecambridges (opens in new tab), shows the couple at their graduation from the University of St. Andrews in 2005, and members of the royal family watched proudly from the audience.
The footage, sourced from Kate & William: A Modern Royal Romance (opens in new tab), shows the now-Duchess, then referred to as "Catherine Middleton," being called upon to kneel and receive her cap and gown. Then the scene cuts to William, called "William Wales," doing the same thing. (He likely took the last name "Wales" for school because his father's royal title is Prince of Wales. William's children take the last name (opens in new tab) "Cambridge" at school, as his title is Duke of Cambridge.)
William's father, Prince Charles, and step-mom, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, smiled with pride after his name was called.
His grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, were also beaming with excitement.
Although the video shows Kate and William's processions in succession, the couple wasn't actually seen together during the graduation, according to the The Telegraph (opens in new tab). But the ceremony was relatively small, compared to the massive state university graduations you're used to seeing in the U.S.; there were 260 graduates with about 800 guests, according to the British outlet.
However, they did pose together that day for this famous throwback photo.
William and Kate are believed to have first met (opens in new tab) at St. Andrews, but royal expert Katie Nicholl suggested (opens in new tab) the couple actually crossed paths through mutual friends before they started college in 2001.
Kate recalled the awkward nature of her first encounter with William; she "went bright red and scuttled off feeling very shy," the Duchess of Cambridge revealed in their engagement interview in 2010.
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now.
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