Kate Middleton was “Hung Up” on Her First Boyfriend, Who Constantly Gave Her Mixed Signals

Kate Middleton, at 40, has dated Prince William nearly half of her life, meeting him as a “fresher” at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2001, becoming friends, and later falling in love.

But before William, there was, oddly enough, Harry—Harry Blakelock, her first love, who was “all she ever talked about,” according to The Mirror. Kate met Harry while attending the prestigious Marlborough College and became “besotted” by him, “but their romance didn’t last and before heading to university, Kate spent some time in Florence, studying art in the Italian city,” the outlet reports. While in Florence, Kate didn’t date anyone, still hung up on Harry, who apparently gave the future Duchess of Cambridge rampant mixed signals. (Hey, we’ve all been there.)

“When Kate arrived in Florence, she was really hung up about Harry,” a friend told The Mail on Sunday. “She spoke about him all the time and he seemed to have messed her around quite a bit. He seemed to have blown hot and cold with her when they were at school, and she was always talking about how she could get him back.”

Harry apparently later married a school friend of Kate’s and is now a partner at Lockton, which is the world’s largest independent insurance broker. And, spoiler alert, things turned out pretty okay for Kate, too. She met some unknown bloke by the name of William at St. Andrews, eventually became his friend and later his roommate, and then the two fell in love.

“She’s got a really naughty sense of humor, which really helps me because I’ve got a really dirty sense of humor, so it was good fun, we had a really good laugh, and then things happened,” William said in an interview surrounding their engagement.

So, that guy you’re hung up about that doesn’t give you what you need? He might just be the prelude to your own prince. *shrugs shoulders*

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.