Prince William 'Was Furious' When Paparazzi Outed His & Kate Middleton's Budding Relationship In 2003, Claims Royal Expert
These days, Prince William and Kate Middleton turn a blind eye to any rumors about their marriage, but the Duke of Cambridge was outraged when their relationship became publicized in 2003.
At the time, the pair had just started dating, but the world found out about the romance when photos of them on a family ski trip were published.
In the new British documentary William & Kate: Too Good To Be True, royal editor Rebecca England recalled the incident.
"Unfortunately for them, a paparazzi photographer took pictures of William and Kate clearly very close on the ski lift together. A red top tabloid newspaper slashed it all over their front page," she shared. "William was furious, and he was also genuinely worried for Kate and her family about what this would now mean for them."
The pictures then spurred tons of gossip, including a claim that Kate's mom, Carole Middleton, was the one who had been trying to set up the future parents-of-three.
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"At the time there were a lot of rumors going around that Carole might have tried to orchestrate the relationship by ensuring her daughter went to St Andrews," English explained. "There was talk of Kate having a poster of William on her wall at her school, Marlborough College."
That claim was eventually debunked, and Kate and William continued their relationship, and they made their first public outing together at their 2005 graduation, which was attended by both sets of parents.
"Graduation for William and Kate, it really was their last moment in that protective bubble," royal expert Victoria Arbiter noted in the doc. "I think perhaps they might have both been a bit naive about what was to come. William understood how the media works, but Kate would have had no idea what it meant to be on the receiving end."
Of course, the pair overcame any obstacles that came their way, tying the knot in 2011. They're now parents to Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3.