Date like Wills and Kate: Where royal love bloomed in St Andrews
How to date like Wills and Kate: From their favourite pubs and cosy cafés to the hotel where Miss Middleton wore the dress that ‘wowed’ her Prince – the St Andrews locations where royal love bloomed as The Crown films series six
- The Crown is filming Prince William’s and Kate Middleton’s university love story
- Royal couple met as students at St Andrews in Scotland at St Salvator’s halls
- MailOnline has taken a look back at key locations where their relationship grew
Netflix camera crews have been retracing the steps of Prince William and Kate Middleton around St Andrews – the Scottish town where the young royals fell in love.
The now Prince and Princess of Wales met in their late teens while staying in student halls at St Andrews University in the Scottish east coast town, near Fife.
Over four years their young love blossomed. The couple enjoyed a mostly anonymous life amongst the 7,500 students, taking private walks together, visiting their favourite pubs and going on dates to their favourite café.
The sixth season of the hit Netflix series, due out in November or December this year this year, is already expected to be hugely controversial due to it featuring the tragic death of William’s mother Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris.
Last week, actress Meg Bellamy – cast as the young Kate Middelton – was spotted filming outside one of the St Andrews University buildings alongside Ed McVey – who is playing Prince William.
So, MailOnline has taken a look all the locations that helped forge the royal love bond – from the couple’s favourite pubs and cafés to the hotel where a young Miss Middleton wore the dress that ‘wowed’ her Prince.
The royal love map: Prince William and Kate Middleton’s favourite haunts during their uni years
University sweethearts: Prince William and Kate Middleton on the day of their graduation ceremony at St Andrews University in June 2005. The couple met as freshers four years prior
Prince William (played by Ed McVey) gazes at Kate Middleton (played by Meg Bellamy) as she walks past him on the set of season six of The Crown
Date with destinty: Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy recreate a chat between Prince William and Kate Middleton during their four years studying at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland
St Salvator’s halls at St Andrews University
Prince William and Kate both joined St Andrews as History of Art students (although he later switched to geography) and lived in the same halls, St Salvator’s – known to residents as Sally’s.
William would frequently run into a brunette girl and took immediate notice of her – after all, the future Princess of Wales had been honoured as the ‘prettiest girl at Sally’s’ in freshers’ week, according to Vanity Fair.
Kate recalled in their engagement interview that she ‘turned bright red and sort of scuttled off’ when they met ‘feeling very shy about meeting him’.
The future couple quickly started a budding friendship after realising how much they had in common – they both enjoyed skiing and both went on a gap year travelling around the world.
William joined the water-polo team and would swim with Kate most mornings at the Old Course Hotel.
He was weary of avoiding eye contact with strangers and pointedly declined invitations to join university clubs.
Prince William and Kate both joined St Andrews as History of Art students (although he later switched to geography) and lived in the same halls, St Salvator’s (pictured) – known to residents as Sally’s
The Prince and Princess of Wales’s alma mata – The University of St Andrews in Scotland
The world at his feet: Prince William In The Geography Department Of St Andrews University
A princely sum! Homesick William snaps up a pack of stamps for his letters home to the palace
First class…. well, 2.1: Prince William at his graduation ceremony at St Andrews University
Kate Middleton at her graduation ceremony at St Andrews in June 2005
William joined the water-polo team and would swim with Kate most mornings at the Old Course Hotel. Pictured: Prince William makes his water polo debut for the Scottish national universities squad in the annual Celtic Nations tournament against Wales and Ireland in Cardiff, in April 2004
The young prince reportedly struggled with homesickness but found a listening ear in Kate, although there was initially no romantic involvement.
At the time she had a boyfriend, Rupert Finch, a dark and handsome fourth-year student reading law. William also had a girlfriend, second-year English student Carley Massy-Birch, a Devon farmer’s daughter.
Meanwhile, meeting around the campus as friends, William and Kate were entirely relaxed in each other’s company. She soon became one of the group who joined William for breakfast at Sally’s before lectures.
Their close friendship was not unnoticed by friends, who joked to Kate: ‘Bet you’ll be wearing a tiara soon.’
Fairmont St Andrews Hotel: Where Kate wore the dress that made William go ‘Wow!’
Centre of attention: It was in 2002 that Kate reportedly caught William’s eye when she sashayed in a see-through sheer dress with visible black underwear down the runway at a university charity fashion show, prompting Wills’ much-quoted comment, ‘Wow, Kate’s hot!’
Kate Middleton at a charity fashion show at St Andrews in 2002. Her catwalk strut proved to be one of the most defining of her life, when she moved the young Prince William to exclaim: ‘Wow, Kate’s hot’
The five-star Fairmont St Andrews Hotel on the east coast of Fife has its own 520 acre golf resort and luxury spa
It was in 2002 that 20-year-old Kate reportedly caught William’s eye when she sashayed in a sheer black-and-gold silk dress with visible black underwear down the catwalk at the five-star Fairmont St Andrews Hotel on March 27, 2022.
The hotel on the east coast of Fife has its own 520 acre golf resort and a luxury spa.
The Prince is said to have paid £200 for a front row ticket at the university charity fashion show, Don’t Walk.
Kate’s striking dress by designer Charlotte Todd is said to have prompted Wills’ much-quoted comment to Eton classmate Fergus Boyd: ‘Wow, Kate’s hot!’
And from that moment their burgeoning friendship became a blossoming romance – that night the pair were reported to have been seen kissing after sipping a few cocktails together.
Wills’ and Kate’s first uni flatshare: 13a Hope Street
In his second year, William moved in with Kate, Fergus, later Prince George’s godfather, and Olivia Bleasdale into a two-story, top-floor apartment on Hope Street in the centre of town for £100 a week
While still keeping their relationships under wraps, Wills and Kate moved out of their halls of residence in their second year to share a flat with some friends in September 2002.
He moved in with Kate, Fergus, later Prince George’s godfather, and Olivia Bleasdale into a two-story, top-floor apartment, 13a Hope Street, in the centre of town for £100 a week.
Despite the bomb proof doors, bulletproof windows and high-tech laser security system, the flat gave the Prince the relative normalcy of a private student life with his friends – despite the girls that tried to spot him at the local Tesco.
A modern listing for the property shows that it now has five bedrooms, one bathroom and a kitchen and utility room.
William loved to ‘impress’ Kate with his cooking skills while they were at university, she once told Mary Berry for a BBC royal Christmas special in 2019.
‘In university days he used to cook all sorts of meals,’ she told the baking legend.
‘I think that’s when he was trying to impress me, Mary! Things like Bolognese sauce, and things like that.’
Asked if he still cooks for her, Kate replied: ‘He sometimes does actually – he’s very good at breakfast.’
Kate Middleton with friends at St Andrews as Prince William plays in a rugby sevens tournament in April 2005
Kate Middleton said Prince William tried to woo her with his cooking skills while they were at university together. Pictured: The couple with Mary Berry on the set of A Berry Royal Christmas in 2019
In 2019, Kate said she does most of the cooking at home, with William having previously admitted in the programme: ‘I can do tea, Mary, but not cooking. Catherine is definitely the one who cooks, not me.’
Over the next three university years their relationship deepened. One of their circle, Michael Choong, who played rugby with William and is these days a property developer in Scotland, recalls, ‘They never showed any affection in public. Kate was good for him.
‘She was very loyal and did not gossip. William was naturally gregarious – he’d always get a round of beers in at the pub – but Kate was less so and hated having her picture taken.’
Prince William’s favourite pub: Ma Bells
Wills and Kate often enjoyed a cider at Ma Bells (pictured), the Prince’s favourite pub which was the basement bar of the St Andrews Golf Hotel, according to Hello! Magazine
The couple often enjoyed a cider at Ma Bells, the Prince’s favourite pub which was the basement bar of the St Andrews Golf Hotel, according to Hello! Magazine.
The venue is popular with the golf crowd and well-to-do university students, and is considered good bar by locals and tourists.
A review by The Skinny says they offer ‘decent food and surprisingly cheap drinks’ – with cocktail pitchers running an affordable at £7.50, and scoring a Ma Bells card will ensure drink deals throughout the week.
Prince William and Kate enjoyed a sit-down dinner out: The Jahangir curry house and West Port Bar & Kitchen
William and Kate would visit the West Port Bar & Kitchen and sit in a downstairs booth
Wills and Kate are also said to have enjoyed dinners at popular St Andrews curry house Jahangir.
The Indian restaurant in the heart of the town, which was opened in 1998, has won multiple awards including being given two medallions by the Scottish Tourist Board for Good Food & Service.
They would also visit the West Port Bar & Kitchen and sit in a relaxed booth in the downstairs of the restaurant near the front door, according to Hello! Magazine.
Seaside fish & chips at Prince William and Kate’s favourite chippy
Prince William and Kate were ‘regular customers’ of their favourite chippy, the award-winning Anstruther Fish Bar, in the coastal town of Anstruther, which was just a short drive from their university.
The fish & chip shop has also had other famous visitors including footballer Gary Lineker, Kevin Keegan and Luke Donald – but a picture of the royal couple reportedly adorns the walls of the dining hall.
After a series of royal visits, they popped to one of their favourite takeaways in 2021 after 20 years away from their university town, ordering a £7.95 takeaway haddock dinner wrapped in paper, which they ate on the pier – before heading back for ice cream!
Kate talked with staff saying the trip had been a ‘trip down memory lane’.
Prince William and Kate were ‘regular customers’ of their favourite chippy , the award-winning Anstruther Fish Bar, in the coastal town of Anstruther. Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge revisit the chip shop in 2021
The couple ordered a £7.95 takeaway haddock supper, wrapped in paper, which they ate on a bench on the pier. They returned for ice creams – William’s in a cup, Kate’s in a cone – before returning to Edinburgh by helicopter
Prince William and Kate Middleton ordered a fish supper before returning for ice cream (left) and chatted to locals on their way through the town (right)
Staff at the Anstruther Fish Bar shared their excitement and details of the couple’s visit in a Facebook post at the time.
It read: ‘We can hardly believe it’s almost 20 years since we last had the honour of frying up some Scottish haddock and chips for, our then regular customers, Prince William and Catherine Middleton, while they were students at St Andrews University.
‘Fast-forward to this afternoon and you can imagine our excitement when we had the privilege of welcoming back the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (or, to give them their official Scottish titles … The Earl and Countess of Strathearn) to Anstruther Fish Bar.
‘Their Royal Highnesses have been in the East Neuk of Fife today and surprised us by ending their visit with a takeaway fish supper, which the Duchess told us, was a lovely “trip down memory lane”.
‘They enjoyed the whole takeaway experience, as most visitors to Anstruther do, sitting on a bench by the harbour, while no doubt keeping a watchful eye out for the local, hungry seagulls!
‘Before heading back to their waiting helicopter, they popped in for some ice cream and to chat with some of our thrilled staff. The Duke thanked us for the fish and chips and made a point on telling Andrew that they were just as good, if not better than he remembered from his student days.’
Wills and Kate took walks along West Sands beach, St Andrews Castle and Cathedral and in Tentsmuir Forest
William even went surfing as a student at the West Sands beach, a short drive from St Andrews University. While they live in their flat, the couple enjoyed walks along the stunning seaside setting, according to VisitBritain.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge returned to the beach in May 2021, going head-to-head in a land yacht race along the coast. At one point the Duchess’s back wheel was lifted into the air by the force of the wind – but not even that was enough to stop Kate from smiling.
Their location in St Andrew also afforded the couple walks past St Andrews Castle, the ruined castle overlooking Castle Sands adjoining the North Sea. They would also have been able to walk in the view of the ruin of the 12th Century St Andrews Cathedral.
Prince William poses on the pier at St Andrews on May 28 2003
Prince William carries a surfboard along the shoreline at St Andrews in October 2004
Taking a swing at love: Prince William practises golf on the beach at St Andrews in 2003
Their location in St Andrew also afforded the couple walks past St Andrews Castle (pictured), the ruined castle overlooking Castle Sands adjoining the North Sea
View towards the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral and castle seen from the pier in St Andrews
The magical Tentsmuir Forest (pictured) would also have given them a level of privacy for walks among the rich wildlife, coastal grassland and wildflowers
The couple enjoyed taking walks together and a key St Andrews’ tradition is the Pier Walk along the harbour walls of the town before the start of the academic year.
The magical Tentsmuir Forest would also have given them a level of privacy for walks among the rich wildlife, coastal grassland and wildflowers.
In the forest you may even see red squirrels in the trees, roe deer on the forest floor and even seals sleeping on the sands.
William and Kate’s beautiful cottage where they lived in third year
After their second year of university, William and Kate moved to Balgove House, on the private Strathtyrum Estate (pictured)
After their second year of university, William and Kate moved to Balgove House, on the private Strathtyrum Estate, which was around a quarter of a mile outside the town centre.
The impressive four-bedroom property was owned by a Henry Cheape, the Prince’s distant cousin who was a close friend of the Royal Family.
The cottage provided more privacy for the young couple than their second year digs, and unmarked police cars patrolled the estate with William’s protection officers living in outbuildings.
The future Prince and Princess of Wales would frequently have guests for dinner parties, with a well-prepared William installing a champagne fridge as soon as they moved in.
The new home also allowed them to take romantic walks amongst the two acres of wild grassland behind the privacy of a six-foot stone wall. And for highly romantic, private dates, they would pack a picnic hamper and spend the afternoon relaxing on a blanket with a bottle of cold white wine.
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