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The Kate and William story The Crown probably won't tell.

Part two of The Crown's sixth and final season arrives on December 14, and the show is shifting focus to the early days of Prince William and Kate Middleton's romance after they met in university.

As the story goes, Middleton was a "commoner" (although, a very well-to-do one) when they met at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2001. They started as friends, but after a ten-year love story, they married in 2011 in front of the entire world.

The latest teaser images – featuring actors Meg Bellamy and Ed McVey as the couple –  confirm that the final episodes will contain a major part of their origin story: the infamous 2002 charity fashion show at the school, where Kate walked the runway in a sheer black mini dress.

But ahead of the episodes release on December 14, there is a more interesting discussion to be had in what parts of the story The Crown may choose not to tell.

Image: Netflix.

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In 2022, journalist and magazine editor Tina Brown (full name: Christina Hambley Brown, Lady Evans CBE, by the way) released a book called The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor—The Truth and the Turmoil, focusing on the period between the deaths of the Princess of Wales and Queen Elizabeth II.

The book contained an absolute wild amount of royal gossip, but let's focus on one story in particular: that Kate and Wills relationship was not organic as it seemed.

And in fact, was masterminded by Kate's mother, Carole Middleton.

According to Brown, Carole – an entrepreneur who became a millionaire by 30 – was a managerial mother whose ambition extended to the lives of her two daughters. As she writes it, "it is unlikely Kate would be where she is today without her mother's canny help in negotiating a royal romance."

Listen: The Kate And William Story The Crown Will Never Let You See. Post continues below audio.


Kate had planned to attend Edinburgh University, also in Scotland. Her best friends were also going, and the trio had found shared accommodation together. But she pulled out last minute and reapplied for St. Andrews, after the announcement that William would attend.

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This part of the story also appears in royal editor Katie Nicholl's book Kate: The Future Queen, confirmed by two of the Princess' former tutors, and the general theme – that Carole "made calculated moves to place her daughter at the centre of William's world" – is reiterated in new (and controversial) royal book Endgame, by royal author Omid Scobie.

At university, Kate and William were in the same dorm room and quickly became friends. In their second year, they moved into a shared flat and began dating soon after.

As we later learned, the couple briefly broke up in 2007, during which Brown claimed "Carole Middleton took charge" and instructed Kate on how to appear in public in a way that would keep William's interest.

They were back together two months later.

Of course, whether this is all true or not, you cannot create chemistry out of no where — so Kate and Wills naturally have the biggest hand in creating the royal romance we know today.

The Crown has always stated it is "inspired" by real events, but is a fictional dramatisation of them. It's a convenient line to explain away any discrepancies, and could also work to appease the royals if they included this part of the Kate and Wills mythos.

The palace has never confirmed or even entertained these theories — but it would make for entertainment TV, wouldn't it? We'll have to wait and see what version of events Netflix chooses when The Crown season six part two drops on December 14.

Featured Image: Netflix.

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