ROYALLY LOVED UP!
Kate and Wills’ romantic tour
It’s the location that launched their love story. So, for Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, their recent visit to Scotland was more than a series of official engagements – it was a trip down memory lane and the chance to relive a key time in their lives.
The pair first crossed paths as students at St Andrews University 20 years ago and love blossomed while they were housemates. William mentioned how important the university town – which is also renowned as the home of golf – is to him in a speech at the beginning of the six-day visit to Scotland. “Needless to say, the town where you meet your future wife holds a very special place in your heart.”
The Cambridges, who have just celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary, were able to indulge in a spot of nostalgia when their busy schedule took them to St Andrews. They went back to their old stomping ground, spending time on campus meeting students involved in a project to help undergraduates cope with university life.
William, who studied geography, and Kate, whose degree was in art history, chatted with students doing the same courses.
St Andrews Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Sally Mapstone says the couple connected extremely well with students, not only because the place meant so much to them personally, but because they had great empathy for what young people had been through in the past year due to the pandemic. She added that it was instantly obvious that Kate, 39, and William, 38, have a “brilliant relationship”.
She enthused, “You feel you’re in the company of two people who are very happy with each other; know each other really well. That transfers over to how they interact with others.”
After their official duties were out of the way, the couple had the chance to relive their student days and remember the first flush of their romance when they travelled 15km down the Fife coast into the small fishing village of Anstruther. There, they joined the queue at a fish and chip shop they used to haunt years ago to buy deep-fried haddock and chips.
They tucked into the takeaways while sitting on a bench on a nearby pier, just as they did two decades ago.
That was then followed up by ice creams – a gluten-free cone with Scottish tablet (a kind of fudge) for Kate, and cookies and cream and mint chocolate chip in a tub for William.
“You could see they were thoroughly enjoying being back here,” says Alison Smith, who owns the Anstruther Fish Bar, where they bought their lunch. “They were strolling around the town like locals.”
She says it was an honour to serve them 20 years ago when they were students, and a delight to see them again. “It was a beautiful scene – we
THE FORMER UNI SWEETHEARTS LOOK MORE IN LOVE THAN EVER AS THEY REVISIT THEIR OLD HAUNTS
could see them out the window, the two of them on the pier enjoying fish and chips.”
Alison says Kate told her she was very happy to be back. “Kate said, ‘We’ve really enjoyed being here. It’s a real trip down memory lane for us today.’ I thought that was so sweet.”
There wasn’t much time to savour those carefree student days before they headed off to their next engagement in Pittenweem, another picturesque seaside village nearby. They met fishermen and their families to hear about the impact of the pandemic on the community.
The day ended back in Edinburgh, where they hosted a unique drive-in movie screening in the grounds of the Palace of Holyroodhouse for National Health Service staff. The Cambridges arrived in a 1966 Land Rover that had belonged to Prince Philip.
Kate – impeccably dressed in a striking tartan coat – gave a speech to the health workers, telling them, “To hear what you have been through is truly humbling,” before they watched the Disney film Cruella.
She added, “With an enormous thank you to the Queen for allowing us to host the first-ever drive-in film night here at Holyrood, William and I invite you to grab your popcorn, cuddle up under your blankets and be transported to 1970s Britain for an evening of much-deserved fun, drama, glamour and escapism.”
The competitive pair got to let their hair down with some fun activities on the visit, including trying land yachting in sail-powered sand buggies. At one stage, when William got bogged down in sand, Kate shouted, “Come on, Granddad!”
Many of their engagements involved children and young people, including playing tennis and hopscotch with primary school children, and getting down on their hands and knees to help preschoolers plant a butterfly-friendly garden.
Meanwhile, Kate made sure time was set aside to meet five-year-old Mila Sneddon, who appears in a photo in Kate’s Hold Still photographic exhibition and book, which highlights how people coped during Covid lockdown.
Mila, who has leukaemia, had previously spoken to Kate on the phone and when the duchess promised they would meet one day, Mila asked if she’d wear a pink dress. Kate invited Mila and her family to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and honoured her word, turning up in a stylish pink shirtwaister dress. She told Mila she wished she could give her a “big squeezy cuddle”.
Royal correspondent Emily Nash says Kate and William really connected with people from all walks of life during the Scottish tour, but the highlight was the touching insights they gave into their romance.
“The image of them enjoying fish and chips on a rainy pier was a reminder of how their love story began in simpler surroundings, and has weathered the highs and lows of life in the spotlight.” #
‘The town where you meet your future wife holds a very special place in your heart’