Prince William was ‘put through his paces’ by Kate Middleton’s brother – but he had a secret weapon
Kate, the Princess of Wales's brother, James, put Prince William 'through his paces' in a series of meeting which tried to get to the heart of why the Prince was so interested in Kate
Prince William was “put through his paces” during the first meetings with Kate, the Princess of Wales’s brother – but had a secret weapon.
James Middleton, 37, says although he knew the Prince of Wales well, a few sit-down meetings were arranged for Princess Kate’s brother to put her partner to the test. After six years of the two dating, James says he put his soon-to-be brother-in-law to the test with the Prince “pining” in their meetings, but not for Princess Kate.
Revealing the sit-downs with the Prince of Wales, James, writing in his autobiography “Meet Ella”, releasing September 26, says Prince William had to “earn my trust.”
He wrote, serialised by the Mail: “By now, William has been dating Catherine for six years, so I know him well. But I remember putting him through his paces when we first met. Did he deserve my sister? He had to earn my trust.
“It helped of course that William was so genuinely fond of Ella. When he first encountered her as a tiny puppy at Bucklebury, he was smitten. He’d had a black Labrador, Widgeon, as a boy, and when Widgeon died, he left an empty space. I felt William was pining for a dog when Ella was around.”
Their fairytale romance did not begin immediately, with the pair initially friends after meeting at St Andrews university, The Mirror previously reported. But it was at a catwalk show for charity that the Prince found himself head over heels for Kate. Ingrid Seward of Majesty magazine revealed: “Kate and William’s relationship began as a friendship, but when Kate did that catwalk show, that was the first time he really looked at her as more than a lovely friend. Early dates were very simple.
“They used to go to a place called Ma Bells and they would be very discreet. Often William would turn up and Kate would appear later but they wouldn’t be together. William wanted to keep it under wraps as long as he could. They shared an apartment together in their second year and that’s where their relationship moved up a pace.”
