When it comes to Prince William and Kate Middleton, their love story is pretty much a classic fairy tale: They met in school, she walked a fashion runway in a sheer knit dress, he was horny, and the rest is royal history. I mean, they’re going on 12 years of ~royal~ marriage—but their relationship wasn’t completely smooth sailing. ICYMI, they had a very dramatic breakup during which Kate fully dated one of William’s friends. It’s called revenge, look! it! up!

Kate dated a few people before settling down with William and becoming a casual future queen, and the time has come to meet them all. But before we get into it, please be advised that Prince William was pretty much the University of St Andrews’s most eligible bachelor and has a miles-long dating history of his own.

Harry Blakelock

Patrick McMullan//Getty Images

According to multiple reports, Harry was Kate’s “first love, who was all she ever talked about.” Kate dated Harry before she went to the University of St Andrews and while she was still in high school at Marlborough College. Apparently, he broke her heart to the point where she was still hung up on him during a three-month pre-college trip to Florence with friends in 2001.

“When Kate arrived in Florence, she was really hung up about Harry,” a source told the Daily Mail back in 2020. “She spoke about him all the time and he seemed to have messed her around quite a bit. He seemed to have blown hot and cold with her when they were at school, and she was always talking about how she could get him back. He was also in Florence at the same time, but from what I can remember, nothing happened.”

According to The Mirror, Harry ended up marrying a friend of Kate’s, and he’s now a partner at the world’s largest independent insurance broker.

Willem Marx

This content is imported from instagram. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Kate and Willem also dated when they were students at Marlborough College. While not much is known about their relationship, apparently it ended on good terms since he was at her wedding in 2011.

Nowadays, Willem is a reporter for CNBC, and Honey9 reports he’s married to TV presenter Johanna Botta (that Insta above is a pretty cute look at their relationship).

Rupert Finch

Kate briefly dated Rupert in school, and while their relationship didn’t work out, they definitely remained friends. Actually, he and his wife Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs are close with a buncha the royal family—and that photo up 👆 there 👆 is them attending Princess Eugenie’s wedding.

Henry Ropner

Kate’s final boyfriend before settling down? Henry Ropner (no pics, sorry), who she dated during a brief breakup with Prince William—an iconic move considering Wills and Henry were friends. 👀 As a source told The Sun (via the Daily Mail) at the time, “Henry is delighted to be there for Kate now that she’s split from William. They’ve been meeting up and enjoying themselves. There’s been a lot of flirting. Now she’s single, Kate is enjoying Henry’s company regularly. Henry is very wealthy. He has moved in William’s circle for years.” Kate is truly a legend for this.

Anyway, Kate and William obviously got back together (more on that here), and shortly after, the following things happened:

William proposed with Princess Diana’s iconic sapphire and diamond ring.

They had a blow-out royal wedding.

They had a buncha royal heirs to keep the line going.

They had to deal with some affair rumors.

They became Prince and Princess of Wales!

The end!