The Princess of Wales was rumoured to date Rupert Finch back in 2001

The Princess of Wales awkwardly reunited with an ex-boyfriend at Peter Phillips’s wedding to Harriet Sperling in the Cotswolds yesterday.

Rupert Finch, who once dated the Princess of Wales during their university days, was spotted among the distinguished guests at All Saints Church on Saturday.

 

The 47-year-old was one of the first guests to arrive, accompanied by his wife, Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs.

The Prince and Princess of Wales attended the ceremony to support William’s cousin, with Catherine, 44, wearing a beige boucle-knit £750 Roland Mouret dress paired with a matching hat.

King Charles and Queen Camilla were also present, alongside Princess Anne, Zara Tindall and her husband Mike.

The wedding marked Peter’s second marriage following his divorce from Autumn Kelly in 2021.

Mr Finch and the future Princess of Wales were romantically involved for nearly a year in 2001 while both studying at the University of St Andrews.

At the time of their romance, Mr Finch was a fourth-year student and aspiring lawyer, later completing his legal training at the College of Law in Guildford.

\u200bLady Natasha Rufus Isaacs and her husband Rupert Finch

Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs and her husband Rupert Finch, Catherine’s former boyfriend, were among the first to arrive at Peter Phillips’ wedding yesterday

 | GETTY

Their relationship coincided with Kate’s now-famous 2002 charity fashion show appearance, where she reportedly caught Prince William’s attention wearing a sheer dress.

The brief romance was dramatised in the sixth series of Netflix’s The Crown, with actor Oli Green portraying Mr Finch opposite Meg Bellamy as the young Catherine.

Despite the passage of time, the former couple appear to have maintained an amicable relationship.

Catherine
The Princess of Wales stunned in a £750 Roland Mouret cream maxi dress, coupled with a matching wide-brimmed hat, clutch and drop earrings | GETTY

Mr Finch was among the guests invited to William and Catherine’s lavish Westminster Abbey wedding on April 29, 2011, suggesting no lingering awkwardness between them.

The lawyer has consistently declined to discuss his past romance with the future Queen Consort.

“It’s not something I’ll ever talk about. It’s between Catherine and me and was a long time ago,” he previously stated.

William and Catherine went on to date for nearly a decade before their engagement in October 2010, eventually celebrating 15 years of marriage this April.

Mr Finch meanwhile wed Lady Natasha, daughter of the 4th Marquess of Reading, in Cirencester in June 2013, with Princess Eugenie and Cressida Bonas among their guests.

Lady Natasha co-founded ethical fashion label Beulah London alongside Lavinia Brennan, whose designs have been worn by Catherine, the Duchess of Edinburgh and Princess Beatrice.

For Saturday’s nuptials, Lady Natasha chose one of her own creations—a cornflower blue patterned maxi dress that the Princess of Wales herself wore to a polo match in 2023.

Both couples now share three children each, with Rupert and Natasha welcoming daughters Georgia, Cienna and India Grace Albertine between 2015 and 2020.

CRE: https://www.gbnews.com/royal/peter-phillips-wedding-catherine-reunites-ex-boyfriend-awkward-moment-rupert-finch