The rest is history…

Kate Middleton famously strutted her stuff on a fashion catwalk while at university, catching the attention of Prince William.

Here’s how Kate’s catwalk appearance went down in history…
Kate’s famous catwalk appearance (Credit: Malcolm Clarke / Daily Mail / Shutterstock)

Kate Middleton’s fashion catwalk appearance at university

William and Kate had got to know each other during their time at St Andrew’s University in Scotland. However, they were reportedly just friends at first.

Until the night of Kate’s catwalk appearance, that is, when everything seemed to change for the future royal couple.

The night in question was in March 2002 and the event was a charity fashion show.

The night of the catwalk, Kate, then 20, wowed the audience by rocking a sheer black lace shift knee-length dress, which featured a contrasting turquoise panel across the bust. It also featured a blue ribbon trim to the hem. She wore a black bandeau and matching pants underneath.

The outfit cost its designer, fellow university student Charlotte Todd, just £30 to make. For years after the event, it languished in the back of Charlotte’s mother’s wardrobe. However, when William and Kate announced their engagement in 2010, Charlotte realised the dress could go down as part of fashion history.

It later fetched £78,000 at an auction.
Prince William attended the fashion show (Credit: SplashNews.com)

How Kate caught William’s eye

Speaking to People in 2020, Charlotte admitted she hadn’t made the outfit for Kate.

“I didn’t know who Kate Middleton was and I didn’t put her in it,” she said. “It was just pure chance. I made it as a skirt, but others pulled it up on Kate and she wore it as a dress.

“Everyone says that the fashion show was when the romance started, so a small part of me will always be part of royal history. It’s madness!”

He was sitting front row and his eyes were like stalks.

Regardless of how she wore the dress, William was reportedly blown away. He had apparently paid £200 to be in the front row, and certainly got his money’s worth!

His friends at the time recalled how the future king began to look at Kate in a different light, reportedly turning to them and remarking: “Wow, Kate’s hot.”

Meanwhile, another student, Ben Duncan, told E! News in 2011: “It was the end of their first year. I was there, and in person there were a lot of attractive girls. She was in a very daring dress, in a sheer stocking-like dress. [William] was sitting front row and his eyes were like stalks.”

Despite William and Kate apparently not dating at this point, love always finds a way.

They reportedly began their romance a few months later. The rest, they say, is history.
Kate has apparently joked about her catwalk appearance in the past (Credit: CoverImages.com)

Kate addresses her runway appearance

Kate hasn’t really spoken about her runway appearance since it happened. However, she did seemingly make a cheeky reference to it back in 2012.

Speaking to an undergraduate student during a charity appeal dinner for her alma mater in London, Kate said: “I hope you weren’t involved in the fashion show. You never know what you are going to be asked to wear!”

In 2023, the iconic moment was depicted in the Netflix show, The Crown. Meg Bellamy, who played the uni-version of Kate, described the experience as “liberating”.

“I think at first I was a bit apprehensive, purely because it was the first time I had really felt like I was reliving a key event that I remembered seeing in the news,” she said. “But on the day itself, it was completely different; it was amazing.”