Prince William’s undercover university ‘disguise’ revealed
Prince William knows a thing or two about life in the public eye, with most of his major life moments playing out for the entire world to see.
But that hasn’t always been the case, with the prince taking matters into his own hands when it came to his education, and opting to fly under the radar during his time at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
And luckily for William, the media agreed, allowing him to conduct his studies with their constant - and prying - eyes on him.
But he still had to take a few extra measures to blend in with the rest of the prestigious student body, with one move rising above all of the others: Prince William decided to go by ‘Steve’.
According to The Mirror, the prince did still officially enrol under the name William Wales, but when it came to his friends and fellow students, ‘Steve’ was the perfect solution for avoiding any undesired attention.
And, as some have pointed out, it’s likely his now-wife Kate used the nickname, too, as “they were close friends at university and lived in the same student accommodation.”
However, it had been previously reported by the same publication that Kate had an entirely different pet name for the royal, in which they claimed she used the name ‘Big Willy’ instead. They also noted that the Princess of Wales had occasionally called him ‘Baldy’, too.
As a source explained to The Mirror at the time, “the royals are not very good at communicating with one another so this is one way around it. Nicknames are a way of taking the family tension out of things.”
William’s university stint wasn’t the first time he had gone by a different name, either, with the prince admitting in a 2007 interview with NBC that he had actually gone by ‘Wombat’ when he was younger - a nickname bestowed upon him by his mother, Princess Diana.
“I can’t get rid of it now,” he said. “It began when I was two. I’ve been rightfully told because I can’t remember back that far. But when we went to Australia with our parents, and the wombat, you know, that’s the local animal. So I just basically got called that. Not because I look like a wombat. Or maybe I do.”
And the unintended family tradition seems to have carried on through to William’s own children, with Charlotte having two nicknames of her own that have come to light.
At the Chelsea Flower Show in 2019, the royals were with their children in Kate’s ‘Back to Nature’ garden when William called out to Charlotte. Although rather than using her real name, he called out for ‘Mignonette’ - a French word meaning “small, sweet, and delicate” or even “cute”.
As for Kate, she revealed her nickname for Charlotte - ‘Lottie’ - during a visit to Northern Ireland in 2019, while she was chatting to another proud mother.
Images: Getty