Prince William has revealed the strange gift which he joked “sealed the deal” with his future wife, Kate Middleton, as they enjoyed a whirlwind romance. The Prince of Wales is usually tight-lipped about his personal life which suffered a double blow this year with cancer diagnoses for both his wife and his dad King Charles.
But he laid bare a cute secret about one of his early presents to Kate which she has never “let him forget.” He told BBC Radio Five Live: “I did get my wife a pair of binoculars once. She’s never let me forget that. That was early on in the courtship that was — I think that sealed the deal.
He joked: “It didn’t go well. Honestly, I have no idea why I bought her a pair of binoculars, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” He didn’t say when he gifted the equipment to Kate, but it must have been in the early 2000s when the pair enjoyed a budding relationship.
The couple met in 2001 and fell in love when they were students at St Andrews University where they became two of the most famous graduates there. According to legend, Kate caught William’s eye when she took part in a fashion show, with the future King then asking her out.
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They got married in April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, but Scotland can lay claim to fame as the place where the future King and Queen first met. The pair now have three children in Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The Royal Family have a strange tradition where they routinely exchange gag gifts on Christmas Eve, fuelling the rumour that its impossible to buy presents for people who already have everything. Prince Harry spilled the beans about this in his controversial 2023 memoir Spare, revealing he once received a fish ballpoint pen from Princess Margaret.
Spare broke records when it was first released in January 2023
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
He also took part in this tradition, handing his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth a shower cap with the cheeky slogan “Ain’t life a b—h,” one year. Kate also apparently gifted Harry a grow-your-own girlfriend kit.
Last year’s Royal festivities were more solemn than usual after a difficult year for the Princess of Wales and King Charles after both underwent cancer treatment in 2024. They spent Christmas at their countryside Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England, as per tradition.
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William revealed beforehand that he would be welcoming 45 guests to the estate and expected the gathering to be “noisy.” Among those invited included his children, as well as his uncle Prince Edward and his family. However, Prince Harry, Meghan and their two kids did not score an invite.
Princess Kate delighted Royal fans gathering outside Sandringham on Christmas Day as she spoke to some of the crowd and paid tribute to them for their support. According to the Daily Mail she said: ““The amount of people who have written this year is extraordinary and I think cancer just really does resonate with so many families. People like you are doing all the hard work out there. I’m hugely grateful.”
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