Princess Catherine had a surprise encounter at Peter Phillips’ wedding to NHS nurse Harriet Sperling, coming face-to-face with her former flame Rupert Finch.
Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest grandson, Peter Phillips, married the healthcare worker in the Cotswolds over the weekend, surrounded by 150 of their closest friends and family.
Among the royal attendees were Prince William and his wife, Catherine, the Duchess of Wales, who donned a beige bouclé-knit Roland Mouret dress paired with a matching hat and heels.
Also among the guests – one of the 150 who made the list ahead of Prince Harry – was Princess Catherine’s former boyfriend Rupert Finch, who briefly dated the future Queen of England during their university days.
Phillips and Finch have run in the same aristocratic circles throughout the years and have been brought together through social acquaintances and royal family connections, securing Finch an invite to the lavish affair.
Finch met Kate while she was a first-year student at St. Andrews, where she studied History of Art, and the pair reportedly dated casually for close to a year in 2001.
Tatler suggests that Finch, then an aspiring lawyer in his fourth year at St Andrews, was considered to be quite a catch among a younger Kate’s friends.
“Finch was considered the ultimate catch by Kate’s friends,” reported Tatler.
It has also been suggested the pair were involved around the time of Kate’s now-infamous charity fashion show appearance, which has been widely reported to be the moment that caught Prince William’s eye.
“At the time of the fashion show, he was reportedly her casual boyfriend and a tall, dark and handsome aspiring lawyer in his fourth year at St Andrews.”
While Kate walked the runway in a sheer lace dress at the 2002 event, a young Prince William reportedly whispered to his friend, “Wow, Fergus, Kate’s hot!”, sparking their shift from friends into a romantic couple.
While a run-in with an ex-boyfriend may be an awkward moment for most, the casual encounter between the former flames went by without a hitch.
Finch and Catherine are believed to have remained on good terms since their brief relationship, even attending each other’s weddings years later.
Princess Catherine married Prince William in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey in 2011, with a friendly Finch among the guests in attendance.
Two years later, Catherine reciprocated the same act of friendship when Finch married English aristocrat Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs in 2013.
Lady Natasha is the co-founder of Beulah London, a luxury womenswear label frequently worn by the Princess of Wales.
The couple have since welcomed three children together and resides in their West London family home.
Other notable attendees at Peter Phillips’ nuptials included King Charles, Queen Camilla and the York sisters, who had previously been rumoured as possible no-shows.
However, the most notable royal absence was an estranged Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, who missed out on an official invite to his first cousin’s festivities.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.skynews.com.au ’
