The Princess of Wales' transformation from college girl to princess and future queen has been highlighted in a new viral video, shared by fans to social media site TikTok.
Kate joined the royal family in 2011 through her marriage to Prince William, having not been born into royal or aristocratic circles herself.
Kate and William met in 2001 while they were studying at St Andrews University in Scotland, where both were enrolled in the art history program before William switched to geography.
The pair became friends before starting a romantic relationship which was later reported by the press in 2004, after photographs of the couple skiing together were acquired by the British tabloids.
Uploaded to TikTok by user katemiddleton.fp, footage of Kate attending her St Andrews graduation has been compared to footage of the royal at the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, set against music from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. The clips were taken 18 years apart, showing Kate as a 23-year-old student and a 41-year-old princess.
Captioned "The queen 👸🏻❤️🔥," the clip has been viewed over 100,000 times and received in excess of 11,000 likes.
Kate's graduation took place on the same day as Prince William's on June 23, 2005, in St Andrews and was attended by Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Charles and Camilla.
Though the queen was in attendance, the couple revealed in their 2010 engagement interview that she did not meet Kate until three years later, at the wedding of royal relations Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly.
"I first met her at Peter and Autumn's wedding and again it was amongst a lot of other guests and she was very friendly," Kate said, with William adding:
"She was very welcoming, she knew it was a big day and everything was going on with Peter and Autumn, she'd wanted to meet Kate for a while, so it was very nice for her to come over and say hello and have a little chat."
The royal engagement was announced in November 2010 and the wedding took place at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, whereupon Kate became Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge.
Over their marriage, William and Kate have had three children: Prince George (born in 2013); Princess Charlotte (2015); and Prince Louis (2018).
In 2022, the monarchy went through its biggest period of change since the 1950s, when Queen Elizabeth died on September 8, making her son, Charles, the new king, and William the first in line to the throne.
In one of his first acts as monarch, Charles gave William and Kate the new titles of prince and princess of Wales, announcing in a speech that: "With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the center ground where vital help can be given."
In their new capacities, William, Kate and their three children were present at the king's coronation on May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey.
For the historic ceremony, Kate wore a white gown designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen embroidered with the floral emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Over the gown, the princess wore the robes of the Royal Victorian Order, which she was invested with by Queen Elizabeth in 2019.
Though tiaras were not worn for the occasion, as had been done in the past, Kate wore a crystal embellished headdress of leaves designed by Jess Collett for Alexander McQueen.
The viral video showing Kate's regal transformation from college student to queen in waiting attending the coronation has received a number of comments, many of which praised the princess.
"Catherine the great ✨," wrote on TikTok user.
"She will be a sensational Queen," posted another, with a further comment reading: "She is regal👑."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
