She may be the future Queen of England with one of the most famous fairy-tale love stories, but before Catherine, Princess of Wales (aka Kate Middleton) found her prince, she had to date around a little first.
Prior to meeting Prince William at St Andrews University in Scotland, and during their brief split back in 2007, the princess was linked to several members of British high society. And while she and William are now approaching a decade and a half of wedded bliss, a trip down memory lane can always be fun. So, scroll on to get acquainted with Kate’s exes, and discover what they’re up to now.
Harry Blakelock
According to several reports, Harry Blakelock was Kate’s first love. The pair reportedly met while attending the prestigious Marlborough College and Blakelock was a year older than her, but as a source told The Mirror, their relationship was “hot and cold.”
A a friend told The Mail on Sunday that when she arrived in Florence for a post=school holiday, Kate was “hung up” on Harry: “She spoke about him all the time and he seemed to have messed her around quite a bit. He seemed to have blown hot and cold with her when they were at school, and she was always talking about how she could get him back.”
Today, Blakelock is reportedly a partner at an insurance broker and actually ended up marrying one of Kate’s friends.
Willem Marx
Another romance from her school days, Kate reportedly met Willem Marx while attending the Wiltshire boarding school, too. Per Tatler, things never appeared to be that serious, and they seemingly remained on good terms because the pair were actually photographed leaving a nightclub together in 2007. Marx was also invited to Kate and William’s wedding four years later.
Marx has been working as a journalist for years now and married Italian television presenter, Johanna Botta around 2013.
Rupert Finch
Having reportedly met Kate at St Andrews in 2001, Tatler reports that Rupert Finch was considered “the ultimate catch” by her school friends. The pair are reported to have met in university halls and dated for nearly a year in 2001.
Finch got married two years after Kate, tying the knot with Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs in 2013. He clearly remained on talking terms with the royals because Finch was photographed attending the wedding of William’s cousin, Princess Eugenie in 2018. Beulah London, a fashion brand co-founded by Lady Natasha, is also a regular in Kate’s wardrobe rotation.
Henry Ropner
While there are limited photographs of him online, the final man to vie for Kate’s heart before she settled down was a shipping heir by the name of Henry Ropner. The duo linked up during Kate and William’s second break-up in 2007, and Ropner was reportedly an old schoolmate of the prince’s from his time at Eton. Their romance was short-lived and Kate and William were back together by June of that year.
Per The Mail Online, Ropner currently serves as the chairman of engineering company, and is married to Natasha Sinclair.
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