Queen Elizabeth ‘overstayed’ her time at Prince William’s graduation party to speak to other families, former Vice Chancellor of St Andrew’s reveals
- The Queen beamed with pride as the heir to the throne collected his degree
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The former Principal and Vice Chancellor of St Andrew’s University has revealed the late Queen Elizabeth II stayed longer than anticipated at Prince William’s university graduation.
Dr Brian Lang, Principal of the Scottish university during the Prince of Wales’, 41, student days, has opened up about the royal family’s visit to the campus to mark her grandson’s special day.
In conversation with HELLO! the social anthropologist revealed that the late Queen stayed longer than first expected so she could chat to other families whose relatives were getting their degrees.
The ‘very, very happy day’ saw Her late Majesty travel to the Kingdom of Fife along with the late Prince Phillip, King Charles III and Queen Camilla back in 2005.
The Windsors attended a celebratory garden party after the ceremony where they mingled with other graduated and their families. But despite the party being full of young graduates, it was the Queen who ‘way overstayed’ her time at St Andrew’s.
Dr Brian Lang, Principal of the Scottish university during the Prince of Wales’, 41, student days revealed the Queen who ‘way overstayed’ her time at St Andrew’s
Dr Brian Lang said: ‘We had a very, very happy day. The sun shone. There was a little garden party.
‘The late Queen way overstayed the time she was supposed to be in St Andrews.’
He went on to explain that Prince William’s grandmother was very happy to mingle with others at the party and made it clear to staff that she wasn’t going to leave until she was ready.
Days later, Brian bumped into the former British monarch again at the opening of a new building in Edinburgh.
During the event, the Queen remembered him and reiterated what a ‘wonderful’ time she had celebrating William’s achievement.
A touching video from the Prince and Princess of Wales’s graduation day illustrated how much the Queen enjoyed the ceremony, which showed both Prince William and Kate Middleton at the age of 23 collecting their degrees.
Watching the couple with pride is William’s family including Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince Philip, and the Queen herself who was every bit the proud grandmother.
The footage was shared in 2018 by royal fan account Teatime with the Cambridges.
The late Queen had a ‘wonderful’ day as she celebrated the heir to the throne’s Geography degree
Captioning the clip they wrote: ‘Just thought I would share this sweet video from William and Kate’s graduation on June 23rd, 2005!
‘My favorite thing about this video is Prince Charles’ huge grin when the name of his future ‘darling’ daughter-in-law was called! Even The Queen looked over at Charles!’
The video has since amassed over 100,000 views on social media as fans gushed over the rare footage, with many claiming that it showcased the royal family’s fondness of Kate.
The Duke of Cambridge was yet to be given that title and so collected his 2:1 degree in geography under the name of William Wales.
Meanwhile his then girlfriend collected her 2:1 degree in art history under her Christian name, Catherine Middleton.
The late Queen and Prince Philip looked every bit the proud grandparents as William collected his degree
Prince Charles and Camilla, whom he would marry the following month, couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces as they watched the ceremony
William had previously studied the same subject before later switching to geography.
He receives his honours to rapturous applause as does Kate who makes a minor blunder when she almost forgets to bow to the chancellor.
Both can be seen being tapped on the head with a piece of cloth believed to have come from John Knox’s breeches, a tradition at St Andrews and Edinburgh university.
Watching over were of course members of the royal family including Charles and Camilla who would be married the very next month.
But while the Queen witnessed Kate’s graduation the pair did not meet for another three years when they were first introduced at Peter Philips’ wedding to Autumn Philips in 2008 as Kate revealed during their engagement interview in 2011.
William and Kate met as teenagers when they lived doors apart in digs at St Salvator’s House in 2001.
The couple started out as friends and knew each other for over a year before they became an item in 2003.
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