While a student studying at St Andrews University in Edinburgh, Prince William tried to hide his identity in a “rather pathetic” way, according to a royal biographer

Although he’s one of the most famous people in the world and instantly recognisable to many, Prince William reportedly attempted to go incognito during one phase of his life.

There aren’t many people who wouldn’t know who Prince William was if they were to come face to face with him. His image has been on the covers of newspapers and magazines and on TV reports since the day he was born. Despite this, the young royal once attempted to go unnoticed for a period when he was studying. It was during his time at St Andrews University in Edinburgh when William reportedly just wanted to be ‘normal’ that he adopted a rather amusing way of trying to hide his true identity.

It had been thought and expected that Wills would follow in his father’s, the now King Charles’, footsteps and attend Trinity College in Cambridge when he entered further education. However, the young student broke with royal tradition and opted to base himself further afield.

He explained why at the time: “The reason I didn’t want to go to an English university is because I have lived there and wanted to get away and try somewhere else,” he said. “I also knew I would be seeing a lot of Wales in the future and I do love Scotland. There is plenty of space, I love the hills and mountains and I thought St Andrews had a real community feel to it.” When he embarked on student life, royal biographer Robert Jobson claims he decided he didn’t want to be recognised as a future heir and just wanted to blend in. So he decided to call himself something else.

According to the Daily Mail, in his new book, Catherine, the Princess of Wales: The Biography, Robert Jobson writes: “In 2001, William quietly slipped into undergraduate life at St Andrews, where he used the pseudonym ‘Steve’ in a rather pathetic attempt to stay under the radar.” It’s even thought his future wife Kate Middleton, who he began dating at university, may have used the false moniker. The Scottish Sun reported that opting for the alias was his way of having “a relatively normal experience” as a student and that he hoped by using it, “he wouldn’t draw attention to himself.”

His unease at his using his real title also made him wary of striking up friendships. Jobson says: “At St Andrews, he was cautious about whom he’d admit into his friendship group. ‘People who try to take advantage of me and get a piece of me, I spot it quickly and soon go off them. I’m not stupid,’ he said.” This isn’t the only time that William has been alleged to have gone by an alias in an attempt to avoid attention. Royal author Andrew Morton claimed in his book William and Catherine that in a rocky period of their long relationship, during which they had briefly split up, Kate and William had used fake names whilst on a romantic getaway to Seychelles – using “the assumed names of Martin and Rose Middleton”.

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