The love story between Prince William and Kate Middleton, which started in St Andrews University, is truly celebrated. Interestingly, they almost met before their university days during their gap years. Participating in the Raleigh International Challenge in Southern Chile, their adventures took place just weeks apart.
Over the course of ten weeks, Prince William and Kate Middleton engaged in a variety of activities such as trekking, assisting local communities, and doing construction work. Their expedition leader, Malcolm Sutherland, described this almost meeting of paths as “absolutely crazy”.
“It seemed normal to me to assume that everyone else would have understood what this connection meant. I think many people are unaware of this common link in their pasts,” reports OK!
The biography of the Duchess of Cambridge, titled ‘Kate: The Future Queen’ by Katie Nicholl, brings to light how well Prince William coped with the adventure. As reported in the book, Sutherland recalls, “William adapted extremely well, and what struck me was how ordinary he was. He insisted on being treated like everyone else, and that’s precisely what happened.”
Prince William contributed to construction and decorating of residencies and playgrounds while on his expedition. He got practical experience in woodworking, painting, and even worked on a dairy farm, according to The Mirror.
Interestingly, Prince William’s mother, Princess Diana, too embarked on a similar gap year program. She spent the latter part studying at the British Institute in Florence and crewing Round the World Challenge boats in the Solent.
Unlike the elegant activities his future wife was involved in, Prince William’s gap year was quite different. He spent time in the jungles of Belize with the Welsh Guards. Author Katie Nicholl in her book ‘William and Harry’ vividly describes the challenging conditions that Prince William had to face. “He had to learn to kill and prepare his own food, he had to skin and de-feather a chicken before cooking it, just as he might have to if he were to live off the land in a jungle war,” Nicholl writes.
In addition to Belize and Chile, William is also known to have spent time in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, and the Indian Ocean’s Rodrigues Island during his gap year.
The royal family’s connections with places around the globe not just limited to these countries, but also extend to cities such as Glasgow in the UK, and many other destinations that are rich in history and culture.
