The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge may be one of the most popular Royal couples around, with millions of people around the world tuning in for their wedding back in 2011, which took place at Westminster Abbey. But around the time they met, the Prince had his eyes set on someone else.
Kate and William met back in the early noughties whilst studying at the University of St Andrews. Kate was studing History of Art, whilst William earnt a Geography degree.
Over the course of the 2000s, the couple's romance blossomed. But, before Kate wowed William in his front row seat at a charity fashion show in March 2002, he had been talking to pop royalty.
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Before William and Kate became the apple of the tabloids' eye, the young Prince allegedly had a soft spot for pop icon Britney Spears. The claim comes from Christopher Andersen, who said that the American singer and the Prince spoke online in his book 'Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan'.
Speaking to US Weekly, Andersen said: "[William and Britney] tried to get together back when they were young, and he also had a kind of similar cyber relationship with Lauren Bush, the model and the niece of President George W. Bush."
Although William and Britney were in contact, their relationship never escalated, according to Andersen. He said: "There may have been phone conversations, but I don’t recall that they ever actually managed to get together during that period." In a 2002 interview on ITV1's Frank Skinner Show, the 'Toxic' singer confessed that she and William had "exchanged emails for a little bit, and he was supposed to come and see [her] somewhere but it didn't work out."
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Before he was talking to Britney, William had his sights set on another celebrity. Andersen said: "William had a huge crush on Cindy Crawford. "I think it's very cute. So, Diana, being the kind of person she [was], she arranged for a meeting with him when he was like, 14."
Although William might not have ended up with pop sensation Britney, Andersen thinks his marriage to Kate makes perfect sense. He said: "He pretty much had his pick as he grew up of women to date … and there was always hope that he’d link up with somebody from another foreign noble family or something,
“I think it’s very telling that both William and Harry married commoners. I mean, Kate, her mom was a flight attendant who grew up in public housing. Meghan obviously has working class roots, and she’s American and divorced and biracial — all those things that you would never expect in a million years. But I think that those are things that Diana would have loved — the fact that they stepped outside of everybody’s comfort zone.”
As for Britney, she shared a fleeting marriage with Jason Alexander in 2004, before marrying Kevin Federline that same year. The pair split in 2007, but had two sons together, Preston and Jayden.
In September 2021, the 'Circus' songstress confirmed that she was engaged to personal trainer Sam Asghari, after five years together. The marriage will be Britney's third and Sam's first.
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