Princess Kate and Prince William's romance first started while they were both studying at St Andrews in Scotland. Their relationship was far from a secret, though the young couple apparently enjoyed some discreet weekend getaways. However, as a royal, it's unlikely Prince William went unrecognized during these trips. Still, the prince apparently used some unexpected monikers in an attempt to fly under the radar.
In his new book, Catherine, the Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen, royal expert Robert Jobson writes (via the Daily Mail), "For weekends and holidays, he'd often whisk Catherine off to Highgrove or Sandringham or to a cottage on the Balmoral estate." However, the young couple would also stay in hotels, but they'd attempt to disguise their identities when doing so. "Occasionally they checked into hotels using the names Mr and Mrs Smith—which doubtless fooled no one," Jobson wrote.
As well as using pseudonyms for romantic hotel stays, Prince William apparently tried out other names during his college life. "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," Jobson explained. Of course, it's more than likely most of his fellow students recognized the prince immediately. Still, it seems that Prince William is a fan of having secret identities.
Jobson isn't the first royal expert to discuss Prince William's love of fake names. In his book William and Catherine, royal biographer Andrew Morton revealed (via the Mirror) that Kate and William visited the Seychelles together in 2007. "Kate and William, under the assumed names of Martin and Rose Middleton, bid farewell to the paradise island of Desroches in the Outer Seychelles where they had spent a sublime week renewing their love affair," Morton wrote. Clearly, the Prince and Princess of Wales enjoy their privacy, and they aren't afraid to use fake names from time to time.
