Prince William Says This Gift 'Sealed the Deal' With Kate Middleton
It’s easy to imagine Prince William won over Kate Middleton with his charm and good looks. But if you ask him, one very specific gift in the couple’s dating history “sealed the deal.” Spoiler alert, though? While a sense of humor is clearly also one of William’s winning qualities, gift-giving is not.
This week, William appeared (virtually) on a special episode of former soccer player Peter Crouch’s podcast. During the nearly hour-long conversation, the subject of worst gifts came up. To listeners’ delight, the Duke of Cambridge gamely confessed that he may be the reticent winner when it comes to being the worst gift-giver. “I did get my wife a pair of binoculars once,” he said. “I wrapped them. They were really nice.” After a bit of valid razzing, William admitted he tried to hype the curious present at the time. He explained, “I even tried convincing myself by saying, ‘These are amazing! Look how far you can see!’ And she’s looking at me going, ‘But they’re binoculars. What’s going on?’”
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Crouch and his cohorts tried to make sense of the gift by giving it context. Was Kate an avid bird-watcher, perhaps? Nope! “Honestly, I have no idea why I bought her a pair of binoculars,” William said, laughing. “It didn’t go well.” But at least he can laugh about it now, joking, “That was early on in the courtship… I think that sealed the deal, really.”
A post shared by Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@kensingtonroyal) on Jul 28, 2020 at 11:53pm PDT
Of course, it probably wasn’t the binoculars that won Kate over. William did win her over, though, and they’re now living proof that even good couples aren’t immune to bad gifting. Not to mention, having a sense of humor about their shortcomings has proven particularly helpful in recent months.
On the subject of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, William said, “I found homeschooling pretty testing. I’m not going to lie, trying to keep the children engaged and interested in some sort of work. It’s been an interesting few months. [I’ve learned] my patience is a lot shorter than I thought it was! That’s probably been the biggest eye-opener for me, and my wife has super patience.”
But hey, he should have already known that about Kate, right? After all, she did see him through the binocular-gifting phase of their young love.
Before you go, click here to revisit some of William and Kate’s cutest couple moments.
Launch Gallery: All the Best Photos of the Royal Family From the Past 20 Years
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