Kate Middleton Had This Rude Nickname Before Prince William's Wedding Proposal

Since Meghan Markle married into the royal family, she has had her own fair share of the press’ ire. Although it may seem like Kate Middleton is everyone’s favorite today, there was a time when she had to deal with bad press, too.

Kate’s relationship with Prince William started almost two decades ago — while they were still both studying at St. Andrews University. After their graduation in 2004, the press expected that Prince William would finally propose to his then girlfriend of three years. Unfortunately, the proposal did not happen.

Riddled with ups and downs, Kate and Prince William’s relationship often made headlines, with the press particularly targeting Kate. The press, seeing Kate as a lady-in-waiting for Prince William’s proposal, gave her the nickname “Waity Katie.”

Kate and Prince William had gone through a rough patch before they tied the knot. After calling things off in 2003, the couple got back together. However, their biggest blow-up happened in 2007, when Kate decided to end things between them. Their breakup at the time was so bad that everybody thought they would never get back together again.

As expected, the press took advantage of the breakup, making fun of Kate and giving her a demeaning nickname. Luckily, after a few months of being away from each other, Prince William saw that he was the one in the wrong and immediately reached out to Kate. After acknowledging his mistake, he tried to win Kate back and he succeeded.

Three years after Kate gave him a second chance, Prince William proposed to Kate, giving the press — who once called his wife “Waity Katie” — a slap on the face. The proposal also delighted Kate’s mom, Carole, who admitted around 2009 that she was getting quite concerned about Kate’s future with Prince William. She was particularly concerned by the fact that Kate was already approaching 30 at that time, yet there was still no ring on her finger.

Now Kate’s old nickname is nothing but a thing of the past. Although it took Prince William a long time to decide to propose to Kate, he was ultimately able to prove that he was serious about Kate and that he really wanted her to be his wife.