In 2005, William attended the four day Regular Commissions Board in Wiltshire , where he was judged as suitable to become an army officer. This enabled him to apply to Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst, where he would take his first steps in his army career.
The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst
Image courtesy of Antony McCallum
Sadly, during 2005, the British paparazzi began to live up to their reputation. Tabloids published a picture of Kate just going about her daily life (in fact, she was just riding a London bus!), and Kate complained to the newspapers and magazine editors asking them to respect her privacy. Her lawyers claimed she had been followed ‘day and night’ by photographers. Once again, the press agreed to ‘take things easy’, and assured Kate – and the royal family – that they would respect privacy.
On the 15th December 2006, Prince William graduated from Sandhurst. Many members of the royal family attended his ‘passing out parade’, including The Queen and Prince Charles. Kate was also present, and received a huge amount of press coverage as papers speculated as to how serious their relationship was. This parade was the first time that Kate had attended a high-profile public event as William’s guest – and the rumour machine went into overdrive.
At midnight, William received his army commission, officially being confirmed as a lieutenant. He joined the Blues and Royals as a troop commander, in a specialist armed reconnaissance unit.
To prepare him for the role (William was keen to get on the front line – no special treatment for him!), he spent four months training at the army’s Bovingdon Camp in Dorset.
Around the same time, Kate – always interested in fashion – had accepted a position as an accessory buyer with retailer Jigsaw. Having been previously shown herself to be a bright, talented woman, Kate focused her efforts on beginning what she hoped to be a prospective career.
One must commend Kate for her ability to have some balance in her life at the time – being the girlfriend of a future king cannot be easy, and starting work in a ‘normal’ career must have been hard whilst press continued speculation about the depth of her royal relationship. However, she followed in tradition from Princess Diana, who – in her early years of adulthood – worked as a playgroup teaching assistant, hostess and nanny.
Again, the British paparazzi came into view, when much media attention focused on Miss Middleton around the time of her 25th birthday (in January 2007), which was greeted very badly by both Princes Charles and William. Not only were the royals upset, but also Kate’s lawyers threatened legal action against the press. Once again, two newspaper groups – News International (who publish The Times and The Sun) and Guardian Media Group (The Guardian) agreed not to publish paparazzi pictures of Kate.