It is a fairy tale romance that went on to shape the monarchy.

But before Princess Catherine was walking down the aisle at Westminster Abbey to marry the man of her dreams, William was merely a student at St Andrews University desperately vying for her attention.

As the besotted prince fell deeper in love with Kate, against the picturesque backdrop of the Scottish seaside town, he increasingly pulled out the stops to impress his future princess.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, MailOnline looks back at the most romantic ways William tried to gain Kate’s affections – from a £200 bid to go on a date with her to landing a RAF helicopter in the garden of her family home.

‘William didn’t have a romantic bone in his body before he met Kate,’ Prince Harry remarked at the couple’s lavish wedding reception in April 2011, according to royal correspondent Katie Nicholl.

And this certainly seemed to be the case as William’s first attempt to woo his future wife came in the form of a £200 bid – months before the well-documented St Andrews University fashion show in March 2002, when the prince saw Kate modelling a see-through slip and described her as ‘hot.

‘We went to a party at a castle,’ a former roommate of the Prince and Princess of Wales recently revealed to the Scottish Daily Mail. 

‘It was a Harry Potter theme and they did an auction for charity where people were bidding to win a date. ‘Will bid £200 to win a date with Kate’. Ah – the epitome of romance!

Prince William (pictured) made several attempts to woo Kate Middleton during their time as students at the University of St Andrews

In season six of The Crown, Ed McVey is a young Prince William desperately vying for the attention of Kate Middleton, played by Meg Bellamy

The well-documented St Andrews University fashion show in March 2002, when William saw Kate (pictured) modelling a see-through slip and described her as ‘hot

But this tongue-in-cheek move did not seem to deter Kate as the pair moved into a two-storey, top-floor apartment in the centre of St Andrews for £100 per week in 2003.

Despite the bomb-proof doors and bulletproof windows, love certainly struck at 13a Hope Street as William showed off his cooking skills.

Reminiscing on her university days with Mary Berry for the BBC’s A Berry Royal Christmas special in 2019, Kate said: ‘He used to cook all sorts of meals. I think that’s when he was trying to impress me, Mary!

‘Things like Bolognese sauce, and things like that.’

Asked if he still cooks for her, Kate told the baking legend: ‘He sometimes does actually – he’s very good at breakfast.’

William also attempted to turn Kate’s head with his sporting prowess.

As well as joining the rugby, water polo and surfing teams at St Andrews, William would swim with Kate most mornings at the Old Course Hotel.

Returning to their stomping grounds in 2021, Kate and William went head-to-head once again in a land yacht race on West Sands Beach – the site of many of their romantic walks.

William (centre) joined the surfing team while at the University of St Andrews

The prince (pictured in 2004) joined the water-polo team and would swim with Kate most mornings at the Old Course Hotel

Returning to their stomping grounds in 2021, William (left) and Kate (right) went head-to-head in a land yacht race on West Sands Beach in St Andrews

Love certainly struck at some time during the year they shared a two-storey, top-floor apartment, 13a Hope Street (pictured), in the centre of St Andrews for £100 per week

Their blossoming romance intensified when Kate and Will moved to Balgove House near the famous St Andrews Golf Course for their third year.

Offering more privacy than their previous accommodation, William and Kate hosted dinner parties from the four-bedroom property owned by one of William’s distant cousins, with the well-prepared prince installing a champagne fridge as soon as they moved in.

Their new digs also allowed them to take romantic walks amongst the two acres of wild grassland behind the privacy of a six-foot stone wall.

It is understood William would take a picnic hamper and spend the afternoon with Kate relaxing on a blanket with a bottle of cold white wine. 

In March 2004, news of the couple’s relationship finally broke as the pair were pictured together on a romantic ski getaway on the slopes at Klosters in Switzerland and William came under increasing pressure to disclose to the world’s media his plans for marriage.

With just a year to go until his graduation, the young prince shook off the shackles of his relationship to go on a ‘boys only’ sailing trip to Greece and, according to distinguished royal historian Robert Lacey, the yacht was staffed by an all-female crew.

Kate was understandably unimpressed and the pair broke up.

But a friend of the prince’s was happy to reveal to Lacey that William did not stop ‘pining for Kate’ after their split. ‘He keeps saying she’s an amazing girl and the best thing to happen to him.’ 

Prince William kicks a rugby ball on the beach while a student at St Andrews in 2003

Kate Middleton stands with two friends as Prince William plays at a Rugby Sevens tournament in St Andrews in 2005

After their second year of university, William and Kate moved to Balgove House, on the private Strathtyrum Estate (pictured)

Determined to get their relationship back on track, William took the romance up a notch.

The couple often enjoyed a cider at Ma Bells, the prince’s favourite pub which was the basement bar of the St Andrews Golf Hotel, and sat down to dinner at the popular curry house Jahangir, according to Hello Magazine.

Venturing further afield, Kate and Will were also ‘regular’ customers of the award-winning Anstruther Fish Bar in the coastal town of Anstruther – a short drive from St Andrews.

In 2021, the royal couple took a ‘trip down memory lane’, ordering a £7.95 takeaway haddock wrapped in paper which they ate together on the pier.

Staff at the Anstruther Fish Bar shared their excitement and details of the couple’s visit in a Facebook post at the time.

It read: ‘We can hardly believe it’s almost 20 years since we last had the honour of frying up some Scottish haddock and chips for, our then regular customers, Prince William and Catherine Middleton, while they were students at St Andrews University.

‘Their Royal Highnesses have been in the East Neuk of Fife today and surprised us by ending their visit with a takeaway fish supper, which the Duchess told us, was a lovely ‘trip down memory lane’.

‘Before heading back to their waiting helicopter, they popped in for some ice cream and to chat with some of our thrilled staff. The Duke thanked us for the fish and chips and made a point of telling Andrew that they were just as good, if not better than he remembered from his student days.’

William and Kate often enjoyed a cider at Ma Bells (pictured), the Prince’s favourite pub which was the basement bar of the St Andrews Golf Hotel

The royal couple return to Scotland for a fish and chip supper in May 2021

The royal couple took a ‘trip back down memory lane’ ordering a £7.95 takeaway haddock wrapped in paper from Anstruther Fish Bar (pictured) which they ate together on the pier

After four years at the top-rated Scottish university, both achieved an upper second class degree, William in Geography and Kate in History of Art.

In a photo later released by the Middleton family, the couple posed in each other’s arms on their graduation day on June 23, 2005, but at the ceremony itself, they were not seen together.

However, the Vice Chancellor Brian Lang gave a speech that would prove prophetic for the couple.

He told the audience, that included the late Queen, Prince Phillip, Camilla and William’s father Charles: ‘You will have made lifelong friends. You may have met your husband or wife.

‘Our title as the top matchmaking university in Britain signifies so much that is good about St Andrews, so we rely on you to go forth and multiply.’

After nearly five years of dating, Kate and William decided to go their separate ways (again) in April 2007.

During their time apart, Kate was whisked off to Dublin by her mother as William headed to his favourite nightclub Mahiki in central London where he is said to have leapt up on a table, shouting: ‘I’m free!’

Kate also saw numerous nights out to venues where she had previously been a regular with William.

After four years at the top-rated Scottish university, Kate (pictured) graduated with an upper second class degree in History of Art

William (pictured) walked across the stage to collect his Geography degree, as the late Queen, Prince Phillip, Camilla and his father Charles watched on

In a photo later released by the Middleton family, the couple posed in each other’s arms on their graduation day on June 23, 2005

Just five days after the prince was spotted dancing the night away at Mahiti, Kate was pictured enjoying herself at the same metropolitan party spot.

Without the weighty baggage of being a prince’s girlfriend, she mischievously attended a party to promote a film about women obsessed with a brand of sex toy called Rabbit Fever.

Years later, Kate confirmed that this period apart was, mentally, very valuable.

‘At the time I wasn’t very happy about it, but it made me a stronger person,’ she said during their engagement interview of 2010.

‘You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realised. I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me, although I didn’t think it at the time.’

William also acknowledged their on/off relationship, telling ITV’s Tom Bradby: ‘In that particular instance, we did split up for a bit. We were both very young… We were both finding ourselves as such.’

The pair reunited at a party at William’s barracks where the theme was ‘Freakin’ Naughty’ and William wore hot pants and a policeman’s helmet, while Kate dressed as a naughty nurse in fishnet tights and a short dress.

Tastelessly, there were blow-up dolls hanging from the ceiling and sexy waitresses serving strong cocktails. Outside was a bouncy castle and plunge pool, but William and Kate stuck to the dancefloor and that night, she stayed at his barracks.

During their time apart, William is pictured leaving the Mahiki nightclub in central London on April 14, 2007

Meanwhile Kate saw numerous nights out to venues where she had previously been a regular with William. Here, she is pictured leaving Mahiki nightclub on April 19, 2007

William is said to have leapt up on a table at Mahiki (pictured), shouting: ‘I’m free!

A relaxed William and Kate pictured dancing on his 26th birthday at club Boujis tent at the Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire in 2008

A few weeks later they were together again for Camilla’s 60th birthday party at Highgrove.

Kate had been smuggled in to avoid publicity but once inside, the pair enjoyed the glow of this new honeymoon period. Kate wore a long cream dress and sipped champagne as William mouthed the words of ‘It Had To Be You’ to her.

With a lot to discuss, and lost time to make up for, William and Kate flew to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, staying at the Desroches Island Resort, having checked in under the names Martin and Rosemary Middleton.

Unnoticed, they kayaked and snorkelled in the coral reef and, at night, they relaxed over candlelit beach suppers.

Soon after their short-lived break-up, William took part in 12 weeks of training to become a RAF pilot, using it as an opportunity to pull his most romantic gesture yet.

It is understood that the besotted prince landed his £10million RAF helicopter in Kate’s back garden during an official military exercise on April 3, 2007.

‘There’s nothing more macho than landing a helicopter in your girlfriend’s backyard,’ a royal source told the News of the World.

Kate and her parents are said to have watched in delight as the young royal practised a series of take-offs and landings in the paddock of their sprawling detached home in Bucklebury, Berkshire.

William (pictured) took part in 12 weeks of training to become a RAF pilot, using it as an opportunity to pull his most romantic gesture to date

It is understood that the prince landed his £10million RAF helicopter in Kate’s back garden during an official military exercise on April 3, 2007

‘There’s nothing more macho than landing a helicopter in your girlfriend’s backyard,’ a royal source told the News of the World

‘It’s the sort of courting ritual befitting of a future king,’ said Tom Geoghegan for the BBC News. ‘But are women really impressed by such a stunt and, if so, how can those of more modest means seek to recreate it?

‘Not everyone has access to a £10m RAF helicopter that carries 55 troops, plus a girlfriend with a garden that looks like it should be owned by the National Trust.’

Despite facing furious criticism, William’s stunt clearly worked as Michael Middleton reminisced on the helicopter landing during his  speech at the couple’s wedding reception as reported by Katie Nicholl in her book Kate: The Future Queen.

‘I knew things were getting serious when I found a helicopter in my garden,’ he said. ‘I thought, “Gosh, he must like my daughter.”

‘I did wonder how William was every going to top this if they ever got engaged. I just thought, “What will he do?”

‘You can’t get much better than that, and we are certainly not used to princes landing helicopters in the garden!’ 

Two years later, William did top the helicopter landing by popping the question to Kate while in a cabin hut roughly 11,000 feet above sea level on the side of Mount Kenya in October 2010.

Revealing the details of the dream proposal, William later said: ‘We had a little private time away together with some friends, and I just decided that it was the right time, really.

William proposed to Kate during a trip to Mount Kenya in October 2010

 He popped the question while in a cabin hut (pictured) roughly 11,000 feet above sea level on the Lewa Wildlife reserve in Kenya

A joyful Kate and William in November 2010 after announcing their engagement

Prince William and Kate Middleton give their first joint interview on the day they announced their engagement in November 2010

‘We’d been talking about marriage for a while, so it wasn’t a massively big surprise, but I took her up somewhere nice in Kenya, and I proposed.’

The 28-year-old prince used the dazzling oval blue 18-carat sapphire and diamond engagement ring that had once belonged to his mother, Princess Diana.

As they posed for pictures during their official announcement, William said that giving Kate the ring was his way of ensuring his late mother could be part of the occasion.

‘I had been carrying around the ring in my rucksack for three weeks,’ William said.

‘I literally would not let it go. Everywhere I went I was keeping hold of it, ’cause I knew this thing, if it disappeared I’d be in a lot of trouble.’