The future king has spent his life in the spotlight – but he made the most of a brief break from public life during his time at university

Prince William was accompanied by his father as he started his first day at St Andrew’s (Image: Getty)

Prince William used a different name at university in order to prevent unwanted attention. The future king has spent his entire life in the public eye, but university gave him a brief break.

At this time of his life, the world’s eyes were focussed on William and Harry even more than usual, owing to his parents’ marriage and Princess Diana’s tragic death. But the press agreed that William should be able to study for his degree away from the spotlight.

There was still a lot of interest around the teenage prince, as the Mirror reports, so William went by a different name to keep a low profile. And for obvious reasons, the prince opted for something extremely inconspicuous – Steve.

William officially enrolled at the University of St Andrews under the name William Wales. But all of his classmates called him Steve to prevent unwanted outside attention.

As he met Kate Middleton at St Andrew’s, it’s likely that his bride-to-be called him by his nickname when the pair were close friends. The two shared many classes together and lived in the same student halls.

Prince William studied history of art before switching to geography. He graduated alongside Kate in June 2005 when he was age 23.

Prince William and Prince Harry actually shared the same nickname during their college years, according to a school peer. Both brothers were enrolled at Eton – William in 1995 and Harry in 1998.

According to one former classmate, named only as ‘Jim’, the pair were both simply referred to by other students as ‘Wales’. He previously told The Cut magazine: “I think both William and Harry were just called ‘Wales,’ literally that was what everyone else called them.”