EXCLUSIVE: Why Prince William 'Secretly Made University Friends Sign NDAs'
Prince William may have had a plan to keep his secrets from leaking.
Sept. 20 2026, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
Prince William is said to have secretly asked university friends to sign confidentiality agreements in an attempt to protect his private life and experience something approaching normal student life before becoming King, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The future king, 44, enrolled at the University of St Andrews in Scotland in 2001, where he studied alongside other students and eventually met his future wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, 44.
St Andrews Offered Rare Freedom From Royal Scrutiny
The future king sought a normal student life at St Andrews.
But behind the relative freedom he enjoyed away from London was an unusual privacy arrangement designed to prevent details about his friendships and activities from finding their way into the newspapers.
A royal source claimed: "Going to St Andrews offered William something he knew was going to become increasingly difficult to find as he got older – the opportunity to spend several years being treated primarily as a young man rather than as a future monarch.
"He wanted friendships that could develop naturally, evenings out without every detail being documented, and the freedom to enjoy university without continually looking over his shoulder."
The insider continued, "He was also realistic about the enormous value that even fairly mundane information about him could have attracted.
"A story about an ordinary student having a late night might have been completely unremarkable, but attach William's name to it and suddenly there was potentially a newspaper story. He couldn't simply assume that everything said or done among friends would automatically remain private.
Confidentiality Agreements Protected Royal Friendships
Prince William secretly made university friends sign strict confidentiality agreements, according to sources.
"That was really the thinking behind having confidentiality agreements. On the surface, asking university friends to make formal commitments about privacy might seem incredibly severe, and obviously it isn't something the average student would ever contemplate. But William wasn't entering university with the circumstances of an average undergraduate."
They continued, "He already knew that the people around him could potentially be approached for stories and that anything embarrassing might resurface years later when he had considerably greater responsibilities. Having those safeguards provided an additional layer of reassurance.
"It wasn't about William dictating how his friends behaved or creating some secretive royal bubble around himself. If anything, the intention was the opposite – putting protections in place meant he could lower his guard once he was with people he trusted.
"For those few years, he wanted to have dinners, go out, form friendships and enjoy the ridiculous moments that are part of student life without wondering whether somebody was mentally taking notes. The agreements helped establish a very clear understanding that what happened privately among that group was expected to remain there."
University Years Offered Escape From London Media
Prince William eventually met his future wife Catherine Middleton at university.
William's decision to study at St Andrews also provided distance from the intense media attention surrounding the Royal Family in London.
He began studying art history at the institution before switching to geography during his second year, ultimately graduating with a Master of Arts degree in 2005.
It was at St Andrews that William became close to Catherine Middleton, whom he would eventually marry in 2011.
Their relationship developed while they were students, although relatively little emerged publicly about many aspects of William's wider university life.
Future King Prepared for Public Royal Life
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Prince William graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 2005.
William himself spoke positively about the privacy he experienced at St Andrews in 2004.
He said: "There's lots of people saying it's impossible to lead a normal life, really, but actually up here, and with the media out of it.
"It's amazing how people just get on with their lives and will not bother you. Everyone up here, I have to say, has been as good as gold; I couldn't ask for anything better."
The relative discretion surrounding those years meant William was able to complete four years at St Andrews before graduating in 2005, after which the future King began preparing for a considerably more public adult life.
