Laura Warshauer, 23, from New Jersey, is a singer-songwriter who attended college and shared a dorm with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2001 at the University of St.
Andrews in Scotland.
They all lived at St. Salvator’s Hall.
Laura wrote a tune for the Cambridges’ wedding and quickly became friends with “Will Wales” who lived down the corridor and Kate whose room was downstairs.
She said there were moments between William and Kate that made her have faith in the love of the couple.
“Whenever Kate was in the room, Will was obviously paying attention to her,” Laura told PEOPLE Magazine. “When we’d be sitting at lunch in the dining hall and the two of them would be talking, it was amazing to see how natural it was, how they had so much to say to each other.”
“Looking back, there were all these small moments—certainly moments where I was like, “Wow, this could really be something”.”
Laura has previously shared about their student life together, with William paying her visits on a hunt for biscuits and Kate sitting on her bed playing her guitar.
She said the Duchess “had a lovely way about her” when they first met while William would “walk around as a normal guy and people didn’t make a big deal of it”.
She also recalled how William paid £200 for Kate during a “slave” charity auction at a Harry Potter-themed party.
“One of my favorite memories was in November of [first] year and we were invited to a Harry Potter party at this castle,” she said. “We all got on a big bus to go there and I remember Kate and William dancing together all night.”
“There was a charity auction where you could bid for the person for the day and Will paid £200 for Kate,” Laura said. “She was dressed in school uniform and was stood on these stone steps with us all below.”
“No one else was winning Kate that night,” she added. “They already had that connection.”
Courtesy of mothertoday.comAnd when Kate won as the “Prettiest Girl” in the halls, Laura said that Kate didn’t brag about it.
“There was applause, and she was wearing this cool black off-the-shoulder shirt… She’s very grounded, and that sense of ease comes through in the way she carries herself and the way she just graciously walked up and accepted this award,” Laura said. “She’s obviously stunning – but she doesn’t act in any way like, “Oh, I’m this gorgeous person”.”
William and Kate met at the college in 2001 as freshmen and had become housemates by their sophomore year. They shared a four-bedroom flat with two other friends and frequently walked to classes together.
During their engagement interview in 2010, Kate admitted she went “bright red” and “scuttled off, feeling very shy” when she met Prince William.
“It did take a bit of time for us to get to know each other but we did become very close friends from quite early,” Kate added.
While Prince William said: “We moved in together as friends. We lived with a couple of others as well, and it just sort of blossomed from there, really. We just saw more of each other, and you know, hung out a bit more and did stuff.”
William and Kate attended their college graduation together in 2005 and continued their romance even after leaving the university. The couple split in 2007 but got back together in just a few months.
Looking back at the breakup, Kate said in her engagement interview that it only made her a stronger person.