Kate Middleton was a party princess before she became a queen in training.
A TikTok video about the Princess of Wales recently went viral, which highlighted what her life was like before she married Prince William.
The clip, which has been viewed over 5 million times, shows several photos of the mother of three partying with the future king of England and her sister Pippa Middleton.
"Kate is still known to love parties and has a great sense of fun, but she was an adventurous carefree party animal in her 20s and uni (university) days," royal photographer and broadcaster Helena Chard told Fox News Digital.
"I think Catherine’s party days are a reflection of how young and in love she was with the world’s most eligible bachelor, Prince William," Kinsey Schofield, host of the "To Di For Daily" podcast, also told Fox News Digital. "It’s surreal to have hundreds of strangers taking your photo overnight. [There's] images of them pouring out of nightclubs in the early hours of the morning… [But] they were crazy in love and lust with one another. It’s fun to see it in those photos."
"It’s going to be hard to explain to a teenage Prince Louis when he wants to stay out past curfew!" noted Schofield, referring to the couple’s youngest son. "Because we know it will be him."
The reel shows Middleton in her 20s dancing with William in a nightclub, traveling in the backseat of a car during after hours and wearing sequined outfits. The couple’s courtship years are depicted in Season 6 of "The Crown," which premiered on Netflix in December.
The Prince and Princess of Wales met at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. They dated for almost a decade and broke up briefly before getting engaged in 2010. They married in 2011.
During their engagement interview, Middleton admitted it took some time for the pair to become "very close friends" because of her shyness. William remarked that they had been friends for over a year before a romance blossomed.
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"[We] realized we shared the same interests," said William at the time. "[We] just had a really good time."
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that as a teenager, Middleton was quiet and reserved.
"She was described by a friend at that time as ‘thin and pale’ with ‘very little confidence,’" Fordwich explained. "She blossomed in the sixth form (final year of high school) when, according to other friends, all the boys ‘fancied her rotten.’"
And before duty called, Middleton and William let loose with libations.
"The Margarita Monarchy regularly enjoy their tipples," royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital. He noted that the couple enjoyed partying at music festivals with "the amber nectar of margaritas." But it wasn’t surprising, as it allowed Middleton to finally let her hair down.
"She [previously] went to an all-girls school [but] hated it because she was bullied," said Pelham Turner.
According to Vogue, Middleton was a nightclub fixture in London from 2006 to 2008. Hot spots like Boujis and Mahiki were favored by the young royals and royal adjacent during the mid-2000s. According to the outlet, they would order rounds of champagne, vodka and passion fruit cocktails before stumbling outside at 3 a.m. as eager paparazzi swarmed their cars.
Even during her split from William in 2007, Middleton was captured by photographers flushed-faced "with a dazed look in her eye," as she enjoyed the single life, the outlet noted.
"We were very young," William said in their engagement video. "We were sort of both finding ourselves."
And before she wore her signature coat dresses, Middleton preferred trendier looks. Some of her looks from the era included chunky necklaces, Ugg boots, empire-waist tops, chunky necklaces and "a healthy dusting of bronzer," the outlet reported.
Royal author Katie Nicholl told Vanity Fair that during her breakup with the prince, Middleton refused to wallow in self-pity. Instead, she "put on a brave face and a thigh-skimming minidress and partied."
"The idea floating around that Kate is some sort of Stepford wife or automation is just absurd," Christopher Andersen, author of "The King," told Fox News Digital. "She always liked to go out and have fun, but let’s remember that William and [his brother] Harry were the real party animals."
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"For years, the young princes were photographed with… women in clubs, stumbling out onto the sidewalk, falling out of cabs and tussling with photographers," Andersen shared. "The brothers have since talked about how they were in a self-destructive spiral. Then Kate came along and yes, she knew how to let [loose], but she never lost control the way William and Harry did."
"When they went out clubbing, Kate always kept an eye on William and was very protective of him," Andersen continued. "Royal bodyguards were relieved that they really had an ally in this reliably sane young woman who could party hard, but still keep things from getting out of hand."
Today, life looks very different for the couple. William, 41, is next in line to the British throne. His grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, England’s longest-reigning monarch, died in 2022 at age 96. Middleton, 42, will become queen consort once her husband becomes king.
Chard said she has no doubt Middleton looks back at her partying years with fondness.
"I pictured the Princess of Wales on her birthday with a gin and tonic in hand," she said. "I feel Kate would secretly love to revisit the carefree time and let off steam for one night only, like a date night with Prince William. She would party the night away, sip specialty cocktails and visit old stomping grounds… I’m sure she’d also collect another win at beer pong and tackle the hoards of paparazzi by taking photos of them taking photos of her."
"Once dipping her toe into her party-fueled past, she will enjoy special family time with her husband and three children – where I believe her true heart lies," she added.
