Prince William recently opened up about the early days of his relationship with Kate Middleton , including the unusual gift he gave her that she won’t let him forget.
The Duke of Cambridge revealed his gifting blunder while appearing in the latest edition of That Peter Crouch Podcast , per The Daily Mail . The episode, titled “That Prince William Episode,” was recorded prior to COVID-19 lockdowns at Kensington Palace in March.
During the recording, hosts Peter Crouch, Chris Stark, and Tom Fordyce discussed some of the worsts gifts they had ever given. Crouch, a former Premier League footballer, revealed that he had gifted his wife the same raincoat three years in a row. The admission prompted the men to ask William if he could top the trio of slickers, to which he responded that he “probably can.”
“I did get my wife a pair of binoculars once,” he admitted. “She never let me forget that.”
He said the gift was given early on in their relationship and joked that it definitely “sealed the deal” for the pair.
“She fell for me at that point,” he quipped.
The royal further explained the bizarre present, saying that they were “really nice” and noted that he had even wrapped them. However, he still had to do some convincing at the time — even for himself — to justify that the gift was a winner.
“I was like, ‘These are really amazing! Look how far you can see!’” he said. “And she started looking at me going, ‘They’re binoculars. What’s going on?’…It didn’t go well.”
“Honestly, I have no idea why I bought her a pair of binoculars,” he added.
Fortunately, Kate was able to look past her beau’s poor choice of presents and went on to wed the royal in 2011. The couple now have three children: George, 7, Charlotte, 5, and Louis, 2.
Later in the podcast, the Duke revealed how he and his wife have been handling homeschooling during the U.K.’s lockdown period for George and Charlotte, who will be starting Years 3 and 1 in the fall, respectively. He spoke highly of how Kate has stepped into a teaching role for the children while admitting a shortcoming of his own.
“My patience is a lot shorter than I thought it was,” he said.
William also confessed that some of his academic knowledge is more on par with his gift-giving skills.
“I was a bit embarrassed about my maths knowledge — I can’t do Year 2 Maths!” he shared.
