Queen Elizabeth ‘overstayed’ her time at Prince William’s graduation party to speak to other families, former Vice Chancellor of St Andrew’s reveals

The former principal and vice-chancellor of St Andrew’s University has revealed that the late Queen Elizabeth II stayed longer than expected for Prince William’s graduation.

Dr. Brian Lang, principal of the Scottish university during the Prince of Wales’s student years, 41, has spoken out about the royal family’s visit to campus to mark her grandson’s special day.

In conversation with HELLO! the social anthropologist revealed that the late queen stayed longer than initially expected so she could talk to other families whose relatives were graduating.

On this ‘very, very happy day’ in 2005, Her Majesty traveled to the Kingdom of Fife with the late Prince Phillip, King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

The Windsors attended a festive garden party after the ceremony, where they mingled with other graduates and their families. But despite the party being packed with young graduates, it was the Queen who had spent her time at St Andrew’s ‘far too long’.

Dr. Brian Lang said: ‘We had a very, very happy day. The sun was shining. There was a small garden party.

“The late Queen Way exceeded the time she should have been in St. Andrews.”

He went on to explain that Prince William’s grandmother was very happy to mingle with the others at the party and made it clear to the staff that she would not leave until she was ready.

Days later, Brian ran into the former British monarch again at the opening of a new building in Edinburgh.

During the event, the Queen reflected on him and reiterated what a “wonderful” time she had celebrating William’s achievement.

A moving video of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s graduation ceremony illustrated how much the Queen enjoyed the ceremony, with both Prince William and Kate Middleton receiving their degrees at the age of 23.

William’s family looks with pride at the couple, including Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince Philip and the Queen herself, who was every bit the proud grandmother.

The footage was shared by royal fan account Teatime with the Cambridges in 2018.

The late queen had an “amazing” day as she celebrated the heir to the throne’s geography degree

They captioned the clip: “I thought I’d share this fun video from William and Kate’s graduation on June 23, 2005!

‘My favorite thing about this video is Prince Charles’ huge grin when his future ‘sweet’ daughter-in-law’s name was called out! Even the Queen looked at Charles!’

The video has since been viewed more than 100,000 times on social media as fans gushed over the rare footage, with many claiming it showed the royal family’s affection for Kate.

The Duke of Cambridge had yet to receive that title and so obtained his 2:1 degree in Geography under the name William Wales.

Meanwhile, his then girlfriend obtained her 2:1 degree in art history under her given name, Catherine Middleton.

The late Queen and Prince Philip seemed every bit the proud grandparents when William graduated

Prince Charles and Camilla, whom he would marry the following month, couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces as they watched the ceremony

William had previously studied the same subject before later switching to geography.

He receives his award to rapturous applause, as does Kate, who makes a minor blunder when she almost forgets to bow to the Chancellor.

Both are seen being tapped on the head with a piece of cloth believed to have come from John Knox’s riding breeches, a tradition at the University of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

Of course, members of the royal family kept watch, including Charles and Camilla, who were due to get married the following month.

But while the Queen witnessed Kate’s graduation, they only met for three years when they were first introduced at Peter Philips’ wedding to Autumn Philips in 2008, as Kate revealed during their 2011 engagement interview.

William and Kate met as teenagers while living far apart in St. Salvator’s House digs in 2001.

The couple started out as friends and knew each other for over a year before becoming a couple in 2003.