That designer was a fellow St Andrews student, Charlotte Todd, who spent just £30 on making the dress. For years afterwards, the look reportedly languished at the back of a wardrobe at Todd’s mother’s house, but once William and Kate announced their engagement in 2010, Todd realised that it had become a piece of fashion history. It would later go on to be sold at auction for an eye-watering £78,000.
And as for the question of whether or not Kate picked out the look for herself, as she does in the episode? It’s not clear if that was indeed the case, but Todd has said that it certainly wasn’t her decision to have Kate wear it. “I didn’t know who Kate Middleton was and I didn’t put her in it,” she told People. “It was just pure chance. I made it as a skirt, but others pulled it up on Kate and she wore it as a dress.” Make of that what you will.
What seems to be fairly accurate, however, is William’s reaction. By all accounts, he was blown away. Friends of the prince at the time recall that the event made him see Kate in a different light, and there’s a general consensus that it was a major turning point in their relationship and at least partly responsible for taking them from friends to something more. Two things that weren’t depicted in the show, though? William was believed to have paid £200 for a front row ticket, and there’s a long-standing rumour that he turned to one of his friends during the show and said the immortal words, “Wow, Kate’s hot.”
What happened at the after-party?
Shortly after The Crown’s runway scene, we see William and Kate at an after-party, where he tells her that she looked incredible. She then asks him if he’s really interested in her, he promises that he’s “always been interested, bordering on obsessed”, and they share a kiss which is quickly interrupted by William’s protection officer, who informs him that his great grandmother has passed away.