A FINE ROMANCE

Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding is the culmination of a 10-year courtship, which began as a friendship at university, in the same class as a Bahrain school teacher, and blossomed into love.

When he walks his sweetheart down the aisle on Friday, the world will hope this most 'normal' of British royals can find the happiness that eluded his mother, the late Princess Diana.

Alana Shields, 28, was in the same graduating class as the couple at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. The former St Christopher's School student, who is presently the head of drama at the British School of Bahrain, said: "If they are the future monarchy it will be really good and will be great for the country. They are only figureheads but what they represent is really nice.

"I can't say I am a staunch 'royalist' but because they have had an experience of normal life they are more in touch with the people whom they will represent. I think that will take the British monarchy a step forward."

Alana's mother Grace is the owner of Little Gems Pre-School in Barbar and her stepfather Stan Bontoft is managing director of Projects Group. Alana was born in Scotland and lived in Qatar and Bahrain before going to university.

She clearly recalls how as a fresher in September, 2001 the entire class was gathered into a building and briefed about their 'celebrity' colleague.

Alana, who was an English literature student, said: "It was a strange setup because in the very first week we were told to sign this confidentiality clause and told that if we took pictures or if we talked about William to the newspapers we would lose our place at university.

"Through the four years I was there it was given that Wills was at university and we would see him around and talk to him but it was not something we would make a fuss about.

"I think Will in particular benefitted from this kind of attitude, which was to be just another student. We weren't to sensationalise it in any way and we were to treat him normally."

Kate has admitted that at her first meeting with the second-in-line to the throne, when they both arrived to study at St Andrews she 'went bright red' and quickly excused herself.

He didn't have the same mesmerising effect on Alana ... despite sharing a bag of chips with her and nearly running her over on a bicycle!

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"Will was very, very nice. He once let me share his chips when I was hungry and when his bodyguards actually tried to stop me, he told them not to be silly. He is a very nice guy and is very generous.

"He was really unassuming and tried to keep to himself and have a good time. It must have been very hard for him just trying to lead a normal student life.

"On another occasion he almost ran me over on his bike. So maybe he is a little clumsy but he is very easy-going and really nice. I knew Kate through common friends.

"While he was very introverted, she was very bubbly, very friendly and cheerful.

"They both are very nice people. It was public knowledge that they were together but obviously there was no talking about them ... it was always hush, hush!"

The true romance, however, did not stop the young prince's many admirers from haranguing for his attention. Nicknamed the 'Willie watchers', a large group of girls would always track his movements and follow him wherever he went, said Alana.

"It was hilarious. Poor boy! He must have been actually terrified of all these women who were trying to throw themselves at him. He kept a very low profile for a major part of his first year and then he briefly dated a girl, again a brunette," she recalled.

"There were a lot of house parties and you could tell the ones Will was at because the queue would go around the street."

Alana also remembers the much-talked about fashion show, which was organised for charity by the students' union, where Prince William fell under Kate's spell.

A see-through dress designed by Charlotte Todd helped Kate catch the eye of her husband-to-be.

The transparent black number recently fetched £78,000, including buyer's fees at an auction.

Believing it to be a lot of 'fuss over nothing', Alana said: "There was quite a lot made of it. But it was quite funny because it initially was just a students' fashion show where students had to create dresses out of recycled materials under a certain budget.

"It got blown out of proportion. Her dress did make an impact because it was 'see-through' but there were a number of risquŽ outfits on the runway that night so I don't think at the time it was such a big thing. I really can't describe how average it actually was!"

As expected, the graduation ceremony of the group was a major event.

Calling it 'the madness of William's graduation' Alana said that high security and security snipers on the church spire roofs made it all a big public spectacle.

She said: "Our graduating year was the largest student group to date. On graduation week we were issued with two passes and had terrible trouble getting hold of extra tickets for family members who wanted to attend. They were like gold dust.

"People gathered to catch a glimpse of Will and his father, Prince Charles.

"There were barriers but they were very nice and walked up to the people, shook their hands and talked to them. It was a very nice day.

"To be honest all this made our day special and made us feel like celebrities."

Despite the difficulties of the situation, Alana believes that the couple could have only benefitted from their university experience and together will make great ambassadors of their country.

William has overcome the tragedy of his mother Diana's death when he was 15 to become the great hope of the British royal family in the 21st Century.

A measure of his popularity is that opinion polls show a majority of the public want the 28-year-old to leapfrog his father Prince Charles and become heir to the British throne, although such a move would be unprecedented.