Princess Kate Once Had a Very Normal Job While a College Student—One She Admits She Was “Terrible” At Doing

Kate Middleton.

It’s admittedly kind of hard to imagine Princess Kate not being good at anything—there seems to be nothing she can’t take on, from the piano to drawing to a million different types of sporting activities. It’s also a little bit hard to imagine Kate working a minimum wage job, but Kate—who, though she came from wealthy parents, was born a commoner—admitted that she once had a job that she was, in her words, “terrible” at, and it’s one that many of us have probably done, too.

Long before her days as a working royal, Kate was a college student who waitressed, like so many of us did, too. (Image credit: Getty)

The Mirror reports that the Princess of Wales “had a very normal job before marrying into the royal family, one she admits to being ‘terrible’ at,” the outlet reports. “She took the role to earn some extra money at university.” The publication adds “You might not imagine that the future Queen and an everyday minimum wage job go hand in hand, and Kate may well be the first future Queen to have this type of role on her CV—even if, by her own admission, her skills in the job left quite a lot to be desired.”

Kate once worked as a waitress to earn some extra spending money while a student at the University of St. Andrews, where she met and eventually fell in love with her future husband, Prince William. (They met in 2001, began dating around 2003, and finally got engaged in 2010 before marrying the next year.)

Kate and her younger sister, Pippa, in the mid-aughts. (Image credit: Getty Images)

During “A Berry Royal Christmas,” a BBC special released in 2019 with royally-beloved Mary Berry, Kate helped Berry make a tray of cranberry mocktails, “and the festive activity jogged her memory,” The Mirror writes.

“Reminds me of my university days, when I did a bit of waitressing,” Kate said. Berry quickly asked her how she did in the role, pondering “Were you good?” Kate dissolved into laughter and admitted “No, I was terrible.”

Kate and her father, Michael Middleton, in 2005, the same year she graduated from St. Andrews. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Kate didn’t elaborate on what restaurant she waitressed at, but the gig didn’t last long and, after graduating from college with a degree in art history, she moved to London and began a career in fashion, working at Jigsaw as an accessories buyer before her engagement to William happened and her career as a working royal began.