Before Prince William and Kate Middleton got together, there was another young man (albeit very briefly) on the scene for Catherine. Rupert Finch, who was three years ahead of the Princess at school, was Kate's boyfriend before she met her future husband.
As season six of The Crown depicts, the pair had a brief fling in 2001 and were actually dating at the time of that famous fashion show, where William reportedly paid £200 to sit in the front row and watch Kate shimmy down the runway in a sheer dress designed by fellow student Charlotte Ford. Isaac Bickerstaff wrote for Tatler of Kate's ex: 'Finch was considered the ultimate catch by Kate’s friends. At the time of the fashion show, he was reportedly her casual boyfriend and a tall, dark and handsome aspiring lawyer in his fourth year at St Andrew's.'
Rupert has previously spoken about how he won't disclose any details about his brief relationship with Kate. He said in 2006: "It's not something I'll ever talk about. It's between Kate and me and was a long time ago."
Viewers of The Crown may recognise the actor playing Rupert Finch in the Netflix show as Sienna Miller's boyfriend Oli Green. Oli, who is also a model starring in big campaigns for Burberry and Gap, made his acting debut when he starred alongside supermodel Kaia Gerber in John Eatherly’s Burnout music video back in 2019 and has since starred in shows such as The Bold and the Beautiful (2020) and The Mosquito Coast (2021).
Sienna has recently addressed the 14-year age gap between herself and Oli (as well as the judgement she feels as an older mother), who she is expecting a baby with, telling Vogue: “I would imagine it would be complicated for anyone to get their head around, but there’s been nothing but love and joy. I don’t think you can legislate on matters of the heart. I certainly have never been able to.”
The pair met at a Halloween party in 2021, where they reportedly shared a kiss. It was quite the challenge for Oli to convince Sienna to date him seriously, as she revealed in the interview, telling Vogue: “I was like, ‘This is absurd. This will not go anywhere'. And then he worked hard to persuade me to go out for a drink with him."
Congratulations to the happy couple...
