An Ode to Kate Middleton’s London Nightclub Era

Of the hundreds and thousands of different photos of Kate Middleton on the internet, recently, Tiktok user @danideeeee1 dug up a specific set of fourteen of them. They weren’t from the Duchess of Cambridge’s 2011 wedding day, where she wore a long-sleeved lace Alexander McQueen gown considered as one of the most iconic of all time. They weren’t her 40th birthday portraits by Paolo Roversi, depictions so ethereal that they now belong to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery. Nor from any official state dinner, where she donned a priceless tiara leant to her by the Queen and diamond jewels that dripped off the delicate nape of her neck.

Instead, she’s partying at the club circa 2006 to 2008.

If you want to get specific about it, Boujis or Mahiki. They were watering holes of choice for the royal—and royal adjacent—social set in the mid 2000s, where they’d order rounds of champagne, vodka, and passion fruit cocktails. At three a.m., they’d stumble back out into the night as the paparazzi swarmed around them.

There she is, hair flying, dancing with Prince William after they graduated from St. Andrew’s University and both moved back to London. There she is again, attempting to hide her face from the cameras in the London street as they clamored capture the newly-single Middleton after her and William briefly split. There’s her in a car, her cheeks flushed, with a dazed look in her eye.  “Party hard,” reads the Tiktok caption. It has over 5.6 million likes.