Prince William’s time studying at St Andrews University in Scotland in the early 2000s has recently been immortalised on screen in the latest series of The Crown.

The university is where William famously met his future bride Kate Middleton, however in 2005 there was another famous royal guest making headlines at his graduation.

The late Queen Elizabeth was just another proud grandmother as she watched her grandson receive his degree in Geography, where she was joined by Prince Philip, then-Prince Charles and Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall.

After the official ceremony, graduates and their families were invited to a garden party, where the Queen enjoyed herself so much she ended up staying longer than intended.

Royal schedules must run to a strict timetable, but that didn’t seem to bother Her Late Majesty as she chatted to university staff.

In an interview with Hello! magazine following the Queen’s death, Dr Brian Lang, who was Principal and Vice Chancellor of St Andrew’s at the time, recalled: “We had a very, very happy day. The sun shone. There was a little garden party. The late Queen way overstayed the time she was supposed to be in St Andrews.

“She met other parents, other grandparents and she made it quite clear to her staff that she was not going to leave until she was ready to.

“A few days later, I came across the Queen again. I was presented to her at the opening of a new public building in Edinburgh.

“And she explained what a wonderful time she had had that day in St Andrews. I remember her calling out, ‘Philip, Philip, come here quickly. It’s Dr Lang from St Andrews.’ We had such a lovely day.”

Dr Lang was in regular contact with the future King throughout his studies at the Scottish university and was full of praise for William’s grandmother.

He continued: “The Queen was wonderful. She was a great lady. She would be quite reserved when she first meets you, but as soon as she realises that you’re actually quite a reasonable human being, her eye begins to twinkle and she loves a funny story.

“I had lunch with the Queen not long afterward and she again repeated how happy she’d been to have seen William at St Andrews.”

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