Her dad has met his dad – and his grandmother. And now it looks as though links between the Roache family and the younger Windsors will be further strengthened with the news that Verity, daughter of Coronation star Bill Roache – who received an MBE from the Queen – has been accepted on to the same History of Art course as Prince William at St Andrews University in Scotland.
The two, whose fathers met when Prince Charles invited the Corrie star to a private lunch at Highgrove, are both keen riders – Wills plays polo and 19-year-old Verity has competed in local horse shows – and obviously share a love of their chosen subject of study. “Verity is a very bright and beautiful girl. It will be interesting to see if she and Wills hit it off,” said a source close to Bill.
Currently living at home with her parents in their £350,000 Cheshire home, Verity attended £15,000-a-year Moreton Hall girls school in Shropshire and spent last year studying at the Royal Agricultural College in Gloucester. “It’s been an ambition of hers to meet Prince William, and she was very keen to do a history of art degree. She’s delighted to be doing both,” says one of the teenager’s college friends.
When they begin the four-year course at the prestigious Scottish university in September, both Prince William and Verity will be initiated into some of its more mysterious traditions, including the wearing of red gowns by its students. Donned on Sundays and when the student is invited to dine at high table, the gowns have a strange ritual attached to them. They are worn conventionally by first years, off the right shoulder by second years and off the left shoulder by third years. In the fourth year, the done thing is to shrug the gown off both.
