Prince William is notoriously private and while much of his life is in the public eye, the royal has managed to keep a lot of his personal life out of the spotlight. Such was the case back in 1992, when a then ten-year-old William went away on a secret holiday to Montana, USA, to stay on a farm all summer. William went away with his bodyguards after Princess Diana arranged for him to go and stay at the E Bar L ranch near Missoula to get away from all the media attention that was surrounding her marriage with Prince Charles around that time.
Prince William went away to America in 1992
Paul Beban – a then 21-year-old who was staying on the farm when William arrived – opened up about the experience in April 2011 to ABC News. Paul was working on the farm, and recalled how just a few days before William arrived, the ranch staff had been called together for a meeting to learn that they would be having a special guest come to stay with them. They were told that while William was coming for privacy, he was also there to ride, fish, make friends and enjoy the natural beauty of the place – just like all the other guests.
MORE: A closer look with Princess Anne's special bond with her father Prince Philip
Princess Diana was determined that her sons experienced normal life
Paul revealed that while William was shy at the beginning, he soon came out of his shell and had a wonderful time. Not surprisingly, the future King was excellent at horse riding, and also enjoyed dancing, singing and making friends with the other guests. He was also referred to his nickname Will by the others. Amazingly, William brought some royal traditions to the ranch too, with him and his bodyguards arranging a cricket match for everyone to talk part in, as well as serving up tea and cucumber sandwiches. Paul revealed that while the ranch didn't normally have cucumber, someone went out on a 50-mile journey to buy some.
READ: Prince Harry shares never-before-seen photo of Meghan Markle from Africa trip
William is now giving his children a childhood like he had
It's unsurprising that William went to the ranch on Diana's request, nor that he was just a "regular ten-year-old boy." The late Princess was adamant that her sons would have as normal an upbringing as possible, and introduced them to life outside of the palace walls, notably taking them for a day out at Thorpe Park where they queued up just like the rest of the visitors. William has since ensured that his own children have the same down-to-earth upbringing that he had.
Make sure you never miss a ROYAL story! Sign up to our newsletter to get all of our celebrity, royal and lifestyle news delivered directly to your inbox.
