It was a reunion royal watchers didn’t see coming when Prince William reunited with his teen crush at a royal banquet.
On December 3, the royal family hosted a state banquet at Windsor Castle in honor of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and First Lady Elke Büdenbender. Other notable guests included composer Hans Zimmer, Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse, and William’s teen crush, Claudia Schiffer.
According to PEOPLE Magazine, Schiffer was in attendance as a royal. Her husband of 23 years, film director Matthew Vaughn, was knighted by King Charles in 2025 for his contribution to the creative industries, making him Lord Drummond and Schiffer, Lady Drummond.
However, Schiffer’s presence didn’t go unnoticed by longtime royal watchers. Her ties with the royal family go back three decades.
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When William was a teenager, he was enamored with many of the most popular supermodels of the day. This group included Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Christy Turlington.
Therefore, as a way to celebrate his special day and give him a memory he wouldn’t soon forget, his mother, Princess Diana, arranged for the trio to visit her son.
Speaking on her YouTube series No Filter with Naomi, Campbell recounted how she and fellow supermodels Schiffer, Crawford, and Turlington surprised William at Buckingham Palace for his 13th birthday, catching him just as he got home from school. “I went with Claudia [Schiffer], Cindy [Crawford], and Christy [Turlington]. And he was coming home from school,” Naomi said.
“And we had gotten there before he had gotten home from school, and Princess Diana was like, ‘Okay.’ So we were just like, ‘What do we do?’ I mean, it was so sweet.”
“Loved Princess Diana; I just loved her. Humble, how down-to-earth, and I’m blessed to know her for the time I did,” commented Campbell.
Crawford added, “I don’t remember, but look, I was blushing. I was so intimidated meeting Princess Diana and being at Kensington Palace, and just how completely down-to-earth she was, because there’s so much protocol, I guess. Not being English, I don’t understand some of it.”
She shared a photo of that memorable day on Instagram in 2017. Crawford captioned the pic, “I think Prince William was just starting to notice models, and she thought it would be a cute surprise for him and Prince Harry.”
As for the recipient of the birthday surprise? He was awestruck.
In the HBO documentary, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, the Prince of Wales recalled the moment. “I was probably a 12 or 13-year-old boy who had posters of them on his wall.”
“I went bright red and didn’t quite know what to say and sort of fumbled. I think I pretty much fell down the stairs on the way up. I was completely and utterly sort of awestruck.”
While it’s unknown whether Claudia Schiffer and Prince William reminisced about their first meeting, the full-circle moment thrilled royal fans.
This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 4, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.