The one thing you didn’t know about Kate Middleton’s most famous dress

(Image credit: Getty Images)

When you think of Duchess Catherine's most famous dress, your mind probably jumps straight to her wedding dress. But epic as it was, that's not the one I'm thinking of.

Instead, it's the slightly less elaborate one that nonetheless is said to have caught Prince William's attention for the first time.

I'm referring, of course, to the see-through mini dress Kate wore for a charity fashion show at St. Andrews back in 2002.

(Image credit: 2011 Ferdaus Shamim)

It was designed by Charlotte Todd, for her course project themed around 'The Art of Seduction'. While the photos of Kate in it made the dress famous, you might not have realised that it was originally made to be a skirt.

Fashion expert and auctioneer Kerry Taylor told US Weekly, 'It was meant to be a skirt actually. And she kind of yanked it up and wore it as a dress. You know, she had a great figure, so yeah, she definitely caught Prince William’s eye that night of the rest is history.'

The Duchess is said to have been the only one to ever wear the skirt/dress before it was sold at auction in 2011 by Kerry.

It fetched a staggering £65,000, more than six times its estimated price. I guess you can't put a price on royal history.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.