AFP, ST ANDREWS, Scotland: Prince William and his fiancee Catherine Middleton were greeted by thousands of well-wishers on Friday as they returned to the Scottish university where their romance began.
As excitement mounts ahead of their April 29 wedding, crowds lined the streets of St Andrews on Scotland's east coast as the royal couple paid an official visit to the historic university where they studied.
Despite a wet and rainy start, the clouds later parted and the sun shone as they walked through the town, smiling and shaking hands with onlookers as people leaned out of windows to catch a glimpse of them.
Middleton was dressed in a vibrant two-piece red suit with a black belt, black gloves and boots, which royal officials stressed was taken from her wardrobe and was not new, while William wore a dark blue suit.
The prince was launching the 600th anniversary celebrations of Scotland's oldest university, on the couple's second official engagement in as many days after the launch of a lifeboat in Wales on Thursday.
"This is a very special moment for Catherine and me, it feels like coming home," William, second in line to the throne, told a crowd of about 600 students and staff at St Salvator's Quad, the historic heart of the university.
"St Andrews still has that uncanny knack of feeling like home, and so it must have done for generations of undergraduates before us."
Joyce Robertson, 60, who turned out to see the royal couple, said: "I've come to see William and Kate because I love the royal family -- I think they will be a wonderful asset to the monarchy."
Commentators said that Middleton's outfit was further evidence that she is shunning new clothes as Britons tighten their belts amid public spending cuts.
On Thursday's first joint official engagement on Anglesey, northwest Wales, she wore a three-quarter length beige coat that she has owned for several years.
The coat was a "perfectly judged touch of austerity chic" that proved she was a royal in the making, commented The Times newspaper.
William, 28, and his fiancee, 29, began dating while sharing a house in the picturesque Scottish seaside town renowned as the home of golf.
They both studied for history of art degrees before the prince switched to geography, with some reports crediting Middleton for encouraging him to change track rather than quit university.
Almost a decade on, they are to marry at Westminster Abbey in a wedding that has captured the world's attention.
Founded in the 15th century, St Andrews is the third oldest university in the English-speaking world.
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