Kate Middleton and Sam Waley-Cohen.Photo: Indigo/Getty
On Saturday,Kate MiddletonandPrince Williamshared a tweetcongratulating jockey Sam Waley-Cohenonwinning the Grand Nationalat Aintree during his final horse race against 50-1 odds.
“Huge congratulations to @swaleycohen for winning the Grand National,” they wrote. “What a way to retire!”
Not only does the couple know Sam, 39, personally — he attended their royal wedding in 2011 — but it’s rumored that the jockey was responsible for reuniting the couple after they split back in 2007.
Kate and Prince William met as freshmenat the University of St Andrews in Scotland in 2001, becoming friends before their relationship turned romantic. But they had a brief breakup in 2007. Friends of the couple who spoke with PEOPLE at the time said there was no last-straw moment, but rather a gradual unraveling. Kate, however, was ready to commit and William was not ready to settle down.
According to theDaily Mail, Sam invited both Kate andPrince Williamto a “Freakin Naughty”-themed party at his family’s 17th-century mansion in Oxfordshire, where William wore short shorts and a police helmet while Kate dressed as a nurse.
They reconnected at the party and were seen chatting. Just weeks later, they were on vacation together in the Seychelles.
Prince William and Kate Middleton on their wedding day in 2011.Chris Jackson/Getty
While many credit Sam with bringing the couple back together, he has played coy about his role in the past.
“There’s an idea that I was like Cupid with a bow and arrow,” he said in 2011, according to theDaily Mail.“People love the idea that somebody put them back together, but they put themselves together far more.”
Sam — whose brother Thomas died in 2004 after a battle with cancer — was a friend of Kate’s during their time at Marlborough College. He memorably joined Kate at a 2008 charity roller disco benefitting Place2Be and “Tom’s Ward,” named after Sam’s brother, at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Sam Waley-Cohen.Jon Super/AP/Shutterstock
Kate wore a sparkly green halter top and yellow shorts with pink leggings at the ’80s-themed event.
Kate also attended Sam’s wedding to Annabel Ballin with younger sister Pippa in 2011, just a couple months after her own big day.
Sam has another royal connection: toPrince William’s cousin,Princess Beatrice.
Both Sam andPrincess Beatricewore green tutus and baseball caps with their names on them while running the 2010 London Marathon in the “Caterpillar Run Team,” a team of 32 runners tethered together.
Sam Waley-Cohen and Princess Beatrice.Indigo/Getty
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Due to his amateur status, Sam will not receive any prize money for his horse racing victory,DailyMailreports. According to the outlet, Sam is also an owner of a dental care company.
“I can’t say anything; I can’t believe it,” the jockey said upon accepting the victory. “I have to say thank you, as it’s my last ever ride, to Dad [Robert Waley-Cohen, horse Noble Yeats' owner] — he’s had unwavering belief and love for 23 years.”
He added, “I think living life with an open heart is a good strategy. I don’t think [winning the race] has any connection to them, but as a general philosophy I think hoping for the best and living full of hope is a good way to live.”
source: people.com
