Why supermodel Claudia Schiffer scored a coveted invite to the State Banquet at Windsor Castle

Claudia Schiffer was a surprise inclusion among guests at a State Banquet taking place at Windsor Castle today.

The German-born supermodel and actress sat just two seats from King Charles and four seats from the Princess of Wales at the banquet in honour of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Büdenbender.

To her left was UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The inclusion of Schiffer, 55, in the guest list is thought to be two-fold.

She is not only one of Germany's best-known exports but her husband, English filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, was knighted last year for his services to creative industries.

Schiffer was included in the official royal procession under the name Lady Vaughn.

Her attendance at the event could have been a little embarrassing for Prince William, who reportedly once had a crush on Schiffer.

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Schiffer's modelling career took off in 1987 when she was discovered by a French modelling agency owner in a Düsseldorf nightclub at 17.

After finishing school, she flew to Paris for a trial photo shoot that landed her the cover of Elle magazine.

Her resemblance to Brigitte Bardot saw her front a campaign for Guess in 1989. A British Vogue cover followed before she was chosen by German designer Karl Lagerfeld as the face of Chanel.

From there, she became one of the most sought-after models of the '90s alongside Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington; for whom the term 'supermodel' was coined.

It was during the height of her fame that Schiffer first caught the eye of a teenage Prince William.

While a story had circulated for years that Princess Diana once invited a trio of supermodels to Kensington Palace for a surprise meeting with her oldest son, he admitted so much himself in a scene from the 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy.

He recalled the time his mother organised to have three supermodels waiting at the top of the stairs to greet him after school.

"I was probably a 12 or 13-year-old boy who had posters of them on his wall," he said.

"I went bright red, and didn't know quite what to say and sort of fumbled and I think pretty much fell down the stairs on the way up.

"I was completely and utterly awestruck.

"That was a very funny memory that's lived with me forever".

While at the time he recalled it was Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell who visited him that day, Turlington later corrected the Prince on Twitter, now X, writing "I remember it well. It was Claudia Schiffer, not Cindy Crawford though".

Prince William's confusion probably stems from the fact it wasn't the first time his mother arranged for a supermodel to meet him.

During an episode of The Crown, a scene depicted Prince Philip visiting his grandson at boarding school and asking for the names of the models in a poster on his wall.

"Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell," William replied.

It led Crawford to take to Instagram to share her own memory of meeting the young royal and his mother.

"A little cameo on The Crown," she said.

"I still vividly remember visiting Kensington Palace to meet Diana and a teenage William (who had just discovered the 'Super Models')," she wrote.

Nowadays, Schiffer is a mother of three children, Caspar, 22, Clementine, 21, and Cosima, 15, whom she shares with Vaughn.

The family has lived in a 14-bedroom Tudor manor house in Suffolk, England, since they wed in 2002.

In 2002, Vaughn, the producer and director behind hit films including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Layer Cake, X-Men: First Class Kingsman: The Golden Circle and The King's Man officially changed his name to Matthew de Vere Drummond after learning aristocrat George de Vere Drummond and not actor Robert Vaughn was his biological father.

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