Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe Gates confirmed her romance with Arthur Donald while celebrating her college graduation.
“My boyfriend, Arthur, giving me a lift post-ceremony,” Phoebe, 21, captioned a photo diary for Nylon that was published on Friday, June 21, while celebrating her graduation from Stanford University.
In the snap, Donald — who is the grandson of Beatles legend Paul McCartney — gave Phoebe a piggyback ride. Hours later, Phoebe shared the image via her Instagram in a montage of graduation memories.
“I knew I had to make it happen if I could because I wanted to watch my mother [Melinda Gates] deliver this year’s commencement speech as a graduate,” Phoebe added to Nylon of completing her Human Biology undergraduate degree in three years. “I can’t think of a better ending!”
She added, “It’s the end of one chapter, and beginning of another, and it was such a privilege to have this time with our family and friends to celebrate this.”
Phoebe and Donald, 25, have been linked since October 2023 when they went on a European vacation together.
“Paris on film 💙,” Phoebe wrote via Instagram at the time, sharing a photo of the couple on a balcony overlooking the Eiffel Tower.
Phoebe is the youngest child of Bill, 68, and ex-wife Melinda, 59. The exes, who split in 2021, also share daughter Jennifer, 28, and son Rory, 25. Jennifer, for her part, married equestrian Nayel Nassar in October 2021.
Arthur’s lineage is equally star-studded as he is the eldest son of Mary McCartney and Alistair Donald, who also share 21-year-old son Eliot. Mary, 54, is one of Paul’s five children. The musician shares Heather, Mary, Stella and James with late wife Linda Eastman and daughter Beatrice with now-ex Heather Mills.
Paul, who married Nancy Shevell in 2011, is a proud grandfather to his respective kids’ offspring.
“I’ve got eight grandchildren of my own,” he told Hey Music in September 2019. “One day one of them just said, ‘Grandude, can you do this?’ and it kind of stuck — the kids started calling me that for a joke and I thought, ‘Well, it is kind of funny.’”
Paul further noted that he is mainly with his grandkids while “on holiday.”
“We have a couple of holidays every year with them,” Paul said. “That is mainly when I read to them.”
