Kate Middleton and Prince William, the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge, met in college in the early 2000s. They initially tried to keep things hush-hush, but this is the royal family we're talking about, so they soon became a fixture in the press, and were married in a massively high-profile wedding in 2011. Their relationship hasn't always been the stuff of fairy tales, but those who know them best swear that their connection is real, and their love will last. In many ways, that sets Will and Kate apart from many of their forebears. This is the sad royal tradition William and Kate have finally broken.
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00:00Do any royal couples actually love each other? In the House of Windsor, it might be more
00:06rare than you think.
00:07Kate Middleton and Prince William, the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge, seem like the definition
00:12of a storybook romance. The pair met in college in the early 2000s. While their relationship
00:17started as a friendship, William admitted that he was drawn to his classmate.
00:21I knew that there was possibly something that I wanted to explore there, but we ended up
00:26being friends for a while, and that just was a good sort of foundation.
00:31The future Duke and Duchess of Cambridge lived together with two other friends in a house
00:35off-campus during their second year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2002.
00:40They began dating in 2003 and initially tried to keep their relationship a secret. After
00:45going public in 2004, they became a fixture in the press. In 2010, William proposed and
00:51a royal wedding followed the next year, taking place in London's Westminster Abbey on April
00:5729, 2011. Since then, the couple has welcomed three children into the world and served as
01:02representatives of the British royal family on the world stage.
01:06In April 2021, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary
01:11after having been together for about 18 years. Believe it or not, that longevity might make
01:16them a rarity in the Royal House of Windsor.
01:19William's parents, Charles and Diana, had a notoriously contentious relationship that
01:24was colored by infidelity and ended in divorce. And they weren't the only ones in the House
01:29of Windsor to be publicly unlucky in love. Royal historian Robert Lacey, who authored
01:34the 2020 William and Harry biography, Battle of Brothers, claimed to People in 2021 that
01:39William and Kate's loving relationship is nothing less than a historical landmark for
01:44the royal family. He wrote,
01:46"...the House of Windsor has an abysmal track record of marital failure, but William has
01:51broken the cycle."
01:53Lacey largely credited Kate for helping William break the cycle, describing her as a, quote,
01:58"...empathetic outsider from middle-class origins."
02:01It doesn't hurt that the couple can look up to Kate's parents, Carol and Michael Middleton,
02:05who have been married for more than 41 years.
02:08William and Kate's former private secretary, Jamie Louther Pinkerton, weighed in on why
02:12they're basically the ultimate royal power couple to people in 2021. According to him,
02:18William, quote, "...has the experience of knowing where the institution sits and seeing
02:22it evolve," while Kate, quote, "...brings this pragmatic awareness of what it's like to be
02:26from a decent, down-to-earth family."
02:29Author Robert Lacey also noted to People that the pair are devoted parents to their three
02:33children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. With any luck, their relationship
02:38will set a great example for their children and the future House of Windsor.
02:43Despite how successful their relationship seems now, Kate and William did face a couple
02:47of bumps in the road as they got to know each other. For the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,
02:51it seems as though the most prominent rough spot that the public is aware of took place
02:55before their brief breakup in 2007.
02:57We went through a few stumbling blocks, as every relationship does, but we picked ourselves
03:03up and carried on."
03:04As for why they briefly broke up, royal author Katie Nicholl speculated to Express that Prince
03:09William was left questioning his priorities after beginning his career with the military
03:13in 2006. Meanwhile, Middleton allegedly wanted to get more serious in their relationship.
03:19As Nicholl put it,
03:20"...I think she wanted some more commitment."
03:22The prince also reportedly hoped to avoid a failed marriage like the one between his
03:26father and mother, and was therefore extra cautious about entering into a serious relationship.
03:32Nicholl added that the queen and Prince Charles both urged William not to rush into anything.
03:36Unfortunately, tension seemed to hit a boiling point when William made a last-minute decision
03:41one holiday season and canceled plans to spend New Year's with the Middletons.
03:46William was reportedly left in tears after receiving a phone call about the change in
03:49plans. Their brief split happened shortly after. Thankfully, the young couple were able
03:54to work things out. Reportedly, even the queen was upset by the news of their breakup.
03:58Now, of course, that's all behind them as they forge a new path forward for the royal
04:03house of Windsor.