The world watched in awe as Prince William and Duchess Kate wed at Westminster Abbey in London on April 29, 2011, and years later, commoners still stand impressed with the couple. From their royal engagements to their three beautiful kids, Us Weekly is taking a look back at the duo’s relationship.
Though they didn’t tie the knot until 2011, Kate and William first met 10 years prior while studying history at Scotland’s University of St Andrews. The two would go on to keep quiet about their romance as they completed their education, but later had a high-profile split in 2007.
“At the time I wasn’t very happy about it, but it actually made me a stronger person,” Kate shared during a joint interview with William in November 2010. “You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realized. I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger, and I really valued that time for me as well although I didn’t think it at the time.”
William, for his part, explained the reasoning behind his decision to split from Kate for a short while. “It was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up so it was just a bit of space, and it worked out for the better,” he said at the time.
The pair would reconcile the following year, and announced their engagement in November 2010. They are now proud parents of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
William praised Kate in November 2016 for how she handles parenthood. “It’s been quite a change for me personally. I’m very lucky in the support I have from Catherine. She’s an amazing mother and a fantastic wife,” he said on Talk Vietnam at the time. “I’ve struggled at times. The alteration from being a single, independent man to going into marriage and then having children is life-changing.”
Kate, meanwhile, detailed her hopes for their kids in February 2020.
“Someone did ask me the other day, ‘What would you want your children to remember about their childhood?’” she explained during an appearance on the “Happy Mum, Happy Baby” podcast. “And I thought that was a really good question because actually if you really think about that, is it that I’m sitting down trying to do their math and spelling homework over the weekend? Or is it the fact that we’ve gone out and lit a bonfire and sat around trying to cook sausages that hasn’t worked because it’s too wet? That’s what I would want them to remember — those moments with me as a mother, but also the family going to the beach, getting soaking wet, filling our boots full of water, those are what I would want them to remember. Not a stressful household where you’re trying to do everything and not really succeeding at one thing.”
Scroll down to take a look back at William and Kate’s royal romance!
