Today, 13 years after getting married in a lovely ceremony at Westminster Abbey, William and Kate have a beautiful family with three children. However, there are always challenges to a marriage, and despite many believing that nothing could be wrong with a future king-and-queen couple, that is not the case.
According to a royal expert, the Prince and Princess of Wales have struggled with their marriage. As it stands, it’s not as perfect as one might think.
On April 29, 2011, William and Kate tied the knot at Westminster Abbey in London. Only years earlier, though, in 2007, it seemed their love story had ended. It was even reported in some places that William and Kate had broken up for good.
When William and Kate split in 2007, rumors about what had happened spread quickly.
Prince William and Kate Middleton – rocky love story
Some royal experts claimed Prince William decided to split up with Kate because he felt the “fun” had disappeared from their relationship. Meanwhile, Kate was said to have been left “desperately upset” – she had already pictured how they would marry in the future.
Shortly after the breakup, William allegedly roamed London nightclubs and saw several other girls.
Kate, of course, was left angry. According to reports, “harsh words” were exchanged as Kate thought she had been “humiliated” by William’s behavior. She also felt that he was “cheapening her image.”
“It was the first such warning she had dished out over the course of their four-and-a-half-year relationship,” a report read, as quoted by Express.
“Kate had had enough, and words were exchanged. Kate told William that he was making her look bad, one of her friends explained. She has coped for years with girls flinging themselves at her boyfriend, and for a while, she found it humorous and even flattering.”
At the same time, others argue that neither William nor Kate Middleton was in complete control of their split. According to royal expert Christopher Anderson, author of William and Kate: A Royal Love Story, William’s stepmother, now-Queen Camilla, played a significant role.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Anderson explained that Camilla may have been a driving factor behind the breakup.
“I was in London when the breakup [of William and Kate] occurred. I was shocked, completely stunned, everyone thought it was only a matter of time before William was going to ask Kate to marry him. And then people started telling me that Camilla was behind it,” Anderson said in 2016.
Kate Middleton realized “awful burden” before marrying William, expert says
Speculation about what happened between William and Kate back in 2007 still rears its head occasionally. Last year, former royal correspondent for Hello! Magazine, Judy Wade, discloses a new theory.
According to Wade, Kate started to realize how big of a lifestyle change it would entail to become a senior Royal Family member.
“She might have realized the awful burden she would have taken on. It’s a life sentence marrying a royal,” Wade said.
William was stationed with the Household Cavalry in Dorset at the time, while Kate was living in London. As a result, they often spent time apart. In their engagement interview, William and Kate opened up about their 2007 split.
“We did split up for a bit,” William admitted during the interview. “But that was just, we were both very young, it was at university, we were both finding ourselves and such, and being different characters and such.”
“I think I, at the time, wasn’t very happy about it, but actually, it made me a stronger person,” Kate added.
“You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realized. Or I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you’re younger. I really valued that time for me as well although I didn’t think it at the time, looking back on it.”
Prince William and Princess Kate have become a symbol of the new monarchy. While King Charles has been said to be on the front of modernizing the monarchy – for example, by limiting the number of working royals – the Prince and Princess of Wales are a new generation.
Reason behind Prince William and Kate Middleton ‘strong spark’
Kate has been known to wear not only pricy designer clothing but also more affordable brands, which have made her more approachable and, in the long run, more likable and “common.” It’s a great thing for the monarchy as a whole, as it could be seen as progressive and, perhaps most importantly, humanizes her.
William and Kate have also opted to give their children a “normal childhood as possible,” and by staying at Adelaide Cottage, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis get to life in a “normal,” house, despite the house, of course, being a lovely, big, place.
Royal marriages are made to last forever. Though, like any other couple, William and Kate Middleton have had their ups and downs. Since they both have hectic schedules, getting quality time with each other must be challenging.
Royal expert Duncan Larcombe shares his inside knowledge of the royal couple’s date nights and why their spark is still so strong.
In 2021 royal expert Duncan Larcombe spoke with OK! Magazine about how Prince William and Kate ensure quality time together and what their date nights look like.
Moreover, he explains why their spark is still so strong.
“Kate and William’s relationship blossomed when they were at St Andrew’s University, doing normal student-y things and just enjoying each other’s company,” Duncan said.
“Being a future king you might expect William to whisk Kate away to Paris for the day or an extravagant lunch at a top restaurant, but they’ve never been like that. They’re more of a fish and chips on the seafront type of couple, as we saw when they went back to St Andrew’s for an engagement recently.”
“Reminds them of their student days”
When the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in the UK, William and Kate made sure to go out and enjoy some quality time together out on the town.
For example, they usually visit Kate’s parents, and when doing so, the Prince and Princess of Wales take advantage of the fact that they have George, Charlotte, and Louis’ grandparents nearby.
As mentioned by Larcombe, Prince William and Kate Middleton aren’t about fancy things. But more commonly, they like to spend time together at a more “normal” venue.
“While the doting grandparents do the babysitting, William and Kate have been able to slip to the local pub for a night out, just the two of them,” the royal expert explained.
“I’m told that they did this to celebrate William’s birthday in June [in 2021]. Another favorite of the couple is for William to cook bolognese for Kate, and they sit on the sofa watching TV. It reminds them of their student days when they first met and their enduring romance began.”
While William and Kate have painted a picture of being one happy couple, things aren’t quite as they always seem. Just months ago, William and Kate were guests at the wedding between Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein and his wife, Saudi Arabian royal Rajwa al-Seif, in Amman, Jordan.
The wedding guests then had a chance to greet the couple, sending them their best wishes for what was to come next. Cameras were all over the place, and they caught the moment when Prince William and Kate Middleton were to say hello to the bride.
William’s “rude” gesture to Kate
Prince William went first, and after exchanging a few words, it was Kate’s turn to speak. Yet after a few moments, William felt it was time to move on. While she chatted with Princess Rajwa, appearing restless, William gestured towards Kate, encouraging her to move faster. Moreover, reports suggest the future king told her, “chop, chop.”
Of course, William wanted only for Kate to hurry along. But his words have left several royal experts criticizing his behavior towards his wife.
Speaking to the Express, body language expert Judy James didn’t like what she saw. She said it wasn’t one of William’s “finest moments when it comes to either body language or words.”
“While he has clearly moved on from the meet and greet with the bride and groom, Kate stands talking to the bride in an animated and very friendly way,” James said. “She is not causing a ‘log jam’ [by] holding up the queue and the next guests are still talking to the groom, so there appears to be no logical reason for William to hurry his wife along, especially as she only adds a few seconds to the conversation.”
Moreover, James stated that the hand gestures were “bad enough” She continued to congratulate Kate for ignoring William’s behavior. However, she added, “It has to be said that his behavior is overly dominant here, with his critical parent behavior putting her firmly in the implied role of a naughty child.”
The prince was “rude,” the body language expert concluded.
William and Kate have, according to royal expert Tom Quinn, been known not to want to appear as “the perfect couple that everyone else should try and emulate.” within the royal family.
William and Kate’s marriage “not as perfect as it might seem”
Speaking to Fox, the author of Gilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family explained that Prince William and Kate Middleton are just like every other couple, and that they inevitably have days when they are “really, really cross with each other,” as well as days when they don’t even talk to each other.
The Prince and Princess of Wales want to be seen as an ordinary couple, and they go through the same thing as any other parents, having to work, the stress of having children, and all other things.
Although they might seem to have everything in order, Tom Quinn argues that they, like all healthy marriages, have their differences. However, they know how to compromise and make everyday life work.
“From people I’ve spoken to, it’s not as placid. It’s not as perfect as it might seem,” Quinn told Express. “But William adopts the manners and the way of behaving of his grandmother, and Kate is very good at not complaining and adopting.”
The royal expert continued, “Both of them have stuck to the thing that made the late Queen such a remarkable monarch. They very, very rarely complain. And when they do, it’s always in measured terms.”
Quinn continued to explain that William and Kate also fight. However, while some couples “throw heavy vases at each other,” the Prince and Princess of Wales “throw cushions,” as it is “always kept under control.”
“It’s like a Jane Austen novel”
In an interview with Fox in March 2023, Quinn spoke more about what Prince William and Kate’s marriage looks like. While they have cute – and cheeky – nicknames for each other, it’s “not all sweetness.”
“Kate might seem to be a very calm person, and William also. But it’s not always true. Because the big stress for William and Kate is that they’re constantly surrounded by [palace aides]. It’s like a Jane Austen novel,” Tom Quinn claimed.
“Kate is very much the calm one,” he added. “William is the one who’s a bit hotheaded. We see an example of that in Harry’s book… But Kate is very level-headed. She’s the one who will pour oil on troubled waters and go, ‘Let’s not stir things up.'”
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