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The world has been captivated by two people, William and Catherine, for the last 14 years.
Now, as the Prince and Princess of Wales are parents to three children – George, 11, Charlotte, 9, and Louis, 6 – the family is the heart and most definitely the future of the British Monarchy.
Catherine comes from a strong, loving family background, with parents Carole and Michael Middleton and their two other children Pippa and James.
William, on the other hand, although also from a loving family, saw first-hand the painful breakup of his mother Princess Diana to Prince Charles.
It is something that was foremost in his mind when he had to choose a bride who would eventually become Queen.
Unlike his parents – Diana was in effect chosen for Charles as a suitable candidate to marry a prince – William wanted to find the right woman for him and not make any mistakes.
And bear in mind his courtship would be held under the glare of the world media.
His wooing of Catherine took nearly ten years to lead to their engagement announcement on November 16, 2010.
The happy couple graduated in 2005 with first-class honours
Prince William had booked a table at the fashion show where Kate was modelling
It is generally accepted that the pair moved from being good friends to an actual couple in March of that year. William saw Catherine in a different light after seeing her in a charity fashion show
It all started at St Andrews University in Fife, Scotland. Founded in the 15th century, it is Scotland’s first University and the third oldest in the English-speaking world.
William arrived there on September 1, 2001, to be greeted by thousands of well-wishers and new and old students, including a young Catherine Middleton.
She had decided to switch to St Andrews after first choosing Edinburgh University to read History of Art.
William too had chosen the History of Art, but in his second year switched to Geography.
It is believed they crossed paths for the first time in their dorm, St. Salvator’s Halls of Residence, within a couple of weeks.
In their engagement interview with ITN’s Tom Bradby, Catherine said it took some time to get to know each other partly due to her bashfulness.
‘I think you said I actually went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off,’ she recounted to Prince William.
From there, however, the pair became ‘very close friends’. ‘We were friends for over a year first,’ William said in the same interview. ‘It just sort of blossomed from then on.’
The couple looked tense at Cheltenham and shortly after William rang Kate at work to break things off
After the initial heart break Kate and her sister Pippa were seen out at clubs and parties and were known as the ‘Sizzler Sisters’
It was at The Concert for Diana at Wembley that people guessed it was back on as Kate sat a few rows back with her family
Kate was sat just behind William’s best friends Thomas van Straubenzee and James Meade who are in his trusted circle
By their second year, the couple had begun living with each other with friends Fergus Boyd and Olivia Bleasdale in a four-bedroomed, two storey townhouse off campus.
It is generally accepted that the pair moved from being good friends to an actual couple in March of that year. William saw Catherine in a different light after seeing her in a charity fashion show wearing a see-through minidress over a bra and underwear set.
Their romance had a minor setback in 2003 when they fell out with each other. But that only lasted two weeks before getting back together and leaving the townhouse to set up a home.
The Prince and Princess chose to move to Balgove House at Strathtyrum for their third and fourth years at university.
It was a sprawling private estate located just outside of St Andrews.
Although their romance become public, the couple were largely left alone to get on with their lives, which enabled them to have private time together largely away from the media glare.
In the engagement interview, William said: ‘I knew there was something very special about her, and then I knew there was possibly something I wanted to explore there, but we ended up being friends for a while.
‘I do genuinely believe now that being friends with [each other] is a massive advantage.’
William and Catherine graduated in 2005 both with upper second class honours.
Lake Alice in Kenya was the place where Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton with his mother’s sapphire and diamond ring
A few weeks before the big announcement, Kate and William arrived together at Harry Meade and Rosie Bradford’s wedding which they had never really done before as they used to arrive separately, and many royal observers took this as a sign something big was about to happen
By April 2007, the couple’s romance had hit a rocky patch. William decided he was too young to settle down.
But Catherine was also sensing something was wrong around the time of her 25th birthday in January 2007 when William cancelled plans.
Plus, pressure had also been mounting on when an engagement was going to be announced. Catherine had been dubbed ‘waity Katy’ by some cruel newspaper columnists – known as the Wednesday witches for their normally acerbic comments on many celebrities.
In a brutal and some would say callous and cowardly way, William rang Catherine at work at the Jigsaw firm. She took the emotionally charged call outside and was seen pacing the car park. They both acknowledged they were on different pages.
It was a devastating blow to Catherine, who felt doubly let down at being dumped over the phone.
According to Royal author Robert Jobson, William got drunk with friends at the Mahiki club and yelled about being ‘free’.
But Kate’s actions after their breakup reportedly made it impossible for the young prince to get his university girlfriend off his mind.
She was helped by her mother, Carole, who took her on a trip to the Irish capital of Dublin to distract her from her heartache.
‘Carole Middleton acted swiftly, taking her heartbroken daughter for a break in Dublin – a welcome respite from media scrutiny,’ Jobson added.
‘On Catherine’s return, she decided she wasn’t going to sit around moping; what was good for the goose was good for the gander.’
Now in the public eye, she was repeatedly photographed by paparazzi wearing more risqué outfits than ever before when she went out with friends, and there was one that sealed their eventual reunion.
Jobson continued: ‘She turned to old friends for support, going on holiday with a girlfriend to Ibiza. They partied long into the night.
‘Back in London, there were soon so many paparazzi shots of Catherine leaving nightclubs – often with her sister Pippa – that the media dubbed them the Sizzler Sisters.’
By June 2007 William began wondering about the mistake he had made, but Catherine did not want to rush into anything and needed some time.
It didn’t stop him inviting her to a costume party and she showed up dressed as a ‘sexy’ nurse ‘in fishnet tights and a short dress’.
This outfit caught William’s eye, and he made a beeline for her.
‘They then spent the first part of the evening deep in conversation before hitting the dance floor, where they ended up kissing.’
Not many of their friends thought Catherine would take him back – but she did.
However, because of their earlier split, their reunion was initially kept a secret, but William did promise to marry Kate and give her some assurance about their future.
The engagement was announced to the world’s press in the State rooms at St James Palace on November 16 2010
The newly engaged couple gave an interview to Tom Bradby after the announcement
Their reunion was publicly confirmed when Kate attended the Concert for Diana, organized by William and Prince Harry in honour of the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, in July 2007.
‘He finally proposed formally during a holiday in Kenya in 2010, by the side of the turquoise waters of Lake Alice,’ Jobson wrote.
William popped the question with Princess Diana’s iconic engagement ring: a 12-carat oval sapphire surrounded by a white gold halo featuring 14 solitaire diamonds.
‘The question wasn’t entirely unexpected, of course, but Catherine’s face lit up with a radiant smile as she said yes.’
William later said that the reason he waited so long before proposing was to give Kate a true insight into royal life before entering into a marriage that would one day see her become queen.
The couple married on April 29, 2011.
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