Kate and William celebrate their anniversary today and have marked their 10-year marriage milestone with sweet photographs taken by Chris Floyd.
Taken this week ahead of The Duke and Duchess’ 10th wedding anniversary
📸 Chris Floyd pic.twitter.com/aEgEiKRIdT
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) April 28, 2021
10 years 👰♀️🤵♂️
📸 Chris Floyd pic.twitter.com/fPunbUz3VL
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) April 28, 2021
William and Kate relationship timeline
As Prince William and wife Kate Middleton celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, when did their relationship begin?
Why did they split up while dating, and why was she nicknamed ‘Waity Katie’?
Now, more than 20 years after meeting, the royal couple are married with three (seriously cute) children.
Here’s everything you need to know, including a timeline of their relationship.
Read more: Will and Kate make first joint public appearance since Meghan and Harry crisis
Will and Kate relationship 2001: How and when did they meet?
Prince William and Kate Middleton, now 38 and 39 respectively, met as students at the University of St. Andrews in 2001.
She studied art history, while he studied geography.
The Prince famously watched a charity fashion show that Kate modelled in.
The couple shared a house with two other friends in college.
During their second year at the famous uni, Kate and William became roommates.
2003: When did they get together?
Romance didn’t blossom until the end of 2003, when Kate split up with her boyfriend – a fellow St. Andrews student.
William said in their official engagement interview: “We moved in together as friends and it just sort of blossomed from there really.”
2004: When did they first go public with their relationship?
Their relationship first became public in 2004.
Photographers caught them looking loved-up on a skiing trip to Klosters in 2004, despite their efforts to keep their relationship under wraps.
The following year, the pair were pictured together on their graduation day in 2005.
In a photo released by Kate’s family, the couple are seen posing together in their smart graduation clothes.
2006: Their relationship grows
In 2006, Kate and William cemented their relationship when they attended the wedding of Camilla Parker Bowles’ daughter Laura in 2006.
This seemed to confirm that Kate was a contender to become Will’s wife.
Later that year, she watched William graduate from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.
Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and the Duchess of Cornwall also attended the event.
During these golden years, Kate began to appear at William’s side for more and more important events.
However, like any other couple, their relationship soon hit a rocky patch…
Read more: Prince William and Kate Middleton treated children to chocolate Easter egg hunt
Will and Kate relationship 2007: Why did they split?
In 2007, they broke up for a short time – reportedly due to the pressures of being under intense scrutiny.
Speaking in the couple’s engagement interview, Kate said: “At the time I wasn’t very happy about it, but it made me a stronger person.
“You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realised.
“I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me although I didn’t think it at the time.”
William added: “We were both very young […]. We were both defining ourselves as such and being different characters.
“It was very much trying to find our way and we were growing up. It was just a bit of space and things worked out for the better.”
Luckily, the break, didn’t last long.
The couple reunited just a few months later.
This was confirmed in July 2007 when Kate attended the Concert for Diana, marking the 10th anniversary of her death.
In April 2008, Kate helped William celebrate a huge milestone.
In the first public event since their brief split, Kate watched as William received his RAF wings – marking him as a qualified pilot.
Why was Kate called Waity Katie?
Kate was nicknamed ‘Waity Katie’ during her 10 year relationship with William until they wed.
The nation waited for Prince William to pop the question, but it took another three years after their reconcilement to become engaged.
The Duchess-to-be had been dubbed “Waity Katie” since she had been waiting so long for a marriage proposal.
Will and Kate relationship 2010: When did they get engaged?
In 2010, the couple got engaged and announced the happy news to the public.
Prince William proposed during a safari holiday in Kenya.
He used Princess Diana’s sapphire ring and explained it was his “way of keeping my mother close to it all”.
During their engagement interview, he said: “We had a little private time away together with some friends, and I just decided it was the right time really.
“We’d been talking about marriage or a while, so it wasn’t a massively big surprise, but I took her up somewhere nice in Kenya.”
Will admitted he had carried the priceless heirloom around in his rucksack for three weeks before eventually getting down on one knee!
The happy news was finally confirmed at a press conference held at St James’ Palace.
Kate described her “loving boyfriend” as “a true romantic” who had been “supportive of her in good times and also through the bad times”.
Mario Testino took the couple’s engagement photos, in which Kate wore a white dress from high street favourite Reiss which sold out immediately – much like her blue Issa wrap dress which she wore to the press conference.
2011: When did Will and Kate get married?
Will and Kate got married on Friday April 29 2011, with 1900 guests.
The historic wedding at Westminster Abbey was watched by as many as two billion people in more than 180 countries around the world.
Kate wore a bespoke gown designed by Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton, and the Queen loaned her the Cartier Scroll Tiara for the special day.
Celebrities, foreign royals, politicians, and diplomats from across the Commonwealth, and members of the British armed forces were all in attendance.
Upon their marriage, the Queen granted the couple the titles the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
In July 2011, they embarked on their first royal tour overseas, taking in the United States and Canada.
2012: When did Kate get pregnant with her first child?
In December 2012, the couple announced they were expecting their first child.
An official announcement said: “Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby.
“The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry and members of both families are delighted with the news.”
Kate’s pregnancy was revealed earlier than usual, when she had not yet passed the first trimester, as she was admitted to hospital for acute morning sickness, or hyperemesis gradivarium.
Will and Kate relationship 2013: When did they have George?
The couple welcomed their first child, Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge, on July 22 2013.
They introduced Prince George to the public outside the maternity ward at St. Mary’s Hospital Paddington, known as the Lindo Wing.
George is third in line to the throne.
The baby prince was christened in October, in the Royal Chapel at St James’ Palace, wearing an antique christening gown that has been worn by royal babies as far back as 1841.
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2015 and 2018: When were Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis born?
Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis followed in 2015 and 2018.
Both Charlotte and Louis were also delivered at the Lindo Wing.
The young royals are fourth and fifth in line to the throne, respectively.
In September 2014, Kate’s second pregnancy was confirmed, with Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge born on May 02 2015.
In September 2017, the couple confirmed that they were expecting their third child.
Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge was born on the April 28 2018.
The Day Will and Kate Got Married on ITV1
On April 29 2011, almost two billion people around the globe tuned in to watch as Prince William married his long term girlfriend, Kate Middleton.
This new ITV documentary looks at the union between Will and Kate – “the first commoner to wed a future British king in 300 years”.
The Day Will and Kate Got Married celebrates their wedding day through the memories of family, friends and insiders who played a part in it.
Kate’s uncle Gary Goldsmith says: “It’s a fairy tale beyond fairy tales.
“We come from really humble stock. My father was a painter and decorator, mum was an accounts clerk and their eldest granddaughter was at Westminster Abbey about to marry the future king of this country.”
The Day Will and Kate Got Married airs on Wednesday April 07 2021 at 9pm on ITV1.
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