ENTERTAINMENTInside Kate Middleton and Prince William’s toughest year yet
When the Princess of Wales released her deeply personal video on March 22, in which she revealed her shock cancer diagnosis, she chose to do so without her husband by her side. Yet while the Prince of Wales’s absence may have raised a few eyebrows at the time, the choice perfectly encapsulates the enduring strength of William and Kate’s marriage as it stands, 13 years after they tied the knot in front of billions at Westminster Abbey.
The fact the Princess was adamant she wanted to deliver this important message on her own shows just how confident the couple are in their solid bond – a particularly powerful statement amidst the vicious, unfounded rumours that had been swirling about their marriage, suggesting everything from extra-martial affairs to impending divorce. Not for them the compulsive canoodling and hand-holding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – this was Kate’s news to tell alone. And while William would have preferred she’d been able to keep her diagnosis private, those closest to the couple say she released the video with the full support of her husband and that he was involved every step of the way.
The low-key manner of the announcement spoke volumes about their relationship, which has never been flashy or showy. “William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Kate revealed in the video. “Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance.” The couple have weathered many storms together over the years and have long been able to rely on each other in times of need. But this year has undoubtedly been their toughest yet, and one that will make this wedding anniversary feel particularly poignant.
For while both William and Kate have remained admirably resilient in the face of such adversity, there’s no doubt the last few months have taken their toll. “As phenomenally gracious as Kate was in the video, you could still see worry etched on her face and concern in her voice,” says Christopher Andersen, author of The King: The Life of Charles III. “William and Kate always put up a brave front. Frankly, they both have to remain upbeat for the children’s sake. William has been a chronic worrier since childhood – Diana was concerned that, in her words, William ‘feels things too deeply.’ Now it’s the Prince’s turn to bolster his wife’s spirits – a far easier job, since Kate is infinitely more the sunny optimist.”
The pair first met as students at the University of St Andrews in 2001, where they were initially in the same halls of residence and reading the same degree, although William later switched from art history to geography. They started out as friends, something William later recalled during their engagement interview, when he said he felt “being friends with one another [first] is a massive advantage”. It’s thought his romantic interests were piqued when he saw Kate sashay down the catwalk for a charity fashion show, wearing a see-through minidress – though a close friend has said there was something there right from the start. “He found her really attractive and they’re the couple that still really fancy each other.”
William and Kate became a couple in 2003 and managed to keep their relationship under wraps until April 2004, when The Sun broke their cover by publishing photographs of them skiing. The pair spent their twenties out and about in London, cosying up at rugby matches and laughing in taxis on their way back from Boujis and Mahiki. Their ability to have fun together has always been cited as one of the main components of their relationship. “As a couple, they share a sense of humour,” says Claudia Joseph, author of Kate: The Making of a Princess. “They don’t take themselves too seriously and they have each other’s backs.”
William and Kate announced their engagement in 2010 and married a year later, in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey watched by an estimated global audience of two billion. Those in royal circles were astonished by how cool, calm and collected Kate appeared on the day, with one quipping: “She must have the ability to switch on a tap and ice runs through the veins.” In 2013 Kate gave birth to their first child, Prince George, and was made front pages around the world beaming in a polka dot dress with a proud William by her side on the steps of the Lindo Wing. The birth of Princess Charlotte followed in 2015, and Prince Louis in 2018.
The couple have always been fiercely protective of their children and their family life, working hard to give George, Charlotte and Louis as normal an upbringing as possible. Usually, unless they are on engagements or overseas, William or Kate do the school drop-off and pick-up every day at Lambrook, in Berkshire. While Kate has been out of action, William has been doing both drop-off and pick-up for the kids, helped at home by their nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo. “Both William and Kate have always put their children first and the day job comes second,” says a royal source. “That will never change.”
Though we’re all familiar with Meghan’s complaints about her treatment at the hands of the British press, many forget Kate was given just as rough a ride. When their relationship first went public, she was hounded by the paps, who would wait outside her Chelsea home and chase her down the street. After she quit her job at Jigsaw when the press intrusion became too much, she was branded a ‘Waity Katie’, content to do nothing until William decided to put a ring on it. Snobbery about her family was rife, particularly concerning her mother Carole, who it’s said some in William’s circle nicknamed ‘Doors to Manual’, in reference to her former career as a flight attendant. While those closest to Kate says these jibes weren’t exactly water off a duck’s back, she never rose to the bait. “She’s incredibly grounded and resilient, and knows better than to concern herself with every little thing that ends up in the papers,” says one insider.
In April 2007, the couple broke up – though they were back together mere months later. During their engagement interview, William reflected on their brief time apart. “We were both very young and we were both sort of defining ourselves as such and being different characters,” he said. “It was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up.” Kate shared her own thoughts. “At the time I wasn’t very happy about it, but actually it made me a stronger person,” she said. “You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realised. I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you’re younger, and I really valued that time for me, as well.
The first bump in the road of their life as a married couple came in September 2012, during a tour of southeast Asia and the South Pacific to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. While there, the French version of the magazine Closer published a series of paparazzi photographs that showed Kate sunbathing topless while on holiday with William in France that summer. Kate was understandably devastated but was determined to carry on with the tour and act as if nothing had happened. It was William who lost his rag and made the decision to sue the magazine for its “grotesque” breach of privacy.
Kate was obviously upset by the photos, but after a good cry she was ready to move on,” says Andersen. “It was William, understandably enraged by what he saw as an unforgivable violation of his wife’s privacy, who pushed for legal action – and ultimately won in the courts. In terms of temperament, Kate has always been the classic ‘keep calm and carry on’ type. William is quick to anger, and while Kate is no pushover, she has never been known to fly off the handle the way he does.”
Just a year after the topless photos fiasco, the couple faced another difficult period when Kate was pregnant with Prince George and suffering from severe morning sickness. Her hyperemesis gravidarum was so bad that the Princess was even hospitalised for a period, to help treat her symptoms. Not long afterwards the author Hilary Mantel launched a scathing attack on her, describing Kate as a “shop-window mannequin, with no personality of her own”, whose “only point and purpose” was “to give birth”. As debate raged around the comments, Kate again chose to say nothing.
“She has that almost old-fashioned, Queen Mother attitude to drama – she just doesn’t do it,” the couple’s former private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton has said of her approach. Other royal experts suggest Kate recognises it’s all about playing the long game, something the late Queen also had a talent for. “Kate comes from a very stable background and is very thoughtful,” says Joseph. “She sees the bigger picture, which can be helpful in times of crisis.”
More recently, the couple have found themselves tested by the Megxit saga and the seemingly never-ending barrage of bombshells from across the pond. Understandably, William has taken it particularly hard – through the ongoing rift with Harry, he has essentially lost his brother. After the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s shock Oprah Winfrey interview, one of William’s closest friends was quoted as saying he’d had “a year from hell” and that Kate had been “fantastic supporting him”. After the release of Harry’s tell-all book, Spare, another friend said William had been left “anxious” and “sad”. “He’s concentrating on his wife and children, that’s what he has.”
In their marriage, Kate is known for taking on the role of peacemaker – something William himself has acknowledged, once telling a friend: “She’s much better than me, she wants everyone to be aligned.” So, it fell to the Princess to try to broker some sort of truce between the brothers. Things were at an all-time low in April 2021, when Harry and William were forced together at Prince Philip’s funeral, just a month after the Oprah interview. As the royal party emerged from St George’s Chapel, it was Kate who broke the ice chatting to Harry, leading William to follow suit. “Kate tried valiantly to bring William and Harry back together after Megxit, but eventually gave up – that is how deeply William still resents what he sees as a betrayal at the hands of his brother,” says Andersen.
When Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022, William and Kate were united in their grief, as well as the realisation that their lives were about change. As they stepped into their new roles as the Prince and Princess of Wales, the couple entered what their aides referred to as a more “serious phase”.
“William and Kate have an equal partnership and deal with life’s blows together,” says Joseph. “Everybody has to deal with grief and the Royal Family is not immune. As the late Queen said: ‘Grief is the price we pay for love.’ That doesn’t mean they are immune from suffering, but they are naturally discrete and share an instinct to protect their family, which holds them in good stead.”
As for why their marriage has stood the test of time, many point towards the solid groundwork William and Kate laid when they first got together. “Kate and William want the same things,” says Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of My Mother and I: The Inside Story of the King and our Late Queen. “They have the same family values and they both have the same respect for the monarchy, what it stands for and where they see it going in modern society. That makes for a successful working partnership and marriage.”
Others think it’s their opposing strengths that make them so good together. “On the surface, one would think William and Kate are very much alike – attractive, athletic, charming, smart, hard-working, devoted to their children, all that good stuff,” says Andersen. “But in truth this is to a great extent a marriage of opposites, and that’s what makes it work so well. Kate has always grounded William, and I think no one appreciates that more than Charles.”
What all can agree on, though, is that their marriage couldn’t be more different from that of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. “William and Kate’s life experiences are similar – the devotion of their parents, their love and respect of their families,” says Seward. “Harry and Meghan are quite the opposite. They are both very different. Meghan, being the stronger of the two, has imposed her values on Harry. They are not a unit and although they want wealth and the freedom it brings, they are more successful apart than together.”
As for what we can expect next from the Prince and Princess, that all depends on how Kate’s recovery goes. “There will be the rare public appearance – Kate is by all accounts eager to get back to work supporting the charities and causes she believes in – but for the immediate future, Kate will focus primarily on her own healing and the wellbeing of George, Charlotte, and Louis,” says Andersen. Undoubtedly, the family will also want to spend as much time as possible at their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall, over the summer. “That’s where they’re at their happiest,” says Joseph. “Where they can retreat and live life as a family, away from the public glare.”
Because if the last few months have taught William and Kate anything, it’s the importance of family – something they were both already keenly aware of. “Celebrations for this anniversary are understandably going to be very low key, but as long as they’re together they’ll be happy,” says one insider. “They’ve always had a solid relationship, and Kate gives William great confidence. They know together they can tackle anything.”
