With well over 20 years of history as a couple, of course Prince William and Kate Middleton have had some ups and downs – especially during those early years when they were both young university students. Their brief breakup in 2007 seems to have been a difficult time for them both, but this piece of intel about how William convinced Kate to get back together with him is thickening the plot of that chapter of their love story a bit.
Will and Kate were only apart for two months back then – from April to June 2007 – because they reconciled as soon as they discovered they didn’t want to be without each other. At that point, they’d already been dating for five years and engagement wasn’t yet on the horizon, which is something that has been said to have been a sore spot for Kate, who was 25 at the time.
According to what royal expert Katie Nicholl wrote in her book The Making of a Royal Romance, when Will and Kate went on vacation to the Seychelles after they reconnected, the laid back (and sparsely populated) island of Desroches ended up being the perfect place for William to open up about his intentions with Kate.
“For a young man who has an inherent fear of tomorrow this was not easy for William, but the tranquil backdrop of the island was as good [a] place as any to discuss it,” Katie wrote at the time, via the Daily Mail.
He took this opportunity to initiate a serious conversation about getting married someday, and promised Kate it would happen – just not yet.
“William, who had inherited something of his father’s fear of commitment, knew he would lose Kate if he could not give her some form of guarantee,” Katie wrote.
“They didn’t agree to get married there and then; what they made was a pact,” a friend of the couple told Katie. “William told Kate she was the one, but he was not ready to get married. He promised her his commitment and said he would not let her down, and in turn she agreed to wait for him.”
As we know now, the waiting paid off – though it would be three years after their conversation that William would finally pop the question.
He spoke about their breakup in the couple’s engagement interview in October 2010, saying that it was a time they were both “trying to find our own way.”
It looks like taking that bit of space was the right choice for them both, especially because William came back to the relationship ready to offer just a little bit more commitment to Kate. Who knows if they would still be together today if they hadn’t taken their time?
