In it for the long haul! Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton’s cutest photos through the years prove their marriage is strong.
The royals have been together for almost two decades after meeting in 2001 during their first year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
“When I first met Kate, I knew there was something very special about her. I knew there was possibly something that I wanted to explore there,” William recalled during an interview following their engagement. “We ended up being friends for a while, and that just sort of was a good foundation. Because I do generally believe now that being friends with one another is a massive advantage. And it just went from there.”
Although Kate admitted she felt “very shy” upon meeting the prince, they went on to become “very close friends.”
The following year at college, William and Kate, who were still just friends at this point, moved into a house with two other pals. Their romance blossomed from there, and they officially became a couple in 2003. The public learned about their romance the following year when the young lovebirds were photographed on a ski trip together, and they continued dating in the years that followed after college.
The duo hit a rough patch when they briefly split in early 2007. During their time apart, William was finishing his military pilot training and Kate was working in London.
“We both were very young, it was at university, we were sort of both finding ourselves as such and being different characters and stuff,” William explained about their uncoupling. “It was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up, and so it was just sort of a bit of space and a bit of things like that and it worked out for the better.”
Kate noted their high-profile split made her a “stronger person,” despite not being “very happy” about their breakup.
“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 are younger, and I really valued that time for me as well although I didn’t think it at the time. Looking back on it,” the brunette beauty acknowledged.
Luckily, the royal duo’s romance survived, and they got engaged on November 16, 2010, while on vacation in Kenya. William proposed with a sapphire and diamond engagement ring that belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana.
They wed on April 29, 2011, officially becoming the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The adorable couple welcomed their first child, Prince George, in July 2013 followed by daughter Princess Charlotte in May 2015 and youngest son Prince Louis in April 2018.
Keep scrolling to see William and Kate’s cutest photos over the years!