Over a decade ago, Prince William and Kate Middleton captured the world's imagination, tying the knot in a royal wedding for the history books. Their support for each other was on full display when Kate shared news of her cancer diagnosis in March 2024; in a personal video message, she said that "having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance." As the Prince and Princess of Wales celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary, we're taking a look back at their real life love story.
Below, a timeline of their relationship, from their first meeting to today.
They met as students at the University of St. Andrews.
Both Kate and William earned their undergraduate degrees at the Scottish institution (she studied art history, while he studied geography), after enrolling in 2001. The Prince famously watched a charity fashion show that Kate modeled in, and her walk down the runway was rumored to spark his interest.
The couple shared a house with two other friends in college.
During their second year in school, Kate and William became roommates. "We moved in together as friends because we were living together, we lived with a couple of others as well, and it just sort of blossomed from there really," the Prince would later say in the couple's official engagement interview.
Their relationship first became public in 2004.
Kate and William were photographed on a ski trip together at Klosters, and their relationship—which they'd worked hard to keep under wraps—was first reported in the press.
They celebrated their graduation together the year after.
In a photo later released by Kate's family, the couple pose together on their graduation day—though at the ceremony itself, they were not seen together. "I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has made my time here so enjoyable. I have been able to lead as 'normal' a student life as I could have hoped for and I'm very grateful to everyone, particularly the locals, who have helped make this happen," William said before the ceremony, per the Telegraph.
Kate and William both attended the wedding of Camilla's daughter in 2006.
Kate's attendance at such a high-profile event tied to the royal family caused some to speculate that she might indeed end up with the Prince. Later that year, she watched William graduate from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst—an event also attended by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and the Duchess of Cornwall.
In 2007, they broke up for a time.
In the couple's engagement interview, Kate reflected on their time apart. "At the time I wasn't very happy about it, but it made me a stronger person," she said. "You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn't realized, I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me [the months apart] although I didn't think it at the time."
Kate helped William celebrate another milestone in 2008.
A month after the couple were spotted vacationing together at Klosters once again, the Princess-to-be joined Prince William when he received his wings from the Royal Air Force. Kate was photographed alongside William, and the pair attended a private reception with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall after the ceremony, before joining other RAF Cranwell graduates and staff for a lunchtime celebration, per the Telegraph.
In 2010, the couple announced their engagement.
Prince William proposed while the pair were vacationing in Kenya, using Princess Diana's ring ("my way of keeping [my mother] sort of close to it all," he told the press in their engagement interview). They announced their engagement publicly the following month.
"We had a little private time away together with some friends, and I just decided it was the right time really," William said in their engagement interview. "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."
The following year, they said "I do" in a historic royal wedding.
Millions of people around the world watched the couple say their vows in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Kate wore a stunning Alexander McQueen gown designed by 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.
The couple welcomed their first child, Prince George, in 2013.
William and Kate took part in the now-famous "Lindo Walk"—a relatively recent tradition, in which members of the royal family introduce their newborns to the public outside the maternity ward at St. Mary's Hospital Paddington, known as the Lindo Wing—and let the public get a first look at George, the third in line to the throne.
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.
They became the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2022.
Following the death of William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, his father became King Charles, leaving the title of Prince of Wales open. While the title is not automatically inherited (like that of the Duke of Cornwall, which William received immediately upon his father's accession) Charles announced in his first speech as monarch that he would be passing the title on.
"Today, I am proud to create [William] Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru, the country whose title I have been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty. With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground where vital help can be given."
Before Kate, the last Princess of Wales was William's mother, the late Princess Diana. Though technically Charles's wife Camilla could have used the title, she instead deferred, being known as the Duchess of Cornwall before eventually becoming Queen Camilla.
In 2024, Kate is diagnosed with cancer.
In March 2024, Kensington Palace shared Kate is receiving treatment for cancer, following her abdominal surgery in January. In a personal message released by the Princess of Wales, she said, "This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family." She also spoke about William being a "great source of comfort and reassurance" to her throughout the past few months.
Chloe is a News Writer for Townandcountrymag.com, where she covers royal news, from the latest additions to Meghan Markle’s staff to Queen Elizabeth’s monochrome fashions; she also writes about culture, often dissecting TV shows like The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Killing Eve.
