On April 29, 2011, Prince William and Kate Middleton wed at Westminster Abbey in London. Their wedding marked the beginning of their life together as husband and wife, however, Kate and William's love story truly began all the way back in 2001. From their time as friends at St. Andrew's University to parenting their three kids amid the COIVD-19 lockdowns, here's the official timeline of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's two-decades-long relationshp.
William and Kate met as freshmen at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2001.
The future Duke and Duchess of Cambridge first met when they lived in the same residence hall in college. Before they began dating, the pair struck up a close friendship. “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 in their engagement interview 10 years after they first met. “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.”
Kate is revealed as William's girlfriend during a ski trip to Klosters, Switzerland with the Royal Family in 2004.
Kate and William started dating in 2003, however, their relationship wasn't made public until Kate was photographed with the Royal Family on their annual ski trip to Klosters, Switzerland. The paparazzi reportedly broke their agreement to only photograph the royals during the stage-managed photocalls in order to snag photos of William and Kate together.
William and Kate call it quits in 2007.
After three years of dating, William and Kate briefly called off their relationship. The split occurred in early 2007 and Kate spent her 25th birthday in London without William, who was completing military pilot training at the time.
“Well, I think to be honest, I wouldn’t believe everything you read in the paper, but in that particular instance we did split up for a bit,” William told reporter Tom Bradby after he and Kate announced their engagement in 2010. “We were sort of both finding ourselves as such and being different characters and stuff, 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 added the she "wasn’t very happy" about their split at the time. "But actually it made me a stronger person," she added. "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."
Kate and William reconcile later that year.
William and Kate's split didn't last very long. By July 2007, the young couple had reconnected. They they didn't publicly announce their reconciliation, the pair subtly revealed they'd gotten back together when Kate attended the Concert for Diana, which was organized by William and Prince Harry to mark the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's passing. Though William and Kate didn't sit next to each other, Kate watched the show from the royal box.
William and Kate announce their engagement in 2010.
Following another three years of dating, William and Kate made it official. The happy couple announced their engagement on November 16, 2010. The future king proposed in Kenya with his mother's iconic sapphire and diamond engagement ring. “It was about three weeks ago on holiday in Kenya,” William said during the official photocall. “We had a little private time away together with some friends, and I just decided that it was the right time really. We had been talking about marriage for a while so it wasn’t a massively big surprise. I took her up somewhere nice in Kenya and I proposed.”
William and Kate tie the knot on April 29, 2011.
Ten years after they first met, William and Kate tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London. Kate wore a custom Alexander McQueen lace gown for the widely-viewed ceremony. Queen Elizabeth granted the newlyweds new titles, as well, officially making them the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
In December 2012, William and Kate announce they are expecting their first child together.
William and Kate announced they were expecting their first child together in December 2012. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were force to share their happy news much earlier than expected, as Kate was hospitalized for hyperemesis gravidarum and acute nausea during her first trimester. The Palace made the official announcement when Kate was just 10 weeks along.
Prince George is born on July 22, 2013.
William and Kate became parents on July 22, 2013, when their son, Prince George Alexander Louis, was born. The Cambridges introduced their newborn son to the world the very next day in a brief photocall on the steps of the Lindo Wing where Kate gave birth.
In April 2014, William, Kate, and George embark on their first royal tour as a family.
Following in his parents' footsteps, William was joined by Kate and George on a royal tour of Australia and New Zealand. George was just nine months old during the trip and there's no denying he stole the show.
William and Kate become parents of two in May 2015.
Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana arrived on May 2, 2015, making William and Kate the first royals to welcome a princess into the family in more than 25 years.
The Cambridges take a vacation as a family of four in 2016.
Almost a year after Princess Charlotte's arrival, The Cambridge family enjoyed a short private ski trip in the French Alps. They released one of their first official portraits as a family of four, which was taken during their getaway.
William and Kate welcome Prince Louis in April 2018.
William and Kate continued to expand their young family with the arrival of their third child together, Prince Louis, on April 23, 2018. The happy parents were photographed leaving the hospital on the same day their son was born.
The Cambridge family celebrates Christmas with a new family portrait.
William and Kate shared a new portrait of their beautiful family in December 2020. In the photo, George, Charlotte, and Louis— ages seven, five, and two, respectively, at the time—sit alongside their parents in front of a large woodpile. The portrait was taken in the fall of 2020 at Anmer Hall (AKA the Cambridges' country estate in Norfolk), where they stayed during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Kate says William has been her "greatest support'" amid the ongoing pandemic.
While speaking with a group of parents over video chat for an official royal engagement in February 2021, Kate and the other parents were asked to share who their "greatest support" has been throughout the pandemic. They each had to write their answers down on a piece of paper and then hold it up to the camera. Kate's answer was shot and sweet—the paper simply said: "William."
Photo: Getty