In the past year, William and Kate have needed one another more than ever. From Megxit to the Covid pandemic, things have been challenging. Now, the death of Prince Philip has plunged the family into mourning and raised questions about who will fill the void he has left in the Queen’s support system. But as they ponder their future roles, they are also marking a significant milestone as a couple: their 10-year wedding anniversary.
Back on 16 November 2010, St James’s Palace made the announcement (via the royal family’s new Twitter handle) we’d all been waiting for: that ‘HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton are engaged to be married.’ I had just flown in on the red eye from the US, where I’d told The Talk’s Whoopi Goldberg why I believed an engagement was imminent.
That afternoon, I joined a handful of journalists invited to meet the couple. In an elegant wrap dress, Kate was charming, amiable and so nervous that her tea cup chattered in its saucer. When I asked to see the ring, she happily flashed the instantly recognisable diamond and sapphire engagement ring that was Princess Diana’s.
Watch the adorable new video of the couple and their young family, filmed in celebration of their anniversary, here:
There was no hiding William’s pride or Kate’s happiness, and as Britain geared up for the royal wedding of the decade, there was palpable excitement. Before they married, the couple embarked on a mini tour of the UK, where Kate’s natural charm won over the crowds. ‘One of their first engagements was at a lifeboat station in Wales and she smashed the champagne on the lifeboat,’ recalls royal photographer Chris Jackson. ‘There was a real sense of excitement and anticipation about what the future held.’
For Kate, life as a royal bride-to-be changed in a heartbeat, just as William knew it would. It was why, he explained in their engagement day TV interview, he had waited for so long before proposing. ‘I wanted to give her a chance to see, and to back out if she needed to, before it all got too much.’
As William’s girlfriend, Kate had been one of the most photographed women in the world. As a future Queen, the interest went into overdrive. Not since Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer had there been such global attention on a royal wedding, and much was made of the fact that the prince was marrying a commoner. Kate’s middle-class background was the subject of some snobbishness. Her mother Carole was a former flight attendant and, for years, Kate put up with ‘doors to manual’ jibes from some of William’s friends, without fuss. Nor did she complain when the press photographers ruined her 28th birthday, camped outside her Chelsea home as engagement speculation reached fever pitch.
Their eight-year courtship had its ups and downs but the foundation was firm. They weathered two break-ups, the most serious in 2006, but got back together and agreed, on a make-or-break holiday to the Seychelles, that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Their ordinary courtship at St Andrews University has stood them in good stead, and Kate’s down-to-earth nature and loyalty to William – along with her dedication to the royal family and what it represents – has ensured her popularity both within the royal family and among the British public.
The crowds turned up in their tens of thousands for the couple’s wedding and, when Kate stepped out of the car in her Alexander McQueen gown, she was every inch the royal bride. Outside Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace were a sea of flag-bearing fans and a tide of goodwill.
I was commentating for Good Morning America alongside broadcasting doyenne Barbara Walters. She had covered Charles and Diana’s wedding, and we agreed this was just as big. When the couple stepped out on the Buckingham Palace balcony to kiss, twice, the crowds erupted with such might the media stage on Canada Gate shook.
Weeks after the wedding, the couple travelled for their first overseas tour to Canada and the US, where Cambridge mania had also taken hold. Girls wore Kate-inspired fascinators, while royalists waved Union Jack flags, still on a wedding high. ‘That was an incredible moment,’ Chris recalls. ‘The world was watching.’
And the world has been watching ever since. The birth of Prince George in 2013 was dubbed the ‘Great Kate Wait’ as we remained on tenterhooks, ready to welcome a future heir after a challenging pregnancy for the duchess. When she emerged on the steps of the Lindo Wing, proudly displaying her tiny bundle, she reminded many of Princess Diana. In a touching tribute, she even wore a similar frock.
The Queen gave her blessing for them to spend their first years as a family in Anglesey, where William worked first as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot, then for the Air Ambulance. In May 2015, they welcomed their second child, Princess Charlotte, and, by autumn 2017, the Cambridges were ready to return to Kensington Palace to take on full-time royal duties.
When they conducted royal tours, the couple took the children with them. George travelled to Australia and New Zealand before his first birthday and, in 2016, the Cambridges travelled to Canada with George and Charlotte, then just 16 months old. Kate always wanted a third baby and in April 2018 Prince Louis’s arrival completed their happy family unit. As one friend observes, ‘Parenthood has been the making of both William and Kate.’
Their greatest challenge has been juggling their private lives with their high-profile public roles, but they have struck a balance and are making it work. All the while, Kate has been William’s anchor and safe harbour. She grounds him and those who know him say he is happier and more confident with her by his side.
Arthur Edwards, who has photographed the royal family for 40 years, says Kate’s success is in being her own person and predicts that she will be a huge success as the next Princess of Wales. ‘I never thought we’d have anyone like Diana, but now we do,’ he says. ‘Kate’s a great ambassador and asset for the country. She is completely her own person and she supports William tremendously. I think most people in this country think she will be a great Queen. She does everything right.’
Having followed them around the world on tours, what’s always struck me about Kate and William is that they are a team. Whether it’s dragon boat racing, trying to beat each other at cricket or simply planting a tree, they have each other’s back. Kate has never tried to eclipse William. He in turn supports her and is enormously proud of the Heads Together Campaign she inspired and her solo work within her Early Years Campaign, which she hopes will be her legacy.
Ultimately, whatever lies ahead, Kate and William will continue to depend on something they have long known: that they are strongest together.