For over 20 years, the world has witnessed the royal romance between Kate Middleton and Prince William.
The two began dating more than two decades ago, after meeting during their freshman year of college. While Kate and William briefly split in 2007, they eventually got engaged in 2010 and had a royal wedding at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011.
“When I first met Kate, I knew there was something very special about her,” William said during their 2010 engagement interview. “I knew there was possibly something that I wanted to explore there. But we ended up being friends for a while and that was a good foundation.”
About their upcoming wedding, William exclaimed, “We are hugely excited, and we are looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together and seeing what the future holds.”
Since tying the knot 14 years ago, the pair have welcomed three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — and together, have also weathered the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022 and Kate’s cancer diagnosis in 2024.
Here’s everything to know about Prince William and Kate Middleton’s relationship.
They met at college
Prince William with Kate Middleton after his graduation ceremony at RAF Cranwell on April 11, 2008 in Cranwell, England.
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Prince William and Kate first met in 2001, while they were both freshmen at St. Andrews University in Scotland. They started off as friends, and in their 2010 engagement interview, Kate confessed she was “feeling very shy about meeting” him.
“We were friends for over a year first. It just sort of blossomed from then on,” William said in the same interview.
In 2002, they moved off-campus into a four-bedroom apartment with their friends, Fergus Boyd and Olivia Bleasdale. They moved in as friends, but as William recalled, their relationship “just sort of blossomed from there, really, we just saw more of each other, hung out a bit more and did stuff.”
They started dating in 2002
Kate Middleton and Prince William.
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William and Kate were friends at first, but after she walked in a 2002 fashion show wearing a see-through black lace dress, Prince William saw Kate in a different light.
“Everyone says that the fashion show was when the romance started,” said fellow student Charlotte Todd, who designed the dress.
In 2003, William and Kate moved into their own apartment, and in April 2004, their relationship was made public when pictures of them getting cozy at a ski resort in Switzerland were published.
The romance “has been going on for a bit,” a friend told PEOPLE at the time. “She is his girlfriend.”
Though they briefly split in April 2007, they got back together in June of that same year.
In 2010, William proposed to Kate while they were on vacation in Kenya with friends. “It was a total shock when it came,” Kate said in their engagement interview. “There’s a true romantic in there.”
They married at Westminster Abbey in April 2011
Prince William and Catherine Middleton leave Westminster Abbey following their Royal Wedding on April 29, 2011 in London, England.
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On April 29, 2011, William and Kate married at London’s Westminster Abbey in a wedding fit for a fairy tale.
The royal wedding was attended by 1,900 guests, with PEOPLE hailing it as the “greatest and grandest royal affair” since Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s 1981 wedding.
After the regal ceremony, the newlyweds rode through the streets of London to Buckingham Palace, where they shared two kisses on the balcony in front of the gathered crowd.
“Together they will be the King and Queen of the people,” Lana Marks, a friend of Princess Diana, saidof the wedding day. “This is going to be a great love story.”
They share three kids
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s 2020 Royal Christmas cards.
Matt Porteous / The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge/Kensington Palace via Getty
Kate and Prince William have three children.
Their first son, Prince George Alexander Louis, was born on July 22, 2013. The couple’s daughter, Princess Charlotte —who was named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana in honor of Prince William’s late mother — Princess Diana, followed on May 2, 2015.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ youngest child, and second son, Prince Louis Arthur Charles, arrived on April 23, 2018.
“Nothing can really prepare you for you the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to become a mother,” Kate said at a 2017 charity event. “It is full of complex emotions of joy, exhaustion, love, and worry, all mixed together. Your fundamental identity changes overnight.”
“You go from thinking of yourself as primarily an individual, to suddenly being a mother, first and foremost.”
They officially became the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2022
Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend the Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration on March 10, 2025 in London, England.
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While the royal couple were bestowed the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge following their 2011 nuptials, Prince William and Kate officially became known as the Prince and Princess of Wales following the death of Queen Elizabeth on Sept. 8, 2022.
“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,” King Charles announced in September 2022.
The meaningful titles were previously held by Prince William’s parents, King Charles and Princess Diana.
Prince William stood by Kate’s side following her cancer diagnosis in 2024
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit Alexandra Park Sports Hub on day two of COP26 on November 1, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.
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During a “planned abdominal surgery” in January 2024, it was discovered that Kate had cancer. The princess announced her cancer diagnosis to the world in March 2024. After undergoing chemotherapy, she announced she was in “remission” from cancer in January 2025.
“As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal,” she wrote in a message posted on X. “I am however looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to. Thank you to everyone for your continued support. C”
In 2024, King Charles was also diagnosed with cancer. During a candid interview in November 2024, William confessed, “It’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life.”
“But I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” he continued. “But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.”
They have shared rare PDA moments
Prince William, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince George of Wales during Trooping the Colour on June 17, 2023 in London, England.
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Since they’ve been in the spotlight together for more than two decades, the pair have given royal watchers rare moments of PDA.
On the red carpet at the 76th EE BAFTA Film Awards in February 2023, Kate playfully patted William’s butt with a light love tap. She performed a similar cheeky display of affection at King Charles’ second coronation celebration.
The same year, they were seen sharing a rare public kiss after William scored the prize-winning point at the 2023 Royal Charity Polo Day.