{"id":388931,"date":"2025-09-01T09:27:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T09:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/388931\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T09:27:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T09:27:18","slug":"prince-william-was-not-himself-after-2007-kate-middleton-breakup-royal-butler-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/388931\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince William Was \u201cNot Himself\u201d After 2007 Kate Middleton Breakup, Royal Butler Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>After many years together, a young Prince William and Kate Middleton briefly broke up in 2007.<\/li>\n<li>Royal butler Grant Harrold tells InStyle ahead of the September 23 release of his new book that the future king was \u201cquiet,\u201d \u201cwithdrawn,\u201d and \u201cnot himself\u201d during those months.<\/li>\n<li>Harrold always hoped that William and Kate would get back together, saying that \u201cKate was always the one.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_2-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> By now, <a class=\"recommendation-inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instyle.com\/prince-william-wont-be-pushed-around-11759097\" link-destination-recommendation=\"true\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prince William<\/a> and <a class=\"recommendation-inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instyle.com\/kate-middleton-monochrome-blue-suit-8410895\" link-destination-recommendation=\"true\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kate Middleton<\/a> have been together for the better part of 25 years\u2014save for a few months in 2007, when they briefly broke up after graduating from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (where they originally met in 2001).\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_4-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Royal butler Grant Harrold\u2014who began his service for the royal household the day after <a class=\"recommendation-inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instyle.com\/princess-diana-wanted-to-wear-daring-looks-final-years-11749812\" link-destination-recommendation=\"true\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Princess Diana<\/a>\u2019s death on August 31, 1997 and who left royal employ just 18 days after William and Kate\u2019s wedding on April 29, 2011\u2014was around for the breakup, working at Prince Charles\u2019s country home, Highgrove, at the time of their split. In his new book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Royal-Butler-Remarkable-Life-Service\/dp\/B0DW4LYB34\" data-component=\"amazon\" data-source=\"affiliate\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service<\/a>, which is out in the U.S. on September 23, Harrold writes that, even through their breakup, \u201cKate was always the one.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p> Prince William and Kate Middleton on June 15, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_7-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Speaking exclusively to InStyle, Harrold says that during their breakup, William\u2019s demeanor \u201cbecame very quiet,\u201d he says. \u201cHe went very quiet. He became a little bit withdrawn. I didn\u2019t see a huge amount of him. I didn\u2019t ask him\u2014I didn\u2019t say anything. I just knew he wasn\u2019t himself 100 percent. I knew he wasn\u2019t himself.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_9-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Harrold speculates that maybe William and Kate \u201csplit up to get the media off Kate\u2019s back, because it was so bad at the time,\u201d he says of the rampant pressure on the couple in 2007 to get engaged. \u201cKate was struggling, and I wondered if it was to give a breathing space. That\u2019s just my view. I had no information. So when they got back together, I remember thinking, \u2018I wonder if they hadn\u2019t really split up, they just had a bit of time apart [because of] the media.\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p> Kate Middleton and Prince William on March 13, 2007.<\/p>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_12-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> During that time apart\u2014only a few months in length\u2014\u201cI kept hoping that was the case and they would get back together, and I secretly wanted them to get back together,\u201d Harrold says. When they did reconcile, he was \u201cthrilled,\u201d he adds.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_14-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Harrold describes the Kate he knew in the 2000s as \u201clovely, very bubbly, very talkative.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_16-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> \u201cWhat\u2019s funny\u2014people think she\u2019s shy,\u201d Harrold says. \u201cShe\u2019s not shy at all.\u201d Kate had no airs about her and talked to Harrold about how his week was and what was happening. Even if he\u2019d read headlines about her, he never mentioned it\u2014\u201cI always made out that I had no knowledge,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I would kind of say, \u2018What have you been up to, and what have you done?\u2019 She was always lovely.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p> Kate Middleton on May 4, 2007, during her brief breakup from Prince William.<\/p>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p> Kate Middleton on March 16, 2007.<\/p>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_22-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> One of the roles of a royal butler was to get a drink for anyone who needed one in the house, but Kate \u201cwould take care of herself,\u201d Harrold says. \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t let me do anything. \u2018Can I get you a drink?\u2019 She\u2019d be in the fridge getting a drink. \u2018I\u2019ll get you a plate.\u2019 She\u2019s already got the plate. You know what I mean? She did everything herself.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_24-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Harrold says he\u2019s \u201creally proud\u201d of the book and the stories in it. \u201cI was lucky,\u201d he says of his time in royal service. \u201cI was lucky. It was a really good time to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After many years together, a young Prince William and Kate Middleton briefly broke up in 2007. Royal butler&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7714,7713,533,2832,532,2831,7710,519,7711,7712],"class_list":{"0":"post-388931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-catherine","10":"tag-catherine-middleton","11":"tag-kate-middleton","12":"tag-prince-of-wales","13":"tag-prince-william","14":"tag-princess-of-wales","15":"tag-royal-families","16":"tag-royal-family","17":"tag-uk-royal-family","18":"tag-william"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115128332691790291","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}