Much like a rich old man and a dusty bottle of port, Prince William and Kate Middleton are a match made in heaven. This royal couple is literally destined to be King and Queen of England, and as such, their relationship is extremely, well, polished.
No one knows what really goes on behind the gilded (I'm assuming) doors of Adelaide Cottage, but Kate and William’s love story has always been presented as a fairy tale. And it probably is! But like any couple who met in college, William and Kate’s relationship hasn’t been without its bumps. On that note, let’s walk through a timeline of their romance—including the ups and the downs.
Circa 2001
William and Kate connect at University of Saint Andrews. Here’s a picture of them at their graduation ceremony for proof, in case you live life by the motto “pics or it didn’t happen.”
Circa 2003
William and Kate begin dating after he’s apparently mind-blown watching her model in a charity auction wearing this gem:
According to E! News, William was all, “Wow, Fergus, Kate’s hot!” to some dude named Fergus.
January 2004
William and Kate are spotted on a ski holiday together! Here he is wearing some kewl glasses:
And here she is low-key matching her man:
March 18, 2006
Kate is seen kissing William at his polo match, and they seem relatively unbothered by the cameras:
July 15, 2006
Kate shows up at another one of William’s polo matches, and he trots over to her smiling gleefully on this magnificent STEED. (She’s the one in the halter dress, FYI.)
Christmas 2006
William reportedly cancels his plans to spend Christmas with Kate’s family, causing her to second-guess everything. Per Vanity Fair royal reporter Katie Nicholl, “at the last minute, William had a change of heart and decided to stay with his own family instead,” deciding to inform a “tearful” Kate on Boxing Day. Wow. Cold.
February 10, 2007
Kate is seen attending some sort of ~sports game~ with William and his brother, Harry. Please note: This photo was taken mere months before William and Kate’s breakup.
Spring 2007
News breaks that William and Kate have called it quits. “We were both very young,” William later explained during his engagement interview with Kate. “We were both finding ourselves and such and being different characters and such.”
It seems like William was the one to initiate the split (HOW DARE HE), and the internet circa 2007 had some insane theories about why, including:
- Kate accidentally used the word “toilet” in front of the queen, an alleged incident that was—I kid you not—known as Toiletgate.
- William moved to an army camp in Dorset, causing their relationship to endure a long-distance strain.
Also Spring 2007
Kate goes through it post-breakup, fleeing the country to visit Ireland and making it clear that her new motto is fully “thank u, next.” Behold, Kate not giving a fuck:
Meanwhile, William endures awkward interviews about his breakup, which you can read about right this way:
June 2007
Kate reportedly starts dating William’s best friend, shipping heir Henry Ropner. If that’s not the ultimate revenge, IDK what is.
July 1, 2007
Kate attends a tribute concert for Princess Diana, sitting a few rows behind William and Harry. Rumors of a reunion begin to ~swirl~.
March 19, 2008
Kate and William are officially back together! The happy couple are seen shredding their way down some fresh powder on a ski trip. JK, they’re just, like, standing there.
April 2008
Kate accompanies William to his RAF graduation ceremony. Seems pretty official!
October 2010
Prince William and Kate Middleton get engaged in Kenya. “We had a little private time away together with some friends, and I just decided it was the right time, really,” William said. “We’d been talking about marriage for a while, so it wasn’t a massively big surprise, but I took her up somewhere nice in Kenya.”
November 16, 2010
William and Kate announce said engagement, and the couple gives an ultra-cute engagement interview:
April 29, 2011
William and Kate get married! GLORY BE!
July 9, 2011
Kate and William get their PDA on at a polo match:
July 22, 2013
Kate gives birth to the sassy icon known as Prince George:
May 2, 2015
Kate gives birth to Princess Charlotte. Yay!
March 14, 2017
William causes a low-key scandal while dad-dancing on a ski trip in Switzerland sans Kate.
Footage shows William putting his hand on a mystery woman’s waist, and apparently, Kate isn’t thrilled, with a source telling Vanity Fair, “It was William’s choice to go away, but make no mistake, Kate wears the trousers in their marriage and she won’t be happy with William’s antics. She thought his partying days and larking around with the boys was a thing of the past. I imagine she’ll find this humiliating and William will have come in for a pasting.”
Wow, no quote has ever been more British!
April 23, 2018
Kate gives birth to Prince Louis! Yay!
April 4, 2019
InTouch publishes a report saying Kate confronted William about having an affair with their family friend and newly minted “rural rival” Rose Hanbury. After the rumors spread, “pressure was applied by the palace,” allegedly.
February 2, 2020
Kate and William attended the BAFTAs and sat through Brad Pitt making jokes about Prince Harry leaving the royal family and Rebel Wilson’s about Prince Andrew. (Fast-forward to 00:42 if you want to see Will and Kate trying really hard not to cringe and look upset.)
According to sources of Fox News’s Neil Sean, Will and Kate were much more upset than the two-second clip let on. Sean said they were most upset by Rebel’s joke and “this was not met with the smiling faces that you saw on the final edited version of the show. A mole also told me that to ensure that the royals are not embarrassed or made fun of again at such a prestigious event like this one….”
February 6, 2020
Welp, after a testy year filled with affair rumors and a major feud that consumed the entire family, Will and Kate are much closer, with their busy work schedules bringing them together.
Circa August 2021
News breaks that William and Kate (who spent much of the pandemic in their country home) are considering a move to Windsor in order to be closer to the queen and Kate’s family.
June 17, 2022
After a chill year full of royal balcony appearances and fancy hats, a source tells the Daily Mail that “scrutiny and gossip” about Kate and Wills’s relationship is false. “It’s just b******s,” says a friend from their circle. “They honestly couldn’t be happier as a couple. You can’t get a cigarette paper between them. They are so tight, just inseparable.”
Another source notes, “They spend all their time together. They lunch together every day, they sit and watch television together every evening. They do go out and see their own friends, of course, but they spend an inordinate amount of time together and live a very conventional married life. They aren’t a flashy couple—he likes his motorbikes but that’s about it. They are both very outdoorsy people and spend every minute they aren’t working with their children. That’s what they really care about.”
July 6, 2022
Kate and Wills have a super-rare PDA moment, sharing a kiss at William’s polo match!
Circa August, 2022
Kate and Wills move their family into Adelaide Cottage in order to be closer to their kids’ schools and closer to their London base at Kensington Palace.
September 9, 2022
Kate and William officially become the Prince and Princess of Wales in the wake of the Queen’s death and King Charles’s ascension to the throne. In the coming weeks, there are talks about the couple moving into Windsor Castle because of the #promotion, which we now know winds up happening.
And yep, they change their social handles to match!
October 14, 2022
A source tells Us Weekly that William and Kate are planning for a fourth child, saying, “Kate has been talking about wanting another baby for a while now. She has always wanted four children, and while William was originally happy with three, she has managed to twist his arm. [Their pals] wouldn’t be surprised if we’ll be hearing an announcement early next year.”
December 1, 2022
William and Kate head to Boston for the Earthshot Prize awards and are awkwardly booed at a basketball game:
December 14, 2022
The couple drop their 2022 Christmas photo amid Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Netflix docuseries:
Naturally, a body language expert has a LOT to say.
January 17, 2023
Wills lauds his wife’s skills in the kitchen during a visit to the charity Together as One, where he is a part of a cooking lesson. “I do a bit of cooking, not much though,” he says. “Catherine’s very good though.” S’cute!
February 9, 2023
The duo pay a visit to Cornwall, marking their first official joint visit there since becoming the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. During the trip, Kate and William tour the National Maritime Museum Cornwall and take a look at the refurbishment progress on the Kiwi, a 14-foot sailing dinghy that actually served as a wedding present to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip from the Royal New Zealand Navy. “If she sinks up here, we were never here, okay? You never saw us,” the prince jokes. Lighthearted vibes all around!
February 19, 2023
The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive at the 76th EE BAFTA Film Awards, where Kate and William share a cheeky moment. Ahem, observe:
March 12, 2023
During an interview with Fox News Digital, royal author Tom Quinn spills all the goss on Kate and Williams’s ’ship, from the different approaches they take when they argue and the deeper meanings of the nicknames they have for each other to how they want their parenting style to be different than the generations before them. But more on that here:
April 3, 2023
A “source” reportedly tells a tabloid (so take this with several grains of salt) that Kate didn’t think William defended her enough after the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, saying, “Kate felt William should stick up for her more. Yet William and the Palace thought that saying nothing was best.”
Meanwhile, royal author Tom Quinn writes in his new book, Gilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family, that “it’s not all sweetness” for Wills and Kate, going on to say that “they have terrible rows” and that “Kate might seem to be a very calm person, and William also. But it’s not always true.”
April 29, 2023
The couple celebrate their 12-year anniversary!
We later find out that William gifted Kate one his his later mother’s heirloom diamond rings as well as a replica of the bouquet Kate carried at their wedding. Meanwhile, the Princess of Wales gave her husband a sketch of them at university, which he was “blown away” by.
May 5, 2023
A source dishes to Us Weekly about Kate and William’s relationship, saying, “No marriage is perfect, including Kate and William’s and they’ve certainly had their ups and downs over the years. They bicker like most couples and have recently been under pressure dealing with the drama surrounding Prince Harry.”
The insider adds that Kate and William’s “marital struggles have also been heightened” by “nonstop” royal duties but that “regardless of the obstacles, the couple always pulls through” and “they’re in a marvelous place in their lives and squeezed in some valuable time together to mark their 12th anniversary.”
May 22, 2023
Royal author Tom Quinn speaks to a source who claims that Kate treats Wills "like a fourth child" thanks to his propensity for tantrums.
Per the source (via The Mirror), "Kate treats him like the fourth child because he's prone to tantrums. They do have rows. It's not a perfect marriage. They have terrific rows. But, where some couples have a row and throw heavy vases at each other, William and Kate throw cushions at each other. It's always kept under control."
July 6, 2023
Prince William's team, the U.S. Polo Association, takes home a sweet victory at the Royal Charity Polo Day, and Kate happily congratulates her husband with a hug and a kiss on each cheek. 🥺❤️
August 20, 2023
The couple has a cover star moment and appears on the summer issue of Mountain Rescue magazine (aka the only official magazine for mountain rescue in England, Wales, Scotland, *and* Ireland). The v nature-y pic is pulled from the Prince and Princess of Wales' April visit with the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team during its 60th anniversary in Wales.
"Having a Royal Patron is a huge honour and MR volunteers appreciate the support of @KensingtonRoyal HRH The Prince of Wales," the organization Tweets, revealing the cover of the mag. "@CBMRT Central Beacons recently hosted a VIP visit-you might recognise a couple of the people on the latest MR Magazine cover." S'cute!
October 20, 2023
The Prince and Princess of Wales take part in a mental fitness workshop organized by the charity SportsAid, and a sweet moment between the pair is caught on video. 🥺❤️
In a clip shared by fan sites on Instagram, Prince William is seen noticing something on his wife's face and reaches up to remove it. Princess Kate then gives her hair a quick flick to make sure it is gone, and then smiles at the person they're chatting with.
December 10, 2023
Kate and Wills drop their annual Christmas card and it's too cute for words:
January 18, 2024
Prince William is snapped driving away from the London Clinic in a black BMW following Kate's abdominal surgery.
"The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery," reads a statement from Kensington Palace posted a day earlier. "The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements. She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible."
March 8, 2024
Kate appears in several throwback pics on her and William's Instagram account in honor of International Women’s Day.
"Happy International Women’s Day!" the couple's first Story reads. "Celebrating the impact of amazing women today and every day. Here are just a few of the brilliant women we’ve been inspired by over the past 12 months."
The account then goes on to add Stories of a buncha incredible women they admire. 🥺❤️
March 22, 2024
Kate and William post a video to their social media accounts where Kate reveals she's been diagnosed with cancer and is in the early stages of undergoing chemotherapy. "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 says in the clip.
April 29, 2024
Wills and Kate celebrate 13 years of marriage and commemorate the occasion with a post on their official Instagram account.
The snap is a previously unseen black-and-white portrait from their wedding day, taken by Millie Pilkington, and is shared alongside the caption "13 years ago today!"
June 15, 2024
The couple makes an appearance at Trooping the Colour alongside their three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis of Wales.
June 21, 2024
Kate pens the sweetest tribute in honor of Prince William's 42nd birthday that features a snap of the Prince of Wales with the couple's three children.
"Happy birthday Papa, we all love you so much! Cx," reads the caption.
Aaand that’s all for now!
