Long before Prince Harry’s romance with Meghan Markle dominated headlines, Prince William’s on-off relationship with Kate Middleton while they were in their 20s was big news.
There was constant speculation about when the pair, who met at college, would finally announce their engagement but the couple knew each other for nine years before William popped the question.
In early 2010 they moved together to Anglesey in Wales and it was this period of “domestic bliss” that made him certain he wanted to marry Kate, according to a royal biographer.
William was working there as an Air Ambulance search and rescue pilot and lived with Kate in a modest farmhouse near the beach.
It was a “very romantic” and quiet setting, author Marcia Moody wrote in her 2013 book Kate: A Biography, giving the couple plenty of quality time.
They “had spoken of marriage and they knew it was on the cards but it hadn’t been the right time, until now.
“Over the couple of years while they were based there, Kate looked after everything related to their home.
“Unlike other royals before him, William employed no domestic staff and Kate took care of it all…
“They both knew what was coming and knew that, although many good things would follow, it would also mean a life of increasing duty and less time to themselves.”
Kate and William’s engagement was announced in October of 2010. They tied the knot the following April.
