How Kate Middleton and Prince William got past their breakup to live happily ever after© Getty Images

How Kate Middleton and Prince William got past their breakup to live happily ever after

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge split four years before tying the knot


UPDATED APRIL 29, 2020 10:22 AM EDT

 Prince William  and  Kate Middleton  might have a storybook romance, but there is one chapter of their love story that saw the couple go their separate ways. The pair, who began dating in 2003 after meeting as students at the University of St. Andrews, famously split in the spring of 2007—just four years before their fairy-tale royal wedding. Following their breakup, William was photographed out partying. Though some might have expected Kate to stay at home and mourn the end of her relationship with the Queen’s grandson, she instead showed her former royal flame what he was missing as she hit the London party circuit.

© FilmMagic

Kate Middleton hit the town after her split from Prince William (Left: May 2007; Right: April 2007)

The pair ultimately rekindled their relationship that summer. According to  The Daily Mail , Kate attended a “Freakin’ Naughty”-themed party at William’s barracks in June to celebrate the end of his training. Fast-forward three years later, and  Prince William got down on one knee and proposed to Kate with his mother’s iconic sapphire ring during a private holiday in Kenya . The palace announced the news in November of 2010.

During their engagement interview, journalist Tom Bradby asked the engaged pair about their brief, high-profile split that took place after college. William replied, “In that particular instance we did split up for a bit. But that was just, we both were very young, it was at university, we were sort of both finding ourselves as such and being different characters and stuff, it was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up, and so it was just sort of a bit of space and a bit of things like that and it worked out for the better.”

© FilmMagic

William was seen out in late April 2007 following his split from Kate

Kate added, “And I think I at the time wasn‘t very happy about it, but actually it made me a stronger person, you find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realized, or I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me as well although I didn’t think it at the time. Looking back on it.” The Duchess noted that it was a chance for her to re-center herself. She laughed, “I wasn’t all bad.”

The couple tied the knot on April 29, 2011 in a grand ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey. Since their wedding, the Duke and Duchess have become parents to  Prince George ,  Princess Charlotte  and  Prince Louis . “I’m very lucky in the support I have from Catherine, she’s an amazing mother and a fantastic wife,” William said in a 2016 interview on Talk Vietnam. “But I’ve struggled at times. The alteration from being a single independent man to going into marriage and then having children is life-changing.”