Prince William had his reasons for breaking up with now-wife Princess Kate Middleton before he popped the question.
“When they got engaged, there was a couple of us invited in to meet Catherine,” royal photographer Arthur Edwards said on the Friday, November 6, episode of Hello’s “Right Royal” podcast. “I asked him, ‘What did you break up for?’ He said, ‘Because I wanted to be sure. Because I want this marriage to last forever.’ I think it will.”
William and Kate, both 44, met while in college at University of St Andrews in Scotland. After several years of dating, they briefly went their separate ways. The Prince and Princess of Wales ultimately reconciled before William proposed in 2010 with late mother Princess Diana’s sapphire-and-diamond engagement ring. (Diana died in a fatal car crash in 1997, years after her divorce from now-King Charles III.)
“I spotted Diana’s ring and I said, ‘I need to get a picture of that.’ They called me out afterwards, and I went in the room to photograph it,” Edwards, 86, recalled of William and Kate’s engagement photocall. “Her hand was shaking with nerves! I said, ‘Oh, hang on, hold it steady, just till I get the ring sharp.’ Anyway, it was good.”
He continued, “I wished them all the best, and they were incredibly happy. Every time I see them now, they are a good team.”
William and Kate got married the next year in a 2011 royal wedding ceremony held at London’s Westminster Abbey. They have since expanded their family, welcoming sons Prince George, 13, and Prince Louis, 7, as well as daughter Princess Charlotte, 11.
William and Kate’s marriage, however, went through trying times in 2024 when the princess was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. (Kate revealed in January 2025 that she was now in remission after undergoing chemotherapy.)
“She’s an amazing mum, an amazing wife and, literally, our family couldn’t cope without her,” William said on the U.K.’s Heart Radio in May. “She’s been absolutely stunning, brilliant.”
At the time, William gushed that he was “so proud” of how effortlessly his wife had appeared to return to her regal duties in recovery.
“She’s been amazing. She’s been through so much in the last couple of years, particularly,” he noted. “And yeah, she’d been looking forward to the Italian trip a lot. I’m really glad it went really well. … She spends, God knows how much time now, looking through all the paperwork. She’s a proper pro on [her patronage for] early years. Most evenings I’m fighting to get past in the bedroom, what paperwork that she’s got lined up, ready to read. I’m so pleased it went well for her, and yeah, I think she came back buzzing.”
