Kate Middleton could’ve ‘backed out’ of royal life but William made heartbreaking move
Prince William and Kate Middleton were together for almost 10 years before they got engaged - and it appears William decided to wait before popping the question to give Kate "the best chance"
They may have been married for more than 12 years – but the course of the Prince and Princess of Wales’ romance didn’t always run smoothly. The couple met as students at St Andrews University in Scotland and spent the early days dating while studying. Several years after graduation, they shocked the world when it was revealed that they had split.
However, the break-up turned out to be short-lived, although it was more than three years later before Prince William got down on one knee and popped the question. Many wondered what had been keeping the heir to the throne from proposing – and he revealed his heartbreaking reason in their 2010 engagement interview.
Asked by interviewer Tom Bradby whether the long time before they became engaged was because William wanted to give his future wife a slow introduction into royal life and the chance to “back out”, the prince agreed, saying: “Massively so.”
He continued: “Her and her family, I really want to make sure that they have the best, sort of, guidance and chance to see what life has been like – or what life is like – in the family. That’s kind of why I have been waiting this long as I wanted to give her a chance to see and to back out if she needed to,” which was met by a laugh from Kate.
In the interview, they also addressed their split and William said: “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. It was just sort of a bit of space and a bit of things like that, and it worked out for the better.”
