Prince William and Kate Middleton‘s marriage is the strongest it’s ever been, but the couple once almost didn’t make it after their temporary breakup in 2007.

William and Kate met as freshmen at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2001 and started dating around late 2002. They were together for almost five years before reports William broke up with Kate in 2007. While news of their split didn’t break until April 2007, royal author Robert Jobson claimed in her book, Catherine, The Princess of Wales: The Biography, that the couple broke up just before New Year’s Eve 2006, which they planned to spend with Kate’s family in Dundee. However, according to the book, William called Kate just before New Year’s to break up with her, claiming that they needed “breathing room” to “find our own path.”

According to Jobson, the call — during which William also told Kate that he couldn’t promise her marriage — left Kate “distraught,” with her mother, Carole Middleton, taking her to Dublin to recover. “Kate believed the relationship was heading toward marriage, so the phone call felt brutal and final. It knocked her confidence and left her questioning whether she had been strung along,” a source told Jobson.

Another source added, “It was one of the most painful moments of her life, and for a while it seemed impossible they would ever find their way back to each other. It left her absolutely devastated.”

Royal author Katie Nicholl also wrote in her book, The Making of a Royal Romance, about the breakup, and how William was both advised by his father, King Charles, and grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, to not make any rash decisions about his relationship. “William had been having second thoughts and sat down with his father and his grandmother to have a frank discussion about his future with Kate. Both advised him not to hurry into anything,” Nicholl wrote. A source told the author, “William’s brutal call shook Kate to the core.”

According to Jobson, it took less than two months before William started to miss Kate, though he feared she wouldn’t take him back. They reunited by chance at a mutual friend’s costume party, and the “chemistry between William and Catherine did the rest,” according to Jobson. They got together soon after, and three years later, the couple announced their engagement, with Kate receiving the sapphire ring once worn by William’s late mother, Princess Diana.

The information on William and Kate’s breakup also comes amid the strongest stage in their relationship after Kate’s cancer battle, which “rekindled” her marriage to William. “There were ongoing rumors at one time that the marriage between William and Kate may not have been as blissful as publicly portrayed,” former royal photographer Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News in January. “William has been known for his outbursts and Kate has found ways of calming the situation down but personally, I feel after the cancer diagnosis and the threat of losing her, the closeness was rekindled.”

Kate Middleton Marks Her 44th Birthday With a “Deeply Personal” Video About the Healing Power of Nature

It has been a big year for the Princess of Wales, who turned another year older on January 9.

• Kate Middleton turned 44 years old on January 9.
• To celebrate, she shared a personal, reflective video on social media.
• It has been a big year for the Princess of Wales, who appears more regal than ever as Prince William’s time on the throne steadily approaches.

Kate Middleton had a banner 43rd year, beginning with her announcement on January 14 of last year that she was in remission from cancer, just five days after turning a year older.

From there, the Princess of Wales appeared more regal than ever, both in her demeanor but also in her style and diplomatic duties. As her return to public duty continued after most of 2024 was spent rightly prioritizing her health, we saw a Kate that is confident, poised, and ready for the challenge of being queen someday. She has truly emerged as the backbone of the royal family, and her importance is second to none within the institution of the monarchy.

On January 9, the Princess of Wales turned 44 years old, and shared a heartfelt video about the healing power of nature, the final installment of her Mother Nature series. “The Mother Nature series has been a deeply personal, creative reflection on how nature has helped me heal. But it is also a story about the power of nature and creativity in collective healing,” she wrote alongside the video. “There is so much we can learn from mother nature, as we look to build a happier, healthier world.” She signed off with the letter “C” for Catherine, indicating the message had come personally from her.

In the video, Middleton wore a green wool coat and a paperboy cap as she walked through the woods in winter and reflected on her relationship with nature.

“Even in the coldest, darkest season, winter has a way of bringing us stillness, patience and quiet consideration,” she said in a voiceover. “Where the stream slows just enough for us to see our own reflection. To discover the deepest parts of ourselves.”

“Alongside the whispers in the pulse of every living thing, I find myself reflecting on how deeply grateful I am,” she continued. “For the rivers within us flow with ease, fears washed away, cleanse and purify. “

“Come to peace with our tears and discover what it means to be alive,” she concluded. “To be at one with nature; a quiet teacher and a soft voice that guides. In memory. Helping us to heal.”

“Now that she has begun to turn a corner, they will be deploying her as much as they can,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith told People. “It’s important for them to be at the center of the action.”

“She is in this confident phase where she is able to define who she is, what she does, and how much she does,” fellow royal biographer Catherine Mayer told the outlet. “In that sense, she’s approaching her prime.”

Of life on the other side of her cancer diagnosis, “You can’t go through something like that and come out the other side unchanged,” an insider told People. “She is a different person now.” A different source told the publication that, as Prince William’s time on the throne approaches, “There’s a sense of calm before the storm. They are next in line for the biggest job of their lives, and of course, Kate’s health has taken priority, but it’s also allowed everyone to take a step back and figure out what’s important right now.”

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward told the outlet that Kate “is definitely showing traits of being a remarkable future queen.” Asked whether she is the royal family’s “secret weapon,” Seward made it clear: “She is the weapon, not a secret one.”