After eight years of dating (and endless engagement speculation!), Prince William and Duchess Kate officially announced their relationship on November 16, 2010.
Shortly after announcing their engagement, the future Prince and Princess of Wales gave their first-ever joint interview, which remains their longest to date.
The interview, an intimate look at the beginning of their relationship and proposal, aired on ITV on the day the couple announced their engagement to the public. Kate, of course, wore her now famous royal blue Issa dress. This is exactly the ensemble that started the “Kate effect.”
Prince William popped the question a few weeks before the interview, while the pair were on holiday in Kenya with friends. They had been talking about their impending engagement for some time, but Kate was still surprised when the big moment came.
“I was really shocked when it came,” Kate said. “There are true romantics out there.”
William added: “As any man knows, you need a certain amount of motivation to push yourself. So I was making plans and it felt like I was actually in Africa. It was beautiful.”
Duchess Kate’s 18-carat sapphire ring made headlines on its own. The future Princess of Wales showed off a sparkler that once belonged to Prince William’s late mother, Princess Diana, and Prince William spoke about the sentimental value behind the ring.
“Obviously, she’s not going to share in all the fun and excitement, so this is my way of keeping her close to everything,” Prince William said of his late mother.
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Prince William and Duchess Kate also spoke about the origins of their relationship, which began when they met as students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. William said the pair had been friends for a year before they started dating, but after a laugh or two their relationship began to “blossom.”
Duchess Kate admitted she was “very nervous” when she first met Prince William’s father, then-Prince Charles, but said the future monarch was welcoming and friendly from the start.
“It couldn’t have been easier for me,” Kate said.
The couple said their meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Peter and Autumn Phillips’ wedding in 2008 went similarly smoothly. Similarly, Kate’s extended family, including her mother Carol, father Michael, sister Pippa, and brother James, accepted William as part of their family early on.
“Mike and Carol were really loving, caring and really fun,” William said. “They’ve made me feel really welcome and I really feel like part of the family.”
The couple also spoke about their brief breakup in 2007 and how they grew together and as individuals during their separation.
“I wasn’t very happy at the time,” Kate admitted. “But it actually made me a stronger person. You find something about yourself that you probably didn’t realize. That time was really important to me.”
There were some small signs. Kate spoke of her desire to help others and participate in philanthropy (“I really hope I can make a difference, even in a small way,” she said). She has done this through her work de-stigmatizing children’s mental health, as well as her role as a patron of organizations such as Action on Addiction and Art Room. The two also talked about their desire to start a family. That wish is now being realized by her three children: Prince George (12), Princess Charlotte (10), and Prince Louis (7).
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The rings may be the same, but Prince William assured Kate there was no pressure on her to become “the next Princess Diana.”
“No one is trying to replace my mother,” he said. “It’s about carving out your own future and your own destiny, and Kate will do a very good job of that.”
Over the past 15 years, Kate has defied more than enough of her husband’s pre-wedding predictions.
