Today is the 14th wedding anniversary of William and Kate, after the couple spent nearly a decade in an on-and-off relationship.
The much-anticipated royal wedding saw over 100million viewers gather around their televisions to watch the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge emerge from Buckingham Palace‘s balcony to share their first kiss.
It was an event which captured the imagination of the world much in the same way William’s parents’ wedding did nearly 30 years prior.
Prince Charles and Diana’s special day was billed as the ‘wedding of the century,’ as Lady Diana became the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne in 300 years.
But their fairytale wedding – which a record-breaking 750million viewers in 74 countries tuned in to watch – ended in a bitter divorce, while William and Kate are stronger than ever.
Royal biographer Robert Lacey has speculated that the different outcomes to both nuptials could have been influenced by the varied amount of time the couples spent together before they tied the knot.
While William and Kate spent ten years in a on-and-off relationship, Charles and Diana allegedly went on fewer than 20 dates before walking down the aisle.
In his book ‘Battle of Brothers’, Lacey wrote: ‘By one count Charles and Diana had only been on 13 dates before they got engaged.
Prince William and Kate share a kiss on Buckingham Palace’s balcony. Today is the couple’s 14th wedding anniversary
Prince Charles and Diana at the announcement of their engagement in February 1981. The couple had reportedly only been on 13 dates before they got engaged
Prince Whilliam and Kate at the announcement of their engagement in November 2010. The couple had known each other for nearly a decade by the time they got engaged
Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their way to Buckingham Palace from St Paul’s Cathedral. Their special day was billed the ‘wedding of the century’ as Diana became the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne in 300 years
‘William and Catherine, by contrast, were finally tying the knot after nearly a decade of firm commitment.’
A 16-year-old Diana first met Charles, then aged 29, in 1977. At the time, Charles was dating Diana’s older sister Sarah. The future king recalled ‘what fun’ Diana was during this brief first meeting.
By the summer of 1980, Charles was the UK’s most famous bachelor and after spending a weekend with Diana at a mutual friend’s home in Sussex he considered her a potential future bride.
After she was well received by the Royal Family during a visit to Balmoral in September 1980, the couple started dating.
Charles and Diana then announced their engagement on February 24, 1981, in an exclusive interview.
The Prince told the BBC he was ‘delighted and frankly amazed’ that Diana was ‘prepared’ to take him on.
But he upset his future wife when he was asked if they were in love. Diana replied, ‘Of course,’ while Charles quipped, ‘Whatever in love means’ – a comment she was believed to find ‘traumatising’.
The anguish for the soon-to-be Princess of Wales only continued after she moved into Buckingham Palace ahead of the wedding.
Princess Diana in 1980. A 16-year-old Diana first met Charles, then aged 29, in 1977. At the time he was dating Diana’s older sister Sarah. The future King recalled ‘what fun’ the future Princess of Wales was during this brief first meeting
Kate and William during their time at St Andrews. The couple met in 2001 but did not start dating until a year later
Diana’s father the Earl of Spencer walks her down the aisle. He convinced his daughter to go ahead with the wedding after she got cold feet
Rather than spending more time with her fiance, royal biographer Ingrid Seward has said Diana’s life at this time was ‘incredibly lonely’ after she was left to her own devices in the Palace with Charles away for five weeks in Australia and New Zealand.
With the big day quickly approaching, Diana was at her father’s home in Althorp, Northamptonshire, where she told her father the wedding was off.
According to Seward’s book ‘My Mother and I’, the Earl of Spencer managed to convince his daughter to go ahead with the marriage.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Seward said: ‘She [Diana] couldn’t deny that she still wanted to be the Princess of Wales. And, at 19, she was young enough still to believe in happy endings, despite what her instincts had told her on that terrible night.’
Meanwhile, William and Kate followed a far more traditional boy-meets-girl trajectory.
The university student, who would one day be the Princess of Wales, met William while they were studying at St Andrews in 2001.
It wasn’t until the spring of 2002 that Kate caught the attention of the young prince at a charity fashion show in the spring of their first year at university.
The 20-year-old Kate confidently strutted in front of her peers wearing a revealing sheer dress with a black bra and underwear for a fashion show titled ‘The Art of Seduction’. (It had actually been a see-through skirt or minidress worn as a top.)
The then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave Westminster Abbey as husband and wife. Kate wore a stunning Alexander McQueen gown designed by Sarah Burton and the Queen gave her the Cartier Scroll Tiara for the big day
Charles and Diana with Queen Elizabeth in March 1981 following their engagement. Rather than spending more time with her fiance, royal biographer Ingrid Seward said Diana’s life after she got engaged was ‘incredibly lonely’
Kate arrives at her graduation in 2005. It wasn’t until the spring of 2002 that Kate caught the attention of the young prince at a charity fashion show
Prince William, who paid £200 for a table close to the catwalk, is said to have been open-mouthed.
Shortly afterwards they moved into a student house together with some other university friends.
It wasn’t until a ski trip in Switzerland two years later that Will and Kate were identified by the media as a couple.
After nearly five years of dating, Kate and William broke up in April 2007.
The Prince and Princess of Wales would later reflect that the time apart had been good for them.
Speaking in their engagement interview, Kate reflected on their time apart: ‘At the time I wasn’t very happy about it, but it made me a stronger person.
‘You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realised, I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me, although I didn’t think it at the time.’
The front page of the Daily Mail following the announcement of Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s engagement in February 1981
Despite a short break in their relationship in 2007, the couple were together for almost a decade before they got engaged 2010
William also added that it was ‘just a bit of space’ as the pair were growing up.
By July that year the couple had reconciled. Reports surfaced at the time that William had reconnected with Kate at a party at his army barracks in Bovington, Dorset, during which they reportedly shared a passionate kiss.
Kate was also spotted at the memorial concert for his mother, Princess Diana, at Wembley Stadium the following week.
Just over three years later, the moment the world had been waiting for finally arrived when Prince William popped the question to Kate while on holiday in Kenya in October 2010.
William proposed to his long-term girlfriend in a cabin hut roughly 11,000 feet above sea level on the side of Mount Kenya in Africa.
Revealing the details of the proposal, William later said: ‘We had a little private time away together with some friends, and I just decided that it was the right time, really. We’d been talking about marriage for a while, so it wasn’t a massively big surprise, but I took her up somewhere nice in Kenya, and I proposed.’
The 28-year-old Prince used the dazzling oval blue 18-carat sapphire and diamond engagement ring that once belonged to his mother.
William and his bride-to-be announced their engagement publicly the following month in the State Apartments of St James’s Palace.
Upon their marriage, the Queen granted the couple the titles the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
The official statement read: ‘The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton. The wedding will take place in the Spring or Summer of 2011, in London. Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course.’
The announcement also included details about the circumstances surrounding the couple’s big moment.
‘Prince William and Miss Middleton became engaged in October during a private holiday in Kenya… Prince William has informed The Queen and other close members of his family. Prince William has also sought the permission of Miss Middleton’s father.’
Less than a year later, millions of royal fans from around the world watched in anticipation as Kate married her prince at Westminster Abbey.
The bride wore a stunning Alexander McQueen gown designed by Sarah Burton and the Queen gave her the Cartier Scroll Tiara for the big day.
Prince Harry served as his brother’s best man, with both the future Duke of Sussex and William dressing in traditional military uniforms.
The affair, attended by a crowd of 1,900 including royals, celebrities and politicians from across the globe, was hailed the wedding of the century at the time.
Following the ceremony, the newly weds stood on the Buckingham Palace balcony to exchange not one but two kisses, and the celebratory crowds went wild.
Upon their marriage, the Queen granted the couple the titles the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and they would later become the Prince and Princess of Wales.
