Why Kate Middleton and Prince William&x27;s Love Story Almost Didn&x27;t Happen and How Queen Elizabeth Stepped In (Exclusive) Simon PerryWed, February 18, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC 0 Kate Middleton and Prince William in 2025. Inset: the couple on their graduation day in 2005 The Middleton Family 2011/Shutterstock A new book traces Prince William and Princess Kate's relationship from St.
Why Kate Middleton and Prince William's Love Story Almost Didn't Happen and How Queen Elizabeth Stepped In (Exclusive)
Simon PerryWed, February 18, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC
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Kate Middleton and Prince William in 2025. Inset: the couple on their graduation day in 2005
The Middleton Family 2011/Shutterstock
A new book traces Prince William and Princess Kate's relationship from St. Andrews through an early breakup — and the personal and public challenges they've faced since
Author Russell Myers tells PEOPLE that the late Queen Elizabeth played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in helping the couple find their way back to each other
PEOPLE is exclusively excerpting Myers' book, which also explores family rifts, pressures on the monarchy and Kate's cancer journey, in this week's issue
Kate Middleton and Prince William's relationship is often framed as modern royalty's great love story — but it came closer to ending than the world ever knew.
In William and Catherine, The Monarchy's New Era: The Inside Story (out March 10), author Russell Myers draws on nearly 100 interviews to chart the couple's private turning points. "Now was the right time to provide a definitive account of William and Catherine's life together," Myers tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "They are pillars of the modern monarchy."
From their slow-burn start at the University of St. Andrews to the 2007 split that briefly put everything in doubt, Myers also reveals the behind-the-scenes push from Queen Elizabeth, who helped change the course of their future.
Fond of Kate from the start, the late Queen "could see [Kate] had all the qualities of a future Queen," Myers tells PEOPLE, and the monarch's private conversations with her grandson proved a "catalyst for William changing course" and recognizing that "if he had faith in the relationship and his love for her, then that would be enough to carry them through."
In the exclusive excerpt below, Myers charts the love story that almost didn't happen — and how William and Kate's bond has endured. "They've been through a profound experience together," Myers tells PEOPLE, "and are very aware that things could have been very different."
Pegasus Books
After several years together, the pressure of dating the future King eventually reached a breaking point for Kate.
On the day of her 25th birthday, on Jan. 9, 2007, with speculation over an engagement announcement at fever pitch, Catherine emerged from her London flat to a scrum of more than 20 press photographers and five television crews . . . Amid the dizzying flashes of photographers' cameras, some sprinting across the road to get in front of her, some almost stumbling over each other, Catherine struggled to get to her navy Volkswagen Polo, before the media continued to take pictures through the windows of her car as it sped away. Shaken and deeply distressed by the incident, Catherine called William in floods of tears.
A source close to the couple said the situation and resulting conversation was "incredibly distressing for both of them," adding, "She [Catherine] said, 'I can't do this anymore.' The situation was intolerable and William felt entirely helpless."
When William pulled back, Kate laid down the line that changed everything.
In March 2007, William and Catherine, who had barely seen each other since Christmas, appeared frosty with each other at the Cheltenham horse racing festival. Sources claimed the relationship had "soured beyond repair." In the days after the Cheltenham Festival, deeply unhappy and at a loss to describe how their relationship had faltered in such a short space of time, Catherine delivered an ultimatum to William. A long-standing friend who she confided in at the time said, "Catherine was distressed. She was miserable, but she certainly wasn't desperate. She felt as though she had nothing to lose and for the first time she probably relayed her true feelings to William. She wasn't demanding an engagement, but she wanted a commitment, and if he couldn't deliver that, well, then she left him in no doubt that it was best they go their separate ways."
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Blinded by his own insecurities, William did not react in the way Catherine expected. In a subsequent 30-minute phone call he laid out his reasons for believing they were on "different pages" and said he could not offer her a guarantee of marriage. Catherine was understandably devastated. The couple agreed to give each other the space they needed. Secretly, Catherine wondered whether she would ever see William again . . . It's telling that William confided to one senior courtier that, "at least she is free."
Kate Middleton and Prince William at the Cheltenham Race Festival on March 13, 2007
CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty
Behind the scenes, Queen Elizabeth stepped in — not as monarch but as grandmother.
Sensing William was struggling, the Queen invited him to Sunday lunch to judge his mood. William was more than just crestfallen and worried about whether he was throwing away the one constant in his life. He was, according to one well-placed source, "completely broken." "In that moment the Queen advised her grandson that the only certain path is the one supported by faith. It was all she had to say," the source said.
Prince William and Queen Elizabeth in 2007
Anwar Hussein/Getty
Their reunion a few months later began quietly.
William decided to make his move. At first, he texted and asked to speak, wondering if Catherine would even reply. With Catherine unsure of William's motives and unwilling to let her guard down just yet, the initial exchanges were tentative, if a little frosty. William explained that he was missing her and floated the idea of them still attending a party that had been in their [calendar] for months.
Reluctant to commit over the phone, Catherine said she would consider the proposal, although she did agree they should talk, if only to clear the air. Fellow guests said as soon as William and Catherine set eyes on one another it was clear their love had not extinguished. The couple peeled off from the rest of the party and spent hours locked in deep conversation. Catherine listened intently as William attempted to break the deadlock, laying out his reasons for doubting what they had. He talked of his fear of letting someone truly experience the world in which he lived, and also his fear of rejection if he did let himself get too close. Catherine, of course, knew that she still loved William deeply. That was why she had been so explicit in her demands. She was willing to agree to a future, if only he would stop allowing outside factors to affect his judgement. After speaking for what seemed like hours, William's charm, it seemed, had worked. The couple returned to the party. As the cocktails flowed and the dance floor filled, they only had eyes for each other.
Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2008
POOL/ Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty
More than 25 years after they first met at the University of St. Andrews — and nearly 15 years after their royal wedding — Myers' book details how William and Kate ultimately found their way back to one another, a reunion that led to their 2011 marriage and the family life they've built with their three children: Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7. But the love story, Myers makes clear, was only the beginning.
Kate Middleton and Prince William
In the years since, the couple has navigated becoming Prince and Princess of Wales following Queen Elizabeth's death in 2022, absorbing fresh strain on the monarchy amid the ongoing fallout surrounding former Prince Andrew's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, a painful rupture with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — and then the most personal challenge of all, Kate's cancer diagnosis in 2024.
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Through every chapter, Myers says, the constant has been their partnership. "They are great communicators," he tells PEOPLE. "They talk about their emotions, they support one another — and that resilience, often unseen, is central to who they are."
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: February 18, 2026 at 03:36PM on Source: RED MAG
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