Prince William Left Kate Middleton “in Floods of Tears” on New Year’s Eve 19 Years Ago
That’s one way to ring in the New Year.
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Kate Middleton and Prince William announce their engagement on November 16, 2010.Credit:
Getty Images
For all the love birds out there, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of sharing the very first moment of the year with that special someone: The ball has dropped, the bubbly has popped, and (if you’re lucky) you get to lock lips with your crush. Such is the magic of New Year’s Eve, which typically presents a high-energy, memorable evening. However, for some, the night can sometimes be lackluster or even dreadful—which sadly was the case for Kate Middleton almost 20 years ago.
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As the tale goes, all the way back in 2006, Kate was left “in floods of tears” after Prince William changed their New Year’s plans, according to The Mirror. The pair, who had been dating for more than four years at that point, had spent Christmas apart the week prior. Kate had been invited to the holiday by Queen Elizabeth II, but she politely declined to adhere to the royal family’s “no ring, no bring” rule.
However, not to fret, because the couple would be spending New Year’s together at the Middletons—or so Kate thought. William cancelled their plans abruptly and at the last minute, leading Kate to sob, “fearing for the future of their relationship,” according to Katie Nicholl’s book The Making of a Royal Romance.
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“William had promised Kate he would join her family, but decided to stay with his family instead—and informed her on the phone on Boxing Day [December 26],” Nicholl wrote. “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.”
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Fans will remember this moment eventually led to William and Kate’s brief split in 2007. However, after a few weeks, both parties came around and got back together. “It wasn’t long before their romance was confirmed to be back on, and Kate moved into William’s Clarence House flat, where he would return from military duties on Friday nights for cozy weekends together—and the rest, they say, is history,” Nicholl penned.
The rest truly is history: William and Kate, now the Prince and Princess of Wales, got engaged in 2010 and married the following April. They welcomed Prince George in July 2013, Princess Charlotte in May 2015, and Prince Louis in April 2018.