Why Kate Middleton and Prince William Once Broke Up During College

With their extremely shiny hair, fairytale weddings and adorable PDA moments, it’s only natural that the royal couples may make you feel slightly less enamored than usual by your own significant others. Sure, you love them, but they’re not Prince Harry or Meghan Markle, are they? Sigh. Luckily, a rare candid interview with Kate Middleton and Prince William (opens in new tab) is here to serve as a reminder that even they have their relationship ups and downs, and the couple even once broke up over a petty argument.

Bursting their bubble of perfection with a relatable dose of reality, William shared a few details of their temporary split during an interview with ABC News (opens in new tab) in 2010. "Well, I think to be honest, I wouldn't believe everything you read in the paper, but in that particular instance we did split up for a bit," the Duke of Cambridge revealed.

Back in 2007, it was reported (opens in new tab) the news that college sweethearts Kate and William had called it a day. At the time, Clarence House would neither confirm nor deny the reports and instead stated: "We don't comment on Prince William's private life." After dating for four years, William is rumored to have refused an invite to New Year’s with Kate’s family.

Elaborating for himself on the rough patch of their relationship a few years on, William shared the relatable, down-to-earth nature of their problems. “We were both very young,” he explained. “It was at university, we were sort of both finding ourselves as such and being different characters and stuff, it was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up, and so it was just sort of a bit of space and a bit of things like that and it worked out for the better.”

During the joint interview which took place around their engagement, Kate went on to open up about how she coped with the breakup during that important, early stage of her adult life.

The Duchess spoke honestly, saying: "I think I at the time wasn't very happy about it, but actually it made me a stronger person. You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn't realized, or I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me as well although I didn't think it at the time. Looking back on it.”

Thankfully, the couple managed to patch things up and Kate and William were spotted together a month later at a Princess Diana tribute concert. The rest, as they say, is history.