This Is Why Prince William Initially Resisted Kate Middleton AND the Idea of Marrying Her

It's no secret at this point that Prince William and Kate Middleton (opens in new tab) didn't have a totally smooth courtship. The couple, who met (opens in new tab) during their time at the University of St Andrews, broke up briefly in 2007 (opens in new tab) before ultimately reconciling and, eventually, getting married and making adorable royal babies (opens in new tab) together.

The split was shocking because Will and Kate (opens in new tab) seemed like such a perfect couple from the get-go, but, apparently, that's exactly why Will was so hesitant to move forward with the relationship. In her book The Making of a Royal Romance (opens in new tab), royal expert Katie Nicholl summed up Will's concerns:

"He was aware his father had been pressured into marrying Diana because she was deemed the suitable bride. He was reluctant to bow to similar pressure and vowed not to be hurried at the altar. He made his feelings clear, telling a journalist in an off-guard moment that he had no plans of getting married any time soon."

That off-guard quote, according to the International Business Times (opens in new tab), went like this:

And, you know, fair. They were young and Will's parents did have a very dramatic relationship that was largely the result of being rushed to the altar. Since Will and Kate were both 29 when they finally said "I do," he got his wish.

"We were both very young," Will said of the split during the couple's joint engagement interview (opens in new tab). "It was at university (opens in new tab), 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."

For her part, Kate has said the temporary split was good for her, too, even though she was very against it at the time (opens in new tab).

"I think I at the time wasn't very happy about it, but actually it made me a stronger person," she said at the time. "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, true love (opens in new tab) won out in the end.