Behind Palace Walls: Princess Catherine and Prince William’s Little-Known Post-Wedding Escape Revealed

Behind Palace Walls: Princess Catherine and Prince William’s Little-Known Post-Wedding Escape Revealed

Prince William and Kate Middleton married on April 29, 2011, after knowing one another for nearly a decade.
The night of their wedding, they spent the night at Buckingham Palace before heading off to a secret honeymoon before their more public-facing one to Seychelles in May.
The then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge first traveled to Wales before heading to their island getaway.
The world has long known about Prince William and Kate Middleton’s romantic 10-day honeymoon in Seychelles—which William reportedly planned himself—but, according to a new book, the couple had a secret honeymoon trip prior to departing that “was never discovered or written about.”

In his new book The Windsor Legacy, veteran royal biographer Robert Jobson wrote that the day after their royal wedding on April 29, 2011, William and Kate—the newly minted Duke and Duchess of Cambridge—traveled to Wales on April 30 for a secret first honeymoon that has been kept under wraps for nearly 15 years. The couple flew to King Charles’s Welsh retreat, Llwynywermod, which gave the two “a blissful few days” of privacy ahead of the more high-profile honeymoon they were about to take.

“It was made even better that their secret escape and its location was never discovered about or written about by the press,” a senior royal source told Jobson.

From there, William and Kate jetted off to Seychelles, which already was a key moment in their love story. (More on that in a moment.) The newlyweds spent 10 days in a private villa on North Island, the private island where Amal Clooney and George Clooney also honeymooned, as well as Salma Hayek. There are only 11 villas on the island, and the luxury resort costs upwards of $6,700 per night, according to Hello!.

It was reportedly William who planned the whole trip, and “he decided to keep details of their honeymoon a secret from Kate until after the wedding,” The Mirror reported. Seychelles, a cluster of 115 islands located in the Indian Ocean, was the perfect getaway for the active couple—the island offers scuba diving, snorkeling, sea kayaking, surfing, and cycling. The two stayed at Villa 11, the most exclusive villa, which spans over 8,000 square feet, has its own private swimming pool and deck, direct access to the beach, and sunrise views. Personal chefs customize menus to each guest’s individual tastes; luxury spa facilities are also available.

But beyond all the perks, the choice of Seychelles was deeply personal. William and Kate had spent a week there in 2007, not long after they reconciled following a brief breakup earlier in the year. The two visited that August, after having rekindled their romance earlier in the summer, staying on the island of Desroches, which William said (per The Telegraph) “was the best holiday he had ever had.” No doubt the idyllic location played into that, but also no doubt because of what happened on the trip—it was when William reportedly promised Kate that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, although he wasn’t quite ready to propose. (That wouldn’t happen for another three years.)

Checking in under the names Martin and Rose Middleton (according to biographer Andrew Morton), the couple “spent a sublime week renewing their love affair,” Morton wrote in his book William and Catherine. Fellow royal biographer Marcia Moody wrote in her book Kate that it was on this trip that William and Kate “made an agreement with each other. For the next few years, they would work and enjoy their lives, knowing that at some point when the time was right, they would be husband and wife.”

Royal biographer Katie Nicholl backs this up, writing in her book The Making of a Royal Romance, “William, who had inherited something of his father’s fear of commitment, knew he would lose Kate if he could not give her some form of guarantee.” She added, “They didn’t agree to get married there and then—what they made was a pact.”

William told Kate she was the one, but he was not ready to get married,” she continued. “He promised her his commitment and said he would not let her down, and in turn she agreed to wait for him.” William was a man of his word, ultimately proposing in 2010 while on holiday in Kenya; the pair married six months later.

It makes William’s choice to return to Seychelles for their honeymoon even more poignant—a romantic full circle moment. The palace told People that William and Kate’s honeymoon there was a “memorable” one, adding that they “thoroughly enjoyed their time together, and they are grateful to the Seychelles government for their assistance in making the honeymoon such a memorable and special 10 days.”