Kate Middleton reveals her crucial lesson during split with Prince William

Kate Middleton “wasn’t very happy” during a brief split from Prince William, but admitted it did make her stronger.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, who celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary earlier this year, have been together for almost two decades. They first met at the University of St Andrews in Scotland in 2001.

Kate caught William’s eye during a charity fashion show in 2002, walking down the runway in a see-through lace outfit. While many view their relationship as a fairytale romance, the journey to marital bliss wasn’t always smooth sailing.

After an on-again, off-again relationship, rumors began circulating in early 2007 that William would propose to Kate on her 25th birthday. Despite the speculation, William chose not to propose to his long-term girlfriend, instead opting to end the relationship.

The future king reportedly felt “claustrophobic” within the relationship. The split was widely publicized, unlike their previous break which allegedly occurred during their university years.

Once William ended things with Kate, he was spotted partying in a London nightclub. It’s believed the Prince of Wales even told a group of seven friends, “I’m free.

Royal expert Richard Palmer noted that it didn’t take long for William to start feeling the absence of Kate. He stated, “Prince William enjoyed a lonely trip to the cinema to cheer himself up after refusing to rule out an eventual reconciliation with dumped Kate Middleton.”

William was accompanied to the cinema only by his police bodyguard and watched the movie Blades of Glory, having left his Army base for a “quiet night out.” Palmer told the Daily Express at the time of the split, “A friend revealed that the Prince was already exhibiting signs of missing his long-term girlfriend since their breakup following a heart-to-heart chat last week.”

Fate had its way and the couple quickly reunited. Kate and William are said to have gotten back together at a party on June 9, 2007, and they’ve stayed together since. Addressing the split during a candid 2010 interview after their engagement announcement, Kate reflected, “I think at the time I 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.”

She recognized the time apart allowed for personal growth, even though it didn’t seem like it at first, saying, “I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you’re younger.