![\"William](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/037ea0b349885b469a0c7d440b5233c8.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nPrincess Kate once gave Prince William an ultimatum that brought their relationship to the brink of collapse, according to a new royal biography.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The future King and Queen had been together for four years when their romance ended in 2007.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But their split did not last.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A new book reveals the late Queen Elizabeth II played a key role in encouraging William to reconsider the relationship after seeing how deeply he was affected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The revelations appear in ‘William and Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story’ by The Mirror\u2019s Royal Editor Russell Myers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Myers details the early years of the couple\u2019s relationship and the period when they came close to going their separate ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kate had reportedly become frustrated with the direction of their relationship and wanted William to commit to their future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Catherine delivered an ultimatum to\u00a0William,\u201d\u00a0Myers\u00a0writes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile she did not explicitly demand an engagement or even a promise of marriage, she did break free from the gentle and arguably submissive persona that had typified her relationship with the future king.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The couple had met while studying at the University of St Andrews in 2001.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their friendship eventually developed into a relationship, with their romance becoming public after they were photographed together on a skiing trip in Switzerland in 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They later shared a flat while at university.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But by 2007, the relationship was under serious strain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William and Kate eventually split that year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The breakdown was\u00a0reportedly particularly\u00a0difficult for William, prompting his grandmother to intervene.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Queen had seen the damage caused by the breakdown of the marriage between William\u2019s father, King Charles III, and Princess Diana.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Myers writes that she invited William to lunch after becoming concerned about his state of mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Sensing William was struggling, the Queen invited him to Sunday lunch to judge his mood,\u201d Myers writes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWilliam was more than just crestfallen and worried about whether he was throwing away the one constant in his life. He was, according to one well-placed source, \u2018completely broken\u2019.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Queen then offered her grandson advice about the future of his relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In that moment, the Queen advised her grandson that the only certain path is the one supported by faith. It was all she had to say,”\u00a0Myers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William and Kate reconciled during the summer of 2007, only months after their split.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three years later, William proposed during a private holiday in Kenya.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The couple announced their engagement in 2010 before marrying at Westminster Abbey in April 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kate later recalled feeling shy when she first met William.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I actually think I went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you,” Kate recalled to William in their 2010 engagement interview, revealing that the\u00a0Prince\u00a0wasn’t there for Freshers\u2019 Week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“So,\u00a0it did take a bit of time for us to get to know each other, but we did become very close friends from quite early.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The couple have now been married for 15 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their relationship has also unfolded alongside the demands of royal life and periods of personal difficulty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kate underwent chemotherapy treatment in 2024 after announcing she had been diagnosed with cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The couple have continued their public duties while raising their family and preparing for William\u2019s eventual role as King.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Princess Kate once gave Prince William an ultimatum that brought their relationship to the brink of collapse, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[451075,451071,428813,437431,389294,451045,451082,390281,215483,259609,126183,414133,25668,376963,451084,380513,451070,451055,451080,391059,451076,451046,451056,396442,451057,451044,64,63,194495,14589,451043,24720,1617,90542,272168,39868,379391,134,451077,38532,260185,451065,155269,451048,451047,451063,384462,451068,389167,451081,377639,425587,451058,53589,64453,34534,7145,15399,21512,2581,20349,175683,379403,451086,388356,3289,451062,85600,20246,321,7551,25441,100920,137936,451054,451061,5514,305889,451069,451059,135862,451073,6221,381667,436119,451083,451060,426240,376492,381060,378599,385797,416111,378278,451067,131558,451064,385125,451052,451049,381092,389069,446484,418862,77470,451066,451050,434746,121962,46427,245701,451074,426438,385421,451079,397540,404464,384519,385114,451051,384159,397572,451085,451072,395118,6618,451053,6620,451078,14850,184935,2343,262305,135337],"class_list":["post-881836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-deep-sense","tag-s-eventual-role","tag-s-father","tag-s-intervention","tag-s-relationship","tag-s-royal-editor-russell-myers","tag-s-ultimatum","tag-15-years","tag-215483","tag-259609","tag-126183","tag-414133","tag-25668","tag-a-bit","tag-a-flat-while","tag-a-key-role","tag-a-new-book","tag-a-new-royal-biography","tag-a-private-holiday","tag-a-relationship","tag-a-royal-intervention","tag-a-skiing-trip","tag-an-engagement","tag-an-ultimatum","tag-anwar-hussein-getty-images","tag-april-2011","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-betrayal","tag-breaking","tag-bright-red","tag-buckingham-palace","tag-cancer","tag-catherine","tag-chemotherapy-treatment","tag-collapse","tag-each-other","tag-entertainment","tag-even-a-promise","tag-faith","tag-four-years","tag-freshers","tag-harry-and-meghan","tag-her-grandson","tag-her-grandson-advice","tag-her-grandson-prince-william","tag-her-relationship","tag-his-grandmother","tag-his-life","tag-his-mood","tag-his-relationship","tag-his-state","tag-june-2003","tag-karwai-tang","tag-kate","tag-kenya","tag-king","tag-king-charles-iii","tag-lunch","tag-marriage","tag-mind","tag-mr-myers","tag-myers","tag-one-well-placed-source","tag-only-months","tag-periods","tag-personal-difficulty","tag-photo","tag-picture","tag-point","tag-prince-william","tag-princess-diana","tag-princess-kate","tag-queen-elizabeth","tag-queen-elizabeth-ll","tag-quite-early","tag-royal-family","tag-royal-life","tag-sensing-william","tag-serious-strain","tag-st-andrews","tag-sunday-lunch","tag-switzerland","tag-that-moment","tag-that-year","tag-the-14th","tag-the-balcony","tag-the-breakdown","tag-the-brink","tag-the-colour","tag-the-couple","tag-the-damage","tag-the-demands","tag-the-direction","tag-the-early-years","tag-the-future","tag-the-future-king","tag-the-future-king-and-queen","tag-the-gentle-and-arguably-submissive-persona","tag-the-intimate-inside-story","tag-the-late-queen","tag-the-late-queen-elizabeth-ii","tag-the-marriage","tag-the-mirror","tag-the-one","tag-the-one-constant","tag-the-only-certain-path","tag-the-period","tag-the-prince","tag-the-queen","tag-the-relationship","tag-the-revelations","tag-the-summer","tag-the-university","tag-their-2010-engagement-interview","tag-their-engagement","tag-their-family","tag-their-friendship","tag-their-future","tag-their-public-duties","tag-their-relationship","tag-their-romance","tag-their-separate-ways","tag-their-split","tag-three-years","tag-time","tag-trooping","tag-university","tag-very-close-friends","tag-week","tag-westminster-abbey","tag-william","tag-william-and-catherine","tag-william-and-kate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}