- .Sensational revelations are in new book by Mail on Sunday Royal Editor
- .Tearful Kate's 'crunch moment' on her 25th birthday as photographers camped outside her door
- .How Queen intervened to help Kate find a role
- .The split that almost broke the royal couple... and the promise that saved their romance
By CHARLIE LANKSTON and REBECCA SEALES
With the image of their first beaming moments as parents still fresh in our minds, it seems hard to imagine that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge once faced a challenge that almost ended their relationship for good.
On January 9 2007, long before Prince George was thought of, Kate Middleton had another birthday on her mind - her own.
As her 25th dawned, the future princess awoke in her Chelsea flat to find it besieged by photographers. Just weeks after the inquest into the death of Princess Diana was published, Kate was pictured puffy-eyed and exhausted as she walked to her car.
Troubled: Kate, pictured on a night out in April 2007, had a lot on her mind as she and William went through a rocky patch
The reason? Speculation that Prince William would propose on Kate's birthday had reached fever pitch, fuelled in part by the Princess of Wales's former press secretary, Patrick Jephson, who had claimed an announcement was 'imminent'.
It wasn't. Kate knew it, William knew it - but the massed paparazzi thought otherwise, and chased her down the road as she tried to flee the scene by car. By the time Prince William called to wish his girlfriend happy birthday, Kate was hardly able to hold back her tears.
With the prince about to start a new chapter as as Army officer with the Blues and Royals, she knew they would have little time together in the months ahead - and her sense of uncertainty about their future was growing.
With her status as royal girlfriend guaranteeing ceaseless press scrutiny, Kate was experiencing all the negative aspects of royal life without any of the security.
Drawn: Kate looked miserable as she was photographed leaving her flat two days after breaking up with William
With no formal role or burgeoning career to throw herself into, she was struggling to find her place in the world. Despite her youth, the media cruelly dubbed her 'Waity Katie' in reference to the non-appearing engagement ring.
A new book by The Mail on Sunday’s Royal Editor Katie Nicholl reveals that the Queen herself became concerned, and tried to help Kate find her feet by suggesting she take up some charity work.
The book – Kate: The Future Queen, tells how Kate, a natural with children, started making secret trips to the Naomi House hospice for children in Hampshire.
The centre's proximity to the Middleton family home meant she could visit without attracting attention, bringing gifts or spending hours reading to the children.
Like any army officer, 24-year-old Prince William was determined to make the most of his precious days on leave, and the couple's relationship was placed under strain when he chose to spend time living it up in London instead of with Kate.
As pictures emerged of William flirting and partying in Boujis nightclub with other women, his devoted girlfriend was decidedly unimpressed.
The final straw came when a tabloid ran images of the young prince drunkenly dancing on a podium with a 19-year-old girl in a Poole nightclub. The teenager described the prince as, 'touchy-feely and quite p***ed'.
Kate had had enough. In Easter 2007, the pressure became too much, and she issued William with a strict ultimatum: Give this relationship your full commitment, or it's over.
The shocked prince felt too young, perhaps too conscious of his parents' mistakes, to make the promises Kate wanted - so the heartbroken couple called time on their romance.
Kate retreated to her family home in Bucklebury, and the solace of her mother's advice. Carole Middleton comforted her daughter, telling her William loved her, despite their youth, and that he'd be back.
Partying prince: Off-duty William was seen enjoying himself in a Poole nightclub with a bevvy of attractive women - none of whom was Kate
Heartbreak hotel: Kate retreated to her parents' home in Bucklebury Village, Berkshire after she and William split
Of course, the woman now known as 'Granny Carole' was right.
By mid-May the couple were talking on the phone, by June Kate was spotted at a fancy dress party at William's barracks, and in August, the pair jetted off for a holiday in the Seychelles.
Having lost her once, William had realised that Kate was the woman he wanted to spend his life with - and told her so, beneath the stars. Though they did not want to marry immediately, the pair made a promise that one day, they would.
The prince told his future bride that she was the one, and she agreed that if that was what it took, she would wait for him.
Eighteen months after their secret pact by the Indian Ocean, William found himself facing the moment most men with a long-term girlfriend dread – the ‘quiet word’ with her mother about his future intentions.
And redoubtable Carole Middleton certainly wasn’t prepared to avoid the subject just because the man dating her daughter was a future King.
Worried about the absence of a ring on Kate’s finger, the Middleton matriarch took Prince William aside to press him on his plans.
Carole Middleton pressed William on his plans when she became worried about the absence of a ring on Kate's finger
William assured Carole that not only would there be an engagement and subsequent marriage, the couple hoped to have children
The meeting took place when William visited the Middleton family just before Christmas 2009.
In the book, a family friend tells how Carole expressed her fears to William. But he assured her that not only would there be an engagement and subsequent marriage, the couple hoped to have children – and he promised Carole that she would be fully involved in their upbringing.
William stayed true to his word. The couple were engaged the following November and since their son George was born on July 22, Carole has become the most famous grandmother in Britain.
Moving closer: Undergraduates Kate and William together at St Andrews in 2003
Kate, right, in 1998 with friends at Marlborough. She stunned them by opting for St Andrews over Edinburgh
She and her husband, Michael, were the first family members to visit the new baby after his birth – ahead of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall – while Kate and William have even set aside a ‘granny flat’ for the Middletons at their lavish Kensington Palace apartment.
Another of the Middletons’ friends, former neighbour George Brown, says: ‘It was a condition when Kate and William got married that Carole and Michael would be a part of the grandchildren’s lives.’
Kate paid tribute to ‘Granny’ Carole last week during her first public appearance since the birth.
The new book also untangles the tale of how Kate came to choose St Andrews for her university
Carole looked after George when Kate and William attended the start of a marathon on Anglesey on Friday. Kate’s presence at the event was a surprise – it was only revealed that morning that she would attend.
It is thought it could be one of the couple’s last engagements on Anglesey before they leave their home on the Welsh island next month to settle into a new life in London.
The new book also untangles the tale of how Kate came to choose St Andrews for her university – starting at the same time as William and on the same course
The happy couple announced their engagement in 2010. Their official engagement photograph was shot by Mario Testino
Their fairytale wedding was broadcast across the globe, showing the Duchess in her stunning Alexander McQueen gown
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge leaving the King Edward VII hospital in Central London after announcing the pregnancy
A beaming Prince William holds his new baby son as they leave the hospital. The Duchess was praised for her decision not to hide her 'mummy tummy'
It has previously been put down to mere coincidence, but it seems Kate deliberately plotted to be there at the same time as the prince.
Jasper Selwyn, a careers adviser at Kate’s former school, Marlborough College, and Joan Gall, her house tutor, confirm in the book that her first choice was not St Andrews at all, but Edinburgh.
Despite achieving the required grades for Edinburgh, one of the country’s top universities, she changed her mind after William’s own choice of university was made public.
In a bold move, Kate turned down the place she had been offered at Edinburgh, decided to take a gap year, just as William was doing, and reapply for St Andrews – a risky strategy as there was no guarantee that she would get a place. Since then, of course, their relationship has flourished.
The Duchess has become one of the family, pictured hear laughing with Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cornwall
The pregnant Catherine looks happy and content pictured here with her husband and brother in law
In another fascinating insight into the Royal romance, the book reveals that although Kate has taken on a higher public profile since her marriage, she in fact began doing secret charity work six years ago.
In 2007 the Queen quietly suggested to William that Kate get involved with a charity, and they both considered it an excellent idea.
The Middletons’ family firm, Party Pieces, already had a connection with Starlight, a children’s charity which grants terminally ill children a once-in-a-lifetime wish.
The Duchess of Cambridge said that Prince George has been very 'good'. The pair released this official photograph of their young family
Carole looked after George when Kate and William attended the start of a marathon on Anglesey on Friday
Kate arranged to meet the charity’s chief executive officer Neil Swan to see how she could help more.
He said: ‘Kate was working with Party Pieces at the time and she came up with a clever idea for a party bag that doubled up as a colouring-in gift.
‘She also designed some Starlight-themed crayons and other bits and pieces to go in the bags. To us, she was just Kate, and we would go and have meetings with her at Party Pieces, and sometimes she would come to us.
In 2007 the Queen quietly suggested to William that Kate get involved with a charity, and they both considered it an excellent idea
‘She came up with lots of creative ideas for parties that we were arranging for sick children, and she did a lot of work below the radar.’
It is also revealed that Kate made numerous secret visits to the Naomi House children’s hospice in Hampshire.
She would drive to the hospice bearing gifts for the children, and would spend hours reading and playing with them.
KATE LEFT 'HUMILIATED' AFTER PHOTOS OF WILLIAM IN NIGHTCLUB
The Duchess was reassured by her mother that the split from Prince William would not be permanent
The couple's relationship was briefly put on hold after Kate confronted William about his partying, the book reveals.
She was left 'humiliated' after pictures were published of William with two girls at a nightclub in Poole, where he had been posted for a tank commander's course.
There had also been earlier reports he had been dancing with another women at Boujis nightclub, in London.
The new book reveals how Kate believed their relationship was finished unless she had his full commitment.
But, at the age of 24, William was scared by commitment and was enjoying his lifestyle in the Army.
In April 2007 they decided to end their relationship - only for Carole to reassure her daughter that the split would not be forever.
HOW COUPLE MET AT PRINCE'S DEN
Kate and William first met in the summer of 1999 in the 'den' at the prince's country estate, the new book reveals
Kate and William first met in the summer of 1999 in the 'den' at the prince's country estate, the new book reveals.
Two years before she went to St Andrews, Kate was introduced to the Glosse Posse, a group of friends who regularly met at Highgrove, in Gloucestershire.
She was introduced to the group by her Marlborough College friend Emilia d'Erlanger.
In the book, Kate's house mistress Ann Patching explains how: 'We all knew as teachers that that year group was moving in Royal circles, that they were friends.'
The book also reveals how while working in the summer before she started at university, Kate told a colleague how she had already met the Prince ‘once or twice’.
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