Kate middleton prince william relationship problems 20190122 p5q05f.html – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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This was published 7 years ago

The friendship that almost broke up Kate and William

Jo Abi
Jo Abi

Prince William and wife Kate have one of the most solid relationships in the royal family, having first met in college and marrying over seven years ago.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have three children - Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte, 3, and Prince Louis, 8 months.

They rarely, if ever, put a royal foot wrong.

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In the latest episode of Honey Mums, we take a look at the legacy left by Princess Diana and the price she paid for being the 'People's Princess'. (Article continues.)

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But it wasn't always easy for the devoted couple who went through a very public split early in their relationship, before eventually getting engaged.

Royal biographer Katie Nicholl says the couple met at St Andrew's University in 2001, however after William organised a boys-only trip to Greece to get a break from the relationship, they went through a very public split.

"Kate was beginning to question William’s commitment to their relationship, and she also had her own creeping doubts about their future after St Andrew's," she wrote in her book William and Harry.

Nicholl says it wasn't just the boy's trip that caused Kate to question her relationship with Prince William. It was also a friendship he had struck up with American heiress Anna Sloan, the daughter of businessman George Sloan who had died in a shooting accident at the family estate in Nashville.

"A number of things had caused her to question William’s commitment, although she had not raised them with him yet," Nicholl wrote. "One was William’s friendship with an American heiress called Anna Sloan."

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It is thought Prince William and the heiress bonded over both having lost parents.

Princess Diana had died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 and George Sloan died in 2001.

"When Anna invited William and a group of friends to Texas for a holiday before he went to Greece, it hurt Kate deeply," the royal biographer said. "She suspected William might have feelings for the 22-year-old heiress."

Her concerns were unfounded and she and Prince William quickly reunited.

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Anna Sloan even attended Kate and William's 2011 wedding with her husband Eddie Smith.

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