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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Emma Rosemurgey

Prince William refused to marry Kate Middleton for years because of Charles

With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge more than halfway through their Caribbean tour, it's clear to see just how far Kate has come since joining the royal family in 2011.

Being the public eye and under so much scrutiny certainly can't be easy, especially when the duchess was ridiculed with cruel names such as 'Waity Katie' before she and Prince William announced their engagement.

The name was given to Kate because of the seven year gap between the beginning of her romantic relationship with Wills in 2003 and their engagement in 2010.

But, while their relationship certainly moved at a slightly slower pace than some other members of the royal family, it turns out there was a very good reason behind it, as Wills did not want to make the same mistakes as his parents, a royal expert has claimed.

Diana got engaged to Prince Charles in 1981, and the pair wed six months later (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
Wills and Kate were together for seven years before their engagement (Getty Images)

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According to Richard Kay, William was "concerned" about potentially making the same mistakes as Prince Charles and Princess Diana, who famously got engaged six months after first meeting, the Express reports.

The royal expert and columnist appeared on Amazon Prime's 2011 documentary, William & Kate: Into The Future, where he said: "Everything about William you can trace back to what happened to his parents — he lived through the bitter breakup of their marriage.

"He knows how much what happened to them destroyed their marriage. He’s very concerned not to make the same mistakes."

Charles and Diana announced their engagement in February 1981, when a reporter famously asked the prince if they were in love, to which he responded: "Whatever 'in love' means."

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