Why Kate Middleton Was Rendered “Speechless” and in “Total Shock” by Prince William’s Proposal, According to Royal Author

LONDON - NOVEMBER 16: Prince William and Kate Middleton pose for photographs in the State Apartments of St James Palace on November 16, 2010 in London, England. After much speculation, Clarence House today announced the engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton. The couple will get married in either the Spring or Summer of next year and continue to live in North Wales while Prince William works as an air sea rescue pilot for the RAF. The couple became engaged during a recent holiday in Kenya having been together for eight years. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage).

Even though they had been together for almost a decade when they got engaged, Kate Middleton reportedly still didn't Prince William's proposal coming.

Royal expert and author Katie Nicholl detailed the days leading up to the couple's romantic engagement moment in her book Kate: The Future Queen, in which she explained that when the couple traveled together to Kenya in October 2010, Kate actually had "dared to hope that she might return from Africa with a ring on her finger."