‘THEY’RE THE SUPERSTARS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY’
Kate and William stride ever confidently into the future a decade after saying ‘I do’
IT’S easy to recall why there was so much excitement 10 years ago when they walked out of Westminster Abbey, smiling in the sunshine as two billion people watched worldwide. Diana’s son and his gorgeous bride had captured the global imagination and there they were, striding down the steps and into the future. Not since Charles married Diana all those years ago had a royal wedding created so much hype and hysteria.
William and Kate were different from the start. Unlike with Charles, the queen didn’t need to approve William’s choice of partner. The prince chose his bride himself – and he chose wisely.
The Cambridges can give themselves a pat on the back as they toast their 10year anniversary. In the first decade of their marriage, they’ve grown in every way – in confidence and maturity, grace and poise, humour and heart.
They’re the royal family’s superstars, sprinkling fairy dust wherever they go and helping to secure not only the longevity of The Firm but its popularity.
William, says royal biographer Robert Lacey, is better set and better grounded than any future monarch has been.
“He also has a strong partner in Kate, whose unwavering poise balances her husband’s more intense side. They look after each other. They are proud of each other. Theirs is a marriage that works.”
IN THE BEGINNING
Things were very different when William and Kate started their married lives together. Home was a remote rented farmhouse in Anglesey, Wales, where William was stationed as a Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force pilot.
“Immediately after the wedding, William had a very clear idea of the pace at which he wanted to take things,” a former royal aide says. “If you’re not careful, duty can weigh you down an awful lot at an early age.”
William and Kate loved those uncomplicated early days. They shunned all palace offers of staff and she would cook his favourite meals.
They called themselves Mr and Mrs Cambridge and spent weekends cruising around the countryside on his Ducati motorbike. She would make jam and cakes for him to take to work for his colleagues and they enjoyed nights out at the local cinema and pub.
“This time was reminiscent of how happy the queen and Prince Philip had been in Malta when Philip was stationed there with the Royal Navy,” says royal writer Richard Kay. “Like his grandmother, William was putting off the stiff formalities of royal life for as long as possible.”
William, keenly aware of the pressures put on his mother in her early married days, was determined not to rush his naturally shy wife.
“His advice to Kate has always been to ‘just be yourself ’,” a friend told People magazine. “And it was advice she took to heart. She has always known the importance of the royal institution and that she had a role to play.
“She knows that being a member of the royal family is a bit like having a contract: you sign on the dotted line and you deliver.”
But she was also grateful to William for keeping the noise at bay at first – and they had the queen’s blessing.
“Her Majesty was happy for her grandson to marry for love,” says royal author Ingrid Seward.
“I don’t think Kate’s background was ever an issue for the queen. The only thing she would have cared about is that Kate had the qualities to be a good queen and from early on, she has shown that.”
She also makes him happy, Seward adds. And that meant the world to his grandmother too.
GETTING STUCK IN
Their isolated idyll couldn’t last forever and duty soon came calling. The Cambridges were assigned their first official tour – to Canada in 2011.
Kate was nervous but she was determined to do a good job and not disappoint the queen, who was the grand master of royal tours.
“Night after night she would sit mugging up on the protocol, talking to the queen’s ladies-in-waiting and picking the brains of diplomatic