Kate Middleton & Prince William's Cringey First Date Proves Even Royals Struggle With Romance

Any royal watcher probably knows the gist of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales' relationship timeline. They got close while in college at St. Andrews University, even becoming roommates with two of their school friends during their second year. Some time after then, Prince William and Kate Middleton began dating. Kate's modeling past didn't kickstart their relationship, but it possibly lead it in the right direction.

At times, William and Kate have been refreshingly honest about their relationship. Just like normal, non-royal couples of the world, they've had awkward moments in their romance — including their first date. A rumored story of said date shares the more human sides of the royals that people don't usually get to see. The story, reportedly told on Heart Radio per Mirror, goes that on their first date, Kate fell trying to jokingly curtsy to the prince. When she did so, William spilled his drink on himself. There doesn't seem to be any confirmation of this story from the prince and princess themselves, but it's a funny sight to imagine (and very sweet that the date was evidently still successful despite a potentially rough start).

Another feature of William and Kate's relationship that makes it feel wholly typical is that they once briefly broke up before getting back together.

The breakup, one of William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales' controversial moments, happened in April 2007. According to Express, Prince William felt "claustrophobic" dating Kate Middleton. Journalist Camilla Tominey's article about the split published by the Sunday Express in 2007 included interesting quotes from an insider: "After they split up, William confided to his grandparents that he was not sure if he loved Kate enough. Now they are back together, the Queen wants William to do the right thing — either marry the girl or let her go." Queen Elizabeth II didn't want them to end up divorced shortly after getting married. Prince Philip supposedly felt similarly: "Prince Philip has told William he cannot keep stringing along Kate for ever."

An insider for The Observer shared a slightly different story about the breakup between William and Kate. They said, "He broke up with Kate because he's met someone else who's turned his head. She's from a decent background but is very naughty and he finds her much more exciting" (via The Guardian). At the time, William and Kate were also not seeing each other much due to his military training.

However, by May 2007, William reportedly already regretted breaking things off with Kate. Royal author Katie Nicholl wrote "Kate: The Future Queen" and outlined how William told Kate he wanted her back. However, "Kate didn't want to rush anything. She had been badly hurt and told William she needed some time" (via StyleCaster).

"Kate: The Future Queen" claims William, Prince of Wales invited Catherine, Princess of Wales to a costume party and that a sexy nurse costume had him drooling over Kate the whole time. That party sparked them to officially get together again in summer 2007.

While being interviewed by ITV News around the time of their engagement, William and Kate were asked about the infamous breakup. William confirmed they did briefly break up, but didn't divulge why. However, he spoke about their time apart, saying, "It was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up, and so it was just sort of, you know, a bit of space and ... it soon worked out for the better." Kate admitted she was disappointed by the breakup. "But actually it made me a stronger person," she said, feeling in hindsight it was actually good that it happened.

In addition to the brief on-again, off-again moment between William and Kate that made their relationship all the more relatable, they've had some interactions that made people uncomfortable. For instance, during the "A Berry Royal Christmas" special in 2019, Kate seemed to move in her seat to knock William's hand off her shoulder. No couple is perfect, even if you're royal, so those awkward moments are bound to happen and are just part of life.