Studies show more and more people are deciding to forgo marriage and instead are happy to make a commitment to their partners without the requirements of marriage.
However, for our favourite modern royal Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge, formerly Kate Middleton, marriage to her real life prince was always on the cards – the question was just when it would happen.
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Catherine Middleton married Prince William on 29th April 2011.
How old was Kate Middleton when she married Prince William?
After seven years of dating and a small time apart in 2007, Prince William wed Catherine Middleton in front of over 1,900 people at Westminster Abbey and millions watching worldwide. When Kate married Wills at the April 29, 2011 ceremony, she was 29 years old while William was 28, about to turn 29 in the June.
William and Kate had met when they were both students at the University of St Andrews in 2001. The couple first were friends and did not start dating until 2003.
Kate and Wills at their graduation in 2005.
The long wait before her marriage earned Catherine the nickname “Waity Katie” in the tabloids. And while the nickname was cruel and unfair, in comparison to the other royal weddings in recent years, Kate’s nickname seems somewhat appropriate.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had only been dating just over a year when their engagement was announced in November 2017. However, Prince Harry and Meghan were older than Wills and Kate, Harry was 33 and Meghan, 36, at the time of their May 2018 wedding.
The now iconic photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their special day.
Similarly, Charles and Diana had only been on 12 dates before their engagement. Unlike Meghan, Diana was very young when she married a 32 year old Prince Charles in 1981. Diana was merely 20 years old when she entered the world’s most famous family.
The couple divorced in 1996 and only a year later Diana was tragically killed.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana in happier times.
Charles was obviously a lot older when he married his second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005. Charles was 56 and Camilla, a year older at 57. It was also Camilla’s second wedding after her 1995 wedding when she was 26.
The Queen and Prince Philip have a love that has lasted 70 years.
Perhaps William was taking inspiration from his paternal grandparents when deciding to delay his proposal.
Queen Elizabeth met 17 year old Prince Philip when she was only 13 sparking a love that has lasted for over 70 years. Like their grandson, William, the Queen and Prince Philip also waited for more than seven years before announcing their engagement. But this was not due to any uncertainties on their behalf but merely because the Queen’s father, King George VI, requested they delay any announcements until after the Queen’s 21st birthday in April 1947.
