Kate (26 page)

But 2009 came to a close without an announcement. It was a continual cause of consternation for Carole, who was worried that her daughter was nearing thirty and still not engaged. She enjoyed a close relationship with William, and just before Christmas she had a quiet word when he came to visit. According to one family friend, she told him she was worried that an engagement might never happen. “Carole felt like she was treading water as far as her daughter's relationship was concerned. She put some pressure on William to let the family know where it was all leading. William spoke with her and assured her that the relationship was very much on track and that there would be an engagement soon.” According to the
source, they also discussed the longer-term future and children. “William said it was all on the cards and that when it did happen, Carole and Michael would be very much a part of their lives, and the lives of their own children. Carole trusted William and put her faith in him.”

George Brown, who remained in touch with Michael and Carole, recalled, “It was a condition when they got married that they would be a part of the grandchildren's lives. Carole's a natural with children, and she will be a wonderful grandmother, and I imagine she'll want to be very involved.”

Once again William and Kate spent Christmas apart, with the Middletons going to Restormel Manor, a holiday home in Cornwall. It was a relaxing, uneventful few days, that is, until Kate was photographed by a paparazzo while she played tennis on Christmas morning. When William heard, he was incandescent, considering it a flagrant breach of the PCC ruling that Kate was a private individual who should be left alone. He urged her to take legal action, and several months later, Kate won a record $15,000 in damages for breach of privacy. It was a warning shot to the press: Kate was not prepared to have her privacy invaded, and she had the weight of the royal lawyers to help fight her case.

By the start of 2010, William was one step closer to flying Sea King helicopters. He had graduated from flying a single-engine Squirrel helicopter to a double-engine Griffin. Kate had jokingly taken to calling him “Top Gun.” On January 15, she was at RAF Shawbury to see his father present him with his latest flying badge. It was a poignant moment for father and son; Charles had been awarded his wings in the very same hall. William had been told he would be posted to RAF Valley, a search-and-rescue base on the island of Anglesey in Wales in
the new year, which would be his new home for some time. By now Kate had attended three graduation ceremonies, prompting royal correspondents to ask: “Why is Wills still flying solo?” At the Palace, courtiers were pondering the very same question. Planning had already commenced for Prince Philip's ninetieth birthday in June 2011, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and the 2012 London Olympics. No dates were being discussed for a royal wedding, however, because William hadn't given any indication as to when it might happen. His next period of training at RAF Valley officially ended in September 2010, which seemed an opportune time to get engaged before he embarked on a full-time flying career. Their closest friends had privately put bets on a 2011 wedding, but no one could be sure.

The question of marriage was even being debated on the other side of the world. William had flown to New Zealand twenty-four hours after graduating, and there was a great sense of excitement over how his five-day long tour would be received. The prince had been warned about the republican movement in Australia, but crowds of thousands turned up at every event to see him.

Dressed in his chinos and an open-necked shirt rather than a formal suit, William chatted happily to wellwishers and seemed entirely comfortable conducting walkabouts. With his good looks and natural charm, it was hard not to think of Diana, although William insisted he wasn't “anywhere near her level” when he visited a children's hospital in Wellington. The reception he received in Sydney was equally warm. When he arrived at Government House in Melbourne, he was swamped by female fans carrying banners with the message “We love Wills.”

He was asked by one woman when he planned to marry Kate, and he teased, “As I keep saying, wait and see.” It was a playful and somewhat telling response. Until now, William had never commented on the subject of marriage in public.

When he returned to Britain, William moved into his new home—a rather basic single room in the officers' accommodation at RAF Valley. That Easter, Kate and William holidayed with her family at the French ski resort Courchevel, prompting royal observers to speculate once again about an engagement. The couple was photographed kissing at a mountaintop restaurant and later, chasing each other down the slopes on snowmobiles. According to a ski instructor who sat at a table near the group during lunch one day, William referred to Michael as “Dad.” “Prince William and Kate looked like a honeymoon couple. He held her hand under the table, stroked her hair, and kissed her cheek,” instructor Meret Visser told the
Daily Mail
. “William was clearly very close to Kate's father. Every time he spoke to him, William replied, ‘Yes, Dad.' Everyone in their group was laughing at this—it was clearly jokey. But William did look like part of the family.” According to one family friend, it was a private joke emanating from William's pledge to Carole.

Kate and William had decided that on their return from Courchevel, William would move out of his quarters at RAF Valley so that they could live together. With permission from his head of command, they rented a farmhouse on the Bodorgan Estate, owned by Lord and Lady Meyrick. The house, on the southwestern part of the island of Anglesey, near the Irish Sea, was only a twenty-minute drive from the RAF base. William had been told that, providing he passed his exams, he would be staying on at RAF Valley, news that pleased them
both. The island was a perfect retreat from the paparazzi and incredibly beautiful. The farmhouse was surrounded by mountains and beautiful countryside, and was only a short walk from a small beach. This part of Wales could potentially be their home for at least two more years while William carried out a full tour of duty. Kate had moved all her belongings in by the beginning of June, but because the press was busy following William and Harry on their very first joint overseas tour to South Africa, no one noticed. William traveled home on his birthday and much was made of him turning twenty-eight, which was, after all, the year he predicted he might marry.

Although there was still no official announcement, the reality was that behind the closed doors of their new Anglesey home, William and Kate were already living the life of a married couple. By the end of June, Kate had given up working for Party Pieces and was immersing herself in her new life.

Anglesey was as normal as it was ever going to be for them both. The press agreed with the Palace not to photograph the couple's home because it was deemed a security risk. The farmhouse was well protected and could only be accessed by a private drive, making it virtually impossible to photograph anyway. As at St. Andrews, the locals on the remote island protected the couple, so they were able to go about their daily lives in relative peace. Since Kate's successful legal action in which she won substantial damages, newspaper editors were far more cautious about the pictures they published.

Their new home was idyllic, and with William at work, Kate filled her days taking photographs, walking on the beach, and compiling an exhibition of her work, having had the idea to stage a photographic exhibition and raise money for charity.
Often, her only company was William's protection officers, an always entertaining group. Some, like Chris Tarr, had looked after the prince since he was a little boy and were full of stories. Michael and Carole visited from time to time, as did Pippa, and they all noted how happy Kate was in this phase of her life.

Although they had lived together as students at St Andrews, this time was different because it was just the two of them, a real road test for marriage. And it was proving to be a success.

William was, once again, being granted a privilege none of his predecessors had enjoyed. His father had spent most of his bachelor years refusing to settle down with one woman. He had proposed to Diana after a yearlong courtship, but he never got the opportunity to live with her before they married. William and Kate, however, knew each other's flaws and strengths, but the most important thing was that they knew they worked well as a team. Forever scarred by the pain of his parents' divorce, it was essential to William that when he married, it would be for life. Divorce had dogged the royal family for too long. From the abdication of Edward VII in 1936 that had nearly ruined the monarchy to the more recent divorces of Diana and Charles, as well as Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, unhappy marriages threatened to seriously unhinge an otherwise solid establishment. Before William asked Kate to marry him, he wanted to be sure it was what she really wanted. By living together, Kate could decide whether it was, and as William later recalled “back out” if it wasn't.

William graduated as a fully qualified Search and Rescue Force helicopter pilot in September 2010 and joined Number 22 Squadron, C flight. It was a major achievement for the prince—he was now fully qualified to fly Sea King MK3
helicopters, which meant that he would be carrying out dangerous rescue missions and essentially saving lives. He spent the next few weeks familiarizing himself with the terrain and his crew before carrying out his first shift, during which he rescued an oil-rig worker who had suffered a heart attack at sea. It was a stressful but exciting job, and for the prince, incredibly rewarding. William was trained to fly in extreme weather conditions and was responsible for steadying the aircraft while lost climbers and casualties were winched to safety.

With his training completed, William and Kate were back in the spotlight as rumors circulated in the press once again that their long-awaited engagement would soon be announced. There was a flurry of activity to suggest that this time an engagement really was imminent. The
Mail on Sunday
revealed that the Royal Mint, which must secure the Queen's permission before manufacturing any new coinage, had started preparations for a commemorative coin to celebrate a royal wedding. The Palace claimed to have no knowledge of the coin, but for the first time, royal representatives changed tack on their stance about a possible engagement. Usually, speculation was accompanied by a denial, but on this occasion an aide seemed to suggest that there would be an announcement: “We don't know the date; only William and Kate know,” he said. “I don't expect we will be told until the last minute. William plays his cards very close to his chest, that's his nature.”

The following year seemed a good bet for a royal wedding; the year 2012 was likely to be dominated by the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. Bookmakers across the country stopped taking bets on a 2011 wedding after it was reported
that senior courtiers had been in touch with Westminster Abbey about a possible ceremony.

Ironically, it was the madness of this media frenzy that provided the distraction that enabled William and Kate to slip out of the country to Lewa Downs in Kenya. However, before he escaped, William paid a visit to his grandmother at Buckingham Palace, deliberately arriving by motorbike so as not to be followed or seen. In this private visit, he asked the Queen's permission to procure a piece of jewelry from her collection.

And so it was that no one—apart from his grandmother—knew that William was traveling to Kenya with his late mother's diamond-and-sapphire engagement ring hidden away in the depths of his knapsack.

CHAPTER 10

A Royal Engagement

A
S THEY JETTED OUT
of London's Heathrow Airport, bound for Kenya at the start of October 2010, Kate dared to hope that she might return from Africa with a ring on her finger, but as the holiday drew to a close, there was no sign of a proposal. There had been plenty of opportunities, each stage of their African adventure a potential setting for a romantic moment. But now on the last day of their trip, Kate's heart was heavy.

They had started with a trek to one of the most remote parts of the country, the rain lands of Ishak Bin, where they camped and cooked over a fire they built from forest wood. It was basic, remote, and most important, just the two of them—but there was no proposal. From Ishak Bin they traveled to Lewa, where they stayed at the same five-star lodge they holidayed in after their graduation. There they enjoyed game drives and on one occasion were lucky enough to spot a rare black hook-lipped rhinoceros, which was tranquilized and
named in William's honor after he paid $9,000 to sponsor the beast and ensure it was safe in the wild. As the great animal lay breathing in the grass, he and Kate had touched it. But still there was no proposal, and so by the time they headed to Sarara for another safari with two friends from South Africa, Kate had given up hope. Instead, she threw herself into photographing the giraffe, elephants, wild dogs, buffalo, and vast open plains, which she planned to catalog when she got home.

The final leg of their holiday came as a complete surprise to Kate. William had booked a day and a night at the Il Ngwesi Lodge, a remote log cabin in the heart of the countryside near the great Lake Rutundu. He had stayed there before, so he knew it would be the perfect place to return with someone special. The lodge was basic and far from luxurious, but it was the remote location in the middle of the countryside that made it unique. And it was here that Kate's long-awaited dream came true. On the shores of Lake Rutundu, William got down on bended knee and asked Kate to marry him.