LONDON – Prince William honoured the memory of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, by using her engagement ring to propose to Kate Middleton, the prince said last night.
Prince William hid the priceless heirloom in a rucksack and took it on a romantic break with his girlfriend to Kenya last month before asking his long-term love to marry him. The royal made the gesture in tribute to Diana and Kate, two “very special” people to him.
The pair will marry next year but the second in line to throne said they had been planning the wedding for some time.
At a joint interview at Clarence House, William said: “It’s my mother’s engagement ring so I thought it was quite nice because obviously she’s not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all – this was my way of keeping her close to it all.”
The couple, both 28, ended months of speculation by announcing their engagement yesterday morning, nine years after they met as art history students at St Andrew’s University.
Speaking to his fiancee William said: “We’ve talked about today for a while, haven’t we? . . . so Kate wasn’t in the dark over it all, we’ve been planning it, you know, for at least a year if not longer. It was just the right time.”
He added: “I had my military career and I really wanted to concentrate on my flying and I couldn’t have done this if I was still doing my training so I’ve got that out of the way and Kate’s, you know, in a good place in terms of work and where she wants to be and stuff and we both decided now was a really good time.”
The royal couple revealed that their temporary split three years ago helped them to grow personally. At the time it was reported that William’s military life drove them apart but he said last night: “I think, to be honest, I wouldn’t believe everything you read in the paper but in that particular instance we did split up for a bit.”
He went on to suggest that their time apart helped the relationship. “It was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up – it was a bit of space and a bit of things like that and it worked out for the better.”
Ms Middleton revealed she was upset about the break-up. “I at the time wasn’t very happy about it, but actually it made me a stronger person – you find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realised. I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me, although I didn’t think it at the time.”
Starting a family was something William said they both wanted but it was a development for the future. “I think we’ll take it one step at a time. We’ll sort of get over the marriage first and then maybe look at the kids, but obviously we want a family so we’ll have to start thinking about that.”
When the couple were asked if they were worried about the pressure of Kate following in Diana’s footsteps, William replied: “There’s no pressure.” He added: “No one is trying to fill my mother’s shoes – what she did was fantastic. It’s about making your own future and your own destiny and Kate will do a very good job of that.”
His fiancee paid tribute to the mother-in-law she never met. “Obviously I would have loved to have met her and she was obviously an inspirational woman to look up to – to this day and going forward.” – (PA)