Princess Kate revealed what her first meeting with her future father-in-law King Charles was like, admitting she was “nervous” at the thought.
The Princess of Wales and Prince William marked their 12th wedding anniversary in April 2023, with the couple having dated for eight years prior.
They announced their engagement on November 16, 2010. A statement from Kensington Palace at the time read: “The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton.
“Prince William and Miss Middleton became engaged in October during a private holiday in Kenya. Prince William has informed The Queen and other close members of his family. Prince William has also sought the permission of Miss Middleton’s father.”
In line with tradition, the newly engaged couple took part in a sit down interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby, where Kate discussed meeting then Prince Charles for the first time.
She admitted: “I was quite nervous about meeting William’s father.” But then added: “But he was very, very welcoming, very friendly, it couldn’t have gone easier really for me.”
“Meeting the grandmother, the Queen, again not your average meeting with a grandmother, were you nervous about that too?” Tom enquired.
“I first met her at Peter and Autumn’s wedding and again it was amongst a lot of other guests and she was very friendly,” Kate replied, with William adding: “She was very welcoming.
“She knew it was a big day and everything was going on with Peter and Autumn. She wanted to meet Kate for a while, so it was very nice for her to come over and say hello.”
Kate’s family were also said to have embraced their future son-in-law after meeting him for the first time. Carole and Michael Middleton, along with Kate’s siblings Pippa and James, welcomed him into the family early on.
“Mike and Carole have been really sort of loving and caring and really fun,” William said. “They have been really welcoming towards me, so I’ve felt really a part of the family.”
The couple also spoke about the proposal, with the Prince confirming it had taken place three weeks earlier in Kenya. “We had a little private time away together with some friends and I just decided that it was the right time really,” he shared,
“We had been talking about marriage for a while so it wasn’t a massively big surprise. I took her up somewhere nice in Kenya and I proposed.”
