Prince William and Kate Middleton fell in love as students at St Andrews, and from the outside, it looked like a perfect match. But in 2007, the relationship came to an end, and for a while, many believed their love story was over.
It wasn’t. A few months later, they found their way back to each other, and according to Grant Harrold, who served as King Charles’ butler, something about the reunion felt different from the very start.
“When they got back together, it was fresh, it was like a double boost,” Harrold said in his memoir The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service. “They both were making more of an effort.”
Harrold had offered before to serve the couple formal dinners, but William and Kate always laughed it off, not wanting any fuss. Then, ahead of Valentine’s Day 2008, William changed his mind.
“OK, let’s do a dinner, if you’re happy to,” William told him.
For Harrold, it said everything.
“I felt that he was saying, ‘Look, I’m serious. This is going to up a level.’ That’s what I felt,” he wrote.
The first time around, he explained, it had been all casual meals and hanging out. This time, it was a statement.
“It was almost like a reset button, but this was serious. Suddenly, it was a bit more, ‘I’m serious, and I’m going to show you I’m serious,'” Harrold recalled.
Less than three years later, William proposed in Kenya, and in April 2011, Kate walked down the aisle at Westminster Abbey.
Sometimes it takes losing something to realize exactly how much it means, and one candlelit dinner to prove you finally understand. 