Prince William commented that it took him so long to propose to Kate Middleton because he was "trying to learn from the lessons of the past."

[Prince William and Kate Middleton met in 2001, when they were freshmen at the University of St. Andrews; some say it was 2002, others say 2003. But whether it was seven or eight years, it took a long time for William to propose to his girlfriend. The engagement was announced on November 16 of the same year, and they married on April 29, 2011, becoming the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, a title given to them by the late Queen Elizabeth. (After Queen Elizabeth's death in September 2022, they became the Prince and Princess of Wales.)

So why did it take William so long to propose? According to the Mirror, William was "acutely aware of the stress of being tied to the royal family and wanted to give himself the chance to 'back out' if he felt he could no longer endure life as queen," the magazine wrote.

In 2010, she was the first woman to be named queen.

At the time of his 2010 engagement to Kate, William himself was interviewed by ITV's Tom Bradby: "I wanted to give her a chance to see before it all became too much, and to back out if she needed to," he said.

Poignantly, he added, "I am trying to learn from the lessons done in the past." Perhaps he was referring to his parents' disagreement and eventual divorce.

William's parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, married in 1981 and really knew little about each other. Also, Prince Charles had feelings for his current wife, Queen Camilla (then Camilla Parker-Bowles), since the early 1970s, even on their wedding day. The divorce was finalized in 1996, just one year before Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris. William, who had been one of his mother's closest confidants, had seen behind the curtain of all that marrying into the royal family had brought to her, so it was understandable that he wanted to give the woman he loved the best chance to see what life in the royal family would be like before signing a lifelong contract.

Nevertheless, when William did propose, the Mirror wrote, it was a stunning one. The engagement was not announced until November 16, but he proposed on October 20, 2010, during a romantic vacation in Kenya." The protected area, at about 10,500 feet above sea level, provided a stunning setting for his proposal."

The couple's "marriage proposal was a perfect example of the kind of romantic relationship that is possible when the couple is in the middle of a romantic vacation.

As for why then and why there, William told Bradby that he and Kate had been talking about marriage for some time (perhaps since they got back together and rekindled their relationship in 2007) and "just decided" when the time was right.

He added, "We had been talking about marriage for a while, so it wasn't a big surprise, but I took her somewhere nice in Kenya and proposed." Kate's side felt that the proposal was "very romantic," and William admitted that he wanted to share his "romantic side" by putting thought into the proposal itself, rather than the proposal being a completely spur-of-the-moment act.

"It really felt right to propose in Africa . He said."

We all know what happened next: she said yes, and six months later, they became husband and wife. Speaking of William making romantic plans, he also planned a honeymoon to the Seychelles. Very romantic indeed.

.