
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission.
Prince William and Kate Middleton‘s marriage almost never would have happened if their 2007 split had stuck.
But was it really a breakup? Former royal butler Grant Harrold is offering his fresh perspective in an upcoming book, The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service, out Sept. 23. Harrold started at the palace, one day after Princess Diana’s 1997 death, and served the royal family until 18 days after William and Kate’s April 2011 marriage.
Even though he believes Kate was always “the one,” per his interview with InStyle, he is offering insight into their breakup. Harrold thinks their short separation was more about “getting the media off Kate’s back, because it was so bad at the time.” Remember, this was the “Waity Katie” era when the terrible tabloids thought she was waiting around for an engagement.

“Kate was struggling, and I wondered if it was to give a breathing space. That’s just my view. I had no information,” Harrold speculated. “So when they got back together, I remember thinking, ‘I wonder if they hadn’t really split up, they just had a bit of time apart [because of] the media.’”
Harrold’s PR theory seems to gloss over the fact that the Prince of Wales was seen partying quite a bit during their brief split and linked to a woman named Ana Ferreira, per the Daily Mail. William was getting cold feet about the next steps in his relationship with Kate.
‘All Catherine ever wanted was a husband, a house in the country, loads of kids, a dog, and an Aga stove,” a childhood friend of Kate’s shared with the U.K. media outlet in November 2020. Pippa [her sister] was going to be a hot-shot lawyer or work in the City – she had the ambition and drive of her mother. Catherine was much more like her father. She wanted a happy, domestic setting, looking after everyone.”
Just months later, Kate and William reunited, but it took another three years before they would get engaged. The short time they spent apart may have set the stage for their long future together.
Before you go, click here to see more photos of Prince William & Kate Middleton through the years.