‘I partied with Kate Middleton after William split – what she said showed true colours’

Before they married, the Prince and Princess of Wales had a rocky romance after they left university and even split for a while – and one expert has revealed what Kate told him after the brief break-up

The course of true love hasn’t always run smoothly for the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Next month they celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary and exchanged loved-up glances at their last appearance together at the Commonwealth Day service. Their romance blossomed over 20 years ago when they were both students at St Andrews University – but after graduation, they hit a rocky patch and briefly split.

While William continued his training after joining the Army, Kate and sister Pippa were often spotted hitting the town and attending glitzy parties – one of them the launch party for a book by author Simon Sebag Montefiore.

Also attending the party was the author’s sister-in-law Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, who sadly died several years ago. According to the Daily Mail, Tara, who was a friend of William’s asked Kate how she was following the break-up.

Kate reportedly told her she was fine and even when Tara persisted asking: “It must be so hard”, the now princess is said to have replied: “Really, it’s fine.” And now royal expert Richard Eden, who was at the party with Kate and witnessed the exchange, said it taught him a lesson about the future Queen.

He writes in the publication: “She made clear with her body language that she didn’t wish to discuss the subject, and the conversation moved swiftly on to happier and less fraught matters.

“At that time, Catherine was seen as a party-loving girlfriend of William, but my first encounter with her taught me that she was a tough cookie who wasn’t going to be inveigled into saying something she didn’t want to say. Indeed, she reminded me of members of the Royal Family, much older than herself, who have the uncanny ability to make small-talk with anyone without giving anything anyway.”

Kate’s last royal outing came earlier in the week when she joined King Charles and Queen Camilla or the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, which both the princess and the monarch missed last year due to their cancer diagnoses.

Kate looked eye-catching in a red Catherine Walker coat and a hat by Gina Foster in the same colour as she arrived at Westminster Abbey with William. The pair were seen chatting as they arrived and giggling together as they took their seats before the start of the service.

And body language expert Judi James told the Mirror it showed a ‘transition’ from their recent outings – but one moment showed William’s ‘bashful crush’ on his wife. She explained: “William and Kate made the body language transition from ‘unison’ behaviours to mirrored, ‘free movement’ behaviours at this formal royal event.

“Since Kate’s illness, they have been extra tactile and totally connected during their public appearances, using every opportunity to use touches, glances or mimed hugs to move together coupled up like ice skaters or ballroom dancers.

“But here they performed the equivalent of ‘free’ movement, putting in their professional appearance in a more traditionally regal way but moving while apart in synchronised, mirrored unity as they did so.

She added: “When they did connect, sitting together, William’s body-scrunched pose and his very youthful smile with eye crinkling and a peek of the front teeth through his lips in response to Kate’s lean and playful smile suggests a bit of a bashful crush is still going on in their relationship.”