It has been 11 years since the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tied the knot, but Prince William hasn’t forgotten all of the planning that went into the proposal that changed their lives forever.
William met the then- Kate Middleton when they were both 19 and studying at Andrew’s University. They were good friends before they moved into a shared house with other pals, where romance blossomed.
Despite a brief split in 2007, William got down on one knee with his late mother’s engagement ring during a trip to Kenya in 2010.
The couple travelled around the country before heading to Lake Rutundu, which William had decided was the perfect place to pop the question.
“It was about three weeks ago on holiday in Kenya,” he told journalist Tom Bradby in their engagement interview in 2010.
“We had a little private time away together with some friends and I just decided that it was the right time really.
“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.”
William explained why he picked Africa for the special moment, at an event at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the UK’s relationship with Africa.
He said: “The African continent holds a very special place in my heart. It is the place my father took my brother and me shortly after our mother died.
“And when deciding where best to propose to Catherine, I could think of no more fitting place than Kenya to get down on one knee.” And he did so with his late mother’s ring. “It is very special to me and Kate is very special to me now as well,” he said.
