Prince William and Kate Middleton mark 15 years of marriage with rare family portrait

It has been 15 years and Prince Williams and Kate Middleton are still counting as the royal couple celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary on April 29, 2026. Marking the occasion, the prince and princess of Wales shared a rare image of their family, offering their well-wishers a glimpse into their personal moments. The post by Kensington Palace featured a sweet family portrait of the couple with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and their two dogs. The post was captioned, “Celebrating 15 years of marriage.”

The couple had tied the knot in 2011 at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony that was witnessed by an estimated 2 billion viewers all over the world. But how this royal partnership took shape has been a rather endearing story for all those who watched the couple’s love grow through their life.

Prince William and Kate Middleton's Relationship Timeline

The Prince and Princess of Wales had met each other for the first time in 2001 when the two were mere students at St. Andrews University. The pair had initially started off as friends and had soon started dating. According to Kate, it took the two some time to get to know each other, but as the duo spent more time together, they began finding commonalities between them.

Their relationship quickly progressed thereafter, and by October of 2002, the two began living together along with their friends Fergus Boyd and Olivia Bleasdale in a four-bedroom apartment. Their romance bloomed through the years of public dating from 2002 to 2007.

By 2003, the couple had moved out of the four-bedroom apartment they shared with their friends and into a space of their own. And Prince William had taken this opportunity to start cooking for Kate, which she later revealed in 2019 that it was "like Bolognese sauce and things like that."

In April of 2004, the couple made their relationship official after a year of trying to keep it out of the public eye. According to reports, The Sun had published their photos while they were spending time together at the Klosters Ski Resort in Switzerland.

In December of 2006, Kate was spotted attending Prince William’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst graduation, where she cheered for her boyfriend as he graduated. Her presence at the event marked her first royal event alongside the Queen and sparked speculations surrounding the couple’s engagement.

April of 2007 brought a turn in the couple’s relationship when Kate and Prince Williams split up, but it was only short-lived. The couple had reportedly decided to part ways after five years of dating, stating that Kate was struggling with the media attention around their relationship. Reports also claimed that the couple had grown apart because of their different careers, but their separation didn’t last long.

In June of 2007, two months after their separation made the headlines, reports once again claimed the prince had reconnected with Kate and the two were getting back together. According to reports, the two had reconnected at a party at William’s army barracks in Bovington, Dorset, during which they reportedly shared a kiss. They further suggested that she was also invited to a memorial concert for Prince William’s mother at Wembley Stadium in the following week.

On October 20, 2010, Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton. According to reports, the prince had popped the question to Kate in a cabin on Mount Kenya in Africa. He had later revealed that the couple had been talking about marriage for a while before he officially proposed to her. He had asked Kate to marry him with his late mother Princess Diana’s ring.

Later, on November 16, 2010, the royal couple announced their engagement and included all the details about the circumstances that surrounded the big moment. This was followed by Kate Middleton’s first royal appearance on a walkabout in Wales with her husband-to-be on February 10, 2011, like Princess Diana had done before.

The walkabout, her first royal duty, involved her chatting with the locals and interacting with them.

Just ahead of their nuptials, on April 29, 2011, Queen Elizabeth bestowed the new royal titles of Dukedom on the couple. Kate Middleton became a duchess, and these new titles were then announced by the palace on their wedding day. Later in the day, the couple’s much-awaited wedding ceremony took place, where Prince Harry took the role of William’s best man. Both the groom and the best man were captured dressed in military uniforms, while Kate had donned a French Chantilly and English Cluny lace Alexander McQueen by Sarah Burton gown with a skirt. Her outfit was completed with padded hips. The wedding was attended by more than 1,900 people, whilst millions of others watched worldwide. After their vows, the newlyweds had ridden through the streets of London in a 109-year-old State Landau carriage to Buckingham Palace. The reports revealed that the couple had shared two now-famous kisses on the balcony before driving off in a 1969 Aston Martin convertible.

In May 2011, the newlyweds had left for their honeymoon after a week of post-wedding rituals. According to reports, the duo had taken a private jet to Seychelles in the Indian. 

July 2011 saw Kate Middleton and Prince William moving into Kensington Palace, and by November, they had reportedly made plans to relocate to a larger apartment on the grounds of "the size of a small mansion." 

On August 2, 2012, the Prince and Princess of Wales were spotted attending the Olympic Games, and on December 3 of the same year, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child.

In July of 2013, the couple welcomed their first baby, Prince George Alexander Louis, formerly known as Prince George of Wales, and on September 8, 2014, they announced that they were expecting their second child. On May 2, 2015, the royal couple’s family grew by one more as they welcomed their first daughter, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

On September 4, 2017, Kate Middleton announced her third pregnancy, and on April 23, 2018, the couple welcomed their third child, a son, Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge.

May 19, 2018, saw Kate Middleton and Prince William attending Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, and on April 29, 2021, the royal couple celebrated their 10th anniversary, and in 2025, after Kate’s several months-long battle, the couple celebrated their 14th anniversary.