Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, will celebrate her 40th birthday this week, but it looks as though her celebrations could be scaled back amid concerns over COVID-19. Reports indicate that “only close family and friends” are likely to be invited to Kate's celebrations. A source told the Mail on Sunday: “There are likely to be low-key celebrations for the Duchess. “She didn’t want anything flashy anyway – that’s not exactly her thing – but particularly given the current climate anything is likely to be scaled down.”
The Duchess has marked a number of milestones recently – her 40th comes after she celebrated 10 years of marriage with William in April.
The couple's romance began when they were at university at St Andrews.
The pair were on the same history of art course and lived only a few doors from each other.
They also shared a love of sport and fitness, joining up for regular morning runs.
It wasn't until a fashion show at the university, however, that William started seeing Kate as more than a friend, according to reports.
The Mirror reported that, when Kate took part in the show wearing a sheer black dress, William whispered to a friend: “Wow, Kate’s hot!”
Royal expert Ingrid Seward claimed that this was the moment William began to see Kate as more than a friend.
She told the Mirror: “Kate and William’s relationship began as a friendship, but when Kate did that catwalk show, that was the first time he really looked at her as more than a lovely friend. Early dates were very simple.
“They used to go to a place called Ma Bells and they would be very discreet.
“Often William would turn up and Kate would appear later but they wouldn’t be together. William wanted to keep it under wraps as long as he could.
“They shared an apartment together in their second year and that’s where their relationship moved up a pace.
“I think that’s where their relationship was consummated.”
In 2007, William and Kate hit a brief rough patch when they temporarily broke up.
Reports from April 2007 also claim that William broke up with Kate via a phone call that she received while at work.
The future Duchess, then 25, excused herself from a meeting and went into a room to be out of earshot of other buyers, Robert Lacey claimed in his book Battle of Brothers.
Mr Lacey said: "She shut the door for more than an hour. When she came out, she was single.
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"That person got the message quicker than he or anyone else expected. William had found dating difficult, for a start, when a surprising number of young women from his circle turned him down flat.
"They could suss out the truth about where his heart lay, even if he himself could not."
They got back together in June 2007, and by 2010, were ready to spend the rest of their lives together.
William proposed to Kate while they were in Kenya, and later explained why he chose the African country for the big moment.
He said in 2019: "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."
Following their engagement announcement in November 2010, William said: "We had been talking about marriage for a while so it wasn’t a massively big surprise."
Kate added: "It was very romantic. There’s a true romantic in there."
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The Cambridges got married at Westminster Abbey in 2011, and the event also showed how close William was with his brother, who was his best man.
In OK! Magazine's special collector’s edition in April, the story of William's pre-wedding nerves was told.
It revealed the brothers went out to chat the night before the historic wedding day, with the groom said to admit he was “terrified of fluffing his lines”.
The magazine also told of how Harry joked with William to try and calm his brother down before the big occasion as they were taken to Westminster Abbey.
As Kate made her entrance, Harry is said to have told his brother: “Well, she’s here now – and she looks beautiful, I can tell you that!”
Ten years and three children later, William and Kate continue to go from strength to strength.
Prince George, now eight, was born in 2013, Princess Charlotte, now six, was born in 2015, and Prince Louis, now three, was born in 2018.
William and Kate shared a video on social media, picturing them with their children at the beach.
It was captioned: "Thank you to everyone for the kind messages on our wedding anniversary. We are enormously grateful for the 10 years of support we have received in our lives as a family. W & C."