After several together, Prince William and Kate were beginning to take the next steps in their relationship, though they were still not engaged.
So when William was posted to RAF Valley in Anglesey in 2010, Kate decided it was time to move too.
According to Robert Jobson’s new biography of the Princess of Wales, Kate ‘ruled out a long-distance relationship’ and instead the couple rented a house together for £750 a month.
This was a first for a young couple in the Royal Family – an institution that tends to keep things traditional.
Despite rumours swirling around in the media for some time of an impending engagement, William was yet to get down on one knee.
Kate and William at a wedding in St Andrews in 2010, the same year they moved in together when the prince was based at Anglesey
William was a Sea King search and rescue pilot at the RAF Valley base in Wales. Above: In his uniform at RAF Valley during his father’s visit to the base, July 2012
A lighthouse pictured in Holyhead, Anglesey. The couple lived in the area for three years from 2010 to 2013
The couple lived in a cottage on the estate of country home Bodorgan Hall in Anglesey.
There, Kate worked from home for her family’s business as a website designer and photographer, while William was a Sea King search and rescue pilot at the RAF base.
Looking back at their time spent there, Jobson wrote how William said it was an ‘immensely special place for us both’.
The secluded location meant the young couple could live relatively normal lives.
Kate enjoyed cooking and baking and she and William often ventured to the local pub together.
Unlike most royals living in the spotlight, Kate even did weekly shopping trips to Waitrose and Morrisons.
When William was posted to the RAF Valley, Kate decided to join him and move too
One of the Sea King helicopters that Prince William flew with during his time working at RAF Valley
Prince William’s car pictured at the gatehouse of Bodorgan Estate, where he lived with Kate at the time in 2012
William pictured sat at the controls of a Sea King helicopter during a training exercise in March 2011
Kate pictured at a polo match where William and Harry were playing in July 2010
Holyhead Lighthouse pictured in Anglesey, Wales, near where Prince William was based with the RAF
They stayed in Wales even after getting married in 2011 and were joined by Lupo, a cocker spaniel given to Kate and William as a wedding present.
Lupo was bred from a dog which was owned by Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton.
He lived to spend time with all three of the couple’s children but passed away in 2020.
Prince George spent his very early life living in Anglesey, until the family eventually moved in 2013 to Kensington Palace.
Though a special place for William and Kate, Anglesey could be too remote at times, especially when they had a new-born Prince George.
Kate revealed during a visit to a children’s centre in Cardiff in 2020: ‘It was so isolated, so cut off, I didn’t have my family around me, he was doing night shifts, so if only I’d had a centre like this at a certain time.’
Since 2022, William and Kate and their three children have lived at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor.
