After several days together, Prince William and Kate began to take the next steps in their relationship, although they were not yet engaged.
So when William was posted to RAF Valley on Anglesey in 2010, Kate decided it was time to move in 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 the first time a young couple had married within the Royal Family, an institution that tends to keep things traditional.
Despite rumours circulating in the media for some time about an imminent engagement, William had 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 stationed in Anglesey
William was a Sea King search and rescue pilot based at RAF Valley in Wales. Above: in uniform at RAF Valley during his father’s visit to the base, July 2012
A lighthouse in Holyhead, Anglesey. The couple lived in the area for three years, from 2010 to 2013.
The couple lived in a cottage on the Bodorgan Hall country estate in Anglesey.
There, Kate worked from home for the family business as a website designer and photographer, while William was a Sea King search and rescue pilot at the RAF base.
Recalling their time there, Jobson wrote that William said it was “an immensely special place for both of us.”
The remote location allowed the young couple to live a relatively normal life.
Kate enjoyed cooking and baking and she and William often ventured out to the local pub together.
Unlike most royals who live in the spotlight, Kate even made weekly shopping trips to Waitrose and Morrisons.
When William was posted to RAF Valley, Kate decided to join him and move in too.
One of the Sea King helicopters that Prince William flew during his time working at RAF Valley
Prince William’s car pictured at the gate of the Bodorgan Estate, where he was living with Kate at the time in 2012
William is pictured sitting 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, Anglesey, Wales, near where Prince William was stationed with the RAF
They remained in Wales even after marrying 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 owned by Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton.
He lived to spend time with the couple’s three children, but passed away in 2020.
Prince George spent his early years living in Anglesey, until the family finally moved to Kensington Palace in 2013.
Although it was a special place for William and Kate, Anglesey could feel too remote at times, especially when Prince George was born.
Kate revealed during a visit to a children’s centre in Cardiff in 2020: ‘I was so isolated, so isolated, I didn’t have my family around me, he was doing night shifts, so I wish I’d had a centre like this at one point.’
Since 2022, William and Kate and their three children have been living at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor.