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Kate Middleton and Prince William are celebrating their 11th wedding anniversary this month. The future king and queen consort are now happily married with three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. But back when they were dating, their love story hit a major bump in the road.

After meeting at St. Andrews University and dating for a few years, William and Kate briefly split in 2007. At the time, there were fears that the couple would call it quits for good. But William and Kate managed to “put themselves together” and rekindle their romance without any help.

Prince William & Kate Middleton Attend The First Day Of The Cheltenham Festival Race Meeting in 2007
Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2007 | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Kate Middleton and Prince William were an item when they graduated from university

William and Kate started out as friends at St. Andrews University in Scotland. But their friendship quickly blossomed into a romance. When they both graduated in 2005, it appeared that their relationship was strong.

William went into the military and she took a job in London as an accessories buyer at Jigsaw. But by 2006, rumors started to swirl that William was having doubts. During Christmas that year, William was reportedly so anxious about the pressure of an engagement, that he had a meeting with his father and grandmother — Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth.

“William had been having second thoughts and sat down with his father and his grandmother to have a frank discussion about his future with Kate. Both advised him not to hurry into anything,” royal expert Katie Nicholl told The Mirror.

Sam Waley-Cohen denied he was behind the royal couple’s reunion

In the spring of 2007, the media was reporting that the relationship was officially on the rocks. And an insider claimed that William broke up with Kate during a phone call that she took while she was at work.

“It was clear it was William – and definitely a tiff,” the source claimed.

In Nicholl’s book The Making of a Royal Romance, she wrote that Kate excused herself from a meeting and shut herself in a room for more than an hour to take the call. Despite being heartbroken about the split, Kate put on a brave face when she was out in public.

She was spotted at London hotspots, and caught carrying a book titled Love Is Not Enough: A Smart Woman’s Guide To Keeping (And Making) Money.  But it only took two months apart for William to start missing her.

For years, there have been claims that Kate’s friend Sam Waley-Cohen helped arrange a reunion between William and Kate. But he has always denied playing a role in getting the royal couple back together.

Kate Middleton and Prince William ‘put themselves together’

Waley-Cohen reportedly invited both William and Kate to a “Freakin Naughty-themed party” at his mansion in Oxfordshire. That was the night they were spotted in “deep conversation.” And just a few weeks later, they were officially back together.

“There’s an idea that I was like Cupid with a bow and arrow. People love the idea that somebody put them back together, but they put themselves together far more,” Whaley-Cohen said.

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During the summer of 2007, Kate and William confirmed their romance was back on and she moved into his apartment at Clarence House. Three years later, the couple announced their engagement.

When talking about her brief split from Prince William during an interview about the engagement, Kate said: “At the time, I wasn’t very happy about it, but it made me a stronger person.