Before they married, Prince William and Kate would spend Christmas with their respective families and come together for New Year – but one year changed everything

The Prince and Princess of Wales are firm fixtures of the Royal Family’s Christmas Day walk to church.

But before they were married, tradition dictated they couldn’t spend the festive season together at Sandringham – so in the days before they were hitched, December 25 was always spent apart. In 2006, after several years of dating since meeting at St Andrews University, they spent Christmas apart but reportedly made plans to meet up for New Year celebrations.

But according to a book, Kate was left in floods of tears when Prince William cancelled his plans last-minute – leaving her fearing for the future of their relationship.

In her book released in 2011, The Making of a Royal Romance, royal author Katie Nicholl claims William had promised Kate he would join her family but decided to stay with his family instead – and informed her on the phone on Boxing Day. Katie writes: “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.” Weeks later in 2007, Kate and William briefly split and sources later said the late Queen was disappointed by the breakup.

Prince William and Kate take part in engagements to mark Black History Month

But the split seemed to be short-lived as a short time after, William and Kate were seen kissing at an army party at barracks in Bovington, Dorset. And in July 2007, Kate and her brother James were seen at the Concert for Diana, held at Wembley to mark 10 years since William’s mother Princess Diana’s death.

It wasn’t long before their romance was confirmed to be back on, and Kate moved into William’s Clarence House flat, where he would return from military duties on Friday nights for cosy weekends together – and the rest they say is history. That’s because in 2010 the couple announced their engagement and married in April 2011. They’ve now been married for almost 14 years and have three children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

This Christmas season will have been particularly poignant for the family as it comes as Kate continues her recovery from her cancer diagnosis earlier this year. Kate underwent abdominal surgery earlier in the year before revealing she had received a cancer diagnosis and was having chemotherapy treatment. However, she completed chemotherapy at the end of the summer and has been making a gradual return to duties.

It’s unknown exactly what the children aged 10, eight and five will have received for Christmas this year, but according to Katie, Kate is mindful not to lavish extravagant tech gifts on her three children. That’s because she’d reportedly prefer to get them practical presents so they don’t end up having too much screen time.