William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge have been married for nine years. This period has seen the couple welcome their children Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte to the world. The pair first met while studying at St Andrew’s University in 2001.
It wasn’t until around two years later that they began officially seeing each other.
They went on to date for almost a decade before tying the knot in 2011.
A long period, the stretch wasn’t without its controversies.
One came in the form of reports suggesting William had started dating Jecca Craig after meeting her on a school trip to Kenya in 1998.
The pair hit it off, with William, according to TheTalko, becoming so “taken by the country and Jecca” that he returned in 2001 to spend time at her father’s game preserve.
The publication explained that in 2013, these reports resurfaced, with William taking “the unusual step of instructing his aides to deny anything had happened”.
Back in the Noughties, things were made worse, as TheTalko explained, because Jecca “had pride of place next to William at his 21st birthday party celebration”, despite him being in a relationship with Kate at the time.
However, the publication said: “But eventually it all worked out, as William took Kate with him to visit Jecca in Kenya after graduation.
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Many have noted that while the pair appear relaxed in each other’s company in public, their affection for each other is extremely limited – a hug or arm hold at most.
Body language expert Judi James, on looking at photos of William and Kate, said of their relationship: “Often unremarkable and lacking any of the kind of soap opera drama signals of other royal couples, the Cambridges’ body language tends to be perfect to the point of bland.
“This ‘blandness’ is probably deliberate. William grew up in the middle of the painful public tragedy of his parent’s marriage and the decision to give just enough of themselves away to present the perfect public face but not enough to leave the fans clamouring for more has been vital to the survival of both the couple and their relationship.
“It is remarkable that in all the years since their wedding we have never seen more than the odd micro-glimpse of anything lurking behind the twinned smiles.
“They have recently added some more relaxed-looking poses and laughter to their public repertoire but nothing in the way of the kind of scowls and mutterings that Charles has been seen using, or the more tactile and very besotted traits that we connect with Harry and Meghan.”
Despite this, the body language expert said that their relationship is very loving.
In recent years, William has been seen putting his hand over Kate’s shoulder in public and the pair are often photographed laughing and having fun together.
Ms James added: “Kate and William’s loving relationship tends to be defined by their intense and often subliminal mirroring signals.
“Postural and gestural echoing behaviour like theirs is usually a sign of like-minded thinking.”
