Kate Middleton and Prince William had a ‘marriage pact’ to take the pressure off their relationship

KATE Middleton and Prince William made a secret ‘pact’ to marry each other after they got back together again, to take the pressure off their relationship.

The Cambridge’s are now a happy family of five, but there was a point where it seemed they might go their separate ways after breaking up in 2007.

After rekindling their romance, royal expert, Katie Nicholl, revealed the pair made a pact about their future.

Writing in her new book, Kate: The Future Queen, she revealed the couple made the important promise soon after they got back together.

The pair had jetted to the island of Desroches, in the Seychelles, to spend some quality time together.

After dating for years without a proposal, Katie claims the mum-of-three was looking for some clarification from Prince William.

She said: “There on the paradise island, William promised Kate that he was in the relationship for the long term.

“For the very first time, they talked seriously about marriage, and with the ocean before them and beneath the night sky, they made a pact to marry.”

It seems Prince William reassured Kate about their future by promising she would one day get a ring, with Katie adding the idea was to ‘take the pressure off and just promise we’ll end up together’ .

Reflecting on their split years later, Prince William said: “We were both very young.

“We were both defining ourselves as such and being different characters.

“It was very much trying to find out way and we were growing up, it was just a bit of space – things worked out for the better.”

Kate added: “I think I… at the time wasn’t very happy about it, but actually it made me a stronger person.

“You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realised, or I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me as well although I didn’t think it at the time.”

The pair, both 37, met at university in 2001 while studying at St Andrews, but didn’t get together until 2003.

Over the next few years their relationship blossomed as they pursued individual goals, with Kate working with her family’s business and Prince William starting officer training.

After briefly splitting in 2007, the pair were officially back on a few months later.

The Duchess of Cambridge was snapped at a concert to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Princess Diana’s death.

They got engaged in 2010 and wed the following year, welcoming Prince George, six, Princess Charlotte, four, and Prince Louis, one.

And the royal couple recently released a highlight video from their trip to Pakistan.

Plus Kate posted on Instagram for the first time as she and Wills join family for tea after meeting on road in Pakistan.

These are all the times Kate Middleton followed in Princess Diana’s footsteps as poignant Pakistan tour comes to a close.