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CNN Live Event/Special

Will and Kate Plus One

Aired July 18, 2013 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: The following is a CNN SPECIAL REPORT.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May we see your son, Your Royal Highness?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): He was born a prince but raised in a broken home.

CHRISTOPHER ANDERSEN, AUTHOR: Here's little 7-year-old William saying, I hate to see you sad, mommy.

BOLDUAN: She, the shy commoner who finally fit the glass slipper.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's not somebody who has grown up in a castle or a palace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Through their rocky courtship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going to get married or they're not going to get married. Make your mind up.

BOLDUAN: And royal wedding. Now the real work begins, to raise an heir to the throne, to modernize the monarchy, to learn how to be "Will and Kate, Plus One."

It was the moment the world had been waiting for, the most talked- about courtship of the century, after a decade-long romance, Kate Middleton and Prince William finally tie the knot in a fairy tale wedding. Thousands watched outside the church.

Middleton family friend John Haley was sitting in the front row.

JOHN HALEY, MIDDLETON FAMILY FRIEND: I was four foot away from everybody, from the queen, Prince Philip, Charles, all the royal family and it was just amazing.

BOLDUAN: Kind of a pinch-yourself moment?

HALEY: It was. I was standing and I couldn't believe it. You knew they were coming, because the roar just came through the abbey. You could hear it from outside. And then when Kate and her dad come in, wow, that was just -- it sent tingles all through your body.

LADY ELIZABETH ANSON, GREAT BRITAIN: It felt like a wonderful country wedding.

Lady Elizabeth Anson was sitting rows behind her cousin, Queen Elizabeth.

LADY ELIZABETH ANSON: There was a huge amount atmosphere in the church and a huge amount of love in the church, which actually just happened to be a royal wedding.

BOLDUAN: A royal wedding that would mark a new era for the British monarchy and a new way of doing things, with William and Kate breaking tradition almost every step of the way.

LADY ELIZABETH ANSON: They did everything themselves. Whichever canopy they wanted, whatever flower they wanted, all of that was personally chosen by them. And I think that was the first time that this had happened in the royal family.

BOLDUAN (on camera): Westminster Abbey is where it all officially began for the duke and duchess of Cambridge. Billions watched as William and Kate married here back in April 2011. And almost immediately after the couple said "I do," the speculation began. When would the next royal baby arrive?

KATIE NICHOLL, AUTHOR: Because the one job Kate had to do immediately after the wedding was get pregnant.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Author Katie Nicholl has been writing about the royal family for the last decade.

NICHOLL: She had to secure the line of succession. We were always going to be on bump watch.

BOLDUAN: But in true William and Kate style, they did it their own way, waiting and choosing to enjoy time as newlyweds before starting a family.

NICHOLL: It's a breach of royal tradition. You look at Diana and you look at the queen, they were very pregnant within I think three and six months of being married.

BOLDUAN (on camera): Even their honeymoon was different.

NICHOLL: What royal newlyweds usually do is go off to Balmoral, which is the queen's Scottish residence. They decided they would not go with Scotland. They would go to the Seychelles instead.

BOLDUAN: It really shows how thoughtful they are and that they do things their way. You can see their voice and their opinion in pretty much all of their life choices.

NICHOLL: I think this is a very modern royal couple.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): And a royal couple desperate to be normal. William and Kate would delay taking on full-time roles as working royals, and spend their first years of married life in a rented farmhouse on the remote Welsh island of Anglesey.

(on camera): They live near this beach, right?

IWAN HUGHES, HEAD OF TOURISM, ANGLESEY: They're about a few miles behind us.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Iwan Hughes is the head of tourism in Anglesey.

HUGHES: Their house is pretty normal. It's not spectacular in any way that people would expect. They're not living in a castle or a mansion.

NICHOLL: Windswept, remote, incredibly beautiful, secluded, and that gives them privacy. And that's most important.

BOLDUAN (on camera): It really couldn't be further from the life that they will be facing and living when they're back in London, the pressures, the job, and the paparazzi.

NICHOLL: That's why it is a utopia for them.

BOLDUAN: Kate and William are often seen around town, enjoying a pint, browsing the shops, or even picking up groceries. In fact, locals call the duchess a pretty savvy shopper, known to make meat pies and homemade gravy for William.

NICHOLL: Immediately after their wedding day, what did we see? We saw Kate pushing a shopping trolley around the car park of her local supermarket. It doesn't get more ordinary than that. And that's their stamp. That's their imprint.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Even on the world stage, the couple would at times appear un-royal, like at this dragon boat race in Canada during their first official overseas visit.

NICHOLL: And you could see the look of excitement on her face as she got into the boat and was ready to helm, and also the look of frustration that William had beaten her.

BOLDUAN (on camera): She truly did look frustrated that she was defeated.

NICHOLL: This is a couple that can't finish a game of tennis because they're so competitive. But he gave her a hug, and actually that moment was also really significant, because you don't see royals cuddling. You just don't see it. But these two are not afraid of breaching royal protocol, and actually showing the world, you know what? We're really happy together.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): After their first year of marriage, while William served as a search-and-rescue pilot with the Air Force, Kate slowly stepped out for royal engagements on her own, choosing charities to support, like the East Anglia's Children's Hospice.

GRAHAM BUTLAND, EAST ANGLIA'S CHILDREN'S HOSPICE: About 400 families we look after.

BOLDUAN: Graham Butland is the organization's executive director.

BUTLAND: On that first visit, her approach was just so natural. It's as if she was blind to the disability, but could see the child. And that, of course, takes some skill.

NICHOLL: The spotlight was absolutely fixed on her. Every engagement that she carried out, the world was watching.

BOLDUAN: Her true test would be her first official speech, one she gave for the charity.

KATE MIDDLETON, DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE: I feel hugely honored to be here to see this wonderful center.

BUTLAND: There were six, seven satellite vans in our car park. It was going around the world.

MIDDLETON: I'm only sorry that William can't be here today.

NICHOLL: I think she did a very good job. It really can't be easy to do that with that much pressure.

BOLDUAN: But there was perhaps no greater pressure on Kate those first years than to produce an heir.

NICHOLL: I think there was a level of surprise that it had taken quite some time.

BOLDUAN: And it took no time for bump watch to kick into high gear.

(on camera): Every time she wore a dress that was a little flowy, every time she put her clutch in front of her waist, the examples upon examples of all of the speculation and everything -- she wouldn't eat peanut paste, so she was pregnant.

NICHOLL: Yes, I was there on that trip in Copenhagen, and I remember it was a discussion amongst the reporters there. Well, why is she not eating peanut paste? And it was just relentless.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): When Kate did get pregnant, she couldn't hide it.

(on camera): The duchess was admitted to this hospital with acute morning sickness last December. Then the palace had no choice but to announce the pregnancy, though she wasn't even 12 weeks along at the time.

NICHOLL: I think it took everyone by surprise. It wasn't just the announcement of the pregnancy. It was the announcement that the duchess was seriously sick.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Later, a pregnancy in jeopardy.

NICHOLL: It affected Kate particularly badly.

BOLDUAN: But, first, growing up for Prince William, a childhood marked by tragedy and scandal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BOLDUAN (voice-over): A fairy tale wedding, a much anticipated baby, this was the story of Charles and Diana. June 21, 1982, the couple welcomed Prince William Arthur Philip Louis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May we see your son, Your Royal Highness?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The world just rejoiced. And I think it was great that they emerged from the hospital and were showing themselves to be modern royals.

BOLDUAN: From the start, William's life was one contrast after another, a future king of a 1,000-year-old monarchy raised in an entirely new way.

Lana Marks was Princess Diana's close friend and confidant.

LANA MARKS, FRIEND OF PRINCESS DIANA: William was raised very differently than the previous generations of royals, in that, though he did have official royal nannies, Diana fulfilled much of that role herself in taking the boys everywhere, collecting them from school, taking them on vacation.

NICHOLL: Being raised as an ordinary boy, rather than a prince.

BOLDUAN (on camera): Diana really did break that mold.

NICHOLL: She did.

BOLDUAN: Prince Charles, the way he was raised, very different than how his sons were raised.

NICHOLL: Yes. Charles was raised by governesses. And he didn't see his parents for the few months of his life.

BOLDUAN: In those early months and years, William was often seen by his parents' side. As heir to the throne, that also meant growing up in the public eye.

(on camera): From the moment he was born, Prince William was in the spotlight. Every time he left the grounds of Kensington Palace, cameras followed.

KEN WHARFE, FORMER BODYGUARD FOR ROYAL FAMILY: I remember William's first ever day of his pre-prep school in North London.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Ken Wharfe was a bodyguard for Diana and her sons for more than seven years.

WHARFE: Diana said to him, "Now, William, when we get to school, there are going to be lots of photographers." And he said, "I don't like photographers" in the sort of very just William-esque way.

And we arrived at the school and there outside the school, there were about 120, 130 photographers waiting for William's first day at school. What she was trying to say to William, look, you have got to live with this. You're going to get this for the rest of your life. BOLDUAN: For William, it would be a lifelong struggle, walking the line between a desire for privacy and the very public duties of growing up royal. And it would only get worse. William was just a boy when his parents' rocky relationship spiraled into a global scandal.

ANDERSEN: William became sort of the fixer. He loved both of his parents. He wanted everybody to be happy together.

BOLDUAN: Christopher Andersen wrote the book "William and Kate: A Royal Love Story."

ANDERSEN: Here's this little boy, when her mother locks herself in the bathroom after an argument with Charles, and she's sobbing, and here is this little 7-year-old William slipping tissues under the door and saying, "I hate to see you sad, mommy."

BOLDUAN: As William got older, Diana made sure he was prepared for all the scrutiny he would face.

NICHOLL: William was old enough to read the papers, although the headmaster at Ludgrove school made a point of keeping them out of his reach.

BOLDUAN (on camera): Did he really?

NICHOLL: Yes, he did, in order to protect them. But then William moved to Eaton and you couldn't hide newspapers from William and the other boys. They were interested. He wasn't just a son. I think, over time, he became a confidant to Diana. So he took an awful lot on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is announced from Buckingham Palace that, with regret, the prince and princess of Wales have decided to separate.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): By August 1996, William's parents finally divorced. Yet, even in the midst of living in this fishbowl of tragedy, scandal and speculation, there were many moments of normalcy.

MARKS: They would sit watching TV and munch potato chips. She would take them to McDonald's. She would do regular things with the boys and she would hug them and kiss them and show them affection.

BOLDUAN: As a teen, William was coming into his own, learning to live in the public eye, and living out the lessons his father and mother taught him.

NICHOLL: This was a woman who insisted on taking her children out of the palace into hospitals, into hospices to meet the homeless, to do the serious, gritty work that a royal should do. And I think also Charles deserves credit as well, because he's also always been very proactive.

BOLDUAN: And just as the dust settled on the divorce:

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news. BOLDUAN: An unspeakable tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The French government has informed all of us that Princess Diana has died.

BOLDUAN: A high-speed pursuit by the paparazzi, and the fatal crash in a Paris tunnel that killed Princess Diana, taking William's mother from him at the age of 15.

NICHOLL: He is at that quite difficult transition stage of boy going into manhood, and not to have his mother there, the person who he could always count on, who he absolutely adored, I think is a loss that he will feel forever.

BOLDUAN: After the very public funeral, William withdrew. And not long after, the palace and the press forged an unspoken agreement, giving both William and Harry space and privacy.

The world got quick glimpses, though all carefully choreographed by the palace. So William grew up and quietly began dating.

ANDERSEN: He began dating some of the more beautiful type of ladies. He tried an online romance with Britney Spears at one point that never really got off the ground.

BOLDUAN: But playful young romances aside, William knew finding a mate would be serious business. He would have to find a woman willing to put up with the relentless scrutiny. And to do that, he would once again have to break from royal tradition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's not an aristocrat. She is not somebody who has grown up in a castle or a palace.

ANDERSEN: She was one of the very few girls from a working-class background.

BOLDUAN: When we come back, the making of the woman who would be queen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Bucklebury, Berkshire, the quiet English countryside, gentle rolling hill, quaint country pubs. It's the place Kate Middleton calls home.

HALEY: Wherever you go, it's just fabulous around here. There's two pubs in the village, and there's a church, and that's all.

BOLDUAN: John Haley owns one of those pubs.

(on camera): What is the community like? Would you say people keep to themselves or is it tight-knit and kind of everyone knows everybody's business?

HALEY: There's a good mix. No, nobody knows anybody else's business, but they do look after each other. BOLDUAN (voice-over): Haley has known the Middletons for 16 years.

HALEY: There's just part of the community and they mix well. They have loads of friends because they have been here many, many years, and so they're just like any other family. They're just great, a great family.

BOLDUAN: Carole Goldsmith and Michael Middleton met while working for a British airline. They married in 1980. The oldest of three children, Kate was born in 1982.

(on camera): What I have heard from other folks is she was as normal as normal could be. She came from a normal upbringing, like you or I.

HALEY: Just a normal, normal working-class family. They're both workers, the parents, Carole and Mike, and all the family are, so just normal working-class family.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Kate was baptized at this church. She was a brownie in the local scout group and loved being in school plays, such a normal ordinary childhood for a woman in line to one day be queen.

NICHOLL: I think they were a family that always did things together. They enjoyed nice holidays. They drove nice cars. And -- but it wasn't always the case. They came from pretty modest upbringing, a pretty modest start in life. And it was really because of Carole's desire to improve their position and to build that family business.

BOLDUAN: They sold supplies for children's parties and soon spun it into an online Internet empire worth millions.

NICHOLL: It was Carole who saw that this business really had legs to grow. And, of course, when that happened and there was money in the bank, they decided to invest in their children's education.

BOLDUAN (on camera): As the Middletons saw success, they sent their children to private schools. Kate was 13 when she came here to Downe House, arriving confident, happy. But that would soon change.

NICHOLL: She went at the age of 13, rather than 11. And most of the girls had started at 11, so they were already...

BOLDUAN: They already had their circles.

NICHOLL: They did. And I think it was very difficult for her to find her feet there.

ANDERSEN: She became the victim of the mean girls in the school. There was malicious gossip about her background, because she was one of the very few girls from a working-class background attending that girl.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Carole Middleton wasted no time. She immediately switched Kate to a nearby boarding school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marlborough was a big school. BOLDUAN: Ali Baines (ph) went to school with Kate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boarding schools, if they're not happy, are miserable. There's very, very few in between.

BOLDUAN: For Kate, it was a tough start.

NICHOLL: You have to forget the glossy, finessed image of the duchess else of Cambridge that you see on the television and remember that particularly as a young woman, she was quite shy. She was quite introvert, compared to Pippa, who was outgoing and gregarious and sociable. Kate was much quieter. And she was a different character, and it took some drawing out of her shell.

BOLDUAN: Carole Middleton once again stepped in.

ANDERSEN: Her mother actually set out to transform her. She combed out her kind of lush chestnut hair. She got her wearing makeup for the first time. And so when she reappeared in school, it was a new person.

BOLDUAN (on camera): It was here at Marlborough where Kate really came out of her shell, popular, athletic and a serious student. But she also had a bit of a wild side. According to one friend, she was known to moon the boys from her dorm window, earning her the nickname "Kate Middlebum."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a reasonably happy school. It was great fun, and she was -- she was a very pretty girl.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Yet, Kate didn't date much, and despite her denials, many who knew her then insist she set her sights much higher than her prep school classmates.

ANDERSEN: I talked to too many friends who said, yes, she always had this picture over her bed in her dormitory. It was a picture of William in fishing gear. So she did have her sights set on him, like a lot of young women her age.

BOLDUAN: Winter 2000, Kate would come close to meeting her prince. After her graduation from Marlborough, both Kate and William traveled to Chile with the same youth volunteer group. But they just missed each other.

Malcolm Sutherland was their expedition leader.

MALCOLM SUTHERLAND, EXPEDITION LEADER: I think it's incredible, for a start, that the fact that William and Kate didn't even know each other. This is Kate sitting in front.

BOLDUAN: For both, it was hard work. They helped build buildings, teach English, even clean toilets in the same small town in Chile.

SUTHERLAND: Kate's tough. She's a sporty, fit lady. She knew what she was about. She knew how to look after herself.

BOLDUAN: While Kate missed William that winter, Chris Andersen says Carole Middleton says that wouldn't happen again.

ANDERSEN: Originally, Kate wanted to go to Edinburgh University. When it was announced by the palace that William would be attending St. Andrews University, enrollment among women in St. Andrews jumped overnight by over 40 percent.

BOLDUAN: So, many believe that Kate was among one of those women, thanks to her mother's gentle nudge.

ANDERSEN: In Kate's case, did she nudge her toward a relationship with the future king of England? Yes. And why not, you know, because by putting her in proximity to William, magic happened.

BOLDUAN: When we come back, William falls in love at a lingerie show.

NICHOLL: He suddenly realized his friend was actually very hot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Fall 2001. William arrived as a freshman at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. It was far from home and, again, breaking the royal mold. Most royals went to Cambridge or Oxford.

PRINCE WILLIAM: I really do want to be in control of my own life and I hate losing control. And it's very important to, you know, see what you want to do and go for it.

BOLDUAN: And at St. Andrews, William would get protection from the press.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He agreed to give a number of televised interviews during his school years at St. Andrews.

PRINCE WILLIAM: This time I am, you know, pretty normal.

NICHOLL: But apart from those occasions, he was to be left in peace.

JULES KNIGHT, FRIEND OF WILLIAM AND KATE: I met him pretty much as soon as we arrived. And incredibly, quickly, this group of friends formed.

BOLDUAN: Jules Knight became one of William's closest friends.

KNIGHT: There were no real heirs and graces, if you like. For me, he was just another guy. He's a very down-to-earth, normal, normal guy.

BOLDUAN: One of the first girls to join their circle of friends, the equally down-to-earth and normal Kate Middleton.

KNIGHT: I got to know her pretty early on. She was a very delightful girl, very charming.

BOLDUAN: Maybe a bit shy, though, when first meeting the future king of England.

KATE MIDDLETON, DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE: I actually I'm bright red and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you.

CHRIS ANDERSON, AUTHOR, WILLIAM AND KATE, A ROYAL LOVE STORY: And not long after William invited a number of friends to his dormitory room and she did this kind of -- automatically did this awkward curtsy and he reacted by simply spilling his drink on himself because he realized he would do things like this to put people at ease. And from that point on they became friendly.

BOLDUAN: St. Salvator's Hall, better known as Sally's, is where William and Kate lived freshman year. They quickly became friends, bonding over their love of art history and during early morning swims in the local pool.

Another connection, a shared sense of humor.

PRINCE WILLIAM: She's got a really sense of humor which kind of helps because I've got a very dry sense of humor, so it was good fun. We had a really good laugh.

BOLDUAN: But it wasn't all fun for William.

CHARLES WARREN, PROFESSOR: He had all the same stresses and pressures as every student does.

BOLDUAN: Charles Warren was one of his professors.

WARREN: He was panicking about approaching deadlines and, you know, struggling some of it like most of our students do.

KNIGHT: And actually he did seem a bit low and unhappy. And I remember distinctly thinking I'm not sure if he's enjoy this much. You know, you're a long way from London. It's -- you know, in the middle of nowhere really. And to think, oh my god, I've got to spend the next four years here is pretty intense.

BOLDUAN: William and Kate attended art history lectures in this building. The first year it was a tough one for William, struggling with the pressures of his work and being far from friends and family. He almost quit.

NICHOLL: He went home for Christmas after the first semester. He did, he had (INAUDIBLE), and he said to his father, you know, I don't know if this is for me.

BOLDUAN: Friends say it was Kate who helped convinced William to stay, and as soon as he returned from Christmas break, everything changed.

NICHOLL: The turning point really came when William watched Kate in that now infamous charity fashion show.

BOLDUAN: It was March 2002, the annual St. Andrew's Charity Fashion Show. And on the cat walk, Kate.

KNIGHT: I remember that specific night very well.

BOLDUAN: Jules Knight was watching the show that night with William.

KNIGHT: She wasn't what you call a kind of risque girl, as I said. She was a pretty safe bet. And here she was not wearing that much, looking amazing. I think everyone did think, wow.

NICHOLL: But that was the moment when he suddenly realized that his friend was actually very hot and he rather quite liked her.

BOLDUAN: And the next fall when William and Kate moved into this flat together with a couple of friends, their friendship turned romantic.

PRINCE WILLIAM: It just sort of blossomed from there, really. We just saw more of each other and, you know, hang out more, and did stuff, so yes.

PRINCESS KATE: You liked my cooking.

PRINCE WILLIAM: Her cooking was all right. It's got better.

BOLDUAN: Living with a girlfriend was almost unheard of for a member of the royal family.

NICHOLL: It was controversial, but I think it was felt that they didn't want mistakes of the past. They didn't want history repeating itself. And this was an opportunity for the couple to really get to know each other.

BOLDUAN: And to really get to know each other, the world's most famous prince knew he had to keep his relationship a secret.

NICHOLL: They had a policy of never holding hands, never being seen to be publicly affectionate with each other. If they're invited to dinner parties, they'd often arrive separately.

BOLDUAN: By the end of their second year at St. Andrew's, they were in love. William had found the normalcy he craved in Kate.

KNIGHT: She's not an aristocrat, she's not somebody who's grown up in a castle or a palace. You know, she's sort of pretty normal, really.

BOLDUAN: Kate brought William home to spend weekends with her parents in Bucklebury.

KNIGHT: And I think that he loves going for dinner around the house in Berkshire and he loves being part of something which is actually, yes, standard.

BOLDUAN: And behind the walls of St. Andrews, William could live like an ordinary student.

PRINCE WILLIAM: I do all my shopping. I take away to rent videos, go to the cinema. Just basically anything I want to, really.

KNIGHT: I remember, you know, we walked out of the pub, called Ma Bells, which is where we went a lot. And we were quite drunk, and I think I saw a pellet gun on the floor, someone had discarded this sort of toy gun. So I picked it up and I was out waving it around and he grabbed it out of my jacket pocket and he was holding it in the air. And suddenly even in my drunk state, I was like, this is probably not a good idea.

BOLDUAN: If William was wild, Jules says Kate was always in control. And by the spring of 2004, William was ready to introduce his girlfriend to the world.

KNIGHT: If you take somebody to cloisters skiing, which is the place that your family had been going for the last however many years, it's a pretty clear sign that he's saying to everybody, this is the girl in my life.

BOLDUAN: Coming up, the perfect romance abruptly ends.

ANDERSON: Prince Charles said you can't keep string thing girl along if you're not ready to ask her to marry you, break it off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: At St. Andrew's, Prince William lived happily and privately. But as graduation arrived, the agreement that kept the press at bay was gone.

KNIGHT: The protection that they had enjoyed had finished, and it was open season as far as everyone was concerned from then on.

BOLDUAN: Open season on William and now on his girlfriend, Kate.

NICHOLL: Well, I think when they left St. Andrew's, that was the real testing point for Kate, could she cope with the fact that there were photographers outside her flat every single day?

BOLDUAN: The pressure was relentless and a terrifying reminder of what had happened to Princess Diana.

ANDERSON: The accident that's happening isn't happening in the streets of Paris, it's happening in the streets of London and it's happening to Kate.

BOLDUAN: With the press following her every move, and William forced to be away doing his military training, Kate was left wondering what was next?

KNIGHT: They had this period of time when they were basically together but nothing was happening and everyone was going, are they going to get married or they're not going to get married? Like make your mind up.

BOLDUAN: William seemed to have a lot on his mind, including what was fair to Kate.

ANDERSON: At one point, he said, you know, I'm -- I was born into this, she wasn't. And does she deserve this kind of treatment? Should I be subjecting her to this?

BOLDUAN: But Kate, she was ready.

ANDERSON: She really demanded that he commit, as they say. And William wasn't ready for it. He went to his father, Prince Charles. Prince Charles said, you can't keep stringing this girl along. If you're not ready to ask her to marry you, break it off.

BOLDUAN: Publicly and painfully William decided to break it off. So Kate went back to Bucklebury.

NICHOLL: She did what she always does, and when she's under pressure, (INAUDIBLE) and go home, and be protected and looked after by her family. And it was very much Carol who said OK, you can have your weekend of mourning and your tears. And then you're going to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go and show him what he's missing. And that's exactly what Kate did.

BOLDUAN: Do you think that he saw something that he hadn't seen before?

NICHOLL: Well, we certainly saw something we hadn't seen before. We saw Kate in plunging necklines and mini dresses and just looking fabulous and showing a confidence and radiating.

KNIGHT: So I remember having lunch with her when they split up. It was still quite evident that she was -- she was being very forthright. She was like right, I'm getting on with my life, fine, cool. And you know, it hasn't worked out, that's behind me, let's move on. And she was very calm and level headed and strong about it. And I think he thought, oh, my god.

ANDERSON: He became unglued. I mean, he really started, you know, drinking too much. He went out with his buddies to various clubs. He was very obviously adrift emotionally and it didn't help to have him see pictures of Kate having the time of her life.

PRINCESS KATE: And I think at the time I 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 realized or I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you're younger. And you know, I really valued that time for me, as well, although I didn't think it at the time.

BOLDUAN: If the breakup made Kate stronger, it made William certain. He never wanted to be without her again. Back together and vacationing in (INAUDIBLE), Kate and William made a deal.

NICHOLL: William had a military career and a training program to complete, and he knew he had to do that before he got married. But the pledge was, if you wait, there will be a ring at the end of the day.

BOLDUAN: Quietly, the pair and the palace began planning.

NICHOLL: You can see how much work had been taking place behind the scenes. She was being trained. She was being groomed and she was being prepared for a far more important role, which is queen in waiting.

BOLDUAN: There was also the matter of Kate getting to know her future in laws.

NICHOLL: The palace and the queen were acutely aware of mistakes that had been made with Diana, that she felt isolated and ostracized and that they were determined that this shouldn't happen to Kate.

BOLDUAN: And that would take a special effort, beginning with Prince Charles.

NICHOLL: Kate said that she was very nervous about meeting William's father for the first time. But I think Charles went out of his way to make her feel welcome.

BOLDUAN: After nearly 10 years of secrecy, breakups, pressure and paparazzi, it was finally time for William to pop the question.

PRINCE WILLIAM: We had our little private time away together with some friends, and I just decided that it was the right time really, and we had been talking about marriage for a while, so it wasn't a massively big surprise. But I took her out somewhere nice in Kenya and proposed.

PRINCESS KATE: As a true romantic.

PRINCE WILLIAM: It is.

BOLDUAN: And that long promised ring?

PRINCESS KATE: I had been carried around in my rucksack for about three weeks before that. And I literally would not let it go. Wherever I went, I was keeping a hold of it because I knew if it disappeared, I'd be in a lot of trouble. It's my mother's engagement ring. So I thought it was quite nice because obviously she's not going to be around to share in the fun and excitement with all this. So this is my way of keeping her so close.

NICHOLL: Charles and Diana had a really quite difficult start, because Diana stole the limelight without necessarily wanting to. Well, when I went to Canada and North America with the couple on tour, yes, people were chanting for Kate. But they were also chanting for William. So right from the outset, the dynamic was very, very different.

BOLDUAN: More that they were equals.

NICHOLL: They were --

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLL: You know what, I think that's exactly the word, they were equals, they started as equals. And it wasn't just the Kate show, it was the William and Kate show.

BOLDUAN: And they took that show on the road. From a spectacular wedding. To windswept Anglesey, to their first overseas tour.

Coming up next, a royal baby announcement quickly overshadowed by tragedy.

NICHOLL: To have the trauma and the tragedy of a suicide over what should have been the happiest announcement of their lives I think must have been truly awful.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Engaged. Married. And two years later, pregnant. And yet the royal family could not escape the worst of news in what should have been the best of times.

The joy of the pregnancy was quickly eclipsed by tragedy. A nurse at this hospital killed herself after accidently putting through a prank call that revealed private details of Kate's condition. Kate was said to be devastated.

NICHOLL: Of course she was still seriously ill, very hormonal, still hoping desperately that she was going to hold on to this pregnancy. To have the trauma and the tragedy of a suicide over what should have been the happiest announcement of their lives I think must have been truly awful.

BOLDUAN: So Kate left the hospital and soon returned perhaps not surprisingly to the comfort of home. In Bucklebury.

Christmas of that year, how was it different?

NICHOLL: They decided that they would spend Christmas with her family so that she could be relaxed and she could put her feet up, which isn't something that doesn't really happen when you're in royal residence.

BOLDUAN: But even Christmas had its complications. When you're part of the world's most famous family, what do you get the royal who has everything?

NICHOLL: Well, the answer to that question is something small, preferably handmade. And if you can inject a bit of humor into it, all the better. So she brought Harry a gray (INAUDIBLE) kit which I think went down very well. And she'd taken up jam making back in Anglesey. It was something that she really enjoyed doing. And so she would jar up her jam and she gave pots of preserves to the family members, which I think went down I think very, very well.

BOLDUAN: Back home in Anglesey, more domestic bliss. Though William has never claimed any of the credit.

PRINCE WILLIAM: I would say I'm getting better cooking. Kate would say I'm getting a lot worse.

PRINCESS KATE: I think he has enough chance to practice.

PRINCE WILLIAM: No, that is true. I get quite lazy about cooking, because when I come back from work it's the last thing I want to do really is spend it cooking but when I was trying to impress Kate, I was trying to cook these amazing, fancy dinners, and all would happen was, I'd burn something, something would overspill, something would catch on fire. And she'd be sitting in the background just trying to help and basically taking control of the whole situation.

BOLDUAN: As her pregnancy progressed, Kate readied the nursery and the new apartment. She also kept an ambitious work schedule.

NICHOLL: I remember being at the National Portrait Gallery with her one evening thinking she should be tucked up in bed. But actually she was in four-inch stilettos, Jimmy Choo heels, giving a speech and meeting people from the art room.

BOLDUAN: To John Haley, it's not unusual. It's just Kate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, she's not Catherine, she's Kate. We know her as Kate. We always have done. Yes, still comes in and she's just herself.

BOLDUAN: And even in her hometown, the baby became a source of great speculation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got an actual charity where people are saying, will it be a boy or girl, what weight it will be. So I can't wait to see which the baby (INAUDIBLE) and wow, I should be there.

BOLDUAN: And that could happen sooner than anyone might think.

After the baby is born, some reports say Kate will bring the baby to her parent's home here in the English countryside, breaking from royal tradition. Not a surprise, though, to many considering Kate's tight knit bond with her family.

LADY ELIZABETH ANSON, QUEEN ELIZABETH'S COUSIN: I understand, because you do want to be with your mother or you want your mother around.

BOLDUAN: Is that of any concern to the palace how -- that she would do that?

ANSON: For her family to be included in everything and in her life is of paramount importance to her and therefore to Prince William.

BOLDUAN: Most believe Kate and William will hire a nanny to help. But unlike royals in the past, will also remain very involved in every stage of the child's life.

NICHOLL: I imagine that Kate will want a very hands-on role. I imagine that she'll want to be very involved with whatever the nanny is doing. I don't think she's going to see the royal nursery as a domain that is not hers. It very much will be hers and William. And I think they'll probably look at their own family. Diana was very hands on. Carol and Mike were very hands on with Kate and they will want to bring that into their own family dynamic.

BOLDUAN: They're just as sure to try to avoid the mistakes of the past. Especially when it comes to managing the pressure of the media.

ANSON: And if they comply with things like that at the beginning, quite soon and everything, the sort of heat goes off, as far as I can see, because I think that the media do have a respect very much for Prince William because there is a lot of guilt about how they treated the princess of Wales.

BOLDUAN: And yet there's no getting around the simple fact that this baby, whether a boy or a girl, will be in line for the throne.

As the Queen's cousin, what does this baby do you think mean to the queen herself?

ANSON: I think an enormous amount. She's going to see there is a continuity there, and I think it must be such a relief if you've worked so hard at something.

BOLDUAN: A continuity for the monarchy. And yet if history is any indication, Kate and William will keep doing things their own way.

NICHOLL: I think you'll see them push royal boundaries, break royal mold and forge their own way forward for the future.

BOLDUAN: Is the monarchy evolving?

NICHOLL: I think the monarchy is changing now and preparing itself for the future. The royal family is built on tradition and heritage and continuity. It's the greatest dynasty in the world. But in order to move forward, it has to modernize, it has to change. And this baby is going to be so important because it will be the future.