Prince William left Kate Middleton in tears after ditching Christmas plans

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Christmas plans were thrown out the window when Prince William opted to spend time with his family instead of his girlfriend and her family.

• In 2006 the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William had been dating for three years.
• Reportedly, the Prince was ready to spend Christmas with Kate but canceled last minute.
• In other royal news, Idris Elba reveals his DJ set at Meghan and Harry's wedding was 'a lot of pressure'.

Royal author Katie Nicholls claims in her 2011 book, The Making of a Royal Romance, that Prince William planned to spend part of the festive season of 2006 with Kate Middleton and her family in their home in Berkshire.

Despite making these promises, Kate was left in tears after Prince William phoned her on Boxing Day to let her know that he would no longer be attending.

The author claims that although the decision to miss the celebration could have been seen as, "no big deal", Kate had a "good reason to be concerned."

Katie explains, "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.”

It appears that many of the royal family shared similar concerns as Prince William also received a warning from Prince Philip before marrying Kate Middleton.

This disappointing new year’s eve was followed by the couple’s break up in 2007. Years later when the pair announced their engagement in 2010, Prince William and Kate spoke about their relationship and the valuable time they spent apart when they were broken up.

“At the time, I wasn’t very happy about it, but it made me a stronger person,” said Kate. “You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realized.”

“I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you’re younger. I really valued that time for me as well, although I didn’t think it at the time.”

Prince William also added, “We were both very young…we were both finding ourselves and being dif­ferent characters.”

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

The Mirror (opens in new tab) reports that the couple reunited just a few weeks later when they were spotted kissing at an army party at barracks in Bovington, Dorset. Kate Middleton and her brother James were also spotted at the July 2007 Concert for Diana which was held at Wembley and marked 10 years since Princess Diana’s death

Their relationship was confirmed officially when Kate moved into William’s flat at Clarence House where they would spend romantic weekends together when the prince returned from his military duties. William and Kate then married just a few years later at Westminster Abbey in April 2011.