Prince William's sacrifice made so that Kate could 'back out' of marrying him

Prince William admitted that he wanted to give his wife, the Princess of Wales, the chance to back out of their relationship before she married into the intensity of royal life. 

• During the Prince and Princess of Wales's engagement interview in 2010, the future King admitted that he waited several years before asking Catherine to marry him in order to give her a chance to 'back out'. 
• William explained that he wanted Kate and the Middleton family to understand what they would be getting into by joining the royal fold.
•  In other royal news, Kate Middleton was once told she looked 'fit' during a 'mortifying' celebrity encounter.

The Prince and Princess of Wales first met when they were young students studying at the University of St Andrews in Scotland way back in 2001, first becoming friends then finding romance. 

As their love story blossomed, the Princess of Wales, who famously became known as Kate Middleton, quickly became a high profile public figure and was recognised world wide as Prince William's girlfriend. 

Despite a brief split in 2007, Prince William, who is first in the line of succession, went on to propose to Catherine in 2010 during a trip to Kenya where they were spending time with friends, before they married in April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. 

Opening up about their relationship in their official engagement interview with Tom Bradby, William explained why he waited til when he did to propose. 

When asked if his decision was in order to give Catherine the chance to 'back out', he replied, "Massively so."

Elaborating, William added, "Her and her family, I really want to make sure that they have the best, sort of, guidance and chance to see what life has been like - or what life is like - in the family."

The royal couple also touched on the short breakup that they suffered a few years before the engagement, with the Princess of Wales sharing that it was tough but made her stronger.

"I think at the time I wasn’t very happy about it, but actually it made me a stronger person," she said.

"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. Looking back on it."