Queen Elizabeth 'sanctioned' Prince William to 'break the rules' with Kate Middleton after their relationship 'deepened'
According to royal expert Ingrid Seward, the late monarch faced a 'dilemma' when her grandson wanted to live with his then-girlfriend
Queen Elizabeth was no ordinary granny and one decision she made about Prince William could've changed the course of history. The Prince and Princess of Wales were friends first at university before romance blossomed and according to royal expert Ingrid Seward, the monarch soon found herself facing a "dilemma".
Writing in the Daily Mail, Ingrid suggested the Queen's "own beliefs were firmly anchored in the 'no sex before marriage' ethic", claiming that it "ridiculously, applied only to women". When William and Kate's relationship "deepened" he naturally wanted to live with her and it looked possible she could become his future wife.
"Could [Queen Elizabeth], as head of the Church of England, be seen to be permitting her ultimate heir to break the rules that had existed for centuries?" Ingrid pondered. "There could be no future Queen Catherine without her say-so."
As we know, William and Kate did go on to live together before getting married, first whilst they were at St Andrews University and then later in Anglesey which was their first official home as a couple. The royal expert believes that the Queen gave her grandson her blessing for this.
"In the end, after fighting a battle with herself, the Queen came to a view that altered everything: she sanctioned her grandson to go ahead and 'live in sin', thus allowing him to develop a profound and lasting relationship at his own pace," Ingrid alleged.
This was a very different experience to the one his parents had, as King Charles and Princess Diana had only met around 13 times in person before they tied the knot. This marriage was sadly not a royal success story like William's and Kate's has been and the modern way it began might have played a major part in this.
Unlike Princess Diana, Kate had the chance to really see what life within the Royal Family was like before becoming part of it. The Prince of Wales spoke in their engagement interview about wanting to give her that opportunity.
"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," he said. "That's kind of almost why I've been waiting this long is that I wanted to give her a chance to see and to back out if she needed to before it all got too much."
As well as reportedly sanctioning them living together, Queen Elizabeth also gave her official consent to their marriage. To this day the top six royals in the line of succession must receive the monarch's permission to marry - and this included Prince Harry.
In Spare, he recalled his grandmother's memorable response when he asked for her approval to marry Meghan, "Well then, I suppose I have to say yes."
We don't know what she said to Prince William, though she and Kate forged a close bond and the Queen apparently gave her guidance at their first solo meeting in 2010.
Royal author Russell Myers claims in William & Catherine that Queen Elizabeth "looked to comfort the young woman she hoped would successfully shape the institution for the next generation" and "offered words of encouragement to Catherine regarding her future role as a senior member of the family".
