Why Prince William Tried ‘Extricating’ Himself From Kate Middleton

They are going to one day be King and Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, but if Prince William had his way when he and Kate Middleton briefly split up back in 2007, a different woman could have been fulfilling the role of Duchess of Cambridge instead.

According to Express UK, back when the royal couple split up in 2007, sources told the Daily Mail that while Middleton was actively trying to find a way to win her future husband back, Prince William was actually making plans to end their relationship for good and keep himself from reuniting with her.

“Kate did everything she could to make him stay—playing a waiting game one minute and then hard-to-get the next,” an alleged friend of the Prince said at the time. “Just the other week, she said she intended to be photographed at as many places as she could without William to punish him for all those pictures that appeared of him clubbing with other girls.”

“But William’s heart just wasn’t in it anymore. As she was planning the wedding, he was working out how to extricate himself,” the source added.

It has since been reported that at the time, Prince William was likely not ready to commit since he was only 24 years old, but that after attending the Concert for Diana later that year, the time apart made him realize what he was missing with his former girlfriend, and the pair went on to reunite and eventually marry in 2011.

However, the resurfacing of the report comes at a time where the couple has once again been plagued by rumors that they were facing trouble within their marriage. False reports swarmed earlier this year that the Duke of Cambridge had cheated on his wife with Rose Hanbury while she was pregnant with their third child, Prince Louis. More recently, rumors surfaced that the pair were living like a couple who was headed for divorce.

In reality, the pair are doing better than ever after the rumors of the affair, which reportedly forced them to examine their relationship as they tried to get past the stories.