William and Kate release romantic picture to celebrate 12th wedding anniversary

William and Kate

William and Kate were married on April 29 2011

Kensington Palace
Richard Jeffries

By Richard Jeffries


Published: 29/04/2023

- 13:11

Updated: 29/04/2023

- 13:19

Prince and Princess of Wales have been together for more than 20 years

The Prince and Princess of Wales have posted a photo online to mark their 12th wedding anniversary.

The photo, taken in Norfolk during sunny weather last year, shows the couple on bikes.


William is wearing sunglasses, jeans and a blue shirt and Kate is wearing a white shirt and jeans. A pair of sunglasses rests on Kate’s head.

It was posted on the couple’s official Twitter account, with the simple caption “12 years” and a heart emoji.

The couple married at Westminster Abbey on April 29 2011 after an eight-year relationship.

William’s marriage to his former university flatmate was the royal event of 2011 as 2,000 guests filled the abbey.

The grand affair featured two dresses, two receptions, a carriage procession through central London, flypasts and two kisses on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

Nearly 25 million people in the UK tuned in to watch the live televised ceremony, with the worldwide TV audience estimated to be two billion.

William and Kate first met at St Andrews University in Scotland in 2001

William and Kate first met at St Andrews University in Scotland in 2001

PA

Twelve years on, the couple have three children, Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis five.

It comes as William and Kate are said to be thrilled for George ahead of his formal role in next Saturday's Coronation of his grandfather, King Charles III.

Buckingham Palace has announced George, nine, will serve as a page of honour for the King at the coronation, alongside Oliver Cholmondeley, Nicholas Barclay, and Ralph Tollemache.

Queen Camilla's pages include her three grandsons, Freddy Parker Bowles, Gus Lopes and Louis Lopes, and her grand-nephew, Arthur Elliot. Prince George is the youngest among the eight pages.

"We’re all very excited about Prince George’s role in the coronation, it will be an incredibly special moment," a Kensington Palace spokesperson for George's parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton, said.

Wills and Kate wedding kiss

William and Kate kiss on the Buckingham Palace balcony in April 2011

PA

A spokesman for the couple added: "His parents are very excited and delighted that he is a page.

"It's something that his parents have thought long and hard about and are very much looking forward to — and I'm sure George is, too."

Prince George's sister Princess Charlotte and younger brother, Prince Louis, who is only four, will also attend.

All three royal children are also expected to join the procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace following the coronation.

At Queen Elizabeth's coronation, a young Prince Charles, also just four-years-old at the time, attended for a brief period.

Yesterday The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Aberfan, where 116 children and 28 adults were killed in a landslip disaster in 1966.

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