In the midst of their relationship, William and Kate hit a rough patch due to a number of factors: last-minute Christmas changes, increasing paparazzi attention, William’s military commitments and party habits. So, in 2007, they took a long break. Three years later, in June 2010, William’s military training ended, and the two reunited at a party. Within four months, William got down on one knee with a 12-carat Ceylon sapphire ring that belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana, and proposed. When looking back at their three-year breakup, the prince believes the split was the right decision, saying in an interview with the UK Press Association, “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.”
