A royal love story: Looking back at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s best moments

2011

A wedding fit for a princess

From the balcony kiss seen around the world to the delicate royal wedding bouquet tradition dating back to the 1800s, the day that the oldest son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana wed his college sweetheart was one for the books.

The couple also visited Canada and the United States two months after the ceremony for their first official trip overseas since their big day.

2012

Olympic superfans

It’s no secret that William and Kate are huge tennis fans, but at the London Olympics in 2012, the couple showed their “love” extends to many other sports, too. The duo made several appearances at Olympic events because William and Kate, along with Prince Harry, were named official Olympic ambassadors to the 2012 Games.

2013

The summer of George: A royal baby is born!

No matter where in the world you were on July 22, 2013, when news broke about the birth of William and Kate’s first child, there was, without a doubt, a palpable excitement in the air. For many part of a younger generation, this was the first arrival of a royal baby in their lifetimes, and for others, it was a bittersweet moment seeing Diana’s oldest child as he became a dad for the first time. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced their firstborn’s name just two days after his birth, and little Prince George has provided many adorable moments since.

Bonus! Before George arrived, William and Kate went on a magic tour of the “Harry Potter” set with Prince Harry.

2014

Royals down under

Fans were in for a treat — and many precious photos — when William and Kate took baby George to New Zealand and Australia on his first royal tour. The little prince “took control” of a play date with some peers, received a stuffed animal after seeing real furry friends and even got his first marriage proposal.

Bonus! Later that year, the British royals took a trip to New York City and met American royalty — Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The couple also dressed to impress for a night at the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art.

2015

A royal sibling! A little princess is born

And baby makes four! William and Kate kicked off May 2015 by welcoming their second child, a girl, on the second of the month. Shortly after, the princess’s name was revealed to be Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, aka Princess Charlotte, which paid tribute to Charlotte’s great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and late grandmother Princess Diana.

2016

O what family fun they had in Canada

The royal couple took both their children to Canada on their first official tour abroad as a family of four, and the little ones stole the show from the moment they touched down. George and Charlotte were even treated to some classic family fun involving balloons, bubbles and bunnies at a garden party for local military families.

Bonus! A few months earlier in April, Will and Kate embarked on a trip — sans kids — to Bhutan. They attempted the mountain kingdom’s national sport, archery, and journeyed to a Buddhist monastery on top of a 10,000-foot cliff. Kate said about the hike: “It’s an amazing experience. We’re very lucky and fortunate to see such beautiful scenery.”

2017

European excursion

George and Charlotte joined their parents on another tour — this time through Europe — and showed that, just like other kids, they experience the woes and fatigue associated with nonstop activities and travel. At one point, Kate deployed a parenting hack to calm a fussy Charlotte at an airport in Germany: putting herself at eye level to calm her daughter down. In a happier moment on the trip, the little princess adorably smelled a bouquet of flowers and showed off a curtsy!

2018

3rd royal baby makes 5!

William and Kate welcomed another spring baby to the family in April of 2018. Like her previous pregnancies, Kate experienced hyperemesis gravidarum, a pregnancy illness that resulted in the duchess having to miss her oldest child’s first day of school the previous year. After the arrival of the couple’s third child, William updated royal fans with news that the baby boy was “behaving himself” and that other family members were “in good form.”

Not long after, Kensington Palace announced the royal baby’s name: Louis Arthur Charles. The palace offered an adorable first look at little Prince Louis by sharing photos of the newborn with his big sister, Charlotte.

2019

Mom and Dad take the older kids to school

Unlike George’s first day of school, Kate was able to make the trip to accompany her husband and oldest child for Charlotte’s big day. The young princess attends the same school as her older brother, and while she looked a bit nervous walking in, she made sure to sneak in an adorable wave before heading inside. Like many other kids on their first day of school, George and Charlotte posed for a photograph, taken by their mom, in their uniforms.

2020

Clapping for front-line workers

Like the rest of the world, the royal family spent most of 2020 indoors during the coronavirus pandemic. In March, William, Kate and the kids took part in what had become a worldwide tradition — stepping outside to clap for health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic.

Bonus! At the end of the year, when certain COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the royal couple and their children attended a holiday performance that honored essential workers and their families. William and Kate also met with some of these workers to hear their stories about being on the front lines of the pandemic.

2021

A return to Westminster Abbey

Ahead of their official 10-year wedding anniversary, William and Kate paid a visit to the site of their nuptials: London’s historic Westminster Abbey. The church has been transformed into a temporary COVID-19 vaccination center. The royal couple happened to visit on the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the first coronavirus lockdown in the U.K. and talked to medical staff working at the site, in addition to people there getting vaccinated.