More than 63,000 people turned out to Wembley Stadium on July 1, 2007 to remember the late Diana, Princess of Wales on what would have been her 46th birthday.

Prince William, then 25, and Prince Harry, 21, organised the event to mark the 10th anniversary of their mother’s death and to celebrate her charity work.  

Diana’s boys danced and even joined a Mexican wave during the six-hour music marathon which was broadcast to around 140 countries and an estimated audience of 500million people.

‘This evening is about all that our mother loved in life – her music, her dance, her charities and her family and friends,’ William said after receiving a standing ovation.

Before the start of the concert, the young prince was quizzed about his on-off relationship with university sweetheart Kate Middleton, then 25, on the NBC Today Show.

‘What I do with my private life is really between me and myself basically,’ a stern William told journalist Matt Lauer.

As William didn’t want speculation about his relationship to eclipse his late mother’s concert, Kate agreed to sit two rows away in the Royal Box. As planned, William sat next to his best friend Thomas van Straubenzee; and Kate was accompanied by her brother James Middleton and sister Pippa.

But when Take That took to the stage, Kate allowed herself a momentary glance at William as she sang along to their hit song ‘Back For Good’. ‘Whatever I said, whatever I did, I didn’t mean it. I just want you back for good.’

Prince William and Prince Harry organised the Concert for Diana to mark the tenth anniversary of their mother’s death

Take That were part of the star-studded line up on July 1, 2007

As William didn’t want speculation about his relationship to eclipse his late mother’s concert, Kate agreed to sit two rows away in the Royal Box

Kate and William had split up three months before the concert in April 2007.

William, then 24, was reportedly spooked by talk of courtiers looking for a suitable date for a wedding and china cups being made ahead of a royal engagement. His cold feet turned to ice and he asked Kate for ‘a bit of space’.

Kate was heartbroken but agreed and distracted herself by spending time with friends and partying the nights away.

By the time the remembrance concert rolled around, the pair had somewhat rekindled their relationship – but were keeping it under wraps from the media.

Although she wanted to sit with William – much like Chelsy Davy was sitting with (and snogging) Prince Harry – Kate knew it would distract the media.

So she agreed to sit two rows behind William, and perhaps this was all the ‘space’ he needed.

It is likely William saw a rather royal quality in Kate that day. She was willing to make a personal sacrifice for the purpose of an official event, much like she would need to do at weddings, coronations and even funerals in the years to come.

Alas, it wasn’t long until the pair were together again at the VIP after-party, according to royal biographer Katie Nicholl.

It is likely William saw a rather royal quality in Kate that day. She was willing to make a personal sacrifice for the purpose of an official event

Diana’s sister Lady Jane Fellowes sat one row in front of Kate (pictured wearing a black blazer) as did Zara Phillips and her rugby beau Mike Tindall (both right)

Kate, who wore a white dress and black knee-high boots, was accompanied to the concert by her brother James Middleton

Michael and Carole Middleton were also in attendance 

Read More

How Kate Middleton dealt with split from Prince William – and gained a naughty nickname with Pippa

Writing in her book Kate: The Future Queen, Nicholl revealed that William could not take his eyes off the Berkshire beauty, who wore a white coat-dress and knee-high boots.

Once again inspired by music, the loved-up pair danced to the Bodyrockers’ hit ‘I Like The Way (You Move)’, which, according to friends, was ‘their song’.

A few weeks after the concert, Kate and William were together again for Camilla’s 60th birthday party at Highgrove.

Kate had been smuggled in to avoid publicity but once inside, the pair enjoyed the glow of this new honeymoon period.

She wore a long cream dress and sipped champagne as William mouthed the words of Frank Sinatra’s ‘It Had To Be You’ to her, continuing the musical theme woven throughout their relationship.

At the time, Kate was training to row across the Channel with an all-female crew called the Sisterhood to raise money for children’s hospices. 

It was an ambitious scheme and Kate was required to row on the Thames from 6.30am in the morning.

But with media attention surrounding her relationship with William mounting, paparazzi started religiously attending the early morning sessions and the Palace became concerned that the event would become a ‘media circus’.

Kate was meant to take part in a rowing race across the Channel with the Sisterhood 

Due to media speculation around her relationship with William, she pulled out of the race on the Palace’s advice 

A relaxed William and Kate pictured dancing on his 26th birthday at club Boujis  at the Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire in 2008

According to her school friend and crewmate Emma Sayle via biographer Nicholl, Kate pulled out of the race on the Queen’s advice.

As her teammates rowed across the English Channel in August 2007, Kate paddled with William in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean instead.

With a lot to discuss, and lost time to make up for, the couple had flown to the Seychelles, staying at the Desroches Island Resort and checking in under the names Martin and Rosemary Middleton.

Unnoticed, they kayaked and snorkelled in the coral reef and, at night, they relaxed over candlelit beach suppers.

There, William and Kate made an agreement with each other. For the next few years, they would work and enjoy their lives, knowing that at some point when the time was right, they would be husband and wife – and perhaps parents too.

This promise has been kept. This week William and Kate will celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary with their three darling children George, Charlotte and Louis.