EXCLUSIVE Kate Middleton and Prince William still enjoy romantic dates together to keep their spark alive – often heading off for long weekends away without the kids

Prince William and Kate Middleton have been leaning on one another after a difficult few years for the Royal Family, and clearly have strong foundations. But after over 20 years together and 3 children, how do the royal couple keep the romance alive? The married couple have previously shared how they would converse over romantic homecooked dinners in the early days of their relationship, but now enjoy ailing holidays, roast dinners and long weekends at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor. Just over 20 years ago, their romance came to light when pictures emerged of a handsome young prince cosying up to a beautiful brunette on a T-bar ski lift.

The chemistry between the pair was unmistakable – a whispered conversation, gloved hands touching – and both of them wearing what could be described as matching outfits. Here was evidence that William had finally got his girl – which, incidentally was the headline on a tabloid newspaper that enraged the Palace. Up until that point, Kate and William, both students at the University of St Andrews, had managed to keep their romance under wraps, even though they were living in a cottage together in the middle of nowhere.

The couple have been together since 2001 and still have fun with one another trying new things ( 
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PA)

Now their two-year romance was out in the open, and the nation fell in love with William’s refreshing choice of girl-next-door. There was a frenzy to discover more about the former Marlborough College pupil who had captured the prince’s heart, with Middleton and Goldsmith family trees unearthed and much made of her mother Carole’s former job as an air hostess.

But what was it that first attracted the heir to the throne to Kate? Rather shy and aloof when he first started studies at St Andrews, he began to come out of his shell once he started to mingle with Kate’s circle of public school pals. They started off as friends, before becoming boyfriend and girlfriend after moving into a shared house at 13a Hope Street.

Royal expert Duncan Larcombe told OK! exclusively, “William was really very starry-eyed about Kate and they brought out the best in each other in many ways. William is quite shy and can be reserved around new people. He’s very cautious, and in that way they are quite similar characters. Their relationship blossomed on spaghetti bolognese and rain-swept beaches.”

They have gushed over one another in the past, with Kate sharing how her husband ‘looks after’ her ( 
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Dave Benett/Getty Images for Audi UK)
Kate offered more than just her fun, down-to-earth personality and good looks, however. Once William got to know them, the Middleton clan provided something that perhaps William had never experienced up until that point: a sense of family stability and comfort far removed from the grandeur of royal palaces.

Royal expert Hugo Vickers says, “We’ve always been told that Prince William found the Middleton household very convenient, in the sense that he felt it had a sort of a normality that his own upbringing hadn’t particularly had.”

Duncan adds, “It’s easy to underestimate the role the Middletons have played in William’s life. Yes, he fell in love with Kate at university, but frankly he fell in love with the Middleton family as well. They were the family he has never had – the mum, dad and three kids spending time together and going on family holidays. It was a new world he’d not experienced before.

“The biggest proof of the influence they’ve had on William is that he and Kate are following the Middleton model as they bring up their three children, sending them to the same school and keeping them all close together.”

The royal couple often take long weekend breaks away, escaping from the pressures of royal life ( 
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Getty Images)
That love of normality has been evident throughout their relationship – who can forget Kate wheeling a trolley into a Waitrose supermarket near the couple’s house in Anglesey, just days after her 2011 wedding to William?

It’s this ability to keep a life entirely for themselves alongside their public duties that has been the bedrock of their marriage. During their younger years, there were occasional photos of them out partying and clubbing together, like any couple in their 20s enjoying London life. But as they got older, their private social life moved behind closed doors – much

Hugo says, “They’ve always been good at keeping their private life away from the public gaze, just as they did in Anglesey. Now, of course they have help at home in Windsor but they don’t have many staff. I think they’ve always tried to keep it informal so that they are all together as a family.”

Their four-bedroom home – with sofas covered with cushions and framed family photos – was originally described as “quaintly elegant” when it was built in 1831, and with its large garden it is the ideal place to raise their three children and entertain local friends. As Duncan says, “By royal standards, Adelaide Cottage is incredibly modest. They could be living in any number of places that would be 10 times bigger and 10 times grander, with 10 times the staff, but that just doesn’t seem to be how they’re wired. There is a humility to both of them.”

They also enjoy skiing, being spotted together for the first time ever during a ski trip to KlostersDuring term time, other parents at their children’s school, Lambrook, are very familiar with the sight of either Kate or William dropping off their three children, Princes George and Louis, and Princess Charlotte, and attending events on the school’s extensive 52-acre site in Berkshire.

It’s this family togetherness that makes them so strong. Duncan says, “One thing that has struck me over the years is how much they changed after their engagement and marriage. From William’s point of view as heir to the throne, things did get very serious. Now they’ve replaced that carefreeness they had in their youth with a family bond with their kids. They live their lives through their children when they’re not on official duty. And that’s probably one of the secrets of their success – not trying to relive their youth. They just absolutely love being Mum and Dad to three kids.”

Ahead of the school summer holidays, it was Prince William who was taking the strain of the daily school runs while Kate recovered from her chemotherapy treatment. In her announcement that she had cancer, Kate movingly spoke of her husband, saying, “Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance.”

But these days, they take most pride in doing things as a family – embracing the roles of mum and dad ( 
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Getty Images)
This echoed what Kate said when the pair got engaged in 2010. At the time, she revealed, “You know, over the years William has looked after me, he’s treated me very well – as the loving boyfriend he is, he is very supportive of me through the good times and through the bad times.”

But perhaps what has held them together more than anything else is their fantastic sense of humour. In public, we don’t always see that side of the couple – bar the odd knowing side glance – but in private, it’s very different.

William has said of their relationship, “Obviously we both have a very fun time together, both have a very good sense of humour about things, we’re down to earth, we take the mickey out of each other a lot, and she’s got plenty of habits that make me laugh that I tease her about.”

We’re sure he’ll be doing his utmost to keep a smile on his wife’s face right now.