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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Bea Isaacson & Emma Rosemurgey

Prince William broke royal tradition with Kate Middleton's dad - but it was risky move

It was at the foothills of Mount Kenya in October 2010, when Prince William asked his university sweetheart, Kate, to become his wife - seven years after they first started dating.

Brits were thrilled, not only at the fact much-loved Kate would finally be an official member of the royal family, but also at the prospect of being able to celebrate a royal wedding.

As we know, Kate - who went on to become the Duchess of Cambridge, accepted the proposal and went on to make history when she became one of the first individuals to marry into the British royal family who wasn't of royal heritage herself, MyLondon reports.

Kate made history when she married into the royal family (Getty Images)

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She will also become the first Queen in modern history without any clear lineage to the monarchy herself, when William takes the throne.

Many people viewed Kate's addition to the Firm as the progression of the royal family, and it turns out Wills actually defied tradition before even asking his wife to marry him.

In their official engagement interview with ITV's Tom Bradby three weeks after the proposal itself, the future king admitted he omitted a major part of the pre-engagement routine.

"Well, I was torn between asking Kate's dad first and then the realisation that he might actually say 'no' dawned upon me," he confessed in the 2010 interview.

"So I thought if I ask Kate first then he can't really say no. So I did it that way round. I managed to speak to Mike (Kate's father) soon after it happened really and then it sort of happened from there."

Fortunately, Mike was thrilled with the news of their engagement, and wasn't too perturbed about not being asked beforehand, as he was still aware of the happy news ahead of other key family players, with the couple keeping it a secret from Prince Charles and the Queen for a few weeks.

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