What does one do when the future King ends your relationship over the telephone?
You turn to your girlfriends of course, just like Catherine did.
After several years together, Prince William did not feel ready to commit to his now wife, and they went their separate ways after a 30-minute phone call in April, 2007.
Luckily, the girls swooped in and helped get Catherine back on her feet, Robert Jobson said in his recent biography of Kate.
‘Gone were the frumpy tweeds as she stepped out in a slinky off-the-shoulder top and silky skirt, with a bare midriff and caramel tan,’ Jobson wrote in Catherine, the Princess of Wales: The Biography.
Catherine was soon snapped leaving the trendiest clubs and bars with her sister, Pippa Middleton.
Tatler magazine dubbed them the Sizzler Sisters – and photographs of them filled the newspapers, making it difficult for William to ignore.
Catherine and Pippa Middleton at a book launch at Aspreys in London in May 2007
Catherine stepping out of a taxi and going to a private house party in Chelsea in June 2007
Prince William leaving the Mahiki nightclub in London in April 2007 shortly after splitting up form Catherine
After a much-needed break in Dublin with her mother, from the media scrutiny, Catherine started going out.
She was often seen dancing all night with friends. Her younger sister, Pippa, moved in with her in Chelsea and joined Catherine at parties and events.
‘Catherine accepted a slew of invitations and, in public at least, appeared more vibrant and sociable than she had been for some months,’ Jobson wrote.
She was seen at a book launch party at Asprey and wore a strapless top and bunny ears to the promotion of the film Rabbit Fever, about a vibrator.
It was reported at the time how Catherine ‘stepped out’ with Pippa, ‘strolling hand in hand in the full glare of a dozen paparazzi flashlights’.
Meanwhile, Prince William, was said to have shouted ‘I’m free!’ as he partied with friends at the Mahiki nightclub in Mayfair.
Catherine, wearing a blue dress with brown boots, heads to Boujis nightclub in London in May 2007
The now Princess of Wales leaving Kitts Club after going to an event with a friend in June, 2007
Kate Middleton training with the Scion Sisters ahead of their attempt to cross the Channel in a Chinese dragon boat, July 2007
The Daily Mail reported how the young prince had declared: ‘I’m really happy. Everything is fine. Let’s drink the menu.’
However, William’s partying phase did not last long as he was then an army officer and his time was constricted by his military commitments.
Catherine had another support network of women behind her too. She had joined an all-female dragon boat racing crew – aptly named the Scion Sisters.
Alicia Fox-Pitt – a friend of Catherine’s from Marlborough College and the younger sister of three-day eventer William Fox-Pitt – had urged her to join.
Prince William and Catherine at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2007, shortly before their split
Catherine being photographed by paparazzi as she attends a private house party in June 2007
However, when the couple began to rekindle their relationship, the Daily Mail reported how royal aides advised Catherine to pull out of the team ahead of a big charity race across the Channel.
There were security concerns over the media attention she was attracting and the safety of the other girls.
Catherine was said to be ‘very upset’ at the time because of how close it was to the date of the race.