In the early days of dating,Prince William and Kate would spend Christmas with their respective families and come together for New Year – but one year this didn’t happen, and a book claims it left Kate devastated

For many families, deciding where to spend Christmas can be a tough choice – just ask the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Before they were married, tradition dictated that Kate could not spend the big day with the royals at Sandringham, so she and Prince William had December 25 apart. In 2006 after many years of dating, this was still the case, but despite not being together for Christmas, it has been reported that they had big plans for New Year. But according to a book, Kate was left in floods of tears when William cancelled his plans last-minute – leaving her fearing for the future of their relationship.

In her book released in 2011, The Making of a Royal Romance, royal author Katie Nicholl claims William had promised Kate he would join her family but decided to stay with his family instead – and informed her on the phone on Boxing Day.

Katie writes: “William had been having second thoughts and sat down with his father and his grandmother to have a frank discussion about his future with Kate. Both advised him not to hurry into anything.” Weeks later in 2007, Kate and William briefly split and sources later said the late Queen was disappointed by the breakup.