Kate was ‘deeply hurt’ by William’s close friendship with another girl in college, says royal expert

Any couple who have been together for the best part of 20 years are going to have encountered some bumps along the way.

Kate Middleton and Prince William are no different - the royal couple have been married for over seven years and have three kids together but it's known that they had some breaks in their early days. They first met in their first year at St Andrew's University in 2001 but took time apart in their final year in 2004. At this stage, according to royal biographer Katie Nicholl, William organised a boys-only holiday to Greece to get a break from the relationship. "Kate was beginning to question William’s commitment to their relationship, and she also had her own creeping doubts about their future after St Andrew's," she wrote in her book 'William and Harry'. "A number of things had caused her to question William’s commitment, although she had not raised them with him yet. "One was William’s friendship with an American heiress called Anna Sloan.” Anna Sloan was the daughter of wealthy businessman George Sloan, who had died in a shooting accident at the family estate in Nashville. [caption id="attachment_212562" align="alignnone" width="322"] Kate on her graduation day from St Andrew's.[/caption] Katie writes that William and Anna bonded over having lost parents. "When Anna invited William and a group of friends to Texas for a holiday before he went to Greece, it hurt Kate deeply. "She suspected William might have feelings for the 22-year-old heiress." But a romance between the pair never happened and Anna even attended Kate and William's wedding in 2011 with her husband Eddie Smith.