Penny Junor: Prince William

He learned from the Queen to take the best of tradition and do it beautifully.

The task was to create a day that was intimate for them and their families but which would give the British people a suitably royal and memorable celebration.

There was no disguising the happiness of everyone there that day – nor the intimacy in the midst of such formality.

‘A quiet family wedding.’

William’s greatest fear of the day was that he would stall their going away car, his father’s forty year old Aston Martin – suitably modified by Prince Harry.

The bond between the brothers is as strong as ever and Harry has the sister he said he always wanted. Derby Day at Epsom in June 2011.

William has grown into the job and accepts the duties and responsibilities that come with who he is, and Kate had a long hard look at the life before choosing to join him in it. The Order of the Garter Service and meeting the Obamas on their state visit to Britain.

Canada Day in Ottawa at the start of their first overseas tour. It was a triumph and despite an exhausting schedule they appeared to be genuinely enjoying themselves.

And the welcome could not have been more enthusiastic.

Kate looked as though she had been born to walk on the red carpet.

The most striking element of the tour was the body language between the two of them – the smiles, the laughter, the hugs, the reassuring hand. They clearly take huge delight in each other’s company.

In eleven days they saw much of what Canada has to offer. One day they were canoeing with a tribal elder in the remote North West Territories.

The next they were in Calgary for the famous Stampede Parade.

After Canada came Los Angeles and a very different sort of red carpet. Arriving to promote British talent at a star-studded BAFTA gala dinner.

Barbara Streisand and her husband chat to William. Stars paid up to $16,000 for a table.

Teasing each other over their mince pie making skills at a Centrepoint hostel in Camberwell in December 2011. Both are keen cooks – and both are competitive.

Church on Christmas Day at Sandringham and Kate’s introduction to the first of many such royal traditions.

Visiting a community centre in Birmingham after the August riots in 2011, where they met the families of three men knocked down and killed by a car.

The future of the British monarchy and the look that says this fairytale is the real thing.

A book like this is only as good as the people one speaks to and I would like to thank all those who were so generous with their time and trusting enough to talk to me about Prince William and share their memories and experiences. Some are named in the book, some are not but each one of them played a vital part in helping me build what I hope is an accurate and fair portrait of the Prince. I did not speak to him directly about his life – he hates talking about himself – but he did allow several of those who are close to him to talk to me, including members of his Household, and for that I am immensely grateful. They are a very impressive and likeable group of people, utterly dedicated both to the Princes they work for and to the institution of monarchy – and there’s not a trace of pomposity amongst them. Their guidance and their input have been invaluable.

I am also grateful to those people who painstakingly checked the manuscript to ensure that I had faithfully reported what they told me. I hope, between us, we have weeded out all the errors. If not, my apologies.

Top of the list of the others I must thank is Fenella Bates at Hodder & Stoughton, who thought of the idea and asked me to write the book. She has been a complete delight to work with, as have her colleagues Rowena Webb, Kerry Hood, Ciara Foley, Jason Bartholomew, Susan Spratt and Camilla Dowse who put together some wonderful photographs.