It’s been a busy eight years for Prince William and Kate Middleton. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got engaged in 2010, married in 2011, and welcomed three kids in the past five years. When Will sat down for his and Kate’s first official interview as an engaged couple, he acted nonchalant about the idea of children.

“I think we’ll take one step at a time,” Prince Harry’s brother said at the time. “We’ll sort of get over the marriage first and then maybe look at kids, but obviously we want a family so we’ll have to start thinking about that.” But now, it’s been claimed by a royal correspondent that a little one was the 36-year-old’s “number one priority” all along.

According to Robert Jobson in his 2010 book, William and Kate: The Love Story, “In truth, his number-one priority, securing the line of succession, is one of the prerequisites of the job as an heir to the throne.”

He added that starting a family was “a foregone conclusion” for the dad-of-three, who was “entrusted with securing the line of succession of one of the oldest and most celebrated monarchies in the world with a thousand-year history.”

William and Kate, also 36, welcomed Prince George, 5, in July 2013, Princess Charlotte, 3, in May 2015, and Prince Louis, seven months, in April 2018. After Charlotte was born, Will gushed over being a new dad.

“I’m concentrating very much on my role as a father,” he revealed to the BBC in 2016. “I’m a new father, and I take my duties and my responsibilities to my family very seriously.” He added, “I want to bring my children up as good people with the idea of service and duty to others as very important. But if I can’t give my time to my children as well, I worry about their future.” With a dad like Will, we know the little ones will be just fine!

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