William's proposal was the stuff of romantic fiction, taking place up a mountain in the wilds of Kenya, surrounded by nature, and with one of the most famous rings in the world stashed in his backpack. The couple of seven years were on a safari vacation with friends, and William had planned a romantic night away just the two of them up on the slopes of Mount Kenya. They stayed at Rutundu Lodge, which overlooks a lake where they went fishing for rainbow trout.
William later revealed in their engagement interview, "I'd been planning it for a while, but as any guy out there will know, it takes a certain amount of motivation to get yourself going . . . It was beautiful at the time. I had done a little bit of planning to show my romantic side."
William also revealed that he was something of a royal rebel in that he didn't ask Kate's father for his daughter's hand in marriage until after he had proposed. His reason? "The realization that he might actually say 'no' dawned upon me," William said. "So I thought if I ask Kate first, then he can't really say 'no.'"
