As a married couple they will share everything—including memories of William’s mother.
It emerged today that William and Kate made the journey to Althorp, Diana’s ancestral home and final resting place, on April 20. Once on the 14,000-acre estate, they took a boat to The Oval, an island which functions as a permanent memorial to the late princess. The pair also visited an ancient arboretum where William and Prince Harry planted trees as children.
(More on TIME.com: See pictures of Kate Middleton)
“It was very important for William to take Kate to visit his mum just before their wedding day,” a source told the Daily Mirror. “Diana is still a huge part of her boys’ everyday life and always will be.”
William made that clear in an interview held the day of his engagement announcement when he explained why he gave his future wife Diana’s blue sapphire engagement ring. “It’s my mother’s engagement ring so I thought it was quite nice because obviously she’s not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all – this was my way of keeping her close to it all.”
For Kate and Wills, integrating their families appears to be at the top of their agenda the week before their April 29 wedding. As NewsFeed reported earlier today, Kate’s parents Michael and Carole met Queen Elizabeth for the first time yesterday while their daughter paid her respects to Diana.
(More on TIME.com: See pictures of Prince Charles and 10 other heirs apparent still waiting to sit in the throne)
