tragedy. trying to get away from the paparazzi. trying to learn from lessons of the past and looking forward to seeing what the future holds. reporter: will this time be different? april 29th, 2011, westminster abbey, the location of the much anticipated wedding of prince william and catherine middleton. ironically, it was this abbey where his mother, princess diana, was laid to rest in 1997. and in the years between that memorial and this celebration, the legacy of diana and the tragedy of her life were critical in prince william s journey to the altar. i think she s probably never far from his mind. i think he thinks about her every day. jules knight says he s been friends with prince william for more than a decade. did he give any inklings about the relationship that he had with his mother? i think it was evident to everybody that they were incredibly close. he s mentioned on a number of occasions that she was never far from his mind. when you re going through
reporter: all haunted by memories of a fairy tale turned tragedy. trying to get away from the paparazzi. trying to learn from lessons of the past and looking forward to seeing what the future holds. reporter: will this time be different? april 29th, 2011, westminster abbey, the location of the much anticipated wedding of prince william and catherine middleton. ironically, it was this abbey where his mother, princess diana, was laid to rest in 1997. and in the years between that memorial and this celebration, the legacy of diana and the tragedy of her life were critical in prince william s journey to the altar. i think she s probably never far from his mind. i think he thinks about her every day. jules knight says he s been friends with prince william for more than a decade. did he give any inklings about the relationship that he had with his mother? i think it was evident to everybody that they were incredibly close. he s mentioned on a number of occasions that
anticipated wedding of prince william and catherine middleton. ironically, it was this abbey where his mother, princess diana, was laid to rest in 1997. and in the years between that memorial and this celebration, the legacy of diana and the tragedy of her life were critical in prince william s journey to the altar. i think she s probably never far from his mind. i think he thinks about her every day. jules knight says he s been friends with prince william for more than a decade. did he give any inklings about the relationship that he had with his mother? i think it was evident to everybody that they were incredibly close. he s mentioned on a number of occasions that she was never far from his mind. when you re going through these sorts of rites of passage where you re growing up and you don t have that incredibly important figure in your life, it must be incredibly difficult because you think oh, i wish my mum was here for that. rites of passage that were not easy gi
she did it brilliantly. reporter: yet their lives are not dictated by palace and protocol. unlike past royal couples, william and kate settled far from london s palaces in a small house in remote north wales. william is an raf rescuer and he plucks hikers off mountaintops and meanwhile kate is keeping the home fires burning at their little house in north wales. no one cooking dinner and cleaning. it s going to be different than charles and diana. no big stately home. not yet anyway. he s going to go to work, do his shift, come home, chill, watch tv, probably go and get a video, get some pizza. that s the way they are going to live their life. it was the way kate grew up in rural bucklebury, normal, quiet. once criticized as too common, it may be the very thing that helps keep this royal couple together. a lot of aristocrats are the
her first public engagement and she did it brilliantly. reporter: yet their lives are not dictated by palace and protocol. unlike past royal couples, william and kate settled far from london s palaces in a small house in remote north wales. william is an raf search and rescue officer and it s a dangerous business. he plucks hikers off mountaintops and meanwhile kate is keeping the home fires burning at their little house in north wales. there ll be no one cooking the dinner and no one cleaning the brass. it s going to be different than charles and diana. no big stately home. not yet anyway. he s going to go to work, do his shift, come home, chill, watch tv, probably go and get a video, get some pizza. that s the way they are going to live their life. it was the way kate grew up in rural bucklebury, normal, quiet. once criticized as too common, it may be the very thing that helps keep this royal couple together.