When Prince William got down on one knee and proposed to his long-time love Kate, it was a carefully thought out decision, and one that he had taken his time to make. So much so that Kate even earned the dubious nickname of ‘Waity Katie’ over the course of the eight years that they dated, after meeting at the University of St. Andrew’s.

However, after taking a romantic holiday to Kenya, William proposed at a remote lodge, but the couple didn’t immediately announce their engagement, waiting until the following month to break the news to the public.

When the couple finally decided to make their wedding plans public, the future monarch had one particular fear, a royal author has claimed, and it encouraged him to make rush decision, that seriously “surprised” the late Queen Elizabeth.

The royal author – Katie Nicholl – made the claim in her book Kate: The Future Queen, and she explained that after keeping their big news a secret initially, William had to officially get permission from his grandmother and the monarch, per the Royal Marriages Act 1772.

The late Queen had to okay the decision and then had to sign a notice of approval under the Great Seal of the Realm, and Nicholl reported that despite the initial delay in sharing the exciting news of their engagement, William suddenly wanted to put a rush on getting the announcement out there.

Queen Elizabeth, the author claims, was enjoying breakfast with her husband Prince Philip at the time, was “thrilled to receive William’s call, albeit a little surprised at the suddenness of the announcement”. A source was quoted by the author as saying, “The Queen had no idea that there would be an announcement that morning. It was rather hurried, because William was apparently worried about it leaking out.”

Nicholl explained “William enjoyed outfoxing the media, and this was one announcement he wanted to make himself. The last thing he wanted was a newspaper getting the scoop, as had happened with his father’s engagement to Camilla.”

Once the couple had the late monarch’s seal of approval, they went on to inform the rest of their family – and William’s staff members. Once the word was out there even to this select few, the future King was afraid that it would be leaked if he didn’t act quickly and make the announcement himself.