William, Kate celebrate two years of marriage

Prince William and Kate Middleton today completed two years of their colourful marriage, with the Royal couple navigating through some tough times, like the topless pictures controversy, to emerge as a loving pair that has charmed one and all.

It is exactly two years since Prince William wed Kate Middleton and converted her at a stroke into Her Royal Highness, the  Duchess of Cambridge.

On her second anniversary,  Kate was at work, visiting terminally ill children and volunteers at the Naomi House hospice in Hampshire as part of Children's Hospice Week, the Hello magazine reported.

Afterwards, she and the Prince were to celebrate their loving and mutually supportive relationship privately.

Since they married, the Royal couple have had to navigate some difficult times, notably long-range shots of topless Kate taken during a holiday in France and other intrusive pictures of the couple in Mustique, not to mention author Hilary Mantel's assessment of Kate as a "plastic princess".

Despite these challenges, William and Kate have taken on the world together and the public have warmed to a couple who seem anchored in shared love and mutual companionship.

Nowhere is this more evident than in their joint engagements. On a recent trip to Scotland, Kate, who is expecting her first child in July, seemed oblivious to gathered photographers as she gazed lovingly at her husband.

"Be yourself," William advised his wife at the start of her royal journey, and since their wedding at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, these words have been the Duchess's mantra, and the future Queen has shown a natural elegance and warmth that has charmed the nation.