As Royal Anecdotes has forecast many times since the golden couple split up in April, Prince William has made up with his toothsome long-time girlfriend, Kate Middleton.

It seems the split was genuine at the time and not part of an elaborate charade to take media attention away from Kate. According to Katie Nicholl, in the Mail on Sunday, they have been secretly seeing each other for weeks, the story only breaking when William invited her to a saucy Army party at his barracks in Dorset. They are reported to have left the party for his quarters at an appropriate moment.

An observer at the party is reported as saying, “William was following her around like a lost puppy as she went around the room, chatting away and dancing. In the end, he just grabbed her and took her onto the dancefloor where they started doing some rather close dancing. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other but William didn’t care that people were looking. At about midnight he started kissing and smooching her. His friends were joking they should get a room, and it wasn’t long before William took Kate back to his quarters.”

Although it was William who broke the relationship off, he’s the one making all the running now. A friend says, “William hasn’t stopped pining for Kate since they split up. He keeps saying she’s an amazing girl and the best thing to happen to him. He’s definitely serious about getting back together.”

Kate, though, appears to be playing a canny game, injecting a little reluctance into the pas de deux. She is said to be considering whether this is what she really wants. She’s obviously a natural psychologist.

But this is going one way only now. Another “friend” said, “Kate’s not really a rebound sort of girl and William remained the great love of her life”. She also remained close to Prince Harry during the split and often talked to him and girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

Kate’s friend summed up the situation with astute precision, “… she know that if they do get together, there’ll be no turning back. There will have to be an engagement and then marriage.”

It’s make-your-mind-up time for the restless but lovelorn Prince.

It’s Prince William’s 25th birthday today, Midsummer day. A quarter of a century has passed since he came into the world. What a lot has happened in that time. I’m guessing it feels like an aeon to him. As he said last week, time has passed very slowly in the last 10 years.

Today, William gains access to part of the inheritance left to him by his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales. Her £21m ($42m) estate has been split equally between William and Prince Harry, which, after deducting £8m ($16m) inheritance tax, leaves them around £6.5m ($13m) each.

Diana’s estate was largely made up of stocks and shares, jewellery, a reported £18m ($36m) divorce settlement, dresses and personal items from Kensington Palace.

Some changes have been made to Diana’s will, however. William may now access the income generated by the investment of his cut, believed to be around £250K to £300K ($600K) a year.

Added to the £22K ($44K) he currently earns as a Cornet in the Blues and Royals, it represents quite a few nights out at Boujis and Mahiki, However, sources have said he will not touch the capital of his inheritance yet, since his accommodation, staff and polo playing are paid for by the Duchy Of Cornwall. He also has access to funds left in trust for him by his great grandmother the Queen Mother.

William is said to be spending his birthday training as usual with the Army at Lulworth in Dorset — but don’t rule out a drink in the mess later.

Royal Anecdotes wishes Prince William a very happy birthday and many more to come.

I’ve no idea whether this is true or not, but PR-inside.com is reporting that William is getting close to Devon-born blues singer, Joss Stone.

The report says : “JOSS STONE has prompted reports of a romance with British heir PRINCE WILLIAM after claims the Royal regularly calls the singer to discuss her performance at the forthcoming Diana, Princess of Wales concert. Stone is among a number of acts due to perform at the London gig on 1 July (07) , to mark what would have been the Princess’s 46th birthday — including Sir Elton John and Duran Duran — but friends claim single Stone, 20, has been getting special treatment from the 24-year-old Prince, who recently split from longterm love Kate Middleton.”

The report then quotes a British tabloid newspaper : “A friend tells British newspaper the Daily Mirror, ‘She thinks he’s gorgeous and is incredibly flattered.’ ”

A source is then quoted : “Joss is delighted by the fact that William is phoning her and they hit it off instantly. They’ve spent ages talking about which songs she should perform.”

Apparently, Joss Stone recently complained about her love life. She has been single since splitting with Beau Dozier two years ago. She is said to have moaned, “I think I’ll have to turn lesbian. Every girl my age wants to be in a relationship.”

Feasible? Who knows. At least her new Devon home is fairly near to Bovington Army base in Dorset, where William is now stationed.

In tandem almost with his brother Prince Harry, Prince William has decided to end his military training at the beginning of 2009. He plans to devote his time to charity work and begin to prepare himself in earnest for his future role as King.

He made clear though that he will do it his way and not become a “full-time meet and greeter”, like some other members of the Royal Family.

William insists he wants to understand his own strengths and weaknesses and gain more insight into the workings of the country over which he will one day reign.

The news comes soon after Prince Harry, described as”humiliated and depressed”, told friends he had decided to quit the Army and become a fulltime working member of the Royal Family.

Next Thursday will be William’s 25th birthday and he has clearly rethought his aims and allegiances. In advance of that milestone, courtiers and friends painted a picture of a Prince who has seemingly accepted his destiny.

He apparently regards his future with enthusiasm and optimism, but will tackle it in his own way and at his own pace. A senior Royal source commented, “He has really matured in the last few years and has come to terms, however reluctantly, with the idea that he is the ’star of the show’. As a result, he is starting to approach his duties with a grace and humour that is winning people over. The idea that he wants to shirk his duties is a gross misrepresentation. The difference is that he doesn’t want to feel his entire life is being mapped out in front of him like a set of railway lines.

“Instead, he wants actively to formulate his future plans and play to his strengths. He will move fairly quickly into the role of being a working Royal but it will be on his own terms.”

Unlike Harry, William has always known that he will never be a career soldier and he will also be spending time learning about the work of the RAF and Royal Navy. We now know that this period of familiarization will be shorter than expected.

The Daily Mail reports, “After he finishes his tank training at Bovington, Dorset, this summer, William will take part in a handful of exercises with his men and leave the Army by the beginning of next year. Afterwards, he will spend a few months with each of the other two branches of the military, before moving on.”

An aide says, “William will definitely leave at the beginning of 2009. That said, he is totally and utterly committed to what he is doing. The key thing for him is to earn his stripes and his credibility.”

William doesn’t just want to put on his medals and parade about. As a future head of the Armed Forces, he wants to experience what they go through, first hand. He also wants to take a bigger role at showpiece Royal events, such as Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph.

The aide continued, “William is a very thoughtful young man and the key thing for him is to expand the areas that interest him most, with an emphasis on young people, the marginalized and disadvantaged as well as conservation. He has inherited his father’s passion for the environment and wants to learn more about land and its management. That’s important for when he eventually takes over the Duchy of Cornwall portfolio, which provides the income for the Princes of Wales.”

Surprisingly, the key to William’s new-found confidence is his brother Harry. Recently, they are said to have become “as thick as thieves”.

“They are a great double act partly because Harry is more instinctive, emotional and upfront while William is more cautious. They work well together,” said a source presumed to be Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton.

Many will also want to know about William’s future love life in the aftermath of his split from Kate Middleton. A friend said, “William is wary of becoming close to anyone because of the way in which Kate was so heavily touted as a future bride. Plus he is a virile young man who just wants to let his hair down and sample what’s out there before he settles down.”

Given what has befallen the gung-ho Harry in the Army, these are sensible decisions by William. He seems to have his head screwed on and know where he’s going. How refreshing in these free-wheeling times.