What 'bombshell' news was dropped on Kate Middleton in a CAR PARK? It threatened to change her life forever...

It was the moment that Kate Middleton thought it was all over - and that five years of close relationship with Prince William had come to nothing.

Catherine was 25 and working as a fashion buyer for Jigsaw when, according to author Tina Brown, her world blew up.

And it happened one spring day - in a car park.

The pair had first met in 2001 at the University of St Andrews, but by 2007, with William pursuing his career in the military, they were spending more time apart. 

'In an awful 'let's get it over with' phone call in April to Kate while she was at the Jigsaw office, he dropped the break-up bomb,' writes Brown in her best-selling Palace Papers.

'She had to excuse herself from a meeting and pace around the parking lot for an hour-long heart-to-heart that left her in pieces.'

Jigsaw gave her compassionate leave and Kate fled back home to Bucklebury.

Fortunately, her mother, Carole, was on hand to help. 

She whisked Kate off to a friend's art show in Dublin. 

Then, on their return, there was a job waiting for her compiling and editing catalogues for Party Pieces.

Her younger sister Pippa, a recent graduate from Edinburgh University, was enlisted to get Kate out on the town.

The sisters would be  'exuding the vibes of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun",' according to Brown.

Kate, then 25, was determined to show everyone – and one person in particular – that she was living life to the fullest, wearing thigh-high dresses and skirts to press her point home.

Kate was also invited by a close friend to join an all-women rowing team called The Sisterhood.

The 21 girls challenged all-boy's team The Brotherhood to race across the Channel in a dragon boat for charity. 

Standing at the helm, Kate cut a striking figure as the group trained three times a week on the Thames. (Although she would eventually pull out).

If the aim was to create a little jealousy in William, it appears to have worked.

By June, it started to down on William that his ex was as much of a catch as he was, suggests Brown. 

'Beautiful, self-assured and embossed now with a royal sheen, Kate could have become the wife of a duke or a billionaire in a Highgrove minute.'

Thankfully, their break-up was short-lived and the couple reconciled a few months later in June. 

Reports surfaced at the time that William had reconnected with Kate at Sam Waley-Cohen's 25th birthday party at his family’s Oxford mansion, during which they reportedly shared a passionate kiss.

Kate was also spotted at the memorial concert for his mother, Princess Diana, at Wembley Stadium the following week.

Speaking during the couple's engagement interview in 2010, Kate reflected on their time apart. 'At the time I wasn't very happy about it, but it made me a stronger person,' she said.

'You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn't realized, I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me, although I didn't think it at the time.'

William also added that it was 'just a bit of space' as the pair were growing up.