Royal wedding speculation growing in UK
Source: Agencies |
November 13, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THEY'VE met the parents. They've even gone shooting with the parents. They've had their trial breakups and trial makeups.
Now, people in the very English village of Yattendon in leafy Berkshire say it's time for Prince William and local girl Kate Middleton to make it official.
After all, the cautious prince has been dating Middleton on and off "mostly on" for more than eight years, ever since they met at the University of St Andrews.
"We'd be delighted," said Pru Shepheard, doing her daily shopping at the village store where Middleton is a frequent customer, occasionally accompanied by William. "It would be madness for them not to get married.
"Kate's one of us - she doesn't put on airs and graces, she's a lovely girl. Everyone who meets her likes her."
Shepheard said visions of a royal wedding have been stoked by the visit several weeks ago of Kate's parents - Michael and Carole Middleton - to Balmoral, Queen Elizabeth II's 50,000-acre estate in Scotland, for a weekend of shooting hosted by Prince William with the Queen's approval. It marked the first time the Middletons had been invited to such an intimate royal gathering.
The event sent Britain's tabloids into a tizzy and prompted bookmakers to lower the odds at Britain's legal betting shops, reflecting the conventional wisdom that Middleton will soon be a princess, and in line to become Queen. The bookies even predict a wedding for the 28-year-olds this summer.
Britain's royal watchers said the hunting invitation was a way of welcoming the middle-class Middletons into the very highest realm of British society. Middleton is not from the aristocracy: Her parents worked for British Airways before founding Party Pieces, a successful party-supply business.
But her background is acceptable, and perhaps even an advantage, as the British monarchy prepares to modernize in an age of austerity.
There is speculation about the wedding venue - publicity-shy William is said to be opposed to St Paul's Cathedral, where his parents married, in favor of a more private location. And of course a frenzied guessing game about Middleton's choice of dress, since she has so far championed Daniella Issa Helayel over more prominent British designers like Vivienne Westwood.
Everyone seems to think it's only a matter of time before an engagement is announced.
But taking a bride is not so simple if you happen to be a future King of England whose wife can be expected to become queen. William is second in line to the throne; he would become king after his father, Prince Charles.
"Kate is not joining the Windsor dynasty to be a princess, she's joining to be a queen at some point," said Patrick Jephson, former private secretary to Princess Diana, William's mother. "There's a lot at stake here, more than just pretty dresses and magazine covers. You have to show that the dynasty can renew itself. She and William have to make sure this marriage works."
With looming responsibilities, perhaps it's no wonder the young couple prefer to cling to their unmarried state.
Now, people in the very English village of Yattendon in leafy Berkshire say it's time for Prince William and local girl Kate Middleton to make it official.
After all, the cautious prince has been dating Middleton on and off "mostly on" for more than eight years, ever since they met at the University of St Andrews.
"We'd be delighted," said Pru Shepheard, doing her daily shopping at the village store where Middleton is a frequent customer, occasionally accompanied by William. "It would be madness for them not to get married.
"Kate's one of us - she doesn't put on airs and graces, she's a lovely girl. Everyone who meets her likes her."
Shepheard said visions of a royal wedding have been stoked by the visit several weeks ago of Kate's parents - Michael and Carole Middleton - to Balmoral, Queen Elizabeth II's 50,000-acre estate in Scotland, for a weekend of shooting hosted by Prince William with the Queen's approval. It marked the first time the Middletons had been invited to such an intimate royal gathering.
The event sent Britain's tabloids into a tizzy and prompted bookmakers to lower the odds at Britain's legal betting shops, reflecting the conventional wisdom that Middleton will soon be a princess, and in line to become Queen. The bookies even predict a wedding for the 28-year-olds this summer.
Britain's royal watchers said the hunting invitation was a way of welcoming the middle-class Middletons into the very highest realm of British society. Middleton is not from the aristocracy: Her parents worked for British Airways before founding Party Pieces, a successful party-supply business.
But her background is acceptable, and perhaps even an advantage, as the British monarchy prepares to modernize in an age of austerity.
There is speculation about the wedding venue - publicity-shy William is said to be opposed to St Paul's Cathedral, where his parents married, in favor of a more private location. And of course a frenzied guessing game about Middleton's choice of dress, since she has so far championed Daniella Issa Helayel over more prominent British designers like Vivienne Westwood.
Everyone seems to think it's only a matter of time before an engagement is announced.
But taking a bride is not so simple if you happen to be a future King of England whose wife can be expected to become queen. William is second in line to the throne; he would become king after his father, Prince Charles.
"Kate is not joining the Windsor dynasty to be a princess, she's joining to be a queen at some point," said Patrick Jephson, former private secretary to Princess Diana, William's mother. "There's a lot at stake here, more than just pretty dresses and magazine covers. You have to show that the dynasty can renew itself. She and William have to make sure this marriage works."
With looming responsibilities, perhaps it's no wonder the young couple prefer to cling to their unmarried state.
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