Kate Middleton becomes Britain’s first middle class queen in waiting.
As has been customary when monarchies are grooming their children to take over their kingdom, their future spouses are usually earmarked from perceived correct corners of the neighborhood- that usually of similar blue blood stock, wealth, title and rank in society. Prince William’s newly engaged fiance (news of their engagement publicly disseminated today)- Kate Middleton it seems has none of these qualities and yet has already received the implicit blessing of Prince William’s family in arms…
UK Telegraph: For a future king to marry a woman from such an ordinary background amounts to a revolution in Royal terms.
Opinion is sharply divided over whether her marriage to Prince William will rejuvenate or diminish the monarchy in the public’s eyes. Some commentators have suggested Miss Middleton will bring stability to the monarchy, while others believe she will remove its much-needed mystique.
She will not, however, be the first commoner to marry a future king.
If not the first commoner, who is Ms Middleton who given the spate of recent trauma the royal family has experienced in later years must surely be a sight of delight for sore eyes?
Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, 28, is the eldest child of Michael and Carole Middleton, a businessman and former air stewardess.
She met Prince William while they were both students at St Andrews University and have been dating for eight years.
A middle class family Middletons live in Bucklebury, a small village near Newbury, Berkshire, and run a mail-order business called Party Pieces which sells toys and party paraphernalia.
Miss Middleton previously worked in the accessories department of Jigsaw but left the job to join her parents’ firm. She has two younger siblings, Pippa and James, who also work for the family business.
She was privately educated at Marlborough College and first came to public attention in 2002 when she was identified as one of three friends with whom William was to share a house while studying at St Andrews.
In the end one can only hope that Ms Middleton will fill the vacuum left behind the death of Lady Di, who not a commoner herself strictly- had a great affinity with the commoner, despite the royal family’s often butchered attempts to reconcile or perversely alienate itself with its constituency. This time it seems the future King has got this one right.
God bless Prince Wills/Kate for this marvelous change. I love Lady Di forever.
LTM – Very well said. So until then the English (or the faux English I guess) shall attempt to continue ruling greater Britain. I suggest if the rest of Britain would like to address this phenomenon than you should all seek your independence, assuming it will be had.
The Editor.
You refer to the royal family in your headline as solely an English institution. The last time I checked, there’s something called the United Kingdom. Every time you mention the faux pas ( England = Britain ) you do a disservice to the rest of us in the United Kingdom who have to also pay for the Royal’s existence, but fair is fair and frankly it wouldn’t kill you to crack open a history book now and then to see why referring to her as the wife of the heir to England’s throne is erroneous and makes anyone that does this look very uneducated and ignorant.
Now, I’m from Scotland and I don’t give a damn about the royals and would happily distance them from anything to do with Scotland, but the sad fact is that they keep wanting to be associated with us on a part time basis. They sleep at Balmoral and in Holyrood palace, shoot things in the highlands of Scotland to feel good about their self esteem, wear a kilt now and then to feel like they’re part of the culture, but the truth is they have more in common with German Ancestry than anything British, which is why they changed their name to Windsor during the war years, and we, as a British nation, have to have some sort of loyalty to them because of tradition.
As long as the Royals continue to be associated with the rest of the United Kingdom, I’d appreciate it if you would get the terminology correct and not address anything that refers to the United Kingdom as just being about England considering the people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to have to pay for these future royals until we collectively get our heads out of our arses to become independent countries and turn our back on the monarchy. When that happens, you’ll have my full blessing to call them England’s royals, but until then please remember they represent the United Kingdom.
Thank You