<p>My D has no interest! I’m shocked! I didn’t pass on my anglophile genes, apparently. </p>
<p>No one does pomp and pageantry better than the British royals, and the wedding of a future king is as good as it gets. So yes, I’ll be up all night, just as I was a generation ago.</p>
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<p>I agree. And it’s not just Charles and Diana. In the previous royal generation Charles & Di, Andrew and Fergie, and Anne and Mark Phillips all had their big, fairy tale Royal Weddings end up in divorce court.</p>
<p>However, coureur, the Queen and Prince Phillip have been (seemingly) happily married for more than 60 years. And Prince Edward and Sophie seem to be doing well. Maybe they have learned from the others mistakes.</p>
<p>Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were married for a long time before they divorced. I don’t think there was the drama that there was with the other 2 marriages. Charles & Diana were set to fail from the beginning (age difference, disfunctionality of each of theme, little experience in a real relationship, almost immediate parenthood, media hoopla, and Camilla in the background). He should have married Camilla years earlier. </p>
<p>Andrew and Sarah were better suited, but I think she was ostracized by the Palace and given no support in dealing with the media. She has said that theirs was a long distance relationship because of his military service, and they just weren’t together enough. However, they are still very close friends, and their daughters seem to have turned out well.</p>
<p>I got up early to watch both Charles & Diana and Andrew and Sarah’s weddings. Will to do again with William & Kate, despite the mocking from H.</p>
<p>I think it is only natural that watching these weddings holds more interest for the females here than the males. If you think about it, there is some relation to the whole fairy tale or Disney princess type stories. The girl marrying her prince, etc. The whole wedding, as I recall with Diana and Charles, was full of fairy tale spectacle…just the dress alone and the carriage! Little girls grow up reading such stories and this is a real life dramatization of it! (and in the fairy tales, they always live happily ever after, but not so in real life)</p>
<p>When Kate was working for Jigsaw it was part time and she was living in a flat in Chelsea paid for by her parents. The rest of the time, she was portrayed by the media as going to clubs and parties and having her hair blowdried. In my opinion, the BEST thing she did was giving up London and moving back to her parents to work for their company, thus taking her out of the rather unforgiving media spotlight. Since then, she seems to have come much more into her own and full credit to her. The bit I like best, however, is that for the past year or so, Kate and William have been living together in a cottage in rural Wales, near his airbase. They go to the supermarket and the village pub together and chat to the locals. This is as close to a ‘normal’ life as they will ever get and it has been assumed that they did this prior to their engagement annoucement and living the rest of their lives in the spotlight. It must have been quite difficult to give that up!</p>
<p>As I recall Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip have not shared a bedroom for many years!
They each have their own quarters, to speak. When they travel together this has always been pretty much public knowledge, saw this on 60 Minutes. </p>
<p>MomofWildchild, H said when our invitation for the wedding comes, we will certainly take our private plane, maybe you would like to join us? 
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<p>In my younger days I was pretty cynical about the “Charles and Di” wedding, as it seemed almost like an arranged marriage to me. Didn’t bother watching, although I did come to really like and admire Diana. I never did warm up to Charles.</p>
<p>This time, I see a match between two very likable young people who appear to really care about one another. I wish them all the best and unlike the prior royal wedding, I will probably stay up and watch this one.</p>
<p>SLUMOM- Let’s plan on it!</p>
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<p>I lived in the UK for 3 yrs. You’d be surprise how little their military makes in the UK. Their bennies are nothing like ours at all, including everything from housing to medical. Many of them when they leave actually go on their welfare roles.</p>
<p>I think it is also unfair to criticize her for working or not working. Try dating the future King, there are a lot of obligations she has elected to join him in attendance. Imagine telling your boss that you need to leave early from work on a frequent basis to attend a function. Plus, she is constantly followed by the media, it means diverting attention to her and not the business. It means increasing the chance of people constantly selling you out to the media. Logistically it would be a nightmare.</p>
<p>Also, let’s recall they are for all purposes living together in No. Wales. There really isn’t a big job market there. For her she has elected to be his mate as her full time job. He is currently an RAF pilot, it is not uncommon for military members SO/Spouse to be stay at home people…so what is the big deal if she is just like every other military girlfriend and decided to move to Timbucktoo to be with him instead of having a career. Just because he is the future king, doesn’t mean that they aren’t the traditional couple too.</p>
<p>It is funny of so much criticism already re: the ring and her having a job, can you imagine the talk when it comes to her wedding dress or the cost of the wedding?</p>
<p>BTW I do not think they will marry in June-Aug. I would not be surprised if it is an early March/April wedding, especially if you do the calculations, she is supposedly 4 or 5 months older than him, I don’t know her birthdate, but it wouldn’t shock me if it was around her b-day. The other thing is traditionally the royals do not have engagements that are long, so 8-9 months from now would appear to be a long engagement.</p>
<p>The interesting two tidbits I heard today were:
<p>Agree with mini. Wills may be serving a social function by being in the military, but really the level of wealth is welfare – public monies. If England wants to fund this, who am I to say no?</p>
<p>But any of us landed in that position would be equally newsworthy. So for me, nothing inherently interesting.</p>
<p>As for weddings, I find many of the traditions old fashioned and sexist and the hooplah over the top.</p>
<p>I got blasted here for suggesting that the Clintons could have given some money to charity along with all the money they spent on themselves and their girl.</p>
<p>Same here.</p>
<p>But if it makes people happy to watch and identify, well, sure. It’s fun to have fun.</p>
<p>I do miss Diana. Wish she were here. She was a mess, and I’m sure she was annoying to know if you were royal family. Still, she had some real empathy and humanity, even if she did have poor judgement. </p>
<p>I heard on video clip that Wills asked Kate out only after seeing her in a see though number on a cat walk (fashion show.) Now that’s interesting!</p>
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<p>But isn’t that contrary to modern thinking? That a girl should dream of having wealth and a form of reflected prestige, celebrity, and power bestowed on her by the generosity of some <em>man</em> who already has them by natural right? </p>
<p>I thought girls and women these days were supposed to dream of success based on their own merit and achievements. That’s certainly how I’ve been raising my girls.</p>
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I think they were referring to the fact that the Royal Family receives around $60 million in government (iow, taxpayer) funds every year to support their existence.</p>
<p>I think every modern Mom raises their DD to be independent of a partner. I selected our DD’s name because it was strong, and we raised her to believe she could do everything she ever dreamed of for her life. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t get the fact that on her wedding day she wanted to feel like a princess marrying her prince.</p>
<p>I think people are not giving enough credit to Kate. She was not born into this life, she did not ask to be splashed across international tabloids. I don’t think they could have lasted 8 yrs and a break up unless there was genuine love between the two of them. </p>
<p>I think she is an incredibly strong woman to say I will be criticized for everything and anything I do, but that’s okay. I am strong. If I was her parents I would be incredibly proud of her and not because she is the future Queen, but the fact that she has the fortitude to survive the criticism.</p>
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<p>That is something for the Brits to take up. If the Brits are okay with it whom I am, as an American citizen to criticize?</p>
<p>I bet they are flabbergasted that our Presidents have security for 10 yrs, or life long pensions as an elected official, whereas, in the UK, the PM walks into Buckingham to resign with security and walks out like any Joe Schmoe with no security. Same with the fact that our President has AF1, the PM has to fly commercial.</p>
<p>We are two different countries. It is not their place to criticize our methods, and not our place to criticize theirs. It is only the citizens of each country that have a voice regarding their country.</p>
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<p>The Queen and Prince Phillip are two generations removed from William and Kate and thus hardly modern models of what they can expect from a royal marriage. And the fact that Anne’s divorce was not as tawdry and scandalous as the other two is a rather curious predictor of marital success for William. The overall success rate for fairy tale weddings for the most recent generation of royals is a dismal 25%. In CC terms, a 25% chance of success would be considered a Reach, not a Match and certainly not a Safety.</p>
<p>First, is her full, first name actually Kate or is it Catherine? Yes, “Queen Kate” does sound rather common.</p>
<p>Second, she seems to have dark rings on her eyes – or is that heavy eyeliner and mascara? – again, rather common. </p>
<p>Third, it is good that she and Prince William are “really alike”. We will see just how true that is after the wedding when the reality of royal life, with its constant demands and pressure, sinks in. For their sake, I do hope that a lesson was learned by the Windsors after the unhappy mess surrounding Diana, although, I do feel, that Diana was (on papaer, at least) a far more suitable mate for a future king than Miss Middleton is, despite the fact that she was an emotional timebomb. Perhaps Miss Middleton’s tougher roots will help her get by the relentless intrusion on her private life that royal life imposes – but, I doubt she will do so with half the charm and dignity of the late Princess of Wales.</p>
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<p>This is not quite accurate. Technically, her marriage was annulled. The fact that her father was a Nazi didn’t come out until the early '89s, after her marriage. </p>
<p>The reason she didn’t get the title is that she is Catholic–which is why she needed an annulment. She agreed to raise her children as Anglican. Nevertheless, by marrying a Catholic Michael removed himself from the line of succession.</p>
<p>Her name is Catherine, and I bet that as she gets older, it may change to Catherine just from a formal stance in official duties, but I would bet the people will call her Queen Kate. Diana was commonly referred to as Princess Di.</p>
<p>I didn’t think she had dark rings or heavy eyeliner, however, I wasn’t paying much attention to it, and even if she did, can you imagine how much sleep you would get knowing tomorrow you would be announcing that you are marrying the future King? I would need a valium, and I am not sure if that would put me to sleep.</p>
<p>I think because of this long courtship, William was really testing her regarding the paparazzi. This is a man who lost his mother due to her issues with the media. He may have lived in a castle, but he didn’t live in a bubble. I am sure he has seen every article about his Mother from the time she got snapped with Fergie at the Ascot Races to the tapes with her security detail, and thus, inuendos that Harry is not Charles son. From all accounts written about him, he is very in tuned to the pressure that the media created for his mother.</p>
<p>They have dated 8 yrs on and off and even when they were not together she never embarrassed the family. Diana had many mis-steps.</p>
<p>I am curious how on paper you think she was a more suitable mate for the future King than her? She was not the inner circle of royalty, she was only 19 marrying a 31 yo. </p>
<p>I think the royal family got this one right. For those old enough to remember Charles being interviewed yrs before Di on 60 Minutes, Camilla was in his life, but because of her standing they were not allowed to marry. He was forced to give her up for the Monarchy. I think they joined the 21st century and decided a heart is going to do what it wants. They didn’t want that repeated again.</p>
<p>Finally, not trying to speak ill of the dead, but people forget that Diana was not as charming or as dignified as she is now remembered. That is how history usually treats people. Diana was known for striking out at the media, placing bags, tennis rackets and anything she could grab in front of her face on top of yelling at them. Were they wrong? Heck, yes, but she married into that world, and they were doing their job. There were yrs of tabloids filled with her private parties. She also aired her dirty laundry about the Future King of England in a one on one interview, on top of giving full access to a biographer where she dished the dirt.</p>
<p>She did great things, such as AIDs and land mines. She took her boys to soup kitchens, and social awareness programs. Without her, I doubt they would have done gap yrs. She was an incredible mother.</p>
<p>Let’s remember all of the great things she did and was known for occurred a decade or so after being a Princess. Kate is still younger than Diana when Diana started those great works.</p>
<p>Kate is 28, she is young.</p>
<p>Tina Brown on GMA this morning threw in a new tidbit. kate has twins in her family, and she said this girl is so proficient, she will probably give birth to twins, so she has the heir and the spare in one fell swoop.</p>
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<p>What a graceless thought on the occasion of her engagement. Based on that comment, your idea of charm and dignity doesn’t mean much!</p>
<p>While I think it’s appropriate for us “commoners” to be talking about this in this forum, it’s ridiculous that it’s still on the news the day after. Everything is speculation, guests are “insiders” that don’t look credible. I’m sure there are more newsworthy events to report!</p>