Prince William & Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge News #1

[rox_yr_sox]

^ The English Monarchy and monarchy in general also temporarily ceased to exist 350 years ago as a result of the English Civil War, although in the end Cromwell and his nepotism (passing the Lord Protector role on to his son) was virtually no different to the inequality of royalty.

It did?

Perhaps you mean the notion of "Absolute Monarchy".

Today, the monarchy in the United Kingdom is a Constitutional Monarchy. In other words, the monarchy still exists, obviously, though the reigning monarch has no "real" power.

^ And yet the British PM has regular meetings with the Queen (possibly weekly, I'm not sure) to keep her informed of the goings on of "her majesty's government", so she is privy to a lot of infomation we 'normal' people aren't. Plus, the royal family all regularly meet other heads' of state (presidents, PMs); this kind of access to other powerful people is a form of power. Plus, not to mention the power to draw money from the taxpayers.

I'm off topic I know. As to Kate's looks, I agree with other posts. She is not stunning nor would I even call her beautiful. She carefully cultivates an image that makes her looks nice and pretty. But this doesn't really bother me as it kind of makes me respect William a bit more. He probably had his choice of the girls, so it's not Kate's looks alone that keep him the relationship. Nowadays, I think the couple are well matched for looks, style (or lack there of) and character (whereas, 5-10 years ago, William had all his hair, and was much hotter in my eyes!).

 

[tuetre]

the poor long-suffering Queen...

 

[VogueElle Addict]

Poor Queen metting weekly with David Cameron

 

[shalu]

I don't care if they marry commoners....I just don't like this one. I'm sure Kate is a nice enough girl, but despite what she says she has little work experience, she sat around waiting for a proposal (excuse me, she went on holiday's too) for 8 years and her family is just horrendous. Despite what everyone or St. James palace or the prince says about her, she's still not princess material.

And isn't a huge coincidence that her family starting putting up a security post at their house the day after their engagement was announced and her sister Pippa gave her first ever interview to a magazine. I can see them singing "we're in the money" already.

Ok Kate-lovers. Let me have it!

I completely agree about Kate-- she simply lacks any spark and the fact that everyone wants to jump on the fairytale bandwagon is annoying. The media and the palace keep putting out statements about how hard she's been working for her family business.... pleeaassseee!!!! She's wasn't dubbed "waity-katie" for no reason. I too have no problem about royals marrying commoners, in fact I think it's quite nice but just not Kate. I'm not looking for anyone to be the next Princess Diana but Kate just lacks the charm, grace, beauty, and style (and let's not forget, work ethic) to be royalty.

 

[Squizree]

I don't really see why there HAS to be a comparison between Kate and Diana, they're kinda really different. Btw, Kate Middleton is actually quite well educated; she has a degree in Art History and loads of A-grade certificates in secondary education. That's not actually anything overtly impressive but it just goes to show that the girl has brains, she's not some tramp who would be nothing without her royal engagement. Meanwhile Diana never even went to college. I don't wanna compare them but Kate's being treated so unfairly I think. The point is, she could have a very well established life without her engagement to William. Furthermore, if she becomes queen, she'll be the first queen with a college education. I think that's pretty honourable.

 

[KhaoticKharma]

I feel like future Crown Princesses/Queens are kind of damned if they do, damned if they don't. If their past seems to lack a serious work repertoire, or periods of associating with not so glamourous people, they're just golddiggers. If they are assertive and don't want to take a backseat role, they're pushy and only want to marry the Prince for the opportunity to gain power. That being said, I can't really think of a single CP that has more haters than fans, and I feel like, with time, Kate could come to be rather popular... so long as the press lays off the Princess Di comparisons.

 

[Empress Merel]

On a different note, apparantely she chose Issa for the dress

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...wedding-dress-This-fan-knows-exactly-why.html

 

[KhaoticKharma]

I can't see Issa doing some big puffy hideous frou frou thing like Diana's disaster of a wedding dress, so I feel like this is a sign that the wedding itself is going to be on a considerably smaller scale than Charles and Diana's.

 

[Bahiyya]

Kate just lacks the charm, grace, beauty, and style (and let's not forget, work ethic) to be royalty.

They never had any. Seriously, someone show me all the charming, graceful, beautiful blah blah British royals in the past century? I think Kate fits in quite as well as any other because I don't find the present group to be peopled with anyone particularly extraordinary.

Everyone dies over the queen because because she drove some cars during the blitz. Good on her for volunteering. Since then she's cut a lot of ribbon for decades & chat with a lot of foreign dignitaries. That seems well within Kate's capabilities so what is the deal? As for Middleton's "work" ethic, I don't know for sure if she did work for her parents but I don't know for sure that she didn't. Why shouldn't I take her word for it. The business is based at the family home, yes? I don't care enough to demand home videos of her plowing away in front of a computer & an excel sheet of work hours vs holiday time.

I was *always* surprised at ppl preferring Chelsy Davy for a princess. That bleached blonde work hard (I guess? I saw pics of her walking briskly in & out of buildings in some law get-up) party harder with the beauty pageant Mum? Hilarious.

 

[brownsugarplum]

Maybe diana was not educated but she was hard working. She worked as a cleaner for an american family and as a nursery nurse and she always seemed very approachable. it might not be fair to compare them but its inevitable.

 

[Squizree]

^ And that's perfectly fine. Diana did what she had to do and so is Kate. Kate is a hard working commoner. She has a good education and doesn't need her engagement to William to lead a good productive life. I'm just sick and tired of all the worship Diana gets. Give the girl a chance.

 

[brownsugarplum]

Diana deserves all the worship she gets because she touched many lives. Some people have that certain thing about them that people just love. Kate doesn't do it for me and according to the comments on news website, she doesn't do it for a lot of people either. Taking pictures of balloons and other party paraphernalia for her parents company does not constitute hard work IMO.

 

[Squizree]

^ How do you know Kate won't have the ability to "touch many lives"? The only thing we know about her is what the media makes her out to be.

 

[brownsugarplum]

^
I didn't say she won't. i was only stating why i believe diana deserved the worship she got and continues to get. She will always be my princess and i will always defend her.

 

[Harumi]

So it happenned: Dull & Duller finally set the date. Congrats the to happy couple.

I have never been a fan of miss Middleton but I was willing to keep my mind open and reconsider my harsh judgement of her before sitting down to watch their first interview.
What a letdown: she was boring, inarticulate, let herself be manhandled by William and was painfully devoid of any charisma. The stiffness and awkwardness, I am willing to put down to being very nervous and it'll probably improve. But the X-factor never will. You got It or you don't. And the girl sure hasn't got any. Something I'm sure the Windsors are delighted about: they certainly don't want another Diana.

No, let's face it, she'll make the perfect royal bride: safe, boring, pleasant to look at but not a stunner either, loyal and not ambitious. She'll do great. She'll bore us all to death but she'll do great.

Furthermore, if she becomes queen, she'll be the first queen with a college education.

A comparison to the previous Queens is rather bogus considering they never really had the opportunities to actually get an education, being women in different times, etc.
A more pertinent comparison would be to the other Crown-Princesses of Europe. Compared to the Maximas and Letizias of Europe, Kate's CV is utterly mediocre.

I was *always* surprised at ppl preferring Chelsy Davy for a princess. That bleached blonde work hard (I guess? I saw pics of her walking briskly in & out of buildings in some law get-up) party harder with the beauty pageant Mum? Hilarious.

Why is Chelsy being brought up and where does the contempt comes from?
Kate's mother was a air hostess (which basically is a beauty pageant contestant that brings you your drinks) and the generation before that were coal-miners, so if you want to be a ridiculous snob at least be consistent.
And I assume that you feel comfortable enough to be so condescending to a girl with two degrees in some of the most difficult academic subjects because you happen to have a PHD in Biochemistry or something equally impressive.

 

[Ashcottmanor]

^ Well said Harumi!!!

 

[McClaire]

Ugh she chose Issa for her dress? This is going to be one vanilla wedding.

 

[YoninahAliza]

I'm honestly thrilled that the British people have a royal wedding to look forward too its high time that their is something to celebrate about. Lets hope that William and Catherine are able to redeem themselves and their family after all the awful things which the British Royalty have been tainted with in these last few decades.
The comparison between Princess Diana and Catherine is inevitable but its important to recognize that they are two different people who just happen to be important figures in William's life. I personally am a huge, huge, huge fan of Princess Di but at the same time I am very willing to give Catherine a chance to become her own version of a people's princess.

 

[Ashcottmanor]

They never had any. Seriously, someone show me all the charming, graceful, beautiful blah blah British royals in the past century? I think Kate fits in quite as well as any other because I don't find the present group to be peopled with anyone particularly extraordinary.

Everyone dies over the queen because because she drove some cars during the blitz. Good on her for volunteering. Since then she's cut a lot of ribbon for decades & chat with a lot of foreign dignitaries. That seems well within Kate's capabilities so what is the deal?

For most people outside of Britain, the royals are nothing more than public figures who live in castles and spend their time carousing at charities. When Diana came along, she was like a rock star, she had a special charisma that wasn't seen in other royals before. She was also more down to earth than anyone in the royal family. With Kate being boring and dull the monarchy is taking a step back, really would anyone care what the royals do if it weren't for Diana making the headlines? For as much "trouble" as everyone said she was, she sure did a hell of a lot to raise awareness for certain causes. It's a double edged sword but Diana became one of the most iconic figures EVER and now everyone pays attention to the royals (mostly because of her).

So if you want a princess that isn't extraordinary and doesn't make waves then Kate is your woman. Kate will never get the proper "good" attention for their causes if she "doesn't frighten the horses" and stays behind William every step of the way. The royals will go back to being stuffy, unapproachable and boring. And imo that's not what they need to get their voices heard.

Here's to a boring monarchy, a mind numbing, dull princess! Congrats Brits!

 

[Empress Merel]

I'm not a Kate fan either but if I'm not mistaken, Diana wasn't a style protegee before her wedding either. Nor was she the icon loved today, known for great amounts of charisma and her charity work. Give her some slack and time.
It's the same for Charlene Wittstock, she can't escape the Grace Kelly comparisons.

As I would say, a good horse still needs to be trained.

And about Chelsy, she may have wealthy parents but she went to lawschool and has her degree which she got in a different country not her own. She may be a party girl but atleast she has brains and an impressive degree to go with it.