Prince William Current Events 12: December 2006-January 2007

[Avalon]

​

Welcome to the Prince William Current Events,
part 14​

It starts on December 8, 2006​

Part 13, covering October - December 2006
can be found here​

 

[Avalon]

Kate Middleton and Prince William leaving the Mahiki club in Mayfair London, England - 08.12.06 - Tom Parker Bowles was there as well.
Click here: Kate and William

Thanks those, iceflower. Interesting to see Tom was partying with William and Kate.​

Will and Kate go on double date​

Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton usually like to socialise with a group of young singletons.
But last night they were out for the evening with a married couple - William's step-brother Tom Parker-Bowles and his wife, fashion journalist Sara Buys, who wed last year.​

And a picture:
Kate's look of love for William - it looks like that to me, at least​

 

[Solange]

It looks like she was giggling (as in being a little bit tipsy).

 

[kpusa1981]

[URL="http://photo.wenn.com/get_thumbnail.php?id=1580760&large=1/1580760.jpg"]http://photo.wenn.com/get_thumbnail.php?id=1580760&large=1/1580760.jpg[/URL]
http://photo.wenn.com/index.php?ref=middleton%20081206&version=int&session_id=b457294ae1142328370d910224b3a134
click on the first picture and go to lagre version of it
What does everyone think of the ring she wearing?
Even though the media was making it seem as if William was going to win the Sword of Honour I never really even before he mislayed the light machine gun. The reason I think this is because the head of Sandhurst wouldn't wanted it like there had any favoring of William because than he would have been critized. Does anyone agree with me?

 

[Avalon]

[URL="http://photo.wenn.com/get_thumbnail.php?id=1580760&large=1/1580760.jpg"]http://photo.wenn.com/get_thumbnail.php?id=1580760&large=1/1580760.jpg[/URL]
http://photo.wenn.com/index.php?ref=middleton%20081206&version=int&session_id=b457294ae1142328370d910224b3a134
click on the first picture and go to lagre version of it
What does everyone think of the ring she wearing?
Even though the media was making it seem as if William was going to win the Sword of Honour I never really even before he mislayed the light machine gun. The reason I think this is because the head of Sandhurst wouldn't wanted it like there had any favoring of William because than he would have been critized. Does anyone agree with me?

I think he had his chances just as everyone else. It would be highly unfair if he were the best but the Sword was given to someone else.
However, there was obviously someone better then him, and she received the Sword.

 

[kpusa1981]

Congrats women who won the SoH. As well as the young man who won the Queen's Medal.
Is Officier Cadet Wales stil going to carring the Soverign's Banner?
Female Cadet Beats William to The Sword of Honour http://www.theroyalist.net/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1510 http://www.theroyalist.net/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1510&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=1 http://www.theroyalist.net/index2.php?option=com_content&task=emailform&id=1510&itemid=1
Written by Joanne Leyland Thursday, 07 December 2006

Female Cadet Beats William to The Sword of Honour http://www.theroyalist.net/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1510 http://www.theroyalist.net/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1510&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=1 http://www.theroyalist.net/index2.php?option=com_content&task=emailform&id=1510&itemid=1
Written by Joanne Leyland Thursday, 07 December 2006

Of equal importance to the hugely competitive William will be the fact that the chimes of the clock will also signify another shift in status inside his family: for that will be the moment that Prince Harry — who's enjoyed outranking his brother since his own passing out parade in April — will once again have to salute his big brother.

Skydragon, is this true? Cadet W.Wales will be a 2nd Lt. as well right?

 

[Skydragon]

Skydragon, is this true? Cadet W.Wales will be a 2nd Lt. as well right?

As Harry has been a serving officer longer than William, No it is not true. In 'regular army life', they would not salute each other.

My guess is that if we see them together, in uniform, they will salute one another, just for a joke!

 

[kpusa1981]

Prince William current Events 14: December 2006 -

As Harry has been a serving officer longer than William, No it is not true. In 'regular army life', they would not salute each other.

My guess is that if we see them together, in uniform, they will salute one another, just for a joke!

Thank you that is what I thought.

 

[Roslyn]

As Harry has been a serving officer longer than William, No it is not true. In 'regular army life', they would not salute each other.

My guess is that if we see them together, in uniform, they will salute one another, just for a joke!

I think I read somewhere - it could have been here but I'm not sure - that because William has a degree he will have a higher rank after graduation and therefore outrank Harry. Is this true, Skydragon? If it is, would this not mean Harry would have to salue him?

Thanks in advance. Your specialist knowledge on these issues is much appreciated.

 

[Incas]

I don't understand why the press had to use headlines on variations of "Girl Beats William" for the SoH. First of all, she beat all the rest of the cadets in her class. Second, she is a cadet first. If another male cadet got the SoH, I doubt they would have used "Boy Beats William..."

 

[kpusa1981]

Congrats women who won the SoH. As well as the young man who won the Queen's Medal.

 

[Roslyn]

I don't understand why the press had to use headlines on variations of "Girl Beats William" for the SoH. First of all, she beat all the rest of the cadets in her class. Second, she is a cadet first. If another male cadet got the SoH, I doubt they would have used "Boy Beats William..."

I don't like it, but I do understand. It's new, so it's newsworthy, and sexist. To some she is not a cadet first, but a "girl", and girls have no business being there, much less beating men at such a masculine activity.

Women training alongside men in the armed forces, part of the same army rather than a separate Women's service, is still a new thing, only going back about 25 years or so. It's threatening to some, unsettling to others, and still newsworthy. I found this article with some interesting facts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_military

I remember the amazing kerfuffle surrounding the appointment of the first female Qantas pilot, but as at October 2005 Qantas employed 62 female pilots across its mainline operations including 12 Captains, 33 First Officers and 17 Second Officers. Not newsworthy any more.

Female jockeys winning major races is still newsworthy though.

 

[Skydragon]

I think I read somewhere - it could have been here but I'm not sure - that because William has a degree he will have a higher rank after graduation and therefore outrank Harry. Is this true, Skydragon? If it is, would this not mean Harry would have to salue him?

Thanks in advance. Your specialist knowledge on these issues is much appreciated.

No he will be the same rank but you did see it on here, I think Kpusa believed that with a degree you automatically pass out as a lieutenant, which is rarely the case here in the UK, from my experience.
William will be the same rank as Harry when he passes out, which is 2nd lieutenant, the same rank that JUO Laycock, also with a university education, (Emmanuel College, Cambridge, she graduated with a Masters degree in Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering), will have.

My full theory is that it cooked up by CH, Sandhurst, and the MoD in case either deserved the SoH and did not get it or was tied with another cadet and the other cadet got it. That is why CH did not rebutt it. That way RMAS would have would an excuse if William did not get it.

William didn't get the SoH because, after mislaying a machine gun, despite all the work he had done, he was not the best cadet! It is the commanding officers at RMAS that decide who gets the awards, they would not need an excuse. Any cadet could have had the same 'paper score' but, reports showing plus and minus points will have helped the OC make his decision and lets be honest losing a machine gun is bound to carry quite a few minus points.

The MOD has nothing to do with who gets awards at RMAS. CH did not defend William's loss of the gun, because the reports were true.

 

[TonyaR]

I'm glad Cadet Laycock won the SoH, it shows that the OC really was being fair and square. Congratulations to her for earning this great honour, and for being one of the very few women to have earned it. IMO this makes William's successful passing out after completing the course an even bigger accomplishment.

Of course Prince Harry has already accomplished this same feat and done fantastically well, but many people thought that while Harry was a 'natural' for the the military, William would be like his uncle Prince Edward and just give up.

Many thought he would not have the strength and courage to stay the course and finish some of the toughest military training in the world.
So I'm proud of Prince William, and I'm looking forward to seeing the passing out parade and to hearing about his training and work with the Blues and Royals.

 

[kpusa1981]

Skydragon, is Officier Cadet Wales still going to carring the Soverign's Banner?

 

[sara1981]

Wills meets Santa's helpers while dad check out St.Nick
http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2006/12/08/prince-william-xmas/

 

[kpusa1981]

LOVE IS ON THE CARDS: Charles and Camilla’s Christmas greeting
FUN: At nightspot
Does this mean that William will have his own Christmas Card this year?​

 

[sara1981]

Come here you 'orrible bike ...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006570251,00.html

 

[Incas]

Come here you 'orrible bike ...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006570251,00.html

That's a very funny article...even if it was not true.

 

[karla64]

prince william shooting darts play video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH0-fNrwlOk

 

[corazon]

since 1982 charles never had a chistmas card without her sons, may be this year (william and harry now are 21 years old) have their own christmas card, may be we can see it in few days

 

[Jo of Palatine]

I wonder what would happen if prince William found out that he has no more liking for the military than his uncle Edward had?

Wikipedia says about Edward and the military:
On leaving university, Prince Edward joined the Royal Marines to train as an officer. But the Marines proved to be too demanding for the Prince, and he resigned his commission in January 1987, before graduation. This led to strong public criticism of the Prince for being "too weak."

In that article, though, they state that Edward has the military title of 2nd lieutenant so I'm a bit confused. Does anyone know which information is correct?

Back to William: I guess his resignation would be even more critizised than that of Edward. But what if he passed Sandhurst with honours (well, not the SoH but close to it, at least that's what the media seems to say) and then married and started filling up the Royal nursery? Would that be considered an excuse? Maybe the only excuse available for him? What do you think?

 

[Oppie]

Prince William’s time in the Army will be divided into two parts. He will spend the first year or so continuing his training to become a fully qualified armoured reconnaissance troop leader and experiencing life as a young officer at regimental duty. This will include commanding a troop of twelve Household Cavalrymen both in barracks and in the field.
Following on from this period of regimental service, Prince William will broaden his focus to encompass familiarisation attachments to the other two Armed Services.
He will also spend time in this second period attaining his own personal military goals, which will emerge as his experience of the Army grows and his specific areas of interest develop.

http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/prince_william_joins_the_household_cavalry_blues_and_royals__206.html

 

[Jo of Palatine]

http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/prince_william_joins_the_household_cavalry_blues_and_royals__206.html

Thank you for the information, Oppie, but I was asking the hypothetical question what would happen if William decided he simply doesn't like military life? This career was planned for him before he joined the army. And while I'm sure that he was the one to make the decisions in the end I never was sure he really wanted it. Or why did he choose exactly the same program like his brother?

I can imagine that it's possible to go through the Sandhurst training even if one does not like military life at all. The prince has been trained to do his duty all of his life and I bet if he had any problems they would have been easier on him than on other cadets who wanted to become officers. William had to become officer - that's a different position and warrants a certain understanding and help. And he simply had to pass Sandhurst because he is the heir of the next king. But now he proved that he can do it. He is intelligent and a sporty type, he has learned discipline from being a young boy - so passing Sandhurst wasn't a problem for him. Getting used to a militarian lifestyle is something else completely. What if he does not want to life that life for three more years? What if he has other plans with his life? remember - he started out studying arts and changed his topic during his studies. What if he found out he can't stand the military? Maybe he is more Diana's son in this aspect than Charles' - her work against landmines was work against war after all and Britain is a country at war at the moment.

Pure speculation: In a way William is pretty powerless because of who he is. Maybe that strange incident with the machine gun was a way to show the MoD and other military offcials that this prince is never going to become the militaria crack they obviously thought to have at first. The whole incident smells of something - the way the media stopped talking about it, the way the SoH was awarded to a female cadet - it can be totally innocent but there is the Woolworth-incident... Who tipped them off? Maybe a fellow cadet who told the story that William is going to get married in order to shorten his time with the military? It's pure speculation but what if William really gets engaged at Christmas, then does this course as a commanding officer his brother has already passed but decides to leave the military after his wedding in the summer to start eg such a diplomat's course like the one Victoria of Sweden is doing at the moment, which would enable him to come home at night to be with his princess bride?

I guess most of the British population would understand if the prince decided to put his new family first on switching his public duties from militarian ones to diplomatic ones. He did his duty in the military after all and was rather sucessful at it, having earned his own militarian rank...

Just some weird ideas when so many things about prince William don't seem to make sense at the moment.

 

[Oppie]

Pure speculation: In a way William is pretty powerless because of who he is. Maybe that strange incident with the machine gun was a way to show the MoD and other military offcials that this prince is never going to become the militaria crack they obviously thought to have at first. The whole incident smells of something - the way the media stopped talking about it, the way the SoH was awarded to a female cadet - it can be totally innocent but there is the Woolworth-incident... Who tipped them off? Maybe a fellow cadet who told the story that William is going to get married in order to shorten his time with the military? It's pure speculation but what if William really gets engaged at Christmas, then does this course as a commanding officer his brother has already passed but decides to leave the military after his wedding in the summer to start eg such a diplomat's course like the one Victoria of Sweden is doing at the moment, which would enable him to come home at night to be with his princess bride?

First off I will say, I have no faith in the media anymore. The whole incident about Sophie being pregnant this summer was my final straw for me since it began to hit more respectable main stream. Over the last few days there have been three articles that mention the Norwegian royal family and they were filled with so many embrassing mistakes I don't even think the media has fact checkers anymore.

With the engagment rumours, I just think no newspaper wants to not be able to have the execlusive or be the only ones that can say 'we broke the story' and it is obvouis that the public is eating this up anyways. It's like when one of those entertainment shows adviertises that the have an exclusive with Leonardo DiCaprio, yet you see the same interview on the other fourteen entertainment shows)

The whole incident with the gun, honestly I have seroius doubts that it even happened, or happened the way the media is reporting, just because the meida has been doing such a bad job of late it is hard to believe them.

Anyways I think William was telling the truth when he said he was waiting until he was 28 to get married, a few years in the army, navey and air force (which if it turns out he doesn't like the army he can just join up with the navy faster)

I think the other thing to remember is that Tom and Laura were in very long term relationships (8 and 10 years) none of his Spencer cousins that are around his age are married, Peter and Zara are older and in long relationships and they aren't married. Even though the media might being putting on the pressure the RF I doubt would be and with very few of his peers getting married it is not like he is the odd man out.

ETA (See our posts got moved and we moved back to this)

 

[Skydragon]

The whole incident with the gun, honestly I have seroius doubts that it even happened, or happened the way the media is reporting, just because the meida has been doing such a bad job of late it is hard to believe them.

I think we can be pretty certain that he did 'mislay' the gun, what would be the point of anyone making that up.

Maybe that strange incident with the machine gun was a way to show the MoD and other military offcials that this prince is never going to become the militaria crack they obviously thought to have at first. The whole incident smells of something - the way the media stopped talking about it, the way the SoH was awarded to a female cadet - it can be totally innocent

I think you are insulting the young female, JUO, suggesting that she only got the award because of some sinister ploy. The media stopped talking about it because nobody denied it as such!

It's quite disturbing, the way some people can't accept that he was not the best recruit and that's why he did not get the award, he can't walk on water either!

 

[Jo of Palatine]

I think we can be pretty certain that he did 'mislay' the gun, what would be the point of anyone making that up.


I think you are insulting the young female, JUO, suggesting that she only got the award because of some sinister ploy. The media stopped talking about it because nobody denied it as such!

It's quite disturbing, the way some people can't accept that he was not the best recruit and that's why he did not get the award, he can't walk on water either!

No, I'm not insulting the young officer - I know that she must be very, very good, especially as she is to join the Royal engineers which are very reknown for the high level of expertise they provide to the military. I'm sure she deserves the honour. And we will never find out what really was the basis of the decision which is okay with me as I believe that the senior officers responsible know how to form their own opinion and go through with it.

But: it's just so convenient and sometimes, when two or more candidates are in the run-up for a trophy only one can win, it's the impact of the decision which is responsible for the outcome. And it definately is a difficult thing to decide if you trained the future leader of the military - selecting a female cadet could well be not the obvious but a very diplomatic decision when she was selectable at all.

 

[kpusa1981]

Prince William current Events 14: December 2006 -

I wonder what would happen if prince William found out that he has no more liking for the military than his uncle Edward had?

Edward was a 2nd Lt. I believe that he would have Lt if he had completed the Green Baret training. He had entered through a university scheme which ment that he had to stayed in for 5 years.
I never thought that Prince William would drop out of training.

 

[Skydragon]

But: it's just so convenient and sometimes, when two or more candidates are in the run-up for a trophy only one can win, it's the impact of the decision which is responsible for the outcome. And it definately is a difficult thing to decide if you trained the future leader of the military - selecting a female cadet could well be not the obvious but a very diplomatic decision when she was selectable at all.

There were in the end, after all the exams, accomplishments and errors were taken into consideration, 7 serious contenders for the honour. We do not even know with any certainty, that William was a serious contender after the machine gun incident.
RMAS would not, IMO, have made their decision on anything other than the ability of the cadet.

 

[Oppie]

It's quite disturbing, the way some people can't accept that he was not the best recruit and that's why he did not get the award, he can't walk on water either!

I really can't think of anyone that can't accept that he didn't get the award. I think it would be safe to say that most people don't care.