Engagement of Prince William to Catherine Middleton: November 16, 2010


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I asked myself the same question, but in the end it doesnt matter since it has been clear for years what questions would be asked (why so long etc etc).

I said before that I found Kate stumbling at bit natural but she was increadibly bad prepared for the one question that was bound to come, about Diana. Apart from that she would have loved to meet her and that she is a person to look up to the stumbling around and searching for words was borderline embarrassing.

yes, true. that was one question which,in my opinion, was inevitable, she should have prepared for that one. Also she seemed more natural while she was giving the interview where pictures were being taken, saying things like "awww"...in the sit down interview, she seemed more nervous.

on a side note: i wonder if the Middletons had named their first born "pippa" instead of catherine:) then we would have had a princess pippa...are names changed when they are not "royal enough"?
 
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Isn't Pippa's first name actually Phillipa? I think Pippa is just a nickname. I'd guess that, as is the situation with Kate going by Catherine, if it were Pippa engaged to William, she'd be called Phillipa from now on.
 
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I mean this is off topic, but you should have it read it weeks ago when the Rooneys (Wayne of footballer fame) went on a vacation. The rage! You would have thought Rooney stole from a bank, or the British public is paying everything. It was very similar to the rage those expressed regarding Beatrice and Eugenie's protection officers while clubbing. I realize those who pay for tickets are supporting him financially, but still. It was amazing.

Just a side remark - the Rooneys are personified chavs, show off their wealth in an inappropriate manner. People were angered because Rooney threatened to leave the club only to squeeze even more money out. Then they went to Dubai fooling around on full display for the paps, Colleen showing off the boob job she got. What they did was highly provocative unlike anything the Middletons have ever done.
 
Its been a while but there was a Philippa of Hainault, the Queen consort of Edward III.

Just a side remark - the Rooneys are personified chavs, show off their wealth in an inappropriate manner. People were angered because Rooney threatened to leave the club only to squeeze even more money out. Then they went to Dubai fooling around on full display for the paps, Colleen showing off the boob job she got. What they did was highly provocative unlike anything the Middletons have ever done.

Agreed...way off topic. BUT people were still questioning them or making statements on how they spend their money. You see that ALL the time on US gossip sites about certain well known figures. In the media age, a lot of people question a lot of people. Not just royalty. And that is my main point. At least royalty are well known figures who are answerable to the public that supports them. Celebs...not so much. If you don't like Rooney and the way he kicks the ball..don't buy his merchandise or tickets to his game. You don't like some movie star flaunting their wealth...don't pay to see their movie. Its simple as that.
 
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Royal wedding: Duchess of Cornwall encouraged Prince William to give Kate Middleton time to 'back out' - Telegraph

Royal wedding: Duchess of Cornwall encouraged Prince William to give Kate Middleton time to 'back out'

Oh dear, what is the wicked step mother up to?

Wise words from Camilla. I was getting into the limo headed to church when my father said, "You don't have to do this if you have changed your mind." I suffered a bout of cold feet a month before my wedding, but got over it.
 
Royal wedding: Duchess of Cornwall encouraged Prince William to give Kate Middleton time to 'back out' - Telegraph

Oh dear, what is the wicked step mother up to?

Muriel, I have no doubt that you were joking, but I can see one of our trashy American tabloids (the ones that frequently print derogatory stories about Charles and Camilla) jumping on this as "proof" that Camilla was trying to sabotage the engagement.
 
i have been looking for a beautiful light pink dress that she wore for a wedding...i didn't like the royal blue as much as everyone else here did:) i would have loved a light pink colour on her, she looked good in that...but perhaps that was not appropriate for an engagement announcement:)
 
yes i thought she might act a LITTLE childish (maybe thats not the right word), or might let out a giggle or two, which she didnt. it was not 'of course' for me. and i didn't literally mean she would jump up or down. i just meant that i thought she might lose composure at some time, which she didn't, so i'm happy.

At one point in the interview it seems she did giggle a little and say that she was "so excited." I thought it was very sweet.

I've never thought about her that much to be honest:) No opinion about her one way or the other, but I have to say I'm impressed with her and how she handled herself during this first interview.
 
I do not feel the ring is cursed, but I always feel that giving your mother's ring as an engagement ring is really second hand and would be so much
nicer to have a new ring that is just for you and picked out just for you.

I disagree. My husband's mother died when he was 21, and he gave me her ring for our engagement. I loved it! We both love antiques and family heirlooms, so it was perfect for me. I know he adored and misses his mother, so it meant a great deal for him to give me her ring.

All families have some tragedies -- my inlaws' marriage was not so great, and my mother in law died young. It never occurred to me to worry that any of this would somehow be carried by the ring -- I'm not superstitious. Would you insist that everything you own be brand new and never wear anything that belonged to your parents in case their problems were somehow associated with it? This is how family traditions and heirlooms get started. I see nothing wrong with it at all. In fact, I find it a bit insulting to have this kind of tradition dismissed as "second hand goods".
 
Muriel, I have no doubt that you were joking, but I can see one of our trashy American tabloids (the ones that frequently print derogatory stories about Charles and Camilla) jumping on this as "proof" that Camilla was trying to sabotage the engagement.
Totally can see that too. From the article, this was not an act of sabotage but an act of guidance about the realities of a royal marriage. When Charles proposed to Diana, he told her to think about it for a few weeks (while he was away on a trip) since they had been dating for such time. Unfortunately, Diana immediately accepted and that's why there was no ring (Diana picked out the sapphire ring from a catalog instead having a custom designed one). As the wedding approached, the famous incident occurred when Diana found the "Fred & Gladys" bracelet (nicknames for Charles and Camilla). Diana wanted to back out but her sister told her "Too late, Duch [the family name for Diana], your face is already on the tea towels!"
 
I finally saw the full engagement interview and I have to say the whole "Waity Katie" thing might of had some degree of truth to it. I very much got the sense that Kate was waiting for William to wake up and just finally pop the question. The part that was almost hard to watch for me was when they were speaking about spiltting up, Kate looked so uncomfortable and her answer made me feel for her. I'm glad that she stuck it out.
 
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This might be a bit off topic, but ever since the engagement was announced, I have seen a ton of articles on how Kate is a fashion icon, beautiful, classy, etc. My feelings on Kate had been neutral -- i.e., I never thought she was beautiful, and her fashion sense seemed presentable at best. And I thought the media, over all (to what my limited views can see), felt the same way.

But now with the engagement, people are tripping all over themselves to praise and fawn over Kate. Am I the only person who is surprised by this?

Yes, I've observed that too ;) Don't hold your breath for massive agreement. Liking Kate is "in" now, hating her was so two days ago. Now that she's getting 'married' obviously she's not useless anymore. I'd say the media love to build up their victims before brutally tearing them down. Its just a better story that way.

Kate isn’t very articulate yet, which is fine. I would have thought the Diana question was the easiest one to answer. I also liked seeing her genuinely show her annoyance at William over the “break-up” question. Her answer “I found things out about myself” was dumb.


About the “ring” controversy, I’m kind of split. In regular life I would love to be given my future husbands mothers ring, it’s a great symbol of trust and commitment. However, I probably wouldn’t want Diana’s ring if I were Kate. I’ve already seen loads of pictures where articles/websites have compared Kate wearing the ring with Diana wearing the ring. The “Who wore the ring better with __ outfit!” blah blah blah... that will never go away.


Personally I would love to choose my own ring (like Diana did). That is the best option in my opinion. Give Diana's ring to their future daughter or something.

I was wondering something, what if Kate is unable to conceive? Do you think they already tested her ‘fertility’ ability? (I don’t know if the royal family is still obsessed with that). I know Diana was ‘tested’ for various things before her marriage.
 
I agree wholeheartedly on how the press vilifies someone, then adores them, then starts to rip them apart again. I noticed in the program we had here in the States, "A Royal Love Story" or whatever, several times the journalists commented that William and Catherine seem discreet and well grounded, and they felt that was so unfortunate since that means there won't be any exciting scandals to report on...
 
So do I. The royals themselves preserve gifts of jewellery to be handed down to a younger generation.

I was thrilled when I saw Kate wearing Diana's ring. Let's hope this will be an inspiration to people not to be influenced by those who let superstitions rule their lives.
 
Consider all the jewels the Queen wears passed down from Queen Victoria and Queen Mary. Princess Catherine will also wear these hand me down jewels one day. What's wrong with that?
It is a terrible shame that the media always look for a scandal with people and if there isn't one they just make it up to sell more mags and papers etc to fill there coffers. Kate and William will never be boring to us. We just want honest reporting which is one reason why I follow these forum pages in the first place. Because I can't trust the media.
 
Wouldn't mind wearing hand-me-down jewels from Queen Elizabeth II - they're gorgeous! Kate has to break out the good stuff from the BRF vaults once she can.
 
By marrying William Kate will become part of the continuum that is the British Royal Family, a part of history, and a wonderful incident of that role will be being able, and indeed expected, to wear the fabulous jewels that go with it. However I consider it to be very strange that she has Diana's engagement ring as her engagement ring. I see an engagement ring as a personal item identifiable with the woman concerned and when I see Kate's engagement ring I see Diana's engagement ring, but that is largely because of my age and the fact I saw it displayed on Diana's hand so many years ago. Younger people will have a different perspective.

IMO Kate is going to be compared with Diana and contrasted to her quite enough, as we are already, ad nauseum, seeing, and I would have thought that she didn't need this tangible link with Diana to which these comparisons could be anchored. I would have expected William to give it to her to wear, but not to be her engagement ring.

However William obviously has different perspective, and if Kate's OK with it that's really all that matters. And my views are in the minority anyway, though I always find it interesting to read what others think about these issues.
 
Consider all the jewels the Queen wears passed down from Queen Victoria and Queen Mary. Princess Catherine will also wear these hand me down jewels one day. What's wrong with that?
It is a terrible shame that the media always look for a scandal with people and if there isn't one they just make it up to sell more mags and papers etc to fill there coffers. Kate and William will never be boring to us. We just want honest reporting which is one reason why I follow these forum pages in the first place. Because I can't trust the media.

Who is Princess Catherine? I don't remember her.

I know that William's fiancee is Kate/Catherine Middleton but she will never be Princess Catherine - Princess William yes but not Princess Catherine.
 
If Kate has difficulty conceiving, there are still plenty of other people in line of succession. The British monarchy won't necessarily die out because of one childless queen. ;)

I also don't believe that they would have made Kate undergo fertility testing prior to the marriage, since continuation of the line doesn't depend on her having children.

I hope there's no pressure on Will and Kate to start having a family right away. They need time to settle into married life and for Kate to adjust to royal life before they start bringing children into the equation.
 
You and I might hope it but...the reality is that within months of the wedding there will be the expectation that they announce the pregnancy - particularly as the Queen will be having her Jubilee the following year so a Jubilee baby would be nice. She had one in 1977 with Peter and almost again in 2002 with Edward and Sophie's first child - the one they lost with the ectoptic pregnancy, so a direct continuation of the line in 2012 from William and Kate will almost be expected.
 
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That's why I am suddenly surprise at the avalanche of articles about her fashion and taste -- as far as I knew, nobody went out of their way to comment about it until now.

Didn't she make Vanity Fair's International Best Dressed List? I know it's kind of a dubious honor (Duchess of Alba, anyone?), but it is definitely an example of the attention paid to her style. Also, during my days working in a bookstore, I definitely saw the occasional comment about her style in the US gossip rags.
 
This might be a bit off topic, but ever since the engagement was announced, I have seen a ton of articles on how Kate is a fashion icon, beautiful, classy, etc. My feelings on Kate had been neutral -- i.e., I never thought she was beautiful, and her fashion sense seemed presentable at best. And I thought the media, over all (to what my limited views can see), felt the same way.

But now with the engagement, people are tripping all over themselves to praise and fawn over Kate. Am I the only person who is surprised by this?
'I completely agree with you. But even though I don't agree with the praising, I can't say that it has surprised me.
 
... if Kate's OK with it that's really all that matters.
I agree with you 100%.
I also wonder how Charles feels about William using a ring that must be a symbol of such unhappiness for Charles - a ring he gave in hope but ended in disaster and sadness for both of them.
 
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Kate's royal prison? Oh brother. :rolleyes:


How long has she been with William -- nearly a decade? I'm pretty sure she understands what her life will entail after the wedding. That article makes it sound like this is an arranged marriage or that she has been living in a cave, locked away from the real world.
 
One of the best articles on what her life will be like for the next 60 or so years.

She has make the decision to commit herself to this life and now she must live it - opening hospitals, talking to people about nothing really and seeming to be interested as they will remember the meeting for the rest of their lives but she won't remember it later that day, unless she says something controversial.

I remember meeting the Queen when I was 12 but she certainly would have no memory of the meeting. She probably doesn't even remember the visit to the city where I was at school at the time but all my schoolmates and I do - that is what faces Kate. Remembering to say and do the right thing, regardless of how she feels or what she wants to do.

Imagine knowing exactly what you will be doing six months from now and knowing that you can't just say - I feel off today so I am not going to go to the dinner I was invited to tonight - she can never do that again.

That is what this article is about - she has just lost control of her life - but that was her decision and she has had time to realise that before making that commitment (hopefully).
 
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^ You are right. Constant media scrutiny too - for her, William & their future children.
 
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