Preferred Wives For William and Harry

[crisiñaki]

yes her children are catholic. They can marry someone who was born catholic and has converted.

Thanks Princejohnny25

 

[Skydragon]

Funny you should mention Richard Branson, skydragon, because he was just the executive I was thinking of when I meant executives with a wide range of social contacts.

The real obstacle of employers dating their employees is the appearance of nepotism .

It isn't just about sticking to your social class, as azile1710 says, "And- money seldom buys class and NEVER buys good character".

Richard Branson mixes with people with the same business ethos that he has and that doesn't include the cashier from his local supermarket. He mixes socially with people with the same thinking towards money, I have not seen anything in the news about him popping to the nightclub with one of the cleaners at the office, have you?
No of course not, therefore his main group of friends are from the social status he has as a businessman/entrepreneur.

 

[Skydragon]

And- money seldom buys class

Very true, just because you have made a few pennies, does not mean you can buy your way up the ladder.

My sister married outside of her "social circle". Yes- there were adjustments. Yes, there were transitions and a period of adjustment. However, I think her perspective only enriches her husband's perspective and vice versa.

It would of course depend which classes or social circle, to start with. If you compare it to business, would it be like the cleaner marrying the admin assistant, the admin assistant marrying the office manager? Even within the classes there are little and big differences.

I've travelled a lot in the UK and heard a lot of negative opinion about the British Royal Family- mostly criticism that they are completely out of touch with the reality of most "common" people.

I read that on this board from some overseas visitors but, can find very few in the people I talk to, who live in this country, who would agree with you. Most are puzzled just who you talk to, who would say that to a total stranger. Do you ask them, do they, on the spur of the moment come out with it? Whilst all are envious of the 'escape' from the daily grind (as they see it), most are saying it about the government, not the royals.

The thing to remember is that Kate is classed as a commoner, is from a lower class than William, very few here (in the UK) have a problem with that.
It seems some on here want William to marry someone who comes from the lowest class background, for whatever reason.
It is William who will have to live with this wife, talk to her, therefore at the very least they need to have things in common and that isn't going to happen if she is from the corner shop or local cafe!

 

[ysbel]

It isn't just about sticking to your social class, as azile1710 says, "And- money seldom buys class and NEVER buys good character".

Richard Branson mixes with people with the same business ethos that he has and that doesn't include the cashier from his local supermarket. He mixes socially with people with the same thinking towards money, I have not seen anything in the news about him popping to the nightclub with one of the cleaners at the office, have you?
No of course not, therefore his main group of friends are from the social status he has as a businessman/entrepreneur.

Well if the cleaner or the cashier are into extreme sports, I wouldn't put it past him. But seriously, his hobby, extreme challenges and sports brings people from all walks of life and income levels. Its possible for a taxi driver or owner of a cleaner to participate by spending all their disposible income on their hobby.

Branson probably wouldn't meet them in their normal range of business but rather in the social network of extreme sportists. If he went out with them, the papers would find it more interesting to say Branson went out with XXX who jumped out of an airplane through a fire rather than Branson went out with a cleaner.

However, Branson is atypical for a CEO and his social class. Most CEOs aren't extreme risk-takers like he is. Phil Knight, who stepped down from Nike, is another one.

 

[ysbel]

But skydragon, you bring up a good point. Britain has traditionally had a more rigid class structure than the rest of the modern world.

I've met several Brits in New York who moved away from Britain precisely because of that. But the interesting development is that now when they go back to Britain, they complain that the old social structures are falling apart and it makes them feel uncomfortable.

They moved here in the late 70s and early 80s so a lot of time has passed since they really lived in Britain.

However, the royal family is probably the most adherent to the old social structure which is why William's dating Kate is such a surprise. I would think that if he does marry a commoner, the woman would have to be well educated and able to mix with all social and income levels even if she doesn't come from the highest level.

 

[Skydragon]

Well if the cleaner or the cashier are into extreme sports, I wouldn't put it past him. But seriously, his hobby, extreme challenges and sports brings people from all walks of life and income levels. Its possible for a taxi driver or owner of a cleaner to participate by spending all their disposible income on their hobby.
Branson probably wouldn't meet them in their normal range of business but rather in the social network of extreme sportists. If he went out with them, the papers would find it more interesting to say Branson went out with XXX who jumped out of an airplane through a fire rather than Branson went out with a cleaner.

If it was a case of them spending their money on participation in an extreme sport, they are unlikely to be able to stay in the same hotels or eat at the same restaurants. Even sportsmen and women have their own 'class' system or social circle.

A friend used to say that he had a friend who was a bin man and that he saw him as his equal but, the moment he said that, proved that it could never be an equal friendship, because you wouldn't say I have a friend who is on an equal social footing as me.

 

[Skydragon]

But skydragon, you bring up a good point. Britain has traditionally had a more rigid class structure than the rest of the modern world.

I've met several Brits in New York who moved away from Britain precisely because of that. But the interesting development is that now when they go back to Britain, they complain that the old social structures are falling apart and it makes them feel uncomfortable.

They moved here in the late 70s and early 80s so a lot of time has passed since they really lived in Britain.

However, the royal family is probably the most adherent to the old social structure which is why William's dating Kate is such a surprise. I would think that if he does marry a commoner, the woman would have to be well educated and able to mix with all social and income levels even if she doesn't come from the highest level.

Yes, I can agree with that, although I have to say it is not just the royals who adhere to the old social structures. People will always strive to move up the social ladder, with the odd one wanting to put himself across as a lower class, to be one of the people.

 

[priscilla_kor]

future queen of england ... a british girl?

hi! As you can see im new here, and my name is priscilla! Hope i make lots of good friends here ... Well, I particularly came here 'cause a few weeks ago i was having a chat with my friends about how might the next queen of england be ... even i did my research looking for who can Prince William marry, there was still a doubt to me ... can the future Princess of Wales be, for example, a latin girl? would you like the next queen of England to be an argentinian or mexican woman? Share your comments here! thank u!!

 

[LOSSEAN]

Prince William most definitely can marry a Latin girl but she cannot be a Catholic. If he insists that the law be changed (we have learnt in this thread that this is an impossibility) to accomodate a girl's Catholicism then he could end up with Catholic claimants in a more senior line to his making a bid for the British throne and another constitutional crisis beckons.
I think Princess Madelaine of Sweden would be an ideal choice. What about Lady Gabriella Windsor?

 

[Avalon]

hi! As you can see im new here, and my name is priscilla! Hope i make lots of good friends here ... Well, I particularly came here 'cause a few weeks ago i was having a chat with my friends about how might the next queen of england be ... even i did my research looking for who can Prince William marry, there was still a doubt to me ... can the future Princess of Wales be, for example, a latin girl? would you like the next queen of England to be an argentinian or mexican woman? Share your comments here! thank u!!

Technically, it can be a girl of any nationality and race. The only requirement is religion (she can't be Roman Catholic and must convert to Anglican Church) and relatively clean past (imprisoment, for example, would most probably be a huge obstacle on her way).
However I think the majority of the British people would prefer their future Queen be a Brit or at least from a country of Commonwealth. I personally doubt that a Mexican or Argentinian or any Latin girl would be welcomed by people (with all due respect to these countries).
I am not Brit, that's why I leave it to the brits in this forum to explain their feelings about such prospective.

 

[BeatrixFan]

I would prefer a British girl but would accept a foreigner if she was a European Princess. For example, if William married Madeleine of Sweden then I'd be thrilled. It's just a personal thing. But for his sake, I think William really has no choice but to "marry British".

 

[margotantoinette]

I agree with BeatrixFan, I don't see it at all likely that William will marry a non-British girl mostly for political reasons. I also just don't think that he seems likely to go on a search for the "exotic"

 

[Tzu An]

He could marry a girl from the Commonwealth. Or the United States, imagine the press frenzy !

 

[Luv2Cruise]

I somewhat agree with Skydragon. William's social set sticks to their own kind, and he wandered as far off the porch as he could get away with. But from the little Kate shows us, she the "commoner" has more class and conducts herself with more dignity and grace than some friends of William who were born with a silver polo mallet up their you-know-whats.

So as an American and one who lives by the truism that it's not where you come from but where you are going, I cannot fathom this concept of people from different "classes" so to speak not socializing and thefore not marrying. Here in America we absolutely have class structures albeit looser confines than the British. Of course race is the predominant factor here, then there are classes within the races. As an example, look at the Bush family, an old line, sort of monied family of late ... the early 20th century. No comparison to the British upper classes and aristocrats that family, but they are at the pretty high end of society for Americans. Golden boy Jeb, Govenor of Florida, and the younger brother to our {edited - Elspeth} President, and the brainier of the two whose parents thought he would be president, married a Latina and a Catholic. And he, the uptight Protestant, CONVERTED to CATHOLICISM for his Latina wife. LOL Way WAY WAY out of their WASPy, preppy, northeastern ivy league social circle, but they are married and have two adult children -- albeit the daughter is a recovering crackhead, and the son has anger management issues. Both children of course look very Latin, with George P. Bush (the hot head) EXTREMELY GOOD LOOKING. Senior George HW Bush (their grandfather and former US President) used to call them "the little brown ones."

So intermingling of classes is not an impossibility -- outside of Britain, that is -- and hopefully that will be more of the case there even, as the years go by and people become more enlightened and LOOSEN UP. Richard Branson absolutely could marry someone outside of his class or typical social circle. But -- is he a blue blood aristo or is he self-made? If it's the latter, then it's academic. He could meet and marry someone who is highly educated, successful, gorgeous, and would sweep him off of his feet. And she could from nothing, a hillbilly background. Absolutely could happen and happens here all the time. He seems tolerant enough and worldly enough for someone's social class or any other personal characteristic not to bother or matter to him. He comes across that way anyway, but who knows? And assuming of course he's not already married. All I know about him is he's the quirky mastermind behind the empire with the rather vulgar name. LOL

 

[BeatrixFan]

They always say, "Never marry beneath you". It only puts a strain on the marriage. Thats what we saw with Sarah Ferguson. We don't want a repeat of it with William.

 

[azile]

They always say, "Never marry beneath you". It only puts a strain on the marriage. Thats what we saw with Sarah Ferguson. We don't want a repeat of it with William.

The last British Prince who didn't marry "beneath" him was William's father and we all know how that turned out. All the other current male heirs in Europe have married "beneath" them and so far, so good.

I understand part of your argument- marriages are indeed different when the two individuals start off with a common background and understanding. Some could say that kind of commonality by nature, makes it all a little easier. However, it doesn't always happen. When you raise a prince who interacts with his greater society (instead of being isolated from it, as in years past), the risk is that he'll find a partner from that greater society.

I don't think the background of William's wife is the key issue. In this day of non-noble royal brides, what's important is her character, her confidence, her ability to communicate with all of the diverse people she will meet and the amount of preparation and support she receives for the job.

 

[Luv2Cruise]

They always say, "Never marry beneath you". It only puts a strain on the marriage. Thats what we saw with Sarah Ferguson. We don't want a repeat of it with William.

You're right. Look what happened to Diana when she married beneath her.

More on the Jeb Bush love story:

"Bush met his wife, Columba, while teaching English in Leon, Guanajato, Mexico in 1971. (Columba was born in Leon in 1954.) The two were were married on 23 February 1974, shortly after Bush graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Latin American Affairs. They have three children: George (known as George P., b. 1976), Noelle (b. 1977) and John (known as Jebby, b. 1983)... Bush's children have had a few well-publicized scrapes with the law: in 2002 Noelle was arrested for prescription drug fraud, and in 2005 Jebby was arrested for public intoxication"

 

[LOSSEAN]

They always say, "Never marry beneath you". It only puts a strain on the marriage. Thats what we saw with Sarah Ferguson. We don't want a repeat of it with William.

It's a puzzle to me how The Prince of Wales and The Duke of York made such a mess of their marriage. Let's hope that William does not repeat their mistakes. I think choosing the right spouse is very important. On that count, I applaud the children of Princess Margaret and their stable marriages. Maybe Prince William could seek advice from them.

 

[Luv2Cruise]

Yet Edward seems to have a stable relationship with Sophie, a commoner and not of his class/social station (or am I mistaken?), and I've read where the Queen favors her. Don't know if that is true or not, but since Edward's and her gaffes she seems to have fallen in line with their program. Anne, bless her, who knows about her second marriage???

 

[BeatrixFan]

I think in other countries, the monarchies are slightly more relaxed with a few exceptions and class still matters in Britain no matter what the liberal lot would have you believe. If William marries Kate, he would be marrying beneath him but also, he'd be marrying someone with no knowledge of Royal life. Maxima, Mette-Marit etc have picked it up well but it's a different set up in Britain and it's harder to learn the ropes so his wife has to have some previous experience. Madeleine of Sweden would be perfect....

 

[Warren]

... If William marries Kate, he would be marrying beneath him but also, he'd be marrying someone with no knowledge of Royal life...it's a different set up in Britain and it's harder to learn the ropes so his wife has to have some previous experience.

But as we saw with Sophie Rhys-Jones the Royal Family (and HM) can be quite adaptable. Isn't Kate now following the Sophie precedent by serving the long apprenticeship?

 

[BeatrixFan]

Well, Sophie did make that major mistake early on and got caught with the Sheikh. If Kate is serving the apprenticeship then I think the boy is making a mistake but that's based on only what I've seen. Without sounding snobbish, I think he could do better.

 

[Ariel]

Well...we have seen that coming from an aristocratic family doesnt help either.

 

[Avalon]

I think in other countries, the monarchies are slightly more relaxed with a few exceptions and class still matters in Britain no matter what the liberal lot would have you believe. If William marries Kate, he would be marrying beneath him but also, he'd be marrying someone with no knowledge of Royal life. Maxima, Mette-Marit etc have picked it up well but it's a different set up in Britain and it's harder to learn the ropes so his wife has to have some previous experience. Madeleine of Sweden would be perfect....

So you definitely want Madeline of Sweden as next Queen of the United Kingdom, BeatrixFan? I would advise her to be less tanned and to move to the UK instead of USA, if she wants to have chances.

 

[BeatrixFan]

Definately. Of course, when she came on the TV I'd have to alter to colours to make her less orange but we have plenty of orange celebs she'd get on with. She's got style, the looks, the breeding. Yes. We want her.

 

[Zonk]

I am voting for Princess Theodora of Greece. She has royal lineage and knows what is expected from her,

 

[felicia]

I am voting for Princess Theodora of Greece. She has royal lineage and knows what is expected from her,

Yes, I feel exactly the same way. And not only does she have royal lineage, but all four of her grandparents were Kings and Queens. She really has the most impeccable royal blood of any contender. She is pretty and nice and I really want William and Theodora to marry. I don't want William to be the first British king to produce a legitiate recognised heir with a woman born with absolutely no title or royal blood. I think that would be very sad. Royal blood and genealogy are still important to some people, especially me! If William and Theodora fail to marry then I would like William to marry Lady Gabriella Windsor. And no they are not too closely related, they only have one set of great-great grandparents in common, actually they are great grandparents to Gabriella - I am refering to George V and Queen Mary of course.

 

[TonyaR]

Since I came very late to this thread, I apologize if my question is silly, but are these statements just speculation, or have Prince William and Kate broken up their relationship? I just wondered because so many different women have been named as suitable for his wife, but Kate hasn't figured very largely in the discussion.

I live in the US, and a lot of times the headlines we see about royalty ( and the BRF in particular) are really at the level of sensationalism, so we don't get the news until everyone else has already seen it.

If they did breakup, I am saddened by that, because Kate seemed to really care for William, and he was willing to risk palace censure to live with her, so obviously he really cared for her also. Plus, they seem to have a normal relationship that had its roots in a university environment (you know--studying together, going out to eat, etc.)

On top of which Kate seems very levelheaded and down to earth- no scandals or skeleton-in-the-closet stories have popped up about her so far. Her family is middle-class but they seem decent enough also.

Also she dresses nice... a little conservative, but she never looks slutty or inappropriate, so she would probably be able to fit in well with the family.

Anyway, verify if there was a breakup or something...... inquiring minds want to know !!!

 

[BeatrixFan]

Theodora, Gabriella, Madeleine - they're all good matches. Kate and William are still together TonyaR and I'm sure Kate is lovely but I just dont see her as a future member of the BRF.

 

[Tzu An]

Well...we have seen that coming from an aristocratic family doesnt help either.

Well, there was DIana's unstable upbringing, her mental problems and the vicious divorce of her parents. Plus she was allowed to do as she pleased, so she wasn't brought up with a lot of dicipline. Many of the aristocrats haven't as volatile of a personality either.