Amazing, is it not, how the Star already knows what Kate will be wearing when she marries Prince William when the rest of the world hasn’t yet heard that they’d become engaged? William and Kate: A Royal Love Story premiers tonight at 10 p.m. on TLC and seeks to answer that burning question – when is Prince William going to get engaged to Kate Middleton? TLC’s press release reads:
“Showcasing the definitive love story between a Prince who will be King and the woman who may one day be his Queen, this brand new documentary unveils Prince William and Kate Middleton’s intriguing royal courtship that began in college eight years ago. Theirs is an unlikely story – Kate is an attractive young woman, but grew up well outside the realm of royalty. William is the embodiment of centuries of royal breeding and tradition. As he is being groomed for kingship with Kate at his side, this special reveals the added pressures William will face as he is expected to restore the reputation of the tarnished House of Windsor, a royal house severely damaged by his parents’ broken marriage and his mother Princess Diana’s untimely and tragic death.”
One would think that TLC, and the press at large, would have learned their lesson by now and, in order to avoid a repeat of the mad dog-like press attention given to Diana, they’d lighten up on William. But as he’s the future king, that’s doubtful. And to be honest, if they put the show on t.v., we’ll watch it.
In my opinion, William’s got an even tougher road to hoe than his father, Prince Charles. For the most part, the world has given up on Charles being an effective king. He’s dismissed as being a tree hugging, adultering whacko or it’s assumed that he’ll be too old to be of any real use once he assumes the throne and that his reign will just have to be got through until the reins are passed to William. In addition, Charles is too closely associated with all the scandals and drama of the past few royal decades. William, poor devil, is seen by some as the last hope for restoring the cache of the monarchy. Personally, I think Charles will make a fine king. One has only to recall the words of the Duke of Wellington, who said that the sons of King George III were “the greatest millstone ever hung round the neck of government” to see that as Prince of Wales, Charles is a vast improvement over Prinny. I’d much rather have a Prince who is too green than one who is too purple.
Like they did with his father and mother, the press are touting William and Kate’s courtship as a fairy-tale romance. One can only hope that this pair will live happily ever after. In addition to the press, Ladbrokes is also getting in on the proposal action, speculating that Prince William is most likely to propose in December and offering 7/4 odds that that’s when Clarence House will officially announce his engagement to Kate Middleton. Meanwhile, rival bookmakers Paddy Power make the first two Saturdays in August the likeliest for a Royal Wedding with 13th August 2011 as the date likeliest for the couple to be spliced, with odds of 3/1 about the wedding taking place that day.
Alas, while abhoring the possibility that the young lovers will be beset by the media, and the bookies, the moment they announce their engagement, I’ll also be watching TLC tonight at 10 p.m. Well, okay, I’ll be flipping back and forth between that and Sherlock Holmes on PBS . . . does the fact that I have absolutely no intention of betting on the Royal nuptials mitigate things at all?
I find it amazing all the speculation, and that there's even a biography of Kate that came out recently. I hope they do get married, especially since they have been dating for almost ten years. She's been brought into it slowly, the same way that the Countess of Wessex was. I've always wondered if the monarchy had done the same with Diana and Fergie, if things would have been different.