Family Matters
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Kate Middleton & Prince William
Okay, so I get that she will be royalty and blah blah blah......BUT I can't help but feel bad for Kate. She has to wear Diana's ring (which was worn throughout a bad marriage to Charles), will ALWAYS be compared to Diana (as if Kate has to be like her), and it is rumoured that The King and Queen are not exactly nice to Kate. Proves that fame and money do not buy happiness. Good luck, Kate. You're gonna need it.
Re: Kate Middleton & Prince William
He is Prince Philip because he is not a king in his own right, but only through marriage.
So he is the Prince consort.
There are laws/rules where a monarch can make their spouse the king consort but I think that's more symbolic. I don't know if it's still possible to arrange it so that should the monarch die their spouse inherit the throne in their own right, but it did used to be a possibility.
Big deal on the ring thing. She may have been Princess Diana to the rest of the world, but to William, she was his mom. Or mum.
Kate knows what she's signing up for.
Actually, I think the ring thing is sweet. I think it's very lovely that William gave Diana's ring to Kate - - I wish dh's mom (who passed before I met dh) had a ring that I could wear and we could pass down to our children.
There are a lot of people who thought Diana, thought "sainted' was BSC! Also, I think people are going to like her more than Camilla or Sarah Fergussen. I mean, if you're going to be compared to Diana, at least it's not like every royal marriage has been successful.
At 28, I assume that Kate Middleton knows what she is getting into.
ITA. The ring has sentimental value to him and I think it means a lot to both of them that he wanted Kate to have his late mum's ring.
I think that I might have wanted to have the stones reset -- perhaps channel set the diamonds in the band and leave the sapphire as a dramatic stone.
I think that's a great idea!
Waity Katie. That's was the British press dubbed her for years and that was what the problem was with her for years. She graduated from St. Andrews, held a job at Jigsaw for maybe a year, and then retreated to her parents' home to wait for William to marry her. That was about five years ago. Many felt that Kate should be working and not just sitting around waiting for the tax payers to take care of her. It's funny how all that negative press disappeared into smoke when she got engaged.
I think she knows *exactly* what she got into.
I feel sorry for her because her life will never ever be her own again. There aren't enough jewels or "princes" in the world to make me want to give up the ease of living where I please, walking outside my door without guards, or raising my children.
And yeah, Philip can't be king because Elizabeth inherited the title. If he did become King, he would outrank her, which is a huge no no because he married in to the family. Interestingly, Kate could become Queen because William will outrank her as King.
EDIT: engaged! Not married. It's early for me :-)
I too think Kate is a big girl and knows what she wants. Of course she will be compared to Diana, but it is depicted that Prince William thinks very highly and remembers Diana fondly. So of course the ring is a compliment to Kate and not a burden. I say depicted because obviously none of us are friends with them so how do we know what is really going on?
I'm happy for them. I'm sure it will be a trying marriage full of rules and regulations but for god sake, he is a Prince!
Being that the ring is part of the Crown Jewels, you can't really do that without a decree, approval, etc..
I think it's sweet that he wanted her to wear Diana's engagement ring. She will not wear that ring with her wedding band. The Royal family wears a plain gold band made from a nugget of gold that was given to the Queen. All royal bands are made from that piece of gold.
She's not 20 years old like Diana was, she knows what she's signing on for.
It's not part of the Crown Jewels.
Charles proposed to Diana without a ring, and once she accepted she was offered a choice between several rings and she picked that one. It was passed down to her children after her death (some reports said that William inherited it directly, others said that William chose to keep one of her watches while Harry got the ring but then Harry told William to give it to Kate).
Plus, the Crown Jewels are not permitted to leave the country, so if the ring was a part of the Crown Jewels then Diana (or now Kate) would've had to remove it and leave it home on trips overseas.
But anyway ... it's not a lifestyle I would personally enjoy, but she's had lots of time to prepare for it so hopefully she knows the drill by now and they'll be happy together. She's way more prepared than Diana was (longer courtship, college degree, age 28, she's worked for a while, etc.).
I was in London this past summer and I was hoping they'd get engaged during my trip so I could bring home some souvenirs like British newspapers and those cheesy mugs with their pictures on it. That blue dress she wore at their engagement press conference was so pretty. She's a stylish, lovely girl in general. I'll be excited to watch their wedding in April!
SHe doesn't "have" to wear that ring. He did the same thing that a lot of guys do: pass on a family heirloom as an ering.
Kate is pretty but she hasn't got what Diana has: charisma.
I get that the ring could just be a sentinmental thing-but, with that being said , I also think William wants Kate to be like his mom in some weird way-and the ring is just a symbol of that....I know they are happy together, but Kate will never be able to live life on her terms-it will always be, "well, Diana did it like this, or Diana did it like that."
Did he tell you this or are you basing this on what you've read in the Sun?
And again, Kate absolutely is able to live life on her terms -- she just chose not to. She wasn't forced into this lifestyle with zero knoweldge of what's in store for her.
I think he's EXPECTED to bring Diana into their relationship/marriage in a symbolic way. If he didn't give Diana's ring to Kate, or if they didn't marry at Saint Paul's like his parents did, or if Kate doesn't wear Diana's tiara or veil or something like that, I'm sure the newspapers would be questioning why William was "forgetting" his mother. I don't think it's a matter of him wanting to turn Kate into his mother.
Every single move of the royals is carefully planned out and choreographed so that it looks right and sends the right message. I'm sure that nothing they do in public is ever spontaneous or isn't run by a panel of advisers first.
The wedding will be at Westminster Abbey, which is where Diana's funeral was.
During their interview, immediately after their engagement was announced, Prince William said that he waited so long to propose so that Kate had time to back out. She isn't "giving up a normal life," she is choosing to marry into the Royal Family.
She and William seem to portray a happy, mature, respectful love to the world (and I only say portray because really, that's all ANY of us know - what we see/are allowed to see), so I would imagine that they discussed, prior to their engagement, the issue of the ring. And even if not, like another PP said, if my H's mom had died before we met and he proposed to me with her old wedding ring, I think I would be honored, not feel as though I'd been stuck with an old ring. (And yes, the argument that the ring is cursed is ridiculous.)
I'm not going to argue that this is a marriage made in heaven or anything, but it seems almost cruel to go looking for problems where there aren't any.
No, you're right, the wedding's at Westminster.
I just meant that if he didn't do ANYTHING to pay tribute to Diana (like give Kate the ring, get married at Saint Paul's, if Kate didn't wear Diana's tiara or veil or something to the wedding, etc.) then the media would be all over it. I just Saint Paul's as an example.
I stand by the statement I made about Kate always being compared to Diana. This would suck.
If William gave her his mommy's ring for NO OTHER REASON than sentimental value, fine. But, I think they do have a very choreographed relationship-I hope for Kate's sake that she has a voice in the royal family.
Dude, seriously, of course hey have a choreographed relationship. It's the freaking ROYAL FAMILY for crying out loud. And, of course she doesn't "have a voice in the royal family."
Listen, she's marrying a prince. She's 28 years old, and she knows what she is getting herself into. She's not going to go in there and shake things up by boycotting centuries old traditions. She's going to marry the man she loves, and hopefully have a life full of family, love, and fulfillment. I am pretty sure she has been told what to expect, and she's still there.
And yes. She's going to be compared to her MIL in the way that nearly all wives are compared to their MIL's at some point.
or perhaps the dude just loves his mother, who was taken from him too early, and wants to honor that by giving his fiancee her ring.
She's going to be an 'effin PRINCESS. I mean come on. Most women don't hang around 7-8 years without a ring....she knows what the deal is.
PRINCESS, CASTLES, ROYAL GUARDS....CROWN JEWELS.