The boys’ new bowls, a sop to the Royal Wedding ‘fever’ which is almost entirely passing me by. What a difference from Charles ‘n’ Diana which, in my 10 year old state, gripped me in a whole body experience kind of way. I just ached, ached for it all. My bedroom was a shrine to all things Diana, my bedroom window (overlooking the street) was adorned with posters, flags, postcards. Charlie boy didn’t get much of a look in of course. It was all about Diana. Well, we all know how that turned out but I always had a soft spot for Diana, even when she turned a bit, well, loopy. The 10 year old in me just couldn’t give her up, I suppose it was a kind of crush.
And here we are, fast forward 30 years and we’re doing it all over again. I’m not given to breathless crushes much these days but, if I were, ‘Catherine’ Middleton (as I gather we are now to call her) wouldn’t even make the longlist. I’m not bothered about William since he, like his father, was born royal and is just pootling along the path of duty. I suppose he had to marry someone, and it’s not a ridiculous match in the way that Charles and Diana clearly were. I think he might even be marrying for love, who knows.
But what on earth is a ‘nice’, middle class, educated girl like Kate (sorry, can’t do the Catherine thing) Middleton doing marrying in to The Firm? She’s clearly been waiting/banking on marrying William since she was at university, since she’s not bothered with a proper job of any sort other than a few months as a buyer for Jigsaw, I think. What a waste. She’s 29. She graduated a long, long time ago and has basically just wafted around being William’s on/off girlfriend and helping out with her mum and dad’s business. As my mother would have said, ‘She’s never really amounted to anything’.
And now she’s got what, presumably, she wanted all along. I wonder how she’ll feel about it in 5, 10, 15 years time…will she still feel it was worth giving up her privacy, her career aspirations, her life (basically)? Will all the feeling of ‘success’ and power be worth it? Will she continue to love being the centre of attention, or will she crave it and hate it all at the same time once the novelty has worn off? It’s seems like a hopelessly outdated ‘dream’, to marry a prince and live happily ever after, for a modern, educated woman. I cannot think of a worse curse to be honest.
I’m not passionately anti-royalist although I don’t believe they have any kind of meaningful role anymore. To me they are part of history, part of the fabric of our heritage but I don’t see that they have much of a useful purpose beyond that. Yes their patronage is hugely helpful for many charities…yes they are great for tourists…yes they are, increasingly, great fodder for the tabloid press (yes Prince Andrew I’m looking at you). But beyond that?
Kate Middleton is an expensively educated, intelligent, beautiful and confident woman. I just cannot understand why she has spent nearly all of her adult life craving marriage to the heir to the throne, without even attempting to carve out a meaningful career and role for herself. No doubt she will soon be plunged in to charity work and photo opportunities and all that stuff that will be ‘expected’ of her as a Royal. What a massive, missed opportunity though…we could have had a thoroughly modern princess, a woman with her own agenda, her own life. Instead we seem to be getting Diana all over again. Diana was 19 when she married, too young to know better. Kate Middleton is 29. Definitely old enough to know the score.
I hope, for Kate and William, that it all works out for them. But right now I can’t think of a worse role model for girls and young women. If I had a daughter I wouldn’t be encouraging any kind of ‘crush’ on someone who has seemingly pinned all her hopes, and for years, on marrying well. How very, very Jane Austin like.
Let’s hope that love can sustain them. And that I’m not carried off to The Tower for this post.
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