British Royals

Posts Tagged kate

Naming dilemma: What to Call the Girl Formerly Known as Kate Middleton

May 5

Posted by britishroyals in Chelsy Davy, Pippa & James Middleton, Prince Charles & Camilla, Prince William, Prince William & Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge | 6 Comments

GLORIOUS NEWS for AMERICANS:
William & Kate are visiting California in July!

The Name Debate

It’s been barely a week since William & Kate tied the knot in front of a global audience.  While the honeymoon destination remains the top question, another significant dilemma the world faces — this blogger included — is  what to call Prince William’s new wife.

Princess Catherine

Prince William will always be Prince William.  But what about Kate?

 

Sure, her official title is HRH the Duchess of Cambridge. Or make that Her Royal Highness Princess William, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus…. (whew!)

But what to call her informally? In this internet age, where keywords mean everything, a simple “Kate” just wouldn’t do. A google search of “kate middleton” used to give complete news coverage on Kate, but after her marriage, the media is scrambling on several monikers: Princess Catherine, Princess Kate, Duchess Catherine, Duchess Kate, Kate the Duchess… The world hasn’t come into a consensus on what to call her.

I personally like the sound of Princess Catherine. It isn’t an official name, for sure, but definitely sounds more youthful and accessible than Duchess of Cambridge. Besides, Prince William will always be known as Prince William to the world, no matter how many titles are given him. So, when strung into the same sentence, it simply sounds fitting that his wife be informally called Princess and not Duchess. (I know Camilla has never been called Princess but I think global popularity will make this young couple an exception). Also, it has been suggested that William himself preferred that he stayed known as Prince William and that his wife be Princess Catherine. A quote from the Telegraph:

In an attempt to get round the issue, the Palace let it be known that people who wanted to call Catherine “Princess” were welcome to do so. After Friday’s Royal wedding, Paddy Harverson, the Prince of Wales’ communications secretary, suggested the public be encouraged to use the names Prince William and Princess Catherine if they preferred. He said: “I think it’s absolutely natural that the public might want to call them Prince William and Princess Catherine and no one is going to have any argument with that.”

So for this confused royal blogger, unless I see a different trend, it’s PRINCESS CATHERINE.

Another interesting thing: The Palace says Prince William will NOT change his name to William Cambridge at work. He will remain Fl Lt William Wales, as he’s been known in school and on the job. He also, interestingly, introduced Kate as “Mrs. Wales” at the Buckingham Palace reception. But Kate can not technically take on the Wales surname, and neither should any of their future children. All the more reason why I’m sticking with Princess Catherine for now…

Any thoughts?

Prince William back to work. Prince William, looking good with his spectacles, has been snapped behind his Audi returning to work in RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales.  Poor guy can’t escape the paps, can he?

UK Tabloids pledge to leave royal honeymooners alone.  Good on them if it happens.  Although foreign photographers may still go after them.

Sarah Burton breaks her silence.  Kate’s acclaimed wedding dress designer says the new princess is “one of the most lovely women she has ever met” and described her as “low maintenance.”  The dress has “a lot of her personality in it” and they collaborated 50-50.

Interview of the Bridesmaids dress designer.  With video.  Mother and daughter team Nicki and Charlotte Macfarlane spoke to Entertainment Tonight.  Princess Catherine was heavily involved and was present in all fittings.

Other Royal News:

Prince Charles met President Obama yesterday in Washington and gave a speech at Georgetown University regarding sustainable agriculture.


 

Tags: , , , , , ,

What’s Next for William & Kate?

May 3

Posted by britishroyals in Prince William, Prince William & Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge | No Comments

The Middletons

The dust is settling; Bin Laden has taken over the news; Prince William is back to work in Anglesey; And Prince Charles is on his way to Washington to meet Obama… We’re now scraping the bottom of the barrel for royal news…  So, a bit of a rant…

Ink on the Middletons

After the media gold that was the Royal Wedding — and with William & Kate keeping a low profile — the papers are finding anything to fill their papers. Seriously, the Daily Mail has to leave Pippa and the Middletons alone! Digging up Facebook pictures of Pippa… prying on Uncle Gary’s private life… criticising the family for buying new jewelry… I find this incredibly silly, honestly. I personally thought the Middletons exhibited utmost class during the wedding — with gracious parents, a perfect maid of honour and a wonderful lesson from James. Now it’s time to leave them alone!

 

What’s Next for Kate?

William & Kate the day after their wedding. Getty Images.

We all know William will continue his role as a full-time RAF pilot, but what about Kate? As previously reported, she’ll live in Anglesey with her new husband, accompany him on official duties, but will not be a full-time working royal. Does it mean she’ll disappear? Of course not! It simply means she won’t be like Prince Charles or Princess Anne who have 500+ engagements per year. More concretely, just like the Queen during her early marriage, Kate main role will be an officer’s wife.

Article: Kate Middleton will be a housewife for now

Smart and brilliant move!  Happy to see William and the Royal Family protecting their newest recruit, because the last thing we want is a repeat of the unsupported beginnings of Diana. And of course the papers are making snarky reports once again. Having Kate — undoubtedly their royal cash cow — keeping a low profile in the middle of nowhere would mean less papers to sell. Not to worry, we’ll see William & Kate every once in a while, but for now, while William is a full-time RAF pilot, they deserve the little bit of privacy and normality they crave for. Good on them!

For now, we expect to see William & Kate on June 11 and 12, for the Trooping of the Colour (Queen’s official birthday) and the Duke of Edinburgh’s 90th birthday celebration. Not sure about the Royal Ascot. Then there’s the real test — an 8-day overseas tour of Canada in July.

Falklands and more overseas tours

The guessing game continues. Robert Jobson reports that the new Duke & Duchess of Cambridge will go on a 2-day visit to Los Angeles after their Canada trip this July. Duncan Larcombe says they’re bound for a Commonwealth tour — including Australia,  New Zealand and the Caribbean — next year as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.  But some say they’re going Down Under as early as September or October this year to coincide with the Rugby World Cup.

As for William, he is likely to go for training in the Falklands — a 10-week stint which will see him separated from Kate. The Sun says it can be as early as September, although the Telegraph contradicted that, saying it will most likely be early in 2012. A tour of the Falklands has been reported since last year. Some reports even used this as a reason on why the couple couldn’t marry in 2011. Look how that turned out! Until the Palace makes an announcement, we will never know for sure…

Other Royal News:

Tags: , ,

Royal Wedding: Celebration Hightlights & Tidbits

May 1

Posted by britishroyals in Carole & Mike Middleton, Chelsy Davy, Pippa & James Middleton, Prince Harry, Prince William, Prince William & Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge | 2 Comments

Two days after the William & Kate’s big day, and tidbits are just starting to come in manageable trickles.  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are currently in an undisclosed UK location (not their honeymoon yet).  Prince William returns to work next week.

First, a great video recap of the day after the wedding:

Tidbits on the receptions

William & Kate: what are they saying? AP Photo

Both receptions were private events, but tidbits have been spilled from various guests.  From the sound of it, they were both a gigantic success.  The Queen’s hosted wedding breakfast for 600 seemed more “informal” than expected, while the evening party was a riot!  Prince Charles gave a very moving speech, describing Kate as William’s “soulmate,” and calling her “daughter.”  Prince Harry’s best man speech was “hilarious” as he joked about his brother’s balding, among other things.  Read on to get all the details…

Overall, sounded like a day to remember.

Just as there have been many different accounts on the receptions, many articles are also focusing on lip reading the key moments of the whole day.  How else would we know how the royals were feeling?  None of these have been confirmed, and some are conflicting, but here they are…

Other Royal Wedding Tidbits:

So what’s up with Harry & Chelsy?

Chelsy Davy attends William & Kate's wedding

It seems clear that Prince Harry & on-off girlfriend are back together.   Chelsy was at the evening reception and spent much time with Harry.  Harry was eve spotted leaving her flat on Friday morning.  However, their future is still being questioned.  What’s funny is that after Pippa Middleton’s stellar performance as maid-of-honor, the press seems to think she and Harry make a good couple!  Harry & Chelsy articles below:

A new star is born: Pippa!

And a new media star?  Pippa Middleton, who rocked in her figure-hugging Sarah Burton maid-of-honor gown!  She sent Twitter & Facebook ablaze and threatened to steal the bride’s thunder, according to reports.  Facebook’s Pippa Middleton Ass Appreciation Society almost has 90,000 fans as I write this

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Royal Wedding: A Day to Remember

Apr 30

Posted by britishroyals in Prince William, Prince William & Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge | 4 Comments

After a beautiful, breathless day, I’ve finally had time to gather my thoughts and the hurricane of information, pictures and videos. And as you might have noticed, the blog crashed (I somehow expected that) due to overwhelming bandwidth. But alas, I hope everyone enjoyed the Royal Wedding as it unrolled before the world’s eyes. Such a day to remember!

Today, the Official Wedding photographs by Hugo Burnand were released:

Official Wedding Photo by Hugo Burnand

For other Official Wedding Photos: The British Monarchy’s Flickr Site

SURPRISING NEWS of the day:  The new Duke & Duchess of Cambridge will NOT be going on honeymoon right away (I can almost hear William giggling for once again outfoxing the media).  They will spend a private weekend somewhere in the UK.  William returns to work in Wales next week, and the couple will go on honeymoon (overseas) sometimes in the future.

Here’s a video of William & Kate walking hand in hand before they board a helicopter to go “somewhere” for the weekend

 

So what was your favourite Royal Wedding moment?  When Kate first stepped out of that car to unveil her timeless, elegant Sarah Burton dress?  When William whispered “You look beautiful” the moment he saw her?  Harry’s cheeky glance as Kate walked the aisle?  The ring that, at one point, looked too small to fit?  The carriage ride?  The double kiss from the balcony?  The Aston Martin exit?

William & Kate: Kiss #1

Obviously, there’s too many articles, photos and videos about the Royal Wedding. Here are comprehensive sites on where you can catch up on the wedding of the decade:

And as a wedding gift you can still donate to William & Kate’s Charitable Wedding Gift Fund, which will benefit various hand-picked charities.

Another question for royal bloggers like me: What should Kate now be called?  While her official name is Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, it sounds much too formal for a young, refreshingly “normal” royal couple.  So will it be Princess Kate?  Just Kate?  My money is on Princess Catherine.  It’ll be interesting how the press naming game pans out…

Once again,
CONGRATULATIONS TO WILLIAM & KATE
A beautiful day for a beautiful couple!

Tags: , ,

ROYAL WEDDING DAY!

Apr 29

Posted by britishroyals in Prince William, Prince William & Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge | 3 Comments

It will be a momentous day in history!

News frenzy, obviously, so it’ll be difficult to update the blog to-the-minute.
I shall update with links when possible, but you can catch the fascination by following us on Twitter.

You can watch the Royal Wedding Live online via Youtube’s The Royal Channel

OFFICIAL ROYAL TITLES: The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge!
They will also have a Scottish title, the Earl and Countess of Strathearn, and a Northern Irish one – Baron and Baroness Carrickfergus.

Tags: , ,