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The crown, the gown, the lowdown Kate’s wait
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McClatchy Newspapers
Kate? Kit? Catherine?
Kate’s full name is Catherine Elizabeth Middleton. Friends and the public know her as Kate. But when the royal family announced the engagement, they referred to her as Catherine. Said aides: “Her parents have always called her that. It is what she is called.”
THEY WILL BE GIANTS
Kate is 29 years old and William turns 29 in June.
William’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, nicknamed “Shy Di” at the time, was 19 when she became engaged to his father, Charles, 12 years her senior.
Kate is 5 feet 10 inches tall; William is 6 feet 3 inches.
“We finally have two nice tall people in the royal family, after so many short ones,” said designer Bruce Oldfield, who made clothing for Diana. “Kate and William are two giants.”
THE BIG DAY
When Kate was photographed after the engagement announcement coming out of Westminster Abbey, people assumed correctly the bride had chosen it as her wedding site. Westminster Abbey was the site of Diana’s funeral in 1997. (She and Charles were married in St. Paul’s Cathedral.) The elaborate ceremony, it was announced, will be at the 1,000-year-old church on April 29.
But this we do know: Prince Charles and the queen will probably fork out millions for the wedding. Early estimates suggest the nuptials could cost from $32 million to $64 million. The Middletons and the royal family will pick up the tab for the reception, flowers and honeymoon. 1,900 have been invited to the wedding and 650 guests at the Buckingham Palace reception.
On top of those costs, British taxpayers will pick up the tab for security and transportation, which could add up to $130 million.
SHE’S NO CINDERELLA
Kate’s ancestors were manual laborers, but her parents are self-made millionaires.
Her mother, Carole, was a flight attendant. Her father, Michael — the prince calls him “Mike” and “Dad” — was a flight dispatcher for British Airways before he and his wife made millions from their party supply business, Party Pieces, which they started in 1987.
The business is a family affair, with Kate, brother James and sister Pippa all working there. The Middletons live west of London in the village of Bucklebury — overrun now by tourists wanting to see her hometown — where residents live in big houses behind high hedges and drive expensive Range Rovers.
“I think people are incredibly snobby when it comes to her family, who seem hardworking and interesting and interested people,” Richard Dennen, a college friend of the couple, told the Canadian Press.
HOW THEY MET
William and Kate met at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. When it was announced that William was to study art history there, girls interested in snagging a future King of England applied for admission.
That’s not to suggest that Kate was one of those girls, for St. Andrews is a popular school for such “well-off” privately educated young British women. Some schoolmates, however, have gossiped in the tabs that Middleton went out of her way to catch William’s eye their freshman year.
She was reportedly the prettiest girl at St. Salvator’s residence hall and an instant hit with William and the group of “Sallies boys” he hung out with.
According to the author of “William and Harry: Behind the Palace Walls,” William first saw freshman Kate at a charity fashion show in early 2002. She was wearing a black bra and panties under a see-through dress on the runway. William, according to one biographer, told a friend: “Kate’s hot.”
ROYAL SHACK-UP
Much was made of Charles choosing the reportedly chaste Diana when he wed. But William and Kate?
British media report that the two have been quietly playing house for several months in a secluded farmhouse in Anglesey, an island in North Wales, where William is a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot at the base there.
People magazine suggested Charles was referring to their living arrangements when he said of their engagement: “They have been practicing long enough.”
The residents in Anglesey know them as Wills and Kate.
“They’re just like any other young couple in love,” the employee of a local bar told the London Daily Mail. “Until you realize they’ve got armed bodyguards on the next table.”
WORKING GIRL
Kate has worked for her parents since she gave up her job as an accessories buyer for British clothing chain Jigsaw in late 2007.
She had created a stir when she was featured in a blog on the company’s website in which “Kate from Party Pieces” reminisced about her favorite childhood parties. The posting lasted just a few days before it disappeared from the website — and she was banished to a backroom role.
She worked for her parents up until a little while ago, when she scaled back to prepare for her new “princess” duties as a patron of charities.
HER STYLE
No slave to fashion, Kate is described as a “classic St. Andrews girl” — fresh-faced and wholesome, unapologetically British and given to what Americans might call a preppy style. The St. Andrews girl wears pashminas and pearls, tailored tweed jackets and Tiffany hearts.
Fashion observers use words like “natural,” “unpretentious” and “classic” to describe sporty Kate, who loves to ski and hike.
“What’s appealing to everyone is she looks so nice and normal,” says American designer Lela Rose. “We’re so used to all this Hollywood hysteria that her normalcy is in itself refreshing.”
The Issa London blue wrap dress she wore for her engagement announcement sold out almost instantly. Shortly afterward, the British supermarket chain Tesco launched the “Kate Middleton” dress, a $26 knock-off of the $568 designer frock.
THE GOWN
The fashion world is waiting breathlessly to see who the princess-to-be chooses to design her gown.
Talk about pressure.
She must pick a British designer. She must outdo “the dress” — Princess Diana’s gown. Her decision will define bridal wear for the next decade!
“I do think ... she is not going to be able to push the envelope in terms of how far out of the norm she can dress,” says designer Lela Rose. “This is an event that has so much meaning to so many people. Kate is very modern and traditional, but blending the two will not be the easiest thing to do.
“I can see her wearing something modern with clean lines, small details and a little embellishment. But the dress will also have to fit the setting.”
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