wendy
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Posts: 49 
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Post by wendy on Jan 24, 2009 23:11:03 GMT
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wendy
Member of the Court
Posts: 49
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Post by wendy on Jan 25, 2009 0:28:20 GMT
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Post by vittoria on Jan 25, 2009 1:13:31 GMT
As far as I'm concerned, the Daily Mail, for all its editors' protestations to the contrary, is merely a British tabloid with no better a pipeline to the Palace than any other tacky tabloid enjoys.
However, if by chance this tale is true, it's not surprising. Differences of geography (including climate), education, and general interests may have divided this couple. Ms. Davy is, by all accounts, a lover of her southern African homeland. She dislikes the U.K., for its weather, perhaps, but also, possibly, for its socio-economic culture. She is also far better educated than Prince Harry is. She holds a university degree and is about to complete a post-graduate law degree. He went through a -- what? -- year-long officer-training program at Sandhurst after Eton? Not to be sneered at, by any means, but not the equivalent of two university degrees.
A smart, well-educated woman with a serious professional future and maturing into adulthood might well decide that her first serious boyfriend isn't quite right for her, in the long term, especially if that boyfriend is on a somewhat different professional/intellectual level, AND if sticking with him and his family might put a major crimp in her independence.
There is one other issue, which might have become a major factor in any marriage discussions. Ms. Davy's father is a millionaire Safari-tour businessman in Zimbabwe. He is said to be hand-in-glove with some of Mugabe's cronies, as any white man would have to be in the current climate. This question could not possibly have been avoided, as unfair as it might have been to Ms. Davy. (See the debate and controversy surrounding the marriage of the Crown Prince of the Netherlands to his wife, Maxima.) It's just possible that Ms. Davy weighed the value of her relationship with Prince Harry against her love for her homeland and her fears for father and decided that Harry and the royal family came up short.
But I repeat: the tabloid reports may be entirely wrong. They often are.
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Post by vittoria on Jan 27, 2009 0:21:02 GMT
I hope no one minds if I add another comment, one inspired by British posts on stories about this split.
Quite a few people have congratulated Ms. Davy on her decision to cut and run from Prince Harry and the royal family and have, in so doing, made pointed remarks about Kate Middleton's "lack of ambition" in comparison with Davy's law studies and apparent independence. "Waity Katie" now seems to be the favorite epithet for Middleton, followed closely by "middle-class gold-digger."
In the U.S., of course, a privately-educated millionaire's daughter wouldn't be considered "middle-class" by any stretch of the imagination, but I do realize that the British have somewhat different views on the subject. "Gold-digger" is another matter, and it raises the issue of the fact that Middleton's critics almost universally avoid the obvious reality that Prince William is one-half of this relationship and that, presumably, he has quite a lot of say in it. Judging by the Middleton haters, you would have to conclude that she is some sort of evil magician, who has trapped Prince William in her thrall via arcane spells and potions. Poor William! He's apparently at the mercy of this cheap, machiavellian, witch, who doesn't care about him but only about becoming a princess and getting her hands on all the perks, privileges, titles, jewels, and clothes that go with the job. After all, her lack of a career proves this, doesn't it? All she cares about is marrying a prince, even if (in her heart of hearts) she can't stand the guy.
I've gone back and forth on the subject of Middleton and her lack of a career, but here's what I'm thinking now: what if she does truly love him AND is just the sort of woman who isn't very interested in an independent career? Not every woman is, because we're not all cut from the same cloth, and let me point out that both women who just want marriage and family AND women who want careers but hope to combine them with marriage and a family, AND who just want careers, have been subject to criticism. You can't seem to win these days, whether you're a traditionalist or a superwoman or something in between.
And what if Prince William, who -- let's be honest -- could have ended this relationship at any time -- wants exactly the sort of non-professionally-ambitious woman that Ms. Middleton may be? And what if part of his thinking, conscious or not, involves, first, his view that a woman with a high-powered career and a strong sense of independence wouldn't fit into the royal family very well; and second, his desire not to marry a woman who is anything like his mother.
Just possibly, Prince William wants a reserved, discreet woman who is prepared to be a supportive partner, not a glittering personality and media icon in her own right. Middleton if nothing else, has proved that she might be exactly that sort of woman. And just possibly, Prince William hasn't gone for someone like his mother because -- and I realize that I might be outraging the Diana fans here -- he had a front-row seat at the catastrophic and tacky melodrama of his parents' marriage and at Diana's shrewd and always slam-dunk PR manipulations, her mercurial, manic, undereducated paranoia and conspiracy theories, and decided that he didn't want any part of it. The late Princess of Wales seems to have put her sons through a lot of angst when they were very young, which is not to absolve Prince Charles. But I'm as convinced as I could be that no man on the face of the planet could have made Diana happy (and that includes Hasnat Khan). Besides, Lady Diana didn't know Charles Windsor any better than he knew her when they married, but she still chose to marry "The Prince of Wales," after "dating" him (if you can call it dating) for only 5 months. Both she and her husband made huge mistakes.
Prince William's years'-long caution is therefore unsurprising. And while I'm certain that Prince William must have loved his mother and that he misses her, but I'm also certain that his life has been much calmer and more stable since her death. I cannot be as certain that he just wants to marry a woman who will give him a calm, stable life, but I wonder. Kate Middleton has obviously given him something that he wants. Since none of us know him or her, why don't we just give them the benefit of the doubt? It's silly -- indeed, stupid -- for us to claim that she is a gold-digger. We don't know her, but Prince William does. Only his opinion and perhaps those of his closest relatives matter.
By the way, as we all know, being royal is a career in and of itself, and most royal ladies don't pursue that career in quite the media-saturated way that Diana did. She made much out of little, and I mean that seriously. Her saintly image was largely a media and self-generated PR creation. Middleton may not be a Diana, but we don't want another Diana. I'd prefer another Duchess of Kent or another quiet but hard-working Duchess of Gloucester. As fun and tacky and nutty as Diana was, if the royal family is to continue, it can't put up with another woman like her.
So: Kate Middleton may not be an icon of early 21st-century career women, but it may JUST be that she's right for Prince William and right for the royal family in the way that Chelsy Davy coud not have been. Her choices aren't mine; but then, I'm not she; I don't know her or her boyfriend, and I'm not willing to assume that she's merely a "gold-digger." I suspect that people who label her as venal and middle-class are merely envious and resentful and are not bothering to consider her boyfriend's point-of-view.
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Post by Cinderella on Jan 27, 2009 2:46:36 GMT
Vittoria, I had to laugh at what you said about Kate Middleton being an evil magician, because that is exactly how she's viewed by some people! I think you make some excellent points.
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wendy
Member of the Court
Posts: 49
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Post by wendy on Jan 27, 2009 8:23:38 GMT
Vittoria, I also echo your sentiments.
Let's review the equation of "career woman" (or the "career person") + British royal family for a moment. Can we think of a successful instance where a career has been carried over into royal life...i.e. close to the center of the hub of the family....i.e. not a minor royal?
I can't. The new Duchess of York tried it for a while in the 80s - and it was much trumpeted as being a 'modern young royal' things to do. I recall her having trouble balancing the private/public issue. What firm would keep her on when she was taking off on foreign tours and local public engagements? Then Sophie tried to continue her successful marketing firm in the late 90's early 00's. It flopped because she was targeted by the media.
I admire Chelsy's goal to pursue her education throughout her relationship with Harry. I can recall thinking a while ago - when I read that she was pursuing a degree in law - that I couldn't see how she'd be able to launch a law career and keep it going if she married Harry. How frustrating that would be for her to have it pulled from her after she had worked so hard. Dreamers would argue that she should be able to have her career and royal hubby too but the reality is that it just doesn't work or, it hasn't yet worked for someone. Even Prince Edward had to drop his acting and producing jobs and had to solely work within The Firm.
Kate seems to really care about William and vice versa. I agree that it seems plain spiteful of people to judge her due to the issue of working. Let's review in our minds the photos of her being hounded by the press and couple those images with a career. I've been reading lately that Kate might(?) be linking up with Vogue's Anna Wintour in a work-related manner. That would take her to New York, away from the British paparazzi and keep her busy while William focusses on his instensive rescue helicopter training. This might be a good help for her until they are in a position to resolve their relationship's future one way or the other.
PS I just thought of Antony Armstrong-Jones and his career as a photographer. He's been very successful at it - and Kate seems interested in photography - but I don't think he worked very much at it while he was 'actively married' to Princess Margaret. I think he really focussed on the photography (pardon the pun) once they began living separate lives.
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Post by briar69rose on May 4, 2009 17:32:40 GMT
Will and Harry should just stay single there too young to be in relationships.....sincerely Briar69rose if you have any comments to what I just said please feel free to email me
Edited by Cinderella: Sorry, no email addresses allowed on the board.
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Post by briar69rose on May 6, 2009 21:15:06 GMT
Well thats a hard one, in any military it is hard to hold together relations let alone royals among them
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Post by briar69rose on May 7, 2009 20:40:41 GMT
Do you really think william is happy in his relationship or do you think that he just needs to feel like hes being with someone?
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mzintel
Member of the Court
Posts: 17
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Post by mzintel on Jun 9, 2009 15:11:03 GMT
It is my opinion that any "Royal Mateing" is kin to the same method used to "BREED" the Royal horse stables! Diana's grandmother worked for the Queen Mum, they made the match. It was because of her lack of maturity, they all thought she wouldn't catch on to the rest of the Royal plot. After all Diana's sister turned down the marriage. As for Harry he's got a new love interest for the moment!
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Post by briar69rose on Jun 15, 2009 17:25:45 GMT
we are never stabel once we loose our mothers its just the illusion that we are, you have nothing but deep pain and rememberance always.......
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Post by briar69rose on Jul 9, 2009 21:44:04 GMT
I think that there both equally handsome so anyones guess is good as mine who they end up with.....
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