Royal bachelor eligible again: William, Kate
split
BY JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 04/14/2007 08:06:18 PM PDT
LONDON - Many saw her as Britain's future queen, but it looks like
Kate Middleton's royal romance will not have a fairy-tale
ending.
Middleton and Prince William have ended their four-year
relationship, a decision that surprised palace-watchers and
disappointed monarchists hoping for a glamorous royal wedding to
rival that of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
For many Britons, however, the split provided more evidence that
the royals are as human as anyone else.
"I think they're just like any other couple," said Minet Marshall,
a 36-year-old London office worker.
"They're young, and before you meet the right person, you have to
kiss a lot of frogs."
The Sun newspaper reported the breakup Saturday in a front-page
story, saying the couple had reached an "amicable agreement" to
separate.
William's Clarence House office refused to comment, saying it did
not discuss the prince's private life, but royal sources did not
deny the report, tacitly acknowledging it was true.
The news took many royal-watchers by surprise. It was widely
thought the couple would soon announce their engagement; one
bookmaker was so certain of a royal wedding it stopped taking bets
on it earlier this year.
The retail chain Woolworths had commissioned mugs, plates and other
Wills-and-Kate memorabilia, despite the absence of a formal
engagement.
Behind the scenes, a different story unfolded. The Sun said the
split was caused by the "extraordinary pressures" on the couple and
by William's career in the army. The second in line to the throne
graduated from Sandhurst military academy in December and is
undergoing further training at an army base in rural England, while
Middleton lives in London.
The prince, 24, and Middleton, 25, met as students at St. Andrew's
University in Scotland in 2001 and had been dating since
2003.
Once their relationship became public with a joint photo on a Swiss
skiing vacation in 2004, Middleton was a media darling. The
brunette fashion buyer was photographed attending public events,
going to work, even getting a parking ticket - a level of attention
that evoked the romance of William's father, Prince Charles, and
then-Lady Diana Spencer a quarter-century ago.
"William, after what happened to his father, cannot get it wrong,"
The Sun's royal reporter Duncan Larcombe told AP Television News.
"He cannot marry the wrong woman, and I suppose, in a funny kind of
way, it's better that we're here today talking about his girlfriend
leaving, splitting up with her, than us talking about a royal
divorce."
Charles and Diana married at St. Paul's Cathedral in 1981, in a
televised ceremony watched by millions around the world. They had
two sons, William and Harry, but divorced in 1996 after admissions
of adultery on both sides. Diana died in a car crash in Paris in
August 1997.
William was determined Middleton would not suffer the same media
hounding his mother had endured, appealing through his office for
the media to leave her alone.
Last month, Middleton lodged a complaint of media harassment with
Britain's media watchdog, the Press Complaints Commission. She
settled the claim earlier this month following an apology and
admission of error by the Daily Mirror newspaper.
"It would put pressure on any relationship, that sort of
attention," said Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine. But she
said the media were not to blame for the split.
Seward said the couple's relationship had simply reached an
impasse.
Some were glad to see the end of the affair.
"He deserves better," 13-year-old Jessica Davis said. "I think
Prince William should marry me."
