Could Everyone Stop Belittling Kate Middleton, Please?

By Jo Piazza Posted Nov 17th 2010 06:30PM

Pop-Ed: Am I the only one ready to call out the British press as a big bunch of underminers this week. Yes they put on the veneer of being ecstatic over the news that Kate Middleton and Prince William are finally (FINALLY) engaged and yes, they couldn't be more excited for the royal nuptials, which are already being compared to the wedding between William's father and the much beloved Princess Diana.

Yet at the same time, they seem to find the need to cut Kate down just a wee notch.

The British press has been keen to point out that Kate is what they like to call "a commoner".

See headlines like The Guardian's: "How 'commoner' Kate Middleton won Prince William's heart"

Commoner means not royal. We get that. Kate will be the first non-royal to marry a prince so close to the throne since the 17th century. But doesn't it just sounds so nasty? It makes it seem as though William found her on the streets, pick pocketing the non-commoners and singing for her supper whilst wearing rags and ill-fitting dungarees.

In commoner speak, the word commoner equates to: "God she's average", "She's just OK" or "Eh she'll do."

Following overuse of commoner, the British press loves to point out that Kate's mother was once an airline hostess, before finally getting to the fact that she and Kate's father went on to be the founding owners of a multi-million party supply business and that Kate actually grew up quite wealthy. That's like listing a parent's entire resume in a New York Times wedding announcement, starting with when they worked at Denny's junior year in high school.

Making matters worse the America media has latched onto the C-word. Starting yesterday just about every news show promoting the story on this side of the pond used the tagline, "from commoner to princess" and equated Kate with Cinderella. We're pretty sure this is a girl who has never had to sweep up after any of her ugly stepsisters, but hey it sure makes for a good narrative arc.

It just has to suck a little that even on what is supposed to be one of the most special days of Kate Middleton's life she can't just enjoy the praise of her fellow countrymen and women without being disparaged for not being as special as someone who is born with royal blood. We suppose that's why Kate and Wills actually got enjoy a month ago....to enjoy it before it became a public spectacle.

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Tags: Kate Middleton

Comments

(47)

Wednesday 17 November

By Donna

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I, for one, thinks she's lovely. I don't care about her background. Lucky lady.

By RMI

All I can say is she looks lovely and hopefully she'll take the spot light from all these Hollywood trashy chicks that are famous for being...well...trashy.

By Brad

I think that we may be seeing a bit of jealousy in the press. Some attractive young woman with her act together caught the prince who was the subject of every woman's fantasy. That is more than you can say for the old dowagers in the media. GET A LIFE!

By TG

So right! Who cares about who has money or not, we all came into this world with just the skin on our backs. All that matters is that 2 people get along, love each other, and look forward to spending their lives together......definite jealousy from the part of the media, and also what better way to 'try to ruin' someones image or reputation by using 'media' to start something.....so childish.....I think 'media' should be governed and fined for saying negative things about anyone whether good or bad, as none of us are better than the other! Good for this girl and Prince William.....hope them much happiness like Princess Diana always dreamed of herself:) Big POO on the media.

By Elizabeth

I agree...I used to be married to a former Royal Guardsman and I can tell you Kate Middleton will be a breath of fresh air in that family or as the Royal's refer to their family as ( The Firm ). Kate.....you go girl!!!

By mannequin

If she's good enough for the prince, then she is worthy of being a princess. I think she's very pretty, seems gracious and obviously in love with William.

By melissap

so she is not royal. big deal. kate has been by his side for 8 years, she has heard the stories and seen the drama. this could be the first marriage in the royal family that is done for love, no cheating, no back stabbing and most of all one that will last until death do they part. these 2 actually love each other. what member of the royal family ever had that? it's also probably the first marriage that has never been arranged.

By Linda

Well, that horse faced thing Charles married...Camilla, she was not royalty either, AND she had been married, and had kids, and got a divorce to finally marry Charles. So really...the media be it here or in England just SUCKS for what they say and/or write!

By cac006006

I think that Kate and William are going to be the first happy royal marriage in years. They both seem to love each other so much. I think that what happened to Charles and Diana was a tragedy on every level. If Charles had been able to marry Camilla years ago instead of being told to marry a virgin , Diana might have found a happy life with someone else. So hopefully there will be a long and happy marriage for William and Kate.
My only problem is that they have such thick accents that I can hardly understand them.

By Noreen

thick accents? OMG! where on earth are you from to not be able to understand when English is well spoken by educated people.

By melissa

I THINK SHE IS BEAUTIFUL! DIANA IS SMILING FROM ABOVE! WE LOVE YOU PRINCE WILLIAM AND IF SHES THE GIRL FOR YOU THEN SHE MUST BE WONDERFUL! CANNOT WAIT FOR THE WEDDING!

By bud rizzo

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Excuse me for not being positive,By the way I like William and Loved Di, but aren't "Royals" mostly inbred anyway?

Friday 19 November

By ranchogal

What an IGNORANT statement!

Thursday 18 November

By D

Inbreds!!!!!! LMFAO! They are! This woman is stunning. That picture of her on this article took my breath away. I love these two, and am excited to experience a royal wedding like the country did in the 80's with his parents. And their kids won't be inbreds!

By John

I don't care what anyone says. Kate seems down to earth, modest, and most of all she is so hot!!! dimples and all. I hope William is not a snob like his father, who was tapping Camille before and after he married Diana.

By sueQ

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At least their children will escape the inbreeding the rest of british high society have been cursed with.

By Betsy

Wills and Kate: It's all Mind over Matter..Them that mind, dont matter and them that matter, dont mind. No, I am not expecting that either of the two will be watching these boards so I put it up for everyone to read and remember!

By Ali

She is very lovely but really the whole royal thing is so
dark ages.
Who really cares....

By bren

Shes smart,beautiful and she can take all this bull-h-t so shes got to be quite special!

By fed up with the media

i am happy for them but the media is killing it if they only knew we here in the usa dont really care about them and we dont care about paling as much as the media thinks we do we dont care about dwts drama there is alot of things the media is running into the ground what we ant is real news like how the gulf is recovering after the bp spill and how many homeless women and children we have here in the usa and why is the price of gas going up and why the elder people are getting no increase in their ss when there is inflation and are the banks and wall street still stealing and so much important things to us not this garbage yes i wish them the best just like i tell a friend and go on about my way stop the BS media and give us real news i turned the tv off today so sma sick of hearing blah blah blah that means nothing

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