William and Kate's Big Week: Nothing Like His Parents

By Nicki Gostin Posted Apr 25th 2011 09:45AM

In these heady days leading up to the Royal wedding it has to make you happy to know how dramatically different the circumstances are from the last big Royal "I Do's" between William's parents, Charles and Diana.

Starting with the press conferences announcing their engagements. We all vividly remember the awkward exchange when Charles and Diana were asked if they were in love. "Of course," Diana replied giggling while Charles answered, "Whatever in love means." It was an odd and ominous sign of things to come.

How different William and Kate's press conference was. Entering a room incandescent with camera flashes the pair strode in together looking like a couple in love and more importantly Kate was confident and self-assured. Of course that can be partly attributed to the almost 10 years that Kate has on Diana when they got married but surely it has to do with the confidence that comes from a secure relationship. Their lovely engagement photos by Diana favorite Mario Testino are gorgeous - the duo look relaxed and completely comfortable with each other. In Charles and Diana's engagement photo Diana is clutching her right arm while Charles stands stiffly behind her with one hand in his pocket and the other grasping her shoulder.

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British Royal Weddings

It seemed straight out of a fairy tale when Prince Charles, 32-year-old heir to the British throne, married 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981. Despite the births of Prince William and Prince Harry, the couple were very ill-suited. Diana bitterly claimed "there were three of us in this marriage" -- a reference to Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles and Diana separated in December 1992 and were divorced in August 1996. A year later, Diana was killed in car crash in Paris.

Anwar Hussein, WireImage

Royal Weddings Through the Years

Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry on April 29 at Westminster Abbey. Catherine, as she is now known, has not yet revealed who will design her wedding dress, but William is expected to follow royal tradition and wear a military uniform. Since so many Britons are going through economic hard times, there's talk the royal newlyweds will opt for a budget honeymoon close to home. Check out photos of some other British royal weddings.

Royal Weddings Through the Years

Peter Phillips -- son of Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter -- married Canadian-born Autumn Kelly on May 17, 2008. The bride converted from Roman Catholicism to Anglicanism so that her husband would not have to renounce his rights to the throne. On Dec. 29, 2010, the couple welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Savannah who is the queen's first great-grandchild.

Royal Weddings Through the Years

Prince Charles became the first member of the royal family to have a civil ceremony when he married Camilla Parker Bowles on April 11, 2005. Camilla, now known as the Duchess of Cornwall, was divorced from her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. The newlyweds are seen with their children. On the left are Prince Harry and Prince William. On the right are Laura Lopes and Tom Parker Bowles.

Royal Weddings Through the Years

Sophie Rhys-Jones, a PR exec from a middle-class background, married Prince Edward on June 19, 1999. He is the queen's youngest son. Her Royal Highness the Countess of Wessex, as Sophie is now known, gave up her career. The Wessexes have two children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn. Edward will eventually inherit his father's title as Duke of Edinburgh.

Royal Weddings Through the Years

Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones married actor Daniel Chatto on July 14, 1994. She is the daughter of the queen's only sister, Princess Margaret, and the Earl of Snowdown. She is now known as Lady Sarah Chatto. The couple have two children, Samuel and Arthur.

Royal Weddings Through the Years

David, Viscount Linley, son of Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdown, married Serena Stanhope on Oct. 8, 1983. They have two children, Charles and Margarita Armstrong-Jones. Linley runs his own furniture-making company.

Royal Weddings Through the Years

The Church of England frowns on divorce, so Princess Anne married her second husband, Cmdr. Tim Laurence, in a Scottish church on Dec. 12, 1992. Anne, the queen's only daughter, is also known as the Princess Royal.

Royal Weddings Through the Years

Prince Andrew, the queen's second son, married flame-haired Sarah Ferguson on July 23, 1986. The new Duke and Duchess of York had two children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. But Sarah never adjusted to royal ways and caused scandal after scandal, most notably when she was photographed topless with her "financial adviser" sucking her toe. Andrew and Sarah divorced in 1996.

Royal Weddings Through the Years

Princess Anne, the queen's daughter, married Capt. Mark Phillips, a former Olympic gold medal-winning horseman, on Nov. 14, 1973. They had two children, Peter and Zara Phillips, but divorced in 1992. Phillips fathered a daughter, Felicity, during an extramarital affair with New Zealander Heather Tonkin. In 1997, he married Sandy Pflueger. They have a daughter, Stephanie.

Royal Weddings Through the Years

A few days before the wedding amid a pile of wedding gifts Diana spied a package that looked interesting. In it was a gold chain bracelet with a blue enamel disk with the initials G.F. engraved on it. Diana already knew that Girl Friday was Charles's nickname for Camilla. She reportedly left the room in tears.

When Diana confided to her sisters about her unhappiness and possible misgivings one of them is supposed to have said, "Well bad luck Duch (the family nickname for Diana) your face is on the tea towels so you're too late to chicken out."

Charles's official biographer Jonathan Dimbleby claims that Charles insisted on personally delivering the bracelet but that it was only an, "act of courtesy."

When Diana was told of this 'polite' behavior she is said to have yelled, "Bollocks to that!" (Which basically is a naughty way of saying nonsense!).

I think the contrast that is most revealing was the night before the wedding. Diana spent it at the home of Charles's grand-mother the Queen Mother. She was so lonely that she went looking for company and ended up having a drink with the Queen Mother's page.

Kate will be spending her last night as a single gal at London's Goring Hotel with her close-knit family, parents Michael and Carole, sister Pippa and brother James. The family are famously functional in marked contrast to William's unhappy background. He is said to adore spending time with them and calls Michael, 'Dad.'

And I'm pretty sure that Kate and William's honeymoon will be a lot more romantic than his parents was. While sailing the Mediterranean Diana discovered photos of Camilla that fell out of her new husband's diary. He also callously insisted on wearing cuff links that his long time mistress had given him. Diana also admitted to her biographer Andrew Morton that the sex was "infrequent" and when it did happen, "it wasn't up to much." The new princess of Wales confided that her, "tremendous hope was slashed by day two."

Kate and William have already shared many romantic holidays, skiing, the Mustique (a private island) and of course a trip to Kenya where he proposed.

Naturally no one knows what the future will bring and the media scrutiny that Kate will soon face for the rest of her life is daunting, but one must feel much more hopeful about the future happiness of this royal match.

Tags: Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Prince William, Princess Diana, Royal Wedding

Comments

(21)

Monday 25 April

By Ted

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Ok, just get married so the media will shut up about this wedding. Yes, I wish them the best but seriously, we don't need to hear about them every 5 minutes.

By barb

Amen, Ted. I thought I was the only one who was tired of hearing about this wedding. It has been ongoing on every news show, talk show and any other show you can think of. I am sick, sick, sick of hearing about it and will be glad when the wedding is over (although we will probably be hearing about the wedding for two weeks after). Ugghh!!!

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==
HER parents wedding" !!! She's marrying royalty for chrissakes......

=:)
=:(

By Ernie D.

I feel the same way. I do not care that much about the wedding either.

So Will and Kate's big week is nothing like his parents. The same for their wedding too.

By teed03

believe you will love it.

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By judith

I think it would be lovely if the Queen would give William (and she is within her rights as the reigning sovereign to do so) the throne on his wedding day, thereby eliminating Charles from the picture. The coronation could follow soon after, and we'd be done all the royal goings-on for a good while...

By hattie

I agree, Charles dogged William's mother out, he knew he did not love her from the beginning, she was just a breeding heifer for him, He treated her so bad running around with Camilla the Gorilla.

By Maureen

I'm sure it's more "it's nothing like HER parents wedding" !!! She's marrying royalty for chrissakes......

By Lori

I don't think Diana would have cared if their wedding was jeans and jumpers at the magistrates office, if she could have had the happy marriage she was hoping for, or the happy family she had hoped to give her sons. People are so caught up in the royal trappings, that they forget these are actual people getting married, not abstract ideas. William and Kate seem to be on much better footing for a happy marriage than Charles and poor Diana were, largely through Charles' fault. The Middletons, by all accounts, seem to be a happily married couple, and a much better example for the newlyweds.

By Rosemary Thrasher

I just hope they have a happy marriage, like Kate's parents seem to have. They are real people, even though he is a prince, and they are entitled to happiness and privacy. God bless them.

By joan

I totally agree with you.
Wish them well and know Diana is smiling from above and knows that they will be happy as William truly loves Kate.

By Donna

If Charles had had the cajones to marry Camilla when they were both young and single instead of wimping out, none of this would have happened. Kate is beautiful and stylish and I dread the press hounding her every move. I wish them both well.

By Bonbon

Don't think Charles should have the throne after the way he behaved, who wants Camilla as queen anyway, give it to William!

By betty

Why doesn't everyone just leave them alone. Kate is not Diana, she is her own person. The press and all those know it alls in England should leave them alone. Their marriage is one of love. The couple will have enough problems with dealing with the dysfunctional royal family and their hanger ons. I wish them luck and happiness

By Shana

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Though I am already tired of all of the constant media coverage leading up to the royal wedding, I do still have faith in William and Kate as a couple. Though the press was clearly a major factor of Diana and Charles' downfall and even Diana's death, I feel that Kate and William have learned from that and are willing to maintain a strong front against the media. Kate is obviously older than Diana was during her marriage, and she is therefore much more mature. On top of that, William and Kate are both strong, independent individuals on their own, which could not necessarily have been said about Diana prior to her royal wedding. With this, they have both taken time to realize their own goals in life and see that they truly involve one another as equal contributers to the their relationship. Although they will have constant media attention and pressure, I really do have faith that William and Kate will last as a royal couple.

By Kat2988

charles is a tool

By annzo123

I will never stop believing that it was a set up murder of the princess.

By LeeJ

"The family are famously functional in marked contrast to William's unhappy background."

Seriously? How unhappy could he have possibly been?

I wouldn't doubt it!

By gyoungone

Of course Kate is confident!!! They've been living together for years. SHE knows what SHE's getting under the covers, and he cared enough about her to fully prepare her for the scrutiny. They'll be fine. Enough already....

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