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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2010 Middleton’s roots stir class issues in Britain commoner from A1
umnist Richard Godwin, who penned a piece about the term. “Butmost of all, you look atKate’s background, and you see there is nothing common about her.” In fact, her family’s less-than-
regal starts have hung over Mid- dleton since she stepped into the world of Britain’s moneyed and
titled.Thoughhers isnoCinderel- la story — Middleton’s parents, who run a successful party supply company, comfortably footed the $32,000-a-year bill for Marlbor- ough boarding school — Com- moner Kate is said to have long dreamed of the glass slipper. FriendsatMarlboroughreported- ly even nicknamed her “princess inwaiting.” Middleton,however, seemedto
get the last laugh at St. Andrews, the university in Scotland where she met and befriended William. The two then started dating, the story goes, after he was struck by her beauty as shemodeleda sheer dress at a charity fashion show. But she was to wait eight years
before her prince finally popped the question, with a close call in 2007 when the couple separated. Some sayMiddleton grewtired of waiting for her prince; others say her background perhaps contrib- uted to his initial lack of commit- ment. By accepting a commoner as
the prospectivemother of an heir to the British throne, the monar- chy,many here say, is getting his- torically closer to its subjects. Middleton’s ascension could re- kindle some of the lost spark be- tween the crown and people, a cooling that only worsened after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Still, some comically note that
the royal-blooded — perhaps looking for some hardy common- erDNAafter centuries of inbreed- ing — should instead stick to
themselves.Commentingona let- ter to the editor describing Wil- liam and Kate’s marriage as a “Darwinian exercise in gene-pool refreshment,” Brian Viner, a col- umnist for the Independent, not- ed that his wife thinks William shouldhavebeenforcedtostickto “a fat Spanish princess” or “a slightly boss-eyed one from the Netherlands.”
A newtitle Middleton’s family tree is nev-
ertheless presentingQueenEliza- beth II with a practical problem. Before the spring marriage, the queen will need to decide what title to grant Middleton, and Prince William reportedly is bucking for PrincessCatherine. Purists, however, note that in
Britain, princesses are born, not made on paper.Dianawas known during her marriage to Prince Charlesnot asPrincessDiana,but Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. Middleton may be ex- pected to take her husband’s name, being officially known as PrincessWilliaminthemannerof other commoners who havemar- ried lessermembers of theBritish royal family. “She can’t be called Princess
placed. It is unfortunately close; Wilson said, to the word “com- mon” — which is a high insult in Britain, denoting someone of poor taste and manners. But in fact, he said, Middleton delights many in the upper echelon of society, who are excited about having “the dirt of the coalmine” in the DNA of future kings and queens. Still, much of the quibbling
over the word is directed less at the suggestion that the royals are somehow better than Middleton and more at the notion that the very wealthy Middletons are somehow just like every other commoner inBritain. Indeed,manyhereproudly em-
brace theirpint-in-the-pub,work- ing-class image, slappingthemild jab “posh” on anyone deemed too refined. That sort of Briton sees the well-to-do Middletons as be- ing just as alien to their world as the denizens of Buckingham Pal- ace. “If you look closely, Kate Mid-
dletonisnocommoner,”commen- tator Janet Street Porter said in a BBC spot. “She went to [private] school, then to posh university and has been photographed in swanky nightclubs where drinks cost 20 pounds a pop . . .Normal? Not really.” Regardless, thedebate is giving
REUTERS
Prince William and KateMiddleton pose for their engagement portraits, which were taken at St. James’s Palace byMario Testino.
Catherine, because she isn’t a princess in her own right,” said Christopher Wilson, a London- based royal biographer. “She might be called that by the head- line writers, but she won’t really be.”
Of course, given Middleton’s
roots, the rising-above-her-sta- tion storyline was always a head- linewaiting to
happen.Muchwas made ofDiana’s lackof royalbona fides, even though she was the daughter of an earl and hailed from one of the most pedigreed families inBritain. At the time, the commoner la-
bel was wielded against Diana because she was not the progeny of a crowned head of Europe. Yet in upper-class British circles, the chatter aboutDiana’s lineagewas almost always in self-mocking
BARRY BATCHELOR/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Middleton, seen at a polomatch last year, has been dating Prince William since they were students at theUniversity of St. Andrews.
tones; few truly considered her a commoner. Not sowithMiddleton. The ru-
morwent thatwhenshe entereda room, some of Prince William’s friends would whisper “doors to manual,” a reference to hermoth- er’s former careerasaflightatten- dant. It is that sort of upper-crust dismissalof commonerbloodthat still shocks and stingsmany here. Zoe Williams, a noted colum-
nist for the Guardian, recalled a recent press trip when regular- Joe journalists bristled against a scribefromhighsocietywhowore a family signet ring. “One of us said to her, ‘I don’t knowanybody who wears a signet ring,’ and she looked back, totally serious, and said, ‘I don’t know anybody who doesn’t.’ ” On jabs about Middleton’s
roots, Williams said: “What are they stilldoingusingthese terms? I am against letting them off the hook. . . . What I prefer about America is that when people are snobbish, it’s a bit more about money. But here, it’s still about a signet ring, a family line.”
More posh thanmost Though some say it is out of
pride inandfascinationabouther ascension to the royal ranks, the Britishpapershavehadafieldday reporting on Middleton’s gritty roots as the descendant of coal miners
andlaborers.The Suntab- loid did a piece on Pete Beedle, Middleton’s distant cousin who owns a fish-and-chip shop in the rough-and-tumble northeast. Yet others insist sensitivity to the term “commoner” is mis-
Britain the opportunity to navel- gaze on one of its favorite topics: class. Anyone who doubts Britons’
fascination with their own social structures need only flip on a liv- ing-room telly on this side of the Atlantic, where one of the hottest newshows, “DowntonAbbey,” de- picts the lives of servants who ought to knowtheir place and the aristocratic masters who employ them. In a similar vein, the BBC this month will air a revival of “Upstairs, Downstairs,” a hit 1970s drama about the denizens of a grand London house. “Believe me, you don’t need a
royalweddingtodragupthe issue of class,” said Dickie Arbiter, the queen’s former spokesman. “In Britain, someone is always going on about it.”
faiolaa@washpost.com
Special correspondentRebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi contributed to this report.
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