Okay, we’re beginning to be suspicious of the future king and queen of the United Kingdom. Since when has a member of the British royal family done everything right? First, Prince William and his fiancée, Kate Middleton, met in a perfectly normal way, in college at about the same age as each other. (That she, a woman who will sit beside the throne, went to college at all is landmark.) They continued to do the opposite of Will’s parents by waiting a long time to get engaged, even living together to make sure that a life side-by-side was a good fit. They’re attractive and a little bit boring-seeming, and as such have been able to exist quietly and largely out of the public eye as Will serves out his Royal Air Force service in rural Wales. And, as it turns out, unlike Prince Charles and his force of nearly 150 servants, they don’t have any household staff! (They have security, of course, but they cook their own meals and do their own laundry and attempt, generally, to live as normal people their age.) And according to the Daily Telegraph, they plan to continue doing so until William’s service runs out in 2013. Are they robots?
Among other things, William reportedly wants to protect Kate from the kind of insane scrutiny that came to surround his late mother, whose sapphire ring Kate now wears. According to the Telegraph:
“Prince William is not into extravagance and, like any other young officer in the armed forces, that is how he chooses to live his life. He and Catherine live without domestic staff and they wouldn’t do it any other way. That’s the life they want to lead. The Prince is committed to his career at RAF Valley until 2013 and he wants his wife by his side during that time.”
Oh, right! Although it seems like Elizabeth has looked and acted exactly the same stolid way for the past 84 years, there was a time when she too was young and carefree! For evidence, go see The King’s Speech, which reveals that there was a time when she was actually even, well, adorable.
We’ll manage without butlers or servants, say Prince William and Kate Middleton [Daily Telegraph UK]
