British royal weddings

Video: Middleton’s ‘loyalty’ won her prince’s heart

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   >>> as you may have heard, the world is waking up this morning to the news that a royal wedding is in the works. britain 's prince william is set to wed kate middleton next spring or summer. the royal editor of the sunday express, camilla, good morning.

   >> good morning.

   >> i know this news has been out for several hours, gauge for us the reaction so far in britain .

   >> well, i would say it's been somewhat frenzied. we're down at buckingham palace surrounded by media organizations trying to get every cough and spit out of this amazing story. we have known it's been coming, it's been nine years in the making, but the day it's going to be announced is a special one, not only for britain but also the world. we're seeing that now, there's a lot of excitement down at buckingham palace this morning.

   >> why do you think the announce is being made today given that the engagement we understand happened back in october, the two have known each other for something like nine years, is there something about the timing today that would make it interesting?

   >> well, i think perhaps the timing has been timed to coincide with prince william 's return from afghanistan. he was out there for remembrance sunday which is a very important occasion across the world and it went from one good news story to another. what surprised me about the announcement is that it is an october engagement not february. when they announce their engagement, they announce much closer than the wedding. the question is kate going to end up at christmas dinner with the royals?

   >> what is expected in terms of the wedding? are we expecting a large, flashy wedding of the sort of diane- charles kind of caliber?

   >> well, by implication, you know, it's going to have to be quite a grand affair. however, obviously, we're all living proof of austere times and hard times across the world. we're aware of that and they're aware of that in britain . we're talking about prince william marrying kate , it's the biggest royal wedding since charles and diana , there's going to be a huge guest list so it can't really be a quiet affair between the two of them. it's going to be a global occasion.

   >> people in this country don't really have a strong sense about kate middleton , what can you tell us beyond the fact that she has sort of middle class roots?

   >> she isn't an aristocrat, she's a bit like the girl next door , she's been described like a classic english rose , there are similarities perhaps between her and diana , they're clothes horses, they're at home on the king's road. but we don't know much about kate because she's remained extremely elusive, she's been very december secret, very loyal to william , she has never talked out of school so to speak. we want to hear more from kate middleton , how will she camp out her own rose. she might be like a michelle obama figure, she's not just going to be the wife of william . she might just be her own professional woman in her own rite. we'll see how she wants to handle this huge position she's now found herself in.

   >> beyond the kmimt excitement of a royal affair and a wedding, really what we're looking at is the future face of the monarchy, the young future face that will take us into the future. i'm saying that redundantly, but i think you know what i'm trying to say.

   >> they are the face of the royal family . by the time that prince charles is going to take the throne, that could be ten, 15 years from now, and charles is going to be an old man. but we're all interested in the jazzier celebrity factor stars of the royal family and that is william and kate and i think as they go on in their marriage, they have children, there will be huge interest around them and really they are the future. i think even majesty the queen knows that, she knew that it was very important that william marry the right girl, she doesn't want a repeat of the charles and diana years, she doesn't want anymore divorces in the royal family . they have announced their engagement now and they're going to carry a lot of responsibility for the popularity of the royal family into the 21st century

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