A few months after the Prince of Wales was delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to his long-time on again/off again college sweetheart, Kate Middleton attempted to log on to Facebook only to find out her account had been suspended.
Which Kate Middleton? Take your pick.
There's Kate Middleton, the 32-year-old bicycle shop employee in Boston. Then there's Kate Middleton, 29, a health care assistant from Kingsway, Northants, in the U.K. And let's not forget Kate Middleton, 33, of Sydney, Australia. It's not clear what Aussie Kate Middleton does for a living, but she's probably not an accessory buyer with the Jigsaw clothing chain.
That position belonged to perhaps the only Kate Middleton not barking at the media about a suspended Facebook account — maybe because this Kate Middleton is too busy fretting over a weight-gaining bridesmaid or running to the CVS for a Sally French Manicure kit to check her Facebook profile. Either that, or the future Mrs. Prince William doesn't have a Facebook account — which is highly doubtful as Facebook is SUPER HUGE in Britain.
Whatever the reason, it seems that the world is lousy with Kate Middletons, and Facebook is, too. As far as Facebook is concerned however, there can be only one.
In the months leading up to to Friday's Royal Wedding at Westminster Abby, the social network started suspending "Kate Middleton" accounts like they were smoking in the bathroom.
The suspended accounts of the non-future royal Kate Middletons mentioned here were returned after they provided proof of existence, but not without some inconvenience.
Finding that Facebook also untagged all her photos, Boston Kate Middleton tweeted, "Further evidence one doesn't really exist unless they are royalty..."
Fake profiles are against Facebook's terms of service. (That's what Twitter is for!) While the occasional account for Optimus Prime might make it under the radar, it seems Facebook goes on red alert when there's a new big name in the news.
It's not just the British Crown, either — Facebook cleans house for Canadian royalty, too. Back in October, Justin Bieber, 35, of Jacksonville, Fla. found his Facebook account suspended without warning. And it wasn't easy getting it back.
"I guess their policy is ban first, ask questions never," not that Justin Bieber said in an interview.
Along with receiving lots of misguided fan letters, not that Justin Bieber was also briefly booted off the Apple iTunes Ping service. Both accounts have since been reinstated.
More on the annoying way we live now:
- Bacon fat keyboard makes Twitter for the birds
- Friendster deleting account content you totally forgot you had
- Even Michael Vick wants Google to dump dog-fighting app
There are many Helen A.S. Popkins in the world. Join this one on Twitter and Facebook.