UPDATE: Originally this post was called "Royal Half-Time Report," and that's what I get for writing things when I'm sleepy. Of course, July is the SEVENTH month of the year, not the sixth! Oops.
So here, with a new improved name, is a look back at the current state of Prince William's romance with Catherine "Kate" Middleton. Will they ever get engaged? Here are the clues we've received so far in 2009:
JANUARY: Kate's parents are invited to meet William's father and step-mother, Charles and Camilla. William surprises Kate with a romantic dinner in a log cabin.
Kate turns 27. For her birthday, Prince William gives her a sniper sight — how romantic. (Don't think so? Obviously you're not a royal.)
Prince William starts training as a search and rescue pilot, and reportedly plans to rent a house for Kate to use when she visits him.
But Kate is rumored to be allergic to horses. Horses and royalty go together like, well, sniper sights and royalty. Will Kate's sneezing fits ruin her romance with the prince?
FEBRUARY: Much discussion of Kate and William's plans to live together. Is it a step closer to marriage?
MARCH: Rumors that an engagement will be announced by the end of March. It's not.
William & Kate sneak off on a holiday together. They don't seem to be good at sneaking because the whole world finds out about it.
APRIL: In the absence of much Kate Middleton news, Kate fans and foes search the Internet for info about her. (No, she's not pregnant. Sorry.) Unlikely rumors fly that Kate is desperate to have a baby. (Sorry, she's still not pregnant.)
MAY: Kate and William are photographed together at a polo match! Apparently that horse allergy isn't such a big obstacle to their romance, after all.
Due to royal budget cutbacks, Kate reportedly loses police protection. Rumor now has it that William wants to marry Kate next year. The BBC is said to be making a documentary that will air when the engagement is announced.
JUNE: Kate joins William for a weekend of polo and accompanies Prince William to a wedding. Later in the month they celebrate Prince William's 27th birthday by checking into a hotel together under the names Mr. and Mrs. Smith. More engagement rumors ensue.
JULY: Big news: Kate is invited to a private lunch with the Queen! She attends yet another royal polo match, and finds time for a vacation — without Prince William. Late in the month, the two are photographed kissing in a pub's parking lot.
So, to sum up: Parental meetings; meeting with the Queen; romantic dinners; sniper sight and polo matches; living together, vacationing together (sometimes) and parking lot kissing… My verdict is yes, they will be getting married. Someday. Don't ask me when.
Maybe by December we'll know the answer.
For all the latest news about Kate Middleton, visit The Kate Middleton Report, where it's all Kate, all the time! Except when there's nothing to say about her.
Hmm… I just realized that I should have written this at the end of June, not the end of July! Oh well. Consider the extra seventh month a bonus.
I'll be ultra-clever and rename this article so no one notices that I can't count…
Sorry – but how do you know that your stated "facts" are for real? You are basing your conclusions on rumours. For example, if Kate's parents actually met Charles and Camilla, wouldn't that event have been covered by the tabloids? And who is feeding the tabloids all those rumours regarding Kate – and how many of them have actually come true? I think someone on Kate's side is doing this. And notice in the "kissing" video – it's Kate that pulls Wills in for a kiss, NOT the other way around! Why is it always Kate that does the leading in this "relationship"? Why is it always Kate that plans the holidays and romantic getaways? Kate seems to be pushing this relationship, not Wills.
Mary Ellen, thank you for your comment. This post is a bit tongue in cheek; you're right that a lot of the stories about William and Kate are rumors and many of them may be wrong. (Remember all those stories about how happy Prince Charles and Princess Diana were together? Ha!)
Personally, I think Prince William probably does love Kate or he wouldn't be with her. But only time will tell (and, of course, it's really their business, not ours).
Thank you, Cinderella – I did not catch that tongue in cheek aspect (perhaps because I'm American!). I do have a sincere question for you – do Brits truly believe that it's not really their business whom a future sovereign would marry? Have things truly changed in that respect since Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson? Would you care if William fell in love with a transvestite? Or with another man? Or with a prostitute, or a foreign spy? Does it really not matter to you? How much do we really know about the person of Kate Middleton, or with what kind of morals would she raise a future monarch? Where do you draw the line?
Cinderella I do agree with you, it's not our business what Wills and Kate do with their private life. It's what they do with their public life that matters. We still have so much to learn about Kate, after all these years we only know alittle facts about her and we just heard alittle sample of her voice recently.
In that video of them kissing, you can clearly see that Kate pulled Wills in for a kiss first, then once she was getting ready to get in the car, he pulled her in for a kiss. To me that shows they are both in love and they both are in control of the relationship.
I think people have to be willing to give Kate a chance, she's not even his wife yet and people expect too much of her and since she's not in the position to show us what kind of future queen she will be, people judge her harshly for it. Although she has been dating a high profile prince for seven years, she is still a private citizen and what she do with her private life is her business.
It's good to see Wills still in love after so much time has passed and i'm happy for him.
Kates uncle is a drug dealer. The Royal family has enough of its own scandals, they do not want people bringing in more.
Love the post. Yes, lots of "evidence" to suggest an engagement is imminent, isn't there? 😉
Wow, thank you for all the comments – maybe I should post about Kate Middleton more often!
I can only speak for myself, not for any other group of people, but I think Joe is right. They are human beings and they have a right to some kind of private life. In the end, we're just gossiping here about people we don't know.
Bottom line – do you think Wills will pop the question? Do you think he'll put up with the same pressure to hurry up and get married that Prince Phillip applied to his father when HE turned 30 (and Wills doesn't have too much farther to go before he hits the big 3-0).
Do we know whether Charles is pressuring William to settle down, or whether he's staying out of it because of the way his own father treated him?
Prince William once remarked that he didn't intend to get married until he was a certain age — I think he said 28. My guess is that the royal family won't pressure him the way Charles was pressured since that didn't work out very well. Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is in her 30s and not married yet, although recently engaged. The crown princes of Denmark, Spain, and Japan were all in their 30s when they married. There doesn't seem to be any particular reason for William to rush, although royal watchers wish he would!
If this were a soap opera on TV, in the last eight years William and Kate would have gotten married, had a baby, gotten divorced, gotten remarried, died, come back from the dead, etc. Let's face it, they're slackers in real life. 😉