Waity Katey and no jobs threads have me thinking

[LucyGoose]

As several threads have sprung up about Kate "wasting" her education, and squandering her bankeable skills due to her relationship with Prince William, I got to thinking....

did William really keep her hanging on for 7 yrs. with no guarantee of a wedding or engagement in sight? Would a young beautiful woman in this day and age really keep her life on hold for the next holiday with her boyfriend? Why the hell would her family basically pay for her to do this? She seemed to have no shortage of clothing, jewellery or spending money
Maybe the papers are right, the Middletons are social climbers willing to marry their daughter off to royalty, because there is no way in hell my family would pay for my education to have me wait around for my boyfriend to make up his mind.

[PanicOnTheStreetsOfLondon]

Its not just any old boyfriend though is it. It was a bit of a gamble but it paid off.

[inkyfingers]

It's the one thing that puzzles me about her. What was she thinking of? (Wills, probably). 'Even' Diana with no great brains or uni education or need to earn had a job at 19 before she married.

[Bonsoir]

She could always work in her family business if marriage to William didn't work out. She was hardly high and dry. The fact that her parents chose to support her decision to hang on for marriage to William is no-one but the Middleton family's business to comment upon. They are neither the first nor the last family to do so.

[SybilBeddows]

maybe because they have a family business which she was working at a bit and which she could have just taken over if the William thing hadn't worked out?

art history isn't a hugely marketable degree anyway, and it's not like they had paid for her to do medicine or something that would have gone obsolete if she hadn't practiced it for a while.

[Fimbo]

It says in the papers that the sister Pippa only works 2 days a week for the family company too although she is supposed to be starting her own evening company shortly.

[SybilBeddows]

also the publicity must have done their business a lot of good, so you can see why they would have thought it was a risk worth taking.

[Bonsoir]

I have read that her sister Pippa is going to be her Lady-in-Waiting.

[Fimbo]

\link{http://www.partypieces.co.uk/special-occasions/party-themes/best-of-british.html\Best of British} rather than say Royal Wedding

[Bonsoir]

Yes, I expect the publicity was worth more to the Middleton family than paying for Kate's clothes and grooming!

[expatinscotland]

I've used their business before and was impressed with the quality of the products, the prices and the service. I now use them for all the kids' birthday gear. So someone's doing something right!

As for her waiting around, I'd not at all be pleased with my daughter doing that, because I'd fear for her getting very hurt or wasting her youth and fertility (if she ultimately wants children) on some guy when there are billions in the world.

[Bonsoir]

I expect that after the Diana fiasco, which was clearly exacerbated by her extreme youth, everyone wanted the heir-in-waiting (himself included) to marry someone a bit more mature and worldly wise. And if that was the case, Kate Middleton deserved support to wait it out until deemed of an appropriate age.

[Piffpaffpoff]

But if she had got a job, she would have constantly faced all sorts of accusations of using/abusing her position. I have always felt sorry for her around this 'debate' because she's been in a no-win situation, damned if you do (just look at the stick the Middletons get), damned if you don't.

[expatinscotland]

When Kate met William, she was the same age as Diana was when sold up by her father introduced to Charles. But she seems to have been, even then, far more worldly than Diana.

[darleneconnor]

I think you'll find an awful lot of 29 yo graduates who haven't done anything with their degrees!

It is easier for me to list the friends I have that have used their degrees than the ones who haven't. It's a sad fact of modern higher education.

[LucyGoose]

All I can say is that it was definitely a big gamble she took, which has paid off big time.

[wasabipeanut]

As I recall she did try to work but the papps made it rather difficult.

[wannaBe]

I think that perhaps the reason she was more worldly wise than Diana was because, as a commoner, she grew up in the real world, as opposed to Diana or most of the others who have married into the royal family..

[WhatsWrongWithYou]

I don't think it's necessarily a question of 'using her degree' - as darlene says, these days those who manage this are the lucky few.

But I'm not impressed that, in the few years she could have been making her mark independently in some way, however small, she 'worked' at the family business.

I do know families like this, where the children always have this as a fall-back, but they don't seem to have the drive to do anything else.

How long did she last at Jigsaw? Was that an internment? Can't remember - but it was the dream job for so many young women, who might have used it as an entry to something amazing, or just tried to make the next logical career step.

Each to his own absolutely, but it never impresses me when I see young people living that sort of life.

[Georgimama]

I see very little difference between her situation and that of the average SAHM of 29 who is "wasting" their education.

That is to say, I don't think either is wasting it, but if she is, so are they.

Many many graduates do jobs that do not "use" their degrees, or even require someone to be educated to degree level. This is due to the significant increase in the number of graduates but the lack of a corresponding increase in graduate level jobs. David Starkey made the interesting point in the programme last night that going to university is for many people now the equivalent of finishing school/the London season eighty years ago - it is basically a marriage market.

[LadyCornyOfSilk]

I don't know what people mean when they say she was 'waiting' for him. Didn't they break up and then start seeing each other again? Loads of people do that.

[WhatsWrongWithYou]

Georgimama - I remember one of my tutors 25 years ago saying that was the case for a lot of people on my arts-based course!

[AitchTwoOh]

i think it's much more likely that they knew they were likely going to get married for yonks and have spun the non-engagement out so that they would get a chance to play house together for a while before the media shitstorm that is a marriage had to play out. i feel sorry for her. she's rich, beautiful, educated etc, she'd always have had an enormously privileged life. it's just unfortunate for her that all this baggage comes with it.