Social Climbing and Kates family

[GabbyLoggon]

Kate Middletons family must be top of the league in respect of Social Climbing...

Lets make it more personal than royal

My Family? A big one, there are just 2 of us who were bone fide Social Climbers.

How are your tribe doing?

I assume the first step towards moving into a different class is by getting your kids in private prep school

How about social descenders? well, the author who wrote 1984, went to Eton and down the mines.

and their mothers were old girls. Christ. Bedtime for me I think!

To be called a social climber can be insulting but I believe it is used my snobs or inverted snobs when people see the successes that come with social climbing. What a great way to put someone like Mrs Middleton down by announcing their true background. Yes Kate's mother was a social climber in the sense of her mining background and marrying someone of a 'higher' social background. I don't know how ruthless she was about it and pushing her children to mix with higher classes but in essence social climbing represents goals, aspirations and wanting to improve your future and your kid's futures. When it makes you snobbish, arrogant or pretentious then it becomes a false and unpleasant characteristic. But ultimately climbing the ladder in society/occupation is how humans have succeeded since time began. Surely that's how the royal family came to be in the first place?

Anyhow, I think our class system is becoming outdated. I believe we will go down the US route where your class is defined by money, values, educational achievements and occupation. My family is probably considered upper middle class - every generation went to public school,it is old money though (nothing left now!). However, if my husband and I have kids, we certainly won't have the money to send children to public school nor will many of my contemporaries who were at public school. Therefore they won't be mixing in that society. Slowly though public schools are being filled up by nouveaus, where old money mixes with new. Class/background will become indistinguishable as long as people speak 'well' with received pronunciations.

Should, I suppose, also add that I went there because it was the twin school to my brother's and it was the closest fully boarding school to my grandmother. Wasn't like the family sat down and went "Ohhhhhh! Princess Anne went here! Beijingaling will sure to meet the right sorts here!"

I think Edam gives a good definition of social climbing.
Beijingaling, I don't think you or your folks were social climbers at all, all my family went to private schools but we were all on scholarships. My kids are going to the local comp so I guess I'm climbing the wrong way.

yes as edam said "Social climber = someone who denigrates the class that they came from, or tries to hide their origins, fawns at the class above them and sneers at those below".

That is different from choosing to exercise social mobility - whether climbing up or going down. I don't know the Middletons and I have never even heard them speak as I don't watch TV so I've no idea into which class they fit.

Marlborough only gets about 60% A or A at A level compared with more academic schools which might get 90% A or A A levels so I'm not sure how bright Catherine is but presumably on a par with her future husband. She clearly had no future career planned out like surgeon or banker or accountant after university and St Andrews is not that top of the range as an acaedmic institution. It would have been nicer to have someone a bit of a notch up on Diana who had dire GCSEs as a good example to the nation that women have career. We shall just have to hope their first child is female, the queen lives to 105 and the thrones passses through 2 generations directly to their daughter she she's 18 - if my maths works... A young queen in 20 years time would be nice.

It's alright FrameyMcFrame, I married a colonial, DSCs at local comps, and picked up tattoos along with other filthy foreign habits. My brother thinks I've practically gone feral.

I think the Middletons are arch social climbers. Not because they are well off - loads of people I know live in houses like theirs (and bigger) and good luck to them because they made their own money.

No it's in the sudden adoption of hideous Cotswolds 'fashion', Sloaney haircuts and love of huntin' and shootin'. I live just down the road from Prince Charles and Princess Anne and drink in Wills and Harry's oft quotes locals - the place is crawling with the breed.

If the Middletons were true to their nouveau roots they wouldn't be aping the Royals.

I agree Maybemore, it's the Barbour jackets and wellies that give it away. Yuck!

'I think it's a shame that Kate Middleton in a sense has 'wasted' her good education, '

How can you possibly waste a good education? It is with you for life-in fact education never stops. It is very narrow if an education is just supposed to lead to paid employment. She is very young-no one knows what she might do with it in the future.

My friend's family is Caribbean and his gran said "I came here to be a cleaner in a hospital so one day my grandson could be a doctor in one". Likewise my parents were working class who valued education above material things and I was first in my family to go to university (St Andrews, as it happened). They weren't interested in re-labelling our class - that is a by-product of their desire to give us much more opportunity to choose a path than they had.

Social 'climbing' has a derogatory tone usually - a bit snooty about characters like Hyacinth Bucket and Amanda Holden in the Tesco ad. It is such a snooty phrase, it's a shame people still think that way when people make a success of their ambitions. Why are we so bitter - I celebrate all my family did for me and thank them for their generosity and foresight.

My friend is not a doctor by the way - he is a builder. But he had chances his gran didn't have which is what she hoped for.

She will breed in future. Presumably the main requirement is that she's fertile. I wonder if they checked that out. I believe Diana had to have a virginity test but Catherine has been living in sin with her man so we can presumably assume she has lost her virginity already.

There was an article in Tatler by some sexist male recently though saying if you're short of money (as journalists always are as the pay is bad) pay for teh son to go to boarding school and let the girl go to a comp as the girl will only marry a banker and never work. Mind you not sure how many bankers she'll meet at inner city comps.

One reason peiople come to the UK is that unlike some places you have chances (US too). In some countries like Dubai you will never be able to live there and remain a cleaner. In india you may be limited by your caste and in others there is such a gulf between rich and poor it is virtually impossible to do "well" but the UK is pretty reasonable internationally in terms of chances to make your way. We're lucky.

I had a great education but never had a career. Had a few really cool jobs though and now setting up my own business. But KM is not normal anyway - who the hell would WANT to be a Royal. Rich, I get. Famous I'm not sure about although recognised in my field would be satisfying. Royal and chased by the media for the rest of my life. Completely insane.

Why feel sorry for her? I feel sorry for women watching their children starve to death in part of Pakistans still affected by the flooding, or who are in Haiti right now, or in parts of Mexico in mortal fear for their own and their childrens' lives, not some dull, rather dim young woman about to spend her life living in stunning opulence in series of beautiful guilded cages.

She choses to spend her life thus, too. Freely.

Not so millions of women around the world in places ravaged by disease, war, natural disaster and dreadfully anti-female governments.

I'm rather proud of my family's social climbing (or social mobility, if you must). They arrived as penniless refugees to this country, put all of their children through university and now my son is at boarding school. From their starting point, our family have probably moved further up than the Middletons.

I went to an inner city comp btw and am married to a wealthy DH. I didn't meet him at school though!

I wouldn't really want to be in KM's shoes (or be famous in any way) because I like to have my fun and would always have too many skeletons in the cupboard for the press to find! I don't agree that it's a waste not to 'use' her education though - I'm not in a career that makes a real use of my BSc or Masters, but it wasn't a waste because I enjoyed my university years.

I'm not sure feeling sorry for people has to be a competitive sport. I don't happen to feel sorry for KM since I'm sure she has chosen this bizarre way of life. But I sometimes feel sad for the people born into it.