To think there is nothing wrong with Carole Middleton's background

[arabesque]

There was a pretty sneery article in the Sunday Times last Sunday by Camilla Long, which seemed to be very critical of the fact that Carole Middleton's parents and grandparents were working class people who made their living in shops and factories. There was also some comment on the lines of 'oh yeah, well William might find TV suppers and family games a novelty now but I'm sure he'll soon get sick of it'.
AIBU to think 'fair play' to her for building up a business from nothing and giving her kids advantages she and her parents could never have dreamed of? From what I can see Kate has a far more stable and supportive family than Princess Di ever had (bitter divorce, very public custody dispute, no decent advice when she was just 19 years old and about to make an enormous mistake with her life etc.) Yet a lot of people seem to think there's something preferable about a fragmented and dysfunctional family because they're upper class; while a middle/working class background with a strong work ethic is just not suitable for the future queen.

It seems I am in the minority here.... but I do get tired of seeing them in the papers every week for doing not much.
And the fact that they are related to royalty by marriage is no reason to chase them around. I never saw Diana's sisters or Fergie's mother & father splashed in the papers all the time.
But it seems the Midds enjoy the press attention at this point and court it. Otherwise, why would you do all these very public jobs?
I wont get started on Kate, b/c sorry, she lost my respect a long time ago by not working for many years and blaming it on the press. Even the blood royals, such as Zara work and get around without all the fan fare.

EldritchCleavage I would love to hear the truth about the Jigsaw situation and if it was really that unbearable, if its different from my view.

Lucy- but Andrew's --lazy, taxpayer-sponging- girls?? What have they ever done? Zara seems great though, agree. Guess Di/Fergie were pre-internet (imagine what would've come out nowadays )

Salbertina unfortunately Beatrice and Eugenie get a "pass free" card (from the media) since they are full blood Royals. Not that I agree with their lifestyle either. They don't seem to work much either....at least William and Harry are in the military.
Kate was not royalty for 10 yrs while she did nothing waiting for William to pop the question. A woman of her age should have had more of a backbone or self respect than that. And her parents footing the bill the whole time? Its sad.

Kate is the antithesis of the women I admire. Only guessing, but she seems rather timid and unmotivated. I wonder what compelled her to come from middle England to do a History of Art course at St Andrews University? Has she shown any interest in Art otherwise, before or since? But at least she has her volunteering overseas trip to South America to look back on!

No problem with the Middleton background, they're not an academic bunch but neither are the Windsors, so they're well matched. The Middleton's sheer delight and enthrallment with the media is slightly endearing.

I don't understand why anybody gives a crap about any of these people, in this day and age.

As LesMissAbs said upthread, KM is every bit one of those "naice" girls, and I don't see what's instructive about perceived differences between different subsections of the upper classes.

Hasn't the monarchy had it's day? It's 2013 and people are interested in Princes and Princesses? Are we interested in goblins and fairies as well?

Agree but wonder if it is fairly common quasi -It girl type living rather than royal in waiting? Typical behaviour if parents multimillionaires? not admirable agree.

KarlaPilkington, I couldn't agree more. I'm WC Northern, although I've lived in London/NYC for the last fifteen years.

I will never forget the time we went to a posh country hotel in England, where gents were kitted out in shooting tweeds and knee-high socks, and in to the library rolls my New Yorker husband, who is in fact quite a subtle and polite fellow, but tends to be American in style when in leisure mode (on this occasion, wearing sweats and a Gap tee). The looks he got were cat's bum on steroids, and when we took a walk around the estate, every time he smiled or said "hello", he was ignored 100% of the time. He thought it was funny; I was livid on his behalf.

Thank Christ I now live in a city (New York) where half my friends are second-generation immigrants who've worked bloody hard to get where they are in life. I love the UK, but the enduring class system really gets my goat.

It's the papers (and the public who buy them for these stories?) who are at fault here. Now that the press have decided that Pippa and Carole (and it is mostly the two women of the family) are legit commercial items they are relatively powerless to stop the press writing about them and projecting whatever they want onto them.

For the Middletons to stop being photographed and written about they would have to basically never set foot in London, never go to any friend's wedding, and never go to any public event where there might be photographers or be seen in public with Kate. Why should they have to skulk around? Just being out and about and living what for them is a normal life - even if lots of people don't like that that kind of lifestyle exists - is not a crime or an attempt to set themselves up as role models.

Probably the press attention was a bit of fun and a novelty to begin with, but they must be pretty sick of it now. I guess in that position one might make the decision that it's better to smile than to have all sorts projected onto you for scowling.

Well said FairPhyllis!

What FairPhyllis said. What do any of us really know about them? Only what the papers project as their version. We'd be daft to think this is a true representation.

I'd like to think it's a piss-take, like the one this week by Giles Coren and the new legislation about police fining motorists for inconsiderate driving, but if it was a piss-take then it wasn't as obvious as his.

Picture in Daily Mail of Pippa with her boyfriend papped being affectionate on the street. It doesn't look like her though. Anyone else see it.

Great comments on the letters page of ST today saying that the article was unpleasant and that Carole Middleton is to be commended for being a self made woman.

holly I agree, legs don't look right, her hair looks a bit long & the profile looks different.

Charles got into cambridge despite having only a D and E at A level and graduated with a very weak lower second. He is a great example of a thick nob educated way beyond his capability.

The rest of them are a bunch of short legged parasites who do not 'work hard'. When you read accounts of the 300 or so engagements a year carried out by the likes of Ann, the queen or Philip what is not made clear but becomes apparent when you look at their diary summaries in the Times is that most of these engagements are packed into single days. They may carry out 3-5 visits/events in one day. They are only working about 60 days a year in reality. They do not know the meaning of hard work in exchange for what is often not a 'fair days wage' or even a relatively accurate fiscal reflection of effort put in and worth.

The Middleton parents do.

And as for Camilla Long, whilst she can be funny and accurate (recent op-ed about the hypocrisy of Vivienne Westwood springs to mind), she all too often relies on cheap jibes about how (mainly) women look.

Well I will sink to her level. Camilla Long, like your colleague Giles (dough-boy) Coren who also makes snide comments about overweight people, you too are a bit of a tub and could do with shedding a few pounds (from my recent encounter with you whilst out shopping)...

Ah dear Boomba on 4 June, but that's where you are so wrong: you see Mrs Middleton is a proper snob - aspiring to higher status - and will care a great deal about Camilla Long's article.

Do you know her Arabella?

Fergie's mother & father splashed in the papers all the time

True, well until her Dad got caught in a rub and tug massage parlour. Dirty old bastard.

I'd imagine the reason the Middletons attract more press interest than the Spencers or Fergusons did is because it is so unusual for a girl from such an ordinary middle class background to marry the heir to the throne. The press (and some of the public) are fascinated by the idea of a family with a (relatively) normal lifestyle becoming so closely connected to the Royal family and being the grandparents of the future King or Queen of England. It has huge novelty value, whereas Diana and Sarah came from very aristocratic backgrounds.

I'd never heard of her until I saw this thread, I've looked her up and watched a few clips on YouTibe...by Christ is she irritating.

Since she like an ad hominem attack, would it be ungracious to point out that she's the ugly side of plain?

being Royal is an easy financial ride, but I wouldn't swap. A lifetime of being constantly observed, discussed, waved at....no thanks.

Since when was being 'plain' anything to do with one's character, personality or moral qualities?

I do hope all those posters who've written spiteful, bitchy comments about someone whose appearance is entirely irrelevant to her job as a WRITER have got photos on their profiles for the rest of us to criticise. I suspect they wouldn't dare though.

Diana might have been aristocracy, but you don't have to go far back on Diana's mother's side to get back to normal, working people.