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Wedding went viral

283 replies

Xenia · 29/06/2011 16:11

Agree with the step mother but she should not have written it. If you want a sil,y big wedding you are not someone to marry.
www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23965571-in-the-white-corner-the-bride-in-the-pink-the-mother-in-law-from-hell.do

In the white corner, the bride. In the pink, the mother-in-law from hell...
Laura Roberts
29 Jun 2011

The last thing any bride-to-be wants is to fall foul of her future mother-in-law - particularly when her damning criticism of your behaviour goes viral on the internet.

But that is what has happened to Heidi Withers, a PA working in the West End.

She received an email last month from Carolyn Bourne, the stepmother of her fiancé Freddie Bourne.

The 29-year-old forwarded the message to a select group of friends who were so surprised by its tone that they too forwarded it on to others...and then on to thousands.

Mrs Bourne, 60, who is married to Freddie's father Edward, wrote: "It is high time someone explained to you about good manners. Yours are obvious by their absence and I feel sorry for you."

She went on: "Unfortunately for Freddie, he has fallen in love with you and Freddie being Freddie, I gather it is not easy to reason with him or yet encourage him to consider how he might be able to help you. It may just be possible to get through to you though. I do hope so. Your behaviour on your visit to Devon during April was staggering in its uncouthness and lack of grace.

"Unfortunately, this was not the first example of bad manners I have experienced from you. If you want to be accepted by the wider Bourne family I suggest you take some guidance from experts with utmost haste."

She even described her future daughter-in-law as "an ideal candidate for the Ladette to Lady television series".

Mrs Bourne, who lives near Dawlish in Devon and is a renowned breeder of pinks and dianthus flowers, went on to list numerous examples of Miss Withers's "lack of manners" - as detailed below.

She concluded by saying: "I pity Freddie."

Her stepson, who runs online bike shop Capital Cycles and lives in Putney, declined to comment. His father Edward Bourne, 63, said: "We have nothing to say."

Miss Withers and Mr Bourne are not the first to suffer acute embarrassment because of out-of-control email round robins. A derogatory email exchange between Harry Fildes, 25, and Sebastian Marsh, 24, about the latter's ex-girlfriend "went viral" in March after Mr Fildes accidentally copied her in. Mr Marsh was later sacked by his company, Miller Insurance.

Holly Leam-Taylor, a graduate trainee at consultants Deloitte quit in December 2009 after sending an email discussing attractive male staff. The email, entitled Deloitte First year analysts Christmas Awards, asked her female colleagues to vote on which men in the office they considered most attractive.

The nine categories included "boy most likely to sleep his way to the top".

An excerpt from their email exchange...

from: Carolyn Bourne
to: heidi withers
subject: your lack of manners

Here are a few examples of your lack of manners:
When you are a guest in another's house, you do not declare what you will and will not eat - unless you are positively allergic to something.
You do not remark that you do not have enough food.

You do not start before everyone else.
You do not take additional helpings without being invited to by your host.

When a guest in another's house, you do not lie in bed until late morning in households that rise early - you fall in line with house norms.

You should never ever insult the family you are about to join at any time and most definitely not in public. I gather you passed this off as a joke but the reaction in the pub was one of shock, not laughter.

You regularly draw attention to yourself. Perhaps you should ask yourself why. No one gets married in a castle unless they own it. It is brash, celebrity style behaviour.

I understand your parents are unable to contribute very much towards the cost of your wedding. (There is nothing wrong with that except that convention is such that one might presume they would have saved over the years for their daughters' marriages.)

If this is the case, it would be most ladylike and gracious to lower your sights and have a modest wedding as befits both your incomes.

One could be accused of thinking that Heidi Withers must be patting herself on the back for having caught a most eligible young man. I pity Freddie.

OP posts:
dollius · 30/06/2011 11:45

I agree with Dallas. MIL sounds horrendous. Who on earth uses the word "uncouth" and criticises your parents for not having enough money to pay for a wedding? Vile woman.
MIL's email was the height of ill manners, actually.

LtEveDallas · 30/06/2011 11:45

Full version of the email HERE

mayorquimby · 30/06/2011 11:49

"That in itself is not lawful."

yes it is Confused

Treats · 30/06/2011 11:51

I can't believe she's being criticised for forwarding the email to friends! If I'd received that, I'd have been extremely upset and - under the circumstances - would have wanted to discuss with friends how I reacted to it and what it might mean for my future life with my fiance!

Xenia - how is it not lawful to share an email you've received with your friends. It's not lawful to disclose the contents of something that wasn't intended for you, but this was very much intended for the DIL.

And I agree with limited - you're taking the MIL's version of events as gospel. We know nothing about the couple's wedding plans, their financial situation or who's paying for the wedding - so we have no right to criticise the DIL for any of this.

I think the MIL is having a dig at DIL's background. She's making the point about the castle because she wants to highlight that DIL's parents' home is a council house (possibly). And she's chuntering on about the bride's parents paying for the wedding (which is NOT normally done these days - it's far more common for the couple to stump up themselves) because she's making a point about the vast disparity in wealth between her family and theirs.

Yes, I'm making assumptions too, but we know far more about the kind of person the MIL is than we do about the DIL

Xenia · 30/06/2011 11:52

I think I know a bit about law. It is unlawful. If you send an email for publicatino in a newspaper you give a licence for the intellectual proeprty in it to be reporduced by the newpaper. Same if you post on mumsnet. If you send an email to one person you are not giving them permission to copy it to anyone else and nor are you allowing the confidential information in it etc to be sent to all and sundry but then what do you expect if your step son picks a girl like this?

OP posts:
OTheHugeManatee · 30/06/2011 11:54

"Who on earth uses the word "uncouth" and criticises your parents for not having enough money to pay for a wedding?"

If the girl is expecting a super-expensive wedding, is unable to fund it herself, her parents can't fund it, the couple themselves can't fund it and the only people who would be able to fund it are the prospective in-laws, then I can see why said in-laws might expect her to work a bit harder at brown-nosing them show her appreciation of their generosity by making herself agreeable when she visits.

'Uncouth' is a bit much though Grin

mayorquimby · 30/06/2011 11:56

Under what statute or law? Sorry only familiar with Irish law and can't think of anything which would make the forwarding of an e-mail that was adressed to you would make it unlawful.
not spoiling for a fight, genuinely interested as to what grounds this would be based on.

Treats · 30/06/2011 11:57

A girl like what? We don't know anything about her except for her MIL's opinion of her. And we know a little bit about what kind of person the MIL is - someone who emails you with a character assassination and picks apart every little bit of your behaviour.

Even it was unlawful, I still don't think the DIL acted unreasonably.

DuelingFanjo · 30/06/2011 11:58

All the stuff about her diabetes is really rude! What a cow. I wonder how poor Freddie is handling it? Seems there is another more favoured DIL in the mix too.

bullet234 · 30/06/2011 11:59

I got married in a castle. The ceremony took place in a small room in it and then we had the grounds for some lovely photographs afterwards. Reception was a finger buffet held in a hotel. Dress and cake were home made, wedding ring was less than £25, wedding car was one of our relative's, sisters did hair and make up and the photographer was a family member. It worked out a lot cheaper than someone getting married in a church with a professional photographer, organist, bought dress, paid for hairdresser/beautician etc.

Treats · 30/06/2011 12:00

I hope 'poor Freddie' grew a pair and told his step mother what she could do with her appalling rudeness.

DuelingFanjo · 30/06/2011 12:03

oh, and I have a realy old reel to reel tape of a telephone conversation between my dad and his parents in the late '60s about my dad's plan to marry my mum. My dad was a bit posh and my mum was a bit too working class. This email reminds me of that conversation in which my grandpa proclaims 'but we don't even know the girl'. My mum is lovely, has manners and was just in love with their son. I thinkn for some people marrying beneath yourself is just too much to handle, even now.

mayorquimby · 30/06/2011 12:03

Is it to do with copyright or intellectual property?

dollius · 30/06/2011 12:07

Xenia - there isn't any "confidential" information in that email.
People are perfectly entitled to forward emails, in the same way they can show a letter to a third party. If not so, what is the forward button for?
All I can see that DIL has done is help herself to food, slept in late, not sent a thank you letter. Doesn't sound like crime of the century to me.
MIL sounds like snobby, controlling nightmare to me. And not particularly well-mannered herself.
Eg - it is lovely to receive a thank-you note, but you don't bloody EXPECT one and, frankly, if anything is really "common", it is complaining about not getting one! Similarly, when you have guests to stay, it is polite not to mention any annoying habits such as rising late. You just accept it graciously.
Snobby comments about the wealth (or lack thereof) of others are particularly "common". A bit like being rude to the staff - just Not On.

OTheHugeManatee · 30/06/2011 12:09

The MIL should take a leaf from the Queen's book. After all, she's recently acquired a relatively 'common' DIL who didn't own the castle her wedding reception was held in.

I can't imagine Her Maj sending Kate a message like that Grin

dollius · 30/06/2011 12:12

Actually MIL sounds like the horrid sister, Caroline, in Pride and Prejudice.
Oh, their aunt and uncle live on CHEAPSIDE - the horror!
Oh, her hemline has mud on it, she must have WALKED here - the horror!
Oh, the country fashions at this ball are just too much to bear - the horror!
And we all know what Caroline's real problem was, don't we? She was NOUVEAU and not old money at all and had a massive chip on her shoulder.

LtEveDallas · 30/06/2011 12:12

"...picks a girl like this?" Classic Smile a girl like what, exactly?

Mrs Bourne may live in a £500K house, but that does not make her classy.

Miss Withers parents also live in a (almost) £500K house, why are they not considered classy?

Money cannot buy class. Mrs Bourne is far too 'new money' for me. Very common.

WhoAteMySnickers · 30/06/2011 12:13

No-one gets married in a castle unless they own it. It is brash, celebrity style behaviour.

I understand your parents are unable to contribute very much towards the cost of your wedding. (There is nothing wrong with that except that convention is such that one might presume they would have saved over the years for their daughters' marriages.) If this is the case, it would be most ladylike and gracious to lower your sights and have a modest wedding as befits both your incomes.

I actually agree with the above (apart from the crossed out bit obviously).

And it's a real shame but hand-written notes/letters/thank you cards seem to be dying out. I always send a hand written thank-you if appropriate, certainly I would after staying with someone for a weekend.

As this is her step-MIL, lets hope she fares better with her actual MIL Grin

dollius · 30/06/2011 12:13

"I can't imagine Her Maj sending Kate a message like that."

My point exactly!!

TotalChaos · 30/06/2011 12:34

bullet - sorry about my comments about the castle. I was imagining that the girl in the e-mail wanted a tens of thousands of pounds wedding with reception etc at the castle. obv castle for the ceremony itself is completely different.

limitedperiodonly · 30/06/2011 12:39

xenia you're floundering now. Grin

So what if you're a colossal snob who jumps to ill-founded conclusions.

Embrace it. You're in good company. Mrs Bourne's one too and she's given everyone a really good laugh and at her own expense, to boot.

piprabbit · 30/06/2011 12:44

In an ideal world the hostess tries to make the guest feel welcomed and accepted into their home. The niggles and annoyances are overlooked (even if you complain to your DH later) for the sake of ensuring your guest has a pleasant stay.

In and ideal world the guest will try to adapt to the routine and lifestyle of her hosts, trying to make as few ripples as possible while being pleasant and helpful.

I think in this case the guest behaved badly, but the hostess behaved worse by using it as a stick to beat her with.

BTW there is a multi-million pound industry in this country based on people's desire to get married in a castle/theatre/lighthouse/garden etc. etc. etc. If we all only married in the property we owned, most of us would have our weddings in a modest 3 bed semi and a lot of people would be out of a job. I don't think it was unreasonable for the girl to dream - so long as she stuck to her financial limits.

limitedperiodonly · 30/06/2011 12:44

Just read the whole email - thanks LtEve.

She's a comic monster. Grin

Hullygully · 30/06/2011 12:46

It will be interesting to see what they do next. You could only send an email like that if you absolutely HATE the person. What will they do...?

WhipMeIndiana · 30/06/2011 12:52

dollius - love the pride and prej quotes! 'I heard her uncle worked in some kind of shop '

and her sister taking over the piano from poor Mary!

anyway , on the full version of the email why is the last sentance wrong? the MIL's name having made a good match for Freddie?