British Royal Wedding

The Daily Mail’s Richard Kay has some news about Prince William and Kate Middleton holidaying in Scotland recently…

Prince Harry was also among the crowd that gathered on a sporting estate owned by the Duke of Northumberland. For Kate, who has enthusiastically embraced the Royal Family’s passion for bloodsports, it was an opportunity to show her prowess with a gun, handling her lightweight 20-bore side-by-side gun with considerable expertise.

William and Kate, who flew to Edinburgh a day after arriving back from a week-long stay in Mustique, were guests of the Duke’s son, George Percy, an old flame of Miss Middleton’s sister Pippa.

Guests included Thomas van Straubenzee, James Meade, Harry Aubrey-Fletcher, Tom Inskip and Guy Pelly and their partners.

Thanks to Mapleleaf who has posted some links to enlarged photos here…

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Princess Diana’s legacy lives on, 12 years after her death. Royal insiders say the palace is grooming a 27-year-old, Kate Middleton to become England’s next princess.

Video: Die Königskinder: William und Kate – The entire 43 minute documentary about Prince William and Kate Middleton (in German). Some interesting footage you may not have seen before. Fast DSL connection recommended…

Wise Queen puts Kate in Spare Room – Daily Express
The Queen will not be inviting courting couple Prince William and Kate Middleton to disport themselves beneath a shared royal duvet at Balmoral. It’s not, you may be assured, that Her Majesty doesn’t realise Wills and his Kate have been happily indulging in sexy sleepovers for many a long year. It’s just that she doesn’t consider it seemly to give their pre-nuptial couplings a royal warrant…

Harry at work as rest play – The Sun
The tables have been turned on party-loving Prince Harry – he is the only Royal working this week while the rest of the family has a fun time. The 24-year-old Army officer is on the next leg of his helicopter flying course. And he must attend classes and fly sorties at RAF Shawbury, Shropshire…

Duke of Edinburgh makes yet another gaffe – Telegraph
The Duke is reported to have struck up conversation with a guest at a recent Buckingham Palace garden party by asking what he did for a living. The man, one of 8,000 guests hoping to meet the Queen and other members of the Royal Family, replied: “I’m a designer, sir”. The 88-year-old is said to have replied: “Well, you didn’t design your beard too well, did you?”…

British paper The Mirror is claiming that Prince William and Kate Middleton are currently soaking up the sun on Mustique Island in the Carribean…

They landed there on Wednesday for a week’s break booked at the last minute – just three weeks after Kate returned from a family holiday on the island.

A source said: “They are having a fantastic time. Kate and William have been spending a lot of time on the beach and William has been showing off his skills on the jet ski. They are having the time of their lives and haven’t stopped smiling since they got here.”

Wills and Kate are thought to be staying at an exclusive £2,000-a-night villa.

The Daily Mail reckons Kate Middleton is ready to chuck in her Party Pieces job to persue a career in photography. The paper claims she will head to New York in January to work with Count Nikolai von Bismarck…

A friend of 27-year-old Kate said she had ‘loved’ working at her parents’ firm, Party Pieces, which sells children’s party goods over the internet but is now looking for a different challenge.

‘Kate wants to make her favourite hobby, photography, her full-time career,’ says the friend. ‘She would like to be taken more seriously. …She needs a new challenge – she wants to do more with her photography than take pictures of children in party hats.’

‘Nikolai initially introduced Kate to the idea of working with Testino but there was not time in either diary to accommodate it. With his help, she hopes to get settled in photography in time for an engagement announcement with Prince William around Easter.’

Updated: The video was removed by YouTube but the entire documentary is available for viewing on the German broadcaster’s website here. Skip to the 18 minute mark for Kate on stage!

Fortune Teller: “Soon you will meet a handsome man, a rich gentleman…”

Kate: “It is all I have ever hoped for, will he fall in love with me?”

“Indeed he will,” the fortune teller replies. “And marry me?” asks Kate. “And marry you,” he confirms.

“Will he take me away from here?” she asks, ever more breathless. “Yes,” he tells her, “to London.”

British paper News of The World are claiming that Prince William & Kate Middleton have already set a date for their Wedding…

For the News of the World can reveal Kate is at the heart of a new palace strategy for the royal family. We have been told the couple, both 27, have reached “an understanding” that their eight-year relationship WILL end in marriage. It is no longer a question of if but when.

The plan is that by the time the Queen celebrates her historic Diamond Jubilee in 2012 Kate will be on the palace balcony at her side as a fully-fledged princess.

Well-placed sources say that while marriage is a “done deal” it is not expected until 2011 at the earliest. And this explains why Kate is not bothered by teasing nicknames like “Waity Katie” and remains so cool.

She is secure in the knowledge that the secret pact has already been made and the palace blueprint for the future, creating our next Prince and Princess of Wales, is already firmly in place.

Prince William was teased yesterday at his best friend’s wedding: “You’ll be next”.

The Royal had just walked long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton down the aisle after pal Nicholas van Cutsem tied the knot.

William, 27, laughed off the remark before heading to the reception with Kate, who he has dated since 2001.

He and brother Prince Harry, 24, who were both ushers, had arrived an hour early with the groom at the Guards Chapel, which is close to Buckingham Palace in central London.

A source at the ceremony said: “He has been with Kate far longer than most of his close pals – and more and more of them are getting married. “Nicholas’ comment was meant only as a joke – but it is increasingly likely that Wills and Kate will decide to take the plunge.”

Read entire story at The Sun… | View Photos at Getty Images…

Kate Middleton is set to be trained in royal protocol and media communications ahead of the expected announcement of her engagement to Prince William. The Daily Star reports…

Kate, 27, will not join nWilliam on any official engagements yet. But she will be trained in Palace protocol, how to behave on the engagements and how to deal with the media. She will also learn how royal properties and finances are run and will be given access to the family’s Chequers Committee –  headed by the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles – that controls royal estates.

She will also learn about royal patronage and how members of the family form official attachments to the armed forces.

Courtiers know that both Kate and William, 27, fear she will become a figure of obsessive public fascination once the engagement is announced. “It has the potential to be even more intense than it was for the Princess of Wales,” warned the aide. “But Kate is going to be the best-prepared royal bride ever.”