British Royal Wedding

This is Gloucestershire reports that rugby star Mike Tindall could propose to Zara Phillips after the 2012 Olympics – as long as she wins a gold medal!

The Queen’s granddaughter and world champion eventer has set her sights on Olympic gold in London in three years time. And if she does won the coveted medal then Mike has said he’ll pop the question.

The news was revealed by former England rugby player Will Greenwood. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Will says it was Mike who was talking passionately about horses rather than Zara.

“I am surprised when he talks of ‘flying changes’, ‘rein backs’, the four-star horses, and the promise that an Olympic gold medal might, if she’s lucky, be exchanged for a wedding ring”, he says.

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.

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.”

Together since 2003, The Telegraph reports that Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall are ready to ‘formalise’ their union…

“I don’t think it is about whether we will get married, but when,” says the England rugby player, who met the granddaughter of the Queen in 2003. “There is no doubt that I love Zara, but it has to be the right time.

“She is so busy competing and I am touring. We often don’t even manage to get away on holiday together. And, yes, it probably would be a white wedding, although sometimes I can see the attraction of sneaking away without telling anyone.”

A friend of the couple’s tells this week’s Hello! magazine;

“He is very good with the children and enjoys all the rough and tumble… Zara is brilliant with the children. She would come over for a coffee sometimes and play with the children. They adore her…”

Zara Phillips has moved into a new £1 million home with boyfriend Mike Tindall. The Sunday Express reckons this is the clearest sign yet that they plan to marry…

The Queen’s granddaughter and the rugby star have bought a regency-style town house in Cheltenham, prompting speculation they will soon announce their engagement.

Friends say the couple opted for the leafy spa town to be closer to the nightlife and Zara’s favourite shopping streets, having outgrown their two-bedroom cottage on Princess Anne’s Gatcombe estate.

An insider said: “They wanted more ind­ependence. They have enjoyed living at Gatcombe for the past four years but it can get quite suffocating with Zara’s mum, dad and stepmother all living on the estate. Zara has always loved Cheltenham and they think the property will be a good ­investment.”

One company is so sure of Wills and Kate’s future together that they have commissioned a set of ceramic swans as a celebration of the couple’s enduring love.

Named William and Catherine the swans, made for china ­retailers Goviers by Royal Crown Derby, are intended to be used as paperweights.

And while we’re sure the couple couldn’t fail to be delighted with this romantic tribute even they might raise an eyebrow at Goviers’ planning. “Not only have we already developed a full Royal Wedding Collection but a series of cygnets to accompany the Royal Swans is proposed to mark the arrival of any little princes or princesses”…  (via Daily Express)

The Daily Mail reckons Kate Middleton will be facing time alone as Prince William undertakes intensive military training in Wales…

The 27-year-old Prince is being posted to RAF Valley in North Wales where he will continue his training to be a search-and-rescue pilot.

An RAF insider says: ‘It’s going to be a testing time for William and Kate because he will be expected to knuckle down. He will be mastering the basic elemental techniques of search and rescue and there will be no holidays.’

However Kate, also 27, may yet decide to go off and do her own own thing while she waits for William. I’m told she is hatching a plan which could see her heading to the States.

‘What she really wants is to explore her passion for photography and she has thought about spending some time in America,’ says a friend.

According to Australian magazine New Idea, Prince William is due to pop the question to Kate Middleton any day now.

The couple are reportedly booked in for an “official meeting” with the Queen and the proposal date set for what would have been Princess Diana’s 48th birthday (1st July).

The magazine doesn’t stop there, detailing a “traditional” wedding, the honeymoon (an island in the West Indies) and the number of children they will have (three). Most importantly – according to an insider – grandmother Liz is unlikely to object to the union as “Kate loves shooting, so she’ll fit in well”. (via Sydney Morning Herald)

The Sun has ignited royal wedding speculation by reporting that Prince William will take Kate Middleton to Balmoral to meet the Queen in August…

It is the first time she has been invited to the Queen’s traditional break at the Highland retreat.

William, who is 27 today, plans to spend the August bank holiday weekend there with Kate. Her meeting with the Queen and Prince Philip will be seen as significant.

The fact that she has been invited to Balmoral, during a royal shoot, will be seen as important.

A source told us: “Kate loves shooting so she will fit in well with the Royal Family. She will take it in her stride.”

Bookie William Hill is offering odds of 2-1 ON that they will get engaged this year.

The BBC is betting that Prince William and Kate Middleton will soon be announcing their engagement. So much so that the corporation has commissioned a new documentary of the couple to be broadcast on the night their engagement is officially announced. The Telegraph reports…

“Believe me, in these straightened times, we would not be spending money on this programme if we had not been assured that they were definitely going to get engaged,” says a senior BBC executive.

A spokesman for Clarence House says it is aware of the documentary but declined to co-operate with the producers.