Just how much effort did the Middletons make to ensure Kate married William?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh so it’s nauseatingly inaccurate that William instantly fell for Kate and pursued her while she played it somewhat cool?

I mean, I guess that’s true seeing as he strung her along and dumped her multiple times and left her waiting for him like a puppy.

Young people being young people...

[Anonymous]

^ explain your timeline

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The new season of the Crown seems to shed light on the Kate and Wills story again and I’m curious what people think. Just how much of a social climber was Kate?

I've heard this season in particular is nauseatingly inaccurate and extremely fictionalized to pander to Netfix's typical audience.

When the ghost of Diana appeared this series jumped the shark, and that was before any of this Will/Kate nonsense.

You can write off the end of the series, but don’t do it until after you watch episode 8, about Margaret. It’s a masterpiece.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh so it’s nauseatingly inaccurate that William instantly fell for Kate and pursued her while she played it somewhat cool?

I mean, I guess that’s true seeing as he strung her along and dumped her multiple times and left her waiting for him like a puppy.

The thing about William and Kate is that we just don't know. But - they are humans so I'm guessing it's somewhere in the middle? Did Catherine want to go to St Andrews because she heard a prince was going to be there? Possibly so. Did the Middletons enjoy their upward social mobility? Possibly so. Did William think she was attractive/liked her but didn't want to settle down in his mid-20s so strung her along for a bit? Possibly so. Did Carole Middleton concoct a maniacal plan to force William to marry her daughter - planting her at St Andrews, somehow getting her in the same dorm, either blackmailing him into marrying her daughter or putting some spell on him to fall for her, insisting they get back together after they broke up, etc., etc.? Probably not. The truth probably lies somewhere boringly in the middle.

As for Catherine being a lovesick puppy, maybe William deserves some of that too.

[Anonymous]

So ... for 6 years after college, how is it you think the Middelton's were able to control the couple's destiny?

The set it up so the young couple would meet and have some extracurriculars in common. But that was 6 -10 years earlier.

[Anonymous]

Its really sad when the only thing people know about something is from a fictional TV show.

[Anonymous]

I know that Kate changed schools when William did. So there was definitely some calculations made to be where he was.

[Anonymous]

I think they put a lot of effort into it but that so did a lot of other non-aristos.

If you look at the press around the Middleton’s pre-Covid, a lot of it is focused on how they gave him the family stability he didn’t have with his crazy ass parents. So it was part of the package. Kate also has never been fully independent of her parents, especially financially, so I’m sure her mom was quite influential. But at a minimum, they let Kate do a gap year and switch schools to be in school with William. And when William broke up with her repeatedly throughout their courtship to pursue other women Kate always took him back.

I think it was basically worth it for the Middleton’s. Their youngest son is a huge loser and seems to have married well. Pippa I think married the best as her husband is wealthy and she still is able to maintain her privacy. And the connection to the BRF undoubtedly extended the financial viability of their business.

[Anonymous]

I think there’s a lot of truth to the notion that a lot of other young women noped out of being with William and Kate was the last woman standing.

The aristo girls and their families have seen for years how the royal family sausage is made. There is comparatively a lot more work, and a ridiculous amount of scrutiny, for very little extra return. Jewels, castles, jets, polo, ancestry? The Percys, Grosvenors, Cavendishes, etc. have all that in spades — and they can mostly do their own thing without having to justify their existence.

So I think there were very few girlfriends who wanted to marry William and all the drama that comes with him. OTOH, Kate (and her family) was willing to put up with a lot to grab that brass ring, because it was such a step up for them, both short-term and long-term.

[Anonymous]

Carole might have engineered things so William and Kate met in the first place, but he still chose to marry her. She didn’t do anything that many ambitious parents wouldn’t.
Now if Kate had been a street urchin who bagged the future king of England then Carole would have been a real wizard.

[Anonymous]

Impossible to know exactly what they did or what their motivations were, but even if you ignore everything in the Crown, the truth is that Kate did take a gap year after William's was well-publicized, and that her gap year programs just happened to include two different programs that it was widely reported in the media William would be attending. And then she wound up at St. Andrews over Edinburgh just like William.

I don't know how it went down or who drove those decisions, but it's very hard for me to believe that was all a coincidence, especially the choice of gap year programs. I do think either Kate or her mom, or maybe both together, kind of set their sights on William and put in above average efforts to make it more likely they would meet and that Kate would be the kind of person he might be interested in.

Look, they wouldn't be the first to do this stuff. I know people in my own life who did similar things to land wealthy husbands. I know a woman who semi-stalked a man online, adopted several of his hobbies, and then arranged to be introduced to him. They are now married and have a kid together and seem happy. I do think her behavior was kind of icky and weird, but I bet if you asked her, she'd tell you she has zero regrets.

I bet Kate would tell you the same thing. This is just how some people live. It's not how I want to live and I don't. People can make their own choices.

[Anonymous]

Very strange how people love to hate on Kate and her family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there’s a lot of truth to the notion that a lot of other young women noped out of being with William and Kate was the last woman standing.

The aristo girls and their families have seen for years how the royal family sausage is made. There is comparatively a lot more work, and a ridiculous amount of scrutiny, for very little extra return. Jewels, castles, jets, polo, ancestry? The Percys, Grosvenors, Cavendishes, etc. have all that in spades — and they can mostly do their own thing without having to justify their existence.

So I think there were very few girlfriends who wanted to marry William and all the drama that comes with him. OTOH, Kate (and her family) was willing to put up with a lot to grab that brass ring, because it was such a step up for them, both short-term and long-term.

Very much agree with your second paragraph. Charles was already experiencing this when he was in his 20s and looking for a wife. Even before the mess that was Charles and Diana, a lot of England's aristocracy had come to view the royals as more trouble than it was worth in terms of marrying in. With Charles there was also the element of a lot of people in their set being aware of his relationship with Camila (even after she married) and not wanting to deal with that. Diana had the misfortune of being a poorly parented younger sister who no one really explained this to, and therefore walked into the trap unawares. Even her older sister, who also dated Charles, knew enough to back away slowly. By the time William was dating, it was even worse and most women who already came from families with titles just were to going to be willing to deal with the the downsides. I think it's almost inevitable that William married someone from outside that world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there’s a lot of truth to the notion that a lot of other young women noped out of being with William and Kate was the last woman standing.

The aristo girls and their families have seen for years how the royal family sausage is made. There is comparatively a lot more work, and a ridiculous amount of scrutiny, for very little extra return. Jewels, castles, jets, polo, ancestry? The Percys, Grosvenors, Cavendishes, etc. have all that in spades — and they can mostly do their own thing without having to justify their existence.

So I think there were very few girlfriends who wanted to marry William and all the drama that comes with him. OTOH, Kate (and her family) was willing to put up with a lot to grab that brass ring, because it was such a step up for them, both short-term and long-term.

Very much agree with your second paragraph. Charles was already experiencing this when he was in his 20s and looking for a wife. Even before the mess that was Charles and Diana, a lot of England's aristocracy had come to view the royals as more trouble than it was worth in terms of marrying in. With Charles there was also the element of a lot of people in their set being aware of his relationship with Camila (even after she married) and not wanting to deal with that. Diana had the misfortune of being a poorly parented younger sister who no one really explained this to, and therefore walked into the trap unawares. Even her older sister, who also dated Charles, knew enough to back away slowly. By the time William was dating, it was even worse and most women who already came from families with titles just were to going to be willing to deal with the the downsides. I think it's almost inevitable that William married someone from outside that world.

Both boys did. None of his other girlfriends wanted to marry Harry either. All were wealthy and/or titled.

[Anonymous]

It's an age-old ploy to put pretty girls in front of the King and see what happens.

I like Kate and I think she is a perfect HRH. She understands the assignment.