If you’ve walked through a check-out line in the past four months, you’ve probably seen plenty of tabloids featuring Kate Middleton, Prince William’s bride-to-be. Their marriage is obviously relevant to people living in England because she’s going to be a princess. Yet Americans are almost as fascinated as our British counterparts.
“See Will and Kate As Comic Book Characters!” “Will and Kate Tea Towels Are A Go!” “Rumor Patrol! Which Royal Wedding Stories Are True?” These are just a few of the headlines that pop up when searching “Will and Kate” on People.com.
Since the official announcement of Middleton’s engagement to Prince William, the media has propelled them both to celebrity status, but particularly the future princess.
Middleton took over the tabloids when the engagement was first announced. Her name continues to infiltrate the Internet, magazines, and gossip shows as people speculate on her past, the couple’s relationship, her style, and her wedding dress.
In fact, I just saw yet another “Will and Kate” story on Yahoo! Shine, which boasted “Fantasy wedding cakes for Will and Kate.”
If these U.S. media outlets, which are seemingly catered to American women, are taking this much interest in the wedding, it’s obvious that a significant portion of women in the U.S. are interested.
Perhaps this is because Prince William and Middleton’s wedding is much more modern than royal weddings of the past. The wedding is a “21st-century affair,” said Newsweek. Middleton and the Prince met at college, she has a degree, and the description of their relationship seems to fit the prototype of what most Americans would consider “normal.”
All this makes Middleton relatable to American women, while also living out a life that seems enviable. With all the Disney Princess movies we grew up watching, it’s not a shock that women find the princess fantasy appealing. The two most recent Disney movies are proof that the princess tradition lives on.
Negative media portrayals of Middleton do exist with scandals such as with Life & Style’s “Drunk in Public” article which showed — not surprisingly — pictures of the future princess drunk in public, as proof of such.
One blog, however, writes that there is a dark side to their relationship. According to Celebitchy.com, Prince William cheats on Middleton, and she has been told by advisors to ignore the cheating.
Though the reliability of this source is questionable, the blog does undermine the idea that Middleton’s life is a fairy tale. Though she has the privilege of being a future princess of England on top of marrying a man whom she supposedly loves, Middleton must deal with positive and negative media attention, both of which are intrusive whether they report truthfully or not.
To the culture, media, and people in the U.S., it seems as though Middleton is living in a fairy tale. However, there is no perfect situation. Even Middleton has to deal with negative influences.