Thirty years after the fairy-tale nuptials with the unhappy ending, Britain will finally have another big royal wedding: its dashing helicopter-pilot prince — second in line to the throne — will marry the lovely commoner who may someday become queen.
Prince William and Kate Middleton bubbled with joy Tuesday evening in their first public appearance since the palace announced their engagement after more than eight years of dating. Their wedding will be next spring or summer.
In a poignant symbol for William, his betrothed wore the sapphire and diamond engagement ring that belonged to his late mother, Diana.
"I thought it was quite nice because obviously she's not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all. This was my way of keeping her close to it all," William said.
While the romance of the two 28-year-olds is the stuff that dreams are made of, it is no exaggeration to say that the future of the Windsor dynasty depends to no small degree on the success of their union.
"We're massively excited," William said in the televised interview that marked the first time they have spoken publicly about the trials and tribulations of their love affair, which dates back to their days as university freshmen. "We're hugely excited. We're looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together."
The interview reminded many of a similar TV appearance by William's parents, Prince Charles and Diana, shortly after they became engaged.
At that time, Diana seemed frightened of the limelight and withdrawn; by contrast, Middleton seemed at ease in front of the cameras. She said she wished she had met Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997.
"I would love to have met her. She's an inspirational woman," Middleton said as William looked on.
Royal officials said that while Middleton is commonly known as Kate, her official name is Catherine Elizabeth. She will be named Queen Catherine if William, as expected, eventually takes the throne.
William proposed during a vacation in Kenya last month and gave Middleton the oval blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds from the jeweler Garrard that Charles had given his mother.
在30年前那場(chǎng)童話(huà)般的婚禮以悲劇結(jié)尾后，英國(guó)終于將再度迎來(lái)一場(chǎng)盛大的皇室婚禮：英國(guó)王位第二繼承人——風(fēng)度翩翩的直升機(jī)飛行員王子將和一位可愛(ài)的民間姑娘結(jié)為夫妻。這位姑娘有一天將可能成為皇后。
周二晚上，威廉王子和凱特•米德?tīng)栴D在皇室宣布他們訂婚的消息后首次公開(kāi)亮相，兩人臉上都洋溢著喜悅之情。此前兩人已經(jīng)交往了八年多，婚禮將于明年春天或夏天舉行。
威廉王子的未婚妻手上戴著藍(lán)寶石鉆戒，那是威廉已逝的母親戴安娜的訂婚戒指，它代表著威廉辛酸的回憶。
威廉說(shuō)：“我覺(jué)得讓未婚妻佩戴母親的戒指挺好的，因?yàn)轱@然她是無(wú)法一起分享這些讓人快樂(lè)和興奮的事情了。我選擇以這種方式讓她見(jiàn)證這一切�！�
盡管這對(duì)28歲情侶的愛(ài)情故事非常夢(mèng)幻，但是卻可以毫不夸張地說(shuō)，溫莎王朝的未來(lái)在很大程度上取決于他倆的結(jié)合是否成功。
威廉在電視訪(fǎng)談中首次公開(kāi)談?wù)撍麄儜賽?ài)的苦樂(lè)歷程時(shí)說(shuō)：“我們非常非常興奮。我們興奮得要命。我們很期待相伴走過(guò)人生未來(lái)的日子。”在那次訪(fǎng)談時(shí)他倆還都只是大學(xué)新生。
那次訪(fǎng)談讓很多人想起一個(gè)相似的電視畫(huà)面，也就是威廉的父母——查爾斯王子和戴安娜在訂婚后不久的露面。
那時(shí)，戴安娜似乎被這些鎂光燈嚇到了，顯得沉默寡言。相比之下，米德?tīng)栴D在鏡頭面前則看起來(lái)很自在。她說(shuō)她希望自己當(dāng)初能見(jiàn)戴安娜一面。戴安娜于1997年在一場(chǎng)車(chē)禍中去世。
米德?tīng)栴D說(shuō)：“我很想見(jiàn)見(jiàn)她。她是一位鼓舞人心的女性�！闭f(shuō)這話(huà)時(shí)威廉在身旁看著她。
皇室官員說(shuō)，大家都知道米德?tīng)栴D的名字是凱特，不過(guò)她的法定名稱(chēng)是凱瑟琳•伊麗莎白。如果威廉最終按預(yù)期繼承王位的話(huà)，她將被稱(chēng)作凱瑟琳皇后。
威廉上個(gè)月在肯尼亞度假時(shí)向米德?tīng)栴D求婚并送給她這枚橢圓形藍(lán)寶石鑲鉆戒指。這枚戒指是當(dāng)初查爾斯送給他母親的，由珠寶商杰拉德制作。
