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At that time, Diana seemed frightened of the limelight and withdrawn; by contrast, Middleton seemed at ease in front of the cameras.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年前那場童話般的婚禮以悲劇結(jié)尾后，英國終于將再度迎來一場盛大的皇室婚禮：英國王位第二繼承人——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•米德爾頓在皇室宣布他們訂婚的消息后首次公開亮相，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：“我覺得讓未婚妻佩戴母親的戒指挺好的，因為顯然她是無法一起分享這些讓人快樂和興奮的事情了。我選擇以這種方式讓她見證這一切。”
盡管這對28歲情侶的愛情故事非常夢幻，但是卻可以毫不夸張地說，溫莎王朝的未來在很大程度上取決于他倆的結(jié)合是否成功。
威廉在電視訪談中首次公開談?wù)撍麄儜賽鄣目鄻窔v程時說：“我們非常非常興奮。我們興奮得要命。我們很期待相伴走過人生未來的日子。”在那次訪談時他倆還都只是大學(xué)新生。
那次訪談讓很多人想起一個相似的電視畫面，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，戴安娜似乎被這些鎂光燈嚇到了，顯得沉默寡言。相比之下，米德爾頓在鏡頭面前則看起來很自在。她說她希望自己當(dāng)初能見戴安娜一面。戴安娜于1997年在一場車禍中去世。
米德爾頓說：“我很想見見她。她是一位鼓舞人心的女性。”說這話時威廉在身旁看著她。
皇室官員說，大家都知道米德爾頓的名字是凱特，不過她的法定名稱是凱瑟琳•伊麗莎白。如果威廉最終按預(yù)期繼承王位的話，她將被稱作凱瑟琳皇后。
威廉上個月在肯尼亞度假時向米德爾頓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。
