After more than six years together (not including the handfull of times they allegedly “broke up”), Kate Middleton and Prince William are moving in together, OK! is reporting. While William is stationed in Shropshire, England for his pilot training, he plans to rent a home on the military base, and Kate will move in with him.
OK! is billing this as a major step, but it’s my understanding (from that Vanity Fair piece last year about Middleton) that they were practically living together already. Middleton has an apartment in London where Will stays when he’s not doing his military training. But, as we find out later in the OK! piece, they’re not really moving in officially, because “married quarters are formally for married couples,” so Middleton will still technically just be a “visitor”. Here’s OK!’s version:
Heir to the British throne Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton are moving one step closer to marriage as they’re in the middle of making plans to move in together. Looks like the eldest son of Charles and Diana has his eye on a refurbished house at a Royal Air Force base where he’s earning his wings as a helicopter pilot.
The 26-year-old and his gal-pal had been making plans to rent a home from a friend of the royal family, but it looks like security issues derailed that idea. So now he and Kate will be shacking up at the military base in Shropshire, UK, until September.
At that point, Billy boy will get some more hands-on experience at real-life air-sea rescue bases around Britain.
“Kate is thrilled that after all the waiting she and William will finally have a grown-up life together,” a family friend says. “She sometimes feels like they’re the world’s oldest teenagers still living with their parents.”
Officially, only William will be registered as living at the newly-decorated RAF quarters but Kate will be able to stay overnight as often as she likes.
An aide said: “Married quarters are formally for married couples… But the prince is, of course, allowed visitors and officers are allowed to live off base in secure accommodation.”
Kate and William have not shared a home together since they were both at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where they rented a cottage with friends.
From OK! Magazine
Ugh. I have really mixed feelings about all of this. I want to like Middleton because I think she’s smart, I think she really loves William, and I want to see her six-year effort pay off in a wedding. She’s put in the time, you know? She really wants it. But there’s something about how eager she is to turn everything in her life over to William’s whims that irritates me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally irritated by William too. I suspect he’s a lot like his dithering, ambivalent father, and he’s probably going to string Kate along for many years to come. But this is probably a small victory for Kate, so I hope she celebrates!
Kate Middleton and Prince William are shown after his graduation on 4/11/08. Credit: WENN
I am sure Wills is sweet, but Why does she stay? I’d have done a runner ages ago. :O
This is SO wrong. What a horrible example to set. What happened to getting married? This makes the royal family look like trailer trash!! Shame on you!
I thought they were basically living together at St. Andrews?
Although it makes no odds to me as a republican, and certainly don’t think it makes them trailer trash, he will be the head of the Church of England one day, like it or not, and that brings with it certain responsibilities. I’m with you on one thing K, either p*ss of get off the pot, Kate seems like too much of a class act to have to put up with such dithering.
So confused as to why someone like Kate would be giving William the time of day? How anyone would want to marry into this family is beyond me.
Exactly, G. I keep thinking that Kate has really romantasized the whole Princess of Wales thing to a really bad level (much like Diana did when she was 19 years old).
Mairead- It’s weird how Will is turning out *exactly like* his father, The Prince of Dithering.
I know it’s a big move to get married, especially in the royal family, but after six years you either know it’s right.. or it’s not. Wills needs to get the balls and marry her or she needs to move on. She seems like a lovely girl.
Cadiebelle: Diana happened to getting married.
I hope Kate Middleton knows by now what it means being married to a “Royal”.
They’re only 26 and yes while their relationship is 6 years old, that’s no reason to rush into marriage, and yes I know how dicky that sounds.
If the royal family wants to be seen as moving forward into the 21st century they’ll recognise Kate as Wills’ partner (what the term used now??) and give her security detail and the other guff that goes with it. She obviously can’t live a normal life and “date” William.
Though for the life of me I don’t understand the excuse of William needing to ‘concentrate’ on his military work ie marriage would be a distraction. Isn’t that a load of bollocks.
Umm. Cadiebelle, tons of people live together before they get married/engaged even. Why? Because you never truly know a person and their habits unless you live with them.
I really take offense to the whole that being a trailer trash thing to do.
And really. Agreed. He’s cute, don’t get me wrong, but that family just isn’t right.
To be fair to him though Kaiser – Wills is dithering with only one woman rather than a string of them. Although I suppose we all know people who have been together for years before getting married, so perhaps we’re being a bit harsh?
Still – rather her than me!
Um yeah, just a bit harsh!
Not everybody likes to rush into marriage! And I mean, why would you? So you can get divorced a few years later? I don’t know how long a girl could put up with all the crap that comes with being with a prince for very long. So, having a long relationship before you marry is probably a good idea.
Pffft. Marriage. Please. Like it is the be-all & end-all.
I had a neighbor tell me: “Don’t move in with them before marriage, cuz you know the saying “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free””
She had noticed that my BF slept over a lot.
It was rather rude and overly judgmental of her. VERY invasive if you ask me. Especially considering that this was our first conversation ever.
I look at it like this, it’s not your relationship. You don’t want to move in with your sig. other until there’s a ring. That’s great. The rest of us aren’t inclined to conform to your moral standards. Thanks.
Mairead – Well, to be fair to Charles, I think the only reason he dithered with so many women was because they wouldn’t put up with his sh-t, and they moved on. Kate Middleton is sticking to Will like a rash… I really don’t know what’s up with her.
It’s 2009. Living together before or without marriage is not exactly a rare thing.
I think she’s really beautiful. He’s going to be bald by 30, but hopefully he’ll rock the baldness.
While William looks a lot like his father, I think he truly cares about Kate. Charles was always in love with Camilla even though he got married to Diana (never understood that one) and definitely cheated on Diana. As far as we know, Kate is the only woman in the picture. They may have their own understanding when it comes to marriage, none of us actually knows. I’ve got a family member whose been with his gf for about 6 or 8 years, they’re living together and expecting a baby but have no immediate plans to marry. It’s the 21st century guys.
He is the future king of England – he needs to be an example. Just because a lot of people live together doesn’t make it right. If he respected her, he would marry her – otherwise it’s just room mates with benefits – not a great foundation to build a good lasting relationship on. If she is good enough to bed – she should be good enough to wed.
Watching The Tudors (I know, LOL!) taught me a lot about how English royalty used to play fast and loose with social conventions. Then came Queen Victoria and the whole outlook changed completely. The scandal of Edward and Wallis Simpson, and then later, Charles and Diana’s marriage/divorce, has probably made the entire Royal Family completely nervous and bonkers about the institution of marriage. Edward the younger and his wife Sohpie lived together for a time before they married, and they seem to be doing fine. Charles and Diana did not live together, and look what happened to them. Andrew and Fergie lived together but went bust. I think William must be scared out of his mind and that has nothing to do with how lovely Kate is or isn’t, but everything to do with what he witnessed between his parents when he was a little boy.
She has no career of her own, she does nothing but have a good time and dreaming about becoming a princess.
I see nothing laudable about that in the 21 century.
What is the difference between Katie Holmes who wanted to become a bigger movie star (or revive her dying career) and Kate M. from England?
I do agree that his family is one dysfunctional family and many of them don’t do anything by attend formals and socials, just like Kate.
Perhpas she does belong to such family.
However, at least William and his brother are serving their country.
I think he can do better.
I had a neighbor tell me: “Don’t move in with them before marriage, cuz you know the saying “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free””
That saying only works if you consider sex the only thing a woman has to offer and the thing she has to barter with to be taken care of by a man..
OK – so let’s make everything acceptable. If it feels good – do it. I want to do it because everyone else is doing it – where is personal responsibility?
Maybe this world is such a mess because people want to make their own rules.
Charles and Diana’s marriage did not fail because they did not live together first –
I know – lets make marriage illegal – who needs it – it’s outdated, uncool, takes work and is inconvienient and requires a person not to be totally self centered . . . much easier to just mess around
Camilla was living with Charles for years before they got married, so I don’t see what the big deal is about that. William & Kate obviously love each other and want to be together.
But after his parents’ disastrous union, William is no doubt gun-shy about marriage. The monarchy was in utter turmoil when Charles & Diana divorced, and at one point people didn’t want Charles to be king. So this is a huge step for William to take, both as an individual and as a future head of state.
Kate has been criticized for not being more demanding, but I think a royal wife is far better off being the accommodating type. Most of royal life is proscribed and if she has a problem with that, she would never be happy as a royal. William is well aware that a big reason Charles & Diana broke up is because Charles wanted a companion whose job was to support him, while Diana was far more concerned with the world’s problems than with his. In this aspect Camilla is a better fit with Charles’s needs.
Ned – doesn’t she work for “Jigsaw”? (not on the shop floor)
Mairead – she was a ‘buyer’ for Jigsaw but left that job about 18 months ago and now ‘works’ for her parents party accessory business from home.