Kate Middleton and her family starting to be picked apart by British press

Posted by April MacIntyre Mar 17, 2011, 17:41 GMT

Kate Middleton has everything: A great family, good looks, a personable demeanor and the hottest catch in all of Britain: Prince William. Leave the girl alone, or nit pick mercilessly? The UK press is in for the kill: Prince William and Fiancee Kate Middleton - Prince William and Fiancee Kate Middleton Visit a Royal National Lifeboat Institution Lifeboat Station at Trearddur Bay on February 24, 2011 - Trearddur Bay - Anglesey. Wales. UK © Solarpix / PR Photos

Leave the girl alone, or nit pick mercilessly? The UK press is in for the kill: Prince William and Fiancee Kate Middleton - Prince William and Fiancee Kate Middleton Visit a Royal National Lifeboat Institution Lifeboat Station at Trearddur Bay on February 24, 2011 - Trearddur Bay - Anglesey. Wales. UK © Solarpix / PR PhotosIt appears as though Middleton's social life is a succession of trials for her and her upper middle-class English family, as the love affair with Kate is starting to show real cracks in the teapot of the British press.Several reports are popping up that snip at Kate's weight, and her family's business which sells themed party doo-dads and keepsakes.A remark Kate Middleton made about her weight is sparking in the news.CBS News' royal contributor Victoria Arbiter spoke with Adriana Diaz on Prince William and Kate Middleton's to do list as their royal wedding approaches and make predictions as to where the honeymoon might be. Arbiter also reported from outside Buckingham Palace that Kate's weight was newsworthy after what was described as a "flippant remark" in Belfast."The Early Show," co-anchor Erica Hill says, "Poor Kate can't catch a break."Arbiter explained that the remark made "has been misconstrued." Allegedly a person in the crowd said to Kate, "Don't lose any more weight," to which she replied, "Oh, it's all part of the wedding plan." Hill then said some are saying Kate may be a little "too thin" at this point. Then, Sandra Parsons of the Daily_Mail tsk-tsked the family of Kate Middleton for having the bad taste to sell souvenirs and keepsakes through their company, Party Pieces.Ms Parsons says, "They seem a close, stable family, who, despite their wealth and the fact their future son-in-law will one day be King, appear to retain a reassuring middle-class normality...So it would be good to think that yesterday's news that they have launched scratch cards with a royal theme on their party goods website is, to say the least, an unfortunate lapse...After all, in an era when even the most ordinary MP must declare any whiff of a conflict of interest, it seems obvious that using your daughter's royal wedding to further your own business is an uncomfortably mercenary act.""This seems rather more than a lapse. On the contrary, it appears to be a determined and deliberate attempt at making money out of their daughter's wedding — an unpleasant enough notion at the best of times, but particularly unsettling when that daughter is one day going to be Queen."Parsons' argument seems to be that the Middletons are rich enough, and their novelty company, a solid tax-paying business - which employs British workers and sells keepsake items and party decorations to commemorate, say, something as once-in-a lifetime as a Royal Wedding - is a bit too greedy for their own good."...then money is the real puzzle about the wholesome Middletons. They seem to have eye-wateringly large amounts of it — enough to have paid for a million-pound family home, acres of land, a flat in Chelsea and a public school education for their three children — for reasons that aren't entirely clear.""Their company accounts are hidden, but those of their major competitor, which are available, suggest it's unlikely the firm would yield sufficient profits to fund their multi-million-pound lifestyle."Do you agree with Ms. Parsons? Is this bad taste for the Middleton's company to sell any keepsake items for the Royal Wedding? Are the Middletons within their right to run a business and sell what they see fit, or should they buckle to what appears to be a British disdain for entrepreneurial spirit, wealth and success within certain "classes" of folk? Talk back and tell us what you think.

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Kate Middleton and her family starting to be picked apart by British press

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