People Features

Kate Middleton maintains normalcy despite media circus

By April MacIntyre Jan 10, 2007, 15:35 GMT

Holiday in the sun- Prince William and Kate Middleton on Boat in Ibiza © Photorazzi

Americans and their British cousins feel as if they're watching a repeat of "Diana mania" news from over 20 years ago.

The growing British tabloid three-ring circus is circling around a mild-mannered 25 year-old girl, Kate Middleton, who happens to be Prince Williams' girl.

The Prince is well aware of his Mother's history with the media, and has appealed to the press to leave his girlfriend Kate Middleton alone.

The rumble in British press is the pair could announce their engagement at any time, and the growing army of intrusive paparazzi has further provoked William, and caused the Royal Family barristers to consider legal action for harassment.

Most recently, Kate Middleton left her home on her 25th birthday and there were five TV crews and more than 20 photographers instantly surrounding her.

An agreement with the royals to remain at a specific distance to allow Kate to get to her car "was broken when a TV crew broke ranks and bolted across the road, causing a stampede as others joined," claimed the Australian Herald Sun.

A palace spokesman said, "Prince William wants more than anything for the paparazzi to stop harassing her."

Insiders say William is worried about his girl, and the potential for any possible harm to come to her from overzealous snappers.

If you are old enough to remember the "fairytale" that was Charles and Diana, their courtship and pomp and circumstance-filled nuptials dominated the news in 1981.  Crowds upward of 600,000 people filled the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on their wedding day. 

Many Americans and Canadians stopped work and were glued to the television, and the British got a holiday to enjoy the festivities.

Charles and Diana were married before an invited congregation of 3,500, and an estimated television audience of 750 million worldwide, making it the most popular program ever broadcast. It was a breathtaking ceremony, and even the most anti-royal types were mesmerized by the spectacle of the British Monarch's steeped in tradition ceremony.  No one does it like the English.

"A picture of Kate pointing at a camera and clearly saying 'sod off' is clearly worth more on world magazine markets than one of her walking sedately down a street," senior Times photographer Chris Harris said, reported the Herald Sun.

Kate's parents have hired the same law firm that services the royal family in hopes to sober up the royal wedding-mad snappers and get them to behave.