British press pores over end to royal romance

London, Apr 15: British newspapers devoted page after page to speculation over why Prince William's romance with Kate Middleton ended, with one saying Queen Elizabeth had told him ''we don't want another Diana.'' An official spokesman for William, eldest son of late Princess Diana, said, ''We will not discuss the prince's private life.'' Britain's best-selling Sunday newspaper the News of the World said Queen Elizabeth had told the second in line to the throne at a secret ''royal summit'' not to rush into anything he might regret.

Friends of William, who first met Middleton in 2001 while at university in Scotland and began dating her in 2003, rubbished suggestions there had been any family summit or that his grandparents had told him to end the romance.

Middleton, the eldest child of middle-class entrepreneurs who had won plaudits for her dress sense and poise, was widely tipped to be Britain's next Queen.

The News of the World devoted the first nine pages of its edition to the split and said William's grandfather Prince Philip had told him to commit, or walk away.

The Sunday Telegraph said it was William's father Prince Charles, whose ill-fated relationship to Diana rocked the royal family, who had told his son not to keep Middleton hanging on if he had doubts about the relationship.

The Sunday Mail put the story on its first seven pages and said Middleton, the daughter of a former air stewardess, did not have a sufficiently upper class background to become queen.

The Sunday Mirror also plugged that line saying Middleton's mother was simply ''not posh enough for royals''. It said she had raised eyebrows by saying ''toilet'' instead of ''lavatory'' and by not addressing Queen Elizabeth properly on their first meeting.

''COMPLETE NONSENSE''

Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the BBC in an interview the couple should be left in peace.

''In respect of Prince William, they're a young couple. We've had the announcement. Fine. They should be left alone without reams of stuff being written that I can assure you from my experience ...

most of which will be complete nonsense.'' There has so far been no official announcement about the split.

The Sun, the tabloid that broke the news yesterday, said the relationship had been strained since William graduated from Sandhurst military academy last December at a ceremony attended by Middleton.

It said the couple had reached ''an amicable agreement'' to end their relationship.

The main underlying reason given by most commentators for the split was simply that at 24 years, William was not ready to get married and wanted to wait until he was 28, or 30.

Since graduating from Sandhurst, William has spent much of his time at army barracks in southwest England, away from Middleton who works in the capital London.

One of Middleton's close friends told the Sun she was frustrated by the way the relationship was going.

Some commentators also said the constant media glare may have become too much for Middleton, who filed a harassment complaint with Britain's press watchdog last month.

However, bookmakers heaved a sigh of relief the romance was over as they stood to lose out if the two had wed.

''We are as shocked as everyone else, if rather more relieved than most, as we were preparing to pay out over 50,000 pounds to punters who had backed the couple to wed,'' said Rupert Adams, a spokesman for bookmakers William Hill.

REUTERS

Related Stories

Paparazzi echo Diana chase with William's girl