[krazy for kate] my future queen

Sisters doin' it for themselves. Queen Kate tests the waters.

All right, I admit it - I have a thing for the future Queen of England and this sort of comment by Wolfie,alleging the less than nice side of Kat … er … Kate, is entirely uncalled for:

We bumped into Kate and Wills over dinner way back in 2005, just before their relationship was made public. I was of the opinion that she was a good catch for William but my wife (then my fiancée) disagreed, and to be honest I tend to listen to her on these matters because she has this amazing built-in bitch detector which never seems to fail in its accuracy.

Apparently on a trip to the bathroom during the evening there was one of those “women sizing each other up”/”evil eye” moments between Miss Middleton and my somewhat amused wife, which seems quite bizarre considering she was clearly romantically involved with me and seven years her senior.

Sigh - doesn't she hold a mean paddle?

So, I launched into a spirited defence of Lady Middleton:

I don't understand why everyone's down on Kate Middleton. Is the average blogger down on her because the media also is? And how did that come about? What did she do which was so wrong?

… only to receive this in the comments, from another Lady:

I think this lady doth protest too much, I don't think she has had a hard time. [Ellee]

But not everyone agrees. Lady Mutterings and Meanderings defended the chewing gum princess ... but at the expense of the family she's marrying into:

I think the poor girl is well shot of the lot of them. We do not live in the sort of society depicted in a Jane Austen novel. Those who criticise the Middletons for lack of class are pompous oafs who lack class themselves. Anyway, I reckon William's losing his looks already ...

And was this entirely necessary, Lady Welshcakes?

I think she should thank her lucky stars that she has not married into that most dysfunctional of families.

... and Sir Tom, you may have waxed lyrical here but I don't think this entirely clears the air:

William seems a sensible guy - not difficult by comparison with his barking mad Dad. He has the free will to be Free Will if he wants.

But Lady Mutterings and Meanderings is not convinced of our Kate's newsworthiness:

But why was the break-up of their romance the top story on the BBC TV news? That's not right ...

Kate - she might be up that creek but she sure has a paddle.

To which the Minnesotan, erstwhile New Yorker, producer of Little C, Lady Ruthie, had to ask:

An even more pertinent question, Mutterings and Meanderings, might be: "Why was the story of their breakup the top story in a mid-sized American city in Minnesota?" I mean, good heavens ... But, um... as long as we're on the topic... how does one go about meeting an eligible prince?

... to which some desperate hopeful called james higham replied:

There are plenty of us about.

Anyway, to the present Konundrum about Kate by that authoritative, serious news source, the Daily Mail, who kindly supplied the pics I swiped for "reasonable usage" and they point out:

Kate Middleton has been forced to pull out of her Channel boat race - a clear indication that her romance with Prince William is officially on again. After all the ballyhoo about her joining the Sisterhood, a 21-strong female crew of a Chinese dragon boat, and weeks of training on the Thames, I can reveal she has abruptly dropped out, leaving her fellow amateur rowers high and dry.

Officially her decision was taken because of security fears that her high-profile presence might jeopardise the safety of the other girls. But I understand she was ordered to drop out by royal aides who fear Kate's continued role was in danger of becoming a major media event.

So there you have it. Kate's back [hoorah!] and the greatly missed Tin Drummer is pleased that she's finally being treated as the Queen she will be:

I am a kind of instinctive monarchist and I'd like William to be a good King one day but I don't want people associated with him to be hounded every time they step out the door.

Perhaps an American visitor, Lord Nazh, should have the final word:

I'd buy her lunch ... maybe dinner ...

"Need some more gum, mum?"

"Don't you start!"