This week Prince William and Kate Middleton, girlfriend of nine years, announced their engagement. Prince William shocked the world when he gave his mother’s engagement ring. He gave Middleton the blue sapphire and diamond engagement ring that belonged to Princess Diana in 1981. William stated about giving the ring to Kate, “My way of making sure my mother didn’t miss out on today” (Bates). By giving Middleton the ring, in my opinion, puts a lot of pressure on her.
However, the media keeps referring to Kate Middleton as the commoner. I did not like how the media labeled Kate Middleton as the commoner because she was raised middle class. Indeed, she is marrying into the royal family and has the potential to become the sixth Queen Catherine. This is an awful nickname the press has put on Middleton and her family. Kate Middleton’s family fortune is from an online company they established selling party bags and other paraphernalia for children’s parties. They are a very normal and middle class family but the press does not reveal this to the public. This is because of the Marxist theory, “… the notion that material conditions and economic practices shape the dominant ideology about who ought to be and ought to not be empowered” (Sellnow 71). The press does not like empowering someone of middle class who is about to marry into the royal family.
The media has made it clear that William and Kate have both been socially mobile but in opposite directions. William was raised in upper class and Kate was just an ordinary child from a middle class family. Many believe she won’t be able to handle the responsibilities and everything that comes with being royalty. Not only are people worried about her being a princess and all the paparazzi but will she be able to survive marrying in to this dysfunctional family. She is getting a lot of media attention and in some of the articles I read she is seen as a style icon in waiting. Middleton is beautiful and the public is beginning to adore her. Beside what some of the media is saying some say that she is giving the monarchy a better chance for long-term survival.
In my opinion I don’t think it matters that Kate Middleton is a so-called “commoner” because she is someone people are going to look up to. She is handling the paparazzi and media better than Princess Diana ever did. They are look like equals rather than two people forced together to protect a dying dynasty and they are in love unlike Charles and Diana. The media is so focused on what she came from rather than reporting on the amazing and beautiful person of Kate Middleton. So, who cares if she is a middle class woman who is a genuinely good person and is more than capable in being the Princess of Wales.
References:
Bates, Stephen. "How 'commoner' Kate Middleton Won Prince William's Heart." UK News: The Guardian. 17 Nov, 2010. Web.
Chancellor, Alexander. "Why Kate Middleton Is the Perfect Choice." UK News: The Guardian. 19 Nov, 2010. Web.
Sellnow, Deanna D. "A Marxist Perspective." The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture: Considering Mediated Texts. SAGE Publications, 2010. 71-88. Print.
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