Prince William's Romance Renewed?

(CBS)  It was a royal riddle: Did Kate Middleton sitting not with but behind Prince William at the Concert for Diana last weekend mean the relationship was off or back on?

Britain's The Sun Newspaper says the relationship is very much back on. A royal spokesman declined to comment. British gossip columnist Katie Nicholl said that it is important to be careful about speculation because Middleton and the prince have not yet had an official outing as a couple.

The Times of London reported that Prince William is planning to do a stint as a civil servant in the Foreign Office after he leaves the armed forces. He would likely begin his new job towards late 2009. Nicholl said that Middleton also has a serious career as an accessories buyer at a high end store, but always had an arrangement to work Monday through Thursday so she can spend a full weekend with the prince. Nicholl said she is not as committed to her career as other "career women" might be.

Sources say Prince William, 25, is thinking seriously about his future and learning lessons from his family's past.

"Almost like his father, who dithered over whether to marry Camilla Parker Bowles, William has used this time apart from Kate to decide that actually his future lies with her and that it's time to regularize the relationship," Princess Diana's former private secretary, Patrick Jephson, told CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.

But not only was Middleton sitting behind the prince at the concert, but her family was also in attendance.

"We know Kate was involved with the concert many months before it happened, so I think this was a commitment that was in her diary a long-time commitment," Nicholl told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "I think the fact she sat separate rows behind, I think it was the right thing to do. I think it was unusual that Chelsea was so close to Harry. This was Harry and William's thing. It was significant she was there and it was only right she was behind him. She's not going to step out and be right at Prince William's side right at something so public. They need time and that's reflective of where they sat at the concert."

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Photos: Kate Middleton
Photos: Prince William
Photos: A Concert For Diana

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Newspaper coverage of the pair's widely publicized breakup three months ago included malicious gossip about Middleton's mother, a former flight attendant, but Middleton herself maintained a dignified silence, proving that she is one of the few people that Prince William can trust. Nicholl said she turned down offers worth millions of dollars to write books and even a single interview would have gotten her hundreds of thousands of pounds.

"I mean, I think that is everything to him," Nicholl said. "Discretion, loyalty, I mean, that — those are the most important qualities, what he looks for in his friends. Most importantly, what he looks for in a girlfriend. You see Kate has displayed that, all of those qualities. She's been so loyal, not once has she broken her silence. And I think that must mean everything to him. I would say that's a major factor in them getting back together."

"I think that there is no doubt that Kate Middleton is proving to be a very shrewd young woman and I mean that in a very positive way," Jephson said. "After all recent sad experience of women who have married into the royal family would suggest that the more carefully you think about taking such a step, the better for you."

It's a step court insiders say both Middleton and Prince William are likely to take. After all, a prince can get away with dumping his girl once, but not twice.

So, like she was last winter, Middleton is once again in the sights of paparazzi. Just last week, she complained to the police and press complaints commission that photographers were followed her. If she gets some formal protection, that would signal that she has officially back in the royal fold, as would her attendance at this summer's polo games watching Prince William play.

"My own bet would be on an engagement at the end of next year or the beginning of 2009 with a wedding to follow as soon as the summer of 2009," Jephson said.

Britain's bookmakers agree. In betting shops, the odds are now officially 2 to 1 that a royal wedding is just over a year away. And if they do get back together, Nicholl said it is foregone conclusion that an engagement would follow.

"From the sources I've spoken to and the sources that helped me break the original story about the secret date, yes, I think it's got to be," she said. "If they get back together there can't be any turning welcome back. William has to make a decision, Kate has to make a decision and that's that. I think we'll see a royal engagement and a royal wedding."

[sandyalex-2009]

I want them to stay out of the spotlight. But their images are constantly on the television, in print media, and on the web. Enough already. I don't want to know anything until or if there is an Official Announcement from Buckingham Palace and/or Clarence House. Before this happens, who cares?

[hollybear5]

I think everyone needs to mind their own business and quit worrying what Kate and William are doing.......personally, I could really care less..
I hope they are happy and I hope they never read this *** that some of you people with no lives write on here because you are just as bad as the paparazzi.......ya think?

[sandyalex-2009]

I'm not sure Kate is aware of her own self worth. I honestly don't think William treats her very well. I think he's a bit too much like his father. I think Kate puts up with too much from him. Allegedly, his aristo friends make nasty comments about her parents being flight attendants (and say "doors to manual") and from what I read, Wills doesn't treat her with much respect. At a private party after the concert, according to UK press reports, he was groping her in front of his friends yet didn't sit with her. I think she should have given him his walking papers a long time ago. I think though unfortunately her whole life revolves around him and she didn't work for 18 months to be at his beck and call. I think a future consort should have some spunk and stand up for herself and do things on her own. I don't have much hope for Kate Middleton if she continues to let William string her along. And William should leave her alone if he can't commit to her despite his possibly "making the same mistakes as his father." The only mistake his Daddy made was moving on and not going back and sleeping with married ex girlfriends.

[sandyalex-2009]

I think Kate's "discretion" is somewhat overemphasized. Of course she's not going to say anything, she wants to marry William. And even if she doesn't she still parties with William's circle of aristo friends. She'd have to be a total dunderhead to blab to the press--she'd not only lose William, she'd lose all her status with his crowd. From her actions over the past few years this is something she values and probably her family likes the connections to royalty so of course they are not going to spill the beans. I don't think it's a special achievement for Kate Middleton not to say anything. She has her own agenda in mind and is not stupid by any means. I do agree the press should leave them alone. But unlike the examples of other royal houses, I would like to see the prospective bride to be do something real for work and charities instead of clubbing. A future consort should be seen as more than a clotheshorse and party girl.

[sclaires]

I have said it before and I will say it again, leave William and Kate alone!!! The paparazzi needs to look at other people for their photos instead of William and Kate. If William and Kate are meant to be together, then so be it. If not, then time will tell. After all, William has found a girl who is not going to open her mouth about what she and William do so at least that shows she has more common sense then a lot of other women.

If people would look to Denmark, the crown prince married a commoner from Australia who is now Princess Mary. They have two children now. And, you do not hear of them being in the news or in magazines the way that the paparazzi do with William and Harry.

For goodness sake let William and Kate live their lives without speculation on rather they will marry or not. If it is meant to be, then it will happen. Otherwise they will split for good if it is not meant to be.

LEAVE WILLIAM AND KATE ALONE AND LET NATURE TAKE IT'S COURSE.

[sandyalex-2009]

This whole thing is a farce. Faking a breakup make them look about as mature as 12 year olds. And Kate was in the papers EVERY day practically in the UK and even on the cover of Hello. So just how did this take the heat off them. The attention was worse than ever. Kate and William need to act like adults before the contemplate marriage. It's interesting that the real couple at the Concert Harry and Chelsy were practically ignored in favor of Kate and Wills. I think Harry and Chelsy have a better shot at staying together than Kate and Wills.

[mms0518]

I believe that William & Kate never were apart....this was a "smokescreen" to give them each a break, and when it didn't work (they were being harrassed anyway), they started their "get back together" public appearances. It does make news for royalty watchers.

[sandyalex-2009]

I am so tired of these two. On again off again, hardly the look of a couple deeply committed to each other. I wish the media would back off for a while and let them be. It is not up to the media to get these two married off. If William is ambivalent about her, better for him to back off. ANd I am so sick of hearing how William doesn't want to make the same mistake that Dad did letting the first love (in Dad's case) Camilla? When did Daddy let Camilla go? A little technicality like their being married to other people certainly didn't stop him. Just when did Prince Charles let Camilla go?

[nlm2383]

I completely agree mygramma...

[mygramma]

I hope Kate thinks about this long and hard - and with skepticism. Marrying into that family is no picnic, as William's mother could tell us (but she wouldn't, of course). Like Diana, Kate is a world class young woman, and I do hope she doesn't get hurt like Diana. It may be crass of me to say it, but I think Kate can do better than William -- he just seems a lot like his father, and that does not bode well.