(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."

---

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

---

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."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Back To Top