Middleton Gets "Royal" Treatment

By NEIL SEAN

She may have been dubbed "Waity Katie" by some media wags, but Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton is doing more than cooling her heels as she waits for the heir to propose.

"She is basically having lessons on being royal," a source close to Middleton has said. Her training includes such topics as how to deal with the media, interact with other guests at major social functions and meet with heads of state.

The Palace appears to be determined to avoid some of the problems it encountered with Prince William's mother, the late Princess Diana. Royal courtiers are saying the media treatment of Diana would be even more obsessive, were she alive today. This makes it even more imperative that Middleton be trained to act like a royal.

Already there have been some problems. Middleton has been photographed in unladylike poses at a roller disco, her mother has been described in the press as meddlesome and a close relative has been linked by the U.K. tabloids to drugs in Ibiza.

Kate Middleton: Princess In Waiting

Even Middleton herself seems daunted by the task. "It's like mountains in front of you," she told a friend, "but I want to do the best I can...I don't want to let anyone down "

Some early signs of the royal treatment include new designer clothes, whiter teeth and glossier hair.

Rumors of a royal emgagement are intensifying in Britain.

And Middleton isn't the only one whom the queen is taking under her wing. Sources say the family vacation this month at the royal estate in Balmoral will include discussions of a wide royal role for Prince William.

He is to be groomed as a younger ambassador of HRH The Queen, starting with a visit next year to Australia.

"It's no secret that Prince Charles is also getting no younger and the Royals need to keep 'The Firm,' as they call it, working and in good order," one royal watcher said. William is expected to be trained to take part in such events as the opening of Parliament and the Trooping of the Colour, both events that are traditionally associated with the queen.
By NEIL SEAN