Next Queen Being Groomed?

Britain's Prince Charles didn't get married until he was 32. His oldest son may not wait that long.

Prince William, who's in line to become king, and his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton, have been dating for four years. Observers say it could well be that she's being groomed to be queen.

Robert Jobson covers the royals for the London Evening Standard, and has written a book about the young couple called "William's Princess: The True Story of the Romance That Will Change the Monarchy."

On The Early Show Thursday, Jobson told co-anchor Hannah Storm, "It sounds pretty serious (between William and Middleton)."I broke the last story, that Charles was to wed Camilla (Parker Bowles). So, I'm hoping I'll (get to) break this one if it ever actually happens.

"They've been together four years now. They met first as friends. She was going out with another young man … and eventually, that friendship turned to love.

"And I think this is quite an interesting love story, because it's pretty much a modern royal marriage. Years ago, they would have married princesses from another country or an aristocrat, as was the case with Princess Diana. Now, this is an ordinary, middle-class girl who seems to match William intellectually as well as emotionally and physically, I presume!"

Jobson says Middleton is being received by the British people and the royal family "very well indeed, actually. She's met the Queen on a number of occasions privately. She introduced her own parents to the Queen and the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburg. … She has been to the nearest thing we've had to a royal wedding in recent times, which is the wedding of Laura Parker Bowles, Camilla's daughter, and she went with Prince William as his escort.

"Therefore, she's obviously been seen and groomed by the royal family to take on a particular role, but (they're) keeping it as low-key as possible. They're protecting her with lawyers. There's a lot of stories; every time it appears in the newspaper, they're very keen to protect her privacy and to make sure people aren't overstepping the mark, and they're obviously paying (the tab) for that themselves."
What about reports Middleton even has her own security force already?

"What's happened there," Jobson replied, "is that in the past, obviously, they're worried about security, given this current state of terrorism in the world. That's quite understandable. But the truth is, her flat in London has had some security advancements. Whenever she's with Prince William, she has Scotland Yard protection alongside him. There is talk of a private security firm paid for by Prince Charles looking after her, but that's being kept low-key at the moment. We're not 100 percent (sure) exactly what's happening on that."

Is a wedding in the offing?

"I'm not sure about in the near future," Jobson said. " … I think we could be looking 18 months, maybe two years down the line. William himself has said he doesn't want to get married until he's 28. I think she is quoted as saying, 'He's lucky to be going out with me!' I think he should be aware of that, because she's a really attractive girl and someone might want to snap her up."

Jobson says the couple could change the face of the monarchy, literally and figuratively.

"No question," he emphasized. "At the moment, the monarchy is obviously the queen and Prince Philip, who are in their 80s now. It's quite an old-looking monarchy, really, an established, traditional monarchy. Charles and Camilla, no matter how hard Camilla works, I think she's going to struggle to win over the British public and the public of the world. Diana was such an international icon. It's going to be quite difficult to replace her. I think, after the queen passes away, I think there's going to be a real emphasis on the youth of the monarchy — and this young girl, if she does turn out to be the future princess, will have a major impact because they are the young face of the monarchy."