Prince William and Kate Middleton engaged, well, according to New Idea anyway!

Australian Magazine New Idea has reported that Prince William and Kate Middleton have become engaged and that an official announcement of the event is "imminent". The claim comes on the heels of fresh speculation in the British media that the couple is shortly to become engaged. Fresh speculation or not, this very same claim has been made so many times in the past that an engagement between William and Kate already feels like old news! Therefor such an assertion from New Idea is barely worth noting aside from the interesting fact that it was New Idea that broke the embargo on Prince Harry's deployment to Afghanistan. Should that information been passed to them from a source close to Princes William and Harry rather then through the journalist grapevine could it mean that there may actually be something to all this?

Personally, I say no. New Idea is not the first to report on an engagement between Kate and William and I rather doubt if they will be the last. Unless such an announcement arrives with the heading, "Clarence House is pleased to announce . . ." it's all just rumor.

Although media on both sides of the globe are in agreement (once again) that an engagement is "imminent" there is conflict in whether or not it is a suitable match. In the past Kate was viewed across the board as a perfect Queen-to-be. Lately however, her continued lack of gainful employment and carefree lifestyle has caused concern amongst some royal reporters (and watchers) over her suitability as a future royal. The Queen herself is reported to share such concerns and feels that Kate should hold down a steady job before any engagement. With William starting the latest stint in his military training it's likely that Kate should have plenty of time to do so despite this most recent glut of engagement speculation.

Others brush such worries aside and point to the trouble the Countess of Wessex encountered when she attempted to keep up her PR business after marrying into the royal family. Said one courtier, "The whole point of the monarchy's strategy then was to disentangle the unfortunate Sophie from any commercial activity. People do seem to have very short memories."

But isn't that beside the point? For there seems to be no such career priorities Kate needs "disentangling" from. Which is were this trouble all seems to stem from.

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