Saturday, April 30, 2011

ROYAL TIMELINE: "Prince William and Kate Middleton - And They Lived Happily Ever After"



July 29,1981- Prince William was Born into Royalty
Prince Charles, marries Lady Diana Spencer, a 20 year old teacher, in a lavish Royal Wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral with 750 million tuned worldwide. Happened on June 21, 1982, the royals welcome their first son, His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis Windsor of Wales. The newborn is the second in line for the British throne following his father. Two years later, they welcome Prince Harry.

Mother's Common Touch in 1983
Princess Diana displays an unusual hands-on parenting approach with their first born, taking nine-month-old Prince William along when she and Prince Charles make an official visit to Australia. Uncommon among the royals.

William as Mama's Boy
As a young boy, Prince William becomes his mother's closest confidant, "soul mate" and "chief comforter" especially every time the Royal couple quarreled.

December 1992
Diana and Charles Separated

Weeks before William, and Harry, returned to boarding school, the Royal couple announced their separation. Prince Charles say that he never loved his bride, while Princess Diana answered by saying they are 3 in that marriage, referring to longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles.Throughout the marriage, Diana battled bulimia and depression, which she blames on Charles and to the coldness of the Royal Family.

September 1995
A Royal's Education

Diana tried to give her sons a normal upbringing as possible. Rejected Charles' alma mater, a boarding school in Scotland, for Eton College, a prestigious public boarding school near London. Criticisms rose, but Diana sticked with her upbringing style.

November 1995
Diana Knows Best

William and Harry hunt, fish, and go riding with their father. In their mother's company, they go to McDonald's and Disneyland, but also to AIDS clinics and homeless shelters. "I want them to have an understanding of people's emotions, of people's insecurities, of people's distress, of their hopes and dreams," she tells ABC's Martin Bashir in an interview.

August 28, 1996
The Terms of Divorce

After nearly 15 years of marriage, Charles and Diana's divorce is finalized. The royal exes agree to share custody of their sons, William, 14, and Harry, 11. In addition, the AP reports that Charles, 47, will pay Diana, 35, a lump sum of $26.35 million, and about $620,000 a year to run her private office. But the Princess loses the battle of keeping her title 'HRH' (Her Royal Highness), which is stripped from her. She will officially be known simply as Diana, Princess of Wales.

June 25, 1997
Sequins Save Lives

William tells his mom the idea of auctioning her dresses to raise money for charity. Diana loved it, and Christie's New York sells a collection of 79 gowns from her closet. A crowd of 1,100 shows up - raising a total of $5.76 million for AIDS and breast cancer charities. The dress Diana wore at a 1985 White House dinner where she danced with John Travolta fetches the highest bid of $222,500.

August 31, 1997
Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997)

Diana, 36, dies in a fatal car accident in Paris with her companion Dodi Fayed, heir to the owner of Harrods. The car crash in the Place de l'Alma tunnel was the result of a 60-mph paparazzi car chase. Following her death, Prince Charles flies to Paris to bring her body to London for burial, and drapes the royal standard over her coffin, acknowledging in death her status as a member of the Royal Family. Queen Elizabeth was quiet and after a week of seclusion, the Queen returns with her grandsons from Balmoral Castle in Scotland to address the public.

September 06, 1997
Saying Farewell

The Queen breaks precedent to give Diana a royal funeral because she is the mother of the future king. William, 15, and Harry, 12, walk behind their mother's coffin, while more than a million people line the route of Diana's funeral cortege. Earl Spencer uses his eulogy to criticize the media's hounding of his sister and Elton John sings a reworked version of his hit "Candle in the Wind."

June 21, 2000
Turning 18

The British media ramps up its coverage of William as he turns 18. In his final year at Eton, William excels in his studies and emerges as a popular student and natural leader who plays soccer, polo, and is a captain of the swim team. After graduation, the prince takes a year off to tour Chile and Africa.

2001 Fall
Collegiate Life

William begins his college education at St. Andrew's in Scotland. He studies art history, goes by William Wales on campus, and visits bars and pubs with his friends, despite what some people might think," In his second semester, William forks over 200 pounds to sit front row at a charity fashion show to cheer on friend, Kate Middleton, whom he met when they both entered college. A very close friendship began and they move off campus together with their two pals.

April 01, 2004
Royal Pairing

William and Middleton are photographed cozying up on a Swiss ski trip. The pair finally confirms that they are, in fact, a couple. Not only does he have a blossoming love, he also has a new major in college: geography, and it's going very well he says.

January 13, 2005
Good Prince, Bad Prince

William, 22, and Harry, 20, attended a friend's costume party. William wears an animal costume, and Harry dons a Nazi uniform complete with a swastika armband. Causing a firestorm of controversy.

April 09, 2005
Charles Weds Camilla

William and Harry attend their father's wedding to his love of 30 years Camilla Parker Bowles, 57, in Windsor, England. William and stepbrother, Tom, share the duty of officially witnessing the marriage. Harry, who was said to be the uneasiest about the relationship, is the first to wave back as the newly married couple exits the ceremony. After the wedding, Camilla has the right to the title of Princess of Wales (Diana's former title), but adopting Duchess of Cornwall instead.

June 23, 2005
Working Prince

William graduates with an honors degree in geography from St. Andrews. In the fall, he participates in a program to learn land management at Chatsworth House, financial planning with HSBC Group in London, and joins the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Team in Wales. He also follows in his mother's humanitarian footsteps and becomes Patron of Centrepoint, the U.K.'s leading youth homelessness charity, and Patron of the Tusk Trust, an African conservation charity in UK.

November 2006
Middleton: A Princess Bride?

Media begins expounding on when William will propose to Middleton, his girlfriend of more than four years. Woolworths designs commemorative plates and mugs with the couple's photographs.

December 12, 2006
Concert for Diana

William and Harry planned a concert to mark their mother's 46th birthday. It takes place in London on July 1 with Elton John and Duran Duran as performers.

December 15, 2006
Military Duty

William graduates from the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, England, and is commissioned as an officer in the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals. Younger brother Harry also attended the prestigious academy and graduated as a Second Lieutenant in the Army. William later learns to fly with the Royal Air Force and patrols the Caribbean Sea with the Royal Navy in 2008.

April 14 2007
No Fairy Tale Ending?

William and Middleton call it quits after nearly five years together. The pair are said to have grown increasingly independent since their university days. But, in June 2007, they resume their relationship.

August 2007
The Fairy Tale Resumes

After rekindling their romance, William takes Middleton off to a secluded island in the Indian Ocean. The private, romantic break bolsters talk that a royal engagement may even be in the works.

August 31 2007
Remembering Diana

At the service William and Harry planned to mark the 10th anniversary of their mother's death, William listens as Harry speaks of Diana. "To us, just two loving children, she was quite simply the best mother in the world," Harry says, praising Diana's "unfaltering love" and adding that, behind the media glare, she was someone "who laughed hysterically and uncontrollably when sharing something silly...Encouraged us when we were nervous."

November 16 2010
A Royal Engagement

After years of speculation, William and Middleton, both 28, announce their engagement, with plans to wed on April 29, 2011 in London. The prince proposed to his girlfriend of eight years with his late mother Diana's engagement ring while the couple vacationed in Kenya in October.


April 29 2011
Royal Wedding

A Fairy Tale come true. A commoner and a Prince share their love and happiness together. To live happily ever after.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More