One little girl got to grow up and marry her prince who is also a real Prince. That little girls name is Catherine Elizabeth Middleton.

I think Prince William and Kate’s (as she is affectionately known by the global media) nuptials are indicative of a wonderfully changing world. One so changed and changing that even the long-standing, influential, immensely powerful and endlessly stoic British Royal Family cannot control or stop or be influenced by. I say this because historically the heir to the British thrown has not been allowed to marry a commoner, i.e. somebody not born in to some long-standing, traceable, aristocratic line; and I cannot help but wonder how things would have turned out differently for the Windsor’s if this rule had not been so steadfastly enforced up until now.

The Queen’s uncle, Edward VIII, was heir to the British thrown, but abdicated his duties as such because he fell in love with a woman who was not only a commoner, but also American and had been twice divorced. Her name was Wallis Simpson; and after his abdication, the then Prince of Wales and his new bride were effectively demoted to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. They lived out their lives in Paris. Essentially it was decided by the British decision makers at the time that the people would never accept a divorcee as their queen. But I suspect there was more to it than that.

In 1981 Charles, the next Prince of Wales and longest standing heir to the British thrown,  (Queen Elizabeth II has been on the thrown since 1958), married Lady Diana Spencer. The Princess of Wales as she would become was a lot younger than Charles, but was considered suitable because she was aristocratic and apparently because she was a virgin, which the future queen of England was supposed to be until she married. It is widely supposed that Charles’ real love was Camilla Parker-Bowles (nee Shand) who he couldn’t marry until the Queen made an exception for their obvious and relentless love in 2005. But of course by the time he got to married Camilla he at least he had sired a real royal heir in William.

So had Edward not abdicated and had Charles not been coerced into marrying Diana, William wouldn’t have even been heir to the thrown in the first place. So luckily for William that there were all these rules , but luckily for William he gets to break some of the old rules too.

Here’s how William and Kate’s courtship has broken some of the rules:

• Kate is the great-great-grand-daughter of a coal miner and by no means aristocratic
• Kate is older than William
• Kate has a university degree
• Kate and William have been living together already
• Kate and William chose one another after William saw Kate modeling in a see-through dress at St. Andrews in Scotland
• Kate started ‘dating’ William ten years before she was formerly ‘introduced’ to the world just three months before she married him
• Kate appears to have good marriage role-models in her own parents

Here’s how their wedding is going to break some rules:

• They’ve had ten years to consider their options
• They have had their ‘divorce’ already, when they broke up in 2007
• Kate appears to have her ears and eyes wide open to what being the Princess of Wales actually entails (although who knows if she will ever actually be the Princess of Wales because the Queen doesn’t look like she’s going anywhere for a while)
• Kate seems more confident (she’s older) and certainly more outspoken about how lucky William is to have her, rather than the other way around
• Kate has worked in the real world, as chief buyer for Jigsaw, a popular high-street clothing chain

Two billion people are expected to watch the biggest Royal Wedding since Williams’ parents wedding over 30 years ago. No doubt Kate is already feeling the pressure, not just because of that, but because of the media frenzy that has surrounded her since the February announcement of their engagement. She is a brave woman, or she must really love William, because as Tu Pac said so wisely

what of fame? everyone knows your name, never again are you alone

Hopefully this little girl’s dream to marry her Prince won’t just be a fairytale, but rather it will have a fairytale ending too; and maybe that’s thanks to the fact that the bride and groom actually got to make some of their own choices.

You’ve got to love change.