I posted this on the main Community Board as well, but thought I would see if other people would see it here:
I enjoyed watching the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton as much as anyone else. I loved the pagentry and I thought it was a great show!
But I have read some articles, and watched some shows, about Catherine's blue collar roots. Her mother's family were working class laborers and coal miners, and her own parents were flight attendants. They were nowhere near aristocratic, had no titles or ancestral estates, and up until a few days before the wedding, did not even have a family coat of arms.
Now, here in America, we LOVE a rags-to-riches story. There is something endearing that a great-great granddaughter of a coal miner is now "Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge".
Our own President came from very humble beginnings, a bi-racial child born in a segregated world, whose father abandoned him and his mother strugged to raise him while still a student. And our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln, was born in desparate poverty and only had a 2nd grade formal education.
Yes, we love stories of people who, with hard work, determination, faith in themselves and a bit of luck, were able to make their dreams come true.
But I've heard much criticism of the Middleton's, especially of Catherine's mother and maternal grandmother, calling them "social climbers" and accusing them of not knowing their proper place in society.
Is the class system still as powerful and restrictive in the UK? Or is this just a few "sour grapes"?
I enjoyed watching the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton as much as anyone else. I loved the pagentry and I thought it was a great show!
But I have read some articles, and watched some shows, about Catherine's blue collar roots. Her mother's family were working class laborers and coal miners, and her own parents were flight attendants. They were nowhere near aristocratic, had no titles or ancestral estates, and up until a few days before the wedding, did not even have a family coat of arms.
Now, here in America, we LOVE a rags-to-riches story. There is something endearing that a great-great granddaughter of a coal miner is now "Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge".
Our own President came from very humble beginnings, a bi-racial child born in a segregated world, whose father abandoned him and his mother strugged to raise him while still a student. And our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln, was born in desparate poverty and only had a 2nd grade formal education.
Yes, we love stories of people who, with hard work, determination, faith in themselves and a bit of luck, were able to make their dreams come true.
But I've heard much criticism of the Middleton's, especially of Catherine's mother and maternal grandmother, calling them "social climbers" and accusing them of not knowing their proper place in society.
Is the class system still as powerful and restrictive in the UK? Or is this just a few "sour grapes"?
- I don't think Kate Middleton came truly from "rags".
She and Prince William make an amazing couple and the whole ordeal makes me proud to be British 
The Media also like to make a big deal out of social classes aswell.
