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Putting his own stamp on plans: William determined Middletons won't be overwhelmed

24 NOVEMBER 2010

The boy who would be King: Prince William's life in the royal spotlight

When Prince William presented his bride-to-be Kate Middleton to the world last week, it was very clear this was a man who knows his own mind.

He had ignored pressure to get engaged, waiting for when he felt the time was right to ask Kate to marry him.

 

He chose when he would announce it, and even selected the journalist for their first interview as a couple – his friend Tom Bradby.

And it seems that when it comes to his wedding, the second-in-line to the throne has started as he means to go on.

William seems determined to do things his way – and more than anything he wants his nuptials to feel like the joining together of two people who are in love rather than a overly formal state occasion.

A member of his close circle tells the Daily Mail: "Nothing troubles him more than the thought of the Middletons feeling overwhelmed by the occasion.

"To him, the joy of Kate's family on her wedding day is more important than his own family's."

It's steadily emerging that William wants to take charge with matters concerns his wedding.

He rejected officials' suggestions that a date in the summer would be best, because of considerations about the weather - preferring to tie the knot as quickly as possible.

He has also apparently insisted his own staff lead the planning, rather than the Queen's or Prince Charles', so that Kate's parents Michael and Carole can be involved and informed every step of the way.

 

There is only one aspect of the wedding he has apparently backed down on.

He reportedly wanted to get married in St George's Chapel at Windsor, where Prince Charles wed the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005.

But William changed his mind partly because he didn't want to upstage his father, and also because he learned how delighted his grandparents would be if he married at Westminster Abbey, the site for their 1947 nuptials.

Indeed, it is said in palace circles that William places paramount importance on the opinions of the Queen and Prince Philip.

His closeness to his grandmother said to be the influencing factor on how he wants Kate to be seen. He would like her to be viewed in a similar way to a young Queen Elizabeth in the post-war years - as a royal who represents austerity Britain.

Indeed the pair will begin married life in the same way as the Queen – then a 21-year-old Princess – and the Duke of Edinburgh did.

They spent their first years in secluded Malta, where the ship on which he served was stationed. And William and Kate will start off living in the North Wales countryside while the Prince completes his RAF training.

Commentators are stating that William's desire to take charge is him setting down a precedent for the King he would like to become. If so a picture of a confident and self assured monarch is rapidly emerging.