Breeding Contempt

I am not sure I would agree with David Cameron the announcement of a Royal wedding in a few months amounted to, "a great day for Britain."

But Republican tendencies to one side, the new focus on the Royal family was a great day for tabloid editors and semi-redundant society watchers.

Prince William comes across as an amiable chap and Katherine Middleton seems a canny lass herself but their obvious difference in class will be exploited by the media with relish. There are few articles more nauseating than the adopted superiority of society commentators making terse remarks about perceived lapses in protocol.

Ms Middleton, unlike William, struggles to trace her family back to Edward II. Like practically all of Britons she only has to go back a maximum of four generations to find working class roots. To some of us, it is a source of reassurance of our equality and shared national heritage. To the snobby hacks, it will be a rich vein of bile and viciousness which will be mined to exhaustion.

It is beyond doubt her family will have pure lies told about them. Every relative looking a bit blurry-eyed in the back of a taxi will be presented as a huge story with a 'screamer' headline. Some will sue for damages and win. They will be compelled to take on heightened security and will wonder whether it was all worth it.

The first to be attacked looks to be Katherine's mother, Carole, who according to the gossip columns, works for a living, chews gum and uses the word 'toilet.'

It would be appropriate to offer the young couple every happiness yet the misery has hardly begun.