Brits No Longer Seem to Care if Kate Middleton Is a Virgin
- Posted on April 8, 2011 at 12:55pm by
Scott Baker
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LONDON (AP) — In 1981, Princess Diana’s uncle made a public statement before her royal wedding to clear up The Question: Yes, she was a virgin.
What a difference a generation makes.
Today, few people seem the least bit concerned that Prince William and Kate Middleton, set to wed this month, have been living together off and on since their university days.
“We live in a modern age and people do all sorts of things before they settle down,” said Keith Morley, 34, an engineer from Birmingham. “It’s probably best that they lived together before making a commitment.”
Some historians say it‘s about time the royals shed the prudishness they exhibited at the time of Diana’s marriage, which came years after the pill and the Summer of Love made casual sex more socially acceptable even in traditionally uptight Britain.
The modern-day tolerance of William and Middleton’s living arrangements, many say, just brings the House of Windsor in line with the times. Part of the change may have to do with the very public infidelities that played out in the disastrous marriage of Charles and Diana, which rocked the royal family to its core.
“After two decades of scandal, I think it’s the royal family recognizing that to be normal is to their advantage,” said Deborah Cohen, a historian at Northwestern University in Chicago who specializes in modern Britain.
“It’s a canny refashioning of the image. There is no longer an investment in being anachronistic, or a public expectation that they ought to be harkening back to a different era of sexual politics.”
At the time of Diana’s engagement, the royal family and its advisers expected that she be a virgin, sparking dozens of speculative newspaper stories. It all prompted her late uncle, Lord Fermoy, to pronounce publicly that she was a “bona fide” virgin.
The issue of Diana‘s virginity wasn’t based on a fixed rule but was part of a set of unwritten conventions governing royal life, a code of behavior that has evolved — slowly — over the centuries as social values change. It is the monarch who sets the tone, so the views of Queen Elizabeth II have prevailed for nearly six decades.
Practical concerns, more than squeamishness about sex, were behind the royal family’s historic concerns over the virginity of a prospective bride, Cohen said. There were fears that a princess could be carrying another man’s child, bringing an illegitimate heir to the throne. This was particularly important before paternity testing provided a scientific way to determine a child’s biological father.
By Diana’s time, Cohen said, the issue of virginity had come to represent a yearning for lost innocence as Britain was gripped by a perceived social breakdown driven home by its unwanted status of having Europe’s highest divorce rate.
“What began as a concern about legitimacy acquired all sort of connotations tied to social purity,” Cohen said. “Diana’s virginity became symbolic of the possibility of a return to an innocent past for everyone, and now we’re so past that, it’s laughable.”
In effect, that liberates the new royal couple to live their own lives without carrying such a heavy weight of society’s expectations.
They are not expected to adhere to an ideal that fell out of fashion several generations ago, long before Middleton sauntered down a charity fashion show runway wearing a transparent dress over black lingerie, producing photos that seem destined to live forever on the Internet.
In Diana’s day, the risque photos of a likely future queen might have torpedoed any wedding plans. Now they raise a few eyebrows, but nothing more.
A spokesman for Prince William, who refused to be identified because of royal policy, said palace officials would not comment on whether attitudes have changed, preferring to leave that role to others.
Middleton’s age also offers a partial explanation for the different attitudes toward the two royal brides. She is 29; Diana was just 19 when her engagement to Charles was announced after a brief courtship. There was a general expectation that the young nursery school teacher would not have had any lovers before Charles.
“There is no rule that the royal bride has to be a virgin, and there never has been,” said Noel Cox, a law professor and royal scholar at Aberystwyth University in Wales. “Obviously it would present difficulties if the heir chose someone who was notoriously promiscuous — that would be unpopular — but they could do that if they wanted to.”
Diana‘s virginity wasn’t a defined issue, experts say, but the absence of prior boyfriends with embarrassing tales to tell was a big plus from the royals’ point of view.
At the time of her engagement, Charles was already in an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Camilla Shand, who decades later would become his second wife. Charles may well have wanted to marry Camilla, but she was not seen as an appropriate choice because she was known to have had several boyfriends by that time.
Some historians and commentators believe this was a major factor in Charles’ fateful decision to marry Diana rather than Camilla, setting in motion a tragic chain of events that culminated with Diana’s 1997 death in a car crash.
Royal commentators believe William is in a better position than his father to make his marriage work.
“He’s his own man,” said royal expert Dickie Arbiter. “He’s made his own space and he decides what he wants to do and when he wants to do it. The fact that William and (Kate) have had a relationship for eight years speaks for itself.”
___
Associated Press Writer Aaron Edwards contributed to this report.
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Comments (73)
Palmetto rifles
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 2:24pmwhats a virgin?
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 3:18pmIt’s like olive oil. Virgin olive oil comes from olives that have never been pressed before. ;-)
Report Post »bkfirvine
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 5:53amA virgin is someone who doesn’t have sex before marriage. They last existed just before the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s.
Report Post »MichiganPatriot
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 2:17pmWhy do patriots waste their time with these people, they think we are servants to them. Royalty are mostly Fabian Socialist weather you believe that or not. Prince Philip stated he would come back as a virus to kill half the worlds population. These people care nothing for you nore there own people they only care that you be a good serf and bow to them. Guess what Americans left that BS centries ago so we do not have too bow any longer. Ignore these morons. All the press does is show how romantic it is to be a prince in love…what a crock. They should be focused on more important things like our financial meltdown that is currently happening or why our president decided to take another vaction while our country is failing. It sickens my soul to see this happening…wake up zombies our country is in peril.
Report Post »NathanM
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 2:13pmThe only reason it might matter: “The Crown” still claims to be established by God. As much as we can argue about that position, it is what they claim and they should represent that claim, or drop the claim.
Report Post »lildeb56
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 2:01pmShip her off to Egypt for the Virginity Test! lol
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 2:00pmYou would not believe how much sleep I’ve lost over this hugely important matter!…………
Report Post »Now, what were we talking about again?
marine249
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:45pm2nd time posting this
Report Post »I don’t care one way or the other.
its none of my business.
teddrunk
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:37pmNieces sex life? HUH?
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:52pmLol, I was wondering that myself…Did he know that as fact? Pre-marital inspection time with Uncle perv?
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:36pmIn the day and age of DNA tests it is unlikely any adulterous indescretions that would result in a child would not be discovered shortly following the child’s birth. The British Monarchy may disappear altogether this generation anyway; thus, no reason to make a fuss.
Report Post »PIL
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:36pm#1. How come no one seems to care if the man is a virgin or not?
#2. Virginity was great during biblical times when you got married at 13 to 16, now it doesn’t make much sense in my opinion, I could be wrong.
#3. The Monarchy is no longer relevant, the English are stupid for celebrating a system that sees them as “subjects.” God bless the Queen? No sir, God bless America, or England if you’re British, God should never bless someone just because he or she was born with “royal lineage.” I celebrate accomplishment, not nobility, and the Royals are nothing compared to people like Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Glenn Beck, and anyone who does something great in his life.
The Chinese come to Breed: The folly Birthright Citizenship.
Report Post »http://libertarians4freedom.blogspot.com/2011/04/chinese-come-to-breed-folly-birthright.html
Constitutional
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:35pmWell Let’s face it. There are no more virgins
Report Post »republic2011
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:35pmthis is the type of crap we have been focused on for the last 40 years. The media has been entertaining the sheep with this foolishness; all the while, other people have taken advantage of the diversion to ruin this country. Dismiss it and move on. No one in this world is perfect. Besides, even if she isn’t a virgin, that has no bearing on the quality of her character; nor does it mean she is imperfect. What a waste of everyone’s time. Leave them alone.
Report Post »PavZilla
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:27pmI guess it’s assumed that he is still a virgin
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:35pmWell, if you don’t count his old inflatable girlfriend Charlene.
Report Post »BetsyRoss1513
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:23pmApparently, if they‘re not so worried about Kate Middleton’s royal lineage, of which she possesses NONE, then why would her virginity be an issue?
Report Post »TheGreyPiper
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:21pmBut has she produced a birth certificate?
Report Post »123gone
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:19pm“Some historians say it‘s about time the royals shed the prudishness they exhibited at the time of Diana’s marriage”
It’s not about prudishness, it’s about class! – Something the so-called Modern World has lost sight of.
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:14pmHmmm Im trying to care….here it goes…. still trying……the pain!…….OMG!…….under severe strain……please please make it stop!!!!!!………..nope dont care.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:13pmWhat? Someone not keep an eye on her chastity belt? Scandalous!
Report Post »J.C. McGlynn
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:12pmDon’t really care.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:32pmI don’t want the government in my bedroom, and I’ll certainly stay out of Will & Kate’s. Wish the Brits felt the same way.
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:09pmwho cares if she is or not.. thats between HER the prince and God.. and since they live together im guessing she isnt.. while I may not agree with it its NOODYS business
Report Post »Michael
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 3:30pmWhy all the fuss? Unless she plans to give birth to another Messiah. Being an American whose 7th or 8th Great Grandfather (I lose count when I go to the second hand) helped kick the royalty out of here, I couldn’t care any less about their shenanigans or mores or whether or not one is virginal.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:04pmThat kid is looking more like his father every day. Thank goodness he’s a prince.
Report Post »and to the republic
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:15pmwas thinking the same thing….What a goof….This girl would not give him the time of day if he werent royalty….
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:15pmHey, give the kid a break. Unlike his old man who described himself as a feminine hygiene product.
Report Post »I think his “Kingship” ended that day.
Gonzo
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:25pmHey Ted, the kid has better taste in women, I’ll give him that!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 2:30pmThank God .. he didn’t get the ears !! Actually I think it is the “hairline” (or lack there of ) that is making him resemble Charles.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:03pmI’[m wondering if Charles will be king because he married a divorced woman.
I wish Elizabeth II would/could pass her crown to William.
Report Post »and to the republic
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 12:58pmoh, I love that airline….
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 12:58pmI’m lost. Are they saying Kate Middleton was at Slut Walk?
Report Post »PavZilla
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:03pmI think she was at tea and strumpet walk – Denny’s was busy.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:12pmPav..Thanks for clearing that up.
Report Post »pap pap
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 12:58pmBassist237
Report Post »I agree. It’s none of my business also.
CatB
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:05pmSome things are private .. this should be one of them … it is between the couple and none of the “countries” business.
Report Post »bassist237
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 12:56pmHonestly, just another couple getting married. I can not believe the ruckus it is causing, what a waste of time for an “I do”.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 12:58pmwho cares???
Report Post »Think4yourself.org
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 12:59pmI can’t believe they made a postage stamp to honor the couple…boy, the world is focusing on all the wrong things!
Report Post »http://www.unsalvageable.org
teddrunk
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:00pmI agree..I guess it gives something for women to talk to each other about. Figure it’s less nagged at time for me.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:07pm@THINK
Actually postage stamps are something most anyone can afford and if they want to collect one I have no problem with it being provided .. I suspect they will sell out. Look at all the stamps we have had here over the years .. I have some cartoon ones and others “collected”.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:29pmAnd I never cared, still don’t care, won’t care….and BTW Williams a cousin of mine…..still don’t care…………..on to a news story…
Report Post »Untameable-kate
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:31pmteddrunk
Report Post »Member of the good ol boy, woman hater club? I couldn’t care less about the kids getting hitched and neither do any of my female friends. Creepy though for someones uncle to speak on their nieces sex life, yuck.
Whirling Dervish
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:36pmYawn….
Never understood the British fascination with the monarchy, or the elites.
How do they say…..who gives a hoot!!!
Report Post »marine249
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:37pmask me if I care? I don”””t its none my busness
Report Post »OHTAY
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:38pmThe Royal kids are pretty cool…served their country and do endless charity work, so it’s nice to see them be happy..the other Royals..Who cares..I can agree.
Report Post »Cemoto78
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:48pmKate,
Report Post »After that wonderful night in London you never called or wrote me. I promise our little secret is safe.
trolltrainer
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:50pmNo, she is not a virgin. Not since 7/12/98. I remember that trip to England like it was yesterday…
(And yes folks, that WAS sarcasm…)
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 2:00pmI guess she needs to do the nasty with him now, so she won’t have to consider doing it with him in a few years, when he starts looking too much like his Daddy…..lol!!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 2:29pm@BETTERDAYS
We might be related.
Report Post »hauschild
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 3:20pmI wonder if Brits realize that nobody has cared about Britain for over 60 years?
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on April 8, 2011 at 3:44pmThey are cousins of mine as well. I think we’re third cousins twenty times removed.
Report Post »