Kate eases into fairytale life

Catherine Middleton might have found her Prince Charming to marry, but will she end up living the fairytale?

Life for this 29-year-old woman from a regular English middle class family is about to change in a way that is unimaginable for most.

Gone will be her ability to nip down to the local shops by herself, hold down a regular job or do pretty much anything without the world's media wanting to know what she is up to.

On the other hand, marrying Prince William will see her become a princess and allow her to live a fairly luxurious lifestyle rubbing shoulders with all sorts of high flyers.

And, of course, one day she will be queen.

But until then what is she to do?

Since her engagement to William was announced in November Catherine has had a whirlwind introduction to royal life.

Palace courtiers have been busy teaching her the ropes in a desperate attempt to prevent a repeat of the disastrous marriage of William's parents, Princess Diana and Prince Charles.

Diana told her biographer Andrew Morton that on the eve of her 1981 wedding to Charles she felt like a "lamb to the slaughter" and that it took her six years to feel comfortable in her new role as the Princess of Wales.

"One minute I was nobody, the next minute I was Princess of Wales, mother, media toy, member of this family, you name it, and it was too much for one person at that time," Diana told Morton.

Royal commentator and former editor of the International Who's Who, Richard Fitzwilliams insists the Palace has learned important lessons from how Diana's fairytale turned sour.

"They will not make the same mistakes they did with Diana," he told AAP.

"Catherine will be helped into the job. They have been together some eight years and they have had their separation in 2007.

"The whole idea of this has been to give Catherine the time to think carefully about what it means to take on the biggest job of all.

"Everything she does will be in the public gaze.

"William is determined she will be eased into it at a pace she is comfortable with."

While Catherine settles into her new royal role, there will undoubtedly be comparisons made between her and William's megastar mother who was adored by millions as the "People's Princess".

Determined to keep his mother's memory alive, William gave Catherine his mum's famous sapphire and diamond engagement ring when he proposed in Kenya last year.

While it was undoubtedly a romantic gesture, the ring will serve as a constant reminder of Diana each time Catherine appears in public.

The question is, will Catherine be able to step out of Diana's shadow?

Diana was heavily involved in charity work before her death in a Paris car crash in 1997 and Catherine is expected to follow suit.

However it is not yet known whether William's bride will follow his mother's path and support more controversial ones, such as those for HIV AIDs sufferers and landmines.

"I suspect very strongly the comparisons with Diana may be there in so far as Diana was one of the most memorable members of the house of Windsor," Fitzwilliams said.

"But I think we have moved on.

"Whether she chooses to be ground breaking like Diana with charities or take the line of the Duchess of Cornwall and support a main charity like osteoporosis and the rest of the time support her husband (William's father, Prince Charles) we might have to wait and see.

"The important thing is she will be there to support William and there will not be the rivalry like there was between Diana and the Prince of Wales."

From the few details William and Catherine have revealed about their future plans we know they will begin married life in north Wales, where the 28-year-old prince is based with his Royal Air Force squadron, and are keen to start a family one day.

William has been renting a secluded white-washed cottage on the Welsh island of Anglesey since he began his three-year posting at the nearby RAF Valley base with Number 22 Squadron C Flight early in 2010.

The cottage is said to have stunning views of the Snowdonia national park and access to a private beach, a perfect hideaway for the newlyweds.

In a recent interview, William told of how he loved being on Anglesey where locals leave him alone "to knuckle down to the job".

Catherine has been dividing her time between Anglesey and her parent's home in Bucklebury in the southern English county of Berkshire in the lead up to the April 29 wedding.

She gave up her job at her parent's catalogue business, Party Pieces, earlier this year so she could concentrate on preparing for life as a royal and organise the wedding.

Editor of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward believes that once William slips a wedding ring on Catherine's finger the new princess will face "a life without freedom".

"Their normal life of shopping at Tesco supermarket ... picking up takeaways and having a drink at the pub might not be possible," she wrote in the March edition of Majesty.

"Kate, a keen photographer, will have to do more than while away her days by snapping the spectacular landscape around her rented home.

"She knows that, and was understandably hurt when accused of doing nothing when she had a job working for the family mail-order business, Party Pieces.

"That is now over and the reality is that Kate must be seen to be doing something worthwhile as she divides her time between the farmhouse and their apartment in St James' Palace."

Fitzwilliams believes the couple will enjoy a relaxed start to married life in a similar fashion to how the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh began theirs in the late 1940s.

- AAP