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work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." but members of the royal family. , the couple unexpectedly split up. -- in april of 2007, the couple unexpectedly split up. kate has shown that she has what it takes, living under the strains of being associated of the royal family. the few months after the split, the romance resumed. she accompanied william when he received his raf. those that have known them since the first met say that they are a good match.

>> having seen them at the beginning of their relationship, i see them as a couple. we have seen them at parties here in st. andrews and they always strike you as normal people. prince william is also very lovely and down to earth. i think that they really fit each other. definitely. >> the one criticism is that for her educational advantages, she has chosen an aimless life since university. she withdrew from her all women rowing team in the face of scrutiny. much of her recent life has seemed to revolve around regular holidays with william and her social life. holidays, nightclubs, social events. sometimes she goes alone, but

usually she is with wm. if he is playing polo, half she is in the crowd, doing her best to keep a low profile. now she will have to step out in her own right as a royal princess. friends believe that she is up to it. >> her character is perfectly suited to the role she will now have. she is a very sensible girl. she is also incredibly loving and caring, which is incredibly important. probably one of the most attractive things about her. i think that this will put her in good stead during which he does not complain. i think that she will deal with it this position incredibly well. >> for kathryn middleton, the fairy tale that she acted out

all of those years ago is about to come true. soon she will be a princess and, in due course, she will be the british queen. she has already had a limited introduction to what life as a royal is like, but it will be nothing like what she will face for the rest of her life. but above all she and william seem to be compatible and a genuinely committed to each other. >> you are watching abc news special program. has been confirmed that prince william is to marry his fiancee, kate middleton, next year. >> the wedding will take place in the spring or summer of 2011 in london.

further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course. >> let's go to our aerial pictures hovering above buckingham palace as this news has emerged in the last hour or so. our correspondent is with me here. the briefest of statements coming from buckingham palace. >> the first word from the cream, obviously a happy for and mother -- the first word from the queen, obviously a happy grandmother today. we are waiting to hear from the father of the groom. we are expecting to hear from them a bit later on today. his brother is on army duty today. expect him to be there will oil equivalent of the best man at

the wedding. they do not actually have best man at royal weddings, they have supporters. >> the two of them have been in afghanistan, what can we expect through the course of today? >> there will definitely be a photo call in london a bit later on. our first ever official portrait, a picture of them. all of the previous pictures have been snapped images of them, a wedding with friends. this will be the first time we will see them properly posing together for a picture. >> thank you for that. >> let's go live to helmand province and joined our colleague of there. george, you were in the company of prince william over the weekend. he was out in afghanistan to attend those remember and stay

ceremonies. what has been the reaction of their -- out there? >> we have told some of the troops that we were meeting this afternoon at camp bastion. they were thrilled last sunday when prince william made that surprise visit. it was something of a huge morale boost to the troops on the front line. anyways, he took some time out to talk to some of the troops on the parade ground. two of them are with me. you spent some time with him after remembrance day. what is the reaction to this amazing news? >> i felt happy. >> they have been together for a

long time. should they have got engaged sooner? >> there is always a time to do it. >> corporal, what is your reaction? >> [unintelligible] >> when you talk to your colleagues and comrades about it, what do you think the reaction will be? >> no doubt there will be lots of e mails asking more about what is all over the news. hopefully it is a long marriage. >> he was very relaxed the other day. he seemed a very relaxed man. >> indeed that. i caught him coming down to breakfast and the camera on the

corner. obviously aware. >> any messages that you have for the prince? >> good luck and a good marriage, hope for the future. >> how about you? any messages for the happy couple? >> a happy couple, a happy marriage, i would like to meet her. >> you would like to meet kate middleton? how about you, danny? [unintelligible] ] >> we have pulled them off duty, they have only just heard about this from us. as for the mentions of goodwill, i am sure that if you told any of the troops in camp at the moment, the message would be one of good luck to the couple. >> thank you very much.

>> as you continue to watch the live pictures from a helicopter , nick clegg has just issued a statement saying that he is thrilled to hear about the fantastic news of the engagement and would like to send his best wishes to the happy couple ahead of their big day. just to tell you, david cameron himself, we are expected to hear from him live from downing street spokesman as the news was announced. the statement said that the prime minister is delighted to hear the news and gives his best wishes to be happy couple. he announced the news of his colleagues in the middle of the meeting.

from get more reaction peter, he is in central london this afternoon. reaction is beginning to flood in, you would imagine that there will be enormous interest in that photo call. >> there will be enormous interest in the photos and an interview, i am imagining that they will sit down, as is the habit of royal engaged couples. we all remember the interview with prince charles and diana spencer in 1981. we must get used to calling her katherine. they may want to avoid a bear trap. we might hear from her for the first time, as we have not heard from her in any great sense at all. the public has heard very little from them.

their friends talk about it as fantastic and wonderful news. absolutely delighted. the one discordant note over a constitutional monarchy, they say they hope the royals do not use this as the public relations exercise for the british monarchy. >> we have heard a variety of things about how modern a couple they actually are. living in north wales while he continues to serve with the royal air force? >> he had a number of places he could treat -- he could choose to do while rescue. people do take a lot of time to get their. he does pride himself in having

a level of privacy and normalcy, he will hope to secure that during his several years as a search and rescue pilot. what it means is that his future wife will not be automatically flung into public exposure doing public engagement the way that his mother, diana was, back in 1981. he wants to avoid the pitfalls of his father's relationship with his mother. >> thank you very much. count house has confirmed that prince william [no audio]

>> just the strength that she brings to this marriage. >> there is nothing ordinary about her -- there is an ordinary quality about her that has been found attractive. articulately in the newspapers over the last couple of years, their middle-class background, and the aristocracy. it is an ordinary family and he loves to set up. he has spent a lot of time there, holidays and suggestions. he calls her father dad and i think there is a comfort there in that small and private, intimate family set up. her personality is crucial here. the relationship that lasted

eight years since university. even from the early days with and william worried about whether he should carry on, she is credited with being the person that managed to persuade him fifth day. what they do very much once again. >> pedroia of wall -- joining us on the line, mr. palmer. we were talking to our world correspondent who was giving us some insight into the way that the militants have been received. the way their family has been exposed in the media, if you like. >> i do not think life will never be the same for them again. >> what can they expect? >> i think that people will be

respectful. although there has been much publicity and discussion about the way that she has been hounded, my own experiences i have never been to their home village. most of the royal correspondents have tried to give them their distance. of course, there will be episodes over the next few days and months. getting on with their relatively normal life once this is over. >> she has complained in the past about the amount of media attention she has to deal with on a daily basis. how do you think she will cope with the increased interest that she will be getting >> it is important to say that i do not think that any of the

journalists that follow the royal family know her personally at all. on the other hand, she handled the things pretty well up until now. importantly, from now on, she will have the protection behind her. protection officers protecting her. in many ways that will be easier for her. inevitablysons will cop be drawn between kate middleton and diana. what lesson can you givea, buckt have they learned after the experience of diana?

>> not just from her own experience, but also from the duchess of york, they felt cast adrift. plunged into life in sight of the royal family and not given much training as to how to handle themselves. i know that in the past they have given help when asked for. those photographers that do not take no for an answer. i think that she will be given a lot of training in how to speak , how to comport yourself. i think that they have learned their lesson from the past. there will be that story and i

am sure that people have learned their lesson from the tragedy of 1997. people making sure that nothing like that ever happens again. >> we are grateful for your time on what i imagine is a huge the busy day for you. >> we are expected to hear from the prime minister i about 10 minutes time. we are told that david cameron will make comments live outside of #10 at 12:30. as soon as the prime minister emerges, we will bring you back to our correspondents. peter, already we are hearing so much of these details. i would suspect that for many

people it is up and down the country. >> is easy to forget that. we have become cynical, skeptical. we lived through the fairy tale wedding of the 1980's and we know where they ended up. but many viewers are most likely thinking about where they will place their picnic table and chair when they have a date. there are cases of the light in this country. obviously, there are exceptions. elected heads of state say that they do not want this turned into a public relations opportunity for the british monarchy. but i am afraid that that is exactly what it will be. i do not think that william wants to do a rerun of his parents ill-fated marriage. that is why it is unlikely to be at the cathedral, with the arch chapel -- it might be too small

given that we are talking about the marriage of a future king. it may likely be where his grandmother married in 1947. >> leaving the options for the exact timing and location pretty open? >> i am a suspicious individual and i wonder if we are experiencing a rerun of 2005 where the announcement came out without clearing the hurdle of where the service was taking place because it had been linked to a newspaper. i am sure that what we are seeing here is often what we see with prince william. we have months, if not years of

speculation. throughout all of that, only one person knew. he had to make that decision. not anything he would never have dreamt of discussing with officials. they could not have planned things because they could not have the conversation. the group wrote -- he proposed to kate, or catherine as we must get our come around -- tongue around. promising to officials a 24-hour notice. the other sticky thing that will be interesting to find out from david cameron is whether or not he has met the couple. clearing a hurdle as most individuals do when they seek the hand, the other hurdle they easily had to clear was talking to his grandmother, between --

grandmother, but queen -- the queen. >> thank you. >> a reminder, the news this morning, prince william and kate middleton are to be married, as confirmed in a statement. just after 11:00 this morning the prince of wales was delighted to announce the engagement and that the wedding is going to take place either in the spring or summer of next year. it will take place in london. no specific details in terms of the location of the wedding ceremony had been revealed yet. >> of course, this relationship has spanned eight years with some of these still photographs.

remember, as we were told just a short while ago, later in the day we were expecting their folk -- their first photo call since this news emerged. >> one of the key bits of interest over the coming weeks and months will be what kind of a wedding dress she will wear. the proprietor of the local wedding dress shop is on the phone with us now. where were you when you heard the news and what was your reaction? >> i was excited. this is really good news for the wedding business. >> i would imagine the you would be delighted, if given the choice and chance, to design and fit kate into a wedding dress. if given the opportunity, what would you advise her to choose? >> i would be honored, actually.

if she was to come in, i would go more for a battalion lay stress. -- italian lace dress. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank.

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