Prince William engaged!

11/17/2010

way bigger than Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey getting engaged to different people in the same week.

Royal officials announced Tuesday that Prince William will marry longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton next spring or summer in London in its biggest wedding since his parents Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer married almost 30 years ago.

The pair, both 28, got engaged last month in Kenya. William proposed with his mother's engagement ring, an oval sapphire surrounded by diamonds. ``It's very special to me. As Kate's very special to me now, it was right to put the two together,'' the prince told the press.

William is second in line to the British throne after Charles; Kate and William's first child would move ahead of his younger brother Prince Harry to become third in line to the throne.

The two lovebirds met in college at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. They broke up a few times only to reconcile. The press has nicknamed her ``Waitey Katie,'' due to the time she's spent pining for a ring. A wealthy commoner, the former fashion buyer is the daughter of self-made millionaires. Her parents founded a mail-order business specializing in children's parties; Kate now works with them.

The couple's relationship became public after being snapped on a skiing holiday in 2004. Middleton then became a media magnet, but William was determined that his girlfriend not suffer the same hounding endured by his mother, who was killed in a 1997 Paris car crash. He appealed for the media to leave her alone.

In 2007, the couple broke up for a time. William's army training kept them apart, some said. The media pressure was too much for her, said others. Still others murmured that senior courtiers felt Middleton's middle-class background wasn't royal material.

Somehow, they made it work.

The couple plans to live in Wales, where William is based with the Royal Air Force.