Who would be a princess?

Until the latest blast of arctic weather came along and provided lots of pictures of sheep in snow, dogs leaping in snow and cars having problems in snow, it was beginning to seem that the only thing the papers could find to alleviate the depression caused by economic news was the impending wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

According to some newspapers, of course, we should no longer refer to that poor young lady as Kate. It would be unseemly to have a Queen Kate so she should henceforth be known as Catherine. It’s a very good job she’s not such an ordinary girl as they like to make out. If that were the case she might not have a “Catherine” to fall back on but could have been named Kate and nothing but. Even worse, she could have had some really trendy name; she could have been Talula or Waynetta.

And then there is the matter of her hair. On the one hand she is criticised for having too “old” a hairstyle, a bit too much like her mother’s. On the other hand, it is suggested that she really needs to cut it. A queen-in-waiting cannot have long flowing locks, no matter how glossy or so it seems. Now that’s funny because I do believe that the future queen of Spain has rather long hair and nobody appears to think she should cut hers short.

Poor Letizia comes in for criticism from other quarters however. “¡LETIZIA REPITE MODELO! No es la primera vez.” Those were the headlines on a little article about the Princess of Asturias being seen once again in a dress she had already worn to another royal event. She was spotted at a gala dinner during a royal visit to Peru wearing the dress which she had worn to the wedding of Princess Victoria of Sweden. I would have thought she should be praised for setting such a good example during these times of austerity.

It must be hard being a princess these days; you can’t do right for trying! Letizia has won some praise though. According to a survey carried out by Showroomprive.com, an organisation that sells (probably expensive) clothes over the Internet, has put ladies in the public eye in order of elegance. Top of their list is the journalist Sara Carbonera – also described as the girlfriend of Iker Casillas the Real Madrid goalkeeper just in case readers don’t know who she is. (Ladies in the public eye, of course, are also defined by the male they are connected with!) Second comes the Princess of Asturias (well done, Letizia) and in third place is the actress Penelope Cruz – NOT described as the wife of Javier Bardem; Pé must be famous enough in her own right! Carla Bruni, although First Lady in France, is only fourth lady on this list.

I assume that the princesses, whether actual princesses, soon-to-be princesses or celebrity princesses, don't have to worry too much about keeping warm in the current plummeting temperatures but it would seem that they all have other things to worry about. It’s a hard life being a 21st century princess.