Prince's Girlfriend May Be Next Princess Diana

ByABC News via logo
October 6, 2006, 8:02 AM

Oct. 6, 2006 — -- The odds of a British royal wedding seem to be looking better and better as new revelations surface about Prince William's relationship with girlfriend Kate Middleton.

This "commoner" could follow in Princess Di's footsteps as the people's princess, according to a new book, "William's Princess," by Robert Jobson.

People might wonder why anyone would write a book about a 24-year-old woman who won't give interviews and is famous only for dating a prince.

The answer is simple: Middleton may very well one day be Queen Catherine.

Royal weddings always have a fairy tale aura complete with horses and carriages. But a wedding between William and Middleton might be different.

If the two marry, it will be the first time in history that a future king has married a commoner who is not an aristocrat.

Still, Jobson says, class-conscious Brits would not mind -- and neither apparently would the royal family, known to some observers as "The Firm."

"It's quite clear that she's introduced her parents to the queen, that she's met the queen on a number of occasions, that Prince Charles and the queen approve of Kate Middleton, that she is seen as very much part of 'The Firm,'" Jobson said.

"Kate clearly is on a different level from Prince Harry's girlfriend, Chelsea," Jobson said.

Although they've both been around the royal circle awhile, Middleton is invited -- while Chelsea is not -- to family weddings, family skiing vacations, and family jaunts to the horse races, even when William isn't around.

And the fact that a book already has been written about her appears to be another sign she's no flash in the pan.

"It's quite clear that she is seen as potential marriage material," Jobson said.

British media have long stoked the feverish engagement speculation, asking William a year ago whether there would be another royal wedding happening. The prince said no then.

That was last year.

It could be that times have changed or that the statement was just a smoke screen to scare off the paparazzi, who so tormented William's mother, Diana.