Prince William and Kate Middleton are engaged to be married.
Talk about a royal obsession.
Call it another British invasion, or whatever you'd like, but it's clear that in the U.S. we just can't get enough of the Brits. And with the announcement that Prince William will wed his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton, America once again is gawking and perhaps even stalking everything that says "Royal Wedding."
The news has dominated the Twittersphere and Web - with four of the top trends belonging to the newly engaged couple. It almost makes you wonder why we ever split with the Brits.
Whether it's the Beatles (and the announcement that the Fab Four's music will finally be on iTunes,) other pop icons (Leona Lewis, Duffy and Amy Winehouse) or the wedding announcement - Americans are still trying to gobble up every detail about our friends across the pond. We did it with Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and it seems we will again with this wedding and future marriage.
Readers are looking for every detail about Middleton, known as the middle-class princess, and what married life might be like for her and William, the second in line to the British throne and an action hero.
The two are on the front pages and part of full coverage sections of US Weekly, People, the National Enquirer and a slew of other American tabloids. We’ve watched with bated breath their every move and photograph, and it's gone into overdrive with news of their engagement. And that includes the field of betting. Paddy Power has put out an array of things for people to wager on, including when the couple will marry, where the wedding will take place and even what color Queen Elizabeth's hat will be or how long Middleton's train will be.
News of the impending wedding bells spread like wildfire online, and no doubt British sites have been swamped with traffic from American readers.
More than three British papers or tabloids and the BBC are live-blogging the announcements, with up-to-the-minute reaction, columns and reader comments. Six of the BBC's top stories Tuesday are in some way about the William and his future bride. The Daily Telegraph is asking readers to offer their own tributes to the couple.
Of course, it's become a media circus, with headlines from the Mirror such as "Heir comes the bride” and “Wills you Marry Me?” and The Daily Mail's "Get out the bunting! Wills pops the question at last.”
Considering you all can't seem to help yourself - we figured we'd help you navigate the royal media madness by picking out the best, the hilarious and the most bizarre stories.
Interesting tidbits
"Kate will be 'oldest Royal bride' " - The Daily Telegraph
"Kate to become sixth Queen Catherine" - The Daily Telegraph
"Prince hopes to emulate Queen's solid marriage" - The Daily Telegraph
"Kate Middleton must have clear role says Princess Diana's former aide" - The Mirror
A look at Kate
"How does Kate compare to Princess Diana - The Daily Telegraph
"Fashion: Kate is 'conservative style icon' " - The Daily Telegraph
"Kate Middleton will inherit a host of titles" - The Mirror
The strangest story angles
"Trying to guess the guest list" - The Mirror
"My menu for William and Kate's wedding – it has to be Windsor swan" - The Daily Telegraph
I ADMIT IT...I'M OBSESSED! I lived in London for a short while and now spell words like "color" with a "u". I can't wait to go back!! (America sucks...)
Who care about celebs and royalty. They're all talentless narcacists. Wake up and live you're own life. Get some passion - damn.
So much negativity! Here's an invitation to all American Royal fans; move north to Canada and enjoy similar benefits to the Brits. We have the Queen on our money and have "Royal" police; I mean doesn't the ROYAL Canadian Mounted Police, have a certain je ne sais quoi, as opposed to just Police or Army, Marines etc. Oh..... and we have free health care!!!
Seriously, I'm not much of a monarchist but Wills and Kate do seem like genuinely nice, down to earth types. William always wanted a real job too, and has just that, flying Sea King helicopters in a search and rescue unit with the ROYAL Air Force in North Wales (Irish Sea-very rough)
What gets me is that they keep talking about her as middle class....when she is worth millions.
maybe over there that is middle class lol
She will never be Princess Diana...never ever no matter how she tries. She doesnt have the class, the personality etc. Sorry but its true. Good luck to the happy couple but come on they arent getting married for another 7-8 months and Im already sick of hearing about it lol.
Freddie: if I had that kind of money and free time of sorts I would beable to do all that as well. But hence Im not royalty and have to work for a living!
Bäste min vän William!Jag önskar till dig din framtiLYCKA TILL.Jag är så glad för din skull.Just det jag älskar dig så mycket min vän WILLIAM!
I don't think Americans are obsessed with it. I mean, magazines want us to think we're obsessed with it, but I don't know anyone who cares at all. William is not Diana, and a whole lot has changed since Diana and Charles were married.
I clicked on this article because it says 'A royal Obsession'.. In my mind, I was like really? I don't know anyone who really cares about the British royal family anymore. At one point, in the 1980's yeah people had a fascination. Every time Princess Di was on the cover, the magazines were selling lots of magazines. But things and people change through the years, and the British royal family is just old news now. People were talking more about Bristol Palin staying on 'Dancing with the Star's" compared to their royal engagement announcement!
the only infatuation with the royal couple is in the entertainment media, americans really could care less.
It must be overwhelming to be in the public eye like and people looking at you with a microscope . I wish them the best. Check out my health and fitness blog http://razzlea.blogspot.com/
Freddie has got to get a better come back. The ONLY reason I clicked on this was because it said: A royal obsession. America is NOT obsessed with this. The American MEDIA tries to shove this down our throat, then tries to make it SEEM like we are obsessed. They do the same thing with scandals with American celebrities all the time. We honestly don't care. At least the majority doesn't. I hope they are happy with their marriage/lives and what not, but that's about it. Sorry to break it to ya.
What a bunch of nonsense. I am American and this news makes me laugh at how stupid it is. The entire royalty thing is a joke.
I will have more respect for these boobs who inherited this lifestyle when one of them goes to Haiti and helps with the cholera epidemic. And just showing up to hand out candy bars doesn't count.
Why do taxpayers in the UK tolerate the Royals?? Everything the Royals have and own is made possible because of taxes that are forced upon the everyday people of the UK. What are the real benefits of funding someone else's life?
The news media outlets are the ones pushing this story – not their consumers.
nobody cares about this. why does the news insist on shoving it down our throats?