John Freeman, The Royal Collection © 2006, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Two wonderful Royal TV programmes are currently gracing our screens in Britain. The Queen’s Castle on BBC2 Tuesdays, and Time Team’s Channel 4 archeological dig at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Hollyrood Palace in Edinburgh. Both are fascinating and gripping television.

The Queen’s Castle is a repeat of a series about the inner workings of Windsor Castle. And if you thought the old place must be a bit down-at-heel in democratic, 21st century England, think again. You’ll need to travel many leagues around the world and beyond to find interiors as sumptuous as these. It’s no wonder Windsor is the Queen’s favourite residence.

Last week’s hour-long episode centered around a visit by the President of France, Jacques Chirac, the State Banquet for him and Madame, and a performance by the entire West End cast of the hit musical, Les Miserables.

The meticulousness of the arrangements was what caught the eye : chairbacks precisely 27 inches from the massive table, cutlery lined up with military precision, and the Queen’s personal inspection of the table before her guests arrived. What a sharp eye she had for every detail.

If you get a chance to see this series of films, you won’t be disappointed. Just gazing at the inside of Windsor Castle provides enough fascination for an entire day.

By contrast, Time Team’s dig, which is still going on as I write, is almost all outdoors amid the dirt and rubble of trenches and bits of old pottery. The event is being staged to mark the Queen’s 80th birthday and required special permission from Her Majesty to set up. Digging up not one of the Monarch’s lawns but three must have taken a good deal of persuasion.

What have they found so far? Well, the beginnings of Windsor Castle had serious Arthurian connections. Wouldn’t you just know it. They also think they’ve found the site of King Edward III’s Round Table, the HQ for his Knightly Order based on King Arthur’s presumed version at Camelot. Could Windsor Castle be built on the site of “Camelot”? They’re not saying, but there’s a great deal of excitement in the air at Windsor this weekend.

It’s a good job the Queen is at Balmoral — another of her castles — but well away from all the digging.

Following our book review of William’s Princess, which is now making waves round the world, author Robert Jobson has been interviewed on America’s The Early Show. A CBS transcript reports :

Jobson told co-anchor Hannah Storm, “It sounds pretty serious (between William and Kate Middleton).”I broke the last story, that Charles was to wed Camilla. So, I’m hoping I’ll break this one if it ever actually happens.

“They’ve been together four years now. They met first as friends. She was going out with another young man … and eventually, that friendship turned to love.

“And I think this is quite an interesting love story, because it’s pretty much a modern royal marriage. Years ago, they would have married Princesses from another country or an aristocrat, as was the case with Princess Diana. Now, this is an ordinary, middle-class girl who seems to match William intellectually as well as emotionally and physically, I presume!”

Jobson says Kate Middleton is being received by the British people and the Royal Family “very well indeed, actually. She’s met the Queen on a number of occasions privately. She introduced her own parents to the Queen and the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh. … She has been to the nearest thing we’ve had to a Royal wedding in recent times, which is the wedding of Laura Parker Bowles, Camilla’s daughter, and she went with Prince William as his escort.

“Therefore, she’s obviously been seen and groomed by the Royal Family to take on a particular role, but (they’re) keeping it as low-key as possible. They’re protecting her with lawyers. There’s a lot of stories; every time it appears in the newspaper, they’re very keen to protect her privacy and to make sure people aren’t overstepping the mark, and they’re obviously paying (the tab) for that themselves.”

What about reports Middleton even has her own security force already?

Jobson replied, “They’re worried about security, given this current state of terrorism in the world. That’s quite understandable. But the truth is, her flat in London has had some security advancements. Whenever she’s with Prince William, she has Scotland Yard protection alongside him. There is talk of a private security firm paid for by Prince Charles looking after her, but that’s being kept low-key at the moment. We’re not 100 percent (sure) exactly what’s happening on that.”

So, the same story we’re hearing from a number of sources. He doesn’t confirm the “pencilled-in” date for May/June next year though. Once again, we’ll have to wait and see.

Now here’s a volume to whet the appetite of anyone interested in the future of the British monarchy and the Royal Family. Its author, Robert Jobson, is a well-versed spotter of Royal trends, first with Fleet Street’s finest, including the tabloids, then on CNN. He’s currently a writer on Royal matters with the London Evening Standard.

William’s Princess is essentially an early biography of the future King, to which has been added a thoroughgoing account of his growing relationship with Kate Middleton, whose significance in William’s life cannot be underestated. Jobson certainly doesn’t : “Kate’s days as William’s ‘Princess in waiting’ are drawing to a close. Her time as Princess and, one day, Queen is about to begin”.

An unnamed “titled lady .. once linked to [William]” told Jobson : “… a lot of the aristocratic girls he has been linked with are too much trouble for him. It is interesting that he’s settled for an ordinary middle-class girl. It’s because she doesn’t have the baggage some of these titled girls do; problems like anorexia, drugs, drinking. He doesn’t want all those problems.”

While hedging his bets a little on the future of Kate Middleton, he often nails his colours to her mast with the nearest a journalist gets to certainty about the future :

Bit by bit Kate has been elevated from friend, to girlfriend, to lover and permanent fixture in William’s life. She has been groomed, however unofficially, however subtly, for the public role into which she will step. …

William and Kate have been a couple for nearly a third of the time that Charles and Diana spent together. In that time they have arguably developed a more intimate, stable relationship than that famously disastrous union. …

The book ends with a ringing endorsement and a firm prediction: “The question of William and Kate’s marriage is no longer a matter of “if” but “when”. Talk of a proposal is no longer reserved to gossip columns but has made it firmly onto the Palace agenda with many Palace officials now confidently predicting that Kate’s role in the life of the future King is assured.”

If you are a regular reader of this website, you’ll enjoy this book.

William’s Princess by Robert Jobson is published today in the UK by John Blake Publishing.

Amazon.com link.

Prince William and girlfriend, Kate Middleton, are embarking on a trip to Africa this weekend for a Bank Holiday break.

They are set to leave a wet and cool Britain behind in search of some late summer sun. According to reports, they might also be joined by William’s former flame Jecca Craig.

William and African-born Jecca have maintained a close friendship since their romance fizzled out, and the 24-year-old Prince has spent several vacations on her family’s estate in Kenya. She is now on the arm of William’s close friend, Hugh Van Cutsem.

This is one in a long line of holidays Kate has enjoyed this summer. She returned to Britain only last week from a sun-soaked break in the Caribbean after an earlier week with William on the island of Mustique.

Coming Up : A review of William’s Princess by Robert Jobson.