Apotheosis of George Washington, The Capitol, Washington DC

We wish all our contributors and readers a splendid Christmas, followed by a very successful New Year.

John Evans

Chelsy Davy, Prince Harry’s girlfriend, is currently on a two-week work experience placement at swish law firm Farrer and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London.

Farrer just happens to be the Queen’s solicitors. They represented her during the recent Queengate row with the BBC. Since the firm only ever takes students from Oxbridge, the work indicates how well regarded Chelsy is with the Royal Family.

Someone close to the scene commented, “These City law firms only ever interview Oxbridge graduates and, normally speaking, someone from Leeds [University] would not get a look-in. This isn’t because the firms look down on other universities, it’s simply because they consider that Oxbridge fulfils all their needs, so why bother to broaden the net?”

Of course, a word in their ear by a figure close to their most prestigious client would not go unheard.

Contrast this with the fate of Kate Middleton, once the leading light of the two Royal girlfriends.

With Kate’s beau, Prince William, signed up to a potential seven years away as a search and rescue helicopter pilot, Kate has disappeared from view. Her job in the small, family party business now seems almost insignificant in comparison with Chelsy’s high-flying London legal outing.

Last week, Kate’s mother, Carole Middleton, spoke to the Daily Telegraph and complained at how her family, its business and her “two other children” were being compromised by the publicity and press intrusions.

Could it be that, in the light of William’s SAR decision, Kate has decided that the relationship is going nowhere, and has quietly called it off for the sake of her family?

It would be a sensible decision for a woman not far short of 30, and the lack of fanfare and open grievance, a relief for the Prince.

Earlier Kate was reported to be going to Sandringham on Boxing Day. It will be interesting to see if that date is kept.

In an article in today’s Mail on Sunday, Katie Nicholl reports that friends of Prince William and Kate Middleton believe that an engagement announcement is planned for “just before or just after Christmas,” and that a wedding could be in May or June.

If an earlier story is true that Kate will not be at Sandringham until Boxing Day (December 26), it will clearly be just after, which seems like perfect timing to catch the world’s headlines.

The article, however, maintains the Mail’s new policy of acknowledging the Kate-hating crowd of spitting and cursing opponents of her match with the world’s most eligible batchelor. A section of the piece reprints some of the vituperative comments from the paper’s website.

A careful reading of the article reveals it’s in two parts. The first reflecting opinions of some Buckingham Palace courtiers, while the second part concentrates on the view from Clarence House.

These two courts have been at loggerheads with each other since the days of Diana, Princess of Wales. It seems the dogs of war have been unleashed again on the subject of the entirely innocent and inexperienced figure of Kate Middleton.

As Royal Anecdotes reported some months ago, there appears to be a growing faction of “courtiers” at the Palace who oppose the wedding of the two young people. They freely quote the Queen as insisting Kate should get a job and that “she’s not proactive enough.”

I believe there may be some noises of disquiet, particularly from Prince Philip, at the lack of a firm decision on this match. One can imagine him stating that Kate really should be doing something else while she waits. The aim, though, may be to prompt William into “marrying the girl, or letting her go” — a statement attributed to Prince Philip two years ago.

The anti-Kate faction in the Palace has picked up on this theme and translated it as the Queen’s wish that Kate “got a job.” This then becomes “work for a charity.” Have they forgotten that Kate was involved with a charity cross-Channel dragon-boat race last year but was asked to pull out for safety reasons by Clarence House? A dig at Prince Charles’s press team, perhaps?

The article ends with extensive quotes from the Clarence House viewpoint which show the truth at the heart of this story:

Despite this reluctance to co-operate with the Press, Kate’s friends say she has access to Press officers and senior aides at Clarence House, where she is free to come and go at her leisure.

“Kate has a hotline to Clarence House and she listens to everything the Royal aides tell her to do,” said a friend. “When they advised her to pull out of the cross-Channel dragon boat race last summer, she did it immediately. Kate is approached about doing lots of things but the Clarence House staff are often against her taking part because they think it’s too high-profile and they want to keep Kate out of the limelight. She’s in a bit of a Catch 22 situation.”

Royal Anecdotes believes that what is happening to Kate Middleton is very close to persecution. The wave of teenage angst she has had to face from many downmarket websites, including the Mail’s (which is moderated), is almost beyond belief since very few of the trolls will ever have met her. To quote the Kate-haters as proof of anything rational is tantamount to giving up on moderate and accurate journalism.

We’ve long stated that only a quick resolution by Prince William will spare his long-time girlfriend this avalanche of mindless criticism.

We are delighted that an announcement looks possible from Sandringham at Christmas.

There are reports that Kate Middleton has accepted a Palace invitation to spend part of the Christmas holidays at Sandringham with the Royal Family.

Clearly aware that this may be her last Christmas as a single girl, she has wisely opted to remain in the bosom of her family on Christmas Day, but will travel to Norfolk for the Boxing Day shoot.

Last year a similar situation arose but Kate chose to be in Scotland with her family for the festive season.

The ever-sensible Queen will no doubt approve of her priorities on this occasion. Reports of “snubs” to Her Majesty should be taken with a large dose of salts. Early provisional guest lists are not Royal Commands.