I am so tired of reading
'The Crown Prince of Norway is married to a former drug addict with an illegitimate child'. The Crown Princess was a single mother when he met her (the child's paternal grandparents are friends of our Queen), and although by her own admittance she 'tested her boundaries' as a teenager, that is a far cry from saying she was a drug addict. Perhaps we shall start Harry a drug addicted, he has been known to test out some illegal drugs? The whole business of the English approach to class is making you a laughing stock all over the world

Inger, Oslo, Norway

Kate count your blessings and think yourself lucky you have escaped the clutches of that family. You can now return to living a normal life, something you could never have had whilst beining involved with William.

David V.Orloff, Melbourn. Royston. Herts, UK

Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway did not marry a former drug addict. The former Mette - Marit Tjessem Hoiby may have experimented with drugs (like Princ Harry) and she did have an illegitimate child, but a drug addict she was not!

She has, thus far, done very well in her role as Norway's Crown Princess.

Bente Radnofsky, Wheathampstead , U.K.

The people who have a thing about class can blame class but at the end of the day maybe they are just not right for each other at this time. And maybe all these words will have to be eaten if they get back together in the future, or if William meets another "middle class" girl. Maybe we should just mind our own business and let them get on with their lives. I wish them the very best of luck.

Andrew, Dundee, UK

If the members of our most famous disfunctional family and their friends are truly offended by the mention of the word toilet or someone who is still pleased to meet them....... they perhaps deserve the relationships they get.

Diana and Sarah Ferguson had the misfortune to join the Royal Family, and were a breath of fresh air. They were dismissed for demanding functional marriages - and committing the ultimate sin of accepting the attention of others when that of their husbands was denied them.

It was noted in one report this week that Miss Middleton would have made a perfect Princess of Wales because she was resigned to ignore Williams wanderings as long as they were discrete.

In the 21st centuary perhaps a perfect marriage is one where fidelity is an option from the outset...........even for the Royal family, and others who dont go to the toilet.

Christine, Edinburgh, SCOTLAND

Manners are not the issue for the Royal Family. It is the advisors, hanger-ons and other upper middle class wannabes, who take so much delight in the wider public lack of knowledge on all things of protocol, u or non u behaviour.
I feel sorry for the Royals trapped like prisoners (albeit a rather well-furnished prison) with servile and obsequious guards. They protect their favoured positions with this type of pedantry.
Bring on the revolution, then they could be normal like the rest of us.

james, London,

DNA samples would confirm what we think. The royals set us all to shame .I only get one egg at breakfast!!!

GJM, Cardiff, WALES

In today's world / society, people are people. After all Prince William is not marrying his future wife's parents or any of her relations for that matter and neither is his future bride. The choice should be his and his alone. If William and Kate truly are meant for each other then so be it. Let them have their happiness! Either their parents can share in it and be part of it; or not! CLASS and MONEY are not everything in life nor do they necessarily make one happy :-)
Whoever he marrys, their relations should get on for the sake of the "kids" as it were.
CWD, Maryland USA

CWD, Eldersburg, USA / Maryland

Er, I still find it incredible that Papa & Mama Middleton are branded as Millionaires. I went to its website to take a look at their offerings for party pieces. I was shocked to see that the stuff they sold were not high value added items. You could get such stuff at much better prices at supermarkets or specialist retail shops. Did Papa & Mama Middleton perpetuate the myth that they are self made millionaires through some clever PR spin that they set off themselves & the gullible media bought into it? As for their assets like properties, I guess the mortgage's still there. As they say, looks can deceive! Seems to be a family keeping up appearances. Also read somewhere that younger daughter is after some aristocratic chap. So seems to be the family is a bunch of ardent social climbers!

Sylvia, boston, USA

I don't wish to abolish the monarchy.
Unlike my American friend,
However the Prince made a judgement upon consultation with others - based on his own personal feelings - regardless of class issues if he couldnt sustain any relationship without lying to himself and others then surely that would be a much larger error - one far more damaging as we have seen with his parents.

PD, Worcester, UK

Now I hope the Prince and Ms Middleton DO actually get married. At this rate the "aristocracy" will soon intermarry so much that they'll die out within a few generations. I really do hope the Middleton family ignore such vile comments about their being beneath the Royals. The Middletons have earned a respectful position in the world, an admirable feat that the people of Britain can look to instead of than a family who are so removed from the real world to consider the word "toilet" a sign of indecency. They are in desperate need of a reality check, and if Ms Middleton could do so I'm sure it would indeed make the future monarch a much more popular figure in the people's eyes.

CM, Nottingham,

I agree with Brenden. As a New Yorker married to an Englishman I cannot understand why the British are so disturbed by anyone becoming successful on their own merits. One reason why my husband left for the States many years ago. It usually takes talent and effort to "make it". So, to be offensive, "have a good day!" Yes I really mean it.

Ethel, New York, USA

Brendan - I embrace your republican views, but not your spelling. Nor grammar. Nor yet punctuation...

And Alan! "What" are you talking about?! 'What-ho' - what?

Ben , London,

It seems to me that the concerns about Mrs Middleton are entirely a fabrication of the press, in particular the Mail. None of the reported remarks have been substantiated and yet they are repeated as if gospel. With regard to using toilet rather than lavatory, since Mrs Middleton was a flight attendant, contrary to the reports, she would have probably used the word lavatory, which is how international airlines have described the facility for many years. Brenden in New York has not lived here long enough to realise that the class system is alive and well in the United States; we don't have titles but there certainly is a class distinction - having sufficient money does not always provide an entry to the higher echelons of American Society - families and breeding still make a difference on this side of the pond.

David Cunard, Los Angeles, USA

I'd like to said that I really don't know who told to Mr Hamilton that Spain is "a nation still strong on class" because that is absolutely false. I'm from Spain and I felt offended because I can swear you that the UK is much "a nation still strong on class" than Spain. Please Mr Hamilton, the next time you're going to write an article, check your information first.

Jose, St. Annes,

A good thing that class still exists in 2007. A classless society can only be achieved by leveling everybody near the bottom, not by rising the lower levels. As for the Crown Princes of Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, their respective marriages show a decline in standards and a sign of the increasing irrelevance of their position. People might start thinking that a republic is not a bad idea, when the Queen of Norway is a former drug addict "just like the rest of us". If the crowned heads become undistinguishable from the general population, the next step will be people asking what is the point of having them? The continuity of European monarchies in the 21 century depends on them not letting their standards decline.

Chris, Ottawa, Canada

Emigration is without doubt, the appropriate choice for you Brenden. New York is a wonderful city, where linguistic deficiency remains largely unnoticed.

John Websell, East Halton,

Benden, Don't delude yourself that there isn't a class system in the US. It simplhy manifest's itself in a different way - namely , which Ivy League school did you attend

Dartmouth, New York, USA

DNA will establish the truth.

GJM, Cardiff, WALES

I'm sure they have always had some artisto lined up for William.

The Queen was given the choice of two future husbands before she settled on Prince phillip.

I agree will Brenden, surely William would have learnt something from his much missed and mourned mother.

Apart from the unedifying spectacle of him and his brother falling about drunk.

Simon, Aberdeen, UK

I can agree only with your final sentence Brended, to suggest snobbery like this doesn't exist in America is very naive.

Stuart, Hampshire, UK

Does anyone really give a tinker's cuss over what goes on with the Royals anymore. I don't. The tabloid press have as usual behaved like a bunch of infantile schoolgirls giggling over their first dates. Frankly there are more important things to concern us than silly tittle-tattle.

Richard Cox, Birmingham,

The Crown Prince of the Netherlands' spouse may have done a stint as a New York investment banker, far more important is that she is the daughter of a member of the Argentine junta that waged war on Britain in 1982.

Her father was minister of agriculture. Not one of the main culprits, perhaps, but still not allowed to be present at his daughter' s wedding in 2002 because of his murky past.

Sounds to me a lot worse than saying toilet instead of loo.

Momphert, The Hague, The Netherlands

There are more pressing problems associated with social class than worrying about the correct term for a W.C. To claim class as irrelevent is ill-informed, naive and symptomatic of all that is (going) wrong with western culture.

Truth, leeds, UK

No-one knows what happened. I think everyone should mind their own business and let them sort their lives out...there's no evidence that there was a class issue, a marriage issue or even if it was the public scruitiny...it could be just that they grew apart.

liz, london,

As an New Yorker living in London, I couldn't agree with Brendan more. This is such a closed and cliquey society.
Its been one of the most difficult things to adjust to here. Ok culture and hertitage wise, I get the point of the Royal family. But practically speaking - arent they a mear tourist attraction at this point? I say Kate should should be glad she dodged that bullet - especially if William grows up to look like his father. She is an attractive and apparently smart girl - She can do plenty better than that red, bird-faced snob.

Jillian, London, UK

It is a reminder that the whole business of what it means to be British has still changed so little. If Kate Middleton is not acceptable at the apex levels of British society, then is it surprising that British citizens of colour, or whose ancestry is from India, Hong Kong, etc believe themselves to be alienated. We know full well that the disapproval would have been infinitely worse if instead of Kate Middleton, the woman in question was Kate Singh or Kate Patel or Kate Chan.

Andrew, Aberdeen, Hong Kong

I would imagine that both Kate AND her mother are sobbing into the sheets, but for very different reasons. I believe that Kate does love William for himself, and that her mother probably did push the romance as far as she could - after all, what a trophy. This all being said, the choice is Williams, and if he feels pressured/too young, or whatever else, the decision is made.

Sal, Vancouver, Canada

It is proof of the blinkered arrogance of the so-called 'upper classes', that they imagine that their opinions matter.

They seem, to the rest of us, to be an irrelevant 'waste of space.' This impression confirmed by the sight of William and his vulgar friends, inebriated, sweaty, and red-faced falling out of nightclubs in the early hours of the morning.

Kate Middleton, unlike her ex. and his cronies,has always behaved with the utmost dignity and propriety and is an asset to this country. Basically, she is too good for him.
.'

Patricia, Ipswich, England

Well said yankee/brit, although the class riden twerps really don't bother me because I know i'm a better person than they can ever be.

Ian, Margate, UK

You mean that the royals actually use "the bog"?
Blimey, I thought they were above that!

Carlotte, Nottingham, England

The whole class thing in the year 2007 is just embarrassing. What kind of society classifies it's citizen into different levels. As a British living in New York, it's exactly the class issue in Britain that made me emigrate to the US, where I'm chasing my American dream & I know that as I continue work hard, I'm assured I would reap my reward, without having to worry I'm a foreigner. In my view, the middleton's have more class than the royals or their uneducated friends. This whole thing about Kate's mother just shows how classless & petty will's friends are & william too. Why would he surround himself with such friends. It is also very unfortunate for william,since his mother fought the class system & wanted to be an ordinary person, reason she's known as "the people's princess". Didn't william learn any thing from the life & death o his mother? His mother was never snobish & wanted to be just like you & I. The earlier this royal family is disbanded, the better for all.

Brenden, New York, USA

What's alarming about the revalation that the class system has never been dropped int his country? To anyone not from a "working class" background this may be earth shattering news, but as a proud member of such, I am not shocked. Underappreciated, undervalued but critically necessary, and time will tell. You can live without the Royal Family, your MP or the head of your local Council, but life without your binman and other people the "upper classes" choose not to see, such as gas, water or electrical maintenance crews would be a tad difficult.
By the way,what's the odds on Wills marrying his cousin? The UK Royal Family is the laughing stock of the world due to their class snobbery and subsequent inbreeding. Anyone could be forgiven thinking that they're of Arkansas descent rather than German.....

Pete North, manchester,

I do not believe that Mrs Middletons so called faux pas
with various forms of speech would have had any effect
on William and or the Queen. William probably calls the
toilet/ lavatory the crapper.

Barry Holmes, Christchurch, New Zealand

The press and others within the UK are definitely not unique in their exceptional, albeit unfair, judgments regarding the "suitability" of those who one day may be related by marriage to their beloved Queen. This sort of stuff goes on all of the time within the USA. However, we seem to do this in the reverse, meaning that we wonder if members of the Royal Family are quite good enough for those they marry or otherwise hang out with. It's very true that many of us across the pond have wondered out loud and in the press if Prince William would be a suitable husband for Kate. We have held our collective breaths during each Royal engagement or marriage, hoping that things work out for the poor man or woman. The one thing we don't seem to do, however, is obsess about their relatives and whether or not they know the difference between the salad and the entree fork. While I'm certain that sort of thing goes on in private, it seems too petty to creep into our media.

Nancy, Santa Barbara, CA, USA