This Article is From Nov 17, 2010

How life will change for Kate Middleton

London: Royal officials announced on Tuesday that Prince William and girlfriend Kate Middleton got engaged last month during a vacation in Kenya and will marry in London next year.

Prince William has informed the Queen and other close members of his family - he's also sought the permission of Miss Middleton's father.

Following the marriage, the couple will live in north Wales, where Prince William will continue to serve with the Royal Air Force.

Both twenty eight, Middleton and the Prince met over eight years ago when they were students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Royal author Katie Nicholl explains how the romance started.

"Kate would go running in the morning and then turn up in the canteen, and make sure William had caught her eye. By the end of the first term they were breakfasting together. By the end of the first year, they had something of a very close friendship. And by their second year they'd moved in together."

Ever since their relationship became public knowledge, Middleton has been admired for her model looks and elegant dress sense.

Now she's likely to become one of the world's most influential women, drawing comparisons with William's late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Experts say the engagement will make Kate a style icon for women across the world.

"Kate is incredibly attractive, a beautiful girl, she has model looks and a model figure, and she's going to have designers bending over backwards to wear their clothes. She probably will become a style icon like Diana. It'll be difficult for her not to."

Until their engagement, William and Kate had been at pains to avoid any show of togetherness.
This still photo of them arm in arm after William's graduation from Sandhurst was one of the few pictures of them displaying any kind of affection.

That caution will no longer be necessary.

The royal wedding will take place in spring or summer of next year.
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