"I'll celebrate her birth when..."

Totally agree, Ariadne.

I once met Raine Spencer (Diana's step mother, daughter of very bad novelist) when I was on a tourist type visit to Althorp with my mother. My then 3-year old, well-behaved daughter ran on ahead of us into the tourist shop and was unfortunate enough to run into the legs of said Raine who roughly grabbed hold of DD's arm and demanded in a loud and imperious voice 'Who does this child belong to?' 'Me', I said, 'And kindly let go of her arm.' 'Well', replied said Raine, haughtily, 'There are valuable things in here, keep your child under control.' Was I mad or was I mad? I was most mad because on the spur of the moment I could think of no smart retort. I can now. This was years ago and I still wake up at night sometimes thinking 'Why didn't I say this or that?' Grr.

'Acid Raine' is what I think Diana and her sisters used to call their step-mother NotTooOld!

Such as "A good thing it was just your legs she ran into, then, and not any of the valuable items." NotTooOld*

Suits her but I could think of a better one without much effort, rose!

Nice one, Elegran!

Followed by "Of course, her co-ordination and spatial awareness are very good for her age. She never endangers any fragile objects."

Why do we always think of these answers when it is too late? What I believe is "l'esprit d'escalier" in French - staircase wit.

Ghastly woman - how infuriating for you NotTooOld. You can imagine what sort of miserable childhood Diana must have had with a stepmother like that. Diana's the only one of the whole bunch I've ever had any liking or sympathy for (though these days, of course, it's not very fashionable to say so).

I liked Diana too. Felt sorry that she had the whole of the bloody establishment against her after the divorce.

She was a bit of a rebel. Not a team player like Kate.

I think the Middletons had 'a cunning plan' with regards to their daughter which culminated in her probably getting an even better catch than even they planned for. Which, again makes me sound as if I don't like her. I do. I also adored Diana, which is why I'm so fond of William and Harry and really want them to be happy. However, going back to the OP does freedom include being able to get onto the property ladder; afford to have children and, if you do, not to have to leave them in a nursery every day while you go back to work to help pay the mortgage etc etc. Afford to have a higher education ?

I might have sugested that her souvenir shop was full of pricey junk rather than "valuable things".

Jing - you would be right. If only I had thought of all these clever ripostes at the time! All this happened...... let's see, DD was born in 1978 so it was....eeek!...thirty four years ago. What a sad old bat I must be to still feel angry after all these years! It's odd, though, that one incident really put me off the royals, the whole lot of them. Well, I do have some sympathy for Diana, I suppose, although even she was somewhat manipulative I'd have to say.

My dad was very anti-royal. On the day Prince Andrew was due to be born, my dad took me up to London for a job interview with the civil service (didn't get it, thank god). After the interview I begged him to go to Buck Pal with me to see if an announcement had been made about the birth. Very reluctantly he agreed and, as luck would have it, we were standing at the front of the crowd at the palace railings when the notice was put up (no easil in those days, just the railing). Spotting a photographer my disgusted dad turned and pushed his way out of the crowd, closely followed by moi, not wanting to get left behind. In the next day's national papers was a picture of the crowd at the Palace, all craning forward to read the notice, apart from just two heads, me and my dad, facing towards the camera and trying to escape! I still have that picture somewhere.

I disliked Diana because I dislike manipulators. That William and Kate are so far bringing up their children the very opposite to the way William was.

I fail to see how the middletons planned to get their daughter into St Andrews, so could not have plotted as some claim. It was Johnnie Spencer who had two daughters lined up for the heir to the throne

Lamb to the slaughter comes to mind (Diana).
It must have been a shock to find out that your husband-to-be didn't love you and it was too late to back out. Not what I would have wanted for my 19 year old DD. Mind you, I felt sorry for Charles too, not being able to choose his own bride, trying his best at furst but not succeeding.
There were too many manipulators with their own agenda - let's hope the Cambridges bring a more modern approach to the monarchy.

Furst?! I left Devon years ago!

Sorry rosequartz , lamb to the slaughter she was not, they thought they were getting a lamb though

Anniebach how do you know Diana was manipulative?

Perhaps she was - once she'd been forcibly backed into a corner. I think she was daft to marry him. She must have known there was no real love.

How daft and starry eyed were any of us at 18 or 19? (don't answer that - you were probably all very sensible and level-headed)

Diana was 'needy' and Royal men don't do 'needy'.

If Kate gets a bit wrung out by it all I think William will point her in the direction of her mother. It's all part of the plan.

However, the expressions on the faces of the Middleton parents when visiting the baby suggests 'trouble at t'mill'.

Just like any other family then

Good point jinglbellsfrocks. I think there was a point when Diana was being seriously demonised by the Establishment where she had no option but to try to manipulate things to her point of view a little.

The Middletons did look very apprehensive didn't they. Perhaps it is all a bit scary for them.

I think she'll be alright in Norfolk. She seemed happy enough to sit and read in the dunes on Anglesey. Maybe she is a quiet person privately.

She was not from another country, she was part of the royal circle from birth, her sister dated Charles first, she didn't know what she was taking on?

They didn't look apprehensivve, jingl - he looked dishevelled and she had a face like thunder!