Kate plays down engagement rumors

The New Year started off right where last year left off...with yet more wedding bell rumors for William and Kate! Although last year it was reported that Kate was telling friends to expect an engagement announcement, this year she's been playing down the ongoing rumors in the press. Friends say that Kate, who's recently celebrated her 26th birthday, has told them that there is "no way" she and Prince William will be getting engaged this year. She has also dismissed rumors that she and William are planning to buy a house in the country.

Speaking to the Daily Express a friend of Kate says, "Kate has said, not without a level of disappointment in her voice, that William is totally committed to knuckling down to his military training and that is his number one priority. While she certainly wants to marry, she knows she has to bide her time until William is ready. What makes it difficult is that she knows she's rather boxed herself in – she has to wait for him to make arrangements to see her because his schedule with the RAF is pretty intensive.

"She also knows she's got to find something worthwhile to occupy her time. The criticism that she's just hanging around until a ring is put on her finger really gets to her. The reality is that she's a bright girl who just hasn't found a job that fulfills her. She's the first to admit that working for Jigsaw was not exactly taxing."

The friend also dismissed rumors about the couple buying a house together. Said Kate's confidant, "That's rubbish. If Kate and William want to be together in the country they already have plenty of places to go. They often stay at her parents' house in Berkshire or William's cottage near Balmoral. They certainly don't want the responsibility of a big house before they're even married."

If they ever get married that is! Certainly many, not least the press, are every bit as eager for William to marry Kate as she seems to be. A recent poll taken by the Discovery Channel suggested that 80% of Brits would welcome Kate as their future Queen. But according to friends no one is as anxious to see Kate and William married as Kate's mother Carole Middleton who took a lot of criticism in the weeks after William and Kate broke up in April. Says a friend, "Carole feels that Kate and her family are in a state of limbo and is worried that the longer there is no engagement the more possibility there is that something could go wrong.

"A royal wedding for her daughter would be a vindication after all the poisonous tosh that was aimed at her when William and Kate had their brief break-up. All that snobby stuff about Carole being a social climber of Himalayan proportions really hurt her and she is still very sensitive about it.

"Put it this way, if any of William's so-called friends actually dared repeat that phrase 'doors to manual' to Carole's face I think she would whack them."

But Carole, why whack his friends when the press is happy to do it for you?

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