Let's leave the engaged couple alone

So Prince William is to marry long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton in summer 2011.

The pair of 28-year-olds became engaged in October while on holiday in Kenya. They have been dating since meeting in 2002 at St Andrews University in Scotland.

The TV media have already set up camp in north Wales, where William is serving with the RAF, and at Miss Middleton's tiny home village of Bucklebury in Berkshire. One hopes, however, that they won't remain there until the wedding day!

I'm not sure what the public reaction will be, but I can't see it being as intense as it was for William's mother, Princess Diana, when she first started seeing Prince Charles back in 1981. Nevertheless, whether the public shrugs a shoulder at the news, the media - TV, radio, newspapers, glossy magazines - will try to convince us that we should be following the pair's every move for the next seven or eight months (no wedding date as yet).

I wish them well - but leave them alone, eh?