What must it be like to be Kate Middleton? Now, imagine that you are an American from the midwest, with no idea of the rules of etiquette or the finer points of titles and protocols. Just how much would your life change if you fell in love with Great Britain’s next king?
The strength of The Royal We lies in the character of Bex. She’s so ordinary, so humble and likeable. She’s not a royals-watcher. She doesn’t care about the dresses or the parties or the other perks of being loved by a prince. She wants to be an artist, is a huge Cubs fan, and she doesn’t intend to change for Nick. Still, most of this book is about the trials and tribulations of living in the public eye, the trauma of the tabloid lies and paparazzi stalking, as well as all of the work that goes into becoming a princess.
At the same time, of course the book is full of delicious insider moments–attending the Royal Ascot, vacationing on the ski slopes with the family–and some wicked humor. From what I understand there are fun parallels between Bex & Nick and Kate & William, but I don’t know enough about the British royal family for it to affect my enjoyment, or assessment, of the novel one way or another.
Readers who have a fascination with twins, or stories about sisters, will also enjoy following the changing dynamics of Bex and Lacey’s relationship. They could not have been closer before Bex left for England, and everyone would have thought Lacey more likely to end up doing something notable or outrageous. What happens when the quiet twin starts getting all the attention?
Morgan and Cocks, cofounders of the celebrity fashion website, Go Fug Yourself, deliver a fairytale romance with their first adult novel. At least it starts out that way. Rebecca Porter (Bex) leaves Cornell for a junior year at Oxford. Nick, as in Prince Nicholas, the future King of Great Britain, happens to live just down the hall. They hit it off over late-night viewings of Devour, a show that sounds vaguely like HBO’s True Blood—much like Bex and Nick are vaguely based on Kate Middleton and Prince William. From the beginning, their relationship is sweet and sincere. They are wonderfully down-to-earth, smart people. But there are hurdles. Bex’s over-enthusiastic, beloved twin sister, Lacey, comes to visit and then quits med school and moves to London after falling for Nick’s brother, Freddie (i.e. Prince Harry). Nick and Freddie’s father is a hateful man, and their mother has been tucked away in her own mind since they were mere babes, unable to handle the strain of the royal life. Worst of all are the paparazzi, who hound Bex mercilessly. Or are the royal family’s own people the worst, as they micromanage Bex’s every move until she barely recognizes herself? It culminates in a wedding day will-they or won’t-they. Rather long (eight years from meeting to wedding) but never dull, The Royal We balances angst and drunken parties with true love and loyal friendship. It’s all about the price of life in the public eye. Teens who enjoy Stephanie Perkins and Jennifer E. Smith will eat this up. VERDICT This work is like The Princess Diaries taken to a whole new level, with readers getting an insider view.—Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
Accounting and Finance achieve 98 per cent satisfaction in National Student Survey | Staffordshire University Business School
We are proud to announce that the Staffordshire Business School’s suite of Accounting and Finance courses are in the top 5% of institutions for overall student satisfaction according to the recent National Student Survey results.
The suite of courses achieved 98% satisfaction in the overall quality of the courses, ranking 6th out of 107 institutions teaching Accounting and Finance. The two-year accelerated award achieved 100% overall satisfaction rating for the second year running.
The breakdown of key results for the suit of courses is as follows (all rankings are out of 107 institutions teaching Accounting and Finance):
“It is really good to see that our accounting students are having such a great experience on their course and at the university. Our strong personal tutoring programme, staff enthusiasm and promotion of the Staffordshire Graduate attributes all play a crucial role in these results. It must not be forgotten though that the dedication of staff, both academic and support, shapes the overall experience.”
“These results are testament to the great work that our Accountancy and Finance team does in producing a fantastic student experience. To be in the top 10 in the UK is a real achievement.”
Two bits of news out this morning, both of which suggest the TV viewer is low down the list of priorities when it comes to deciding what to put on the box.
Firstly, the FA look set to award the rights to the FA Cup and England home games to ITV and Setanta. This despite the fact that the BBC’s coverage has been credited with making the Cup exciting again after several years of rubbish. Would ITV have to show the lower-league cup ties that the Beeb have loyally provided over the past few years? And if they’re paying so much more (£400m+) will they have any money left to make the coverage half-decent? The deal leaves the BBC with no live football outside of the Euro 2008 and the next World Cup, which with their range of talent must be pretty annoying. Gabby Logan – who moved from ITV recently – must be kicking herself.
Secondly, the BBC are mulling plans to show EastEnders five nights a week. I don’t think they understand why people have stopped watching the show over the years (it used to get around 16m people regularly, now it gets about half that). People stopped watching because it’s too big a commitment. Ask viewers what they really want and they’d probably ask for fewer episodes of higher quality. Even the show’s producers are against it, but the Beeb want to squeeze some more milk from the ratings cow. Laughably they’re undertaking a “feasibility test to assess the impact on the production schedule”, but don’t appear to be researching what the viewer actually wants.
Much as it pains me to say, you are 100% right on this one Doidge. The FA shouldn’t give away the rights, and the Beeb should make sure the Cup stays with them. We keep hearing how the BBC is committed to showing sport, yet they let this happen and want to put a failing soap on for an extra day a week.
Why does it pain you to say it? I think it just pains you to contribute to a blog, you old technophobe.
I don’t think the BBC are much to blame for losing the rights – they’re not getting as much money from the licence fee any more, and ITV were willing to pay more than 30% more for the contract.
Hopefully the £300m the Beeb spent on the last contract will stay within sport, meaning they might be able to poach something back. How about the Champions League or Formula One? Maybe some live cricket or golf from Sky? Just so long as it isn’t spent on bloody EastEnders instead…
So the Beeb didn’t relly lose because Gary and Alan were saying not very supportive things about our brave boys and their fearless leader General McLaren? You mean it all came down to money? Oh dear.
Never mind perhaps Gary and Alan would make a great F1 commentary team and they could critise the other McLaren “I think Theo Walcott er…. I mean Lewis Hamilton has been brought on far too early in the second half er… lap 23”.
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