'No one is trying to fill my mum's shoes'

Says Prince William after engagement; Kate adds, joining Royal Family is a daunting task

Says Prince William after engagement; Kate adds, joining Royal Family is a daunting task

Prince William carried his mother's engagement ring around Kenya in a rucksack for three weeks before he proposed to his girlfriend Kate Middleton, he said yesterday after their engagement was announced.

The couple seemed happy and relaxed in their first interview, teasing each other about his cooking and his romanticism, each drawing laughter from the other.

"She had 10 or 20 pictures of me up on her wall at university," William said. The prince said he'd been torn between asking Kate first if she would marry him, or asking her father for permission before he asked her.

Serious mood

The couple became more serious when talking about William's mother, the late Diana, princess of Wales.
"Obviously, she is not going to be around to share in the fun and excitement of it all," William said.

Giving Middleton his mother's engagement ring "is my way of keeping her close to it all," said the prince, who is second in line to the British throne.

"I would love to have met her," Middleton said. "She was an inspirational woman." But William said there was 'no pressure' for Middleton to emulate Diana.

"It's about carving your own future," he said. "No one is trying to fill my mother's shoes."

William and Middleton were friends for over a year at university, and were living together with other friends, before they started dating, they said.

He said his attempts to impress her by "cooking these amazing fancy dinners" had failed, and that she had had to hover in the background to help.

Middleton did laugh repeatedly during the interview. She giggled when the prince asserted that "being a real romantic," he proposed well.

They'll be married in London in the spring or summer of 2011, Prince Charles's office said yesterday. ufffd Agencies

750 million
The number of people who watched Princess Diana's wedding in 1981.

25-foot
The length of the train of Princess Diana's wedding gown

Did you know?
The engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton raises the prospect of a bank holiday to mark their marriage. The marriage Charles and Diana, in July 1981 was also marked by a national holiday.

Best laid plans
Bookies have already laid bets on the wedding date for the Royal wedding. Here's how the bets line up:
>> August 13: Bookies favour this date, odds standing at 3/1
>>August 6: 4/1, is the second most favourite date
>> July 30: A day after the wedding of William's parents, is on offer at 10/1.