Kate's "Commoner Than we Think", Reveals Global Study

LONDON, April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Like Kate Middleton, Few Royal Brides Today are Themselves Royal, Finds Study of 107 Royal Romances

    - Like Kate, 10% Met Their Prince as Students
    - Several Princesses Have Humbler Backgrounds Than Kate
    - Three-Quarters of European Princes Now Marry Commoners
    - British Royals Becoming More European, Suggests Study

Kate Middleton might be the first "commoner" in nearly four centuries to marry a future heir to the British throne but her background, reveals a new global study, is far commoner - more typical of a modern royal bride - than all the fuss suggests.

Indeed, nearly three-quarters of European princes now marry commoners, rather than royals or aristocrats, reveals a global study of 107 royal romances since 1945 conducted by Badoo.com (http://www.badoo.com), the world's largest social networking site for meeting new people.

Barely one in four princes worldwide today marry fellow royals, while just one in 17 European princes do so.

British royals, in other words, are finally becoming more European in their approach to marriage.

A surprising number of royal brides also resemble Kate in having first met their prince at university. No less than 11 (10%) of the 107 relationships studied by Badoo began, like Kate and William's, as student romances (nine at university, two at school). The figure for European princes is even higher: 12%.

Nor is Kate's background truly all that humble. Indeed, while she went to an elite school and has wealthy parents, Princess Letizia in Spain has working-class parents and Princess Tessy of Luxembourg is the daughter of a tiler.

"There's been much fuss about Kate being a 'commoner'", says Lloyd Price, Badoo's Director of Marketing. "But the truth is, our study shows, that she is more typical than rare among recent European royal brides."

Badoo's researchers studied 107 marriages or serious romances involving princes worldwide since 1945. The princes involved came from 30 countries, 33 royal families and four continents.

Has any woman, however, yet met a prince using Badoo.com? "Not as far as we know", says Price. "But it's surely only a matter of time."

    Key Facts: European Princes Since 1945
    - Almost three-quarters (71%) of their romances have been with commoners.
    - Just 6% have been with fellow royals.
    - 63% have been with a woman of a different nationality.
    - 12% have started as student romances.
    - 13% have started via sport or pastimes.
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SOURCE Badoo.com