Royal wedding: Prince William to marry Kate Middleton

Wearied by a daily diet of news about the economy and even harder times ahead, many Britons finally feel they have something to cheer about: the biggest and most important royal wedding for three decades will take place next year.

Amid increasing speculation, the announcement finally came through Tuesday that Prince William is to marry his girlfriend, Kate Middleton.

William, the Queen’s eldest grandson and second in line to the throne after his father, Charles, became engaged in October during a private holiday in Kenya, a statement issued by his father’s office confirmed.

"The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton," said the statement. "The wedding will take place in the spring or summer of 2011, in London. Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course."

Parallels with Charles & Diana's 1981 wedding

At a very basic level, the news will calm the nerves of some royalists who may have began to wonder if ‘Wills’ was ever going to pop the question to the woman he began dating eight years ago while studying at Scotland’s St. Andrews University. Seemingly endowed with almost superhuman reserves of patience, as far as some sections of the press were concerned, they had began to dub her as "Waity Katie."

However, the timing of when the wedding comes packed with symbolism. They will marry in the year that would have marked the 30th anniversary of William’s parents' wedding. Back then, images of Charles and his young bride, Diana, distracted many at a time when Britain was in severe recession.

“He was always likely to get married, so in that respect there was always going to be stability [to the royal lineage], but the most important thing it does is provide a focus for celebration, which we have been missing since 1981, when his parents got married,” says Charlie Jacoby, an expert on the royal family.

“That was a very exciting time and we will be hoping or something like that. A sense of national outpouring.”

IN PICTURES: Britain's royal family

A more modern, accessible royal image

At another level, according to Mr. Jacoby, the official entry of "Princess" Kate into the Windsor family and the prospect further down the line of "Queen" Kate represents a 21st-century update to the traditional image of the British royals.

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