By Kim Chisnall

Outside Buckingham Palace there is a long line of satellite trucks. Tourists are under constant siege from reporters desperate to know what they think of the royal engagement. The speculation has already started about what she will wear, where will they get married and who will make the cake.

Nearby in St James Palace, Kate Middleton gets her hair and make-up done in preparation for her first photo-call. What must be going through the mind of this 28-year-old girl from a village called Bucklebury, west of London?

What separates Kate from all the princesses that have come before her is lineage. They were all members of Britain's aristocracy; Kate is what's known as a commoner. The word commoner conjures up images of maids carrying apples in their aprons or smudged faced men tipping their caps to ladies carrying parasols. It sounds horribly archaic, but all it means is that nobody in Kate's family tree has a peerage.

Diana may have become known as the "people's princess" but her father was an earl and even the toe sucking Sarah Ferguson had a great grandfather who was a viscount.

You'd think that in 2010 a title would cease to matter, but in a country where the aristocracy still owns a third of the land, old class divides die hard.

Take the reaction of some of William's friends when Kate Middleton arrived on the scene. They would smirk when she walked in the room and whisper "doors to manual" in reference to the fact that Kate's mother Carol once worked as an air hostess for British Airways.

Then there was the reaction of the press when Carol Middleton chewed gum at Prince William's passing-out parade at Sandhurst. As the Queen, Prince Philip and the Prince of Wales were also in attendance it was labelled an 'unforgettable spectacle' by the Daily Mail.

Others mocked her language. Apparently Kate's mum said "toilet" instead of "lavatory", and "pardon" instead of "what?"

Poor Kate Middleton and her family can expect a lifetime of this snide snobbery.

The press have also delighted in exposing the black sheep of the family Kate's uncle Gary Goldsmith.

Mr Goldsmith lives in Ibiza in a villa named La Maison de Bang Bang. In October last year he offered cocaine and the services of high-class prostitutes to an undercover reporter. He also bragged about his friendship with Prince William. 'My first words to Prince William were, “Oi, you f****r! Did you break my glass pyramids? He and a pal had been throwing balls around and broke all these ornamental pyramids I had”, he told the reporter.

I sure hope Uncle Gary gets an invite to the wedding, at least he will liven things up a bit.