Prince William and Kate Middleton soon will marry with all the fanfare and attention from the world and the press. We will be able to watch hours of footage and commentary on the whole affair. But what will this couple be feeling inside. Are they in many ways all that different from you and me?

They are people with thoughts, feelings, goals, desires, needs, and life experiences that shaped who they are. After all Prince William lost his mother in his teens to an untimely and violent death. Before that he experienced his parents very public divorce. How has that shaped his personality and his choice of a life partner? In the months ahead we surely will learn more about Kate than just that she comes from successful but common parents. At the least we can see from the outside that William has chosen a very pretty, wholesome, likeable, and approachable pal to be his bride. She reminds me of his mother in her early married days.

We get to witness two handsome, healthy 28 year olds who have chosen to make a life together. Will they get to have privacy? Will they get to have their needs for friendship, play, intellectual pursuits, spiritual development, friends and family, like the rest of us? What if they have had a disagreement? Will they get to learn to work it out or just be told to stuff their feelings? Will they get to fulfill their purpose on this earth or be reduced to mere formal posturing?

I hope that they get to love, grow, learn, and evolve as people in their life together. After all isn’t that we are really here for? Maybe all those trials that Prince William went through have prepared him to create a life with his bride beyond any of our expectations.