Indian groom breeds royal row

LONDON: The royal wedding isapparently on the cards. The prospective royal mother-in-law has ostensiblyoffered approval. The commoner who will shatter the British monarchical mould issupposedly just a step away from entering one of Europe''s oldest royal families.So, could it all be going sour for London-based Indian Aatish Taseer and hisroyal sweetheart Lady Gabriella Windsor?Princess Michael of Kent,Taseer''s prospective mother-in-law if gossip is to be believed, has offered astinging rebuke to the English propensity to breed dogs and horses properly butspend little time and thought on genetic match-making for theirchildren.In a chat with a German newspaper, Princess Pushy as she iscalled, was overly acerbic about inter-class breeding. "The English take thebreeding of their horses and dogs more seriously than they do their children,"she told Welt am Sonntag. "God forbid that the wrong drop of blood should getinto their Labrador. But their children marry anywhere."Theprincess''s acerbic comments have caused the rumour mills to go into overdrivebecause just weeks ago, her sassy blonde daughter Gabriella, 30th in line to theBritish throne, was securely linked to journalist Taseer, the son of our veryown Tavleen Singh.Royal watchers said the princess''s unbuttonedcomments might conceivably reflect the state of play on her daughter''smuch-publicised romance with an Indian commoner outside British and Europeanroyal and moneyed circles.The princess, who was MarieChristine von Reibtnitz, the Czech-born daughter of a Nazi SS soldier before shemarried Prince Michael of Kent, has previously been forced to deny a racistrebuke to five wealthy black diners at a New York restaurant. Outraged by theirself-confessed ''loud carrying on'', Princess Michael angrily told them: "You needto go back to the colonies!" And yet, in an uncharacteristic displayof inclusiveness, the Princess more recently described Gabriella''s Indiansqueeze as one of the handsomest men she had ever seen. She had also launchedinto an apparent defence of the right of younger British royals such asGabriella to marry non-Christians such as practising Sikh Taseer. PrincessMichael had pointed out that there was no technical hitch to king-in-waiting,Prince William, marrying a Muslim.Both Lady Gabriella''s parents evenflew into Delhi over Christmas to meet Singh. But the princess''s new candourabout the need to breed carefully and match genetic lines of dogs, horses andhuman offspring, has given pause for thought about the impending wedding. Taseerhimself, a well-liked trainee journalist with themagazine''s London bureau, haspreviously dismissed reports he is to marry as just so muchgossip.Now that the woman slated to be his mother-in-law hasemphasised the importance of finding a suitable boy for marriageable daughters,the royal rumour mills are whirring. Meantime, the other royalwedding, which has Charles, heir to the throne, marrying his unsuitable brideCamilla, shows every sign of going ahead as planned on April 8.