Kate Dropping 'Obey' From Vows

Princess-to-be and jelly bean apparition Kate Middleton is following Princess Diana's lead and dropping "obey" from her wedding vows, according to the Daily Mail. She will instead promise to "love, comfort, honor, and keep" Prince William at the big ceremony next week. Diana bucked royal protocol and did not vow to obey Prince Charles when the two wed in 1981. Sarah Ferguson, who wed Prince Andrew in 1986, and Sophie Rhys-Jones, who married Prince Edward in 1999, both promised to do so.

"They have been together for 10 years, studied together, lived together, and have the same friends," a chum of the couple tells the Mirror. "They are equals in every way, and have planned this wedding as equal partners, so for Kate to ‘obey’ doesn’t make sense." The Archbishop of Canterbury, who will perform the ceremony next Friday, will no doubt be pleased with the choice. In a 2006 report, he warned that a wife promising to obey her husband was an "archaic notion" that could even be used to justify domestic violence. (More Rowan Williams stories.)