(
)
Feel free to exhale, moms of New York. A tough new governess has blown in on the east wind and is coaxing girls in the NYC area to mind their manners, study hard and steer clear of short skirts and bad boys.
Could it be Mary Poppins? The Tiger Mom? Nancy Grace? Nope — it’s none other than wispy royal Kate Middleton.
One year after her wedding to Prince William, city teens are enchanted with her modest ways and sensible style.
“She’s a really hard worker, she’s really smart and she handles herself well,” says Dana Gaier, a 14-year-old from Essex County, NJ.
PHOTOS: NYC LASSES INSPIRED BY KATE MIDDLETON
A year ago last weekend, Gaier curled up to watch the broadcast of Kate and William’s nuptials. Since then, the teen has soaked up interviews with the prim duchess and even modeled her bat mitzvah dress (deep blue with a banded waist and shrunken jacket) after one of Kate’s frocks.
But Gaier — incidentally, the voice of Edith in the “Despicable Me” films — mimics far more than Catherine’s wardrobe.
“When she and Prince William first broke up, Kate didn’t go
and bash him in the press, and I also don’t talk about my friends badly,” notes the ninth-grader.
“And she doesn’t go out until 3 in the morning and come back drunk. I’ve turned down those types of parties, because you have to think about the right decisions and how far you want to go in life. Kate always believed in fairy tales — you have to stick it out and believe in yourself to get your fairy tale.”
Wait a minute. Aren’t teen girls supposed to be enthralled by the scandalous antics of stars like
Lindsay Lohan, Rihanna and the Kardashians? Tempted by brooding boys and cigarettes (paging Lourdes!) and raging bacchanals?
“We’re starting to see this switch, with a resurgence of girls wanting to be refined ladies instead of train wrecks,” says Lyss Stern, a Midtown mother and founder of divamoms.com.
“They’re asking for dance lessons, manners lessons and demure heels instead of hair extensions, fake nails and short dresses up to their chi-chis.”
Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick, founder of the Etiquette School of New York in Manhattan has seen a 25 percent uptick in teens around the city requesting her services since last year’s royal marriage.
“Girls are hungry for someone they can look up to and not be embarrassed about emulating,” she says.
“Kate Middleton was an ordinary girl, so if she can marry a prince, possibly we all can. It’s aspirational for girls . . . to be conservative and tasteful and ladylike.”
“And,” she notes wryly, “Once the popular girl in class starts acting and looking a certain way, then they all want to look and act like that.”
The trend has parents practically mailing the duchess thank-you notes. Indeed, Dana’s mom is thrilled with her daughter’s choice of role model.
“To have someone like Kate Middleton that girls can look up to on their own — without a parent pushing it in their face — is a relief,” says Sherry Gaier.
“She handles herself with grace and poise instead of falling on the floor after parties.”
For many young New Yorkers, Middleton’s draw comes from the surprising revelation that HRH was bullied as a teenager.
“A boy rated her 2 out of 10 for attractiveness — I was stunned,” says bubbly Lenique Vincent, a 13-year-old from Brooklyn who devoured the duchess’ biography.
“But Kate still got straight A’s; she didn’t let anyone get to her. If somebody says something mean to me, I think of Kate. I can ignore it, do my schoolwork and get good grades just like her.”
Lenique takes pride in her Kate-inspired goody-goody reputation, proper manners and elegant elocution. (Ask her how she’s doing, and she responds crisply: “I’m fine, thank you. How are you?”)
Mom Renee Vincent is a stickler for etiquette and sees Kate as a secret weapon of sorts. “I tell Lenique, ‘Kate obviously listened to her parents, and everything worked out well for her!’ ” she says with a laugh.
Fellow mom Paula McNulty of the Upper East Side calls Kate “a terrific example of somebody who can be fashionable and trendy but not overtly sexual,” an approach her 14-year-old daughter, Maddie McNulty, also favors.
“She wears the clothes, and the clothes don’t wear her,” says the eighth-grader. “I know I don’t have to wear inappropriate clothes to look pretty.” A good thing, considering mom Paula’s decree that “Maddie’s not going to show up anywhere in a meat dress.”
Even pre-tweens are following in Catherine’s kitten heels.
“I like everything about Kate — she’s a princess, and she likes to help people in hospitals and . . . um, I like what she wears,” says UES second-grader Blake Little.
The tiny 8-year-old tucks her jeans inside stylish boots (like Kate) and is planning a trip to Madame Tussauds to see Kate’s wax replica. Her mother, Melanie Little, is just as giddy about Blake’s exposure to Kate. “These days, with all of these singers and the way they dress — even the way girls dress on ‘iCarly’ is not OK with me,” says the mom.
“Kate’s a beautiful girl, but she has a brain — and she’s going to hospitals and visiting sick children. I think that’s great for Blake to see.”
But don’t these parents feel a bit guilty for encouraging their daughters’ royal fairy-tale dreams?
“If this is the princess fantasy their girls want to have — someone who is educated, refined, wants to give back to the community, speaks eloquently,” says Stern, “then trust me, the moms are going to embrace it as long as they can!”
Indeed, Maureen Rourke of Cranbury, NJ, applauds the duchess as an inspiring idol who focused on college — and a very long courtship.
“With some so-called role models, you hear they’ve been with this guy for three months … getting married and then they’re getting divorced — education ends up being not important,” she says.
Her daughter, 14-year-old Julia Rourke, who, like the duchess, has taken ballroom dance and etiquette classes, says Kate has “high standards for socializing.”
“Kate Middleton would know when to go to something and when to not go to something.”
Like, say, a royal wedding? Could all this princess practice snag these young ladies a certain Highness of their own?
“Well, Prince Harry is very cute,” Julia admits, adding, “Since William’s already married, my options are limited.”