Just because one of the most famous royals in the world hails from your village doesn't mean you should commemorate her however you deem fit -- that's the message the Duchess of Cambridge's hometown residents in Bucklebury want to get across. Kate Middleton's former neighbors reportedly hate a gate that has been constructed in her honor so much they want it to be "ripped down and turned into firewood." Ouch.
The Middleton family raised Kate, Pippa, and younger brother James in a Berkshire village called Bucklebury, an idyllic and charming place whose residents intend on keeping it that way. Unfortunately, two wooden gate posts that were erected at the entrance of the village to celebrate Kate's marriage to Prince William do not fit the bill when it comes to acceptable decor. Residents reportedly despise the gate posts, which were commissioned by William Hartley Russell, an heir to the Bucklebury estate, and are complaining about their size and how they don't fit in with the history of the community.
The gates are made out of wood -- it's not like they were constructed from marble or have been adorned with blinking neon lights. Each post features a wooden acorn at the top -- for reasons I couldn't begin to explain -- but I still feel they could be a lot worse.
More from The Stir: 10 Times Kate Middleton & Camilla Parker Bowles Were Over Each Other (PHOTOS)
In defense of the gate posts, Hartley Russell reportedly said he felt they were a "fitting commemoration of the royal wedding in 2011." He told the Telegraph:
Until then the main thing we had done to commemorate the wedding was some mugs, and this felt like a more appropriate and permanent gesture. After all, it is not every day that you have a member of your community marry the heir to the throne.
Sounds pretty reasonable to me. Of course, Carole and Michael Middleton have since moved out of Bucklebury, and we don't hear about Kate or Pippa returning for any reason, so perhaps residents resent how they seem to have forgotten their roots? I'm reaching for reasons here -- the posts don't seem like the eyesores they're being made out to be. It'll be interesting to see whether locals get their wish and get to take part in a Middleton gate post bonfire this winter.
Image via Splash News