Queen asks Prince William's girlfriend to quit rowing team

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II has reportedly asked Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton to pull out of a sailing team which is poised to be the first all-female crew to cross the English Channel in a traditional Chinese boat later this month.

Kate pulled out of the cross-Channel rowing team after she was told by the Queen as well as Prince William that the fuss surrounding her early morning training sessions on the river Thames was getting out of hand, the 'Daily Mirror' reported on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old sent an e-mail to the team leader of the 21-woman 'Sisterhood' crew, Emma Sayle, saying she had no choice but to quit.

"With regret, I have to pull out because my presence has become a distraction from the charity issue," she wrote to her close friend.

"The whole team are pretty gutted. Kate's really upset too," Sayle was quoted by the British tabloid as saying.

"It wasn't the sort you would get from a friend. It didn't look like Kate had written it, Kate's devastated. She had really been looking forward to being part of the team. There had been nothing negative in the coverage at all. It had all been positive," said a source close to the team.

In fact, Prince William is believed to have tried to thrash out a deal that would have let her take part. But under pressure from the Queen, who felt the spectacle was getting out of hand, the Prince is thought to have realised the only option was for Kate to pull out, according to the tabloid.

However, the team still plans to row across the English Channel in their dragon boat on August 25.