12km commute is pretty normal. Just like anywere else in the Western World, lots of "suburbanisation" happened in the 60-70's. Large numbers of people moved out of the cities to smaller communities. Most of them have jobs in the city. All in all i'd say commutes up to 20km one way are very common. There are ppl who do more but they are a relatively small minority.

As for the wife of the future king, can't you take her off our hands, together with the whole royal family?