Duchess Kate & Prince William spent New Year’s in a teepee with Kate’s parents

The blurry photos of Duchess Kate and Prince William (separately) are new! Kate and Will rang in the new year at her parents’ house in Berkshire. It’s interesting because there were lots of reports that Will and Kate would be spending New Year’s in Scotland, with Prince Charles, or perhaps even in Mustique, where Kate’s parents have a home (rent a home?). Anyway, none of that came to pass. Instead, Kate and Will spent New Year’s in a teepee on her parents’ lawn. Seriously!

Party like a royal! Despite buzz that Prince William and Catherine would ring in the New Year at his father’s sprawling Aberdeen, Scotland, estate, when it came time to celebrate, the couple chose a more low-key locale: a tent pitched in the back garden of the Middleton family home in Berkshire, England.

According to the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday, Pippa, who’s in the party-planning business, played host.

And the stylish sister has expensive taste: The tent, a teepee-style kata made of animal hides, cost nearly $5,000 (3,000 British pounds).

Described by an onlooker as a “canvas palace,” the tent enclosed a dance floor and seating for more than 100 partygoers.

Notably missing: Prince Harry, who rang in the New Year in Switzerland, where he was spotted at the ski resort Verbier.

“[Catherine] looked full of the joys of the season,” a local said of the royal, 29, who laughed and joked with her husband, also 29.

The celebration in her hometown comes nearly a week after the duchess’s first Christmas as a royal in Sandringham, Norfolk.

[From People]

At first I was like, “Damn, $5000 teepee? Expensive taste, Pippa.” But really, $5000 for a teepee with a dance floor and seating and everything? Not that bad. What strikes me again is that William really does love Kate’s family. It might even be that Kate’s stable family life is one of his favorite things about her. It’s nice that Kate and Will were able to split their holiday between his family and hers, and it certainly bodes well for their future together, and it signals that William will continue to embrace his “commoner” in-laws.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

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31 Responses to “Duchess Kate & Prince William spent New Year’s in a teepee with Kate’s parents”

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  1. Jenny says:

    in a teepee altogether? I’d like to know where each sleeps?

  2. brin says:

    I agree, I think Wills really loves his in-laws and I’m glad they spent time with Kate’s family over the holidays (love the teepee idea)!

  3. GoodCapon says:

    Once again Pippa plays the hostess. That’s the only reason she gets invited to all the so-called society events – someone has to serve the sausages!

    By the way, here is an article from The Mirror regarding the number of Duchess Dolittle’s engagements since last year
    http://tinyurl.com/7wlomrj

    A mind-blowing 34 engagements, most of which were centered around their North America vacation. It seems like everytime she touches her hair her number of engagements goes up by 1.

    • maemay says:

      Kate is not on the civil list and William works full time at his job. She has said her first priority is to be a military wife and then she will add on charities within the new year. This is similar to when Queen Elizabeth got married to Price Phillip. He was in the navy and Elizabeth spent some time as a military wife supporting him.

      • JulieM says:

        William works full time? Really? I bet if you asked his squadron mates if he worked full time, you might get a different answer. All that expensive training and he’s never there. Who was flying those rescue helicopters during the holiday season?

        Waity a military wife? Literally, yes. But how many military wives spend the holidays at Sandringham and New Year’s in a luxury tepee? See above paragraph. When does she get to be a full time military wife?

        The defenses of this lazy woman are getting more silly by the minute.

      • GoodCapon says:

        Obviously they don’t report it but Wills can come and leave as he pleases, and if that happens his mates had to pick up his slack.

        What exactly does Kate do as a military wife? Cook dishes, clean their little cottage in Anglesey? Hardly back-breaking work is it?

      • Sachi says:

        Military wife? That must be why she’s spent the majority of her time in London since the wedding, shopping and getting her hair done, when she also said she would be living in a cottage in Wales and that she’d be there playing the housewife for when William comes home from the air base and she’ll be there to cater to him.

        LOL.

        How’s the Kensington Palace renovations going? Those $3000 candles are not going to light themselves, so Kate has to be there all the time to oversee the spending…I mean, the decorating.

        So when can we expect the announcement of her patronages that the Palace said would be announced this month? Is that even gonna happen?

        Or is the excuse gonna be (AGAIN), “Oh, she’s too new at this. Give her a break. She’s learning the ropes. She’ll be ready in no time. She needs 2 more years to ease into royal life, and then she’ll do more work. Back off and let her breathe. We don’t want another Diana!”

        And her fans will eat it up and believe every single line about Kate needing a lot of time to adjust to royal life. Before you know it, 2 years are up and she still has to do more work than showing up at VIP events.

        She’s turning 30 in a matter of days. 30 years old and no major accomplishment for herself. No career, no work experience, no knowledge of the world outside of her own little world. Nothing.

        No ambition and goal but bagging the Prince and spending money on her hair and clothes. What an extraordinary existence.

        @ GoodCapon – wasn’t it reported that they have a cleaning lady who comes once a week to clean and do housework? So really, what does Kate do? She probably doesn’t even cook and just goes to Tesco to pick up some meals that can be re-heated in the oven.

      • Molly says:

        Your right, William does work but that doesnt mean that Kate cant do things on her own. She will be 30 years old next week, she is well past the age of needing someone to hold her hand. And Sarah Ferguson and The Countess of Wessex had 300+ engagements in their first years also and they were military wives. I cant wait for Prince Harry to get married. He likes girls who arent waity and have ambition. He actually seems to be into girls a lot like his mom. Hopefull whoever he marries will show how lazy Katie really is.

    • Emily says:

      That list is interesting. Prince Charles might have been an epic douchebag to Diana, but he has been pulling his weight these days.

      • Sachi says:

        Pulling his weight “these days”?

        Charles has been pulling his weight since he became of age to carry out his own duties. I’m talking about when he was in his 20s. He’s in his 60s now.

        So he’s been pulling his weight for more than 40 years and has been representing the Crown when William, at the same age (around 25), was still partying hard and getting drunk.

        I’ve said it in another thread here in Celebitchy before: Charles has been groomed to be King for more than 40 years now. He will do a good job after the Queen because he has a serious work ethic and he’s never been lax in his duties as Prince. He may not have been a good husband to Diana, but he’s always been a good Prince of Wales.

        People who don’t like him say William will make a better king and that nobody likes Charles. LOL. That’s bullshit, and those people base that assumption because of what Charles did to Diana, and not because of Charles’s accomplishments as the Prince of Wales. Poll results show majority of Brits want Charles to be King. Those people who want Charles as King are smart and practical, and they are not ruled by Diana’s memory and pity for her sons.

        William still has to undertake even 1/16 of his father’s yearly duties to even come close to the work Charles does annually. Charles has also worked on environmental agriculture for years, even before Al Gore went on about Global Warming. Charles was already doing his own ‘green’ work, and he’s recognized by many people for it.

        Even Andrew, the Duke of York, who is as spoiled as they come, did more than 400 engagements this year. It’s not always covered by the media, but he does a lot. So do the rest of the Windsors who are on the civil list. They all work hard and contribute.

      • diana says:

        Agree with you Sachi 100%. Charles worked his butt off during his entire life. Really! Will meh!

      • inthekitchen says:

        Those numbers are really misleading though because they count each separate activity as one “engagement”…so #1 meet the troops, #2 give a speech to troops, #3 eat lunch with troops, #4 take photos with the troops, etc etc. So it may be him visiting a military base for 2 hours and is counted as 4-5 “engagements.” So, yes he has hundreds, but I wonder how they are all really counted and if you looked at it in a less literal way whether we’d just see about 100 or so for Charles…and then how impressive is that, really?

        And, that just makes Waity’s 34 “engagements” even more pathetic!

    • Sarah says:

      Waity has never been interested in the welfare of her country. The paps and press have followed her around for almost a decade so her comings and goings are pretty well known. During her pre-princess days, she helped to organize ONE charity event (a roller skating party).
      I think Waity hung on to William for so long because she wanted the title, the status, and the lifestyle of a royal. I don’t think she has any drive to embrace or improve the status of her country other than to wear Zara and Top Shop.
      Surely she is capable of doing more.

    • Ella says:

      Where is it written that she HAS to work? She is a happily-married young woman. She takes care of her husband and her home. How is it that she’s earned these constant nasty comments about how much work she does? You should spend your time and energy bashing people who do harm to this world, and quit with the sour grapes towards someone who simply lives.

      • GoodCapon says:

        She is a member of the royal family. She HAS to work. The question is when, and how much of it she will do. Up until now she has been doing nothing but coasting along.

        “You should spend your time and energy bashing people who do harm to this world, and quit with the sour grapes towards someone who simply lives.”

        What are you doing in a gossip site then? Most of the celebrities posted about here have done us no REAL harm, but that doesn’t stop us from criticizing them.

        I’m sure you didn’t mean it but ‘simply lives’ is the right description for this woman. She hasn’t done anything substantial to her life – she never worked nor has she engaged in charitable opportunities to make up for not doing any work. She has wasted her parents money for years, she’s basically a nothing. She just… lives.

  4. Sarah says:

    Pippa was hostess? This was a chance for the Middletons to get some free advertising for Pippa’s book and their party business. I have heard that they are very opportunistic. I am pretty sure that the other royals are embarrassed by this.
    I wonder if mama Middleton informs the tabloids of everything they do?

  5. L says:

    Her hair was pulled back! I like Kate, but its nice to see the change.

    If that tent is anything like the glamour tent “glamping’ tents that I’ve seen-it was pretty plush and had separate rooms.

  6. badrockandroll says:

    Sachi: tomato/tamato – it all depends on the spin you put on things.

    Charles spent his youth before the tabloid mentality, internet and cell phone cameras – who really knows whether he was partying hard etc.? Remember that his affair with Camilla was not generally known until Diana chose to go public about it. And some say that his early “green work”, where he preached about talking to plants, was crazy, and that the causes that he championed were out of touch and eccentric. I will grant you that he’s gone more mainstream now, but back in the day, he was criticized for not being the workhorse that his sister was.

    Polls that indicate that Charles should be the next king recognize that significant constitutional and parliamenty amendments would have to be made to skip him – it’s not like the Queen can bequeath the position in her will.

    And Andrew’s charity work and public appearances have been cut down a lot since he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I doubt that he will ever be in a position of trust or responsibility again.

    If one is going to compare royal wives, the proper comparison should involve Kate and Fergie, not Kate and Diana. Fergie was not royal, was married to the Prince who, like William, was second in line to the throne at the time, and was full time military. Fergie was and is, a trainwreck. IMO the royal family is more worried about that ghost than the ghost of Diana.

    Sure Kate is capable of doing more, but I don’t mind that she is not rushing off getting involved in silly things for the sake of looking busy.

  7. Seal Team 6 says:

    I know this is an unpopular opinion here on CB, but: I like Kate Middleton. I would also let her eat crackers in my bed any time.

    • bluhare says:

      Forget the cracker thing, but I like her as well. It’s going to be interesting to see if she does step up or is happy sitting back “taking care of” William.

    • maemay says:

      I like her also, don’t get the rabid dislike she seems too harmless to create so much hate.

    • diana says:

      I don’t think it’s only this website that dis-likes kate, most of the other sites and forums do. From what I have seen. Mostly because she waited for Will ten years and meantime did nothing with herself. And my impression is that the ones that do like her, don’t like her because she is kate, because she is married with the second to the throne.

      No matter would have been in that position, would have receive the media coverage and admiration/hate just like she does.

  8. Fatkid says:

    “[Catherine] looked full of the joys of the season,”

    Is that code for “she was drunk”?

  9. eternalcanadian says:

    See! Catherine doesn’t support animal rights if she’s hunkering down in a tent made of animal hides! Pfft.

    Didn’t William get Catherine a puppy for Christmas? Is it the little black dog?

  10. MoMo says:

    I still think this woman has some sort of social anxiety or mental disorder. That’s why I cut her slack- she’s special needs. She does what she can, which might not appear to be much, but for having a disability actually is. As others have pointed out, she could have done so much more within that 10 year span of courting William that would have made her even more favourable with the public, but she didn’t do anything at all. Like nothing, except be there for William when he wanted that. To me that’s a sign of possible impaired cognitive functioning- not attempting to set or reach personal goals, not being able to grasp the impression one is making, not realizing the potential importance of either. If she wasn’t with William she would probably be living with her parents or at least relying on them for support. Not out of laziness, but out of not being able to function. I agree she’s harmless- people should just accept that she does what she is able to do (like Britney) and let her be.
    I mean, we joke about how she pretty much worked to perfect her geisha schtick, but I think that’s actually what she excels at- personal relationships, family life, micro level daily living- because whatever she has is too debilitating for other work/social/life skills.

  11. texasmom says:

    Hate to reveal my age… but Charles was well-known for sleeping around, even without the internet to help promote it! I am close to Diana’s age and remember being shocked that an old roue such as him ended up with such a young bride. There were tons of stories from women he slept with, he required them to call him “Sir” even in bed, etc., etc. So I don’t think he spent ALL his young years earnestly doing his royal duties. I think he and Wills are about even.

    And Waity may surprise us all yet… I think everyone will be relieved when she pops out a baby or two. Did Diana do very much charitable work before the boys were born? I don’t remember any. It seemed like she and Charles were trotted around the globe as visitors for quite a while. She became famous for her work with AIDS patients and that came later, after she was already a popular young mum.

    I do think Wills loves Kate’s family, especially with an eye to his future children having a non-royal home to hang around in.

  12. Dena says:

    MoMo, that is too funny. Not only is it sad that she didn’t seem to try to develop herself outside of bagging him, but what is even moreso is that he seems to like that slavish devotion. In that regard, they are both pathetic.

  13. harfang says:

    Uh, animal hides? Are they eating that meat? While it is culturally accurate to build a “teepee” out of hide, I don’t trust the very wealthy to get animal skins in an unskanky way. What do you want to bet the hides, ironically, were the ~only~ part of the animals that got used? Wasteful, nasty, gross.