William & Kate’s vacation budget is supplemented by Kate’s parents

Alright, correction time! The Mail was wrong! I was wrong too. Over the weekend, there were multiple reports that Prince William had whisked Duchess Kate away to Switzerland for a romantic getaway after he returned home from his six-week training mission in the Falklands. As it turns out, not so much. Yes, Kate and William are on vacation (again!!), but it’s different. They went to a ski resort in France, not Switzerland. And they went with Kate’s parents, on the Middletons’ dime, just like the vacation to Mustique just two months ago. Does that make it better?

Those Middletons sure love to hit the slopes! Weeks after Pippa Middleton completed a 56-mile ski race in Sweden, the 28-year-old’s parents, Carole and Michael, brought daughter Kate (with husband Prince William) and son James on a fun-filled family trip at The Three Valley’s ski resort in France, a source confirms to Us Weekly.

“This was a treat from Kate’s parents, as William and Kate’s budget is quite small for trips,” the source explains. “It’s not the first time they have taken them away. They have all been to Meribel together before.”

(Meribel is a valley of 100 miles of interconnected pistes.)

An eyewitness saw the family eating lunch at one of the slope-side restaurants Monday, telling Us: “They looked very happy together.”

Though Kate, 30, was only recently reunited with William, 29, following his six-week tour of duty in The Falklands, any chance of alone time will have to wait: the source confirms that the fivesome has decided to share the same chalet.

[From Us Weekly]

I think my favorite line ever is “This was a treat from Kate’s parents, as William and Kate’s budget is quite small for trips.” O RLY? Granted, I’d be willing to bet that Kate and William do cut corners when they’re traveling and vacationing. They get discounts, they fly commercial, they might use coupon packages and stuff. But… they’re still going on vacation all the time! And William and Kate’s annual vacation budget is probably ten times what I make in a year, and I‘m not even factoring in the cost of security and personal staff. But I guess we’re supposed to accept them as “living on a budget” because their income, as it is, is being supplemented by Kate’s parents and by William’s extensive inheritance? Must be nice. God, I’d love a vacation.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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95 Responses to “William & Kate’s vacation budget is supplemented by Kate’s parents”

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  1. ShazBot says:

    did William inherit boatloads of money from Diana? So can’t he use that for vacations?

    • LAK says:

      Kate #2 explained the money situation pretty comprehensively in the last post, but let me sum up for you.

      Landed estates entail the entire fortune to the heir (in this case Earl Spencer) subsequent sons get very little and in some cases nothing, daughters even less.

      Diana, though from a rich family, wasn’t as rich as people thought or expected.

      The majority of her money would have come from her divorce settlement ie Charles. And if I remember correctly, she settled for cash rather than mixed bag of estate/allowance etc to the tune of £17M. I am not sure if her estate would have been subject to inheritance tax, which runs at approx 40%. I am sure others will correct with numbers and %.

      Divide the resultant figure by 2 to get what She left to the boys. I think, again please correct me if I am wrong, that she left all of her estate to the boys.

      That said, they will have RF trust funds and money from The Queen Mum. That is where I think their wealth would come from, not from Diana.

      • ShazBot says:

        I did some quick googling because I remember reading they got interest payments after their 25th birthdays and it seems that they are estimated to get 250-350k pounds per year from trust funds of about 6.5 million pounds each, plus the trust set up from the Queen Mum (est at 14 million pounds), which they get full access to at age 30. In any case, they are certainly not hurting for a married couple in their 20s, and shouldn’t need her parents to bankroll their vacations.

      • Lorrie says:

        William gets paid $62k from the RAF. William and Harry also get interest from their mother’s trust, but get the full 10 million when they turn 30. They both get money through Charles, which comes from the Duchy of Cornwall. From what I read, the Duchy pays for Kate’s clothes. Hence to say, they are far from being poor. But if they want to live like normal people, give up the holidays, and live off the RAF salary alone. They both just seem lazy to me.

  2. marie says:

    how convenient..

  3. Chatcat says:

    Kaiser…me too. Except I am still paying out tons in tuition for 2 of my 3 kids so I am hoping when I’m done one of them will treat me to a vacation! As for the Duke and Duchess, I don’t really care how many vaca’s they take…the monarchy is like hollywood celebs…they have more money then sense and if not for the rich travelling all us “little folks” might not be able to make a living! lol

  4. Cathy says:

    Must be nice. I wish my father could supplement my vacation budget. I don’t have one.

  5. alison8701 says:

    I think one of her eyes is slightly smaller than the other.

    one of mine is too.

    what i’m getting from that is that I could be a princess.

    • Nessie says:

      Funniest comment I read today!!!

    • It is ME!! says:

      HA!! That’s classic.

    • Jaxx says:

      Sorry to burst your bubble but, everyone has mismatched eyes. It’s just more obvious in some than others. Same thing for hands and feet. One is usually slightly smaller than the other.

      Eyes are the item most often fixed in models. While the smaller one is not usually obvious to the rest of us, the camera always picks it up, which is why models are sent to the doctor for a quick snip to fix it.

      But you can be a princess if you like, I don’t mind. Enjoy.

    • Zvonk says:

      So did Marilyn Monroe. So I’ll think of you as Marilyn if you don’t mind… 😉

    • Jaxx says:

      Oh no! Say it isn’t so! Never gives up your dreams. I made it all up. Not a true word in there. Truly. You’re a princess. Harry will be there any minute.

    • Addison says:

      If I were Kate’s parent, I too would pay for loads of vacations and clothes to keep stupid people from complaining about how much of the taxpayer’s money she is wasting. Good thing they have money to spare. 🙂

  6. podzol says:

    Man, the Royal Palace is really putting their energy into constantly reminding the public that Kate is not doing a step wrong; whether it is by keeping up with the high street fashion, being perfectly mild-mannered, doing a charity appearance here and there; NOT spending the public’s money for their loads of vacations, etc etc. Their PR is really guarding all these stories written about her like hawks!

    • bluhare says:

      The palace doesn’t put these stories out. Never have.

      • LAK says:

        If you believe that, you’ll believe anything.

        If you know which journalist is in with them, you’ll find that all their RF stories are pretty accurate with insider information that the Palace can’t officially sanction.

        Every royal has a pr person in their office as well as the overall palace pr. The two may not always agree, but they are there.

      • bluhare says:

        I stand by my statement. The PALACE doesn’t do these stories. Whether people do on the side is not the question.

        And, no, I’m not gullible. Why are you so eager to believe the worst?

      • LAK says:

        @bluhare – I am not talking about people on the side either. I could give you a long list of Palace PR statements going back to Princess Margaret but we could be here forever.

        If you believe the palace doesn’t put out statements, officially and unofficially, especially now when we are living in the media age then I will call you gullible.

        Have you seen the Palace website? If they didn’t believe in pr, why bother with that? They would have stuck to the court circular and nothing new.

        The Queen learnt this harshly when Diana died, and has taken steps to be viewed favourably. We did not just wake up and decided we loved Camilla afterall. That was carefully orchestrated by Charles’ pr people.

        Btw; I don’t believe the worst, I worked in PR and I can see what they are doing. I am actually annoyed at how badly they are handling all this.

      • bluhare says:

        LAK: We probably don’t disagree as much as I would have thought. I agree with most of what you say. My issue was with the “palace” putting out statements about William and Kate vacationing.

        They absolutely do have a PR machine, and yes I’ve see the website. It’s not exactly gossipy!

  7. melmel says:

    Hmmm, if you are on a budget you should probably stop shopping so much.

  8. Franny says:

    Isn’t is strange to be 30 and still have your parents pay for vacation? I’m 24 and my boyfriend and I are going on vacation to the Caymans with my family in December. We will be paying for our own vacation, and we don’t have any where near the money they have.

    • Nessie says:

      Why is that strange? I know many parents who invite their mature children on a holiday. So their age doesn’t matter, it says that her parents wanted to treat them and they accepted.

      • alison8701 says:

        It might be a cultural difference. My friend (23) and her boyfriend (26) has visited disney world this year and last year on his parent’s dime. And I always thought it was strange. But she just said it was a gift. (a gift for what? happy spring break?) But my mother would not pay for her grown son to go to disney with his girlfriend. It just seems weird. But for some people, it’s not unusual.

        But I think once you let parents give you large sums of money for recreation, it sets up a weird relationship where the in-laws feel entitled and act as if they’re “part” of the relationship.

        Depending on your preference, either a clear line should be drawn orrr you take the money and bear the inevitable interference. they buy the sofa, they offer “suggestions” on where the sofa should go.

        I think I’ve digressed a bit.

      • sharylmj says:

        I don’t think it’s strange either. If my parents really wanted me and my family to go somewhere with them, they would pay for it. The Middletons can afford it, so they do it. It probably makes them feel good to pay for some stuff too.

    • maemay says:

      i still travel with my parents and they usually pay for the hotel…oops.

    • Franny says:

      I find it strange because they are still “newlyweds” who have been separated for 6 weeks and because they have millions of dollars. I don’t think its thhhhhat strange but its something I wouldn’t want. To each their own.

    • bluhare says:

      I’m older than dirt but still have both parents around. We are English, and they will never let me pay for anything. Ever.

      • ANGELIC 20 says:

        what is strange is that they paid for her whole life till the day she got married and they are still paying well apparently. all the other people who are born rich and are completely dependent on their parents are usually called names like that socialite tamara of something but she got a title so she is her royal highness. it is okay to let your parents pay for little things but being an adult and still getting money from mom and dad is shameful.

      • bluhare says:

        Shameful? I can think of a lot worse things than letting your parents pay for a vacation.

      • angelic 20 says:

        Yes there many othe things that are shameful but being 28 collage graduate and completely dependent on your parents for absolutely everything is shameful.for me km,kim k , Jersey shore and all the other people like represents what is wrong with our society, one girls takes all the women into early 19th century (km) and makes mockery out of any real independent, strong and educated women while others says hey you don’t need any talent or education, just do stupid stuff and you will be famous and make loads of money.not good at all

    • Lola says:

      What is wrong with parents who have money spending on their children? I don’t see the big deal, if they didn’t spend it on them, they’d be called stingy.

  9. cmc says:

    Wait, what do the Middletons do? I care very, very little about the royals, but I thought Kate was a commoner with a middle-class upbringing? Sounds like her parents are really, really wealthy though.

    • Linney says:

      They run a very profitable party planning company. They are quite wealthy. They were not at first, though. It was a from the ground up operation.

    • bluhare says:

      Worth about 30 million pounds I think. Kate/William have helped that considerably.

    • iseepinkelefant says:

      I’d really like to know where all these numbers come from. Before Waity and Wills got married they were said to be worth like 7-10m (gbp and most of it was in their home’s worth). The Mail even wrote a funny article about how they were trying to buy Camilla’s old digs but it was out of their budget.

      And now they’re worth 30m? And apparently the business only makes 150k a year so how did they get all the money? You do realize they’re not in some high class bisness right? It’s like a mail order Party City (why wouldn’t you just go to Party City instead?), so really how much money can cheap plastic tat really make you?

      Seems to me they make more money off of who their son in law is than off their business. And it’s probably also a reason for why they don’t mind bankrolling William (they’ve been bankrolling Waity for years, apparently spending every penny they had on vacations, clothes and Chelsea flats so she’d fit in with his circle). Eventually Waity will make them grandparents to the heir and they’ll have titles, country piles, etc. This is just an investment to them.

      • bluhare says:

        I pulled the 30 million GBP from what I’ve read. It’s not official by any means! There’s no question that the royal association has been good to them; however, I did just read another article about how their village council is rejecting a remodel/addition they want to do!

      • fairy godmother says:

        I also wondered about the Midds money situation. There was something odd about they do not have to report their earnings because it is in some private org.
        I think their money is mixed in with Uncle Gary & his drug money.

  10. Georgina says:

    I looked at the webcams and photos of this ski resort, and honestly, the place looks like a dump. I know it’s the French Alps but it looks budget to me.

  11. maemay says:

    He has his money, her parents have money, what is the problem? When my parents lived in Europe they spent weekends traveling around Europe on a budget. Many people go on weekend trips and excursions. He has the time off after being on duty why not go out and live.

    • ANGELIC 20 says:

      he gets the time out not other pilots and the issue is not that they are spending their money or not , the issue is that they hardly work (well kate mostly) , goes on vacation 3 times within 2 months and are public figures and also their pr team are trying to show them as hardworking , normal couple . i bet your parents worked before they went on a holiday , kate is not even a full time royal and yet she needs holiday before and after her 8 day work.

  12. Suz says:

    These two have the weirdest, most ineffective PR ever. Every time a statement is issued explaining one of their vacations – or holidays, I guess – it only serves to make them sound more entitled and lazy.

  13. Alexis says:

    They’re so boring.

  14. Talie says:

    The royals are rich, but most of their money is tied up and they can’t go around spending like they’re Marie Antoinette.

  15. fairy godmother says:

    Ahhh, so much for their “romantic” get-a-way! Nothing says newlyweds love & missed one another so “desperately” by spending one’s alone time after such a “long” separation than than being on holiday with mom, dad, & bro.
    Love to know if Willie’s crew got same time off as he does.
    Not buying their love match & their PR team is not doing them any favors.
    Wake up Lizzie your monarchy is burning!

  16. LAK says:

    Actually Kaiser, that report above is giving very different details from the correction put out by the Mail.

    And as the correction was put out by Richard Kay, I am inclined to think it came straight out PW’s camp because Richard Kay has always been Diana and her sons’ mouth piece, and always sympathetically put.

    The only wierd detail for me was that he threw the middletons under the bus by saying they rather enjoyed the security provided by William. Given the tax payer covers that, I thought that was really not nice and quite snarky to put that in there whilst also playing the sympathy card about William’s rotten childhood

    I stand by my original statement, these two are tone deaf.

    • Zelda says:

      Tone deaf? That’s generous.

      They have no idea there is even a song playing.

      “The people have no jobs?
      Then let them use their parents’ money!”

  17. Katie says:

    My brother and I are in our 30s and our parents are paying for the house for our family vacation. We are splitting everything else. I don’t think it is that weird that the middleton’s paid. What I think is weird is that it’s so heavily emphasized in the story.

    • LAK says:

      My thought is that palace pr is trying to deflect from the fact that they are on holiday.again.

      First they put out a story about how children love Kate, laughably demonstrated with Kate awkwardly greeting children.

      Then later they put out a story about skiing in verbier but emphasising romamce and the LONG separation

      Well, the comments section of british news sites lit up with disapproval pointedly about the vacation and the cost.

      2 days after that, THIS denial of Verbier but not the holiday, so they add middleton detail to remove the sting.

      Ps:- did you notice the original story only talked about the weekend, whereas the new story says week?

      Also, Official Palace pr is usually quick to correct any disinformation eg how quickly they reacted to Kate’s alleged weave piece? This time, they wait 2 days and then issue denial via favoured journalists and outlets.

      It makes you conclude that they went to Verbier and they are now in Meribel.

      But oy vey! Their pr efforts stink!

  18. Stacie says:

    Love them they are one of my favorite couples. I like that Cate and Will like to spend time with her family. God knows his is a mess.(his father and step mother)

    • LAK says:

      I would say it was Diana that was causing a toxic home situation. So her hubby cheated, you don’t react by throwing yourself down the stairs, having multiple affairs, using your under ten son as your therapist(by her own words she would lock herself in the bathroom and william would sit on the other side listening and coxing her out and passing tissue under the door), and poisoning the entire world against their father with your view of your toxic marriage.

      I don’t condone what Charles and Camilla did, but Diana handled the rejection in a very toxic manner.

      Camilla’s own husband was having multiple affairs, but HER children have grown up into responsible adults who adore her and their father.

      Btw where is the sympathy for Camilla’s children? They had to live with this situation too,go to school and know their mother was (and still remains to some) the most reviled woman in england.

      Kk whines about people throwing flour at her, Camilla had eggs, bread, abuse thrown at her by the public. It was vile.

      • Zelda says:

        Thank you.
        Fine, Diana did lots of good things, but she also worked that PR machine like dancers work poles.

      • ANGELIC 20 says:

        you are right she worked the pr machine very nicely and also she was a part of some sort of fantasy in the sense the shy , innocent , charming girl with troubled childhood been taken to a palace by her prince . that gave her a very good publicity and then she started working the kind of causes that no royal at that time worked for like aids , that was her moment because aids was considered to be a very shameful and toxic and people were very much disgusted by it , even the the people suffering from aids didn’t wanted to be photographed with their faces showing and she went , sat with them, shook hands all the while looking like a Hollywood star who was also a very good mom. from that moment on people only saw that in her till the very end(their were no marriage trouble at that time in the public eye), they didn’t saw her affairs , or the fact that she also took active part in the lie (the whole happy couple display) and many other things . English people were ready to sacrifice their true royal blood(charles) and even monarchy for her .

        but for me with all her flaws she was a great humanitarian worker

      • Kate #2 says:

        You’re British, aren’t you?

        Always slightly amuses me that the people who are most realistic about Diana are the ones who were actually around, pre-internet, in this country while it was all going on. I know she had a tough time, married so young to a man who didn’t really love her, but please. You don’t involve your kids in your unhappiness as she freely admitted doing, and her mental health problems would have broken a stronger marriage, too. I’m glad to see other people noting that she was a flawed person, for all the undoubted good work she did.

      • LAK says:

        @Kate#2 – yes I am.

  19. ANGELIC 20 says:

    seriously that’s their defense that they are not spending their money ? i am not a taxpaying citizen so i never talked about money, the main issue with me was that she worked for the first time in her life and needed a vacation before and after . the more i think about prince william , the more i am upset because he is the reason behind her over all behavior over the years . she went on 2 vacations in the last two months and he went on 3 , 2 with middletons and 1 with harry to spain i guess. now let’s remember how many charities he visited in almost 1 tear since his wedding? and that is two ( opening of cancer hospital and center point ) . all the other events were social , like charity gala and yes the gala must benefit a charity but it is still a party , we all attend these type of parties maybe not that high profile with our dates and these gala dinners happen only in the evening so he gets the whole day off. conclusion is that he attends two real charities where he meets real people and takes 3 holidays within 3 months . please don’t say that he is an raf pilot , hey give him as many offs as he wants eg for all the other social events , his other royal duties etc so can’t he takes a day or two off again and visit some charities ( when he seems to take so many holidays?) and yes he will still be not a full time royal.

    i also find it odd the both the time he went on a holiday with his in-laws? it seems he is more interested in spending time with them and not his wife. actually his whole life his based on the pursuit of being normal which is not good because he is not and when the reality will hit i don’t think he will be able to handle it. he went to a okay university because he wanted to normal , one of the things that he loves most about his wife(or her family ) is how normal they are, he wants to an raf because he again wants to be normal but the fact is that he is not .he does not even know what normal is , normal people work hard, save money in advance to go on holidays some of us can’t even do that and gets fired if they took so many holidays even the one that are born rick like my boss’s son he is defiantly more rich than pw and still works hard for the company. basically he wants to live the life of a prince and wants to give nothing in return . he is running away from what he is and his responsibilities while enjoying all the perks.

    • Lola says:

      What?!?

      • JulieM says:

        I don’t know, Lola. Angelic 20 made sense to me.

        Let’s face it, I don’t think William wants to be king. He has a long wait, to be sure. But I get the vibe from him that he likes the perks (long vacations away from his “job” with the RAF), but not the responsibility. I’m speaking about his royal responsibilities.

    • iseepinkelefant says:

      This is exactly why William will not make a good King. He hates his postion in life and tries to run away from it as much as possible. As much as I’m eh about the Queen I almost feel sorry for her because she is always making concessions to try to coax William into embracing his destiny.

      And William has been coasting off of the public’s love for his mother for far too long. Someone needs to call him on his bullshit because he gets away with far too much because of “his childhood” and who his mother was. You don’t ever get to see the true William (who is more Charles and over grown fratboy then they let on) because he’s hidden behind this fake visage. People moan about the coddling of Kate but people don’t realize that coddling takes place with William too. These two are just spolit children and the Queen does them more harm than good by always sheilding them and putting out fluff pr to cover their tracks. It’s time for William (and Waity) to grow up.

  20. Jackie says:

    their budget is small for vacations! gimme a f’ing break. do they think we are idiots. i don’t buy they have to live on a budget, nor does any other thinking person.

  21. Sachi says:

    Here we go again with the “We’re just like you commoners. We’re normal, we live on a budget!” BS.

    Of course they live on a budget. Each vacation they take must cost upwards of $50,000. Do we really think they’d be taking a vacation in a less-than-exclusive spot, eat at a cheap restaurant, and sleep in a 3-star hotel? Please.

    So they’d have to “budget” if they want to have 5-6 more luxury vacations costing tens of thousands of dollars. Ha!

    What a f*cking joke these two have become, and it’s not even one year since their wedding!

    They doth protest too much. So much “noise” and justification every time the public starts questioning their behaviour. Something is truly up when you have your PR make excuses after your behaviour is shone negatively. It’s damage control all the time with these two.

    Every time something comes out about their spending and inconsiderate actions, off goes the PR mouthpiece trying to convince everyone that nothing is wrong with William and Kate’s behaviour and it’s all perfectly acceptable. This time, it’s okay if they go on vacation and miss the memorial service for the Queen Mum and Princess Margaret because hey, this one’s on Kate’s parents’ money! They’re not using taxpayers’ money, see! They can take as many vacations as they want!

    They don’t realize it’s not only about the money, but the whole principle of going on vacations while most of the public have to tighten their belts and struggle in these times of economic hardships.

    These two are terrible representatives of the UK. If Harry did something like this, we’d never hear the end of it from the media. They’d dig up all the other ‘transgressions’ Harry has done in the past in order to point out just how bad and spoiled Harry is while they kiss William and Kate’s asses.

    By the looks of it in some of the comments above, William and Kate’s PR certainly found an audience who will believe anything about William and Kate and still think they’re the ideal Prince and Princess and will excuse anything that the two buffoons do. Hopeless.

    Meanwhile, the education funding in UK is in danger of being cut again and we’re having a lot of problems due to the economy.

    William and Kate should take the money spent in exotic locations and take a holiday in the UK instead. Give that money to the locals. Visit other locales within the UK so their ‘popularity’ can influence others to visit the different regions and boost the businesses there. If they’re truly a big draw to the public, they can use their image to actually help people in the UK more than their presence in charity events.

    But that probably won’t happen.

    Only the best for William and Kate, and that means expensive vacations outside of the UK.

    • ANGELIC 20 says:

      i was thinking the same thing , harry is always judged harshly while william is always late diana’s son . although harry was just 13 and more close to diana (see all the old videos even when both were younger diana is always holding harry more closely) so i guess his trauma was more as william who was 16 and was more mature but still william is the golden boy which is not true . at least for me harry shows some personality , is a real solider who earned his medals by taking part in the biggest conflict of our time, dedicated to military charities and goes out of his way to support them . he is also spoil t but he has more sense of duty and passion than william who will hide from his duties as long as he can (he will be 30 in few months). he is as boring as his wife. i can already see the future william telling people i didn’t have a normal childhood so i am not going to be a full time royal and be a stay at home dad with my stay home wife and two nannies . he will use everything in order to get away from working.

    • MsJAPrufrock says:

      Sachi, agreed 100%.

  22. T.C. says:

    What are they taking a vacation from?

  23. ANGELIC 20 says:

    for those who don’t expect either one of them to work , seriously when will you ? they are 30 years old and royal duties are their future and all normal 30 years old have already started their careers, are married or are parents and taking care of our obligations and not relying on mom and dad. also for those who say they should take time , i am not saying become full time royal , being in the public eye must be difficult but they have all the other perks (servants , drivers, personnel staff), there are many people with far more difficult lives and they are working hard to meet their obligations without any of the perks.

    what does william like other than trying being normal , partying , playing polo , killing animals , i mean what are the causes he feels passionately about other than how to be normal ( i mean rich , and spoiled ). we know charles like farming , hi is often called interfering by politicians as he tries to pursue them to support his cause , harry also likes to party or flirt or date models, waitress but he his very passionate about his military duties . he also takes more offs than other soldier and may not work as hard as them but he still is more involved than his brother . he went to Afghanistan, he learnt how to fly a fighter plane , planning to go back to Afghanistan, he trekked with wounded soldiers and works for military charities. he made mistakes but he grew up and created a role for himself but as far as william goes he just wants to be a normal with all the royal perks.

    • bluhare says:

      William will not be allowed to fight. He’s second in line. Harry is allowed as he is not as close to the throne. If anything happens to William, Harry will find himself as curtailed as his brother is. That being said, maybe William’s glad he can’t go. 🙂

      • angelic 20 says:

        I know that but he still is not doing anything that shows what he is passionate about

  24. TruthTella says:

    It doesn’t matter anyway, none of the money they spend on vacations comes from tax payers money. The only Royals that get paid from the public are The Queen and the Duke of Edinbourough… Prince Charles gets his money from the Duchy of Cornwall which he uses to pay for himself, Camilla, William, Harry and Kate (i guess) plus William was left like £20,000,000 by Princess Diana.

    • LAK says:

      The bulk of Diana’s money came from Charles via divorce settlement and only £17M. At her death, her estate would have been subject to inheritance tax at 40% which we all have to pay unless she got an exemption by virtue of her quasi Royal status. Yes, the RF only started to pay taxes in 1992, and only income tax as far as we know, so she could very well have skipped the inheritance tax.

      The estate would have been shared by the boys equally. The bulk of their money is from RF trusts and The Queen Mum, not from Diana.

      • angelic 20 says:

        REALLY money is not important at least for me but you don’t see anything wrong with the fact britain’s future state heads doing 6 days of work (km), pretending to be normal, hardworking and then taking 3 international vacationswithin 2 months

      • liv says:

        so the queen mother left him a lot of money and he can’t even bother to show up at her memorial service, how sad…

  25. Brenda C. says:

    I’m definitely noticing a change in the comments posted on the Daily Mail. It used to be that any negative comment regarding William and Catherine was red arrowed to oblivion. Now all the top comments are criticizing the Royal Couple, even with the retraction of the first vacation story.

    I know it’s the Daily Mail but they have a strong online presence and it’s fascinating that people from all over the world can agree that this vacation is in bad taste.

    I suspect the negative comments will continue when the Thanksgiving service occurs and William and Catherine are still on vacation or are no-shows. Add another vacation in a month or two and see what happens. I’m sure they’ll come up with some excuse to go on another well-deserved vacation.

    I’m not against these two taking a break. I’m sure as newlyweds that six weeks apart in their first year of marriage must be somewhat difficult to endure. But when the country they are supposed to represent is suffering, they should show some compassion and understanding. The “normal couple” PR is just a slap in the face when they’re really going on luxury vacations.

    This totally comes off as a “let them eat cake” moment. As future heads of state they should know better.

    • June says:

      newlywerds? maybe just at paper… they lived together and they have been knowing each other for so many years. i don’t think you can compare them to newlyweds for 30 or more years, when couples got married after some month of their acquaintances. i have been living with my boyfriend for years before our marriage and the wedding didn’t change anything except my surname.

      • Brenda C. says:

        Well that comment was a bit of snark on my part. I do think that the dynamics of their relationship probably didn’t change much upon marriage but I don’t think it’s unreasonably that they missed each other after six weeks. Personally I think William just settled for Catherine but I still want to believe they care for each other. Maybe they really did miss each other and wanted some time alone together, although I’m perplexed about the Middletons tagging along.

    • angelic 20 says:

      This is what happens when ever a negative support about her comes.i think waity fans are in hiding, they only comes out when she is doing her rare and minimal charity work, they always fail to defend her but I don’t blame that as there is nothing to defend about her other than shallow things like clothes or legs etc.i never complain about her figure or lack of fashion sense as they are not important to me but real substance which she lacks.

    • LAK says:

      @Brenda – Your original comment is right on the money. Many on the british sites are saying more or less the same thing.

  26. Frayed_Edges says:

    I agree, I think protesting that their budget for holidays is ‘quite small’ while many people in the UK are choosing between whether to eat or heat their homes is a joke. We know that William and Catherine are extremely rich, not only because he is a member of the Royal family for craps sake, but also Kate has come from a wealthy family. The Middletons are worth £30million, and she grew up in a very expensive part of Berkshire in a huge country house. To say that their budget is ‘quite small’… compared to what? What she spends on hairdressers? I am a fan of Kate, and love seeing what she will be wearing next, etc, but it’s an insult to people who can barely afford to pay bills let alone go on holiday every 3 months.

  27. Perdits says:

    William is a very WEALTHY man and so the bit about the Middletons paying for the holiday is just PR. The Middletons, Kate especially, have always been very fond of many holidays; in one 12-month period back in 2007/8 Kate took no less than 9, yes 9, holidays abroad! If she thinks the British public will stand for that degree of self-indulgence from any member of the royal family I’m afraid she’s in for a rude awakening. The press is being relatively kind to the Cambridges at the moment, but we all know the British press will wait … and then pounce. When they begin to tot up the number of days Kate has worked in her first year of marriage and the number of days holidays she’s taken, I don’t think it will look too good for her.

    It’s interesting that Harry is much more popular than William with the public, he doesn’t seem to have that sulky look that William so often shows, and everyone seems to be hoping Harry will marry a girl who has real personality, someone who has proved her worth while single by having a career, rather than just leading an indolent life bankrolled by her parents. Times have changed and royal brides are now expected to be more than decorative accessories to their husbands, they’re expected to know the meaning and the value of work.

    • angelic 20 says:

      I agree british media will open the blind fold but I think they are going to pick William as the good one, like they choose Diana in comparison to Charles.if waity ever choose to go against William (which is unlikely) they will pick William and defend him till the end by saying due to his mother he was a soft target, that mama Middleton pushed and manipulated William into the marriage, that she didn’t work before marriage after all they are the one that gave her the name waity katie. They have already said these things and will never forget, also William is there beloved Diana’s son and Kate does not seems to have the same x factor that Diana did which made her so popular.Kate should and would do absolutely every thing to keep William on her side because with William every thing else will also go awa.

    • angelic 20 says:

      I agree british media will open the blind fold but I think they are going to pick William as the good one, like they choose Diana in comparison to Charles.if waity ever choose to go against William (which is unlikely) they will pick William and defend him till the end by saying due to his mother he was a soft target, that mama Middleton pushed and manipulated William into the marriage, that she didn’t work before marriage after all they are the one that gave her the name waity katie. They have already said these things and will never forget, also William is there beloved Diana’s son and Kate does not seems to have the same x factor that Diana did which made her so popular.Kate should and would do absolutel every thing to keep William on her side because with William every thing else will also go awa.

  28. badassninja says:

    Kate’s Parents are rich. what’s the problem with that? -__-

  29. angelic 20 says:

    I was watching mad men season 1 and realised waity resembles the character played by January Jones Mrs draper, she gets a house financial security and he gets to cheat (which he at least tries to hide) comes and go as he wish and she does whatever he wants and ask no question.actually waity is even worst because at least the frictional character from the 60’s is a mother and used to work as a model before.how pathetic is this

  30. Lorrie says:

    William doesn’t get money from the Civil list. He gets his money from his RAF salary, the interest from his trust fund left by his mother, until he is 30 then he gets the full 10 million. And then him and Harry get money through their father, who gets it from the Duchy of Cornwall. He is far from poor, but not near as rich as the Middleton’s. Their wealth is an estimated $30 million pounds. But lets face it, they made their money from their daughter dating Willy.

  31. liv says:

    are the middle tons paying for the security too?

  32. Alina says:

    I can’t believe how naive people are. They changed her voice to sound more proper and posh, they covered up her druggie uncle, they made her seem like she is not lazy, and now you think that they will say she is going on vacation on the people’s dime? I don’t think so.
    The new people’s princess could not possibly do that.

    All pr, and looks like many are buying into it.

  33. jessablessa says:

    Th