Duchess Kate and Prince William were on another holiday! Sort of. I mean, I don’t doubt that their trip to Switzerland was relaxing, but they actually had a purpose for being there – their friends were getting married, and William was one of the ushers or groomsmen or something. Unfortunately, we don’t have access to the photos – go here to see Kate having some downtime before the wedding by going sledding, and go here to see photos of Kate, William and Harry at the wedding. Kate wore a repeat MaxMara dress, a repeat pillbox hat and a new-seeming coat with a fur shawl collar.
The Duchess of Cambridge arrived at a wedding in a different kind of carriage Saturday – a bus.
She and brother-in-law Prince Harry were spotted with a group of friends as they hopped off the coach for nuptials in the Swiss mountains.
They were there for the wedding of close friend and polo player Mark Tomlinson, who married Olympic equestrian Laura Bechtolsheimer in the town of Arosa.
Dressed in a pale coat accentuated with brown fur trim, a familiar James Lock hat and a Max Mara dress she’s wore previously underneath, an expectant Kate was seen walking “gingerly up the steps to the church,” an onlooker tells PEOPLE. “She was being very careful in her heels.”
Her husband William – in traditional tailcoat – had previously arrived due to his role as an usher at the ceremony.
As guests arrived, police cordoned off an area so locals could catch a glimpse. “There was a big crowd there, and the police closed the street,” the onlooker adds.
The couple are among 250 guests, including the royals’ close friends James Meade and fiancée Laura Marsham, Guy Pelly and Olivia Hunt.
The Princes often spend summer afternoons playing polo with groom Tomlinson, who attended Marlborough College with Kate. The bride was part of the London 2012 Olympics team that also included William and Harry’s cousin Zara Phillips.
The family made a weekend of the trip – while William and Harry hit the slopes on Friday, Kate, who’s due in July, was spotted strolling with a sled in her hands rather than ski poles.
As I said, I’m not going to slam them so hard for taking another vacation because this was a trip made specifically for a wedding, and these are friends of William and Harry. It’s just funny to me that St. James Palace works so hard to emphasize and draw out Kate’s meager charity work (one scheduled event this month – ONE!!!) and the press is forced to act like she still feels so, so bad with her pregnancy meanwhile she’s flying to Mystique and sledding in Switzerland and shopping all day in London. Yes, that was the other story that broke over the weekend – shopaholic Waity bought a dress! That’s seriously the news we get from Kate these days. And why do you think it’s going to be any different a year from now? Five years from now? She doesn’t give a crap about her role as a public servant.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
At this point, they simply do a spot of work between vacations.
their life is so hard!
Exactly, she does not give a damn about her public role. Aided and abetted by Willy. I think it’s pretty obvious that he does not want to be king. Just the perks and privileges for my wife and I, thank you very much.
It will be a rude awakening when William’s inevitable fate arrives.
I’m tempted to believe that the DM is running these stories on purpose just to troll for comments – which are almost universally scathing at this point. I am very amused 🙂
The DM has been wonderfully wicked and subversive in their Kate coverage. The patronizing tone and backhanded compliments dished out by the once royalist Mail often put me into a fit of giggles. Especially the Kate and Pippa pieces. Scathing articles written with the thinnest veil of politeness and due propriety. They want to call her a lazy social climbing slag, but instead they effusively mention her bravery in the face of her hard work (once per month) and daily shopping/coffee/workout schedule. I absolutely love it.
I just went back and actually read the DM story and it is a riot! They list the price for absolutely EVERYTHING from her glasses to her boots and even throw in that the bride’s grandparents picked up the tab for the almost GBP20k ‘experience’. The subtext is that WK have enjoyed GBP40k in holidays over the last month. Anybody else hear the austerity dog whistle?
I’d rather use queen Victoria’s “speech-like”
.
.
.
We are amused.
I saw the comments, hilarious.
And Waity doesn’t give a crap about a public role, other than the perks.
Also the Daily Mail is running a slew of pictures of William and Harry on the slopes laughing and hugging blond women, while Kate “takes a solitary walk.” Interesting because a hug is also the most affection Will has ever shown his wife.
Of course the accompanying article takes a hit at Harry saying he stayed up late with the wedding party running into the night. Still, it’s not hard to imagine Will stayed up drinking and partying with his brother while pregnant teetotaler Kate went to bed.
Naughty Mail. Just what are they hinting at?
I think they’re saying William’s now Harry’s wing man for picking up blondes!
Just kidding.
I saw all those pics as well and found myself a bit bugged at Will… not just for the hugging, but for the skiing. I know… no idea who the girls are, they might be ‘close family friends’ who are always greeted with a hug. Also, I don’t expect Will to avoid all activities that Kate can’t participate in while pregnant. Somehow the two things combined made me… *sigh* feel bad for Kate… only a little bit though, and it passed very quickly! 😉
I’ve been saying this for a long time. DM is subversively being nasty whilst not appearing to do so.
They were not 100% on the Kate train despite publishing pro-pieces before the engagement, and had no qualms calling her out directly, though William remained as always,untouchable.
They were more or less toeing the palace line after the engagement primarily due to public mood.
All Changed winter 2011 when William ‘requested’ the media write ONLY positive pieces about Kate.
Since then, DM has been writing these OTT synchophanticly positive pieces that are really nasty underneath.
Since last christmas they’ve added concern trolling Kate to it.
It’s really quite amazing and amusing to see how and where they are leading the public because the other papers are taking DM’s lead.
I think they have a right to attend William’s friends’ wedding and whilst there to take advantage of a semi-holiday. I would’ve done the same. The difference is I’m not accountable to the public while they are.
They want the perks of royalty without giving anything in return. William gets so much time off for an RAF pilot, while Kate does this on the back of a sole engagement last month, and that was on the back of a week-long holiday, and THAT was on the back of two months lying on her bum pretending to have HG.
Thank God I’m not British – not only would I be forced to eat their cake, but I’d probably choke on it too.
Agreed.
I wonder if they are still planning their annual ski trip with the Middletons at the end of the month.
I’ll say yes. They haven’t let public opinion sway them so far. The only reason they won’t will be if Kate is annoyed she can’t ski right now.
If Kate weren’t already bugged that Will was skiing while she can’t, I’m sure a look at the ski-hugging photos will do it!
At this point, the DM is definitely just trolling for nasty comments, but yesterday one of the angry pro-royal commenters raged “Is William trying to finish his mother’s work of destroying the monarchy?!”
And I suddenly thought whoa, what if he is?
What if Willy is secretly powered by an Emily Thorne-like thirst for Royal Revenge on the house of Windsor? What if he wants to bring the monarchy to its knees, piece by piece? While the Middletons sit there peddling their Mexican sweatshop-made tat as a cover for whatever it is they do with Uncle Gary, gloating to themselves over how they used Baity Katie to lure him in and claw their way up the social ladder, William could actually be the one playing them – maybe he realised how awful they are and how much of an embarrassment they’d be and married their lazy-ass daughter just for the bad publicity. All he had to do then was sit back, take plenty of time off from his “job” of being a helicopter pilot so he gets some stick too and it’s not too obvious what he’s up to, and let Waity K run riot with holidays and shopping while Pippa goes famewhoring like a crack-fueled Kardashian. Hell, maybe he’s even the one who arranged the naked Harry Vegas picture leaks as a sideshow.
And it’s a win-win situation because once he’s brought down the monarchy, he never has to be king either, but he doesn’t have to abdicate.
If any of this were true, Willy would soar in my estimation…
William, an evil mastermind?
. . . Love it.
it explains his lack of hair and her anorexia
I am now visualizing Wills as Blofeld.
That would make a hell of a thriller baskingshark–maybe you should write up a screenplay treatment where James Bond saves England from the Mad Heir.
I am amazed at how decisively hostile the comments are becoming on the DM and elsewhere it is hard to believe palace and family are not worried! What if anything is being discussed behind the scenes? Thoughts?
I know! I keep thinking the Royal family and advisors MUST be aware of what people are thinking and saying, about Kate especially. I still am convinced that Royal family WANTS Kate to have negative numbers- for now. I think there is no way in hell they want another Diana situation where her popularity eclipses the real Royal members of the family.
Apples
I feels like the royal family is aware, but truly has no say in what activities Kate does or duties she wishes to line up. If they has ANY say it would have been used with the engagement and announcing the pregnancy. Will wishes to act on his own with his own press people that answer directly to him. And Kate goes to her mother for advice and dictates her own schedule.
Kate is bad all around for the RF, but she’s a reflection of William. To make Kate look better would on;y reflect well on William.
Whoa, baskingshark!! That’s a great theory to play with. The sub plot will be that Harry’s starting to figure it out and is turning on the charm.
That makes sense to me. I can’t see how William and Harry don’t suspect the RF of doing away with their mother. The rest of the world found her death a little too convenient. If it was me I would want payback big time. Go Wills!
lol, I’m glad everyone on here liked my theory better than my mum’s friends who were rather disapproving…
The next twist will, of course be whether or not Waity figures out in time that she’s little more than Willy’s revenge pawn. And if she does, then she has to find a way to get her butt on that throne stat BEFORE William succeeds in bringing about a republic (and WITHOUT letting Willy know she’s onto him, meaning she can’t change her ways…) And who knows what her family have threatened her with if she fails to get the ultimate prize after all the $$$$$ they’ve invested in her…
Watch out for falling wind turbines, Prince Charles…
Falling wind turbines . . . LOL!!
Baskingshark, if you write the novel on this, I will buy it. I just really wish Wills had that kind of spark in him though.
Hmmmm, I think if I took it any further, I might get sued. Or Uncle Gary might make me disappear. Or the Queen might…
ITA, though – I somehow doubt any of them are nearly as interesting in real life!
That would be awesome but I doubt either of the brothers would think of that even if the RF killed off Diana, which I don’t think was the case. It was just a tragic accident although I know there are many conspiracy theorists out there who think otherwise. William and Harry are too comfortable with their lives and would not jeopardize that to live as a commoner even if they know a lot more than we do about how their dad and his family hated Diana and what was done to her during their marriage. I have a feeling though that there is a possibility they know less than we do. The truth is probably hidden from them and no one around them is probably allowed to discuss much in detail about D&C’s marriage. They are in a protected bubble and enjoy the perks of being a Royal and probably wouldn’t give that up even if it means always having to live in the spotlight. Also, William isn’t that smart to be Revengey like Emily Thorne. That would take too much work and William still loves his dad, grandmother, and can even have a decent relationship with Camilla.
Yes kibbles, re- accidental death. Some conspiracy theorists believe it was a serious problem with Diana being involved with a Muslim, however keep in mind Diana was involved with Hasnat Khan ( also Muslim) for two years.
Though, I do wish we had an answer as to why Paris cctv cameras were off.
Kibbles
At the end you say that William loves his father and grandmother. He may love his father, but his actions do not say he loves his grandmother.
He only told her about the engagement at the very last minute. He refused to spend christmas with her. I mean it’s one thing to split the holidays with inlaws when you’re married. It’s another thing when the only time your grandmother puts work on the back burner you blow her off.
He’s cold.
Try watching the YouTube series called “Lady Die”, spelled exactly like that –
I wondered the very same thing. I’m glad you brought it up – it’s funny. What if he wants to torpedo the people who ruined the life of his wonderful mother ? What better way than to marry Waity ? I wondered, was he so devastated by the loss of Diana that he REALLY doesn’t care ? Who could blame him – so will she really grate on his nerves and will he eventually dump her ? I hope so.
The coat is also a repeat I think, just with a added collar/cowl of some kind.
Meh, they went to a wedding-Harry and William were both in it, so it’s not a big deal.
I don’t really care about Kate & Wills one way or the other, but I find myself amused at people’s outrage over their lifestyle. Before Kate was married, all she seemed to do was shop, socialize, and vacation (or “holiday” as the Brits say). Why did people think that was going to change once she got married?
People don’t change much when they marry, IMO. I’m not a royal, I have a demanding career and family obligations, and I’ve always found the time and resources to volunteer and do charity work regularly — because that is a value for me. For Kate and Wills it isn’t, so despite all their resources and advantages, they won’t. I kind of just shrug my shoulders at the situation. Maybe if I was a British taxpayer I’d be more upset about it.
i agree with you, when they got married i was being generous and gave her another chance but deep down didn’t really expect her do anything . her fans insisted that after 2 years( i know it was tabloids created but still) she will all of a sudden start working but as you said at the age of 31 people are who they are. i will be here after 1,2,3,years and so on saying i told you so when it comes to kate and william and will still be reading the new excuses given by her fans. i really want to ask all those posters (and there were quite a few on this site if a remember correctly) practically yelling at me for calling her lazy and saying give her time and a chance , what happened and how much longer do you think we should all wait before our criticism is considered valid and rational and not dubbed as jealousy or hatred?
The people who defend her and Wills probably always will. Once she has the baby it will be the “demands of hands-on motherhood” (shyeah right) that keep her so busy . . .
While I can’t muster up enough hate to create anti-Kate blogs like the ones people have linked to here, I can’t logically understand why people are her fans. What has she done, what has she accomplished to make someone a fan of hers? I’m not saying that snarkily (well, not 100% so) — I’d seriously love to know what her self-proclaimed fans find praiseworthy about her.
Faye, I think people are outraged because she was billed as the most prepared royal bride ever, and was going to take us all by storm. And if this is it, it’s a mighty weak storm. They still try to feed us that line, even when nothing’s happening. It’s like the emperor and his new clothes, except this time the emperor knows he’s naked.
Bluhare, I can certainly see why taxpayers would be upset by Kate and William — I guess I just can’t understand outrage. Outrage to me connotes rage stemming from shock, and their current lifestyle is completely non-shocking to me because it is so consistent with the way they’ve *always* lived.
I have an interesting perspective on this as the wife of a Brit whom I guess you could describe as coming from an upper-class family – although, since he’s a practicing Jew, obviously his circle never intersected directly with those of the Royals (Jews are okay for making money for the nation but Not Really Our Kind, Dear at the highest levels of society, as I understand it). I was married for several years pre-the Royal Wedding, and whenever we’d go visit his family in England, if we ended up passing a newsagents’ we’d always see tabloids (and regular newspapers) with less-than-flattering pics and articles of Kate. They always seemed to depict her as a party girl (not in a sexually loose way, just as someone who parties a lot), coming in and out of clubs, falling ungracefully out of chauffered cars, going to event after event and tagging after Wills no matter how he blew hot and cold at her. My husband’s mother and sisters (and I guess me, to be honest) are all women who could have lived comfortably doing nothing, but have careers and many other interests instead. That life of pampered nothingness seems so alien to us.
It always seemed to me that a lot of British people poked fun at Kate and her consort lifestyle — hence the “Waity Katie” moniker. I remember going through a very rough patch while I was getting a Ph.D., and threatening to quit and be a stay at home wife catering to my “lord and master”, and my mum in law joking that I was going to be pulling a Kate Middleton.
The point of all this rambling 🙂 is that it really seemed to me that Kate did not have this huge fandom before her marriage, and that people knew what to expect from her (not much of anything) in the way of public service, no matter what the Firm tried to say about her alleged preparedness. I think there was a brief honeymoon period around the wedding, where there was a lot of positive attention focused on England worldwide, because of people’s fairy-tale fantasies or whatever. But really, was anybody truly, truly surprised at what Kate turned out to be? Do you think anybody really thought she would be active in charities? I’m curious, because nobody I know in England did.
Faye, perhaps outrage is too strong a term, but I do think the worm is turning on them.
Fairly or unfairly, Kate’s going to be compared to Diana. William didn’t help by giving her that ring, so that where ever she goes we see That Ring. I actually feel for her in that, I wouldn’t want to be in the shadow of arguably the most charismatic woman of her time either. But she is, and William hasn’t helped by invoking his mother when he feels like it, and railing against comparisons when he doesn’t!!
The lifestyle before marriage was attributed to her waiting for William and being at his beck and call because she wanted William and The Job. And now she has them both, she doesn’t appear to spend much time on either. She’s in London and he’s in Wales. Why she can’t go to Wales now that her earlier issues have resolved is beyond me. Last I heard, there are doctors in Anglesey and for her London’s a short helicopter/plane ride away.
‘Disgusted’ is probably a better word.
Times are hard in the UK and austerity has taken a huge toll. I’m starting to see more and more sarcastic ‘we are in this together’ comments – obviously referencing the difference between the royal response to previous hard times (particularly WWII) and how these two are swanning around during this one.
So many social programs have been cut back and people are struggling. Yet these two prats don’t seem to care about anything beyond themselves and their grand life of privilege. It’s pretty unseemly.
And again, I understand why people are upset and disgusted. Not to beat a dead horse, but I just don’t understand why more people weren’t vocal about these feelings *before* the royal wedding, since Kate has always been the person she is now. At the time it seemed to me there was all this gushing and adulation — witness the many thousands of people sleeping in the streets just to get a glimpse of her on the way to the wedding. Why were they not more upset then, when she was as do-little as she is now?
Faye, you have to understand the depth and breadth of the whitewashing that the media and The palace indulged in when the engagement was announced. This was helped by a downturn in her clubbing activities and a princess makeover in the months leading upto the engagement. So the whitewashing was believeable. They both played the game beautifully right upto the wedding. They said the right things at the engagement interview, with a few slip ups(although in hindsight, those slip ups ARE significant and do tally with your observations). And they invoked Diana. You have to understand that this was also a coming out for William because no one apart from dedicated royal watchers knew much about him due to press ban, so many people were carried away by the the goodwishes everyone felt for Diana’s boy getting married. A sort of collective nostalgia trip.
The whitewash of her image also included a concerted effort to make seemingly reasonable excuses for why she had not worked for all those years, and a concerted effort to potray her as a hardworking, modern, independent, down to earth woman. There was an almost daily positive update about her for 6mths. There were stories about all the extra training she was receiving in addition to the 8yr long training she had received etc. The phrase used most often was that she was the most prepared and trained royal bride ever.
And all this stuff worked precisely because people tend to disregard tabloids. All the pre-engagement activities that you describe was pictured in downmarket rags. The daily mail wrote about it, but they didn’t provide pictures of the type found in the sun or the mirror. Even now, people fail to accept that those pictures exist. If one such picture had been shown in the daily mail or the telegraph or the broadsheets, the marriage would never have taken place.
people really believed what the palace told them. In the absence of concrete facts, what else were they supposed to believe. These past 2yrs have opened many people’s eyes to the reality. IF WK had lived up to their billing at the wedding, all the pre-engagement shenanigans would have been swept under the rug and completely forgotten or put down to immature high jinks.
Another good one from DOD about her latest endeavor:
http://katemiddletonduchessordiva.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/diva-bastardizes-royal-family-women/
She is starting to spray tan again if you look at the pictures from the wedding. Glad she has time to shop.
Wait…is she allowed to ski while pregnant? My OB told me not to even get near a slope.
she can do everything other then work while she is pregnant.
I read on the DM site that guests at the wedding had ski passes, etc. in their rooms… and Kate was given some type of sled instead, which is kind of cute, but… whether it is true or not, some ‘witness’ said they were surprised to see her sledding as the incline was quite steep (or something like that). So, I don’t think she was skiing, but was sledding instead. Personally, I would think the sledding would be off limits for Kate as well, considering she is carrying a future King and all. 😉
Danni – My OBGYN had no problem allowing me to ski. It depends on your level of expertise. Just don’t ski on the black diamond slopes and stick to the intermediate. In other words take it easy and slow. Which is no fun.
I agree you can’t make people into something there not. We all have interests and I don’t think Kate’s interests are charity work.
I’ve read many times Kate’s interests are photography.
Maybe she could do something with photography….. She could work with maybe one of her charities and design a calendar with children and work with the children to take photos for the calendar.
Or maybe design some postcards for her charities using her photos. I think if she uses her passion – photography and works that in with charities it would be really cool.
Or do something as simple as promoting photography contests for aspiring artists.
It’s an art form that’s difficult to get noticed in (digital cameras+ internet = disaster), I’m sure struggling artists with talent would welcome it.
Fab, those are good ideas. Play to her strengths instead of weaknesses, in other words. The calendar would sell like hotcakes for whatever charity she was supporting, as would the postcards. Plus she’s quite athletic supposedly so she could compete in events like Harry and Pippa have.
All great ideas! I’ll bet that’s the problem. She needs to find a way to incorporate her own personal enthusiasms into her charity work.
I agree you can’t make people into something there not. We all have interests and I don’t think Kate’s interests are charity work.
I’ve read many times Kate’s interests are photography.
Maybe she could do something with photography….. She could work with maybe one of her charities and design a calendar with children and work with the children to take photos for the calendar.
Or maybe design some postcards for her charities using her photos. I think if she uses her passion – photography and works that in with charities it would be really cool.
That is a very nice idea… however Kate published a few of her photos on her official website and they are of low-grade ammature quality at best. Better pictures have been taken by drunks and posted on facebook.
Photography takes a natural eye and, like anything else worth learning, takes effort and practice. Our Duchess is patient but she’s not a worker.
The truth of her photography is she bought an incredibly awesome camera, got a 2 week trip to new york to learn photography, went to naturally beautiful areas, and snapped the shots.
And as my friend said it quite nicely… All it takes is a good camera and the right location and everything looks professional.
Anything that involves more brainpower than browsing clothes racks, getting her hair done, buying coffee from Starbucks, jet-setting to a luxury vacation, and preening for cameras isn’t in line with Kate’s idea of work.
Her photography skills are quite amateurish and the photos she took in their Asia tour were very mediocre and obviously taken by someone who has no idea what she’s doing and what exactly she wants to photograph. Just a mess of unimpressive, random shots.
I’m sure the Palace would love to exploit the idea that Kate has more interests than indulging her vanity. Except the Palace has always said that Kate sets her own pace when it comes to her schedule and she decides what she wants to do, neither the Queen or Charles is holding her back…so I doubt she’d be more interested in charity work than her once-a-month hourly visit that achieves nothing but PR for her and her only. If she wanted to do more, she’d have done it a long time ago.
Sachi, it wouldn’t matter if they weren’t Diane Arbus quality would it? If she enjoys photography, she could pick her favorites and the calendar or postcard would sell out. And she’d enjoy doing it. (Theoretically :)) Win win for her and the charity.
I don’t know, bluhare, but her photos were published by the Palace and they didn’t exactly result in praises and adoration. I don’t think many people even paid attention to the photos except to say they were the works of an amateur.
Too bad for her charities.
But why not have Kate’s photographs distributed? 😀 Isn’t that what is being claimed to be the “attraction” for tourism in England? Royalty contributes a lot of money to the economy? Have Kate pose all around their apartments in Kensington Palace and her holding out Diana’s ring in every shot, and it *might* sell. The sycophants alone will buy dozens. 😉
Posing for photos in the palaces wearing The Ring would be a bit . . . vulgar, wouldn’t it, Sachi? 😀
She could do anything. Doesn’t matter if they’re any good. They’d sell or get contributions for her charity of choice.
Sorry, bluhare, I forgot. Flashing Diana’s ring only works when one is “unconsciously” doing it. 😉
http://www.thevoguevibes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/kate-middleton-and-michelle-obama-photo_532x493.jpg
😀
I think if she would actually put effort into it, she can help out her charities. The problem is that I don’t think she wants to do more. She’s extremely lazy, I doubt she will change unless William tells her to since her whole world revolves around him. He’s just as lazy, so they’re a match made in heaven.
She only visits for one hour once every 4-5 months and in the case of Hope House last Feb 19th, only because there was backlash about Mustique and SJP went on damage control. The planned visit was announced the exact same day Mustique info came out. It was almost as if SJP timed the announcement of the visit to curtail the impending backlash.
If she didn’t go to Mustique but only went shopping for 10 days straight, would Hope House have gotten a visit at all? She only ever visits when there’s a need for a PR boost and damage control, and that IMO is the main issue. Her efforts are never genuine, eg. that re-gifted baby hamper to EACH. Seinfeld and Elaine Benes would have been appalled. 😉
I also don’t think she follows-up with these charities that she has claimed to be “very close to her heart”. She doesn’t want to do more than preen and pose and unfortunately, the only ones benefiting are Kate and the photo agencies who make money off of selling her pictures.
I gotta ask, do you think Kate is really lazy? I’m not sure lazy is the right word. She works pretty hard at some things, just not the ones some of us would like to see.
I think she’s lazy in a way that some people will call immature and irresponsible, and she’s lazy in a way that she doesn’t know how to be anything else. She has no personality or character and she’s been made that way/encouraged by Carole to not be anything but a doormat to William lest the latter’s ego get bruised by someone who is independent and outspoken.
Her few interests and hobbies are from her days at Marlborough College…when she was a young girl. Her interest in sports was from when she was an “athletic” teenager. Her photos from early years in University show someone who looked like a cool girl, someone fun and cheerful and a bit goofy. Fast forward 5 years into her relationship with William and she was Waity Katy and doing nothing else but partying, shopping, and vacationing.
If you look at it this way: Kate’s growth as a person seems to have stopped when she started dating William. Since then she’s become quite vacant and robotic as she focused on keeping William happy and getting the ring.
It’s her own words: “My family/William looks after me”. That’s her mantra. She’s always being looked after like a helpless child who must be told what to do all the time. Her laziness is a lifestyle, not a trait.
I don’t doubt that she works hard at some things, but I think those things are always related to social climbing and her image because that’s all she’s done for the past decade.
What strikes me is the label “society wedding”… do they ever go to any other sort of affair?
I get that they’re “royals” and their immediate social network is very posh, but Will & Kate seem to have this ivory wall up. Despite the fact William’s current “job” is very middle class, they have no middle class friends. Without a real effort at snobbery and snubbing, I’m unsure how they could’ve lived in Anglesey on a military base and made no military friends. The Queen did it in Malta. … And we would know if they had some regular friends. The palace PR and the press would love it. We see photos of every wedding they attend and its always “Old Etonian” or “Oxbridge Educated” or an hieress from Timbuktu.
Compare Harry, who we know made friends among the regular fellows making up his army crew. Again, Harry’s ability to “mix” with all sorts is highlighted against his brother’s aristocratic aloofness. Harry’s group was decidedly un-posh when the Vegas photo scandal came out, and in fact some were saying that was the problem. To those, I ask “was Viscount Lindley able to protect Kate’s boobs with his title?”
To answer one question, they don’t live on base in Wales. They live in a cottage (5bdrms) on private property. From what I’ve read Kate spends most of her time in London and/or with her parents.
I’ve been meaning to look up the definition of “cottage”. A 5 bedroom house doesn’t meet my layman’s definition!
I went and looked. Wikipedia says:
In the United Kingdom the term cottage also tends to denote rural dwellings of traditional build.
So I guess size has nothing to do with it. It’s a traditional house in the country.
Baroness – to misquote Julian Fellowes, writer of Downton Abbey and a minor Aristo, a cottage is a 20RM building to people that live in palaces. Kate’s parents’ manor house is a cottage compared to William’s parents’ home.
Ps:- In bios of Diana’s early life, their house on Sandrigham is frequently described as small or a cottage, THEN you see the pictures…….it’s a cottage alright, if you are comparing it to either Sandrigham or Althorp!!
Then technically speaking, every traditional building in a rural setting is a cottage when compared to Alnwick? Hope I spelt that correctly.
LOL at PEOPLE magazine being Kate and William’s mouthpiece for PR drivel. Kate walked “gingerly” up the steps of the Church? Has anyone seen the 4-inch heels Kate was wearing to the wedding? Gingerly my a*se. She was the picture of health and didn’t appear to have any trouble walking around in her sky-high heels.
Kate is healthy to do everything EXCEPT charity work. Tomorrow she has one day of events that will be a miracle if it lasts more than 2 hours, and then she won’t work again for who knows how long, but you can be sure she’ll continue shopping and lazing about.
Love the goon in that short video looking like he was about to attack the photographer for trying to catch Kate out on a walk. What, the sidewalk in Switzerland is now private property so Kate can’t be photographed?!
This just proves what people on Twitter and the royal correspondents have been saying on why the photos of Kate out and about are only of her back or of poor quality overall: bodyguards intimidate people from taking photos up-close, so they have to do it when Kate has walked away or do it stealthily.
That bodyguard demonstrates why Diana getting rid of her RPOs was one of the worst decisions she made, and contributed majorly to the paps harrassing her. RPOs don’t let anyone close, and as you see, they don’t allow pictures unless absolutely necessary like the group photos of the wedding party.
The RPOS are also working policement with powers to detain people, so paps can’t do their usual ambush/ harrassment tactics like we saw before the engagement.
People (william) go on and on about harrassment when simple insisting on RPOs is the best antidote to paps’ harrassment.
Quick question, I know RPOs are working policemen and have the authority to detain and what not, but what if they aren’t in jolly old Britain? How can they have jurisdiction in another country? Or do other countries provide police officers as RPOs?
They are given jurisdiction in other countries but coordinate with local law enforcement.
Are pregnant women even allowed to sled? Especially those who have allegedly had a difficult pregnancy and who is carrying the future heir to the throne?
Also, they sure do go to an inordinate amount of weddings don’t they? I maybe go to 1 wedding every 2 years. Along with shopping and holidaying it seems to be the only thing they do. Mystery.
Probably speaks to the level of sycophants they are surrounded by. To know the Prince is to be his best friend.
Not only does he attend many weddings, he seems to play usher quite often. Are these really all his besties, or is this an elaborate symbiotic relationship between a Prince who receives free trips and sycophantic socially ambitious hangers on. I expect in these circles everyone wants the Prince to be a guarantee at their wedding, to make the wedding into a proper fancy social event. Make him an usher and he has to show.
Middleton will someday become the poster child for ending the British monarchy. That day will come even if it takes another half of a century. Our world is becoming increasingly unequal and unjust. The masses are becoming more aware of this reality and how ambivalent the elites are about the plight of everyone else. There will be more revolutions to come other than the Arab Spring and the protests in Greece. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Middleton reminds me of Marie Antoinette more than Anne Boleyn even though she is often compared to the latter. She is completely unaware and ignorant of the world and she continues to go on vacations practically every month even though the UK along with most of the Western world is struggling under austerity cuts and high unemployment. Totally clueless and unprepared to rule her country.
There is hardly anything elitist about them.
They are not intellectuals or artists or scientists. They do not represent anything special or remarkable in particular (other than their aversion to work). If anything they remind me of the spoiled sweet 16 wealthy girls who know nothing about the world and manipulate their parents into lavish parties (yes, I used to watch MTV).
These people are just 2 very lazy people who got married and want to continue their spoiled life-style at the expense of the British tax-payers, but if there are people who are willing to pay for their lavish pleasures and trips and avoidance of work, they will continue.
IF anything, I cannot understand the English people, but it’s their money, so if that keeps them entertained then I guess, that’s their business.
Every culture has its oddities.
Mimi – The notion that Marie Antoinette was elitist in the classic sense is a hugely unfair misunderstanding.
She was brought up in a bubble where she had no contact whatsoever with anything or anyone but her world.
She wasn’t educated beyond the requirements of a queen which in her time came to mean a breeder and nothing else. No pursuits or interests that would interfere with that. Her favourites were picked for amusement and leisure, not for intellectual pursuits and no one told her what was going on in the wider world nor did they encourage any such curiosity.
That quote that is wrongly attributed to her ‘let them eat cake’ isn’t a terrible thing if you understand that she was brought up in a world with no deprivation or any concept of deprivation. If you run out of something, there was a suitable alternative. I doubt she knew the economic difference between cake and bread.
I would say that Marie Antoinette had an excuse for her behaviour.
Kate is the modern equivalent, but she is is worse because she has no excuses for her behaviour.
@LAK, I completely agree with your assessment of Marie Antoinette, and I understand the comparison of Kate to the 16th Century Queen far more so than that of Kate to Anne Boleyn (a laughable comparison, as their character and personality were worlds apart). Kate is so criticised because she is everything undesirable in a modern future Queen.
I understand that William, Harry and Catherine were at a friend’s wedding but to be there when the Queen (and William and Harry’s grandmother) was ill in London and having to cancel appearances, is beyond my comprehension. I realize that being uber-lazy means they wouldn’t have bothered to fill in for her, but perhaps they could have spent some time with her, or kept her company. If it was my grandmother I would have been with her versus skiing in Switzerland. It makes me wonder what the Queen thinks of her spoiled, lazy, useless grandkids (William, Harry and Catherine)…if it were me I would feel sad and massively disappointed.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but in their defence, the Queen took ill after they left (I think).
She has/had a stomach bug . It’s not like she was in ICU with tubes stickig out of her body
Sorry, I stay as far away from stomach bugs as I can. If a loved one is in serious condition, that would be different. For the most part, I think people usually try to keep to themselves when they are ill (as they should), so they don’t get others sick. Not to mention, who wants visitors when they are puking and have fire-butt?
I remember the interview William & Harry gave before the concert for Diana in 2007. Harry commented that William “enjoyed himself more than people think”.
Oh we had NO idea, lol…..
I remember that too. And william agreed with him. William is indeed a very, very lucky boy for being born as the heir because if half the stuff he got upto was in the papers, he would be crucified.
It’s a wedding, it’s like me going to a friends wedding in another state say 10 hours away where my home town is,no one would question me for doing that so….. What’s the big deal about this?
I don’t have a problem with it at all. If there are issues, it’s because all we ever hear is them going on one trip or another, rather than spending time on engagements.
Not to mention that David Cameron and the government have been spouting drivel about the recession affecting everyone and that “We are all in this together” nonsense.
William and Kate’s many holidays and trips paint Cameron and the government as liars. Obviously, we are not all in it together when the two laziest Windsors can jet-set abroad whenever they want without concern for the public paying for their security personnel and lifestyle…while same public has to tighten their belts and struggle to find employment, put food on their table, pay for rising heating costs, and for the seniors/elderly, the funding for daycare facilities has been continuously reduced.
With every trip abroad, every holiday, every shopping spree, William and Kate are doing nothing but emphasizing the deep class divide in England, that being born into the right family can be taken as license to be tone-deaf to the plight of many. In these times, we don’t need any of that sh*t. They’re not required to work at a coal mine, nor are they tasked with solving poverty, cancer, or the economy. So it boggles the mind as to why they are unable to show even one iota of sympathy and compassion to their countrymen and lay off the vacations/trips/shopping for a while.
If their sycophants still don’t get it: no, the taxpayers are not “jealous haters”. We have valid concerns other than disliking Kate’s clothes or hair.
This wedding in Switzerland isn’t the issue, but it is another straw on the camel’s back.
I’m genuinely fascinated by the difference between the coverage about the Queen’s hospitalization and pretty much anything to do with W&K.
The coverage stresses that Queen worked until the moment she left for the hospital. She refused an ambulance. No, no! No fuss, she said.
The comments are filled with love, respect and acknowledgement for all she has done and continues to do for the country.
Forget Kate living up to the memory of Diana. William will never, ever, ever be able to inspire the type of awe and loyalty his grandmother does.
No one, and I mean no one, can ever criticise the Queen’s work ethic. She’s still in the top three with number of engagements, isn’t she? She should start to slow down and make them young uns earn their keep. She can still do the official medalling and knighting, but let the younger generation start taking on the ribbon cutting and such.
Bet she won’t, though. I loved the comment I read when her staff asked her to start slowing down. “I have to be seen to be believed.” Words to live by, William and Kate!
Okay! Well, I’ll insert something positive here! I was looking at the photos and I think the bride’s dress is absolutely beautiful for a snowy winter wedding. What a lovely place to get married.
I agree. And the setting . . . well, you don’t get much better especially with all that cooperating weather.
You are not alone… I kept looking back at the photos that showed the bride, and she looked so pretty! Looked like a lovely (if chilly) wedding!
She was wearing a Bruce Oldfield gown and it was very lovely! Even with the jacket on!
Keep in mind that not all of their work requires public appearances. They have a great deal of work to do every day. As for clothes, the DM is wholly incorrect (no surprise there, the “journalists” are barely literate) about cost. Virtually everything she buys is last season and/or hugely on sale. Her parents are loaded, his family is loaded, and they both have their own money, so I don’t know why it matters either way.
Several things;
1. All their work, including behind the scenes work such as meetings is recorded in the court circular. So far for Kate we have 3 engagements [Sports awards in dec, NPG self portrait in Jan and Hope House in Feb] and one behind the scenes meeting [last week] in the past 3 months. If she’s doing extra work that is going unrecorded, it certainly doesn’t show in her public engagements because she doesn’t show any knowledge of it.
2. William we are told is busy at his RAF job which curtails his royal duties. Then it transpires that he barely made the minimum hrs required to keep up his licence. Minimum requirement is 15hrs per month.
3. The royals’ job is to be PUBLIC servants. They are PR and ambassadors. What is the point of doing anything behind the scenes. As the Queen has been quoted saying last week, she has to be SEEN to be BELIEVED!!
4. Before the wedding, Kate bought alot on sale or prior season. Since the wedding, particularly 2012, she’s bought primarily designer. Various royal blogs and British Vogue have a tally of her outfits. It’s been designer all the way for 2012. Her accessories, whilst simple are the real money drain.
5. Kate’s family has money, which they are happy to spend on Kate and William. William’s family has money, ditto William himself. They try not to spend it as lavishly as the Middletons spend their money. It’s not the way uber wealthy Britons behave and believe me, the royals behave as traditionally as other uber wealthy Britons of their class. Any lavish holidays and extravagances that you see are the result of someone else or Kate and her family picking up the tab, boosted by tax payer money. The money aspect of it wouldn’t be a problem if there was no tax payer money involved.
Did you know that if you die intestate in the Duchy of Cornwall, your estate goes not to the government but to Charles. In the last year this was recorded (2011?) this amounted to £1 million, which Charles declared went to charity. Hmm.
Meerkat – I remember. It was tucked away and swiftly brushed under the carpet when media commented on it. I think we should highlight that little factoid anyone brings up the duchy as a private source of income because it’s not something whose parameters were drawn centuries ago, but continues to get a boost by little things like this. Charles giving that cash to charity only works if the interstate estates were bank accounts. If they are in the form of tangible assets like land, then he continues to enjoy their benefits despite that one off cash donation.
I tend to be kinder to charles because apart from being a poor husband to Diana, he has proven himself, is a hardworker and I do believe won’t be as passive a monarch as his mother has been which can only be a good thing.
Ann wow! Just wow.
Kate isn’t disliked here because she’s just a target because we’re all jealous of her beauty and lifestyle… There are reasons supported by facts. What you see is pr. Look past it and see the sad truth.
EDIT: Lady LAK you’ve beaten me to the list/rundown. I’m a slow typer. Deleted redundant bits you covered well.
As to their parents being loaded: William’s inheritance from Diana still tracks back to the taxpayers; all of the Duchy money eventually tracks back to the taxpayers no matter how you try to explain it; Middleton money comes from a shady business set-up and possibly off the backs of child slave labor.
Don’t we also have the unexplained increase in Duchy spending in 2012, roughly $150,000? Which has been basically explained as Kate’s shopping. And spending so much on foreign designers (Ralph Lauren evening gowns, Missoni coat even if second hand, etc.) when she is supposed to exclusively promote British fashion. And continuing to purchase and promote lower-cost Zara (Spanish brand) which has also been found to use underpaid labor.
A lot of this, again, comes down to flaunting your excesses in the midst of great suffering. One in four people in the UK cannot afford to pay their heating bills and Wills and Kate flit off to the Caribbean and Switzerland.
In the midst of outcries about the cost of the Olympics, Kate Middleton wore an $88,000 (ugly) necklace to a daytime Olympic event. Whether it was owned prior to marriage, a wedding gift, or (hopefully not) purchased with taxpayer dollars, it is still an example of her being incredibly clueless/heartless in the face of suffering. They are paid (yes, via the Duchy paying their bills) to serve and represent these taxpayers, not to throw their privileged lifestyle in the faces of the People.
I have a few friends who have suffered from HG, and there’s no way they could ever go sledding or fly or do much of anything but stay near a bathroom and pray for relief. I just don’t buy anything that comes from Team Middleton anymore.
Ugh. I can’t even with these two anymore. Sure, they have every right to attend a friend’s wedding abroad but isn’t it interesting that they both often can’t even make it to scheduled *work* appearances/duties in London or Wales when they’re somehow considered inconvenient. (Cue Kate’s “horrible”, “crippling”, PALACE DIAGNOSED “HG” as soon as the vacations come to an end and she’s expected to be an adult and start contributing to society again. Mark my words, it will happen.)
God help all our British CB friends when William-or even Charles!-eventually take the thrown. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: Kate has Charles wrapped around her little finger and has from day 1. It seems to me that he’s carrying so much guilt over from the mistakes made in his horrific relationship with Diana that he doesn’t want to push or intervene with that girl in ANY way. (I’m sure Kate’s laziness has come up more than once before, but William probably pitches a, well, royal fit and blackmails his father and the Queen about his mother and they back off. How else can she be explained?) Without the Queen’s presence or influence, the whole House of Windsor will be out of control. Will Middleton with be in full (apathetic, lazy, entitled) force 🙁
Who would have thought that it would be Harry all these years later who would be the sweet, caring, affectionate and charitable-truly from his heart-one of Diana’s sons? What a mess Will & Kate running the show will be.
Lol. *throne
I think people are being overly critical of Kate and Will. But I also think it’s their fault.
Kate just doesn’t exude warmth and interest in anything outside of her little rich girl world. And Will seems unable to muster the effort to be more accessible and likable to the public.
As a couple, they are (like everything else in their lives, by default) interesting but they lack charisma. They can only hide behind the excuse of propriety for so long as it’s becoming apparent that they suffer from a lack of empathy. Unless they course correct soon, I think they’re doomed to be as detached and far removed from the working world as Charles. So that leaves Harry to save the public image of the monarchy? LMAO
Andrea
I’m a bit puzzled by your comment. W&K don’t just lack empathy. They promote apathy for anyone’s suffering, but their own. I could give examples, but the post would drag on.
Kate was a terrible, mean girl before the marriage and Will has apparently always been a child that deserved a firm spanking and daily chores imo.
As a couple they’re a hard pill to swallow. Will is often vacationing (not working) away from Kate and she stays with her mother. He’s a serial cheater and for a bit seemed he would only get her pregnant if there was a vacation involved.
It’s my understanding Charles works hard and Camilla does her part too. Harry works as hard as he plays. And Bea and Eug are princesses! They work actual jobs and travel for charity on their own dime. We can’t forget about them until Charles cuts them out…:(
The criticism is fair as long as they keep up their current work/party ratio. If William abdicated, lived off his own money, or just stepped up his work much would be forgiven. The bar is set so low at this point anything positive would improve their standing.
I am no great fan of Kate and William’s but I do believe that people should be given the benefit of the doubt. How do you know she was a terrible, mean girl and that he is a serial cheater? I mean aside from the silly headlines we all read standing in line at the grocery store, or the tales told by a friend of a friend of a cousin of a friend. I finally read about that business when Kate supposedly was rude to one of the York girls at a party but it all seemed a bit ridiculous and contrived to me, not to mention the appalling spelling and grammar mistakes it contained. And no, I’m not what you all call a sycophant or a pearl clutcher, though I’m not quite sure what the latter term means.
And I also meant to add, but the phone intervened, that the whole extended family should pick up their marbles and go home once the queen passes on. I think they would all be much much happier (except perhaps Andrew who seems to enjoy all the attention).
Pearl clutchers are women who 1 wear pearls and 2 grab them when something scandalous or not appropriate happens/said. It’s a funny image.
I mean Kate was mean to the York girls as was Pippa, but not just that. At her university, polo matches where she was a spectator, and a few photos of her looking gossipy at a tennis match. If you’re a good person those stories will pop up, but fade away just as fast. If you’re deserving of the B title they’ll continue to pop up as they do with Kate.
This part is speculation, but not unfounded. Will Cheated. He voiced how much he felt trapped by Kate. He takes numerous vacations with/without Harry and Kate or sends her home while he stays another week. She stays with her mother. Yes, you can say there’s no proof there, but if you have some measures of common sense and reading between the lines, even body language things are off with this couple.
She’s had the benefit of doubt for quite some time and the hole keeps getting deeper.
I also don’t read the grocery line tabs, unless I need a laugh. They are always glowing for Kate.
I’ve got dinner in the oven so I am going to skip over the Will and Kate stuff and go directly to what is most important here:
Alexandra! You are missing out on the only interesting part of grocery shopping! Here’s how it works: When you are in the cashier line, pretend to be scanning your list to make sure you have all your items – then slyly look out of the corner of your eye and read the headlines of Star or the National Enquirer! My personal favorite is “Best and Worst Beach Bods.” They usually feature a few photos on the front page – and I am shamefully gleeful that there is always someone out there in celebrity land that actually has a worst beach bod than me!! 🙂
Sorry, what was puzzling? I guess my point there is that even if they’re not really nice people (and it can’t help but show), they can–for the sake of the monarchy, their subjects (ha), and people who still give a shit about all that–rally on and make an effort to change their image. If people don’t like them anymore, it’s only because they’re not trying hard enough, or at all.
Charles may “work” hard, but he is never going to be all that popular with the public. Especially with omnipresent Camilla. Many people are still hoping the crown would just go straight past him to Will, but with this turn in popular opinion (and Will & Kate’s seeming lack of interest in changing it), where does that leave all of them?
If you consider Diana’s Panorama interview ie- the fact she felt exhausted and needed rest and time to adapt, I wonder if that explains their more leisurely lifestyle??
ps- I meant to add: especially if William thinks of the interview often.
I wish I could take a crack at Harry so I can show the monarchy how young blood can actually do their role. Will and Kate look like lazy moochers. UGH.
But like how much more time does she need to ‘adapt’. The way I was such a Kate supporter but now…
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