Prince William and Duchess Kate are due to make their first joint red-carpet appearance tonight since becoming parents. These are photos of William and Harry attending the funeral of Hugh van Cutsem yesterday in England. Hugh was one Prince Charles’ closest friends, and William and Harry grew up very close to the Van Cutsem family. Harry looks particularly hot when he’s somber, right? That’s wrong to say, I know. I can’t help it. He’s hot.
Anyway, as for William, we have a slew of new announcements coming from his press office. For instance, William has FINALLY announced his plans for when his RAF duty is done. He’s going to take a “transitional year” in which (I suppose) he begins easing himself into full-time royal duties. I imagine the “transition” is going to involve a lot of vacations.
Prince William has completed his final duties as a search and rescue helicopter pilot with the RAF, Kensington Palace has today announced. The Duke of Cambridge has left his operational duties in the Armed Forces and is now looking to expand his charitable interests, particularly in the field of conservation and endangered species.
William, who carried out his last operational shift on Tuesday, is to continue to carry out royal engagements but is not expected to increase his number of public duties. Sources have said the prince, who became a father in July, is in a ‘transitional’ year and is considering options for his ‘public service’. An announcement will be made about his decision within the next 12 months.
Kensington Palace said in a statement: ‘His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge is to leave operational service in the Armed Forces. He completes his Tour with the Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force at RAF Valley, Anglesey, after more than seven-and-a-half years of full-time military service. He will continue to support the work of the Queen and the Royal Family through a programme of official engagements, both at home and overseas, with The Duchess of Cambridge. The Duke will work closely over the next 12 months with the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. He will expand his work in the field of conservation, particularly in respect of endangered species.
‘The Duke will continue to work with his charities on issues relating to children and young people, veterans and serving members of the Armed Forces. The Duke is currently considering a number of options for public service, a further announcement on which will follow in due course. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George are expected to move into their official residence at Kensington Palace within the next few weeks.’
William was expected to leave the military and return to London with Kate and baby son Prince George rather than opt for another tour of duty with the RAF. The Duke was known as Flight Lieutenant Wales in the air force and was based at RAF Valley on Anglesey. During his three-year tour he took part in 156 search and rescue operations, with 149 people being rescued.
He would have discussed his military future, like all pilots, with a career manager known as a desk officer. But as William will one day be king, his future is dictated to a large degree and he has to prepare himself for that role.
The decision might have been taken reluctantly as the Duke spoke movingly about his time in Wales in a speech at a country show on Anglesey last month.
Yeah, “reluctant” seems the correct word for this. Everything about William’s approach to his life seems very reluctant. And I suspect that a focus on conservation efforts means that he’ll be spending more time (on vacation) in Africa. Wait for it.
Interesting enough, it seems like The Daily Mail got another royal story right! I keep telling you, The Mail has sources deep within the Middleton family and the DM gets SO many scoops about William. The Mail reported a month ago that William was “begging” his former nanny, 71-year-old Jessie Webb, to come and take care of him Prince George. Now People Mag is confirming that really happened:
Prince William and Kate have called in for backup. The hands-on new parents have hired a familiar face to help out with their newborn son, Prince George. William’s former nanny, Jessie Webb, has been assisting at the royal couple’s home in north Wales and is now expected to join them when they head to Scotland to see Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
Webb, 71, is well known in royal circles for taking care of William more than 20 years ago and more recently for his cousin, Viscount Linley.
“She’ll be like a safe pair of hands. She knows the ropes and knows what happens,” Ingrid Seward, author of the upcoming book A Century of Royal Children, says of Webb. “That’s preferred rather than someone new to it all, someone who’d be terrified of it all.”
East-London born Webb, who has no children of her own, was hired by Princess Diana and Prince Charles to look after both Prince Harry and William and was often a comfort to the young princes during their parents’ marriage troubles. She attended William’s 21st birthday party and was a guest at the royal wedding two years ago. Despite starting out without any professional help, friends and palace sources told PEOPLE that William and Kate would eventually get a nanny.
Earlier this month, the word in aristocratic circles was they had hired someone other than Webb to assist during the particularly testing first weeks of parenthood while staying at Kate’s parents’ home in Bucklebury.
“George sounds like he’s got some lungs on him,” Seward says. “William’s been talking about having sleepless nights, although he did say he’s got better.”
“William’s former nanny, Jessie Webb, has been assisting at the royal couple’s home in north Wales…” Cough. Told ya. They pretty much hired a nanny as soon as Kate left her mom’s house. Which is fine, and people would have accepted it at face value, except the Middleton/Wales propaganda machine made such a big deal about how Kate and Will were doing it on their own.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Is it me, or does it look like Harry is losing some of that gorgeous ginger hair?
Naw, he just didnt bother brushing it yesterday. It always has that look when he just leaves it, even when he was younger.
It’s not you. Harry is losing little bits. He’s sporting a pretty good bald spot in the above shots.
When it comes to hair the Spencer genes giveth and the Windsor taketh away.
Hair loss and baldness come from the mother’s side, not the father. So the luscious locks may indeed come from the Spencer line, but the hair loss would be courtesy of Diana’s mother’s side.
So Prince William is taking a gap year between jobs? I wonder how many vacations that will require as they work so hard on deciding what to do…
Thanks didnt know that. So Georgy will likely keep his hair because of Kate’s genes? Does this mean the princes have all lost lots of hair because of the Queen??
Because of Diana’s father. And Geoges will probably be okay since Kate’s father doesn’t look like he is loosing his hair.
That is strange because all the Queens uncles and her father and grandfather etc all had very good heads of hair. It wasn’t until she married Phillip that her at least two of her sons went bald, same with William and now Harry. Diana’s father was also bald.The Duke of Kent and Prince of Kent may be the exceptions in the family.
rtms – Prince of Kent is bald. Started balding decades ago though his son is not.
Dukes of Gloucester and Kent aren’t bald, although Kent has very thin hair due to old age. DoG’s son isn’t balding, but DoK’s son is.
Of the Queen’s children, Andrew is not balding, and Anne’s son, Peter, isn’t balding.
go figure.
I think it just seems so shocking that of the ones who ARE balding, it happened so fast and took so much hair. Especially since they had such lush and thick hair until that moment.
Did anyone really think that they wouldn’t hire a nanny? Or two, or twelve? LOL. Will and Kate never struck me as the type to want to “work” more than they absolutely needed to.
If William takes on royal duties full time, then Waity will also have to stop half arsing it. I dont think she can do it
God he’s pathetic. He’s a 31 year old man who needs a transitional year to prepare for the job he’s been trained for his entire life, the job he should have been doing for many years now.
18 year old school kids take gap years, 31 year old men just go to bloody work. If he really doesn’t want to take up his duties, he should just take himself out of the line of succession now, straight up announce that he will abdicate when it’s his turn. Otherwise he’s just accepting all the perks while doing nothing to earn them.
LMAO! You didn’t hold back at all 🙂 #iloveit
This move was called by many Royal Celeb!tches here. No way could Will leave the RAF and become a full time royal like he’s been claiming he would for years and years. Many thought he would claim he needs time to enjoy being a father, but all the same it’s being called a transitional year. Odds are once his transitional time is up he’ll still not be a full time royal.
And all this focus on conservation for him smells like good gossip with Jecca and Tusk Trust.
Mine is purely speculation, but I really think Jecca is his Camilla. I am not saying they are having a torrid affair, but his attachment to her runs very deep….
LAK: Interesting, and certainly would give them time if he does work in Africa re conservation. She’s the one he had the pretend engagement with, right?
The part that’s weird to me about the whole Jecca thing is that she has clearly always been into him. Like, if he wanted to be with her, he would be with her.
Bluhare: Yes.
Bridget: Jecca is a career girl. William wants a girl who will be all about him and is too lazy to fight for the ones who have a life, so Kate wins.
Tusk and conservation is completely about Jecca. If you log onto Tusk’s website, majority of their work is Kenya. And who is Kenyan? Jecca. She’s working in London at the moment, but in conservation, and her family has a huge conservation park/programme in Kenya where William likes to spend time.
When he talks about wanting to spend time in Africa doing conservation work, he means Kenya because that is the only place he spends substantial time. On Jecca’s family park.
if i were Kate, i’d worry more about Jecca than Isabelle.
@LAK, of course there are the usual reasons why he and Jecca never really got together, but my totally expert body language interpretation from the photos I’ve seen of them (and if you can’t trust that, what can you trust?!?) is that she has ALWAYS had a thing for him. Like, if this were a romantic comedy she’d be the one who was waiting in the wings the whole time. But he’s definitely close to the whole Craig family too – Will even skipped Peter Phillip’s wedding to attend Jecca’s brother’s.
And Isabella Calthorpe has gotten way more mileage out of being the girl who turned Will down than any of William’s other girlfriends ever got. That more than anything is why I have always been skeptical about her. Without that label, she’d be just another girl (aristo or not) trying to be an actress. Though obviously she married well. Of course, nothing will ever match William’s great love for William.
Bridget: ‘William’s great love for William’ ROFL.
Body language wise, i don’t think there is a greater love. LOL.
With regards Jecca, every time her name crops up, i always think, her again?!
Between Isabella and Jecca, my money has always been on Jecca. And it is still on Jecca.
Honestly, i am still surprised he married Kate.
When her brother got married Chelsy, of all people, reportedly asked Kate to come. Kate made a polite excuse but I always thought Will told her to stay home. Oh and by her I mean Jecka.
I’m not surprised. He and Kate were together for a long, long time (even with the breaks). They seemed like they actually shared some interests (and even if she faked it she did it for a long-ass time). Jecca always seemed like the ‘camp’ girlfriend. A youthful touch of love. But I think she’s been arpund for too long now, and that William is the type of guy who’s more likely to stray with randoms, vs a full blown love affair with an old friend. Though I’ll say this: something’s up with William. He went from being reasonably stable and moving in a positive, forward direction, to being kind of a dillweed again
Though now that I think about it, considering that he’s actually taken Kate to Kenya, and that’s apparently where he proposed to her, it makes me doubt that there’s a real romatic connection between William and Jecca. Or at least, I hope not, since that would be a total dickhead move.
Bridget – I am firmly in the camp of ‘The Middletons happened to him’ is why he changed. And i am not talking about Kate specifically here.
If you look at their other kids, their values aren’t great. They are only about social status and self gratification and not necessarily working hard. They are all dilitantes at their careers choosing to have a good time instead of buckling down and working hard. A curious thing from hard working parents. Usually it’s the grandkids of such parents who turn out this way.
William was pretty vulnerable when he went to university, but i don’t think anyone realised how vulnerable.
He sanctions information about the Middletons that gives strong impression that they rescued him. He barely spends any time with his own family, but spends alot of it with the Middletons.
If they treated him the way they treated their own children, during a very formative time of his life, then what you see is a Royal Middleton. Plus he has his natural parents’ worst qualities such as the woe-is-me from Charles, and the impulsive stubbornness from Diana, which with the right sort of parenting might have been held in check, but under the Middletons’ watch was allowed to run rampant.
The Middletons are all about perks with no sense of duty. Which is their right, but no good when one is expected to have a public role like William.
And i blame Charles or even Grannie for not stepping in and curbing their influence. Grannie intervened when William was a child to insist on his good behaviour, but it seems Grannie and Charles abdicated their parental responsibilities, leaving the door open for the Middletons.
You can also see this abdication with the earlier life of Harry. However, Harry joined the army. That became his family, and as much as the press disparaged her, he dated a girl, Chelsy, who together with her family, expected better and more from him, so between those influences, he grew up better than William.
It could also just be the greater scrutiny that William’s been under post-wedding. I think he’s always been a dillweed, and surrounded himself with a group of hard-partying titled guys who bought into their own hype. They’re doing their own thing, but Will is still THAT GUY. The main differemce is that for many, many years he was totally protected from the press. He wasn’t called out in the press the same way Harry was (the pot, the nazi uniform) and Will’s had literally no incentive to grow as a human being. So I guess to answer my own question, I don’t think he’s changed, we’re just seeing more of him.
Hwre’s why I’m loathe to blame the Middleton family: at 30 amd the heir to the throne (okay, 3rd in line but direcly in line) he’s got to have been around sycophants and the like his whole damn life. If as an adult he’s this susceptable to supposed ‘bad’ influences, then I think that says WAY more about him than them. And onest question: even for people that are close to their in-laws, how much do they actually influence their lives?
I agree that we are seeing more of him, and press protection didn’t give him Any incentive to grow as it did Harry.
However, the middleton’s have had a very big influence on him. He is like an adopted son, and has been since university days. To extent that he calls mike ‘dad’ and sanctions articles talking about ‘cosy dinners and chats’ with Carole. Carole always calling him to console him when he has difficult patches etc.
Between the middleton’s always pandering to him and never discouraging his worst qualities, his absorbing their values of pleasure over duties, the sycophants who always give way (also including the middleton’s AND Kate here), and the press silence, he is who we see now. No one has expected better from him since he was 18. He’s been surrounded by enablers, the Middletons being the worst culprits.
Harry had a baptism of fire through the press, but he was also surrounded by army and girlfriend and her family who expected him to be better despite his status. Consequently, he has the respect of his work colleagues and via his public role, the respect of the public.
+1000
YES Kate Is like life is a perpetual Moving Goal Post for these two
Well said!
Amen! You took the words right out of my mouth.
The guy doesn’t seem to want to commit to anything. He might as well have called it a Party year.
And this so-called conservationist,with his penchant for slaughtering helpless animals and birds expects to get more involved with said conservation. He’s the duke of delusion. I find this all so offensive. I guess integrity wasn’t taught in princeling school.
He looks like a man, walks like a man, but isn’t a man, never mind princely.
Well, the poor guy can look forward to a future of boring speeches, charity dinners and shaking hands until he dies. Notwithstanding the political duties waiting for him once he’s king. There will be no golden retirement for Wills. Look at the Queen’s schedule… I’d take as many vacations as possible, too. I don’t envy him.
I’m pretty sure the Queen is still working because she wants to. I doubt we will be seeing King William working at 80 years old.
Sure wish I had Willie’s problems…lol
Spikey
If William does not want the responsibilities that come with her very nice lifestyle he can abdicate. He was already caught outside a charity gala once making fun of it and telling how bored he was. He does not have the qualities of a hard worker or a leader. He was born first, but it doesn’t mean he’s the best for the role.
The man is a prince. That’s one of the major risks of monarchy – there are and have alwas been lazy heirs to the throne. As royals come – I’d rather have a leisurely Wills than an elephant-slaughtering, embezzling douche like Carlos (Spain, for the non-royalists). Both are expensive for the tax payer, true, but it could be much worse for the Brits.
You guys take this topic far too seriously. Without significant political functions our royals are here for our entertainment. Hooray to pomp and circumstance!
Spikey – Juan Carlos of Spain’s image may be in trouble now, but don’t dare compare him with William. Ever.
Juan Carlos is responsible for bringing democracy to Spain after Franco’s regime and overseeing the country’s transition from fascism to democracy, oversaw the writing of the new Spanish Constitution that allowed the public more freedoms and rights, foiled a coup by Franco’s supporters, and abolished the Spanish court to lead a more humble lifestyle by royal standards. He flipped the bird towards the Vatican and ignored their pleas to oppose the bill allowing same-sex marriage and signed the bill into law.
Juan Carlos I is one of the most important, influential leaders of the 20th century. William will never be seen as such until he mans up and starts treating his role seriously. William has never proven a thing beyond being a lazy prince. Juan Carlos’s reign has hit rocky times but almost 40 years as King have shown he has done a lot of good for his country.
Also, it’s Juan Carlos’s son in-law who is in trial for embezzling and fraud, not the King of Spain.
It would be nice to get these things right, since you’re so intent on defending William’s lazy ways.
Sachi
Nice!
Spikey
These Kate and William threads or Royal in general are often a platform for a broader discussion about history, traditions, and current news. It’s interesting and at times taken quite seriously:)
And when posing a hypothetical situation of who you’d rather have rule by stating 2 extremes as your only choices of course the lesser evil is chosen being the lazy of the tyrant. And the royals wield power. They are not simply a tourist trap. They just go to great lengths to conceal that they have any.
Any goodwill I might have had toward Juan Carlos was ruined by learning he goes on elephant hunts.
He and Sylvia were at the next table to me at lunch one day. They were much more low key than I’d have expected actually.
@sachi:
“Juan Carlos I is one of the most important, influential leaders of the 20th century.”
Really? And if he really was that considerate and powerful, why did he not ever motivate Spanish society to resolve the Spanish fascism past, not just superficially, but fundamentally?
Poor guy that sounds like such a hard and painful life. Massive eyeroll. The man will live in a castle with servants there for his every need, money to buy anything he wants, vacations to anywhere in the world multiple times a year, polo matches, and on and on. All he has to do is show up for an hour to some charity function takes pictures, smile and say nice things to people. What a tough life.
Too bad he has no choice and can’t walk away to live a normal life, get a job, leave all the money and privileges behind. Oh wait yes he can.
It must be excruciating for him since he doesn’t seem terribly interested in people.
Maven, so I guess we know where Kate gets encouragement!
@bluhare,
Ha! Yes!
Actually, he can’t walk away or abdicate unless someone really powerful helps him. He’s trying to avoid pedophiles and protect his family, which is why he cleared his work schedule and they aren’t “working”. You guys are always so fooled by the surface appearances. Look deeper into things. Nothing is what it appears to be with the Royals, and William is desperately trying to get away from the Windsors with good reasons.
I forget where I read this, but some commenter on a gossip site once summed up the royal family’s lives as “They look at things.” Because seriously, that’s all they really do – they attend charity events and meet people….and that’s about it.
I wouldn’t put the Queen and Will in the same sentence if the topic is “work”.
She became Queen when she was 26 and shows a sense of duty that her family members seem to ignore.
Will Middleton seems to have in mind only the privileges of his status. Yes, he and his spouse are quite aware of those.
Perhaps her becoming Queen at 26 has something to do with the slower pace at which she seems to be allowing William to take on his royal duties. I’ve always read that her happiest time was before her father died when she and Philip were living in Malta – perhaps she is encouraging William to experience that. Who knows – its all speculation.
LNG – She never lived in Malta. She visited Philip in Malta. Plus he was posted to Malta years after the wedding. That period had less scrutiny for her because when in Malta she could be a ‘normal’ person with little media trailing her.
For whatever reason, revisionist history has many people convinced that she moved to Malta within a few months of her marriage and lived there for 2 years, but it didn’t happen.
Her father gave her lots of time to visit Malta, but there was no slacking off of her duties.
It’s all in the archives and in any of the numerous documentaries on The Queen.
Of course they have a nanny. Nothing wrong with that. By all means, yes. But please stop trying to pretend you’re doing it yourself. I can only imagine DIY was never in the plan. It’s the pretense which bothers many.
I’m guessing there will be some grumbling about William’s expensive flight training which he used infrequently.
He left a RAF position after 3 years: everyone else had to sign up for 6 yrs that way the cost of their 6-figure training is covered by the work they give back. He is also the only pilot with glasses: an exception was made. Now he’s going to “transition” to a role he’s been doing on the side for over a decade; I think he gets how to smile and cut a ribbon by now. Why not say hes taking paternity leave? Oh because he’s keeps going on pub crawls with buddies lately? When he was young the press billed him as the one who would end the monarchy and bring Britain into the 20th century, now it’s the 21st century and it seems that not a willingness to modernize, but a lazy entitled ass will implode the monarchy.
He is a Prince. He can do whatever he wants. It’s his privilege and perks. Just don’t be so rude as to point it out or write about it because then it’s harassment, and his mother died due to being harassed. OK??!!!
^Ha!
It took me a while to realize that you were being sarcastic. I thought, “Damn did LAK fall on bumped her head on something?” lol
Kate has already been papped with nanny in tow, so they have to cop to that and pretend it’s something new.
Regarding William’s gap year, yep, lots of vacations, then he’ll magnanimously take up his duties if he hasn’t come up with an excuse yet as to why he needs more ‘transitional time away’ aka gap year.
There was another joint engagement at BGC partners yesterday; the anecdotal gossip from the people there was that Harry was better at it than William, so he should be put out of his misery and retire (or be allowed to retire) from his position because it’s not going to improve if at this age he is still ‘considering his options’ despite having 10+ yrs as an adult to do so.
Lak, where did you see the Kate & nanny photos?
E! News has them or else you can do a little blog hunting. Kates thin as ever even if she did look like hell…its strange to see unedited candids of her. Not an attractive woman by any means, in fact, she could easily pass for the nanny.
I saw her on Popsugar — she’s shown outside McDonalds of all places, but (quelle surprise) she comes out empty-handed without any goodies. Probably popped in to use the “facilities”.
m- i meant to add that i checked E as well, but the pictures have vanished. E does not seem to be the kind of site that would bow to royal pressure. hmmmm
Judy, pics were on twitter.
It’s funny that they cropped out the nanny from the McD pics when rest of online sites picked them up.
E! deleted the photos! Wow
But i´ve found them here 😉
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/kate-middleton-spotted-mcdonalds-prince-george-royal-nanny-article-1.1452119
If I’m thinking negatively about Prince William, they have a problem. Call in the PR consultant quick!
Wow, Will and Kate are a match made in ‘transition’ heaven. Always working hard on figuring out what they want to do…instead of doing, or, um, working.
You wouldn’t want to work either if you were surrounded by pedophiles. He’s trying to protect his family.
Excuses. Excuses. He’s taking a transitional year to figure out something he should have been figuring out over the last year. Jesus! Just admit you want to live a life without any real responsibilities and abdicate. It’s beyond ridiculous for a 31year old, married father to still be trying to find himself. He knows what’s been expected of him since he was born. What’s there to figure out?
As for the nanny. The only people buying that crap about being hands on parents without the need of a household staff or nanny were the same ones who believe Waity does secret charity work.
I don’t think Mama Middleton would put up with that.
Thank you!! He needs to abdicate. I am SO tired of them trying to push this ‘we’re normal people, just like you’ BS on us. They are NOT normal. You are royals, you get perks, now do your job! End of story.
(Sorry for the rant. Had an unexpected house expense come up this morning – the sort of thing with which NORMAL people have to deal.)
I hear you. My refrigerator is dying and I can’t afford a new one right now. I guess I’ll be eating out alot 🙁
@philkat – maybe Freecycle? You shouldn’t have to go without a fridge.
You guys are going to feel like assholes when you finally realize the truth as to why he is not working, and y’all just sat around and judged him and called him lazy.
I like Will & Kate, but it’s not a life I would ever want.
William’s disdain for the public is becoming noticed by the public.
As everyone else has said – what is there to transition? William was born into this role, despite spending 31 years preparing and stalling. He’s a dithering fool. I resent his disdain for the extreme privileges he’s always been given (by the public) and happily taken (from the public).
These are my thoughts exactly. I could kind of imagine why Kate needed transitional time when they got married, but William? He was born to this life, as many people are born into a family business, and he just refuses to get on with it, despite the fantastic number of perks that come with it (unlike, say, being born into a waste disposal dynasty).
Seagulls
Do you come from a waste disposal dynasty? I’m just curious on the comparison. Here in CT the largest (and 2nd largest) private waste disposal company is are owned and controlled by former known members of a mafia and persons with mafia affiliations. The kids are very spoiled with poor work ethics and overall poor ethics over all it seems. Not to say they’re not all like this, but these families certainly conduct themselves like they’re spoiled royals.
No, I was saying that the Royals are pretty much in a family business, but they get way more perquisites than your average person whose family has a dynastic business, and waste disposal is the first dynastic business I thought of.
Wake up, he’s trying to avoid associating with pedophiles and to get away from the Windsors, he needs your prayers, not your judgment.
And now we discover the hardest working brother is the one who’s considered a mess.
Time will tell how William will turn out. It will be very interesting.
I want a taxpayer-funded transitional year too! Such a bummer that the only eligible prince is the one that actually works. *hmph*.
Certainly the announcement hints that the tax payer will be funding his absurdly expensive trips abroad in the upcoming year.
It will be just like that trip to Asia that Will and Kate took. Seven days turned out to be the most expensive trip ever paid for by the British taxpayers. Apparently, there was an added expense for an assistant to fly last minute all the way back to London to bring Duchess Kate a dress she’d forgotten (too posh for FedEx?) Backlash from that pricey trip also led Charles to petition Parliament to make royal travel expenditures private. Tory royalist Cameron was more than happy to oblige.
So as taxpayers tighten their belts, spoilt Prince Whiney & his Waity bride will be “transitioning” at huge to the public cost, but now the cost will be kept quiet. I simply cannot understand how this is deemed fair and appropriate by the government. Taxpayers deserve to know how much these two brats cost because its more than enough to feed a whole village.
Yeah, sign me up for a “gap year” stat!
We tend to give Waity a hard time for not working, but I don’t think he’s much better…
Kate has only been given a hard time imo because we were told how important work is to her and that she would “hit the ground running”. Just like the “We’re just like you!” bit. If we’re being told something all the time and witnessing another it becomes an impossible pill to swallow and you end up resenting and being insulted by the image all together with the lies.
And Kate can never work more than William. That would get blown into another Kate pulling a Diana by stealing spotlight from husband deal. On top of getting Will’s ego all out of sorts. Not that she would work more than him if given the chance, but it would still not be tolerated. JMO
I’ve been saying it all along: Kate’s laziness is William’s laziness.
Now he’s once again trying to “find his feet”. This excuse is fine until you’re 25-26 years old, but after that IMO you must have an idea of what you want to do in your life.
I doubt any of us here was able to have this much ‘transition time’ that William and Kate have had for the past 3 years. So much leeway for William and he never seems to grow up.
He’s so lucky to be born with so much privileges. Were he not a Prince, he’d be considered a pathetic loser for still not knowing what he wants to do with his life at 31 years old. All this talk of still ‘figuring out’ what he wants to do with his role now that he has a young son is a bit sad. You’d think he’d have figured it out once he got married and Kate gave birth, 2 big events that require transition and adjustment of priorities.
Agree with everyone. I think we’ll see more engagements with the two of them in the future.
And I guess I thought he was taking the last year to figure out what he was going to do. And now he’s not even staying the the military in London. I’m actually surprised, but maybe they want someone who actually puts in the time.
Of course he’s getting a “transitional year”. It’s not like he’s been trained for this his whole life or anything… Oh, wait.
And I wish people would stop acting like getting a nanny is somehow shameful. When I was a little girl, I had au pairs. People gave my parents shit for it all the time. We were in no way rich, both my parents had to work full time. Plain and simple. I LOVED having au pairs. We’re still close with some of them. My sister and I turned into healthy, happy, successful adults and we have good relationships with our parents. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH HAVING HELP AND IT DOESN’T MAKE YOU ANY LESS OF A PARENT. I intend to get a nanny or something, if only for part time when I have kids because KIDS ARE MESSY AND CRAZY AND COMPLICATED AND THEY NEED TONS OF ATTENTION. ALL THE TIME. I’d rather have help and someone to help me make sure my child is taken care of then be one of those mothers who completely loses her shit. I’m nutty enough already. Can we please stop shaming parents like this? Having a nanny is not the same as child neglect. I’m so sick of people either shaming others for getting help with parenting, or having parents who do get help acting like they’re ashamed. Same sort of people who shame folks for getting help with mental health. AND STOP LYING ABOUT GETTING HELP TOO.
“Oooh… You have a NANNY? Well I’m a HANDS-ON mother. I raise my kids myself.”
“So am I. I make their meals, help them with their homework, bathe them, put them to bed, wipe their tears, kiss their booboos, do everything I can to make sure they don’t walk around covered in shit and that they don’t grow into slackers or serial killers…”
“But you have HELP.”
“Yes. Yes I do. I work full time so that my children can go to college without having to pack toilet bowls forty hours a week and become a slave to student loans to pay for it.”
“HORRIBLE, NEGLECTFUL MOTHER!”
Me too, WendyNerd. Me too. 🙂
Wendy! I’m in love with your rant!
You got down to the brass tacks. Well said.
As a nanny I totally get what you’re saying. The way I see it is that raising kids takes a village and some people need to hire villagers to help out. The problem with Will and Kate as I see it is that they’re saying they are hands-on and don’t want to hire a nanny only to do so under the radar. Plus, they aren’t working at all let alone to build a better life for their son, send him to college, etc like most normal people with full time help are doing. THAT’S the problem, not just the act of having a nanny.
No, I totally agree (apparently my comment was posting came right after yours). The rant was just something that sprung to mind, especially since Will and Kate had made this big deal of how “normal” and not-nanny-using they were.
I should also probably also add that I don’t actually think Will & Kate need this much help, though. Like I said, my parents worked full time and had limited resources. Will & Kate do not work full time to any extent. My parents worked 9-5, two kids (one of which [me] was learning disabled), tons of bills, were living in an area we couldn’t afford and shitty commute. They had one live in au pair and when we didn’t have an au pair, my sister and I went to day cares. Will and Kate do a few hours of work a week, have tons of money, live in giant houses, probably never heard of utility bills, went to the best schools, have only one kid, and have extensive family desperate to help them. They also have their army of servants. It’s just amazing sometimes. The last thing they need is more people doing shit for them and/or giving them shit. I know babies are crazy tough but let’s be honest, they’re not doing the grunt work. I really doubt either of them have truly and honestly changed one of George’s diapers.
… Also, why is Charles wearing bright blue to a funeral? Is that a British thing?
here´s the nanny:
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/kate-middleton-spotted-mcdonalds-prince-george-royal-nanny-article-1.1452119
I think Will would gladly abdicate if it wouldn’t mortify his family, shame his upbringing, generate disgust with the taxpayers and make things sticky for little George. Otherwise I think he would personally be okay with it. Independent wealth and international celebrity status would cushion the fall. Hopefully he will suck it up and just do his damn job with some grace. It is possible that along the way he warms to the principles behind charity work and grows a bigger heart.
1. If he truly wanted to remove himself, he could have married a catholic. Simple, no mess. Guess he missed that part of history class.
2. He loves the perks too much to abdicate. He has been given every consideration to find himself and the added protection of press not hounding him or not reporting his bad moments and he hasn’t taken any opportunity to find himself or he has abused his privileges eg bad eye sight but still gets an RAF commission, but takes RAF helicopters on joyride. Twice. At great expense to the public and no reprimand.
3. Same as 2. He would prefer to abdicate his responsibilities, but keep the perks. Since he can not receive the one without the other, he will stall on one (the duties) and without a blush take the other (the perks)
I think abdicating would be one of the most awful things he could do his grandmother. It was drilled into her head that being a monarch is a lifetime job and requires full-time commitment. You are born into this job, and that’s what you’re going to do until the day you die.
LAK– wouldn’t it be likely that they’d have changed the law more quickly if he announced his intention to marry a Catholic anyway? I know the legislation has changed, but they might have sped it up, yes? Or do you think they would have just let him do that and use that loophole?
I totally agree with the perk thing. Abdication would give him less protection.
But wouldnt he still have had to go through a shtstorm even if he had become engaged to a catholic? That would not have been an easier or better accepted way to give up the throne as the public would fully expect him to break it off with anyone unwilling to convert. This is why Autumn Phillips was accepted. The only way Will could have saved a tiny bit of face would have been to claim it was an all for love type of sacrifice. And Eddie and Wally already rode the wheels off that cart.
Tara/Green Girl : i agree that abdication is/would still be a traumatic thing for him to do to his grannie. And i think if he ever gets the gumption to do it, it will be after her death.
However, if he had insisted on marrying a catholic, the paperwork for such an eventuality has been in place for centuries. It’s ironclad. All that would require is to manage the PR fallout which if repeat example like Abdication,Margaret, Camilla etc have shown, they do very well.
WendyNerd: Changing the law isn’t as easy as the media are making it out. The gender neutral inheritance is still not law despite being agreed in principal. Some Realms’ Parliaments are having difficulty getting their dependents to agree and in one country, a legal challenge about this has been put into motion. ALL 16 realms have to agree.
Whilst female inheritance due to equality isn’t controversial, Religion is an entirely different kettle of fish. And whilst catholics aren’t the enemy any more, it goes against the foundation of CoE. The British Monarch is head of CoE. Sidenote – right now, the higher ups in the CoE are trying to ratify the inheritance law because the religious aspect wasn’t touched when reaching that principal agreement. They are objecting to a possible future head of CoE who is a different religion as a result of removing the religious caveat in the inheritance law.
I don’t think change in law is impossible. However, they used slight of hand to reach a principal agreement and we still don’t have that as law because now they have to deal with the other points, religion being one of them, and that’s holding everything up.
It is 2013 not 1713 for goodness’ sake. It all sounds so snobby to me. But legally a female can inherit her male relative’s property if he is titled, right? What happens to the title itself? Anybody know? Lack where are you, lol.
Tara: The Peerage law wasn’t touched as part of the succession law so females still do not inherit titles.
As for the property, it still goes to the nearest male relative even if that isn’t someone they know. There was an interesting case recently which i keep posting on here on this very issue where one Baron Braybrooke has 8 daughters and no sons and the entire estate is going to go to a distant relative they’ve never met on his death. What is galling is that the daughters have kept the estate going. They are petitioning parliament to change the law and to help them specifically so they can inherit.http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/People/article1198158.ece
That said, there have been rare special cases where special permission was granted so that in the absence of a Male heir, title passes to eldest girl and from her to eldest male son or relative in that generation eg the Mountbatten title. Current holder is his eldest daughter Patricia who is the Countess Mountbatten. Title will go to her son after her death.
And if there is absolutely no one at all to inherit the title, it reverts back to the crown.
He can’t abdicate unless he has help, his life and the life of his family would be threatened, you guys need to get a clue.
Question… Where’s William? I understand there’s a driver, Kate, nanny, security(?), and car seat in the SUV, but no matter the car size he’s never around. I stand firm that unless there’s a scheduled photo op/event or a vacation Willl is never around Kate. And that pretty bad now that there’s a baby in the mix. The separate car thing along with the reports William slept in another room after Kate gave birth just bugs me. I hope in this transitional year he learns how to be a man and accept responsibilities.
The heirs can’t travel together in case of accidents or random acts that might wipe them out.
I give him a tiny bit of slack for not travelling with George all the time even though the rule is broken some times out of necessity.
I remember when Diana dared to break precedent and bring infant William on the plane with her and Prince Charles. The fact that both heirs were traveling together on the same plane caused such an uproar.
Many companies have similar policies about the top brass traveling together. I knows law firm has some policy about how many partners can be on a plane together.
Seriously??? That’s actually used as a rationale for why William is rarely seen with his kid? Duh. IMO.
Maven: I didn’t say spending time with the kid, only travelling together.
Believe it or not, but it is a genuine thing. George will travel separately from William most, if not all, the time due to that heirs rule.
@LAK,
I take your point. Mine (badly stated) was that it’s also a handy excuse for never being seen with Dolittle and the kid besides photo ops.
Meanwhile the whole family drove off together when George came out of hospital.
Maven, agreed. And you are so right.
Did you notice how he mentioned the fact that he drove the family from the hospital himself in the CNN interview, like he deserves a pat on the back for doing so.
He’s become so used to pushing the ‘normal’, ‘down to earth’ image that he thinks every little thing deserves a pat on the back.
I still think they are getting away with it for the most part. Could not believe the worshipful fairy tale account of their life by Katie Nicholl I this months VF. That’s what most people see still.
I have no problem with the nannies, but William asking his 71-year old former nanny to come out of retirement is such a dick move. Why couldn’t he have let his nanny enjoy being a retiree? Why disturb her time, time that she rightfully deserves as reward for years of hard work, and ask her to look after an infant? The woman should have been left alone to enjoy her retirement.
He just seems so, so immature, always needing people to look after him and do whatever he wants.
Now he needs another year to “get ready” for his role. A role that he has known he will have since birth; even his friends since childhood were carefully selected in consideration of his role as future King. No plumber’s son allowed as a future King’s friend!
I said it before: William loves pretending to be a normal, ordinary Joe because he can afford to do so. He doesn’t have a real, ordinary life to live. Now we’re being slapped with the evidence: he needs another year to figure things out while most likely doing some odd 20-30 events/year and taking several vacations to boot. He loves to spout this “I just want to be normal” BS but was barely able to meet the minimum quota of 15 flying hours in the RAF. He would surely balk at the idea of a full-time, 40-hour workweek.
How many ordinary people can have this much free time to figure out their life while not working full-time jobs? Most of us daydream of a luxurious life, but we also have to work to make sure we get to pay our bills on time.
Agree re the nanny, except she could have said no if she didn’t want the job. Sort of sweet he thinks so much of her actually.
Oh I see we have the Prigfest full on today! Most of these comments are so unfair. Since when is it Prince William or Kate’s fault that youre broke or your fridge doesn’t work? People fall on hard times and they need someone to blame. Or you’re jealous because his wife is beautiful and he didnt choose one of you? Not sure but there isn’t any objectivity on here. Just a bunch of whiners!
Maggie
You’ve really taken items out of context to spin them into a better argument for yourself. I didn’t read anyone blaming Will or Kate or anyone really for destroying a fridge. Only as how it’s a problem normal people have. We work to pay our own bills. We don’t simply do 1 or 2 engagements for an hour a month and when things break around us they’re simply replaced with no out of pocket expense.
And as far as beauty. You know better. It’s well documented nearly all of Kate’s public images are photos shopped to hell and back on top of a fair amount of cosmetic surgery. Also, I don’t think anyone here lobbied for a man that mistreated his gf at the time so publicly and shamefully, but maybe you know someone who did. The jealous of Kate’s beauty is a poor argument and it’s beating a dead horse at this point.
Fact is they live a life of indulgence. They will have everything handed to them until they die. They will work as they choose and that won’t determine how much luxury they get. It’s a life of entitlement. What there’s issue with is that they scream they’re normal with normal lives and are just like us with broken fridges and bills. They’re not and it’s insulting that image is pushed on us like we’re blind. I would like to hear your thoughts on what I perceive as the real issue.
Enlighten me! Because the majority of these comments are in my opinion biased and unfair bordering on total bs. Photoshopped to hell, cosmetic surgery? Are you trying to be funny?
You might get better responses if you knocked off the insults to people here, Maggie. Just because you think they do no wrong doesn’t mean others don’t.
And if you really think you’re right, why don’t you try to educate me as to why your insight is better than mine instead of calling people prigs. Unless that’s all you’ve got?
Maggie, you need to stop now. The “prigs” have figured out that your a Waity sugar who is trolling
Honey, I am hardly a whiner. I work two jobs to make ends meet. I have a son that needs a heart transplant. I don’t have an easy life, but there’s people out there (and very likely on this board) that have it harder than me.
As for the fridge, I will be able to afford it now. I was in school to get my MSW but I dropped out because I didn’t want to take out thousands of dollars in loans. This field doesn’t pay much. Sorry, I’m too old to be a sugar, and even if I was younger and prettier, I wouldn’t do it. It’s spelled I-N-T-E-G-R-I-T-Y.
phillkat I’m sorry for your troubles. Truly I am. I’ve been a single Mom and gone through hard times too but that is hardly William and Kate’s fault. I’m happy for you that you now have a fridge. I hope your son gets his heart transplant and all goes well.
bluhare stop taking everything so personal.
Maggie: So my suggesting a way to interact by stating your point of view is taking things too personally? OK.
I used to love Kate and my mind has been changed by someone actually stating a verifiable fact or two. You might try that approach.
And FWIW, I thought she looked great tonight.
I know it’s hard, but try to hang in there and complete your MSW. I got mine right after college. Does your job have an MSW assistance program? A lot of social work agencies have them now. In the long run, an MSW is going to make all the difference whether or not you can progress in the field.
Nothing says reasoned argument like “you’re all just jealous”
Kudos!
@Maggie
What has that ( if it were even true) to do with priggishness?
Hope you’re not waiting for an actual response, Maven! 😀
Let’s call it like it is, Prince William has always been lazy and a bad candidate for a monarch. The PR machine has been in full effect lately, trying to make him look normal by having him carry a baby seat and ‘driving himself’ or twittering a family picture where he is dressed normal and sitting in the grass like he lives on a farm, this is all BS. The biggest problem the monarchy has always had is that it doesn’t allow transparency, so none of us actually know whether any of them in fact work or not. Same with William at his ‘secret’ military bases, the PR office can say he served “seven years of full-time work” as a pilot, but we all know he wasn’t working full time, taking time off to take vacations whenever he wanted while claiming he was treated like everyone else. Then calling it “paternity leave” for good PR. Now it’s “transitional year”. Even prior to all of this, it was known that William did more than 20 times less royal duties by his age than his father had. Any time his chopper rescued someone, there came a headline “William saves lives” when he was a co-pilot and one of a crew of many. We don’t know how many missions he actually flew and how involved he was in any of it. The press office can essentially say anything they want and we have zero proof. When they sent William off to the Falklands, his chopper was protected by a team of snipers. He (and Harry too, sorry folks) get to play soldier and say they are treated like everyone else yet they get moved to secure locations when danger is present. Their presence may also endanger the lives of their comrades as they are targets, so it’s a giant expense for what?? Even the talk of tourist dollars generated by the monarchy, that is PR also. There have been zero studies that have ever been done as to whether or not those claims are in any way true and tourists would likely visit the UK any way. William is no stranger to shirking work. For a man touted as “the most educated royal” what good has it done? There is so much more William could have done in light of his education, the same holds true for Kate with her advanced degree. These two don’t contribute a fraction of what they could. Then, William gets constant comparisons to Diana and romanticized because he looks somewhat similar, while there is no comparison on a personal level as he is far more Windsor. Lastly, all this talk of conservation is hysterically ironic coming from a fox hunter. I keep reading these articles about William and the public commenting about how ‘down to earth’ and ‘normal’ and ‘refreshing’ he is, and it’s amazing how the sheep eat up everything from his PR office. William is not normal. If only we could all take a transition year on top of a gap year, hiding out on military bases so our activities can’t be followed, and any other distraction William continues to distract the public with. I’ve also noticed any of the times he gets any criticism are the few times he’ll then all of a sudden start talking about his mother to make himself seem more human again. Normal people don’t have PR teams who are always covering for them. If William really saw himself as anyone else, he wouldn’t call himself HRH on his son’s birth certificate (as if we don’t already know who he is) or refer to his profession as “prince” instead of “pilot”. These are just elaborate ruses designed to manipulate the public into supporting a dying institution that has been living off of them for eons. Amazing how many people can’t see through this nonsense.
Brilliant!
Exactly.
You show up the absurdity that is William’s PR and sad sack life very nicely.
Transitional year = Transitional life. What’s the difference with him?
Hey – I want a transitional year!
And yeah, WTF with the 71-yr old nanny? Can’t they just hire somebody new?
William can’t have enough mommies.
She won’t talk about what goes on behind the scenes.
I announced this even before Kate was pregnant. I predicted they will be 2 stay at palace parents, with full time nanny, all expenses paid by tax payers because they want to be normal, down to earth people just like you and me. If it were ant other couple who just had a baby 2 months ago and neither of the parents will work full time job and take tax payers money daily had launched a witch hunt against them but the they have no problem with them, such double standards for the biggest chavy, benefits claiming couple is
Sickening. They are disgusting and I can’t believe there are people who still like them.
Angelic, you’re back!!!
I never went away abs Shays enjoyed royal posts and comments but decided not to comment myself. I thought they don’t take this much effort for their public duties, why should I waste my energy commenting on them. But this really annoyed me and I predicted this, so I just had to rant. I am going back to hiding again.
Sigh. I’ll have to go back into “missing Angelic 21” mode.
My goodness. Charles looks like such a schlump next to his sons.
In your 60’s vigor leaves you and there are significant physical changes. You will experience this soon enough.
I could use a transition year. Wonder if the taxpayers of my state will pony up?
Take a year off from what exactly?????? Hand-shaking, waving to and free-loading from the British people?????? Oh please, he ought to really and truly GET OVER HIMSELF, as well as, Dolittle!!!
That’s what I want to know, what’s he transitioning from? He doesn’t do anything.
At least in the US there are reasonable levels of transparency. We may be upset that some people dont pay their fair share of taxes but with the exception of some wasteful government spending we dont have to foot the bill for this type of foolishness. And while I guess the royals do raise money for good causes and improve tourism I cant see that it compensates for the luxurious existence of a symbolic monarchy.
The worst part for me of the pix above is seeing a man of the church ( first pic) bowing to that shiftless, feckless, debauched, self-absorbed Illusion of a human being purporting to be worthy of deference.
Agreed! He and the lot of them with their holier than thou attitudes! I really cannot understand how people let them get away with all of this nonsense in THIS day and age of intellect and modernity!
LOL Maven. You get my posting award for most creative use of adjectives.
Is it just me (or my computer screen) or does it look like William has a third eye in the first pic?