I’ve been re-reading The Diana Chronicles, our Celebitchy Book Club selection this month, for about a week. It’s a reminder of how everything can go wrong in a royal marriage, and how – I’m saying this with all seriousness – we’re sort of lucky that Prince William and Duchess Kate do seem to have such a strong working relationship. By that I mean that Will & Kate seem to know each other very well, there’s very little drama between them and neither of them is out to malign the other publicly or privately. Anyway, I just thought I’d say something nice about Will & Kate. Today is their third wedding anniversary. So how will they celebrate?
THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be enjoying some well-earned down time today as they celebrate their third wedding anniversary. A spokesman has said the family will be celebrating the event privately as they recover from their hectic 19-day tour of Australia and New Zealand. This will mark the royal couple’s first anniversary with their nine-month-old son Prince George.
Since then the royal couple has experienced several milestones, including the birth of their first son on July 22 last year and Prince William’s career change as he left his job in the military to enroll in an agricultural management course at Cambridge University. The Duke of Cambridge has since been taking on more royal engagements and helping out with parenting duties.
Although couples traditionally exchange gifts of leather for their third wedding anniversary, the Duchess has recently been spotted sporting several new pieces of jewelry, apparently from her husband. In recent months she has acquired a £3,600 Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch, which is embedded with a sapphire to match her engagement ring, and a diamond eternity band, which she wears on her wedding finger.
It would not surprise me in the least if they were spending their anniversary at Chateau Middleton in Bucklebury, or if the Middletons were financing a luxury vacation for Will and Kate. But we’ll probably find out about it after the fact. As for the tradition of giving “leather” for the third anniversary…? Oh, I know what I want! I want a really nice leather purse or a great piece of leather luggage.
Meanwhile, Princes William and Harry are about to travel together once again when they attend a wedding in Memphis, Tennessee this weekend. They friend Guy Pelly is marrying Lizzy Wilson in Memphis. It will be a weekend-long affair and Will and Harry will stay for two nights, I guess. Kate and George are not joining them. The Mirror’s source claims: “If all three senior royals had gone it would have required a huge security detail flying to Memphis with them. After Australia, Kate’s happy to leave William and Harry to it and spend some time at home with George. She appreciates the media storm her attendance would cause. She’s also keen to avoid overshadowing Guy and Lizzy’s big day. William and Harry also don’t want the thing to turn into a circus.” Sure. Okay.
Meanwhile, People Mag just published a fascinating story about how Kate is “ready” for a surge in royal duties. Of course, we’ve heard this before – right after she gave birth, royal courtiers claimed that Kate wanted to hit the ground running. Not so much. What’s even more interesting to me is that it seems like the royal aides have literally no idea what William is doing. He’s still on his “gap year” thing and he’s made no mention of what he plans to do beyond it.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Boooring
Indeed. The least interesting couple in the world.
The most interesting thing about them is they’re George’s parents.
Only these two require a press release to say they’re not doing anything.
Lol this lol
XD
An astute observation.
For the love of God, are their finances public record??? Why are their parent’s still paying for their stuff like they are a couple of teenagers. If its not Charles its the Middletons, i find this so strange,i guess its better than tax payers money. However they are not children.
Not full public record. And PP is still private so we can’t see inside their books either. I suspect we see a final draft anyways. Not uncommon.
Happy Anniversary
Yup. Happy Anniversary. And Mother’s Day is soon Wonder what George will get his mummy.
Mummy’s Day in the UK already passed. It’s only in the US that has it coming up.
…and Canada.
Canada, passed or coming up???
LadySlippers: it’s coming up in Canada… May 11. Same as the US 🙂
And now that I’m here I must add that I LOVE reading the comments you guys make! You, Liberty, FLORC, GoodNames, bluhare, Sixer, Virgillia….. you all crack me up regularly with your brilliant, and often sarcastic comments. Thanks for the laughs ladies! 🙂
My sincere apologies for excluding Canadian mothers! I honestly thought that you guys might share Mum’s Day with the UK.
And Ace,
Why Thank you.
*blushes*
We aim to please, AceMom! Thanks.
Well, I just remembered it’s coming up. Easter snuck up on me too. So far behind!
Ace
Hehe awww! When I was new here I complimented LAK, Bluhare and others. I’m stealing this straight from Bluhare, but mean every word.
Mr. Florc (aka FMORC) had to step outside the house because I’m all puffed up with pride.
And Australia too! I always have to remember to get mummy panda a present & give her a call.
Agreed. Happy Anniversay to them!
Coming up in Canada!! Yay for mom’s.
Sorry LadySlippers. I should have been clearer.
You know, Baldtop should have just taken a London-based military desk job when he finished Search and Rescue. Then no-one would have realised that he spends most of his time bunking off.
What is the deal with the recent surge in immature comments regarding baldness? It is truly over the top and unnecessary.
It’s just a nickname taken from a fellow Celebitch’s satirical story posts, Merritt. Haven’t you seen Liberty’s pieces? They’re hilarious. Nothing mean; only humour.
I think jokes about baldness are elementary school or Junior high school humor at best. And despite what a person may claim, they are mean.
It’s the same as calling Cressida watercress. Only meant in some very brit humor.
It’s not to be offending. It’s very much a mole hill.
Some comments in previous posts do speculate why he doesn’t cover up his lack of hair, but it’s swiftly addressed and defended.
At a certain point what people claim is not meant to be offensive or hurtful is. My mother was teased about her last name growing up because it was similar to a certain junk food. Comparable to the watercress “joke”. Even now when people bring up said food, even if they don’t know her back story, it is upsetting for her. So calling someone watercress or whatever the name is may seem harmless to the person doing it. It may not be received with the same humor. These so called harmless names eventually morph into a cruel taunt.
Merritt,
William himself, as well as other members of his family, have joked about his baldness in public.
Obviously it’s not that sensitive of a topic to William if he is okay with that.
So you can’t really compare something that is offensive to one person and assume it’s offensive to all.
Names are mean if they are said with bad intent. You assume there is meanness involved and are being told there isn’t. Perhaps you should listen to how people using the name intend it to be taken, rather than putting your spin on it no matter what anyone else says.
@bluhare
Just because the person saying the name claims it is not intended to be mean, doesn’t mean it is received that way. You can say, “I didn’t mean anything hurtful by it” until you are blue in the face. It is how it is received that matters.
And I get that Will had made jokes about his baldness. However it is one thing to say some self-depreciating about yourself, and quite another for others to pile on you with various nicknames.
Merritt,
Being in the public eye means you get saddled with all kinds of nicknames and nothing changes that. Some are nice but others are vicious.
This is an inside joke that is not meant to be nasty or viscous in any way.
That is true, Merritt. I bet WIlliam would appreciate your very spirited defense of him. No snark there. I mean it. 🙂
If you are bald and bald jokes offend you, I would apologise if I said one.
@LadySlippers
And as I have explained numerous times, intent means squat. Maybe it makes people feel better to say that it was not meant to be mean or whatever. However, once again, it is how it is received that matters.
The problem with this type of name calling of public figures is that it spills over on to private individuals. Because people have decided that it is okay to treat others this way,
Merritt – I understand your view. And I don’t mind that you characterise my comment as an immature insult. All’s good.
However, influential and powerful people will always be satirised. It’s a vital plank of a free society; not evidence of churlishness. Here, Baldtop is a Celebitchy reference to a writer of satire who comments here. An internal joke, not an external insult.
The only rudeness is that it excludes anyone who doesn’t regularly read these threads. If that includes you, I apologise wholeheartedly. I can’t say sorry for satire, though.
Merritt
I can’t help, but feel you’re getting more worked up over something that regards only William as a route to attack the comments here that aren’t positive towards the cambridges.
I understand names and words can hurt and open old wounds. That’s unfortunate about your mother. I would never want to cause someone that kind of pain and hope I never have. This isn’t the same though. Intent is huge with these types of things. You can’t just disregard it.
Mountains and molehills, but that only my opinion.
Merritt,
Teasing is not the same as bullying. Nor is it a ‘gateway’ to bullying. IF it were a sensitive to William, you might have a slightly better argument but he’s obviously okay with his appearance and any comments that come his way because of it.
Plus, culture and context matter in every scenario. Many long time commenters have seen my write about it. Not different here.
Good grief, it not even about him in particular. It is about name calling in general and the effect it can have on a person’s psyche. For the record, I am not bald. That was never the point. I find it bizarre that people were so very literal about my comments.
I find it laughable that anyone would claims that teasing is someone not connected to bullying. Teasing can start out harmless and easily morph into something darker. Also while intent may seem to change things it really doesn’t. If you are on the receiving end of these statements why should you care if the person didn’t intend to hurt you. If the comments did hurt, then that is what matters.
{{HUGS}} Sixer.
Still sending you lots of warm wishes.
🌹
Same!
Thanks, darlings. I almost made a joke earlier today. That’s progress, right? And I’m even being told off for snark. Double progress, right there.
I cannot imagine losing someone so dear. But humour is always a good thing.
{{HUGS}}
I’ve lost someone so dear, and life does go on no matter how much you wish it wouldn’t.
Hope you’re doing well, Sixer. Having some fun with us is a good antidote!
Sixxer
How did the little Sixxlets and Mr. sixxer enjoy Easter break? I hope you had a pleasant one 🙂
The Sixlets are awash with Easter chocolate. We should make them share, don’t you think?
Humor helps lots!
That baby is adorable
Well-earned down time? Their entire life is down time sprinkled in with sporadic bursts of 1-2 hours of “work” a day every now and then. Sometimes their “hard work” is only 20 minute appearances. They “worked” over three weeks less than what the average person works in one week. And they had days off to rest in luxury after these taxing appearances.
I’ll believe Kate is going to hit the ground running and increase her schedule when she actually does it. Every time she’s about to take a month or two off from work the palace or her family leaks a story about how the Duchess is raring to go and just can’t wait to work and she fully intends to do X, Y, Z. Only for her to disappear from public life for weeks at a time. I don’t expect Kate to work until June when she joins the royal family appearances. I’d love for her to prove me wrong though.
pleaseicu,
Like you I would also love for Kate to prove me wrong, but I think the only “running” Kate plans to do is in relation to her rigorous exercise regimen. Gotta burn off all those nasty calories from the tour.
She’s just set the bar so low. She could do one engagement a week and it would be a huge uptick for her.
I think it’s funny that their “whirlwind tour” or “work” is what most of us middle-classers would consider a dream vacation, but for these clowns it’s so difficult they need a holiday to recover.
Exactly!
Lovely family. Happy Anniversary!
I agree that I don’t think anyone in Memphis will make a big deal if Harry/Will are at a wedding, but if Kate was there-the media would go nuts. And overwhelm the bride. It’s happened at weddings she’s gone to in the UK (although those brides haven’t seemed to mind)
I agree with her not attending the wedding.
It’s also a great excuse for her, as she and Guy Pelly are rumored to not see eye to eye sometimes.
True. Kate and Guy used to butt heads over the wild partying he and the princes used to engage in. But they go back to university days and Guy admitted in an interview that Kate was a big protector of William and most of the arguments between them stemmed from her desire to protect William’s image from the media. I give him credit for being honest but I think he is still very much a wild child. I think Kate probably side eyes him but accepts that Guy has gotten a lot better at covering up Will and Harry’s antics.
Supposedly Charles also had a chat with the boys about Guy’s influence on them. I hope the bride knows what she is in for.
She probably also heard of the Celebitchy conspiracy theory to steal her wedges and/or nude pumps. 😉
OMG!!!
That’s totally it!!!
She probably figured out that the Pesky Orchid lived within driving distance of Memphis (flying definitely) and swore to protect all her shoes to the death!!!!
😜
I’m just ashamed I didn’t think of it.
I am so disappointed she thwarted such wonderful plans!!
I would imagine that you would know a person very well if you have been dating him/her for 10 years and are now married. But you still never really know a person.
“…there’s very little drama between them and neither of them is out to malign the other publicly or privately,” seriously? We heard W&K’s jabs during the tour, that was public and unprecedented in a royal couple, but I forgot they are so modern now.
I know we would like to give them a pass and say “aw, how cute” on their 3rd anniv, just like the tour, but don’t forget that these two are just plain sad when it comes to their responsibilities as royals. I can just see the Queen scratching her head never imaging that William would be a lazy bone.
Hmmm….I have a theory about why Kate is missing the Tennessee nuptials. Remember when they broke up back in 2007? Many sources claimed it was because of William’s hard partying ways, and certain friends who encouraged him to enjoy his youth. There were rumors that Guy Pelly (the nightclub owner) was to blame. He may have even been the friend that nicknamed her doors to manual. Nevermind the security detail. I think Kate is happy to miss out on this one.
Well, you can’t make that the *official* reason Kate’s not going. 😉
And really? How is 2 Royals going ‘so much better’ than 3? The article and author aren’t really thinking this through much.
Honestly the 2 vs. 3 royals thing sounds like a line William told Kate when he decided he didn’t want her to go to the wedding.
This seems misogynistic. There is also a chance that Kate had no inclination to go under any circumstances whatsoever.
Especially when the 2 are those actually in line for the throne.
Okie,
They don’t differentiate between Royals like that. And the RPOs have to go ahead and scout for security, regardless if it’s one Royal or ten. Then everyone has to fly to the destination and adding two extra RPOs isn’t that big of a deal.
Snark,
I’m thinking this is less misogynistic than trying to blow smoke up people’s ass. My guess is Kate probably didn’t want to do an international flight again with an infant so soon after getting back from Down Under. It’s h•ll on a child’s schedule and she probably (understandably) doesn’t want to leave him home either.
I think what they (the press) keep trying to sell is Kate is another Diana. And that’s just not fair to anyone. At all.
Oh I didn’t think the reason was misogynistic at all. Just the comment was that is what William fed Kate so she wouldn’t ask to go to the wedding. Ita that more than a few royals on a trip is a silly media contrivance.
Didn’t mean to offend, but genuinely didn’t think it was any worse than this quote from her former boss at Jigsaw:
The Jigsaw owner told This Is London: “She genuinely wanted a job but she needed an element of flexibility to continue the relationship with a very high-profile man and a life that she can’t dictate. She’s going to be dictated to when she’s needed and not needed.”
Hopefully their relationship has matured since then. I do agree that it’s possible Kate simply didn’t want to attend (especially given her history with Pelly). I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she wanted to take a minute to spend with her child and her family instead.
I don’t know why Kate wouldn’t want to leave George at home for the weekend. She left him alone — in a foreign country away from his natural habitat — for a couple of nights on their tour, and before that for a week with the new nanny when they went on vacation. So that one doesn’t wash in my laundry tub.
I side eyed William and Kate when they said they just couldn’t bear to be away from George while on this Australia tour, given their vacation history. But I think there are two sides of it – of course I believe they must be sad to be away from him, it just only seems to stop them from doing the things they don’t want to do (work) and is not an impediment to vacations.
I would say it’s more that this friend brings out Williams party side and the Prince wants to have fun. Rather than Kate won’t go just to snub Guy.
Although, I’m leaning more towards William and Kate are going through their honeymoon phase. They seem to enjoy eachother again like Canada. Sadly, I’m doubtful this will last more than a few weeks longer.
And i’m with LS on 2 vs 3 royals.
Yes, I heard that he was one of Williams snobby mates who didnt think she was good enough for him so there wont be much love lost – he sounds like a bit of an arse so she wont be missing much…sure she’d much rather spend time with little Georgie Porgie – he is so adorable…
Kate has tended to miss out on fun times with Guy Pelly [exception her clubbing days when Guy would facilitate VIP status for her]. He is William’s party buddy, and so to the nuptials without Kate.
I think this addresses the core of what’s happening. They come back from endless imposed togetherness, and now Willy is doing what he does best- getting the hell out of Dodge to do his own party thing sans Waity and the kid. It’s so predictable, really. In this case, he has a convincing cover. Lucky prince. Plus ça change.
I do too, HoustonGrrl. And Pelly was front and center in the doors to manual thing, although I’ve read he’s reflected and reformed on that issue.
Well I just read a little about Mr. Pelly and he has very little room to talk as his father is also from humble origins. His mother is not, but it’s not like his bloodline is purely aristocratic through and through.
Sometimes those people are the worst snobs.
It would be entertainedly amusing if Kate Middleton and Lindsay Lohan were to suddenly become BFF’s.
Let me congratulate these two on 3 years of marriage.
Now…onto the snark. WTF?! William. It’s way past time for him to become a full time royal. He’s in his 30s. He’s been finding himself for years. As for Kate’s increased schedule…I’ll believe it when I see it. With these two it’s a lot of telling the public what they are going to do and very little of them doing what they are supposed to be doing.
The tour showed us they know how to work. They’re capable of dressing properly, speaking in public, and turning on the charm with George. Now let’s cut the talk and see them actually do more.
Except they can’t trot George out at every turn. And I don’t even think they showed us they know how to work. They know how to do a three week tour (why do I have the Gilligan’s Island them going round my head?), not a royal engagement schedule.
It’s more than they’ve done and done correctly.
Kate knows how to wear hems that hit her knee, wear her hair back, not look terribly bored, etc…
This is now proven.
William and Kate have officially killed and buried the bar and standard. I think it’s worth digging back up and holding them to this minimum. Everyone else is held to a higher standard and are not 2nd in line. This is truly behavior I would expect from a spare or cousin.
People like to slam Kate for being lazy – but she is a mother, and appears to be a doting one. Let’s slam Will for being lazy more!
I do think she follows his lead.
Agree with Bluhare. She lacks a desire to work. I think she would do more if William pushed her to do more, but that won’t happen so we’ll never know.
Well, what can you expect from a baby doll?
They’re probably going to get mad about it because they always get mad about their private times being made public, but i’ve seen some adorable pictures of them playing with George while wearing the fancy clothes they wore for the easter mass. It looked they were trying to make crawl towards an egg. FREAKING CUTE.
As for Kate working more? I doubt it, i bet she’s pregnant again by the end of the year.
I would not be at all surprised to find another pregnancy comes along fairly quickly.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already pregnant. I also wonder if she ever gloats on the inside whenever she is around those friends of William who would supposedly make the jokes about her? I wonder if she secretly thinks “I got the last laugh”.
Do you have a link to pics Marlene? I can’t seem to find any via google!
Never mind- found some!
I think they are overestimating how much attention Kate would recieve if she attended the wedding. Three years ago, yeah there would’ve been a lot of press because of Royal wedding fever. But the truth is outside of the gossip circles, Royals just aren’t huge in the US. I didn’t see any coverage of their trip outside of fluffy entertainment shows and even then the focus was brief. Harry went to Washington DC a while back and there was some media attention but when you look at the actual crowds they were small at best.
The trope of Americans being in love with the British Royals only applies to the weddings and births. Otherwise the reaction is just “meh.”
Agreed.
Diana was an exception to this.
Diana was one in a million. There are few things that I’m sure of: We’re all going to die, we will all have to pay taxes at some point, and we will never see another Diana.
ITA. The average American wouldn’t go out of their way to see any of them, including Harry. There’s just not enough to their personalities or appearance that can sustain the fascination between major events. Want to draw a crowd? Invite Oprah or Taylor Swift.
Olenna
When Harry came to Greenwich for a Polo game for his US tour there was a HUGE crowd! Not all got to even Greenwich, but I can assure you the roads were all backed up and the radio stations were all about Harry being in the state.
A friend that lived in a neighboring town said it was utter madness with license plates from surrounding states as far as Michigan.
I think Harry is more beloved in the states than Kate too. She gets the rag headlines, but he draws the crowds.
FLORC,
Was this crowd largely composed of women? Because I can’t imagine men getting het up about Harry.
Florc, I don’t disagree with the Greenwich crowd assessment. I would’ve elaborated more in my first comment, but didn’t have time. I’m here in the DC area and remember the Harry visit. He made the news, but he wasn’t a big draw. I recall a couple of pics of the FLOTUS and some beaming single ladies, but not much more. Had he gone to the Virginia horse country, the reception might’ve been different (I think even Pippa drew a crowd at a horse event in the States). There, the rich, famous and wannabes, and the teens/twenties crushing on him would probably line up to be seen or get a peek. But, here, politicians and celebrities are almost ubiquitous. Also, I’m from the Mid-west and had he gone there, folks would show up like they did in NZ, IF they could, because he’s a celebrity. Given a choice between him and George Clooney, George would draw a bigger crowd. IMO, none of the royals are important figures in American lives; they’re just great diversions.
The U.S. is the land of Hollywood celebs and stars, and where everyone gets a chance for 15 minutes of fame. I think most Americans esp in the big towns prolly think of the royals as just another bunch of celebs.
I’ve seen their tour covered in the typical US mags like People, Us and such. They are still “news”. And it was/is mostly all about what Kate wore or what George wore. Basically same ol, same ol.
Well, that’s my point: The “fluffy” entertainment shows and gossip mags like People and US were the only ones who cover them. Most of the serious news outlets didn’t even bother and they had no problems covering their wedding and the presentation of their baby. I don’t know how they roll in Connecticut, but here in Georgia I’ve yet to encounter anyone who would go crazy over them if they came to Atlanta. If anything, people would probably complain about all the traffic it would cause.
I get a sick kick out of Kate using the excuse of not going so she doesn’t upstage the bride. She uses it for every wedding she doesn’t go to — or at least it appears to be reported that way — but it’s such a meangirl excuse. Like she’s so great no one else would ever pay attention to anyone else if she were there. Might be true outside the church, but not inside.
Ha! She often wears repeats to weddings, which I think is a nicely subtle way of trying not be a distraction, but there was one wedding she wore a beautiful red dress to and my first thought was, is she not a fan of this bride?
So true. Kate upstaging the bride? That’s laughable, isn’t it!
I think they are more or less separated. Here’s why:
Kate pulled out of the KP Winter party at the last second, then blamed the charity for the “mixup”.
The fake, fake Xmas pics of them holding hands (pr much?) aswellas the pap pics of Kate kidding the queen. The queen is never popped.
The article stating, bizarrely, that 2014 was going to be the year of Kate, she was finally going to move out from Wills shadow etc
Kate went to a New Years party w/o Will where she was so “relaxed”
Will signs up for a bespoke course away from Kate for 3 mo. We never did hear how that went. Presumably no one at Cambridge has a good word to say about it otherwise there would be a glowing puff piece
Kate works 4 times in three months. Her manic faces is noticed by many including many commenters here
They risk much wrath and shouts of hypocrisy to spend a week in the Maldives w/o George – because they needed to? I think that’s when the Cartier watch was given. They needed to reconnect before the long planned tour.
Kate on tour was very mocking/ passive aggressive on tour
Wow. It have to admit it is rather amazing how people can see the exact same events in a completely different way. We’ll see what the future holds for these two crazy kids but I doubt a divorce or separation is forthcoming with these two.
While a lot of this could be just the dynamic of their relationship I do agree with much of what you say.
They’ve spent so much time apart. Kate even admitted what we all thought about William being away for much of Georges life thus far. And his Bespoke program made no time to visit his son, but plenty for vacations.
So, they did need to reconnect for the tour. And soon things will go right back to normal. William starts something new that is meant to prepare him for the duties he should already be doing while keeping him away from his family. Kate will continue to keep her schedule light.
And the Spare is on it’s way imo.
I do think this is in large part the dynamic of their relationship – they’re comfortable giving each other space and it seems to work for them.
He’s already back to the same old MO, FLORC. He gets to party hardy with Guy Pelly et al, away from Waity and the kid, on another continent.
My goodness! You are like a dash of ice water, Red Snapper. Thanks for snapping me back to reality! Your moniker suits you :).
I agree, Redsnapper. I think they live separate lives.
I’m reading “The Diana Chronicles” as well. Kate is no Diana, for sure, which I’m thinking is a good thing for the marriage and the monarchy, as is Will’s apparent independence relative to his dad and grandma. I’ve always felt kind of “meh” about Kate as any sort of force to be reckoned with other than that of maybe wearing the pants in the relationship. But at the same time their lack of drama feels very soothing even though there’s not much dynamism yet in their individual and collective activities as the Cambridges. I had forgotten how exhausting and tawdry The whole Charles and Di Show was, but now that I’m reading about it, it’s all coming back!
Very true and not lost on Will at all.
I’m betting there’s a load of drama. The Wales’s seemed sympatico for many years before the facade began to peel away.
Yeah, well……whatever. I don’t really get that this is a true love union, it’s more of a Best Friends Business Relationship. If it works for them, OK.