Duchess Kate is going to do some work this evening in England. Prepare yourselves! She’s going to make some kind of appearance on behalf of her patronage of the Scout Association, for their “Be Prepared” campaign. Kate might even learn some sign language. Kate’s been busy as of late, after taking time off for much of the year. Some theorize that Kate always gets really busy in November and December every year to pump up her “numbers” – the annual count of royal appearances she makes, which are almost always the lightest of any working royal. We’ll have photos at some point, I’m hoping.
Over the weekend, Kate and William went to a friend’s wedding at Chelsea Old Church in west London. Kate repeated a look – that Diane Von Furtenberg black lace gown she wore to the Royal Variety show last month. Go here to see the photos of Kate and William at the weekend wedding. Kate warmed up with a tartan wrap, and according to the Express, she wore her sapphire engagement ring turned inwards. Hm. Kate and William were flanked by SEVEN police officers as they left the wedding.
Meanwhile, People Magazine says Kate took Prince George to a “Christmas fair.”
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for Prince George. Just days before the latest photo set of the young royal were released, an expectant Princess Kate donned a baseball cap to take him to a local Christmas fair on Friday. (Well, that’s one way to celebrate her homecoming after a whirlwind trip to the U.S.)
George, who turns 17 months on Dec. 22, looked festive in an all-white outfit for the seasonal outing at London’s Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. His early Christmas gift? Kate treated George to a spin on a traditional teacup amusement ride.
“George was smiling and laughing as they went ’round and ’round together,” an onlooker tells PEOPLE. “He was really enjoying the ride with his mom. You could see it in his little face – he looked so happy.”
The festive fair is an annual event in London featuring a skating rink, Santa’s workshop, festive food and a Christmas market, as well as several fairground rides. And perhaps there’s some more holiday fun in store for George: The fest is within walking distance of their apartment at Kensington Palace.
“They only had one go on the ride, and then off they went,” says the onlooker. “Kate was so polite and normal looking. I don’t think anyone even noticed that they were there.”
The royal couple are expected to take George to Norfolk for the holidays to spend time at their country house, Anmer Hall, which is on the Queen’s Sandringham estate.
Diana used to do those kinds of normal activities with Harry and William when they were little too. But Diana used to make sure there were photos, because she wanted the world to see that she was a better, more normal parent than Prince Charles. My take on Kate’s actions: she wants people to know that she does normal stuff with George, but she doesn’t want there to be any photo evidence, I guess.
Photos courtesy of Clarence House, WENN.
I want so see pics of that chubkins screaming with glee on the teacups.
Yes! Doesn’t she realize that’s her best PR?
I second that. He is one adorable, mischievous looking little rascal.
He is so Adorable, Such a little cutie. He has such personality in his pictures.
Awwwww I hope he enjoyed time in the teacups. So sweet. 🙂
More photos of Prince George.
hahah YES
That would be so fun!
The local christmas fair is probably the biggest fair in the UK. It takes up a great amount of Hyde Park and I suppose it’s a place where you can hide easily which is why she took him. It’s my favourite place to go during Christmas.
Yeah, I went two weeks ago, it’s a HUGE deal. I wouldn’t call it a local fair lol.
I think the Easter fair on Blackheath is bigger. It’s not as celeb fashionable and of course it’s not in the centre of town, but it’s amazing.
I love Christmas Fairs – one day I want to visit the Christkindl Markt in Vienna.
It’s amazing. We are attending next week. The Christmas markets are one of my favorite European experiences. We have been to a few so far and will be ramping it up now through Jan. hope George will eventually get to go to some smaller ones but he’s probably too young now to fully enjoy them. The Hyde Park one has the games, rides, etc a youngster would love.
Haha I went to the Hyde park one when I was visiting London the night it opened and got terrible food poisoning from a dodgy burger. Bleurgh it was rank. I was staying in a hostel too so that was not a fun night.
Diana would have been very proud!! Good for Kate and William to raise George as normal folks like us (atleast sometimes)! Wish there were some pics with his big laughs on the ride.
Kate and her opportunistic mother would never have gotten past a few dates if Diana were around.
George is a adorable cutie though.
Still don’t care much for Kate.
They avoid photo evidence because they complain about paps taking pics of George. William doesn’t want to give them what they want.
Waity repeat look is too soon common and the dress is so ma middleton.
Scouts appearance is curious – last appearance was with PG bump, then almost two years later, appearance again. Volunteers/ sponsors turn out more regular and really ‘work’ with the Scouts, not just photo op in workout/basketball US type attire for a royal.
When will everyone notice that she is normal just like us she just happened to marry a prince. I like Kate she reminds me a lot of Diana.
She doesn’t remind me of Diana at all, but I have started to like Kate a lot more since she became a mom.
LOL! Not even
…. and Diana didn’t try to be normal.
I wonder if Will and Kate decided to attend the wedding together before or after the article claiming she never sees his friends came out? Also I know the ride is probably completely safe for a pregnant woman to be on, but I can’t imagine wanting to go on one after feeling so vomitty I couldn’t go to the Empire State Building.
Also, I know this is how Diana “opened” the doors to the press but I think it would be smart of them do to the occasional Happy Family Pap Stroll. It would probably make the British press happy, and when was the last time we got a picture of George, Will, and Kate together? They’ll probably release something for Christmas though.
Right I get pukey thinking of going on a spinning ride and I am not even pregnant.
That was my thought exactly. Maybe her team saw the article and decided they didn’t like image.
And no to spinning rides. No ma’am.
And guess which Paparazzi just happened to be on hand to catch the couple going to Kate’s friends wedding……. Kate and the Middleton’s favorite papz…… Tanna.
Ma carole middleton up to her PR photogs again, sending message. – all is well from separation.
Tannalegal warning of PG Tips was BP CH via P Will to the middletons. The middletons, are collecting photos. of young PG Tips (Di Spencer Churchill looks w/GG grand Bertie eyes), so they have. future earnings if/when PG become monarch.
We all know only the Firm – BP CH take and release photos of heirs and the RFr.
I actually quite like Kate even if I think that she gets an insanely amount of attention just for her hair, makeup, clothes, and normal activities with her child, whom happens to be the heir to the throne of England. However, I often wonder if we will ever get to see her in a more important role, i.e. discussing feminist issues, thoughts on art & entertainment, education and child welfare, preservation of natural resources, etc. Or will it always be about her appearance and photos at charity functions?
I doubt she’ll ever speak out on political issues or take on causes that are anything but universally supported. I also doubt she even knows what she wants to do. Hell, even Charles knew his passion was the environment and he knew it when everybody looked at him as if he needed treatment. Remember the quirky prince talking to his veggies? Yeah. Not political but definitely his own thing.
But come to think of it, does William have a passion like that? For Harry it’s the military and his charity in Lesotho, for the Queen it’s just about everything and for Diana it turned out to be HIV/AIDS and landmines. I really do wonder when these two will find their niche.
Prince William has conservation and Africa *cough*
Oh riiiight, I forgot. … Which speaks for itself I guess?
William has conservation and Helicopter pilot.
It can be argued he’s only in the conservation for Jecca so let’s look at piloting.
It’s a large enough platform he could do something to support it. A charity he could patron regarding helicopters or a service needed. And as a perk he could pilot one for a fundraiser. Instead he approaches it more as something to do that he enjoys, but won’t use his royal platform to improve it.
I think part of his wildlife cause is because it’s a good excuse to eventually take trips to LEWA, the Craigs Conservatory , without a lot of questions.
The conspiracy theory that William does anything for Jecca is just so tired. Jecca has (or had) a very small volunteer role at Tusk. Based on the amount of time William has spent in Africa, and the actual work he has put into forming his own conservation charity and championing the issue speaks to his commitment.
@ littlemissnaughty
Kate has found her niche: it’s sports charities. Whether she is aware that is her niche is another question. She always looks the most relaxed/natural/beautiful at sporting events. She is a natural athlete and you can tell she really feels at home on the field or court or sailboat. She has a little competive edge when she participates in sports and seems to enjoy beating William ( the sailboat race comes to mind). It gives her a spark and separates her from the medicated-stepford-bobble head she sometimes appears to be at public events.
She could do all of those things and the media would still focus on her hair, clothes and accessories. Lol.
If she’d stop spending $150,000 a year on clothing, there’d be less focus on the clothes. The media might still focus on clothes, but that doesn’t stop Queen Letizia, Queen Mathilde, Queen Maxima, Queen Rania, etc. from doing good work.
Nota
I disagree. It’s not the amount she spends. It’s the spend to work ratio. If she worked enough to justify the spending or offered us more to view her on other than appearance it would be different.
As it is Kate is only for hair and clothes. She brings nothing else to the table and her post is 1 that gets much attention.
I agree with both. I think the main thing is that she never does anything worth while to be reported on, hence the need to talk about her clothes.
AH and I also disagree on this point about CP Mary, who works tons more than Kate Middleton and spends a lot on designer clothes. I know Diana spent ridiculous sums on clothing as well, but it was a different era.
We’re in a time of belt-tightening all around. To see a member of a taxpayer-supported monarchy wearing Prada or a $6000 hand-painted day dress rubs me the wrong way. I think Letizia does a great job balancing her everyday low-cost gear with the custom Spanish designer stuff.
We’ve also discussed that KM doesn’t buy a working wardrobe, she purchases lots of very expensive things that don’t go together. Dozens of expensive dresses and coat dresses instead of mix-and-match pieces that could be combined in stylish and thrifty ways. Three/four three-piece suits (blazer, pencil skirt, trousers) and a handful of nice blouses and she’d have a working wardrobe for a modern royal. Instead we get Cambridge Barbie and her latest one-off miniskirt or coat dress.
Notasug thread
With all waity huge spending on clothes, most are waiting for the aristo designer regal classiness, proper length and more Jolielike or Camilla, DoC royal look than flashes and bare bum.
Her engagement ring was probably turned in so it did not snag her lace dress.
Big blue is often turned around when she isn’t expecting there to be paps. People have snapped pics of her shopping and it’s not seen. Just the band.
Sometimes my ring turns inwards without my doing anything. Maybe it’s slightly too loose?
Mine does the same. It’s a miracle if the engagement and wedding bands are facing the same direction (how does that happen?). It’s possible she turned it herself to avoid snagging or pictures, or it just slid on its own. I thought it was a weird inclusion in the story, TBH.
Mine does it too – especially when my hands are cold. My rock is no where near the size of big blue – can’t imagine how much it would spin with the extra weight! I’ve always thought that ring would be so annoying for everyday wear.
I sometimes wonder if the monstrous sapphire rings isn’t terrible unpractical for everyday wear.
I think it depends on the design. With all those prongs, I probably wouldn’t wear it much, and I hate it when rings spin to the back or flop around. I think it has to do with having a thin band and being maybe a little too big. It might have to be big to get over a knuckle, in which case I would go for a wider band to help keep the stone in place.
Someone told me that you can have little prong-like bumps installed on the inside of a ring to keep it from spinning, but I’ve never tried it.
I can’t stand the feeling of rings on my hands, so I am clearly biased, but it has got to be uncomfortable to wear such a giant ring all the time.
It isn’t exactly comfortable to wear a ring with a really BIG stone. I have a vintage citrine ring with a huge stone and it isn’t very practical but I sometimes whip it out for effect.
GNAT
I have 2 rings with those bumps. It’s annoying and 1 set hurts my fingers from the rubbing.
That ring with the huge stone and the jagged looking sets for the diamonds. So impractical. I find that ring sort of ugly. The style is outdated and it doesn’t go with every outfit.
Oh, thanks, FLORC. I was actually considering having the bumps put in, so now I won’t do it.
I have to agree, I loved the sapphire when Diana picked it out, but it is a little dated now – or maybe my associations with it are just so strongly tied to that era. I think it would be uncomfortable to wear.
GNAT
You should try a ring with the prongs on for yourself. It might not bother you. It bothered me a lot, but others can deal with it.
The ring is heavily associated with Diana and her tragedy. And from a style perspective it’s very 80’s. Not a timeless look.
Never liked the sapphire ring – it is such a pedestrian unimaginative design. Its only valuable feature is the size of the rock.
As much as I detest Wallis Simpson, she got a beautiful art deco engagement ring in gold with a HUGE emerald.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/472807660851851603/
Generally I don’t find engagement rings very interesting in terms of design but I do love the ring Prince Henrik gave QMII for their engagement. It is a ring from Van Cleef and Arpels with two six carat square-cut diamonds. But the Henrik has always had good taste.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/472807660853007082/
Arthistorian
+1
The ring on Lady Diana POW was part of the fairytale we. Watched, the ring symbolise the time as a wonderful sparkle piece.
Waity waering it seem so phoney and fake, so workshy and undeserving of Di’s ring all lack. the significance, beauty and sparkle as if it died with Diana.
Waity is no POW Diana for sure ‘and not like us ‘as a thread upstream stated. Most of us build a career if not for the money – work, grow move on and mature after college years. And nothing about babies w/nannies – waity workshy has continue years before bumps.
Not like the other marry in royals we admire, respect – Q Maxima, Leticia, CP Mary – CP VIctoria and Madeline..
May I just say “Holy crap!” about those two rings, AH? Not my personal taste, but wow!
Pippa
Ofcourse Kate isn’t a POW. William isn’t next in line. And the sparkle is still there You’re just projecting.
I feel I need to defend Kate because of your posts. And i’m far from a Kate defender. Your comments sound like those who think she can do no good ever. Only bad. And that’s simply not the case.
ArtHistorian
Wallis Simpson sadly was terrible. Her jewels tough. What a collection!
Do you think Kate likes the ring or would she have preferred her own ring? I’ I always wondered that at the time of the engagement.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor is probably the worst royals the BRF has spawned in the last 150 years (let’s not touch on the Prince Regent, later George IV). They were a match made in hell – or heaven 😉
I once saw a documentary on them were a man who knew both of them and really disliked Wallis was interview. He stated that Wallis ought to have the empty pillar at Trafalgar Square because she saved the British monarchy due to the marriage and the abdication it necessitated.
Regardless of her personality, she did have exquisite taste, both in clothes and jewellery. Her collection was astounding!
Has anyone ever figured out why she so obviously shows that thing off in all of her photos? It’s something I always notice, how the left hand is always positioned, often times awkwardly, so the blue sapphire can be seen. I mean I get it, you got the ring, you don’t have to keep showing it off…..
Kiki, I think you just answered your own question. 🙂
POW was not in regards to senior royal but Dis extension in titles..
Kiki04 stated another reason with Di ring – ‘lack. of sparkle’ so to speak. Doolittle need her own; even with sons passing on inherited jewelery , this time seem ‘off’ (could be the way the ring was achieved),, who knows..
I doubt most of us ‘hating’ or ‘waity can do no good as personal issue/s; instead its the behaviour – media, paps/ observations, reporting info, internet, etc. As HM representative to the people of GK GB CW.
Rings with big stones are actually difficult to wear since they can easily be snagged in clothing. I have a ring with a huge citrine and when I wear it suspect I sometimes adopt a similar pose. So it isn’t necessarily about showing off her “golden ticket”, it might be a simple matter of practicality.
Maybe her fingers are swollen from the pregnancy and she put a little lotion on her hands to get the rings on… Could have made it more slippery. Interesting that when she doesn’t expect paps the ring is usually turned inwards. It makes sense I guess… The ring is more protected on the inside of her hand. I’m clumsy and would bang that thing on everything. Especially if I had a toddler.
Did he Destroy everything in the stands and terrorized the Townspeople Like Godzilla??
Haha. That’s the image I had of the Royal Bruiser, too.
@goodnamestaken yes you can have little bumps added to the band. My sister did this it helps to keep big diamonds up right and from slipping around on your finger. Just make sure you go to a trusted jeweler bc some are known to swap out your original diamond with one of lesser quality. That was the advice of the jeweler she got hers from.
That does happen. That’s why your diamonds should have an etching in it marking yours as yours with paperwork. You can make sure it’s your diamond by asking to have it magnified.
And always have your jewels insured!
LOL
1. Even a fashionphobe like me wouldn’t wear black to a wedding.
2. Winter Wonderland is like celeb-city this year! Matt Smith being dreadfully rude to and queue-jumping a Strictly dancer (how very dare he). Russell Brand taking his anti-gentrification social housing campaign there. I feel as though I am missing out down here in Yokel Land!
Why can’t you wear black to a wedding? I’ve seen plenty of people where the color.
I think it’s ok to wear black to a wedding now, especially an evening wedding. At least over here.
I love winter wonderland. It’s always celeb city. I’m still hoping to stalk-bump into Gwen Stefani if she attends as she does whenever she’s in Britain for Christmas.
It was drunk city last Friday (I got there for 6pm). It’s the fifth time I’ve gone and I’ve never seen so many boozed up groups. Still enjoyable, but every time we saw people stumbling about, spilling their litre cups of beer, we moved elsewhere. No celebs spotted but I’m all about the food when I go 🙂
The whole can’t wear black superstition doesn’t hold anymore. It’s an evening wedding, the men wore black tie, it’s perfectly appropriate.
Ha. See what a fashionphobe I really am? I still think it’s bad form to wear black to a wedding! Snigger.
Well, I’m hardly a fashionista myself. Ive just noticed people doing it.
I wore black to a wedding this weekend! I was far from the only one in it as well. I did wonder whether I should, but then decided I didn’t give a crap whether it was bad form or not! 🙂
Evening weddings it’s acceptable. Daytime less so. Overall it’s not bad form.
You and me both Sixer. I just found out you can’t wear red or pink either. I think I need a list of what colors are appropriate where.
I have have been a bridesmaid in 20 weddings. 10 of my dresses were black and none of the weddings were at night. Three were red, one was pink, several were variations on the color green and one was a shocking hue of electric blue. We live in a much more casual world where women and men are free to wear whatever color they want to weddings. At this point, I think white is the only no-no.
Bridesmaid dresses are different from guest dresses. I think we’re discussing etiquette of what guests should wear to a wedding, not what (possibly terrible) dress the bride makes her attendants to wear.
It’s amazing no one on Twitter spotted them. Very stealthy!
A member of the public twitted her Winter Wonderland outing. It’s amazing what a long article can be written from a tweet or two.
The wedding photos are exclusive to Tanna – surprise!! Considering they’ve just had a legal skirmish with him.
I loathe that particular black dress. It’s too old for her. Heck it’s too old for Helen Mirren, Judy Dench and Maggie Smith, but I like that she left her hair down and covered it with the big scarf. Made it look better.
Yes, Tanna back in the fold. Properly chastised but have they let him have his photo pass for Kensington yet? Dress is matronly+. The woman at the previous event who was wearing the same dress as KM probably had 20 years on her.
Yeah, that’s one dress she should not recycle. Ugh. I did love the tartan, but the dress is a black doily.
Tanna, you say? No! Why isn’t Wills suing him right now? Could it be that these pics needed to be published to counter the separation and not attending Wills’ friends’ wedding stories? Perhaps?!
Interesting that Tanna took those shots.
I’m not a fan of that dress, and I don’t think tartan looks very good with lace. She looked like a complete frump.
That Tanna still gets these locations, shots, and exclusivity makes you got hmmmm…
She was spotted it was tweeted days ago.
Why wear a tartan wool wrap with a black lace dress? Why didn’t she bring out one of her many coats that would’ve looked better and been warmer?
Am I the only one who cannot stand the way they dress him? Does the child have any normal cotton clothing?
I love the way they dress him. Or rather, I love the way his nanny stylist dresses him. 😉
They dress him like little lord fauntleroy. I don’t think you’ll ever see George wearing nikes.
If she has a girl this time around, it’ll be interesting to see how they dress her. I’m thinking Little House on the Prairie type stuff lol.
George is dressed like an old man…but it suits him in a weird way. He looks just like a cute little old British man. This baby is so darn cute I can’t stand it.
Oh George with a little sister would be a cuteness overload. He is just too adorable. 🙂
You see him when he’s posing for a photograph, in which case he’ll be dressed up. I imagine in his regular life he dresses more like the rest of us.
“She’s going to make some kind of appearance on behalf of her patronage of the Scout Association, for their “Be Prepared” campaign.” Technically, this doesn’t count as a royal engagement and she is not the BRF scouting patron (either HM or Sophie is). Her scouting “work” is done on personal time. She’s so committed to her volunteer work with scouting, she hasn’t done anything with them in almost 2 years.
I’m not a fan of her tartan shawl. It looks like a typical Minnesotan’s car blanket.
What a “coincidence” that Tanna papped the wedding. So is Wm going to file another complaint with the press commission or can he just append his George one?
Look to me like she’s self-conscious about her pregnant body and covering up/concealing.
How I really wish there were pictures from the fair even from a bystander. I’d love to see George in white and would have high hopes that he managed to dirty up his pristine outfit. And if Kate actually had HG, would she be sufficiently recovered to go on a spinning ride? I’d think she’d be feeling pretty vomity, so obviously she’s well-recovered from her pregnancy ailments to chance this ride. Teacupgate, anyone?
Feesh
I’m betting her test results had her just into hg territory, but only temporarily. And many pregnant women cross that line, but it’s not what many people understand hg to be.
And those rides make me ill just looking at them.
And THIS is why my family moved to America from England…nah, I’m just playing we were deported <-That's actually true. Anyway, I'm glad I can pick and choose how much I see Kate Middleton ALTHOUGH in her defense I did have a former boss that had a very expensive engagement ring and when she went to things like weddings or bridal showers (i.e. things where other women were the focus) she would turn around her ring because it was considered the polite thing to do.
Lurking and eager to read reaction to Kate’s visit to the scouts. There’s no video footage but it appears as though she sucked it up and feigned interest for at least 15 minutes. Oh and she even pretended to eat a morsel of chocolate!
I saw the story with pictures and a short video. Kate actually dressed appropriately for the occasion and looked very engaged with the children. Hopefully, this will be covered in Kaiser’s next post.
I actually loved Kate in the sweatshirt scout hoodie.
The only reason girlfriend gets busy in the winter is because it it cold and miserable in the winter in England. In the fall, spring, and summer there are far too many shops to shop and vacations to take. Think about it: she’s not going into a plebeian mall where walking from store to store is indoors. Any stores she shops in she would have to walk outside to get to the next one. Thus, wintertime consists of online shopping and actually going to events so she leaves the house every once in a while.