Prince William and Kate didn’t have any royal events this weekend, which sucks because gossip is so dead and I really need some new photos of Kate-in-a-hat or William’s moose knuckle. Will and Kate did go out this weekend though – they attended a private get-together at Pippa’s new home in South Kensington. And when I say Pippa’s home, I mean Terribly Rich James Matthews’ home, which is where Pippa lives. Pippa moved in with Terribly Rich James last year. They will be married in a little more than a month, and so Terribly Rich and Pippa hosted a little get-together for their families to meet. James’ parents and siblings were there, and the whole Middleton clan was there too: Carole, Michael, James Middleton, Kate and William (Bill Middleton!). William wore jeans (how informal!) and Kate wore a new Alice Temperley dress.
ICYMI: "Kate and Prince William meet Pippa Middleton's future in-laws" https://t.co/zim0GvU3dE via @MailOnline pic.twitter.com/isqQguQ2fA
— WhatKateWore.com (@WhatKateWore) April 2, 2017
Speaking of Terribly Rich James and Pippa’s May wedding, did you know that Pippa has already done her “hen party”? That’s Brit-speak for bachelorette party. According to the Sun, Pippa slipped away to Meribel, France for a long ski weekend. Kate was there too. Guess when it happened? The SAME weekend that William was in Verbier, Switzerland with his “lads.” And thus ends the mystery of what Kate was up to that weekend.
The Duchess of Cambridge went on sister Pippa’s secret skiing hen do — on the same weekend husband Wills was away partying with his pals in the Alps. The two groups even shared the same private jet as they hit the slopes last month. But while the Duke’s gang headed for Verbier in Switzerland, Kate and Pippa were around 100 miles away in Meribel, France.
A friend told The Sun: “Pippa loves skiing so it was her first choice for a hen weekend. They stayed in a really exclusive catered chalet with maids and chef, who ensured that they were totally spoilt. The owners also wanted to impress their royal guests so the girls were showered with gifts. They were given Swatch watches, Ugg slippers, leather-bound notebooks and bespoke fragrances. It was a very small, private party and they had an amazing time.”
The private jet was paid for by the Middletons ahead of 33-year-old Pippa’s wedding next month to tycoon James Matthews, 41. Prince William, 34, was heavily criticised for missing the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 13.
Surely we should criticize Kate the same way too? I mean, she wasn’t even stuck at home with the kids! I assume Grandma Carole watched the kids while William and Kate flew off for their separate holidays. I assume it would have been too much to ask for William to spend a weekend alone with his children rather than use his sister-in-law’s hen party as an excuse to jet off and party with the “lads”? While I’m more understanding of Kate’s reasoning – Pippa is her only sister and presumably this will be Pippa’s only hen party – the fact is that both Will and Kate probably should have made the effort to come back for Commonwealth Day. Although I guess I have to give some props to Kate – she kept this information locked down while William’s trip because public and messy almost immediately afterwards.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
I read the comments on the Internet today – the “poor Kate was alone with the kids at home while William was partying train” has suddenly stopped LOL
Something missing from this story. Can’t put my finger on it but, the Palace let William be skewered for weeks.
Who and Why put this out now? Just after the Pippa, Matthews, Kate,William dinner together. It was leaked or found out by Emily the SUN reporter but she’s not saying how.
Also why all those photos of William on his outing and NOT ONE of Kate on the ski weekend with Pippa? All of the Kate , Pippa ski photos in the article are old from 2012 and later, but not photos from actual trip.
Why no photos of Kate on the Pippa ski weekend? Something is not right with this story or something is missing.
Why no actual photos of Kate on the Ski trip?
I’m still trying to process the claim that the Middletons paid for the private jet. Sounds like a Middleton sourced story.
Trying to spin the PR message that Pippa isn’t marrying TRJMatthews for his money (and his private jet)?
I thought there were photos of Kate and Pippa from that weekend in the Sun article? I guess I didn’t read carefully enough if they were older pics.
I agree that something is strange about this whole thing.
Who leaked and why now? 🤔
The reporter told people on twitter who asked that the photos used are old and
also the Article says from 2012. Even the DMail photos are all old.
There is still no proof that this trip was even the same weekend as William, sure it might have been, and probably was, but I just find it odd, everyone got actual photos of William on his holiday, but no one still has produced a photo of Kate on the actual holiday.
Many have been asking on twitter all day where are the actual photos of Kate on the holiday, No one is answering. Something about the story is fishy or missing something, imo. Or a seller is trying to sell the photos of her to a newspaper, but hey, why wait until now?
I think that they are trying to make William look better with this trip: he was having fun but Kate was enjoying a vacation too. I don’t buy it.
Well well well the plot thickens. At least she didn’t make a public spectacle of herself, for a change.
The Fail has pap shots of them goi g to Terribly Rich James’s house for dinner. Her hair looked good in the pony tail, wish she would wear it like that in public. She seems to make an effort to look terrible in her over priced clothes during publi engagements..
This makes me think even more that the Mids threw him under the bus to hide her weekend away and boost her bad profile as the poor mum at home with the kids. A stretch I know but with this family u never know.
Am in a grumpy mood today so expect lots of snark. MacBook disc failed and lost lots of data. a new disc is not cheap.
You can snark at me today if you like, since I unloaded on you yesterday! Also, the Xbox One recovered after drying out. Sorry!
I honestly don’t care how many holidays they go on or what they do when they’re on them, pathetic dad dancing and ogling women included. I don’t care if they shag about or leave the kids with nannies (either the related or the employed kind).
I simply think they should put some effort into WORK.
Me too. They both could have come back for that church service.
I find it interesting that their press office let William twist in the wind on this one.
Exactly. Do the WORK first. Like the rest of us.
Yes! He got no back up at all, did he?
They can party until their brains fall out and go to events at terribly rich people’s houses until the cows come home. It is what royals do and have always done.
But they need to put in a solid twenty hours of work a week, every week, both of them. And big public events are part of work, ski weekends be damned.
Of course Pippa would have rescheduled in a heartbeat if Kate had requested it. So no excuse.
In this case, I think letting the story burn itself out was the best course to take. If William had apologized, he would have looked guilty. If he tried to make excuses for his behavior, he would have looked guilty. If he tried to use Kate’s trip as an excuse, he would have looked guilty. Dropping a few pics of the kids would have made him look guilty. Sometimes you just need to grin and bear it.
I agree with everyone, I see the real issue is that they need to buckle down for important functions and make routine public engagements in the UK.
Megan – you may be right there.
Suze – quite. It’s why I can stomach Chuck, even including the various attempts at lobbying. I have absolutely no interest in his dysfunctional marriage or whether he or Diana was to blame or if it was both of them. Whatever Chuck’s failings as a man, he has respected the quid pro quo of being a royal – you give genuine, measurable public service and in return you get a life of wealth and relative ease. As you say, twenty worthwhile hours a week is hardly asking much.
(All that said, hurry up the future republic!)
Quid pro quo, exactly right.
Chuck, Di, Prince Philip, HerMaj, they all understand, or understood, in Diana’s case, this very simple concept. I think Harry is getting an inkling.
William, in his quest to be that unicorn – a middle class man of leisure – has simply missed the memo. And his wife merrily bobs along in his wake.
@Sixer – aww glad to hear the Xbox is ok. Since i posted I visited the Mac whisperers who are going to work their mojo to resurrect it. A new disc isn’t as expensive as I thought. So phew!
ITA, if they worked more no one would complain about their vacations and her shopping habits.
I wonder who leaked this story – the fact that they both skipped Commonwealth Day to party in France is bad bad optics but she’s getting treated better over it. They could and should have made it back for the service, the fact that neither of them bothered shows their contempt for the institution they belong to and the one she spend 10 years clawing her way into.
She’s getting the same ‘non protection’ he did. They’ve pissed someone off.
Fingers crossed for the Mac! I am having the most wonderful day. First of the school holidays and I have no work on until it arrives tomorrow so am the poor fool who has let all the children in. I was lectured on the definition of toxic masculinity by a fourteen-year-old girl earlier. She may have over-egged her pudding. I LOVE KIDS. They just say what they like. Some of it’s arrant nonsense and some of it is truly insightful. It’s like a slapstick sitcom where you don’t know what you’ll get next.
If only all this Brexit shenanigans didn’t keep getting in the way – GIBRALTAR! PASSPORTS! – we might have seen them get a slightly rougher ride. But yes – nobody’s stepping in to stick up for them, are they?
My condolences on the Mac. They’re amazing machines – until something goes wrong. Because holy hell, they are pricey buggers to fix. This does remind me that I should probably go ahead and buy that 3TB external harddrive I saw on sale recently, though.
Aww thanks – yep when they fail they fail bigly!! It was 5 years old so I got a good run from it. I do love my mac.
Mines around the same – possibly a bit older. I’m kind of at the stage where I hope it just keeps hanging in there – but I’m not going to be surprised if it gives up anytime soon. Like you said – it’s been a good run.
My last MacBook died on me 3 weeks after purchase. Had to fight Apple for a replacement part (forget about a replacement computer). In the end I had to have it fixed somewhere else and sold it off for about 1/3 of the original price. I eventually purchased a Pro (not the latest model) and so far so good.
Cee I don’t know where you are in the world but in the UK I’m sure under the Sale of Goods Act you would be entitled to a replacement.
I’m in Argentina. Purchased in Miami and had to pay USD400 to have it sent to an Apple Store in Miami, where they insisted I did not have warranty (which I obviously did). It was the one time their Customer Care disappointed me.
I was recently mugged in Madrid and my iPhone was taken. I purchased a new one at an Apple Store and I got a discount. I suppose every Apple Store plays by its own rules.
@ Cee that is a bummer. I do understand from a course that I did that the Us consumer laws don’t apply to customer overseas who bought in the US, Though I stand to be corrected.
I got mugged in Barcelona some years back – I feel you pain!
@ Cee that is a bummer. I do understand from a course that I did that the Us consumer laws don’t apply to customer overseas who bought in the US, Though I stand to be corrected.
I got mugged in Barcelona some years back – I feel you pain!
So the constant excuse of Kate and wills not being able to work much because of ” having young kids” doesn’t seem to hold together for ski weekends away with pals?
Good to know.
It’s one long holiday for the young royals.
Why is it we can get or got William photos on holiday but NOT ONE of Kate ? All the photos being used in articles are old, they are not from the trip.
Somethig is missing in this story, Something is not being told. IMO
Was the trip REALLY on the same weekend or is this a new spin put out by someone, to help William a bit. Something is not fitting. JMO
Actually, Carole and Mike weren’t there. I’m not surprised Will didn’t foot the bill for the jet – has he ever even used his own coin? If it’s not the taxpayers, it’s the Queen, the POW or the Grosvenors.
I laughed at the part that made the point that the Mids paid for it, the new narrative around them is that they are very rich who can afford to pay for their own private jets, meaning it’s a comp from the terribly rich James who also happens to own a private jet.
There are several parts of this story I am not buying. I believe it happened, I’m just not sure it was the same time as William’s as someone wants us to believe.
Still no photos, yet of Kate on the ski trip, yet lots of photos of William’s trip.
Was Pippa told to leak that it was the same time, to help cover PW’s holiday away too? I hate being so suspicious with William and Kate , but this whole story is so clumsy with not one photo yet and PR handled so badly.
I really wonder how the British monarchy will be when TQ and Charles are gone. Maybe people used to hold their opinons back about the royals but that has changed, esp. since Brexit. William and George will go through tough royal times.
I do think that the British press (opinion formers) will need a new target once their Big Bugbear of the EU is out of the picture. But I wouldn’t get excited about the potential for anti-Royal crusades. There are plenty of hate targets ahead of them in the tabloid queue – and they’re the same as they ever were: unemployed people, disabled people, single mothers, second gen immigrants, non-white people, yadda ad infinitum.
It’ll take a long time before the pitchforks ever reach Bill and Katie Keen in any serious way.
People who supported Brexit are more likely to be supporters of the monarchy. Never forget that.
I’ve never subscribed to that Brexit-then-Rexit belief. Brexiteers seem to think that the height of British patriotism is supporting the monarchy. Heck, they’re trying to bring back that money pit called Brittania!
Agreed, Sixer. As much as we moan about W&K, the monarchy will survive. The grey men will make sure of that.
Brexit then Rexit seems to be a largely American imagining, I think. I mean, I suppose it makes cultural sense to an American but it really misses the cultural understandings in Britishers.
I think the monarchy will go eventually. But eventually will be generations and generations coming. It’ll retreat slowly into less and less significance and disappear by slow attrition. There won’t be some great big Rexit conflagration led with pitchforks.
Sixer , that is so not true, I think there are a lot of people that are Brexitiers, that also find the monarchy nauseating!!!
msthang – I’m sure *some* Leave voters are also republicans. Of course they are. But you’ll find that in any demographic. The Leave vote correlates strongly with support for the monarchy. And with support for reintroduction of the death penalty, for that matter.
Then how to you explain that most of the people who comment on DM are Brexiteers and yet make such hateful comments about the RF, going on and on moaning about the few pence in tax they pay a year to support the monarchy. It drives me crazy, like a broken record.
PrincessK, posters on the DM are often the tiniest subset of wingnuts, not a true across-the-board representative sample.
notasugarhere, actually you are quite right DM posters are not representative but they do unfortunately have influence because DM online has worldwide popularity, and many do feel that it represents the British public opinion. Never underestimate the power of the media to manipulate. I actually think that the editorial board of the Daily Mail needs a shake up because they have really descended into the gutter. But I suppose they are making far too much money right now through click bait.
PrincessK – as Nota says, the Fail is not representative. It operates as a repository of online hate from around the world. That is its only purpose.
But more importantly: support for the monarchy does not equal support for individual members and their individual actions. Two very different things.
If you don’t understand why a Leave votes correlates with likely support for retaining the monarchy, you don’t really understand much about British culture, you know? It’s a similar thing to a Republican vote in the US corresponding with a greater likelihood to support lower taxes. Just obvious received wisdom.
At present, about 70% of the UK public favour retaining the monarchy. This isn’t necessarily a ringing endorsement of the monarchy. A lot of it is inertia – it ain’t that broke, so why go to the trouble of fixing it? And also down to hatred of the political class here – politicians reliably come bottom of every trust/profession poll. The BRF has no political power, the view goes, so why replace it with yet another layer of corrupt, venal politicians to get a power grab out of it? The referendum has had no effect on these views and thus has no bearing on whether a Rexit is more or less likely.
There aren’t many ardent royalists here. There aren’t many ardent republicans either. But those who are ardent royalists are orders of magnitude more likely to have voted Leave than Remain in the recent referendum.
I think QE2 is it. Just a hunch.
Luca76 I think it will last far longer than the Queen, but with decreasing significance For each generation. There are issues that go beyond the UK, eg the Commonwealth, and they can’t be just turned off overnight.
On the long run: Pippa won.
Definitely. Own jet? Check. Mansion in posh part of London? Check. Scottish hunting pile? Check. Access to posh hotels and resorts? Check. No need to work? Check. Up next: I definitely see her starting to collect haute couture.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Pippa winds up doing more charity stuff than waity!
@Jumpingthesnark: Pippa does more charity than Waity, the funny thing is: she does not have to do it. She does it because she likes it, she feels it.
I sometimes wonder whether Kate looks at her sister and goes “F*ck the title, all I wanted was this.” Nobody will criticise Pippa if she chooses not to work and have babies. And they shouldn’t. She doesn’t owe the public anything.
Kate still wins though, she has the life of luxury *and* the title. Nobody has to curtsy to Pippa or call her Her Highness. She’s just the daughter of an air hostess who’s about to marry into money. Kate’s the Duchess and the future Queen! And if she was any bothered about criticism, she probably would’ve tried harder to please. She just lives in a bubble surrounded by yes-sayers.
I realise that this is probably preaching to the converted, but neither of these two wasters have won anything. Just because Kate owes some duties to the public and Pippa will not, does not mean that they are productive members of society. I want little girls to grow up wanting to have careers, not to marry wealthy men.
But that’s a matter of perspective. If your mom is Carole, you were probably raised to aspire to a different kind of status and wealth. And let’s be real, you can make a lot of money on your own but the kind of money and connections these two have married and will marry are hard to come by through work. Especially if you’re a woman. Not impossible but “snatching” a man who comes with it already is probably a little easier.
I think Pippa especially must feel like she’s hit the jackpot. And they probably are really in love, I’m not saying she’s marrying him solely for the money. But her dating pool was never guys who work regular jobs for regular income. So they most likely (hopefully, actually) think they’ve won. I have NO issue whatsoever with Pippa’s game.
I have to disagree. At least Pippa does a lot of charity work and raises money for her causes (marathons, bike races, fund raisers, etc.). KM doesn’t even do that.
Sure, but as an objective standard, I despise Carole’s way of thinking. Money is not a goal. You can accomplish a lot of good things with money, like Bill Gates, JK Rowling and the Zuckerbergs have done. But the money itself does not have valuable moral force: it is not a worthwhile goal to be pursued.
@Tina
i think for Carole money is just part of what her master plan was about. She wanted Kate, in particular, to snag William for both the money and the status. She wants to brag about the Lambridges’ wealth but she also wants to be related to royalty with her daughter being a future Queen Consort (gag!) and her grandson being a future King. Then, of course, some kind of title for herself/ Middletons. (Ugh!)
You wait, Pippa will cease all charity work once the gold band is on. It was a la Megan markles. You only do it to meet rich men.
@Lisa, but again, what I’m saying is that I don’t value that kind of status. I value Winston Churchill because of what he accomplished, not because of the family into which he was born. I value the people who belong to the Order of Merit (James Dyson, Ann Dowling, Simon Rattle, David Hockney, Neil MacGregor, Tim Berners-Lee, David Attenborough, Tom Stoppard, Norman Foster, Betty Boothroyd, etc) because of their accomplishments. I respect aristocrats who have made something of the heritage which they were given (last Duke of Westminster, present Earl of Carnarvon) but social status alone is meaningless and uninteresting, to me.
Yes and I think the James and Pippa actually love each other, they at least can stand to be in the same space together.
Naah, I don’t think Kate is jealous of her sister.
Waity is all about STATUS. In England, being married to the ‘Future King’ is IT.
Now in the States, you can be married to lots of different Kings.
King of Hollywood
King of Indie music
King of organic farming
King of organic marijuana farming
and so on.
For Kate her future is and always will be ‘King George’.
But if the metric of success is material comfort and an eaze pass out of the disappearing middle class, I’d say they both won.
Yep, that’s exactly right.
Someday I hope to be married to the King of Organic Marijuana Farming
Lol @Shambles. Dream big my friend, dream big 😉
Pippa SO won.
I wonder if, now that the differences in their lifestyles are so apparent, Kate secretly wishes that she’d also just gone for a wealthy aristo. No work, no scrutiny…
Sure, she has the title, but as time goes on and she sees how Pippa’s life plays out, she might have some regrets, deep down.
Tell me, why did TR James agree to marry Pippa, ….because she will make herself a very visible sister in law and aunt to two future Kings of England. Is he a snob? He must realise that she would not have looked at him twice if he was not so rich, and he probably wasn’t even her third choice. I also cannot get over the fact that Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward all have in laws who have largely kept themselves out of the public eye. The way the Middletons compete with the RF for headlines is really unbelievable. One has to go back centuries to find a comparison for this type of behaviour.
To the Boleyns and the Seymours, and we know how that ended up for those women. 🙂
When will they rename the House of Windsor to the House of Middleton? Carole makes sure that Wills and George are 100% Middletons.
Gary said , Carole would joke that they would name a Goldsmith Wing when William and Kate married.
Should that be Gold Digger Wing?
LOL, yes,
Also maybe a Social climbing gold digging wing too?
Would be interesting to know how much these trips cost. Alone the security part must have been expensive.
Similar to Tony Blair’s security costs to the nation?
Getting rid of monarchy wouldn’t decrease the security costs of a prime minister, as right now there is both a monarchy and a prime minister. Did you mean Theresa May and her husband? Small number of people to secure.
The royals have 12-14 working members, all protected with taxpayer-funded security. Ditto the massive private properties of Sandringham and Balmoral, plus Anne’s Gatcombe and possibly Andrew’s Swiss chalet. It is possible those are all secured with taxpayer money.
So there was never a poor Catherine, it’s all smoke and mirrors when it comes to the royals. I’m glad that I don’t have to pay for those two lazy, work-shy losers.
IMO – I agree. What a joke all those stories were, no wonder she liked totally fine when they made their first public appearance at the Irish Guards together a few days later.
I really don’t know what to think about the Middletons.. seems like it wasn’t very smart to let them join the RF.
This dysfunctional family is more entertaining than some soap operas.
For all that Kate doesn’t pull her weight and her mother is pretentious, the Middletons seem basically close knit, not dysfunctional. The Royals seem worse.
They look plenty dysfunctional to me. Raising daughters to do nothing more than sleep their way to money? Raising three adult children who cannot support themselves and constantly need bailing out or financial support from the dodgy uncle? I see three people coddled into extended adolescence and a co-dependent family.
I think the Middleton’s are horrid and dysfunctional as ever. Carole pushed her daughter to go back to a cheater, at least two times during the relationship-dating years.
I guess I see dysfunctional in a different way. They seem to be all the things you say, but I see dysfunctional as more damaging. Was it damaging to raise Kate to be dependent on a man for self-esteem? Probably. I guess I see dysfunctional as being constantly in a state of conflict, of not functioning as a family unit. They do seem to function as a family unit, but one in which the children would have functioned better as independent adults had they been raised differently.
IE a functional family but one that raised somewhat dysfunctional adults.
It’s Monday.
A co-dependent, insular family with no friends – so they invited strangers from the village to fill out their empty side of the church? Screams dysfunctional to me.
But they are dysfunctional and, most of all, users. The biggest user/ manipulator of them all of Carole. She seems to have super micro-managed her children’s lives to seek out rich people to use for her own ends. All three seem pathologically attached to Carole, especially Kate. They can’t seem to function without her constant input and then to bail them out when when it all hits the fan (see the gross Uncle Gary). For all the expensive education and connections, none of the three Midds kids have accomplished much on their own. Have either of the girls ever worked or supported themselves. Have any of them set up their own households or paid for anything themselves or is everything always comped? And like the classic users, it seems they shed any friendships because they use people for their own ends while probably laughing behind their backs. Awful family.
I dont agree – Carole raised three adults who do not pull their own weight as adults. None of them really worked, they mooch off of their parents and others. Carole seems to want to be the center of their useless existences. Sounds pretty darn dysfunctional to me.
And popping out a future “king,” who will also be useless, is not an accomplishment. Sorry.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Carole was with Pippa and Kate. Does Kate ever do anything without her?
The full Sun article reveals Will got so drunk the staff wouldn’t let him ski, they were so worried he’d hurt himself. IMO the real story. Once again William got ridiculously drunk, last time he chipped a tooth. This time he had to be removed from the slopes for his own protection.
interesting how we’re told what freebies they got when the press were just attacking Meghan last week for accepting swag at events.
Still trying to figure out why this was leaked. it wasn’t the resort as where they stayed wasn’t reveled. Which leaves the Middletons/Cambridges. But why? Instead of William leaving his family to enjoy a boys trip, both of them left their children to party, knowing they were going to be away for the majority of 2 days later in the week.They only got back late Monday. Hard to use the kids as an excuse when you willingly leave them behind so many times. There’s nothing to gain from this.
Exactly. Why is this story being leaked? And why now? Was Bill upset that the press is still giving him bad press over the Verbier trip? Or that Sophie Taylor is milking her 15 minutes of fame on the Fail?
Exactly, WHY is it leaked now, and just after the weekend dinner with Pippa and the fiancée? Was it huddled together between PW , Kate, Pippa to leak it now?
Also WHY NO PHOTOS OF Kate on the actual holiday. All the ski photos are old.
We got William holiday photos, dancing, etc, but oddly NOT ONE of Kate on holiday? Odd.
It could be an employee who just wanted to make some money off the story.
It doesn’t make sense for anyone from W or K’s camps to have leaked this because it makes both of them look bad. (Especially the detail about William being too drunk to get down the mountain. 🙄)
Putting the spin on it that she thinks his drinking is funny? That counters the stories about her being furious when he got so drunk at a wedding a couple years ago that he fell and broke a tooth.
We don’t know if this trip really happened, but releasing the info that 1) she was partying at the same time too and 2) she thinks his drinking is funny could be pro-William spin from the Middletons.
I think it just came out because we are getting close to Pippa’s wedding, isn’t it 7 weeks away? And with that dinner party over the weekend, the press probably asked when they would be having a stag night etc. Didn’t that Sun article also say that Pippa & James would head to his family’s island hotel prior to the wedding to relax and prepare? So they had to do the hen party well in advance.
I still find it odd, we have photos, video of William’s ski weekend, but NOT ONE photo or video of Kate on the ski weekend. All of the photos are old.
…and this was supposedly found out by one source, but no other proof except word of one source. The story is missing some parts imo.
Was it really the SAME weekend? I’m JUST curious but there is no proof of this trip anywhere except from one source to the Sun.
True Mika, without pictures we don’t know for sure. Its sounds like they were more off the beaten path, so paps wouldn’t have been there.
William’s holiday photos weren’t taken by papz, most were taken by regular people who loaded them on social media or sold them. If Kate was on holiday it’s just odd not one photo , even a blurry photo from the actual time the paper is saying.
I’m hoping someone loads one now, maybe Pippa will.
They went on a skiing holiday to France in the first year of marriage. No mention at all in the press, no paps saw them. Only one cell phone picture taken by another skier of them sitting at a picnic table at a ski resort. We know they went to France this summer, but no pics. Many times they are able to get away with no one knowing or getting evidence.
I dont’ know as much about Pippa’s social life/ability to keep friends, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the hen party was *just* Kate, Pippa, and Carole
BINGO
The ‘private, very small party’, if it happened at all, most likely comprised Pippa, Kate and Carole. Can’t see them sharing gossi about William to ‘friends’ plus they seem not to have any or many.
So much for all the speculation about William making Kate keep a low profile so she doesn’t overshadow him. If she doesn’t make an appearance, it’s of her own will.
I haven’t seen too many candid photos of Kate but from what I have seen she seems to have her hair up way more often than in her public appearances. Which makes me believe that her hair is some sort of psychological curtain she hides behind when she has to face the public.
And of course she’s wearing the off-the-shoulder dress like that, in a granny neckline.
Bill Middleton is funny. But untrue. Prince Williams middle-class pretensions are just that. They are all one percenters and behave accordingly.
The sad part is he believes that he is being middleclass, that’s how out of touch he is.
I bet they often leave the children with the nannies and/or their grandmother. Didn’t they take a 2-week-vacation when George was very small?
Yes, 10 days in the Maldives when he was 8-months-old.
I loved to watch their wedding and so on but man, Kate and Wills are so useless. They should just get rid of the monarchy after HM has passed away.
I found their wedding stiff and boring.
Even though Diana’s wedding was a disaster, I like seeing both Diana and Sarah’s Ferguson’s wedding. Even Sophie and Edward’s wedding was very nice.
I agree, it was a bit boring but I loved the church decorations etc.
@EXO: I am curious about your name. Do you mean the Kpop group?
LOL yes, my sister loves them. I’m so uncreative when it comes to usernames, so I used that ^^
@EXO: tell your sister she has great taste;)
Pippa’s family met Matthew’s? Did I understand that correctly? Because that’s so strange to me. The families don’t meet for the first time one month before the wedding.
Eh, she gets a pass from me for attending her sister’s bachelorette party. Wills should have stayed home with the kids, though, and attended the Commonwealth Day. I would feel differently if these two never “got away” from the kids (I wouldn’t begrudge them a break, my husband and I get a weekend away from the kiddos 3-4 weekends a year), but we know they get away all. the. time. So, no sympathy from this corner.
But, lord knows, they probably don’t think they did anything wrong and it’s all the media’s fault.
Andrew (6th in line) was also skiing in Verbier that weekend and made it back for the Commonwealth Day events. No reason why these two couldn’t have made it back in time too.
Exactly. Andrew got back. They could have too.
Andrew is a pretty low bar to have to get over. How sad.
Um, I can’t believe I’m saying this, because I am no Kate fan (granted, I’ve always disliked Wills more), but…
You’re not going to miss your sister’s bachelorette party if you can help it (I missed mine, but I was living halfway across the country and was having seizures at the time, so it’s a bit different). So yeah, Kate has a decent excuse.
Will, on the other hand, not so much.
Also, I’m sorry, Britain, but “Hen Party”? Really? Like… Why…? It makes me think of that scene in the Music Man where all the town matrons are gossiping about Marion. Chk-a-little, talk-a-little, chk-a-little, talk-a-little, cheep cheep cheep…
I don’t know, maybe the connotations are different across the pond, but the name comes off a bit chauvinistic.
You know Pippa would have rescheduled in an instant if her sister ever had any intention of attending the ceremony. I am sure neither Cambridges ever considered working for an instant. They put themselves and their leisure above all else.
It’s not as if Kate, or Pippa, work every weekend and can barely schedule time away. They could gone any weekend.
I agree that “hen party” is gross. And since when do they have to be two or three day trips? It used to be an evening out. (I know that it’s common among the peasants, too. It does get excessive, though.)
Oh, I think Pippa would have rescheduled. But I don’t give Kate enough credit to think she would have remembered when Commonwealth Day was in time for Pippa to reschedule. I honestly believe she probably only got a reminder mid-jet-flight.
True! She probably remembered when she saw the press reports.
No way. Commonwealth Day would be on their schedule. They have a staff and a calendar. The only reason they missed this is because they wanted to do their own thing.
US has Bachelorettes, Britain has a Hen Party, and in Canada we call the women’s pre-wedding party a Stagette.
Yes, and the British name sounds chauvinistic.
I agree, WendyNerd, but I think comparing women to animals isn’t much more chauvinistic than adding -ette to a word associated with men. If we must use suffixes, lets bring back the -ix, as in aviatrix, dominatrix, etc.
No Narak you hear hen party in some parts of Canada. A hen party in a rumpus room but that’s British Columbia.
It’s stag and hen in the UK. So both animal names. Mr Sixer and I had a joint night out with our friends instead a few days before the wedding. Don’t like either name – they seem equally insulting.
Agree the diminutive of -ette in the US terminology is equally chauvinistic.
Don’t see why “trix” is less chauvinistic. Also, quite frankly, I actually do find comparisons to animals more insulting. Big time. How is it not, exactly? Seriously. I mean, you want to debate the problems with gendered suffixes, fine. But that doesn’t put it NEARLY in the same class as literally referring to women animals.
Please, explain this to me. How is being called a “hen” not more offensive than being called a bachelorette. I’m all ears.
Because in the UK the man’s one is a male animal and the women’s one is a female animal!
I think they both describe stereotypical views of gender and thus are both either anachronistic or insulting, depending how much levels of such still extant in language and custom annoy you.
Like I say, Mr Sixer and I thought the very idea of a party for him with only men at it and a party for me with only women at it was just silly. We basically had the exact same friends. So we had a pre-wedding party for all our friends TOGETHER. And didn’t call it by any stupid name.
Sixer, I like your idea of one pre-wedding party. I think here in the USA, the bachelor parties are often times an excuse for the guys to get really drunk and be out of control………..sometimes in horrid ways. I’ve also been to a few bachelorette parties where things got pretty crazy, too. The whole thing is just odd, imo. But one big party before the wedding sounds like a great time!
If the male one is named after a male animal, then what’s the issue anyways?
And why is the female equivalent of a Stag party not called a “Doe”? Why isn’t the male party called a “Cock Party”?! THAT SHOULD BE A THING.
I guess I’ve never had a problem with “ette”?
I just keep getting more confused by this. Though I agree the one wedding party thing is nice. Wedding showers are always cool.
Wendy – I just think that we live in a society that has been patriarchal for millennia so language and customs have evolved around that. Gradually, it’s disappearing but it doesn’t happen overnight. So, in the meantime, we all live messy, complex lives and we all pick and choose which language and which traditions piss us off and which we just enjoy because, you know, we enjoy them regardless of their origin. I doubt there will be stag and hen or bachelor and bachelorette parties in a hundred years time – something more appropriate will have evolved by then.
FWIW – I might not have had a hen party, but I did wear a white dress – symbolising virginity for heavens sake, and I’d left virginity behind a decade before I got married. No rhyme or reason to why I rejected one and accepted the other. Just did what I felt like doing at the time, you know?
Cock party is a brilliant idea. They should be called that.
In some parts of Canada there is a party called a “stag and doe” which is a fundraising party before the wedding, designed to help pay for it. Terminology is fascinating.
Andrew was also in Switzerland and made it back in time for the Commonwealth event. No excuse for W&K not to make it back in time too.
But surely the Queen had enough support during the event, the presence of W and K would have been surplus to requirements IMO.
When the third couple of the land is surplus to requirement while taking 4 million a year out of the Duchy, 200,000 a year each year in new clothes, 7 million for a house redo, and millions more for the house redo at Anmer?
They can go support themselves if they don’t want to do the job that rewards them so richly. There was no excuse for them to miss this. They missed it because they are lazy and selfish.
When I first saw those photos of W&K outside I thought they were in the Caribbean. Sunny and green shrubbery……Nice mild London winter huh.
Indeed, we’re having a lovely start to spring in the UK. It was about 17 degrees Celsius in London this weekend (about 62F), so not balmy but if you’re just going from car to house, no need for a coat.
These two are idiots. Was there no other weekend for these ski parties? Commonwealth Day is on the calendar every freaking year. It’s a holiday. As future monarch and consort, these two should have planned accordingly. They should have been at the services. I don’t care if Pippa is Kate’s only sister. Neither of them work. It could have been scheduled for…this weekend or last weekend, when they did nothing.
I’m thrilled the RF isn’t protecting either of them. Let them continue to dig that hole.
I thought royals aren’t allowed to accept freebies?
Wow what does that show to the Commonwealth realms when both william and Kate would rather ski than go to Commonwealth Day.
I’m one of the few who’s convinced that William wouldn’t have wanted Kate to attend that service anyways. The girlfriend years have taught us that Kate is perfectly happy NOT to work, but they’ve also taught us that she’s willing to hustle where William is concerned. If William wanted her at that church service (or wanted her to be doing more royal work in general), she’d be there. Kate’s presence would have drawn even more attention to his absence.
Perhaps she only hustled when she had to convince him (or the royal family) that she’d be a valuable asset? I do agree that if William asked her to do more, she’d be doing more. But I don’t believe she’s being actively discouraged from working. She takes her cues from William and if events like these are not important to him, they’re not important to her either.
With regards to the reports that Carole and Michael weren’t at the dinner, my theory is that they were there but weren’t papped as they were staying the night at James’s house.
Good theory—I can’t picture Carole missing out on that dinner, especially with her beloved boy wonder William present
It’s possible that only Carole attended and she didn’t want to be papped without Michael because it would confirm that they are basically separated.
They are part of such a wealthy, entitled group – private jet to a hen party and ski weekend. Wonder who paid for that?
The article says the Middleton’s did but I suspect it was Terribly Rich James as he owns a jet, it was probably his jet. The Mids are not as wealthy as they like to pretend they are and this story has been dressed to make it look like they are and can pay their own way. They’ve hit the financial jackpot with TR James.
Weird I always thought William and Kate were wealthy. Why do they rely on so many people?
James owns a jet according to earlier reports.
I don’t think Kate has any of her own money, she never worked. She lived off of her parents. I don’t believe the Middleton’s are as wealthy as some would like to believe, they were always borrowing houses, yachts, etc from Uncle Gary his Villa, from Jigsaw owner her Caribbean place, and other things. etc.
Someone who works on is fashion once told me, during the dating years, Kate’s fascinators[hats many were borrowed from hat makers or freebies. Also many of the Middleton women’s clothes were supposedly freebies, shared by all the women, but sent to Kate, whatever she didn’t want or take was passed to mom and Pip. All kept on the down low from the public during the dating years.
Mika, what about William? He got money from his mom and grandmother. Why does he rely on friends?
@kitty. William is notoriously tight with money and is just as bad as the Mids for asking and accepting freebies. He once called an owner of a chalet on Mustique asking to use it for free. He also loved to use his late godfathers private jet again he didn’t pay for it.
With the lifestyle they have his inheritance wouldn’t go far.
James probably has a jet now he was advertising his company n Facebook (strange ) is that allowed
Digital, do you think Diana did the same thing?
James Middleton company that is – can’t see how James M would have a jet –
So that makes Carole a pimp and her daughters essentially, prostitutes. This Pimp Carole is selling her daughters to the highest bidders in exchange for a luxury lifestyle paid for by the dumbasses that marry her completely ordinary daughters. They are Kardashians but with fascinators
There’s wealthy and then there’s wealthy. A person who makes £3m a year couldn’t afford a private jet (except that thing where you come back from other people’s holidays & can’t make your own plans), but someone making £30m per year (TR JM) could.
Betti,
A private plane is nice (it’s a single engine prop that you couldn’t pay me enough to fly on). How could all those folks fit into? It’s likely configured for 6. So will and two markets and the Middleton coven?
I’m not sure what it is about the colour of William’s blue suit but I can’t stand it. A dark blue suit you can’t go wrong but then we’re dealing with a knuckle head knuckle dragger so keen to display a moose knuckle so yeah William you must wear an ugly blue suit with a tired comb-over and bonus! A special smirk just for photographers.
Just an aside, Ms Markle’s half sister is writing a tell all about her, saying she doesn’t support her family. That must mean she doesn’t pay their way, you gotta love families, isn’t that extortion ??
Such a bitter step-sister. I see no reason why someone should be required to pay the way of her 16-years-older stepsister with whom she hasn’t had a relationship in years.
I think that Meghan’s sister is nothing but a nutcase, and all the sh*t she is trying to throw around is going to boomerang right back into her face. She has nothing to tell that is going to make any difference except to make her appear even more revolting, she really must be totally stupid. I would not be surprised if she ends up having a nervous breakdown and gets sectioned.
LOL they must think she has Halle Berry money pls Meghan is not even the lead actress on that show. Besides no one required to take care of grown people especially relatives they don’t have much of an relationship with.
Ms Markle’s sister is backing down saying the tabloids have sensationalized the story, she says it won’t be that kind of book, she won’t be slamming anyone, just a book about her take on the family. What a narcissist, entltitled woman. It says something when her 72 yr old mother says she’s a liar and she’s been dogging Ms Markle for yrs. I figured by the time Meghan came along daddy was making money and she was treated to private schools, prep and university and was brought up in San Fernando Valley, while no Beverly Hills not exactly cheap either. Yes jealousy and bitterness run amok
It made me just feel sorry for Meghan to have such a bitter sister.
I think a couple of things about the Midds are weird: that Pippa and Kate are never photographed together anymore. Neither are Carol and Michael, and it’s odd they weren’t at this party.
I would like to know how out of nowhere the press are outside James Mathews house, are they tipped off by someone internally? Interesting that Wills actually has been rarely seen since the verbier weekend hit the papers, but goodness I wonder how he faced Kate’s family after his moving shaking and waist grabbing weekend. Poor girl must have just brushed it aside and put on a United front. James M seems so hopelessly in love with Pippa I don’t think he would even consider getting on the dance floor with another woman on a bachelor boys weekend. Does Kate never have a night or day off from wearing heels on her days off.
Pippa and James Mathews are papped all of the time outside of their house in Chelsea–there are constantly photos of her walking their dogs, out running etc. So I don’t find that very surprising that paps are in the vicinity and caught the photos of Kate and Will going to the house.
Why did she get a new dress for this…?
Just because you haven ‘t seen it before doesn’t mean it is new!! 🙂
Hmmm…lots of anti royal sentiments on here. As far as I am concerned Princes and Princesses are supposed to wear expensive clothes and have lots of holidays, otherwise what is the point of being royal. You can hardly call William a playboy, far too square for that. Also I could not see anything wrong with the way he was dancing, I would like to see all the people complaining about this dad dancing nonsense get up on the floor. Both Charles and Diana liked to dance and I am happy that their sons do not have English inhibitions about letting it all hang out. I dearly hope that all these nasty comments will not put William off public dancing in future, especially as he is a bit shy compared to Harry.
PrincessK, courtesy of the tax payers of course, meanwhile a whole lotta folks can’t turn their lights on or do I pay for food or drugs this month, with the state of the economy it’s not the time to party like it is 1999, people are hurting, while this lot lives high on the hog!!!
I hope William publicly dances a lot too.
Is there a problem with an English or UK prince acting according to English or UK cultural norms (or stereotypes in your example)?
This isn’t Disney and it isn’t a fairy tale. Princes and Princesses who support themselves could do whatever they want, as long as they’re not breaking any laws. When every penny of their life as government representatives is paid by the taxpayers (including the Duchy which ultimately belongs to the people)? They are required to work for their supper (homes, vacations, security, clothes).