Soon after Queen Elizabeth cancelled her trip to Northern Ireland, various royal commentators pointedly suggested that this is the moment for the heirs to step up in a bigger way. Prince Charles already does 400-plus events every year, and clearly he’s been taking over even more in recent years, establishing himself as the Shadow Regent. But there is a notable chasm between the Queen and Charles’ schedules and the schedules of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. William and Kate have not been seen since Tuesday, and that was for a “private reception” for the Diana statue. I still say that they should have been sent to Northern Ireland in place of the Queen, because clearly they didn’t have anything on their schedules (or nothing that couldn’t have been delayed). And in the immediate sense, it will look even worse because the Cambridges are about to take next week off too.
Kate Middleton and Prince William have had a busy few weeks, between the inaugural Earthshot Prize awards over the weekend and Kate delivering the keynote speech for her patronage The Forward Trust’s “Taking Action on Addiction” campaign. But the couple’s schedule will likely be much lighter next week — so they can spend time with their three children.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis’ schools are on half-term break from Thursday, October 21, until Friday, October 29. As they typically do, Kate and William slow down their royal schedules during school vacations so they can be with their children.
Prince George, 8, and Princess Charlotte, 6, attend school together at Thomas’s Battersea, a short distance from the family’s Kensington Palace home in London. Meanwhile, 3-year-old Prince Louis began at Willcock’s Nursery School (his sister’s alma mater!) in the spring.
There’s no word yet on how the family of five will be spending their week off. Kate, William and their kids may leave London’s Kensington Palace for Anmer Hall in Norfolk. They often escape to their country home — and it’s even where they chose to pose together for their super casual 2018 Christmas card photo and again for their 2020 holiday card.
While I know Kate prioritizes time with her kids and all of that, Will and Kate only came “back to work” last month, after a two-month summer holiday. Their “back to work” schedules are not really loaded either – they’ve averaged maybe two or three events a week separately. And now the Queen is cancelling tours and being hospitalized overnight and the Keens are like “see ya, we’re going to Norfolk!!” It will be very curious next week to see if the Cambridges are in the wind while the Queen is cancelling appearances and events.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
I mean… what’s zero minus zero?
Salty Island is getting exactly what they deserve from William/Kate….ZERO….NOTHING
@MMadison Why do we deserve it? We’ve had this conversation before. There are ca. 67m of us. There are four nations. We are 15% minorities. We don’t deserve this shower. We don’t deserve our government. We deserve better.
Incidentally, I think that the Queen is on her way out – I’ll be very surprised if she makes it beyond the end of the month.
@Andrew’s Nemesis: So sorry that you live on Salty Island. I can’t do anything about how your homeland is seen to others in the world. Your concerns should be directed at the British Media and the BRF. They project this negative and racist view of your country to the rest of the world. 100% certain you deserve better.
As far as your Queen, I really pray for her health and that she is allowed to have some peace. I don’t understand that her subjects would be so selfish to deny this women to live as she would like to for her remaining years.
From the bottom of my heart I am asking everyone here not to buy the Murdoch/Putin campaign to further break up post WWII alliances and turn Americans against Brits. Let us all be humble about what we as citizens “deserve” because of our press and leaders. We Americans may well be sitting in the eye of the autocracy hurricane at this very moment. We barely shook off fascism ourselves, and a great number of our fellow citizens “asked” for the horrors of fascism by voting for Trump and still do with their anti-vax death cults. We have nothing to feel smug about. Brits are mostly victims of very well coordinated propaganda that is currently destroying their economy and way of life. Americans will have to work extremely hard not to be next. Please don’t lose your humanity and compassion in these dark times.
@Gruey Thank you for your deep and inciteful comment. Both our nations are suffering under the malign hand of current and former proto-fascistic forces. Still, I agree that we should fight the good fight and keep those alliances alive. We’ve striven and survived enormous challenges together, and long may that last.
@MMadison – your comment is far too partisan. Take a lesson from Gruey.
Not sure where posters live but I don’t think the U.K. needs any tips on not being racist from the US.
@Gruey……there is more than a “campaign” at work here. The focus of my discussion has been on the treatment of WOC by the British Royal Family, British People and the British Press. I don’t see how any of this has anything to do with Putin. Surely Putin didn’t make the British Press and BRF racist?
I don’t think Americans are anti British. I think that’s just the feeling on this site, mostly due to the royals vs the Sussex’s and the fact most of what’s being read is from the tabloids.
As an Arab living in the UK, I know how it feels to have people hating your country based on what they’ve seen in the media, or because they’ve visited and decided your people are doing it all wrong, and theirs have it right.
People are more alike than they’d ever admit, no matter where in the world you go. They all just want their families to be happy and healthy. That’s the bottom line.
We can’t judge and entire nation, based on the actions of a few, especially when those few have more power and the loudest voices. The British media thrives on creating fear and hatred. I am sure they have motives behind this. But I also see so much vitriol towards the UK on here, and for what? Because of a family feud and a media with an agenda?
Mmadsin I appreciate your comments and get what you are saying. not to get all conspiracy theory on you (and you don’t need to be a conspiracist because it’s all out in the open) but Murdoch and Putin are intimately connected (as is trump—just read about the life and times of Wendy Deng for the tip of the iceberg) and, while Murdoch didn’t make the UK racist, he is exploiting and amplifying racism for kleptocratic ends. Just like Fox News here uses racism as the Trojan horse to get people to accept their own impoverishment at the hands of corporate or mobbed up kleptocrats. Feeding racism promotes the kinds of tribalism that results in Brexit, the weakening of labor and regulations, and the weakening of democracy itself. And yes, Putin and Murdoch are explicitly working together to break up old democratic allies and weaken democracies. Far more skilled reporters and politicians than me are sounding this alarm. Hell, Hillary Clinton has said the exact same thing.
So yes, I believe Murdoch, who is behind all of this, is playing a deeper game than just generating revenue through clicks. Harry and Meghan are a cultural wedge issue, just like any racist hysteria pushed by Fox News.
Anyway, I understand the disgust that comes with feeling like a nation of people pushed out Harry and Meghan. I just think that’s an illusion successfully created by the RR, just like the rabid anti-vax or q anon movement here (which “seem” real) is actually the creation of mostly Russian propaganda and now brainwashed people are running with it. Anyway I know this is heavy stuff, and I don’t want to preach. I just want people to be careful when saying things like “oh Brits deserve” or “southerners deserve”.
@Annetommy: In fact it is the USA history and continuation of racism that givens its citizen the right to identify and call it out when they see it….that’s what we do so we can defeat it and keep it at bay. You have to call it out and must not ignore it.
@GRUEY: If you have followed my comments in the past you would know that I understand how the Murdoch empire works not only in the USA, UK but also in Australia. So I get it. However, the BRF can’t blame them for their racism nor can anyone else. Those who don’t have racist beliefs can see FOX News, Daily Fail, New York Post and so many other news sources coming out of the USA, UK and Australia for what they are those that are racist at heart fall in line. This is coming from an American born and raised in the South. I know racism when I see it and I will call it out if it comes from the USA, UK or Australia. To simply say it is Murdoch and Putin is giving the racist who believe in that BS a pass….I’m not going to give it to them…NEVER! That includes the British Royal Family…and yes they are a bunch of RACIST!
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Royal commentators may have said to send W/K or C/C to NI in place of the queen, but I’m sure the palace advisors were so f’ing relieved to be not associated with that church service. Talk about bad optics, the whole thing has been a hotbed of political commentary here since it was announced. Its meant to ‘celebrate’ 100 years of partition. Completely divisive considering it was the forming of a sectarian state by the British govt, and led to so many lives being lost in the civil rights conflict that eventually erupted as a result of the discrimination against the catholic community in NI. This thing could have been handled better by the churches, but if I was the BRF I’d have stayed well away too.
Thank you @mynameispearl
Honestly I feel like they tricked the queen into going by saying Michael D was going to accept, when he turned it down (quite rightly) it left the queen in a sticky spot. She obviously is genuinely unwell, but it was lucky she had a diplomatic way of disassociating with that thing.
Beautifully said!
Oh…Thank you! Explains so much.
But didn’t the Irish PM say “no” a while ago? The queen was the last minute “no”, not him. They had notice he wasn’t attending.
He did say no a whole ago, but he was presumed a dead cert to attend, and the queen had already accepted by then.
How will we be able to tell? Light vs super light…very small difference.
I really, really funny want to begrudge ANY parent spending time with their kid but like… SERIOUSLY? This is such a f*cking joke.
don’t* want!
I just don’t really understand. I love my kid more than anything and we are just finishing up a week of vacation and I’m so excited he is spending the weekend with his dad so I can have some time to get life back to normal before I return to work. Full-time, in office work. They haven’t been out of the country for the past 2 weeks, presumably they’ve been spending time with the kids before and after their work events? Like NORMAL people do? Would I love to be able to take off every single time my kid has a day off school? Absolutely. But don’t try to act like a few events over a couple of weeks is so exhausting you haven’t seen your kids this entire time so you need a whole week off.
I’m with you Meghan. 2-3 events a week and you would have ample time to spend with your kids. So it’s not because they don’t see them enough, at least not for work reasons. That being said, it’s holiday time! Kate wants to go on a few days holiday with her kids. Just say what it is. Now what William is doing during this time idk?
She could easily be doing 2-3 engagements per day minimum and still see the kids as much as she does now.
@nota: exactly. I said below that royal engagements are not that long so she could easily do 3 a day and still have time to pick up her kids from school.
If she does 3 engagements a day and works for 3 days a week, that’s 9 engagements a week. If she works for 30 weeks (so that leaves her with 22 weeks to do whatever she wants on top of the 2 days a week she’s not working + the rest of the day when she’s done her engagements) then she would be doing 270 engagements a year. Tours and the like could beef that up to near 300.
But she doesn’t want to.
This is the same argument we had when she took “maternity leave” after having Louis. Maternity leave is great and valuable and important.
Kate works about 30-45 days a year I think when it’s calculated that way. She wasn’t taking “maternity leave.” She was just being Kate.
Same with this. They aren’t taking time “off” to be with their children. They’re just being their normal lazy selves. Many many parents can’t take extended vacations every time the kids are off school.
Spending time with the kids is just an excuse. She used that excuse when she bailed on at Patrick’s day one year, and was then twitter papped shopping. Kate loves to act like she can’t go more than a few minutes without seeing her kids, but will not hesitate packing them off to boarding school when the time comes.
She has multiple full time nannies who I assume work really hard, and 2 out of 3 are at school, so what does keen do all day. She must have a side man.
This comes from the same woman who contracted a deathly pregnancy nausea, such that poor lamb could not, would not work for nearly ten years consecutively.
This is simply more excuses. William will not be there, he’s likely already moved his permanent home somewhere outside of KP. This is an excuse to go back to invisibility, again. It will continue to be the same cycle, rinse, repeat every few months or so. All to explain why two adults can possibly be *this* useless and lazy.
It will never end.
I’m going to call by company and say that I’ll be prioritising time with my daughter during next couple of weeks and my work hours will be lighter. Wonder how they take it?
Refusing work due to „time with kids” is insulting to all parents who would love to but have to, you know, work for a living.
I had the exact same reaction! It read as an excuse to me and even if it’s true and they spend endless amounts of time with their children as “good parents” it doesn’t read well. People are struggling and that reasoning comes across as just wrong.
You are so absolutely spot on, Ania. The fact that these two even consider their meager output deserving of the word “work” is insulting.
Any lighter and it will be a helium balloon that floats away on its own.
My grandmother used to say “if you moved any slower you’d be going backwards”!
If lazy had a picture in the dictionary, it would be these two
They’re astonishingly lazy. It’s the first thing that stood out to me about them years ago before they even had children.
Hahahaha. As IF.
Yup, this is the team that will take the US by storm.
For real. They can’t even do a couple of events in a few weeks before needing another break.
You know, we can all see William barely wants to be around Kate and there has been more than one sign telling us they do not even live together anymore and while I firmly believe Chaz and Willz will have a sit down once Elizabeth dies to map out exactly what they want to go- and this conversation will include ” do you want to make the middle class broodmare Princess of Wales?” , the one thing I know William likes in Kate is that she is lazier than him and completely unapologetic about it!
I agree. I feel like William does not want to make Kate Princess of Wales. It’s macabre to plan a divorce strategy around the Queen’s death, but that change in rank might prompt them into action. And if William has a GF who actually wants to marry (horrible) him, she might be into gunning for that title.
I just said that Willie and Charles not wanting kate to be princess of Wales might be the one thing they agree on. I think kate is desperate for it cos she gets to keep it even after divorcing. So she might try to use it to bargain with him. She would give him a divorce only after they get the titles, then she can be ‘princess kate’ forever.
but who on earth would that GF be? Rose’s current marriage seems to be all the perks (rich husband, big country home, entree to all sorts of royal events) without all the spotlight and constraints of actually being Princess of Wales or Queen Consort. I know whose shoes I would rather be in.
If the London lawyer is a serious GF then she could be interested in the position and also be closer to what Meghan has done with the position than the lady who lunches version that kate has done. I suspect only a non aristo who want something like this, as kate did, because the women in the aristo world know that being a royal isn’t worth it.
@Nic919, okay, but WHY would Miss London Lawyer even remotely want this at all? Why are we assuming she wants to be William’s wife and take this position? And who’s to say that William even wants a wife that can be dazzling and take the center stage like Meghan can? William likes Kate because she is a nonentity who can’t overshadow him, and he knows he can use the palace machinery to ensure that she never overshadows him even if she wanted to. Why are we suddenly assuming William suddenly has a heart 3x larger than what it actually is, and that he suddenly desperately wants to marry for love not convenience, has met someone with whom he can do that, and will suddenly up end Kate and bring in this new girl? Last I checked, Baldy is still a f-cking small-minded, close-hearted Tory supporting shrew, isn’t he? The one who couldn’t even deal with his brother and SIL taking his spotlight from him so he ran them out of the country by contributing to such a horrifying smear campaign that it defies description.
Any woman who’d pick THIS man to be with really couldn’t be someone who we’d want in that position as Princess of Wales. She wouldn’t be much better than Kate. Esp if she’s a lawyer who’s willing and eager to give up her independent career to enter a life playing forcible second-fiddle to Bald Rage all the damn time. Any woman who’d willingly choose that would barely be an improvement, sorry.
William may treat the girlfriends as valuable, whereas that has never been his opinion of Kate.
They are the most weaksauce couple in the entire RF. What an absolute joke. They were just off for over 2 months! But then again, they did a couple of engagements, so yeah, those sausages are tuckered out.
Must be nice to have all the paid family leave (time) you wish.. imagine if all parents could spend school breaks with their children.
I ask again, how does the British taxpayer stand for this? I spent four years seething just from the cost of secret service following Tiffany Trump on her umpteen Mediterranean vacations, can’t imagine how it feels to know your hard earned money is going to prop up generations of these languid sloths lounging about with their spawn at their country mansions.
The role of Free Press is exactly this: report, as questions and mirror the audience response. RR has been shielding this institution like their lives depend on it, so even when there is a report of some wrongdoing like Charles and Andrew, they minimize it. Bury the news….invent another reason to put down a married in, etc, etc.
I am pretty sure there are people on Twitter speaking out, but the tabloids will ever only complain about having access denied and the ” Free Press” just mumbles something and move on.
William is the heir and he is young and they are setting all their bets on him because Charles is despised- tehy cannot afford to start a ” skip it to George” campaign and by God, they do not want ” Republic, Republic
Well, if the press doesn’t seriously call them out for low work numbers, why would they ever do more? Even if Charles told them to do more, if the press isn’t questioning it, why would they? Unless Charles uses bribery.
@ Jais, this is where I think Chaz is being a fool! I think that the only things that matter to W&K are power and money. I mentioned the other day that Chaz should strip them of their allowance, take away their toys and pay them on a basis of engagements only! Now, he may not be able to do that now with his mother still in power, but he can certainly do it once he becomes king.
They certainly aren’t worth the expense of the Monarchy nor the taxpayers. Laziness should not be rewarded, no matter how old these two are.
He can do it now, as W&K are paid out of the Duchy of Cornwall. He cannot stop the 54 helo trips a year, because that is paid out of a different fund.
What does people mean they normally slow down their schedule when the children are home? Heloooooo, if they slow down their non existent busy schedules anymore that they already do, they will be permanently stuck on doing nothing ever.
And please stop acting like Kate and William don’t have a house full of live in help. They are not spending all these children vacation with them building legos. For all we know Willy is nowhere to be found and Kate is in her office button shopping and studying Meghan look book.
I wish I could stop working every time my children had no school too. But I live in the real world.
And tennis playing with her teacher.
Didn’t Mumbulus Mumbletonia just do 47 engagements to her nonagerian grandmother in law’s 74 this year….
I would die of embarrassment if a nonagerian outworked me.
And these are the people the Sussexes are supposed to be in awe or afraid of???
😂🤭
OmG I love the Harry Potter description, it fits Keen perfectly!!!
Don’t they have a US tour to prep for
😂 Matthew you made me cackle with one.
LOLOL!
I predict there will be no change to their schedule. The Queen and Charles have finally buy in from William regarding his future role and they wont want to do anything to upset him. I think part of the reason that William and Kate were so angry that Harry and Meghan left is that they were expected to fill gap while William and Kate come to terms with their future roles. Harry and Meghan were expected to do most of the work. Harry talked about him having to the heavy lifting for the Royal Family causing him to get burned out.
How long does “coming to terms with their future role take”? They have been FFK and FFQ since they were married 10.5 years ago. Why are they just now getting a “buy-in” from Willnot about something he should have been preparing for his whole life? Jeez!
Well the whole exhausted CEO stuff from Tatler came directed from kate so she really does think that H and M leaving meant she had to “work” more.
+1, Amy Bee. Whenever there was a gap that needed to be filled, it was good old Harry who was expected to do the job–because he was a single guy, with no other responsibilities but the crown’s expectations.
Lol. The Cambridges are absolutely useless.
I legitimately would love to be a fly on the wall for these conversations. We all know the Queen takes her role very seriously, and Charles does as well. Do you suppose they just shrug, at this point, and say, “well, we’ll both be dead, so….”
Are they cutting down next week’s work because something more serious is up with QEll? Or just the regular work shy couple. Maybe there weren’t enough major sporting events to attend in order to keep them engaged.
All the kids holidays are booked off by the Cambridges so this is normal mode for them. Only if Charles starts to cancel things would there be a reason to link anything to the Queen.
Odds on an early secret ski trip? They haven’t been ‘caught’ skiing in four years, but you know they’ve been skiing multiple times each year in that time.
@Nota, You’re right, the children have to be taught skiing somehow, they can’t be deprived of such an essential sport. Wonder where they sneak it in?
What a coincidence they were spotted at heathrow today with kate the only one looking at the camera.
It’s hard to say if they are doing a ski trip or Mustique. But clearly when they said “lighter” duties they meant none because they won’t even be in the country.
Really shows them stepping up with grandma feeling under the weather too.
Translated means the villa in Mustique is reserved, the private plane booked, and the Queen’s health was used as an excuse to get out of the Northern Ireland event.
I also thought it could be for the Queen.
Edit: a reply to a different comment but y’all get it.
Oh no. The poor sausages are going to go from doing 1 engagement every 3 days to 1 engagement every 6 days. How will the British public cope with their absence?!?!? /sarcasm
In all seriousness, royal engagements are what? 45 mins? So if mummy and daddy need to leave the house for a few hours max every day, I think their kids will be okay and they’ll manage. No need to lighten an already light schedule
I agree. It’s not as if there aren’t 15 nannies and various RPOs to supervise the kids playing. Ridiculous! (Sorry, I need more coffee. LOL)
I predict 0 engagements over the 9 days of half term.
Since they were seen at Heathrow today heading out of country with the kids, then your prediction is correct.
The Sussexes would have picked up the slack in a heartbeat. Just sayin.
I think that’s where some of the anger towards them from William comes from. They’re gone and he can’t rely on them to do what he doesn’t want to do. Oh well.
Not only picked it up in a heartbeat, the powers that be wouldn’t even waste time asking the Cambridges to do anything as long as Harry was around.
^^ True @Lady D. But some of the work M&H wanted to do, was nixed. They were hemmed in regarding what they could and could not do. Let’s not forget the vile directive that Meghan should present only 50% of herself. 🙄
It was about piling stuff on the Sussexes as the BRF’s workhorses, while at the same time not wanting them to shine. A very schizophrenic set of circumstances to go along with the smearing, the gaslighting, and the racism.
Translation: there’s no red carpet events or sporting events we can go to so back to the country we go to continue doing nothing.
They literally only show up now for big events. Fancy pictures and bam gone. Ha. I would like to say I’m hopeful that these people will be exposed but I honestly don’t know. Until the Rota really feel like they are being shafted nothing will change. I guess if William gives any more exclusives to the US press maybe then they’ll start opening their eyes but right now I don’t see things changing.
Why has no one ever called William on his bluff. If he doesn’t want to king, then allow him to walk away. I would bet all my future income that he would not and could not walk away! What would he do instead? And what is he even trained to do? Nothing. He’s a 40-year old man who has done so little with his life and seems to have no plans to change that. He won’t give up the prestige and fawning treatment he gets as FFK.
I think the act of him going to a newspaper and saying “I’m walking away” and then him coming back would be extremely damaging to the monarchy and it’s image. Not only will the original walking away cause a huge crisis (“What happens when Charles dies? Will William just abdicate and give the throne to George?!?!” because unless he’s legally removed, he’s still going to be the King legally even if he doesn’t want to do it). And if he comes back, then it’ll be “what was the point? Why bother?” Or maybe there won’t be a monarchy to go back to anyways.
Your assumption relies on the ideal that Wills gives a f*ck about the monarchy, and not what the monarchy does for him. I think he has proven which side of this equation he lives on.
I agree, call his bluff. He’s never walking away. The carrot has always that everything goes to him and only him, the money and position. Now he sees Harry eclipsing him in both since it will be decades before he has the crown. Still his only play is ffk.
Oh, he wants to be king. At the end of the day, no matter what Harry achieves, nothing will be as grand as King. The trick is to manage things so he does as little work as possible. If Will can keep Charles off his back until George comes of age, then he can shift the work down the family tree.
William will be around his 60s when he’s king, so at that point who the hell cares? He’ll look worse than he already does, the monarchy might be in an even more precarious position than it is now, and he’ll be doing a job that he really doesn’t want to do. Meanwhile, Harry is living his best life now as young man, with his beautiful wife and children, in sunny California, enjoying his wealth. From where I’m sitting, being king doesn’t look all that great to me.
@JT – ITA, I was just projecting into William’s mind. He’s so obsessed with besting Harry that I can see how he’d think “No matter what you do, I’m King and you’re not,” never mind that it was an accident of birth that made it so. And actually, it’s the one thing he’s guaranteed to achieve without having to do any work. If the monarchy survives.
“Besting Harry” might be a good name for a book…
@Eurydice I totally get it but William is an idiot. Nobody cares about being king except Charles and William. And who wants to inherit a broken throne? There really is nothing that William will have as king that Harry wouldn’t. Sure, Will Jung Un will get a lot properties and money, but you don’t need a billion dollars to live like a billionaire. Harry has the better life and he doesn’t have to be a slave to the public or press like William has to do for the rest of his life.
It was made clear years ago, by palace leaks, that William was planning on being an old-fashioned monarch. Seen as little as possible, doing the least amount possible. They doubled down on this 2-3 years ago, when their staff stated W&K would be picking a handful of charities each year. Help them with fundraising. Move on. Essentially no work on their part but showing up to take credit.
@JT – I don’t really know if William is an idiot, but I can deduce by his actions that he’s a lazy, racist, selfish and vindictive man. It doesn’t matter if no one cares about being King – he has to care because that’s all he has. He has to carry a dead carcass on his back for the rest of his life and the reward is being King.
Harry saw this long ago – the dead carcass , but no reward. He must kiss the ground everyday that he found Meghan, who helped him find the strength to get out from under. .
@Eurydice, your dead carcass on his back comment reminded me of something. Junk Bugs. FF King & Queen Consort Junk Bug This one looks like it’s wearing it’s own version of a glittery gold disco ball outfit. The “hairdo” is similar. Who wore it best!?
https://entomologytoday.org/2020/10/30/insect-costume-designers-dressed-impress-halloween/junk-bug/
Well I could’ve predicted this. Gotta love the sugary framing by People tho. They’ll be back just in time for some flashy appearances at COP26, where they will again be rewarded for their hard work with headlines praising and exalting them.
They’ll be back and tanned for sure.
Yes my newspaper produced a bar chart of royal engagements since 2015 with Dolittle hovering between 45-65 per year with only one bumper year hitting 145 engagements and this UK tax payer was shocked at her laziness. H and M were turned down for part time option because Dolittle already has that flexibility. TQ is old frail and bereaved and could die peacefully in her sleep anytime. Kermit and Dolittle need to step up NOW : Bread and butter engagements sustain their brand. Yes there will be an outpouring of grief for TQ but then questions will be asked of their relevancy in a post colonial world.
I think that the Queen’s death will cause a seismic shock throughout the world, actually. She’s been around for the whole of many people’s lives; she’s part of the international scenery and, though her role is that of glorified diplomat and ribbon-cutter, one of constancy. And I believe that the end will come very soon. The country will be rocked in paroxysms of mourning and grief, even for those republicans amongst us (myself included); but once that has died down, we will brutally reassess the role of the royals. I already loathe them for their lazy, profligate ways – and growing discontent BTL on the Daily Wail, due to the disgraceful Andrew situation, is calling for their end. PWT and Wiglets are lazing their way to their doom, and do nothing to save themselves; they’re so exceptionalist that they believe they will last forever. A rude awakening awaits them. I for one can’t wait for their downfall – not just vindication for Meghan and Harry, but their disgusting lack of work ethic while sponging off public funds.
@Andrew’sNemesis 💯
I always enjoy your take on these issues @Andrew’sNemesis. Do you think Charles will lower the boom on Keen and Mean when QE is gone? Do you think his relationship with PWT is irrevocably broken? It’s clear he can’t stand Middling Ma Middleton and her horrendous brother. He must be aware of the obvious problems in the Cambridge marriage and their utter uselessness as so-called trade ambassadors/diplomats/fund-raisers/etc. etc.
@Jaded Thank you, and likewise!
Personally I’m of the opinion that PWT has already discussed divorcing Wiglets with his Pa, and has been advised to wait until the Queen has departed. (One thing they can bond over, as Chas has been through it all before, also with mistresses in waiting.) It would come as too seismic a shock at the end of her reign for them to formally separate now, so they go through the motions (gritted teeth, clenched fists, looks of extreme pain and all). PWT will join with Charles in a press war against the modern-day Woodvilles and smear them comprehensively in the tabloids, revealing all of Ma Middleton’s nasty little secrets (pot farm, anyone?) and if Kate is lucky, she won’t be egged in public. She’ll be encouraged to retreat from society in the manner of Catherine of Aragon and he’ll roll out a new consort. I actually think once PWT’s got rid of his keen deadweight and is second in line, he’ll step up more, as he does love the spotlight (but hates sharing it with his wife), and he’ll take great delight in trying to outshine his father. And Kate will be blamed for his historic inaction; she’ll be depicted as lazy, nervous, temperamental, altogether unfit to be Queen (much as Diana was). A slew of interviews from CarolE will follow…
@Andrew’s Nemesis – LOL…”Modern day Woodvilles”, what an apt comparison!
Modern day Woodvilles made me laugh out loud, thank you!
Charles needs to rein them in and stop them from dictating where they will visit and tour. I am disappointed in the way he treated Harry and Meghan though.
Oh, God, I can see where this is probably what Wills is planning. He will use his “grief” over his beloved grandmother’s passing into despondency over his wife’s inability to remotely work. That will phase out Kate, and he can bring in anyone remotely competent and they will be revered as the Princess of Wales, to follow Diana, whose shoes Kate cannot possibly fill, as evidenced by the last two decades. It’s actually really smart, so Wills couldn’t have come up with it himself.
On the subject of parents spending more time with their kids, you could hardly have engineered a starker contrast than Meghan’s letter advocating for paid family leave for all vs. the Cambridges going on vacation. The difference in worldviews is crystal clear.
Exactly. Meghan was looking to help out other parents with less privilege whereas the Cambridges only care about themselves.
This looks SOOOOOOOOOOO bad esp given that TQ was in hosp overnight and she cancelled a visit to NI. It’s not a good look for the FFK and FFQC to be swanning off for a break after their ‘hectic’ few weeks of ‘work’.
I expect to see them in a few weeks with nice tans and Kate with more fillers/botox. Maybe some nice new wiglets stolen from Meghan’s head.
As Dina from the RHONJ so eloquently once put it, “I don’t know if she wants to be me or skin me and wear me like last year’s Versace.”
Somebody on here called him Fredo the other day and I lost it. I’m calling him that from now on.
“I’m your older brother Harry and I’m being stepped over!!”
“They (Jason Knauf and BM) said there was something in it for meeee!!!”
LOL
“You’re my kid brother and you take care of me???”
So if W and K don’t step up and start working more….what? If or when QE2 dies, and they do *not* suddenly do a 180 and begin working in earnest, absolutely nothing will happen, right? They have no intention of wasting their lives pretending to care about the Little People, like QE and Chuck have done. There will be no stepping up and no consequences aside from the occasional and quickly forgotten shady story in the press.
When the queen goes, the Keens will spend the next 10-25 years preparing for their roles as Prince and Princess of Wales, which Kate might not even go to be considering how things are going in that sham marriage. They’ll be finding their voices and coming into their roles until the day they die.
I thought that they automatically get the POW title once Charles becomes king.
The title has to be bestowed. He’ll automatically become Duke of Cornwall though.
@Nyro – Charles could very well withhold the POW title if he feels William isn’t “ready” for it. If he’s smart that’s exactly what he should do — dangle the carrot in front of William’s nose to get him off his entitled, lazy, royal arse and do some meaningful work along with his sloth of a wife.
I think the only thing Charles and Willie might agree on is Charles not giving them the Prince of Wales title whilst he’s still married to kate. I don’t think either of them want her to have it, cos even if they divorce she will still keep it and will forever be referring to herself as a “princess”, whilst also proclaiming to be the ‘new diana’. Plus once the queen goes I don’t think Charles will stop Willie from divorcing Kate, the queen cares about the monarchy, but Charles is petty and jealous and would love to watch the Keens publicly crumble.
@February-Pisces
I agree with you but, would like to add, that Charles would like to put the meddling Middletons in their places too.
Gran Gran’s on her last leg and these two, in their prime working years, are going in vacation because they’re exhausted from the red carpet walking and the 45-minute long engagements over the last month. These two haven’t even clocked in 40 hours since they’ve been back from vacation. This is pathetic. They’re just unbelievably lazy. They’re going to be in for a rude awakening when THAT DAY comes and goes. They want to be like Harry and Meghan and do these big impact ful projects, which for the Cambridges is really just busy work thrown together by their staff and nothing at all like what the Sussexes actually do. But they want that global recognition and influence that comes with that kind of work. But, like that guy who used to work for Diana said, they need to be focusing on the “bread and butter” engagements. Ribbon cutting and plaque unveiling is what they’re supposed to be doing everyday but it’s what they both hate because they’re lazy and don’t actually like people.
I have no love for them either but if Charles had any sense, he would make the Wessexes a duke and success and elevate them because they don’t seem to kind the ribbon cutting and actually talking to people. Charles, Camilla, and Anne are it going to be able to make it to e every ribbon cutting.
‘While I know Kate prioritizes time with her kids and all of that’
Kate prioritizes time with her personal trainer, her tennis coach, her hairdresser, her mummy, and her stylists. All three kids are in school full days now, and we still haven’t seen an increase in her work.
Nanny Maria was seen at the airport with the kids. Louis is old enough that they really could travel without a nanny and give poor nanny Maria a holiday herself. But of course kate is not the hands on Mum they have claimed her to be. And who knows what William does.
The two lazies just have to rest and rethink their next move. Meghan just bumped them off from media coverage after her paid leave letter. She didn’t even have to go out and be seen. She just wrote her thoughts down and pressed send. She’s trended and is all over the news. The two lazies are seething.
Good gig if you can get it
Oh it is written they are also taking the time to “fine tune their trip to the us”. My quote, but read it today.
My guess is QE will either be gone or in such a dilapidated state by the end of the year that Charles will move from being a shadow regent to full regent or King. The latest photos of her are quite sad — she’s lost weight, looks very frail and shaky. She may very well have had several TIAs (transient ischaemic attacks or mini-strokes) which is common amongst the elderly. It usually presages a larger stroke so I imagine she’s going to be under almost constant medical care from now on. That the Duke and Duchess of Sloth have decided to high-tail it to their country retreat to recover from two whole events is such bad optics I can’t believe it. They should be all hands on deck at this tenuous time in the Queen’s life.
Not sure where posters live but I don’t think the U.K. needs any tips on not being racist from the US.
Busy? They mentioned 2 events. The bar is so damn low for these two.
Just STOP! These people are always using their children as an excuse for their 2 month long summer vacation, their month long christmas and easter vacations plus all the mid term holidays in between. Kate does 3 engagements a week, for maybe an hour long each. She has so much time to spend with her children, just stop with the silly excuses and come out and openly admit you want a life of leisure and revel in being kept on the public purse.
@ Simone, hell, Kween will be using this once they are adults and it will be worse once they marry!! Eecckkkkkk………..
Could you imagine having HER as a MIL? These kids will never be able to marry!!
Out of curiosity, I looked up prince Philip’s work. When he retired in 2017, he’d been a working member for 50 years. He carried out engagements even while serving on active duty in Malta plus he was out sometimes at sea for weeks or months. But including those years even, he had over 22000 engagements. Just taking 22000 and dividing it by 50, that’s 440 per year. And with naval service and the events past 22000 it’s really more. So the Cambridges are so unbelievably lazy.
Correction. 70 years. I can’t add apparently. So 314, give or take, on average every year for 70 years.
Well, they certainly won’t be even doing light work next week. Photos today of them and their children at Heathrow all ready to go.
They are a disgrace. They should be out and about all over Britain meeting ordinary people and not just all this niche stuff and glamorous evening engagements.
As for Philip. I think he did a lot. There was loads of behind the scenes stuff too. His looking after the organisation of the Windsor, Sandringham and Balmoral Estates.
I do have a feeling the engagement numbers issued were for solo engagements but I could be wrong.
I think HMEII is a tough cookie though not as tough as her mother but she has always been there. I hate the thought of anything happening to her.
He also wrote 12+ books and personally managed the Balmoral and Sandringham estates so they no longer lost money. And helped create the sport of carriage driving in the UK.
They’ve barely done anything that would constitute a full time work schedule . Meanwhile they’re running the Queen all over the place at 95, and now she was in hospital. William needs to step his lazy ass up and focus on doing more in the UK instead of wanting to go to the USA to be photographed in soft focus. Don’t they see their kids at home every night, like most working parents? They really do come across as so incredibly lazy,entitled and oblivious.
They do. And they see their kids more that Betty saw her own, and more than Charles saw his own. They want to cosplay ordinary folks, without actually being ordinary folks.
If they increased their workload, especially Kate, they’d still have lots of time with the children.
100% agree Tessa.
As @carolind above said pictures of them at Heathrow looking like they are off to somewhere warm fore the holiday break. What a disgrace
It looks as though the Cambridges, kids and nanny have jetted out. They have been spotted at the Heathrow Windsor Lounge.
Is this a lounge exclusive for that family only? Really suggests they travel a lot if they need their own private lounge.
No, it is for anyone who can afford to be a member. It allows for more privacy for arrivals and waiting. LAX installed something like it a few years ago, PS/Salon. Makes me wonder how they got papped as they’ve hidden their flights so successfully for 4+ years. Did Carole give someone a tip because she wants to spin the idea they’re still a happy family?
@notasugarehere, this is one of the rare times I don’t think Carole is involved. This could be the BM maybe getting payback for being kept at bay recently and all the People mag stories. Just a feeling but W & K probably didn’t want the public to know they were flying off somewhere right after the Earthshot ceremony.
Poor Cambridges need a rest. Watching granny bust a$$ must be tiring.
I agree this is probably not Carole’s doing. The fact the Nanny is clearly in the pics tells me this wasn’t staged, but a pap making bold to take/publish these photos because the Cambridges have left them high and dry lately.
While they didn’t want the nanny in the photo, once again kate is the only one seen looking right at the photographer. William, Maria and the kids never look that way.
They did get the photos removed fairly quickly so William likely got really pissed. Also shows the one week delay on finally removing the Burger King photos was purposefully done. If they can get photos and articles removed within hours, they can do it that quickly for all of the photos.
(The removal of the kids photos for a grocery store visit was also within a day).
Probably on some posh exclusive island.
Why did the DM take the articlw down? Was it because the children were in the photos? Was it because of the nanny?
Or because they implied the Keens we’re not upset about granny and were jetting of to somewhere warm (they implied this as well).
They even specified the cost of the special VIP lounge something like 3000 pounds.
Hmm, something is very rotten and stinky on Salty Island.
My guess is they’re off to Mustique, the Maldives or some other tropical, remote destination after such a trying round of 2 public appearances. Just the thing to do when your gran was in hospital and is clearly having some health issues. Something is indeed very rotten and stinky on Salty Island.
Likely Mustique. They will take a commercial first class jet to the Caribbean and then a private jet to the private island.
Once again though, article and photo removed from multiple papers within hours. Not waiting a week and keeping the gushing article online, as was done with the happy family at the pub photos.
Really interesting that when I tried to click over to the photos of them at the airport, they are nowhere to be found, at least on the DM. I think this is someone yanking their chain after their perceived slights of the media this week. We never see any evidence of them going on vacation, and certainly not with their nanny in tow — so why now?
But but..
Dear old granny is in the hospital.
How could them.
Omg this is all harry and meghan faults.
H&M made the cambridges work too hard and they have to leave and couldn’t take care granny.
And laughably, the stans say how “hard they worked” and “deserve” the vacation.
Oh my gosh, that poor frozen botox mouth, so obvious.