On Monday, I covered the photos from the VE Day military procession in London, but the photos of the Buckingham Palace balcony flyover came out too late to cover before the Met Gala blew a hole in our schedule! All of which to say, here are some of the palace balcony pics from Monday. All of the royals wore the same clothes from the earlier military procession, and the Wales kids were the only children allowed on the balcony. The balcony just looked sad, old, all-white and creaking. All of the hopes for the future are being pinned onto Prince George, Charlotte and Louis. It feels like all of the older royals don’t even have any hope in Prince William anymore.
I’ve also seen some evidence on social media that the VE Day commemoration events on Monday were pretty poorly attended, especially compared to similar events when QEII was alive. Apparently – and I have not been able to double-check this – but the Mail had to recycle some old QEII-era photos of The Mall to make it look like Monday’s events were well-attended. I’ve seen some aerial shots of the Mall during the flyover too – while there was absolutely a crowd, it was nowhere near as well-attended as these kinds of events used to be.
All of which to say, the British press finds themselves in a pickle, one which they helped create. The left-behinds are stale, dry, and astoundingly rizz-free. The press has also been ordered by the palace to do the most to lie and obfuscate about all things Prince Harry, but the palace also wanted no mention of Harry during the VE Day events. So, the press’s solution was to poke the proverbial bear (or in this case, a tampon king). The Daily Mirror’s headline: “King Charles sends ‘timely message’ to Prince Harry with Palace balcony ‘power move’.” That power move was… being a dogsh-t father. The Times was even more shady: “Royals lead VE Day celebrations and forget Prince Harry for a day.” This dig was included in the piece:
However, military events seem to highlight the absence of the duke more than any other time. As the slimmed-down royal family took to the balcony of Buckingham Palace to commemorate the victory of Britain and her allies, the two members of the royal family to have served on the front line in recent conflicts were absent.
The Duke of York, who served in the Royal Navy during the Falklands War, will forever be tarnished by his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Duke of Sussex, who served not one but two tours of duty in Afghanistan, has quit his royal role. His comment in last week’s interview that he “doesn’t know how long” his father has left to live is aggravating for the palace.
I’m old enough to remember Charles and William BOTH throwing hissy fits at the idea of Harry and Meghan ever being included on that fakakta balcony ever again. William and Charles were both convinced that Harry and Meghan needed to be put in their place… so that more people would pay attention to the real heroes in their honorary uniforms and unearned medals. All I’ll say is that this has all played out like some kind of Brothers Grimm folk tale. Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis of Wales and Princess Charlotte seen on the palace balcony to view the VE80 Celebrations and Red Arrows Flypast on Monday 5 May 2025 at Buckingham Palace, London. . Picture,Image: 995381591, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Julie Edwards/Avalon.Red, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards/Avalon
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- Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward Duke of Edinburgh, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, Princess Anne, Prince Edward Duke of Kent, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince George, Prince Louis, Catherine Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte seen on the palace balcony to view the VE80 Celebrations and Red Arrows Flypast on Monday 5 May 2025 at Buckingham Palace, London. . Picture,Image: 995381743, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Julie Edwards/Avalon.Red, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards/Avalon
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- Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis of Wales and Princess Charlotte seen on the palace balcony to view the VE80 Celebrations and Red Arrows Flypast on Monday 5 May 2025 at Buckingham Palace, London. . Picture,Image: 995381750, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Julie Edwards/Avalon.Red, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards/Avalon
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- Image Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. 05/05/2025. London, United Kingdom. King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Kate Middleton , Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis ,watch a flypast from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London at an event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day .,Image: 995390341, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Licenced to i-Images Picture Agency. All Rights Reserved. UK copyright law applies to all print & online publications. i-Images space rates apply to all images. Magazines contact agency for fees before use. Images Single use only then repro fees apply. Info@i-images.co Tel: 07860204379, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stephen Lock / i-Images/Avalon
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- Camera Press Rota 04734688. The 80th Anniversary of VE Day. Members of the royal family watch the VE 80 Parade flypast at Buckingham Palace. 05/05/2025,Image: 995421982, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Camera Press Rota, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joanne Davidson/Avalon
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- Camera Press Rota 04734691. The 80th Anniversary of VE Day. Members of the royal family watch the VE 80 Parade flypast at Buckingham Palace. 05/05/2025,Image: 995422166, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Camera Press Rota, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joanne Davidson/Avalon
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- Camera Press Rota 04734703. The 80th Anniversary of VE Day. Members of the royal family watch the VE 80 Parade flypast at Buckingham Palace. 05/05/2025,Image: 995422486, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Camera Press Rota, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joanne Davidson/Avalon
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- Camera Press Rota 04734701. The 80th Anniversary of VE Day. Members of the royal family watch the VE 80 Parade flypast at Buckingham Palace. 05/05/2025,Image: 995422603, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Camera Press Rota, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joanne Davidson/Avalon
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- (L-R) – Prince William – The Prince Of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis, Catherine – The Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte stand at the balcony to watch the VE Day 80th Anniversary Flypast at Buckingham Palace in London, England, UK on Monday 5 May, 2025.,Image: 995453591, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
This is what they wanted and now they have to live with it. Thank God for the Met Gala coverage—it was nice not seeing the stale left behinds yesterday.
Yes stale, boring, lily white. To bring attention to this they always have to use Harry’s name negatively. They got what they wanted and now they have to live with the stale, boring and lily white. Cry harder!!
Many royal reporters have made the comment about not knowing how much time KC3 has left BEFORE Harry said it. Why is he getting all the smoke?
When QE was alive, more of the actual WWII vets were also. I would think that most people show up for the veterans in their family and not the royals, however much the RF would like to think otherwise. As the WWII vet population decreases, so will attendance. “His comment in last week’s interview that he “doesn’t know how long” his father has left to live is aggravating for the palace.” They do realize that Chuck human and has cancer? For anyone, even healthy people, you don’t know how much time they have. This is a weird thing to be annoyed by.
The palace lied and obfuscated the late Queen’s cancer and illnesses until the very end. No, they don’t realize these people are human until it is convenient for them and they need a pity party thrown for whoever was the most offensive that week.
This is the answer right here. I was in Paris 10 years ago on VE day and there were still plenty of WW2 veterans on the Champs. Now, those numbers have dwindled. It’s hard to believe given how huge the conflict was and how WW2 seemed to dominate the culture even when I was a kid in the 1980s, but WW2 is starting to be….just another war. Especially given that Nazis and right-wing ridiculousness have made a roaring comeback.
Interest is certainly dwindling amongst the younger generation. Here in the Netherlands we commemorate “Herdenkingsdag” (National Remembrance of the War Dead) on 4th May when the Dutch national flag is flown at half-mast, followed by “Bevrijdingsdag” (WWII Liberation Day) on 5th May when the flags are flown full-staff. I moved into my neighbourhood from the UK in 1975 and in those days every householder had a Dutch flag and which they would fly on the two occasions mentioned as well as on the Queen’s (now King’s) birthday. Nowadays hardly anyone flies the flag because the older generation are dying off. I find it really sad.
So I guess the real question will be what the crowds are like for Trooping then? Bc that’s specifically about celebrating the birthday of the sovereign.
It is, but there are also military parades in that so people will show up to support those they know who are marching. And there are concerts, aren’t there? So people will show up for other celebs.
@somebody … I just thought Harry meant that he doesn’t know how long his father has because no one is talking to him and he doesn’t receive updates on his father’s health.
Oh well. Harry is better off without them. And when the royal family relalizes the kind of huge mistake they’ve made hopefully harry will have well and fully moved on by then.
There’s so much space on the balcony between the Waleses and everyone else that they may as well be on a different balcony, or a different building!
And Kate in the 2nd and 3rd photos is startling – that dress is absolutely huge on her. Isn’t it a repeat? Also, please Kate burn any and all pillboxes you own now, they don’t suit you at all. You look great in wide-brimmed hats, more of those please!
The huge amount of space was the first thing I noticed. Shouldn’t they all be jockeying for positions close to the monarch
Me thinks they did this on purpose. This way the photographers could get the perfect family shots of just the Waleses
I noticed the space and I also noticed William standing between Kate and Camilla. I think there’s an effort to separate kate visually. This happened at the jubbly too – in the first balcony appearance Kate was right next to the queen and at the second one William purposely made her move so she wouldn’t be next to her.
I’d forgotten about Kate positioning herself next to the Queen. I can only imagine the huffy courtiers irt losing it.
Not just the Jubilee. She has always went out the balcony doors & stayed next to QE2, not moving, totally ignored that other people, especially Charles & company was coming out of the doors too, because she knew all the photographers were focus on QE2. Oftentimes, William had to move her to the open space on the balcony so other people (including their children) could come out and has a place to stand.
@Lady Esther – Kate even had the bad manners to keep it on when she attended the afternoon tea for the war veterans at Buckingham Palace. Camilla removed hers.
She is ageing very fast and those hats make it look worse
My reaction was to assume they have taped ‘marks’ on the floor for them to stand in the correct allocated space and make the balcony look (sparsely) full. Also, Kate can be cropped out as needed.
Seems to be a gap between Chuckles family and then Will stood apart from his own family?
There’s definite s-p-a-c-e there
How isolated and miserable is Will as he stands alone between two wings of his family? How well does he get on with dad and stepmum? Does he bother to be pleasant to his Aunts and Uncles? Is he really madly in love with Kate or just about tolerating her for PR purposes? Family unity on display or just being polite in public ?
It’s the Gulf of Windsor between Willie and the Rottweiler 😂
For whatever reason, William does not want to stand close to Kate. Or her close to him. But he also doesn’t want to be close to Camilla. So he’s kind of off on his own. At the same time, it’s an effort to keep the heirs closer to center. But nobody except themselves care about that shit. People would rather see pics of Kate and William standing close and being cute with the kids. Cuz yeah this is s-p-a-c-e
These punitive actions don’t get them the reaction that they hope for, because getting rid of those people isn’t the issue. It’s not like William and Kate are charisma bombs that are being stifled by other people being there. They haven’t been interesting in close to 10 years, but they had small cute toddler children that could smooth things over at these large events. Doesn’t work anymore when your kids are preteens, and when it seems like you’re forcing a jester hat onto your youngest. Especially as your treatment of the last ” jester” plays out in real time.
That’s why I say the whole talk about William taking their titles, or taking their HRH styles, won’t make him popular and loved. Because the titles and the styles aren’t the issue, its that the people that wants the spotlight are supremely boring and uninspiring when they are in it. You can get rid of all the people you want, until you’re the only person standing on the balcony, still doesn’t change who you are.
Still holding his hands over his crotch. What is his problem? Weird.
@Mego it is such a defensive posture from someone so aggressive? Since the Brutal Year he has seemed very diminished physically, tatty beard hiding his chin, pronounced social awkwardness, weird tension around first wife, swaying at events? Is the succession secure if the heir actually looks this terrible at just the prospect of becoming King within the next two years? Okay he has gotten away with just working a 3 day week over 7 months of the year so far but traditionally the King weeks weekend and evenings when duty calls in addition to a 5 day week. Seriously does Will have the stamina to do any kind of full time job let alone one where one is supposed to be a confident public speaker and diplomat?
Bullies are supposed to be cowards when confronted with someone the same size as themselves.
I remember the days when the balcony was brimming with family. They sure shot themselves in the foot, huh?
They sure did.. that is one homely looking balcony, even those kids are blah and unimpressive.
Have a Gloucesters retired? They are missing from the balcony. The ‘working royals’ 🙄 and the heirs, slim pickings 🤭 . Quite a pale, stale vision indeed. 🤷🏽♀️
They were sent to Denmark for VE Day things there
Bet they weren’t late for any Danish events.
The Duchess is Danish, so a great call… and of course she is far too professional and polite to be late for the King and Queen.
https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/the-duke-and-duchess-of-gloucester-in-copenhagen-with-queen-mary-for-commemoration-of-the-liberation-of-denmark-210025/
Thank you for the pictures, @Maremotrice.
C-Rex’s talk of a slimmed down monarchy is an illusion. His notion, it appears, turns out to be to banish any Royal who might capture the spotlight away from him. The taxpayers thought he meant a slimmed down BUDGET for the monarchy. They always enjoyed seeing QE2 surrounded by a huge extended family, most of whom were not on the payroll anyways. Now they have a horrible skeleton crew on display but are still footing the bill at the same wasteful level as in the past. Absurd.
George was working an event for VE Day at BP; Charlotte and Louis weren’t there. He was talking to the vets (with Kate looking on). The Firm is putting the pressure on to have George as the future of the monarchy, and this event looks like a crash course for him. No mess up, but watch him be put out more than planned.
I actually think that was an excellent event to have George at. Easy crowd, not public, controlled environment. He will need to start dabbling in things like this, in his role, and it looks like this was a good choice.
The European royal families all provided great examples of how to warm their kids up to royal engagements.
His siblings got to go too. George needs to aim at getting a good education and may be more serious about school than his parents.
We always talk about how they need to start easing george into his public role so i’m not mad that they picked this event to do it. It seemed like a good choice and I imagine his presence there was carefully monitored and managed. He’s going to be the head of the armed forces, he should talk to veterans who defended britain against the last real threat to the country while he still can.
That is not a good idea. He needs to get a good education.his parents are lazy so the poor child has to work already.
It’s odd, Diana was criticized for bringing William along on a walkabout, (he was I think a little younger than George is now), there was little pressure just shaking hands. George should have an enjoyable childhood, he is faced with “work” his classmates can only imagine doing.
It’s all starting to look a bit dated I think, so last century. Not even the presence of the children makes one think of the future of the monarchy when it’s obvious that a dying king is front and centre.
When QEII did the balcony it really did seem like a “family” affair. There were cousins, aunts, children, spouses, grandchildren, great-children all sharing the spotlight. People were chatting and interacting with each other and the pictures showed the royals as a family unit.
These pictures are the complete opposite. I see three separate groups on that balcony. The Windsors and the Middletons on each side and the Parker-Bowles in the middle. There are few smiles and exchanges between the three groups and as a result the balcony photos are charmless. The camera doesn’t lie and these images are telling us that contrary to popular belief this is not a happy united family.
Slimming down the family on the balcony was always a stupid idea bc it makes them look smaller, sadder, and more isolated.
Who is going to be on the balcony in 10 years time? Just William and family in order of rank ? Edward and Sophie well to one side plus Louise and James who ALL have to carry out bread and butter engagements beneath THE ROYAL SUPERSTARS notice?
I doubt Sophie & Ed want their children to do royal work. Are they suddenly gonna start doing royal work in their 20’s? Also, it was made pretty clear you need to accept getting thrown under the bus to protect the heir. It would make them sh*tty parents if they do that to their children. I think, it will be just the King’s own family after Charles.
William’s not going to have any aunts & uncles, or cousins, on his balcony.
Well, he may make room for the Middletons!
Despite being told that the Royal Family wanted the focus to be on the VE celebrations, the press couldn’t help but talk about Harry. If the Royal Family wasn’t so boring the press wouldn’t have any difficulty doing what the Palace tells them to do.
What a waste of a good balcony. So fitting for Chuck’s reign.
When Prince Philip was ill for one of the Jubilees, he and the Queen planned to have extended family there. Charles took advantage of his absence and persuaded his mother in the scaled down balcony, with only The Queen, Charles, Camilla, William, Harry and Kate.
The 2012 jubilee
As well as the unnecessary display of unearned medals, I’m interested in Charles’s rank. I was watching an old movie recently (Sink the Bismarck) and noticed that the cast members all had different braiding on their sleeves, multiple stripes of different widths and some lines were wavy. I decided to Google all of this and found it very interesting. In a nutshell more stripes and more width shows higher rank; wavy is not regular navy but aux or reserve, volunteers, and it was lovingly known as the wavy navy.
What Charles is wearing on his sleeve is the braiding for an admiral, a top notch one, not a vice admiral. I saw in his short navy career that he was a commander or a captain or something, so why is he now an admiral? It must be an honorary rank? Perhaps it’s considered infra dig for the king to have a lesser rank?
To me it’s like stolen valor, medals that don’t mean anything i.e. not earned in combat, and a rank that doesn’t seem earned by service.
“Stolen valor” is the very definition of the chocolate medal wearing posers.
Only Harry and Andrew served. The others are fakes.
William and Charles are veterans. One doesn’t need to have seen war to have served in the military. Please don’t diminish the service of millions of men and women who don’t see battle.
Charles and William are wearing ranks they did not earn. That is the very definition of stolen valour. William was a captain in the Air Force and Charles about the same in the navy. But they aren’t wearing those ranks but much higher.
They both had stints in all branches of the military as future Kings. And got some training but they did not serve on the front lines. Charles bungled during his time in the navy, getting the anchor caught on an underwater cable. He would not have gotten through if he had not been a future King.
Yeah, their ‘stints’ in all the services were just that & not at all comparable to what a standard enlisted person’s military service would be. Calling them ‘veterans’ is a stretch.
Charles and William are vets. And they didn’t earn their rank. Both things are true.
The Duke of Kent served 20+ years and Timothy Laurence did as well.
Stolen valor is when people try to pass off medals they’ve not earned as their own. I think most people know the royals didn’t earn the medals they’re wearing. It’s not like they’re wearing silver stars, Medal of Honor or valor devices (or rather the British versions) .
Well, they wanted an all-white balcony – hence the handwringing over unborn Archie’s skin tone – so now they’ve got what they wanted. They chased away their only real asset.
Cry more, rota rats.
I’ve always had a soft spot for George. They are going to have their hands full with Louis when he’s older, he does not seem to be impressed by much. He is going to be labelled the “rebel” in the family.
George is pushed into royal work and appearances at a young age because of his lazy parents. He spends a lot of time with William (usually the only child in a group of adults at sporting events) which is not necessarily a good thing, given William’s temperament and bad ideas. He may not be happy with all of this but he is pushed to do this anyway. I remember William made a big deal about not doing royal work right away. But he is pushing George into it. Those kids are being type cast at a young age and the media is starting up on them when they are still children.
I am not certain Wills and Chuck qualify as veterans. The definition in the military is one who served on active duty. Both were in the military for a stint but did not see active duty, I believe.
Charles served on active naval duty for several years in the 70s (1971-6) including qualifying as a helicopter pilot. William served in the RAF from 2008-13, including a controversial deployment to the Falklands for several weeks.
Why are the kids dressed like they are attending a funeral. This would make sense if Bones was wearing something somber as well, but no.
This post came up right above the Kamala at the Met Gala, and wow wow wow, Kate looks older than Kamala. Years older. Wow.
A former MP Michael was very upset with Louis behavior. He said Louis behavior was a disgrace to WW II veterans. People came to Louis defense. They compare the complaint to Harry’s treatment. Poor Louis they are pulling this child into the gates of HELL. He’s a child leave him alone.
What the hell. He is a child, what does he expect him to do in a boring event? Some children are more tolerant to sitting through boring events, some aren’t. It is definitely weird to criticize a child on a public platform, but the royal machine needs a new scapegoat since Harry is gone and isn’t giving access to his children.
Adults who should know better (like Charles and William who deck themselves in medals) than wear medals in front of real heroes who put their lives at risk on the front lines. Louis is 7 and his parents wanted the children there. Now they are getting stories in magazines.
That MP should be angry about the fake medals, not the behavior of a child.
They should make the most of it. William’s big plan is that the Working
Royal family will only be his. It’s a big balcony for 5 people. He’s going to look small & insignificant.
Then he will finally have done something right, he is small and insignificant. Be careful what you wish for. When Daddy is gone, who will pick up his slack then?
Is it just me or has the color palette been incredibly somber and moody recently? In almost every photo of William & Kate there in fall/winter clothes and here they all look like they are in Victorian half mourning.
I noticed that too, @KC.
I see William in that silly uniform with his silly chocolate medals and steam comes out of my ears. Playing Mr. Dressup despite never having done ONE SINGLE THING to deserve all the tinsel. Harry was banned from wearing his legitimately earned uniform and medals in public by his father and brother. And there they are in their Third World Dictator getups looking all proud and imporant. The sooner that blighted monarchy ends the better.
Oh, wow, just had a thought. I wonder if trump will throw on a uniform for his military birthday parade? Assuming that’s still happening (I sure as heck hope not).
Oh dear god….even the thought of it makes me rage. He’d probably turn up in an SS uniform.
Only by his father. William wants you to believe he banned Harry from the uniform when he does not have authority to ban anythinh. He is cos playing burger king again here to embiggen himself to his friends.
The only *military* medals/decorations William wears he actually has earned. He wears his raf wings and joint service achievement medal bestowed by the US (as happens with foreigners who serve at a joint assignment). Now his ranks past captain may be bs but most of what he wears are jubilee medals and family honors and things like the Garter Star. Same with Charles. He served longer and more continuously so he has some additional ribbons (not medals) but the majority of his decorations aren’t military ones.
Yes medals and orders given to him by his dad or grandmother.
They were not given to them for actually doing anything
All those poor kids look miserable and that’s not normal. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of various royals, including heirs as young children: Princess Leonor and her sister Sofia. Estelle of Sweden and her brother, etc – and all the other young royals never look or looked this. They look so unhappy and tense.
They know mom and dad don’t live together, and they know dad and grandpa and step-grandma don’t get along. They feel the tension.
Interesting, it appears that everyone is a step behind King Snubby and The Escort. I don’t remember QE2 doing this.
I see four solitudes on the balcony: Charles and Camilla, working royals, Kate and the kids, and William seems to be detached from his family, standing a bit a part and by himself.
They really didn’t think they’d lose, did they, with regard to Harry. Or didn’t think they’d actually lose access to Harry. This looks so small and painful. Well, they got their wish. What are W&K actually going to do? There’s no one their age to do any work, and they certainly don’t want to do it. How embarrassingly sad.
I don’t think they are self aware enough to realize the glamour and excitement they lost when Harry and Meghan left.
They really are the most boring, rizz free humans! Nobody is old enough to bring someone charismatic into the fold for about 10 years (at best) and by then the royal family popularity will be well advanced in its death spiral. Which is all for the good— inherited heads of state should be abolished.
Kate’s looking all the same to me again.. similar colors, “ styling” , boring now
But I guess that’s the deal – right?
The family doesn’t look happy and the numbers are sparse…. Dwindling down like the number of veterans. Absolutely NO rizz
And o yeah Willie – standing alone, hands at your junk, standing apart is not a good look for you. Not at all
You have no spark.
A lot of people on twitter were commenting on the space between will and kate, but I think the more interesting aspect is the space between the waleses and the rest of the family entire.