As you can see, Duchess Kate’s shrinking figure is now the focus of the American tabloid media. Is it the same in the UK? I only really read The Mail on a regular basis, and they’re not all over Kate’s weight, so that’s my reason for asking. While I think Kate could definitely stand to put the diet away and put on some weight, I do think the tabloids seem to bullying her about it.

Kate Middleton has “gone from fit and toned to gaunt and bony.” People are worried she is anorexic, and it’s a “horrifying” situation.

Dr. Fred Pescatore, who has never treated Kate, says: “Kate looks to weigh from 95 to 100 lbs. That makes her seriously underweight for her height.”

Kate wanted to lose weight in the beginning of June, and was eating meals of watercress soup and bowls of blueberries.”

Poor Kate Middleton! The gorgeous duchess is reportedly down to 95 lbs, causing friends to worry that she won’t be fit enough to carry a healthy baby with hubby Prince William – and she definitely wants to be a mother soon.

One friend tells Star that “when the conversation turns to babies, [William] gives her a knowing look while she smiles back.” But at 5’8, doctors say Kate, 29, is “dangerously underweight,” and in no shape to have a baby right now.

Friends of Kate say the Royal Family is also pressuring her into having a baby as soon as possible.

“On Prince Philip‘s 90th birthday, he said the best present Kate could give him would be a great-grandchild before the end of the year,” another friend of Kate’s reveals.

Some people in the royal circle are even afraid that Kate might be anorexic, following in Princess Diana’s tragic footsteps.

[From Jezebel & Hollywood Life]

This Dr. Pescatore person went to In Touch Weekly to lament Kate’s slender frame as well, telling the tabloid that in his opinion, Kate is only 95 pounds but she should be around 140. He also says, “If she wants to get pregnant, good luck with no body fat on her.”

Life & Style resorts to anecdotal evidence that Kate has some kind of eating disorder – when Kate arrived in California, “some people saw her and turned to each other and whispered, ‘she’s too skinny.’” Sources note that while she used to look healthy and eat healthy just a few years ago, she now only eats a little bit of her three course meals, and that “she’s the skinniest she’s ever been.” Well… Kate isn’t going to be doing anything for a while, so maybe she’ll find the time to eat. Regarding the whole “pressure to get pregnant” thing… that’s kind of meh. Kate is not in this to make some kind of feminist point about choosing a “career” over babies. She married a prince, and her first royal duty is to provide an heir. It’s in the handbook. She waited nine years for this. It’s basically the only thing expected of her in the first year.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Duchess Kate and her hair-touching nervous tic take the cover of this week’s People Magazine, as if our little Waity gets full credit for “conquering America”. Because all it took was a weekend, some polo and a snail photo to conquer California, and as California goes, so goes the nation? Nah, it’s just some harmless fluff, some royalist propaganda for Kate’s first-ever two weeks of consecutive “work”! Huzzah! And now she needs a holiday!

Yes, they are the future king and queen of England, but the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are also newlyweds – a fact that was on full view during the 11-day royal tour that took them from Canada to Los Angeles.

“They seem very close, very connected,” Steve Tisch, who hosted a benefit for the Duke’s TUSK wildlife charity in L.A. on July 10, tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “It was beautiful.”

Also on display during the couple’s trip: their determination to chart a new, contemporary course – no curtsies, please! – for the royal family. From PDA to playful ribbing, “they were warm and nurturing,” says Cynthia Harnisch, president and CEO of Inner-City Arts, where the Duke and Duchess, both 29, visited on July 10.

Despite the couple’s warmth, they still managed to intimidate a room full of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters – including Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez – at a BAFTA gala for the British film industry on July 9.

Says Owain Yeoman, who stars on the CBS drama The Mentalist and was among the “Brits to Watch” honored at the event: “It was the first time I’ve seen major stars becoming like little school kids, going, ‘Um, when would it be a good time to say hello?’ ”

[From People]

That is one thing I will give both William and Kate credit for: they did seem genuinely connected, and like a nice, happy married couple. They seemed to support each other and have fun together, and I think they both looked like they were enjoying themselves throughout the whole trip. It might seem like a pretty dull and obvious point to make, but William’s parents tended to look like they hated each other during royal tours, and I don’t even know what to say about the Queen’s marriage (not that I would dare speak of it!).

I keep saying it, and I keep getting yelled at for saying it, but I’ll just say it again: while Kate seems like a nice girl, she’s not a “natural” at this, nor does she have the “star quality” that everybody seems to want her to have. All of this – the People cover, the thousands of articles about how Kate “conquered” America and Canada, it all seems like a full-on propaganda campaign to CREATE another “star” in the royal family. People are hungry for it, I get it. The years in between Princess Diana’s death and William’s marriage were exceedingly dull for the royal family, and people want Kate to be The Next Big Thing. I just don’t think she’s going to live up to those expectations.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

All in all, I think Prince William and Duchess Kate’s Canadian and Californian tour went pretty well. I wasn’t all crazy-excited for it, but I wasn’t disappointed with it either. They met my expectations, and at times exceeded them. Kate’s fashion tour was decent but not in any way groundbreaking or trend-setting. She didn’t wear anything inappropriate, and I think she managed the superficial style part pretty well, especially considering that she does not employ a full-time stylist or wardrobe person. Considering that in the lead up to the wedding, there was quite a lot of talk of how Kate was going to be gently “eased into” her royal role, I’ve been surprised with the number of royal appearances Kate has made since getting married – remember how the Palace said it would “take years” for her to get involved with charity? Remember how they made such a big deal about how Kate and William wouldn’t have any staff? Remember how Kate “quit” her “job” to “prepare for her royal life”? Well, now Kate really, really wants people to remember all of that. She wants to go back home and not have her photo taken again for a while.

After their action-packed tour of North America, William and Kate have told aides that they want a break. The couple, who wowed Canada and Los Angeles over an 11-day visit, are determined to go “under the radar” and return to life as an RAF officer and wife.

The Prince, a search and rescue pilot, wants to concentrate on building up his flying hours and techniques, and Kate will start planning what kind of role she will take as a royal.

“Since they got married, they were on honeymoon and in London for most of June for family events and other events,” a palace spokesperson says. “They want to go back and have a married life together under the radar and enjoy their life in Anglesey – keeping things chilled.”

The spokesperson adds: “For the Duke, he is going for his flying captaincy which he hopes to get in early 2012 and will move from the right to the left seat. He needs to keep up his flying hours and there are some exams to get through, a lot of work needs to done and he has to dedicate himself to that.”

Meanwhile, Kate, whose interests includes “sports therapy and arts therapy,” is set to “determine what her interests are and whether she can actually make a difference,” the spokesman adds.

In the near future, they are facing a separation, as William is likely to be deployed on a two-month tour of duty to the Falkland Islands. And, in 2012, the couple will be busy representing Queen Elizabeth abroad to mark her 60th anniversary of becoming monarch.

The Queen has asked the younger members of the family to visit the realms of the Commonwealth at some point in the Jubilee year.

[From People]

This is another meeting-expectations game that the Palace is playing – they’re announcing that Will and Kate are going to now go into their low-key mode so that when they do deign to make an appearance somewhere, people will be thrilled to see them. Plus, I would imagine that Kate’s going to try to get pregnant. I’ve been surprised that there hasn’t been more talk about that – but maybe people just take one look at her itsy-bitsy waist and just think, “Yeah, she’s not knocked up.”

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Here are the last (?) photos of Prince William and Duchess Kate in the USA, I think. Yesterday, they went to LA’s Skid Row for the Inner City Arts Youth Project, where Will and Kate met lots of kids and worked on their own art projects. I’ve included Kate’s painting of a snail below. It’s… um… childlike. Kate wore budget! The rayon skirt is newish, from Whistles, and she paired it with a navy mesh top thing from 2007. The outfit is cute, sure. But Kate wore the same thing all day – I feel like she was phoning it in, style-wise, and if we were a commonwealth, she would have made at least one costume change. Also: it must have been really hot in LA, because this is one of the few times I’ve seen Kate sweat.

In addition to making a stop at the youth project, Will and Kate also launched the US branch of “The Tusk Trust” – an organization that does work to protect wildlife in Africa, as well as numerous community outreach projects. At was at this launch where Will and Kate met Reese Witherspoon, and Reese got a lot of face time with the Cambridges. Also, at some point yesterday, Will and Kate did an event for Service Nation: Mission Serve, which helps former and current military servicemen and women find employment. And then *poof* William and Kate were gone, zipping out of LA on their British Airways flight. Waity = Keyser Söze. Mark my words.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

When I heard that Prince William and Duchess Kate were coming to LA to meet some movie stars at a big gala, I was struck by this thought: “If I was Duchess Kate, what American actors would I want to meet?” I think I would really like to meet Angelina Jolie, of course, and Jon Hamm (and all of the Mad Men people – the show is huge in the UK), maybe Leonardo DiCaprio, and… then I got stuck. There aren’t that many “movie stars” left, and there aren’t that many people that I would get all hot and bothered to meet.

In the end, Kate and William did get a decent turnout for their BAFTA event on Saturday night, even mingling with some A-listers like Nicole Kidman and Tom Hanks. And then there’s Jennifer Lopez. Jennifer came to the event with her mother, Guadalupe, not her husband Marc Anthony. Jennifer wore one of the most revealing and inappropriate dresses of the evening, a cutout Pucci gown which I hated. Jennifer isn’t what I would call A-list – she’s certainly a diva, and her career has been rejuvenated by American Idol, but she wouldn’t have made my top-ten list for “People I’d Like To Meet”.

In the end, though, Jennifer did get a lot of face time (and camera time) with Will and Kate, and afterwards Jennifer tweeted, “Good Morning Lovers! Had fun with my Mom! The Duke & [Duchess] were simply charming!” Like Her Royal Highness Jennifer Lopez deigned to meet Kate and William and she was in a position to declare them “utterly charming”. Too harsh? Jennifer didn’t mean it that way, I know. She was just trying to make sure that we knew she spent time with the Cambridges. Now you know!

Photos courtesy of Fame.

We have twenty million new photos of Prince William and Duchess Kate since they left Canada and flew down to California, so let’s just knock this stuff out in chronological order, shall we? First up: Duchess Kate in this lovely cranberry suit by Catherine Walker, back when she was still in Canada (on Friday, I think). Kate accessorized with the Queen’s Maple Leaf pin, which Kate also wore for Canada day. I love this color on Kate, and I wish she would wear red more often. Also: does anyone else think that Kate might have a button problem? She doesn’t seem to understand that enormous buttons are no longer en vogue.

Next up: this pale lavender/grey/blue by Roksanda Illinic. Kate wore this for her arrival in California, and for her first stop, at a tech conference in Beverly Hills. She and William even appeared on stage, and they were greeted like rock stars by all of the California tech nerds/billionaires. William even made a joke about Kate spending too much money shopping online. I think this is one of my favorites out of Kate’s fashion tour, honestly. I love the simplicity of it, I love the silhouette.

Yesterday, Kate and William headed to Santa Barbara so that William could play polo – it was a fundraising event for his charity. Kate wore a silk dress by Jenny Packham which I’m kind of meh on. Oh, and when someone asked her what she was wearing, she snotted, “I’m sure you know by now.” Well, well, well. Anyway, William’s team won, and Kate got to hand him the trophy and they kissed each other on the cheeks and it was all very racy.

Last look, which is Kate’s dress for last night’s BAFTA event in LA, with a lot of stars in attendance (I’ll get to those fashions later). Kate wore Sarah Burton for McQueen, this pale lilac gown with a full skirt. Too many pale colors all in a row? Perhaps? I’m starting to wonder if these shades of grey-blue-lavender aren’t as much of a style crutch as Kate’s beloved navy/sapphire blues. I like the gown, though. It just would have been more special if it hadn’t followed several pale ensembles. Also: look how tiny her waist is!

Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.

Here are some of the last photos from Duchess Kate and Prince William’s Canadian tour, their stop in Calgary. For her arrival, Kate wore this yellow dress by Jenny Packham, who is the same designer who did Kate’s memorable blush-pink, sparkly evening gown several weeks ago. I wouldn’t think Kate could pull off this butter-yellow color, being a brunette and all, but it works on her, and I even find it flattering. I like the full skirt too – it flatters her slender legs, and I’m not left wincing. The only part of the dress I don’t like are those enormous buttons. What the button?!?

After the arrival in yellow, Kate donned her favorite pair of skinny jeans, a cute cowgirl blouse, and an enormous cowboy hat, all for a photo op at a rodeo. Kate just has one of those faces where she can basically wear any kind of hat. Very few women have that kind of face, and it’s amazing that those ladies who can wear the hell out of any hat somehow find their way into the royal family. I wonder if it’s a prerequisite for royal girlfriends? “Must look good in a hat.” As for Will… he’s not a hat person. He looks like an ass in his cowboy hot. But the duchess was generous to him – apparently, she motioned to the men in chaps and whispered to Will, “We should get you in a pair of these!” OH BEHAVE, Duchess! Damn, girl. You like your men in CHAPS?

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News.

Yesterday, after Prince William and Duchess Kate got finished with their camping trip (in which Kate merely looked at solid food and shivered), they headed to an Alberta town called Slave Lake. Slave Lake had a wildfire in May, and parts of the town were left devastated. There was still fire damage for William and Kate to examine, and they met with locals and were generally pleasant. I think this was an “unscheduled” stop, but I’m not sure how that goes, what with all of the security and press and such. I’m pretty sure Kate is wearing the same pair of jeans that she wore for her camping trip – she just seems to have changed up the top part, wearing a frilly blouse and a navy jacket (I think the jacket is the same one from last week…?).

The Mail says Kate really has been wearing the same pair of J Brand jeans for days straight. I’m not going to judge her for having a favorite pair of jeans, or for wearing the same pair several days in a row, because I’ve done that (and continue to do that) too. I will judge her slightly because I don’t find these jeans to be a particularly flattering cut on her figure. She has a boyish, lithe little figure with no hips whatsoever – she could find a really great pair of jeans that wouldn’t make her look so… I don’t know. Twig-like? Am I the only one who remembers Kate’s healthy, athletic figure just a few years ago?

Oh, and the wedges are Nine West. I can’t believe she’s wearing Nine West shoes! That’s kind of amazing. She really is a duchess on a budget.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Here are some new photos of Duchess Kate and Prince William, camping in the “frontier town” of Yellowknife in Canada. The press is making this camping trip out to be like a second honeymoon, but there were lots of other people camping with them, and obviously, there were photographers too. Will and Kate spent their time “feasting on local cranberries, bannock bread and Caribou steaks cooked over an open campfire in total peace and solitude.” I might be more convinced if I saw photos of Kate actually putting food to her mouth, but seeing her with a fork in her hand, trying to look like she eats solids will have to be good enough:

The jeans and blouse combo that you see in these photos is actually a costume change – earlier in the day (yesterday), Kate was wearing a cream-colored linen dress by Malene Birger – you can see a photo here.

Meanwhile, many have begun pointing out the little fact that Kate is always in sheer hose and closed-toe shoes. Does our Katie have foot issues? Nope. According to The Mail, it’s royal protocol to wear hose at all times (when you’re wearing a skirt, that is). Naked legs are simply NOT ROYAL.

With her flawless fashion sense, radiant smile and bouncy, glossy locks, it is hard to find fault the Duchess of Cambridge. But a few quiet murmurs from the style set indicate that her look is not being as universally well-received as it seems.

The 29-year-old has not set a foot wrong when it comes to designer frocks, but in almost every single picture, there is the same telltale satin sheen of sheer hosiery. While it is true that nude stockings can hide a multitude of sins, they have not been in vogue since the Eighties and the result is a somewhat ageing look, at odds with her otherwise youthful style. But would Catherine actually be wearing these tights if she weren’t in the public eye? The fact that she is always wearing them, and closed-toe shoes for that matter, indicate that she is simply adhering to Royal protocol.

Indeed, one will never see the Queen, the Duchess of Cornwall or the Countess of Wessex without sheer stockings and closed-toe shoes. Even fashion-conscious Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie comply.

And when Tom Hanks’ wife Rita Wilson described the dress code for a recent white tie event at Buckingham Palace, the rules were the same. She told Harper’s Bazaar: ‘The palace dress requirements say that women… must wear closed-toed shoes – and get this: stockings! Sheer disbelief – I don’t even own a pair of sheer hose.’

[From The Mail]

That’s one of those protocols that could stand to be broken a few times, especially in the summer months. And it’s just absurd to never wear open-toed shoes! What the hell?

More photos from the camping trip:

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Here are new photos of the Duchess of Cambridge in Prince Edward Island, Canada yesterday. First up, she wore this “nautical” themed ensemble from Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, which I would never have guessed. Sarah Burton’s eye is SO much different than McQueen, and this looks like a years-old Ralph Lauren ensemble rather than a modern ready-to-wear piece from one of the most exciting British design houses. You may remember, Kate’s wedding dress was also done by Burton for McQueen too. While I think that this outfit – and Kate’s wedding gown – were appropriate and lovely and all, I still get stuck on “WTF happened to the House of McQueen?”

After that event, Kate did a costume change into a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt-like thing and a jacket, all for a dragon boat race in which she competed against her husband. For those who enjoy a little history with their fashion posts, in 2007, Kate memorably signed on for, and trained for a boat race. That was when she and William split up, and she was looking for something to occupy her time (not a job, silly!). When William persuaded her to take him back (i.e., he called her), she dropped out of the boat race. I do enjoy how handsy they are together. They seem like real newlyweds, and I think both of them are enjoying this tour so much because they get to do it together.

Meanwhile, according to ABC’s Bob Woodward, Kate told an older gentlemen that she “hopes” to have children. I have no idea why this is big news in royal coverage, considering if Kate did NOT hope to have children, she never would have been a royal bride (first rule of the royal family: create more royals). According to Woodward, Kate “walked over to this group of parents and there were these two little girls that wanted to give them these flowers, they handed them over to her as she squatted down and then one of the fathers told us he came up to her and wished her the best for when she ultimately has a family and she went back and said, quote, ‘Yes, I hope to.’ No timing about when she wants to do that and all that, but very interesting.”

Photos courtesy of Fame.