Of the 15 “working royals” listed on the Court Circular (the monthly list of royal appearances), Duchess Kate is in dead-last for the 2014 tally, yet again. This is the same thing that’s happened every year since Kate married William. She does the fewest royal events and makes the fewest appearances of all the working royals. And this year, The Daily Mail is sort-of calling her out. Their article on the 2014 royal tallies is called “Is Kate pulling her weight on royal duties? Duchess attends just 76 public engagements in 2014 while Philip, aged 93, turned up at 200.” OUCH. But seriously, Prince Philip is in ill health, he’s old as dirt and he still did 200 events this year?! And Kate’s “76” number… well, I kind of think that’s been fluffed up. Some of you royal-watchers have pointed out that Kate is the only royal who gets to count “private meetings” as royal duties. Here’s the Mail’s article:
The Duchess of Cambridge has carried out only about a third as many public engagements as 93-year-old Prince Philip this year. Kate, 32, who is expecting her second child in April, undertook 76 visits, meetings and receptions in 2014 following the birth of her son, Prince George. But the Queen’s husband shouldered more than 200 engagements, despite suffering regular periods of ill health in recent years, an unofficial survey of annual royal duties by the Daily Mail shows.
Kate’s tally of public duties is also barely a fifth of the number undertaken by the Queen, 88. She has conducted around 375, sometimes packing in six or more a day. In fact, the duchess performed the fewest public duties out of the 15 royals whose activities are listed daily on the Court Circular.
Aides have always insisted that Kate wants to focus her efforts on being a wife and mother for the first few years of her royal life. She does undertake a small number of carefully chosen public duties for charities she is intimately involved in such as East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices. Sources close to Kate insist she has the backing of the Queen, who is happy to afford her grandson and his wife time to enjoy the early years of their married life together before a lifetime of public duty.
They say she is also fully supportive of Prince William’s decision to have a full-time job outside the Royal Family. Earlier this year he gave up his role as an RAF rescue pilot and next spring will begin a new job with a civilian air ambulance force.
Other courtiers point out that, for the first time in more than 100 years, there are three living generations of heirs to the throne in addition to the Queen’s other children and their families.
‘There are more than enough senior members of the Royal Family to undertake the annual number of public duties required,’ said one.
William, who is second in line to the throne, almost doubled his number of engagements this year from just over 60 to 111. He has also taken on some of his grandmother’s more taxing duties, notably public investitures. The tally is still significantly less than other royals because of his full-time military role.
Despite a drop in duties, Charles was still the hardest working royal with more than 450 public duties listed on the Court Circular. He was closely followed by his sister, Princess Anne, with around 419. Prince Andrew saw a drop in duties to 297 over the year with an increasing number of trips abroad to countries including China. His younger brother, Prince Edward, has also had a productive year with 348 engagements.
Actually, William hasn’t had a military job all year. His RAF job ended in the fall of 2013. After that, he took his “gap year” and fiddled around with the coeds at Cambridge and looked for any excuse to avoid working or spending time with his family.
As for Kate’s numbers… sigh. Some people believe that she should just be given this time to have babies and learn her role and all of that. I sort of agree, but I also think she could balance everything differently, perhaps spend less time shopping and vacationing and more time developing an interest in some core charities. I also have to say, because people yell at me when I don’t: this isn’t all on Kate. Kate does whatever William wants. William really does not want Kate to outshine him in any way. If William told Kate to work more, she would. And here’s what made me laugh about the Mail’s story: “Sources close to Kate insist she has the backing of the Queen…” HAHA. This isn’t coming from Buckingham Palace. This is coming from Will and Kate’s press people, who insist that the Queen is totally fine with Will and Kate being so work-shy.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Yeah, I would imagine William dictates her schedule. I don’t get the thinking here though — are they trying to create an air of exclusivity?
They are trying to do the least amount possible in exchange for the largest amount of perks. It has nothing to do with exclusivity. William doesn’t want to be king, he doesn’t want to be heir-to-the-heir — but he wants the lifestyle.
I would be happy to excuse them all from their ” duties” and “lifetime of service”, they are a total anachronism in 2015.
Exactly notsugarhere +100
Kate is pregnant. How much ‘should’ she be doing??
pregnancy is no sickness and she´s a young heathy woman with lots of free time. She should definitely do more than what a 90+ sickly man does.
She’s pregnant. Not sick. Prince Phillip had been sick.
I’m pregnant and I still have a full time job and a toddler, with no nanny, no housekeeper or other staff. And morning sickness.
Going to a few photo ops and shaking a few hands is not strenuous at all. Her being pregnant shouldn’t affect that.
she’s pregnant not disabled.
As much as the pregnant, taxpaying, working women who are supporting her lifestyle?
When I was pregnant, I was working 60 hours a week as a high school English teacher. And I had zero help. My husband was active duty Army, often deployed. She can do more.
If pregnancy is going to be Kates excuse (which is not a good one by any means) them what is Williams excuse for being over unemployed and doing significantly less than Charles, Phillip or the queen?
Uh when i was pregnant, I worked 50 – 60 hours of week as well as working out and playing tennis. She can definitely do more.
As wife of the future king Kate’s main “job” is to pop out an heir and a spare. So based on that I’d say she’s currently “working” 24/7, just like she did when she was pregnant with George.
There are plenty of people in line, there is no danger of the Windsor line dying out if these two decided not to have kids.
Uzi, I hope the BRF will never make the mistake of using that defense. They’re supposed to be role models supporting UK interests and the misogyny inherent in using a well-educated, healthy woman in her early thirties essentially just as a womb is very disturbing.
The thing is she has only been pregnant what the last quarter of the year? If she had worked her butt off the rest of the year no one would begrudge her the perks of being royal and taking it easy.
Wow. The Queen is still on the throne. If she’s any example, her son Prince Charles will sit the thrown into his later years as well and neither the Queen nor Charles are in dotage.
What would you have Kate and William do? He is the Duke of Cambridge and ‘second’ in line to the throne, not the Prince of Wales. There’s just really not that much for Kate and William to do without stepping on the toes of others–Prince Charles and Camilla–doing the tasks they would do. I feel as if people are constantly comparing Kate to Diana, which isn’t really fair. Diana had many duties and ‘some’ autonomy to create projects and to attach herself to causes because she was the Princess of Wales, and her husband was first in line to the throne.
Trust, once Prince Charles ascends the throne and Kate and William become the Prince and Princess of Wales their workload will increase. Until that time, I for one don’t begrudge them whatever free time they can still claim as their own. And just because we don’t ‘see’ them ‘training’ doesn’t mean they aren’t doing so.
It is a multi-generational family firm. Most of the working royals are beyond retirement age, and several of them have had significant health problems in recent years (Prince Philip, Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra). They should be allowed to hand over the bulk of their duties to the healthy 30-somethings and retire.
Prince Edward did 348 royal duties.
Prince Andrew 297
Princess Anne 419
Prince Charles did the most with about 435?
Emma I don’t get what you mean that if Kate and William work more tthey’d be stepping on toes? How when EVERYONE else is working almost every day of the year and don’t seem to be stepping on toes?
I don’t get the reasoning or excuses being given for Kate and William not working more.
There is no excuse for the couple in their 30’s doing so little.
William and Kate are being shown for what they are, two entitled work shy spoilt brats.
The comments from the public in various british news outlets are scathing. Kate needs to stop making excuses .
She never had a work ethic and it shows.
@Emma
But the thing is, it’s not a fixed set of duties, is it? There is never a shortage of good works to be done. And good works, plus highlighting aspects of Britain, is Kate’s job. It’s anachronistic and ludicrous to my mind, but that doesn’t change the facts on the ground – Britain has a constitutional monarchy and marriage into it isn’t simply a marriage; it’s an employment contract, too. If she didn’t want the job, she shouldn’t have married William. If William doesn’t want the job, he should remove himself from the succession.
Here’s a simple but suitable role for Kate: highlight and represent women’s sport in the UK. She’s clearly most comfortable in this area (or perhaps least uncomfortable would be more accurate).
She can patronise grass roots sports charities aimed at young girls. The type of thing that would help with all those issues that we’re always talking about – healthy lifestyle, body image, etc. She could, just by showing up, help work towards getting women’s sport equal attention to men’s sport. Imagine if, instead of making headlines by turning up to the men’s final at Wimbledon every year, she turned up to every England women’s soccer and cricket match, the national netball final, yadda. Imagine if, in ten years time, we were all saying, “Wow. Kate Cambridge has done so much to get women’s sport in Britain the attention it deserves.” Imagine. A modern royal working towards modern goals and helping to improve the currently lesser role assigned to women in a popular sphere.
I’m trying to imagine. But it’s not going to happen, is it?
Sixer, that is a brilliant idea! Jason, did you get that?
(Throwing up my hands) I give up. For the life of me I just don’t understand why you guys think Kate and William can just go out and do whatever they want and are just ‘too’ lazy to do so. William is ‘not’ setting Kate’s schedule. I’m willing to bet both William and Kate’s schedules are ‘approved’ by Prince Charles if not the Queen herself. The other royals have more duties? Of course they do, they’ve been at the ‘game’ longer and are performing duties they’ve done for ‘decades.’
Are many of you old enough to remember what Prince Charles was like in his 20’s and early 30’s? I do. Prince Andrew was second in line to the thrown at the time. I don’t recall anyone complaining about Andrew’s lack of significant Royal duties.
We may consider Kate and William glorified celebrities, but they are not. They are part of a Royal family beset with protocol and tradition. Queen Elizabeth is head of that family and yet you guys aren’t considering that at all. After all this time, she has only recently turned over key Royal duties to her son the Prince of Wales (many think it’s because she may be considering stepping down in the next couple of years). I think Kate is very much still on a leash, and the person holding that leash is the Queen via the Prince of Wales. Kate and William are being watched and groomed (especially Kate, because Diana brought a lot of drama).
OT: I just have to throw this in. Did you guys check the fact that Queen Elizabeth sent the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) to meet with Angelina Jolie first in order to gauge her mettle before the Queen invited her to the palace? That was old school Royal sh$te … and I loved it!
P.S.S. Thanks for a great discussion! You guys rock the sh$te! 🙂
Emma, if you’ve been watching royals that long, I’m surprised you think someone else pulls the strings or holds the leash. They all set their own schedules and decide on their own work. The Palace has stated that multiple times.
Bill and Kate Middleton are the ones who think they’re celebrities. They are the ones with no concept of the duty, responsibility, and role of a monarchy.
HM will never retire. She swore an oath to God to serve her country until she dies. She may decrease duties due to illness, but she will never retire.
Emma – the JP Lover, remember when W and K skipped the Queen Mother’s memorial to go skiing or even now when they avoided most of the Christmas celebrations which Elizabeth loves, or when they were in the South of France instead of attending the Paralympics: I can’t imagine the Windsors were happy with any of this.
W and K are avoiding things rather than being kept back. They get mostly awesome, glamorous engagements. If they were being downplayed, wouldn’t they get only factory tours and the like?
The one time Elizabeth stepped in that I can remember, was insisting W wear the red uniform at his wedding (William complained about it) and she probably banned Pippa and Carole from accompanying Kate on engagements and tours.
Your comment is ridiculous. Even if she is having the worst possible pregnancy, she is only in her second trimester. What about the rest of the year?
From a gossip and fashion stand point, she is the most interesting royal; from a political standpoint, she is the least interesting royal. With no seniority and little experience, she isn’t a heavy hitter like the Queen, her husband and her children. Kate and William have a long way to go before they are strategically deployed.
But how on earth will they EVER be prepared if they don’t start by taking small steps and more serious engagements now? They won’t ever learn if they don’t ever have any practice. They’ll be idiots on the royal-world stage by the time QEII and Charles are gone.
They already looked stupid several times when dealing with other senior European royals or not paying attention to protocol about who to walk behind, etc. These are things that they should just learn by reading instructions from their minders…but if they don’t bother to prep for events (which it seems that they don’t since they appear not to recognize other royals or know who’s hand to shake) then they would learn by doing…but they also don’t seem to want to “do” unless it’s going to a gala or sporting event.
They are taking small steps. Did you miss the NZ/AUS tour?
What exactly was hard or taxing about the Aus/NZ tour? 1-2 events per day. If that many. Followed by rest days. Wine tours. Sailing. Rafting or whatever that was. They basically had a state-sponsored vacation.
This is the tour that included two naked-to-the-waist flashes on duty, one arriving at the airport and one walking away from a helicopter. Telling a group that her husband wasn’t around for the first few months of their child’s life. Taking a “vacation” in the middle of their tour/vacation – twice. Threatening the press because W&K walked on the grounds of Government House – in full view of photographers across the street – and complained when the photogs took pictures. Leaves a lot to be desired.
LOL Being interesting from a gossip and fashion standpoint, is that the best Kate can give to the Monarchy? Then she may as well be a reality star.LOL
Kate lacks substance and work ethic. IMO
I don’t think she’ll ever get either.
She’s being exposed for the lightweight she is. Even when she was William’s girlfriend there was no work ethic and she basically was a partygirl, club goes several times a week falling in and out of clubs for years, then going off on a holiday with William. She never has shown a work ethic.
I’m glad the press is revealing how little she works and William, these two need to be exposed for how truly lazy and entitled they are.
They want the homes, the vacations but don’t want to do much in return.
All 15 Royals are working harder then Kate.
But she wasn’t naked to the waist, nas. She was wearing shoes. 😀
The interest Waity generate is. how classless Waity doolittle will further damage./flash the world/ her hemline/lack intelligence and proper protocol – to further embarass HM the Monarchy. BRF at the appearance and P Will ( and role ma carole middleton interference) with 3 in Woll marriage.
Noone informed. intelligent compares Cannot to Diana POW only Waity ma carole middletons make such PR.
We all know had P Diana been alive, common carole, Waity doolittle the middletons hangers on would not be in P Will Harry space (like HM Di would be concern to the workshy 10 year Waity).
P Will would be dedicated hardworker to HM his duties role and position as Prince Harry. Even without HRH P Di Wales, Di respected HM, the Monarchy, P Will role – she often even spoke of PW monarch over POW.
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Happy New Year! Honestly, I think it’s most likely that Charles and William are preventing Kate from doing a lot. They are jealous that she outshines them and they certainly don’t mind letting her take the fall for not making appearances b/c it damages her image and they don’t mind anything that might make them look better over her. I remember a video I saw a while back where Kate and William were disembarking from a boat and Wills was getting really frustrated with Kate. He looked like a jerk and a dictator and I believe that’s what he is at home. I also think Charles is probably a giant baby. He is tired of women outshining him, so….
I don’t believe Kate is as popular as the British press tries to portray.
I think William is just lazy and entitled and he chose someone who would behave the same way.
Well what was the excuse for Kate not working all throughout her twenties when Charles was not in her life?
No this is definately on 33 yr old Kate and 32 Yr old William at this point.
No excuses can be made for them. When all is said and done it’s on them.
Harry works more than they do.
I do not think that it is William who is dictating this. I think this falls on Charles. As stated in the other post Charles did not like being upstaged by Diana. He is a big baby and wants to make sure people look to him.
More appearances by Kate and William means less exposure for him. He wants to be the face of the Monarchy now that his parents are older. Charles does not want another media darling as competition. So I think no matter how much the public criticizes this is not going to change because Charles is in charge.
To say that the things royals do is “work” is insutling to people who actually work.
As is the suggestion that learning how to be a “wife and mother” requires several years of non-employment.
Especially after basically living with the man for 10 years before marriage.
No kidding! Shook my head at that one. She chased William for 10 years, has been married for almost 4 years… How has she not learned her “role” yet?!
I like Kate and all, but I must agree with the points most of you have made here, especially in regard to all of this “learning time” allotted to Kate and pregnancy not being a sickness as well as calling what they do (shaking hands and smiling) not being the equivalent to 40+ hrs a week “work”
And her year end numbers compared to Prince Philips…whoa. I’d be interested in seeing a side by side breakdown of Queen Elizabeth, Diana’s, Fergie’s, Anne and Sophie’s first year numbers during their first year of marriage and during their pregnancies and compare them with Kate’s. I wonder if there is much difference. Is there a searchable archive that go back than far?
Well, I do think that this type of work would be draining if you’re not suited to it. Chuck & Liz aren’t particularly but they have a lifetime of training & experience. And I think Chuckles has found some things he’s genuinely passionate about. Di & Harry had/have a natural ability for this kind of thing. Kate has neither the natural ability for it or the background.
And perhaps there is a royal strategy to never again allow a spouse to outshine a royal. Di left Charles at the gates from the moment of their engagement & that came back to bite the royal fam.
You learn the job by doing it. She had 10 years to decide whether or not she wanted the job, and she accepted it. Doesn’t matter if she is ill-suited. She has access to the best teachers, speech trainers, everything. She is almost 33, not a child.
What bit the royal family was two people unsuited to marriage to each other. If they had been well-suited – and both been faithful – they would still be a global powerhouse couple for good today.
+1
POW is not a 20 30 something and has ‘grown up from P Dana marriage. Time. POW do not stop the P Will Lamebriges – more of PC CH run PR cover for. P Will. Heir to..,, in securing the future of the Monarchy after HMs.
To hold back the P Willnot Waity Lambriges – is counterproductive to HM POW protection of the BRF The Monachy.
Waity fail to become a RF member, she is not with the royals except at family events then run off to buckleberry and carole (immature as wife mother to even dieting and starving her child while breastfeeding).
Waity DooliTtle only onterest is ma pa carole middleton / hangers on siblings gaining wealth and social climbing agenda from P Will manipulations – this is how PW is aging fast as he realize the problems ahead with without Waity. And carole middleton.
The interest Waity generate is. how classless Waity doolittle will further damage./flash the world/ her hemline/lack intelligence and proper protocol – to further embarass HM the Monarchy. BRF at the appearance and P Will ( and role ma carole middleton interference) with 3 in Woll marriage.
Noone informed. intelligent compares Cannot to Diana POW only Waity ma carole middletons make such PR.
We all know had P Diana been alive, common carole, Waity doolittle the middletons hangers on would not be in P Will Harry space (like HM Di would be concern to the workshy 10 year Waity).
P Will would be dedicated hardworker to HM his duties role and position as Prince Harry. Even without HRH P Di Wales, Di respected HM, the Monarchy, P Will role – she often even spoke of PW monarch over POW.
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AMEN!!!! The way the throw around “work” you’d think she was digging ditches or roofing houses or something. “Work” for them is literally showing up, smiling, shaking hands. And it’s not like she doesn’t have a staff of people to get her ready for each event, drive her there, watch her kid, etc.
Most of us would be happy, to be with other happy and friendly people – to bask in the warmth – to give heart hugs. That is not work! – that is *Joy*!
I’ve done my fair share of heavy manual labor, but I could totally appreciate that being “on” at some of these royal gigs could be exhausting, just in another way. That being said, it’s the Queen and Charles I am in awe of, for their stamina, not the pathetic amount of time Will & Kate put in.
I suspect they do have the backing of the Queen for less duties in their early married years. Andrew and Fergie imploded as did Charles and Diana – perhaps she figures that the old style of doing things maybe isn’t the best?
And agree with LAR about being “on” at these events. All that small talk and pretending to be interested in finger painting, etc. Ugh. Sounds exhausting alright.
@LAR – But, honestly, everyone there is a royalist – they want to see you, support you, and are already inclined to speak well of you after the event. And, most importantly, IMO, they really only stay at these events for 45 minutes or so (if even that). I understand that social anxiety is a real thing, but they seem to have no problem walking rope lines and smiling and shaking hands so I just can’t believe that they would have such trouble being “on” for 45 minutes in a room of supportive people.
They aren’t giving speeches to Parliament or interviews to reporters or anything. They are walking around a room, schmoozing, drinking, and smiling. It isn’t hard.
@inthekitchen
True enough. In my mind, I’m seeing myself making small talk for hours and feeling weary, but 45 min a day wouldn’t be too much to earn some perks :).
K&W do some events that are akin to a social event at work. And for introverts, I agree being “on” at a work social function will drain their energy. But extroverts can also be drained b/c the stakes are high for all of us working plebs. An unintentional major gaffe or other major screw up at one of these, and we plebs risk provoking the boss’s ire, a lost promotion or even being fired.
Being drained by being “on” is not a valid excuse for K&W b/c there are 0 consequences for a poor performance. And also, if it’s too stressful, they really should not have taken the job.
I suspect if they took a real interest in the people at these events, they would enjoy them a lot more.
That’s just embarrassing, I don’t care how the PR office wants to spin it. And I honestly hate when they spin it as “oh she needs time to have babies and care for them” – the average woman out there has her children and still is able to put in a job, I don’t care what kind it is. Someone needs to have a chat with Will and Kate before they end up ruining the monarchy in the years to come……
When you add up the time plus the nature of the engagements, it is worse. Many of her engagements are galas or the tour/holiday to AU/NZ. Wine tasting, yacht race, playgroup — oh, and 15 minutes (15 MINUTES!) at a children’s hospice. Add in travel and “prep” time, this is still less than 4 weeks of “work” in a year.
Bicester Village sees her more often than her charities do.
So, basically, Kate’s work total for the entire year roughly translates into 76 hours of work or less than a full-time 80 hour (2-week) pay period (give or take).
76 hours of work for a year? I work 80 hours a week…….this makes me seriously hate the layabout even more.
The Queen wanted to know why Kate wasn’t working before William married Kate. She also suggested Kate should find some gainful employment. So why would the Queen be happy with the current situation? Having a child isn’t a terminal disease and most women are capable of shaking a few hands and smiling for a short period of time. And most women don’t have the staff Kate has at her disposal for wardrobe advise and care as well as household staff and childcare. She should be grateful for the lifestyle England has afforded her and get out and show it.
i don’t think William wants to be king and so does not care.
I was reading comments from two people who worked with Diana and knew and was around William as a teen and they both said part of the problem is William is stubborn, wants things HIS way and he has decided for himself he is not ready to be a fulltime working Royal and won’t do more yet, no matter how many times the Palace has tried to push him into more work, he wants to still dabble in royal duty ,but not fully commit.
Also IMO he married someone who also has no real work ethic who will aid him and participate in being lazy and entitled.
William and Kate are being exposed for just how lazy they really are.
There are no excuses for her or him anymore,
I don’t think that the Queen or her courtiers are running the show, because it is in such disarray. Charles is too much of a baby, to ever man up to the responsibility, of being a true king: he makes other’s responsible for his own failures. William, the thumb sucker, is in charge, IMO.
Sigh. These two.
But I do believe that HM and the DoE sign off on it. Whether because they’re old, or not very good with conflict, or have enough to manage with the conflicts between their own children, or just because they spoil William — I do believe that if HM (and more important, the DoE) wanted something to change, it would change.
Did anyone see the glancing discussion of Edward’s unhappiness about being excluded from the Jubilee fly-by balcony, in the Daily Fail article about Sophie a few days ago? I had always thought that the Wessexes were the one branch of the family who were content with the “streamline the monarchy” thing, but maybe not?
I honestly think that some of the reason why William gets away with his ridiculous laziness is because things are in a bit of chaos between the siblings over Charles’s future plans to streamline the monarchy. Given their age, maybe it’s all HM and the DoE can do to deal with that.
I think any family members who are in support of a relationship or marriage (the marriage of a niece, nephew, or grandson) WOULD broadly support the statement(s) that the Queen supposedly made. However, how one chooses to interpret that support is where the line in the sand can be found. For W/K, they take full & brazen advantage of that edict & support & “protection” from the Queen. For others, perhaps not so much . . . After all, just because u can doesn’t mean u should . . .
I wonder if William’s doing the same thing he did with the princess on the birth certificate thing. He’s publicly saying the Queen supports them knowing full well she’s not going to publicly refute it. Idk
I agree with William defying the Queen and all that includes but doing it subtly. Like the birth certificate. He is basically being a teenage punk and saying what are you going to do about it.
I think If the Cambridgeshire got paid per event they would hustle more.
I think he punked them on Anmer Hall. Begged for another year off to “think,” spent millions fixing up Kensington Palace. All the while letting HM and Charles believe at the end of the year, the two of them would take on full-time royal duties asap. I think Anmer Hall was meant to be their weekend home in exchange for full-time royal duties. William punked HM/Charles and pulled the EAAA thing on them – complete with leaking it to the press. HM and Charles caved and donated the money for his salary and new helicopter.
I like the pay-for-event scenario.
I read the comments of two people who worked for the Queen and Diana and both knew and were around William in his early teens and both have said William is a very stubborn person and only does what he wants basically ,even when pushed, he will not do anything he doesn’t want.to do. He can be quite obstinate.
The Queen would love to have William working as a fulltime royal but he always throws something in the path of that and they simply let him have his way.
I’m glad he and Kate are being exposed. They are lazy and entitled.
If they really wanted to work more, they could be working more, there is no excuse for them.
The Thing is even the British press has tried to protect their image of just how little they do, but now it’s coming out directly from the Court circular, of just how truly little these two do.
No one cares. Bring on the Mini Sir Winston Churchill. Cigars and top hats all around!
Watch out – he’ll punch you in the face! Lol, I love him, too.
…and rip through house destroying the furniture to find the toy box, then throw them all on the floor. 🙂
By all means, let’s encourage W&K to continue to use their child(ren) as props for good PR.
She’s not consistently photogenic. In some pics, she looks good. And in other ones….
Maybe the eyeliner doesn’t help though.
With loads of retouching.
She works.
heck no
As annoying as it is…..her ‘job’ is to produce ‘the spare’ right now. I see her numbers being low for a long time. She will wait until her kids are off to university before she gets in the 300-400 range. SAD. Does she realize other pregnant wives working full time are paying her way?! I’d be embarrassed to know that. Can you imagine if we had a set up like this in America?! People would flip. lol
There is no shortage of people in line to the throne. They did not have to have children for the BRF to continue.
Wasn’t Carole a working Mom?
@Lovielee85 – I’m sorry, but that makes no sense! Diana was closer to the throne than Kate is and she worked much more before, during, and after her pregnancies (which were also earlier in the marriage…no 5 years long adjustment period!). Sophie, on the other end, is further from the throne than Kate and she also worked through both her pregnancies (one of which nearly killed her). Their “jobs” are to support the queen. As notasugarhere said, there are about 1000 people eligible to take the throne (starting with the harder-working Harry).
The problem with waiting to “work” 3-400 engagements per year is that by that time there might not be a monarchy to work for. The monarchy is dependent on the public supporting them and that means showing that they are worth the palaces and jewels and expensive security teams.
I also think Will and Kate are stupid to not be taking advantage of the enormous good will they had after the wedding, and now, while they are young and “good looking” and their baby is cute. Youth and babies sell. No one cares as much about the activities of the older royals (how much more press does Kate get for her 47 engagements than does Charles for his 450?!)…in 18 years, no one will care about the old, bald William and his botoxed, sausage-curled wife.
Well America tolerates the 1% set up. I would gladly pay for some royal duff-sitters if it meant more equitable distribution of wealth beyond that.
Well said, inthekitchen.
+100
To everyone: I’m not saying it’s right!!! Lol Shesh. I’m saying she grew up in a posh life and I imagine she and William want her to be a stay at home mom…that’s all I said. I also said in the post it is embarrassing of her. That post was what I figured she was thinking and that’s why her numbers are low. That’s all. She’s trying to be a royal but do as little as possible to be one. She’s abusing the system…or should I say William is…because she does whatever he wants. LOL
Hopefully the new PR guy is crafty and plans to use this gig as a super resume filler, get a good reference and move on. No amount of spinning is going to make these two look like hard working, humble beings appreciative of their lot in life. William is in a perpetual state of rebellion and Kate is not the embodiment of a 21st century woman.
Word! The 21st century woman works full time, balances home and family, eats proper nutrition, and still has time to drink wine and snark on celebs. We do it all! 😉
I adore this comment, Bettyrose! Should be celebitchy’s tagline.
Freaking “A” on that, bettyrose, as I clink my wine glass to yours!
Most of the women of today would take full advantage of that role but in a good way, not the “spoiled princess” way. I would get bored just doing nothing all day. I know she has George, but even if she did care for him throughout the day, she could manage a few hours away from him to devote to royal duties. Especially with having handlers and someone to drive her around. Sure its probably boring and exhausting but my goodness look at the life they get in return.
If that’s all of the work that was required of me for that kind of luxury then my numbers would be in the 700’s. Heck, I’d probably ask other countries if they needed me to show up for something (I kid!), but wow, Kate numbers really are on the malnourished side.
A tip of my carrot stick and wine glass to you for that pithy comment, Bettyrose!
Racer
+100
Here is another link to recap 2014 for Kate:
http://hrhduchesskate.blogspot.ca/
I would link to Duchess or Diva for her tally, but I can’t get links to go through. Even if you don’t like Diva’s articles, her tally is good.
I know I’ve posted about this before but I just cannot get past her makeup. Especially the eyeliner and blush! It easily ages her 10-15 years. I wonder if they’re intentionally not wanting to make her “too pretty”.
I think the only intentional thing about her makeup is her taste in makeup. I think she believes the heavy stuff is flattering. Also, I’ll be thankful in the New Year if that pic of her above in the light blue dress was permanently archived.
Too pretty?
Some days she looks masculine. If her mother is a guide to how she will fare when older, then poor Kate.
For the person who noted how much older than her age Duchess Kate looks, the situation is that she smokes. (In fact they all smoke: Duchess Kate, her Mom, Pippa, Camilla – all of them smoke…I do not know why. I read once that they use it as a trick to keep the weight off, but that can’t be right.)
If you are a regular cigarette smoker then at 25 you are going to look 30, and at 30 you are going to look 40.
The reason? Smoking cigarettes shuts down capillary flow to the skin, so your skin cells are repeatedly starved of oxygen and eventually start to die. This is the same reason why very heavy smokers often have a greyish cast to their skin. People who only smoke a few cigarettes a month when they are out with friends do not have to worry about this effect – it is the repeated daily exposure that causes damage.
Just a thought – Maybe one of the reasons why Kate looks so, so much prettier during her pregnancies is because she quits smoking for the duration?
I think she’s insecure and hides behind all that. People are looking at the thick coat of makeup, (and the fake hair, and the latest dress-coat) not her.
What a crock. And man, what a great scam, if you can run it
That’s exactly what I think – the long con.
yup.
She did most of her engagements on the big Australia/NZ tour… Imagine the number of her engagements without that!
The Grueling Tour had about 48. 76-48=28 other engagements.
and she wasn´t even pregnant/sick most of the year.
There is really no excuse why she can´t do an engagement all few days. We talk about a max. 1hour engagement. Why can´t she do one or two a week? Why not use one hour for a good cause.
Spent most of the year with an infant and/or pregnant with the next one. Don’t care if there were nannies, don’t care if her mom helped. It’s a lot of work and nobody can do the pregnancy part for you. (Cue some folks to dispute whether she was even sick enough because a friend of a friend’s cousin had the same morning sickness problem as Kate did and her version was not exactly the same.)
Don’t care what else she did. Have zero interest in whether she waved enough or met enough pensioners; her actual job is to look pretty, don’t be a media distraction by sleeping with your riding instructor, provide an heir and a spare and she’s done all that.
“don’t be a media distraction by sleeping with your riding instructor, ”
…she’s young, there’s time yet. 😉
Simply being pretty and providing an heir and a spare may have been enough a century ago, but in today’s world, people expect a senior royal to also work hard for charities in order to justify the need for a monarchy. Otherwise, she’s just another rich man’s wife. And being pregnant and caring for a baby haven’t kept Kate from her endless shopping trips and hairdresser appointments.
Being pretty might be enough for you, but it isn’t for me.
Being pretty also isn’t enough to justify how much she costs the taxpaying public. What both her and William are doing is shameful IMO!
She’s not even very pretty, basically average with gobs of makeup and hair with an extension or two added
Why insult Diana, to make a point about Kate? Diana may have had her faults but the ine thing that can never be denied is Diana had a work ethic.
William seems like a contemptuous, stubborn and entitled a-hole who firmly believes it is his God-given right to do whatever he bloody well pleases, with whomever he pleases. Kate takes her marching orders from nobody but William and is so besotted with him that she’ll be his obedient doormat for the rest of their lives. Sure the BRF is undergoing a streamlining these days but neither he nor Kate are in the position to shirk royal duties the way they’ve been doing without it coming back to bite them. They don’t seem to equate the fact that their ridiculously lavish life requires that they work for the public that funds them.
As a Canadian, I especially resent the fact that per capita, we pay more to support the monarchy that the Brits do – sure, it only amounts to slightly under $2.00 a year per person, but the fact remains that I’m giving my hard-earned loonie to support William and Kate, their various estates, staff, trips, etc. and they aren’t working for it. I demand a refund!!
William seems to be single-handedly taking the BRF back to the day when there was no accountability, only the servile, worshipping masses to carry them along in untouchable luxury.
As a fellow Canadian, I totally agree with you Jaded. God, I hate lazy entitled able-bodied people. Makes my blood boil….
+1000! Well said.
I love your post. I agree with it completely. William is a contemptuous a-hole and part of the reason he is that way is he’s been babied so much his entire life. He revolts me beyond words.
“Revolts” is the perfect word, Vava.
hmmm – you always find the good descriptors. Sometimes your comments remind me of a drop of water hitting a hot kettle – !!!
Vava – I find this situation almost hilarious – these two dolittles will not find support in the US, with their silly, selfish, blubbering behavior, even if she smears on the make-up or $$$ clothing allowance; or even factoring in that Will is Diana’s son. The class system does not exist in the US as it does in the UK – it is really a joke, these two.
Well said Jaded. +100
Reading this has me thinking. I did not have the ideal childhood and lost an important person to me when I was young that still effects me to this day. I still have to get up, go to work, make sure that I stay employed so that I will not be homeless. While my life does not involve dressing up and glad handing in pictures, I still have to put on a ‘show’ to keep my job. I learned long ago that you cannot keep blaming family issues on family members, be a complete a-hole and have a death justify it, and just grow the hell up. When is Will going to learn to do that. You are not a mopped haired 16 year old. You are a father, husband and third in line to the monarchy. Act like it.
YES.
I’m sorry for your loss, but am glad you recognize that you, and you alone, need to take responsibility for your life.
Yes, I agree. William is still moping about the loss of his mop of hair.
People suffer all sorts of losses. He is not special. Yet he gets a pass. SMH.
I don’t get why people blame William for her lack of work Kate is a grown woman not a child that needs to be told what to do.
I don’t either. I also don’t understand why people say Kate would work more if William asked her to. No snark, I legitimately don’t get it
Exactly, She didn’t work through her twenties when single , what was the excuse for her then?
Same excuse as now. She does what William wants.
Bluhare, with her family’s resources she could have found/created a job that allowed her maximum flexibility. She could have actually done the photography for their catalog and website, instead of that being proven to be a lie. From day one her family decided to go for broke (land the Prince) and enabled her to be a lazy convenience for William instead. William isn’t the only one responsible for her behavior for the last 14 years.
You’re right. She could have done all that, nas. But the Jigsaw job would indicate she was doing what he wanted back then too. Or was available in case he wanted, I guess. 🙂
I hate to be an apologist for people who live with unimaginable wealth, but I have wondered if Charles doesn’t want them working and in the spotlight until he ascends the throne. For awhile atleast, Will & Kate’s popularity completely eclipsed him.
If this were true, Charles would be holding back Harry as weIl. Instead, he used a photo of himself and Camilla at the Invictus Games as his Christmas card this year – to show how proud he is of the work his younger son is doing.
Not necessarily. Harry isn’t going to be king, he’s not in that conversation, so the attention he gets isn’t a threat to Charles in any way. Frankly, I think they picked the Invictus photo because it is the single most flattering picture I’ve ever seen of the two of them together.
I think there’s a lot going on with Charles behind the scenes, although in William’s case, I’m more inclined to put the lack of engagements down to William’s spoiled, petulant laziness than I was a year ago. But I don’t think Charles is as threatened by Harry as he is by his heir — and it wouldn’t be the first time in history when a future king was more comfortable with his younger sons being popular and active than with the encroaching heir. We really haven’t seen this many generations of potential claimants for public affection since Victoria, and the relationships between her heirs was messy to say the least.
I think William is just lazy but I also think Charles gets the vapors every time another poll is released showing that a solid 30% of the public wants to skip over him when HM dies. NOT because that would happen, or because he thinks it would happen — just because Charles has issues upon issues, and wants that number to be zero. That’s a dynamic that simply doesn’t enter into his relationship with Harry at all.
This is just a long winded way of saying that I don’t think Charles minds William’s laziness as much as he should, and the fact that he welcomes Harry’s higher profile has nothing to do with it, because Harry is not the next heir.
I don’t think Charles is holding William back. Charles may not want to be upstaged (who does?) but holding William back from lite weight duties, no. I don’t see that. Now, mind u, this is coming from someone who’s eldest sister (in her mind) thinks she’s Lucille Ball and everybody else Ethel Mertz and/or mere props and supporting cast.
What may be at play is a certain level of parental guilt, awkwardness, or egg-shell walking and not knowing how to emotionally take William on or to close a certain chasm that the divorce and maternal death caused. I’m not suggesting that C & W don’t have a good relationship but that the emotional conflict may be of the bob and weave variety. Charles may not feel the comfort or confidence to engage “the battle” at that level. For him, the emotional side of life (ove, support, strife/emotional conflict) maybe easier to take on with Harry.
If Charles is going to eliminate everyone else, he needs William, Kate, and Harry big time. And he needs people to dislike Andrew and the York princesses too.
I’m so glad Kate and William are being exposed for their laziness.
There are no excuses that can be made for them. If they wanted to be working more they would be, pure and simple.
What bothers me about these assessments of Charles is the lack of factoring in his age now. Yes, he may have been envious of Diana back in the day, but does that mean he hasn’t matured to some degree and gotten wise now?
It’s hard for me to imagine he feels threatened by his son. Either son. It’s clear he loves them. He is obviously happy with Camilla. He has causes he was passionate about way back for which he was mocked at the time, yet he persevered. He seems focussed.
He knows he won’t have much time on the throne compared to his mother. The man has a vision, and now, a solid reputation for causes; he wants to make his mark. Baby Wills is the least of his problems, IMO, in terms of popularity. But a major headache in every way especially the continuity of the monarchy. I think he fails majorly there- he is not reining in, advising nor disciplining the next heir. Major fail.
I actually did say “hmmmmm”, hmmm! I’m in agreement.
I think their PR needs to make up their minds whether Kate is a working royal in her own right, or a stay-at-home mom who is supporting her husband and raising her kids, and then whichever they pick, stick with it and push it hard. If she is going to go with a traditional SAHM/housewife role, then William needs to step up and start busting his ass on some kind of work like a traditional male provider. The problem I see right now is that their combined contribution is absolutely pitiful–less than 200 events between them, and no outside jobs like the RAF work Will used to do. That means that on any given day, there is only a slightly better than 50% chance that EITHER of them will be doing an event. If Will was doing hundreds of events each year I think their PR could reasonably be saying “look, William needs his wife at home to create an environment where he can de-stress from all this royal work he is doing, so THAT is her job, stop harping on about engagements, their combined total is just fine”. Instead they are trying to make out that they are just a normal young working couple and that it’s totally okay for them to both basically be working less than halftime.
That would only work if they do things like pay the going rent for Anmer Hall with his inheritance, lease out their unused KP apartments at market rate to someone else, and pay for all of their vacations and security personnel out of William’s inheritance. And all staff salaries, including Nanny Maria’s, have to come out of William’s pocket.
Beatrice, Eugenie, Zara, and Peter are all in line to the throne, do no royal duties, and have no taxpayer-funded security. If W&K are not going to do royal duties, no taxpayer (or Duchy) funding for them either. All of their expenses (including her clothing and all security costs – at Anmer, on vacation, or at Middleton Manor) have to come out of his inheritance (also technically from the Duchy).
If they finally step up and do full-time royal work, then they get full-time royal perks in exchange. Until then, be private citizens and fund your own lives.
I think Jenna is suggesting that William be doing enough royal engagements to justify the public expenditures, and that his number and Kate’s be folded into one (essentially) if Kate is going to be at home.
It seemed, a year ago, that the firm had some hope that William would in fact step up. This air-rescue job has shattered that plan into pieces. So I agree with you: pay your own way (or have Daddy do it) and stop getting all the royal perks for such a pathetic lack of royal effort.
I think she suggested both but I could be reading it wrong. Either that William bust his a$$ being a provider and working in the real world OR he do enough royal engagements to cover both of them (this would be around 800-1000 a year if we judge it against other full-time working royals like Charles and Anne). IMO, if W&K aren’t going to be doing royal engagements, the Duchy (ie. Daddy) shouldn’t fund them.
I was mostly suggesting that if their PR wants to push Kate as a SAHM, William should be doing enough of a “job” to justify her staying home. I was thinking primarily via increasing his royal engagements. But if he was actually working some kind of serious FT job (perhaps becoming more involved in running the Duchy of Cornwall, which he’ll presumably be inheriting sometime, or that air ambulance business that was brought up and seems to be going nowhere) they could spin that positively from a PR perspective as well. At the moment it’s painfully obvious that *neither* of them are doing anything of real value most of the time. They’re trying to spin Kate’s laziness as her needing to be a FT wife/mother, but then….her husband is not doing the kind of work where a full-time support spouse is really necessary.
Obviously it would probably be best if one or both of them stepped up the royal engagements, but really at this point I think they just need to start doing SOMETHING that shows some kind of work ethic and ability to add value to society.
What do they do ALL day, every day???
Royal families are a dated concept. They sponge off the taxpayer & try to convince everyone they ‘work’ – if you can call having servants ‘work’.
In the beginning, they played the media pretending to be like any couple. This is just PR. Pretty soon, in came the nanny for their son, their numerous holidays, etc. ‘Work’.
Does anyone out there think that there may be a possibility that Kate will get tired of being a real life Stepford Wife and actually start carving out her own role? No matter how much money you have, living a lie can’t be fun.
Are you kidding? Some people dream of nothing else their whole lives than becoming a Stepford Wife, and Kate is clearly one of them.
What lie is she living? Her life looks pretty fun to me.
Yep. I am sure this is everything to her, too.
I think her press will only get worse if she doesn’t step it up.
Diana was a decade younger, pregnant sooner and she still did 3x the work as Kate. Being “young” (she’s freaking 31), “new” (it’s been 4 freaking years) and pregnant/a mother is NOT AN EXCUSE.
Note: She turns 33 on January 9th.
The only thing I will say in Kate’s defense is that she’s not the Princess of Wales. Most of the high-profile patronages that opened up for Diana are currently held by other Royals. But good lord, Kate’s load — not to mention William’s — is pathetic.
I’m sure the British Fashion people would have been delighted to get Kate instead of Sophie as their patron, and I wish we knew if it was Kate who said no, or if the firm steered them “further up the heirarchy.”
Except, of course, that the Countess of Wessex is NOT further up the ranks than a future queen.
There’s a lot of very odd politicking happening between Charles and Andrew — and maybe Edward, too (I was just reminded of the bad blood between Charles and Edward over E&S’s work c. 2000) — and it does sometimes seem as if W&K get to be crazy lazy thanks to the older generation having its own little battles going on.
William, Kate, Harry (full-time Army job), Andrew, Edward, and Sophie are the only ones under retirement age. The others (Kents, Glouchesters, etc.) have put in their time and should be allowed to move into retirement – by moving their royal work onto William and Kate.
If Charles is serious about his direct line being the only working royals, W&K have to step up now. They need to take over all of those other patronages in the next few years, plus plan for Andrew, Edward, and Sophie’s eventual retirement (or their forcible removal by Charles).
@nota. Harry has a part time “desk job”. He hasn’t been full time since the end of 2013.
@cosquared
Harry has a full-time desk job as a staff officer at MOD. Policy and protocol desk jobs can be as demanding as “operational” duties… the military officers I work with at the Pentagon often spend 13 hours a day at their staff officer desk jobs.
Whoopsie, thanks for the correction. Even though it makes her sound even worse lol
@Ellen – I honestly think it would have been a disaster to give Kate any types of patronages that have to do with fashion. Not because of Diana but because of Kate’s rep as a Doolittle shopaholic. On the other hand, if she were some type of shopping patron (and shopping can be therapeutic), her annual numbers would be through the roof😊😄😜. So, hmmmm, perhaps that idea has merit after all.👠👗💄👛💍
Say she “is” keeping a light schedule because she has a tiddler to take care of – he still must take naps right? How hard could it be to leave the nanny in charge while baby is sleeping, and make an appearance at one of her charities? Or schedule one for right after she has her hair done since she’s already out & about, or schedule something for the morning before she goes shopping. There, I’ve just scheduled three appearances for her for a grand total of three hours work MAX in one week! If she does this three times a month (the equivalent of what most of us work in one day!) then she is at 108 for the year. That’s not even counting the galas and events she really loves. See how easy that is, cupcake? Or should i say, Duchess of Cantbudge.
Sophie apparently has 70 patronages. Kate has what? Five? Certainly less than ten. It’s ridiculous. She could triple her obligations and still be home with her children for the vast bulk of her days.
And Sophie has children too.
And Sophie carries out her royal duties without all of the fanfare and attention Kate gets. Maybe it’s because with Kate, the bar is set so low that merely showing up with a pulse is a cause for celebration?? On this site there is nothing to discuss other than her clothes. With true working royals, the clothes are beside the point. Sophie always looks classy and well-groomed, but more importantly, she has a work ethic and seems genuine.
As an American, I find this all a bit bewildering. I know that they are public figures, and it seems that their work is actually fulfilling the idea of “noblesse oblige” or what have you. I appreciate that, and also that Kate &Wills do not have the chops for this “work” like The Queen, PP, and Prince Harry. It seems like she tries, and when she does something like play volleyball with kids while wearing jeans, she gets dragged. Sigh-these two confuse me. the makeup trag, the ass-flashing, and Will’s mope-I dunno. Can’t Harry borrow George and just go on a kick-ass tour?! That would be a fabulous duo!
Many members of the royal family have publicly stated that you can only learn how to do this job by doing it. They will not improve if they do not work.
If they do not have the chops for this work, William can step aside and take his underage children with him out of the line.
If the palace doesn’t start recommending to Will that he might follow his dream, and step away from the throne, methinks he will bring the monarchy down to the level of his warped distaste: everyone will just agree with his assessment.
I was impressed by the fact Diana had over 250 engagements during her first year as a Royal. It’s even more impressive when you consider her adjustment issues, eating disorder, immaturity, and morning sickness with William. Compare all that to Kate.
Diana despite her faults, really was a hard worker so I do admire her for that.
+100000 Well said.
In comparison and in retrospect, it is amazing! We took it all for granted. Until the Dolittles came along and have so starkly highlighted the contrast.
” Some people believe that she should just be given this time to have babies and learn her role and all of that. I sort of agree…”
Every working mother I know who has to make it without nannies, housekeepers, etc. would call BS.
But….but…but…she’s a special snowflake…..of the royal variety. I am sure she has a fainting couch to that effect as well.
Why can’t she just enjoy being a mom? How many events can possibly be held locally that she can go to and still come home and see her son?
I work full time when I’m out of school, but when school starts back in January, I am across the state for a minimum of 2 nights a week and I hate it. I hate being away from my kids. My sister doesn’t work because her husband has afforded her that luxury. I don’t look down on her for it.
Personally, I don’t care if she works one friggin day. Let’s be real here, her job was to produce an heir and she did.
Their job is to work for the UK taxpayers, as there are hundreds of people in line to the British throne. If they supported themselves and earned every penny they spend, they could do whatever they want. As it stands, they are supported by the taxpayers in multiple ways so they are required to work.
Most royal engagements take place within a small geographical area. The don’t often venture out of the Home Counties where they are supported. Remember the new lease on the new helicopter? That was so W&K could use the helicopter to get to their royal engagements in less time.
Also, Great Britain is teeny tiny compared to the great span of North America. I think that’s a point that some people might not have factored in to the equation.
Kate has been away from George overnight repeatedly whether vacationing, or shopping. They also have a helicopter at their disposal. She could go to work in the morning and take the helicopter back to Amner. That’s probably why they were given the thing in the first place.
Actually, it’s also come out that George has regular swimming lessons at Buckingham Palace. Kate could work then.
edit: Posted without seeing your comment, notasugarhere!
It’s the helicopter that really gets me. It’s one of the most inefficient, high-pollution methods of transport out there.
Not only are these two sponging off taxpayers, but now they have to be destroying the planet as well?
PennyLane – Do you use disposable toilet paper? If so, you are contributing more to the destruction of the planet than a helicopter owed by the queen and occasionally used by W+K.
http://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/don-t-flush-tiger-forests
Well, I think it’s reasonable to assume W and K use toilet paper. LOL So, actually that in addition to the helicopter and their enormous houses that they waste energy heating and cooling means W and K are still polluting more than PennyLane.
Toilet paper, really? Lol.
@Natalie, thanks that injection of common sense into the discussion! The excuses for these two are often entertaining, but the toilet paper was OTT!
@Megan
1. Is there such a thing as non-disposable toilet paper because I’m trying to imagine that.
2. False equivalency doesn’t cut it as an argument. Toilet paper is needed. Helicopters are not.
SMH. Is that a rabbit hole I fell into?
I was using an extreme example to counter the extreme statement that a single helicopter is “destroying the planet”.
But, if you are interested, reusable toilet paper does exist.
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1882682_1882680_1882656,00.html
@Megan,
:Looks around: Yep, it’s a rabbit hole.
If Kate and William want to be normal and Kate wants to just be mommy , then both William and Kate,need to step aside.
I have accepted the fact that Prince Wills and Duchess Kate are completely superficial. I expect nothing of them but to show up once in a while so we can gossip about Kate’s clothes and Will’s demeanor, and then disappear into their enchanted, undeserved lives for months at a time.
So they’re doing very well in my book!
Do you host meetings for those of us still struggling with that? 🙂
I may need to sign on as a charter member if she can figure out how to get the rest of us over our disappointment in these two.
Good grief, the excuses never end with why so little should be expected of Kate from those who pay for her lifestyle.
William and PR office made a big deal about how she was having extensive “lessons” on her new role so she could “hit the ground running” and how she’s the most trained royal ever. Yet, almost four years on from the wedding, it’s been an endless parade of excuses for her work-shyness: she’s nervous, she’s pregnant and sick, she has a young child, she’s pregnant and sick again. I’m not necessarily opposed to those reasons in and of themselves, but when it’s counterbalanced with photos of her shopping all the time, going on private vacations three to four times a year (not to mention using the excuse of “preparing for a grueling 3-week AUS/NZ tour in which a 48-hour vacation was built in), never passing up an opportunity to sit in the royal box at sporting events, etc, it all gets harder and harder to swallow.
I also find it telling that when she goes to those high-profile sporting events, she’s either with William or her siblings, never, say, with the director of one of the charities she’s so “intimately” involved in.
Great point…whenever she is out in public at a sporting event or otherwise, she is only ever alone, with William, George or her family. She could be seen with people from the charities that “are so dear to her heart”. Point is there is so much she could be doing if she cared and worked even a few hours a day to brainstorm ideas or build relationships. The fact that she sends form letters to sick children means that she is putting in so very little effort with anything that would increase or improve her image as a royal. Let’s face it — those things are not important to her or PWilliam and they may never be. They are both going through the motions to a large extent when it comes to duty and reputation. Pregnancy, position in the line of succession, age, don’t make a difference. What matters is showing the passion, hard work and humility that is appropriate for their status and position. For all I care, she could do 10 events a year…where she hit the ball out of the park as evident by her level of engagement, truly working behind the scenes, showing ownership and leadership for her efforts, making a measured difference, etc. PHs Invictus Games comes to mind as an example. These two, by their lack of work ethic ( effort, engagement, and numbers combined) just gives me the impression that they are selfish and entitled people who haven’t grown up yet. The fact that they hired a PR man recently also gives me the impression that they will manage their public image with hype, smoke and mirrors instead of good old fashioned work. That they think they can continue to get dressed, show up, smile, chit chat, wing it, and then 15 minutes later leave. Such a big disappointment!
Well said. I agree: it’s not just the lack of time spent, it’s the lack of engagement. W & K seem so passionless about…anything really as far as I can tell. But their disconnect from their work is especially obvious.
+1
And if you really listen to William’s interviews he always comes across as glib, IMO.
The man has no passion for life except to extinguish it in the fields and hills and forests and waters.
+1
So ridiculous. There is no defense for such laziness, especially with so much wealth and help.
I don’t see this changing any time soon. Maybe not even in my lifetime.
I’m giving her a slight pass since she has a young baby and apparently has had a rough second pregnancy. But I hope this sort of thing being publicized makes her want to do more. She’s in a position to do a lot of good in the world, and should strive to do everything she can.
She’s been around William for 14 years, iMO She get no pass. She is just lazy and without any work ethic.
I hope William steps aside one day. He claims he wants to be sooooo normal.
I just have a feeling we are never going to see a King William. Especially with the way these two are now.
Here is what I would ask:
Do W&K expect to pull the same weight as QE and Philip do, when they are aged? I personally think the older ones should be lightening the load, instead of vice versa.
For someone relatively young and with a life of mostly leisure (abundant help to free her to shop, decorate, manage sausage curls, etc.), why does she look so haggard? I am a decade older and my friends of similar age and I do not look as old as she does. We all work full-time jobs with homes and families we manage without paid help. I don’t get it.
Smoking and obsessive dieting might have something to do with it IMO!
I’ll take the job! I love meeting new people and shaking hands and stuff. I would keep a journal of my most interesting experiences for my future memoirs…
I know, people are great, what’s their problem?
At one time I wondered why HM does so many engagements. I think she loves her country. I would be my dream travel, seeing new places, new people, learning about cultural/geographic differences. HM seems to love GB and beyond.
So I don’t get Will and Waity. Don’t they want to get to know their country. They are certainly well known at places like Bijou and Maliki… I am dismayed that these two seem so ill-travelled and poorly informed about the world.
They didn’t even know who King Felipe was during their (short) trip to Belgium.
Will and Kate are only interested in themselves imo and William is said to be quite stubborn.
It was a disgrace he and Kate didn’t know who King Felipe was.
I find it sad that Kate hasn’t even traveled in her life, even before her marriage to William. I’m by no means as wealthy as her family was before her marriage, but I’ve even made it to London and a few other places in Europe. Granted, I didn’t have to keep my claws firm in future husband 24/7 to fend off other girls, I was just busy working……
You would think she would use the opportunity to travel around more in the UK, or Europe, and make the most of her role.
Has anyone floated this theory?
I don’t think they want another Diana. She upstaged Charles and embarrassed them. From the royal families pov she was a disaster. I think they want Kate to shop and have babies. Keep the attention on the rest of the family and William.
Diana was not a disaster. She may have been difficult at the end, but while she was alive and that marriage was flourishing, Diana brought glamour and attention to the UK & the BRF. They may have believed their problem was fixed by having an older, supposedly more prepared Kate come into the family, but they haven’t. Kate enables William and William is passive aggressively fighting his family.
Diana was a worker bee.
She was amazing in her role.
If Kate wanted to be working more she’d be working more, She’s just lazy.
Diana worked hard and had something these two fools lack – empathy and a sense of duty!
Diana does not embarrassed Charles – I think that Charles emabarrasses himself! He is a wimp, a crybaby, a wiley, mealy-mouthed man, who thinks that everyone is her for him, because he is chock-full of blue blood. Charles has everything to do with his lack of integrity, not Diana.
You know, I really went to bat for her and want her to succeed; I can see how horrifying it would be for an introverted person to be in that situation, but now I just can’t with her.
Even though Harry isn’t a ‘full-time Royal,’ I wonder what his number was. Probably in relativity it was at least as much as Kate’s considering he puts in a lot of effort into his specific charities and he also does appearances with both or either of his father and brother as well as other members.
I don’t buy the excuse that William is holding Kate back from working. If she were really truly and actually interested in a certain type of charitable field, I don’t see him wanting to stop her from focusing on at least ONE charity organization as her ‘go-to,’ like Harry as Sentebale or his Invictus Games.
William apparently picked his one or two focus groups, conservation and whatever the other one was. I don’t see him dissuading Kate from showing an interest in something either, especially if it was just one. I don’t think William would be threatened by her having just one. It would actually make them both look better instead of like a couple ‘scheming’ with the same determination to do as little as possible.
Let’s face it. Kate doesn’t have a bigger perspective outside of herself and what her family (her mother) wants.
Anyhoo, maybe the excuse W&K or William is telling his elders, if they even bother to ask, is that he’s not going to be on the throne yet for another 25 years so there’s no hurry to start ‘Royal work’ in earnest and maybe Charles is OK with more media attention on his efforts?
But if the BRF were smart, they’d realize that in these modern days with social media and the public being more attentive to the value of the pound, the BRF need to up their game as a whole, since they’re clumped as a whole. Charles needs to realize that he can’t just rely on himself and his direct descendants to keep the good will of the public, especially if half his team wants to coast along for the next 25 years or so.
Harry’s unofficial numbers according to some were said to be right around William’s if not a pinch more.
I’m surprised the tally is at 76. I thought it was more like 15.
If they hadn’t gone on vacation (oh, I mean “tour”) to NZ/AU the tally would have been much lower.
In actuality I am sure it is closer to 15.
Well, those airport arrivals & departures at which W&K meet/say goodbye to the host country’s dignitaries count in the final tallies–that’s how those numbers get inflated.
So what? She is one, and soon two, small kids to take care of and prepare for their future. Getting and heir and a spare is her most important job and that’s what she is doing.
Misogyny 2015 style.
Exactly.
Well then let her step aside , if she wants to just go home and be mom, she should step away completely.
She married the future King.
So tired of the excuses made for this lazpy woman.
Excuses were made when she was dating him, People kept saying she’ll work once she becomes his wife…..well guess what she is still not working. She has no work ethic.
what do you have against the douchess? you should stop hating now…
“douchess”…is that a typo or a Freudian slip?
Ha!
Bwahahaha!
LOL
Does it matter what these useless, inbred leaches do? I still have no idea why the Brits haven’t strung them up, and seized their property.
I love this comment! LOL
Me too.
A 93-year old man outworked both of them combined. They should be ashamed.
They should be, but some still continue to make excuses for these two layabouts.
I have a question about William and this air ambulance job he’ll be taking on. Does anyone actually believe he needs it to “support” his family? Why haven’t his advisers pointed out it would be better for him to relinquish it to a civilian who really needs the paycheck? What purpose does having this job serve? Is the pay large enough to support Kate, two kids and the upkeep of Amner Hall? Does it make sense to anyone? It’s like keeping up appearances Hyacinth Bucket style but in an alternate universe.
Short answer, no he isn’t supporting his family with this job. Even if he kept the salary, he couldn’t afford 1/1000th of their lifestyle with it. My version of the very long answer?
The EAAA (where he’ll be pretending to “work”) is completely supported by donations. There were no jobs available with EAAA at the time it was announced William would be “working” there (ie. no fair competition for the hiring process, he was handed a job because he screamed for one). After the outcry, it was announced that this was basically an extra position, the full amount of William’s salary was being donated to EAAA (by HM? The Duchy?) and that William would donate the full amount to charity (but not back to EAAA). He isn’t supporting his family with this “job,” but with his actions he is mocking the idea that most people have to earn a living.
One of William’s Royal Protection Officers has to be in the helicopter too, taking up the space of a trained paramedic. More protests. It is announced that the RPOs are being trained as paramedics (more taxpayer money wasted on this dodge-the-royal-job game of William’s). More protests that they’re taking jobs away from the trained paramedics who need the work. Response, a new larger helicopter had to be donated to EAAA (from HM? The Duchy?) to accommodate the paid paramedic PLUS William’s RPO. It is hinted they have to move to Anmer to be closer to his “job,” but both Anmer and Kensington Palace are roughly an hour’s drive from the airport where he’ll be stationed.
So much money wasted, just so Bill Middleton can play at “normal.”
I had no idea the charity was fully supported by donations!
I wouldn’t be donating my hard earned money to a place that supports and enables and spends precious money on a royal parasite. Geeeeeeez. It’s shocking.
This totally makes the BRF come across as utterly venal, every member who is happy to enable him in this Peter Pan pipe dream.
Whoa, I knew the position was created for W and his pay would be donated, but I had no idea about these other hi-jinks. This is a farce.
Just my opinion of course, but I think this couple’s joint apathy and disinterest in anything – charity, the UK and its people, noblesse oblige, animals, ideas, art, education etc – will prove to be more damaging to the BRF/Monarchy than any scandal.
Exactly.
I think life would be boring if you were on a perpetual ‘vacation’ right? no goals to work towards, nothing you want to accomplish?
saying that, being a parent to a young kid and soon having 2 kids under the age of 2 would be exhausting. i know they have nannies, but the stress would be exhausting.
Stress???? When I envision someone with stress, Kate doesn’t exactly come to mind. Stress is what people face when they can’t put food on the table, when they are battling cancer, when they may lose their job, etc., etc., Kate is living the life of Riley for goodness sake. STress for her is whether or not her outfits are well-received.
Kate’s parents are to blame somewhat. They encourage her to run home to them anytime. If Kate’s mother wanted her daughter to be respected, she tell her daughter to grow up and tend to your own family now.
I can understand families want to stay close but healthy families have boundaries.
What surprises me is despite her background — being raised by “self-made” parents who created a highly successful business from scratch — Kate has no work ethic and seems so self-entitled.
I now honestly wonder how hard working her family has been/is. As social climbers they are non pareil. But that Party Pieces?
Yes Hmm I still wonder how they turned business to multi-million empire but then we’re getting more info lately re- there was old money handed down from Pa Middleton side.
Look for the article in the Telegraph that was published before the wedding, “Middletons’ money – how was it made?”. The numbers (including the inheritance) just don’t add up.
Anyone here ever get the Oriental Trading Company catalog? Warren Buffet purchased the company a few years ago for $500 million. There is a ton of money in mail order party crap.
The article explains how other companies, larger than the Middleton’s, were lucky to clear over $100,000 a year. It just doesn’t add up to the rumored $30+ million.
@candice, I agree with you, but I think this is pretty typical for 2nd generation wealth.
Are you so serious right now? Hyperemesis sucks. Literally you be on I.V.s the whole pregnancy. Who cares if she’s worked the least. She’s a wife and mother, that’s a ton of work. Parenting, and pregnancy, are exhausting.
Especially when you have a full-time nanny, cook, housekeepers, 27 office staff, spend most of your time living at your mother’s house, frequently seen shopping while stating you’re too sick to work, too sick to fly to Malta to work but well-enough to fly to Scotland for vacation, claimed you were too sick to attend an engagement for a charity but turns out you’d already left on vacation, after the head of your firm (HM) said no one was available to attend a work engagement (the funeral of the former Belgian queen) you get caught shopping that very day. Oh wait.
Whoa! If one adds up the hours, they spend more time vacationing then working, don’t they?
Who cares if she’s worked the least. She’s a wife and mother, that’s a ton of work.
Tell that to all the women in the world who don’t have the money, don’t have the nannies, don’t have the chefs and servants, don’t have the assistants, don’t have the secretaries, or the rented helicopters, etc etc, and work outside the home full time and then go home to take care of their babes and the household.
Puleez.
The excuses made fir Kate will continue.
I hope William never becomes King.
“Excuses made for Kate”
Sigh…..
I wish that they would just step down now, so we could enjoy another royal couple: all this discontent spells disaster. This is no fun, watching two people mock their country, by refusing to represent it, for monies given. This is not the age of blue blood, which has effectively disappeared, along with the Easter bunny.
There are many wealthy people, but most of them do not shove their wealth in our face, like these two “government officials”. They are merely entitled, privileged, college grad’s; gifted with a franchise that has no real qualification, given almost full immunity, and a pass around the world. Go Britannia! (no offense to my British friends, but sheesh!)
Well said, wolfpup.
It’s dismaying. They are an anachronism, like the sun kings.
The most interesting thing coming in the future is who Harry will end up marrying. Harry is already more hard working than those two, can you imagine if he marries someone with his work ethic who is just as popular? Who busts her butt to go to put in the effort at her various charities, even while managing kids? Will and Kate will be (even more) screwed…..
Ugh, let’s not do the mommy wars thing. If Kate wants to be a stay at home mom while her children are young so be it. I hate it when women judge other women’s parenting choices.
AH, what was your term? False equivalency? Straw man?
If Kate Middleton and her husband paid for all of their own expenses out of money they earned (instead of the taxpayer’s money), then we wouldn’t be having these discussions.
Who cares? So what if she doesn’t want to work. Why should she? Her husband seems to be happy with her schedule so why should we care. Let her be. Who are we to decided how many days she should put in. I wouldn’t work either if I didn’t have to. I would stay home and play with my adorable baby.
“I wouldn’t work either if I didn’t have to. ” One presumes that either you or your partner earn your collective living through working. None of the money that W&K spend is theirs. All of it belongs to the people – Sovereign Grant, The Duchy, his inheritance (from the Duchy), the taxpayer-funded security. If they give all of that back and just live on his salary, they are welcome to do as they please. Otherwise, they have to sing for their supper.
As an American, it is not my place to comment on this, perhaps, but they do provide impetus for a LOT of tourist dollars, don’t they? I mean..Americans don’t want to see the Royal Family being….ordinary. It’s a pageant to us.
We come, we spend money hopping on and hopping off buses looking for Kings, Queens, Princesses and Princes. Something more special than anything we have here.
I’m not saying it is right, just the way it is for many Americans. Where would the tourist dollars go if the pageantry went away? It would be so sad!
Tina, there are 350 million Americans, and being one of them, I can assure you, that your opinion is not the only, or preeminent one. There have been many comments on these threads, in the past, concerning the relationship between the royals and tourism. I can’t comment on that (from memory), other than saying that there is not a parallel, between the two, that one would assume.
Why wouldn’t you get to comment, no matter your citizenship? The US just wasted a lot of taxpayer money (especially the NYPD) for their recent visit to New York. The tourism myth has been debunked many times. They do not crack the Top 20 tourist attractions in the UK. France’s tourism industry isn’t suffering – and they threw their royals out long ago.
Tagging in
(Ina
+1000
3/ 1e want royal grandeur regalness – not Waity classless behaviour with ma carole middleton family lowering those traditions and history.
Otherwise we don’t need a Monchary if they are regular people like us. P Willnot would be well served to learn this.
In article, P Will made increase to appearances – must be the NY luxury vacation trip with friends (that was not a Royal trip on behalf of HM GN UK).. This is the same bacation Waity and ma Carole pointed the PR media for help – that Waity would like to visit NY. Then P Will had to allow Waity to NY. Pity Waity cannot did the dame to Malta for Royal duty.
We do need King (Prince) Harry and nephew Prince George in a Royal Princes Tour – (send Willnot away to africa or France) .
@Tina – I’ve been to England 3 times in the past 12 years. At no time did I go because I wanted to see a member of the royal family. I wanted to see Stonehenge, the fabulous churches, The Cotswolds, The Lake District, Hampton Court, the fabulous art galleries. Most definitely not a royal. And I think I can speak for most visitors to England that they don’t go there to see a royal. They’re not actually on display in a glass case where you pay your 2 quid and line up for 3 hours to gawk at them.
Jaded – I go to England every year or so and I have been to so many of the Queen’s palaces, I have kind of lost track. My mom and I are going to Scotland this spring and Holyroodhouse was number one on both of our lists of “must see” sites.
Megan,
I didn’t get to see Holyrood house when I was in Edinburg but the city is really lovely – and it has some very good art collections like The National Gallery of Scotland. It is a small collection but it has some big pieces.
You’re not a royal by marriage and beholden to taxpayers who allow you your luxe lifestyle, though, are you?
I hope William never becomes King.
Maybe that’s where this is all heading eventually anyway.
Not long ago people wanted to skip Charles and go to William. I guess we are supposed to like Charles now :/. I hope William wins the PR game because I am no fan of Charles.
In my opinion, Charles and William keep Kate out of the limelight as much as possible as her first duty is to provide heirs (which she is doing, and producing gorgeous heirs at that). Second, Diana maintained the spotlight and the pressures that ams with it and it seems Charles and William are trying to spare Kate this cross to bear. So before we judge Kate so harshly, let’s try to see both sides of the royal coin. Overall, Kate makes a wonderful addition to and representative of the monarchy. Happy 2015 to all!
Charles isn’t holding any of them back. Charles needs them to be popular for the monarchy to survive the idea of Camilla as Queen Consort. Diana said her work saved her when her marriage fell apart. She loved royal work from day one. She was a fantastic royal, she was simply married to the wrong man. IF the two of them had been well-suited and happily married, Diana and Charles would be a powerhouse couple even now.
Why keep making excuses for a 33 year old woman, as if she was a sheltered 19 year old who was rooked into marriage? Middleton had 10 years to decide if she wanted the job and she accepted it, clung to it, campaigned for it to the exclusion of all else for 10 years. 14 years into this relationship, 4 years into the marriage, and W&K are epic failures.
I had no idea there was so much venom against them. I’ll just go on finding them to be a cute family, lucky enough to be born or married into the royal family. They’ll find their path and get to work, I imagine.
I would think their path is rather obvious. Are they lost souls or something? As for getting to work- how many years does it take to get there? Especially when it is so readily available.
Really upsetting – revisiting Royal Church videos – douche Waity, art graduate steps out from Sandringham church BEFORE PP DOE behind HM!
Its amazing to watch Cannot lack of Royal protocol from a common Doolittle – with 10 years working with carole middleton family stalkers to bag a Royal and totally ignore the RF (or have no knowledge) of the royal Protocol, traditions History (and ignore the duties) of the family and tax payers who support Waity wealthy and luxurious lifestyle – amazing!!
DOE seem a great bit teed he look at her and looked again at her lack of respect – she didn’t even wait for P Will who Waity is to follow. Prince Harry seem to notice the same and with HM departing PW* W lack of respect.
AH completed this Christmas so DoCornwall other RF seem to have decided to stay away – re uninvited ma pa carole the middletons hangers on. So sad our aging Monarch disruption to Christmas Day Tradition with family.
Will seems as if he is a loose cannon. Queen Elizabeth is in her final form – why could they not have had the respect to make her last Christmases, the kind she loves? Especially since this is all she has asked for, from her family holidays for decades. Isn’t she the Queen? Instead, William is making most of Christmas with the Middletons; which makes me see them in a whole new way (!). The in-laws should never have been allowed on the property.
I don’t think that Will is all that smart.
You are part of a family company. You have the choice to quit, but you choose to stay. In exchange for being part of that company you have been given a University education, 57 room mansion, a 10 bedroom mansion, multiple vacations a year, etc.. You pay for none of those things, they are given to you because you are part of the family company. For the first 30 years of your life, you have not been required to work for the company but have lived off its riches anyway.
The other employees of the firm have worked for decades, building up the company that pays for your lifestyle. Some of the hardest working employees are aged 88, 93, 79, 72, and 70 and have had serious health problems recently. They have done their time. You are reaping the benefits of their hard work. All they’re asking is that they get to retire, and you as a 30-something start doing your fair share to support the company.
Remember, every penny you and the company use comes out of other people’s pockets.
Darn, that really puts it all in perspective.
Meanwhile, ArtHistorian, no Midnight Tiara in Denmark tonight (sigh). It would have gone nicely with that cape. Is Henrik okay? He is looking kind of unsteady on his feet.
I would have loved a Midnight Tiara sighting as well. It would have matched really well with Mary’s stunning outfit, much better than the ruby-diamond parure. I’m especially in love with the night-blue half-cape she wore.
I also really like QMII’s dark green lace dress with the big skirt (much better than the shiny chartreuse number she has worn so many times) – and her silver fur stole. And it is also great to see the Emerald Parure, which are part of the Crown Jewels and can be worn only by the Queen.
Both Henrik and Daisy were a bit unsteady on their feet – he’s 80 and she has suffered from arthrithis in her knees and back for years and it is apparently getting worse. A friend of mine formerly worked at a museum and they had an official visit from QMII. She said that the Queen was white with pain after having to stand up and walk around. I also think that the reason for holding the New Year’s Gala at Amalienborg Palace this year instead of the Royal Representation Rooms at Christiansborg Palace has something to do with her health.
I followed the TV coverage of the event and learned a lot of interesting things, like the tradition of the Gala is about 500 years old and goes back to King Christian IV. They also had designer Jesper Høvring in the studio, who designed that gorgeous night-blue beaded dress that Mary wore at the Bambi Awards. He revealed at lot of little details of what goes into the dressing for this event. Some of the orders they wear present problems for the dresses – they are attached with large pins, that can damage the fabric. The Order of the Elephant is worn on a chain at this event and not on a sash, and that means the whole thing has to be sewn onto dress to keep it into place.
Thank you, AH. I really enjoy it when you add in these details and history. So much of this is not available in English and I’m not going to try to tackle Danish! I wondered about the Order of the Elephant on that chiffon dress of Marie’s, if it was damaging the fabric. Queen Silvia of Sweden is really good at placing their chained order on her gowns; it must be sewn on there too.
I’m sorry to learn about Henrik and Margrethe’s health. I expect them to slow down, it is just difficult to see them in such obvious pain. I wonder if the spinal arthritis is because of the years of ballet?
I shudder to think of the damage to Marie’s dress because of the lightness of the fabric – I think that heavier fabrics like velvet and brocade are better suited to occassions like these because of the orders. They were made at a time when fine clothes were made of much heaver and ornate fabrics.
Margrethe and Henrik are slowing down – and they have handed over a lot of their duties to the CP couple – not only as a relief but also as important training for the future king and queen. I think that Margrethe’s health has become worse in recent years though she take pains to hide it – she’ll never abdicate though, even for health reasons – she has stated that the role of the sovereign is resposibility and duty (as well as a privilege) that is for life. However, she’s still going to do some of the more strenuous events – in her New Year’s Speech, she said that she and her husband will visit Greenland and the Faroe Islands next summer.
I was very sad to see her slight tottering – I have great respect and affection for my Queen and it will be a very sad day when she passes. I do hope to see CP Frederik beginning to step up some more and developing some gravitas for right now it is his wife who’s doing the heavy lifting with her work with social causes. His mainly into sport organizations but I really don’t think that is enough for a future monarch.
Regarding traditions:
The English court also had a special New Year’s tradition during the Tudor reign. A New Year it was customary for the nobility to present the monarch with a gift, usually a purse of money. However, during the later part of Elizabeth I’s reign people began to giver her personalized gifts such as miniatures as well as clothing with symbolic and heraldic decorations relating to her status as sovereign, her Tudor heritage and her public persona as England’s Virgin Queen.
I enjoy the New Year extravaganza in Denmark, although I’d like to read more about the smaller New Year galas they do after this big one. I agree on the darker green lace gown instead of the acid green one. Yes, QMargrethe can carry it off because she has theatrical flair, I just think that acid green one is unattractive. Do you think there will be a big event for her 75th birthday this year?
It has to be difficult for all of the heirs to transition from social causes to governmental/diplomatic ones. I wonder if it would be better if they did division of labor starting early. Heirs focus on government, diplomacy, economy, trade from the beginning and the spouses would handle most of the social causes.
My favorite British royal tradition is Maundy money.
CP Frederik has a MA in Political Science from Aarhus University and he spent a year at Harvard. He has also had a diplomatic placement and he started attending State Councils when he turned 18, so I don’t doubt that he has a certain amount of diplomatic acumen. However, many of those things relate to the functions of the monarch and he obviously won’t do those as long as his mother is the sovereign. I just wish that he would espouse some heavier causes in his work as Crown Prince.
Regarding traditions:
There’s another interesting tradition connected to the New Year’s Gala. Every year the guest are served a Rhenish wine that dates back to Christian IV. It is diluted and doctored, and I doubt it is much of a gastronomic pleasure but it is a fun little detail.
Stolemyname Notasug BettRose Anne Hmm Va Kiki
+1B
Revoluting of the douche’ Waity.
Waity Andrews University (the source of HM POW GB UK CW ache), Andrews should return the NY purse P Will raised – give funds to the homeless and NEEDY charities.
What is Andrews University ad/motto; ‘ they produce most Aristo Titled marriages (‘hook ups!) …(something like that. -l’ll say -.a real royal mess!). We taxpayers need our money back from P Will demise by commoners out of place.
Andrew Uni produced a useless unworthy party flasher dazzler and useless classes to Waity student – allowing waity. Carole middleton hangers to get close to our BR heir (at his weak ‘impressionable age’), and not providing proper ‘privacy’ from the likes of lazy classless commons.
Waity and stalker carole middleton climbing family is unnecessary problems to our hardworking Monarch BRF!
Waity shame the BR (compare to all other well accomplished hardworking dedicated royal wife mothers) – CP Mary Denmark, Victoria Madeline Sweden Qs Maxima Raina Leticia.
PW*W need to live at KP for duties – not. Hiding at AH for the middleton commons to root. Taxpayers spent millions on renovations; AH is for holidays and weekends – not shopping hair spa -away from the kids.
My first reaction was, “But she’s been barfing. And she has a wee one.”
But then I read how many events Prince Philip has attended, and you’re right. Hmm…
God Save our wonderful hardworking Queen – but if she passes before mature senior POW. PC – POW Title and Duchy should go to. Prince Harry or Prince Andrew York.
P Willnot ‘cannot’ don’t have the wisdom or common strength to manage the Title or Duchy. And this is a part of Royal Tradition and wealth ma pa carole middletons climbing and hangers on are hoping to further destroy and abuse.
Prince Harry need to have more serious training to become monarch. Why wait for Willnot tob give up the Line, or POW passes before HM..
Its very interesting Prince Edward/ Sophie Wessex worked so hard yet we have tons of lazy Waity flasher at the least appearance (I know all is waiting for the usual flasj and short wear), on New wires. PR and carole middleton who troll sites with her padded b….lazy kids really take advantage of Prince Will Title and position!
TIna Wolfp
+1000
Agree we need RF grandeur regalness – not Waity ma carole middleton common classless behaviour lowering those Royal Traditions and history.
Otherwise, we don’t need a Monchary if they are regular people like us. P Willnot would be well served to learn this.
In article, P Will made increase to appearances – must be the NY luxury vacation trip with friends (that was not a Royal trip on behalf of HM GN UK).. This is the same bacation Waity and ma Carole pointed the PR media for help – that Waity would like to visit NY. Then P Will had to allow Waity to NY. Pity Waity cannot – didn’t ask the same to go to Malta for her duty. Instead out ahopping and vacation in Scotland.
We do need King (Prince) Harry and nephew Prince George in a Royal Princes Tour – (send Willnot away to Africa or France as he is afraid PH will mess his stiff suit.
I was quite happy for Kate to have her first couple of married years out of the spotlight. After that it changed a bit especially as she and William chose to live in one of the state owned Palaces. I think Kate should be giving something back. I think it is her duty. Even in the days when most women did not work outside the home, the royal wives still did their engagements. On average I think she should be doing charity work on a couple of days a week – even if it is just three engagements lasting about an hour each spread over two days . If she chooses to spread the work over one whole week a month then fair enough. No-one expects her to work in the first months of pregnancy when she is ill or no-one expects her to work the last few weeks or in the first six months of any new baby’s life. She should look a bit more though at what other pregnant women and mothers of young children do.
As a footnote, if she is not comfortable making speeches then don’t make them. It is not as if it is she who is in direct line to the throne.
Cannot is actually lazy IMO but u can’t blame her since her name is cannot so dnt expect her to do things she cannot do and PW is will not so don’t expect him to do things he will not do
This is just my own personal take on Katie’s haggard look. Did it ever occur to anyone that she might just be crying herself to sleep every night? Hence all that make-up. She is of a generation of young women since the pill,you do everything to bag your future husband in bed,you just hope his heart will follow later. I think she thought if he would just marry her then he would change Hah! May-be she thought if she put a couple or 3 little ones in the middle well then surely he would come home to her. I guess I really feel sorry for her children,they are the ones that will ultimately suffer for it. Bottom line how do you raise your kiddos with those kind of moral values.Does it really get more shallow than this?