The announcement of Prince Philip’s semi-retirement from public life did not come as a shock, although the realities of it will probably sink in soon enough. By that I mean it’s easy to look at Philip now, a 95-year-old man, and say he does little more than walk behind the Queen and shake hands. But Philip has always been “the power behind the crown” and for literally decades, he’s devoted his life to public service and to serving Britain and the Commonwealth nations. Even in the retirement announcement, the palace noted: “The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations.” Those are 780 organizations that will need a new patron, president or royal sponsor in the coming months and years. And will the younger royals step up? That’s what the Queen is hoping. Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair has an exclusive new story about how this is basically the moment for William, Kate and Harry to really lean into public life more than ever. Some highlights from the piece:
The Queen will begin to rely more on “Team Windsor”: Having had Philip at her side as a loyal consort for the past 70 years, the 91-year-old monarch now faces the rather daunting prospect of carrying out future engagements alone. Those close to the Queen say that she will rely even more heavily on her family from now on and that this period will see the emergence of what is being billed “Team Windsor.”
Get off the bench: “The Queen sees her children and her grandchildren as her substitutes and now it’s time for some of them to get off the bench and join her,” according to one senior royal source.
The Cambridges were sheltered from duty: Up until now, they have enjoyed a sheltered life in Norfolk juggling their family with royal duties and their charitable commitments. Now their workload is set to increase substantially. The Duke of Edinburgh is patron or president of some 780 organizations and some of these will be taken on by his grandchildren once the Duke steps down officially this summer. I am told that the various wildlife and conservation charities the Duke represents have already been earmarked for his grandsons William and Harry. The Duchess of Cambridge can also expect more responsibility.
Team Windsor needs to travel more too: It is not just patronages the young royals are taking on but more responsibility. They will be expected to accompany the Queen, tour the Commonwealth realms on her behalf, and step in as consorts on occasions. While the Duke won’t disappear from public life completely, he will be in the picture far less. Says a source: “William Kate and Harry will all be expected to take on some of the organizations their grandfather will eventually hand over, but in the immediate future, they will be expected to support the Queen while she is on duty. They are going to be more high profile because quite simply there’s work to be done.”
William’s people insist that he’s prepared to do more: At Kensington Palace, aides say that the couple have slowly been increasing their workload and that the Duke’s decision to leave the air ambulance was motivated by his desire to support the Queen. According to one courtier, “It has been an organic process.” William and his wife will be stepping up their official number of engagements “considerably” from this summer onward, and if Friday’s appearance is anything to go by, then we can expect to see Prince William by his grandmother’s side more often.
I wonder how much of this is wishful thinking on the part of the Queen and her royal courtiers? Because it feels like instead of the Queen telling William, Kate and Harry directly that they need to work more, she’s just applying public pressure with the hopes that they’ll take the hint. Part of me believes that she’s doing it this way so as to avoid William’s tantrum-y nature. As for this idea that suddenly William and Kate (in particular) are going to magically phase into full-time royal work… well, I’ll believe it when I see it and not a minute sooner. My guess is that William and Kate are already scheming to figure out a way to jam 700 of Philip’s charities into one “umbrella organization” so they only have to do one appearance a month and claim “but we’ve taken on 700 patronages!”
Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News and WENN.
Well TQ waited long enough.. if it’s true.
I honestly think Will and Kate will continue to pull the same stunts they have over the last six years. They will send out press releases and leak out gossip to make themselves sound “keen” and “energised” about taking on more duties, but nothing at all will change. Kate will continue to do what she has always done and do four of five events over the course of week and then disappear for six weeks, until she repeats the cycle again. The British press especially are ready and waiting to declare all out war against the Cambridge’s. Neither Will or Kate are liked by the Royal press, and this will become an issue as they will have no allies when the press completely turns against them (it will happen sometime in the next 2/3 years) They will be completely isolated with just “Poor Jason” on their side. William thinks he is being some master media manipulator, when in reality he is just digging himself and Kate deeper and deeper into a black hole.
+1. I also don’t get why the Queen has to “pressure” them. She is the Queen, after all. I see this more as her saying “Enough is enough. Get to work.” I think Harry will be up for it. William and Kate, I”m not so sure.
Sarah L, ITA with every word!
Morning Coffee: she’s also the boss, technically. She shouldn’t have to hint around like this, just tell them (through her “people” since she’s so non-confrontational) that this is how it’s going to be from now on, the end.
Get Phillip to do it. He doesn’t have a problem with confrontation.
Maria, how I would love to be a fly on the wall if this happened.
Wasn’t Philip the one who ambushed Kate with the new patronage during what she thought was only a Christmas luncheon or something? That was GREAT
I read this article and thought “Well, now is the time to bring in Meghan Markle with a royal marriage”. She appears to have no fear of hard work (I’m looking at you, Kate), she is good in front of the camera and has an understanding of the need for appropriate (self) promotion, she has a background in humanitarian work. I’m not saying she is perfect but if I owned a professional sports team, I would trade to get Markle.
Agreed.
I read this:
“Duke’s decision to leave the air ambulance was motivated by his desire to support the Queen. According to one courtier, “It has been an organic process.” ”
And my first, overwhelming thought was, “well, manure is organic…” Perhaps what they’re saying without saying it, is that Phillip is tired, and tired of the Duke & Duchess of DoSodTous lazing about while he suffers.
William’s “desire to support”? Puhleez. This is Phillip putting his foot down with Her Maj, causing the fecal matter to hit the oscillating blades of atmospheric refreshment.
It’s only an “organic process” because William, at long last, finds himself up to his neck in Anmer’s Finest Compost.
My two knuts: This is the delayed, public response from Her Maj to the shameful display William made of himself in Verbier.
If he’s got enough time to grope waitresses in a resort hours away from his pwecious children, he’s got enough time to show up to work for Queen and Country.
“One might be King with Consort in the future, but presently, one needs to get off one’s arse.”
This is different. The Queen will be keeping the diary of WHK, and to a certain extent Charles. C&C missed Commenwealth Day too. Her announcement specifically said no one is to miss that church service again. Her courtiers will be calling Charles & Sons and setting their schedules at the request of the queen. They can’t say no. And I think the spectacle of bringing in staff for the announcement, to tell them they would need to step up and Support Team Windsor, is so Will && Kate can’t make excuses. They will be told that is what staff is for.
From what i can recall Chuck and Cams were overseas on an official tour at the time of Commonweath Day event. I think they were in Romania at one point?!?
Charles and Camilla were on overseas tour of Romania. That’s why they missed the service. Ditto Anne and Sophie who were also at engagements during the service.
Everyone else not otherwise occupied with engagements showed up for the service except WK.
C&C were in Romania, but the Queen was saying, schedule better, and be there on important state occasions. EVERYBODY
“Her announcement specifically said no one is to miss that church service again. ”
When did Her Majesty make this formal announcement to the press?
Kate is so skinny. Only housewives have the time to focus on their body that much..
Whaaaaaat? Offensive to skinny girls and fat girls and working women and housewives. GFOH with this offensiveness.
What an odd thing to say.
GTFOH with that nonsense!
This makes me sad. Your comment is a bit insensitive. I just gave my notice at work (not because I wanted to, but because circumstances changed) and now I will be at home with my kids (it is a great opportunity that I am fortunate have)… but it’s occurring to me that I will be a housewife, and will get lumped into that stereotype.
The stereotype is true because it happens, but it isn’t the rule. You can be a stay at home mom or housewife, but not be lumped in as a negative.
It’s all in your choices. Not circumstance.
Hey Dal – I’ve been home with my kids for seven years. Accept that there are terrible people who will disrespect you and your role (just as there those who disrespect women who have paid employment outside the house – there’s really no winning for women if we look for external validation!); ignore it.
Not a Kate fan but please don’t push that line. I’m the same size and figure and work full time and am in postgrad school. All women are different.
Ugh…not true. Housewife and mother checking in to say unfortunately I have zero time to focus on myself and my body…lol!
Most “housewives” are run ragged by the demands of childrearing and home-running. Since they are “at home” full-time, they are supposed to be super-mom and super-wife (a la Martha Stewart). A rich woman like Kate would not be burdened by any of these demands unless she chose to be. So she has plenty of time to worry about, work on her physical appearance. But I don’t view the Duchess of Cambridge as a housewife. So be more careful with your words please, Luiv.
Like you I will believe it when I see it happening over an extended period of time. While I think Harry will step up, never underestimate the Dolittles ability or motivation to get out of work. He might do more but she can’t and won’t – its pretty obvious she does not like doing public engagements and puts very little effort into them (on average her solo visits last about 20-30mins). All Waity wants is to be a celebrity housewife who has an unlimited credit card and ‘help’ that raises her kids/runs her household for her.
W&K have a PR mountain to climb to turn their terrible image around.
And yeah I agree that they will probably start shoving their patronages under this umbrella outfit to create the illusion of ‘work’ while financially benefitting from the tax breaks via the money that goes through it instead of going directly to the charity – its basically legal money laundering.
That is what I don’t understand about Kate. Like you said she spends very little time at events, she just smiles gets her flowers/free gifts and just leaves. If I was her her I would spend so much time chatting to people and getting involved. All her event photos are the same (her smiling, making hand claw gestures and laughing like a mad woman) you never really see her getting involved with what is being shown to her and that means the Royal photographers don’t get good photo ops (Diana knew what made a good photo and she knew how to give the photographers good angles) I have a feeling that very soon things are going to come to a head and the Cambridge’s wont be able to worm their way out of it.
First, although he is, without a doubt, problematic on some issues, Phillip deserves a standing ovation for working, and working regularly, through the age of 95. That is astounding, more so that his work has been for country, not self.
Second, the Queen is right and her grandchildren need to start pulling their weight or step aside. I would be embarrassed to be making excuses for not working more when my 91 year old grandmother was pretty much working full time – and she did so when she had young kids at home too – and that my 95 year old grandfather was still working.
You can disapprove of the colonialist attitude – as I do. You can disapprove of the entire job of royal nonsense – as I do. But the job exists whether I approve or not, and I agree that nobody can say that Phil hasn’t put in the work and then some.
Exactly.
ITA
But the job can be reconfigured. Royals taking on charity work is relatively new and done to give visibility and justification for public money. It hasn’t always been the way it is now, Some royals have hundreds of patronages but do they have much of a relationship with each one of them? I’d genuinely like to know.
Maybe with Phillip stepping down, this is a time to review what exactly the Windsor’s should be doing apart from constitutional and allied local work. Should they be paid to represent charities as they do now? It’s kind of ridiculous. And they could cost far less – maybe an honorarium, and everyone but the monarch and heir needs to work in the real world or live off their own funds. In other words, radically downsize. People learn to live with change all the time; no reason why they and Windsor’s can’t do likewise.
Non sequitur, addie. Nobody said they thought the Windsors and their duties either should, or should not, change. We said that Phil has done his duty by the job as it is currently configured. Which he has. And I say that as someone who can’t stand him.
@Addie, the issue of whether restructuring or downsizing should occur is completely separate. And it should not be because William or Kate are lazy. Philip WORKED. He attended events regularly. Often several events in a day while Kate cannot seem to manage several in a month. And the man is almost 96 years old! At an age where most of his contemporaries have been dead for 2 decades, the man has been showing up for work on a regular basis. Unless William & Kate have some disabling impairments nobody knows about, there’s no legitimate excuse for them not stepping up to take over his responsibilities
I agree that Phil has done his duty, but I also agree with Addie that now is a good time to make financial changes.
I question the financial wisdom of diverting £334 Million a year to one family so they’ll make appearances to raise money for charity.
Why not just give the money directly to charity?
And part of that money should go to providing free heating for poor pensioners so no more will ever die from lack of heating. I was so infuriated when I learned that so much money is being spent on the Windsors and yet old people are dying from lack of heating.
http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/money/mortgages-bills/how-much-does-the-royal-family-cost-11363982445194
That’s a superficial analysis, Darling.
How much would the office of a head of state cost? A minimum of £100m even if the constitutional and diplomatic state duties were cut back considerably. The monarchy incorporates actual constitutional functions. These also cost money. The Sovereign Grant also includes heritage upkeep. This also costs money.
I’m a British republican. Even if we maintain a constitutional monarchy, I think it has funding issues both in terms of cost and transparency.
But they do not get “paid” £334m for cutting ribbons.
(Sigh. I always end up having to be devil’s advocate around here.)
“William’s people insist that he’s prepared to do more” – pull your finger out then Will.
I’ll believe when he does it, and that doolittle wife of his.
Maybe Willyboy doesn’t know that his people did insist that.
Somewhere, Harry and Meghan are sighing,, “Ok, then, you take this 349, I will handle this 349, and that leaves the Wellington Poodle Club and Knit Me A Rainbow for Wedge and Kitty.”
Yes–I think these two are more likely to pick up the extra work, and frankly to bring more star power and excitement than Will and Kate will.
I wonder if being outshone by Harry and Meg will make Kate want to step up? She is competitive, but will it come out as Kate trying harder at work, or will she get her mother to leak unflattering stories and pics about Meg to the press to take the heat off Kate?
Meghan Markle is Kate Middleton’s worst nightmare, IMO. MM will make Kate look so lazy and so petulant. Yet one more reason to count down the days until the engagement is announced. And it will be a gossip fiesta, so it’s win-win.
Please let Knit Me A Rainbow be a real thing. I so need it in my life.
There is a book called ‘Knit me a rainbow’ on Amazon!!
There’s sweet stuff on Google about grandmothers knitting rainbow jumpers to show support for LGBT grandchildren which makes me think a knitting-related cross-generational GLBT organisation would be amazing.
@ ABC : I suggest a few basic knitting classes at a knitting shop. It would only take an hour or so to get the basics down. Then you can make your own and go back to the shop if you have any problems that require “expert” advise. Knitting is a blast! If it were possible, I would make one for you myself, dearie!
@Liberty 😂😂
The US press is all over Harry and Meghan so if the Middletons try to throw them under the bus to make the Lazy Wills and Kate look good, it’s not going to work. I can’t believe Harry “kissing” Meghan at the Polo match was one of the top trending news reports yesterday from CNN. Embarrassing but true.
I know why Liz hasn’t forced Will to work before. He will throw Diana in her face and Queen Elizabeth does not want to go through the public getting mad at her for making Diana’s big baby cry. She’s been there and done that. Playing the Diana card will continue working until the end of his days.
Lol, Harry does even less than William. And unlike William he doesn’t even bother pretending he has a ‘real’ job and obviously can’t pretend he’s busy with children.
Harry’s better at the work when he does it, but he still does appallingly little. As he has his whole life. I don’t know where this idea of Harry as a hard-worker comes from. Not reality that’s for sure. Even at school he couldn’t be arsed to do his own work.
There’s no reason he couldn’t have already been doing 500+ engagements a year. He’s a healthy, single, young man. He’s never going to have more time to give. Yet he’s consistently done the bare minimum. The idea he’s going to jump in and take on 5 times as much as he’s ever done is laughable.
Organic process, my arse. Dragged kicking and screaming is more like it.
“the Duke’s decision to leave the air ambulance was motivated by his desire to support the Queen” – more Jason lies
We were told in August 2014 that it was a two year contract ending June 2017. He was probably planning to re-up, given that he now has an insider in place to cover up the fact that he’s rarely there. HM and PP put a stop to it.
Yep.
Being dragged kicking and screaming is organic if they aren’t tasered or pepper sprayed. And some pepper spray may be organic too. In case you were wondering. 😉
😂
They may be clubbed with a real organic log to avoid the screaming.
But thanks a lot for the laugh!
LOL!
Organic – come on that is the word for Prince Charles and his farming. ha William tried that course at Cambridge for a few weeks, then did the part-time air ambulance, all in his 30s. These were called gap years for a reason. At least Harry seems like he likes being with people. Wonder what W&K will really step up and do right now.
Methinks Willy will need another gap year to sort out his new life.
I actually rolled my eyes when I read “organic.” Bullish!t.
@ Sixer: “Organic process my arse” spoken no doubt in the – ahem ahem – ‘dulcet tones’ of Jim Royle (speaking of the royal family, after all!). LOL!!!!
I agree with the comments up-thread, that William and Kate should actually be totally effing embarrassed that their work-load to date has been absolutely _negligible_ compared to that of their… 91 and 95 year old grandmother and grandfather, respectively! Time to get off their arses (=off the bench) and do something to earn that privileged lifestyle. Something about her and her upstart relatives just rubs me the wrong way…. grrrr……
The use of the word “organic” reminds me of an article I read about natural (no drugs) childbirth. A new mother talked about her personal decision to use painkillers during childbirth. She said “Earthquakes may be natural but that doesn’t make them a good thing”.
I think there has always been this idea within the Royal household that William and Harry need to be ‘sheltered’ because they lost their mother. Since then they’ve been excused from having the same workload and responsibilities that they would otherwise have. Almost like they’re delicate flowers and need to be protected from too many duties and the evil eye of the press. Diana’s death was shocking and for two boys to lose their mother at that age is devastating. But I think their ‘sheltered’ existence needs to be put aside now. They have both had plenty of time to get ready to take on life as full time Royals with responsibilities. Plus Kate has bandwagon-ed on to the ‘sheltered’ younger Royals gravy train when she had no reason to other than laziness.
Yes, William is probably tantrum-central and is used to getting his way. Playing the ‘my mother died in a horrible accident when I was a child’ card when he’s well into his 30s isn’t really acceptable any more. The public expects value for money with the Royals. If they’re going to continue to exist people need to see them doing something worthwhile. Time to step up to the plate or step down.
I totally agree. They’ve been coddled far too long and the Diana excuse is just a cop-out now and everyone knows it. The final straw for me was during the ongoing French photos trial when the Lamebridges cited Diana’s death as a reason for them being so upset by the photos being released. WTF?
I think the public pitchforks at the perception of a cold-hearted Windsor family after Diana’s death were instrumental in leading them to over-shelter the two Wales princes. They went way too far the other way and now it’s biting them in the bum.
It will be interesting to see how the older ones can finally coax age 30-somethings into gaining a work ethic. In the non-royal world, it’s usually very hard to do. The work-shy 30-something ends up a 50-something lazy slacker.
Completely agree.
I think it goes beyond that, though. While a huge contributing factor in public perception (no denying that), William is also one person in a long line of pampered and spoiled princes. Balanced against the concept of responsibility of a monarch is the culture of special treatment toward the wealthy. William has been given the same treatment as an Ivanka Trump – coddled and told how special he is and how smart he is. While there are those individuals who do in fact turn into functional human beings, I’ve wondered if William would have
turned out significantly differently had Diana lived, or if he would have just been a different kind of spoiled. You know?
Agreed Sixer! I don’t think this new crop of Royals will ever take on the workload the older generation had, it is too foreign for them. Honestly, I couldn’t do the schedule that the Queen and Phillip have maintained for years. But Wills and Kate need to step it up a notch. I actually think Megan and Harry are gonna shine on this area..my secret hope is MM gets pregnant right away (if that’s what they want) has a ridiculously easy pregnancy and does charity events up until the 7th month. I’d like to see Carole lose her mind over Chutney looking like a slacker.
I agree on the sheltered thing to a point – Harry has moved beyond that and does a LOT of charity work that it NOT reported by either the press or the court circular, he can’t be seen doing more than the DoLittles so a lot of his work is swept under the carpet. William hasn’t as he is desperate to cling to the bubble and the hiding his lifestyle from the public protecting it gave him. As for Waity she’s also been sheltered all her life -this is a women who declared at a Mental Health engagement that she was lucky to have a husband who looks after her. She is sheltered by him and their shadow court because that’s the only life she knows and clearly wants, as no effort is made to look beyond the bubble she lives in.
Yes, William is surrounded by Yes Men and Women which means he gets his way. This includes his wife and children too, obviously. So any suggestion from their press office that maybe Kate should do more of this or that and it will be slammed by William. Nobody at Kensington Palace is able to challenge him. They’re just having to manage HRH way or the highway and the bad press.
My dad’s mother died when my dad was 12. Ill for several years before that. At no point has my dad ever behaved the way Will-not has behaved.
I think at this point, considering how there are many other people who lost a parent at a young age and are successful, it is personality. He is just a bad-tempered little boy who refuses to grow up.
Diana described Will’s stubborness as a toddler and said Harry would be a good king, so his personality is probably the lion’s share of it, rather than the circumstances.
Wow, @deedee – that makes so much sense! I’d love to read the article/interview where Diana said that about her two sons. She would have had unerring insight. What a crying shame Harry isn’t next in line.
You make a great point. I think neither prince has been pushed to perform, but Wills’ personality (from toddler forward) suggests stubborn defiance. Harry seemed a gentler child, so maybe there is hope he will step up more.
@ Deedee : When the princes were young (William was six?), Diana talked about William in an interview and then said that Harry would surprise everyone (in a positive way) when he grew up. She meant he was really going to impress people with how he turned out, that he was going to be a wonderful man. At the time, all the attention was on William as the heir. Prophetic words from their mother.
Want to know what my grandfather said about his fathers unexpected death?!?
“It was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me.”
His fathers death propelled him to insane success. He spent his whole life working incredibly hard and went from growing up dirt poor and lost his dad at 9. Now his a multi multi millionaire who dedicates his time to volunteer work and he is 80! He earned every cent he had. Not once has he used his dad’s death as a crutch. I wish he could sit down have a talk with William…
Megan, ITA, and it’s evident by how completely awkward William looks in the top photo. He looks like someone nervous who has just set foot in Buckingham Palace for the first time ever. Not someone who’s been groomed for this position for almost 40 years.
PR BS ( or bollocks to keep it on the right side of the pond)
William doesn’t even hide that he hates attending royal duties. You just have to take a look at his face.
Top pic is marvelous, there he is standing next to the Queen and the leader of Myanmar and he looks in no way like the future monarch of a country. His body language makes him seem as if he is a footman on Downton Abbey…
But not the experienced footman. He’s the errand boy who, due to the head footman’s sudden elopement with footman #2, has been promoted just in time for this particular event. He’s keen to do the job right, but isn’t certain if he’s zipped up his fly.
Yes, Thomas and O’Brien would have him packing in a heartbeat.
He’s Molesley – forced to do a footman’s job, affronted at the indignity of it all.
And they’re about to find out he’s been into the sherry.
I wonder if the York girls will be included in this plan. They already do a bunch of charity but I wonder if the Queen will encourage them to pick up some more of the “official” duties due to Philip’s retirement. If so, I wonder how Charles feels about this.
I think Charles’ attitude is that if a 95 year old man can handle 780 patronages, then there is no reason the Doolittles cannot handle them between the two of them. Thus the York princesses are still unnecessary.
My suspicion is that Charles does not want to pay for the Yorks to do royal work.
There remains the problem of Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. All of them are past retirement age, and the first two have had serious health concerns recently.
I think the main line is capable of covering the 3000+ per year, but only if the younger ones take on 700 each (instead of an average of 500), so Charles can focus on doing his job and HM’s.
I think your suspicion is definitely not unfounded, Bearcat.
I believe Charles will retire the rest on a pension of some sort or have them live off their trust funds.
At first I wondered why the queen would try to avoid Wills tantrums, but she may have seen how talking to Wills backfires and at her age why deal with the BS?
I don’t know, call me old fashioned, but shouldn’t the heir apparent (Charles) make Wills and Kate tow the line instead of the queen? What a sticky web that no one wants to touch.
I can hear Wills and Kate singing: 700 something charities to avoid, take one down pass it around 699 charities to avoid…..
If you remember, the Queen had to step in and insist on proper discipline after Charles and Diana dailed to discipline William as a young child and his behaviour went out of control.
Nevermind his tantrum-prone nature, Charles the father has never disciplined his sons and now it’s too late for William. Harry was lucky that when he went into the army he fully submitted to the discipline and learnt a modicum of discipline unlike William who has remained undisciplined throughout his life. He was coddled by everyone including the military. Having children didn’t shock him into having some pride and direction and a need to set a better example for his children. Kate will enable him as that’s the way to keep everyone looking after her too.
The RAF bent over backwards to accommodate Chopper and his lazy ways, as the heir he got away with rejecting the disciplined way life thats expected in the armed forces. Twit and Twat wouldn’t know discipline if it slapped them in the face.
@Digital Unicorn: I am slayed (and I spell it that way deliberately). I will never, ever see them as anything other than “Twit and Twat” from now on. A sort of shorter version of Tweedledumb and Tweedledoolittle?
Diana also taught William to flout royal protocols, which is now coming back to bite them all.
LAK, What a crock! Do you live with these people?? I know you love google but this is fantasy.
Maggie, there are tons of evidence to what LAK is saying. I mean, heck!, Go read an article how nannies and other workers called William a bratty child. Even Diana said harry has the better temperment to be king!
People need to stop seeing him as Diana’s son and start judging him by his own actions. He’s 34-year-old and should start behaving like a man and future king, it’s time to stop hiding behind his mother otherwise he will be one terrible king. Other people (street orphans in India etc.) have a worse life than this pampered spoiled arrogant man-child.
Spot on !
Regarding the street orphans in India……..’Gosh, how interesting!’
To be clear: that was Kate’s comment after being told about the deliberately mutilated street children of india.
That was so embarrassing.
Didn’t she get some kind of Princess Classes (for lack of better words), one would think that they would prepare her for various situations. But empathy cannot be taught to a grown woman
Whether or not one is given princess lessons, i think most people’s response to being told about deliberately mutilated children is not ‘Gosh, how interesting’.
She is designed to breed and shop, with nary a brain cell under her wiglets.
Lak, no one’s response should not be what she said. I was simply trying to state that she may be void of knowing how to connect and should have given her some type of “heads up” to be prepared to see and hear what she has never dealt with. And sadly to say, I’m sure they prepped her expensively which makes her comment an even bigger WTF moment.
Seraphina: i agree completely with both your comments. I simply refuse to believe that anyone, sheltered or not, prepped or not, can respond this way to such horror. And yet, she did.
It’s an abscence of empathy i struggle to reconcile with any humanbeing.
Lak, complete agreeemnt. which makes me wonder: what is the problem with her?????
I think Kate’s problem is she’s a bit thick and can’t think of her feet. She’s been raised in a bubble and to be the centre of that bubble – i know people who have been raised like that and they lack empathy for things outside their sphere of limited experience. If it doesn’t happen to them or affect them directly then they don’t care about it. Plus I think she thought that saying something like this made her look engaged.
I will never, ever get over “Gosh, how interesting!”
I can’t even wrap my brain around how THAT is what would come out of her mouth at that moment.
Like, did she MEAN to say “how awful” but she was nervous and for some reason “interesting” came out instead? It is mind-boggling.
I call it her Stepford moment.
I struggle to place it like LAK does. I mean, it wasn’t bullishly callous. She wasn’t trying to be callous, was she? And it wasn’t a freeze either. It was an all the lights are on but nobody’s home moment.
She just must be THAT much of an empty vessel.
Didn’t a cousin once say that it was really hard on Kate to ‘act’ as if she cared?
@Christin – You have hit on a point there. Kate ‘acts’ like she has empathy and she’s terrible at faking it.
I would have been understanding if she was was caught off guard and then said something organic, even if it was not proper. A “oh my gosh that is horrible! Those poor children!” Maybe not pre-approved speech but something authentic. Part of me thinks she misheard them (aka too busy smiling and losing) that she didn’t attend to the speaker. I would have wanted my assistant to immediately pause me, whisper what happened so I could immediate address it. A heartfelt apology can go a long ways. But not to correct what was said that day or the next? Unexcuseable.
The cousin (a professor I think) said that KM struggles to find other people interesting or to find interest in much of what goes on around her. She was trying to put it in the context of a compliment, that she thought KM was doing well in her new role given the fact that she struggles to have interest outside herself etc. It just came out in such a way that ended up being damning, from someone who has known her all her life.
That incident to me indicated how poorly prepped they were – it was as though Kate genuinely had no clue who she was meeting with or what she was in for.
I will also never forget, “can you test the smell by smelling it?” F*ck man what is that nonsense.
“I met the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton) afterwards and she said: ‘Oh, I know who you are now! Although it’s very strange – now you have got facial hair. Some of the people who had facial hair in the film don’t have facial hair now.’ I guess she doesn’t hang around actors very much.” – Tom Hiddleston
The Queen traveled a lot when her kids were young and that was in a time where travelling was way harder and difficult that is today. Let’s see what kind of excuse the Dolittles will come up with.
That’s a great lead-in picture. The Queen looks like she’s going to crack some skulls and she’s going to do it in pearls and lavender. She’s going to leave the young royals bruised and smelling like Yardley soap.
You win! Great images…. larffing my head off over here!
“The Duke of Edinburgh is patron or president of some 780 organizations…”
Wow. We are talking about a 95-year-old man. That is quite impressive. I think William and Kate need to attend some more functions ASAP. It appears they have been allowed to live fairly leisurely thus far.
A side note…I know a lot of people seem to dislike Charles and Camilla, but honestly, they do attend quite a lot of functions and support a lot of charities. I think they “work” or make appearances substantially more than William and Kate and they seem to enjoy doing it.
When they were here on a tour (in the US) they made several stops from dawn until evening, including splitting up mid-day to cover more events. Camilla got down into the dirt with kids planting vegetables at one point. And she went through the day without making a bunch of wardrobe changes.
That is sweet to read about Camilla.
Wow, I love that. Great post. I can see her doing that and I think that is great. They really seem to enjoy their roles. I think they deserve a chance to be King and Queen Consort or whatever official title she gets…
Meh. Each passing generation has fewer people who give a toss about that instititution. I cant think of an agemate who gives a flying f about these people. They would do well to stop drawing attention to themselves with their “work” events. As if attending events to be waited upon hand and foot and make small talk is “work”. Hearing the events they attended this year doesnt make me think “gah, do those toffs earn their keep”. It makes me think “get out of public housing so we can do like France and just turn them into full time Museums”. It also reminds me that the cast of Dr Who could probably raise more for charity than these lot. The boys understand our apathy/hatred for them. These are the changes the monarchy must make to survive. They must operate undercover, showing up only when the pageantry would be appreciated but generally trying to stay out of sight and out of mind. I stand with the boys. Hide!
That’s all well and good, but are you OK with them socking you for their upkeep? To the tune of £335M at conservative estimate every year?
What was that lie UKIP told? £350M to the NHS annually instead of the EU…….well, here is money that could be diverted that way + the Palace Museums and Royal collections.
But if they wounld travel less and have less functions wouldn’t that figure go down considerably?
It would go down if serious economies were put in place regarding where and when they disappear. Limit the number of residences for all of them, limit the number of private vacations that use taxpayer security (put that onus as out of personal funds), limit things like the huge security nightmare that driving to a further away school 2x a day will cost, etc.
Centralize booking for all of them. Schedule one royal to be in one town and do 6 engagements in that town that day. Right now, sometimes three royals show up in the same town to do different events, which causes extra security costs.
Open up the books (remove the waiver from Freedom of Information requests) to show how much taxpayer money is being used for things like Middleton family security at their residence. How much is spent in travel and security every time she runs home to mummy. See if the taxpayer-funded helicopter now includes Middleton Manor as one of the stops that is covered-but-not-publicly mentioned. Ensure that no taxpayer funds are used for upkeep or security at private residences (Middleton, Balmoral, Sandringham, you name it). They are all given taxpayer-funded places to live. If they choose to live elsewhere or spend significant time living elsewhere, they should have to pay those security costs themselves.
Ex. A million dollars was spent on the door to W&K’s rented farmhouse in Wales alone, but that was hushed up as a security issue. They could have lived on base and saved boatloads in security costs. They should have been required to pay all those extra security costs themselves (not the taxpayers, not the Duchy) because they chose the most expensive living quarters.
As LAK points out, this is a strange place to stand.
If you want the institution turned into heritage only, as per France (like wot I do), why would you stand with two twittish herberts running off with the cash and doing nowt for it instead?
Sixer: please translate “twittish herberts” for an American. I can tell it is hysterically funny, but want more detail 🙂
Herbert is a slang term for silly person.
You might call someone a “right herbert” if they’ve just made themselves look a bit foolish.
I regularly refer to the Sixlets as “scruffy little herberts”.
!
I’m supporting the guys perceptiveness and their attempts at self preservation. Their older relatives dont get that this isnt post war Britain and that they can no longer con us with their ribbon cutting events and other “busy work”. The boys know now is the time to hide not brag about how much small talk you made this year.
We’ll get them eventually ofcourse. Eventually the generations that do care will be gone and then we shall come for their tiaras and palaces.
Ah, thanks for the trip down memory lane, Sixer! My dad used to call us little Herberts!
Just end it after Charles. Start phasing out the institution or re-shape it to just state functions. The money can better directed elsewhere – to people of the UK who need housing, healthcare, decent educations etc. The Windsor’s don’t need to be paid to do charity work, for goodness sake. People volunteer to help out all over the world; they don’t get paid to do it. The Cambridge’s and Harry have been ‘hiding’ for far too long; getting money for nothing. They should continue doing nothing but no money should go their way. They can live on granny’s private money or their own. It may be less grand to what they have been used to but so what.
“the couple have slowly been increasing their workload” Yeah glacially slow. This is anything we haven’t heard before, the only difference is Philip retiring. How thrilled will the conservation charities be about William taking over. He hasn’t done anything for his own in months. He better not get the WWF. Like all the stories telling us they’re going to step up I’ll believe it when I see it.
Yeah, they added on more fluff.
Can’t wait to see W and K worked like dogs…
Over 700 patronages means 2 events per day, doesn’t it? This does not sound like a fulfilling life to me. I think it would get to be very tiresome very fast. Where is the substance in having your name attached to so many and showing up for event after event after event, instead of selecting one or two and being REALLY involved? I don’t blame them for not wanting to do it. it sounds like hell. And I’m fairly extroverted.
He was fairly involved with many of them, and always showed up knowing alot of detailed information about each one and often gave speeches at his events. So he wasn’t a slacker on that front unlike WK who brag about being unprepared.
A few of his initiatives have been adopted in British life eg the DoE awards scheme and the WWF.
Further, he was also in charge of estate managing all the family’s private properties as well as Windsor Park, so he wasn’t just turning up to public engagements and doing nothing else.
He definitely bristled at the unveiling of plaques, but that was on top of the organisations and the estate management and i think the young royals imagine the plaque unveiling is all a royal does.
Mind you, if plaque unveiling is all they aspire to do, i can see how that would get old very quickly.
Yes to all of this. Philip was the one who made the private properties sustainable and stop losing money. Charles gets many of his ideas on organic gardening and sustainable agriculture from his father. PP also started an institute for technology and science in the Commonwealth. Anne has been the one attending in the last few years.
+ 14 books written
And even if all it entailed WAS just plaque-unveiling and ribbon-cutting, they would still have to suck it up and do it with smiles because they are compensated handsomely!
Lazy Willy and Katy keen are going to get creative with their excuses. So Harry it’s on you ginger snap, Meghan run for your life it isn’t worth it.
Doubt Meghan is running anywhere- her “cat got the creamery” grin at the polo match is
Proof enough that marrying Harry would be her winning at life. For A beautiful and more importantly working woman like her, I can’t imagine how she’d be willing to give her career and her independence up to join this royalty freak show.
I also think Meghan will find that life inside the Golden Circle won’t be all that golden (except financially, of course). She and Harry will want to start a family ASAP, she will be under huge pressure to earn her stripes as a royal and prove she’s worth all the perks, at just the time she wants to spend time with new babies . . .
And frankly Harry still seems to me to be kind of dull, and together in photos they still seem to me be like a Boy with a Woman.
I dunno. Lord knows I get the appeal of never having to worry again about where her career is going as she heads toward 40 (which in her business may as well be 60), but sometimes I wonder if she wouldn’t do better on the Salma Hayek path, snagging a mature billionaire who would back her starting her own business empire. . .
For someone who is used to working 12-16 hour days filming? Doing 200-300 engagements a year wouldn’t stress her out. Sophie managed to do 200+ the before-and-after birthing Louise years, and that was when she still had her PR business too.
That is what makes their kicking-and-screaming about working “full-time” so pathetic. It will wouldn’t be anywhere near 40 hour work weeks.
“The Windsors are very good at working three days a week, five months of the year and making it look as though they work hard.” – Mark Bolland (former Windsor press officer)
Suits is her first substantial acting job, and she’s only a supporting character. A lot of days she wouldn’t be required on set at all, some days just a few hours for a couple of short scenes. She hasn’t done much in the very long breaks between seasons either, just a Hallmark movie, which shoot notoriously fast.
So she’s had an enormous amount of free time. Far more than the average working adult, even if when she did work her hours were longer.
Getting to the place she has, even if some insist it is minor, took many years of hard work and hustle. Ask any of the thousands of actors and actresses working as wait staff if they’d like her career; I’ll bet 99 percent would say yes.
When she is at work, they are very long days. Those very long days require a lot of prep work, like memorizing every word she says and practicing for hours. That, plus her social media and website work (that she’s had to abandon) and her charity work.
She knows how to work and that’s what is required. When the Windsors are doing 500+ engagements a year each, it measures out to a less than 40 hour week. She knows how to show up, prepared and engaged, to get the job done. That’s what the BRF needs.
Well, we’ve had Philip’s retirement and Charles is 70 in a year or so – hope the Press really pile on regarding the ages of the senior Royals and how the younger lot are long overdue stepping up. Makes me feel quite ill, Chuck and Cam are ages with my parents and I couldn’t sleep at night knowing I was making them work so I could do nothing. No respect, it’s awful.
I think that W K and H will get a mediocre amount of royal duties because Phils workload is being shared with Sophie. Edward, Prnce Andrew and his two girls E and B. As for Wills he will be let loose no more keeping him wrapped up in deepest darkest Norfolk.
Well, this will be interesting in how it impacts Harry and MM – because, given that she will be on the shady side of 35 by the time they get married, they will by all odds be hot to start a family ASAP – which will, of course, take MM out of significant royal duties for a bit, especially with Harry being fifth in line now, the primary burden should fall on Wills and Kate. And what if the Cambridges decide to have a third? I don’t believe for a moment that Kate doesn’t want a third one.
Could be interesting.
MM is a current girlfriend. For the time being nothing more.
maggie, let us pray it stays that way!!
Why is Harry being dragged into this on the same level as Kate and especially William? He’s the spare and between Sentabale and the Invictus Games, he seems involved, albeit not allowed to upstage the other pair.
I just wish William would remove himself from the line of succession. He seems so completely uninterested.
Harry’s work numbers are as low as William and Kate’s.
Because Harry does very, very little. Less than William some years. He’s also given up all pretense of working like a normal person, so he has absolutely no excuse.
He’s as lazy as his brother. He just does a better job of the work when he deigns to do a little.
I think that those countries with monarchies should get rid of them. It’s 2017.
Funny thing. The top 15 happiest countries in the world last year, where the people rank themselves as happiest? 7 are monarchies or countries with a “foreign” monarch as head of state. Denmark, Norway, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden.
I would love to be a fly on the wall wall when Phillip and the Queen discuss this. Can you imagine? Phillip, ‘listen cabbage, I’m tired of all these events, standing, smiling, pretending to know current events.” “I haven’t been a young man in 40 years.” The Queen, “I know but the squatters refuse more than 2 events a week.” Phillip, “give me two weeks, two weeks and I’ll have them sorted out!”
What is this work they speak of?
Making public appearances? Seriously? Only when you live a life of unfathomable privilege is a party where everyone will be fawning over you considered work.
#abolishthemonarchy
I feel sorry for the Queen. She sacrificed almost her entire life to devote herself to serving as Queen and the monarchy, and for what? From her point of view, she must be so, so disappointed. The catastrophic marriage of Charles and Diana seems to have begat little hope for the future of the monarchy. Sure, Harry’s popular, but in terms of what they all do (how little they work compared to the others)…I don’t know, I don’t understand how those kids are not embarrassed and mortified…I mean, TQ may have not been the best mother and grandmother growing up, but geez, times have changed and she was only doing what she thought was best BECAUSE SHE WAS THE QUEEN, so now grow the f up, William and Kate! That she has to witness the state of things at this point in her life…I just feel bad for her. Maybe the monarchy is outdated, but still…from a purely human point of view, it’s like she’s worked hard for nothing, like someone who gave their all to a family business, only to watch the kids pi$$ it all away, while they’re still alive, yet. Awful.
It won’t happen because Kate WILL get pregnant! anything to avoid it!