I know the Duchess of Cambridge’s biggest defenders don’t want to admit this, but after watching Kate’s activities for more than a decade, I feel pretty comfortable saying that Kate seems like she’s scrambling. It’s all because of the introduction of Meghan Markle, now the Duchess of Sussex. I don’t know if Kate really thought that far ahead, that eventually Harry would fall in love and get married and that comparisons would be made between the wives William and Harry chose. It doesn’t seem like Kate did have a plan, which is possibly why Carole Middleton is sticking closer to Kate. Carole has always been the brains of this operation, and I think Carole is making all kinds of contingency plans and figuring out how to orchestrate a comeback for Kate. Part of that “don’t forget about meeeee” comeback? The christening of Baby Louis. The christening will likely be at the end of June, and Carole has lots and lots of plans:
The christening of Prince Louis will be a lavish affair with classical music, silk dresses and expensive candles – at least if his granny gets her way. Carole Middleton thinks that a decent christening party should cost £2,000 – and that’s just for the added extras. The Duchess of Cambridge’s mother sets out her top tips in Debrett’s-style detail in her column for this month’s Baby London magazine.
Detailing ways to mark such an event – which she refers to with PC zeal as a ‘naming day celebration’ – Carole, 63, suggests creating a time capsule box and asking guests to place ‘handwritten notes, photographs or trinkets’ inside for the baby to receive on its 18th birthday. She recommends the bouncing baby wears something beautiful, such as a £125 silk gown from Monsoon, and must also be showered with luxurious gifts. Among her recommendations are a £49.95 English Trousseau piggy bank from Harrods, a £265 Philippa Herbert plaster cast of the baby’s feet, a £125 Meminio leather ‘memory case’ or a £30 Steiff teddy.
To reward guests for their efforts, the former air stewardess tells the magazine’s 200,000 readers that they too should receive gifts, including ‘votive candles, pretty chocolates and silver charms’ to take home. And playing a few old CDs simply will not do – Carole exhorts parents to splash out on a classical harpist or singer, who can charge £300 for an afternoon.
Of course, no party would be complete without a theme. Carole advises buying Beatrix Potter or Teddy Bears Picnic decorations – and there are no prizes for guessing where from. She suggests her website, Party Pieces, is the ideal place for napkins and balloons.
I always forget that Carole is a “columnist” as well. Pippa’s career as a columnist sort of faded away, and I guess we’re not supposed to mention that she cashed in, big-time, writing Pippa Tips for an assortment of magazines (including Vanity Bloody Fair) for several years. Why bother with Pippa Tips when Carole is the mastermind?? Of course Carole knows how to throw a party, or in this case, a christening. Personally, I think baptisms and christenings should be more low-key, because it’s not like the baby is going to remember. It’s just a nice moment where everyone gets to see the baby and eats some good food, hopefully. There really is no need to organize it into this kind of excessive $2500-3000 thing. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing what Prince Louis’s christening is like. London or Sandringham? Will Harry and Meghan attend?
Photos courtesy of WENN and Pacific Coast News.
And who will be paying for this ‘lavish’ christening? Carole or the UK tax payer?
Why isn’t the Daily Mail outraged that Carole has a magazine column and is using her royal connections to promote herself and advertise party pieces?
I guess if it’s Williams favorite family, the Middletons cashing in , the Mail has no problem with it.?
The Mail’s editor-in-chief is their media advisor. No chance the mail will make an obvious dig about the Middletons. They couch it in sly digs.
Easy. Both will. If James and Pippa got RPO coverage for a low attendance book signing and door to car escorts without royals present you know taxes will take the bulk of this christening expense.
Are you kidding me? I actually burst out laughing at the absurdity of this.
I chortled as well…. it reads like satire! Lol
I don’t find this absurd. Maybe Kaiser or yourself aren’t very religious but my family is Christian Orthodox and a baptism is a HUGE HUGE deal! My daughters baptism cost us as much as a wedding, in my culture and religion a baptism is essential what a bat or bar mitzvah is for Jewish people. We made a hefty donation to the church then held an open bar and 5 course reception at the four seasons afterwards. All the guests gift the new baby with money, my daughter received over $20k in cash as gifts from that night. We are expecting our second child at the end of this year and have already begun planning the next baptism.
I guess it all depends on your religion and culture.
The Middletons are not religious people. Kate was baptised a week before her wedding.
The column is about a party not the religious aspect. #buystufffor christeningpartyat partypieces!
I’m not familiar with the British cultural aspect of baptisms LAK. My husband and I compromised, he is a part of the church of England so we married under the church but our children are baptized under my religion.
Is the British reception tradition more of a cake and tea and everyone ohs and ahs over the baby? Or is it a more grand affair, especially for the aristo crowd?
Kate was baptized as a baby. It was the confirmation that took place before her wedding.
Christenings are a big deal for the royals because the monarch is the head of the church of England, and one day William will be the head. Whether the Middletons are deeply religious doesn’t come into it. With the exception of the Queen it is doubtful whether any of the royals are deeply religious. It is a reflection of today’s society where many people might not be religious but they still go all out for their child’s christening.
Thanks for correction @ All about Eve. I had a brain fart. And realised too late that i meant confirmation rather than Baptism.
My point still holds. The Middletons are not religious. They were not seen in church until Kate joined the royals. Except for weddings and funerals. The same continues post-Kate’s wedding.
This column by Carole is all about product placement and a party and nought to do with religion.
Lela: it’s not a big deal. The royals make a public spectacle of the baptism of their children because of their role in the church, but most people do not.
My mothers side and myself are all greek orthodox. Meaning it’s 1 of the Big 3. All family gathers for christenings, marriages and funerals. Everything else is optional. And it’s a massive event each time.
What makes this seem like a grab for attention is that the Midds are more for show. And now is a time to bring the spotlight back to their show.
Carole wrote a piece about christenings last summer, too. It is a seasonal feature in the magazine because people like to have christenings in the summer. The timing is driven by the editorial calendar, which is likely set 12 months in advance so advertisers can choose when to advertise based on content. That means the column was planned before Kate was even pregnant.
And with the big party and spoiling a baby who is asleep most of the time, you will get to Heaven’s gates before anyone else. Relax, it’s a gossip site. And your point of spewing out horse sh*t about all this nonsensical baptism where how much and how important, blah blah blah. I’m sorry, has nothing to do with religion or spirituality. Check yourself. Maybe if you want to get closer to God, spend your next lavish budget on a christening (because it’s really for you and your husband to show everyone what you can afford) on water and food and help with people who have nothing.
Grifters.
Yes, the Middletons have totally used their connection to Royalty to promote themselves and the British press for the most part doesn’t jump down their throats for doing so,
Carole is using her connection to her Royal grandkids for promoting items for sale to the public.
Thats what always bothered me about the Middletons ,Carole , Pippa, James have all publicly used their Royal connection to make money and or promote themselves or businesses to make money or drive traffic to their business but the UK media doesn’t give them a hard time about it and William appears to look the other way or doesn’t seem to get it , that they are definately using their royal association to him to promote themselves.
It is absurd and ridiculous. It also shameless.
Oh for Pete’s sake, it’s not as if they are selling access to the queen. They are royal adjacent, mildly famous socialites who market their mild fame to the advantage of their businesses. Some people just call that good business.
Megan
They’re capitalizing on their inlaws. Yea its business for them. It’s also something that comes on tacky and exploitative. Others have tried this. They were not given the same pass.
I think we are all so used to the MIddleton’s using their royal connections that nobody even complains anymore.
Yep that’s the word
Yes, and some of us call it tacky and shameless.
Yeah, but…
…honestly, at least they’re hustling for some of their grift. Our orange grifter just steals and treasons and violates the emoluments clause like it’s a puddy. Those Middletons are cheeky, you know? I don’t like them much, but they’re honest climbers.
Louis is the third child and 2nd boy; he’s going to have a ‘tough time’ for the rest of his life. He’s the spare’s spare and will have to live off off of his brother for the rest of his life if he doesn’t find his own way. Let him have a nice christening.
What, you think this is the last and only time he’ll have something nice?
“Ok Royal Son of a British king. Time to pull up your bootstraps or live in the poorhouse”
No and I didn’t insinuate that anywhere in my comment. I don’t see anything wrong with them going all out for his christening.
He won’t remember it. Sorry but this about the adults and has nothing to do with the baby. How about a nice first birthday. The timing here is obvious and a poor play.
Exactly. This isn’t for him. Something nice he will carry as the spare’s spare. A christening will happen, but the level Carole is prepping and carrying it to is 100% for attention to the family and party for adults.
The little prince is the subject of the event, but not the reason it will unfold as it does.
Lol, I hear you, but he won’t remember a first birthday party either, whether lavish or a fart in a bathtub.
Because Betsy as the spare’s spare a first birthday is a better event. He can at least be awake and that makes for better optics. The BRF are all about optics and that would have been a great opportunity to show unity and how everyone loved sweet Louis. Carole promotes herself and not her daughter’s interests.
Adds insult to injury that he was born on the feast of St. George! That felt a bit like a cosmic joke to me. . .
Charlotte is the spare’s spare.
Isn’t Charlotte the spare? Making Louis the spare’s spare?
LOL yes, you’re right! my bad.
Ugh. The middling Middletons. Trying so hard to be Britain’s Second Family. I think they are so tacky.
Tacky, yes, but tacky enough? Dream bigger, higher, more, Carole!
I want walls of flowers! Obvious product placements in official photos! Gift bags with corporate sponsors right there in big letters -Pimm’s, By Appointment to HIs Majesty Prince Louis! I want little Louis in Versace!
Book Westminster Abbey! Kate and William take a carriage ride through London, carry Louis up the aisle to be christened, carriage ride to Buckingham Palace and Kate presents Louis to the public from the balcony Lion King style!
@Natalie – OK I just died laughing at this. Can you imagine if they really did something this absurdly elaborate?
@Mrs. WelenMelon and @Natalie S.
Yaaaassss!
@Mrs. WelenMelon and @Natalie S.
Elton John must perform Circle of Life. Then it would be complete.
Wonder if Doria ever does a column promoting something or promotes something with her name , the UK media would react so lightly?
I am warming to these ideas. Do you think we can work in some fireworks and a symphony?
Day off! National day off!
Carole basically grifted hard for pippas sponsored wedding. They had to because they didn’t have the cash to pay for the lavish pippa wedding. Couldn’t have the in laws thinking they weren’t terribly moderately wealthy like them.
All right, I’ll admit it. I really like the time capsule idea.
I like it too.
I do as well.
No releasing of some type of symbolic birds, doves maybe? How gauche!
I’m sure the christening will cost well above that from their purses for food, photography and clothing. Plus the public will pay 10x that in security.
Sadly, my child’s christening was more too. Despite my protests. My husband’s family is pushy and got the invite count up to 200: apparently you have to invite everyone you know to every celebration. The rentals alone were in this range. Ughh good ol times.
Ew, isn’t this sort of gauche for the mother-in-law and grandma of future kings (we shall see!) to be hawking her wares in print? I’m actually shocked she would stoop to catering to the plebes! Maybe they need more £££ for Middleton Manor…
It’s called marketing. It’s what people who own businesses do.
I think it would be better if Carole’s name weren’t on it. Someone else representing Party Pieces write it with quotes from Carole or some reference to her so that person is the one hawking the wares and Carole is the knowledgeable lifestyle person in the background. Keep some mystique.
It’s called Cashing In on your Royal Connection, but if the Middletons do it the press looks away and promotes it as fun Carole.
She wouldn’t even have a column in a London Baby Magazine if not for her Royal connection to her Royal grandchildren.
Wonder if Doria ever does a column promoting something or promotes something the UK media would react so lightly?
Loren – If no one wanted to read her columns, Baby London would have fired her. She is obviously good for their bottom line. You may not be interested in what she has to say, but plenty of other people are. I bet every harpist in London is booked this weekend.
gag. Nice try Pippa aka Megan. HAHAHA
You proved my point,, exactly, some people jump through hoops to excuse Middletons tacky,,cheap cashing in on their Royal connections.
A successful business woman is marketing her business in print. Whoever heard of such a thing? (Clutches pearls)
Did you mean to reply to me?
All marketing is not equal. There is a prestige element because Carole is Kate’s mother. If you’re going to use the connection to get the chance to write articles promoting your business, might as well use it to your best advantage. Don’t be as available as directly saying buy cheap party gear on my website!
No, I was adding another comment because I think it is so silly that people get outraged about Carole marketing her business. But to your point, Carole is the face of the brand and shoppers want to hear from her, which is why byline is on the article, although I doubt very much she actually wrote it.
Oh, sorry about that. It’s a tricky balance because they almost certainly got the column space because of the royal connection but I think it’s better to not be too available. Communicate Carole’s opinions by referencing her without it being directly her.
Either way, the press will take shots at her, so it all depends on what the Middletons want to communicate about Party Pieces and I don’t know if a harpist and a UK version of Party City go together.
If you own a business do businessy things
Pippa Tip
Wait, Meghan is praised for being close to her mom but Kate is mocked for it? I don’t get it all.
And, 2500 is excessive for a prince? His mom wears dresses that cost way more. Oh well!
I think its because Kate seems more dependent on her mother, rather than merely close.
My one SIL is this way – she is close to her mother but also very dependent on her (something her mother encourages). She actually kind of reminds me of Carole Middleton on a smaller scale, lol. Like she actively works to ensure that my brother is constantly happy in their marriage because she is terrified that he may leave her daughter one day. (My brother is not the future king but he makes a lot of money and SIL’s mother enjoys the fruits of his labor very much.) And for the record, I like my SIL a lot and her mother really is very nice, but there is definitely a Carole vibe there, lol.
I am close to my mother but she is not involved in my marriage at all and she leads a very independent life.
There is a difference.
Kate has been in the public eye since her early 20s. Her every move and word has been the subject of intense criticism for much of her life. I think it is perfectly normal that she depends on her mom to help navigate circumstances that are incredibly challenging and completely unique. There are few, if any, who can relate to Kate’s life
There are certainly things to criticize Kate for but I just don’t think this is one of them.
There is a difference between being close and being co-dependent and tied to her apron strings.
Dress the baby in something nice, give a candle as a favor, and guests should consider a teddy bear as a gift. The horror! The extravagance!
delete
It’s hardly the same thing. Meghan is relatively close to her mum but she and her mum have lived in different countries for many years, Meghan has her own career and life, has supported herself for decades, and has lived a more or less independent life since she was 18.
Kate lived with and was financially supported by her family up to the day she got married, has never really worked, and has continued to live with her mother at least part-time and her mother appears to control a lot of her life as though she was a child or a teenager.
They’re a close family. So what?
Kate is close to her mom and sister. That’s great!
Her husband likes her parents and he likes them. That’s great!
Isn’t that what all of us really want—a supportive family, the security of being surrounded by people you trust? In any other context, this style of family would be praised, but because it’s Kate she must be “dependent” contrasted with Megan’s “independence”. They can both be close to their mom without controversy.
And frankly, Megan, Harry and William’s family have all seemed like a shitshow at one time or another. Kate’s the only one with any kind of stability from her birth family.
Really, who cares? So they’re close. That’s nice.
@Muffy totally agree
So many new usernames all popping up at the exact same time to support each other…..
There is a difference between close and dependent. It’s very unusual in the UK for an able-bodied, healthy, well-educated adult woman to live with and be financially supported by her family until her thirties and to move straight from her family’s home to her husband’s home. And it’s unusual for an adult woman’s life and marriage to be ruled by her mother.
Kate is going to be queen someday and it’s us British taxpayers who pay for her lifestyle, plus she’s a celebrity and her family have used her marriage to pursue celebrity themselves. All these things make their lives fair game for discussion.
If you think it’s perfectly fine to be reliant on your family all your life and never work or be independent, fine; you’re entitled to your opinion. But trying to contrast such extreme reliance and co-dependency with a woman who hasn’t even lived in the same country as her mum in years is obviously nonsense.
Close isn’t the same as dependent. It’s great that they’re close but going by what we see, have any of the Middleton kids shown much independence? Kate leaned on her family to be able to date William and then the other two kids leaned on their royal connections to create opportunities for themselves.
For all her intelligence and talent, Pippa’s main financial accomplishment, because of how she squandered her own opportunities, is marrying a moderately wealthy guy and for Kate, it’s marrying William. They were never going to earn as much as their spouses but there wasn’t the element of seriousness you saw especially in Pippa when it came to sports. And I think James is still pushing Boomf.
All three Middleton kids don’t seem to have really grown up.
@Meggles my username is not new & if you are a regular on CB you’d know that!
If you can’t handle people disagreeing with your point of view then you are in the wrong place.
Meggles – you sound an awful lot like Trump when you accuse commenters who disagree with you as fake.
I agree with Muffy and Minx. Who cares how close Kate is with her family? I have 3 sisters and a dad (my mother passed away when I was 16) and we’re spread out all over the place and don’t see each other often. We love each other, but we’re just not a close knit family, which is secretly the kind of family I always wanted. My husband on the other hand has a close knit family with relatives who live in the same town and we see them all often at family get togethers, so I in a sense get my family dream thru his family. I’ve always gotten the impression that her family is the same way and that they just seem very close. I think that’s not a terrible thing.
Meggles I totally agree with you. That is what bothered me about Kate from the dating years to marriage. She lived off of her parents and basically followed and waited around for William. never seem to establish herself on her own.
@meggles It seems like some are deliberately missing your point that being close isn’t the same as being dependent, and you are not saying being close to your family is the issue… being dependent is.
@Muffy – completely agree. It’s truly bizarre how kate’s proximity to her family, and William’s affection for them is used as a stick to beat them with. There is plenty to criticize regarding their work ethic, but mocking them for loving their family/in laws is just baffling.
If anything if speaks volume of Mr/Mrs middleton that they have raised such a close knit family. Yet somehoe people here have managed to spin this into a negative as usual “pathetic dependent kate still holding on to mummy’s apron”.
As for the DM article, the condescension towards Carol just drips off the page. She’s a business owner hustling for her company, should she retire and live off the royal bursary?
Regarding the Meghan vs Kate rivalry being actively pushed here, im pretty sure that Kate planned her kid’s conception just so she could have a lavish baptism ceremony to try and upstage meghan. Totally.
Meghan and her mother do not have a symbiotic relationship like Ma mid and waity.
None of the 3 middleton kids have acheived anything. Kate included.
“If anything if [sic] speaks volume [sic] of Mr/Mrs middleton that they have raised such a close knit family.” I agree with Aurelia. If anything, it speaks volumes how this couple somehow raised three children who, despite expensive educations, have accomplished little of merit but marry up and/or use other people’s money.
Will All do respect, I don’t think “supporting family” would include molding the daughter to fit the mother’s dream of royalty and riches whatever the cost. William didn’t treat Kate very well throughout the dating years. You have to look past the words and emotional feelings and examine the actions (Kate never holding a real job so she could be at Will’s beck and call, Will’s coarse treatment of her) before you conclude that Carole is a supporting mom. More like supporting her own agenda.
Just imagine if Kate behaved exactly the same , not working for almost a decade before marrying the guy she was waiting for a proposal from, living off her parents, moving in with the guy two years prior to marriage, still no career or actual job, but royalty wasn’t involved , her behavior would not been seen as positive at all. IMO
Kate would be branded a gold digger if she did this with a non royal. Pippa was aiming for the same thing but was unsuccessful. And James has yet to mange a successful business. They are all lazy dilettantes thanks to being coddled by Carole and Mike. If they didn’t have their parents money to live on they would be considered trailer trash. Funny how it’s ok for rich kids to be lazy and generally useless but not the rest of society.
None of you have an insight into the Middleton family dynamics. All we know is what the Middletons have said themselves, and that is they are a close & supportive family. They might not be a perfect family but compared to some families out there which are broken they haven’t done badly. Their children might not be brain surgeons but two of them graduated from university and are now married & settled down.
All this about Carole pulling the strings & pimping out her children was started on crazy blogs & tumblr, but continue to be repeated today as if they were facts!
“… two of their children are graduated from university and are now married and settled down” (from a lifestyle of shopping and partying.)
That doesn’t really impress at the dinner party.
I am close with my family but I have had a job and supported myself since I finished university. So has my brother. There is a difference between being close with your family as an adult and having your parents coddle you and stunt you emotionally. All three Middleton kids have done little with their lives and being unable to be self sufficient is going to affect their own kids.
We don’t need to be a fly on the wall to see that they have done nothing independently of their parents in their lives and the parents enable this immature behaviour even while into their 30s.
There are many people who had a lifestyle of partying when they were younger (including Harry) but then they settled down afterwards.
I don’t get the sense that Kate & Pippa are emotionally stunted. People who are emotionally stunted are unable to maintain a lasting relationship or even willing to settle down & start a family. The only criticism I can say is they weren’t career driven but that is not the same as to say they are emotionally stunted.
Walk me through your logic. I fail to see where it has come into play with your comment. Close to your mother = allow her to embarrass the family you married into and look graspy in the process. What has that to do with their closeness?
Kate should stop her. Really.
I’m surprised the BRF allows it.
A newspaper article regarding christening is embarrassing for Kate? And should be stopped?
I certainly hope that was sarcasm, especially after the vulgarity we’ve just seen from the Markles.
Jeez let woman peddle her party hats!
I stand by my comment.
You realize that the Middletons moved Kate to a different Uni so she could get closer to William, right? They used to be called the Ivy sisters by others because of their social climbing was so obvious. Of course the Middletons put all their efforts in to making sure one of their daughters was going to be a royal, of course they are using their closeness to hawk their stuff. Being close has nothing to do with this article. They are sheep in wolves clothing. The british press went nuts calling Meghan’s family white trash. The Middletons are no exception, they just have a british accent. Kate is the ultimate, having tons of babies and not wanting to work … hello? epitomy.
If Kate didn’t marry into the royals and hadn’t come from money she would have been branded a welfare queen. Seven years later she still barely does the minimal royal engagements and it’s not like the BRF works 24/7.
Are you seriously comparing the Middletons to the Markles? You think the only difference is their accent?
Did you not witness the shit show ahead of Meghan’s wedding? No matter what you think of them, Kate’s parents would never put her through the humiliation that Meghan’s father’s side of the family did.
@Nic91
Arent they ALL on welfare? Why single Kate out? Both she, Meghan, Sophie etc signed on for this life in exchange of ribbon cutting duties.
Kates mother watched her have no goals , no actual job, no work ethic except chasing a man, a man who treated her like crap , dumped her several times for almost a decade, while her family used his royal connection to make money and promote themselves.
Yes some of Kates family are as bad as some of the Markles. The Middletons are more protected by the press and do their gold digging and climbing with more finesse but the Middleons are trashy graspers IMO.
I’d still love to know what money they really have, no way it’s off that crap site.
The Middletons are the UK Kardashians. Even Kim help someone to get out of prision, what Pippa is doing lately???
@HU haha!! Yes!!
I think Harry missed Charlotte’s – they might be on a honeymoon.
And comeback – should they just not throw Prince Louis a christening?
Sad, isn’t it? Everyone should just fade away because H&M married.
I always forget about PippaTips, because they were forgettable.
Now, CaroleTips, I would pay for. That’s a woman that knows what the heck she is doing.
I actually think Pippa, Carole and Meghan have a lot in common – with Carole party planning business and column for Baby London magazine and Meghan’s blog. Carole and Meghan are just more successful than Pippa.
The same kind of people who read Carole’s tips would read Meghan’s on diet, make-up and food.
@ANIKA I don’t think people begrudge Carole her business and columns. I have always been impressed by her hustle and commitment to giving her children more opportunity than she had, in the class entrenched society in which she lives. People take umbridge when Carole tries to control her son in law and uses her royal connection for self aggrandizement.
@anika,
Yep, I always seen the overlap between Carole and Meghan. I did not include Pippa in the comparison, I’ll have to think about that.
Oh I begrudge Carole using her Royal connection to get a column in the first place,n and the UK press hypocrisy, the same press was ripping Doria to shreds when they thought she did a interview somewhere, but Carole having her own column which she never would have got unless for her Royal connection is just fine.
Oh the Hypocrisy and excuses made when this horrid grasping tacky Middleton family cashes in.
Carole Middleton = Kris Jenner
OMG Yes I came here to say the same thing. Like her or not, she is an excellent manager, just like Kris
Yup,
And It’s cashing in on her Royal connection.
I don’t think 3000 is excessive for Louis’s christening, but I do think its laughable that she is giving that as advice. Hire a harpist! give gifts to the guests! I’m sorry, is it a christening or a wedding reception?
I bet his christening will be at Sandringham because my guess is Kate and Will are going to head to Anmer for the summer (if Kate isn’t there already.)
She has a party business. This “article” was not about the Royal Christening as she would have nothing to do with that. This is to shill her goods on her website to potential customers.
As for The Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex having some kind of conflict. I think it’s rubbish. Fake news. Their roles are completely different. With completely different rules and expectations. Catherine has a much tighter rope to walk as she is married to a future king. Duchess of Sussex will have a much easier go of it. I think it’s ridiculous to try and find an issue when there seems to be none.
The brothers are very close. I’m sure their wives will be as close as the situation allows. Besides if Catherine is as “work shy” as all the commenters here seem to think she would welcome Meghan taking up the slack. As far as jealousy goes. I doubt there is any in the end Catherine will be a Queen & Meghan will have a bit more fun.
@Snappyfish: yes, totally agree that this is nothing more than free advertising for Party Pieces. However, it’s just gross that she’s a contributing editor for the magazine, and suggests her own products for the occasions she writes about. Maybe this is something done in the UK? I just think trading on her royal connections for free adverts is bordering on Prince Edward territory.
Nah Prince Edward is royal – Carole is not. Do you think all designers, bloggers, writers, actors etc are gross too. They do the same thing.
She just wants to get a Royal Warrant.
It’s cashing in on her Royal connection.
Prince Edward was given permission to have his tv program production company at the time by The Queen, he was doing historical shows based on Royal history,. I saw one on PBS it was quite good, the problem came when his tv crew went to S,Andrews and started filming , it was an invasion of Williams privacy and seen as using William for a program. Edward didn’t know at the time that his crew had gone to Williams campus, but because it was his production company he got ripped to shreds. I understood Williams outrage for sure, no excuse for the tv crew going there…but WHY is it William is never bothered by the Middletons cashing in and promoting themselves in connection to royalty? They’ve been doing it for years.
Loren: That Edward story wasn’t exactly as reported.
According to Edward’s team, their camera guy + producer stayed behind longer than other media to take background shots of St Andrews town to add to their production following a photocall with William to which ALL media had been invited.
One of William’s RPOs off-duty recognised them and reported to Charles’s office which in turn fed a misrepresentation of it to the media as ‘Edward invading William’s privacy for profit’. Charles’s office then released a statement expressing their disappointment which made Edward look bad whilst casting Charles as the concerned parent.
The camera guy + producer swore that the first they knew there was a problem was seeing the media headlines accusing them of invading William’s privacy.
This was a period when Charles was throwing his entire family under the bus to look good and to promote Camilla. It soured relations between Charles and his family for a time because they felt used and abused, and didn’t trust his office.
Every negative story you’ve heard about the siblings +their wives stems from that period. It ruined their reputations to extent that some are still counting the cost.
A few years back, the BBC exposed all this via a documentary that Charles tried to ban. It included ex-staffers who vouch for the veracity of it’s central claim that Charles used his kids and his family to improve his own and Camilla’s image.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ER-wEpFitvo
https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=1223s&v=-WIqvb4IfkA
https://www.thedailybeast.com/prince-charles-sold-out-william-and-harry-to-the-tabloids
Thanks LAK, I remember seeing that news program you linked on tv. I now recall the part of story which you posted,. Yes it was horrible the way Edward was made out to be the bad guy and his crew (as the phrase goes) was thrown under the bus because Charles was trying to build his image.
I remember the Sheik scandal which Sophie got skewered for was another story totally distorted and much of what was reported she said was NEVER even uttered by her.
Ummm…. a christening is very specifically a religious event. It’s not a “naming day celebration” — not that there is anything wrong with that either — but that’s not a christening. And even if the family is not zealously religious, it’s not like Christmas or Easter, where it has also become a secular holiday.
A nice lunch and a few games for the kids is just fine. Or, even a big festive gathering is fine — but the focus shouldn’t be on impressing the neighbors. An ostentatious display of wealth, at any socio-economic level, is completely unnecessary and in poor taste for this event.
I guess I must be a full-on defender at this point but I don’t see Kate as scrambling or panicked beyond her staff and Meghan’s trying to work out a system for outfits and events so they don’t overlap. If anything she finally seems more relaxed in her role…?
Let’s be real. There’s always an element of “Don’t forget about me!” in this family as everyone tries to justify their existence (Except Anne because she truly just seems to want to go about her business)—even Charles falls into that trap of needing attention and to remind people why he’s so great and why he should be king.
I honestly don’t think Kate cares. She doesn’t seem all that interested in being royal, she just wants a nice quiet life and to be a mum and not to have to work. I think she’d be perfectly happy spending the rest of her life shopping and getting her hair done and playing with her kids.
I think Kate does seem more relaxed and happier recently, however, on the other hand since MM came onto the scene, she has been papped (train station, grocery shopping, horse show with kids) which seems to be more than she is usually papped so it makes me suspicious there is someone, even if it is not Kate, who wants to makes sure the public knows Kate is busy being a wife and mom. I agree with the above, pretty much all of the royals do this “don’t forget about meeee!” to some degree.
Kate attended that same horse show with William & George back in 2016 and the whole family was pictured. Because H&M are now on the scene should Kate all of a sudden stop doing all the things she was doing before? Meghan has also been papped at the gym & out shopping several times, was this also a publicity stunt?
When they are photographed in public with the kids and don’t complain? Obvious PR move they’ve done for years.
Re: Meghan. Probably. the royals are able to avoid being papped or having the pictures published when they want to. So if the pictures are published – like Kate grocery shopping, at the horse show, etc, its because they want them to be published.
Meh. I think media loves to do this. Pit the two sisters in law against ea other. Kate seems v happy lately. Third healthy baby. Harry got married. I bet she’s happy for them. And she gets some of the focus off herself. I have a hunch she is relieved to share such intense scrutiny. And for now, I think she enjoys Meghan. Meghan seems to get along with everyone.
I’m generally v cynical, but it’s not always good for me to be that way.
Is this website the media? There is a whole lot of pitting the two against each other here.
@Johannam, yep and I find it pretty distasteful. There are very few people here who are actually “stans” of Kate, and even if anyone defends her it is usually a “not that I’m a fan of Kate, but…” type of thing, yet people respond with derision (common example: oooh there seems to be lot of new commenters, type of comments). It is clear that here they know M v K type stories are widely commented on therefore that’s the line they’re following. Shouldn’t we be annoyed about this?
I just finished reading ‘The Royal We’. Gives me a whole new perspective on Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. With every picture of her now, I cannot unsee ‘Bex’. And I believe that she loves her prince as a person and has followed his lead because she loves him.
Is that a book?
Yes. Fiction written by the Fug girls using WK as inspiration.
“Naming day” makes me think of “name day” from Game of Thrones and you know how that always turns out!
But The Royal We is fiction. At best maybe a roman a clef. I evaluate Kate based on her numbers and quality of her performance. But it would be cool if we all had fictional versions of ourselves out there to muddy the waters of our actual abilities.
I find most of Carole’s ideas pretty tacky. I guess there are differences across cultures and religions (not that Carole’s ideas seem rooted in religion for a ceremony that is, after all, religious) But swag bags for guests? Please. It wasn’t even clear to me at PG & PC’s ceremonies anyone besides family, very close friends and godparents were invited. I know Carole was giving general tips to sell stuff but do you suppose those folks—Prince Louis’s grandparents, aunts, and great-grandparents would expect a gift for attending? And while Louis will presumably wear the copy of the heirloom gown all the royal babies wear for their christening these days, lots of babies are christened/baptised in gowns that are family heirlooms or gowns that are made by a close family member, not brand-new expensive gowns of the type Carole seems to prefer or at least she prefers to hawk.
Strikes me as a bit of what used to be called nouveau riche.
Who hosts the christening parties for W&K’s children anyway? Assume Will doesn’t open his wallet.
It will be interesting to see how this Christening compares to George and Charlotte’s. There wasn’t a lavish party, but Meghan wasn’t in the picture then. Kate could do the bare minimum with every thing, including the Christening and we would care. Now, not so much.
I hope this is conjecture? Or rumour? Surely Carole wouldn’t be stupid enough to blather on publicly about the importance of her third grandchild’s christening being lush and ostentatious.
This is such awful optics that I can’t yet believe she’d truly say this. She’s supposed to be the brains, after all.
The headlines are misleading. This is not about Carole’s actual plans for Louis’ christening, rather she has a column where she writes about event planning and did a recent article laying out her thoughts on planning a naming day / christening, and the tabloids (before you get to the fine print) are making it seem as if she is planning Louis’ christening and then outlining her plans for the christening.
People always use their connections to the royals. Are we to believe that Meghan got that cover of Vanity Fair based on her own merit or acting talent?!
Sure Carole is using her connections but I think for the most part it is harmless. Of course it is still clever marketing because the Middletons own a party supply shop and their main business comes from selling products for birthdays, weddings & christenings.
I feel like the party favors you get at these kinds of occasions are a bit like the person saying, “Here, you throw this away.” It just seem wasteful most of the time. I don’t need a party favor to go to someone’s occasion. IDK, it feels like the whole consumer/aspirational lifestyle/Pinterest aspect of these things is tiresome.
Interested to see what this christening ultimately looks like.
For the first born and heir? They hid him away, private ceremony in chapel in SJP, handful of photos released. Approved the design of the “christening coin” with only his first name. Of course, she did wear a ruffled cream suit reminiscent of Diana’s Valentino for the event.
Sainted Diana’s Granddaughter? Public spectacle, hand-selected photographers and members of the public allowed to watch them process to the church. Ceremony held in Diana’s childhood church, days from Diana’s birthday, christening coin with child’s three names (to get more DIANA in there) and Diana’s fav flowers (lilies). One of celebitchy’s photos from the day captured KM in the most amazingly smug expression.
Since Prince George’s was the first christening coin ever stuck, perhaps the royal mint got feedback that they should have used his full name and did so for Charlotte.
Perhaps W+K wanted to have a private christening for their first born, as is their right, but felt more relaxed and comfortable with something a bit more public for their second. And while Diana may have attended St. Mary’s as a child, it is certainly much more well known for the fact that it is where HM and the rest of the royal family attend services at Christmas, not to mention that it just down the road from where W+K were living at the time.
And I don’t see any resemblance between Kate’s cream colored suit and Diana’s pink dress.
W&K had final approval of the coins. They chose to have them be the way they are. But gosh, by the time they rolled around to doing the second one, they decided, “Let’s not match the first. Let’s make the coin for the second child who is not heir be more detailed. And let’s have a public party because the second child is more important that the first. And we’ll put Diana lilies on it for good measure.”
The pattern continued. Bad PR for being lazy, have a behind-the-scenes PR event where reporters get to meet their son. More bad PR for being lazy? Have a public event to show off the kids for PR, but hand-pick the photographers to be ones that will play by your illegal rules. Pattern continued of protesting pictures of their daughter taken in public but not of their son.
Whether it is sub-conscious mummy issues coming forward from William or not, these two use their daughter and the Diana’s Granddaughter line for PR even more than they use their son. They were throwing(up) Diana all over that event, right down to having the christening days from her birthday, rather than sooner or later so Uncle Harry could attend.
Diana’s cream ruffled Valentino, not a pink one worn to a christening. KM single white femailing her late MIL as she does so often.
I’ll never forget watching Mr. and Mrs. Middleton stand in front of the hospital after George was born and basically hold their own little press conference. Or the whole family stopping to pose for the cameras as they were preparing to leave the hotel after the W&K wedding. An interesting family they are.
It was odd. Instead of walking to their car and leaving, they stopped and held court for the cameras.
The Middletons are as bad as the Kardashians!
I’m sure that christenings are going to cost as much as they cost with or without my complaining, but….if you buy a $49.95 fancy a** piggy bank for a baby that has yet to understand the concept of money or capital??? I’m going to be Concerned.
Also, LOL at the idea of having a classical harpist or a singer. Hmmm, who WAS it that just RECENTLY had one or both of those things at their party??? I just can’t remember.
Lol. Sigh.
Err, newborns have no understanding of the point of any object, let alone “capital”.What a strange thing to criticise. At that age it’s a cute decoration. By 18 months they’ll love dropping coins in. By 3 they’ll have an idea about the value of money. Seems like a perfectly appropriate baby gift.
OR, @Wowser, get this: you could get them a book, on money sense. Or better yet, start an account for them and put in a little bit of money and watch it grow as they get older and older. Both of those things would be worth much more, and would teach children about money much more effectively than a $50 ceramic piggy bank that the child probably wouldn’t even be allowed to touch and will collect dust on a shelf somewhere for the rest of their earthly lives.
Funnily enough I just saw today that Pippa has come out with a monthly column for Waitrose magazine about her pregnancy workout plan. Including many pictures of her posed with weights etc. She dropped tidbits including that her inner thighs are her nemesis, and she has not had any morning sickness.
Carole Middleton: Eternal. Stage. Mother.
And grifter.
I’m just wondering if the shoe was reversed and Doria did this article plugging her business would the people who are adamant defending the Middleton be willing to defend Doria like this . Because when their was just a rumor that Doria was doing a interview with Oprah People were losing their minds saying how dare she use her connections to the royal this way this is horrifying but the Middleton can use their connections and everyone like its cool no problem carol Middleton is a genius such a great hustler it’s all good
The anti-Meghan Puritan Feminist Brigade would call for Doria to be pilloried and her effigy hung from the balcony of Buck Palace. The Daily Fail folks would just spew their usual racist BS for a few days and move on to the next victim of tabloid hell.
People would say they admired her hustle. That not everyone is born into wealth and that it’s admirable to work hard and build your own business. Maybe even something about American work ethic?
Of course I can’t say what people over at the Daily Mail or some royal blogs would say, since I don’t visit those sites. Probably some terrible racist and classist crap, it’s what they do.
Vanessa I agree with you, I think the UK Media would rip Doria to shreds if she had a tri-monthly column in any magazine and reccommended item$ for readers to purchase and had links to items to buy at some website.
The U.K. media are hypocrites., they would say Doria was cashing in on connections.
IMO the UK media has always looked away when it comes to Middleton family using Royal connection.
Seriously, most of her tips suck big time.
The idea with that box is cute and that is all.
Personally I think you should give some more considerate gifts like a financial contribution to the childs education. Because the parents might not like your gifts but with small children there is always need for money.
I really think that Carole’s tips are for the wealthy. She wants to belong and that is why she writes such crap.
These people ( The Middleton’s ) are like from casting central.
I’v been waiting for Kris Jenner with an accent to pop her head up. Carol is William’s stand in mommy so she can get away with cashing in. I hope Harry and Meghan are busy on that day. Let the Cambridges and family have their day.
Carole must miss seeing her name in the newspaper…Meghan and Harry are grabbing to much of the public’s attention and/or Doria.