For more than seven years, we’ve heard about the Duchess of Cambridge’s keenness. She’s keen about so much – keen to really get going, keen to truly take on more work, keen to become a full-time royal. Despite all of the “she’s so keen” PR, we mostly see Kate as someone keen to NOT work. But that was before… you know. Now that she’s had her third baby, Kate’s keenness has come along once again. For months, we’ve been hearing that Kate will do a big launch for her new charity project, something she’s been working on for a while, something which will be the biggest thing she’s ever undertaken. It’s supposed to involve kids and mental health and the people who have fallen through the cracks of “Broken Britain.” The launch date seems to be getting pushed back – I could have sworn that Kate was supposed to launch it this month. But now she’ll launch it in January, maybe. And the Daily Express had a big hype piece about it:
The Duchess of Cambridge aims to become the Royal Family’s charity powerhouse next year and prove her credentials as a future queen. Kate, 36, who visited Her Majesty alone at Buckingham Palace last week, is to put any petty squabbles with sister-in-law Meghan Markle behind her. After months of planning, she is to announce a fresh care initiative for struggling children in the new year, which could change the balance between royalty and politics. A team of academics, advisers, experts and aides has been working with Kate for around a year and studying Britain’s most crippling social problems. Aides believe that the project will cement the duchess’s future as a serious-minded, hard-working royal and future monarch.
One family friend explained: “There are those who are satisfied to turn up to get headlines and raise money, and there are those who want to get stuck in and make a difference. That is very much Catherine. If you’re looking for the causes of poverty, poor mental health, poor housing and poor social care, the politics also have to be dealt with. So there might be bumpy times ahead for her. But she has given this everything she’s got and is determined to make it work. Catherine would be the last person in the world to use the phrase Queen of Hearts but if the crown fits…?”
The mother-of-three’s campaign is being co-ordinated with the Royal Foundation charity, set up by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. Her aide Aida Cable – head of the foundation’s young people programmes – has been liaising with independent experts. Aida, daughter of Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable, is expected to submit a final report for Kate’s approval within the next few weeks, prior to the new year launch. The duchess’s plans are understood to have the full backing of the Queen and of veteran social campaigner Prince Charles.
“Catherine would be the last person in the world to use the phrase Queen of Hearts but if the crown fits…?” LMAO.
“There are those who are satisfied to turn up to get headlines and raise money…” That’s literally what’s expected of royal patrons. Many charities don’t want a duchess or a prince mucking around in the minutiae of their work because their work is complicated. Most charities really need a royal or celebrity patron who will come in and raise the profile of the charity and help them fundraise. And, incidentally, Kate has been terrible at that. She fails to show up at her patronages’ fundraisers, she fails to adequately represent them in public events, and there was a lot of talk that some of her patronages were looking to toss her aside and get new patrons.
As for the larger narrative of “Future Queen Kate’s Years of Keenness Has Finally Led to This,” we’ll see how the launch goes. I’m sure Kate has assembled a large team of people who have done a lot of work, for which Kate will get/take “credit.” But mostly I think Kate will be launching some initiative which will be like Heads Together – an umbrella organization for several different existing charities, and Kate will get credit for creating more of a bureaucracy around them.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.
Was the ‘family friend’ Carole Middleton in a fake moustache?
LMAO that family friend sound so dumb. Probably it was Carol or Kate herself
You beat me to that joke. I like Kate and all, but this is a massive eyeroll.
That quote is over the top quite a bit. If I were a charity assigned to her, I’d try to get a celebrity to be a patron, someone who would actually do the work of a patron.
One of her charities did just this. Kate did so little for them, they signed Ed Sheeran as a patron. She wouldn’t even show up to the annual big fund raising dinner.
Oh my goodness!
Lolol, Vexa! I just spit a mouthful of earl grey tea on my poor dog.
It’s just missing a quick reference to Kate hand addressing thank you notes purchased from Party Pieces.
Yes, I think it was Carole, in a Groucho Marx costume, complete with ‘stache and eyebrows.
Kate is now trying to hard…..
Yeah. It remains to be seen what all of this hoopla will actually produce. I will rolls my eyes if this is just another umbrella organization.
Real question: are any of these initiatives or programs the royals patronize effective? Are ther people who have truly benefited or are these merely photo ops?
People have definitely benefit from the Prince’s Trust. We have it to thank for Idris Elba.
Yes, exactly. The Prince’s Trust is a good, well-run charity that has made a difference in a lot of people’s lives. And Heads Together has done a lot to raise awareness about mental health issues, particularly for men. That has been very important.
The difference here is that there is not a particular lack of awareness of issues around child poverty and family breakdown. There is a lack of money and a governmental response. This is not something for which charities should be taking primary responsibility.
Prince’s Trust, Dumfries House, Invictus Games, Sentebale.
I wish she would do more work with young parents. I think it would be a brilliant fit for her. There are so many awful parents in the world…sorry to be a downer, but it’s true. Raising healthy, happy kids takes skill and Catherine has it. Yes, she has great advantages over others, but I still think she could be a star at talking about what she knows and it could happen under Heads Together.
That’s a good idea.
The optics of Kate having nannies while lecturing others would be terrible. Her parenting and the childhoods of the three kids would be put under a microscope.
Why would anyone frown about Kate having a nanny? Is she supposed to leave her young children to fend for themselves while she’s out on an engagement. Louis might be a big baby baby but I dont think he’s at the stage to make his own food! Parents up & the country employ people to help out with their children, it doesn’t make them bad or neglectful parents. You can have a nanny & still be hands on.
Yes, having multiple nannies, refusing to work, and lecturing others about how to raise their kids? Smacks of her big mistake around her first mental health speech, essentially saying if you are raised in a loving family you won’t have mental health issues. And the camping one, which takes impoverished kids to the countryside. She gave those kids a lecture about turning off the tv and getting to the country, because she failed to understand the whole point of the charity (ie. families who cannot afford to go to the countryside).
how is having a nanny any different to sending a kid to childcare…something we parents do EVERY DAY (and if I had the money I’d have a nanny instead so my kids don’t bring home illnesses every fortnight.)
bek, presumably you go to work. Kate however has all those nannies and still doesn’t work anywhere near enough. The taxpayers fund those nannies too.
Natalie S and notasugarhere, 100% agree. She can never be just another mom among moms, and she cannot relate to the experiences of working or struggling moms, never mind give them advice.
I don’t know about that, I don’t think she knows what it’s like to be a sandwich generation and having to worry about your kids, your retirement and your parents. I still think she would excel being a sports or sport-related patron. Look at what Princess Charlene does.
Every year the same hype comes up when she and William don’t realize they look so tardy and unfocused.
Best fit for Kate I’ve heard. She seems to be a wonderful mother.
I agree, the topics she should focus on are children and/or sports. IMO she is a great mom and obviously loves sports.
“Queen of Hearts” was the famous phrase that Diana said she wanted to be for the people of England–a queen of peoples’ hearts. I’m not a Kate hater–I actually do like her despite her shortcomings–but this angle that they’re pitching for her is making me gag.
Me, too. Not only is the title “Queen of Hearts” entirely unearned in her case, it’s in poor taste to evoke it, for obvious reasons. On the plus side, anything that forces this woman to be productive in some way other than by producing more adorable leeches—I mean heirs—even if it’s the need to compete with that upstart American duchess (she’s so charismatic, damn her!) is a good thing, right?
In one breath they claim she is not copying Diana and in the next they let phrases like this be said. Queen of Hearts is inextricably linked to Diana and it is foolish to try to make that comparison at this point. Diana’s work ethic was never questioned and she was doing real charity work while raising young kids. She wasn’t putting out PR releases at 36 still saying she was keen to work.
still sounds like Wills PR team is at work. Nothing is working …. let’s play our Queen of Hearts card now. Shame. Shame. Shame.
I feel the same way, “Queen of Hearts” was a phrase Diana said after many years of working hard at the job, and when she was separating from Charles; losing her HRH title. Many wondered what title she could hold onto. And if I remember, she said she ‘hoped people would think of her as Queen of Hearts”, she didn’t assume it. This feels very awkward and in poor taste to evoke this phrase.
Is Kate going to be future monarch?
no she won’t. She will be Queen Consort, not a Queen Regnant who is a female monarch (like QEII)
THANK YOU. I hate, hate, hate the “Kate will be queen” train of thought. She will not be QUEEN, she will be queen consort. She will be Phillip in a dress! Calming down now.
I cannot unsee Phillip in the green polka dot dress that she is wearing in the picture above, thanks for that! 😉
That was really funny, Slightly Anonny. I needed that laugh.
She’ll still be called “Queen” since Queen Consort is a bit of a mouthful.
Okay, this is also gross.
The queen of hearts comments. Nope. Bad idea to co-opt Diana’s nickname, and far too premature. Gross.
Premature is really the word. No accolades until she’s achieved something and earns them. Planning to do good is fine, but until something materializes, it’s ridiculous to write a story like this.
Also, the very idea of a “queen of hearts” is so saccharine. Please, just no.
How do we decide which tabloid story to believe? The name of the journalist who wrote this is not even listed and that no one wants to take credit for writing this shows that it is most probably nonsense! The anonymous quotes just reads like fanfiction dreamt up on the news desk by an intern.
I’m on the train that it will be another umbrella organisation, she gets the credit for creating the Heads Together umbrella org where they show up for a few times a year.
Yes, like “guest editing” stint at KP. Quinn did the work, Kate showed up for 20 minutes of photos, then left and was photographed shopping.
Notasugarhere – that was such a bad publicity stunt for Huffington Post & Jason! Other media wouldn’t even give it a mention prior to the day, and then she didn’t even do anything.
For whatever reason why it’s happenkng… glad it is.
I’ll be surprised if she’s really all that KEEN.
Well to be fair, she’s only had seven years to get her keen on.
“Queen of Hearts”!! Pass the sickbag.
Time will tell whether or not Kate is really “keen” this time or if it just another load of hype. She is in a position to do a lot of good work and raise awareness of issues but sadly this has not happened in 7 years. I am not holding my breath this time.
Fake news. They think we are mindless sheep that will eat up whatever the media feed us. Whether it’s Trump or Kate or whatever.
LOL, what a joke. The more we hear about this “amazing, groundbreaking” project, the more skeptical I feel about it. This sounds like another hype-fest for Kate without substance.
I often defend Kate, but this article was just gross. It felt like a sneaky slam at Meghan, with the phrase “turn up to get headlines and make money” (!), and the Queen of Hearts was Diana, and it’s so tacky to try to assume someone else’s achievements. Like when Dan Quayle tried to compare himself to John F Kennedy during a debate, and Senator Lloyd Bentsen said, “I knew Jack Kennedy, and Senator Quayle, you’re no Jack Kennedy!” Kate hasn’t done anything to be Queen of Hearts, and even if she had, it would be dumb to try to assign that title to anyone else.
I agree with you (although I quit defending Kate a while back – though I def blame Willie more than I blame her; she saw the cautionary tale that was Diana outshining Charles. Or her mother did). This is just sick – it confirms my suspicion that Kate is only being spurred to work by the existence of Meghan. Meghan and Harry should just keep working – the lazy Cambridges always burn themselves out after a week or two.
Once the new year comes and 2018 numbers are tallied, the Cambridges will do what they always do. They’ll either go skiing or go to Mustique because they worked so hard towards the end of the year and Xmas in Sandringham was do exhausting. So predictable! The Sussexes should just put their heads down and do their thing. Their actions will speak for themselves iMO.
The lazy Cambridge brother’s numbers are higher than those of the hard working brother,who,if we listen to their “fans”,is teaching with his wife what is hard work to every royal in the world. And what these people do is not even work. Seeing some people here overhyping alleged and fantastic “work ethics” and the “hard working” their favorite royals do behind the scenes is quite ridicous.
This story is kind of hilarious. Its like someone realized that the normal stories of “Kate is keen” were no longer sufficient and now they really needed to up the ante. “If the crown fits” lmao.
I have no idea if this is completely made up by the DM or what, but its so obviously a pro Kate/anti Meghan slant (and its so obviously meant to defend Kate’s lack of work over the past 7.5 years….she really has been working, y’all!!!!) that its pathetic in its way.
I have begun to REALLY dislike this woman and her husband. Also haven’t they seen with Head Togethers and The Royal Foundation that umbrella organisation are not effective or creative?
Me too, Lily, me too. No one can convince me that the Cambridges don’t have a (big) hand in the smear campaign against Meghan. Few things: they call her the duchess of Cambridge but Meghan Markle, they swipe at Meghan for the cookbook, they call her the future monarch which she isn’t and they claim the foundation was formed with her when it was originally formed by the two brothers. This is so pro-Kate, it’s not even trying to be subtle about it.
Didn’t anyone see last week when she just drove up to Buckingham Palace on her own and surprised tourists when she drove through the main gate? I bet you that’s when she met with the Queen. It didn’t make sense at the time, I was like why is Kate being so visible by going to Buckingham when surely there are private entrances for her to go through? Now I get it! She’s drumming up interest for whatever initiative thing that she’s launching. She knew she would be spotted, she knew the tourists would freak out and take pictures, and that it would get attention.
Why was she deliberately using the entrance where she could be seen and photographed? She could have entered a different way and not been seen.
Because she likely knew that she was in trouble for causing this whole PR nightmare and wanted to cover. The news cycle was ‘independent, modern Kate drives herself to tea with the queen her bff!’ instead of ‘solemn-looking Kate whisked covertly into the palace for a meeting with palace courtiers’. It is actually the first decent bit of PR that I’ve ever seen her do.
@nota, she did it just to piss you off! Haha
Exactly. She apparently goes to BP now and then to swim, but this is the time she’s photographed, going through the front entrance around a crowd of tourists and dressed to the nines? That was all for headlines.
Yes Kate is keen. Has been keen for years. Enter someone with an actual work ethic and all of a sudden we’re starting to see some movement. On a sidenote, do you think she got hauled in to BP to get reamed out by HM? That would be amazing.
“After months of planning, she is to announce a fresh care initiative for struggling children in the new year, which could change the balance between royalty and politics. … If you’re looking for the causes of poverty, poor mental health, poor housing and poor social care, the politics also have to be dealt with.”
That is more than a new umbrella organization – sounds like something that dastardly feminist American duchess would do!
How can you go about this without going into politics? I am confused. Yeah it could be an umbrella organization which works with different charities that each work in those sectors respectively. A charity that focuses on poverty – poor families, those that focus on housing (idk like habitat for humanity), etc. and the organization would raise money to fuel these charities? Is that how its going to work? That’s the only way I see it working without them going into politics.
I wish they would stop pushing stories in the press about what they’re totally going to do in the near future and just get on and do it! Don’t tell me for months Kate’s going to save all of Britain’s children, show me her halo when it’s done.
Exactly
Yup. Spare me the hype and after seven years, let’s see Kate finally hit the ground running.
I think this is fanfic, and heavy-handed at that.
yes, I wish people would stop taking the express seriously. No-one who actually lives here does. It’s a notch above the National Enquirer honestly!
“There are those who are satisfied to turn up to get headlines and raise money, and there are those who want to get stuck in and make a difference. That is very much Catherine….” Please tell this to her other charities that she’s ignored for the past 7 years. Can anyone recall the last time she visited a children’s hospice? Not for a fundraising gala but an actual hospice? And when did she last do anything with the Scouts?
You know, I don’t even mind if she just shows up for the galas. She’s famously a dim bulb and especially known for saying idiotic and clueless things. I wouldn’t want her anywhere near dying or sick people. But she gets a ton of media coverage for showing up in a sparkly dress and someone else’s jewelry to galas. The point of galas is to raise money via attendance and donations at the event. There are plenty of people who will go to these events just because a royal is there. If she capitalizes that and drives up money to the charity, that’s all she ever needs to do. There’s no need for her to be torturing people who are already dying with her braying and inanities. They’ve suffered enoigh.
Wasn’t her first post-maternity leave event with the Scouts?
You’re right, I just Googled Kate Middleton and Scouts and there were articles from 2014 and 2016!
Guessing Kristy was referring to her maniacal facial expressions, not her looks. Looking at these pics, it’s so obvious how inauthentic she is, hence the over- the-top smiling & laughing
Kate’s initiative was always billed as being launched “in the new year”, meaning sometime in 2019. It was never going to launch in December 2018. So the launch has not been moved.
I, too, seem to remember them saying it was coming in December. Remember they put the kibosh on Meghan doing anything with her charities until January so as not to step in Kate’s toes?
Funny the news of it first leaked through the Middleton-mouthpiece DM, three days before Meghan’s cookbook arrived…
Yes, Leslie, the original Rebecca English piece talked about the group of experts she convened making their recommendations at the end of this year, and then officially launching the program or its initial components based on that report early in the new year. I think it’ll probably pop up around the end of January, beginning of February.
They’re really making a big mistake if they think they’re going to run with this Queen of Hearts bs – Diana had many flaws but she had a genuine compassionate nature and a wonderful way with ordinary people – and the work she did with Aids and Landmines was truly inspiring. Kate is nothing like her – and I’m not a die hard Diana fan – but don’t go there – it will back-fire.
Diana had such a sweet relationship with the ordinary people because she was always out and about doing her royal duties; not every two weeks; every other day. She went to fundraisers, concerts, balls, fashion shows, hospitals, homeless shelters, beaches, landmines, etc: she went to everything, met all sorts of people and that is why she was called the Queen of Hearts.
Kaiser already said this a while back but this whole thing the younger royals have about only attending to causes and charities that they can ‘make a true difference to’ will only backfire in the long run. In order to be liked, you must be seen everywhere with different types of people. The Queen herself was once heard saying “in order to survive, visibility is key”. Look at Charles; he is the Patron of Opera Houses, Islamic Centres and Wildlife societies! Kate doesn’t do this and doesn’t want to. I hate to be cynical but this is just another example why I don’t think the monarchy will survive past the Queen.
Exactly Lily. The younger royals seem to make it all about them as if they can make change happen. Really all they need to do is go along and support the charities and give the workers thanks on the behalf of the British People. I get sick of hearing about their instagram, Twitter feeds and PR and who is the most popular. Just do the effing job. You’re already famous, you don’t need to raise your profile. Their speeches don’t need to be amazing, they just need to be present.
The Express is trashy so probably fiction. Carole Middleton shops at Peter Jones there’s no way she could be so tasteless 😜
This 100%. I know that many Brits can’t stand the way Diana turned against the Royal Family and gave interviews on TV in which she spilled the tea. I agree that she wasn’t the most dignified person. But her ability to shine charisma, caring, and connection on ordinary people, and especially people in pain, was extraordinary, and I will always credit her for destigmatizing AIDS. She was Queen of Hearts because of how she could light up a room and make people who shook her hand feel like the sun was shining down on them, and also (I think) how she seemed to be all heart and no head at different moments. People loved her for that because they could relate to her emotional life that she often (perhaps too freely, for a Princess) shared. No one else can be Queen of Hearts in that family, certainly not Duchess Kate. No one should even try. Diana had a bizarre and unique life, it was amazing, but no one else can live that way and no one else should have to.
Cant she go with another title besides Queen of Hearts? What about “Children’s Princess”?
first steel marshmallow now queen of hearts?
Wow. It’s pretty clear Kate is trying to overcompensate for SOMETHING.
J’adore votre nom Mme krabapple the Simpson 😂
I am completely OK with a parent hands on raising their kids and making it their main job. So sad she has to always demur and feint when she is actually doing the right thing.
Oh come on, Jason…you can do better! I believe in you! Poor Kate is strong and will NOT be distracted by petty mean girl Meghan: she will continue to do her duty and save the poor children of Britain. *eyeroll* I really don’t care what Kate is “keen” about; I’ll wait to see what she does.
“Catherine would be the last person in the world to use the phrase Queen of Hearts but if the crown fits…?”
LMAO, I’m with you Kaiser. Wtf even is this line!? Who in the world is calling her the Queen of Hearts?!
Also, all that talk about the whole “”politics”” of the work she’s doing right now and such seems like a direct response to the work Meghan has been doing so far. Sort of like, “Oh, Kate can ALSO wrangle the difficult politics of her work and do it MORE gracefully than Meghan can!” All of this comes off as so try-hard, it’s really very sad.
ah! pregnant with her 4rth child ? I told you there would be a 4rth one!!!