A month ago, the hype machine was in full effect for the Duchess of Cambridge’s garden design at the Chelsea Flower Show. Kensington Palace had been hyping her garden for what felt like eight months, and there were PR image releases, updates about private garden meetings and a months-long melodrama about whether the Duchess of Sussex was going to steal Kate’s garden thunder. It was all very British.
When the garden was finally revealed, I thought it was cute. It was clear that Kate designed it for kids, and I thought it showed a clear thought process from Kate, an actual opinion and working theory behind all of that vague keenness: she was telling parents that they need to get their kids to play outside. She was making a statement about video games and social media and the Black Mirror-esque technology which ruins childhoods, and she was saying that kids need fresh air and space to play and space to allow their imaginations to run wild. I approved of her message. I just didn’t think that Kate was the second coming because she co-designed a garden for kids, you know?
Kate’s garden has been moved from the Chelsea Flower Show to the Royal Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. She already hosted some kids – kids associated with some of her patronages – to a play session at the garden. From the looks of it, her ‘Back to Nature’ garden is a bit different at the Royal Hampton Court festival – different things have been added, probably because (I’m just guessing) there was more room to spread out? In any case, the Daily Mail wants us to know that Kate is a genius for inventing a special tree log:
Cloudwatchers no longer need to worry about getting their backs stained with grass as they lie back to enjoy the view – thanks to a charming invention from the Duchess of Cambridge. The 37-year-old Royal helped design a carved log that’s perfectly angled to provide a comfortable position from which you can gaze at the sky. Unveiled at the garden she helped create for the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, the seat was designed with landscape architects Adam White and Andree Davies.
Mr White told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The idea is that it makes you sit back and look at the clouds. Instead of looking at a screen, you have got to use your imagination to think what you can see in the sky. It is something that the Duchess said she really enjoyed doing. The idea of creating something from nothing was something the Duchess enjoys with her family.’
Ms Davies added that Kate has a natural talent for design: ‘She has this vision and knows how to do it.’
You can see the specially designed log below – it’s a big log with a cut-out for your butt, basically. The Royal Arse Log, specially designed by the Duchess of Cambridge. One’s Bum Log? The Keen Arse Log? Again, it’s not that I’m mocking Kate’s message or her work on this garden – I actually thought the whole garden thing was pretty cool, and I think it’s cool that Kate is making some kind of “statement” about something. What I’m mocking is the idea that Kate is the most brilliant person ever just because she designed a garden for kids and she “designed” a log so kids can cloud-watch and daydream. Embiggening Kate: The Garden Project.
Duchess of Cambridge helps design new log seat to help sunbathers watch the world go by https://t.co/Vyi7DvCS8f
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) July 7, 2019
Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace and Avalon Red.
I mean this is par for the course with ALL of the royals. They do something cute or whatever and they all get praised to high heavens over it.
I actually kind of like the idea though – we’re thinking about doing some more work in our back yard, and making seats out of a log would be kind of cool. My FIL logs/cuts firewood for a living (in a non-clear-cutty sort of way) so I could probably get as many as I wanted.
This is a bit much even for the royals. It’s more a sign that Kate generally doesn’t do much but she does intends to design more gardens so her pr people are using this to promote her.
Don’t ignore the fact the BRF press machine is about to go into overdrive planting these little idle stories about ALL the young royals.
Because the Queen’s favourite son, Andy the Paedo, is about to finally face a teeny tiny amount of justice.
This is one occasion where you really can’t blame Kate, or Wills, or Meghan, or Harry, or any of these guys for the puff pieces. The BRF is about to have a nonce in their ranks exposed and are going to try to bury the coverage.
Yesssssss, Jeffery Epstein was arrested on Saturday. N.Y. media had no problem vomiting Prince Andrew name and his visits to St. James. The plot thickens more Sussex trashing.
Yeah, I agree. PR is going to have to go into super overdrive to keep the good things in the press and try to eclipse Andy’s awful mess.
Like I said in the Epstein post, we are going to see LOTS more of the Cam kids soon, and I’d bet everything we’re going to get a pregnancy announcement from Eugenie VERY soon, as well as an engagement for Bea. They will pull out ALL the stops to deflect from Her Maj’s favorite bad boy. Charles, as much as he dislikes Pedo, won’t stop it, because to let Pedo out to dry would damage The Firm’s brand.
both sides
I mean, she was asked to do something so she did her best and had fun with it. I don’t think she thinks she’s the second coming, or has implied it.
If she phones it in and does something without inspiration, she’ll be “lazy”, so she can’t really win. Don’t envy that aspect of her life in the slightest.
That’s where work ethic comes in. She’s not supposed to be phoning it in just because she isn’t inspired.
She is generally lazy about royal duties. That isn’t an empty criticism. They’re mostly an excuse to play dress-up for her.
They’re promoting this because she doesn’t do much and the Cambridge pr has always been over the top.
I agree, Wilady. I mean – I think it’s a really nice project. It’s not super meaningful, but getting kids outside more is always a great thing. It’s meaningful in it’s own way. It’s not groundbreaking or anything, but it’s a good use of time, and the kids seem to really enjoy it.
I’d like to see her really dive more into sports and outdoorsy things. She could be helping kids get into hiking, or nature photography – I think she’d really enjoy that.
I get why she gets criticized for not doing much… but at the same time, not many of them of this age group ARE doing a ton. Meghan seems promising, but she hasn’t had a chance to really get going too much yet because of the wedding and the pregnancy and mat leave. I’m interested to see where she goes with the charity. But I also quite like Kate – they’re very different people, and that’s always going to be the case. I do hope that Meghan branching out into things that she really cares about will encourage Kate to do the same.
I don’t get the “lazy” rap… it’s something the press and her critics have decided is true about her, and it sticks. Like one of those ancient royal monikers– Kate the Lazy! If you follow the royals superficially, she seems about as busy as any of the others. And if you follow them more in depth, to the point where you can actually distinguish, not just between the volume of commitments, but the quality, the sincerity, the skill…. then you might be following too closely.
That’s amazing.
If people actually have details and facts, they’re paying too much attention.
But also the criticism is unfair, just don’t refute it because agains it means you pay too much attention. That’s definitely a new one.
Kate is lazy about working. Like her for who she is.
You’re funny, Hope:)
Kate’s reputation for laziness is well earned. She had only held a job for a few months by the time she was engaged at 29 and remains one of the royals with the lowest totals, even though she is future future queen consort. And while other female royals with young children like Sophie have always managed more engagements, only Kate needs the PR to provide excuses about being a hands on mum, as if Sophie abandoned her children or something. Since 2011 we have consistently had a pattern of the KP PR making an announcement of keenness and then months later it not amounting to much of anything. So after almost 9 years of empty promises, it’s not unreasonable to be skeptical about things, especially when she gets credit for dumb things like this bench, which she had no part in making herself.
Yeah, I don’t get the hate for Kate. She created a cool log to get kids to watch the clouds and get them out of the house. I don’t think she is the second coming either but who really thinks that? The Daily Mail? Who cares what they think?
The lazy rap comes mostly from Kate’s PR team. She was actively avoiding work. Setting examples like last minute cancellations and refusals to attend so she isn’t expected annually. That’s always been her. All while her PR routinely creates events and goes on forever about how eager she is to work. They hype her up. She doesn’t deliver. And a lazy image is born.
This! Then you should be mocking every Royal because absolutely all of them get this sort of hype for doing something little. It doesn’t matter who it is, Royals don’t do the hard work, their staff & assistants & secretaries do. Not to mention the actual charity workers, humanitarians, and volunteers working day after day for these organisations which the Royals become patrons of. I’m not knocking Royal work… it’s just I guess most people don’t realise they have a whole machine behind them propping them up… including PR pieces claiming they are going to change the world and pieces like the above. Harry was praised for healing the UK or something when he opened up about mental health lol. Last year they made a big deal about William saying something in Palestine and the list goes on.
Charles and Anne work hard by any standards. The Queen works harder than most 93 year olds. Sophie, Edward and Andrew work much harder than William, Harry and Kate. But the Queen ‘s children worked much harder than WHK when they were in their thirties, including when their children were small.
This is a great fit for her, since she really seems natural with kids and enjoys gardens.
I’m a Republican and wish these people could all leave. 🙂
With every new artile Kate looks more and more dumb.
Did you mean ARTICLE?
Yes, Joanne. She obviously meant article.
I don’t think any of the royals are particularly smart (Charles is supposedly the brightest). But it’s more than just “dumb” work that irks me, it’s that society seems to have gone backwards with Kate, and the royals are pushing her as a “traditional” woman who doesn’t know what work is; doesn’t have any opinions of her own, other than what her husband tells her; sticks to children, flowers, and other “womanly” interests; etc. I don’t really think Kate is that shallow, but she is willing to become that (non)person to keep William, and it’s sad. It’s a sad statement about women in the 21st century, and it’s a sad statement of what the royal family thinks of women.
You call Kate dumb yet you can’t even spell article..hahaha
Autocorrect gets us all…
Meanwhile remember Kate’s early thank you letters? 1 to Wimbledon famously. Her grammar/spelling/structure was atrocious.
Let’s not be so petty to each other here. Don’t open those doors.
This is not a new idea, have seen these types of logs in garden centre’s/other show gardens many times over the years (its literally a log chair positioned to sky gaze, its not the wheel) – just another KP PR spin to embiggen Kate against the continued success of the Grenfell cookbook.
Maybe she does like gardens and designing them, if she really is into it maybe she can work with Chuck who also designs gardens – I think it was Highgrove gardens he designed and they are stunning. He could teach her to talk to the plants.
How do you get “competition with the Grenfell cookbook” from a puff piece about a garden log seat?
its about creating the narrative that she to can come up with ‘new’ and great ideas on her own. The bar for Kate is lower than how this log is set.
It’s a reach, but okay.
@Digital Unicorn
For heavens sake what has this got to do with Meghan’s wonderful cook book? In your haste to slam Kate you end up being petty.
Prince Charles could teach Kate a thing or two. He’s very knowledgeable. He has a beautiful garden.
Oi! Don’t make fun of talking to plants, please!! 1. there is scientific proof it is helpful, along with music. 2. as a horticulturalist since the early ’70’s I’m here to tell you there is truth in this science. Also, I like both women for different things. I’m a Gemini, and often see both sides to arguments and such.
Had a huge government experimental farm near where I lived on the coast. Once a year they had an open house and it was incredible. They had a cow with a glass stomach so you could literally watch milk being made. They had a room of tomato plants hooked up to computers and the plants would tell the computer when they were dry, cold, or hot, or did/didn’t like the music. The graphs also vibrated briefly when a tomato was picked. Sorry, way off topic, but they also had a field with a patch of grass/grain from over 100 countries. They were searching for the most viable seeds worldwide for solutions to disease, environmental damage, and hunger. Excellent place to spend the day, especially with kids.
I didn’t realize this was a thing. I’d rather lie on the grass to cloud watch. Log benches or seats for reading–sitting up, that I could go for.
In my day we used something old fashioned called a picnic blanket…
I am in favour of cloud-watching and have been all my life. But in Oz lying on the grass can be a little dangerous because we have so many dangerous biting critters I’d prefer to avoid, so I use my trusty banana lounge, which is very comfortable, and probably more comfortable than a log.
How much manure does one need to make this garden grow????
As much as the Royal Reporters can provide!
Ask Charles. He is the real expert gardener of all royals.
His Highgrove gardens are truly spectacular.
Lots and lots of the bull variety apparently.
With the Epstein story back on the front pages we can expect plenty of fluff pieces about how Charlotte can tie her shoes, Archie can poop in a diaper, William can eat snacks, etc.
@ MEGAN-YUP 🙄
With every royal, any step they take is “gtoundbreaking” and oh so special, like I said. I take all the royals with a grain of salt especially when it comes to their work. I defer to John Oliver when he says “it’s a group of fundamentally flawed individuals doing a very silly pseudo job” I enjoy the fashion and gossip but I’m not going to pretend to showing up somewhere and walking around is ever classified as work.
The log is a cute idea. My dad made is little cloud watching lounge chairs out of wood when I was little, our whole backyard was his imagination. The garden is beautiful.
We have one in our garden and our children love it!
Not a bad idea.
But I do believe that this idea of “kids have to play outside” is great and nice but collide with the sadness of some cities and their parks. Uk has a great tradition for gardens and green spaces, but if you are a middle class it will be unlike that you have free access to nice parks. In my area, which is West Midlands, some parks are perfect spots to get stabbed, robbed and other crimes. Not really this fancy green place.
It seems that this places are created, cleaned and safeguarded only in the “posh” postcodes. While the other can let their children out of their sight.
I was thinking that too. Im sure there is a way to take a concept like this and apply it in a meaningful way to urban areas with an emphasis on community empowerment. Normal citizens can’t prevent crime, but just starting with children and community pride would be sweet and some kids do have influence in their households
This was my thought as well — the “kids should play outside” business needs to go a little further. It needs to address the reasons kids are playing less outside… whether that’s lack of access, parents working, etc… having ample time and space to play outside in a clean and safe place is itself a privilege.
+ 1 Millennial
It’s sad and so, so true
Yes, you said it better Millenial.
I was born and raised in Italy, in one of the least green city, but I did went to my local park (there was one in every postcode/zone) with friends and family (even alone) for years. It was really crowded and parents let their children play while they were shopping to the local supermarkets or just enjoy a coffee with friends. In Uk, where I live know, my friends and collegues can not let their children play and run through anywhere due to lack of time (good parks are quite distant) or their are afraid of crime or simple reason that the park sucks and it’s dirty.
I like these idea, but there is not commitment to address the parents concers and reasons. It all about Kate, her Keeness and summery dress who looks the same.
I always think about the impact green spaces, trees, etc have on air quality. Not only do kids grow up with lower quality or contaminated water (hello MI), the literal air they breath is less filtered and fresh.
As the announcer said in Ren & Stimpy cartoons, “All kids love log!”
I mean… the whole thing is vaguely clever, but inconsequential. We can (and do) cloud watch without a specially designed cloud-log.
Nice, I guess.
From “forest bathing” to this…they (KP, media) certainly are pushing a gardening goddess narrative for her. And of course they overdo it as usual.
Hahaha – am surprised they just don’t start quoting A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Beach Dreams – “forest bathing”…! This reminds me of all the Goop-style faux science health advice, such as vagina tanning. Because no one likes a pasty vulva…
Meh. All this children’s garden “design” is harmless and twee, just like she is. When I was a kid, we had a special cloud-viewing place. It was called ‘The Ground”. If the ground was damp, we used an ingenious device called a towel to protect our clothes. These simple measures took nothing away from our imagination or cloud-viewing experience. Sadly, for myriad reasons, not all children are in a position to experience such healthy and enjoyable pastimes in an accessible, clean and safe environment.
The bar is set so low for her. Typical.
Her minders are trying so hard to keep her relevant and in the news but they are having a very hard time if this is all they can do.
The bar is below sea level for all mediocre chicks with her complexion.
The bar is very low for Kate. Can you imagine story about Meghan designing a log and the snark it would generate? Amd she’d be blamed for it as being attention seeking and not understanding how to be royal.
That fluff piece is so full of sugar it gave me a tooth ache.
but seriously, why is the bar set so low for Kate?
Because, in certain respects, such as public speaking, and working large crowds, she’s not cut out for such a public role.
However, Kate has proven to be able to give birth to healthy children, two of them male. King Henry VIII would’ve been completely overjoyed with Kate.
HA, you are spot on!
Got a few chuckles out of me. Goop invents yoga and Kate invents cloud watching. Such pioneers.
We already know she likes to cloud-watch instead of doing real work.
How did Kate invent something that was already being sold? STUPSE
Bajan?
STUPSE, LOL.
Lol, yes.
Trini here. We spell it STEUPS, but I LOVE the Bajan way!
JA mainly spell it STREUPS. Lol
Gosh, imagine having to make do with a blanket like we did.
Sarcasm aside, this could be a good route for Kate to go down if she steps out from behind platitudes of ‘kids should go outside more’ and actually helped that happen. Green open spaces, especially in urban areas, are disappearing or being privatised or are unsafe. This is very much a class issue.
I agree with you. I don’t think enough people realize that gardens and safe parks and playgrounds are privileges that a lot of children don’t have access to. Telling people to just go outside more without taking into account crime, work schedules, income, etc. can come off as tone deaf.
Now we know why the Sussex’s wanted out of the foundation. Butt Logs, come on. The problem is it cost money to build Kate’s Gardens. All of Kate’s projects cost money to the foundation but bring nothing in return. Butt Logs, how embarrassing! Whoever came up with this idea should be let go….Butt Logs
The RHS Chelsea Flower show has tons of sponsors. I love going to the CFS fancy charity dinners on the opening nights. Kate’s gardens were sponsored – the money for these gardens came from the sponsorships… I would side eye the Royal foundation if the money was coming from there but the RHS does not work like that.
How the cambridge’s foundation works is most easily explained as this. They fundraise to do fundraisers and distribute as they see fit to pre selected charities. They sort of fundraise to throw galas. Kate’s clothes could even fall under overheard cost for the foundation to cover. I’ll always side eye an umbrella system
I hope its not the one in the DF pic because that log looks uncomfortable,cant imagine sitting there for long
Lawd. The bar is set so low for Kate. It’s a log chair. I’m sure her other charities would love to see the same vigor and interest in them.
There’re dozens of fluff pieces about the younger royals every single day. Today the daily mail has a new story about Meghan touring every animal charity in town to find a new pet for Archie.. Why are we acting like Kate and her people are so desperate that they asked to write these pieces? LOL
Ah yes,it’s because “the bar is so low”..
The KP accounts posted pics of the new garden the other day. Since it’s slow-news day,the daily mail is writing one of their useless puff pieces,like the one about Meghan recycling earrings for the christening. Incredible.
Meghan’s words at Mayhew, “I can’t handle another dog with a baby coming”
The dailyfail said, after Meghan have her baby, she was going to invite the markles, oops she did not invite her father to the christening.
Her brother said his lawyer told him, that Meghan’s lawyer told him, she called him a distant relative, and was not giving him one plug nickel.
Stupid question about the garden – how do they move it? Just move all the elements?
Anyway, yeah, great, she did something concrete, and it was successful, and she seemed to enjoy it, and it had a positive message for kids. Those are all good things.
But for the love of pete how much more are we going to hear about this garden?!?!
Well, it was moved to a new place, so that’s “news” I guess?
BUT HOW WAS IT MOVED?!?!?!?! LOL. I’m really confused by this.
The garden must be in pre-built beds. Just pick them up with a forklift and put them in the back of a pickup truck for delivery to the next site. Lots of hardware stores sell the beds.
The bar is set low for Kate but she could easily use this as an opportunity to do something bigger. She won’t, but I would love for her to surprise us with some kind of parks initiative or promoting outdoor play in a wider project. This would tie in to her mental health kick and that Broken Britain (*cringe*) thing that’s been promoted so much but not come to fruition. I know the intent is to promote children’s mental health but this is the perfect segue into that Big Project and she could really do a lot. Again, I know she won’t but as someone who side-eyes her a lot, I’d like to be proven wrong.
My brain immediately went to the Log jingle from Ren & Stimpy, and now it’s stuck in my head. Thanks, Kate.
“What rolls down stairs
alone or in pairs,
and over your neighbor’s dog?
What’s great for a snack,
And fits on your back?
It’s log, log, log
It’s log, it’s log,
It’s big, it’s heavy, it’s wood.
It’s log, it’s log, it’s better than bad, it’s good.”
Everyone wants a log
You’re gonna love it, log
Come on and get your log
Everyone needs a log
log log log
*whistle*
LOG FROM BLAMMO”🎶🎵
Someone called it Log, and that’s exactly the tune that popped into my head hahahaha!
OK, we’ve had “William can eat snacks”, butt logs, then STUPSE. But, this song was the last straw! All y’all, up and down this entire thread, are just cuttin’ up, so STAHP! You’ve got me ROTFL!
Eh. I recall people just loving the words of encouragement on bananas for sex workers as being “inspired “, so isn’t this what ppl do for the “royals”? Talk about them like they poop roses? Once again ALL the royals barely “work”…and no making appearances doesn’t count as work to me.
I recall Meghan’s banana messages being met with pretty much universal scorn. There were certainly no fluff pieces like this written about it.
British in over drive over Banana Message
Imagine any FLOTUS promoting Butt Logs to US children! It’s basically telling children to be lazy and daydream instead of learning and discovery with books….nope sit on a Butt Log and daydream!
Well, now, nothing wrong with daydreaming. I was both a big reader & a big daydreamer. There’s nothing lazy about daydreaming. That’s using your brain.
If you lived in the 1700’s! You have to relate to children in the century they live in, Butt Log daydreaming had its time in the 1700’s!
One of my biggest concerns (health aside) when I had a 2yo was how to teach him to have an imagination. I encouraged cloud reading and daydreaming for imagination growth. He loved pretending he was a train engineer, or Inspector Gadget. Every child deserves an imagination and the ability to daydream. Some of the world’s greatest inventions came from dreamers, like the airplane.
That looks so uncomfortable. And just how many kiddies have gardens large enough to accommodate Log.
If Meghan had come up with this, she would have been accused of destroying forests and contributing to global warming. But as it’s been said, the bar is subterranean for Our Kate.
@Kerwood, she’d be blamed for ruthlessly causing splinters.
So she invented a lawn chair? This is so stupid. I wonder who thought this looked good? 🤣🤣
Just here to say the enjoyment of nature, imo, is heightened by getting dirty/grass stains. Especially for kiddos. Lying directly on the earth is beautiful.
I like that log. But here in S E Texas it would get so buggy. LOL
Nature is important for all of us. We all need to unplug daily and reconnect with our earth.
Good for Duchess Keen. Keep on gardening.
Maybe plant some grass on Will’s head.
😉
Basically Kate is encouraging killing trees for a back to nature project. Think about that, killing trees to make a Butt Log to daydream comfortably. Poor!y conceived initiative that is ridiculous. I’m embarrassed for Kate. Is this a British thing?
Myra, I think you need a Snickers.
@Myra
Who peed in your cocopops? Sheesh
Maybe it was a log from an already felled tree? *No trees were harmed in the making of this butt log.*
My god. You guys find anything to find fault with her. Have you heard of trees sometimes dying or having to be cut or sawn off?
yeah, that’ll keep up with the demand of butt logs Someine, LOL
The British could export Kate’s Butt Logs post Brexit
I’d rather have a log than a plastic chair, it’s way better for the environment… also, you sound like a bitter Betty.
I applaud Kate. Royals do fluff stuff and there are PR people and everyone else who comes up with a project. She does things with grace though.
Exactly, Liriel. It’s hilarious when non Brits are dragging one person for her little project. Yeah, it’s fluff, but it is doing good. Brits spoke with their feet when they queued for hours and hours, it was very popular. I like criticising them all, equally, because they are all hyped to the skies. I can also acknowledge that they do some good with the “work” they do. Another thing, I don’t understand what Kate’s lack of work history before becoming a Royal has to do with anything. Surely her work as a Royal should be of importance, not anything else. Bringing up the fact she didn’t have to work in her 20’s as a criticism, really seems like envy because others had/have to work because they aren’t fortunate enough to just volunteer when they want & be SAHM.
Jason???
Kate and the KP pr have repeatedly lied about how eager Kate is to work. Kate doesn’t have the courage to admit she doesn’t want to do much work.
Pointing out that she spent her twenties partying instead of seeming to do anything meaningful was about predicting her work ethic as a royal and it has held true. Ultimately, if it isn’t about Kate and bettering her own life and image, she can barely be bothered.
@Guest. Meghan’s education, her acting career and her divorce, which are all in the past, have been used to criticize her in the present. At least Meghan HAS a past. Kate went from being supported by her parents to being supported by the British taxpayers. She’s never worked for anything other than landing Normal Bill and I can’t say that was worth the effort.
There seems to be a real need to portray Kate as someone who makes an effort but she doesn’t appear to be willing to make an effort to earn that reputation. Right now, she’s taking credit for lawn furniture that already exists.
Is that the best that can be said about her? ‘She does it with grace’? As we’re told on a daily basis, Kate will someday be Queen Consort. And all she has is GRACE to bring to the table? That might have worked in the 18th century but times have changed a bit since then.
KP is out of ideas. I wonder how much time Kate spends daydreaming and cloud watching? First the pamphlets on growing a garden in booths now daydreaming and cloud watching. Duchess Kate is sitting the bar pretty low for British children.
The continuing embiggening of Kate since the arrival of Meghan. Notice they don’t do the equivalent to Camilla because she has no such competition. It should not be a competition but KP is surely making it one.
Now she invents things and is a creative genius. Shaking my head.