The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge’s King’s Cup regatta is being pushed up a day

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (R) and Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge unveil the King's Cup trophy during the launch the King's Cup Regatta, at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, south east London on May 7, 2019. - The event is set to take place on August 9, 2019, on the Isle of Wight, and is set to see The Duke and Duchess go head to head as skippers of individual sailing boats, in an eight boat regatta race. Each boat taking part will represent one of eight charities and the winning team will be awarded the historic trophy The King's Cup.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s big summer event takes place this week. The King’s Cup regatta race was supposed to take place on Friday on the Isle of Wight, but as the date fast approaches, someone at Kensington Palace looked at the weather report and saw that their big fancy boat race was about to be rained out. So they switched the date!

Pushing it ahead a day? What is this witchcraft? My guess is that the Isle of Wight was supposed to get rain starting on Friday and going throughout the weekend, but Thursday probably looks bright and sunny. The must have the ideal conditions for their big keen event!

Keeping on brand, the Cambridges launched this event three months ago and there’s been periodic reminders of how keen the Cambridges are to do this one event. King’s Cup is basically the only thing on their schedule between Wimbledon and their fall schedule. William and Kate still plan to individually skipper two of the sailboats in the eight-boat regatta race. The King’s Cup has been dormant for years – there was last a King’s Cup race in 1920. So, it’s historical, but modernized by the Cambridges. They actually hope this will become one of their new “things.” Also: the King’s Cup trophy looks so much like the Wimbledon men’s trophy, right?

Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (L) and Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge wave to wellwishers as they leave after attending the launch of the King's Cup Regatta, at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, south east London on May 7, 2019. - The event is set to take place on August 9, 2019, on the Isle of Wight, and is set to see The Duke and Duchess go head to head as skippers of individual sailing boats, in an eight boat regatta race. Each boat taking part will represent one of eight charities and the winning team will be awarded the historic trophy The King's Cup.

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (L) and Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge talk to members of the media about their newborn nephew, as they arrive to launch the King's Cup Regatta, at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, south east London on May 7, 2019. - The event is set to take place on August 9, 2019, on the Isle of Wight, and is set to see The Duke and Duchess go head to head as skippers of individual sailing boats, in an eight boat regatta race. Each boat taking part will represent one of eight charities and the winning team will be awarded the historic trophy The King's Cup.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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63 Responses to “The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge’s King’s Cup regatta is being pushed up a day”

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  1. Becks1 says:

    If the weather forecast is that bad, then pushing it up a day (if logistically possible, which it seems like it is) makes sense.

    I want to see Bear Grylls, lol.

    • Lunde says:

      I agree – I know that it is fashionable here to interpret absolutely everything they do in the worst possible light but it is a bit odd to be so negative about a decision that was taken on safety grounds. As I understand it Will and Kate will be skippering a couple of the racing yachts. Can you imagine the fall out if anything happened and the organisers had knowingly sent out inexperienced skippers in bad weather?

      This event is a charity fundraiser so it makes sense to maximize the numbers that will attend. One of the charities is the Air Ambulance Service so it makes more sense to raise money rather than be forced to utilize their service – especially when the UK emergency services are pretty stretched after previous bad weather/flooding emergencies.

    • Tallyhoo says:

      It’s also completely standard for any sailing race to keep a close eye on weather forecasts and adjust the schedule as necessary, with plenty of contingency plans. Mother Nature doesn’t mess around.

  2. Kittycat says:

    Nice that everyones schedules are free enough to more it a day.

  3. Snap Happy says:

    Meh, they’re trying.

  4. Yamayo says:

    They are cancelling a whole music festival in Newquay due to bad weather so things are looking bad.
    Rain is also forecast for Thursday but it the conditions are too severe boats just can’t race.

    Makes sense to move it, no?

  5. chunkyla says:

    The actual Regatta at Cowes starts on the 10th to 17th August so pushing it back isn’t an option. Bringing it forward is the only option they have.

    • Nanea says:

      Ignorant me had no idea this would be the starter event for Cowes Week. Our son is already there, he’s one of our club’s crew members. I’ve just appointed him the keenest spy of all, which he didn’t like, but he’s looking forward to it anyway. He can go places the public can’t, just because of his being a part of the subsequent regatta!

  6. astrid says:

    What a life – sit in a front row box at Wimbledon, yacht races where dates are flexible for your convenience.

    • M. says:

      And to think there are people defending this schedule and calling it hard work. They are glorified socialites. The younger royals love doing the big and flashy events: red carpets, sport matches, tours, etc. The older royals do way more engagements in smaller communities. Prince Charles, Camilla, and Princess Anne have been working nonstop with hardly any press. I think the royal reporters do a disservice to the public by not reporting on the older royals and just focusing on gossip about the “Fab Four”.

  7. Cidy says:

    I mean moving it due to weather seems pretty sensible.

  8. mynameispearl says:

    There’s a yellow weather warning all week so it would be total madness to not change the date. Not sure why this is a thing?

    • chunkyla says:

      I was thinking the same thing. Outdoor UK sporting events usually have a contingency plan for terrible and unpredictable weather even in the summer. Changing the date would be part of that contingency plan. Everybody involved in the planning of this event would have know this would be a possibility from the very beginning. So i’m not sure why it’s a ‘thing’ either.

    • Enn says:

      Wouldn’t the alternative to rescheduling be canceling? So…it’s not canceled.

    • Becks1 says:

      I mean, its not a “thing” in that people are criticizing the change. It’s a “thing” in that its an update to this event.

      • mynameispearl says:

        There are comments from people snarking about how lucky that their schedules are so free that they could just change this. It’s definitely been changed due to public safety so I just dont know any commenters would even bother being snarky, do the cambridges annoy them that much that the great British summer weather is their fault too?

      • leena says:

        Everything is the Cambridges’ fault for many on here!!!

      • Kittycat says:

        What’s wrong with being snarky?

        I have to reschedule a ton of things over and over and over.

        It’s nice that William and Kate dont have that issue but it shoes how out of touch they are from middle class reality.

  9. Maria says:

    My August resolution is to stop snarking on Kate. So while I wish she’d work more, I wanna see more of her and I wanna see more jewelry on her. <3

    • BayTampaBay says:

      The best way not to snark on Cathy Cambridge is to convince yourself that she is being controlled and held back by Bill. That’s what I did.

      I could not figure her out! Being controlled by Bill was the only plausible reason I could come up with for her reluctance to get involve and perform her job properly.

      • Seraphina says:

        @BTB, I don’t know. I hear ya about not being able to figure her out and maybe it’s control. I think it’s a mix of: 1) don’t upset Will (drilled into her head to keep him) 2) she really doesn’t care about doing good and is just interested in sitting around living the posh life. Problem is she is a Princess of the United Kingdom and needs to earn her keep. 3) there are times where I think maybe Ma Middleton has put so much pressure on her, she feels that she is carrying the family and all their hopes so she lays low so not to rock the boat and cause problems.

        BUT, She certainly showed justo and a desire to come out on top when chasing after William. And put forth energy into clubbing and yachting. So I don’t have much sympathy for her.

      • Maria says:

        I’m not going to snark per se, but I think she just doesn’t want to do anything.
        Not going to lie, I would love to just sit around like her, and day drink nonstop. But sadly you don’t get to do that in her position (well, not as much as I’d like). It’s a job, one she needs to do.
        I’m hoping she’ll do more.

      • Kittycat says:

        I wonder if George will be as lazy as his parents. If so they I dont see the British monarchy lasting.

        Or if Charlotte will take after Anne.

        And if Louis becomes like Andrew.

  10. Jane says:

    It’s good to see The Cambridges taking part in a non elitist and non snobbish event like a sailing regatta.

    • chunkyla says:

      I guess it’s no different to Harry playing that non elitist, non snobbish and accessible sport called Polo to raise money for his chosen charities so why not?

      • Becks1 says:

        Sure, but Harry gets called out for that. And Meghan gets called out for Vogue. etc. That’s the point Jane is making.

      • chunkyla says:

        The ONLY time I have seen Harry being called out for that was when this Regatta was announced and people were calling it elitist and the Cambridge’s tone-deaf etc..while forgetting Harry’s preferred sport for raising money for charity these days is also an elitist sport lol. Prior to that there was next to nothing.

      • Becks1 says:

        Oh I saw a good deal of snark on twitter about it (for Harry), which was funny (from the big Cambridge fans, so it was funny because they seemed to be overlooking that William plays polo too?)

      • chunkyla says:

        Its mostly Harry these days. Harry has definitely played more than William in the last 2-3 years.

      • Nic919 says:

        Harry just got called out for getting a pedicure so let’s not pretend the media is ignoring what he does.

    • BabaBlacksheep says:

      As opposed to Harry attending the oh so open and not at all elite Google Camp?

  11. Guest says:

    Lol. Celebrities attached to this? I hope we get 20 think pieces about how elitist this is.

  12. Hazel says:

    Disappointed not to see Ben Ainslie. I want Kate to enjoy doing these things so she does it more.

    • Lady D says:

      Good idea. Little ones need encouragement, and make sure she gets a cookie when the race is over. (maybe Ben is her cookie:)

    • Fluffy Princess says:

      WHAT? No, Sir Ben? That is my whole raison d’etre for wanting to see pictures from this race.

      I love the Duchess Kate and Sir Ben pics. She nearly swoons in his presence.

      I bet she wishes he were her side piece–show dear Wills he’s not the only one who can get a little somethin’ somethin’ extra.

  13. Beli says:

    Weather happens and everyone will have prepared for that possibility with contingency plans. Better to move it than cancel it.

    I do wonder though whether hearing about one event a hundred times makes the general public who may not be paying attention think they’re doing more than they are. (See also, garden).

  14. Catherine says:

    Heads Together? FA collaboration? No? Mental health not important enough to cover? What William is doing with FA is ground breaking.

    • chunkyla says:

      I agree, I haven’t seen anything on here about the the male mental health programme William was a part of a few months back called A Royal Team Talk. Groundbreaking stuff indeed and from the comments that i’ve seen on social media they were very positive.

      Suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK. It’s an appalling statistic so i’m glad that William is using the popularity of football, and his role as President of The FA , to encourage men to talk about their mental health.

  15. RoyalBlue says:

    Similar to the America’s cup which is an extremely elitist sport sponsored by oracle, bmw and such, they hope the Kings cup will raise lots of money for their charities and raise their profile higher than Harry’s fundraising abilities with Sentebale and Invictus. Thank God Meghan came along or else these lazy two would never have done this. They never had plans to hit the ground running but now they are.

    • leena says:

      Every event they attend isn’t always a competition between the two couples – Cowes Week has been going on for over 100 years, long before Meghan was a twinkle in her great-great-grandfather’s eyes,
      and has always had strong associations with the Royal Family

  16. DS9 says:

    Kate looks very pretty in these pictures.

    I’ll leave you guys to the rest lol

  17. SpeakActBeKind says:

    Eager to see how the Daily Mail will blame the adverse weather on Meghan.

  18. Courtney says:

    This is seriously a story?

  19. Rogue says:

    They look like a fun couple when they do the sporting events when they compete against each other so sure there will be great pics tomorrow.

    Mental health is a huge topic and I like this this hosting discussions approach giving the floor to experts in the field. Whilst their talks on mental health sometimes make me cringe, I will give props to the Cambridges and Harry for helping to lead the charge in discussing mental health more openly and sensitively in the UK in recent years.

    With the Royal Team Talk wish they had touched on racist abuse at football grounds on the program. There’s been high profile racial abuse incidents at football matches recently& could have been opportunity to highlight the toll that takes on a players mental health. But I appreciate limited time for such a heavy topic so perhaps one for another day

    • chunkyla says:

      @Rogue

      “With the Royal Team Talk wish they had touched on racist abuse at football grounds on the program. There’s been high profile racial abuse incidents at football matches recently& could have been opportunity to highlight the toll that takes on a players mental health. ”

      __

      They did. Thierry Henry spoke about how the racist abuse affected his mental health and a think a couple of other players who were part of the discussion also touched on it as well.

      • Rogue says:

        @ChunkyLa did they?I rarely sit still all the way through a show so may have missed it. Happy to stand corrected. I think it’s still on iPlayer so may check out Henry’s etc comments

  20. Angie says:

    She looks so tiny in these pictures. She’s always been skinny but man she’s tiny now.