This year, one of my Christmas gifts to myself was “refusing to stress out about the royals.” I knew there would be many shenanigans around the royal Christmas at Sandringham, and I knew that there would be a renewed interest in how the Sussexes were NOT spending this Christmas at Sandringham. What I guess I didn’t know is that so many people would waste so much time creating intricate timelines and conspiracies involving… royal Christmas cards. I’m not blaming the true-blue royal fans, but lord almighty, all of this got way out of hand.
First of all, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex waited until December 23rd to release their Christmas card image, seen above. This is the original, undoctored, un-Photoshopped image – Archie in focus, Meghan and Harry out of focus in the background, in black-and-white. My first, second and third thoughts were along the lines of “how charming and sweet.” It’s a cute, unconventional shot for royals, but it has more festive cheer than… you know, a lot of other royal Christmas cards. People complained about everything – how Meg and Harry were out of focus, how the image is in black and white, how it’s an “e-card” rather than something tangible. And then the Daily Mail just decided to run a fan-edited version of the card where Meghan looks more “in focus” and Harry still looks blurry, and then the Daily Mail claimed that version was the official version sent out. It was not. The DM lied. They lied to paint Meghan as a diva, as self-absorbed, whatever.
It was also said that the Cambridges were trying to push the Sussexes into releasing their Christmas card at a specific time, because the Cambridges were trying to upstage the Sussexes or something. I don’t know. But I do know that hours after the Sussexes released their card, the Cambridges released a new image of William with all three Cambridge children. The photo was taken by Kate. This is one of her best photos yet, quite honestly. And look, it’s in black-and-white!! I AM LAUGHING. I’m sure that everyone will continue to fight about who these children look like, but with each passing year, I think the Middleton genes really are coming out in Charlotte. She really takes after Kate and Carole.
Photos courtesy of Janina Gavankar via The Sussexes, Backgrid.
I really like both of these, actually. All the children are adorable!! Archie looks just like Harry.
Aw but look at his eyes, they are Meghan’s
Agreed @Lucy. Love both. Archie is so adorable. l Love Charlotte standing in the power position as the ruler of the roast. That kid is going to be a leader whether or not the monarchy survives!
Archie and Charlotte are making similar expressions, lol!
I am sorry, but The actual Xmas photo of The Cambridges, was the one, where they looked like; ‘The Swiss Family Robinson’, released to their Charities, just like The Sussexes, so much so that, The Queen had it on her table, featuring, the heirs. It was widly published in all the papers and The Media fawned over it. However, when the Sussexes card was unearthed, and had so much praise ftom the public, and Archie, recieving so much attention, pop, comes the second Xmas photo for The Cambridges, b&w, mainly focusing on the children, just like the focus was on Archie in The Sussexes. That was straight up, copy copy , and oneupmanship, to top The Sussexes story!
The pictures from the Cambridge’s and Sussexes are beautiful. The children are all gorgeous. Good to see them all thriving. I don’t give a damn about the conspiracy theories surrounding the pictures. The stans on both sides are just batshit crazy. No normal person with a life has the time to analyze and give so much attention to pictures of people so removed from our lives.
All the kids looks good. The Middleton genes are strong, I can also see her Aunt Pippa in Charlotte
All the kids are cute, but I just want to eat Louis’ cheeks.
I see her as all Middleton, *except* her smile: that is pure QEll. Louis and George are Little Michael Middeltons, esp. around the eyes.
Archie has Meg’s eyes, and is otherwise all Harry. Adorable baby, so curious and alert.
They are all beautiful kids.
I find charlotte beauuuutiful. and louis is a lovely baby too. I just wish kate was on that photo.
To me, Charlotte looks just like the queen including her eyes, but I’m less familiar with what the Middletons look like!
But the Cambridge and Sussexes didn’t officially release their Christmas cards? Wasn’t it their charities? The Cambridges’ card was a picture of a picture which doesn’t seem like they okayed it but I don’t think there’s any rule that says the people who receive their card can’t share it on social media. We haven’t seen Charles and Camilla’s yet but I think that’s because no one who received it has bothered sharing it on the Internet yet.
Charles and Camilla’s was of the two of them in a car
Charles and Camilla were the only ones who officially released their picture and card.
The Sussexes was released by the QCT and I’m sure they had permission to do so (but I don’t think they “needed” it, but probably as a courtesy). The Cambridge’s was also released by a charity – not sure which one.
This picture of the kids though was released by KP.
The Sussexes e-card was originally a .GIF, with the lights twinkling. I saw it on the charity’s Twitter (I’m pretty sure that’s where I saw it). Apparently they sent hard-cards to some family, and these e-cards to all others.
I’m quite a fan. In an era of being environmentally conscious (which has been a huge talking point with the royals), people should rethink sending out print Christmas cards. I chose not to. Think of how many Christmas cards you get in a season! I don’t know about you, but I read the ones I get, then immediately drop them in the recycling bin.
Have to admit, I send e-cards that I “make” myself (find graphics, add my own text, and email out). I prefer it to writing out individual addresses, stamping, etc., because I’m lazy lol. I’ve been doing this for years. While paper cards can be lovely, it’s become a “show and tell” for a lot of people (“Ooooh look how many more I have than you!”), and I prefer not to clutter my space up with them; and they’re trash in the landfill soon after.
ecards are wonderful…quick, easy, cheap, not wasteful.
I like both pictures. I did laugh at the black
And white Cambridge picture though.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
The rest of that Oscar Wilde quote is “…that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”
HA! Did not know that, Izzy. Thanks!
It is a lovely pic of the kids, truly. Char IS the star of this family for sure! lol
But seriously… the VERY SAME trash that were screaming about how PRETENTIOUS and HORRIBLE the b/w pics were when H&M released them… how “arty” and “Hollywood” they were trying to be, are the VERY SAME trash that are praising W&K for how BEAUTIFUL the b/w pic is. Literally falling over themselves to outdo each other’s comment about it. And not a one sees the hypocrisy. SMDH.
That card sent so many signals. The desperation of copying the Sussexes by putting out a black and white non-traditional card right after the Sussexes released theirs. Plus, the card itself having William’s face completely obstructed in a picture taken by Kate. So many signals.
The Sussexes didn’t invent black and white cards. It’s not a desperate attempt to copy them, come on!
William is kissing his child. It sends a signal alright … that he loves his kids.
where did anyone say the sussexes DID invent black & white cards, maria? strawman argument.
Oh, come on. Harry and Meghan are awesome, but their use of b&w photos is not revolutionary. No one is copying them. That’s just silly.
I quite like Kate, as I have said many times before on here, but it is obvious that the Cambridges (read William imho) have an unhealthy sense of competitiveness when it comes to the Sussexes. And instead of just working harder and smarter – which in my opinion would be perfectly healthy competition – they resort to half assed petty shortcut nonsense that just makes them look dense. That bw photo with Wills and the kids literally makes me cringe. Not because it is a bad photo – it is clearly lovely – but because the timing of the release screams copycat oneupmanship.
It’s honestly intensely creepy the sense of ownership some British people have over the Sussexes. The intense vitriol people had over them not being in focus in the picture (and also falling for the DM’s doctored story) was very weird and scary.
@ Lucia
Very true, but bear in mind, a huge chunk of those comments are by paid commenters, paid to be as vitriolic as they can be. It’s not organic at all.
They missed forest for the trees. We see photos of H+M all the time so who cares if they a bit blurry when Archie looks so darn cute?
Scary is right. We have lost our minds over here.
I guess black and white photos aren’t Hollywood after all! Love the Sussex Christmas card. Archie is so cute and I think it was a candid and Archie was crawling over to his Auntie Jania. I especially love that they released it through QCT a great way to increase awareness of the charity. The followers have more than doubled since the release. No comment about the Cambridge’s cause idc about them or their children.
I completely agree
The black and white thing is odd how people think this is new? Or the Sussexes own this? Please!!!! I have a fair amount of black and white photos too of my kid as a child and baby, with and without her parents and she’s 17. Honestly, it is kind of an amateur photography trick often used as color can brings light deficiencies more prominent in a photograph. Granted Meghan obviously loves them black and white as she has issued a lot, but I don’t think that means she owns the idea, nor do I think she thinks she owns it. She’s just trying to release a nice family picture for the holidays. Which she did. This over analyzation of photos and one unmanship motives is crazy. Even if it’s true, which I kind of doubt, we are only feeding the crazy narrative by giving it prominence. Honestly, all the pictures are cute, and glad we got to seem them all. We should all stress less about the royal motives on this, and just enjoy. Reality is we will never know if our conspiracy theories are real unless one of them talks which I seriously doubt so who cares as I can’t believe concocting these kind of stories about them all gives anyone real pleasure this time of year.
No one has ever claimed that it’s new or that she “owns” the idea of black and white photos but British media and royal fans alike do use it to attack while having nothing to say when her white counterparts do it. As long as it continues I’ll be calling it out. Period.
No one owns the black and white photo style. I find it curious that a black and white non Christmas card was released after they released their official Christmas card.
You so clearly see it as well. Kate and William are dysfunctional and a lot of the criticism of Harry and Meghan is baseless but meant to minimize them.
The Sussexes were criticized for their black and white photos -not royal, basic, instagram influencer types of photos etc. So, here it is with the Cambridges and all the critics are silent.
Silas, not just SILENT… but they are falling all over themselves to heap PRAISE on the Cambs for it. That’s the difference.
we’re not comparing the sussexes to photos of your children, no one knows who you are. we are comparing the sussexes to the cambridges.
How many black and white photos did the Cambridge’s release before the Sussex’s released theirs? Could count them on one hand, long ago.
Those new-found Kate stans (ie Meghan haters) forget W&K have released B&W photos through the years. One set of them inside the walled garden in KP comes to mind, with two kids and the dog.
those photos were shot for a GQ feature on william by GQ’s staff photographer. they were not released by william & kate, they were in the GQ profile.
This isn’t the Cambridge official card though. They sent out traditional paper cards so their card got leaked before the Sussexes. The release of this second BW photo after the Sussex card release only reaffirms that the Cambridges are in some weird one-sided competition with the Sussexes.
Agree, and it’s sad.
It’s truly pathetic. And it should be ‘beneath’ them should it not? But they stay acting like amateurs in this arena…
Yup. It’s been pretty clear for some time now.
Yes. It’s clear that William is a jealous petty brat who didn’t like the press the Sussex card got as Archie was the star of the photo. He really can’t let his baby nephew get some good press.
This may be a bit tin foil hatish, but I am glad that Archie will most likely be grown before “King William the Petulant” ascends the throne. The competition that seems to even extend to a baby is disturbing. This is not the first time William has seemed awful towards the attention Archie, Meghan and Harry get. I know we justifiably criticize Kate for not doing more and I think she is legit lazy, but I Also believe she walks a fine line not doing anything to make her husband jealous of her “talents” or ability to get attention. I think William is a mean person and viciously petty. I imagine a Harry is learning the hard way how mean and petty his brother is willing to be to his family. I’m glad he is protecting them. Will would be wise to back off or he could find himself trying to fulfill the obligations of the monarchy without his little brother to share the load and throw under the bus when his Rose bushes get pruned to loudly one day. No way can the Cambridges step up and do everything alone. Kate needs 3 days off between engagements as it is. Or a few weeks away from William after enjoying his company for too long. I would not be surprised at all if Harry moved to Canada part time to take frequent breaks. He seems to be ok working, but his family will need breaks from the press and the KP attacks. I wonder if Will ever notices That the entire crew seems to need regular breaks from dealing with him….tinfoil hat off and back in the closet now.
I think H&M had Archie in front of them all ready for the shot, and he decided the camera was more interesting and took off to get a closer look.
I like your theory very much, sounds like what a 7 month old might do and explains why they are cracking up XOXO
Oh I like that theory! 🙂
Love family photos and both are cute but I am partial to curious Archie pushing up and peering into the camera.
Agreed!
I’m surprised by how affectionate William has been with his kids lately. It seems like he is much more involved than he had been when they were smaller.
I think it’s just more that he’s being more involved in photo-ops. For reasons we all know, lol.
They aren’t fooling anybody lol
Well, we know Charles was affectionate with Will and Harry when they were young, so I’d like to think that it’s sincere, even if the publication of it is not.
EXACTLY – Bill the family man is simply to quell the rumours of Bill the cheating rose bush trimmer.
I think the kids all look uncomfortable in the Camb shot
I’m sure William is there for the fun times. But he’s definitely not there to look after the day to day busy work of being a parent. He strikes me as the fun parent who wants the idealized family life, but isn’t there for the actual work.
The Cambridge picture is weird to me. Charlotte is the only one looking at the camera. It’s fine for a family snapshot, but a weird one to release. But it gives the Kate embiggeners something new to hold up to show her mastery of a subject like using the portrait mode on an iPhone 11, so it served its purpose.
I had the same reaction, Jen. Cute enough photo, but not all that exciting and certainly not “must release it for Christmas” worthy.
Cute pictures, cute kids. Charlotte reminds me of mix of Pippa and Sarah Chatto
The Fail, Times and even BBC ran stories about the doctored Sussex photo. Can understand the Fail but for so called respectable Times and BBC to be spreading fake news- the decline in trust in journalism isn’t good. The media are doubling down on nastiness.
TBH honest, I looked at it and wondered why Archie and Meghan’s faces seemed to be more in focus that Harry’s. But I am not a professional photographer.
Are you saying that about the actual photo above? or about the crappy photoshop version that “news” outlets were too lazy and/or craven to check was not the actual photo and card the Sussexes sent out?
Meghan’s face isn’t more in focus. Some insane internet troll doctored the photo to make Meghan look more in focus than Harry and the British media used it to attack Meghan. I think Britain is too broken for Kate to fix at this point. The racism is too systematic
“I think Britain is too broken for Kate to fix at this point. The racism is too systematic”
Well said, @Devon. Of course that could be an actual issue for Kate to take on — but nah
Apparently it was a Sussex fan on twitter who edited the photo to make it HD quality. The app didn’t recognise Harry’s face. The fan seemed quite upset and apologetic over it and has since deleted her twitter page because of it. I can’t believe that people seriously think Meghan would photoshop her face so only she is in focus, and then release the original unedited photo also. Are people seriously that stupid? The British press really must think so.
Both photos are nice. It was truly eye opening to see the vitriol and insanity that ensued from the Sussexes Christmas card. I honestly didn’t realize The extent to how psychotic and toxic the media and some people are about the Sussexes. Holy crap…that was craziness to the nth degree.
I wish this post had been separate
Agree. There a two separate issues here. Who’d think a few family snaps would have so much to unpack.
Her friend janina released the actual photo and called out the Mail. It must have been sanctioned by the S’s and good for them. That article was ridiculous.
I’m not sure but I think the C’s announced before hand they were going to release a private photo. So it could just be a coincidence they are both black and white. Or they copied the B&W from the S’s card last year?
Hopefully the Sussexes will add that lie to their list of lies printed by media in their lawsuit. I couldn’t believe the USA weekly, Newsweek, ran an article about royal expenses and included Sussexes recently and still included “cost of their yoga studio,” when their Filed court papers — as published by ByLine Investigations, clearly state that was not a cost in refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage.
On the plus side, the Sussexes might be able to cite the Newsweek article) as an example of the irreparable damage the DM has done to their reputation. Because it goes to show that their lies were disseminated widely and continue to impact the both of them.
Poor Meghan. This idea that Meghan is attention grabbing and self-centered seems to be one that a LOT of biracial women unfairly deal with. It’s like people subconsciously associate their racial ambiguity with purposeful attention-seeking. It’s gross and stupid.
She’s too successful for being the biracial wife of the sixth in line. After all, how can the Cambridges be seen as tolerating her if she outshines them. So the detractors twist her success as being attention seeking.
There’s that and the concern trolling that she should have taken a break after marrying Harry because that allows them to pretend that Kate avoided her duties because she was actually going about things in a measured way rather than just being lazy, and they can use it to blame Meghan for the press harrassing her.
This is 100% accurate.
Both are great. Kids are great. I doubt if genius Nazi turd douche man bear pig baby were running things across the pond, they would be clutching pearls about black and white photos.
I love both of these photos. Very well done.
As do I. However whenever I see Charlotte all I see is The Queen. Also if I were George I would watch my back….(that was a joke)
I see a young Elizabeth every time I see Charlotte. There’s a very strong resemblance to her great grandmother.
Re idea of competition between the couples was largely press initiated with the comparisons between Kate and Meghan after the engagement was announced. Now most actions will be seen through this prism especially as they work across similar areas. The BRF could have anticipated this press line from Charles/Di- Andrew/Fergie days and more unity might have helped address that.
Now the press will get lots of mileage comparing the two over the silliest things (could get tough when the kids get older assuming monarchy is still around) and it makes the Firm look like warring factions which isn’t great as they prepare for transition to a king who struggles with popularity. Wouldn’t be surprised if courtiers may be encouraging this drama as part of a power grab. Either way imho another example of how the Firm fumbled the bag with Meghan’s entry.
The Royals and the British public haven’t learn a lesson yet. The way they are propping Charlotte up will one day lead George to completely destroy her….it’s a cycle they can’t break.
Does Princess Ann look destroyed? I don’t think so.
1st of all Princess Anne isn’t the spare and even if she was she never outshone Charles. But Diana did and that didn’t go well for her. Andrew and Sarah did too and suffered the consequences. Hopefully George didn’t inherit his Father and Grandfather’s jealous and competitive streak.
Princess Ann didn’t outshine Charles? She was an Olympian ffs! Andrew was the handsome one. And then came Diana and the children.
Everyone outshone Prince Charles.
I love the Sussex’s card but it was ridiculous the conspiracy theories around it and how the Daily Mail fanned it when it was an obvious lie.
One can only hope that Meghan/Harry will provide Archie with a life outside of the Royal shit-hole. Hopefully he will grow up recognizing his relatives but does everything he can to keep his distance from that disastrous family. Hopefully he can spend a significant amount of his time in the US and Canada…Brits are TOXIC
Yet it’s the Brits tax dollars that fund this entire family, including M & H. If they want to stay in Canada/America they should give up all the perks/money of being a Royal. The British Tabloids will never change unfortunately.
Unfortunately its not only the British tabloids that ran this story, the Times did as well. The outright vitriol isn’t limited to print media but also TV shows – the amount of bullying that’s being allowed is astonishing. After the DM put out that story the amount of hate comments I saw towards Archie….it was unbelievable, they lifted SM media comments straight from the hate group and published it, this story was then regurgitated by the Times (apparently a “reputable” outlet). Do people honestly think that if they give up their titles and leave the RF, they are suddenly going to be left alone by the tabloids??? If anything it would get worse.
We’ll said ME!
It’s always interesting to me how hyper-focused some people are on the “tax-dollars” spent on Harry + Meghan. It baffles me to see how quick, keen and almost desperate they are to see them “give up all the perks/money of being royal”. Especially when not a penny of their own money is involved.
It’s their one answer to absolutely everything regarding this couple. “Give 😫 up 😫 the 😫 perks 😫😫😫!!!”.
For crying out loud, chill. 😁😘
I agree with Bella.
People get a lot more vocal about their tax dollars being “wasted” when the story is about Harry and Meghan and get real quiet when it’s anyone else.
it’s a shame that bile filled lying tabloids are the best selling in the UK and that broadsheets like the Times, Telegraph etc have joined in the muck in recent years so sadly this negative discourse must be hard to avoid.
It would say a lot about the country if the first acknowledged mixed race royal felt compelled to step aside from royal duties especially when she’s done a good job so far but peace of mind etc is more important and Archie is already being denigrated in the media and by trolls so who knows if the situation will improve.
“The British tabloids will never change” Then perhaps it’s time to cut off the money from the source? The tabloids are clearly being read by SOMEONE, given just how much they make. They wouldn’t feel so emboldened to do what they do if they weren’t consistently rewarded for it. So who in British society is reading this trash? Saying something like “the British tabloids will never change” appears to me like it’s more of an indictment of a society that has no capacity to look inwards or be introspective about the damage that they’re doing to each other. The papers create the news, but they cater to the population, and they’re reflective of current trends. Perhaps the better question to ask in this situation would be, “Wtf is wrong with British society that they’re so permissive, and indeed, so DISMISSIVE of the way their public figures are treated? Especially a biracial American woman??”
I’m so fed up of this argument re Harry and Meghan giving up their titles because they don’t like the abuse they get! I hate my British POUNDS going to the ‘royal’ family when they already have so much but when people like ME (poster upthread) pick on just Harry and Meghan it really rubs me up the wrong way especially when that person isn’t even British!
A lot of people read the tabloids unfortunately, my brother being a loyal reader of the dim (the Sun) and believes a lot of what’s written as do many people I know…
Sadly for Meghan she has come to the UK at a height of division and hate. The tabloids write crap because they know their loyal British readership will lap it up. Britain (or England and kind of Wales) right now are very inward looking, they don’t want foreigners coming to these shores esp if they are the wrong colour/religion and most still believe we will go back to the age of the empire after Brexit, when britannia ruled the waves! These people voted in racist Johnson and his mob despite all the negativity coming out about him because they too have a lot of the same opinions as him and also the media being firmly on his side. Sadly I don’t think things are going to get any easier for the Sussexes here.
You were overjoyed when Archie was giving no royal title. How’s that working out for you?
You think Prince Hary of Wales and Meghan Markle of Wales would be of lesser interest to the world? Sadly for you, nothing can be done to H&M that would put you out of your misery.
FABULEUSE15 I hope your post isn’t directed at me. I am actually sticking up for harry and meghan here. I’m responding to the poster called ‘ME’ upthread who was stating that Harry and Meghan should give up their titles and tax money if they don’t like to abuse they get. This argument is only reserved for the Sussexes nobody ever goes on about any other royal giving up their titles etc, that’s what has irked me.
I disagree, the British tabloids won’t change because no one is standing up to them and saying their flimsy and toxic reporting has to go. It’s easier for everyone to wring their hands and say how terrible it all is but god forbid anyone actually stands up and says enough is enough, I guess they’re all too scared.
All the pearl clutching over who reads this trash.. the tabloids… newsflash: It’s US! Darn near every post we read and comment on daily is from DM, Sun, US weekly, People etc.
I always LOL every time Americans disguise themselves and pretend to know what the British people want;, then spew forward ridiculous vitriolic nastiness demanding stuff like “The Sussexes need to give up ABCD, they need to stop ABCD because ‘our tax dollars'” blah blah blah. The British don’t use dollars, their money is called the quid or British pound if you may. “Our tax dollars” is always a dead giveaway.
Bohemian Angel I’m responding to ME’s riduculous comment. She sounds like a broken record.
I read somewhere the Cambridge photo was after swimming at the Anmer pool and that’s why George has shorts and wet hair? But Charlotte is in a parka? It’s kind of weird. Also does Kate allow Charlotte to wear trousers or shorts,it’s kind of Duggaresque that she’s always in a skirt or dress and in this pic a skirt with leggings.
It could be that Charlotte won’t wear shorts or trousers.
Or, if the Sussex second child is a girl, we’ll see Charlotte in trousers right after the Sussex daughter wears them.
I wouldn’t read too much into that. When I was under 6 my mom told me I REFUSED to wear anything but a dress/skirt. Then, after 6, in first grade, my best friend was a boy, and that was the end of that, and the beginning of my “tomboy” phase lol. I would ONLY wear pants/shorts until after puberty hit big time (ie: developing boobs by 11 😬).
Char may or not change. It will be seen. But kids can be VERY strong-willed as to what they will or won’t wear.
Three of my cousins and one of my nieces are in Charlotte’s age group. They will NOT wear pants. They insist on dresses and skirts all the time. If one of them could wear nothing but her Cinderella costume at all times, she would be thrilled. My sister can only get leggings on her daughter if she agrees that she can wear a dress or skirt on top.
Both Charlotte & George have wet hair. So both of them were swimming somewhere, either at home or a club, came home and this picture was taken with William and Louis. There’s nothing wrong with the picture, but it was an odd choice to release to the public.
Archie is a cutie, who’s looking more Meghan in this picture than Harry. That’ll change the next time we see him.
That makes sense. There is a chilly weather vibe to the picture coupled with wet hair makes me shiver. I was thinking how were they swimming outdoors at Anmer’s pool on a cold day but it could be, Kate’s early years get the kids outside mindset and all.
I used to wonder why George was always in shorts but its apparently one those weird Royal dressing rules. Maybe there is some stupid rule about girls wearing dresses??
@Jade there is no “royal dress” rule for children. If you look beyond Kate, the others dress their kids quite normal.
@sunshine https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/g19643527/royal-family-fashion-rules/ see number 26. It seems there are “dressing rules” but not everyone follows them.
Traditionally, boys wore short pants until a certain age- twelve maybe?- and it was a big deal to get your first trousers.
That Cosmo article on rules seemed like regurgitated tabloid royal protocol BS eg how is it a rule that royals don’t wear fur when we’ve seen royals wear fur over the years& didn’t they only recently announce they wouldn’t anymore? Same with wearing trousers when we’ve seen many including the Queen wear them including at engagements.
@Tourmaline, it’s all to do with the image they want to project of royalty isn’t it. Shorts for George and dresses and skirts and cute hair clips for Charlotte. Apparently, these are the elements that make children’s fashion “timeless” and “old fashioned.” Because staid gender roles are exactly what the modern world needs or finds relevant.
Of course, in a post BoJo majority world, the audience the Cambridges are choosing to appeal to (the Little England Brexit crowd) probably find this exact thing praiseworthy. Maybe that’s why William is having an affair? To drive home to these people just how much they’re willing to go back to the 1950s post-WW2 era in terms of family life? Of course, even women back then wouldn’t have put up with a lot of this stuff.
They may be the rule for the heirs because the Tindals and Philips daughters wear shorts and trousers. I don’t pay attention to the Wessexes so I can’t comment on them.
Unfortunately true, but I don’t like the idea of politicizing their clothing, especially since it just looks better than a lot of our ‘modern’ offerings and is usually of better quality too.
It’s like the Republicans who try to wrap themselves in the flag- we don’t give up and let them have it exclusively.
@Jane, but the public isn’t the one who’s unduly politicizing such clothing–the royals are. They’re the ones who make the decisions. They live in a position that is hyper visible by its very nature. I think it’d be really ignorant to think that they don’t put careful thought into the image they choose to project, and a large part of the way they do that is through the clothing that they, and their children, wear. I don’t think the politicizing is out of line when they’re the ones making those sartorial choices in the first place.
Of course Charlotte can wear pants. I think her birthday pictures included a pic of her In jeans? I imagine she prefers leggings and a dress/tunic. I know I do lol
I don’t care for black and white photos as a creative choice, but otherwise both images are lovely. Nothing more fun than a child at Christmas time!
I’m generally not a fan of black and white either, unless it’s formal, vintage Hollywood style portraits. I‘d love to see the Sussexes Christmas card in color.
Does anyone know the origin of the photoshopped image? The Fail gleefully implied that Meghan did it, but what’s the basis of saying a “fan” (whose fan?) did it? It looked terrible, like the “Monkey Christ” improvement of the mural.
A “fan” on Twitter admitted to doctoring the photo to make it HD. She said an app, Remini didn’t recognize Harry, leaving him blurry (I don’t believe that. I tried it on Remini and didn’t leave Harry blurry).
It’s probably to cover their @sses cause they (The Fail) did it. So juvenile, who ever did it. To try and ruin something like a Christmas card is so petty and junior high. Just being mean for the sake of being mean.
I’m crying at “Monkey Christ”, LOL
@truthfairy, That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw that weird edit. Whoever did that awful edit should stick to their day job. I first saw it on the Mirror and thought the newspaper had done it themselves and wondered why they’d do something so weird. Anyway, it looked awful and then the Mail ran with it to be deliberately nasty. They have a real grudge with Meghan, from day one.
There was a copyright mark on the Sussex card. My guess is DM lawyers told these geniuses they gave a Christmas gift to Meghan’s lawyers for the lawsuit she launched because this is the fastest walk back I’ve seen on a Meghan story.
All this vitriol over a Christmas card is really sad. Totally out of the spirit of the whole meaning of Christmas. All of the photos of the two families were nice. Can’t we all just get along?
Apparently not.
Kate and Will may have already selected a black and white photo for their card, which is quite likely – or perhaps they wanted to deflect some of the criticism of the Sussex’s photo being in black and white. Oops that doesn’t follow the script that their every action is nefarious.
Like they wanted to deflect criticism of the Sussexes using private planes. Oops, no they scrambled at the last minute to book those seats so they could score some cheap points with the media.
Indeed.
love your boldness 🙂 I don’t see that competition either. I do find william a bit sleazy looking, but kate is okay. I really don’t like how people think one family are saints and the other are demons. that sounds quite conspiracy theory-like to me.
I don’t care what anybody says, Meghan has been winning this year!! She seems true to herself, her christmas card is more than cute and she looks so relaxed and happy. The only thing I would change is Harry’s shirt, maybe a less formal sweater would have been more fitting. I can’t wait till they have another kid, I think it would make them even happier (if thats possible!)
George wearing shorts with a sweater is peak “don’t let my friends know I have long pants.” ha!
Love all the pictures.
@Bella yes apart from republicans, taxpayers have rarely been as concerned about royal spending as since Meghan came on the scene.
But the press are great at stirring up public anger when it’s a royal they are angry at. Look at the coverage of the KP reno when the press was on the outs with the Cambridges or Frogmore reno which were reported like raids on the public purse, whereas with the BP renovations most press were careful to explain how the Sovereign Grant works etc.
This is all so ridiculous. If the tabloids would quit feeding into this toxic narrative, then the Meghan-stans and Kate-stans would probably calm down.
I like Meghan and Harry. I like Kate. And I like Charles and Camilla. The only one I don’t particularly like is William. I think it’s his pettiness that keeps fuel on the fire that the tabloids stoke. The tabloids want to make this into a Huge Family War, when in reality I think William’s the only one with a grudge.
The littlest one looks just like Kate
I don’t have a clue why these people inspire such passion. I think they’re boring.
Poor Louis. He looks a lot like Andrew in the b&w pic
Hmmph I can’t “unsee” this now
The only thing I like about The Royals are the kids bc they are adorable. I thought Archie was the image of Harry but know I see more Meg in him. He looks like a happy lil man!
I liked the Sussexes card because it was festive and spontaneous. It really just captured a moment. The whole photoshop thing was deliberately put up my the Mail to stir sh*t because they already saw the official card release. One of their writers Katie Hind made some angry tweet about “ Harry and Meghan conveniently released their Christmas card so it would miss the deadlines of the UK’s Christmas Eve newspapers”, “ Can’t quite find the adjective for this…” with the actual screenshot of the official photo. Also Janina Gavankar directly called the Fail out for lying and attacking Meghan (again,and they’re still at it and won’t leave them alone). I think this Cambridge photo thing is a bit weird. They had that first card, which a lot of people thought looked not very Christmas- y, then the 3 kings photo with pudding and Granny, which was released, then the black and whites showing William actually showing his kids affection, released just after Sussex card. It’s just a bit confusing they would throw out so many pics like that and seems a bit frenzied and last minute. As for Sussex timing, who knows. Maybe they really wanted to cede the spotlight and not be accused of upstaging. Glad they Sussexes only showed the simple blue background on Christmas Day after the Cambridge‘s other photos. At this point, it’s becoming a one sided conversation and now it’s all over.
I know Archie is very well taken care of and dont get annoyed with me but is there something off with the focus of his eyes. My son needed eye surgery at 5 years old so I am just asking.
There’s nothing wrong with his eyes, other than a slight weak muscle that will iron itself out by the time he’s 1-2 years old. If you look at baby pics of Meghan, her eyes looks the exact same way, and look how she turned out. My daughter’s eye were the same way, and she never needed surgery.
@lindas a quick google search would assist you with that query.
I’m not annoyed with you. Archie’s eyes remind of my husband’s and my husband is part Japanese. I kind of was wondering if there was some Japanese ancestry in his family tree. I guess what the other posters said could explain it. Very cute baby.
Often babies are born with a lazy eye that either corrects itself or can be fixed with surgery. I think it’s just the camera being too close and low it’s distorting the image a bit. I’m not a fan of the way the pic was composed and you can definitely tell it was taken by an amateur photographer.
Does anyone besides me think that Archie looks like Meghan’s dad? I sure as heck do!
It’s only you…
I see it. Meghan looks more like her dad too so the Markle gene in strong.
I think Meghan looks way more like her mum eyes and chin & it was especially noticeable when she was pregnant. Archie’s eyes look like Meghan’s when she was little from the many baby pictures that relatives have sold.
I agree he looks a lot like his maternal grandpa.
I just googled her dad’s pic. You are right the baby does look very much like him at this stage. But looked he looked like Harry a few months ago. So who knows?
Nope. Not at all. He looks so much like Harry.
I don’t get the whole thing for the black and white photos, the criticism and fuss over it I mean. It’s neither a “Sussex thing” nor a “Cambridge thing.” It’s not even the first time the Cambridges have done this btw, they released a very similar photo about 2 (?) Years ago of William + kids, before they had Louis.
Anyway I love both the cards, I’m here for babies Louis and Archie!
Goodness me so much over analysis of some pictures of a family who have spent their entire lives leeching off the public… Everyone needs to calm down, not just the tabloids but also the stans (of BOTH sides) and this site too. The royals coverage is just too much now.
@Laur, YOU choose to click on celebitchy and particularly on royals related threads, non?
@Laur
I agree with you. To add to your comment, I am also amused when posters slam the tabloids and daily mail over its reportage of the royal family but these posters and even the owner of this blog consistently reference the same tabloids and daily mail in all the posts about the royal family.
@Linda I personally try to avoid clicking on tabloid articles and only see what may be set out on blogs and screenshots of articles on SM but as pointed out it’s not just the tabloids, it’s so called reputable print and broadcast media regurgitating fake news as well.
Linda, so, you think it is okay for those vile creatures to print lies. People are calling out the daily fail, and the other tabloids that are always regurgitating their bile about H&M.
@Gingerbee
As a black woman I am certainly not ok with what the daily mail says about Meghan, however there is so much good stuff to say about Meghan without regurgitating the crap the daily mail churns out. The question is why are you giving the daily mail soo much attention?
Linda, I stop visiting the racist daily fail years ago, because of their vicious bile when it came to POC, and black/brown countries.
The fail and the other tabloids should be called out about their treatment towards Meghan. Why should we keep quite.
I’m with you @Gingerbee @Linda A few years ago I stopped visiting those sites, I get my information now from more RELIABLE sources. Not giving them any clicks!
Archie is the cutest thing! I love this photo. It’s relaxed and joyful!
I still think Charlotte looks SO much like QEII. I see more Middleton in George and Louis. All super cute kids.
A Sussex fan did not photoshop the Christmas pic that was in the DailyMail & other international sites. That fan did a different one.
In the DM, the copyright on the badly photoshopped pic they ran is “SussexRoyal/PA Wire” – meaning PA Wire is where the DM got that pic & the DMs caption further explains that the pic was issued by @SussexRoyal. Someone from the Sussex camp submitted that badly photoshopped pic to PA Wire, for them to distribute. But after being laughed at for their really bad photoshop job, the Sussexes told PA Wire to recall/kill that pic.
A fan didn’t do this. The media didn’t do this. The Sussexes did this to themselves.
@panda. That is absolutely incorrect. The Sussexes did not issue any photos. They sent the cards to their patronage. The photo was then taken and photoshopped in different ways by numerous parties. DM was stupid enough to “publish” one of the photoshopped versions ( not sure if they did it or someone else). It was only after then that Janina submitted the original on her Twitter.
@Sunshine, go to the DM article & look at the copyright on the badly photoshopped pic. It says “SussexRoyal/PA Wire”. PA Wire is a reputable photo agency. They’re not going to violate copyright / photo licensing law by distributing a photo that they were not given permission to do so.
Someone from the Sussexes gave PA Wire that badly photoshopped pic & then someone from the Sussexes told them to kill it.
Sunshine has explained it to you very well. Sussexes released to patronage not PA Wire. Whoever submitted to PA Wire was not Sussexes. PA Wire is informig all media houses that they should kill the fake photo. Again, the photo submitted to the patronage was not photo shopped, the one that the fail used was photo shopped, but not by the Sussexes. A fan actually took ownership of the photoshop.this has been said earlier by a commentor above.
Copyright law is pretty clear & PA Wire knows it. They can’t release a photo without permission from the person who owns it & from someone who has an account with them.
Also, PA Wire can’t tell the media to kill some random fan’s edit. They can only issue a kill request for a pic that they themselves released. In their photo kill request, PA Wire said to kill a photo with a specific ID number, which is the ID number they assigned to the pic when the Sussex rep gave them that pic to release.
@Panda there is a good thread on what happened with the photoshopped picture by a senior Sky producer here https://twitter.com/nmsonline/status/1209595776499900416?s=21.
The GIF image that the charity released is the one that had the sussex royal copyright image.
And the badly photoshopped pic that the DM used has the SussexRoyal/PA Wire copyright on it. So, it appears multiple versions (a GIF & badly photoshopped version) of the Sussex Christmas pic were released to multiple parties (a charity & a photo agency)
Also, that Sky producer is really only talking about the GIF version, not the badly photoshopped one. It’s incredibly lazy & highly irresponsible of a supposed journalist to say the DMs bad photoshop article is ‘hard to follow’ when the copyright on the DM pic clearly states it came from PA Wire (not from a fan) & the DMs caption clearly states it was issued by SussexRoyal.
I would agree to your theory if Janina hadn’t tweeted the original, her literal tweet was “Here’s the original that was sent out.” If you are right and that someone released the photoshopped version to PA, then perhaps it was someone who released it to them with a malicious intent behind it, and if I were to guess – someone from the palace (a courtier perhaps?)
oops wrong spot
@Panda his thread talked about the original GIF and the edits that created the weird version photoshopped version that media outlets were using. A Fail writer lamented on Twitter about how the GIF had been shared on Twitter too late for the Christmas papers but then suddenly the image did manage to make the next day front pages. My guess is under time pressure someone at PA had sharpened the blurry GIF for print editions and that’s why the kill photo message said it didn’t accurately represent the Sussex Christmas card.
Yes PA is a reputable agency but mistakes happen- this wouldn’t be first take down. The Times for example reported that the Christmas card had been shared by the Sussexes on their Instagram which isn’t true.
If that Sky producer took 2 seconds to look at the photoshopped pic in the DM, he would see that it was not from the GIF. It came from PA Wire. So, someone who is authorized to release photos for the Sussexes gave that badly photoshopped pic to PA for them to release.
PA just releases photos, they don’t photoshop them on their own. That would be huuuuge copyright violation.
Also,there’s no way a filter could sharpen that GIF to look as sharp as the badly photoshopped one. Meghan’s sharp face was either spliced on or masked out. Either way, that photoshopped pic came from someone with access to the original files – the Sussexes & their photographer.
@Panda that’s patently not true. I saw many fans on social media use apps to create clearer HD versions of the GIF (hence that fan thinking the Fail had used her version) and fans clearly wouldn’t have access to material from the Sussexes directly.
As I said, these organisations are aware of copyright laws but doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes or do things just for sales. See the Mirror publishing fake torture pictures in Iraq under Piers Morgan or the current case of the Fail publishing Meghan’s letter to her father without consent.
I think now you are either being stubborn or deliberately ignorant. The photoshopped pic had nothing to do with the Sussexes and the Queens Commonwealth Trust released the official photo. The Fail created the photoshop story because they were pissed about the timing of the release of the Sussex photos and deliberately used that doctored photo. They knew that wasn’t the correct photo but don’t let facts get in the way of your rant. Some Twitter fans put a crown on Archies head in the pic. Did the Sussexes release that too? Get over yourself. You’re wrong on this one.
@ PANDA
I don’t know if you’re genuinely daft or just trolling because SUNSHINE explained this to you yet you’re clearly adamant to spread LIES.
PA issues a kill to publications which bought THEIR copy(which was the manipulated version). DM and other trash media still have it up. They did this DELIBERATELY despite having access to the original. I’m hoping after janina’s post that the Sussexs are aware and they have decided to add this to their lawsuit.
I like most was suprised by the cambridges releasing another picture!! It felt so spontaneous (almost to counter to the global attention on the Sussexs gif and thus using a b&w one). For those claiming that the cambridges have used b&w before I’d urge you to look again. I remember them sharing a picture of kate on her birthday in canada that’s in b&w but they did a GQ photoshoot with the kids which was later edited 👇
https://images.app.goo.gl/vbwfsZXPEKx9zpoM6
Not daft or trolling. I just understand how photo copyrights & photo agencies work.
It’s crazy to me that some here would rather assume that a respected photo agency suddenly went rogue & randomly sharpened only Meghan’s face… just because. Instead of realizing what photo agencies do is release pics that their clients give them & then kills them when the client changes their mind.
Miriam, no use getting though that person, because s/he still believe the bile that those vile creatures at the daily fail are printing.
LOL, no use trying to get through when posters here stoop to ad hominems instead of discussing facts & logic.
I personally feel that England isn’t safe for this family. The hatred over a Xmas card really. Hate doesn’t take a day off. All this hate is geared at Meghan by women. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. I have no respect for the monarchy! They refuse to help them. Yet their the ones that made this pathetic family popular again.
Those RR are pissed about this photo they didn’t make a cent. The Sussex checkmate their ass. I sure a lot of these cyberbullies are in cahoots. This is worse then Diana. The Archbishop of was attacked for defending the Sussex. This isn’t going to end well. I feel sorry for Charlotte. It’s obvious who the press likes. History will repeat itself with Williams children! I hope the Sussex get out of that cesspool! That country is EVIL and is sick as hell!
@GINGERBEE
Thanks. I figured after the reply I got! The trolls are getting more frequent on this site. They’re really annoyed that it’s not like daily fail anti Meghan.
@CLUCES
After that heirs only photoshoot and KP/BP seeing how uninterested the public+world media is with those heirs I’m sensing they’ll try to bring back the fab4 or get harry to be a third wheel unsuccessfully.
After the launch and possible official tour to European countries/or just Netherlands(invictus games 2020), the stakes will be high and W&K’s insecurities will be back on display. I hope the Sussexs keep their loyal staff close by.
I also think we’ll see the Sussexs officaly visit America & Canada around the time of his documentary with oprah Winfrey released.