Imagine a world where the Duchess of Cambridge put the effort into creating a real survey to assess parental views on early childhood development, nutrition and education. Imagine she put as much effort into the Struggle Survey as she has promoting the Struggle Survey. It just feels like a waste of time and resources, but here we are. The sad truth is that THIS was actually the purpose of the Struggle Survey: to have more “targeted” and “impactful” events and photo-ops for Kate. Again, I don’t doubt that Kate truly cares about early childhood development. She absolutely does. But she’s gone about this whole Early Years project in the most half-assed way, especially given the months of hype that this would be a “major body of work” encompassing everything Kate has learned from eight years of on-the-ground duchessing.
Anyway, enough complaining. Kate did another event this morning – she stopped by Stockwell Gardens Nursery & Pre-School in London to spend time with children and… something something about morning cereal and shells and games. It was a cute photo-op, so I’ll give her that. Kate wore skinny jeans, knee-high boots, an £80 cream sweater by Sézane (a French label) and a lovely blue-teal coat. The purpose of the visit?
She heard from staff about the importance of nutritious food in a child’s development and spoke about her landmark early years survey, revealing 10,000 people have signed up in the week since its launch. Speaking at the engagement, the Duchess shared her excitement at the early success of her survey, which aims to spark a UK-wide conversation on raising the next generation.
Speaking today, Kate said: ‘It’s great to visit places like this where communities come together to support one another. Last week I launched a UK wide survey on early childhood because I want to hear society’s views about raising the next generation. I’m so happy that over 100,000 people from all across the UK have already completed it, and I can’t wait to see the results.’
During the visit the duchess, who wore an £80 cream jumper by French label Sézane, was told about the importance of nutritious food for a child’s development from apprentices at the LEYF Early Years Chef Academy. She also joined in with nursery teachers serving breakfast to the delighted children. The LEYF is a social enterprise that aims to add value to the life of the community and future generations by strengthening local networks, demonstrating the role that everyone has.
It operates 39 nurseries in some of London’s most disadvantaged areas and provides high-quality childcare to more than 4,000 children, employing more than 800 staff locally – along with 60 apprentices – across 11 London boroughs.
The LEYF sounds like a really great program and I’m glad that Kate’s appearance drew attention to it. But lordy, the survey!! Did you know that the survey isn’t geo-blocked in any way and that anyone, anywhere in the world can take it, meaning it’s not even an accurate sampling of BRITISH views? Did you also know people can take the survey multiple times? So, the data isn’t going to be the most scientific. But it doesn’t matter, because the questions are so basic anyway.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
Good on her for showing up again today. I hope this new schedule continues, and her efforts can make an impact for at-risk kids. I am very skeptical, but I’ll give her credit for showing up for another work event. Oh, and that coat is so lovely on her.
Somebody’s a busy bee these days! Meg leaving must have been the kick in the pants Kate needed.
Exactly, Meghan has been doing a lot of small scale visits in Canada starting last week this week Kate is doing the same. Kate only takes from Meghan what she wants.
That’s the point for Kate to be seen ,in eight years what has she accomplished besides pushing out three babies while being violently Ill and seeking sympathy for it while being compared to Meghan whose only been there less than three years who has endured British racism untold ,while carrying her son Archie and completing a cookbook the pays for and provide food for thousands or more to thrive everyday all day ,forgive me if I sound biased but adding the merits ,Kate is a leech living on taxpayer funds too lackluster and devoid of ( umph ) and too timid to even hold her husband’s hand in public ,so I ask you whose the surpeior being here because it certainly ain’t Kate, ALL MY MONEY’S ON TTHE BLACK GIRL
Giving birth to 3 children in 8 years is a full time job. William and Harry did not have any stability in their home life. I can understand why they would want to give their children a strong foundation.
Everything doesn’t have to be compared to Meghan who worked as a Royal for less than 2 years.
@ Paula A Sanders, I don’t disagree with you. My comment was simply acknowledging that she is showing up these past two weeks, which is an improvement. Whether it’s competition or jealousy or being forced to do this, I still honor that she is out there and trying to do good works for and within the UK. Is she as powerful as Meghan? No, absolutely not. Is she given overly positive praise and “never put a foot wrong” publicity? Yes, and it’s ridiculous. That said, we should still acknowledge her contributions, as lackluster and temporary as they may be.
@Shirley – giving birth to 3 children when you have chefs, nannies and house-keepers galore, secretaries, wardrobe consultants and a lavishly funded lifestyle, it means you DO have to work for the people who support you. Both she and William got shown up by Meghan and Harry who do have a strong work ethic and that created some rancor within the family, never mind the racist bullshit Meghan had to deal with.
And once again, another photo op with a black child.
Looks like she is cosplaying Meghan by wearing that coat.
Because she doesn’t normally wear coats?
It doesn’t have 10 million buttons on it like her coats normally do and she’s wearing slacks. So yes, imo, her style in this picture looks similar to Meghan’s style. She normally wears either dresses or skintight jeggings. And fussy styles, not clean lines
She doesn’t normally wear coats of that style, open like that. It looks a lot like Meghan’s coat from the launch of the Together cookbook.
Yes Jo and that large loose coat with open front is totally Meghan.
I would say she actually wears mostly very fitted, buttoned up coat dresses. I loooove this coat, it’s a similar cut and color to Meghan’s Smythe blue coat.
For Christ’s sake really?
geez…c’mon, I like Meghan too, but I wore something similar to work today, so hey, I guess I’m cosplaying her as well.
Only if you have a history of cosplaying family members, both deceased and alive.
It’s a coat. Lots of people wear coats.
You’ve missed the point completely.
What point is that? That she can’t even wear a coat that she’s worn before without being attacked for copying Meghan?
I have a very similar coat. And honestly, I wore it before Meghan ever did.
Not Kate. She has always worn corseted, tight clOthes.
I don’t care who she’s cosplaying,she needs to wear this outfit every day.It looks really nice.
Ditto. I drooled a bit over this coat. It’s gorgeous.
I love that coat. Amazing color, and it looks great on her.
I would wear that outfit.
It’s casual but stylish, and perfect for the visit.
My first thought was she was wearing a Meghan outfit. Lots of people here want to deny it, but this isn’t the usual Kate coat dress over a silk dress with boring heels.
Just cause you are a Meghan fan and like this outfit then it must be Meghan’s style. Sorry but no. First the coat, which is fantastic, would never be worn by Meghan!! Meghan wears neutral colors mostly maybe some deep fall jewel colors, greens, maroons, teals, not blues like that. The color is the most distinguishing thing about the coat. Also the boots in pants look with dress boots. Not Meghan at all, she’ll wear pants with her trail boots but not like this. This is more an English horse riding look, a bit classic upper class sporty, something Zara Tindall might wear. Meghan’s style is more Californian, relaxed sometimes (think of the big shirt dresses) mixed with sleek classic professional attire. Your comment doesn’t resemble the facts of her style.
I don’t care about the coat ,Meghan wore the coat before she ever met Harry what I do know is that Kate is a lackluster type woman ,unenergized, unimaginative, and barely productive whose trying to up her image by mirroring Meghan ,who was forced out by a population of prejudiced racist but now after the world has seen the putrid British hate is trying to deflect and cover they’re own sins
@Sara – Meghan wore almost this exact coat to the Together launch. And she has worn skinny jeans with ankle boots before at official engagements This is very much a Meghan look, maybe minus the fussiness of the shirt.
I wouldn’t say that means Kate is copying Meghan, except that Kate does lack creativity and originality when it comes to fashion. This outfit is something Kate should have been wearing for years, but she hasn’t.
Sorry everyone but Meg didn’t invent coats. Royals love coats. It’s like their thing. It’s a pretty basic outfit. Black pants white top boots and a coat. Move along.
+1
This!!!
She usually wears a blazer with her skinny jeans & boots.
Thank you.
A voice of reason in the maelstrom of insanity.
you love Kate dontcha?
Well considering Kate has 30, 000 coats (and counting) one is bound to look like someone elses I guess.
That’s what I noticed. Meghan wore a coat in that color and that style when she rolled out the Together Cookbook.
I know blue is “Kate’s color” but she normally picks things that are more buttony and twee.
It’s cosplay on the level of Third Lady Melamine trying to copy Queen Max with the capes (and those coats she insists on wearing indoors, she really needs to stop doing that).
And by taking that coat off, as though she’s actually going to stay awhile!
Actually, I would say the last three appearances seem to be Kate “regressing” back to the types of things she used to wear before Meghan came onto the scene. The skinny jeggings, flared skirts, general girlish looking attire. On a separate note, the coat is beautiful.
I see it too. It’s subtle, but I see it. Between this coat and the look last week with the black turtleneck and camel open coat…yeah, Cathy is feeling INSPIRED. Normally I wouldn’t necessarily make those comparisons, but as others have pointed out, this type of coat is so NOT what Kate normally wears. But I’m certain the stans won’t see it. However, if we see any crisp button-down shirts or pointy flats in the near future, the jig will most certainly be up.
Lol
The coat doesn’t look like an oversized bathrobe so clearly not.
LOL
ridiculous comment
I thought the same thing! She looks great but that’s a Meghan coat not a Kate coat.
I can’t believe that she is so excited about seeing the results of the struggle survey- surely it’s totally obvious what the results will be, because it will correlate with what research has shown for years. Research that she has no doubt looked at forensically as part of her ‘large body of work’.
Thai is so lame. And I say that as a mum of small kids and an early years educator. But, at least she is attempting to start the conversation. I just wish she had taken better advice about how to broach it all!
On the back end they can trace where votes are coming from and how needn’t many from an ip. I think it’s so simple because there’s 10 issues they’ve come up with programs for, and results will show which gets funded now.
Why would people’s opinions necessarily correlate with the latest research? Not everyone stays on top of the latest research or gets their information from reliable sources. I think the survey is more about getting people thinking/talking and just seeing how much the public knows. I don’t think it’s as well executed as it could be, but I think it could give her an idea of the divide between the research and public opinion. If the public is well informed, then she doesn’t need to focus so much on that as she moves forward. It would make sense given that the overall project has been described as finding practical applications for research done by experts.
Because a lot of qualitative research is centred around anecdotal evidence from conversations with real people, albeit within specifically measurable parameters where those real people are identified and their contexts explained. Honestly, I just don’t think these questions have been put together very well and because there is no option to explain or qualify your choices (although I grant there is a box at the end where you can type your thoughts), it isn’t possible to investigate any trends or indicators that appear. There isn’t an opportunity to be enter any kind of context- we don’t know who is answering these questions or why; what value is a conversation if you don’t know who is talking or why?
Once again i absolutely applaud her for choosing this as her big Thing, but I wish that she’d gone about it a bit more carefully. It’s a also a deeply political issue because it has lots to do with funding cuts, low education, yawning inequality and lack of access to services. Those are huge and endemic issues in the U.K. that will need sustained light shone on them in order to even begin broaching early childhood.
@Ainsley7 I hadn’t thought of this, but that is a really good point. Just because scientists and experts know what is needed does not in any way mean that the general public knows it. We see that time and time again with fake news that people fall far and incorrect medical advice they follow. There is so much scientific ignorance in society.
I posted yesterday that the survey is a complete embarrassment, but this morning it occurred to me that more people will take a super short, quick survey. I till think it’s lame, though.
I remember when I was in Student Teaching classes, they told us if we wanted to get anything back from parents (in this vein) to keep it at 10 questions or shorter (the shorter the better!), if we wanted to get anything back. People are busy and they won’t take the time to fill out long forms unless they absolutely have to (like census forms/tax papers etc). So I can’t fault her for 5 questions… but they DO seem super simplistic for the topic.
I don’t fault that its only 5 questions, but the questions themselves aren’t good and the fact that anyone can take the survey, and can take it multiple times, is a problem if there is any intention of getting any meaningful data.
Lame is the word
For me, the thing is…it’s a little late to be “starting the conversation.” Been there, done that, seen the results of various studies. Now, it’s time to put what we’ve learned into ACTION. That’s not what this survey does.
8 years have gone by…that’s almost an entire generation of children that were ignored if we’re supposed to believe that this project is going to change the lives of children in the UK.
The thing is that it’s redundant. She doesn’t need to start a conversation. It’s a conversation that was started awhile ago. This research has been done and done again and again. It’s even been implemented. It’s all unnecessary. What Kate should do to help is raise funds for the programs in place.
Luckily the royals don’t have any real power any more so all they can do for a cause is get it some press and hopefully slip it some cash.
Re: the slipping some cash part – that seems doubtful. They are great at directing others to donate though – look at their various twitter feeds about the fires in Australia. #slactivism
I think being above the law is real power
The little girl in the last photo looks like she’s saying, “This lady is crazy. Please get me out of here!”
Why?
Because Keen Katie has her mouth open SOOOOOOOOOOO WIDE that it looks like she’s going to bite one of the little ones.
@Kerwood
You seem to be making a rather bizarre projection. Hmmmmmm
Just look at Kate’s face!
I don’t think that first picture is too bad but Kate does have a problem of T-Rex grinning at people to cover her own nervousness.
Kids don’t like being used as props. Kate should smile at children the way she smiled at Charlotte at Christmas. Forget the cameras for once and put that child’s comfort first the way she does with her own children.
@kenwood, hahaha, agree
If I were a child, I would find Kate scary. Her extreme animation really unnerves me. I’d be the kid that hides from her.
Skinny jeans for a skinny woman…
She obviously enjoys children, which is a plus considering she has three.
This is honestly the most I’ve seen her work in the last 8 years. I hope she genuinely keeps this pace up. Hopefully she can hit the 200s and William can start moving towards the mid 200s
I would mention Harry but he’s not going to be a working royal from Spring so it’s a moot point
Well she was pregnant 3 times in the last 7 years. So that’s part of it as well. I am enjoying seeing her out and about though.
Meghan worked when she was heavily pregnant, which put Keen Katie’s years long excuse to rest.
@kerwood not everyone’s pregnancy is the same. My good friend has to stop working throughout her whole pregnancy due to HG (which i believe kate had) even with medication. I am currently pregnant and feel tired but other than that I am good to work. No 2 pregnancies are alike
@LORENA, I hope you have a happy healthy pregnancy.
As far as the work-shy duchess, I’m not in the mood to give Keen Katie a speck more benefit of the doubt than the Duchess of Sussex was given.
The fact that no two are alike is another very good reason for not doing it again. I still can’t believe it happened, we were using the pill, spermicide and condoms together and still my boy arrived. I should have put him in competitive swimming.
@Lady D lol you have a strong swimmer for sure!
I think the majority of woman get vomitting feeling for about a month, first or second month of pregnancy. This sucks but it’s apart of pregnancy because your body hasn’t recognized this foreign body growing inside you. But it only lasts a month, not to be confused with HG, HG is a very rare condition, like 0.5 to 1per cent get it.
@kerwood, Meghan wasn’t violently ill during her pregnancy. I really wish people would stop pitting these women against each other. I swear, it’s probably a huge reason they never got close. Women just love to thrash other women over anything they can dream up.
She wasn’t pregnant last year so what was her excuse for doing 120 engagements, which included numerous meetings with Jason, and other foundation people?
I predict this busy schedule will last around 3 weeks or so. She goes through phases of working a lot then she reverts back to her old self by taking a month long holiday. All of this is capitalizing off of Meghan and Harry’s departure so she can come out looking like the dependable saviour of the monarchy. We’ll see how much she is working in six months from now.
When is the next school break. This will last until then.
How has she managed to age so rapidly in a year.. She looks about 48. She needs to get some steaming treatments to the face and gain a little weight… She always looks great when she is pregnant due to the little weight gain.
There are so many reasons to critisice her , but how she is aging is definitely not one of them.
And no one „needs to get…“ whatever treatment to look younger – please let us all get old the way we want to.
I have always believed that it’s not that she’s aging fast. She looks like a normal woman approaching 40. The problem is the heavy handed photoshop that is done to a lot of her pictures, to make her look 25 or so. When we see a less edited photo it is jarring, not because of her but because what we have been offered before.
You’re right. We’ve been offered a lot of photoshopped pictures of Kate (and nearly any other women in the spotlight) so that people are often expecting a 40 year old to look like a teenager. I was always told that I looked younger then my age as if that was something to be proud of because it is oh so important in our society.
Maybe Keekee is referring to things that she can do something about v.s. artificially enhancing her appearance? Maintaining an unnaturally low weight is contributing to her looking older than her chronological age.
I’m 42, it’s good to know that I have 6 more years before reaching crone status!
@Enn: Wait until you hit 50! Friends have told me (in a mumbling voice because of the missing teeth) that’s the end of everything. Of course they are no longer my friends – who wants to be seen with old folk? 😉
I saw her when she and William came to Victoria some years back, when she was in her early thirties. Most photographs of her are photoshopped extensively, in person she is shockingly thin and her skin looks rough. She’s sunned herself too much, she smokes (or used to anyway) and her thinness emphasizes the haggard skin.
It’s not just her being photoshopped. It’s any public figure. I don’t think anyone really know what a 38 year old is supposed to look like it anymore.
I think most of these photos too are photoshopped. There is no way that girl who pap strolled her jowls to the church with Rose Hanbury three weeks ago looks like this. Also good lighting is better that the natural light for her. But as for her aging, considering Britians working poor have to pay for those facials, injectibles, and beauty treatments, it would be nicer of her NOT to indulge in it.
The honest truth is that she’s below a healthy weight and she is/used to be a smoker. Both of which can contribute to aging quicker. Also, genes plays a role.
I was actually thinking yesterday how old Kate looks. I think it is the two lines around her mouth that come down. I think theyre called marionette lines after those marionette dolls. I think its due to all the smoking she did when she was younger. She looks in her mid 40s.
I think a lot of her photos have been heavily photoshopped in the past. Now for some reason, not so much. So it seems like she’s aged rapidly. I used to think Jennifer Garner had the best skin then she posted a photo of herself make up free on her social media. I’m like, wow, she has some lines, what happened to her great skin? Then I realized her pictures must be heavily airbrushed. I think that’s the case with Kate as well.
I really want to see videos of these events, so see what those expressions look like in motion…
I think Kate cares about early development in the sense that she genuinely wants every child to have a good life, but the survey is so low effort that I’m struggling beyond that. More effort has gone into trying to make sure everyone knows that Kate wants to help kids than… actually helping kids.
I see we have more pictures with strategically placed black and brown children.
Also, Kate’s face while she’s pouring the cereal. 🤦🏻♀️
And that’s what makes it look put on. Somehow I doubt Kate gets that screamingly excited when she pours cereal for George, Charlotte and Louis every morning.
Stop tokenizing children of color. It’s gross and inappropriate.
Yup, noted.
The girl from yesterday was everything though.
Did you guys read the survey? :O
It’s so basic and with so many survey design / empiric faults. It did not even ask what are my socio-demographics or if I have kids for example which could drastically change POV. And I laughed at the nature vs nurture question.
Such a facepalm she is. I wish I could do so little at my job and have so little impact and receive this much praise for just showing up…
“I wish I could do so little at my job and have so little impact and receive this much praise for just showing up…”
The world is going to h$%l in a hand basket. XO
Nature vs nurture was a funny one. Because what’s the plan with that? You write off all the kids with the wrong nature as unsalvageable? If you can only affect the nurture part then why is that even a question? How does that help her decide what to work on? But I think one of my favorites was where she asks which age is most important for development when she has already given us the answer: the early years, birth to age 5. If everyone answers that question saying that they think ages 10-15 matter the most, what’s she going to do? Again, how will this direct her work when she’s already decided she is working with kids under age 5?
Even when Omid spoke about the survey on his podcast he referred to it as a survey for British nationals. Did they all just assume only UK folks would take it? Clips from ITV and BBC tv shows are geo blocked on their website. It isn’t that difficult, so I don’t understand why that wasn’t taken into consideration.
Geo blocking is easy to get around with a VPN. You just put in the country of choice, even down to a local area, and boom! you’re in.
I actually like this look on her for the this type of event. And the color combo is very nice and fresh looking. A thumbs up from me.
She gets a thumbs-up from me, too. It’s appropriate for the occasion and she looks very pretty.
She’s brave. I wouldn’t have chosen white/off white for a morning at a daycare or preschool.
Did you know that the survey isn’t geo-blocked in any way and that anyone, anywhere in the world can take it, meaning it’s not even an accurate sampling of BRITISH views? Did you also know people can take the survey multiple times?
Yes. I took the survey and left a helpful comment!
Did you know responses can be geo filtered by IP address?
It’s a good way to artificially beef up the number of participants.
Come on, now. Do you REALLY think a company like Ipsos Mori – who specialize in research – wouldn’t know how to sort the survey answers? It’s not like Kate just slapped a standard contact form on a website – this is a survey set up by people who know what they’re doing.
Exactly, Erinn—I’m confused about why people assume they wouldn’t be able to filter out non-UK IPs or repeat IPs if people are trying to answer multiple times. It’s a fair criticism to say that they’re not collecting demographic information, but if part of the purpose of this survey is to subtly convey info through the questions, I don’t think it’s a bad thing it’s not geo-blocked for U.K.-only.
This seems like a sweet event and I’m glad Kate visited after this event was cancelled due to weather on her mini U.K. tour (or however they were describing it). The color of her coat is gorgeous.
But the point is what are they doing? Are they trying to conduct a marketing stunt or is this in any way an academically credible landmark survey that is part of Kate’s research on early childhood development?
They are not saying this is a marketing survey though. They are promoting it like the answers will lead to some relevant type of research.
VPN. Google it. This survey is in no way going to be used to make any official decisions. It is in no way going to be used to make any policy decisions for organizations, foundations, governments…not even to host your local birthday party at school.
They have created something that is of no empirical value. That’s why you don’t see serious studies happening on the internet. When have you participated in an online survey that would affect your life in any meaningful way?
So if Meghan did a survey and people took it multiple times and left helpful comments, that would be called racist, right?
If the “helpful” comments were anything like what is posted on the DM’s website, then yes….yes, it certainly would be.
The sloppiness of the survey has nothing to do with Meghan but if she had spent eight years in a PR survey and pretended it was her life’s work she would get ripped apart and not praised.
There is endless spin to try to explain why this survey is so bad and doesn’t do what it is promoted as doing, when the reality is that once again Kate did something half ass and didn’t have her people make sure it was properly done. It’s not a coincidence that Catherine Quinn didn’t want to stay longer than two years and announced she wanted to do more charity work, which considering that’s what Kate is supposed to be doing, really makes you wonder what the hell Kate is actually doing.
I love that coat. And she looks very genuine here. I have no doubt she would prefer to be home with her own children but she showed up and does seem engaged.
Like I said yesterday, I think “The Firm” has decided she’s done having babies and she needs to start working more. A bit sad because I don’t think that’s what she wanted but she does have three healthy kids. It would be sad to have someone else decide for you that you should be done having babies when you love them so much. But “The Firm” needed her to be much more visible now that Harry and Meghan are our.
“The firm” does not decide anyone’s reproductive choices. She and William have decided to have three children children instead of four.
It seems to me she said from the very beginning…I come from a family of three kids and that’s what I want cause it was a great life, kind of thing. I’m sure she said she only wanted 3 kids cause she was 1/3 and had a wonderful childhood…
I always thought that part of her less demanding schedule was her children. I’m sure she and William wanted to try and have a relatively normal set of early years with their kids instead of just handing them off to nannies and only seeing them once a day, but Louis will be 2 this year and both George and Charlotte are in school now – she will now have time to step up a bit more.
I don’t think the RF has declared her child-bearing years are over. (After all, the Queen herself has four children.) She’s 38, she has three healthy children, and if things are potentially a little strained between her and William right now, she’s probably just not in the mood for another very public pregnancy with potential months-long bouts of vomiting, as she seemingly cannot avoid hyperemesis gravidarum. (A friend of mine had it – it was the pits for her.) I think she could make that decision very well on her own.
I normally don’t like her style but I like this outfit. I love the coat. In my personal opinion, solid colors look more professional than prints. I normally wear solid colors or small print pieces cut in a classic style to work. Again, my opinion, please don’t jump on me!
small print pieces don’t look that great on me as a short fat 65 y o. I’m with you on the solids. And 100% on the classic cut and styles
@Shirleygailgal: “a short fat 65 y o.”
No no no no no. “A soft, petite matriarch.”
Haha, you’re not fat, you’re just fluffy! 🙂
I think this is a nice look for her, and its nice to see her working more. I’m interested to see how long she maintains this schedule.
Re: this project/survey/etc – its like we said last week. This all seems like stuff she should have been doing for the past two years. It sounds like she is just now gathering information and research and figuring out the next step, which would be okay, but then its not the launch of any initiative or anything.
It’s a shame that her and her husband bullied her only friend and his bi racial wife out of the country so she can finally starts to show up for a job she has had for almost 9 years.
How long is she going to be in tour for this “survey”?
I have a feeling Keen Katie is going to reap what she sowed. William is going to need someone to bully now that Harry’s out of reach. That may be why Charles is allowing the York sisters to step up but Keen Katie will be closer.
I don’t care about the coat ,Meghan wore the coat before she ever met Harry what I do know is that Kate is a lackluster type woman ,unenergized, unimaginative, and barely productive whose trying to up her image by mirroring Meghan ,who was forced out by a population of prejudiced racist but now after the world has seen the putrid British hate is trying to deflect and cover they’re own sins
Charles is not in any way now or in the future allowing the York sisters to set up. He made the decision they would not be working royals and he told the Queen Andrew had to go.
10,000 signing up actually seems like a paltry number of people considering the exposure she has.
Later in the article she is quoted as saying 100,000 in her speech – so one or the other is a typo.
100,000 people of a population of 60+ million people is not that impressive for a survey that was launched 3 weeks ago.
I really like her outfit here. (I’m gonna leave the struggle survey alone because it makes me cringey)
I adore her outfit today! Additionally, the preschool looks amazing… appears to be a great program to highlight.
I am intrigued by her work in this area and look forward to seeing what she does next … admittedly I was underwhelmed with the survey but hope the interest in it encourages her to continue with this work and I think it will.
IMHO (as an educator), this seems a LOT like some of the kind of throwaway “research papers” people did in my Master’s program. Like, “I’m gonna give everyone this random survey, and then teach them the actual facts that I know from research.” I think she may actually have a plan, but is just starting with this ridiculously oversimplified survey because it’s a starting point. Like, some people who don’t have a background in education may think “all nature” or “all nurture” when studies show it’s a combination (and a love of learning really can be nurtured). Or maybe she just was like “Oh SHiT, I forgot I was supposed to do something for this early childhood thing! Let’s throw out something simple and then we’ll pretend it’s important.” Also, it’s probably available worldwide because she’s not intending to actually use the feedback to inform her. And because people don’t tend to give info when they have to sign up/sign in, tell you where they live, etc. It’s just a starting point (I hope). She does seem to genuinely enjoy kids, and always has.
I think you’re right. Designed to seem like she’s put a lot of work into it but in reality, not so much.
Nutrition is important for young children? You don’t say. It would help to lift them out of poverty then, wouldn’t it, and close the wealth gap and reverse austerity measures.
Yup. Why isn’t she banging the drum to get free school breakfasts/lunches for children of the working poor?
Probably because the UK already has free school meals for kids from families on lower income
I was wondering the same thing, Jaded. Telling parents & the general public that kids do better with nutritious food is nothing novel or worthy of praise. I’d be more impressed if she was actively engaged in fundraising or (gasp!!) donating some fund of her own to help the working poor.
Cute outfit, day 2 curls, more relaxed. I like this look a lot.
I think the whole initiative is a way to get good publicity for cute engagements with kids, and few will criticize the project itself, because it turns into “How could you not want to help children?” Obviously helping children is great. But claiming this is a landmark project when it is just cute photo ops is disingenuous at best…. which is to say it is exactly what I expect from the BRF these days.
@Jen This exactly! Everyone always goes on about how good Kate is with kids so a bunch of easy photo ops with cute disadvantaged kids is her bread and butter. I don’t know that the BRF has much faith in her ability to solo engagements with other adults.
I agree these visits are just photo ops for her to be pictured with kids to drive the Kate/kids association in people’s minds and not the Kate Drove Her Anguished Sister-in-Law and Newborn Out Of The Country association. A singular, rare, burst of activity and then nothing for another eight years “processing” the survey results. And no, Daily Mail, 10,000 people did not “sign up” for the early years survey. Makes it seem as if she has a core group of 10K concerned parents who are going to converse and explore the early years with her.
I’d love to know if these recent visits were planned well in advance or thrown together in the last two weeks when it was clear the stage would be clear of Harry and Meghan and Kate had nothing on her calendar of her own so she decided to roll out this early years pronto to act like she was busy and purposeful all along.
“Imagine a world where the Duchess of Cambridge put the effort into creating a real survey to assess parental views on early childhood development, nutrition and education. Imagine she put as much effort into the Struggle Survey as she has promoting the Struggle Survey.”
IMO creating sth is not her forte, but she is doing a good job promoting it. So I hope Kate / her team change their approach for future projects and hire professionals to get things done properly.
Also, I like everything about her outfit except the sweater which looks like underwear.
Why the sudden flurry of Kate everywhere? Girls never worked this hard in her life! Also….. is she looking extra thin or is that just my eyes?
Very extra thin. Not just you
don’t understand all the critics, she’s doing her work…maybe it would be nice for once to celebrate women and stop comparing!
I will celebrate women who deserve to be celebrated thank you very much. Like the women who work multiple jobs to support their families or the women who are experts in their fields or, in the case of royals, those who do more than show up and actually roll up their sleeves and put in the effort – I’m talking about you Meghan and Sophie is another example.
And P. Anne works her butt off but eschews most press attention. She just knuckles down and does it.
Oh please, Anne is so overrated. Anne makes several appearances a day but I doubt she could go in depth on anyone of them. Anne shuts her mouth, doesn’t challenge and reaps the benefits from the system.
Some of us are republicans so nothing the royal family do will justify them.
Lol please tell me what about being a republican in this time is so morally superior 😂
Well, we compare them because the press has pitted them against each other from the start. So whichever one we feel sorry for the most, that’s who we’ll defend. I think a lot of it is which one we feel we are most like. For me anyway. As the white wife of a mixed man, I see how he is treated differently than white men, so I feel I can understand a bit of what Meghan and Harry are going through and feel for them. Kate fans probably feel they have more in common with her, so they defend her more.
This outfit would have killed if she wore a pair of trousers. Pants. Not jeggings.
Agreed!
Agree. So unprofessional for someone in her position.
So show up to a preschool who are excited to see any new stranger, play with them for an hour, take a picture with a token black child, and leave before they get hungry, tempermetnal, fussy, need a stroll or need a change. Wow this is my dream “job.”…Anyway, that climate change activist Greta had met Prince Charles last week and asked him what exactly is it he does! ROFLOL I’d like to know too.
I’m sorry. My jaw just about hit the floor. It’s not geo blocked and you can take it multiple times…. I knew this thing was a bit of a farce, but my word!
I’m glad Meghan’s presence, work ethic and the tangible impact she brought to her projects and charities has showed Kate the direction to move her Early Years project. Because lets be honest, she had no clue how to move it from the idea stage, but it looks like she’ll be stuck in the research stage for a while. In the mean time she’ll be doing her best to get as much PR out of it as possible.
Oh and I see some people want to blind Kate’s current effort to Cosplay Meghan’s style. But it will get more obvious soon enough. Look out for the crisp button up shirts soon.
How long will Kate keep up this new work ethic?
It will be sporadic is my guess. Every time Meghan does something great, Kate will be back at it for a while then gradually fade back to Anmer Hall.
Waaaayyy overdone. Phony excitement. To Meghan it all came naturally. God I cannot with this family anymore. And all because Meghan and Harry outshone the heirs. Ugh.
Every time I see the word “work” and these people in the same sentence, it gives me a headache. Is there not another word we can use, because work isn’t it. I mean, most of us WORK, five or more days a week for at least 8 hours per day! Or the mums who are stay at home without a house full of help to help care for their child/children, you get the gist! This is disgraceful to us, these people are fraudsters. At least Meghan understand what’s it like to work, as we saw when she married into that racist lot of inbreds. But Kate and work???? What a joke!
Meghan started working at a frozen yogurt store at 13!! So young she was working, adult Kate can learn a thing or two.
Substitute work for appearances. That is what they do. Show up get their photo taken then leave.
While this survey might help Kate figure out her way forward there are too many factors involved for her to make a real difference. For instance, she won’t be able to touch on the lack of government funding or that the conservative party cuts funding for social services like these. If she’s unable to highlight poverty, lack of affordable child care and the lack of government funding on early years development, then what’s she left with?
When the Sussexes left, I predicted that the Cambridges would meet more Black people in the first months than they have in their ENTIRE lives. And we know Keen Katie likes to have a ‘Strategically Placed Black/Brown Child’ in her pictures. But this bullshit is really getting offensive. We all know how the Cambridges feel about people of colour. So, Keen Katie’s insistence on using Black children as props is vile. I’ve NEVER liked this woman but I never really appreciated how truly awful she is. Is she really trying to pretend she’s going to be Queen Consort for ALL Britons, because we KNOW that’s not true. The current Queen isn’t Queen to all of Great Britain.
LEAVE BLACK/BROWN CHILDREN ALONE.
And does she need to unhinge her jaws like that every time she sees a child? She looks like she’s going to bite the poor mite’s head off.
It might not be Kate calling the shots?
It’s so transparent isn’t it. Do they really think we’re that stupid?
Although the UK in general -and London in particular – seems to be so much more diverse and multicultural than it used to be, the royals don’t seem to interact with or have any black friends. The only interaction I’ve seen with people of colour is in connection with their royal duties, or what some would classify as “work”. Conversely, Meghan seems to have friends in every colour of the rainbow. Just an observation.
That survey is a JOKE. It never was intended to be anything of value from the start. Just smoke and mirrors to try and make Kate look good which puts into question everything she does. It’s just a SHOW. Which is why Meghan left that horrid Family and country….no substance just put on a show
That coat is marvelous and such a gorgeous color–that’s all I’ve got.
It’s nice that she’s been out and about this week, but no praise from me until this is a consistent thing–until her numbers are “Sr. Royal” numbers, then it all seems performative until she can go on vacation for another 6+ weeks.
Let’s be honest…..We’re all waiting on Meghan’s next move! We already know what we will get from Kate…nothing.
Meh.
she’s wearing ankle boots, not knee high boots. The top looks tacky and the color does nothing for her. Sick of seeing her in her skin tight jeans, very unprofessional for a woman in the role she is in. The coat looks cheap, although I do like the color.
They are not skin tight and she’s playing with kids. Is she supposed to sit in little kid chairs and kneel down in some expensive suit? Good grief.
I feel like they’re skin tight . I know workout leggings and jeggings are popular but imo, they are not appropriate for a professional appearance. I have big breasts and I would not wear a low cut top to go visit children. She could wear Jean’s that are not tight, it’s not that hard. I feel like skinny women get more of a pass for wearing skin tight short clothing. But as a 36DD woman, people have a heart attack if any part of my breasts are showing, even by accident. I feel like it’s a double standard.
The only upside to this whole thing is that Keen Katie hasn’t worked this hard in her life. AND she has to wear clothes she’s worn before. Poor thing’s going to start singing spirituals soon. Maybe she’ll get a chorus of cute Black kiddies to accompany her.
Kate looks fine and it’s nice to see that she’s working (“working”). I would love to know the logistics of this and how many of these visits were thrown together last minute versus pre-arranged with no thought to Sussexit.
I admit I enjoy that she has to work more and her Queenliness isn’t based on wearing a piece of jewelry or a coat dress. Start doing the work for the perks. And honestly I think she’d probably like it. She needs something that is hers outside of William or her children or the Middletons and it would be nice if this gave her some independence. It would also be nice if she stopped using PoC as props.
I miss Meghan. I’m excited to see what she does next. When Conan O’Brien lost the Tonight Show, he was required to stay off television for a certain amount of time and I wonder if the Sussexes still being in the fold until the spring means that they have to also stay quiet, or if we’ll get to see and hear Meghan and Harry at some point over these next few months.
And where’s William? Hiding behind everyone else as usual?
@Hope I miss them both as well. I have heard they may have events in February but it is just speculation. The foundation is supposed to launch early spring.We may not know of an event until after it is done and we will get pictures and videos after. We have a lot to look forward to in the spring . I feel like this is the calm before the storm.
I think that few people have an accurate understanding that in any public life, what you see in terms of public appearances bears little or NO reflection on what goes on behind the scenes -I know this as a child of someone who worked in a public position .– lots of meetings about everything, going over and over speeches , the writing of letters in support of your charities and patronages , meeting with their reps privately and with outsiders to advance the causes of your charities and patronages , dealing with correspondence and thank you-s the list goes on –then there is the year long royal schedule of events -look at any documentary on the Queen and see how much time she spends on these things .My parents had child care but that didn’t mean they were absolved of parenting .there was a fair amount of burning the candle at both ends …it was pretty exhausting to watch from my vantage point .What I notice on Kate’s public appearances and Megan’s for that matter is how staff and children in particular seem happy to see them , are pleased to be acknowledged for the work they do and that both women have a knack with children.
What a great comment and insight you have. Thanks for sharing that as it gives some insight into what actually does go on behind the scenes.
Nice to see Kate showing up and engaged and highlighting the LEYF Early Years Chef Academy and the great work they do.
“It operates 39 nurseries in some of London’s most disadvantaged areas and provides high-quality childcare to more than 4,000 children, employing more than 800 staff locally – along with 60 apprentices – across 11 London boroughs.”
I think no matter what Kate does she will be criticized by some and nitpicked to death. I wish the comparisons of the two women and the tearing apart of women by women would stop. It doesn’t serve anyone well. Once again it proves women are the worse critics of other women.
I hope you keep that same energy when it’s Meghan being criticized.
I think dismissing criticism as people being too ignorant to know any better is putting a gloss over real problems being highlighted. Kate represents a Foundation that is happy to take people’s money. That “struggle survey” as it’s been dubbed is concerning because it looks like she’s ignored her yearlong council of experts for a cheap marketing stunt. A lot of money and work goes into propping up Kate’s public image and it is right for people to ask for value for money. There should be more to this than yet another set of pictures of Kate in a new outfit being photographed with children.
Asking for the bar to not be so low is not misogyny and I am honestly tired of Kate hiding her poor work record behind requests for women to support women. How much money was wasted on that yacht race and how much money is being spent on that marketing firm and on these photo ops?
Kate barely scraped 120 engagements last year and many of those were meetings with her staff at KP. Kate should be nit picked until her numbers match the other working royals. She is given a thousand excuses for her laziness and deserves the criticism until she works like the rest of the senior royals.
Not shaming or concern trolling – I hope she is ok. I was startled by her arm in the last photo.
I agree that she’s cosplaying Meghan and has ditched her signature buttoned up coat dresses. It’s sad that she didnt “recycle” one of her endless blue coats!
They are going overboard with using black kids as props😤
I’m certain that next week will be her last engagement before taking 2-3 wks off and we’ll see them for their planned visit to Ireland.
Kate looks cute. I like the outfit but I am.going to hope that there will be more substantial work coming other than this nonsensical survey.
You’d think she’s pouring that kid a pot of gold!
JFC. First thing I said was “watch there’s gonna be a black child in this photo op too.” BOOM. Just unbelievable. So transparent and gross of them.