I’ve covered the Duchess of Cambridge for more than a decade now, even before her marriage. Over that length of time, it still astounds me how many of the original arguments made on behalf of Kate have fallen to the wayside. Most of this stuff is so deeply unimportant, I realize, but remember when Kate used to never take her coat off during events? She spent years, sitting indoors in various bulky coats, looking like she was ready to take off at any moment. But whenever anyone pointed that out, the argument was that it was “against royal protocol” to remove one’s coat in public or something. Yeah. It was never a protocol thing. And yet, that’s just the kind of picayune bulls–t that launched a thousand “breaking protocol” stories about Meghan.
Anyway, here are more photos of Prince William and Kate in Mumbles, South Wales on Tuesday. They had several events all in a row, and Kate removed her Hobbs coat several times, revealing her red Zara dress, at every indoor event. Since we’ve now gotten a better look at the dress… it’s okay. It’s kind of plain. She likes this cut a lot – she has more expensive dresses with this exact cut in her closet.
Another one of those “breaking protocol” stories which the British tabloids loved to write about Meghan and Harry were the “she’s showing ROYAL PDA!” It was always noteworthy, somehow, whenever Harry and Meghan held hands or put their hands on each other’s backs or whatever. Their PDA was basically bringing down the monarchy one grope at a time according to the tabs. Except that when Will & Kate do it, they’re perfect pigeons in love, right? The only problem is that William and Kate are so bad at it. During their big keen appearance on Mary Berry’s Christmas special, they got a lot of headlines because Kate truly shook off William’s hand when he tried to touch her shoulder. Well, watch what happened in Mumbles yesterday – it happens around the 25-second mark of this video.
Kate tries to be mildly affectionate, putting her hand on William’s arm and he can’t move away fast enough, AND he looks into the camera? What is this mess? Are they, like, taking lessons on How To Show Affection In Public? Are they paying attention during the lessons? Where are all of the Daily Mail interviews with body language experts analyzing this tape?
Also, look how they made that pre-flinch moment into a photo-op for their social media.
🏴Diolch yn fawr iawn I bawb am y croeso yn Cymru heddiw! Tan y tro nesaf, Hwyl fawr!//Thank you to everyone who welcomed us in Wales today! Until next time, goodbye! pic.twitter.com/TpgtIxMYMy
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) February 4, 2020
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Are they trolling us???
Ooooh i like that dress.
Right? This might be one of the nicest things I’ve seen Kate in.
She looks really elegant. Here the waist is in the right place and when she gets the proportions right it looks great.
I love it too. Red really is her colour and I love the cut of it too.
She looks a lot better in simpler dresses with clean lines, like this one. With so many of her outfits or dresses I want to remove something (like the p-bow, or some of the buttons, or something, lol) This is a nice look on her because its fairly “clean.”
She is a bit mature to wear the Alice in wonderland hairstyle. Time for a change.
Love the dress, as always the hair is too girlish.
Me too, I think her Zara and Hobbs outfits are among her best and are brands she should wear more often
+1, the colour looks great on her. I just watched the video and she looks way better than 2 weeks ago were she looked tired and a bit sickly.
Bullying out the hard-working, engaged Duchess has given Kate a short-lived PR breather.
His face! At least Kate managed to keep a smile on her face when she shrugged him off.
I love it too. Red really is her colour and I love the cut of it too.I personally don’t think he did shrug her off. Her hand was there for a while before he stepped back. It seems like maybe he stepped back because he was just generally uncomfortable.
These two hate each other.
They’re so false. A mess.
omg. His flinch is more subtle than hers, but still obvious, and the look at the camera was weird. It was like he either thought “oh crap, someone saw that” or he wanted to make sure the PDA was on camera.
The coat thing annoys me so much. For YEARS I argued this on What Kate Wore – that kate needed to take her coat off, it gave the sense that she was just running out the door, etc. and I was told that she could not take her coat off in public bc if anyone saw that it would make them think of her undressing and that was inappropriate, and that there just wasn’t anyone who could take coat.
I wish I could include a GIF here bc you all can imagine my reaction, lol.
Turns out she can take off her coat if/when she wants to.
I know I will bring out the torch and pitchfork crowd with my humble opinion but I really feel sorry for Cathy Cambridge. She looks miserable but also like she is giving her best to make a bad situation work. Cathy is much better at this than Normal Bill is.
@Bay – I’m not as sympathetic as you, because I think Kate played a role in driving Meghan out and I don’t think William turned into an a-hole over night, I think he has always been one and she just overlooked it.
But, I do feel bad for her in that its one thing to think you know what you are getting yourself into, and then 9-10 years later realize the reality is very different, and feel trapped. I don’t think she is especially happy.
@Becks1 – I think Kate was complicit in driving Meghan out as part of the ““Hallelujah Chorus” but I do not think she was a driving force steering the bus.
I think it was William stirring up the stink, leaking to tabloids and leading the troops of Kensington Palace Courtiers against Meghan because William has some beef with and/or jealousy of Harry. Do not misunderstand me, I do not think Bill likes Meghan one iota at all but I think this mess was 90% about and against Harry.
When you marry for money …
Kate’s happy to spend the money and went along with William’s behavior when it was directed with someone else. I can’t feel sorry for someone if they’re okay with someone behaving like this as long as it isn’t directed at them.
@Hope – If we were talking about any other family than the Windsor-Mountbatten-Glücksburg, I would agree with you 100%.
No wonder Cathy never wants to leave Anmer Hall. Coming to court in London must me like entering a war zone.
I agree with Becks1 …I would have more sympathy for her if I thought she had been less complicit in setting Meghan on fire. I don’t see Kate as a wispy-washy marshmallow with no free will. I think she is responsible for her actions or lack of actions. William may be an ass, her mother may be controlling — but Kate is an adult who has been involved in this game for over a decade. I’m not giving her a pass on — in my opinion — her involvement in harassing and belittling her dear, much loved, much missed BIL ‘s wife. If she truly cared for Harry and his happiness she should have tried harder to support Meghan. I think she made it difficult for her from the get go and never really let up. Two tennis matches and and an afternoon at a polo park in over 2 years just doesn’t cut it for me.
@Hope – I get what you mean. Best dating advice I ever got was: how does your chosen one act towards wait staff after a horrible day and then something about the meal goes sideways. Can they keep their cool? Do they lash out? I love this as criteria (sorry, wait staff), because it’s part of real life and when we are getting to know a potential partner we tend to see them through rose-tinted glasses. So, how do they treat others? Because eventually, that’s how you’ll be treated. And I think that’s what we see with their relationship these days….Wm is lording it over Kate. She saw a happy, loving and successful relationship up close. And she saw her life for the next 40-50 years. She may have many pretty things, but nothing (as H&M are proving) is worth your soul.
This is what Kate wanted and waited years for a ring for. I don’t feel sorry for her. I don’t like the way she treated Meghan. She could have issued a statement that the gossip about Meghan “making her cry” was not true.
I agree with Becks. Kate is not the wimpy wallflower the stans and PR would have us all believe. She has always been complicit in any shenanigans (PR or otherwise) from William and her family – Katie Nicholls is on record saying that she has her mobile number and that there was on occasion when she was talking to Kate where Kate suddenly hung up as William walked into the room.
William is a douche and Kate is not much better – as they say ‘birds of a feather flock together’. Kate would not be where she is today if she was a nice meek person.
Kate may not have completely understood royal life but she knew exactly what kind of man William is and she married him anyway. She lets him treat her like crap and her family sit back and allow it.
There’s no way the story about the hotel room happened. That’s Tumblr-esque before Tumblr existed.
William and Kate both know each other. I think the only thing Kate got wrong about William is thinking that if she were just loyal enough, he would be honest with her and keep her best interest in mind. She’s the one who want them to be a team.
Yes, Digital Unicorn. The Middletons had Katie Nicholl and Tanna on speeddial during all of the dating years. Plus their hired PR hacks at the Mail on Sunday. The Middletons have used those ties for almost two decades now. They’ve used them publicly against William (allowing the photos of Kate taking George to Mustique while William was hunting with Jecca) and they used them to help hide Rose and attack Meghan.
I feel both badly for her and entirely exasperated with her. She just seems like she’s becoming emptier and emptier as her life goes on. She doesn’t do anything for herself ever. I see her as a dress up doll that other people play with. Other people move her around to different places to play out different “scenarios” like “Kate goes boating” complete with theme dressing, or “Kate does a garden party” with a floral dress and big flower hat. Other people speak for her (she has PR and staff and her mother’s leaks to guide her public narrative, she has speech writers who write her very infrequent speeches, and she has staff that give her “talking points” for whenever she interacts with the public). It’s just like playing with a doll.
She isn’t in charge of her life, all her decisions are made for her. The RF are in charge of her politics, where she lives, and what her “life’s purpose” and legacy will be. William in charge of their relationship. Her trainer and chef are in charge of her body. Her stylist and hairdresser are in charge of her look. Her housekeeper and nannies are in charge of her home and children. Her staff and secretaries are in charge of her work and social calendar. Her mother is in charge of whatever is left.
I feel like Kate could step away from her life for 5 years, leaving a Kate-shaped cardboard cut out in her place, and nothing would be different. Life would just continue on exactly as it is because she’s not making any of the decisions or actually directing anything. All of those people would just keep doing things as they currently are. The kids would be raised, the house would be looked after, her staff would keep doing the “work,” a stylist would keep putting clothes on the cutout, someone would stand behind the cut-out and read her speeches. Kate doesn’t seem like a specific and unique individual with an important voice in her own life. She is that empty.
I hate that her fans make up rules to argue why she does things.
Everything Kate does is correct because *made up rule.*
Agreed that Kate is not one to feel sorry for. She made, and continues to make, her choices. I agree with those of you who say she was an active player in driving Harry and Meghan out.
Feeling sorry for her implies that she has no agency. I’m not a Kate fan; I don’t think she’s done much over the years to engender much admiration, honestly, and the evidence against her in the H&M thing is quite clear. But don’t think a woman like her has no agency in this. She 100% lives the life she wants to live.
She pursued the man for a decade, starting out by cheating with him (he cheating on his girlfriend with Kate). He cheated on her during that whole time. She sat back, put up with it, and chose to keep coming back to try to get him to marry her. Carole is a stagemother but not an ultimate puppetmaster. Kate makes her own choices.
I don’t get why anyone feels sorry for her at all. So she can’t eat a burger, poor thing. She does not have a hard life, works maybe 12 hours a week tops. Her leaking mother got what she wanted for her girl and have the press and propaganda in their inner circle. They kept the tabloids well fed the past 3 years by their hateful mean girl campaign. The press will continue to softball her, she gets what she wants and she’s the queen bee. As for William, she doesn’t exactly give off heat in his direction either so that’s that- status quo. After Sussexit, she’s golden and no matter what she does or doesn’t do, she’ll be fine and get all the participation trophies . The worst that will happen is boredom.
Lets not forget the media campaign against Chelsea, when the PR hacks in the Middletons pocket painted Chelsea as a hard partying girl and Kate as the most studious student that ever studented who was in the library daily. The fact was the opposed was true – Kate was the partier who was regularly papped falling out the clubs and taxi’s drunk flashing her knickers at everyone (and then asking the paps for a copy of the photo’s for the family scrap book).
Kate and her family have previous for using their media contacts to trash a GF of Harry’s to embiggen their snowflake daughter so of course they jumped on the trash Meghan bandwagon.
Green desert, I feel like Kate has made the choice to have no agency. Like she’s completely given over every aspect of her life to other people and now she’s just an empty headed shell of a person who goes along with whatever other people want because it’s just easier that way. And she can pretend like all of the terrible things that go on around her aren’t her fault. I’m sure she doesn’t take the blame for what happened with Harry and Meghan because she feels like she didn’t actively make the decision to leak and drive them out. But she also didn’t stop it, didn’t try to counteract it, and she let William and her staff and her mother keep trashing H and M. I think she just feels like it’s easier to do nothing and just let life happen around her. I don’t know how she can so completely kill off her conscience and thoughts and any will to be independent and make her own choices, though. It’s probably why she looks so dead inside all the time except for when she’s play-acting at being a princess with her hyena grinning. And it’s possibly why she’s losing so much weight and fading away.
Chelsy got a law degree and trained as a solicitor. That’s a lot harder than the arts degree Kate did and never used. And yet Chelsy was painted as a drunk party girl. Kate has been treated favourably by the tabloids for a long time, despite what the stans try to suggest.
@Nic919, I don’t disagree with you on the disparity between Kate and Chelsey and how they were treated in the media, but let’s not rest that on the degrees they got. An Art History degree is not necessarily an easy one to obtain. Kate’s problem is not the ease of her course, it’s the fact that she didn’t seem to care a great deal for her subject or invest herself in it. I think I’d find an Art History degree more difficult to get than a law degree, purely because of how much reading and writing would be involved.
They are bland, that’s for sure, however I can’t hate them. After all they’re in a cage and they will have to stay there for the rest of their life.
At what timestamp is this on the video? I seemed to have missed it.
It’s about the 25-27 second mark
Thank you. I didn’t see it as a flinch, just odd how they both handsy with each other lately.
It’s not really a flinch, it’s him backing away out of her touch. It wasn’t as quick as a flinch, but it definitely looks peculiar when your SO wants to step out of your touch…
Yep, for me it’s less a flinch and more of a “I don’t want to hold your hand”, because if you look at it, you can see that Kate is trying to inch her way towards that.
I don’t really have any sympathy for her in regard to her marriage, but it’s very obvious she’s the affectionate one. She values touch and likely is very tactile with her children. Because sadly she doesn’t get that same affection from her husband.
I’m also very physically affectionate. When I’m happy about something I want to touch the people I love. When I’m sad I want to touch the people I love. I do think Kate is the same way and it’s not easy being with someone who isn’t the same and/or plain does not love or like you. Yes she flinched on the Mary Berry program but when I saw that I think it was because she couldn’t believe he was actually touching her IN PUBLIC and because she was also feeling hurt by him.
I could also be projecting. My husband is not physically affectionate and it’s very difficult. I can’t figure out if it’s me or if he just doesn’t get it. But I recognize those gestures in Kate: reaching for him and trying to connect and him being like “whoaaaaaa what are you doing?”
It was definitely off, like he was trying to ignore her touch. Whatever, people reading too much into it.
Reporters make up royal protocol to justify what Kate does.
Reporters make up protocol to condemn what Meghan does.
Exactly.
Reporters make up royal protocol to fabricate Royal stories to sell newspapers and generate clicks with comments..
LOL! That pre-flinch photo on their social media!
I honestly didn’t see it as a flinch, like she put her hand on him, she patted him a couple of times then he seemed to think “that’s enough now” and moved slightly away. no big deal.
That’s how I view it too, Janey.
Will it kill him to at least be affectionate towards her especially when she initiates it. Nothing stops him from touching her or rubbing her arm instead of “that’s enough now.” Gosh.
I just dont understand why kate was rubbing his back so much.
Completely weird.
Kate and Will have always seemed to use back touching as a signal, usually to silently indicate they need to move on without interrupting the person speaking to say as much. Will also tends to use it to guide her forward when they need to hurry up. But I do agree they’ve been touching more outside of that signaling recently. It’s possible that’s part of why the more spontaneous touching can catch the other off guard when it happens when they are “on duty”—they think it’s indicating something else when it’s not.
She is copying Meghan and Harry
I agree. I think they are both self-conscious about PDA. There is no drama or story here but people will see what they want.
I don’t think he flinches at all. It looks to me like that body language was part of the “can you believe that?” story he was already telling the kids.
I’d buy that explanation if he wasn’t moving his arm away from her touch at the same time he stepped back.
Someone def wanted to make sure that was caught on camera. Kate has always been a bit more touchy feely than he is but after shrug gate there seems to be an effort to appear more lovey dovey in public than is their usual.
Oh yes , they wanted it caught on camera….they want everyone to know that they are so so in love.
I’m not seeing a flinch—more like, he’s moving in an easy/joking way and her grip/touch on his arm shifts as he does? That said, I think it’s easy to read into this kind of thing anyway you want and their body language on this trip seemed otherwise fine.
They way she always looks at him with those manic eyes…she wants his attention like a little puppy dog and he is always looking straight.
I bet if she just focused on the task at hand during these engagements, William would eventually start looking for her attention. It wouldn’t last but William does seem like the kind of spoiled brat who feels entitled to the attention without being courteous about it.
They have been together now almost twenty years even though there still young. What I wonder is if he was always that unaffectionate surely during the courting period he had to step up his game and be a little romantic. To ‘woo’her.
That could work… or it could backfire completely. Don’t ask me how I know. (I know, it was just as well.) Sometimes there’s only room for one person in a relationship.
He would cook for her, screw it up and she would fix it. Kate was very much a Cool Girl though, and Cool Girls don’t asked to be wooed.
My own theory is Kate looks at William pushing to get them Apt 1A and Anmer Hall and time with her family and all the privileges they enjoy as his way of wooing her. Fighting battles to get her what she wants and I think William is happy to do so because he’s an aggressive person and also Kate’s privilege is a way of displaying how strong and what a good provider he is.
And I believe he does care about her but he’s just really selfish and will keep being that way even at her expense.
@Some chick. I agree. Ultimately it doesn’t work. We have to see our own value and keep the people who don’t need to persuaded about it in our lives. I’ve had my own experiences with people who seemed to need me to prove myself to them and having to remind myself that it’s a toxic, controlling, self-esteem lowering road that never ends.
Kate was the one who demanded Apartment 1A, not William. The royals caved because it meant maybe, finally, W&K were no longer lying about getting to work. Him agreeing to have them live at Anmer, where Charles and Camilla had their affair? Means neither William nor Kate have a problem with cheating.
William didn’t fight battles to protect Kate, he was doing it to protect himself. His 10 vacations a year with the Middletons during the dating years, his ability to dump Kate for months on end with her parents (even after marriage and kids)? That is all William for William, not Kate.
@nota – Is Cathy a country girl or city girl at heart. I always thought of Cathy as a City girl but I read many places that she prefers to live at Anmer Hall as her home base. I have also read several places (way before the appearance of “Rose Who?”) that Cathy really really wanted to be accepted by the “Turnip Toff” set but I just do not see her enjoying or fitting in with the “Turnip Toffs”.
Does anyone have any tea on this matter?
@Bay – my personal feeling is that she prefers Anmer and Norfolk at this point because there is more privacy and more freedom. but I think she is more a “city girl” at heart.
She’s always seemed city, or suburban within reach of plenty of shopping. She didn’t live with him in Wales full-time, but was seen in London three times a week. She used helicopters for years to go shopping in Berkshire with Carole for the day. The countryside isn’t her natural setting.
They were “off and on” for twenty years with a major breakup and a few cooling off periods. He did not treat her well during the “courtship”, he danced on a table saying “I’m free” after the breakup and was pictured with his arms around two women on the front pages of the tabloids. His friends also had unflattering remarks about the Middletons that got into the tabs. He also told his friends on a trip that he had “sex” waiting for him in his room, meaning Miss Middleton. If he were not a Prince I think she would have not tried to win him back in 2007. This is what she wanted and she got the ring.
They broke up repeatedly during the dating years. William couldn’t keep the breakups straight during their engagement interview. He started referencing one, while she was talking about another. She was always his last choice, but they both settled for that situation.
It could be a flinch but I think he’s just not used to these sort of affections and is just not liking it.
They’ve got to either learn to fake it if there is no affection there or come to some sort of agreement to just not do these things in public
I agree with your last sentence.
I have read that one of the reasons they rarely showed affection in public was bc they didn’t want people questioning their body language or over-analyzing it (like, if they held hands in 2011 but didn’t in 2018, they didn’t want people assuming there were problems in the marriage.) And that actually did make sense to me, except that we did see affection between them at times, especially in more casual environments.
But, they need to decide if they are going to show affection in public, or not. So many of these exchanges end up looking awkward.
They showed more affection in the early years. The pictures around the time of the Olympics especially. Something changed and while Kate still tries to makes things look fine William can’t be bothered.
At the Olympics, there was the cringing obvious hug, both of them staring straight in the camera. The nicest he has been to her in public was when they knew they were expecting a girl.
That’s as fair analysis: not an uncontrolled automatic ‘flinch’ like her reaction to his unexpected touch, but moving away because he ‘is just not liking it’. Seems pretty miserable in that gilded cage.
It’s definitely there. Maybe “flinch” isn’t the best description (his move wasn’t as quick and sharp as Kate’s) but more like a subtle shrug-off. The way he spotted the camera and reacted afterward was pretty funny though. A quick step forward and a clasp of the hands to try to play off the shrug-off.
Right, its not like Kate’s shrug, but he clearly seems to be trying to get her to stop touching him.
that’s how I see it too, distancing…
He does that often, has for years. The forced PDA at one of the royal wedding, with William forced to sit there then squirm away from her hand on his thigh? He doesn’t like it when she makes possessive physical moves. To this day, he remains a free agent in his mind and heart.
Do you think William losing his looks could be tied to his late development as a total a$$hole?
@Bay, no he’s always been an a–hole. His looks had nothing to do with it.
Cringy as F
I… dont think it was a flinch or even a drawback? He was seeming to maybe tell a story or something, he was moving around a lot I can never hear the audio of these videos but she gave him three pats and went to move her hand the same time he was gesturing with his elbow and their arms got kind of tangled. It looked near the end like a clumsy attempt to hold hands (I dont think they were trying to do that to be clear! That’s just what the elbow/her hand/flailing looked like because they passed hands.)
I honestly dont even see this as PDA. I do this to my partner to let him know in like IKEA that we need to get going, we’ve been staring at lamps too long. I do think they are trying to push the narrative of PDA so-in-love however.
I’m not going to even be salty about the amount of work their doing, even if the agenda is “see we work too” at least they are working and making appearances. I’m going to be salty about all the people saying that they do this all the time because it’s a lie but at least they are working.
Honestly I like Kate doing solo events better. She looks much more animated and engaged when shes by herself and i dont know if it’s because she doesn’t want to overshadow Will (because let’s be real, hes like a saltine cracker.) Or if it’s because she has to work a little harder or it comes a little easier without him there. That having been said, I really only care for Will doing group engagements.
Kate’s dress is fine. It’s a good color, I’m still so exhausted by the heavy eye make up though, a like mascara and a blush/highlighter would make her glow.
‘more animated’ Kate …?
I agree, they both seem to be joking around, maybe teasing each other. It didn’t stand out to me.
@MAEVO I agree. No big deal. Smiling and having fun.
Some couples are just really bad at PDA. Years ago when I was getting engagement pictures taken, the photographer said we were the most wooden couple he had ever seen. When we were alone, no issue at all. Out in public, awkward to the extreme.
Seems they’re not used to touching each other. Tho Kate’s shrug off was much more obvious than his. I don’t see the point in trying to be more touchy-feely now, unless they just want to and based on their reactions I’m not inclined to believe that. It almost makes me suspicious. Honestly, no one cares if they aren’t a PDA heavy couple. Some couples just aren’t. Just keep your dick to yourself William.
They put the PDA on their Instagram though … so they are pushing the narrative now in a way they didn’t before Harry and Megs became a thing. I wonder if Kate is being suddenly added to these events since Harry left in order to promote a power couple dynamic as a visit to a seashore, boxing ring and factory seem like the kind “non-childreny” kind of events Wills would do solo.
Honestly, I watched that whole video and would shoot myself if I had to make small talk like that with randoms all the time. The only time Will starts to look animated is when they are motioned to sit at the table and sign the certificate and I think that is because he knows the visit is almost over …. tour center and chat, sign certificate, shake hands in lineup and out the door.
yeah, I noticed that too: they are doing way more engagements together.
It’s going to be so interesting in the next few months now that the Sussexes are gone. No more scapegoating. If Cornwalls and Cambridge’s really think that press won’t cause drama with them now and start on them again because they have “agreements” with them, they’re delusional.
Not seeing the flinch.
The Kensington post reminded me of The Crown episode where Charles moves out to Wales to learn the language. Query whether William has bothered to learn it. True, he’s not the Prince of Wales yet. But he’s going to be.
I doubt it. I do not think William evens speaks school-boy French.
Note: QEII, Philip, Charles and I believe Anne all speak very good if not fluent French.
As does Meghan. 😎
As per Nacho, she’s also fluent in Spanish. May 2020 we may see her and Maxima, in the stands at Invictus, talking in Spanish.
I was wondering whether he would learn Welsh, too. I’m willing to bet no
I feel such a cognitive dissonance from watching that show. The show makes me have such sympathy for the queen and prince charles and even philip a tiny bit, but in real life I just can’t help but not really like them. I have a real hard time with people who think they are better than others by virtue of the vagina they popped out of or the person they married
It it is apparently a very difficult language to learn. I doubt any of them speak Scottish Gaelic either!
@ Doobie–Oh I’m sure! But that’s not the point
The purpose of the show is to soften the perception of the BRF. It is, in a way, a sort of propaganda. The performances and the writing, by trying to humanize the Queen and her family, did a lot for her public reputation and her prestige, up until the whole sh-tshow with Andrew where she frittered it all away. But the intention is to make you feel sympathetic for them. And it’s easy to, because on an individual level, they are just humans like the rest of us who do whatever any of us would do in their position. But on a systematic level, monarchies as an institution are distasteful. They promote an unequal society. The individual sympathy we feel for them and the truth of their institution can and should coexist, and it shouldn’t excuse what they do or what they represent in society.
They seem tense. It could be at each other and it could be about having to work more and put themselves on display to paper over the Sussexes leaving. So, William makes his empty speech at the BAFTAs which I notice their fandom is avoiding looking at too closely, Kate dresses like Meghan (sigh) and amps up the PDA.
I hope Cathy does start dressing like Meghan because many of the dresses Meghan wore would actually look stunning on Mrs. Cambridge.
Can’t she just develop her own identity? Kate is supposed to be a role model, but for what? Smiling no matter what and imitating other people?
What I’ve noticed about Meghan’s clothes is even I don’t like them at the time, when I come back to it a few months later I then like the outfits so much more. I think my eye isn’t used to it when it’s new.
I thought quite a few of Meghan’s dresses and coats seemed too big for her, which is a pity because she is beautiful, and I would like to see her in brighter colours too
I wonder why there aren’t any headlines screaming about the hypocrisy of Wills speech at the baftas. The media should have trashed him for preaching on racism when he and his family did that to Meghan. They stood by and probably helped the British media push out the black woman in the family. He is disgusting for not protecting his brother.
Even pre Meghan it was pretty obvious the brf was a pack of racist a-holes. Seriously, outside of strategic encounters with people of colour during engagements, how many times have you seen them interacting with black people for example? How many black friends do they have & how many attended their weddings?
He has some balls criticizing BAFTA.
Kate has been SWFing Meghan lately. Meghan cosplay vs. Diana cosplay now.
🙄
The really funny thing about Will’s planned BAFTA speech is that he got shown up in a huge, unplanned way by Joaquin f-cking Phoenix, of ALL people. Here William is, smug and happy that he’s gotten rid of his pesky sister-in-law who steals all the attention by doing a good job, ready to reap the accolades for being “woke” while doing the bare minimum, and along comes Joaquin Phoenix who swept all of that away in a single minute and buried any good press William would have gotten. Meghan herself couldn’t have done a better job if she’d tried. William must have been steaming mad at the end of that evening.
I’m not seeing a flinch or an intentional look at the camera. All I see is two incredibly dull people.
I don’t get the impression that either of them are all that interested in being there. And they seem forced and stiff with each other.
That shade of red is not good on Kate and I hate her hairstyle. Now, for once, since she’s wearing flatter heels perhaps her fans will understand that she isn’t 5’10”.
Yeah, look at Kate standing next to Michelle Obama — Kate is around 5’7″. I think they all lie about their height (William, Harry, and Meghan too).
IMO PDA is not for everyone. Our parents didn’t show lovey dovey affection every time they were in public together, atleast not after the first years. I can see if you are constantly holding hands while appearing in public, It’s viewed as unprofessional. Like we get it you are in love, but this is not about you two right now. That’s just MY opinion and I’m entilted to it.
Charles and Camilla, Letizia and Felipe, Maxima and Willem-Alexander, Mary and Fred, Marie and Joachim. Going out on limb here. You only have a problem with Harry and Meghan’s PDA on the job and not that of all those other couples.
No. If the Queen and Philip were holding hands all the time, I would have a problem with taking them seriously. And I feel the same with coworkers. And even as a part of a unit one partner might not be comfortable with PDA.
Sure Jan.
“our parents” – who are you speaking for?
Hi… My parents have been married for 46years and they walk on the street holding hands as if they’re still high school sweethearts… My friends find it amazing, they always say how much it shows their love a d companionship…
It really depends on what your definition of PDA is. It’s not the same for every couple. My parents don’t demonstrate PDA in a way that would be easily recognizable, but you can see it in the way they treat each other, if you know what to look for. They don’t hold hands walking down the street, but I can’t remember the last time my dad had a snack that he didn’t offer to split in half with my mom.
Awwwww, that’s really sweet!
When a couples’ job/duty is to make professional appearances I’d expect a certain level of conduct than I would them walking through the park PDA. Of course, I think it’s nice to share inside jokes and hold hands, but being glued together seems to take the focus off whats at hand and important causes…And really would you take you supervisor/boss/manager seriously telling you what to do with his girl hanging off his shoulder. hahaha.
Anyway, it seems Harry is more into PDA than Meghan. And I like Meghan she is a quick learner and adjusting well, but she is new and of course I don’t expect her to do everything right right off thebat without some years of experience and mentorship, nothing wrong with that.
There’s not enough there for me to make a judgment as to whether he shrugged her off or not. But Kate looks good in that dress. I just wish she’d do something with that curtain of hair and ditch the dark eyeliner. She’d look better with just mascara and maybe a lighter liner just on her lids. But then, I don’t know much about makeup so maybe I’m totally wrong there.
don’t shoot me…I couldn’t help but notice how sharp her shoulders looked from the back as she gesticulating.
Nah. Just like the other time, I think people are just grasping for straws.
+1
I saw no flinch whatsoever
They’ve had some cute moments as a pair especially in their Canada trip& at the 2012 Olympics. I expect to see more PDA because there was a video of Harry being attentive that was uploaded by a fan on Sunday that’s gone viral, already been viewed 26m times with 700k likes https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a30761430/prince-harry-meghan-markle-love-viral-video/
so think the takeaway will be some like these affectionate moments& can see the Cambridges leaning into that more
Awww, I haven’t seen the H & M moments before, that’s really sweet.
The 2012 Olympics cheer/hug while staring right into the camera was obvious PR.
Eh I don’t know. The Mary Berry one was very blatant, this one is more ambiguous to me.
It was the shrug heard ’round the world, yet some still deny it happened.
Nothing. He’s energetically telling a story and it looks like she is joking with him. Yes, he moves but she stays touching him. There is zero change in their demeanors either. This is worlds away from when she flinched (also, after re-watching that video, I swear it’s more like she was given a ‘talking to’ about protocol beforehand and didn’t want to get in trouble for any PDA, even when is initiated by him). No matter how you slice it or what your feelings are for Kate; you have to admit it would exhausting to have to remember all the ridiculous protocols to prevent you from acting like a normal human (the real story should be when will the monarchy realize these protocols end up causing more problems than actually serving any useful purpose?).
Everyone misuses the word protocol. Protocol actually refers to specific conventions of behavior in formal settings, like banquets, embassy galas, and formal government ceremonies. Things like who sits where, order of precedence for entering a room, when to speak, etc. It has nothing to do with nail polish or PDA or closing doors or crossing legs. That’s a bunch of BS made up by RRs to police women’s behavior (notice that men are NEVER dinged for “protocol violations?” Even married-in men?). There are certainly precedents set by the Queen (the nail polish she likes, the fact that she wears hose). But those personal preferences of hers are not rules everyone has to follow. And every ‘protocol violation” the RRs try to pin on Meghan and even Kate sometimes have been openly done by the Queen (crossing legs, hands in pockets, etc). There was even a ridiculous story where Meghan was dinged for sitting cross-legged while Princess Anne sat cross legged 2 seats over (they cropped her out of the picture). We all need to stop falling for this protocol crap.
No, Lisa. She clearly did not want him touching her. And it was such an automatic reaction she didn’t even think, she moved instinctively.
As I wrote above, William frequently moves away from her touch. I see it as him not liking her being possessive. He’s always hated that about her, part of what he crowed about drunkenly during one of their many breakups. Her possessive controlling behavior. When she does too much touching of him in public, he shrugs it off because in the end, he doesn’t want her touch.
SO. Do we think Kate and William have sex? Like actually have a normal functioning sex life as a couple? Because they dont seem all that used to touching each other. Lol.
@Valiantly Varnished
You never know what people get up to in their bed rooms. They may actually be having mind blowing sex. You never know.
Do we honestly think William is capable of “mind-blowing” sex? Lol. Sorry, but I do not.
@Valiantly Varnished – With “Rose Who?” or Cathy Cambridge?
You need to get more specific here! LOL! LOL!
@Bay, neither actually! I think out of all of them, Rose Hanbury and Kate would be the better partners in the sack, likely because they’d be the ones who are actually considerate of their partners and whether they’re having a good time. William strikes me as really selfish in every capacity.
@VV Wasn’t Kate photographed giving William oral during the holiday in France when the topless photos happened?
I think two people who are willing to that in public albeit on private property but still probably do have sex
They were also trying to get pregnant at the time, which would up their sex quotient by default.
That was a long time ago. Pre-Rosh bush era. They didnt even have kids at that point. I never said they were never sexually active with each other lol. Cleary they are – they have three kids. I am referring to recently and multiple times where they touch each other and either it’s awkward AF or one of them have an instinctive recoil (like Kate did during the Mary Berry special. Marriages change. As do sexual connections.
Especially when your husband has been actively trimming other people’s bushes!
I also think that was the time she was seen smoking at an airport?
@VV, let’s be honest though–would William be having any more stimulating sex while trimming rose bushes? Something tells me he wouldn’t. I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that Rose Hanbury had a much better, more satisfying sex life with David Rocksavage than she did with William. You can say a lot of things about the Marquess of Cholmondeley, but the rumour has it that you can’t ever say he’s f-cking boring, unlike a certain rosebush trimmer we know.
@Valiantly Varnished
On second thoughts I take that back. I think it’s gross speculating about the sex life of William and Kate. We give these people too much space on our minds, discussing them every single day, dissecting their every gesture. This cannot be healthy in the least. I need to give royal stories a break. As a black woman I need to protect my mental health as much as I can and these discussions are not edifying at all.
“We give these people too much space on our minds,”
@Linda – You are so correct! We should stop giving and start charging them daily rental for the room they inhabit in our minds. Gossiping is so much fun that we should find a way to make it pay.
@Linda do what works best for you in this moment. I am actually in a really good place mentally at the moment when it comes to this stuff. Which is why I am able to joke about it. I think my comment was perhaps taken far too seriously. Though I stand by what I said it was essentially a joke rooted in speculation.
But like I said do what works for you. I was in a similar place a few months ago when it came to all the Meghan stories which as a black woman I found very triggering and upsetting. These people I have NO emotional attachment to other than flat out dislike and can joke about with little feeling.
This is gross. If people speculated this about Harry and Meghan, people would be screaming.
We don’t need to speculate, we KNOW they’re having a great time in the sack…
So, you weren’t here for the Polo baby?
I think they have sex, probably quite regularly, but god knows it’s not exactly the most mindblowing, out of this world sex. I’m not saying this to imply that they’re not creative, you can be largely “”boring”” in bed and still have a perfectly satisfying sex life so long as you and your partner care for each other and your respective pleasure. William always struck me as the type who sees sex as a means to an end, and he probably has a max of 2 moves, maybe 3, and it’s largely about him, if you catch my drift.
I think they’ve fallen off it. But I think Kate in her clubbing/drinking/uni days was great in bed and that’s the main reason William married her, the Kate of early days was eager to please in any and every way. I think lately (after her royalesque makeover) she’s turned into what he thinks prudish, and that’s why he looks so angry and petulant, I think he feels she’s not as advertised.
I can’t imagin them doing it that much anymore mostly cos they can’t seem to stand the sight of each other. But I imagined their sex life revolved around williams needs and urges and whenever he wanted it, kate would happily oblige.
Also I remember some old tea that whenever they were fighting ma Middleton would encourage Kate to seduce him with sexy underwear etc to win him back. Or something to that effect.
William doesn’t look at Kate as often as she would look at him. Unlike Harry who looks at his wife as often as she would look at him. And always with that look of love.
I noticed that too. He doesn’t really look at her.
He always has that look like oh yeah, HER as if she is an afterthought.
I don’t want to make this comparison because I don’t think it’s accurate, but the last couple of photos really struck me as being similar to that whole set of photos with Ronald and Nancy Reagan, where he’s getting sworn in and she’s looking at him like he hung the moon for her.
I would not call that a flinch. I think Kate’s gesture was staged and William moved because he wanted to be sure the photo would include his face.
Maybe it is Kate’s way of making up for that obvious shrug and flinch during the Mary Berry “scandal”. She wants the public to know that she and William are not feuding about RoseBush. That they are so in love.
Meh, they have been a couple for what, 20 years? I don’t expect them to be madly in love. My sister and brother-in-law have a similar dynamic in public (they often look a bit akward), so… whatever works, not every couple is the same.
This is what a fan posted about the Sussexes, missing them
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7969425/Sweet-video-showing-Prince-Harry-fixing-Meghan-Markles-hair-goes-viral.html
Now THAT’S PDA. Funny the Fail is running this story.
Oh my WORD, that video. Look, I’m a total cynic, but the simple care in that one gesture shows so much doesn’t it?
What I love most in the world is watching people help others like this. Not even in a romantic way between couples, although that’s nice too. But in a general, good-spirited, “Oh I see you struggling let me help!” sort of way. I was on the bus yesterday and an elderly gentleman was struggling to get on it with a bunch of shopping bags. He left them behind on the curb to swipe his pass and had to bring them on the bus one by one. There was a little girl near the stop waiting with her siblings who saw this and immediately went to go help, even though the last bag was too heavy for her.
But it’s that type of stuff that says it all, doesn’t it? Helping a stranger with their bags. Holding the door open for someone. My best friend would never hesitate to take my bags from me if she thought I was carrying too much or needed a free hand for something. I never had to ask. That’s affection.
Sometimes I feel sorry for Kate. I mean she is blant and sort of passive with no vision of how to use the power she was handed, just like provided access to all the best of world fashion she simply can not display a sense of style. But then I do feel sorry for her, because her husband clearly takes after his father. All composed and uncomfortable with any type of emotions. This reminds a lot like Charles was with his mother. And despite knowing that, Wills is still the same. Also while her situation and her public perception is so far away from the nightmare Meghan had to endure due to blunt elitism and racism, but then sometimes it feels like people like to pick on Kate for no apparent reason.
Both Charles and William are highly emotional, often out of control when it comes to their emotions. That’s one of the reasons the Clarence House staff are said to like Camilla so much. She knows how to handle him and keep him happy.
This site published valid criticism of Kate for years before Meghan came along. She is lazy, unprofessional, and has made little or no effort in her royal role for nine years. That has nothing to do with Meghan.
I think she is lost and doesn’t have much aim or direction wrt what she wants to do with her position. She kind of floats along, not doing much of anything, even though she’s had 8 years to straighten out her priorities wrt her work as a public figure. And she is not receiving anywhere close to the type of guidance she needs to make something of her role, and she doesn’t have the drive to pursue the help she requires on this front.
I do feel a little bad for her, b/c its patently obvious that she has a great many strengths that would be a huge asset to her position. But as I said, she’s largely aimless and drifts along. Perhaps that’s by design. But Camilla has cultivated a perfect balance between being a cheery, if ambiguous presence who still has a firm sense of conviction and a desire to show up and do good for the causes that matter the most to her, all while being inoffensive as possible and not casting a shadow on Charles. I don’t get that sense from Kate, she seems quite lost in terms of what she wants her public role to be, both externally and behind the scenes. Maybe Kate should follow the advice given to Camilla when they were attempting to strategize her “rehabilitation” with the public–just put her out there as a quiet, constant presence who does the work, and let her be herself, and it will all work out.
The whole copying the Sussexs play is so embarrassing to see🤦♀️ they seriously have no shame!!
My two takeaways… gorgeous dress on her and I love that their social media team use Welsh.
Payback for when she shrugged him off, I guess. She is SO SLIM. It’s a bit wild how skinny she is. She looks healthy but JEEZ. I like cheese too much to ever look like that!
I am not sure how they produced three children, but I suppose maybe the spark was there at some point at least from her. Now it seems like the spark has fizzled for both of them. I think she painfully would love for him to be enamored with her, but he never has and never will. She has been too available.
All I can see is that since the Rose Hanbury thing there has been NO spark between Kate and Bill. You can clearly see they’re going through the motions, but body language will tell. She’s looked stressed and exhausted and lost even more weight. I think the alleged affair has taken its toll – for a decade or more she’s put up with Bill’s philandering and generally petulant attitude, she door-matted herself to get the ring, but obviously didn’t anticipate a lifetime of same old same old. Now that her confidant and close friend Harry has flown the coop and she’s realized the nasty game Bill played with the media, KP, BP et al in tearing down Meghan and Harry, she’s truly between a rock and a hard place as well as complicit in their decision to move to Canada.
I’ve never seen any great spark between them. They were content in their business arrangement, as long as the affairs were hidden and the Middletons got plenty of PR out of their relationship with William. Then along came Harry and Meghan’s open love story as a comparison. W&K were always bland, but when compared with the vibrant passion between Harry and Meghan? Even without Rose W&K would look bad in comparison.
I’ve never bought the idea Harry and Kate were friends. They didn’t spend time together before the engagement, Harry admitted that. After the marriage, W&K were in Wales then in Norfolk, no where near Harry. When Kate was expecting (the second time?), Harry admitted he hadn’t seen her in awhile but thought she was doing okay. Sure, he’s nicer to her in public than William, but it isn’t like he was ever spending his spare time hanging out with Kate.
I have a suspicion that all of the flashing and the not wearing underwear that Kate did in the early years of their marriage was a sexual game she played with William. That’s also when they were having sexy time outdoors and sunbathing topless. I went back and read the archives from this site. Kate flashed or had a wardrobe malfunction/“Marilyn moment” 13 times in either one year or one six month period. It was getting to the point where people speculated she MUST be doing it on purpose. She must have been. I think William liked it and she did it (or at least didn’t prevent it from happening) for him. I’m sure they both, but William especially, thought of her flashing as a great big “F U” to their royal, respectable position and to his ultra conservative family—this is when he was being especially resentful about his family and his position and he was extra fussy about not wanting to be a working royal and was trying to do everything he could to get out of it. I think the flashing was a big inside joke between the two of them. And it turned them both on. So I think they were definitely into each other then, and I think right after the wedding and after George is when Kate was feeling her most confident in her position and her most wanted by William. He finally married her! She had everything she wanted! I think he cooled off as the years went by and she started having children and he started to stray, and I think that’s part of why Kate looks like a tiny sliver of the person/personality she used to be.
I don’t think Kate ever cared about how Meghan and Harry’s relationship reflected on her’s and William’s. And I don’t think Kate was ever concerned about being “shown up” by Meghan’s work ethic either. I think Kate, just like every other white person at Kensington Palace and BP and within the royal and aristo crowd, didn’t care very much for Meghan and thought of her as an interloper and an attention seeker who was only in it for the fame etc.
The main person who had a major issue with Meghan and the amount of attention she received after her marriage was William. I believe that it’s William from whom Carole Middleton took her cues regarding the tabloid leaking. I don’t think either Kate or Carole really give a sh-t how much work Meghan does. I believe it would have served them perfectly well to have had Meghan as the work horse in the family while Kate could take all the credit and the praise. Kate’s position is sealed, she got married, she had her children. The only thing she has to do from now on is keep William content and happy with her presence, and a huge part of that is validating his jealous, petty and vindictive behaviour.
As for the flashing–I don’t think it was done on purpose. I think Kate has a general pattern of behaviour that demonstrates that she lacks attention to detail in a huge way. There’s a lot of weird psychoanalysis around Kate’s flashing that I find really strange b/c there are very few indications that Kate’s the type to do that. Sunbathing topless is not exactly out of the ordinary for someone like Kate, who’s probably frequented plenty of beaches in Europe that allow for topless sunbathing in private. Using that to insinuate that she likes flashing and finds it titillating is a stretch, imo. The simpler and easier explanation is that she doesn’t think, doesn’t plan, doesn’t take things into consideration like wind, fabric weight, etc.
Yeah, I think the flashing was because Kate liked the way she looked in a full skirt and didn’t take the rest of it seriously. When her dress blew up on the tarmac in Australia I think it was, she changed out of her dress and put on jeans.
I’m still sticking to my theory that she has ADHD
+1, AmyToo
@Amytoo I love your theory! lololol.
She was famous at school for flashing her backside, and reportedly it got so bad (in the sense that she was famous for being “the girl that moons all the time) that her tutor had to have a word with her and explain there are other ways to get boys to like you than flashing.
The same stories came out from her time working on a yacht, her former boss gave an interview to the press saying she had to be “spoken to” about her tendency to wear overly revealing clothing and standing in places that gave men “an eyeful.”
She has some kind of weird exhibitionist streak.
I think the coat issue has more to do with the fact that she’s changing up her style and wearing more actual coats as opposed to “coat dresses.”
She’s worn plenty of coats over dresses for years, and it was those coats she refused to remove when attending engagements. She had no intention of staying more than 30 minutes at anything, and keeping her coat on inside was a conscious or subconscious nod to that.
William is aggrieved that Kate found a life and Harry found a wife.
He can’t dominate them anymore.
Maybe I’m weird or not seeing what everyone else is seeing, but this struck me less as a flinch and more as a smooth way step away? Like, I dunno. To a lay person, the look of it wouldn’t strike them as an overt flinch or a rejection of Kate putting her arm on William. But that’s just me.
These two had a lot more PDA going on in their early years. They were quite affectionate towards each other, for them. I think Kate is actually quite fun and sporty when she wants to be, and when she is less self-conscious about herself, plenty of people do find her quite attractive. I think in the last few years, the Cambridges have hit a rough patch that’s made her even more anxious and irritable around William. Too bad.
Would they be the first royal couple to head for marriage counseling? Would that be a stretch to assume they’d do that? I can see them go for it quite easily, actually. Imagine the requisite tabloid spin after. Will & Kate doing the MODERN THING and GOING FOR MARRIAGE COUNSELING. So middle-class. So common.
I agree. I don’t see it as a flinch at all. It just seems like he didn’t respond to her cue and take her hand. It seemed natural for Kate which makes me this they are more affectionate in private, but then William didn’t respond. That was a bit awkward. It’s probably so awkward in public knowing everyone is watching and judging. Or maybe they really are encouraged not to show PDA?
The linked video of Kate shaking off his arm is obvious though. Something was definitely up that day! It makes me think of my sister-in-law who acts like she’s the perfect wife in public but is awful to my brother behind closed doors. So nasty in private- to the point of being emotionally abusive, but then acts so innocent are others. That’s the kind of move she would make. A bitchy dodge, but keep on smiling like everything is great. I’m not saying that’s the dynamic here bc I don’t want to blame Kate for not wanting to be touched if it is William being the ass. It just reminded me of their unequal, toxic dynamic.
Shame on the Sussexes for leaving this heavy, burdening work load of licking ice cream cones on the poor, suffering Cambridges!
I bet Kate was mad because she and William rehearsed this PDA in the car, but William has forgotten his cue. 😂
??? You all see what you wanna see.