Duchess Kate ‘did little to bridge the divide’ with Meghan from the start

British Royals are seen at the Wimbledon Championships Day 12

While there was more information in the Times’ excerpts of Finding Freedom, I’m enjoying the way People Magazine has decided to lowkey drop various pieces of information from their excerpt-deal with Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. People Magazine is parceling out new stuff which wasn’t covered in the Times excerpts too, and they’re focusing on the more superficial dramas, like the tiara sh-t and the necklace fuss. I’ve been curious to see if People Magazine will drop the thin veil of objectivity and actually call out the Cambridges for their part in smearing Harry and Meghan. They aren’t. So far. This is as close as they come:

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made their last official royal appearance in March as they joined Kate Middleton, Prince William and the rest of the royal family for the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey — but it was clear the mood between the two couples was tense.

As William and Kate made their way to their seats in the front row, Meghan gave them a little wave from the second row as she and Harry smiled and said hello to the couple, but they were met with little response.

Now, the new book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family claims that Meghan and Prince Harry felt snubbed at the service.

“A lot of damage has been done,” co-author Omid Scobie tells PEOPLE of tensions between the couples.

From the start, it seemed that Kate and Prince William had a strained relationship with Meghan.

“Though it was not necessarily her responsibility, Kate did little to bridge the divide,” write authors Scobie and Carolyn Durand, who went on to note that despite being pitted against one another by the press, the women “were not at war with each other.” Although, there were some “awkward moments,” the authors explain.

Kate and Meghan first met during a visit to Kate and Prince William’s Kensington Palace home, but Kate is an “extremely guarded person” who keeps a tight group of friends, a friend explains in the book. Tensions were eased by a birthday gift Meghan gave to Kate, a soft leather Smythson notebook, and Meghan’s adoration for Princess Charlotte.

[From People]

So “tensions were eased” when Meghan was proactive, when Meghan doted on Charlotte and gave Kate a gift. Sounds like Kate, an “extremely guarded person,” was never prepared to do any kind of emotional labor to welcome Meghan in any way. Probably because – and this is just my reading of it – Kate was consumed with jealousy and anger towards Meghan from the word go. Kate immediately began competing with Meghan from the start – Kate was the one who saw Meghan as competition (a rival who had to be vanquished) rather than as a potential friend/sister-in-law or even as a work colleague worthy of respect. Kate is such a dysfunctional person.

Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex leave af

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210 Responses to “Duchess Kate ‘did little to bridge the divide’ with Meghan from the start”

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  1. Mtec says:

    For years I’ve been hearing stories like these about Kate. That she’s “cold” and “guarded,” that even despite knowing her for years people say they never truly “know“ her, just the facade she presents.
    Of course not every woman has to be warm and welcoming to everyone, but I think it’s interesting that’s what she wants she public to think she is like.

    • Ginger says:

      This reminds me of an Instagram post I saw a few weeks ago. This girls sister worked at the hotel the Cambridge’s stayed at during their Canada tour and said Kate was controlling and mean and not at all like her public persona. Apparently, William just goes along with it.

      • Nancy says:

        Link?

      • Digital Unicorn says:

        That has been a consistent narrative around Kate since the beginning – she was often described as controlling and that was one of the reason he kept dumping her.

        Kate is her mother’s daughter – look what those former employee’s of PP said about Carole.

      • notasugarhere says:

        William’s friends leaked her controlling nature was the reason for the repeated breakups.

      • Ginger says:

        It was an Instagram comment I saw on a post. I was on the explore page so I don’t remember the post. The post wasn’t Sussex related but royal related.

      • Tessa says:

        Kate’s biographers wrote of her making sure other women did not get near William. In one story, she saw a woman coming on to William and she rushed across the room saying she was William’s girlfriend (she wasn’t then) and William mouthed “thank you” to her after the woman left. Quite the manipulator she also apparently has no close women friends.

      • February-Pisces says:

        Someone in the aristo circle once said that the reason they didn’t like Kate wasn’t because she was a ‘commoner’ but was because she was rude af.

      • Digital Unicorn says:

        @February – I’ve seen that elsewhere but I’ve also read that they liked and preferred Pippa as she was much more friendlier. It seems that in the aristo circle’s Pippa was more accepted than Top CEO.

    • Noodle says:

      It’s the power dynamic. She decides whom she lets in; she has the privilege to accept or deny friendships, and she’s enabled to do so. I doubt she has any real relationships (except maybe her mother/sister) where they are equals.

      • Luz says:

        I’m sorry, this is very confusing. Of course she decides who she wants to be friends with. What do you mean when you say that it’s her privilege? Who would decide that if not her.

      • Noodle says:

        @luz, I’m referring to her privilege in regards to the power dynamics. Yes, normal folks can allow or deny friendships, but usually it is on a level playing field. One person in the relationship isn’t more or less powerful than the other. In Kate’s case, I sense she is the Queen Bee and others accept it and treat her as such, or they are ignored or abused, like Meghan was.

      • Sofia says:

        @Noodle: Kate might think she’s Queen Bee but if the turnip toff drama taught us anything, it’s Rose Hanbury who’s Queen Bee of the Norfolk circle

      • Bunny says:

        If Kate is cold, she’s bringing order to the job of Future Queen/CEO and is a consummate manager.
        If Meghan doesn’t smile enough, she’s told by the Palace that she looks haughty.
        If Kate is distant and unkind, she’s being wise and discerning.
        If Meghan is friendly, she’s being try-hard and is “social climbing”.
        Kate has the privilege to be Kate. Meghan has none of that in the UK.

    • Sofia says:

      “For years I’ve been hearing stories like these about Kate. That she’s “cold” and “guarded,” that even despite knowing her for years people say they never truly “know“ her, just the facade she presents.”

      Tatler pretty much said this too. They admit that Kate is really guarded and doesn’t really let anyone get to know her. Pippa’s apparently turning into this too.

      • A says:

        This is interesting, as I get the sense that while friendlier, Meghan keeps up a bit of a facade as well.

      • Trashaddict says:

        Facade? Ah, you mean life as a black person in white society. Cause somebody might get upset if you act “too black.” And being on your guard is necessary because you don’t know whether people will turn on you or not.

      • North of Boston says:

        One can be reserved and guarded, keep one’s private business to oneself without snubbing someone or being rude.

        You don’t have to be “warm” to be kind, respectful or simply polite.

      • Blase2 says:

        @trashaddict: Who doesn’t protect themselves from snakes who lie in wait for their opportunity to take advantage? That’s part of life whether you’re black or white.

    • Abena Asantewaa says:

      Kate is very suspect. she is riddled with jealousy, and her own shortcomings disabled her from being friendly and helpful to Meghan . Despite the fact that this woman had a whole media and courtier establisment, propping her up, she still fell short. Kate does not look happy. They could have been sisters, helping each other, Kate showng Meghan the ropes, lunching, and tea with light humourous palace gossip thrown in. Meghan, could also help her with her speech writing, and charity innitiatives, but no, the green-eyed monster took it’s hold on Kate. Such a missed opportunity.

    • CuriousCole says:

      When Chelsy was still on the scene I vividly recall a Daily Mail comparison piece between her and Kate containing the sentence, “she’s a breath of fresh air as everyone finds Kate a bit glacial.” Even years ago snippets of truth about her actual personality were aired.

      • Cari says:

        I remember that – “we all find Kate glacial. Whereas Chelsea always has a warm smile for everyone”.

    • Hope says:

      She also hides her agency. The fragile public image is on purpose while William and Carole are pushed forward as fighting her battles for her.

    • Lizzie says:

      All of these euphemisms just mean snobby b!tch. Cold, guarded, tight circle of friends.
      She is married to the ffk and not going to let anyone forget it.

      • fiirf says:

        To me she comes across as very shady andd shifty . And yes dark with hidden motives. I see no redeeming qualities in her whatsoever. None.

  2. Becks1 says:

    My god she does love red button-y coatdresses.

    This excerpt, again, does not make Kate look good. why did Meghan have to reach out to her? Why did Meghan have to give her gifts (I know it was for her bday but still) an dote on Charlotte BEFORE Kate started to thaw towards her? How shallow and dysfunctional a person is Kate?

    Look, I think we can all understand being a little guarded as a royal, but it sounds like Kate is just a bitch.

    • Love says:

      Meghan reaching out to me is on brand with her. She really seems like that Cali girl who wants to get along with you, and who wants you to like her. And from this excerpt we can see that she did try… and gave up after getting snubbed. It’s not Kate’s job to create relationships, but goodness me, Meghan tried!

      Also… Kate’s friends also appear to have spoken to Omid and Carolyn. Why isn’t there uproar about them? Qwhite interesting 🤔

    • Mignionette says:

      Kate reminds of that classic scenario of someone who converts to Judaism and decides to show those born into religion that she is one of them. Often converts become huge sticklers for upholding the rules at cost to any future new entrants to the community.

      My ex mother in law was like this. She was an upper class jew who’s family moved from North Africa to Europe just after the war. Her family moved to the south of France where they were largely rejected by the local community and lost all their wealth whilst fleeing (horrific stories that will sit with me forever). They later ‘sort of’ converted to Catholicism but remained ‘culturally jewish’. They were dirty poor thereafter and worked the land to regain their wealth. All the while they were a little shady to their neighbours whom they clearly regarded as peasants….

      She then married into a minor aristocratic family where again she was rejected for being an ‘immigrant jew refugee masquerading as a catholic’.

      Whilst it’s common folklore for MIL’s to be a little difficult, my MIL took that role to a whole new level and never missed an opportunity to be the most mean racist POS ever. The irony was that at every turn, I knew it wasn’t really about me. I felt her pain at having being rejected herself, She was so riddled with her insecurities that despite her mean behavior I constantly pitied her and conversely she despised my lack of bitterness to her. She knew I felt nothing but pity for her.

      I remember the conversation I had with her before disclosing I was divorcing her son, I told her I forgave her everything and hoped she could find peace one day. The silence was deafening.

      I see so many parallels of my ex MIL in Kate. Bullied at school for being a nouveau riche upstart (“council house Kate”), rejected by the Aristo set, repeatedly humiliated by her boyfriend/ husband who only married her when he had run out of choices. And then the final rejection of swapping the control of her mother for that of the courtiers who micro-manage every moment of her pitiful existence.

      Someone like Meghan must have really irked her and ticked her off. How dare Meghan have everything she was not allowed to have i.e. agency, a voice, a man who loves her, getting pregnant so quickly, a previous career, a litany of diverse rich powerful friends of her own …. ad infinitum. Meghan’s circle was actually connected to Harry’s whilst Kate literally stalked Bill from Peru to St Andrews.

      Kate is the perennial Karen desperately wanting to become the true Mensch embraced by the community. But she know’s what that community she desperately seeks acceptance from thinks of her as we saw from the Tatler puff-turncoat-hit-piece earlier this year.

      People may write hit pieces about Meghan, but those hit pieces come laced with the bitterness of lack of access to the intelligent, beautiful, charismatic, and purposeful money maker Duchess.

      And whilst the tabs have not been kind to the Diana’s and Meghan’s of this world, they are the ones who leave the world a better place than they entered it. Kate will forever be remembered as a puppet of the state who enabled racism and toxic abuse against her pregnant SIL in a new family, new country.

      • MaryContrary says:

        I see this too. I feel like Kate is so insecure within the snobby aristocratic world, that she needed someone else to look down upon.

      • Babz says:

        Bravo! This is an excellent comment with great insight. Interesting story about you ex-MIL. She sounds like she was such a sad person. I’m glad you got out and away from her abuse.

      • Laura says:

        Thanks for this story/perspective. It makes me look at Kate in a different light, with maybe a little bit of sympathy for how sad she might be inside her own head.

      • L84Tea says:

        That’s an incredible and spot on analysis. It makes perfect sense.

      • goofpuff says:

        Understanding her better? Maybe, but really the abuse that Meghan endured doesn’t make me pity Kate at all. She is still a grown ass woman making choices that she must take responsibility for. We need to stop infantalizing her.

      • osito says:

        I would read an entire novel based on your synopsis of your ex-MIL’s story. Fascinating. And I think the parallels you draw to Kate’s life are interesting to ponder. Thank you so much for sharing.

      • Vava says:

        Very interesting perspective!
        I have a very obnoxious MIL who is 98 and still going strong. She has done so much damage to her family. I’m the only one who stood up to her over the years, I tried to do that with some grace, but it hasn’t been easy.
        Life is too short to have to deal with such difficult people. They torment the rest of us. That is why I’m so glad that Harry and Meghan left. Very smart choice.

      • pottymouth pup says:

        OMG Mignionette – you hit the nail on the head with that

        (also, there’s a recent book by Maurice Samuels called The Betrayal of The Duchess that you might find interesting. It’s about SImon Deutz’s betrayal of Duchesse de Berry and lays the groundwork for how, in Deutz, the French found a great excuse to continue to otherize Jews long before the Dreyfus affair)

      • Jeannie says:

        If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re my friend and neighbour who works for the RF, and has had a few juicy tales to tell when she’s had a glass or four of wine ; )
        Kate is indeed exactly what you say (rigid doesn’t even come close), and Wills is very, very aware of his status as future king. Harry, OTOH, is the royal favourite and a real sweetheart IRL. Meghan, to those who know and truly love him, is the one who saved him. He was miserable, everyone knew it, he hated the whole royal thing, hated the ceremony, the status, everything. He only ever wanted to be a soldier really, and then run his charity in Africa. And Meghan made that ok.
        Personally, I’ve seen Wills & Kate up close a few times-they used to sneak off to a local restaurant called Locanda Ottoemezzo and hide in a corner downstairs. God help you if she saw you even look in their direction-if looks could kill, we’d all be little piles of ash. Seriously, it’s a freaking restaurant and there are other customers. I never saw anyone approach them, never saw anyone try to take a photo, but she was stone cold. Her control freak side shows in her figure too. No one is that slender after three kids unless they’re counting every calorie and working out like a madwoman. No wonder Wills plays away.

      • North of Boston says:

        Jeannie

        You had me until the last sentence: “No wonder Wills plays away.”
        Nope. Any person who cheats on their marriage is choosing to cheat on their marriage.

        And keep in mind Wills chose her. He could have married any number of women. But she’s the one he chose and married and has chosen to remain married to. He knew her for years before, so he should have been well aware of the kind of woman he was marrying. If his chose to also break his marriage vows and cheat with some other woman, he chose to do that. (I mean, his father also chose to cheat on his marriage, and eventually divorce … Wills could divorce Kate if she’s so awful he felt the need to look elsewhere for whatever.)

        Kate didn’t make him do it or cause him to do it or lead him to do it. If he did it, HE did it.

        I’m no Kate fan or Wills fan, but it bugs me to no end when people try to blame a man’s infidelity on his wife being faulty in some way.

      • WigletWatcher says:

        Will chose her for reasons. And early in their relationship it was widely reported he was never intending to be monogamous. To the length of openly ditching her for others and seeing her reaction. It was also reported when he was caught cheating while they were dating she was upset at the fact it made her look bad. That he was disrespectful she was never going to leave.

      • Tealie says:

        @North of Boston says: no one is blaming Katie for Williams infidelity, but infidelity was part of the deal from the beginning. Kate was never Williams first or even third option and ended up choosing her after being essentially blackmailed and shamed into marrying her after having everyone else reject him which was the reason for the 2007 break up.
        William chose Kate because she is essentially like tapwater there is nothing agreeable about her but there’s nothing disagreeable either she molds herself around him and that is what ALOT of their friends said. William was never swept away with Kate and never ‘loved’ and thought she was ‘the one’ but was ‘satisfied’ with her docile and social climbing nature which would allow him leway for other women uncontested in their marrige. e.g jecca, rose.

      • truth fairy says:

        @Tealie
        There was a story about K accompanying W on a ski trip with his buddies but she stayed in the room, and he excused himself from the bar one night by saying he had “good sex waiting for him”.

        So there was that as well

    • Amy Too says:

      Especially since Meghan was a guest in Kate’s house. That is some horrific hostess behavior. You can’t invite someone, especially your brother in law’s serious girlfriend, and then act like it’s a horrific imposition for her to be there. She was not only a guest in Kate’s home, but a guest in Kate’s country, a guest of the Royal Family, and Kate snubbed her. Usually you try to make your guest as comfortable and welcome as possible. You go out of your way to include them in activities and conversations, you go out of your way to make sure they’re comfortable and provide them with whatever they need.

      This is another reason why I find the “vegan dinner” story so annoying. Even if Meghan really was a strict vegan and needed a vegan meal, as a host, you provide that, gladly. You don’t invite people with special dietary restrictions into your home FOR DINNER and then get pissed that you have to cook a dinner they can eat. And it’s not like no one else ate that “vegan dinner.” Will and Kate also ate it. So Kate is pissed that she “was forced to” cook a meal that she and William also ate. She would’ve had to feed herself and William anyways. So why is it so annoying that she had to cook for Meghan? It’s not like Meghan was the only person who ate that day and Kate was forced to do extra labor. Don’t invite someone over specifically for dinner if you don’t want to provide dinner. I don’t even believe the “Kate personally cooked a vegan meal for Meghan” anyways, though.

      • Mignionette says:

        People like Kate get their cues from the courtiers, DM and Brexit Britannia and run with it. For the first time in her adult life Kate was being ‘bigged up’ and that must have been a heady feeling for such a weak, petty insecure woman.

        The Narc courtiers would have seen how easily manipulated she was and been giddy with delight that they could use her to further triangulate and gas-light Meghan. That is why Kate felt so comfortable snubbing a full blood Prince in full view at the Commonwealth service.

        Kate is a Narc’s dream and she was trained that way by her Narc pimp mother to marry another Narc. It’s a whole toxic mess.

      • HeatherC says:

        Do we know what the “vegan meal” even was? She could with a straight face claim she prepared a vegan meal if she mixed a large salad. Yes, the bar is THAT low for her.

      • Hope says:

        It was about control. Bring someone into your comfort zone under the pretense of friendship and then bully them. And by being close to them without other people being there, you can make up whatever narrative you like.

        This kind of behavior is probably why Kate avoided the royals when she first married in. If she behaves like this herself, she would anticipate other people behaving like this to her.

    • I always notice Harry’s pissed-off expression in these photos, and laugh. Meghan is sweet, the Royal Fam are a bunch of nasty, stuck-up bubble-dwellers, and Harry looks like he’s ready to fight someone.

      • Tealie says:

        if i were him i would too, would probably try and punch william in the throat for being such an ass – being the least he desrves – after endangering my wife and child

  3. Sofia says:

    So which is it? Did the royals roll out the red carpet for her and treated her great from the start but her “terrible attitude” ruined it?

    Or did they treat her with apathy, never really treated her “well” or give her chance? Which is it? Because it can’t really be both.

    • Becks1 says:

      You know what’s sad? I think it is both, depending on who you are. I think the royals probably think they rolled out the red carpet, but from an outsider’s perspective, they never really treated her well. Kate probably thinks she was being super welcoming because she let M play with Charlotte. What an honor, amiright??? But to anyone else, this story makes Kate look cold and mean-spirited.

      • Jay says:

        That’s a good point, Becks – maybe “rolling out the red carpet” is more like “we acknowledged Meghan’s existence and she was not grateful enough!”

        I’ve never thought it was Kate’s job to “show Meghan the ropes” (lol, what could she possibly teach Meghan about public speaking) but it seems clear anecdotally that an attitude of disrespect surrounded Meghan among KP employees, and that comes straight from the top CEO.

      • Poisonella says:

        Starting to release news about Epstein and Prince Andrew again. Whenever there is an uptick in that news, there seems to be an onslaught of bad press for Meghan… only. Not the Prince who I think is kind of a dim bulb- just her. Kind of getting kind of flagrant about directing the attention away from Andrew who must be guilty as hell, because I still can’t figure out if he was allowed at the daughter’s wedding or not.

      • Sofia says:

        @Becks: You’re right, I didn’t even think about that. The BRF thought letting her and Harry marry and acknowledging her existence was enough. To them that is “rolling out the red carpet”.

        @Jay: It’s not on Kate but like I said the other day, they can relate to each other in a way very, very, very few women can through the men they married. After all, how many other women can say they’re married to a high profile prince? So being allies wouldn’t have hurt (let me make it clear that I do NOT expect them to be besties but like I said, but some friendliness wouldn’t have hurt)

      • Betsy says:

        This is what my in-laws were like. You could look at some of the things they did and say that they rolled out the red carpet and you could look at the way they treated me and conclude that they may have rolled out the red carpet and then in turns shoved me off it and rolled me up in it.

      • Sunday says:

        ITA, Becks. I’ve also been thinking about the phrase that’s being used, “roll out the red carpet” – to me, this isn’t saying that they welcomed Meghan from the start with warm smiles and open hearts, it’s saying “we gave the American actress the red carpet she so desperately craves and she still wasn’t satisfied.”

        I think this is one of those royal rumors that’s been repeated so many times that the original intentionality behind the quote has been lost. There’s just no way a courtier would use a red carpet analogy as a positive for Meghan. It was meant to be a dig against the “fame-hungry” actress, not a genuine statement.

      • Harper says:

        I think the Royals are so accustomed to being the center of attention and catered to wherever they go, that for them to have to exert any welcoming energy from their end is considered a big effort. Wherever the Royals go, people plan to the nth degree to make their arrivals/visits comfortable and effortless, and the Royals probably have no idea of the hoops mere mortals jump through to prepare. So, as a family, they are not in the habit of caring about the needs of others. When they fail to make someone feel at home, the Royals cover their lack of warmth by laughing that the outsider should buck it up and deal with it. Their Royal status seems to have stunted every one of them in their development. For some reason, Harry seems to have grown beyond that, but Kate’s development is still stunted at the year she met William so she’s just as bad.

    • Lori says:

      And then there is the cultural divide between Britain and America. Rolling out the red carpet could be inviting her to Amner Hall for Christmas and then ignoring her. My Brit husband observed that among members of Kate’s social class being frozen out for about five years would be quite normal for a new in-law. You “earn” your place in the family. Ir’s a sort of upper-class hazing. Meghan left half way through it.

      • Sofia says:

        I’m aware of the class situation in the UK – I do live in the country. And it seems Kate’s “upper-class hazing” still hasn’t ended because they’re giving catty remarks to Tatler magazine in 2020 – almost 10 years after she married William.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Kate isn’t upper class (not an aristocrat), she’s middle class. We’ve been told for two decades the ‘friendly, warm, middle class’ attitude of the Middletons is what drew William in. Never bought it myself.

        I’m sure they act nice to him, but this is the same family who had no friends to invite to the wedding. They invited complete strangers like the fellow who owns the local pub and doesn’t even know them.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Adding, as I wrote in another post, I don’t think the Anmer stay was W&K’s idea. Five years ago there was an article about how full Sandringham gets at Christmas. Staff are forced out of their quarters so the royals can stay in the main house.

        After W&K moved to Anmer, they moved the Middletons in for months around that first Christmas. Housekeeper quit because of it, after only five months on the job. We kept getting the dueling Christmas narratives, but I doubt the Windsors wanted the Midds staying at Anmer every Christmas lording it over the royal staff.

        I suspect Charles was behind the Anmer stay. It was never something William or Kate offered out of a sense of welcome for Meghan or love for Harry. Several birds with one stone. Makes room in main house for other royals, keeps the Midds out of Sandringham for Christmas, gives the impression W&K get along with Harry and Meghan.

      • Owen says:

        Kate definitely should have stepped up to guide Meg in navigating the Firm in all ways possible given the rules & complex internal relationships, etc. – should Meghan have asked for it which we aren’t sure she ever sought out Kate’s help tbh.

        The point I really came here to make is someone who is educated, worldly, self-made, etc. as Meg is would have little to nothing to talk with Kate about as they have such different upbringings & personalities.

        Meg probably found Kate to be an absolute bore & so other than their husbands in common, i doubt either would have been able to find much to talk about with one another.

      • Owen says:

        Kate definitely should have stepped up to guide Meg in navigating the Firm in all ways possible given the rules & complex internal relationships, etc. – should Meghan have asked for it which we aren’t sure she ever sought out Kate’s help tbh.

        The point I really came here to make is someone who is educated, worldly, self-made, etc. as Meg is would have little to nothing to talk with Kate about as they have such different upbringings & personalities.

        Meg probably found Kate to be an absolute bore & so other than their husbands in common, i doubt either would have been able to find much to talk about with one another.

      • Nic919 says:

        Kate didn’t have to be best friends, but she could have been welcoming. She wasn’t because she’s an insecure woman and she saw Meghan as a threat from day one. The sad part of that is that Meghan was never a threat to Kate because no one cares about Kate outside of a few royalist sycophants. Her job was to make kids and she doesn’t matter beyond that. She chose to be lazy and useless and she will be forgotten as time marches forward, as she has nothing of substance to offer. The comparisons to Melania are apt because they are both women who care more about status and material things than doing any good in the world. They also both try and fail to cling to their youth because they never bothered to cultivate anything but what they think is a physical ideal. But time stops for no one and they are revealed for the empty shells they are.

    • Owen says:

      I’m so confused by these “courtiers” for several reasons & someone please explain. These are people in the Firm whose job is to advise the BRF? Does each “house” have their own set of courtiers or is there just one big group managing all house? Do they just act as they wish & advise on what they think or are these all directives handed down from who exactly? Because it seems to me that these people are not looking in the best interest of the Firm in their advise to anyone ever – and the fact that Andrew hasn’t been left outside the gates of Windsor w his luggage & a bus pass after the unsealed docs dropped yesterday – but these courtiers are still just vomiting stupid words about Megan & Harry & tiara-gate & dress fitting tear-gate

      • ArtHistorian says:

        The “courtiers” are senior staff. Each royal has staff but there’s also an internal hierarchy among the staff.

      • Tealie says:

        each ‘court’, e.g Kensington Buckingham Clarence and others have their own sets of courtiers which are essentially assistants, government advisers who organise and advise on protocol, events, PR, ‘court’ management, strategies and are also classist and racist lmao. They are entitled assistants on ket who control every aspect of royal life from who can see which family member when too what time one can wake up.

        Think about the royal family as hollow chess pieces moved around by thousands of little hands.

  4. Priscila says:

    Okay, I thought about something here. Depending on how the next six months go with the RR and RF campaign against the Sussexes, I think we will see William´s starting to gear the conversation more to the Kate x Meghan angle and downplay his own role. Although the book is aiming to point the finger at nameless courtiers- an easier escape route for them, to both avoid litigation and piss of their RF sources- I see many already joining the dots, especially when Will is so keen to make terrible jokes that show his classicism, casual racism and such… and again, while they have their adoring fans to cate for, William and Kate are so eager to be adored by all they embarked in this stupid PR effort to win America, so this to me shows they are EXTREMELY concerned about their images, even outside the UK- for some reason.

    If this happen- more stories on Kate being cold to Meghan than stories speaking about confluct between Will and Harry- he might use this to his advantage. The purpose of Kate is to make him look good, at any costs, even if the cost of Kate herself. Because, come on, we know people will love to place the blame of the brother´s fallout on a woman- and if Meghan is not viable option for William anymore, he might as well use Kate as shield.

    We went from ” Kate tried, buit her loyalty is to Bill” to “Oh yeah, Kate definetely did not help”- who is to say that this is not leading to ” Kate is extremelly compettive and does bring this out on William, who is missing his brother terribly.”

    • Elizabeth Regina says:

      Interesting. The sliding scale of blame does indeed appear to be shifting towards OfWilliam. Hmm

    • Florence says:

      Good call, Priscilla. We’re wandering in the direction of “William tried to keep Kate happy for the sake of a stable family life, hence cutting contact with Harry even though he loves his brother so much.”

    • February-Pisces says:

      I’ve said before when everyone they know has been thrown under the bus, the only two left will be william and Kate. Except by then it will be William OR Kate. KP, Willieleaks and the royal mafia will thrown her to the wolves in a second without hesitation. She knows this, that’s why I don’t have any sympathy. They both got greedy and their fragile egos don’t seem to understand that the four of them could have been stronger together. They didn’t want to share the spotlight.

      It was up to Kate to welcome Meghan not the other way round. It’s like Beyoncé and Kim. If Beyonce wanted to be friends with Kim, they would have been friends. Kim doesn’t get to decide and neither did meghan.

      • Priscila says:

        TBH, I think it is already happening. No matter what the book will truly say about Harry and Will- and I believe it will not say much, other than a few tidbits that will confirm what we already know- it most likely be ignored, or downplayed by the media, and the focus will be Kate and Meghan.

        Whether we will see yet another iteration of Meghan made Kate cry, maybe it will be the car lift story or another comment on Westimentsre debacle ( how William was “appaled” at Kate´s behaviour) , they know they can rely on ingrained misogny to both sell papers and excuse William from everything.

        I mean, so far he is still out there, sharing ” poor bill” stories of being in a stable relationship and name checking her all the time, as if reminding his audience he is a family man first, but this is only going to go so far…as @February-Pisces said , there will be a time where the options are not so many, and Kate is the married in.

    • Sofia says:

      Yup. I am and will continue to believe that the Cambridges will never divorce – they’ll just live seperate lives even if everyone in the UK is aware of it. But if William does want a way to get out and blame it all on someone other than himself, he’s got Kate. William is still considered by a lot of people to be “Diana’s golden boy who can do no wrong” so if he plays to that and starts a narrative of “Poor William was controlled by the evil Kate and the Middletons! They FORCED William to choose between them or Harry. William didn’t want to!” then certain people in the UK can and will turn on Kate.

      The married-ins are always disposable, sadly.

      • HeatherC says:

        You’re so right. I can predict the narrative right now. “As a child scarred from his parents’ very public very nasty divorce, he wanted to protect his own children from that pain, because he’s a dedicated family man of course. He had to compromise to keep his family together, to give his children the stable upbringing he never had (shade on Charles of course). He had to choose between his children’s well being and his relationship with his mentally weak brother because of his then-wife’s demands. It pained him to make that Sophie’s Choice but the brothers are working on their relationship now that Catherine has retired to her parents’ estate. His chldren are enjoying getting to know their uncle again and William has every hope that the bond will be restored stronger than ever.”

      • Lady D says:

        All we need is for Harry to speak up and throw a wrench into their story. If he decides to tell the truth, Wills will lose a lot of sympathy. Personally, I hope William gets screwed three ways from Sunday for his treatment of his wife and brother. Can’t really see him as an involved and loving parent either. The kids will also come second to him, always.

      • Priscila says:

        @ HeatherC- i could see it too. If William really wants to, he can spin a divorce in his favour.

        But he is lazy and that works in Kate´s favour.

      • paddingtonjr says:

        @Sofia, apparently in all Carole’s preparing Kate to be QC, she forgot one important point: throughout royal history, a major them is that everyone is expendable except perhaps the heir. Diana married Charles in part because she didn’t think he could divorce her and we all know how that worked out. Kate’s position is not secure and, if she becomes too much of liability, she may find herself standing all alone.

    • notasugarhere says:

      ‘The purpose of Kate is to make him look good, at any costs, even if the cost of Kate herself.’

      If that was Kate’s purpose, William never would have married her. She has never made him look good. We’ve seen how he cringes when she speaks, how he seems frustrated and angry by her incompetence in the role. Going back as far as the Jubilee boat fiasco, her inability to follow basic protocol, and him leaving her in the rain without an umbrella.

      He spent a decade dragging his feet but using the Middletons as an escape from his royal duties. He married her as a way to escape his royal duties, using marriage and kids as an excuse not to work. Now he realizes, if he stays as a royal, his choice of wife was a mistake.

      Kate has always been a nasty, bullying meangirl. William didn’t make her that way.

      • Tealie says:

        @notasugarhear Spot on! further more i think he married her because she is very easily ignorable and docile, if that makes sense.He knows he can essentially treat her like a shit – giving him room to have a life away from her, to be with the women he wants to be with and do the things he wants to do whilst keeping up appearances (since she would never throw a fit nor threaten their public image by complaing nor divorcing) a bit like Phillip and his side mistresses and children. I think the Queen raised him, after Diana died to not look for love but stability that someone who essentially is compliant and obedient which kate is (presenting as a mirror to reflect yourself on to, she has no thoughts, feelings or opinions, on anything)

    • Nic919 says:

      As a married in Kate is disposable and it doesn’t help that she remains so bad at doing the bare minimum the royals are supposed to do. The press will tire of coddling her and they will turn on her before they do William.

      • Priscila says:

        I dont think the Press will choose that on their own- I think if the Sussexes showed us anything is that the RF has many households in direct opposition with each other, and these households use the Press as mouthpieces. That William and Kate´s narratives differ in tone just tell me they are basically operating as two separate entities in terms of PR and yes, if William starts being seriously dragged, he will use his mouthpieces and have kate take the fall for him.

      • Lola says:

        The FFK didn’t think it through when he ran off the only truly charismatic member of the royal family. Will & Kate were able to skate by doing the bare minimum because Harry was there, with his projects and his charities to keep the press enthralled.

        Now that Harry and Meghan are gone, the Royal Family don’t really have anyone to pull eyes, in spite of being propped up by the British media. The international press has not shown the least bit of interest, even though they keep putting ‘woe is me’ puff pieces in People magazine.

        They either need Harry back (unlikely) or they need someone new, and exciting. Frankly, I think that the groundwork is being laid to exchange Kate for a new model that is better able to perform royal duties, speak in public, support the monarchy, etc. The Tatler article was the opening salvo.

    • Sid says:

      Priscilla, I feel like that narrative is already starting to play out. The way The Times presented the excerpts of Omid and Carolyn’s that were chosen for publication does not make Kate look good. Meanwhile William is presented as the caring brother who was just worried about little brother. I don’t think that was a coincidence.

      • Priscila says:

        Might have very well started. We gotta remember not everybody is buying the book- for many readers, the excerpts are telling the full story, and the story that has been told there is that William was just a concerned brother, that Harry could not discern who was speaking against Megahn from who was only showing concern, that Meghan ruffed some feathers and their impulsiveness made them not give the aides enough time to turn around, that the aides were the ones being bitchy and yes, the only one from RF that is shown in a slightly negative light is Kate, for ” not doing enough”…

    • nicegirl says:

      That is a very smart take, Priscilla

      • Priscila says:

        Thank you! Let´s see how things progress. With the Andrew situation getting increasingly nastier, things can get even more muddled.

        The Windsors are so trashy, FFS.

    • North of Boston says:

      Though, in the end, that still just makes William look mean-spirited and weak anyway.

      Most family interactions I’ve seen, the birth-family member sets the tone. An in-law doesn’t usually get to shade and disrespect someone from their spouse’s family without implicit or explicit approval of their spouse. In other words, Kate couldn’t have been continually rude and disrespectful of Meghan and/or Harry without William approving of her doing that.

      So, no, trying to pin the blame for this mess on Kate doesn’t get William off the hook in any way shape or form.

      • windyriver says:

        It doesn’t matter if it was done with the tacit approval of William, or even Charles. She did it. And she isn’t a blood family member, so is disposable in a way William isn’t. Meghan’s experience showed the truth is irrelevant, and facts can be spun any way necessary. Kate also made herself vulnerable by her poor job performance and failure to make any effort to improve. From a work standpoint I’d bet Charles, the next king, also has no use for her. The only thing she has to offer is help maintaining the veneer of a traditional family life for the FFK. If William decides he doesn’t want her, and/or his family decides they don’t need her, they will come down on her.

  5. MJM says:

    Your last paragraph about Kate being consumed With jealousy nails it Kaiser. Kate is extremely insecure and her inability to carve out any role or purpose in life has not helped at all. Also marrying William knowing he was really not that into her where Harry is the opposite with Meghan. Not good.

  6. Florence says:

    So Slappy the Dummy likes acting like a spoiled little princess, waiting for someone to give her gifts before she deigns to accept their presence.

    Sounds like a right piece of work. May she enjoy the fruits of Wandering Willy’s travelling sceptre and her own empty existence.

  7. Elizabeth Regina says:

    This is a classic case of a smear campaign backfiring spectacularly. Meghan and Harry by default are already hated by sections of the public whose good will quite frankly they no longer need. But the revelations are showing Princess William and OfWilliam to be royal grades B***ches. Kate probably resented the fact that she spent years chasing, being a mattress and sex waiting to eventually getting a man who ‘settled’ for her whilst Meghan, got Harry wrapped round her little finger in a matter of hours. Mama Middy would have been the most upset as there is no bigger snob than one who is finally admitted into the ‘ranks’. Then to make things worse, her daughter looks unintelligent and only excels in being a clothes horse.
    No one in the royal family would have the guts or talent to make it in the real world with the exception of maybe Prince Charles.

    • Brit says:

      The Monarchy and media shot themselves in the foot. How did they think bashing them, particularly Meghan was going to help anything. They literally put their lives in danger because they’re people out there who genuinely want this little family hurt and struggling. And through all of that, they should continue to serve a monarchy that didn’t protect them and a media that feels it should get away with blackmailing, lying, extorting public figures and even everyday people. It’s truly perplexing.

      • ArtHistorian says:

        Never underestimate the degree to which racism makes people acting stupidly, even against their own interests.

      • Nic919 says:

        Based on encounters Omid describes having himself with courtiers, the racism is ingrained all over. Plus the couple with a slave boy painting in their house has some of their own racist issues to deal with.

  8. Mary says:

    Is anyone surprised? It is interesting that Harry and Meghan had been going out for at least six months before Meghan met Kate.

  9. JaneDoesWerk says:

    This doesn’t surprise me at all. One the one hand, it’s perfectly understandable why Kate and the rest of the members of the firm would be guarded. On the other, it’s obvious that Kate was territorial and saw Meghan as competition.

    We have heard a lot about Meghan, but no one has ever called her competitive – yet we know that Kate is (which is sort of ironic for someone whose only aspiration appeared to be waiting for William.) I think Meghan saw her as a sister in law and colleague/teammate and Kate saw Meghan as competition in a scenario in which Kate had a trump card (rank.)

    • Amy Too says:

      I understand being guarded with people who are approaching THEM for the first time. People who want to walk up to Will or Kate at a charity gala or party and suddenly be BFFs. In that case, yeah, you need to be a bit reserved and vet your own friends. But Harry had already vetted Meghan. She was already accepted by him and he had determined that she was trustworthy and not just using him. He loved her enough and was serious enough about her to invite her to meet his family, to enter the inner sanctum. At that point, I don’t think it’s Will and Kate’s job to do the vetting. Maybe they don’t sit down with her and tell her all their deepest darkest secrets, because why would you do that with anyone you’ve just met anyways? but they could at least be warm and welcoming and make her feel comfortable. There was no need to be cold and standoffish and hold her at arm’s length as if she were a person none of them had ever met before or knew anything about, because Harry knew her. He vouched for her.

      When Harry brought his male friends over or invited his male friends to a big party at Amner or KP, did they treat those men coldly and uncomfortably? Probably not, because they figured if Harry was friendly enough with them to trust them to hang out with his family during his private life time, then the guy was obviously already trusted.

  10. JaneDoesWerk says:

    This doesn’t surprise me at all. One the one hand, it’s perfectly understandable why Kate and the rest of the members of the firm would be guarded. On the other, it’s obvious that Kate was territorial and saw Meghan as competition.

    We have heard a lot about Meghan, but no one has ever called her competitive – yet we know that Kate is (which is sort of ironic for someone whose only aspiration appeared to be waiting for William.) I think Meghan saw her as a sister in law and colleague/teammate and Kate saw Meghan as competition in a scenario in which Kate had a trump card (rank.)

    • Elizabeth Regina says:

      I think Kate by nature is competitive. She plays sports and has had to carry the weight of her mother’s expectations for years. That competitiveness was honed during her 10 years of waiting and seeing off Princess William’s first and second choice. Bluntly put she acted like a patient side piece who finally got her man. The result – a highly suspicious and guarded woman.

      • Brit says:

        When Kate wore that blue inspired outfit after that Endeavor Awards Iconic rain photo and she was dressed in the same color of blue, with a random paparazzi shot, I knew she was jealous and competitive towards Meghan but I also think the palace and media know Kate is not interesting or dynamic and that’s why they give parts of Meghan’s personality to her and cut her down because they know the truth. They want to mold Kate into a Meghan like figure for them but is easier to control. We saw on the when they released the BBC video on the same day as Meghan’s speech. Meghan’s got more coverage, write ups and we even had broadcasters interrupt their programs for it. The competition is one sided for sure.

      • Love says:

        Savagery at its finest! Classy too 😂😂😂

      • Nic919 says:

        I don’t think playing sports is the reason for her behaviour. Many women play competitive sports and don’t act insecure like this. Kate was raised by Carole to value herself solely on her attractiveness to men and any female who gets in the way is a threat. She has done it to all women in her path and Meghan was identified as a threat from day one because Meghan is objectively prettier than Kate and she is definitely smarter and more charismatic. It burns Kate inside that Meghan looks so much younger than her too and is a few months older. Kate doesn’t really care that Meghan can give speeches in a professional way, she cares that Meghan is much hotter than Kate and even though Kate might win the skinnier contest, she will never win the who attracts more men contest and the bitterness of that exhibits itself in all the petty behaviour we have seen.

  11. Intheknow says:

    Harry gave Kate the attention and validation she didn’t get from William. With Meghan on the scene, Harry’s attention was 100% for Meghan. Also, Kate wanted to be the THE ONLY ‘young beautiful’ woman in the BRF. I think she would have been this way with anyone Harry married but Meghan being beautiful and smart, it increased Kate’s jealousy and bitchiness 100x.

  12. Brit says:

    That family is going to regret throwing the Sussexes under the bus and jumping in bed with the tabloids. Dan Wooton basically gave KP warning shots by spilling some “tea”, he is a liar after all, so I say tea loosely. It would’ve been better to fully embrace her and be a unit instead jealously, racism and palace courtiers got in the way. All of this uproar over a book about an “irrelevant” couple. We are seeing in reel time, the RF and BM melting down and I can only imagine when this year review is over because they all know the inevitable. I just hope that family has a plan because that media isn’t going to stay friendly for long.

  13. Noki says:

    Its pathetic that they equate doing little gestures as having Meghan over for dinner,or giving her flowers and the Queen inviting her on her train as some kind of welcoming confirmation. What about the long term of lovingly and protectively treating her as part of the family ?

  14. aquarius64 says:

    Kate is looking bad in this book by the minute. This definitely shoots down Tights gate. Kate needs to be bribed to get any warmth from her. I think Kate is getting all this is because the people who talked for the book were tired if Kate getting the puff press and they wanted to show Kate is not perfect.

  15. Edna says:

    Meghan never stood a chance. And I think others are correct that Kate will take the hit on the mistreatment of Meghan rather than William. Rewatch that joint conference the “Fab Four” did for Heads Together. Meghan made them all look like amateurs. Kevin and Karen were outdone and knew Meghan had to be dealt with.

    • Noki says:

      Have you noticed how William looks at Kate whenever she speaks, he has the look of ‘please be quiet ‘ he looks embarrassed. I will never forget their bbc radio interview,whenever she opened her mouth he would look at her and blink manicly wishing she was done.

      • Nic919 says:

        He was rolling his eyes during her recent “speech” in Pakistan. He doesn’t respect her at all and can’t be bothered to hide his disdain.

      • VS says:

        @Noki — W is a terrible and a jealous man but Kate is so bad and mediocre that he should be embarrassed; A future prince of wales, after seeing his mom, goes and marry a woman like her? was he blind? he warned H, maybe he is the one who was blinded by lust given the mediocrity of the woman he married.

        On that panel, M made all of them looks like amateurs (@Edna — you are 100% right); I wasn’t paying attention then but when I re-watched how she answers questions, how articulate she is and poor Kate is there unable to construct a paragraph, this couldn’t have ended well!

        Has the rf even realized their center of gravity is LA? everything they do, is somehow tied to M even they might be doing something which hass absolutely nothing to do with her or Harry.

        KP releases the video of the BBC interview with M giving a speech? are they insane? and that interview was BAD, really really BAD! after so many years, is that normal?

      • Cari says:

        @vs. He couldn’t find anyone else who wanted the job. He only dates Upperclass girls (Kate was allowed in because she was already friends with upperclass people, so already in that circle). And neither William nor Harry could find an upperclass girl who wanted to be royal.

      • ArtHistorian says:

        @cari – probably because all those upperclass girls know how toxic the Firm is.

      • windyriver says:

        Hard to say what William would’ve been like with a different partner. But every indication is, he never intended to do the work typically expected of someone in his position. He’s there for the aristocratic lifestyle, not the royal one. In which case, Kate was a good match, even if not his first choice.

        Also believe Will never planned/expected Harry to do anything serious with his life either, and was more resentful, and more controlling, as Harry got his act together, and developed his own projects. Harry was deviating from the plan the future POW had for him (especially, not to show him up), and on top of that, was respected for his work.

        Mama Carole made the comment (re: Meghan) that being royal was about more than making speeches. Even if true, she made a mistake, by failing to encourage Kate to develop the other personal skills she’d need in her role as royal, and make herself useful. At least Will might have respected her more.

        As it is, Kate’s grown not one whit in ten years of marriage. Kate and Carole are continuing to rely on sucking up to the right people (courtiers, RR) and the same old PR spinning. Now though, the game has changed. Charles will soon replace TQ as monarch. Britain is facing Brexit. Will, trying to up his profile by “working” more. Harry, no longer in Britain. Will is jealous of his brother (and very likely his happy private life), approaching 40, and, having done nothing useful, relies solely on his position as heir for status. He could easily decide the second part of his life doesn’t include Kate.

      • Nic919 says:

        @VS. I too was surprised at KP releasing that BBC interview at the same time as Meghan’s speech. Meghan is talented and Kate can’t seem to speak English properly so she looked like an utter fool. They made the comparison obvious. At least if Kate’s first language wasn’t English you might excuse the buffoonery of that facile interview but she doesn’t have that excuse. Her staff are idiots to have timed it that way. And she was buried once the media started to cover Meghan’s speech, which was exceptional.

      • VS says:

        @Nic919 — maybe the staff realized how bad she was and thought if they released it on the same day as Meghan’s speech, people will not notice how truly awful it was.
        Perhaps that was really the goal; trying to give them the benefit of the doubt because I watched it and OMG……this woman cannot speak. She should focus on the ribbon cutting and gardening part of the job

  16. AprilMay says:

    Kates been raised her entire life to see all women except her mother and sister as competition and not to be trusted. The few women that she made friends with herself were all dropped for the few women in wills circle, those that could have had him but didn’t want him. They were happy where they were and didn’t want to compete with her. Meghan was competition, she’d worked and wanted to keep doing it. She’s beautiful and is confident and knows who she is. I don’t doubt that Kate and her mother were intimidated by that.

    • notasugarhere says:

      I think she and Pippa have always been in competition with each other. Kate sort of ‘won’ by getting a royal, but Pippa wins by having a husband who doesn’t mind being in the same room with his wife.

      • candy says:

        I always got the feeling James Matthews really loved Pippa, and had for years up to their marriage. I think she kind of back-burnered him but once she couldn’t land a title, she conceded to marry him. The roll out was hilarious.

      • candy says:

        Duplicate, deleted

      • Alexandria says:

        I actually feel Pippa’s husband adores her.

      • February-Pisces says:

        I dunno if Pippa did get the better end. If she did it’s only slightly better. She doesn’t have to deal with being ‘perfect’ for the public, she doesn’t have to work and she doesn’t have to worry about how much money she spends without judgment. But the Matthews family are just as shady in their own way. This James guy is apparently as ratchet as his dad. He’s got money so unless she has a reasonable pre-nup where she will get a decent amount , she’s also trapped in her marriage.

  17. ABritGuest says:

    The royal family are known to be cold & I doubt they were that welcoming to Kate so whilst it might have been nice to remember what it was like as a newcomer& behave accordingly I don’t necessarily blame Kate for not going out of her way for Meghan.

    However not being able to say a kind word directly or through ‘sources’ when Meghan was constantly being attacked especially when pregnant was pretty cold. Harry has been publicly kind about Kate & said he hoped the press would back off so she could enjoy her first pregnancy. So fact that the Cambridges didn’t reciprocate once must have been very hurtful to Harry. When Archie’s birth was announced the Cambridges didn’t even mention the mother. Sad.

    Hearing of Meghan doting in Charlotte I cannot help be a sap and sad that the kiddies may grow up distant if their parents’ relationships don’t improve. But press keep hinting the rift will only he healed if Harry leaves Meghan behind.

    • S808 says:

      Don’t feel bad for Kate but I do feel sorry for Charlotte. If Meghan’s adoration of her is accurate, she could’ve had a nice, accomplished woman present in her life. I hate she’ll be robbed of that but I’m so glad Meghan saved herself.

      • Nic919 says:

        I feel sorry for Charlotte because she is surrounded by women with really fucked up values and a grandmother who pimped out her mother and aunt. Doesn’t sound like her father is too involved in her life either.

      • Tessa says:

        William will probably interfere with his children’s dating lives. They may have to sneak around to avoid judgmental comments from dad. I notice how Charlotte was on the other side of that family portrait and her brothers were sitting closer to William and Kate. SPoke volumes and on that airline PR picture, William took George’s hand but let Charlotte run after them and she is younger than George.

  18. taylor says:

    I’d love to read this book as an impartial party. I wonder what I’d think then.

  19. DS9 says:

    Duchess Doolittle did little? You don’t say!

    Some facets of Kate’s personality reminds me of Alexandra Feodorovna. Her outlook is entirely insular, focused primarily on her children despite how the things around her will likely affect them anyway.

    Except Alix adored her children and her dumb husband while Kate sees them as the only way to hold onto her position while doing the least.

    • HeatherC says:

      To be fair, the last tsarina of Russia was able to step up to the occassion if needed, she trained as a nurse during WW1 and helped transform parts of a palace into an infirmary. It appears that she was hands on in treating the injured soldiers, along with her two oldest daughters. I don’t believe Kate has it in her to do this.

      If Alix’s position was comparable to Kate’s future position as queen consort, where the king/tsar is not an absolute ruler but instead has limited ceremonial and constitutional duties as Queen Elizabeth has now, I think Alix would have been a stellar tsarina in may ways and a fairly isolated and quiet one in others ways mostly dealing with being the mother of a chronically ill heir.

      • Tessa says:

        Regardless of her health issues and her stress over the illness of her son, The Tsarina stepped up and worked. She had a work ethic unlike Kate. I agree.

      • A says:

        Alexandra stepping up in her capacity as a nurse, a position which did not require her to stand for hours on end before an imperial court full of people she despised and values she did not care for, does not mean that she wasn’t insular, small-minded, and flat out refused to do what was required of her in her position.

        And it would have made little difference, actually, whether she was Queen of Britain, or Empress of Russia. Her contemporary, Queen Mary, who took the position that Alexandra was originally slated for, understood perfectly well just how important the public facing aspect of her role was. She is, in large part, the pioneering force behind the public monarchy Britain has today. She knew how crucial it was for the monarchy to secure and maintain public support, without which they would not be able to keep the positions they were in. And she put in the work required to do exactly that.

        Alexandra did not. She had little understanding of either what was required of her husband, as the actual autocrat in question, or herself, as the consort to one of the most glamorous and visual courts in Europe. She did not understand that it was important to play nice with people, even if you’re shy, and even if the people in question have values and ideas and behave in ways that offend your prudish, Victorian sense of morality.

        This incredibly judgemental attitude, coupled with a far too grandiose sense of self importance, meant that she made enemies of literally everyone, both in her family, and elsewhere. Being endearing, outgoing, and kind was a basic requirement of her role. Because whether she liked it or not, she was a public figure in a public facing position, and there is not much excuse (save for her chronic illness) for her to actively refuse to fulfill the requirements of her job description, just because she didn’t want to and didn’t agree with it. If she didn’t want to do her job, she, just like Kate, shouldn’t have married a man who was in line to be a monarch.

      • HeatherC says:

        A, I agree for the most part. Her husband was weak and unprepared for his role, and was surrounded by advisors including his wife that insisted he keep absolute power instead of cooperating with the Duma. Unrest in the “common” people was building and I doubt he even knew. Her attitude and non-aspirations definitely didn’t help matters.

        Luckily for Britain, no matter how screwed up or lazy the Cambridges get, it won’t really affect things other than provide more gristle for the gossip mill. A revolution won’t be started and fought to the bloody end because Willnot and Kannot prefer to announce plans keenly than actually finish them or justify their position.

      • A says:

        @HeatherC, yeah the difference politically is worlds apart from where Russia was in 1917. But I do think that patience and sympathy for the royals is wearing thin. It’s not necessarily because of Will and Kate though, I think there are other issues at stake which are doing the majority of the legwork (Pedo Andy), but unless W&K grow a sense of empathy at some point, and genuinely start attempting to connect with people, I wonder what the future holds for them as well as the monarchy.

  20. S808 says:

    Meghan had to do all the heavy lifting in their relationship and even that wasn’t enough for Kate. Knowing Meghan continuously reached out to Kate and doted on Charlotte only pisses me off when I think about how Kate treated her during the CW ceremony. Meghan is a total girls girl and would’ve loved to get along with Kate but even she has a limit and I have respect for her for not letting Kate walk all over her in the name of wanting to be liked.

  21. Nancy says:

    I wish more content would cover WILLIAM and his (very large!) role in all of this. I’m no Kate fan, but all of the coverage seems to be blaming her when we all know William is probably worse.

    • Betsy says:

      This! If Kate is jealous (she is), William has got to be 100 times worse. If Kate was feeding tidbits to the press, it was with William’s blessing or at his direction. If she was cold to Meghan, it’s because that’s what her husband wants. I just do not credit her with mean girling Meghan without her husband’s blessing. This is William.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Kate is no innocent here. She meangirled the much younger York sisters. She meangirled any woman in William’s circle she couldn’t use to her advantage.

        Kate and the Middletons played tons of media games to get William to finally cave. They play media games now to try to get William back in line. They conntinue to play PR games to attack Meghan and try to make Kate look better.

      • Tessa says:

        I agree, Kate is a mean girl. There are some though she can’t really touch including Jecca and Rose. She apparently looked the other way when she knew her husband was going for a hunting weekend when Jecca was in the group.

      • Mia says:

        @notassugarhere: Zara is supposedly a favorite cousin, do you know Kate’s relationship with her? I can’t seeing her trying to mean girl Zara.

      • February-Pisces says:

        William is absolutely worse, especially since he’s harrys older brother. But I think the gate way for the Cambridge’s to getting their karma is to go through Kate first. If she’s feeling the heat and is being accused of being a mean girl she and ma will eventually fight back and start subtly getting their mouthpieces to throw some of the shade on Willie. And before you know it they are dragging each other.

      • Nic919 says:

        Zara is older than Kate and Anne’s daughter so I doubt Kate would dare being mean to her.

    • Becks1 says:

      I think the actual book may delve more into that, I just think right now the Kate stories probably sell these magazines and papers more than William stories would.

    • Flying Fish says:

      I blame them both, I am not going to pick and choose, they are both equally culpable.

      • Beach Dreams says:

        Agreed. No need to make excuses for Kate or to overlook William’s role in all of this. They’re both equally shitty people and in that sense, they’re a perfect match. They’re mean, they’ve each been called out multiple times over the years for being “a bit grand”…two peas in a pod.

    • Tessa says:

      If it came right down to it, William would throw Kate under a bus so he will not be blamed. And blame Kate for the commercial flight PR photo op.

  22. Flying Fish says:

    And that is why Kate will continue to wither away, her spiteful, jealous and small Karen heart would have never allowed her to see what a great opportunity it would be have been for her to develop a relationship with Meghan.

  23. TheOriginalMia says:

    Kate is one of those people that only has friends who can do something for her. I mean her future SIL had to gift her and dote on Charlotte before the ice thawed. She didn’t judge Meghan by her personality, but by the deference showed to her & Diana’s granddaughter. Kate is the typical snobby bish of the titled class, except the nobility still see her as the daughter of a stewardess, future status notwithstanding. Jokes on her.

  24. cisne says:

    I do not see it that way at all…maybe she was a bit jealous of the way Harry was consumed with love and devotion to Meghan; something Katethekeen would never have in her life. But mostly, I think she was just keeping her self in the good light of the BRF that she and her family had worked so hard over a decade to gain. She was not about to skuttle what ever little but hard fought for ground for Meghan, who the “important royals” had refered as the “showgirl”, “that girl” “cunt”. And who know whatelse and undoubted worse descriptor she had heard for Meghan in the private convos among the “senior royals”.

    My girl was staying in her lane and keeping her head down….giving Meghan the cold shoulder and wide berth was part of that.

    Meghan understood all of that, although she did not know how nasty the disparaging of her really was. But she knew and therefore reached out to Kate. Katethekeen is a bit of a dumbass/vapid headwise so she did not not know how to take that opening and make it something for her and albiet Meghan…instead she veered towards the nasty racist royals including her hauband albiet still in her lane.
    Poor miserable Top CEO Kate!

  25. Ennie says:

    Of course ahe was not going to make it easy for Meghan.
    She went through alot to make it in, years of waiting and trying to get the ring, followed by years of trying to belong into an uninterested society. Now comes this woman from nowhere? And she did not need to wait at all? Of course she’s going to make it work for it! Maybe a dinner here or there. Nothing much.
    How petty of her.

    • S808 says:

      Yeah, I see it from this angle too. Kate just seemed all around bitter and jealous. Here comes this woman, who is everything she was never allowed to be to get where she is, in the same place as her and didn’t have to jump through nearly as many hoops or wait as long either. And she’s better at the job than Kate? With a husband that loves and cherishes her out loud? Well that’s just unacceptable so yeah I’m not surprised Kate tried to score on her whenever possible. It’s the only way she could make herself feel better.

    • MsIam says:

      Well I guess Kate was doomed to be bitter and unhappy then. Because if Harry had picked an aristo girl that wouldn’t have suited Kate because she knows that bunch looked down on her. If Harry had picked an outsider who was still “white and a Brit” Kate would have hated her too unless Harry made her wait ten years and jump through all kinds of hoops like she did. And lord help the girl if she became more popular than Kate. It seems like Kate only would have been happy if Harry married Pippa. What a sad bitter person she must be and people like that are usually a misery to be around.

    • Beach Dreams says:

      Absolutely. I think seeing how “quick” and straightforward Harry and Meghan’s courtship was compared to her own with William was a serious blow to her ego. How Harry immediately felt the need to step his game up and felt Meghan was possibly “the one” vs William trying to get with every other aristocratic woman before finally settling for Kate. There’s also Meghan being invited to Christmas at Sandringham as a fiancee, whereas Kate had to wait until she married into the Firm.

      I think Harry and Meghan’s relationship in general forced her to recognize just how poorly she’s been treated throughout her own relationship. Until Meghan arrived, Kate could ignore William’s disregard for the most part, could focus on enjoying the spoils of being a future queen consort, and could latch onto Harry whenever they had joint engagements. After Meghan’s arrival? What was avoidable was now difficult to ignore. Creature comforts linked to her marriage might not have been as comforting anymore.

  26. Lisa says:

    Not surprised that Meghan would be expected to do most if not all the emotional labor to get along. Yet they expect us to believe the red carpet was rolled out.

  27. Vanessa says:

    Let’s call a spade a spade their been evidences for Years that kate is nothing more than a mean girl she can only get along with men . She see other woman as a threatened to her existence Her behavior towards Harry was not only inappropriate but it’s so cringeworthy to see she desperately to be seen as the woman every man wants that she would knowing flirt with her brother in law in fully view of the royal reporters. I remember when the Cambridge’s stans claim Meghan was overly flirty with William she trying to destroy the Cambridge’s marriage when people point out that their no evidence of Meghan flirty with William . But their clearly evidence and footages of kate flirty with Harry in front of William her stans claim that kate is just being friendly to her misguided brother in law . Kate will always have problems with woman because she insecure I feel sorry for anyone who Marry any of the Cambridge’s kids because William and Kate will make their lives hell .

  28. Alexandria says:

    Kate is cold to those she has no need for. And she will be distant because she projects her social climbing fervour into others. I’ll bet this is how she saw her mother growing up. She changed courses to attend the same college as William isn’t it? Don’t know why Meg is labelled the social climber. Oh right, because black women just can’t have anything.

  29. A Guest says:

    I find myself feeling somewhat sorry for James Middleton at this point. I realize that he is no prize and probably is dumb as a box of hair. But I wonder how much attention and nurturing he got from Ma Midds. Could explain some if his issues.

    And WTH was Mike Middleton while Carole was cosplaying an evil Jane Austin-like mother trying to forge “suitable” marriages for Pipps and Keen? Was he just going along to get along?

    I mean Kate was bullied and made fun of at school because Carole demanded that the aristo parents make their children be friends with her. Pippa went running after every male under 40 with a title and was turned down flat. Although I do think Pippa is a harder worker than Kate, neither of them were raised to be strong, intelligent, accomplished women.

    If the growing backlash against Cain gets hot enough, he and the courtiers will throw Keen and the Midds to the wolves.

    • Nic919 says:

      The bullying stories are false. That is a Middleton fabrication. Maybe people were interviewed about this and no one recalls this ever being an issue.

  30. February-Pisces says:

    I get that kate is guarded. Of course someone in her position will be slow to trust anyone. I’m sure there have been a lot of girls around harry who have been incredibly thirsty. I think in that position when Kate realised that Meghan was going to be ‘the one’ she should have atleast started to make an effort. She doesn’t have to reveal her deepest darkest secrets, but they could have kept their convos on the light side, talking about shopping, clothes, travel etc. Nothing heavy, and nothing she would be scared of leaking. But she helped create a drama out of her own insecurities and now they are going to come back and bite her in the bum. It didn’t need to be that way.

    • Mignionette says:

      You would think that given that her and Bill are being trained to be diplomats one day, that she’d know how to make polite gentle friendship with Meghan, if only to get the measure of her and protect the family.

      In any case I don’t buy the guarded argument. This behaviour was reserved for Meg because she was different and fully formed human being. The way Kate interacted with Cressida and Chelsy disproves the guarded theory.

      • Alexandria says:

        Are Cressida and Chelsy part of the aristocratic circle? I think Cressida is but I’m not sure about Chelsy. We all know Kate’s desperate to be accepted by this circle.

  31. nicegirl says:

    Wow this article provided me with some personal clarity. My youngest son’s grandmother is a total Katie Keen! No emotional lifting lol

  32. Carolind says:

    If there is going to be a royal family, I am beginning to wonder if it should not go back to the days when the heirs and spares should not be restricted to marrying fellow royalty. They know how it works; know the rules to make it work. Kate should have married a multi millionaire or become one herself, Meghan either a politician or become one herself; Diana a fellow aristocrat or carved out her own role. If the royal does not want to marry a fellow royal, they should get out.

    If the royals are to be ordinary people then no point.

    • Mia says:

      @Carolind, correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t the majority of the Royal Houses of Europe, Catholic? With the BF being Protestant, who would they marry? I always heard the British RF were the snobs of all the royal houses and not very bright either.

      • ArtHistorian says:

        The Scandinavian and the Dutch RFs are Protestant. However, the biggest hurdle is the fact that the European RFs are all related to each other in various degrees of closeness. Fx the Danish Queen and the Swedish King are first cousins. It is not for nothing that Queen Victoria was called the Grandmother of Europe and King Christian IX was called the Father-in-Law of Europe. Pretty much all the existent and now abolished European RFs are related to both the British and the Danish RF.

        The BRF has developed into a very insular RF who don’t marry outside Britain and who don’t really interact socially with their European peers (many of who are close friends and see each other in private).

    • Sofia says:

      There’s only so many royal families. Even less when you consider the amount of “age appropriate” heirs. If the BRF went back to marrying royalty, eventually they would either a) have no-one left to marry and die out or b) marry each other and end up like the Habsburgs

    • MsIam says:

      What other royal family behaves as crazily as this one? Unless it’s the Grimaldis. Whom the BRF have the nerve to look down on. What other royals would want to be associated with this bunch? It’s not like there’s land or power involved. Just lots of Andrew and the Royal Rota.

      • Alexandria says:

        Msiam, I don’t get it too. What does the BRF have to lose by letting Harry and Meghan be? What can the RR do to them if they are nice to each other and work together well? They are a weird family!

    • notasugarhere says:

      You always support ‘blood royals’ over anyone who marries in, Carolind. You even claimed the false story that Harry and Meghan announced their pregnancy at Eugenie’s wedding, only blaming Meghan for it.

      Now you’re advocating for inbreeding because you think royals are something special? Even though you say you’re not a monarchist. Bring back hemophilia and the Habsburgs jaw and all. You seem to think the system isn’t broke and letting anyone who recognizes we’re in the 21st century is bad. Let’s just let the racist courtiers, racist royals, backward notions, sheltering of criminal royals continue because that’s a good idea?

      Many born royals have vastly benefited from marrying outside the royal fold. They are better at their jobs, better at seeing outside their little bubble, because they’ve married dynamic everyday people who show them the reality of the world. Married-ins who are good at royaling, provided they are allowed to do their royal jobs instead of being tied down by jealous other royals. Willem-Alexander and Maxima, Felipe and Letizia, Harry and Meghan.

      iirc you’ve also previous told other posters to ‘shut up’ about William’s affairs and defended Kate for not befriending Meghan.

    • L4frimaire says:

      I always wondered why the Brits didn’t try to meet and date the continental royals. If not the Scandinavians, there are lots of German/Austrian ones from deposed houses. The Brits seem very insular, monolingual, have never really lived abroad. I think Prince George will be very tightly managed once he comes if age and they won’t take any chances with potential spouses, regardless of what he thinks, poor fellow. Kate will be a nightmare MIL. Hope Charlotte manages to snag a tech billionaire, hopefully one with a chin. Louis as the younger son should just join the church and teach at Oxford.

  33. Genevieve says:

    If I try, I can kind of see Kate’s side in some ways. I mean, sometimes you just don’t particularly want to be friends with a person. As a cool and reserved person, I get that.

    However, once the whole smear campaign started up, that changed the issue. Even if you don’t want to be friends with someone, if you have the power to stop a new member of your family from being completely trashed and made miserable, you’d have to be a pretty sh*tty person to not use that power.

    • MsIam says:

      Unless you are one of the shitty people who was behind the whole smear thing. Especially if as a side benefit you get to be made out as a saint. I don’t believe Kate was some bystander who watched the whole thing happen. Same with her crap husband.

      • notasugarhere says:

        I agree, Kate is no innocent here. Harry knew right away Meghan was the one. Spent all that time making sure she was able to spend time with the important people in his life. But jealous Kate didn’t want to participate in that. Wouldn’t do anything until Meghan gave her gifts and complimented her daughter.

    • A says:

      I think that, even if you’re a cool and reserved person, and even if you don’t necessarily have a lot in common with someone, if that person is nice, then there’s nothing stopping you from being mature and getting along with them and having nothing but good things to say to them, right?

      I’m a cool and reserved person, and a hard nut to crack, but I appreciate people who I know are nice. I don’t have to be friends with them to just be able to say, “Yeah that person, she’s a nice egg and I like her just fine.” You can not be close to someone and still not act like a jacka** towards them, which Kate proved incapable of doing.

  34. Carolind says:

    It worked for hundreds of years. Why should it not work now? It is only since 1923 when the then Duke of York married Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon that the aristocracy were allowed in. The Catholic thing is a big problem. They could not let RCs in because that would cause all sorts of probs with the succession, although Charles does want to be Defender of all Faiths not just one Faith. But, hey, the Dutch are Protestants… As for the being thick. Some of them undoubtedly. Philip is clever though and Charles latched onto the environment and all that long before everyone else, regardless of what he might do. I am not really joking though. They would know the monarch must be top dog and it would cut out the gold diggers and – no, I don’t mean Meghan – who don’t have a clue that they must give back for all the privileges and what it really means to.serve the people which, incidentally, some of the royals don’t understand.

    • ArtHistorian says:

      Because there are not enough royals to go around and they are all related several times over anyways. Plus, arranged marriages aren’t really seen as a good thing in our part of the world. Even royals want to marry for love.

    • Because you are longing for a horse and buggy in a Tik Tok world.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Some of the best working royals are the commoners who married in.

    • A says:

      ” It is only since 1923 when the then Duke of York married Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon that the aristocracy were allowed in. ” This is incorrect. The aristocracy has been “allowed” to marry into the family well before then. Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise, was married to the Duke of Argyll, an aristocrat. Her great-granddaughter, the Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, was married to the Earl of Harewood. She was the SIL of the Queen Mother. Her brother, Prince Henry, married the daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch.

      There have been a wide variety of reasons as to why this rule (which has always been an unofficial preference for the most part) was adhered to. When Queen Victoria was monarch, it was because she didn’t want to “waste” the potential for a foreign alliance by marrying one of her children to a local noble. Before her, it was because the nobility didn’t want any one of them to get more influence than the other by marrying into the royal family. The preference was relaxed after WWI, because the monarchy wanted to distance itself from its German relations as much as possible, and marrying royals to nobility would reinforce their ties to Britain in the eyes of the population.

      • Carolind says:

        There is a Royal Marriages Act but I am not sure what detail it went into. I think you will find that as regards the actual future monarchs and those very close to the throne, it was all royal consorts up to the children of George V.

      • Couch potato says:

        There is a Royal Act of marriage from 2011, and it states the first 6 in line needs the monarchs approval. The prior act from 1772 didn’t exclude marriage between royals and aristos, it was made bc two of king Georges brothers married commoners. One of the princes who didn’t get his marriage valid was prince George of Cambridge, he married an actress with 4 illegitemate children. Makes me wonder who the current prince George of Cambridge will marry😉

        As for marriage between royals in 2020. Others have mentioned inbreed etc, but there are also the case of WHO wants to marry in to the dysfunctional british RF? The biggest problem isn’t marriage bwtween a royal and a commoner, as the married-ins in other royal houses have clearly proven. Jt’s the Windsors themselves, and the courtiers that makes the mess.

    • Jane's Wasted Talent says:

      One way to make your idea more feasible (at least from a genetic health perspective) would be to include the Asian royals (there are many) and African royals (if there are any left) in the marriage pool. Really, that’s the way history *should have* evolved. If only France rather than England had dominated the nineteenth century, we might be there.

      • notasugarhere says:

        I don’t get the feeling carolind would be keen on WOC marrying into European royal houses.

      • Jane's Wasted Talent says:

        I wondered that too, nota, but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt that maybe she overlooked them because of our societies’ systemic racism. I doubt there are many Americans who are aware that Thailand has a royal family, for example. And India is filled with royals, but because of English colonialism and bigotry they consider them inferior.

        (There is a heartbreaking passage of history that takes place when Napoleon was in Egypt. A great Indian king, Tipu Sultan, was under attack by the English, and he was allied with both France and the Sultan. If only they had been able to unite and come to his aid… just one of the great, tragic ‘ifs’ that show us a glimpse of a better world that could have been.)

    • Züri says:

      @carolind Please, no more of these hagiographic comments that are not based in any historical reality. No, that system didn’t work for hundreds of years and, moreover, it was never a tenable structure over the longue durée. Anyone who believes that has never studied history in any substantive manner. Commoners (because the middle class as such didn’t exist until the 19th century) were frequently ennobled, which brought in desperately needed new genetic material and, perhaps, some perspective. In Germany and Austria-Hungary, families were given titles up to the final days of those empires. “Royalty” is an antiquated concept not commensurate with the most basic rights of modern life.

    • Tigerlily says:

      Carolind-there were other ‘commoner and or nobility’ that married English Kings. Edward IV famously pissed off his family by marrying Elizabeth Woodville and made her queen in the mid 1400’s. His grandson Henry VIII married several non royal brides: Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Parr. King James II married commoner Anne Hyde, their daughters ruled as Queen Mary II and Queen Anne. I do think that both Queen Mary (QEII grandma) and the Queen Mum encouraged marrying English aristocrats over European (esp German)royals due to fall out from both world wars.

  35. anotherlily says:

    I’ve said it before and will no doubt say it again – the Middletons are not a ‘close family’ as they are frequently described, they are an ‘enmeshed family’. It’s a psychologically unhealthy environment which stunts a child’s ability to develop as an individual. Parents are too involved, too controlling, too inquisitive. Children are micro-managed and have no space to make their own decisions, form their own opinions, develop confidence and learn to deal with problems. It isn’t overt bullying by parents, it’s what ‘caring’ means for them. Members of such families have weak boundaries and are overinvolved in each others’ lives.

    There is a lot of information available about this e.g.”When teenage children struggle with peer groups, involved parents may offer assurance, love and support for their child. In an enmeshed parent child relationship, the parent may feel deeply depressed and, instead of letting the teenage child solve the problem, he or she jumps in first to resolve it. Enmeshed parenting robs the child of a chance at developing his own inner voice, confidence, and decision-making abilities.”

    This is why Kate can’t solve her own problems.

    • Alexandria says:

      Interesting. And the irony is that she wants to be lauded as the expert on childhood issues through a survey and a garden.

    • Nic919 says:

      All the Middletons kids are stunted adults. They are not a well adjusted family and it’s disturbing when the press pretends they are normal. They are as messed up as the Windsor’s just in a different way.

    • Kalana says:

      All three Middleton kids were raised to be extensions of Carole’s ambitions. Even Pippa floundered and she seems to be the most independent of the three.

    • Cari says:

      Carol Middleton is a textbook case of narcissistic personality disorder. They fall in love with a fantasy image of themself, and they’re obsessed with it. Carols fantasy was to marry Prince Charles and be pow. It didn’t happen so she projected it onto Kate. Narcissistic mothers don’t see their children as separate people but an extension of themselves, any attempt to be independent makes them angry. They try to keep their children stunted Psychologically and dependant on them. Carols a textbook narcissistic mother and Kate’s a textbook adult golden child of a NM. They end up entitled. They’ve always been given special treatment and treated as if they’re superior without doing anything to earn it. So when they’re adults they expect to be given status and privilege without having to earn it. Also they’re not really interested in anybody except them self and their mother and their partner. The nm controls the golden child like a puppet and they often end up treating their romantic partner the way the mother treated them. Hence the way Kate manipulated William. (Playing him like a violin, pulling his strings to get the desired reaction).

    • February-Pisces says:

      I remember reading years and years ago, I think it may have been a blind item, anyway if was in some dark murky corner of the internet, that ma midds suggested to Willie that he goes for Pippa instead of Kate. She thought Pippa may be better for the job. If he still wanted Kate he could always have her on the side. Anyway this was from a long time ago and i have no idea if it’s true or not but it always stuck in my mind. If it does ring true that means Ma literally couldn’t give AF about either daughters well being. Encouraging her daughters BF to dump her for her sister, whilst still screwing her on the side. unfortunately my opinion of the middletons is low it wouldn’t surprise me. Ma has always put herself before kate, and really doesn’t give AF about her daughters mental well being. Kate issues with food most likely started when Ma drilled into her head ‘boys only like skinny girls’. Look at the difference between doria and Ma during the weddings. Doria looked like a concerned mother, Ma looked like the cat that’s got the cream.

      • Nic919 says:

        No one questions James Middleton on the source of his mental health issues despite having lived a life of privilege, because the real answer would be his messed up upbringing. And this flows into the discussion above of Kate being the golden child to Carole, with James and Pippa being excluded.

        And Kate pretends that rich people don’t raise troubled kids, but she is an example of that being proved false. She has a bag of issues and obsessions that clearly started with how she was raised.

        If we compare the Middleton kids to the dump kids, we see similar patterns.

      • Original Penguin says:

        I think Pippa would have made a better Duchess than Kate. Ma Midd’s is right. But then Will would not have wanted a Wife that had a bit of charm and personality and drive and would work harder than him would he?

      • February-Pisces says:

        I actually think Pippa would have made a better duchess too, but it wasn’t meant to be. if Ma was trying to get Willie to go for Pippa, I can only imagine how that betrayal must have felt to Kate. The one person who has basically been in you corner then turning on you in favour of your sister. I would be fuming. If it’s true, it sums up why kate literally hates all women if all they ever have done is betray her. I always said Kate was pushed forward for William because they were in the same school year. If that wasn’t a factor, she would have pushed Pippa instead and Kate would have been an afterthought, just like how James has probably been an afterthought his whole life.

  36. bettyrose says:

    Everything described here, article and comments, sounds like the power games played by powerless women. It’s a tale as old as time. Women whose lives are controlled to the last, every life decision made for them, historically because women had no legal rights, but who crave power (a personality trait praised in men and scorned in women) have only their small worlds to control: neighborhood associations, PTAs, friend groups, whatever it is they have in their domain . . . and they wield their power tyrannically in that limited arena. (C’mon, to some degree we’ve all known that person.)

    I’m not saying that makes it okay, but Kate is functionally imprisoned in the ultimate gilded cage

  37. Jaded says:

    In my experience, those people who, by dint of working their way up the social ladder to marry into an important and rich family, become even worse than those people they aspire to be. In Kate’s example, bagging William created an over-the-top sense of superiority instead of someone who could use the money and position to do good. Because she’s not the brightest bulb in the box and clearly has a chip on her shoulder about it, she used her position to try and out-do the aristos, demean Meghan, and plot with her idiot husband to quickly stem the positive tide of coverage of the Sussexes. Harry and Meghan showed her and William up – not deliberately but simply by doing what they do best and garnering attention for it. The Cambridges are jealous, spiteful people who embody the worst of the BRF characteristics, and much of the blame lies at Kate’s feet because it’s clear she doormats for William in order to keep her place in the royal continuum.

  38. A says:

    Of course Kate did little to bridge the divide between Meghan and herself. I don’t think the reason for that comes down solely to jealousy and anger. I think a large part of it also is that Kate and Meghan are just fundamentally different people, with different values–values of a type that Kate, being who she is, simply has no time, energy or real inclination towards.

    Meghan is a nice person. My impression of her, over the last couple of years, has been that she gives the benefit of the doubt to literally everyone, including people who don’t deserve it. She still thinks her father was manipulated by the tabloid press, rather than a grown man responsible for his own behaviour. She tried to console herself after the phone call from the palace aide about her necklace that this person just meant well. I think that she tries, purely by dint of who she is as a human being, to be conciliatory, to see things from other perspectives, even if they oppose hers, because she likes to take the time to understand how others are and where they’re coming from.

    Would Kate have the capacity to do that? Would she be receptive to that? Would she find any sort of value in that sort of behaviour? Perhaps, if they had spent more time together, this could have been the case. Maybe she would have eventually softened up, mellowed out, realized that there’s another way to live your life that doesn’t involve constantly having to only care about yourself, in a world where it feels like there’s no one else, not even your own mom or husband, who cares for you. Where would Kate be today, if she had had a friend, or literally anyone, who actually gave a crap about her as a person, not just for what she can do for the people around her?

    Or maybe they were just really never destined to be close. Which would have been just as well, if only Kate hadn’t been desperately jealous of what Meghan had accomplished as a public figure. Everywhere Meghan went, she got accolades, and I think even Kate was struck by her ease with which she took to her public position, and the lack of self-consciousness that Meghan displayed in her role. And I think this, more than anything, is what made her really angry. Because Kate is desperate to be liked. She’s desperate for approval, and she always has been. I have no doubt that she gets very little of it in her personal life. But, instead of looking inward and developing a sense of resilience that isn’t reliant on external acceptance, she chooses the cowards way out time and again by choosing to bully and mean girl the people who rankle her insecurities. And that’s essentially what happened here.

    The royal family is composed of and is a magnet for insecure people with low self-esteems. They see, in the royal family’s public position, a way to bolster their own faltering sense of self. What on earth could they really offer Meghan, a woman who has no need for that sort of external validation?

    • Nic919 says:

      This is an excellent assessment of Kate’s character, or lack thereof. She was never going to accept Meghan because Meghan didn’t need to be liked and didn’t need or want her approbation. Kate doesn’t understand a world where people don’t curry her favour and the fact that Meghan was above that sort of nonsense made her envious.

  39. Lizzie says:

    Was Harry cold and guarded when Kate showed up and then hung around for a decade? Nope. He showed his upbringing by being nothing but publicly warm to Kate. What a foul person she is to not give Meghan the same courtesy. She may come from middle class roots but she acts with zero class. No wonder the entire BRF has to continually cover for her.
    From all I have read where her mother directs her life and her inability to carry out public duties I’m starting to think she is a simpleton. Really, no one who is bright thinks being rude is clever.

    • Mary says:

      👋👋👋👋👋

    • Nic919 says:

      A lot of the language used to describe Kate is also used for people with special needs. She is infantilized to an insane degree by the media, likely as that’s the only way to excuse her lazy behaviour. They will only cover for her for so long though and then they will turn on her. She doesn’t realize that yet.

  40. yinyang says:

    Maybe because I’m Indian not white, but god I just don’t understand all the adulation and support for such a plain and pretentious woman.

    • L4frimaire says:

      I don’t see it either. She really is so incredibly basic. They’ll never admit it but they liked what Meghan brought to the table, how interested and well rounded she was. But at the same time they resented it because she “ stole” the spotlight, and they wanted to strip her of those very qualities. They thought attacking and demeaning her would do that, but she refused to consent to that and left. Now they can praise Kate and try to build her up into something she’s not, but this blankness is what she is.