Duchess Kate & William go maskless for a ‘Hold Still’ event at Waterloo Station

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stepped out in London today for a previously unannounced event at Waterloo station. The event was for Kate’s “Hold Still” photography exhibition, which is the pandemic/lockdown-themed open-entry photography exhibition sponsored and promoted by Kate for months. Kate announced the project in May, she was on the committee culling the thousands of entries down, and the virtual exhibition launched in mid-September, complete with a statement of praise from the Queen. It was also a rare “Kate Project” which was genuinely moving and cool.

The trip to Waterloo Station was to launch a “country-wide display” of the exhibition, and to meet one of the subjects of the photos. There is a big, blown-up display of one of the photos there, at the train station. I guess William tagged along to improve his event numbers for 2020 and to “support” his wife’s project. There’s a great photo of William eyeballing bags of Kentucky Fried Chicken, which I can relate to. As soon as I saw those bags, I thought “damn I could go for some KFC too.”

Kate’s long red coat is apparently another piece from Alexander McQueen. It’s too long? And the buttons! It feels like we’ve barely seen Kate’s buttons this year. She leaned in hard to prairie dresses and Sister Wife dresses without many buttons over the summer. But autumn and winter must be Button Season. Kate also wore another (kids’ sized) floral mask in the car ride over to Waterloo station… but then removed the mask outdoors. Again, I’m sure that is perfectly in line with current British/London regulations for open-air gatherings. BUT AGAIN, it is reprehensible for royals/public figures to avoid mask-wearing in public settings. It is the Queen’s responsibility, the Future Future Queen’s responsibility, and the Future Future King’s responsibility to role model mask-wearing during a pandemic. It’s as simple as that.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

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84 Responses to “Duchess Kate & William go maskless for a ‘Hold Still’ event at Waterloo Station”

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  1. Sarah says:

    I agree that the coat is too long and she looks a bit like she’s off to work on one of the Virgin trains. Maybe she’d be more comfortable keeping her mask on if she got them in adult sizes?

    • Argus says:

      Lol my first thought when I saw these pictures was Virgin trains but it sure looks luxe & glamorous

      • Kalana says:

        Well, yeah. It’s Alexander McQueen. Another massively expensive outfit in the middle of a pandemic.

        Let them eat cake.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      Hahaha – yes ‘Virgin trains’ is what i was thinking when i saw that.

      The childs mask is still upside down – the folds should be pointing down not up.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      I think the length of the coat would be fine if she wore high heeled boots instead of court pumps.

  2. Elizabeth Regina says:

    Well we knew they were going to pull out all the stops today. Anything to take attention away from the other more informative and interesting event happening on the other side of the pond today. It’s so sad to see a couple with so much potential continue to do the bare minimum and nothing that makes a tangible impact.

    • Becks1 says:

      Its really so predictable at this point that its laughable. If they worked consistently, then it wouldn’t be such a pattern (like I don’t think Charles plans his schedule around H&M’s appearances, he just always works.)

      • Elizabeth Regina says:

        I don’t care at all for Charles but one thing he has always done is work hard. He has a great deal of business acumen, has spoken on controversial subjects and left a legacy. NotHarry sadly has zero work ethic and married a lazy enabler for a wife. They both had at least 8 years of goodwill to build a legacy but did nothing until the biracial wife showed up exposing them for what they really are. What a shame.

    • Nic919 says:

      The best part is that it will be overshadowed by the other event with more substance.

  3. Florence says:

    The coat also doesn’t fit as the fabric is pulling at the buttons.

    Insert “Where in the world is Catherine San Cambridge” joke here. Ofc the paid trolls on the Daily Heil are falling over themselves to call her GORGEOUS and A BRITISH GEM lmao. Your hot smart American duchess does not give a flying fig.

    I would also really like to know why Kate’s ‘Tox is wearing off so quickly in her forehead? Isn’t it expensive?!

    • Sofia says:

      Ha! I am getting “Carmen Sandiego” vibes from it. All she needs is a fedora 😉

    • SomeChick says:

      True. But… I have to say, at least the darts line up! OFC it’s bespoke, so they ought to. But still. I’d love to see it in a tartan. And with some sleek, heeled boots.

  4. Mrs. Peel says:

    The Royals likely get tested daily for Covid, like the Trump family and friends, so they figure why wear a mask. It’s this healthcare inequality that has highlighted the failures to regular folks.

    • equality says:

      Don’t feel too bad. The test has been estimated to give as many as 1 in 3 false negatives. I don’t see being tested as granting an advantage.

    • Snuffles says:

      Daily testing didn’t stop Trump and his cronies from getting it themselves. It’s only a matter of time before another Royal gets it.

    • Seraphina says:

      The problem is that the tests can give false negatives. They are educated and should know better. It’s in poor taste regardless. They should set the example, but that would require thinking and being proactive.
      That coat is way too long and looks like it is the wrong size. Giant thumbs down.

    • Merricat says:

      Regardless of their own health statuses, they should be modeling the behavior that scientists recommend, rather than appeasing their own vanity. Why should the smallfolk follow guidelines when the Royals do not? Global pandemic, no leadership, no example to follow.

      • tolly says:

        I think health care workers in the UK are fed up, too. Later in the same day, the Cambridges met with the contest winner who works at St Bart’s Hospital, and that photo op was 100% appropriate: outdoors, distanced and everyone masked up the entire time. I doubt it was the Cambridges’ idea, but I’m glad that hospitals are enforcing safety guidelines, even when dealing with the tone-deaf royals.

  5. Sofia says:

    I feel like something’s missing in her outfit. I think a fascinator might help tie the look together as well as shortening the coat to around knee length or something. I do love the colour though.

    • Becks1 says:

      yeah, its a good color for her, but something about it feels a little off – like a big scarf would help or something, IDK.

      Also good lord, her clothes spending has really gone up during the pandemic.

      • Merricat says:

        I totally believe that Kate engages in retail therapy. The worse William is, the more clothes and holidays she spends on–they are both trying to fill a hole inside them, but affairs and lavish spending are temporary relief. I almost feel sorry for them, but when I think of what they put Meghan through, that goes away.

      • Nic919 says:

        Since day one Kate has been wasteful in her shopping with multiple outfits in same colour that look alike or items in different colours of the same thing, as if buying designer dresses is the same as a pair of trousers from JC Penney.

      • Sofia says:

        @Merricat: I also think it’s because she’s got nothing else to do – literally. 2 out of 3 of her kids are in school 6-7 hours a week, 5 days a week for about 30-40 weeks a year. And when they’re not, she’s got nannies to help out with childcare. She’s got an army of staff so she doesn’t have to worry about or do any cleaning and cooking. And we’ve all seen her engagement numbers so it’s not like she’s doing anything on that end either. So what’s left? Shopping I guess.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      Yeah, a scarf and maybe a nice pair of boots would have set that coat off nicely.

      She has some lovely pieces but she and her ‘stylist’ have no idea how to put an outfit together.

    • yinyang says:

      I think her new stylist stays away from the “pop of color” look, I think in the 90s that look was very popular, you’d see a black suit with a shocking red blouse, or white outfit with black blouse, opposites. Even in textures, light fabrics with heavy boots. Kate use to do that a lot in her first years. I think her new stylist chooses colors/textures that blend together instead, jmo. The reason the red looks good is because of her tan, tanned skins look best in reds, Kate in her first years pale skin would not be able to carry this, thats why indian women wear red wedding dress.

      • Wiglet Watcher says:

        Kate’s features look lovely on jewel tones and richer, fairer colors. A bold lilac or deep teal.
        But she doesn’t know how to carry herself after 20 years in the spotlight and that’s when the clothes wear you. Factor in her terrible styling for the outfits and we have Kate.

  6. JT says:

    Well Harry and Meghan’s Time talk is today so they have to be seen too. You all know that they follow the “irrelevant ones” comings and goings.

  7. minx says:

    Wear the damn masks.

    • Seraphina says:

      Whole heartedly agree, but I was thinking….do you think they may be told not to wear them since the queen and Charles aren’t???

      • minx says:

        I don’t know. I wouldn’t listen to anyone who told me not to wear a mask, I don’t care who they work for. But that’s me.

      • Seraphina says:

        I am with you. I get laughed at by some people I used to call friends, now they are acquaintances. I was just trying to figure out their obtuseness when it comes to a global pandemic and their lack of wearing PPE, since they know full well they are role models for many.

  8. ib says:

    Cue British tabloid articles about the cost of Kate’s inherited engagement ring and new designer coat in 3, 2, 1 ….oh wait jk. Wrong duchess.

  9. Wiglet Watcher says:

    Taxpayers spent a lot of money for her to get those fillers in her face. Got to show them what they paid for.

    This was a gifted project. I think we all had a standard of what royal work was. Megan blew that out of the water. Much like Diana that there could be a passion for a cause to be involved start to finish.
    Kate attaches her name to an already organized and established team, shows up when the press is called and then it’s “hers” while having little to no time put into it outside of that. Or not even recording a message for when it’s released.
    This was NPG all the way.

    • yinyang says:

      Wow. You are bang on. I’m starting to dislike the people that lets her get away with this and think this behavior is okay.

  10. Chaine says:

    I’ve just been reading about the new lockdowns in parts of England and Wales. Why can’t they set a better example? Wear masks! The royal family are definitely the Trumps of their country.

  11. Gia says:

    I’m only here for the bag of KFC.

  12. The Duchess says:

    Lol @ Baldy showing up in ‘support’ when he looks like he’d rather be anywhere but there! Sad.

  13. Nancy says:

    It’s not even cold in London today! Why is she wearing a full on winter coat! How many red coats does she own! WEAR AN ADULT MASK!

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      Yeah its dry and quite mild, given the weather the past few weeks i went out wearing my Barbour and boiled in it.

    • Merricat says:

      I believe she wears coats to give herself bulk.

    • Dee says:

      The coat matches the KFC boxes. More Kate theme dressing.

    • Lemons says:

      She needs a stylist. To be this bad at dressing yourself appropriately after all these years takes quite some skill.

      • notasugarhere says:

        She has a stylist, married to photographer Chris Jackson.

      • yinyang says:

        @notasugarhere Ahh this allows them to control the narrative of the pictures they put out, this makes things very clear.
        I wonder how the paparazzi are surviving in the UK with the shut down.

    • Sarah says:

      Maybe I’m weedy but I genuinely pulled out my warmest winter coat this morning so I am not going to knock her for this!

  14. Nic919 says:

    Someone posted under the Twitter link to this article Hold Still so we can infect you and I can’t stop laughing reading that.

    Wear a mask FFS. Lockdowns are ramping up in the UK and the virus can travel by air outdoors.

  15. yinyang says:

    All this glamming cosplay on taxpayer money is gross. Seriously whats up with this childs mask, swimming in overly large coats, is she trying to look like a child?
    Why are all their pictures slightly blurred now, I notice the pictures from years ago use to show all the pores, blemishes and crevices on their skin, not any more.

    • Becks1 says:

      You can tell whether the press is happy with her or ticked at her by what pictures they use. sometimes photoshopped (like here), sometimes not .

  16. Cerys says:

    The coat looks ridiculous on her as it’s far too long. A few inches off the length and being worn with some black boots would have made a difference to it. That said, the last thing Kate needed was another new coat. She has plenty of others that could have been “recycled”.
    As for the lack of masks, the whole royal family need to up their game and set an example for the plebs.

    • booboocita says:

      I am seriously beginning to wonder if all the coats and prairie dresses are due to the fact that she’s becoming skeletal, and the lack of body fat makes her cold all the time. In the photo of her in semi-profile, her chin is sharp as an icepick and her jawline is a hatchet blade. I caught some pics of her as a younger woman a few days ago, and while she’s always been slender, her flesh was rounded, almost luscious, before she married PWT. I don’t like her much, but I’m beginning to feel a bit sorry for her. It can’t be easy, putting up with PWT’s incandescent rages and arrogance. Yes, I know — it’s an arrangement she willingly entered, and after almost ten years of waiting on him, she knew what she was getting herself into (or should have known, anyways). I can still feel a smidgen of sympathy. Kate, you in danger, girl …

      • Becks1 says:

        I think this is a big part of it. She appears to be dressing to hide her body for the most part. We’ve seen her a few times in non-coats/prairie dresses recently but its becoming rarer. That big coat she wore to the university a week or so ago stood out to me because it was so different from her usual style, but I wonder now if your theory is correct.

        I said a few weeks ago that I felt bad for her if she was as sick as she seems in some of these events and got torn apart for it, so good luck, lol.

      • Vava says:

        I think she’s got an ED and is trying to cover it up.
        The coat is too long, the color is good though.
        The child-sized masks are ridiculous.

      • yinyang says:

        At what point do we stop feeling sorry and hold people to what they are doing. I had a little bit of ED many years ago, I didn’t eat as much, and exercised a lot, I wanted to stay skinny, and became pretty much obsessed with it. At some point however, I stopped caring, my daughters were watching and I didn’t want to show them that looks mattered to me more than being content. This happened in my twenties, Kate is almost 40. I read somewhere when Diana came out about her ED it had some negative effect, as many women started to spike in trying it for themselves. Kate can easily get her chef to cook up three fuller square meals, reduce the excessive dieting and exercising, and maybe get some counselling for her body dysmorphia or talk about it openly. I am confused, if skinny is what she wants why do you think she is hiding it, maybe she is wearing the bulky clothes to appear to be swimming in her clothes and look even skinnier, maybe her bulky clothes is to hide her lower body shape that she’s insecure about, or the bulky clothes is because she doesn’t want to be called out for what she’s doing.

      • A says:

        I know people keep saying it’s bad manners to talk about or speculate about someone having an eating disorder–but I think that ignores just how prevalent disordered eating habits are among women, or even people in general. Both of Diana’s sisters, iirc, suffered from the same disorders, as did a sizeable percentage of the women in the society she lived in. Even Elton John came out and spoke about how both of them were bulimic together.

        It also ignores the diverse range of ways in which those habits can manifest themselves. Not everyone who suffers from disordered eating starves themselves outright, or binges and purges routinely, or anything like that. There is a huge emotional side on it that goes unremarked on. People think it’s just a matter of women hating how they look, and that’s it. It’s not. It’s intimately tied up on how you perceive your self-worth. We live in a world that puts a premium on being thin. Women are told to aspire to this. Obviously it warps our perceptions of food, our body image, and how we think of ourselves and our value as people.

        I don’t think Kate is outright starving herself, or that she’s bulimic. But I don’t think she’s well. I don’t think she has a healthy attitude towards food, or her own body image. I don’t know the particulars of how that manifests itself for her, but to pretend like she isn’t impacted by disordered eating (again, given how common it is), or to say that it’s somehow an insult to insinuate that she might have a pattern of it, is ridiculous.

      • The Duchess says:

        @A – I couldn’t agree with you more. There are many different types of ED’s that affects a whole range of people in many different ways. My ED wasn’t fuelled by how I perceived my body or what goal weight I wanted to achieve, it was centred around how I perceived food. I’ve always been skinny and it was never my intention to lose even more weight, so to see a lot of people think that an ED is as simple as just dodging meals or being bulimic isn’t categorically correct. In my opinion, Kate is a very anxious girl. She lives on her nerves, which fuels her serious ED, which isn’t good at all. As long as she stays, it will get worse for her. Her husband clearly doesn’t care and her stage mother probably sees it as a burden on her path to Kweendom. On a human level I feel sorry for Kate, but as soon as I realise how she treated Meghan all that sympathy disappears. Kate has done this to herself.

      • CC says:

        @yinyang, an ED is a mental disorder. You dont have a little bit of it (you either meet the criteria or you don’t) You just cant stop when you feel like it, and Anorexia Nervosa has a high mortality rate compared to other disorders.

        Many people confuse disordered eating and eating disorder up. A rule of thumb is that if the person doesn’t really require much clinical intervention and recovers quite fast without relapse, it’s probably the former. Or if they haven’t received a formal diagnosis.

        Also, bulimics generally have a normal BMI range, unless you’re referring to AN b/p subtype. People with AN dont necessarily show off their skinny bodies. Some actually are generally aware of their weight and hide it to avoid conversations about it.

        Not saying Kate is AN (as a psych i know better than that), but i do worry for her mental health even though i dislike her.

    • February-Pisces says:

      I think cos it’s buttoned up it looks ridiculous. It’s not a bad coat, it just completely drowns her they way she’s wearing it. It would better open, in fact I don’t think I ever fasten long wool coats. She just doesn’t know how to dress herself.

  17. Dalloway says:

    They’re so normal! Walking in Waterloo, craving KFC, unlike those elitists in their ivory tower in California … *rolls eyes*.

  18. Alice says:

    I’m calling it, I think she is pregnant again. Her waist is thicker (not body shaming, she is so very thin and waiflike normally that her waist is always a giveaway in the early days when she is expecting) and her forehead is not as botoxed as it usually is.

    • Becks1 says:

      She just got a fresh round of botox about two or three weeks ago (maybe a month ago, time is running together for me.)

      • Sofia says:

        Yup. If she’s pregnant then she’s in the very early stages and she wasn’t a month ago (or else she would have stopped)

    • MissM says:

      I really dont think there will be anymore Cambridge babies. I get the sense that William hasn’t touched his wife in a long time. He strikes me as the dirtbag who would only crawl into bed with her when hes had a few too many and his Rosebush is unavailable for trimming.

      • Nic919 says:

        I agree that if it hasn’t happened by now post rose affair then it won’t happen. I had thought that if it would we would know by the end of 2019. I guess the RVO was what she was getting this time and not a baby. Besides they can’t afford to have her gone for mat leave with Harry and Meghan gone. She does little anyway, but she gets actually privacy unlike Meghan, for many months and they need the remaining “young royals” visible right now.

  19. Bluj1515 says:

    To put in perspective how utterly ridiculous she looks, it’s 65F in London today with 67% humidity. The coat is absurd. And it looks more absurd than normal because her hair is loose and not formal, and yet she is in an incredibly formal long coat. Agree with everyone who says that she uses these clothes to hide that she is skeletal.

    • A says:

      Was it at least a situation where it was cold or nippy in the morning, but sweating in the afternoon? I’ve been in that situation a lot before. Either way, you prepare for all contingencies right?

  20. Hannah says:

    Slouchy boots, a hat and a scarf: to give this heavy coat some balance. The courts are all wrong. Meg got it right in navy blue for Remembrance Day (apologies for Express link: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/style/1201285/meghan-markle-news-prince-harry-field-of-remembrance-latest-pictures)

    • ravynrobyn says:

      @ Hannah-thanks for the link. Watching those two, especially H, made me cry. You can tell he was honored to place a cross; he showed reverence, respect & love 💔💔

  21. Lizzie says:

    Disgusting to not wear a mask in any country. I am over the excuses. I guess Charles is happy to pay for her 50th red wool coat.
    The photo’s were a good thing and I see nothing wrong promoting it. However we could all predict the do-littles would get their faces in the DM ahead of the Time 100 event today. For sure no one will click on them afterward.

  22. MerryGirl says:

    Here we go again, “don’t forget about meeee”. Got to make an appearance on the same day as Harry & Meghan but have nothing new to show for it….how long are they going to flag to death the Hold Still thingy?

    • Alexandria says:

      They are white privilege, they can do the bare minimum for their welfare money and it’s alright.

    • Wiglet Watcher says:

      The garden show news went on for weeks after as it was the only thing they had for PR in ….. weeks.

  23. Josie Bean says:

    Pity I wasn’t at Waterloo Station when they were there – I would have loved to ask them to explain the reason they were not wearing face coverings during a pandemic and why they were putting themselves and others at risk.

  24. CrystalBall says:

    News flash: woman gets eaten alive by giant red coat while carrying £1583 new handbag as people lose their jobs in pandemic.

    Go home, Waity – this is tone deaf. (Of course, it’s Duchess Dolittle now.)

  25. Zaya says:

    They should model good behavior and wear masks. That’s what good leaders would do – lead by example. And if people are going to excuse the non-mask wearing cause they government doesn’t require it, well doesn’t the government limit outdoor and indoor get togethers to six people in London? How many people were at the event? They also said that households shouldn’t mix. Are all the people there living with kate and William? Hmmm?

    And I would love to ask the newly minted environmentalist, what he thinks of his wife’s shopping habit considering the fact that the fashion industry is on of the biggest polluters on earth?

  26. Nic919 says:

    The shot of the hammer and sickle next to the woman who has never worked in her life and is wearing over 3k worth of designer clothing and accessories using taxpayer money while the peasants struggle to survive is pretty ironic.

  27. Carolind says:

    I wear disposable masks from Boots the Chemist and they are exactly the same size as those being worn by Kate. Are masks in the US therefore bigger? You do know it is just your mouth and nose that require covering – or am I missing something?

  28. Julia K. says:

    I thought Prince Charles paid for her clothes out of Duchy of Cornwall funds. Looks as if she spends more on clothes than Camila. Does he wonder why one needs so many new coats?

    • Nic919 says:

      I think they don’t say anything about the excessive shopping because it is a form of self medication to deal with the cheating spouse.