Duchess Kate’s Christmas special will be made by BBC Studios anyway, lol

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I genuinely wondered if the Duchess of Cambridge’s Christmas Jazz Hands charity special had been announced before this week, and as it turns out, no, it had not. Despite the fact that Christmas is only a month away and most television stations prefer to lock in their holiday programming months in advance, it looks more and more like Kensington Palace was half-assing their plans and expecting television stations to cover for them. Last night, the Sun reported that William and Kate were so incandescent with rage over The Princes and the Press, they were removing Kate’s Christmas program from the BBC and giving it to ITV. Only it turns out, that isn’t even close to what’s really happening. From Sky News:

ITV is in negotiations to host a carol concert involving Prince William and Kate, to be broadcast in the days before Christmas. The programme – a new format – will be recorded at Westminster Abbey in early December but sources at ITV say they were only made aware of the offer late last week. It comes two days after a documentary on the BBC examining the relationship between the media and Princes William and Harry.

In an interesting twist, the Christmas carol programme, in which the Duchess of Cambridge will play a key role, is being made for ITV by BBC Studios – a production arm of the corporation, although that is not unusual in broadcasting.

Royal aides are not denying the programme is being aired on ITV but would not be drawn on whether that decision was connected to Monday’s BBC documentary, The Princes and the Press. A second episode of the documentary will air next Monday and the central allegation – denied by the palaces – is that the different households can, and did, brief against one another.

An ITV source said of the late commission: “It was unusual for it to come to us this late.”

News of the carol concert being aired on ITV was first revealed by The Sun on Thursday’s front page. The newspaper said Kate will take a leading role – and also suggested the Cambridges’ children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, might attend. That has not been confirmed by Kensington Palace.

The show is in addition to ITV’s usual Carols at Christmas offering, which the broadcaster is still going ahead with that week. However, contracts are still being negotiated which is why ITV has yet to formally announce the William and Kate carol concert in its festive schedule. It’s likely to be aired on 23 or 24 December.

It is not unusual for BBC Studios to make programmes for other broadcasters – they made the Inside the Duchy of Cornwall documentary for ITV in 2019.

[From ITV]

Think of the layers of BS involved here. William is raging at the BBC because of The Princes and the Press, but he also hates ITV because they aired Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview. Instead of playing two networks against each other, William was short-sighted and stupid and now he has to work with BOTH of them. He screwed himself over! It’s amazing. But really, the most fascinating part is that William, Kate and their KP staffers are genuinely this lazy and incompetent. Kate just breezed in, mumbled something about how she’d like to host a Christmas special and left everyone to work on it without her. Everything is so last-minute!

Chris Ship says that there was a “wobble” with planning it and the move to ITV possibly isn’t even about The Princes and the Press.

Jazz Hands was out and about today, wearing new clothes.

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83 Responses to “Duchess Kate’s Christmas special will be made by BBC Studios anyway, lol”

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  1. Tom says:

    Too bad it won’t air in the U.S. I’d be watching for visible taped Xs on the ground and boom mikes juuuust visible at the top of the screen.

    • Lizzie says:

      I’m not sure it will air anywhere by the sound of ITV very unenthusiastic response.

    • Va Va Kaboom says:

      If it does air it will inevitably make its way onto YouTube. You can hate watch without inflating their numbers.

  2. Tessa says:

    What is she going to do exactly on the Special? Give a speech?

    • LovesitinNM says:

      I put my money on pre-recorded videos.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Grin and wave. More than a 30 second speech would exhaust the Keen CEO. Do we expect Mummy Carole to be in the audience posing too, as she was at the Variety show?

    • Nic919 says:

      Any spoken words will be edited to no end. Instead of coming up with a last minute idea they probably should have filmed her parts in September alone just to give enough time to make it seem comprehensible.

  3. Merricat says:

    Incompetence is the new royal protocol, I’m thinking.

    • Va Va Kaboom says:

      It’s giving strong whiffs of Trump’s “Four Seasons” fiasco…

      • GRUEY says:

        Right? Had a “wobble” my asssss. My guess is KPp never bothered with proper negotiations with BBC and went scrambling when it turned out BBC couldn’t accommodate them.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        @ GRUEY, well Duchess of Sussex was in NYC with Harry and they met those students in Harlem and brought gifts that they co-sponsored with PG. Scratch that, her staff had to come up with something last minute and this is what they put together.

        We have amateur v professional good hope ambassador’s and Kopy Kate doesn’t like to look foolish…..too late!!

  4. SarahLee says:

    You know there’s trouble when they promise to bring out the kids.

  5. girl_ninja says:

    As soon as I heard about this Christmas special I thought that this is a project just cobbled together in the last day or so. What a bunch of phony lazy asses. Her hair looks nice but also wig-ish?

  6. Cee says:

    I get so mad when I see her wearing pants/trousers. They villified Meghan over it but when Duchess White does it it’s fine!

    • BayTampaBay says:

      I do not mind Kate wearing pants/trousers as many women do especially Princess Anne.

      However, if you are wearing cropped pants/trousers then you really need to have on killer shoes unless you are on the beach in cropped cargo pants or clam diggers.

      • Cee says:

        Oh, I don’t mind it either but remember how Meghan broke royal protocol a million times just because she wore pants/trousers? How unroyal it was? Just because all Kate wore were dresses and coats.

    • notasugarhere says:

      At least she’s wearing trousers instead of her skintight cameltoe jeggings.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      I am not usually nit-picky about celebrity bodies but those pants/trousers that Kate Keen is wearing really emphasize her long torso and short legs but not to a good advantage.

    • Amy Bee says:

      @Cee: Me too. And she clearly has a Meghan look book.

    • Monica says:

      Kate would make a fairly decent catalog model.

  7. Watson says:

    Can’t wait to watch this! Lemme guess. There’s gonna be at least one shot with a bunch of visibly ethnic children and Kate to bring home the “we are very much not racist!” Narrative? Lol!

    • Lili says:

      I bet they didn’t think of that. But now its so late in the day they will probably get an ethnic childrens choir, to say see we are not racist lol

    • Layla says:

      You should see the footages from this, those kids are not impressed. But tbf kids here in the U.K. generally don’t care which is what makes the engagement Meghan did with the Robert Clack Academy all the more amazing. (One of my all-time favourite engagements of Meghan’s) Those kids were all generally happy and awed to meet her

  8. ABritGuest says:

    What’s the bet Kate will do something a bit fun and silly for this carol service & will be praised for being such a good sport.

  9. superashes says:

    I feel bad saying this, but these pictures of Kate aren’t really that great? Her face seems off to me, maybe it is the makeup?

  10. mariahlee says:

    I saw a few videos from today’s engagement, and couldn’t help but compare it to another duchess’ visit to a local high school. Starkly different. The discomfort from all parties was palpable, but she sure knows how to sell it in a picture.

    Things are so messy at KP, whew. Also, where are they even getting the budget for these various tv productions? I can’t imagine they raise more funds than they cost.

    • Commonwealthy seemed witty at first says:

      “Sell it in a picture” – that’s what it is, her real job. Even in the anniversary catalog video, Kate could be seen holding a smile for longer than anyone else. It’s for the photos/posterity, not the connection.

    • Nic919 says:

      The unenthusiastic response of the kids after her “speech” was pretty obvious in the video. But these boys look to be around 11 or 12 so they probably can see through her bs pretty easily. She isn’t really relatable at all and only if the people are willing to make the effort to be polite does she not look like she’s boring people. That’s why very young kids tend to be her target, or seniors who automatically grant respect to members of the royal family even if undeserved.

  11. Eurydice says:

    This is so weird. What is the charity? Can you just decide the last minute to have a televised concert at Westminster Abbey? Who will be performing? It’ll be recorded sometime in the beginning of December and aired sometime before Christmas? What kind of half-assery is this?

  12. rawiya says:

    Who is she looking at in the bottom photos? Where the women are and where her eyes are focusing don’t seem to align. And a “wobble”? This is the future future queen, the future of the monarchy, and they can’t even get this right? Now wonder her 5 Questions took 10 years.

  13. Tessa says:

    Trotting out the kids again, and they will probably be given lines to read. Fauntleroy outfit for George.

    • Hell Nah! says:

      “Fauntleroy outfit for George”

      Oh Tessa, thank you for giving me my first snort-laugh in the longest time. Bless you, dear, I’ll be chuckling all day just imagining the visual on this. Lol!

  14. Lizzie says:

    Holy cow, they will not even commit to airing this last minute embiggening project for Waity. Good lord this is embarrassing.

  15. Commonwealthy seemed witty at first says:

    Her “brainchild.” 10 years in, and she comes up with a Christmas concert, and ITV already has a Christmas concert? Okay. I guess she’ll give a speech… early December is next week so I don’t think she’ll have time to practice it, but she could practice, if she really wanted to. KP can afford public-speaking courses! They can!

  16. Julia K says:

    I have a valid question and hope no one assumes it is sarcasm as it is not. She has 10 years of marriage and multiple purchases of clothing every year, some worn once, twice, perhaps. Simple math shows she perhaps has 1000 outfits. Where does she store it all? Realizing she has multiple homes and needs clothing be stocked at all homes, how can she keep track of all these purchases? Is there a person employed who is a “keeper of outfits”? As someone who goes through my closet often to keep organized within the confines of my space, I do wonder how this is doable with so many clothes. I see photos here of more new stuff for her to wear. Is there one gigantic room where it is archived or multiple rooms of clothing at multiple homes? Realizing we have far more important things to worry about, this has always fascinated me.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Kate has dozens of office and home staff, including multiple people responsible for ‘the royal wardrobe’. She has wasted over a million in taxpayer money on a ridiculous, repetitive, unprofessional wardrobe of coatdresses too aged to be seen on either the Queen or Camilla.

      • Nic919 says:

        She hit a million before Meghan ever entered the picture so she’s probably at over two million now. And that doesn’t even include the jewelry.

    • Eurydice says:

      I don’t know about Kate, but I remember reading an article about the Queen’s stylist and how she keeps spreadsheets of all the articles of clothing and accessories (over 200 handbags), where they are, when they were worn, for which occasion, who were the guests, etc. The Queen and her stylist consult on what to wear and I imagine the items are retrieved from wherever they’re stored. It’s like being a clothing archivist, I imagine.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Diana used to have staff who did this as well. Each piece of clothing was tracked, when worn, where, with what.

      • Nic919 says:

        It’s a guarantee that no one is tracking her clothing that way. Diana used to wear repeats far more often and in some cases modify certain pieces if they were worn years later. It is rare for Kate to repeat any of her outfits more than once.

      • BeanieBean says:

        I don’t think Kate has such a competent staff, or they wouldn’t let her buy so many multiples of the virtually the same thing. Plus, she frequently doesn’t seem dressed for the occasion; e.g., bright pink at the Twin Towers Memorial, flowery summer dress at a former concentration camp, cork wedges & slim dress at a field sports day with kids. Again, competent staff would take care of this.

      • windyriver says:

        @Eurydice – “the Queen’s stylist” presumably remains Angela Kelly, otherwise known as AK47. According to her 2019 book, she became Senior Dresser and Designer for TQ, then added Curator (responsible for much of the jewels), and Personal Advisor. We’ve talked about how she likely coordinated with Will to prevent Meghan wearing any of Diana’s jewelry, and was probably part of both the bogus story about Meghan’s choice of wedding tiara, and her Saudi earrings flap.

        She claims in her book that before she started working for TQ in the 1990’s, no records were kept of what TQ wore, and when. Seems hard to believe no one kept track at all, as there’s good reason that info would be needed. It does appear AK now has everything organized at a very detailed level, and maybe that, plus computerization, is new.

        The book’s subtitle is The Queen, The Dresser, and The Wardrobe, so there’s lots of AK’s personal history, especially early on. If you can get past the humble bragging, and stop laughing at a few nuggets like: “There will always be people who will say anything for attention” (referring to someone else) and “I don’t hold with gossip or little spats between staff members” (she once attacked another staff member over a romantic triangle), there’s a lot of interesting information about how TQ’s wardrobe is developed, handled and stored. Since it’s only $1.99 for the Kindle version, it might be worth a read.

        Judging by the nifty jewels Kate’s seen in at important events, she appears to get along with AK just fine. Whether she’s taken any hints from her about organizing her wardrobe is another question. For one thing, Kelly has always been very big on weighted hems, and we know in the past that wasn’t one of Kate’s priorities…

        And now, back to finishing up the Thanksgiving pies….

    • Sofia says:

      This is actually something I’m interested in myself! I have no insider knowledge or tea but there are website/companies you can use to store/archive your clothes and I imagine she uses one of them? Or there’s a spreadsheet of her clothes and her stylist works with the person who manages it to get outfits that are already in the archive or buy new ones.

      As for actually keeping the clothes, I imagine she’s got walk in wardrobes in each property and any jewellery is stored in safes. If there’s a “special” or “important” outfit or a dress that’s delicate, I imagine it goes into a special climate controlled space.

      • Nic919 says:

        I don’t think it is tracked much because kate has multiple outfits that similar in colour and style and that wouldn’t be the case if someone was tracking how many coat dresses in green or blue she owns.

    • WithTheAmerican says:

      I don’t know how they do it, but on movies (similar size wardrobe!) the outfits hang on hangars with safety pins attached to the hanger holding large tags that detail character, scene, hero or back up, etc.

      These outfits get brought to the dresser who takes them to the actor, and photos of the entire outfit, shoes, purse whatever are taken then and attached to the hangars as well.

      I actually tried to adopt the hangar tag method for my own closet but realized I don’t go anywhere so it’s irrelevant. Hahahahaha. I do need to clean my clothes shoes and bags out though. I’m so sick of having a closet full of crap I never wear now in Zoom age.

  17. Chill says:

    The bar is set very low at Windsor.

  18. AmelieOriginal says:

    I don’t really care about any of this documentary stuff/TV specials, I won’t watch them anyways though if The Princes and the Press becomes available on Youtube I’ll check it out.

    She is really the embracing the trousers lifestyle as of late! These pants actually look good on her.

    • WithTheAmerican says:

      I agree, I normally cringe at how Kathy dresses because it’s like she’s trying to emphasize that long waist (which is fine, her choice). But these trousers seem to hit her in a better spot. And her overall look is much improved.

      That said, she has no glamor.

  19. Amy Bee says:

    KP just sounds incompetent and disorganised. It shows the arrogance of William and Kate that they believe that any TV channel will just jump at the chance to air one of their programmes because of who they are. Also, you can tell that the news of Harry and Meghan getting a deal with Netflix really hurt William and Kate.

  20. EllenOlenska says:

    Well when your “team” only works once a month I guess they are used to half assing it. I bet they got an early morning email from W and K who had a brilliant idea…yesterday.

    And OF COURSE they will drag the kids into it…they know they need the PR lift. Picture Kate appearing to read a story by the fireplace as the kiddies gather round in little lord Fauntleroy pajamas and will spread chutney on a piece of toast…

    • MipMip says:

      Their team probably did get an email telling them to pull a concert out of thin air last week.

      I really think that last Thursday when ITV first heard of this concert.. is also the day this concert came into existence. That was also the day/time that this royal conniption about the Princes and the Press doc started. (I don’t think the doc is KP-sanctioned, I know others disagree).

      Knowing these fools, they got themselves worked up about the doc and what was in it last week, tried to view the doc and were denied, then made up this concert special and told BBC that THEY can’t have it (when they never wanted it). They’re now trying to strong-arm ITV into showing this thing (or at least saying they will show it). I think we’ll get a press release in a week that this dumb concert isn’t happening, they’ll probably blame M&H for it somehow, and then we’ll never hear about it again.

  21. Sofia says:

    Apparently, BBC have created their own concert and chose to air that over Kate’s. The reason seems to be scheduling issues aka not enough hours in a day to air Kate’s. That might be the real reason or it might not. But telling the BBC passed over the Future Future Queen and could not find space, especially if they knew that Kate would be doing this for a while (which they had to since they’re producing it). Unless it was cobbled together at the last minute.

    I would presume that to be the “wobble” and why it went to ITV so late.

  22. Lizzie says:

    What a fail for the Top CEO – nobody wants to air your late November ‘brainchild’ at Christmas.

  23. Over it says:

    Lazy ass karen

  24. Monica says:

    They are so BAD at this. It’s laughable.

  25. Over it says:

    Psssst,Kate and Willy. Over here . People are Just not that into the two of you

  26. aquarius64 says:

    What a mess. Trust and believe if the Sussexes planned a live streaming of Lili’s christening the bidding war would be fierce.

    • Lizzie says:

      You’ve got me thinking, it would be something if a pic of Lili’s christening was released the same day. However the Sussex are not that petty and if this special is a fail it needs to fail on it’s own and not have the Sussex blamed for it.

  27. Likeyoucare says:

    She looks like camilla tominey. Not in the good way either.

  28. Kyliegirl says:

    I said this in the last post, but Kate and William’s lack of awareness of others is disturbing. Do they not know how busy the holiday season is for venue’s and performers? For them to throw this together at the last minute as a vanity project is the epitome of being asshats. Also, isn’t William a patron of a charity Christmas concert already that he never goes to. One that is held in honor of one of his childhood friends!?! Very original as usual.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      I think you are referring to Henry van Straubenzee. Both Harry & Baldy were close friends of the van Straubenzee brothers as children, teenagers and young men. This annual Christmas charity concert has been cancelled for 2021 due to COVID-19.

      Henry van Straubenzee was killed in a car crash as a passenger on the 14th December 2002, aged 18. After his untimely death, Henry’s family set up The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund to try and keep his memory alive.

      Henry had planned a gap year teaching in Uganda. Henry never made it to East Africa on his year out, but the school, Bupadhengo in Uganda, where he was to have taught, was calling out for help. The Memorial Fund has since helped this school and its children to prosper

  29. Cate says:

    Drinking game:

    Louis looking for the nanny
    George in a suit
    Kate perfomative parenting (bending, pointing, grinning)
    William breaking his jaw with clenching
    Kate and the kids dressed in red, white and/or gold
    Charlotte dressed as a mini Kate
    Camel toe (festive!)
    Moose knuckle (not so festive)
    Kate tripping over her words or sounding out of breath

  30. Jan says:

    When she was leaving the classroom the students didn’t even standup, and said bye like they ran a marathon.
    Of course since the lamebridges like competition so much, a side by side of the two duchesses are on Twitter.

  31. Jay says:

    Notice how the article dangles the possibility that the children will attend after detailing what a disaster this seems – ITV might just as well send Kate a ransom demand or invest in a skywriter over Anmer: BRING THE CHILDREN (or else).

    • Nic919 says:

      The kids are definitely going to show up and say something on camera. No media will care about this otherwise.

  32. Matthew says:

    the 2000s called they want their pants back

  33. Matthew says:

    I actually think they should come to America – I need those LOLs

  34. Lizzie says:

    This is Waity’s typical photo shoot. Her face front and center, big gestures, while others corralled around her and we only see them from the back or side. What was the photoshoot the only reason for her to show up at this school? No one looks impressed except Waity herself.

  35. Here4tea says:

    Everyone is decidedly underwhelmed. The BBC 6 o’clock news just covered this, the general inference being it’s petty payback time.

    • Chrissy (The Original) says:

      I’m glad people are seeing through the Baldy’s BS. And yet no one in his family calls him out. SMH

  36. Constant says:

    I perceive Kate as a vacuous ninny. Okay, strike that-more like a vacuous dullard. I don’t care what she wears. She is an empty vessel.

  37. Kristin says:

    I LOVE how Chris Ship puts Kate’s “brainchild” in italics. Like he really wants to replace “brainchild” with “dipshit idea”.