On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended Royal Carols: Together At Christmas, the event which was nominally “created” by Kate. In the wake of Prince William’s sh-t fit about The Princes and the Press, we were told that Kate had an idea for a Christmas carol special and the Cambridges were so mad at the BBC, they were taking their special away from the BBC and giving it to ITV. The special had not been announced – or planned – before that moment two-and-a-half weeks ago. ITV quickly agreed to air Kate’s special, and BBC Studios was always on board to produce it (the entire time).
It was pulled together very quickly, which surprised me considering Kate coasted on her “garden” project for a full year, and her five-question survey was disastrous, half-assed busywork. Competent professionals organized Together at Christmas, which is how you know Kate and her Kensington Palace team probably weren’t part of it. She was just looking for “something” to make her look Meghan-esque, so this was organized around her. All she had to do was show up in a Christmas dress, toss her sausage curls, loudly guffaw for no reason and give a little speech. I mean, it’s HER thing, right? That was the whole reason for all of this, to give Kate a thing and to give her credit for something, right? Well, despite all of the advanced promotion, Kate did NOT speak. She didn’t even do a pretaped message or anything like that. There was a message “from Kate” printed in the program, but she couldn’t be bothered to actually get up there and say the words, despite the press being briefed that she would be part of the introduction.
What happened? Was she too lazy to make a speech? Did she refuse to go up the podium? Or was it something else? A Daily Mail correspondent theorized on Mail Confidential that Kate didn’t make a speech because she didn’t want to pull attention from anyone else, UNLIKE MEGHAN. The bar is already set so low for Kate, I thought she would be able to do that one thing: make a little speech on the televised Christmas carol special she “organized.” But no. She couldn’t be bothered.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Instar.
Lol…this mediocre woman….
Really, it’s no wonder the tabloids and royal experts have to make up fantasies – how is it possible for a human being to be so completely uninteresting?
I think she has a fear of public speaking. But gees she has the resources or EVERY resource to get practice to get a handle on it. I work in the corporate world I have dealt w it and even I have resources. Sad she was brought up only to look pretty. Meghan is a great combo of skills.
@Barrett – Nobody is asking her to make a speech about world hunger to the UN General Assembly. All she had to do is thank some people and say 2 words about the holidays. That shouldn’t be beyond the capability of a future future queen.
But my point wasn’t just about Kate’s public speaking or even if she has any skills – it’s that there isn’t a single thing interesting or remarkable about her. It doesn’t seem that she reads books or has any hobbies – beekeeping? canning fruit? collecting salt shakers? For all her guffaws, what is she laughing at, does she even have a sense of humor? She buys a lot of clothes, but it doesn’t seem that she’s interested in fashion.
If the royal rota weren’t such cockroaches, I would feel sorry for them trying to find something, anything to say about her.
But…but…her chutney…
If she really didn’t want to pull attention away from anyone there would have been pictures of the choir(s) and the guests (i heard she invited the homeless? Did she even interact with them?)
She didn’t do a speech because she’s an awful public speaker and would probably crumble.
Agree Chloe. She definitely made this concert all about herself. We didn’t see much of the choir or the other people invited ( besides the Middletons)
What about words of welcome and recognition of the performers on the program. That would have been a good chance to seem lucid and animated—and those kinds of things are pretty standard at Christmas concerts. It wouldn’t have pulled focus from the performers.
Also, I know a lot of people here have been saying that Wills looked in love with Kate at this event. Idk but he looks like he just tasted a lemon in every pic I’ve seen. Like straight up wincing and grimacing. Yeah I guess he managed to smile in a few pics but there are a bunch of others. Here are some more. This account is a little nutty to me btw, but relevant for these pics. https://www.instagram.com/p/CXPsUuyMZs1/?utm_medium=copy_link
@Gruey, he maybe looked 20% happier at this specific event than he has at recent events with her, and I don’t even think that was directed specifically at her. Not to mention that there’s no evidence of him interacting with her family AT ALL. I don’t get this “look of love” crap. Give me a damn break.
@ Gruey, thanks for the link, but you have to admit they are spot on about Kween!! How she pays to have followers as she doesn’t have any!! That statement I believe!
I don’t think taking away attention from someone else is a real concern. Kate can’t command anyone’s attention, not even her own husband.
She didn’t want to pull attention, that is why she wore bright red on bright red on bright red on bright red
That’s unfair to mediocre women. Some speak to inspire others. Others mumble their way into obscurity.
Agreed, Elizabeth Regina. Kate is a ghost of a bygone era, that no one wants to return to.
I think KP is nervous about Kate’s public speaking skills being compared to Meghan’s. Anyone with 2 eyes can see they aren’t playing the same game.
But what is Kate going to do, never speak live in public again?
She could easily find help with her public speaking like her 19 year old MIL did when she got engaged. Except, unlike Diana, she’s too lazy to bother as excuses are constantly made to cover all her faults.
@Chrissy, My guess is she probably did get some help for a time, but that person probably threw up their hands and quit. She probably CAN’T improve as long as she insists on that warbled fake posh accent.
“That person probably threw their hands up and quit” and that was the only thing Kate learned from her instructor. She now throws her hands up constantly at events thinking that it was the most important part of her speech-giving lessons. Poor Kate.
My last comment about his story was that o thought she was gonna do the intro and last speech of the night with everything in between being prerecorded. I set the bar low but it was too high. She did fck all. I even bet a symbolic dollar i was going win, man I lost that one too.
Maybe they were afraid someone would interrupt her speech with a shout of “What else!?”
@Mrs. Krabapple: this comment is golden!!!
LMAO!
And others did all the work so she could preen in the limelight. Ugh.
“Lol…this mediocre woman….”
Yep, way too try hard and performative. Not to mention no authenticity, pettiness, peevishness, and copyMeg-itis. All the while, not-so secretly disliking and being jealous of her Sussex sister-in-law.
As predicted, Kate was the host but someone else did the introductions of the guests. I suspect she will do a pretaped version of her message that was printed on the programme and it will be inserted into the televised event. She couldn’t even muster up a “Thank you for coming, Merry Christmas” to the live audience. That’s just basic good manners and common courtesy. It would not have pulled attention away from the guests.
Agreed. She is so basic. I know that word fell out of fashion a few years ago, but leave it to KHate to resurrect fashion long since dead and buried.
Most of the country and quite frankly her fans don’t care for her anyway. She came, she wore and she grinned. That’s what she does best.
So how exactly was she host then since she did not do one of the most basic duties of a host. I hope she at least arrived early so that she could greet everyone at the door.
Actually no. LMAO Apparently she arrived after everyone was seated and waiting on her.
Jeebus Christus!
so I guess technically that was correct since she and William were the highest ranking royals in attendance, and kind of like the queen arrives last at events I guess….but still…..if you want to show that you are so down to earth and “normal” making all your “guests” arrive first and watch you parade down the aisle in your new $$$ coatdress….that’s not the way.
Given Kate’s general incompetence (and William, let’s be honest), I don’t see how Charles’ vision of a slimmed down monarchy is feasible at all. This is just one of the many examples of how Kate (and William) is incapable of carrying out the duties that come with being the UK’s future head of state.
@LaraW Charles’ slimmed down monarchy was only going to work with Harry, despite all of the revisionist history playing out now. The future queen can’t even host a Christmas concert, but sure, the firm is in good hands. W&K are a joke, still being out worked by the elderly Charles and near 100 year old queen, and people have the nerve to say that Harry didn’t know what service and duty was. Oh well. Good luck Chuck.
I don’t see how it works period unless they plan to significantly cutback on what events royals attend. You have C&C, W&K, Anne and the Wessexes. Eugenie and Bea and their husbands aren’t working royals, neither are Anne’s kids, and the cousins are literally in their 80s. So you have three people in the in their 70s, two in their 50’s, and two in their 40’s. They are banking a lot of the idea that everyone will be as long lived as the Queen and Prince Philip, but its a real possibility that 3 to 4 of those people may not be available very soon.
William has 3 kids. If each of his kids has 3 kids, and so on, there are more royals than britain needs (anything more than “1” is more than needed, and that is a generous use of the word “needed” — I am conceding that the monarch may be viewed as having a “job” of head of state).
She is the worst host ever. A host that acts like a guest. Even at hosting she sucks. The incompetence. WOW. how low can you set the bar. It is embarrassing to be announced as a host and do nothing.
@ Duchessl, yes she is. It’s almost as if this special to thank those who sacrificed so much for the last two years was actually an event to thank Kween Laziness and her “hard” work and sacrifices!! 🤷🏻♀️
I am all the way over any pretence of “but she’s shy!”
No, she is not remotely shy, she just doesn’t care. I am sorry, England, I know you are a lot better than Kate as your ambassador, and Wills as your FFK. Diana, as a deer in the headlights 19 year old, was shy. And yet, she figured out how to be effective, and in short order. Let’s not pretend that Kate is not older than Diana when she died, at the height of her global impact. It’s ludicrous to keep heaping excuses on this woman.
“There was a message “from Kate” printed in the program, but she couldn’t be bothered to actually get up there and say the words,”
Paraphrasing Owen Wilson: wow!
I am starting tot hink her team leep hyping most of her apperances to the press as a way to shame her to actually do something more than just show up…like, ” hey, we already wrote her speech, how about we just tell them she is speaking? Then she might speak, right?”
Lol!
“A Daily Mail correspondent theorized on Mail Confidential that Kate didn’t make a speech because she didn’t want to pull attention from anyone else, UNLIKE MEGHAN. ”
So,basically Kate did not want to pull attention from…her mother? Are you telling me CAROLE forced herchild not to speak so that all eyes could be on her?
This argument literally makes no sense though. People expect high profile people to speak at events like this. It’s why former politicians, writers, musicians, etc. get paid very well to do keynote speeches. It’s the entire point of “soft diplomacy” as they call it for royals. Use someone with a large profile to get eyeballs on an event to raise awareness. I’m sure there were plenty of competent speakers there who could expound upon what frontline workers experienced this past 18 months, but it’s literally what they are there for. To bring attention that wouldn’t be given to others to worthy causes., so that they receive support. What exactly is her point then if she can’t even give a speech?
I think she herselfs sees her main job a providing William with children, soothing William,as providing her family with a connection to William…
anything else is secondary and , as a result, she does not place any importance to it other than the bare minimum.
Even Kate’s big moments need Meghan put downs to give her some gravitas. Can she just do something newsworthy that doesn’t involve an outfit?
She didn’t make a speech because when William stomped his feet and said, “The mean BBC is not getting Kate’s concert,” the BBC pushed back and said, “We already have a carol concert and don’t have room in our schedule for Kate’s concert.” Some of the reporting was that the BBC would not make room for the FFQ’s concert, isn’t that funny? .
So I think at that point, KP decided to turn it into a Royal Family event for optics and de-emphasize it as Kate’s event. Because at one point it WAS all about Kate hosting, and then it wasn’t. The narrative definitely changed and I think they decided to emphasize “family” instead, hence the March of the Middletons and the Lesser Royals. Really, Kate did not want her event demoted to ITV.
Harper I think that’s a really good theory. Kate was going to host and it was going to be “her event” but once it got bumped to ITV and BBC made clear they had no interest in airing it (and it was not the other way around, with KP saying “no” to the BBC), someone (william or Kate or both) was embarrassed and decided to downplay that this was the “Future Future Queen Consort’s concert” (say that 5 times fast) and so it became a “family event” etc.
I actually saw a news reporter outside of Westminster Abbey commenting that it was fascinating that the BBC wouldn’t find room in their schedule somewhere for the future Queen and there were various nods from the anchors saying, yes, very unusual. I bet that CarolE saw that too and pulled the alarm. She also quickly realized it was a chance to use the Family Card and get herself and James and Pippa seated upfront and center for the evening.
@Harper This sounds highly plausible. For all the fuss the palace has been making about the BBC’s credibility, it is still the most well known and most watched British network. It must have been highly embarrassing for the BBC to say not only did we pass on this mess originally, but we already have a concert planned, and no, we will not be making room to be keen. I’m sure the fact that the queen’s Christmas message will most likely remain at the BBC is going to make the Keens look even more ridiculous.
@ Harper, even though Ma Meddleton saw the opportunity to bring the family in and be front and center, Kween regaled them to the second row!!
Well, Chaz wanting a slimmed down monarchy has certainly bitten him in the proverbial ass as he created, and allowed, the unmitigated and relentless smear campaign against Harry and Meghan to the point of fleeing for their lives! Not only did Chaz NOT step up to the plate, in addition to TQ, but he allowed his incompetent/lazy son and his lazier DIL to jump of the wagon of jealousy, pettiness and unforgivable cruelty. Now Chaz is stuck with a lazy, bitter, anger raging petulant man-child who is his heir, with a DIL that spends money like it’s growing on trees, to see as the future of The Monarchy. Chaz must hope that Anne lives to be 115 years old, and suck up to Edward and his brown nosing wife, Sofiesta, to handle the duties required of The Monarchy during his reign.
Could not have happened to a more deserving man and family.
If she didn’t want to make it about herself, she and her tacky family wouldn’t have been there posing. The staff would have organize this ‘let’s have them sing their entire Christmas program for the REAL program next week and call it our project’ – and Kate would have stayed home out of the spotlight.
It is never about charity or other people; it is always about Kate posing for PR. This whole sh!t show was Sarah Everard all over.
I mean if she didn’t want to make it about herself, maybe just don’t go in the front. Go via the back door? 😌 Or maybe just don’t go.
I noticed she’s terrified of making speeches with a live audience but she could have gotten professional support in public speaking
Absolutely- I had a real fear of public speaking 10 years ago. My role in my job required I get comfortable with it, so I had to work on it. I went from someone who would get nauseous, lightheaded, and breakout into hives to someone who can coherently communicate in front of people. It wasn’t easy, but it’s possible and likely much more possible if you have access to the best trainers in the world! I also seem to question her inability to be in front of people when it’s well documented she participated in sports, walked a runway in a bathing suit, and married a prince. People who can’t handle the spotlight don’t do those things!
She’s had over 10 years to seek professional support in public speaking . Or heck, over 20 years when she and PMCarolE decided to stalk Bulliam to get Big Blue. Colleges offer that sort of thing.
They need to explain how kate was able to sing musicals in secondary school (she was Eliza Doolittle ) but she can’t read a basic speech. The real answer is that she cannot speak using her new posh accent and she has not worked to overcome that obstacle. It’s been a decade. There a children in other royal families who can give speeches in more than one language meanwhile kate can’t even handle English.
It’s that not the whole point of the royal family bring attention to their charitable cause ? Do they think when Harry and Meghan did their vaxlive speeches it did not bring renowed attention to the topic of waiving patent for the vaccine ? These royal reporters were so eager to drag Meghan they end up insulting Kate. And W&K don’t even have that much influence if they have to bring up the whole family to bring attention to the event.
I hadn’t even thought of the issue of patent-waiving for the vaccine until H&M started talking about it. Now I’m much more aware of it. Royals should bring attention to issues/causes.
Yeah, that was a dumb take. If anything, Kate making a speech probably would’ve brought more attention to the concert because she would have given them more than just some pictures. They could’ve even teased the concert with footage of Kate making a nice speech for some promotion. I know this special is being aired later on, but this outing did not get much coverage despite all of those royals in attendance. The bar is in hell for Kate, so now they’re trying to argue that royals shouldn’t give speeches because that would be attention seeking, “like Meghan.” Unbelievable.
Indeed. If they’re not supposed to draw attention, why do they make speeches or attend events at all? Or why does she need to have new clothes for almost every event she attends if she doesn’t want to be noticed?
Exactly. What was the point of Kate being there and bringing her family along with some of the royals if not to bring attention? If she doesn’t want to bring attention to it, why did she do this? Why did they announce she would do this? What was the purpose other than to make her look good and give her some numbers before the end of the year?
Was this concert related to charity in any way? I thought it was just a concert? Either way, a few words would have been nice!
Someone pointed out yesterday that the way the remarks were printed in the program were similar to how you might write a speech for someone to read – with the punctuation being the pauses, etc. So I wonder if the speech was meant for her, and then she said “no” so they added it to the program instead but no one bothered to proof it one final time. maybe she will read it in a pretaped segment for the final broadcast?
So how was she “hosting”? She just greeted the choir and some of the guests? She didn’t say anything, she couldn’t even do a reading like William, just….nothing?
JFC. She is so lazy and incompetent.
No hosting duties = no host. I think her part in this was thrown together as the least that she can do–again. Probably William’s idea, to shoe-horn her into an already-planned concert and try to make it seem like she has ideas and feelings about others. Lol.
Agree. At this stage they are throwing whatever they can on the wall and seeing if it sticks. Their biggest project terra cacas flopped spectacularly, so they couldn’t get lots of headlines from that. Their next project, getting Meghan to lose also failed. We also had the Apple podcast thing that no one bothered listening to. Now they need to fill out the rest of the year with some activities and this seemed an easy one to shoe horn her into.
Elizabeth Regina: I just figured out your ‘terra cacas’. Took me a minute, then I literally LOLd. 😉
It does look like a speech but she probably had some sort of fit and didn’t want to do the work.
Do you think she knows? I really would love to know if she realizes at the end of the day how useless and lazy and ineffective she is. Or does she honestly lay down on her pillow at night giving herself mental high fives, thinking to herself ‘You are killing it, Duch!’ ?
I really wonder this also, L84TEA
I think she goes to bed trying to come up with new ways to avoid working, especially now that baby-making is pretty much done.
Nope, narcissistic people think they’re the best. They don’t have imposter syndrome.
No, I really don’t think she even considers the question. She doesn’t strike me as someone capable of self-reflection or introspection and I doubt she ever considers that she should be doing more than she does. If she wanted to do more, she would. I think she gets annoyed when she is pushed to work more or to do more visible projects. She wants to shop and exercise and do whatever the hell else it is that rich British women do in the countryside lol.
Thing is, most women in the UK who live in the countryside have a house and possibly even estate to manage. And not all of them have the money Kate does so they do a lot of the work themselves. Those ancestral homes aren’t cheap to run hence why they open them up to the public. And if they’re doing that then they’re involved in the logistics of the day.
So most are probably doing more work in a day then Kate does. Along with the shopping, working out, socialising etc etc.
@Sofia oh I’m sure. I was just trying to picture Kate’s day at Anmer and I was like….walking in the countryside? Shooting parties? basically every stereotype from Gosford Park or Midsomer Murders (when there was a rich manor house involved in the episode) lololol because we know she is not working.
Her own words from her first years of extreme laziness on the job? That she was setting her own schedule and confident in it. And her quote from the Jubilee year where she complained to RRs publicly about working 100 hours a year, being rushed off her feet, needing a long break and a slower schedule.
@notasugarhere – 100 hours a year? That’s not even 2 hours a week (20 minutes a day) and she’d get weekends off.
She really is ‘working’ so little it can be counted in hours.
@L84Tea I think she knows she’s useless, which is why she’s been at Meg’s throat from the start. Meghan coming along made her fearful and was probably one of the first times that she realized that she couldn’t just coast like she’d been doing. Hence, Broken Britain, and her SWFing Meg for the past few years. If she didn’t know she wasn’t enough, she wouldn’t be trying to become Meghan and she certainly wouldn’t be briefing against her.
For her sake, I hope she lacks the self awareness of how embarrassing and incompetent she is. The constant headlines about her “growing” comfort in her role would be enough to have me cringing under my bed forever.
Like other commenters here, this event made me think about the “job” of titled woman or aristocrat that Kate was supposedly trained all her life to do. Many of them are basically professional hosts, running events for fundraising or on their properties, as well as maintaining political connections, and yes, giving speeches and introductions. Not to mention that many of the modern aristocrats have made their properties into businesses that they manage every detail of. I’m thinking in particular about the late Duchess of Devonshire, but I’m sure there are other examples.
We often say that Kate was brought up from an early age to marry into a title, and maybe she would have had to develop the skills she lacks if she had married, say, a Marquis or even a terribly moderately wealthy business person. But it’s striking that she stacks up so poorly in the ONE job she supposedly has been preparing for her entire life.
@Jay, funny enough, Rose Hanbury is a perfect example of what you said. She is extremely involved in the running of Houghton Hall and regularly photographs not only the house, but the grounds, gardens, and artwork they display and puts it all on Instagram with interesting little stories. She’s made Houghton Hall a really alluring place with all the cool sculptures they show and the history displayed. And she’s the queen bee of the Norfolk set to boot. Kate could learn a lot from her.
I think she knows that she’s terrible in public speaking that’s why she goes out of her way to avoid doing it.. she also knows that Meghan is very good at public speaking that’s why she keeps telling people that she doesn’t want to pull attention unlike Meghan bla bla bla only to mask the fact that Meghan is good & she’s terrible
It’s interesting reading all of the comments here, because I’ve reached the conclusion that Kant is doing exactly what she wants to do. As long as she continues to be a poor public speaker, she will not have to speak publically. She doesn’t do many public appearances, because she chooses not to. Exactly how are they going to get her out there now after allowing her to get to where works not even the bare minimum.
Kate made sure to snag her man after stalking for 10 years. I believe she is more than capable to doing what needs to be done in her role within the brf. I just think she’s very manipulative. I think Willie is finally on to the game and is no longer allowing himself to be manipulated any longer, which is panicking not just Kant but Ma Mid, too. I think it’s just going to get more interesting as we go forward. If Kant and Ma haven’t figured it out yet? They can’t win this war. Let the games begin.
I agree with this. If kate wants to do something she will, otherwise she manages to get out of doing any work. The only one who can make her do things she doesn’t want to do is William. As an example her exclusion from the Diana statue unveiling.
What a waste of space this mumbling woman is.
“A Daily Mail correspondent theorized on Mail Confidential that Kate didn’t make a speech because she didn’t want to pull attention from anyone else, UNLIKE MEGHAN. ” The excuses they make for this woman for Chrissakes – it was her freaking event so she was expected to be highlighted and have attention on her…isn’t that what she wanted? Jeez.
Yeah, well, she can’t pull in money and attention for her patronages either – UNLIKE MEGHAN. Is every single thing that happens in the RF from now until the end of the monarchy (so, like 2030) going to be compared to things Meghan would or wouldn’t do? These people are so lost.
If this was Meghan’s event, the RR would be ripping her apart for being a bad host. How difficult would it have been for Kate to say “Welcome, thank you to the performers, enjoy”
I wonder if William wants her to keep quiet so she doesn’t embarrass him.
The more excuses they give to her, the more I dislike her. That’s ridiculous and cringey
This is so embarrassing. And the fact that the rota make excuses for this near 40 year old women is disgusting. And they always have to bring Meghan into it. They desperately want Kate to be more like Meghan, that’s why they were hyping that she would be part of the introduction. They know she never will be so they slam Meghan. Making an introduction isn’t making the concert “all about yourself” William gave a reading, did the rota say he made it about himself?
THe overpraise of Kate keeps using the word classy. Dressing up and posing does not constitute “class.” And it’s worse when it brings about negative talk about Meghan in the comments sections.
The fact that the Rats have include a woman who is 5000 miles away to embiggen this milquetoast woman speaks volumes about Kate’s lack of everything.
At the end, it doesn’t embiggen her – it just makes her “Not Meghan.”
She didn’t do the speech because she can’t speak.
Anyway, the York sisters stole the show for me. Absolutely loved eugenie’s coat with the cape and i loved the shoes Bea wore. Kate’s dress is okay, preferred the black version to be honest
The York Sisters would have been good working royals. They might not have the conventional beauty that some people seem to want in princesses (although I would argue that Eugenie would be a stunner if she hadn’t inherited the sex offender’s jawline), but in the appearances they made connected to royal events they seemed genuinely good with the public and would have been good doing the “bread and butter” type events that Anne and sometimes Sophie do.
I definitely agree. Plus they seemed to WANT to do it.
She can’t speak because she can’t keep up the fake posh accent long enough for a speech.
Well, that’s an “explanation” that Waity can use for her whole life–“Sorry I did nothing with my time and privilege, but I didn’t want to pull attention away from anyone.” Lol.
I’m telling you guys, pretty soon they’re just going to wheel in a set of hangers or a mannequin to display what her Keenness WOULD have worn, if she’d bothered to attend.
This is how they are going to portray Kate from now on, no doubt. We won’t get articles on how this is her year and she will work more. It’s going to be about how she doesn’t want to take attention away from anyone UNLIKE MEGHAN.
I think they try go with that angle, until Meghan does something (anything, big or small) and blankets the news, then they decide Kate is *also* influential and compelling. They cobble something together (usually a copy-keen or someone else’s idea), Kate can’t pull it off, then it’s once again “she doesn’t want attention.” And repeat.
And we’ll just refer to her as NOTMeghan….just as we did: OfWilliam. And also: NOTDiana. Them thares her name!
@merricat what a great idea for justifying long vacations! She can disappear for years at a time in order not to pull any attention!
“… pretty soon they’re just going to wheel in a set of hangers or a mannequin to display what her Keenness WOULD have worn, if she’d bothered to attend.”
🤣🤣🤣 And even that would be way more interesting…
This useless woman.
Maybe she will do a televised speech for the TV broadcast that can be edited in? Then at least if she’s stuffs it up (which she will) they can re-shoot it.
That first pic of her with William, where she’s throwing her head back howling with laughter, is so funny. William’s face! He literally looks like he caught a bad smell.
Another photo op for Keen. Jazz hands and gape jaw, nothing more. Was she enough of a diva to ban the other woman from wearing red? Lol, she looks just the same as she looks at every photo op.
Not my style but that red is fantastic on her. I think it was James Whittaker that said Kate finds the camera better than even Diana 😄. She’s really doing the most in some of her pictures
I read she only spent 15 minutes in total with the guests. Still hopefully people invited enjoyed it & the special will highlight the orgs. I think the mary berry program they did last year was good for that.
Was ‘t the mary berry program in 2019? I don’t remember reading anything about it last year. Just their awful scotland pandemic express.
Idk,she does the same poses at every photo op. Nothing new here. Agree red is a good color but red coat, dress, shoes and handbag is too matchy matchy.
So basically there was no point for Kate to be there. So I can chuck my argument of the Midds being there for “moral support” out the window. Although I really didn’t buy into that myself. They all went there because they either wanted a nice night out and decided to tag along to Kate’s event or KP have decided to get the public used to the Midds being a part of the royal family by having them out and about (so most people here are wrong and there’s no separation) or things are so bad between W&K, Kate needs her family around
Is there a point of her being anywhere? This was an opportunity for photos of the family hugs and kisses from the cousins to show Harry what he is “missing out on” because he married that woman (you know, the talented beautiful one who could have made a speech).
There were videos out showing her hugging all the cousins. I’m sure that was the reason behind it- to show H&M how close the rest are.
@equality. Did you notice that there were few hugs for cousin Will? Eugenie looked like she was going to, but then sort of cringed away and went to hug but stopped short and veered to Khate.
@GuestWho There also was no bending of the knee by any of the royals. All the M haters love to go on about her not wanting to curtsey to Kate but I didn’t see a single one even curtsey to Will. The whole deal looked like a performance for the cameras.
Is there a point for Keen being anywhere?
Curious as to why Mike was masking. Admitting he hasn’t been around Carole for weeks?
Sofia, you’re right there was no need for the Midds to be there to support Kate. I just assume the Middletons go to absolutely every royal event that they are not actively prevented from attending, and maybe a few they sneak in the side door.
I think the Middletons were there because things are really that bad with William. She was never expected to speak at the royal variety performance and they were there as well. Also the Middletons love attention. Especially Carole.
Also I need to find the tabloid story where they referenced a secret third home for the Cambridges because I only saw a screen cap on Twitter, but to me, this is a hint being dropped by the media about the real situation.
The “secret third home” isn’t a secret at all. Its Tam Na Ghar on Balmoral Estate. Beautiful but not secret. Apparently a gift from the queen mother.
They have had access to that place for years so it could be the tabloids having some fun with the words “secret third home” in headline. I didn’t see the full article, but it’s unlikely that the timing of the mention of this “secret” home was just a coincidence.
They don’t own that house at Balmoral. They are given priority to stay there the rare times they are in Scotland. Harry was also given the same priority to stay in that house when he’s in Scotland.
Nic919, I’d say a third home in Berkshire where Kate goes when William doesn’t want her at KP or Anmer.
@Equality The whole bowing and curtseying issue is a fantasy. They all bow or curtsey to the Queen and, when he was with the Queen, to Prince Philip. The other royals do not bow/curtsey to each other. It’s a fantasy based on misunderstanding of the rules of precedence. The convention is that people bow/curtsey to those of higher rank. Those of princely rank will acknowledge those of majesty rank e.g Prince William will bow to the King and Queen of Spain.
In theory the untitled royals would bow to their HRH cousins but they don’t because as family they are equal.
Rules of precedence apply on formal public occasions where the Queen is present or is represented and on some private occasions. These rules dictate the order in which people enter and leave and where they sit. The general convention is that a married woman takes her husband’s status unless her own status is higher, as is the case with Princess Anne and with the York princesses.
It used to be the case that the wife of a titled royal took his status at all times whether or not her husband was with her. The Queen made changes to the order of precedence for women so that her daughter and her cousin Princess Alexandra would take precedence over Camilla and Sophie Wessex for some occasions. She has changed this again and it is now clear that Camilla takes her husband’s status at all times but this does not apply to Kate. The York sisters were never included in these changes.
You can see it in action at a Westminster Abbey service (I think it was for ANZAC Day) which was around the time Archie was due to be born. William was not available and initial reports were that Kate would be the leading royal representing the Queen at this service. However, Harry arrived, in a separate car. He entered the Abbey with Kate then stepped ahead of her to greet the clergy. Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was already there. Harry was at the head of the procession escorted by a cleric and Kate followed, escorted by Prince Richard. From the look on her face it was obvious that she didn’t expect this. She’d been all smiles and animated chat when she was walking into the Abbey with Harry but her face fell when he took precedence. It fell even further when they were shown to their seats and Prince Richard stepped ahead to take his place next to Harry. The rules of seating on occasions like this dictate that the highest ranking is nearest to the altar. Prince Richard might have stepped back to allow Kate to sit in second place( Harry has done this for Meghan) but he didn’t.
It seems clear to me Kensington Palace had informed the press that Kate would be taking William’s place and representing the Queen at the Abbey. Buckingham Palace hastily rectified this when Harry was able to attend by informing the Abbey that he would be the leading royal representing the Queen.
I saw the live broadcast of this service and there is a youtube video showing most of it.
They used the word host generously. She was just a guest. The Mids and royals were guests. She was not presenting anything nor ushering other people. She was not part of the organizing committee. And if this is a last minute insertion (since we’ve not heard anything before the BBC doc appeared), I pity the organisers having to add this last minute prep to accommodate her, the Mids and the other royals. And if they did accommodate them last minute, then I hope she made an impact to whatever cause this is for. And I’m not even sure what this Christmas special is for so …yeah what did she do again besides attending?
Every European royal woman is capable of going up to a podium to give a speech or say a few words, including the very accomplished teenagers in Spain. Is the daily fail lady implying that they are attention grabbing?
Kate really is the lowest common denominator.
It’s funny. They think they are slamming Meghan but they are really slamming every other royal, including William, who did stand up and read in this production. If she adds in her speech for the televised version how will they explain that she is suddenly not worried about taking the attention with the more public version of the concert? This was just for the small invited audience so how would she have been taking attention if she spoke?
@ Sunshine This is true.The 18 year old Princess of Orange and the 15 year old Princess of the Asturias have vastly more public poise and speaking skills than Kate Middleton.
Princess Amalia turned 18 two days ago. Yesterday she put in her first day of work with her parents. Just imagine, if Kate had hit the ground running, she’d be a minor Letizia or Maxima herself by now. She would be a lot smarter, if nothing else.
I find that idea laughable, Lady D. Kate has no desire to work, no sense of what is appropriate. There’s no way on earth she’d ever end up as competent as Maxima or Letizia. She isn’t capable of it.
I’m sure someone here knows, but have there been past Christmas concerts where English Royals hosted? Or really any kind of concerts? Did they say anything? Because if they did I guess they were being disrespectful.
There has been an annual Carol Concert for the Henry Van Strauzenbee memorial charity which William and Harry are involved with. Henry Van Strauzenbee was a schoolfriend of theirs. The Middletons attended these concerts. This year’s event was cancelled because of covid.
This was touted as a way for Katie Keen to host her own event, so I agree it seems like those remarks were meant to be spoken, but she pulled out. If she was so afraid of “overshadowing” the event, she wouldn’t have pulled out the Queen’s sapphire earrings from storage and spent ten minutes braying maniacally at reporters upon arrival.
There were other royals on board with this concert that probably would have had no problem doing a quick intro if Kate was, say, unable or unwilling to perform (like a sore throat, although I haven’t heard any excuse). They could easily have asked Will, Zara, Beatrice…but then it wouldn’t be “Kate’s” event. I can’t see her allowing anybody else to step in, even though she’s unable to do it.
What’s funny is that the bar is so low for Kate, all she would need to do is mumble out “Happy holidays” and she’d get adoring applause and writeups. Nobody is asking her to compete with a professional performer like Meghan, or even expecting her to be competent at what is, really, her chosen career.
I agree, Kate would not let anyone else wear red so for sure no one else was going to speak in her place.
Something is seriously wrong if she cannot say even one or two sentences. I’m sure they have quietly had professionals try to help her over the last decade and still she cannot do it.
Maybe she realized it’s hard to seem like a queen when everyone sees you acting like a court jester.
Kaiser I prefer your jazz hand Christmas special title.lol.
Is there really any point to having this woman be supported by the public if she doesn’t want to even do the basic? Seriously. They could get people to do her job at a fraction of the cost to the British people.
I mentioned this yesterday, but the introduction printed in the program was so poorly written. Why does she begin so many sentences with and!?! If this is all she had to do, there is no excuse for it being so bad. I find it insulting that she thinks her role is to just get dressed up and be praised for it. This is sending the wrong message to young women. No everyone doesn’t have to be a great speaker, but at least try. As host she should have at least welcomed everyone, thanked them for all their hard work and wished them a joyous holiday season.
I highly doubt Kate wrote the foreword herself much less reviewed it.
And her cheerleader becky English claimed only pple who loves attention make a speech at a program they host , and even had a dig at Meghan whiles praising the mediocre Kate. Being bad at public speaking has now been turned to ” she doesn’t want attention ” , when she and her bosses have said talking non stop about how amazing late is for putting this together
That’s such a bad take because all the other married-in royals give speeches at events. Camilla does so regularly, Sophie does it regularly, Diana did it. Once again, Kate is the outlier but the press is twisting her laziness and incompetence into a positive because there is nothing else to say about her.
Every time one of these other royals makes a speech, somebody should comment on their SM about taking all the attention unlike Kate.
They all make speeches except for kate and they aren’t doing it for attention but because it’s usually expected. Kate is the only one incapable of doing basic things.
(I suspect she’s getting a pass because there is something going on with her that they aren’t telling us. We can certainly guess some of the problems based on how she’s shrunk over the years).
@Osty: But who was demanding that she make a speech? All she had to do was say Welcome to the concert and Merry Christmas.
What about the queen’s Christmas speech? Hell, her speech is nationally televised. Is that not attention seeking as well? It just seems that the entire royal protocol is essentially, “if Kate can’t do it, then it’s bad.” But also, “don’t pay attention to all of the other times that all of the other royals give speeches.” Prince Philip did thousands of speeches in his lifetime, while Kate can barely mumble out a sentence.
Guys, Baldimort is growing hair on the top. Someone been using fertilizer.lol.
Maybe he’s freshening up for the side piece. Lol.
I read that Wills read scripture, yet Catherine hosted from her seat?
So basically after weeks of hearing about Kate’s big event all she does is show up , like she does to any other event?
Wtf does host to the event even mean? Just having her name on the program?
At least itll get on those end of the year numbers.
I really do wonder how well this tv special will do in terms of numbers.
Listen y’all, Late did enough for this concert. She woke up, and put on a pretty frock and some jewels. You peasants should grateful and thanking her on bended knee for her gracing you with her presence, now you expect her to give a speech too???? Don’t yall know she is too busy being a hands on yummy mummy instilling middle class values in her 3 children??? 🙃
I find it interesting that Pippa hasn’t had any work done to her face since her mom and sister are really into it, not even a nose job. Charlotte’s going to have a hard time growing up knowing her mom rejected all aspects of her natural face, she looks nothing like her daughter anymore.
Maybe it’s good that she takes after William in terms of looks. But I do agree that having a mother like kate who is so obsessed with staying thin and not aging will cause some grief for Charlotte as she gets older.
For a minute I thought this was a show about Kate’s mom. Royal Carole. Lolz.
What was so funny? She always seem to find things hilarious
Btw I dont believe for a second she wrote that message.
Let’s hope she did write it, because if she got someone even halfway professional to write it, and that was the result…yikes.
Lol, if she had someone else write it, she should get her money back.
Well if she didn’t want to to steal attention, she wouldn’t have worn that red dress, and did the hair toss, like meghan. By the way that was planned, as william looked at her with that grin, knowing her planned action.
Imitation being the most sincerest form of flattery. Strange how madame duchess meghan is NEVER far from the minds of her detractors/ haters. A day without meghan is a day without sunshine.
Exactly. She cannot speak in public without the fear of her (apparently) “inferior” natural accent showing up, so her only way to shine is by ordering every other woman in the family—all of whom she outranks— to wear drab colors so she can stand out. Stunningly shallow.
Wha’ else?!? 🙄
I bet she’s going to or already has, film a Keen Kween Khristmas speech for the intro a la the actual Betty of Petty. And they will insert footage of the Cambridge kids then.
So if I just appear at an event, wave and smile and act important, then I’m hosting it? Okay. Now I understand.
Yes and you get a very good remuneration and staff benefits for this type of hosting, plus 3 houses and more I guess.
You know it’s bad when the DM can’t eve give her a participation trophy for this event. She had 1 job and couldn’t even do that with her speech printed on the programs for all to see and read.
Lol. Didn’t everyone here call it — that she wouldn’t actually speak? It’s pretty clear this woman is incapable of speaking competently in public, and she’s got a whole establishment behind her covering her ass for her so she’ll never learn. If it’s in part a phobia of public speaking I can’t knock her for that specifically — I hate public speaking myself. I was the matron of honor in my BFF’s wedding recently and as soon as I was asked, I was sh*tting myself because I KNEW that I would have to give a speech. But guess what — I planned and wrote out what I was going to say way ahead of time, and I practiced, practiced, practiced (my family probably could’ve given the speech as well as I could, given the amount of times they heard it). And I ended up knocking it out of the park, made the bride cry happy tears, and got plenty of compliments from the guests all night. Because that’s what you do — we all have to do the thing that scares us sometimes, but you put your big girl pants on and do the damn thing. Katie may be keen, but she’s lazy and useless and that will NEVER change. Girlfriend is a lost cause.
Well done on your speech!!! Your effort made for a better party and happy memories.
Thank you @Laura! I’m not telling that story to toot my own horn, more that if I of all people can prepare and give a decent speech, Kate DEFINITELY should be able to with everything she has at her disposal….lol.
She needs to, if she can, follow in the footsteps of George VI who did everything he could to overcome his stutter.
She can overcome her evident stupidity with some speech lessons. She should not try to have sentences longer than five words. She needs to pause after each clause. Or maybe she should learn to recite some poetry if her own private speech class so that her voice can pick up the natural intonations and rhythms of speech. Or does she aspire to become another Queen Alexandra, who couldn’t hear, but did nothing about it but lean on her children? Or that stern kleptomaniac, Queen Mary? Or, like the much adored Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mum, make an occasional call to patriotism, and otherwise settle into an adorably camp old age.
Diana and Meghan have set a very high bar. Kate must be keen to keep up, but she first must be keen to find an image.
I would have some respect for Kate if she joined something like Toastmasters to learn to speak publicly. She loves to preach to everyone about early years and metal health, well show people you are not too entitled to admit a weakness then go try to improve. It will never happen though. No need to improve with the videographer can just edit the recording so you seem competent.
Diana wasn’t a natural public speaker but she hired someone to help her. But she was humble enough to admit she wasn’t perfect and needed some help.
After all these years we’re still discussing this. When she first married Baldemort I thought, she’ll ease into it. It’s been what, 10 years?? She’s never going to do it. This woman who wants to be Kween, still refuses to learn to speak in public, it’s embarrassing.
Personally what’s driving me crazy is people gave Meghan such a hard time about bringing her mother to the cookbook launch event, literally saying that it made her look unprofessional and immature. I know we’re all aware of the double standard, but it’s so unpleasant to keep coming up against it.
Because she’s so fecking stupid, lazy and inarticulate why didn’t they get some *celebrity* type person to do a brief intro, a thank-you, then sing a lovely Christmas carol. I’m thinking an Ed Sheeran or Leona Lewis or such like. They could even have arranged for a mini-telethon to raise money. But no, the Duke and Duchess of Indolence made it all about themselves with Kate showing up in a screaming red Christmas cosplay outfit and massive sausage curls as her only nod to the occasion. What an utterly useless, self-aggrandizing non-event.
This is an over hyped vanity project of Kate’s and everyone knows Kate stinks at public speaking. This is a stupid attempt at damage control to save this show from being a ratings bomb. The cheap shot at Meghan proves it’s embarrassing that the wife of the sixth in line to the throne is better at it. It also shows the BM is still butthurt that Meghan stuck it to the Fail in court.
There’s a video of William and Kate on a zoom call where William is speaking and Kate interjects with “parranz ockay wockayz” in a weird screechy voice. It took a while to work out that she’d probably said “parents are key workers”
Lmao
I really wanted to see the video of her doing the Hi everybody that Meg did at the vaccine thing so all the ✋ claps came from the Middleton. I see why they didn’t bring the kids out since they was going to release the Xmas card.
I wonder if they will have her tape something that will appear on the televised version of the service. The fact that William apparently did some sort of reading but Catherine didn’t speak at all is bizarre and they know it which is why KP had Rebecca English making excuses for it. I’m curious to see how this thing is edited together because from what has been reported the actual service itself hardly seems worthy of a Christmas Eve prime time special. I bet the add all sorts of bells and whistles in post production. I think that why the BBC didn’t want to sit. Christmas specials are planned months in advance and the BBC decided that this thrown together nonsense was not worth them altering already planned programming.
I was betting on this. Probably took her an hour to get clean take of “merry Christmas!”
I also think this complete laziness of hers is how she landed Bill. She appears to never outshine him except as a mildly decorative item, but one sans charisma so her fans aren’t wild. They’re just there for her hair.
I wonder what’s got Willnot smiling so wide at Keen? That is a smile of someone who enjoys their partner and like being with them. Was Rose in the SUV too or…?
“DUCHESS KATE DIDN’T ACTUALLY MAKE A SPEECH AT ‘ROYAL CAROLS: TOGETHER AT CHRISTMAS’”
She didn’t actually host either. She didn’t actually do ANYTHING except dressed up like Mrs. Clause and got her picture taken.
What’s the point in her being called a host if she doesn’t actually present anything or do anything. Seriously she had one job and couldn’t do it, she was basically a guest and yet managed to stamp her name all over it, even though she did nothing. the girl is inept.
It’s irritating that the tabs call it Kate’s Concert and Congratulate HER for it. Never mind the choir or those who really planned it.
She has those large open mouthed grins and laughing and mugging. William does look at her with an odd expression and does not join the guffawing.
So let me get this straight, she has staff organise a Christmas concert to thank unsung heroes and reflect on the challenges of the pandemic. But she does not actually stand up to voice thanks to the unsung heroes that she invited, or the nation she represents on behalf of the Queen, for professional and personal sacrifices made, and for pulling “Together” through these continued difficult times? Nobody can possibly be that clueless or inept that they can’t say thank you. So what did she do during pre-pandemic informal get-togethers or formal functions?
She had staff press/bully Westminster choir to perform their holiday concert a week early, pretending they are thrilled at this extra work AND extra exposure to COVID.
Does anyone know if ITV got Hella ratings and it was indeed a blow to the BBC?
Boring
I assume she’ll do a pre-recorded introduction when it’s broadcast. Which is the smart option as public speaking really isn’t her strong point and she’ll come across better pre-recorded. Most royals are pretty stilted and unengaging speakers. Diana was an exception because of her empathy. Harry & Meghan are both excellent. The rest, not so much. George VI, as mentioned by someone previously, worked so hard but his speeches are painful to listen to. If there was any way on earth he could have avoided them he would have.
So many excuses for a woman who chased this life for 10 years to the exclusion of any self development. And who has been the laziest, most infantilised married in royal in modern history.
She is weeks from turning 40, she’s been on this job for over a decade. As written above, Kate chooses to be this bad. Because if she showed any sense of being capable, she’d have to work more.
Kate doesn’t have to aspire to be a stentorian and riveting speaker, in fact speechifying is the least important thing she could do. She could simply pay more attention to her charities and philanthropy instead of letting them go under for lack of funding. She could utilize some of Meghan’s initiatives and make them more about children’s issues, like raising funds for new books and equipment, starting free breakfast/lunch programs for kids facing food insecurity, clothing drives, all manner of things. But she doesn’t. Instead of looking to Meghan for inspiration and working as colleagues, she treated her with jealousy, resentment and disrespect right from the beginning, and still does. She is lazy, immature and self-absorbed, and doesn’t add any value to a rapidly tarnishing monarchy.
@Jaded Kate really is the personification of a wasted opportunity. She could have let the competitiveness we keep hearing about push her to do more for her patronages once Meghan came on the scene. She and Meghan could have supported each other’s projects but she didn’t want to work and didn’t want anyone else to be praised. She seemingly has no personality, no interests and no friends (aside from mom & sis). She can’t be bothered to publicly say a word at HER event and thinks she should be praised to the heavens for putting on a dress and sitting through a concert.
Meghan could have totally revitalised the Royal Family. If Kate had been willing to work with and learn from her she would have improved beyond measure. However, the life of a senior royal is so weird and restricted that I genuinely couldn’t ever see it lasting. I think John Oliver’s take on it in 2018 nailed it: “They’re an emotionally stunted group of fundamentally flawed people doing a very silly pseudo-job. That’s what she’s marrying into. So, I hope she likes it, it’s going to be weird for her.”
I’ve heard Charles and Philip speak and Charles is, and his father was, excellent speakers. The Queen is very poor despite 70 years at it. I thought Harry used to be rather poor as he always “read” his speeches quite quickly, like he just wanted to get through them. Since his marriage to Meghan, Harry speaks a hundred times better. I find William and Edward pretty decent speakers as well. I’ve never heard Sophie give a speech so I don’t have an opinion about her.
Meghan was the golden calf, and the British monarchy allowed white supremacy to sacrifice her on the altar. Kate knew she was pursuing William, heir to the throne, and this would place her in a high-profile position should she win his attention. There was ample time to prepare for the role before the marriage. She could have engaged with a charitable organization to lead a significant event or project to enhance her resume.
Everyone is not born a gifted speaker. Harry always read from cue cards, and his eye contact skill was weak. The shot in Australia with him on stage rehearsing while Meghan observed demonstrated teamwork. She shared her skills and helped him become a new and improved self-confident speaker. Meghan would have gladly done the same for Kate, I’m sure. Kate was too consumed with jealousy and envy, and she preferred playing the Royal rota compare and contrast game. Twenty years of creating a false image with a wrong posh accent.
The moral of this story: Be careful what you ask for. London Bridge may not be falling down, but the Royal Family is on shaky ground.
Thank you, Kaiser, for the article.