Earlier this week, I noted that there seemed to be a renewed energy (all of a sudden) for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge moving out of London and their “apartment” at Kensington Palace. They’ve been somewhat London-based since 2017, although during the pandemic, they were clearly spending most of their time in Norfolk. Last summer, rumors began circulating that William and Kate were house-hunting in Berkshire. We heard another rumor that maybe they would move to Windsor, some place on the Windsor Castle complex. In late August, Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair had a curious exclusive about how the Keens floated the “move to Windsor” idea to the Queen and certain wheels were in motion. Nicholl’s source also said something very odd: “William and Kate have been talking to their close friends about leaving Kensington Palace where they feel very overlooked.” “Overlooked” is especially telling, right? Well, Nicholl gave an interview to OK! Magazine this week and wouldn’t you know, she talked about the plans to move to Windsor again:
Kate and Prince William moved with their children into Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace in 2017. The Cambridges’ previous main residence was Anmer Hall near the Queen’s Sandringham estate. This relocation came on the same year the Duke of Cambridge gave up his job as air ambulance pilot in Norfolk to focus his full attention and working efforts on his charitable causes and supporting the Crown.
Five years later, one royal expert has claimed the family of five is feeling “a bit claustrophobic” in London. Speaking about what the future may hold for Kate as she prepares to become the next Princess of Wales, royal biographer Katie Nicholl said a new home for the Cambridges may be “on the cards”.
She told OK! magazine: “A family move to Windsor is also on the cards. William and Kate want to be on hand to support the Queen as much as possible and for her to spend time with her great-grandchildren. For some time they have felt a bit claustrophobic at Kensington Palace and they have been looking at schools in Windsor.”
Moving to Windsor would also be particularly significant for the Duchess of Cambridge on a more personal level, the expert noted. She said: “And being in Berkshire would mean Kate is closer to her own family.”
Ms Nicholl also said Kate, who turned 40 this month, will, in the immediate future, likely split her working time between supporting the Crown and her projects with the Royal Foundation. She said: “We can expect to see much more of her out and about, alone and with William. This is her opportunity to lay real foundations for the future through the work of the Royal Foundation, which she sees as her legacy project. We will also see the Cambridges taking on more politically sensitive tours in place of Her Majesty – becoming the nation’s new ‘weapons of soft diplomacy’.”
They’ve been trying to make the Cambridges into “the new weapons of soft diplomacy” for at least five years and it’s not happening. William doesn’t even trust Kate to do solo events anymore!! And William doesn’t read briefing memos and he just wanders around, being engorged with rage. Neither of them “travel well,” and they’re both incurious and lazy. As for this: “For some time they have felt a bit claustrophobic at Kensington Palace…” Well well. Their “apartment” at KP is actually a huge mansion within a palace. They have three floors, multiple bedrooms, separate offices, two kitchens and entertaining spaces. Kind of weird that they feel “claustrophobic” there. Unless that’s some sort of posh code for “they hate even pretending to live in the same palace with one another and they can barely keep up the pretense.”
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- North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220120- Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit the Church on the Street in Burnley, Lancashire, where they are meeting with volunteers and staff to hear about their motivations for working with Church on the Street as well as a number of service users to hear about their experiences first-hand. -PICTURED: Prince William, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Danny Lawson/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220120- Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit the Church on the Street in Burnley, Lancashire, where they are meeting with volunteers and staff to hear about their motivations for working with Church on the Street as well as a number of service users to hear about their experiences first-hand. -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William -PHOTO by: Danny Lawson/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
I love how they call their homes ‘apartments, chalet,lodges,cottages’ etc to hide the fact that these places are probably huge.
They ARE HUGE. I think the KP apartment reportedly has 20 rooms and five reception rooms!!
But HOW MANY BATHROOMS?????
50 rooms depending upon how they’re counted. W&K apologists say, ‘oh that counts closets and box rooms’, but Apartment 1A has 9 bedrooms just for the staff. It is four floors, not three, because is has one full bi-level floor/basement in addition to the three floors above ground. Go look for old photos of the 1A restoration with Princess Margaret. The hallways alone are massive.
Claustrophobic my foot!
Anyway who believes royal reporters….
@Noki when the Sussexes moved into their mansion, there were tons of articles in the British Media shortly after about how big the Cantbridge’s KP apartment really was. There was no news angle, nothing. Just the feeling that “Harry & Meghan might have 16 bathrooms, but look how big appt 1a is”.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rare-glimpse-inside-kate-middleton-22586743
Even Ingrid Sewer stated that Apartment 1A in enormous in that article, thanks @ Ellie for the link, so why would they feel claustrophobic? They have enough room to host a school for girls!! Claustrophobic my foot as well!!! They just want more, more, and more after that!!!! These two don’t deserve another palace!!
@Ellie thanks for posting this link! There are hardly any shots of the apartment at all (which is legit, they should be private) and they must’ve stashed away any of art-aficionado Kate’s art collection (lol she does not care about art- even though displaying just one local artist’s work in their home would be a boon to that person.
She and the mirror must be getting a kickback for plugging an affordable set of collectible library-starter books though!
“ Kate has a line of Penguin’s Clothbook Classics, novels released in hardback with beautifully illustrated covers.
Her collection includes Jane Austin’s Manfield Park and Northanger Abbey and George Elliott’s Middlemarch. Buying all the books separately would set you back £450, but they’re currently on offer for £330 for all 30.” Jesus wept.
We saw her personal taste in art, ElleE. She personally chose the racist painting to hang in their private living room, the one hidden behind a lamp when the Obamas visited.
With access to the royal collection and they end up with a racist painting instead of one from Turner or Rembrandt, it just shows how kate didn’t pay any attention to art history at St. Andrews.
Doesn’t becoming Duke of Cornwall come with more lodgings? And they already have Anmer if “claustrophobic” means they can’t get outside much. Is there anything available at Windsor or are they still angling for someone else’s lodgings? I still think they were the ones who wanted to move into the actual castle and not H&M.
I think claustrophobic means people can more easily see what they are doing. ie living separately, always taking helicopter flights.
@Sunflower, they had trees planted to hide their comings and going’s by helicopter, they installed frosted glass in windows, outside of their accommodations, that might overlook their private gardens. For all that the press bangs on about M&H’s privacy obsession, W&K are the ones who are truly privacy obsessed.
Or hemmed in by mistresses on all sides. I imagine that Norfolk is also a little claustrophobic right now which is why they have to try for residence number 3! Out where the neighbors are basically all either Middletons or the queen and Andrew so that Will can’t embarrass them out of that neighborhood too by surrounding Kate with his mistresses.
I think “claustrophobic” means William and Kate are too close to each other in the house.
You’re exactly right. We were talking about this years ago on here. They didn’t like living in Kensington Palace because other people could see what they’re up to and report back. This isn’t new at all. Maybe now they’re finally getting the go ahead.
HeyJude, agreed. Let’s not insult all of humanity by pretending that a really big palace home is claustrophobic. All of humanity understands being over your spouse.
@Amy Too, ok, but at the rate William is going, he’s going to be burning bridges all over England thanks to his affairs. He’ll run out of places to live in on Salty Isle soon enough. Maybe he can get a house boat after that.
Mt first instinct is more that they are tired of keeping up the pretense of happy family and want to be away from watchful eyes.
@Sarita – Your comment says it all: “want to be away from watchful eyes”.
All the Cambridge’s have to do is a couple of “work” events a month, put out fake stories about their lives to the press and this way they can do as they please and the public will be none the wiser.
Prying eyes, may also include extended family members. It probably is part of Charles grand plan to turn KP fully commercial.
The horrors! A family of 5 in a 22 room “apartment!” How cramped they must feel! See, there is no tension between the pigeons, it’s just frustration from lack of space.
IKR? As I look around my two bedroom house. I’m not suggesting raising three children in my house, but it’s one thing to need space to grow for a family, and quite another to not consider your mansion and private gardens sufficient for a family of five.
I want that teal coat. That is all.
Sorry. This wasn’t meant to be a reply, it just got posted here.
What is this “taking over tours from the queen”? When was the last time the queen went on an international soft diplomacy tour? She couldn’t even make it up to Scotland for the climate change summit thing. They’d be taking over tours that Harry and Meghan would’ve done but they must spin everything as “helping the queen,” “taking work directly from the queen” because they’re so future queen like or something. It’s just a ridiculous random unnecessary lie that they add in purely for propaganda/optics and reasons. *They’re* so special that they are slated to take over tours that *the Queen* would have done. 🙄
If they handle all their diplomacy tours like they handled touring Scotland, the UK is doomed.
@ equality, that was my first thought as soon as I read that ridiculous line!!! Baldingham couldn’t do it the first time but TQ had to take him by the hand, like the child he is, to show him how it’s done.
Yes, the Monarchy is doomed with this moronic couple, IF they are still married by the time Baldingham becomes king.
If I see one more horse face laugh, or read one more “this is Kate’s year to lay the foundation/lean in/emerge chrysalis like from her long self imposed hibernation, I will trow my computer out the window.
Oh and here’s a though PWT, you and K could do more engagements now and stop all the back ground snipping. That will help TQ enormously!
As many of us have said, it’s so embarrassing that a 40-year old woman is described that way, much less in a job that requires showing up every now and then, reading briefing materials prepared by others, and wearing expensive clothes you don’t even pay for.
Right, claustrophobic as in three floors aren’t enough to keep them away from each other.
aww poor sausages – imagine how awful it must be to have both a city mansion and a country mansion! such tight quarters!!
JFC these people are the worst…wanting yet another free palace when so many Britons are jobless, homeless, sick or dead due to COVID….
Not to mention facing an impending tax hike from April which will hit lower earners disproportionately. But sure, give them another palace so they don’t even have to pretend to be living together anymore.
#abolishthemonarchy
“in the immediate future, likely split her working time between…”
Work time? Stop this nonsense. That woman does not work and neither does her husband. They want to leave Kensington palace so that no one is watching and judging them. Lazy bums.
I know, my eyes stopped on that, too. Splitting her working time would be like splitting an atom.
But at least when you split an atom, some energy is released…
My guess is that the claustrophobic comment might refer to the City itself? London is quite busy. And it could feel like they feel suffocated in such a city?
And that picture at the top of this article. Holy sh#t!!!!! What happened to Kate’s face?😳
William and Kate are physically their own Dorian Gray pictures. Every time they continue to be rotten Willy loses more hair and Kate’s facial lines trench deeper.
Bill soon will have a bald patch clear down to his neck and back like a skunk’s white stripe. He’s so toxic his hair is fleeing as rapidly as possible.
Do you think Kate is also tired of Wills after twenty years? William is obvious he cant hide it even in public while she still looks at him with puppy dog eyes. But maybe in private they are like the War of the Roses and she has also had it and doesnt care what he does.
Hmm i don’t know. When you see them
both at engagements the love seems to be lacking but i’m not sure if they actually live separate lives. With Charles and Diana it was very obvious. He was mostly in Highgrove and she was in Kensington Palace. They also did their engagements separately and even went on holiday separately (late 80’s/ early 90’s). That doesn’t seem to be the case with the Cambridges. Although the rumor that William has cheated on kate seems very likely.
Her mask has slipped repeatedly in the past five years. She might be sick of him but she’ll never initiate a divorce. Them living separately at Sandringham was easy to hide. A move to Windsor covers many things. He gets closer to the Queen to start manipulating her. She gets closer to her family because he’s never around. They just passed a no fly zone/no aerial photos injunction over Windsor Castle, which might be part of this move.
I do think she is tired of him and I’m not sure how much she can stand him at this point in time, but she is better at hiding it in public and knows what the cameras expect, especially after H&M. I think she gets ticked when he wont play along (like on the Bond red carpet when he wouldnt even look at her no matter how much she kept staring at him and smiling.)
But like Nota says, she’ll never be the one to initiate a divorce.
The pigeon flinch was a pretty obvious sign of Kate starting to crack in maintaining appearances. That was a subconscious reaction to William trying to touch her and she couldn’t control her repulsion. It’s not the sign of a happily married couple of a decade because at that point the touch of a loving spouse shouldn’t instinctively repulse you.
But it’s been William who just hasn’t bothered hiding his disdain in the last year. And even the photo above shows kate giving William a look that isn’t very nice. And this talk of another house is them trying to provide an explanation when we see them together less and less often.
Did she ever really like him? Maybe there was something there in the beginning, or at the start of their marriage even, but the whole relationship has always been entirely focused on achieving some pretty mercenary aims for Kate, tbh. She married the title, the rank, the position, not the man. He married whoever would have him and give him his heir and a spare, bc that’s part of his duty as monarch, to keep the direct line going without interruptions.
I think she craves his respect bc she feels that his respect would pave the way for her getting respect from his aristocratic peers. But he doesn’t respect her, and he never really has. So those doors will always remain shut to Kate. I don’t think she craves his love, or even his fidelity, as much as she craves his respect and acceptance as an equal. Particularly as an equal to any other aristocratic contemporary in Kate’s age range.
Even Rose Hanbury’s husband has expressed open respect for his wife and her taste, and it’s clear that they share common interests as far as art and other things go, even if they’re not necessarily faithful to each other. Kate’s husband openly condescends to her, in public, and only ever looks out for her if it’s in his best interest. He seems to be embarrassed by her, and he certainly doesn’t stick up for her behind the scenes with the grey suits in charge, all of whom definitely look down on Kate for her middle-class background.
Kate will have a quicker escape to her parents home which she never fully moved out of. And taxpayers put more than a million into renovating to accommodate her. And William will have more privacy and freedom to get on with his mistresses. And less need to travel by heli to reach them. Which was thought to be why all those twitter pics years ago were taken down whenever someone saw William entering a heli on his own for no official reason.
Silly to say this has anything to do with work or their roles when they actively avoid that.
Claustrophobic? Ah, now that’s a new one. File that right under conscious uncoupling in the Euphemisms for Marital Breakdown cabinet.
Three floors, twenty rooms, private gardens, and the whole of London at their doorstep–but all of a sudden they are claustrophobic. Who is going to buy this excuse?
Actually the Cambridge’s have played the claustrophobic card before when they were spending tons of time in Norfolk.
This! This is the new contract. After the Queen passes, Kate and the kids go to Windsor. The Middletons will be close and able to have run of it. William will be able to do what he wants. If William is as narcissistic as it seems, perhaps he won’t divorce Kate? They usually don’t let people leave them. And if they divorce, Harry would have that over him. Not that Harry would keep it over him, but narcissists feel all kinds of illogical feelings.
I can’t imagine Carol not taking a Windsor deal. And Kate can “work” all the time by maintaining it, Melania in the White House style.
I’ve wondered how Chuck feels about this – he will increasingly want to have access to George at least gto school him on his heritage (such that it is) and he wont want Carole getting unfettered access to the children
Once the Queen passes, my guess is Charles will spend a lot more time at Windsor and if George is at school there, he will probably see him for lunches or whatever. That’s what the Queen did with William.
It’s astonishing how much W&K have fallen in 10 years. Comparing Kate to Melania seems so logical at this point – unfathomable just a few years ago.
I think Charles will pay a lot more attention to the “heir” George than his other grandchildren. He already is.
Wow, just wow. This claustrophobia story is not going to play well here in the UK. We’re coming out of 2yrs of on-off lockdowns and being confined to our homes. We could only dream of having 3 floors, multiple bedrooms and massive grounds surrounding. There’s a cost of living increase that’s due to get even worse in the next 5 months and I’m sure even the most loyal Royal supporter will be up in arms if we have to pay for a 3rd home to be refurbished. Read the motherloving room Keens! 😡
They had trees planted to hide their comings and going’s, they installed a huge basement space for either storage or offices and spent 4m of taxpayer funding on renovations and now it’s not good enough for them? #abolishthemonarchy
That basement building is not part of Apartment 1A. W&K kicked Historic Royal Palaces out of their office and display area when they demanded 1A. HRP, their staff, their massive storage needs had to be accomodated elsewhere.
The multi-story basement is being built for HRP under The Orangery at Kensington Palace. So yes, W&K are the reason why that is being built, but it isn’t being built under 1A. 1A already has a huge, full-floor basement where things like the staff kitchen are.
Thanks for this information! I had read, some time ago, that W&K were building out a basement area for their staff and stuff perhaps these 2 things got intermingled in the press.
I don’t much, but I know that that top picture william the engorged is wondering what exactly is wrong with you?
Followed by the second picture when she looks at him and goes . 10 years , 10 years I waited for your love and devotion and still nothing.
Good god they have been whining about moving since the Sussex’s home hit the media. Can they just do it already, we all know it is going to happen. Save everyone from the “poor suffocated royals” with their welfare housing.
I am sure this is why those bs stories popped up about H and M moving because their home ‘wasn’t good enough’. A pre-emptive strike for lamebridge’s bs
Total projection, as per usual. It’s the Trumpian/Cambridge way.
See,Articles like this from Katie Nichols about the keenbridges, just goes to show you how out of touch and don’t give a F about reality and the common man and woman these two are. You got two massive homes, you don’t work. You got everything you could ever want and the British media kisses your ever glowing white asses like the sun rises from it daily. Yet you still want more. These two are like that fairy tail the fisherman’s wife. And I hope they end up just like the story which for them would mean abolishing the monarchy and kicking them to the curb to find a real job.
Apparently they also have a “cottage” on the Balmoral estate that the queen mum left to William, so that he would have his own private space to entertain his friends.
I know that people are convinced that they are gonna get divorced but I don’t think they are. I think they will stay together, choosing the “crown” and misery over separation. Who even wants them? They are together because no one else wanted William and Kate wanted to be a royal to THE spare. They are in this thing till death.
I don’t think they’ll ever get a divorce either. But i believe that their marriage is as good as dead.
Idk, I think maybe they’d like to stay married and just have separate lives but after the queen dies, I believe the tabs will go after them, super injunction or not. The sly comments and euphemisms will heighten and the foreign press will go there. It just depends.
Charles already paved the way for future Kings to get divorced. I think if William meets someone and prefers her to Kate, (and the woman might want to be more than a mistress), he can go ahead and get divorced from Kate.
Don’t these two morons see there is freedom for both of them with a divorce? TOB can milk the single divorced dad thing. Friends can fix him up. He can openly date whomever he wants. The rota will be fed as he squires women about town. Revitalized bachelor king.
And Mutton, she will likely receive a sizable settlement. She will still have all the domestic help, plus single mom credits. The pressure for her to “work” will dissipate. Not that there is currently pressure, but it will be less. No problem for her to stay home, play tennis, dress up like Meghan, take vacations, etc. How can being QC compete with that?
Her settlement would be based on William’s current personal net worth, not any future inheritance. Diana couldn’t touch taxpayer funds (Duchy), Kate won’t either. if William paid millions towards the new Middleton home, it could be perceived as a post-nup. Kate won’t be swimming in personal wealth.
I actually think divorce is a possibility but not yet. The reason I believe it could happen is from Kate’s actions alone. She is a woman who is hanging on by a thread and all the embiggening pieces about how much she’s needed clearly come from a place on insecurity. She knows Willie is thinking about the possibility of a future without her, and she will do whatever it takes to make sure he doesn’t divorce her. She successfully push harry n Meghan out strengthening her position.
I think it will be a slow process where kate desperately tries to embiggen herself and Willie will subtlety block her, just like after Phillips funeral when kate set up the photo op as the ‘great piece maker’, and Willie n harry both ignored her. Also when he blocked her from Diana’s statue unveiling. These power dynamics are already noticeable between them, and because both of them are so petty it will only get worse. They will become each other’s worse nightmare.
I don’t expect anything more than this sad status quo they are limping along with but once TQ dies, the gloves will come off. It’s just seeming more and more obvious by the day and I completely agree that all of Kate’s actions and the sickening embiggening is that of a desperate woman who realizes how precarious her position is becoming.
Oh please, read the room! (Or in this case 20+ rooms).
I don’t know why they’re doing all this work to massage the message…they know they have a sycophantic PR in the media, nobody will outwardly complain about the number of homes and cost. Just do it already.
I see William’s mission of continuing to look pleasant/engaged while photographed with Kate is still on course. Please, they will never be “weapons of soft diplomacy” because they are too stupid and have all the subtlety of a mongoose.
Lately I’ve been thinking that Kate playfully touches William on the arm and the back when out on assignment just to annoy him and his sidepiece. We know Kate has a mean streak and we see that William never returns the gesture or makes eye contact so I think we are witnessing a little game on her end that he can’t do anything to stop.
Harper, that is brilliant!!! That’s very likely what’s happening and why Kate is selling the fake love story so ardently. She’s never more motivated than when there’s a mean prize to be won. (Admittedly I do understand wanting to one-up/aggravate your husband’s mistress.)
I don’t think they ever wanted to live at KP full time. IMO. The only reason they shifted to London in the Fall of 2017 is because they knew Harry was going to marry and Harry and Meghan were going to be full time working royals immediately. They couldn’t continue to hide away in Norfolk at that point. But as everyone knows they spend as much time as possible away from KP. I also think this is related to George going to boarding school or not. IMO. They are reluctant to board him. Before the carnival started revising history it was widely reported that William struggled when boarded early on and Kate didn’t board at an early age. If they move to Berkshire he could board but be very close to home. It’s interesting to me that all the stories about George’s schooling just stopped after there being a lot of speculation over the Summer. The other aspect of this is William’s pathological obsession with Harry. It was always reported that Windsor was Harry’s favorite. And of course the Sussexes lived there. In William’s mind this would be him outdoing Harry. The narrative of them wanting to help the Queen is BS.
@Catherine: I never thought about it but I think you’re right about the Cambridges moving back to KP probably had to do with their fear of being overshadowed by Harry and Meghan.
Catherine, I was reminded while investing old articles about George’s schooling that William had let it be known for years he would never board his children but not heard that he struggled as a young boarder. You are absolutely right – they want to flexi-board him, like Kate did as she aged in grammar school.
Lots of speculation from RRs and stans, but iirc William has never publicly stated their kids will never board. That’s the kind of personal info he would never release. Given how little time he spends with them already, it isn’t like them boarding would make a big difference.
The idea they could be feeling claustrophic in that huge place is ridiculous. The best thing about this article is that the pics accompanying it confirm the reason why Kate smiles and laughs so much and in such an exaggerated fashion; it’s to hold up her sagging cheeks. I feel a bit sorry for her because that sagging is only going to get worse. Only a bit sorry because if she allowed herself to put on a few pounds the cheeks would fill out a bit.
Her face is melting. I was so shocked when i saw the top picture
Every article about then recently was, Cain don’t like when people put down Unable, I can’t understand why, when he does it himself.
She is too be called Catherine, speak with an unintelligible posh accent, which tells she was not good enough for him as is.
Then she don’t help herself by asking silly questions, like can you taste the tea by smelling it, forgot what she asked the Air Force about flying mission, the poor man thought he was in the Twilight Zone, the Queen and the Faberge Egg.
You know, I’ve wondered why william is so adamant to call Kate Catherine. Royalists argue that its because royals don’t get called by their nicknames. But that doesn’t make sense because they’ve always called Harry Harry instead of Henry, which is his real name.
So is it because he secretly detests her “commoner” background and that the name kate is a reminder of that?
That’s an interesting one, because it was pretty much as soon as they were engaged – she’s not Kate, she’s Catherine. The royalists also insist that she was NEVER Kate, it was always Catherine, the press just made her into Kate. But that doesn’t really make sense to me. Also, in the Oprah interview, Meghan called her Kate without batting an eye. Like there was no hesitation. Maybe that’s just bc that’s how Meghan thought of her after her “press nickname,” but if you were around someone for 4 years who was Catherine, and that’s how your husband referred to her and all your ILs etc – wouldn’t you think of her as Catherine? Even in the email that was leaked with Meghan asking for the story to be corrected about her making Kate cry – she says Kate, not Catherine, speaking to KP staff. so to me, that all says she’s Kate, and its william or someone else who is obsessed with her being Catherine.
@Becks1, I always called my ex David from day one, even though literally everyone else called him Dave. I don’t know why, it just felt strange to me not to. Maybe William is the same, but my guess is he just feels Catherine is more regal and wants everyone to know she’s special.
Kate may want to be called Catherine because she comes from “new money” wants to have the “formal” name. She is also the one who follows so called “protocol.”
When they were first engaged, Kate went around telling people in the crowd she was Kate and was always going to be Kate. The push to change to Catherine is much more recent.
Lucky Charm, William doesn’t have that much care for her.
She had a media profile for almost ten years of being called Kate and it’s clear that’s what her friends and family called her. It’s only William after the engagement was announced who tried to make Catherine a thing. It hasn’t stuck because she had a decade of being known as Kate.
It’s frankly a bit strange that her husband, who she has known since their early twenties/university days when their relationship was informal as it comes, suddenly decides to switch to the stiff, formal, “proper” version of her name…of anyone, it should be most natural for William of all people to have continued to call her Kate after all these years. I don’t think he was referring to her as “Catherine” during the dating years. It just stinks of “My Fair Lady” / “I need to make you over into a better/ more appropriate version of who you should be.”
I think it’s absolutely that “Kate” is seen as a “middle-class” nickname, whereas “Catherine” is seen as much more posh.
After all, Kate didn’t have the benefit of going to uber fancy British boarding schools like Eton, where people get nicknamed things like “Porchy” or “Bertram” or “Chauncey”. Nor does she have the benefit of being a few generations descended from the aristocracy, so she didn’t get named something like, “Clementine” or “Allegra” or “Arabella” or “Hum”.
Hadn’t heard of the tea thing, so I had to look it up. Apparently, it was even worse: “Can you test the smell of the tea by smelling it?”
That family is all about titles and catchy names like earthshot and hold still and what’s that other one Kate was so proud to come up with…? Anyway all name and lack substance.
If there’s any truth to this story, I think it’s because William and Kate plan on sending George and Charlotte to boarding school in the next year. As for feeling claustrophobic, I can only think that they feeling a lot of pressure from the British press to come up with stories to leak about the Royal Family and they think moving to Windsor may be more fertile ground for stories given that the Queen, Andrew and Eugenie live in Windsor and they also probably believe that Harry and Meghan would be returning to Frogmore Cottage if they visit the UK.
Ooh, getting the York tea from the Cambridges? Finally, something we could thank them for.
This article basically tells us everything, whether intentionally or not.
Kensington Palace being “claustrophobic” – their marriage is over and they hate having to be in “close quarters” together, in the center of London surrounded by other royals, where they can’t really pretend to have completely separate lives.
they want to be close to the Queen – i.e. no one can question why they need a third house because THE QUEEN NEEDS THEM
And finally, Kate wants to be (needs to be?) closer to her family – because again their marriage is over and either she is going to be in windsor alone while still married, or she’s going to live there as a divorced duchess.
And its all covered up with the nonsense of Kate starting to be a working royal yada yada yada.
So yeah, like we’ve been saying on here for the past 6 months, since this started getting talked about, this is all about Kate and William’s marriage being over and Kate getting a house close to her parents as a result.
I know this article claims the contrary but i wonder if what you just pointed out is connected to Palmer’s comment that we shouldn’t expect Kate to do more engagements in the coming 10-15 years. Because she’ll apparently be focused on her family.
@Chloe –
I personally do think it is connected. Palmer didn’t come out of nowhere with that comment. We shouldn’t expect Kate to do more because she’s going to be based in Windsor and focused on her family and she’s just not going to work more.
To me the subtext there is “she’s not going to work more bc the marriage is over and why should she work to support her husband’s image?”
I think Palmer’s comment about kate not working for another 10-15 years is certainly what Kate wants to do and comes from her camp directly. That said Nicholls was likely sent out to soften that comment because most people won’t react well to Kate hiding away especially now that her kids are all going to be in school full time.
And what remains very odd is that they would have a great excuse to use George starting a boarding school shortly for a reason to move to the Berkshires to be closer to Eton. But none of their press has mentioned that specifically, which really suggests this new home has nothing to do with that but instead fits with the estranged behaviour we have seen from William in the last year and sometimes kate. (That top photo above is not a loving look from Kate. She used to not be caught giving him looks like that in public)
It is a combination. They can move to Windsor/Bershire, send the kids to posh schools but as day students. Louise and James Wessex never boarded, Beatrice and Eugenie didn’t board for years and instead attended schools in Windsor.
Becks- I’m wondering now if the Windor house is for Wills and moving there is cover for Kate maybe getting a house in Buckleberry. Perhaps her clothes/Buckleberry house are a divorce settlement. And Will gets a Windsor property to be close to the kids on his weekends with them.
I’ve just been thinking, if the Windsor property is for Kate, where is Will gonna be? Is he gonna stay in London and helicopter to the kids when it’s his time with them? Or is he just interested in time with them?
I think this set up is already what’s happening for the most part. William is based in London at KP, all on his own, while Kate and the kids are in Anmer Hall, or with her mummy in Bucklebury.
I think the only times William bothered to go up to Anmer Hall were the times he was planning to rendezvous with Rose Hanbury.
Sounds about right. After all, they need apartments for Carol also to move into.
I don’t know why Nicholls is spinning this story, but claustrophobia really doesn’t play well when you have multiple homes to choose from. Clearly they are trying to sell those two not being seen together as much once things reopen up. But it’s also weird that they lie about when they moved into KP. It wasn’t 2017. There are even photos of George meeting the Obamas and that was years before.
Whatever the reason, the more they have these vague stories about moving, the more it looks like something is going on that they want to hide. (If it was school related then they could easily mention that and explain this shift but they never do mention anything like that)
Yes, they met the Obamas there with George, just googled, that was 2016. They even had KP BEFORE they had Anmer Hall. They moved into KP pretty early on (weren’t they moving in while Kate was pregnant with George? Remember when she changed the paint colors?) So that was 2012/2013, and THEN at some point after that they were given Anmer. It was kind of an “eff you” bc it was just one more sign they weren’t going to be FT royals (remember first we had the whole “they get two years because MALTA” and then Kate had George after two years so maternity leave/she’s a hands on mother/she can’t possibly work and then haha they’re not even going to pretend to live in London, they’re moving to Norfolk.)
They got KP after William said he was leaving RAF and the plan was for them to start working. But then William got the part time EEAA job and Anmer Hall was given to them around that same time. And yes this was after kate renovated the KP kitchen twice at taxpayer expense and then Anmer had to be renovated.
Google tells me they moved in Apartment 1A in 2013. I don’t know why they love this revisionist history as if we can’t verify this.
Hah I love all the jokes here!
I live in a 2 bedroom flat with 2 other roomates here in London, as one of us lives in the livingroom (it’s not ideal but it makes rent vaguely affordable). We don’t have a livingroom or common room, and all three of us live and work out of our bedrooms. After 2 years of pandemic I still would struggle to say I’m feeling claustrophobic because I just feel grateful I have a WFH job and I no longer work in frontline healthcare. The absolute cheek of these morons, honestly. I wonder how much space is enough for them, if their literal palace is not big enough. Normal Bill and Kathy Middleton are no more I suppose?
Well, this will make it more convenient to finally turn their unwanted KP residence into an early years research centre. After all, it’s Kate’s lifelong passion and her legacy, right? Right?
How many vast estates could one couple really occupy at once?
Claustrophobia means they can’t stand living with each other any more.
This is setting Kate up to have a royal property at Windsor in the divorce. Or, cover for a move because they are buying her a house in Buckleberry for her divorce settlement and covering it up until the divorce is announced.
The royal single white female (“SWF”) will NEVER divorce the other brother nor allow him to divorce her. And CM would die on the spot from a heart attack when told—the decades of scheming and whatever else it is she does and no title or access in the end. Nope. Baldy is 100% Windsor and he will escalate his neglect and mistreatment of SWF so such a point that she will one day be calling Meghan Markle and crying to her on the phone like Diana did to the stepmother she hated in her youth. Mark my words. Here’s hoping Meg responds with a, “new phone who ‘dis?.”
If William wants to divorce her, he will. The Midds can go quietly or have everything the Windsors have hidden about them be outed immediately. The finances of PP, Uncle Gary’s money, their ties to tabloids, how Kate was abusive to Meghan from the start.
Just get divorced already and stop with this fakakta “looking for a new home because kids schooling, KP is claustrophobic, wanting to be closer to Betty” BS. It’s clear they can barely tolerate being with each other and they’re both as lazy as a couple of sloths so just bite the bullet.
“As she prepares to become the next Princess of Wales”. Why don’t they say as they wait for granny to die? So disingenuous.
This same reporters call H and M callous for living with overseas while those near by are just like vultures waiting to bump up the latter and finally become fk and FQ, nearer their goal.
I agree that K won’t di orce, I don’t think William will risk it when she’s so compliant to his wandering.
I’m genuinely shocked by her face in that picture. Did something go wrong with the botox or whatever to make it all lumpy and swollen like that? Looks like the aftermath of a terrible wasp nest mishap, or a heavily made-up 75 year old in a too-young wig
As to claustrophobia, those two are probably at the stage where being in the same hemisphere is too close.
“The Cambridges have felt ‘a bit claustrophobic at Kensington Palace for a while.'”
Oh dear! How very dreadful for them.
* meanwhile across the globe, or “the colonies” many live their lives with homelessness, hunger, disease, and on and on.*
In an ‘apartment’ that big we should all feel so overlooked in their place. Ugh.
So, basically, the affair with the London lawyer is over and therefore Wills doesn’t want to be there anymore?
As far as divorce goes… I just don’t see it. I am assuming that he has to have permission to divorce much like he had to have permission to get married, and I don’t see him gaining that permission unless there is someone else in the wings who would be willing to step into the role. And I don’t see anyone being willing.
I distinctly remember an article in a major British publication (maybe the Telegraph? or one on par with it), some months before W&K got engaged, about how “it WILL be Kate” because, literally, no one else wanted the job. That he and his team had tried everyone single in his age range, who was “suitable,” including 2nd and 3rd cousins in other countries, and quite literally no one wanted to marry him and have the job as his wife. That they were fine with a fling, but not a marriage to him and all that would entail. That there was no one else left but Kate, and she was grudgingly accepted as “suitable.” That has stuck with me for years. I don’t see how that could have changed in the intervening years – if anything, I believe it would be worse now that everyone has seen what kind of damage the media can bring down on someone “unsuitable.”
The Windsors never wanted William to marry Kate. He didn’t get their permission, he announced the press event for the engagement two hours before even telling the Queen. Charles has shown you can divorce and still be future monarch, William can follow in that.
As there is no love lost between Charles and the Middletons, if William wants Kate gone Charles will be happy to use all his PR power to destroy Kate/Middletons in the press. William will come out looking like a man who loves his kids, married his manipulative Uni sweetheart out of fear, but who knows his children are better off if their parents are divorced.
We are going to have to agree to disagree, nota. I say Kate and her clan can do real damage to William. He will not come out of this smelling like a rose. (no pun intended)
Look at how much charles has been able to rehabilitate his image and a significant amount of people loved Diana. Kate doesn’t have a fraction of that admiration and it is obvious that she has tolerated the cheating in a way that Diana never did. If William wants a divorce we will see the press turn against kate and the Middletons quickly and it will be hard for Kate to seem sympathetic because her role in smearing Meghan will become much more public. Diana could be characterized as the innocent girl who naively married into a deceitful family, but kate can’t pretend that’s what happened to her. Not after a decade of chasing William. Maybe if kate had been welcoming to her sister in law she might get the sympathy factor for being the wronged spouse, but that won’t work here.
Agreed, Nic919. No one likes the Middletons either. All William has to do is claim he was vulnerable, emotionally manipulated by Carole and the rest of the clan.
I have thought for years that William and Kate’s cry for privacy (putting up trees, etc.) has been about much more than keeping away paparazzi intrusion. Their cry for privacy makes it harder for people to see they do next to nothing and William can do what he likes with other women. I think divorce must be on the horizon because the stories have been really odd. Why so many stories embiggening Kate sometimes at the expense of William? Why aren’t the stories embiggening William? Clearly these stories come from the Middleton side, because they want to get public sympathy on Kate’s side. And Kensington Palace is “claustrophobic”? It would have sounded so much better to say that William and Kate don’t like living in London because they are both such country people at heart. Okay, so move back to Anmer and keep KP as an “office base” (even though it is not close by.) Does anyone really think they want to move so they can “help the Queen”? Give me a break. These articles are too bizarre, and I do think they are setting up the scenario for a divorce or at the least, separate lives (which they live already!)
The thing is, they don’t get much of a choice to be “country people” do they? They’re a part of the monarchy. It means you don’t get to hide away in the country like all the other nobles do, not when you have other stuff you need to be getting to.
Charles lives mostly at Highgrove House being ‘a country person’ and still does 400+ engagements a year.
Charles maintains an official residence at Clarence House still, doesn’t he? The way I’m understanding the Cambs, and I could be wrong on this, is that they are low key aiming to just move away from KP all together. I don’t think that will ever work, and if that’s not what their intent is, they need to change their messaging to reflect that.
lol another epic PR fail🤦🏽♀️these two are so out of touch with reality that they think this is a good move during a food/fuel shortage with expected high inflation》unemployment..et due to brexit+covid. And on top of that tone lizzy is planning an extravagant party paid for taxpayers (basically marie antoinette’s let them eat cakesque). All this ofcourse coming on the heels of her pedo son’s trial which should hopefully enrage more people once he settles out of court to go boo & throw eggs @ them 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽they deserve what’s coming to them and I’m so glad Harry is skipping this sh**t show
Diana had the same complaint about living in Kensington Palace, no? That the walls have ears, and that she was being spied upon by all her neighbours who were reporting all of her activity over to the Queen and Charles (notably Princess Margaret, and Princess Michael).
But okay, let’s say they move out of KP. Will they simply not have a London residence any longer? How is that going to help them when they finally assume the increased duties fobbed off on them by the Sussexit, which will presumably be focused upon events that take place in London? None of this makes sense, lol.
I could see them moving to a place at Windsor and keeping Apartment 1A as their London home. Amner Hall? It could be leased out to someone else easily, like the previous kitchen designers or the Van Cutsem family. As it is private property, Liz can do whatever she wants with it.
A, it’s very simple. No matter what they say, their workload will remain basically the same. If Kate bats her eyes at a cute rugby player, that is counted as an “event.” If she touches his arm, that’s another “event.” You see where this is going. Even if/when William does become king, I can’t imagine he will change his luxurious, lazy lifestyle for anything as intangible (and therefore worthless) as honor, duty, respect, responsibility, etc.. Really.
I don’t disagree with you. But I’m just questioning what the optics of the FFK and FFQ + their family moving out of London entirely would be in this situation, particularly since they are fully expected to step up to the plate and being marketed to the audience as such.
I just think it’s weird that the members of a tax payer funded monarchy are not going to reside in the capital city of their own country, and instead are going to choose to move far away from what is the major center of their “work”. To me, that just looks and sounds really bad. But I guess neither Will nor Kate really care about that.
Are they planning to reimburse the renovation costs?
A, Yes, the optics of Will and Kate fleeing London are terrible, but for them it is on brand. The Brits won’t interpret their move like you and I would. There will be something about the children’s schools and maybe Kate’s parents’ “health problems” (newly diagnosed), which will show her as the loving mother, the good daughter and the pride of white womanhood. Her popularity will rise because of her “sacrifice.” Imagine the rest. They’ll be fine.