Many of the Duchess of Cambridge’s biggest fans were worried that Prince Harry and Eugenie’s appearance at the Super Bowl would “overshadow” Kate’s big Bedtime Stories video. Perhaps they were right to be concerned, because even in the British media, the papers are full of articles about how Eugenie was sent to Montecito to negotiate with Harry, or that Harry is clearly terrible for going to a football game. Meanwhile, Kate’s little Bedtime Stories performance is barely being embiggened!
For what it’s worth, just the photos from Kate’s appearance were widely discussed last week. She wore a £179 Holland Cooper sweater, and ugly jeans from & Other Stories. She also tried to maintain that haughty accent for the entire video as she performed Jill Tomlinson’s The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark. Here’s the video:
The illustrations are great. The fire on the set bugged me and I would have been coughing up a storm with all that smoke. I get that they wanted it to look like a campfire set, but jeez. Anyway, Kate was fine. I’m glad there were subtitles because I didn’t always understand her.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, BBC/Kensington Palace.
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- Britain’s Kate, Duchess of Cambridge speaks with a representative as she arrives for an official visit to PACT (Parents and Children Together) in Southwark, London, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. The Duchess will meet volunteers and attendees of PACT Southwark’s weekly MumSpace group, which provides a welcoming space for local parents to discuss relevant issues and work through any challenges they are facing.,Image: 660552061, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: PHOTO, Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant / Avalon
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- Britain’s Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, center, interacts with a child named Joy during a cooking workshop at PACT (Parents and Children Together) in Southwark, London, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. The Duchess will meet volunteers and attendees of PACT Southwark’s weekly MumSpace group, which provides a welcoming space for local parents to discuss relevant issues and work through any challenges they are facing.,Image: 660552115, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: PHOTO, Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant / Avalon
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- Britain’s Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, left, interacts with a child named Joy during a cooking workshop at PACT (Parents and Children Together) in Southwark, London, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. The Duchess will meet volunteers and attendees of PACT Southwark’s weekly MumSpace group, which provides a welcoming space for local parents to discuss relevant issues and work through any challenges they are facing.,Image: 660552119, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: PHOTO, Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant / Avalon
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- Britain’s Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, center, interacts with a child named Joy during a cooking workshop at PACT (Parents and Children Together) in Southwark, London, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. The Duchess will meet volunteers and attendees of PACT Southwark’s weekly MumSpace group, which provides a welcoming space for local parents to discuss relevant issues and work through any challenges they are facing.,Image: 660552125, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: PHOTO, Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant / Avalon
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- Britain’s Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, right, interacts with children during a cooking workshop on an official visit to PACT (Parents and Children Together) in Southwark, London, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. The Duchess will meet volunteers and attendees of PACT Southwark’s weekly MumSpace group, which provides a welcoming space for local parents to discuss relevant issues and work through any challenges they are facing.,Image: 660552161, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: PHOTO, Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant / Avalon
If she’s going to copy Meghan’s children book idea, she could at least be creative enough to write one herself. What is the point in just reading a random book to kids lmao??
It’s something celebrities do so of course Kate had to do something where she could pretend she’s also famous and popular.
Whatever are you talking about, “pretend[ing] she’s also famous and popular”?
She’s VERY famous.
(Am not touching the second qualifier.)
It’s a series on TV, that’s the whole thing–celebrities reading children’s books. Kate’s chosen book was a tad boring but the illustrations were quite nice.
Is stonewashed jeans back in fashion?
Yes, unfortunately they seem to be coming back, along with the high waists and lighter washes that I thought I would never have to lay eyes on again lol.
I’m old enough to have been through that before. Think I’ll be unfashionable and pass this round:-)
What’s wrong with stonewashed jeans? I think they look cool.
Im with you, it’s a trend I think should be left in the nineties, especially not paired with a fairisle sweater. Leave it to the biracial black princess to put forth new trends that all women gravitate to, clean lines, long coats, shapeless dresses, monocramatic tones… I could go on. All in the two years she was here, and that’s just fashion, imagine how much progress she would be in all the other aspects of a woman. Such a shame. Oh wellthey can keep their coatdresses
@yinyang Um . . . correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t anyone remember clean lines, long coats, and shapeless dresses, and monochromatic tones ALSO being a nineties trend?
That’s still Narciso Rodriguez’s bread-and-butter and we have Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy to thank for him becoming a household name after meeting him while working for Calvin Klein, ALSO still one of the minimalistic staple names.
It just seems like most trends are cyclical. I mean, if I’d known those stupid, itchy tattoo chokers of my childhood were going to come back into style I’d have saved them to give to my little cousins.
And I don’t care if super-low, waistband-cut-entirely-off, Mariah-Carey-in-Heartbreaker-style jeans come back into style – my butt in staying in my high-waist jeans that keep everything in and add length to my 5’1” frame, something pretty much impossible any other way, lol.
. . . I do agree the stonewashing is horrible, though. Ugh, just awful.
I don’t see Meghan as trendy or a trendsetter. And it’s a good thing imo. I see her as fashionable. Her clean lines and monochromatic colors don’t date nearly as quickly. I only see Meghan as ‘trendy’ in the sense of bringing attention to lesser known designers and companies and things like sustainable fashion.
I looove the jeans so much. I think I am going to go ahead and buy a pair for myself 🙂
Real stars don’t need to worry about being overshadowed.
Mic drops…
I’m not being funny. I completely forgot this was happening.
It was fine, but that was Multiple takes. It could have been better with all that extra help. I know I’m nitpicky, but I can’t get passed how poorly Meghan was treated for reading to her child. Or how awful of a person Kate is. She’s not likable.
I was about to say that also. You could tell they spliced the video together cause there’s multiple quick breaks instead of her just re-reading the entire thing over. The people they have around them is mouth opening every time. The simple things that they’re incapable or just don’t want to do is appalling
Given that the Royals are notorious for underpaying their staff, I’m not surprised that their work product seems amateurish and low quality. Quality staff would demand being paid well for quality work. Personally, I find their incompetence quite telling given their bosses laziness and lack of gravitas. Everything coming out of KP seems like a farce.
I thought this came out last week.. anyone know what the ratings were? Is it a tv show or just a YouTube channel? Anyways I didn’t watch he Super Bowl either but loved the cousin photos🥰
It’s a show on Cbeebies channel. It’s the last programme of the day before the bedtime song and then the channel goes off air. Which I used to appreciate when my son was still younger. He’s 5 now and refuses to watch Cbeebies. His Gran, bless her, messaged us last Friday urging us to watch it as khate was on it and I was like, no thanks, we’d rather buy the book than listen to it plus my son isn’t interested in it.
I would like to know the ratings for this one. I refuse to give this clicks so I haven’t watched it even when they (Cbeebies, Able2UK, Cbeebies for grown ups) keep tweeting about it .
They even added SOUND EFFECTS…
Well she certainly made me nod off with her stiff and monotonous delivery maybe the googly eyed yellow cushion put her off with its quizzical look or did it make her yearn for more manly snubbing from his nibs?! I am just baffled why a mom used to reading to 3 little kids didn’t delivered the storytelling with more oomph and humor?
They should have asked nanny Maria to do the storytelling. I’m sure she’s quite good at it.
“used to reading to 3 little kids”? I don’t really see her keeness as a hands on kind of mom. I think her and prince pantstootight are old school parents. As in, “we have help to do the menial work like parenting our children”.
That accent! I just couldn’t get through the whole thing. Where does it come from? It’s so awful.
Monotonous delivery for a monotonous book. Totally understand how this bland story was little Kate’s favorite as a kid.
I really do like that sweater, and bless her for finding a version with so many buttons. I wish she were not so problematic because I would probably find her button obsession an endearing quirk. It’s like the only part of her style that is true to herself, except some of her boots maybe.
Yes! The buttons that stuck out to me too and I can’t believe more people haven’t mentioned them. Little gold cuff buttons, all in the row. I like a good button detail too, but Kate’s missing out on the real sartorial nirvana: pockets.
Nothing makes me happier than a skirt or dress with pockets, pants with nice and sizeable pockets, or a jacket or coat with more than six of them. She can keep the buttons, I’ll take all the pockets!
Her narration did not sound that endearing for kids. Some sentences were kind of rushed. I understand she was pulling double duty to keep the accent.
Lol
I wish people would use the word “night” instead of saying “Dark is nasty”, for obvious reasons. I don’t see her accent is so bad, but I don’t know the fine points of British accents.
I understand where you’re coming from but in many countries in the winter, it can get really dark without it being close to night time.
Sorry but the backdrop is creepy, and I am a camper. Looks more like a cave.
Did it bother anyone else that her face never moved as she read?
IDK…when I read to my classes over the years, or to my nephews when they were little, my face would mirror what I’d be saying…y’know: frown if I was talking in the “mean, gruff” voice, brows up if there was a “suprise” being talked about, a worried look if it was scary…stuff like that.
It kind of freaked me out seeing Keen’s face stay stationary, no matter what her mouth said (and even that movement was only *crooked*, not a real smile). Weird to get someone so overly botoxed they can’t emote to read a book to kids!
Yeah, just more confirmation of mecha Kate, there is no orga. Also, we joke about how my husband is not really great at reading out loud or having an animated face but even he is way more interesting and animated when reading to our kids. She’s so lame.
Who exactly are the subtitles for? Because I can’t imagine any child watching and listening to a bedtime story wanting to read subtitles. I got to the one minute mark, there is only so much of her voice I can handle.call me when she finds her real accent
People/parents/royal watchers who are hard of hearing or hearing impaired, for one. It may also be so that children learn to associate the sounds they’re hearing with visual representations (i.e. the words on the screen).
On an unrelated note, children in Scandinavia often learn to read quite early because of subtitles on TV.
Parent in the US. I originally turned on subtitles when my oldest was a toddler so I could follow television when he got rowdy. All three of my older kids were early and excellent readers and I’m convinced this is.
Her hair looks so dry in that photo. She needs to fix the extensions.
And no one outside of the rota and royalists care about this story thing. They have been trying for a decade to make Kate matter and she just doesn’t. That’s what kills them. Meghan came in and had global attention right away. Kate never will. And instead of just dutifully working, she decided a smear campaign against her biracial sister in law, causing suicidal ideation was the way to go.
That she happens to be lazy on top of mean and dim is an added bonus.
Well said, Nic!
Yeah, this is nothing to write home about. Part of Waity’s problem is that she’s not a performer, no matter how hard she tries. Charisma is not about looking pretty.
She was overshadowed by H&E at a game. Like these ppl are pathetic.
Omg, they had to put in subtitles?! Imho, Kate looked less than pleased to be there and only
‘“smiled” when prompted.
I think the subtitles will be there to be inclusive to deaf viewers. They’ve definitely been included as a part of other recent CBeeBees Bedtime Stories.
Thanks for letting me know about the subtitles,Sam.
It seems like it was boring but fine. It was a bedtime story for kids, it didn’t have to be super exciting lol. I only listened to the first minute or two and I can see why its not getting more attention. It’s…..fine.
If Kate had done this early in the pandemic I think it would have been a hit, but as it is, it seems like she’s either copying Meghan (after reading to Archie for Save the Children and then The Bench) or has just been forced into doing this bc every other celebrity has done it.
I don’t know, just seems like if it was something she had really wanted to do, she would have done it long before now.
I think a few people commented here in 2020 that she should have been doing zooms with reading stories because that would have worked with the early years and mental health theme they have put on her. But of course Kate doesn’t actually care about anything so that’s why it was only 2 years and several celebrities later that this sorry reading was done.
If that was one of my students reading like that, I would say: 1) slow down and 2) be more expressive. You need to grab and maintain your listener’s attention, not just read words out loud.
Meh, I actually thought it was kind of cute. I was shocked she actually had a little expression in her voice. I’d like to think she actually reads a book now and then to her own children, which might be why she wasn’t too terrible at this. I did need those subtitles though…
She really went overboard with the face Botox.
“Dark is nasty” ….why not “night is scary” ? What kind of book is this?! Of course Kate picked a weirdly racist children’s book smh
The point of the book is that the little owl is wrong.
@Eurydice thanks for filling me in, I couldn’t make it to the end Kate had me dozing zzzzz
Kate apparently didn’t get that point despite it being her favorite book as a child.
“My name is Catherine” ha ha ha. Sure, Kate.
Also, why is the woman not HOLDING A BOOK, instead of clutching a blanket?
I was also wondering about the absence of a book. I don’t know this show but do presenters usually read from books or only use teleprompters?
Other episodes never had them holding a book. Different set styles too.
I wondered that too. She should have been holding the book and reading from it, it would have looked better.
Holding an actual book would make more sense if the idea is to encourage children to read.
Kate’s fans always seem to worry about her being overshadowed. I read some dumb@ss comment that Meghan not being at the Super Bowl was intended to overshadow Kate.WTF
If Kate can be overshadowed by Meghan’s non-appearance at an event, then Kate is in trouble, lol.
Yep!lol Somehow too, if I have the time difference right, 11 am in Los Angeles when it’s 7 pm (Kate’s bedtime story aired I believe) in London, Harry & Eugenie overshadowed Kate many hours before it was known/made public that they were together at the Super Bowl. I guess it was the only way KP/BM could draw interest to Kate’s thing.
I saw that comment which is funny because if Meghan’s absence can outshine Kate… they have problems.
They would have made the comment if M had been at the Super Bowl also. It’s the usual no-win for M.
Absolutely. It’s just sad & stupid that derangers and/or the BM would make a thing about Meghan’s absence. At least, not that I’ve seen yet, the BM hasn’t put out one of their famous long headlines like -The Duchess off Sussex snubs America’s biggest football game to stay home and out of the spotlight only to overshadow the Duchess of Cambridge’s Bedtime Stories debut. Then they would have their foolish, made up and meaningless bullet points. Sh&t-I gave them an idea.lol
We already know that the fact Meghan, simply breathing, overshadows other members of the BRF.
So Meghan read a book she didn’t write to Archie and filmed it. Kate read a book she didn’t write and filmed it.
Then Meghan read a book she DID write. How soon until Kate’s children’s book (titled the Keen Adventures of Mrs McButtons) is released? As an art history major (as we’re often told) she won’t rely on an illustrator but will of course draw her own drawings. Drawings of Mrs McButtons will be dominated by a giant blue ring given to her by Mr McButtons (who is never seen)
With how quickly Kate adopts Meghan’s styles and ideas I’d say… 5 to 8 months out until Kate “writes” a book.
I don’t know – it seemed fine to me. It was pretty much like the mayor’s wife reading to kids in the local library – nothing to create an international sensation, but enough for people who have little children and/or care about local celebrities.
I can’t help but laugh every time she bulges her eyes to display some sort of charisma or conviction. She tried her best, I guess. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t all bad. Just meh! Which is pretty standard when it comes to Keen doing her annual Keening™
Too bad that she couldn’t apply that open minded philosophy to her sister- in- law. 🙄
It was fine. This is the type of thing that she is supposed to do, given her role and title, so I hope she actually does more. Maybe we are witnessing the end of the era of Keen and the beginning of Age of Doing.
I was puzzled as to why Kate stans were so angry about Harry and Eugenie went to the Super bowl and then I realised that it was because they overshadowed Kate’s Bedtime Story reading on Cbeebies. I don’t know if it’s me but I thought it was a boring story but she did an ok job with what she had to work with. I do wonder if she got the idea to do this after she saw Meghan read a book for Save the Children and her own book on YouTube. It’s interesting, for all her much touted love of children, she or her team never thought to do this a long time ago.
Eugenie being there also confirmed that she still likes Harry and the Sussexes aren’t hated by the whole family. It’s what the stans want.
I thought she did this last week and had no idea this happened until her fans started whining that Meghan over shadowed her by NOT being at the Super Bowl with Harry and Eugenie. It’s the Superbowl. No one is paying attention to anything else. Still not watching this little reading. Just have to say that the anger about Harry is the fact that he looks fine, he’s getting on with his life and looking good while doing it.
I listened to the whole story and I thought Kate did a good job. Enjoyed the story, although a bit long. I found the set a bit “spooky” though. I think a fake fire with bright embers instead of smoke would have made the scene nice and cozy which is what they should have been going for. I like what she wore for the reading as she looked nice and approachable. I have no problem with her accent, except that it attempts to be more posh than William’s and Harry’s.
Bland woman reads bland story in a bland voice. So utterly forgettable.
The fact is there was no online buzz about this even before the super bowl. Either KP forgot to order the bots or they didn’t want to draw attention to it because it was so blah. They used it to get the tabloids a cover and then moved on. A lot of the things they do seem more about getting the tabloids come content that the engagement itself.
God, that f*cking accent. It’s painful to listen to (saying this because I know it’s not her natural way of speaking).
This messy woman really did this to compete with Meghan’s reading of The Bench. The children’s book that Meghan actually WROTE. I just cannot with her. I just can’t with that family of frauds.
Boring!
Good God Catherine, Kate whatever you definitely would put my children to sleep !!!! .
Hi All – first comment here. My opinion at this point is that they are in overdrive trying to make her happen. They are throwing everything (including the kitchen sink) at the wall to see what, if anything, sticks….”glamour” photo shoot, read a book, wear pants! And now she’s off to Denmark (full disclosure, I am a huge fan of the Danish Royal Family, the Crown Prince Couple in particular). This should be interesting to watch. Quick OT: I just saw a tweet about how poor Kate…it will be the first time away from William/kids overnight and how will she cope? Then one response was oh Mary will take care of her. WTF?!? This is a 40 year old woman…she needs a nanny?!? CP Mary is not a babysitter. How is a 40 year old woman this coddled? Help me to understand this. So, will the press drag down CP Mary in order to elevate Kate or will they try to put Kate on the same level as Mary OR a third option…say Kate is such an influence on Mary.
Sorry for going off topic here. But, did this book reading make a big splash? I barely even saw it mentioned on Twitter tbh.
Welcome!
LOL to that comment about Kate needing to “cope” being away from the kids. Louis is about to turn 4. Do people really think she has never spent a night away from them? Or that she and William are always together?
LOL….I actually had to read the tweets twice to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
I tried to get through that video above and honestly could not make it to the end. Sorry. She needs media training.
Hi, Iz_Q, glad you’re here. I’m going with your third option. They are going to diss Mary to try and make Kate look good. I’d bet money they will slam Mary to embiggen Kate.
Thanks for the welcome. If they try to diss Mary (in Denmark), they may find themselves at the short end of a very pissed off Danish population. Mary is revered in Denmark. Even people that are against the monarchy say she does a good job with her causes, etc. The narrative being pushed at the moment is how alike Kate and Mary are, twinning!! and some oh I see Mary is copying Kate in her outfits, etc. I just SMDH at someone needing so much pimping and propping. I’ve heard of “it takes a village”, but this is more like “it takes a universe”.
Too bad she didn’t think dark was beautiful or super.
I’ll see myself out.
Take it up with the Owl…or the writer of the book.
I think they superglued her hands together.
I tried to get lost in the story but instead, got truly lost when she started mentioning “Bernard.” Who the heck is Bernard, I wondered. Mother owl? No. Subtitles to the rescue: Barn Owl.
Her voice is not at all soothing to listen to. The weird inflections and ill-timed pauses kept the rhythm off the entire time. Was there no voice acting training available? I kept cringing at every syllable.
Her reading was fine, but she seemed awkward and stiff. For someone who is frequently photographed using exaggerated facial expressions and gesturing, the lack of them in this concept is fascinating to me.
I did storytelling in high school and have written a few children’s books (and as a parent of four read hundreds). It is literally all about using your entire body to tell the story and this one is rich with places for physical embellishment. It baffles me that she just tightly gripped the blanket and didn’t get into the story at all.
Would it have killed her to smile? Geez, she looks like she’s reading hostage cue cards.