One of the most distasteful things the Duchess of Cambridge ever did was the moment when she decided to exploit a murder victim, Sarah Everard. In March 2021, Everard was murdered by a police officer as she made her way home from a friend’s house. They didn’t find her body for weeks, and when she was found, it set off a series of memorials, demonstrations and rallies, mostly attended by women. Kate chose that moment to set up a little photo-op for herself. The Palace arranged for a Sky News videographer to be at the memorial, and Kate posed maskless in the crowd briefly, laying flowers at the makeshift memorial. The Palace then confirmed her attendance with a self-serving statement from Kate about how she “remembered” walking alone in London before she was married.
What was also notable about Kate’s exploitation of a murder victim is that the Met police waited until Kate finished posing and she had left the area before they moved in and violently arrested vigil attendees. There were photos of young women in handcuffs, being thrown to the ground and pushed around by cops. This violent assault on women was done under the guise of shutting down an “illegal vigil.” An illegal vigil which had been (however briefly) attended by the Duchess of Cambridge. Except in the Met’s police report of the incident, they identified Kate as “the Duchess of Sussex.”
A Metropolitan Police summary of the force’s much-criticised actions at a March 2021 vigil in Clapham Common for Sarah Everard mistakenly referred to an appearance by the “Duchess of Sussex”, a copy of the document shows. A public order event debrief, released under Freedom of Information laws, summarises incidents of note from the evening.
The report says that “the Duchess of Sussex attended the bandstand at approx. 1715. Reported in media.”
But it was Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, who attended the vigil that afternoon. A Kensington Palace spokesperson later said she attended to pay her respects to Everard and her family.
The vigil had been judged unlawful by the Met, but Dame Cressida Dick, the then-Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, suggested that Middleton’s appearance was legal as she was there for work purposes. The document also noted the event had “significant media interest and political interest that could have an impact” on the Met’s representation.
There are different things to be mad about, and I’m still pissed off about the fact that Cressida Dick admitted that Kate wasn’t arrested with the other vigil-attendees because she was there for “work.” The “work”: fixing her own damaged PR and image by exploiting a murder victim. And clearly it didn’t work, because Kate is still such a non-entity that even the Met didn’t bother to put her correct title in their report. I mean, it could have just been a screw-up by people who don’t care about royalty. But it definitely has a sinister “when all else fails, blame Meghan for everything” energy.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge departs after delivering her keynote speech at an event hosted by the Forward Trust to launch the charity’s “Taking Action On Addiction” campaign. Pictured: Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge BACKGRID USA 19 OCTOBER 2021 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Clitheroe, UNITED KINGDOM – The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit NHS staff and patients at Clitheroe Community Hospital and hear about their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, in Clitheroe, East Lancashire. Pictured: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 20 JANUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Clitheroe, UNITED KINGDOM – The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit NHS staff and patients at Clitheroe Community Hospital and hear about their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, in Clitheroe, East Lancashire. Pictured: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 20 JANUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Clitheroe, UNITED KINGDOM – The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit NHS staff and patients at Clitheroe Community Hospital and hear about their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, in Clitheroe, East Lancashire. Pictured: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 20 JANUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Burnley, UNITED KINGDOM – The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit the Church on the Street, where they met with volunteers and staff in Burnley, Lancashire, UK. Pictured: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 20 JANUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Ballerup, DENMARK – Catherine Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton) pictured during a visit to Forest Kindergarten in Ballerup, on the second day of her 2-day visit to Denmark. Pictured: Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 23 FEBRUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
I don’t think it was an innocent mistake. Definitely imo wanted MM’s name in the police report to keep Kate pristine clean. I have no doubt it was deliberate.
The Met is corrupt, and so are the Cambridges. Match made in racist/misogynist heaven.
It definitely feels VERY sinister.
BotSentinel proved one of the nastiest Meghan haters on twitter is the 40-year-old son of a disgraced Met Commander. Agreed, this wasn’t a mistake it was deliberate. Meghan should sue.
It was on purpose. What disgusts me about this whole case is that POS officer is suing to not be in prison for life saying it’s too harsh. I hope he rots.
Next, this was terrible that Kate used this moment to make up for some bad PR with the monarchy not really getting involved or saying anything about the Black Lives Matter protests. The fact that she went up and walked away and then numerous women were assaulted and arrested and they didn’t come out and say a word about it was so freaking egregious. The Met is now complaining about the results of the investigation. Ugh.
I think the misidentification in the Met report was definitely intentional. Boy, the way these people cover for Kate is unbelievable. As for Kate herself, didn’t I see a scene like this in Single White Female?
This was only done cause Meg had tied the yellow ribbon for the woman in Africa that was murdered at the post office. She’s always trying to be Meg and failing cause its always as if you can do it I can. But it comes off as grandstanding. Instead of the respect for a victim of violence
It was also to rehab her image after the Oprah interview and she was outed for making Meghan cry and lied about it for 2.5 years. She used a murder victim for her own PR. How sick is she?!
This is exactly it, exactly why it was done. She needed some good press because she’d been exposed for the ass that she is.
This is insane. So blame the Black woman in case. H& M need to stay away from toxic island from now on.
Bottom line is: Meghan doesn’t need to go back there in a public form again. She is not safe there. I’m not trying to be dramatic but this is really insidious. Meghan and the obsession and scapegoating around her is just creepy and terrifying.
I’m sorry, I’m no fan of Kate’s, but I never thought this was her exploiting a victim. A lot of women in the UK wanted to pay respects, so why wouldn’t she? And public figures are often officially photographed.
My main issue is a) the police were incredibly violent and b) this shows how corrupt and useless the monarchy is because Kate should have criticized the police’s actions (that’s what I find fault with, not her going to the memorial) but she-nor any royal-would ever do so.
That’s what the end of it all is…the monarchy is a corrupt and useless institution where they past on fake smiles and pretend everything is perfect and then try and meddle behind the scenes on occasion. When Queen Liz dies, I suspect the monarchy will be done with in five or six years…I suspect the media has a TON Of dirt on Charles/WIlls/Andy that’s going to come loose after she’s gone.
It’s pretty exploitative to show up at this vigil where other women were punished for attending because the gathering was supposedly illegal, insist it was “work”, and then authorize tabloid stories about how you’ve sent an emotional letter of support to the victim’s family (who never acknowledged it). All of this is what Kate did.
Aaaaand, she never spoke up in support of the other women who were there at the vigil and who were punished for it. Going was ‘not political’, but somehow that would’ve been. She’s never discussed the issue of women’s safety at any other point in her ‘career’. She allowed what was supposedly a spontaneous show of support she did out of empathy to be categorized as ‘work’ for the sake of saving the Met some embarrassment (also probably because she could count it as an ‘event’ and because also she’s a jerk).
If we could believe that her initial instinct to go to the vigil wasn’t exploitative then at the very least literally everything else she did from that second onward was.
If Kate wasn’t exploiting, she’d have worn a mask and not had a personal photographer with her.
This. She didn’t wear a mask when everyone else did. She WANTED to be seen. This vigil was at the height of the pandemic in the UK. She had someone take her picture and then left. She did this for her own PR.
THANK YOU!
Yes, there’s a real aroma of decay in the air. The media certainly can smell it and I’m wondering if the invisible contract is starting to unravel. It’s like they’re trying to cash in while they can before everything falls apart
I am interested in who exactly filed that UK-version of a FOIA request.
I seem to remember that this appearance of Lazy was pushed as “spontaneous because she was so moved” but after the backlash it was sold as “work” instead of a PR stunt to get Lazy some good press. If this resulted in positive PR for Lazy then the story wouldn’t have changed and the Duchess of Sussex name would have bee no where near it.
The whole thing was a set up and super awkward. She went for maybe 5 minutes, she didn’t wear a mask for the pictures so that she’d be recognized in them though no one recognized her at the actual vigil. From what I remember people there said she was super awkward and uncomfortable looking while most people stood around masked. She made the vigil about herself as all the headlines about the vigil became about her and not Sarah Everard. She also leaked that she wrote a “deeply heartfelt letter” to Sarah Everard’s family to the DM (probably because her stunt at the vigil backfired since police violently cleared away people there after she left). Sarah’s family were NOT the ones to tell the media about the letter, Kate was. So she capitalized on a grieving family to make herself look good. If Meghan also sent a letter, we’ll never know because she doesn’t leak stuff like that.
Arranging a camera to film her without a mask laying flowers and having a statement ready to be issued within minutes is complete exploitation of a victim and all the covers the next day had Kate in large photos and barely a mention of the actual victim.
Kate needed to rehab her mean girl image from the Oprah interview and thought this was the way to go.
And of course all the derangers claiming the vigil was only illegal at 6 pm added to the fiasco of her attendance.
Exploitative – making use of a situation or treating others unfairly in order to gain an advantage or benefit.
That is exactly what Keen did and why she did it. This had nothing to do with Everard and everything to do with Keen cosplaying caring, bringing along her staff, photographer, and video crew to record the moment for PR.
Royals pay tribute to dead people all the time, it’s part of their job I guess. But what was exploitative was the fact this little stunt was suppose to make Kate look ‘caring’ like she decided to just wander the the vigil to pay respects all by herself.
Except she wasn’t all by herself, she was their with the security (moved out of shot) and a sky camera man and completely maskless so she could be recognised. All the RRs were ready and prepared to tweet about it (on a Saturday afternoon) and there was a statement issued about ‘walking alone at night”.
The whole thing was a stunt with the sole purpose of making Kate look good. Not only that, but when other women at the vigil were pushed the the ground and arrested by the police for attending, Kate (who was there with police protection) was then praised as the new che Guevara for her ‘quiet activism’.
It was a new low for her.
The Palace let it leak she wrote the family a letter and I recall the family not being pleased about that being out there.
This PR play based on a poor woman’s murder is the exact point I lost all respect for Kate Middleton Mumbler and I will never feel sorry for her. She is sick. Not wearing a mask to be recognized is the most obvious tactic. To make it worse she released zero statements about the police treatment of the protestors. If she has no influence as FFQC to highlight social injustices, she is a useless manequin. If she was indeed working then what is she working for? What is she standing for? Karma is coming.
If she considered this vigil to be “work”
( after all of the backlash she got) did she count it in the court circular?
It is not listed in the CC. As it was clearly not listed as official work, someone should march over to Mummy Carole’s house and arrest Keen.
I usually give people the benefit of the doubt but I don’t think it’s rational in this case. During the height of the pandemic when everyone was wearing masks, if she didn’t want to be seen (as the papers were insinuating because this photo was allegedly taken by a witness), then why didn’t she mask up? What seemed especially weird to me was that after the fact, there was a story that Kate had written a letter to the victim’s family (which to me, just read as though she released this info after she realized the family didn’t go to the press about her letter). She’s never done anything like this (gone to a vigil or paid tribute to any victim) before or since this event happened either. The timing of it, after the Oprah interview, also made it suspicious. If this was something she regularly did, I think it wouldn’t be questioned. Everything surrounding this felt insincere and for PR.
It would be hard to have much confidence in a police force that can’t even get the facts straight.
I know, right!? Beggars belief! And these are the people Harry wants to protect his family while they are in the UK. They can’t be trusted. Full stop. They are deeply corrupted.
If they just referred to her as Duchess Dolittle, there’d be zero confusion.
FFS.
Of course, this is the same force that can’t seem to keep records of where PA and his protection officers were at any given time.
When I see the side by side pics of her copying Meghan it’s honestly so fkn creepy. I need Yahoo to start calling this out since they seem to be going in that direction.
They denigrate Meghan but copy everything she does. Ugh.
Anyways I think there’s a history of this happening where there’s a news story thats about Kate and Will and instead of saying duke and duchess of Cambridge they’ll say Sussexes.
They talk about Meghan and Harry so much that not even people in their country know who they are/their titles.
Clearly deliberate ‘mistake’ to protect Khate from the backlash she deserved.
Also, Khate was NEVER alone – she had paps around her all the time, got taxi’s everywhere, drove around in an Audi and after the 2007 breakup royal security,
The only time you ever saw Khate alone on public transport was when she called the paps.
I also went and paid my respects that afternoon (I live very close by). The air was so thick with emotion and heaviness, it still brings me close to tears just remembering it. I didn’t attend the not at the 6pm vigil after seeing Reclaim the Streets cancelled it. Seeing the way the police treated the women who did stay and attend disgusted me then and now. It was so unnecessary and escalated the situation beyond repair. I still feel hurt for Sarah, her family and the poor women who were manhandled while standing up in the name of women like me.
I did the same thing. I was set to attend the vigil and decided not to when it was officially cancelled because I was in the country on a visa without indefinite leave to remain and didn’t want to risk it. I sat at home totally heartbroken and in a rage that night as I sat at home watching what was happening on twitter. Then when Sarah’s murderer was on trial and all of the facts came out and how he exploited his position at the MET and the MET’s corrupt response – it still makes my blood boil to this day.
Mistake my ass, this was done deliberately to further dirty the image of the black duchess while keeping the English white rose one pristine.
What’s even more disgusting is that Meghan was heavily pregnant at the time . They can’t ever stop dragging her into their mess. It’s upsetting what she gets blamed for over and over again
But also really funny that the police chief acknowledges that Kate wasn’t there for any pure motivations, but for work.
I remember when H&M where still in the UK and coming up with what seemed tinfoil theories about the way the BRF was treating them, only for those theories to turn out to be what was actually happening. This feels like that.
It seems wild to think it was done on purpose and yet… yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised. I wonder if this is the kind of thing that Meghan’s lawyers are going to be on top of.
Ace, I hope that the Met corrects this on their own. The report is clearly wrong and I don’t know why an attorney would have to get involved. This really reflects poorly on them. Let’s see whether or not they step up now and do the right thing. It will tell us all something about the Met.
The Met is a frickin mess–riddled with racist sexist cops and long overdue for a mass shakeup. Dick was supposed to clean it up, but she proved almost as bad as the faction she was due to expunge.
Just another on the long list of reasons why it’s not safe for Meghan to go back to Salty Isle.
Everything about this story makes me so angry still, after more than a year later. All of it. Kate using a woman’s murder to garner good press, the BRF clearly slimy relationship with the Met’s top brass, the press NOT talking about any of that, the police reaction to the vigil, and the politicians’ use of Everard’s murder (among other things) to push through draconian security measures. Which takes us back to Kate who could show up to be photographed but can’t show up to discuss what kind of support women need from public institutions to feel safe. It’s all inexcusably gross.
This has to be deliberate misdirection. I’m just a rando from rural redneck Texas and even I know the difference between the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cameforaphotoopbridge.
This f..k up could be the result of tiptoeing and not wanting to offend your co-workers with “a level of dirctness” by saying nada when the wrong name is on a report.
There’s no way they would mistake Kate, the future queen consort, wife of a British heir, with someone else’s name. It was intentionally cruel and vindictive to use Meghan’s name, in place of Kate’s.
They uncover pedophilia, and even ignored some alleged victims who claimed to be abused by royal family with zero investigation, plus the whole Andrew case. They uncover racism. Not surprised.
Salty island is looking worse and worse.