Princess Kate: My children ‘all love sport and Louis is mad about rugby’

The Princess of Wales has two conversational modes: Captain Obvious or “My Kids Love That.” That’s all she has. It’s either “nursery schools are important” or “my kids love rugby/tennis/football.” Whenever she greets the Wimbledon champions in the Royal Box, she does the same thing too – she immediately launches into stories about how her kids are playing tennis. At yesterday’s reception for the England Wheelchair Rugby League, she once again had to tell these rugby champions that her son Louis is very into rugby. Then she talked about her own fitness, then she talked about how she really must come to a wheelchair rugby match (she’s literally the royal patron for all of the English rugby teams).

The Princess of Wales has revealed Prince Louis is “mad about rugby” at a reception for the England Wheelchair Rugby League squad in Hampton Court Palace. As Patron of the Rugby Football League, the Princess said she watched the squad’s November World Cup Final victory over France with her family on TV, telling the players they had “set the bar high”.

Asked whether her own children play the sport, the mother-of-three said: “We’re always slightly competitive with each other. They all love sport and Louis is mad about rugby. They are at an age where they just love running around”.

She also revealed she uses the trampoline to stay fit, telling one of the players who asked if she went to the gym: “It’s running around after the children – I do it all, whenever I can squeeze in exercise I do, even jumping on the trampoline with my children before school.”

The Duke of Sussex served as patron of the Rugby Football League until February 2021 and Kensington Palace announced that the Princess would be taking over the following year. Since then, she has been keen to show her support for the Wheelchair Rugby League and to shine a light on the increased interest in the sport.

At the palace, she met with members of the squad and coaching team to pass on her congratulations for their historic 28-24 victory over France, which marked England’s first World Cup triumph since the inaugural Wheelchair tournament that was held in Australia in 2008. The Wheelchair Final attracted a capacity crowd of 4,500, a new record for the Wheelchair Rugby League, and was watched by a seven-figure broadcast audience.

Sporting a burgundy trouser suit with a white round-neck jumper, the Princess told the players: “I bet you’ve been smiling since your win, you’ve all got used to smiling”. She said that she was “so excited” to see the squad’s trajectory after their win and remarked that it was an “amazing” final and “really well deserved”. She added that the final “really raised the profile” of wheelchair rugby, saying it “highlighted the power of the sport”.

The Princess told one of the players: “It’s this integrated network and community within the team, that’s what breeds the success…huge congratulations. You’ve set the bar really high now, I’m going to have to come and see a game firsthand”.

When one of the squad remarked that he wanted to see her visit and try playing with them in a wheelchair, she quipped: “There’s no excuse now…I’m going to have to do some upper body strength.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

The Keen apologists will say “well, at least she went to the reception.” I guess? But… it sounds like a pretty big deal that the English team made it to the final and then won the final in France! Surely their patron could have made more of an effort to actually go to the game? I don’t know. As for Louis being mad about rugby, it’s kind of weird that Louis was left at home when Kate and William took George to a rugby game last year?? And the trampoline remark… I don’t know. Did she install a trampoline at Adelaide Cottage? Is Kate hopping onto a trampoline after the school drop-off?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

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96 Responses to “Princess Kate: My children ‘all love sport and Louis is mad about rugby’”

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  1. Anna says:

    “whenever I can squeeze in exercise..” my ass…. Sorry, she wants me to believe she’s “squeezing in” time for herself? Please, don’t insult moms who take care of their children without an army of nannies and really squeeze in time for a shower. And work FT, not 60minutes per month.

    • Chaine says:

      I agree with you and also, truly, her saying she exercises whenever she can is in my belief probably the first genuine authentic statement we have ever heard her say because yeah, she looks like someone who is obsessed with how her body appears and she to continue fitting into those designer exclusives she exercises constantly.

      • Yvette says:

        @Chaine … I’m pretty sure there’s been an article about Kate with her personal trainer over the past four or five years. She’s had one for years. And does anyone buy her “running after the children” remark, as if she’s a completely hands on mom from day one?

      • Lux says:

        I think when pictures surfaced of Meghan being a pretty dedicated yogi, there were reports about how Keen was also really into yoga and all things sporty. Kate has to be the best at everything—Emma Radacanu complimented her forehand! Kate was practically pro at netball! Just say you work out and leave it at that.

    • Belli says:

      It’s the go to for celebrities who want to appear as though their thin frame is effortless. “Oh I just run around after the children!” It’s always bull.

      • C says:

        She’s said that more than once about losing her baby weight too. The “oh, I’m just running after my kids!”

    • DouchesOfCambridge says:

      “I do it all, whenever I can squeeze in exercise I do“ yes she does, remember when she squeezed in extra exercise by going down the slide?

      • Sam says:

        Woaa!! Slightly competitive… !?! It was clear to me that an unhealthy lifestyle was lived in this family, but that she says it so openly??

        Also, what’s wrong with her? Don’t the kids have friends to play with? If my mother had been running after me all the time, I would have gone insane at some point. I’m assuming it’s an outright lie, but what a bad one it is!

        And this one: “I bet you’ve been smiling since your win, you’ve all got used to smiling” -> What nonsense is she talking about? Why can’t she have normal small talk?

    • WiththeAmericann says:

      Her arm shape is clearly someone who works out daily with weights. I guess she’s playing Cool Girl paper thin by accident, but it’s hard not to wonder where she’s finds the calories to workout.

      • Digital Unicorn says:

        She is quite muscular and toned which comes from very regular workouts – she also allegedly does yoga regularly as well.

        Also am pretty sure it was reported on by one of her fave mouth pieces that she works out every day as part of her routine. i.e. gets up, deals with kids, works out, starts ‘work’.

      • Mia says:

        I have a hard time believing she does yoga – I’d think her posture would be much better if she did.

      • kelleybelle says:

        I agree with Mia. She’s not the yoga type I don’t think. She’s a runner. I just can’t see her doing it.

      • Nic919 says:

        No one who does yoga with any consistency would have the hunched over posture she has at age 41. She’s been seen running and there were photos of her with a trainer a few years back too plus home gyms in all her homes.

    • Alice says:

      Yes, exactly where I stopped reading. The arrogance is insulting.

    • Emily_C says:

      She very obviously both under-eats and over-exercises. Lying about it is part of her disorder.

    • Jane says:

      She just annoys me. All the propaganda machinery at her disposal and she still sounds so uninspiring. Here in OZ all the weekly women’s mags own by the Murdochs plus the monthly ones are all positive articles for KKKate and all negative for the Sussexes. I don’t buy them but I see them on the mag stands. Kate just doesn’t have the X factor.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Anna, I would love to hear an audio of these comments. We all know that she’s not capable of talking without the pauses, etc. The bm go out of their way to make her sound at least competent at small talk and speeches by giving quotes rather than letting us listen to her.

      Is there anything that these three children do not love doing? There must be at least one person who works for her that could give her different talking points. It’s rather amusing, except if the three of them are supposed to become the tennis player, etc., extraordinaire.

  2. Nightshade says:

    The Crypt Keener reappears! What is this, two engagements in one week? Thank goodness it’s the weekend, Ol’ girl must be exhausted!

  3. Becks1 says:

    omg, the line about squeezing in exercise when she can.

    First – her kids are all in school now, even half days for Louis (I’m assuming). Second, she does not work a FT job. She barely works at all. She has nothing BUT time to “squeeze it in.” Third, even if the kids are all home she has multiple nannies and other staff so she can work out for as long as she wants.

    This “oh I’m just a regular working mum” thing is SO tiresome and played out. No, Kate, you are not a regular working mum, and you would hate it if you were.

    (I’ll also add that once your kids are the age Kate’s kids are, its a lot easier to find time to do things for yourself. Even without the help, she’s not staring at those kids 24/7. George and Charlotte are very independent by this stage and Louis is getting there.)

    • C says:

      Lol don’t forget when she said she was “exhausted” being at home with her kids during the pandemic.

      • Anonymous says:

        C I think anyone who was at home with kids in the lock-down phase of the pandemic was exhausted on some level. That whole thing was exhausting!

      • C says:

        You’re kidding, right? This woman at that time still had an army of nannies and countless rooms in which to get “me” time. They had 3 homes then. It’s clear she was merely exhausted by their increased presence. But she of all people in the entire world never ever has an excuse to announce publicly she is exhausted by work/motherhood.

      • Jenna says:

        Ugh. I’d like to see her live in the “real world” for a week–with a baby and a full time job. She wouldn’t last through the first day.

        And really, exhausted by her kids during the pandemic? Did her staff stay home or were they considered “essential.”

      • Nic919 says:

        Regular parents were exhausted because they didn’t have nannies and they also had to work during the pandemic. Let’s not forget how all the royals cut back significantly during 2020 and 2021.

        Kate was also complaining about being exhausted prior to the pandemic when Tatler had the CEO article and trying to blame it on Meghan and Harry leaving.

    • Nic919 says:

      She basically has 8 hours a day when the kids are at school for exercice. Pretending she is that busy is insulting.

      • Tessa says:

        Next she’ll say she gets exercise when Will goes on the school run.

      • Mary Pester says:

        Yep and then she hands them of to nanny until bed time. It’s the fact that she thinks people are really stupid and believe all these trite little sentences she trots out, but it’s funny because when William was speaking (down) to the England football team he said George was Rugby mad but Louis loved his football. In other words “let’s use the children to try and look interested”. And as for “oh I will have to work on my upper body strength”, in other words, no thanks my arms already look like ropes and I’m not that interested

      • Sunday says:

        @MaryPester oh that’s interesting, they can’t even keep their lies about which child likes what sport straight. Typical.

  4. Wokr says:

    All of what she is saying is actually fine. The people at the reception sounds and look like they had a great time. It’s the hyping her sycophants do as the greatest of all that is actually annoying.

    • ElleE says:

      @wokr Her UK patronages do appear to be happy to see her she meets expectations for a royal visit. Who doesn’t like a royal photo op?

      Kate is not there to practice diplomacy. Sure she could learn more about the actual humans she is set to meet with, to throw in a “I understand you founded this group”, etc. but if that was important to the job, her handlers would force her to actually do that.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Wokr and ElleE, have either of you heard her speak at her engagements? These quotes may be what she said, but I guarantee that that is not how she said them. You need to check out her last engagement where they posted the audio.

      • SAS says:

        @Saucy&Sassy, hilarious that after the audio of her struggling with small talk makes a stir, RR prints extensive “quotes” from her next visit. So embarrassing.

  5. Andy Dufresne says:

    This has “fake” written all over it.

    Why bother put all this bs out when her actions are really telling.

    Please don’t be upset at me when I say this, but at this point, I’m starting to feel kinda sorry for her. She’s truly pathetic and sad.

  6. Tessa says:

    She doesn’t work much so I think she had an abundance of time for workouts. The league probably misses harry but they get keen instead.

    • Tiny says:

      Will never understand the sympathy for this snake

      • Debbie says:

        @Tiny: I know, right? She gets so much flattery, and that crown she wears is so heavy. I feel so sorry for her! And she never gets a chance to practice her driving techniques as she’s driven everywhere by chauffeurs, the poor sausage. Oh, and she gets all her clothes and shoes for free, my goodness will the oppression of this woman ever stop?

  7. Amy Bee says:

    If I’m not mistaken the wheelchair final was actually in the UK so she had no excuse for not being there and she could have taken Rugby mad Louis to the match. Kate’s such a lightweight she can only talk in sound bites.

    • lucky says:

      Right? If I had unending childcare and funds and could literally count going to sporting events as work I would be at EVERY SINGLE ONE with bells and a smile on. I love watching sports!

    • Jay says:

      Oh, but she really wants to go to a match…someday… surely that’s just as good as actually going, right?

    • WiththeAmericann says:

      she won’t make time for wheelchair rugby but goes to all of these other sporting events. How unlike Diana.

      Her derangers were screaming yesterday about how she’s carrying on Diana legacy and it’s just so obvious that she is the opposite of Diana.

  8. MoBiMom says:

    Wheelchair rugby you say? The sport that Harry mentions in Spare as a sport he watched at the Invictus games?

  9. Chantal says:

    I don’t believe Special K said anything coherent beyond Louis being mad about rugby and jumping on the trampoline with her children before school. And doing it before school makes absolutely no sense. What, there aren’t any slides available at Adelaide? Arrested development indeed.

  10. Chaine says:

    A true patron would actually attend the major important event instead of just showing up afterward to hog the spotlight from the players.

  11. Jais says:

    Well, I hope she follows through and does go to a game. Sounds like she missed an exciting one.

  12. Tessa says:

    G u r n i n g and jazz hands for keen. Charlotte Louis and George would participate in sports as part of going to school.

  13. Tessa says:

    Maybe she’ll jump on the trampoline for an early years seminar.

  14. First comment says:

    We have all eyes and we have remarked several times about her toned arms and legs.. it’s almost impossible to have this kind of toned body with the occasional squeezing exercise she claims. It demands constant and methodical exercise in addition to a specific diet. I guess we should all feel sorry for her for her very busy program and the precious little time she has.

  15. kyliegirl says:

    Maybe it is because the room the reception was in is so big, but it looks like my worst nightmare of having to attending a reception. People standing around awkwardly and no drinks. I know this is not Kate’s fault, but this looks like a budget reception for a team that captured the hearts of rugby fans. During the world cup, rugby fans who had never seen wheelchair rugby were amazed at how brilliant the sport is and the energy surrounding the games was enthralling. This reception captures none of this energy.

    Also, I grew up playing sports and they were very important growing up, but I am a bit disturbed how an early years expert always focuses in on how competitive sports are instead of how sports also teaches you how to be a team member, work together and support others. Guess we know what is valued in their household.

    • WiththeAmericann says:

      You’re right, that was such a telling comment that they’re competitive with one another. Like with their own kids. Wtf. The opposite of the lesson sports are supposed to teach.

    • BeanieBean says:

      And how to win and how to lose, both very important life lessons.

  16. AnneL says:

    My understanding is that a lot of people in England who have country homes, or enough space in their yards, install in-ground trampolines. They don’t get a ton of swimming weather so they opt for that instead of a pool. I mentioned that I would love to have one and my sister, who has a number of English friends, told me this.

    So that might explain the trampoline thing. Maybe they have one in Norfolk?

    Interesting that she said they are competitive with each other. Because that dynamic did such wonders for Will and Harry’s relationship. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with siblings competing a bit. But I just finished reading “Spare” so I took note of that comment.

    • Feeshalori says:

      I live in America and my great-niece just got a trampoline for Christmas. Her parents have a huge yard so l guess that’s a new thing now for exercise and to burn off energy.

      • equality says:

        My niece got her son one because they are supposed to be good for children with sensory disorders.

  17. Lizzie says:

    C’mon, mumbles said none of this. ‘Oh, um, I am, like, and my children, um, love sport’ probably.

  18. Maremotrice says:

    My initial reaction to the first photo was: Oh, is Kate going to style herself as a wine expert now? Might she even write a blog to demonstrate her keenness?

  19. Curmudgeon says:

    That last picture with Keen giving the thumbs up at the guests while they look blankly at her pretty much sums up her “contribution”. I also see they’ve learned from their earlier mistake with this engagement – a few pictures, NO VIDEO. hahaha

    These amazing athletes deserve so much better than this box of wiglets.

    • Unblinkered says:

      She’s just not up to the job, over twelve years on. She needs to take a step back permanently, with an announcement made along the lines of ‘a proportionate sum from the Duchy of Cornwall, formerly allocated for her overheads but no longer needed, will be donated to Early Years funding in her name’.
      I’m serious.

  20. Eurydice says:

    I can’t get past the image of Kate on a trampoline, wiglet flying in the air.

    • Feeshalori says:

      Lol, I was going to put that remark in my comment above and didn’t but you definitely read my mind! That certainly is a vivid image though.

  21. blue says:

    Using a 4 or 5 year old child’s endorsement of a sport when addressing wheelchair athletes is insulting to the adult participants.
    She couldn’t think of anything better? Maybe, “I admire your stamina.” Or perseverance. Or anything but “my kid loves rugby,” which he definitely doesn’t really play. At that age they just run around & yell.

    • WiththeAmericann says:

      I thought telling wheelchair athletes they set a “high” bar was perfect for her. Not trying to police her words but the fact that her team chose that phrase after hours of work putting a sentence together for her is sad.

    • Daffodil says:

      This, of all the types of engagements she does, is the easiest situation to ask questions, listen to the answers, and make it Not All About You for a change! There are very few diplomatic pitfalls in asking athletes about their sport, and plenty of opportunities for connection based on their answers. How did you become interested in rugby? What do you do for cross-training? What other sports do you play? Do you use different wheelchairs for sport and for everyday life, or is it the same chair for both? How long have you all been playing together as a team? What’s your good-luck superstition? I MEAN. It’s beyond insulting.

    • Dee says:

      Also, way too much of what she said. What the athletes said and did should be the focus of the article. Kate should ask questions and listen. Too much to ask, I know.

  22. girl_ninja says:

    She is such a lazy fraud. I get a workout in of cigarettes’ and pacing back and forth in her spare room looking at her Meghan fashion mood board. I can’t get over how awful she is.

  23. Beverley says:

    Haha! Does anyone really believe Kkkhate made those articulate comments? Especially regarding “integrated network and community “? I’ve seen enough clips of her mumbling and stumbling over her words to know she can’t manage to form intelligent or coherent sentences, so I call BS.

    • Becks1 says:

      Ha good point. Remember yesterday we saw a clear difference between what she actually said and what she was quoted as saying.

    • Feeshalori says:

      Yes, they definitely clean up her word salad and publish it in legible format.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Her ‘integrated network & community’ really made no sense in the context in which she was speaking, but I know her folks gave her those words & so she dutifully repeated them–probably with a few ums & likes in there.

  24. rawiya says:

    I hate when she and Willy do this: they’re at a rugby reception, so one of the kids loves rugby; they’re at a fire station, one of the kids wants to be a fireman.

  25. Ceej says:

    It’s always so awkward I feel like I’m actually being forced into sympathy for this woman. She has no interests or hobbies, she has is her regimented control over her physique and even that she’s forced to play off as running about after kids or trampolining (lol no) instead of letting us know the 6 days a week gruelling schedule she keeps to with such precision that it would probably impress Dwayne Johnson.

    And her inability to converse which could have been sorted with a decades worth of media training and hasn’t, which at this point must be down to her husband being irked by whoever suggested it in the first place (his pa?) and stamped his little foot that she couldn’t do it and the end result is… thiiiiis *gestures wildly*

    And instead of getting to compete with the fancy aristos like she wants, she must pretend she’s some gauche soccer mom of the people, all while being so very very busy doing nothing, she’s just exceedingly boring at all events she does.

    I’d rather they sent Pippa to an event I feel like she’d be engaging on topics when it comes to children and sport based on her degrees. I even miss Pippa Tips.

  26. Tessa says:

    George is going to be 10 this year and Charlotte will be 8. How much running after them does Kate need to do? Louis maybe but not the elder two.

    • Lady Digby says:

      How small do you like your talk? Constantly referencing her own kids and not taking any real interest in the people she is there to salute? Interestingly one of the RR behind the scenes on the Flop tour commented that Willy handled most of the social chitchat not Mumbles but concluded they are still a great team?! So are we to understand Kate approaches events like Silent Movies preferring to madly gesticulate and pose or does Big Willy not allow his possession to speak? Body have very awkward body language and facial gestures around PoC and I suspect their small talk is equally strained.

      • Nadia says:

        @Lady Digby- She is literally unable to do “small talk” with anyone.

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        Lady Digby, I agree with Nadia. Fails takes on most of the speaking, because Wails is unable to do small talk or speeches. I wonder how much this irks Fails?

  27. Jillianirish says:

    One of my takeaways from Spare was how physically intense the royal family is. Everything is based on sport and athleticism. Like learn to play an instrument, encourage the arts a bit. Try some spiritual growth for a change.

  28. tamsin says:

    Did Kate watch the championship game so she could talk to the team about it? This whole event seems more about her. They showed an interest in her in asking her questions about herself. And what’s this “no excuse now.” I come away from reading about this as though she can’t even feign interest in team.

  29. AmelieOriginal says:

    Trampolines (the large ones, not the small ones you just bounce up and down for some exercise) are a death trap and I hard core judge any family that has them installed in their yards! But I don’t really have any issues with what she’s saying otherwise. I think she could have made an appearance at the match in November since they made it to the final, it wasn’t during the mourning period for the Queen and I’m sure the team would have greatly appreciated it.

    • B says:

      I don’t know any families where the kids wake up early enough to get ready for school, eat breakfast, and on outback to play.
      Even if she has help to make the breakfast and get everyone dressed, do you know any grown women who are trading sleep for an early morning trampoline session?
      My coffee would spill…

      • BeanieBean says:

        That made zero sense to me as well & commented as such below. I don’t recall ever having extra time to just play before heading out to school, even when we lived right next door!

    • Becks1 says:

      My husband is a PI attorney and his mother is an insurance agent.

      The boys and I are dying for a trampoline and he has made it patently clear we are never ever getting one LOL.

      • Nic919 says:

        When I was a kid my friends had a trampoline and it was awesome. But I have handled a few cases of injuries from home trampolines and paralysis is very comment as an injury so I completely understand why your husband thinks this way.

      • Xtina says:

        My father was an ER trauma surgeon, so I was NEVER allowed on a trampoline. He told us he saw a lot of broken necks.

  30. Mrs.Krabapple says:

    “it’s kind of weird that Louis was left at home when Kate and William took George to a rugby game last year” — William is rarely seen spending time with a single child who is not George.

  31. Brincalhona says:

    Thanks for coming to a wheelchair rugby event and only talking to people in your eye line about how you go on a trampoline.

  32. j.ferber says:

    MoBiMo, I notice someone took the extra bitchiness to even dress Louis in burgundy shorts (I saw them when he was running to keep up with his family). To me, that extra detail of a 4 year old’s burgundy shorts shows an insane depth of hatred of Meghan that floors me.

  33. Jaded says:

    You know she has a fully equipped gym in every home, and personal trainers galore. What a crock of sh*t.

  34. QuiteContrary says:

    “It’s this integrated network and community within the team, that’s what breeds the success…”

    It may be cleaned-up language, but what the hell does that even mean??? It’s just blather.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Exactly! Those words were concocted by her staff to make her sound intelligent, but they actually bear no meaning in this context.

    • Tiny says:

      One of them should have asked WTF was she talking about
      Sophia would’ve 😀😃

  35. BeanieBean says:

    They have time to jump around on the trampoline before school? What time does school start in England, 10AM, noon?
    Also, this is a wheelchair rugby event & all the champagne tables are at the typical standing bar height? Really?

  36. Linney says:

    Obviously, Kate should have gotten the “small talk” down by now. Obviously she should be more involved with her charities than an occasional hour here and there. Bottom line, she couldn’t care less and has the intellectual curiosity of a flea. So please, DM and others, stop pushing this woman as the ultimate, powerhouse, world-changing royal!