One of the minor gossip throughlines of the Princess of Wales is that she watches a lot of TV. She loved Downton Abbey, she loved Suits, she loves reality shows and dance competitions. Here in America, most people wouldn’t admit to enjoying Dancing with the Stars, but I think in the UK, Strictly Come Dancing has perhaps a less cheeseball vibe. Well, just in time for a little PR, it turns out that Kate took her children to the Strictly Come Dancing set and the kids got to spend some time with the contestants and judges. From The Sun:
The Princess of Wales watched Strictly stars rehearse yesterday on a secret studio visit — before her children got the chance to be judges. Kate took her two youngest, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, along with her. They were allowed to sit in the judges’ chairs and deliver verdicts with scoring paddles for dancers Katya Jones and Neil Jones.
Kate, 41, and the youngsters were then introduced to presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, and got to meet pros including Dianne Buswell and Nadiya Bychkova.
During their two-hour visit, they were shown the costume department, where Louis tried on a small gold crown, and stood on the balcony where the contestants gather above the dance floor at BBC’s Elstree studios.
A source said: “Kate and Charlotte are huge fans of Strictly so they were delighted to be invited. Kate took pictures of the children in the judges’ seats. She seemed really relaxed and was all smiles. She was polite, sweet and charming with everyone and made sure Louis didn’t get over-excited. There was a strict security lockdown on set and staff were told not to take any photos. The children were especially excited and got dressed up. They were thrilled to be on set and to meet their favourite celebrities.”
I would assume the “no photos” thing is mostly about the kids – when Kate visited the Downton Abbey set, there were photographers there and it was no big deal. It also feels like this was less about SCD inviting them and more like the palace requesting an invitation. “She was polite, sweet and charming with everyone and made sure Louis didn’t get over-excited.” That is also why the press wasn’t around – no one knows what Louis will do next. Anyway, just a reminder that Will and Kate will do anything to hang out with celebrities (no matter how minor).
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- HM King Charles III Birthday Parade with trh Royal Carriage containing HM Queen Camilla, HM Princess of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte during the King’s Birthday Parade, Trooping the Colour at Horse Guards Parade, London, Kent, UK on June 17 2023.,Image: 783923462, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Lee Floyd / Avalon
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- FAIRFORD, ENGLAND – JULY 14: Prince Louis of Wales sits inside a vehicle on a C17 plane with Catherine, Princess of Wales during a visit to the Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford on July 14, 2023 in Fairford, England. The Prince and Princess of Wales have a strong relationship with the RAF, with the Prince having served with the Search and Rescue Force for over three years, based at RAF Valley in Anglesey. The Prince is Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Coningsby and The Princess is Honorary Air Commodore of the Air Cadets.,Image: 789121267, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales with Prince George and Princess Charlotte arrive on day fourteen of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only. No commercial use without prior written consent of the AELTC. Still image use only – no moving images to emulate broadcast. No superimposing or removal of sponsor/ad logos.,Image: 789477005, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Editorial use only. No commercial use without prior written consent of the AELTC. Still image use only – no moving images to emulate broadcast. No superimposing or removal of sponsor/ad logos., *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Victoria Jones / Avalon
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- Princess Charlotte and Prince George during the mens’ finals on Day 14 at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club, London, UK, 16 July 2023,Image: 789502286, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights, Model Release: no, Credit line: Peter van den Berg / Avalon
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- Tennis : Wimbledon 2023 – Angleterre – Finale simple Messieurs- Victoire de Carlos Alcaraz Espagne contre Novak Djokovic Serbie – Kate Princess of Wales – Royal Box – avec sa fille la Princesse Charlotte,Image: 789705610, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic / Panoramic / Avalon
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- The Princess of Wales, known as the Duchess of Rothesay when in Scotland, meets farmers at Brodieshill Farm, Moray, Scotland, to learn about efforts being made to better support the mental health and wellbeing of young people, in Moray, Scotland.,Image: 819149516, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow / Avalon
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- Sandringham, UNITED KINGDOM – Members of the Royal family attend the Christmas day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, UK. Pictured: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince Louis BACKGRID USA 25 DECEMBER 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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- Traveling along The Mall in a carriage at Trooping The Colour. Featuring: Prince Louis, Prince George Where: London, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- On the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, to view the flypast following the Trooping the Colour ceremony in central London, as King Charles III celebrates his first official birthday since becoming sovereign. Featuring: Prince George, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte Where: London, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles III leads members of The Royal Family on his first Trooping the Colour, the monarch’s official birthday parade Featuring: Prince William of Wales Catherine Princess of Wales with Prince George, Princess Charlotte Prince Louis Where: London, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2023 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- The Princess of Wales with Prince Louis during a visit to the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales with Prince Louis Where: Fairford, United Kingdom When: 14 Jul 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales with Princess Charlotte during a visit to the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales with Princess Charlotte Where: Fairford, United Kingdom When: 14 Jul 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
They were there for 2 hours?! That’s about 3xs longer than she spends at any of her charity events.
Up until this, I swear I remember reading that the only time she stayed longer at an engagement was when she visited the set of Downton.
yes, I think Downton is the one where she stayed for hours. The only one.
That was one of her many incredibly stupid moves. Sophie had just been there a few days before, touring a foreign dignitary’s wife who was a big fan. Keen demanded her own private visit right after. iirc it was the final year of filming and Keen just *had* to have a chance to pose with the actors.
I was just about to bring that up! She overstayed and disrupted shooting, but heaven forbid she stays longer than 45 mins anywhere else, incl when HuffPost moved their whole bloody office to KP for her, so she could “guest edit” the paper, she fcked off after 50 mins and went shopping!!!!!! And she was late to arrive, stayed 50 mins and left to hit the shops!!!
I know right?
Interesting to see how she is so ‘active’ all of a sudden.
Wonder if the articles about her not going to do more for a long time and the revelations have anything to do with it….
I would suspect the overwhelming rumors of the divorce is what has her out more. She’s trying to make herself indespensable. It’s not going to work.
@ Robert Phillips Maybe she is trying to be the fun parent or prove that she is more involved with the children than Will. Would be interesting if he is seen taking them somewhere now without her.
Oops! Crisis Time! Quick, bring the kids out!🙄
Nice to see her so active all of a sudden /s
Are they going to write an article about why she is smiling like they did about Meghan?
Using the kids to deflect from her being outed as a racist I see. Kate is so predictable
Let me guess, this little outing/field trip will count as an engagement for her, even though there are no pictures and nothing of value happened besides Charlotte and Louis getting to play judge for a while.
I think she would really need the numbers 😀
The media seem keen to portray poor Louis as a troublemaker. There was no need to mention that everyone was trying to make sure Louis didn’t get over-excited. If he does have “issues” then it’s a private matter that doesn’t need outed in the press.
It was interesting though to read that Kate spent 2 hours on the visit which is considerably more than she spends on official engagements. I wonder if this will be counted as work in her yearly total?
Right. Poor Louis is being set up in the “spare” mold.
Interesting! Strictly is Camilla’s favourite programme and she has done several events with the hosts and judges. Tess and Claudia were also photographed at the infamous lunch which preceded the Clarkson article. At one time there were even rumours that they would host a programme from Buckingham Palace. I don’t doubt that Kate and the children (especially Charlotte) would watch the show but, this does seem like she’s treading into Camilla territory.
I mean, anything to distract the public from what’s really going on. KP also briefed the press last week that Kate was going to be on some BBC nature show where she’ll be shown visiting the National Aquarium. The visit was done last year.
Sure sure. I bet she told them all about how all three of her kids love dancing and costumes and….. you get the picture. It’s amazing how much time she can spend when it’s for herself and not for others.
This does nothing to dispel the image of them as an incredibly privileged wealthy family. Why don’t they take the children to a shelter to help prepare and serve food to people in need? Why don’t they take them to join in an environmental cleanup day picking up trash? Show them packing and donating their outgrown clothes and toys for a baby bank? Any number of meaningful activities they can get even young children involved in and then publicize, and instead it’s let’s go to a tv show set and play pretend and meet the celebrities.
This is 100 percent why Waity Katie played the long game. She wanted to wear pretty princess dresses and tiaras, and meet tv stars!
Too bad she can’t summon even common courtesy for the TV star who’s her sister in law. Maybe Willie isn’t a fan of Strictly Come Dancing, so Keen doesn’t feel envy or competition like she did with Meghan.
Whoops, just saw that I logged in as lamejude-normally I’m lamejudi!
“Why don’t they take the children to a shelter to help prepare and serve food to people in need? Why don’t they take them to join in an environmental cleanup day picking up trash”
The Wails & their 3 kids have already done this year’s “quota”. Remember they visited the (not really lack of money) Boy Scouts around con-a-nation time? 🙄
Kaiser, it may depend on the event. When she dragged Charlotte to Nutcracker rehearsals a few years ago? Behind the scenes photos were leaked, she got tons of PR, and the Palace didn’t protest the ‘stolen’ pics all over SM.
“She seemed really relaxed and was all smiles. She was polite, sweet and charming with everyone and made sure Louis didn’t get over-excited.” I had to re-read this. It’s an oddly patronizing way to describe a grown woman. At first I thought they might have been speaking of Charlotte who seems capable of being boss of both her brothers and is mature beyond her years. In fact she has been observed keeping Louis in line. Interesting that George didn’t go. Louis finally gets an outing instead of being left at home when George and Charlotte go out. It appears to be that the Windsor women all love the show. I think Sophie took Louise to a taping for her birthday. At any rate, good publicity all around. I wouldn’t be surprised if those pictures Kate took show up somewhere. Kate seems fascinated by the world of television and film, doesn’t she?
Daily Fail have been called out on social forum for 2 fake online stories trashing a SCD contestant. They manufactured a story that he had a standup row with his wife at the Blackpool show after stomping off following criticism from the Judges. A member of the Blackpool audience seated next to Nigel Harman’s wife and daughter corrected their lies. Nigel came over for reassurance as he was worried about being in the dance off. There was neither row nor stomping must more twisted made up drama from the Fail to try and ruin the reputation of a talented actor.
Spending two hours at a tv set is pretty offensive when she never attends work engagements for that long, outside tennis matches of course.
We all remember Diana surprising everyone by dancing with Wayne Sleep? Do you suppose KM has arranged a video of her doing the Argentine Tango with a gorgeous SCD professional, to be screened at this year’s Carol service? Wouldn’t Willy be stirred into a festive glance if he saw his own wife prancing around in the arms of another man?
Doesn’t do any good. Her image still is taking a hit. #RacistKate is still trending. It’s even more brutal with the Tik Tok generation.
WOWSA BP/KP are now bringing the D teams off the bench:)
Claudia Winkleman is the sister of Sophie WINKLEMAN WINDSOR, married to Lord Freddy Winsor whose mama is Princess Michael of Kent (Marie Christine von Reibnitz)
Scobie’s book is hitting HARD:))) Thank you, Omid