The Princess of Wales has made “baby banks” into one of her causes in recent years. I don’t hate it, and I’ve always said that she should do more (tangible) work with baby banks, from volunteering consistently or hosting fundraisers or donation drives. She really hasn’t done any of that. Instead, every few months, Kate will stop by a baby bank empty-handed and she’ll do a photo op and that’s it. But someone clearly passed my advice along to Kate, and she filmed a little video/commercial where she and her three kids arrive at a baby bank with a trunk full of donations, which they drop off. Then Charlotte, Louis and George got to pick out stuff to make gift bags for needy kids. To their credit, the kids seemed really into it, Charlotte especially.
Louis picking up the King Kong toy and saying “this is a big guy” – very cute, and some needy kid is now getting a King Kong toy. Rebecca English at the Mail dutifully wrote up an exclusive, basically saying that Kate always promised to bring her kids to a baby bank and she finally did it. This was filmed last month. I’m glad Kate dropped off some donations (in the dead of night) and brought cameras to document it, I guess. Still, I have to wonder if no one told Kate that she could actually take the initiative to actually lead a donation drive or host a fundraiser for the network of baby banks? Jeez.
Sidenote: Kate drops her plummy fake-posh accent in the video, did anyone else notice that? I’ve always wondered if she tries to do that posh accent at home and I think this is our answer. When she’s around her kids, that’s her real voice.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images .
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- Wembley, London, UK. 8th June 2022. HRH The Duchess of Cambridge arriving at Little Village’s hub in Brent. The Duchess if visiting to hear how the baby bank is supporting local families by ensuring that they have access to essential items for their young children.,Image: 698028752, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Supplied by AVALON – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photo by Amanda Rose / Avalon
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- Wembley, London, UK. 8th June 2022. HRH The Duchess of Cambridge arriving at Little Village’s hub in Brent. The Duchess if visiting to hear how the baby bank is supporting local families by ensuring that they have access to essential items for their young children.,Image: 698028791, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Supplied by AVALON – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photo by Amanda Rose / Avalon
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visiting Little Village Brent, to hear how the baby bank is supporting local families by ensuring that they have access to essential items for their young children.,Image: 698075352, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Paul Grover / Avalon
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- Catherine, Princess of Wales, visits The Baby Bank in Windsor on 24 April 2023.,Image: 771568362, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Editorial Use Only, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jeremy Selwyn / Avalon
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- Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince George of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend The “Together At Christmas” Carol Service at Westminster Abbey on December 08, 2023 in London, England. Spearheaded by The Princess of Wales, and supported by The Royal Foundation, the service is a moment to bring people together at Christmas time and recognise those who have gone above and beyond to help others throughout the year.,Image: 827907316, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince George of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte of Wales attend The “Together At Christmas” Carol Service at Westminster Abbey on December 08, 2023 in London, England. Spearheaded by The Princess of Wales, and supported by The Royal Foundation, the service is a moment to bring people together at Christmas time and recognise those who have gone above and beyond to help others throughout the year.,Image: 827907503, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- Copyright in the photograph is vested in The Prince and Princess of Wales. Publications are asked to credit the photograph to Josh Shinner. The photograph shall be solely used for news editorial purposes only. It shall not be approved for souvenirs, or memorabilia; or anything colourably similar. There shall be no commercial use whatsoever of the photograph (including by way of example only) any use in merchandising, advertising or any other non news editorial use. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published. The photograph shall not be used after 31st December 2024 without prior permission from Kensington Palace. Any questions relating to the use of the photograph should be first referred to Kensington Palace and before publication. Undated handout photo issued by Kensington Palace of the Prince and Princess of Wales with their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The photograph, which features on their Royal Highnesses’ Christmas card this year, was taken by the photographer Josh Shinner earlier this year and shows The Prince and Princess with their three children in Windsor. NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.,Image: 828291451, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Josh Shinner/Kensington Palace / Avalon
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- Catherine, Princess of Wales visits The Baby Bank in Windsor to hear about the crucial work the organisation carries out to support families in need from Windsor, Maidenhead, Slough, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and the surrounding areas. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 24 Apr 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Royal Carols – Together At Christmas service at Westminster Abbey. Featuring: Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 Dec 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
This is actually really nice, and I’m not mad at this. But it’s also not that hard, Kate. Just stop with the pure photo ops and take some time to actually bring some donations and work a little. The kids definitely need to learn this so they don’t turn out to be selfish, spoiled twats like their dad. It’s just not that hard. I want to hear about (or not hear about like the Sussexes, who do it often on the DL) much more of this given how much they fought to be the top dogs of this generation in the BRF and as a British (dual) citizen I’m paying for their lifestyle. Not holding my breath, though.
TQ – unfortunately – with their parents – I don’t think a few outings here and there to “volunteer” will make a difference in helping those kids grow up to be caring or unselfish. When the volunteering is performative (like it is for their parents), your parents have the lowest “working” rate in the family, and your grandmother went into debt and pimped out your mother to catch a prince, it’ll be an uphill battle toward normal and unspoiled.
They won’t have any BIPOC friends (and, through their parents, will learn that Black and brown people are just for photo ops) or non-posh friends – just like their parents. And someday will realize that their parents are horrible racists who bullied their aunt and cousins out of the country while their father plots further ways to harm them when he becomes king. Sadly, I don’t think those kids have much of a chance at being anything other than copies of their parents.
Couldn’t agree more. This is nothing more than a performative, “look at me” activity. I’ll pay attention when we get snippets of her taking them to do things without a camera and a news release.
(For the people in the back) It’s STAGED… again. I’m curious about how many takes it took.
But of course it is staged. 100 %. What else?
Eggs-actly.
Kate’s ‘real voice’ is a knee jerk reaction to Scobie saying she had elocution and half the country laughing at her strangled vowels whilst she tried to sound posher than the King.
This is another staged ‘thing we do in our poverty PR’ rota. I hate she brought the children into it as they too now become part of the problem not part of a solution- they will think this is good or normal
Of course it’s staged, totally performative, and using the kids to distract from the shit show of their workshy ways. That’s all a given. But doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing for kids to get exposure to helping out others. I agree with others that the kids looked like they were actually into it! Am rooting for the kids to not be assholes, but as others have said that is likely inevitable given who their parents are.
I thought this was lovely. Kate’s obvious love for children comes through so naturally here. she should do much more of this – plus the kids seem to have enjoyed it. I can find zero fault with this.
Love for children. Her own you mean?
This may sound cold, but a lot of people only do charity for how it makes them look. If Kate did this more frequently, she would get much more of a pass.
Nothing staged here. They casually turned up at night time with no security. K stating how rewarding the work is, actually means it creates more photo ops for her. Has she actually helped or been charitable to anyone other than to her grifter family. Royals in the UK and Europe seem to enjoy helping others and try to make others feel relaxed around them, Kate appears to be rigid, distant and far too superior. K desperately needs to take some serious lessons from Princess Anne, Sophie, Beatrice, Eugenie, Duchess of Gloucester and Queen Camilla. After 20 years plus, perhaps she is incapable because she does not have the intelligence of any of the others or maybe she just doesnt care.
Wills/Kate clan get approximately 127K an hour – as such, based on their annual income from the public purse vs how many hours ‘work’ /appearances’ they do.
I wonder how much out of that money ( that tax payers give them) they donate for the poor and needy in their Borough – Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead?
Did these clothes they brought with them in a few bags get bought from their budget or were they collected from other peasants donations?
Nothing wrong with her real voice. I wonder if that article about the seniors beating W&K on “work” numbers made an impression.
No, I can still detect signs of the failed elocution lessons she had.
I agree. She was still pushing some of her vowel sounds strangely. Like someone who learnt to speak English by watching Margo from “The Good Life”.
As a person that spends a lot of their working life with ‘those types’ her accent sounds quite natural and unforced here. She just sounds like a regular well spoken southerner. Not queens English but standard pronunciation.
*received pronunciation.
Listen again, she is making a special effort to say her Ts at the end of words. It is all very unnatural. Unfortunately I feel she is so mixed up now that she has lost the ability to speak as she did before the lessons.
I get what you are saying, sometimes when a camera is ‘on you’ one may feel a bit more performative. I work with these types everyday and went to school/university with them. Her accent isn’t deviating too much from her original way of speaking in this video. This is the most relaxed and natural I’ve seen her.
Received Pronunciation (RP) is “The Queen’s/King’s English”. They are synonyms.
@VIK. No they are not synonyms. I am English, have a degree in English Lit and have taught English as a foreign language abroad too. The Queens English (albeit an outdated term) is spoken by a very select few. She speaks like a lot of middle class southerners from wealthy backgrounds do (Received Pronunciation). She is just being careful with her enunciation but still not deviating too far from her original pronunciation. This is just how she talks.
My degree is also in English Lit.
“The Queen’s English is also often called BBC English. It is the standard English which most non-native English speakers associate with people from the UK. It includes Received Pronunciation – the “posh” accent that the Queen uses – as well as grammatically correct utterances free of slang. You will never hear the queen say, ‘I’m off down the pub for a cheeky pint.’ More’s the pity for her.”
“The Cambridge-published English Pronouncing Dictionary (aimed at those learning English as a foreign language) uses the phrase “BBC Pronunciation”, on the basis that the name “Received Pronunciation” is “archaic” and that BBC News presenters no longer suggest high social class and privilege to their listeners. Other writers have also used the name “BBC Pronunciation”. The terms ‘The Queen’s English’ or ‘The King’s English’ have also been used by some writers, though the terms are more appropriately used to cover grammar as well as pronunciation.”
Subtitles please and a large dose of laxatives for her. Her self taught accent is not upper class, it is a mumbler practising the english language, badly.
I just love how many of us here have English literature degrees 😂😂😂
I feel like royal watching is decoding text for the real story, as well as being like a detective hunt. Who is saying it…what are they really trying to say and what is this lie trying to convey….
When it comes to this family, the truth is stranger than fiction!
Estuary English is what the posh types are using, especially Gen x and younger. William and Harry use that one more than RP.
Another English lit grad.
Kate is all over the place in her accent which is why she sounds so weird. It’s not really RP because the BBC anchors aren’t mumble mouth. And the Queen herself changed her accent. She and Charles had / have a similar accent and it’s RP mostly.
I really don’t hear it. It still sounded very posh and controlled to me, still speaking slowly and deliberately. I recall one early video of Pippa where she sounded like a cast member from TOWIE. I’m sure age and education refines anyone’s accent but Kate never sounds at ease to me.
When she does her posh accent, I can hardly understand what she is saying (and I used to teach English to English learners from other countries). Here she is at least mostly clear to me but I agree, she just stress sounds in some odd spots.
Me either. I notice that too. She’s always nervous is why.
I heard the accent on “time.” Ty-yime.
Hers is most definitely not a posh accent. And it never will be.
To those of you who listened to Endgame on audiobook, what accent does Omid Scobie have? He did a fantastic job, but I have no idea what part of England it came from. I can’t nail down where a British accent is from, unless it is Northern England, thank you very much, Christopher Eccleston!
Replying to Christine re Omid Scobie’s accent – it’s unaccented English, no regional inflections, and would be considered well-spoken without actually being ‘posh’ (the latter frequently defined as an upper-class drawl).
Hope that helps.
K speaks commoner posh. Wannabes believe that if they speak like that they will be aristocatic. Her speech is mangled and unintelligible. . Listening to her is boring and time wasting trying to understand her sham “upper class” pronounciatons. If she was intelligent she would have learned to speak fluently and coherently.
Something useful well well well. Do way more of this. It’s a small start after how long?
It took Meghan for this lazy woman to see what it means to work.
Ehhh, so many missed opportunities…
As for the fake accent, she can Foxtrot Oscar over there and sit with Hilaria Baldwin.
I think there’s a whole bunch of us yelling “FINALLY!” She’s still a racist POS, but at least this is helpful.
KFC and W earn upwards of £20m tax free from their respective duchies while 4.2m British children live in poverty. This PR outing is meant to elevate the public standing of the
Windsors but in fact just serves to entrench the wealth imbalance of the British class system. KFC and W being the beneficiaries of their duchies just impoverishes the public. It sickens me to see people so easily taken in by these types of PR exercises.
SURE, I don’t think anyone is taken in by the PR. We all recognize that this would not have happened if not for the PR. As someone said above, let’s see if she does more of this without the PR. I’m not holding my breath.
Exactly. I have no time for any of their performance charity work for PR purposes. The Windsors suck up public money and underscore the rigidity of the class system, and these kinds of stunts just rub this in. I’m afraid that despite their best efforts, by their very existence they are part of the problem.
And I am not keen on the way they push their children into the public eye to make themselves look good.
If, as we are led to believe , the Royals/HRH keep up to speed with what goes on with their ‘citizens’ in the ”kingdom ” they reign over – are they not slightly confused as to why the country is skint?? Even their ”ROYAL” Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is near bankruptcy, over a decade of austerity and services at breaking point.
Where is ALL THE MONEY that these Royals supposedly bring in? Is the suggestion that without the monarchy we would be even more skint? Becoming like the poorest countries in the world? such as the bottom poorest such as Somalia, South Sudan etc?
Its time the grown ups grew up and stopped wanting a Royal soap opera in castles and palaces over the importance of a nations children and citizens not starving nor suffering the cruelest cut backs since the war.
Is the UK proud to say loud and proudly that they fund The most expensive monarchy in Europe but also has have one of the highest levels of income inequality compared to other developed countries in the world.
The King via his Duchy of Lancaster estate private wealth, up to now had been taking yet more money into his personal wealth via ‘bona vacantia’ taking the money from people that hadn’t left a will.
Instead of donating all this money to poor children and the homeless the Royals claim to want to help, they were banking it into their estate via repairs and adaptations of their private properties!
The people of the United ‘Kingdom’ really need to recognise what a farce it all is and admit to themselves their real priorities. Brits would rather fund pomp and ceremony, sparkly hats and carriages then help build social homes for veterans, fund social services to rescue neglected children or abused elderly. etc etc etc.
SURE gosh! You said exactly what I wonder. I can’t believe either his people are fooled by these thieves.
I always say that all the pomp and pageantry is a veil over the public’s eyes while they rob us!
This reeks of poverty tourism to me – and it reminds me how William said his kids would get to enjoy their childhood or some such.
Performative damage control.
Poor kids though, not forgetting the millions of kids that truly suffer from the cuts that the Tories made and are irrevocably damaged, e.g. (mental) health-wise.
Absolutely this! The footage of the car arriving with generic soft music? It’s good that the kids are starting to get involved with this and hopefully they’ll be inspired to do more, but this did feel performative.
I’m also choking on the statistic that 25% of British families live in poverty (which really made this gesture feel minor). I get why that’s the case in the US where we force births and then deny healthcare, lack day care options, and have nothing equivalent to baby banks or council housing, but why is this such a problem in a country with actual social programs?
Government spending is at an all time low and Tories don’t give a fuck how much it hurts the poorest in our society but ‘stop the boats!’
@bettyrose wouldn’t the American equivalent of council housing be the projects?
@Steph – I don’t think so. Housing projects in the US have always been designed to isolate populations. They’re also run by local governments with the aid of federal funding, and is thus highly subject to the incompetence and nefarious intents of local governments. Admittedly my knowledge of council housing comes from Britbox but my sense is that it’s a more common way of living than in the US and is run by a more structured government agency.
Thank you for the explanation! I live in the projects. The incompetence is astounding!
The US has Section VIII housing vouchers that provide rental subsidies to low income families. Baby Banks are called Diaper Banks in the US and there are hundreds of them.
Oh dear, that slug of the left eyebrow is really trying to escape into her hairline. How much more can they tighten the skin there? The poor thing must be in constant pain.
Good for Kate for actually bringing the kids – they all looked like they really enjoyed helping – and for making a video to publicize the needs of these organizations. Of course, she could do a lot more, but I’m just glad she’s finally moved beyond “learning.”
This is a photo op using the kids as a human shield because mummy is a racist.
Maybe do less of these stunts and instead, do something so UK families don’t have to rely on baby banks. Buy a few less taxpayer funded outfits and jewels.
Oh, she learned alright. She learned to drop a video of the kids that corresponds to the annual list of royal engagements coming out.
It was part helping, part photoshoot based on the boys’ clothing–they were not wearing afterschool clothes. Charlotte looked the most comfortably dressed but at one point Louis must have been hot or itchy and took his sweater off. George looked morose; who knows how much instruction was going on to stand here or there or wait for the camera. Kate should absolutely take her children out to help; but right now trotting out the kids feels very desperate. I will always question her authenticity when the visit is filmed, scored and turned into a PR vehicle. It smacks of using her cute kids to deflect from her racism and concerns about an unborn baby’s skin color.
Children at Lambrook wear uniforms. The children were wearing denim in the video. Heating in the UK is wildly variable depending on the location and the day, it is not surprising that the boys were in jumpers.
While I think we can all agree that this was a photo op/pr stunt for Kate, the kids genuinely look like they enjoyed doing this. Let’s hope it lights a spark in them.
Steph, if it does light a spark, which adult will be taking them to where they want to volunteer? Why do I think the answer is: None.
But it’s just a total PR op, right? Other than one staff member, there isn’t anyone else in the video (at least the bit of it I watched last night). It seems like the “volunteering” was done after hours (it’s dark outside the window) when the place was closed.
So, yes, it’s great the kids are doing this but it seems like the sole purpose of it was to be able to make this video. No one really cared about the all-white carol service so time to drag out the children again…this time doing something more helpful than letters to the poors? I guess that’s no different than Pegs and Kkkeen’s usual “work,” but how much nicer would it have been if there were other kids and adult volunteers so it was clear this is a regular occurrence instead of yet another PR video.
Of course it was done after hours. The kids can’t mingle with the peasants!!!
That was my initial thought as well, but after watching the video I really think that the kids would have been more comfortable with less people and press around? They seemed to actually enjoy being there and really got into it.
They put the children in actual parades and went to a crowded carol service with them, but mingling with few more volunteers at a charity would be over the top?
Yeah I noticed that too, and I feel like they probably have a bunch of these types of videos saved to deploy as needed. That being said their kids are way more natural and engaging than either Will or Kate so maybe they should do the talking and interacting going forward. Also her ” lower class” voice sounds fine and not like she’s gargling marbles so it’s wild to see how insecurity and classism makes you change things needlessly.
In the UK it gets dark at 4pm in the winter.
Ditto Canada.
The only major Canadian population centre north of London/Berkshire is Edmonton. We in the UK are a lot further north than you think.
The lack of other staffers adds to the fake nature of this video. If they are trying to act like the kids are going to volunteer with the peasants, they need to make sure more of them are there.
I get your point about the other staffers!
I am often puzzled at how the Royal PR system always manages to find hard working people on low wages, some who wont ever own their own home and pay extortionate rents etc , nurses/porters/ staff in hospitals for example – or ‘no wages’ as volunteers get no pay – that seem to be ‘happy’ to pose with Billionaires whose shoes cost more than their weeks wages or mortgage/rent.
Did Kate drive herself and the kids to the Baby Bank in Holyport? Its only 6 miles from where she lives within 15,800 acres of the country estate of Windsor. Or did a Chauffeur drive Kate there? Just that alone oozes hypocrisy!
With regards to the darkness, it’s dark in the UK about 4pm at the moment so this could easily have been just after school or early evening. This is the type of thing that Kate should be doing much more, with or without the children.
However, the timing of it is suspicious. I think KP were getting it out before the Archwell video came out today.
There were other volunteers, adults & some that looked high school/college age. But yeah, it looks like after hours & everybody had to hang around for Kate & kids. I am perplexed by the kids’ reaction when Kate opened the back of the car–they seemed surprised at all they saw in there. Maybe it’s the editing, but Louis & Charlotte seemed much more comfortable at pitching in, George seemed a bit restrained.
I’m sure it had been drilled into his head from birth to not do anything wrong. Don’t burp, don’t fidget, don’t laugh, etc. Until he feels he can barely move without getting reprimanded. That’s why he always looks sad.
I can explain UK ‘Council Housing’ having spent part of my childhood in a council house. This type of housing developed from a 1919 law which placed an obligation on local authorities to consider the local need for social housing and to submit plans to the government. After WWII there was a national drive to build new rental housing. More than 50% of the population were living in rented housing and much of it was slum standard, including some of the earliest social housing. The new housing estates were a huge improvement.
The rot set in with the ‘Right to Buy’ legislation of the 1980s. Councils were forced to sell houses to eligible tenants, at a discount, which reduced the stock of council housing. In theory it would have led to home ownership becoming the norm. In practice rapid inflation in house prices has put home ownership out of the reach of many young families and the reduction in available council houses means private rentals are the only option. Unlike the postwar era there is no rent control legislation and little oversight of private landlords. So there is chronic insecurity added to high costs for many families.
Councils were not able to use the revenue from the sale of council houses to build more social housing. I’m not sure why.
Huh, I absolutely don’t hate this and hope they do a lot more. This is the type of activity that really benefits those kids instead of Trooping the Colour and sitting at Wimbledon in a suit!
The problem is that it is too staged, and Kate is focusing too much on her children to ensure that the video looks good. This is not about the baby bank it is about ‘them’.
Charlotte is an absolute doll! What a sweetie, she was so in to it! I could actually understand Kate and she sounded so much better. She still sounded posh to me, not sure why she doesn’t just speak using her normal voice all the time. It’s sad that she doesn’t, suggests such discomfort in her own skin.
She toned it down a bit but signs of the failed elocutions were still there. Like making sure she pronounces T clearly at the end of words.
I thought Charlotte’s genuine delight at a small baby’s romper was sweet
To fair Kate did get companies to donate items to baby banks in 2020 or 2021. It was the engagement where she went to the baby bank and posed for photos lifting an empty box wearing a white shirt dress and stilettos. Those were the days. The first time I heard of a baby bank, and perhaps Kate did to, was when Meghan and Harry highlighted Little Village and encouraged people to donate to the baby bank instead of sending toys for Archie before he was born. They had said at the time that they had donated some items to the baby bank in the past. I’ll give Kate credit for listening to the complaints that she was going to these place empty-handed but I think the timing of the release of this video shows that KP is very reactionary. She and her family just got bashed over the weekend for sending only cards to struggling children at her concert. Lo and behold, she has a video in the vault that she can release to show that no actually she and her children have donated stuff and even volunteered. I suspect KP was planning to release this closer to Christmas rather than yesterday.
Guess William was busy that night. It will become harder to explain his absences, especially when his entire family was able to schlep to a baby bank one evening and he “was just sitting around at home’.
In terms of the video, I don’t hate it. It’s actually nice seeing her do something meaningful for once. I do hope she keeps it up.
Someone at KP is definitely reading this site, because I feel like this has been recommended dozens of times before.
Supporting baby banks is a good thing. Taking the kids to help at one is a good thing (weird because it was at night, appears to have been a secret visit, but still a good thing I guess). You know what would be better? Sharing the Amazon wishlist of the baby bank so your supporters could send them what they need. Post a list of the most wished for items so people know what to bring to THEIR local baby banks. etc.
also, obvious PR is obvious. They sat on this video until Kate got criticized for her end of year numbers – how can you say she’s lazy, she’s RAISING THE FUTURE KING and made one secret visit to a baby bank?!?!?
Baby bank visits shouldn’t really be secret. That said, we didn’t need an over produced video of the kids just to confirm that kate showed up more than once.
Whoever on this site is recommending this nonsense, this PR stunt, has got to stop. This woman is married into a family that gets over 300 million pounds a year from the British tax payers; her husband also, in addition, inherited, tax free, an estate valued at over a billion pounds. Her father- in-law inherited, also tax free, a 25-billion-pound estate. That island is truly asleep, if they accept Kate’s photo op as a fair exchange, while kids are going to bed hungry, and old ladies are going to sleep without heat. The galighting is truly thick with this one.
Yeah, finally, her team took this site’s advice and ideas!!! It’s what she should be doing all along, even without cameras.. the truth always comes out! Anyway, are we sure they did that last month? Yesterday, when it was released, I thought it was a damage control video after the dragging for the Christmas letters and their photo..
It gets dark at 4:00 this time of year. The children are in school.
Do they not have weekends in the UK?
Yeah but that doesn’t explain the absence of people and volunteers…what time do the baby banks close?
The Facebook page indicates that they are open from 9:30-12 on MWF. Most UK charities are not open at weekends.
Agree with Innie on this one. It’s really dark by 4 pm in England this time of year. The fact it’s dark doesn’t mean this was done at night – my guess is it was after school.
I don’t love Kate for a myriad of reasons but we should be fair. She’s trying and the fact it’s dark out shouldn’t be used against her. She is attacked way too much on this site for her appearance and sartorial choices. It’s misogynistic and detracts from the otherwise valid points made. Howling about the fact it’s dark out similarly detracts from the valid conversation to be had about her job performance (and the constitutional validity and desirability of having a monarchy in general).
“we should be fair” yes, that’s what this vicious racist needs, is for us to be fair. Sincerely doubt that word is in her vocabulary.
I don’t care if it’s dark but she is using the kids in a PR video for performative reasons. Maybe we can call out that nonsense?
There’s nothing ‘fair’ about an hereditary monarchy.
Lady D – I have little doubt she’s racist and her behavior to M was repugnant but do we need to stoop as low as they do?
Nic919 – Yes – agreed. Performative. And also… exploitative… why do they insist on bringing these dear children out to be videoed all the time? With the recent exposes of Ruby Franke and the Duggars, there is a great argument for regulating and protecting influencers from exploiting their children for money, clicks and popularity. What they a re doing to their kids, it can be argued, is simply constitutional approved, state-funded influencer exploitation of their children. For starters, give the issues faced by most spares and dysfunction that dependency on the monarchal status causes with sibling and parent/child relationship they should be paying each of the three children every time they are used or appear at a public function … even if it’s just a portion of what mum and dad’s taxpayer-funded income.
BeanieBean – agreed
You know Diana used to take the boys out to do charitable work, visit with the homeless, as I recall they actually slept rough one night, but it was never publicized. The media was informed after the fact, as she adamantly did NOT want to turn it into a photo op. Kate could be doing dozens of these visits without a phalanx of photographers and videographers following her every move and stage-managing the whole thing. I suppose people should be grateful for small mercies but jeez woman you don’t have to do everything in front of a camera. And I agree with @Becks1 and others — that her staff are clearly reading CB and encouraging Kate off her bony arse to do some much-needed and meaningful charitable work.
One cookie point for Kate, or the person who came up with this. This is what she should do all the time without exploiting her own kids in the process. Sure, it could be scaled, but this is what she should be doing like daily. Score 400 engagements a year, and tirelesly give out donations and grants to each and every patronage, espacially food and baby banks. I’m not a pr person but it would improve her popularity much better than doing silly faces in camo
There was no need to have a professional camera crew in tow. What for?
Better to allow the baby bank to take pics and post them, which is what Meghan allows.
The produced video is what makes this seems so exploitative of the kids. They can attend for a bit, but it could have been a photo or two.
The camera rightfully spent a lot of time on Charlotte – she has loads of charm and natural ease. Louis is going to be a handful as a teen, but I like his energy. He’s just wide-open and on “10” all the time. George seems incredibly uncomfortable…I’m probably projecting, but every time I see him, I imagine he wishes he could just be a kid and not the FFK. He doesn’t look like he relishes the role at all, and I honestly can’t blame him.
Please don’t label children, just like a self fulfilling prophecy.
You seem to be absorbing the tabloid line of outgoing Charlotte, withdrawn George and naughty Louis.
More an observation than a label.
This is exploitation. They are so desperate and so are the team in KP, the same people who advised them on the disastrous Caribbean tour. I thought that Willy wanted his kids to have a normal childhood so why is he allowing them to be paraded with a camera crew in tow. These people are unbelievably desperate for positive publicity. They are quite happy to serve their children on a plate to keep the media happy, not too different from the way they served Harry and Meghan to the press in a negative way.
I agree. It is a good idea to have them help out but the children should not be filmed and have to perform for cameras. And the children are already being typecast.
Exactly!
for me, the timing is part of what makes this so exploitative. At least George is going to have to be a public figure as an adult and I think there is a way to expose him to these kinds of events/outings without exploiting him. I also think it is good for such overprivileged children to realize that not everyone lives in multiple palaces/country mansions and helicopters everywhere they go. But the children can learn this without a camera crew in tow. It gives the impression that charity/philanthropy work is only worthwhile if its for PR.
And, the release of this is so obviously meant to distract from the work numbers discussion as well as the royal racist discussion, and at this point its super obvious and problematic. Stop hiding behind your children and using them as shields.
(also, Louis is only 5. George wasn’t being trotted out like this at 5. when he was 5 we barely saw him – maybe weddings and official portraits – that’s why birthday photos and the like were a big deal.)
The video really shows how the kids are being used as shields for Kate. Wasn’t Charles disliked for using his sons as cover when his PR needed it? This is more of the same but from Kate.
The visit didn’t need to be filmed or produced. And seeing as how the place was emptied out and they aren’t interacting with other volunteers, it really doesn’t show the kids the normal way this works.
@BECKS1 said, “It gives the impression that charity/philanthropy work is only worthwhile if its for PR.”
These words are MOTTO to most Royal Families in the world. PR, PR, and only PR to explain away their existence in the modern world.
Honestly, these are three of the world’s most wealthy and privileged children. And most of that is courtesy of their country’s taxpayers. Being videotaped for a few seconds of sorting baby clothes is not exploitation. It is time for them to start earning their keep, and this is the absolutely least they can do.
My British neighbor calls the trunk of a car “the boot.” Now my horrible brain has K giving the charity the boot when that has a totally different meaning. This is perhaps Keen’s best video ever? She should repeat showing up at charities with donations often. She can graduate to daylight hours, and she can do this throughout the UK. This is a low bar success for her. Now she needs to continue this so it’s not just an image rehab event.
Definitely a step in the right direction. It was a nicely done video and the kids were relaxed and enjoying themselves. George actually looked like kid for once and not a mini-businessman. Louis was behaving and engaged. Charlotte continues to be adorable.
Now, do stuff like this regularly and not as a reactionary, performative performance when you need your kids as a human shield.
I didn’t mind the video and thought the kids looked as though they were getting ‘stuck in’ and enjoying themselves. It’s great that Kate involved the children but, it did remind me a little of Diana including William and Harry in her charities visits. Not a bad thing but, I do wonder if someone behind the scenes pushed Kate into doing this to a) push up her numbers, b) to put forward the idea that (like Diana) she wants the children to be reminded there are lots of children who are less fortunate than they are, c) to push forward the narrative that she is as kind and compassionate as Diana. The final two points are compounded when she gives her little speech to George about how good it is to give (owtte).
The cynic in me is reminded that the kids break up from school soon and we won’t see Kate until mid January. So, this video (as lovely as it is) serves as a distraction from yet another 6/7 week break!
I’ll also add that I actually LOVED her jumper. :insert shocked smiley:
Kate is so unlike Diana. She can bring the children but Kate comes off as cold and fake. Diana had a genuine interest in charity work and would not have liked kates behavior to harry Meghan and their children.
She also showed up when the place was open.
Did Diana produce edited videos with the kids when she visited the charities, or was it just a case of her bringing them along for the engagement? Because the slick video of the kids is what seems fake here, especially on the part of the adults.
Exactly, this was well planned and highly choreographed. The issue here is not the baby bank but PR for Willy and Katy. Anything to do with the kids guarantees front page news.
Right — Diana did these visits in stealth mode most of the time without photographers and media. Because for Diana, these visits were not made to “put her in a good light”, they were made because she genuinely cared and wanted her boys to understand how lucky they were. It rubbed off on Harry but William…not so much.
And she didn’t tuck that sweater in! Will wonders never cease!
Do more of this (actually bringing things) and expand it! Partner with companies and post a wishlist, people will donate.
My alma mater’s basketball team does a food pantry drive every year in December with one of the games being a drop off event. The past two years they’ve added a marketing campaign with it that includes a poster of a player as Elf. This year they added an online donation link to the campaign with downloadable wallpaper if you couldn’t make it to the game. It raised thousands!
Here’s the thing, I like that they donated and volunteered their time. However, I feel like this was very performative (especially since Kate (and Will) have no track record of volunteering).
Also, I feel like we’re at that point in time, where no one wants to see rich people (especially those who have accumulated their wealth through marriage, stealing from dead people, colonialism, etc… basically, how the BRF came to be today.
Also, I feel like Kate is one of the fakest famous people today. And while I think the people of the Institution have played a role, Kate actively and more-than-likely willingly went along with it. Her biggest mistake was making her entire identity (this includes pre-marriage) about a guy. She made that choice. No one forced her to do that.
Do I think she’s happy? No. And I think Meghan coming in and being a fully-formed person with opinions, interests, ideas…an identity only made Kate realize that she is nothing but her title. And aside from the general racism, anti-Americanism, etc… I think Kate was jealous that Meghan would always stand apart because she had a life prior to Harry. Kate opted not to have one.
I also can’t get over the American Royalists (like some Instagram/TikTok commentators) fawning over the video. They are known to criticize Kate, but then they will fall over themselves over an outfit she wore (and what does it mean!….The answer: NOTHING!!) or they will praise her for the bare minimum or the most basic things.
Still holding on to that white feminism. Fun fact, you constantly saying everything is the patriarchy or misogyny. By making everything about that, you are taking away the women’s role in the decision-making. You are making her the victim and therefore, she’s not responsible for the choices she makes, how she’s viewed by others, etc…
It’s totally performative and the kids were used as cover because Kate has visited baby banks more than once and come empty handed. And the video of the kids is very exploitative. Maybe a few pictures to show they were there, but they are still young and don’t need to be part of the PR game.
Interesting William had no part in this at all.
Good point Nic919 – Kaiser has made the argument that they are basically influencers. I like to think of them as constitutionally sanctioned, state-paid influencers. There are some interesting reddit conversations about the exploitation of children by “online” or TV families such as the Stauffers, Duggars, Franke, Willis family (the LaBrant family is mentioned quite a bit – not all of them are Christian homeschoolers) and questions are being raised about how to protect these kids. See Jill Duggar’s book, Counting the Cost – it’s quite good and well worth the read if you are interested in this topic (it’s a nice companion read to Spare actually). They should do the same here but they won’t because the BRF is untouchable and can carve out exemptions for themselves from the laws that apply to everyone else.
Well, I’m definitely hoping she continues to bring more boxes and show up with her hands full. Don’t make this a one time thing.
what is this? an activity and charity promotion in the style of what Kate should have been consistently doing for the last 12 years? Seriously, this is the only time I’ve ever seen her come off like a decent person. Better late than never, I guess.
Kate to become a decent person needs to take ownership and responsibility for how she treated the sussexes especially Meghan. I wonder what those children have overheard at home when their parents talk about harry and Meghan. I still don’t see Kate as a decent person
Even jealous racists can do good deeds. Louis is so CUTE. They are all adorable kids.
Good job KP – more of these sorts of things please. But… you might want to be proactive in thinking about how to repair Kate’s image rather than being so reactionary all the time (example 1: the all-burgundy coat stunt at last year’s carol event was a particularly reactive and petty response; example 2: good job reading this site and realizing she shouldn’t go empty handed to charities like this but this is really something you should have figured out years ago for yourselves… it’s not hard). I suggest you a hire a strategy firm like Boston Consulting or something similar. I’ve said this before but you need more than just a PR fix otherwise it’s just putting out fires all the time. The PR experts, Tory staffers and former DM staff hired by the palaces aren’t really enough. Come to think of it, you do have someone naturally gifted in strategic intelligence in the family …. oh wait… that’s right. You bullied her out.
No amounts of consulting and PR fixing can solve the problems that’s KK-KATE & BRF if they are not sincerely want to learn, admit, and accept all the misdeeds they & their ancestors have done.
They’re holding on to the White Supermacy Complex for their dear lives.
I have to give credit where credit is due: Good job to Kate or whomever came up with this idea. The kids seem cute. That’s all I’ve got.
Whenever I see her kids, I wonder if they miss their uncle, or even established a close bond with him? Is heart breaking to think they won’t have him or their cousins in their life. I really hate to see families divided.
And they would miss their aunt Meghan also. It is also heart breaking that the Wales cheated their children of having a wonderful aunt like meghan
@LULU You clearly didn’t read Spare. Harry didn’t have a close relationship with their parents outside of the official engagements let alone their children. Harry doesn’t have any photos of him interacting with the two eldest children, although he does have photos of him interacting with Zara and Peter Phillips’ children. As for Louis, I’m sure he doesn’t know Harry at all.
And you know that those kids would have so much goofy fun with Harry because he’s not an uptight stuffed shirt like their dad.
@lulu I’m sure Harry misses the kids in a way- like a in a missing out sort of way, but in Spare he says that WanK never encouraged a close relationship between him and the kids. He was expecting that he’d get many invites to hang out with them but it never happened. 😔 It’s sad. Before I was born my mom and one of her sisters had a falling out. I didn’t know about it until I was a teenager bc neither of them let that seep through to us kids. Till this day, I’m still close with my cousins and Aunt.
All in all, this is a win for K. I thought the video was a nice touch (not exploitive) showing her with the kids assembling bags for people in need. Hopefully she will do this again (ie bring donations).
I realize she may be desperate for any distraction and she is a long way from being fully redeemed as a person, but this is a nice start.
Kate is doing what she is supposed to have been doing. Kate will have no wins until she apologizes to meghan
Thank you! All this praise for finally doing what Meghan (and others) have been doing for years. She’s still a racist, jealous jerk. Just one with really cute kids.
I have nothing bad to say about this. Do more of this, Princess Karen. Then take the next step and host a fundraiser.
This is a good thing, even if performative. I wonder about the point of the video – why hold on to it for a month? And I prefer the way H&M do things, with letting the charity announce the visit and do the PR, but maybe that’s not allowed with the RF?
That’s her real voice. She should just use that and stop with the fake accent. Faking her accent probably contributes to her awkward public speaking. Soft so no one can hear her, lest she is caught.
I’m just trying to recall if Diana ever used her kids for charity PR like this. I believe the answer is no.
This could have been a few photos and not a whole video with the kids. The kids are being exploited to cover for the fact that kate has done less than the bare minimum and now that she’s being outed as a racist, the kids are brought out for cover.
And its working based on a lot of the comments here.
No. It’s not working. We can all see the PR angle. I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but my thought process is that we criticize Kate every day for not getting little things like this right. We say, she should bring donations. She should actually do work. She should get her kids involved. Then she does that and we continue to criticize. What is the point of the Waleses making ANY improvement if we don’t acknowledge that someone on their team is paying attention and trying to do better?
If we’re just going to be critical no matter what, what is the point of coming up with things they can do better?
@Minority I said in my original comment that this was a good thing and that she should do more of this, while acknowledging that this is still a purely PR move to distract from other negative stories going on about her. And I do think, unfortunately, the blatant PR angle to this takes away some of the value. Is she going to take the kids back to the baby bank next month? The month after? Is she going to bring anything to a baby bank again? No, and no, and no.
I feel like if she was going to do this, there is a way to do it that doesnt scream “dont pay attention to my work numbers, look at my cute kids!!!”
ETA and honestly this is one of the issues with the Waleses. They could have been doing this for years with the kids and they didnt, so now it does feel like she is getting praised excessively for doing the bare minimum.
If she does this again, and again, and again – then I think those of us saying “what a blatant PR move” might be a little less critical.
Kate could have returned on her own and not film the kids. No one was saying she needed to involve the kids but instead not show up to the baby bank empty handed.
” Still, I have to wonder if no one told Kate that she could actually take the initiative to actually lead a donation drive or host a fundraiser for the network of baby banks?”
It’s pretty clear that the few people she has around her are not doing a great job. Also, I don’t think she knows how to do any of that (she should though).
Her kids are already doing more work than she (has) and will ever do!
She should have been doing this type of thing from the start. She and William should have been trying to one-up Meghan and Harry in the charity stakes, not on a personal and racial level. Everyone would have loved to see them supporting each other as family whilst trying to outdo each other on fundraising and charitable works.
I hope she apologises for her racist comments and starts afresh.
Many in my area, take their kids to volunteer at local charities.
Toys for Tots, Angel Tree, School drives, etc. Pretty common during the holidays.
Most of the charity events that BRF do are used to get publicity for the charity itself, so others get involved.
I hope that W&K donate $$ themselves along with taking the kids for this.
When Diana took W&H, it was a new event and was thought she was giving the boys a look at the real world.
Now? It all seems set by PR and cynical.
Diana didn’t send a video set with music when Harry or William attended a charity with her. That’s why it is PR.
There was no social media in the 90s. But Diana was dragging her children to most of the events, and the photographers were always taking their pictures. William and Harry as children didn’t have the slightest privacy. I think Harry is the only one among his father, mother, and brother who actually protects his children. He hasn’t used Archie and Lili to tone down people’s criticism of him, at least not yet.
The paparazzi were why Harry and William were incessantly photographed. Diana did not set up video shoots at charities like Kate just did.
Harry and Meghan protect their children because of all the negativity from derangers and the negative press.
Diana did not drag her children anywhere. She wanted them with her to learn about charity work.
This has been choreogphed and staged managed more than any west end production. And one paper wrote “Kate helped carry in boxes of donated gifts!!! So it’s not saying SHE donated anything! Sorry, but I think all she donated was a film crew and her children as extras
A few thoughts/observations:
1. As much as it’s sad to see the kids being exploited like this, it was nice seeing how into the idea Charlotte and Louis were. Each were shown looking over the gifts before packing them up.
Louis has unfortunately been tagged as “the naughty one” by the press, and it’s all because his parents failed to bring an obviously energetic kid who’d just turned 4 an activity book or a game to entertain him during a boring-ass concert. Then, when he got bored and/or overwhelmed, neither took him out of the situation.
2. We’ve seen numerous videos where we’ve watched Kate struggle to fold clothes, but Charlotte has it down pat. That’s the work of a good nanny.
3. George rarely smiles. I can’t say that he’s unhappy; he could just be reserved and dislike being pushed out in public all the time. But if he is simply reserved, he’s going to be unhappy soon enough.
If this representative monarchy nonsense goes on long enough, eventually a country is going to end up with an heir who gives it up just because he or she wants to become a college professor, or fly airplanes, or start an ‘intentional community’ outside of Sedona. It won’t be another drastic situation where a King is forced out because he’s a Nazi sympathizer intent upon marrying his Nazi-adjacent divorcee lover.
It’s the slick video centering on them and only them that does it for me. Why can’t they just do charity work without making it into a carefully edited production? You know, like most other celebrities and people. All of the planning, staging and editing cheapens the gesture. Whomever called it poverty tourism nailed it.
I can’t hate. It even looks like she brought gifts and supplies this time. It’s a cute video. The only problem is I couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying.
Kate seems so disconnected from her children in every video and picture I have ever seen. It always gave me the feeling of some long lost aunt that the kids only sees on holidays visiting and playing court with them. The relationships have always just struck me as formal and cold but maybe that is the british aristocrat way in how familial relationships normally operate? not sure. If you draw comparison to normal mother/children relationships, it’s alot different. And one need to look much further than Mrs. Meghan Markle herself to see a bonded relationship between mother and her child. In the few videos and pictures we have seen of Meghan with her children, there is always great affection shown both ways and there is just a warmth maternal vibe always conveyed. Meghan looks elated to be in the very presence of her children and that warmth seems to always be reciprocated. Her children LOVE her and they KNOW her. And the same can be said in the paternal bond of harry with his kids. Maybe Kate is not around her kids alot other than for formal engagements like this and that is why the bond looks so glacial and perfunctory. Long lost auntie vibes for sure. Her kids dont’ even look her in the eye when she is directly in front of their face talking to them. Weirdest shit ever. On a couple of the scenes, the youngest one seem more animated and happier when dealing with the baby bank workers than his own mother. It makes me a bit sad for them and their future — seems like they are trapped in a loveless, cold mother bonded relationship.
Diana was much warmer with her sons. And she was aristo.
I imagine that Kate wanted this to happen after dark so it would recall Diana taking her sons to homeless shelters in the middle of the night.
It’s fine — it’s better than her usual nothing. But the royals could donate millions to low-income kids if they really wanted to help. But they’re careful not to imply that the Tories are failing the people of Britain.
They wouldn’t even need to imply that and could just donate some of the millions they’ve dodged having to pay in capital gains tax.
Good job here regardless of the motivation. I think this was a great way to involve the children in an activity where they could genuinely be of help as volunteers. Charlotte and Louis seemed to enjoy what they were doing. George was a bit impassive, but it doesn’t mean he didn’t take the activity seriously and enjoy being helpful. I think the video was well done, and the talking was mostly from the volunteer. Good video, and hope the charity got more donations as a result. Taking the children out to volunteer is a good thing. I don’t think volunteering like this was ever in the royal family’s wheelhouse before. I wonder if anyone volunteered for the Red Cross during the two world wars.
Princess marina served with the w r e n s during world war 2. Alexandra princess of Wales and queen worked hard at her volunteer work. And there were others. They were not lightweights like kate.
Don’t forget. It gets dark early in the UK this time of year. They visited in the evening because the kids were probably doing after school activities and dinner.
This was a nice outing for Catherine and the three kids. There is nothing to criticize.
Yes, it’s dark by 4:30pm over here in the UK. I suspect they waited for the kids to finish school and for the charity to close its doors to the public and then filmed it. The video is absolutely fine.
AWWW Rebeccahhh. Who’s BP/KP favorite royal rota BIG GIRL during big girl things? YOU!
Consulting the playbook of when in doubt, trod the kids out. You smart palace people, me dumb pleb will just forget that Buttons participated in a terror campaign against members of her extended family cause Buttons is doing stuff and things in a fuzzy white sweater at night with her kids. How could she possibly be anything but an innocent hero/victim?
So yeah, doing a “shopping for those less fortunate” pantomime in a control environment washes all the dirt away. Their good people and the video proves it.
I did notice Louis is MUCH calmer and more himself when his father is not around. He seemed genuinely engaged and IMHO acted above his age in a potentially confusing situation.
However, this is a control environment video with lots of editing.
It’s performative, sure, and we can criticize Kate for using her kids for good PR since she needs to erase the royal racist story (though it’s entirely possible this was filmed before even Omid Scobie’s book came out). But this is also a good thing to expose the kids to and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves. She should do this kind of thing more often, with and without the kids.
The thing is, from the body language to her natural vibes, I just don’t see any sincerity from her.
It’s like she’s only there because that’s what she’s told to do not at all from the heart. It’s like a checkmark on the list and done ✅ type of thing .
In comparison with Diana and Meghan, it’s obvious their love of charity comes from the heart.
She brought along a crew to film this stunt.
That’s just Kate being Kate .
She still sucks , and always will no matter how hard she tries to make herself look caring and in touch .
She is probably proud of her last few weeks work and will be examining all videos and photos to make sure she looks good and is the centre of attention .
That’s all she cares about .
It looks like Kate was reading a script when at .17/.18 when she told her kids that they are the volunteers! She was looking down and reading…
Additionally, the music for the video is all very similar to what was used in H&M’s documentary.