Every year, I forget about the annual early-January keenery for the Princess of Wales’s birthday. When Kate turned 40 in 2022, we got wall-to-wall sugar for a solid month, just story after story about how Kate is the most perfect, most humble, most special person to ever marry into the royal family. Well, we are heading into Kate’s 42nd birthday keenery and I wonder how big the palace will go for this one. Judging from People Magazine’s cover story this week, it feels like this birthday will be used for some image-maintenance around Kate being (accidentally) named as one of the royal racists. Some highlights:
Kate ignored all of the royal-racist stories in November & December: “It is why a lot of people who have worked with her think she is such an asset to the royal family, because she has this amazing professionalism,” royal author Valentine Low tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.
Kate is tough, despite appearances: Like other royal consorts in history, Kate has a toughness behind the scenes as she supports her husband and future king William. “She has this public image of being nice and smiley and, dare I say, innocuous,” royal author Valentine Low tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “But she is actually strong-minded, strong-willed and prepared to fight for what she wants and what she thinks is right.”
Kate’s insistence on “recollections may vary” in the palace’s statement: “She thought it was very important this did not go unchallenged,” Low says. “Kate thinks strategically. She is going to be queen one day and has the longterm interests of the monarchy and royal family at heart.” Adds royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, “She showed real strength and determination to make things clear that there was perhaps a different truth.”
No reconciliation: After several years of family strain, claims and allegations from Harry and Meghan are in the rearview mirror for William and Kate—and there is no sign of reconciliation between the two couples. “She’s moved on and William has too,” a friend of Kate’s tells PEOPLE. “She’s very focused on what matters going forward, They aren’t looking back.”
Influential & keen: As her 42nd birthday approaches on Jan. 9, Kate can assess her first full calendar year as the Princess of Wales. And while she may not be monarch, she has replaced Queen Elizabeth, who died at age 96 in 2022, as the best-known female member of the royal family—and one who wields an increasing amount of influence. “She’s very much seen as a player at the center of team Windsor,” says Simon Lewis, former Buckingham Palace and co-host of the BBC podcast When It Hits the Fan.
She keeps calm & carries on: “She has close friends and family around her and a good relationship with her father-in-law [King Charles],” says an insider, “that equip her going forward.”
Here’s the thing, I actually believe that Kate is “stronger” than she might seem. While I’ve made my feelings clear on Kate for years, increasingly I have a lot of hate-respect for her ability to navigate this ridiculous system and come out “ahead.” She’s a survivor too, and she’s had to do terrible things to survive. Of course, it helps that she’s married to the heir and that the palace didn’t launch a full hate campaign against her like they did with Meghan. She’s been protected, coddled and infantilized for decades, which she’s used to her advantage up to a point. The problem with all of this is that Kate’s goal was seemingly to survive short-term and not thrive or plan for the future. She’s been incredibly complacent. Instead of being “a player at the center of Team Windsor,” within the family, she’s been politically neutered, shuffled off to Adelaide Cottage and largely ignored.
Also: “she has replaced Queen Elizabeth, who died at age 96 in 2022, as the best-known female member of the royal family.” There’s currently a whole-ass queen consort but I guess People Mag doesn’t want to think about Camilla.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of People.
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- `Catherine, Princess Of Wales reacts after inflating a lifejacket during her visit to Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton on September 18, 2023 in Yeovil, England. The Princess of Wales is visiting the airbase following her appoint as Commodore-in-Chief, Fleet Air Arm (FAA),Image: 806232818, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jules Annan / Avalon
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- Sittingbourne, Kent, UK, 27 September 2023: HRH The Princess of Wales joins a family portage session at the Orchards Centre, Multi Agency Service Hub in Sittingbourne, Kent to highlight the importance of supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities and their families. The session is ran by the Kent Portage Team. ***NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS***,Image: 808854076, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: ***NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS***, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Paul Grover / Avalon
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- CARDIFF, WALES – OCTOBER 03: Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales visit Fitzalan High School as they celebrate the beginning of Black History Month on October 03, 2023 in Cardiff, Wales. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush, the Prince and Princess of Wales will hear from pupils about the work they have been doing around black history.,Image: 810534741, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- CARDIFF, WALES – OCTOBER 03: Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales visit Fitzalan High School as they celebrate the beginning of Black History Month on October 03, 2023 in Cardiff, Wales. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush, The Prince and Princess meet teachers and pupils working across a number of projects at the school, including the gardening project which aims to encourage young pupils to learn how to grow plants and food from scratch.,Image: 810534986, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- CARDIFF, WALES – OCTOBER 03: Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales visit Fitzalan High School as they celebrate the beginning of Black History Month on October 03, 2023 in Cardiff, Wales. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush, the Prince and Princess of Wales will hear from pupils about the work they have been doing around black history.,Image: 810535420, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- CARDIFF, WALES – OCTOBER 03: Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales visit Fitzalan High School as they celebrate the beginning of Black History Month on October 03, 2023 in Cardiff, Wales. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush, the Prince and Princess of Wales will hear from pupils about the work they have been doing around black history.,Image: 810535902, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- Britain’s Kate, the Princess of Wales, speaks to young people as she participates in a series of workshops which focus on emotions, relationships and community action at Factory Works in Birmingham, England, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. The Prince and Princess host the forum for young people on World Mental Health Day.,Image: 812603743, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kirsty Wigglesworth / Avalon
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- Britain’s Kate, the Princess of Wales, holds a speech after she participated in a series of workshops which focus on emotions, relationships and community action at Factory Works in Birmingham, England, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. The Prince and Princess host the forum for young people on World Mental Health Day.,Image: 812603974, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kirsty Wigglesworth / Avalon
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- Britain’s Kate, the Princess of Wales, holds a speech after she participated in a series of workshops which focus on emotions, relationships and community action at Factory Works in Birmingham, England, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. The Prince and Princess host the forum for young people on World Mental Health Day.,Image: 812604055, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kirsty Wigglesworth / 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
Why I stopped buying people. Kate did not come up with recollections may vary. Harry and Meghan can say the same thing about what keen did. Like lunging at Meghan in front of cameras.
Meghan and Harry have moved on 😍 when did RACIST WAITY KATIE BECOME SAINTY KATIE??? 🤣🤣🤣
The minute a biracial American unintentionally showed just how underwhelmingly mediocre William’s first wife is.
So she’s an “asset” because she can ignore media when she is called out on horrid behavior instead of apologizing or trying to change? How nice.
Yep, apparently that’s ‘professionalism’ now, I need to re-think my approach to my whole career.
Exactly. She is not strong. She is relentlessly selfish. Her complete self-interest allows her to stay on course, just as it did when she pursued peg. I don’t think she cares about anything but her “place,” and that makes it easy to continue on. She seems like a sociopath minus the charm or intelligence.
“She’s a survivor too, and she’s had to do terrible things to survive. “ like do a walkabout with Meghan after the Queen’s death. There is no word for the gravity of her ptsd
Oh, God no. Am I going to have to look at that face when I go to the grocery store next week? People mag has gone past its sell by date with all this royal bs.
She is an embarrassment. She should have been held accountable about letting a false story stay in the media.
She should be held accountable for everything. She’s not respectful of anyone (remember when she was disrespectful to the King of Spain…in Spain) or anything (wearing inappropriate clothes at Ground Zero, in a Death camp with a loony smile, in the last tour).
Being stupid doesn’t make right being perpetually wrong.
Her secret strength are prescription meds
That and massive amounts of crack baby cocktails and other alcohol.
This. Zero way that she is clean in a lot of her engagements.
Wielding what power. She is totally dependent on Williams whims. If he wants somebody else she will be out. She can’t even get pda from him in public he rejects her attempts to hold his hand.
Sally b Smith the same one who gaslit Diana in her book about her. Fawning all over kate
How many times are they going to churn out the exact same talking points? Saying it often won’t make it true you know?
Didn’t the the Christmas thingy air already? I’ve seen absolutely nothing about it. Nothing. How much influence, power, or popularity can she actually have when no one is paying attention to her?
Her piano recital is only about the photos and nothing else. It’s a complete waste of everyone’s time. Once they are done with the pap walk, all of the “interest” dies.
I keep wondering about how many people watched it. Must not be many if there’s no news about it.
Having concerns about her nephew’s skin color is a strength? Shame on People Magazine. They need to be called out for this bullshit.
I doubt very seriously that if that was what was said. That either Harry or Meghan would be upset about it. That wasn’t what was said. That’s just the polite way H&M put it. I do figure we will hear what Kate said. Because I think William will use it to get the divorce. And I figure it will be the end of Jan. or Feb.
What’s missing from the piece is a denial of racism. So I take that to believe she was racist towards Meghan.
Kate is a white woman whom the patriarchy upholds as the virtuous white womanhood! She is not strong, strategic, or survived the cut-throat business of the Firm! She just has to breathe and exist! Women like her are what keep the patriarchy and white supremacy well oil machine!
Would a true player at the center of everything really need a people article stating what a true player she is? Desperado. Adelaide cottage does not feel like the center of anything. Kate’s lucky if she even gets to use the helicopter anymore.
She is the least professional of all of them. Who else has the flashing incidents like she does? Or the lowest work totals and the inability to speak in public a decade into the job.
Sure she isn’t nice, but we have seen her act mean in public, especially near Meghan.
Kate is a rich white bitch who lords her title over anyone she can, but that isn’t strength or dignity, especially when she tolerates public disdain from her husband.
People magazine trying to sell her as anything other than melania with a title is just hilarious.
Melania renegotiated her prenup after Trump won the presidency and continues to be well-compensated for her time tolerating her awful husband. I hope Kitty takes a page from Melania!
Oh, things are *bad* behind the scenes. That’s what this piece is basically saying behind the usual annual birthday fawning. Being outed as a racist must’ve tanked her popularity/reputation more than she’d anticipated, and now her people are scrambling to salvage it.
She’s cunning, I’ll give her that. Or her mother is. Or both at this point. She believes she’s got leverage through the kids and it’s another attempt at a full court press to up her popularity and make it seem like she really is indisposable.
On a shallow note, her new veneers really emphasize that not only does she have thin lips, but she pulls them back tightly whenever she gurns.
Keen is not a power player, she is a racist mean girl who bullied her SIL. If you can’t treat your family with dignity and respect, regardless of your feelings, you don’t deserve to be a princess.
Kate isn’t some meek woman, solely taking orders from her mother or William. She isn’t scared of her husband either. She may not be able to give a speech to save her life but she does plot and she is more devious than people want to give her credit for. The narrative that Kate is just going along just to get along needs to stop. Some people want her to be a victim, when she is just a woman who’s the type to be concerned about how dark an unborn child is. And she low key let William take the fall for that. Everybody thought it was William, while Aryan Barbie was smug as hell in her Meg cosplay. Just like everyone believed that it was Meg that made her cry.
William is just as culpable or more so. He was the one bullying harry saying he should not rush things with Meghan and getting incandescent even though they dated 2 years
William has the power over her she can’t even return her overtures of pda. She is the wife he deserves. William authorized on Jason k to do a fake bullying report against meghan.
He won’t return her offers of pda
Utilizing her white woman’s tears doesn’t make her strong or strategic. The fact that William and his wife along with the rest of that family are racist isn’t a revelation!
ITA @JT I’ve always believed she’s a lot stronger than the media portray her to be. I’ll go even further and say if there was a way for her to get rid of William and keep the crown she would do it. Her main obstacle would be Harry being regent until George came of age. With that in mind It wouldn’t surprise me if she (and her family) were behind a lot of the “strip them of their titles” narrative. I can’t remember which year it was but, there was a Wimbledon tournament where W&K were in the club house talking to the winner. She all but, pushed William out of the way and totally monopolised the conversation while William stood behind her waiting to be called/introduced. So yes I do see her as a major player in Team Windsor.
I don’t know if anyone saw the KCIII documentary yesterday and it was noticeable how ‘pally’ she is with KCIII. I do believe she drops as much poison in his ear about H&M as Camilla. I also noticed how jokey William was with his father during the rehearsal and how seriously he was taking it all. He was nothing like the petulant brat we saw half heartedly reading his words from a script. I say this because I do wonder if Kate had wound him up so tightly by running behind the schedule that it took all his patience to get through the day. I’ve thought for a long time that she (and her awful family) are the main cause for the continuing nastiness against H&M and she’s done nothing to change my opinion. I’m not saying William (or the rest of them) are innocent but, I do believe our FQC has done her utmost to ensure peace doesn’t break out any time soon.
Hmmm, at how “pally” Kate and Charles are. I wonder if being the outed royal racists bonded them together😂. I could see Kate flattering Charles which he would like. But that’d be a fine line bc she wouldn’t want to step on Camilla’s toes as head patronizer of the king. At the same time, I’m not sure how Kate’s great Chelsea flower showdown could have endeared her to Charles. So I go back and forth. She’s a manipulative player for sure but not sure how much power she actually wields. She wasn’t able to save her mom from public embarrassment.
Kate cannot have the crown. George’s future wife would take over as first lady of the land when George is king
Replying to LauraD – I saw the CIII documentary today and, for me, how pally she tried to be with Charles was a complete act, KM at her falsest. Charles, for me, seemed stony-faced in response though I could be wrong.
I felt William and Charles’s interaction in the documentary was definitely false, W having to be genial and warm in the presence of so many priests and cameras. Agree with your suspicion that on the day itself W was very different bc of whatever stunt KM had pulled earlier, it was unthinkable to be late for the Coronation, Charles must loathe KM.
I agree JT and well said.
I’m just sick of the narrative that everyone is controlling Kate, like she has no agency and is only acting on behalf of somebody else. She has her own desires and her own press contacts to get her side out. She glares at William just as much he does at her. She saw Meg as a threat a did all she could to take her out. She may be afraid of a divorce but I don’t believe she’s afraid of the royal system. She wields whatever little power she has to her advantage and her white woman tears are a part of her strategy which worked. That cry story absolutely made Meg a bigger target, which was the goal.
The only person Kate fights with is her husband. If he agrees with her – like about them never working, or about Kate’s family being nannies, like when the media hid from the public that Carole travelled with them to Australia, or about them moving back to wales and then to Norfolk, then William just tells his grandmother and father what they are going to do and that’s that. There’s little dialogue. That dynamic does not exist for anyone else.
The hair on that People cover! Gah, I would be so embarrassed if my hair looked like that on a national magazine cover.
Oh Kates a player, she knows where all the skeletons are buried, but, more importantly she knows all of Williams little secrets, from making a pact with certain celebrities and reporters, about ALL the details of his relationship with Knaph,and just how many settlements from the press he has taken.
Kate doesn’t have friends, she won’t let another woman who is not already a royal within a country mile of her turf (William),
And her way of handling things is to gather as much dirt as possible (, she has been taught well by camzilla) to give her a big stick to wheel, then she sticks her fingers in her ears and goes La La La La La, until a friendly reporter writes a flattering load of BS about her.
That’s why she hated Megan. Megan had no secrets for katey kins to find out, she wouldn’t bow down to the ubber bitch, and the press loved her and Harry, so they had to go. You might worry about how history will show the Royal family katey dear, but history, is what you will be part of very soon.
Yeah, “she has replaced Queen Elizabeth, who died at age 96 in 2022, as the best-known female member of the royal family”. Is she TRYING to get in Camilla’s sights?? Watch out because while I agree with what many here are saying that she absolutely is devious and cunning and has agency in all of this (if minimal power), she has zero strategy and Camilla has shown that she is absolutely the queen of that game.
Also, no, stop trying to tell us she has friends. She does not. CarolE doesn’t count as a ‘friend’.
Camilla is as queen consort first lady of the land. Kate isn’t and Camilla can give or not give access to royal jewelry.
All I see is a racist white woman who is never held to account for her racism and mistreatment of a woman of color and her unborn child. All I see is a woman who lied about a pregnant woman and made that pregnant woman life so sad that she considered existing that life with her unborn child inside of her to make space for said white woman whiteness. All I see is a white woman who tried to intimidate her black sister in law at a funeral for a deceased family member. All i see is a racist , bully who has zero empathy for anyone. She is all about herself. She only thinks about how many more people she can step on to stay on top of a trash pile . I wish people would stop giving this racist piece of Trash a pass and write about exactly what she is , racist bullying, pathetic weak incompetent, lazy white woman who has never know what it is to feel real pain or consequences of her actions
I’m with you, well said.
This People article is damage control by KP. Ever since Pus Morgan named Kate and Charles, Kate has been decked out in KKK robes on social media. KP does not want that image of her sticking, especially in the US.
Charles likes her because she plays the game that Charles wanted Diana to play. Diana noped out of that game but Kate goes along with it. Eyes on the crown.
Charles courted Diana when she was still a teen . I don’t think camilla would have wanted Charles and Diana to have even a working relationship
If Will finds a Camilla type Kate would be out. Charles also would not side with Kate if.will wanted out. He would favor the second wife imo.
This seals it. KKKhate is on her way out. A divorce announcement is imminent.
“…and, dare I say, innocuous,” royal author Valentine Low tells PEOPLE…”
I think you misspelled noxious.
LOL!! Comment of the week. Noxious is the perfect descriptor for this toxic mess of racism and wig glue personified
There are a couple of snaps of Cam and Karen smiling triumphantly together while in mourning for the Queen that reveal that they are sisters under the skin. Both have gotten down and dirty whether it was Diana or Meg who was in their way. Both are tough and are experienced schemers who are thoroughly lazy at royal engagements but get fawning press by cosying up to certain folk. Chuck adores Cam whereas Will settled for Karen but they are also birds of a feather. She’s an important part of his family man image so she not being officially divorced but he’ll continue pegging around. She’ s made a poor deal IMO but it does appear to be what she wants: fame, status, limelight, money , jewels and fawning press.
Utilizing her white woman’s tears doesn’t make her strong or strategic. The fact that William and his wife along with the rest of that family are racist isn’t a revelation!
Kate may be unintelligent and vapid, but she’s a player in that she’s manipulative, cold and calculating. She likely has enough kompromat on Peg to sink a battleship, that’s why their separation has dragged out for so long. Peg has to think up an airtight reason to throw her under the bus because you know the tag team of Carol(E) and Keen will throw everything against the wall about him to see if it sticks. The Endgame (great title Omid) will be the battle royale between the Wails and how their marriage finally collapses. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving couple.
Agree , I think so too.
Kate is most certainly a player at the center of team Windsor. She’s just as cold-hearted, grasping, racist, back-stabbing and vengeful as the rest of them. She’s at the center because she’s the mother of the next heir, she knows where the bodies are buried and there aren’t that many Windsors left. William may hate her, but the RF can’t afford to lose her.
@Eurydice agreed they deserve each other and are shackled together forever in between hugging POC at “work events” to prove how very much NOT racist they both are! I suspect the incredible sulk is bigly mad that he can’t unload her because pa won’t sign off the divorce! Must be awful for him not to get his own way no matter how loudly he shouts or sulks!
The royal family ousted diana,despite her being the mother of a future king. And Diana was a whole lot more popular than Kate. The queen and philip backed Charles not Diana. Charles would back William and his second wife should he remarry.
Actually the British Royal Family is the only European Royal Family with a line of succession that goes into the triple digits. Just one of the many reasons that Charles didn’t actually need to marry and have an heir and spare
Oh, I’ve always believed that KHate is a player. I’m sure she has help from Ma Mids. It’s one of the reasons that I’ve not bought into the issue of her being abused. I think she holds her own quite well.
I’ve also wondered how close she is to KFC. If she sides with him over Wont (which I think has and does happen), I wonder how long Wont will put up with that. I think hubby has stuff on her from their dating years that she–and Ma–should be careful what they put out there.
As far as KHate being ‘professional’ goes, I think that getting out of the car and flashing shows how professional she is. I keep thinking that the people in front of her got QUITE a view. If that’s how the bm wants the world to view professionalism in the brf, more power to them.
KHate has the life she wants and she’s not going to let that go easily. What she needs to understand is that she is not someone with a pristine history. Look at who she hung out with. The woman who plans orgies and Uncle Gary’s place. Oh yes, she has history, and she might want to think about that.
This is a woman who thought it was ok to physically lurch over Meghan at a public event with the global cameras on her. She isn’t a shy flower. No one who flashed as much as her can be called that.
Kate, the clothes horse.
If they are building her to be The Center, The Rock, The Main Event…ya’ll gonna need to save ya money, or ya gonna go broke.
This idea is as bad as any The Firm has ever had.
Kate is so powerful she couldn’t even convince her husband to save her parents from bankruptcy.
She knows plenty of William’s secrets but if she reveals them she will have no power at all. And William probably has plenty of dirt on her. It’s a pact of mutually assured destruction.
Kate doesn’t have the power to stop a divorce if that is what William wants. It doesn’t matter what she knows, it’s probably not that much.
Ugh, the soft bigotry of mediocre white woman expectations!
Kate’s only real accomplishments are a) being anorexically thin and b) being the anti-Diana: no preferences, no passions, no real identity, no actual desires or opinions. She follows orders and has always done exactly what she’s told by The Firm. You only succeed in that world by flattening yourself and having no soul.
Except work hard. The queen kept telling her to work more and she refused. William took the queens side and that just caused arguments between Kate and William.
Would William truly consider divorcing Kate, before he is King?
His entire public brand is FK, family man, duty.
Would the Firm be able to spin 2 divorced future Kings in succession and still keep the doors open?
Diana was beloved in her time, damn near has reached Sainthood since her passing.
Kate has never had the level of public adoration of Diana, not even close.
William can easily distance himself from her, publicly. Without an actual divorce.
Royalty and wealthy men do as they please, rules do not apply.
Most of them are clever enough to keep the side pieces under cover.
Of course, William could wait until George is 18, then divorce Kate bc George as FFK would be of legal age, bye Kate.
You never know, the full hate campaign might be coming when they divorce just to keep her in her place. I’m sure the Palace has files on each married-in members of the family just to humiliate them when they need to.