This is the current cover of Hello Magazine. First of all, why did Hello use a photo which is at least eight years old for their cover??? Secondly, “taking time out” from what, exactly? Prince William and Kate have already been on vacation for more than a month, and before their summer break, they had already taken several vacations to their favorite borrowed ski chalet. Even when they’re not on vacation, they’re barely working. And we just learned they’re getting yet another mansion, another “forever home” to go along with all of the other forever homes they’ve accumulated. As it turns out, Hello’s cover story is all about how William and Kate are going to pop into Scotland for a few days this month.
The Prince of Wales enjoyed happy summers at Balmoral when he was a boy, and as the school holidays continue, he and his wife the Princess are preparing to take their own children for a family break in the beautiful surroundings of this historic royal residence.
William and Kate will join the King at his Aberdeenshire retreat, where Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, ten, and Prince Louis, seven, can enjoy the same open spaces and outdoor pursuits that their father did, such as long walks, deer stalking and fishing.
The Waleses will join the King and Queen, who have headed to Scotland after a busy year of official engagements at home and abroad. In an annual tradition started by his great great-great grandmother Queen Victoria and continued by his late mother, Elizabeth II, His Majesty is spending this month at his Highlands bolthole, where he will host various members of his family.
For the Waleses, who visited Europe earlier in the school holidays, the trip will enable them to relax in privacy and spend precious time with the King, who relishes being with his grandchildren. “Grandpa Wales”, as the youngsters named him when he was still the Prince of Wales, will almost certainly take the children on nature walks around the estate.
Even when QEII was alive, William and Kate never lingered in Balmoral for more than three days or so. It’s the same now that Charles is king – they really just put in a quick appearance for the sake of saying they checked that box, then they’re out. And I honestly don’t even believe that they’ll continue to do that for much longer. William and Kate have learned that they don’t even have to do the bare minimum to get what they want. They’re not even half-in, half-out. It’s like 90% out/10% in.
Speaking of, the Daily Mail has been on the warpath (relatively speaking) about the Wales fam’s move to Forest Lodge. The Mail did a lengthy breakdown of all three of William and Kate’s “forever homes”: Kensington Palace, Anmer Hall and now Forest Lodge. There’s no new information in this piece, but it’s fun to see it all laid out, especially the reminders of all of their promises that KP would be their forever home, no wait, Anmer Hall is their forever home, no wait, now it’s Forest Lodge. All of the hand-wringing about where William will live when he’s king is interesting too, because I feel certain that the minute Charles dies, William will announce his new plans for new forever castles and forever palaces.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Hello.
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- Mull, Scotland, 29 April 2025: The Prince and Princess of Wales, known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay when in Scotland, with some Hebridean sheep, during their visit to a local croft on the west coast of Mull to learn about sustainable production and the hospitality industry on the islands.,Image: 993589503, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Robert Perry/Daily Mail Scotland/Avalon
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- Mull, Scotland, 30 April 2025: The Prince and Princess of Wales visiting Mull, Scotland the couple visited the Ardura Community Forest. On the second day of their visit to the Scottish Isles, The Duke and Duchess will meet the Countryside Rangers from the Mull and Iona Ranger Service at the Ardura Community Forest to highlight the importance of protecting and championing the natural environment. The Mull and Iona Ranger Service plays a vital role in conservation, biodiversity protection, visitor management and education on the islands. Countryside Rangers lead guided events for visitors and the resident community – regularly partnering with local primary schools to ensure that every child on the islands has the opportunity to experience the beautiful natural environment around them.,Image: 993844788, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ian Vogler/Avalon
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- (L-R) – King Charles III, Prince Louis, Prince William – The Prince of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Princess Catherine – The Princess of Wales watch the flypast on the balcony as part of The King’s Birthday Parade Celebration also known as ‘Trooping The Colour’ at Buckingham Palace, London, England, UK on Saturday 14 June, 2025.,Image: 1010940254, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- London, UK, 14 June 2025. The Royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at the end of the King’s Birthday Parade, Trooping The Colour, Buckingham Palace, London, UK.,Image: 1010943784, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Lee Floyd/Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales and former Mayor of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg attend the “Leading with Impact” event, as part of London Climate Action Week, at Bloomberg headquarters in London, Britain, June 24, 2025.,Image: 1014472485, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: – Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red/Avalon
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to the RHS’s Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital in Essex. The visit coincides with the donation of 50 Catherine’s Rose plants, named after the princess by the RHS with funds from sales going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Picture date: Wednesday July 2, 2025.,Image: 1017655843, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stefan Rousseau/Avalon
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to the RHS’s Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital in Essex. The visit coincides with the donation of 50 Catherine’s Rose plants, named after the princess by the RHS with funds from sales going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Picture date: Wednesday July 2, 2025. PA Photo.,Image: 1017656825, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stefan Rousseau/Avalon
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- HRH The Princess of Wales, Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, with Sally Bolton OBE, AELTC Chief Executive, at the prizegiving ceremony after the match between Jannik Sinner (ITA) and Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) in the final of the Gentlemen’s Singles on Centre Court at The Championships 2025. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 14 Sunday 13/07/2025.,Image: 1021812782, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NB: Fees charged by Avalon are for Avalon’s services only, and do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright or License in the material., Model Release: no, Credit line: AELTC/Joel Marklund/Avalon
That message they had a staffer use AI to write and post must have tired them out! Poor sausages
When. WHEN will the monarchists tire of the constant vacations and “time outs”. Ever hear of “earn your keep” William and Kate? Another old phrase from Grandma; “when much has been given, much is expected.” Your supporters are dwindling and doubting your worth.
So much so that they need another vacation!
They forgot to mention William’s forth house, Tam-na-ghar on the grounds of Balmoral.
Given what Tom Sykes revealed about the what’s app ground and BP’s threats over the leak of Charles’ funeral plans, and what the Mail reported this week about what KP did to it about its reporting and asking for comment on the Wales’ move, I can only imagine what the KP threats regarding the Greek yacht and the new house look and looked like.
Holy Photoshop!!!
This couple becomes more dishonest and loathsome by the minute.
Slightly off-topic but I’ve always wondered if the Wales coordinate the days they go with other family members. So that the kids can play with their Tindall and Phillips cousins while there. Idk that would seem more fun to me if I was a kid. Seems like a waste if they don’t do that.
Anyways, once William is king he’s going to inherit all the properties and castles. He can live wherever forever really. Which is why all this forever home pr is just asinine and always has been. It’s cover for spending tax-money on renovations near constantly. But the Sussexes at FC renovating the former servants quarters and how dare they, amirite?
I would think so, although the Tindall’s and Peter and his kids probably stay a little longer. They seem to get along together well and it probably eases some of the strain when more people are around adults and children, so that they don’t have to focus on each other and their kids aren’t constantly caught in the middle.
I have to say though it’s interesting how they frame these stories as if they’re just quick vacations and not part of a longer overall months long vacation. They are writing it like they packed their kids into the minivan for the week to drive to Grandpa’s lakeside cabin, and not like they have decided since their kids are out of school for the entire summer they will be off of work as well.
It also gets punctuated between summer videos and FB games that make it seem like they’re doing actual work over the summer. Imagine if they wrote out how long they have been on vacation for, the actual number of days of vacation in every single article, similar to how they do with the number of bathrooms in the Montecito home.
As they got older, the children make friends of their own and perhaps go on vacation trips with them. And don’t stay at Balmoral.
“Balmoral is somewhere they can just be normal people for a while.” Must have been terribly stilted and uncomfortable lounging on the yach— Hmm. No that can’t be it. Maybe in the ski chalet? Probably not. Who are these normal people? I want to be a normal person too. Where can I sign up to be one of these magical normal people?
And those poor, poor children. What will become of these tortured children???
Someone who insists on everyone else calling him “sir” doesn’t want to be like normal people.
I wonder when the kids started realizing that all the articles written about their parents were fiction & that they had to be complicit in the lies of performing “happy families” on stage. I can’t imagine Willie & Kate can stop their kids from being online or reading the rubbish on social media. And I’m sure they’ve witnessed the fights between their parents.
Huevo and Jason give off SUCH couple vibes in that picture. Even more than the Hello cover of his actual wife.
William’s body is turned toward Jason. … He should just come out as bi or whatever. I might even like him a smidge if he did (but only a smidge).
Birth order, such a silly method of choosing a head of State.
That cover from their trip to India only reminds us how bad Kate’s hair looks now and I guess she hasn’t had the blepharoplasty yet.
It’s hard to figure out the work on Kate’s face because she was still doing the horrid Middleton eyeliner in that old photo. Kate, Pippa and Carole all wore it and it looked cheap and unflattering. Terribly aging too.
The surgery relates to lifting up the eyelids more to make them less droopy. The eyeliner was an issue, but she still had heavier lids in this photo.
The surprised look we see from her now is partly because of the surgery, along with the drugs she’s on and the extreme weight loss in her face.
It was tattooed eyeliner. That’s why it looked so heavy and unchanging.
It probably faded somewhat over time and there are also treatments that can remove the ink.
It did look very cheap. I’ve had my eyebrows done and they look very natural. But even the best eyeliner work doesn’t look great to me. And the Middletons had cut rate work done and it showed.
I suspect if William could, he’d skip Balmoral just as Harry used to do. I don’t think he has much love for the place but the press expects him to be there so he and the family fly up there.
Going to Balmoral must bring back terrible memories for Harry and even Willnot, as it’s where they learned of Diana’s death.
“deer stalking” aka hunting and shooting deer. That will go down well with some Brits.
wherever they are , they are not in the same place imo. I doubt they are at Balmoral.
I find it revealing that we were given NO explanation for why they ducked any VJ event on Friday. Were they on holiday abroad again? Why was it none of our business that neither deigned to be physically present at any event? Instead we are told that they are orf to Balmoral for another break? Where were they last Friday is what I would like to know!
What fascinates me about this national Rorschach test — coverage of the royals being the ultimate case of perception management, let’s just call it propaganda — is that the media in the UK exhibits signs akin to the coded signals of a hostage blinking messages in morse code in a proof of life video when they’re required to remain mute. “Help me”, that is, dash dot dot, dot, dash, etc. “taking time out”, to me, reads as taking time out from their marriage. That’s what couples say, isn’t it? “We’re taking time out.” Or time off. But time off reads as a holiday from work. Taking time out suggests something more than a holiday is afoot. In other words, it’s not about work. That’s just my take. The media — and advertising agencies, frequently — use subliminal suggestion in precisely this way, in a kind of light-touch coaching, to prepare the ground for an announcement which will be unpopular. They drop breadcrumbs.
@Parkrunmum there were heavy hints in the Times article about Kate no longer faking her role that the marriage is coming to an end. There has been much discussion online Rose, pegging, Kate gate so I doubt an announcement about separation/ divorce would be that shocking. However, the faithful and the Fail readership in particular are going to be shocked because of the perfect family image and investment in Will having the happy marriage denied to his mother. An intelligent historian of my acquaintance firmly believes that Will is devoted to Kate because of how happy they always look together?! It will be interesting to see if the Fail starts to prepare it’s readership for some conscious uncoupling.
That historian should focus on the past because the visual evidence and current actions of William show anything but devotion. Throwing her under the bus for the kill notice photo being one obvious example.
William is devoted to having a perfect family image. But he does not actually care about the woman he married.
Well. I’d argue for the historian look to the videos more than the photos. it’s very easy to turn looking vaguely at each other into a festive glance for a photo but when a 20m long video of an event shows little to no interaction the vibe is very different.
” …. where Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, ten, and Prince Louis, seven, can enjoy the same open spaces and outdoor pursuits that their father did, such as long walks, deer stalking and fishing.”
Ah, yes, just what normal kids enjoy in the summer: deer stalking.
This edition must have gone to press before the VJ commemorations. It will be, ahem, interesting to see how Hello reports on that next week. Because if the Waleses are at Balmoral, what excuse can there be for not attending a VJ commemoration in that neck of the woods? I don’t necessarily mean the ceremony at Edinburgh Castle which Edward and Sophie attended. There must be any number of smaller VJ events which the Waleses could have graced with their presence, probably less demanding on the children that the official ceremony which KC3 attended. This would have been such an easy win – William and Kate gently introduce their children to royal duties and they boost the morale of WWII veterans who weren’t up to travelling down south to the national commemorations. How could they have missed that?
Unless, of course, they’re still on the yacht off Kefalonia.
If they were in Scotland right now they could have found a VJ ceremony in Edinburgh to attend.
They aren’t in the country or at least definitely weren’t for the VJ Day services around the UK.
The UK media should maybe do their jobs and stop covering for these lazy rich brats.
But VJ Day remembrance doesn’t bring joy!
I had to laugh at the “grandpa wales will certainly take the children on nature walks”. Really? Then why does that remind me of the scene in the Godfather when Vito keels over in the tomato garden with his grandson?
So, “privacy” is OK for Bill & Cathy, but not OK for Meghan and Harry, even thought they never ONCE said that “wanted privacy,” but rather just didn’t want the media printing lies about them? Got it.
As one normal person to many, I sure wish I had as much free time off from work as these two do to “just be normal.”
I love the Mail snarkiness on this issue. They also keep saying ‚forever home‘ with the ‚‘. This time even in the title again. To be honest I don’t even begrudge them the three homes. Anmer was always thought of as a country seat, it is clear they did need a London residence and I understand with little children that you realize that you want something else than a home in the midst of a big city for them at one point. Happened to me as well, insisted on an apartment more or less central in a capital while pregnant and now with a little child I am yearning for something less noisy, less polluted, less crazy, more in nature. I just lack the 16 million to move away 😉 . But sure if I had their funds, I would have a nice appartment in town, something nice close to town to permanently live and then something nice for weekends and vacation. I find it inherently wrong that William and Charles can spend the income of the Duchies as they want. They should belong to the people, but it seems the people is still fine with it. So if you want a monarchy, then I guess monarch and heir being rich enough to have several houses is par for the course. What I do find plain stupid is the communication: how can you be so stupid to call this ‚forever home‘ again, after you already called KP that or even say that you intend to stay there forever. Just say that you realized as the kids got older that more room would be good or don’t comment at all. And even more stupid this narrative of the house as a way to get over emotional hardship, my god. Please get a good comms team finally. Just own it. People know you are rich. People know you can afford a big house. The houses don’t make me angry what makes me angry is the total lack of work. If you want the privileges of being a royal you also have to accept the duties, or so I thought was the deal. Their incredible laziness is incredible. And I just don’t understand that no British paper addresses it. Understand it for the conservative press and the tabloids, but what about Guardian?
More like taking time out from vacation to go to the obligatory Balmoral stint. Thinking ahead to Christmas, I could almost bet that the Waleses will be too busy adjusting to their new home in Windsor to do the obligatory Christmas walk. They could count the Westminster carol concert as their Christmas appearance. Gradually, there will be no remnants of the late Queen’s reign under William. Obviously William does not consider being seen important; not when he and Kate can just zoom, or spend a day doing enough video for the year.