While it’s difficult to extend any sympathy to either side of this particular equation, it’s sort of hilariously pathetic how everyone halfway acknowledges the scam. Last week, the Princess of Wales was sent to Italy, specifically because the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to travel and conduct their international tours with great success. Kate’s two-day Italian visit was devoid of substance, and seemingly set up purely for the optics of “a princess went vroom on a plane and took photos with children!” The royal reporters know this and come close to openly acknowledging it. But still, this is all they’ve got. They’re stuck with the sorry task of embiggening Kate and her meager busywork. Some highlights from Roya Nikkhah’s “An energised Princess of Wales back in action is just what the monarchy needs right now.”

What the monarchy needs now. Wholesome images of the princess making pasta, crouching down to introduce herself to children as “Caterina” and nattering away in Italian learnt in Florence on her gap year were the perfect antidote to months of unwholesome news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his unwholesome friends.

3000 people came out to see Kate: That she still doesn’t take her popularity for granted is refreshing in a family whose “principals” are acclimatised to flummery. Let’s be honest: most of the crowds were not there to understand the science of prioritising a child’s early years. They were there because Kate is box office wherever she goes. After the recent royal scandals, that is important.

Whacks for the Early Years: Not everyone is transfixed by Kate’s early years mission to focus minds on how and why a child’s first five years can shape the rest of their life and to share the science and best practice far and wide. There are plenty of naysayers who question whether it all cuts through during a cost of living crisis, when many families are struggling just to make ends meet. Others think it’s all too “safe”. Why, some ask, doesn’t this Princess of Wales pick up the mantle of the most famous woman in the world to have held the title? Why isn’t Kate a bid edgier, a bit more like Diana, who campaigned to raise awareness of HIV and Aids?

Kate doesn’t want to be edgy: To pose those questions is to fundamentally misunderstand this princess, who has never been, and doesn’t want to be, edgy. Kate wants to be authentic. She wants to pursue what she really cares about. And, boy, does she care about giving children the best chance in life in their first five years. Over two days in Italy she listened intently to children, teachers, practitioners and scientists and spoke passionately about her eagerness to learn more and spread the word. I joined her for a long afternoon of learning at the Loris Malaguzzi centre, a hub for the Reggio Emilia approach. I’ll admit that as Kate rolled up her sleeves and got stuck into a clay workshop, I may have briefly glanced at my watch. But as she left the centre more than an hour and a half later, she told her hosts: “I wish I could stay longer.”

Kate is determined to do it her way. Her closest aides say the princess is “allergic to advice on a PR basis” and will “never do something because she thinks the media will like it”. Her dedication to her early years work shows her sticking to her guns. Some like it; some don’t. Despite what many people assume, Kate doesn’t feel she needs to please everyone all the time.
Kensington Palace told me the princess returned from Italy feeling optimistic about this work. She “hopes to help convene a more international dialogue around the development of the whole child and encourage greater collaboration between researchers, educators, communities and leaders across the world”.

[From The Times]

I will never understand why anyone (Kate, royalists, the press) thinks being “allergic to advice on a PR basis” is a good thing, especially given Kate and William’s record as lazy 40-something bums. Their whole JOBS should be PR, soft diplomacy, optics. They’ve staggered from PR crisis to PR crisis for years, and the only reason they haven’t been called out for it is because they’re coddled by their clownish advisors and the sycophantic press. Being “allergic to advice” is not a flex, I’m just saying. As for Roya’s sneaky criticism of Kate and her Early Years BS… as I said, no one is a believer, not even Kate. If Kate took advice, and if she had advisors worth a damn, they would have told her to stop yammering and jazz-handing years ago. She should simply find some good children’s charities and become a patron. She wastes all of this time, money and energy on being keen, centering herself and providing photo-ops for a bored press… when she could be ensuring the funding of nursery schools and daycare centers and doing actual work to improve the lives of children.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.