Poor, tired, barfy Duchess Kate is so tired and barfy. She’s so tired and barfy that she needs her mom around her all of the time, to the point where Carole Middleton has pretty much moved into Kensington Palace to take care of Kate. But Kate is not too tired and barfy to show up at sports events and receive standing ovations, or to sip soda at a Christmas lunch for her 27 staffers. So… at this point, Duchess Kate’s morning sickness is a mixed bag. So barfy, so tired, so sympathetic! So Kate’s grandmother-in-law (also known as THE QUEEN) is taking the unprecedented move of inviting Kate’s parents to Sandringham for the holidays. WHAT THE WHAT?
Talk about an offer you can’t refuse! In an unprecedented move, Queen Elizabeth II has extended an invitation to Kate Middleton’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, to be the first-ever non-royals to join her family’s annual Christmas gathering at the Sandringham Estate. The bid breaks with decades of tradition, since the celebration until now has been an exclusively royal affair.
As the new issue of Us Weekly reveals, Her Royal Highness hopes that the generous overture will encourage Prince William’s pregnant wife to partake in the festivities “despite this difficult time.”
The “difficult time,” of course, refers to Middleton’s struggles with hyperemesis gravidarum, an acute form of morning sickness. The Duchess, 30, was hospitalized with the condition earlier this month and has since been forced to bow out of several planned engagements as she recovers at home.
That said, the royal mom-to-be has been feeling increasingly healthier in recent days. On Dec. 16, she attended the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards — her first official public appearance since announcing her pregnancy — where she told former soccer player Gary Lineker she was feeling “very well.” Two days later, she and her husband, also 30, hosted a low-key holiday lunch for 27 members of their staff at the Bumpkin restaurant in London’s Notting Hill neighborhood.
Still, insiders tell Us that the Duchess is taking her schedule day by day and won’t finalize Christmas plans “until the night before or the morning of. It depends [on] how she feels,” an aide says. “And if Catherine doesn’t go, William probably won’t either.”
Kate certainly worked this to her advantage! Although I do think it’s funny that the Queen was very specific about which Middletons got an invitation – the Queen could have said, “Sure, Kate, it’s no problem if you invite your FAMILY.” The Queen was specific – she can only invite her parents, not her siblings. Pippa’s ass of lies is not welcome in the Queen’s residence. Once was enough (Buckingham Palace, the wedding). I do think it would be interesting if – despite the Queen’s offer to include her parents – Kate still decided that she would rather spend the holidays with her whole family in Berkshire. It would be great because… I bet she really does want to be there and not at some stuffy royal Christmas. And it would be great because the Queen really should change up her Christmas rules. I’m not saying that everybody’s extended family needs to get an invite, but the Queen should definitely make more allowances for married royals who want to also spend some of their holidays with their in-laws. The royal family: awkwardly balancing dueling holidays celebrations, just like us!
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Carole Middleton looks over botoxed.
Haha I agree, overdone but maybe it’s the way she’s titling her head. I agree with Kaiser who wants to spend Christmas with that stuffy old Queen. It’s time to celebrate the holidays!
I love how the girls got the eyeliner thing from Mama. Can’t wait to see this Christmas picture!
Huh, I guess the Queen doesn’t like Pippa much?
Seriously. So, who is Pippa supposed to spend the holidays with? “Kate, your whole family can come to Christmas…except your sister.” So, while Kate and the parents sip on tea and laugh by the tree with the queen, Pippa sits in her empty apartment alone, sobbing quietly? Dick move, Queen Elizabeth. Either invite all of them or none of them- taking *almost* all of the family and leaving the unmarried sister out is kind of cruel.
Pips can spend it with her brother, who also was left off the guest list.
Beat me to it
IKR? I pretty much think Pippa is a twit but the Queen should get off of her high horse already. I’m thinking there’s enough space at the table and food to go around at the whichever palace this is. I think it’s rude, actually. Royal stuffiness and protocol is absurd.
Her parents should turn down the offer, what about their other kids? I don’t care if I”m 90, if my parents left me on Christmas/Hannuka/Passover/Easter whatever you celebrate, I would be pretty upset.
her brother and creepy uncle gary – he’ll supply the drugs and prostitutes as usual.
can I just say that the blue is very striking on the Queen, and she looks lovely.
and the only other thing I can comment on is “Pippa’s ass of lies” I snorted so hard at that I think snot went to my tummy.. (I will not apologize for the overshare)
I think it’s an important step. Kate is a “commoner” married to the future king. It would look pretty nasty if the official Royal attitude was “sure, your taxes can pay our salary but you can’t step foot in our Royal Christmas party.” Reaching out to Kate’s family is a good PR move.
NOT inviting in laws is nothing to do with Kate being a commoner, even Diana’s family were not invited when she was alive and still part of the family. Queen only have her immediate family with her, that’s rule. Its her children, grandchildren, their spouses and sister’s family, not even other royals like her cousins and their families are not invited.
This is us tabloid and I don’t think it is true, anyway we will find out soon.
I can see the Queen’s point. It is an honor to be invited to marry into the royal family — and you know part of the deal is giving up whatever individual identity you once had, so get over your notions about spending holidays with your own family. You’re lucky they didn’t do a virginity test on you.
Not saying I agree, just saying I can see the Queen’s POV.
I don’t think its fair to call her a liar over her hg. It’s something managed with medication, possibly. My doctor offered it to me if my nausea got bad. She said it works extremely well.
As someone who is 6 months pregnant, soft drinks also made me immediately think ginger ale. I was glued to it for 4 months.
I think her mom will ditch the rest of the fam to do Christmas with the queen. Social climber! But also guessing kate and william will take off with her fam right after.
She has a base level of knowledge and has formed an opinion about it.
Kate hasn’t been one to have honest pr statements.
This comment was for a post that got deleted. kinda out of context now on it’s own
The queen plays everything well that i’m aware of. She’s smart enough that i’m sure she knows what she’s doing with the invite. Doesn’t seem too suspicious at all.
How old is the queen 100 she looks like it.
she was born in 1926, I’m embarrassed I know that…
How old are you dcypher 13 you sound like it.
I’ve been wondering if Kate’s HG diagnosis was PR too. From the stories told on here in the last 2 weeks, it’s not something you bounce back from easily & can be triggered by anything, even the air.
That said…I’d be shocked if Carole Middleton turned down a trip to Sandringham, her other children be damned. She worked hard to get Kate in this position. No way is she going to miss out on this opportunity.
I read the Queen invited them for Boxing Day, not actually Christmas.
If I were a non royal inlaw, I’d be mightily annoyed, especially if there were grandchildren involved. Why do the Middletons get to go and they don’t?
I read the same story. It makes more sense too, that way Prince William (the Queen’s favorite grandchild too it has been said) can enjoy a hunt with his father and brother fresh back from Afghanistan. Possibly one of the last Christmases with their grandfather whose health is failing and Kate won’t have to travel anywhere after Christmas her parents are invited to drive up and entertain her royal barfness.
Don’t worry Pippa likely already got herself an invite to the Percy’s for Boxing Day. But really Kate should just make her lady in waiting already. She needs a companion beside just the dog.
If spending time with HM is an indicator of favourite grandchild, that distinction would not fall on PW who hardly spends any time with the RF.
Also, Harry is coming back in January, not December.
i always heard it was zara that was the queen’s favorite, not william
Having known individuals with the condition; it doesn’t mean that a woman has to be bedridden the entire 9 months of her pregnancy and she can (gasp) have a soda with friends, and even attend public functions. It’s called meds.
My best friend is a doctor and also is pregnant. She says that hyperemesis gravidarum is the medical term for ANY morning sickness. It is usually used to describe extreme cases but can be applied to any morning sickness that occurs during pregnancy. So it’s not a lie, but Kate probably isn’t in the rarest less than 2% of worst cases or she probably would not be out and about at all.
Thanks for the information. So…Firm PR is not lying, but probably exaggerating Kate’s condition.
That’s not entirely true. In Canada, the medical term for morning sickness is NVP (nausea and vomiting due to pregnancy). We only call it HG when it is severe. Because Britain and Canada have very similar medical systems etc., medical training etc., if the Brit docs are saying she has HG, she probably does not have your run-of-the-mill morning sickness (otherwise, they’d just call it NVP). Poor girl is probably really sick.
I appreciate the fact check. Also love it when people assume her doctors are ignorant or lying.
Thanks for explaining it the way I wish I could. My first language being a cross between greek and and norse (thanks mom and dad) makes it hard for me to explain in typing form, but you’ve said it all.
It was exaggerating. And women who have experienced it automatically connect and sympathise with her. a brillant pr move, but trivialises the condition. Being able to recover in time to see David Beckham is bs. Since a woman’s sense of smell is heightened she would want to throw up with every hair product there.
and Pippa and James spend the holidays with ???
The closest example would be family members of Camilla, because Charles and William are future sovereigns. Her parents were likely already gone and if her children were grown, there was no reason to invite them. So this is the first time that the issue has arisen. And really, it wasn’t Kate’s family, it was her parents. Because the siblings are grown, it seems reasonable to leave them out.
I heard it was a Boxing Day invitation, which I think is a very nice thing to do, and doesn’t leave the other kids alone on Christmas. I think the Queen has learned the lesson of Diana in a lot of ways and is making more of an effort.
And how great does that blue jacket look on the Queen?
I doubt that the Queen was a very good mother, probably caught between generations in a lot of ways, but she’s a tough old broad, and I like a tough old broad.
I wonder if the Middletons will get invited to Xmas service? That’ll really set the cat among the pigeons.
If it’s just for Boxing Day; sort of OK then. But what an insult it would be for the other families of “married-in” royals if the Middleton’s got special treatment. Was Sophie’s father invited for Boxing Day? The Tindall family, Autumn’s family?
Such a delicate flower, our Katie Kambridge is. Carole has a lot riding on this baby.
I like that Sophie’s father is always invited.
We never hear anything about the Tindalls or even Autumn’s family. If they’re gonna invite the Middletrash, they should invite everyone else too. It seems only fair right?
Slight non truth here regarding this being first time the Queen has invited a non royal to Christmas. The Queen is very close to Christopher Rhys-Jones i.e. father of her daughter in law Sophie, Countess of Wessex. He gets invited to this every year. Last year when Prince Philip was in hospital he even traveled with her in her carriage to many events such as this.
So this isn’t that unusual.
That picture of the Queen really makes me miss my Grandma. Who was the most wonderful person ever!
I never realized how much they looked alike. Or would have, rather, if the Queen traded her handbag for a mixing spoon, put a hairpin in that one curl that didn’t curl, shoved a tissue in her watchband, and donned an apron. I miss you Grandma.
Awww, That’s really sweet. Made me smile. 🙂
Awwww. You’ve made me all teary, and missing my granny too.
First, it’s the least the royal family can do. Kate is the only woman William dated who was willing to sacrifice her life, friends, identity, family, opinions, and personality to become his doormat. As a result, we never see Kate with friends, and I don’t think the rest of the royal family likes or respects her. Her own family is all she has left. So even though it’s pathetic that a 30-year old woman is so dependent on her mother, in this case, it’s not hard to see why. This is the LEAST the royal family can do to throw her a bone.
Second, I never thought the Queen was really a nice person. I respect her because I think she’s a hard worker who wants to give back to her country, but that isn’t the same as being “nice.” (It also means I think she’s very controlling, and I suspect Charles, Camilla, William, and Kate are just waiting with bated breath for the Queen to die so they can be out from under her thumb).
In this case, I’d say it’s the Queen who played her cards well. She gets the public “credit” of being accommodating to poor spoiled and immature Kate and her dependence on her common family, while reminding them that she’s still in control. Want the honor of dining with the Queen? Then forget about the rest of your family, they don’t count anyway. Think Kate’s mother would insist the family stay together and turn the invite down? Nope, neither do I.
Well played by the Queen.
I’d pay an arm and a leg to hear what no-nonsense, sharp-tongued Princess Anne has to say about Waity. And Prince Philip too. Those two seem to have no filters whatsoever!
What exactly is Boxing Day? Are you supposed to box up all of your Christmas Decorations on that day? I’m sure it doesn’t mean a day that you get to box those family members you don’t like for the crazy unwanted gifts they gave you, lol! Everyone to the boxing ring, now!
ha ha we wish! a day like that needs to be factored in to the 12days of christmas.
traditionally boxing day was the day the servants/employees received food parcels from their employers/masters ie the christmas box.
we just get holiday out of it now.
Seems to be mainly commonwealth and some European countries that have it.
LAK, I decided to take you on yesterday in the prior Kate thread about Kate and the commoner thing, and I had a blistering commentary almost done, and our bloody power went out!
Lol. Anything i could counter on this forum??
I’m not fired up any more. It would be hard, she whines.
From Wikipedia: In the UK, it was a custom for tradesmen to collect “Christmas boxes” of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year. This is mentioned in Samuel Pepys’ diary entry for 19 December 1663. This custom is linked to an older English tradition: Since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts and bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.
Festivus for the rest of us!!
Best thing about Christmas is the food.
The tree!!
I want the queen’s handbag. Hat doesnthat say about my style?
It says you have exquisite taste. 🙂 I love HM’s bags. I want one.
If you feel like splurging, this is the Queen’s handbag maker, and this is the style she favours.
http://launer.com/traviata-handbag-en-2-3.html
That is one gorgeous bag. I like the other one the queen carries too. Lydia or Olympia. Gorgeous, gorgeous bags.
How does Catherine = Kate. Why not Cate?