The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Barry Island in South Wales on Wednesday, in what I assume was a day-trip with the goal of highlighting “staycation” tourism within Britain and the gradually reopening British economy. Spain’s Queen Letizia and King Felipe also did an in-country tour to highlight the local economy and all they got was a spike in Spanish coronavirus cases. I assume that’s how it will be in the UK too – while I absolutely acknowledge the very real economic issues with the pandemic, I feel like people (and businesses) should be taking more precautions and to be SEEN taking more precautions. Like, a simple mask mandate. I guess South Wales doesn’t believe in mask mandates, because Will and Kate spent part of the day going indoors and outdoors, and they were unmasked for what looked like several hours. They were not social distancing either. Why is this so f–king hard??
As for the fashion, Kate rewore a pricey Emilia Wickstead number which I remember from one of Kate’s eleventy billion “Kate did a garden” events last year. For what it is – a well-tailored, covered-up floral dress – it’s nice enough, although for the price of £1,635, it should be a lot more than “nice enough.” Kate also dusted off those ugly wedges she loves so much. A note about Kate’s hair: it’s shorter and blonder than it was two weeks ago. I’m pretty convinced that she was wearing a too-red wig for that Tiny Happy People launch.
Anyway, in the coverage I saw of this event at the Mail, they went on and on about how the Cambridges visited Nessa’s Slots, which is “Gavin & Stacey’s slot machine arcade,” from the popular British show (which I’ve never seen). Turns out, William hasn’t seen the show either. Which… why did they even make a special trip to this arcade then? We all know that William doesn’t read his briefing papers, but it turns out he’s too lazy to watch a TV show connected to a place he’s about to visit.
After the Nessa’s Slots maskless appearance, Will and Kate did wear masks for a visit to the Shire Hall Care Home in Cardiff, where they were around seniors. One of the seniors apparently told Kate that she was “sh-tty” at calling out Bingo numbers. Kate repeated the Amaia mask she wore on Tuesday. She should have worn it throughout the day’s appearances.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Joan was hilarious! She asked if Kate was William’s assistant. Doesn’t she recognise a top CEO when she sees one. Welp! old people who have no chill are so funny.
Looked like a good engagement and as many commentators have been saying, the kind of bread& butter engagements they should be doing more of.
Wow clearly Joan hasn’t been following the sugar sites for the last decade to not even recognize Kate. Says a lot about her visibility that a senior, who would be smack in the middle of the audience they aim for, has no clue who she was.
But we all know kiki is his assistant , she runs behind him, he treats her like crap, make ugly faces when she us struggling to read her speeches , Kate has also made wills know he and his family are better than her
Somebody give Joan a Twitter account and I want her to roast the Queen!
@Alexandria
And her own tv show…
Yes joan saw through their BS
Well, William said he wished that everyone was as honest as Joan. Oh no he doesn’t, if everyone was honest Rosegate would be in the public domain as well as the KP smearing campaign against the Sussexes, which he gave his tacit blessing to.
LOL I love those shoes, and I absolutely love that dress. Everyone here would hate me in person. But I’m Gen X so I wouldn’t care because we don’t.
Ha I don’t mind the dress objectively. I hated it last year when she wore it because it was part of a garden event, and it just goes to her overall theme dressing. “Garden event! Must wear flowers!”
I love those shows and dress, too, but I’m a Boomer. And also don’t care. LOL.
I don’t hate the dress, but it’s crazy that it costs 1,600 because there is nothing special about it.
I’d actually wear the dress, it’s fresh and pretty in a prim sort of way. The shoes are awful. I’m not just criticizing Kate’s either. I find all espadrilles with an ankle tie awful. They cut the line of the leg and make the wearer look squat. Kate is a tall, slim lady so to make her legs look short is no mean feat. Her hair is gorgeous.👍
Kaiser, your photo placements are gold!!!!!!
No, it’s pointedly mean. If MM were treated in such a manner, there’d be a furor. PH is right about social media; it needs to be remade and foments hate.
I agree, they always make me pass out with laughter! 😭😭
I’m really ready for this fussy prints trend to die.
Me, too. I detest that print, there is no way in hell I’d be caught dead in that. The shoes don’t go with it at all. While I don’t care for those shoes, they would look much better with something linen. Kate can’t seem to put a simple outfit together. Her hair color looks terrible.
These people need to mask up, and do it NOW. They are in the position to lead by example, but they don’t — and that is why this pandemic is going to last much longer than it should. We have the same huge problem here in our country and it’s not only the MAGA crowd doing it, but ‘influencers’ are just as guilty. They are flying all over the place and putting others in harm’s way because they can’t be bothered wearing a mask. UGH.
Yes and defending it because Wales doesn’t have a mandate for it is not an excuse. The virus doesn’t care about the border and it will travel. There is a ton of evidence that shows that prevention only slows when everyone is wearing a mask, inside or not. The UK has one of the worst death rates per capita of covid and high infections rates and so they have done a shit job. Following the rules of a government that has done poorly is just dumb. It’s like going to Florida and pretending that their rules in place are adequate. They aren’t. Wear a mask.
All of the royals seem to be making a point of toeing the party line of the current administration – nevermind that the health advice being pushed by that administration is complete crap. My expectations of the BRF are pretty much nil. They don’t lead. They follow. They’re far too stupid to lead IMO
Not a fan of the dress but I’m not ready to burn it either, my issue as that I really don’t think the shoes go with it.
Just wanted to pick up about the comments about them not “leading” and “toeing the line of the administration”. That is absolutely their job! They are not our leaders. We did not elect them. They are representatives and they absolutely should toe the line of the elected administration! It is for our opposition politicians to take the points you raise. I’m not big fan of the royal family anyway, but if they started to step into issues that are the domain of our parliament, I’ll be calling for a republic, stat.
Anyone can wear a mask if they choose. No government requirement must be in place. Wearing a mask should never be a political statement.
I live in Missouri where each municipality has it’s own rules. I wear a mask because this is what doctors recommend regardless of where I am at the time. I also want to be a good role model for my grandson.
They decided not to send Charlotte to school when children her age were allowed so they certainly decide which government directives they choose to follow or not. They could choose to be extra cautious here as well, but they do not.
Being extra safe isn’t the sign of a republic but shows a belief in the science out there and makes things safer for everyone.
If I was able to travel to South Wales or if I lived there, I’d be looking at all these pictures of people inside not wearing masks and go “nope! Don’t want to go there!” so I’m not sure how well this whole “the U.K. is safe for tourism and holidays” tour is really going to work. The Spanish royal tour around Spain seems like it would be more effective, because everyone is wearing masks in all those pictures and are even more socially distances than the pictures from the U.K. I would feel somewhat more safe about going to any of the places that the Spanish royals are highlighting bc it looks like everyone is masked. But these non-masked pictures from the BRF make me want to just stay home and avoid any of those places like the plague.
Nic919, W&K frequently choose which ‘rules’ to follow and which to ignore, but shh don’t point it out.
It is like pointing out other royals have guest edited magazines while people are attacking Meghan for guest editing a magazine.
Or pointing out that Charles filed and won a copyright lawsuit against someone publishing his private letter – while people are busy attacking Meghan for filing a copyright lawsuit when someone published her private letter.
Re sarah – yeah I agree my main issue with the dress actually is the price 1600 for a day dress I literally the first time I looked at their dress prices I couldn’t believe it because it looks like something you could get from Marks & Spencer‘s or Jigsaw. but understand if it was like 100 to 200 but over 1000 is pushing it and taking the absolute mick.
Secondly I think the difference is that they should be setting a good example not that they should be implementing new rules for stepping into Parliament or anything. But I guess in a similar way like the older generation “the Queen being a car mechanic” and doing her “bit” is the same way these two should ‘lead’. Championing causes and promoting public decency without hesitation. Rather than Rushing in the last minute because they think their PR has ‘missed a spot’
That print is a dead ringer for the sort-of-seer-sucker bedspread I had when I was a very little girl decades ago. 🙄
That was my thought. It looks like a set of sheets from granny’s house in the 1970’s.
@Chaine
Now it’s coming back – flannel sheets at my Gramma’s house. I can smell the mustiness from here. LOL
I’m reminded of a line from a Debra Messing film, when she’s apologizing for the floral-on-floral-on-floral bedroom decor.
‘I went through a painfully earnest floral phase’
She dresses either too young or too old and needs to dump the pageant hair.
That dress… is…ugh. I’m sorry, but the granny’s nightgown print? Blergh. And wear a mask, you silly woman.
You nailed it.
Her hair looks like when we used to put Sun In or lemon juice in it during the Summer to get “highlights,” except when you’re a brunette it comes out orange. So amateur. The dress still looks like an old pillowcase, but it’s not nearly as bad as her skin. She really needs to stop tanning.
@ M-OMG, Sun-In 🤣🤣 I really thought I was the shite with a whole bottle in my mousy brown hair. It was not orange, not blonde, but YELLOW 1😶
The photos are hilarious. The type of lackadaisical approach is why the virus will continue to spike.
1950s school marm sh*t. Someone please make it stop.
I was thinking Sister-Wife but the same effect. Why doesn’t she ever dress appropriate to the occasion? It looks like a fun summer place and she looks so dowdy and formal. SMH
Yours is better. And oh my lord she must have 100 dresses all made from the same Simplicity pattern. Is she drunk all the time or what?
It’s interesting how she spent years with flirty little swingy hemlines above the knee that would blow up and now she has these very long ones (and given her height, they would be even longer on a woman of average height). The former was too young for her, but these are too old. Just get a dress that hits the middle of the knee, the most flattering length for most women.
She did those hemlines before Meghan. After Meghan, they would put her in a worse light due to all the flashing. So the alternative is lower hemlines to appear as the more mature and established royal (who would save the royal family!).
Alexandria is spot on.
Kate’s hemlines are looking a lot like Melania Trump’s hemlines.
I would never wear that dress but I am not her.
One interpretation is that Kate, like Nessa (Gavin & Stacey character for US commenters) wears what she wants and what she feels comfortable in rather than what is considered stylish or fashionable.
I really doubt she would have the guts to wear what she wants. She toes the party line hard this one.
… Except when there’s a certain other Duchess who’s more noticed for looking fresh and stylishly well put together. Then Kate makes an extra effort because it’s suddenly a competition.
I read too many comments on other sites that are like “Kate is so on trend with that micro-floral print/Little House on the Prairie dress/layer of ruffles/“bronde” hair/80’s poof sleeve,” to make me think she’s just dressing how she wants and ignoring the trends. Her style does change over time and does seem to attempt to include some trends (usually the worst ones in my opinion). So either she just styles everything so poorly and earnestly that she never actually looks fashionable or trendy in anything she wears, or people are attempting to come up with some excuse, any excuse for why what she’s wearing is “not something I’d ever wear, but it is super on trend right now!”
That third pic is everything. Kate’s hair looks terrible here. And her fashion is, as always, non existent.
I am still not over Emilia Wickstead’s shitty comments about MM’s wedding dress.
The dress was a clear interpretation of an archival Givenchy worn by Audrey Hepburn, right down to the seams and their placement. Wickstead wishes her pathetic knockoff looked anywhere as good.
Good article on the Wickstead gown matter with Diet Prada’s opinion of her designs *and* a nice dig at the Fail’s credibility. https://www.racked.com/2018/5/29/17405062/emilia-wickstead-meghan-markle-bridal-royal-wedding-dress
I’m surprised Meghan still wore her clothes after that.
She may have to show she had no hard feelings about Wickstead’s false claims.
Considering the financial gain EW gets from Meghan wearing her clothes, I don’t understand why she does it either. She’s clearly a bigger person than me.
How many times did she wear Wickstead after that? I only remember her wearing it once shortly after the apology.
She should really stick to wearing masks, the added benefit is that it would hide those manic smiles as well.
I won’t even pretend to know what the UK guidance is around preventing spread. I’m sure W&K are being the perfect representatives tho.. as always.
I have at least one idea for why Kate may not love wearing her mask… lets just say her smile is her best feature.
The mandate in the UK is to wear masks in shops, public transport and places of work. Outdoor spaces, restaurants, pubs and other recreational places are exempt from masks other than for staff, but you are required to be socially distanced. The social distance was also reduced to 1m+. The north of England has been particularly bad, so they’ve been put under a second lockdown, but as far as I’m aware Wales is still phasing out as planned. Whether this was the right call is a whole different matter.
That’s roughly what it is here, but the arcade would definitely count in my mind as a place to wear a mask. (and in my state, for restaurants, you’re supposed to use them as you’re walking about, approaching the host/ess, going to the restroom, etc, but you can take it off at your table.)
ETA to clarify what the mask mandate is here in my state in the US, not Wales.
Yes, they should have been wearing masks in the arcade. And where were the staff to clean the machine before and after W&K touched it, to make the point they are cleaning all surfaces constantly to make tourism safe.
Yep – the mask wearing is pretty consistent with government guidelines. I personally wear masks outside of the requirements of government guidelines and think the guidelines should be different but I can understand that W+K would have to represent the rules as they are, as that is part of their job.
Then they should have sent Charlotte to school to comply with the government guidelines but they decided to not follow that one. If they are picking and choosing what to follow based on being cautious for their child, it would be nice if they showed that consideration for the regular working people who they have to meet. They are in a position to be super spreaders during these visits.
This Nic919. Including William failing to wear masks or social distance for his indoor sports snafu last week (offensive jokes about people who work for a living) and other recent engagements. After his COVID-19 denials and jokes early on, plus Charles’s illness? Both he and Kate need to be showing abundance of PR and caution here.
Not even my great grandmother would have used that fabric for a bedspread, hell its enough for drapes even. For a chintz chair maybe. Maybe.
It’s awful. I genuinely don’t understand this trend. It looks like a throwback sofa. Hideous.
She looks like she is wearing wrapping paper.
Seriously, how do these dresses she wears cost two thousand dollars? You could whip them up an a home sewing machine in an afternoon.
There has to be a way to have a conservative look without these vintage wallpaper prints 😭 there’s no way she actually likes them, I refuse to believe.
Mrs Joan rightly called kiki wills assistant 😀😀😀😀😀 . But seriously kate really needs help with her dress sense cos her dresses r awful. She also looks miserable but I guess that’s what she wanted when she stalked n wore PWT down to marry her
She also needs help on how to behave appropriately in public cos her ugly grins, dead eyes, jazz hands etc makes her look stupid
I hate the print. It reminds me of the wallpaper in my grandmother’s house many moons ago. And I always hate unnecessary boob flaps (unnecessary in that it’s not an actual pocket and she’s never going to stick as much as a pen in there anyway). I don’t mind the wedges but she should (IMO) worn a pair without the obvious big bow tie on the leg. I’m surprised her pictures aren’t photoshopped halfway to Mars, but when we get used to her not being photoshopped to look 20 we’ll get used to it. That’s what I feel makes her ‘aging’ feel so dramatic and rough looking, we’ve been fed the filtered and smoothed images for a long time.
But at least they’re working?
Joan is the new Queen, sorry Camilla and Kate, lol. She called her an assistant AND told her she was sh*tty at calling bingo numbers. Some top CEO!
The mask wearing is weird to me because I feel like they wear them sometimes when I don’t think they are technically necessary – like the pictures where they are clearly outside and seem to be maintaining social distancing – but don’t wear them at other times, like in the arcade (why are NONE of the employees wearing a mask there?!?! Even if it has one open wall, its still pretty enclosed) and then not wearing one outside when they are with other people (like in the picture of Kate….doing something with her face and hair, lol.)
It’s good they’re finally wearing one sometimes, but it doesn’t seem they’re following the basic guidelines.
Every time I think I’ve seen the most unflattering Kate pics ever, something new pops up. Yikes! I don’t think this dress is the worst though, I kind of like the print. At least it’s not green. But it’s still too matronly for someone whose not even 40 yet.
The dress is mint blue/green.
My eyes were reading it as more of a pale blue in these pics. But I really hated those jarring bright green dress she wore in Ireland. Not a fan of those!
The curtain prints do her no favours. I feel like during the lockdown, her style has regressed.
It’s a horrible dress.
Kate’s color here is why I’m afraid to dye and highlight my hair
The videos of these outings are gold! Every time there is something to laugh about Kate turns to Will to get some kind of spousal contact/interaction and he NEVER acknowledges her. I don’t know if he has a pact with Rose that says he’ll do appearances with Kate but pretend she’s not there. That granny in the nursing home picked up Will’s vibe right away by thinking Kate was his staff person.
There is a clip of Wills throwing balls in some arcade game and he is hurling them and talking about getting out his frustration. Yeah, that incandescence is always right below the surface.
He’s pretended she wasn’t there for years. See the pic someone posted the other day, of him ignoring her in the rain leaving the Jubilee flotilla boat. Harry had to call him out and get him to return to the boat for Kate.
Just like at the BAFTA’s during Brad Pitt’s speech and that harry joke. She looked at him to see if she was allowed to laugh, like she doesn’t know her own mind. I think everytime they appear in public together, as soon as they are in the car and away from photographers, he gives her hell over every little thing she did wrong.
I noticed the interaction between them. As usual poor Kate was glancing at William, trying to catch his eye, and he as always ignores her. Now Harry and Meghan have gone, all the hand holding and touching from William has stopped.
And the obligatory picture of the staff in a semi-circle around them so they get their faces in the center of the photo.
Summer in UK is so different than US, but is this not the type of place where everyone wears shorts?
I love Gavin and Stacy, so imagining that crew’s reaction to meeting Wills and Kate is hilarious to me. Nessa would probably have a story about how she hooked up with Charles when he did his studies there.
Gavin and Stacy is great COVID viewing. An adorable love story and a reminder of what it was like to go outside and be around other people.
Gavin and Stacy is great COVID viewing. An adorable love story and a reminder of what it was like to go outside and be around other people.
SHe should have kept the mask on. that mugging is annoying. These two are so ridiculous.
Willnot looks like such a DudeBro in these photos. Ick
That perky “loving” look she gives William while he’s expounding on something looks ridiculous.
I hope the press uses that picture (a lot) of the couple where he’s pointing at something pursing his lips and she tosses her hair around all excited over William. How embarrassing.
So immature and needy.
Haha. That icon pic to this artcile, Kate looks like a crackhead. Hey KP why dont you post that one, lol.
Is William trying to make that baby blue his signature colour, he’s always wearing some kind of variation to it.
Their masklessness indoors just stuns me. His father was sick with COVID! They have young kids at home! They’re traveling! I can’t even begin to understand the mindset of people who aren’t more concerned about catching the virus to spreading it to loved ones.
“eleventy billion” 😆😆😆😆😆
Jane and Peter? Gill Sims?
I can’t believe she paid that much for that dress. I don’t care that it’s a repeat. It’s so plain Jane. Her hair is amusing to me. What’s with the blonde…no red…no brown? I mean…pick a color and stick to it. Baldy needs to be careful. He looks quite red in a lot of these pics. How much sun did he get in Wales? As for them not wearing masks, what more can be said. They are dumb for not protecting themselves around all those people. But they don’t care, so I don’t.
That dress is horrible. I like some prints–for sheets maybe but not to wear!
She’s wearing an Emma Bridgewater shower curtain. £1600+ of it. This horrible pair are so symptomatic of the malaise afflicting the UK. They’re vain, apathetic, over-confident, underprepared and as light on brains as Bloody Stupid Johnson. I resent having to pay for all of them to stay in place. Ship them all off to Svalbard and give us a republic and a Labour government, for heaven’s sake.
How old is she, really?
A question for the ages. I know her birth certificate was public but I can’t find it in me to believe that she’s the age she’s meant to be. So weird. Even William looks his age, with the balding and all.
Her hair is entirely too brassy, and needs a toner, at least in the close up pics. Why her hairdresser would lift her to the red/gold stage, and leave her like that, is beyond me, unless Kate pissed her/him off.
Why are her dresses getting longer and longer? Saw recent photo in white tennis shoes with dress almost to floor. Not a good daytime look. Purpose?
Honestly, it doesn’t matter what designer she wears, they all look the same. She looks lovely, no doubt, but so predictable and safe.
How many granny floral shirtdresses does she own?? We’ve seen so many of them from the Zoom calls, though I think the ugliest one so far I hated the most during these pandemic times was the one of the entire family coming out in front of the entrance to Anmer for a Clap for our Carers video with the kids. I remember this dress from last year’s Back to Nature garden and I disliked it as much then as I do now. It just reminds me so much of 90s floral wallpaper in the days when my mom felt the need to wallpaper every single room in our house! And someone above mentioned the boob flaps. Why call attention to your boobs with an unnecessary design element?
I also have never really minded her wedge fixation but these espadrilles are hideous and do not go with the dress. I think tie around the leg wedges are tricky to accessorize and they definitely do not go with this dress. And why did they not wear a mask inside the arcade??? You couldn’t PAY me enough money to go inside an arcade right now and actually touch any of the games. No way.
The Joan Bingo lady was hilarious, did she even know who Kate and William were?
I will say the dress fits her pretty well and the length is nice. That’s it.
Family members are now complaining about the PR stunt visit to the care home. They aren’t allowed to visit their family members, but W&K, their staff, and piles of security were allowed in as potential superspreaders.
Really? Unbelievable!
I saw that too, on the BBC. Felt really sorry for the guy who couldn’t see his dad, I’d be publicly raging if I was in that position. Pointless public figures are allowed to trail in and talk to the residents but people can’t see their own parents?? It’s disgusting, I’d want my family safe AWAY from these people who are touching and breathing on everything and only wearing a mask when they absolutely have to.
Disgraceful.
Edit – have just seen that “the royal family declined to comment” because of course, they’ll issue a no wiglets!!! denial posthaste but won’t address a real person’s hurt feelings.
Love the dress and the wedges.
But I like conservative Victorian style clothes always have always will. I think she looks really pretty hair and her length and colour are good .
It is a nice dress, but not $2,000 nice.
Using the current conversion rates, of course. God only knows how long ago Kate actually bought the thing.
I don’t get it, why hasn’t she gotten an adult mask yet, is she doing it on purpose, is child masks supposed to be a trend, is she trying to cover as little as possible, the thing looks like it’s going to snap.
Anyway, I wonder if William feels like a fool, taking his family on vacations, and staycations, and vacations on taxpayer’s dime.
They get the weirdest shots/angles of her at times.
25C that day in Wales – a long-sleeved dress seems a bit of an odd choice for a beautifully sunny summer’s day.
Joan at the care home to William: ‘Is that your assistant?’
Kate to William: ‘Well, I am your assistant. I have been for a long time.’
Very odd – usually when you meet a couple for the first time, you can tell by their body language whether they are just colleagues or husband and wife. Oh well, maybe she is just his assistant. I’m sure she feels she’s worked very hard over the years.
The Cambridge stans keep gushing over their “PDA” and blast the Sussexes. They want Charles bypassed.
Hilariously over on People mag they were exclaiming over K&W’s “sweet PDA” — a.k.a. she briefly put her hand on his back for a few moments (they showed the photographic evidence). I’ve done the same to platonic friends. Not exactly what I’d consider “sweet PDA” towards a spouse/romantic partner. 🙄
This brand is DOOMED! it’s only a matter of time before we hear about her selling to a Chinese company. The kate effect has recently made jigsaw go into administration.
As for kate, I notice she’s wearing kiddie masks. These two were not alarmed when chuck got the virus so I believe it’ll take a Middleton or one of them getting it to realise how serious this is!!! You’d think having 46,000 deaths or seeing the way the Spanish royals have been behaving would make them act differently