As we discussed over the weekend, there was a strange back-and-forth with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. William, Kate, their kids and their nanny Maria were all seen and photographed at Heathrow last Thursday, presumably heading off for vacation. Will and Kate telegraphed the vacation, with People Magazine reporting last week that we likely wouldn’t see W&K for a week or two because their kids’ school was off. Instead of simply taking the train (or the helicopter) up to Norfolk for a few weeks, Will and Kate clearly decided that they needed either a beach vacation or a ski vacation. Thus far, we have not heard about where they went.
Will and Kate going on vacation and/or going dark is nothing new. They often go without being seen for weeks at a time, and no one says sh-t about it. The Heathrow photos were curious because they were even published in the first place, and because Will and Kate were clearly leaving for their vacation knowing that the Queen’s health situation was and is bad. I imagine there was a lot of angry shouting from Baldemort and many British outlets removed the photos and their stories.
I thought the Daily Mail removed every trace of those pics, but they did not. They removed the story and played some games with the URL, but the photos are still “up” at the Mail – go here to see. They’re being run under the headline “Keep calm and carry on! Wills and Kate are spotted at Heathrow with George, Charlotte and Louis in tow after Queen’s hospital stay sparks concerns of a ‘failed cover up’ attempt at the palace.” So instead of being criticized for high-tailing out of the country during the Queen’s health crisis, they’re being praised for keeping calm. The Mail has also kept the photos from “trending” on their top stories lineup. Hilarious.
As for all the theories about who set up what and what it all means… I’m still of the opinion that William didn’t actually want these photos out there, and he’s probably pretty pissed that the Mail still has them up in some form. Now, is William pissed enough to actually cut his vacation short? LOL.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
The Daily Fail plays bait-and-switch with articles all the time. They change titles, links and alter the contents of articles sometimes months after the original posting without ever making disclosures. This seems highly unethical to me.
They are unethical. I don’t understand how any journalist would want to work for that paper
If they didn’t want to be seen, they wouldn’t have. They wanted to be papped as evidenced by 50 shades of blue. But unfortunately for them, Ed Sheeran now has Covid and he happened to be attending their unmasked Earth awards last week. So now everyone knows they just possibly infected hundreds at Heathrow all because they had to go on their 30th vacation of the year.
“…as evidenced by fifty shades of blue” 😂
50 shades of blue 🤣🤣🤣💯
Exactly – either the Queen has covid (she was at an event with Will after he had been with Sheeran), and therefore she can’t have any visitors, hence Beatrice going to Greece etc, and/or Will and Kate probably need to self-isolate because THEY were exposed to covid via Sheeran too (or gave it to him), and they figured why not isolate on a private plane and tropical island?
Wouldn’t they be prohibited from entering another country if they tested positive or were exposed? It just seems reckless to fly somewhere else and isolate because of possible exposure.
As far as I know, current UK rules don’t require double-vaccinated individuals to self-isolate if exposed to someone with covid unless they have symptoms themselves and haven’t gotten a negative test result yet.
They could safe-isolate at one of their palaces. No need for a plane. And whew: “The exclusive lounge is located inside Heathrow’s Terminal 5 and is reserved for the Royal Family and other high profile celebrities – with one three hour stay costing £3,300 ($4540). It’s not clear where the family where traveling.”
But nice to see the kids wearing normal clothes.
Even if there were zero issues with the Queen’s health, how, HOW do these two not realize that flying off on a personal vacation right after Earthshot (and all of Bill’s other interviews, etc. focusing on the environment for a full week) is pretty much the stupidest, most hypocritical thing they could do? We know they’re not bright, but jfc, this isn’t a hard one.
50 Shades of Blue lol that is really the best description of this family ever!
They all have diplomatic immunity. If they could literally hit some with a car and not get in trouble (late Prince Philip) then I’m pretty sure no one is stopping them at any borders like normal folks.
The other day I thought the pictures weren’t Kate/Will approved. Changed my mind. It seemed odd that after the Earthshot ceremony he/they would want to be seen jetting off.
After reading things here and VIP/Windsor Suite travel stuff on the Heathrow site, it seems even more odd that someone just happened to get pictures of them. Privacy/security is a big issue with the VIP/Windsor Suite travel plan.
LOL @ 50 shades of blue Pink Flamingo.
Ha, “fifty shades of blue” indeed. I’m leaning towards these photos not being pre-approved. Yes their outfits are perfectly coordinated, even Nanny Maria who’s dressed just as nicely but in “not one of us” red.
But there was no guarantee one of the thousands of people at the airport with them wouldn’t get a photo. I think they dressed like that in case of being photographed, not because they set themselves up to be.
Nevermind. I just realized while the photographer managed to catch coordinated Nanny Maria in the photo, they didn’t get any of the family’s PPOs… at an airport…
Yeah, definitely staged.
Totally staged. Shorts/short dress for kids for a plane? Maybe luxurious planes aren’t cold inside but kids are usually dressed comfy in sweats or at least jeans? At least that’s what I see in peasants’ areas in the airports. And nanny Maria – will they ever let this woman dress in non-ugly clothes? she isn’t 100 years old!
..And with zero comments that is unheard of.
Even bots have days off it seems…
Daily Fail turning off the comments on this article I found interesting and speaks volumes. I wonder if this is another photo that was initially approve by the Cambridges but upon reflection they realized it was another bad idea. It’s like the 3rd fake cozy family/loved up photo op in a month. Keens all dressed in blue with only Kate facing the camera (never Will, the children or the nanny…just Kate). Seriously who dresses the entire family in the same color unless……
The first article had 2,000+ comments, many of them negative. I think they reuploaded it to get rid of the comments.
It looks like this is what they negotiated with Cambridges to make the photos less visible. It also confirms they let them take the photos in the first place because they would be in a much stronger position to get them removed altogether if the photos were taken without their permission. Especially with the children included in the photos. But since they set up photos in a public area that they don’t normally use, the DM can threaten to reveal that they cooperated in the first place.
@ Noki, I noticed that too! No comments? That’s unheard of with the DF!! Given their attire it looks like a beach vacation to me. Maybe Barbados??
The only other time I see comments being disabled is active legal cases, such as “Brighton footballer arrested on suspicion of sexual assault” (from earlier this month). Normally, everything and everyone is fair game.
@Lory yeah and the Katie Price burglary and assault,i didnt understand why comments werent allowed.
Kate is dressed for the beach. William is dressed for anywhere else.
We’ve seen them leave a place together and then separate. Even one of their vacations saw William leave with Kate and then he was found elsewhere in the world partying from their dating years to their honeymoon to every year of marriage.
This appears to be a set up imo.
It’s not zero comments. They’ve turned comments OFF completely. I just tried to submit a comment and it went into the ether. They don’t want any comments because they know it would all be bad.
I think there are some negotiations going on between KP and DM at the moment. We’ll see what comes out of it in a few weeks time, probably after COP26.
Hahaha. My guess is he tried to get them taken down but instead they’re just buried.
Interesting wording though, right – it says William “drove them” to the airport – so who drove the car home? A RPO? Why wouldn’t the RPO just drive them there, especially if they were getting out at the curb which is what it looks like (I could be wrong about that.)
I don’t know if these were authorized or not – my guess is they were (either by Kate or William or both) and then someone realized how bad a look it was and they tried to pull them pretty fast. There are just too many ways for the royals to travel without being seen handling luggage at the curb for this to be unplanned.
Last time we saw them at an airport it was part of the FlyBe stunt in 2019 and that was all about throwing Harry under the bus. Wonder this was about.
If William were to ever ‘snap’ and decide he doesnt like this royal malarkey (snickers) does that wipe out his kids or George is still in the running?
I don’t think the line of succession would change. When someone abdicates, the next in line gets their spot, isn’t it?
William could have them removed from the line of succession before they turn 18. He would never do that. He doesn’t want to be king, but he sure as he11 doesn’t want the crown going to Harry’s line.
The line of succession is established by law. If William were to remove himself, for example by becoming Roman Catholic, the next in line is George. William cannot remove his children from their place in the line of succession. For George to be removed from the succession he would have to decide for himself at 18 or possibly before then if he chose to be confirmed into the Catholic Church.
Stranger things have happened. The politicians were going to skip over Bertie (and his two children) and pick the next brother. They thought the stuttering and female heirs was too much. The next brother was just as much a philanderer as the Duke of Windsor, so they eventually settled on Bertie. It is written in stone until a bunch of politicians or the person in the line decides to change it. Meaning if William wanted his kids out (which he doesn’t), he’d find a way to remove them.
Do they all fly together? I remember reading a long time ago that heirs close to the throne flew separately, if so how many planes does that involve?
I know when they went to Australia with George in 2014 they were given special permission to fly together, and I think they still do, if William is flying with them at all.
This is about being seen as a loving family who vacations together. Unfortunately the set up went wrong when news of the queen dropped. There is no way the FFK and Q can’t get in and out of the airport unseen if they wanted to be
As I’m looking at the pics again and reading comments – I wonder if the issue was, in part, that the nanny was photographed as well? It kind of ruins Kate and Will’s image as “hands on parents” if they can’t even go on a vacation with their kids without the nanny.
(sometimes I wish I had a nanny on vacation lol, so as a general rule I’m not judging that, just that they like people to forget they have a live-in nanny who goes everywhere with them, so her being featured so prominently in the pics may have been part of the issue.)
@ Becks1 what is the point of getting ‘special permission’ to fly together if God forbid something happens on that flight that permission is meanigless. Even our family of six growing up we split up when we flew (and we are not future monarchs lol) . But i get it George is still a child but two future monarchs could be wiped out in one go.
Becks- I said this in a different thread: I suspect the nanny was not supposed to be visible in the staged shots. That is at least part of why they complained, imo.
Idk becks
We only see the one nanny, but know each child has a nanny. Maria is just the nanny to the heir and seems to be in charge of that.
We also see Kate helping the kids.
This still feels semi staged. Otherwise it would be pulled unless the DM really is yanking the chain.
@becks-
Yesterday my theory was that this was a staged photo op before Kate and the kids flew to one place and William to another. But the “William drove” part makes me reconsider. Sure, an RPO could have just driven the car back… OR, this was still a planned photo op, Kate and the kids were still going to an island somewhere… but William came out another entrance somewhere and stayed in England.
It would make sense, considering the queen’s health, that William the FFK would stay behind. But the BRF want to project their “keep calm and carry on” attitude so they still sent Beatrice and Eugenie to that wedding and Kate and the kids to an island to make it seem like everything is fine. When really Charles and William are strategizing/sniping/making plans for the queen’s demise that will blow up in the BRF’s faces.
Also, considering the queen’s health is bad, now would be a time when they might make the call NOT to put the FFK and FFFK on a plane together.
This all makes a lot of sense!
The new version has zero comments? The old one had plenty, a lot negative.
Was this the whole point? Get rid of the comments, not the photos?
I think william wanted to get rid of the article completely but since it was doing well in engagement (it had lots of shares and comments) the dm probably only got rid of the negative tone of the article and reposted it so that the negative comments would be gone.
But it’s all the comments, not just the negative. There happened to be a lot of comments re: 2, 3, 4, 5 in line to the thrown all being on one plane (a lot of “please let nothing happen to them. They should be on separate planes.” I particularly wonder if such an idea bothered someone. The comments must be locked on the new version. It’s extremely weird.
Although the picture captions still say they used the Windsor suite, along with the price and the fact that no one knows where they are going. Also still mentioned the box-white supergas, which suggests she just bought them new, even though she, has worn them before.
The Heathrow photos are also all over the Instagram explore page and I think that is part of the new KP strategy. Give the pleebs enough time to screenshot and post to their social media accounts then get them taken down so they can continue to pretend they care about their privacy. The Keens want to have a big presence on Instagram where most of the young people are. That’s also why they are using Deux Moi with their ridiculous tales of snogging backstage at Earthshot.
Deux who…snogging what ? Do Tell! 🤣🤣🤣
Deux Moi is an Instagram account that prints reader submitted gossip and celebrity sightings. The site does not verify whether or not what it prints is true. But, it has had real scoops in some cases. On the night of Earthshot there was a ridiculously long tip about Will and Kate snogging backstage like two kids in love. Also said Rose was there with Kate sipping champagne, so that tanks any Baby no. 4 rumors as well as affair rumors. The tip was so over the top it had to come from CarolE, Pippa or Assistant No. 3 at Kensington Palace. Coupled with the black and white behind the scenes PDA photos the Keens released a few days later, it is obvious that refuting the dead marriage rumors is a big objective.
It’s an interesting play. IG is for pretty people, and while Kate is conventionally attractive in a 40-year old English white woman way, Bill is actually really unpleasant to look at lol
@ Harper – You are 100% correct. I only follow Meghan and Harry pages on IG but everyday I received an overload of Kate and William suggested pages. I keep clicking that i am not interested and the next day here we go again. This is their new strategy, I don’t believe they went anywhere, they were photographed for social media.
I did try and finally found it yesterday, but it had disabled anyone from being able to post comments (which showed ZERO!) So it was obviously scrubbed and republished (maybe the compromise).
Kate, in that dress and the Supergas (which look like white nurses’ shoes) could pass for the nanny/au pair lol I guess it’s a small favor she seems to have a half slip under the dress so we can’t see her thong again. Small mercies, so regal!
From this pic, I think Char and George have inherited Diana’s long legs. While George seems shy, from what we’ve seen of Char, I hope she gets Diana’s inner drive, and emotional charisma (just like her Uncle Harry). If so, she will be a force to be reckoned with, and I hope she drives her parents insane! (If you ever watched “The Royals” on E! I’d like her to grow up to be like Eleanor 😊
He’s on a short leash, isn’t he?
I think this was planned originally. Before the Queen was hospitalized and before they realized the cover up had failed. However, it was too late to cancel or the rags wouldn’t agree to it (the photographs, not the trip). Plus you know W&K are slow in the uptake. They didn’t realize how bad the optics were until they saw it in real time then they through a fit. If they didn’t want to be seen, they wouldn’t have. That’s why we don’t know where they went.
By Saturday they were at whatever undisclosed vacation destination so they probably had to be told about the reaction from their staff.
What’s the mask rules in the UK? In the US is everyone over 2. Ask if them would have had to masked up, not just the adults.
How can this story have 0 comments on DM? How can they travel together without permission from the Queen? Why is no one calling out their gas guzzling SUV and plane??
Why is there no fury over leaving the Queen while she is unwell? The British should do as most nations have done, abolish the monarchy as soon as she dies!
I’m still 50/50 on whether these photos were deliberate or whether it was revenge from the media for hiding the Queen’s hospitalisation and W&K giving exclusives to People.
It could be both. The photos were set up to show what a wonderful family they are (and put a dampen on any separate lives speculation), stop the death watch for the queen because if her grandson is going on holiday, she’s alright (that’s what they think would help) and to give the press their pound of flesh in exchange for positive coverage. I lean towards set up because apparently, Kate doesn’t wear the sister wife dresses in her own time according to people who have seen her out and about in London so if she’s wearing it, she knew she’d be photographed. But since the press was mad about the queen and people mag stuff, they didn’t give it the positive spin KP wanted. KP demanded the pictures be deleted but I’m guessing they worked out an exchange with the Mail where the pics could stay up but the reporter’s name would be removed and comments would be disabled in exchange for… what I don’t know.
And I think the headline isn’t that positive. I think we’re so used to seeing nothing but venom towards H&M so anything less than that doesn’t seem bad or it seems positive but the bit about “sparks concerns of a palace cover up” isn’t as positive and sugary. Yes it’s not as bad as H&M articles but it’s not the sugary headline you get from a W&K article.
Or maybe I’m giving the Mail too much credit. Lol.
I think it is set up because they are never seen using the public entrance at Heathrow and to suddenly be seen with the kids is too much of a coincidence.
Also at the time, the blowout over the Queen staying overnight hadn’t really hit top level and so these photos would have been a “happy family all together” moment. By the time they were actually posted, the atmosphere had changed and that’s why William didn’t want the original story.
I agree with your overall take, I think. I think the pictures were a set up for a few different reasons but then after they realized the Mail was putting a negative spin on this or just that the comments were negative they wanted the pics removed and this was the compromise .
I would not be surprised if “the exchange” was that the Mail wouldn’t “out” that this was a setup. I mean if I’m a british tabloid, and this is the second time in a month that the Cambridges have made me pull pictures that they loosely authorized in the first place, I’m going to be annoyed, especially if they wanted these pulled SO fast. What’s the point of the “deal” in setting up the pics if they can’t even stay up for 24 hours?
So here, the story is changed, the comments are turned off, the story is harder to find – but the pics are still up.
Kate’s casual style and formal style are fine, but her 2nd gear is out of whack with those sister wife dresses. And with the sneakers? Awful. But I think she does it on purpose, so yeah, probably staged photos.
The pictures must be set up. Those who seek privacy go down little driveways to secret, discrete posh entrances to Heathrow and other airports. There is no way an unauthorized car could get through. Finally, there are many people to carry the luggage.
What’s also infuriating, as a British taxpayer, is the way most outlets are reporting that they took a “much needed holiday” after a “busy few weeks attending the James Bond premiere, the Earthshot awards, the Diana statue reception and Kate giving a keynote speech”.
So, basically they had two months off then attended three parties and gave one speech in a fortnight and they were EXHAUSTED!!
Seconded, we peasants have to bust a gut to pay for them. It is wrong on many, many levels. I dream of the day when the rose tinted glasses and PR stops and we can have an honest conversation about ditching our most expensive welfare recipients.
This. I’m happy people here said they saw negative comments because I saw so many that said “Stop being so mean, are they not allowed to take a holiday like any family?” Ridiculous!
They had to be have been authorized the second time bc the nanny is cropped out?
The fact that the photos are still up tells me that KP set up this photoshoot. If it was just a random paparazzi/passerby shot, KP would have been within its rights to get it taken down and I think DM would have obliged.
The Fail is so disgusting- spotted this little nugget- they are so obvious in their racism and their snide ness- read the bit about Doris and the popes and others- it’s designed to rile up the racist that Doris would be put in the same list as royal, popes etc. Such a hard eye roll.
“Aptly dubbed the Windsor Suite, the opulent VIP service and private lounge at Heathrow Airport has welcomed popes, presidents, royalty and religious leaders into a lap of luxury. ‘If you’re supposed to be here, you won’t need directions,’ said Anita Newcourt, referring to the deliberate lack of signage, the lounge’s manager told the Financial Times in 2011. ‘We want to stay the airport’s best-kept secret.’ It’s previously been used by Meghan Markle’s mother Doria Ragland, as well as popes and presidents.”
Yeah, I picked up on that too. There was absolutely no need to mention Meghan’s mom but they obviously just had to pull her into the mess as bait for the racists.
Doria, not Doris. But your heart is in right place, New_Kay.
Comments still off and at zero. I’m thinking this might really have been the issue all along.
The Cambridges don’t mind the staged shots but don’t want to hear negative comments. This fits with Will’s volatile temper.
I also wonder if it was also in part a safety thing. There was lots of comments about them traveling together and “what if 2, 3, 4, and 5 to the throne get wiped out and Harry is King, with evil Meghan as Queen”
From a security perspective, maybe they don’t want these comments giving anyone ideas.
The story doesn’t appear if you just search for daily mail. You have to search specifically for that story. Which explains why there are no comments.
It looks to me from the pictures as if the nanny is already doing all of the work as they watch.
I actually thought the Cambridges might be going to the Prince Philippos wedding in Greece given the kids all seemed to be wearing outfits for a beach/island destination. But since there were no pics of them there, they probably went to Mustique.
As for whether they were casually papped or if the pics were staged, I have no idea. I’m not really surprised they went on vacation while the Queen was feeling poorly, Eugenie and Beatrice did go all the way to Greece for that wedding. My grandparents were very frail for the last 10-15 years of their lives, that didn’t stop us from going to France every summer to visit my other grandparents which was the only time of year we got to see them. If she were to pass while they were out of the country, it might look bad but Charles and his other siblings are around. She doesn’t need her entire family around her at all times each time she feels sickly, unless it is very clear the end is near which isn’t always obvious.
After reading y’all’s comments late and the kids went to uncle Gary’s or Mustique and Wills went elsewhere. The comments about too many heirs on a flight maybe got to them? I love this theory.
I don’t think the photos were “revenge” as such. I think the photos wouldn’t have been published if the Queen had not been hospitalized. I think the original intention or headline was probably to make it seem like Will and Kate were crazy for jetting off to parts unknown while the Queen was laid up in a health crisis.
I think this headline was eventually watered down from what was originally intended, so instead we get the clunky messaging we see right now. I think someone at the Fail saw the photos, got a tip that something was up with the Queen, healthwise, then placed a call and probably just asked someone at the palace the logical question of, “Why the f-ck are Will and Kate going off on vacation when the Queen is in the hospital? What’s going on?” Someone or some people in the palace caved and spilled the beans after getting asked that, bc they knew it would look bad to have the photos and the vacation spun that way, so the Fail backed down, and decided not to go ahead and publish the original headline.
But they still wanted to stir the pot so they tried it, but no one took the bait as intended. People were much more focused on how the Cambridges are privileged and going on their nth vacation of the year while many people in the UK are struggling to make ends meet. The Fail wanted the negativity to be about how the Cambridges were terrible for jetting off when the Queen is unwell and how could the palace courtiers DO this to US by HIDING her ILLNESS blah blah blah. They wanted to manipulate their readership into demanding answers for the questions the royal reporters weren’t able to get answers to, because they figured public pressure might force the palace to come clean on what’s going on with the Queen. I think their intended messaging just didn’t land with their audience, bc no one gave two sh-ts about their outrage that the palace kept the information about the Queen from the tabloid press, so the Fail just retooled the URLs, deleted and disabled the comments, and now we’re here.
It’s a shame the nanny wasn’t included in the color of the day.
I am at least relieved the nanny isn’t wearing that hideous brown uniform.
🤪
While W&K annoy me to no end, I am enjoying these pics for the sole reason that the kids are dressed looking relatively modern and more like regular KIDS (regular-wealthy kids at least haha), with the nikes and the backpacks.
Kate’s dress + shoes makes me want to barf.
I’m still in 2 minds about whether or not this was set up or not. On one hand – you have them all Keen in Cambridge Blue and Kate looks v overdressed and coiffured for travel. Also no RPO’s in sight in these photos which is … odd. And paps don’t wait outside of Heathrow on the off chance they will catch a celeb so someone leaked they would be there. On the other hand – when these photos first ran the Mail didn’t blur out the car reg (!) and Nanny Maria is photographed along with them and we all know they love to pretend they do it all themselves. It’s a weird one to read tbh!
After looking at the pics again, I can’t see anyone else in the car or an rpo anywhere. I’m starting to think William was dropping them off. Looks like Charlotte might be begging him to go.. anyway as someone else pointed out, I don’t think he is going with them.
They don’t go anywhere without an army of nannies and RPOs. They might be out of these pictures deliberately, but they don’t go anywhere without them.
I’ve been wondering whether the individual tabloids get mad when one gets a leak over another. Aside from the American people exclusive, William tends to leak to the sun, maybe the times, more often than not. Does that make the DM mad and more likely to throw shade? Am just curious how that works.