Back in January, Kensington Palace and the Middleton Manor PR joined forces and went into overdrive for the Duchess of Cambridge’s Keen 40th Birthday PR. It was clear that Kensington Palace sent out talking points which they wanted mentioned in every bloody story about how Kate is the most magnificent jewel in the crown, while also being the most humble and down-to-earth and glamorous person you’d ever want to meet. Within all of those sugary birthday pieces, there were several threads which people wanted to discuss in detail. One, Kate and her people can’t keep Meghan’s name out of their mouths and they gloss over the fact that Kate tries to copy-keen Meghan whenever possible. Two, Kate and her people are really hellbent on convincing everyone that the Cambridge marriage is just fine and that William adores her and would never leave her. It was… a lot. And it made me wonder.
Anyway, the Evening Standard has a new piece called “Queen-in-waiting: How Kate Middleton became the face of The Firm: More solo engagements, revamped style and a big job reforming the pale, male stuffy face of the monarchy — the former Middleton is on a roll.” This was not written by one of the royal Rota dumbasses we usually discuss. The author is Luciana Bellini. The piece reads exactly like the birthday keenery, except this piece was designed to deflect from the fact that Kate and William completely bungled their Caribbean Flop Tour. Some highlights:
Kate was unruffled during the Flop Tour: While the couples’ tour might have been blighted by PR blunders, with images of the Duke and Duchess shaking hands with impoverished children through a fence and appearing in the same open-topped Land Rover used by the Queen in 1953 — criticised for being “tone deaf” and harking back to British colonialism, there was no hint of that across Kate’s perennially unruffled features.
Shedding the country-mum persona: The events in the Caribbean have ushered in a major shake-up of royal tours, but then the Cambridges have long been planning a shake-up of their own, in particular for Kate, who is now ready to shed her Norfolk country mum persona to claim her spot as a polished frontline royal. The timing is both fortuitous — with senior figures saying she has grown increasingly confident — and necessary. The tectonic plates within the royal family have shifted and with Harry, Meghan and Prince Andrew firmly out of the picture, it falls to Charles, Camilla, Kate and William to pick up the slack. “There’s no one else to take on the royal workload — and Kate has very willingly stepped into that role,” says royal expert Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine.
Kate’s keen projects: Kate is forging a path of her own with projects that really matter to her, such as The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood that she launched last June. “Kate won’t just take on anything — it has to be something that really interests her, where she feels she can make a difference,” says Seward.
The Denmark trip: Insiders noted that she was, in many ways, more herself on the trip. “Kate seemed more relaxed without William, who can be a bit fussy when he’s on royal jobs,” the Evening Standard’s royal editor Robert Jobson told TV’s The Royal Beat. More overseas visits without William are planned. Set to be shorter than standard trips, they will focus on issues that really matter to her, such as early childhood development and learning.
Changing up her style: She’s also had a bit of a rebrand. Gone are the safe shift dresses, replaced by braver looks by cool contemporary designers, from The Vampire’s Wife and Alessandra Rich to Roksanda and Self Portrait. Her Caribbean tour wardrobe got everyone talking for all the right reasons. “She just kept pulling out look after look, and every one had something about it, whether it was a nod to the current vintage trend or a completely different colour on her,” says one fashion insider who’s worked with the Duchess for over ten years. “Her look is much fresher and more modern now, with bold choices that show her growing confidence.”
Her marriage: Her marriage to William is as ironclad as ever – indeed, those close to the couple say that the turbulent last two years have only served to bring them closer, with Kate acting as William’s rock during his upsetting rift with his brother and the Prince Andrew scandal, and following Philip’s death. There is a sense that Kate is finally taking this opportunity to seize her role.
It’s all going according to Kate’s plan: “Everything is all part of a long-term plan that she and William have worked out together,” says a source close to the royal household. Her clear-headed tactics are said to stem from her stable middle-class upbringing. Attending Marlborough College – whose ranks are packed with bona fide Sloanes, aristocrats and alumni including Samantha Cameron and Ghislaine Maxwell – she moved in the sort of upper-class circles that made her transition into royal life relatively smooth.
No one has ever been a royal mother before Kate: Kate’s parenting is hands-on – she does the school run regularly, turning up in leggings and a no-nonsense ponytail and queuing with the other mothers to get a coffee after drop off. “Her royal career has been built in an unprecedented way, upon the need to have space for parenting,” says one royal insider. “There was criticism in the early days of their marriage when they were said not to be doing enough, whereas in fact they were pursuing a different strategy, with the entire agreement of the Queen and Prince Charles. The priority was for the two to spend time together as a young married couple, and for their early married life not to be put in the straitjacket of royal service.”
Kate’s destiny: So what can we expect from Queen Catherine? “I would compare her to a young Princess Elizabeth,” says Seward. “Kate has always known her destiny and is ready for it now – unlike Diana, who shied away from it and never wanted it. She has understood her role from the beginning and made it her ambition to do it properly.”
This is very much our tri-annual Promise To Be Keen PR drive, I think? Every three or four months, the Middleton PR will go into overdrive to remind everyone that Kate exists, that she’s growing into her role, that she will eventually become very keen, and then Kate just continues on as she always has, barely doing anything, flapping her jazz hands, collecting buttons and cosplaying Diana, Meghan and the Queen. The problem is that this kind of piece belies a real panic about *something* going on in Kensington Palace. It could be as simple as panic about the Flop Tour, where Kate made a complete ass out of herself as she toured “the colonies” in her expensive couture. But it also feels like this has no connection to what is really happening with William and Kate, especially given that they’re truly planning to move to Windsor so that they can do LESS work.
Photos courtesy of Instar, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
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- North America Rights Only – Kingston, Jamaica -20220324-Royal Visit to the Caribbean – Day 6 Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge attend the inaugural Commissioning Parade for service personnel from across the Caribbean who have recently completed the Caribbean Military Academy’s Officer Training Program, in Kingston, Jamaica, on day six of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Jane Barlow/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – Kingston, Jamaica -20220322- Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge meet locals during a visit Trench Town, the birthplace of reggae in Kingston, Jamaica, on day four of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. -PICTURED: Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – Nassau, Bahamas -20220325-Royal Visit to the Caribbean – Day 7 The Duke Duchess of Cambridge in Nassau, Bahamas, on day seven of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: PA IMAGES/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – Copenhagen, Denmark -20220222-Catherine Duchess of Cambridge Visits the LEGO Foundation PlayLab at the Carlsberg Campus, University College Copenhagen, Denmark, on day one of a two-day working visit with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: PA IMAGES/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- Ballerup, DENMARK – Catherine Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton) pictured during a visit to Forest Kindergarten in Ballerup, on the second day of her 2-day visit to Denmark. Pictured: Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 23 FEBRUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Copenhagen, DENMARK – Catherine Duchess of Cambridge visits the team leading the Playful Learning Programme, a partnership between the six university colleges in Denmark and the LEGO Foundation with a vision to enhance children’s creative and experimental approach to learning. Her Royal Highness will be given an overview of the program before joining a group of students taking part in activities as part of their learning. The PlayLab is a creative learning environment for students who are training to be early years professionals. The idea of playful learning is based on the concept that children who play develop the essential skills which will help them navigate through adult life, including problem-solving, negotiating, adapting, and thinking strategically. Pictured: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 22 FEBRUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Aldershot, UNITED KINGDOM – British royals join Military guards at the 1st Battalion Irish Guards during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade at Mons Barracks in Aldershot, UK. Pictured: Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Wiiliam BACKGRID USA 17 MARCH 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Kingston, JAMAICA – The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Catherine are pictured while arriving in Jamaica. Pictured: Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 22 MARCH 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- North America Rights Only – Grand Bahama, Bahamas -20220326- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to Daystar Evangelical Church Abaco in The Bahamas, to learn about the impact of Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and to see how communities are still being rebuilt, on day eight of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. Abaco, a chain of islands and barrier cays in the northern Bahamas, was hit by winds of up to 185mph during Hurricane Dorian in 2019 leaving 75% of homes across the chain of islands damaged and resulting in tragic loss of life. During a visit to Fish Fry in Abaco, a traditional Bahamian culinary/. During a visit to the Memorial Wall to remember victims of the 2019 hurricane at the Memorial Garden in Abaco. During a visit to Grand Bahama Children’s Home, which provides a home environment to vulnerable children who are not able to live with their families -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before p
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- North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220323- Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a dinner hosted by Patrick Allen, Governor General of Jamaica, at King’s House, in Kingston, Jamaica, on day five of the royal tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Jane Barlow/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – New Providence, Bahamas -20220325-The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attend a reception hosted by the Governor General of the Bahamas Sir Cornelius Alvin Smith, at the Baha Mar resort on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas to with meet community leaders and people from across the Bahamas’ many islands, on day seven of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William -PHOTO by: PA IMAGES/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
Two images sum up Kate Middleton for me, and probably always will: her face during the infamous Commonwealth Service, and the way she repeatedly recoiled from Jamaican Minister of Culture, etc. Olivia Grange.
Kate and the Middletons are in full-blown panic mode. Even their mouthpiece is still comparing her to ‘a young Elizabeth’ Kate has shown herself to be a mean girl at the Commonwealth service in front of the world’s press and then showed her recoil abilities in Jamaica. Everything they touch will continue to flop because they are lazy, destructively envious, have not taken the time to learn their roles and have been propped up unnecessarily by the tabloids.
And this yellow dress photo…wasn’t that the smile before someone yelled at her, calling her a blood clot?!?! lol
omg did someone do that? lol
“Perennially unruffled features” doesn’t mean Kate is actually unruffled, just that she might want to ease up on the Botox.
She appears to have a very bad eating disorder
She really does. I don’t like the lady, but I honestly hope she gets some help, especially as she is a role model for her own daughter. She’s definitely unhealthy and her skin looks SO unhealthy.
I will give credit where it’s owed that Kate mainly does have a poker face. However, it was pretty evident on this tour that they were very ruffled. It showed.
I actually thought that the sole reason that KHate was unruffled is due to the fact that she had NO idea how badly their tone deaf actions of each day of the tour was progressing. I believe that KHate had to be told, especially after the PM of Jamaica fired the BRF/The Monarchy, as to what actually happened during that press conference. KHate looked at all of their activities as all clearly and perfectly executed.
As to the person that classified this as the CAT 5 Caribbean Tour, I think it’s safe to add there was a Volcano explosion as well, per Ingrid Sewer;, “warning as well, The tectonic plates within the royal family have shifted….royal workload — and Kate has very willingly stepped into that role,”.
So now we have read some fabulous fan fiction from Sewer, but this is pretty rich and extremely thick, even for her. Ingrid Sewer should take up writing romance novels.
Kate recoiling from the touch of a Black Minister in the government of Jamaica seemed pretty ruffled to me.
Snapping “What else?!” at a kid is not “perennially unruffled.”
This, too. ^^^
The only times she has been caught on “the school run” has been in full makeup and dresses, being driven by others and therefore able to take her restless 3 year old who was stuck in traffic out if the car for a look around. Just like us.
Yeah, I thought if she were really showing up at the school run in her tights & Ts, we’d’ve seen it by now. Those paps would be staked out every day. They’re not. Because she’s not.
1) it was just reported that they are moving to Windsor, lead a “quiet, country life” but now Kate’s wanting to shed her “country mum” vibe.
2) loving that Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently awaiting sentencing for sex trafficking, is mentioned in an embiggening article about Kate
3) the continuous infantilizing of a 40 yr old woman is gross and does a huge disservice to women everywhere.
I caught the Maxwell reference too. Interesting.
There was absolutely no need to mention her… I wonder who in Kate’s generation – the old school tie – will turn out as the shady criminal figure… I think they mentioned Maxwell to imply that the new generation of Royals is not that different from the disgraced previous one.
It felt like a little shade to me.
She’s going to shed her “Norfolk” country persona and put on the “Windsor” country persona.
Or maybe just moving away from the turnip toff set since things got uncomfortable there with Kate trying to cut people off etc. lol
It’s so telling about her that they’re admitting that she plays different persona. Everytime they make a fool of themselves they come out and say ha you see it’s all part of a plan everything is fine and it’s so hilarious.
I find it funny that the while point of this article is to point out how much more modern kate is now and then when asked what we can expect from her the answer is that she’ll be like a 1950’s queen Elizabeth
Kate makes Serena Joy look like a radical feminist.
Kate is the Zeno’s paradox of royals, forever only halfway there. I’ve been reading this exact same story since their wedding. Do they truly not realize that it makes her seem perpetually out of her depth? Baffling.
From Norfolk mum to Windsor mum.
I feel like these articles are constantly talking about how William and Kate are “ready.” Well….then, DO something? It’s years of this same messaging. I admit that I was a fan and apologist of theirs for awhile, but even now I’m starting to throw some shade….. To REALLY get back in everyone’s good graces and make the monarchy seem relevant they need to be doing events daily – if not more than one per day…
I’m actually a bit surprised the royal rota are still playing the “ready to do something” game. I guess they don’t care that their reporting is always wrong.
Lots of nuttiness in this article, but the whole “what kind of Queen will Kate be?” angle is particularly ludicrous. Charles and Camilla are next in line, and Charles is from a famously long-lived family. Kate is highly unlikely to be “a young queen.”
It really is a fantasy world they are constructing.
What have they done since returning from their trip? How many days since either was in public doing something?
This is the most hilarious thing I’ve read today. I don’t even know which part is the funniest part. She’s always known her destiny haha. That part might be it.
The funniest part to me was the whole bit about her fashion ‘rebrand.’
I guess you can call some of the monstrosities she wore on the Colonialist Trip of Doom brave or bold, but that tour wardrobe did not get everyone talking ‘for all the right reasons.’ outside of a handful of good look, most of her outfits were either inappropriate for the climate or occasion or just outright horrid (that yellow monstrosity when the left the Bahamas still gives me nightmares).
@ Tiger Mom, wasn’t that awful….she was trying to copy TQ with a dress made to mirror a dress worn 50+ years ago. Gives me a shiver down my spine.
I am sitting here thinking about a BIG, ENORMOUS plan that CopyKeen was going to announce in 2020, just as Harry and Meghan had finalized their separation from The Firm, and I realized we still don’t know what “IT” was? I don’t recall, does anyone else?
I am now curious……
this is classic Middleton pro Kate PR, except for a few lines that made me gasp with their shadiness:
1) the reiteration that Kate was more confident in denmark without William and that she will be sent on more overseas trips by herself because he’s “a bit stuffy” and the trips will be shorter.
That’s an interesting and shady point about an “ironclad” marriage, right? The spouses are better apart? The most obvious comparison here is Harry and Meghan, who are both great on their own but I think a huge part of their draw is how they interact as a couple, how they so obviously love and support each other and are excited by the other’s success. But Kate is so much better without William? Yikes.
2) “Kate has always known her destiny and is ready for it now – unlike Diana, who shied away from it and never wanted it.”
My first reaction at reading this line was a huge eyeroll, yes Kate is so much better than Diana blah blah blah….but then I thought it about it and that was why I gasped. It seems such a direct hint about William’s affairs. It seems like she’s saying “Kate knows her destiny is to be cheated on and to be the forgotten about wife while the husband trims rose bushes and she accepts that and Diana never did.”
I mean you can’t say Diana didn’t accept her royal role in terms of workload and those kinds of expectations, or shied away from the work expectations…..so to me it only makes sense in the context of “Diana shied away from her destiny as being the wife of a man with multiple mistresses.” and Kate doesn’t.
ITA on your read, @becks. Yikes. So much of Kate’s PR is so, so unflattering beneath its shiny surface. The only thing that Kate is the Queen of is “about to do something she never actually does.” The only thing we can count on with Kate is that there’s no counting on Kate, ever. She’s an empty-headed fool who could be replaced with a cardboard cutout and no one would know the difference. The only postive thing that can be said is that she’s the doormat that Diana refused to be–that’s how she’s “better” than Diana. Good grief.
You both are really not wrong.
Kate is also four years older than Princess Diana was at her death.. comparison are pointless you can never make a rhinestone into a diamond no matter what setting you put it in.
Not to mention that she’s a LOT older than a “young Queen Elizabeth” and not an aristocrat like Diana.
@Becks: I think you might be right. I didn’t understand what Ingrid Seward was saying when she was comparing Kate to Diana but now that you’ve explained it, I get it. It’s true Diana wasn’t willing to put up with the cheating to become Queen Consort. It would seem that Kate is.
If Charles had not been a complete prick to Diana, she may have agreed to quietly live separate lives. Instead, he made her life with him intolerable.
Diana was also tormented by Charles’s mistresses being a part of their circle. They were around. Just like Rose was around. And whoever else William is banging. It gets tossed in her face, I’m sure. But she chose this so I’m not going to be upset on Kate’s behalf.
Kate knew William cheats. She was even the other woman. She also knew to be married in meant work. If she’s not up to be a working doormat then she should leave for her own sake.
Your thoughts make sense. I was wondering why the hell they were trying to make Diana appear unsuited for the job and lazy to boot. No one is going to buy that.
Diana fully accepted the workload of being princess of wales and the work part of it was never an issue. Her legacy remains the causes she championed even when the royals weren’t supporting her.
The one thing Diana is known not to have accepted is Charles wanting mistresses. So I guess that’s what Kate has done.
Yes, they are saying Kate doesn’t have the self-respect that Diana had, that she’s a willing doormat to William. In reality that is true, and it’s why Kate is still William’s wife.
I think that statement refers to when Diana was asked if she thought she would be queen someday and she said no, she would rather be queen of people’s hearts. At that point she was still saying she didn’t want a divorce although why I don’t know. Maybe she was remembering what happened to her mother. Or maybe she just wanted to jab Charles and Camilla. Keen on the other hand probably tries to sneak in the jewelry room to try on the consort crown, she’s so desperate to grasp it.
Its not that Diana would have “rather be queen of people’s hearts.” Its that she KNEW she wouldnt be queen…..either because of the inevitable/then looming divorce or because she felt they wouldve killed her before charles’ ascencion. Which is why she said she wants to be queen of people’s hearts.
The diff is important.
The word ironclad just makes one think of a contract more than a marriage.
Yes, and that plus the ‘Kate’s willing to do what Diana shied away from’ bit is why I think this is another Kate-the-Great article. It’s a thousand knives hidden under a mountain of Royal icing.
super late to the party but I just wanted to pop on and say that I agree with this assessment of ‘Kate being up to the task and Diana wasn’t’ talking point. Kate understands the kind of ‘duty and dedication to the Crown’ that comes above someone’s self esteem, sanity, dignity and overall health and happiness.
The term ironclad with that wording makes me think this is a reminder piece for Will & co. We agreed to this, don’t deviate.
“There is a sense that Kate is finally taking this opportunity to seize her role”
AGAIN with this. We have been hearing this since 2011. Also, Diana never took this long to get comfortable with the role and she definitely didn’t “shy away” from it, especially in her later years. And Diana’s life was cut short at 36!!! Kate is 40 and still “growing into her role”. How much BS can the world take, seriously.
Also you can always tell a reporter’s bias when they refer to Harry without the Prince title, but Prince Andrew gets to stay a prince. Marrying a Black woman is the bigger sin than being a pedo, clearly.
I came here to say the same thing… “finally coming into her own…” We keep hearing that over and over, she’s going to be 45 and then 50 and still growing into her role! It’s not gonna happen, she’s terrible at public speaking, these engagements, work in general. Just let her stay home and raise those kids, save the taxpayers some $$$ on clothes and travel.
@Mellie, can you imagine that being said about anyone commenting here? “Roo has been at her career for 15 years and she’s finally getting the hang of it.” Ridiculous and embarrassing that a 40-year old woman is described this way.
We should start making bets here as to how long they will keep saying she’s “coming into her own” or “finally almost ready” or whatever. I say it will go at least into her early 50’s.
I predict it will transfer into “Kate is teaching Charlotte how to come into her own” over time without Kate ever coming into her own, again, some more.
But did you guys know she cares about early childhood!?! This is brand new info! New cause!
Or… only cause.
And mental health! White women cry so many tears they need support!
Yeah, I am so sick of the articles claiming Kate is ready to almost, maybe do something in the near future. This is her narrative. She is coming into her own, maybe…one day.
WOW! This is all kinds of hysterically delusional on her people’s end.
So now they’re claiming there was some divine intervention at play here, assuring her that this was her “destiny?” For Christ’s sake.
Also, 😂 at the author including Ghislaine Maxwell as a notable alumna.
As always, they’re reading the room perfectly.
She’s keen as ever!
At this point she just needs to do something.. these articles should embarrass the h*ll out of her and the entire British public.
Unlikely. I think she and her mother honestly believe that if they get embiggening articles like this published on a regular basis, then it totally counts as work, commitment and caring.
I for one can’t wait for the Kate is Great article deluge when Bitter Brother’s birthday comes round.
Well, for Diana to supposedly shy away from royal responsibilities etc, she still set a standard of work ethic, empathy, and a connection with the public that Kate has yet to live up to.
She seems like a good mother with strong family ties, giving credit where it’s due. Hopefully once she becomes Princess of Wales we’ll see some substance to her. She could learn from Camilla (God help me lol) who you rarely see articles about like these, because she just does the work, and is genuine and has warmth and sincerity.
She’s certainly tied to her mother.
I think Camilla’s nephew covered up stories about her in some quid pro quo with his elite butler business or whatever.
In the last few months there was a rash of shady Cam stories, including with “what will Harry reveal about Camilla in his memoirs Charles is concered,” but they’ve stopped for now. Let’s see what spring and summer hold.
Camilla is nearly twice kate ‘s age and does more work.though I do not see her as warm.
@Laura, I never understood why people think Kate is a “good mother” based on, what, photographs I suppose? We see pictures of them together and THAT makes her a good mother? Do we know if she is raising her kids to be racist? If she is raising them to think wives have to be subservient and turn a blind eye to their husbands’ cheating? If she ignores them when they have problems and passes them to nannies? No, we can’t tell any of that from photos. One thing we CAN tell from photos is that she allows George to be singled out for special attention, like getting the pilfered megalodon tooth from Attenborough.
We are supposed to see her as a good mother because she pays a lot of lip service to raising her kids (to get out of other work). I think the whole Early Years nonsense is supposed to make us believe that she cares about children (and thus must be a good mother). Also, she gets “broody” when around white babies, so that is supposed to prove that she is a good mother.
Do I buy it? Nope.
@ R W Tiger, I think you’re right. The constant “early childhood” references is probably what ties Kate to “good mother” in people’s minds. Like you, I don’t buy it. Even looking at the official photos (and you know they hand-picked the best ones), the kids Kate meets rarely look at her or engage with her. I think they can smell a phony, and she does not have any true interest in kids. That doesn’t mean she is not a good mother to her OWN kids; but it also doesn’t mean she IS a good mother to her own kids. Again, we have nothing to go on other than photos.
Yes that’s food for thought. I’m sure I’m being swayed by photo ops, her kids seem happy, healthy and connected to their parents (at least in photos) Also constantly hearing about how she wants to stay home with kids, all the early years hoopla. Hopefully it’s Nanny Maria giving them a good foundation.
Also hopeful that Kate’s upbringing, or at least the close relationship her family share will encourage her to incorporate that into her own family..
At best kate is more hands on than the queen was as a mother. That’s all we really know. The good or bad mother part will only be made obvious once the kids are adults.
And separating George from the other two at this age is bad parenting. So kate and William are already repeating generational mistakes.
When will it be enough that Kate will just be happy that she got her wish?
She successfully accomplished checked all the boxes in the plan – marry him, produce an heir and spares. What now?
Why can’t future Queen Consort be enough?
Why does she feel that she has to buy into the concept of “If you buy this frock for £X, you would feel like a princess”?
It would be easier if she suggested to her husband that they do separate royal appearances.
Is it simply that she feels that she is not being heard?
This is another of the same article in a tedious loop.
Based on what we see from all the royals, they are petty, jealous people. Kate cannot be content with “merely” being future-future queen — she needs to be seen as popular, and beautiful, and important. And not just popular and beautiful and important, but MORE popular and beautiful and important than other women in the family. Kind of like the queen in Snow White.
Oh there’s panic at KP. There must be some internal polling showing the average Brit is souring on the monarchy, the Cambridges in particular. Read the DM comments and Kate and William are getting their clocks cleaned. Rose gardening comes up. And the negative comments are not being scrubbed. The BRF may be on life support.
This article sounds like panic from Buckleberry manor more than KP.
Is this because of Invictus next week and she’s afraid that HM will get all the press? Seems kinda look at me..
At this point, when I see the name of her center, my brain reads “Center for kids who can’t read good,” a la Zoolander, and I swear I’d have more respect for her if that was her actual thing. Other than that, this was a synopsis of every embiggening ever, with special emphasis on the new twist of “she’s better without William!” Being unruffled when you’re bombing isn’t the flex they think it is.
Lol, Lucy. For me, I often think of “Veep” when I read about the Cambridges. The other day Burger King and Mutton said they will limit their charity work to mental health, the environment, children’s early years, and focusing on hope and solutions. It made me think of Selina’s “Myer Fund for Adult Literacy, AIDS, the Advancement of Global Democracy, Military Family Assistance, and Childhood Obesity.”
LMAO!!! You both are on fire!
Crown Jewel? lol more like she is a boring rock. Her personality revolves around being the keen crown doormat. Zero independent thought, no interesting details, and very little actual contributions.
Country mum is the only thing she’s any good at, so I doubt she’s going to move away from that any time soon.
I wonder if she ever considers that she might have been happier if she’d married some random rich guy so she could raise her kids and shop without any other expectations.
He’d have to be really rich to keep her in new clothes and jewels the way the Duchy of Cornwall does. I think new clothes are her favorite part of the “job,” aside from being mother of a future King (I think she’s not fully counting on being QC).
I always figured she would have been the perfect Home Counties Tory wife. House in the country, staying in the background and smile demurely on election night. If Tory husband does well enough, he will be knighted anyway. (As far as I can make out, I am not British)
Or, a City Stockbroker, so she could have all the nannies, take all the holidays and buy all the clothes without being in the public eye.
I came here just to make sure Kaiser used my favorite photo of Kate like she did yesterday lol, the one of Kate in the mint green dress with the what I’m now always referring to her “OMG I’m so keen” face with the wide open eyes. Really love the pic of her drumming too. We could have a weekly round up post of our favorite pics of Kate like we used to do Hot Guy Friday. If someone ever writes a Kate biography (probably some out there already) I hope they use that pic on the cover.
As for the rest of the article, it’s more of what we hear on a weekly basis: Kate is becoming more confident, forging her own path with William, her style has changed (has it really though?), she’s a hands on mom etc. etc.
The RF expects to thrive using the same old tried and true ancient history.
I bust out laughing every time I see that photo. “Have you heard the news? I AM KEEEEEN!!” 😀
Lol
That photo has levels upon levels of hilarity and botox.
It just dawned on me who Kate looks like in every single picture you see of her ‘interacting’ with people: Scott Eastwood from a few years ago. Remember how that fool used to always pose for pictures with with an overly animated look on his face and his mouth was always hanging open? Lainey has quite the collection of photos for reference. Anyways, he must have also been on Kate’s inspiration board because they could be expression twins.
Lol, that “I’m so special” smile.
Okaaaaaay, I guess. This is more of what we’ve heard over and over. I do like: “… and for their early married life not to be put in the straitjacket of royal service.” This sums up both W&K. Since the only solo thing I can think of is the Denmark visit, yes, she did appear more relaxed. She was in her element letting everyone know how important she was by being late to her engagements including meeting the Queen. I keep thinking Keenless will be parked in Windsor and we’ll see less and less of her, because she cannot do engagements without becoming an embarrassment. This article makes it sound like she’s been working more. When? Where? It seems that no one knows, but Keenless. I can’t decide if this is more of Ma Mids at work, or if this entire article has been written tongue in cheek. Is this the first time that this type of article has been published in The Standard? I thought they were a credible newspaper. I guess I was wrong.
Isn’t the Standard owned jointly by dodgy Russian peer and friend of William, Lebedev and the Daily Mail trust? It used to be credible but has been losing readers for years now. It used to be a paper Londoners bought on the way home from work but is now given out for free on the Tube.
Seward is rewriting history.Diana had a great work ethic. She left because of a dysfunctional marriage not because she shirked work.kate has little interest in work. Seward used Diana to sell majesty magazine but turned on her when she fell out of favor with Charles Seward would turn on kate if she fell out of favor
Of all the things to criticize Diana for, her work ethic is the last thing and especially in comparison to the laziest married in ever Kate. It is an insult to even suggest otherwise.
Meanwhile we haven’t seen kate since the memorial last Monday whereas charles and Camilla have been out several times since then.
The Queen worked very hard and be
Became monarch
Kate will be consort not monarch.no comparison
I’m not sure that being “unruffled” on the tour is the great compliment that they think it is…surely it would be better to be uncomfortable and to use that discomfort as a point of learning. “Unruffled” comes off more like Marie Antoinette, don’t-give-a-shit disinterest. Not a good look.
Exactly how I interpreted as. V Melania trump “I don’t care” jacket. It’s not a good look
WORD.
Failure to recognize how awful things are going is the hallmark of the royals.
Kate usually has a very calm demeanor, unreadable, with the Commonwealth service being the exception. And the recoiling from the Jamaican Minister of Culture. But, she usually appears unflappable, although having not a care or interest in the world could explain it, too.
Kate doesn’t have a calm demeanor. She poses, preens, acts out and over the top for every engagement and generally gurns, grins, and manically prances around to get attention. ‘Calm’ she is not.
*innocent tone of voice. How DOES that writer breathe with her head so firmly entrenched within Kate’s bum??
That pic of her (in the yellow) grinning widely is almost as disconcerting as the wild-eyed gape-jawed ones.
I’m not sure why they think unruffled is a compliment. I cannot imagine any job that you can blunder and then just carry on like it’s okay, make no changes, fail to acknowledge problems and plan how to correct them and still be thought of as doing a good job.
The rest of us usually have annual performance reviews, she doesn’t. She has zero need to improve.
I wonder why Duchess Early years is so quite about the cost of living in the UK going up. Kids are wearing coats to sleep and she’s worried about becoming a “country mum”
She seems keen to copy the Queen, Princess Diana, and Meghan in everything except an actual work ethic.
Honest to God. She will always be Duchess Get-Ready-To-Get-Ready-To-Get-Ready to me.
Deering24, Duchess Repeat?
This appears to be a last ditch effort to cover over what is clearly transpiring — the Cambridges’ marriage is in shambles. The “move to Windsor” chatter is setting the stage for separate living arrangements, official or unofficial. The oft repeated phrases “Kate is shedding her mummy image”; “Kate is taking on a bigger role”; “Kate will do more solo engagements” are getting tired and it’s obvious she’s not up to the tasks at hand AT ALL. I think this is all just flummery meant to set the stage for her official or unofficial *retirement* from the BRF along with some kind of patch job on its failing reputation.
This is hysterical. So many things can be read as backhanded compliments.
“There’s no one else to take on the royal workload” = Kate is the last resort.
“Kate is finally taking this opportunity to seize her role.” = emphasis on finally. So Philip’s death & PA being outed for raping a trafficked minor are opportunities.
“Kate won’t just take on anything” = she limits her projects & is very selective, presumably because she only focuses on one thing, and she still can’t produce.
Her marriage is ironclad… but she’s more relaxed without incandescent Bill? Her “revamped style” must refer to coatdresses in new colors, because I see nothing new from her, unless she’s being Kopy Kate. So funny and out of touch that the writer name dropped Ghislaine Maxwell in an article about Cathy.
I loved “Attending Marlborough College – whose ranks are packed with bona fide Sloanes, aristocrats and alumni”
Sounds like a compliment to her education and connections wrapped in ‘try as much as you want but you’ll not be considered of them’
You guys, read the entire article. You will never stop laughing. I never click on the links, but this one needed my full eyeballs.
“Kate won’t just take on anything…” Well, that’s spot on.
So I guess that plan to spend the next 10-15 years being a “hands on mum” is out then. These folks change things so fast it will give you whiplash trying to keep up!
So this writer and its sources and us readers and Kaiser are all In agreement that kate is the forever lazy doormat. Who doesn’t mind if William cheats as long as she gets to play queen one day?.
I don’t know about you guys but nothing and I mean nothing kate wore on that colonial tour made me think modern woman. I saw a zoned out possibly drunk or highly medicated barely functioning woman who was all over the place with her irrational behavior. She was acting very much the plantation owner from the way she was treating the people in the Caribbean. I know her type, I grew up in the Caribbean and let me tell you, they never change.
Far be it for me to judge but maybe instead of these bonkers articles they keep writing about her, someone who cares about her should get her some help because she is a mess . I would feel sorry for her but after what she put Meghan through, my sympathy is not there.
The white suit really gets me, and the white dress. Who wears white when traveling? Who wears white when visiting grade schoolers? Only the very oblivious, it seems.
Exactly, and this line, from the original article stands out.
“and with Harry, Meghan and Prince Andrew firmly out of the picture, it falls to Charles, Camilla, Kate and William to pick up the slack.”
A ha. Yes. Only one of them is referred to as “prince”, and it isn’t anyone in danger of being a monarch.
Throughout this article, all I could think was, ‘what a load of bollocks’, over & over & over again.
It is ironic that they constantly threw actress in Meghan’s face like having a real job was such a problem. All Kate seems to do is act. She acted like the available girlfriend, she acted like she was happy when looking at the two sets of pictures with her before and after posts argues differently. She will now stop acting like a country girl, she will soon start acting like she cares about her job…it seems to me the family could use some BETTER actors. Alas those folks are smart enough to flee this mess
This is really like the kid getting the “participation trophy” for just showing up to the game with their little shorts on.
First Royal mother? Even if they mean hands on, what about Diana? They’re trying too hard. Why does it take a decade for Kate to grow into her job?!
“The priority was for the two to spend time together as a young married couple, and for their early married life not to be put in the straitjacket of royal service.”
It’s as if they’re the only people who have ever been married, that they need this time to enjoy being a young married couple (while the rest of us have to return to work after a honeymoon!).
They lived and slept together for at least 5 years before the wedding. Doesn’t that count as enjoying time together as a couple?
10 years pre-wedding, not five.
They had plenty of downtime. It’s not that Kate had to put in 40 hours a week of work. It’s rather patronizing to say those two need a “break” from “royal service.
I guess Harry and Meghan weren’t allowed that newlywed luxury — no one was trying to give them time to enjoy married life. But for real, W+K were together for TEN years before marriage. Why the dire need to give them so much space and time to bond? You’d almost think everyone around them was on tenterhooks because the union wasn’t that strong to begin with or something…
Andrew is “firmly” out? Doesn’t appear so. Interesting that in referencing the last two years no mention of dealing with a pandemic or rising prices. I guess, those things only concern the peasants. In what way has she “made a difference”? In what way did the trip to Denmark make a difference in the life of any one child in the UK?
“Kate won’t just take on anything — it has to be something that really interests her”.
All this does is confirm that, in fact, she has no interests. Imagine the influence she could have, given her profile. But no, she’s not interested.
And the comparison with Diana is ludicrous. We still remember today some of Diana’s projects and causes and the incredible impact they had. Let’s not forget that Diana’s working years were from age 20 to age 36, and she died 25 years ago. Kate is already 40 and has done nothing memorable.
The problem is that she has no real skills, she goes to events like the Concert and makes it all about HER hitting piano chords in a pre recorded concert. No praise to the people who actually performed. She is an art major and is a self proclaimed “expert” on Early Childhood because “she’s a mother.” There are real experts out there, some have written groundbreaking books and given lectures. Diana was proactive and looked to real causes and interests.
And even if she did have any genuine interests (which she clearly does not), she can’t focus only on those and ignore everything else because that is not how life or jobs work. She is utterly useless.
I think Kate will make a lovely Queen. She has always been consistent in her friendly, outgoing manner.
Eh, she wasn’t friendly to her sil by any means.
Just out of interest, are you friendly to all of your family members?
I have been following Kate ever since she started going out with William. I think her public personality has been consistent over the years. She gives off a friendly and outgoing persona.
If she perfect? Nope, none of us are. Is her private persona different? Possibly.
Poppies, be assured, we all get where you are coming from with your comment.
She’ll just have to settle for queen of her family like the other billions of women in the world.
She was not nice to Harry and Meghan.
Lmao yeah OK
She’s not going to be Queen, she will be Queen Consort (if her marriage and the monarchy last that long) which is simply a token position assigned to a married-in. However she’s proven again and again that she’s too lazy, stupid and disinterested in making any kind of active contribution to her position because what’s important to her is shopping, vacationing in Mustique, skiing in Switzerland and dividing her time between numerous lavish residences. Her so-called work as a royal is minimal and poorly done.
She hasn’t been the least bit “consistent in her friendly outgoing manner”, she was a total c*nt to her sister-in-law and is famous for her jealousy and mean-girling.
Stories like this just make me sad. They do not embiggen her; they insult her, but I guess if she doesn’t know it, it doesn’t matter.
Are they seriously trying to make the stories about “more solo engagements” into a positive? Like trying to pretend that the solo events issue was brought up because Kate has been such an asset? Instead of what we all know, it was because the Cambridges’ combined tour was such a wreck that they were trying to distract from it.
Okay, now I’m mad again. The way the writer just lumped Prince Harry & Meghan in with Andrew was very lazy and, some would say, very deliberate. Also, since when are we judged by the expression on our faces when we screw up royally? Basically, the writer said that they screwed up on the tour by doing that range rover photo-op, and shaking hands with kids through a chain-linked fence – but Kate had “unruffled features?” WHAT?! Then, this screwball person writes that with the Sussexes gone, Kate is very willing to step into the gap? Is it my imagination, or did Kate make it known just last week that she didn’t want to leave her kids to do tours by herself? Why can’t these people keep their stories straight? I’m getting whiplash here.
“Dressed in a pink Rixo dress with her hair in beachy waves, the Duchess and William were visiting a Bahamian fish fry to try the local delicacy “conch pistol” — said to have the same effect as Viagra. While William looked a little squeamish, Kate gamely held up the strip of flesh and popped it into her mouth. “I’m a little bit more adventurous than William is,” said the Duchess, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.”
I kept this one to read for Friday night, because I knew I was going to need the laugh, but I had no idea how big the laugh would be.
OMG, are they rebranding Kate as royal sexual kitten? Willnot looked squeamish, while seductress Kate sucked down some conch with a twinkle in her eye?!???? I will never, ever stop laughing. This is…spectacular.
Who on earth was looking at her colonial outfits saying “wow, that’s taking a risk” in a positive way? Her dresses are not worth the prices she pays. And a 40 year old “becoming” a 25 year old in a growth sense is a positive thing? Chica, you’re a whole 40 year old with access to whatever you need whenever you need it (face palm).