Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair was one of the royal reporters to get special briefings in honor of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s 14th wedding anniversary. All of the pieces start the same, with memories of Will and Kate’s 2011 wedding and how everything was perfect, and 2024 was only a minor blip in the larger fairytale, one bad moment which made William and Kate appreciate their perfect family even more. It’s a good narrative and it was smart for Kensington Palace’s courtiers to try to put a bow on the rolling catastrophe that was 2024. It’s funny that there are two sets of briefings in the past week coming from KP: one one side, there’s the “Will and Kate and incandescent with love, their marriage has never been stronger and they simply adore each other 24-7” briefings. On the other side, Rageaholic William and his allies are throwing sh-t fits about the Duchess of Sussex’s title and HRH style and screaming about how much William “despises” Harry and Meghan. Nicholl’s VF piece was mostly about Will and Kate being the most perfect and keen couple ever though:
Will & Kate stayed in a modest lodge during their Scottish holiday: It is, according to those who know the couple best, their idea of a perfect night in. “They really love the simple things in life,” a family friend tells Vanity Fair. “A little cottage in the middle of nowhere is their idea of heaven.”
Kate is doing well, health-wise. A year and two months after Kate’s cancer diagnosis, the future looks a lot brighter as she has been given the all-clear and has returned to work. Sources close to the family say that her prognosis is very positive and that she is “doing exceptionally well.” Princess Kate has said she is doing everything she can to stay cancer-free, and while she has returned to work, her priorities are her health and her family.
William prioritized Kate?? “Getting cancer changed her, it changed William, and it changed everything between them. They were both shocked to their core, but they knew they would get through it together,” reveals a family friend. “William stepped up. He made Catherine front and center of everything and will continue to do so. It’s made them both prioritize family and each other over everything else.”
Skipping Easter with the Windsors: Certainly, the couple’s recent decision to skip Easter Sunday with King Charles and Queen Camilla so that they could celebrate quietly as a family was a change noted by royal watchers. Last year, the family was in Norfolk for the Easter holidays and Kate was undergoing treatment, but their decision not to join Charles and senior royals a second year in a row was significant. “Usually they are there, and everyone loves seeing the little ones. This year they decided to have a quiet family Easter. The king was fully supportive, and I think it is an example of William and Catherine doing things the way they want to and doing what works for them as a family,” adds the royal insider.
They’d rather spend time in Norfolk: “They know with the children growing up and George about to start a new school, the family unit as it is will change a bit and they want to spend as much time together as they can,” the source adds. “They love being in Norfolk, it’s where they bond as a family and where they make very happy memories. It’s their happy place and they love being there.”
They’ve been together for two decades: “Like all couples, the relationship has ups and downs, but I would say they are stronger than ever, they are a very tight partnership,” says a long-standing friend. “It’s very clear that William is deeply in love with his wife, more than ever, and she is eternally grateful to him for the support he has given her this past year and how he has been with the children. He has shouldered a lot.”
I sometimes feel like Kensington Palace walks over their competing talking points from Kate’s camp and William’s camp. Camp Peg wants to ensure that he’s seen as the guy who shouldered enormous burdens completely on his own, prioritizing the fakakta school run single-handedly and staying stoic and calm in the face of Kate’s health issues. Meanwhile, Camp Kate has created an idealized version of how she wanted William to behave and react – “He made Catherine front and center of everything and will continue to do so” and “It’s very clear that William is deeply in love with his wife, more than ever.” All I know is that both sides are laying it on really thick. Also: KP keeps insisting that Charles was fine with the Waleses skipping Easter with the family. That’s not coming from Buckingham Palace.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Mull, Scotland, 30 April 2025: The Prince and Princess of Wales visiting Mull, Scotland the couple visited the Ardura Community Forest. On the second day of their visit to the Scottish Isles, The Duke and Duchess will meet the Countryside Rangers from the Mull and Iona Ranger Service at the Ardura Community Forest to highlight the importance of protecting and championing the natural environment. The Mull and Iona Ranger Service plays a vital role in conservation, biodiversity protection, visitor management and education on the islands. Countryside Rangers lead guided events for visitors and the resident community – regularly partnering with local primary schools to ensure that every child on the islands has the opportunity to experience the beautiful natural environment around them.,Image: 993841772, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ian Vogler/Avalon
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- Mull, Scotland, 30 April 2025: The Prince and Princess of Wales visiting Mull, Scotland the couple visited the Ardura Community Forest. On the second day of their visit to the Scottish Isles, The Duke and Duchess will meet the Countryside Rangers from the Mull and Iona Ranger Service at the Ardura Community Forest to highlight the importance of protecting and championing the natural environment. The Mull and Iona Ranger Service plays a vital role in conservation, biodiversity protection, visitor management and education on the islands. Countryside Rangers lead guided events for visitors and the resident community – regularly partnering with local primary schools to ensure that every child on the islands has the opportunity to experience the beautiful natural environment around them.,Image: 993844788, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ian Vogler/Avalon
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- Mull, Scotland, 30 April 2025: Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales and William, Prince of Wales meet Countryside Rangers from the Mull and Iona Ranger Service at the Ardura Community Forest, to highlight the importance of protecting and championing the natural environment, during a visit to the Isle of Mull, western Scotland.,Image: 993867383, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: OLI SCARFF/Avalon
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales visit Tobermory on the Isle of Mull on their wedding anniversary Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Tobermory, United Kingdom When: 29 Apr 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales visit Tobermory on the Isle of Mull on their wedding anniversary Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Tobermory, United Kingdom When: 29 Apr 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales visit Fionnphort to catch the ferry to Iona during their visit to The Isle of Munn Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Fionnphort, United Kingdom When: 30 Apr 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales disembark the ferry from Iona,Fionnphort Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Fionnphort, United Kingdom When: 30 Apr 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales disembark the ferry from Iona,Fionnphort Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Fionnphort, United Kingdom When: 30 Apr 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales, known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay when in Scotland, after taking the ferry back across the water from the Isle of Iona, on the last day of the royal visit to the Isle of Mull Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Isle of Mull, United Kingdom When: 30 Apr 2025 Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
This is the first time I’ve ever seen that dent in her forehead that people speak about. I wonder where it came from?
Yes that scar has a story to tell. “ They like the simple things in life”? Like the expensive vacations and all their many homes and helicopters? That simple life? Sounds like Peg is pissed that Meg said in her interview how she and Harry are still in their honeymoon phase and that Harry loves her so much.
This decades-long relationship is notorious for its consistently predictable low points. During their engagement interview when they were each speaking about different break ups…? The “I’m FREE!!!” only to be followed shortly thereafter with 2 more years of agonized dating, and a one-sidedly lukewarm wedding announcement.
They ascend meekly, then they collapse spectacularly and can’t even look at one another. Throw things at one another. Have screaming matches that prompt rounds upon rounds of “pillow throwing is actually *very healthy*” and “Kate gives as good as she gets” explainers from the ROTA, who have no doubt been well briefed on the toxicity of their dynamic.
Last year and into early this year seemed another particular low point. They are experiencing a high point at the moment, but the frightening prospect is… for how long will this round last before it’s back to throwing things? The low points are becoming worryingly low, the high points so forced and awkward. That scar above her brow has a story to tell, indeed, and it paints a rather disquieting picture. The deliberate silence around it is deafening.
William has always, and will always, want what Harry has. It’s burnt into his psyche in the ugliest way imaginable. Harry has a loving, supportive, happy marriage. William throws as much pretend as he can muster toward his own marital facade. He will bore and we’ll be back to regular scheduled programming in two shakes.
In fact, that scratch was around a long time ago. I saw pictures of her a few years ago and it was there, but I don’t know why it was so prominent in Troping the Color.
She never had anything cross below the eyebrow line like she does now. Good work was done last year over the months of going missing, but in non photo shopped photos, you can see it.
I guess this is in response to HRH The Duchess of Sussex saying how much Harry adores her and how much of a fox he is?
Either that or cue the divorce rollout in 3,2,1. King Incandescent Rage is not a man in love with his wife. Someone else’s wife maybe, but not his own.
Like I said yesterday, another proof they dont even live together: tell me how can Charlotte be shocked and cry over seeing him with a beard if she lives full time with her father?? That makes no sense. Growing a beard and shaving it off are two very different things.
Only the promonarchy seniors without access to social media and/or those in denial are going to believe William is IN LOVE with Kate. Dude can’t even hold an umbrella for her. Can’t even wear a ring for her. Spent all his time away during covid rosebushing
I disagree with you here. Many kids get scared when their parents shaves their beard or mustache. There are tons of videos online of that very thing.
@Polly, That was discussed yesterday after William said there were “floods of tears” when Charlotte first saw him *with a beard*. If she was around him when it was coming in, that makes no sense. Ergo she was not around him for long enough to grow it. Kids crying when facial hair is abruptly shaved off is different.
That is exactly what this article is about.. but nothing says “I love you” more than taking the umbrella and leaving the love of your life to fend for herself while you walk away.. so this is just an “Onion” style article.. good for a laugh and that’s about it.
On a different note has this couple ever used sunscreen or moisturizer.. I’m sorry but they both are aging at lightning speed. That contract with the devil must not be going well 😈
Yep, monkey see, monkey do. “How dare thinks he loves his wife more than I love mine! I’ll show him! Becky English stat!!!!”
I thought they’d get divorced 4 years plus ago but not now. He did something, she’s got scars, her family have evidence and he’s over a barrel that even a f king can’t escape. Too bad willy
The press has had Willie over a barrel for 20+ years now. He’s been a garbage human being for a long time.
Absolutely no one is buying what they’re selling. They have the energy of friends who catch up every few months. The affection is missing no matter how much their paid cohorts tell us otherwise. This is as good as it’s going to get with these two; less than the bare minimum and defiance about not willing to work. Harry and Meghan’s existence alone truly highlights how awful these two are at everything. Also, this trip was beyond dull, truly boring. The establishment has a complete and utter disaster on their hands and I love that for them.
I will take the Sussexes kind of love any day over a love generated by royal gossipers.
The pointed notes about staying in modest cottage is funny to me because Willy has inherited millions and millions of dollars and property—insists that he wants to “cure” homelessness and won’t use those resources.
So to me the “modest cottage” is an attempt to diss Harry & Meghan and their home; the home that THEY paid for with their own money.
Loser. And that man can barely stand to be near his wife. It’s sad to see.
Modest cottages to royals are large residences. And lots of people waiting on them.
Also, when they talk about how much they love the simple life….okay, so enjoy the simple life. no one made you move onto the grounds of windsor castle. No one is making you send your children to elite schools or go on expensive vacations to private islands or be surrounded by staff or have multiple nannies or whatever.
They like to cosplay an elite version of the “simple life.”
My life is simple but I don’t use an helicopter to go anywhere nor do I have vacations almost every month…they don’t want a simple life….they just pretend liking it just like they pretend about everything…
Methinks they doth protest too much.
They always do. The only ones buying it are the rats and their paid bots.
My reaction to seeing this headline – “is the man deeply in love with his wife in the room with us? If so can you point him out?”
Look every marriage is different and couples go through rough patches and good patches. But if we’re defining a rough patch as “he can’t bear to be near her” then it seems they’ve been in a rough patch for the better part of a decade at this point.
They are both aggressors in the relationship and will do absolutely anything to get a reaction out of each other. It’s a power thing and it’s not healthy. If their aggression in public is this bad, I honestly dread to think what it could be like in private.
Long may Princess Meghan boast openly about how much her man loves her because it clearly gets on these two’s nerves.
A tale of two couples and one magazine. Vanity Fair wrote a whole article citing sources saying Meghan was shopping a divorce memoir along with a bunch of anonymously sourced jabs. And then this couple gets a flowery anniversary article about how everything is sooo perfect. Okay, VF and Katie Nicholls, we see you.
Derangers believe every word about the divorce book and other fake news
It’s just funny. One tried to masquerade as a serious expose about the Sussexes while getting in a bunch of unsourced hits on Meghan in particular. While this one is a sugar rush of perfect couple propaganda. It just makes the VF royal coverage look unserious and biased, Which we already knew but its like they have to just keep proving it over and over.
Vanity Fair has ZERO credibility in the royals space. SMH.
I’ve had to take a large step back from royal news this past year because it just got to be too much. I see however, nothing has changed with dull and duller. I’m dying to know what sort of arrangement these two have these days. Vacations and work seem like 80/20.
Total desperation. They enjoy many lavish vacations an avoiding work which they call the simple things in life. They are not the perfect family. The keens are dysfunctional and William is obsessed with removing Sussex titles.
William probably sulked in the cottage and they retreated to separate rooms
They probably brought the makings of crack babies so they could be too drunk to care.
Who’s the long-standing friend that they can’t even put a name?
These rats are dealing with Pravda levels of propaganda. It’s like the death watch around the Soviet rulers – no, he’s not dead. Really. Don’t believe your own eyes, believe what we tell you. (like Trump)
They just need to play the music from Swan Lake and it will be like the Communist times.
The “friend” is CarolE. The “they’re so in love, Bill puts Cathy first all the time!” has her fingerprints all over it. The Middletons haaaaate how H&M’s obvious feelings for each other shines a big ol’ light on Bill and Cathy’s relationship (where she pretends and he looks like he can barely stand to be in her presence).
Well this was saccharine. Katie Nicholl has laid it on rather thick, hasn’t she. She can now package that spin into a full fledged book 📕. Let’s see how many copies she’ll sell. Lol 😝 ….
The long standing friend must be Carole
Vf is a rag. If you pay they will write whatever you want. They are recommended by every celebrity who got in trouble and had to whitewash. Just like daily mail and page 666.
She hasn’t gained weight yet, and that is something just about every cancer patient gets encouraged to do. Doctors want you at a decent BMI.
Modest cottage: this is the “I turn off the lights when I leave the room, but use the helicopter whenever I travel” argument. So what if they did? They own a ton of real estate.
She barely gained weight for her pregnancies. I doubt she can physically or mentally handle it.
I think Charles was fine with William and Kate not being there for Easter. All the attention went to him and Camilla.
Pitiful just pitiful. This couple can hardly stand to be in each other’s company but we are supposed to believe that they are deeply in love. Ha ha ha ha ha… as I said, pitiful just pitiful.
Maybe Will loves Kate, maybe he hates her, I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. In front, though, we did not see a man stepping up to the challenge. We saw just the opposite – he was a crumbling mess.
He does not love her. He settled for her, IMO
He JUST hired his Mama’s divorce attorneys. So……..
Wait, what? Is there any tea?
William hired the law firm of Mischcon de Reya. Anthony Julius, the deputy chairman, was Diana’s attorney when she and Charles divorced. Interestingly, Anthony was co-founder/chairman, then vice president of the Diana, PoW Memorial Fund. I don’t know what the tea leaves are saying about this, but it was bound to attract a lot of attention to Willnot. Maybe he just wanted to discuss “what-ifs”, maybe he just wanted to distance himself from the law firm Charles et al have used for decades because he felt there was some bias in the relationship.
Yeah, the thing is, not even William is stupid enough not to know what hiring his mother’s divorce attorney would do. It’s not like we are talking about a precious commodity, attorneys are a dime a dozen, and he chose the firm Diana used for her divorce. It was definitely a CHOICE.
The simple life – using other people’s money for an anniversary celebration on the taxpayer dime in a beautiful area of the world that’s not easily accessible. All transportation, meals, clothing, luggage, logistics handled for you, and again paid for by the taxpayer. Yes, who wouldn’t enjoy that? All the trappings of an upper middle class wealthy lifestyle and not an ounce of the pressure to maintain it. No even an ounce of pressure to plan it. There are socialites with heavier schedules than these two.
My initial reaction to this love narrative from the Keens was to interpret it as their reaction to Harry and Meghan’s love story. However, as with yesterday’s story about Will getting angry when Kate is urged to work, this might very well be targeted at Charles and his courtiers. Keens are still in a prove it game when it comes to their marriage and royal duties and they suck at it.
They are as much in love as they ever were- hee haw!
There was a story about a society couple who were not getting along. SO each of their friends said the same thing to hide the conflicts, all of them said they are an ideally suited couple.
It is a mystery to me how Vanity Fair can simultaneously employ writers who nail the current administration to the wall with pinpoint accuracy (see, for example, Bess Levin) and the coterie of sycophants who cover the Royals (see, for example, the recent hit-piece on the Sussexes).
There have been a few royal writers at VF in the past that have been pretty fair. Erin Vanderhoof and Michelle Ruiz. But I think they’re contributors as opposed to editors? Not sure if that makes a difference. Whereas Katie Nichols is an editor there and used to be a DM tabloid writer associated with phone hacking scandals with both Harry and Hugh Grant. She is just one of many that has been named but never proven guilty in court so take that as you will. She used to have sources with the Midds. My feeling is that there is always going to be some good and fair writers at any publication but the rot is usually at the top with the owners and editors as opposed to every individual writer.
Vanity Fair broke the story about Charles and Diana being unhappily married, so it’s strange that they’re propping up William and Kate in this way.
They probably have editors that want to bolster them and try to put down Harry and Meghan.
This is because on the podcast, Meghan talked about how much Harry loves her.
I called yesterday and cancelled my subscription to VF after I received this month’s print magazine with an article featuring how misunderstood the entirely normal Barron Trump is. BIG BAG OF NOPE.
I ditched them years ago and they bugged me via regular mail and email to subscribe again. Anything paper ended up in the recycle bin. Their writers are full of it .
I stopped buying it when the RF articles became very cloying.
Am I horrible for wanting them to divorce? They look very unhappy together. Let them free. These ridiculous stories are making me nauseous. And Norfolk is a place for them to bond as a family? Most working people prioritize family, they just do not continuously say “my kids come first” at work. Publish something new, please. How about a story of a future king sitting on a money mountain and not having any keeness to renovate his properties nor recruiting architects to design eco-friendly houses? Or absolutely anything else? It’s frustrating that the powerful stateman does nothing notable. How easy would it be for him to make an positive impact, just give few commands. I hope he finds a new wife. Maybe she would be a better influence?
Unlike parents who work hours to bring in household income (some take on extra work) these two have lots of leisure time, lots of money for lavish trips and taxpayers help foot the bill. Are they trying “virtue signaling” on parents with real jobs and real need to put food on the table? Looks that way. William also seems to bond more with George (do Louis and Charlotte live with Kate?) than the younger children. Kate is an enabler, if he remarries he may want another enabler?
They act like they are the only ones who ever put their kids first. It sounds very patronizing. imo.
William loving Kate more than he ever has is not a very high bar.
I mean, he was stinking of rum at their wedding and he bristles when she touches him. So there was only one way to go and that was up.
What adult woman with three kids would say “my husband be puts me front and center of everything and will continue to do so” with a straight face? Don’t you both put your children front and center? This sounds so bizarre to me, I cannot imagine any of my girlfriends saying anything like that.
William prioritizes his football club over his wife but sure.
It’s odd they keep stressing family time and family memories etc because of Kate’s health. But their father and grandfather has cancer and is in his late 70s. Shouldn’t William want time for himself and his own kids with Charles for those memories too? Especially given how regimented the king’s schedule is. This could be Charles’s last Easter and they could’ve had time both with him and as a unit. Instead they chose only the latter.
Especially giving that they used that argument to constantly try and lure the Sussexes back to the UK for Phillip, the Queen and on occasion Charles.
I believe Vanity Fair editor resigned earlier this month. I cancelled my subscription long ago, before she became editor, but it is my impression is that her tenure has driven the publication further down. Perhaps she’s giving up?
I still don’t know what “doing everything she can to remain cancer free” means? Is there something specifically that a person can do to prevent getting cancer again? What exactly was William doing before the cancer diagnosis that he has “stepped up and made Kate front and center in their family”? Charles being supportive of them “doing things the way they want” and “doing what works for their family” seems to be okay when it’s his oldest son and his racists in crime DIL but not when it’s the youngest son and his biracial DIL who has had hers, her husbands and their children’s lives threatened. I wonder why?
“They really love the simple things in life… A little cottage in the middle of nowhere is their idea of heaven.”
— Same with Marie Antoinette, apparently.
A little cottage=with multiple bedrooms,tennis court and pool; middle of nowhere=middle of miles and miles of private grounds where normal folks have no access, plus top notch security. Truly simple life. Won’t mention all the staff, too much writing
These are not serious people, and VF has lost whatever remained of any semblance of credibility.