Duchess Kate’s weight has seemingly been in the news for years now. I can remember when Prince William dumped her in 2007, and Kate reemerged in the London nightlife scene suddenly looking dramatically slimmer – and the UK press praised her for it. Then as soon as Kate and William got engaged in 2010, it seemed like Kate’s weight loss became even more dramatic. Thankfully, after more than a year of marriage, her weight did seem to stabilize a bit – although she occasionally wears outfits that seem to accentuate her super-skinniness, so it’s still being discussed widely in the public sphere. But noticeably absent from the discussion is someone big, someone major coming out and saying, “Damn, Kate looks really, really skinny. Almost too skinny.” Katie Couric has filled that void.
Katie Couric has launched an extraordinary attack on Kate Middleton and claimed that she is ‘getting too thin’. The TV show host said that the Duchess of Cambridge needed to put on some weight – or she might not have her as a guest on her new programme. Couric also renewed her attack on her former employers at CBS and said she should have been ‘more circumspect’ about working with the company.
Her comments about the Duchess are likely to cause outrage at Buckingham Palace which granted her extensive access to the Royal family during a recent special for ABC News, where is a special correspondent. She made them during the filming of the first episode of her new chat show Katie in response to audience questions about who her dream guest would be.
Couric said that Kate would be her choice but there was one issue: ‘I think she’s getting too thin.’
Kate reportedly lost 10lbs and went from a size eight to a size six in the weeks before her marriage to Prince William in order to fit into her wedding dress. She was reportedly on the Dukan Diet which limits those on it to just protein like fish during the first, most brutal stage.
This is not the first time Kate’s weight has come us as other commentators have raised concerns she may be getting too thin, especially if she wants to have a baby. The Royal Household has also been sensitive to weight issues since 1995 when Princess Diana publicly admitted that she suffered from bulimia and made herself vomit after eating. When interviewer Martin Bashir asked her what the Royal Family thought of her problems, Diana replied: ‘They thought it was a waste of food’.
I’m not sure if the Princess Diana mention or comparison is apt. For one, Diana was so much younger, and she struggled with bulimia in the early years of her marriage, even throughout her first pregnancy. For Kate… it feels like it’s just about control for her. Like, she so controlled and so tightly wound that she’s incredibly conscious about her food intake. I don’t think she’s bulimic, but if you told me she had some general food issues, I would believe you. Plus, the UK press keeps praising her, and you know all of the people around Kate are probably praising her slim figure too. It’s not like she’s surrounded herself with people who will be like, “Hey, a baked potato isn’t the enemy, your royal highness.”
As for Katie Couric and whether she should or shouldn’t have said anything about Kate’s figure. Ugh, I don’t know. I’m somewhat relieved to hear a public figure say something negative about Kate because I just get tired of everyone falling all over themselves to praise Kate for her hair or whatever.
Some photos of Kate at the Paralympics. UGH THOSE WEDGES.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
ugh on the wedges is right! they are something you wear to a weekend BBQ not with a suit to major event. sheesh.
I was watching the coverage, saw the wedges and thought they were a really odd choice. She seems to be a fan of court shoes, why not wear them?
It’ll be interesting to see what the backlash is against Katie, if there is any. She’s pretty much saying what we’ve all been thinking, particularly after that “It’s all part of the plan” comment during the engagement period.
I’m quite surprised to managed to find photos of her smiling at the ceremony Kaiser, I thought she looked thoroughly miserable and bored through most of it.
Sheesh! Who is Couric to be making comments?! Her face has been lifted so many times, her hairline resides at the top of her head! Her skin looks ready to split!
I love her soo much but I agree those wegdes are not cute with that stewardess outfit
Do you know her? Are you related to her? Are you in the habit of loving random people?
Jeeez Lisa relax. Plenty of people feel a great affection for public figures.
this was exactly my thought! she really looks like a stewardess in these pictures.
I actually think her legs look a bit more filled out in the Paralympic pics. Even the “flight attendant” pic above, her calves look SLIGHTLY less…emaciated. Perhaps I’m imagining it.
LOL Ellie!! If that’s filled out, where does that leave the rest of us?
I know it’s en vogue to bash her, but honestly, The Dutch is tall and thin and hey, so’s my college roommate who looks creepily like her. I think she looks fine.
I also hereby nominate “The Dutch” as her official nickname for when “Waity” just doesn’t feel right.
‘The Dutch’ would never wash because ‘Dutch’ was Diana’s nickname. Waity needs to get her own identity and nicknames that don’t impose her MIL on her more than she already does.
Hey LAK good to see you I posted a reply to you over on one of the Prince Harry items!
I do concede that the wedges are PANTS.
The Duchess loves a wedge – I can’t harp on her too much though, she has long days to contend with, plus she supposedly can never wear open toes (why Queen, why?) so she is pretty limited in her footwear.
She’s worn open toed shoes before. Can’t remember what for, but they were sparkly, strappy silver ones that she wore to at least two occasions. I remember them because they seemed very early 00s to me.
I’m surprised they gave Katie a new talk show. I’m tired of her. They’re giving one to Ricki Lake , too….Ricki looks great , by the way. I think Duchess Kate looks good….better than me as I sit here w/ my coffee in my full set of pj’s, robe, and rollers in my hair!
I bet you look fabulous!
I too have had enough of Katie Couric. I don’t think her talk show will make it. Nobody watched her on the CBS evening news where she couldn’t get away with that goofy grin of hers. I’m tired of seeing her.
I love that she’s wearing the same shoes she had a year and a half ago on her wedding weekend. Rock those favorite wedges, Kate!
i think you are wrong. these shoes are relativly new.
Ugh, f–king Daily Mail. “Katie Couric has launched an extraordinary attack on Kate Middleton.” What BS!
Wow, I’m surprised someone is actually calling out Kate for her weight loss. That said, I think Kate’s been looking a tad healthier lately. She was just plain anorexic during the wedding/honeymoon/Canada tour.
I jut don’t get why anyone should be “called out” for any aspect of their body. Should I have gotten “called out” when I put on some weight during college? And when I took it off again? I personally think it’s her own business.
Well…I tend to agree with you. However, Kate is not a private citizen. Not only is she a celebrity/role model in Britain, she’s also a public official. I don’t think young girls should be looking up to her thinking that’s normal. I work with teenagers daily, and I wouldn’t underestimate the potential influence that has. So in some ways, I don’t think it hurts to have a conversation about what media culture shows us (i.e. extreme thinness) vs. what’s actually normal, realistic, and healthy.
I am tall like her & had 10 lb weight loss due to stress & a later diagnosed health issue. People kept accusing me of having an eating disorder. My hubby felt bad b/c he always saw me eat. I am not quick to judge her as having a disorder. It could be true, but it may be other factors. I feel like it is often ok to rip apart thin people but if I told my friend she was an overeater, the female community would attack. We have a double standard. I will say sometimes being too thin is not on purpose & does not feel so pretty to the person in the figure. What if I told Katie Couric I can’t have her on a show b/c her gums are too big & teeth too little, like how shallow?
Body-shame an overweight woman and people take umbrage. Why is it ok to body-shame an underweight woman? Katie Couric wouldn’t dare say a woman is getting a little too fat.
But (and I really hate Katie) inviting Kate on the show to continue the praise parade would be a sick thing to do since it would just play into the media’s obsession with glamorizing too-thin women. At a minimum, she would have to throw out a question to Kate about her weight, and I wonder if Ms Middleton would agree to be interviewed if she knew such a question would be asked.
The short version: Her weight has to be addressed.
There are some things that swirl around in my head when I hear concerns about the usurpation of the skinny privilege. First things first, women don’t want to hear people say they’re unattractive, they just don’t. Second, if a woman brings up insecurities about her weight or perception of it, telling her to zip it probably isn’t good the conversation. Third, it’s not a good idea to take on unhealthy behaviours in order to serve your aesthetic idea, whatever it is and whoever you are. Fourth, the fact that they’ve not been accepted in the past doesn’t mean that some lipid rising revolution should be permitted to take out their anger on the slim-hipped. BUT–it’s being willfully obtuse to deny that thiness is still priviledged and if one doesn’t know that already, one need only cock her head several degrees and all will be revealed. Women have made exceedingly lucrative careers out of their slightness and there really isn’t an equivalent for the others that doesn’t involve ‘before’ pictures or ‘you’re not THAT cross’ ad and modelling campaigns. Ever watch a rerun or a program from some years ago and think, ‘dang, she’s so much smaller, now?’. Were these anomalous situations?
I tend to think that generally speakinhg, if you believe what you say about body-shaming, why bring up the go-to whipping boy of heavier girls and how inexplicibly awesome things are for them right now? Is this happening because people feel guilty for giving the plus sizes so much hassle in the past? That’s not railing against the double standard, it’s feeding into the single standard. If you’re concerned with people treating your own body with dignity because it’s your body and that’s enough a reason to warrant its integrity and respect, it undercuts that assertion when you’re crestfallen that heavier girls have it SO easy now and no one’s allowed to say a word about their weight because their…unusualness is now a protected landmark. Outside of a few chosen celebrities, I wouldn’t exactly say we’re living in a Rumpy Renaissance because a generous figure is still largely alien to current beauty standards. Hell, the overwhelming majority of overweight women you see in film are just men in drag (same for black women), so all’s not perfect for anyone. I just think that if one brings up the new supposed trend of ‘everybody loves a fatty, but why not me?’, culture the entire argument hinges on the idea that the desirabilty of the more zaftig form is supposed to be subordinate to that of the thinner woman, and people must be reminded of this natural order in order for very slim women to advocate for themselves. If the argument for acceptance is made through browbeating the acceptance of a different type, it reinforces the adversarial relationship between women because the ‘natural order’ of praising the thin and ignoring the not-thin outside of a reality show competition isn’t be observed.
There’s no need to bring down someone else’s dignity to prove your own and if the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ argument about differnt strains of feminine beauty inevitably comes up, it suggests that maybe there’s a deeper belief in re-affirming and re-inscribing those traditional traits of beauty than we think–because who wants to be on the bottom, especially when for so long one was placed at or near the top? Status is awesome.
If you’re a woman, you’re going to get criticized for some aspect of your physical appearance and it’s frequently traumatizing, we all have to live through it. But some scattered comments aren’t going to bring the empire of the tall, lean white woman anytime soon, especially when this woman receives far more praise for her sylph-like appearance than criticism.
Sigh…Do you think anyone is going to read this entire comment? We need a character restriction on here like Twitter.
God almighty. Way too much talking.
Katie’s botox work makes her look like the Joker.
Her weight doesn’t concern me like her botox does. She is such a pretty girl, but the newish pictures of her from the Olympics are a little disheartening. When she smiled it looked painful and unnatural and it also aged her. It has to be botox or fillers. I just don’t understand the appeal because all the women who start using them age aggressively and appear waxy, exhibit: Megan Fox, Nicole Kidman, Kim Kardashian.
The Mail is a UK publication and the sizes they note are likely British, not American. That would mean that Kate at 5 ft 9in (more or less) is closer to a U.S. size 2, which is a fairly significant difference.
I agree with Katie. If you look at photos of Kate before the engagement, she was slim but healthy. Now she looks positively spindly. I wish Will would intervene; his mother was bulemic, so he knows firsthand how dangerous eating disorders can be.
If she’s a UK size 2, are we sure she’s not even skinnier? Because from the side, her body is like non-existent. Oh, and she needs to stop with those wedges.
I wonder if Couric would have dared to say of an overweight personality “I think she”s getting too fat.”
If she said “I think she’s getting too fat” the story would be how vile Kouric is.
Body shaming women is two-fold.
Good lord, those wedges do indeed make her feet look like hooves.
ITA people tell thin celebs to eat a burger but never tell fat celebs to eat a salad
How many fat celebs are there, really?
Fat shaming is way more common than thin shaming. Fat people are all but being charged with the fall of the western world.
yes, she´s too thin.
But was happened to Kates eyebrow? The left one is higher and looks different now…
http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Kate%2BMiddleton%2BOlympics%2BDay%2B6%2BRoyals%2BOlympics%2B73DWM4i3a2Al.jpg
http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Kate%2BMiddleton%2B2012%2BLondon%2BParalympics%2BDay%2BiW9Y97j6bN7l.jpg
http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Kate%2BMiddleton%2B2012%2BLondon%2BParalympics%2BDay%2BwiXRGGBypqZl.jpg
Oh no, she didn’t 😛
Not more Katie Couric! Time to retire.
I don’t understand how her face can be so fat while the rest of her is so thin. Maybe she is afraid that if she gains weight her face will puff up even more. If that’s the case, I kind of feel sorry for her.
“I’m not sure if the Princess Diana mention or comparison is apt. For one, Diana was so much younger, and she struggled with bulimia… For Kate… it feels like it’s just about control for her. Like, she so controlled and so tightly wound that she’s incredibly conscious about her food intake. I don’t think she’s bulimic, but if you told me she had some general food issues, I would believe you.”
Bulimia and anorexia are two different illnesses. Bulimics are bingers and purgers and are not necessarily underweight. They frequently feel like they lack love in their lives and so they fall into a dysfunctional pattern of eating and vomiting. Anorexics restrict their food intake as a means to gain a sense of control in their lives. They are perfectionists who turn to disordered eating when they feel that other aspects of their lives have spun out of control.
The opinion provided about Kate’s personality and possible behavior is that of an anorexic, not a bulimic. They are two different things and they can have different psychological origins.
On the bmi scale, she needs to be between 125-150lbs for a normal weight at her height. Isn’t it reported she is like 95lbs? Wowser, she needs to gain like 20+ lbs then!
Eh, BMI’s a bit sketchy as a measurement of health, for a host of reasons.
A better indicator for someone like Kate is body fat percentage – if it’s below 18, that could have serious health implications, not least for fertility. Without knowing a stat like this, it’s very hard to gauge whether her thinness is a problem.
Time will tell, and fairly soon – an heir will be expected by end-2013 at the latest.
I cannot stand Katie Couric and i think her new show looks lame. She is the biggest bitch in news – everyone who has ever had to work with her absolutely despises her. The real ‘her’ shows through – she’s not fooling anyone with that nice girl act.
Does anyone care about Katie Couric’s opinion?