From what I can see, The Great Waity Bikini Photo Flap of 2013 was a complete mess for the royal family. Unlike last year’s naked-photo scandal, people just didn’t feel like taking Duchess Kate and Prince William’s side in last week’s controversy, mostly because people didn’t see that big of a deal about seeing Kate in a bikini during one of her many vacations. I also think it’s hilarious that so many media outlets are referring to their Mustique vacation as a “babymoon” – that’s not coming from the St. James press office, by the way. The royals would never be so gauche as to call Kate and William’s vacation a “babymoon”. Besides that, I have serious concerns that this won’t even be their last vacation before Kate gives birth! I’m sure they’ll manage at least two more “babymoons” before the birth.
Anyway, the babymoon is over (ha) for now. Kate and William are back in England, and her press office is doing damage control from the photo flap. Guess how they’re positioning her? Now brave, selfless Kate is going back to work and she’s got such a packed schedule (two scheduled appearances within three weeks) and she’s going to announce more charities! She’s so brave.
Five months into her pregnancy and just back from a Caribbean “babymoon” in Mustique, the Duchess of Cambridge is stepping up her work as she returns to her royal duties.
Kate, 31, is set for a visit to the port of Grimsby, about 180 miles from London in north eastern England, where she will be shown the local work of one of her father-in-law Prince Charles’s best known charities, the Prince’s Trust.
On the March 5 “away day,” she will also see a local school and take in a history lesson on the local fishing industry when she tours the town’s museum.
With the fashion-conscious princess also thinking about her maternity wear, she’s reportedly turned to friends Natasha Rufus Isaacs and Lavinia Brennan at Beulah London for some frocks, it was reported Monday – though the company did not wish to comment.
On Tuesday of this week, Kate will return to public work by visiting a treatment center run by one of her charities, Action on Addiction, a women’s-only project in Clapham, London.“These women would have chosen to have some time out of the company of men and they need to focus on themselves,” charity chief executive Nick Barton tells PEOPLE. “This is more about the longer term, helping people sustain their recovery and think about the things that makes them vulnerable to relapse.”
Royal aides tell PEOPLE that Kate is set to pick some new patronages in the coming weeks, to add to the several she adopted in January 2012.
As it is, the non-profit group 100 Women in Hedge Funds – already associated with Prince William – has announced it will partner with Action on Addiction for Kate’s first year of her patronage.
Yes, People Magazine (and other outlets) managed to string together a decent-sized story out of the sparse commitments of: one event this week, one event in early March, and a plan to “announce” more work to come.
Incidentally, have you ever heard of the historical novelist Hilary Mantel? She’s won the Booker Prize twice, and during a speech yesterday, Mantel had some fascinating things to say about Duchess Kate. Here’s an excerpt of some of what Mantel said:
The pregnant Duchess is a bland, “machine-made” Princess, “designed by committee” who lacks Anne Boleyn’s cleverness and Diana’s ability to transform herself into an avenging wraith, the double Booker Prize-winning writer claimed. Delivering a London Review of Books lecture on Royal Bodies at the British Museum, the author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, the acclaimed novels which detail the failure of Henry VIII’s wives to produce an heir, examines the prospects for the future queen consort.
On first impressions, Mantel believed Kate Middleton to be “a jointed doll on which certain rags are hung. In those days she was a shop-window mannequin, with no personality of her own, entirely defined by what she wore.” Prince William’s wife-to-be was as “painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks, without oddities, without the risk of the emergence of character… She appears precision-made, machine-made, so different from Diana whose human awkwardness and emotional incontinence showed in her every gesture.”
The Duchess of Cambridge “appeared to have been designed by a committee and built by craftsmen, with a perfect plastic smile and the spindles of her limbs hand-turned and gloss-varnished.”
Ms Mantel said: “Presumably Kate was designed to breed in some manners. She looks like a nicely brought up young lady, with ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ part of her vocabulary.” But in her first official portrait since marrying William, painted by Paul Emsley and unveiled last month, “her eyes are dead.”
Kate is quite unlike Anne Boleyn, who was “a power player, a clever and determined woman.” Although the Duchess will probably escape a beheading, their fates will be similar. “In the end she (Anne) was valued for her body parts, not her intellect or her soul; it was her womb that was central to her story… a royal lady is a royal vagina.”
Female Royals are “persons but they are supra-personal, carriers of a blood line: at the most basic, they are breeding stock, collections of organs.”
Whilst St James’s Palace fumes at pictures of the Duchess in a bikini showing a slight baby bump in a number of foreign magazines, taken during a break on the Caribbean island of Mustique, Mantel observes: “The royal body exists to be looked at.”
Yikes. This is kind of amazing/scary/disturbing/thought-provoking. I’m kind of happy that a British writer had the balls to say some of this stuff out loud, and I can only imagine the pushback this woman is going to receive. But doesn’t she have a very valid point of view, a POV that’s been sorely missing from the discussion of Kate and the royal family?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Work? She works?
Love Mantel’s comments.
Mantel is on point. I wonder what she would say about Pippa and her cookbook. lolol
Agreed. Also:
“The royal body exists to be looked at.”
And Kate figured that out decades ago. Good girl.
An excellent discussion/dissection of the Hilary Mansel article by the brilliant Sarah Whalen
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/top-stories/item/321677-hilary-mantel-ayes-kate-middletons-dead-eyes-and-royal-vagina
Me too!
All of Hilary Mantel’s talk is now up on the LRB’s website
http://bit.ly/Xqq71g
as text and audio. (A Hilary Mantel fan writes. Go read Wolf Hall if you haven’t.)
Ouch! Damn, that was surprising accurate and blunt.
SJP is ridiculous. Can’t rewrite history when it’s only 2 years old. Everyone knows this chick isn’t going to work. Everyone knows her charities are suffering & her patronage hasn’t increased their donations. People know these things, but go on, SJP, keep on pushing the BS stories/excuses about Lazy Waity.
At first I was like why are you bringing Sarah Jessica Parker into this?? duh. Need more coffee.
Agree with your comments!
Don’t feel bad, I thought the same at first, and read this at 4:45 pm, in the UK, and still failed to make the connection at first, haha
LOL — I thought the same thing. Sarah Jessica Parker?ooof. To the coffee machine!
The first time someone used the abbreviation I did the same thing, so I completely understand ladies!
I must be slow because I still don’t get it! Lol :).
I don’t get it – I am a foreigner. Please enlighten me! 🙂
AWWWW ROTFLMAO.
I thought I was the only one. I kept thinking What the hell did SJP say.. See some abbreviations are associated with certain people. Funny how that works
But here is the thing with Princess Catherine. Being a Princess is a job. Like it or not. but when they talk about her “working” I don’t understand exactly what she is “working” at. Is she organizing these events. Working to get the guest list together, setting up the locations or food. Is she responsible for the event in it’s totality, or does she just show up. Because if she is the “organizer” then yes there is a lot of work involved. If you have ever had to plan anything even a family gathering you know it is work, but if all she does is pick out and outfit and arrive on time, then they need to get her more hands on regarding the charity functions. I have never seen her at any event where it looks like she is involved. But to be honest I don’t follow her or him much. I don’t find the Royal family that interesting.
So exactly what is her JOB other then showing up.
I could be wrong but I think her *job* is to show up. And she usually shows up and stays for an exhausting 45 minutes then leaves. That’s all that she does and she cannot find the time or the heart to do this more than a few times per month.
She just shows up. I doubt very much that she doesn’t have a lady’s maid to help her get ready for the event despite her insistence on refusing a dresser.
Generally, depending on their interests and personalities, and the number of patronages and everything else going on in their lives, the royals tend to be pretty much figure heads although some are much more hands on than others. WK are completely hands off. They dress up, show up, meet and greet for 45mins and home ( or in Kate’s case, shopping) they go.
It’s pretty sad that an office flunky helps co-ordinate the trip from SJP’s end and puts together a dossier of information for the royal to brush up on before the event, thus making it as simple as possible and yet WK still manage to come across uninformed about which ever event they are attending. They never try to make it interesting enough for media to report on the event extensively beyond Kate’s fashion.
Consequently, Kate’s charities are sufferring, though that can’t be blamed on her, but her acceptance of being their Patron should have improved their visibility and hopefully effectiveness.
William’s charities are all inherited charities from his mother and therefore already established and with other patrons so that his neglect of them doesn’t affect them at all or he piggybacks onto Harry’s charities which have a very involved Patron in Harry so don’t require his input at all.
I guess I’m just dense but what or who is SJP?
St. James Palace. Will’s office is there.
SJP = St James Palace.
KP = Kensington Palace
CH = Clarence House
BP = Buckingham Palace
Different courts work from different buildings. KP will be the court of William and Kate from Summer 2013. For now SJP looks after William, Kate and Harry. CH is the court of Prince Charles. BP is the court of The Queen and other royals. They all work separately with afew overlaps if it’s a joint project.
So if you read in the media that ‘The Palace said….’ you have to check which palace they are referring to because they speak only for their court. Unless it’s a directive from BP. That trumps all the others. BP>CH>SJP
My GOD that has to be exhausting!
ahahahah, I like this British author!
Kate Middleton is bland!
Even a lot of the People Mag comments are negative this time around, and those commenters are a bunch of royalty-worshiping sheep. Kate really needs to get it together.
Mantel is right.
They remind me of the royal version of Barbie and Ken.
Totally plastic, poseurs and boring. And they never work.
Cue the mean girls! Oops, too late. Doesn’t matter what she does or doesn’t do, there is always a line around the block to kick her. I don’t even load these stories half the time because the bashing is boring.
I like that dress with the jeweled trim and normally stuff like that looks tacky to me.
+1
Is Mantel a mean girl?
She’s just a Booker Prize winner. Stating her opinion.
I like it – no royal ass kissing there.
Mantel isn’t a just calling out Kate. She’s calling out the patriarchy that creates a demand for such vapid females.
Btw, both Wolf Hall and Bringing up the Bodies are EXCELLENT and worthy of the CBBC.
Agree with you TrustMe.
Its not what she does, it’s what she doesn’t do. Work,labour,employment you get the idea.
Trust calling us “mean girls” because we aren’t falling over ourselves to praise a woman who does nothing, but vacation and gestate the royal heir while spending money she never earned isn’t tolerable for some of us.
She has been praised on this site. When she gains weight, wears her hair up, or wears an appropriate dress. When she does something of substance we will praise her for that as well.
Until then she will spend her father in laws money and annoy her charities with her apathy for them. So stop “mean girling” us!
I think that’s the problem, the fact that she endorses charities she truly doesn’t give a crap about. As such, she thinks that attaching her name to them is enough.
I wish I could remember where I read it, but I swear that I read somewhere that Kate has trouble being interested in people she meets. That speaks volumes, when you can’t even bother to try and look at others’ lives. Probably accounts for some of the pearls of wisdom she’s said as well.
Thank you! Are we supposed to fall over ourselves praising a do-nothing? I think people are getting tired of these “royals.” They serve no real purpose and are basically rich welfare recipients.
Then I guess the world must be divided into “mean girls” and sycophants.
Hilary Mantel nailed Kate perfectly. Blunt and honest.
It’s so refreshing to hear someone in the public eye tell it like it is, especially about such high profile bullies inclined to demand the chopping block for dissenters. Rare, actually.
Absolutely. What she says rings true. But she (and everyone else, really) ignores one very important aspect. What we expect from a princess is very VERY different from what the Royals need or want her to be. Diana was what we wanted, Kate is what the Royals need. She’s all of what Mantel said and that makes her predictable and risk-free. Also boring but she gets the job done. When she’s working.
Btw, right now she is actually performing the most important job, providing an heir. That’s what THEY expect her to do. Nevermind that WE think she could and should do more. The perspectives are very different. We want bread & circuses, they need her to do exactly what they want.
naughty, I think you hit the nail on the head.
I don’t find her shcedule odd at all. I was always under the impression that aside from appearing where they’re told to go, the Royals don’t really do anything. I think it’s great that Harry and Wills are working in the military but once Wills becomes King, he won’t be able to do that, right? So wouldn’t his wife just be there to produce heirs and look pretty? I’m sure he loves her very much but even he must acknowledge that her function isn’t much more than that.
The problem is a several headed hydra.
1. The only person with a job and a job description is the monarch. Everyone else has none. Technically they could all be on holidays much like WK and they wouldn’t be doing anything wrong.
2. All heirs are in training for the job they will eventually do. Being in the military isn’t a must or a given. It helps for them to have military training in the grand tradition of Monarchs leading their soldiers into battle but that hasn’t happened since Charles II.(CB historians, CIIR was the last battle front leader?) Military service was resumed during WWI, but that applied to entire world populations. If we were going to be strict about heir training,they should be both widely and well educated, do a stint with the church, some social work (the charities), a stint in the foreign office (ambassadorship) and a job out in the world(modern world), as well as the military stint. European crown Princes do 4 out of 6 (usually very well) whereas BRF seem to only manage 2.5 (the half is a middling education), excellence in only one.
3. There is no place in the modern world for a constitutional monarch.All The European families have responded by making themselves useful as ambassadors and charity workers and essentially creating jobs out of their titles. Unfortunately, they also keep themselves trapped in the institution by accepting tax payer funds either directly or indirectly which means they are answerable to the public. Their usefulness as Ambassadors and charity workers is what stops the public from throwing them out. The moment the public starts to question that, they are out.
4. The monarchy for life business. The Windsors seem to be a particularly long lived lot. At the rate they are going, William won’t be Monarch for another 25yrs at conservative estimate, POW at 15yrs. Charles has been waiting for 60yrs. Since there is no job or job description for POW, Charles has created a job for himself rather then sit around doing nothing but be self indulgent for 60yrs. Those who say William can do what he likes are advocating he continues his self indulgence for at least 15yrs more. What kind of POW job description is he going to create as a self indulgent 45yr old? BTW: Charles took on some of HM’s work about 10yrs+ ago. At 65yrs old, he is going to need an assist soon from one of his heirs. So for Harry is the one giving him some assistance. Behind the scenes and infront. Not William. I wonder why people didn’t think it was an anomaly that Harry represented the Queen at the Olympics instead of William. SheKs head of state. She could have pulled rank on the RAF (if that was the excuse) to ensure he represented her.
5. Things we know about William. He isn’t committed to any of his jobs. Royal or Military. His lack of commitment is evident in many ways and has led to dissatisfaction from both sides. He appears lazy in his personal as well as his professional life. He insists on full royal privilege 1500style (too bad beheadings are off the table), but a modern version. That royal privilege has kept him in a bubble of self importance that has put him out of touch with the world beyond it.
6. Finally, knowing that he has this long wait, William has made no attempt to fashion a job description for himself. POW is an inherited title, not a job. William complains constantly about the burdens of his position and yet makes no attempt to either understand it so that he can make it work for him or re-fashion into something new. He could strike out and really go see the world. Instead, like his charities and military career, he expects everything to be handed to him and is dissatisfied with what he has been given. His charities were inherited from his mother. It’s not a requirement that William should care for his mother’s charities. And his lack of care shows. His military career is only available because of his privilege, but as Edward showed us, he doesn’t have to stick with it. So he needs to create a role for himself rather than whinge for the next 25yrs about his burden or step aside!!!! If he waits the full 25yrs to give his life meaning, he will be in for a very rude shock.
LAK Always a fan of your comments. You are our resident CB historian.
Do you think the people will ever show disapproval in William’s lack of interest in his future role? Enough that not even being Diana’s son can save him? Besides us on new blogs what will it take to make big enough waves that even the Monarchy has to take notice?
Alexandra: The monarchy under EIIR only changes when a crisis threatens it. Some are predictable, others are not.
e.g of a predictable crisis. The Queen paying Tax. I remember this groundswell of grumbling throughout my childhood and teen years right up to the Queen needing extra funds to rebuild Windsor castle. She was made to pay tax as a condition of govt. assistance.
Unpredictbale crisis: Diana’s funeral. No one could have anticipated the public reaction. We didn’t just demand a funeral, we demanded that the royals operate in a more Diana-like fashion in the future.
I see WK as a predictable crisis. It will take a while, but it will happen.
Been lurking for a while, but I just wanted to come out and say that I love your analysis of the evolution of royal roles. Great insight.
However, I just wanted to point out that George II was the last British monarch to lead an army into battle (the Battle of Dettingen in 1743).
But yes, George V recognised the need for the role of the monarchy to change if they weren’t going to the way of the Romanovs or the Prussians, etc. – all the way back in the 1920s. This isn’t new. Yet, William and Kate too often act like they haven’t got the memo or they are just paying lipservice.
Thanks Elisa.I know war didn’t stop with CIIR, but I couldn’t remember which Monarch was the last to lead soldiers on the battlefield after him.
Just reading about Kate’s punishing schedule exhausts me. I need to lie down.
I’ll come over and fan you and feed you some grapes. You’ll perk up in a week or two.
Thanks bluhare! Also need an emergency trip to Mustique, stat.
Here’s the schedule for March 5th:
– The Duchess of Cambridge will visit the National Fishing Heritage Centre, Grimsby on 5 March
– The Duchess of Cambridge will visit Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, Peaks Lane Fire Station, Grimsby on 5 March
– The Duchess of Cambridge will visit Havelock Academy, Grimsby on 5 March.
It’s just one whole event, probably lasting 1-2 hours, but it’s made to look like it’s multiple events in separate, faraway locations with lots of activities in between.
The Windsors’ breakdown of their events is different from other royal families. For example, the Spanish royals may have 3 audiences/events in one day, but it only counts as one because events are counted per day, not by activity, unless the events are held in 2 different cities which has happened before.
It’s really just one day of Kate “visiting” aka looking at some stuff, saying some inane things, getting photographed, and then leaving right after. It’s a quick, ego-boosting PR story. I doubt she’d be there to discuss some important issues and I doubt she’d be there because she is actually interested.
The comments on recent articles about Kate in the British news websites have been scathing. Even with the news that she’ll be “going back to work”, the comments are very sarcastic and snide.
Yea, this kind of reminds me of the people that pile up dirty dishes in the sink and only wash them on the weekend. Just layabout for a week and get it all out of the way in one day/hour
People do not actually do that, do they?
Oh and the point is it’s covenient, but it’s also a lousy work ethic/method.
@ Original N
My roommates do, and worse (gotta looooove London’s traditional flatshare tradition, you share with strangers). Everything is possible when you don’t give a crap about what you leave for others to find, lol….
No, I understood your message, I was just horrified at the thought of leaving nasty dishes around for a week. I am so sorry for you – it’s just so rude to leave it around for someone else to look at 🙁
Thanks, Original N
Actually it’s 2 weeks and counting now. I’ve long given up on cooking anything. Too gross.
I find the tone of comments towards Kate mean spirited. The reality is she is over 30 and carrying a child that was likely not easy to conceive given Kate’s weight. The stress to deliver a healthy baby if you have had fertility challenges is huge (I know). Let alone when you have the entire world dissecting your appearance, family, speech – everything. Royal life is not for rebels (Sarah, Diana?). She is doing her job very well. BTW- have any of you planned out an event that requires the security of a royal visit? There is a whole lot more to it than what the public sees in a couple of hours. Chill out and leave Kate alone! If in the same position of wealth and precedence I doubt that many of the nay sayers would choose or be allowed to live a life any different.
I totally agree with you.
None of us know a thing about her fertility issues. There are plenty of skinny women who manage to reproduce worldwide. There are plenty of women who do have fertility issues, who somehow manage to work full time jobs without servants at their beck and call.
Please stop with making excuses for this lazy 30 year old, who has never worked and never will.
Oh please. You are treating her like some poor innocent waif. Being over 30 and a carrying a child is NOTHING. Billions of other women are doing the exact same. Having fertility issues bc of her weight, if true, is HER fault. Eat something once in awhile and she won’t have fertility problems. She is a vain, lazy do-nothing and it is a huge waste bc she has been given incredible opportunities that she clearly doesn’t cherish or deserve.
@Janet she was barely filling up a day long before she was even trying to get pregnant. I believe she loves Will but I think she also wants to be a stay at home wife and mother with few outside responsibilities. Under most circumstances that would be fine and between the couple, but this situation is slightly different. They better hope Harry marries a real go-getter or we all may fall asleep.
Dolittle doesn’t have to “plan out events”. Everything is done for her. She just has to bring the body. Sheesh. She’s such a delicate flower, even that is a chore. And now pregnancy has made her courageous and noble for getting dressed up and getting out of the limo and walking 10 feet to meet a sycophantic crowd for half an hour. The horror! Hand her a baby bottle and a pacifier while you’re at it.
It’s also offensive to suppose most women want a lazy, vacant life. Doesn’t say much about your opinion of women.
Kate’s had fertility challenges? News to me. She got pregnant right when they said they wanted her to . . . right after their SE Asia tour and to not take the focus off the Queen’s Jubilee.
And as far as Kate’s weight, she’s lost a TON since she got engaged. Look at her a few years ago. Sporty and healthy looking. The weight loss is for photographs.
Janet: I am sure a lot of planning goes into a Kate visit but that’s when the visit is publicized so Kare can get credit and be admired for her tireless work… So instead of doing such public work or doing the work for publicity, why can’t she do behind-the-scenes work or make un-publicized visits? She could conceivably put in more time and make more of a difference if she really wanted to.
Janet, the point is that most of us have less net monetary worth than her and we still find time to do charity work because we believe in it – and that is why we judge because we wouldn’t lead empty lives of shopping and lounging if we had the means that allowed us not to work full time. We would fill our time with helping various causes … because it is important.
Janet, I might be with you if prior to getting pregnant, Kate had been clocking in 12 hour work days and running to 40 charity events a week. But since she married into the royal family it seems like what she’s been clocking in is the time until she got pregnant and then could do what she really wanted to do. . . . nothing. . . . to be honest her post pregnancy schedule doesn’t seem a whole lot different than her pre-pregnancy schedule.
My friends make fun of me because I sit on about 10+ charity boards and committees and every weekend and most weeknights I’m doing charity work, mentoring etc. . . . but that’s not for everyone, I get that. Wish it were but it’s not.
I would be a whole lot more sympathetic towards Kate if she simply said “look people, I’ve been working towards this for a decade. I married into this family and now I’m going to hang out, and vacation and enjoy it for the next. . . . 50+ years.” Fine by me – just don’t pretend as though you want to do charity work or any work or it’s meaningful to you when clearly it is not.
Oh, please! People have kids over thirty all the time. And they work. And run a household. And take care of the kids they already have. And drive the kids to school and sports. Spare me! I’ll play a tiny violin for poor Kate – the nerve of us questioning the fact that she has two whole appearances a month while she’s gestating! How dare we??
a lot of men like girls who dont have so much to say. they might not admit it but based on their selections, it has to be true.
You know, I’ve been wondering if that baby wasn’t concieved with IVF. Not necessarily because of infertility problems, but because W and K wanted to get pregnant at a certain specific time. There’s nothing wrong with this IMO, but it just seems like they got pregnant as soon as they started trying. That’s not unheard of, of course, but… it’s unusual, right?
As to the whole Leave Kate Alone (She’s So Brave!) Crowd, I can’t help but wonder what it would take for them to change their minds.
Red Snapper. I thought more it was cialis or viagra on William’s part. Here’s why…
They’ve been together on and off for years. William cheated at least a few times so he probably got bored with her quickly. He still takes many vacations away from her that isn’t work related. And it is common that men can shoot blanks the 1st time and so the pill would help them get 2 rounds in.
Either way. She got pregnant right on time.
I also believe Kate could have become pregnant via IVF. I think fertility problems actually kick in below a certain weight even in young and otherwise healthy women. Women as skinny as Kate was can stop ovulating altogether.
Wow I need to go look up some of her books. Somebody, British and in public, definitely needed to say that.
I think that is why Will married her she’s bland empty and boring. Says more about Will than her imo. Also why I think it will be hard for Harry to find someone as he doesn’t seem to be attracted to the “Waity” type.
I highly recommend Beyond Black, look it up. Not the kind of thing I’d usually read but she’s such an amazing author, it scared the living shit out of me.
I can’t wait to see what happens when Will Middleton realizes Kate requires as much care as their newborn.
The truth eventually came out about Charles and Diana and it’s only a matter of time before we get the truth about Will and kate.
Yes!! You just know that royal reporters and watchers are gathering and saving material for numerous tell all books. They are just waiting for the gloves to come off, as they will one day. William won’t be able to micromanage his and Kate’s press forever. There a lot of people who know things and their stories will be heard sooner or later. Hopefully sooner, because the “OMG Kate is so brave, they’re just like us!” trope is getting thin.
Personally, it doesn’t bother me one way or another whether she works or not…I don’t really care.
Kate and Will should fire their PR team. If their PR team did not puff Kate up so much and inflate her resume and then continue to make lame excuses for her inactivity,the people’s expectations would be lower and their would be less criticism.
Methinks it’s not the PR team. Methinks it’s William the Great.
Good point. I also think it’s ironic that we don’t hear very much about the real work (relatively speaking anyway!) certain other roysls do — i.e. Princess Anne and Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie. Duchess Doolittle is little more than a dress up doll — style over substance.
+10
If I was on their PR team —- I’d QUIT! What a thankless job trying to keep the public interested in these two sloths!
Yeah. And haven’t WK made enough hard working people redundant? (And traumatized, and suicidal?)
Oh, la pauvre!
Let’s be honest: while charity work is expected of her, Kate’s real #1 job is to pop out a few heirs, look pretty, and hopefully not rock the lock like Diana and Fergie.
That was the role before the internet, where the royals could effectively put gag orders on magazines and newspapers about their ways. Nowadays, especially in a tough economy, they have to appear to deserve the taxpayers’ money. They don’t rule, and as in a symbolic role they need to promote the UK and all that.
I am fascinated by Duchess Kate but my fascination always tends to lay somewhere between morbidity and jest, never ever admiration (especially as she & William’s true motivations-an unopologetic life of leisure w/o any of the social responsibility & duty-becomes clearer over time).
I loved everything this b*llsy author pointed out about them: “she was a shop-window mannequin, with no personality of her own, entirely defined by what she wore.” And: “Prince William’s wife-to-be was as “painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks, without oddities…” But my absolute favorite part of the whole deal was THIS explaining how, of course the royal family is smitten with ol’ Waity because she, from
day 1, was/is “without the risk of the emergence of character…” My God. If ever there were a more perfectly succinct description of the girl, I have yet to here it! 😀 Hilary Mantel 100% for the win!!
@Patrice – Agree wholeheartedly!
If you are ever into chic lit check out Wendy Holden. She is a British author and her books are all about social climbing and laugh out loud funny. I am talking about tears streaming down your face funny. I would love for her to skewer Waitey in one of her books. Of course she might have already in her book “Marrying Up”.
my local sainsbury’s always outs out a DVD of the week to promote. They tend to be quite random, but the week of the royal wedding, they promoted HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL and PRICELESS! All films with gold digging as a central theme.
Absolutely. We are of one mind.
I, for one, don’t understand why they have to “work,” anyway. I work every day, and it’s not that great! I would totally not work if I didn’t need to! There are much more fun things to do! Because I do have to work, I find a great deal of meaning in it; however, I would much rather go on a lot of trips and hang out with my friends. I would do volunteer work, of course, or I would go crazy, but I enjoy reading about their “unapologetic life of leisure”. I don’t think they should apologize!
they have to ‘work’ because we pay them to.
I’m pretty sure that your boss would take a very dim view of you barely showing up to work and still expecting to be paid.
Call Me Al: You said you would do charity work or you would go crazy — Kate doesn’t even do charity work and that is the *work* expected of her.
Btw, what does she do all day?? There’s only so much shopping or working out you can do (daily) before getting bored.
Diana was sometimes criticized for being a clothes horse, but let’s face it, unlike Dolittle, she was genuinely interested in people and it was obvious. Definitely more substance to her than William’s “chosen one”. Speaking of which, I wonder how things would have played out if he had selected someone else..
Yeah Diana loved fashion but I think that’s the only thing her & Kate have in common. I don’t know why I loved Diana so much and loathe Kate so much but it just seemed like Diana was genuine and had a heart and cared. Kate is just a cardboard cut-out of a princess which is maybe what William wanted but it’s such a let down for the public.
@Mandriani’s Girl: You’re actually incorrect in that assessment; some lazy royals do exist sure, but Will & Kate and the new reign of apathy they’re ushering in have taken it to whole new levels.
Take Princess Anne (my favorite 😀 )for example: I watched a documentary on the British Royal Family recently and the Buckingham Palace “working hours bookkeeper” documented that Princess Anne is/almost always has been the “Hardest working royal at 276+ events a YEAR” and does so not because she has to but because it brings her joy and she feels it is her responsibility for the role she was born into.
Also, William and Harry may both be in the military and brothers but that’s where the similarities end. Harry is 100% committed to the armed services, so much so that he has risked his life over seas at war more than once when as a royal, he didn’t have to; a true soldier. He also works like crazy for his charities because as he’s said, they’re very “dear to his heart” so unlike Kate who just let someone else chose them for her (goes a long way to explaining her almost total disinterest). It is Harry who inherited his mother’s heart for helping & compassion 🙂
William on the other hand, looks at and treats the RAF like a part time, optional gig, jetting off on vacations with his pampered, coddled wife whenever he pleases. He isn’t a full time working royal or a full time military employee. Mark my words: He and Duchess Kate will be the second coming of King Louis and Marie-Antionette…
I don’t like any of them and I do not support any of them, thankfully.
I so agree with all the negative comments here.
I think you’re wrong when you say Harry is totally commited with the armed forces, I don’t see him following the typical steps of an officer when in the pursuit of higher ranking and neither being put in difficult situations. He was not risking his life, there were soldiers with him designated with the mission to take care of him while there. Harry still has a lot to prove when it comes to compassion and charitable spirit.
Add me to this chorus.
Cassie,
Whatever you may think, it is fact that Harry is a real soldier, accepted as such by fellow soldiers. The proof is in the very public support they gave him when the Vegas photos came out.
His charity work has been noticed enough for him to receive 2 prestigious awards. One handed to him by Colin Powell, no less. Not just vanity awards because He doesn’t support trendy charities.
Now that he is back, it was been announced that he is off to NYC and Washington DC as a UK ambassador. He has asked to fit in some charity work around that which will be for the military and Sentebale.
Next week he is off to Africa to several days to look at progress of Sentebale as well as raise some funds for it. The CEO of it said he kept up with them whilst in Afghanistan, and he is always very involved with them.
He has also apparently been fully involved in the Diana garden at the Chelsea Flower show.
And once his 6wks leave is over, his army career resumes.
I am now a Hilary Mantel fan. Seriously, in those few lines you can tell that she’s clever and perceptive, and I love her style of writing. Sharp, to the point, with a gleefully direct sense of humour. She nailed it. Makes me want to read her books 🙂
New Outfits! Woo Hoo!
The author has a point but nevertheless I don’t think it was necessary to make it like that.
I don’t give a toss how Kate stacks up to Anne Boleyn. Hasn’t this author just contributed to the dehumanization of this new ‘royal woman’?
Is the author saying all royal women or “Females royals” are simply there to breed and pass on genes? Does she include the Queen and Princess Royal?
I took what she said to more of a direct attack on Kate and possibly women like her. That since she has no character and will never show personality all she has to contribute is a child.
She was raised to be a wife to William. I guess maybe like a Stepford wife.
If this is how she meant it I love her!
Anne Boleyn should be super insulted to be compared to Kate.
Kate has taken us back to a time when royal females [and females in general] were only good for breeding and passing on genes, even if they were Queen and Princess Royal.
She hasn’t achieved or done or said anything to make herself anything else but a breeder. end of.
There really isn’t much of a basis to compare Kate to Anne Boleyn. Contrary to popular belief, Anne was killed off for political reasons, not because she was unsuccessful in providing a male heir. The “body parts” argument sounds scholarly but is off base. Anne was a fascinating woman; domineering and too smart for her own good. Does that sound like Kate Middleton? She lived in the 15th/16th century! Besides maybe being power hungry, I just don’t get the comparisons on this one.
Here is another blog about Kate Middleton and her lack of character!
http://katemiddletonduchessordiva.wordpress.com
I’ve known about this site for some time now. I love it!
Personally I think the UK would be perfectly fine without a monarchy to finance. What day and age is this again???
There’s the question of the millennium.
Ruby. Think I’m right behind you searching this Author, for all the reasons you said.
Duchess Kate is going back to work and going to be super busy? Well, bless her, I hope she doesn’t strain anything, mess her nails, smudge her eyeliner. What a burden! (-:
These two have become more than a joke. They wanted us to believe that she was a junior officers wife living in rural Wales, devoting herself to her hero of a husband. Reality is they lived in a “small” 6 bedroom house, with housekeeper and security guards. He spends little time flying. As has been said the PR people at SJP have made a complete and utter mess of their PR. two lazy self indulged divas, I’m only sorry they’ve come back from Mustique.
I think Bluhare and Vava are correct that PR’s not to blame.
WK just suck, IN SPITE of any and all PR salvage attempts. If I were the Queen, I’d give the PR at SJP a bonus just for making WK sound that good.
Wish I had this kind of hectic schedule 😉
Well, to be fair to Kate, she is a very good clothes mannequin.
Yeah, she’s about as real as a mannequin too – fake tan, veneers, padded bra, hair extensions. Yep, the real deal.
This made me laugh, thank you!
I’m struggling with the word ‘back’ in that sentence.
‘Going back to work’ implies that one should be working in the first place, no?
You know, Waitybot may be dull, vapid, lazy, robotic, and characterless, but one tiny part of me wonders if this baby will change her. She gets no love from Willy or the RF, so maybe, just maybe, she will use this baby to replace the love, warmth, and affection she is sorely missing in her life. The only person who seems to dote on her in her entire life is her mommy, and surely that cannot be enough. She’s not even close to Pipster anymore.
I know it’s a long shot, but has anyone else had a similar thought?
It seems that William and the British press are in the midst of a Mexican Stand-off; and Kate’s reputation is getting destroyed in the cross-fire. William (the cad) is once again ignoring Kate’s best interests for the sake of his own selfish wants. What a shock.
I’m glad someone called out that bobble head for what she is. That said, she is not the problem, the monarchy as an institution is to blame.
It’s great that an intellectual who is part of the British elite has criticized the Duchess. It needs to be said and discussed considering that many seriously want to see an end to the monarchy. I’m surprised that an intellectual hasn’t written a book with a feminist take on how archaic the Royal family sees women and their roles in society compared to most modern day British women. Mantel’s words were brilliant. I hope to read more from her and hope she writes a book on this topic.
It’s sad but it is true what the writer has said. Kate is as boring as her dress sense. She seems scared to really show herself or have any sort of opinion about anything. Whether that is William or others telling her what to do we won’t know. There was a time when you NEVER saw a pregnant Royal when the Queen was pregnant she didn’t do any Royal duties during her “confinement”. It was Anne who I think changed that so we are probably lucky we are seeing Kate at all. She does need to do something or face what is happening with all the negative and lazy remarks. Diana worked like a horse before, during and right after her kids. I do think William feels in time there lives will be taken up by Royal Duties so he is taking things easy while he can. Chances are though that Charles may die before being King. The Queen is over 85 and seems as healthy as a horse and her mother lived to nearly 102, Charles is over 60 now so he is looking at mid to late seventies if the Queen lives that long to be King. I’m predicting a very, very short reign of King Charles if he makes it. Things are changing and word is Charles wants a much smaller Royal Family that is why Beatrice and Eugenie aren’t doing any Royal Duties and who by the way have even MORE holidays then William. LOL Kate needs to spark things up and be seen as her own person being a bit more bold with her clothes choices would help.
Small correction, The Queen worked through some of her pregnancies. It’s easier to assume that she didn’t work through with Charles and Anne since she was stationed in Malta and wasn’t so visible during that time. She did work though in general despite current media reports saying she didn’t.
We do know that she worked whilst pregnant with Andrew and Edward because there is photographic proof.
Beatrice and Eugenie do not have more holidays than William. There is no press ban on reporting their activities. Every time they go on holiday, they are papped and it is reported widely.
I Googled Hilary Mantel to see if there was a video of her talk at the London Review of Books lecture. I came across an article about her comments at the Daily Mail. The article has nearly a thousand comments and the “best rated” are calling Mantel ugly and jealous. It’s sad that so many can’t see the point she is trying to make. Even worse, they fail to see that the patriarchal rules that led to Diana’s demise are the same ones that Will and Kate seem to embrace wholeheartedly. Mantel makes some excellent points and I hope more people will think about her comments whether they agree with her or not rather than making sexist ad hominem attacks on Mantel. That is what is wrong with our world and is exactly what Mantel was pointing out about Kate being just a pretty yet empty vessel. Mantel is more than a “mannequin” like Kate. She is an intellectual, bestselling author, and has the right to speak her mind in an eloquent and educated way. Nothing she said about Kate was catty or that of someone who is jealous of Kate’s way of life. People need to look beyond the superficial and consider Mantel’s words over her looks and fashion choices.
I had a quick look at the comments on DM….talk about a lack of articulation. i’ve never seen so many ‘jealous h8ers’ as a rebuttal. It’s not only the lack of comprehension that is worrying, it’s also the lack of debating skills where the words ‘jealous’ and ‘h8ers’ or both are the only repost to an opinion one doesn’t agree with.
I know it’s shocking. This woman is smart and successful and obviously has hit a nerve, the amount of hate she gets aimed at her appearance for daring to speak her mind is disgusting really. As if the world became one giant beauty pageant. You can get away with everything you want as long as you’re pretty and the only people allowed to make any comment have to be prettier than you, blergh!
Re DM comments: the lack of intelligent response to *anything* is status quo for most “news” sites. That’s what I love about CB. The comments are thoughtful, and it’s possible to have a respectful debate about social and political issues. There’s far too little of this happening in cyberspace (and elsewhere).
Hilary Mantel is a fabulous writer. I devoured her two books about Cromwell and I understand there is a third on the way. That said, I think she is using Kate as the latest example of the heir’s wife (or heir to the heir in this case) whose primary reason for existence is to provide a “royal” uterus and how that concept has not changed since the days of Henry VIII. Elizabeth I shook it off out of sheer force of personality but the BRF doesn’t seem to produce that type any longer. Kate makes herself a sitting duck for this kind of criticism because most of us perceive her as not doing much. If that perception is wrong, then their PR group needs to get it out there. If public perception is correct, then Kate needs to move her butt — Now. But back to Hilary Mantel, my belief is that while writing her books she happily immersed herself for so many years in the 16th century that she cannot bring herself to even consider the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas/Windsors as “royal.” Even using the term “royal” seems an oddity in the 21st century, doesn’t it?
i take Hilary’s comments at face value because what she says is exactly what the royals expect from their women and Kate is their perfect bride.
Nevermind that from time to time they manage to have a woman leading the family.
That woman has to be extraordinary or is described in such terms as though her being monarch can only be attained by being extraordinary. Nevermind the mediocre men that have held the job and none but a few have been described as extraordinary.
Every Single woman who has ruled or tried to Rule Britain, from Boadicea to EIIR is described as extraordinary in some way for good or bad.
And any females that marry in, have to be vacuous personality free breeders. Kate fits the profile perfectly. Henry 8, after Anne, would have loved her especially if she has a boy. Infact Kate mirrors the woman Henry 8 decreed was the perfect wife. Jane. Let’s hope she doesn’t end up like her.
That’s funny you would say that. As I was writing my comment last night, I was thinking of Kate as more of a Jane Seymour as well.
Kate will do as little, or as much, as William wants her to. He sets the pace, so why aim the major criticism at her?
History repeating itself : Britain might pass the nearest heirs, and lands a Queen instead – Queen beatrix?
To reduce any human being in the way Mantel does, is appalling. Let’s not be blinded by the fact that she’s a ‘brilliant writer’ and therefore ‘better’ than Kate or anyone else for that matter. Kate is not Anne Bolyn, she’s not Diana, she’s just Kate. And that is fine.
….. but that’s what Kate reduces HERSELF too. That’s what WE find appalling. That she is so willing to allow herself to be reduced like this.
It is understood that Kate and William would have two years to live a quiet life as the Queen and Philip did. They should have lived a quiet uneventful life. Instead, she flits in and out of the public eye usually to attend glamorous gala events or just turns up to put in an appearance and show off her new clothes. It is her dedication to shopping and William’s lack of dedication to his job seen in the question of not fulfilling the minimum amount of flying hours plus the inordinate amount of time spent holiday during a recession that annoys people.george
I think what the author is saying, is what a lot of people have said about Kate, over the 10/12 years she has been in the public eye. If you read the full speech she is not mean, or catty.
That she put aside any attempts to forge a career/identity for herself, to fit in and make herself available to William. It was her choice. To many in the public she comes across as fake/plastic.
Kate and William it seems gave little thought to the fact that she would join a public family, the Royal family. Whose reason to exist is largely because the public want them, the royals have to keep public good will, and seek to cement this through charity work to help people better their lives.
Kate (and William) are failing to keep the key part of the bargain – like Sarah Ferguson who got a reputation for not working and taking lots of holidays.
It seems to me that both William and Kate are still behaving like they are boyfriend and girlfriend; she even still lives with her mother most of the time. (her family unfortunately come across as opportunists, a big distraction from Kate as an individual, also no other person who married a Royal expects their family to be embraced too, the public don’t like it )
Kate has not made the change to join the royal family – many people still call her Kate Middleton which strongly suggests that the public see that there is not a full embracing of her role. Will and Kate seem to still want to carry on like they are college/university students dating, going on numerous holidays like they would as students have lots of breaks btw terms.
The behaviour is not acceptable as it comes across as self centred, doing what suits them and not seeing the big picture; That the public have expectations and it is not all about what pleases them.
Well, am not sure whether it is the palace policy, but it seems to me that Waity has not changed one bit since the times he waited for William. This was probably all fine then as she was not supposed to be seen and heard, and wanted to be available to W at all times. However, now that she actually has a position, it seems that we are not “getting our money’s worth” as she is exactly the same: does nothing, says nothing and simply appears to have no character at all, and what is worse, it seems as if she is not going to develop any character either. Whether the palace likes it or not, as a public person Waity seems completely empty and simply defined by others as Mantel ever so poignantly describes. Poor Waity does not seem to understand that her popularity is going to sink like Titanic if she does not actually start doing something. Royal duties are one thing, but having even a genuine interest in your charities, and basically showing that you are not totally empty on the inside might just help.
It seems to me that William is his great great uncle reborn. Edward VIII would have been a disaster as a king (and that’s without the Nazi sympathies) and it seems to me that William is going the same way.
The Queen has always seen her role as something she owes to her subjects and the Duke of Edinburgh is the same way.
William seems to believe British subjects owe him.
I don’t blame Kate as much – I get the impression that if William said ‘you’re a duck’, she’d start quacking.
Admittedly, no speaker has any control over how her words will be reported- but can’t help but feel Mantel really enjoyed her zingers. There are plenty of ways to get her points across w/o appearing to dump on a first-time pregnant young woman.
As far as the Cromwell novels go – Wolf Hall is such a slog – second is much better. Has anyone heard when the third is coming out?