I’m just realizing, one week later, that we never even wondered about Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas’ Valentine’s Day plans. We could have been spinning stories of a V-Day proposal all week. Instead, we were talking about dead buffalo. Anyway, we actually do have a pretty good idea about Harry and Cressy’s V-Day. Cressida was seen on V-Day at Marks & Spencer buying a “Dine In for Two” pre-made meal for £20, and then she was seen walking in the direction of Kensington Palace. An onlooker told The Sun: “No one seemed to notice who she was. She was in a long, dark blue coat, wearing jeans and her hair was down. After she left she headed in the direction of Kensington Palace with her M&S carrier bag.” Wow, she walked? And she can just walk into KP? Well, according to UK reports, that’s exactly what happens now. Cressy has “walk-in privileges” at Kensington Palace!
Prince Harry is rumored to have given Cressida Bonas free reign of his royal home. The young royal and the socialite have been dating since 2012, and now sources say Harry wants her to feel comfortable enough in his London home to come and go as she pleases.
It’s reported that 24-year-old Cressida stays there all the time, and now has much more freedom at the royal grounds.
“Cressida has been staying with Harry pretty much every night for the last few weeks. So Harry felt it was sensible that she got the security clearance to come and go as she pleases, instead of always having to enter with him,” a source revealed to British magazine Grazia. “She’s now on first name terms with all the security guards, and uses all three entrances to the palace.”
Reports surfaced earlier this year the young couple were going through a difficult patch, but friends say they’ve put it behind them. Pressure mounted when questions about their relationship circulated, and the word marriage was thrown into the mix.
“Cressida had a wobble just after Christmas. The speculation about whether they would get married had become too much and she declined an invitation to Sandringham to join the royal family on a shoot. Instead she flew to Necker Island to be with her half-sister Isabella and brother-in-law Sam Branson,” the source added.
“Cressy just needed breathing space. Harry has been brilliant and understands completely. The fact she has now been given free access to the palace is all a part of his plan to ease her into royal life and prove she can still have a normal life as his girlfriend. She hasn’t fully moved in yet, but she stays most nights.”
This is one area where the royal family and the royal courtiers have “modernized” a bit. It’s no longer some big scandal when a prince and his girlfriend are basically living together without the sanctity of marriage. Although, in William and Kate’s case, the Queen had a problem with it when William tried to move Kate into his military housing in Wales before they were engaged. I still believe that was one of the big factors in when and how William proposed to Kate – because the Queen was like, “Enough, you can’t live in military housing with your girlfriend, you have to propose.” But the Queen was fine with it when Sophie moved in with Prince Edward before they were married, and I’m sure no one really cares that much about Cressy spending night after night with Harry.
And that’s not all! Word came out this week that Cressida was offered a lucrative modeling job with French Connection, but she turned it down because princes can’t marry retail models, I suppose. She currently has a job (in theater marketing) that pays £20,000-a-year. A source claims, “She is fiercely independent and doesn’t want anything through her connection with Harry. She said she knew that if she was ever given major roles she would always wonder whether she had earned it or whether it was given to her because of her status.” Well… I guess Cressy is pretty sure Harry is going to propose, otherwise I would say that she should get the cash-money now, while she can. The royal family gets much too stuffy about what is “appropriate” work for a would-be royal bride. If Cressy doesn’t have a ring on her finger, I say she should take whatever offer she can get.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.
Sophie and *Edward* lived together before getting married…. So yes, things have adapted for the times.
(Albert is in Monaco! lol)
ETA: It’s a military rule that girlfriends cannot live in military quarters — the Queen would not have had anything to do with it.
Yes. You have to be married – they’re actually known as married quarters in the UK. Even longstanding cohabitees with children wouldn’t get married quarters.
In the US they also differentiate military housing between bachelor quarters and family housing.
My point was, I’ve never heard of ANY military allowing a girl/boyfriend to live with the military member regardless of what term they use for housing. That’s what I was getting at — it’s a military rule not something HM decides.
OT Sixer, how are you doing? Water receding at all?
Nobbad, thanks. Roads out of my village are all open!
Wahoo Sixer! Wahoo!
I might actually venture out shopping tomorrow!
Wow, very brave of you. 😉
Or is Mother Hubbard’s cupboard getting bare?
Unfortunately William didn’t live in military housing at all. I say “unfortunately” because his refusing to do that cost the taxpayer a huge amount – in the millions – for security for his “cottage” (aka bloody great farmhouse). If he’d been prepared to live in the designated housing on base at RAF Valley, then the existing security would have meant minimal additional expense. But no; he wanted his own pad, and we shelled out for keeping him safe there accordingly. It caused quite a lot of annoyance at the time in some media here.
I remember the public outcry when he chose to live off base and why…
🙁
Yeah. It was wasting millions of public money completely avoidably. When you think about the impact of cuts on some really poor people in this country, a guy sitting on an inheritance of millions just expecting us to foot the bill for his private housing arrangements so he didn’t have to live in normal army digs was spoilt as hell. I get that they don’t ask to be stalked/terrorist targets, and so it’s fair enough they get security on the state. But in return they have an obligation to minimise cost, where they can. He just blew the budget wide open.
Come on! The reason the Queen was happy to let Sophie and Edward live together was because it would kill the gay rumours.
Sophie is not married to prince albert…
I was trying to figure out who Prince Albert was ! All I could think of was a) monaco and b) the intimate jewellry that men wear…
UGH! I have a friend who pierced himself there. What the hell?!
I think the only reason it was a big deal for William and Kate is because he’s his fathers successor. I could be making it up but it seems like more focus is always on William and his ‘good doing’ and how he has to set a certain image.
Aside from that – I think Cresida wants to be a Princess. I don’t care how ‘fiercely independent’ she is. If she didn’t want a royal life she wouldn’t be with Harry at all. I don’t buy the whole ‘strong, independent’ woman persona they’re trying to place her in. She’s Kate 2.0 just blonde.
Yep. See my comments below
She’s show herself to be more independent than Kate. And with Harry I can see wanting to be with him because he’s so damn charming.
Well, obviously if she’s dating him seriously she wants the royal life. That would be true for any woman seriously dating Harry. But while dating Harry, she finished her degree (s), and she’s employed for now, which means she’s just not sitting around “waitying”.
Kate worked for her family business. I get that to some people it doesn’t count as ‘work’ but she still had something going. And didn’t she also graduate from Uni? It’s not like she gave up life and ran around after him like a headless chicken.
I don’t see the fuss about either Kate or Cressida. Neither truly want a private, independent life if they’re married to royalty. No other way to spin it. Ie: Chelsy didn’t want that life and as much as she loved Harry, she got herself out of it.
Yes, Kate worked for her family. And she stil got tagged as a waity in the press (actually that name started on internet forums, did you know that?). That probably wasn’t fair either.
That’s all ancient history, anyway, who cares? I was just pointing out that the same story is repeating itself. Gah – the British royal family can be so predictable that way.
I think they are very similar women in many ways. I think Harry and William are pretty similar so its not surprising.
You will never find a Chelsy Davy as a royal wife. Too smart, too independent, too unwilling to shut up. Much too much for that family.
Dani
Kate also worked for Jigsaw. Both jobs were not held long and she put in hours for them on a whim. They were for PR purposes only. Cressida seems to be laying low and having a mind of her own.
And yes Kate graduated from a University. A University she went to because William was there. She turned down acceptance to much better schools to go there. She got a degree, but seems to have truly attended for her MRS title.
Cressida may be a socialite, but she’s being seen as more down to earth. Good PR? Maybe.
And Chelsy and Harry were young. Younger than Cressida is now. Young love is difficult to maintain and Chelsy had a path she wanted. Continuing to date Harry would disrupt it.
No I understand what you’re saying I wasn’t coming at you. I completely agree, though, on your points about how they’re similar (both the girls and the princes’)
Kate’s own biographer said it clearly she never worked at her parent’s company, it was just put out there to protect her from lazy criticism. There is absolutely no evidence of her working in any official capacity other then her parent’s words which I don’t believe. She was always in London, taking 12 vacations and in the end even moved to Wales, so whatever job it was it surely was not at all demanding.
PS I don’t believe CB works either. What will be more prominent is what she will do once she becomes a royal. I have always tried to not criticized Kate for what she did as a GF. My annoyance started when she became a royal and still doing nothing.
She can’t be “fiercely independent”. Who the hell lives where she does on her salary with her lifestyle? Answer: No one. She’s got other money, whether it’s a trust fund or family handouts. If she’s got a trust fund, she doesn’t need a job so the job is for PR too.
There doesn’t appear to be much different between Kate and Cressida . . . except for lineage. Cressida hasn’t waited for ten years yet, so I guess I can’t go totally south on her, but I don’t see her as being any more serious minded than Kate. If she was she’d have said, “Palace be damned. I’m a bloody dancer and deal with it!”
Also, is “free reign” supposed to be a pun? I can’t tell if it is or if people just aren’t spelling it correctly.
Signed,
Crotchety bluhare today
They are both boring, Bluhare. Rich and boring. Nothing to see here.
Come and watch Maxima with me!
I really wish Kaiser would cover the Dutch royals but that might be getting a little too far off the mission of an American celebrity blog.
Hi Crotchety Bluhare.
I’m Crappy Pants FLORC and I like Cressida!
I like her as much as I liked Kate until she got married. So, i’m giving her the benefit of doubt. Don’t proven me wrong Cressida! Be the Harry to her William! Work harder so when they attack you to make Kate look better (and they will) you don’t look half bad!
And sadly bluhare, If Cressida wears her make up better and attends 2 solo and personal charity visits a months she’ll be great. The bar has been set so low.
Equally crotchety Sixer concurs that free REIN is a horseriding metaphor.
Well Crotchety Bluhare you may as well call me the grouchy fairy godmother. These PR tales are a week or two old! All predictable when Watercress has a PR agency representing her and fam and friends who dabble in PR. We should just face it the girl is out for all she can get that offers wealth, fame, and a lux life. She is clinging to Harry with both claws and will marry him! Love is not the one motivating factor in this relationship as evident by neither spending her birthday together or the holidays or the bumpy start with Harry’s antics in Vegas. She was never invited to be with the royals @ Christmas or Boxing day. HM only permits fam and fiances. Girl is tiresome and boring- just another Waity 2.0! Now where can I learn more about Maxima? She seems to be a vibrant personable bright character who dresses as boldly as her personality. British royals are all washed up- not nearly as accomplished as the European Royals when it comes to education, work experience, and character. They do not condemn the press or whine constantly @ the burden of their lives.
I didn’t know everyone else is as cranky as I am today. Nice to be in such good company. 🙂
It’s ok, FLORC. I somehow think that Kate’s bar might be a bit high for our Cressida, but we’ll see.
Suze, happy to watch Maxima with you. Do you have any good recommendations to go read about her?
@bluhare – come over to Order of Splendor ( just google royal order of splendor) and snark away. Leti of Spain was featured today. It’s purely snark on clothes, not on anything personal, but a fun group.
I’m still trying to get Kaiser to branch out to accommodate other royal houses.
bluhare, slightly OT here, what kind of education does the queen have? Did she ever attend university?
@Lady D: HM was privately tutored at home. That was the trend and what her grandfather (the King) thought was an appropriate education for girls. And no, she did not attend university.
She is seriously beautiful. They are pretty cute together.
Finally a pretty one in the royal palace…there hasn’t been one since Diana…sorry Kate
hehe- meow!!
“and she declined an invitation to Sandringham to join the royal family on a shoot.”
“Cressy just needed breathing space.”
BS. She was never invited to Sandringham over Xmas and was it also breathing space when Harry was carousing with those gals in Vegas? Or when he sends champagne over to pretty girls in the nightclubs?
As usual everything is disseminated to portray Harry as the eager beaver and Cressida and the Bonas crew fighting it.
According to some here though aren’t they too high born for that?
Although Zara Phillips husband looked like “a Newcastle bouncer” and hardly a day goes by were the Middleton family are not bashed for being “press leakers and social seekers”.
The Bonas crew will get their wedding along with cries of ‘right sort’ ‘English Rose’ that will have Richard Kay, Ingrid Seward and Mondracke and others lactating with glee as they did with Daughter of Earl Shy Di.
Cressida’s brother might even find a career apart from being a knock off Paris Hilton and Isabella might deviate from her ‘the one that got away’ line that her fans have disseminated in the press and get a legitimate acting job. Oh sorry Bellie’s a charity hostess and society wife now. My bad.
More people are on to then though judging by the remarks following the exclusive detailed revelation of what Harry and Cressida did for Valentine’s Day, right down to the meal they ordered.
It’ll be fun to watch the inevitability of how this goes.
Your comment had me rolling.
Seriously funny.
Wow… I’m only correcting 1 piece of your rant so I don’t start a rant of my own… Isabella had to have been caught to be the one that got away. William approached her and she shot him down cold. Nothing more.
Everything else is so hilariously off base.
No surprise it is hilariously “off base” to you.
I work in St Johns Wood, and know people, that see what they do on Friday nights at Chelsea.
Also I don’t go after you when you cast aspersions or throw shade against Kate Middleton or her mother, (even though I disagree) simply cause its your understanding as this is mine
Then please back up your post with links so you can better explain this. Or we can just call it opinion and leave it as that. I like to put “imo” in my posts so it’s known it’s an opinion and not a fact.
And I can’t say you’ve shaded my posts because your handle is unfamiliar to me. Have you more than 1 name?
Erm no. I don’t have more than one name.
I have written intermittently in other royal posts though, but not in response to you which is why I wrote that I DON’T contradict you when you shade Kate and her mother.
A few of the stories are available on line especially on Saturday editions from 2 years back. As well as deets from Kelly Rowland’s manager (when Kelly was based in London and tight with Richard Branson), work colleagues, two cousins who went to Harrow and party like the devil, as well as other eye witnesses, and I’ll leave it at that
Jegede
If you could contradict the situations and articles I site I wish you would respond!
And your caps lock makes me think you’re taking this too seriously. I’ll leave it at that. Keep it light hearted. It’s a gossip blog!
Well, you seem to have some righteous Bonas Allthruster (and Harry!) hate. I make it a policy not to get between good snark and an audience, so I’ll applaud that.
As for how true it is, I don’t know. I’ll take it on faith that Cressida is the “right sort” and a semi “aristocrat” and Kate and is from a “middle class” background, and that the media and internet comments accentuate that. I put all that stuff in quotes because it’s actually all really funny from a stateside perspective.
To me she and Kate seem to come from very very similar backgrounds – white, wealthy, going to the right schools and vacationing in the right places backgrounds. Really not much different.
Their personalities may be very different, but I don’t know either of them personally (LOL) so who knows? All I can say from photos is that they dress differently and have different color hair.
Its not so much righteous Bonas hate. I just don’t like the hypocrisy or double standards.
The Bonas family are very bit as guilty of things the Middletons are accused of but only the most positive spin or altruistic interpretations are attached to them here and some other places.
And I personally believe it as being primarily a class thing and certainly not because they are anymore accomplished or worthy (whatever that my be).
It reached its nadir when a long Daily Mail piece compared Carol Middleton unflatteringly to Mary Curzon as potential mothers-in-law of the princes.
Knowing full well that if it were Carol Middleton or any other woman who had several kids by different fathers she would not be described as ‘adventurous’ or ‘bohemian’ but would be dragged to hell and back!!!! Especially by an organ like the Mail
Well, I happen to find Carol Middleton fascinating – there is a story there that we will never know – and I only have a vague idea of who Watercress’ mother is.
But I stay away from the Fail, other than for photos, which are awesome.
I stand by my assessment that the women (Watercress and Poor Kate, who I am really starting to pity) are very, very similar in the eyes of most people. Most of us aren’t parsing out family trees – although I know it is done in some circles. Maybe in Great Britain it’s a big thing – and maybe in some royal forums.
I guarantee you that if you are an American, who gets their royal news from the US Today Show, you will only know that one brother married a blond (maybe) and one a brunette.
Suze
I agree wholeheartedly.
Jegede
I agree wholeheartedly.
@jegede I see what you’re saying about the double standard. Having multiple baby daddies, stripping off one’s clothes for photo spreads, excessive partying and public drunkenness… These kind of activities would be portrayed as evidence of white trash, low class behaviour…unless you have an aristo background, in which case they are indicative of a free spirit, charming irreverence and naughty fun. I mean, we often give Harry’s bad behaviour a free pass on the same grounds, right?
Kate’s family IS admirable, for being solid, stable, close-knit and supportive of one another. And it’s perhaps because of that, it seems even more of a shame and surprise that kate has not stepped up to her role and is choosing instead to live as a wag who cares only of her hair and holidays and can’t even string two sentences together coherently.
finally, i would say there IS and even should be a different set of expectations – ie standards – for Kate vs Cress, as there is for Wm vs Harry. The couple being groomed as future sovereigns has a much higher duty to the country and even now receives many more material privileges as a function of their higher status. Therefore we do expect more grace and responsibility and fine upstanding behaviour from them (and by extension, the in-laws they bring with them), is that not reasonable?
Jegede, you’re awesome. Come back and post.
I totally agree. Except you forgot the part where Cressida’s mother was an “It Girl” who posed nude while covered in motor oil. When Cressida first came onto the scene I swear the Daily Mail writer had an orgasm every time s/he wrote that.
Cynical
Again, you’ve nailed it.
Bluhare
I’m going to go get my oil changed now.
Well, from what you all are writing here I gather it is the MOTHERS who should be in the spotlight – LOL. Love them or hate them, those ladies are interesting.
I had no idea Watercress’s mother had stripped down and showed off her hoo ha covered in oil. I am putting that in my folder along with Carol hauling the kitchen table out to the barn and starting Party Pieces with her own moxie and Uncle Gary’s ill-gotten gains.
Now the two boring daughters? I’m calling the Duchess Blonde and Duchess Brunette until one of them does something noteworthy.
Because you know what folks? Snobbery/hypocrisy or media slant aside, both of those two are DULL AS DISHWATER. All the aristo (sort of) connections in the world can’t make Watercress interesting, and all the determination and chutzpah of Carole Middleton aren’t remotely reflected in her daughter’s bland expression.
Cynicalceleste: funnily enough, working class and aristos behave the same way in terms of having a good time. They don’t care and they are happier for it.
It’s the middle who care wayyyyyyy to much about propriety and decorum and image.
Suze, dead on with dull as dishwater. Both of them.
@LAK…great, guess i’ll have to change my name now to MiddleclassMaude!
You have a lot of assertions — how do you know they are true? I’m not trying to be nasty, I am honestly very curious.
I buy what Jegede is selling. The double standard is as plain as the wrinkles on my face. Which means everyone should be able to see it.
Bluhare, give me the pen. I’d like to co-sign.
I don’t question her assertion of double standards. They’re everywhere — double, triple, and even quadruple (and higher) standards.
She’s made some other interesting comments that I’d like to know more about — that’s what I was gunning for.
LAK
The working class lass carries a bag that is functional, the upper class one will carry her mother’s old bag with the soft-worn, buttery leather that gets better with time. The middle class one will carry a bag emblazoned with the designer’s logo. True indeed. But still, even old money had to have started somewhere. That is why snobbery bugs me. And this from the grand daughter and daughter of snobs, lol. I just can’t, however, with the noblesse oblige – I’ve read far too much about their true lives. But I will take the exquisite manners, conservatism, culture and architecture/interior design/couture. Don’t care for the rest, lol.
THANK YOU!! LOL!!
Jegede- I agree with you on the double standards and hypocrisy!
Since you seem to be in the know it is my understanding that this is not a true aristo line in social circles. Meaning they are in the social circle, but on the outer-fringes and Watercress is thought by aristos as no more than a Wag to be and so uninteresting most cannot be bothered to discuss her. Do you have a similar understanding or what would you say in regards to this?
Jegede
You know I’m with you on Isabella. I never understood what was so great about. From all I have read she is just another posh socialite who is a terrible ‘actress’ when she is not partying or on a vacation. Just because she refused William doesn’t make her great, I think her choice was rather common sense between a Billionaire and a prince.
I. Love. This.
@Jegede – Yes your comment had me laughing too. British b*tchiness at its best!
I tend to agree that Cressida did not get an invite as The Queen is very much into protocol and such so the family gathering is strictly for family. Which is why I do not think that Kate’s family will ever be invited (and they know it) to Christmas with Queen Elizabeth.
Maybe when she dies and Charles is in charge those kinds of things will change but until that time everyone can stop speculating because The Queen is not gonna change that. It is stated that she was okay with people living together before marriage. Did the Queen ever say that? Where is the proof? It may be that she just knew that they were not going to listen to her on that one and she just had to let it go.
No, you’re right about protocol for The Big House. But there are smaller properties that people do get invited to and stay at over the Holidays. Using the term ‘Sandringham’ is a catch all for the entire estate, including the smaller properties.
So it is entirely possible that Cressida was invited to go shooting and she would’ve stayed at one of smaller properties.
Hahaha. Its nice to see such a succinct breakdown.
I totally agree with your points as well – the Bonas/Calthorpe/whatever family has really benefitted from the more ‘respectable’ background, yet had they come from middle class or working class roots they wouldn’t be considered charming at all. A party girl for a mom, a cheesy actress who married well for a sister – not exactly the ‘right’ kind of people when its put that way. But they must have some fabulous PR, and whoever branded Isabella as ”the one that got away” should really have been given an enormous bonus because that girl has ridden that subtitle for evrything it could ever be worth.
I can’t remember: does Cressida’s family avtually have money? For some reason I kept thinking that they were actually a very minor title but thebmom had maried well in at least one of her attempts.
And honestly, does anyone here really disbelieve the idea that Prince Harry is still trying to pick up pretty ladies at the clubs? Really? I’d be more shocked if he wasn’t.
This marriage maneuvering is right out of the eighteenth century.
I think you’re spot on – the Bonas Allthrusters have run out of cash, so they are marrying off daughters to wealthy men. The older one got a rich tycoon’s son, which is good, but if the baby of the family marries a royal, and a major royal at that, the BA clan will be in heaven.
I’m calling BS on the turn-down invite. I’m not a Brit so I have to ask – wouldn’t you have to have a REAL solid reason to turn down the Queen when you’re dating her grandson? A family matter that came up?
The Queen issues invites for Christmas for The Big House but do have to be engaged or married to qualify.
Other family members extend their own invites for the smaller properties.
For example (discussed down thread), Sarah often stays at one of the smaller houses over Christmas so the entire York clan can be together. However, Sarah is not allowed up at The Big House w/o HM’s okay. That has come once post-divorce but only recently with the caveat of Philip being away (Sarah and Philip have had a very big fall out that has not mended). Several of the BRF invite friends or other family up on Boxing Day or after.
So it is entirely possible that Harry (or someone else) invited Cressida over the holidays to go shooting and it would have nothing to do with HM.
Am I the only one getting a little bit sick of her camp constantly putting out the same thing? Yeah I get it; She sooooo independent soooooooo not sure if she wants to be a princess, because she has soooooo much more going on than that and in this all Harry is the one who is walking after like some super-understanding love struck puppy just waiting for her.
And it is most definately her people pushing this; they’re just more tactful then Waity’s where.
Thank you! My thoughts exactly.
Completely agree.
Yes. I doubt it’s even as serious as they are portraying. They are probably FWB, but not anything approaching engagement. And yes, her people are putting this out there. It’s rather harmless, but annoying. Show, don’t tell, or stfu.
Fully agree, well said.
I’m not sure it’s her people who are putting this out there because she seems very ,media shy from what I have seen of her. IMO Harry has always been portrayed as love stuck puppy being rejected by his GFs, case in pint Chelsy or Flee with whom he only had a fleeting fling but still tabloids insisted he was heartbroken by her wedding. He is always portrayed as love stuck puppy no matter who is the girl.
I’m still on the fence on CB not because she is an aristo but because IMO she can marry someone so much richer and equally socially posh within her circle. This girl is not only a top aristo but also SIL of Virgin empire’s heir, she can definitely marry someone more richer and equally posh as Harry.
I think she turned the modeling if down because models have to do a lot of sexual poses and half naked stuff. Just like with Kate doing the half naked cat walk it’s just inappropriate for someone who is going to be the wife of a country’s representative. I’m 100% sure that Cressida and Harry are going to be married. It’s obvious she has the OK from the Queen and Harry is ready to settle down.
I think the girlfriends being allowed to do sleepovers with the Prince’s is the ONLY real modern change despite Wills and Kate always trying to sell PR that everything is modern. No reason to have that virginity rule which resulted in the Diana and Charges marriage.
Modeling story is pure bs. Do not believe one word of it. Gabriella Wilde is the only one in that group is a true and tested model and actress! If Ms. Independent was so great- how is it at the age of 25 she allegedly was offered a first-time modeling job- or anything else like acting or dancing gigs? She volunteered to model an unknown beginner swim suit line several years ago. Nothing came of it- she was unremarkable imo.
I agree. She doesn’t really have “presence”, does she? Then again, I don’t think Kendall Jenner does either.
Don’t do it Cressy
The Queen and Charles probably pushed it with Kate and William because they felt he should put a ring on it after 10 years.
The tabloids started to turn on William in the last break up to Kate. That he strung her along with no ring and dumped her while getting her early and mid 20’s. And William was reaching an age where marriage was something he needed to approach very seriously. It was kind of a win win. He just had to hope Kate would be on board and take him back *snickers*.
I think Watercress and Harry are engaged but for the ring.
I’m always surprised that people buy the whole Cressy is a winsome, free-spirited, boho modern English rose. Didn’t the media’s juxtaposition of Diana and Fergie teach us anything? Cressy is as reluctant as a cat staring at a bowl of cream. Albeit a sweet looking, bohemian cat.
And given the shite-ton of bad press for the princes lately, I’m giving this story’s roll out an admiring slow clap.
I thank people on this site for unpacking some of the PR coming out on these people!
What I am fascinated by is – do the Middleton’s really have PR team? Do the Bonas-Althruster-Calliope people have one too? It’s so alien to me, to put out press releases about your activities in a covert fashion and in response to other media stories out there. It sounds like an exhausting way to live.
I admire, in a strange way, all the players who take it on, including Carole Middleton, that uppity come lately! (A joke, there, folks!)
Keep up with the Allthruster naming, Suze!!
@bluhare – LOL I see what you did there!
I’m with you on most of this, @Suze. I had no idea of all the PR machinations but I do believe they are happening all the time.
I differ in that I don’t even have a sneaking admiration for the players or the game. This sort of intrigue seems so passé , so last century, when I look at truly modern matches like Maxima and Willem-Alexander. Actually, the BRF seems glaringly anachronistic, and, sadly, not that bright. Upper class twits, indeed!
Suze
Completely agree. If one treats all this as an advanced game of PR chess it makes much more sense. It is entertainment and the RF bloody well knows it. The sad part is that they feel as if they have no choice but to play the game. They feel they are keeping the barbarians from storming the gates. They want to keep their pretty tiaras, Van Goghs, thoroughbred horses and thoroughbred wives/husbands. So show up at the childrens’ hospitals, cut the ribbons at the new processing plants and try not to think about gin and tonics during war veterans remembrance ceremonies. Oh, and when things really gobwrong, throw a right royal wedding so the common folk can buy tea towels with the bride’s serene likeness on it. Not bad work if you can get it. And I think Will is an arrogant piece of work but I often giggle to myself because he would actually have to borrow an *f* just to have one to give.
Dame S – that is some comment GOLD. Love it. 🙂
Dame, I nominate that last sentence for CB comment of the week ; ).
Cynical, Suze
I was going to sharpen my quill and pen a snarky limerick instead but nothing really rhymes with “bitch, please’.
True to your name and title Dame Snarkweek!
FLORC
Lol my fellow royaloonies give me the thumbs up to fly my snark flag high.
Snarky, you’re no good at limericks if you can’t find a rhyme with bitch, please!!
Swiss cheese?
Bees knees?
Mushy peas?
Sheesh!!! 😉
Blu
If you’ve thrown down the gauntlet it is no use. I am laughing too hard to pick it up!
Okay Blu, here’s some snark to reverse your crotchityness
Oh Cressy, we hear that you’ve tried
To convince us you won’t be his bride
You’ve put up a “fight”
Yet you’re spending the night
So who’s taking whom for a ride?
You’ve lead a life dripping with ease
Don’t be just another rich tease
All consumed with your hair
With a dull, vacant stare
Or the loonies will say “Oh, bitch please”
I lied below. THIS ^^^ is comment gold!!
Standing ovation
😉
Perfect Dame Snarkweek!
You OUTDID yourself! I mean who would pair “rich tease” with “b*tch please”?
In fact, brava! Standing O!
Watercress, Dame Snarkweek has hurled the ball in your court. Prove yourself.
Comment gold, Snarky.
Some aristos hate the Middletons because they beat them at their own game and dared to invite themselves to the party (while chewing gum). This threatens the very modusboperandi and credo of the nobility. If anyone can do it then what’s to keep the peasants from lighting their torches and marching towards the Bastille, figuratively speaking? If a former air hostess and her orange, hair-flipping daughters can scale the tower then what exactly is it about rank and privilege that is an unassailable and divine right?
I don’t make the Mids more than they are and I do not make Cressida less than what she is. But the double standard is so blatant. Has Kate worked? Yes. Her tan is fierce. But Cressy isn’t exactly packing herring into cans all day, either.the world needs socialites with scrunchies as much as it needs clay colored sisters who love the view from the top. Takes all kinds and I’m okay with that.
It’s the game that’s interesting. And if Carole is playing it at such a high level, more power to her.
As I noted above, the two young female players in the center of it are so boring they could make paint dry with their gazes.
That’s where people miss Chelsy, I guess. She had a bit of life to her. But she was way too smart for this mess and she’s better off for missing it.
Doesn’t it make you want to see a Harry/Cress match? The mothers could have . Motor oil versus self-bronzer.
@Snarkweek 1:31pm – Well Said
Snarky, the visual of either Kate or Cressida tinning herring is great.
My money’s on Carole for the Mum Grudge Match.
Tan versus Oil. LOL. Yeah, Carole would win that, no problem.
OK, fine. Bring on Watercress for the bride. I want to see the wedding
get-updress.I want a wedding, too, to relieve the ennui.
A wedding! Swarovski scrunchies forever!
Grazia magazine should never, ever be quoted as a source of anything true.
Makes me wonder about their editorial meetings. It’s not just this story, but any story they put out.
As an example, big red flag about veracity of this story is the Sandrigham story. The Queen doesn’t invite people to Sandrigham for christmas until they have a ring on it.
But people DO go to the smaller estates after Christmas for other activities. And we’ve chatted about Sarah staying at one of the smaller estates as well. Just no one gets invited to ‘the big house’ until there’s a ring…
People do. But they don’t go to the Big House for Christmas, which was the supposed point of the story.
But I didn’t take it as Cressida was invited to The Big House — only that she was invited to go shooting. So to me that clearly implies not The Big House, ya know?
LS: people read that as being invited to the big house just as Carole at Sandrigham story is always interpreted as the big house.
Further, most people don’t realise that there are cottages on Sandrigham that house the royals, aristos or people who can rent them. Any mention of Sandrigham automatically assumes the big house which as you know isn’t true.
Any PR (or made fanfic) that mentions Sandrigham is always interpreted as the big house. The people who write this stuff rely on the public making that assumption.
Sarah staying at Sandrigham isn’t a well known fact unless one is a royalwatcher or is close to the situation.
Anybody else remember the Toyota Cressida?
Hell, I remember the Tercel!
Corolla, baby!
LOL….I do!
I do. LOL.
I’m sorry but her name is awful!
The last name or the first name? Her first name is a tad unusual, but the surname just makes me laugh — I keep seeing Boner.
She was actually called Bone-A$$ until she hooked up w Harry! She told people to stop calling her that- sort of like Waity telling people to call her “Catherine”. Got to wonder if the use of Bone-a$$ had any connotations.
I know there will always be a double standard when it comes to aristos vs commoners. England have monarchy on the whole basis of class system, so to say there is no double standard is probably a lie. We can all agree/disagree whether either Kate or CB works/worked or whether they are same or not etc etc etc. For me if CB can keep her hairs out of her face, work even 3 days a week, keep her dresses from flying in the air and stop flashing her underwear, she is a winner and better then Kate. Until that moment comes when she becomes a royal, the jury is still out for me.
PS she is the only 1 between W,K&H who doesn’t have a naked photo of her out there showing her privates or her undies, so for that she gets good start from me.
This is fair.
Angelic 21
I suppose she is ahead of the pack keeping her privates private.
I like her so far. Just as I did Kate at this point. so, i’m in favor until i’m proven wrong.
FLORC
I liked Kate too for years even thought it might no look like the case from reading my comments now. It was really a year before the engagement I started to dislike her. So I’m doing the same for Cressida, it must not be easy to suddenly find yourself in the spotlight and be judged for everything you do and for everything your parents did. I have given Kate time to find her place, so just like that I’m doing it with her. If she keeps on doing nothing for 3,4 years on, I’ll call her out too but to say everyone is easy on her because she is posh is not true, at least for me. Nobody started disliking Kate the moment she entered the scene, those of us who don’t like her has known her for years. My opinions aren’t formed overnight or even within a couple of years, not for Kate or William or Harry and it will not going to be with her.
Co-sign to that
Now there’s a low bar (naked photo showing).
I agree too. I don’t think much of Cressida so far, but if she and Harry get married I will be staying up all night to watch it, and she will have my best wishes.
Well, we have to watch the spectacle. That’s what they’re here for, dammit!
Bluhare: I was prepared to love Kate forever if she used the glass coach….none of this ‘ordinary bridal limousine’ BS. the glass coach exists to take the royal/soon to be royal bride to church. No glass coach, no love for Kate. Period!!! LOL
Ha ha so true. I might make fun of boring Cressy but I will be glued to the TV if their wedding is televised and wake up godawful early if I have to, like I had to for Wills & Kate. If only these British royals would think of the time difference for us American’s when they decide to get married. Lol
@LAK
Why no glass coach? Were they trying to be ‘modern’?
LOL, LAK. So with you on the glass coach. What princess in her right mind turns down a bloody glass coach???
hmmmm . . . if I remember correctly, that is indeed the rationale for the car. She was ordinary coming in, not so much going out.
This almost seems off topic but doesn’t Harry have a chef in KP to take care of his meals? If so, why is she getting take away? Yuck.
I will say this about Cressy – she has a masters degree in dance. That is NOT an easy. Any kind of performing arts degree demands countless hours of classes and on top of that you also have mandatory performances you have to rehearse and sometimes choreograph. You also have to take classes on management and other skills. The job she has? For someone who has that degree that has decided not to become a professional dancer, it’s actually the kind of job you get with that degree, and at that pay. I respect her for that, as a fellow performing arts degree holder.
Now, will she have that same work ethic as a princess? I have no idea. She could be the type of person who only works for things that interest her. I do think that because of her “breeding” she has a stronger idea of what being a working royal means. I have no idea if she will rise to the occasion or just be another Kate. I HOPE that she rises to the occasion, if for no other reason than to make Kate look bad. Wouldn’t it be awesome of the Princess Harry of Wales outworked the Duchess? I think it is totally possible. Yes, she is a trust fund kid, but I will give her props for working when she doesn’t have to
Plus, as a performance artist she probably knows how to rule the spotlight. As I said below, I can’t imagine why she’d want any part of the royal nonsense when the world is her oyster, but I do think she’d be fun to watch as a working royal.
Free “rein.” Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
HM Queen Maxima is IT! J’adore.
Me, too, Margo. Me too.
Although Max is a hot mess in the sartorial department. That alone keeps us gabbing about her.
I truly cannot understand why a young woman in Cressida’s position would want to throw it away for a royal life. I get why in generations when women were restricted in their comings & goings no matter whom they married a royal life might seem worth it, but Cressida could spend the next decade as a model/actress/international playgirl before even feeling the pressure to settle down and pop out mini-cressidas. Certainly Harry is the more desirable of the two princes, but geezus this girl has a globe full of hot, adventurous, and filthy rich boys to choose from.
Seriously. She’s quite pretty so she could marry someone who could provide a very nice life out of the limelight.
Unless she craves the limelight – that might be interesting to watch.
I agree with you 100%. This girl is young what if 5 years from now she realizes this is not the life she wants. She has a glam life already but being captive under those royal rules is insanity. Who actually thinks Kate is happy. There’s no way Harry is going to remain faithful and she will become a shell of herself. For what to wear some royal jewels? Of course what man will want her if things go south with her and Harry?
@Dalovelee – I agree. To me, it’s obvious Kate is NOT happy. There might be a few romantics out there who still think that the Kate/William match up was pure true love and that Kate is living out life as a happy wife and fulfilled mother. I’m just cynical about that (although I do think she probably is a very doting mum – but the other parts of her life are lacking.)
None of the British royal spouses – save Sophie – have found happiness and fulfillment in their roles. Why would Watercress?
I don’t know anything about this Cressida but it’s enough to say she looks like a girl you’d cast to play the girlfriend of the younger, more handsome heir to throne of the world’s most powerful monarchy. She also looks like the one you’d cast to play the Princess. She’s appropriately pretty and intimidating for either role. She is already the grand daughter of an Earl supposedly.
Awww, I keep holding out for Chelsy 🙂
[c’mon Harry…]
I think Chelsy’s great too, but she wants to be able to pursue her career and have a more normal life.
A Harry/Cressida wedding would be just boring. Cressida is just not that interesting, just another aristocrat. Princes of the realm have bedded women from the nobility for centuries. William and Kate is the modern Cinderella story – Kate the commoner not only won the heart of a prince but won the future king’s hand in marriage. People are suckers for romance. The romance angle is a tougher sell for Harry and Cressida, and I think that is why the wall-to-wall puff pieces on her. And if Harry announces an engagement – with that whole paternity business (Diana stepped out on Charles and Harry is the result) come back? I believe there were some tests allegedly done, but nothing was made public. If proven, he’s out of the line of succession. I think Harry would lose the HRH and the title “Prince” too (those in the know help me out here). Would the Bonas clan want a publicly known royal outside child in its family?
She’s not that pretty and she has no style. Can’t he think if anything except his……?!
He should at least really try to date a movie star and get a life. Maybe she’s there to really just clean up after him.