Here are the photos of Prince William in Houslow, going solo at the annual St. Patrick’s Day event for the Irish Guards. For the previous four years, William was accompanied by the Duchess of Cambridge at this event, and Kate was the one passing out shamrocks and getting a photo-op with the Irish Wolfhound (the dog’s name is Domhnall!!!). But not this year. This is the first time in 115 years that a female royal was not on hand on St. Patrick’s Day to honor the Irish Guards. As the criticism of Kate mounted yesterday, I really did start to wonder if this was some sort of stupid ploy by William specifically – “Work-shy Will” didn’t want to be the only one getting bad press, so he made sure that Kate missed a high-profile event. Is William that Machiavellian?
After the passing out of the shamrocks, William posed for photos, then joined the Irish Guards in the mess hall for a luncheon. A Kensington Palace spokesperson went on the record to media outlets yesterday, regarding Kate’s absence: “The Duchess has very much enjoyed the occasions when she has been able to attend, but the Duke is the Colonel of the Regiment and is looking forward to presenting the Irish Guards with their Shamrock. She won’t do it every year but the Duchess looks forward to marking St Patrick’s Day with the Irish Guards many times in the future.” Meaning… she doesn’t want anyone to expect her to keep up with an annual tradition that goes back more than a century. If Kate is the one making that choice… well, what kind of advice is she getting? And if William is making the choice for her, then he’s just awful. Now I kind of wonder if the Queen is going to give this event to someone else.
Oh, and the Daily Mail also ran an update on their story about Kate missing the annual event. The Mail pulled comments off of Twitter and Facebook to run a more negative story. Random people were quoted as saying: “Well she has done it for the last four years – she probably needs a rest!” And “I feel disappointed – if the Royals start breaking with good traditions then I’m not sure what they’re there for.” And “Kate pulls out of traditional St Patrick’s Day ceremony with Irish Guards. Poor girl must be tired after her holiday.”
And the criticism of Kate was so flying around so heavily yesterday, the criticism of William’s anti-poaching interview got drowned out. In case you want to read The Daily Beast’s Tom Sykes’ version of why William’s message is convoluted and why he’s desperately in need of media training, go here.
PS… Domhnall is all, “Work-shy Will? Ugh. I’m not very keen about this, you guys.”
Photos courtesy of WENN.
poor the word “keen” so misused by celeb royals.
kind of like the word “curated” has been spoiled a bit by celeb bloggers/shopkeepers.
poor Domhnall, who look like he’s wondering why he can’t skip this year? he so wanted to just sit back, relax, Netflix last year’s Kennel Club replay, and maybe chase own tail a bit this year. he’s been doing this for how many years now?
instead he’s stuck with a garish dog-sized horse blanket forced to greet a two-legged horse.
#JusticeForDomhnall!!
Tee Hee Hee.
LOL!!
I lost my sh!t at two-legged horse. You’re petty and I LOVE IT!
It makes me cringe that she didn’t want people to expect her to do this every year. Just. So. Lazy.
Do you think Will hoped people would swoon over photos of him in uniform and all would be forgotten? Uniform photo > baby photo?
Memo to Wills — The ’90s days of swoon are long gone. These uniform photos are added proof.
I didn’t see any photo’s of him passing out Shamrocks – too girly?
Today, Kate will be announcing her new role as a member of the US Senate Judiciary Committee. As all members of the committee are dedicated to collecting salaries and benefits, at the expense of the taxpayer, while refusing to do their job, this is a perfect match.
Domhnall rules.
Haha! Perfect job for her. She already gets paid to do very little for her country.
lucky you, you’ll start to pay holiday for the Middleton too !
Our congressmen and congresswomen love to postpone work for vacations, it’s a perfect fit!
Suspect Wil requested her not attend this one.
My guess is he told her to go home.
Yep, it’s him. Taking after his dad who used to hate Diana getting better marks than him. Runs in the family.
And Charles didn’t say a word about the backlash against his son. He’s probably glad that he once looks better compared to them.
I do too. Totally.
I love the dog.
I agree with the point that if they don’t want to do traditional stuff what is the point? The Royals are largely ceremonial now and the younger generation apparently dislikes…ceremonies.
Gotta agree on the ceremonies thing. There is no point for the British taxpayers to keep funding these lazy fools.
I’d be good with just photos of those snazzy Irish Guard uniforms and Domhnall next year.
Agree! (About Domhnall too. He’s a gorgeous dog and I don’t blame him a bit for looking at bit over it all this year!)
You know, when folks first started saying, “These two are going to be the death of the British monarchy!!” I thought that was totally over the top and ridiculous and it could never happen.
Now…I’m not so sure.
These two are something else.
The dog is gorgeous.
William looks keenly constipated as usual. What’s wrong, Bill, did your grand plan to appear kingly and important fall by the waist side in the face of your wife’s lazy disregard of a 115 year tradition?
These two won’t be the end of the monarchy, but time is surely ticking away on their time with the Firm.
Perhaps they wont end monarchy,
But they are certainly not helping
Justify it!!
Yes, the look on his face says it all. “I really don’t want to be here but I guess I must. Sigh.”
Based on the DM photos, I thought William displayed several big fake smiles. Overdoing it to try to recover from all the bad press lately.
Will in an honorary uniform, giving soldiers who have actually fought in war shamrocks, because his wife didn’t want honoring heroes to be an annual tradition.
…and in America…
Harry was just on GMA talking about his work with wounded soldiers and the invictus games. And they kept praising how much time and effort and connection he has to this event and veterans.
and none of those time he spent makes it to the Court Circular, making him Officially lazier (doing less work) than Will and Kate.
I can’t believe I’m going to defend William here, but my understanding is he actually did want to go to Afghanistan when he was on active duty but wasn’t allowed to because of his position in line.
I meant it as more of a dig to kate then will. At least he’s honoring the servicemen.
Yes the official story it’s the 2nd in line couldn’t go, but the 3rd could (for multiple tours). Which I did buy, but given his inability to commit to anything fully, every year I believe there’s more in the actual reason then they’re willing to say.
Even if Will would have gone to Afghanistan, he would have had to take every other day breaks, requiring extra personnel to have both a fill-in and extra protection for him. Plus, can you imagine him really living in these circumstances? He would have been back home in a month claiming the high level of danger to the second heir (which I presume is why he didn’t go in the first place – allegedly.)
I guess by now we have had so many years of both Will and Kate showing their true colours when it comes to work of any kind, that nothing except an equal number of years of real effort will help erase them. And I don’t think that’s happening, ever.
#Domhnallforthewin Who needs stupid royal leeches when you can get him every year?
I am sure he was very keen to go.
Given the dilitante nature of his work ethic, not to mention his tendency to be bored very quickly, Afghanistan woud have been a disaster.
Plus, this is a man who needed holidays in the midst of his various military trainings even when his commrades were forbidden from holidaying during training, i can’t imagine that he would stick it out in a warzone for even the briefest of postings!
From the Telegraph – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-harry/12196901/Prince-Harry-describes-the-moment-that-broke-him.html
“Prince Harry has described being “broken” by the Army’s decision to pull him out of Afghanistan in 2008, but said it also inspired him to make a lifetime commitment to helping wounded veterans.
The Prince was evacuated from Helmand province ten weeks into his first tour of Afghanistan after a foreign magazine broke the news blackout about his presence in the war zone.
When he boarded an aircraft to take him home, he found he was sharing the flight with soldiers who had been blown up by IEDs and after seeing their injuries decided he had to do something to help them….”
Bluhare, could it be that he says that because he knew he wouldn’t be allowed to go due to his position?
What?! I missed Harry! I could have had it on! Will they replay the interview every hour for the next four hours? They like to do that.
It’ll probably be posted online. They said stay tuned for tmrw for the 2nd half of the interview. In case you need more.
I always need more Harry.
I just realized I was thinking of the Today show, not GMA.
I have always thought Kate just does what Will tells her when it come to Royal engagements. I still think that! He wanted just himself there. Such a shame to mess with 115 year tradition! I kept waiting for the Queen to show up and say STEP ASIDE WILL, I got this! LOL She’s great.
She was at the zoo today looking mighty spiffy, I thought. She had a different style coat and hat on.
It is a different look for her and it is spiffy! I like the crossover of the top, kind of Pauline Trigere with a built-in scarf. And the curls of the feather match the curls of her hair.
If she did stay away because her asked (told?) her to – and now she is getting all kinds of flack for it – I wonder how she is feeling now? “Gee thanks for throwing me under the bus!”. Would love to be a fly on the wall at Amner Hall.
God these two and their ability to not read the optics. We aren’t saying live and die by what the press say-but look a little more deeply at the image you are putting out.
And since all of this drowned out ‘it’s part of the job’ Wills interview-I still say he told her to stay home and threw his wife under the bus. The last 24 hours have been all about her and not his interview-I’m sure he realized it went quite poorly.
My guess is he told her to go home too, but that happened before his interview.
Carole Middleton must follow the news. Do you think she secretly buys every newspaper every week? I imagine she isn’t too “keen” on how this is making her daughter look. Do you think they argued about it?
hahaha I had a good laugh. Lovely dog, I bet he had that thought exactly.:-)
I am shocked how people try to prove their point such as Do you want the Duchess to leave her children alone? Kind of stuff. These women make me dizzy. Just not to argue with a Kate apologists.
the only thing that can make it worse is if someone tweeted or instasnaps Kate shopping on her lonesome, or (and) Will helicoptering out of the job to a party or a non-work polo match.
That would be choice, but Kate is probably hiding out at Anmer with her mother today.
What offends me most about that is the implication that women who work are bad mothers and neglecting their children. And no one is even asking her to work full time!!!! Maybe do 3 days a week for 4 hours a day!!!!
William used the working parents are bad parents argument in an article sanctioned for the express paper. Camilla Tominey, it’s author got alot of stick from twitter over it. She’s been on the defensive ever since with subsequent articles.
The Commonwealth Service was on the 14th and she may have returned to Anmer that evening. She’d have two solid days with the kids before spending less than 8 hours traveling-to-and-attending the Irish Guards event on the 17th. Ridiculous to use the “spend time with the kids” argument and expect working parents to support their choices. Has Palmer reiterated what he was told on Friday?
I really want to witness a dinner conversation between these two. Or maybe even including Chaz and the Queen. HOW do these conversations go? Is William just threatening everyone? As in, you guys know you need me and my wife to be happy. You need us. This is what we’re willing to give you. Or if they just all treat him like a child and he’s far less plotting than I tend to believe. It’s all so puzzling.
But they don’t need him. And the fact that Elizabeth is Queen is proof of that. Her uncle abdicated. Of course, Uncle David didn’t have any kids so even if he hadn’t abdicated, it would eventually have come to Elizabeth but not until 1972. The lives of her children would have been a bit different.
Of course, technically there are options. But are there really? Harry maybe. But he does not look like he would be happy about it. I’m going by popularity now because who else would the British people accept? It’s such an obsolete institution and at this point, it seems like the Queen is beloved but maybe only because she’s been in most people’s lives since they can remember. I guess we’ll see how Charles does.
Yeah, I think that everyone is kind of assuming that the Queen is going to live for another 10 years, because her mother lived to 101. But that’s really not necessarily the case. She’s worked harder than the Queen Mother ever did. If Philip died, I could see the Queen going into a rapid decline and dying very quickly. Not that I want any of this to happen! But King Charles could happen sooner than any of us are necessarily ready for.
Me thinks, they are not talking!!
Maybe she’s pregnant again and in a few weeks we will hear about her terrible morning sickness that kept her from “working”.
^she’s “working” tomorrow, not sure she’s got another bout of morning sickness.
Granted she’s opening a shop for a charity, so the gig is probably barely an hour long.
She cancelled this event last Friday.
Domhnall for King. Long live Domhnall!
He doesn’t look all that keen to be there, judging by these photos.
For all of us who work for a living — Can we go inform our management that as of next week, we will be skipping a couple of scheduled workdays each week from now on. We don’t want to create an expectation, and they can look forward to seeing us occasionally in the future. But we still want our full-time pay and benefits.
My boss would not be amused!
” Is William that Machiavellian?”
YES.
He leaked on his own Granny for crying out loud (the pics from them doing the Hitler salute as a children)
I missed the fact that Will leaked that?? How did we find that out?
Oh my I never saw that. I do believe he has a sinister nature.
Turning up in his uniform was called yesterday of course he’s super keen to show that he’s working hard and Kate’s the lazy one. Good way to take attention from the poaching car crash interview. Things will implode if he carries on like this.
He really has a punchable face.
He does look like a good hard punch in the mouth would be just the thing. I am not British so I can’t justify it since none of my taxes are involved but I’m sure there are plenty of citizens willing and ready to do the honors.
Like Harry said in that gma interview ” anyone who has served our country …we should be doing everything for these guys” Kate can’t even be bothered to put on a dress and hand out some shamrocks cause we might start to expect something from her.
In other news invictus will be in Canada next year! And Harry’s getting a lot of praise for his work with veterans. Deservedly so.
So proud of Harry. He’s doing what he should be doing but having to play second fiddle to his loser brother must be tiring.
His dedication to his causes really show who’s the more mature of the two brothers.
I Think all this negative press has shaken him some what, the PR team must be in turmoil, but I wouldn’t be surprised that their itinerary is a strict schedule which they write up together and don’t change. If Kate is anything like a Capricorn I know an earthquake wouldn’t change her timetable.
The itinerary is put together on average a year in advance. Annual appointments like this are the first priority to be scheduled. Follo wed by official duty appointments, followed by charity appointments. There is alot of leeway for lastminute.com appointments. Those tend to be private or *standing in for another royal or whatever comes up throughout the year.
*william was able to stand in for Kate for an entire tour to Malta after she pulled out which shows how much leeway is in the diary and a red flag about the level of free time William has.
The way this was initially reported, indicates that it was in the diary and as usual Kate cancelled at the last minute. There is alot of behinds the scene vhatter making its way into the public arena about and William turning down or cancelling appointments.
This one gained traction because it’s an official duty AND it came at a time their work ethic is being publicly discussed!
For the sake of accuracy, this isn’t the first time in 115 years that a female member of the royal family hasn’t done it. Obviously the timing of this couldn’t be worse, and obviously the absence is tanking an already sinking PR ship, but I don’t like when one of my favorite “news sources” is incorrect.
This. Doesn’t excuse Kate but there have been many years a female royal was not there. It STARTED in 1901 but hasn’t always been consistent. But timing and PR wise still a huge blunder. The royal musings blog has a great article on it.
For the sake of accuracy, the reasons males filled in were:
1. 1989 – the regiment was stationed in Belize. The 89yr old Queen Mother couldn’t fly to Belize to present the Shamrocks, so the *Grand Duke of Luxemborg substituted.
*Grand Duke of Luxemborg volunteered with the regiment in 1942.
2. 1950 – the 50th anniversary of the tradition, King George 6 presented as a special honour to the regiment.
The point being that when males presented, it was always for a specific and reasonable reason, not because one couldn’t be bothered.
The presentation of Shamrocks was a tradition started by Queen Alexandra to honour the regiment and was always intended for a female royal to present. It’s an add on to the proceedings of the day, a sexist one if you must.
I don’t care if William presents the shamrocks, BUT like the BAFTAS, here is another occasion where an occasion/duty was taken over by either Kate or William with the understanding that they would continue it, and they can’t be bothered.
…but yea!! Modern monarchy!!
GD Jean was with the Irish Guards for years after WWII; he used to ride in HM’s birthday parade.
The times that someone else stepped in – those were for good reason. KM is being lazy and doesn’t want this added to her annual calendar. That isn’t a valid reason for her to skip this.
How could anyone think an explanation like, “I don’t want people to expect me every year?” was going to work with a public that already expects little (but wants, pays for and is entitled to) more from these two?
It rubs salt in the wound by implying that her attendance is some kind of exceptional treat meant to be doled out in small portions else it will spoil her adoring public.
Greta Garbo she is not.
And absolute monarchy this is not.
I tend to agree that her husband told her to stay home so he could be more prominent.
To get updates about Harry, I now follow Clarence house on Instagram. He’s doing so much! You should see the pics! You’ll melt. And there’s a video of him too talking about invictus games! Swoon 💘💘
As for these too, well I was reading comments on DM and wow! These two have really p*ssed off the public this time. Especially the wives of servicemen seemed really disappointed that she gave this event a miss.And gave such a flimsy excuse too.
I was hoping that Harry would align himself with the Clarence House PR machine. The KP PR is obviously pro-Willnot and Cannot and isn’t doing anything for Harry but making him a scapecoat for his idiot brother.
I looked and it was nice but, all I saw were Charles and Camilla.
Could you provide a link?
I see Harry on the Kensignton Palace account,.
Yes, she meant Kensington Palace. It’s 80% Harry. That should tell W+K something.
Oops sorry, I meant Kensington palace not Clarence house. Sorry for the error. Also there are a couple of Prince Harry fan pages that have some really great candids of him doing his job
Did anybody else catch what Prince Andrew did the other day? He rammed a gate because he couldn’t bother going through a detour. He caused 80 grand worth of damage. WTF is going on in Britain? Seriously these people sound like complete idiots.
I agree Andrew is an idiot. BUT .. the other day I looked at his twitter (DukeofYork) and his social media game is on point! Not that he is actually running it, but whomever in his office does it puts out a massive amount of tweets promoting his events and the associated causes. Also has nice link every week detailing his engagements for the coming week.
Made me wonder how annoyed and resentful the “lesser” members of the Royal Fam. must be about the Lamebridges.
I could be wrong but I thought Harry was very close to Andrew and his daughters? While Willwontwork wasn’t.
Also the guardians source claims they call Andrew Toad of toad hall. Lol
Nobody really cares what the Royals are up to here to be frank – we have bigger worries, like a Government taking away financial protections for the Disabled at the same time as giving a tax windfall to the higher tax bracket.
Yes, I understand they may be a sideshow, at best, to the important stuff.
This sideshow receives £300M+ annually from the govt. And by law, they can never receive less in a given year than was received the previous year.
So whilst the govt is cutting funding elsehwere, this sideshow receives money. Infact, based on this year’s figures, is the one of the areas of the govt that will receive a raise. Think about that figure when you are raging about govt cuts and where money is being wasted/cut.
I have to agree with LAK. While the £300 million is a drop in the ocean compared to the £4.5 billion taken from disabled people in the UK in just one budget this week, the excess and the laziness from Twit and Twat is just unconscionable. Sums of money aren’t what make it important: principle is what makes it important.
Even I can’t defend that. I’m with the Tory backbenchers. I’m all for tax cuts, but not at the expense of disabled people.
But guyzzzz
The real story is where all the coverage of it is today? Don’t see anything on the mail online website and even Twitter only has a handful of tweets (none of them from uk journalists)? Have they decided to simply not report?
Without Kate they can be quite disinterested.
Incomprehensible how those two can’t put a foot right despite such negative media coverage.
Harry should have done this, his compassion and involvement with the military is wonderful. In fact we here in Toronto, Canada have landed the Invictus Games for September 2017 and Harry will be here to start promoting it this May.
This has always been my very favorite royal event (I’ve had wolfhounds since 1988.) Pre-internet I used to have to scour the royalty mags at the newsstand (there wasn’t a lot of coverage of it here in the States.) I was actually thrilled when Kate began doing it (although I loved seeing the Queen Mother handing out the shamocks) because I knew I’d see lots of pics. I have lost any bit of respect I had for her. I can’t even find snarkiness today, I’m just sad about it. It’s like one of those situations where you can handle someone’s disrespect just fine if it’s directed at you but when they disrespect someone else, especially someone you admire or care about, it’s unacceptable.
I totally understand that, Tough Cookie. Trust me, if I were Kate not only would I look forward to that engagement all year, I’d be all over Domhnall like a cheap suit! She should have bowed out of opening that shop tomorrow if she was going to bow out of anything. Not this.
Thank you, Bluhare!!!
HM has a long history of putting her head in the sand, yes, but in this case I think it’s very unlikely she hasn’t discussed workshy William and Kate with her advisers.
It’s clear William wanted to be the star in this appearance however Kate really should have been there.
I doubt she’s happy with these two because they are damaging the Firm. She tried with William, but enough is enough. She’ll make a move and it wouldn’t surprise me if she pulled a fast one on William such as he did when he told her hours before his engagement interview that he was engaged. William is smug in the belief that he is bulletproof due to Diana, but he’s not. The very reasons he gives for his laziness can be used to push him & his family right on out of the line of succession and then what will he do? Granny will come off looking benevolent and caring about her grandchild’s future happiness. William & Kate & the Middletons will be out on their arses and the Firm will continue on.
Too right. I’d love to see this happen and then be a fly on the walls at both Amner Hall and Bucklebury Manor when it does. Carole would have a stroke.
Perhaps all of her green coats are at the cleaners, and she didn’t have time to shop for a new one. You know, with her being so busy working six hours this month.
LOL!
I’m “shocked” that The Queen couldn’t “force” her to go? 😉 I kid.
This is just further proof to me that The Queen is fine with them. I’m more inclined to believe the rumor that she is fine with them spending time raising their family since it’s not something she had the privilege to do. It’s one of the main complaints most royal children have, that they rarely got to be with their parents.
If this is the case then the quee is pathetically out of touch too. She can’t seem to grip that you can be a working parent AND be great parents for your children. Hell my husband and I do it everyday. Its not all one or the other. There is a happy balance. I suspect these will not and katie bucket shenanigans are sanctioned by the queen sadly. She is out of touch.
Only Charles has complained about his childhood, while Anne stood up publicly and said they had a great childhood and were close with their parents all along. The Malta thing is a lie, those rumors were started by fans and the press after it was declared KM was going to be a “housewife” in Wales instead of working. All royals set their own schedules and HM let’s everyone make their own mistakes.
I’m in the camp of “William wanted to do this one by himself”, especially with the way that statement was worded. Perhaps he doesn’t like being cropped out of pictures.
“Perhaps he doesn’t like being cropped out of pictures.”
😆
hahahhaah
hahahahaha…………….love it. Wouldn’t it be funny if they did crop him out of today’s photos!!! ROFL………….
Interesting change in DM comments – they are 99% negative, which has gotten to be
common, but now quite a few
Commenters are saying they think a divorce is in the works for these two. I don’t think Carole would allow it, but why would they
pull such a bone-headed move like this unless something was seriously wrong? And
even If divorce isn’t on the horizon, you don’t want that to be what people are talking about.
A divorce after a holiday WITH Carole?? Doesnot compute. And William can search far and wide…he will never find a work-shy, looks-the-other-way-when-he-cheats doormat like Kate anywhere!
Exactly.
They can very easily end this media criticism – just show up to more things. Just leave the house more, visit more schools, do more charity openings, be seen more doing stuff. That’s it. It’s not rocket science. They have a nanny. If they were seen three times a month doing SOMETHING which seemed like work, this ‘work-shy Will’ and ‘Lazy-bum Kate’ which quickly die down. Why can’t they just do some simple things to make themselves likeable again? And before anyone says ‘why should they care about being likeable’ the reality is, this is what the Royal family IS – if they’re not popular, they are ultimately pointless to the British people.
It is not rocket science at all. If they each did something at least 1 time per week everybody would get off their back. But William is absolutely bullheaded and will not be pushed.
It’s an eye opener to see other members of royal families – the BRF and others- hauling their asses hither and yon to fulfill their roles in exchange for their unique and lavish lifestyles, while these two cosseted numpties (new word Celebitchy posters taught me) play “normal lives”.
This is what is so infuriating… they want it both ways. They want all the privacies and secrecy of a normal family, but they also want the lavish lifestyle of members of the Royal family. There has to be some trade off… yes you can have several large homes with huge grounds, luxury holidays, endless money and designer clothes, but you need to work for it and be in the public eye. Otherwise the peasants will revolt. It’s OUR taxes.
The Shirk and Shirkess of Cambridge.
I dunno…I rarely side with Kate, but why does a woman have to hand out a shamrock? The whole thing seems kind of sexist to me, in a Vanna White-barbie-decorative-female kind of way.
Kate is the complete opposite of a feminist icon. She probably doesn’t even know what sexism is so the point is moot IMO. The ceremony is a Royal family tradition and she is the patron of that regiment. The latter alone should be enough for her to show some respect to the Irish Guards and continue the tradition. It’s a slap in the face to the servicemen who sacrifice everything that she didn’t show up. What is the point of a Royal family if they won’t follow their country’s traditions? Isn’t this why she stalked William for all those years? Her lazy arse just can’t be bothered but, of course, she’s take the perks.
I totally agree with you that she is the opposite of a feminist icon. I have so many personal issues with the stepford wife/bobble head/speechless role that has been relegated to her. But in this case, the whole “every year a female royal” – the gender aspects of this cannot be ignored. A woman dressed impeccably, smiling and handing out a flower against the backdrop of an army regimen, it’s too cliche, so no I don’t feel like she should have to do it. I’m sure her reasoning is not the same as mine, though.
Ah yes, Waity, the well-known feminist, making a stand against sexism.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, this is so not about handing out shamrocks, it’s an annual opportunity to celebrate and honour the heritage, courage and work of the Irish Guards, on a day hugely meaningful to the Irish Guards, with the added bonus of a glorious, noble Irish wolfhound, a dog hugely significant in historical and mythical terms to the Irish Guards. Most people – and I really have to exclude you here since you clearly think it’s all about handing out (sexist) shamrocks – would quite rightly regard it as an honour and a privilege to be part of this lovely ceremony.
*Imagines Domhnall reading above post and responding with a colossal dump*
You can disagree with me, but a) I never said she was a feminist and b) a royal still attended in celebration.
But you clearly think this is about looking pretty while handing out shamrocks!
Can you not now see that it’s nothing to do with that and everything to do with wanting to be part of a traditional celebration that honours the Irish Guards on their special day?
And the royal that attended can’t negate the careless actions of the one who didn’t, or how it impacted on the people to whom this event means so much.
Funny thing is, if you take out ‘guards’ as in Irish guards, the whole thing reads much differently. And then, maybe it becomes clear that the Irish really don’t care about this stuff. It’s just the British soldiers in ireland who do. (And yes, I know the whole history…)
L, the Irish Guards do have soldiers who are not of Irish descent, but they primarily recruit in Northern Ireland. Northern Irish people choose how they refer to themselves, whether that’s Irish or British or both. I wouldn’t make assumptions about who’s “British” or “Irish” or what they care about.
I just knew somebody was going to play the feminist card.
It was stated on Friday that she didn’t want people to expect her to show up every year for this. It isn’t about taking a feminist stance, it isn’t about time with the kids.
She doesn’t want people expecting her to do her job every year.
The royals, whether male or female, ARE decoration. That is the only point of them. If they can’t be arsed to decorate anything, then they are redundant. And we should get our £300 million back on faulty goods grounds.
Ah Sixer. Poetry as usual. 😀
I love the blatant shiftiness. I might try that at my job: ‘hey guys, I’m not going to show up this Tuesday because I’d hate for you to begin thinking it may become a habit.’ Such nonsense.
I believe there is serious shizzle going down behind the scenes here somewhere. I think it involves William being horrendous with Charles, the Queen and his pr team and Kate staying at the sidelines looking mortified and trying to do the right thing by everyone and not getting involved but just ending up in even more hot water. I reckon her and Rebecca deacon are spending a lot of time smoking and being stressed out together while hiding in rarely-used ante rooms. It’s just all so odd.
This is the most reasonable explanation I have heard.
I really can’t believe she cancelled her appearance at this event. Whoever had tat idea really misjudged.
My larger concern is that these two are raising George and Charlotte. I wonder if they will pass along their work-shy ways and be resentful of the system that makes their entire lifestyle possible.
Kate spending time in the study LOLLLLLLLLZZZZ. Like the other poster said, prolly online shopping or ordering more diet pills. She will be in there fagging away with a carton of ciggies with ma midds and her P.A Tash.
At this point I am also starting to believe that something is really, seriously “off” with her/them. I don’t know if someone is ill or if the backlash to William’s BS is taking a toll on her, but she looks different lately.
I know some people explain that away by the fact that she’s aged and had two children, which I get, but it looks, to me at least, like more than that. I actually feel very sorry for her.
I do, too.
Her haggard appearance and Carole’s constant presence signal that something is really amiss.
Just look at photos of her from 2011 and compare them to now.
Carole has always been a constant presence in that relationship so it doesn’t signal anything. She’s had 15 years to get used to toddler Bill, she must know how to manage him by now – if not it she would never have lasted this long.
Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on with her, but when you look at photos from 2011 compared to now, it’s hard to believe it’s only five years. If there’s a pregnancy announcement after their India tour, I think we can rest assured Kate is OK.
You need to stop making me feel sorry for her. You really really do. 😛
They’re no longer photoshopping her. This is what she looks like, always has.
I don’t feel it’s fair to refer to Katie as Bucket any longer. Hyacinth would NEVER skirt her duty! The WAG Queen is not worthy to be a Bucket! I wonder if the plebs will throw plums at the WAG for her appearance tomorrow. Or perhaps turn their backs to her or gasp! no take her photo nor applaud her for showing up.
Ha! This is true. Hyacinth would never miss an opportunity to dress up in a hat, give a royal wave, and play the great lady.
It was on March 11th that Richard Palmer tweeted that it was suggested to him that W&K wanted to get rid of the expectation that she’d do the Shamrock ceremony every year.
It was last week in which the ITV interview was taped though released this week. This was the one in which he was asked about being work shy and not busy.
It’s today that Prince Harry’s American GMA interview series started. His work in the Invictus Games gives him a good PR connection with the military and the public.
So do I think William planned to do today’s military event solo in order to try to upstage Harry, be the sole center of attention by keeping Kate away, and to push back against the work shy criticism? Probably.
The timing is suspicious and he’s smart enough to know this makes Kate look bad. He should have protected her by insisting she come to work. But he knew that this would cause a bit of a stir and thus more publicity for himself when he showed up alone.
Also, he’s always trying get one over on his more popular brother. With the two competing events today between William and Harry, I don’t doubt that William was trying to overshadow Harry’s big PR event.
Same as when William released the French Alps family pics on the same day as Charles’ 40th anniversary celebrations for the Prince’s Trust. And it was reported that it was William who chose the specific day.
It’s like William has a separate calendar marking out special days for Charles and Harry in order to outshine them on those particular days.
I have a strong feeling as well that this is William’s ploy for more positive coverage while throwing his dear wife under the bus. I’m not excusing her constant lazy ways, but Kate might have been willing to be present today but William needed some good press and therefore that lame excuse that her future appearances can’t be habit-forming. So as the hero he stepped in to save the day. Not only is this competition appalling to see with his brother and his father, but it’s pretty horrendous to see how William doesn’t care about making his spouse look bad to score those brownie points. Such a charmer and loyal husband! I also believe that this marriage is imploding behind the walls of Amner Hall, KP, Middleton Manor or wherever this couple is hanging their hats nowadays. And Carole is the crazy glue trying to keep the marriage together, no doubt.
I don’t think it is William worrying about attention for his wife. Since he despises the monarchy and refuses to do the job, this was probably a joint decision on their part. He doesn’t want anyone to EXPECT anything of either of them. Locking her in to attending this every year? Nope, not going to happen.
Placing my bet on neither of them showing up to this event next year. Wouldn’t want to let anyone expect an annual appearance by either of them.
I agree with you on this— they are totally on the same page. It is not a matter of him trying to make her look bad. She flew back to Norfolk after the Commonwealth Day Service and wild horses wouldn’t drag her back to London, apparently.
I don’t know how I haven’t seen this before but their is a clip on various Kate tumblrs of her leaving Raffles nightclub with Pippa in 2007 and very petulantly lecturing the paparazzi “this is unreasonable….this is my private life!” in a quite plummy accent. Foreshadowing of petulance to come…
I think she didn’t really want to go either. I don’t think she likes public events in which she has to interact with other people. The ceremonial events at which she’s part of a larger group of royals, especially with Harry included, are the ones she feels more comfortable at, imo.
So I don’t think he had to twist her arm to stop her from going, but I think it was William who made the final decision because of the urgency of his needing good PR at this time.
The DM ran a story recently stating HM condoned the work-shy attitude of the Cambridges because she understood it meant they could spend more time with their children compared to royals of past generations. When questioned recently, William answered the work-shy question with “it’s part of the job, Mark.” Why didn’t William offer more information by saying he and Catherine wish to spend more time with their children? He had the opportunity to clarify matters once and for all and didn’t do so.
Citresse, that HM-approves-Laziness article was wishful thinking/planted by W&K’s PR. Just like the whole fan-and-PR Malta set of lies that were bandied about just after their wedding. William knows HM is unlikely to come out and publicly refute the story.
May-be it’s revenge for Diana’s death, I mean may-be he knows a lot the rest of us don’t know!!
Prince Punk