Here are some extra fashion photos that I didn’t get to with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. These pics are from Will and Kate’s last night in Bhutan, where they attended a reception and Kate showed off a new dress. This dress is a $1,057 piece from Beulah London, and the “poppy” motif is in honor of Bhutan’s national flower. If you go to the Daily Mail’s coverage, you can see some of the high-quality full-length images, and I’ll admit, I creeped on Kate’s feet a little bit. After the British outlets made such a big deal about how Kate’s feet are so janky (they are not), I had to look to see if she’s primped up her feet at all. It looks like she added some clear nail polish and that’s it. Her toenails are in better shape than mine, I’ll say that.
Anyway, the reviews are coming in from the tour and it doesn’t really look good for Will and Kate… or Poor Jason and the whole Kensington Palace team. The Express’s Camilla Tominey wrote a great piece about how “restrained” and “bland” the tour felt, and how Will and Kate were largely ignored by the Indian press. Perhaps that was in reaction to the “micro-managed” nature of Will & Kate’s press people and staffers, and the incessant claims of “privacy.” Will and Kate kept cutting off the media’s access to their events too, which is just… strange. Janet Street-Porter at the Independent also had a great op-ed about how “dreary” and “drab” Kate seemed, mostly because (once again) the Cambridges are hyper-managed and we can only really talk about clothes and photo-ops because that’s how insubstantial they are. You can read the full piece here, and here’s part of her op-ed:
The pair have spent their time touring charity projects, meeting conservationists and homeless kids – and at each event, the Duchess (supported by a team of stylists, hairdressers, dressers and PAs) has dressed in a manner that ranges from the demure to the plain dowdy…Surely the main point of the couple’s trip (apart from the endless photo-ops) was to fly the flag for Britain, to drum up visitors, promote our exports and encourage investment? In her over-anxious effort not to offend anyone, the Duchess ended up looking decidedly dreary. Wearing a printed cotton frock (which to me looked no different from those made by workers on low wages in the Third World) and high street earrings (ditto), what message was she trying to send out?
Even clothes by cutting edge designers like McQueen were altered beyond recognition, turned into something more suitable for the bride’s mother. My disappointed Indian friends think Kate should have worn high fashion, not high street, and can’t understand why she looks so prim and proper… The British fashion industry inspires the rest of the world and is a key part of our economy, but whoever is advising the Duchess of Cambridge should be sacked…. Princess Diana had her shortcomings, but she understood perfectly that the public expected glamour at all times – and she never let them down, promoting British designers brilliantly. Kate has turned into the Duchess of Drab.
Dreary duchess, the duchess of drab, the duchess of dolittle, none of this is very good. And still, there’s more criticism – The Daily Mirror columnist Carole Malone took the Cambridges to task in spectacular fashion, writing:
…In the main, it’s been boring. And that’s because THEY’RE boring. They couldn’t cobble together a personality between them. We all know HE really doesn’t want to be there but is under instructions from the Palace to pull his finger out and look interested to dispel the rumours that he’s a lazy tyke. And SHE’S desperately trying, but failing, to be Princess Diana. She’s like a cardboard cutout of the real thing – nice clothes, good figure, but no spark.
And I’m sorry, all that hysterical laughter and the wide eyes feigning surprise at whatever was going on this week just doesn’t cut it. Even worse is the clipped, posh accent she’s recently adopted – presumably to make her sound more royal, when all it does is make her sound constipated. But what really hacked me off was that while she and Wills are forever saying they’re just an ordinary family desperate to live a normal life, she was accompanied on that trip by a stylist, a personal assistant AND a hairdresser. Which isn’t vaguely normal and begs the question – how much is that lot costing us?
I’ll say it: 2016 is the year that the British press finally had enough of Will and Kate. No hyper-managed royal tour will solve this problem. No photo-op in front of the Taj Mahal will solve it. Littered throughout the coverage of the tour were multiple references to “dreary, “boring,” “Workshy Will” and the press were openly mocking the idea that they are just normal, private people. Their media strategy has really blown up in their faces this year, and it’s fascinating to watch.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Fame/Flynet and PCN.
I really do not understand this. What do you want from these people??? I think our society is so used to the Kardashian culture that if someone isn’t parading around half naked or making a spectacle of the themselves then they are considered boring, drab, etc.
She is a plain girl in a high pressure position that she was not raised for. He is just an arrogant bore. It is what it is.
I think people want them to take a genuine interest in something beside themselves and get off their royal asses and do something to help others. Kate wasn’t born into it but she sure worked hard to get it. The British people are paying their tab and they’re not doing anything to earn their keep.
Catwoman, she just laid on her back to do it, I guess that ‘s hard!!!
Wow. I think that they’re lazy etc. and some of the criticisms are true; but they really can’t win! She gets ripped apart for not being conservative enough, and then ripped apart for being too conservative and not cutting edge and glamorous fashion-wise. Girlfriend can’t win! I actually feel sorry for her. Of course she’s travelling with a hairdresser, that’s standard for people if this position.
I think they really need to go out and be far more active in their roles, work hard, enthusiastically support charities and good works. It is the only thing they can do right now to avert some of the negative press.
However, even if they do that they will still receive criticism, it is the nature of the beast. Maybe just not quite as much!
She could win if she got out there and started working. At that case nobody would care about her toenails, clothes, facial expressions. Until then, why are you surprised there is nothing else left to talk about?
People admired Diana’s fashion sense but they LOVED her inner beauty. Diana was out there touching mine victims and lepers.
If Kate is going to try to visually echo Diana, she’s also asking to be compared to Diana.
they are two useless, incredibly rich, arrogant people. Nothing’s wrong with having some fun at their cost. If they dont have interest and drive to do something meaningfull, their only remaining role is clowns for the crowd. If all u want to be is a paper doll, u get treated accordingly.
That is with Kate at least for me, I do not know what is inside. Nobody wants her to do what Diana did, she needs to find her own way without her Mum’s guidance.
On the other hand, they do everything to copy and bring back Diana’s memory, from putting the kids in clothes he wore as a little one to copying her polka dotted dress with a newborn. And then my q is what about Diana’s work ethic? That should be kept in mind not her dress she wore.
Anne has huge respect because of her work ethic and no one cares how she dresses whilst she’s working. Ditto Sophie.
It’s a modern trap that one has to be a fashion plate in order to work as a public figure.
Hilary might not be the best dressed or even a fashion plate by anyone’s standards, but if she shows up in drab clothing, no one discounts her brain because of it.
Kate, by her actions, has shown that she wants to be a fashion plate and nothing else. So we judge her as a fashion plate. If she had more substance as far as working, we would have that conversation.
And they are always invoking Diana, who loved fashion as well as her job. Kate likes to shop, but she doesn’t love fashion. she doesn’t know how best to use it nor does she employ experts to help her.
Kate doesn’t have to follow fashion. We only ask that she do her job and dress appropriately. The fashion is a bonus, but not a requirement.
I think if people respected them and liked them, no one would care about fashion or glamour. They need to work on appearing more genuine and authentic.
Agree SKF. Working would help some but at the end of the day they’ll still get complaints about that. Because people are complaining about the clothes in contradictory ways and the same has happened when they work. Polite listening faces? Not engaged enough. Laughing and engaged? Manic and fake. And from everything I’ve read none of the royals stay too long at engagements and certainly not at big tourist draws because of security. Should and could they do more? Yes. But will it change the minds of people who enjoy being negative and picking people apart? Nope.
I don’t think the criticisms Kate and Wills are facing are really that harsh, compared to what previous royals have gone through. No one is calling Kate the Duchess of Pork. I’d rather be called drab than what Sarah went through.
@SKF
“I think they really need to go out and be far more active in their roles, work hard, enthusiastically support charities and good works. It is the only thing they can do right now to avert some of the negative press.
However, even if they do that they will still receive criticism, it is the nature of the beast. Maybe just not quite as much! ”
Another variation on “they can’t win”. How do you know this? Until they actually do something substantial, and consistently, we’ll never know, will we?
I think what (British) people want them to do is work more (ie show up at more events and be gracious at them) and behave appropriately.
So far, they’re not very good at either of those things. Which would be ok if they weren’t living rather luxurious taxpayer-funded lives.
That said, I do think bitching out the look of her feet etc is a line that doesn’t need to be crossed. There’s plenty more legitimate stuff to complain about re: these two.
Exactly..as a tax payer..no hiding my earnings in far away land like the rich my hard work supports these …********..!
I expect them to stay more than 30 minutes..make a genuine effort to be interested and start to learn to deal graciously with the press who have always been so fawning to them that it makes you a little sick..
That they lack charm and have no spark because they could care less..It is clear they do it because they have to and he has not understood anything about adjusting to his privileged life ..Like the older royals he would enjoy it more if he put more into it..
Most ordinary people could do a better job..They are part of the Self -Entitled element who clearly believe they just need to show up and everyone should be grateful,no quid pro quo..
This attitude in the past was the downfall of Charles 1 and the French court…
I am now beginning to believe that he will not become King ,or if so he will not last .
To put the feet article into context, the DM reported that William was actively involved in the planning of the tour including the media aspects of it, and that it was all micromanaged.
So when their PR statement came out that Kate won’t be wearing hosiery because of the heat, that brought attention to her legs and feet. It was stupid to point out her body parts as part of their pre-tour PR, but that’s the genius that is William. Do the Queen’s and Anne’s PR statements include focusing on body parts ahead of their tours?
It was also stupid of them to point out that they sent a reconnaissance team to take photos of every place they’d visit in order for Kate to decide what to wear at each ‘backdrop.’ That too reinforced that the focus should be on their physical appearances.
I think the press are sick of the Cambridges expecting them to blindly peddle the PR narrative of how they’re an ordinary, normal couple whilst they simultaneously demand special treatment – demanding ‘privacy’ in the middle of a royal tour, for example, or declaring that the press cannot photograph them ‘off-duty’, even if they are in a public area like a park.
And I don’t think anyone is asking for Will and Kate to do semi-nude somersaults to avoid being classed as ‘drab’ or ‘boring’, their tours clearly comprise the bare minimum of events, effort, and energy. Harry’s recent tour to Nepal didn’t feature spectacle or nudity (probably to the sadness of readers here …) but did anyone claim he was drab or boring? No, because he actually made an effort to connect to people and projects, and his personality shone through the photos and press pieces. Will and Kate clearly turn up because they were told to, unprepared and unenthusiastic, and it shows.
Please. No semi nude somersaults. Good post, Rachel; I agree with you. Actually I agree with pretty much everyone but the semi-nude somersaults got my attention. 🙂
Rachel – exactly. They resent doing their “jobs” and it shows… Unlike Harry, who, as many have noted , shows up & participates with genuine enthusiasm.
As a British taxpayer who is paying for their lifestyle I want to see them doing their duty just like the rest of the BRF
As for Kate – she spent 10 years chasing this position so she knew exactly what she was getting into. She’s just like him in that she doesn’t want to – they both want the lifestyle and privileges that come with his position but its a job, a lifelong job. And like any other job, there are expectations in exchange for money – they are not keeping their end of the bargain. Its plainly obvious that they do not want to have to deal with the public – they treated this tour as a personal vacation (the Taj visit was clearly only a photo op for themselves), when they visited places they were trying to restrict media access in effect turning it into a private visit. This ‘vacation’ was paid for by other people – the UK, Indian and Bhutan govs, its expected that they play the game. It was only for 6 days FFS.
Re: her clothes. As a self confessed fashionista my only comment about her style is that she needs to make up her mind about what that is. She goes between dressing like a 20 yr old student to dressing like a middle aged woman. Why can’t she dress her age?
As a person who couldn’t care less about what’s fashionable I can at least support Kate in one thing: there’s no such thing as “dressing your age”. I like that she mixes 20 with middle age (two categories I disagree with anyway). More power to her!
Do you think that Kate is controlled by her husband publicly? I’m not asking the question to make an excuse, but given his arguably obsessive control regarding privacy and his image, I wonder if a lot of this isn’t William. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Kate has exhibited much spark, which is a disappointment, but I do wonder if some of that isn’t her husband telling her what she can and can’t do and as a result that’s why she’s so stilted. She’s not been able to develop her own public persona, which creates its own issues.
@Bluehare – Yes i have always thought that she always does what he tells her but its not necessarily down to just Willy – she does whatever Mummy tells her. I think Kate is, sadly, one of those personalities that needs someone to tell them what to do, she’s a sheep that needs someone to direct her through live. I know a few people like that and they don’t all have tiger parents but they have ended up with a tiger partner. They can’t make decisions on their own – it stresses them out.
I find that pretty sad. She’s the type of person who’ll run off with Robson Green when he tells her how much she’s got to offer and who are these people muzzling you? 😀
@Blue – hahaha about Robson Green. I laffed when i read about that – the Vicars wife. Straight outta Midsomer Murders.
Self confessed fellow fashionista Betti. That is part of what frustrates me about her. She has challenges as far as having a long torso but it’s easily handled with the right clothes. I think a sportier look would be better for her and less matronly. I do think she highlights the things she doesn’t like with her choices.
She could look so great but fails almost always.
If she worked hard it wouldn’t matter as much but she spends a fortune on unfortunate clothes.
Well i think the bigger problem lays in Billy boy. I think he is the root of the problems they are facing now. He wants to be in charge, he wants “privacy” because he tasted that while he was younger when his family asked and got that for him. It was good, he could do whatever he wanted and got away with everything he did.
As for her i think we are getting her all wrong. She didn’t chase the position she chased him. She got him, the one she worked for so she is keen to please him not the public. The only thing she got wrong is that he is not just a normal rich husband he is an institution. She has said so herself, only his opinion matters to her. She had shown over the years that she can work on what she wants, and she wanted him. She became the perfect girlfriend, at his beck and call, she got thinner (trust me it’s not that easy to be like her, it takes power of will), she didn’t have any friends outside his circle etc etc. IF he would allow her she could maybe shine a little on her own, but as he doesn’t want to lift a finger himself she won’t too. The are the perfect match because he is in charge and she obeys. That’s it. The rest is history.
If i was in charge of their lifestyle as Charles is i would put a number of engagements they had to do each year, let’s say 250 for each. Not reaching that number would mean no money for their lifestyle. It could be done. But they are not used to do things that way. And who knows what goes behind closed doors.
egla, I don’t think she would have kowtowed and put up with this behavior from a man with less money or a man with a lesser position. She chased the prestige and the title, and this particular man came with them.
I think the people want them to be involved. Future leader’s of a country should be involved. They went on tour, did not do really any speeches, any press, were at locations maybe 30 minutes each. They were there in body, not spirit. Why should the Indian people, or even the British people CARE if these two don’t give them a reason to. We only see their clothes because that’s all they offered. They had too much distance to allow any substance printed. Because the press cannot write what they do not know.
There doesn’t seem to be any sincerity to anything they do. I imagine that, if they seemed sincerely to care about their charities, or about a cause, or about people they meet at these royal functions, or about the British citizenry in general, that the public would be more forgiving about them being work-shy.
Instead, in their public appearances, they seem begrudging and false. I do agree with the other posters that are saying it’s on Will and that she’s doing what he tells her to. You can see from news coverage of this trip that she does occasionally break out into a genuine smile or seem to be having fun, but most of the time there is a very prim veneer. The times I see news about Will helping out in a real way, like after those floods, it always seems to be something where Harry was doing it first and, therefore, Will could not get out of it.
They are really boring though, even for royals.
I think the criticism is fair. When they first married, they were elevated to being the most interesting people ever and Kate was revered as the second coming of Diana (big mistake for their PR to have done that). They’re not living up to the hype, and, yeah, it is what it is — they’re dull. George is the only interesting thing about them. Harry is interesting too, but I don’t know if he counts as a package deal with Will and Kate.
I don’t think India is obligated to find them interesting either. Sure, they’re a Commonwealth country, but they did separate from the Empire. It makes sense that Britain would promote them since William will be their future head of state, but every other country on the planet is allowed to shrug.
I think what people want is for them to genuinely take an interest in their jobs. Diana understood the role of fashion in both her brand and her job. She was happy to be an enthusiastic mannequin for British fashion. Kate won’t even sew a weight in her skirt after all these years. It is one thing to not be raised for such a position, but it is quite another not to learn from your mistakes. Most of us, I think, would be desperate to learn how to do the job. Kate seems to think her job was popping out a couple of kids. Perhaps that’s what William told her.
As for their “tour,” it played just like that – a tour. They did touristy things. Sightseeing, etc. And if the word that their press people kept shutting down local press at every opportunity is true, then that REALLY defeats the purpose of a royal tour.
I keep getting the vibe from William like my 14 year old when I asked him to wash the car. He did a terrible job at it and I swear it was so I would not ask him to do it again. I think most people would be fine with William and Kate going off to live their “normal” life, but sadly, I don’t think he can make that decision for his children. Prior to George, I think he could have done it and it passed to Harry. Now, nope. He can’t.
If he wanted to leave and take the kids with him, the government would make it happen. Easier to do when they are under 18.
Cleveland Girl – I am disappointed in William & Kate because they are only giving us the Kardashian culture – pictures. I grew up watching Diana, and saw how much work she did, yes work and with 2 small children right out of the gate. She puts these two to shame. These two don’t give any substance or show us their heart is in this world, its just a photo op on a bench.
I’ll take anyone over the Kardash Trash, Duggars, all reality TV “celebs any time.
I agree with that, but that isn’t exactly a fair comparison.
Right but a royal couple being funded by tax payers isn’t comparable to the Kardashians. As obnoxious as they are, pay their own way. Will and Kate should be compared to Barack and Michelle and their diplomatic trips and the royal couple pale in comparison to their peers.
They have no political responsibilities. Their job is to appease the public, be gracious, and give a fair amount of time to the people who pay for their lavish lifestyle. It’s really not too much to ask. A few years ago I thought this site was overly critical of them but since they skipped the BAFTA’s and then the St. Patrick’s Day events, it’s clear that there is an issue of work ethic here.
That’s ironic since Kate would pretty much fit in with the Kardashians. She likes showing off her private parts to the public. Can you imagine the hell that would fall if Michelle Obama or Hillary Clinton wore dresses and skirts that blow up on windy days and showed off their underwear or more even once? Yet Kate does this at least 4times EACH YEAR. Not to mention go to public events wearing leggings? Mrs Obama and Secretary Clinton would have to go into hiding!
Can’t win? This woman has been winning for five years! The press have been kissing her butt, photoshopping any imperfections from her face and holding her up as some role model just for social climbing by marrying a rich guy. Yeah the Kardashians only wish they had 10% of Kate’s good press for accomplishing absolutely nothing. She had planned on marrying into this family 10years ago and been in it for 5years. Being a royal is like any other job. You get paid money to fulfill specific tasks. What job would keep an over 30year old adult who hasn’t learned to do it after 5 years? 5 years! Unbelievable.
Non-Royal Women all over Europe are marrying into royal families and managing to do their jobs within a year max.
Cleveland Girl, I totally agree. I’ve always been slightly puzzled by the devotion to the British monarchy, and watching these two wander through their public appearances makes it even more strange. I guess I’ve always thought that it could hardly be different. Of course he’s spoiled, he’s been protected nearly all his life and allowed to have pretty much whatever he wants. If they wanted different he should have been put to work long ago. Coddling and putting off real work doesn’t produce a good horse nor a good man. She’s a social climber who was probably told by him that she wouldn’t have to do very much besides pop out a couple kids and she’d be adored.
It’s a classic example of a system working for so long that everyone involved assumes it will keep working forever, with little to no changes necessary. And when it fails they’re all flabbergasted and left flailing. It’s happening here in the US with our presidential election too. People are tired of the system but those in charge of the system can’t quite believe it yet.
“It’s a classic example of a system working for so long that everyone involved assumes it will keep working forever, with little to no changes necessary”
I could be wrong, but I suspect a lot of constitutional changes would have to be made for the monarchy to end. And with all the other problems going on , maybe both the public and the politicians don’t want to deal with it.
The Queen is their Head of State, so I can see why so many people would expectations on the royal family as a symbol in that regard.
I agree 100%. Pretty much everyone is just jealous, why crap all over them? I think they are great!
Yep, nothing but jealousy in every post and article written about them. Very astute.
LOL. No, I don’t think people are jealous. That’s a 13 year old’s response to criticism usually followed by a “whatever!”
People have legitimate complaints about Workshy and Dolittle. In US terms, they are welfare recipients living a 1% lifestyle, and showing no gratitude.
Every single one of us are green as grass here. Eaten up. We desperately want Workshy as a hubby and to do nothing in wiglets and wedges. Jealous of what?
Yes, now a days you are considered “boring” if you’re not cheating on your spouse with the nanny, caught drunk every weekend, and do daily twitter beefs with other celebs.
Totally agree. So they don’t think she should travel with a hairdresser but they also want her to be “glamour all the time”? I agree that she doesn’t seem to have much of a personality, but that’s clearly because she’s in a high-pressure, highly-visible role/marriage that she’s not comfortable with. What’s Will’s excuse? He’s the heir and the one everyone should be concerned about. If I were British it would seriously bother me that he’s a spoiled brat. Yes, I think Kate should work more and I hate those god-awful wedges along with many of her fashion choices, but the press’s argument against her has become trivial and cruel. She looked nice on the tour, smiled a lot, and seemed semi-genuine during a pretty awkward trip. Also, she’s probably still dealing with the Jecca/Easter thing and is being forced to look happy about spending time with her a-hole husband. Cut her a break.
Devil’s advocate here: at least the Kardashians don’t mooch off taxpayers. They get paid for providing entertainment, which is a commodity. Their audience choose to indulge and finance them. The royals…well they are wasting taxpayer money.
I think the only thing that will save them now is a few years of full time royal work. They need to be keeping pace with at least Edward & Sophie, preferably with Charles, though. They can right the ship but I think it’s going to take that kind of dedication to duty to do it.
I agree.
They have a massive hill to climb with regards to their image and serious bridges to build with the press but the question is do they have the inclination to do either? In my opinion No. This tour was designed to respond to the negativity about their workshy ways, they did 3 engagements every day (which is a LOT for them). It could have been an roaring success but as their efforts were half arsed it failed and has blown up in the faces.
Its only a matter of time before things between them, the press and the rest of the BRF comes to a head. It won’t be pretty.
This is the interesting thing, isn’t it? That they at least tripled the number of engagements from their previous efforts and did not reap any rewards for it? Shows us exactly where both parties are at. Normal Bill and Chutney felt more engagements were sufficient. The press did not. So we can expect no reduction in hostilities whatsoever!
To be a public person (funded by the public) with a purely ceremonial role, you have to be able to keep the public interested and to be likeable. The latter can be very hard because you have to give something of yourself, something authentic – and you have to be seen to care. No one is going to keep caring about a someone whose public persona is so completely manufactured that there is no room for spontaneity and autenticity. Kate has reduced herself reduced to a silent mannequin and William won’t even bother to disguise that he doesn’t care for his public role at all!
They did more engagements in a day that they’ve ever done before but they did not put much work or heart into it. Despite them being tightly managed in terms of PR, there was no hiding that they hadn’t done much prep-work (beyond Kate’s wardrobe) which was especially embarassing for William since he was the one who did most of the talking.
They were insufficently prepared and they didn’t care – and why should the public care when they so obviously don’t? The problem is that they are in part publicly funded so why should the British people pay vast amounts of money to a pair of wealthy, privilegede people who do not give a fig for their public roles as representatives of Britain.
Amen, AH!!
AH! Yes! I’m in the US, and aside from my English grandmother’s special affection for the Queen, I didn’t really get her. And then I watched a couple of docs about her and was blown away. I mean, she is really interacting with people. She just turns up wherever – a ladies group, or a train station or whatever and just *talks to people*. She asks great questions, she looks people in the eye, she laughs and you can tell she really puts an effort in to making that connection. That’s special.
Well said, AH. If they don’t care, why should we?
The Queen is obviously well trained in the art of conversation and diplomacy. Good manners are about making other people feel comfortable and cared about and the Queen shows that she knows this. Where did she learn that? I doubt it materialized out of nowhere. So why didn’t Will, the heir, receive that training and if so, why wasn’t it enforced?
The Queen is an experienced horsewoman and dog lover, and while she has plenty of trainers on staff, she must understand that good manners and good work ethic are produced by rigorous and consistent training.
I realize I’m comparing Will to livestock, but isn’t that kind of his place? He and his family are “kept” by the public and treated well, but there is an expectation of high performance.
@Wren – I actually think Will’s poor understanding of what royal work is probably falls to Diana. It was always admired that she wanted her children raised “normally” and somewhat privately, but I do think it left Will (in particular, as heir to the throne) wildly unprepared for what his life actually is.
I live in a constitutional monarchy and my Queen gives a lot of herself to the public. Not just in terms of talking and listening to people at public events but also letting the public into her life in a way that hasn’t really been seen before. There’s recently been a documentary series on TV about the Queen’s castles (where only one is private property) where she herself guides the camera crew and relates the history of the places. It was so interesting to get a glimpse of places that rarely are open to the public but we also got a glimpse of the Queen’s personality. She is in some ways rather down to earth (like briefly popping out on the Palace Square, to the obvious surprise of the passersby and tourists) and have a rather dry wit as well as sharing some lovely memories of her childhood and her parents.
I especially liked the program about Christian VII’s Palace which is used for representative purposes and as guest accommodation. It was renovated in the 1990s and the Queen had a decisive hand in the decoration (it is bold and colourful – very much like herself). She was relateable and drily funny – and it was really interesting to learn about the thought processes behind the renovations and decoration. Fx that other royals might put up with old plumbing and shared bathrooms (they are used to old, uncomfortable castles), elected heads of state are used to more luxurious surroundings and it would be rude to offer something less than comfortable and suitable for their status.
To put it succinctly, it’s not the quantity it’s the quality. If William and Kate put double the effort and more of their hearts and souls into half the engagements, I’m sure the feedback from this tour and in general would be more positive.
AH, was that the bedroom redecoration where she said one yellow was the color of a lemon and the other the color of a peach in a can? The woman interviewed couldn’t believe the Queen knew about peaches in cans.
Can you imagine either Will or Kate at the Institute for leadership Mary just attended in Boston? They’d be laughed out of the room.
I’m not quite sure but I think the yellow comment was in the program about Marselisborg Castle, which is their private property. The decorating scheme is much different than in the official residences. Lots of colour and patterns – and a pillow shaped as a dachshund! A bit too much for my taste but definitely bold. I loved that she has a flower arranging room where she arranges the flowers she cuts in the gardens. There’s some really great art at Marselisborg – a gorgeous LA Ring painting that I kind of wish was in a museum, a wonderful and huge ceramics urn by Peter Brandes and some sculptures by Prince Henrik (I quite like his abstract stuff).
Thanks, AH. It was in an older one, at least 5 years ago. Likely it was the one about their private residence. Unfortunately that we don’t get to experience that and the collection in person, but if it is their private residence I understand certain parts not being open to visitors like QEII does with Balmoral and Sandringham. And a dachshund? Do either of them have a dachshund like QEII is known for having corgis?
The gardens at Marselisborg are open to the public when they are not in residence. There’s a little gazebo where people have written greetings to the Queen on the walls.
Daisy and Henri have always had dachshunds, just like Liz and her corgis. They always have a pair of them. The artist Jørgen Boberg who has painted the Queen several times has even done a portrait of her with one of her dogs. 😉
http://arslonga.dk/1-DRONNINGEN/Joergen_Boberg2.jpg
It would be really hard to build an image through the media, if your husband would rather be anywhere but with you!!!
Agreed. And Charles does them no favors by continuing to fund their nonsense.
I agree with this, as well. They need an entirely different PR approach and both of them need to get out there and work – with a schedule similar to the other so-called ‘senior royals’. Instead, they will go into hiding which is the exact opposite thing they should be doing right now. William is too stubborn to see that, though.
If they had a work ethic, nobody would care what they look like.
It’s true. If they did this work every day, there would be much less expectation on the times they did these trips. It’s become that they’re so rarely seen working, everyone hangs their hats on these trips abroad. I think if they kept a good schedule, in general, the trips would still be important, but less would hinge on them being a roaring success.
Do you think so? Because I think Wills has always had an expectation of glamour from the public. I think as Diana’s eldest and reported confidant there was always an extra public interest and pressure of expectations put onto him, and even more so because he was so good looking when he was younger. I’m not saying any of these expectations excuse W and K’s total disinterest in royal work at home but I DO think they’ll always be in for criticism for not being the young glamorous couple that people projected for Diana’s son.
I think it is not only quantity that is lacking, it is quality as well. Just a few examples come to mind from this recent tour, where they did three daily engagements, which is huge for them but ridiculous compared to what us “normals” see as work; I do t consider this work: a private dinner with a queen and king, a hike to a temple, a private tour of Taj Mahal…
And this is where you see the lack of quality, and by quality I mean petulance (asking for privacy on a royal tour), making innate comments about their experiences (you cannot read about the places you are going to visit ahead of time? The best you can say about visiting cultural landmarks is that you burn off curry calories or that the Taj is romantic). I mean, all that press Kate got about her “keen” interest in youth mental health care, and she spent less than an hour of that much ballyhooed blogging day actually being present, then she ran off to shop… It is just too frustrating how deaf these two are to criticism, they never learn.
I also don’t buy the “Kate is unprepared for her role”. She has had five years. Will has had a lifetime. In the real world no one would be considered new at their job at this point. They would have long ago been fired.
I feel like the only thing that would make this any better (worse?) would be if some anonymous Indian official came out and was like, “Yeah, we uh… actually requested Harry, so, yeah, thanks BRF.”
Lol
If only! LOL!
Haha. For sure.
That would be amazing 😀
He was right next door, too!
🙂
That would be hilarious! William would lose his mind
Deep truth in that. For both countries really
Ugh! The last photo! Please stop with that face!! But, who am I kidding, that’s the least of their problems.
Jacqueline, I think the faces were for his mistress, ” see how happy we are and what fun we are having’ don’t you get it girly, he’s with me!!!
You can’t complain that’s she’s dreary and boring and dowdy and also complain that she has a hairdresser traveling with her. There are many, many legitimate complaints about these two, but this just seems petty and mean. They can’t help it if they don’t have sparkling personalities. If she had worn less “prim” clothes, they would have complained about that, too. They want her to be normal and relatable, but glamorous and enchanting. I hate ganging up on people, and that’s what this feels like to me.
It’s only the beginning, GNAT.
Our tabloids know that there’s no huge public appetite for a republic. They won’t bring Twit and Twat to heel by going on about that side of it. They do know they can destroy any woman by focusing on clothes and looks. So they will do that. They also know that they can ignite the parsimonious streak in Brits by talking about individual wastes of money, like helicopter rides, so they’ll do that.
If this doesn’t work, they’ll move on to the ultimate Britisher outrage over poshies – the sex scandal. I have no doubt they have the Normal Bill equivalent of Chuck’s tampon fantasies or Fergie’s toe-sucking in their devious little files, ready to be brought out.
End result: game of chicken in which Twit and Twat are made to look more and more ridiculous by the fourth estate, which they will eventually lose and be dragged, kicking and screaming, into an acceptable level of devotion to duty.
There will be no mature discussion on whether to retain a monarchy or not. There will be no mature discussion on an appropriate role and status for a constitutional monarchy in the 21st century. It’s just a battle for power between Normal Bill and the press. There will simply be a tabloid led pitchfork campaign until Twit and Twat get sufficiently back in their box. Sigh. This is Britain for you. Our press is as much of a blockage to moving forward as the recalcitrant princeling is.
Plus with everything going on with Brexit and the EU in general there is no stomach at the moment to deal with any sort of crisis with the RF, so this bitchy back and forth with the tabloids and Daisy/Onslow will continue for the foreseeable future.
Re: Onslows sex scandal – while i think that they have the CCTV footage of him in the fire escape at a club tucked away, i don’t think thats what will bring him to heel. He’ll be brought to heel or taken out of succession by blabbling something he shouldn’t to the wrong person, in effect committing treason – u just know he has it in him to do it. That’s what scares me about him. He’s the type to sell access, just like Fergie.
B: Yep. That sex in the club video will ‘accidentally’ find its way into a foreign publication and the UK press will report on it whilst pretending otherwise. Like they did with Kate’s bare bottom shot from AUS/NZ.
I really don’t think he’ll ignite any kind of constitutional crisis, either by diplomatic problems or by removing himself from the succession. He’ll simply be made to look a fool, as Charles was with carbuncles and talking to plants and dreaming of tampons, and then he’ll shut the eff up and go about doing his duty, while we put up with his sulky face while he’s doing it.
I find it all tremendously depressing.
But yes. Next up: sex scandal. It couldn’t be otherwise.
I think they should run lots and lots and loads and loads of other young hardworking charismatic royals-from-other-nearby-nations stories, if the goal is to push these two into a working lifestyle of some sort.
Andy has had the latest scandal, and really, what came of it? Nothing.
Though I think seeing Anne box William’s years on the balcony at the Queen’s birthday bash would work, too.
You are always enlightening. It does seem to be unraveling fast and I can’t imagine it getting any worse but from what the three of you are saying, it will.
Liberty: nothing came/comes of Andy’s scandal because HM stepped in to stop it. Every single time the press tries to run it, BP steps in and before you know it, scandal is removed from the front pages, before disappearing entirely. The public remembers, but the papers do not mention it.
He is firmly protected by HM, and is untouchable until she dies.
I agree about Andrew. Totally protected by Lizzie. And with links to skulduggery way outside the BRF. His isn’t a closet that anyone in TPTB wants opening.
@LAK ….waiting for the movie someday, then! 🙂
@ Sixer, I’m in agreement with you on this. In many ways our British press is more of a threat to democracy than any figurehead monarchy. And if they do start taking up the slack as they should, how long will it be before they get accused of upstaging Chas and Cam?
I saw the headline to this article an immediately thought “another day, another hatchet job on the Cambridges”. They may have loads of faults, but not everything they do, say, wear, think, is wrong for 100% of the time.
Oh, don’t take any of what I said as a defence of the Cambridges, Spidey. You couldn’t be more off the mark. I just think the press should hold them to constitutional account and initiate mature discussions about the monarchy, instead of trivialising the Cambridge dereliction of duty by reducing them to celebrity tabloid scandal.
It’s ok Sixer, I didn’t. I was agreeing with you over the majority of our press being the pits. But my last paragraph actually related specifically to this site and not to the press in general.
I’ve no strong feelings either way about the monarchy, as long as it doesn’t start making the laws, but I fully respect and understand anyone’s republican views.
Gotcha.
I kinda understand the examination of clothes and relationships hereabouts. This is a gossip site, you know? So the people come and talk about gossipy things. And if you present yourself as an entitled celeb, as Chutney does, you’re going to get short shrift on a gossip site, and deservedly so. I sometimes think I bore everyone to death banging on about constitutional stuff all the time.
But our press? I mean, the point of the press is to hold power to account. But this isn’t their aim with the Cambridges. They just want Normal Bill to bow to them. And he wants them to bow to him. Neither side has the interests of the citizens of the UK at heart. That’s what cheeses me off.
I personally would much rather talk about more substantial things, spidey. I just don’t find much with these two other than I’m starting to think the monarchy will die with them.
That’s such an interesting analysis of the British dynamic – and I can see it as being true! Willy will eventually be forced to do something, probably when he’s older and really not appealing to the British people, way too late.
I do think that the monarchy might die a quiet death, compliments of the future complete and utter lack of interest in anything Bill and Kate.
I think the complaint is that she took a glam squad with her, and still came out dowdy and boring.
You know who never looks dowdy and boring? Cp Mary of Denmark. She’s simultaneously conservative and glamourous.
Actually, the most glamourous royal lady in my opinion is Sheikha Mozah of Qatar. A woman covered up from head to toe, yet is super glamourous and stylish. All other ladies pale in comparison standing next to her.
I agree LAK, a hairdresser makes sense, but why a stylist on site? We know all the outfits were bespoke or chosen for this trip and each event. We know they would be catalogued and her assistant could pull the pieces out. And totally agree, I love to see what Mary of Denmark wears (and does!), and click on every Daily Mail article about her.
I just thought the stylist, hairdresser, and personal assistant were along on the hike for the fun of it. You know, when you’re on vacation, you hike with your friends.
And even if Kate can’t emulate the aesthetic of Sheikha Moza or Queen Rania, she could just look a bit north to Mary/Victoria. Or south, to Letizia (who was always a sharp dresser even in her Princess of Asturias days – more or less equivalent to Kate’s place in the succession back then)
I love watching Sheika Mozah for the fashion. She is bold within a very conservative framework – but she is also high couture and contemporary high-jewellery (I salivate over a jewels), at a price that would give any taxpayer a fatal conniption fit. I don’t really know about the finances of the Qatar royals but her approach to fashion would never work in a constitutional European monarchy.
I love CP Mary’s fashion because her style is very close to my own taste. Furthermore, she has an excellent stylist that helps her to accessorize immaculately. Watching her style has really helped me to see the importance of proper accessorizing. The latter is a particular failing with Kate, she could easily lift a boring ensemble with proper or creative accessorizing. That would also allow her to repeat more outfits whilst accessorizing them differently.
I absolutely adore Queen Maxima. She has a bold and sometimes highly idiosyncratic approach to fashion. She has some true sartorial horrors in her wardrobe but it is glorious when she gets it right. She may oscillate between sartorial horror and perfection but she is never dull. Plus her genuine smiles and charisma always outshine her fashion. She’s so genuinely enthusiatic on the job that her fashion isn’t that important – even when she wear odd hats that look like bagels or her dress is wrinkled. No one can doubt that she cares and then the rest becomes seondary.
Victoria of Sweden has a good balance between professional, conservative, both mature & youthful while incorporating her own sense of style and perhaps even her own personality.
Problem is Kate doesn’t seem to have had a lot of opportunities to meet other people in a variety of situations which, in turn, would lend themselves/itself to those skills & attributes she lacks. Hence, her insecurities & deficits are on display in 3D.
William may suffer the same lack. However, his look like and surface as asshole like tendecies.
I agree about Maxima. When she gets it right no one can touch her.
But what’s more important is that she gets it. I would still admire how she goes about it if she wasn’t into fashion at all.
Same with Victoria of Sweden. She’s not a flashy dresser at all but more often than not she looks really nice and no one can argue that she doesn’t pull her weight.
I can hear the fans now . . . but Kate’s not in their position! She’s got time! I agree. She isn’t and she does. Which is why she should be practicing hard now.
When I went to the Cartier exhibit, a couple of the most beautiful tiaras were on loan from a museum in Qatar. I wondered if Sheika Mozah helped them select a few items to purchase.
Victoria does get it right a lot of the time. She has had a few big mistakes, like that shiny silver crop sweatshirt and ice skater skirt. Maxima? Most of the time I’m too busy seeing Maxima to see the clothes, but she has worn a few gorgeous simple day dresses lately.
I am so envious that you’ve seen the Cartier exhibit! I couldn’t afford to go. I did see a wonderful Cartier exhibit in London in 1997 but it had only a couple of art deco tiaras among all the other sparkling goodies.
NOTA, the Cartier exhibit in Denver? If so, I went to that one, too!! 🙂
Special trip for it. Very sparkly, wasn’t it vava?
I understand where you’re coming from but the problem is, they don’t give anyone anything else to talk about. And they WILL be talked about regardless of what they do. I thought the article on her feet was the most ridiculous and the meanest piece of “journalism” on her in a long time. But the press expects certain things from these two. To think that they’re only there to represent the UK is naive (I mean in general).
They’re young, they have a cute family, they are expected to fulfill their duty and entertain the public. Yes, it’s not their official duty but let’s face it, in this day and age, they need to at least be a little entertaining. And they’re paid handsomely for it. It’s their job and they’re terrible employees. Except they don’t see themselves owing anyone anthing apparently and are refusing to do more than the bare minimum. People are just tired and fed up with it. They brought this on themselves. I’ve said this on numerous W+K threads, there was SO much goodwill and excitement in 2010/2011. They squandered all of it spectacularly.
The UK and the rest of Europe are dealing with some serious sh*t, politically, financially etc. It’s depressing and I imagine the U.S. knows a thing or two about that. And then you have several monarchies whose existence seems entirely superfluous, based on ideas that are long dead. People who lead lives of crazy luxury because they hold titles. Yes, it’s fun to watch. But they need to work in order to justify their existence. The Swedish royals know it, the Spanish know it, the Dutch know it, etc. These two seem oblivious to that.
Yes indeed, also worth noting that the changes Queen Silvia introduced turned the public opinion on the Monarchy around.
“They can’t help it if they don’t have sparkling personalities.”
Didn’t William used to have one? When he was 21, he was considered to the bee’s knees. I don’t know what happened to that guy.
Kate really is boring. I’m not up in arms over her boringness, but, there really isn’t or wasn’t ever anything interesting about her. I think she wears the appropriate conservative clothes for her position, but I think more of the criticism probably has to do with the fact that she seems to lack the spark that even 90 year old Elizabeth brings to her senior wardrobe. Anyway, being called drab probably isn’t as terrible as being called the Duchess of Pork.
I thought the feet story was dumb, but even that didn’t seem as terrible as that story that came out about Fergie getting warts from Diana’s shoes.
I suspect Kate probably appeals to people who never sat through the Diana era, but I’m assuming most of the journalists covering her did, and if that’s the case, I think it makes sense that she would bore them to tears in terms of her style (I’m not sure there’s anything else to say about her though since she doesn’t do any work).
Perplexed, that is what I am guessing, the Kate fans weren’t around for Diana and don’t have her to compare to, or to Charles and Anne. They fall very short on their commitment to a cause or wow us. Its like a disappointing double whammy.
Very well said. She’s now been given some warnings and if she doesn’t change, some of those nastier nicknames are just around the corner.
William was young and cute and looked like his mother. He was the most eligible bachelor in the world, I think we were all fooled by the idea that he was supposed to be so much like his late mother. Who, at that time, had only been dead a few years.
I agree. Younger people I know were looking at coverage of the India trip and saying things about Kate like, “Don’t you just love her? She’s so cute” etc. etc.
You know what? This just hit me. It’s not about the lack of sparkle, per se, but the lack of curiousity and interest they show about the world and the people they encounter when out on events. William comes across as totally insular and Kate is only interested in him and his interests, which translates to her only being interested in William.
Anne, bless her heart, is one dowdy frump but she conveys interest and curiosity. Charles does that. Harry does that. The Queen does that. I don’t know about Philip. You may hear people talk about Anne’s clothing but with her one walk’s away with a sense of awe because she can still fit into 20 & 30 year old outfits. (Hell, my weights fluctuates almost daily😄). With Charles, we admire his tailor and his snazzy little pieces. With Harry, we ask why his suits don’t look a bit better. The Queen is holding it down for the octogenarian set. But all of that gets lost in translation because of the interest they show in the people and places behind the plaques and the factories and the schools and the charities. William & Kate, not so much. As a matter of fact, their apathy and disdain shines through.
I don’t think travelling with a hairdresser would bar one from being boring or dowdy, particularly if this hairdresser is styling your hair in the same way all the time (which Kate would be a perfect example in this case). I think that’s where a lot of fashion watchers find her boring. Kate has a style that she likes and she sticks to it. It’s a very classic style, but sometimes she does wear pieces that could also look appropriate on her mother, Carole. I think an update to hair and accessories would do her some good, but if that’s not her thing, then so be it.
RE:”They can’t help it if they don’t have sparkling personalities.” >>> So true, but this will probably always be a complaint unless they become interesting. When one was is out being “the face” of an entity (BRF, corporation, organization, government, etc), people typically expect dynamic personalities (Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Steve Jobs, Queen Maxima, President Obama—boy what a list, haha). This can certainly change from culture to culture; however, when you reach a certain level, people take interest in you, and I think the byproduct of this is an expectation that you’re actually interesting.
Also, I don’t think Will and Kate were doing themselves any favors by micro-managing so much that there’s little room for spontaneity and actually revealing one’s personality. They also were constantly requesting privacy, which is probably the oddest thing they could have done with this tour. Will has continually shown that if he wants a monarchy his way, which consequently, just seems like wanting to be a low-key, wealthy aristocrat with all the perks and nothing else.
Did anyone read the Telegraph article “20 years on tour” (or something like it) ? Not unusual to travel with a large entourage (including hairdresser), have every moment scripted, spending no more than 40 min at each stop.
W&K didn’t commit a crime, you know. They were just on a state visit. Unfortunately, they did very little public speaking, managed to tick off the press, and once again mis-managed their PR. They really need to learn how to engage with people. Kate is like a statue.
Perhaps state visits have just become too expensive. It seems that most royal families are traveling on state visits frequently though.
I think to some extent people can wind up being more interesting if they work on themselves. I don’t think these two do though. Nor do I think they care.
If Kate was better at interviews, speaking to the press with confidence, and giving speeches successfully, there would be a complete change in how she is viewed. She hasn’t grown in this regard over the last 5 years – in fact, she’s regressed.
Agree, but I would venture that even if Kate was inclined to do so, with William in the picture, she will never be doing any of these things. Given his well-known hostility toward the press and his royal role, he isn’t going to have a wife who is vocal and comfortable speaking candidly with the press and public.
I can’t disagree with you on that, Tourmaline.
Kate was quoted as saying some really stupid things to people on this trip. It’s just now hitting the press. I can’t help but believe that William did too, but they are focusing on Kate.
But here is the thing . . . how easy would it be to say (even lie) something similar to this . . . as much as we are enjoying meeting XYZ and traveling throughout India and Bhutan, despite the brevity of the events, I’d have to say that meeting the kids at blah, blah . . . and talking with them, playing with them and learning about their lives has been the most exciting yet humbling part of my/our trip.
If I were Jason, I’d quit. Who’d hire him after watching this disaster play out in full . . . day after day. In my mind, it’s the Dull & Giggly Show. He’s dull and she’s manic and giggly.
I don’t think Jason can quit when they’re at this low point. If the tour had been a great success, he could have walked out on the PR high. Right now, he looks like an epic fail as a PR person. That won’t get him a big new job anywhere.
Vava, I think William telling a Bollywood actor that he had never seen a Bollywood movie took the cake on this tour!! I mean, how insulting and how self-involved that sounds! He was headed to India, he couldn’t take out 2 hours to watch a movie made with the people he was going to meet?
That is what people mean when they say these two just don’t care. No interest in anything but themselves and their creature comforts, that’s what I see.
Her hair in the humidity got lots of praise, GNAT, so the hairdresser wasn’t the issue.
I’m with everyone else; if they had more substance there would not be the focus on their appearance. It’s not like Anne’s a snappy dresser, but she’s the workhorse of the family and no one says two words about what she wears (other that to roll their eyes sometimes), but they don’t care. Because Anne gets out there. You never hear anything about what Camilla wears either, because she gives the press what they want — a good shot and a couple of quotes. But William and Kate do neither. And have deliberately antagonized the British press by going around them to either social media or a US outlet. I hope they aren’t surprised at the response because I think we all could have predicted it.
Yes, now that’s what a lot of this is about–they’ve antagonized the press and the press is going to fight back–hard.
This is the very same as in USA, Sixer. To think that a business man who had access to prime television, as the penultimate reality star – and is now embedded in our elections as the President of the US??? Does anyone realize how deeply involved the tabloids are, in our elections – or call it, the owners of the tabloids? The simple toff between the Duke of Cambridge and their PR points out this problem, very effectively. Duke is a dum-dum, obviously (and his real problem is with his father and mother, and how could we blame him?). The powers that be will keep him there, And themselves, by extension, It’s gross.
This money is inhuman – to all parties, high and low.
It is gross, wolfie. I’m sure I come off as a sanctimonious old boot half the time, but this stuff does matter.
“sanctimonious old boot”
I’m going to steal that one.
Carole Malone’s points are lost because the tone is so nasty. Sounds like a rant a grouchy kid would write after their bff dissed them on social media.
Maybe her tone is not for everybody’s taste but she hit the nail on the head!
Her op-ed is the best. She has called them out on it and hopefully this is the beginning of these two’s idiotic attitude and entitlement.
The thing is, they are not the only royals in this world. By saying that I mean that the society has something, i. e. someone else to compare the Cambridgies with. And this is where they epically fail. Will´s mother was known as a hard – working royal, standing behind the charities nd topics which were not often and publicly discussed at that time, some of the charities even had political backgrounds, like land mines in Africa for instance. Will´s grandma is a hard working royal as well as his grandfather, father, aunts and various relatives from the royal family. We have other royals from other countries who work their butts off to prove their privileged style of life. And then we have Cambridgies, who demand privacy 24/7 even while being on an official royal tour, have a no – fly – zone around their various houses, and I am not even talking about the time they are in GB. Cambridgies who only lift their butts and go out to “work” if the engagement is a gala or a sports event. Yes, Kate does try to rise the awareness concerning the children’s mental health but even that is done by her in a more glamorous manner than actually working and caring. There is no transparency, truth, openness about them. It is all about control, it is all about them, about mommy, about being praised just for them being there.
I met a man who told me that Diana taking on land mines was quite controversial because after all, who makes land mines? It was a huge source of revenue for GB, Russia, US, France to sell these items to Cambodia and Bosnia and Egypt.
I would like to see the Cambridges take on a similarly controversial cause I guess.
I don’t believe they are about anything. That is how they have come across all these years. It will be hard to shift that perception.
Even if they wanted to (which I doubt), they can’t now. Diana took on landmines after her divorce when she was no longer an official member of the royal family.
I lived through the Diana years. There was a furore when she took on landmines. She was publicly called a loose cannon and an airhead in parliament over it. She was accused of being a political airhead who would cause irreprable damage. It was not a popular cause to champion. Quite the opposite.
If she had lived, it would have been worse, but she died and suddenly sanctified and everything she left unresolved was resolved since in death she seemed to have entire public on her side against the establishment, including the Queen. Landmines were banned to honour her taking up that cause or it was spun that way to the public to reverse some of that public anger, which was a better legacy than a statue or poxy water feature in hyde park.
Diana was fierce. “In death she seemed to have the entire public on her side against the establishment” – and that seems to be public opinion, many years hence, even if her son does not recognize her true cause…certainly her activism wasn’t so Will could be an aristocrat without a worry in the world).
Well, it is good to hear that someone, anyone other than my fellow CS are critical of Workshy Will and duchess Dolittle. The few peeks I took at the DM were positively gushing, and so were the comments, ranging from “she doesn’t pay for clothes, the designers lend them to her or she gets them for free” to other inanities like “she pays for clothes herself” ( from what income, I don’t know).
The reality is that unless you are a true blue Monarchist it is impossible to miss the fact that these two are a waste of breath. The only discussion around this tour was about her fashion, or lack thereof, because they have zero substance.
I am still unclear on what the tour was about, and what it actually accomplished other than photo ops.
I am curious what everything cost, not just her clothes, since she traveled with a stylist, a hairdresser and a PA (and still looked… boring and gauche), not to mention security, private jets, his entourage, accommodations, etc. Their adoring legions were trying to promote the idea that the host nation,having invited them, were responsible for some of these costs. I don’t know how the arrangements for these visits are made, but I doubt India offered to cover the cost of their little luxurious jaunt.
I won’t even mention the lack of intelligent quotes, the awkward crutch clutching poses, the flying skirts, the tight pants, the hair fiddling, his morose mug etc. topped by that “loved up” photo op at the Taj, where the best these “keen” and involved visitors could come up with was “it’s romantic”.
Truly pathetic. I never gave a fig for monarchy,but now I am absolutely a Republican. These people should never see a throne, unless it is in a museum.
You thought the photo op at the Taj Mahal was ‘loved up’???? I’m really curious why? I guess I missed something!
I didn’t, the DM and the commenters there did, hence the “…”. I never see them “loved up”. A man who leaves his family on Easter to fly out to the wedding of an ex, who walks ahead of his wife while she trots after him, who lets her walk down from the airplane in high heels with a baby in her arms without the decency to hold her arm or at least be by her side, not in front…. He will never look like a loving, doting husband to me. I keep being flabbergasted that anyone looking at their pics can believe they are happily in love.😜
Vauvert, I’m with you now. I obviously hadn’t had enough coffee when I commented. 🙂
This is why Poor Jason needs to make an exit and why the press is suddenly all up in arms – they’re trying to shame these two mediocre royals into their place re: performing their duty to Sovereign and Country.
I actually feel sorry for Jason. If I were in his impossible position I would have quit long ago, or developed an ulcer. We really don’t know what kind of advice he gives those two airheads, because according to what we hear in the press, Will doesn’t listen to anyone. What is the point if even having a press secretary if you continue to go off making bad choices, being snarky with the press, being clueless about how to do your job (or not caring enough to do it)?
Carol Malone was just plain mean. That kind of criticism can have the opposite effect.
Photos of the kids released in 3….2….1
They are coming in the evening or tomorrow, for sure. KP even announced a big surprise soon.
I bet my months salary its a pregnancy announcement!!!!
I think at this point not even a pregnancy can save them from the bad press.
wasn’t there a photo shoot a few weeks ago for the Queen’s 90th bday? Pics of the royal spawn will make everyone forget this recent vacation…oops, I mean royal tour.
Never mind . . . Betti just said one of them below!
Last min organised ‘surprises’ are:
1) Harry and Onslow to visit Star Wars set tomorrow
2) Daisy and Onslow having dinner with the Obama’s on Friday- Am shipping Harry and Michele flirting all over the place. haha
I hope we get pictures, Betti. FLOTUS and Harry are great together.
@Bluehare – I know, i totally ship them. Maybe she’ll run off with our Haz into the distance and be our new ‘Princess’. Sorry Americans but this Brit wants to steal your FLOTUS and pair her up with a certain Ginger Princeling 😉
Running off with the President’s wife is even better than running off with the vicar’s wife! 😀
Apologies in advance.
Betti no you cannot have Michelle. Your Canadian counterparts already saddled us with Ted Cruz and the other Justin i.e. not the good one. bluhare-stop giving them i.e. The Brits any ideas.
Ohhhh I’m hoping for pics of them too, those last year (don’t remember the event, IG launch maybe?) are the cutest thing ever.
So I guess the “surprise” is that WK will be working twice this week? How ridiculous is KP’s social media management? These aren’t surprises, WK and Harry are only doing their job, as they are supposed to.
I hope MO stays on as an ambassador for Invictus, and maybe ambassador for Sentebale too.
Most likely. KP already announced via Twitter that they have a few “surprises” coming.
They did? Oo surprises are either love-y pics from India (behind the scenes, in their “private” moments), or pictures of the kids.
Nope – a visit to the star wars set in Pinewood, led by big Willy in his capacity as President of BAFTA. Thou its just him and Harry – again when all else fails jump little brothers coattails.
I’m betting it’s the kids’ pics. Isn’t Charlotte’s birthday at the beginning of May?
I agree with you, Cleveland girl. But I think that that boring/unqualified image, while probably genuine, is very manufactured as well and manipulated to send the press a message: “Nothing to see here, press. Move along.” It would work if they were Hollywood stars, but they’re not. They are publicly funded royals: the press is part and parcel. I do think it’s sad, how much he hates his job and blames the press for hounding his mom to death, but he CAN quit: just ask his great uncle. I don’t think he has the cojones to do it. He can’t live with it, he can’t live without it. I think this is all just building up, slowly, to a standoff. The media will call for an abdication, maybe not this decade but at some point. The public will be slower to turn on them: Kate’s outfits sell out in five minutes, so obviously the public doesn’t think she’s dowdy and a good-for-nothing fashion industry rep.
Interesting. Obviously I am from Cleveland, Ohio and never really followed the Royals…so I am ignorant as to what the British public expects from them. I just feel that they are completely ganged up on, and I did not understand why.
“The public will be slower to turn on them: Kate’s outfits sell out in five minutes, so obviously the public doesn’t think she’s dowdy and a good-for-nothing fashion industry rep.”
I think this is a myth that has been perpetuated by the press. So on some level, the criticism of them isn’t constant.
Maybe their work shy attitude is perpetuated by the press as well.
The press actually covers their work events though. We know when they’re working because the press is required to report on it, and William’s PR person will make sure to let us know. Even giving birth is counted as a work event for Kate in the registry (someone a while back pointed this out here). I think the public has simply figured out that these two don’t work much.
The press is more likely to kiss up to them than the comments section on various news sites. The public knew these two were work shy three years ago. It’s only now that the press is criticizing them a bit, and that’s probably because they can’t cover this deficiency up any longer. I think they tried covering up William’s laziness by claiming that Harry has less work events logged into the registry, but that didn’t work because we see him out and about doing stuff with the Invictus Games and showing great warmth to cute babies in foreign lands.
I have said this before, but I truly believe that William sees himself as some sort of PR genius. Everybody else can see he isn’t, except him and his “team”. They keep screaming privacy, but the only reason his private life is being questioned is because he and Kate refuse to do what is expected of them. If they worked with the press (like every other Royal Family) instead of against them, then many of his so called problems would disappear.
I don’t know. He just seems like a complete obstructionist to me. And behind his actions is always that attitude of “I can do as I please, I’ll be the king some day.”
Yes, Workshy Willy seems like the Rebel Without a Clue, and variation of Marlon Brando’s Johnny in “The Wild Ones”:
Question: Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?
Johnny: Whaddya got?
Willy seems like a born aginner. I doubt that will ever change, so someone has to finesse his aginning nature into doing the right thing. Seems like Diana was good at it.
William hates what happened to his mother. That’s easy. The Middleton’s, of whom I would call Carole a Dia aFgan, stokes the fires…William is just a Will Not – and caught twixt the middle of them all. What else could he think of, possibly?
I wanted also to add that the thing people really respect about the Queen is her absolute belief that her role is her duty. Her dedication to the position and the seriousness with which she views the work are endearing and awe inspiring. By contrast, William looks like an ungrateful imp. He seems to have absolutely none of the feeling about dedication that his grandmother has. He clearly views it as a burden which robs him of normalcy, rather than understanding that a life dedicated to serving is infinitely more rewarding than one spent vacationing and sponging off the people.
When one is born into lots of money, it doesn’t stop the drive for justice. The drive for justice is universal, and will prevail in our evolutionary struggle. We are all monkeys (ego) on the back of our drives and instincts (the elephant in the room). I am not saying that William should forgive his father, that is for him to figure out – but Elizabeth kept the crown by never explaining, and never complaining. William drags his feet everywhere, and why shouldn’t that be enough for the English people to decide that this job is inhumane!
Of course, they entitle these people to such a degree, and for such a long period of time, that it would almost be a drop in status for the English State, to ditch their King/Queen. Unfortunately, their drive to shame the world with their greatness, has hurt everyone!
She (and her stylist) needs to understand that clothes are a powerful tool for a woman to use in her position. Yes, it’s superficial, but if done well…it can make a big statement. She should be taking her cues from Michelle Obama or former French first lady, Carla Bruni.
Actually, this whole situation is extremely embarrassing for everybody.
I really wish they tore William apart, not Kate.
I think she takes her cues from him, or there is hell to pay in private.
I truly believe this is a “be careful what you wish for ” situation .
I tend to agree with you Kay.
Yep, because he’s the real problem. It is so obvious that he loathes his public role and he comes off as entitled and arrogant as well as rude. The lack of preparation he revealed on this tour was embarassing.
Yes, I agree Kay. She defers to him A LOT and it makes me sad.
I wish they would rip Willy a new one but as he’s still the heir heir they can’t really so they go for the easier target which is sad. Its sad on many levels but they have to realise that they won’t get to him through her – the only way to get to him is a direct take down.
She totally takes her cue from him – u see her looking at him whenever they are at engagements together. She is different when she’s on her own but still closed off.
The bulk of the critique should fall on William. He is the problem. If he was dedicated to his inherited role, and wanted his wife to show similar dedication, it would happen. He would also dissuade her from faking that phoney accent and encourage her to work on her public speaking skills. The fact that she can barely put a sentence together these days is humiliating for her, embarrassing for the public to watch, and I think it’s because William (and possibly her mother) have not encouraged her to work on this. William and Kate have both changed so much in their public persona in the last couple of years. There is really no one to blame, but themselves. William because he is so obnoxious, and Kate because she is spineless.
I disagree that they have changed – they’ve always been like this but the press choose to paint them as something different. The issue is that in the past few years the press have stopped playing their game and is not behaving like sugars and covering up for them. They’ve stopped photoshopping her for a start.
Betti, it seemed to me that around the engagement, both Will and Kate were more friendly with the press, more at ease. But, you’re no doubt correct that it’s mostly the change in the way they are being portrayed in the press these days.
Agree. So many have said, oh she chased him for ten years, she knew the drill. I baby sat for a decade, but becoming a parent is totally different ball of wax. Same thing. And I am guessing that she is an emotionally abused wife; I just don’t fault her for not stepping up when I think it comes from a place of self preservation.
YES. He’s the one who should be pushing for them to fulfill their responsibilities. She’s learned from ten years of chasing him to defer to him, so that’s what she does. I sincerely doubt she’s the one spearheading their lazy ways.
As a member of the commonwealth, India had to fork out a lot of money to host those two and their entourage. As a Canadian, we too have to pay out of our taxes for tours the BRF make here. I have said this before but I really resent having to pay for these sloths to come here and basically have a vacation paid for by the unwashed masses they clearly don’t care for. Kate wanted nothing more than to clamber into the social stratosphere by marrying William, even though he’s matured into a grumpy and arrogant dilettante. Neither of them show more than a cursory interest in working or serving the public that pays for their lavish lifestyle. Let them keep on doing what they’re doing – i.e. making a feeble effort at best – and they will be the beginning of the end of the monarchy as we know it.
I wonder if Katie’s here today. If she is, she’ll get on you for maligning sloths everywhere. They are very successful in their ecological niche!
And baby sloths are the cutest things EVER!
Ha! Bluhare, I had no idea Sloths were so accomplished. Thanks for setting the record straight.
I am! Please stop with the sloth slandering!! 😉 And @jaded…yes, sloth babes ARE adorable!)
Sloths are sweet – did anyone watch the PBS Nature special about them several months ago? Kate’s special, and William special, and Charles and Camilla and Diana are special. Elephants in the room are special – I’m sick of special!!!
First off: Honk for Harry!
How bad does it have to get for Granny, Gramps, or Dad to put the Royal foot down and let Will have it? She has no discernible self worth or image outside of him and perhaps the kids, so she might as well be an actual cardboard cut out. Maybe they have already tried to light a fire under him and his narcissistic self just put his fingers in his ears and stomped off. How far off can rock bottom be?
Also, I’m starting a personal countdown to Baby #3.
ha ha yes! Honking for Harry 😀
I don’t get the fuss about her fashion for example if you go too much into her shoes, hair, earrings, jeggings, value of clothes, repetition, stockings etc. I think overall she looks fine most of the time. The only time I roll my eyes is when she keeps flashing or when her hair is obviously umkempt. The crotch clutching is funny though because I don’t see it with other royal ladies.
The only fuss I agree with is she and William are still woefully unprepared for work and that they don’t give as much as they take.
May-be they just don’t know where to put their hands, to their sides I guess!!!
I agree with you. Her clothes are fine most of the time. I don’t care if she wears nude shoes until Judgment Day, as long as her hair is up so she doesn’t play with it all day, her skirts are down and not showing her undergarments or lack thereof, and they are doing work that they actually prepared for. All of which are, sadly, lacking.
The Marketing Division reports that Mr Wallering’s trip to AgraFest 2016 was a “big super success” and that they will explain why later, “but cannot get to it right now, as Mr Wallering is on a much-needed prescheduled vacation.”
Says marketing assistant Cath M., “Well the whole team thinks it was just the most super time apart from the worky worky bits, don’t we? Not a boring moment, was there? The whole lot of us ‘ad all the curries a girl could ask for and bangles too, and lucky Tashie got the best chest area tan in her bikini top during our walks with those monk men. I got me hair sun-lightened naturally in an exotic locale, which was why I begged to go as Mr Wallering’s assistant, though I still don’t see why everyone who lives there seems to have such dark hair? And Mr Wallering ain’t totally a stick, he told the funniest jokes the entire time too, like using his international aplomb der plume which he has loads of though you ain’t going to notice it like daily, but he has a load of diplomatic impecunity, telling jokes like how many monks does it take to tear down a scaffolding for a nice picture which I think the answer was, my mother could do it, but that was when I had me back turned to buy some lovely lucky charm elephants, and then heard the screamin’ and I see he got in a right fisticuffs with some stiff sort of yob from the Indian castle or some such. Poor Mr Wallering! He got his eye punched, didn’t he? That’s twice on one business trip! That trail pony, you know, caught Mr Wallering right in the front packet, didn’t he just, when a monk accidentally pushed the pony right at Mr Wallering near a cliff! You can see him still sweatin’ from the agony in our team hike photos if you look, and he was already in a state from trouser chafing as we can reveal per the memo he left! Well, it ain’t easy being a top widget business bloke like our poor Mr Wallering. He’s truly earned his month off again, so he can come up with some more super fun ideas for the company!”
Oi, Mrs Malaprop! I want an international aplomb der plume. Can you buy them, like crests and signet rings?
@Sixer — durr, I’ll check with Marketing, wot! We did put a coupon offer in select Duchy biscuit packets, I believe!
Gotta say Liberty, I’m going out for some Duchy biscuits now. I want aplomb de plume too!
Thankee!
Cath’s word salad! Impecunity! LOL!
Lol. Cath’s brand of super articulation.
“Diplomatic impecunity”. Ain’t that the truth about these two scroungers.
OH my god, Liberty! You have me crying much-needed tears of laughter 😂😂
Question for anyone who may have some inside info, Harry works with the same people at KP as W/K and he hates the press as much as Will does. His Nepal tour was a major success, press didnt have these kinds of complaints with him. Is the only difference the personalities of the brothers? Would Harry’s tours be different if he had a wife?
I don’t know that Harry does hate the press as much as William. It would seem that, even if he does, he knows the necessity of it. He seems to understand the entire point of it. For example, it’s lovely of him to be the way he is – very “of the people” on his trips. But if press wasn’t given wide ranging access, the plight of these people would not be highlighted.
I honestly see Harry in a kind of Angelia Jolie role – he seems to genuinely have a heart for the work he does, and understands that by allowing it to be filmed, more relief can come to those people.
I think Harry’s success probably comes down to doing actual work on the ground. It seems he doesn’t merely show up for photo-ops. I was shocked when I realized that the Invictus Games was actually “invented” by him.
“Would Harry’s tours be different if he had a wife?”
If he married a lady like Sarah Ferguson, I think the press would definitely be cruel to her. But I think Fergie was a little unusual in her fashion mis-steps — Kate never wore stuff that terrible, but to be fair, I doubt Fergie’s clothing allowing allowance was ever as large as Kate’s since Andrew was further down the line in rank.
In Kate’s case, she married the heir to the throne. So I actually think the press would be much kinder to her in theory. And they were when she first married. But she and William have blown the good-will that was exhibited towards them when they had their wedding in 2011 and now no one (i.e the public?) really cares if she gets criticized. All they had to was build on that good-will (i.e show up and do the bare minimum), but they’re laziness must be so bad maybe the press doesn’t feel like giving them the positive press Harry gets
I also think Diana did weather criticism. She was criticized for her stance on the land-mine issue — it’s only in later years after her death when she was proven correct that the press coverage for her work on land mines turned positive. But you can see old coverage on Youtube where she’s criticized by a journalist to her face for her political position and she looks somewhat irritated and sighs. It’s not like Diana and Charles went through periods of constant glowing press, so I don’t necessarily think the criticism Kate and Wills might be facing to be unusual. Charles was even made fun of for talking to plants. So maybe that’s why the criticism of Kate and Wills doesn’t appear that terrible to me.
If William is proven years later to have been correct for being so lazy, history will laud him. But he probably has to wait out the temporary criticism for history to judge him the way he’d like. (Yeah, I know, history won’t laud him for his laziness. I guess my point is that Charles and Diana were criticized on substantive issues, but since they turned out to be right on those social issues, it’s not like the criticism could linger on).
Personality of the brothers, and Harry has always been co-operative when called to work, always willing to work with the teams of people involved, and makes a point of charming the press, local and British alike whilst on tour.
William was always unco-operative even as a child, and it’s worse in adulthood.
He always thought he knew what was best, and no one called him on it or made him face consequences when it blew up. Including BOTH his parents.
To extent that when he was asked directly about criticism of his work ethic last month, his response amounted to haters gonna hate whereas Harry’s response to his negative behaviour is that he must do better next time.
William always thinks he is right, and he makes a point of not following his advisors’ wisdom. Brags about it in several interviews. Yet has the depth of a puddle and apparently doesn’t learn from his mistakes. He can always blame his flunkies.
These are good points.
The Army was also very good for Harry. He was treated as close to normal as possible, and he was by all accounts an excellent officer, respected as “one of the lads.” No one has ever, ever said such a thing about William’s military service.
I remember reading an article not too long ago where someone said the army was the making of Harry. Looking at what he’s involved with now, I bet it was.
So if it had been possible for Will to serve in a war zone, or if he hadn’t done shortened, specialised courses in all the branches of the army, he wouldn’t be such a knob? Or was he just born that way?
Cue Lady Gaga . . . . .
The article I read said that the army focused Harry, and that he thrived in the environment and it matured him. So more that he had the stuff, but needed something to put reins on it.
I think he was always a knob because even within the specialised short causes, he managed to pull rank and do his own thing rather than buckle down. And the military services let him pull rank eg he was on a specialist flying course where the instructors told everyone who signed up to put their holiday plans on nice for the duration of the course, yet William bunked off and went skiing for a fortnight during the course. He was the only one who did.
What do you do with someone like that? Who will do whatever he wants no matter the rules?
Perhaps if someone had told him no. Somewhere in his life, he wouldn’t be such a knob.
I love you describing him as a knob. Makes me laugh. 🙂
k n o b
oh, bluhare, I am with you in my adoration of this word as a descriptor for this lovely fellow! Heaven. Knob for Billy! Honk for Harry! LAK, you have made my day.
And in case our American friends don’t know, a fortnight is TWO WEEKS.
@Canadian Becks I know the term from my Jane Austen reading requirement in High School. There is nothing more giggle inducing as when the Regency romance lovers try to sprinkle it into everyday conversation. Especially effective with a thick Long Island accent.
Ha! And I will take your fortnight and downgrade it to a sennight!
And, Liberty, knob always makes me think of Love Actually and the geeky guy who goes to America to meet hot chicks with his British accent. 🙂
bluhare — ha yes! Awww! he was such a stunned-happy knob once he got to, was it Milwaukee, right? And by the way one of the three girls he meets was January Jones, Betty of Mad Men!
A lot of the press followed Diana’s fashions. So that part of the royal coverage isn’t really weird to me. I remember seeing a whole documentary just on Diana’s outfits and sense of style, and the commentators talked about what looked good and what didn’t on her. Maybe it’s up on Youtube somewhere. The only thing is that Diana wore her outfits, some of which were a bit odd-looking like Kate’s, much better. If William wants a comparison between Diana and Kate, of course Kate will fail. Geez, we’d all fail. That lady was nearly 6 foot tall and had the physical structure, even when she was anorexic, to wear even the weirdest looking ’80s outfits. Even her face was able to pull off that short pouffy ‘do that looked okay on her, but terrible on every news anchor who copied her. The easiest way to get the press off Kate’s back for looking drab is for William to stop trying to invoke a comparison between his mom and his wife. Some of this is his own doing.
I completely agree!
This comparing the two of them is devastating for Kate,
and it´s not fair really!
People also forget, because of the cult of Diana after her death, that she got a lot of bad press when she was alive. A lot. It wasn’t on the internet so you can’t google it, but I remember. Kate is not the first and won’t be the last to be slagged in the papers.
True. I read in one of those Diana books that she was criticized for her expensive wardrobe and she countered “The clothes are for the job.”
Dynasty Di!!
I remember that too. She got brutalized.
I remember her being attacked for wearing her hair up at the opening of Parliament. The press wars, and the press wars with Diana vs. Fergie? Yes, they were on the receiving end of loads of criticism.
I think Diana and Fergie were also criticized for having some fun before Andrew’s bachelor party (stuff that would be considered benign for regular people), and for giggling and acting girlish at Ascot. This was mentioned in one of those biographies.
That’s why I’m always a little surprised that no one cares that much that Kate Middleton’s dress flies up or she gets caught sunbathing topless. Yeah, sure, compared to the Kardashians, Kate is prim and proper (although who isn’t compared to them?), but the rules, even from the press, for Diana seemed much stricter (i.e the press trying to figure out if Diana was really indeed a virgin, even after it had been confirmed by her family or whoever else that she was).
Everyone criticizes the royal family for requiring that Diana be a virgin, but according to the biographies, it seems like the press took just as much of a strong interest in that issue (wasn’t there some blonde lady who was caught on a train with Charles, and then Diana’s family had to issue a denial or something even though Diana may have actually been engaged to him, and to this day no one is really sure whether it was Camilla or Diana on that train? Tina Brown’s book introduces her theory on the matter. Even in death, the press is trying to figure out whether Diana really was a virgin).
And giving her his mother’s engagement ring was an epic fail IMHO
There’s no sincerity in what these two do. It’s all superficial, like they are playing at being royal.
I feel as though this is at the base of why the media has turned on them. They don’t come across as sincere or likable at all. It’s all staged, it’s all fake, fake, fake. Granted, being in the public eye means that you do have to put on a certain persona, but it seems as though neither of them have figured out how to come across as genuine, gracious and friendly. To me, William always seems like he’s bored, irritated or sniggering at something, and Kate always seems like she’s trying desperately to either keep her skirt down or to get William’s attention. Her attempts at humor (like when she “teases” him at sporting events) seem vaguely underhanded, as though she’s poking at him because it’s the only thing she can hold over his head in their relationship – she’s athletic and he’s not really.
Diana, although she was attacked mercilessly in the media at times, at least came across as human. She showed vulnerability and a sense of humor. She seemed to care about people. She had the ability to laugh at herself and did so in public. She played with her children openly, worked quite a lot and supported various charities. In addition, I seem to remember that when she and Charles were first married, she was quite dowdy and extremely shy. Over time, it seemed as though she got help with how to present herself and she mastered it. Overall, Diana seemed very likable, whereas W&K do not at all.
Diana talked. People got to know her. Katie doesn’t talk very often, and when she does, she first looks at William to make sure she can talk, and then she speaks haltingly, continually looking at Willy for confirmation that she hasn’t said something wrong.
I’m amazed that people on other sites think there is some love story here. She seems to love him, but he comes across as a bully and, like someone said above, emotionally abusive to her. Does anyone here think that she ever gets his approval?????
After the Diana Years, I think boring and dutiful are just what the Windsors needed and wanted. Her taste in clothes could be sharper, and she needs to do more work than she has shown herself inclined to do prior to the criticism this year, but beyond that, this tour was modern royals doing what they’re hugely overpaid to do, the way they’re paid to do it. They are both, in the final analysis, spectacularly ordinary people in spectacularly unordinary circumstances. End of.
Well, then, the Windsors need to reflect on being careful in what they wished for, because this entitled couple might bring the end of the monarchy they all work so hard to preserve.
IMHO, Diana was a very special woman and definitely a rarity among royals. She was/is beloved in a way I don’t think any other royal has been. People shouldn’t expect Kate to be another Diana.
Exactly!
They are the ones creating this comparison every chance they get. The whole thing could have been dealt with years ago but they constantly fan the flames. It is their fault that it continues.
I think people do not, until WK do things that invite the comparison.
If the comparison works in their favour, they are smug and happy, if it falls flat, they cry invasion of privacy and call for all sorts of measures to be taken.
The Taj Mahal photo op was one such event. They sent out press releases invoking Diana prior to the tour, and invited the public to witness their new memories vis a vis Diana and this site. The eventual photo call fell flat, the media and public made the comparison, WK didn’t come out smelling roses so now the public and media are in the wrong for making the compeventu. I’m only surprised they didn’t turn around and accuse everyone of invading their privacy.
There are pics on TMZ today of William crying at TM. They look sorta candid, as he has his back mostly to the camera and wiping tears from his eyes and face. Those look genuine, compared to the others taken there. Sorta’ makes one feel a little sorry for him.
I feel sorry for him too, if he was crying. I just saw the photos; hard to tell, he’s a pretty buttoned up guy.
He looks to have been overcome with heat.
*If he was emotional, Kate wasn’t reacting to it.
*this is what i mean by prurient interest. They shouldn’t have invited us in. I want to know what is going on with that photo and why Kate isn’t reacting to his discomfort even though it’s none of my business.
Looks like he was wiping away sweat to me.
It was reported that it was about 109 F on that day and that they didn’t do the photo op in the early morning or evening when it would have been cooler.
So no doubt it was sweat that was pouring down his face into his eyes and stinging them. Not tears of sadness. One would think that if he was sad, he would have at least held Kate’s hands for some comfort. Instead, he couldn’t even bring himself to touch her at this monument of love for what Kate said was the place to go to celebrate their 5th anniversary.
All I have to say is: MOAR Harry!!!
I take a major issue with W&K’s ridiculously work-shy ways and contentious media relationship (which – the latter – could have been avoided by more photos and coverage from more work appearances), but even I have grown tired of the increasing vitriol with which the media has been covering this tour.
Read any given article and it’s clear that right now, W&K are damned if they do, damned if they dont, where the tour is concerned, particularly Kate. If she wasn’t “drab and prim” (um, have you seen other royals on tour? there were so many prints and colors by comparison!), it would have been deemed too revealing and inappropriate. Too avant-garde = too much focus on the clothes and not her role, thus distracting. She clearly has her own style, and if she chucked it to please the public (which cant make up its mind), we would be calling her fake.
The clothes budget debate REALLY irritates me. She buys locally-crafted earrings, and it’s met with mockery (“So thrifty, our Kate.”) – why is it unfathomable that she just might have loved something for $10? And they went PERFECTLY with that dress. Yes she spent a lot of money on the clothes for the tour – but she will reuse these pieces, she reused pieced she had, had she NOT acquired spiffy new threads, she would have been blamed for not caring enough to make an impression and not respecting her hosts, and when she DID wear reasonably priced pieces, it was also presented as her trying to fool us into thinking she is thrifty and average.
Princess Victoria wears just as much Elie Saab as H&M, and she gets criticized neither for blowing the taxpayer cash, nor for faking her low-key ways. Most of her day and tour outfits are very prim and veeeeeery boring. People are ok with it bc she is a workhorse who did like 3-5 events per week almost to her due date, both times.
But for Kate there was no winning sartorial formula from the start. The only obvious mistake was the Marylin Moment – and yes, that could and should have been avoided. But the rest seems like a mix of schadenfreude and/or media inertia – once W&K have pissed off the reporters and the commentariat over the course of many months, if not years, even a perfectly executed tour wouldnt have turned the tide of coverage.
I think you have some good points.
I also think this debacle could have been avoided had the press been given better access. There were plenty of comments on Twitter about it. The photographer who consistently gets good access? The boyfriend of Kate’s assistant. They play favorites.
Anna I agree. The fashion stuff is so subjective and a lot of this latest criticism seems to be misdirected venom. In my view it’s great that Kate sometimes yanks out costume jewelry and boots from 10 years back to wear, and wears inexpensive souvenir earrings she picked up the day before for the Taj Mahal visit. The Independent article on being drab and dowdy, talk about in the eye of the beholder. Plus that crap furthers the narrative that all there is to Kate is her clothes and obscures real valid questions about the Cambridges, what they are doing, and what should be expected of them.
I think the media should keep their powder dry for the critiques that really matter or else it all looks like sour grapes. It can become a case of the boy who cried wolf.
Valentine Low from the Times UK wrote an article about control freakery he witnessed on the royal tour but unfortunately it is behind a pay wall.
Thanks Tourmaline, that was a very interesting article. Most interesting for me was the size of the entourage: Miguel Head, William and Harry’s private secretary. Rebecca Deacon, Kate’s private secretary. Sir David Manning, Foreign affairs adviser. Sophie Agnew, Tour manager. Natasha Archer, PA turned stylist. Amanda Cook Tucker, Hairdresser. Jason Knauf, Communications secretary. Katrina Mckeever, Press officer. Marine Gaffney, Press officer (on loan from Buckingham Palace for the tour). Charlotte Pool, Press officer. Tifare Alexander, The orderly.
Isn’t Harry’s private secretary Edward Lane Fox? Does he have two?
@bluhare From what I can decipher, Edward Lane Fox is Harry’s private sec; Miguel Head is William’s; and Rebecca Deacon is Kate’s.
I don’t think it’s so much criticism of her having bought cheap jewelry to wear, but that if she is capable of wearing inexpensive jewelry, then she could do without her pattern of having to wear thousands of pounds of new items for each work event she does, domestically and internationally. Even when she (rarely) repeats an item, it’s still paired very expensive new items.
She’s a theme-dresser. On this tour, she spent $50k on attire (clothing, jewelry, shoes, accessories) which was mostly very specifically-themed to the countries and thus might never be worn by her in public ever again. Have we seen all or most of her themed attire including jewelry and shoes from their Southeast Asian tour?
On top of being unable to regularly re-use items bought specifically for theme-dressing, she rarely repeats most of any of the other things she buys anyways. She buys one-pieces that can’t be mix-and-matched as separates can be. She keeps buying shoes of the same colors in nearly the same styles made of the same components. She buys jewelry, clutches, accessories that she could re-use with other attire, but she won’t, as her pattern seems to be that she feels she has to have thousands of pounds of new items for each new work event as if in payment for making her work.
I’ll concede the 2nd point – while I think we will see the Naeem Khan or the mint lace or the McQueen in the future, other pieces will be trickier to reintegrate into Kate’s regular, UK-based wardrobe (though I wonder if she will make extra effort to do so in light of the criticism).
But I see nothing wrong with wearing cheap jewelry if you’re wearing expensive clothing or if you had worn expensive jewelry in the past. Again, she might just like the pieces. And there’s no logic that says, if she wears an expensive/new garment, she should wear appropriately expensive jewelry and that will somehow avoid criticism.
I think the thrifty comment is sarcastic, because the tour supposedly cost about £270,000. So it’s more of a “ooh, she’s so thrifty – not” mockery.
The wardrobe for the tour is estimated at an additional $30,000. Most of it clothing that she will not wear again.
Here’s the reason Princess Victoria doesn’t get grief for her clothes: she works. Even on a tour, Kate doesn’t talk, refuses local foods, wears leather boots AND a vest to a Buddhist monastery, and has another Marilyn moment. So the “work” looks very much like a vacation that the taxpayers funded. That is why people get angry.
But this was exactly the point that I made. That Vics can do anything and it;s fine bc she works. But at this point, Kate would get sh*t coverage no matter how perfectly executed the tour or flawless the wardrobe, bc she and Will have already poisoned the waters too much.
Kate has always been safe and boring probably the reason why she only worked for her parents because working in the outside world whilst dating Wills put her unavailable for attending polo matches, racing, shooting weekends, social events and late nights at Bijouxs or Mahiki. So she has been manicured into someone who doesn’t have much experience of mixing or life experience. Even Diana worked for a time in a nursery. So that’s why Kate looks so disconnected. Wills just looks like he is going through the motions and really doesn’t want to be there unless it’s on his terms.
Agree 100%…….. she has no real life experience. No job history other than roles specifically catered around her social schedule to appease William.
(1) It’s almost impressive how William and Kate have destroyed the massive goodwill that they had when they got married. They’ve been given multiple opportunities for *years* – people were going to get frustrated at some point.
(2) As someone pointed out, they are public people whose lifestyles are subsidized by taxpayers. A lot of taxpayers have suffered because of the economic collapse. Also, there’s a growing awareness of income inequality. So it must be infuriating to see people who do nothing live large off the public largesse.
(3) All they have to do to change public opinion is to consistently do their jobs without an attitude and/or excuses (or abdicate if they don’t like the royal life)! But yet for years they haven’t.
if Kate didn’t have a posh accent, would people criticize her for that? I find that so fascinating that your accent still affects you so greatly in GB. Accent as a marker has pretty much died out in America and we rely on other clues to discern someone’s social standing, like if they went to private school, usually in the NE (milton, greenough, andover, etc), have summer homes (in either Newport, the Cape or something); and finally, if they magically have $ though they don’t work (trust fund!), though many end up as bankers or running the family business.
I remember Amy Winehouse said she was given lessons so she would sound more upper class but joked “they didn’t take” and was thinking how the public would react if Kate still spoke in her natural accent – still a world away from Winehouse.
Also, was thinking that in the US Kate would be considered “new money” and William “old money” but most of us Americans wouldn’t distinguish between the two, you know?
Anyway, Kate is literally Eliza Doolittle!!!! The rain in Spain 🙂
Maybe Kate wouldn’t be criticised for her new accent if it wasn’t so obviously fake and forced, and if she wasn’t imitating Diana
If she didn’t mumble and swallow her words, it might be easier to deal with. The fake accent takes too much of her concentration that she can’t focus on WHAT she’s saying, rather than HOW she’s trying to say it.
Actually there are accent cues but it’s very subtle. It’s not as obvious as it is in the UK and isn’t as ingrained. It is usually a tell in regions where there is a known accent. As to schools-There are nicknames that only people who have gone to those schools know. They have their ways of recognizing each other and where a person fits in the money structure.
One of my parents is from the Deep South where the accent is very distinct and regional within the state. You can easily tell class differences to the point you can barely understand some people.
I know everyone thinks the Queen should step in and force Wills and Kate to work more and dress more appropriate for their public events. But Lizzie learned a lot from going against Diana and criticizing her. Her subjects turned on her. She is a smart woman and does not want to repeat history.
As with this board and Kate apologists, all Ms. Kate has to do is cry in public and give an interview about the mean old lady over-criticizing her and how this has lead to her eating disorder. Tomatoes would be virtually thrown at Lizzie the next day! The only person she can criticize is Wills and even that she can’t be too harsh or even Will haters will come to the defense of Diana’s poor baby boy.
Whether the monarchy survives or not should mean very little to her. She did her Job and history will reflect it, her legacy is secured. Whatever Wills and Kate do to burn down the castle will be consequences they or the next generation will have to deal with.
Kate was always boring. Everyone forgot when she got married and had the royal wedding with the tiara and the frills, but, imo, even when she was dating William she was dullsville. She makes Camilla, the frump who no one would disagree is way less good-looking than Kate, look interesting.
Kate’s personality just doesn’t shine through for some reason, even when she’s smiling and being pleasant. Though considering she’s not ugly or fat, this inability for her personality to shine is somewhat baffling to me. I don’t think she’s as captivating in the looks dept as Keira Knightley, but she’s still good-looking enough to be considered interesting (good-looking people are given the benefit of the doubt in this regard), and yet even the myth that good-looking people are inherently more interesting can’t make her personality shine. Weird.
I agree. Her blank-osity is continual. Even after 10 years. She is a sphinx.
Only critisizm I have is that she should wear her hair straight and not this have this old fashioned wavy big hair look that they used to wear in Dallas and Dynasty.
Let WK have their privacy , don’t take their photos, don’t front up. Instead concentrate on Harry. I for one, ignore stories about these two and searching for Harry’s.
I will not judge Kate’s fashion because not everyone is glamorous or a fashionista. However, I will be critical of her lack of judgement concerning her skirts and dressing for the occasion, especially when she employs a stylist. I will judge her use of fast fashion while visiting India, particularly the slums.
But Kate is not the worst – yes, she chased him for 10 years, exposing herself to humiliations and embarrassments because William will always be a petulant man-child. Her only drive has been to better her social standing (and that of her family’s). I wish her ambition had been placed elsewhere because she has never been suitable for this life. Her lack of dedication to charities and service is pathetic, but this has always been HER. She never worked nor did any charity when in a relationship with William – so why is anyone surprised this has turned out like this?
William is the worst one in this picture – he is petulant, angry and quite dim. This tour has been a disaster not because Kate’s skirts blew up yet again, but because we still don’t know what the point was. Because they kept the press away, insisting they deserved private time ALL the time. We didn’t get a single quote from them showing understanding or empathy, instead we got a lot of photo ops of them doing what THEY wanted to do.
They come across as self-serving, lazy and petulant – not a good image to have. Kate is always well groomed and very tiny, but she never speaks or says something of value. And even if there IS something to her, she’s not showing it to us. She comes across as an airhead.
This has turned into a PR disaster and Poor Jason should resign. He is either an idiot or his employers do not listen to him or agree with his strategies.
I think William doesn’t listen. You can’t make a purse out of a sow’s ear.
How did I miss the fact that Queen Jetsun just had a baby two months ago? And yet….she was performing royal duties!! Does she not know about “extended maternity leave?” I hope Duchess Biscuit had a private moment with her and clued her in. Poor thing.
So, I actually think kate does have a personality, and it has just never been shown outside of her close circle. In their engagement interview William described her as having “quite a naughty sense of humor” and I think we’ve been afforded small glimpses of that side. However, I think she is incredibly anxious about bad press and so we see little to none of who she actually is. I think one factor of all the privacy concerns is her anxiety relating to press.
On a completely different note, I quite liked her hair on this tour though can’t put my fiver on what is different about it
“It’s a classic example of a system working for so long that everyone involved assumes it will keep working forever, with little to no changes necessary”
She doesn’t strike me as being an anxious person. If she were, I think she would have weighed down her hems a long time ago.
Of course she has a personality, she human. However, her public persona is the blandest of bland. It appears as though her public persona has been designed to be a blank cipher and the effect of that is two-fold. It either makes her very boring to watch because you have no idea of who she is or what her passions are, or people project their ideals or biases onto her persona without anything about heself contradiction those. It makes it hard for her to control the narrative about her image.
I kind of feel sorry for her because I don’t think she’s cut out for inhabiting the role of a public figure in any meaningful way. Furthermore, I always feel sad for her because she has neglected to grow as a person because she chose to forsake having an independant life and identity in favour of being William’s girlfriend and later wife. It was her choice but I still think it is sad. She seems woefully inadequate for the duties that comes with her position and she has exhibited visible anxiety when it comes to public speaking. I can empathize with that.
I am less forgiving when it comes to William. I really dislike the rude, arrogant attitude he displays in public. I can understand him feeling trapped by his birth and preordained role but at the same time his petulance as well as his lack of care and preparation is just annoying since he lives a life of such extreme privilege payed for by the British public. He give the impression that he takes this as his due but he won’t acknowledge that he owes something to the people that fund his extravagant existence. It is just bad form.
They like to give the impression that they just want a normal life but neither of them have the skills and life experience to live a life that is “normal” for the majority of the people they represent. William’s idea of “normality” is a delusion. He would never be able to function in the world the rest of us inhabit because he has never been held to account for his bad behaviour. He has been coddled and protected from reality his entire life. He’s the product of extreme privilge divorced from reality with zero consequence for his bad behaviour. That is a toxic combination.
These two are like the job applicant who is perfect on paper and comes with excellent references. They get hired and a year or two later it turns out to be a huge mistake.
Here’s the thing: I have ZERO issues with her bringing help for the tour. But, none of these things would be an issue if they were better at their jobs. If they worked more and didn’t spend SO much time attacking the press and suppressing them, we wouldn’t hear so much about the other stuff.
I don’t know but a friend of mine who lived in the UK for a while said that Will&Kate are very popular there and it’s the American press that mostly make it sounds like the British people have had enough and all that.
It’s possible that the British people haven’t had enough and all this indignant fury is for nothing 🙂 I think the Middletons (and I include Will into that clan) will be enjoying their royal life for a while.
It is the British press that criticize them – whether the British public has had enough is open to interpretation. I’ve lived in England and no one I knew among my generation gave a fig about their royal family. I never saw anything but indifference, which is probably part of what keeps them in place.
Makes sense then – just what I thought.
I think when it really hit me was when I saw the DM piece with the three stylists, including hairdresser, *at the top of the mountain* they hiked up. did they want to go for the views or did she make them hike up there to make sure she looked good for photo ops at the top? what kind of values are these??
If I were a U.K. tax payer I’d be upset for sure. What a waste of money and really uncalled for. It’s not like all these photo ops are helping the Monarchy’s image. In fact, the opposite is happening.
I disagree with your comment. They’re hugely popular and create a lot of good will for Britain. Great ambassadors! They promote tourism, trade and jobs, all of which benefit the British people.
Joannie, the official tourism agencies for the UK has debunked the claim that they’re good for tourism. Good ambassadors do not ignore the wishes of their host country, demand privacy during public engagements, and flash at memorials. These two do not benefit the British people. Well, they benefit the membership in RepublicUK.
@Joannie….sarcasm, right?
http://www.torontosun.com/2016/04/15/kate-middleton-brings-hair-stylist-on-five-hour-himalayan-hike
@ HCR
Thanks for the link. 🙂
Why does she need a new $900 leather waistcoat just to go on a hike, especially one in which W&K banned the media for most of the hike? Was there nothing else left in the world that cost less than $100? Every time she shows up to work, she seems to be wearing at least a $1000 minimum in something new with her entire ensemble usually costing between $2000 to $4000. It’s like she decided somebody has to pay her a fee to show up.
William is such a basic b*tch.
This tour was a disaster PR wise.
The tour was pointless. They did nothing to promote Britain and their engagements seemed frivolous compared to tours undertaken by other royals. Kate’s clothes were alright but she always manages to ruin the look with the wrong shoes, misplaced buttons/pockets, unweighted skirts etc. It will be interesting to see how many of them will be worn again as they are too theme-related.
The only way they will improve public opinion is by regularly undertaking engagements, spending some time at them and showing a real interest. Then the media might realise there is more to Kate than her clothes.
In my opinion William is the real problem and he might have been better marrying someone that can jolly him along like Camilla does with Charles. Kate comes across as a bit of a doormat.
Emily Andrews of the Sun has a great, devastating takedown of the tour including Kate’s inane response to hearing about children begging in the slums, the need for private time to sight see during official engagements, and Kate’s staff touching up her hair and makeup during the hike.
I just read that. Gosh that’s interesting. 😉
My goodness i just read that Emily Andrews piece.
I’m agog that her response to mutilated street children stories that they are thus harmed so that they can beg better was ,’Gosh, how interesting.’
Not to mention her response after talking to a man who was injured, but survived the 2008 terrot attacks on the hotel, ‘that must have been a surreal day.’
It just demonstrates how uncomfortable she is in her role.
Very interesting indeed. I can’t get over that they told hotel guest to get out of their way as they exit their hotel is sad and hilarious, they are not King and Queen just yet. As for treating it like a private holiday – the press have been hinting at it all week, we’re now only starting to get the full story about how badly they behaved. You only need to look at the places the visit to see it was a jolly holiday for them.
This comment almost made me weep, so much for her helping with childhood mental illness:
“And when speaking to charity workers helping India’s street kids, who are mutilated to make money begging, she managed to utter: “Gosh, so interesting.””
So sad. I hope the rest of the press pack speaks up. This stuff needs to be made public – and the Cambridges need to get their act together. Hello William, I’m talking to YOU.
I gave up on their inanity and took a time-out from here for a couple days. I come back to find they offended Bhutan three different ways and upset the press at least twice. Glad to see the press aren’t pulling punches. Of course, rumor is there are only two members of the press being allowed to go with William and Harry to the Star Wars set. You know it will be two who have toed the line.
And you just know that they will be using JJ’s infamous ‘plot secrecy’ as an excuse for that one.
What else did they do in Bhutan? Other than the fiasco at the hike?
Flashing clothing show at archery (flapping skirt, no slip, who wears a wool cloak as a shirt? She flashed something white under when she was shooting, not sure what it was). Also, her usual frog-like curtsy where she bends her knees outwards was caught on video. May have shown the King and Queen more than they anticipated in that skirt.
Refusing the use of the king’s horses. Even if you don’t need the help, it would have been good to acknowledge his kindness, the efforts of the guides, and ride part of the way.
With Kate’s quotes coming out now, maybe the sugars should have been satisfied with just the criticism of her attire, as what she’s said makes her seem so much worse than just being a thoughtless spendthrift.
As for her reply after hearing about the mutilation of child beggars, does she not know more appropriate adjectives? ‘Interesting?’ Sounds so objectified.
I thought it was quite mean knowing camera crews carried heavy equipment on the Bhutan hike, for the majority of them to be denied access. I can picture William laughing about it along with comments from the press because truth is- he doesn’t care.
Next time William wants privacy on an official tour (because we know it’ll happen again), please, I hope individuals and groups will finally take the opportunity to confront him. Too many are still walking on egg shells around him and as long as that scenario exists, nothing will change.
There are new shots on TMZ and the Fail of what looks like William in tears at the Taj Mahal. Seems he let his guard down. While i am no fan of his, it must have been quite an emotional moment for him. This was quite a famous moment in his parents marriage and there would have been memories of that time for him. But then again it could be something else completely.
PS the mean gossip girl part of me is suspicious that these have come out today, in face of widespread criticism of the Indian/Bhutan tour which was not a success for them. Mean i know.
my guess is it was sweat.
Looks like he was wiping away sweat to me, too.
Kate isn’t comfortable with strangers they way Princess Diana was. Nothing is natural with Kate or William and that is unfortunate.
I don’t see why the British would be interested in continuing to have a royal family when the Queen reign comes to an end. The UK would have done better sending a couple of their Premiere League teams to India. That alone would have brought the publcity lacking with this royal visit.
It boggles me that these two graduated from a prestigious university. My undergrad degree is in art history (like theirs are) and I can tell you that in addition to taking survey courses, the major courses require knowledge of history, reading ridiculously boring & dense journal articles, and using critical thought applied to complex ideas. My university education helped teach me about the world. These two nitwits seem boring, dull, and above all else – stupid. The ONLY thing Kate can think of to say in response to children being mutilated is “Gosh, so interesting.” No! Wtf? And she has children, you’d think that alone would inspire some genuine feeling & response. And William’s insistence that he knows best (about everything) when the opposite has been proven over and over again…I just don’t get it. Were they passed through just based on privilege?
The criticisms of her for being “prim and proper” or “dowdy” are disgustingly sexist. Women should not be expected to show tons of skin at all times. It’s far too much work (and cash layout) that we do not demand an iota of from men, and it buys into the despicable myth that women must always be sexy, that we exist for the sexual use of men. It’s deeply dehumanizing.
But on the job front… the criticisms of these two not DOING their jobs is spot-on. And no, I don’t think part of Kate’s job is to parade high fashion. That was Diana, and frankly it was one thing about Diana I always intensely disliked. Put on a suit, wear some comfortable shoes, and DO YOUR JOB, and that goes for both Will and Kate.
No one expects tons of skin to be shown. Women can be sexy without skin on show – look at the Sheika or even Jordan’s Queen – both Muslim women who don’t show flesh but very sexy.
What we Brits DO expect is a bit of “oomph” injected into her wardrobe, considering the vast amount of money spent on her frocks! How can one desexualise McQueen???? I understand that the outfits she choose are re-designed a bit more modestly, but she does them no favours!
It might be unfair to compare them but look at Charlene of Monaco – classy, simple, elegant and sartorially perfect! No tons of skin on show but always immaculately turned out and sophisticated looking – gorgeously dressed whatever the occasion. Compare Kate – drab, frumpy, sparkless and DOWDY.
Yes, Kate IS “dowdy” and it is a criticism because she is a public figure who cannot represent herself well in a role that she coveted and fought for ……. step up Kate.. she needs to get OUT there and get a clue!
I think most people would be happy if she showed LESS skin while on duty. Nobody needs to see her bare stomach and hip while she’s at a memorial.
It is part of Kate’s job to dress well enough to attract attention while still remaining appropriate. Her entire job is to bring attention to her causes and to Britain’s interests. She doesn’t need to show skin. She does need to look good instead of bringing every outfit down with her lack of style. It’s fine if she doesn’t have her own sense of style — that’s what stylists are for!
Kate and Wills are doing their very best like everyone else in this mad mad mad world.
Unfortunately Kate has impossible shoes to fill and she is carrying around a very plain old personality. What is she supposed to do? Become someone else? I can imagine her thinking about the triad of stylists. “Well, I have to look good so I have to take these people to make me look good.” In her limited world it made sense.
The real issue is with the monarchy in the first place. It doesn’t fit anymore in this world. That is NOT Kate nor Wills fault.
The Monarchy CAN work in today’s world if they modernise and change. An overhaul is needed – yes. Unfortunately, Dumb and Dumber are not the visionaries needed to make a change….. imagine the life-changing good the Monarchy can do for education, poverty, health…. etc. etc.
Prince Charles has the right idea – he’s passionate about the environment and architecture, so I’m sure we would have seen wonderful offerings from him if he had a chance to take the throne 20 years ago. Unfortunately, his time has passed and Dumb and Dumber are not IT to take over!
Kate chose this life. She didn’t have to marry William. And she doesn’t need a sparkling personality to succeed. Anne is fairly dull, as is the Queen (they only really like horses). They are respected not because they are wildly exciting, but because they work hard. What is she supposed to do? She’s supposed to do some work. Open a hospital wing on a wet Wednesday. If her charity is holding a gala dinner, she should go. That kind of thing.
Anne is whippet smart and acid tongued! She is far from boring!
She’s dull in the sense that she doesn’t have a sparkling personality, by all accounts. She’s her father’s daughter and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. But I agree she’s not boring.
Mathilde of Belgium seems boring to me, but for the most part she does a good job. They cannot all be Maximas or Letizias. KM needs to show up, pretend to care, and work a lot more.
Nota, Your last sentence is the remedy. I’s not a hard job! A few small changes that will barely impact their lives will make the press happy and eliminate much of the pleb criticism.
Exactly! She needs to find a cause she is passionate about and hop to it! Seems she likes sport…………. so encourage youngsters to take a sport. Host sport days at the Palace, just do something Kate!
I THINK her husband is forbidding her from outshining him. It’s as simple as that. The problem is really with William, from what I can tell. Kate could ramp it up, but I think her spouse is not allowing that. Granted, Kate has no history of a work ethic, but I believe she’s taking her cues from her husband.
These two need to get it together. This recent “tour” illustrates that.
Hi Rudy,
mostly it’s William’s fault.
Nobody should expect someone like Kate to fill Diana’s shoes. They both got sucked into that line of thinking when they got engaged. It all started with Diana’s ring.
There is still time to turn this around. William is the problem, though – he’s the guy who is sailing on the image of his mother – and it needs to stop. For Kate’s and their children’s sake, it needs to stop.
I really liked the “poppy” dress and she looked good in it. Now here is my two-cents worth – She ain’t Diana, never will be Diana, and has no ambition to be anything but what she is. William needs to grow up and step up instead of being Billy Basher. He is very angry with the press, determined to get his way, and needs to mature. I also will say that they look happy together and that is something.
I don’t know why they just don’t let Prince Harry take over and Prince William abdicate, like his uncle did?
According to you Celebitchy and your rapid anti-royals stance. The bias on this site is so extreme that the writing can’t be believed. It makes everything on the site smack of oily vindictiveness.
CB is a gossip and entertainment website. CB does not write or generate the original articles these threads are based on. The CB commentary on those original articles is not written to convince us, the readers, of anything or to sway our beliefs.
Carole Malone sounds…… Petty
But the column is not about the royals, it is about Carole Malone….
Negative criticism always is perceived as more intelligent then positive criticism.
Can ANYONE compare to Diana?