Duchess Kate has been working so much lately! Whenever I see a new story or photos from a new appearance, I always think “Wow, her maternity leave is going to last for a really long time.” It’s like she’s trying to get a bunch of stuff done really quickly because there’s going to be a long vacation coming up. Anyway, Kate’s handlers must be playing around with the issue of how to improve her public speaking, because they’re trying something new: a pretaped video on behalf of the “Together for Short Lives’ Children’s Hospice Week”. Judging from her black minidress with the Peter Pan collar, I think this thing might have been taped on or around March 20th – that’s when she wore the same dress to an appearance for the Child Bereavement Charity. Kate is the patron for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, which is part of a support system for UK kids with “life-limiting conditions” and the families that support them. Here’s the video:

Are we considering this another public speech? Sure. Well, when she gets to speak directly to the camera, at least she’s not looking down at her notes three times per sentence. I’m assuming there was a teleprompter involved. And there are some odd pauses too. I’m still assuming that Kate is being coached on how to speak and how to make a speech, and at this point… is the coaching helping her? Or is it making her more nervous and making her seem like a posh robot? I don’t know. I mean, I’ll be nice and say that this is an improvement only because I’m grateful that she’s not looking down constantly at her speech and her hair’s not in her face. So, yes, an improvement.

As for her body language, with her hands together on her lap… it was really her only choice because she’s wearing a minidress. We would have seen the duchess biscuit if she didn’t hold her hands there. Which is still my point about her short hemlines – how is she able to meet people, to bend down to talk to children, to sit and stand and walk around without constantly adjusting her skirt and making sure she’s not revealing too much? Wouldn’t it just be easier to simply wear longer skirts? I’m not saying she has to dress like an Amish woman, but knee-length skirts would just seem much simpler and professional.

Also, remember that story about Kate maybe going to live with her parents for a few months right after she gives birth? Well, there’s an interesting addendum to that story – The Telegraph (via The Mail) has sources claiming that Kate is going to live with her parents for a few months before she gives birth too, and that she wants to give birth at an out-of-the-way hospital too. A source says: “Their thinking is that she will be based at her parents’ house during the later stages of her pregnancy and they do not want her to have to travel miles to Paddington when she goes into labour.” Kate wants to give birth at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, which is where she & Pippa were born too. Once again, I don’t think it’s weird that Kate wants her mom around for all of this stuff, especially given that it’s Kate’s first pregnancy and baby. But I do not understand why it seems more and more like Kate and William are living completely separate lives.

PS… All of the photos of the royals playing with the wands are adorable.

Photos courtesy of WENN.