Let me say at the very start that I don’t have any criticism for a new mother and when or if she wants to “go back to work”. I have no stake in that debate. I feel that every woman should be able to make that choice for herself. There is no “right or wrong” amount of maternity leave. Every woman is different. And if Duchess Kate wants to begin her royal duties right away, she should. If she doesn’t want to, she shouldn’t.
What I find funny and notable, however, is the widespread belief that she is so consistently work-shy. She began her “maternity leave” from her royal duties a good two months before she gave birth and even then, it’s not like she did more than a handful of appearances a month, even before she got pregnant. I think more people would feel like “oh, just let her take six months off to be with the baby” if she had really thrown herself into royal work. But as it is, the public seems used to not seeing her work all that much, so her maternity leave is really uneventful. Still, the royal propogandists have to work overtime to make it sound like she’s super-excited to go back to her super-grueling schedule – “sources” even told People Magazine (just days after Kate had given birth) that she would go back to a public schedule “in a very short time.” And here is what they meant: her first public appearance is scheduled for… September 12th.
The Duchess of Cambridge is to undertake her first official public engagement since the birth of her baby on September 12, palace sources have confirmed. Kate, and her husband, Prince William, will be guests of honour at the inaugural Tusk Conservation Awards, Mail Online can reveal.
It will be the Duchess’s first royal job since Prince George was born on July 22, although she is still formally on maternity leave. Fashion watchers will no doubt be keeping a keen eye on Kate’s first post-baby outfit given her immensely stylish maternity wardrobe.
She also earned worldwide plaudits for her appearance on the steps of the Lindo Wing the day after giving birth wearing a chic baby blue polka-dot dress by British designer Jenny Packham, showing off her still prominent baby bump.
The event next month has been organised by Tusk Trust, a UK charity that funds African conservation projects of which William is patron.
He is a passionate supporter of their work and has visited many of the charity’s projects in Africa – which accounts for the Duchess’s decision to leave baby George at home and join him. It is not clear yet who will be baby-sitting the new third in line to the throne, but it is most likely to fall to her mother, Carole Middleton.
Sure, she’ll be making the appearance less than two months after she gave birth, for sure. And for that, bless her, because I doubt she’ll even want to be away from her baby that long. But still, let’s not pretend that she’s “going back to work” at a factory or something. She gets to go back to work by putting on a fancy dress and having dinner at a charity event. Oh, and it goes without saying that I think she’ll be back to her pre-pregnancy weight. Obviously.
Also: Prince William has given his “first” sit-down interview since becoming a father to CNN’s Max Foster. The interview has already happened, but CNN is making it into a television event – an hour-long special called “Prince William’s Passion: New Father, New Hope”. William = Skywalker? The special will air on September 15 (a Sunday).
Photos courtesy of CNN/Twitter and WENN.
I think I must have the attention span of a gnat, because what I took away from this is that I want to know more about the Tusk Trust.
Me too!
Tusk Trust is the charity created and run by a extremely wealthy(family of) former girlfriend William had a pretend engagement with in his late teens, Jecca Craigs family created Tusk Trust, so Jecca runs the charity now with her family, with William as the highest profile charity board member, it will be a fun night, he will get to see old friends, dress up and make his first dress up appearance with Kate. William is still close to the Craig family. He was very close to them, he proposed to Kate at Jecca Craig’s family wilderness compound in Africa. Jecca and William are still good friends, she will attend the event, she is friends with Kate also.
Here’s an interesting take on why William married Kate, with a brief mention of Jecca Craig:
http://takimag.com/article/why_kate_middleton_is_prince_williams_only_option/print#axzz2c52kA1o3
Info on Tusk Trust, with a job opp!
http://www.tuskusa.com/
I really hope she won’t go back to her pre pregnancy weight and keep few pounds from her pregnancy but I think she will most probably go back to her post wedding malnutrition state and media will applaud her for looking so prefect and great.
She’s probably starving herself right now to get ready for her post-baby appearance. She looked better after giving birth than in her wedding photos where she looked so thin and malnourished with the heavy eyeliner. Someone should tell her to lose the eyeliner and keep an additional 15 pounds of baby weight. She looked great during her pregnancy because that’s what she actually looked like in her 20s when she weighed more.
I think she looked best when she started dating William. She’s already pretty thin by nature, don’t understand why she watches her weight to look even thinner.
No no, one thing at a time. If she loses 15 lbs of baby weight plus 15 lbs of mascara that will equal 30 lbs lost and she will be malnourished looking again. I remember seeing a pic of her from about six or seven years ago and she had on jeans and riding boots and a sweater. She looked fresh, young and healthy with a slender but athletic frame. She should dig up those old photos and give that look another go. If it was good enough to catch a prince isnt it good enough to keep one?
Thank you – my thoughts exactly. Those postpartum pics show Kate at her best and she looks quite healthy.
It’s funny but a lot of people seem oblivious to the dramatic & unhealthy pre-wedding weightloss or applaud Kate for it. She used to be trim yet healthy and athletic up to the time of the engagement. Hopefully her priorities have shifted now that she’s a parent..
I have to wonder out loud if part of the reason she is staying at her parents’ house is so people do not see her postpartum.
I have wondered the exact same thing.
She’s pretty much never really left her parent’s home during her married life. I think this was just a natural and most comfortable move. I wouldn’t discount a level of insecurity from a physical level though.
The Middletons are in a new house, I know but I just got a vision of Kate sitting on the side of a twin bed surrounded by Teddy Bears and poster-filled walls of Big Willy and the other men (if any) she had a crush on.
It’s so jarring to leave home to go away to college or whatever and then you go back to spend a night (or so) and you look around your old bedroom and think “did I really sleep here?” But for her, much probably hasn’t changed and she probably likes it like that.
She is probably going to make a pre-vacation appearance.
Dena
Life&Style has a few photos of the house. The photos make this several acre/buildings estate look downright tiny. It is also an older home so rooms were a bit cozier for heating purposes I guess, but still. Above shots show how massive this home is, but not the new wing added for security to keep the baby prince secured.
All that aside. I think Kate has been in a state of arrested development and even slightly regressed since her uni days.
Another month of seclusion after spending the whole last month of her pregnancy hidden away. Sounds like something out of a Victorian romance novel. I’d be going stir crazy.
I’ve noticed that public figures often come back from pregnancy even skinnier than they were before. That’s probably not even possible for Kate, but it really bugs me – for example – how much skinnier Suki on True Blood is post-babies. She had such a great “normal” figure before.
I couldn’t figure out why Suki looked so weird to me. Makes total sense.
LOL @ Kate (or William) getting back to work.
Breastfeeding twins most probably. The weight falls off you.
I still feel that what she wore outside the hospital was gross. Even Diana appeared more covered up when she exited both times. Still don’t agree with me? Well, research what the other royal women wore when they left the hospital – coats.
It was “gross”? She was wearing a knee-length dress with cap-sleeves that went all the way up to her neck. In the middle of summer.
You sound like you have issues. Women who have just given birth are not unclean monsters who need to wrap themselves in coats (again, in the middle of summer!) lest the public faint from the sight of their residual pregnancy belly.
ita
as her job of breeding was done, maybe they could have just euthanized her so no one would have to be subjected to her coatless image
It was a different decade filled with thick layers and shoulder pads. Also a different environment for how pregnancy is to be perceived. No bikini shots or there would be a scandal (like their was) kind of way.
The baby was born in JULY. In one of the hottest Julys in the UK in over a hundred years. See : http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2013/warm-july-stats
A coat. Really, a coat ? In the summer, to go from the door of a hospital, to a waiting car.
a coat in the middle of a heatwave would’ve looked utterly ridiculous
Why was it gross? It was perfectly modest, and a pretty, comfortable-looking dress. Are you uncomfortable with biology?
What are you trying to do? Rile up the commentary?
I don’t worship at The Church of Kate. Like, not at all. That said, what she wore on the hospital steps was lovely and she looked extremely pretty. Prettier than she did pre-pregnancy.
I’m pregnant now, and due in Dec. guess I shouldn’t leave my house until next spring, when I’ve hopefully lost enough of the baby weight not to look disgusting. Shame on you. Women have enough body image issues, pregnant or not.
One word for the ridiculousness of @CaliDiva: TROLL!
It was a record breaking heat wave here in the UK. It was even in the upper 20s and 30s in Scotland! In London, I think it was close to the mid 30s when Kate stepped out on those steps so why would should she have been wearing a coat? Was it because of her stomach? News flash, your stomach doesn’t deflate as soon as the kid pops out. I suppose at 18 weeks pregnant, and with a small baby bump, I should just stay covered up because it’s gross? And come January, when I have my daughter, should I stay in my parka until my stomach is flat again? It’s no wonder that women have so many issues with their bodies with statements like that!
Really. There was a time when women were “in confinement” for the duration of their pregnancy so no one would be subjected to their embarrassing state. Maybe we should just go back to that.
I thought she looked lovely and happy.
Lol@ Lisa but her job as a breeder is not over. Still a spare to go, but then all bets are off.
@Etsi
The dress wasn’t knee-length if I can see her knees. I believe your precious Kate thought that her bump would deflate and thus chose this tea-party/garden party dress. I believe she wore a coat while visiting the scouts and the sun was shining so it had to have been hot – it was tweed fabric.
@Ponytail
I believe she wore a coat while visiting the scouts and the sun was shining so it had to have been hot – it was tweed fabric. I believe there are lighter fabrics for coats, they don’t always have to be wool. Walking from the door of the hospital to a waiting car did not work up a sweat, so a lighter fabric coat would not have made her faint. Kate is such an exhibitionist and didn’t realize that it was un-royal to appear in public with a bowling ball underneath her dress, be modest. Coat.
@Devon
Newsflash, Kate probably thought that her stomach, its the uterus actually, would deflate as soon as she gave birth and thus chose this day dress. Why didn’t her mother tell her that? I thought the media had reported that she was reading books about pregnancy and motherhood, I guess they didn’t mention post-pregnancy.
@Poink516
Don’t exaggerate. You’re suppose to look pregnant while pregnant. I didn’t mean that Kate looked gross because she hadn’t dropped the weight, or had a smaller bump, when coming out of the hospital. Kate probably thought her body would snap back. I assumed that she would emerge wearing a coat because that’s all she wore as her pregnancy advanced and she probably was hot whenever she wore them anyway. Also a coat would save us from seeing the accentuation of her body in a light fabric dress that she had never worn while pregnant. A woman of her standing should not always have her body on display.
Honestly, that belly did not look attractive, she should’ve worn an old dress of hers without so much ‘display’. Why? Because people spent most of the time discussing her belly than the actual baby. People have had kids for thousands of years before her and they will keep on having them, nothing special here. In terms of dresses, she spent 1 million or so on renovations for ONE baby so it’s not like she doesn’t have 20 stylists telling her what she should wear, what looks good/bad, and most importantly, she can afford any dress or hat she wants. Her life is pretty sad despite all the glitz so we need to count our lucky stars that we are not under the microscope as much as this girl. Lastly, she lost all that weight because it makes her look more Royal. She doesn’t have the natural good looks of Zara, for example, so she needs to keep the weight off her face.
That visit was in mid-April, at the end of one of the most bitter winters the UK has known in recent months. The temperature that day was about 15 degrees.
It is quite possible for the sun to be out on a very cold day, so the mere fact of the sun shining does not make it a sunny day.
I’m still not quite sure why you think she shouldn’t have been wearing a dress. I’m really quite confused why you think someone of her ‘stature’ shouldn’t show the fact that her body hasn’t snapped back to her pre-pregnancy state. I quite admire her boldness !
Prince Williams Passion – The fruit of his loins.
at least that’s what that stupid title sounds like.
And eh, whatever @ her first appearance. She’ll probably take 1 question about the baby and say that he has a good set of lungs.
Or that she and Willy-ehm (posh accent emphasis) are “over the moon”.
Oh please, William’s friend Harry Meade is marrying Lady Laura Marsham on September 14th in Norfolk. Kate is making an appearance 2 days beforehand so that she doesn’t get any shade for being able to attend a wedding but not being able to do any charity work.
+1
They always seem to do a “fury” of charity work before vacations or when press starts posting negative articles. They do just enough to cover themselves.
Karen
And honestly this is all fine. She can do a 30minute to 1 hour visit 2 or even 1 time a month and it’s ok by me. What isn’t is the press and palace pr bring her out when they need to cover up a story of something that will cast a negative shadow on W or K or both. The good work of others is belittled and discounted to raise her image.
Wasn’t it the filing of George’s birth the big story that covered Harry’s long time effort to open a new (school? academy?). Just another example of a long history.
She won’t work more than a few times a month. They need to stop building her up because it only casts a spotlight on how little she really works.
Should have known there was an ulterior motive for her appearance.
Won’t she be photographed at the baptism? When is that?
They’re only saying it will be in the fall from late September to early/mid October. No exact date will be given for some time. That’s a good stretch of time.
This “job” is a charity gala. Not even a ribbon cutting or ship christening.
Color me shocked! A chance to dress up for a few hours and rub elbows at a fancy party.
Is it still in vain I wish she’d take on a charity that deals with illnesses and health complications with newborns? She was lucky her baby was born healthy. Many other mothers are not so lucky and could use a name like hers attached to such a worthy cause.
Yes, it is, FLORC. She simply doesn’t care. The best hope for those charities is that their PR sees this and chooses to add one to her list of 4.
TOMia
EACH is the only charity that deals in a grass roots effort to help an individual struggling with a hard time or addiction. It’s the same charity that had to cancel a fund raising auction because of lack of interest. They took a loss on planning the event as well. Same event where she or staff donated a gift package for a newborn. There was an article floating around that time how Kate was meeting secretly with her charities to avoid cameras and get down to brass tacks, but no charity ever confirmed seeing her after the initial meeting or more than once a year I believe.
Will cite my sources if requested:)
It is hard work; fancy dresses don’t wear themselves.
How true. One must sit through several hours at the hairdresser and then there’s applying all that eyeliner. Must be exhausting to do all that and then keep one’s grin going all night and pretend to be interested in what other people are saying. She’ll need a vacation after that.
LOL
Here in the UK we are eye rolling slightly at this news particularly in my area. I’m sure there are those who will think oh good for her having a nice time.
Calling it a ‘job’ is a bit of a stretch, wearing a designer gown, make up artists and hair stylists preening her every molecule and smiling and talking shop all evening how very tiring! Someone must ensure she gets a holiday after all of this she doesn’t half deserve it!
I will never worship at the Throne of Cambridge, but I do think Kate looked lovely when they showed off Prince George. And I don’t find a thing wrong with her staying with her parents. Given what Diana went through, I think it’s a great thing that Kate is very close to her own family and that William seems close to them too. I still don’t think their marriage will last long enough for her to ever become Queen (Consort), but to criticize her for having a close knit family is silly. If anything criticize the press for acting as if Kate the inventor of motherhood.