I’ve been sitting on several minor royal stories all week, hoping we would get some new photos of Duchess Kate. While Kate did step out this week – go here to see her Erdem dress – we don’t have access to those pics. And strangely enough, even though that outing probably constituted a formal public appearance, the Kensington Royal Twitter and Instagram did not post any photos. I think it’s because the outing was just for a hotel party and that doesn’t go with Kate’s “new image” as a hard-working advocate for children (keep it up, new PR guy).
So, here are some stories knocking around about Kate and William:
*You know how the Brits like to bet on everything? Well, oddsmakers say that if Kate gives birth to a girl, the name “Charlotte” is no longer the far-outpacing favorite. Alexandra has become the new favorite. I like either name, honestly. They could call her Alexis or Alexi or Lexi. It would be cute! But no one saw “George” coming, so I think we should go with something even more old-school.
*Eddie Redmayne went to Eton at the same time as Prince William, and now that Redmayne is a big Oscar-winner, people are asking him more about his connection to William. Eddie has always said that they were never close, and in a recent interview, he said that he hasn’t seen William “since school” and William didn’t send him any congratulatory messages for winning an Oscar.
*Kate will likely do her last public appearances (until after she gives birth) next week. She already had a few charity stops on her schedule, and yesterday she added a very special event for the 11th: she’s going to visit the set of Downton Abbey. And when I say “set,” I don’t mean Highclere Castle, which stands in for Downton Abbey. She’s visiting Ealing Studios, where they film the servants’ quarters and stuff. She’s going to watch some filming and pose for some photos. She’s said before that she watches Downton, so she should enjoy this.
*Kate also has lots of stalkers. They are being monitored.
*William did not bad-mouth China, even when asked point-blank about elephant mistreatment by a Chinese amusement park. He was just there for the photo-ops, people.
*Is Kate worried that her staff is spying on her and telling all of her gossip to the Queen? Gossip Cop says no, but I say… that’s the royal life. Every royal worries that their staffers are spying on them and telling other people their royal business. Half time, the staffers are spies.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.
She’s still so little! You see her pregnancy in her belly and nowhere else. (Not making any kind of judgment on that, just the first thought that went through my head when I saw the photos.)
God, I LOVE the name Charlotte. That would be adorable.
Charlotte is one of my favorite names for a girl, too.
Probably a combination of her having a long torso and her restricted eating. She probably eats the bare minimum and after the baby takes what it needs, there’s not much left to nourish her own body. Her vanity and disordered eating will catch up with her later in life when she’s got osteoporosis and god knows whatever else….
With my second pregnancy, I only showed out front, like I had a basketball under my clothes. Other than my belly, you couldn’t tell I was pregnant at all, especially from the back. And it had nothing to do with vanity or restricting my food. Not everyone gains weight all over their body.
Not everyone gains weight all over though… I didn’t gain extra weight on my face/ arms , until after the baby was out and lifestyle impacted my weight
I have a good friend who carried her baby like that, and she ate very healthily. She was just built like that – very tall with a long torso, and she walked an hour every day. At nine months, you couldn’t tell she was pregnant from the back.
I hope it’ not Charlotte. That’s one of ma favorite names and I don’t want it to become trendy in my country, which happened to Emma, Emily and Mia 😀
She does look smaller then she did with Prince George at this stage. With my second I wore my regular jeans a lot longer then with my first. I attribute it to taking care of another child and not always eating when I should’ve been. I ate it all during my first 🙂
Good luck with the baby, Kate. Hope it’s a girl.
The Queen visited the set of Game of Thrones; that’s much cooler. Because the Queen is cool.
Personal preference and no offense intended, but if they name her Alexandra, I hope that’s what they call her. Nicknames like Lexi make me cringe.
I hope it’s Alexandra too.
Mostly because my non-CB name is Charlotte, and as cute as a little princess might be, I want no association whatsoever with Duchess Dolittle.
Call me crazy.
That’s how I feel too. My name is one of the ones in the running (betting odds) and I really hope they don’t choose it!!
Alexander is part of PGTips’s name, so it would be odd to use that name for a daughter too.
I’m aware. I meant that, whatever they name her, I hope they don’t resort to tacky nicknames.
Ah, I get it now. So no Zander or Zandra type of thing.
China needs to be called out on their horrendous animal smuggling and animal cruelty. So if William did respond, it would’ve been totally justified.
I love Charlotte… Charlie!
I’m thinking it’s a girl, and both of those names are great classics! I also think it’s awesome that Kate is rocking those gray hairs, I wonder if she’ll dye her hair once the baby is born.
I’m pregnant too(–due a few months after Kate’s #2. My first was born a few months after George!) and so me and Kate are total twinsies! I have terrible grey right now but I’m nearly out of the first trimester and really looking forward to getting my hair colored in a few weeks. I’m really self conscious about them.
Aww don’t be self conscious! I do understand it though, I started getting a few here and there two years ago and wore them with pride, but the last few months they exploded and I caved and dyed it red, lol. Mine are so coarse and stick out like medusa hair if I go a day without washing.
afaik kate doesn’t have any charitable visits schedule, only 2 services with the royal family, an art exhibition and the downton abbey set.
I’m trying to figure out why she’s visiting when Sophie & Edward were just there last week. She looked awful in the Erdem dress. Never seen a woman who despises pregnancy as much as Kate. I hope this isn’t a girl or she’ll grow up with some screwy weight/body issues.
William’s Asia tour wasn’t the success he hoped for. I hope this was a wake up call and he realizes he actually needs to be diplomatic on diplomatic trips. No refusing to do things because you might look silly. No laughing at others because you’ve forced them to do something. No turning your back on the press because of an uncomfortable question. Just makes people think you’re rude, petulant and woefully unprepared for the throne.
She’s visiting because she wants to, not for any valid work reason. DA doesn’t need the press, and Sophie’s visits were part of a diplomatic mission or her charities.
William failed on this mission: not discussing ivory used in musical instruments, bowing incorrectly to the Emperor, refusing full dress because his brother would laugh at him (ie. William publicly mocking that tradition), dressing and behaving incorrectly at the tea ceremony, and visiting the “sanctuary” weeks after articles were published calling for him to boycott the visit. And China’s temporary ivory ban was approved weeks before William’s visit, so he had nothing to do with it.
Kate should be visiting her charities.
Not calling out the ivory trade and the elephant performance just shows that he’s all talk, no show about conservancy. This was his moment. He’s the prince who cares about this stuff, but not so much when confronted with it. And don’t get me started on the cultural disaster that was Japan. Just goes to prove he didn’t put any effort into his diplomatic training. Perhaps he should have been doing that, instead of sunning for 3 weeks.
PW embarrassed not only himself and his family during this trip but the UK. He has shown nothing but disdain for his royal duties – please abdicate already – we don’t want you and your equally lazy wife on the throne.
Interestingly the Daily Fail ran an article about how Waity has never been to a state banquet since she married – all other family members have. I’m beginning to seriously think there is something a bit off with her – she is beginning to remind me of Brit Brit as she is now, can’t function without being told what to do/say from others i.e. her mother and PW. She looks a bit dead in the eyes.
To be fair it was an impossible position for William. Britain’s relationship with China is frosty to say the least. If he had spoken out against this issue while visiting the park he could have cause a potential internation incident since he was there as a representative of Britain. However, he couldn’t have downplayed the question either as it would make him look insincere in his conservation efforts and finally, just walking away, which he did, made him seem petulant and rude.
It was a lose-lose situation for him and what I find interesting about the whole incident is the fact that it looks like the journalist deliberately put him in such a lose-lose situation! Methinks the British press is displeased with the petulant princeling and it will be interesting to see if this trend is going to continue.
@ArtHistorian. Yes and no, his visit was to try and smooth things over, not make them worse. Fortunately, Hong Kong wasn’t mentioned as that’s the reason why relations with the UK and China are frosty – they’ve accused the UK gov of interfering in how they run the ‘democratic’ process in the territory. As for that question, he didn’t need to walk away he should have just ignored it and asked someone else for another question. I have little patience for him and his petulant behaviour and seems the UK press has had enough as well.
This was a high profile visit and he shouldn’t have been asked to go in the first place. One of the senior and more experienced family members (Anne or Chuck) should have went or they’ve should have sent Harry. Sending the man child was a mistake.
He has his fathers awkwardness in these public situations, Charles has got better at it over the years but he tries, have yet to see that attitude from PW.
AH, articles were put out about the “sanctuary” before his visit was finalized. The visit was hinted at, there were counter arguments published, and he went ahead and scheduled the visit. He should have been prepared to deal with the backlash, as it was known about ahead of time.
He failed on-the-spot when he learned a certain musical instrument was partially made out of ivory. He could have asked about other ways to make it, where is it sourced, etc. He claims to care about these issues, but doesn’t know enough to respond in a one-on-one situation. It is similar to his intention to destroy the historic ivory pieces in the Royal Collection — he cannot see the forest for the trees.
They both seem to think all they have to do is show up, no study or preparation required. As long as he keeps hiding away and refusing to learn, he’s going to be on the losing end of these situations. Keep angering the press and it will only get worse. They’ll goad and bait, he won’t know how to answer, so he’ll stomp off. He has no finesse and it is getting worse. He needs training in diplomacy and media relations pronto.
Betti, the rumor was they asked for Harry but got William instead.
Nota: I remember the article in which Harry going to China was discussed, complete with sources from the Foreign Office. It was some months after Harry’s successful tour of Brazil/Jamaica/Belize. If I remember the time period, it was after WK’s gruelling tour of S.Asia.
Afew months (or perhaps a year later) another article popped up in which the Foreign office said once again that Harry was first choice royal and was frequently requested by foreign countries for royal visits after HM.
That first article is when I started thinking that Harry is being prepared for much bigger role within the family than being allowed to fade away as would normally happen.
Now with the news (unconfirmed) that Harry might be leaving the military and living a lot of time in Africa? That might get him off some people’s radar at the same time William disappears further into Norfolk.
I def agree that he could be better prepared and that his response did him no favours. What I find intriguing is that the journalist very deliberately put him in a situation where almost any response could potentially cause offense, which made me think that the gloves may be coming off in the British press – and I find it interesting that it took place on a tour that everyone knew would be a diplomatic minefield.
I also think that his team dropped the ball, when it came out what exactly happens in that park. But i also wonder if they were afraid of causing offense with the Chinese authorities by requesting a change of plan. we really don’t know what goes on behind the scenes and how delicate things are. A China tour is vastly different that the little joyride they had in NZ and Australia.
I don’t think that William will ever change. He seem to be a very stubborn person, and he also seem to pride himself on this. However, stubborness shouldn’t be confused with being strong-willed. I know plenty of people who are stubborn to the point of studpidity. Bottom line, William doesn’t seem interested in changing and if that is the case, then there’s not much to work with for his team.
You really think she despises pregnancy? I think she looks really happy. Not judging your opinion at all, just curious. Do you think that because she’s not gained much weight?
I think she despises gaining weight, which is why she wears non-maternity wear, pregnancy spanx, and rarely is seen out and about. She doesn’t want to be bombarded with pics of her looking less than svelte.
Oh, ok.
But she came out of the hospital with full mommy belly showing. My mom is tall and slender and when she was carrying me, she only got into maternity tops her last month and unsnapped the top button of her jeans. She was actually disappointed to not look bigger and go full on maternity.
God, her makeup. It’s so jarring up close. But I actually love the Erdem look, pregnancy suits her very much. I hope it’s a girl and I hope she (they) starts to work a lot more after this one’s a few months old. No PR person can fix this image of them barely working when they’re BARELY working. For the love of God.
So funny, I don’t think pregnancy suits her at all. She looks absolutely haggard, IMO. And, for a woman who doesn’t work (except – maybe – a few hours per MONTH) and who just took a weeks long vacation, it’s shocking to me how bad she looks.
Giganticmember posted this on Royaldish but it expresses my sentiments perfectly:
I hope people are smart enough to see this as a complete joke and waste of a day – and call her out on it. If she wants something to do, she should be visiting hospitals and her (incredibly neglected) charities.
Betti, I wonder the same thing. She seems to need to be coddled. She is too attached to her mother. I wonder if she has some mental health or anxiety issues.
She must have days when she regrets getting mixed up with William. She doesn’t enjoy public life and everybody knows it.
I don’t think thats it – she enjoyed the tabloid attention during the GF years. Her attitude hardened when she got big blue, she adopted his coldness to the media and public duties.
I don’t think Alexandra is an option–isn’t Alexander one of George’s middle names? (When they announced his name, after all of the lead up and guessing, I had this feeling that they wanted to name him Alexander but were overruled and had to go with George. Um, no real concrete evidence to support that claim, though…)
I wonder if Kate thinks visiting the downstairs set is a chance to interview new servants after her two Anmer Hall staffers quit? 😉
It’s so wierd that she’s visiting a fictional film set of downstairs servitude when the very same world exists at BP.
Perhaps she’s afraid to venture farther than the drawing rooms/state rooms of her own homes and doesn’t realise that the DA set up of servants is replicated in the real world at BP and to a smaller extent at KP.
LAK, struck me as weird too. My first thought reading that itinerary was “ask Granny if you can go downstairs the next time you’re there for tea …”
Kate has, apparently, a very very limited pool of energy that can be allocated to work, evidenced by how exhausted she looks at putting a dress and coat on and going out for the morning a day or two a month. That energy burst being expended on the Downton cast might be so helpful to one of her endorsed charities. Not saying gf couldn’t have some fun and giggle with Daisy and Mrs Patmore if the rest of her week looked like most other pregnant mothers of toddlers who still manage to put in a full week of work/activity.
Whenever I read a comment, mostly on other sites :p to the tune of ‘leave her alone she’s beautiful and 8 months pregnant with a two year old” I wonder 1) exhausted from what and 2) what world do those commenters live in that they don’t see functioning – and working – pregnant women who have a firstborn toddling around too.