Prince William has added another event to his sparse schedule. He will be making an appearance at the Hammersmith Academy to support the Back 2 School Anti-bullying campaign on September 21. What could have been a simple announcement (well in advance of the actual appearance) was utterly bungled though. This announcement should have been a press release to all of the royal reporters hungry for something, anything out of Camp Cambridge after a summer spent with barely any coverage of anything except for LACK of coverage, the lack of work, and Kate’s “reclusiveness,” “isolation” and her inability to cope with her royal role. Instead of giving the royal reporters a heads-up though, the Cambridges’ communications office just announced it on Twitter, with no press release going out to reporters.
All of this caused The Daily Express’s Richard Palmer – an early voice criticizing the Cambridges’ bizarre letter to the press one month ago – to spill some tea on Twitter. Palmer is pretty active on Twitter, and he engages in debates with other royal reporters. He’s become one of the loudest voices in the press openly questioning William and Kate’s media strategy, their public relations methods and their schedules. You can see his full Twitter feed here, but I’m including some of the more “interesting” tweets:
It seems Kensington Palace announced a forthcoming engagement for William today on social media without telling the press.
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) September 10, 2015
Everything that the Kensington Palace press office does at the moment seems either calculated to offend the press or just incompetent.
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) September 10, 2015
The point I've tried to get over about palace use of social media is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) September 11, 2015
If the palace is going to take it upon itself to bypass the media on this and other things, the media will just find another take on things.
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) September 11, 2015
All of that is pretty minor compared to the bigger picture. I think the Cambridges are making mistakes that may come back to bite them.
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) September 11, 2015
In other tweets, Palmer refers to the Cambridges’ media strategy as “a mess” and says that in the “royal soap opera” of media coverage, they’re risking “becoming baddies” in the narrative. And this: “I think the Cambridges are popular but believe the UK public (as opposed to royal fans) is getting a bit bored of the storyline.” While complaining about the Cambridges’ lack of engagement (with seemingly anything), he wrote: “Perhaps the wiser strategy is to say nothing but write a big read asking whether Will and Kate want to be King and Queen?” OUCH.
All this has me wondering… how long before Poor Jason is the recipient of a royal hissy fit before he gets the sack? The thing is, it’s not all on Jason, their American PR guy. I think William believes he’s this genius media-manipulator and he’s just… not.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Her aversion to showing up and standing around for an hour is BIZARRE.
Not defending her (I’m not even into royals normally, never read anything about them until I started coming on here), but I’m guessing that it’s a lot of work for her: hair, make-up, choosing the outfit, etc. I would suspect it’s days of prep for every appearance, I can sort of see how it can get old, but it’s not like she has to worry about budgeting for a new dress and hairdo or finding a sitter for kids, and it’s not like she didn’t realize it was going to be like this before she married into that family…
Has anyone thought that maybe she is suffering from post partem depression? She just had a baby, I just don’t see the big deal of her making appearances, telling the reporters 1st, since when are they the good guys, the same ones who mock her. I’m not into royals, I just don’t see the need for them, and having Kate do her duties, which are what exactly, going to appearances!? Hell, I would want privacy with a newborn n toddler.
She has staff to help with all that and a hairdresser on call. Your staff would do the research and prepare a “cheat sheet” to study ahead of time. Her events are also pretty lightweight and short (45 min.), so the prep wouldn’t be more than learning a couple names and asking a few questions. Shake hands, thank your host, and then climb into the chauffeur driven car and you’re done. By contrast, when Camilla and Charles were in my town making the rounds, they visited 5 or 6 places in one day, made a speech and split up at one point to cover more ground. Kate’s visits (at charities she chose herself and supposedly cares about) are a walk in the park compared to that.
Prepare yourself, this is a tome: I’m a long time lurker on royalty posts, and I usually skim the comments, and keep my opinions to myself. But lately I am apt to agree with what @fee has said above.
Kate’s lack of being in the public eye this year strikes me less as a selfish move, but more one of someone suffering from either postpartum or a generalized anxiety disorder. The article that led me down this line of thinking was the one about her taking up sketching. It sounds exactly what a therapist would have someone with anxiety do, usually it’s referred to as self-care (and it’s not just for someone with anxiety, it’s for everyone): you do things you enjoy that help you slow down, remember what’s best about your life, something you find soothing. It could be as simple as reading a book, or sketching your favorite photos of your children.
I’m both a stay at home mom and a mother of a toddler. Being a stay at home mom is tough, mentally and physically, and there are days that I am really grateful for the conversation with the grocery store checker! Being a mom of a toddler is exhausting. And she had another baby this year! Kate may not be a SAHM or mother of very young children like non royalty persons are– she probably does have staff to help out. But her job as a member of the royal family is a bit odd in that the media circus around everything she does never stops. It gets rehashed over and over again– every picture, every outfit, every word or expression. It would drive me crazy– the immense pressure to perform the simplest of tasks and to do so perfectly, would just be unreal. I’d hide in my house too. Sadly, I think if she did do some light appearances more regularly, just by the sheer numbers, the pressure wouldn’t be as immense. She’d get better at it, and it wouldn’t be as obvious when she felt like she slipped up or wore the less than right thing.
The rest of us non-royalty women, (and men too) also have the advantage of support networks. Friends, other moms with children the same ages, church groups, work colleagues, and supportive family members– these are all things Kate has very little of. She has few close friends, (how many people can she really trust?) and many of their friends as a couple were Will’s friends to begin with, and do not have children. Her sister appears to be exercising intensely for charity nearly every weekend…which means she’s probably exercising intensely most days as well– if her sister was her BFF, well, they don’t seem as close now. She doesn’t have work colleagues, and the people who do work for her or with her: there’s always a wall there. She has a very invasive family! Who knows how supportive they actually are? Carole may be running the show at their house, because that’s Carole, not because Kate wants it or needs it. Her husband’s family is full of rules and staff and courtsey-ing and craziness. If she and Harry were/are close, every time they’re photographed laughing together, eyebrows raise. My point is: she’s a duchess with miles of mental space between her and nearly everyone else, and the entire internet has an opinion on her life.
I agree that the Cambridges should work more: the tremendous power to do good with their position is the literal definition of awesome. Will doesn’t get a break in my book– he should own his position and run with it, like Harry has. And their press office could use a strategy that doesn’t piss off long time reporters.
But I’m willing to give Kate space. It’s just a hunch, but I’m giving her some empathy over here. I could be very wrong, but just my own life experience has taught me that when people fail to step up to the plate, and when they fill their lives with the pointless (excessive shopping is a very poor therapy technique for many), there’s a lot more going on underneath the surface. I hope she can figure it out– for her own health.
This PPD is the latest in a very long line of reasons why Kate doesn’t work other than she’s just deciding not to work. Past idle speculation there’s nothing to support this. For every point of speculation there’s direct counter to her not having PPD. A very serious condition that affects more than just your desire to do your job.
What Kate does now is what she’s always done. Avoid not fun work, but always makes time for the perks.
IF anything her depression existed long before pregnancy and it’s not PPD since she doesn’t appear to be less lazy now than before.
If there’s any new evidence it should be discussed, but there’s not. Just a lot of assumptions to excuse known behavior.
Let’s not belittle this condition to justify Kate’s inability to pay honor to some vets or visit a charity she patrons over personal trainer visits and vacations.
Thank you FLORC. To me this reads as yet another excuse, just like the highly-suspect “HG”. There is nothing noticeably different about her behavior. She has been in the public eye for over a decade, and this is how she has always acted.
@jbunny3030, I agree. We don’t know what’s going on in her life now. Just because they have money and help doesn’t mean there aren’t problems. Wills could handle things differently but that’s not on her.
Tessy
We know what she makes time for and what she doesn’t. Also tidbits of what she does in her private time leaked by her pr that do ring true. Not a “everythings fine, no peeking behind the curtain” way.
And it’s known behavior.
Depression? Maybe. I’d be upset with William and a life that was repetition and living off others. But if it’s depression it’s existed before and Not PPD with no symptoms seemingly worse.
The thing about Kate is her life isn’t all that private. Her shopping, vacations, work schedule, and even where she gets her hair done and by who is all known.
But if it is PPD she’s amazing to finish her advance scuba cert, take up sketching, redesign a tennis court, continue with an otherwise cancelled yacht event, sit all day at a tennis match, and prep for weeks of vacation coming up and work out daily with a very desired personal trainer. She’s coping quite well it seems.
Well said Nota FLORC.
More and more it seems – William with all his hatred for his royal role/ pretense that he is ‘regular’ (with a private lifestyle /no duties) – is so full of himself! By ignoring the People and the Press, who expect a 33 year old, married royal heir – of four+ family/ with all the perks/homes and Palaces – MUCH is expected in return!
Petulant marriage (with a purpose) to kate, the workshy (as he), carol and the middletons was a set up for Petulant to stay away from serving/duties (in the process garner negative impact on the Monarchy, POW); with the climbing – royal struck-title yearning family of the middletons – pleasing a Prince every need (include babies), in exchange for titles, luxury, royal access and pampered lifestyle; allow Petulant to continue on his single life/ with exes (who would demand more) – and a perfect set up for William, the workshy royal (without duties).
After all, no respect is needed for a waity-wife who will always be ‘there’ and had carol around. But Petulant miscalculated HM /The Firm/ taxpayers/the People and British Press. At 33, he is no longer off limit (promised made to POW while Petulant was at university)
She may or may not have PPD; we can’t possibly know. If she does have it, though, working a bit more and creating a routine of getting out might help manage the symptoms. I have read that depressed people prefer going to work and don’t know what to do with themselves on weekends. Plus, if she went out more, maybe the kind of attention she gets would…improve.
YEAH!
So glad Richard Palamer is letting them have it!
I’m so sick the British press usually toeing the line, at the risk of jeopardizing access to petulant, prickly Prince William and his lazy wife.
Good for Richard Palmer.
Poor Jason must be wondering what he took on with the Cambridge’s. I don’t think William is a picnic by any stretch.
Richard Palmer is a joke of a reporter. All he’s done lately is moan moan moan. He should quit his job if he is so unhappy doing it.
Perhaps Randy, except Palmer is saying what everyone else is thinking. I find it hilarious that Wm would mess with the press – in using twitter he must be playing game. Could William’s be petulant about stories of his reclusive wife? I found it amusing today that the Telegraph is using the same photo of Kate for two stories on the same page. They must be running low.
The Cambridges are making it very difficult for him (and other members of the British press) to do his job. He’s been loyal and professional for a very long time. I think we’ve reached a tipping point with the Duke and Duchess of DoLittle.
@Randy – Palmer works for the Daily Express, not a rag you want to piss off (think News of the World’s tame-ish cousin) and he has been in the game for a long time.
Palmer is the only reporter who has the balls at the moment to go public with his grips – saying what others in the royal press pack would love to. The stories these guys must have to tell.
@Wolfie – they’ll be using the same pic as a little passive aggressive dig i.e. she does to little public engagements we don’t have any recent photo’s of the Royal Hermit.
Anyone who works for one of the most racist and anti-everything-good-and-just British rags doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously.
Sometimes change comes from within, Denise. I don’t know Palmer’s politics, but I hesitate to paint everyone in an organization with the same brush.
What I love about Richard is he is one of the few reporters in the press pack who is starting to call William and Kate in their nonsense more and more.
He is very respected by his colleagues and has been in the press game for a long time.
One of my favorite tweets in his Twitter thread today is how the Cambridge’s are losing respect.
RoyalReporter: “I think editors believe rightly or wrongly that she sells papers but I don’t think there’s much respect for the Cambridges now.”
At last, someone has the courage to say it frankly. I want to respect these two. I find they make it difficult.
It is difficult to respect them (The Cambridges). I was one of those people who was looking forward to her public life, doing something constructive. Honestly though, all I see is a Stepford Wife.
I don’t think Palmer is being less than professional here. He’s fed up and speaking up. Frankly, I find that refreshing.
Respect them for what? And who is he? Following them to events and writing about it, boring. What work do they do? The royals go to events,smile,shake hands, boring. Get rid of the queen and the whole monarchy
Fee,
you have very good points, no argument from me!
🙂
She just had a baby!!! Maybe instead of handing off Charlotte and George to nannies she wants to be home with them like a good mom. And for all we know she has PPD or any other post pregnancy health problems. Geez have some empathy.
No one is suggesting she spend 10 hours a day in the salt mines.
No matter what Kate does someone is going to judge her. Until I hear from Kate otherwise, I am going to assume she is doing what is right for her and her children. I don’t know one mother who would want to leave her 4 month old infant at home to do some stupid public appearance. It’s 2015, haven’t we evolved beyond “royal duties?” She doesn’t owe anyone but her children anything.
Franny….if she spent half the time going to a couple of charity visits a week as she does on hair, gym, shopping, she’d be helping her image. As it is, she finds plenty of time to pamper herself away from the kids but not to do her job which is to build public awareness for the disadvantaged, sick, and otherwise deprived people who provide her fucking salary. It’s pathetic that you would refer to public duty as a “stupid public appearance”. Shame on you.
Jaded
No need for this level of aggression.
Franny, she can stay home with her children as long as she wants and as much as she wants, but when the British taxpayers are funding a life of incredible luxury and privilege, then yes, she should work. If she and William don’t want the demands of being key members of the BRF, William can remove himself from the line succession and they can live a fully private life — without the taxpayer funded benefits and luxuries.
What people are reacting to, is that the Cambridges want it both ways — all of the luxury and trappings of royalty without any of the bother.
And she already has nannies, servants and a housekeeper!
Well said, bluhare and Jaded.
@IMO – sorry, I do get riled as a Canadian who helps pay her “salary” and should tone it down.
I agree with Franny! In America, we have no mandatory paid maternity leave — it’s wrong for a number of reasons, but somehow we expect Kate to spend time away from her family during these difficult first few months? If I were her, I’d be focusing on my children and severely limiting work until they were both in school. Every new mother needs to get out and go shopping, etc. It doesn’t matter if she has help, as the mother, she is ultimately responsible for their well-being and their needs are exhausting. I’m not going to buy into this impossible standard for women, no matter how wealthy they are. Some said her “job” was to produce an heir and spare, and she’s done that, now you want her to leave them when they need her most??? Yes, women do it every day — but it causes suffering for many of them, if it is not their choice.
I really don’t feel Jaded is being overly aggressive, IMO. Kate deserves this sort of critique. Kate is a huge disappointment, in my opinion.
Franny
Kate left George as an infant for a vacation. And shouldn’t you want to give back to those funding your lifestyle?
Also, when your only job is really to support a charity you, of your own free will, said you would even once a year, is that too much to ask? Too much to ask? They are just stupid charities wanting to be promoted to fund a good cause. That is sooo stupid, right?
Imo
I like Jaded’s tone. Only because Franny’s comment appears to state they will dismiss any and all arguments countering their own beliefs even if they are the gospel truth filled wth logic and reason.
It’s the image of someone sticking their fingers in their ears and yelling. There’s no point arguing with that, but it does get frustrating at the level of willful ignorance.
Well said Jaded and do not think you were aggressive. I agree, FLORC.
No one is calling for all mothers to follow some rigorous work schedule that takes them from their newborns for hours a day. No one is debating the benefits of maternity leave or holding all motherhood to impossible standards. I don’t know how you would get that from a discussion on royal PR strategy.
As far as evolving beyond “stupid” public appearances, I hardly know what to say. That those stupid appearances are the very reason Kate lives the life she does and why we are even discussing her? That Kate worked long and hard for the privilege of doing them? That they are hardly brutal and she doesn’t have to be away from her very well cared for children for long at all to do them? That, yes, Kate has obligations that reach beyond her children , as do many mothers.
The vigorous defense of one of the most privileged civil servants on the planet is amazing. But have at it if thats your cause.
suze – I wrote the exact same thing below. Why do people defend W&K? I don’t get it. They have such an amazing opportunity, an opportunity millions would die for, and they are wasting it. Yet, they are defended! Why????
In countries where women get paid maternity leave, like Canada and the UK, the women actually have to had worked in the year prior to the birth of the child… and not just a few days a year. Let’s stop pretending that Kate has a real job.
If she wants to spend all her time barricaded at home with the kids, that’s fine, but then she needs to do it on her own income and that of her husband’s and not through Prince Charles. They also must give up the security and other things paid for by taxpayers.
But she is a hypocrite because she had no problem hanging out at Wimbledon for a full day, but could not attend a veteran’s ceremony or any other charity appearances for a few hours.
Just mothers, Call me Al? Not fathers as well? Is it that William can be a good parent while continuing to pursue his professional interests, but Kate cannot because “as the mother, she is ultimately responsible for their well-being and their needs”? *That* is an impossible standard for women.
You’re trying to defend her but don’t you see the pressure and implicit judgement in your words?
We’re also missing a point here: between releasing videos, or maybe releasing some of her art work for charity or privately hosting people , she is entirely capable of working from home. She has sufficient staff to set up everything for her. They were excited to host Brad and Angelina. Snap a few pictures and there’s the workday done.
Yet regardless of babies, she found time to go sit at Wimbledon for hours and chat up a few celebs in the stand.
Jaded
If I were supporting the rf with my hard earned salary, as you do, I would be equally irate. I agree with you about the Cambridges completely – their work ethic is obviously MIA.
Having said that, however, I do think things can get testy around here pretty quickly if we become too invested in getting our points heard. Throwing the f bomb, inferring someone may be a pathetic person by proxy of holding pathetic vviews and telling her she should be ashamed for holding a different view than you are unfortunate barriers to stimulating discourse. We should also keep in mind that not every poster here is a regular or a lurker. They are not as knowledgeable of royal news beyond the fluffy People articles or the Hello! Puff pieces. They shouldn’t be approached so negatively because they usually are just ignorant of the facts – not sugars or turning a blind eye to the truth. We all believed the fairy tale at some point, right?
At any rate, thank you for your kind response. I find it odd that although you expressed maturity and civility about your tone with Franny others have defended your original tone. I’m guessing that is because they agree with your opinions, as I do. But I doubt anyone would want to be addressed as Franny was.
It floors me, too, when people use that argument. We need to defend and protect actual women who are forced to go off to work for 8 hours + whatever commute they have and literally hand their 6-weeks-old (or younger!) babies to underpaid strangers for 10 hours a day, at a huge cost! Those are the women we should feel passionate about, not Kate, who isn’t even expect to work 1 full day A WEEK, who gets more money a year (in various perks) than most of us will see in a lifetime, and who has private, well-trained and well-paid, nannies, cooks, and security.
And actually, most new Moms I know are VERY excited to have a chance to put on a pretty dress and hang out with adults, especially when their babies are already 4 months old (i.e. they don’t need to eat every 2 hours). And if by showing up they could help promote a good cause, I can’t think of many women who’d be reluctant to do so.
IMO – I find it odd that your remarks on tone very odd in context of many of your arguments.
Wow you are all missing the point of what I was saying. She just had a baby 4 months ago! We have NO IDEA what is going on in that house and are purely judging her based off of rumors and gossip! I refuse to judge/criticize a woman to the extent you have with a toddler and infant. She could be experiencing physical or mental health problems that as we all know are very prevalent! IT HAS BEEN 4 MONTHS SINCE SHE GAVE BIRTH GIVE HER A BREAK!!! I guarantee if any of you were in her position you would be doing the same thing.
And to anyone who is a “taxpayer” to the British Royal Family…you pay only 56p. The mere fact that the family exists brings in billions of dollars of tourism revenue, so stop complaining.
Franny, clearly no one is going to convince you that Kate should do more. But that 56p figure only covers the Sovereign Grant. It does not include the cost of security or royal visits, and it does not include the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, which are the property of the British people and held in trust for the monarch and the Prince of Wales. The real cost of the monarchy is almost £300m per year.
She is capable of making appearances and taking meetings because she has done just that. If there was something the matter due to pregnancy, why would they take a meeting in June, never mind four months later? Look at their choices: celebrities and sports.
How do they bring in billions in tourism revenue? Outside of the occasional wedding and a jubilee every ten years, why would anyone travel to the UK for the Windsors rather than the history? Danny Boyle’s Olympic opening was great because it showed how much there is to think about when it comes to the UK rather than this one little family.
Your argument is very ‘job-creator’ ish.
On the 56p answer, first of all it isn’t accurate because it doesn’t include all their expenses but it also doesn’t include lost revenue. For one, national treasures like Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle are being used as residences for this one silly family rather than year-round museums.
But ok, 56p per person -imagine that being spent on education or healthcare -imagine a taxpayer’s money being spent on the taxpayer rather than William’s latest helicopter bill.
I’m sorry – I need to reread my sentences before I post them. Just saying, IMO – very odd.
Franny: the fact that you think we taxpayers contribute just 56p points to your lack of real knowledge about the BRF and belief in the ‘facts’ decimated by their PR machine.
Even if that 56p figure were true, does it not bother you that the calculation that promotes that figure involves every living human being in the UK? Yes, I said human being because that figure uses the census figures which means children, babies, retirees, sick, old, infirm, disabled, mentally and physically unwell, employed or not, homeless etc. It isn’t a figure calculated from tax paying public only. Further, it uses only one of the funding pots used to pay the royals. The smallest one. It doesn’t include all the other funding pots some of which, like security, are considerably large and paid via police’s tax payer budget.
And you know what is galling, every Christmas my local supermarkets runs a food drive asking it’s customers to contribute money or goods towards their food bank. The amount they ask for? 90p
@Franny, how, exactly, is your point being misunderstood?
I am reading it thus: leave Kate alone because she had a baby four months ago. She owes no one anything, outside of her children. Don’t question or criticize anything about the situation. Even the Cambridge PR process, which is what we were discussing.
I disagree with that assertion. Other people do, too. You may not agree with the response, but thems the breaks on the interwebs.
Guaranteeing anyone would do the same thing in this position that you claim we know nothing about and shouldn’t criticize is a puzzling claim. Many woman give birth and are back at work four months later, full time, hard work. So, yes, lots of people do the exact opposite of what Kate is doing.
I do enjoy a contrarian point of view around here, so I do hope you continue to contribute.
I read celebrity gossip for entertainment. I rarely read the comments, but my brief foray into them has shown me that I don’t take these articles nearly as seriously as everyone else does. Remember, this is all GOSSIP and we really don’t know what is going on behind closed doors. The comments on this article isn’t gossip, it’s condemnation and prosecution. So I think I’m just going to keep to other sites that don’t take this stuff so personally.
Kate has decades left to give back to the public. Let her enjoy being a new mom privately if that is what she chooses to do so. I for one am glad she isn’t sacrificing herself for public approval. Plus those kids are so cute.
Wolfie
I’m not exactly sure what you mean without examples or further explanation. I think you may be saying that I am tone deaf in my opinions or that I adopt an aggressive tone in my opinions – again, I’m guessing here. At any rate I hope anyone would call me out if I ever use profanity or insult another poster. I don’t want to be that kind of disrespectful commenter, for sure. I have firm opinions/beliefs but I am not mean or rude. I am, however, capable of accepting criticism and learning from everyone here. So if you do have a particular issue with me I hope you feel comfortable enough to share it with me.
Franny
I believe your heart is in the right place but basically Kate has a contract with the taxpayers, regardless of what they contribute to her lifestyle. She is in a place of high privilege and with that comes responsibility.
Doing a little charity work would mean Kate is sacrificing herself ?
It’s all theorizing. I’ve done more than most, but I’m fully open to being wrong. Kensington Palace sets a pretty heavy narrative and I enjoy analyzing and talking over the information we’re being fed and trying to figure out how much is accurate. But I think we all know that none of us, pro or against, will have our theories confirmed or denied for years if ever. There is a shocking amount of money, access and power around this one small family and how could one resist trying to look beyond what we’re being fed. They are so much more than pictures of expensive clothes and babies.
But prosecution? Not so much when it’s all just words on a website. Discussion is not a bad thing.
If K and W just came out and said she’s a SAHM, not a working royal, and picked up the tab for her security and any expenses currently covered as a tax write-off for Charles -it would go a long way in reducing the criticism. They just need to own their choices. The UK doesn’t owe Kate the privileges she enjoys if she doesn’t work and the Windsors have more than enough money to cover her expenses . When she starts working again in 15 years or so, then the UK will pick up the tab again.
@Franny, Yes, I can see where there is some misunderstanding. If you are interested in royalty for the clothes and the cute children (and there is no shame in that, it’s fun and helps maintain a healthy distance from overanalyzing things that are unknowable), then all this in depth discussion is probably not your thing.
I get what you’re saying about Kate. I don’t agree with it, but you are certainly entitled to your points. And they are as valid as mine, for sure.
Like I said, I hope you continue to contribute. I know these threads can be intense.
There’s the difference, Franny. The royals aren’t “entertainment” in Britain. If you live in the US I can see why *you* would find them entertaining but to a lot of people in Britain who actually pay for them, it’s not entertaining at all. Stick to American sites if that’s what you want and read all about Princess Kate and her beautiful children. That’s not a knock on you either. I totally understand that not everyone wants to talk about them the way we do here. And that’s OK; but here you’ll get some pushback, because some of the commenters actually contribute toward their upkeep.
The Labour party just elected a socialist as head of the party. A vegetarian teetotalling socialist. I would be willing to bet he’s not a big fan of royals sucking on the public teat either but I haven’t read much about him yet.
*insert fact finding mission here*
The UK has 29.3 million income tax payers. The cost of the monarchy if you add the Sovereign Grant, the local government costs associated with visits, the personal protection police bill and the revenues of the two royal duchies, is £300m.
Cost per tax payer per year: £10.24.
I suppose it depends how you look at it. In terms of the national budget, it’s a pittance. In terms of being told it’s 56p, it’s bloody annoying because it’s actually at least 20 times that.
Jaded, we’ve discussed this before. You pay more per person than people in the UK for this ridiculous show. People who have no idea what it is to be Canadian are representing you on the world stage. Meanwhile, you’re also paying for Prime Minister and Governor General of Canada on top of those other costs. Your outrage is understandable.
Bluhare – Jeremy Corbyn is a republican by principle, like me. However, also like me, the monarchy is about number 50 on his list of priorities!
@Sixer, exactly. To put it in context, £300 million is the cost of the UK government’s renewable energy project. It’s the amount of legal aid cuts that sent solicitors and barristers on strike for 52 days over the summer. It’s small in the context of the overall budget, but we’d like to get value for money. The problem is one of accountability – William and Kate spend our money and there appears to be no mechanism for saying, hey, we’d like you to do some work in exchange, please.
Not a debate, IMO, just a gentle reminder.
I’m going to read up on this guy, Sixer. A teetotalling vegetarian!! How can I not like the guy especially if he’s got socialist leanings?
Wolfie
Okay, I see – thank you for your observation and for your politeness. It goes a long way 🙂
Don’t buy that argument Diana,Princess of Wales was out working very soon after giving birth. I’m not saying the Duchess needs to be the same workhorse that Diana was but for crying out loud two per week wouldn’t hurt.
Whoa! This line blew up while I was gone!
So many of you (Blu, LAK, Imo and so many others) Have covered this better than I could.
Franny
There’s no mindless outrage on this topic. It’s as simple as it sounds. A woman who does not live off her own or her husbands private income, but rather funds produced by the public 1 way or another, cannot find the will to work. And by work a photo op once a month for an hour where you only have to show up when you say you will. Nothing more really.
And her own press office tells us she’s personally stated she’s keen to work as soon as she can. She appears able to do many things of her choosing. She just never chooses to honor vets or support the charities she willingly requested to patron.
That is where the comments come from imo.
Why is William’s face expanding???
Shallow gene pool’s kicking in.
*snigger* with that level of inbreeding it’s a miracle they don’t all pop out cross eyed, six fingered and playing a banjo 🙂
On a more serious note, is’nt Charles his own second cousin or something?
frisbee – Charles is his own 2nd cousin. LOL. So to rank royal dynasties by inbreeding #1 Habsburgs, #2 Egyptian pharaohs, #3 Windsors.
Serious question. Does diversifying the gene pool explain the motivation for Peter Philips getting with Autumn from Canada and Fred hooking up with Mary in a bar in Sydney?
There’s an inbreeding pun in there somewhere with evolution, devolution and revolution, and the new species of proto-human discovered in South Africa. But I’m dealing with an apple mountain and haven’t got time to make it funny!
Heh! Perhaps the inner self has finally materialised in the outer. Ugly is as ugly does.
Sixer, I just spent $20 on a little toy that clamps to the sink and peels, cores, and slices the apple into even slices. The apple actually comes out in a spiral, and the thickness of the slice is adjustable. I have four 40lb boxes of apples on my back porch. I’m going to eat one box, give one box away and slice and freeze the rest. I am going to make apple butter(yum) in my slow cooker too.
ot;That proto-human discovery was a fascinating read. I too wonder how they got in.
Lady D – I need one of those! I have about two of your boxes to deal with today. Ours aren’t good keepers but they’ll last a couple of weeks in the fridge. They’re sweet so you don’t need any sugar if cooking them down for pie/crumble filling, so I’ll do that with some. And I like to slice, sprinkle with cinnamon then dehydrate. The dried slices keep for ages and I stick ’em in lunch boxes.
Whoar Sixer, I’m coming round to your place toot sweet – those apple crisps sound gorgeous!
Sixer, I got my toy at the hardware store in the canning/preserving section. There was a fair selection of these gadgets, but mine is steel and will last forever.
How long do you dehydrate your apple slices, Sixer? I’ve never dried fruit and I would like to try it.
Lady D – I cut quite thick slices – 1/4 inch? And I have a dehydrator (bought for a song at an auction house!) – I leave them in overnight, so at least 10 hours but probably more like 12. Not sure how long they’d take in an oven.
MinnFinn, as the story goes, Queen Margrethe wanted her sons to pick foreign wives for PR reasons. She picked a foreign husband and that fed into it too. There was talk she thought (naively) that a foreign wife brought no PR baggage because they came from another country. What, reporters in Denmark don’t have access to information about other countries?
We’re not supposed to know of Mary’s trip to the bar in Sydney hitting first on Felipe, then Nikolaos, and finally Fred. We’re not supposed to know that Alexandra was a successful businesswoman who liked to party with younger men. Fred and Joachim married foreigners (twice in J’s case). I think Margrethe’s preference for foreign brides influenced them, not for genetics, but for PR.
Ha!!
Hey Sixer, howzabout making some apple cider, then we can whip up some doughnuts!
LOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!! Your comment, and responses to it are absolutely hilarious. This is why I come into Celebitchy, the laughs!
It’s his jawline that is widening. No doubt from gritting his teeth ferociously.
Then feigning a smile, William bares his teeth like a wild animal, directed to the press.
He’s going to grind his teeth down and develop a lot of jaw problems such as TMJ, if he doesn’t have that condition already. Hopefully, he wears a retainer at night to keep the royal teeth from gnashing in his sleep. At this point, he needs to wear one 24/7 the way he’s grinding away.
That jawline is the Spencer jawline. All the Spencers have it except Harry and George (Sarah’s son)
+1
News flash, William: The purpose of your charity appearances is not to inform YOURSELF about the work being done, but the public. Therefore, charitable appearances are generally announced with press releases so as to increase the amount of information available to the media for coverage of the event, thereby raising the public profile of that charity. It’s not always about you, dummy.
He’ll never understand that, which is a shame.
I know we all say it ad nauseam, but when I think of the things any of us on Celebitchy could accomplish for charities and good causes if we had the type of reach, exposure and privilege that the Cambridges have and then compare that to how little they do… well, you can see what happens. I become incapable of typing a coherent thought.
Well, as for Kate, what could we expect from someone who spent ten years content to wait around for a marriage proposal? The signs have been there from the beginning with these two and, yes, it’s incredibly frustrating that they can be content with contributing so little.
I hope the press continues to call them on it.
Exactly this!
Yup.
Being a good sponsor for his charities doesn’t seem to matter to him that deeply. Although, his father seems the same way sometimes.
Their press office DID announce it. This toddler of a journalist just wasn’t happy he wasn’t informed FIRST. Who’s the real dummy?
Although many journalists use Twitter these days, newsrooms (and editors who assign stories) still operate on press releases. The growing reliance on press releases in the face of newsroom cutbacks, in fact, sort of makes this *short-notice Twitter announcement even more of an oversight and/or snub by W’s press office, as Palmer points out in his Twitter feed — where the totality of his comments look, to me, far more like ‘insider media analysis’ lines than a toddler meltdown.
* I actually just looked at the Hello Magazine story linked elsewhere and apparently the event is still 10 days away, so that isn’t entirely accurate–but a press office that blasts an event announcement into generic cyberspace (instead of directly to newsrooms), without having a press release with more information, comes across pretty unprofessionally, as far as basic PR 101. I think they should have waited on the announcement until the “IT issues” were worked out, or let the charity announce it with details and then confirm it.
Emma, just a reminder that press releases are designed to communicate only to the press, who in turn, break the news to the public. Twitter bypasses journalists and communicates directly with the public.
If this is your job and the industry you cover suddenly decides it will release its own news, photos and information directly to the public via Twitter, then what is your job other than entirely obsolete? You would likely be especially peeved, if, for years you have played ‘nice’ and only reported things you knew would be acceptable to this industry you cover. Of course the royal press corps would perceive this as a huge professional discourtesy.
There is more at issue here than a mere tweet about an event. Recall Christmas 2012 when Kate was pregnant with George. She was photographed at church by Reuters and several outlets ran the photos (including IIRC, the DM – briefly). Kate looked a bit green and her hair was pulled back in a messy bun – it was written somewhere that her hairstylist was on hols. Within hours of publication, the photos disappeared off british media sites. Can you imagine having the power to wipe out any public images of yourself published nationally, because you had a bad hair day? And imagine how peeved the editors of any news sites must have been – being forced to remove stories they already published. Even a tabloid would complain of losing face in front of their readers. Here is the explanation provided by the DM: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2253223/A-baffling-request-Duke-Duchess-Cambridges-public-appearance-private.html#ixzz2GAR2PymE
Take away their ability to photograph in public places, take away their freedom to publish others’ photos, take away their ability to announce any new information….basically take away their jobs…and then take a chunk of their taxes to help pay your electricity bill. #poorjason indeed.
Take away the usual mundane stuff and itwon’t be long before they start filling the gap with more juicy stuff along the lines of ‘Can’t Cope Kate’ and ‘William works 3 days on and 10days off in he’s new air ambulence job’ or ‘William holidaying in Spain without Kate, on a boar hunt with Jecca’ . William is shooting himself in the foot with his ‘I’m using my own PR people and twitter from now on’….. I bet Charles is laughing up his sleeve at his inept cry baby’s media fumbles.
#PoorJason
But seriously – lately, I’ve been going back and forth between being the bitchiest of all bitches and wondering if Duchess Dolittle is recovering from a bit of plastic surgery this summer; or, if she may genuinely be struggling with depression. Obviously, this is just armchair commentary, but on my absolute worst days, I will struggle to get myself out of bed, and any sort of plans completely fly out the window.
This doesn’t exactly explain the ten years before she became Duchess and fluttered about without any semblance of a proper job, but I recall a couple of engagements where she looked like she was going to burst into tears before turning on the smile. Reminds me a little of Britney.
If that’s the case, she will have all my sympathy for that and I hope she’s getting help for it.
I thought about postpartum too. The same thing happened to my sister. She married a man who had enough money where she could do what she wanted all day, so it wasn’t much. I will admit it was hard listening to her talk about getting to knit on the couch all day while I was slogging through a master’s degree. But then she had her daughter and she really spiraled. She had two nannies to care for the baby, a maid to take care of the house and someone to come in and do laundry and she just went into free fall. I don’t think my sisters’ previous laziness invalidates her postpartum depression. She needed help (and is doing better). I have to wonder if Kate is experiencing the same thing. I don’t think there is any excuse for William though.
Call me cynical, but I think we’re being far too generous with this speculation. It’s a pattern of behavior. It’s not something that is emerging now.
PoliteTeasipper
That’s unfortunate for your sister. I hope she’s overcome it.
Generally what happens with PPD is you could be at higher risk if you already have or had had depression. And being sedentary all day doesn’t help.
We know Kate isn’t sedentary. She keeps active with working out, scuba, sketching, cook courses. Just rarely a charity visit. Visit and not work. Exceptions being galas and celebs or vacations. She’s ready at the drop of a hat for those and appears lively. And her shopping visits have store clerks talking about how she talks and haggles with glee.
It just doesn’t ring of PPD.
Toss in her history of never liking that work and always finding the energy or healthy to do what she wants it rings completely false.
I see women with PPD more often than i’d like for an aspect of my job and it’s gutwrenching what they go through. You can see between emotions a twinge of agony in their faces. Kate if anything looks bored like she can’t wait to be elsewhere.
It is impossible to know what is going on behind those sausage curls. I’m wondering if the marriage is in trouble.
Yep we wonder about waity full stop she seems to put on this illness but is always fine when she is shopping we think she is totally useless and has enough staff running around in fzct an army of staff… plus her mother and family are always around her
hve no sympathy w her laziness
She has no problems going on her x-th vacation to Mystique. She is simply lazy.
Depression is a horrible, invisible illness and little understood in the general population. I have all the sympathy in the world for anyone who has struggled with it especially as some people are more susceptible than others due to a cruel genetic accident.
On a bad day it can indeed be a struggle to get out of bed and to achieve any level of motivation. Depression also involves losing all interest in previously enjoyed activities like tennis for example and also a loss of interest in one’s own appearance.
I would’nt like to say categorically that Kate doesn’t suffer from depression but it strikes me as relevant that she can still undertake activities like shopping, grooming, Wimbledon, visiting hunky sailors when it suits her. She doesn’t seem to cry off from activities she enjoys, only the one’s that are a bit of a ‘chore’. As for the nearly bursting into tears? I’ve also noticed that and even had a spasm of concern, but on reflection concluded they were probably tears of boredom.
This is frever ongoing and it’s upsetting people will use horrible illnesses to excuse the actions of 2 perfectly healthy, but lazy people.
Each excuse has a direct counter to it. Kate appears at ease with her life and her children. Even her work she chooses. She looks excited to meet sailors and actors. Not withdrawn. Her only refusal is for her charities that require less fanfare.
That is an insult to those suffering with anxiety, depression, and PPD. It’s foolish line of thought to suggest it and shows minimal understanding on the topics.
And william… He’s worse. He known better and acts like there’s no way out for him, but he’s not willing to step up or step aside.
End rant.
With all due respect, FLORC, we have no idea whether or not she might be suffering from mental health issues. And I say this as someone who is 100% in the ‘not a fan’ camp.
She wouldn’t be the first woman to marry into that family and have trouble coping.
Florc: I love it when you go shouty crackers! But yes I agree, I can get quite stabby over it as well.
@Mich you’re right, we can’t say for certain and I think I pointed that out in my post. I’m going on what I know about depression – which is a reasonable amount given my background in Psychology and working with people with serious mental health issues – and comparing that to her behaviour that I can see.
It is impossible to turn a serious mental illness on and off. Clinical depression means losing all interest in all previous activities, it means emotionally shutting down and not engaging with anyone – including close relatives.
It strikes me as odd that Kate can make public appearances when she is engaged, laughing, animated that’s not something she could pretend to be with depression, it’s not an illness that let’s you pretend to be anything other than you are, which is pretty miserable. She also continues to shop, chat’s to assistants, goes to the gym and takes care of her appearance. None of this squares with what I know about the illness.
I might think she Is depressed except that her relationship with Harry seems to have changed so much. They used to seem so close and cute together. He was always trying to make her laugh. The last times they were in public together, it seemed frosty at best and rude on the balcony.
I think she or her family have done something or are doing something that upsets him and he is pretty transparent so it shows. If she were depressed, I would think he would be compassionate.
Mich
What i’m getting “shouty crackers” (ty frisbee!) about is not insulting someone who might be suffering.
It’s that her behavior has not changed from day 1. And she appears very comfy in events that are glam. Even refusing to cancel her appearance when the event itself is cancelled.
Should she be suffering from a lack of coping it only appears when she doesn’t want to go. Vacations and tours or meeting celebs put whatever condition she has on the backburner.
I’m more against these cries she has PPD. This only sprung up to counter the reclusive narrative. Never before.
Kate truly appears as a healthy woman and mother who just doesn’t want to work. That does not stop her from meeting people, exercising, hanging out with celebs, and vacationing. It’s just the latest justification to excuse her lack of action with the chaities she patrons, but finds time for other things.
And in my line of work I see PPD in all extremes. Maybe that’s why I find this so insulting. It’s serious and not to be belittled to excuse existing behavior long before children came along.
@Nancy – i agree with the Kate/Harry relationship change and i think it’s down to how his brother has changed since he married Kate. He was never this bad and we can all see that her family has a negative influence over him and this clearly upsets Harry. Willy has become the Middleton puppet – he’s openly throwing shade as his family while actively (and publicly) supporting hers and am sure the Mids encourage it as they are so desperate for the titles. Look at all the times Granny Carole has been papped at close range with George (pap shots that have been clearly set up by the Mids) – Charles has to publicly whine to the press to get the same sort of opportunities. Wills is always going on about his privacy but yet when the photo’s of Carole with George at the Zoo and beach came out he didn’t complain but when ones of George and the nanny comes out he threatens the press. He’s under the control of Carole – who is the power behind that marriage.
Betty
Perhaps you’re right but point of correction: the Carole/George beach photos were part of the Cambridge complaint. The palace said that a photographer hid in the sand dunes or something and snapped pictures.
I don’t think Kate has depression, but I do think it’s possible for people not to be able to tell that someone has it (i.e no one would have guessed Diana had depression until she admitted to it. She was always smiling in public appearances and always looked well groomed, probably because her public role demanded it). I think it is possible to hide depression. I think there are people who have it that you wouldn’t suspect of having it. Though, as I said, I don’t think Kate does.
I think you can definitely hide depression. However, it depends what type of depression. I have mild to moderate depression most of the time, and I’ve learnt to cope with it. But every once in a while it spirals down and there’s no faking it.
Ooh bluhare that’s tough, you have my sympathy, hang on I’ll just fetch a box *hugs*.
Bluhare
If you’re comfortable sharing may I ask what therapeutic approaches to your depression have worked for you? By therapeutic I mean non- pharmaceutical, of course. My bff and sister are depressed and I’m desperately looking for holistic ways to help/support them. If this is a personal boundary I understand, of course.
As to the discussion it is also helpful to remember that mental illness isn’t the same every day. Sometimes a person seems to be coping very well and can lead an almost asymptomatic life – then a trigger can debilitate their otherwise natural rhythms. I think Kate may trend towards anxiety rather than depression but how can we possibly say there is no way she is depressed? As if wandering around the Gap or getting one’s hair done signified a stress free outlook. If this were the case none of the women in the suburbs would be on antidepressants.
frisbee, the very thought of poetry reading on the island cheers me right up!
Imo, getting outside of yourself. Depression can be very self involved and perversely egotistical. Focusing out rather than in helps me.
You can hde depression, but not as well as you’d think. And people suspected Diana’s depression. It just didn’t get widely talked about because much was easily hidden without the internet as it is now.
And Kate does know how to put on a brave face. Just look at 2007 break up campaign. She also lets it slip. Her emotions get out and you see glimpses.
Depression is a possibility. I’m suspecting it’s likely with her habits and being so withdrawn. Being it’s possibly existed before pregnancy It’s not PPD if that is the case.
I can only relate this. I can’t stand my WASP mother in law. I will avoid seeing her and speaking to her at all costs. FMORC thought I had depression. I just got really anxious and sad when I had to see her. This isn’t applied to everyday stuff. Just to that. I suspect Kate has this style of thinking to things outside her wants. And isn’t willing to invest the time needed to make it part of her comfort zone.
But i’m speculating like we all are. Arm chair only. Since it’s only arm chair I still can’t stand people dragging in serious conditions to justify known behavior.
Side point. There’s a whitaker quote out there on Diana. She got the Prince, but was it the Prince she wanted? Or something like that. Kind of sounds the same.
Bluhare
Thank you for this. I feel like this will work but am afraid my efforts will end in disaster – my sister, especially, becomes defensive when she suspects we are trying to help her. Maybe I’m selfishly putting my fear before her health but if I mishandle my approach she will just continue to turn inward.
FLORC
I love your last points.
Re. the Harry relationship. During the engagement period, Harry said on record that he was looking forward to getting to know her. No matter what sugary stories had been spread around about her taking care of both brothers and being close to the family – Harry proved it wrong with his own statement. He called her The Limpet like everyone else in the set. For whatever reasons, William kept Kate away from his family – including his brother – for a decade. I don’t think a close relationship built up after the wedding, with W&K off in Wales and Harry in the Army.
Harry appears to put people at ease. He goes to the person who looks uncomfortable and tries to make them feel better. This has been shown many times. If William was ignoring his wife as usual during a public event (Jubilee, Olympics), Harry might step in and try to make her feel less of an outsider. That is what he does for anyone.
From photos you can tell Middleton is a flirt. She flirts with whatever attractive man comes along. Ben Ainslie. Her seatmate at the Olympics. Her brother-in-law. That is the way she acts around men. Slam away but photos and body language show it. When she acted that way around Harry multiple times, tongues wagged and stories were written.
If there is a visible cooling, it could be that Harry has wised up but I doubt it. He’s probably as stupidly loyal to his brother as ever. If anyone was reprimanded for the Kate-Harry photos during events it would have been Harry. No one would dare reprimand William’s snowflake of a wife or he’d pitch another fit. If Harry is visibly cooler now, my guess there continues to be no ReallyClose relationship between the three of them and/or he was ordered to be that way for PR sake.
I suggested that here too one time and was quickly scolded for it–it’s the continuous use of the word “coax” with DK that triggers that thought. The thing about a depression like that is that everything can feel overwhelming. There’s a threshold that you can manage, usually things that you were accustomed to doing before, and beyond that, it feels like too much. Or you keep trying to snap out of it by doing things that previously made you happy. OR– and this feels too cynical for 9/11–she’s fine, enjoying time with her children and they’ll later claim ppd to get the press off their backs.
I’ve also wondered about depression.
Depression I sort of buy.
Kate was unhappy with how William treated her and she had no foundation to challenge him. Add in the way she shops to maybe fill a void and still cancels everything if he requests her company. Or the opposite. As Kate was living with her parents and moved out of the cottage. That could be a lonely existence and cause depression.
I’m still erring against it, you can’t be selectively animated and happy suffering from depression. She doesn’t appear to have withdrawn from her family, she hasn’t stopped enjoying the glamour and access of her position, she’s still looking after herself, it just doesn’t fit the profile. And if she’s not depressed then I totally agree with Florc and attributing her selfishness and laziness to depression is unfair and unkind towards those who are genuinely struggling with it.
Frisbee
Kate notwithstanding, depression doesn’t affect everyone the same way. There is no check list of symptoms or behaviors that land us in one camp or another. It is a disservice to those who suffer from mental illness but do not fit neatly into the realm of armchair psychology.
frisbee
My thoughts too. And imo to suggest a new theory as to why she doesn’t and hasn’t worked as more of she “can’t” work is a bit insulting.
There’s not much f anything to show any suffering. Every point brought up as a case can be countered by a dozen other points. And for the majority of these justifications it appears they originate on sites from fans.
I sympathize with those who truly suffer from PPD and depression, but Kate gets no pity party from me. I’m no expert but I doubt that she suffers from these conditions. She’s too selective in her choice of appearances and is extremely animated and involved in these engagements. No shrinking violet or downcast demeanor then! She has a history of lazy work ethics and seems to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it, ergo the fun activities. When she’s forced on a minimal level to do the serious, nitty-gritty appearances, she stays for the minimum amount of time and then cuts and runs, usually for some shopping therapy afterwards. Face it, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is a duck. It’s amazing how people will twist themselves into knots to excuse this lazy, entitled and self-indulgent woman who just doesn’t want to work.
Double post.
Imo: Actually there is a list of symptoms that are considered to be signifiers of depression that are widely used in the UK and the US.
http://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/basics/mental-illness/depression.htm
Five or more of the symptoms need to be present for at least two weeks before depression can be diagnosed. Like any mental, or indeed physical, illness it would be impossible to diagnose without definitions.
I made it clear in both of the above post that I would not categorically state Kate did not have depression but that based on my experience of working with people who suffer from the illness I veer towards the position that she has not. This is not ‘armchair’ psychology as you so charmingly put it but an honest opinion based on observations available to me. You have access to the same information but hold a different opinion fine that is your prerogative, but I think you will find I am equally as entitled to hold mine.
@ Florc – thanks I appreciate that. It’s amazing isn’t it how we can have a perfectly reasonable discussion without resorting to snide personal comments, I wish everybody else could do this.
Well, depression comes in many forms. Some people are incapacitated by it, and others still function but a low level, feeling tired and anhedonia all the time. The longer it goes on untreated, the worse it gets.
So many of us have a hard time not just getting out bed, but finding the will to get help. And then there’s finding good help itself – and affording it. That’s why if Kate is suffering from anxiety and depression, postpartum or generalized, I don’t quite understand why she hasn’t sought treatment when she has the means and access.
Also, imagine the world of good she could do by going public with her condition, increasing awareness of mental health and working with charities that support this?
Correction ‘I wish everybody else could do this’ should have read ‘I wish some other people could do this’ – most posters on these threads are polite, intelligent, thought provoking and funny, it’s why I keep coming back.
Frisbee, I totally agree about nice discussions without the snide asides. Remember I was telling you about the kilt fiasco on another blog? I was called a bully and a barracuda over that one by the person who made the comments I objected to. There’s no need for stuff like that at all. If I gave a damn about the person making the comments I might even have got upset. 🙂
@bluhare – unnecessary, unpleasant and upsetting actually. I make some wicked comments about celebrities but try and avoid making comments about other posters. I slipped up once, lost my rag (which in itself is stupid) and made a personal comment to somebody on a Henry Caville thread ages ago and have regretted it ever since (I’m still convinced I was arguing with a PR) I did go all Boudicca on somebody who called me ‘ignorant’ about the British flag, I think it was Murphy (soz Murphy TOTALLY over-reacted) so ok we all screw up occasionally but most of us try not to.
Oh and this is Boudicca – Pagan Warrior Queen
http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8457/8033683370_0586a05c54.jpg
Just like me, except I’m a lot shorter, wearing a Tiara and clinging on to a pair of stilts and whipping all the little Sixlets ahead of me 😀
Frisbee
There was nothing personally negative about my response. I have contributed to literature for the DMSIV and think you may be conflating diagnostic criteria with mental health nosology. Regardless, what we are engaging in on this thread is indeed armchair psychology and it can be adverse to some extant. I am glad to see that the opinions here are at least informed but we are not professionals. I’m sorry this offends you but it is true. And yes, I’m sorry that the tone of my response seems to have upset you. That was not my intention.
Back when I was in school it was Boadicea. She’s had a make-over since then, frisbee! But I just have one word: WOAD!!!
Sometimes I let things get to me, but I really do ask myself whether I like the person who said whatever it was, and if I don’t I write the rudest response I can think of, then delete it and not respond. If I like the person I apologize and feel terrible. Then I follow them around being nice and really aggravate them.
Or I just say bugger it. Because I have never ever overreacted IN MY LIFE. 😉
Frisbee
That image of you and the sixlets is awesome!
And I think we all get carried away at times intentionally and not. Water off a ducks back. Right?
As Frisbee and FLORC have been trying to get across there IS a check list of symptoms you have to have in order to be diagnosed with depression (whether mild or severe). It’s a medical illness just like Diabetes, or heart disease or migraines. Mental health specialists don’t go around offering antidepressants to anyone who claims they are depressed. In the US doctors and psychologists use the DSM checklist. http://www.allaboutdepression.com/dia_01.html
No matter how “atypical” your depression or chest pain or stroke symptoms are, you will have a set of behaviors that point to the diagnosis. Kate based on all public information does not show any pattern of depression just similar lazy behavior that she has exhibited since she met William in college. Additionally if she had a legit health issue Jason the PR guy would ride it for all it’s worth to get public sympathy AND he wouldn’t be trying so hard to get us to believe she really is going to be working soon. As Freud said “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”. As in Kate and Wills are just laziness and entitlement mixed together with no hidden alternative medical explanation IMO. But since they are a rich, fairly attractive white couple people will always give them the benefit of the doubt a million and one times and provide sympathy. We have been socialzed that way.
Original TC
Thank You!
I like your Cigar reference. I’ve been using Occam’s Razor, but not all seem to get the reference.
And I really am annoyed as a poster and a professional who has to have a hand in helping patients deal with depression and PPD that it’s the latest justification (by fans and fair weathered readers) as to why she can’t work. She’s been this way since she was covered by the press over a decade ago.
And people need to stop assuming new things to explain the same old behavior unless there’s new info.
You are welcome @FLORC:) I too have background professional knowledge on the topic and it was frustrating to read people pushing back with uneducated opinions as you and Frisbee offered FACTUAL professional information about PPD and clinical depression. I can’t think of one respectable psychiatrist, psychologist or OB/GYN doc disagreeing with the wonderful wealth of info you two stated.
I have a feeling that if it were PPD, then they’d announce it or use an indirect source to leak it. After all, the (alleged) HG was put out to the press from whatever source. So why would they be shy about PPD when they let the HG story go around uncontested?
Also, like the HG story, the PPD story could be used as an excuse for why Kate can’t come out to work, is reclusive, and can only go on self-indulging trips, like for shopping, to the hair salon, trips to Scotland and the Caribbeans, sporting events, etc.
Anyhoo, it’s odd that there are medical excuses being put forth to explain her self-indulgent laziness at certain, particular periods of her life when she’s been like this her entire adult life.
Good points, it is such a good reason (not excuse!) not to be able to carry out public duties why haven’t they leaked it? They don’t have to do a huge tell all, they could just say ‘she’s not very well’ and let people draw their own conclusions and even muster some sympathy.
I totally agree, Frisbee. Just think of the goodwill she’d get by acknowledging she’s not perfect and she struggles as well.
I don’t think she has depression, they announced she’d be on maternity leave like this way before she even had the kid. She’s just entitled and LAZY.
Surely her mother is taking care of her.
Oh no, are you telling me that Royal reporters might have to step away from the trough and actually do some, you know, reporting? Perish the thought.
I’ve always said this. The glee that the Cambridges are being called out seems to cloud any real criticism of the games media plays. Holding back the dirt because William is a jerk makes the lot of them look like spoiled children. If you’ve got news – report it.
By all means criticize the media (even though it’s a small segment doing any calling out at all) but the fact remains that royals exist on good PR. Even with social media, it’s hard to do this without co-opting the traditional media.
Successful royals understand this. Royals in the Netherlands – the most expensive royal house on the planet, in a tiny, egalitarian country – work with the media to perpetuate their “in it for the public good” image.
In the aftermath of Diana’s death, the Queen herself was almost brought to her knees by the vicious press about her. The old bird took the lesson and applied it well.
It’s a game, a tedious one for some, but there it is. Play it or lose everything.
Alienating the press corp who perpetuates your myth and your very cushy, happy existence, is a bad move.
But that’s not really fair, Imo. Like it or not, we all know there’s an arrangement between the BRF and the British press. The press sticks largely to puff pieces and the schtick the Palace puts out in return for being the favoured ones in terms of early looks at announcements, photo releases and the like.
As we all know by now, I’m a republican so dislike this arrangement profoundly – it’s a vestigal arrangement for a deference that belongs to long gone days.
But that doesn’t matter. The fact is that it exists. And this guy has every right to moan if his side is keeping up the agreement and theirs isn’t.
It won’t end well. Look at the last time it collapsed when the Wales’s marriage broke up.
Understanding that it exists, it still makes me cringe to see him shine a light on it, sort of like showing how the sausage is made… He still thinks of himself as a “journalist” instead of a flack. So whining about this feels unseemly to me (and I’m American! in the land of Donald Trump where few things are unseemly.)
I agree it looks ugly. But I think the fault is with the Cambridges, you know? They can’t actively prevent an entire cadre of journalists is from doing the jobs they’re employed to do and expect them to carry on with Deference As Normal.
I use the term journalist loosely – as we all know, they are stenographers. But the BRF *want* them to be stenographers. The last thing they want is actual journalistic scrutiny.
I’m seriously convinced that Normal Bill is even more of a dunce than the rest of them. #poorjason and his IT excuses schmexcuses.
@ Birdix he’s shining a light on it to point out exactly how the Cambridge’s are not upholding their end of the bargain – and to issue veiled threats of consequences for them. We are used to reading between the lines in the UK, the press hint at what they mean but never actually coming straight out and say it. For his part William plays silly games like failing to issue proper statements to get them riled up. It’s all a bit pathetic but points to deeper, more serious issues about the Cambridge’s roles and their attitudes of ‘whatever work means’ (nods to the Celebitchy person I stole that from!) and just how long the press will hold fire before getting seriously nasty. It’s called ‘Brinkmanship’ and that’s exactly what they are all doing right now, each side pushing a little each time to see how far they can go before the other calls all out war.
Sixer
If I can just remember that royal reporters are extensions of royal PR then my judgmental stance softens a bit. But per your breakdown Palmer et al are not real journalists and William is undermining his own privileged existence, no?
Imo – I would regard the royal press pack as a combination of celeb/gossip correspondents and court stenographers. If we start saying “journalist” there are all sorts of investigative connotations, which certainly don’t apply to covering the royals in the sense we are talking about here. Constitutional/funding matters aren’t covered by them, for example.
So yes, Normal Bill is undermining himself. Because without the deferential arrangements historical to the press pack, his Twitter account alone cannot sustain public goodwill – well, maybe it could, but only if he was pulling his charitable/public service weight, which I think we can all agree he isn’t.
Sixer
Well said.
It feels like blackmail, to me… give us what we want or else. This guy looks bad when he throws out these veiled threats.
Or else what? They start reporting all they were asked not to report? All the scandals got set aside as long as the press were tossed scraps.
If anything balance will be restored.
This appears like William believes he’s untouchable. He was raised with blanket protection from the press. If he plays this game he’ll be kicked into reality swiftly.
Blackmail? Try “reality”.
It’s not really blackmail, this is about the Cambridge’s failure to uphold their end of a bargain that helps keep them in a position of privilege they clearly enjoy. Everybody in the world know’s there’s no such thing as a free lunch – except William who wants the privilege but not the obligations that go with it.
I fear William will have to learn the hard way that he needs the press. He seems to resent them so intensely. . . . He doesn’t seem to see the privilege of his position and the role the media plays in building that up for him.
The problem with William is,he wants the pres on HIS TERMS….and that’s not how the worlds press operates.
In the past William has had his people corner a columnist and demand to know she was writing negative things about Kate and told her what a Role model Kate is and how she should write that instead. .LOL
William is such a hypocrite. He wants press on HIS Terms.
I would have thought Will and Kate had a better sense of duty than they are currently displaying. It’s really odd since these royal obligations are not a surprise to either of them.
It’s beyond disappointing, isn’t it?
Yes. No sense of duty or self preservation almost.
I am curious as to how William can possibly keep this up. Once HM is gone Charles will be far too busy to save him and the gloves will come off.
Exactly.
It’s almost as if he resents the “predestination” of his position and is, in his own way, rebelling against it. My own sense of William is that he doesn’t really feel any sense of responsibility or duty or privilege. I think his position feels like a burden to him. As a result, he can’t make the most of it.
Poor baby, imagine if he was really born into a hard-knock life where he’d have to get up every single day and work for a living, or wonder where the money will come from to pay the bills, feed his kids or afford medical care. But that’s not his version of the aristocratic normal lifestyle. Cry me a river!
Hey William–despite who your mother is the press can make you a villain over night if they want!! So quit the crap and get to work!
Palmer’s a pretty respected guy, too. This isn’t that douchy pap guy throwing a fit because William won’t let him photograph their kid. I am really looking forward to this one.
But another thing. William’s doing an engagement to back an anti-bullying campaign? Isn’t that Kate’s bailiwick? I thought that was one of those things she was so passionate about because of being bullied herself. (Note: Yes, I do know some dispute the childhood bullying, but for purposes of this comment, I’m going with it.) But her HUSBAND goes?
It is related to Diana.
According to Hello (not the best source but there it is)
“Prince William will be making a visit in support of his late mother Princess Diana’s anti-bulling campaign, the Kensington Palace has confirmed. The engagement was announced via Twitter on Thursday: “The Duke of Cambridge will visit @HammersmithAcad to support the @DianaAward’s #Back2School Anti-bullying Campaign on 21 September.”
William will meet youngsters at west London’s Hammersmith Academy in support of the award-winning charity founded in 1999, two years after Diana passed away, to tackle bullying and social exclusion.
The award, which was set up as a legacy to Diana, and her belief that young people have the power to change the world for the better, also provides training, mentoring and anti-bullying ambassador programmes. The awards are presented to young people, including volunteers, carers and fund-raisers.
No doubt the charity holds a special place in William’s heart – it is the only one remaining British charity that carries his late mother’s name.”
Seriously? Only one charity using Diana’s name? In that entire British kingdom, her name only shows up on one charity? Flabbergasting news. I thought her name would be all over Britian.
Lady D, everything from the DM should be taken with a huge pinch of salt and then some – more, they have a horrible agenda. Even so you might find this article interesting.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2196591/Princess-Diana-The-firm-won-Diana-erased-history.html
Not a charity but there’s still the Cafe Diana in Notting Hill.
I don’t understand this. The DM throws in all sorts of cute Diana pictures when discussing the royal family, yet she has no legacy other than one charity? It seems like she is used and erased at the same time.
I guess the Firm did win. Sad. Thanks for the link, frisbee.
No, the Firm didn’t and won’t win because they can’t erase the memory of Diana from our hearts.
Wolfie: The Firm do seem to be trying to deliberately erase her while William and Harry are trying to keep her memory going. William as lever/ emotional blackmail to get his own way and Harry seems to be trying to honour her memory with his charity work (no wonder he’s far more popular!) It must cause tensions in the family and I’m wondering if this is a major source of contention between William and Charles.
I don’t see it as trying to erase her – more like trying to move on. Its been almost 20 years, time to put the past behind us and stop living in the shadows of a ghost.
I was looking at The Princess Grace Awards event in Monaco and The Palace goes all out, it’s an wonderful night honoring Princess Graces love of the Arts, charity, etc., they give scholarships, assistance to those in need , help the poor, support artistic dreams and goals.
Also Princess Charlene has her own charity in her name.
I don’t get William , with the example his mother set with her charitable causes and royal duties , he seems so disinterested in his role and doing charity work. It’s as if he and Kate do things begrudgingly.
The Firm isn’t trying to erase Diana. If anything, it’s the inability of William, Kate and Harry to get their acts together as a team that has allowed the charitable inheritance of Diana to die.
The Diana, Princess of Wales Charitable Foundation ran from 1997 to 2012, closing as a continuing staffed foundation in late 2012.
In March 2013, The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry became the legal owner of the Fund in order to safeguard the Fund’s name and any further income donated to the Fund in the future.
So the younger Wales have control of Diana’s name for charitable initiatives and can do with it as they please. Currently they do not please to do anything with it.
Suze I had no idea they had control of her name! So Normal Bill hasn’t just squandered all the good will of the public he had when he first got married, he’s pretty much squandered his mother’s legacy of good will as well. I have very low expectations of him but I didn’t realise he was quite that dense.
@Frisbee, more accurately, they have control of the Diana, Princess of Wales Charitable Foundation name. It was a blanket organization that funded many of Diana’s favorite charities.
I do not know the legalities of a private organization attaching Diana’s name to anything, even anything charitably inclined. I have a feeling that legal action would soon be threatened.
Frisbee – I appreciate the link you posted above about the erasure of Diana. Although we may not know if her legacy is a point of contention between the Queen, Charles and his sons, we do know, that they need to discuss it. I would call that awkward.
I’m not sure why this man is so upset. This is not the cure for cancer or a solution to the Middle East crisis we’re talking about. Who really cares what William and Kate do? (or don’t do.)
… the people whose tax dollars are funding their lifestyle of privilege?
. . . Tax pounds 🙂
Pedant moment of the day. I’ll return to my cave, now.
@Amelia
See how irate they make me? I can’t even properly discuss currency!
The people who pay for them.
Well, he cares about the communications and PR department of the apparently staffless (!) Normal Cambridges. Because, like, covering them is his job. What a weirdo. Moaning about being unable to do his job.
My BEST thing about that was that the excuse given was “IT problems”. They can post on Twitter but they can’t email a press release? “Only Twitter was working, chaps, sorry.” Deary me.
I saw that “IT problems” excuse too. Someone who thinks a fax machine is modern technology must have come up with that one.
It’s Normal Bill just blatantly playing silly buggers. It’s getting downright childish now, he might just as well blow raspberries at them in public and be done with it.
This is some damn fine bumbling.
But really, he can report this “news” just as well with a twitter link to a press release as one arriving in his email. This is the problem–his job is becoming obsolete in the same way a stock trader’s job is becoming obsolete. Technology has changed both fields and there’s less need for the middleman.
Birdix – that may be true in many areas, but the BRF is very much in need of a middle man. It’s what gets them public consent.
oh, so interesting, yes that is a different framework. Still so artificial, is it possible it can last in the modern age?
Always learn something on CB. Heading to the hills in seek of the freshly made apple cider doughnuts this weekend (and apples of course).
The world’s changed, Biridix, and eventually the monarchy will change with it, I think. There will be a new, unspecific, but generally accepted settlement that fits with a post-information-revolution world. We are quite good here in Britland at making the monarchy fit what we need at any particular time. In return, they get to live pampered lives of privilege.
Personally, I wish we’d just go the whole hog with the pitchforks! But I don’t think it will happen.
Birdix – William is banking on it not lasting. The problem is – as somebody’s already pointed out (probably Sixer or LAK can’t remember who – apologies) the BRF constituency is mainly made up of older people who still read the newspapers and not social media. For now their fans still read print media so by not playing ball they are not playing to their fan base and that’s pretty bloody stupid when you think about how dependent they are on those fans for the support they need to hold on to their position.
Even the Daily Mail Reporter, Rebecca English called crap on the IT excuse!
The people who see how much of a difference they could be making in the lives of those less fortunate. Just showing up to an event for 30 minutes generates press, public interest, funds, and aid. It is frustrating to see those with so much power waste it. if they were just idle aristocrats, I would not care, but they are a part of the BRF and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. With the title comes responsibilities and they have refused to do their part.
Those Aristocrats work to keep their castles and acreage.
Even George Percy (the aristo Pippa was forever chasing) has begun to get busy taking on duties as Earl of Northumberland. He will inherit the Dukedom.
William and Kate are bewildering to me. I don’t understand how William can be so lazy or uninterested in his role. He has the Queen, Pr.Charles and his hardworking mother as an example.
These people make me irate.
What media strategy? Producing children and pretty clothes seems to be the extent of it, and making the most of their perks while doing as little as possible to justify those perks. I wonder if, given the Queen’s age, they are hoarding as much private life as possible figuring that in a reasonably short time, Charles will be King (also for a reasonably short time) and they’ll move up to Pc. and Pss. of Wales, which will put more pressure on them, and a likely bump-up to King and Queen in their fifties. I think the Queen made a huge mistake not stepping aside for Charles ten years ago.
I’ve wondered this also. According to Richard Kay the queen is fine with the level of activity the Cambridges maintain. I personally feel that any kind of inner integrity/character would compel one to dive in and make a difference whether dad and granny approved or not. But that’s just me.
Do you remember that episode of “Downton Abbey” when Matthew wouldn’t let his footman help him dress? And how later Mathew had to be explained that “we all have a job to do”? That’s whom Palmer reminds me of – the footman who is throwing a hissy fit because he can lose his job.
The media cannot get “upset”. Media is there to report about things, good, bad and neutral. It’s their purpose – to find and bring news to the public. If Palmer is upset because Wills won’t let him do his job that’s Palmer’s problem.
While I’m laughing at Will’s obvious blindness to the fact that he’s coming off as a spoiled lazy dull boy, this Palmer dude needs to calm down or start taking the Wales’ down instead of yelling how the MEDIA will get mad one day. You ARE the media, dummy.
It’s supposed to be a symbiotic relationship. The BRF needs good press spread out as much and as widely as possible in order to have the good will of the public to continue to receive all the taxpayers’ money they use and live off of, and the press uses whatever information they get to sell papers or get clicks.
This is just a very stupid PR move by William. Considering that he wants his and his immediate family’s privacy so much and demands the press obey, then what else can he offer them to make them obey if he’s feeding them news less or not at all?
If you give your guard dog less and less food or not at all, then what’s going to stop it from thinking you’re the food now? The press are the BRF’s guard dog and the food is whatever bits of news the BRF gives them in order for them to make money. William is basically telling the press that they’re on their own now and feed upon whatever they want, which could be W&K. Now the press might start posting news that W&K didn’t want to come out.
Did he really expect the press to obey him no matter what just because he said so? Or else he’ll sic his dad and grandma on them? Which family member is he going to use to back him up in the future when they start dying off and he’s goes up the job ladder? He’s going to be on his own when he’s King.
Is William incapable of seeing two steps ahead? He doesn’t know the order of Cause and Effect?
I love this post.
Excellent comment.
I can’t remember if I read it here or heard it elsewhere, but I’ve heard it said that a successful royal must be able to see around the corners. In other words, to sustain the monarchy – which let’s face it, lives off public goodwill – a savvy royal must be able to think strategically more than one step ahead.
Gotchas are bad. Biting the hand that helps feed you is bad. You have to develop the long term relationships that will ease the way for the family you love and the lifestyle you want to perpetuate.
William has been raised in a bubble. He’s had blanket protection with massive consequences for going against him. That has been extended into his adult life.
With that mentality why shouldn’t he feel like teflon? He doesn’t understand how bad it could be.
Anne___000
Love your post.
Wonderful explanation.
I think we should invite her to the island, Sixer.
I totally agree, anne.
@ bluhare – Oi don’t forget me I’m going as well! 😀 Besides that totally agree with all of it.
@anne _ooo Because of Donald Trump – thread yesterday- we are all going to the Shetland Islands and creating a commune that involves men in Kilts reading poetry. Just let us know if it appeals and if can you lay bricks.
Thanks guys 🙂
………….
Thanks bluhare for the invitation.
………….
Thanks frisbee.
I’ll be glad to learn how to lay bricks.
😛
Hoorah! we’ve found an intelligent bricklayer 😀
Anne – you’ll need to share discipline of the Sixlets. This lot are a bunch of martinets, I’m telling you. So far, we’ve chucked them off a cliff, dunked them in the sea, and made them walk around with tinfoil hats on, acting as island interwebz receivers!
@ Sixer (aka Great Gob Almighty of the Isle of Grunay) I didn’t realise we were making them walk around with tin foil hats, when did that happen? You decreed that when my back was turned didn’t you? Damn good idea though.
You missed The Bloke post today. They are the conduits for our satellite broadband signal – via headgear!
I should never have let on to Mr Sixer’s nickname for me. Now it’s my title. Ha.
Are we wearing tinfoil hats? I thought FLORC and I had settled on wearing tiaras as our reception devices. I’m claiming Steel Cut, but I know at least two others wanted to wrestle that from me.
What other deity could we possible worship except Great Gob Almighty, Sixer? We are all acolytes in the Church of the Ball Gag Sisterhood!
Oh bugger, I missed that completely. I only tend to hang around The Bloke posts if there’s a dog involved – see where my priorities lie! That’s annoying, you and bluhare always make me laugh out loud. I love the new name for the Island, we could eventually end up competing with Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch!
Tin Foil Tiaras!
Yes, we are retiring our tinfoil hats. They wore out too quickly and you can only patch tinfoil for so long.
I’m back to the Poltimore. Fife is when i’m feeling prickly.
I’ve been converting the Wiglet Wagon to more amphibious travel. We haven’t seen as many wiglets lately so it’s time we evolve.
And If I might say so with with the upcoming tour of island hopping it’s just what we need!
Amphibious travel!!! Except now I’ve got the chorus of “Yellow Submarine” in my head. I may start hating you shortly, FLORC, if it doesn’t stop.
And by the way, this whole silly adventure is giving me the giggles. Thanks you guys!
Bluhare
I can only offer you “In the Navy” – Village People Or “Sailing Away” – Styx.
Both are equally as catchy.
Now, when I get underwater submarine stuff stuck in my head my thoughts go straight to Holy Diver! You’ve been down too long in the midnight sea. Oh what’s becoming of me….. Ride the tiger! You can see his stripes by you know he’s clean!
An now THAT’S stuck in my head…. If it doesn’t go away i’m going to start thinking of themed replacements for the wet wiglet! And dealing with tinfoil… idk…
As I mentioned in another thread, I think #poorJason is still running the show: endless saccharine articles in People, and now, social media. It’s a way to totally control information. Of course there is going to be run-off to other media after the fact, so KP has all bases covered, but *KP* controls the information. If actual reporters were involved, some truth may get out.
For example, I had no idea that the Dolittles were taking their annual holiday at Balmoral (not just visiting the Queen for a bit to celebrate her milestone), which means the gilded slacker is on vacation *again* from his barely there vanity job, until I read Palmer’s tweet.
These two utterly confound me. They spend so much time working on not working! Doing a little charity would take so much less effort.
Like the Ben Afleck thing I just posted…since I’m on this weird “What song I sing in my head when I see a person thing”…When I see Wills face, I sing this old song in my head..
“Cuz little Willy, Willy won’t… leave home. But you can’t push Willy round, Willy won’t go!”
Sorry…lol. I can’t help myself today. Ha!
“I think William believes he’s this genius media-manipulator and he’s just… not.”
This and the fact that I think he’s taking PR advice from his in-laws and look how well that’s worked out for them.
Another eff u to the press. They will only take so much and give you the ‘eff u’ back and it will be glorious. I don’t think he quite comprehends that they won’t always ‘protect’ him no matter how much he provokes them. They are clearly itching to rip him a new one.
I agree with Palmer its going to come round and bite them on the ass big time and its good to see that we (on CB) are not the only ones who can see that he really really doesn’t want to be King, which at some point will become such as big issue that it will have to be addressed one way or another. Whether his father will have the balls to remains to be seen but i can see the gov forcing the issue if the family don’t/won’t deal with it. We know TQ won’t.
‘He really, really doesn’t want to be King’ – that’s the first time I’ve seen that alluded to by the mainstream media, which means plenty are picking up on it but just not saying it in public yet. I’m convinced that man will never be King and I do think that when push comes to shove Charles will be ruthless enough to do the shoving. This lot haven’t survived (in one form or another) for 1000 years for nothing!
Yes, its becoming more and more obvious. The more pressure thats put on him to step up the more he’s pushing back and something will give. I agree that when it comes down to it Charles will take action – he will have no other choice. William doesn’t have the balls to take the initiative – he seems to enjoy pushing buttons and i truly believe he thinks he’s untouchable. He’s in for a rude awakening.
He’ll break that unspoken agreement between the RF and British media – he’s certainly been taking test shoots over the past few years.
I don’t know. If Richard Palmer had any bite wouldn’t he have actually done something about it instead of throwing hissy fits on twitter. I am tired of the media’s games. If you know something then say it. That is your job as an f-ing “journalist”. Stop playing stupid games and kissing the royal arse.
Yes, I think William resents his position and sees it’s a burden.
Now, I’m as harshly critical of his sense of entitlement as anybody. I think he is blind to the privileges of his position. I think he is wasting the opportunity to do justice to the resources and platform he has. (And don’t get me started on his wife!) BUT if I try to consider his experience, I come up with this:
It’s probably true that press intrusion and the strains of public life negatively impacted everything that was most important to him. He saw his mother overwhelmed by the circumstances of her life. He saw the press intrusion into his parent’s lives. He saw the way they used the media against each other. He lost his mother in that awful way.
How could he NOT feel some kind of rebellion against being in “The Firm”?
I have some measure of compassion for that. I think he needs to sort it out and rise above it, but I do have some sense that’s he’s in a difficult position.
I think someone inside his circle needs to support him in making peace with his role. He can’t go on resenting the demands made on him.
@Anne – I agree. I think WillKat (mostly Wills) think they know what they’re doing and how to go about it. But they are way off base. And they need help.
Maybe William not really wanting to be king, while loving the perks, is the cause of his and Kate’s seeming rift with Harry. At this point it’s more obvious with Kate than with William. I don’t think Harry wants to be king either. But Kate really wants to be Queen. There’s a strange dynamic going on here.
They clearly don’t enjoy their duties, just the privileges. They should be removed from the royal family, and the Queen should find some other relatives who would be willing to fulfill those roles.
Sounds like another reporter throwing a tantrum because he will soon be irrelevant. Grow up and save yourself, Richard, the future is here.
Then what will be in the future the way William is playing this? The press gets to post whatever they want because they don’t need the BRF anymore to feed them bits of news to make money? So now the press is given free reign to delve further into the BRF’s lives because there’s no more symbiotic relationship?
Is this what William really wants? The press to start finding their own news about the Cambridges and Middletons and post whatever they want? What does William do on the estimated 4.5 days out of 8 when he’s not working? How many days is he really not working at his co-pilot job? Where is he? Who’s he hanging out with? How many days a week does he hang out at pubs and bars or out with his friends rather than do 45-minute charity visits? What do former staff members or other sources close to him have to say about him? What does Kate really do during her ‘maternity leave?’ How does she really spend her days? Not just drawing “royal portraits” of her kids on “long sunny afternoons.” Not just watching her kids 24/7. How many days a week does she spend shopping and getting primped and exercising with her trainer? How much do they actually cost the taxpayers? Who is actually spending more time with the kids? The nannies? Remember that William got upset that photogs got pictures of George playing with the nanny in the park, but Kate wasn’t there. Where was she? At the hair dressers’ or spray tanners’ yet again?
Anne: William has literally closed every avenue there is to find that out. I think that is part of the problem. William’s methods are literally taking away jobs from the royal reporters. Palmer can kick and scream, but exactly can he write on, other than editorials – where would he source his material from ?
@ Maia
Reporters can find other ways to get their information if they can’t get it directly: people who know them, especially the disgruntled ones (former and current employees, friends or friends of friends, employees of services they use such as from pubs, private airlines, game hunting, hotel workers, etc.) or even by trickery – see Richard Palmer’s post about the possibility of reporters tricking Carole into revealing news about pregnancies or remember how the Australian or NZ shock jocks tricked the hospital nurse (and who later committed suicide, etc.
I agree. He is a reporter (or calls himself that) and it’s his JOB to get the news. If he can’t get them (steal or otherwise) there are plenty of others who can do it.
Sure. If there is no bread, let them eat cake.
Soon William will be POW and Kate will get a bump up too. They will have overnight a huge shift in duties and responsibilities that even after preparation will not be easy.
By all appearances of William not even assisting his father in those duties only leads one to think he has no interest. And Kate we are told is keen on things, but her actions dispute those claims.
They show no interest in the jobs they have. And far less in the jobs they will have.
Be a pilot. Be a housewife. Whatever makes you happy. Just don’t hold a position and refuse to work. Get to work consistenly or take a seat. The trade off of 1 event a week for unlimited luxury and free time appears to be too much for the Cambridges.
Go for it Palmer. Stop passive aggressively hinting the royals need the press and just out their laundry. We all know it’s there. Wiliam even admitted to it on camera. Time to release the hounds.
If there is dirty laundry, I dare him to release it. Maybe there is none and this is what it is, a journalist scared of being made redundant. Reality check. Time to go with the times.
William has demanded from the press more privacy aka less reporting on him during his ‘personal times.’ Well, now William is trying to unleash the hounds on himself by not playing along with the press. He should be careful of what he wishes for because he just might get it. Cause and Effect.
Really?
I think it’s royalty that is more likely to be made redundant. Or certain royals.
This isn’t about one reporter. It is about the symbiotic relationship between the BRF and the press, and by extension, the public. And do you know who needs this relationship the most? The BRF. The press and the public will go on regardless.
YEAH. I want the dirt on William. C’mon Palmer – spill the beans! Do it today, it’s time.
Cue the release of more baby pictures! The Cambridge Band-aid.
Yes, I thought we’d have another by now ( a family portrait ) but maybe not til Christmas?
🙁
Richard Palmer is a joke of a journalist who needs to embrace social media and stop throwing tantrums if he wants to remain relevant in the future. Like it or not William and Kate are still very popular with the British public. William tops poll after poll.
But for how long would he top poll after poll if there is a breakdown in the pact between royals and press? Not long, I assure you.
@Randy, how are you related/connected to the Cambridges? You seem highly defensive of Normal Bill and his plastic surgery recovering wife.
It’s Jason! Hi Jason !!! *waves madly*
It doesn’t matter who Richard Palmer is, if he’s got a story that he can prove – then he should spill it. I’d love to see William sweat. High time he’s taken down off his pedestal.
If W&K actually do top polls after polls, then consider how they got to that position? Certainly not from by-passing the press and expecting their tweets to be the go-to source for the public, but by having positive, sugar-laden, obsequious help from press all these years.
‘Oh, isn’t it great that Normal Bill has a heroic copter job?’ ‘Oh, isn’t Kate pretty?’ ‘Oh, isn’t it wonderful how the Middletons have brought such emotional stability and growth for William?’ ‘Oh, aren’t they just so wonderful with their little family?’
And I certainly doubt it’s based on the public approving the reality of their self-indulgent ways, their disinterest in anything that isn’t them, their living off of taxpayers’ money with as little payback as possible, their professing they have no time nor energy to do ‘royal duties,’ etc.
I think they are hyped and famous, but are they beloved I doubt it.
Hi Jason! Or is this Carole? Either way: get off the internet and kick a boot up William’s and Kate’s lazy rear-ends, will you?
SG, Rutherford has returned to NY and is attending Fashion Week.
If William doesn’t want to be bothered with royal duties, and just wants to live an “ordinary life” can he take himself out of the line of secession? Let Harry have a shot a being king, he seems much more focused on duty while William seems to try to evade it.
He won’t he’ll just muck about until, even his biggest defenders in the press ask WTF is his problem!
I think he wants to slowly implode the House of Cambridge.
Not easily, no.
He can’t just remove himself. Order of succession is enshrined in law. You can’t just ask the law to ignore you, the law has to be changed. So parliament has to approve. Since it’d obviously be a matter of interest to the crown, the Queen would have to give Queen’s Consent before the matter can even be debated in parliament. And then give Royal Assent to pass the bill into law.
To make it even more complicated, the British monarch is King/Queen of England AND the 15 other countries of the Commonwealth Realm. Some of those countries have simple laws that just say “whoever is monarch in Britain is monarch here” but others have to specifically change their own laws to match Britain’s. That isn’t necessarily easy. For example, back in October 2011, all the leaders met and decided to change the succession act to make the first-born the heir, regardless of gender. This is STILL facing legal challenges in Canada, where some academics are saying the change was unconstitutional. (They’re not being sexist. They’re arguing against the fact the laws still state that the monarch can’t be Catholic. It’s clearly religious discrimination. But it’s also sensible discrimination since the monarch is head of the the Church of England.)
In practice, everyone would say yes, simply because no-one wants an unwilling monarch. But it’d be an international political mess, and possibly prompt some countries into leaving the Commonwealth.
There is the loophole of converting to Catholicism. But that would piss off the Anglicans and the Catholics (who’d justly suspect him of converting to avoid the throne). Technically possible, but a religious mess is even worse than a political one.
There’s another technical loophole: the first 6 in line to the throne have to have the monarch’s consent to marry. So he could divorce Kate and secretly marry some random.
If he wanted out, they’d find a way and they’d send the children with him. Would it be difficult, yes, but not impossible. They got rid of Uncle David, they can get rid of William too.
I don’t think he really wants out, he wants the perks and the privilege. The ability to keep the press under his thumb. He just doesn’t want the WORK. He wants to hide away like a late 19th century royal, take all the perks, and wave his hand at the peasants once a year. They’ve already made this type of move with their ridiculous “We’re going to only have a handful of patronages and REALLY focus on them” BS.
That last photo of them side by side, covering their genitals with crossed, clinched hands and pursing their lips, made me laugh. Must protect & defend the family PR jewels, I guess.
He really does look more and more a sort of slack-jawed Mr. Potato Head as time passes.
Mr Potato head (Toy Story – love it!) is rather better endowed in the brain department than Normal Bill. I suspect if Normal B had a brain he’d be dangerous!
Ha! Speaking of better endowments and brains: you just reminded me of one of my favorite bits from Young Frankenstein… the discussion of Abby Normal 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH97lImrr0Q
That hasn’t been on the telly for years, I’d forgotten how good it was!
“covering their genitals with crossed, clinched hands “- loooool
To me, the most interesting part of this Palmer Twitter rant is that What Kate Wore engaged with him on it and seems to be on his side.
@WhatKateWore: I know that Richard, you’re not a whiner. Sadly, downward spiral has been evident for some time.
@WhatKateWorel I used to teach workshops/seminars with public sector groups, “How to deal with media” type stuff, know the ropes a little bit, understand most exigencies w/ politicians, private corps, etc. This is painful to watch.
Whoa. That is telling.
Okay that *really* got my attention because WhatKateWore has been one of the most crazy sugars there is. I think that her blog or facebook page at one point declared that Kate was a “role model” for “young ladies” and that is when I stopped reading it.
If she is saying this then there must be real problems. I just wish that the media would just let the floodgates open. Just let the dirt out and let them have it. Unless, as was mentioned upthread, there *is* no dirt. In which case all they can do is threaten to spill dirt. I sort of tend to believe that they don’t have a lot on William and Kate in terms of dirt. They are as boring as the lives they lead.
At this point just a few honest-to-god plainspeaking articles decrying their work ethic and publicly shaming them will make me happy.
Listen, the devil finds work for idle hands. There is massive dirt on these two lazybots…huge!
Maia/Vava: that got my attention too. That is a significant development because #poorjason has been known to reach out to sugar blogs so they can spread the good word on WK. I’ve always wondered whether whatkatewore was one of the favoured blogs based upon the level of sugary prose she wrote.
Really? WhatKateWore wrote that? That person blocked me from ever commenting on her site, she couldn’t take the reality check. I’m surprised that she’s not drinking the Koolaid now.
You were blocked – that’s an achievement, well done!
I was blocked, because I voiced my opinion that I didn’t tend to like Kate’s fashion. LOL..
I’ll come out – I was blocked on Charlotte’s site, HRH Duchess Kate. (Hangs head, glances around room) I was too political, or whatever…the ladies were very delicate, very into Kate. Having “wolf” in one’s moniker might be disturbing, however unintended.
No, no, don’t be ashamed Wolfie – refusing to swallow the hype shows a sturdily independent spirit and something to be proud of. Talking of independent spirits where’s nota?
Sometimes an opinion is too fragile to exist in a reality of truth.
I got blocked a while ago.
I didn’t think my comment was even offensive. It was only calling her outfit poorly tailored and unfinished. Totally out of line right?
Oh, FLORC, FLORC, you attacked She Who Does No Wrong. You probably broke a lot of pearl necklaces that day from all that clutching! What’s the matter with you?
Wait a minute. I must be doing something wrong. I’m not blocked!
And, FWIW, Charlotte got on DuchessKate last night saying in her opinion Palmer was one of the best. Bet she gets some heat for saying that too.
LOL…………Duchess Kate blog………I used to read that, rarely ever posted. I’m sure I’d be blocked too, if I dared post my real opinion. In the last year or so, I avoid sites like that, the sugar is just too much.
I got blocked from WKW, too! Glad to be in good company!
bluhare, I went to the DK site and copied Charlotte’s’ post that you mentioned. For those who don’t know, Charlotte is the administrator of the blog. This is her comment:
“I just wanted to chime in to say after over four years of blogging, I can safely say Richard Palmer is one of the good ones. He’s an excellent reporter who doesn’t indulge in exaggeration for the sake of a good story. I think he’s very much rooting for William and Kate despite his obvious frustration with the way things are currently going.
The issue with the KP press office is felt by the British media, I’ve heard some horrendous stories regarding relations recently. It’s been mentioned to me how entirely different dealing with KP is to Buckingham Palace or Clarence House. It’s such a pity because working with the press is essential for the royal family.”
Wolfie
Thank you for that. It’s filled with reason. Not what I was expepcting. Quite lucid! Maybe i’ll return there…
Wow. DK, thanks for bringing that to the discussion. I missed that in the discussion.
I can understand Will and Kate’s requests to leave their kids alone or to give them some personal space but to completely disregard the press about charity events seems a foolish move. What exactly is your purpose? Why are tax dollars being spent on your lavish lifestyle?? Let’s be real, those of us who work often have to do events, travel or promotions for our business. If we didn’t get attention at say a big trade show we could get fired. I’m over them and think many others are as well.
I would like to suggest clicking on “Tweets & Replies” on Richard Palmer’s Twitter feed (@RoyalReporter). More interesting tweets in addition to the stand-alone ones. He discusses this topic more and if you click ‘view conversation,’ you can see what he’s replying to.
It would be funny if the press is the one that can actually make him grow up rather than his father and grandmother.
“It would be funny if the press is the one that can actually make him grow up rather than his father and grandmother.”
The wry, historical reverberation of that struck me as well.
WK don’t realise that royalty is too big for twitter.
When Jason took over and opened twitter for more releases of news it seemed like a good idea. The fault comes from lack of balance. It’s now a tool to isolate out the press like the BRF/Cambridges can get by on their own without the press at all.
They were on the right path.
And I love how every time news breaks on KP twitter there was always a techincal issue preventing the press and reporters from also getting it. Because that’s not shady at all.
Love the comments.
I’m counting down to how many years Jason will last, one more or two?
Didn’t the last PR person leave the Cambridge’s to go work in a mental hospital?
FLORC, like releasing the baby picture one hour before the time they’d told the press they’d release it. Games games games.
Y, it was the head of their security team who quit to be chief of security at Broadmoor Hospital, the secure mental health hospital in Berkshire.
I’d be surprised if Jason lasts the calendar year. If he does, he deserves recognition!
I laugh so hard when the traditional media whines and moans about their long, slow march to irrelevancy. The internet has rendered them obsolete and all that power they’ve always felt so entitled to is just about completely gone. They are dinosaurs.
Good for William.
But the paper press also have websites too, so they’re not just selling physical newspapers. They get income from online ad clicks and any online subscription fees too.
Also, I doubt the press gets most of their income from Royal news. There’s so many different types of celebrities now, what with reality shows, pop stars, talent contests, etc. The press can go on well into the future even if the Monarchy ends tomorrow. There’s also other non-Royal news that the public wants to read about.
Without the press to tell the public how the Monarchy are not useless, irrelevant dinosaurs, then what will the BRF do? Rely solely on the hopes that there are enough readers of their Twitter account?
William doesn’t seem to realize how much he’s screwing himself over. He’s delusional to think he’s so high and mighty and wonderful that the press need him more than he needs them.
If it goes the way William wants and then sometime in the future, the complaints about the BRF’s expenses continues and grows while the rest of the UK has to tighten their belts and accept a lower living standard and higher cost of living, then who is William going to want to use to back him up? The press. But by then, the press may have become used to posting ‘real’ news about the BRF and not just the fluff and stuff they’re publishing now. Also, the increased income from spilling the dirty laundry of these Royal celebrities might be just as appealing as the income made from spilling dirt on non-Royal celebrities.
He may be the future King, but he needs to understand that his position is based on a foundation of public approval, not just tradition.
The traditional media isn’t irrelevant. The internet itself (or do you mean social media?) doesn’t report, it regurgitates.
You still need reporters in the trenches to uncover, actual, you know – facts. To sit through boring city council meetings. To venture into war zones to document what is happening. To dig into throughout the endless press releases of companies to determine whether they are really solvent, and yes, to keep public servants, like the royals, somewhat accountable.
William didn’t learn a thing from his French topless fiasco, not a thing.
You can’t beat the press at their own game.
Ysoh
Bad example. William did learn from the Chateau incident. He learned he can get away with more if anything.
And the end result. Minimal backlash to WK and dozens of people lost their jobs that had nothing to do with the photos. Beware the wrath of william.
But my point was The World still saw the Naked photos, he CAN’T stop the media if they really want to expose something ( the PHOTOS were released , The world saw his future Queen Naked, the aftermath of him suing did not wipe away the public seeing Kate topless, the DAMAGE was done , regardless of his actions after the fact) …..and what he forgot is how much the British Press went to the mat, protecting her image and the Cambridge brand at that point.
……and I would bet anything There are more things , including photos, the press has …..and someone will release them eventually. And next time around the British press may not be as kind in trying to protect the Cambridge brand, no matter who he sues.
My point is William still can not prevent the media from exposing something if they truly want it Exposed.
He’s playing a losing game in fighting the press long term, he won’t win.
Ysoh
Actually, He has wiped many negative or counter articles off the web that went against the new engagement narrative. And the chateau had photos of Kate smoking during a time period they were attempting to conceive George by all accounts. Those pics were up and gone within hours. And photos of Kate being drunk, sloppy, rude with stories that support this only exist on negative blogs or as screen shots.
LAK tried a posting an article a few weeks back. We had all seen and read it. A woman who employed Kate at Jigsaw wrote what was meant to be a defensive article for her, but ended up sounding bad. The google search paragraph and link exist, but the article is wiped from the internet.
Things can be released. In time maybe those photos of Kate will be gone too.
But William! He’s admitted he’s worse than Harry and we’ve seen pieces. He keeps poking the beast it will bite him.
Ultimately, The press and reporters have to find a greater value in turning on William/BRF over being their lap dogs. Only then will this passive aggressive act change.
I bet you anything Palmer is itching to go after William, but can’t. He can’t out himself as the revealer and risk losing his employment and spot as insider. And no one will publish without fear of retaliation fromm the Royal lawyers.
What SHOULD happen is a known blog outs this news and randoms on twitter reblog to the reporters there. The only way imo it can be released and the revealer gets protection.
I wonder if it is difficult for Kate knowing that everyone she meets can go online and see her naked – even the dudes she flirts with. In the past, I’ve admired her pluck – it is just a woman’s body after all, but still…it is part of a woman’s mystery, all gone.
I would suggest it would be helpful if she tried animating that body, giving it additional life and meaning.
Wolfie
Kate was a known “mooner” I think it’s called in her teens. And was never shy about exposing herself in her 20’s.
As Whitaker put it Kate was fond of showing her butt to boys. He said he thinks someone went to Kate and told her that’s improper and to stop so she did. Whitaker was always so polite in her choice of words.
And Kate sunbathed topless. Not a major issue. Only that it’s something royals or those wishing to be royal have to be mindful of because they have more of the press on them than the average citizen.
Much like how Whitaker also stated at the charity roller skating event Kate wore a skimpy outfit and at 1 point laid spread eagle on the floor for a while. It was a picture of her “presenting” in an animal type of way. Whitaker stated a coutier went to her and said that was not appropriate for a potential consort and she hadn’t repeated that specific mistak in his lifetime.
Point? I don’t think Kate is shy about her exposed body and is somewhere between welcoming the the attention and being indifferent to it.
And Its always William who makes an issue out of it. Kate has always been very dismissive of it and lacks preventative action from repeats.
To all those who think Kate can’t be depressed because there are times she CAN be in front of the public: Depression absolutely can go on and off. It is not something you can control.
I suffer from major depressive disorder and have had a very functional life. Actually achieved more than I ever thought I would. I am on meds now, have been in therapy and constantly practice mindfulness.
My depression is VERY different from others that I know who also suffer this most disgusting illness. Mine are like flashes, sometime lasting all day, but can be gone in the morning.
However, there are some things I can NEVER do – call in a food delivery to my house. Going to the mall is a major trigger. This is all very hard now because I have a teenager. My depression is mostly from childhood trauma. Hopefully that is not true for Kate, if in fact she does suffer from depression.
NONE of my friends or family knew. I hid my illness. I did not go out when deeply depressed. I have no idea how anyone could function in that family AND suffer from depression. If this is Kate’s issue, well then, I imagine she is doing the very best she can to get thru life.
Then what’s the point of hiding an alleged PPD while she’s being criticized and labeled “Duchess DoLittle” or “Lazy Kate?” Is the secrecy so much better? If admitting to an illness is wrong, then why allow the stories about having an alleged HG go around uncontested?
Also, why would it be shameful to admit to PPD, especially in her position, when she can bring so much beneficial attention to it? Is there nothing she can do that would be of benefit to others as well as to herself?
It is the WORST disease imaginable. When you are depressed, it is hard to even take a shower, much less battle the press.
And it is very possible she has NOT admitted her depression even to herself. I imagine she is unmedicated and not in therapy.
And we have no idea if she even suffers from this at all. But if she does, there is no way to hold her to any standards of logic. Depression takes no prisoners. There is a famous Youtube video about depression given by a Professor at Stanford(?) University. He says that depression is the worst illness to have. If you have cancer, you can at least enjoy the sunset.
anne _OOO: Exactly! Ok, you could argue it’s a private medical matter and they are entitled to keep it to themselves. Fine for the likes of us but they are not like us. They have a peculiar role in life that is to represent and serve their Country and and entire Commonwealth. If they can’t do that fine but at least they could be honest about why they can’t do it. The constant PR spin of Kate being a young Mum too busy looking after her kids to perform any kind of public function is getting downright insulting when we know that have a houseful of staff and family help. As bad as depressive illness is, they could use the experience to help a lot of other people. There is a huge amount of stigma attached to mental health issues. The stigma can hugely exacerbate the illness. They could remove a lot of that stigma in one fell swoop. It would be brave, honest and earn them a level of respect they certainly don’t have now.
If Kate has PPD and doesn’t know it, then how blind are those around her? Are there none who’ve noticed anything different about her?
And can it be that nobody who knows her have never heard of PPD? Or do they see her lack of interest in others and reluctance to do even 45-minute charity work as nothing unusual? Is there actually no difference from what Kate has made of her life before giving birth and now after giving birth? What does that say about her then?
I’m sure the people in her circle have heard of PPD: all her doctors; her mother who’s had three children; her father who’s intelligent enough to have been a BA pilot; her specially-trained nannies; the employees of the Firm whose job it is to be concerned about each BRF member; friends who’ve given birth too, etc.
Her press teams says she’s very “keen” about her work in the mental illness of children and young adults and that she’s gained much praise for it. So how does someone who’s allegedly so involved in such a field not be able to educate herself about a widely-known possible after-effect of giving birth? Surely her doctors have warned her about the possibility?
This is her second pregnancy, so there has been more than one opportunity for somebody, including medical professionals, to have brought this up with her, especially as she is a more privileged person and very important to those around her.
I’m just having a hard time believing that she and everybody around her is ignorant of PPD and the possibility she might have it (which I don’t think she does).
@ anne_000, frisby, rudy
Depression or not, I would argue that Kate could at least write encouraging letters to her charities. That really doesn’t take much effort and she can write and re-write and she can get lots of help from her staff.
Depression or not, Kate is lazy. And she had this kind of no-work attitude for years: before and after her marriage. So I would use her lazyness as an explanation much rather than other explanations.
As for Kate’s work in mental illness and or children and young adults: I haven’t seen any proof of that. No speeches. No letters. Hardly any visits. No dinners with movers and shakers.
And no, I don’t believe that “secret visits” took place. I take that as the desparate invention of her pr who work hard to make her look as if she did do anything at all.
Rudy, I understand your pain. My best friend has suffered from depression for her entire life and was only diagnosed in recent years after a blow-out of sorts. She can’t really ‘take a pill’ and make it better.
If Kate is depressed, maybe she should retreat. KP needs to deal with the situation so she can do that.
But honestly though, I really don’t think she has depression. All signs link to laziness and lack of interest in the job she signed onto. If she does have depression though, she needs to address this because her role isn’t going to CHANGE ANYTIME SOON. It will just get worse, because she will eventually find herself in the Princess of Wales or Queen Consort positions.
Vava
You just know if she does have depression that Palace is ON IT! They will take extra good care of her as long as she’s the heirs wife. No Diana fumbles can be had.
And you don’t simply get well from depression. You have to isolate the problems and work on them. Diana found purpose in her charity work as an escape.
Thank you Vava.
Everyone keeps mentioning this PPD. What is that?
In the US there is MDD – Major Depressive Disorder
There is also Dysthymia, which is still depression but manifests itself very differently.
All I know is it took me years and years and years to get my husband to understand my depression. And he is someone who KNOWS how to talk about feelings. It is completely impossible for anyone to really understand depression unless they suffer themselves. It is not being sad or blue or down. And it can be very easily hidden from loved ones who really don’t want to know or live on the River Denial.
Rudy
PPD = Postpartum Depression. A terrible illness where after giving birth a woman experiences depression. Even wanting to end her and her child’s lives. What should be a happy time becomes a nightmare. There’s guilt and blame that you feel you’re a bad mother and not worthy of your child and variations of that.
MDD can be a foundation that gets worse after giving birth and then becomes PPD.
What’s happening with Kate is her lack of activity with her work appears so extreme it’s hard to imagine anyone caring so little. So, reasons are thought up as to why someone appears that lazy. Time before it was so she could be a newly wed. That her morning sickness was so bad she couldn’t work, but could travel for lengths on end for vacations. That she needed to renovate. It’s just the latest reasoning.
@rudy,
PPD is post-partum depression,
Thank you for sharing your experiences.
When I muse about what’s going on with Kate, I prefer to use the term mental illness rather than depression because it’s broader.
I suspect that there is some kind of mental/psychological/personality impairment at play with Kate but I am not going to be too vociferous about it, at least not today. 😉
I don’t think that these things are mutually exclusive, Kate can be all of the above: lazy, pampered, enabled, overwhelmed, unsuitable, mentally ill and other things.
If William really wants journalists to remain quiet about his dirty laundry (and there is no doubt TONS waiting to be exposed), he needs to stop with the tantrums, legal threads and ignoring his duties while looking for ways/excuses to pretend he’s an average Joe (Earth to William: you’re NOT an average Joe); the fact he’s avoiding his duties, hiding away in the country and who-knows-where-else, is only further making things worse for himself – reporters need a working royal to report on and someone willing to open themselves up a bit.
That said, Palmer needs to either report what he knows or find a foreign reporter to do so. Enough with the kid gloves and passive-aggressive reporting (and tweeting). IMO, William and Kate certainly no longer deserve special treatment from the RF, media or public – bring on reality.
I agree. If he’s worried about his status or job security, then leak it to someone who isn’t cowering to the BRF.
Absolutely. This dance the British press plays with the royal family needs to stop. Just leak it……………..
I agree, SavageGrace and the Press and a certain Papz(photog) knows plenty on William.
In the past the Palace made trades,they would throw PR.Harry , other royals under the bus to stop a damaging story in William.
Ingrid Seward once said that William is very sneaky and there have been things hidden from the public , over the years to protect the golden heir. Photos, stories , etc.
Tanna knows and has seen a lot for years as photog on the ground ,following them from the dating years. There is plenty he hasn’t told.
The trick will be to have the evidence in place because they know they could/would face a libel suit from Prince Petulant. When things blew up with Charles and Diana, they basically hung themselves out to dry because the press had tapes, of them them admitting to the trash they were involved in. One thing I wonder these days is whether photos are really valid evidence anymore – with photoshop being used all the time, can photos really be relied on? I suspect not. Any lawyers here who could respond to this??
Prince Petulant – perfect!
Kate may have the prize and the babies but she bit off WAYYYY more than she can chew. She’s basically a simple, lazy WAG who can’t and won’t take the initiative to make something of herself other than being under William’s thumb as wife and mother of his kids. Period. Not a whiff of curiosity, compassion or awareness about her. William shot himself in the foot by marrying her because all she does is parrot his arrogance, entitlement and disgust with public life.
The both of them should take themselves out of the line of succession if they hate it that much.
But Jaded, that’s precisely why William married her! He knew she’d be subservient to him. He’s a control freak and would never EVER marry anyone who was 1) more intelligent than him, 2) had a desire to make a difference in the world, or 3) had a SPINE. William is subconsciously really turned off by any woman who remotely is like his mother. He just wants a WAG. A Stepford Wife. And that is why he is completely and utterly repulsive.
There was a reason Harry’s nickname for her was the Limpet.
Yes that’s the reason William chose her, she made everything very easy for him, no work for him, no muss, no fuss , no challenge, no curiously the about life, just a girl who waited by the phone, went back lived in her old bedroom and waited for a phonecall to meet up for whatever William wanted.
Ysohawt1; (continuing the romance) In 2009, Carole asked William if he was going to marry Kate. He promised her he would.
The conversation went something like this:
Carole: William I want to know your intentions towards my daughter?
William: Rest assured I have every intention of marrying your daughter, I can’t bear the thought of living without you… I mean Kate.
Let’s hope it implodes. Britain doesn’t need a king whose bad habits and bad traits of character are made worse by his wife.
Didn’t the late Queen Mum improve her husband, the father of the current Queen? Didn’t she make him stronger and didn’t she give him support and confidence? Why couldn’t William marry such a wife.
I have the suspicion that William would have been better off marrying Carole.
She was also extremely cold to him. Unless we’re talking the King’s Speech version.
She didn’t care to be intimate and had a big gambling addiction. Maybe she made him stronger in a sense, but was also a very distant wife.
@ Florc
I see you do take extreme care to comment on each of my comments.
Pathological or psychological?
As for coldness: In the times of Queen Mum both women and men showed less emotions. Not just the upper class. Queen Mum also made sure that her daughters had a loving and fun upbringing and actually made more work experience than today’s Kate Middleton.
The name “Middleton” somewhat starts smelling like failure.
And I would forgive any woman who prefers to be not intimate with any male offspring of the British Royal Family.
Pondering
What do you mean by the 1st line in your comment? I’m not sure I understand it.
I’m just stating what’s been well established in the Queen Mum’s biography at this point. Not saying she was an awful woman. Just that she wasn’t a strong pillar as pr would state. History will remember her as better than she was.
Although, this is often the case.
I don’t understand why (or how) so many people defend Will and Kate. They have an amazing opportunity to raise awareness to so many causes, a life that millions of people would kill for, and they do nothing. Well not nothing, a celebrity event here, a tennis match there, a gala in between. Yet, there are loads of people who do not find anything wrong this us and actually will defend them. Why?
The typical argument in regards to Kate hate is that she is a mother and does not want to leave her kids to a nanny. She went on vacation without George but she can’t leave them alone with a nanny for 5 hours a week?
I just don’t get it.
This reporter is being aggressive and outright threatening
Careful, dear boy..Prince Phil is gonna shut you down. I don’t care his age.
I agree with some who say she might have PPD. It cannot be easy living with a mentally depressed man. That’s what I see
The Palace is hiding a problem the spoiled Will may have developed
There’s no possible way he can be alright in the head. He was too old. If you look at his life as an overview
Parents cheating, divorce and the way his mother died. You’d be a mess too
It was his mother who always lit up when she was with him
His family was glad to have her gone. Not just issues, subscriptions. I think he’s very sick actually
Who wouldn’t be?
I don’t think the reporter is being aggressive or threatening. It sounds more like frustration to me. William has been treated with kid gloves most of his life. He’s a grown man now and needs to face the music. I don’t think he’s sick at all, he’s just spoiled and petulant.
I wonder how much of William’s belief he can manipulate the press comes from the fact that he believes he is smarter and better educated than his mother. He saw how she got her points across and forgets that firstly, 20/30 years ago people knew what they were told by the press -there was no internet and secondly she had a solid body of good works to polish up rather than having to create her charitable image from nothing.
By the way, I don’t think he is necessarily more intelligent than Diana it’s just the expectations of his education were different.
@ Tia
I would like to give a short summary of an incident which happened in Germany a few years ago.
Germany has no aristocrats any more as the aristocracy was abolished after WWI. Nevertheless there are descendents of aristocrats and their last name often still carries the title though it is not a title anymore.
There was this minister of defence Karl-The_odor Baron zu Gut_ten_berg. He allegedly wrote his doctorate thesis and got a “summa cum laude” for it. Then they found out that about half of it was plagiarized. When the accusations of plagiarism came out Gut_ten_berg claimed he didn’t plagiarize anything. But the thing is if you write your thesis then you know if you plagiarized or not. You know what you have done, simple. But Gut_ten_berg claimed he hadn’t plagiarized. He also had donated a large six figure sum to the university department where he wrote his doctorate thesis.
Well the end is that he got shamed and that he lost his job as minister of defence and that he is a figure of public scorn and ridicule.
However one thing strikes an odd note: why claim you didn’t plagiarize when you had plagiarized? Why not show some remorse and regret? It would have looked good in public! ?? Why didn’t he? Well, one explanation is that Gut_ten_berg in fact didn’t know that his thesis contained plagiarism because he might not have written his thesis himself. His ghostwriter plagiarized. ;-D This is just some suspicion and mere speculation. There is no other evidence of a ghostwriter.
The end of it: I think there is a lot of fraud going on at universities. Universities need donations nowadays and scientists need money and actually a part of their job is to acquire money. Can you imagina judging the quality of a scientist’s work by the amount of money he gets via donations? And it is proven that some doctorate candidates donate large sums of money to universities and that they write doctorates merely for career enhancement in private business. It is unbelieveable but this happens nowadays.
As for the university studies of prince William: draw your conclusions.
And no: just because somebody didn’t go to uni that doesn’t mean he isn’t educated / intelligent. Universities are usually very good at giving you an academic basis in a certain subject /s and they are very good at teaching you to discuss things and listen to other people’s arguments and look at a question from more than one point of view. I think Prince William’s uni failed to teach him to listen to other people and to look at a question from more than one point of view.
Churchill was an academic lacker. Jobs dropped out of school. There are numerous examples of those we regard as brilliant and werre academic failures of a sense.
Also, a great many who went to universities and are no better for it.
Diana was not book smart. She was emotionally savvy. It’s the way some are.
And yes. If you have the funds you can buy your way to a degree.
@ Florc
That is the question which I am subtly trying to ask. Both Prince William’s and Kate’s complete lack of interest into anything art / environment / history is somewhat suspicious. How did they manage to study history of art without any apparent interest?
PT
My comment did sound repeating. I only meant to support your claims with examples.
Rumors were William barely attended class and had others write his papers. Even sending Kate to his classes to take notes for him.
I have depression and still manage a 60 hour work week, and enjoy going to sports events and movies too once in a while. Depression doesn’t mean you can’t live a full life, or that you hibernate in bed all day. Actually, getting out and doing anything tends to help with mood control. No reason to assume Kate has a medical condition just because she’s too lazy to work. Last time she tried to blame a medical condition, the extreme pregnancy sickness, I think that turned out to not be true?
Regarding her morning sickness. Both pregnancies Kate was spotted out and about during her 1st trimester eating and smiling, playing around, shopping, traveling, etc. The for a few weeks she’s with morning sickness. Then mid 2nd trimester she’s fine again with absolutely no visible weight loss, but rather like she’s put on muscle mass and maintained her figure. Those are not characteristic of hg.
HG would throw off her hormones causing a lack of balance. Her weight would go down or at least her muscle mass would go. She would not be able to be around any odors like perfume or foods. Those would trigger a gag reflux. And she would be in constant need of fluids via IV because again… gag reflux. And it would likely last much longer and come in sooner than her few weeks of standard morning sickness. By all accounts Kate had a normal pregnancy.
That she was carrying the heir meant extra hyperpreventative care. .
People hear HG and they think the extreme sickness. Doctors might even incorrectly diagnos… She would have to meet certain requirements. Hormone levels, weight change, frequency of vomit, etc.. There was nothing to suggest Kate was suffering from it. She just had normal MS like many expecting moms.
I bet there are body size, over exercising, lack of control, confidence/self-esteem & agoraphobia-like issues waiting to rear it’s ugly head somewhere lurking in that pile in Norfolk. William will blame the press. Once again, Kate may be the right woman for the man but she doesn’t seem to be the right woman for the public role (any more than he does).
I am not sure Kate is the right woman for the man as she seems to make him more lazy by the day. Or for which parts of William is Kate the right woman? Perhaps her doormat attitude pleases his ego but she sure doesn’t make him a better man.
It’s amazing to know there is someone who can actually speak the truth without fear. I always have great respects for those who have the courage. Kudos to you sir!
William seems to think he can go around the press and talk directly to the people.
Sorry, but social media isn’t that powerful as of yet, you can’t ignore the press totally.
Kaiser, Felipe and Letizia of Spain touch down in D. C. tomorrow for their 5 day visit to the US. If we promise to let you wear whatever tiara you want, will you please cover it?
Yes! You name the style we will find the proper tin foil Tiara!
I’m actively seeking out coverage on them nota. It’s not terribly popular.
There is a little, mostly in Spanish. Go to google es and search for felipe letizia or letizia michelle obama. Once that search completes, click on the button for Noticias and it gives you the news items.
Kaiser we won’t even make you wear Letizia’s (ugly IMO) new tiara. You can have the Spanish Floral Tiara. Or the Cartier diamond and teardrop pearl shell tiara, if you want to pretend to be a royal mermaid.
Haha Thanks Nota!
And I was thinking. As a desperate plea. If it’s more news worthy from a gossip angle Letizia is quite often gossip fodder.
You can even wear the Poltimore Tiara If you want to look like a Queen of Queens.
Palmer is a harrasser. They are not the heirs, Charles is, and they don’t have to get bullied by this obnoxious jack$ss. Back off all you gossip vampires.
So, William is an heir. And it’s best he begins to ease himself into his duties that he’s already refusing to do at this point. Things will only be more demanding when he’s POW and he can’t even handle what little is asked of him now.
Hardling harrassing to call out the obvious on someone who has sent “goons” to harrass journalist writing the facts. And yes this is well documented. If not goons then threats.
But hey. Maybe William doesn’t have to learn anything. He’ll just know everything that needs to be done by instinct? That seems right.
It’s like promising someone an executive role at a firm that requires long hours and much dedication with loads of information to be processed. And you never bother to learn what you’ll be doing in that role. You’re just going to show up 1st day and expect it all to be a breeze. At the very least it’s incredibly foolish for him to not be preparing at this point. He is an heir. And the role of POW is no joke.
He is an heir, who knows that dad and grandma are not going to force him out of the line of succession no matter how little he does and how he deems his lifestyle should be.
And he’s using the privilege of being an heir by living off of public money. If he’s not an heir, then he needs to live off of his own private income.
Now if William is saying that there’s no need for him to continue on with this symbiotic relationship with the UK press, then OK, he’ll have to face the consequences of his actions, because that’s what grown ups should do.
Why is it that Kate Middleton fans so often tell the rest of us to shut up? As if we don’t have a right to express our opinions because they don’t like them. These are publicly-funded (security and The Duchy) representatives. We criticize politicians, and these two are essentially very expensive politicians who weren’t elected to office and who have failed to show up for work for the last four years.
Because It’s the “Leave Britney Alone” Argument.
It’s not about taking a paycheck of sorts without offering service. It’s not about blowing off those you’ve promised to help. It’s about defending someone because they’re pretty and the press says the nicest things about them..
So stop talking logical points I can’t counter with emotional supporting! Leave Kate alone you vulture Nota. I mean Vampire!
Hahahaha. Did you bring your stake and garlic?
@ yuck. LOL on “gossip vampires”.
I’m sharpening my eye teeth!
Did I just hear the creaking sound of a crypt door opening?
LOL, Feeshalori!!! Yes, the crypt door is opening as soon as the sun sets on the British Empire.
I don’t mind being called a gossip vampire as long as Hiddles is hunting me with his stake 😉
MY reaction was…Stake? Wait What?…. Oh, Eewwww!… Lol!
Love the classic double entendre.
Well we now know what Kate’s been doing in her ‘seclusion’ – getting a hair cut.
These 2 are playing us all – Kate in particular likes to play the press. I beginning to believe that she ‘disappears’ of the radar for a while knowing all to well that any public appearance is splashed all over the front pages. She LOVES the press attention – always has, always will. She’s like Diana in that respect – she also grew to love the attention.
Re: Cobyn’s election. Should be an interesting time for Labour – not sure he’s going to win them any future elections but at least he’s giving the party a shake. Keir Hardie would be spinning in his grave at what it’s now become (PS am looking forward to reading the book Gordon Brown is writing on him). However, not sure I would trust a man (Corbyn) that divorced his wife because he didn’t want his son to go to a private school and his ex-wife did.
Getting a haircut and sketching in her gardens, that’s our Kate working herself to the bone! She was probably tired of the press using the same photo twice and wanted to debut her new do.
The haircut looks good.
Kate looks really rough in those photos……her skin, my god! And that hair looks awful, she needs to ditch the center part and get rid of that wiglet in the back.
I guess my theory that she was having facial plastic surgery this summer was all wrong. 😉 She looks pretty awful for someone who hasn’t been doing anything.
I don’t usually go here but the haircut makes her look about 40 – 45, if not older. She really looks like she could be one of her mother’s contemporaries.
On 2nd thought, I think I prefer that she looks in her upper 30s – to mid 40s versus looking like an overgrown Pippy Longstockings with those sausage curls.
Vava – she looks older than someone in their early 30’s. Maybe it’s the workload and all the related stress she has to deal with? Or not. Funny thing is, Carole looks pretty good for her age and she has a lifetime of (real) hard work under her belt….
I posted a comment on Duchess Kate about 6 hours ago, and of course it did not get published. So, I did a subsequent post to say Kate looked wonderful ! with her new haircut. My guess is that one will get published. LOL.
The DM has photos of W&K going to Morning Service during their Scotland vacation.
I’m assuming the whole occasion took at least 2 – 3 hours including transport, service, and socializing. But George & Charlotte didn’t go with them.
And I’m assuming that the kids weren’t with Kate if she got her haircut at a London salon. That’s probably another 3-4 hours away from the kids.
I’m also assuming that Kate made sure that somebody was at home to bond with and feed the kids during her absence.
The PPD must have been lighter today, as she was smiling broadly in the photos. Maybe somebody close to her found out that PPD exists as an actual illness, informed her about it, and she finally got properly diagnosed and medicated.
I didn’t see any photos of her in a wheelchair though, even though her post-birth body must still be weak. It’s been only four months with an additional nine months of HG.
Oh yes, and to get a head start on the coming speculation from Kate apologists that the reason why she got a haircut was because sick people do that to conserve energy, you all might be onto something.
Light up the barbecue, because anne is roasting all the excuses and speculations today. I’m bringing the marshmallows. This girl is on fire!!!
@ Feeshalori
LOL! 😛
The Express also noted that William and Kate who beg to be NORMAL, borrowed their friends Private Jet and took a $12,000 jet ride up to Balmoral….
William and Kate, the normal down to earth royal couple.
Prince William has a very negative relationship with the press. He HATES them, mainly due to his mother’s death and the way he feels she was treated. However, unfortunately he relies on the press for his Royal existence. The reason they live such privileged lives is because the public pay their taxes, and the public will start to dislike the Royal family if they get nothing for their money. So essentially, the Royal family need the press to be positive about them and report on their work otherwise they have no reason to exist. I think Kensington Palace are taking orders from William, who is always attempting to put his middle finger up the press. Biting the hand that feeds comes to mind.