As we discussed yesterday, Prince William flew out of the UK on Thursday for what will be a four-day trip to Kenya. Even though William’s press office released the information as if this was a business trip involving a meeting with Kenya’s president and then “private” conservation work, every media outlet is reporting the trip as “William flies solo to his ex’s wedding.” The ex in question in Jecca Craig, William’s longtime friend and his alleged “first love.”
Some details about the trip… William and his press people insist that the trip is private and that he paid for his plane ticket himself. But he has three protection officers along with him, paid by the taxpayers. He also flew his private secretary to Nairobi last-minute to attend the meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta, and that’s at taxpayer expense too. Most of the royal reporters and UK media outlets are not holding back at all – if you’d like to read a hard-edged series of tweets, I would suggest checking out the Daily Express’s Richard Palmer here. Palmer notes:
William has remained intensely loyal to Jecca but his trip means he will be away from work and his wife and children over Easter. The Duke of Cambridge was also off work from his air ambulance job for a long stretch at Christmas. William has claimed he works only part-time because he wants to be a hands-on dad. Kate and children will spend Easter with the Middletons.
It is not clear if William, a future Supreme Governor of the Church of England, will attend church on the holiest day in the Christian faith.
The whole idea that the heir to the throne and the future “Keeper of the Faith” would miss going to church on one of the most important days in Christianity is also something that The Daily Mail’s Richard Kay picked up on. I don’t want to oversell this Kay piece, mostly because it’s just a history lesson about William and Jecca’s relationship through the years. But the fact that Kay – who was once Princess Diana’s go-to journalist – is writing about Will and Jecca’s relationship openly is pretty interesting. Of course, Kay dutifully insists that Jecca and William are probably just friends, and that Will’s obsessed more with Kenya than Jecca. You can read the full piece here. The most important details:
‘Clearly he is going to Jecca’s wedding with Kate’s blessing,’ says a former royal aide. ‘But it does look like the behaviour of a bachelor prince, not that of a father of two, including a ten-month-old infant.’
According to Kensington Palace, ‘one private secretary was at the meeting but is not spending the whole weekend there [with the prince]’. Insiders said William has paid for his own flights in and out of the country because the ‘private’ trip had already been planned before the meeting with President Kenyatta was arranged. He will, however, also take with him at least three Scotland Yard police protection officers, whose costs will be met by the taxpayer.
Lest the impression is reinforced that William’s life has become one foreign jaunt after another, by happy coincidence photographs of the prince at work with the East Anglia Air Ambulance also emerged ahead of the trip. They showed him helping to remove a patient on a stretcher from his helicopter, and then going with him in an ambulance to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.
And there is one other troubling aspect to this trip, which may rankle among some in royal circles, and it concerns the prince’s absence from the royals’ Easter church service at Windsor.
‘The Queen views Easter Sunday as the most important date in the Christian calendar, and she likes to gather her family round her for the traditional walk from Windsor Castle to St George’s Chapel,’ says a courtier. ‘William, after all, is a future head of the Church of England.’
Clearly he’s going with Kate’s blessing? Yeah, who believes that? It’s more like he does what he wants and Kate just has to put up with it. As for Kate’s Easter plans, “someone” leaked some details to Hello Magazine – Kate has already taken the kids to Berkshire, and she’ll be spending the holiday “privately” with her family. Pippa and James might even come up to help celebrate. If Carole is the manipulative genius I believe her to be, I think she should organize a pap stroll with the whole Middleton clan and the kids going into a local church on Easter morning.
Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News.
I wouldn’t want my husband to go 🙁
Same.
I would want to go to my ex boyfriend who is my best friend of 10 years wedding, so yes, I would want my husband to go. I am just not the jealous type.
Andrea, I feel the same way you do, but clearly this is not the same situation. So many more factors make this more complex than trusting hubby at an ex’s wedding, not the least of which is humiliating media scrutiny painting Kate as a doormat.
I’m too firey….William and I would have never worked out, lol…..but I’d threaten to go FULL DIANA if that f–er went to that wedding. She needs to get a backbone, everyone loves a sympathetic character that regains her fire. That is how she needs to emulate Diana, not in fashion or in dialect!
Yep, Kate could turn this whole thing around in her favor fast if she would just start making herself more accessible. She could start “working” often and charming the pants off everyone. Add adorable pics of her out and about with the kids and she’s back on top, a la Diana. The fact that she isn’t doing any of this tells me she really want to stick it out, likely for the title. Which means she has ZERO integrity. I’m rooting for her, though, if only because William is really pissing me off with this Easter thing and generally seems to suck as a person.
If William gave a hoot about Kate, he would have declined the invite and sent a gift. Instead, he jets 9 hours to a “friend” on Easter. His son is old enough yo miss Dad, and that Kate went home to Mummy shows that she really can’t stand on her own. Why not have the family come to her since it’s so “difficult” to travel with kids.
I never really thought it before, I thought Kate was a doormat and the marriage would last forever, but I think Spoiled Wills is bored and getting an itch, and wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up living in Africa. Without Kate. He does seem to love every it there according to the story. Maybe he will do everyone a favor, and cancel the plane ticket home!!
If I were Kate, I would have gone along on the trip. You’d think she was invited, and it’s not as if there is no one to take care of the children. This is what puzzles me – why didn’t she go??
Vava It is her daughter’s first Easter! Why would she want to fly to Africa to her husband’s ex-girlfriend’s wedding instead of being with her children. Her not going is completely understandable, what’s not is William going instead of being with his family over the holiday.
Franny, I understand what you are saying, but the children are so young, it’s not as if they will remember this when they get older. I can see why William would want to attend his friend’s wedding, but what I don’t understand is why 1) he didn’t take Kate with him, and 2) why he claims he can’t work more because he’s such a ‘family man’. Things aren’t adding up.
Kate would do what William wishes, and if he wanted her with him, she’d be there – regardless of the timing with Easter. Heck, they could have taken the children and the nannies with them and made it a Kenya holiday. The nannies could care for the children while Will and Kate were at the wedding festivities. That would certainly be feasible.
The Middletons traditionally ski over Easter week, they aren’t at church engaging in religious activities. If they wanted to have a family Easter brunch and egg hunt, they could have done it last weekend or next weekend. It isn’t like a 2-year-old and 10-month-old are going to notice a big difference in the dates on the calendar.
My daughter is a week older than Charlotte. There is no way in damn hell I’m jetting across the world while a babysitter gives my girl her first Easter. And we aren’t even religious.
If my husband wanted to go, well that’s his prerogative, and then I have issues with him, but no way am I not spending it with my girls. Husband or not.
If William weren’t an spoiled, self-absorbed twit, he would have sent his regards and a gift. If my husband did this, he’d be sleeping in his car when he got home!
If a kid can have lasting effects from neglect they were too young to remember, I would think they benefit greatly from happy gatherings, positive traditions, and family moments that they don’t remember too.
Otherwise what’s the point of doing anything with babies? Just leave them in a room until they are 3 and start to remember stuff. No use in taking them to the park, on walks, etc.
Oh wait. Parents have memories too…
Well, obviously this has struck a raw nerve with everyone. I suspect you all are much better parents than the Cambridges are. I think aristocrats are known for not being exactly ‘hands on’ when it comes to their children. Just remember, Kate and William took off for the Maldives when George was an infant. So my suggestion that one option was for them to go to Kenya together for 4 days is not far fetched. Don’t attack me, I’m just laying it out there.
Even though the PR spinners want us all to believe that William and Kate are oh-so-connected to their children, there is evidence to the contrary. They use their children, when it’s convenient or necessary for them to boost public opinion.
Eh. I had a very good childhood with many happy memories and I am pretty sure my parents held the same.
Due to various living situations and family dynamics we almost never celebrated Easter on the Easter Sunday. Sometimes the week before, sometimes the week after. It didn’t scar anyone.
I know its important for those who are religious to celebrate Easter on the exact date, to attend services and spend some serious family time together. However, if you aren’t religious and you just want an egg hunt, some chocolate and a gathering, you can do that the week before. Maybe the Cambridges did just that – we don’t know. Wills hasn’t been at the Queen’s Easter celebrations in yonks years – I just don’t think it’s an important holiday for him. And the MIddletons were Easter vacationers for years so I am guessing it’s somewhat the same for them.
I think where people really misjudge the Cambridge situation is to think it is like their own. I know they sold the “normal” Bill and Cathy early on but they are anything but normal. They are typical royals who live by very different rules.
ita @vava, all this sentimentality over a holiday when will and kate aren’t very religious and their kids are with nannies much of the time anyway
Maybe she just doesn’t want to be there when he chips the other tooth.
LOL What would make this a great Monday after Easter is Willy coming home with a drunk-minor-but-obvious-injury and a good ole days story of Uncle Gary debauchery.
@Vava: The “they’re too young to remember this” line of reasoning is so dismissive. It also completely misses the point of holidays and other important events that people usually bring it out for, like birthdays.
Aren’t holidays the times where families make memories and start or continue traditions? Aren’t holidays the times where people break out the cameras and take photos and video of the children — especially the babies and toddlers — all dressed up and with relatives and family friends? Aren’t holidays recounted to children when they’re older? How, then, does it matter what the children remember when the events of the day are recorded and remembered by the adults and older children who were there?
It’s like saying celebrating with someone is only important if there will be proof that it happened, otherwise, hey, put in as little effort as possible and skip it completely if you want to.
I don’t think it’s wrong to miss a celebration, celebrate at a different time, or not celebrate something, but to throw out that excuse or justification is just pitiful, and usually incorrect. If a person isn’t going to celebrate with their children they should just own it. Using the child’s age as an excuse is a great way to set themself up for uncomfortable times later with not only the child, but, even more likely, the other parent of that child and other family members.
Trek Girl, the Middletons are not a religious family. In past years, their Easter holiday tradition has meant them being photographed skiing. The only time they’re shown at Church is Christmas when they’re with the royals or doing a royal-free pap stroll at their local church. The date itself doesn’t appear to matter because they aren’t out at Church participating in religious events. That means they can make these holiday memories any day they choose.
I have a feeling Willy gets very drunk very often at weddings. Not only chipping his teeth which is more likely a fall than his friend accidently hitting him on the dance floor. At Guy Pelly’s wedding he got drunk enough that he just jumped on stage and started singing with the band. Kate might not like the type of fun he has with his own friends.
I read that Mail article right after it went up last night, and there weren’t too many comments on it at that point, but most were along the lines of “they’re old friends, they go way back, why wouldn’t he go?” And my reasoning is exactly yours: If your husband wanted to blow off your child’s first Easter (yes, I realize Charlotte is too young to remember it, but that’s not the point) and go solo to his ex’s/first love’s wedding on a different continent, how would you feel about that? I think most people would *not* be cool with that. I know I wouldn’t be! But at least when I read the Mail thing last night, the sugars were out in force to defend Prince Special Snowflake.
@Notasugarhere: yes, that’s what I said in my last paragraph.
My comment is specifically about the “they’re too young to remember” line of reasoning when it’s used as a justification for skipping out on celebrations or important events for or with children.
Well, it’s not as if William couldn’t have brought his family with him on this party.
The most significant things about this situation are: 1) William tried to turn this into some sort of state visit and has wasted taxpayers money when clearly it is a pleasure trip for him, 2) he has shunned a full work schedule claiming he needed to spend time with his family and yet he takes off like this, and 3) he went alone – which makes me wonder how his marriage is going these days.
I don’t have a problem with someone going to their ex’s wedding, but in my opinion it’s good to take your spouse along. Kate likes to travel, why she isn’t there is very puzzling; I think William told her to stay home.
As far as ‘skipping out on celebrations or important events’, I don’t think William really cares about that. He’s certainly shined that on in the past.
Vava, I understand everything you’re saying. ITA! I’m just saying that for all the people defending his decision to go to the wedding, put aside all that — the last-minute meeting with the Kenyan president, the taxpayer expense, his general avoidance of any kind of work/responsibilities. If he were just Bill Average — not a prince or any kind of public figure — most women married to Bill Average would have *serious* issues with their husband blowing off their child’s first Easter to go to his ex’s wedding alone on a different continent. That’s the only point I’m making. I completely agree with everything else written about this situation with regards to him not giving a cr@p about important family milestones, being a workshy @sshat, etc. I agree those are all much bigger issues than whether he’s going to a wedding. But I’m just saying for all the people who are all “meh, so he wants to go to his ex’s wedding, what’s the BFD?” … yeah, take the “he’s a prince” and all that goes with it out of the equation and you get somebody who’s cluelessly inconsiderate of his wife at best and mind-bogglingly cruel at worst.
CG, yes, I think we’re on the same page.
I also think that “most women married to Bill Average would have *serious* issues with their husband blowing off their child’s first Easter to go to his ex’s wedding alone on a different continent” is true, and I would certainly be one of them if my husband did that!
This incident, along with others (boar hunting in Spain?) lead me to believe that William leads a very independent lifestyle – and is not my idea of a good husband. He’s too self-centered.
Does anyone think it’s weird that Jecca’s husband would be ok with it?
@Zimmerman,
I would think Jecca’s husband would be OK with it. It’s not as if Jecca and William have any sort of romance going on. They are just good friends.
The problem is really with the way William has handled all this. The taxpayers have incurred expenses, unnecessarily so. Kate didn’t join him, which seems really weird. He professes to be such a ‘family man’, and yet he leaves for the Easter weekend. It’s all too strange.
While I enjoy the juicy gossip of the Jecca-Will-Kate triangle, I always wonder how truthful it is. That is, until I’m reminded that Kate was sent as a surrogate to Peter Phillips wedding (Will’s COUSIN) while Will attended the wedding of Jecca’s brother. Not only does he prioritize Jecca, but it seems that he prefers his time with her in Kenya, not only away from the press, but away from Kate. There wouldn’t be as much suspicion if Kate also tagged along. But it seems that she’s rarely invited.
ALSO, BIGGER QUESTION – Jecca’s husband….. He doesn’t care?! Is this an aristocrat thing?
Camilla’s husband didn’t mind, and was infact cheating as well, but given that Jecca’s husband is canadian, perhaps he will mind, and thus history won’t repeat itself IF at all.
However, i like to think that humanbeings evolve and the negative accepted behaviour from yhe past stays there. Exception Kate. She seems to be stuck in a middle ages version of womanhood. Without the attendant industriousness.
I have this “droit de seigneur” idea stuck in my head for this one. I would’t want him to go either.
I can’t stop laughing over the thought of William claiming first night rights!
Wow wow wow. The future air to the throne and future head of the church of Egland leaving his family To jet off to Africa for an ex’s wedding.
And Kate (with the next heir) is going to be at the Middleton estate.
The cracks are showing and bravo for exposing them goes to the press. Enough of them being hidden and given special privledges.
Did you purposely type “The future air to the throne” or was it auto correct. Because either way it is hilarious!
The future airhead to the throne. Really, William is such a dud. I always wanted to believe he would step up and shine into his role as a future King, but he’s such a shady, sulky, entitled brat of a man. I actually feel sorry for Kate, who must feel powerless in her gilded cage. She bought the fairytale, but alas, William is no Prince Charming.
Freudian slip 😉
This such a nothing story to me. It’s the girls wedding. Clearly they are just friends um mountain out of a mole hill. My friend and her hubby sometimes attend weddings separate so one stays w kiddos if it’s others close friend.
+1
Well, you kinda answered this yourself. Your friend and hubby attend weddings separately, because ones stays w kiddos. These folks have who to leave their kids with, the nannies. Also he attends his ex’s wedding. It’s simply weird Kate did not go.
+1. And I think the problem is not the fact he’s attending his ex’s wedding, is that he claims he works less to be a hands on father but has no problem in leaving his wife and children on Easter. Doesn’t make sense.
+2.
He claims to be so dedicated to his family (children and wife) and yet does this? He is acting like a bachelor. Kate should have gone with him, and I’m surprised she didn’t. You would think she’d be invited. And yes, there are the nannies to care for the children.
I agree. My husband is still friends with some of his exes. This has never come up, but if he wanted to go to one of their weddings, I wouldn’t have a problem. He could have married them. He married me. I think this is silly.
Of course it’s silly. Maybe it is american thing, but I don’t understand all these comments about some kind of infidelity if you attend your ex’s wedding (with many other people attending) or remain on good terms with them. .
We don’t live in the Dark Ages anymore. Jesus.
I think the problems highlighted by Paula and Cristine are compounded by the fact that the wedding is over 4000 miles away and on a significant weekend in the religious calendar. If Jecca was getting married in London or somewhere in the south of England, William (with or without Kate) could easily pop down and be back in time for tea with no complications. It’s the fact that William is willing to go so far on a significant date that I think is causing some people to wonder about his feelings for Jecca, and consequently Kate’s opinion on the matter.
It is NOT a non-story.
I don’t give the chuff from a flying monkey about the state of the Cambridge marriage.
I do give a stuff that to cover over whatever *is* the state of the Cambridge marriage, a PPS was flown out to give an official veneer to a private visit and a HEAD OF STATE was dragged into a pretend meeting to further paper over it.
This is a gross abuse of public office, public funds, and constitutional duty in terms of a state religion. The very last thing it is is a NON story.
Why did he even do that? I think everyone could have predicted that William was going to Kenya for this wedding (after all, he missed Peter Phillips wedding to attend the nuptials of Jecca’s brother). Why pretend it’s anything else?
Not to mention the extra daily £20K for security (estimates provided by Ken Wharfe – former RPO) for Kate to take the kids to Middleton towers instead of remaining at an already secured location (Sandrigham) that wouldn’t incur that extra cost.
Bridget: from a gossip angle, this pretence is what is giving this story legs.
I agree, Sixer. This isn’t so much about William and Jecca and Kate. It’s the fact that this prince is so arrogant he sees nothing wrong with using his power and the British people’s money to attend his ex-girlfriend’s wedding. No one is buying this was a conservation meeting with a wedding. Everyone knows he is there for the wedding, and the conservation meeting was just a cover to justify this. There is something seriously wrong with William if he thinks this was kosher. This isn’t the first time he’s abused his position either. These are peeks into how he’ll treat the throne once he ascends to it.
I’m jumping up and down with fury. British Twitter has been busy posting name and shame images listing the expenses of politicians who just voted to cut £30 a week from disabled people’s benefits. I think it’s about time we started doing this to Normal Bill.
And the sheer embarrassment of dragging another country’s head of state into it. How demeaning for our country.
Yes, the love-triangle-gossip angle is better for William than his misuse of multiple government officials.
Absolutely. This is really the issue at hand. Wasting taxpayer’s money to gloss this whole private visit as some sort of official visit. What could have possibly been accomplished in a half hour meeting with Kenya’s president? William needs to be reprimanded for this – and wouldn’t it be nice if he had to pay back all this expense! Shameful.
Shades of the cover-up about his helicopter joyride to the Middleton’s house years ago. After the fact the officials pretended the whole thing had been approved ahead of time. He’s played this game for a decade.
I’m surprised by people’s anger on this one. He paid for his own travel privately; he would have taken the security along regardless of his “meeting”. Do people think the prince should be disallowed from going to a close friend’s wedding because of the security cost? I feel like that’s unreasonable. He should be allowed to attend, and I doubt he’s allowed to travel to Africa without security.
And as for the presidential meeting and thus the addition of the secretary, I think if he had gone all the way to Africa and NOT done something official, many here would have mocked him as well–“oh, Willnot, are you going to do something useful while you’re there? No? What a surprise” — given his constant blathering about conservation.
Obviously the royals are a giant waste of money, and it is all very disgusting when you compare with what taxpayers have, but going to a friend’s wedding (and thus requiring the security) seems like it has to be allowed, and if he’s already in Africa, it feels like adding a little bit of work to it (even if it adds the secretary’s travel) seems better than not doing so.
Gracie from yesterday’s thread, it was intimated that with the current terror level, he would have needed government permission (UK and Kenyan) to travel there at this time. IF the meeting had been planned in advance, it would have been stated months ago. The hastily patched up excuse from KP about security? Nope, the terror level alerts were only recently put into place so the excuse doesn’t hold water. He used two governments to try to make his actions look better.
No, Gracie. No.
He can go to a wedding if he wants. He can go solo or with Katie Laze Quitter if he wants. He can have a holiday if he wants. He will be subject to criticism if he prioritises weddings and holidays over public duties. He has prioritised them and he has been criticised.
What he cannot do, is turn a holiday into an official visit at the last minute by imposing on the head of state of another country and by using public funds to include a PPS (a staffer from his constitutional office, not a privately funded servant) to counter bad PR.
This is called CORRUPTION.
And if what someone posted is correct, there’s a big conservation event in Kenya at the end of April, so this meeting with the Kenyan President yesterday for the topic of conservation was unnecessary.
And the private secretary flew out for only one day, just for this last minute meeting with the President, at taxpayers’ cost. He didn’t stay for the rest of William’s trip. And I don’t doubt that the meeting lasted less than an hour, probably 30 minutes or less based on William’s pattern.
And the President was put upon just to give William his cover story for what was actually the main reason for going to Kenya. It looks like William took advantage of him. Not good for diplomacy and the relationship between the countries. So how is this going to affect the conservation event in April and over all when he’s shown the world he used the President for his own personal issues.
And now that something officially government-related was tacked on after William paid for the round-trip flights himself, will he ask the government to reimburse him for the cost of the flights and any other personal expenditures including ground transportation to the estate?
And will this later go on the CC and count on his work tally? The same question to the other story that he’s doing some kind of conservation tour or whatever on this same trip. Another CC entry for this too? So two CC events added on for this trip?
Anne-000: yes there is. The Kenyans had a big press conference to announce the summit on 26th February, right as William was either planning his skiing jolly or already on it.
No peep from him about this BIG summit about security and conservation. Ditto weeks later when he sat down to that interview to tell us to stop poaching except when we are trophy hunting.
Now he needs a cover for his private jolly and suddenly an official 30mins long meeting with the president of Kenya is needed regarding this issue?!
And if you notice, not a word about the big summit, not even to promote it….Yet he is allegedly in the country to discuss big important things with the president about conservation and oh shucks there is a wedding by sheer coincidence!
If i were his private secretary, i’d be furious to be dragged all the way to Kenya for a 30mins meeting after which i had to get the plane back to Britain, even if the tickets were business/first class.
Not to mention chris jackson (william’s favoured press photographer) pulled away from Nepal and Harry’s tour to cover this 30min non meeting.
Anne and LAK: you are taking me PAST boiling point!
I love it when you get fired up, Sixer. But you make an excellent point. It’s very easy for us in the US to dismiss this as just another gossip item that makes some people’s blood boil, but when looked at compared to things happening in Britain, it’s a totally different matter. And it gets a whole lot less funny.
I totally get what Sixer is saying. It wouldn’t have been a big deal for William to go to his childhood friend’s wedding, even if it’s over a religious holiday. Pay for the f@$!ing trip yourself, go as a private citizen, party it up. But trying to turn it into a work visit? That’s not only BS, it’s boneheaded in its un-necessary-ness. What. An. Idiot. And it’s an abuse of his position.
The worst part of this situation to me is that there is a person in the world named JECCA. Like, what? That is not a name.
Jecca is her nickname; Jessica is her legal name.
I agree Sixer. And BTW, I had to break out the Q-tips to clean the froth my keyboard again.
I agree with you. So what. It’s his private time EXCEPT if he turns the whole thing into a business trip complete with staff because of the meeting with Kenyatta to make it seem like it’s not about going to the wedding..
If Kate does or doesn’t like it, it’s between her and WIlliam.
The only other side eye I give is because it’s over Easter and the whole Defender of the Faith thing.
ETA: Sixer said what I just said much better.
And their continual excuse for their lack of work, which is to be “real,” hands-on parents, as opposed to us, the working “neglectful” parents. And then to jet off to an ex-gf’s wedding on Easter, their daughter’s first, and he, future head of the COE. Next time people defend their lack of work because of their desire to be hands-on parents, I’ll bring this up. They are the ultimate hypocrites, and happily use their kids to get out of work.
What I think? Wills told Kate he was going to Jecca’s and he didn’t want her to go. She got angry, pulled out of the Irish Guard day – a huge mistake. She’s looked horrible the last few weeks, no amount of makeup can hide it. There have been fights and angst. But Kate doesn’t know how to work, and hates to work, so instead of doubling down on working for the royal family and making Wills look bad, she sulks and runs home to Mummy.
Carole has a real problem on her hands, William will always be more accepted than Kate, as the public watched him grow up, and in a PR battle, LazyKate will lose.
If Carole and or Kate were smarter, they’d figure out that Diana, the woman they stalk even in death, got the public on her side which allowed her to overcome the public’s decades long emotional investment in the royals and support her, even when she made mistakes.
That’s not to say they should sell their soul to the media like she did, but Kate doing her job per her public contract with UK and Realms, and doing it well would go a long way.
Oh yeah, LAK I agree. If I were Kate I’d use this opportunity to become the favorite one. Let him know there’s a new sheriff in town…because yes, she was a doormat for years but she’s got control now (if she would be smart enough to realize that!?) Force him to behave. Wicked laugh.
I am not Christian (or religious in any way) nor am I the jealous type, so I also would not have a major problem with my boyfriend or husband going to a friend’s wedding even if it was over Easter holiday. That being said, I know this holiday is significant for those who choose to celebrate it with family, and that this is just another really poor PR decision made by Prince William. On the other hand, a compromise – bringing Kate and the kids along with a nanny to Kenya – probably would have been the best decision. There is plenty of room at Jecca’s estate for the children to play and there wouldn’t have been any questions about marital problems or infidelity because Kate would be there to accompany William.
This is maybe a dumb question but…why didn’t prince William just marry Jecca?
She probably wasn’t interested. Btw, googled a picture of the groom. He’s definitely got the man of nature look down.
She wouldn’t have him.
Honestly I know she probably did send him an invite but him actually going feels a bit stalkerish to me. I mean she’s having it in another country and on a religious holiday and this F&^ker is still showing up.
Smart lady
Probably because she wanted to live in Africa and knew she couldn’t if she married him.
She lives in London and her fiance is employed at the London Zoo.
Because he’s a moody self entitled jerk and it wasn’t worth it to her.
Is it really shocking that someone wouldn’t want to live with William? He seems like such a joy to be around.
I got the impression they haven’t been seriously romantically involved for a long, long time, but it’s also obvious that there is a very deep friendship between William and Jecca – she seems to be one of the very few people that he genuinely respects and values, which to me is way more powerful than youthful romance.
When William broke up with Kate in 2007 (allegedly by phone call), one media source listed 10 other potential flames for him (Jecca being number two on said list).
I’m genuinely wondering if she deliberately held the wedding on Easter a 9 hour flight away to stop him going. I assume telling the heir to the throne to knock off the moony eyed routine wouldn’t be good for her social life with the upper class set they both hang around with. I’ve seen a lot about William’s interest in Jecca but very little evidence she has any ongoing interest in him, which is why I think the speculation about them having an affair is unfair. I have no doubt HE would but have we seen any indication she reciprocates?
I think if he ever stood a chance with her, Kate would have been history. Jecca is WAAAY out of Billy Boy’s league.
They would have wanted to have the wedding at her home in Africa, which has claim on her/their affections. Perhaps they chose Easter because (a) the statutory holidays associated with it allow time for guests flying in from abroad, and (b) they can honeymoon there and later attend the summit in April?
Jecca seems too intelligent and driven to consider any liaison with William. She has serious conservation interests which she clearly shares with her soon-to-be husband.
I speculated the same thing. I think she’s trying to move on and dude just won’t catch a clue.
Wasn’t Kate invited to the wedding?
My bet is that she was and has opted not to go.
Surely she was. That’s why I wonder if she didn’t go so William would catch hell and she’s come off looking Diana-like. But whoever cooked that up – what’s the long con? William’s the future monarch here.
I just bet he’s wishing those protection officers could save him from Twitter.
She stopped going to weddings altogether a few years ago. It’s bizarre and adds fuel to the idea that she truly has no close friends, only William’s friends.
Yet she doesn’t attend any of his friends’ wedding anymore either. It’s like she has no one outside of her own family: super weird.
I am sure she was and he told her she can’t come. I firmly believe he would have been even more impossible to live with had she gone.
He is doing such a bad job!
All the good will he got for
Free, and this is how he is
Managing it?
Disgraceful 😞
Regardeing the recent photos of Will at work – “happy coincidence” indeed. How stupid do they think the public is?
He thinks the media is evil and the public truly believe he’s a hard working, helicopter pilot who is stuck with this prince thing. He would be wrong but it’s fun watching him screw up again and again.
It’s quite laughable really. I guess someone thinks the public is really ignorant. Why would a copilot go in the ambulance to the hospital?
You are so right. Waiting for the “Normal Bill rescues a little of puppies” story to make it all good.
Exactly. Speaking as a health care worker, the last place Willnot should have been was in that ambulance, a really confined space. In doing so, he got in the way of them doing their work. And worse yet, he used someone else’s misfortune for his own personal PR gain. This asshat’s entitlement knows no bounds. SMH I just can’t!
That particular factoid struck me as well. What’s a copilot doing riding in the ambulance? What if there was an emergency call and the helo had to leave immediately, but couldn’t because altruistic Will wanted to ride along and hold the patient’s hand? There’s plenty of experienced personnel to go in the ambulance and this is exploiting a terrifying time for the victim just for good PR.
And they expect the public to swallow this hook, line and sinker. Just incredible.
And coincidentally the same photographer has happened to come across William at work two or three times before! What are the chances!!
I can usually confine myself to mocking these fools but honestly, ArtHistorian, I am STEAMING over this. Spitting tacks!
If it had been me or one of my loved ones that had been used to boost Workshy Will’s PR I’d have been absolutely furious!!! The man is without shame.
Yes, I’d be ticked too. It was a total PR stunt for William…………..while the poor patient is lying there on the stretcher.
Here’s a question: does the UK have something similar to HIPAA? Because a picture like that – showing someone getting medical care and being taken to a hospital – could be a violation of that law. There’s definitely a medical privacy issue involved for the victim (victim in two ways, first of injury then of Normal Bill’s PR machine!).
It wouldn’t be a violation of HIPAA in the U.S. The media could take and post pix of people coming and going from hospitals, ambulance runs, accident victims, it could be unethical and in poor taste but HIPAA has to do with what info health care entities can disclose, not what someone can take a picture of in public.
Makes you wonder if Jecca intentionally planned the wedding for Easter weekend, hoping William would choose his family over her, finally freeing her from this triangle. But nope. William does what William wants to do. Tradition and family be damned. What a moron!
Did anyone truly think Kate would stay at her home and have Easter? I certainly didn’t. I figured she left as soon as William and his entourage did.
Good heavens no! She needed Carole to “play host”!!!!
Do you really think he was the major driver behind how she planned her wedding?
Don’ think so!
No, I don’t think he factored in her wedding plans. I think I speculated she chose the Easter weekend hoping he wouldn’t come or would bring his wife. No woman wants the hint of scandal over their wedding, especially the baggage that comes with William and his family.
I think she knows her friends and that most of them are Anglican-lite. Show up at church twice a year, Christmas and Easter, if then. Since it isn’t a big religious holiday for any of them, she probably thought/knew her friends would appreciate spending a free week or long weekend on her family’s reserve.
I don’t think so. I think Jecca is a lot more important to Workshy than he is to her.
In response to ArtHistorian – I would venture to say that William, or his mouthpiece, apparently do think the public is gullible and will believe the “royal spiel”. Unfortunately for him, the public is a lot more savvy than given credit for. He is a spoiled and arrogant person – period. And it isn’t surprising that Kate headed home to mom. William, unfortunately, has no respect for his marriage and it is glaringly obvious. Give the pleebs more credit Mr. Future-Heir to the throne. We’re not the “dense ones” in this game of chess.
I honestly CANNOT believe anyone can be this oblivious, this tone deaf. So either he’s dumb as rocks, or he frankly does not give one solitary f*ck what anyone thinks. And I don’t know which is worse.
Of course she gave permission…. who’d want to be around him if he doesn’t get his way?
I’m sure she knows better than most the petulant prince’s is not easy to live with.
I’m having a hard time imagining William even asking for anyone’s permission – especially from Kate!
If anything, it’s the other way around. She doesn’t make a move without his say so. William does what he wants, when he wants, with whom he wants, whenever he wants. Kate, and now the kids, are the afterthought.
Years ago my husband went on a business trip to Australia and was gone over Easter weekend. At church services I felt like a widow. No one was taking pictures of me with my family coming and going from services, either.
So much as I dislike Kate, I feel for her this weekend. Never thought I’d type that.
The family isn’t known to be religious and usually goes skiing over Easter. The only time they show up at Church is Christmas paps strolls with-or-without the royal family.
Is Jecca actually getting married on Easter? If not then William could easily fly back for services on Easter.
She already got married in England, this is an extra event. He just lies when he says he wants to be a hands on Dad-doesn’t give a F*ck
I asked about this on Twitter, and Niraj Tanna said he’s leaving Africa Sunday and not getting back to England until Monday morning.
To me this whole obsession with Africa is really just a yearning for old-school colonialism. He (and his brother, but mostly William) are not seeing the real Africa, nor does he care to. He just wants to see big estates run by white people living the old school life. Yeah, they have cleaned up their images with “conservation” now, but look at Chelsy Davy’s family connections there. That wasn’t kosher by a long shot.
Yes, yes, and yes.
I think it can be an easy place to hide, like William spending time on the massive Craig estate. Remember the Jolie-Pitt delivery in Namibia tilt-a-whirl? The government didn’t let photographers into that specific African country, because they could deny them entry to keep Jolie-Pitt happy.
That’s exactly how I see it. I want to smack him every time he wistfully mentions Africa in an interview.
Totally agree.
1000x this, Talie. It’s very Happy Valley set throwback.
Well spotted, Talie. Have often thought so myself. Echoes of empire. Exploiting the wildlife whilst making a big stir for conservation – a la Prince Philip and the WWF. Pure hypocrisy and utterly vile.
It is very “Out of Africa,” isn’t it?
“I had a farm in Afrikaaaa…”
At the foot of the Ngong Hills.
What are the shady Chelsy Davy connections? Curious!
Did she give her blessing?
No.
Is there anything she can do about it?
No.
William’s hasn’t attended Easter with the Royals in years. He has always celebrated it ‘privately’.
I doubt Kate gets any say in what William does. He told her he was going and that was that. She just sucked it up and went off to mummy.
https://twitter.com/DailyMailUK/status/713057561495281664
Pics the other day taken right beside the victim receiving attention. Amazing how Wills security allowed anyone this close to him. And I wouldn’t be happy to have someone take pictures of me like that if I had just been injured.
It pretty much confirms that kate has little or no relationship with her in-laws. If she got on with them, she would attend Windsor to see the family and do the pap church walk – especially with will away and harry still in Nepal, she would bet so much attention and lord knows she can always spot the papas to give them a picture. The pr spin of being the one who puts family first and goes to church on religious holidays would actually be in her favour and would improve her image in some of the diehard older monarchies supporters. She loves the attention so why not attend that service in the morning then spend the afternoon with her family – unless she is not welcome without will and the family don’t invite her to anything without having will there as a buffer?
Am I the only one who finds the nature of the majority of this coverage/commentary extremely disrespectful to Miss Craig?
No, you’re not the only one, and I thought a few of the comments on yesterday’s article were almost vulgar considering she is not a public figure or celebrity and has done nothing morally or legally wrong that anyone is aware of at this point. I hope she has a beautiful wedding, a happy honeymoon, and that all the speculation about her and Willie dies quickly after this weekend.
Olenna,
Quite agree. The older I get the less schadenfreude appeals to me.
You are not alone. I thought it is common for friends to attend each other wedding. If Miss Craig was a man, none of this uproar would happen. Mrs Cambridge should have gone with Mr Cambridge. After all, Miss Craig did attend their wedding and he proposed right there in Keyna.
Hmmm. Good point. Got me thinking now that perhaps the proposal in Kenya was a deliberate move on the part of the KM team. I’ve never believed the proposal story for public consumption was an actual surprise engagement… more likely, the PR component crafted amid a lengthy series of private negotiations, ultimatums, etc. Could see the KM team arguing that the official story, the public engagement, must take place on Jecca’s home turf – as a means of sticking it to the ex and attempting to quell the gossip. Disrespecting Ms. Craig indeed. But yes, I’m cynical like that.
….but did he propose in Aftica? It’s mighty coincidental that his proposal mirrors another of their friends whose engagement story was published in the society columns a month before William announced his engagement. Right down to all the tiny details about wandering around africa with ring in a rucksack and being afraid to lose it or fiance finding it and worrying about doing it right. The only difference was the countries proposals allegedly took place.
The point being that whatever the truth, William actively lies and apparently badly because we always find out.
@LAK – i don’t believe their proposal story, Kate had trouble sticking to it during the interview. I, personally, think he proposed the day/night before on a whim.
I wonder how the friends they stole it from feel about it.
He stole the story… wow, that is worse than even I suspected. In that case, my bet is that the ‘proposal’ was an intense whiskey-fuelled negotiation between William and Carole, finalized in the wee hours of insobriety. Kate was informed at breakfast the next morning.
It was equally cringeworthy when similarly unsavory whispers started when William’s medic was announced – Gemma somebody or another. In the glee people took in imagining Kate being cuckolded by her bratty husband it was often forgotten that it is not nice to assume that the other woman in the story would be willing to behave so immorally.
Not your not the only one. And her poor new husband, who isn’t famous or a public figure. To have all this hullabaloo and rude speculation hanging over what should be the happiest time of their lives. All because of you-know-who.
I wonder if William thought through his decision to attend and realized how much grief he’d bring to his friends with this circus. He may be used to it but they aren’t. But as usual its all about him.
Nah – only because the creep seems 100% William’s. I do think it’s bizarrely myopic for him to attend an ex’s wedding solo, on an important holiday (for Christians generally, but especially so for one who will be the head of the church), with the knowledge of how his parents’ marriage imploded. I assume nothing about Ms. Craig.
They’ve always functioned with time apart, then duct taped back together by Carole. The main reason for the constant breakups, given by The Set, is her clinging to him like a Limpet. In order to be the last one standing, she had to learn that either she gives him his space – or he’s going to move on. Since she is attached to her mother’s apron strings, she doesn’t have a problem spending loads of time with mummy.
Now more people are catching on, especially with things like security at her parents house coming from the taxpayers. If she wasn’t going to be there constantly to give him breathing room, they wouldn’t have done those upgrades.
He was going to go to this wedding no matter what. She used to go to weddings with him and has skipped a few recently. Now that she doesn’t have to play the game of liking some of his friends, she doesn’t. She has the life she wants, and when she thinks he’s gone too far, she or Carole or Mike yank him back.
As for her not going to any recent friends weddings I think thats down to him not wanting her there – he can relax and have ‘fun’ without her watching his every move like a hawk.
I agree…I bet she would be a real wet blanket at any social event where her mother and sister were absent. Kate doesn’t seem to be a really interesting or fun person.
Well, she sees every woman, who isn’t a Middleton, as a threat to her position.. She’d probably follow him around attached to his hip the whole time and give every woman there the evil eye for even looking at Willnot. So much fun….
This is exactly what I think too.
Actual conversation between me and my husband this morning:
Me: Would you go to your ex-girlfriend’s wedding if it were in Africa on Easter?
Husband: Who gets married on EASTER?
Me: …non-Christians? Anyway, that’s not the point.
Husband: Are you coming?
Me: No, its our daughter’s first Easter, and in this hypothetical world I hate your friends and make it a point to avoid their weddings.
Husband: Well then no… I forgot we had a hypothetical daughter.
SEE, HE gets it! Get it together, Bill!
Sounds like a good man!
He’s a saint! He is an amazing cook, he enjoys cleaning, he’s brilliant at his job and is the breadwinner in our family, AND hes supportive of me when I need to work late and takes care of our high maintenance dog. I hope I never forget how lucky I am!
@Anon
You both sound lucky. You sound like a perfect match and lucky dog to have such an attentive mommy.
Does he have a brother?
2! But they’re both married and one of them is an asshole. The other one makes my husband LOOK like a jerk he’s so nice.
Omg anon that was funny!
Now if Kate wanted to play him, she would go to church with The Queen. And take the kids too.
Definitely not be seen publicly with the middletons until after the pap stroll with HM.
Exactly my thoughts. She should have done that. The wife doing her duty ALONE with TWO young Kids. The husband AWAY like a bachelor. WIth Harry in Nepal, this would have all made W look very bad.
Wow, payback would be a bee-yotch, boom!
MTE But of course she’d never do that.
I’m fairly sure that would be the nuclear option just prior to the breakup. Since I get the impression Kate intends to cling to her marriage no matter what, I think this is unlikely, at least this year.
LAK would HM/the men in grey allow that, though? “Dutiful Duchess takes adorable children to church with Queen on Easter while workshy hubby frolics at ex’s African wedding” … Would they really want to blow things up like that, unless they were absolutely certain they wanted Will out of the line of succession? Once those headlines/images are in the public’s collective head, is there any way to come back from that?
Early in the marriage, and by that i mean 2012, when the press started to mumble that Kate hadn’t taken up her royal role and mostly shopping, Kate rang up BP and asked to shadow the Queen. Kate appeared with the Queen at an engagement celebrating the underground within weeks. Soon followed by one with Charles and Camilla – memorable because Kate and Charles were photographed attempting to iron a shirt.
This anecdote circulated amongst the reporters because of the aforementioned grumbles, and i think was the centre piece of Richard Palmer’s article telling us how KP was embarking on a programme of transparency whereby everything Kate did, including meetings and behind the scnes work, was to be put into the CC to counter the newly acquired lazy Kate label.
I think if she asked, HM would accommodate her. Afterall, it’s not as if she’s inviting herself over to HM’s private space.
Or she could have taken the kiddies to Scotland to spend it with Charles and Camilla and made sure to be photographed as they all went to church – kills 2 birds as well; the often repeated suggestion that Charles doesn’t see his grandkids, and sticks it to William.
If she were smart and media savvy, that is exactly what she would do. Pack up the kids, be seen attending church with either the Queen and her extended family, or with Charles and Cams.
She could scamper after the brunch and head off to her family, and spend the rest of the day, heck the week, with them. Despite some of the Christmas outings, I really doubt church is important to the Midds.
That would be Diana level media playing.
I don’t think Kate has it in her.
Of course she’s given her blessings – wanna bet she’s getting a 2 week vacay to Mustique with just him (no kids) out of it.
As for the trip itself – the fact that in order to try and paint a picture that he was ‘working’ and to get the trip paid for by the taxpayer he drags a head of state into it and makes a big song and dance about how its all about conservation and NOT going to a private wedding of his ex-gf – which was the SOLE purpose of the trip. The press won’t call him out on it directly – its going in the file for another time. And I’ll bet this isn’t the only time he’s pulled this stunt.
He’s fast becoming an major embarrassment to the county – Cameron DO SOMETHING about him, cause Daddy and Granny aren’t.
The uk media may be pretending that he went for conservation purposes, the Kenyan papers are calling it out as they see it. Headlines are along the lines of ‘ PW flies in for ex-GF’s wedding…..met President.’ Emphasis on wedding first, President/conservation distant last.
Being William, and he has form in this area, he’ll claim the entire thing on official expenses.
I would love to see Cameron doing something about this, but honestly, between terrorism (the possibility of security breaches at Belgian nuclear plants is scary as hell), the dodgy economy and Osborne’s £4.5 billion black hole, and the EU referendum…this stuff is very low on his list of things to deal with.
As if Kate has any say whatsoever on what William does. He runs that relationship. Always has.
What amazes me about many of the DM comments is that people defend the relationship of Kate and William. They completely gloss over the likely additional costs of this thinly veiled ‘business trip’.
If I were Kate, I would had been strolling with the royals and the children, dressed to a T, smiling and nice to everyone. I would have made him look bad but in a subtle slap in the face way. He is lucky that she somehow always chooses to do something that makes her look bad. I believe he did go to the St Patrick to look good and he did not mind throwing her under the bus, I would have been pleased to return the favour. At the end of the day, if you do not make yourself be respected by your spouse, then he will not respect you. That is how it works for most people I know. I really hope one day she goes against her inclination to play in his childish behaviours. I have little hope as I agree with everyone here, there has never been any indication that she did grow in maturity in last decade and a half. But I will add one point in her favour: she appears as loving her kids and every picture shows it. I cannot say that William exudes the same parental love in pictures and certainly, he missed his son first trip and his daughter first Easter, very “bachelor” and selfish behaviours in the eyes of most certainly. This is why I believe that Kate walking with the kids and the royals on Sunday while Harry is in Nepal doing charity, would have made W look BAD for choosing to be at an ex girl friend wedding.
She could only show up for Easter with the royals if she had a close relationship with them. Charles and Camilla are likely in Scotland, so that leaves HM and Prince Philip. No matter how many chutney stories she tells, she hasn’t built a relationship with them. With no William present, she has to curtsy to Beatrice and Eugenie. I suspect she’ll do a lot to avoid being photographed doing that.
This is where I am more “long game”, I would go and be seen curtseying to the two sisters, which in itself makes no sense. I believe that her doing all this and pics out there would play out in her favour: while I think she does very little and does not seem very genuine most of the time, I find it ludicrous she to curtsey to two women who did not accomplish more than she did and had her age or younger just because of whose their dad is, especially since their dad is not exactly one that inspire a lot of respect. I would be insulted for her to see such a picture. Moreover on a day where she is there by herself with her kids. And any mean look toward her would win her a lot of sympathy since her husband did not even have the decency to stay with his family for Easter. This is what I believe I would do to “give it back to everyone” with an humble smile on my face. Maybe I am way meaner than Kate after all!!
I call it: you lose a battle but that will help you to win the war, which is the ultimate goal. Kate goes little battle to little battle, this is why she loses in the long run the battle of public opinion. Life is a check game, especially when dealings with family like the royals. She does not show any strategic thinking. They walk over her.
Some people would say “long game” and some folks would say “just be nice”. It’s not that hard.
She tries to be Diana, so in this case, she should have asked, What would Diana do?
Gotten an invite to Church, shown up looking gorgeous, walk and talk to all the well-wishers with the kids close by until no one was even left, and then had dinner with Carole. If she’s losing in the Love Dept with Wills, she can still win in the PR Department.
Can you imagine the pics that would have been all over the world? Kate, George and Charlotte greet well wishers for an hour after Church! This is not brain surgery. Why are the PR people, or Kate, so stupid???
I don’t understand the negativity towards Beatrice and Eugenie. They are no different than Will. What’s the big deal about Kate having to curtsy to them vs. her walking two steps behind Wills before? It’s the same archaic system that is also paying for her food, clothing and her children’s up keep.
It’s petty and prideful to avoid those two ladies just because Kate wants to be instantly elevated to a princess. She is believing too much in her own (people magazine) press.
You marry into a family, try getting along with the family members even when you have to eat crow. Be humble, it gets you further in life and makes you allies.
I wonder what Jecca’s long game is. She could have scheduled her wedding for any Sunday – it’s going to be held at her father’s estate. She chose Easter Sunday when William’s participation will be especially noticeable, both because he’s missing church (inappropriate for the person who will be the future head of the Church of England) and because he’s walking out on his family on such an important holiday.
I don’t know if she was daring him to come, or hoping he wouldn’t.
Why are you assuming that Jecca and her fiance have to schedule her wedding around William or that Jecca has a “long game” here? Her fiance/husband has a job in London, this could be the only time he could get away from work for an extended period. Likewise many of their friends who can more easily take time off around the long Easter holiday weekend. Maybe her family traditionally gathers at their estate over Easter and this fits into THEIR family tradition. Why should she worry about ONE of her guests, if he is no more important than any other?
As I said above. I think she knows her friends and that most of them are Anglican-lite. Show up at church twice a year, Christmas and Easter, if then. Since it isn’t a big religious holiday for any of them, she probably thought/knew her friends would appreciate spending a free week or long weekend on her family’s reserve.
We have a long weekend here due to bank holidays, so people can go without having to use too much of their annual leave. That’s just thoughtful if you’re asking them to fly internationally to attend your wedding.
I don’t think Jecca scheduled this with its impact on Wills in mind and I don’t think she is scheming. If anything the friendship benefits them both as her family’s Tusk Trust has pretty much been elevated to a de facto royal charity and Will gets a ready made charity and cause. For the church part, I’m sure he could go to an Easter service in Kenya. He probably won’t tho.
Will wants to be anything but what he is –so I’m sure he loves the escapist fantasy that he is part of the Craig family on their luxurious estate in Kenya. Kinda like he escapes into his Normal Bill fantasy with the Middleton family on their estate in Berkshire.
I think she chose Easter weekend because she was hoping Chopper wouldn’t come, I mean I’m sure she and her family are put out with him being there!!! They didn’t have a choice!
I think Jecca’s long game is to be married to her soon-to-be husband.
Telegraph has reported that the wedding is for 300 guests. Obviously the couple’s friends have no problem taking advantage of the long holiday weekend to attend over Easter.
Seems like a big deal over nothing. William is a spoiled little royal but this woman is an old, dear friend of his. The kids are really young and it would be easier and better for them to remain at home with their mother.
It would have been better for William to send his regrets, and a nice gift.
I feel for Jecca – William has basically ruined her wedding day with his selfish behaviour. Am sure she would have preferred a quiet and private affair but no Prince Petulance had to go and make it about him with the whole affair being turned into a media circus with negative press on her and a cause that SHE is passionate about. Am sure the Kenyan paps are now going to try and gets shots of him a the wedding and i know its taking place in the middle of private property but they will try am sure. Her family is being dragged into his mess.
Agree. If I were in her situation and was reading all of these stories about my wedding. I would call this clown and tell him not to show up. It is my and mine day and not his.
Good luck getting pictures. The estate is said to be over 50,000 acres of private property.
I wonder if the airspace is off-limits though? They will just try to get pics from overhead…
I feel for her too. She’s being cast in a role I don’t think she signed up for.
There seems to be a real disconnect between the Cambridges and HM.
Easter being the big holiday and the fact she gathers her family together
though William is gone and Kate away with her family (again).
Wasn’t Diana with HM during Easter holidays despite the problems she had with Charles? I’m sure this isn’t the only Christian holiday where W&K aren’t with HM. This certainly adds to the workshy ways of W&K so published by the press and it’s providing traction for the anti-monarchists.
HM must be saddened by this situation ie- the disconnect within her family but keeps it to herself.
Yeah like he cares if she gives her “blessing” or not. Where is Kate going to go? Threaten divorce? Do you think she wants to give up that easy lifestyle and actually have to work for a living? Please. I bet this dude could get away with whatever he wanted to and she wouldn’t bat an eye. I was watching E News yesterday and they had the to nerve to compare Kate to Princess Diana.
I agree. Maybe Kate is crying her eyes out or doing some retail therapy with mom or Pippa to stay happy. Maybe she does not care where William goes because she already feels blessed to have two children and a Royal title. What we do know is that she is no Diana. She is not passive aggressive to that large of an extent and she will not rock the boat within the Royal family. She will not issue threats or take on several lovers in retaliation. William probably married her with his family’s blessing for that reason alone. Perhaps the Queen and Prince Charles saw that Kate would never become Diana and approved of the match without thinking that her laziness could be her downfall rather than becoming a star in her own right the way Diana had become.
This looks like a part-time marriage to me!
Women like Kate will always be boring to men…there is nothing interesting, exciting or sexy about someone who’s essentially been brought up to be a “wife”, and not to be an interesting human being with interests and ambitions outside of themselves. I’m not knocking being a wife, I’m knocking the ambition to be one for a particularly shallow reason without any thought to personal development, compatibility, and so on, if that makes sense. Even with two children, Kate still comes across as a girl, not mother, not woman. She never seems to do anything to show that there`s something going on in her noggin, there`s no sense of strength of character, interest in doing anything beyond self-gratification…she more gives off the sense of desperately hanging on, clutching on to something, and not really living a full life. To me, Kate seems more like a prop and an oblivious self-absorbed one at that. I actually think no one in the royal family likes her, not because they’re being bitchy, but because she’s just such a blah person that contributes nothing.
Yes!
It is important for any woman to seek more for themselves outside of the home. I tend to find that well-educated men who are intelligent, decent, and looking for a meaningful relationship will become bored with a woman who cannot carry a conversation, be a role model for her children, and does not have interests beyond having babies, shopping, and making chutney. This is the 21st century; both men and women have different expectations of their spouses than several generations ago. One can be a stay-at-home mom and still be active in her community and contribute to society. When someone compares Kate to any other woman who is out there volunteering, taking graduate school courses, working, being passionate about worthy causes such as Jecca’s interest in conservationism, there really is no contest. Kate dug herself into this hole by believing that the only thing that mattered in life was marrying rich and becoming a Royal. William was never a good enough partner to encourage Kate to blaze her own trail; he was happy to have her wait around for him because he knew he literally held the keys to the castle. He knew that was what her family had always been after and he used that desire to mold Kate into a complacent 1950s housewife.
Right. “Be careful what you wish for” comes to mind in application to her situation. Not that William should be let off the hook, but still, it’s not rocket science. If he didn’t have to work hard for her to begin with, why should anything be different now? I actually agree with other posters in that she’s got the WAG life she wanted, which, I mean, fine, I guess, but don’t expect the respect of anyone then because it’s pretty obvious to see. That’s why the pile-on AND I think it’s starting to stink up too close to William, hence he’s starting to avoid her.
Her engagement interview comment about only caring what William thinks was quite telling. That comment could be construed as either defiant to the public, or just a compliant doormat response.
The interview may have been mostly scripted, but I do believe that part is accurate. She seems to have no other aspirations.
I also question whether the M family really has that much of a hold on W. That seems to be wishful thinking on Carole’s part.
The Middleton family was part of the package when William got with Kate. There must have been something about the family that he liked, possibly because they were wealthy and successful entrepreneurs but middle-class enough that they seemed like “normal” folks in comparison to the people William grew up with. That being said, I don’t think the Middleton family has much if any control over William and his decisions. Kate was raised to be William’s doormat in order to marry into the Royal family. I doubt Carole Middleton was teaching her daughter to be strong willed and independent. On the contrary, the message that was probably pounded into Kate’s head from a very young age was “do whatever it takes to make him happy”, even if it meant turning a blind eye to any of his indiscretions and waiting nearly a decade for him to (probably reluctantly) propose marriage in order for Kate to help fulfill his duties of providing the Royal family with an heir and a spare. Perhaps at most, Kate and Carole learned to be cunning enough to appease William or slightly influence him on certain issues, but I don’t think either of them have any real control over William. Unless the neglect and humiliation from William becomes too much for Kate to bare in the future, my guess is that Carole Middleton is there as a “supervisor” to make sure that Kate remains a dutiful old-school wife who doesn’t go full “Diana” and seek a divorce. I think that is the last thing Carole wants even if it means sacrificing her daughter’s happiness.
I read the comments in the DM and they are brutal. The British public has the Lamebridges’ number, namely that they’re spoiled, entitled rich brats who take one expensive vacation after another and have no desire to work. It’s obvious they just don’t care any more – they’ll do what they want and couldn’t care less what others think. Their feeble excuses won’t fly anymore. Will can’t do more than part-time work because of his kids, but leaves the kids at Easter to attend an ex’s wedding? Kate can’t do more than attend the occasional, 45-minute royal function because of the kids, but somehow spends hours and hours away from the kids shopping and having her hair done?
This the the first Easter that the older one will be able to enjoy properly and know what is going on. Why would a parent want to miss that? That’s a bit shit, whatever you think about all the rest.
Poor little PG Tips. 🙁
He’s not PG tips in the family anymore, what with the ladylike Charlotte Diana in situ and his being a roaring, destructive all boy they can’t handle……
What’s the opposite of PG tips? Lipton?
I never knew that was a family nickname – I thought it was a CB one!
I wouldn’t normally comment on this day of importance in the Christian calandar. However, it is evening so I got thinking.
A) the Middletons have not shown themselves to be overly religious so Kate probably doesn’t mind missing the Royals church attendance.
B) Easter is very very important to the queen as she is head of the church as a figurehead and the Queen is chosen by God, that is in their phsyce.
C) Sunday will be like Christmas Day with regard to church service a lot of people attend, William isn’t actually showing himself to be committed to the faith, by popping off out of the country, but perhaps it’s just a one off.
D) don’t understand therefore, if Jecca is so close to William as a friend and wanted him at the Wedding why was the wedding on a Saturday between Easter Friday and Easter Sunday. She can’t have been too worried if he couldn’t attend due to religious/Royal obligations.
E) the India trip is very soon Kate will be with Wills 24/7. This leads me to think Kate doesn’t mind what Wills does as she wants and she wants him happy, not sure if anyone recalls an article years ago, which implied that Kate gives Wills a lot of free reign and this was highlighted as Chelsy Davy was not prepared to have a similar relationship when she was with Harry I.e free reign relationship. Not to mention Whittaker who said Kate will put up with anything.
So summing up, actually I suppose, Wills does what he wants to do.
I’m not defending Will, at all, but maybe he’s hitting an Easter service in Africa?
Blimey, I just googled – Jecca’s fiance is fascinating. He’s a world renowned expert on conservation and biodiversity, who travels all over the world – Papua New Guinea, Sumatra, the Sudan, you name it – to investigate obscure new species. He’s a leading academic – a Professor, in his 30s! – and a leading figure in a charity dedicated to highlighting the species most threatened with extinction. He’s Canadian, too.
Brains, passion, education and accomplishment in one of the most well-travelled people on earth – and all in an area in which she’s also interested. I don’t really see why anyone would imagine she’s that bothered by William with a fiance like that.
Exactly. Jecca could have had a lazy petulant Workshy or a man of substance. She made the right choice.
And quite handsome too. She made a good call. He is obviously bright & they seem to share interests. Team Jecca on this one!
The Fail has published another negative Cam article. This time it’s about Katie’s plummy accent and is highlighted by some of her infamous skirt fly-up and booty shorts pics. I don’t think this is a KP move to deflect from Willie’s Africa trip, since those articles had over 1K comments (cha-ching). I think the DM is just on a roll and lovin’ the hits. I can picture #poorjason doing the Dennis Farina transcontinental flight shuffle from the movie Snatch, knocking back shots all the way home from Nepal.
Sounds like the photos might be from the 2007 break-up era, when she attempted to appear a swinging single. Disco booty shorts, mini skirts, bunny ears and partying galore.
Guess when that 2007 break-up (allegedly by phone, initiated by Wills) happened? Around Easter weekend.l
Once the media starts getting more sales from one angle, they roll with that angle until it stops selling.
The Palace might have put out one hit, which occurred at a time when the public doesn’t love the cambridges as they used to do or they realise the false image the cambridges perpetuate, BUT it hit a bullseye, and the media is now running with this new click baity angle because it is generating sales.
Even if people are clicking to voice outrage that the media is running these negative articles, the proportion of people voicing support for the negative articles is higher.
And worse, the daily mail has finally published the internet nickname…..Duchess Dolittle. Just as they published the internet nickname …waity Katie.
As we know, once the mainstream starts using a nickname, it is almost impossible to dislodge from yhe public conscious.
Finally, the British public are mules in their opinions in the sense that they start off with one position and stick to said position stubbornly, but when they change their minds, it’s impossible to move them from the new idea. The Cambridges have been publicly labelled workshy, lazy, corrupt users of taxpayer money and it will take alot to dislodge that idea.
I think what is more interesting is that the Palace isn’t pulling the media back.
I LOVED that DM article – the gloves are almost off. *waves at the Daily Mail reporters lurking on this board* And yes no matter what they do – the new monikers will never go away. The Mail in their usual passive aggressive way are saying that she’s basically out poshed the RF, particularly when they slagged off her speaking voice, with her new status has gone to her vapid little head. She has bought into her own press.
The palace is giving the Cambridges all the rope they need and its very telling of the behind the doors shenanigans that am sure have gone on. They are distancing themselves from this sh!t storm as Willy is clearly NOT listening to anyone – so he’s being left to learn the hard way. Even Harry stayed in Nepal to avoid the car crash of Willy going to Kenya.
The Cambridges have always said they want to do things their way – well its not really working out for them. Wonder what it will take for them to run back to BP with their tails between their legs?
I saw they said Duchess of Dolittle and also thought erk, that’s done it.
That DM article is worth reading, there is a tremendous amount of snark in it. Stuff we’ve been talking about for years – and there it is in one write-up.
Kate didn’t give her ‘blessing’ for him to go he just does what he wants and she complies because she just wants to keep him happy. What she doesn’t know is how much power she holds and how she can use it to better her situation. The posters on this thread know more about that than she does. If she was a true student of Diana, she’d be seen at church tomorrow or better yet, contributing to one of her charities. She’d learn to get along with her in-laws so that when Will decides to prance off to the ends of the earth for his own purposes, she can be seen functioning as a grown woman instead of hiding out at her mum’s house. The work doesn’t end when you get the ring darling, that’s when it really begins.
He might have lead her to believe that if she followed his lead he’d shield her from the harshness of the press but in reality, he’s lead them both into a ditch. Will is so inept that he’s turned his good friend’s wedding into a circus and managed to come off as being publicly disrespectful to his wife at the same time. Until Kate finds a backbone and steps up Will will continue to make himself look ridiculous.
You’re assuming she isn’t perfectly okay with how things are. Their relationship has always functioned with lots of time apart. She goes home to mummy so much that taxpayer money was used for security upgrades on that private house.
She has the title, the position, the WAG lifestyle, the country mansion, endless shopping budget, and expensive vacations. This is the life insiders said she wanted all along, to be the pampered wealthy silent country wife.
Kate will never find a backbone unless her position is threatened – she has always played the docile GF until his eye wandered elsewhere.
As NOTA said this is the lifestyle she aspired to have – the trophy wife of a wealthy, well connected man. She stalked William BEFORE university and made sure she was on the same course as him – she was on the fringes of his ‘inner circle’ until that fashion show where he ‘noticed’ her and started hooking up with her behind his GF at the time’s back.
Sooooo many issues here which many people wont ‘get’ purely because they haven’t grown up in Britain or were not raised religious.
The Middletons have a responsibility as do the Royals to rear the grandkids C of E – and THAT means actually taking part in Easter m’kay? God knows I hate pointing it out as a lapsed Catholic but there is NO point in bloody Royalty if traditions arnt adhered to – the UK is a officially Christian Country and yet the 3rd, 4th and below in line arnt going to church on Ester Sunday?!
As for the other stuff – the upper classes and even the upper middle classes in the UK and possibly elsewhere too ( in France for sure) have really weird ideas about marriage and child rearing – that said why is everyone squawking about how its terrible for a married person to attend a friends wedding without their spouse? Being an ex is immaterial, one of my best friends is an ex from 20 years ago – I would immediately dump anyo9ne who would have attempted to ban me from his wedding.
I don’t see any problem with this situation. I mean, come on, William and kate have been together for how many years now, and they have two kids! Whatever fling or close friendship he had with Jecca is not going to trump that, besides it’s not like he’s meeting up with her on a secret rendezvous! It’s her wedding for crying out loud. Anyway, why can’t you be friends with an ex? Do people really have so little control over their emotional and physical urges? I have been great friends with my ex from college for nearly 14 years. Grow up people!
Exactly right…they are married with two very young children. If my husband was such good friends with an ex that he skipped a holiday with our small children to attend her wedding…yep, I’d have a problem with that. It has nothing to do with “emotional and physical urges”…it’s called “respect.”
I forgot it was a holiday. I see your point in that regard, holidays should def be spent as a family.
The YouTube channel ‘DailyNation’ has a video of William and the Kenyan President’s meeting. It’s titled ‘Prince William in Kenya for wedding’ and dated from one day ago.
The YT channel ‘Interpol’ has a video of Jecca speaking, titled ‘Jecca Craig, Universal Exports Charity Foundation, UK.’ It’s dated from 3 years ago.
she is a fantastic speaker
I feel sorry for the young lady and her husband. They’ve been dragged into a tabloid scandal through no fault of their own. If Normal Bill had any class he would have stayed as far away from this wedding as possible, but, instead, he goes traipsing halfway around the world on the taxpayer’s dime whilst turning her wedding into a minor international incident. Stay classy, Normal Bill.
Exactly. I have more sympathy for this newly married couple than Willnot and Dolittle. This couple probably wanted a peaceful and private ceremony. Instead their wedding will forever be associated with Prince Willnot and whether she still has a romantic relationship with him. If I were her I would be very upset about this and would have told Willnot to stay in London or celebrate with the couple at another time. Of course being at a friend’s wedding is special, but I’m sure everyone would have understood if he had chosen not to attend in order to be with his family on Easter.
I have a prescient feeling that their marriage is in pretty bad shape. I understand that couples who have been together a long time may want some time apart but they aren’t a normal couple as much as they like to pretend they are. They have a very important position in the BRF and as such have an important role and image to maintain TOGETHER, neither of which they are doing with any sense of duty or responsibility. Their “time outs” seem to be happening more and more frequently with Kate shirking work and/or running home to mummy every opportunity she gets.
I see cracks….big cracks.
I’m sure it’s not a popular opinion, but I see cracks in this marriage, too. It might be something not even Ma Middleton can repair……
Its not just their marriage but their whole relationship – he clearly doesn’t like spending a lot of time with his wife and thats is bad on both sides, neither looks good here. They got married for all the wrong reasons: her because she was obsessed with obtaining the life of wealth and privilege that came with him and him because no one else would have him. Not exactly a match made in heaven. I have always thought it would go the same way as his parents – history is most def repeating itself here with these 2.
Who gets married on Easter weekend? Even if you’re not religious (non-practicing Catholic here), you’re bound to encounter a lot of potential guests who don’t want to travel on the holiday unless their visiting family. Maybe it’s a small wedding? My friend got married on Mother’s Day weekend and had a lot of trouble finding a florist because they were so busy from the holiday. IMO, you should really think twice before having your wedding on major holidays.
The telegraph is reporting that they have 300+ guests at the wedding.
JustJen, it is a long holiday weekend in the UK because of Easter. As someone wrote above, that means people do not have to take a lot of vacation time in order to travel there and back. A free week or long weekend at her family’s private resort, you only have to pay airfare? A lot of their friends appear to find this a welcome break as over 300 are attending the wedding.
So she better worry all the florists in Kenya might be booked over the holiday?
If my husband was that infamous or even if he wasn’t, the fact is if he jetted off to a wedding without me, ANY wedding without me, I would be hurt and pissed. I understand that she doesn’t attend weddings of his inner circle but Jecca’s wedding is different and huge deal. Duchess Dolittle comes across as exceptionally dim here.
If she doesn’t attend weddings of his “inner circle” … WTF?!
“My friends don’t like you so you can’t come to the wedding.” If all of my friends didn’t like my husband I would start wondering if they are right about something and that maybe I should be rethinking my marriage. And if I wasn’t a part of his “inner circle” I don’t think I’d be married to him anymore. Isn’t your spouse supposed to be your best friend?
Even if your husband isn’t your best friend, you can at the very least be part of his inner circle. This is afterall supposed to be a love marriage, not a political/dynastic one.
When old school poltical/dynastic marriages albight in modern times, i think to the Clintons. Whatever is going on separately, the inner core is solid ie they are in each other’s inner circle, and working to a common goal.
I’ve never thought WK are even in the same room, never mind inner circle or even common goals beyond bearing him kids.
She’s birthed the heir ans spare, she’s now surplus to requirements, and hasn’t forged a place such that she would be missed if she exited the stage.
Wow … Jecca Craig is not aging well, at all.
>Maybe Jecca is still “friends” with Will because she feels sorry for him and can’t get rid of him?
>Maybe she had the wedding over Easter weekend because she was “sure” he wouldn’t be able to attend?
>Maybe she wanted him to attend the wedding because he would surely get “their wedding coverage in the press?”
This little trip sure makes it sound like there’s a crack in the marriage.
Kate seems like milquetoast; Bill is an a$$hole.
so much money and every one of the people looks like an old crust of dry toast
She has got olive skin, also lots of African sun!!
Easter Party
ImaginaryMrsM: Oi! Don’t the little sprogs just love their wee gift from dear cleverest Jimmy!
ImaginaryP: Ooh Jimmy, ain’t you the clever boots after all! exile ‘as doen wonders fer yer brain, ain’t it just! Look at that! A full-size marshmallow Billy fer the tykes! Look, there’s yer daddy, then, kiddos! Leanin’ against the wall!
imaginaryJ: Ah, tweren’t nothing! I wanted them to have a happy Easter! Just don’t let them touch it, it might fall over even though it has a stick up its backside.
iP: Oi real as life! marvelous! Do have Papa come up out of his cottage to see it!
iMrs: wait, wait, oi, wait, just listen ‘ere, I think wee Geordie Gary is tryin’ to say ‘is first full sentence! Oi, wot a shame his own lovin’ handsome Pop ain’t here to hear it! Such a worker that young man, out there helpin’ the King of Africa instead of being wiv his own true love! Well, I got me smartphone on, we can record it! Talk to yer dear marvelous Granny Coco-Diana, lad, go on, give ‘er a go, come on then, wee Georgie Gary, wot are you tryin’ to say then?
ImaginaryDK; My, it is so exciting, I am so keen. I have myself foretaken the journey to innumberous locales in the past annum horrible, perhaps even up to SIX locales, wherein the poors came encumbered with young juvenile children of all sorts and it did indeed seem to me that these young juvenile children, all of whom appeared to be in the children stage of their lives from my keen studies on the matter, were struggling as one does with being the child of a poor but a child nonetheless foresooth nevermore, and these aforesaid young juvenile children of the youth type were to be seen and heard employing the gift of speech in spite of the innumberous challenges up against them such as knowing absolutely no one in London,. And I so did suddenly have a moment last week on the treadmill in which I did indeed realize I wished moreover quite keenly to surmise if indeed my own, as far more quite pretty juvenile children, would be developing the art of speech in a swifter manner, and would in particular Geordie Gary do articulation sooner than his sister! I was suddenly so keen to know, in a realm-like way, would his true blood speak better than the poors and if so, what might his true blood say in the first point as it were, like for example, Shiloh. This keenly thrilling. I say, dearling, do come, speaketh to your own caring Mother who did not leave your side and–
iPGG: So me mum’s quite a parvenu and me Pop says his girlfriend is going to send me a lovely zebra, wot, wot, I say! Wot a dish! Knockers! Happy Easter, where’s me real Gammy, then! Where’s me Gramps wiv the cookie factory and good vowels! I say, why am I camped with a bunch of commoners! Pack me sis and myself up this minute, we want lovely Ginger Uncle, or I’ll ‘ave yer scrawny orange heads! And you aint’ to put me in 1980s togs again, or, woe to your signet rings, I’ll bury ‘em where you’ll never find them, wot ho!
“in spite of the innumberous challenges up against them such as knowing absolutely no one in London”
*falls down dead laughing*
(Falling down dead is bad on Easter Saturday because Evil Children might steal my chocolate before I come back as a chocolate-eating zombie).
LOL! I was dead after “Leanin’ against the wall”! Will have to come back later and finish the rest.
hahaha! Happy Easter Saturday, m’dears! Sixer, guards for the chocolate! The evil kinder here are already starting the attack.
Granny Coco-Diana, wot, wot!!!
Oh Liberty….this post is better than finding a giant Reese’s Butter Cup Egg in my Easter Basket,,,
Wouldn’t it be funny if Bill decided to “step-down” from the whole heir thing and Harry had to step up. Bill would be thinking, “Now it’s Harry’s turn to get the shaft in the press … for the rest of his life …”, and then everyone ends up loving Harry because he works his ass off and he can hold a conversation … and he’s kind of cute.
Imagine the shock poor lil georgie gary will have this easter when he realises he is surround by a bunch of dysfunctional plebs in Bucklebury with fake voices.
I don’t really have a problem with him going, but if he attended the London wedding, he really didn’t “need” to attend this. I’m more stunned by the fact that he missed Peter Phillips’ wedding to attend the wedding of Jecca’s brother–that struck me as really unclassy.
I think Will does as he likes in his marriage and Kate has to put up with it. I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to him going because she was a former girlfriend. People have his number in regards to tacking on a Kenyan presidential visit onto his holiday–kind of sleazy thing to do, it is such a token gesture.
I highly doubt they planned the wedding for Easter so he couldn’t come, I don’t think is presence is unwelcome.
We don’t have confirmation that they were already married. It was only mentioned by one royal reporter but no proof was given. If they were, it could have been a simple legal ceremony in the registrars office with no guests. That was the part that legally married them, but there was no party or celebration. That was reserved for this past weekend, no one else would have been welcome/needed at the quick legal event.
considering he is the future head of a church founded on divorcing to marry a jump off who you later murder, i think this is a very appropriate way to spend easter
😆
I’m watching the Queen at 90 and the Cambridges feature quite a bit – Willy in his pilot uniform and shots of him ‘working’ and Kate, just her channelling Diana badly with the fake accent, sky glances/looking down glances from under that blown out mop. As for what she’s said, nothing interesting, just how amazing she is etc.. – no personal stories other than the Leicester visit story from 4 years ago.
The ginger prince was great and I would love to see the York Princess’s take on more public duties, they both came across very well and would be a real asset to the family.
Yes, the York princesses are starting to look better and better all the time when you put them next to Will and Kate.