If the Duchess of Cambridge doesn’t touch her hair in a photo-op, did the photo-op really happen? Anyway, here are more photos of William and Kate at the Taj Mahal on Saturday. According to the Express’s Richard Palmer, Will and Kate spent a total of 45 minutes at the Taj, which… seems like a short visit, especially since they flew from Bhutan back to India especially for this photo-op. I guess the important part, for Will and Kate, was being photographed on the “Diana bench” and not really spending a great deal of time absorbing the intricate beauties of the Taj. Still they were there long enough to chat with their tour guide:
Tour guide Rizwan Mohammed, 35, said he wished them a happy 5th wedding anniversary – “they were shocked that I know about it, but you know, the Internet” – but “then she said this is the perfect thing to do before their wedding anniversary [April 29]. She was quite happy about it.” Asked if it was a “romantic day for them,” he said “absolutely.”
They were fascinated “by the story of the king and the queen” and the love that made him build the monument to her. And Kate got “quite emotional when she came to know that the queen died at the very young age of 39.
“She said ‘she really deserves this kind of building as they were madly in love with each other.’ The prince was laughing.”
“The prince was laughing” sounds… funny and cold, in equal measure. And was this all just some taxpayer-sponsored anniversary vacation??? The Daily Mail’s Richard Kay (a one-time favorite of Diana) has made a big deal about the visit to the Taj specifically was a way for William to show the world that Diana’s son has a marriage that has brought “nothing but contentment and happiness” and that “of a monarchy now happier, more at ease with itself and more secure.” Sources told Kay that visiting the Taj “was at the top of their list of places to go in India” and “William is very protective of his mother’s memory and he and Kate particularly want to be seen happy together in a place where Diana was sad.” Katie Nicholl picked up on the “Diana’s ghost” thing too. So, it was a photo-op, vacation and an exorcism all in one taxpayer-funded jaunt.
For the record, Kate wore $10 earrings for the Taj Mahal photo-op – she apparently picked them up in Bhutan and liked them so much that she just had to wear them. So thrifty, our Kate. So thrifty that she actually spent about $50,000 on clothes for one week. Seriously! E! News had the breakdown, which you can read here. To be fair, some of those clutches and nude pumps were already in her closet, but she wore tons of designer ensembles and bespoke ensembles, all of which came at exorbitant cost. All of it billed to Charles, I’m assuming.
Anyway, there are about a million other stories about Will, Kate, the fashion, and just what the tour was really about. I’m going to be parceling those out over the next few days, I think, because there are going to be TONS of stories about what all of this was really about. And just FYI, the photo-ops didn’t smooth over the major beef between William, Poor Jason and the press. The British press is still pissed at William, and William’s staff was still pulling amateurish moves during the tour. According to Richard Palmer, the royal press pack got into it with Poor Jason and the PR flunkies about access in Bhutan. William wanted to insure that he and Kate had some “privacy” while in Bhutan, which… is sort of funny to ask for privacy in the middle of a royal tour. You can see Palmer’s Twitter here. He wasn’t the only royal reporter (or royal commentator) openly questioning William and just what this tour was really about. Katie Nicholl also points out that Will & Kate are hyper-managed, to the point where there’s zero spontaneity at all, and Will & Kate even had to pre-approve the questions asked to them at the Taj.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
it’s too early for me to deal with this spoiled nonsense.
Lmao
Silly Billy at his best- people visit the Taj to pay homage to Diana?- he is truly an idiot !
^^^ this and when I read about this entitled prat’s attitude, I think they should shut the entire institution called The Monarchy down.
OK, here we go. They are on a state sponsored trip for HM, representing the government and the people of the UK and they want privacy. The privacy will come for the next 2-3 months when no one will see or hear from them because they are holed away at Anmer or wherever.
And every hair flick was stage managed. Let the games begin.
Next time, send Harry.
Harry Honk! 🙂
Well the Chinese asked for Harry and got William and look how badly that turned out. He went to an elephant park just up the road from a Zoo where they are kept in horrendous conditions.
His tone deaf stupidity knows no bounds.
I keep wondering, does Charles notice? does the Queen? That even other nations seem to prefer Harry…. and that means something.
They probably do, but they have to keep pushing the heir
1. The importance of some govt relations has to be honoured with the heavyweight status of visitor. If HM or Charles can’t go, then the next in line has to go. To signify importance of the favoured nation.
2. They have to shore up this particular heir. He can’t seem to acquire heavy duty diplomatic credentials on his own initiative even when said diplomats are in the UK.
I understand. I just, I suppose from a business perspective, wonder if the Firm (the RF) benefits from sending an emissary whose head and heart are not in it and who might even potentially offend, or instill mistrust.
We have Andy creating god knows what kinds of deals with vigor at one end of the spectrum, the beloved but elderly Queen in the middle, Charles bobbing manfully alongside the boat, William fishing for dolphins, and Harry being covered with roses being flung by the public while working with orphans and creating goodwill and bringing people together with his Games, as the press office wrings its hands and tries to convince Kitty’s style team to sew lug nuts in her skirts..
I mean, we see it over our cups of tea. So I have to imagine some savvy beady-eyed big officials in other nations see it too and may start to send more letters gently demanding Harry, if they want the meetings to mean something or get press, and then, if so, the Firm does….what? Continue to shove a sulky Billy at them? Charles can’t be everywhere.
Maybe it doesn’t matter as their work is just ceremonial, but what Firm sends a non-closer to the table, over and over? And i say this having lost all hope that they may step up in an engaged, adult manner.
But yes….heir.
Liberty………………”Kitty’s style team to sew lug nuts in her skirts”………….hilarious!
Liberty, may I just say reading your second paragraph made this entire tour worthwhile.
Superficially yours,
bluhare
LOL bluhare, and your comment just made my day. 🙂
Other nations don’t prefer Harry. he is classless. Also probably not Charles’s son. Always has a giggly idiotic smile on his face. Not elegant at all.
Oh no, Harry looks HAPPY and ENGAGED, how terrible! We peasants much prefer people who turn their noses up at us snootily, reminding us of our proper non-blue-blooded place in the universe.
My goodness, she’s wearing tights in that heat!!!!
And he looks like his Spencer grand-pa in these photos.
The post-tour reviews aren’t good. They didn’t impress anyone, pissed off the media some more, including rows in Bhutan and India, so the negative articles continue.
The Sunday mirror’s article called Kate a Diana wannabe who is faker than fake, and William being in India because the Palace told him to.
The Sunday Express called them cold and distant and demanding privacy everywhere they went which eventually led to that row in Bhutan.
Going by the reviews, the media showed us the best bits, but it was all stage managed, and not in a good way that showed them at their best.
If the aim of this tour was to improve or foster relationships, the cambridges failed.
Come to think of it, they also failed at the Diama photocall.
So really this was a tax payer funded holiday with occassional press calls.
The Express also photoshopped out the dreaded scaffolding. Which made me laugh no end.
HuffPo did my favourite bit of mockery: “Couple sits on a bench. After a while they got up.” BURN!
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/couple-sit-on-bench_uk_571236b6e4b0dc55ceea851e?rdpkuq2uyflecm1jor
The HuffPo piece was hilarious as were the comments. The bench was thoroughly mocked. Lol
Sixer,
One must scroll down for the climax of the piece: “The bench was in India.”
The man’s mother once also sat on the bench.
Oh, dear me. This is the advantage of having a recalcitrant princeling. Endless opportunities for a good old Britisher mickey take.
Ha!
Hahaha. The HuffPo US article was fawning. Not at all like that one. Which encapsulated my view nicely!
The bench is often used for sitting. In India.
Well!!!
Sucking up to Huffpo clearly didn’t work out.
I think they misunderstood what is actually entailed in sucking up, LAK! That is to say, it takes longer than 20 minutes and 3.2 seconds, or however long it was that Chutney spent doing it.
On the other hand, here we have the BBC, with an outright winner in the Obsequious Stakes:
“The bench was cooled with water before it was graced by the Cambridges.”
Photo caption on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36060563.
Who, who, who, WHO could possibly have not realised how ridiculous that sounds? Kill. Me. Now.
Sixer – you posted some great articles, the HuffPo British one is great, loved the sarcasm. But wow, that BBC one, where the ‘bench was cooled with water?!’ OMG. They rival Charles and his valet squeezing his toothpaste.
Yes. I’m glad the press is going after them. Both of them demonstrated they did not prepare for this trip at all. Things they said during this tour illustrated that. These two need to get it together…………………..or get out.
obviously, that Kensington study-reception thing, where Kate dug her hands into her crotch and clutched them so hard her knuckles turned white and Will bared his teeth at all and sundry, did nothing at all for them…
one question… and i don’t know where to put this:
it said that her dress bill tallies up to about 50k… doesn’t she get free dresses from the designer, or a hefty discount? or does getting free stuff count as gratuity/bribe?
The Royals claim they don’t get freebies from the designers, but hefty discounts are a possibility I suspect. (particularly with bespoke pieces).
@lower-case deb
They aren’t supposed to accept ‘freebies’ from designers. On a story about Kim Kardashian sending Kate a load of clothes from her collection (which Kim claimed was false anyway) a spokesperson from the palace said that Will and Kate’s policy is not to accept unsolicited gifts from people not known personally to them. So Charles will have picked up one hell of a tab from this tour, clothing-wise.
Rachel: The tax payers will have picked up the tabs.
The arrangement is that where the tax payers aren’t directly paying, Charles pays for their official duties, clothing included, but claims the amount back via his taxes.
Not forgetting the security of the babies at Middleton towers which is estimated at £15K – £20K per day for the week.
The security costs are staggering!
I am a bit confused about the Middleton money. Who pays for their life since it seems it improved dramatically recently?
there are advantages to having Kate + babies stay so often with them. Some of that royal largesse finds it’s way to improving the Middletons’ lives.
whether or not they take advantage, it’s quite clear in lots of little ways that they are being treated better in terms of all their dealings since William became part of their lives and especially since Kate married into the royals.
@Magnoliarose – freebies and probably Pips new man. Lets not for get that there was £1million worth of ‘security’ renovations done on Middleton Towers after they bought it PAID FOR BY THE TAXPAYER. As said British taxpayer i would like that money back, with interest please!
Th Dolittle and the grasping Mids have been living off others for a LONG time – Party Pieces doesn’t make the kind of money that give them they lifestyle they have.
Even Brand Finance, which overestimates most benefits brought by the BRF by equating them with heritage (as we often point out on here), puts the total bill for security costs at £104 million per year, plus a large chunk of the £22 million per year local government has to pay for their various domestic visits.
I am speechless that there aren’t more people outraged by this setup and the costs it takes to provide for these two. Wow. Why aren’t people more vocal about this? It just seems so extreme.
This is all so hilariously mean-spirited and tacky, omg! You go, girls /s
So few newspaper commentators have asked how they have got their money? I’m sorry, but you don’t become multimillionaires selling tat like, paper plates, osier cups , napkins, sparklers, paper hats, streamers and stuff like that, you just don’t.
@LAK: It’s such a shame about this trip, because I always thought these trips can be a quick way to get good press. Maybe not enough to do a 180 on public opinion, but at least enough to look better.
They usually are. Harry’s public standing was improved exponentially by his first solo overseas tour. He went to Jamaica and Brazil. Prior to that, he was still seen very much as a useless party prince, fresh from that Vegas incident albight tempered with a recent stint to Afghanistan. Zero expectations. Came back a beloved Prince.
WK’s overseas tours have never been better than Canada. It was primarily planned by the Palace, i call it the honeymoon tour since all royals seem to undertake it soon after their marriages. It follows similar stops for all of them.
WK were still wedding loved up, Kate still had new royal
Shiny wrapper, and public curiosity without any knowledge, Diana fever2.0 directed at them etc.
It’s been downhill with each subsequent tour.
It also helped that Harper was PM at the time and he tried to rebrand everything Royal (The public didn’t ask for it). I suspect Will and Kate would have looked worse meeting up with Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire, who are closer to their age and have accomplished much more with their lives, even though Justin was born in a life of privilege and also grew up in a spotlight with parents involved in scandal.
Thank you both for your comments. I think the Canada tour was a great way to introduce Kate to life as a royal. They could have really made the most of the good press they got on both sides of the pond, but didn’t.
I’m chuckling at the thought of Justin Trudeau and his wife having a conversation with these two lame brains. I hope for Justin’s sake he won’t have to any time soon.
oh, Canada. That distant glossy time in foggy memory when I still had high hopes for these two, and thought Kate would throw herself into working and show ’em how we strong sturdy warm-hearted commoners are made. And William would be this charming caring guy who would bring new energy to the Firm and be seen helping out the Queen and Charles with a smile but serious undertones, and be popping up a lot among The People in a normal way, sleeves rolled…
(sighs)
Yeah, can’t quite imagine the Trudeaus, this Duchess and her Pouty Piece communing over big ideas or world concerns.
Oh my god, Liberty, that is pretty much exactly what I hoped for!!!
After no on could really say what the exact purpose of the trip was I just assumed it was a 5th wedding anniversary vacation / celebration ‘we’ll call it a tour’ trip. All of her friends were there (hairdresser, PA, and stylist) to help celebrate. Alls we need revealed are clandestine pictures of the Pipster and other family members to round out the crew.
The Pipster. Hmmm she probably ducked in the background somewhere or camouflaged herself as scenery.
Am I allowed to say I like her dress in these photos? As for the earrings-who cares? If her hair is loose, you can’t see them anyway.
Our Breck Girl, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Dude is looking rough. If Kate considers cosmetic procedures, Wilnot needs to ask for the number.
HAIR TRANSPLANT!
It seems that the press has involuntarily created a picture of William as an alpha dog kind of man, which is ridiculous. We keep hearing William wants to ‘insure’, to ‘protect’ as in he is the type of man that would worry about these things or that could actually be able to do these things.
Some men are old-fashioned and are truly worried about protecting their families but William is not that, he is whiny, emotionally manipulative and inefficient and he would love for someone to take control away from him. The idea that he wanted to create ‘happy memories’ where his mother was sad is just another weird, sick thing. (pictures don’t change realities)
“She said ‘she really deserves this kind of building as they were madly in love with each other.’ The prince was laughing.”
No words.
Me neither. Was it a bitter laugh? Sounds like he thinks the idea of that kind of love hilarious.
He was probably thinking about all the side pieces a king has and the unlikelihood that the king was 100% faithful to the queen the Taj Mahal was built for…. Just like Will.
Nic-Probably so. After the Jecca wedding, I wondered if he was having a moment like his father when he talked about bringing the woman he loves there when it clearly wasn’t his wife.
Whatever love is.
Nic – the king that built the Taj had multiple wives, it was built for his fav, so yeah, don’t think there was fidelity there in the same sense we might expect.
Luxe-I see what u did there:) LOL
i’m not sure if i remember this correctly, but i am sort of impressed by Mumtaj Mahal. apparently, she’s in good terms with the king’s other wives (all of whom he married before he married her), she gave him 15 (?) children (or 12? or 14? can’t remember, but a lot).
and even while heavily pregnant (which is probably a perpetual state for her, with a dozen issue!) she would work with the poor, and she would accompany him to battle!
she worked a damned lot, even in those days…
it was standard for kings to have lots of wives back then, and to keep a harem on top of that.
I’m quite impressed by wives remaining on good terms with each other, given the sheer amount of political jockeying involved in succession issues back in the day.
So, nothing at all like Kate then.
I think she said the “she really deserved this kind of building…” As a joke, like see what you should do for me, Wiiliam? And he laughed. It just didn’t come out in writing.
imaginaryDK: …really deserved this kind of building! Winky wink, eh, Blumpy? Winky tinky! tee hee!
imaginaryPW: Har har, I say, wot ho, eh, har, but let’s visit Hushington, shall we, old Thing? full stop at Shutyerbollington, eh! shove off at Sealedlipperscott station? purchasing paperwork isn’t quite done yet for Highclere, wot! nor the approval of the addition of the Diana Turrets, ho! Privacy please! my real estate broker is ringing me!
I guess renovating AH and KP at a cost of millions of pounds to the taxpayers and Charles wasn’t good enough, eh?
I’m sorry, but if her comment was meant as a joke, it’s even more bizarre, inappropriate and idiotic. But, hey, want do I know? Comacho for President!
She has made jokes about him loving her, or what he should do if he really loves a few times. I wasn’t there, but that’s the only way it makes any sense. To me, anyway.
p.s. Liberty, you are crazy in a beautiful, original way. ❤️
He was probably thinking “wonderful, now she’s going to want to move the tennis court again.”
Ha!
I read the exchange exactly the way you did, GNATTY.
Did you see the photo of her watching William try archery? Strangest Botox-induced expression I’ve ever seen. No wrinkles in the middle of her forehead and between her eyebrows, but wrinkles on the far outside. I used to think she was so pretty and stylish.
Ha! exactly. bigger courts!
Gnat, I am sure she was joking of course. But what a soundbite, considering.
He looks weird.
That sounded mean, but his face and eyes look tight. Not necessarily plastic surgery tight but fake smile tight. Will has always come off as extremely spoiled to me (I’ve just sort of gotten into celebitchy this past year) and extremely appearence conscious. But whatever.
Willnot laughed at Cannot’s comment or the story of the origin of the Taj? Um, either way just…. Yuck.
ETA: her comment is very telling too: “she deserves it because he loves her” um hm ok Kate. Insight into her logic for sure.
@senaber – absolutely. Ironically fitting.
So the woman who has an art history degree “learned” about the history of the Taj from the tour guide??? I mean, any relatively educated person with a moderate interest in art or history or India would know the genesis of the building. As for Will, no words.
In 20 years we”ll look at those pics and say we could all tell this was a loveless marriage. One seated pose and one holding tight to their respective crutches don’t particularly look like the image of wedded bliss.
Sad thing is, I briefly looked at the DM comments last night and most of them are nausea inducing in their fawning.
I don’t think it will take as long as 20 years for that to happen. Will is pretty self absorbed and it obvious now he isn’t into this marriage as much as Kate is. This was their dynamic while dating on and off for 10 years and it never changed.
I think Kate is simply more accepting of the fact that Will will do what he wants, as opposed to Diana, who did not accept it.
“most of them are nausea inducing in their fawning. ” No flipping kidding, eh? I couldn’t believe what those comments were saying at first, and then I realized I was used to the bright and aware commenters from this site. I honestly thought the British public thought the way we did.
Vauvert – I was thinking about her art degree and William pursuing it too until he couldn’t pass the tests?! and switched to geography. We see absolutely NO signs that either enjoy or appreciate art. Couldn’t they have made some pointed remarks about the amazing architecture and grounds?
Vauvert, this was the first thing that came into my mind too. How can she not know the history of Taj Mahal, especially considering she’s an art history graduate?
And even if she didn’t know it, she could have ate least done some research, it’s probably the most famous monument in India and they made such a to visit it…
How many `Diana` moments are they/Kate going to recreate? William giving Kate his mothers engagement ring, dressing George the way Diana dressed William as a child, Kate wearing the tiara Diana often wore, now recreating the Taj Mahal photo minus the sad tone Diana evoked. It’s become too contrived.
Not forgetting their wedding.
The music was mostly Diana’s favourites, and specifically Kate walked down the aisle to Diana’s favourite hymn.
I think if they worked like she did/Charles does, no one would bat an eye at this.
Elton John and Bernie Taupin rewrote Your Song, and Elton sang it beautifully at Diana’s funeral. It was an extremely moving part of the service. It went on to become the biggest selling CD of all time, and the profits went to the Diana charity foundation. It was all the more touching because Elton and Diana had had a falling out, and had just recently re-connected at Gianni Versace’s funeral. It does seem odd that William would have wanted that song played for the first dance at his wedding.
It strikes me that he tries to behave as if he is giving a sweet homage to his mother, but I think in reality it is just another variation of “poor, poor, pitiful me” which allows him to slide out of his adult royal duties. It won’t wash for too much longer. The peasants are revolting. I can also never understand how he gave that hideous ring to Katie Bucket when they were supposed to be starting a new life together. As all his actions seem to be, clueless.
The rewrite was of Candle in the Wind, and it was originally about Marilyn Monroe.
@bluhare, quite right, I seem to be having a bit of a brain freeze this morning, too many G&Ts last night! It was Candle in the Wind, rewritten as Goodbye England’s Rose. Silly me!
I hope it was a good night, antipodean! Hope I didn’t sound pedantic; didn’t mean to be.
@bluhare, again thank you for your concern, it was a great night, and my head is consequently banging! You could never sound pedantic, and I was wrong about the song EJ& BT rewrote. I am sure dear old Uncle Elt has other things to worry him at the mo!
Betsy….um, they are speaking of the not to be discussed in the UK ‘Celebrity X’ 🤔
@LAK
Wasn’t their first dance to ‘Your Song’, one of Diana’s favourites, which Elton John played later at a memorial concert for Diana? It gives me the heebies just to think about it!
Yep
🙁
@Rachel, sorry I posted in the wrong spot, hope I made sense.
I would just like to take this opportunity to say:
ELTON JOHN. DAVID FURNISH. RHYMES WITH FREE.
If you are not Britisher, you may not know why this is funny. And funnier still is that I CAN’T TELL YOU. Because I am Britisher.
Sixer: LALALALALALALA!! I can’t hear you!
Sixer: The pap strolls are so funny in light of the stuff we can’t talk about.
All exclusive to the DM since kerfuffle started about the stuff we can’t talk about.😂
Can we talk about it on an American site like this, though? I don’t even know!
On a complete off-topic (not), do you remember that by the end of the Ryan Giggs fiasco, even MPs were randomly shouting out his name in the middle of debates in the House of Commons?
The song at the funeral was a reworked “Candle in the Wind”, not “Your Song”.
Sixer, I’m surprised it hasn’t been talked about here yet at Celebitchy! 😉
To echo bluhare, Sixer, La,La,La, I have my fingers in my ears, and can’t hear you. I think in spite of the salacious redacting of documents by the Daily Fail, everyone, pretty much everywhere, is aware of who this is all about. Their attitude (the Fail) reminds me of naughty boys in the school yard. I wouldn’t think there would be any ban on outing the pair on this site, but just in case, I will keep schtum. Nod, nod, wink, wink. A nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat! (Said in an Eric Idle voice).
ha haha ha @ Sixer, Lak and everyone in ole blighty! I had to call my bro in the land of the free / home of the brave to double check the names.
That was before I knew twitter could issue me deliverance thru sweet sweet knowledge 😉
#HashTagIt
What in the world are you all talking about?
Betsy, There is a gag order on a certain scandal in the UK. Blind Gossip had the reveal up a few days ago but it was taken down , probably google being forced to block certain sites by the said celebrities legal team.
I have to say, the moment I saw that he gave her Diana’s ring for their engagement I thought “Oh god, that’s how it’s going to be huh?” You know, people always jump in with comments like “Stop comparing everything they do and say to Diana.” whenever the comparison comes up. But honestly, they’re the ones pointing us there. And for all her flaws, Diana did this better. The whole thing. Plus, she had charisma you can’t fake. Which is what they should realized. They’re essentially trying to chase a dead woman, callous as that might sound. They will never succeed so why even try? Are they that clueless and unimaginative … I’m sorry, what am I saying. Yes they are.
I had the exact thought.
Actually, i shuddered when i saw the ring because to me it’s borne of a doomed, unhappy marriage.
Then all the commemorative booklets had more diana than the bride in them. I felt so much pity for her and hoped she would throw off all the Diana allusions and comparisons and be herself, sadly self seems to be lacking, and they, William and Kate, can’t stop alluding to Diana.
They don’t exist without Diana, and i don’t just mean in a biological sense.
LAK, I honestly feel, so many times, that her mother is a hardcore Diana wannabe with incredible hunting/stalking/manipulation skills, and that’s why this whole mess happened. So of course the ring. Of course the commemorative books swimming in old photos of Diana. Of course absorbing William by waving the end of a cheese toast fork enticingly.
It’s creepy and sad, and the idea that her weak headed bait/daiughter should do more than shop and show up probably never even figured into the Plan.
You both make so much sense. I don’t think the pressure just cones from Workshy. I believe Hyancith encourages this too.
It is a losing strategy. It makes it seem more obvious how much both aren’t Diana and highlights their underwhelming qualities.
I’m with you. Diana’s been dead and buried nearly 20 years. Big Willy and the Beave need to stop trying to manipulate people into thinking of her at every turn. They need to stop with the intentional similarities. For one, it’s disrespectful to use her in that way, and two, they suck at it.
LAK, the most ridiculous thing is, they could absolutely exist without her, so to speak. I was living in the UK for a few month when they got engaged and I remember the enthusiasm. It seemed like the start of something fresh and new for the monarchy. Fooled me too, btw. In spite of the ring that made me pause, they fooled me for a hot second. There was so much goodwill towards these two and if they had played their cards right, they could’ve moved away from Diana and opened a new chapter. Except then they bungled it spectacularly. Aside from the worst offense, the workshy attitude, they’re also not playing to their strengths. Never have. It just eludes me. I guess the ring really was the first sign.
Yes, I agree, him giving her that ring was really … weird, I asked different women here in the US and everyone thought it was in poor taste.
I thought it was creepy at the time, a bid for bad luck. But I assumed that it was happening due to “my mom never got to meet you, oh love of my life” stuff. Though, still creepy or at least goofy.
Today, I believe it was likely born of a strong, persistent suggestion by Hyacinth, and agreed to thanks to a little “so Harry can’t have it” murkiness in his character.
So right, Liberty it wasn’t even William’s to give. Harry was the one who inherited the ring but no doubt sly Wills dug in the emotional claws to get it from him.
I’m hoping that this pic will finally retire the lonely Diana narrative and picture. What would be the purpose of pulling it out again?
Having a spouse or a mom (a parent) with mental health/emotional issues is a heavy, heavy burdens to carry. Hopefully, this picture will help put some of that to rest for Charles, William & Harry.
You’re totally right–your statement is very compassionate.
It can be horrible enough to have to compete with a MIL for the affections of a Moma’s boy in real life but to have to imitate and compete with a dead one for your husband’s affections is insane. How many years would anyone be willing to live like that?
This is Rebecca, except it’s a dead MIL and it’s hubby not housekeeper pulling the ghost strings.
I loved that book.
That comparison to Rebecca gives me the creeps. Never thought of it in that way.
I adore that book! I just reread it during a few winter Sundays!
@LAK Spot ON about Rebecca! I love both the book and the movie, in this scenario who is Mrs. Danvers? Judith Anderson was positively chilling and spectacular in that role.
I think Mrs Danvers is William with Carole cheerleading in the background. The ghost that will never be exorcised being Diana.
Infact, i’d go as far as saying William Mrs Danvers (as a verb) Kate, whilst Carole gaslights her to do William’s bidding.
@LAK, too perfect, it’s making me cry! William really does give Kate the ‘Mrs. Danvers’ treatment, doesn’t he? (I like your phrasing as a verb, I’m adding it to the arsenal!)
I can just picture Kate haplessly making her grand entrance at the Manderley ball, wearing her costume of someone’s else’s costume. Costume-ception. Whilst William continues to exhibit both the moodiness AND aloofness of Maxim de Winter. Alas, he isn’t half as handsome or compelling as Laurence Olivier.
What a way to live!!
Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction.
LAK, wow, what a theory….stranger still, it does seem plausible in a way. :-/
There’s a thread at RD that chronicles Kate’s copycatting ways, and to say I was shocked to see she had recreated 2 Diana looks in India is an understatement. It’s beyond creepy that she is SWFing her MIL and doesn’t seem to understand that she’s just digging a bigger hole for herself. She will never live up to Diana’s memory. Never. And I seriously question William’s mental health that he seems to be forever stuck trying to mold his wife into his dead mother. The ring…should have either left it in the vault or had it made into a pendant or something that Kate could pull out on special occasions.
take it out occasionally? you must be kidding. if she wears it to mountain climbing, rowing, girls’ scouts survival skill camp, and even the slums in India, she’s never going to take it off even when she’s dead.
is this to remind herself that William loves her?
to remind her of her mission in life, ie keep Diana’s big poor boy happy?
what does it do?
i also agree that it will be better if the jewelry is broken down into pendant or broch, something that keeps its general shape but no longer a ring. it can be symbolic of keep the memory alive, but we’re moving on with a fresh start…
The ring is her trophy.
Lower-Case Deb & Hmmm – I never thought of how much Kate wears the ring and why, but you both have hit on something.
You are right @ hmmm, she worked and waityied jolly hard for that prize, I wonder if it is all ashes in her mouth now. I have a feeling she will cling on for dear life though, and continue to put up with Billy’s dross, no matter what he lobs at her. I am sure he has plenty of side pieces to keep him entertained, and she is happy to be his “official”. What a waste of a life.
Antipodean: So many articles leading upto the engagement had started to say the same. I think both Taki and James Whitaker flat out said she would put up with anything thrown at her to get that ring.
LAK, yes….Taki is probably the one whose thoughts first began to open my eyes post Canada…..I read backwards and found this:
http://takimag.com/article/why_kate_middleton_is_prince_williams_only_option/print#axzz467y9GRmL
“So, Waity Katie—with so many secrets locked up behind that glossy mane—has steadfastly watched and learned, thwarting the notoriously stubborn English class system to brilliantly rise above her station. She’s proven to be the rarest of companions: somebody loyal who is also willing to play the same game that unhinged (or disinterested) so many before her. And unlike Diana, she’s been granted nearly a decade to fully understand what she will be marrying into.”
Bet Clairol and pippa just love trying on Di’s ring.
Do you have a link?
45 minutes at a worldwide famous monument that is an important part of India’s history? I don’t know if I’m more disgusted at the obvious shallowness this exhibits or their constant insistence on privacy when their mission is to foster goodwill between two countries. This seems so self centered it makes me sad.
The Fug Girls posted a link to an article from the Telegraph in there royals round-up this week about reporting tours with the Queen and it said one of the worst things is that scheduled visits for famous/important sites is usually 40 minutes and that the royals really aren’t permitted? given time? to explore to their heart’s content. The article wasn’t about Will/Kate at all so I don’t think it was trying to apologize for them. Read that just before coming here so it was fresh in my mind.
The 40 minutes makes sense. I’d be pretty upset if I had to wait hours in the heat because someone deemed more important had the place to themselves.
I couldn’t find either article but regardless, the bigger point is that they asked the Indian officials to take down all the scaffolding, which would have resulted in a loss of millions to the cost of renovating as well as having to re-start from scratch the months-long repair work they’ve already done. All for what? Less than an hour’s worth of photo ops trying to re-create a dead woman’s image, compete with dad’s former marriage, and to promote themselves as some kind of special celebrities who require perfect backdrops for their photo op? On top of sectioning off large portions of the site from other tourists just to have the area for themselves? As if they couldn’t photoshop out the scaffolding, which as stated by Sixer above, the Express has already done?
Then the British officials were reported to have said that the request to remove the scaffolding for W&K’s sake was not true, thus making it look as if the Indian officials were lying as well as tarnishing the journalistic credibility of the Indian publication which first reported the story? All this even before W&K started their holi-tour?
On top of William telling the Indians that Kate has been wanting to go to India all their married lives and how Diana helped make the Taj Mahal more famous and memorable and more attractive to tourists, as if they had some special connection to it more than others and as if something were owed to Diana and therefore to William?
Again, W&K made such a big deal out of it, even going back to India again on the final leg of their tour, as if as part of a big encore (that nobody called for). It’s just that the ridiculousness of it all adds up, and all that it added up to was just 45 minutes.
I think her hair looks pretty in the Taj Mahal pics, but I think she has gotten way too thin, unfortunately. I hope she’s not having a medical issue.
I agree, she’s very thin. Look at her hands! Madonna hands.
In some of those photos of Kate u can clearly see that’s she’s had work done she looked different. She def had cheek fillers and Botox done ahead of the trip and photo ops. It’s like that photo of Madonna in the back of the car and she looks like the crypt keeper with the work clearly on display. Kate’s on her way to looking like that. She does not look like a 34 ur old.
I wonder what the press have to spill? Seems like there were a few ‘big Willy’ tantrums.
She’s been thinner, I think. Look at post-wedding pics, specifically the ones of her with Mrs. Obama. I think she just prefers a starved down look.
A lot of people get gastrointestinal illness in India, right? That on top of her thinness could make her look this thin.
She’s been thin for years…this isn’t due to a bit of Delhi Belly.
Jaded, I was referring to the fact that she looks thinner than normal.
He’s beginning to look more like Bucky Beaver every day.
http://www.tvacres.com/adanimals_buckybeaver.htm
Why do these rich people have such messed up skin? She could’ve spent five dollars on some coconut oil to put on that wrinkly wrinkly. God!!
i just think that no amount of coconut oil or botox can help wrinkles produced by pandering to an uptight, cloudy, domineering man like William. i just have a vibe that William is so hard to live with.
She got started early with the tanning and smoking, and she’s extreme-dieted for the last several years at least. I’m not sure coconut oil could help the damage she’s done.
She’s starved, smoked, over-exercised and suntanned herself into permanent wrinkledom. Nothing she can do now, that horse left the barn a long time ago.
What always strikes me is how dry her lips always look. So dry they are nearly chapped. For someone who works out as much as she does, she clearly doesn’t rehydrate.
It has to be hard to live under a microscope……and the second William was born, that’s how he’s had to live. I love Kate’s dress, everything about it and would wear it in a heartbeat. I would have worn a dark shoe, maybe even blue without being to matchy matchy, but she’s finally getting it.
She does look nice. I think William was in a position to be very loved, had he worked harder and seemed to care the way Diana did. Unfortunately, he has created this hostility around himself that has extended to Kate, and I’m not sure he can ever overcome it.
Perfectly put.
Everyone talks like matching is horrible. It isn’t if it’s done properly. Like anything else it depends on the outfit and there are exceptions to every rule. I match my accessories, and I’m known for my clothes sense but I do tend to dress on the conservative side.
Not picking on you, Nancy, honest!
Not insulted bluhare…..I agree. I think an outfit is put together with matching accessories as long as you don’t go overboard. It’s all of these fashion police shows that tell us we’re wrong and I don’t listen to them.
I like matching, too. I would have worn a blue shoe with that dress (a lower block heel, peep toe, no stockings due to the heat – could they have gone at a hotter time of day??? LOL.)
Thank you, Nancy!
this is an occasion where i thought the matchy, matchy worked spectacularly. the shoes were a tad lighter, but overall look was good and well put together, if a tad older woman.
http://cdn2.thegloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Kate-Middleton-Baby-Bump-St-Pauls-Cathedral-Navy-Outfit.jpg
I agree that matching can work well but you do need to have an eye for it and it takes practice and making mistakes to get a ‘look’ that works for you.
I liked the Taj dress but would have worn different shoes – even the beige wedges of doom in a peep toe style would have worked. She needs to wear more of that style of dress – not only because it will stop the flashing but it suits her body shape and shows off her slender figure more (not in a bad way).
I agree, LAK. That was one of my favorite looks on her. She looked great that day.
Well this India Tour has been so stage managed to the enth degree…. makeup artist personal assistants hairdresser for spoilt pampered girl child … £50,000 for 6 days clothes is completely disgusting considering that Spoilt Waity has not done any speeches or formal work in Bhutan and India its SO OBVIOUS to all to see its been a glamourised holiday … going on Safari feeding orphan rhino and elephants going on the monastery walk … These two are over indulged spoilt pair and William needs to wear Decent Trousers not chinos showing all his nether region we thought he shouldwear appropriate trousers on A Royal Tour and to demand Privacy on taxpayerd funded tour who do this pair think they are ….
We thought Waitys dress blowing up agsin 15th time yes we have counted as she is total embarrassment and exhibitionist and we feel she has a huge problem
The Royal Family ought to sort this pair out as its now disgusting
For nearly £10,000 per day in just clothing expenses, she should have been giving speeches and interviews every day. Same with him. All this money wasted and I’m thinking most of the clothing and ‘ethnic’ jewelry will never be worn in public ever again. Just a one-time use.
Exactly. They did no real work other than show up for official engagements and then demand “private time” to recover from having to actually deal with lesser mortals than themselves. This trip will go down as a PR fail and waste of tax-payers’ money.
Hey when I go on all expenses paid holiday wi my husband I like privacy too. Who can blame ’em? Ughhhh #benefitstreet #getajobkatie
I’m waiting for the inevitable photoshop of Diana sitting beside these two in front of the Taj Mahal.
And I also await the post-trip sturm und drang revelations with bated breath and popcorn.
Ew, like the one of Diana photoshopped into Charlotte’s christening? That shit is gross.
That was just tacky as hell.
Yuck. I guess they studied Memento mori while they were in college. Creepy on every level.
Of course they were going to treat it like a vacation and that’s what we got. A vacation with the occasional ‘pose with other people who they just happened to meet’. They certainly dressed like they were.
The embarrassed themselves, Queen and country. God help us if he makes it to the throne as this is what we will get. I am fuming that my hard earned taxes paid for this jolly. When the Queen passes I think I might sign up to Republic. I really do NOT want these 2 twats on the throne.
Even for this American, they are a disappointment. I guess I think back to when Diana died and all of my teenaged friends and I were stunned. There were tears and people who don’t normally care, were touched by her passing so suddenly and tragically. Reading her story and how she touched AIDS victims when everyone else was afraid to be around them or the photos of her in the mine fields or potato sack racing at the boy’s school, are still touching. She understood her image and worked hard at crafting it and using it for some worthy causes.
I know she had issues but she was extremely captivating and glamorous.
My politics may be left but I can appreciate what good ambassadors some royals can be. These two will be the end I think. I can’t imagine either being able to hold a candle to their predecessors. Harry will be fine and probably carry on but I can’t see any future for the monarchy.
Don’t forget – Diana walked through a live land mine field in Africa to bring attention to the need to ban land mines and thoroughly clean up areas that were mined in earlier conflicts. Within a few years no sane person supported the use of land mines as a weapon of war.
I cannot imagine Duke and Duchess Dolittle doing anything remotely akin to this.
Bearcat Yes! She managed to actually work and bring important attention to causes and not like a dilettante. She was effective.
Yes, this American also finds it hard to imagine the monarchy lasting too much longer. Will and Kate just don’t have the sense of duty required to maintain respect of the people.
Everyone is making perfect points here. I agree, Diana focused the world’s attention and made huge difference in regards to landmines and AIDS. Harry has taken up Invictus Games at least, but ITA with everyone, Kate & William won’t be doing any heavy lifting.
William on the Taj: “stunning designs in there”
That’s it. He couldn’t be bothered with research (actual work) to provide a reasonably insightful comment.
W&K are a pair of vapid freeloaders. When will the British taxpayers say enough is enough?
Instead of Hyacinth and Richard, they are more like Onslow and Daisy.
Pre-approved qs?? Are they really that numb? I am not surprised at Kate needed it as her vocab is pretty limited.. Why Will surprises me as a control freak, I don’t know.
They even specified the color of the rose petals strewn on the water.
Please tell me you are joking, bluhare?
Sorry, mia. Not joking. It was in Katie Nichols’ article. 🙁
@ bluhare
Ack. And I have yet to see any photos of those petals, though I’ve been to several different websites about this TM visit. What a waste of time and money.
No, she is not. I read that too. What could possibly go wrong with those petals that it had to be specified?:-)
Unbelievable. Just goes to show they are all about their image. From asking for the scaffolding to be removed to pulling a JLo with the rose petals, they are ridiculously fake and manufactured. And the rose petals would have had zero effect on their awkward posing.
oh my goodness
I am shocked at this – they have now gone into crazy levels of celebrity territory. They really do think they are these great celebrities that people/countries should just be grateful they the showed up. You just know Kate was behind the colour of petals thing – she’s very creative don’t you know, In face she drew one of her royal mansion for the slum kids – Richard Palmer speculated it was Amner.
Tabloid press please take them down – as a British citizen i DO NOT want them anywhere near the throne and representing me to the world.
Gobsmacked. Really thought bluhare was just joking.
They were probably from the rose(s) named after Diana. 😀
Sign me,
No Clue But Wouldn’t Be Surprised
Wow, this really takes the cake.
Here’s the quote from the DM:
‘But this was planning taken to an extraordinary degree. Even the colour of the rose petals the couple scattered at the Banganga Water Tank in Mumbai had been agreed beforehand.’
I tried looking for images of what color these petals were, but all I saw were a couple of containers W&K put on the waters. I guess the petals were in there, which meant the color couldn’t be readily seen anyways.
LOL at what would have happened if the Indian ladies who handed them the containers of petals brought the wrong color. Major eye-rolling and loud sighs by both W&K. But in the end, I don’t think they’d even remember what color they requested in the first place on their ‘celebrity tour rider’ list. The probably just ordered something just to throw some weight around.
Good riddance tbh.
I hope they start working more, for their own country’s sake, but I know that’s unrealistic.
What I find most pathetic about the whole thing is that a woman who is a graduate in History of Art, is only bothered to spend 45 minutes at one of the most sublime buildings on earth (which they had all to themselves!) and seemingly had nothing to say about the building itself. If I had the services of an expert guide, I’d be pepperining him with questions.
Indeed. I’ve been to the Taj, and spent most of the day there admiring the beautiful architecture and craftsmanship, as well as the formal gardens and more informal ‘vegetable and herb’ gardens (as my guide called it). There’s so much to see that 45min will only get you a quick walk around the fountains… and a seat on the bench.
I’ve been there too, and the two hours or so that I had simply were not enough. It’s the type of place you could visit any number of times, and still find something new to marvel at. Yet all History of Arts graduate Kate is interested in is the ‘love story’ aspect?
She really does seem to be an incredibly vacuous person, the type who would run out of things to talk about after five minutes of conversation.
She didn’t know the story behind the building, either.
That stood out. I thought it was all managed and just shows how they don’t prepare. For all of the Diana aping she didn’t even learn the basics.
She said ‘It’s been really incredible to learn about the romance of the building, and really beautiful architecture.’
This from someone whom William said wanted to go to India from the start of their marriage and who has a degree in art history. Did she really not know about its history and its beauty beforehand or was she not able to talk about her experience in a way that made her sound intelligent and well-informed?
I would say she didn’t know. If she had researched the topic, she would have been able to comment on the materials used, placement of the minarets, and the relationship between the Taj and the Red Fort, and the importance of the Mughal Gardens (across the river). Classic CBB (couldn’t be bothered).
Lol right?
Tour guide: “Welcome to the Taj Mahal, the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage” (from UNESCO World Heritage site)
Kate: “Ummm… it’s pretty” *grins*
St. Andrew’s is probably loving this endorsement for their Art History undergraduate program. *rolls eyes*
William is so ugly, I cannot with that face.
Gah! I love your username!
Right!? William is aggressively unattractive. Perhaps it stands out because he used to be so attractive? I also think his poor, unfortunate face has a lot to do with his fake smile. William is a shinning example of how attractiveness is in large part about demeanor and possessing a certain “humble confidence” that us humans can’t seem to resist. Harry, for example, oozes “humble confidence” — and even though Harry’s just an average looking bloke, he presents as “gorgeous” to a lot of people because of his personality. (Plus, Harry’s got a better body than William; William just lacks any and all sex appeal.)
He can’t help his face. But I do think that a good attitude and willingness to work and take interest in other people would do a lot to make him more attractive. You can see good will (no pun intended) in others, and that can overcome unattractive physical features.
Bringing up Harry, he’s got really close-set eyes, which I generally find repellent. (Ryan Reynolds and Ryan Gosling, ugh.) But his winning attitude, charm, and genuine interest in his causes and the people he meets overcome that, and I find him rather sexy. It helps that I like gingers!
The pic at the Taj Mahal was never going to replace Di’s one. They don’t have the ‘it’ factor and the pic looks awkward. I was expecting the pic to cover all the newspapers and it only got one big piece and it either wasn’t on the others or relegated to little side pieces. Wasn’t even mentioned on the front of the DC, which I thought was really surprising. Camilla Tominey’s piece on the Express was very good. All the reporters have been calling out how stage managed it was and if they were hoping it would stop all the negative work shy talk they are going to be really disappointed.
George and Charlotte also spent the week at Bucklebury at a cost of £20,000 a day. Should be added onto the total cost of the tour IMO.
I’m not sure why they thought the picture would be a great thing, either. I guess they were trying to show a happy royal marriage, but how does that change the fact that Diana and Charles were miserable together? It just highlights it, imo.
Its really just resulted in lots of people talking about it and bringing it all back up again. That’s hardly putting it to rest. I doubt William wants that anyway, he brings up his mother more than anyone else.
Yes, it highlights Diana and Charles’ unhappy marriage, but it also brings attention to the fact that Will and Kate don’t seem too happy themselves.
Did that picture of the two of them seem like a couple in love or happy to be in each other’s company, at least? Not so much. Something’s been off with them for awhile now.
I don’t know why some people say the PDA from the Bhutan hike was fake. They seemed close to me. What was fake about the PDA?
On the other hand, they did look awkward at the Taj. Perhaps William gets very moody at times and Kate is used to it.
For all the pre-hype and hoopla that this photo homage was given, l found it all very anticlimactic. Just another underwhelming photo op before one of the greatest monuments in the world, the presence of which certainly overwhelmed these two.
ITA – check out Christopher Wilson’s twitter, he says the same, “There was a dynamite msg in Diana’s original, this is just pap (for paps)” He wrote a really juicy and insightful book, “The Windsor Knot: Charles, Camilla and the Legacy of Diana.”
Citresse, who hikes with their arms around each other?? And on one pic, Kate was looking over her shoulder at the photographers? I don’t doubt they are fond of each other, and probably have a friendly relationship. I just think a lot of what they show publicly is very stage managed, like as Wills looks at Kate, she is always smiling, and then laughing with her mouth wide open other times he talks to her, etc., etc. They never seem to just be talking to each other without some kind of public emotion.
I actually do think she loves him, or loves the position she’s in. But I get the feeling he is fond, but mostly indifferent of her. She did her duty, she gets respect for that, but he’s a brat, and I doubt he puts a lot of time and emotion into their marriage. I bet he does exactly what he wants, exactly when he wants to do it.
If Willliam wants privacy so much, why doesn’t he just leave the game? It would be so easy and make everyone happy, except possibly Kate and Carole. I’m so sick of them having the world at their fingertips and all they can do is want privacy. They certainly have very high opinions of themselves.
William wants his cake and to eat it too – he’s grown up getting both so expects it in every aspect of his life. He married a woman who lets him spend time away from her and their 2 small children and allows him to cheat on her and generally treat her like garbage. She and her family go out of their way to allow him to have said cake and be able to eat it.
He will never walk away willing from the throne, not because of duty (he has none) but because he wants the lifestyle, money and privilege that comes with being the heirs heir – he will automatically lose the press protection for a start as well as the tax payer funded security, the free houses etc..
They have her family living off the royals too
it does cost the taxpayers a fortune for the security on the family with the children instead of leaving them with the Royal nannies its a huge expense not having them in the palace
they are draining the monarchy……….
You’re so right — they don’t have that IT factor; it can’t be manufactured. Harry has it. And you know who else? The fabulous Dragon King and Queen of Bhutan. Would love to see *them* come by for a royal tour — it’d be spectacular.
You are exactly right, Lainey. They don’t have the charisma to pull off this picture at all. That they can take such a dull and completely forgettable photo is telling.
Richard Palmer tweeted that W&K asked for privacy during parts of this Taj Mahal visit too. So I guess that’s incentive for the media to hold back on giving W&K more favors, on top of W&K banning the media just the other day in Bhutan too. And it might be a good thing, as there are some pics blackening out the gap between her legs while sitting on the bench, while it’s white in other photos as her dress had risen up to mid-thigh.
But honestly, what was the point of making this TM visit such a big deal that they had to make it like it was a big encore by going back to India for the extra day, on their private plane which the taxpayers paid for? They couldn’t even hold each other’s hands during the visit. So it wasn’t about a show of being loved up but about what? Just to say they were there?
It was more than being just to say there were there – Big Willy let it out of the bag. Chutney wanted to go there and we all know why – she wanted a ‘Diana’ on the bench moment of her own, paid for by the taxpayer. Am sure she’s already asked for pap photos for her personal album, she was known for that during the GF years.
Now why wouldn’t grandma babysit at the children’s home? Much easier on the children while their parents are away. Someone did mention that she was trying to cement her position as the favoured granny to George the heir. This is an assumption, but wouldn’t security costs be much less at the kid’s home?
There was no need for them to be at Grandma’s plus how is George getting to nursery? Or have they taken him out of it cause Mummy isn’t there to take him.
Not to mention that they are taking resources away from local services (i.e. extra police etc..) when they are at Middleton Towers.
Agree and we’ve read stories about how Carole is always at Amner Hall and rolls up in her Rover.. why when she can truly be the Queen of the castle would she have the kids with her at Midd Manor? Wonder if Michael Middleton was anywhere around or if he’s still in hiding hunting gophers.
These pics look so unnatural and stiff and these two don’t seem to have any chemistry.but honestly,what were we expecting…. Anyway this William sounds like such a whiney spoiled brat.I have no idea why he felt the need to demand privace. I live in India and I can honestly say that the general population were not that interested in their visit. Sure, it made news for about a day or two but these two just fail to capture anyone’s interest. They are that bland.
Interesting to hear what people in India thought. I can’t see anything extraordinary that they did to earn anything but ambivalence.
Exactly, I live in India too and no one cares, they’re just another pair of bland foreigners here on a visit.
You’ve had some really good points to make about India not being one homogeneous country, and countering assumptions made by people who don’t know much about it. I have enjoyed reading them. Therefore, I was a bit surprised to see you doing the same thing with your “just another pair of bland foreigners” comment. I agree with you that they are, but I guess I don’t think I am!
Nothing bland about bluhare!
You aren’t either, GNAT. 🙂
@bluhare – sure, not all foreigners are bland and you and GNAT certainly aren’t but trust me, I’ve met a ton who are and who are just here for the ‘exotic’ aspect of it, enough that these two really are ‘just another’. I’m sick of that.
Thank you, teacakes. When I come to India it will be for the archaeology. Of course, I’ll want to see the Taj Mahal, but I really want to see the the Maluti temples and Hampi. I hope my spelling’s correct!
I would love to see the stepwells!! I find them so fascinating!!!
No chemistry? These two ooze chemistry. Did you see them at the safari, or on the hike?
I don’t know if you are being sarcastic, but I think they seem like they love each other.
No sarcasm from OP, GNAT. I think they love each other too, but I’m not seeing the oozing chemistry.
I think they do love each other but they’ve been together for 15 years so any chemistry they may have had at the beginning has gone. But then again they’ve never been dynamic enough to ‘ooze chemistry’ as individuals.
People can fake chemistry. I’ve done it. I’m sure everyone has done it as some point. They were walking with their arms around each other on the hike – who does that? It’s just awkward and weird and Kate was looking over her shoulder at the photographers. And she always is smiling or laughing with an open mouth when he does or says stuff. Just seems staged to me.
I think they are fond of each other, I think she loves him, I think he is very impatient with her and doesn’t spend much time with her. She looked very happy on this trip and I think it’s because she got to spend time with him. Willy is a spoiled brat who doesn’t seem to treat anyone very well.
I can’t conclude that they love each other based on what we as the public knows about them through tabloid reports and photographs. In my opinion their marriage seems to be very old-fashioned rather than a modern day romance other than the fact that they lived together and were having sex for a decade before getting married. Everything else about this relationship is a throwback to what married couples were expected to do a hundred years ago.
Marketing Head Mr Wallering requested a great deal of privacy during AgraFest 2016 to work on his keynote address, which was geared to present company views on a range of important hot button issues from intraoffice bullying, to new concepts international widget trade.
“‘t’were a marvelous speech,” enthused marketing assistant Cath M., “There was so many words and filled with things from his head all stuck in it. But then he forgot to give it, with all the rushing about and pony rides and the blisters from our walks!.” Cath M. added that team members were “nevernonethelessly impressed” with their India-Bhutan tour and “will never forget the how nice the people was, even to Mr Wallering, and especially the earbobs you can get for under ten pounds, just about anywhere!”
Haha I almost choked on my juice. Please never stop. I can’t get enough of Mr Wallering and Cath. Lmao.
So on point Liberty.
“There was so many words and filled with things from his head all stuck in it.” Hee hee! Oh, this is comedy GOLD!
LOL! You’re killing me Liberty! I just spewed coffee on my keyboard. Again.
Many, many bonus points for use of earbobs.
* curtsies * 😉
“nevernonethelessly”
I am DYING. I needed a good cackle today – thank you!
LOL, Liberty! Cath’s *dialect* is just too much!
You are killing me Liberty!!!
@ Liberty
Loved the post you did yesterday on these same characters. It was spot on about how they looked in front of the much-promoted Taj Mahal visit.
This post is a good summary of what idiocy goes through their heads. It made me hear Carole Burnett’s secretary character Wanda Wiggins (from the skit with Tim Conway as her boss Mr. Tudball) doing Cath’s voice.
anne_000 —- haha I just found one about Mrs Wiggins and Mr Tudball and an intercom on youtube — oh, that’s classic!
LOL Liberty!
OMG, what a hoot!
When you add up what she wore–Excluding repeats, custom tailoring and bespoke pieces–It comes to about $36K. Many of us didn’t like most of it. But more to the point, Kate will never wear the majority of it again. We’ve seen that pattern of behavior from her before. Her repeats are few and far between nowadays anyway. And every outfit, except maybe two, was theme specific. E! is also off on a few things. They guessed that the blue, Bollywood gown was about $6K. Custom Jenny Packham hovers around $4-5K. (On the OZ tour, Kate wore a bespoke Packham that was a plain black dress w/ a little bead detailed fern on the shoulder. That supposedly cost $5,200.) But that’s based on how much Packham’s custom work tends to run for pieces like the buttercup dress Kate wore leaving the hospital with Charlotte. NOT for full length gowns. And certainly not for ones that were beaded in India. No way did it only cost $6K, w/ the beaded shawl, and the matching clutch from wherever. Your guess is also as good as mine for the final total of altered pieces, new and unavailable/old and unavailable outfits, or that Kira-style skirt she wore, made in London with imported material from Thimphu. I think it’s safe to add on at least 10 grand+. Which easily still gets you to $50K.
They’re also wrong about some repeats. Even the sugar blogs are tellingly vague on ID’ing some of these shoes. Like the nude LK Bennett’s she wore with the red McQueen and a million other times. That was not a repeat. That was another new pair of $276-345, nude court shoes. (That color is not online. So who knows what they cost when she got them or what the price was if they were custom.) *Sigh* And then another. The Bennett’s Kate wore for archery were different $250 nude pumps, just with a lower heel. This is something else that drives me up a wall. The Bennett’s are not to be confused with the $675 Rupert Sanderson pink-ish (nude!) pumps she “saluted” the war memorial in. She wore those with another beige (excuse me, “blush”), $700 Mulberry clutch to add to her collection. And that was right after debuting a new Russell & Bromley, $235 nude suede clutch. There was a new black, ($1,300 Prada), clutch. And another pair of $250 blush shoes. At least those were flats, that she wore for half a day.
But Kate’s moving up, ya’ll! She wore $60-83,000 worth of stuff in 19 days on the OZ trip. She neared $50K in what was barely a week this time. All while actually demonstrating that she could average $300-400 per ensemble and do just fine. Some of her better looks were cheaper. (A throwback to her early Duchess days.) And the cheap ugly pieces were ugly like the really expensive ones. She could’ve saved Charles some money. Still, there’s no need or justification for her to sneak in obscenely priced accessories that A) look like things she already owns! *eye twitch* And/Or B) don’t give anywhere near enough bang for the buck. I also think those repeats should count for something. Who cares if Kate is “recycling” for a second time when it cost $700 or $2K to start with? Even E! notes that the awful, butter yellow, Wickstead coat dress was bespoke in the first place, (and Kate’s still had it altered since she last wore it). But if you do scroll through E!’s list what’s clear is how little Will and Kate actually did on this tour-cation, and they really front-loaded the paltry (and trite) charity work they did. Totally futile trip, and their engagements were typical, self-promoting photo-op crap. (“Slumfies”, as some of you say.) Fancy, pointless, formal, photo-op crap. Then, costume changes, mommy/daddy issues, and touristy stuff.
It was a colossal waste of resources, opportunities and time.
And this is just clothes! Her clothes. William’s clothing, when reported, has been proven to be just as pricey. But he gets more wear out of it I guess. I can’t even begin to calculate what the security costs would be. Or what this cost businesses and people accommodating them. Or the citizens having to navigate around the circus. Or what the price for travel and 5 Star lodging for William, Kate and their entire entourage came to. I also don’t imagine that that covers the baseline fees for the hair/makeup artist. How much for the scouting team they sent ahead to prepare Kate’s sartorial “color story”? Complete waste of GB, India and Bhutan’s money. I don’t know how you defend the time, money, and effort it all must have taken to get the Taj Mahal photo-op alone. And that’s all it was. Because the Taj Mahal doesn’t need their PR.
And frankly, you may have noticed, that I didn’t even want to talk about the ceaseless theme dressing while mainly wearing British designers. Now I understand, and I do think you can justify, promoting British products to the exclusion of others as being part of “the gig”. I get that. I wouldn’t nitpick it if she hadn’t thrown in things like having the Packham beadwork done in India and shipping in fabric from Bhutan. Oh yes, and patronizingly wearing mimicry clothing non-stop. Just wear their clothes! (Although, people may have noticed at the Bollywood gala alone that actual Indian women, wearing Indian clothing, didn’t look like the stuff Kate wore.) That’s a better gesture than wearing a Paul & Joe (French, btw) cape in Bhutan that was embroidered in India. I honestly think she wore two India-based Indian designers. One dress for cricket and one pair of earrings for the gala. Then it was nothing but more Packham, Temperley, Wickstead, Bennett, McDonough. And Beulah. You know there are other UK brands than those as well, don’t you Kate? No, excuse me. She weirdly threw in some Yank outfits for unknown reasons. I think she was just determined to have everything match the theme and ran out of options in the UK. Kate has rarely ever worn American designers. But took this opportunity to wear three pieces in seven days? (3 and 1/2, if you wanted to count Indian-American Naeem Khan.) That’s not promoting British fashion. Neither is another Prada clutch, Gianvito Rossi’s shoes, or Ray-Ban’s.
ITA that her some of her better looks either came from the high street or ‘cheaper’ brands.
Kate was always high street (or wore borrowed or hired designed clothes) until she got married, since then its been high end designers all the way. Alexander McQueen will be rolling in his grave of her wearing his designs – he was very very particular about which celebs he let wear his work. He famously told his shops NEVER to sell to Victoria Beckham, so there is no that if he was still alive would Chutney be wearing him – royalty or not, he would have not opened the door for her.
You are right about her not repeating clothes that often – her obsession with theming is probably the main reason why on top of her obsession with shopping and having all these designer clothes/accessories etc.. to show off in. Its akin to saying ‘hahaha look at me – don’t i look like royalty now in my high end badly tailored clothes’.
E!Online says she changed outfits 18 times. The DM reports that she took 20 outfits with her, possibly meaning that E!Online didn’t include in the tally the two outfits plus shoes, jewelry, & other accessories that were planned to go with them.
And most of these things she’ll probably never wear ever again in public, including some or most of the jewelry.
I think it would have been better if she had spent every day wearing bright, solid-colored fitted sheath dresses and pantsuits at a cost of $500 or less. At least she could have re-worn these many more times in the future.
Hey, all may not be all wasted! The Middletons can use the custom outfits for themed parties at Party Pieces.
Don’t worry, anne. We’ll soon see Pippa and Carole out and about making use of what Kate wore on this trip. It seems they always shared clothes amongst themselves, no matter who paid for them.
I had the thought that it would have been cool if she’d ask Indian designers to create an outfit appropriate for each of her engagements. Not sure if there would have been too much cultural appropriation or not.
As you were describing her shoes.. I just pictured her shoe closet.. it’s entirely of beige/nude colors.. just like the walls of her house.
I’m assuming they flew back to India following Bhutan in order to catch their scheduled British Airways flight back to London, not just for the Taj visit. Further, the average royal visit to a site is about 40 minutes given all of the disruption and security associated with it. I may be the only one on this site who doesn’t loathe these two.
Karen, having been a very regular reader and commenter here, I can assure the regularly do not LOATH Will and Kate.
What the basic complaint is that these two simply do not do anything that is expected of them. They have a very comfortable life style, that is funded by hard working people.
Will especially has not grown into his role of heir to the heir. And his wife shows no work ethic, no want of getting involved with charities and no want of showing she can be prepped to seem fairly intelligent when visiting a foreign country and representing the people who find them. To go to the Taj and not know the story of how it was built or why it was built is just shocking.
No one loathes them. We are tired of the farse that they care about anything beyond what the taxpayer’s can afford them: trips to exotic locations, shopping and hunting. Those are to name a few.
Notice, we all point to his younger brother on how he should behave and how Harry’s interests are being applauded.
Thank you. We joke and snark but there is an underlying feeling of disgust with two people who do nothing but spend lavishly from public coffers. If you sit and think about just how outrageous their behavior is, there can’t be feelings of love and adoration. They earn their ire well and good.
It was specifically called out that they were going back to India for the Taj Mahal visit. If not, they could have flown to any other city with flights to London.
And I’m the resident sugar (or what passes for one here).
They flew in and out on private Jets. No scheduled flights at all. To India, around India, to/from Bhutan or back to Blighty
I thought they flew in on a commercial flight to India? And the entire entourage took over First Class?? Am I imagining this?
They flew commercial from London to India and back. Scheduled British Airways flights, First Class.
The DM reported that they were using a private chartered plane at taxpayer’s cost. There’s photos of it when they re-embarked on it in Bhutan. I don’t know if they used the plane from the UK to India and back, but they were using it within India and Bhutan.
As a member of the Commonwealth who actually pays out of my tax dollars to support these two sloths, I do not “loathe” them. I just resent having to support them in their obvious unwillingness to actually WORK. They have been handed an existence that is crazy rich with public money that they spend addictively but do the bare minimum in return. Those two knew what was expected of them from the get-go. Harry knows, and is doing a great job…the Sloths, not so much. Their disdain for the media, public duty, mingling with the unwashed masses, is painfully obvious. And unless they unite and present a dedicated front working for the things they’ve only paid lip duty to so far, they should willingly step out of the line of succession. A monarchy that only takes and doesn’t give is an anachronism and has no place in the 21st century.
Hey now!! Sloths come climbing down from their tree WEEKLY and *do their business* and then return to their spot in the tree. Sloths are very hard workers. It just, takes them a while to get there! 😉
On another board I frequent, there are actually people who don’t believe W&K were purposedly trying to invoke Diana’s memory with this visit. If they didn’t want the focus on this visit, then they could have easily placed this visit into the middle of their tour. No…instead, they chose to make it the final view the public has of them before they return to the country to hide out until the Queen’s birthday celebrations.
They are such amateurs. To ask for privacy when they are on an official “working” tour is beyond the pale. William didn’t pay for any of this. India & Bhutan & the UK did. He insulted his hosts by not promoting their culture and sites, especially in Bhutan on the hike. Idiot. And silencing Kate, even though, I doubt there’s a single brain cell at work under those wiglets, is counterproductive. What exactly is her purpose? She does nothing, but wear clothes and smile inanely at William or look to William for permission to speak about her surroundings. Why were they attached to each other like glue this trip? Why couldn’t Kate strike out on her own to do things? These two…worthless ambassadors for the UK.
I agree. I wish she’d stand up for herself and speak her mind, not waiting for William to finish his inane thoughts.
Kate is the woman William wants her to be – she behaves this way to keep him at her side, this has been her MO since the beginning. She made herself into the Stepford Wife we see today in order to get big blue – if William wanted her to be outgoing and spunky then she would be. He wants the vapid, vain, ‘do as she’s told by her husband’ wife so thats what she is.
+ 1000
It’s not even about being outgoing and spunky though. It’s just about being a person of substance, standing for Britain and good charitable causes, and doing something that brings positive attention to both. You don’t have to be spunky and outgoing, just hardworking and a heart in the right place.
William has a lot of shit with him but I think it’s time people accepted the fact that Kate is just useless and she was going to be this way even without William in her life.
There’s no way that someone who’s never worked a day in their life, had any interests outside of shopping, and didn’t even travel widely, was going to make a good addition to the royal family. Good Lord, the girl can’t even string together a proper sentence, that accent she’s affected is horrible beyond words, every speech so far has been horrible.
She can’t be allowed to strike out on her own because she’d fail miserably. Mostly because she doesn’t want to. It’s not been Kate’s goal in life to do charitable work or any work at all. She thought marrying William was a free pass to endless free vacations and shopping trips.
Absolutely, I think no matter whom she married she probably would behaved in the same indolent way. Her problem is that she did not choose an unobtrusive lifestyle where she could behave how she wanted, shopped and vacationed to her heart’s content, and not get called out on it in such a public way. People expect of her more than she wants to give. And she’s ill-equipped for that.
‘Why couldn’t Kate strike out on her own to do things?’
I don’t think Kate wants to, unless it’s a gala or movie premiere with handsome rich men (Sir Ben) or celebrities.
The Brit tax payers are so nice! Not once did anyone make a fuss about paying for their anniversary trip disguised as a tour.
Chrissy Tiegan had her baby 🙂
Luna Simone Stephens <3
Everyone needs privacy and time to re-charge. They aren’t robots! …Even if they were robots, they’d still need time to re-charge.
They make plenty of time to recharge. This was a 6 day tour that will inevitably be followed by another vacation. This trip was paid for by British tax payers. It was a state trip in which they were meant to be working.
I agree. Everyone needs privacy and recharge time. But do you need privacy in the middle of an engagement while on a tour paid for by others?
I would. Tours and crowds of people are exhausting.
In the middle of an engagement — ie the hike to the monastery, arguably Bhutan’s biggest tourist attraction? They wouldn’t let the media who had hiked all the way up with them take any photos, because . . . privacy. No offense, but that’s BS. When someone else is paying for you to visit the country, you bloody promote it. If they were there on their own time and dime then I’d agree with you 100%.
I agree that it’s probably exhausting, but they need to do their jobs. They’ve got tons of downtime coming up.
When you are in the middle of your job?
The Bhutan authorities invites you to trek to a monastry that highlights their tourism industry, includes media to document it, but you decide not to do your job even though the trip and expenses are being paid by the Bhutan govt and you are already on the mountain trek?!
Do you see how absurd that is?
They did no more than anyone else would on a busy but enjoyable vacation. Like people who work 40-60 hour work weeks. With kids. Who don’t have masses of help. Who don’t get to vacation 6 times a year.
Agree Jaded, most people are working full-time jobs and this week we expected them to ‘work’ since they have only done, was it 7-9 engagements this year prior to the trip? They were expected to hit the ground running and show us they can do stuff like the Queen, Philip, Charles, Anne etc.
Rather than hit the ground running, it’s more that they tripped and fell flat on their faces.
Just like on any other professional business trip, one re-charges before and after the business meetings and events, not during them. The hike in Bhutan and the tour at the Taj Mahal were both on-the-clock.
It’s like while in the middle of a meeting or event, you just suddenly tell your bosses, the people at the company you’re visiting, and everybody else including those covering the meetings and events, to leave the meeting room or the events location while you have yourself a little me-time and to come back later when you’re done. You can’t do that. You have to sit through the meeting and events until they’re done and then you can go off to your hotel room to re-charge.
They have privacy every evening & morning in their sumptuous hotel rooms. So these are my impressions: these two are vacuous beyond belief & I would never want to be stuck in a stalled elevator with them; Kate bought (the taxpayers bought) lots of new clothes, shoes, clutches, scarves (even though she was gifted with several & should have been prepped with that knowledge), and earrings for the trip–although the shoes were fairly indistinguishable from most she already owns; she wore hose for most of the trip, so much for the ‘bare legged’ articles; her hair looked flat–I think she didn’t wear any extra hairpieces here; her face looked so different, something about the cheekbones; both William & Kate need actual stylists; both William and Kate are hopeless twits–did I say that already? It bears repeating; and I very badly want to visit both India and Bhutan now, maybe spend a good couple-three weeks.
And Sixer, I’m still working on your Elton/David rhymes-with-free. ?!
The U.K. press cannot publish a story that David was cheating on Elton including a threesome. The US press has published it. It just shows how silly these publication ban laws are in the age of Internet. (Especially when we aren’t talking about protecting the victim of a crime)
I’m glad Nic stepped in, Hazel. Cos I *could* tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. Or myself. Or something.
It is quite ridiculous, Nic.
What I think the real story is — because I thought they had an open relationship — is that this is unprotected sex, when they are huge fund raisers for AIDS research. Tough to get up and speak to others about safe sex when you don’t do it.
But a kiddy pool and olive oil? Don’t they know that you use jello in a kiddy pool? 😉
bluhare – if I knew what and who you were talking about – and clearly, I don’t because I am in blacked-out Britland and cannot see anything on the interwebz – I might agree with you.
It’s playing out with some extra legs here because there is also an ongoing story about a cabinet minister who has a penchant for a dominatrix, or two, or three. And who allegedly showed cabinet papers to someone who is, apparently, one of the Boobie Twins. Deary, deary me. Boobie Twins. He is the minister in charge of PRESS REGULATION, no less. And the tabloids have apparently had this story for several years but not printed it. Totally coincidentally, of course, this minister recently overrode the cross-party agreement about implementing the recommendations made by the Levenson Inquiry over the hacking scandal. This overriding, totally coincidentally of course, entirely suited the press. (It all came out via independent media so now the tabloids have printed it anyway. You really couldn’t make it up).
So you have to ask: there is public interest in a story about olive oil and kiddy pools to the extent newspapers go to the expense of challenging a high court injunction over it, but a cabinet minister vulnerable to political leverage over his colourful sex life is simply a private matter?
It’s not like the press is with them 24/7. They get plenty of down time, even on these tours. They were asking for privacy during their work. Which is ridiculous.
I’d quite like a few hours privacy during my work day, but that’s not how it works.
The DM reports that this tour included four private jet flights as well as a number of reconnaissance trips, that it cost £270,000, that there wasn’t the traditional walkabout at the Taj Mahal, that it was the most tightly-controlled and one of the most expensive royal tour, questions at the Taj Mahal had to be submitted in advance, and that William took an active role in the planning of it including working with the media advisers.
Also, a senior aide said that William appreciates that a lot of people go to the Taj Mahal with his mother in mind but that for William, it’s all about the future, looking forward, and creating new memories. Um, sure. That’s why they’ve spent years copying images of Diana and using her memory to give themselves good PR.
Good god. Newsflash for William: Most people go to the Taj Mahal because it’s the TAJ MAHAL!!!!
I really, really think that the Queen and Charles are okay with this scenario. Their worst nightmare would be being overshadowed by a young, attractive couple like they were by Diana. So the lack of pizzazz from WK is great for them…I’ve noticed how HM and Charles get good press in comparison to these two. I think it’s deliberate…WK’re not going to get any help or warning as it is not the elders’ interests to let them shine.
Personally, I enjoy their idiocies… 🙂
The shortness of the visit may have been more determined by how long the Taj could keep the tourists and tour guides out without causing a revolt. Over 2,000 people visit the Taj in a single day.
I wonder if they realise the irony of that picture. The original was a calculated statement by Diana on the state of her marriage, she even told the reporters on site to ‘figure it out’ when they asked about Charles absence. What is the Lamebridges statement, ‘ scaffolding!’, perhaps a reference to their life of endless renovations or perhaps a reflection on their own marriage.
Hanging comes to mind.
Always amazed at how much crap and negative gossip these two get. They just seem the definition of milk toast to me, personality, looks and everything just kind of blah, and I just don’t get the reactions about them. It’s not like any of the royal family are doing anything that great to begin with. I could understand if you were British, as the money does seem a bit obscene, but I think most are American and commenting. I guess I just don’t really care that much, but sometimes I like her outfits. They are either plain awful or great, generally not much in between. Also, I must say the kids are cute, and it’s fun to see over privileged cute rich kids in picture settings I’ll never be in.
a) Will’s body language on the ‘Diana Bench’ is uncomfortably uncomfortable. He looks more like Kate’s annoyed brother sitting next to her than a husband who is feeling “absolutely” romantic… Which leads me to point b:
b) How do Will & Kate expect anyone w two brain cells to rub together to believe that they REALLY & TRULY feel romantical feelings while being followed around by press asking, “Is this romantic for you?”! How?! It’s a dumb assumption, a dumb question & am even dumber answer. Which, incidentally, brings me to point c:
c) The Duke & Dutchess’ dumbest assumption/move of all was to insist on privacy while on a PUBLIC Royal tour, most especially while at the Taj. This isn’t the same as being home in England & not wanting to be stalked to & from the grocery store by Paparazzi… This tour is specifically FOR the press. It’s sooo icky for them to act so entitled.
“She said ‘she really deserves this kind of building as they were madly in love with each other.”
Okay, so where’s my palace? Where’s the palace for all the women in the world who are in happy marriages in which they are madly in love?
The Taj Mahal is lovely, etc., but I can’t help but think of all the people in that (or any) society who would love to build their spouses palaces but have to concentrate on making enough money that their families won’t starve. Sorry, the Will and Kate context just highlights to me that this is phenomenally wealthy people admiring other phenomenally wealthy people. At least the Taj is publicly owned now, as it should be. And unlike the British royal families’ holdings.