Around this time every year, we get the year-end “numbers” for the “working royals,” meaning the royal family members who are considered full-time working royals, like the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Princess Royal, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. For six years, William and Kate have been the least-working members of the group, although Harry’s numbers are often pretty low too… but that’s because Harry doesn’t get to “count” the weeks he spends volunteering with charities, or organizing the Invictus Games and more. In the past six years, we’ve also had another set of numbers to judge Kate in particular: how much money she spends on clothes. Because of the peculiar nature of how the royal family is structured financially, the Prince of Wales pays for his daughter-in-law’s clothing budget for royal events. As the years go by, Kate spends more and more of Charles’ money on clothing, and yet the event-numbers still stay consistently low. TL:DR: Charles is spending more money on Kate’s clothing for her to do about the same small amount of work every year.
She’s often praised for her thriftiness, thanks to recycling outfits, digging out pieces she’s had in the wardrobe for the best part of a decade and favouring high street labels. But recently the Duchess of Cambridge has developed a taste for designer labels such as D&G and Preen, pushing up the cost of her 2016 wardrobe to a massive £174,170.
Research by MailOnline has found that by comparison the Duchess wore clothing worth just £43,260.99 in 2015. This year the value of her wardrobe for the official royal tour of India and Bhutan alone was more than £35,000. And even that was dwarfed by her £62,000 Canada wardrobe, including dresses by Jenny Packham, Preen and D&G.
The money spent on Kate’s wardrobe for the Canadian trip is particularly weird, especially considering that no one gave a sh-t about that tour at all. Even the royal reporters noted that there was barely any interest in William and Kate’s hyper-stage-managed tours at this point. I think the royal reporters revolted after repeated fiascos during the India-Bhutan tour earlier in the year. I should also note that for both of their major tours this year, Kate’s fashion choices were widely panned. She spends all of that money and the girl’s still got so little style. She thinks that if she spends thousands of dollars on a frock and gets it tailored to show off her legs, then suddenly everyone will think she’s fashionable. She is not. And I think Charles should cut these two off.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Where does Charles get his money from?
Us. The Duchy of Cornwall belongs to the British people, and Charles gets to use its money because he’s the heir to the throne. But the money belongs to us.
Okay, thanks for the info.
Dear Brits,
Given that you’re paying so much money for this frumpy benefit holder’s wardrobe, when do you plan on protesting? Your xenophobes came out in full force to push the Europeans out of the UK, surely those of you with some sense could do the same for the Royals.
Well, not to speak for the British people, but the 48% among us who voted to remain in the EU are focussing our energies on remaining in the single market, for the moment. That’s certainly what I’m writing to my MP about. If there was more of an appetite for a republic I’d work to support that, but there simply isn’t at the moment. People want the Queen to pay for her own repairs, but they don’t want to get rid of her.
The interesting development will be when Charles ascends to the throne. We Brits love the Queen, so there’s no chance of a real republican movement while she’s around, but no one likes Charles.
@Rachel, many people are also not impressed with William and Kate.
What Tina said.
I’m as republican – and as leftie, for that matter, in a way that would probably terrify even liberal Americans – as they come but the BRF is the tiniest drop in the ocean of woes facing the UK at the moment. If I were to become Glorious Leader tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t get around to addressing them until about 2050!
Duchy of Cornwall considerable land and products.
Thanks.
So much money to buy frumpy clothes.
So much money, so little taste.
Well id say it’s to keep her wedges of doom factory running. She’s probably their only customer.
I think she is trolling us. She has a dream budget for clothes and she buys the ugliest work dresses she can find. I suspect her private wardrobe is much better.
What the private wardrobe? I am watching her about 10 yeas, she never had taste.
So true, frumpy and tasteless. It seems royal news has been all kinds of ridiculous this week–her clothing budget, Willie’s bad speech, the Middleton shoot, Willie needing chill time (FFS). The snark has been great, though, and their lazy asses deserve every bit of it.
And these two can’t be bothered to see Prince Charles at Christmas???🙄
I’m sure he wonders that too.
6 figures for a bunch of ill-tailored coats and skirts that fly UP -and no kiss for Grandpa at Xmas?!
For shame Royal blue bloods! No caviar in *your* Christmas stocking!
You’ll just have to content yourselves with multimillion dollar properties, a helicopter at your disposal, caribbean holidays and 20 hours of work a month! So, there!
Stupid, style-free little dimwit. When do they get cut out of the succession, her and her witless Willy?
I don’t quite understand why Prince Harry doesn’t get to count the time spent on things like Invictus. Is it because it’s not an official BRF function? In that case, Wee Willy’s pilot hours don’t count either, right?
I think you mean that Kate spent £174K of taxpayers’ money because Charles receives a tax writeoff for them.
Well that was an exciting tour of nude shoes and wedges inappropriate to the occasion. I hate this the most. If I had a tiny portion of her budget, the shoes I would buy.
I just don’t think Kate likes fashion. She likes things that make her look cute/hot for Wills, who also has no taste, and that’s it. The dig about designer labels is bang on. Money doesn’t guarantee fashion, Kate is the primers of examples. But oh man, a little bit of her budget would sure help my shoe collection.
Oh my god, you said it. I’m by no means a fashionable person but with that kind of money, I would look GOOD. Mostly because I would hire someone to make me look good. But this one has the money and access to practically every garment in the world and she chooses one tablecloth after another. God these two are boring.
It is worse. She makes anything look like a tablecloth.
Thrifty my ass – she will never wear many of those clothes again. She wears something new every time she has to do her duty whether its clothes, accessories or jewellery.
Kates pattern is:
– New expensive designer dress is teamed with repeat shoes and accessories
– New expensive jewellery or accessories is teamed with a repeat dress
She NEVER repeats a whole outfit or even mixes and matches repeats. There is always something new – she’s a raging shopaholic and i think its deliberate on her part. Its her way to giving an FU to the taxpayer and Chuck for the perceived ill treatment she and her family got during the dating years.
In which case she’s a nasty, immature woman trapped in the mentality of a teenage girl…
+1
I can’t stand this little madam. What perceived slight did she think her ghastly, pushy mother, or her lazy self endured 15 years ago that warrants such such excessive spending on dreadful clothes. She never was suitable for the Royal family, and by the looks of if never will be if she doesn’t get some semblance of duty and honour!
What exactly happens to all her clothes after she’s worn them? Does she sell them? Throw them away? Give them to Pippa or Carole? Donate to charity? (lol, I could barely type that with a straight face). Or are they just locked away in one of her closets in her 20-room mansion, never to be seen again?
Definitely the last one.
That money belongs to the people
Of Britain. Ughhhh. What an entitled welfare system. And that third picture of her in the doily is really hilarious.
She has no style because the clothes wear her, she doesn’t wear them.
There was a comparison in Elle between the two showing how she wears the same outfits. Diana took some risks but she wore outfits not the other way around.
I never comment on her fashion choice but I have a question that bother me for so long. why she always wear dresses or coat dresses? never two pieces or mix match clothes (except some legging and blouses)
Yeah, that is my question too. Whenever I watch british tv series, the characters have great style and always wear interesting outfits. So, there must be so many beautiful clothes from British dept stores or boutiques, no?
London is my favourite place to shop and I’m from Canada ok? British dept stores & boutiques are fabulous. There’s no excuse for the “how the grinch stole fashion’ frock she wore yesterday.
Charles needs to get his money back.
*And I think Charles should cut these two off.*
Wow! Speak truth to power.
KM is a profligate, lazy, selfish little girl. I’m willing to bet W also sends Charles the bills that finance Carole’s living expenses at Amner and even Bucklebury.
W&KM need to be cut off immediately.
The entire “royal” family is ridiculous. These two are just the result of that silly system.
I’ve just put an offer in on a house which costs the same as her clothing budget. Jeez.
Kate needs to add undergarments to this list. Just saw the picture from earlier this week and all her dresses stick to her skin. Slips anyone?
THIS. Thisthisthis! Foundation garments, slips, spanks, ANYTHING. No one needs a visit from Duchess Beaver.
Her problem, aside from no imagination and no decent stylist, is the unlimited budget. If she had to plan her wardrobe and choose based on what she had to spend, we would see more separates, more useful pieces instead of one-offs. She needs to look more professional, and that includes a new hairdo minus all the wiglets and falls. Someone like Leti does this so well. Why not get inspired by your royal peers?
Sometimes I wonder why Charles handles William and Kate with kid gloves. He should be stricter, especially with his whiney son.
I wonder that too, but perhaps he’s afraid they’ll take his grandkids from him? Also, I believe he is the non-confrontational type, just like his mum. He is probably hoping that by giving the Cambridges everything they ask for they will eventually come around and everything will sort itself out in the end.
Yeah, I agree with the non-confrontational type.
Not so sure about the grandkids but the evil in me hopes that he will give the Middletons a hard time when he sits on the throne 😉
@jmo most likely, no. The future King George will lean more to The Middleton. Their maternal grandmama is basically the one who raise them.
Charles has always seemed weak and spineless, and I wonder if William is just a spoiled entitled royal who blames everything on his father.
@marjiscott: Don’t know if he blames everything on his father but he’s definitely a spoiled entitled royal whiner.
Okay then why does he not spoil Harry then? Maybe he will win he has a wife and kids?
i think Charles doesn’t really know how to handle it. I mean he is alone when it comes to dealing with his children. If Diana were alive, they could share the worries about the children. My husband died when my boys were 10 and 14, and believe me, sometimes I am at a loss as to what to do even now, they are 31 and 35.
Guilt. William witnessed firsthand Charles treatment of his mother. Then Diana died so tragically. Then Charles married the woman Diana blamed for ruining her life. Guilt.
You’re probably right, yeah.. it will be sure an interesting time when William sits on the throne.
William turns out to be a constant cheater and chooses to live in the house where Charles and Camilla used to meet up.
IMO William doesn’t have a problem with infidelity or which parent did what to whom. All he cares about is how their behavior impacted him, not how it impacted anyone else. He’s even started sideways bashing his mother for doing too much charity work and making him feel neglected.
@iralagi: It really seems that Carole owns the Cambridges.
To me, it seems like Carole (and Kate) coddles and tries to appease William and not that William is upset that Carole isn’t getting what she wants. William knows he’s the key to their having “status” and likely doesn’t care about Carole’s (and Kate’s) wishes at all. Kate put up a lot for a decade to get to marry him, and he likely thinks that she’s willing to continue doing so.
Considering these stories coming out about Kate’s spending and their work event numbers, my guess is that William probably got yet another talking-to by a more senior royal, and is throwing a tantrum and refusing to attend the Christmas events because of it.
She spent all that money and yet everything she wears looks the same.
The dress she wore yesterday was just awful. Drew Barrymore wore it better, but even then, it wasn’t anything to ‘write home about’.
I wonder how much Camilla spent by comparison.
Camilla does her royal duties and isn’t embarrassing, she’s also the Crown Prince’s Wife and should dress accordingly. Waity is a non working jegging wearing silly prat that needs Ativan and a kick up the arse as my Mum would would say.
Woof, those nude pumps. AND THE DREADED WEDGES. *shivers*
They really are awful, especially with that athletic getup. She dresses like my sister and I would dress our Barbies when we were little. We had a limited number of clothes and shoes (unlike her), so just to keep playing we threw different things together that didn’t match.
The only people ‘praising’ her for her ‘thriftiness’ are the papers, which are now turning around & criticizing her. Don’t get me wrong, I agree it’s a preposterous amount of money–especially considering her lack of work hours & lack of style–but they’ll make up anything to suit whatever story they want to promote this week.
Wuuuuuut??? I dont get it. Most of her clothes look like they are from the Lands End catalog. How can they cost that much?
I have a Capricorn friend as mentioned before whi. spends an exorbitant amount of money on clothes to the point her wardrobe can’t take anymore – I can’t work it out if it’s vanity or a conscious effort to try and out manoeuvre any competition –
Do not get why William can’t pay for this wife clothes and why Charles still does even though Charles barely gets to see his grandkids.
They’re all just parasites taking tax payers money. She should be made get a job like everyone else. It’s disgusting to see the money the Royals are getting when there’s a housing crisis in the UK..
It’s such a scam.
Why the British people still tolerate this is beyond me, but I’m American so it’s none of my business.
Some entertaining comments today – thanks. I’ve enjoyed reading them.
Kate is proof that money can’t buy taste. No matter how much she spends she never gets it totally right.
I think the designer labels have been a little sweetener to get her to work more. That has hugely backfired.
I’d love to know what she does with all the stuff once she has worn them. Commenters on the DM were speculating that she passes them on to Carole and Pippa but I have never seen them wearing any of her outfits.
Charles should put a stop to it. No more new outfits till she ups the work rate. I can’t see it ever happening though.
After feeling like the only person in the country not hyperventilating over these two in 2011, I’m thoroughly enjoying watching their glorious demise and seeing how much the tide has turned!
Is it really a demise? They’ve survived worse…
@Nota. What is your opinion on what is going on with Kate? Is Willy cheating on her? I have read that a divorce is imminent. What do you think and you all think? Or do you think TQ wants to give the throne to Harry due to their horrific work ethic?
I’m not sure. There’s definitely something going on. Hopefully it will all come out soon. i imagine there has been some kind of unrest within the family and Whiny has gone in a huff about it. He probably thinks he is punishing everyone by not attending but I’m sure the others will have a much better time without him and Waity.
I wouldn’t be shocked if Charles and The Queen wants Harry to be King in the future. Maybe he was supposed to be all along.
I agree with you on that one. It is so obvious who has the better character, duty, honor etc., things that William and Kate could care less about. I hope Harry will be King with Megan as the Queen. I think they would make a formidable duo, and I think it will ensure the continuity of the monarchy.
I don’t think she will be Queen. I have a feeling it won’t last @Too Curious.
Too curious, someone just blogged on LOVELOLA , MM’s ex-hubbys says she is mentally unstable, even so probably not Queen material. That said, she certainly is cute enough!!!
Actually Canada did give a shit!! The Cambridges specifically expressed they wanted to visit charities that didn’t get a lot of attention. Those charities have benefited greatly since William and Kate’s visit.
This is nothing each working royal costs the taxpers 18.5 million a year. This is if you count all the money handed over to the royal purse by different government departments. Its 100 million security for example and 30 million for repairs to palaces. They are very very expensive far more so than a president.
So it cost 100 million for security on W,K, and H?
for all the moaning and groaning abt prince charles he has done his duty – tbh he doesn’t want to rock the boat due to guilt – if william was a stronger character than he seems to be – he wd have decided to give up his job and take over a lot of duties that the older royals esp his grandmother and father are doing. they have zero need to be so coddled using charles’ $ ( i know it is the taxpayers$ ) they sd have just moved to KP and stayed there and picked up the slack that the older royals have done for a long time. william unfortunately is a disappointment like kate – she sd have insisted that they do their duty and not be stuck in isolation. when the queen managed with her kids and doing her duty then why sd kate and william be treated so special? guilt from charles yes and stubbornness from william most likely.
people can say that charles is eccentric etc but i think he is very interesting and curious abt a lot of issues – william doesnt seem that interested in anything which is very disappointing