People thought it was shady that Kensington Palace and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge decided to do a big photo-drop on Harry and Meghan’s first wedding anniversary. While I doubt the Cambridges were broken up about the busy day of royal coverage, I do understand why it happened. Today is the official opening of the Chelsea Flower Show, a very big deal in royal/aristocratic circles and a major event on the British-fancypants social calendar. Kate has been hyping her garden design at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show for months now, and the hype machine naturally went into overdrive on the eve of the unveiling to the public, thus the big photo drop on Sunday. The photos on Sunday were of Kate showing her co-designed garden to her three kids, who all seemed to love it. These photos, in this post, are from today’s public unveiling at the official opening of the Chelsea Flower Show.
Kate decided to do a gardener-theme ensemble which… I mean, at least she’s wearing comfortable shoes. Kate wore culottes by Massimo Dutti, a £255 broderie anglaise white blouse by M.i.h. And white Superga sneakers. I like the blouse and the sneakers but the culottes are an absolute tragedy. They’re a linen blend, I think, and linen wrinkles so easily, so it’s not a very crisp look. Plus, that’s just not the right silhouette for Kate, it doesn’t suit her figure at all and it throws off her proportions massively. That being said, I once again appreciate that she’s changing it up a little bit and experimenting with pants that are not jeggings.
This morning, Kate showed the garden to the intended audience: little kids. Apparently, the Queen will view the garden tonight, and then the big-deal public unveiling will happen tomorrow. For what it’s worth, all of the people who did get to view her garden really liked it and said Kate really nailed it as a fun space for kids.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Why is this such a big deal that it had to be hyped for months?
Right? Everything I’ve read about this basically boils down to promoting the benefits of being outdoors—oops, “forest bathing”—more often. Which…is fine, but what else is there? If they weren’t pushing this garden like it were some life-saving project, it wouldn’t be so weird.
If she were using this to launch some sort of initiative here about getting kids to spend more time outdoors, it would make since. But she’s not, so…..it’s really just fluff to make her look like she’s doing a lot.
100%.
This quote from her is from an a story I read about it yesterday and it is so weird and confusing. What’s heartbreaking again?
“It has been reaffirming and immensely heartening to hear from the parents and carers you work with about what they need, and what they want for the children in their care.
It was abundantly clear—universally —that regardless of location, demographic or circumstance, all parents share the wish for their children to grow up happy, healthy, and equipped to be able to take every opportunity that comes their way.
“It is heartbreaking to know that there is a long way to go to realizing this wish.”
Everything with her is hyped, always has been.
I don’t think she looks good at all. Her body is looking fragile.
But it’s good to see her doing something she enjoys and the kids pictures are so adorable.
I’m 5’10 123 pounds long torso, I’ve seen this culottes trend and belled crop pants and I keep telling myself not to give into it bc it will totally be bad on my body type. Boom ! Thanks for confirming.
deleted… wrong place!
@barrett the flair cropped pants just remind me of the 90s when I couldn’t find pants long enough for my 5’11 self. No going back!
If that’s what they do for tall slender women, kinda wondering about my 5’3″ Kardashian-butt frame. Might give these a pass.
#childrenofbrokenbritainwho?
#keenchildrenofbrokenbritainwho
I dunno. Some people are really into gardens. I think it’s fun.
I have a small greenhouse in the living room at the moment. It has a grow light and 4 trays of 72 seedlings in it, with 14 different kinds of flowers. I have already planted 7 flower beds, 4 hanging baskets and the garden. I found sunflowers that will grow 15 feet tall. We put the supports in for them yesterday. I can’t wait. I live for summer gardening.
I think it’s fun, too, and she looks really nice to me. While I believe, as a separate issue, that William and Kate haven’t shown an impressive work ethic in past years, I truly don’t get all of the snark leveled toward either Kate or Meghan.
They have to hype something about her because what significant accomplishment has she had since becoming royal? What’s bothersome is she seems to be getting all the recognition for this garden. I am sure she provided input, but there are others as well on the team worthy of recognition.
Those pants are hideous and unflattering.
Kate used to have an awesome style in jeans and trousers all the way back in 2006 and 2007. What happened?
the royals always support the RHS
Those pants are awful. Where did her butt go? I like the blouse and the sneakers, glad she’s not wearing her usual high heels.
Kate is getting so thin. Her hip bones are showing,. I don’t think she looks good at all.
It’s nice to see her working though.
The photos of the kids are adorable.
Louis running with arms in airplane mode is too cute for words. Lol
She is really really thin.
@serpentinefire, I agree, she is so skinny now she has no shape, she is just straight down at the sides, front and back, no womanly curves to be seen anywhere, worrying…
I’ve been saying this for weeks. I think she might be anorexic. It’s upsetting to see and to think she might not be getting any help.
I think the culottes might have looked better with a different top. The blouse is fine, just not with that bottom.
Something sleeveless would’ve been cute.
She has never really had a butt to speak of.
Yeah, girl has been skipping squat day. I remember after George was born she had a cute little butt which she showed off with her jeggings.
If she were curvier (butt) those pants would look so much better. I actually like them, and the outfit, just not on her. I also think the pants need a heeled shoe, not flats. Wedges of doom would look good.
Her body is so different from mine, I was kind of startled by it. Even if I got very skinny I would always have hips and tush.
As a veteran of endless squats, heavy squats, all kinds of squats, I’m here to testify that some of us are just never going to have much of a butt, no matter how hard we kick the workouts. Kate’s naturally slender there and so be it.
Those pants *might’ve* been alright with a chunky/platform sandal. This look with the sneakers is all out of proportion. If she wanted to wear sneakers with cropped pants, they should’ve been more of a slim legged crop (as she’s worn before). This looks all off.
It’s a little scary that what is obviously a size small belt is so big on her. She almost disappears from the side view.
Yes! And also how come no one’s mentioning the BUTTONS!!
the trolling of the buttons has gotten really old.
Worst pants ever! I love the blouse, but it doesn’t work with the rest of the outfit.
I feel for Kate, suddenly. I wonder if she is on some crazy diet because of William’s reported straying.
This whole project and the pics with Will and the kids–all of it feels like PR and damage control.
Kate is extremely thin. She’s always been slim but this is a little scary thin. Hope she’s okay.
The outfit is fine but it does have a safari vibe to it and yeah the culottes are tragic.
It almost looks like they could’ve been actual pants and she had them hemmed I to culottes. You can see the fabric is wrinkled/pinched a bit at the back of her leg at the top of the cuff. They would’ve looked better as wide leg trousers. They seem to be such an awkward length right now, like they need to be longer or shorter…anything but what they are.
Those pants don’t flatter Kate’s figure at all, but I am wondering whose figure they would flatter? They are hideous.
She does love a good theme dressing! I am only surprised she was not sporting a big sun hat and carrying a trowel with her.
Or wearing gardening wellies.
@tourmaline, now that was funny
I went shopping for summer work pants the other day and this style was front and center in every store I tried. I don’t think they look good in anyone though her body type is probably who looks best wearing. It’s also probably the silhouette we’ll be seeing all season.
I like it! I think she looks cute
I like the outfit. It seems cute and appropriate for the occasion. Yes, the trousers are a bit wrinkly – and I can live with that – that is linen and it won’t stay unwrinkled, even for a duchess. But the one thing I find jarring is the belt which is miles too long for her. I like it for the style and it was a good choice – it is just too long.
I love her choice of footwear as well. Perfect little kicks in bright white.
I dont get it. She has a husband, kids, and staff.
Maybe not all them saw her today but someone must have seen her.
I cant underscore how bad those pants are.
Like yikes put on the jeggings!
For real, bring back the jeggings!
I sound like a broken record, because I always repeat the same idea: no matter what she wears it will not take our breath away or wow us. The clothes wear her and not the other way around. She isn’t comfortable in what she wears and it shows. When she was younger and dating Wills it wasn’t that way. Sad.
Was she getting slaughtered in the comments when she was dating Wills?
Absolutely. Worse than now. Was that question sarcastic?
No. The press were hands off about her for many years, even flattering about William and the regular, non-aristocratic girl. It wasn’t until several years after they graduated, when it was clear she did nothing but wait for William to call that criticism started. Even then, the criticism was nowhere near what Chelsy went through, and a fraction of what Meghan has faced.
True.
But even in her dating years, I never found her to have a real style, she wore the same black suede boots with everything she wore for years, no matter the season or the weather, or the dress style or fabric.
I like the fact that she’s not a fashion plate . She obviously doesnt care about it. Good for her.
@Skipper LOL. Oh she cares about it. She’s just not very good with it. Two different things
@VV, can you please explain? If I had her resources and cared I wouldn’t look like that. So I don’t understand how she cares about what she looks like. She looks void of spirit. Like the Firm has sucked it out of her.
@VV right? she cares lol.
I know I’ve said this before but Kate’s fashion reminds me of my own (but with a bigger budget.) I find something I like and stick with it, not because I’m Princess Anne (who just DGAF lol) but because I don’t know what else to wear. Hence why we see her in so many of the same silhouettes, or so many lace dresses. I don’t think its a matter of a “signature style,” I think its a matter of not being sure what else to wear. She is wary of trends and new styles, but then sometimes jumps in too fast (i.e. today, haha.) I don’t think she is this classic dresser that people think, I think she defaults to that because it is easier and she is a little uncomfortable, fashion wise.
I don’t know if that makes sense. Basically I am someone who wishes I had more of an innate style, I wish I could be one of those people who always look fresh and put together and “stylish” – we all know those kinds of people – but I’m not. It took me years to start wearing booties, lol. I have to really ease into new fashion and styles. I often end up dressing very boring because I cant figure out how to dress in an unboring fashion. I think Kate is similar, and I think that’s why she so often defaults to her coat dresses or whatever. Its easier for her.
She’s insecure about her choices and she doesn’t have a good stylist to help her take her very expensive similar blue coatdresses and accessorize them properly to give them new life and personality. She plays it safe because she is “dressing up as a duchess” but not owning who she is. There’s no experience out in the professional world and no gravitas and it shows through every time.
Im into culottes so i think she actually looks nice and the garden looks fun too
I am too actually. I like them. Linen is a pain because of the wrinkles but just so comfy and airy when it’s warm out…
She looks super cute and chic and on trend. I’m in Paris right now and everyone wears this kind of pants. Everyone moans when she looks too dowdy then moans when she’s too casual. “Rolls eyes”
If she wears jeggings people are like “those are too tight” if she wears trousers people are like “shes not wearing them right.” If she wears pants like these (which, admittedly are horrible) folks are like “those are terrible”
Ol’ girl cant win lmao.
I think she was trying to theme dress again and it kind of failed.
The girl can’t win because she has no sense of what looks good and what works for her shape. A good stylist (that she would heed) is needed stat.
What trousers would look good do you think? Something like a tuxedo pant style? A straight cut? I’m trying to imagine a nicer outfit but I am a bit stuck on the style of trousers.
I think this style would work in a different fabric. But I am more inclined to think a slim cropped trouser would have been the best choice. Particularly if her goal is to look good but not a fashion plate, slim cropped trousers are not especially “trendy” but they are a good look.
she’s gotten compliments here on pants she’s worn recently – those normal length, white legged pants were a hit.
The pants cost 70 pounds.
What a waste of money.
And they clearly are too big on Kate.
I think you’re right. They are too big. The blouse and shoes don’t work with this style of pant at all.
It’s the blouse that’s throwing it off for me. Culottes need a cropped button down or just a plain t-shirt/long sleeve.
I lile ti, she looks cute. This year is the best she’s ever looked since becoming a royal, IMO.
Those pants are awful with those shoes.I think those types of pants are really hard to style in general, and those shoes do not help. The blouse is nice though.
I actually kind of like this, but yes, it is not flattering on her body. Seriously, though, who CAN wear those pants? Why are they pushing cropped pallazzo pants? (Which I know these aren’t pallazzo pants, but i’ve seen cropped pallazzos and it’s like whaaaat???)
Yes. If someone as tall and thin as Kate looks terrible in there, there is zero hope for anyone else.
@Molly et al: Hips and butt. Culottes look good on women with wide hips and butt. I gained a lot of weight and did not know how to make it through summer last year. I bought two culottes and loved them so much. They flatten my tummy, appearance-wise, and make hips look really good. They go well with shortsleeve or sleeveless waist-length blouses. No tuck-in dress shirt. Low-heeled or Flat sandals or slides look good with them. Also soft loafers for a more put-together look.
It’s nice that the Duchess is coming out. She also looks engaged. She should do more outdoor, fun stuff as part of her charity work.
Maxima has a few pairs, including a terrible pink satin pair from Natan. Because she’s Maxima, she wears the outfit instead of it wearing her. Letizia had that pair of black leather ones (Uterque) she wore three years ago with her black leather gladiator sandals. She also has a pair of red ones from the same designer, again worn back in 2016.
I actually love this sort of look, however, it looks pretty awful here because of the proportions! This makes her already long torso look even longer and makes her legs look squashed and super short. It’s the oddest thing.
Dang. I like that outfit, but not on her. And I’m just trying to understand where her ass is. Did the culottes swallow it?
Apparently kids under 5 aren’t allowed in this garden which makes the photo op with the Cambridge kids highly misleading.
I don’t care what anyone says but Meghan definitely inspired Kate’s sudden interest in wide leg pants. Kate was all about jeggings pre-Meghan.
Kids under 5 aren’t allowed into Chelsea Flower Show at all when it opens, nothing specific to this garden. The kids were at a private preview – plenty of other designers show their kids around on the Sunday too.
Meghan may have inspired her to try pants with looser cut legs, but I’m wondering if she’s secretly a GOT fan. Those culottes with a brown cinched look exactly like the Golden Company’s uniform from episode 5. I even remember thinking “ hmmm, apparently Essos is on point with summer trends”.
It is silly and misleading, no surprise. This has been superhyped for 5 months as part of her future lifelong “passion project” of early childhood mental health, Broken Britain, whatever her private secretary could come up with. Turns out the target market is too young to attend and most couldn’t afford to go anyway.
the target market is people who grow gardens with children in mind, and people with an interest in supporting charities like the Royal Horticultural Society
The outfit is not great but at least she is dressed sensibly for being in a garden. A big plus is the absence of jeggings and wedges. However, she is frighteningly thin again.
I’m of two minds on your last sentence. This is the first time I’m starting to see why some commenters have been concerned re: her weight. Now it could just be that awful outfit exaggerating her appearance, and being that slender in your late 30s will sometimes have a different visual effect from being similarly thin in your early 30s. Still, she is looking a bit on the frail side.
I think her posture is also contributing to the look of frailty. In that last picture, where she’s walking and waving, her left arm/wrist and shoulders are totally giving me Mr. Burns vibes.
Those pants are ugly and unforgiving! Kate’s dressed like a 60 year old…Vanilla once again
I’m 62 and there’s not a force on earth that would get me into those hideous pants and that doily blouse.
Lol, I’m 43, i wouldn’t be wear it either!
I think they want this to be Kate’s equivalent of Meghan’s cookbook but the cookbook had a specific purpose and measurable outcome. I’m still not clear what this garden is aiming to accomplish.
Hey at least there is a complete lack of flouncy sausage curls! Yay! Really hope she continues with this hair style which is so much better looking but won’t hold my breath.
So this is where I find Kate’s hype so frustrating. This whole thing was hyped as her wanting to promote the good effects of being outdoors for the mental health of children, but apparently children are not even allowed in the garden….? Why not design something for, you know, actual kids?
Because Chelsea Flower Show doesn’t let kids under 5 in at all once it is open to the public.
Exactly Ella! Thank you!
The Chelsea Flower Show is a mad house and adding young children and prams to the mix would be impossible. I love this initiative by Kate and I hope she keeps in up by taking part regularly in the show but also expanding to do some other garden/outdoor projects.
Right, OriginalLala. This is supposed to be a keystone, launch, focus of her work for the rest of her life. Early childhood mental health intervention somehow connected to the outdoors, but the target audience cannot experience the garden and couldn’t afford to anyway.
Similar to when she was at an outdoor event a few years ago, playing with her dog and posing with kids. Lectured the inner city, impoverished children about how they should turn off the tv and go to the country more often. The point of the charity (the one she was representing) was these kids cannot afford to go to the country. The only way they could go on a trip this one time was because the charity paid for it. Dim. So dim.
The target is also primary school children,as her engagement today has showed.. . So yes,these children can visit it with their schools or their parents. In any case,experiencing the garden is not the main goal of the RHS show,as others have explained here.
Culottes are no one’s friend. They look really odd on the best figures. Kudos for switching things up, Kate! Never wear those again!
The garden is a kid’s wonderland. But I am scratching my head at the 3 day rollout. I thought this was part of her Broken Britain initiative at first, but it isn’t so I’m back to wondering why 2 days of buildup.
She literally has nothing else to offer. Nothing.
Stop it, please, Lady D. No one is nothing. She may not be marvelous when doing her public thing, but you/we have no idea who she is behind closed doors. Maybe she has a lot to offer but keeps being sidelined by Wm? Maybe HE wants you to look sideways at her, so HE tells the couriers what her projects will be. My point is, you don’t KNOW, so to make such flat, unequivocal statements seems unfair to me.
She had 10 years prior to marrying William to do something with her life, make something of herself. She chose to do nothing but chase William. Why insist there is more “there” to Kate when in 15 years she’s shown there isn’t.
Not good to be so negative about another human being unless their behaviour is truly awful. Maybe she is wanting to do some good now. We cannot forever be judged by our past and we don’t know her internal circumstances. I love the outfit by the way and I am planning to get similar myself.
Because Chelsea Flower Show always have press previews and the Royal preview on a Monday. Every year. Nothing special being done for Kate or her garden, this is just how the show works.
The idea of the press preview is to let the photographers get loads of pictures of the show and competition gardens before the show ground is packed with people who get in the way of the pictures, then they can run them with various stories throughout the week. CFS want as much publicity as they can get, as do the designers, and they always have a few high profile collaborations to attract the interest of those who don’t usually go to the show. The press like it because they get lots of nice pictures and some celeb interviews for little work on their part.
This is for the Royal Horitcultural Society, a nonprofit charity. The chelsea flower show – one of their largest sources of income – is this week.
The RHS has a major three year project going on that promotes and supports gardening as a tool for good mental health (and gifting Chelsea showgardens to the NHS in 2018, 2019 and 2020), and this year Kate just so happens to be the royal that helps promote that thru their garden shows.
Their are always many different garden themes, narratives and stories at such an enormous event. By coupling Kate and the mental health campaign, the RHS has basically guaranteed that this will be the campaign that will take center stage this year. It’s a smart move.
Kate’s just the storyteller/promotor.
I really like culottes when done right, but those shoes are a terrible choice for pants that flair above the ankle
But I bet they are comfortable for walking round the show.
I said the same thing down post, lol. It reminds of the “80s when we wore our sneakers with our business suits in order to be comfortable. At least I did. There are lots more attractive shoes to wear now that would have looked better with the outfit. But it’s just an opinion.
How on earth is her waist that tiny after three kids???
genetics, lifestyle….
Yeah, I commented down thread my brain cannot wrap itself around how tiny her waist is.
This whole dumbass project has annoyed me hugely. It has some trees, a water feature and a playhouse with swing thing- it’s so basic. If she really cared about getting kids outside, she’d have put all this together in an accessible public space. Not some twatty aristo guffaw-fest in the middle of London’s richest borough where kids under 5 aren’t even allowed in.
And it would probably have been wrecked within a week. Or some folks….would have complained that it wasn’t safe for kids.
The garden has a stream and a fire, so it could easily be dangerous for kids.
It’s not staying there, it is just part of the show, and then it will be moved to the hospital where it will be located. I understand the Duchess and the designers are also working on two further designs which will be built in two Royal parks. The tie-in with the flower show is just continuing the tradition of the royals being involved, as Charles and Harry have both done previously.
“Twatty aristo guffaw-fest” – ha! That’s just today, and especially this evening, when every hedge fund and private equity wanker around will descend for the evening reception. Tomorrow it becomes much more middle-aged Home Counties matrons looking for the perfect new water feature to upstage Drusilla.
Just a few points – nobody in the royal family does anniversary photos for ordinary anniversary, just the Queen on big ones. The Sussexes announced the pregnancy at Eugenie’s wedding, and did these photos on the weekend of Gabriella’s wedding. But the Cambridges get called out for photos at the Chelsea Flower Show which has been planned months ahead and is not planned around royal anniversaries!
Just the Queen, you say? The Cambridges did a photo montage for their wedding anniversary several weeks ago, so try again. And I didn’t realize that it was “Gabriella’s weekend” as you put it; were the Sussexes supposed to ignore their own anniversary date? I find it funny how this comment is practically word for word from a supposedly different commenter on another post…
Sorry dear, but perhaps the other commentator just agrees with me, I have only posted it once (and haven’t seen the other one). Basically I wonder why the Cambridges are getting called out for daring to go the the Chelsea Flower Show the same weekend as the Sussexes anniversary.
If the Sussexes want to do the photos, fine, if they Cambridges want to do the CFS fine. Why does it have to be made into a spiteful competition?
I don’t think the Sussex’s wedding anniversary was a big deal in the uk
But you’ve already made it into a spiteful and false competition by claiming that a) the Sussexes posted pictures to spite Gabriella’s wedding when their OWN anniversary happened to be that same weekend and b) they announced the pregnancy at Eugenie’s wedding when it was long clarified that the other royals finally had a chance to congratulate them at the wedding. Using lies to bolster your argument only destroys it in the end.
@ beachdreams. You need to reread my first post. I wasn’t the one making the original comparisons just pointing out the onesidedness of some people’s gripes.
Bye.
It’s amazing how this same crowd went crazy over Harry posting a photo on Earth Day, the day before Louis’s birthday but it’s not a big deal for a two day photo release of this garden over the weekend which opens on Tuesday, and that’s not interfering with the Gabriella weekend wedding or other nonsense. It’s only the Sussex wedding anniversary that is the problem and takes away attention.
Exactly Nic919.
Lies. The Cambridges did an anniversary post this year and last year. Charles and Camilla also did an anniversary post. The Sussexes did not announce the pregnancy at the wedding. They were congratulated at the wedding because that was when the entire family saw them. The issue is that everyone needs to stop being petty and understand that there is enough spotlight for everyone to shine.
i will certainly agree with your last sentence. Personally I am getting fed up with the made up feuds, and some people falling for the fallacies if it suits their own agenda.
As for lies, sorry but I had forgotten, probably because not so much fuss is usually taken of the anniversaries. Not deliberate.
I have no problem with the Sussex’s posting a video on their wedding anniversary but can people stop acting like the day only belongs to them and one one else in the family is allowed to post anything on social media that day.
Hooray! Thanks.
I wish all the royal stans would stop throwing tantrums every time the family has multiple events on the same day. The BRF is too large for engagements not to overlap. The problem is that the media keeps hyping up feud stories which incites the fan bases.
This so much! The so-and-so is stealing thunder on this day or that is such pettiness. Especially yesterday with the Lady Gabriella Windsor wedding stuff (which wasn’t even on the same exact date as the Sussex wedding but so what if it had been). The Sussexes did not even invite Lady Gabriella to their wedding last year, so the gnashing of teeth over her temerity to get married around the time of their anniversary is bizaare.
Thank you. May is always a busy month in MY non-royal life…weddings, birthdays, graduations, new babies, Mother’s Day. Nobody owns a day. Gabriella’s wedding was one day, H & M’s anniversary the next, and then this.
Leena, stop with the misinformation. We know they didn’t announce the baby over a PA system at Eugenie’s wedding! Secondly, the wedding was Saturday and their anniversary was Sunday. Why should they celebrate their anniversary on any other day than the day of their anniversary. Gabriella and her racist mother knew this when they selected the day!
Dunno if she announced her pregnancy on PE’s wedding, but she wore oversized and opened button coat that stirred up pregnancy speculation.
The family knew about the pregnancy, maybe some through the WhatsApp group Mike Tindall outed a few weeks ago. The congratulations were given in person at Eugenie’s wedding.
Ira, she was visibly pregnant when they landed in Australia two days later. If she hadn’t worn that big coat, the pregnancy would have been known not just speculated. And she would have been attacked for it.
Casey02, I have a question. Sometimes your name says 02, sometimes it say 20. Are there 2 posters with the almost identical name, or does your alter ego occasionally drop in:)
Lady D: LOL, different devices but in all honesty I didn’t realize that until you pointed it out!!!
We don’t know that the Sussexes did announce the pregnancy then.
Ha! I love this outfit. In fact I have similar pants and live in them during the summer. So comfy, cool and able to “dress up” for work or “dress down” for the weekend.
Whywhywhy won’t she get a stylist????
I’m sure there are s crap ton if good stylist in the U.K. who would give their front teeth to
work with her??? I’ve never understood this….
She has a stylist, a bad one, who was just given the RVO like Kate was. So much for that RVO being a big deal, eh? Let’s hand it to the twenty something bad stylist at the same time it goes to Kate.
My God you really know how to wet blanket a thread.
Who is this suppose to benefit?
It is the Royal Horticultural Society’s big annual event. It is extremely popular with many members of the RF and has been for years. It also gets packed out with visitors every year. And the plants, gardens get sold off at the end of the week.
Re children – it does get really jam packed so I certainly wouldn’t want to take a child there – they would probably get bored too!
https://www.rhs.org.uk/
Wow. Kate plans a garden for wealthy/airstros. What a heroine for the people! Or… not at all. Also, is this the “big initiative” she’s been up to ALL YEAR?! God her and Will are lazy.
it isn’t for the wealthy, it is going to a hospital after the show closes.
It will only be accessible to the hospital patients. That’s not open to the public at all. Kate’s own messaging is off on this because she herself is going on about green spaces for kids but she’s not really doing anything to help them with that.
Nic919, because Kate is once again missing the point. That’s what happens when you only put minimum, shallow effort into something. Like lecturing the kids benefiting from the charity getting those kids outdoors. Like William having three children while attacking families on the African continent for having children.
Display gardens at Chelsea are about inspiring trends in garden design. People create show gardens in the hope that home gardeners will use the same themes and ideas in their gardens at home – much like the Ideal Home show inspires trends in home decorating.
The designers she worked with have a good track record of designing open spaces and play spaces for children – I work somewhere which has one of their gardens – including in public parks and other public spaces.
Thank you Ella. I’m an avid gardener, and I have a particular interest in designing gardens with children in mind, as I want to encourage little ones to appreciate and enjoy nature, AND I have 2 very young grandchildren. She hasn’t discovered the cure for cancer here, but it’s fun, and I appreciate it for what it is.
You’re right Jessica, it isn’t matching up. As I wrote above, she showed the same entitled disconnect a few years ago. Lectured impoverished kids about how they should stop watching tv and go “to the country”. She didn’t understand that charity’s work is to fund those trips, because the families cannot afford to take trips to the country. She was blaming the kids for something out of their control, and out of their parents control.
I think maybe people are misunderstanding the Chelsea Flower Show. It’s full of show gardens that are meant to showcase designers, plants, ideas, and concepts. The public go to be inspired and take home ideas that they can use. There’s a big tent where you can buy plants and garden features. A garden like what Kate helped with would likely be targeted towards the people who make decisions about what to do with public, community spaces. It’s meant to inspire communities to build green spaces for children to access within their cities/towns. It’s not necessarily about this specific garden and who can go into it during the show or where it will go afterwards.
I do agree that this is being super overly hyped as being some Very Important Kate the Hardworking Royal project when she likely had very little to do with it. It’s not terribly innovative and it seems like a random one off project that they’re trying very hard to tie in with her new umbrella organization that’s been a year in the making and yet still seems to not have much direction or specific purpose besides “something to do with kids” and whose big take-away after a year of meetings seems to just be “parents everywhere want to raise healthy and happy kids.”
People complain that she doesn’t work, and then when she does, more complaints. Girl can do no right.
Not more, different.
I’m happy that Kate finally has a big solo project, but the PR is overkill. You would think that this is the only garden being displayed this week, or that Kate is the only royal to ever host an exhibit.
“Solo” – as if she rolled up her sleeves and did the whole thing herself! Yes, PR overkill for sure. I hope the people who did the real work were credited somehow.
The people who worked with her are barely mentioned. This is being promoted as a monumental project for Kate. Her family photos are everywhere. I feel bad for the other presenters because their gardens are being overshadowed by the royal PR machine.
It’s always been mentioned in every article, Andree Davis and Adam White. Andree Davis’s design company was also mentioned on DM articles, but I forget the name.
Kate also always use ‘OUR work’ in her statements, she never said it’s only her ideas.
This is exactly why so many of us are rolling our eyes. This seems like a good project for Kate, but at this point we’ve had months of buildup over it and now a multi-day roll out. It’s all a little….overkill.
To be honest though, Kate doesn’t do a huge quantity of projects or events so I think Kensington Palace is working with what they’ve got, and that’s why they are publicizing his heavily.
It would be great if they could use this to create momentum for this issue, but I think momentum is something that Kensington Palace struggles with…
Can anyone ID her wristwatch?
Cartier.
Cartier Ballon Bleu
That shirt, which I like, does not go with those pants. She should have worn a basic white tee. Love the shoes tho…
Re: Who does it benefit? The Chelsea Flower Show is a really big deal in Britain and will get a ton of publicity. People model their home gardens on design ideas they see here, if only in photos. A person with a modest income could easily incorporate a rope swing or a tree-branch fort. The idea is for people to think about gardens as more than decorative places, but as opportunities to get kids outdoors and away from their computers. This is as relatable to me as Michelle Obama’s plant a vegetable garden initiative. I love it!
by George, I think she’s got it!! I’m with Lori!! ^^^^^^
“The idea is for people to think about gardens as more than decorative places, but as opportunities to get kids outdoors and away from their computers.”
This is exactly how it’s being sold and what Kate herself has explained. I don’t know why some people are turning it into a PR fiasco just to dismiss and mock whatever she does.
+1000!!!
She is far too thin. And yeah this is totally aristo-type thing and no, it’s not for the people. Promoting spending time outdoors? Girl, puh-lease.
The buttons on the culottes… yikes. I get what she was going for, but it just doesn’t work. This really looks like something Pippa’s worn before, right?
Has anyone viewed Kate’s interview regarding the garden. It is subtitled because yet again no one can understand what she is saying!!!
Kate’s pants are horrible!
Or it is subtitled to make it accessible to people who have a hearing impairment.
I listened to Kate speaking last week for the first time, it reminded me of listening to a cockney accent, I could not understand Either.
Marlon Brando playing the Godfather with cotton balls stuff in his mouth.
@Ella I can hear just fine and couldn’t understand a word she said. Her faux-posh accent is ridiculous.
@Lorelei ok, maybe you can’t (I can, she speaks fairly standard Home Counties English) but my point was that the subtitles are most likely there to enable the video to be accessible to those who have a hearing impediment, not because she’s hard to understand.
I think it would be great if she moderated her accent a little, and became slightly less posh, but I expect she would be roundly mocked for it, so she’s probably stuck with this one for now.
No shade but Kate`s accent is exactly what Lorelei called it ” faux posh”. Want to hear a posh accent ? Listen to Princess Beatrice speaking or Diana.
But I think Kate`s problems go deeper than the put on fake accent. I think she has a problem with formulation of sentences maybe exacerbated by a lack of indepth understanding of the subject matter in hand. If I was Kate I would stick to traditional royalling …. cutting ribbons, opening shopping centers, planting trees and giving out awards. Not all of us are meant to set the world on fire. This rushing to announce great future plans without any knowledge of how the plans are to executed has been a total failure.
She sounds not so bright to me… not a great speaker. Anyone remember Harry Enfield’s Tim nice but dim?
“She sounds not so bright to me”
Kate actually graduated from St. Andrews University which is a top 15 European University. She would not get her degree unless she was able to have som kind of intellectual capasity.
Now. Number two. You know who else in the BRF was not considered ´not very bright´? Princess Daina and the Queen herself. Diana struggled in school and was not a great speaker either, but she had other qualities. The queen has no education at all, and in her early years, she felt as if she wasn´t wise enough. Not a fantastic public speaker either. But both Diana and the Queen are the most beloved and respected members of the British Royal Family the last 100 years, maybe more. You don´t have to be a great public speaker like Obama to be beloved and respected by the people. Kate might not be a natural public speaker but she clearly is beloved by the public and by the other members of the royal family. Historically, star quality and rethoric gifts has do not necessarily equal respect by the public.
I’m a Brit – trust me, plenty of not so bright people graduate from top universities, particularly where they’re from privileged backgrounds and very expensive fee paying schools. It’s simply no guarantee of intellect, much as the privileged would have you believe otherwise. Kate studied a notoriously “soft” subject, history of art.
I don’t know where you are writing from but in Toronto culottes have been super in for a couple years now.
I love this outfit. Chic and appropriate.
Where in Toronto are these pants super in?
Malton, Rexdale, North York, Leslieville, or Yorkville?
Because I’ve been everywhere in Toronto and no one is wearing these ugly pants.
downtown.
Everyone is wearing cropped pants.
Im confused by your list of neighbourhoods. Other than Yorkville and Leslieville those are all painfully uncool neighbourhoods. And Leslieville still isn’t what I’d call fashionable.
You just listed a bunch of suburbs.
We will have to disagree.
I’ve been around Toronto and haven’t seen these pants.
Yeah, you probably haven’t in all those 905 area codes..
Ah yes, Canada, that bastion of high fashion.
30 years ago on the Golden Girls – a great show but not known for its fashion sense – joked about how awful culottes are. They’re pretty awful. But I agree with another poster that it’s surprisingly refreshing that she’s not a slave to fashion.
She really has gotten thinner than ever. She has no hips, they are practically the same measurement as her waist.
Hey! Let’s stop commenting on her body! Cool, thanks!
Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America. Do you…think it’s the woods?
Yes, Canada is a bastion of high fashion – it’s a large, cosmopolitan and multi-cultural city of 3 million with a combined population which includes the greater census area of 6 million. I imagine you’re one of those folks who think Canada is a country of toque-wearing, flannel-shirted bohonks and that moose and polar bears wander down city streets. Toronto actually has one of the world’s best fashion weeks…take a look if you don’t believe us CBers who actually LIVE there.
https://www.facebook.com/tofashionwk/
They are def the latest trend for spring/summer. I been online shopping and thats all i see
I am in Toronto and I have seen them at M. I actually own a pair of lilac ones that I bought last season at M!
Such a huge PR for a garden LMAO
She looks horrendous but I would kill for her lower body LOL. I’ve always been curvy and those lean legs and hips have always been the type I wanted obviously lmao
The best thing about this outfit is going to be whatever the fug girls have to say about it hahaha can’t wait!
I like the culottes but not with the bright white sneakers. It just looks clunky with all the fabric flapping around from the pants. Either she should have had a more dainty or streamlined shoe or worn different pants with the sneakers. The blouse is pretty and other than the shoes, it’s a nice ensemble.
Poor girl. I’m not sure even proper stylist can fix it, she just doesn’t have IT.
Is it typical for commenters to body shame? I follow a couple of other blogs where body shaming is strictly off limits.
We are not body shaming. She is clearly underweight and over-exercised. My sister died of eating disorders and believe me, Kate is skating pretty close to the edge with her food intake.
This is concern trolling. People aren’t commenting out of concern. They’re using thinly veiled “oh nooooooooooooo, she’s so thin” but the comments are baaaaarely disguised glee and pure mean girl vitriol. DON’T talk about her body. Just don’t. Nobody on here is in any position or has any desire to genuinely help her so it’s not concern. Enough.
@Jaded
You say your sister died of an eating disorder and yet you did not learn compassion or empathy from that tragedy. Pls do better.
How dare you say I didn’t learn compassion or empathy or I’m merely concern trolling. You don’t know me and you don’t know what I went through. I suffered grief like you can’t imagine when she died. What I learned from that tragedy is that there are a lot of young women out there who have a terrible illness, an illness that destroyed my sister’s life, and I have compassion and empathy for each and every one of them. I once worked with a young woman who was showing definite signs of eating disorders. I was her manager and took her aside for many heart-to-hearts trying to get to why she was starving herself. Turns out she was married to a man who mentally and emotionally abused her, and self-loathing triggered her symptoms. We got her into some counseling and she eventually left her husband.
I’d say that was compassion and empathy. So don’t accuse me of concern trolling – I’ve lived through a terrible loss and still get heartsick when I see women who clearly have eating disorders.
I do not mean this as a criticism, merely an observation: I will never get over how incredibly tiny and cinched her waist is.
It’s almost an optical illusion.
I agree. Not talking about eating disorders, just making an observation that she is very thin.
She looks painfully thin. I have two friends who struggle with an eating disorder and they look just as thin. I don’t get why we as a society have to keep such matters hush hush.
@Andrea
You are obviously close enough to your friends to know their medical conditions, are you close enough to Kate to say with all certainty that she has an eating disorder? Since you have no access to her medical records what you are doing is concern trolling and it’s gross.
Look at photos of Kate at university. Post wedding we have not seen her close to her natural or healthy body weight. The only time she allows herself to gain about 10 pounds is when she’s trying to get pregnant. If she gains weight again this summer/fall, she’s planning for #4.
Not even as far back as university. She was normal & healthy looking up to the engagement and then her weight dropped significantly. With Diana’s history, you’d think the royals would intervene to prevent history from repeating itself.
So what happens after the garden show? Are there plans to get corporate sponsors and recreate Kate’s garden in the communities that could use them? What is the end result of this showpiece?
It’s being split and moved to two mental health trust hospitals where the patients will have access to them. There are also plans for Kate to continue to work with the designers on additional spaces for children to be created in some of the Royal parks.
How accessible are the Royal parks for everybody? Would the kids need to plan special trips to take advantage of the gardens? Would they be located somewhere where they could, say go every weekend, with minimum fuss?
They are free – there are 10, I think, in and around London, they have lots of events going on all the time, like a half-marathon, 10k runs, concerts etc. I think some specific events might have a fee, but every day access is free to everyone. Lots of schools who are near them use them for nature walks and outside lessons when they can, which is nice for them as lots of schools in London have very little outside space. It’s a shame for schools in the rest of the country, some of who also have little space but don’t have the Royal Parks on the doorstep, but that isn’t the fault of the parks (or the Royal Family, it’s usually the fault of central government who have long had a policy of selling off playing fields).
I actually hope that some campaign groups can piggyback on this event and use it to argue against the current government policy of selling off playing fields and allowing new schools to be built without outside space – the Royal Family can’t do ‘political’ campaigns but the way the DofC speaks about this could be useful to some groups who are fighting to retain their outside space. She can’t be involved directly, but if they are any good, they will be able to use her work on this in their own campaigns, so it is not entirely pointless.
IMO Kate did very well in the design and the roll out of the garden. The garden is beautiful and her deciding to include her children and William in the roll out, helped in adding more interest. As a garden designing project, she gets an A. As part of her long awaited broken Britain project promised in september last year, let us say Iam still waiting.
As for the clothes she is wearing, she is dressed appropriately for the occasion. What I can not stop staring at, is that Kate looks like she can be snapped like a twig.
But what do I know, .. I have a female family member who is about 6,3″, rake thin in that she would make Giselle Bundchen look fat. The family member eats whatever she wants and is under no stressing circumstances. In addition to being super thin and tall, she is also a natural platinum blonde. Most people who meet her for the first time, start whispering ” eating disorder” and it takes a lot to convince them that her look has absolutely nothing to do with trying to be fashionable. That this has been her look since puberty.
Hope all is well with Kate.
Interesting and insightful comment on the issue of weight and the approach to discussing it. It’s certainly better than those who are jumping to accuse others of concern trolling.
On Kate…anyone who’s followed the royal family for a long time knows that this is not her natural state. Up to 2010 (and she was 28/29 at that point, right?), she’s always been the athletic, fit type as opposed to super svelte/skinny. That’s not body shaming or mocking her; that’s a simple and easily observable fact.
Since then, she’s maintained a slimmer figure but the last year has clearly caught the attention of lots of people. On this site I’ve seen far more concern and a bit of bewilderment than body shaming.
You are right in 2010, leading up to engagement, Kate noticeably lost weight. Between her engagement and wedding in particular, she got very very thin. In the press at the time Carole Middleton was widely cited as using the Dukan diet and very focused on weight loss during this time. I always thought that the excessive weight loss was probably a family project.
After the wedding (see pictures for example with Michelle Obama at Buckingham Palace that May) and on the subsequent tour of Canada she was extremely thin as well.
In light of how thin she was back in 2011, I don’t think she looks that drastically thin now. She’s looked this way plenty of times since 2011 except for the periods where she was pregnant or postpartum.
^^Yeah, I’m a little ambivalent about the ‘worrisome’ narrative surrounding her weight. She has looked a bit frail lately IMO, but I thought the same when she was at the state dinner last fall. I really do think a big part of this is simply due to the fact that she’s older now. Maintaining that level of slimness over time will factor into how you look as you age.
I am a huge fan of gardening so I have loved this project since it was announced and the reveal has certainly not disappointed.
Great PR, adorable and engaged kids, supportive family and a beautiful outdoor space that will inspire others.
Does anyone else think they are priming Kate to take over this patronage from the Queen? While I don’t think her majesty will give it up before absolutely necessary, I could see that being another reason for the great PR push – as many folks have been trying to explain – the British Royal family has always provided major support for this project and it is great to see a younger royal truly picking up that mantle and also tying it to broader issues (as many of the comments here testify to many still diminish gardening and outdoor spaces as not important).
Or Charles or Harry for the patronage. Charles is the one with a lifelong interest in gardening, followed by Harry. Charles has had at least one garden at Chelsea, Harry two.
the Royal Horticultural Society will stay with the monarch, so it’ll go to Charles
Just wait until you see the dress she is wearing tonight…with wedges.
It’s the same one the Duchess of Kent wore to the royal wedding last year.
The same dress as the 86 year old Duchess of Kent?
Yep, same Erdem dress. I will say it’s definitely in Kate’s wheelhouse…
Maybe she’ll throw the wedges and the dress into the little campfire in the garden.
Whyyyyyy are the wedges back.
Because the showground can be a bitch on heels, especially if you want to get into the gravel paths/wooden bridges in some of the display gardens. Wedges are just easier, if you can’t go with flats.
There are prettier shoes available to negotiate those paths.
There is a wide variety of shoes that she could have worn that would have worked for the event and the dress. We have seen her at this event before and she usually does wear heels. If she is going off the path some, she could have gone for a lower heel, block heel, strappy flat sandal, etc.
Wedges were not the only option.
But, I also HATE wedges in general.
Its a dreadful dress, it looks like she’s wearing curtains from the 70s… completely unflattering!
Sophie had on the same style of dress. Also with wedges – and climbed into the tree house. It is obviously what they think is appropriate to wear at such an event.
I like her outfit. I think she looks appropriate for a garden show.
In that second pic where she is pointing, she quite resembles a certain Rose. I think it’s the head tilt. (I also think they look like sisters.)
I’m not sure this look in the pics is right for her body type,but I like the whole look ,honestly. I don’t get the incredible PR overdrive if it all.
They have hyped up the garden over the weekend,as it should be,but it’s not like KP has been tweeting every week since November about it. They have released recently a set of pics of Kate working with the designers,and it was discussed when it was announced. Also,I don’t know why we’re pretending that their public appearances and “work” are not about PR. It’s really what their role is about.
Everything they do is honestly hyped up more than what the *real* work and time spent on their inititiatives deserve,and despite the fact that assistants and staff people do the heavy lifting a lot of times. Again, it’s true for all of them,including Meghan and Harry.
I think they have done a good job with the rollout and I like that she has involved her children. It was perfect to exemplify the purpose of the design and what the message is,in relaction to her early years campaign. In the end these gardens are there to offer inspirations and create trends.
This look is bad but it’s not nearly as bad as the Little House On The Prairie cosplay she did at the evening show. Yikes.
I actually like the pieces of her morning outfit, just not on her. The pant length doesn’t work with her body type.
😂😂😂😂, Little House on the Prairie Cosplay!!!
I call it like I see it!
Now because I feel I’ve been overly critical lol, I’ll say that I really like Kate’s hair here. It looks nice mostly straight like that (I don’t mind her bouncier blowouts, but this is a nice change of pace.) It’s shiny and pretty.
I agree. She always does a good job with her hair imho. In the past I’ve noticed a lot of comments from people who thought she had a wig/hair extensions. Thoughts?
Love linen and love culottes—but I’m cringing in embarrassment for Kate looking at these pictures! I have exactly the same body type and I do everything I can to distract from the narrow hips and skinny behind.
The outfit speaks to her love of cosplay, but she should have gone for another gardening theme outfit. Having said that, I agree with @Becks1 that her hair looks lovely.
Oh no, Sophie is wearing wedges too!
the Chelsea Flower Show always has an enormous press rollout, the reason why everyone notices it now is because Kate has a garden there. But the PR isn’t any more or less intense than other years, just a bit more viral. This show is also partly broadcast on tv daily for the duration of the event. It’s one of the BBC big annual events, kinda like Glastonbury with plants.
Since the RHS that organises the chelsea flower show is a nonprofit charity with a royal patronage, the royals regularly promote it and do projects connected to it. This year it just so happens to be Kate. The PR does become more effective with a royal connected to it:
“When the Duchess’ involvement was announced, visits to the RHS Chelsea web pages increased by 100 per cent and there was a huge surge of people wanting tickets,’ a spokesperson for the RHS explained. ”
so yeah it does help a bit.
The charity is not the garden, the charity is the RHS, who has a longterm project to promote mental health. This is one of three CFS gardens they’ll donate to NHS facilies, one each in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Also CFS is not some aristocratic snobby exclusive thing like some here are saying… 165.000 people will visit the event.
From all walks of of life, and levels of society – they run bus trips from all over the country.
She’s so thin
For those commenting on Kate’s weight, I clearly remember some reporter looking at Diana’s engagement photos and saying she needed to lose a stone. That turned out well didn’t it? If that is a stone overweight, heaven help the rest of us.
Seriously???!!! Do you recall which reporter and is it one of those awful “RR’s” I hear so much about.
Sorry it is too long ago for me to remember but it was a television reporter and I was disgusted – I can certainly remember that feeling
Hopefully they are no longer employed!
Love this outfit. Kate looks fantastic in it, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I would wear this, honestly.
Those culottes are awful on the Duchess, deeply unflattering for her shape. Love the sneakers, a nice plain T-shirt would have been more laid back and cool. There were some wonderful trousers on the Massimo Dutti website, and she chose these……