Duchess Kate is ‘doing the dutiful thing & putting the royal family first’

Her Majesty The Queen, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and HRH The Duchess of Cambridge attends the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph on Sunday 10 November 2019

Personally, I don’t think the Queen ever *disliked* the Duchess of Cambridge. I think the Queen questioned Kate’s work ethic pre-marriage and post-marriage, absolutely, but the Queen has always been generally sort of fond of Kate. We can see now, in retrospect, how the Queen and the palace courtiers really coddled Kate for years, especially in comparison to the treatment the Duchess of Sussex got in her first two years with the Firm. But according to Katie Nicholl – who is a Middleton hagiographer – the Queen has only recently become close to Kate.

The Duchess of Cambridge has a ‘very easy relationship’ with the Queen and is expected to join the royal family at Sandringham this year, a royal commentator has claimed. Kate Middleton, 37, who tied the knot to Prince William in 2011, is thought to have developed a stronger bond with the monarch since the birth of her three children – Prince George, six, Princess Charlotte, four, and Prince Louis, one.

‘Both women are actually quite shy so it’s taken time for them to get to this stage, but they have a very easy relationship now they’ve both made the effort,’ said royal commentator Katie Nicholl, speaking to OK! ‘The Queen loves seeing Kate because it’s an opportunity to spend time with her and hear how her great grandchildren are doing.’

She went on to say Kate has a made a conscious effort to make the Queen feel as involved as possible in the children’s lives. Katie also told how the Duchess of Cambridge is expected to attend the royal family gathering at Sandringham this year.

The reports come after Buckingham Palace confirmed Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, will not be spending Christmas at Sandringham. A spokesman revealed they will instead spend the festive season with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland and their baby son, Archie, at an undisclosed location.

‘I imagine that spending Christmas at Sandringham with her grandchildren and great grandchildren will be something she’s very much looking forward to,’ she said. ‘So Kate and William are doing the dutiful thing and putting the royal family first.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“So Kate and William are doing the dutiful thing and putting the royal family first…” Unlike those years that they didn’t put the royal family first and they went to Bucklebury to spend the Christmas holiday with the Middletons, but why even bring that up when the Sussexes will be spending Christmas away from Sandringham this year?! The comparison is clear and obvious: Kate is a dutiful Future Queen because she isn’t going to Bucklebury for Christmas this year, and the Sussexs are anti-royal, anti-Queen because they are doing what Will & Kate did several times. As for Kate making a conscious effort to include the Queen in the lives of the Cambridge kids… Prince Charles literally had to publicly shame William and Kate into letting him spend time with his grandkids, so… this narrative is probably going to change once the Cambridges understand that Shadow King Charles is in charge, you know?

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN AND THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE WILL VISIT KING'S COLLEGE LONDON

Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Avalon Red.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

92 Responses to “Duchess Kate is ‘doing the dutiful thing & putting the royal family first’”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Seraphina says:

    As I have stated before, how long before she is canonized as St. Kate?

    • AnnaKist says:

      Isn’t there already a St Catherine? She’d have to be St Catherine of Cambridge, I suppose. I reckon she’d have been warned/coached to behave herself and not make waves. Then again, how many years did she spend waiting and planning to be where she is now? She’s not going to step out of line.

      • Eugh says:

        Of Alexandria, rather than submitting to a husband, was sentenced to wheel breaking which didn’t work, then beheaded. All the female saints were pretty badass, would rather do all sorts of things than marry.

    • Rapunzel says:

      St. Catherine of the Rose of Hanbury

      • truthSF says:

        I just spit out my latte when I scrolled down to your comment! Thanks a lot Rapunzel!! 😂😂😂😂😂😭

      • beth says:

        OK boomer. Nice emojis.

      • Jen says:

        Literal LOL to St. Catherine of the Rose of Hanbury

      • Silas says:

        It’s hilarious how misused the ok boomer insult is by people. Boomers are more likely to like Kate. Especially white, conservative, out of touch boomers. Celebrating the royals is a very ok boomer thing to do.

        Signed,
        A millennial.

      • Nic919 says:

        Boomers or the silent generation? The boomers I know did much more with their lives than just wait for marriage. They got jobs, got married and had kids and got divorced if their spouse was an unrepentant cheater. Kate is from the era before boomers… like the Queen I guess.

      • Flying Fish says:

        Crying

  2. Mary says:

    Don’t the Cambridges just do the Christmas walk on the day? it is my understanding that they do not have Christmas luncheon with the queen and the rest of the family but rather at Anmer. Katie N. makes it sound as though they have a great deal of interaction on Christmas. It is my understanding they do not.

    • Becks1 says:

      There have been different stories floated, we do now that some years they completely skipped the walk and celebrated in Bucklebury, I do think in general they spend most of the time at Anmer but I feel they probably do the walk and then the luncheon and then go back home?

      • Mary says:

        I agree that different stories have been circulated around but I wonder about those Christmases where the Middletons are present and those where the Cambridges bow and curtsy to the queen after the church service.

        If they were going to see the Queen right away after church at lunch then why would Kate curtsy? if she curtsied because she had not seen the queen yet that day, she would have done it pre-church. However, if she is not going to see the queen again later that day, she would curtsy after church. Protocol expert, anyone?

      • (TheOG)@Jan90067 says:

        Mary, as I understand, for family, the “rule” is you curtsey (to those of higher rank), the *first* time you see them that day. For TQ it’s coming AND going.

      • Mary says:

        @theOG, thank you for the response. I would then infer from that that if Kate is curtseying to the queen post-church that the Cambridges are then going back to Anmer for the Christmas luncheon as opposed to Sandringham. This would be consistent with the stories that the Sussexes’ pre-marriage Xmas lunch was at Anmer.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Mary – I don’t know about the curtseying. I think Jan is right generally, but I remember last year at Easter William did not bow his head to the Queen when he saw her, but Kate curtseyed, so that lead to speculation that William had already seen her that day (this was the day the “exile” story broke, so that just ramped up the speculation about THAT.)

        Anyway – so I still think they are at Sandringham for part of the day, probably in the AM, and then they go home and put on comfy clothes and hang out, lol. But, I have nothing factual to base that on, lol.

      • Ainsley7 says:

        The way I have always understood it, they do breakfast at Amner and drive over to Sandringham just in time to walk to church. So, they don’t see the Queen because she is driven to church. So, they curtsy/ bow when they actually see her. They then go to the luncheon and back home to Amner afterwards.

    • kelleybelle says:

      Katie Nicholl is essentially a paid liar who knows next to nothing about the royal family, and Meghan too. She makes it all up. I cancelled my Vanity Fair subscription because of her. For that and for saying that Samantha Markle was “highly educated.” In addition to lying she also falls for lies. Zero credibility.

      • BayTampaBay says:

        “Katie Nicholl is essentially a paid liar who knows next to nothing about the royal family, and Meghan too.”

        @kelleybelle, Thanks for the most perfect description of Katy Nicholl that I have ever read.

      • HK9 says:

        You’re not the only one who stopped reading Vanity Fair because of her. Saying she has zero credibility is putting it nicely.

      • Tourmaline says:

        Vanity Fair has slid right into lameness as a publication and Katie Nicholl is symptomatic of that

      • Iamcait says:

        @kellybelle u are not alone – I did not renew my vanity fair subscription either. It has really deteriorated since GC left & Katie Nichols is definitely part of it. It used to be full of submissions by credible, talented writers. Nichols is several steps down – I mean she writes for the fail ffs!!

      • Mego says:

        The most apt description of KN yet. Most of the DM reporters fit that description.

  3. Harla says:

    But I thought the Cambridges, along with the Middleton’s only do the church walk and then go back to Anmer Hall for their Christmas lunch. At least that’s what’s been reported the last few years.

    • (TheOG)@Jan90067 says:

      I’ve read that in the years the Midds join the Cams, W&K do Christmas Eve with the TRF (dinner), and the church walk with TRF. They have Christmas lunch with the Midds, then go back for TQ’s speech in the afternoon. Then back to the Midds for dinner.

      Anyone read something else?

    • Bookworm says:

      I would imagine that things have changed with the Middletons now that Kate has three kids, Pippa’s married with one, and now the son is engaged. That’s a lot of families to juggle.

    • Nic919 says:

      The Middletons stay at Anmer until Kate’s birthday in early January so Kate gets to spend Christmas every year with her family and the royals. The place is quite large and can accommodate the spouses and Pippa’s child. They don’t exactly live in a shack.

      If the Cambridge kids are trotted out during the walk with Andy around Kate and William should be criticized though. Heavily. Covering for a pedo uncle is an irresponsible thing to do as a parent. In fact this would be a good year for Kate and William to spend Christmas at Buckleberry to avoid being in the same shot as Andy altogether. They aren’t going to get the bonus points this year with Harry and Meghan not there because pedo Andy is going to taint it all.

      • Jumpingthesnark says:

        Yes, if they pap walk with Andrew or worse, have the kids do it, they could really screw up the “Kate is the perfect Mummy” narrative. Caping for a pedo is just a bad look. How could the RF think we or the soccer mom audience for this are so stupid that we can’t see that ?

      • Weatherby says:

        Problem is, their futures quite literally depend on the cash cow that is the RF. So of course they’ll smile, play happy family, and toe every line.

        I suppose the question is, do any of them actually bring any value to society? What a dull shine this lot has engendered.

  4. Elaine Stritch says:

    I like both women equally, but objectively speaking, it kind of makes sense to me that they would invest more time in time and coddling in grooming Kate into the Royal Family? She will actually be Queen. Meghan doesn’t require the same preparation (This DOES NOT mean she deserves poor treatment, though)

    • Sofiai says:

      Kate can be “trained” without being coddled. In fact it’s better if she’s not because otherwise she’s not going to learn and will continue to do the bare minimum

    • Millenial says:

      For Kate, duty to the Royal Family above all else makes sense because it’s also about preservation of the monarchy for her own children’s benefit. On the other hand, the Sussexes would be well within their right to consider *both* what’s good for the RF, but what’s also good for their own children, who are not in the direct line. Sometimes those things will diverge.

      It’s like praising Kate for looking out for #1 – like, of course she does, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to praise her for preserving the RF for her own benefit and her children’s benefit.

    • ADS says:

      I like both women too. But Kate will be Queen Consort, not Queen. There is no need for the Queen to train her as William will be taking over in that role (post Charles), not Kate.

  5. Oh No says:

    This is not a compliment…

    Thanks for being silent and letting my grandson disrespect you in these streets for damn near 20 years…you’re a champ!

    • Chrissy says:

      No kidding. How about Liz gently pushing her to get 100 events under her belt per year? Meghan is the self-motivator, Kate not so much.

  6. kerwood says:

    Looks like Keen Katie is on track to becoming the first living saint of the Church of England.

  7. Becks1 says:

    I have to laugh, because when I saw the headline about her putting family first, I thought it was in relation to Rose Hanbury. But nope. Just about how Kate is better than Meghan.

    • Mignionette says:

      Reading between the lines, I think your first guess was correct. The RRs will not break rank and expose the Rose & William story because it’s the only collateral they have left. In the meantime they are happy to troll Meghan and present her to the Fail audience as everything that is wrong with the RF knowing full well where all the real dead bodies are buried.

      Boy am I looking forward to the reporting on the lawsuits, because once the RR’s start dropping members of the RF who leaked under the bus, it’s going to be a feast of a shyt show….

    • Nic919 says:

      Katie Nicholl is getting her digs in before the details of the lawsuits have been revealed. Already Byline Investigates named her specifically for making up stories and they are getting their info directly from the lawyers behind the lawsuit.

  8. smee says:

    hagiographer – I learned a new word this morning – thank you!

  9. TheOriginalMia says:

    Kate the dutiful duchess and FFQ is now besties with the Queen because…checks story…looks for a reason beyond being in the same family for years…ah, there it is…grandchildren. And Kate is doing what the Sussexes won’t and spend time with the Queen for Christmas. Isn’t that wonderful and special and embiggening!

  10. GG says:

    I could say it until I was blue in the face but the undercutting comparisons need to stop. There’s enough space in “the room” for Both Kate and Meghan. It’s a snide remark that suggests that Meghan is failing in her duties while Kate has no trouble falling in line. I do agree that Kate Et. All are going out of obligation. There is a confirmed sex pest in attendance. Even if Andrew doesn’t have a predilection for pre-pubescent children, he’s a sex pest none the less and I feel sorry for her for having to oblige Charles’ request to distract from the sex pest by playing Happy Family. You know she’s gonna have to hover over them like an actual helicopter for her peace of mind.

    • DD says:

      I agree, enough with using Kate & Meghan to cover up Andy’s antics. Guess who didn’t put the RF first? Or even his own family? Or just being a decent guy? Randy Andy

      • (TheOG)@Jan90067 says:

        Pedo Randy Andy has NEVER put anyone first, even his own daughter, whom he threw under the bus as an alibi. NO ONE comes before Pedo!

      • Becklu says:

        Agree with all three of you. I see no reason to pit these women against each other- there is room for them both and they have different roles and responsibilities. I don’t know people keep doing it. I mean sexism obviously etc.

    • Bookworm says:

      It’s so tiresome.

    • Maria says:

      I think we all agreed there was plenty of space for Kate and Meghan until Kate herself decided to play a part in throwing Meghan under the bus.

    • Elisa says:

      100% agree with you GG.

  11. Digital Unicorn says:

    The embiggening of Katie Keen over Cams is still going strong – the narrative of bypassing Chuck that the DoLittles keep pushing is going to bite them in the ass. Charles is pretty much in charge now and just because Prince Porky Fingers can manipulate TQ to undermine Charles doesn’t mean the DoLittles should do this either.

    And you can bet your last dollar that Carole and the rest of the Middleton mafia will be mugging for all they are worth at the church pap stroll – they’ve been there before.

    • Mignionette says:

      I really don’t understand why the Midds keep inserting themselves in the equation. Notice also they attend EVERY SINGLE wedding, christening and envelope opening…

      • Harla says:

        I don’t understand that either Mignionette. For example, E&J’s wedding, sure invite Pippa, James and James especially if they hang out from time to time but why invite Carole and Mike? I would never think of being invited to the wedding of my daughter’s cousin-in-law. My children are adults and are perfectly capable of attending events without me.

      • BayTampaBay says:

        Well the Middletons were invited to all the referenced events or they would not be there????…..Correct?

        I do not believe Michael & Carole are gate crashing.

      • Mego says:

        They get invited because of William plain and simple. He has a great deal of power and influence as heir to the throne and if his in laws want to be in the royal orbit he will make it happen.

      • Your cousin Vinny says:

        I don’t understand the criticism of people attending events they are invited to. So what if it’s your cousin’s wife’s parents?

        If you know them and want them at your wedding or christening, they should be invited. And, if you are invited and you are able and willing to attend, you should go.

        We have no idea how this large family operates behind the scenes. For all you know, the extended family have spent a lot of time with the Middletons and actually enjoy their company. Why should they not attend if they are invited?

      • Lowrider says:

        The Middleton’s are Will’s family. I am not sure why that’s so hard to comprehend. He clearly feels secure and trusts them more than his own shady family members.

      • Maria says:

        Lowrider – I mean Kate’s uncle was a drug dealer and sex trafficker too, if we want to talk about shady.
        And William met him many times.

  12. Eleonor says:

    The one hurting the firm is the Queen with her defense of her pedo. son.

  13. line says:

    Is not it the same woman who had breaking a tradition of one hundred years ( St Patrick day) because she does not wish to be disturbed.

    • Original Jenns says:

      Absolutely not! She didn’t attend because she did not want people to expect her to attend every single year. You know, that word tradition that RRs keep using to say she’s better than whoever they’re comparing her to at the moment. 🙂

      I’d bet the farm that will never be brought up again – unless someone wants to bring the Cambridges down a peg, their past transgressions are wiped clean.

  14. Silas says:

    Putting the royal family first by supporting Harry and Meghan who have done nothing wrong? Or by covering for William and grinning with the Queen after her disastrous car ride with Andrew. What are the priorities and values of this family?

    Keep close to those who control the money. Future (future) Queen Kate’s values.

  15. Jadedone says:

    Why would anyone want to be a part of this family?

  16. Mtec says:

    Why do we assign honour and respect to duty, specially when it involves protecting a deranged & criminal family? (I know not all royals, but some). I see no sense in that and it shouldn’t be praised. Being loyal to abusers is not a redeeming quality.

  17. Bunny says:

    I wonder how Camilla (and by extension, Charles) feels about the endless Kate-the-saintly-future-Queen stuff all day, every day from William & Kate?

    Camilla will be Queen Consort, possibly for decades to come.

    William and Kate leak “future Queen” stories so fast and furious that you’d think that it was all happening tomorrow.

    The slight to Camilla (and by extension, Charles) is huge, nasty and entirely intentional.

    • Mego says:

      Yeah you wonder why they tolerate it. As I said upthread, William has a lot of power and as Harry and Meghan learned is a very unpleasant enemy.

  18. Mego says:

    Another day, another passive aggressive article by Katie Nicholl pretending like she knows anything beyond her own fantasy and opinion. 🙄

    Isn’t she accused of purchasing information obtained by illegal phone tampering/hacking?

  19. Carolind says:

    I have noticed a change in the way Kate especially now treats Charles and Camilla on royal occasions. In the early years Kate was in the family I never saw her interacting with them. A couple of years ago Kate with William either left or went onto the balcony at Trooping of the Colour directly behind the queen, ahead of C & C. Charles obviously holds the power in the RF now and they are a lot more deferential. Also the fact that H & M obviously got on so well with C & C changed things. It is a fact by the way that the Queen offered Sophie as a mentor and guide to Kate when she was first married but was turned down in favour of William helping. Some people in the UK are never going to like Meghan no matter what she does, but for the nicer people, all Meghan has to do is engage and help people as she has been doing but maybe just to tone down the cost of her clothes a little.

    • Maria says:

      She made her own money and the South Africa tour showed she’s not afraid to abandon couture in any case, why should Meghan have to tone down anything?

      • Carolind says:

        This goes for all of them, not just Meghan: She should tone it down except on the very grandest or special occasions because so many in the world do not have a lot. Children are starving, people sleeping on streets. It is not a case of what anybody has previously earned. It is actually immoral, and this applies not just to the royals, to spend a huge amount on “stuff” we do not need when so many worse off people. I feel saddened and sickened at people who do not realise this.

  20. Anon says:

    From the DF:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7772979/The-Cambridges-Sussexes-need-raise-game-year-according-royal-commentators.html

    “Miss Roberts, now a married mother-of-three, gave an extraordinary interview to the BBC’s Panorama – aired last week – in which she said she was ‘abused’ by Andrew and left feeling ‘ashamed and dirty’.

    So in regard to Kate – the only “difference” between Mrs. Guiffre and future Queen Consort Kate is that Kate is married to a prince and Mrs. Guiffre was abused by one? Because the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are just a normal family, just like Mrs. Guiffre (also as noted, a married mother of 3)?

    The narratives being pushed out right now by the BRF from all sides are just disgusting really…..

    • Becklu says:

      I don’t understand your comment in relation to the article- they don’t mention this at all it’s just about Andrew’s patronage’s and it’s from Scoobie who is trusted.

  21. S808 says:

    She’s centered her life around marrying into this family, of course she’s going to put it before anything else.

  22. RoyalBlue says:

    Her duty as she chose to accept it, was to stick by his side regardless. So she took his cheating in stride. Just as the Queen did.

    She is playing the long game for the ultimate prize of wearing the crown.

  23. yinyang says:

    Kate’s remembrance day style reminds me of Princess Marina style.

  24. yinyang says:

    Kate always trying too hard to be Queen’s favourite, it’s annoying as heck.

  25. MsIam says:

    This is such a fake @ss story. Kate’s family lives what an hour away? Not across the ocean and then a continent. But yeah, she’s so self-sacrificing to spend the morning walking to church with the royals. Such dedication. And this is not a knock on Kate, just a knock on the tone of this article. Unless Kate wrote it herself, lol!

    • Nic919 says:

      Kate’s family has stayed at Amner the years she didn’t go to Buckleberry. And they stay until her birthday in early January. So there is no sacrifice on her part.

    • Tourmaline says:

      This, there is no comparison regarding holiday family visiting decisions between Meghan–someone from the U.S. whose mother lives in Los Angeles about a 11 hour minimum flight from London (plus Meghan by the way did spend her past two Christmases at Sandringham) —

      and Kate–someone whose entire family lives just a few hours away from Sandringham by car and also, who has her very own mansion NEXT DOOR to Sandringham House..

  26. India says:

    Kate is far from being the Queen’s favorite.

  27. sue denim says:

    I read the “putting the royal family first” differently, that neither morals nor humanity shall stand in the way, circle the wagons and protect PA, ignore her husband’s infidelities, and never ever do anything that might actually outshine the cold lot of them (where I think the true hostility to H&M even more than racism lies). I think that’s how this clan views the world…and I think it’ll be their undoing…

  28. sue denim says:

    duplicate, sorry

  29. A says:

    The Queen and the people around Kate are setting her up for longevity because that’s the bedrock on which the monarchy rests. They cannot afford another fuck up in the main line. The whole premise under which the courtiers accepted Kate in their fold is because she is an inoffensive nonentity whom they can rely on to get married and stay married to William.

    All of this positive press about Kate doesn’t just serve the sole function of making her look good to the people. It’s to cement her image in the public conscious for the long haul. They want people to look back, thirty, forty years down the line, and forget about William trimming the rose bushes, the stuff that went down in Norfolk, and all the rest of it. Monarchies plan for the long haul, not tomorrow or the next week. They need another relationship and a family they can pass off as the next QEII-Philip relationship. People are gonna write op-eds and biographies about Kate, decades from now, about how she’s remarkable because she stuck through all of the crap. And regardless of whatever else you say about her, you can’t say that she ever quit. And she likely won’t ever quit.

    • Lady D says:

      So I should just stop hoping for her to develop a backbone?

      • A says:

        Don’t worry. In about 30 years time, when the biographies start pouring out about Queen Katie Keen, they’ll all talk about how she had a backbone all along. Funny how time has a way of smoothing out everything, isn’t it?

      • yinyang says:

        @A Yep. That’s what happened to Charles, at one time he was an overindulged cheating cold heartless scum, but now he’s older he is everyone’s grandpa jolly and laughing. The same will happen to William, he’ll be painted as Santa Claus.

  30. Dark and Stormy says:

    This looks more like a pre-emptive explanation as to why the Cambridges are going to walk with Andrew. Literally letting people think it is dutiful. Obviously the Sussexes in this case are being pegged as lacking in an understanding of duty before politics. Everyone knows how bad it looks at this point so I’m wondering if this is to put out “feelers” before actually committing to having Andrew walk. If enough commentators don’t like the sense of duty above the bad optics then I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Andrew does not end up walking. I haven’t been on DM yet today so it will be interesting to read their comments. I also have a slightly diff take on why they’re using Kate in this story. I don’t think they are imbigging her, I think it’s better to test the public waters with her name and continue to protect the future king.

    • yinyang says:

      Yes, I think you’re right. Lately I’ve noticed they’ve been doing this with William too. They put out stories “William the future King is angered and doesn’t condone his uncle at family meetings but must keep harmony for the sake of the british monarchy.” When in reality William does nothing and hasn’t got the galls to stand up to the Queen and her favorite son. This way the future king looks active not turning a blind eye, which in reality he is. Playing both sides of the fence. Those public relations people are very sneaky.

  31. Miriam says:

    God, this so embarrassing to read🙈
    Basically saying she’ll take everything!(Williams cheating, being used as well as the kids for PR during sandringham walk of shame..)
    It’s so tragic. I cant believe I expected so much out of her!!