As we continue to discuss, Robert Lacey’s Battle of Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult might actually end up reframing the conversation around Prince Harry, Prince William and the Sussexit. While Lacey often talks out of both sides of his mouth, he has maintained throughout that the crux of all the drama was always between Harry and William and NOT Kate and Meghan. Which most of us have known this whole time. If the brothers had been able to get along, I genuinely think that Kate and Meghan’s fragile peace probably would have held. Kate actually liked the fact that Meghan was her protocol-breaking foil, the proverbial darkness to Kate’s “perfect future queen” lightness. Plus, Kate enjoyed the competition and she enjoyed copying Meghan. Lacey spoke about the duchesses’ relationship with Best Life:
As part of his wide-ranging interview with Best Life, Lacey revealed, “Catherine and Meghan are great pragmatists. They got on much better than people gave them credit for.” In his book, he notes the women may not have been “best buddy material,” but says that “each was far too canny to make an enemy of a prospective sister-in-law—it only made sense to be friends.”
Despite their differences, the duchesses shared an important commonality as outsiders marrying into royalty that, according to Lacey, allowed them to appreciate and understand each other’s strengths in a way that was never really conveyed by the tabloids. “They both have a healthy respect for each other alongside great loyalty to their respective partners,” he told Best Life.
Still, Lacey explained, the “emotional squabbles,” like the much-reported battle over the bridesmaids’ tights at Meghan’s wedding (Kate felt the girls should follow tradition and wear them, while the bride insisted they go bare-legged) gave the media plenty of fodder. “Meghan clearly ‘won,'” said Lacey. “The press resorted to stereotypes [about Meghan and Kate] to avoid the fear of the truth [about William and Harry].”
The stories of the dust-ups between the duchesses continued, despite their best efforts to keep up appearances—even up until that very last day when the former “Fab Four” came together in March for Commonwealth Day services at Westminster Abbey, marking the Sussexes’ final appearance as senior royals. While waiting for Queen Elizabeth to arrive, Meghan flashed her megawatt smile for the cameras and Kate chatted easily with Sophie Wessex. “Every time the women got together, they knew how to put on a good performance,” said Lacey. “Kate is just as good an actress as Meghan.”
Yeah, I agree? Meghan and Kate were always able to put in appearances with each other and I’m sure Kate loved the idea that she was being positioned as “the peacemaker.” That being said, Kate implicitly and explicitly threw Meghan to the wolves. It wasn’t Buckingham Palace or Clarence House insisting on that f–king “Meghan made Kate cry!” story. Kate wanted everyone to know that Meghan makes white women cry white tears. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Kate in particular was behind several of the bigger tabloid stories about Meghan.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, WENN.
HUGE GROAN.
Thou does protest too fukking much.
They’re really in pain that Meghan showed Kate up. Kate had TEN YEARS to prove how good she was. But instead she only got mad when the biracial Duchess showed up on the scene.
““They both have a healthy respect for each other alongside great loyalty to their respective partners,” he told Best Life.”
^^^ Yes we noticed Kate’s respect at the commonwealth service…..
Robert Lacey either has sudden amnesia or he must have been watching a different Commonwealth service to the rest of the world, because Kate certainly did not put on anything close to a respectful display at the event. Even Ray Charles saw her blatantly blank Meghan and Harry’s polite and cordial “hello” and he’s blind and deceased. We all watched her turn her stony face to chat to Sophie only, and ignored Harry and Meghan the entire time. Heck, even the ever-rageful William managed to say hello back. Kate did what she does best that day, she showed her whole ass. The press continue to pretend they didn’t see it and are rewriting the narrative as it suits. Meghan’s smile that day wasn’t just for the cameras. She knows how to conduct herself professionally, and was clearly genuinely happy knowing it was their last engagement for that institution and she had her flight ready to jet out of there that night. Plus she was rocking the hell out of that green dress. Of course she was beaming.
I just want to say – LOLOLOLOL re: your comment that even the blind and deceased saw that Commonwealth performance! Amazing.
Plot twist: What if Kate is actually a big Suits fan and LOVES Meghan and all her petty, passive aggressive sour pussing was a performance for William? Maybe that’s what Lacey means? In which case, Meryl Streep move over!
It’s crazy to say she was simply chatting with sophie Wessex after she gave an obvious cut direct to Harry and Meghan. Prior to that day she was showing a game face but at the commonwealth service the bitch face was there for all to see.
Because she knew she was about to have to start working for real and she was maaaaaaad.
This seems like a backhanded swipe at Kate, calling her phony.
Well its an interesting comment, isn’t it? He says how they got along and they’re professional etc, and then says the women “knew how to put on a good performance” and that Kate is acting as much as Meghan is. Performing for the cameras isn’t the same thing as “getting on better than people give them credit for.” If they get on so well, why is it necessary to “act” for the cameras?
Because one side was genuine (Meghan) and the other was not (Kate).
One doesn’t show up to the BAFTAs in a white one shoulder dress after the person they claim to respect gets pilloried for wearing a Black one shoulder dress to a fashion awards show.
Not to mention the sudden desire to wear clothes one hasn’t worn in a decade.
She should have given a much more convincing performance at the commonwealth service. Or maybe she wanted to lean in fully in the role of the villain knowing full well that regardless the media and the public would still cast aspersions on Meghan.
There is certainly the suggestion that she fakes a lot for the cameras, from the manic grins to the efforts to pose for the right shot (see the video where she “practiced” looking surprised at a Tour de France stop in the UK years ago). There is very little genuine about Kate after all she had to be calculating to keep in the running for Will’s attention pre marriage. And seeing as the only time she issues press release denials are when there are stories about her botox and hair extensions, it’s clear she’s very conscious of her image.
Which makes the commonwealth service bitchface even more unusual compared to past behaviour.
@Myra … or maybe she was just afraid to offer any kind of olive branch to the Sussexes because she knew how ‘Basher Wills’ (I am SO loving Robert Lacey’s book!) really felt about the situation.
The thing is, I recall Kate doing a similar thing to Harry at the Cambridge wedding. As Kate reached the altar in the church, Harry tried to catch her eye with a ‘well, this is it’ grin. Kate refused to look at him, and she wore the very same look on her face that she displayed on Commonwealth Day after dissing the Sussexes. She must have practiced that look in a mirror.
@Yvette you may be right. William is known to have an anger problem, but since he did say hello that day, albeit a small one, I think this was all Kate.
There were postings on twitter claiming that the royals wouldn’t look at Harry while he was saying his wedding vows. Of course, this delights all of the haters. To me it’s sad, if true, that family who supposedly love him wouldn’t be happy for him.
Indeed – the actress comment also made me laugh as i instantly thought of THAT scene from When Harry met Sally. I’ve seen those pics of William urinating in front of the paps and he ain’t no shower.
Meghan is the better actress – the Commonwealth Day service showed that.
She has masterful poise for sure.
What photos of William urinating in front of paps?
To be fair, we’re talking about a peni$ with teeth, here. It’s hard to tell where one d!ck ends and the other one starts.
Well, Kate didn’t give her best performance at the Commonwealth Service, that’s for sure. That day showed her true colors IMO.
As for Kate and Meghan – I’m sure they were “fine” with each other, at least for the first year or so. No bad blood, but no love lost either. I never got the impression that they were close (or would ever be close) and in the beginning I think they just got on with life. But we certainly know that Kate went out of her way to take advantage of Meghan’s bad press and that she didn’t show any public support for Meghan. (examples: constant rewears when Meghan was being criticized for clothing costs, wearing Diana’s jewelry after that article came out about how Meghan “wasn’t allowed” to wear it, not doing anything to support the cookbook or SmartSet, not talking to Meghan during the polo match after Archie was born, her dig about wanting to “thank the public” by doing the Lindo Wing appearance, etc)
So I don’t give Kate the same pass in this story that I might have given her a year or two ago in terms of her relationship with the Sussexes. She knew they were being thrown to the wolves and she loved it, because it just helped her embiggening campaign.
ETA I do agree that I don’t think there ever was really a feud between the women, and I think that the idea of one was pushed in the press so no one paid too much attention to what was going on between William and Harry .
I agree. Her trolling of M was on another level. Almost like there was a concerted plan to be seen doing whatever puts the biracial duchess in a bad light. Her active participation in the empty plane stunt did it for me. I knew then without a shadow of a doubt that a lot of the hatred for the sussexes did indeed come from within the palaces. The Commonwealth service then sealed it. Thankfully H and M have escaped and the other couple can’t just seem to get it right. Their inability to be neither use nor ornament during lockdown showed the country how lazy and out of touch they are. They have all the limelight in the world and the backing of the BM, money and power and they still don’t have any shine.
Let’s not forget Carol’s comments saying that being a royal was more than giving speeches. That was definitely aimed at Meghan, as it was shortly after Meg’s well received speeches on the Oceana tour. I have no doubt that Kate and her family were jealous of Meghan and a bit scared. Meg highlighted everything that Kate wasn’t and hadn’t accomplished. Chica waited for 10 years to “prepare for her role” only for Meghan to come along and prove you don’t need a decade to be ready. The more Meghan succeeded, the further Kate’s mask slipped ending with her awful behavior at commonwealth day, in a church no less.
I agree because Carole would have had those comments about royals giving speeches in print had Kate not agreed to it. Possibly William knew beforehand as well.
Kate has always been insecure around competent women, especially if they are beautiful as well. From the beginning she would freeze out other women trying to speak to William as if he is a child who can’t decide who he wishes to speak with. The joke ended up being on her though because I
Billy will in fact seek out other women but she won’t be around to see it.
Also, another slight was when Kate was asked about the news Meghan was pregnant and she replied her due date was a lovely time of year to have a baby. Not how happy she was for them.
This is SO true. Meghan was like a blacklight to all of Kate’s inadequacies. Prior to Meghan joining, you couldn’t really see it if you had no real expectations and just followed the news. But when Meghan arrived and jumped in with both feet, pulling off amazing project after project… Kate just looked lazy, inarticulate, homely, and lacking any kind of intellectual curiosity. And she came off really disconnected from the general public, too, especially the youth.
Rather than learn from Meghan and find her own passion and throw herself into doing real work, she basked in the glow of the press propping her up and denigrating Meghan for excelling while black.
Meghan’s arrival led to Kate’s transformation from Kate to Karen.
It’s interesting, but not surprising that Catherine has been wearing a lot of new, expensive clothing during the pandemic and we don’t hear a peep from the people who used to be concerned about the optics. It reminds me of how comfortable she started to look after Meghan’s arrival. I know people likened this newfound confidence to the birth of a third child but I never bought it. I think she knows that Meghan is the new scapegoat which means she can get away with so much without attracting any criticism.
@BetsyH That was the weirdest fcking response EVER. She’s asked about her sister-in-law’s pregnancy and she responds that it’s a lovely time of year to have a baby ?!? What in the actual fck?! That pisses me off to no end that she couldn’t just say something nice! Scared that someone else is getting pregnancy attention or what?? Like, I truly don’t get it.
While i agree that they weren’t beefing but Top CEO and her family of royal hangers on were def triggered by Meghan. They helped create the 2 Duchess’s in competition narrative because it resulted in Kate getting some of the best press she has ever had. Top CEO has a looooong history of not playing well with other women.
Yep. I think we forgot that people who are linked to Kate have publicly said nasty things about Meghan…most recently her uncle.
I think they didn’t get along from the get go. The rumors of Kate not giving Meghan a ride shopping has stuck around.
Yup. Kate’s never been nice privately. But publicly that’s where the good acting came in until the wheels came right off at the commonwealth and we all saw who she was towards Meg.
I’m sure Meg also knew she was handling a grade A jerk from the shopping example. Catherine showed her early on who she was. Meg was just better at hiding her public feelings cause she is a pro.
It also matched how cold she was with other long term girlfriends like Chelsy and Cressida. Kate is not a woman who likes to compete with other women for male attention.
I’m sure Meghan realized the situation from that shopping blind, which we note was the only thing ever released in that regard.
I don’t buy the idea that Kate was ever willing to be friendly or peaceable with Meghan. From the very beginning, she was refusing to meet with Meghan, pulled the shopping stunt, all of it.
Kate does not like other women. She has been in competition with her own sister their entire lives. She and Mummy Dearest were all-in on the anti-Meghan campaign from the beginning.
All of which was aptly described in the Tatler Catherine the Great article, which is now obviously looking like the only piece of honest journalism that has come out of the UK since the troubles started.
Except, that we HAVE seen Meghan and Kate get along well in public – the church services, the Wimbledon appearances – not BFF get along, but “smile and pretend to be pleasant to each other” kind of get along, which is Lacey’s point. They were able to at least pretend for the cameras, even if they despised each other, which I really don’t think they did at the beginning. That doesn’t have anything to do with Kate being a mean girl or not -I think she “mean girls” most other women and views them as competition regardless of whether she gets along with them in public.
But if you read my whole comment, I do point out all the obvious times that Kate went out of her way to troll Meghan, or to embiggen herself at Meghan’s expense, so I’m not saying that Kate wanted to be friends and Meghan rejected her.
I think we are discussing the private reality vs public face. Until the commonwealth service Kate managed to act civil, and Meghan was always classy. But privately, the shopping blind was just one example of many or her cold behaviour toward Meghan. Even the polo match seems to show odd behaviour looking back. Diana and Fergie would have made a public show of getting along, but Kate essentially ignored Meghan and her baby and almost yanked Louis away when he was curious.
@Nic – precisely – public vs private. Kate was able, initially, to put on a good face in public (and Meghan always is, so no surprise there.) but something shifted at some point and Kate stopped playing along for the cameras. Maybe Meghan’s popularity just became too big a thorn in Kate’s side? IDK. The post-Archie polo match, the Commonwealth service, even her tense expression in the christening pictures.
Like Lacey says, Kate was able to put on a good performance – and then she wasn’t. My guess is that she realized she didn’t have to, because really, what consequences were there for her shitty behavior at Commonwealth day?
It’s why we never hear anything about Kate’s social circle. The only woman we did hear about was Rose and just look at how badly that turned out. I truly believe Kate doesn’t really have any friends and the only people she does know is strictly through Baldy. What a sad life to lead.
I don’t know @Becks1, I tend to think there’s more there than Kate realizing she no longer had to put on a performance.
To me, the CW service is a separate case. I think Kate’s reaction that day was a gut level display of the emotion she felt being kicked out of the procession after seeing Meghan outshine her the entire previous week, especially if that happened at the last minute. IMO she would’ve controlled herself better otherwise, especially if she felt she was lording it over Meghan by walking in with TQ, etc. It’s true though; consequences didn’t matter by then, because Harry and Meghan were leaving.
That wasn’t the case say, with the polo match. At that point, Harry and Meghan were still expected to be working royals. Yet, it was clear something had been going on for a while for Kate with respect to Meghan, because George and Charlotte already knew to not even bother approaching Meghan.
It’s possible Meghan’s popularity was the issue; I’m losing track of event timelines now! Kate was so publicly and oddly cold at that polo match, though, compared with previous appearances – I’m wondering if there was more, something based on Will’s attitude towards Meghan. There was a thread not long ago about pictures of Will directing inappropriate looks her way. Meghan’s a very attractive woman, but also a more than competent working partner. I can see Kate being jealous of Will’s apparent interest; and also see him telling Kate she needed to up her game and start copying Meghan’s behavior with the public. Both would be enough to make Kate resentful, and give up looking pleasant for the cameras around Meghan.
Tensions seemed to really rise after the christening. My theory is that around the time of the christening that Harry made it known that he wanted out. I think Charles told William that Kate needed to work harder at building a relationship with Meghan if she wanted her money for clothes and we know Charles has zero love for Kate. It was during that time there were several activities planned to bring the four of them together that summer. It was before the polo match William and Harry had a big blow out. It seemed any attempts to bring everyone together just made the situation worse and Harry was checked out and William was pissed off.
If she were such a good actress, we wouldn’t have seen her ugly side at the Commonwealth event.
If you’ve never worked or never really pulled your weight and all that is required of you is to look good all dressed up then of course the least you can do is act happy. Except when it’s in front of a global audience during the commonwealth service when you let your hatred, resentment and jealousy got in the way. How this woman continually gets propped up like a child is beyond me.
Um no?
Kate did not act at Commonwealth day. We all saw EXACTLY how she felt, and it wasn’t friendly.
Also, the polo match? She flat out ignored Meghan and Archie.
If she could “act”, they would have seemed at least a little chummy, and she would have cooed at Archie.
No, Meghan was the only one successfully acting at the CW service, and she was non-plussed to be at the polo game.
Nope. Wrong. Kate participated in that Von Trapp family escape/Flybe jet photo stunt, showing that she was more than willing to make an enemy out of Harry & Meghan. Then there was the snub seen around the world at the Commonwealth service. These events were photographed and published in the media. Lacey is being dishonest by not including these events in his narrative. Maybe at some point, Kate didn’t want to make an enemy of Meghan but that changed.
I don’t see why that is the last draw for people when it comes to Kate. The Commonwealth service, I get. She was clearly pissed and deliberately not talking to H&M. There’s really no excuse.
We have no idea what Kate knew about their travel arrangements and when she knew it. Like it could have been 100% her idea or she could have been totally clueless until it was too late. The Royals don’t often make their own travel arrangements. It’s usually security’s job unless they’re taking the helicopter. Kate’s not really the type to ask too many questions. So, it’s definitely damning, but it’s not exactly 100% proof that she had a part in planning the stunt. I don’t think she’s completely innocent by any stretch, but the flight isn’t exactly conclusive proof that she was in on the plan. The paps were already there. She couldn’t just refuse to get on the plane. It also could have been 100% Kate and the Middletons without Williams knowledge, I just doubt that because William is such a control freak. I guess, I’m just curious why the flight is the defining moment for so many people when it’s not at all clear that she knew about the plan ahead of time.
You are right, we don’t know what Kate knew about their travel arrangements. But it is highly unlikely that the security, whose job you say it is to make their arrangements, decided to contact Flybe and request an empty jet be flown over so that the Cambridges could climb aboard. We don’t know, and you don’t know, how many questions Kate asks, unless you are Kate, Carol, or William and can attest to their private conversations. The paps were already there? Maybe if the pap was Carole Middleton, which has been speculated as she was seen on the flight but not in the pics. The Cambridges don’t like their kids being photographed without their consent and object when they are photographed going about their private business, none of which happened in this instance.
The flight is a defining moment because Meghan and Harry were being slammed by the media for taking private flights when the whole Royal family flies private all the time. Instead of supporting his brother, William dishonestly portrayed himself and his family as ordinary commercial jet passengers and got himself photographed to prove it to throw it in H&M’s face. We haven’t seen the Cambridges disembark from a commercial jet on a personal trip since then. It was the definition of a stunt to make William and Kate look good. Kate went along with it, and as she doesn’t have an existing catalog of good works in support of H&M, she doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt.
The Cambridges also have a private helicopter that Granny gave them as a bribe to work more – they use it for personal use than anything else. Him for his Rose trimming and her for her shopping trips to London and visiting Mummy at Middleton Manor.
You’re right, we don’t know how much Kate knew about the FlyBe stunt. I am sure she knew they were doing it before arriving at the airport, but we don’t know if it was her idea, how much she supported the idea, etc. It was not security’s idea though – I cant imagine any security detail being like, “flying this budget plane is a much safer idea than the private plane we usually take!” It’s clear the idea came from William or Kate, or both.
But I think for many of us, in general, that particularly moment just encapsulates so much of what went wrong between the Sussexes and the Cambridges. the Cambridges had a chance to twist the knife a little more, and they took it. We never see them travel to Balmoral. They made sure we saw them this time. Because the kids are involved, we know they could have gotten those pictures taken down if they had wanted to, because they have before. They did not.
Was it all Kate? Was it all William? Was it both? I don’t know. I know that, for me personally, it cemented that they are a-holes.
I knew Kate was throwing Meghan under the bus when she started repeating outfits endlessly during the period when newly arrived Meghan was trying to build her duchess wardrobe and getting criticized left and right for it. Kate previously went many engagements between repeats and suddenly all she wore was repeats. I knew then she was taking advantage of Meghan’s bad press and as a woman I was appalled. Before that time I was neutral about Kate, but she showed at minimum she was not supportive of women and at worse she was a part of a campaign to harm another woman. When the story about the Meghan made Kate cried went unchallenged from KP, I knew absolutely that Kate was a awful human being along with her husband. I didn’t need the further evidence that kept coming to understand who she was and what she was trying to do to Meghan in particular.
What’s he on about regarding the Commonwealth service? Kate had a knot in her face the whole time. She wasn’t “chatting easily” to Sophie she was sulking and cold-shouldering Harry and Meghan?!
They managed to give the impression of getting along fine during Christmas Walk 2018. So yeah I do think they were much better at “faking it” than William and Harry are. However that went out of the window during the CW service.
Obviously Kate and Meghan were never going to be the cosmo drinking, sleepover having besties that the media (in the beginning) try to set them up as. They are very different. However, a friendship wouldn’t have been a bad idea. Meghan is one of the few people who have a genuine inkling of what life is like for Kate on a regular basis in respect to the press and duties (whenever Kate does them). Not only that but they were co-workers and having a decent cordial relationship with someone who you’re expected to cut ribbons with for the rest of your life is a good idea. And it seems they tried that but as the rift got deeper and it was becoming clear that Kate was benefitting if not contributing, any semblance of friendship ended.
And out of the 4 of them (and the 4 of them only), who benefitted the most from the Cambridge v Sussex feud? William, yes but it was Kate who went from “Waity Katie” and “lazy do nothing Duchess” to “she’s going to be the greatest future future Queen evah!”
Kate absolutely benefitted the most out of the entire royal family. She had nearly 8 years of her royal shenanigans wiped clean as soon as the engagement was announced. Three years later Kate suddenly has Meghan’s qualities despite not doing anything to earn them. Everyone is taking a beating in this book except for Kate. The author can’t even call out Kate’s very public and prolonged bitchface at the commonwealth service. I mean her face was fixed the entire service. She was and still is involved. Now she is just copying Meghan at every opportunity. From her new found love of dainty jewelry and chic tuxedo blazers, to showing more of her home in her zoom calls.
2018? The year of the scarf?
That Wills kept fiddling with the scarf (which looked the same throughout the entire time) to avoid paying attention to Meghan.
Meghan is the only person who could know what Kate’s life was like being a married in wife of one of Diana’s boys…. but I don’t think Kate wants ANYONE to see what her life is really like. She doesn’t want to have a close friend who she talks to and who comes over to the house and sees her without her hair and makeup and sees what’s happening in that house. Who sees how hard Kate is working to hang onto the Duchess of Cambridge thing at the expense of literally everything else in her life and her own well being. That seems like the last thing Kate wants because it has been drilled into her from her mother and the RF and William and the media that appearances and keeping up appearances matters 100x more than her own personal happiness or personal relationships.
I don’t think Kate even sees herself anymore as Kate Middleton, sister, daughter, mother, wife, an actual independent person with thoughts and dreams and ideas who just happens to have the job of Duchess of Cambridge. And she doesn’t want anyone else to see her as a person either. I think her whole life has been consumed by becoming and playing the part of Duchess of Cambridge, RF wife and mother of an heir. Every single part of her life from what she wears, to how she speaks, to where she goes, to who she speaks to or befriends, is all based on projecting the perfect Duchess of Cambridge image. Notice how she has no outside interests. She never speaks in public and when she does it’s very scripted as being the Duchess of Cambridge speaking. And even that image is hanging precariously by a thread that could be snipped by pretty much anyone anytime. The media could turn, her mother could be exposed, her husband could dump her, affairs could come out, her part in the smear campaign could come out, her stalking behavior could be written about again, the RF could turn on her, a patronage could challenge her effectiveness, etc, etc, etc. So she’s not going to risk letting anyone get close enough to possibly expose her. Because this is all she has and all that she is now and she’s going to protect it ferociously.
I think you really nail this here. She is 100% image and there is no longer a real person behind it.
+1000000
Phony is not the same as being an actress.
👆 this times 1000
Kate is better imo. The woman has faked all her life , she pretends to be a happy dutiful wife in public while hurting inside, she has a fake accent , cosplay women in her life . She has fooled most pple to think she is a calm and down to earth person when in actual fact she is wolf , dangerous like the rest of the RF
That was my thought. Kate has to act like she would have picked William if he wasn’t the future King of England. That’s a lifelong performance. I mean, I’m sure she likes him well enough, but let’s not pretend she wouldn’t have been *truly* happier if her life had turned out a bit more like Pippa’s.
Or perhaps she’s just a sociopath that’s who you are describing.
what i love about this site, is we get down to the psychology of the matter. who are these people, why do they behave like this, what events in their childhood spurred this on, what are the traits they display etc.
I get that Lacey’s actually paying Kate a backhanded compliment here but it’s not even true. We all saw Kate’s sour mood at the Commonwealth Day ceremony. Meghan was the only one of the “Fab Four” who was a good enough actress to keep a neutral to happy face in front of the cameras.
Meghan is and always has been a professional. She new if she has on a bitchface like Kate she would’ve been torn apart. Kate looks like she’s sitting on hot coals and we get crickets. It’s also another case of projecting Meghan on to Kate; now Kate is also a good actress just like Meg. Pitiful.
Lacey’s rephrasing of the story is fascinating. Regarding tightsgate, I believe he is saying the press was racist, without using the word. Because he said the press resorted to stereotypes about both women which translates to them deliberately putting the blame on Meghan for causing white tears. why is he allergic to calling it out?
I like how he misrepresents this part: While waiting for Queen Elizabeth to arrive, Meghan flashed her megawatt smile for the cameras and Kate chatted easily with Sophie Wessex. “Every time the women got together, they knew how to put on a good performance,” said Lacey. “Kate is just as good an actress as Meghan.” This is awful trying to equate the women. Kate shows her emotions and her nerves and it was put on full display that day.
Lacey really tiptoes around current Kate in the book and in interviews. The book isn’t that flattering to Kate’s family or to Kate’s college behavior (its obvious he thinks Kate was sort of pathetic for following William to St. Andrews and hanging around him for a decade before he proposed), but after that his comments sort of dry up. It makes me think if the editors removed a great deal or something.
In the book, did he address the story about kate not inviting meghan shopping? Or her cosplay? or flybe? he refrains from describing Kate’s obvious disdain for Meghan (obvious snub at commonwealth service) by calling it a sort of mutual ambivalence and that is the part that bugs me. As you say the editors removed the post marriage parts of her neurotic behavior.
I wasn’t bothered by not talking about the shopping story or her cosplay, because the book wasn’t about Kate, not really. But it was weird how there was so much shade at Kate before she got married and then…..nothing (or very little).
The only two people who could have confirmed the shopping story firsthand – Meghan and Kate – didn’t talk to Lacey. Not surprised it’s not in there, and don’t think that diminishes the book or Lacey.
Maybe his lack of material on Kate has to do with she does so little, there’s nothing to report. She probably doesn’t have a lot of people in the institution who can spill tea, because she’s such a non-entity. All her hustle was to get the ring.
I’ve heard that Lacey is livid with the final copy of the book from some writer friends in Euro publishing houses. The final copy was edited in the UK and Lacey was forced to remove close to 100 pages for “legal reasons.”
So Lacey knows some juicy stuff that legal isn’t comfortable with? We’ll see if he finds another way to get his story out. Maybe a contact at an American publishing house who will write it up in some way and split the proceeds with Lacey?
It’s fine to have emotions, nerves — everyone is human. I would completely sympathize with that. Harry shows his emotions but he comes across as genuine and well intentioned.
What Kate did was rude, ill-mannered, publicly cutting her own sister in law dead, in front of a global television audience. That was a deliberate snub. Kate is extremely controlled, and she doesn’t show many emotions or nerves. She made a deliberate choice of rude behavior.
Aren’t the English “Upper Classes” supposed to care a lot about courtesy and etiquette? And self-control? Meghan is naturally courteous; Kate apparently decided she didn’t care about norms and standards.
agreed. to do that knowing the world is looking at you. very nasty compared to the gracious meghan. in my equation meghan > catty.
I think it’s just the opposite actually – Kate was so angry and upset about not walking in the procession, that her usual mask of control slipped. I wonder how close to the ceremony she and Will were told they also wouldn’t be in the procession?
Meghan had really outshone Kate that week; in particular, the acclaim over that umbrella picture with Harry bothered Kate so much she tried to copy it almost immediately with her own blue outfit. My guess is, she was counting on lording it over Meghan at the CW service, by walking in the procession while Meghan and Harry went directly to their seats. When that didn’t happen, she flipped, because status (as the FFQ) is really all she’s got.
I think Scobie’s description of Meghan’s and Kate’s relationship is closer to the truth than Lacey’s. They were not friends or colleagues or any of the other terms Lacey wants to use.
The Cambridge folk really shot themselves in their own asses. This surge in popularity they have now isn’t sustainable. The support they have is mostly amongst the 55yrs to dead demographic. They’ve not been able to capitalize or garner the support of the H&M demographic because they left when H&M did.
And once H&M are up and running full-time, their support and profiles will only grow. I imagine the British public will start to wonder why the rest can’t earn their own living.
And unfortunately it appears the Cambridge folk are attempting to use their kids to fill the H&M void.
The Cambridge’s most vehement fans are avid Sussex haters. That’s not a fandom on which you can build a future. The Sussex fans support the Sussexes charities. The Cambridge fans post hatedful comments on the social media of said charities. Most of the Cambridge “fandom” only speaks to how Will and Kate are better than Harry and Meghan. They rarely speak about the Cambridges on their own terms. When they do speak about the Cambridges, it’s never to talk about the Cambridges accomplishments or goals. They just admire Kate’s appearance and thinness. Cute kids grow into awkward adolescents, and even then, those kids are in for a hell of a time once their awkwardness really sets in, especially Charlotte. The York girls got boatloads of crap for their awkward years–and with social media it will be even worse. The Cambridges had better start some Sussex style projects, or better yet, start showing up at every fruit and vegetable festival in the UK and earning the public’s money. Hatred of people who aren’t present isn’t going to feed the media beast for long. They wanted the platform all to themselves, now they have it.
Yup, there are royal watchers but Cambridge fans do not exist, there are only Sussexes antis. W&K are just the cover cause they’re the anti Sussex couple. It’s funny though cause the Sussexes are everything they want W&K to be in terms of projects, charisma and their marriage. They just hate that it’s H&M.
Actual royal watchers from Diana’s time have noted how little Kate does compared to the other women. But the stans either don’t know or simply ignore the laziness and basically post stunning or classy as comments. It’s always about her looks and never any substance, not that she gives them much to work with.
You are absolutely right. The Daily Fail, The Telegraph, The Times and a lot of the other tabloids have a readership that is rabidly racist. A lot of racists are never known to put their money where their mouth is. They are also not known for supporting or spending money on their chosen ones’ initiatives. Heck, they can’t even be bothered to watch them wax lyrical on TV about the environment, to the point that grandma gets more views than him and his wife put together. Whatever surge they have in popularity is localised. It does not translate to the international stage. The whole world knows what that family did and is still doing to the ones that got away. Mark my words, the same press will definitely vilify FFK and his consort in due course if they haven’t started already.
The obvious difference is seen when you look at the fundraising for Sussex patronages vs anything for the Cambridges. Thousands have been raised by Sussex supporters for charities that Harry and Meghan support, but there is not even a tenth of that enthusiasm for the few causes the other two support.
Long term lack of enthusiasm is not a good sign, especially when the royals will have to show more value as pennies are pinched spot Brexit.
@Nic919 people who traffic and are motivated by hate will not be moved to support good causes because it’s not what they are about. People who are genuinely supportive of good causes will be moved to support whatever good cause they are made aware of. This is why H/M whose supporters are about social justice etc., will support causes dear to H/M and W/K whose supporters are about going as low as they can go, are not moved to get involved in anything good.
I agree. Omid pretty much put out there that Kate had zero desire to know Meghan. That seems more likely to me.
Kate is the better actress, she’s always on. She didn’t accidently reveal herself at the commonwealth games, she just didn’t care what Meghan thought of her at that point she knew England would side with her.
While I agree that she purposefully acted like a bitch at the commonwealth service, I don’t think her acting skills in general are that good. The manic grins, concerned looks and fake enthusiasm are grating and not natural.
That’s because we know or at least suspect that she was a snake, tbh. Before I knew all of this i thought she was cute and delightful.
It’s really funny, because during their engagement my mother (huge diana fan, hates the royals) looked at her face and immediately went, “She’s after the title”. At that time I chalked it up to her just thinking the worst out of conventionally attractive women…but maybe she knew lol. If my mom was still around, I think she would have liked Meghan.
spot on.
Kate acts for sure but Meghan is the professional. Kate looked like a bitter brat at the CW service while Meghan was calm, poised and professional.
Looking back, I’m glad Kate and Meghan never struck up a friendship, as Kate does not deserve the support, or even understanding from Meghan. She capitalized on every single criticism Meghan received to further her own agenda down to that downright pathetic plane stunt. She’s the worst kind of woman, the kind that only see other women as competition/enemies for her ugly man no one wants in the first place.
It’s such a lost opportunity. The two of them, as allies, could have completely rewrote the media game by supporting each other. Kate’s place is secure, there’s no competition for the throne. Instead, Kate played into the “Cool girl” trope: only girl who hung with the guys in college, sees all other women as competition, and now has no one who really understands her position as she realizes she’s just another “some bitch” that her so-called guy friends constantly berated around her.
The same could have been said of Diana and Fergie, that as long-time friends they would have been allies in the royal house. Except Diana threw Fergie under the bus constantly for her own good PR.
@lanne IMO there wasn’t opportunity to lose. Kate is lacking basic human traits like empathy and, sorry to say this, decency. Decent person would never behave in such manner. And I’m not talking about her participation in smear campaign now. I’m recalling situation at the polo match. Imagine: Kate had Luis not long time ago, she went through pregnancy and birth, all these experiences are fresh in her mind. And here is another woman with baby, and… nothing. Not even a try to approach and see the baby. Some of us are mothers, all of us were among babies, ours and not ours. We know it’s the instinct in the majority of women – to coo over babies, many times even not ours. For me this polo match was more demonstrative than Commonwealth service. Completely inhuman behavior. Even if she is jealous, competitive, even hates other woman but such attitude to the baby?
I agree @Gina–the moment with the baby was a no-brainer, no matter what she thought of Meghan. Kate cooing at Archie would have bought great press for her, as she would have been doing the “Ms Nicey-nice” that almost always scores women points, no matter if it’s genuine or not. I can’t imagine a mother ignoring another baby, especially a baby that’s her damn nephew!
@gina,do you think kate and meg actually communicated in the polo match? I saw a pic of her smiling when louis went up to Meg. For some reason i feel like any pics of them together or chatting etc were deliberately deleted.
Either that or there were a lot of tension that day. There’s another pic of Meghan with her facr scruntched up struggling with archie while a couple kinda just…looked. No helping, no talking no nothing. They just kind of frowned.
So many juicy details we don’t know! 🙁
I thought to be an actress you actually had to work?
Well, Kate failed as an actress on Commonwealth Day.
If Kate is such a great actress, why doesn’t she just act like she is interesting? She is without substance, without curiosity, without awareness.
And why doesn’t she act like hard working royal? There are so many superficial bread and butter events she could do and put on a performance like the rest.
All it would have taken to, in retrospect, change the course of British history, would have been Keen Kate, or Embiggened Bill Middleton, or Prince Charles, or Petty Betty, legit just ONE of them, standing up ONCE and saying “That is our sister. That is a member of the British Royal Family. Disrespect to her is disrespect to all of us.”
It seems like such a small thing to have done since they’ve spent a year now telling us how they are all so keen and woke and eager and welcoming.
That would have been so nice-
Yeah I still don’t trust her a$$. Especially after the “Meghan made the fragile white woman cry” story. That told me all I needed to know about how Kate was playing things and I have always suspected that she was more active in the smear campaign than we’ve been told.
Kate could have shut down the crying story as quickly as she did for botox or extensions. She remains silent. And complicit in the smear.
I agree. Even if Kate did cry and there were witnesses, she could have put it down to postpartum hormones, which it may have been, because who cries over tights?
Everyone talks about the commonwealth service but are we also forgetting Meg’s first appearance on the balcony weeks after the wedding.
Didn’t even Bill have to ask Kate to step aside so the public could see the new Duchess, whom at the time was the real reason all the world press were camped out at Buckingham Palace. Kate looked pretty pissed to be asked to step aside for Meghan. Ironically even Bill understood the game and the need to promote Meghan that day.
She also made it a point to stand in the centre even putting Camilla to the side when William, Charles and the Queen were not on the balcony. I forget if that was at the same event as the one where William had to tell her to move aside. There was a trooping and an anniversary RAF event that year around the same time.
Yeah, the “move aside” was part of the RAF event, which was in…..July, I think? So after the trooping. And okay, I just checked, He told her to move at least 3 times. Its clear in the beginning that she thought she was going to stand next to the Queen, and then William points and tells her to move down, which she does, and then she moves down again and you can clearly see its because William kind of nudged her back, and then he gestures again and she moves again.
I honestly think that was just about Kate wanting to be close to the Queen so she was in all the “money shots.” That doesn’t make it better, but I donk think she was ticked just because she had to make room for Meghan, I think she was ticked in general at losing her prime spot next to Petty Betty, losing it so Meghan was more visible was probably the icing on the cake for her.
@Becks1 that was exactly my point she tried to pull rank on a day when even the Courtiers would have instructed the family to have Meghan front and centre by Betty.
It was supposed to be a significant ‘money shot’ for the world media and diversity points for the BRF, but Kate was clearly pissed. She forgets however that she was allowed to have her moments when she first joined the BRF.
The resentment was always there.
She did that several times between the wedding and the Oceania tour. She also suddenly pulled out a bunch of old outfits to rewear in autumn, when the press was laser-focused on criticizing Meghan’s wardrobe costs. So Kate had a very early start with the passive aggressive behavior. It’s interesting to note that in those early days it was William who appeared more outwardly welcoming/accommodating. Kate only put on an outwardly nice face during the 2018 Christmas walk…and it’s also interesting to note that was when William became colder. It’s like both of them flipped a switch.
As Nic points out, Top CEO has a history of being asked to move out of the way on those balcony appearances – she really does think that she should be at the centre of it all, she is someone who is too full of her own self importance. A trait her mother and sister all have – remember that occasion Pippa parked herself in the front (family) pew of a funeral when she was only a guest – she made sure that a pap shot was taken before she was asked to move.
The Middleton sisters have been taught since childhood to push themselves forward at all and every opportunity.
Kate has invested half of her life in being the perfect royal consort. Requires some acting skill, I would say. She has fooled wm and granny but not Harry and Meghan.
This is exactly it. She is only and fully Duchess of Cambridge. She is not Kate anymore. With all the other royals, I see them as real people who have friendships and lovers and interests outside of their job but Kate just doesn’t. We only ever see her when she’s out as the duchess of Cambridge. She never speaks as herself, only as the duchess of Cambridge. And I think part of why she does so little and is so boring/forgettable is because she’s constantly weighing the “risks” to her image or what could go wrong, or who she might alienate if she did this or said that or supported this person. She is robot duchess and has spent the majority of her life acting as the duchess of Cambridge and completely forgetting that the duchess of Cambridge is just Kate Middleton, the person’s current job, not her whole and total self. Like we never hear about her going to visit friends or having people over. We don’t see her going to watch a movie or support a friend who is playing a tennis game or starring in a new play. When she’s shopping or taking the kids to school, she’s still very much being the duchess of Cambridge, dressed as the duchess, speaking like the duchess. All of her “hobbies” center around her appearance and keeping up the looks and appearance of the duchess of Cambridge. Nothing about the real Kate ever seems to slip out in interviews. She and Will don’t go on dates or hang out with their friends unless it’s like “the official birthday party for the duchess of Cambridge.” She doesn’t help to write their social media, or her own speeches, she’s always just relying on everyone around her to advise her about what the Duchess of Cambridge should do/say/wear. She doesn’t even have her own personal style. And anything outside of that is considered too risky for her so she just doesn’t do anything else. It’s like she’s terrified that if she doesn’t play this part as conservatively and as boringly as possible that she will lose this position and by now this position is her whole and total self, so I imagine she would have a complete mental breakdown and have no idea who she was or what to do with herself if she wasn’t just duchess of Cambridge anymore.
This and your comment above along the same lines are really good and insightful and hit the nail on the head for me in terms of what bugged me about Kate, even before Meghan came along. Kate is boring, and she’s boring because she’s not Kate, she’s the Duchess of Cambridge and that’s all we see. Its why her clothes always look a little off, because she’s not dressing the way she wants (if she even knows anymore), she’s dressing as the Duchess of Cambridge. Even when we see her papped (the rare times it happens) its clear that she’s The Duchess, not Kate. Even when we see her with her kids, its the princes and princess and their parents, the duke and duchess. No personality ever slips through, and its hard to even imagine what its like at this point in time. The little tidbits we do hear are very carefully planned – Kate makes spicy curry, Louis loves Mary Berry, etc. We talk about her being a Stepford wife but at this point I really do think she basically is.
Yup! She has been so careful to conceal and not feel and perfect her image that she hasnt built a real psychological contract with the public. We see her as a ‘figure’ that gets wheeled out to look immaculate and picture perfect but there is no authenticity or connection with her. We don’t feel that she cares about anyone except about her position and her kids. With Diana, Harry and Meghan flawed as they were/are, you sense that they are giving a part of themselves that is genuine.
Spot on Amy! This is what bothers me with Kate. She doesn’t know who she is as a person just as the Duchess. She has no friends or social life. She is the Duchess and that’s it.
While I generally agree that she is more of the duchess image than not, the bitch face at the commonwealth service is not part of that image. That was the real Kate showing up. The one who is bitter with her lot in life despite having worked for years to get this spot and clearly jealous that another woman got essentially the same thing without having to sacrifice as much for it and the other one is much better at the job and has a husband who actually loves her. Kate has always been the girl who jealously defended Billy from other women and did her best to keep his attention despite his cheating. The resentment she has toward Meghan for doing the duchess thing way better obviously bothered her a lot. Because now Meghan was leaving the uptight family and getting to have the loving husband and freedom to do what she wants.
@nic – kind of ironic that the one time Kate’s mask slipped in public and revealed some of her real personality, it was the mean and bitter side of her.
I think all of this is on point. The naked jealousy on her face during the CW service was a sight to behold, and behold again, thanks to the magic of photography.
I feel like the bitch face at the CW service very well could have been the duchess of Cambridge acting as the perfect, regal, “protecting the queen, protecting the monarchy,” dutiful, above it all person that so many royal watchers actually wanted to see at that point though. She was obviously and publicly showing her utter disdain for Meghan and Harry because they were leaving the RF while she, the duchess of Cambridge, would never. No humanity, no empathy , no family friendliness, all Robot Duchess showing her displeasure with those “not respecting” the hierarchy of the monarchy.
And if it was a slip, it was still the duchess of Cambridge being mad that the duchess of Sussex was shinier, more beautiful, happier, more famous, more beloved, and had garnered way more publicity in the past couple of days than the duchess of Cambridge. So she was angry because her hierarchical role was being challenged. I don’t think Kate the actual person would really feel much of anything towards Meghan the actual person. But Duchess vs Duchess? She’s on top of that hate and jealousy. In the same way that she would mean girl and hate on any girl who got anywhere in her way during the Waity years. That was more about protecting her status, protecting the plan to become the Duchess of Cambridge. Playing the role to get the role.
I’m not saying that she only ever plays fake nice and sugar and spice as the duchess or that she always tries to make sure everyone sees her as sweet and harmless. I think a lot of the haughty, jealous, leaking, mean girl stuff is all still part of her Duchess role. Part of that role is being obsessed with the hierarchy and making sure everyone bows down to her righteousness as the Duchess of Cambridge, top ranking duchess of her generation, wife of the future king, mother of the other future king.
Duchess cosplay can and does include a dark side for her. Because seriously, we don’t see any of the rest of the RF caring that hard about making sure everyone else, even the members of their own family, always always play by the protocol rules of hierarchy. The Queen, Charles, Camilla, Harry, Meghan, (even Will sometimes) can and do interact with each other as human beings and family members at times. They don’t always walk in a perfect rank-based line, and they don’t get super upset at protocol slips like some confused diplomat accidentally forgetting and waking in front of the Queen, or someone not wearing the right hat or pantyhose, or not knowing who should get in the car first. I’m sure Charles and Harry and Camilla and Meghan don’t care if someone doesn’t address them by the correct HRH Duke/Duchess So and So title. The media and the courtiers might make a big deal out of those things, but the other RF members don’t always. But Kate does. To the point where she doesn’t even want anyone to call her/think of her as Kate anymore. She’s “Catharine, the duchess of Cambridge” now. Because she’s playing Duchess first and foremost all the time. That’s why she’s obsessed with the tights on flower girls and making sure she’s in front of Meghan, and why she always looked startled when Meghan would speak to her and especially touch her. Because that’s not “appropriate” behavior when you’re dealing with the Duchess of Cambridge who outranks you. And she feels absolutely fine about acting on the righteous anger she feels when the Duchess isn’t treated 100% like the top ranking Duchess. She has no humanity left in her. She can’t relate to anyone on a human to human basis anymore. It’s all Duchess of Cambridge dealing with people who either outrank her or under rank her. She knows exactly what the protocol should be in those situations and how the Duchess of Cambridge should act in those situations. I think it’s why she never seems to connect with anyone on her outings and visits either. Because she’s too busy upholding the robotic, rules based, Duchess cosplay.
Looking back i dont think commonwealth was about Kate letting her mask slip.
I actually think it was intentional. Homegirl knew she was safe from the press even if she strangled Meghan on the spot, lol. Her icing Meghan seemed to be her saying “Yeah, go after her”. People who liked Kate looked at it as a confirmation that Kate disliked Meghan and it has to be “for a good reason”. She definitely leaned into the mugxits angle by antagonising Meghan. Meg was already very unpopular with the people who gave a shit about the royals at this point and it was her last engagement, there’s no significant impact if Kate were to ice her out. She fully leaned into the feud knowing that she’s going to be seen positively.
That’s just my opinion. I may be projecting some stuff here i guess.
And even though that event made me change my mind about Kate, it didn’t do Kate any real damage.
Amy too I think what you are describing is a sociopath, as mentioned above. Kate is obviously insecure about the duchess role which is why she tries to so hard at it and her mother raised her to be the ultimate social climber. But she never truly feels she’s a success, hence her jealousy of Meghan’s ease with things and her desperate Diana cosplay, as if symbols are what really matter. Kate will never be Diana because she cannot grasp the substance of the role. She thinks if she dresses part that’s enough. Or that a posh accent will make her royal. The sad part is that all the fakery makes her look more insecure and a poser than if she had maintained her identity in the marriage.
Any woman who can pretend she can stand the sight of Willileaks for over twenty years deserves a Lifetime Achievement award from the Academy.
And Kate isn’t a good enough actress to know how to behave like she’s had some ‘home training’ at Meghan’s wedding, or any time she and Meghan were in each other’s company.
Yep I forgot the misery guts look at the wedding. Looking back now, it was clear that all was not well even then.
The wedding would have been very soon after ‘tights gate’.
and people were excusing her crying at tightsgate due to postpartum stress. but note that meghan was not afforded that same consideration as pre wedding stress.
Yeah, honestly the postpartum excuses are complete BS at this point. She couldn’t even give a proper smile in the wedding photo and pasting on big, fake grins at public events is her shtick. She was clearly sour about Meghan and the occasion.
And I am going to bring up that dress because it was another passive aggressive thing for her to do. She was sour the entire ceremony except when she was making faces during the archbishop’s sermon, which frankly was racist, because if she’s not familiar with a different style of preaching, then that’s on her and her sheltered existence of catering to snotty rich white aristos.
I thought the dress was clearly passive aggressive, but I thought what was MORE passive aggressive was that she wore the dress to the RAF ceremony mentioned above, but in a different color. The ice blue was pretty and would have looked very nice at Meghan’s wedding. She could have worn that. She didn’t. She knew what she was doing.
In the weeks before the marriage, the family, in collusion with the press were trying to prevent the wedding and among other strategies, used thomas markle shamelessly to execute their devious plot. The last trick in their pocket was the heart attack a few days before the wedding, for surely, you would put off your wedding if your father were to have a heart attack right? well, no, the sussexes did not fall for those tricks because #baddad did not even confirm if he was coming to the wedding. with their plans foiled, kate could not help but look glum on the day.
Am I remembering a different CWD service than Lacey? Kate put on a show about acting like her and Meghan were friends? What? She blatantly snubbed them and gave them her back when they greeted her!
Lacey and his BS again.
I don’t know about Lacey’s whole “Kate keeping up appearances” bit as the only time I ever saw her making any sort of effort publicly with Meghan was at their Wimbledon appearances. Outside of that it always looked like Meghan would make an effort to be friendly then Kate would halfheartedly follow along. One instance in particular was after one of the Christmas church walks I think. All four were leaving after doing a walkabout and Meghan made a point to stop and wait for Kate to catch up, offer her a friendly arm, etc. Kate sort of, but not really, returned the gesture. Contrast that to how warm Eugenie was when Meghan approached her similarly after another family event, or how friendly Edward was at Commonwealth Day.
That Wimbledon appearance together was so weird, Kate was so talkative and enthused even more than Meghan who seems more level headed at all events. And the next time they appeared, Kate was cold. I’m sure Meghan was confused by it too. Kate must be moody towards people she deems unimportant. How exhausting.
I think at the last Wimbledon appearance, Meghan seemed uncomfortable with Kate. She was much more at ease with her friends watching Serena play, rather than Kate. Kate was clearly trying too hard. I think by that time Meghan was aware how nasty Kate is.
I’ll say while they were doing the Christmas 2018 walk, Kate did seem to make a point to walk closer to Meghan and Harry than to Will; she even talked to Meghan a bit. In the photos/videos from that event, there was consistently a big gap between the three of them and Will, who seemed to be sulking and uninterested in being there. Made me curious at the time about what happened behind the scenes, as that was also when the scarf fussiness happened. But otherwise I agree with you.
I think Kate is the type of person who plays passive aggressive games with everyone around her. I can imagine the only reason she was being nice and close and friendly and somewhat animated with Harry and Meghan was because she and Will had a fight that morning. And a lovely way to piss him off would be to cosy up to H and M, the people he’s currently jealous/pissed off at. I’m sure Kate was also somewhat jealous/pissed off at H and M but maybe she was even more angry at William that day so she played friendly with H and M. Bonus is that she gets to play mind games with H and M by being nice to them in public but then go back to ignoring them and leaking about them in private.
Will and Kate seem to have stressful Christmases. Christmas 2019, when they brought the kids out, they looked so tired/exhausted/stressed and over it that day and did NOT look like a happy married couple. Maybe Christmas morning fights are an annual tradition for them.
Haters love to call Meghan fake, yet she has never hid anything from her life. She always wanted to be successful , worked very hard to get it, and completely owns it, Haters love to call her ‘fake’ but the real fake is the one you don’t suspect, not the one you do. For years I thought Kate seemed nice enough, boy I had no idea how nasty she really is.
Everything about Kate is an act, her whole life is one big front. It’s not just publicly , I imaging she’s quite the actress when dealing with Willie too, how else did she last ten years and survive multiple dumping a to end up with a ring.
Agree!
Kate is the good actress. Better than her husband. At least we know his character traits a bit and it doesn’t matter that they are really not attractive. She hides her personality or lack of it very well.
What we know about Kate? Competitive for male’s attention? Can’t get along with women she sees as competition? What about other women, can she get along with them? Can she get along with anybody at all? Likes sport – what sport? Likes kids – maybe only her own kids? Loves/likes her husband – is that so? Maybe she can’t stand him. Is she pure evil – or just taggs along with courtiers and Wills? Is she the force behind the curtains – or she is weak and submissive?
We know nothing about her. Only know she is not a pleasant person.
I agree with others here about kate being the faker and Meghan being cordial. I’m not falling for lacey’s trump like argument of “both sides” being equally at fault or “good”! Kate benefitted alot from the constant attacks on Meghan. I’ll never forget how they left her get brutally hounded especially whilst pregnant. Kate as a early years and MH advocate stood by and did nothing. We all ofcourse know now that Meghan didnt have the power to defend herself as she said to elle magazine’s issue encouraging people to vote “I know how it feels to be voicless”. Imagine seeing your SIL sending her lawyers after gossip sites accusing her of wearing a wig or using botox but not to help you. I dont think either of them wanted to be friends.
I just read on Twitter “Bulliam” ha!
I don’t want to sound like I’m siding with Kate but I’m totally going to side with Kate on one issue I feel we should all be mindful of:
Not to take away any responsibility from Kate’s person but The British Royal Family will not take responsibility for anything. I feel Kate is being turned into a scapegoat for doing what the royal family encouraged and enabled her to do. There was no dressing down over her lack of welcome towards Meghan or for her laziness and reticence.
Now it feels like the royals want to throw her under the bus since Meghan is no longer there and Kate is the only outsider now. It’s the lack of responsibility from the royal family that I find most disturbing. They only work together amongst themselves and leave the outsiders hanging out to dry after exploiting them. Not saying Kate hasn’t earned this treatment – she has – but there is a larger pattern that we need to be mindful of. They ostracized Diana and Fergie and ultimately pitted them against one another before tossing them aside and now the same is happening with Meghan and Kate. This is a pattern within the institution at this point and a very disturbing one.
Hmm i agree and disagree. Kate is not the new scapegoat because while Meghan left, Meghan is still around and they can still attack her…until after the lawsuits or the review I guess. The RR can always say “a source in KP tells me Meghan has just suffocated a baby deer”. *camera pans to William whispering into a telephone*
I do think Fergie was lowkey right when she said the media drove a wedge. It’s clear the team in KP wanted to drive the Saint Kate narrative (I’m reminded of the video where someone said something like ohh Meghan will be so jealous, when Kate was walking into a place. Apparently that person was part of KP but I’m not sure).
But at the end of the day, Kate is a grown woman and she isn’t controlled 24/7. She was perfectly able to throw Meghan a quick smile at Commonwealth! William did!
I used to think that white off shoulder dress was her way of showing support. But meh. I started off having a high opinion of her but it’s tapering.
Kate reminds me of Elizabeth’s mother. Self-centered to the point of self-aggrandizing. She can be petty.
I genuinely believe she hates Harry and Meghan now more than ever because she has to work. I honestly believe she was dim enough to believe that if she “helped” pile on Meghan the spotlight would be off of her for awhile so she could fly under the radar with her plastic surgery appointments, benzo popping, shopping, and work avoidance. I agree with others that the intention was never for Harry and Meghan to leave. Harry made that choice and everyone is upset, ESPECIALLY Kate. It reflects poorly on the entire family and the entire family now wants to blame Kate and the Middletons when they all had a hand in it.
I completely agree. You have it right. They use people and then throw them away after all of the abuse. They’re frightened of people like Diana and Meghan, too strong and too smart. Fergie was accused of being too friendly and too familiar while only trying to be pleasant and respectful of “the help.”
Like @CC, I kind of agree and kind of disagree. I do agree that Kate is being used as a scapegoat or the “fall person” for how the royal family treated Meghan, and I also think its clear that Kate’s behavior was allowed if not out and out encouraged. But we also saw a lot of Kate’s behavior front and center, so I’m not sure why the royal family SHOULD bear responsibility for that. When Kate ignored Meghan at the commonwealth service, when even William acknowledged the Sussexes, and Charles and Camilla smiled at them, then what should the royal family do? Kate is a 38 year old woman. Even if William gave her hell for that later, so what? it happened and was over and Kate knew she wouldn’t be in the same room as the Sussexes for a long time.
Kate bears responsibility because we’ve seen her own individual actions. But the royal family also bears responsibility because Charles could have reigned in William (and presumably Kate as well) and never did. And they will throw Kate under the bus if William wants her gone, but that was always going to be true, Meghan or no Meghan, bc that is the sad reality of how the family operates.
The royal family needs to bare the responsibility for allowing this competitive and hostile behavior amongst family members and doing nothing to fix it. The fear of being seen as dysfunctional has made them dysfunctional. It shows.
If Daisy can have a royal family psychologist on staff at Amalienborg, the British royals can do the same.
NotSoSimpleTaylor: “The fear of being seen dysfunctional has made them dysfunctional.” This observation is so on the nose. I can see so many ways this has played out in the royal family. You could write a book about this!
betsyh, as a matter of fact I’m looking into doing just that. I used to be a journalist until I had my daughter. I’ve also found some aristos are itching for a more “mainland European” version of events rather than the drivel coming out of the UK.
NotSoSimpleTaylor, I hope you do write this, get published, and then report its publication on Celebitichy. 🙂
I hope you do too! Tbh, I’ve been wishing for many weeks now that several of you ladies would get together and collaborate on a book- the observations I encounter on this website are superior to any book that’s been published thus far.
I disagree. Nobody is turning Kate into scapegoat. Only her own actions and completely absurd embiggening by RR and tabloid press are to blame. She is untouchable now. This cardboard surface remains intact, so no one would see if there is any human substance beneath the glittery surface or not.
That’s the point. The palace did nothing to stop her early on to discourage her behavior and things will come to a head when Charles is king. The British media is slowing their roll on Harry, I’ve noticed which drops views and queries for The Sun and Daily Mail. Ragging on Meghan and Harry has backfired horribly. Kicking Kate around is then the next past time. We’re already seeing a willingness to be critical of Kate now more than what we’ve seen for 3 years. We all know Middletons and Yorks are where the leaks came from. We know Kate is tolerated at best within the palace. These people will absolutely turn on her and she does deserve it. That does not mean we shouldn’t call out the palace for their generally poor treatment of married-ins.
No, Kate is the only one who benefits out of the four. William is known as the bully he is and you see how it’s been for H/M, Kate is lauded constantly by the BM and comes up smelling like a roses at least in Britain. No, I will not give her a break, she wasn’t a passive participant in any of this. She took every opportunity to embiggen herself at Meghan’s expense and every single opportunity especially that last year that was available for her to act like a human, she didn’t.
No offense, BNLurker4Eva but did I say Kate deserves a break? Maybe vaguely I insinuated that but no and she absolutely does not. I’m saying she is willingly allowing herself to be weaponized by the palace and used as a stick to beat Harry and Meghan with. She has been weaponized now but they will turn on her just as easily. In this case, them turning on her is something she truly deserves. However, the bigger issue is the deplorable treatment of married in outsiders within the royal family.
@NotSoSimpleTaylor, got it. Thanks for the clarification, or maybe I read too fast.
I apologise if I sounded too mean in my previous comment. Kate’s behavior is inexcusable. I’m finding it difficult to make myself clear that as much as she needs to be held accountable, we also need to recognize the royal family has had a track record of this behavior since 1980 and hold them accountable.
Kate could have had an ally but chose to compete with Meghan and throw her under the bus with the media. Even her mother slagged Meghan in a rare interview. Betty didn’t call up Carole to say any of that. Kate and her mother have their own agenda and it benefitted them to attack Meghan.
She barely acknowledged the existence of Archie, despite being portrayed as a hands on Mum who loves babies and she knowingly trolled Meghan with her sudden increase in wearing repeats, which was unusual before Meghan got critiqued for her clothing.
If Kate now becomes the scapegoat in the media because she is the only married in left, that’s on her. Right now she’s isn’t being criticized a tenth of what Meghan is still experiencing.
Their own agenda fits in with the royal family’s agenda. When it no longer does, Kate and her entire family will be turned on just as easily. They deserve it so there will be little love lost.
However, I’m not about to give the royal family a pass because one of the many people that they have thrown under the bus deserves it. The entire family allowed themselves be weaponized. That doesn’t justify them continually playing the exact same game. Kate may deserve whatever is coming to her but the royal family needs to quit deflecting and blaming outsiders for problems that clearly exist within their institution where people feel the need to gang up on someone – anybody to blame them for their problems. They – along with Ma Middleton created the monster that Kate is now and I hope it comes back to bite them when she turns on her. I may not like Kate but I hope she and her family go feral and kept receipts when the royals do turn on her. If she is willing to be weaponized then I hope she eventually weaponizes herself against the royal family. That isn’t being pro Kate, it’s hoping despite no hope that she grows a brain.
This is what I’m getting from NotSoSimpleTaylor:
The RF wanted to take Meghan down. They decided they would use Kate as the perfect duchess foil. They would embiggen Kate at the expense of Meghan and they told Kate she could help out with this and play into if she wanted. Kate was like “Hell yeah! This is awesome! I’m finally in!” And she enlisted her mother and threw all her weight and PR connections into leaking negative things about Meghan, positive things about Kate, encouraging stories about perfect mother Kate complete with much more access to the children, and she relished the role she got to play in taking down Meghan and being the “face” of the “Good, dutiful, RF resistance who is just very hurt and concerned about Meghan and Harry.” But this whole thing sort of backfired for the RF when Harry left with Meghan and people started talking about the racism, sexism, anti-American xenophobia, classist, double standard, hypocritical nature of it all. Oopsie. So now the RF will distance itself from the role they took, and they will offer up Kate as the mastermind behind this all. “She was acting on her own! Against us! She took it too far! Kate is why they left!” When in reality the RF are the ones who encouraged Kate to play the foil to Meghan. They encouraged her to leak and lie and to cold shoulder Meghan and make her life difficult. They’re the ones who decided Kate would be the good one and it was time to whitewash her, plant sickeningly sweet stories about the Future Queen, and focus all the positive attention towards her.
Kate should have said no, but instead she put her whole back into the smear campaign. The RF saw it escalate and escalate and never pulled her back, they kept encouraging it. Now it’s backfired and the RF is going to blame Kate for it and try to minimize their own dishonorable machinations.
When confronted with people asking about Archie, Kate turned it back to herself and her kids. The comment about spring being a lovely time to have a baby – referencing two of her kids. The comment about ‘feeling broody’ again, classic move to get the story moved away from Meghan and back to ‘is Kate going to have a fourth’. All deliberate on Kate’s part.
Kate is a beneficiary of that corrupt system that tried to destroy Meghan. The same system that did destroy Diana. Kate is the only royal bride in recent years who has absolutely been given a pass on everything. She has had an easy ride compared to her counterparts. Any person with an ounce of morals would oppose to the way Meghan was treated. Kate seemed to sit back and smile. We can say that maybe her hands were tied and she had no choice. But that doesn’t explain all the social media bots, who do nothing but leave racist abuse about Meghan, whilst praising Kate. Who paid for those I wonder. What about ‘tights gate’? She tried to promote her white tears against a woman who hadn’t even done anything to her.If the whole incident was just emotions running high, why is kate bringing it up two years later to slander Meghan?
Diana tried to expose the firm, Kate never will because in some way she agrees with how things are done. That is until she’s the one in the firing line. I would love to root for Kate because her life looks so miserable but I just can’t. She didn’t sympathise with Meghan when she was being tortured on a daily basis by the press, so she doesn’t deserve any sympathy in return.
I root for Kate to make the changes in her life needed to reflect on her deplorable actions and make amends. I’m rooting that she’ll someday realize title and status isn’t everything.
I have a similar background to Kate but the main difference is that my mother’s family lost titles in Greece and family history says being an aristo is more painful than beneficial. It seems more like an anchor than anything else. My mom was 11 when the Greek revolution happened. She moved to Denmark and I grew up with her trauma over the revolution and making a quick escape to Denmark.
I see a lot of myself in Kate but I see more what not to do and her ambition for being Queen seems more trouble than it’s worth.
@notsosimpletaylor I think kate is all about survival. She’s trying to keep he head above water, but she is sinking and she knows it. Whenever I have looked into her through tarot her biggest threat is a ‘queen of cups’. It’s turns out rose is a pisces and represented by the queen of cups. And somehow Meghan and harry have been caught up in this through no fault of their own. I think kate sees that with Meghan and harry leaving, she is more important than ever, so William can’t dump her for rose even if he wanted to. before harry and Meghan left, maybe he could have. She doesn’t feel bad for whatever she’s done to harry and Meghan, because in her eyes, she had to do what she had to do.
She’s had to stab a lot of people in the back to still be there and accumulated so much bad karma in the process. She knows once she’s out KP will ruin her. Meghans success should inspire Kate that KP don’t always win even when they have bought off 99% of the British media, but I don’t think it will. I wish she would get some self respect and walk out the door and tell William to f*ck himself, but she won’t.
@NotSoSimple – okay, I think I’m following your point more now. Less of Kate being the scapegoat and more of how problematic it is that the royals will throw her to the wolves when it’s convenient. And that’s something we’ve said on here for years – that when/if a William is over her and wants a divorce, the royal press machine will turn on Kate without hesitation and it will be brutal. Maybe the fact that we all know that’s what would happen should bother us more than it does – not for Kate’s sake, but as a general issue.
Yes, this exactly. Thank you.
I can write in 4 different languages but only in English I feel like I’m saying nothing but with a lot of words. I struggle with getting my thoughts translated properly into English. So thanks for working with me.
Who cares what happens to Kate? I don’t. But we’ve seen 2 generations of this pattern regarding the treatment of married-ins. This is a failure upon the whole institution of the British monarchy and it starts at the top.
The Firm is horrible but nobody forced Kate’s off behaviour from the start such as excluding Meghan when discussing the RF’s work during that fab4 summit, to do those deliberate rewears which have magically stopped now and being the early years champion but not even mentioning the new mother when Archie was born. Not even going into the podcast comments about doing Lindo wing.
She’s always laughing & smiling at inappropriate times or when nobody else is laughing but suddenly cannot manage a decent smile in the wedding& christening photos. And the worse was weaponising her alleged tears& apparently briefing Meghan wasn’t her cup of tea. I never thought those feud stories including that Meghan made Kate cry was from KP& assumed it was made up press garbage until the CW service snub& the CTG Tatler article where her people brought up the tears again& continued to throw Meghan& Harry under the bus. That behaviour was a choice.
I don’t believe it can all be blamed on William. Even if he was all guns blazing she could have stayed out of it (like Edward apparently did during the CW service) but she seemingly added to it with her own behaviour.
I think Kate is cunning and I’m kind of here for it as she probably has had to be in that cutthroat environment coming from her background. But apparently instead of using it to outfox those Windsors, aristos or stuffy courtiers & doing something useful, it seems to be wielded for her image only & sometimes at the expense of others which I don’t respect.
@ABritGuest I agree with you completely. Kate willingly did their bidding. No one held a knife to her and made her into the cruel person she is today. However, the rest of the royal family deserves to share the blame for the monster they created in Kate and that there is a real problem if they want the Kates of the world instead of someone like Meghan. This is not to say the responsibility for Kate’s actions doesn’t rest with Kate. It does. But she had a lot of help and a lot of enabling along the way from others within the royal family. The fact is that there are now 2 generations of this undercutting nastiness. This doesn’t bode well for their future.
The royals treat the married in women poorly, but Kate hasn’t really fought back like Diana. She is embracing the system and pushing her kids in the same direction. Really it’s Carole who set her up to fail because Carole is so desperate for acceptance that she’s sacrificed her daughter and helped turned Kate into someone who doesn’t know real friendship and values material things instead of substance. Kate lives an empty life because she was raised to seek materialistic things. She was never going to be friends with someone like Meghan because she doesn’t understand the concept of thriving. To her rank is what matters and she can’t figure out why she still feels empty. Hence the non stop obsessive shopping and rigid control of her diet and exercise. Emotional development is not something she understands.
@Nic I think as she has gotten older the cracks are really starting to show. She has everything she strived for but does she really have it? I think part of where the cruelty comes from is realizing that her existence is a hollow one. She has learned to be careful for what she wishes for I think and she cannot cope.
If kate was smart, she would low key root for harry and meghans success, because it would pave the way for her own successful transition into post royal life. But she doesn’t see that. She should realise that it’s not harry and Meghan that are her enemies, but KP. They will destroy her, not H&M. The fact that even when KP bought off the entire british media to smear Meghan, and she still emerged with a massive Sussex squad following and a 150 million Netflix deal, Kate should be pleased that KPs power and influence isn’t 100% effective.
@notsosimple – lol, I don’t think its the language (your English is great and much better than my other languages, since I don’t really have any other ones, lol), just sometimes on a message board/comments section its hard to have a good back and forth bc you cant read tone or facial expressions etc. The royal family has a significant problem with how it treats the married-ins – hell, we saw it plain as day with Meghan.
My theory is that Kate is very astute and aware about some things, and not so aware about other things. I think she definitely used the bad press against Meghan for her own advantage without hesitation – the rewears, the Lindo wing comments, all that stuff. I think she saw how the royal family failed to protect Meghan (and was probably actively involved in that bad press for various reasons.)
But I think the mistake Kate makes is she assumes she’s untouchable because she’s the future Princess of Wales and queen consort. But Diana WAS the princess of wales and she was not untouchable – and she had a LOT more public goodwill built up than Kate does. So Kate probably saw what Meghan went through, shrugged and said “well she should have worn more coat dresses and more buttons” or “well, that’s what she gets if she thought she was going to outshine ME.” But the reality is that if/when the time comes, the royal family will turn on Kate in a heartbeat.
How will Kate treat Charlotte when Kate is firmly in middle age and treated as invisible, and Charlotte is a popular teen and young adult?
I think Charlotte will be the Harry of the upcoming generation and I think she will make her own escape.
I said in the next ten years or so, when the kids hit their teens, their parents will have new people in the family to compete with. When Charlotte turns 18 kate will be hitting 50. Willie and Kate didn’t like competing with people their own age, how are they gonna cope when they are no longer the young ones? I feel sorry for whoever dates George and Louis, Kate with slander the crap out of them, especially George’s future gf.
George is going to have a hard time even finding someone interested in joining that family.
@Bloemheks The wisest thing George could do is take a page from his cousin Prince Albert of Monaco and not marry until later in life.
Kate sounds like the Karen of the royal family.
The next few years will be interesting as the Sussex’s really start get things going with Archewell and become the jet setting philanthropists they are destined to be.
The more successful the Sussex’s are the more the Cambridge relationship will crumble under the pressure of ‘keeping up appearances’. They can barely stand to be in the same room as each other – it will crash and burn one way or another.
Also, Kate makeup game in those photos is tragic.
Weird. Her IMDB is blank.
I laughed out loud. Thank you!!
Me too!
Kate is a mean girl, who only cares about herself.. actually Kate is Karen. She doesn’t deserve all the support that Harry gave her in the years before Meghan.. of course I don’t blame Harry because he is a gentleman and a nice person, but what really bothered me was in April 2019 on the Anzac Service Day when Harry attended with Kate the church, he was so nice with her… while Meghan was subject to a smear campaign and she was very close to her due date … Harry disappointed me at the time
I believe he was snippy with her on the way out of the ceremony while getting in the car. Also she pouted because Harry and the Duke of Gloucester outranked her at the event since Billy wasn’t there. She didn’t understand that.
He wasn’t snippy with her, he was respected and nice with her. They were riding in the same car and when they left the church, he allowed her to step in first in the car .. This was annoying because at the time his brother ignored Meghan in front of the world, and yet Harry continues to treat this woman with respect and kindness . He shouldn’t have gone with her in a solo engagement in the first place
Harry was extra nice to Kate in April 2019 because The Incandescent One’s Rose Bush affaire came out and Harry just wanted to show his sympathy to Kate in public that day. Maybe at that time Harry was still ignorant of unconscious racial bias. I think he became fully aware of it after Archie was born and his wife was still being trolled while the royal family and the palace were freezing the Sussexes out, unprotected. That must have been a huge wakeup call for Harry and then he decided to leave the royal family with his wife and child.
Lol, it is funny how Harry show his sympathy to Kate in public at the same time that his family has never supported or defended his wife while she was pregnant. ok then
Harry barely interacted with her at that service. A brief smile when they entered the church and that’s it. I’m not disappointed that Harry is a gentleman, Im disappointment William is a jerk. Harry was added to the service because of that Tim Shipman article that came out. The RF wanted to show that everything was fine. Are you disappointed in Meghan for being nice and respectful to Kate at Wimbledon in July or is your disappointment only for Harry? And Harry ALWAYS lets the women go to the car first no matter who it is. Come on…
Lool, As for Meghan I will admit that every time I saw her go out with that woman at Wimbledon I felt like “ewww why they act like this???” But Meghan went with that woman just to show her support for Serena, she always went to Wimbledon years before Harry. And yes Harry is disappointing me because he is always extra respectful and nice with that woman..Don’t forget his words, “Sister that I never had”. Lol sister my a**.
I see comments on here about Kate not acting at the Commonwealth Service and polo match. Yes she was. She was acting exactly how William told her to act. And all Kate has known in life is chasing and placating her dullard tantrum-prone husband.
She is nearing 40 years of age. She can’t continue blaming William for her nastiness. William could demand that Kate not speak to Meghan, but he certainly didn’t tell her to put on her most jealous, spiteful face while she went about it. As Becks1 has said about it, Kate showed who she was in those moments, and it’s pretty ugly.
I might buy that she kept her distance at the polo match because of Billy, but at the commonwealth service Billy actually greeted Harry and Meghan so Kate couldn’t even be bothered to do what he did.
Chelsea Clinton is just as good an actress as Tara Reid. Fight me with jewels.
My theory is (hear me out here), Megan got tired of wearing the damn hats and that is why she left. Harry was sick of looking at them, too. Waity Katie got mad because she knows she going to have to keep wearing them for the rest of her natural life. William doesn’t really pay attention to Kate so he doesn’t care. Perhaps she should just go out in a crown every day. Just a crown. Now that would be a fashion statement.
William and Kate just look like the most inhospitable people to me.
Soooo Kate is now a good actress too. The jokes keep writing themselves.