For months now, I’ve believed that the Duchess of Cambridge would go all-out for the fakakta statue unveiling on July 1st. I believed that Kate would find a way to cosplay Diana in some ridiculous way, plus she would showcase “Diana’s grandchildren.” Once we saw how Kate behaved at Prince Philip’s funeral, I thought she would do the same at the statue unveiling, just times twenty. Swanning around, making eyes at Harry, making sure she was the center of attention, that “the threesome” was back together and it was all because of her.
Then Camilla Tominey suggested, a few weeks ago, that Kate might not come to the unveiling and maybe William had asked Kate not to go so that we’re spared another keen linchpin performance. Then Kate seemed to publicly dig in her heels and a “source” told the Daily Mirror that Kate had seen the statue project “evolve from its conception and now to the finished article and undoubtedly wants to be there to support her husband.” Guess what? William still told her no. He told her to stay home. And William also allowed Harry to call the shots about the limited media presence at the event.
The Duchess of Cambridge may not be alongside her husband Prince William on Thursday as he and his brother Harry unveil the statue of their late mother Diana, Kensington Palace revealed last night. Invitations had already been drastically scaled back in recent days from the 100-plus guests originally planned, due to Covid rules. And last night the palace said the princes will now be joined only by Diana’s close family, the statue committee, the sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley and garden designer Pip Morrison.
Kate’s expected absence will be a blow for those who had hoped she might act as a peacemaker between the estranged brothers. The ceremony in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, on what would have been the Princess of Wales’s 60th birthday, will be an emotive occasion.
It had been hoped that the unveiling could be part of the process of healing the rift. But behind-the-scenes ructions included a clash over media coverage of the event, which will attract global interest. Plans by Kensington Palace to invite a wide representation of UK media were scuppered after Harry and his team ‘kicked off’, according to one source. Insiders suggest the prince – who has long railed against the British Press – insisted he would take part only if there was one agency reporter, one photographer and one cameraman present. He also insisted on an ‘international’ cameraman. Much to the surprise of some insiders, the palace capitulated.
The event could still be an opportunity for a rapprochement, but it may be that the sparse nature of the gathering will only ramp up the tensions, particularly in Kate’s absence.
While I criticize Baldingham for many things, I think this was all a good call on his part, honestly. By telling Kate to stay away, he avoids the trap the Middletons and the press set for him, which would have just been a repeat of the “keen linchpin peacemaker” storyline, where Kate got all the credit for saving Harry and William’s relationship at Phil’s funeral. William also avoids Kate just generally making an ass out of herself and cosplaying his dead mother. The only bad news is that without Kate’s, um, “moderating influence,” the body language and vibe from Harry and William is going to be pretty grim, in general. William’s fists, jaw and arsehole will all be clenched for hours.
As for the lack of Royal Rota reporters there… it’s interesting that Harry is getting “the blame” for it, that he put his foot down about it and that William allowed Harry to get his way (if that’s what really happened). I honestly don’t have much of a theory about this other than the Royal Rota might demand another pound of flesh from William as punishment. Perhaps one of them will write another shady story about Baldemort’s private dinners with Rose Hanbury.
PS… Yes, I have seen all of the many royal stories! Please don’t threadjack, and we will have plenty of royal coverage throughout the week. Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Will would have been clenched up with Kate there anyway. I wonder if he has issues with the cameras also, for the same reasons as Harry. It would be funny if Harry and Will are super friendly without the big peacemaker around. Then Kate would have to scramble to get out articles about how she was working behind the scenes to make it all happen and she heroically stayed away from the unveiling to let them have time together.
Lmao these articles are coming regardless of their body language. And I actually think william might be a bit more relaxed if kate truly isn’t going.
He doesn’t want her to see him cry possibly. Oh, the possible flashbacks.
Tbh, If kensington palace wanted the royal rota there, they would have been whether harry wanted them or not. I actually don’t think this was harry’s call to make. William used to hate the press too remember? Maybe he didn’t want them there.
As for kate, i have to see it with my own eyes because i can genuinely not picture her NOT attending the statue unveiling.
Future future kween kate, not going on the scotland tour and not attending the statue unveiling? Imagine that.
I agree that William doesn’t love the press but I suspect Harry did say he didn’t want much media and he’s being blamed for why there won’t be any rota.
I also will be very surprised if Kate doesn’t end up finding a way to show up to this event. If she doesn’t it will be because William did not want her there. Which is a very interesting message.
Carole will be working overtime until Thursday. I’m sure we shall see many interesting DM articles until then.
Kate may try and sneak in as one of the statue committee members. After all, she was there to see it “evolve from its conception and now to the finished article”, lol!
Or as the garden designer’s assistant – in coveralls, a hat and moustache.
I think the combination of Harry and the Spencer family saying no Rota is what put the kybosh on the RRs attending and William had to agree. Kate not attending was likely encouraged too because they all know she’d make it all about herself, not Diana.
Maybe Harry said: don’t bring Kate or your royal roaches. Because I don’t have to come. I could zoom and video/conference…….
Watch Kate, with or without kids, go out somewhere public in some conspicuous fashion just to get papped for the attention.
I don’t think so. William may not like them, but the press has him by the balls. The way these reporters have been acting, they fully expected to attend this event. He probably agreed with Harry because the press will still get their stories, even if the reporters aren’t there.
William does hate the press which is why the fact that he continually works with them against Harry is such a testament to his (poor) character.
My guess is that Harry said “nope” and William said “okay” because it gives him an easy out for why the rota aren’t there. He can just blame Harry and his “issues” for it. But the RRs are pissed about it make no mistake.
And good for Harry, he has the power here to make that call and clearly the palace agreed to it.
They do have him by the balls but i don’t know. Ive increasingly been getting the feeling that willy boy is fed up with it all. The royal system and the press. You are probably right in your assessment that both brothers don’t want press there and william is hiding behind harry to make it happen.
Also, i could have sworn that a long time ago (prob last year or so) it was reported that this would be a private event.
Exactly Lila. He may hate them but they have A LOT on him and they have been hyping this event for a while and now they can’t be there. I think Harry made this call since he doesn’t have to work for them anymore. It’s a smart move by Harry.
I’m thrilled Kate won’t be there. We won’t have to see her manic grin, hyena laugh, or making eyes at Harry.
I agree, Lila. Good for Harry as it’s a definite win for him. Flex that muscle Harry. Personally, I think it was the price William had to pay to get Harry there, which tells you that William —- no matter what he whispers through the side of his mouth —- was desperate that Harry be there. Let the 🐀Rota and KP spin this — and we all know, they will spin this against Harry —- however, on the day and in the hour when Harry participates it will be on Harry’s terms and not their’s. I think this was a huge, winning flex for Harry!
🐀Rota: Message from Harry RECEIVED = 💪🏾🖕🏼
There is no way Harry would fly over, leave his family at this tender time, and then be forced to be within ten feet of one of the rota when he wants to honor his own mother. I’m not exactly sure how the rota works, but doesn’t it mean that either Dan Wooten, or Camilla Tominey, or Roya Nikkah, or Valentine Low, or Richard Palmer, or Richard Kay, or one of the other faces of the Rota press pack that have been laughing at him and tormenting his wife for the past few years would get the chance to attend? No wonder they were barred.
The same group that chased that poor woman to her death is demanding to be there at the unveiling of her statue so they can continue to hound her offsprings. The vileness never ends does it?
They have William by the balls but William can just say Harry would not come if the rota comes in. Harry prefers that anyway and maybe just lets it slide as long as no rats are there. Also it is not a royal event. These rats are delusional. I think they have some brain virus.
I haven’t looked at this entire thread yet, so I apologize if I repeat something already posted.
If the RR have Wills by the balls, is what they have on him really so scandalous to those of us who live in the real world?
I seriously doubt that he raped or killed somebody, or even fathered a child by someone other than Mrs. Cambridge. So if this dirt they have on him is……
– Marital infidelity….YAWN
– Plans to divorce….. YAWN, half the world is divorced
– Drinking to excess….concern for his health, but still a somewhat smaller YAWN
– Drug use (other than marijuana)….same as above
– Drug use (marijuana only)….oh please YAWN
– He’s gay…..so what?
– Extra secret vacations in private planes….I think he already does that and the fallout would be minimal
– Political intervention / lobbying the government….This may be the most scandalous thing I can think of in terms of UK indignance, but we know the old bat Liz already does so, and she has been sloppy about hiding it
I think the point that I am trying to make is that Wills should go ahead and call the RR’s bluff, beat them to the punch with a public mea culpa and move on with his life somewhat freer from the invisible contract. If the RR destroy their own meal ticket by exposing Wills for activity, and that exposure ends up toppling the monarchy, Wills can move to Mustique with whatever woman he wants and spend the rest of his life counting his money. His kids can grow up to be whatever they want to be.
@LMR – You make a very good point. I wonder if the pressure is from both sides? The royal family have one ball and the rota have the other? (OK, I need brain bleach now…) Will can tell the rota to go pound sand, but can he say that to TQ and Charles?
@LMR, I’m not ruling out rape/murder and/or outside children with this lot, but unless he has a criminal liability, he should just come clean. However, they have spent DECADES deceiving the mass at large about his elegant character. 😒
I’m with you LMR. It’s hard to believe he’s done anything so scandalous that he couldn’t come back from it. I think it’s also possible they don’t have anything on him and the reason he plays nice with them is because they can write negative stories about him and make his life hell forever.
@LMR I think that’s due to a failing of PR on the part of the palace. I don’t think anyone here thinks he actually killed someone (jokes about a body near Anmer notwithstanding) and while an illegitimate child would be scandalous for the BRF (not so much for Monaco, ha), it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
but most of the things that it could be (drug use, affairs) could be handled pretty well with minimal damage. Imagine a nice, softball interview, with William and Kate there holding his hand, as he talks about his experiences with addiction and how hard it has been for him and his family and how Kate helped him survive it and they realized the importance of proper support throughout all of life and it has made him more committed to making a difference and helping others.
But the palace has a “failure of imagination” as Lacey put it last week and that even extends to this.
@ Cecilia, I respectfully disagree. Harry’s attendance to this event was more important than having the rota 🐀🐀 and KP had absolutely no other way of getting out of this than to give in to Harry’s team. Notice how the Fail says “Harry’s team”. It means (at least to me) that prince Harry is no longer communicating with the palaces directly, only through his lawyers, reps and spokes people. This leaves a lot of paper trail, receipts and evidence of all communication, which means if they screw Harry up and have the rota 🐀🐀 pack there, Harry isn’t attending next time they need him to, and IMVHO, the palaces can’t risk that now. And there are still many more times Harry is gonna be needed to be present to some of these events, regardless of what the rota 🐀🐀 claim, these palaces need Harry much more than he needs them, so they’re doing everything, going out of their way to accommodate him. I’m thinking there are really reasonable fears of what more Harry might spill and at this point the palaces are treading very very carefully with him. Thats why I strongly believe that even if William wanted the rota there, there was no way he could make it happen. William might hate the tabloid media but he needs them more than he hates them so no, his hate for the press had nothing to do with the decision to ban them.
@babsorig: if they were treading carefully with harry they would leave his wife TF alone. They clearly aren’t.
If it happens the way you say, Babs, it means they might have learned something from their uniform debacle. Once bitten, twice shy?
@Cecilia, Harry’s attendance was more important than William attendance. This whole thing hinged on Harry, not on William, being in attendance. William could have been there with all his wives and children, allowed the royal 🐀🐀 to be there in droves, it still would have been a big fat flop because on this very event Harry is the star that everyone is desperate to have there. Therefore, William had no choice, his tantrums and demands on this particular occasion had no impact. Harry gave them two choices “no rota🐀🐀, he attends” or” rota 🐀🐀 attend and he’s out”, and on this particular event, the palace chose Harry over the rota🐀🐀, its that simple.
@Lady D. absolutely, from here forward the family is being very careful. Notice how they handled the chuck annual report and how careful they were with their wording and their spokes people saying that what Harry and the report were saying was exactly the same thing except said differently. The tabloids attempted to twist it to make Harry a liar but that went nowhere and the palaces refrained from feeding into the story which killed it pretty quickly. They were afraid of Harry dropping receipts and thus damaging Charles image even more. So, yeah, I believe this was Harry’s shot to call.
Yes, I agree 100%. It’s weird the way the media presents Harry – like because he’s not a working royal and because he lives in the US now (granted 14 bedrooms), he’s suddenly become a middle-class dad who mows the lawn on Saturdays and pines for the old days the rest of the week. Harry’s an international celebrity, he was one before Meghan and that status has only increased since. So yeah, he’s going to have a team – lawyers, PR, financial advisors, security team, the whole 9 yards – it’s a different kind of royalty and the RF will have to get used to it.
It also appears Kate was reduced to the status of RR in terms of Harry attending. Haha. Glad to hear it. It turns my stomach to see those pictures of Kate looking hungrily at Harry. Barf.
@Babsorig I think that’s quite a stretch. This is a Spencer family event, not anything to do with the royals. I don’t think they have some secret agenda to make this a big success for their own image. For the people who actually care about Diana and the statue unveiling, it’s going to be a success either way.
Most people are just watching to see what happens next in the William vs Harry saga. Harry attending is as much of a story as Harry not attending.
The royals have shown they aren’t really bothered by what Harry might say or do next. They’re still pushing forward with the Meghan bullying claims and they’re still putting stories out about fighting back. They’re not treading carefully at all.
@GraceB, dream and argue all you want but the Spencers call no shots, nada, zilch none. This is a Harry and William event, it is their mother being commemorated, and she had ceased to be a “Spencer” long long time before she even passed. What the Spencer family want (or don’twant) is irrelevant where Diana’s statue is concerned, her sons and her sons only call all the shots. And if Harry’s attendance or absence made no difference? There wouldn’t have been this much obsession with him being there. I stand by every word I already said, Harry was/is the star that KP et al. are desperate to have there, they’re doing everything to make that happen. Yes, that includes chucking the rota 🐀🐀 and keeping Harry.
@GraceB – If they were not bothered by what Harry says they wouldn’t be going into overdrive trying to outdo him and continue to smear his wife. They got rid of Jason Knauf. They tried to pass the bullying claims into some third party to make them go away; they are going ahead with them because Meghan and her lawyers are the ones who insisted.
@Babsorig, They’re running endless stories about Harry being there because people keep clicking them. I respect your opinion but I just see it differently. I don’t think William or Harry are the stars of the show individually. It’s about the good guy vs bad guy dynamic, and regardless of what either of them do, it’s going to create a story. In fact the more tension there is, the more stories they can create. Happily ever after might seem lovely but then the news gets pretty boring.
kudos to harry for putting his foot down on barring the UK press. i do believe it was his call; and of course the palace “capitulated” because the royal family also hate the press. it’s just that unlike harry, they’re not in a position to challenge the press. they have to keep playing footsies with them. in this case, they’re letting harry take the blame, because of course they are.
the palace is now under pressure to trade some other red meat to the press. hence, the latest meghan smears, and more to come in the week ahead doubtless.
You would think that Harry would demand the ending of the smears against Meghan would also be used as leverage for him attending this event and others. But the smears never stop. How do you think he will handle this issue?
@chrissy the smears will not stop nomatter what the sussexes do or say. the royals are spiralling, and h&m are the red meat/sacrificial lambs to the media, in part to divert attention from the firm’s own shortcomings.
my impression is that as hurt and angry as h&m may be, i think they do really want to just move on with their lives and work. whether peace is ever achieved, imo right now that ball is mostly in the windsor’s court. i suspect one day the sussexes may be forced to go nuclear with receipts and names if the firm keeps pushing it, though they may only do so after the queen is gone, if the feud lasts as long.
i think what harry and meghan doing in terms of handling the family and the press, though it may at times seem passive, is actually prudent in the long run. selective and minimal engagement. they’re playing the long game. they have a lot of support worldwide, a beautiful family, and tons of projects in the pipeline; meanwhile the windsors are self-destructing.
harry will get through this week graciously, as always. then, whatever nonsensical stories come out in the days ahead will be thwarted (by omid possibly) when he gets back to cali.
h&m said what they had to say (about how the firm works, the invisible contract, etc) back in march, and for anyone who still doesn’t get it that’s their problem. the media and others will continue to misrepresent and bash h&m, but some of us know what’s *really* going on here.
some have suggested they get on social media already to combat the misinformation. for what it’s worth, i think they will get back on SM eventually, but i don’t think it should have to fall to them to fight every bit of mistruth put there. the tabloids can play that game all day (they are desperate for engagement from h&m), but the sussexes cannot and should not play ball.
I believe that Harry did put his foot down to avoid the uk media circus and to keep the event focussed on Diana. I also believe that its him and not William that requested Kate not attending for the same reason. Beside his grandmother and family members he is friend with, I dont think, in the short terms, he tries anymore to repair bridges with his brother and father. The Oprah interview was for sure to get the story straight, but also to put in the open what’s wrong. The response from the BRF clearly tells the Sussex to not waste time there.
A rogue thought here: maybe THIS was their “real” tribute to Diana, whom the press hounded literally to death. What a way to honor her: refuse them the “last” picture of her and her sons.
Just a random thought…. 😊
It’s a beautiful thought.
@(TheOG) Jan90067 l 100% agree with you. This is their real tribute to Diana and is all Harry the only one with real leadership.
So- who will be in attendance to hear their remarks ? Diana’s friends and families? Representatives of charities she favored? The boys’ friends?
Happy for both men there won’t be a million flashbulbs- and I read that somewhere above – forgot the writer sorry- that this could be to honor Diana, the no scrum of press, and I love that.
A peaceful quiet tribute, in a peaceful quiet place, with a peaceful quiet ceremony.
It is quite a tribute for a woman hounded yo her death.
@ Virginia, you hit the nail on the head!! The Monarchy needs Harry more than he needs them, and it was probably established at the beginning that the royal rats 🐀 of bullies and basta$td$ where alway off of the table.
Also, FFQC Keen will make some sort of effort to show up, as when they are preparing to leave. Kween peacemaker will sashay her way into the group, with her enormous teeth, looking like a hyena laughing all the way into the group. Kween will certainly try to gate crash the reception, you can bet on it! She has worked too hard, including the witch CarolE, is cementing her place in history.
At least from Harry, that is my thought and they are seriously trying to do the same thing to his wife. No, they cannot be there. Were those the same pack who photographed Diana as she laid dying?
Maybe it goes higher up than Kensington? This isn’t a royal event, but I wonder if the Queen had something to do with it. The Lacey excerpts, dueling leaks between Will and Kate, the craziness over Lilibet, etc. – this isn’t making the monarchy look good. I wonder if this isn’t a bit of a wrist slap to the media, and also to Will and Kate.
Eurydice, I hope that’s the case. Couple that with her visit with Harry and maybe TQ is sending a message. I wasn’t surprised that the tabloids won’t be there, because this is not a royal event. H&M made it very clear that they would not work with them in the future when they announced they were stepping back. I believe this was H saying he wouldn’t attend if the tabloids were there. It honors their mother, too, by keeping out the people who hounded her to her death.
It also draws a line in the sand. In future, H&M will not be playing the tabloids’ games if they go to visit the charities where they are patrons . They’re sending a message to the tabloids, too. You gotta luv it!
I’ve been wondering the same thing, Eurydice. It does seem like someone realized the unyielding onslaught in the tabloids was not the best look, and that this unveiling is the last chance for the family to change the narrative before the lead-up to the jubilee, since Philip’s funeral was a disaster.
It is curious that the instant Prince William crossed the line with that “merciless woman” quote (which was not picked up by other papers, when does that happen??), not only have all the negative stories stopped, but all royal stories entirely as Matt Hancock’s affair has suddenly broken wide even though someone there had been sitting on the story for at least a month or two. Lots of interesting “coincidences” popping up around this.
W.O.R.D.
Your comment brings to mind Lucy Ricardo after she isn’t invited to take part in one of Desi’s revues or to meet a celebrity.
Kate approaching the unveiling from behind a potted plant? Disguised as one of the gardeners?
Lol
@Euridyce: You got it- Kate in coveralls, a hat, and a fake mustache!
Maybe KP is finally realizing they have to get away from the ‘Angry William’ ‘Keen Peacemaker’ trope. But, and it’s a big but, PWT has to find a way to stop looking like the original thundercloud in public. Also, no Sussexes and everyone’s bored—cue the PWT shady gardener stories—they were never going to stay under the rug anymore than his father’s tampon dreams.
Wait— what gardener stories?
Rose gardening 😀
@Me If somebody in KP was realizing the need to get away from constantly enraged TOB image, they won’t be spilling Will’s “that bloody woman” and likewise quotes…
I just don’t know what to think.
Yea, KP realizing the error of their ways would never, ever happen unless someone had actual, physical evidence about wrongdoing on the part of KP or the cambridges and they were made to stand down from the smear campaign or have their dirt revealed (in other words, someone blackmailing them into behavior, that’s the only type of communication those goons would understand).
This feels like someone else put their foot down in a way that hasn’t happened thus far in the entirety of the Sussex saga, and the only people that would be able to pull rank in this way over KP are Charles or the Queen herself.
I hope the day or whatever PWT spends with the Queen and Princess Anne, the Queen hands him his and his wife’s behind on a platter and if he so much as tries to open his mouth Princess Anne is like boy shut your mouth and listen. A nice cuff to have the ear too! 😂😂😂😂😎
It’s a nice touch that a large media swarm will be denied access, given how they chased Diana literally to her death.
@truthiness, this was my exact thought, let the woman have something away from the shouts and camera flashes
We got a few days to go, you never know, maybe she’ll pop in for some keen peacemaking
Or get papped wearing Harvard sweater and bicycle shorts leaving the gym.
She’ll make her presence known some how. I’m guessing she’ll do what she did after Meg’s umbrella moment but dressed like Diana as @alexandria said.
Nice touch
I keep saying she will pop up with Diana’s wedding dress on frothing at the mouth about there are three people in her marriage, Keen, Will and Harry and she’s happy for that trouple to continue if only “someone” would stop messing with her plans by existing.
If she doesn’t attend, I’m sure we will get endless spinning from Middleton Court that ‘poor Kate is horribly exhausted from the endless and overwhelming work on her part in ‘just getting Harry there’. All that behind-the-scenes, unsung and selfless effort has just left poor FFQ Kate simply too exhausted to make an appearance……yada…yada….yada. The other big ‘Middleton feed’ will be that poor ‘Kate felt this successful and time consuming diplomacy was much more important than her being there. And, so Kate is honoring Diana by making this about Diana and her two sons, rather than pulling focus on her buttons and her exhaustion.
In reality….I think if Kate is not there it will because William decided she would not attend. This has nothing to do with Harry.
All of those things, lowcountrylady. Also, def do not think Harry dictated that Kate not be there. However, would not be surprised to see articles hinting that Kate isn’t going bc Meghan couldn’t go, like it’s meghan’s fault or something. Nothing explicit but snide hints bc they will denigrate her whenever possible.
Kate isnt going because there’s no press to capture her icon moment. That is all.
Lowcountry Lady, I wonder if she won’t be at the statue unveiling and not going to Scotland, because the Firm decided she had grossly overstepped at Phillip’s funeral. The funeral should have been about TQ and Phillip’s & TQ’s children. Instead, it was all about Duchess Keen Kant. Also, I think she didn’t just embarrass herself during the roundtable with Dr. Biden. She embarrassed the Firm. If ever there was a defining moment for the Firm to realize that K just is not up to the role of Queen Consort, that was it. Do we think she will ever improve after all of this time?
TQ and Anne going to Scotland with W makes me think they’re going to try and teach him soft diplomacy skills.
Yep, I agree. Kate will try to spin it that she was the key to it all behind the scenes, and showed how gracious she is to (1) allow William and Harry alone time, and (2) not overshadow Diana with her own fabulousness.
And also that the reality is William doesn’t want her there.
@LowcountryLady, I agree* that Harry has nothing to do with the call of Kate being there or not. My guess is, if she doesn’t attend, we’ll have a full photo shoot of her and the children, maybe having a picnic or gardening in front of Forget-Me-Nots.
@Saucy&Sassy, I agree that William attending with TQ and Anne is interesting and not a coincidence. You may be right about soft diplomacy skills if it weren’t for the timing of everything. So yes, the Queen and Anne have a chance to drill into him the importance of him NOT acting a fool on Thursday/in general, but IMO the key here is that this means KP (and Kate) are without their leader for days. If ever there was a time to confront KP/Kate outside of William’s influence, it’s now.
*[dons tinfoil tiara] the only way I could see that being the case is if Harry has definitive, physical evidence of wrongdoing on Kate’s part (either leaking to the media, private harassment of Meghan, etc) and has told William that either she stays away or he stops protecting them. Very farfetched, I know, which just shows how much I think this was NOT Harry’s decision.
Sunday, oooohhh, I hadn’t thought about the opportunity presented without W’s presence at KP. Maybe there’s going to be TQ and Anne working on W, and who knows who (PC) working on KP and Katie Keen. I think it’s going to be a very interesting week. Maybe it will give us some hints. Good catch!
Maybe this is the week Kate is moving into her Bucklebury dowager house and with the Queen and William in Scotland and Harry hiding out at Frogmore, Kate will be settling into her new digs with most of the media attention elsewhere.
I think Harry set the parameters for his presence and that was no Kate and no royal rota. Maybe there is one sliver of decency left in William that felt Harry had to be there for their mother’s sake and he should do anything to make that happen.
As far as Kate is concerned, she’s obviously feeding Camila Tominey information (and other rota) and Toerag and company are desperate to get their operative in there.
If there was any doubt that sure is gone now due to this whole “kate is/is not attending” saga. Camilla Tominey was the first to break that kate wouldn’t be there
Ct “broke” meg made kate cry
CT broke the news that meg and harry were dating
Its very easy to conclude where ct gets her news from.
As was already mentioned, I don’t believe Harry dictated any terms surrounding Kate’s absence. It was all William. Harry probably would have been annoyed by all of her peacemaker games but he knows how to put on a game face; William can’t even grin and bear it anymore. Kate not going is all William; the press would’ve dragged Harry if it was his call. William is benching Kate because he’s tired of her. I 100% believe Harry dictated the press terms. The fact that KP allowed it means that Harry was really needed there
Maybe William is starting to tire of the leaks to CT from the Middletons, hence why one of the biggest leakers isn’t allowed to attend.
The royal rota are seething. It’s meant to be a Spencer’s focused event not royal family event so no obligation for the rota to be included. Someone still seems to be campaigning for Kate to be there on Thursday though so I wouldn’t be surprised to see her there. But according to the Times the Cambridge family may do a private visit to the unveiling so sure the rota will still get their pictures.
And yes the Middletons are obvious sources for Camilla. I remember reading that her & Victoria Arbiter were guests at Pippa’s wedding.
Abritguest
Kate will have her photo op with her children.
Probably no William.
Slaps forehead, of course they will do a private visit to get the pictures in. She will be able to wear her Diana cosplay, they get the happy (legit) Diana grandchildren and legacy picture, press is happy and Kate gets the attention. I think camera clks and pictures count as coin to Kate.
Kate and the kids will arrive an hour or so after the official ceremony is over to get her photos taken. That way, she appears in the reporting of the event and most people will assume she was naturally there. If for some reason, they are one step ahead of her and she is told not to do that on the same day, then we will see a random Kate appearance sometime soon to make up for the exclusion. Upcoming surprise photo may include George, as a reminder of her position.
Yeah that makes sense as a consolation prize for both Kate and the rota. But poor William might be in Scotland, so the private visit pics might just be Kate and the kids…
Jais
It’s to Kate’s benefit if William is not in the pics. Just more of Kate carrying the load of working royal, future consort, mom of 3 married with an absentee husband. That can be spun into great sympathy.
Hmm good point @ wiglet watcher. If there is truly a divorce, or a separation made public, there is a new image to lean into for sympathy. It sometimes seems like Kate and her mother have cultivated many friends in the press, which they will need if it does go down that way.
While the media pretends Kate can be a peacemaker despite no evidence, they conveniently forget that Harry witnessed Kate snubbing his wife openly at the commonwealth service and that was after a year of her permitting the false crying story to remain uncorrected, despite Meghan having suicidal ideation. Harry is not going to forgive that and these actions are as personal against his wife as compared to anything William might have done. We don’t even know of William made any of his comments about the bullying stuff to Meghan. But we do know that Kate has directly been a bitch to Meghan. It’s really dumb to think that Harry is ever going to forget Kate’s part in this.
But it remains interesting that William is not going to push for Kate to be there even if Harry does have objections. It fits with her missing from the Father’s Day event.
I don’t know if Harry cared about Kate being there or not.
But I think it’s clear the decision for her not being there was William’s – if it was Harry’s, if he said “my wife’s not there, your wife isn’t going to be there either) we 100% would have heard that from CT – that Harry refused to allow Kate attend. That makes Kate look like a victim. The Midds absolutely would want that info out there.
This is coming from William IMO regardless of how Harry May feel about her.
(My guess is we will see her wave from the door of KP or something).
@nic919: im starting to notice that kate has been “benched” a lot lately. Like I mentioned above
-she was a no show at the fathers day thing.
– she’s not going on the Scotland tour, despite her doing a better job than william on the previous one
– and now she (apparently) won’t be at the statue unveiling. When ct first broke this story i thought that if she wasn’t going it might have been because harry didn’t want her there, but im starting to think more and more that it was indeed william.
@cecilia exactly. Factor in the house hunting stories……and things don’t look good for the future queen and her husband.
A lot of these actions are happening a few weeks maybe a month after we started discussing how William PR and Kate PR has been diverging. And the Middleton PR has been extreme, with the peacemaker, lynchpin, revolutionary nonsense, so clearly they have been trying to create a narrative that the brothers need Kate.
I think this really started once we were told by Emily Andrews that the zooms were moving to Sandringham from Anmer for no discernible reason. (Well outside of William living there now but no one will say that).
Really if you trace the actions from there you have the many steps of a couple separating. First the husband finds a temporary place to stay, in this case his grandma has a home near the one where the kids are at. Next you hear talk of shopping for a home near the mother’s family. And now you are seeing them not together at events that would normally have both of them. Like Father’s Day. Or the Scotland tour.
Even the earlier Scotland tour only had Kate there for a portion of the time. It was likely William didn’t want her there for the whole thing.
@nic I know the Sussex squad hates EA but we all need to remember that she’s not a fan of the Cambridge’s either. IIRC she was one of the ones who blasted them for the India tour and I think she called them out for the whole “william not working but partying in Switzerland” incident.
I think she’s one of the ones who knows more than she’s allowed to say and it really ticks her off. For example she never had had to tell us that they were zooming from Sandringham. We just would have assumed it was a different room at Anmer.
It’s like some of the RRs are leaving breadcrumbs that they desperately want others to pick up on and follow.
I reckon it was William’s decision. I think right now he can hardly bear to look at her, and he can’t have liked all the bigging up of Kate in the press lately, which has all clearly come from the Middleton camp (“future Queen Kate and her husband William” indeed!).
And after all, this is a private family event. Kate never knew Diana and had no involvement in this project. The only reason she’d be there would be to support William, and it would appear that on this occasion he doesn’t need or want her support. The thought of her turning up in some Diana tribute outfit, twirling her hair extensions and grinning like a maniac, is pretty ghastly.
That said, her non-appearance does raise questions, so I’d expect Camp Middleton to be lobbying hard behind the scenes in the coming week.
I think the Spencer family had a lot of say in the decision to ban the RRs, and possibly Kate as well. The last thing they want is to cater to a pack of wolves shouting at them and flashbulbs going off – something that would only trigger traumatic memories of the crash. They want and deserve to hold this event with privacy, dignity and gravitas. Kate would clearly be playing to the photogs with some new Diana cosplay outfit and jewels and try to make it all about “I’m the peacemaker guys!!”
@Cecilia Even on their Twitter page the picture used for Will’s birthday was a press shot and not one of Kate’s special photos. Also the one used for Father’s day was from 2019 and not a recent photo of Will and the children like she normally does. If they are together much as a family, you would expect more recent photos.
The Royal Rota carnival clowns are seething with fury. They were shunned. They caused Princess Diana’s death, so their presence is not at all welcome. Good call by Prince Harry. In the same token, Kate is filled with intense anger for not being invited to one of the most important events in her husband’s life. She just lost the opportunity to show off and behave affectedly as if she’s God’s gift to humanity. Good call by Prince William.
I was patiently anticipating Kaiser to drop this story.
I LOVE the rejections on both fronts.
1) Royal 🐀 got rude awakening, they no longer have the power they thought they did
2) Keen better start seeing the writing on the wall. The pain and harm she caused to Meghan is all coming back to her, ten fold. The public humiliation is just the beginning.
I’m here for ALL of it.
Me too, I can’t wait for this chick to be humiliated on a global scale , the sooner the better. If Willy comes out with a hotter, more poised side chick even better , it just shows how small and inadequate she is. With any luck she is will get a shack in the country and get to see her kids when they aren’t shilling for the BRF.
I thought this was a Spencer family event and not a Royal one?
Or because it’s at Kensington Palace it automatically becomes a Royal Event?
I’m sure the Spencers put their combined feet down and refused to have the rota rats there too. Between Harry and Diana’s family, William didn’t stand a chance.
I agree Jaded. This is a Spencer family event, not Windsor. Harry and Diana’s family held the upper hand.
I’m surprised Kate is not going. But I’ve heard there’s going to be a “bigger” event in September and I can see Kate + the kids, along with Diana’s nieces and nephews going to that one (if said event is happening). And I’m more surprised that William said “okay no rota”. I don’t have any theories about that either but as someone said above, maybe there’s a slither of decency still left in William.
But it’s making me laugh how the press hyped this statue up and it turns out they won’t even have front row tickets to it. Although I’m sure they’ll be briefed plenty before, during and after.
I don’t think William had no choice but to agree. Nobody actually cared if William was there because all of the speculation was about Harry. Harry needed to show up because as much as they like to call him irrelevant, they know he is the star and aways has been. I also think William agreed because if Harry didn’t show, than he would have to bring Kate. It would have been really strange if it was just William there. It really seems like he can’t stand being around her anymore.
They can be briefed , but have still been shut out completely , which is magnificent. They can eat, but not at the table 😂😂
I’m sure they’re still in shock, never saw it coming at all.
Top picture with Karen and Kevin looking at Harry, it looks like he is ripping into them about their behavior towards Meghan. Cause he was dating Megs back then. Also 5th thumb nail picture in, Karen keen is definitely looking at Harry and it looks like he is looking at her , however if you zoom in, he isn’t , he is looking pass her
Considering she was hounded to her death by the press… yeah, i can see why they are not welcome. But they are going to be so pissed at being refused access.
I wonder if Kate even cares to go since the RRs were blocked.
Also not sure who the one photographer will be. Possibly not Chris Jackson and thus no photoshopped glamour shots. So really what’s the point then?
Lol imagine she could go and she tried putting her hands around both brothers. I’d swat her hand off if I’m Harry.
My theory is that someone pointed out to William how shady it would be to have loads of press at the unveiling of a statue of a woman who was literally killed while being chased by loads of press. It wouldn’t have been a good look for William.
Meh, the press covered her funeral, the serpentine memorial, the concert for Diana, etc.
If anyone realized the press being there wasn’t appropriate it was Harry, not anyone from the palace side of things.
It was reported that the rota is not invited because prince Harry said he is no longer a working royal and will no longer participate in the rota press thingy (can’t remember what exactly they call it). It wasn’t William’s nor KP’s call.
The rumored September event is probably payment for the rota for not being there. The press always needs to be satisfied.
Like someone else said, it’s another excuse to get Harry back into the country for money making pictures and content. Every 90 days or so, another event Harry needs to attend as a matter of honour.
Poor Glue won’t be able to flirt with Harry 🤣 and the rats barred from attending is chef’s kiss. Love you Harry ❤️ even more.
PS: I think Keen Guevara not coming is from Mr Incandescent.
Well, I suppose if the rota won’t be there to capture and photoshop Kate guffawing and grinning between the two grieving brothers, what’s the point?
If we’re lucky, maybe some enterprising photographer might be “fortunate” enough to “catch” Kate out shopping in full 80’s drag, carrying a bunch of handpicked flowers (from her own garden!) and a giant card for “Granny Diana”.
If William really wanted the royal reporters there, they would be. Maybe he’s glad of an excuse to stand up to them (and then blame Harry for being difficult). Is this your king?
LOL, why do I get an image of Meghan’s horrible half-sister leaving a note at the Kensington gate?
You forgot a few jars of honey, which she makes 🤣🤣.
I literally am 🤣🤣 so hard.
I think William didn’t want a repeat of what happened at the funeral were Kate made sure it was about her. Agreeing to Harry’s request is a tricky one, William has agreed to play the game but I think deep down he would prefer the royal rota wasn’t there. Blaming it on Harry ensures that the press doesn’t go after him. I also think the Queen’s tour of Scotland was set up to pacify the press who would have been angry to be banned from the statue unveiling. The royal rota expected to be at that event so KP will be briefing against Harry and Meghan in the lead up to the unveiling. In fact it has already started with the piece in the Daily Mail yesterday.
TQ is traditionally in Scotland at this time of year, based at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, usually for the better part of a week. Anne has accompanied her before (as has Andrew). She skipped it last year because of the pandemic. In years past there’s been a large garden party, investiture ceremonies, etc. which for good reason apparently won’t take place this year, plus her visit will be a couple of days shorter than usual.
TQ may have ulterior motives for being happy she’s going to Scotland right now (and with William), but it’s what she’s always done and wasn’t set up just to pacify the press.
I know about the Royal week in Scotland but there’s still a pandemic going on. She had a valid excuse not to have it this year. There are no such things as coincidence in the Royal Family and no doubt it was scheduled for the same week of the statue unveiling to take the pressure off William. The royal rota is obligated to follow royal events and the statue unveiling is really not one so putting the tour at the same means they can’t complain about being banned from the unveiling.
It’s scheduled for the same time it has always been in previous years – very end of June/very beginning of July. In 2019, it was 6 days from 6/28 through 7/3. It just so happens that Diana’s birthday on 7/1 falls in that same timeframe.
I don’t think TQ wants a valid excuse to skip it. I think she’s happy she can do it. She’s a creature of habit – has done other events the past few months despite the ongoing pandemic, and Holyrood week has been a very big deal, going back many years. There were 10,000 people at the last garden party in 2019. It’s a mark of respect for Scotland and the Scottish people, especially important in the current political/economic circumstances. That IMO would be her major ulterior motive, as is having William accompany her, if only for a day, after his dismal showing on the recent tour with Kate.
She may also be demonstrating that despite recent rumors about her hearing, state of mind, etc., she’s still in reasonably good health and capable of doing what she’s traditionally done. (At least for now; she must be fully aware that any year could be the last time she’s able to make the trip.)
I really don’t think the statue unveiling figures prominently in her plans.
I don’t know if the scotland tour is enough to satisfy the press as all eyes will be on the statue unveiling. Even if its the queen that goes on tour. Which is why its rumored that another event involving the diana statue will take place in September. With the rota there so that they can get their money shot and kate in full diana cosplay regalia.
The Queen has a perfectly valid reason to be in Scotland. But it is interesting that William is going for even part of it when he has never done so before AFAIK and he was just in Scotland last month. Also interesting that Kate isn’t invited.
Edward going without Sophie or something? NBD. But considering all the other pieces of the puzzle……yeah, it’s interesting.
A person who HAS done the Holyrood/Scotland trip before is Andrew – he was there in at least 2018 and 2019 (Philip was still going through 2017). He’s not going to be anywhere near this event, ever again, especially not now.
So William’s presence may serve more than one purpose.
The Queen and other members of the RF have a week in Scotland at this time of year anyway – for at least the last 50 years. William is only going for a day I think and it is also about Scottish independence. I read he will be visiting Scotland more frequently.
A poll issued today though says the majority of Scots want to keep them.
A better way to mark her respect for the Scottish people would be by not putting all of them at risk by holding unnecessary large gatherings in their country.
Ha ha – the Middleton PR stunting to make him let her go has blown up on the faces as many of us on here predicted. They were trying to make this event about Kate and how she is not only the saviour of the Monarchy but is the only person who can mend the broken Wales brothers relationship. She’s been slapped down.
As for the RR not going, interesting but I suspect that this has come from Harry – there will likely be press there but handpicked and their content will be pooled to the media.
I expect the Middletons to come out swinging over this – watch out for more Diana cosplaying and stories about how SHE pulled out as she didn’t want the press to be about her. Yeah right!
Good call! I can see it now: “I didn’t want all eyes to be on me”, admitted the Duchess, displaying that shy smile so reminiscent of her dearly departed Mother-in-law. Kate, it has been said, unlike some haughty American actresses, has always displayed good taste and now that she is finally blossoming into womanhood at 40, is beginning to understand what will be required of her in her upcoming reign. “She’s never put a foot wrong, and as the future Queen has been a constant source of support for her husband, what’s his face”, revealed a senior Middleton family member.
Perfect!
Ok, Jay…. ‘fess up. How long have you been a part of the Rat Pack??
(Joking 😊. But that was pitch perfect!)
hahahahahaha, love it!!
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼➕💯, JAY.
Sounds like the very limited press set up will be similar to what Harry did when he announced Archie’s birth (by the stables), and when he and Meghan gave us the first view of Archie a couple of days after he was born.
In fact, if it’s true there’s supposed to be a larger event in September with many more attendees, which would undoubtedly include the full complement of RR (as well as cosplay Kate), I can see Harry skipping that one.
Yes, now the stories around Kate make sense, don’t they? William said no to Kate going so Middleton PR sent up a test balloon in the first CT story “Kate might not attend” to gauge reaction.
William still said ‘nope’.
So then they went with the whole Kate has seen the statue “evolve from its conception and now to the finished article and undoubtedly wants to be there to support her husband.”
William said “what part of nope didn’t you understand?”
So now we have “Just to confirm Kate definitely isn’t coming because it’s a small, private event with numbers limited”
Seriously though – this isn’t good for Kate is it? If this marriage was solid she should absolutely be considered as part of the ‘private’ ceremony, no? If Mr Hench was whacking up a statue to my mother-in-law, I’d be pretty upset if he told me he didn’t want me there.
While not a Royal event, it is a family event, so if Kate doesn’t attend it really says a lot about who William considers family.
While Meghan has a good reason to not be there, it really is tougher to explain why Kate wouldn’t be there.
Which is why I still think she will end up there somehow. If not, it’s a really bad sign about the state of their marriage.
Agree with everything you said @Hench! The nope timeline that played out and still she is not going. And yeah even with a scaled down invite, there is no reason a wife could not attend to support her husband unless he doesn’t want her there. It was put out in the press that Kate wanted to support her husband but he still said nope.
@nic919- it would be something if she somehow still managed to attend but literally think she’d have to land the helicopter in the garden herself at this point. However, if she does surprise show up after all this, that would be interesting.
They might have a photo op with Kate all dressed up in front of a computer with all three children “at home watching” the service about Diana’s statue. Grinning away.
Perfect comment Hench!
Yeah, Kate not being allowed to attend after such a strong campaign to get an invite is telling. The divorce is imminent imo. This is cementing a visible separation from William and his family from Kate.
I think this is why the Kate stans are freaking out that she won’t be there. She isn’t as valuable as she wants us to believe. I know it’s a Spencer family event but it IS odd that she isn’t invited. More proof that their marriage is basically over.
@Hench Excellent points. Also, Kate attended the last private memorial for Diana with William. It was the one at Althorp that Meg couldn’t attend. The fact that she isn’t attending is a big deal because why would this be different? Something is afoot, even if it doesn’t mean a divorce is happening soon. Their separate lives might start becoming more official, unofficially and Kate seems to be caught off guard about it.
Think you nailed Kate’s public attempts and William’s private responses, HENCH. I also think your thoughts on what this says about the Cambridge’s relationship is spot on, NIC919.
@JT that is an excellent point of comparison between the last private memorial for Diana including Kate, and this one excluding her. It’s not a good sign. My husband would never exclude me from a personal event for his family, ever. If a year from now, the Cambridges’ marriage is publically in the bin, we will look back to this time, not long after the ten-year anniversary, as the public start of the planned conscious uncoupling. The events are starting to pile up. Yes, we posters here tend toward the view that there is no love for Kate coming from Will, and we will err on the side of seeing things that way. But we got to that position by seeing things plainly, and sensing in our gut that there is something wrong.
@Harper Something is definitely happening behind the scenes and as we have been saying, Kate and co are caught off guard. This will probably be a pivotal moment if they, William, go through with a divorce. William gong with the queen to Scotland after he was just there is interesting as well. It’s reminiscent of the heirs only photo that the firm put out to “remind Harry of his place” so to speak. This looks like a sign to the Middletons that William is the lynchpin, which he is, because he’s the future king. Maybe payback for “Queen Kate and her husband Prince William.” It looks they are closing ranks.
@JT – ooh, completely forgot about the Althorp ceremony – yes, v good comparison point of how things have changed between Kate and William from then to now.
And also @ Wiglet Watcher – your line “This is cementing a visible separation from William and his family from Kate.” hit me because a) yes it is but it also occurred to me as I read it that b) the other big line we have been fed repeatedly over the years is that the Middletons are Will’s family more than the royals. Now we have a supposedly ‘private, family’ event which cements Will’s separation from ALL the Middletons. Remember when we had those weird stories around Philip’s funeral that Carole was going to need to be there for William?? What a message to send to Ma Middleton on this statue unveiling. “No Carole – keen Diana fan that you are, not only will you NOT be there – even though it is perfectly within my power to make it happen – but even your daughter/my wife will not be allowed either.”
Wooo-eee. Sounds to me that all the cheese on toast in the world is not going to fix this.
Explains the uncle saying “Kate must be queen NOW DAMMIT!!!”
I will also add that if we get a lot of stories prior to Thursday of either Harry or Meghan being the reason why Kate isn’t attending then we know for sure she won’t be there.
Of course it’s William who decided this. And the comparison to Althorp was apt, especially as Meghan was excluded that time for just being a girlfriend even though they were weeks away from announcing the engagement.
Hench
It’s so easy to forget William was once called “Bill Middleton” for being so close to them. Helping them purchase their house. Carole cooking for them. Stories about moving into KP and AH. Vacations together. And possibly styling them.
Now, we have all those Future Queen Kate And her husband stories. Tons of stuff belittling William. Those were desperate last breaths imo from the Midds.
Megan and Kate have never met Diana though. So if they had to limit it to like 10 then wouldn’t it make sense to save the spots for the people who actually knew her?
The guest list was pared down and I don’t believe the ffqc ever met Diana so she should not take the place of someone who loved Diana. Also I suppose cutting out the rr allows for more guests.
Be on the lookout for a new buttony coat dress and hat that you can be sure ffqc ordered for this event.
Look for new jewelry. She won’t let them get away with something as “cheap” as a bespoke buttoned dress.
While she might’ve worn *something* of Diana’s (other than the ever present ring), you KNOW she’d have to wear an expensive necklace (with Diana’s earrings), or expensive new earrings (with a Diana necklace/bracelet)!
I’m telling you, she’ll break out Diana’s iconic sapphire and pearl choker and flounce around with it wearing the ubiquitous Big Blue!
Oh we will see Waity Katey, Queen of Longing and Desperation, tip off the tabloids that she is on her way to Frogmore Cottage for peace negotiations. Pictures of her in her car, headed that way …. but no one will answer the door. Eugene can be heard laughing as they all make faces at her thru the window. New Botox, wearing all of Diana’s jewels and her dressed in a new extra buttons trench, carrying olive branches and roses, her best extensions on display. But seriously, can you imagine if Rose is on this statue committee and we see a glimpse of her in the background? Omg, my imagination this morning is working overtime.
Lol I think Kate would absolutely love to be papped on a drive to frogmore cottage. The stories that image would spin…ugh. Harry might be polite in public but no way would he or Eugenie invite her to frogmore. Now would Kate just show up out of the blue with flowers and a baby gift? Harry is quarantining so she would be forced to just leave the gift at the gate for all to see and photograph… now my imagination is going too!
Spat out my coffee laughing
…..carrying olive branches and roses, OMG
This was Harry saying that if the press was there he wasn’t going, he has a valid excuse at home after all. Why should Harry want the royal reporters and paparazzi that made his mother’s life difficult at an event dedicated to said mother? We will get new avalanches of negative Meghan coverage with a source close to Baldy to sate the beast.
I really hate the way that Kate has been coopted into the role of “peacemaker.” I have mixed feelings about her. I believe she is complicit, actively so, in the treatment of Meghan. I believe she buys into all of the worst of the “cool girl” “pick me” “all women suck except me (accept me)” idiocy. At the same time, the expectation that she, the woman, make peace between the brothers is ridiculous. Their problems are not of her making. Yes, she contributed to them, but it’s not her job to “solve” their relationship. We have to stop expecting women to be the emotional regulators of men. Kate doesn’t do the job she’s supposed to do. But becoming William and Harry’s family therapist is not anywhere in her job description. It would be even if she were a trained therapist, which she isn’t.
You know, the british press loves to built women up just to tear them down later…….
And not just the British press!!
Kate made herself the so-called peacemaker. SHE’s trying to make herself indispensable to the monarchy and William. Nobody else is calling her the lynchpin or the savior of the crown because it’s ridiculous. Her majesty is holding that entire operation together. That’s all her own PR and she’s setting up herself to fail because she is never and has never been any of those things. She took it upon herself to “solve” problems and ease tensions. She isn’t a therapist to William anymore and she sure as hell wasn’t Harry’s shoulder to cry on. Harry working with the Keens was the worst period in his life by his own admission. Kate is building herself up with the jewel in the crown nonsense and her fake 10 years of research and if she falls, apart of it will be her own fault.
If kate is ever going to fall it will be a very hard one. I doubt it because she’s established good contacts in the media. But im just saying that it would be very easy to make kate the scapegoat and pick her apart if its ever necessary.
Think ‘mother of the future king’ will keep the stories from the press less vicious after her downfall? Make her fall a little softer? I think the mansion, jewels, vacations, child support will all be cold comfort to Kate after the cameras disappear.
And when you have someone like Uncle “Hookers and Blow” mouthing off about all of Keen’s FFQC attributes and how she’s the glue holding the BRF together, well…it’s not exactly high praise from the best source is it. I think the fact that the Middletons haven’t shut him down (and are quite possibly encouraging him) speaks volumes about how desperate they are to keep the lie going that Buttons is doing a great job and is a huge asset to William when, in fact, they’re barely speaking to each other.
“kHate the peacemaker between the brothers” is merely the RottenRota trying to fly a flag. It wont stick anymore than the “finally found her voice” or “the rock of the monarchy” flags tht they keep trotting out hv stuck.
Kate the peacemaker is coming from the Middleton PR so again Kate is using sexist tropes to her benefit as she has done all her life. She’s not a feminist and as long as she has male attention she’s good. She been like this all her life. Her actions then get glorified by the media as a good thing and it ultimately harms women. And this would be very minor if she hadn’t stayed silent after the false story crucifying Meghan remains uncorrected permitting the media to run wild with the angry black woman attacks as she’s aware that Meghan was struggling while pregnant and explicitly asking for help. That’s pretty evil to let that happen to your own sister in law so I really don’t feel bad for her. If karma is coming back to bite her that’s the risk she took when she played this game.
💯💯💯👏👏
It was extremely evil, I have no sympathy at all for Kate, whatever downfall she will experience is of her own doing. You can’t do evil and to that magnitude and expect it to not come back to you. I seriously have so much disgust towards her.
@Lanne, I think a lot of Kate’s “peacemaker” hype comes from the very limited and outdated roles available for women in public roles, none more so than the royal family.
Women are allowed to be “supportive” and “a moderating influence”, helping to soften the images of their husbands, brothers, and fathers. It doesn’t help that Kate has always been sort of a convenient empty vessel for others to label (She’s a hands on Mom! She’s a fashion plate! She’s a nice, middle class girl!).
And, if there is a big battle of the Cambridges brewing, I she might soon find herself auditioning for the role of “overbearing nag who always tried to control William” or “sweet, naive, shy little girl who was just not up to the role”.
That was actually my point! ITA! I wrote more and then erased a paragraph about how crappy it is that in a country with a Queen, that had a woman as PM in 1979, seems so utterly reactionary in the public sphere roles for women. And that those women (Queen, thatcher) were perfectly content to keep the status quo. It’s a sober reminder that women in power cannot be assumed to be allies, and that they can work even harder to support patriarchy than men do. Kate is exhibit A in that regard. And what has that gotten her? The thinnest veneer of “likeability” that can be snatched away at any moment.
In theory Kate is not in a position of power and she never will be. She’s not an elected part of government and at most she will only ever be the spouse of the head of state. In other countries no one ascribes any power to the spouse of the head of state.
I certainly take your point about the Queen, who is the head of state and Thatcher and other women not really using power to help women but benefit the status quo, but Kate really should be irrelevant to discussions of power, just as Philip would have been. And any social power they might have shouldn’t ever be too much.
As for Kate being a peacemaker…. This is something she’s promoted and adopting feminine stereotypes has been something she’s taken part in for over a decade now. We saw the difference with Meghan saying she was a feminist from day one. Kate and Meghan are the same age so why did Kate never say she was a feminist. For someone born in 1982 it is really quite odd how Kate has failed to act like most women her age would act. Instead she’s played up the conservative image, which may work for the older generations (and only a segment of that anyway) but really alienates her from women her own age and younger. Outside of women stuck in a religious cult, most women don’t actually think it’s ok to be as silent as she has. Kate is a version of Serena Joy and yet she’s been praised for it by the establishment UK media. That’s why I have always said that Kate’s projected image for women and their role is in fact far more dangerous than people realize. Women want to be more than just a womb, that remains skinny and pretty for her man.
Women like Kate support patriarchy because it’s those men in power that prop her up, at the expense of other women. Feminists (like Meghan) see women as equal to men and are inspired and uplifted by other powerful women. However women like Kate hate to see other women thrive. They feel they can not compete on the same level and would quite happily life off their husbands money, rather than have a career themselves.
Kate and right wing men have the same thing in common, they want to keep other women down. Kate plays their ideal woman (stays at home in the kitchen) and in exchange they embiggen her to the heavens by proclaiming “this is the ideal woman”.
Kate has proved time and time again she will throw any woman under the bus for her own gain.
I love the last part of this tread, for breaking down and highlighting the key differences between the 2 women, One a force for change and uplift and the other Clinging to the status quo. This is probably the main reason William & kate are not highly regarded with the youth.
I’m going with the theory William doesn’t want Kate there. I think Harry can’t be bothered to interfere with their marriage nor care if she’s there or not. He probably doesn’t respect Kate but he doesn’t care about her presence or absence, which is the best punishment for these egomaniacs.
Yup. He’s been watching this toxic relationship play out for the last 20 years. He can’t be bothered with the two of them and their antics. He’s got his own loving wife and cute kids to focus on.
Another thing, Kate positioning herself as the peacemaker is another attack on Meghan. By doing so, she places herself in the opposite light to Meghan who is being portrayed as the person who broke up the brothers. She’s a terrible person. I think she has had much difficulty in accepting that Harry had his own life to live as William. As I said last week, I think Harry told them he was never going to get married and so they thought he was going to devote his life to them and continue to be a source of protection from the press. That’s why Kate was so angry at the Commonwealth Day Service.
I don’t think Harry told them he was never going to get married and he has always been vocal about wanting his own family. Even the palace expected him to get married, as he and his family were supposed to be apart of the slim down plan. The Keens would’ve been fine if Harry had married a woman even duller and less pretty than Kate, but a woman like Meghan and all of her qualities, on top of her beauty was not expected. So they panicked and here we are.
@JT I totally agree! Spot on! ✔️👌
Harry was always up front about wanting his own family. My theory is that PWT/Buttons and RR always wanted Harry to marry a Fergie 2.0. Jolly Hockey Sticks British Country Girl who would never challenge Button’s role as the glamorous one, could be quietly shoved into her place by PWT, and made fun of by RR. I think they all thought Chessy fit the picture. Buttons was angry when Cressida came on the scene as she was too much competition, and Buttons was probably frosty to her, plus Cressida’s b/g meant she knew more about what she’d be dealing with.
Imagine their shock when Meghan who was clearly superior to the lot of them in all ways (work ethic, intelligence, beauty, philanthropy, a genuinely classy and lovely person) showed up. Harry was never meant to have a wife that would outshine any of them.
JMHO.
Harry had long term relationships with two other women, and he always talked of marrying and having children. He would never have told William of all people he did not want to marry. I think Chelsy was more of a threat to Kate than Cressida. Chelsy was independent and got a degree in Law. Cressida is 1/2 sister to a woman that William was interested in. I think Kate saw them both as threats but more so Chelsy because she is smart and intelligent and independent.
No kate is angry because harry married someone who outshone her, has 300% more charisma, and is a workhorse. She couldn’t compare to meghan. Harry has always been very open about his desire to start a family so they knew he was going to marry eventually. But they always expected him to marry a kate 2.0 with blonde hair. In other words: the same old. Meghan was completely different and pulled a lot of attention because of it. Then calculate in the fact that she’s good around, press and people and charities.
Kate liked being escorted places by Two Princes, literally walking in the center and they on both sides of her unless Harry was expected to trail after them. She would grin inanely at Harry. She IMO disliked having Harry marry so he could not escort her places anymore.
That face on Kate was pure jealousy. She’s clearly in love with the better brother. The other brother put her in a contract in order to marry her. He’s embarrassed her with his flings for decade(s) and maybe Harry took pity on her. She fell in love with Harry, Harry fell in love with Meghan and Kween Wisteria can’t handle it. Be careful of what you wish for is the moral of this story. Will is equally as jealous of Harry because Meghan has everything going for her and was in love with Harry, who Will doesn’t consider being equal to him. The chemistry between Harry and Meghan is felt internationally and the jealousy rips Wills apart because how popular they are compared to the Dull Cambridge’s. It’s a Shakespeare play, but it’s also real for Meghan, who was abused by everybody. And the entitlement of this family will be felt as the UK votes independent and the common wealth all falls apart, all because the other brother can’t handle the truth and instead of leading, he is seething in misery.
I don’t think Harry ever said he wasn’t going to get married or have a family. I think William and Kate believed he wouldn’t and Kate helped out by being difficult with all his girlfriends, including Chelsy and Cressida. The difference here is that Meghan was a much stronger person and Harry really cares for her so of course Kate wasn’t able to handle that.
This woman was rude to Meghan from day one. The whole Kate was wary from Lacey’s story confirms what we all knew was that Kate likes being the only attractive woman surrounded by men and Meghan was a clear threat to that. Plus Meghan is much smarter and personable so seeing Meghan scared her because Kate can’t compete with someone like Meghan. And while sister in laws shouldn’t compete, that’s not how Kate functions.
William dislikes Meghan more because her presence motivated Harry to be more independent and really his issue is with how Harry changed in being with Meghan.
Harry said in an interview that he’s longed for a family since he was very young. He’s been very open about that. It wouldn’t have been a problem for the firm if he had married someone who was fully white, someone who had opinions & someone who together with Harry, wouldn’t overshadow Kate & Will.
Great point that the ‘Kate as peace maker’ PR is also about beating up on Meghan though. Meghan is blamed as the woman who tore the brothers apart. The Middletons & their media minions want Kate to be seen as the benevolent queen to be who can bring them back together.
Any chance the RR were not invited in case both Harry and Diana’s brother went rogue during the speeches?! (I know Diana’s sisters are to attend, what about brother?)
HARRY’s ‘ROGUE’ SPEECH: I don’t follow the 🐀Rota headlines other than via Kaiser. However, it seems the 🐀Rota storyline that ‘Harry must submit his speech to William for approval’ died a quick death. Makes me think Harry had his team tell William and his KP goons that he’d better STF up on that BS. I believe Harry will say exactly what Harry wishes to say…..period!
I really like the idea of Harry with his team/posse. I imagine them all attired a la Men in Black.🕶
Diana would be so damned proud of him. If Charles only treated her the way Harry does Meghan, there probably wouldn’t be a memorial statue erected to her this day.
Well she was no longer a member of the RF
Oh boy…..it’s ONNNNNN now. The rats are going to be out for William’s blood over this one — he let mean ol’ Harry call the shots on them not getting any access. Don’t mind me and my petty self over here smirking over the inevitable fallout. 🤣
As for the press — Harry DGAF anymore. He’s beyond it, and he won’t let the RRs and whatever they write hurt him anymore, so he’s happy to let the notion that he did not want them there stand. William is absolutely cowering behind Harry because he doesn’t have the balls to say anything with his chest. It suits him just as well to not have the reporters there — he’s not camera-hungry Kate — but he’s also in a bad situation because he owes them pretty much everything, so he must go along with what they want. He can pretend his hands are tied, but they will make him pay, trust that.
Spot on. The tide is going to turn big time, maybe slowly but surely. I bet you my last farthing we’re going to start seeing some negative press about the Cambridges, maybe just hints at first, but it will pick up speed. This is gonna be good….
I’m not that optimistic. Still Rota need to support Royal “cult”. They need fans, readers to be interested in their reporting. To add drama they need “bad couple” and “good couple”. If not couple then “good” King Willy (statesman, duty, kingdom, you name it). The roles are distributed already. And tabs don’t need Harry’s presence to write dirt about him and Meghan as we see now.
You’re correct that the rota rats are out for William’s blood, but I don’t think Harry was the reason. Think about it – why would Harry now be able to exert such control over William/KP/the rota? Barring the remote possibility of him holding some sort of evidence over their heads as leverage, I don’t see how Harry would be able to call these shots.
I think that someone went above William’s head (maybe the Spencers made a demand, or maybe Charles or the Queen stepped in). Either way, William’s hands were tied; this was not his decision in any way.
We can already see the rota threatening him by naming him specifically in their stories. They’re still smearing Meghan, but they’re directly tying said smears to him. They are sending a direct message that if William fails to honor their agreement by feeding them stories and giving them access, they’ll stop protecting him, and they’re already starting.
I wonder if Harry was initially planning on taking Archie with him. And William and the Firm said hell no—everyone’s attention would be on Archie and not William’s children (whom I assume would have attended otherwise). Suddenly William decides it’s an event just for the brothers and Harry gets his way to have a reduced media presence, as long as he doesn’t bring Archie.
Harry doesn’t use his kids as props. No way there was any chance of 2yr old Archie traveling to the UK for any reason at this point.
Agree, Mimi. Harry would never use Archie like that or put Archie anywhere near that 👑🐀🤡 nastiness that his family and the British press have used on Archie since the moment he was conceived.
I doubt very much Harry and Meghan would allow any chance of public exposure to Archie even though the RRs are banned. And that would totally take focus off the statue unveiling and veer it off in a new direction. I’m sure if HM come to England in the future and bring their children, then they would most likely all visit the statue privately.
I have serious doubts Harry would take his two year old on international travel (13 hrs from LA to Heathrow) in the midsts of a pandemic of a disease that has a more contagious and deadlier consequence in dominance in that country, let alone the quarantining to and back.
With all the social media bot talk of Harry leaving his wife and taking Archie back to his “family”, I doubt Harry would even remotely consider it. It’s a slap in the face to his wife IMO and it is like he’s caving in to his UK relatives by not bringing Meghan (who caused the “rift” according to bots). The DM comments would be replete with Harry “coming to his senses” and “taking Archie” and returning to William and Kate. I doubt very much Harry would take one or both of the children and not take Meghan along.
Given how M and H have given Archie as much privacy as possible, there’s absolutely no way he was ever going. And a 2 year old at a statue unveiling with speeches etc, nope, just no. Keens act like that, H and M don’t
No way, Harry and Meghan are very, very clearly guarding what their children look like in the present day to help give them normalcy and so they won’t be as easily tracked by press/looky loos.
All the photos we’ve seen release since they left royal life have been somewhat out of date when they are released or are images with their faces somewhat obscured so the public doesn’t know exactly what they look like currently.
I don’t expect them to take part in any kind of public life as children at all given H&M’s deliberate caution with photos alone.
Exactly – they won’t even risk showing his face via a black and white photo, no way in hell Harry would bring him to an event in the UK in this environment.
I would love to see Archie and his little sister.
So would I, but only on the terms Harry and Meghan are okay with.
Hell no! Archie is not vaccinated, with the Delta strain of COVID-19 out there.
I don’t think there was ever even a fleeting thought of bringing Archie. Variant strands of COVID and backstabbing uncles and grandfathers aside, as a mother myself I can tell you there would be no way on EARTH that Meghan would OK Harry bringing Archie into that viper’s pit, and I do not think Harry would even want to subject his son to that himself.
I’m sure it’s some fancy thing, but every time I hear “sunken garden” I see some Jurassic Park-style barren dramatic land depression, like in a fantasy movie.
Clenched butthole made my day!!!
I’ll raise you and add engorged.
Wills definitely barred Kate, which is…telling. I’m seriously starting to think this marriage won’t last the year.
Wild theory- I think the funeral was the last straw and Wills was furious Kate meddled the way she did with him and Harry. He had a “Righteous Will freezes evil Harry out” narrative planned and Kate’s agenda ruined it.
The Scotland trip was an attempt to repair things…hence why it was their old stomping ground from college. But Wills didn’t play along. Then, Kate was embarrassingly out of her league at the G7. Now, Wills is done. Doesn’t want any more events or photos with her as they prepare for their divorce.
I wonder what else the press knows to keep William under their thumb? Wouldn’t it feel good for him to just come out as the person he is and be free with it?! It seems clear that he’s a philanderer, is that such an unusual thing for a future, future king? What is he so ashamed of?
Drug habit.
Out-of-wedlock child.
Responsible for the body in the pond.
Owes the wrong people money.
The body in the pond lol. Been saying that was such a weird and random story.
I suspect either serious sex dirt worse than an affair- PedoAndy styles– or financial shenanigans. The Windsors cannot afford to be caught up in funny money business.
What if Wills and Kate are stealing from their charities PedoAndy styles? Or funneled taxpayer money to the Midds’ pot farm?
Owes the wrong people money – like Thomas Markle?
My money’s on the Prince Andrew/Prince Phillip/brother-in-law’s father David Matthews special- got caught with an under-aged girl.
The underage rape charges by the Matthew’s niece were disappeared quite neatly. Not the first time charges against a Middleton (or defacto Middleton) were wiped away by the French. Wonder what pressure the BRF or William are putting on in the background.
There are so many rumours and have been for years. There’s supposed to be video footage of him “with” a girl from before his marriage, but when he was with Kate, for a start. Then there’s the rumoured serious boozing. Affairs (plural). Stories of his laziness right back to his air ambulance days. Stories of him making faux pas with foreign dignitaries (Obama certainly didn’t seem to be a fan). Stories of him making little to no effort for his patronages – turning up unprepared, if at all. His boorish sense of humour and fondness for crass jokes. The tour to India, which did not go well and on which he seriously annoyed the press. His binning off an estate management course at Cambridge which was specially put together just for him, because he just couldn’t be bothered. His extravagant spending (all those cars) and constant sponging of private flights and free holidays off wealthy friends. Constant rumours of his terrible temper.
Some of these were even hinted at in the UK press in the pre-Meghan days, and I believe could re-appear at any time if he continues to piss off the RR.
TabithaD, I can’t help but think that if the Firm spins this as a traumatized PW was taken advantage of by the Middletons, he would fair pretty well. W was 15 when Diana died, and he met K when he was 19? I really think they could do some damage to the middletons along with Katie Keen. It’ll be interesting to see if they use this. As strange as it is to say, Harry has actually laid the ground work for W by being honest about his trauma following his Mom’s death.
Body in the pond? Wha?
I’m curious about that as well.
The middletons thought they would be a mass outcry from the public when they leaked Kate might not go, and all they got back was a tumbleweed. Literally no one cared, just when they leaked they were going to prince Phillips funeral. They thought they could manifest an invite via the press and that the public would react positively.
I’m glad kate isn’t going, mostly because I know she will be sat at home sulking about how she can’t make eyes at harry, wear buttons or be the monarchy’s linchpin.
I think camilla t has just written a new piece about how Keen will be healing the rift even when she’s not even there, lol. The desperation from camilla T is getting stronger. I think she hasn’t got a relationship with William, and is only team Middleton. When Kate gets dumped she will be well and truly over. She’s personally invested in kate, she has to make her happen.
If we cannot 100% be sure they are indeed living separate lives ( my guess is that Willaim lives with Kate and the children “part time) we sure are seeing Middleton PR and William PR are not only separate entities, but they actually work against each other.
Middleton: William has asked us to come to Philip´s funeral.
Willaim: Lol he did not even like you!
Middleton: William has asked Kate to come at the unveiling,
William: Lol, my mother would not even have liked you!
Weird story, because how the rota works is one photographer/reporter gets access and then shares the photos and story with the others, on a roya system. So this entirely standard practice!
Except that for big events multiple members of the rota attend, and here the photographer and reporter who will be present are NOT part of the rota. The rota will have the same access as everyone else.
The Associated Press is not a part of the rota and is US based. But nice try.
US based press definitely means that Harry was the one to do this because the RF would want the BM to get the scoop, especially Will with his peccadilloes being covered up.
I think Harry wanted this event to have some dignity, and one representative of the international press is as subdued as it gets. Diana would have hated having the rota on hand. Good for him, and good for William for going along with it.
William still is culpable. He needs to apologize to Meghan and cancel the fake charge of bullying and deny the stories.
Never said he isn’t culpable. Never said he doesn’t need to apologize. However, I doubt that he will do that.
I am starting to think Kate and William only ever speak through their secretaries and PR teams.
Middletons wanted to attend Philip´s funeral, as if it were a social event? They let it know William wanted them to be there.
Kate wants a fourth child? She goes to a magazine and let it be known
Kate wants to be a peacemaker and attend Diana statue´s unveiling? Her PR let William- and the rest of the world- know of her wishes.
Honestely, William do seem to only live part time with his family. But all this PR war is making it seem he does not even speak to his wife to her face.
All Kate had to have done was pick up the phone, call the press, and deny the story that Meghan made her cry. The fact that she did not speaks volumes.
+1 forever
Considering she raised a ruckus about the Tatler article during the same time period that the false story about Meghan was out also shows what kind of person she is.
+1
That’s an interesting idea @moderately wealthy. That Kate literally talks to William through CT and press leaks. I would think there’s some staff that communicates between them but who knows? Or if it comes out in the news it’s like an exclamation point. I really meant what I said, William!
The RF is known for communicating with each other through the press. Charles complained of not seeing the Cambridge kids because of the Middletons through the BM. W&K not living together could also be a reason for Kate’s hints as well. If Will is in Norfolk and Kate is at KP/Bucklebury and can’t get a hold of him, than press leaks are the way to do it. I mean, William ignores her in public, so I can imagine in private he barely acknowledges her existence.
As I recall, there was much debate about whether or not Harry would attend.
There’s gossip, which is speculation, and news, which is meant to be a reporting of the facts. Did you take a wrong turn? This is a gossip site.
I’m glad Harry excluded the Rota from this event. This is a private event and Harry isn’t a working royal. The Rota was acting disgusting toward Meghan with a slew of nasty articles. No way. As fir Kate not being there, that’s William’s decision.This event is about Diana, not Kate’s dresses. She’ll be at some evening thing so can bring out the big jewels and heavy eyeliner she favors. Haven’t seen any other royal news, except for more crazy nasty articles since the Rota are now not invited to this event.
I want this to be over. Although I’m sure, RR will invent some next event Harry or Harry and Meghan will be “obligated” to attend. It’s never-ending drama, otherwise about what would they write?
Meanwhile, hate campaign in all its “glory” continues. BTW, I didn’t expect this one-sided “dirt” from Lacey. His book wasn’t completely impartial but it was as close to somehow unbiased opinion as Royal Reporter can get.
Lacey book also makes William look very bad as it has lengthy unhinged rants against Meghan. Most can draw an obvious conclusion from him disliking her on sight. His version also has Jason as willing spy and henchman and confirms Meghan,s view that some of her staff were briefing against her.Book makes it clear that William is hostile towards Meghan probably because she is the first person he has met not to bow down to him! How can Harry be expected to reconcile with a man who hated his wife and won’t acknowledge his babies?!. The book had a nasty reference to Harry wanting to share STUPIzD photos of his son?!
Yes the tabloids may fawn and the RF spin but character always shows through and you can’t polish a turnip!
I think Harry laid into KP and TOB about the new round of anti Meghan stories especially from Lacey. Harry probably threatened to stay home if Kate and the rota show up. He probably told them Gayle King will get an exclusive of William barring Meghan from showing up at at the memorial.
“…but it may be that the sparse nature of the gathering will only ramp up the tensions, particularly in Kate’s absence.”
Dear God will this Toenail woman never stop…Kate, if anything, would make it aLL AbOuT HEr because she is the Savior of Salty Isle and Restorer of Brotherly Love dontcha know!
We see you Kate, and we see your devious leaker of a mother all over this latest spew. You lost Kate, and your vile husband capitulated to Harry’s demand for no ROTA. Remember that Harry and Meghan are holding a sword over your heads – it’s labeled “Receipts”.
@ Jade. ITA. Don’t worry Cami Toenail the event will be kept dignified by the brothers to honor their mother. With Kate’s presence there it will only agitate the already tense situation. And remember she is not the important woman in that event. So nobody cares about her. Not even her husband does. He effectively banned her.
This post seriously made my Sunday.
Khate is no peacemaker, but in fact a ‘shitdisturber’. It has been said time and time again, all she had to do was pick up the phone and correct the situation, she chose NOT to. She was comfortable and content to sit back and watch Meghan spiral, while pregnant with her first child, as a mother myself, I cannot forgive this. The amount of stress and torture put on Meghan cannot be put into words. Did she really think the truth was not going to come out?
Something in me always wants to protect Meghan, she’s a kind and good soul, only wants the best for others and did not deserve what she had gone through. I was in New York when Harry announced they would be stepping back and I remember almost crying because I knew they would be out of the toxicity. He’s an amazing man, father, husband, he did for Meg and Archie what was not done for him, which is called breaking the intergenerational cycle, they actually both did 💜
Phoenix_Rising, I understand your wanting to protect Meghan. One of the things that I saw in the Oprah interview, is that Meghan is still quite vulnerable. I have no doubt she is in therapy to deal with all of the trauma she’s left with following her stay in the UK, but IMHO she’s still dealing with it.
@Saucy&Sassy, I agree Meghan has to be in therapy dealing with the trauma, because it is fact trauma. Things could have been so much different, but the reality it isn’t and I don’t feel I’m alone feeling frustrated by the constant abuse, day after day, week after week. It’s like H&M can’t catch their breath before they are slammed again. Thank goodness for her mother, who I know is a huge source of strength for both of them, along with everyone else who is in their corner, supporting them. They have so many supporters and people who just love them and continue to take a stand for them.
I haven’t read all the comments- but came to say that perhaps without Kate there annoying him, William will be more relaxed and more amenable to his brother. I’m wondering if a photo of the two of them hugging announcing rift healed’ will emerge, serving to show Kate was the issue all along?
I truly doubt it. Unless William gives a public apology to Meghan. Harry won’t embrace William after the way he treated Meghan nor should he. Unless William wants to throw Kate under the bus as the “bad one.”
Lets be real here and nip this “brothers reconciling/healing rift” fantasy in the bud once and for all:
BP/KP and, more specifically, via Edward Young & Bullyiam, first hv to issue a PUBLIC APOLOGY to Meghan for the libelous bullying accusations, PERIOD! before any “reconciliation” idea can be contemplated.
There are no ifs, ands or buts about that!
So anyone hvng wet dreams about Harry & Bullyiam hugging it out will hv a very long wait because the british monarchy has never apologised to anyone for any of its well-known & well-documented atrocities.
But from the moment H&M stepped bk from the Firm and left the UK for America, the RF has been in uncharted waters (nevermind the 1936 abdication.) So how they will respond to Schillings’ persistent demands for accountability & what Schillings will do with the response they receive are still on the (very mear) horizon.
We’d all best buckle up. Its coming.
@Carmen-JamRock, I believe Harry has his ducks in a row and has his boundaries drawn. He is going solely on the basis of acknowledging his late mother, to see TQ and head back home to his loving family, where he can decompress. He is fully aware if there hasn’t been an apology at this point, it’s not coming.
I’m glad he made the decision, which was best for him and only him. He is not going to allow William to bully him and laid out his requests, which I feel was a take it or leave it, he holds the power and upper hand and it is now blatantly obvious having the royal rats banned, which is delicious.
Sources let slip this week that Baldemort called Meghan “that bloody woman” when he was talking to his friends after Philip’s funeral. There was no reason for that to leak, unless he was trying to appease the rota beast because they won’t be allowed to crash the unveiling. Just a thought.
The William stans applaud his alleged rudeness. He sounds like a spoiled child. They dislike Meghan so much they don’t want to admit how really horrible William is. William has three small children and at the very least is setting a bad example with how he name calls a woman. It is a comment really degrading to all women.
Let’s not forget that said woman is his children’s aunt and mother to his cousins. Willy is a willy. Pure and simply put.
He and his staff knew that Meghan was seeking help for suicidal ideation and still he thinks it’s ok to say this about her. This is his sister in law. He’s truly an awful person.
I said the same thing, Izzy – the rota is furious that they can’t attend, and they’re threatening William by using his name specifically in their Meghan smears. They’re telling him “sure, we’ll keep up your little campaign for now, but you OWE us” – if he doesn’t pay up in terms of feeding stories or leaking then they’ll pull their protection and all bets are off. It is VERY notable that there are now multiple stories specifically about William and Meghan, naming him outright. That is not a coincidence. William was not the one to pull the rota.
@Nic919, he’s truly a heartless beast. I shudder to think what would have happened if Meghan didn’t disclose what she was enduring to Harry and followed through? I honestly believe, deep down William was hoping for that outcome and would have not one bit of remorse. This is why I’m hoping Harry makes a clean break and moves on with his life. I understand his involvement until TQ is alive, but after that, there is nothing further holding him to that toxic cesspool.
@February-Pisces thank you for the image! A lone tumbleweed 😂
I think Harry wouldn’t have shown up if the royal rota were allowed access. He holds the power because they’ve been desperate for him to come to this unveiling for nearly a year now. As for William shutting out Kate, it’s certainly interesting. This does look like a slow rollout of a separation or divorce. We’ll see. I hope he’s looking at what’s happened to Matt Hancock and feeling the heat. He’s going to owe the RRs for shutting them out of this event, and if they feel inclined enough, they could make the rest of his year very difficult.
A royal divorce would satisfy them very well.
Sarah Vine mentioned them in her article suggesting that Kate was in the same position as Hancock’s wife.
Say what! Eek don’t want to threadjack or look up anything by Sarah Vine lol but omg.
I read it as doubling down on Kate is Will’s anchor blah blah bs.
Okay, I gave in and read bc it actually seemed unrelated to HM😂 Apart from the brief Kate mention, this Sarah Vine article is wild
Well, the rumours are that Sarah Vine’s husband are going to leave her for another man. British politics are really a soap opera these days (with the Matt Hancock cheating scandal currently making headlines). I believe that this article is seen as her warning to her husband.
Vine was basically telling her husband that she knows all his secrets. And bringing Kate in as a wife in a similar position is also confirming that William has a lot of his own secrets. Vine is friends with Rose so this wasn’t a meaningless comparison.
So I think this is a BIG deal. Why would I not be there for my husband and stand by his side? Because Meghan is not going???? No, Meghan has a very solid, legitimate and logical excuse, as it’s been said in posts above mine, but Kate does not. I foresee a storm brewing.
Yeah. I haven’t been one of those people that believe that they are leading separate lives. But things like this do make me do a double take..
I have been saying this since Fathers Day. Buckle up, fellow Celebitchies.
I’m glad the Rota and Kate/Carole won’t be there. The Rota don’t give af about any of them. Just want to pad their pockets and file their stories. When I think about how the paps surrounded Diana’s car and took pictures of them, instead of helping her, it makes my blood boil. F&ck them! And f&ck Kate too. She just wants to use Diana’s memory to bolster her prospects of making it to the throne. And why should Harry have to tolerate Kate’s presence when her actions (and William’s) caused his wife so much pain. Like his mother.
My sentiments!
I wonder if Kate would have found it uproariously funny, as she seems to find everything else.
hahahaha, love this comment, and, yes, it does make you wonder whether she would have had her rictus grin in full display!
I suspect Kate is on shaky ground. William has looked bored with her for years. But if the royal family ends up needing a scapegoat for their shenanigans and collusion with the press over Harry and Meghan, then Kate (a married-in and therefore not a true royal) will be thrown under the bus.
Some tabloid was interviewing people supposedly on the same flight as Harry, and while I was on a blocking spree on twitter, I saw some crazies keeping tabs on the arrival of the flight, discussing the times, etc. That was SCARY. I really hope this type of events are few and sparse so this small family cannot be easily traced by that ilk.
And that’s why security is a necessity for them.
Kate and the rota not attending are not separate decisions. Without going too far into conspiracy territory, I think the most plausible explanation is that William was confronted by a united front of Harry and the Spencers, who told William that his unhinged tabloid campaign was a disgrace to Diana’s memory and demanded that they refocus the event on Diana. Not having the rota there at least helps guide the media coverage in a more respectful way – international media won’t be forced to use the rota as sources, so their spin will be confined to their own rags as much as possible.
Best case scenario for Kate is they thought it best she not attend so coverage about what she wore and comparisons to Diana are avoided, once again giving Diana full focus as much as possible. Worse case scenario for Kate is they know she’s been leaking to the press and don’t want to allow a mole at the event. They know William leaks too, but they can’t exclude him so they cut Kate out of the picture so at least they know that’s one agenda out of the way.
Kate will have her moment. She will show up to pay her respects BEFORE the actual ceremony, dressed to kill with her private photographer in tow; the one who took her posed funeral portrait with mask and jewels. Never underestimate a women desperate to hang on to her hard won position.
@Sunday: I agree with both your best and worst case scenarios for K.
@ Julia K: If K actually does some sort of unveiling attention grabbing moment this week, she will have truly crawled into the gutter.
A simple reason Kate may not attend the unveiling of Diana’s statue is that she could be pregnant with her fourth child and suffering from severe morning sickness again. This would be a bigger scoop for the rota’s then the statue unveiling.
I would doubt it. She showed up to the roundtable with Dr. Biden as skinny as ever with new Botox. And for that matter, we’ve been seeing her “working”. For the last three kids she’s put on weight and stopped Botoxing or working when she was trying/pregnant.
And if she WERE pregnant and William STILL didn’t acknowledge her on Father’s Day then good God.
Her being pregnant again wouldn’t be a scoop to anyone except Kate stans. Been there done that, and nobody really cares.
LMAO
Unadulterated. Delusion.
LMAO
Dear God I seriously hope not.
Kate’s pregnancy announcement cannot be bigger news than fighting royal brothers William and Harry together. Globally that is. The world is interested in Harry (and Meghan). Not the Cambridges.
She’s actually been out and about a lot recently, esp for Kate’s standards, and does not appear to be pregnant in any way, shape, or form. Her not being with William very much at all remains the elephant in the room.
They have never kept Kate’s morning sickness a secret.
Would it really be a scoop at this point? I feel like most people didnt even care when she had Louis. (nothing against him, I think there was just a sense of “oh she’s pregnant again.” I remember one newscaster even announced it as “breaking news” and then basically rolled his eyes and moved on. He didn’t actually roll his eyes, but it was there in his voice lol.)
Diana was a Spencer before marrying into the Windsor clan-this event should be entirely about her offsprings and her siblings-nobody else really matters-this is not a royal event-this is a private family event for the Spencer bloodlines.
COVID cases have quadrupled in the UK in less than a month’s time; honestly no one should be at this but im glad Harry has spoken up to ensure it wont be a superspreader media circus. It’s not a royal engagement so there’s no need for the rota. If they’re mad about that they should take it up with the Firm for rejecting his part time for free offer.
Something is happening behind the scenes. I feel it in my bones. Not anything nefarious.
I have a theory that at some point in the last year, Chuck told Willie that he will be denied Prince of Wales and it will be given to George instead (and THAT is in fact a rumor I’ve heard for some time) if he does not reconcile with Harry and Meghan. I think his moves here are stepping in that direction.
But to the topic at hand: yes, I think Kate got told to stay home. It’s clear this morning that she doesn’t like it, given all the stories of how Kate and William will take the children to see the statue BEFORE it’s unveiled.
What confuses me is how this whole fiasco got so out of hand. This is literally a nothing event and always was going to be, other than it’s Princess Diana’s would-be 60th birthday. No statue was ever going to magically reconcile those two.
Idk. Charles hasn’t reconciled with Harry and Meghan. Why would he order William to do so?
He would not be able to do that kind of thing and skip William without changes to the succession which means Parliament would have to get involved. He can refuse to bestow the title of Prince of Wales on William if he wishes to do so, but he cannot grant that title to anyone but the Heir Apparent.
Diana gets tossed around a lot in the debate about William and Harry and it’s inevitable that an event dedicated solely to her would get this focus in my opinion.
To your points, Maria
1) I would speculate that Charles hasn’t reconciled because those 3 cannot be in a room for five minutes without shouting at each other. At first, it was William and Harry shouting down their father together but now William has magically changed sides in the last 5 years. I find it very unlikely Charles and Harry have ever actually had much of a relationship. So how can you reconcile with someone you never had a relationship with?
2) Lacey is right, there is *something* up with William, deeper than any of us know that scares everyone off the idea of William ruling without a firm hand in place.
3) As has been impressed upon time and time again, Charles is already working with Parliament to create a new Letters Patent and Succession Act to be presented upon the Queen’s death and to make Camilla his QC and all in line with his “slimmed down” monarchy. So while traditionally, yes, PoW goes to heir apparent, there is a rumor that he wants to give it to George instead. To me, that says he is most certainly reticent about giving William any actual power. But once again, merely a rumor.
But I do think Charles wants this whole problem to go away and be solved quietly and away from public. Harry “shuts up” the feud is squashed and everyone forgets about the royals for awhile. It’s better for the press, better for the family, and better for everyone if these two go back to some kind of normal of both of them shouting down their dad versus their dad and William shouting down Harry and then Harry scheduling another interview that they have to do damage control on.
In terms of family closeness, William and Harry have been about as close as Charles to his sons. There is no reason Charles would continue to try to cast doubt on what Harry says (expenditure reports to claim he never cut them off) and insist William reconcile.
I have never read anywhere that Harry shouted his father down the way William did and does.
There is something with William but Lacey is not an expert and I think people are reading into it too deeply. It looks like marital troubles, and I’ll have to invoke Occam’s Razor here.
As for the POW title – it is a rumor but I see no weight in it personally. Charles doesn’t need to go to Parliament or change the Letters Patent for Camilla to have the title of Queen Consort. She will have it either way, it will just depend on whether she uses it, the same way that she is legally Princess of Wales now but doesn’t use it. And skipping the heir apparent makes no sense in a slimmed down monarchy. The Prince of Wales title going to the heir apparent or to nobody at all has several *centuries* of specific ironclad precedent. They would have to skip William altogether and they will not do that.
Deleted
Agree Charles wants it to go away. However how does it with the non stop press leaking being fueled by palace/KP? Also, they want Harry back but keep going after Meghan and kids. This doesn’t go away as long as that continues and the bullying allegations remain.
NSSTaylor, if Charles really wanted that, wouldn’t he do something to stop the attacks on M and H in the press? He could, but he chooses not to. And he’s actually fanning the flames eg with the money story last week. There have been some very deliberate leaks from CH, not as many as camp Middleton and KP though.
i’m on board with trouble in paradise between incandescent and keen McButtons, whether anything comes of it, who knows. Lots of feuding marrieds stay together.
Maybe Chuck is just doing his normal by burying head in the sand. Where does the POW rumor come from? and what could be THAT bad about William other than what we know about him: rages and the like. The head injury has been brought up but I don’t know if that would prevent him from being monarch. He’s not running the country.
Probably Chuck’s biggest concern is the money management side of things. that would be a reason to skip Will.
While Charles can choose not to award the title Prince of Wales to William, he is not allowed to give it to anyone else. It can only go to the heir apparent of the monarch, which has always been the eldest male child of the monarch. George is not the heir apparent to Charles so he couldn’t change this.
This all makes me so sad. I love my sister so much. She’s my best friend. We are close in age and our mother was a Diana fan too. We also had dysfunctional/traumatic childhood and childhood events. I just could never imagine treating my sister this way. It’s like a long-standing family joke that if you argue with either of my sister or I the other will not stand for it. Even our own parents! No matter how happy Harry is, I can only imagine the pain. They knew their father was crap but they had each other. I think that’s why he can reconcile with Chuck. His behavior isn’t all that surprising considering but he and William always had one another.
Sarah Vine as in Rose’s Sarah Vine, the one she walked with at the Spanish dinner?
Yes that is the one.
Maybe a baby announcement
You mean…..willieleaks finally confessing to hvng kids outside his marriage? Because thats the only ‘baby announcement’ involving him that you could possibly mean.
Announced that W&K plus kids will be at a private showing of the statue before the official unveiling. Odds on them releasing their own pictures of the event for PR? Pretty damn good odds on that one.
I read that, unbelievable.
I’m just going to sit back and read the comments at this point
Good grief,,,that big horse 🐎 laugh…of her!!!
“Kate’s expected absence will be a blow for those who had hoped she might act as a peacemaker between the estranged brothers.”
You have got to stop it right now, Middletons.
Let me explain a typical family, Middletons, at least in the US. My brothers and I like, and love each other, and we are a year apart in age (they are twins). We are in our mid-40s now, and if I ever have something I need to talk about really seriously, I call one of them. One mistake we will never make is assuming that our sibling relationships are more important than our relationship with our spouses (full disclosure, 2 of the 3 of us are divorced, but the third is in a decades long marriage that I expect to be turned into a book, at some point, they are my only proof true love is a thing).
It’s super cute that you are acting like you are backing out, out of an abundance of caution for Harry’s feelings, but this is so stupid, I can’t give any positive feedback.
I heard that Harry was planning not to attend if the Rota was there. William was fine with it but the Rota said no they wanted a picture of the two of them. So William had to give in.
I like the idea of an international photographer, less invested in pictures which would be used in a negative way against Harry.
when one look at Charles, William and Harry , these 3 are very different personalities. we all read about Charles, sometimes i read people saying Charles is shy and sensitive, but I don’t see that at all. he had 3 married women as lovers,he wrote them letters,he is godfather to his then lover Camilla first born. his deeds came to light after Diana treatment that was evil. he is a man about himself.no one else matters. then we have William, who is very different, even as children he and Harry was different in personalities,Harry was outgoing,William did his stuff in secret .William lack confidence. he was jumping from woman to woman, cause he knew as the heir many women won’t mind having a fling with him. but none of the woman wanted that life. he is not a handsome man, he always had buck teeth. and his buck teeth is bad, they must have tried everything to fix his front teeth, and nothing worked. he looks like he have issues closing his mouth. lately the pics shown of William is a tight jaw face. he looks angry .even in a relax situation he looks like he will rather be somewhere else. its no fun for him. he seems like one angry man. with Harry,he seems to live a more normal teen life, he had fun, he ,made mistakes. seems like a normal teen. after all the madness and such . Harry also grew up. Charles is in the same position, he prefer to be alone on his farm an avoid human contact if he can .. william is showing some form of madness, he lacks empathy on a a higher level than Charles. Charles can at least pretend in public, William can’t pretend for a min.
Will, Kate and the kids will be there with the rota, a day before the revealing. This just goes to show, Will is in deep with the Uk press.
@Harper – yes, this divorce can’t get on soon enough.
I think it was Harry that put his foot down regarding the RRs. Just my $0.02.