The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were the royal guests at last night’s annual Royal Variety performance in London. Their appearance was announced ahead of time and it marks one of the very few joint appearances they’ve made since their two-month summer off. The Royal Variety performance benefits the Royal Variety Charity, which takes care of elderly actors and entertainers involved with Britain’s theater and film industries. William and Kate have been the royal guests several times before, but rarely does Kate ever try to look glamorous or sophisticated. She usually wears some fussy doily.
This year, Kate once again went with a repeat. She’s been repeating a lot of looks lately! It’s weird because we *know* she spent the pandemic shopping online, and she probably has tons of new stuff, just sitting there, waiting to be worn. But instead we get a repeat of this dark green Jenny Packham gown. She wore this for a pseudo-state dinner in Pakistan in 2019. The dress itself is fine, kind of whatever, a typical Jenny Packham. But the way Kate styled it… well well well. Suddenly a deep side-part and side-swept waves and curls? Actual lip color? Some cute dangly earrings? It looks like someone read all of the online comments about how old and washed out she looked on Remembrance Sunday. Maybe that’s what she was doing all week – getting some Botox top-off, a facial, a new makeup artist and hair stylist.
Honestly, I wish she had been doing fun stuff with her hair this whole time. All it took was ten and a half years of duchessing and a hateful campaign to exile her glamorous sister-in-law.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
That is a good color on her.
I think so too. Minus the shoulderpads I also really like the dress. I am not crazy about the hairstyle, however…I think a sleek, pulled back look would have been better.
She looks good in jewel tones.
Agree. Also a good style for her figure. She looks pretty.
She looks really good here.
I’ll say it. I think this is the best she’s ever looked. The hair is fantastic and you’re right… such a great color on her.
It really is, not to mention it represents perfectly her deeply engrained jealousy of her SIL.
Correct. Her most notable looks are her hateful expression and behavior at the CW service 2020 (along with fellow hater Sofie) and her and her husband flagrantly using private emails to try to go after Meghan. That’s all she stands for – jealousy.
Zing….love it!
Love the dress. She looks really good here.
Yep. And she looks great from the neck up. The problem with Can’t is that her “fashion” is permanently stuck on cosplay mode. She has no defining fashion of her own, except Buttonophilia.
A good colour, but not a good look. The dress is pure Shirley Bassey, and the makeup is Highlight! Highlight! Highlight! I think she looks absolutely miserable, despite the joker grin.
I thought the same, but relooking I think it’s less highlight and more recent chemical peel
Kate’s posture is not doing this dress justice. Meghan is incredibly beautiful and stylish but her wow factor comes from the way she carries herself and because she just looks so damn comfortable in her skin. If Kate just stood up straighter, shoulders back then she’d actually be wearing the dress instead of the dress wearing her.
It’s jarring seeing photos of her immediately after the wedding and now. She used to have such confidence and now she looks slouched over and insecure. I guess that is what happens when you are married to someone who despises you.
Her shoulders are slightly hunched forward. As if she’s trying to make herself smaller while meghan always stands tall, with her shoulders back. I think that probably contributes to it.
She’s had ropey posture for years and it really does affect you long term.
I don’t know whether it’s because she’s quite tall so hunches, which is common, but at this point it’s been that way for ages.
She has what my trainer calls “crunch curl.” It comes from over working your abs without balancing out your shoulders and back.
The posture really stands out. I like this green dress but I just want to see her pull back her shoulders. I really really think Kate should consider yoga or something similar. Mindful breathing and focusing on how her body moves in space and how to strengthen particular areas. Hmmm, a certain SIL could have helped her with that, but since someone was too green w envy and evil, I guess her posture might just stay this way. So sad.
“It’s jarring seeing photos of her immediately after the wedding and now. She used to have such confidence….”
Pink Flamingo, it’s that back then, she was the cat that got the cream: she felt she got the “big prize” in bagging her prince, a FFK. However time has shown her it was only a gold veneer, and it’s all Bitter Brass Bill underneath.
Kate was in the honeymoon stage and was triumphant that he proposed…even if it took years. She had a smug expression on her face. It had nothing to do with anything she personally achieved. Her whole life seemed to depend on getting William to propose.
@Jan90067, the video of W+K engagement interview popped up after the video of them at this event. I watched a few minutes and what struck me was how stiff and awkward they were with each other, and with the interviewer, even then. It could be down to being uncomfortable with the spotlight on them, but William grew up in that life, and Kate had been dealing with it as William’s gf for 10 years by then. They just have an extremely bizarre dynamic that has only worsened with time, I think. Contrast that with how warm, comfortable and loving Harry and Meghan were with each other in their interview, and their happiness and giddiness just made the interview flow so nicely, that you enjoyed watching them. With Will and Kate, I couldn’t click the stop button soon enough. I felt stressed and uncomfortable for them. If there’s one thing Kate was not and still is not, is confident.
Yup. Her shoulders always seemed curled and she tends to lead with her pelvis. To me this shows a real lack of confidence, especially when with her husband.
I thought she did Pilates? Which, in terms of posture, is based on ballet – abs pulled in, pelvis tucked under, shoulders back and in line with hips. I do a few hours of pilates a day – if I were to adopt Kate’s posture I’d br in agony in ten minutes.
She looks uncomfortable.
Paint drying is more interesting.
@mmadison lol
Very true. Both boring, but at least you know one won’t isn’t hateful.
That was the first word that came to my mind too! She really does, and it’s not just her posture, it’s her facial expressions too (even when she’s smiling). And she’s not matching TOB at all, which really makes me think they’re not living together and their staff can’t be bothered to coordinate.
It was her facial expression that got me too
Wait— these 2 had an engagement last night???
The way the british media just ignores these 2. You would think that this would be the talk of the town instead of meghan on ellen.
As for her repeats: i’ve been wondering for a while now if charles has been restricting their budget.
Either he cut the budget or they were put on notice with all the shady money deals to act like they are frugal, I doubt it was there idea.
It definitely wasn’t their idea as we all know that they love living that jet set life. I wonder what the deeper details are in the financial relationship is between charles and the Cambridges.
Yes, my bet is the budget is cut this year.
Well they can’t blame any expenses on Harry and Meghan so Baldy and Copy are being careful
Chloe, right? On the DM last night there was one story about Kate and this event. There were around eight stories about Meghan and her appearance on Ellen.
Kate’s hair last night screamed “Meghan.” It was the first thing I noticed, even before her dress. She doesn’t even try to be subtle about the copying
My prediction is that her next appearance will feature a centre part with loose bouncy waves…
I hope some story is released about Camilla being “displeased” at Kate getting attention the day Camilla appeared meeting with children and reading to them.
Old bigot wears shiny dress 2.0, copies sister-in-law’s hairstyle.
Is still boring 😴
nooo! Meghan’s hair looks great, while this thing she tried with the many curls looks dated, not modern, not chic. not good. and, btw, is this the first time ever she’s worn dark lipstick?
Possibly and its not even that dark really
Nah, Meghan’s side swept hair doesn’t look totally 80s like Kate’s does.
This dress is almost as awful as her green Vampire’s Wife disaster.
A green Vampire’s Wife disaster sounds very in line with the Cambridge brand.
This probably the only way she’ll be wearing her hair for a while. I hope she sent more flowers to Meg.
Someone on Twitter posted 4 photos of Meghan wearing this exact hairstyle in the past. My mouth dropped open when I saw it. Her shameless copying of everything Meghan does is SO WEIRD!!!
Are the repeats because glamorous sister in law is wearing mew stuff and Katie keen is trying to appear thrifty or did Charles say, budget time duchess? Let’s be clear here, Meghan can buy and wear whatever she wants, she works for her money so she can spend it any way she wants. I am just saying that we know kate is a conniving,deceitful, hateful B who likes to undermine Meghan any chance she gets. Not like anything she does matters because again, Meghan works for her money and pays taxes to boot. Maybe this is when William should have worn his keen green velvet blazer. Btw, did he buy them in a pack of 3? Like how many velvety blazers does one Baldimort need?
It could be that she is trying to draw a comparison – with her as the thrifty one and Meghan as the one constantly buying new things – the last time we saw her wear a ton of repeats in a row like this was 2018 when Meghan was getting slammed for her new clothes, that was obviously a very conscious choice on Kate’s part to paint herself as the “cost conscious” one.
But if that’s what she’s doing, I think its falling flat because Meghan is spending her own money and she can spend it however she wants, she’s not dependent on her father-in-law to pick up the bills, and anyway here in the US we don’t really judge rich people for spending a lot of money on nice clothes (trips to space, yes, designer clothes, not really.) Amazon is already showing that blouse from Ellen yesterday in my facebook newsfeed, lol.
But I do also wonder if Charles is cutting her spending.
I’ve actually been wondering about charles cutting the allowance he gives them. I mentioned something similar above. I actually do think that charles is a bit stingy with his money.
Agree with you Becks, like I said and want to make it absolutely clear, Meghan works for her own money, she pays her own bills and her own taxes, she could buy out every designer showroom if she wanted and no one should be able to say one thing about it . However Kate is all about stirring up hate for Meghan and I don’t for one second believe that she does anything to be conscious about the cost to the tax payers or Charles, or she would work more because she is tax payers funded and she gets a lot more out of it than she gives back. I imagine Meghan is every designer dream come true. She makes them serious bank. I hope they give her lots of free stuff to wear because she is a walking billboard.
Kate had been getting praise for wearing repeats and high street brands well before Meghan came on the scene, even though her designer clothes still cost a fortune. I think she’s taken note of how Meghan spends a lot on new clothes and seems to have something new for every appearance, so she’s really leaning into the thrifty angle. Even so, you’d have to repeat a high end designer dress many times, to make it seem like value for money.
On a side note, I found it irritating that the DM had a write up about how good Kate looked, mentioning her English rose complexion. While referring to someone as an English rose would normally not be a bad thing, when everything Kate does is compared to Meghan, it seems an obvious dig at Meghan’s skin tone and nationality, and they know it’s going to get the racists riled up.
@Grace the tabs trying to pretend kate has an English rose complexion would be a lie in Kate’s case because she’s tanned so much that she has not had the delicate and fair skin that an actual English rose is supposed to have in years. Her features aren’t delicate either. It’s obvious code for kate is white and Meghan is not.
As for repeats, kate had done it in the past, but she’s been more obvious about it during times that Meghan couldn’t wear a repeat, like when she was pregnant. Seeing as she copied a recent hairstyle Meghan wore, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she repeated an outfit here.
@GraceB – yes, Kate wore repeats well before Meghan came on the scene, but NEVER like she did once Meghan started getting criticism for wearing designer clothes. Like we used to see her wear something new for three outings, then she would wear a repeat, then something something new for four outings, then a repeat. Basically what we were seeing from her during 2020 and the first part of 2021, when we saw a TON of new clothes from her.
It was an obvious contrast to what we saw when Meghan was a working royal, in 2018 and 2019, and Kate wore repeat after repeat, clearly trying to further the narrative of her as the “thrifty” duchess and Meghan as the spendthrift duchess. She has done so few appearances lately that it’s hard to tell if this is a pattern again but I will be interested to see if this continues, with Kate wearing repeat after repeat every time Meghan debuts a new outfit.
@OverIt – oh I know what you were saying, we’re on the same page 🙂
“English rose”? LOL. You see un-photoshopped pics of her face and neck and her skin looks like an English rose that’s been left out in the sun to dry for weeks. Too much tanning, smoking and starving herself has done a lot of damage.
@jaded agreed. To be fair, they never said what state that English rose was in. Could be the one left in the sun or the one that you’ve left in a vase for three weeks and is slimy and kind of stinky.
@Moneypenny424 – Big LOL, slimy and kind of stinky!!
Yes. She’s trying to position herself in direct contrast to Meghan and to get those “frugal duchess” headlines. Like the Flybe stunt, but about outfits.
And the tabloids will play along by praising her for repeating a dress while she wears a load of new jewellery, then go and yell that Meghan’s wearing thousands in jewels, including her engagement ring and stuff she owned pre-marriage in the total.
@jaded
Perhaps by ‘English rose’ they meant English potpourri? So roses, but dried up?
Hydrate, Kate!
Maybe she’s saving her clothing allowance for her post-breakup expenses? Maybe she’s finally going to make a run for it?
It’s just hilarious because Meghan and Harry are living an ocean away, living their best lives, moisturized, hydrated, eating well and minding their business. So to wear repeats simply bc you think that will endear you to someone for “being frugal” and you can show up the (better) duchess? Get the f*ck over yourself. Nobody is checking for you anymore. Do you and stop worrying about what the Montecito royal house is doing already.
My guess is that which has been mentioned here already — Charles either had to slash the budget (he’s finally realizing how bad the Cambridges’ excessiveness looks and was advised to do so), or it’s his way to lay the smackdown because he’s pissed at them himself. And the dress color may be nice and she can copy Meghan’s signature hairstyle all she likes….doesn’t change the fact that she reminds me of a cold cup of coffee rewarmed in the microwave a few times. It’s a no from me, dawg.
@Swirlmamad Exactly. Kate is living her life trying to get positive headlines for those trash rags and Meghan is just living. It’s pathetic. All of that scheming and copying she does and she can barely make it in the front pages of the tabloids that she is in an invisible contract with is just sad. Her whole life is just pitiful.
I also think that all of those shady financial dealings has the family “tightening” the belts around their finances and the optics.
@swirlmamad, I agree with all you wrote. I will just add that no matter what dress she wears now, what jewels she piles on, I will always see that schemer who stabbed Meghan in the back. When Charles is king is he in charge of the Royal jewelry collection? I assume Cam will have her choice of pretties, but will Kate get to wear any? Who will tell her yes or no? Charles? Cam?
Love the color on her. Not sure how she chose this color when Willy wore blue; we all know she loves to color coordinate. And with a baubble vault as vast as the one she has access to, these earrings are off when paired with the dress.
She looks different in the face. Maybe it’s the new colors and hair to the side. I like that she is trying something new – that’s about all I got on that one.
The fact that they don’t match at all is more proof they don’t live together or even speak to each other.
Like that time William wore a dark green velvet suit and Kate wore a floaty lilac gown.
Yup. Look at Harry matching his suit linings to Meghan’s dresses. Big tell here in regards to the separate homes.
Their mismatched outfits are a metaphor for their marriage.
It’s been said here before, but that’s because they don’t live with each other. They probably don’t even speak to each other until they both get in the car to go to their engagements. That’s why they look like they dress in separate seasons. It’s weird.
Love the colour but the way the dress drags the ground bothers me. I will give it to her for usually having very well tailored clothes. The hair is a nice change but the makeup is not good.
Whenever I see that, I think about how that person doesn’t have to take care of their own clothes. She doesn’t have to worry about getting the dirt stains off that hem. It’ll probably end up frayed & need shortening if she wears it too often.
I absolutely love that dress, but you’re right, the hem of it must be a mess at the end of the evening.
She looks like meh and her posture is atrocious.
She’s never going to have the “wow factor,” but I think she looks very nice. Not a fan of the pointy shoulder pads – maybe she likes them because they give more shape to her body.
I cannot stand shoulder pads. I get the idea of it giving more shape, but I think when you’re very slim and have a boyish or athletic figure, it just makes the proportions look a bit odd.
Yeah, the shoulder pads are her jam but they just look so heavy on this dress. From the waist up it’s like a superhero costume. Idk why but I enjoyed this dress much more the first time around.
@Eurydice, I too have said the same. She lacks the “IT” factor. You either have it or you don’t. Couple the lack of “IT” with the lack of the desire to “work” at some of the events – it all shows. She never will wow us, she will never have a presence (which is what BaRF wants) and she goes along to get along.
She’s actually kind of a triple threat – no “it” factor, no desire to work and not very intelligent. She can’t give star power to the RF, she can’t be useful to the people, and she can’t be an advisor to William.
This is a dress that requires good posture and she does not have that.
It’s not a bad dress though, it has clean lines and thank goodness its not one of her doily dresses (we haven’t seen those in a while, I wonder if she got rid of them.) I do find it interesting that for two big engagements in a week – this and Remembrance – she is wearing repeats, I feel like a more typical move for her would be to wear one repeat (like for the Remembrance ceremony since that gets a lot of attention) and then wear a new designer dress for this.
Anyway, nice to see Kate is changing her style even a little bit. That’s enough to make us all forget she is a garbage person.
It is probably heavy too and she weighs what 100lbs? Her knuckles look like she is a prize fighter😳, have they always been that way?
They look that way because she’s dieted herself down to a bone-rack. Seeing her collarbones and upper chest area when she wears something low-cut is like looking at a skeleton.
She has had band aids on her knuckles on occasion but they haven’t been seen recently.
@Nic919 – could possibly be from bulimia, lesions can develop on whichever dominant hand is used by repeated pushing of the hand into the mouth. I’d hate to think this is what’s her life has come to.
@becks1: i’ll never forget what kind of a garbage person she is, especially not since she copying her sis-in-law’s style. Something said sister in law got slammed for nearly daily.
Yes, bilge-water in a champagne bottle is still bilge-water.
I like your last line that ensures forgetting will not be the case at all. 😂
And I don’t know who tailors william pants, but he needs to fire them. His bits are always squish
I strive with the strength of mighty horses to avoid looking at his bit area.
snort laughing @Monica!! Same!
She looks tense, which she usually does when she’s out with William.
We all know exactly which mood board the hair came from.
She looks fine. She needs to find a way to modernize her old style because she doesn’t have the posture the confidence to pull off these Meghan’s ones she’s been trying lately.
I don’t know, something about this dress doesn’t look right and I get what she was trying to do with the hair but I think it was too curly. She got a few front pages but all the talk this morning is about Meghan so she can’t be happy about that.
@AmyBee, I agree with your comment about her hair, it should have been styled in soft waves not these tight curls.
Yep, this hair looks very Danii Minogue in the 80s. Not sleek waves, which is how this hair should be. Always strive for Veronica Lake, not Jessie Spano.
It’s pretty but way too fussy for the dress, which already has a lot going on. Plus the red lip and the heavy makeup overall — it’s too much.
What is off for me with the hair is the deep side part, deeper than we usually see her wear – i think its supposed to look kind of like she just swept her hair to the side but i think its a little bit off.
Her look (especially the hair) makes me want to hum the Barbie song “I’m so plastic it’s fantastic!”
@Amy Bee It’s not just you. She looks better than usual but there’s definitely something off about the whole look to me, and for the life of me I can’t figure out what it is!
It’s a no for me but then again, I’ve never been a fan.
Everything about this woman underwhelms me. The Meddlesomes were also in attendance 🙃
Yeah, it was VERY weird that the Middletons were there. There was no reason for them to be there. You would think the royalists and press would be mad but not a word.
They were right next to the royal box too, which they hadn’t done before. Carole is making some moves again because you didn’t see Diana’s family try to glom on to events like this.
Same. It just shows how outdated the institution is. What is it people are supposed to think seeing her? She is not a working celebrity with causes she is championing. She is not a model who has natural glamour aligned with brands. She is supposed to be championing the British brand and really does such a mediocre job with it. I ran into an article (admittedly on CNN) about how British tourism is far off of many of it’s European counterparts https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/uk-tourism-decline-restrictions-cmd/index.html At some point, are people going to realize that the “working royals” are not pulling their true weight and harming the British economy? Their true function is to bring in the tourism dollars right? By tangible numbers in the CNN article, they are not succeeding.
But I thought royals bring in big numbers, I guess not. So the cost to keep them on the dole is not as profitable as some are always hawking. My I wonder what will happen when the truth of that lie is exposed. Based on that article there are other factors for high tourism rates, and spending. Wow.
Nope, bringing in tourism money is not the royals true function – that is just an argument to justify their existence in a modern democracy where they no longer govern the country.
In terms of a tangible function, only the Monarch has one in terms of her constitutional duty. However, their “real” and rather intangible function is their status as a (very expensive) national symbol, a living embodiment of a deep historical continuity (i.e. that England has been a monarchy for a millennium). THAT is their function. The issue is, that they don’t need to be so expensive to fulfill this function – hence all the other arguments for their usefulness since it is the public who pays for them.
I will say, there was a time when my mom and I were so into British-ness. Of course an idea of British-ness that has about as much to do with reality Gone with the Wind and Leave it to Beaver do with lived American experience.
We loved masterpiece theater, we saw every Kenneth Branaugh movie, did high tea for special occasions, and of course I LOVED British authors.
That sort of sentimental attachment is unthinkable now. Not when my twitter timeline is filled with Bojo, Priti Patel, Brexit, Windrush, Soccer racism. and all because I started following more British accounts because of Meghan.
@ArtHistorian thank you for the clarification. I had forgotten that.
I dislike the hair, I’ll be honest. Yeah it’s good that she tried something new but doesn’t look good on her. Before I saw close ups I thought she had crimped her hair and I immediately cringed lol. But then I saw she didn’t but still don’t like.
Not much to say on the dress. It’s fine.
+1 Her hair looks terrible. I totally thought it was crimped, too. It looks like she did it herself. I know she has access to hairstylists and has nothing but time on her hands to try a new hairstyle and perfect it. Total amateur hour.
I think we’re seeing so many re-wears on Kate because of the Earthshot Awards and the fact that they asked everyone to wear sustainable fashion or re-wears so now she’s stuck doing that. Lol
That’s what I assumed too. She has to appear not to be hypocritical, at least for a little while. We know it won’t last.
@Harla: I agree. The re-wears have to do with Earthshot Awards.
I saw some of the celebs they met on their insta page. I was disappointed to see Alison Hammond laughing it up with William. But i get it ,alot of these British celebs have to stay neutral especially if they want MBEs,OBEs and knighthoods.
I will give it to her, it’s a nice dress with a good balance of simple lines, glam, and a sophisticated color–this is how you do sparkle, not that 1988 Miss Teen USA pageant gold mess. She looks very nice and is definitely carrying the glam. However, I can’t help but chuckle at Kate herself simply because we all know this is her trying her darndest to compete with Meghan. That hair…come on now Kate, we see you.
I see Carole, along with other Middletons, was in attendance too – presumably in case Kate needed a wee at the interval and needed mummy to take her?
Is this the kind of event where you can just buy a ticket and attend? Or do you have to be invited etc? Was Carole in the royal box?
@Becks: Yes, Carole and the rest of the family were in the royal box. I haven’t seen any royalists complain about this breach of protocol yet.
You can buy tickets to the royal variety show and you can even purchase the grand tier box for 7.5k (that’s NOT the royal box however) which is next to the royal box.
As for the Midds, they seemed to be in the royal box but they could have been in the grand tier one which they could have purchased or had it comped on the virtue of being the in-laws of the FFK or they could have been sitting in the royal box itself which is invitation only I believe. I think they were in the royal box.
Carole, Mike, James and Alize were right next to the box where Kate and William were sitting and it was more obvious because there was only one other couple in the box with K and W, presumably the president of the association who runs this event. It is not just random that they got those seats.
Alizee is so naturally glam; I’d love to see more of her. Wonder where Pippa has been? Has Pippa (who would know the real behind the scenes truth) taken a stand against the Burger King due to his treatment of Kate? Maybe she refuses to be around him.
So Pippa and husband weren’t there, but Kate’s parents, brother and SIL were? I find that very strange.
Alize looked more glamorous than kate, who confuses sparkles with glamour. I wonder how many more invites she will get if the press start to notice that.
I wonder about that, too – this is a fundraiser, right? So if all those seats were reserved for the Middleton clan, I hope they contributed to the cause.
I know for the royals there is a blurry line between work and social events, so maybe they don’t find it odd for the Middletons to tag along. I do find it telling that at the recent global summit, the person they were most photographed with was their own aide, and here they seem to be relying on Kate’s family. Was there nobody else to talk to at this event?
It doesn’t speak highly of their networking skills, which is pretty much the point of them, right?
Could they not have invited someone else to the royal box, like an NHS worker or an actor/ theatre activist or even one of their moonshot honourees?
My theory is that the middletons were there due to some sort of bargaining chip. I think kate n the middletons must have had the upper hand is something where she got to invite the fam along so they middletons can all pretend that they are the real royal family.
@Amy Bee come one ,is it a breach of protocol to sit in the same box as your daughter and son in law!?
@Noki: It was for Meghan.
This is a work event for William and Kate; this is having your parents tag along to your job.
the Middletons are around plenty, if they weren’t there last night not a single person would have thought it was a sign they were being “excluded.”
it honestly feels like they are running interference with the cambridges.
James Middleton seems to be in the media a lot more lately.
There’s something sinister about the Middletons. They didn’t make their money entirely from legitimate trading in cheap party ware. Party Pieces has never been a big enough company to support their lifestyle. Questions were being asked before the engagement. Questions about how they got the money to move from a semi-detached house with a mortgage to a large detached house with extensive grounds and no mortgage. This was when Kate was 12 or 13. They were leading a millionaire lifestyle from a business which, according to one investigator couldn’t be making much more than £130,000 a year in profit.
There was no inherited money and none of Michael Middleton’s three brothers enjoyed the same lifestyle. The inevitable suspicion is that Party Pieces was laundering money from Uncle Gary’s nefarious dealings.
James Middleton’s wife is some kind of finance expert but doesn’t appear to have an independent job. She also doesn’t appear to have access to much money of her own. At the Sussexes wedding she wore a £50 H&M dress and a little straw hat. The black dress she was wearing at the theatre appears to be the same one she was photographed in at an evening occasion years ago. She was married in Carol Middleton’s old wedding dress. I’m getting coercive control vibes from her place in this family.
Did the Middletons pay full price for their tickets to sit right next to the royal box? Because this was an event to raise money for the retirement fund of actors and while the royals get a free ride, what about the in-laws? It’s not like the Middletons have been excluded from family things over the years and there have been several holidays where the Cambridges haven’t attended Sandringham, including last year. So the argument that the Middletons have been excluded by the family falls flat especially when they meant family events and not official engagements, which is what this was supposed to be.
The Middletons are acting like the Trump clan here by tagging along to something where they don’t belong and working their access for freebies.
I saw some photos of them in the Royal Box. Comparisons to previous years’ appearances confirms that the distance between them has grown. Also, Carole and Mike and James and Alizee were sitting directly to the left of Kate in the next box. Reinforcements, as there were no other Royal buffers for the evening?
CopyKeen strikes again
duplicate post
She doesn’t looked wildly bottomed, but her face looks very hard. Everything about her always looked clenched.
@ SuSuSusio I am not a fan, but if I had to attend an event, ANY event, with William I would look clenched too.
They seem to take turns being miserable
There is definitely something not right in the House of Cambridge. Watching the entrance video they didn’t even look at each other. Their fans pointed out how lovely it was that Will pointed to the step for Kate. He actually pointed! So awkward. Instead of greeting the people and walking in together, Will kept moving and left Kate on the stairs. I know if my partner had done this I would be fuming.
Chris Jackson worked his angles hard to make it look like they were walking close together in the above photo. But if you look at their feet, they are at least a foot away from each other and kate is slightly behind.
Meanwhile, for comparison, there is a photo of Charles and Camilla standing next to each other in a sunset photo in front of the pyramids and their shoulders are touching. So just to show that not all royal couples act like these two.
@Nic919. I also noticed this at their arrival. William walking so far ahead leaving Kate far behind. He didn’t even wait for her anymore. He may be a future king but he’s not a gentleman at all.
I also noticed that when he alerted Kate and pointed his hand to watch her step, his hand almost touched Kate’s and at that instance she twitched and, on reflex, she moved her hand away. Almost like she didn’t want him to touch her. These two couldn’t stand each other.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zhRX2hsuXjM
I think they had a terrible argument in the car. She didn’t look happy last night. She was just performing her duty. This marriage is in trouble.
@Marivic, that video was so….stiff and odd and awkward. So many moments where William just walks ahead and you can almost see the lightbulb go off over his head at times to remind himself to turn around and maybe see where she is since they are supposed to be attending this thing together. And her scurrying to keep up. Also when they first got out of the car and he just strides ahead without no consideration or waiting for his wife to walk with her to the entrance. But he points at a step without even looking at her so she doesn’t trip. So loving and solid.
Okay, I just watched the clip. It’s not even that they can’t stand each other, its like he completely blocks out her presence. He doesnt wait for her to get out of the car, he is always a few steps ahead of her, and seems to be striding quickly but that could just be how it looks, they don’t talk to anyone together, William is always talking to the next person and only waits for her when he realizes he absolutely has to.
Someone said this about the Bond premiere I think – it takes a lot of effort to ignore someone standing right next to you.
@ Becks I think your guess that the Middletons were there as back up is pretty accurate. Especially when William can’t even pretend to be decent to her in public and on film.
I don’t even think they had a fight in the car, I just think that’s how much they don’t get along.
It reminded me of corporate relationships where there’s a manager/underling dynamic, and where the senior person has zero respect or regard for the person. There’s such a level of contempt evident in this video.
They do not look like a couple at all. They look like they’re colleagues at a work thing, or maybe divorced parents coming together for something at their kid’s school. I’m really surprised by how obvious it is.
Well jeez that video was ice cold. They both looked rushed and bored and anxious and basically ignored each other.
I’m amazed that this video is posted on a semi official royalist site because it’s pretty clear evidence there is something seriously wrong with those two. William couldn’t ignore her more if he tried. The press must know way more and yet they still target the Sussexes.
Like Trump and Melania.
Yep. At this point W&K have an arrangement, not a marriage.
Fashion wise? This is much better than expected, the colour is flattering and her makeup and hair are professional looking. It’s definitely better than the doilies, harsh eyeliner and sausage curls of yore, although I don’t think the cut is particularly flattering to her shape.
She’s got a long way to go if she wants to be “known” for being ecoconscious and rewearing, considering that Anne has been doing that for most of her life, and I suspect this will just be a blip more than a trend. One thing Kate is not known for is taking up a cause and running with it for many years.
Maybe somebody realized that it would look bad, debuting new gowns while the UK experiences supply chain woes and people can’t get heat for their homes. But I’m guessing she’ll have something special picked out to inspire the masses for the Christmas pap stroll.
Anne really is not thrifty, She can rewear clothes and is not as showy as Kate with the bling and so on. But she has tremendous wealth and lives in luxury. Kate can only play at being “thrifty.” To me, I find her more of a phony and out of touch if she even thinks she’s making a difference. Kate has untold wealthy through marriage, even if they divorce she would get a large settlement. She never had to earn her own money to support herself pre marriage so she really has no clue about how “average” people live.
I think she looks fine, however derivative. Too bad her beauty treatments can’t be counted as “work.”
Also there’s an article about a man hitting on Kate. There’s no response from William about how lovely, beautiful, proud. If you look at the pictures of them in the Royal box. She might as well be sitting with her parents. They’re so far apart. The video from yesterday says it all not the pictures. He didn’t look at her, didn’t wait for her, didn’t share or give her the program that was given to him. Also this is her attempting the pregnancy side part look of Meghan when she sat on the bench at the first global citizen
That arrival video was astonishing. He didn’t look at her once, not once.
He just glanced back once to see where she was because she was far behind him and had to catch up to him. Otherwise, cold shoulder. And the way he pointed to the ground giving directions that she should stand there. He clasps his hands in front to avoid touching her. So appallingly dispassionate.
I just watched the video again and realized that William was pointing out the step to warn her. So see, he does care for her!
I agree completely BeanieBean. They seem to be so disinterested in each other. He doesn’t turn back for her, he doesn’t acknowledge or even look at her. It’s so cold and distanced. Very weird. They do not look like a married couple at all. They look like two mean girls who hate each other but have to get along for a class presentation.
The desperation is clear with this one. If only she weren’t such a racist, doormat, mean girl.
It’s a nice dress, but it looks kind of dated to me? I actually think I might have said this dress was dated the first time I saw it now that I think about it. Maybe it’s the shoulder pads. Like it’s more straight up ’80s rather than referential to the ’80s. Also I feel like the hem is too long? I wonder if she’s wearing flats. If so, I take back the hem criticism. Comfort always.
Nope, she’s not wearing flats, she’s in heels!
I just don’t see the point of that at all if you’re wearing a dress that goes to the ground and so can’t even see them.
This is kate we are talking about. She rarely wear flats, even for sporty events. She never would go to an event like this without heels. Also she would look much shorter if she had flats.
@Plums, sequins and beading can weigh a dress down. Since this dress is a re-wear, I wonder if the embellishments pulled on the fabric enough to drop the hem an inch or so? Also, I suspect Kate’s posture was better the last time she wore this; I bet the hem fell at the right point then.
Real talk: she doesn’t have the face or the confidence to pull off that hairstyle. She tried to imitate Meghan but in some shots she weirdly resembled Carrie Johnson imo (anyone who’s seen Carrie’s Twitter profile pic might get the comparison). Also, her posture is truly atrocious and drags down that dress. The whole look is just…awkward. This is the second time she’s tried to go glam/be ‘daring’ for her standards in the last three months and she’s now 0 for 2.
Kate always looks to me like she is trying to take up as little space as possible in a room. Like she’s trying to squeeze herself into the smallest possible space that she can, have as little surface area of herself come in contact with anyone or anything. Which doesn’t surprise me at all, considering her only offering is her physical self–her appearance and her clothes. She doesn’t have a voice. She’s an image, as light and as insubstantial as air. And she gets to spend the rest of her life getting compared to Meghan, knowing that no matter what the royal ratchets say, her dour, wraithlike image will be compared to Meghan’s warmth, vitality, and charisma.
I think she’s facing a bitter realization if she hasn’t already: what makes her life tolerable is likely the fact that she’s supposed to be the ultimate aspirational figure in the UK. She can starve herself or over-exercise and look away from her nasty cheating husband because at least, other women look up to her and imagine themselves as her. It’s like those rich kid influencers: being rich and having lots of stuff isn’t what matters: it’s the idea of other people envying you for your money and lifestyle that matters.
But now, even with the Hate Brigade against Meghan: who would chose to live Kate’s life over Meghan’s? Who wouldn’t rather have money with freedom instead of without? Anything that Kate has that’s aspirational, Meghan has as well–access to designer clothes, access to major events, mansions, jewelry. Meghan has cute kids too. And Meghan, unlike Kate, has a husband who adores her.
It must fill Kate with bitterness to think: “I did everything I was told to do: I waited and waited until my husband chose me. I stayed skinny. I kept my mouth shut. I posed on the hospital steps with all of my kids with my hair and makeup perfect. I’ve walked on eggshells around my husband and pretended not to see him stepping out on me. I was supposed to be Fairest of the Land, not that American “showgirl.” She’s not even in the same country as me and she’ll never go away!
And her life doesn’t look so enviable anymore. I don’t think it ever will again. What will she do? Retreat even further into her own little world, and continue to try to be “perfect” by British tabloid standards (meaning skinny and silent). Will she project all of her insecurities onto Charlotte? If the press ever turns on William, will she stick by him? Is being Queen Consort worth it?
I can’t help but think of Lady Macbeth’s words after she became Queen (not saying Kate is Lady Macbeth–I’m just talking about the words):
Nought’s had, all’s spent
Where our desire is got without content
Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction, dwell in doubtful joy.
I wonder if she’s realizing that, despite all of her efforts with William to destroy Meghan, that Meghan got the better deal in the end.
This comment needs to be bronzed for posterity. Bravo! Best summary of Kate I have ever read!
It really does!
A grim assessment, but I agree completely. I think Kate & William are both realizing that Harry & Meghan got the better deal. But William & Kate don’t have a supportive partner to work through those feelings. Say what you will about Elizabeth & Philip’s marriage, but they were supportive of each other in their roles.
I see Kate hanging on until William is done, which increasingly feels like it will be after the Queen passes, almost certainly before he becomes Prince of Wales. Until then, they are two miserable people playing the happy couple for a public that doesn’t so much adore them as it holds them up as a foil to the ones that got away.
Well, nothing can be done about being the first born in an hereditary monarchy – but I think Kate’s life would be infinitely more tolerable if William actually loved her. Both their lives, really.
Absolutely. Almost anything is tolerable or at least survivable if you have unconditional love to bolster you and carry you through — see Harry and Meghan as Exhibit A. These two are miserable both together and in their respective lives and it’s as clear as a bell to anyone willing to scratch and look below the surface.
Come through @Ianne, with the perfect analysis yet again!
Not getting all the bashing for being thrifty in this crazy world. If she bought a new gown for every appearance, she’d be bashed for that. Seriously folks. This Kate vs. Meghan thing is getting old and silly. Let Will and Kate do their royal thing, and let Harry and Meghan be regular people, which I assumed was what their initial intention was. Jeez.
1) People aren’t “bashing” the thrifty angle, they’re wondering why she’s suddenly wearing a bunch of repeats because it’s not the norm for her. The fact that you consider the simple speculation “bashing” says a lot.
2) KATE started and continues to fuel the “Kate vs Meghan” narrative. Both she and her husband started and continue to fuel comparisons between themselves and the Sussexes. They wanted this narrative, so they are getting exactly what they asked for. Sorry that they’re such pieces of shit that it bothers you when they’re unfavorably compared to Harry and Meghan.
“bashing for being thrifty” – no. Kate spends more than any of them. The re-wearing is just a front. She’s got about 70 billion blue coatdresses and creepy Catherine Walker cosplays hanging in her closet, presumably gathering dust since she appears like twice a month.
Kate herself is engineering the Kate vs. Meghan thing. The fact that she and her husband authorized their personal snake Jason Knauf to try to sabotage Meghan’s case this month is evidence of that – and I have no doubt they paid for the headlines screaming about how much of a liar Meghan is, giving more fuel to the hate accounts that Knauf sponsors (some of which actually want Meghan dead). These are the people that drove Meghan to suicidal ideation.
“Let Harry and Meghan be regular people” – sorry but this sounds like the “I THOUGHT THEY WANTED PRIVACY” cry.
Um… buying a dress that costs thousands of pounds and wearing it twice in 2-3 years isn’t thrifty. In fact, that’s the opposite of thrifty.
It’s flat out gaslighting for the media to pretend it is some grand financial savvy to spend thousands for something and wear it *gasp shock* more than once.
We’re “bashing” the thrifty angle because it comes and goes with Kate and constant repeats like we’ve seen recently is just not the norm for her.
You are certainly all welcome to your opinion. Have at it.
Thanks!
I agree it is getting old. Even Meghan said it was unnecessary to compare the two of them all of the time.
I agree it’s getting so old. Not a fan of Kate but we can talk about her fashion style, lack of work ethic without the constant comparisons to Meghan.
Lift Meghan up and the great work she’s doing
Thrifty my ass! It’s not thrift to rewear bespoke clothing that costs several thousand pounds per item. Talk about setting the bar so low, it’s in hell.
What Will and Kate want to do is keep attacking Meghan. They can fuck right off with that. Perhaps if they spent more time doing their Royal duties, they wouldn’t have time to be monsters and Liz could get some rest.
I think you need to go back through the archives, get caught up, then come back and tell us if you have this same take.
If Kate is thrifty I’m an elk. She does nothing…NOTHING to deserve closets overflowing with costly clothing. The fact that she occasionally wears the same outfit twice is meaningless. Let’s not forget that she was integral in the Meghan bashing. She publicly ignored her and a new-born Archie several times. She treated her abhorrently at the Commonwealth church service because she and her faux husband are seething with jealousy and hatred of the biracial sister-in-law and how much Meghan and Harry outshine, outwork them and are having success after success after being harassed and threatened out of England by their own f*cking useless family.
I think that average people would laugh or be annoyed at the Kate is thrifty just like the rest of us spin. Someone paying for rent, food, and supporting a family would find it absurd. One of her dresses probably could pay two months worth of rent. I wonder if she really believes she’s thrifty, would not surprise me.
Kate is not thrifty. Lots of people have to work for a living not have lots of down time and work consisting of showing up in expensive clothes and bling. Kate plays at being thrifty, she does not have to clip coupons, look for sales prices, budget the money each month so there will be enough for the necessities (including rent or mortgage payments each month. And so on. Kate’s dresses are not cheap, they are expensive, and she wears bling. She is not thrifty.
“Plays at being thrifty” Thank you for saying this, my coworker committed suicide the working forty plus hours and barely making a living and keeping up with the joneses was too much for her. The rf have it all yet don’t acknowledge the amount of help at their disposal and the amount of money they blow through is disgusting. Kate doesn’t deserve to be called thrifty.
Her makeup is always terrible, never blended in correctly. In some photos you can actually see the flash bounce back from the powder under her eyes.
I think she wore that hair over the left side of her face because her cheeks look uneven. Her right cheek has the little round bit, but the left one looks flat unless she’s smiling hard. Wearing her hair that way makes everyone photograph her from the “good” side.
Is she dressed like an Andes mint wrapper to try and get the bad taste she’s left (through recent behavior) out of our mouths?
I kid, I kid- this is my favorite shade of green and I love this dress, bar the shoulder pads.
But Kate would look so much better in this if she had actual curves. And the hair is cutesy, not glam to me.
Even though this was a solid effort for Kate all the publications still focused on Meg.
I sort of feel sorry for her at this point. She’s like the evil queen in Snow White….grasping to be the fairest of them all and doing whatever it takes to get there and not succeeding. I wonder if this gonna be her forever.
I looked at a video on YouTube and what strikes me as so very sad is the organizers etc in the receiving line are so excited and have put in all the hard work, they’re enthusiastic and smiling and chatting and William really has nothing for them. He’s in a very sad place in his life, their anticipation and happy mood doesn’t reach him at all. I wonder when he will reach his breaking point, what will it take for him to stop this farcical performance of a marriage
What’s he got other than this “family man” image? If he divorces Kate, he no longer will be seen as the anti-Charles, and will have nothing good attached to his persona. No one knows him for his work.
This is a nice look for her. Dress, color,hair all work. She is everything she was meant to be; a fertile, well dressed clothes hanger with hands.
One of the ugliest people inside that exists, wearing a green dress. There is the headline I would like to see. She can buzz off.
When I saw the pics last night, her dress reminded me of Amber Heard’s Mera costume from Aquaman. They are both so devoid of personality and spark.
She looks beautiful. Too bad she’s so awful, along with her terrible husband. Are they ever going to do initiatives that aren’t red carpet or talking to a group of people for 45 mins at most?
My I just noticed the manly hands on the English rose. Question is she punching wall?. Is she as incandescent as willy?. I think she should copy petty Betty and wear gloves.
@Margaret
What a weird comment and says a lot about the type of person you are.
@linda
I do have eyes and, can be petty too. But I respect your opinion, and right to castigate me.
But you do have a lovely day. Oh and i stand by my horrible observation.
@Linda I totally agreed with Margaret….those hands! Brrr….
They’re not “manly”, they’re scrawny like the rest of her.
You made me go back and look at her hands! While I don’t think they look manly, her knuckles look huge and swollen, a little arthritic. Now I wonder if they have always looked like that.
@Margaret Lina is right. I don’t like Kate either, but there are women and girls reading this site who will read this comment, realize their hands look like Kate’s, and their feelings will be hurt. Think about them, not Kate.
Kate in the back of her mind would always have Harry. Giving her the true Pat on the back and lifting her up when William put her down. It was Kate who stopped Harry from seeing her children when she saw Meg wasn’t leaving and the attention was on Meg not Kate. Look how happy Kate was on her last engagement with Harry when it was only them two. Look how Kate couldn’t stop looking at Harry at the funeral- even with the cameras focused on her. It was Kate who ruined Harry’s last relationship with the African actress who ended up marrying another Harry. I really think Kate is depressed and the Middleton is all she has now. You can try all you want. But she knows she’ll never have what Meg has
Interesting theory Harry has one ex from Africa and one ex who is an actress ( Chelsy, Cressida) is there another who is both from Africa and an actress ?
Cressida Bonas is the actress but she’s definitely not African. I think @What is getting her mixed up with Chelsy Davy who’s South African. Cressida married Harry Wentworth-Stanley.
chelsy Davy and her family live in South Africa. Harry would spend time with her and the family. Cressida Bonas is an actress/dancer. She appeared as an extra in films and in B movies. I think she retired from acting after her marriage.
I don’t think Chelsy cared much for Kate. And Kate probably would not have liked Cressida joining the family since she is half sister of Isabelle Calthorpe, someone William was interested in.
Chelsy was around the same time kate was and Harry never treated her as a clinger so Kate didn’t feel she had the power to do as much to Chelsy as she could with Cressida, where she had seniority and was actually married in at that point.
Let us not forget how Chelsy was sitting next to Harry and William at the 10th anniversary concert for Diana whereas Kate was rows away.
She could be any Bravo Real Housewife. They are mostly wealthy, average looking middle aged women propped up with with access to cosmetic procedures, professional hair and makeup. A few have actually been real beauties but not the majority. That is how I see Keen and Camilla, not special in anyway whatsoever, just wealthy women married to famous men.
I don’t like the dress, it’s too glittery and tacky and just basic. Hope she’s not gonna be all up in sequins, thinking it’s “ glamorous “. What a joke. Also, wearing a dress twice is not recycling. Whatever,dude.
Maybe sequins are her new buttons?
I watched the video footage of them when they arrived at the event. She looked nice: 1) this is a good color for her, 2) I thought her hair and makeup looked good.
But what was more interesting to me was their body language. He never once looked at her and kept leaving her behind as they worked the greeting line. The only thing close to a courtesy and consideration was when they entered a second room and he let her go in front of him. The video came to an end after that.
Love this look on her. This is one of my favorite dresses. And I love that she wore her natural curls.
LOL those are quite obviously not her natural curls but thanks for the laugh.
I don’t like her hair style at all, it’s more for a teenager. She is nearly 40 and needs to get a new hairstyle.
Sequins do not age well. This too-long dress looks like it smells of moth balls. Kate looks stiff and haggard. A for effort, but a sad look overall.
Weird shoulder pads, good colour
It takes longer than a week for the botox to set in but ok, I’m sure she has an injector on speed dial.
I like the dress but she should have left the wiglet at home
Wow she looks really great love that dress and the jewel tone colours do really suit her
The color is pretty but I don’t think she could be less boring if she tried.
I thought the dress too dark for such a lighthearted event. A disgrace – an absolute disgrace – that the Middleton clan were there.
I thought the dress too dark and dreary for such a lighthearted event. A disgrace – absolute disgrace – the Middleton clan were there.
Her hair style is not that great, it is more for a teenager or someone of college age. IMO. I don’t care for the gown but the worst part is that her PR spins it that she’s thrifty because she wears an expensive dress twice. Kate married into $$$ and average people can’t afford an expensive gown that they wear twice.
The deep side part hairstyle doesn’t enhance her face. It makes her look like a butch and it ages her. She has a model figure but somehow she cannot carry a dress/gown well. Maybe it’s the confidence that’s missing.
She tries so hard to look Hollywood glam but it just doesn’t work. Her smile looked particularly fake last night.
I don’t care to get into the royal drama, so from here on out I’m just jumping to the Meghan and Kate fashion. I really think this looks nice on her, and I like the hair (usually I find her hair soooo boring). She’s tall and slender, and I like it when she embraces that and goes a bit more glam. The green looks nice as well. (FTR, I love Meghan’s style as well – so I’ll go look at that shortly LOL). I just had a sh!tty day at work and I just want to look at pretty dresses and styles.
She got her beauty session in now she’s ready to roll
She looks pretty, but so matronly at the same time. Her eyebrows drive me nuts! They are too big or dark or something. I find them very distracting.
She Definitely got work done. She switched up her hair to throw us off! She’s gotten fillers
She missed that green is a metaphor for jealousy/ wicked queen. Dieting causes osteoporosis which causes a hunched posture. As someone with an eating disorder I can vouch for the fact that this appears unremarkable. Until you see the photos of yourself… I think Kate will be hidden away in some castle with het parents till they die. And her kids commenting to the media with disrespect about her ‘problems’
I like the look on her.
He looks awkward…like he’s clasping his hands so he doesn’t have to hold her hands or touch her..
The Middletons are circling, make no mistake. The Queen is poorly. Chief Middleton family sponsor – drunken, wife-beating crackhead Uncle Gary is quiet. For now.
I actually really like the dress, but there is no excuse for that makeup. Girlfriend needs to watch some YouTube tutorials if she insists on doing her own face. Her cheeks look embarrassing, and she really should learn the basics of applying shadow to hooded eyes and lifting her Cupid’s bow with lip liner. Heck, I’d be happy if she at least learned the proper place to apply highlighter.
@anotherlily. Mentioning Alize apparent lack of wealth/job income caused me to wonder about their overall income. Where does it come from? Does James Middleton get an allowance from his parents or someone else? Where did he get money for the house? How is he supporting he and his wife? I know in the recent past he lived and worked on his brother in law property, and after that ended he moved in with his parents.
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