So much of the Duchess of Cambridge’s unhinged “40th birthday extravaganza” was hilarious to me. Kensington Palace, Kate and the Middletons clearly blanketed the media weeks in advance to push stories about how Kate is super-normal, how she’s shy and doesn’t like attention, how she eschews glamour and fuss, how she’s stable and calm (especially compared to emotional, angry, rage monster William). They made a huge fuss about how she never wants a huge fuss. What’s also hilarious is how quickly all of that Normal Boring Solid Unglamorous Kate PR shifted as soon as her birthday portraits were released. Suddenly, she was glamorous and it was a great thing, and Meghan must be so mad to see Kate looking like the ghost of a Confederate widow. So that’s where we are now: Kate can’t focus on one narrative and neither can the royal reporters and commentators who are tasked with embiggening this sad piece of toast.
Royal commentator Ingrid Seward explains: “In this image I think you see a nod to Kate rising up the ranks. People look at her and see the perfect queen, young and beautiful. It evokes an image of the Queen as a young woman and even conjures up historically a Boadicea, strong, yet feminine – femininity yet strength. That idealised image of a young queen, serene, in control and poised.”
She adds: “Kate is coming into her own. She is genuinely involved in her charity work, which will be her legacy. We have seen her in the peacemaker role between William and Harry, we saw her at the carol concert in Westminster stepping confidently into the spotlight, she is no longer a clothes horse, there is a strength there now. We can see Kate stepping up a level, the coming of a queen in waiting, and I think she is more ready to fill those shoes.”
But she stresses the Duchess will no doubt feel embarrassed by the attention on her position. She’s been in The Firm long enough to know she must not overstep the mark.
“Prince Charles is not even King yet and the Royals are very careful about not upstaging each other. Kate will be keen not to upstage Camilla,” says Ingrid. “She is aware of hierarchy and that it is Camilla’s turn. But she is a wonderful advert for the monarchy, especially globally, and people will see her as the perfect queen.”
A few points: if and when Kate becomes Queen, she’ll likely be in her 50s or maybe even 60s. She will not be a “young queen,” nor is youthful queenery something to aspire to. And I can guarantee that if that happens, we’ll still be hearing about how Kate “is coming into her own” and that she has big plans to be keen as Queen, she promises. Kate’s immaturity and laziness doesn’t actually make her younger or seem younger, is my point. The point of Seward’s embiggening isn’t actually about what Kate has done or will do with her position though, it’s just lavish praise for how Kate LOOKS, not what she is. And I do wonder if all of Kate’s birthday extravaganza is why there were suddenly several high-profile pieces about the Duchess of Cornwall last week. Camilla and Charles are telling Kate to take it down several notches.
Photos courtesy of Paolo Roversi for Kensington Palace, covers courtesy of People and the Sunday Times.
vom
Not enough Aquafor in the world to take care of lips so chapped from all the ass-kissing going on here.
I’d be humiliated if people were still speaking of me like I was a child (and with 3 kids of my own!!!), instead of a grown ass woman by the age of 40!!!!
lololol AQUAFOR!
i’d be humiliated if I posed for a 1980s mall glamour shoot complete with flouncy princess outfits and vaseline on the lens in this the year of our lord 2022
tell me this isn’t kate’s inspiration: https://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/inbound2063418140697719089.jpg
Look Ingrid Sewer, just because she is younger than the actual Q, doesn’t mean she is any where near being QC or Q!! Plus, she is barely recognizable in these photos!!! So this is the theory you want to try and sell? Have at it!! While you are groveling for accolades to lay upon the feet of Mumbles McMutton, ask her why a 95yo widow, a widow this year in fact, is able to outwork her? Or how a 70+ yo Anne can outwork you in the last 5 years? Are we still going to be becoming into our own come her 60 birthday as well?
How are there grown adults on this earth who can have any reaction but this?? Do people like this treacly garbage. I don’t think I have ever, in my life, heard another woman described like this in article after article. As if she is some sort of divine goddess on earth.
Not Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Not Cindy Crawford or Giselle Bundchen. Not Beyoncé. Not Helen Mirren or Emma Thompson. Not the Queen herself. My point is, I have never ever heard another woman described so rhapsodically, so repeatedly. No one!!! It’s demented!!
Demented is exactly the right word for all of…this.
She called her a Boadicea. Now my history is a little rusty, but wasn’t she the ancient queen who fought back against the romans?
Yeah, Kate posing for some photographs is the EXACT same thing.
Becks1, and we all know a woman can’t be strong and feminine at the same time. 🙄🙄🤮🤮
@Deering, I’m not sure what you mean by that. I didn’t say anything about being strong and feminine.
I’m saying that Kate posing for pictures is not the same thing as leading a fight against the roman army.
@gruey It’s foreshadowing something, Kate’s downfall hopefully.
@Gruey -Totally agree! This is exactly what I think about when I read this crap. I feel like I’ve taken crazy pills and I’m looking around wondering why no one else thinks this is lunacy!
Becks1, yipes—my apologies!! That’s what Seward said, not you. Her comparison to Boadicea was either-or. “It evokes an image of the Queen as a young woman and even conjures up historically a Boadicea, strong, yet feminine – femininity yet strength.”
Boadicea!!!! 😹😹😹😹😹 Kate could no more lead an army than she can walk on water! Jesus, Ingrid, read up on your English history. You embarrass yourself. 🙄🙄
The “Boudicca” reference was comedic gold. Ingrid Sewald must have been paralytic drunk when she filed her copy for this tosh!
It appears they are trying to convince themselves. Keep repeating it until it comes true.
The rush to crown this woman is unseemly. Has she forgotten about Camilla?
If Kate ever is queen, it won’t be for many years.
Elizabeth was a very young queen regnant and despite her being a shitty person, she had the elegance that awkward Kate can only dream of.
Kate is not a young queen because Elizabeth is still queen, and Camilla is next. And she will be a consort, not s regnant.
The more they try to upsell this dullard, the more clear it becomes that she doesn’t have it.
Yes, Boadicea was famous for being serene and poised! Do these people even have an inkling of how different the socio-political landscape and gender roles were back then?! Like a pre-medieval tribal leader is anything remotely similar to the role Kate is expected to fulfill?!
i thought boadicea was usually depicted bare breasted, hair wild, fury in her eyes as she led her people to viciously fight back against their oppressors… so totally like kate of course
Well…the bare-breasted part is totally Kate. Seen those puppies a few times.
@Jaded – you win comment of the day! 🏆🥇
I triple blinked at the Bouadicea, famous for her feminine strength? Famous for leading a revolt against the colonizers, which number one requires using your voice, and then she actually used swords and went into battle. Omg I don’t know why this is rolling me up.
That’s the era they want to compare her to? Why not go for someone from King Arthur’s court?
Ridiculous.
a pre-medieval *warrior* who very nearly sacked the Romans!
well, Catherine is certainly bloodthirsty. but, yeah, no.
Boadicea was a bad ass warrior queen. The comparison is a truly bizarre non sequitur.
That is truly demented and off the wall. Maybe Ingrid is hoping woad-warrior Kate will lead a rebellion to take the throne from Charles.
We used to have an Irish Setter named Boadicea. She lived to 17, much longer than average for the breed, and towards the end of her life, she was a bit wobbly-legged and had increasingly frequent accidents indoors. Even THAT Boadicea had more poise than Kate. Better hair, too.
Irish setters, such beautiful dogs!
okay LOL I just said something above bc that reference was so off the wall to me too. Like….WHAT.
Thank you! I had to double check to make sure there weren’t two famous Boedicas in history.
Nothing in Kate’s birthday portraits evokes the fierce ( but ultimately doomed) leader of a revolt against the Romans, who slayed tens of thousands and took revenge on behalf of herself and her daughters. Maybe it’s just too subtle for me…
Do we think Ingrid just did a google search for “British queen”?
I almost got mental whiplash from that.
Not in a million years would Kate be up to the legend and bravery of Boadicea.
This is totally a knock on Camilla, methinks, for not being young and beautiful.
Agreed! Kate is everything Camilla is NOT. She’s young, beautiful, not previously divorced, not previously a sidepiece in a royal marriage. She gave birth to the next king, unlike Cam, who will always be the Mistress Queen. I bet Charles is having his own round of incandescent rage at this one.
Kate is not all that. She is not young anymore, she is no great beauty, she is work shy (Camilla does more work) she treated Meghan horribly, she rolls her eyes at the mention of Meghan. I am not a fan of the next two consorts, Kate is not exactly a “better” alternative. She actually helped drive out her brother and sister in law and let Meghan take the heat for the crying story.I think Kate is very manipulative and I was horrified at how she glared at Harry and Meghan. She also is the most ardent publicity seeker and makes events all about HER.
Kate will continue to have her pictures photoshopped until she dies. She will be 60 years old and photoshopped to look 30. Maybe they’ll just cut and paste pictures of her from the past and redate them. My point is, Kate already looks so different in real like (unphotoshopped pics) than what is published in magazines, and I don’t see that changing as she ages. Camilla’s problem was that she never insisted on being photoshopped under the threat of withholding leaks/access.
This is laughable.
What I was trying to say is that this is the narrative they are putting out. Compared to Cams, well, she is 34 years younger, and Cams was never anything close to a great beauty even in her prime. This story suggests all the ways in which she is unlike–and *better than*– Camilla. Remember that Kate’s only way of interacting in the world is to compete with the other women near her.
I agree that she looks younger in these pics than she did in that awful painted portrait done 9 or so years ago…Kate is clearly adamant about appearing to be young and beautiful in what seems a desperate attempt for someone, anyone, to love HER best. (cue Dianne Wiest in The Birdcage).
With Harry’s obvious love for and devotion to Meghan and Charles’ ongoing affection for and protectiveness over Camilla, Kate must feel like the odd woman out, stuck in a royal marriage where her husband can’t stand the sight of her.
For some reason I thought Ingrid Seward was a Cam and Charles stan? Am I getting her confused with Penny Junor?
SHe was and I thought is a C and C stan. She wrote books praising C and C to the skies. I believe her husband (deceased) went to school with Charles. Seward wrote mean things about Diana. Kate is no saint, the way she treated Meghan.
@Jais, yes. Seward has been a C & C stan. I’m pretty sure has written in the past about W & K’s workshyness, expressed concerns about Kate writing that piece for HuffPo (and them trying to appeal to a US audience) and Seward has said about Kate, “She always looks to me like the cat that’s got the cream.”.
Lol at the peacemaker comment. The global audience knows that was ground up in the garbage disposal.
For about a year (?) now, there has been such an emphasis on “Queen Kate” and how she’s “preparing” to become FFQ, but the way they’re all written completely ignores Camilla’s existence. To the point that it is so bizarre that it’s notable.
Charles and Camilla are never so much as even mentioned as a footnote, and if someone didn’t know better and got their info strictly from the tabloids — both British and US — they would absolutely think W&K were up next.
I get their desire to make Kate the focus in the media— she’s younger and more glamorous than Camilla, sells more magazines, etc., but they’ve done it to the extent that Camilla has been *totally erased* from the narrative. I’ve never seen anything like it; it’s as if they believe that if they never acknowledge Charles and Camilla, they can manifest William and Kate as the next King and QC. It’s very odd to watch happen (with seemingly no pushback from the palace, or by anyone with two brain cells for that matter!).
Agree completely! Even William is erased to some extent. I can’t understand why Charles and William don’t push back on this narrative.
I don’t think Kate is all that glamorous. Never did. She’s attractive. and was pretty in her University years. I don’t see her selling many magazines. The cover stories of her and William don’t exactly sell, there are a lot of unsold copies that are left on newsstands. It was OK with William to plot and want Harry and Meghan (especially Meghan) to leave. Charles went along with it, but he really made things bad for HIMSELF in the long run, casting his lot with William.
I’m even surprised that Camilla & Charles got a mention in this article because they don’t typically in these future queen puff pieces. That’s why I laugh when people claim that “spotlight stealing” Harry & Meghan were treated badly because of hierachy when Kate & William have been solidly and prominently marketed since 2018 as if they are up next and Charles & Camilla don’t exist. Kate’s uncle even said Kate should be next but I don’t remember much of a backlash from royalists about those comments.
Some recognise that when Elizabeth goes public may question the monarchy’s worth in society more & so seeing how the monarchy has benefited from her long reign, want William next so there are less transitions & therefore opportunity for people to question the monarchy’s place. Also easier to sell the monarchy brand with younger royals
@A I rarely see criticism of Kate because for many non royal watchers I think she’s just there. But I think the media have been OTT with this birthday thing and it’s irritating a few who wouldn’t normally pay much attention
https://twitter.com/mojitowoke/status/1480458996515586049?s=21
Lorelai, I think this has been all Ma Meddleston. All of the articles and these photos. That woman, as well as Kant, has no class. I’m not talking about class in the sense of class structure. I mean class in the way anyone can have an innate sense of class regardless of where you were born or socio-economic status.
Kate has never been glamorous. Only the British media pretends that’s the case. Wearing a sparkly gold dress from the 80s and old lady make up isn’t glamorous in the real world. Kate would look like a joke on a Hollywood red carpet.
The real glamour was Meghan but they will never admit that.
Kate isn’t young anymore though. Only compared to a 75 year old does she classify as younger. She’s solidly middle aged. And sadly she’s so shallow and empty that she doesn’t have the wisdom acquired with age. She clings to a manufactured image of her face that isn’t real and unless she hides away and uses deep fakes, people will start to see the obvious difference when they see videos or other images she can’t photoshop beyond recognition.
Right? She’s 40. The Queen was 25, almost 26 when she became queen. That’s 15 years younger than Kate. That’s a young queen. Kate become Queen consort in….20ish years? isn’t really a young queen. I mean maybe relatively, if she’s coming after a 95 year old Camilla, but she still won’t be “young.”
Diana and Fergie went into the family when they truly were young. Diana barely out of her teens. Kate married in when she was pushing 30. She’s 40 now, not in her twenties anymore. She also is rabid for attention. And it gets sickening the way she is in the media EVERY day, getting mileage out of doing very little.
Question: In 10 years, Charlotte is going to be 17. In 15 years, she’ll be 22. Is Kate going to compete with her daughter for the title of Fairest In The Land?
Because all I can see in that situation is Kate mean-girling her own daughter.
And in 10 years, George will be 19. He is going to have younger, prettier girlfriends who will take the spotlight from Kate. Is she going to chase them off like she did William’s girlfriends?
The only thing— the ONLY THING— Kate has going for her is her “beauty,” and the bloom will be off that rose pretty quickly, given her fillers and all that. What the hell is she going to do then? Be content to fade into the background when her life has been dedicated to becoming queen?
(Assuming there’s a monarchy left… and assuming William and Kate are still married…)
Kate will look longingly at her birthday pictures at 40 when she’s 60 and regret that lost opportunity of being a youthful QC.
@lara. You’re being generous. The bloom is gone. Only a photoshopped fantasy pretends that hasn’t happened yet.
@LaraW – “ Question: In 10 years, Charlotte is going to be 17. In 15 years, she’ll be 22. Is Kate going to compete with her daughter for the title of Fairest In The Land?”
Not only that, but isn’t it a bit ridiculous that she said she is focusing on raising her kids for the next 10 – 15 years? In 15 years (you know she’ll take all of those years so she won’t have to work) her two oldest will be in their early 20s, and I doubt that Louis, at then-19ish, will need – or welcome – his mom focusing on him like she is now. One more statement that she (or the courtiers) didn’t think through.
she sits on a throne of lies!! ugh
A buzzfeed writer once put headlines of Kate and Meghan next to each other, to see the racist bias where everything Kate did was adorable, and when Meghan did the same thing it was vulgar, tasteless, etc.
I want someone to do that every week.
Every time Kate does a PR bonanza- i want the contrast of Meghan’s treatment in black and white next to it.
I want the words and insults applied to Meghan, put next to Kate’s stories.
That would be a sight for sore eyes!! I second that!!
I wouldn’t mind seeing a comparison of charity v charity/patronage as to how success each one creates and provides as well. Meghan would leave her in the dust within the first quarter, annual year. We would see astonishing donations to Mumbles patronages, with a direct link from CH!
Agreed—that would be a great running feature.
That needs to become a regular feature somewhere.
Wow this seems shady to the actual queen who while young when she started was never a traditional beauty and felt plain compared to Margaret.
So Kate is now meangirling the queen in her rush to power. She’s so gross.
Shady to QE and to Cam.
My eyes are permanently rolled back in my head.
At least they managed to keep Meghan’s name out of it. For once.
The only ones who look at her and see a “young” queen are older people. In comparison to TQ and Cam, sure, she’s young.
yeah the heavy photo shop and vaseline on the lens really ages her imo
I was talking to a colleague who is in her late 20s who casually follows the royals and when she learned that Kate was turning 40 she thought that Kate was in her 50s. Kate does not look youthful to the actual youth.
Evil soul and envy do this to the woman’s face.
As Catherine Deneuve said, paraphrasing here, when women reach a certain age they have to choose either their figure or their face. Like Demi Moore, Kate has chosen her figure – her shockingly gaunt figure (people were commenting on Twitter how unhealthy she looked in those photos) over her face. Being so very lean actually makes her look older. She always looked better during and immediately after her pregnancies.
She’s only forty though!!! She doesn’t need to choose yet! I’m surrounded by moms this age and they are all pretty cute. And these are civilians!
She has access to the same treatments that all wealthy and famous women do. Look up a list of stars in their 40s. It will become obvious. Something is really going on with Kate.
Personally, I look at her and see a mean, petty bully.
She always had this “cold” look about her IMO. I never found her to be a great beauty.
As that great sage Dr. Jillian Holtzman would note in horror, “It’s the eyes…the _eyes_.” 😈🤣😎
I thought she was cute and playful during her uni/club-hopping years, but definitely a girl-next-door, easily-blends-in type.
As she’s gotten older and more shallow, the lines run deeper. I keep remembering the student’s “she’s beautiful innit?” comment about Meghan at the school—she truly looks young, pretty and desirable, even to teenagers. Now find me a school-aged boy (or girl) who is lusting after present-day Kate…no, they just ignore her and say “byyyye” when she leaves because she’s probably just another authority figure to them.
I can’t with these headlines.
Neither can I. They carried out the first human to pig heart transplant yesterday, maybe their is hope for Mumbles, though pigs are kinder than she is, so her body may reject it.
Are there brain transplants available as well? Just thought I would ask, for a friend………
A personality transplant too. She is a soulless viper.
Oh to be a mediocre white woman whose sole “accomplishment” is stalking and marrying into a family of inbred colonizers who are unintelligent, uninteresting, unaccomplished, completely without merit, so on and so forth. When I read these headlines and snippets there is so much fontrum.
WiththeAmerican, Yes, she is meangirling the queen. And Camilla. “Make way for me!” her unhinged PR campaign is blaring. Somehow these pics and this dull piece of toast are supposed to be so breathtaking that the royals should usurp both the queen and Camilla for the dashing, young royals William and Kate! What malarkey. Kate has no merits and is really only praised for her appearance, which she protests, and then leans into. Don’t you want this yummy mummy for your new queen? I know Carole is playing a big hand here, since Kate is passive and dumb and lets mummy do all the planning (though Kate is completely there for the backstabbing).
A few years ago Seward was flattering Camilla like mad. Now she’s fawning over kate. she changes on a dime.
Is it me or is Kate’s birthday coverage completely out of control this year? Way more than any royal ever generally gets (even the Queen, ffs!)? I get that 40 is a big birthday, but we have been INUNDATED with this nonsense for, what, ten days or so now? It seems to be getting almost the same amount of coverage as Philip’s death did, fgs. It’s inane and *so* repetitive; every single piece contains the same exact stock phrases (never put a foot wrong, coming into her own, blah blah blah), and any of us could predict the content before the next one was even published.
Maybe part of the reason the media has been blanketed with this crap is because everyone knew Kate’s reputation took a real hit this year, so all of this over-the-top fawning was an attempt at damage control? If so, then I guess they get an A for effort, but it’s not as if it (or anything, ever) will make people forget her behavior toward Meghan.
In any case, the amount of coverage seems wildly disproportionate— it’s just a birthday, for god’s sake, and she didn’t even *do* anything for them to report on! It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Theoretically William would receive even more coverage for his birthday in June, but how would it even be possible to do more than this? Maybe a tv interview or something? At least there’s *slightly* more to say about William than there was with Kate.
Oh, they are apparently reserving the parties for when William turns 40. Ffq is so private, you know.
Yeah since that was only recently announced I bet willy put his foot down and got mad with all the coverage. They don’t ever care about Covid restrictions.
Maybe Will will invite Jecca. She was guest of honor at one of his birthday parties.
I totally agree that the coverage has been insane and completely unmerited. Who apart from Kate has signed this off as it throws shade on at least 4 more senior royals? Is it a last hoorah from Jason because it is so OTT and toe curlingly awful. Kate is a Stretford Wife and not a role model and in 2022 being praised solely for youth, visual appeal, obedience and silence is an embarrassment!
There’s also this tour of the portraits. Which, now that I think about it, sends an interesting message: “Here Is Your Future Future Queen, Who Will Certainly Not Be Replaced By Anyone Else.”
Beyond the repetitive talking points the BM are spreading far and wide, the major themes in all this coverage have been:
1. Kate and William are VERY HAPPILY MARRIED.
—- tHeY r sOuLMaTeS guyzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!
2. Kate has DEFINITELY worked over the last 10 years, and that work has DEFINITELY resulted in a tangible, physical, visible product.
—- Keen’s Broom Closet For Kids That Read Good
3. Kate is READY to be queen.
—- Duchess Mutton of Cambridge no longer grables and never puts a step wrong to fill the growing shoes coming into herself as a peacemaker.
4. Kate EMBODIES beautiful perfect queenliness.
—- She looks like everything a queen should be, just like Victoria and Diana!
Taken together, it sounds like someone desperately trying to defend their position.
It is out of control. I don’t know if we’re just paying more attention to it than usual, but this is all nutso.
Maybe William will do some soft-focus Prince Albert cosplay shots. Hope so, that would amuse me greatly.
Lol, who are they talking about, who looks at the Duchess of Do-Nothing and thinks she’s even close to queenly?
She’s just so bland.
What’s with the toast hate? Toast is delightful!
I wish Hillary Mantel could get royalties for every time she’s been proven right. Kate is a fabricated mannequin and she doesn’t even look like the photos she put out. There is a photo of her wearing a red turtleneck and skirt that is very recent and she does not look youthful at all. The lies are non stop and it will get harder and harder to hide her true face as she gets older.
At least the Queen and Camilla have not been vain peacocks when they started to show signs of aging and frankly that is a much healthier approach than what Kate is doing. The adjectives young and beautiful don’t apply to Kate anymore and it’s a dangerous game to pretend they can maintain that deception going forward.
@Nic919 I think their hope is that these photos will become the “definitive,” go-to images of Kate that they’ll continue to use for profiles of her even as she ages. But obviously it’s only going to backfire like everything else they do, as the difference between the photos and the actual Kate becomes starker.
@Nic919: Hillary Mantel was unfairly criticised for telling the truth. Kate is a mannequin that people had project their values and beliefs on. KP purposely took away her personality and her views so that they can mould her into the image that they wanted. The one of the reasons KP and the Royal Family don’t like Meghan is that she’s her own person with her own opinions. That’s counter to what is expected of the female members of the Royal Family.
“I wish Hillary Mantel could get royalties for every time she’s been proven right.”
Amen to that. Kate should also thank her lucky stars Mantel hasn’t written a few tomes about her and William yet. 😈😈🤣🤣
I read that entire article for the first time today, and it’s fascinating! Not only did she nail Kate’s persona (or lack of), but her historical insights into the Tudors, Marie Antoinette, and Diana, and then linking them to today, were brilliant. Of all of it, though, her description of Kate was flawless.
Jaysus, it’s really time to abolish the monarchy. I can’t believe anyone is buying into 4his crap.
Honestly, I would like to know how all of this is playing in the uk? It kinda seems like as far as the family is concerned Kate’s birthday was treated as just another day. They wished her well on social media, and that was pretty much the extent of it. There were no special honors given to her, and no one outside of Kp was really hyping her portraits! Also, I think that it’s sad that one of the lingering stories of Kate’s so called contributions to the family has to do with a statue unveiling she didn’t even attend, and that for some reason KP thought it was important to note that Baldingham was contemplating blocking his brother from coming to.
No longer a clothes horse, is she?
That was the funniest line of all.
A lot of commenters compared Kate’s pics to Empress Sisi of Austria. Sisi actually stopped sitting for portraits at age 30 because she only wanted to be known for the portraits of her looking young. Obv, the internet won’t allow Kate to get away with that but if she could she definitely would.
Empress Sisi also suffered from an eating disorder.
Empress Sisi had a very unhappy life, overall. She and her husband grew apart and he had mistresses. Sisi was assassinated by an anarchist. Drawing comparisons to Sisi is not the best idea.
If you’ve seen the Empress Sisi painting of her profile with her super long wavy undone hair wearing the white off the shoulder dress, it is impossible to not compare Kate’s Victorian ghost profile portrait to that painting. I’ve been to the Empress Sisi Museum in Vienna, I saw a copy of that painting I referenced and it has stuck with me all these years. We aren’t comparing Kate to Sisi as a person who I am perfectly aware was a reluctant queen, spent half of her reign traveling around Europe avoiding her husband and her queenly duties (supposedly her husband was more in love with her than she was with him), neglected most of her kids who were raised by her domineering mother-in-law, and had body image issues/an eating disorder and an insane beauty regimen. She hated the Austrian court so much.
The only comparison I see between Sisi and Kate is physical, Sisi’s waist was infamously tiny throughout her life and Kate is very slender and has always watched her weight as well. And both their husbands had/have mistresses.
Maybe not but one cannot help but see the inspiration behind the sideways portrait to that of Sissi/Sisi. It was my first thought as soon as I saw the picture.
I would never, in a million years, compare Kate to Sisi because that would be a disservice to the latter. Sisi may have been a reluctant Empress but she had more accomplishments throughout her life than Kate ever will, especially given everything she did for Hungary.
The ONLY thing I can remotely admit the two women have in common is how tiny they keep/kept their waistline. That’s it.
It irks me to even read every recent coverage of Kate because the embiggening is sickening.
There was definitely some mental illness in Sisi’s family tree. Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria was a cousin.
Yeah, Sisi’s mother-in-law was a horror. And Mayerling was a death-blow for her devotion to royal duties.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Elisabeth_of_Austria
All I keep thinking is… what’s in it for everyone? Do all these royal reporters genuinely enjoy being cloying subjects or is there a financial benefit to this display? I’m truly stumped.
I think the Palace is encouraging the RRs to go wall-to-wall with Kate Koverage to cover up any and all Andrew news. And in return, I’m sure they’re being promised any and all juicy tidbits in the future — maybe an exclusive reaction when Harry’s book comes out, more lies to smear H&M, the usual.
Also, I think Ingrid and the other reporters all have the same list of vague, nonsense phrases to describe Kate that they just copy and paste:
“[Insert name] is coming into her own!”
“[Insert name] is genuinely involved!”
“[Insert name] is the peacemaker!”
“[Insert name] steps confidently into the spotlight!”
“[Insert name] is stepping up a level!”
“[Insert name] is the coming of a queen in waiting!”
And of course, the tried and true ” [Insert name] is keen and has never put a foot wrong!”
@SunRae – In Seward’s case, she was one of the four well-known RR (also including Fitzwilliams and both Arbiters) paid as part of that hoax, where they were pre-recorded supposedly responding to the Oprah interview – all of them saying negative things about Meghan – before the interview had even aired. The hoax was done by two guys in their 20’s who made up a company for contracting purposes; apparently none of the four bothered to do background checking to see who it really was paying them. Draw your conclusions from that.
Who’s Camilla? Lol, but really, why is the RF shoving Kate down our throats?
Too much PR is a bad thing especially when there are little accomplishments.
I think the Brit media has been tasked to direct attention away from Andrew’s mess and especially William’s cheating. Kate knows about the cheating but if she’s getting glowing press it appeases her, they keep telling her she will be queen to sweeten the pot to get her to be acquiescent. The amount of photo shop and back handed compliments is low key hilarious though.
“ghost of a Confederate widow” lol!! I have a theory. Because Kate never did anything to “come into her own” identity, getting old is very hard for her. I think being a young pick me, super thin, tan and fit, helped her get low quality men to pay attention to her. She fed off that for a long time but beauty fades and substance needs to take over at some point. We all get old and beauty is only skin deep.
It’s why she hated Meghan because Meghan is the same age as Kate and looks much younger than her. Botox and fillers can only do so much and already we see how much the images get photoshopped and look so different from her actual face. The next decades are going to be rough because she is fighting aging in a way that is a losing battle.
Yup. I’ve always thought Kate would struggle with aging because she’s been hyper-focused on her looks and her body for pretty much her entire adulthood. Her appearance is the one thing she’s consistently highlighted in her time as a duchess. It’s all she’s ever had going for her, and it’s only going to keep declining from here.
The picture in the red dress looks like her head was transplanted on her body. Looks way to big for her neck, the face forward, those teeth are huge. The profile reminds me of rose. She looks older than 40, those are just my opinions.
Sorry kate, the photos are a sad over the top fail.
I thought it looked as if she’d been Windsored. A long beak of a nose, high forehead and too many teeth. Just to slip in that subliminal queenly narrative.
Why do I feel like this was a warning from Camilla to Kate? For someone who successfully got rid of her nemesis and a prince to boot, she sure comes off as insecure. Saw some Brits on Twitter grousing about the portraits, saying they were very tone deaf and extravagant, and that she was unrecognizable ( with Celine Dion being first choice). Anyway, there was no public event or service attached to her birthday so what more can they get out of the story?
Thank you! Celine Dion was whom I thought the red-portrait lady was.
Even then, Celine has more grace and poise than Kate ever did. Though, in recent years, I have begun to fear for Celine, with the extreme weight loss. And I was never really a fan of her music, though I admire the woman for everything she accomplished (as a Canadian, no less; I am one by birth).
Keen is still young *now*, but her beauty is… debatable, especially if it comes in bits and pieces of faked installments, like here.
What Mumbles McButtons is totally lacking as the taxpayer-funded wife of a future future head of state is charisma, intelligence *and* intellectual curiosity.
She’s too set in her ways, and there are many instances of her seemingly not knowing how to behave herself in public – the hyena-like grins, the gurning and guffawing, the way she never tried to improve her public speaking, or her awful posture.
The public was informed of hrr taking *princess lessons*, but either people were lied to, or the training was wasted on her.
But hey, as things stand now, she’s the perfect consort for the Diminished Kingdom of Brexitannia.
I almost feel for this sad creature. Here she is narrating to the Rota that she is so shy and innocent and humble. She is so beautiful but doesn’t allow her beauty to be star of the royal show. She must have gone into a depression when she saw that Meghan was who Harry was dating and became so serious with. Seeing what a beauty Meghan was and all of her accomplishments must have been a kick to the gut. I know she was under her musty duvet in the middle of the night scrolling through all of the inter-webs looking up photos and reading articles about Meghan. Whew. The jealousy is real.
This overblown gag-inducing media coverage is just appalling and l hope Charles and Camilla give payback with a vengeance.
I hope so. Charles really opened a Pandora’s Box when he let William drive out Harry and Meghan and let Kate be all over the media.
Why did Charles think that was a smart idea, anyway? He knows enough about William and Kate to know they would go all GOT after that. Sheesh…
Beautiful? Everyone to their own I guess but Kate is one of the most dull and unattractive people I’ve seen. There is nothing beautiful here, neither inside nor out. She looks like a paper towel.
Everyone has their ideas of beauty and I know that even a lot of people here who don’t care for her think she is (or was) attractive, but I agree with you. Even when she was younger and had a healthier figure (and her eyes didn’t look so empty), she was extremely plain to me. She used to be compared to Lauren Conrad but I think Lauren was much prettier in a beachy girl-next-door way.
When I look at Ingrid sweard, I have to remind myself that beauty and youth in both her and Kate cases, all definitely in the eye of the beholder
Kaiser, you have officially killed me, Ghost of a confederate widow. lol 😂 😂
10 years. 5 questions. A legacy. What would we do without her? It’s beyond embarrassing. I’m wondering what those reporters are like when writing these articles. Drunk? Laughing? Or they don’t care and just want a paycheck.
Ingrid Seward is unhinged as usual. Is there going to be a monarchy by the time she gets to the throne? I have my doubts.
Bodecia, really? The RR’s know Kate is a lightweight. They treat its readers as stupid.
RR writing about Kate are in permanent purple prose mode.
My God, not even Jesus has a whole week dedicated to celebrating his birthday!
Seward is aware they are actual young, current queens, correct? And not queens in double waiting?
It’s interesting to me that the idiots at KP have really leaned into “I’m a pwetty pwetty pwincess” as their strategy for Kate. It’s no surprise that she has had 20 years taken off of her face in these pictures, and they’re trying to sell a 40 year old woman as an ingenue. In a time when people want authenticity and relatability, they are creating a 1950’s Hollywood style of image crafting. It’s on the same level of absurdity as forcing Rock Hudson to marry his secretary to maintain his image as a manly manly heterosexual manly man. “I’m a perfect princess with a perfect husband and perfect children and we’re all just so perfectly perfect! See? My signs of aging magically disappear when I’m photographed, because I got that perfect princess magic!” But does anyone younger that 50 want to see that? Is a Princess who’s skinny and silent really the embodiment of perfect womanhood in 2022 UK? Does anybody, other than people clinging desperately to the idea of Pax Brittanica and white supremacy, buy this? is this an image that can be sold in a world of social media?
Leaning into the “perfect family and perfect person” persona is really, really risky. It’s hard to hold up, and with so many people knowing that all is not perfect in Palace Land, it will be really difficult to sustain this image. It also sets her up for a fall, and without genuine love from the public, her fall will be met with glee and schadenfreude. People loved Diana because she’s human. The people who love Meghan around the world love her because she is human. (We know why the people who hate Meghan hate Meghan). Who loves Kate? What reason has she given people to love her other than existing while white and thin?
The people who hold up Kate as perfect woman (including that ratchet windbag Seward) love to hate Meghan. But they hate Meghan more than they love Kate, and that’s a problem. The idiots at KP think that “We Hate Meghan” is a winning, long-term strategy to build the popularity of Kate. I just don’t see that working long-term unless they start openly courting racists (which they might as well end up doing, as aligned as they are with right wing Tories.) At least, they would be honest.
About these pictures especially in the red dress I see the opposite. She looks much older than 40 to me. Maybe early 50s. It might be how her skin looks below the neck.
I think the embiggening they’re doing of this woman is notable and not in a good way. It strikes me that everyone else in the RF seems to have taken a step back and the spotlight is all on Kate. The over the top fawning being done and the fact that they can only mention hair and clothes makes it clear she has done nothing with the huge platform she has.
I think they are using her hubris against her. The non-royal born woman will take the fall for everything going wrong in the UK especially after she and William have failed to deliver the highs they had with Meghan and Harry.
There is only so much fawning the British media can do and they’ve built her up so high on her pedestal than the only way left is down now.
Absolutely. Regarding your last paragraph, I think that strategy is dead in the water at this point. They were already leaning excessively on it, to the point where people were starting to call it out, then the Oprah interview really turned things against them. Even with their attempts to sabotage Meghan pre- and post-interview, the damage has been done. I actually think there’s been more damage to Kate’s image from all this than we thought, because the way she keeps obsessively returning to the crying story feels like more than petty anger at being exposed. Back when the media was trying to discredit the interview, there was far more focus across the board on the vows and the letters patent than on the crying story. I think that’s partially why her PR last spring felt so different from that of the palace when reacting to the interview.
Those off the one shoulder dresses just don’t work. And the one white one is odd. Just who is she trying to be? This is cosplaying taken to a weird level.
Seward is super annoying. Fawning all over Kate. She sold a lot of Majesty Magazines with Diana on the cover, then she turned on Diana when the wind changed. If William decides he wants to move on, Seward will change her view on a dime.
“We have seen her as peacemaker between Harry and William.” Really Ingrid, then how come Harry and Meghan and the children did not return and how come Jason Knauf is looking for something to “get on Meghan.” Is this woman clueless or what. Kate is no peacemaker, she was not nice to Harry’s WIFE.
Maybe if the rota blanket enough wall to wall fawning inanity around Kate turning 40 and releasing a few airbrushed mall photoshoots for the occasion, people will forget that Meghan celebrated her 40th by putting out a fun little video and starting a successful grassroots women’s empowerment initiative that received support and promotion from a host of blue checks from the business, nonprofit, journalism, political and celebrity sectors, plus cousin-in-law Princess Eugenie.
Best line: “She is no longer a clothes horse.” LOL. So how come most of the conversation is about what Kate wears and her HAIR. Kate hijacked the concert making it about HER. Ingrid does not comment about all the spin that William and Kate should be the NEXT King and Queen and how Kate made the bond premiere about HERSELF and not many photos of C and C were shown.
‘ghost of a confederate widow’ and ‘Mumbles McButtons’ are keeping me going in spite of growing health issues.
“Scarlett O’Heirhead.”
Really though, those pictures could be portraits taken at the Daughters of the Confederacy Ball held in honor of the premiere of the film Gone With the Wind in Atlanta in 1939.
Haha! CarolE and Gary have too much dirt on ‘Wills’
Yes, indeed, she is channeling Scarlett.
“But she is a wonderful advert for the monarchy,”
So the monarchy is a product they need to sell to people? Sounds like a Unilever ad for soap.
After Archie manners and Josh Pieters exposed Sewage for the lying b*tch she is, anything that comes out of her mouth is literally word vomit
She isn’t an advert for the monarchy, she’s an advert for tooth veneers and celeb photoshopped photography.
Ok first these are nauseating to read. I cant even go through full article.
2. My tin foil says that this is some kind of big send off to kate . I mean think about this not even diana or queen get this much press. I think Kate and William agree to split fairly with descent send off unlike war of wales.
I can clearly see kate want atleast ppl saying her being queen make her happy. Because camilla is not worry about being queen or keep on mentioning because it’s going to happen.
They might be waiting for queen death then they will say oh she would have made being queen as easy but the pressure on their marraige after queen death is huge . Her focus is on her kids how she will mold the future of heir and spares blah blah . She cant do that being queen.
That’s the only reason where there is no push back from ch , william or bp. It’s like dying kid last wish to be princess and hold on that memory.
If you are going to be queen , you dont mention that . If your future is secure you won’t constantly think about. It’s like water when ppl have no shortage they wont think abt it. When you live in place where water is not enough you constantly think abt it and make fuss to not waste .
She is constantly manifesting being queen and putting in universe wishing for come back. No secure woman will think about being queen in what next 20 years?? At this rate during pandemic many ppl worry abt making to next year.
They keep calling her a young queen. I don’t know British monarchy history very well, but don’t she one of the oldest in history to start her reign when she finally gets there?
William, if he ever gets to the throne, will be monarch and he will be reigning, not Kate. It is his inheritance, not hers. Kate will be queen consort, not a reigning queen as much as people want to think the opposite. And if Charles lives as long as his mother, WK will both be in their 60s by that time. So Kate can keep staring at her 40th birthday pictures, thinking of her fleeting youth and how she could have been a youthful queen by the time there’s a throne to be had.
All this unnecessary coverage on a woman incapable of work. When you look at Kates mom at the caroling I got a vibe. I think Kate and her mom are playing William. Something up with William that they want to be kept 🤫.
I don’t see William signing off on all this BS. Williams not a happy person. I picked that up in 16. Hell he hates his life. He got hit in the head as a child.
Everything they accuse the Sussex of their referring to the Sussex. Kate is a slink woman add mommy forgetaboutit! The more I watch and research this backstabbing vultures family the history behavior doesn’t apply to this fools. William is the one with major mental issues and wouldn’t be surprise drug/liquor. Victorian days coke was everything amongst the elite. Those beautiful Victorian kits.
They don’t have any money. Their not liked, every year they become more unhinged! I think /know carol/Kate know Williams weakness and they taking advantage. I think mom and Kate juice his ass up to get through certain functions. Williams going to go off when that crap wears off. That Kate don’t underestimate that chick she’s slink as fuck! Behind the scene pulling the strings. Charles vs Carol a hot mess. She run and complain to Tornado William. “Ain’t nobody got time for that! Internationally the monarchy isn’t liked. Their tolerated. Their tours won’t do good. The monarchy has been tolerated until Edward and Diana. They bring a different energy. William/Kate don’t have it have energy. Williams like the QE boring as hell. She inspires no one. Harry and Meghan have it.
Sure Kate’s worked in the last 10 years. She’s worked on her face, her figure, her hair, her teeth, and her wardrobe.
I honestly don’t think she’s going to make it to FFQC, I think the marriage is going to crash and burn long before that happens. And frankly, I think that’s the only thing that will even remotely rehabilitate Willnot’s image. This child-woman continues to make HIM look bad for choosing so unwisely, and her shameless self-aggrandizing has GOT to stop. I think C&C are just holding their breath until TQ shuffles off her mortal coil then CHANGES will be made.
+1
Kate is a horrible future queen, and a terrible role model. Stepford wives are NOT role models. The “perfect” woman is NOT someone who has no ambitions other than landing a rich man, cannot show any empathy for family members who are suicidal, turns a blind eye to husband’s infidelities, has no accomplishments, no work ethic, no causes to care about, who shows favoritism among her children, has an eating disorder, and “mean girls” other women. And Kate, deep down inside, must know it too, because all of these over-the-top puff pieces reek of desperation and insecurity.
But Ingrid, she’s not Queen now, and she is not perfect.
I don’t get this obsession that she has to be perfect when she clearly is not. As someone pointed out onTwitter, so what if someone puts a foot wrong? It ‘s not like she’ll be thrown to the wolves like her SIL was. This is why she is so stagnated.
I have a different take on “never put a foot wrong” — I think they are talking about her relationship with William, not her public performances. “Never put a foot wrong” means never out-shining William, never disagreeing with William, never questioning William about his visits without her, never gaining weight, etc. I think these are the “rules” of their relationship and why she looks nervous in his presence. If she put a foot wrong THERE, she could be booted out of his life. But I agree that in the eyes of the *public*, putting a foot wrong (for a thin, rich, white woman) is not a big deal and shows she’s human and less than perfect (which we all are). But she needs to be perfect in her *marriage* (or end up like Diana, whose cursed ring she must wear). “Never put a foot wrong” is a reminder that she is perfect as William’s wife, not as a duchess or future queen.
She DID outshine William and her father in law when she went on the red carpet in the GOLD gown–mugging, grinning and preening. And she did it again at that concert, plunking some chords on the piano and it was all about HER. She even posed for a fashion shot at PHilip’s funeral. Kate herself put many a foot wrong, with her mean girl behavior to Meghan.
Kate will never be a young queen, she will be a middle aged to old queen consort.
Thank you for posting the People pic of Keen at 40 along with the new pics. Her chin, jaw and hairline are completely different. Even I can see it – I’m sure there are many other differences.
All of this hype is just unreal. It really just shows how done the BRF is. You know it’s over when all you’ve got are rota rats desperately trying to convince the public that some glamor shots and Civil War reenactment photos are the reason they should keep paying for these useless people.
You know, if I were part of the BM, I’d be having a great time with this. Everyone trying to outdo the other to see how ridiculous they can get before the public and the RF catches on.
I’d be writing – Forget Boadicea, Kate’s the second coming of Coco Chanel, Mother Teresa and Joan of Arc, all combined, and the Pope and Patriarch are in a bidding war over which church gets to make her a saint.
Lol. You might be on to something. It’s like they all decided to participate in a comedic play – Chewing the Scenery on Kate’s Keenery or decided to audition to write for The Onion.
That sepia picture reminds me of those creepy “death pictures” from The Others, that Nicole Kidman ghost movie. Anyway, I’m no Kate fan at all but I just wonder if this over the top birthday celebration is being used to cover Randy Andy’s upcoming settlement? I imagine they are desperate to cover that up and I think they are a little afraid to get too nasty with the Sussexes now. So it may not be Kate driving this PR bus but instead its the “gold standard” advisors.
Kate loves attention and she is a willing participant, she never objected to her “praise” being accompanied by a dig at Meghan. I think she is all for this.
I’m no psychiatrist but someone who needs THAT MUCH validation from the public really is not getting what she wants at home.
Mutton Mcmumbles (thanks for the nickname) better have people keep Boadicea out of the conversation. As per usual they are giving Kate traits that are the opposite of the person compared. Boadicea was a strong, tactical, strategic warrior who worked for her people. Kate’s only strategies are man hunting, mean girling and pr smearing.
And thanks Laraw
Keen’s Broom Closet For Kids That Read Good😅🤣😅😅😅🤣🤣
“The perfect queen, young & beautiful”? Dear God, please make it stop!
Ironically, Ingrid Seward used to say the same about Diana and got to sell Majesty putting Diana on the covers When the tide turned, Seward started in on Diana and praised C and C to the skies Kate is nowhere in the league of Diana, and Seward’s overpraise and Disney princess talk is embarrassing. IMO.
I have to ask, for my personal curiosity. Boedicea…do they mean Bouddica? Because I have never heard of Boedicea before. Granted, I am a French-Canadian by birth, American by marriage.
As for the comparison, I laughed so hard that I almost choked on my tea. I’m sorry, what? Get out of here!
I think she looks beautiful in these portraits.
But are these photos an honest and accurate reflection of their subject? In earlier times, kings and queens had their portraits painted in a flattering and less than accurate style.
So why release photographic portraits if they aren’t going to authentically portray their subject? It is not a question of beauty but of reality: just by examining Kate’s suddenly even and full hairline in these photos, you will find that not just has her usual receeding parting disappeared, but that the reality of a forty year-old woman without a single line or wrinkle, has got to be an embarrassing amount of photoshop.
It is also quite baffling why a person supposedly so proud to be a mother of three would want to look like a girly teenager in ruffles, her image so heavily doctored that while her forehead is clear, her chin is a blur?
Sort of off topic but still about Kate. It seems that she keeps doing everything so William won’t divorce her. But there is someone trying to put forth a document to get rid of the monarchy now because they don’t like Charles. And they really don’t like William. So maybe Kate needs to look into divorcing him now while he still has some money. I know everyone thinks if they get rid of the monarchy Charles and William will walk away with probably billions. But I wonder about that. They public might turn on them and take it all away. Leaving them penniless.
Kate will never be the one to instigate a divorce. She will cling to the possibility of being Queen for all it is worth. William would have to make the move to divorce and Kate would be OUT if he wants her out. Charles will be the next King no matter what. IMO.
Interresting where did you get this information? Do you have a link o website to direct to or could you tell more about it?
Ingrid Stewart stood on national television and said maybe they didn’t like Meghan because she wasn’t an English Rose. How much is more clarity needed? I believe that was her final appearance on that particular network.
So Kate finds all this attention embarrassing? Seward has got to be kidding! Poor shy little Katie, she released not one but three fashion photos of herself: one in an attention-seeking red dress, one in a teenage glamour shot pose, and one of her in profile sucking in her gut and holding her breath whilst pinching herself for her good fortune.
Sure, these photos are definitely the choice of someone embarrassed by a lot of attention and who is reportedly a shy introvert who just wants a quiet country life. Someone has been drinking the royal Kool-Aid by the gallon, courtesy of the very shy Duchess’ PR team. How can anyone believe this drivel?
I cannot help but wonder if William too will have his moment in the sun with three glamour shots for his fortieth birthday this summer??
Lol, “…embiggening this sad piece of toast.”
That’s a perfect turn of phrase, because if ever a person could embody the word “milquetoast,” Confederate Catherine EXUDES the insipid blandness required.
Sexist, ageist garbage from I. Sewer with at least 4 drinks cues *clink* 🥂