The Duchess of Cambridge arrives in Denmark today for her two-day solo “tour” of the country. It’s not really a tour as much as it is a lil’ trip to Copenhagen. Kensington Palace tried to embiggen the solo tour as a “fact-finding mission” to help Kate’s Keen Institute For Buttons and Early Years. So we’ll see. Hand-flapping, flag-cosplay and wiglets are incoming. In the meantime, KP has announced two future events for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. First up: on Saturday, they’ll attend a big rugby match.
There’s a big sporting match-up at Twickenham on Saturday. Not England v Wales, but Kate Middleton v Prince William. The famously competitive couple will be in the stands to cheer on their respective teams in their Six Nations tie.
William, 39, has been patron of the Welsh Rugby Union since 2016, while sporty Kate, 40, was announced as patron of the Rugby Football League and the Rugby Football Union this month. She took over the roles from her brother-in-law Prince Harry who used to enjoy cheering on England before he was forced to give up the patronage as part of the Megxit agreement.
Kate, who grew up watching rugby with her family, is known as one of the sportiest members of the Royal Family and has gamely taken on her husband in everything from dragon boating to wind buggy racing at royal engagements.
‘[The Duke and Duchess] are famously competitive with each other and this will be no different – probably even more so now that they have an invested interest in the outcome of the game,’ a source said when Kate’s patronage was announced.
It always amazes me that “going to football/rugby/tennis matches/games” counts as work for the royals. Maybe it only counts when the royals are total lightweights and Regent Charles doesn’t want their idiotic keenery all over his work. Anyway, something to keep our eye on: we’ll see the Keens this weekend. Maybe George will come. We’ll also see them together next week, on March 1st.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have announced their next trip together – and it will take place next week. The royal couple is set to visit Wales next Tuesday (March 1) to mark St David’s Day and will be travelling to both Abergavenny and Blaenavon.
The announcement of the trip comes just a day after it was revealed the Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 but is only experiencing mild symptoms. Experts have said other royals such as William and Kate are all willing to step in to carry out duties for Her Majesty while she recovers from the virus.
During the trip to Wales, Kensington Palace says William and Kate will learn about the importance of the agricultural industry for rural communities and how they celebrate the history of local regions. In Abergavenny, they will visit Pant Farm, a goat farm, which has been producing milk to a local cheese producer for nearly 20 years. Later they will visit Abergavenny Market to visit local producers while in Blaenavon they will stop off at Blaenavon Hwb – a community focused youth centre.
I’m not going to complain about this? It’s whatever, this is what they should be doing. It’s what they should do at least once a month. Prince Charles does these kinds of trips all the time, usually one a week or once a fortnight. It is interesting that… it felt like suddenly Kate was doing a flurry of events two/three weeks ago, then she went dark for ten days or so, and now there’s a new flurry of “work.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.
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- North America Rights Only – Londonderry, UK -20210929- Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to the City of Derry rugby club to participate in a sports initiative bringing football, rugby and GAA playing children, together. -PICTURED: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Tim Rooke/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – Londonderry, UK -20210929- Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to the City of Derry rugby club to participate in a sports initiative bringing football, rugby and GAA playing children, together. -PICTURED: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Tim Rooke/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- 142976, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry watch the England V Wales game at the Rugby World Cup at Twickenham Stadium. London, England – Saturday September 26, 2015. UK, FRANCE, AUS, NZ, CHINA, HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SPAIN & ITALY OUT Photograph: © i-Images, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office: +1 310.822.0419 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE,Image: 531964257, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- 1 October 2015. The Duke of Cambridge throws a rugby ball during a visit to the National Sport Centre in Cardiff to launch the Coach Core Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) Programme. Coach Core was created by The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry in 2012 as part of the Olympic Legacy programme. It provides an intense training programme for 16 to 24-year-olds, many from disadvantaged social backgrounds, to become qualified coaches and inspire their peers. *** Local Caption *** *,Image: 538105066, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Spain, Portugal and South America only – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@avalon.red, Model Release: no, Credit line: Papixs Press/Look Press / Avalon
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visits an England Rugby training session at Twickenham today as part of her new role as Patron of the Rugby Football Union,Image: 658454991, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jeremy Selwyn / Avalon
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visits an England Rugby training session at Twickenham today as part of her new role as Patron of the Rugby Football Union,Image: 658455221, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jeremy Selwyn / Avalon
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visits an England Rugby training session at Twickenham today as part of her new role as Patron of the Rugby Football Union,Image: 658455253, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jeremy Selwyn / Avalon
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visits an England Rugby training session at Twickenham today as part of her new role as Patron of the Rugby Football Union,Image: 658455359, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jeremy Selwyn / Avalon
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visits an England Rugby training session at Twickenham today as part of her new role as Patron of the Rugby Football Union,Image: 658455549, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jeremy Selwyn / Avalon
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visits an England Rugby training session at Twickenham today as part of her new role as Patron of the Rugby Football Union,Image: 658455604, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jeremy Selwyn / Avalon
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- North America Rights Only – Londonderry, UK -20210929- Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to the City of Derry rugby club to participate in a sports initiative bringing football, rugby and GAA playing children, together. -PICTURED: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Tim Rooke/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
What are the odds that they only decided to attend the rugby after Harry & Eugenie were seen at the superbowl?
The irony is Harry attended the Super Bowl cheered for both teams and met the winners afterwards with photos of him holding the trophy. The Keens will do the exact same thing except they will call it WORK……service is Universal!
Honestly, I’m not surprised. This was going to happen regardless of Harry and Eugenie going to the Super Bowl. There were even some comments by people here that W&K would go to an England vs Wales game if it happened.
Ding ding ding ding ding!!!!
@Sophie: This was going to be an inevitable engagement, even if Harry hadn’t gone to the super bowl. The six nations tournament happens every Spring and England and Wales play each other regularly in this tournament. When Kate was given the England Rugby patronage, the first thing, Kate stans talked about was the chance to see William and Kate at the England v Wales match.
Who are the 6 nations? Obviously England and Wales? I’m going to guess Scotland and Ireland? Who else?
@Steph: France and Italy are the other two.
Thanks! @sofia
Exactly.. my first thought when I saw the headline.
The return on investment is not good. Millions upon millions of pounds and all you get in return are lazy embarrassments. I wonder if the sovereign grant will become a point of contention after the Queen dies. If nothing else, government could take over upkeep of the properties.
I can’t wait to see how the British Press covers Kate since Camilla stole the “Future Queen” moniker
Yeah this is what they do! It’s not work but hey I wish I could get paid to do it.
I just hope people who claim to be Sussex supporters don’t help promote these people on their social media pages. Retweeting, sharing, mocking, liking is all engagement.
Whether negative or positive you are literally contributing to the “royal brand” and amplifying everything they do.
I really hate it when Sussex fans share vile headlines from BM to argue against it. Like you say, you are spreading and engaging.
These 2 are a Galactic Embarrassment. But let me keep it moving…
Huh, they make it sound like W&K are going to Wales because they’re “stepping in ” while TQ recovers from Covid.
In other news, Megxit, Megxit, Megxit.
Right! They have had 10+ years to step it up and still, nothing. Zilch, nada, nope, no way and absolutely not happening. I wish their allowances were based on their work performances, then we MAY have had some return on this awful investment. Otherwise, another flop from Weeny and Keeny with another performance of jazz hands 2022.
Do they ever actually DO anything?! (Rhetorical question.) Everything is labeled as fact-finding, listening tour, listen and learn…or is a sporting event or movie premiere. And even when they do the learn and listen outings, they never provide information about how to help the charities or farms they visit. These two are beyond useless. It would be so easy to just up their “work” a tiny bit to have some actual impact but they refuse to let (or fire) their staff who want to help them. I really do hope they get booed during the Wales and Caribbean “tours.” I’m sure they’ll be surrounded by sycophants or school children with no choice though 🙄 The chickens need to come home to roost with these two.
Apart from the actual monarch, it seems the “job” of the rest of the RF is to show up at places to remind the public that the monarchy still exists. They’re not supposed to be of use to the public, they’re supposed to be of use to the Queen (or Charles). That’s one reason why Harry and Meghan were so problematic – they thought they should be helping the people.
It’s bad marketing, that’s for sure. Like Kaiser pointed out, Charles (and sometimes Camilla) does those kinds of little day trips or mini tours around the UK quite often. (or I mean, he just works regularly, lol.) But its never marketed as Charles trying to “listen and learn” or “fact-finding” etc. Its just “the Prince of Wales learned more about how local businesses in X town are struggling with the effects of the recent heavy rains” or something. Charles isn’t on an eternal fact-finding mission. It would be a very simple thing to re-brand the Cambridges work and move away from all the fact-finding, listening and learning etc and to make them seem more competent, but I doubt it will happen.
So much bad marketing. To me, this seems like a set up for when William becomes Prince of Wales (if Charles decides). The idea that Will has to go to Wales to learn about it is stupid.
As patrons of these rugby leagues, especially Kate who is newly appointed, that’s…what they should be doing? The match is in their backyard, so to speak. It is truly the least they could do!
What I’m curious about is whether we get any William-the-good-dad stories while Kate is away. You know, he’s reading the bedtime stories, helping with homework, he’s a fun dad so he’s sneaking takeaway dinners instead of warming up casseroles from the freezer cuz, haha etc etc.
The perfect opportunity for Rose to stop by and help with the workload.
Or whatever flavor of the month he is sampling…..
You really nailed it, this is the least they should be doing. Seriously, the very least.
Long time reader, first time commenter here.
Maybe somebody can fill in the blanks, but why does she need to go on a facts finding mission especially in a discipline she has not studied or worked in? Why does she not rather team up with a group of field experts, raise awareness for their research, and work with them together to build this Institute? That would literally be any academics/non-profits dream to get that type of visability and funding.
If they are patrons of rugby, why do we always just see images of them playing with a ball? Why not incorporate kids sports into these briefings and childrens health? It boggles my mind when I read this site and only see these two doing…nothing?
I’m confused about professional sports organizations having a royal patron at all. I don’t see how it benefits anyone. I’m going to guess that the organizations have a charity branch that helps bring the sport to youngsters who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it in a productive way but I’ve never I’ve heard of the Royals amplifying those.
Welcome to the group TSY! All of your suggestions are valid and most of us here have asked the same questions. The answer is, they’re both too lazy, uninspired and selfish to do any meaningful work other than the bare minimum. Neither of them have an original or inspired thought in their heads and have surrounded themselves with a team of feeble “yes men” who are not allowed to rock the boat.
Yeah the day in Wales is what they should be doing more of regularly, even the rugby game is something they should do more often. These events only seem so lightweight and like “Will and Kate want to watch rugby” because they don’t do enough of them and when they do events like what’s scheduled in Wales, its all about how amazing the Cambridges are because they are – gasp – working – which IMO just highlights how little they do overall.
But with the trip to Wales, do we really need to watch them “learn about” the importance of agriculture in rural areas? Is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t already know this? Their advisors could at least frame it as “highlighting the importance of…” instead of learning. They can learn by reading a pamphlet at home.
And how many visits to farms have they already done? Didn’t we just see them petting lambs or something?
Sorry, I’m just so annoyed by these two and their utter incompetence and uselessness. And the people who continue to praise them for doing absolutely nothing (not saying you are doing that).
I just said something similar LOL. And, you’re right about how often these two lumps visit “farms,” handling innocent animals/reptiles who’ve done nothing to deserve such treatment.
Ha, well like I said above, this is a branding problem in part, right? I’m not sure that what they do on these trips is that different than what Charles or Anne does, but those two aren’t eternally listening or learning or whatever. The way their trips are described makes them sound much more….competent? engaged? The way the Cambridge trips are described it always sounds like they just discovered agriculture or theater or whatever. It’s a continual theme in how their visits are announced/described and its sad at this point that two 40 year olds are still learning so much about something so basic.
Is it poor branding or blind ignorance? They cannot comprehend anything that doesn’t revolve around them so the emphasis is always on what THEY will get out of the experience. It’s never about the others involved. That’s the fundamental difference to how the work of the rest of the royals is positioned. That should tell everyone watching all they need to know.
Exactly what I was about to write. Agriculture is important! Keen and Not need to learn about farm animals, and where milk and meat comes from, which the rest of us did as 5 year olds
@SarahCS maybe a combo of the two? I mean I don’t know how they can say with a straight face that William and Kate are keen to learn about the importance of agriculture; didn’t William take an agriculture course at Oxford? (I don’t think he finished it but even so). And how many farms have they visited at this point?
So either the cambridges still know absolutely nothing and don’t retain a damn thing they’re told (possible) or their SM team has decided it looks better to act like they are always listening and learning. After all, if you’re constantly learning or “fact finding” or “keen to learn more about” or whatever, then no one is ever going to expect you do the next thing (i.e. do something to help people or do something concrete with that knowledge).
Didn’t Weeny go to some sort of agricultural course made just for him? (And may not have finished it lol). You’d think he’d have some knowledge to apply or at least ask meaningful questions based on what he learned.
Oh wait, this is the guy who proudly says he doesn’t read his briefing notes.
Good luck UK
@HeatherC – yes, Weeny had a bespoke eco-agriculture course at Cambridge set up for him but he bailed on it half-way through. Fact is he just doesn’t give a rodent’s posterior about working at anything. He is the quintessential lazy toff.
The keens are visiting Wales on 1 March because it’s St David’s Day (Patron Saint of Wales), our equivalent of July 4th. Normally we’d get a visit from the actual PoW so I don’t know why we’ve been downgraded this year. The last time they Kate was here locally, there was hardly anybody there to see her.
As for the rugby patronages – we’ve (Wales) been saddled with Prince William as our patron for years and he hardly ever turns up even for a home game – so I laughed when I read he’s going to Twickenham, when Wales are playing at England’s home ground! In contrast, Prince Harry, ex England rugby patron, very rarely missed a home England game ( the English Rugby Union wanted to keep him, but were told they couldn’t). Also, see Princess Anne, Scottish rugby team’s patron for years, who hardly ever misses a home game up in Edinburgh. Recently, when Scotland played England in atrocious weather, Princess Anne was there, as usual, cheering on Scotland; newly appointed England rugby Patron Kate was not…
From my reading and CBers, guide me to better sources if I’m wrong…it sounds more equivalent to Dyngus Day (a day I celebrate every year in Buffalo…except last year….sniff….) than our (US’s) 4th of July.
Dyngus Day is a day of celebration after Lent, parties, parades, traditional foods, music, dancing, traditional dress….it’s a lot of fun.
I’ve got my fingers crossed for this year.
You know the Diana cosplay will be showing it’s head after being cast aside for Meghan cosplay
Sporting events together are really the only times these two act like they’re enjoying themselves in the same space and time (although not always … remembering how stiff and hostile they were with PG at football last year). The trip to Wales will be just like every other joint appearance they’ve done. Khate will theme dress, grin like a hyena, Willnot will grimace and clench his massive jaw muscles, if not his fists. The RR will wax eloquent about Khate’s hair and wardrobe, and nothing will be illuminated about the venues/community initiatives they visit. Paraphrasing someone on Twitter this morning, “how is it that these two don’t know how important agriculture is to rural economies?!”
My guess is a frilly yellow necked dress to look like a daffodil!!
The queen cant work this week so somebody has to. Life is hard. So they just haaaave to do it. So keen.
Saying it is a “fact-finding mission” is so cringe. So she’s going to find facts and then put those facts into her research center. Mission accomplished.
Add in the fact that she’s been “researching” Early Years for nearly 11 years now. At this point, someone could have gotten an undergrad, masters and have or be at the tail end of their PhD in Early Years.
The scholars and specialists who actually studied this, got PhDs and wrote papers and really advanced the field are having a laugh at Keen Kate.
The Royals at Rugby is the type of trivial stuff that the royal rota get the most excited about.
They will push this to counter the Super Bowl photos and attention.
I think they are padding the events because of problems in the Caribbean tour, particularly Jamaica. The UK stopped deportations of Jamaicans until the Keenbridges are done. I still think there is a fear of protests over the deportations or supportive comments about Meghan spilling over in US media – a media they can’t control.
The stopping of the deportations temporarily for the Keen Tour is just so mind-boggling bad on so many levels. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind about how stupid they are. They don’t need anyone else to make them look bad, they do it fine themselves.
it also shows the royals can affect politics, just only for their own gain.
I mean, they always go to the rugby!
Rugby is the quintessential posh sport in the UK. We had years of Harry and William sitting together cheering opposite teams (even though I am sure William secretly supports England and is only lumbered with Wales because of the title he will inherit).
Now they get to play the husband v wife thing….
Saying that aside from the timing I don’t think it has anything to do with the Superbowl. Most Brits don’t even know what the Superbowl means (aside from a halftime show) and those photos didn’t really register.
6 Nations has been going for nearly 150 years and the rivalries are fierce!
Rule is, everyone hates the England team. 😀
They don’t have to know what the Super Bowl is, the photos hit the American media and I bet the British media are looking for an event so they can plaster W&K unmasked all over the rags. This gives it to them. They rags continually push them to the front of the line after either of the Sussex’s are seen or get positive press. Everything to do with W&K is manufactured.
There must be some mistake ,the senior Royals are rallying around the sick queen. Why Charlie. having fun and games as concerned as they are. I hope I don’t hear harry isn’t in the uk rallying, as the ones living there are having a jolly good time. Also starting to decide up the realm, and properties. How low can they go. So disrespectful to the old sick queen, I see you cambridges, and charlie.
This is Englands third match since she became patron but the first she will actually attend as it’s their first home match, william attending what is essentially an away match for Wales as the long trek to Cardiff is clearly too much for him!! Meanwhile his 70 something aunt is patron of Scottish rugby and is always seen at Murrayfield when Scotland are at home…it’s yet another example that demonstrates how lazy and unenthusiastic they actually are where they’ll only show up if it’s less than 30 mins away from home, smh!!!
I just had to comment on this. Catherine is so predictable. She is yet to attend a single game as the new patron, even the Scotland game which was in U.K. Princess Anne went but Kate didn’t. So why hasn’t she been yet? Because she been waiting for the England v Wales game as it will bring her maximum publicity. One it’s her debut. Second she can attend it with her Welsh patron husband knowing full well that the press will make the game all about her and rivalry with her husband. Anyone who says Kate is not a publicity hungry, calculating, attention -seeker has not been paying attention.
You predicted it, Kaiser. Because Harry did it first.
Kate had those same over the top grins on her tour.
This should be Kitty and Bill’s “just for fun” engagement, expecting they would do something useful, but since they are lazy as all fluff, the British media needs to make it out like the 1980s Olympic hockey games.