During the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Flop Tour, you could see them trying to pivot to their safest storylines of “our marriage is fine, look, we’re being affectionate” and “we’re hands-on parents too!” Nevermind the fact that William mostly looked embarrassed to be with Kate, and nevermind the fact that no one really believes that Kate was FaceTiming the nanny to reschedule the children’s activities. That last story was sprinkled into several tour articles, almost as if the Keens’ press secretary had specifically briefed reporters that poor Kate’s heart was back at home with her children. Now that the tour is over and the Cambridges are still eating sh-t for how poorly it went, Kate continues to pivot back to motherhood. This mommy-PR is all she has, because she can’t tell everyone that she’s the keenest big girl to ever start to “grow into” her role at the age of 40.
Kate Middleton feels ‘a wrench’ being away from Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis during overseas tours, a royal expert has claimed. The Duchess of Cambridge, 40, last week returned from a controversial tour of the Caribbean with the Duke, 39, with the pair leaving Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three, back in the UK.
However, despite the smiles, Katie Nicholl, author of Kate The Future Queen, who has been on several tours with Kate, said the mother-of-three struggles being away from her young family. Speaking to Closer magazine, the royal expert said: ‘Kate wants to be modern, she wants to be hands-on, she wants to be present.’
Meanwhile the royal expert also revealed how Kate had described how ‘difficult’ it was leaving her children behind on previous royal tours, including Bhutan in 2016. Katie added: ‘Despite being the Duchess of Cambridge and being able to afford around-the-clock nannies and so on, she had her mum looking after Prince George and Princess Charlotte, which struck me as just really normal. I could see how much comfort and confidence that gave her in getting on with her job, which she does brilliantly, but I think it is always such a wrench for her to leave her children behind.’
And that feeling of ‘wrench’ is going to possibly intensify in the future as Kate and William’s royal duties increase. As the Queen, 95, grows increasingly frail and she possibly cancels more engagements the Duke and Duchess may get busier than ever.
I’m starting to get a weird feeling about this! My gut says that Prince Charles and Prince William are both telling Kate that she needs to haul her ass in gear and start working more. They’re the ones saying that Kate needs to do more solo overseas trips and develop more of a platform. And conveniently, here’s Kate’s biographer/hagiographer Katie Nicholl telling us that it’s just such a burden for Kate to leave her children for any length of time, and she’s super-normal and leaves the kids with Granny Carole, nevermind the nanny (or nannies). Is this Kate refusing William’s plot to separate their interests and appearances and make her do more solo work? LOL.
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- (L_R) Prince George, HRH Prince William – The Duke Of Cambridge, HRH Katherine, The Duchess of Cambridge and daughter Princess Charlotte attends a Service of Thanksgiving for HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey, London, England, UK on Tuesday 29 March, 2022.,Image: 673787487, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- North America Rights Only – Kingston, Jamaica -20220323-Royal Visit to the Caribbean – Day 5 The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness and his wife Juliet with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a meeting at his office in Kingston, Jamaica, on day five of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Jane Barlow/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 – New Providence, Bahamas -20220325-The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attend a reception hosted by the Governor General of the Bahamas Sir Cornelius Alvin Smith, at the Baha Mar resort on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas to with meet community leaders and people from across the Bahamas’ many islands, on day seven of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: 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 – Grand Bahama, Bahamas -20220326- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to Daystar Evangelical Church Abaco in The Bahamas, to learn about the impact of Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and to see how communities are still being rebuilt, on day eight of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. Abaco, a chain of islands and barrier cays in the northern Bahamas, was hit by winds of up to 185mph during Hurricane Dorian in 2019 leaving 75% of homes across the chain of islands damaged and resulting in tragic loss of life. During a visit to Fish Fry in Abaco, a traditional Bahamian culinary/. During a visit to the Memorial Wall to remember victims of the 2019 hurricane at the Memorial Garden in Abaco. During a visit to Grand Bahama Children’s Home, which provides a home environment to vulnerable children who are not able to live with their families -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: 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 p
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- North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220323- Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a dinner hosted by Patrick Allen, Governor General of Jamaica, at King’s House, in Kingston, Jamaica, on day five of the royal tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Jane Barlow/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 – Abaco, Bahamas -20220326- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to Daystar Evangelical Church Abaco in The Bahamas, to learn about the impact of Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and to see how communities are still being rebuilt, on day eight of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. Abaco, a chain of islands and barrier cays in the northern Bahamas, was hit by winds of up to 185mph during Hurricane Dorian in 2019 leaving 75% of homes across the chain of islands damaged and resulting in tragic loss of life. During a visit to Fish Fry in Abaco, a traditional Bahamian culinary/. During a visit to the Memorial Wall to remember victims of the 2019 hurricane at the Memorial Garden in Abaco. During a visit to Grand Bahama Children’s Home, which provides a home environment to vulnerable children who are not able to live with their families -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: 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 publishi
I’m just here for Charlotte’s face in that pic above at the memorial service. That child has fire.
“Full of piss and vinegar” is a favorite saying with the women in my family
She’s definitely her fathers double (to me at least) she even does the whole fist clench thing.
I think she has a lot of Carol’s grit and Princess Anne’s fire. Love it for her!
If she comes in for the usual treatment for the spare she’ll need it!
I think Charlotte already hates the press. Hence that face. Priceless.
Good luck making her work more. Klingon Wiglet may be determined to hang on to her title and horrible marriage, but that doesn’t mean she’s good with being regularly physically separated away from her children or the UK.
Although i do believe she’s a hand on mom, i also think she’s just fine being away from the kids. They have a live in nanny and like the article stated, her parents to fall back on. And let’s not forget that the kids are getting older and George is likely to go to boarding school soon.
Kate simply doesn’t want to work and personally i also think that she’s terrified of going on tour by herself
The poor George seems to have far to many issues to be able to attend Eton, even though adaptations and provisions would be made for him. Charlotte will certainly go.
We didn’t hear her cry when she left baby George for a lengthy trip to the Maldives.
Well, the Maldives trip was a private holiday. There was no demand of “work”, which she is allergic too.
@Chloe and Nic- Oh, I know Kate is perfectly okay with having others mind her children. But she would quite literally cling to any excuse the minutiae of their lives presents so that she cannot be obliged into bettering herself as a working royal.
Speech lessons? George has football.
Doing a 2-day working trip to Manchester? Nope, Louis is having issues with gluten.
Taking a long meeting with an organization? Interferes with Charlotte’s swim lessons.
This woman will gladly use her children to stonewall the efforts to make her work. Charles and William have been trying to play nice by going to the press and announcing that she’s working more, meanwhile she’s fighting back with Mummy PR.
Frankly, they need to pull some harder leverage- kidnap her clothes and wiglets, cut off her allowance and Botox access, or leak some Uncle Gary stories. She’s not gonna work without being forced to lose something.
Kate should just stay at home, l don’t think anyone really wants to see her on international tours anyway, she doesn’t highlight anything or make a difference. It is just one long fashion parade.
Just send a cardboard cutout with some button (many fancy buttons?) to press for a pre-recorded message. It’s the same thing and less scarier for children than whatever expression she’s trying to make with her face and jazz hands.
This comment is everything!
You think a cardboard cutout of Rictus Grin Kate won’t frighten babies and their brains?
I am deceased!!!
Oh dear!
It’s just more Diana cosplay but on an emotional level. Look, Kate just wants to mother her children the way Diana did, awwwww.
No wonder she’s jonesing for another baby. With Louis being three and headed for a longer school day, she’s running out of mom grace.
Just one problem with that. Diana managed to be a hands-on mom AND work.
“May get busier”
LOL how the reporters who once talked about how much the two of them would be doing have all just accepted they don’t plan to do any work at any point in the foreseeable future.
They’ve been saying how much more busy william and kate will be for 2 years now. And it is yet to happen. And especially with the story yesterday about how the Cambridge way entails less charities, i doubt it will ever happen.
@Chloe, they’ve been saying it for almost ten years! It’s beyond ridiculous the way the press talks about these two as if they’re in their early twenties, just starting to figure out their lives.
Oh it’s been way longer that 2 years. Remember back in 2016 when the press first started calling them out on it and the duchess do little title first came out?
Lol yes, it is hard to leave the kids behind when traveling for work, but most people do not get to bring their spouse, stay at a fancy resort, or dictate their schedule. Cry me a river.
This is ridiculous. Many women work 9-5, leaving their precious children at home, school or daycare. Some even leave them to go on work trips. The kids are fine. There’s this new novel thing called video conferencing. It’s all the rage. Kate is just lazy. It’s too much effort for her to work and do the job she signed up for.
If Charles and William are pushing for her to do more, Kate better hop to it. Charles may cut her spending allowance, but William can replace her for someone who will take the harsh glare of the spotlight off him while he lays about. Kate’s usefulness is twofold. Securing the monarchy and sharing the load. Before William had Harry to fall back on and hide behind, he doesn’t have that any longer. And the Flop Tour proved that he can’t hide behind Kate either because she’s just as dim witted and obtuse as he is. She only magnified their collective tomfoolery. She’s got to do better or she will be replaced.
This is what’s always been my issue with the idea of Kate being a hands on mom, or how the kids are the first priority so she cant’ work, etc. Millions of moms out there work outside the home, travel for work, have long hours, etc and are still “hands on” and still involved and still make their kids their priority. It comes across as insulting. Kate can’t work because she has kids. So what? Lots of us have kids. If she didn’t want to work, she should have married someone like Moderately Wealthy James Matthews like her sister did.
I can’t get over the quote, “Kate wants to be modern….” Nannies watching the kids isn’t exactly a modern invention, especially not in the circles she’s in. Unless the next bit about wanting to be present is really what they mean by modern?
They just throw stuff at the wall to see what sticks. She doesn’t want to go on her big girl Keen tours is what it sounds like. She wasn’t planning on working, and now she and Will are having to actually *do* things.
It would’ve been better if they had been forced to flop like fish when they were newly married instead of all the “easing in” nonsense, they had the press and public sympathy and they could’ve flailed their way into something. Seeing 40 year olds flail for competence is a lot less cute.
The modern mom works. She goes on work trips and that’s normal and modern and okay. I would say that staying home with your kids all the time and never going on a trip without them is sort of the opposite of modern, it’s very Victorian/Edwardian.
@Lucy, the BM is causing me to detest the word “modern.” They use it constantly and incorrectly and I’m sick to death of it by now. (See also: “never puts a foot wrong.”)
Lucy, I totally agree with you. Harry was allowed, if that is even the right word for it, to mess up in his 20s, repeatedly, and he had to learn how to accept responsibility, apologize, and most importantly, CHANGE for the better.
These two bozos are what happens when you constantly coddle and cover for fully grown adults.
Kate had no issue leaving George as a very young baby to go on a trip to Maldives with William. And no tour they have done without kids has been longer than that holiday, and the kids have been much older when they went to Bhutan. So this is all bullshit.
And she could easily do more things in the UK if that was a concern. They use the helicopter all the time anyway so it could be done if she cared to work. She doesn’t though.
Don’t be silly. The helicopter is for going shopping, or visiting mummy. It’s not to be used for idiotic things like work.
Exactly, these have no problem leaving their children behind for holidays so pleaseeeee
This. They both had no problem leaving two kids home with nannies while they took separate skiing holidays at the same time. The holiday that resulted in Kate getting unwanted Child #3 after William was caught partying with young blondes on his wife’s away/ lad’s party holiday.
Ugh. Can you imagine being around this woman all the time? Her laziness, her snobbery, the sound of her voice?!?!
High-maintenance people are life-suckers to begin with. But rock-stupid, racist, deliberately-ignorant ones…🤮🤮
Can you imagine being delusional enough to believe this argument would fly with a woman, QEII, who famously outsourced her child-rearing? To the point of emotional abuse?
I feel like Kate needs some help understanding her “role.”
She really should have married the Earl of Wherever or Viscount whatever. She would be much happier as an aristo wife, cutting out pictures of herself in Tatler or Vanity Fair and make collages. Her dreams took her right up to the altar and not one step further. I think Kate is like those “Princess for a Day” Bridezillas who dreamed about their wedding day all their lives, but give absolutely zero thought to marriage. After 10 years, it’s painfully obvious that she has no interest, or ability whatsoever, in being a Queen Consort. She just wants to look like one. She must envy the shit out of Rose Harbury. Rose has the mansion, the money, the title, the clothes, and the sophistication. She gets to wear tiaras and go to state dinners, and get magazine features in Vogue, but without the nasty public scrutiny. She even gets to be the mistress of the future king, which is a much better deal than being a wife (she doesn’t have to live with the guy, nor deal with his horrible family, and the secrecy adds excitement to a boring Turnip Toff life). Ironically, Rose would have been a better duchess than Kate. No wonder Will-di Amin is so mad all the time–he made the wrong wife choice. He probably wishes he could send Kate to a nunnery and Mr. Rocksavage to a foreign war.
This is spot on. Rose def has the better deal than Kate and b/c Rose can be “Rose” is the reason why W likes her. I know people on here keep saying divorce is coming but I don’t think so b/c it would bring more scrutiny on W and the only reason Charles and Diana officially divorced was b/c of the Panorama interview. I do think they would have divorced eventually (maybe when the kids were older) but that was def the catalyst for C&D. As of now, W has what the DoE had which was his duty family and his “love” family so to speak and why would he want to burn his “love family” by exposing and bringing scrutiny on them esp since Kate’s kids already have the titles – there would be zero benefit for either party. Kate may not like it and will leak constantly but she will have no choice but be shipped off to be a touring clothes horse. Afterall this is what she and her mother worked so hard for.
Rose, the supposed mistress of a future king. What an awful gig. Ugh, sleeping with Wills. If she were a happy woman, she’d have run the other way. Something is wrong in that marriage, too.
No aristo wanted her, that’s the issue.
Only William was dumb enough to fall for the Middleton cheese on toast con. His circle pegged her as “the limpet/wisteria sister”, and they were spot on.
And she herself would have been happier staying in the “moderately wealthy” middle class, that’s the tragic irony of it all.
The best thing for Kate would have been a fling with William in college and then married to someone upper middle class. She could shop for Lululemon, work on her tennis game, plan the family vacations and fret about the school fees. I think she really would have been happier with that life.
“No aristo wanted her, that’s the issue.”
This may be the biggest compliment Cannot has ever gotten on CB! Being wanted by aristos seems like a backhanded compliment, to me.
A foreign war? A nunnery? I am screaming! Excellent and hilarious assessment.
@lanne – You have said it all and perfectly summed up the situation!
That’s an hysterical summary. And in his best Hamlet tones, “Get thee to a nunnery!”
Kate definitely only ever looked forward to the wedding and did not give a single thought to what would be expected of her after that. Which surprises me, because we know that CarolE idolized Diana, so she must have been aware of the amount of work involved, and I can’t imagine she’s happy that her daughter became the embarrassment that she is now.
So at the very least, why didn’t her mother prepare her beforehand? Because as it stands now, Kate is clearly unfit for the job and has embarrassed the BRF on the world stage more than once, and I can’t believe CarolE wouldn’t have anticipated this and done everything to avoid it? For someone so focused on her family’s reputation and so status-obsessed, you’d think she would have been doing the most to make Kate appear competent.
Or maybe William assured her that his plan was to basically never work, so she went into it with that expectation.
@Lorelei – your last paragraph. That’s always been my take. Remember too when they married Harry was still in the picture; he was the one getting worn out, as he himself said (and getting experience) going on various tours, etc. No doubt the expectation was he’d continue to be the one doing all the real work. Oops!
“…why didn’t her mother prepare her beforehand?”
Because she’s operating from the same 1950s mindset as the RF–back when all a queen needed to do was smile and dress purty. (As well, William was supposed to do the work…which meant Harry would be pulling the whole load.) The RF still hasn’t caught up to the changes Diana wrought–and they will never catch up with Meghan’s innovations.
This comment is everything I wanted to say 😂👍🏻👍🏻
I’m starting to genuinely wonder what her expectations were of this role years ago when she was waiting to become the FFQ. Didn’t she realize the amount of public work that would be built into this life? If what she truly wants is to solely be a stay-at-home parent, fine, I and many other modern parents can relate (whether or not we have the resources for that to be our reality)! But if that has always been her deep, ultimate wish I don’t get why she thought that marrying into this family and role would guarantee that life. Were she & William ever on the same page about this? I remember back in the day when W&K got engaged the story was “We waited this long so that Kate could be adequately prepared for what to expect,” but I’m starting to have my doubts.
I think if we go back to the stories around the time of the wedding we will see that it was William saying that she was prepared and knew what to expect, so in other words she wasn’t.
That said it doesn’t excuse an English girl growing up in the prime of Diana’s fame in the 80s and 90s and not be aware of royals having to do engagements. It was covered in the media all the time. A girl who grew up outside of the UK wouldn’t have seen all the coverage that the UK media had done so it’s possible they would be unfamiliar. And yet we have seen the American woman who married in understand the engagements part much better than the dim English girl from Buckleberry.
I don’t think that Kate or her mother thought much beyond getting Will to the altar – it was, after all, very hard to get him there.
She really comes across as the poster child of “careful what you wish for, you just might get it”. She wants the Queen Consort title but she just doesn’t want to do the (limited) work that goes with it.
@Ginny, I should have read your comment before I just typed mine above! I’m in the same confused place that you are about how it got to this point.
I need to finally learn to read all of the comments before replying 🙄
Well, it’s not as if anyone gave her any warning this is what being a royal parent would be about.
And it’s not as if any of the people she ‘encounters’ on her ‘work trips’ would understand. I mean, what would the Irish guards know about leaving their kids for work? Or those royal marines she’s supposedly keen on patronising.
Poor Kate, it’s just.so.hard.
William may have led her to believe that he didn’t want a real Diana-like wife with charities and interests. She also got out of working “learning the role” and having kids etc.
I wonder this myself. I feel like initially he just wanted her to be home to stroke his ego and be a classic stay at home mom because he missed out on some of that. But the role requires more and that’s when it became apparent that she’s not really good at it. I watched some of the videos from that terrible tour and to her credit she did seem like she was having more fun than him
There was reporting in the years after the wedding that once the wedding was locked into place, William went to the courtiers with the “Middleton Rules” he designed with Kate’s father. Chief among them was that the Middletons would be omnipresent in Kate’s married life, that the Palace would threaten the media and use lawsuits to prevent even non-intrusive paparazzi photos of Kate in public, and that contrary to the briefing before the wedding which claimed she was ready and keen to work, they would move back to Wales and disappear.
Kate had at least 2 years in between her wedding and her first child to appear at engagements with the other royals and develop solo engagements while William finished his military service. That was the expectation that BP and the press set pre wedding, before the Middleton Rules yanked the rug out from under that.
@Blujfly, I’d completely forgotten about the “Middleton Rules.” I knew that they existed, but idk if I ever knew the specifics. The palace (especially Charles) really must have been DESPERATE for William to get married in order to agree to all of that.
The Middletons used Diana’s unhappiness to get everything they wanted without giving up very much in return. The public sentiment at the time was also that what happened to Diana should never happen again to William’s wife (Harry’s wife didn’t factor into the equation.)
Even Meghan said to Oprah that when she questioned why she couldn’t defend herself against the false tabloid stories but Kate could, she was told that Kate could not be drawn into gossip.
Good point. Royals on tour always visit with UK diplomats, military, etc. Sometimes families get to go on the deployment, but frequently not. Kate’s reluctance to travel (really, ‘work’) is so insulting to those people. She is the very opposite of ‘modern’ motherhood.
This mommy PR Kate does is really annoying. Her fans act like you’re not a true feminist if you point this out like we’re not letting her be a hands on mom. But it’s so disingenuous you can’t want to project this modern working mom image and always act like you want to be a stay at home mom.
Many stay at home moms actually do a lot of charity work. They aren’t just locked at home doing housework and child rearing. None of which kate does herself anyway with all the help she has. And she always finds time for shopping. Kate is just a lazy woman.
Kate not wanting to undertake solo tours and “away days” has nothing to do with her children. It has to do with Baldy.
If Kate is “away” working then it gives Horse Teeth the Bald more time to “play”.
Bingo! If she isn’t around, then she isn’t aware of what he’s up to. Even if they are living separately (which I believe they are), I bet she still keeps tracks on what he’s doing, like a hawk nevertheless. She can’t do that from Denmark or Bucklebury.
I gotta say “hagiographer” gave me a giggle.
Kaiser you never fail me with your phrasing!
It’s weird to me that Carole is okay with this. She worked while raising children. I can’t believe she’s okay with such a lazy daughter. Wouldn’t she want her daughter to be the bestest, mostest princess?
I’m sure she does want her daughter to be the bestest, mostest. The problem is that you can only teach people so much. Kate will never have more than a narrow focus of interests – herself, her children, maybe her husband – and I think she’s actually incapable of doing anything more.
@Eurydice, can you imagine being so self-absorbed?! Kate must be bored out of her mind most of the day.
Carole may think she worked so hard so her daughters/children wouldn’t have to. Usually that means those kids live off of your hard-earned money, rather than your druggie brother’s money and your hard-earned social-climbing, but tomayto tomahto.
Carole worked because she had to and she doesn’t want her girls to have to work like she did. So she is okay with this. She just pretends to be a feminist because she has a business but the reality is that she thinks the 50s housewife is the ideal and if she thought kate should do more we would have seen this years ago.
All the Middleton children are useless because that’s the way their social climbing mother raised them – in the “aristocratic” style. Kate and Pippa were supposed to make “advantageous” marriages (Pippa tried hard enough for other partners before settling for her terribly moderately wealthy hubby). Not sure what momma Carole had in mind for James. None of them were raised to work. In Kate’s case, William never planned to work either, as is becoming even more clear. But since Harry married Meghan and is getting so much attention, Will feels the need to LOOK like he’s important and productive, because he needs to outshine his brother. Kate, IMO, totally resents even the idea of having to look like she’s doing something, hence her failure to make the slightest effort to improve. Dressing up and photo ops have been working for her, as she’s been protected by the press (who also print the sycophantic articles generated by her family), and she sees no reason that should change. And then, of course, she’s always had Meghan to throw under the bus when necessary (especially when Kate was the only one with kids and could claim the “mommy” role alone). I believe though, she’s about to find out using Meghan isn’t going to work for her any longer…
That’s the question I have about all three of her children. Whatever one may think of her social climbing ambitions, the fact is that she raised a close-knit family while working and starting a business. That’s not easy. At all. Yet, apparently, none of those kids inherited her work ethic. I don’t get it.
3 children with the best education money can buy, 1 college drop out and zero careers. And yes, James has a learning disability, one that did not prevent him from graduating from Marlborough and getting the necessary grades to get into Edinburgh. The Middleton children are all failures to launch, each having calculated and waited for Katie to make it so they could retire to a life of luxury. Give it 30 years, and James will be the new prince Andrew. Where does their money come from?
Pippa seems to be a Hoka One One brand ambassador, influencer, whatever the appropriate term is. And she still gets little writing projects from time to time, she does repeat work & appearances for the charities she’s involved in, so all in all, she actually ‘works’ more than Kate (or James). She’s more my idea of a modern, rich SAHM than Kate is.
Well right from the start people said Pippa’s credentials were more suited to be a consort. More interested in charities, more outgoing and able to engage.
@Roo, I just said something similar above. By all accounts, CarolE was obsessed with Diana, so we know she was aware that this role entailed work. (And I think we here at CB can probably all agree that CarolE likely reads every single word of Kate’s press coverage.)
So how is CarolE not mortified that Kate is out there making a fool out of herself and embarrassing not only CarolE herself (and the Middleton family as a whole, but I think CarolE cares mostly about herself) but the BRF, and to an extent, the entire COUNTRY? I’d have perished of mortification if I was CarolE watching the Jill Biden shitshow go down. We know that CarolE cares about nothing more than what people think of her and her family, and for years she’s been trying to meticulously build their “royal-adjacent” reputations.
I guess it’s possible that ALL she cared about was her daughter getting the title, but she doesn’t strike me as the type of person who would be fine with half the world thinking her daughter was lazy, inept, incompetent, unfit for her position, etc. etc. She seems far too aware of what people think and say about her family, but who knows.
@Lorelei, I’m with you. I can’t imagine her daughter’s ineptitude doesn’t bother or embarrass her.
I wonder if it’s PC pushing out the “solo work” story. He won’t have too many available to send out during his reign and the other married-in’s do solo travel. But why is it necessary for any of them to travel that much? Many things can be handled by video conference and, when it comes to countries they still “rule” over, the actual monarch, or at least the next in line should be visiting. It’s not like W&K are good at any type of diplomacy.
She’s a gold digger! Gold diggers don’t want to work!
Gold-digging ain’t easy.
Also, we should call the spouses of gold-diggers youth-beauty-sex-diggers. To be fair to all involved. Cos it’s usually a pretty fair transaction and I’m not mad at it if all are consenting adults. Sometimes I sit at my desk, look at my inbox, and my to-do list, and reconsider my life choices.
@Sunny, your last sentence killed me dead, omg I’m laughing so hard 😭
Sunny, ITA. I have always heard that those who marry for money, earn it.
Kate doesn’t actually want or do the work of a stay at home mom either. That’s the beauty of Kate. She got the title and she’ll get the big prize, all while doing no work.
Yes she knew the title came with work, but work is for others. She did her work! She waited. She birthed. She’s done.
Remember in that now infamous Tatler cover and magazine they (Carole) said how Kate only wanted a house in the country with an aga? Her dream was being a stay at home stepford mum. Oh Kate has no problem cosplaying as Diana when she’s at “work” (LOL) but during her birthday month I distinctly remember the RR getting their talking points from what is now clearly Carole that Kate is like a “marshmallow” like the Queen mum? It’s clear now the only thing she puts effort into is maintaining her extremely slim figure.
Lastly, try as Kate might that 4th child isn’t coming but she’s been lobbying for it for years now. Remember her uncle giving interviews in Australia saying Kate wants 4 kids like The Queen? Well thanks to that now disastrous Caribbean tour cosplaying like The Queen is not a given (I think had the Queen/DoE cosplay gone down well in the Caribbean we would’ve heard more talk about a 4th child but now its crickets) W clearly told K that will never happen hence the leaks K is expected to do more overseas tours. I do think if they do have another kid esp in the UK’s current economic climate, while the RR would be delighted on many fronts, it actually wouldn’t be as well received by the UK overall esp considering the increase in food banks usage esp the number of children living in poverty.
She is far too frail for another pregnancy. Have you seen her bony chest and her shoulder-blades sticking out? Plus she’d have to gain a few lbs. and she’d balk at that I’m sure. William didn’t even want more than two kids. And how would that look for his “Africa is overpopulated stance?
Instead of lobbying for Baby 4 the more sensible thing would be lobbying to not have the children go to boarding school. She’d get to play the doting, modern royal mother and keep her excuses for not working around her.
That’s part of the reason for the Windsor/Berkshire move for both W&K, married, separated, or headed for divorce. Their eldest is not going to boarding school, he’ll be a day student or only occasional boarder. Excuse for W&K to keep doing next to nothing because they still have three kids at home.
“…(Carole) said how Kate only wanted a house in the country with an aga?”
Shoot, that’s all William essentially wants–including the DOW millions to live off. They both would be happier as minor aristocracy–it’s one of the few things they have in common.
This article is why I thinks she’s also dying to get pregnant. She can then disappear for a few years with minimal work.
Whether or not she gets a baby from William depends on how bad the damage is from the leaking of his secrets..
She may have achieved a Caribbean vacation baby. Reason for her big smiles at the memorial for Philip could be a calculated move on her part to keep hubby and avoid working.
100% agree. When I saw her smile at Phillip’s service, my immediate thought was “she’s pregnant.” I still think that might be the case.
I seriously doubt these two share a bed anymore. I would be shocked if she manages to get pregnant again.
Doubtful. If she was downing crack babies then she isn’t pregnant.
Yes, and Kate normally puts on some extra weight as well prior to her pregnancies.
But we never saw her actually drinking. As far as sharing a bed; a tale as old as time. Any woman knows how to get a man into her bed, even if it takes a award level performance.
Kate always gained a bit of weight before she would announce a pregnancy and she is currently at her thinnest ever.
William was involved with Rose during the pregnancy with Louis–according to various sources.. It seems to me that Kate might not want to have another pregnancy after that.She lost a lot of weight and cosplayed Rose in those “portraits.”
My worry was that, after all those cocktails, they’d throw caution to the winds, give it a go for old times sake, and bingo – #4 is made.
That’s the only time she gets 100% positive press for months on end: when she’s pregnant, then the Lindo Wing shot, then the christening photos (always with a new McQueen), then the first holiday card with all of the children on it, then the first tour that child is seen on (if tours are even still a thing by then) etc. etc. Not to mention she gets out of working for two years. And I think she desperately wants to have the youngest of Chuck’s grandchildren, if only to one-up Harry and Meghan. IMO the only way it will DEFINITELY never happen is if William has already gotten a vasectomy.
@lorelei we are tracking today. Lol
Yes agree with everything you said.
@M people do crazy things when they are desperate. If the situation arises William would probably look at it as transaction. Baby news = good news
I don’t doubt she would want another baby for the reasons mentioned, but William is the X factor and if he wasn’t going to agree to it when the Rose story hit its loudest in 2019 then he won’t do it now.
@Nic
in 2019 guess what happened after rose h story came out? They just leaked everything Harry and meghan were doing or made up outrageous stories about them knowing there would be no pushback.. They can’t do that anymore so william and Kate are now more exposed.
She should be very careful because historically this family Is not kind to wives they wish to get rid of.
She doesn’t want to work and is using the kids as an excuse. Imagine if Meghan did this??? I imagine all moms grapple with this but in her case she’s just lazy AF
How can they possibly get busier? Is Katie Nichols insane? Kate and Willy don’t work. They been back from the Caribbean vacation for over a week I believe and they still are not working. Doesn’t matter what state the queen is in. These two won’t take on anymore. In fact didn’t Kaiser just make a post yesterday about how they will be decreasing their workload to focus more on their trust fund island hopping lifestyle? Well Kaiser didn’t say that , that’s my interpretation.
They are definitely on their well-deserved (in their minds) post-tour vacation. I only wonder if they are on separate trips or together, and did they go to the French Alps to ski or Mustique?
Katie is going to lazy herself into the first wives club.
This could be her talking to Bill saying, “nope, you don’t get to send me off so you can rose garden.”
But honestly, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t actually they trust her to solo or they’d have had separate events on the last tour. Instead, it seemed like they turned separate events into joint ones, probably to prevent Katoe Keen from disaster.
Exactly. Where could this woman go and possibly be an asset? There are only so many majority white english speaking nations within a few hours’ flight of the UK. This screams like the media’s wish list – more dopey trips for keen, more photos for them. Why not send her to solo trips around Britain?
@Rapunzel, after her showing with Jill Biden followed by her going down a slide, I can’t say I blame them for not trusting her to behave when she’s on her own.
Or both William and Charles want her solo to keep making a fool of herself in the role. A lead up to a ‘W&K are divorcing because Kate cannot handle the stress of royal life’ PR campaign.
Wait. I’m confused. Around her birthday the media were suggesting that she was going to go away for 10 years and not do anything. Just weeks ago around the Denmark tour, we were being told that Kate preferred to go to things on her own and that she performed far better without with him there. Before that we’ve had multiple stories about her being the saviour of the monarchy and it can’t survive without her, then we get the story saying she’s going to undertake more solo, foreign tours, then we get a story saying how much she misses her children with the implication that foreign tours are therefore difficult for her.
Make up your damn minds!
They should just make a life size cardboard cutout of her and send it on the “tours”. it will have at least as much charisma as this gormless tw*t.
and if there’s any justice, the source picture will have her mouth wide open.
You know what is striking? How every article about them is *about them*. What they are doing, what they want, what great parents they are. Even when they go meet with people or a charity, it’s about what W&K *learned*. Like we’re all so happy they are educating themselves.
Diana, on the other hand, was super focused on her work being about *others*. She used her fame to draw attention to issues like land mines and To being compassion those with AIDS. Yes, she loved fashion, there was drama, but in the end she made sure her trips showed what was important. They always had a real purpose to try and alleviate suffering or bring compassion. These two think that their presence is a gift to everyone else and that’s enough.
Kate is a liability. The tour showed that rather emphatically.
If she won’t work, she’s done.
So is William. He’s an incompetent, arrogant boob.
He’s a blood prince. He will always be protected. She’s a married-in commoner. Toast.
I honestly don’t understand why *anyone* would want to marry into that family. It seems like hell on earth.
I do find it odd that the article specifies Carole watched only George and Charlotte, but not Louis. I get he’s younger and 3 year olds are a trip, but he seems always singled out to be alone.
The colonial tour has also made me realize what a misstep they made in naming George, George. Better to have gone with a name with less recent connotations, like Arthur or something.
The India/Bhutan tour was in 2016, so no Louis yet.
The Duchess is fighting tooth and nail back against the narrative that she needs to work more. Her team (Carole) is working overtime to make sure that their narrative of katie being a homebody, a full time hands on mom, a person who likes to cook dinner everynight for her family is out. They are regretting all their embiggening work, the top CEO, the working non stop. If she gets to a point where she can’t fight it anymore, guess what, she’ll have to pull out her secret weapon, a pregnancy and hyperemesis gravidarum. That’ll give her 2 years of vacation. Gurl just wants to go shopping and to hangout all day with Pippa. It’s pretty clear they chose a lazy future queen who has no interest in the people. She’s there for the glitz, the ego, the social status.
It would have to be a turkey baster pregnancy. There’s no way those 2 are sharing a bed or even a home most of the time.
these 2 are definitely not honeymooning, more like on the verge of separating, but Kate will attempt eveything and stop at nothing to be able to do nothing.
After the Rose situation, Kate may not want another pregnancy. She lost so much weight after Louis.
It’s so obvious that Carole and Kate wanted Kate to be Princess of Wales for a world that doesn’t exist anymore. If it wasn’t for global social media, civil rights movements and Sussex Squad (LOL – the rota are the ones who namecheck us, argue with them!), the royal rota could spin all sorts of tales of accomplishment off of a few photos while Kate chilled at home online shopping (where did this come from, Kaiser? lol, I just roll with it).
Their (Carole, Kate, William, BRF, courtiers, BM) complete ostrich approach to this changing world is kinda admirable??! If I had that single-mindedness denial of reality I would have manifested all of my dream life by now.
“…the royal rota could spin all sorts of tales of accomplishment of off a few photos while Kate chilled at home online shopping…”
Which is exactly what they did for the last five or so years. While Harry and Meghan were still around, Kate and Will could attach themselves to whatever they were doing and get credit for themselves (e.g., Heads Together, and wasn’t there an attempt to make it sound like Kate deserved credit for Meghan’s successful capsule collection). Once H&M left, they got a lot of mileage out of bashing them both, but especially Meghan; the rota was on board the entire time with the KP/RF smear campaign which distracted anyone from noticing how little Will and Kate were doing.
Two years down the road, H&M are established in their own successful life far away, Charles’ has been left short of people to actually work, and the rota have not only run out of new information to criticize (or make money from) H&M, but as the two of them have built their reputation, the smear campaign that’s been run by the RF and BM is more and more obvious and believable to more and more people.
And now with this disastrous Caribbean tour, Kate and Will have been completely exposed for who they really are. The day of being able to blame this one on Meghan is past (though there were some tries, the rest of the world isn’t that stupid).
Her having to do more, is the price she has to pay for her part in the smear campaign against Harry and Meghan.
Well, they used to send Harry overseas for EVERYTHING, but they don’t have Harry to kick around anymore so Kate it is. LOL
It appears that Kate is following William’s lead and quitting a job before it’s even begun 🤣🤣🤣
Does she ever close her mouth if there’s a camera around?
I’m sick of seeing her tonsils.
My kingdom for a wayward fly.
The children still have their Norland Nanny Maria. There may also be an assistant Nanny. That’s more help than most mothers have. Kate really can’t use her children as a reason for her reluctance to work outside the home.
I know this is a much repeated fact but Kate has never had anything approaching a real job. Unlike almost every woman in the UK she has never experienced independence. Not even for a few years between finishing her education and becoming a mother. This is why she hasn’t a clue.
anotherlily, you are being far to kind to Cathy. Even if McButtons had “experienced independence” in life, she still would not have a clue.
She’s had a good ten years to buy as many clues as she needs.
Talk about blowing smoke up Kate’s azz, wow. She does her job brilliantly, does she? lol Nothing’s changed, Katie Nicholl is still full of it. This is a “royal expert” who lies through her teeth on-camera about Meghan and Harry and God knows what else. Agree completely with anotherlily.
I like how Kate equates being a hands on mom as being modern. Outside her aristo bubble, in the rest of the world motherhood is very hands on, it’s not a modern concept.
When compared to other European royal wives, Kate does not measure up, Look at her in comparison to lets say Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, no comparison. Queen Maxima has real life work experience in finance, and she also actually worked as a teacher. There’s no mumbling and stumbling because Maxima actually knows her stuff.
There’s the concept fake it until you make it, Kate has been faking it and has done no work to bring herself up to snuff. At this point Charles and William need to accept that this is what they have to work with, at 40 they can’t make her change she would have to want that for herself and there’s little indication that she does.
The press in other countries cover what the person has to say, the organization they visited, the UK tabloids, even when covering foreign royal women, it’s all about what they wore. So Kate has fallen into this pattern, it’s about what she wears, but if she is to make overseas trips the press in those countries will be looking to what she has to say and what organizations she visits, so her mindset when on overseas trips need to change. And if it becomes a pattern that the press in foreign countries cannot ask any questions, they’ll barely cover her visits, and if it doesn’t get much press, what would be the point, it would not be cost effective.
But where would Kate “tour?” She has shown she is a bust in countries in countries where there are POC. Except for Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, the British empire colonized POC. Royal tours were traditionally made to the remnants of the Empire, known as The Commonwealth. I notice that royals in other countries generally accompany government ministers on trade missions or cultural missions, etc. The Spanish monarch makes visits to their former possessions in the Americas. After the pandemic, and with what has gone on in the world concurrently, The Royal Tours, as the Brits have known them, suddenly appear obsolete. It’s clear the monarchy should quit doing such tours, period. If keeping the Commonwealth is the Queen’s only achievement, then perhaps they should be celebrating what has been achieved in various Commonwealth countries during her time as Queen. What has Britain contributed to the Commonwealth, or what has the Commonwealth contributed to each other? I have always felt supportive of the Queen, but even I am getting tired of all of this “celebrating” of nothingness beyond longevity.
Whether Kate hates being away from her kids or not, it’s so tone deaf AGAIN. She is not actually the definition of a working mother. Most women do not have the luxury of deciding to work and leave their children.
She’s got to pull her weight if she wants to be part of the slimmed down monarchy. There are only malificent seven verses days when the queen had her sister, mother and cousins to help fill in.
My guess, while dating and waiting Keen thought appearances would be a breeze and everyone would love her. Then real life taught her she cannot intelligently speak in public and no one really loves meeting her so she has done the least she can get away with.
All of this “Kate is such a hands-on mother” propaganda is intended to serve only one purpose: it’s to make Kate seem like she’s different, and therefore better, than her aristocratic and royal peers. The perception is very much that the British royalty and aristocracy are distant parents, both physically and emotionally, in every way possible. The Queen herself is a famous example, and her parenting is cited as a reason why Charles is the way he is.
Kate has no aristocratic background. From the moment she was linked to William, to when she got married, to now, her PR has constantly tried to spin this as a positive in a multitude of ways. From talking up Carole’s cheese on toast, to how tight-knit and middle-class Kate’s upbringing was, to how Kate has “sturdy” Middleton blood, the point has been to sell Kate to the general public. To make her seem like the opposite of the stuffy and class-conscious British monarchy and aristocracy.
This hands-on mother business is no different. See, unlike the frigid and ice cold Queen who left for a tour for six months and then came back and shook Charles’ hand in greeting, Kate VALUES family and family bonds. Or so the story goes. Even the interest in early childhood, I think, is an example of this. The idea with that is to make it clear to the audience that Kate will be raising her children differently from royal generations before.
I do think that Kate is the most hands-on mother in British royal history. I don’t fault her for this. I think one of the few things Kate and William have in common any more is the desire to give their children an upbringing that few in William’s position have had. I think while the Cambridge kids are still not in an enviable position, they are better equipped by far than most of their predecessors to handle things like the spotlight, their unique positions, and the upheavals that they might go through.
But with all that, the idea that this sets Kate apart in any way to the larger public is just laughable. It’s not a selling point. It might have mattered ten years ago, but it hardly matters now in the same way.
I disagree. I don’t see Kate as the most hands on mother. I see a lot of missteps: the “early preparation ” for George’s future role, the Dynasty photos, George taken solo with his parents to games and Charlotte staying home. I don’t see the Cambridge children as having a rosy future, I think the same old same old heir/spare situation is evolving here. There is also the spare to the spare, Louis. It is too early to tell how these children as they grow will handle the spotlight. I see the same pattern nothing novel or revolutionary, in fact, perhaps a step back from the way Harry and William were raised, with the parents trying not to treat the heir “more special”. Kate is no expert on early childhood, she is an art history major. There are people who are scholars in the field, and Kate is not one of them. ALso how will Charlotte grow up, will she be encouraged to be her own person, I hope she does not grow up like her mother, maybe have more depth to her–she should get a University education.
The Queen though caters to her grown children. FOr instance, Andrew and she went through with sending out the notice to please Charles that Camilla should be Queen. I don’t see family values exhibited in Kate, she is close to her clan but she was not nice to her sister in law.
The consort’s job is to pop out the heir and the spare. She did that. Only the monarch has a job, which is head of state. It’s not much of a “job” as many countries combine the duties with the head of government. But arguably, the monarch has a “job.” Every other person in the family is superfluous — the only reason they talk about “work” is to justify the suckling at the public teat. If they want to keep their monarch as a figure head to remind people of their glorious past, maybe they should give the monarch a salary to live on, and cut out all other benefits.
Exactly Mrs.Krabapple.
The back and forth on her being a working or SAH mom are trial balloons to see what sticks. Kate will never being taken seriously outside the UK. The Caribbean Colonizer Tour is a permanent stain on Will and Kate.
+1
I really want to pity her, i do.
But, i wont.
I agree that certain people are desperately trying to make Kate look indispensible. First, we have the “Tatler CEO” Kate. This is the incredibly accomplished woman who can do anything and everything brilliantly. She could run a huge company if she had to! She can charm anyone! She is the hardest worker ever! In other words, how can William get rid of such an asset to the monarchy? Then we have “Super Mom” Kate. She is the best mother in the entire world and understands that unless you provide your child with everything from day one, that child will not have a good start in the world. She knows that raising stable children will be the best thing for the monarchy! She is not interested in doing anything but hanging out with her kids and the AGA. In other words, how can William separate from this amazing mother to his children? It just all comes across as so desperate. We shouldn’t have to learn how perfect Kate is by reading this drivel. We should be seeing an accomplished, hard-working duchess who makes a real contribution to the monarchy. Actions speak louder than words. For Heaven’s sake, the people writing these stories need to make up their mind which narrative they wish to puruse. Some consistency would be nice, even if the content is ridiculous!
Alice88, what do you mean when you made a comment about Prince George having far to many issues and needing adaptations if he is to go to Eton? Please explain. Thanks in advance