I have never been able to understand the British school system’s holiday schedule, but apparently this week is a midterm break for the young students at posh private schools like Lambrook. Lambrook students have been off since last Friday. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all go to Lambrook, and I swear, their fall term has only been happening since the second week of September? Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8th, which was the kids’ first day of school. And now they’re getting a week-long holiday. Which means the kids’ parents also get a week off from their grueling schedule.
Kate Middleton and Prince William won’t be out and about over the next few days. The new Prince and Princess of Wales, both 40, are expected to take a break from public engagements this week as their three children are off from school. Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4, are currently off from classes at Lambrook, where fall half term began last Friday. After the short break, the siblings and their schoolmates will return to the classroom on a favorite childhood holiday — Halloween.
Prince William and Princess Kate have previously scaled back their schedules during school vacations in order to spend more time with their kids. George, Charlotte and Louis enrolled as new pupils at Lambrook on Sept. 8, the same day their great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth died. Following the shock, the royal parents did all they could to support their grieving children and keep things as “normal” as possible.
This is nothing new – for years now, William and Kate take time off from “public duties” during their kids’ school vacations. I did want to ask though, where do you think they went? Do you think they’re staying at Anmer Hall this week? With all of the shuffling of royal properties following QEII’s death, it’s widely assumed that William and Kate won’t give up any of the properties they already have, they’re just adding more. They’re keeping Kensington Palace Apartment 1 (a mansion within a palace). They’re keeping Anmer Hall. They’re keeping Adelaide Cottage. They’re adding Windsor Castle. So are Kate and the kids in Norfolk right now? Also: yes, it’s funny that William and Kate arranged that big People Magazine cover story about how they’re “stepping up” and “embracing a heavier workload” and then they promptly went on vacation.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – The Prince and Princess of Wales – Prince William and Catherine celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Coach Core visiting the Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. Pictured: Prince William – Catherine – Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 13 OCTOBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Prince William And Catherine Princess Of Wales visit to the Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in east London, to take part in an event with Coach Core, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Featuring: Prince William, Catherine Princess Of Wales Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 13 Oct 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- Prince William And Catherine Princess Of Wales Visit Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, east London, to take part in an event with Coach Core, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess Of Wales Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 13 Oct 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – The Prince and Princess of Wales – Prince William and Catherine celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Coach Core visiting the Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. Pictured: Catherine – Kate Middleton – Princess of Wales BACKGRID USA 13 OCTOBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – The Prince and Princess of Wales – Prince William and Catherine celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Coach Core visiting the Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. Pictured: Prince William – Catherine – Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 13 OCTOBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Prince William And Catherine Princess Of Wales Visit Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, east London, to take part in an event with Coach Core, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess Of Wales Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 13 Oct 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- Prince William And Catherine Princess Of Wales Visit Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, east London, to take part in an event with Coach Core, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Featuring: Catherine Princess Of Wales Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 13 Oct 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- Prince William And Catherine Princess Of Wales Visit Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, east London, to take part in an event with Coach Core, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess Of Wales Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 13 Oct 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
Is there a video somewhere of the photos I keep seeing where William is recoiling from her touch? I feel like I need context
Will never grow tired of seeing this pic of Billy Wail’s befuddled swatting away of Khate 😂
That’s private schooling for you – paying for the privilege of having them home most of the time because of the longer vacs. We’ve taken our kids out of private into state, but one of the wee blighters (said with love!) is still in and currently at home for a fortnight while states break up for a week next week. Can’t wait to have the whole family in state schools where, in my opinion, they are happier than they ever have been. It’s a complicated and boring story as to how we ended up in this situation but thank heavens it’s levelling out.
Ha! Maybe that is what sealed the deal for Lambrook. More vacation weeks than the other schools.
It came as a shock to me (state educated) to learn that the more you pay the less time they spend there! Two weeks half term break (rather than one for the state schools) is the norm in private schools.
Slight aside, my boyfriends brother has done very well for himself in banking but all through primary school the kids went to the local state school. One year his wife took them to the company Christmas family/kids day and found herself there with all the secretaries and their kids, all the bankers wives having attended the one the week before when the private schools broke up.
@Sparrow…..Oh do tell….
The Keens saw People’s “stepping up” cover and ran for the hills in panic. Like when a groundhog sees his shadow on groundhog’s day and goes back in his hole.
There does seem to be a pattern where there is a story about them stepping up, followed by a story about how they are going to take it slow/ take their time.
Not trying to “Thread-jack” but did anyone know that Sophie Wessex was on a two week Royal official tour? See below:
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/10/how-countess-sophie-became-the-face-of-royal-diplomacy
Haven’t they only done a couple of events the past month? If they worked full time I can understand wanting to take time off for the kids but they probably put in just a couple of days of actual work since the Queen died.
The Keens regard a few events per month as working full-time. They are an absolute joke.
So the kids had 5 weeks of school, and then they get two weeks off for vacation…
…sounds like Lambrook is perfect for the Keen family.
A few weeks of minimal work, then a fortnight of holidays.
@Louise177 exactly! They’re taking a week off from not working. So now I’m confused. Does that mean they’re going to work?
Last year this was when they were papped at heathrow and went to Jordan, after having that story about how all their vacations would be in the UK for the foreseeable future, LOL. I guess “foreseeable” meant two months. Wonder where they’ll go this time? Mustique?
I mean William and Kate HAVE been working twice a week for the past 3 weeks, poor sausages, they need a break. I mean August was so long ago.
Do you think william will go with them just like last year? Or is he taking this opportunity to go off somewhere “alone” again?
Yeah……. poor sausages….they must be exhausted! Imagine working twice a week for a few hours and having all these meetings at their place (winsdor) and phone calls with their staff……… they really need their holidays…(eyeroll)
Ha! That’ll teach me to comment before reading all the other comments. I figured the same thing–this time last year it was Jordan, so maybe this year Mustique? Should be pretty decent in the Caribbean right now, just about out of hurricane season.
That actually sounds pretty normal, I think most parents of school age kids take their vacations during school breaks? Also I think that schools in the UK are on more of a year round schedule. I think they get like a month off for the summer as opposed to the 2 months off that most kids in the United States get. And as a tradeoff, I believe they get more weeklong breaks throughout the year.
I hope where they spend their 2 weeks is leaked and we all find out with pictures! It really is ridiculous. Even with qeii’s funeral, the only day they put in a full day was the day of the funeral. The walkabouts lasted no more than an hour. After the funeral, meeting with the staff, lasted no more than an hour. The truly less than dynamic duo should already be well rested.
@Siobhan, I’m not sure about the UK, but in the US, most parents simply wouldn’t be able to take that much time off if their kids had “breaks” so frequently.
It seems like the Cambridge kids started school like five minutes ago 🙄
they get 6 weeks off in the summer per the comment below, which is in line with some school districts here (our school district gets 10 weeks, which is pretty much the most in our state. But we get less time off during the year.)
and I don’t know how many parents who actually work FT can take off two weeks every 6 weeks to take their kids on vacation, but I guess the point is that at these kinds of schools, probably only one parent is working or there is significant family money, so time off and costs of vacation etc is not a factor. So that is still a sign of extreme privilege and not “pretty normal.”
also, lets go back to the point that W&K do not work FT schedules, never have, and hide behind their kids as an excuse to not work on a regular basis.
School year, starting in 1st week of Sept: 6 weeks on, 1 week off, then 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off (1st for Xmas holiday and then Easter holiday). Repeat once more, except the 2 weeks off becomes 6 weeks for the summer holiday.
Slightly different for private schools but not that much.
As a teacher, this makes a lot of sense in terms of learning loss and capacity for learning. We work the kids to death and they lose SO MUCH over the summer. I am a huge advocate for more year-round schooling with staggered breaks.
How can they take time out from doing nothing? How is that literally possible? Or is it a double negative which means they are actually going to do something?
And the talk of Halloween? A childhood favourite holiday? Even CarolE banged on about how Halloween was a favourite holiday when she was a child. Can I point out here that it’s an American tradition not an English one? Or is this how CarolE PR thinks she’s going to make the Wails more acceptable to America?
How can you say they do nothing? They work very hard on the Sussex Smear Campaign!
It’s the hardest they’ve worked on anything. If they worked as hard at their royal engagements etc as they did at driving Harry and Meghan out of the country, they’d be blowing Anne out of the water.
Cathy, are you British? Because I wondered the same thing about Carole saying that. I’m American but thought that Halloween costumes and parades were newish and American influenced. Isn’t Guy Fawkes day around the same time? I thought that was sort of the British Halloween
Hi Blujfly. I’m British. Halloween has become very popular here. I think it kicked off big time about 5-10 years ago. Our neighbours are putting up their decorations already and they aren’t alone. It has definitely happened because of the States and what the kids see almost daily in American programmes. I remember seeing it in American films years ago when I was little and it seemed amazing but definitely an American thing, not for us. It seemed so foreign and a part of American tradition; it was just so “wow”. It’s still doesn’t sit comfortably with some of the older generation who think it’s a way for kids to beg for sweets in a not very British way. Some of our elderly neighbours really don’t like it.
By the way, Brits tend to call Guy Fawkes “Bonfire Night”. It is still really big but not with a lead in of days and days. I prefer it. I like the fireworks. And although the actual date is the 5th November, it tends to be held on the Saturday night nearest the date.
Blujfly. Could you help me with something? Over here, kids knock on the door at Halloween, say trick or treat, or maybe not, and just grab the sweets. People say we don’t understand the trick or treat bit, and even get it switched the wrong way round in meaning. How is it meant to work? I hope you’re still on this thread. Or perhaps someone else can help. Thanks.
Sparrow,
In the US, the child knocks on the door, waits for someone to answer, and then says, “Trick or Treat!” The homeowner then will give a treat to the child. If the homeowner doesn’t give a treat, then (the saying goes) the child could do a trick- meaning something bad like throwing eggs, etc. That’s what the saying is supposed to mean. In reality, people who don’t want to participate leave their porch lights off, and everyone respects that. You don’t have your child knock on their door. It is only the teenagers who are performing bad antics late in the night.
Thanks, Leanne. That makes sense.
I’m going to be that person: Halloween actually originated in Ireland.
In Philadelphia, where I’m from, Mischief Night was the night before trick-or-treating. Traditionally, that’s when kids went out with soap, toilet paper and eggs to wreak havoc.
Canada copies the US for Halloween. We only go to homes with the porch light on or sometimes younger kids have group events in one location. Sometimes the home owners will leave a bowl of candy out for people to take on the honour system. That’s more of a rural thing and not so much in the urban areas.
Wow, making public appearances every time Meghan’s podcast dropped didn’t last long. The shock of working that “hard” on a weekly basis has tired them so much they needed a break. 😆 😆 😆
They’re taking the week off? How can anyone tell?
Thanks for the smile!
TWO WEEKS, Brassy!! TWO! Breathlessly counting down the minutes for “candid/pap” happy family pics at Heathrow, or everyone piling into the helicopter — where DO they land the helicopter now that they’re ensconced in the Windsor enclave?!
🤣🤣🤣. I was just coming here to say the same thing!
🤣
🙄 and just waiting for that pregnancy announcement. Wills will give her that baby. Just like Alec and his Spanish grifter.
I hope not.
The Baldwins are next level creepy, but I still see the royal family as fellow grifters!
Hilary “How you say Cucumber” In Bostonian Spanish Baldwin may be a grifter but Alec Baldwin seems to have worked hard in and at his career.
I’m going to guess that they’re gone to Amner.
Time off from what exactly
Did they helicopter off to somewhere or did they stay home in their separate homes?
Where I live there are a number of organizations and community centers offering programs during the school break. When my children were young there was also a back up child care center in the building where I worked, so I would take them there. When I was young, I would just stay home alone if school was out. These kids live in Windsor great park, there are gardens, horses, walking and biking trail, there a whole town with activities. I’m sure those two could find someone to watch the kids and keep them busy for a week. These whole royal family thing is such a scam.
They have multiple nannies, no need to ‘find someone to watch the kids’.
Exactly. Staying home to care for the children has always seemed to try to mask that fact; multiple nannies indeed.
As many have predicted, becoming Prince/Princess of Wales is not going to change much for Will and Kate. The role will be changed to fit them.
I saw a someone imply that Kate’s Meghan cosplay outfits were meant to signal that Kate wants us to take her work more seriously. That line of thinking only tracks if you ignore literally everything else. Perhaps Kate thinks dressing like a working woman will trick people into thinking she’s hard at work. But if people pay less attention to her fashion and focus on her work, they know it’s all smoke and mirrors.
Like being photographed pretending to be on the phone? lol
So true. That is a such a great photo!
While wearing a pink pantsuit lmao!
What actually constitutes a royal work engagement? I know what people who actually work consider work. But what counts for W&K?
– Buttoning up coat dress (50 buttons) – 60 minutes
– Practicing fake posh accent – 35 minutes
– Gathering donation items to bring to charitable organization – 0 minutes
– Selecting prop pens and notebooks for photo ops – 3 hours
Mika,
Can you imagine any one of us going to work and telling senior management that we are dressing in a way that signals we want our work to be taken more seriously? Not changing how we work, mind you. Just changing our dress style. Ugh, the sheer stupidity.
Roo,
She’s so deeply unserious. It’s just like their whole part time royals with full time perks thing. Could you imagine going up to your boss and saying you’ll only work occasionally because you need time to find your footing? But you still demand full salary and benefits. You’d be laughed out of the office.
What an odd statement, since 1) they’ll be returning on October 24th if it’s a week long break, and 2) Halloween is on a Sunday this year, so I doubt they’ll be returning to the classroom then, if they are getting more than a week?
Also, is it just me or is writing comments on CB mobile really wacky today?
Halloween is on a Monday
I think its a two week break and the press is trying to sort of cover that. So they talk about how they’re not going to be working THIS week but then say that the kids don’t go back until Halloween, which gives them two weeks off. Last year I know they had two weeks off, I think someone said that’s the different between private and public schools (here using the US terms).
Private schools get two weeks for this half term; state get one. I’ve got one left in private school and she is off on half term now and will be again next week. This is a week before state school where the others are. We are moving them all into state. Not just for this reason!
@Becks, Whyyyyyyyyy is the media still so hellbent on covering for them?! The Queen is gone, they haven’t been able to leak any exclusive Sussex content in months (if not years), and now they aren’t even doing any engagements *themselves* for the papers to write about. WHY WHY WHY wouldn’t the BM take this two-week break to go back to the “lazy” narrative they started years ago (then tabled as soon as Meghan arrived on the scene)? 😫
British private school holidays are insane. But, bear in mind that they go to school every Saturday and their school days are usually longer. This means the extra week kind of somehow balances out. It does seem weird to pay all that money for such short terms though. I guess the longer holidays are perhaps to placate the teachers who also have to work on staurdays.
The massive behemoth of a private school near me though runs holiday clubs for about £120 a day, though. I’m sure Kate and will could have afforded that if they actually had legit work to do. But they obviously don’t.
YES!! I forgot about the Saturday school thing!! Remember when we first heard serious rumors about Lambrook, the Saturday school was presented as a positive bc it meant parents could recover from their hangovers, especially if the kids boarded, LOL.
Anyway I know around here a lot of the private schools have longer breaks (my nieces go to a $$ private school and they get two full weeks of at Christmas, week off in January, week off in March, 5 days off at Easter, and they get out the last week in May/first week in June.) for public schools we don’t have those January or March breaks at all and we go a week or two later and only get a week off at xmas.
Anyway, part of the point of those breaks is bc the rich families want to take nice vacations. They want to go to the Caribbean in January when its less crowded or southern Europe when its not blazing hot etc.
I had a college roommate who went to a pricey school in SL (she was not rich) and she told me that the parents lobbied the school for a full two weeks off at spring break because one week was not long enough for the European cruises they wanted to take LOL.
Also, remember that the cakes aren’t that good at Lambrook. That likely causes immeasurable stress, hence the need for long breaks.
omg, what was the exact quote? The cakes taste of nothing?? LOLOL. Poor Lambrook students!
I looked it up: “I have to say that the match tea looked good but the cakes tasted of nothing.”
This has got to be one of my all time favorite British insults.
It’s a break here in the Netherlands as well. Holidays every 6 weeks are common, but they go to school until the middle of July so have more time spread out throughout the year instead of 2 or 3 months of summer.
I knew a vacation was coming. They’ve been working SoOo hard since the Queen passed, more than ever before. LOL
Whoever thought they would step up after their new titles were delivered, think again!
Everything and nothing has changed.
I would love to just take a week/two weeks off everytime my daughter has school holidays…
That’s a two-week break, not a one-week break, if they were released last week Friday & don’t go back til Halloween. Back to Jordan for vacay? Maybe Mustique this time?
Dear heavens. I just slid sideways over to the DM to check what our prime minister is up to (or see if she’s still under a desk), and there’s an article that William hates Harry for leaving and making his wife and children move centre stage before they were ready. WHAT? Basically, William hates his brother for making his darling Kate do something. After all these years.
This has been their line for 2 years and it has never made any sense. Especially given that Harry already spent the earlier part of the decade doing the Cambridges’ work for them.
If they stay in Britain, a “random” member of the public (aka their staff) will leak a “sighting” of Supermom Kate and her well behaved children (unless one is not being well behaved, then they will be described as cheeky plucky rascals). If they don’t, we will hear nothing in the BM.
Does anyone know Princess Anne’s thoughts on Kate? Has she ever commented or implied anything? Anne goes to so many engagements and works circles around everyone I wonder if she thinks they’re lazy af.
I don’t think Anne has a whole lot of use for her. I can’t imagine what they have in common.
Anne did give an interview a few years ago (at her 70th birthday, so last year?) where she mentioned something about not reinventing the wheel of royal work. My initial reaction was that it was a snub towards H&M, but I actually think it was aimed at W&K, who have made comments about wanting fewer charities but to focus on those more etc, which is different than what Anne does. I feel like she was basically saying – don’t reinvent anything, follow my footsteps, rack up 500 engagements a year, and no one will complain about you.
According to the lip readers, she had something to say like ‘rags to riches’ during the ‘for richer or poorer’ part of the W&K wedding. And when at least one of the pregnancies was announced, Anne responded to reporters about how it had nothing to do with her.
Are you people kidding? They DID step up. Didn’t you see all those photo ops? That was WORK, you guys. And the high point of “Don’t touch me, Kate?” They stepped up, and now they’re stepping down. You have a problem with that?
In the Uk we do get half term off school, usually a week but in some places 2 weeks. However most parents can’t take all their childrens school holidays off. We get about 4 weeks holiday (excluding public holidays) some jobs might give 5 weeks. If Will and Kate were ‘full time’ working royals as they want us to believe, then they would not be able to take half term off plus a couple of months over the summer. Most families with two working parents have a complex system of holiday clubs, grandparents, and one parent looking after the kids during the holidays while the other works. They might get 2 weeks off together as a family at the same time a year. If you are both taking all the time off your children are off school then you are working part time. The only exception to this is teachers.
I thought of a musical for W and K: Don’t Kiss Me, Kate.
Hahahahaaaaa!!
Oh wait, I’ll join in! Wicked, Les Miserables, Rent (as in they never pay any), Peggy Peggy Bang Bang, Show Boat(s), How to Suck(ceed) in Royalty Without Really Trying, Thoroughly Modern Katie, Paint Your Palace (purple), Princes Prefer Blonds (at least William does).
You can’t take a week or two off work when you don’t actually work to begin with.
I have a deepseated dislike of ‘our’ monarchy but school half term holidays are across the board – not just posh private schools.
And I’m taking next week off work too because I have time left from my 5 (five) weeks of paid annual leave.
notasugarhere, I bow down to your prowess. Nailed it!
They will not get Windsor Castle until Charles dies. I don’t understand why Americans have such trouble taking this on board.
I have not worked for some years but when I finished work, I was getting six weeks paid holiday plus nine paid public or bank holidays. This was not out of the ordinary.
Scotland has always made a big thing out of Hallowe’en certainly in my lifetime. We used to dress up, not always in scary outfits and go to neighbours. After we did a song or a poem, we would get mainly nuts, and maybe also an apple or other fruit, occasionally to our joy, sweets, crisps or money.
Insert “Excuse A, B, or C” into slot “taking a break” and voila~work shy royals.