On Tuesday, King Charles hosted the annual pre-Christmas lunch for the extended royal family. QEII used to host this sh-t at Buckingham Palace, but this year, Charles scheduled the lunch for Windsor Castle. Some people suspected that hosting it at the castle would mean that Prince Andrew would be able to slip in unnoticed, which is what happened. We also suspected that hosting it at Windsor Castle would make it easier for Prince William and Kate to attend, since they’re supposedly living at Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor estate. Apparently not though – the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales were no-shows. Yiiiiikes.
The event in Windsor was the biggest family gathering since the late queen’s funeral in September. According to Hello, the family did eat their traditional turkey-and-trimmings lunch. In past years, the turkey was bred at Sandringham, and the family has played with Christmas crackers and donned party hats, seated at round tables of 10. In November, former royal chef Darren McGrady told MyLondon that the family usually eats turkey with straightforward side dishes at Christmas events. “The turkey is served with mashed and roast potatoes, chestnut or sage and onion stuffing, cranberry sauce and bread sauce,” he said. “Vegetables include brussels sprouts, carrots and roast parsnips.”
The king and Queen Consort Camilla, who are still living in their London residence Clarence House, were the first to arrive. Charles’ brother Prince Edward arrived with his wife, Sophie Countess of Wessex, and their daughter Lady Louise Windsor, who recently finished her first semester at William and Kate’s alma mater St. Andrews in Scotland. Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence also attended, along with Zara and Mike Tindall, and their children, Mia, Lena and Lucas, who were photographed smiling in the backseat of their Range Rover as they left the castle. The Telegraph reported that Prince Andrew was also set to attend, but he was not photographed arriving.
A handful of the late queen’s cousins also made the trip to Windsor. The Duke of Kent, arrived with his granddaughter, Lady Marina Windsor, his daughter, Lady Helen Taylor, and her family. Prince and Princess Michael of Kent also attended.
Usually Prince William and Kate Middleton attend along with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, but this year they were absent, having reportedly traveled to Anmer Hall, their home on the Sandringham Estate, when the term ended at Lambrook, the school they attend in Berkshire.
Like… the whole point of this Christmas lunch is that the whole extended family shows up and enjoys a nice lunch together. William and Kate LIVE in Windsor and they didn’t show up. When Charles was Prince of Wales, he always made a point of showing up for these big family gatherings even though he had other sh-t to do. William is too lazy to attend a lunch! Jesus. Anyway, this just serves as yet another reminder that despite all of that talk about how William and Kate were “downsizing,” all that happened was that they added another house to their real estate portfolio – Kate lives in Adelaide, William lives God knows where, and they kept Anmer Hall as their Norfolk property. I imagine the Middletons have already decamped to Norfolk too.
PS… Something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently is that William and Kate must be pretty unpopular within the family, right?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- The Princess of Wales on a walkabout to meet members of the public at Windsor Castle in Berkshire following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Saturday September 10, 2022.,Image: 721657008, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- The Princess of Wales and Prince of Wales meeting members of the public at Windsor Castle in Berkshire following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Saturday September 10, 2022.,Image: 721657021, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 10: Prince William, Prince of Wales shakes hands with members of the public on the Long walk at Windsor Castle on September 10, 2022 in Windsor, England. Crowds have gathered and tributes left at the gates of Windsor Castle to Queen Elizabeth II, who died at Balmoral Castle on 8 September, 2022.,Image: 721657592, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 10: Catherine, Princess of Wales speaks with the public on the long Walk at Windsor Castle on September 10, 2022 in Windsor, England. Crowds have gathered and tributes left at the gates of Windsor Castle to Queen Elizabeth II, who died at Balmoral Castle on 8 September, 2022.,Image: 721659549, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- King Charles, Camilla, Queen Consort, Prince William, Catherine Princess of Wales, Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex on a walkabout to meet members of the public at Windsor Castle in Berkshire following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Featuring: Prince Harry, Meghan Duchess of Sussex Where: Windsor, England, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- King Charles, Camilla, Queen Consort, Prince William, Catherine Princess of Wales, Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex on a walkabout to meet members of the public at Windsor Castle in Berkshire following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Featuring: Prince William, Catherine Princess of Wales Where: Windsor, England, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales meet volunteers and operational staff at Windsor Guildhall, Berkshire, who were involved in facilitating the Committal Service for Queen Elizabeth II at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on Monday and supporting the crowds that gathered to commemorate her passing. Featuring: Catherine Princess of Wales Where: Berkshire, England, United Kingdom When: 22 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales meet volunteers and operational staff at Windsor Guildhall, Berkshire, who were involved in facilitating the Committal Service for Queen Elizabeth II at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on Monday and supporting the crowds that gathered to commemorate her passing. Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess of Wales Where: Berkshire, England, United Kingdom When: 22 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- Diplomatic Corps Reception At Buckingham Palace Featuring: Prince William and Catherine Princess of Wales Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 06 Dec 2022 Credit: Victoria Jones/PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
Tell me they’ve been secretly separated for months without telling me they’ve been secretly separated for months.
William would have t show up without Kate. How would he explain that to the media? So he didn’t go. Meanwhile Kate is cozying up to Charles and Camilla because if they stop supporting her…it’s over
According to this Mirror article from 10 July, 22, Clarkson and Camilla have a friendship that’s been brewing for ages. They’re not getting sexy are ? I’m about to go bed….. and have nightmares.
The article from Mirror July 22,
‘Camilla enjoyed ‘crafty fags’ with Jeremy Clarkson as friends tell of ‘risqué jokes’’
Putting on my tinfoil tiara: they didn’t go because there is a vicious briefing war between BP and KP. KP is behind linking Camilla to Clarkson and maybe BP is behind the WSJ editor’s tweet about Rose.
It’s on!
I put my dollar on you @Startup Spouse! I think there’s some shi- going down between the 2 palaces! LOL 2023 will be exciting
@Startup, I don’t think that’s tinfoil tiara at all, and I hope you’re correct. The Firm is the best place for a circular firing squad.
I originally wasn’t on board with the theory that KP were the ones to link Camilla and Clarkson, but then the other day someone on Twitter posted a screenshot of an absolutely bonkers article from the Sun that stated that “Gap model William” (yes they actually wrote that lmao) gets all of his fashion sense from….. Jeremy Clarkson. I swear to God. The article was published on December 14th. 😳🧐
I’m already buying Coke and pop corn. Soon the snakes will begin to fight each other.
OMG I just looked up the article, it’s hilarious! The exact title is “HOT WILLS How ‘Gap model’ Prince William is taking his style inspiration from petrolhead Jeremy Clarkson” – google it. 😂
so, William, the “Gap model” needs fashion advice from… some creepy old dude his dad’s age. sounds about right. also I bet they wish they could have written “poopyhead” lol.
My thoughts, exactly. Let the War of the Windsors… continue.
How dare they blindside the royal family with this slap in the face! The Christmas luncheon was all Charles had to himself. They should be stripped of their titles immediately……
Oh wait, sorry, this was William and Kate, not Harry and Meghan.
Yes. And the children need to spend time with their cousins. Why aren’t they being allowed to do so?
Yes, what about the CHILDREN!
Haha – you beat me to it. Yes where are those headlines about “They’ve slapped the dead Queen in the face!!”, “They’ve slapped the tradition of Christmas in the face!!”, “They’ve slapped the new King in the face!!!”
Crickets. And they could have added this to their engagement numbers too….
LOL. Exactly. Where are those headlines? “Heir to the throne snubs father’s first Christmas lunch as King!!” “Prince of Wales blindsides the King by not showing up!!”
Laughed the other day at a clip from Kate’s Christmas concert of Keenery. Charles was looking a bit grumpy and one of the rotas was like (paraphrasing) ‘William made Charles laugh’. My guess is that William reminded Charles that cameras were on them and they were supposed to show a united front.
To be fair, it’s bloody cold out there right now. This event would have meant they had to get up early and go out in the freezing cold, and play nicely with all the other invitees. If it was me, I would have snuggled further under the doona and gone back to sleep. Oh, wait. This is all part of the illusion; they siphon off squillions from the public purse, and it’s part of the deal that they show up so the tabloids can get their photos for the next edition. Obligations. They really are cazy lunts.
I go out in the cold to check the animals on the farm every morning so hard to feel sorry for them.
I love how a few folks last night were like, “uhhhhh, I think they walked from Adelaide?”
LOL, no. No parent wants to drag three dressed up kids across a parking lot in the dead of winter in heels. Absolutely not when it’s across a giant castle compound.
The cold as an excuse is just as lousy as “I couldn’t find a babysitter.”
I can actually get behind this one. It is supposed to be 16 degrees Fahrenheit this weekend (which is stupid cold and not normal for Eastern NC) and I told my husband that his family needs to reschedule their family Christmas because I have ZERO intentions of leaving the house at those temperatures. Otherwise he can go alone and I will unapologetically kick it on the couch in front of my fire.
What would stop them from getting into a car and driving from Adelaide to wherever? I mean, this is ridiculous. People all over the world live in cold climates and we still manage to see our parents especially at Christmas.
The weather has been a lot milder after last week’s cold snap. I can’t imagine this would be their excuse.
@Kaiser Not to threadjack, but I would be interested to hear more about that theory re: W&K’s unpopularity within the family! Perhaps in a separate post someday?
I actually believe this too. That people are cordial to william simply because he’s the heir. I am convinced tho that kate has relatively little people in that family that actually like her. I am pretty sure the york sisters don’t. And i even suspect the late queen wasn’t very fond of her either.
Totally. Kate’s entire persona is shaped around her ability to fight for and land a prince — that doesn’t lend itself to being fun of friendly with other women. They are all competition. You certainly don’t hear of Kate’s throng of female friends throwing her baby showers and public support. Just a creepy uncle.
The York sisters seem pretty fun — I could never imagine CATHERINE dressing up for a costume party or kicking loose.
I don’t even think Kate has many people in her *own* family who are fond of her. I know she and Pippa used to be thick as thieves, but ever since they started harvesting Pippa’s personality/achievements to pass off as Kate’s, they seem to have cooled off. The brother isn’t around much and the father always looks a bit out of things. Carole is all in, but she seems more concerned with maintaining the status quo than protecting her daughter’s mental health. I’d feel sorry for her, but I think these are consequences of her own behaviour and selfish need to always be number one.
It has been reumored for many years that the York sisters hate Kate(and her sister) and i wouldn’t be surprised if most of the rest of them save Sophie, who desperately wants to be a Duchess, don’t really like her. Willliam seems to get on well with his cousins though ive wondered how close he really is to Beatrice and Eugenie given their distaste for Kate.
You missed pictures of Unable falling down drunk in nightclubs and flashing her vag in a taxi.
There are photos of her in fancy dress at costume parties…. I can’t remember what as.
She got William back after he dumped her by going to his military party dressed as a naughty nurse.
I’ve always thought it was a no brainer that this duo would be deeply unliked by the family. Some like Sophie cozy up to them because of advantages in maintaining good relationships with the heir and his wife, but not because they’re truly liked.
They are living SEPERATE lives , it’s so bloomin obvious, people are even calling adelaide cottage “Kates seperation home, but they have their eyes on the throne so won’t go public. They can’t go to the family lunch as they are to busy setting up the next briefing war for after Christmas
It’s getting better than a soap opera,
I venture to comment on my own theory, taken from a note I read in May from Tom Quinn that undermines the possibility that, when Charles becomes king, he would do everything possible to get Harry and Meghan back to the royal house
Following this line of thought, I think that William is trying to frustrate his father’s plans and that his brother remains in exile, the notorious estrangement between father and son began since Charles took office to the throne
Kaiser mentioned it here so there’s probably no harm in discussing this theory.
If you think about it, in every negative narrative surrounding the Sussexes, all roads lead to William, Kate, and Kensington Palace. All the rumors–that ‘bloody’ woman, she treats her staff horribly, she made me cry, Harry is jealous of William, bullying–can be tied back to either William, Kate, or leaks from Kensington Palace. The Royal Family surely know this, so I would imagine they get intense ribbing when in private with the extended family.
Interestingly, neither Eugenie or Beatrice are mentioned as attending either.
Didn’t Mike Tindall say that Christmas with the royals is just everyone sitting around dressed to the nines while bitching about Harry & Meghan? I’m surprised Baldy and Khate aren’t going just for potential new storylines to leak to the RR.
Nah, Camilla is the source of a lot of the bile towards H&M, and Clarkson’s long history of stewing over all M has done wrong likely came from his close friend, Camilla.
Charles amd Camilla blew kisses at Kate and William at one of the queen’s events or at her funeral.
As Charles said things to Harry that were quite simply untrue, I imagine Charles doesn’t imagine bringing H back – but to minimize any damage to his reputation, he wants to sometimes appear as the bigger man while sometimes crying victim… I can’t see my grandchildren.. or distracting with leaks about his grandchildren, I saw my grandchildren…
Me too! I think that everyone was probably eststic to see Peg and Jeg skipped Lunch. they would never say it of course lol
I’m super late to the conversation here, lol, but re: Kate and Pippa…I agree with the others here who said they used to be so close but don’t seem to be anymore, and I also wanted to say that I wouldn’t even be surprised if the York girls (who Pippa was also awful to, allegedly, back in the day) have softened their opinions of her. Because Pippa GREW UP. Kate never did.
Eugenie, Beatrice, and Pippa are all at similar stages in their lives at this point, and while I don’t think they’ll ever be close, the York girls might have let bygones be bygones when it comes to Pippa.
But Kate is different. Kate is so emotionally and socially stunted; she never left that middle-school mean-girl stage, so she has nothing in common with any of them anymore. They’re actually doing things with their lives while she’s using her time planning how to make Meghan look stupid (or whatever she thought that color-matching stunt would accomplish).
There were definitely girls who were bitchy to me when we were in middle or HS, but we’ve met again as adults and they’re all perfectly lovely.
But Kate’s life is *still* all about the petty nonsense (the burgundy thing was so embarrassing, omg), and if I had to guess, the people in that family who she’s closest to are probably Sophie and Zara. Who both seem horribly bitchy, too, so, well, at least they have each other.
(Their group texts must be SO juvenile and obnoxious. Especially about M. What losers.)
Will they skip Christmas at Sandringham too? Is Will just like, “I got my own money, I’ll do what I want”?
No, I think they’ll go to Sandringham because they love being seen at the Christmas walk. Remember even the year they skipped with George and Charlotte they still did a pap walk at Kate’s family’s church in Berkshire. I wonder if they missed this one bc they wouldn’t be seen driving up?
You’re probably right. They likely just decamped to Norfolk for Christmas early to avoid the hassle of faking living together for the lunch.
But I do wonder also: how’s the separate living going if Charles is full ensconced in Windsor?
@Rapunzel, I don’t think their living arrangements are a secret among the family. Snarles is fully aware if they’re living separately (and I think they are), and he’s fine with it so long as they play happy families in public and keep up the pretense.
He probably understands the need for space anyway, even he and Camilla spend loads of time in separate residences, and they actually care for each other.
Did anyone check Mustique? I don’t believe they are in Norfolk.
@Rapunzel I think William spends a lot of time at Kensington Palace so probably just lives part-time in Windsor. But he probably does have a set of rooms in WC. I think they wanted the castle to live in bc that would have been even easier, if they each had their own apartment and the kids were also in their own rooms. But being on Windsor estate is the next best thing I think, bc their movements among the different residences are harder to track.
Likewise, I would not be surprised if William either stays at Sandringham itself or maybe some place like Wood Farm when they’re “in Norfolk.” Or if he goes to Anmer Hall without Kate a great deal.
Becks, Or maybe because PW and KC are at odds? KC and QCC weren’t in burgundy on December 8. KC looked less horrible than PW in the H&M series. KC has had his name linked to Paedrew’s security and the fact that he will not remove Paedrew’s title in the news lately, and the BRF must realize PA is not popular. Reportedly, PA was at this dinner—were his ex and daughters (who also eschewed burgundy on December 8) there as well? I think Kaiser is probably correct in that W&K are not well loked within the family, and I suspect that BP and KP are battling behind the scenes.
@ML you and a few others have raised similar points and I think that’s probably pretty accurate. W&K didn’t go, not out of laziness or pettiness, but because there is a war brewing between BP and KP. Things might get really bumpy in the new year.
Don’t forget somebody in camp Middleton let out loudmouth Uncle Gary to talk about spout off about how Charles should make way for William and Kate. That’s gotta be awkward.
I do think there’s a war brewing between households. Omid mentioned this in his article about how someone in Charles camp thought Williams people had crossed the line.
Add the whole Netflix lie to it and Harry calling out Williams camp and it’s a hot mess
Also Williams people aren’t happily briefing like they were after the 1st half of the doc was released. They seem real quiet…Somethings happening behind the scenes.
@Polo maybe that’s the sticking point. William wants to go on a briefing spree against Harry and Charles is basically ignoring the docuseries and William is throwing a hissy fit as a result.
William stays at Wood Farm on Sandringham when they go to Anmer. He started that during Covid.
I can easily believe they skipped the lunch because of a briefing war, although i also wonder if William was hiding the separate living arrangements from the extended family. He’s not living at Adelaide Cottage that’s for sure.
By extended I mean the cousins of the Queen who would be attending this. I’m sure Charles knows all and likely Beatrice, Zara and their spouses.
@Becks1 – I don’t think either Charles or William wants Kate getting as much as a toehold in Windsor Castle, for a variety of reasons. That’s why she’s not there. Adelaide still has the advantages of security and privacy as part of the Windsor estate, and is a short walk from the castle when Will is around (I’m with the yes they are separated group and believe Will likely has rooms in the castle).
Charles is still lives in London at Clarence House.
Yeah, I don’t think anyone likes William and Kate, as they lord their future roles that they do not yet have, over everyone. They’re petty, spiteful, raging, and stuck up. They also make demands of others that those people have the autonomy (and temerity) to decline. Like, I’m sure William the Worst has been demanding Charles condemn Meghan for having a racist, misogynoirist decaying, decrepit white man rail at her in a newspaper, but as Charles refused (since it, Clarkson, would implicate Camzilla), William is withholding his kids and his saintly presence from Charles again. Oh, how too many people think H&;M are the cause of the dysfunction, when it’s really and always has been William and Catherine, your future monarchs.
The family must be a bit wary of William because he’s known to have a temper and seeing how he was able to go after Harry, his own and only brother, it’s clear he would go after other relatives just as easily.
They are nice to him because he’s future king. We don’t hear of them associating with him outside of public family engagements.
I thinl I found one who definitely associates with Prince Peggy. Mike Tindall! Zara’s husband. William’s best buddy and supporter. Don’t forget this troll…
@NIC919
Well said. It is called self preservation.
Charles indicated via the fail that he expects them to increase their engagements and hid intention to live at Windsor two days per week.
I don’t think William and Tindall are friends, l always feel that William dislikes his over familiarity. They are very different characters but William has to smile in public and needs all the friends he can get.
My “royal sources” tell me that W&K have been unpopular within the family for years. They both have no issue with lording their titles/positions over others and since becoming the P&P of Wales, my “royal sources” tell me that they are truly insufferable.
Oh wow.. I am not surprised, I kind of expected it, but it is disappointing that they are being so petty and childish about it. Especially when they’re not particularly good at it, or engaged with work involved.
What do your sources say about Charles and Camilla? Was Charles liked as PoW? Is he worse as king?
I believe it. The speed with which the Wailses had their staff update their social media accounts with their new titles after QEII’s death would make Mario Andretti jealous. And they did it twice. Even Chuck didn’t rush to have his accounts updated. Those two are obsessed with status.
The British may not ever have to abolish the monarchy. When William becomes king, they can just cancel it because William failed to show up.
Hah!
Oh, so good. Thanks for that laugh this morning.
Hilarious! The whole coronation would be set up, all the pomp and feathers, rafts of money spent, and the camera trained on the lonely crown, just waiting, waiting as the BBC royal expert tries to explain in hushed tones…
AHAHAHA!!!
“… waiting as the BBC royal expert tries to explain in hushed tones…”
“They couldn’t get a babysitter.”
Let’s never forget, he and Kate wouldn’t even show at the BAFTA event held IN KP when they lived in 1A, and the even was held DOWNSTAIRS!
from your lips to God’s ears….make it so! I snorted so hard when I read your comments and couldn’t just scroll past it without giving you
kudos 🙂
He’ll be trolling and stalking his brother in Cali on a double decker bus with Sharon Osbourne and Megyn Kelly.
Hahahahaha! Comment of the Day!!!
LMAO! Good call!
Perfect comment! Ha!
Maybe Harry and Meghan’s docuseries made William so incandescent with rage that he stormed off to Norfolk earlier than planned. I still believe that the DM was punishing William and Kate for not showing up at the luncheon by putting Charlotte on the front page for that burgundy coat story. And Kaiser brings up a very good point that the rest of the family probably don’t like William and Kate.
What. Like………what.
The event was IN WINDSOR and William and Kate did not go?!?!
I wonder if they are pissed that they haven’t been offered Windsor to live in yet? Someone (@Caroline I think) had a really good point at the end of the post about the christmas lunch about how Charles is very clearly claiming Windsor Castle as the home of the monarch. Wonder if that ticked off W&K?
Wonder if they were too embarrassed to show their faces after the docuseries so clearly outed Jason Knauf (and William as a result?)
I never thought they were that well liked in the family but to just not go…….just yikes.
In my ARROGANT opinion, the only reason Wiglet & Baldy were able to “miss this event” is because KCIII really did not want them present in the first place.
It is my understanding that this annual “pre-Christmas Lunch” is a command performance for the benefit of Royal Rota tabloids to get pictures with attendance mandatory for all invitees. The only scenario that makes sense to me is that KCIII did NOT want the Wiglet & Baldy in attendance.
I don’t think anyone can get William to do anything he doesn’t want to do, certainly not Charles. Even the queen couldn’t and he had more respect for her.
Kate also refused to work more when the queen told her to, so I don’t think she’d obey KC.
My question is: How does it benefit these.. minor royals, do they get paid to show up? I wouldn’t want it, me, I would prefer my privacy…
Perhaps it is a personality thing, I would never have a career that benefits from being “royal adjacent”
@Becks: Before the Queen died, the talk was that Charles hated Windsor Castle and that it was being earmarked for William and Kate after the Queen died. I agree with you that Charles is staking his claim to Windsor Castle by having the luncheon there and William was probably angry about that.
If KC hates it, he would likely turn it into some sort of museum/moneymaker before letting PW have it before his turn.
There have been stories about Chuck wanting to rule from Windsor Castle for years. IIRC it is Buckingham Palace that he allegedly does not like. However, before the past year or so you never heard a peep about the Wailses wanting anything to do with Windsor. Then all of a sudden all these stories about them wanting to find a place on the Windsor Estate or move into the castle, looking for a school for the kids, etc. I had the impression Willileaks wanted a place there specifically because he knew that’s where his father wanted to be, and this was a way to undermine him.
@Sid that was what I had always heard as well – that it was BP that Charles hated – but the talk that AmyBee is referencing came up in conjunction with the talk about the then-Cambridges moving to Windsor Castle. It was like, well if nothing else suits they’ll just take the castle bc Charles is never going to live there anyway. I remember some of us were surprised at that talk but now it seems clearly like it was part of a push to get the Cambs into WC itself.
Your theory about wanting to undermine Charles is interesting and could be true.
My theory is that KAte wanted a private estate close to her parents and was told no, so Windsor it was.
Charles loves Windsor Castle, hates BP. He wants BP turned in to a museum but not used as the official home of the sovereign. I cannot see him letting W&K move in to the SOVEREIGN’S apartments at Windsor, or to anywhere inside Windsor Castle itself. He does not want Carol(E) having unfettered access to Windsor Castle. Bad enough she’s been making herself at home on the private estate of Sandringham every Christmas since 2014 and driving out the staff. IMO Camilla’s sister is redecorating the sovereign apartments for Charles and Camilla right now.
Wow. Where are the William snubbed Charles headlines??? My guess is that William wanted a strong rebuttal to the docu-series, as he was the one most negatively portrayed. C-Rex said no, we are not responding, and William blew up and said then you can shove your stupid Christmas lunch up your arse–I’m not coming!
I could definitely see this scenrio happening.
There was an article in the Daily Fail about who was not at the luncheon but it has now mysteriously disappeared.
Sounds likely. God, he’s a nightmare. SMH
The first time it’s held next door to one of their many homes and they don’t go. There is something more to this especially because this was an event they always attended in the past, and this is a slap in the face to Charles to miss the first one, especially since they aren’t busy with anything.
There is likely something percolating behind the scenes that we will eventually hear about. It’s unlikely they skipped because of the docu series since they are all ok with talking about Harry at every other event, at least according to Mike.
“PS… Something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently is that William and Kate must be pretty unpopular within the family, right?”
They most definitely are very unpopular within the family, but 1. Optics is always important to that rat nest of a family! And 2. Ppl are sucking up to them because most of the family members will be reliant on 🥚 for money if/when he becomes the next monarch! So ass kissing will still be done, even if they (not so secretly) hates skull & bones!
Beside Edward and Sophie, there’s not many people that have to suck up to them tbh. Anne is covered and I suppose the Queen cousins are also covered.
I mean, the monarch holds the strings. They can do what they want, as we saw with the Duke of Edinburgh title etc.
“Covered” is a difficult word because this family notoriously can’t stick to a budget at any time and are constantly grasping and asking for more.
I think Zara would like to stay on William’s good side and I think Beatrice too, maybe. If Edwards kids are smart they will get actual jobs after college and stay away from the royal family as a source of income.
The article doesn’t mention Beatrice or Eugenie but I’m assuming they’re there also?
Hmmm. I wonder about B&E. Were they photographed either arriving at or leaving this lunch? Frankly, I was shocked they showed at Kate’s Keen Karol event. My money is on the Yorks bailing on the lunch.
The more I read about Peg, the more I hate him. If he can be rude & boorish to his father, brother, and wife, imagine how awful he is to his wider family.
I still think that Will, Charles and Camilla have been screaming at each other since Jeremy Clarkson fiasco.
This is the winner imo. It’s obvious that Billy is mad as h*ll and stalked off giving dad silent treatment after probably another screaming fit. Chuck meanwhile is enraged that it’s not going as planned.
It’s slowly, without H and M, becoming KP throwing Cams and Charlie under the bus and the opposite.
Who knows. Maybe Billy wanted an official statement issued by all that he never screamed at his brother and Chuck, seeing good cover for Camilla being Camilla, refused. Horrible people.
This. I thinks Camilla’s picture was not supposed to be seen and I think it was planted on purpose with that JC article being printed in the Sun and Eden cutting off the worst part on purpose when he posted in on twitter. That was intentional. Yes, you could argue that it was them being cocky but Harry has an issue with William and his team leaking. Charles and Camilla came out relatively clean in the documentary. Now people are questioning why Camilla is entertaining the like of Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson. Notice, William isn’t the focus anymore… and I think Charles and Camilla are pissed.
This is a solid theory, Brit.
Like Becks1 says below, William wouldn’t be mad about Clarkson’s column — he probably feels the same horrible way about wanting to see Meghan humiliated. But William might have seen it as an opportunity to distract from the story about him screaming at Harry and unleashing Knauf on Meghan. So he threw Camilla under the bus by leaking the Clarkson/Camilla connection.
They’re all despicable.
If William cared about the clarkson stuff he would have issued his own statement. He doesn’t care about Meghan. Let’s not give him credit here that he doesn’t deserve. He hasn’t even briefed behind the scenes that he’s upset with the clarkson article.
He skipped the lunch out of pettiness and likely something more that we will learn later. It’s not a noble cause like being offended about a racist, sexist column.
I don’t think he’s offended about a racist column, I think the furor might be that this column, combined with the lunch, makes the invisible contract so freaking visible its not even funny. The lack of a statement from the palace is really notable and obvious. And then we have the Richard Eden column clearly drawing a line from the article to the lunch with Camilla. I don’t think that lunch was supposed to be publicized the way it was.
It sounds like William and Charles may be at war here, IDK.
Will doesn’t care about Meghan or violence against women, but he does care about the reputation of the Firm and “insiders” have been saying for some time that Charles should step away so Will can be king. I think Will believes he’s the rightful king.
For my comment I mentioned the fight was probably due to Billy wanting an official rebuttal of H and M Netflix “my brother screamed at me” comment and Chuck refusing. Not the Clarkson thing. But that might have caused Chuck to suspect Billy leaked it, since Billy was mad at being thrown under bus.
I can’t imagine anyone thinking Bill cares about misogyny. Agree with you there 100%.
If he hasn’t already, I think Bulliam is going to turn on Cowmilla and start planting stuff about her. That’s two pretty serious scandals about her in a month, I am sure there’s more stuff we don’t know. I reckon she’ll be made the next media hate figure once they get bored of Meghan.
Camzilla’s scandals have both been own goals tho. it’s the spin in the press afterwards where the real action happens. the scandals themselves were self created footbullets.
Missed lunch but got a new title (taken from hubby as per huge headline in People)…. I smell a dog bone tossed to Kate to play nice.
I don’t think the title is a bone for Kate. the honorary military title means more work for her bc now she HAS to show up for St. Patrick’s Day, she can’t pull the whole “oh I don’t want them to expect it.” Anything that requires her to work more is not appreciated.
Yup. She made it very clear that the Royal Irish Regiment was not to expect her on a yearly basis. (arrogant cow) I’m going to enjoy this title for her, it’s like I just got the biggest cinnamon bun on the tray.
But does she have to? There really isn’t a mechanism in place to make her work or what passes for work. Sure it will look bad, but the british monarchy is so intertwined with british politics and rules of law, it’ll take more than William’s wife not handing out shamrocks to rock that boat.
We talk about Kate’s obvious botox/fillers all the time, but I’m thinking Will’s got stuff going on there too. Why else would he seem physically incapable of smiling?
Maybe because he’s just a bell end?
“Bell end” always makes me laugh. I’m 5 years old apparently.
They are so unlikable. What a horrible duo. The worst part about them is that they don’t even try and think they have a right to shit all over everyone. Gross.
RI don’t think they’re unpopular within the family. I don’t think they’re the type family that have a genuine bond like in general but more like in clique. Charles and Anne, William/Mike/Zara and on and on. So William and Kate are just their own clique and within that William does his own thing and Kate does the same.
So when they gather all together things get weird because everyone doesn’t have the same degree of familiarity with each other.
I’ll buy that they’re unpopular within the family. William is extremely unpleasant to the others and Kate is too, and from the different special privileges they’ve gotten over the years (through being very obnoxious, I’m sure) they are probably basically bullies. And the poor press from Sussexit doesn’t help, I imagine the rest of the family, while disliking Meghan, wonders why William and Kate went to all this trouble to start this crap. But William is the next heir and has the privileges, so none of this means they don’t suck up to him when they need to.
Not to give an easy out but I bet the children are sick. We have friends at Lambrook and the amount of Hand, foot and mouth disease, Strep A and Covid going around not just there but much of London as well isn’t a story to which they’d want to bring attention. It shows how much damage the lockdowns caused to children’s health and well being. Also drawing attention to the shortage of children’s antibiotics, nurse and paramedic strikes etc.
If that was the case there’d be a press release for sympathy. No way they wouldn’t milk that, if they’re so willing to let tabloids use their children as props in their anti-Meghan stories.
Very interesting @Bromptonviewer. William didn’t want anyone to know when he first had covid, so maybe he has it again. OR, he might find the diagnosis of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease too peasanty for his royal spawn and doesn’t want the connection made.
If that were the case, that’s exactly why they should mention it, empathizing with what other Britons are struggling with this winter season. I think they couldn’t be bothered to show up & the tabloids are giving them a free pass for some reason.
I find myself losing patience with people blaming “the lockdowns” instead of noticing that lots of people have abandoned all decency and send obviously sick children to school, don’t mask even if they know they have a cold, etc.
And I agree with C. There’s no way they wouldn’t blare that sympathy inducing story if that were the case.
It isn’t lockdowns that damaged kids’ health, it’s the unrestrained spread of covid.
I doubt kids being sick would be the reason. Why? They’ve repeatedly used ‘X kid is sick’ as an excuse not to work. They’ve publicly announced when the kids are sick, not hidden it.
That top picture is CLASSIC !!!
So basically the family know these two are separated AF and still they bully H&M ???
Technically, William’s bestie Mike was still there. Zara too. Wonder if Kate would have wanted to attend but couldn’t just go solo if William refused because he’s missing in action….
Yeah. I think he didn’t want to go and didn’t want to let Kate sit in for him either for reasons we can assume.
Are they really in Norfolk or are they on vacation? Did anyone check the Caribbean? They did promise to bring the kiddies to the Bahamas? Check the ski resorts in Europe? Come on Tabloids show us we’re they really are, we’re waiting for the pap shots.
Good point. They’ll probably show up for the Sandringham walk with tans, lol.
Bingo! Of course they are on vacation. Kate needs a rest after her burgundy coat concert. They get along fine with the cousins and married ins because people gravitate to money and power and no one wants to rock the royal boat.
I thought the same thing.. and probably not even together…
What would be funny if only one of them went to a warm sunny spot and shows up on Christmas Day with a deep tan.
My first thought, too! Someone report in from Mustique…
I think William is in Norfolk (old habits die hard…do you really think an affair ends just because the public has caught wind of it?) and Kate is vacationing somewhere warm. Norfolk has become a hostile environment for her so do we really believe that a couple separated would hole themselves up there, even with the kids as buffer?
I fear she’s hiding physical scars with Mummy
William has absolutely no history of being physically abusive as we’ve discussed on here repeatedly. He’s an emotional bully but too cowardly to be a physical one – even to Kate. This broken record repeatedly coming from new posters (aka Kate stans) only leads back to Mummy Carol(E) trying to 1) pin something false on William and 2) gain false sympathy for Kate the abusive racist b!tch on a pro-Meghan site. So obvious.
Over the years, William has skipped out on all sorts of things–even before he met Kate. Didn’t he skip his own 18th birthday party?
I think William and Kate have thrown their weight around so much that I don’t believe they’re popular within the family or some sections of the press that have to kiss ass for access and I certainly don’t think Charles is too thrilled with William at the moment considering he is the cause of all this mess. And that picture with Camilla with Morgan and Clarkson being tweeted with the sun article also being cut off out by a KP stooge was not an accident. Camilla was scapegoated and I think Charles knows who did it and is pissed.
William has basically been hiding out since ES tanked. Something is going on with him.
No matter how much sycophantic you have in the press, it’s not going to make you popular just because. I think he’s tired of losing to Harry and Meghan and is probably tired of pretending that everything is good with him and Kate. William is not happy and you can see it. I don’t feel bad for him though.
Has he been seen at all since then? I do believe he’s not right in the head and is throwing a tantrum about something
Y’all, I wanted to share this. Last night I started watching a French-Canadian TV series on PBS Passport (The Wall) & was forced to watch a 30sec promo from Prince Shoutie-pants about his ES concert. He made sure to say ‘I’ several times. Barf.
I accidentally watched ES on my local pbs station a few weeks ago and it was just so bad, you guys. It was everything we assumed and more: stilted, pointless, awkward. You name it. I’m just as big a Kennedy watcher as I am a royal watcher, but it was clear to me that William had…like, maybe never heard of JFK in his life? Which is odd because he’s trying to draw this connection between ES and the moon missions, but just like everything else William does there wasn’t any interest in it. No passion. It was one of the strangest things I’ve seen in a long time–a big budget “extravaganza of celebrities” that came off as lazy and unfocused.
@BeanieBean – That’s how I felt a couple of weeks ago when it popped up on my weekly PBS email of coming attractions. Ugh. If it makes you feel any better, Carole’s PP stuff has been on sale for weeks at my local SR, and I see no sign that it’s moving much, if at all. It’s at one end of the card and gift wrap aisle and easily visible for anyone walking down the big main aisle at the back of the store, so it’s just not attracting interest. I’m there frequently as I still send paper cards and most people in my family have birthdays, etc. at the end of the year. I wonder how long SR is obligated to keep PP out because it’s a small store and they really could use that space for something else.
@SueBarbri33 – the whole schlep to Boston and overall plan for the event seemed so obviously problematic from the beginning. I don’t understand why otherwise seemingly respectable people agreed to participate. Curious to see what’s planned for next year and who’s involved.
Funny that there’s still no announcement as to where the next ES thing will take place…how odd!
If a screaming match took place because of Camillas lunch maybe they all decided to take a break cause playing nice in a private setting was too much to ask.
Queen E2 was the glue that not just held the monarchy together but her family together as well. Chuck was never a devoted loving father and these are the fruits of his non-labor. The ones that did show up all have financial and real estate stake in keeping Chuck happy.
This. Everybody sees Charles for who he is. He has never been steady and stoic like TQ and will never enjoy the clout or reverence that came with her reign. I’m so glad H&M got out when they did. There is literally no one left to please in that institution.
QEII didn’t hold the monarchy together; she was simply alive so long people started forgetting about all the awful things she did during her reign. Philip was in charge of the family. When he started to fail physically and mentally, the wheels started coming off. No one else had the authority/presence to force W&K to get off their asses and work. All Philip could do was beg them in his 90th birthday interview and they ignored him. Controlling Andrew went completely out the window when Philip faded mentally and physically too.
Something is fishy here and I don’t think it’s that W&K aren’t liked in the family. I mean, they could be hated by everyone, but that’s no excuse for ignoring Charles’ first Christmas event.
I think we’re seeing a split between BP and KP. Will is next in line, he has his own money now and there’re been some serious Camilla-shaped missteps at BP, one which messed up his Boston Super Bowl tour. A rage monster like Will must be harboring years of resentment against Camilla. And without H&M to kick around, the KP brief machine needs a new target.
I think William is letting being the next in line go to his head, especially since he was already bad enough one step down, and he will be counter briefing against Charles more than we have seen.
It was easy to go after Harry, but that’s going to be tiresome after the book comes out and we will start to see more attacks on Camilla and Charles.
This too. William seems miserable. He has secrets that he has to hide. He’s stuck in a invisible contract that he can’t get out of. He and Kate are miserable and you can tell. Harry his scapegoat is gone and the Sussexes get more shine and covers then him. Earth shot is Earthflop and he knows it and I think he’s willing to throw anyone and everyone under the bus at this point. You bring up a good point about the lady Hussey. I kept hearing reports about her being his godmother and barely anything about her being Camilla’s lady in waiting. Camilla was making sure that didn’t stick to her but to William. I absolutely think this Jeremy Clarkson/Camilla fiasco was done on purpose. It may have started as a dig to Meghan but it grew into something more and now Camilla and her associations are in question..
She wasn’t Camilla’s lady in waiting. She served QEII, and was kept on after her death with two others as Ladies of the Household. Believe their general purpose is to be around at palace events, presumably to socialize and be extra bodies to add that royal glow.
IIRC her daughter is actually one of Camilla’s “ladies”.
I also think William’s ego has taken a bit of a beating because he has had a shocker of a year, for someone who is supposed to be king one day. The Caribbean tour and the Earthshot thing were both humiliating misfires. And then there is Harry and Meghan, stealing his thunder at every turn without even trying.
For someone with William’s notorious anger, you can imagine he’ll be lashing out on all sides right now, and won’t be very pleasant to be around.
What’s happening to the NEW FAB FOUR??? Was the last time we saw the wails the night they filmed the Christmas show? I suspect either a warm weather vacation or one of them is in rehab.
They probably could have counted this family lunch as an event to ramp up their end of the year numbers as well.
This whole institution is a joke.
Going to a family dinner is a work event, going to church is a work event going to your beloved grandmother’s funeral is a work event. They got paid to go to their grandmother’s funeral, let that sink in.
Another possibility is that William worked with the Rota to embarrass Camilla this weekend past and so they didn’t want to face Chuck’s wrath…
That’s a good point. BP was supposedly upset about the lunch being described as Camilla’s thing when she was a guest of someone else. Now, we all know Eden is one of William’s lackeys, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Charles connected the dots and realized William was once again briefing against him & Camilla.
I wonder if the kids are sick? More than half the kids in my kiddos class are sick with either the flu or rsv. But more likely they just didn’t wanna go. I didn’t think there’s any big mystery. Willy knows he doesn’t have to place nice and whatnot because his grandmother has passed. I think he bamboozles and walks all over his father. Kate certainly wouldn’t go alone, because tbh I don’t think they really care for her. They tolerate her but that’s it. I just don’t think they wanted to go.
The Crown covers it with Diana being tutored by her grandmother after that scene at the family dinner where she fumbles who curtseys to whom, how and in what order. Lady Fermoy is lecturing about rank and precedence: “in your current position, you curtsey to everyone, but after you become Princess of Wales, things get a little more complicated because certain members of the family will have to curtsey to you. That in itself changes depending on whether you’re with the Prince of Wales…”
Misogyny is built into the order of precedence and the whole class system. Women are extensions of their father’s or husband’s rank. If she’s not with William then she has to curtsey to many of the other family members to demonstrate that they outrank her by birth and she’s just a commoner married-in. There was a kerfuffle around the time that they married where Anne got the queen to lay down the law because Kate wouldn’t curtsey to Bea and Eugenie when she wasn’t accompanied by William.
What a Kate-stan way of looking at it, as opposed to looking at the reality of it. No surprise. It isn’t misogyny that has Kate having to curtsy to Beatrice and Eugenie (among others), it is the line of succession which is the basis of the Order of Precedence.
It is really simple to remember. As a married-in, you have no rank on your own *because you are not in the line of succession*. If you are with your born-royal spouse, you borrow their rank *when* you are with them. If you are alone, you have no rank and curtsy to those who do. Anne and Alexandra required the same thing when Diana and Fergie married in, as they did with all the others who married in after that.
They truly are a completely dysfunctional family.
And the WAR is on!!!
There seems to be a lot fewer attendees, Peter Phillip, the late Queen’s niece and nephew and their families. Some of the Queen’s cousins were also missing, Lord Frederick and co. No pictures of the York sisters. Not sure if their pictures didn’t make the papers, if they were not invited or didn’t want to come.
Edward appears to have lost some weight, hope he’s okay.
Edward has lost a whole duchy. No wonder he looks thin.
Strange that Ann and Edward seem to be so much healthier as they age than Charles and the corrupt deviant are.
Question: were the York girls there? It mentions Andrew but not them or Fergie even though when they talk about the Wessexes it mentions their kids.
The only excuse I can think of for them to skip the Christmas lunch is if any of them have covid/are sick. Covid/flu/RSV and other viruses are raging all over the place in the NYC metro area. My sister tested positive for covid last week (she is coming to Christmas as it will be 10 days since her first positive test and she’s feeling better) but her boyfriend tested positive this week so he won’t be coming (sister hasn’t seen him in 11 days so we’re good there). My other cousin also tested positive this week and had to cancel. But if any of the Cambridges had covid, wouldn’t they just announce it?
I can also buy they are unpopular with the family and trying to hide their dysfunctional marriage.
That’s what I was thinking also…that one of the kids came down with the flu or rsv. So many kids now are out of school with one illness or another. But I think they just didn’t want to go.
AmelieOriginal & Greeneyedgirl, I don’t think the kids are sick. If they were, they would announce it because that would garner Fails and Wails sympathy and would give them an easy out as the reason they didn’t attend this luncheon. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are not liked. I can’t imagine they are the most pleasant of people when they throw their positions around. Since that’s all that Wails has, I’m sure she wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to do this. Fails and Chuck are definitely starting a briefing war. I thought Uncle Hooker and Blow should have kept quiet, but he’s putting it out there again to skip Chuck and go to Fails. How long did we think Chuck was going to allow them to continue that?
This is going to be very, very interesting.
The only excuse is we had covid but that whole family never did any Covid prevention so f’ck them
I noticed the VF article said the K & QC showed up first, but neglected to mention they arrived separately. Seems like two things are being glossed over, C&C and W&K living separately, AND W&K not bothering to show at the King’s first Christmas lunch. (That felt really dumb to write that, ‘the king’s first Christmas lunch’ but I know the RRs are writing it that way.)
If they were “commoners” like they view the rest of us as being, they’d be on Dr. Phil.
What a bunch of messed up, back biting, emotionally stunted Tools they all are.
I do agree, William is going to go full out and do what he wants.
Charles, Camilla, William, Andrew all probably have so much dirt on each other..they are all playing GoT. It must be exhausting all the time.
Now, IRL, the sickness in kids is ramping up. So if the Big 3 were unwell, they would play that for PR, I think.
Btw, here in Minnesota the flu, Strep A are in full go mode + plus bitterly cold, winter hazard weather.
Edited to add: Why is Charles giving Kate anymore titles?
Edward! Edward and Sophie need something to do ffs. Give it to them instead.
I am not in the camp that believes they’re separated. I just think they’re selfish and lazy. Now that the queen is gone, they don’t have to worry about disappointing her. It feels like we’re watching the monarchy crumble before our eyes.
I’ve also been in the “they’re together” camp for a long time. I think they turn up in different cars because they just do. I’m not so sure sometimes – it seems more and more of these stories keep cropping up. However, I can imagine both of them using the kids as an excuse to duck out of what must a bloody boring event.
I do not believe the Wales are separated either. Kate was given her own bolthole and that is it.
LOL she was given her own bolthole BECAUSE they are living separate lives. She wasn’t just given a random quiet country house near her parents. She was given a house on crown property where she could move with the kids as part of their separate lives.
Why would Mrs. Wails need her own bolthole when they already had multiple homes she could bolt to when she didn’t want to be around that guy?
It is about William not wanting to be around her Sid, not the other way round. For 2+ years of COVID lockdown, Kate was at Amner while William was at Wood Farm. Easy to hide separate living arrangements on that private property. Adelaide Cottage now serves the same purpose. Kate is at Adelaide, William likely has a small apartment inside Windsor Castle proper. Due to the location and security, fewer people would see the separate living arrangement.
I’ll tell you this: they are as together as Sophie and Edward or the Late Queen and Prince Phillip towards the end of their lives. So as you say, they are very much not “separated.”
Sophie and Edward?…..Hmmm
Do we really think W&K are separated?
I mean most of the BRF don’t live together 24/7 do they?
Camilla spends a great deal of her time in her own house, doesn’t she?
I just can’t really understand how these people live on a day to day basis.
IRL, I live in a small house, go to the same job, etc.
The very idea of “Well, I’m going to the Other Giant House/Palace” to get away for a bit.
IRL, we say “I’m taking a bath. Don’t come in.” Or “Go to your room, and calm down.”
Maybe no one ever sent William to his room as a kid. 🙂
“Do we really think W&K are separated?”
No, I don’t think they are separated.
C&C never raised children together, they had separate homes before marriage, continued and never hid it. W&K living separately while their children are young is different.
separated formally, with any kind of contract signed or anything? No.
Living separate lives 95% ofthe time, if not more? Yes.
this is not the same as Charles and Camilla living separately, considering they both had grown children by the time they got married. And it may be similar to the Queen and Philip, but they both worked a LOT more and traveled a LOT more than William and Kate ever have, and it was a different time, so the press probably didn’t care as much. And I don’t think they lived separately in a “we hate each other” kind of way, but in a “we have very different things going on in very different areas of the country so you stay in Norfolk and I’ll be at Windsor and we’ll meet up when we can” kind of way. And the kids were raised by nannies anyway.
William and Kate living separately in 2022 with young kids who they are supposedly raising “with no live-in help” is a very different situation IMO. We know its problematic bc the press is covering it up. They don’t cover up Charles and Camilla’s separate houses. Its well known that Camilla prefers Ray Mill or wherever to being in London and Charles used to go Highgrove all the time, with or without her. The press isn’t covering that up.
Yes. They’ve been leading separate lives for pretty much all of their marriage, but something clearly happened around late 2020/early 2021. They suddenly moved Zoom calls from Anmer Hall to Sandringham with the flimsy excuse of needing more space from the kids doing homework. William always disregarded Kate but last year he seemed to reach a new level of disdain towards her. Then there’s the great mystery that was their house-hunting, which went from seeking a private property closer to Kate’s parents, to jockeying for several occupied Crown properties, to finally settling for the rather unimpressive (by their standards/tastes) Adelaide Cottage.
Tbh all of the above is why I roll my eyes whenever I see people say “Will can do whatever he wants, why would they separate?” Well, that’s the point. William has ALREADY been doing whatever the hell he wanted before he deigned to give Kate the ring. The fact of the matter is that there’s been a LOT of strange activity and vibes around them for the past two years, and to me it’s clear that their marriage has taken a serious turn for the worse. Like Becks1 said, they may or may not be *formally* separated, but I do think at the very least there’s an unofficial separation happening.
One of the strange things has been royal reporters openly and for no reason saying W has a hostile temper; that he and Kate have different, strong opinions and debates; and that she has told her mother to “back out” of their lives. This was about the time of the disaster tour. I think there was a hell of a lot going on there, with William’s staff on the edge of saying how difficult he is to work with and possibly how Kate has been pushed to breaking point. I think there was a move to get ahead of any leaks.
@sparrow I don’t know if its just been speculated or confirmed, but I think there was talk of Carole moving into Anmer during the pandemic. Living in relatively close quarters with your ILs during a pandemic could be a rough situation for anyone.
@BeachDreams your last paragraph is something I think you and I and a few others have talked about before. Yes this marriage is transactional. Yes William can do whatever he wants. Yes they live pretty separate lives. etc etc. But with all those excuses and reasons for why they would never divorce…..they look very strained with each other in recent times…maybe the past year, past two years? When was the pigeon flinch, was that late 2020 or late 2019? Something has clearly shifted and changed and they are really struggling to fake it for the cameras. William refused to hold her hand at Earthshot for crying out loud.
The one thing an official separation gets him that he does not have already is that he does not have to appear in public with Kate. It would bench her as a working royal, including balcony appearances, trooping appearances, and so on. If they can’t figure out how to really fake it for the cameras, then that might be what breaks the camels back.
“If they can’t learn h how to really fake it for the cameras, then that might be what breaks the camels back” yes, becks1! that’s really the thing. And for as much as we talk about William, Kate also has moments where she seems to just despise him. The merry berry flinch but also there was a vid in Belize when she was wearing the glitzy pink dress. He actually extended his hand to help her walk down the stairs and once they were down she dropped his hand like it was a hot plate. She did not want to touch him longer.
The thing that changed was William went off Carole. He didn’t want her staying in his house interfering, turning up invited with her suitcase.
He moved Kate into a separate house so Carole can stay there and interfere there and he can ban her from his own house.
William doesn’t care about having to keep up with appearances anymore his has the Wales title the access to account with more money than ever . So course he not going to give Charles the time of day William has everything he needs now their no need to pretend he actually likes his father anymore . Kate would never show up without William that means she would have to cutesy to Camilla we all know kate likes to throw around her status’s as much as possible.
They are separated and they dont want to do fake thing with their family. As for william cheating , he deep down know that kate only loves status than him as person. He knows that no matter what she wont leave. Thats why i never buy that kate truly loves him. She is just using him for status. I mean if you truly love someone how on earth you can put up with cheating. White woman love status and money more than their husband. That’s why these high society have low standard for marriage. I mean sometimes i feel sorry for william , as side from his racist way , he doesnt have anyone to love him for who he is. i mean i get why william is jealous of harry.
enna13, I think Fails has been jealous of Harry for most of his life and Meghan was the cherry on top. He’ll continue on as he is, but if he can replace Wails with someone better at the job than she is (which means almost anyone) and who cares about him, I think all bets are off.
They are unable to go to an engagement and convey that they are a couple. They are simply doing their duty. When Fails goes to an engagement by himself he seems so much more relaxed.
Jecca loves him for himself… however she didn’t love him enough to give up her freedom and take on the royal life.
The Waleses are not nice people, so no surprise they aren’t beloved by the greater family. And now that the Queen is gone, there’s no buffer to keep the animosities among the family behind a façade of cordiality. Let them go hold court with the Middletons at Norfolk. Or is it just Kate holding court with her family and William doing whatever in London until Christmas Day with the kids.
No-one in that family is a nice person.
The least the Wails could do was show up to lunch after forcing the family to attend Kate’s Christmas whatever. Their laziness and ingratitude is truly astounding.
Listen, if they’re not getting photographed in public, what is the point? All they are is a front-facing couple. Putting up appearances for a private event is not in their pretend wheelhouse.
Those photos of Kate are hilarious. The one where she’s walking out of the gates is near to the real Kate – gnarled and knackered. Then we get a filtered phone picture of her amongst the crowd, all halo like. Well, posters on here have been saying they’re living separate lives. I have always resisted and believed they aren’t. Now I’m not so sure. However, wouldn’t you also choose not to go. It sounds as boring as hell. I’d easily use the kids to make an excuse.
I’m sure the atmosphere was significantly more pleasant without William around anyway.
At one point I thought they lived separate lives but now I’m not so sure. They are united in being Prince and Princess of Wales. They are united in their hatred of Meghan and blame her for stealing Harry. They are united in their love of power and money. They are united in their understanding that Wm is free to be discreet seeing other people as long as it doesn’t humiliate her. She in turn gets to spend money. They each know too many secrets about each other and their respective families. They will stay together for their mutual benefit.
I am united with your opinion.
But they can be united in all that and still live separate lives. No way was Kate allowed to move with the kids to Adelaide unless they are living separate lives.
I think it’s more like they are stuck putting on a united front no matter how miserable it gets, and it serves them right.
I think they are entirely emotionally separated and mostly physically separated (as in they only see each other and pretend to be a couple on engagements). There is no affection left between them. They take vacations with children together and tolerate each other during some public events. However, they both understand that their public facing selves benefit from the image of them being together and playing happy family. They will do what they can muster to appear married because it benefits each of them individually, and by extension the monarchy (which William will inherit and Kate will become queen of if it lasts until George). But there is no more “in love” left. I think for William, this probably means she can do whatever so long as she doesn’t cause any problems for him (like briefing those dumb stories about Carole being a better mom than Diana). He wants her to keep quiet unlike Diana, whom he seems to resent for making everything public. That’s why we stopped seeing those crazy stories praising Kate to high heavens anymore.
I have found that in the last year Kate has looked more and more sad, thin, and medicated. I don’t know if they will keep up the facade for long. Unlike the other Royal family couples, Kate is not an aristo. She did not grow up with couples separated but pretending to be married and /or together but also sleeping with other people. She may think she could tolerate it but clearly she cannot (look at the Rose situation). Everyone says it just depends on whether or not William will leave her and choose someone else. But what if Kate can no longer stand her situation? It must be hard to watch Meghan be loved so deeply by Harry. Maybe at some point it will not be good enough to live on the Windsor grounds by herself any longer. I think the feeling of being trapped in this faux marriage and dreadful Institution may one day prove to be intolerable.
They’re both putting up with this because it’s mutually beneficial but everyone has a limit and we’ll have to see who reaches theirs first (or if they reach theirs at all).
You bring up some great points @Tootsie. Thanks for posting.
Most of the marriages in the BRF are not with aristos, that is a complete false flag. Kate has been on-board with William’s cheating from the start. She started out as his secret bedmate when he wanted to cheat on any of his public girlfriends, and he cheated on her the entire 10 years of dating (as he’s cheated repeatedly since the wedding). She was already his convenient Sex Waiting, tried out by multiple of his friends beforehand, before they even moved in to that apartment with two other friends. That’s the deal she struck, was happy to strike as long as it gave her a chance at The Prince.
Kate has never been in this for love of William but rather for love of The Prince. She never would have agreed to this kind of cheating deal for Bill the Plumber, it has always been about her personal ambition to get the royal life. The only times she acts out is when the cheating goes public because it hurts her EGO not her icy heart. She was never friends with Rose, Rose was merely her rival for the Queen of the Toffs. Rose bedding William for years wasn’t the problem, it was that Kate’s ego got bruised when everyone rallied around Rose.
They can be United in all those things and still not like being around each other. It all depends on how much the cracks show.
Reading some of the comments it makes me a little sad for all of them. At days end, this is a story of deeply broken families.
The Fairytale of Royalty is hogwash.
Harry might be the only one who married for love in the last 150 years.
I’d like to think W&K truly love and care for their kids.
I’d also hope that William is a better Father than Charles was to him.
I’m guessing the Main Event will be Christmas AM walk to church for as many as they can get to attend. That is a big tradition/PR event. I assume W&K&kids plus her parents, brother and Pippa will show up too.
Btw, IRL, lots of families fall away after the death of the elder generation.
Mine certainly did. We “played nice” for our Dads sake and within 1-2 years of his passing, most of us were bitterly estranged. So, I think I read my history into all this a bit too, maybe too much so.
I hope Pippa shows up with her 3 children, she will have all the pictures. Tough call for Carole, what will she do?
William likely briefed about Camzilla’s boozy Meghan-bashing lunch with the tabloid bottom-feeders and was ceremoniously uninvited by daddy. Upchuck forced the official Irish Guards patronage on Khate deliberately because she’s a lazy bunt and he wants to see more work out of her. Peggy’s huffed off in a snarling snit and we’ll see/hear nothing of them for at least a month with the exception of the Sandringham church walk. KP and BP are totally briefing against each other and I can’t wait to see what dirt falls out from it. This is gonna get good!!!
Spot on @Jaded. This next chapter is gonna be wild.
Agree 100% Chuck the Turd and Peg are at war and the gossip will be wild
@Jaded
Giving the title to Kate, was brilliant in that William cannot go after her as he would anyone else.
She would also have to do some more engagements.
The fail inferred that it should have gone to Harry.
Harry is the lucky one.
Kate was given her own bolthole but I do not believe they are separated. That monarchy is relying heavily on Kate sticking around.
Solidgold, I don’t think they can divorce without Chuck’s permission, can they? That may be what’s happening behind the scenes. No one is going to convince me that Fails and Wails want to be in each other’s company.
I don’t think an outdated, archaic system is going to fly in a 21st century court room. I think if they want to get divorced, it will happen. Just how much sway does the monarchy have over the judicial system anyway? I would have thought none?
They can divorce without “permission”. She would probably lose all her titles etc. Charles would, as his mother did, do his best to guide them not to divorce. Approval is required of the sovereign prior to marriage.
If they want a divorce, a divorce wouldn’t be granted or supported right now by Charles. With the stepping down of the Sussexes, the death of Phillip and the Queen, Prince Andrew’s pedo issues, and the UK going through some things politically, it would be bad timing to allow Kate and William to also divorce. It won’t happen any time soon. Maybe down the line it would be a possibility but Charles can’t have his reign be more chaotic than it already is. Charles will try to keep Kate happy enough to stay so that the crap won’t hit the fan right now. It will probably make Kate’s existence a bit more tolerable in the short term but it’s not a long term solution to her misery (which is obvious in her face and body).
They are living separately for the most part. Their marriage has become performative and if they do legally separate, which likely wouldn’t happen until after the coronation, a bland announcement will go out stating that the couple has “decided to amicably separate but both remain devoted to raising their three children together”. Then after some period of time Chuck would give his permission to divorce. The monarchy certainly isn’t relying heavily on Princess Lazybutt sticking around, she’s as useless as a cardboard crutch.
They don’t rely on Kate for her number of engagements but they do need her to garner ANY attention because look at who is left? No one even knows who Edward and Sophie are. Charles and Camilla are elderly and dull. William lost his looks and has no charm. Kate may be dull too but she photographs well enough and her clothes garner some sort of attention, even if the attention dies quickly.
I think Charles is trying to hold what’s left of the family together because of their image. He will not support a divorce between the two any time soon. Too much has happened the last three years that is not good for the Windsors PR wise. Charles probably wants Kate to do more work but I don’t think Kate wants to (I think partially it’s because her mental health is not good and she doesn’t want to be public facing as much as well as the fact that she’s always been work shy). Even if Kate doesn’t step up work wise, Charles will still try to please her some by giving her positions and titles here and there because he cannot afford another Windsor scandal at this time (and also because she is the only Windsor working for the Firm who garner a ANY press rn).
I think they are separated but will never divorce. They arrive at events separately. And there was a soft “set up” of public expectations when they announced that Kate will be taking on work separate from William. And Kate couldn’t even fake her smiles around the time that Elizabeth went downhill, and I suspect that’s when she realized Anmer was her separation home. There were leaks that William and Kate have screaming arguments with each other.
But they won’t divorce. Kate is willing to put up all of this to keep her titles, position, and wealth. And William will live as he pleases anyway, so there’s no incentive for him to divorce. Also, divorce would mean William made a mistake in marrying Kate, and as we’ve seen, William will never, ever, admit to being wrong about anything. He’d rather suffer with a dim/lazy wife who bores him, than admit he was wrong.
Totally agree. These two are a textbook case of getting everything you ever wanted (PoW, Big Blue, getting rid of H&M) and then realizing in fact you’ve only effed yourself over massively. Then, no way will you admit defeat. That is the only thing that unites them right now.
The monarchy doesn’t need Kate to stick around, she’s a nobody and completely expendable. She’s lazy, her ‘work’ is laughable, the Christmas concert is a PR exercise that benefits no one not even her. Kate’s also the one most likely to be thrown under the bus next, for being one of the family racists, for bullying Meghan, for driving away Harry, for sending out her vile family to brief to the press, any number of things. She has built no work, built no support, and no one in the family likes her. Charles would support a divorce at any time, not the least because it would make him look better.
Well, if they have supposedly decamped to Anmer (and with these two, it’s entirely possible that they jumped on a plane to Mustique as soon as Kate’s Koncert wrapped last week), isn’t that near Sandringham? So they’ll have to show their faces, right?
But Kate has 3 young children, William is so busy with his new PoW responsibilities, they had to go to Anmer for the children’s break, they were swamped with private meetings for their charities, the year has been exhausting with engagements so they are taking a well deserved ski holiday, Kate had priority Zoom calls developing another 5 questions AND it’s all Meghan’s fault!!
It’s outstanding how H&M circle are loyal and don’t brief on them. Pretty sure there’s nothing scandalous to brief about but still.
William and his Father are on a PR war trying to disclose who is the most vile, immoral, hypocrite, racist adjacent and racism condoning. That includes Camilla who have the face she deserves.
If H&M did this it would be a CHRISTMAS SCANDAL.
I’m sure it’s still H&M’s fault somehow. Someone will probably even die from their terrible unloving actions, like always. I’m not sure what’s higher these days the body count (QE2, Phillip, etc) or the number of bathrooms in Montecito. I just am surprised KKKate missed a chance to have everyone coordinate wearing their Blackamoor brooches for the festive holiday season. These people are the worst.
Solidgold. Can’t post directly under you. I tend to think they’re together. It’d be leaked if they weren’t, surely. There are good arguments on here for the opposite view. I get swayed not by the separate cars and arrivals, but the very strained body language. What keeps them together is a mutual bitterness towards the outside world, I’m sure, as well as her determination to keep going and his need to keep going as the future of the BRF. And the kids. 95% of the time I am convinced they are together in a difficult relationship. She’s not budging. Unless, the affair is exposed and all hell is let loose. I wasn’t convinced about that either, but I lean towards it now.
Who would leak it? The British Press who is given stories about H&M to run INSTEAD of stories about W&K?
The press would not leak it. The trade off for keeping this secret (and others) is that it is open season on Harry and Meghan. The press are allowed to write anything they want. The press are itching to say something about the separation because leakings about Harry and Meghan have dried up so less money is to be had. The Sussexes are no longer around. No one knows what they’re up to anymore.
This is why I think they’re separated:
– the period of incessant stories of Kate being the lynchpin of the monarchy/ William needing her/ Carole being the best mummy ever to William. No one secure in their position would do this.
-the pigeon flinching and physical coldness between William and Kate last year and most of this year
-the briefing through the press that Kate and William will do more solo engagements because Kate is now finally confident enough to stand on her own
-the endless stories about the whole search for the new home that lasted months and months
-the articles about their move from Kensington palace because they feel “overlooked” aka watched.
-the pointing out of the two arriving separately and pics of Charlotte with a duffel bag
– the language of describing Kate and William as “sharing three kids”
– story after story of William attending things like dinners, exclusive events, and weddings without Kate.
The press can only hint and they have sure hinted
The lunch may have been more about a united family under the late Queen. Something like expressing gratitude for work that the members did during the year,but with the battering rams, ‘slmmed-down-monarchy’ and ‘non-working royal’ always into play, it has become performative.
Their behaviour towards his brother, does not lend itself as something others will want to be dealing with an a social situation.
They read the room and did not go, neither did Andrew’s daughters.
Seems like the Windsor lunch was sparsely attended. Perhaps moving it to Windsor made it difficult for more to attend. Moving it to Windsor seems like Charles marking his territory.
Isn’t William skipping lunch a “slap in the face” to his father? I can see Kate decamping with the kids, but the whole family? Charles cannot keep his family together. The thing to note is, the Queen kept her family together, but no one from Charles’s “family” was at his lunch. So much for the royal family being the nation’s model family.
💯 The extended family can also count on being pretty much on the outs after Charles. The poor dears. This lunch and the Trooping balcony were about it regarding public recognition of their proximity to the monarch.
William and Kate deliberately missed Charles’s Christmas lunch because they had a terrible row.
@Marivic are you just speculating or do you have inside tea? Please spill, if you do.
A row with Charles or a row between W&K?
Wow, can’t even go to a Christmas breakfast? There is some short going on with that family.
This is a terrible look for Charles. And same for Wills. Just proves that they hate each other.
I definitely believe the Wails are separated. Too many new names on here claiming “Nothing to see, move along!” Something is up.
If they don’t spend Xmas Eve /Xmas day at Sandringham, something is up. Tbh, I don’t see it as that crazy that they missed the Xmas lunch if they’re going to Sandringham in a few days anyway? I never really understood the point of the family lunch other than to perhaps include people that might not be going to Sandringham? They have shown in the past they wanted to spend time with Kate’s family over Xmas sometimes even skipping Sandringham, but I think the days of skipping Sandringham are over now they they’re the heirs. I think this will probably be the new normal that they’ll spend time with Kate’s family the week before Xmas at Anmer (or maybe it’s just Kate spending time with her family who knows), skip the Xmas lunch and do Xmas at Sandringham. Unless Charles starts inviting inlaws to Sandringham or something which I’m guessing isn’t going to happen.
That is the exact point of this xmas lunch….to include the people that don’t go to Sandringham. Zara, for example, rarely goes to Sandringham these days, I don’t know if Peter Phillips will go (although he used to go with Autumn pretty regularly) etc. They never skipped the christmas lunch when the queen was alive, so skipping it this first year with Charles as king is significant.
I definitely think they’ll be at Sandringham, but the Middletons will probably be at Anmer the whole time. Someone said once that reportedly W&K attend the Christmas walk and breakfast and then go back to Anmer with the kids (which I don’t fully blame them for.)
It makes little sense for all the Midds to haul themselves 3 hours Norfolk as they’re all in Berkshire now. Maybe Pips wants to host in her new mansion and lord it over her sister, who knows? The suggestion above that some of them have gone off to Mustique for a week (Midds, Kate and kids, no William) makes some sense.
They’re a no-show for Christmas lunch but they’ll attend a water taste-testing?
Late to the party. That black dress highlights her weird obsession with raising waists doesn’t it? You can see where her real waist is vs. where the one appears on the dress. So much vanity, so little time.