Behold, the Wales family Christmas card for 2023. I cannot believe this is real and something which William and Kate both signed off on. Everybody’s already made the jokes – it’s giving Olan Mills 1984, it’s giving JC Penney mall studio, it’s giving no imagination whatsoever. While many can make a case for the Wales family copy-keening the Sussexes’ 2021 Christmas card, a better case could probably be made for the Wales family copying the Danish royals, who did a similar card a few years ago. One thing that flies under the radar is that Kate really does copy everything Crown Princess Mary does, it’s just that Kate also style-stalks Meghan constantly too.
What bugs me about this card is the same thing that bugged me about last year’s Christmas card, which was so obviously taken in the summer months: it’s not festive or Christmasy or seasonal in the least. If you’re going to do family photos in a studio – why would you even do that if you’re royal – then can you at least make the backdrop festive or seasonally appropriate? Put the family next to a Christmas tree or a green-and-red background. Something else besides all of this grey dead space. My guess is that we’re supposed to think that they’re so modern, doing this edgy black-and-white card. But it looks dated and like an image from a true-crime docuseries.
Also: the British papers have decided, en masse, to call this Kate’s attempt at “California cool.” Which is… weird. I guess it’s their way of saying that Kate & William stalk everything Harry & Meghan do and wear.
I’m including some pics from Kate’s Christmas concert – for many of the bigger events these days, photo agencies include black-and-white images for some reason. I guess the palace is dictating that? Also: at the Together at Christmas event, Kate had a little mailbox set up so all of the rich children could send holiday cards to poor children. Like… does the UK not have Angel Trees? This was a perfect opportunity to ask people to bring gifts for poor kids.
2023 Christmas card courtesy of Josh Shinner for Kensington Palace, additional photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- A still of Catherine, Princess of Wales, from the Royal Carols: Together at Christmas promo which airs on ITV1 on 07 December at 9.45pm. The Carol Service will take place tomorrow at Westminster Abbey and will be broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX on Christmas Eve at 7:45pm.,Image: 827596021, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Royal Carols: Together at Christmas / Avalon
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- (EDITORS NOTE: This image has been converted to black and white.) Prince George of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince Louis of Wales attend The “Together At Christmas” Carol Service at Westminster Abbey on December 08, 2023 in London, England. Spearheaded by The Princess of Wales, and supported by The Royal Foundation, the service is a moment to bring people together at Christmas time and recognise those who have gone above and beyond to help others throughout the year.,Image: 827907562, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: (EDITORS NOTE: This image has been converted to black and white.), *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- (EDITORS NOTE: This image has been converted to black and white.) Princess Charlotte of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales and Prince George of Wales post letters to Santa before The “Together At Christmas” Carol Service at Westminster Abbey on December 08, 2023 in London, England. Spearheaded by The Princess of Wales, and supported by The Royal Foundation, the service is a moment to bring people together at Christmas time and recognise those who have gone above and beyond to help others throughout the year.,Image: 827907595, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: (EDITORS NOTE: This image has been converted to black and white.), *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- (EDITORS NOTE: This image has been converted to black and white.) Catherine, Princess of Wales attends The “Together At Christmas” Carol Service at Westminster Abbey on December 08, 2023 in London, England. Spearheaded by The Princess of Wales, and supported by The Royal Foundation, the service is a moment to bring people together at Christmas time and recognise those who have gone above and beyond to help others throughout the year.,Image: 827907606, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: (EDITORS NOTE: This image has been converted to black and white.), *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
Charlotte looks photoshopped in on the Merry Mall 1992 Kristmas Kard photo.
And I’ve just learnt about angel trees which I think are a lovely idea.
I originally didn’t think so, but the more I look I think the photoshop cut and paste tool was in heavy rotation. K’s arm/hand around G is too long and W’s shirt has far more sharper shadows than anyone else’s, and the shadow between K and W is more pronounced than others, and inconsistent the whole length..
Also there’s something weird with Kate’s foot under the chair.
Williams hand is bigger than his head. Kate’s missing a leg. What’s going on with Williams legs? one is missing too. The youngest boys foot is airbrushed out. The more I look at it, the more I think they weren’t all together. They posed separately and were added in. Or they chopped different photos and spliced it together. It would explain the background choice and black and white- it’s easier to blend when you’re placing people into a photo when there’s a neutral background.
Definitely one year William was added into the Christmas photo later. The one on the grass, where he was apart from the rest of them.
William seems to miss a foot as well and Louis misses a finger!!! Yeah it’s photoshopped to the skies! I read that the photoshop is easier when there’s a black and white photo… is anyone knows anything about this?
The more I look at it, the more convinced that Will and Kate did not take this photo together…
No wonder George looks so miserable, he was forced to take his photo with mom!
IDK, the whole thing is giving serial killer vibes.
The Daily Mail has a headline saying that this card has a photoshop fail: Louis’ middle finger is missing LOL. This family’s quality control is pathetic!
Willy’s facial expression is freakishly identical to his face in an earlier family pic. It has to be photoshopped
I can’t stand any of them. Phoney baloney all of them. Yup no laces, California cool. Certainly not CHRISTMAS.
My parish has angel trees every year.
Angel trees, toys for tots, classrooms that adopt a family for the holidays all of these are things my children and I did together during the holiday season and still do. I assumed most communities and countries did the same, I guess not.
The family photo is indeed bland and boring, which exemplifies the couple in it. However, that postbox is definitely a real one, it’s just a very old model.
I was going to say this. Can these two truly not stand each other so much that now we’re getting photoshopped Christmas cards?
Yep, complete with Kitty sandwiching herself between George and Willnot. She’s desperate to center herself before he tosses her. “Try and crop me out of this one, bitches!”
I really loved the Christmas card that Meghan and Harry sent last year. It really reflects where they are in their philanthropy. Their annual report is out and really highlights how much they do for the world. The pictures are really nice too.
Now people have pointed out that William has only 1 leg and Katie has only 1 foot 😃 and yes William and Kate were not standing side by side. Her body looks like a cut out next to his.
All the photo shopping has made more people look at the photo. Its the number of views that she and the BM can gloat about.
Families wearing matching white shirts with jeans is certainly not California cool. It’s about 80% of the family portraits I see where someone decided everyone has to match. Nothing wrong with it, but it’s beyond basic. I don’t get this at all? Why not just take the annual picture outside, or even in one of their very nice living rooms to make it more personal?
I just wish they had picked the fence line backdrop with a haybale for everyone to sit on and pose around 😂
“But it looks dated and like an image from a true-crime docuseries.” That’s it! I didn’t know what it reminded me of, but it gives true crime docu series 100%. Especially with Kate’s new scary veneers.
Pinkosaurus, I agree with you, why not do it in one of their nice sitting rooms or palace drawing rooms ( not the tiny one in Adelaide, of course). Those spaces are already fully decorated too, I’m sure, even the rarely used ones. The kids could pretend hamgign some ornaments or something.
This family has the means to take family portraits any day of the year, so why not have a quick photo shoot at this time of the year and do something festive? Or if they don’t want to wear festive clothes then do a collage of photos from throughout the year against a holiday background.
This is the uniform of Midwestern families Florida beach photo. Plenty of St Louis families wear this in Destin pics. It’s cute but less than original. Why does KKKate insist they are matchy matchy every chance she gets?
Pinkosaurus I think the reason they don’t use a random one from earlier in the year is because they’re never all together as a family so there’s no opportunity for a candid family shot. I think the days of family vacations or that weird random let’s all stroll down the lane (all dressed in “Cali chic” jeans and white shirts) are over.
And if Kkkeen is living fulltime in her separation cottage maybe things are so bad between her and Pegs that he won’t even allow her back into KP, even for a family photo.
Someone called it “Midwest mediocre” that about sums it up
Hope they didn’t pay for that.
My aunt had our whole extended family do a “white shirt and jeans” family portrait back in 2001. It’s def basic and dated!
I live in California and I never get cards like this from friends and family. The coordinated outfits cards come from the dentist’s office and engineering companies and law firms.
California family cards showcase the outdoors preferably the beach.
And what on earth are they standing on? Is the carpet supposed to be wrinkled and bunched like that? It just looks messy, and like a tripping hazard.
They’re standing on the backdrop! this really is an olan mills portrait from the 80s, lol. Well maybe the early 90s bc in the 80s my mom made us all dress up, it was in the 90s when we were allowed to wear jeans and polo shirts for these things.
So the backdrop is one big piece of fabric or whatever and it comes down from the back wall over the floor and its bunched like that add….interest, I think. I dont know. But I have a dozen family pictures like this somewhere lol.
“Nothing wrong with it, but it’s beyond basic.”. And, basic isn’t festive! This isn’t ‘California Cool’. It’s standard dressing in all states.imo I’ll admit I like and have worn a white button down with jeans a lot over decades. Never had a family photo like this or have received a Christmas photo like this and I’m from the Midwest.
Yeah, no, WanK’s, you are not relatable to me.
We have friends that vacation in Destin for months during the winter. They wouldn’t have a picture taken like this. They’re also fun and go for interesting. Not basic. Dying at the Olan Mills reference.
@Mrs.Krabapple, according to the Guardian article, they are standing on the underbelly of a mole, I believe.
So maybe this ‘white shirts and jeans’ family photo thingy is not necessarily unheard of, but basically trendy. 🤔 Still, I don’t think there’s any doubt that Meghan & Harry were the first royals to pose in such casual cool attire. Most British royals are dressed up or looking preppy or wearing Scottish plaid in family portraits.
@Kaiser, as I recall, Crown Princess Mary’s family sat for a photo shoot to honor her 50th birthday, in early February 2022. That is the photo in which they were dressed in jeans and crisp white shirts, except for Mary, who wore a cream blouse with beige slacks. The Danish royal photo shoot occurred about two months after the Sussexes’ famous 2021 Christmas card reveal.
IMHO, how the Danish royals were attired seemed very much like a complimentary nod to the Sussexes’ modernity, not copykeening. Hardly anything was written about the similarities in attire between these separate royal family units. Still, it was not a Christmas card for the Danish royals, unless they decided to send it out as such at the end of 2022.
BTW, in the Sussexes’ 2021 photo, Meg was wearing a dark navy jumper with her jeans and flats. Harry wore a blue shirt with his jeans, and he was barefoot. Little Archie was the only one wearing a crisp white shirt with jeans, and he was barefoot like his Dad. Sweet baby Lilibet Diana, in her first public photo, was dressed in white baby clothes. The family was photographed in their teahouse by Alexi Lubomirski.
Kkkate is giving serious Kimberly Guilfoyle vibes these days between the hair and overly heavy makeup.
Does Kkkimberly also have a Farrah wig? I refuse to Google a picture of that vile woman.
It’s almost identical down to how the hair is curled at the bottom.
😳😳😳
Oh my GOD Cannot unsee it!
Gah, okay, I googled it. MY EYES! It’s like Kkkate, Kkkimberly, and Kkkmelania are morphing into one person. Wait . . . if Kate ever gets divorced is she going to marry a Trump spawn? Geebus.
Sometimes I wonder if my dislike of this couple for other more important reasons makes me overly critical of the small stuff. But then I saw this picture this weekend and my immediate thought was what in the JCPenney, Broadway stage makeup is this mess? I don’t understand the rationale behind this picture at all. Are they trying to connect with the” common” man? Copy what they think Harry and Meghan might be doing? Just super lazy and last minute and this is the best they could do since they don’t actually spend any time together? This looks like the stock photo that comes with the frame. It’s awful.
I don’t understand it at all either. It’s in no way holidayish or cheerful or special. It’s so bad even their so-called fans are trashing it.
The only thing I can think of is that Pegs is so focused on privacy – to a pathological level (because subconsciously knows he has sooooo much to hide – violent behavior, affairs) – that he insists on these sorts of bland, give nothing away photos.
Honestly, I couldn’t give William credit for being that smart.
@SussexWatcher, you’re being kind and it’s hard to do with these two. Lol, you’re right their supposed fans have been doing their own photoshopping to make it more festive.lol
We’ve seen pictures of Kate hanging ornaments. Uhmmm, a Christmas card photo of all of them hanging ornaments on their Christmas tree at Adelaide cottage would be easy peasy. If they were all at Adelaide cottage.
@BeanieBean, H&M’s 2021 Christmas card photo was so joyful. Still love it.
My first thought was that it was the Windsor version–cold, stilted–of H&M & their kids’ lovely & sweet Christmas photo from ’21. They windsored it by taking all the joy & warmth out of it. My second thought was, why on earth leave all that ugly grey empty space? Why not crop that out??
This photo shows that they have no true inherent taste, are not style setters, are really rather boring, and do not surround themselves with, or seek out, true artists.
And that’s a profound difference between themselves and the Sussexes.
Its not even a nice black and whote filter,it looks harsh. I always feel holiday cards should represent the aesthetics of were you live. But maybe thats unfair to limit people who experience a snowy Christmas to always have that theme.
It looks as if they are mannequins in Sears window or catalogue pictures for Abercrombie and Fitch! Boring! Blah! Lol! They all look like they want to be someplace else! Depressing picture for Christmas!
This looks like pictures my grandparents took as kids in the 1930s 😀 The only difference is that the background screen was hand painted with scenery during that era,
I’m old enough to remember a B&W Christmas card that was much more festive than this being torn to shreds.
No matter… breaking the glass veku ing is always the challenging part.
Everyone else can squeeze through.
Exactly.
And that pic was festive with a turtleneck sweater and a Christmas tree.
And an adorable baby clearly crawling to reach for the camera!! It had it all.
That christmas card pic is horrible. As a threshold matter – its incredibly boring. Its also incredibly dated, the composition isn’t great, etc. I can’t believe they said “yes this is what we should do.”
Also, I see that they have started putting George in the suede shoes like his father. I guess he’s aged out of the slip on shoes like Charlotte and Louis.
their pic last year wasn’t great either, but it was better than this one.
And poor Louis is still stuck wearing shorts.
At that, the composition is better than many of their releases. At least, George just looks like part of the crowd instead of being set apart from the other children. And the photographer was smart enough to put Louis where his bare legs wouldn’t be highly visible.
“And the photographer was smart enough to put Louis where his bare legs wouldn’t be highly visible.”
All two and a half of them.
It’s like a clown got hold of the photoshop and painted in one of Louis’ three legs, chopped off his middle finger and then put an Ugg classic mini boot on Burger King’s only leg. HoHoHo thanks for the laughs Keens.
If you zoom in you can see that Louis doesn’t have 3 legs in the picture. Will’s other leg is visible barely behind Charlotte’s leg and the chair leg. Kate looks as if she is standing with one leg behind the other for some reason. Louis’ fingers still look odd but I think it’s just how he has them splayed out. It’s not photoshop, just that they all seem tensely or oddly posed. I think that’s what is off about the photo; they all seem ill-at-ease. Nobody looks truly relaxed.
I think they edited in William’s torso and head, and then the bottom half was just a mucked up photo-shop fail. That curved black splotch between Louis’ neck and Burger King’s hand has no connection to the true line of William’s pants — they would not flare out like that at that spot. The vertical shadow lines on Burger King’s shirt are all exaggerated compared to the shadows on Kate and George’s shirts yet they all have the same light source. CLOWNS.
And Charlotte with long hair and skinny jeans! That was a huge yikes!
Someone pointed out that she’s on her own with everyone else intertwined. She’s gonna be out of there on of these days. Harry has shown that you don’t have to put up with the nonsense. I hope QEII put some money aside for those kids, because you know Charles and Will are going to make sure that they won’t have a dime of their own.
Their Christmas cards are getting progressively worse and progressively weird and corny.
Their team has no vision that’s for sure. George wearing ralph lauren again so that they make sure Americans love George for when it’ll be his time. Their game is so sh!tballs. lol amateurs
I had the same thought about the Ralph Lauren shirt – that appeal to US audiences was about as subtle as a brick to the head.
I hadn’t noticed the Ralph Lauren shirt until now. That’s so weird! I think William is trying to seem more relatable. I remember when the queen was around jeans were not something royals wore very often – if at all – and then Meghan was photographed taking Archie to school and he had *gasp* jeans on!! The shock and horror of the media! William wants his new ‘relatable monarchy’ and it starts with this total failure at trying to seem relatable.
For what it’s worth, my 70 year old – very fashionable – Mom loves this photo. I told her it looks like late 70’s early 80’s glam and she said EXACTLY!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
California cool? Yeah, no. This just isn’t even cool. I’m so baffled by this picture choice. It’s baffling. Why??? The best Christmas card was the one from a few years ago when they all wore sweaters and there was some wood in the background. That one at least felt festive and seasonal.
William and Kate are so intent on copying or one upping Harry and Meghan that they don’t realise they just come off being stalkers and try hards. They even hired a fashion and celebrity photographer to take this photo. I agree with Kaiser there should have been a Christmas setting for them to pose in. Plus, the press used to screaming about Harry and Meghan doing black and white photos but now it’s ok to do these types of photos. As for the California cool nonsense, I’m going to guess that this comes from William and Kate’s PR team. It’s just embarrassing and it shows how obsessed KP and the press are with Harry and Meghan.
They are so so obsessed with H&M and jealous of the fact that they live in California. It’s more than obvious at this point. Even the Keen’s fans are annoyed at this card. But was what’s really said is that the papers even had to add in the Sussexes to the Wales Christmas card reveal in the first place. They must get next to no engagement without the Sussexes mentioned.
So true.
This was taken by a professional photographer????
With the school-photo backdrop?
There are so many weird things in this picture: Kate’s elbow reaches up higher than her fingers on George indicate. The fingers look abnormal like those of a mannequin. Louis seems to be missing a finger, both adults are missing a leg and Louis has just one foot.
while Kate legs could be crossed, no way her arm can be this long and the leg of William also have super wierd dimensions and i really cannot see his other leg.
Why the kid has a missing finger is beyond me. This is a terrible photoshop. l
The grey background is weird, like they’re floating in some alternate dimension. I’ll just say the children look good and that I can’t help seeing resemblances – Louis looks like Kate, Charlotte looks like William and George is giving me Diana vibes.
Louis looks like uncle james. Charlotte looks like the middletons with some Spencer looks. George is combination Spencer and middleton. As I see it.
I think Louis resembles Kate and Charlotte from QE2 side. I could not place George – his pic reminded me of someone and you are right – Spencer. They have not changed much facially. I hope they are happy and are not being too scarred by their parents and the establishment.
George looks like Pappy Middleton. Charlotte defo looks like a throwback to QE2’s genome. Louis looks sorrrrta like Kate, might start looking like Kate’s bro James as he gets older. Looks like he might have avoided the Mountbatten/Windsor nose.
Charlotte looks just like Princess Margaret’s daughter.
Williams posture/stand and tilt of the head is the same as in a Christmas picture they released a few years ago, where Kate was wearing a blue suit (2017??)
Even if they’re separated they could have scheduled a family picture, there’s really no excuse for this mess.
And is Ralph Lauren still a thing here in the U.S. ?
@Athena: Ralph Lauren is still prominent in tennis, the ball kids and umpires, etc. wear it during the US Open . Meghan wore Ralph Lauren this year somewhere .. Invictus maybe?
I mean Ralph Lauren is pretty classic American preppy, and I feel like he often dresses at least one person at a major awards show. There’s a big brand difference too between “Polo” and “Ralph Lauren” – I think Polo is still classic but isnt quite as much an upper middle class status symbol as it was 20 years ago, and RL is just RL.
I don’t usually comment on children, but in my mind Louis looks just like Andrew.
I see that too. Poor little guy.
NO! He’s so much cuter. Andrew was just called a cute kid by comparison to the others .. he still looked like a Windsor. LOL Louis is quite a beautiful boy .. my opinion of course.
I can see Andrew in Louis. George looks like his great uncle Charles Spencer.Charlotte poor child has the Hanoverian shape face like her father, and also looks like Sarah Chatto.
I’m betting the background is actually royal blue.
Poor Charlotte has the same grin as William, that’s for sure.
H&M did black-white pics, but theirs never looked “old”. Whatever Kate & Will do looks old & dated, even when they copy H&M or other royal families. It is like their team is full of old people who don’t have any idea what is modern, fresh. Maybe, that’s their way to serve their royal fans who are mostly old people. Also, I agree, it looks like one of that true-crime pics where the husband destroys his own family. Truly bizarro world they live in.
Lol, I had the same thought, too – like it’s a newspaper photo to a crime story – ” How could this happen in quiet suburbia?”
H&M’s pictures often have an energy, some sense of movement (Archie crawling toward the camera, The whole family laughing as Lili is lifted into the air, even the black and white one from the wedding with the fireworks in the background). Even when the Wails are doing an “action photo” (posing while walking) it looks….stilted.
It’s giving major “Lord Snowden photo” vibes.
While it was lovely that they kept him in the royal fold after the divorce, I always thought his posed photos were pretty bad. (Or maybe they were just super 80s/90s.) Either way, it’s not an era anyone trying to be a Modern Royal Family should be emulating.
Snowdon was never a great photographer. Good, yes. Certainly competent. But not particularly stunning or interesting. If he retains some fame, it’s because of his frequent subjects, not his compositions.
Whaaaaa??!!??? Someone profiting from their royal connection? Say it isn’t so!
Not the poor kids getting a card and no gift for christmas
I know!!!
Dear girl/boy,
I’m sorry you’re poor and won’t be getting lots of presents like us. Whilst we are visiting one of our many estates, I shall spare a thought for you. Mummy says it’s because you live in a single parent household. If you know someone with a phone, check out our Instagram so you can enjoy the pictures of me with all of my presents. Peg…I mean dad… says that the sight of our joy and smiles is enough to warm your heart and be happy at Christmas.
Best,
Future future king George
For a second there, I thought it was Kate writing it. She has set the bar so low. Well done on the letter!
It’s so true! Great letter LOL .. funny, yet terribly sad to see how out of touch they all are. These poor kids have NO idea what people think of this stuff too, they probably think they’re doing a good thing. I can only imagine how they’re going to turn out with seemingly no one around them with one foot on the ground.
That’s similar to what I thought when I saw the photo of them posting cards: horribly condescending.
The UK press must be asleep at the wheel at the moment.
I liked Kaiser’s idea of a toy drive. What a missed opportunity.
Each of the guests should indeed have come with a wrapped toy. I doubt the keens will change this and their children will mail letters again. William sent homeless petson david Christmas cards too. The keens are so out of it.
It was so shocking (and disgusting) to me when I read that was what the letters were! I thought the kids were posting letters to Santa!
Who on earth thought these kids sending letters to poor kids was a good idea?! I guess the same people who think it’s a good idea to pose with Black people every time they’re accused of being racists. Sigh. This family is so gross.
These are the same people who think giving someone a frame picture of themselves is some kind of honor. So to them some kid should be just thrilled to get a letter from a “royal” child for Christmas.
Don’t worry! After the Christmas letters and the family Christmas photo flopped, operation damage control is on! They just released a video with Kate and the children volunteering to a baby bank!!!
The WALESES has CALIFORNIA COOL confused with
The SUSSEXES’S & that CALIFORNIA SOUL!
There’s a huge difference!
It looks like the photo was shot in the 50s. And that has nothing to do with the black and white color of the photo.
Whenever I see photos of these British royals they always look so dated even with the expensive clothing and accessories. They seem to be stuck in a 50’s time warp.
That’s what I was going to say in the other thread about my beloved Beatles! The BRF is hanging onto an aesthetic that seems almost aggressively old-fashioned at this point. QEII could get away with it because she was literally 100 years old, but there’s no excuse for Diana’s son to be so badly out of date. Did any of you guys see that funny little photo from Denmark this weekend, of Crown Prince Fred lighting the advent candles? There’s a lot to laugh about in that particular situation, but the scene looks warm and festive compared to whatever this is from Will and Kate.
One of the things that makes this photo in general seem so dated is that it reeks of “here, we will grace you with a picture of us for christmas, there is nothing in this picture that tells you anything about our personalities or our lives but you can see the Princess’s new wig and we are letting George wear adult shoes now, isn’t that lovely? you’re welcome in advance for this chance to have a glimpse at us.”
Like seeing a boring picture of the Waleses is just….boring. No one is going “ohhhh how nice that we get to see them!” no, everyone is saying, ugh, boring.
And they still dont seem to get that just their presence (or in this case, a photograph of their presence) is not something people are clamoring for anymore.
I spent all weekend wondering why that photo looked so familiar, aside from being a throwback to mall portraits from the mid 80s…it hit me last night- The Goldbergs! 😂 The Goldbergs did it better,. They looked way happier, lol.
There are strange flaws in it too, the youngest has a finger missing and a leg and a half behind the chair leg, George’s hair looks peculiar and his placement at the chair is half in front, half in back in a way not seen in nature, only the daughter looks natural in her pose.
Why wouldn’t they use the Christmas backdrop for the carol concert advert for the holiday pictures? Why release a photo with so many peculiar visual mistakes in it? The arrangement is not complicated but the more one looks at it the more it seems like Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Charlotte seems to be the only one who got the memo on how to pose and smile for this tragedy of a Christmas photo.
Cain legs are missing in the picture and Louis is missing a finger.
1. She’s the Princess of Wales and not the Princess of California. Surely, she could have used the photo to promote Welsh clothing/designers. I don’t know why but, that California jab really did irk me.
2. I don’t mind the black and white shot but, there’s too much space above and behind them and they look lost. I’m not a photographer but, I would have cropped a bit off the top and the bottom of the picture to bring the focus on the family.
The photo badly needed cropping
Because there’s a Prince and Princess in California that they’re all obsessed with. I don’t see how even their most fervent fans can deny that their motivation is largely focused on copying whatever Meghan and Harry are doing for themselves after of course minimizing Harry and Meghan doing it first as cheesy or non important or “slick”.
The tree at the service should have had cards with names of gifts for children. The wealthy attendees could then have mailed those gifts to children from poor families. The children mailing cards was like William pointing out homeless people to his children during the school runs. That photo for the holiday illustrates how out of touch the keens are.
Agree completely. The Daily Telegraph headline on the post box photo was Dickensian: “Royal children’s good wishes for the less fortunate.”
The less fortunate.
Disgusting.
Is there a list of the ‘poors’ that they sent the cards to or was that mailbox prop?
Are the less fortunate children supposed to be comforted by a Christmas card in”California Cool” instead of food. Whatever gives the Wais publicity????? Shameless is the HOUSE of Windsor.
“ Put the family next to a Christmas tree or a green-and-red background. Something else besides all of this grey dead space. ” Well, dead grey space is all that’s left in their marriage so this pic is a perfect representation of that.
Kalifornia Kool Kate. someone on twitter pointed out this is a weird background when they literally own some of the most beautiful scenery in the country
Ah the K’s. I see what you did there.
I’m actually in Windsor at the moment to visit family and it’s just such a beautiful, picturesque place. So many options for gorgeous photos and this is what they came up with?
how did none of them notice louis’ missing finger???
Haha it’s the way the light is hitting the skin between his fingers buts it’s giving the illusion of a malformed hand or missing extra finger 😂🤣🤣😂 why? Why use this one?
This photo gave me such joy when it dropped on Saturday night. They have been just roasted online. Did they come up with this themselves or did a staff member actually pitch this idea? If it was a staffer I honestly I think the people who work for them hate them. Anyhoo it was fun to see even strong Wales supporters like Elizabeth Holmes twisting themselves into a pretzel to avoid calling this a fail. And the fact that they got a celebrity photographer and it still looked this basic??? Just chefs kiss perfection.
Yeah, Elizabeth Holmes’ SMT was just excuse after excuse. She never held back when she was bashing Meghan.
Yup I stopped following her years ago but I do like to peek every now and then to see how she can justify certain things or put a spin on stuff. I waited all day lol (you know it took her 24 hours to get to come up with something that sounded realistic) and was not disappointed. So embarrassing.
Lol she was like at least they tried something new so good for them. It felt like she was giving them a participation award.
I ignored it until Sunday then read the Guardian cioverage and cackled. Just what I needed on a dark Sunday night!
The photo in and of itself is pure entertainment as it’s SO bad then you get the roasting on top. Thank you world for this Christmas gift.
I read the guardian coverage as well! It was so on point!!!
Yes! My favorite line is, ” William is smiling like you owe him money.”
Eheheh. That Guardian piece was the beatdown of life. 😂
What really makes this card so good is that THEY probably had 100s of shots to choose from, yet they still chose this particular photograph, believing it would enhance their image! Instead everyone (apart from their most ardent sycophants) has ripped it to pieces. “Joy to the world” indeed! 😆
Sure here in California we did wear Izod shirts, jeans, and Keds/Vans in the *80s*. I know it’s a Polo shirt but I’m trying here.
Fun fact, same thing worn in every state in the union.
LOL! I’m sure. And probably in Britain too but how hilarious would it have been if they called the look “American cool.” 🤣 Or just straight up “Y’all remember Mervyn’s in the 80s?”
“…Mervyn’s in the 80’s”
I just lost it at that and I can’t stop laughing.
How do W&K, especially Kate, manage to make everything look so cheap? Not typical aristo shabby chic, but cheap? At least C&C use a picture from an event throughout the year; it’s not terribly creative or festive but shows personality and gives “looking back on the year” vibes. W&K just look so generic, like a couple of stock actors picked by marketing to show “generic happy nuclear family circa 1985”. Not even a tinsel garland in the background.
I will never understand the composition and style of this photo.
Is someone at KP really that desperate for clicks that they’re now resorting to this.
With the exception of Charlotte no one looks like they want to be there and the family looks cold.
It’s like a VERY BAD i.e. horror version of H&M’s photo. Dull and depressing does not even begin to cover it.
I have no idea why they hire professional artistic photographers and end up with photos like this. Like its so bland, what’s the point? Do they edit in-house after the photos are done? If I was this photographer I would not be happy being linked to this.
Probably cost huge amounts of taxpayer money too.
Reminds me of Kates birthday portraits when they hired a very talented fashion photographer- look up Paolo Roversi’s archive its beautiful- then removed everything that he’s known for, so its just some bland/weird images. Why hire him in the first place???
This really winds me up haha
Yeah l agree, l.think.she just lightens their hair in photos, as their children have dark brown hair and brown eyes l believe.. She does this all the time , saddo….that Christmas card portrait .looks like something from a murder crime scene lol.,
It’s just a depressing picture. So much grey and it being a holiday card makes no sense. All that gray above them, surely they could have done a closer pic, but what do I know.
Kate is looking rather plastic these days. And wearing jeans and white shirts is so try hard – to look normal and young.
Very strange photo. K is larger than William but looking much shorter than usual, Charlotte and George have both had their hair bleached again. Being part of a fair headed family and living many years in the tropics, it is just not possible for brunettes to naturally get light blonde streaks from the sun, without a huge amount of chemical help. Slightly lighter hair on the top of the head is possible after spending many days and many hours in strong sunlight. What is the obsession with bleaching the childrens hair. Absolutely nothing welcoming or friendly about this rigidly posed card, its creepy.
Why bleach the children’s hair at all? That’s so strange.
I guess that difference in tones is why it looks like George is wearing Kate’s tin foil coronation tiara at a jaunty angle.
Their hair isn’t bleached. My children’s does the same – darker at the top, lighter at the bottom. It’s just what kids hair does, especially kids who are outdoors a lot probs swimming in their pool and running around on their giant estate.
My kids all have medium brown hair. In the summer they all get streaks of lighter hair. It’s natural. It’s a terrible photo, and I think they’re both useless, but I really think the accusation of bleaching their children’s hair is over the top.
Kate’s in flats, that’s why she looks so much shorter than William, because she is.
I guess all the people worldwide, with dark brown hair living in the tropical and sub tropical areas, are all covering up their light blonde streaks. Royal brunette children change their whole heads of hair to yellow blond naturally. The UK is such a constantly sundrenched place that even in winter hair gets sunbleached.
I’m going to go against the mainstream, I like this photo.
The photo is boring, bland, looks cheap considering resources at their disposal, but they look ok, happy, the kids are great, Kate and Wills look good.
I agree. These are not interesting people generally, so the card isn’t particularly interesting, but the kids look happy, the parents look fine and at least they aren’t dressing the kids up in super constricting, conservative dress clothes. Charlotte and George look so mature, Charlotte especially! I also don’t think Louis has a photoshop error on his hand, I think it’s a trick of the eye and those two fingers are splayed and that is the indentation between them. I could be wrong.
No. I think you are right about the hands.
But do the children look really happy? I guess Charlotte, yes…but George seems so over it and Louis has, as the Guardian coverage mentioned, “unwilling participant at the orthodontist energy “.. his smile seems enforced… I don’t know…
George absolutely never looks happy. Not even here. Everyone else is forcing a smile. But he’s not even trying.
Agree about George, I’ve always felt struck by something about him but hard to articulate just what.
Perhaps it’s simply that both parents are way too harsh with him, so the poor little devil is constantly anxious. Hope he’s at least got a kind, loving nanny.
I can’t wait for H&M’s photo to drop….
As for this, the thing that struck me is that they couldn’t even find one shot where George is smiling?!
And group photos of this family always seem like they were photographed separately and photoshopped in together (badly) later..
George is labeled as the serious one, considering he is the hair so they always portraying him like this …😔
Do we expect H&M to share a photo publicly? They would probably send their friends & family one, but I am not sure they are gonna share it with media although I would love to see them.
Well we’ve seen the last two, haven’t we?
Yes, but the last one was just the photo of H&M from an event. At the time, it seemed to me, they don’t want to share their children’s photos anymore, even in the doc their children’s faces were not very focused. I hope I am wrong though.
They didn’t release a card last year which made sense. They’d just dropped the docuseries and spare was coming up in January. One past card was associated with mayhew, I believe? I’d love to think they took the kids with them when they recently went to Canada for IG. Some pictures of the kids bundled up in warm clothes so we can’t actually see them 😂 w/ a backdrop of snow and the setting of the next IG to give the upcoming games some publicity. Or maybe they’ll save that for next year as it’ll be getting closer to the games. Would love to see a Christmas card of them at home in montecito. Now, just bc I want it doesn’t mean I’ll get it or that the Sussexes will share.
george always looks worried and anxious
All that is missing is each person holding a handgun MAGA style. This photo is so baffling. They have access to THE MOST GORGEOUS backdrops and they went with this? Maybe it’s an effort to appear like the everyday folk? Or the everyday folk stuck in the 80’s? It’s bizarre.
LMAO!!! You’re so right, add some rifles, and it’s a MAGA dream photo.
I also notice that both W&K have one leg missing (behind or under the chair).
And also very weird, George is wearing a crown on his head. Why ?
All and all, the picture is a photoshopped mess.
See what happened when these two weirdo’s keep chasing a strange imaginary competition with H&M and who else. I think they do these things to bring some freakish excitement into their dull, failing marriage. Poor kids, their parents are creating damage goods by drowning them into this behaviour at their tender ages.
George is already Over. It. Only ten years old and he looks more world-weary than many 60 year olds I know…
This is at least the second time that Charlotte and Louis had to wear identical shoes in public. I wonder how they feel about that. Poor Louis will probably have to wear Charlotte’s pair when he grows out of his.
They finally bought their daughter a new, appropriate outfit! Her parents always make her wear outdated and the same dresses.I find it funny that the two spares always wear the same shoes! Anyway, this card is ugly. It is an attempt on their part to appear as a modern family, but they failed miserably.
‘Cost of living crisis innit’ Portrait
Poor dears! They can’t even afford shoelaces for their two youngest!
The picture is all wrong. They look anything but natural. They keep trying on different public personas looking for the one that will land instead of just being themselves. So it begs the question who are the real Will and Kate? My guess a bunch of total weirdos.
Also I use to get so irritated by the incessant Meghan masquerading that Kate has going on. But honestly I have decided to love it. To scheme for 10 years to bed (I mean bag) a prince. Only to have your once fairytale ending devolve into playing catch up and second fiddle to your modern royal biracial sister in-law. The BM hate Meghan because she is literally everything they wish Kate was and Kate KNOWS that. I absolutely love that for her. Oh well, Kate should have been kind.
This photo was getting torn apart on Twitter/X which is why the damage control op eds in the papers. All over an Xmas card.
I died at all the bots proclaiming this photo “serene” on social media. Ummm, where is that happening?
Aside from being so bad this is also such an obvious attempt to be relatable and “middle class” but people stopped taking photos like this 20+ years ago.
This year’s photo aside (because its a coronation pic), but generally speaking, charles and camilla are much better at the holiday photo game, and they’re in their 70s! It’s either a candid, or a posed pic that usually gives off the vibe of “look at us, out for a walk, oh we’ll stop a smile for a minute, back to our walk.” Like sometimes its a super stuffy formal pic (again like this year), but overall their photo choices tend to be much better. The Waleses should ask whover makes their cards for help.
The Charles/Camilla candid photos from engagements are often good.
My guess is this W&K one is a generic photo from a shoot months ago, possibly for things like tours. Just like last year, no current photo was taken specifically for the W&K card.
I see more t r o l l s have continued over from this weekend.
I bet Charles is laughing because it’s not his Christmas photo getting ripped apart on social media. Even if the coronation picture is a bit dorky, he’s not pretending to be normal and I think that’s what a lot of people are reacting to. The fake “look we are regular people” vibe backfired for the heir and his family.
The dead space around them is just the photographer trying to fit the laziness in frame you guys
This picture was composed by midjourney
Another failed attempt at reading the room. As my grandmother was find of saying ” always a day late and a dollar short”.
Charlotte wins Christmas.
To me, she favors the late Queen and William a bit. George favors the Spencers and Louis favors the Middletons.
Terrible stiff photo that conveys stale vanilla. No joy of the season, or anything else for that matter. Dear Charlotte, front and center representing and owning the shit out of this photo.
Good girl!
Y’all, the Fail has an article about the photoshop fail. The Fail, y’all. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m on the floor! They are finally recognizing that Kitty Keen has put a foot wrong?
“They seemed like a normal, loving family but no one would suspect that under the surface, trouble was brewing…”
Read in the voice of Keith Morrison (Dateline)….
Or Bill-Hader-as-Keith-Morrison. 😂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5Lv6t0moFY
I am thinking that the black and white photos might be a way to help disguise Kate’s clown makeup and janky wigs? The picture of her at the recital looks so much better in b & w than in color.
In this photo Charlotte looks like teenager and oldest of the bunch not like middle child she actually is. At the same time photos from the Kate`s piano recital show her as younger than her age.
I just looked at the kids.
Didn’t really notice the dull background setting.
Still better vs. costuming things up.
What in this photo is “California cool” exactly ? I wish the tabloids weren’t making it so obvious because now we just have to make fun of them for it.
I think it’s a little bizarre to have Charlotte only sitting? She becomes the central focus of the picture and your eye is naturally drawn to her, making her look like the heir on her own little throne. All hail future Queen Charlotte! Also I noticed Kate only seems to have one leg. It’s possible she has them very close together and her right leg is hidden behind the chair legs? Anyways, it’s such an odd picture and I’m really confused by the formal portrait session. I wonder how many pictures we’ll get released from this session for future posts? Like how they used several of the summer Norfolk pictures which they started with last year’s Christmas card. Next year for George’s birthday we’ll get a black and white picture of him sitting on the chair?
As soon as I saw the black and white, I was like “Oh more Meghan copy keening!” We know Meghan is fond of black and white photos and the Sussexes often posted black and white photos to their Instagram when they were active.
There’s a lot of empty space. That was my first thought. The photographer needed to be closer or set a zoom or something. I had the same issues with their Jordan holiday photo – the photographer seemed so far away.
That being said, I think the photo is fine in terms of styling or whatever. There are only so many ways you can do a family photo and W&K aren’t interesting so their photos reflect that.
This “Christmas Card” photo shocked me, I admit. It’s so … bleak.
This is Klan girl does Megan and fails again! Klan girl forgets that Harry and Megan’s Christmas card had “life”, smiles, movement and genuine happy family vibes. This looks like they just tolerate being together (if they are) I never r
Knew you could grow extra 6 inches on just one arm, or, could it be(it is) because the photographer realised that mum should have at least one arm around a child in a FAMILY Christmas card. It’s just like klan girls personality really, bland boring and best forgotten! Mmm I wonder how many pearls were clutched and gasps gasped at “the Royals”,doing Beverly hillbilly’s
😁. The Clampetts were way nicer people than the Waleses. Even perpetually ornery Granny.
Who the hell signed off on this horribly badly photoshopped image???? Good lord.
Of all the choices in the world they went with this nondescript photo. Not sure what the card is supposed to do but the kids have grown a lot. It does look a lot like that Danish royal picture where they were all wearing jeans. When people are picking apart the details in the card for photoshop fails, don’t think its giving what it’s supposed to.Definitely not festive, a bland version of an attendance card.
All the Wales do is copy Harry and Meghan they do their photos in black and white the British tabloids lose their minds with criticism. And then all of suddenly these two started with the black and white photos they have their Christmas card style with jeans on when Meghan and Harry were attack for being too casual in their Christmas card .
The cold, blandness of the photo reflects the Waleses’ marriage and personalities. All the warmth has been drained from the holiday with this picture. They look so incredibly stilted. I’d rather see one of their vacation photos than this. I guess when they have vacationed it was separately. I just can’t get over not having a holiday set up for the background. All those homes and not one couch or hearth for them to pose in front of. They really thought mall photo was the way to go.
That’s what gets me. If they wanted this just to be a family portrait, then fine whatever. But this is their yearly Christmas photo to share with the nation. And this is what they share? It’s borderline offensive. There is nothing festive or joyful about this. If they want to wear jeans and white button-downs, then fine, whatever. But pose by a Christmas tree or something. Or outside. Or something. This photo is like the grinch, stealing all the color and joy out of the season.
This really is a JC Penney’s or Sears photo, isn’t it? I mean, NOT their Christmas photos. WanK even made sure what they are standing on matches the wall behind them. It’s not what I consider a Christmas photo. It’s barren. That’s the only word that pops to mind.
I don’t know where they got white shirts and jeans being California cool–what? It just adds to how barren the photo is. I can’t come up with a reason for doing a photo this way.
I never wonder about the labels on clothes. I really could care less, so I shrug my shoulders about whatever label they chose to have any of them wear. I can say that this isn’t about the US. If people have holiday photos taken here, the environment is about the holiday. If they were going for relatable, they missed the mark. It’s a formal portrait. It’s a formal, barren portrait.
Hard agree with your assessment. It’s barren and formal. Nothing that suggests Christmas. And as far as logos go, it’s weird to me that they’re all wearing white shirts without one except for George. Isn’t that Ralph Lauren? So it’s not without logos. There’s one random American brand.
Surely Kate was looking to recreate this photo? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/royal-family/2023/12/10/TELEMMGLPICT000359423996_17021987374700_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqmApvVAv772k7GSA2bojtlN4NGXEhlRrX3JLTRVOHUAk.jpeg?imwidth=480
Little Harry is not a dominated figure in the portrait here. His stance is pretty independent and confident. He is spread out. William is more closed in on himself. Harry is not subservient to William. William’s lounging pose does not make him look like he has any command at all and he looks rather sullen. The composition is similar to the portrait William and Harry that was apparently removed from the National Portrait Gallery (?) when it re-opened. In that portrait, if I remember correctly, Harry is lounging against some kind of ledge, and William is standing up and appears and to loom over Harry. However, in both pictures, Harry is placed on the left, and he is the dominant figure in the portrait as well, looking relaxed and more casual. In both William appears to be the figure in the middle of the portrait, but it is Harry who catches the eye. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say.
All of this! 100%.
^^ Generally, a good analysis. However, I wouldn’t say that William ‘appears to loom over Harry’ in the National Portrait Gallery painting. In fact, William is trapped in the doorway of the room he’s standing in front of, with a photo of a former Windsor monarch on the far distant wall inside the room. 😳 The frame of the door starkly separates Harry from William. The flower portrait on the wall by Harry’s head, and slightly out of the frame, connotes the Flower in H’s future! 🪷🍀🫶🏽
“On the next episode of Evil Lives Here…”
But seriously, what a terrible photo. And no one is praising it outside of a few stubborn royalists (and even a lot of that group are unhappy with the card). Will and Kate are not the type who think that all publicity is good publicity (especially Will), and I have to wonder how much longer they’ll keep trying to chase after Harry and Meghan’s vibe. At the end of the day, their fans want the stuffy, stereotypical “royal” aesthetic with all the gaudy bells and whistles. Even as Kate continues her unhinged stalking of Meghan’s style, a lot of her fans miss those coat-dresses and froufrou outfits. They will never appeal to the younger generation, and I’m curious how many more fails and blandly-received stunts it will take for them to revert to old form.
@ Beach Dreams: LOL!
My god, the composition of this photo is horrible! * The shirts are so white and the pants so dark that the contrast is too stark and the fuzzy backdrop then absorbs any emotional affect. Charlotte is displayed in a huge chair, which cuts across in front of Louis, confining (caging) him into a small space at the far left. The pants of William, Kate and George form a dark “staircase” shape at the center of the image which becomes an untintentional focal point. George is set apart—the only one shown full figure, and with a Ralph Lauren logo (which should have been edited out)—to try to underscore the point that he is the anointed one. (Unfortunately for George, Charlotte on her “throne” steals the show.)
*Leaving aside for now the visual anomalies that suggest post-production manipulation.
There’s definitely been some manipulation done. Look at the shadow between Kate and William, it literally looks like it’s been coloured in with a sharpie. And her foot appears to be poised on the bottom rung of the chair. That being said, there’s absolutely nothing Christmassy about it at all. Just a ho-hum photo despite its try-hard “aren’t we cool” black and white blandness.
I am here for Queen Charlotte. She is such a little beauty. She has her own shine. George growing into his own. I love his countenance. He is going to shine brighter than William. Louis will always be my favorite. He is just a little plotter who can outsmart them all, lol. The children are beautiful.
For all the ideas this blog has given to them(the term California Cool as an example) they should start paying up lolZ..
For WK, this is another very desperate attempt to copy HM. I read the comments on SM regarding this yesterday and even their own fans were not kind with this photo..first of all they are not from California(they are not even Americans, which also baffled a lot of Americans who don’t follow the BRF) and 2nd of all it’s now becoming so blatant with their obsession on HM – which is making them look bad, some of the BM like the Guardian are calling them out on it.
It’s getting more ugly, and as someone else mentioned, might even be a British Invasion of CA sooner than later for a showdown.
According to royal gossip sites this is Bill and Cath’s: 1. clap back at Harry since the staging is similar to a 90’s holiday pix of Bill and Harry. 2. Showing just how ‘in touch and relatable’ they are with the middling sort. 3. Showing the family of the future (ie stable people unlike father and brother).
Sorry KP and Peg: There is no hiding a verbal, emotional, and physical abuser in the folds of just “middle class fella trying hold the whole thing together”. You signed off on the lifetime terror campaign directed at your brother, his wife, and their children.
Ever since qe2 passed that’s the feeling I’ve picked up on. Kate is trying to position herself and family as replacements and saviors. It’s not working. Kate and kids need to work to establish themselves. William can coast off of chuck & diana.
I wondered if this was last minute something possibly up with prior choice. Hair seems same as carol thing. Same needs a trim vibe
“California Cool”?!?!?!😆😝🤪
Hilarious! Clearly the British media has no clue at all about American culture, much less anything Californian. I realize their audience are the British tabloid readers, but sheesh, are people so gullible and empty-headed? Does no one on Salt Island dress like this ever?
Jeans and white shirts are seen as “Californian” now?
Inform the other 49 States.
Why is the British heir to the throne and his family striving for “California Cool?” Should they not strive to be the essence of Britishness, whatever that is? Harry and Meghan’s Christmas card conveyed pure joy, the family a close and connected unit introducing Lili to the world. It captured a moment. It was in colour. There was denim, all different, and Harry in a blue shirt, Archie in white, and Meghan in a sweater. There was a beautiful background, a sense of home. Happiness leapt from the picture.
The Wales’s portrait is so dark and with a photo studio background also dark, the overall feeling is rather gloomy. I also think the composition conveys a rather interesting message. Charlotte, seated is very much a focus. She is the only one who is not “connected to her brothers and parents. She is poised, casual, smiling, exuding confidence. She is really Boss here. Conventionally, Kate should be seated, perhaps with Louis and Charlotte on each side of her, George standing with William, as the two heirs. Louis and Charlotte may be the two spares, shown on a lower level than William, Kate and George, but Charlotte captures the eye.
I find the whole letter thing at the concert a bit puzzling. I thought the children were sending letters to Santa. If so, why weren’t the children attending also allowed to use the mail box to send a letter to Santa. Then I learned that the children were sending letters to a needy child? what a completely bizarre idea! It is downright repulsive. I think the concert was a “thank you” for the attendees so I guess you can’t ask them to bring a gift for a needy child. But why wasn’t money donated from the royal foundation to charities that provide gifts for needy children? How is a young child going to be thrilled to get a letter from a child who has every material thing? Why does every KP idea never result in any actual help for anyone and always seems to cost the tax payer tons of money.
People pointed out how out of touch the letters were, they read the ideas in cb site and they made a video with Kate and the children volunteering in a baby bank! Cb should be paid for the professional advises given 😅😅😅
I haven’t seen anyone make fun of this… I anything I’ve noticed how many people have liked this pic as it undesirably pops up in my instagram feed
Twitter (now called X) had a field day on this yesterday, esp why the need for mentioning M and “California cool”.
Photo is not bad, but the stalking vibe it’s just really is getting very tiring. They’re just so obsessed with H&M. From the black & white photo, to the outfits. I can’t believe I’m looking @ this in real time.
I totally forgot all about Kate’s “Christmas is all about ME” concert. This past weekend, all the news in my area was focused on Shohei Ohtani.
And the award for the worst Photoshop Fail of the Year goes to…..
The black and white is odd – it makes the whole thing look like some poor quality photocopy of a copy. I guess that helps with photoshopping?
And you know, if this were a friend’s card or something posted on Facebook by one of my older relatives – it would be totally fine. But like it or not, the Windsors are nothing more than influencers, and not even a-list ones! Every YouTuber, podcaster, and website I follow has content posted for Thanksgiving and the winter holidays that they obviously filmed or prepared earlier. It’s not rocket science! Even the most basic of basic celebrities do it. And again, they won’t like to admit it, but that’s what these photos are for, right? They could have not posted them, but they need the attention. The fact that the palaces coordinate the posts tells us that they desperately want people to respond.
There’s nothing wrong with the Windsors having a bunch of photos done all in one day in the summer (especially if, ahem, scheduling everyone all in one place is challenging). They have the money for professionals! There is no reason why their photos need to look unpolished or badly photoshopped. Perhaps normal bill and Cathy are confused about the difference between looking cheap and being cheap?
If they are trying to be sensitive to the cost of living crisis, they could have used any of the photos taken at Charles’ coronation.
What a strange choice for a holiday card. This is the first time I’ve seen William somewhat smile around his family. He and Kate have such an odd vibe.
Folks are really going after Team W on this photo.
It’s just a family Xmas photo.
Yes, it could have been done better, in color would have been nice, better backdrop, etc.
Where is the family dog? Didn’t the kids have a dog at one time?
Dogs always make a family pic better.
IRL, most of us only look at the family photos to see how the kids are doing.
In fact, my nephew made a point of saying “Well, do you think I look older?” And I blurted out “Oh, you look fine I guess, I really only looked at the kids”
I know what he looks like, he’s 43. They live out of state, the kids are the draw. LOL
In the grand scheme of things is just a photo. It could be for anything so not screaming holidays but its not that big a deal. I think some people were hoping for something more spectacular and that awful headline having to drag Meghan’s name into it unnecessarily did not help at all, nor using the little girl as competition. Competition for who? She’s a child. It seems like the discourse from the UK press was all kinds of bad and their fans were unimpressed. It is what it is.
You knew this was going to happen. A commenter on a different site appeared to blame the failed Photoshop on a veiled reference to the plotters in California.
Wtf? How in the hell could this be the fault of H&M?
That old black and white photo of William and Harry is positively bone-chilling. The chair looks as if it decorated Satan’s living room. The dark molded wood serves as a throne for a boy William to sprawl upon, looking absolutely nothing like any other photo of him before or since, with an expression on his face of utter hauteur. Harry looks tiny and as frightened as a boy who’s been locked up in a basement with evil spirits for weeks on end. No parents in the photo to give warmth or comfort, just establishing the hierarchy of heir and spare in the starkest of terms. It’s haunting and awful, I can’t imagine why it was ever released…
I agrée! That old photo is ridiculously bad, and William looks like a totally different person. That’s why I couldn’t understand why Will and Kate decided to reference it. Wasn’t the old photo from Diana’s first separated year?
What a bore
Has any of them ever BEEN to California? Certainly not to visit Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilli, but . . . This is as far from California as you can get. Where is the frigging sun, for God’s sake. This pic could have been taken in Alaska, Nebraska, etc, but certainly has nothing of the sunny, chill California vibe. In fact, this family is anything BUT sunny and chill. They could referencing the Addams family and I’d believe it or Charles Dickens’ Hard Times (hard for others, but not for them). Or maybe they’re referencing the American Great Depression era, which in no way would have suited these frauds (only parents, not kids). They are not only “off” regarding their own country, but certainly they have no concept of America. They fail miserably, as always. Where is the joy of Christmas?
She just had a whole Christmas themed video where she had multiple costume changes into more festive and Christmas themed clothes. She had a Christmas tree, ornaments and her whole palace decor to work with, yet she instead chose a dreamy gray draped background and solid white shirts for a festive Christmas photo with her kids. No lights, no trees, no ornaments, no sweaters, no signs at all that this photo is in anyway supposed to be for a festive and joyful time like Christmas. I just don’t understand her.
I think that there was quite a bit of photoshopping in this photo. I’m not sure about Louis’s finger, it could be that he is gripping the arm of the chair in a certain way that makes his middle finger look as if it is missing or there was actual photoshopping there. It is clear that both William and Kate are missing one foot and one leg. I don’t believe the excuse given above works because the chairs leg is too narrow to block either of their legs or feet considering their placement in the back. Not only is the chair leg too narrow to hide William’s left leg and foot but his left upper leg is missing entirely behind Louis. In the gap to the left of Louis’s hip, the back of the chair and below the arm of the chair you can clearly see the same dreary gray backdrop that is behind all of them. Kate’s fingers around George’s waist are also oddly pointing upwards which would make her arm and fingers entirely too long. I don’t know if they all weren’t together when they took this photo but there was obviously lots of photoshopping happening.
There is so much technically and creatively wrong with this picture – besides shoddy post production editing/retouching
I don’t know how much *creative* control the photographer had, but a more experienced photographer would have gently guided them in a different creative direction and would definitely have had a better lighting set up, different composition, used a different post production edit (colour grade ito sharpness, contrast, highlights and shadows) and I would have gone for a tighter crop and a whole different backdrop
Nonetheless, it’s in the royal annals of history forever now and people in a hundred years time will think “they really didn’t understand photography in the olden days”
This photo is so sad. I don’t like this family (team Sussex!!) but I’ve been unhappy in a marriage, and trying to keep it together looked like this. Weird. Stiff. Uncool.
Kate was such a sporty, natural person. I think that’s her at her most authentic. This new hair and makeup looks like she’s trying to obliterate her identity. I hope she has a friend that can convince her to tone it down. Comments about how she must be without a glam squad sound correct: if she has a squad, I think they’re consciously sabotaging her.
Guys, we are all SO wrong! They aren’t racist, they have a BLACK and white Xmas pic!! 🙄 They are ModErN and EDgY.