We’re at the point of the Princess of Wales-video newscycle where royalists are doing analysis of what the new video means and what’s really going on. On Monday, Kensington Palace released the statement and video from Kate and William, and it seemed like an uncomfortable new era for them, where they feel the need to provide proof of life for their marriage, only they can’t really pull it off. It also seemed like the imagery of their performatively “happy marriage” stepped on the “message,” which is that Kate is (by her own description) “cancer free” and that she completed her chemotherapy treatment. Well, anyway, this analysis in the Evening Standard is making the rounds this week. The headline: “I’m delighted the Princess of Wales is getting better, but that dreadful video was like a shampoo advert.” Sub-head: “It’s very good news that Kate is recovering but did we really need this emotional exhibitionism?”
Of course, it’s marvellous news that the Princess of Wales has come to an end of chemotherapy treatment and is well on the way to recovery. Which of us did not feel for her in her last, sombre announcement that she had cancer? It is also the best of news that she will be returning to public duties; she was missed. The prayers of the nation have been answered.
But forgive me…was it necessary to share this news with the nation in an utterly grisly video? If she were advertising Herbal Essences (Tropical Showers) shampoo, it would have been just the thing. The shots of her walking in slow motion through a sunlit meadow, her long hair moving in the breeze, her slender figure shown to advantage in her simple cotton frock, why, it made one feel emotionally manipulated, squeezed like a lemon for the last drop of sympathy. So, she’s feeling well? One is glad; one doesn’t need the point rubbed home with a gruesome image of her releasing a little yellow butterfly from her hand.
As for the shots of her and William lying on the grass, shoulder to shoulder, or her head lying his shoulder, it was in the first place a ghastly piece of emotional exhibitionism and in the second, a hostage to fortune. The time may come when their marriage may come under strain — these things happen to the happiest couples — and they won’t wish to have these images reproduced.
All one can say, really, is that the late queen would have died early rather than subject herself to this extraordinary display of trite sentiment (“Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright”). Or at any rate, she would have expressed her feelings of gratitude soberly in the light of her Christian faith. Kate’s is the stuff of every contemporary self-help book to do with living in the moment and being grateful for the small stuff.
Is emotional reticence now over in the Royal family? One fears so, though it still, thank God, has a place with the redoubtable Princess Anne. But it comes at a cost. By turning the Royals into exhibits of emotional wellness, it diminishes their value as parts of a national institution in which dignity is the main thing. Kate has lost that.
This is an important point: “she would have expressed her feelings of gratitude soberly in the light of her Christian faith.” QEII had significant health issues in her final years, and she found solace in her faith and she carried herself with dignity. Of course QEII would never subject herself to a glossy, try-hard commercial to prove the state of her marriage. The larger point is that the video felt ill-conceived and tonally wrong for the message. While it always amuses me to watch British people’s consistent revulsion towards any emotion expressed publicly, I think people have been turned off by this video more because it seems so trite and almost cynically conceived.
Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace/Will Warr.
“The time may come when their marriage may come under strain — these things happen to the happiest couples — and they won’t wish to have these images reproduced.”
That reads like “we know what’s really going on, which makes this awkward video even more nauseating”
I thought the same.
Yup. Saying the quiet part out loud.
Statiscally women with cancer have higher divorce rates even after they beat it and the older royal fans know this.
The video has a weird filter like it’s from the 70s and we are looking at the past not the present.
Overall they’ve gone from one extreme to the other with too little to too much coverage.
The videos’ forced affection aside I think elderly British people are more interested in William n Kate than most demographics but the rest of the world is losing interest in it all.
Ella… precisely. These people have a difficult time finding their middle ground.
To be fair to William, he was giving her the cold shoulder years before there ever was mention of cancer. Only their hatred of Harry and Meghan kept them working together. But post Oprah interview in spring 2021, William was done with her.
My friend told me that her children held a moment’s silence for Kate and prayed for her in their school assembly today.
I feel nauseated by this. People are being genuinely hoodwinked and they don’t even realise.
Jumped out to me as well. They are warning them that the public will feel duped when they split. That the public will feel duped is frankly terribly sad, but apparently there are people who buy the dribble that Kkkate and egg put out.
Yes that was key. The press know what’s really going on and they are chomping at the bit to burst that bubble. The standard is a Tory paper so this type of opinion, with a similar one from the more left guardian suggests they were given the ok from BP to be critical.
It seemed like a not so veiled threat.
Warning shots. Guess there’s only so much the the press is willing to put up with
I think the press will put up with anything if it means they can be the exalted presence of Cain and Unable? And I do mean anything.
@MY3CENTS, LOL What’s the alternative, a republic?
First thing I thought of, because they do know what’s going on. Even mentioning marriage strain in light of that video tells us something.
Mentioning marriage strain in response to a video that was released to basically say “our marriage is the most perfect marriage ever and nothing wrong has ever happened here” is top tier trolling I must say.
What the hell did I just see? Didn’t she want privacy ? I think the standing ovation she got left her punch drunk on herself and she overplayed her hand AGAIN. People don’t love her. they just felt bad for her.
“These things happen to the happiest couples” was a straight-up acid burn! I loved it.
I think it was modern for the digital age and very American. Times are changing fast, and the silent dignified hidden away Princess of Wales didn’t work.
On the American theme I’ve mentioned, the dignified Hilary Clinton is replaced by a very human Kamala Harris, who jokes, makes faces, and laughs unselfconsciously. She is celebrated and given a well deserved win. I’ll give Kate the win too.
No, it was very sad and forced. Both looked unwell-not just Kate.
Kamala is authentic. This was not.
This W&K video has the vibe of a commercial for ED medication rewritten as a self-promotion exercise.
I’m surprised, but happy, that anyone in the British media is calling it out.
But how typical that they’re focusing on the “inappropriate PDA” as the problem. There’s nothing wrong with PDA. There’s a lot wrong with performative inauthentic manipulative PDA.
Even when they get it right they can’t help but get it wrong.
Kate is nothing like Kamala . Meghan is..natural, real, empathic . Kate and co were painfully choreographed , there’s not a spontaneous frame in this video ..maybe the children, being children, were unselfconscious. William was absolutely cringeworthy . Give her the win? Whatever for ..she is still the wind up Barbie she always was and her lines were probably written ahead by her PR people
Huh @A.B. Funkhauser? 😳 Umm, wrong comparison and a wrong reading altogether. Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris obviously have distinct personalities and fairly different backgrounds. But they share a number of commonalities as well. Both are strong, fearless, intelligent, caring leaders who possess personal authenticity. Hillary’s unique way of laughing was made fun of, just as Kamala’s laugh has been made fun of. They both have a natural charm and a steely toughness. The paths blazed by Hillary and by many other American women leaders, especially by Shirley Chisholm, has made Kamala’s important presidential candidacy a much more viable ‘break through that glass ceiling’ reality! Hillary punched a lot of cracks into it. And sane people are hoping and working toward Kamala finishing the job with great skill, delight, focus, and determination. 💪🏽
In regard to Kate/ Willy/ KP’s latest desperate p.r. embiggening pretenses, let’s leave authentic American leaders out of that salty isle messiness. 🙄
I think it was very modern for the digital age and very American. The silent, dignified, hidden Princess of Wales of the past year didn’t work, did it?
To the American theme I mentioned previously, I am reminded of the dignified, poised and controlled Hilary Clinton who lost to circus antics. Kamala Harris jokes, makes meme worthy faces, and laughs unselfconsciously. She is celebrated for it, deservedly, and gets the win. I’ll give Kate the win too.
Kate is not American. She is not funded by Americans. She needs to appeal to the media and the taxpayers of the UK. That is her audience and to them, this was a miss.
They crucified Meghan for being open and claimed it wasn’t royal. They can’t now pretend this is okay from the white princess. Besides no one asked to see her and William do fake pda.
It was American alright. An American pharmaceutical ad. The director/videographer who films commercials for Uber Eats. They are literally selling people a product, which is the Happy Royal Family (TM).
And my God, the Gladiator style palms grazing tall golden grass, the butterfly flitting from her palm, the overwrought aspirational quotes, the sepia overlay? It was all way. Too. Much. They are quite obviously trying to sell us something. The least they could’ve done would be to have specifically thanked her medical team who took care of her, and dropped a link to donate to a cancer charity. But hey, that would actually mean that they did their job. 🙄
To add a personal note to this, I had someone close to me suffer cancer, and their main worry was hoping that they would get better quickly enough to get back to work because bills had begun piling up. Seeing something like a woman with the biggest privilege drop aspirational quotes while vacationing on one if their many properties is… well, you guys get the idea.
This gauzy swill to promote unelected leaders living off the public fisc is definitely NOT American. If you’re saying the soft-focus, yellow-lit video featuring active children, kissy hubby and happy cancer-free victim driving the car to a secluded picnic spot looks like an American infomercial for douche or shampoo, I might agree. But at the end of such an American infomercial there would be no mistaking the BRAND of douche or shampoo viewers are supposed to BUY. Whereas here, what is the brand of the product people are supposed to be buying? They’ve already paid.
In a real business environment, to gauge the effectiveness of a promotion, before and after sales figures would be compared in the markets where the promotion ran. But in this case, what’s to be done by BRFCo & Assoc? Run some of those idiotic polls about how happy the poor taxpayers are that Kate got to enjoy premium healthcare paid for by the public, and many months off the arduous work of cutting ribbons and shaking hands? Crazy.
Honestly, this has got nothing to do with American politicians, past or present. William and Kate will be the collective heads of the constitutional monarchy, he, the monarch and sovereign in 14 Commonwealth Realms.
Well said, kirk. I might just remind everyone that the movie Gladiator starred a NZ-born Australian, Russell Crowe. 🙂
Just a clarification but Kate means nothing to the constitution of any country. Only Charles and then William matter. William is irrelevant to Canada, Australia, etc until he is monarch. Even then only symbolically outside of the Uk because those countries function just fine without them present. They have no real role anymore. Kate will never matter just as Camilla doesn’t and Philip didn’t. Consorts aren’t needed. That’s just a British fairytale.
Why is this ” give Kate the win ” post repeated twice , comparing her with real women like Hilary Clinton and Kamala Harris . Please , what has she ever done compared to these high achieving , super brilliant working women . Who are you Funkhauser ? Carole Middleton ?
Will was in the video also so why is Kate getting slammed and not PW? He is letting her take the fall again like with the frankenphoto? But he is so protective of her not being called Kate, it has to be Katherine?
In both cases it was all about Kate but yeah he only defends her when it suits him.
Agreed @Equality did Sid the Sexist write this opinion ? Why is she the focus of all the criticism or is it the writer’s view that it is HER fantasy of a marriage to a husband who loves her madly?
I mean, it was Kate’s announcement. It’s her news. It’s her voiceover in the video. Of course she’s the focus of the criticism. Besides, it’s not like William is a heatscore to begin with. When anybody else is around, William is an afterthought.
This video doesn’t go out unless Kate wants this. And it is primarily focused on her. She can take responsibility for this because it’s not something like the Franken photo.
Exactly @Nic19 this her message that she wants out there. She should be getting the blame.
It’s her announcement and her voiceover. Of course she’s getting the blame.
It also must be what PW approved to be out there. It’s her voiceover, but he is right there with her being directed and filmed. So are all the articles criticizing the video and emphasizing criticism of Kate his PR in response?
Because Kate is the married-in and she will always be criticized more than the heir to the throne.
But criticizing it period instead of the usual fawning over the perfect “English rose” is a choice.
Should the kids be criticized as well for appearing in the video? William isn’t the one frolicking in the fields and there are other things for which he can be criticized.
The woman has agency here and she wasn’t forced to do it. This is the message she wants out there.
Not sure I see your point. Will has “agency” also. Are you assuming he was forced? The children on the other hand, probably didn’t have a clue what this was even about. My point was the handling by the media and wondering if this was PW PR. I wasn’t saying anyone should be criticized for it.
Does anyone remember when they were on the balcony for Trooping and and he said to her, “You win, ok”? So, yes, I think she has agency and is pulling rank in her own way. He only has himself to blame. Personally, for all of Will’s faults, he isn’t an exhibitionist because he is secretive and paranoid. He knows that by “putting it all out there” he opens himself up to unwanted scrutiny. He is not Harry.
IF they resort this to show that they are “together,” then the marriage has been and is under a strain.
Right — like the AD profile of the blissfully happy home two months before the divorce announcement
A hell of a lot of this video seems to be about them as a touchy feely couple. If they were truly touchy feely, they’d not have made a video like this; it would be so natural to them that they’d not ‘inflict’ it on film crew strangers, and save it for later. Indeed, would anyone behave like this in front of strangers and in some sense their own kids. I don’t mean it’s wrong or anything just odd in the sand dunes bit. It’s been directed by a producer at their behest. Branding not reality. If someone like goop put this out, we’d all roll our eyes and laugh at her naff self indulgence. I wonder how much the re rumours of Rose drove them into this. Apols for any typos, I’m doing this without my glasses on!
Released a yellow butterfly, I wonder how much she damaged its wings by holding it in her hands.
The real issue is that they have to produce a glossy video to “show” how much in love they are. Harry and Meghan just walk down the street or into a room or watch a sporting event and the images come naturally. This heavily produced video is perfect for a heavily produced marriage.
Your last line is just *chefs kiss*
So yeah, I don’t think the emotional exhibitionism is the real issue here. Royals showing emotions and vulnerabilities is not a bad thing …if it rings true. This just doesn’t. It feels like contrived emotional fakery and propaganda. Had they done a video showing Kate meeting with other Cancer survivors or support groups mixed in with the pics of her with the kids without the overdone meadow and butterfly, it would’ve worked. They’re taking cancer and using it to sell their marriage and it feels ick. Also, in the Netflix doc, Harry and Meghan mixed in their own home footage with the production footage. In this video, the wales make it look like home footage when it’s not. It’s all produced. So they tried to copy Harry and Meghan but they didn’t really. Harry and meghan actually had cell phone videos mixed in with the gloss. They talked about history and the commonwealth. This was all just Will and Kate.
This feels like propaganda (which it is) which is why I think its rubbing so many people the wrong way. It feels contrived and fake like you said @Jais. Home movies from the past 9 months would have gone over very differently IMO. Even a family photo with maybe 30 seconds of behind the scenes footage of getting everyone lined up or whatever.
To be fair Becks, propaganda and the monarchy are close bed fellows. It’s just more obvious now with SM. But, yes, they could tone it down so as not to be so blatantly treating people like mugs.
Royals showing modest affection is acceptable. The future King and Consort ought to be restrained. Do you expect the POTUS and FL to be hanging all over each other and expect to have respect of their people?
Do you think it is appropriate that couples at work kiss and cuddle each other in the workplace? Royals are not celebrities. The constitutional monarchy is a system of government. This fact is missing in the conversation.
My thought exactly. They thought they had successfully Sussexed this. Narrator: They did not.
The Sussexes are not even overly demonstrative in public. They mostly just hold hands. They’re not swooning and rolling over each other.
The video was in poor taste – it’s very much looks like a ‘lovely summer vacation’ video that you make for your family. She clearly had a lovely summer off and is determined to show that her husband and kids did as well.
This was a rebrand attempt in very very poor taste – for the ES to even print it means that is didn’t hit the mark with the plebs it was supposed to. The ‘me me me me me and what about meeee’ vibes will come back to bite them.
There are so many ways this could have been a really nice video, it’s astonishing how much they missed the mark. It’s like they cannot show Kate in any way not perfectly dolled up and looking like she’s the image of rested health. Why not show pictures from her recovery? Why not a photo of her with her doctor/a nurse? I’m not saying show her in a hospital gown, but something that actually shows that she was sick *at all*. Kids bringing her breakfast in bed (not even going to suggest Will for this lol). Or, imagine, an image of her zooming with other cancer patients?? There’s a whole community of British people that Kate could have found strength *from*, instead her message is 100%, *I* am cancer patients inspiration…Just ugh. Exactly the “me me and what about meeee” vibes!!
Also, we’ve been told since January that she is too sick to work. but she is well enough to romp around the country, go for long country walks with her children, play on the beach, etc. In some of the stills she looks a little tired, we’ve heard from TheHench that she is a lot thinner in real life….but overall she looks fine here, certainly well enough to work.
And yet we’re being told that’s not going to happen.
I note that during William’s walkabout yesterday or whenever it was, he said Kate “still has a long way to go”. He had to get that in to ensure that no one thinks a woman who could spend all day filming was well enough to, I don’t know, make a video call to a charity or whatever.
That video also took some time to make, especially with the different locations and wardrobe changes. So she took the time to promote herself and do some fake pda with William, but had zero time to visit a cancer charity. It is massively self absorbed and narcissistic which is what people are responding to. The message it sends is “I’m going to focus on me above everything” which is the opposite of the message the BRF tries to put out in order to justify their unearned wealth.
The Marie Antoinette comparison fits more and more every day.
Nic- yeah this is the worst part of this video. Kate can do all this stuff we see but not make even a (non-zoom) Phone Call which requires no dress-up? Can’t send messages of thanks to her team, or share resources over twitter/insta, which, let’s face it, would simply involve telling an aide to post?
That is way more concerning and insulting than the forced PDA. If you can play in the forest and do a video of your romping around the trees, and playing with butterflies like a Kindergartner, you are not fooling anyone by saying you’re too sick to work
If she wants to keep her strain of cancer private, she has that right. She could do an Youtube segment on the top ten cancers and where to receive care or even where to start once diagnosed.
Nic and Rapunzel: 100%.
Lady D: she has the right to keep her true diagnosis secret and the public has every right to question the veracity of what she is claiming. After all, it’s been one long vacation for her this year. She hasn’t been sick every day. She’s been to the royal box for the men’s tennis final, she had numerous days out with her family, well publicised and now this.
Having rights means responsibilities too, usually. It’s never one way and was always the case. I do question the lack of scrutiny of the monarchy.
Charles hasn’t disclosed what he has either but he was more open in terms of treatment, visited a cancer group and returned to work.
He didn’t hide away, send fake photos and then do a frolicking video groping Camilla.
They should’ve just had her sitting on the bench again, maybe with W hand ing hand this time to show his support. That would’ve gone a lot farther than whatever that was.Their marriage is a farce and they’re going too far in the opposite direction to prove that it isn’t.
You nailed what was appropriate in one.
I am loling at a British paper being horrified by all the icky emotion though.
That’s what’s cracking me up! They hate emotion! Real or fake, they don’t like it!! 🤣
Exactly. I’m glad that she’s recovering but the video was nauseating. A new family picture and the statement would have been enough. Also, the medical staff who have allegedly been looking after her should have been thanked.
And again, she should have done something, any little thing, to thank caregivers, researchers, etc., and pretended that she had even a modicum of empathy for those going through cancer treatment and life without her extreme (and publically financed) privilege. She’s stoking the theory that she wasn’t sick.
I think thanking the medical staff and caregivers would invite too many questions, which is why she hasn’t done it. Call me crazy.
I kind of think that too – it would raise too many questions – but she doesn’t have to name any names or even the hospital outside of the London Clinic. Or there aren’t to thank.
Or hell throw a link to a cancer charity at the end of the video.
She’s just so self-involved it blows my mind.
Charles managed to do it.
Agree ab simple, direct video w William. Hold hands , talk directly to camera. The video is so unrelatable.
I think it could have worked if the videos were more natural ones that kids just take at home of their parents and siblings. Just cute little snippets of their happy (lol) home life. Then I think she should have been seen with fellow patients and their families. The line about “walking along side” other people suffering when she hasn’t even done a Zoom call rang really hollow. I was honestly surprised how well it seemed to be received as I thought it was tacky and tone deaf.
Agreed! As other commenters mentioned, H&M’s docu felt way more authentic because they mixed in home footage with produced ones. They had historians for additional context and education . W&K probably didn’t have any home footage to add. No education was offered, even broad cancer education if they didn’t want to specify what kind of cancer she has. Nothing about her doctors/nurses, nothing about how we can support cancer patients in need. Just an overproduced mess for an overproduced couple.
@Becks1 You’re right about that but even the London Clinic stay was a bit of a fiasco. She’s wasn’t seen entering or exiting, William “visited” her once for 15 minutes, and her parents were MIA. Thanking the London Clinic would reignite questions as to when she was there, for how long, and why she wasn’t seen. If she dropped a link to cancer charity, there would be too many questions on her specific type of cancer. Correct me if I’m wrong but is there just a general cancer charity? Aren’t they usually a specific type of cancer charity? They’re keeping everything as vague a as possible.
I made one or two less than complimentary comments, in the Fail, they are not there now.
It’s like a romp around Howards End! So privileged, and unaware of its own indulgence, that it ruins the message of “we’re all in this together”. The attempt was age old English sentiment mixed in with modern coupledom. I’m surprised they didn’t walk around with a mini aga in the ruck sack. It just ended up as contrived soup. And where is the thanks for the medical team, etc.
They are pointing out that she is ungracious and ungrateful to have created the video without even thanking the millions who have been worried and have wished her well during this time. They really did the video for a 2 people audience in montecito. “See? I made it, im happy and we have a wonderful family life, life is beautiful for us, ok?” Feels very petty showy and self centered in this angle, but they are their usual selves. Is somebody surprised?
You are exactly right. This video was made to ‘stick it’ to the Sussexes. This obsession will be their downfall, it already has been in some ways. If you are screaming “my marriage is much stronger than yours”, then the game is already over.
Not just without thanking those who were worried, but pointedly without thanking the British taxpayers who paid for her top notch health care that they cannot access themselves.
> British taxpayers who paid for her top notch health care that they cannot access themselves.
Hear Hear!
Yet, there are people who have run with this, talking about their cancer and treatment in detail, and how they relate to her. The conditioning and brainwashing of the Brits toward the royal family is real.
Look, the fact is that WanK are well known for NOT having public displays of affection. Nothing that WanK have done since Christmas 2023 until this video dropped changed that perception—if you go back to Trooping, the lack of affection is a one of the takeaways. Someone should have informed KP that you need to drop hints if you’re going to do a 180 on messaging! This video just comes across as emotional manipulation instead of genuine because of this.
Noone is asking her to get out and work but she can do a quick zoom with cancer patients or an organization
She can give information for cancer research
Will should also be visiting cancer patients and organizations
That’s why they’re getting the backlash
Didn’t they also make a similar video on a beach, that looked like insurance commercial? They are trying to present a modern image of a royal couple while releasing quotes to the royal reporters how Will/Kate is so alike to QE2. You can’t be both. If you don’t choose, people are just gonna assume you are fake.
Yeah, the video on the beach was after Harry and Meghan were seen in a black and white video on the beach with baby Archie during the Oprah interview. It’s a one-sided competition in which they stage glossy videos to prove they are better at being Harry and Meghan.
@sevenblue This is their douche commercial
That was for their 10 year anniversary in April 2021. But the video was filmed in fall 2020 based on foliage and such.
Queen Elisabeth and her syncopants lied for years about her health condition.
And you think we are getting the truth about Kate and Charles? Make no mistake about it, they are still lying to us.
I think that’s one reason why the video is raising some eyebrows. First cancer was not thought to be present, then cancer cells “had been found,” now KP is saying after a video in which Kate pronounced herself “cancer free” that they can’t really say that. And ever since the bench video (in which cancer cells “had been found” was announced), they’ve acted as though it’s a much, much, MUCH more dire situation than that. Kate says, “I’m cancer free!” and “Oh but yeah still no workies from me,” so what the heck do they expect people to think?
Add onto that the desperate amount of PDA in this video compared to years of the two barely interacting in public (and when they do, with barely concealed annoyance on W’s part)…it feels like manipulation, because it is.
Put me firmly in camp “no workies from me”
It was a very over produced and they come across as fake and truly bad actors trying to say look at how much PDA we can manufacture. The Sussexes don’t need an over produced video to prove their love for one another it just oozes out of them naturally because they truly love one another. I again don’t believe she had cancer. Something happened on December 28th but they won’t discuss it. Stop hiding behind cancer. It’s disgraceful.
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Back again!
Over produced and too effing long. Why was a 3 minute video needed??? Especially when they weren’t highlighting their medical team, charities, etc.?
Pea-brained rationalization: if the next video is over 5 min, hard boiled and waity exclaim we won’t have to work until 2028
I complained about the length too LOL. I think if it had been a minute, and pretty much the exact same video just shortened, it would have been a lot better received.
Exactly – they sure spent a ton of time and money to say very, very little.
All those trees! So many trees! Just cut the dang trees! (I mean, from the video!)
I’ve never believed it, either, only for a nanosecond when it was first announced.
That they thought anyone would be moved by this vulgar display during a cost of living crisis is indicative of the utter contempt the ruling class has for the masses. Anyone who failed to see through this should take a media literacy class because they are not ready for the age of distortion and unreality we find ourselves in.
well said. vulgar indeed …
The comment about QEII really hit me as well. Queen Elizabeth, for all her warts and failings, really did have (or her staff did, dunno) an excellent read on tone and messaging and more importantly using her voice rarely, making it more noticeable when she did. The two that stand out to me are her video address after 9/11 and her Covid message. Weird timing to be writing this comment on the anniversary of 9/11. I watched the 60 minutes NYFD story on Sunday and thought of QEII’s message, at the time I cried watching her speak. I don’t know why it affected me so much and of course I’d cried many times following 9/11. But, her remarks were so dignified, restrained, but with a quiet, deep emotion of sadness and compassion for all the victims to them. The same with her Covid video.
I’m not a fan of the emotional constipation of the Royal Family and don’t think it’s a virtue, but I do think that there’s something in the emotional neediness of Kate’s video that Queen Elizabeth would never, ever do.
I think the late Queen would be horrified by this video. I wouldn’t be surprised if the King is as well.
100% agreed. The late QEII was all about maintaining the mystique of the monarchy, whilst letting the “subjects” feel that they have access. It’s a fine balancing act which QEII handled with aplomb. These two amateurs have no idea.
The vulgar display of affection is inappropriate. He had his hand on her legs, on top of her in front of their children. Harry and Meghan don’t behave like that and they are not the future King and Consort.
^^ Right! The further issue, though, is that this ill-conceived p.r. embiggening act and one-way H&M copy-keening attempt comes off as forced, scripted pre-sex foreplay! 👀 😳 It is definitely NOT genuine affection nor real love on display between early 40s parents with an obvious and reported history of confrontational spats, angst, rumored adultery by Peg, disaffection, and bts ‘pillow-throwing’. The forced scripting especially does not work with their pre-teenage kids frolicking around them in a schmaltzy, over-sentimentalized nature setting. 🙄 👎🏽
H&M’s much more natural and spontaneous displays of affection are not orchestrated for photographers or videographers. It comes out of their rare, deep, and undeniable bond of real love, respect, and marital bliss. H&M’s hard-won relationship is a gift nurtured through mutual sacrifice, caring, selflessness, and courage in the face of unnerving and undeserving hardships.
The familial and media-driven stresses that WanK are dealing with have been mostly self-inflicted. Karma do not play. FAFO. Unrelieved stress, poor diet, and unhelpful lifestyle practices can contribute to illness in mind, body, and spirit.
W&K are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They desperately want to be like H&M and capture the world’s attention and so copy everything they do but then piss of the staunch royalists by behaving in ways they deem too Hollywood, or emotional, or whatever else. I don’t feel bad for them but I find this space they’re in in terms of branding very interesting.
They want to be liked like H&M, but they’re missing that key ingredient: sincerity.
Becky English is already performing clean up duties, bemoaning the “cynics” and them missing the point lol.
Ah if Becky has been sent out then it definitely didn’t land well at least not with the people they needed it to. I was very surprised with Lainey thinking it was awesome as well as a couple of American culture people who I follow (not royalists at all which is why I found their perspective interesting) also thinking it was a hit. I saw someone on Twitter pointing out that the Jeremy Vine show covered for a long section it but didn’t take any calls which is odd they normally do. Personally if I were a Brit this would honestly make me sign up to rally with the Not My King crowd. Very tone deaf.
Nah, BE is wrong. The video itself was manipulative and oddly cynical. People are not cynics for feeling put-off by it.
I think cams or BP let the media know they could be critical, because there is a critical piece in the guardian and mirror as well as the standard.
Yeah the fact that the media is not 100% sycophantic about this tells me that someone in BP gave the go ahead for that. I can honestly see Camilla and Charles rolling their eyes at this – not just because they dislike Kate, but because this video feels so opposite from Charles’ attitude during his chemo. He doesn’t need to produce a glossy video because we see him regularly.
@Nic919 – I’ll wager the second Ma and Pa Middleton were shown playing cards with the kids is when KCIII and his wife “let the dogs out!” 😉
Anyone who takes any of the sycophantic PR agents for KP seriously needs their head read. Seriously.
I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet but that meadow walking part of the video looks just like the final scenes in Gladiator where he’s hallucinating about “coming home” (while dying).
When watched without audio, it looks like a video remembering Kate, to me.
‘Memorial to Ma: Our Last Summer’
“I’m looking forward to being back at work.”
Aha, ahahahahah, BWA-HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHA!
Their feet stink wearing running shoes no socks.
Eh I’m sure they’re only going hear about the ppl who loved it and will brand anyone else as haters. I’ll be super honest, I don’t usually join in the convo around their marriage because no one ever knows and if it works for them, great. I don’t think they hate each other or he hates her as many seem to think but I get that it’s a gossip site. That being said, this comes off as copying and inauthentic because it’s not who they are or ever have been in public. Which is fine. I would have respected them more for sticking to their guns re their lack of public PDA. Their lack of work on the other hand is 100% fair game and I agree with all who say that it would have landed a lot differently if at any point she thanked her medical team and pointed to resources for cancer sufferers. I think they eventually might cobble some rubbish together when/if the outcry gets loud enough and we’ll hear it was always planned (bullshit). But good for her that she’s finished her treatment.
Well, ‘hate’ is a strong word. Still, it is very apparent in a number of public videos and photos that W&K do not get along well at all, and more than likely have been living apart for some time. In fact, there has been notable public reporting about their bts spats and disagreements. Not to mention the saga of their on-again, off-again, 10-year pre-marriage relationship, with Willy’s known cheating, Kate + CarolE’s stalking behaviors, and the many put-down nicknames coined for Kate by Willy, his friends, the rota, (Sex-Waiting; The Mattress; Wisteria Sister; Waity Katie), and even by Harry, who reportedly referred to Kate during her hanger-on Willy girlfriend days as ‘Limpet.’
It is also well-known that astute QE-II pointedly asked during the WanK courtship days, “What does Kate do?”
As I said in another post Harry and Meghan has real done a number on them and it’s clear that William and Kate watched the docuseries. But the difference is that those scenes of Harry and Meghan were candid videos and photos done for their own pleasure. They just happened to end up in their docuseries later on. William and Kate in their desire to copy Harry and Meghan just got the tone wrong and it looked contrived. Kate didn’t even thank her doctors and nurses or acknowledge her privilege. I think she should be using her platform to advocate for cancer research and charities. The video would have been much better if she had included those things and left out all those scenes of them in the meadows.
Sorry @amy bee, I should’ve scrolled down as I just said the same upthread. Harry and Meghan included actual candid videos and photos from their life. This was them trying to copy Meghan and Harry but in a really contrived way. A lot of people loved the Netflix docuseries, minus the haters, bc it had elements of realness. Whereas this does not.
oh yeah they watched the H&M series with notepads out and you can tell. Even if they didn’t have any home footage to share they could also added in education like H&M did and ways to support cancer patients and cancer research. For neither Charles nor Kate to have done that yet is insane. It seems like such a no-brainer and easy way to score points.
William faking devotion and affection comes off as so phony. And she enjoyed all the attention and the contrived video.
Yeah I’m sure it was painful for him, but he struggled through by squinting and pretending she was Jecca Craig.
Or Rose, LOL.
There is a scene where they are going for the PDA lying on the ground, with Louis close by and Charlotte staring at them Really embarrassing.
yes some people were commenting on that as if Charlotte was mortified by her parents PDA and I was thinking that this poor child has just never seen this before and was confused!
It is simply not the way parents behave in front of the children.
Thank you Sunnyside up: I’ve posted about my disgust and some people don’t agree. That’s fine. As I said, as my future King and Consort, this kind of behaviour is unacceptable. They are not celebrities. After all, they are paid and kept in high public office to be professional, to carry out public duties, whilst pretending to be approachable. They are not there to promote their family dynamics because that is self-serving.
That part was AWFUL!! So inappropriate in itself and it just ended up looking like a zombie attack.
That hideous section and them scrabbling about on that pile of logs should have been removed. The run time of that video was so excessive it wouldn’t have been missed.
Even their hugs looked contrived. George is at an age now when most boys prefer a cuddle in private. Diana (and Meghan and Harry) always look so natural reaching out. William and Kate never do.
It was also the worst angle for William because he looks like the Alien from that angle.
At the worst of the 1960s documentary there still isn’t Philip trying to hump the Queen on the beach. That’s going to be a forever on film moment and as much as Harry and Meghan got attacked for PDA, they never got that vulgar on film.
@Nic: you’ve got it. H&M have always been demure and classy.
@Nic919, the word ‘vulgar’ belongs nowhere in a sentence with, nor as a descriptor of anything associated with or generated by H&M.
“(…) they feel the need to provide proof of life for their marriage, only they can’t really pull it off.”
They never were able to pull it off!
I remember the graduation picture where she hugs him and he slightly pulls away. And this picture from a costume party where again she is the only one involve in the hug : https://images.app.goo.gl/6JZ5XtYF13zcKQ749
Now he won’t event accept her affection…
The video reflects their poor judgement.
That top photo: the dweeb William is describing his chronic constipation while heartless Kate can’t stop laughing at him.
Or….”we really got over on the plebs, didn’t we?”
William has a face made for sucking lemons.
The Wails are more like business partners than lovers IMO. I watched their wedding back in 2011. The only time I felt anything was when Harry & Peg were walking to the church. The Wails have zero chemistry. Harry was the star of that family.
In the past Will has been stiff and starchy with his wife because a. formal b. royal status c. reserved and not into PDAS and / or d. he is tuning her out. Now we have this video where they are laying down, wrapped around each other and snuggling? From stiff upper lips to this OTT display from a hallmark movie seems very unbelievable and fake.
It felt like an obituary for her life to me.
When I watched it, I thought of those video compilations in movies for the mom (it’s always a mom) who has died. I felt morbid, but it did cross my mind too.
This is exactly what it reminded me of! Very “Nicholas Sparks movie montage after the mom dies” kind of thing. It’s creepy.
I thought of the Gladiator wheat field scene where he’s dying.
The image where they’re laughing maniacally in the woods made me think, the mushrooms just kicked in.
Charles extreme interest in mushrooms – my mum is dying. Best to go foraging for mushrooms right now! – suddenly makes sense 😂🤣
😂
It’s honestly surprising how poorly this has been recieved. I thought it was just mean doing some major cringe but the guardian has 2 pieces on how bad this is, even daily fail had one about it being bad. I’ve seen a lot of comments about the video putting people off after watching it. Daily beast being passive aggressive towards them. Yeah just waiting for the rota to explode.
They can never just be themselves smh.
It’s interesting because this is a direct reaction to the bad press earlier this year. But clearly an over correction. So who will get fired now for this?
How is it possible so have over 45 staff members, a whole army of communications teams and still be this terrible. Over 4million dollars is going to pay for these people
They’re not experiencing a drug induced euphoria – it’s just William and Kate knowing they’ve secured another top secret vacation to Mustique footed by taxpayers.
Also , it’s just a really weird thing to do.
Very. Deeply weird.
So let me preface this by saying that I don’t think Kate had cancer. I think she was in rehab for drugs and alcohol.
I think she looks healthier than she has in a long time in this video, she and William look like they aren’t cringing at each other, and the kids look happier than we’ve seen them in a while. Is it propaganda – sure, are her and William still on the rocks? Maybe. But I do think all of them look better than they have in a while.
Kate looked happy as a clam. William looked resigned to be dragged about by a lead and forced to perform various scenarios as actor under direction, ticking off boxes on Kate’s vengeful bucket list of PDA demands throughout the entire thing. They don’t make eye contact with each other throughout and the comparisons to Marie Antoinette’s Hameau de la Reine that have been bandied about en masse almost instantaneously after its release is very apt.
I think Kate enjoys being able to display PDA and William “having to” respond. I think William will soon reach a breaking point playacting the “loving” husband.
The problem with this video is that W&K, once again, are showing the public who they really are – shallow, selfish and clueless. They’re acting like the next King and Queen of social media, not of the UK. The UK public aren’t a bunch of anonymous users, they’re people for whom W&K have some responsibility. When engaging them, show that connection, include them in the conversation – thank the people who helped you and direct attention to others who might need the same help. Cancer is serious and there are thousands out there who can’t frolic through the tall grass.
And don’t insult people’s intelligence by presenting untruths. Nobody believes W&K have ever frolicked through the tall grass. Nobody believes W&K are lovey-dovey kissy-smoochy. In the past, the media have gone goo-goo romantic over a single touch on the arm. W&K just holding hands would be enough for them to imagine a great romance. And don’t present yourselves as who you are not. You are not Harry and Meghan. You’ve made it clear over the years that you don’t want to be H&K, that you hate H&M – now you think you can make a poor copy of them and no one will notice? Clueless.
The princess who doesn’t put a foot wrong keeps tripping over her inauthenticity.
The video was hilariously terrible and contrived. Kate married a man whose only real feelings are rage and jealousy. Of course the lovefest would be panned — because it’s so clearly fake.
I don’t even like them, but the beat down for getting on this is bad.
I don’t know what else they could’ve done, but I suspect they’re going to be going through period. Where they can’t do anything right from the point of view.
The dogs might well be coming for Kate.
Charles showed them what else they could have done.
It is interesting that Kate “the perfect” is being replaced by so much media criticism. As to not winning either way she does things? Now she is experiencing what she helped do to Meghan.
Maybe KP should have had the common sense to realise browbeating the casual public to LEaVe kAtE aLoNe/stop bUlLyiNg hEr after the cancer video dried up any sympathetic interest for a display as ridiculous and self absorbed as this?
I mean, you are correct that there’s not much else the *Wales* could have done, because this is the only thing they want to do. They keep trying to be a lesser version of the Sussexes and getting the same ( cringe worthy) results. I’m thinking particularly about the coronation video, or the anniversary video that looked like a denim ad. Overproduced, overlong, and there’s no “there” there. It’s as if they watched the Netflix series on mute and just tried to reproduce it frame by frame without any of the emotions or context. Why did they bring a videographer to film them laughing uproariously in the woods? There’s no joke or reason – it’s just like a stock photo of a laughing couple.
It should also be said that one option was to go the “Charles” approach and give (some) information plainly, directly, and in a way that used their public platform to encourage others to get checked for cancer. But they obviously do not want to do that, and it’s also possible that they would have botched that, too. But at least that would be in line with the public’s expectations!
Also also, if you spend your hours briefing to your pet reporters about how tacky and superficial and selfish the Sussexes are, one wonders why you would try (poorly) to emulate them at every turn.
@Is that true? See, this post says nothing to rebut the criticism. It’s counter-criticism for the sake of it, to shut others’ opinions down.
Again, they are in the highest of unelected public office and they have taken advantage of the lack of scrutiny as to her diagnosis to do next to nothing all year. They bludge off hard working taxpayers who fund their greedy, idle lifestyle. That is both of them.
They are not normal parents, their children are raised by nannies and her retired parents. They don’t have to run a household, worry about bills, finding a parking spot to run errands or all of the myriad things which take up an enormous amount of time for the rest of us mere mortals. They are useless and think that if they show the gullible public a glossy video and some botched photos, perhaps a fake tweet or two, they can do as they like. So far, it’s working.
“I don’t know what else they could’ve done”
They “could have not spent a million lbs on an advertisement”
They could have just gone back to doing engagements without any grand video.
So I am guessing Camilla watched that video then read Tom skyes column in the daily beast and was like hell no . You want to pay willy and Katie , let’s play. She called up her media pals and said let it rip, don’t hold back.They keep forgetting that Camilla eats chomps like them for breakfast and she won’t be dismissed or forgotten about by the likes of Carole and willy and Katie .
I love when the girls go to war😂😂
Certainly someone over at BP gave the go ahead to criticize them! I suspect that Charles and Camilla are rolling their eyes at this rather slick video complete with a voiceover and the heretofore unknown level of PDA. Also, apparently the Wales children only spend time with one set of grandparents on film – are you really telling me that with two private helicopters and umpteen private estates, there was not a single hour this entire summer where the children could have filmed doing some activities with Charles? Read a book or taken a walk or seen the horses? A zoom chat? Painting or drawing? Nothing???
And yet the media push the “closeness” between Kate and Charles which does not really seem to exist. I also wonder how much Diana is spoken of by William and Kate to the children. It just seems to be about Kate and her parents in those images. And the children being “normal” playing cards with Grandpa Mike and all that.
They were supposedly at Balmoral. Someone pointed out above that they thought this was actually filmed in the autumn.
What really chaps my ass and makes me continue to think she never even had cancer is the “I’m cancer-free” nonsense. As a person currently suffering with cancer I can tell you that you are only considered cancer-free after 5 years of remission. My doctors have told me that due to the nature of the cancer I have I will NEVER be cancer-free. Ever. It will get me sooner or later. So forgive me for taking this fakakta, self-congratulatory and utter useless video personally but it feels like a slap in the face that this whole contrived mess misses the point entirely — that you use a situation like this for the betterment of the people you are SUPPOSED to be serving, the people fighting cancer and the medical workers who are fighting on your behalf. But no, she’s too fecking selfish and self-obsessed and jealous of the Sussexes to care, so she’s turned this into Kate’s all-singing, all-dancing JLo level of “aren’t we so happy and in love”. They both make me sick.
I had breast cancer, a double mastectomy, eight rounds of chemo and eight years of a hormone suppressant drug. I was released last year to “survivorship”. At no point did anyone ever say to me “ you’’re cancer free”. That statement of Kate struck me as well.
It’s irritating as hell to those of us who have lost loved ones to this most cruel of diseases. I just lost someone close to me. In fact, whilst I’m at it, I’ve got pre-cancer cells that have to be monitored. They both have turned me into a republican because they are so selfish, lacking in any and all gratitude for their good fortune, which they have never earned.
I wonder how many more people with cancer would survive if they also had all the money in the world, a full staff to take care of their every need, access to the best medical care with no financial concerns for how to pay, and acres and acres of private nature to play in all day, every day, without any of the cares or pressures normal people face?
The Windsors have fully entered their “Let them eat cake” phase.
That shot of K with her head on PW’s shoulder…. Pass the bucket! 🤮
Hi All. I’ve been looking at this website for awhile now and haven’t yet posted – but after seeing this video and reading the comments I have a sense of foreboding about it: a couple of other people mentioned that the video almost seems like an “end of life” thing and I feel that way too. I know it’s super morbid and even though I am a Sussex fan for life, I also have hope that Kate is well and recovering – however, I am actually starting to feel like maybe she is possibly terminal and so she is carefully crafting and curating her life and image that she wishes to convey to the public in terms of how she is remembered. It’s super sad if that’s true and I very much hope I am proven wrong but she doesn’t look well to me at all and she hasn’t looked well to me in quite some time. Is it possible that everything is much more dire than we have been led to believe and that this video is perhaps where she maybe not so gracefully bows out? PS: it’s lovely to be here with all of you even though I am very nervous posting this comment – thanks for reading 💖
I agree that we have never been told the full truth and they are still lying in some way and I really hope whatever Kate has isn’t terminal and she will see her children grow up. What never made sense, Will is still a*hole husband we have seen from him for years against her. If she was terminal, wouldn’t he be more delicate, considerate towards her? When they appeared together in public last time, he was still barely kind to her or looked at her. I don’t know, he doesn’t look like a man who is losing his children’s mother, even if he doesn’t see her as his wife anymore.
@SevenBlue – thank you – that’s a very astute point re: William and his very strange behavior especially this year.
Something definitely feels “off” about all of this though – it’s almost either “too much” or “not enough” you know?
Welcome Lessie! No need to be nervous, you are among friends here.
@Jazz Hands (great name!) Thank you so very much! I just recently moved to the UK from the US and I have always loved beyond measure HRH Princess Diana ❤️ Thank you for the warm welcome; much appreciated 🙏💐
Hi Lessie. Welcome! You’ll know my comments because they are always so rushed and full of duplicated sentences and typos. Just persevere with them for my sake! Look forward to reading your thoughts.
I hope she’s well too. And yeah, it’s hard bc the whole thing has been so much lies and cover-up that it’s hard to say. I think a lot of us have gone back and forth between she’s either very sick or no longer that sick. What’s weird to me though is if she is very sick why is KP briefing the daily beast that the video was created as an F-U to the Sussexes. That’s just awful behavior if she really is terminal. And I do hope that’s not the case. And that there are actually homemade videos that she has with her kids bc this whole video is clearly just for their public image.
@Jais – yes – very true – WHY the relentless briefings all the time?
It doesn’t make sense to me.
Unless – “Cowmilla” perhaps 🤔
The relentless briefings are par for the course at this point. The Windsors are fully enmeshed with BM and esp the tabs. What bothers me is the type of briefing. They’re briefing that the vid was an F-U. It’s so crass and I have to hope that the level of petty means that she is not a dealing with a terminal cancer. Of course, that may not be true. But that’s a much better alternative. I do think she looks fragile and that there has been a MH component as well.
If that’s true, and she doesn’t have long to live, then maybe these videos are for her kids to remember her by. I will say this. I’ve never seen those kids so happy.
We rarely see the kids, they could be happy like that all the time privately. They don’t look happy in public, which is understandable.
But see, if this video is for her kids to remember her by…that’s still odd. It was like a commercial. Like I’m thinking they have to have their own private photos and vids that are more real and that’s what they’d look at. As opposed to this vid which is clearly for public consumption. And honestly, we have no proof she’s terminal. She could be. She could not be. There’s no way of knowing. It’s an opaque institution.
The thing that frustrates me is everyone just takes their word for it without one scintilla of evidence. That’s not what is expected of normal people. Yet, they pretend to be like everyone else. But they are not and flaunt their privilege at every turn.
@Lessie, welcome (: I hope you keep posting! I agree with everything you said. I hope we’re wrong about her diagnosis and that she does recover. If she in fact terminal, she did a good job of acting happy and content in that video. But maybe she’s used the months she’s been MIA to come to terms with her situation, and to accept it as much as is possible? Only time will tell. I’m not her biggest fan, but I certainly don’t wish her any harm and do sincerely hope that her children don’t lose their mother anytime soon. 🤞🙏🏻
The cancer message is so confusing. When people are knocking themselves out trying to figure out what is actually being revealed, then one can reasonably conclude that they are hiding something. Things get convoluted when you don’t start with the truth and are not transparent- everyone knows the old saying “oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.” I’m willing to believe that Kate is battling cancer, recovering from surgery, and had a nervous breakdown, that William has something to do with her unwellness, and she suffered from an eating disorder. I would believe that she is battling many things at once. Whatever thing(s) she is battling are things she does not want to be honest about, because of privacy, or shame, or refusal to acknowledge her life and marriage are not perfect. I think this need to project an image of perfection, to have press continue to say that she never sets a foot wrong, is part of this whole scenario. At the bottom of this, we are seeing a woman who must be deeply unhappy, angry, defiant and fearful. Life is complicated. However, both William and Kate seem to be one note people, driven by very basic emotions such as anger and jealousy. I would pity them, if not for the fact that they seem to cause so much damage to others.
@Tamsin – yes to everything you wrote here! There IS more happening than we are being told I believe – it’s very sad to me because life is too short for all this nonsense and conniving etc.
🎯
I agree with everything this dude or dudette said.
How long before they push her under the bus again?
I’m going for a colonoscopy next week—they keep finding precancerous cooties—so I need to know what chemotherapy Kate was taking that made her hair grow back long and lush like that.
Just in case, you know…
Hope it is OK.
Her hair has always had a lot of extension help. Good luck and best wishes with your treatment.
William is like his father. He does not like being criticized. And I think the courtiers said oh yes William you and Kate look so beautiful. And just encouraged it. If someone had been honest and said it was really too much over the top, he would have gotten angry and sulked.
I wonder who thought this was a good idea. It really is insulting to all the people who are fighting for their lives and she’s tip toeing through the tulips, insane.
“Tip-toeing through the tulips” is a great description.
Finally had the guts to listen to the video! Her voice drives me mad. She over enunciates because it’s not a natural voice for her. Mr Sparrow, a true old duffer, says she sounds like what he and his school friends used to call a jumped up prole. Awful snobby words from decades ago but he hates fake posh accents and faked up rah rah families. It’s a shame she never talks naturally, because it stands in the way of the message. The groping in the sand dunes is even worse with the sound on, for some reason. On another note, can someone please tell me how to find the video M&H did a year or so ago about their projects. It was so lovely. It ended up with turn up do good. I’ve never been able to find it again.
It’s a definite elocution lesson accent. Still very whiny and forced-sounding almost 15 years after it was first heard in the engagement interview. She actually sounds more posh than William and Harry.
It’s like a romp around Howards End! So privileged, and unaware of its own indulgence, that it ruins the message of “we’re all in this together”. The attempt was age old English sentiment mixed in with modern coupledom. I’m surprised they didn’t walk around with a mini aga in the ruck sack. It just ended up as contrived soup. And where is the thanks for the medical team, etc.
Thanks you ask? They just had a “friend” inform an outlet to tell everyone to f *** off.
First things that came to my mind were..
1. I think William is trying to get Rose out of the media & trying to prove he’s really just a loyal happily married man and doesn’t need to stray especially if poor Kate wasn’t well enough to participate in rumpy-pumpies he just took a cold shower instead!
2. This couple’s never been able to display any kind of public affection, not even walking close to each other especially when walking over to inspect the flowers at granny’s funeral. Harry & Meghan instantly held hands which was so natural. Kate & William looked like brother and sister!
3. Parts of the scene looked like they were about to make love in front of the kids…ewwww! overkill!
4. I was waiting for Kate to burst out into some country/western song walking through the fields with flowing hair and releasing a butterfly (clearly placed there for the cameras)!
5. I’m totally against these poor children’s photo/videos being used to promote the royal family in a world where MOST parents are being responsible & protective by not sharing images of their children!
6. At the end of the day, Kate & William have to stop copying Harry & Meghan…seriously, it’s very worrying! They will never be as popular amongst the silent majority!
I thought the nearly climbing on in front of the children was very wrong. My mum and dad loved each other but they never did more than a peck in front of us. As for the butterfly, I hope she didn’t damage its wings.
I watched 36 seconds and had to stop so I wouldn’t throw up in my mouth. Who is this for?
I showed my husband the video. He could care less about the royal family. His reaction was: “What the heck was that? It looks like some kind of ad!” Personally, I thought the video was bizarre. They are traipsing through the forest, pawing each other, and “frolicking.” I think the kids are adorable, but why not release a video that focusses on her care, the doctors, etc? That would have been a public service, but these two clowns have no sense of that. I must add, I have never believed she had cancer. A friend of mine is a doctor, likes to follow William and Kate, and even she said the wording these past months has been nonsensical.
Considering the number of messaging blunders Will & Kate have had over the past several years, it’s clear their communications people are not skilled. Copying (or attempting to copy) The Sussexes will never work; The Wales just don’t have the charisma and intelligence.
They have lost dignity waaaay before this video.