The Kensington Palace social media accounts posted this new portrait of the Princess of Wales for her 43rd birthday today. We didn’t get a new birthday portrait last year, correct? Let me check… no, we didn’t. She gave us a whole photoshoot with costume changes when she turned 40 (in 2022), but I honestly wasn’t expecting a new portrait today, for this birthday. Prince William issued a personal statement alongside the photo, writing: “To the most incredible wife and mother. The strength you’ve shown over the last year has been remarkable. George, Charlotte, Louis and I are so proud of you. Happy Birthday, Catherine. We love you. W.” That doesn’t sound like William’s “voice” to me, but whatever. It is what it is.
So, let’s analyze the photo. It doesn’t look like a hacked-together frankenphoto like last year’s scandalous Mother’s Day portrait. It does look edited, but I’m open to the possibility that it’s just the way Kate is standing, with her hips sort of jutting out. It’s thrown off the perspective. Her hands are halfway in her jean pockets, so that you can see that she’s wearing her sapphire engagement ring. She didn’t wear Big Blue to several public appearances last year, so it feels notable. And then there are her clothing choices. The Telegraph’s style people had some thoughts:
This morning the Prince of Wales marked his wife’s 43rd birthday by sharing a new portrait of her on social media. With her hands in her pockets and looking away from the camera, the picture shows Kate looking relaxed and happy in faded dark jeans, a white blouse with pleated bib detail, black tuxedo jacket and checked scarf, with only her sapphire engagement ring to accessorise the look.
The styling is particularly chic, with her sleeves rolled up and top button undone, with the scarf just resting on top, giving it a lived-in look. Naturally, Kate’s trademark long, bouncy blowdry is also present, with minimal make-up too, showing she is a woman unafraid of facing her age.
The look recalls the styling of Kate’s 2016 British Vogue cover, in which she wore a similar shirt with a brown suede jacket and hat. It is very much in keeping with her laid-back approach to dressing when she is “off-duty”, favouring jeans, sweaters and outerwear to dresses or heels, and being a keen champion of the high street, including brands such as Boden, Hobbs and Reiss.
The photograph was taken by Matt Porteous, a favourite of the family who has taken countless images of the Princess and her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis over the years. A wildlife and ocean photographer by trade, his background clearly suggests that this is less about royal portraiture, and more about positioning Kate as a relaxed, outdoorsy woman. That said, the image, which is striking in black and white, does recall other famous royal portraiture, most notably Mario Testino’s iconic images of the late Diana, Princess of Wales in the 1990s.
The comparison to Mario Testino’s incredible work is hilarious. Testino is a deeply flawed, problematic man, but as a photographer, he created some of the most iconic images of Princess Diana. Diana’s sons loved Testino’s photos so much, I believe both brothers still keep some of those Testino portraits featured prominently in their homes. As for Kate’s fashion choices… I agree that she’s going for the more outdoorsy, middle-class vibe that she had in her (kind of terrible) British Vogue editorial all of those years ago. What’s odd about that is Matt Porteous obviously photographed her in some kind of studio. With denim and a scarf, surely the photoshoot should have been outside? She did two notable outdoor “shoots” last year – the photo released just before Trooping the Colour (which was also bizarrely edited) and the “cancer-free” commercial which was widely criticized. Anyway, the choices being made are fascinating.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Matt Porteous for Kensington Palace and KP.
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- A new photograph of Catherine, Princess of Wales, has been released ahead of her appearance at Trooping the Colour on Saturday 15 June 2024.,Image: 881655614, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Matt Porteous / Avalon
What in the JC Penny Misses Section is happening in this picture
Facing her age? She is filtered to the high heavens and Botoxed as well and whatever other work was done and makeup is like a magic wand if the right person applies it to you.
Right?
She looks like a third-rate catalogue model who still hasn’t mastered the art of posing confidently, not like someone who knows her place in life, and what she wants from that life.
Underwhelming.
Wow. That was ugly.
I agree.
But with who?
cackling… spot on!!
Ha, I gave her Sears.
😂
What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is that outfit? The picnic scarf, the mom jeans, the hands, the pockets — and lawdy those extensions? Mindboggling that with all that money this is not just the best they could do — it’s actually the way they want to be seen.
My first thought when I saw the picture: “Can you smell the fakeness of the hair by smelling it?”
They couldn’t have been bothered with brushing out the obvious demarcation of her most likely natural hair and the fake hair? Or photoshopped it? This is bad.
Mom jeans that are so tight she can’t get her hands into them? I know, it’s so we can see Big Blue, but the weird camera angle makes her abdomen oddly prominent.
I’m sorry, wtf is this camera angle? “Eye level” in the portrait is her midsection? This is just bizarre.
And “W”s caption is not his voice. He can’t talk about anyone without centering himself, and “he” isn’t the absolute star of this. This does sound like “C” however. This is a wild as Elon having a sock puppet account.
It’s wild how the British media pretends that either of them tweet this stuff personally.
@lucy, that “eye level” was the first thing I noticed too!
Kate is skin and bones right now and it seems what the photographer was trying to create a trompe l’oeil but fails miserably. With her elbows out, the added black and white checkered patterned scarf extending her torso, the illusion is a wider, fuller Kate but a triangle head to waist. No woman wants to look like that. Aesthetically, it is a no for me.
She’s leaning back to foreshorten her long torso relative to her shorter legs. I think it kills her that Meghan has the opposite unusual proportions — short torso and long legs
LOL!!!
Combined with the ChatGPT/Hallmark caption from William, it’s all just so basic and bad
Why does she look like she’s line-dancing?
It’s a little weird that her physical age seems to fluctuate, sometimes she looks fresh and polished and other time she looks older than she is and haggard.
I guess it depends on who’s doing the photoshopping that day.
This!
Exactly.
She is still pretty when she smiles but looks older and fierce when she is not.
As a “two-face” 42-year-old, I get it. Sometimes I look like a haggard grandmother in her 60s, sometimes I could possibly pass for… 35ish?
I don’t hate the photo, but I’m so tired of the celebrity trend of ridiculously long and obviously fake hair extensions.
Which is usually because women think long hair makes them look younger. In this photo the top part of her hair is a wave that is mostly straight and then below the shoulders it is like some curly type spaniel hair. That’s not real.
Those curls are bad, really bad.
Right. Let’s see her “face her age” and let go of the little girl curls.
The hair is awful. If you are going with extensions, at least get them right. Literally no one wears sausage curls. and neither should she. It’s a drab picture, one that preteens might fool around with when pretending to be models. It take that back — most preteens these days would be much cooler, fresher, and modern.
William notably told her 📴 at the ceremony where she wore burgundy
It looked like for Xmas he got in her face again before they walked in the church
She didn’t go to Singapore nor did she go to the last banquet
She’s 🚫 going to the upcoming spring 🌱 tour
When they did the event for the responders to that unfortunate Taylor Swift kids massacre he didn’t acknowledge her
He didn’t take her to the Taylor Swift concert
He only visited her once publicly while in 🏥
Harry had to tell him to turn around to look at Kate walking down the aisle at their wedding
But there’s ❤️ there
She was never going to be seen with, let alone photographed with,Taylor Swift – taller and better looking. You can add to that her non-attendance at Earthshot where Heidi Klum was present.
Please remind me the last time a man was described as „unafraid of facing his age”. This is truly disgusting.
And at 43? Lol it would be framed as “reaching his peak” or if he was a dad, “finally settling into fatherhood” or some other infantilizing BS
But this old hag (/s) is facing it bravely!
Also Kate is only 43 why should she be unafraid to look 43??
The scarf is triggering me. Why did she have to wear it? It’s just ugly and ruins the whole picture. She really has no taste.
Also the picture looks like one of my application photos that I took last month..
Maybe she wants to apply for another job 😂 …if she ever had one…
I think it’s there to hide how painfully thin she is. Note how it widens the shot.
That’s what I was thinking, it camouflages her extreme thinness. When a person looks like a walking skeleton while wearing a winter coat (Christmas walk to church), that’s worrisome.
It’s so, so ugly. All the money and stylists in the world and zero taste.
If she’s so “relaxed and happy,” why can’t she work more?
Bc she has to wake up every morning and see if she feels able to do something or not. According to a family friend. So apparently on this morning she felt she could take some pictures.
Just adding that this was also said to be taken over the summer which would have been before she said her treatments were over. So yeah idk? A whole lot of weirdness as usual
@Jais I was wondering the same about the summer photoshoot. I don’t wish ill health on her, and never have, but if she took chemo so well why did they feel the need to make a fake photo and video??
Haven’t you heard: she’s only going to expend her energy on things that bring her JOY! Like getting unbelievably fake looking hair extensions and posing for ridiculous photos instead of earning her keep!
She doesn’t at all look relaxed. She looks like her arms are permanently bent that way, like a Barbie doll’s, and they had to shove her shoulders back to get her hands in the pockets.
This is Kate’s big problem, and they tried the Diana Testino comparison but the difference is Diana was clearly relaxed and comfortable with Testino. Kate is never ever ever relaxed. I can’t think of a single appearance or photo where she looked truly relaxed, and as a long-time royal follower, I’ve seen a lot. The closest I ever her saw to her looking truly relaxed and happy was Louis’ christening photos.
So yet again Kate being praised to the skies for things that other women do all the time.
“Woman un-afraid of facing her age” is posh media-speak for “she looks old”. She doesn’t. She looks her age. But that’s what that phrase means. They should tell Kate though, so she can permanently stop with the baby Botox (it is undeniable)
It kind of hilarious they say this with a photo that is black and white and edited to no end so no lines can be seen. Nothing about Kate has ever been anything but contrived.
Then she should be going with a shorter haircut then because it’s dragging her face down and she is approaching an age where it just doesn’t look good.
Afken, I disagree. She looks about 15 years older than what she should. I’d put her at late 50s, not 43.
I disagree. Some injections do make women look “ageless” in the sense that they look late 50s whether actually 35 or 70. But Kate actually looks 40-45 to me.
The Southport photos are probably the most accurate photos that have been out there recently. This photo isn’t accurate at all. It’s like taking the teams slight blur everyone gets and pretending that’s accurate.
Baby botox, ?Is that part of the Early Years?
It is. In the early years of her anti-aging journey, she only got baby botox and some filler from time to time. Around the time of the visit where she went down the slide I suspected that she had graduated to light lip fillers/lip lift.
The basic background reminds me of last years family Christmas pic when they were all in what looked like a jc penny studio. And I’m sure she has some makeup on and that there was likely some cosmetic editing done so saying she is unabashedly facing her age is kind of a dig from the Telegraph writer imo.
Using my trusty iPad I tried posing in this fashion. I put on a blouse and tucked it into my jeans, put on a summer blazer then added a scarf. I was not able to replicate this photo without sticking parts of me forward and holding parts of me back. It was damned uncomfortable trying to replicate the pose. It puts strain on my back, hips, and shoulders, and my arms felt in the wrong place. Granted I’m no spring chicken but I’m in good shape.
And don’t get me started on that hair …..
Lol, I tried it, too. You cant your hips to the left, twist your head to the right, push your shoulders back, twist your wrists forward like a meerkat, all while arching your back. Kind of like the “twist and snap” in Legally Blonde.
😂
“… like a meerkat …” is just about the best simile I’ve read in ages!
Dammit @Eurydice I was having a cup of tea and a scone when I read your post and nearly choked. Meerkat … spot on, brilliant, and so apt…you win the Internet today
As I wrote above, I think she’s leaning back to foreshorten her long torso relative to her legs. I think it kills her that Meghan has the opposite unusual proportions — short torso and long legs.
(and thanks Euridyce for the meercat image… 😘)
Teagirl You make me scream w/ laugther when you recreate!
It might be easier if you have a reeaaallly long torso relative to your legs?
She looks like she’s about to start line dancing.
That’s still a perfect description of her eurydice
She does as she’s told to this day so she’ll get her pictures of wearing the 👑
She’s 🚫 confident and uses the royal 🐁 as her voice cause she’s scared of the consequences
She’s 🚫 going to work and will use the excuse of I’ll do it next year until Louis comes of age
There’s no there there for Kate and she’s clearly on the sidelines ready to 😁 when William is willing to tolerate her to please the media
There’s nothing to fight for and she’ll be whatever mold the firm needs her to be cause she will bend and cater just so she can still say she’ll be 👑
You know what? Kate is booooorrrrrringg.
Despite all these photo shoots she still remains bad at posing in a way that looks natural. They probably like this Matt guy because he doesn’t tell her she’s looking fake just like they let her do that faux country lady nonsense for British vogue, which ended up not selling much at all.
And Kate is the last woman who is accepting aging. The Botox, extensions and massive editing of every photo from Chris Jackson and approved photographers tell you this.
That is not a good photo. At all. I’ve seen better pictures taken by teenagers on their cell phones. It is also edited and filtered; they took away her facial lines and wrinkles. Kate is just there. She doesn’t have it and now she has dead eyes. It cracks me up that this is what a segment of the population defines as class, beauty and grace. It’s a joke.
I think the line about being “unafraid to face her age” is a dig about how she looks in the picture (the undereye bags are very noticeable, which again wouldn’t be an issue if she didn’t photoshop every other picture so you can’t see them.)
The picture is just awkward. The scarf doesn’t work with the indoor studio setting and I’m not sure how they’re showing her as outdoorsy and active when she’s in a studio in a posed setting.
I would say that a cute picture to release would be a BTS family pic – one of Kate with the kids climbing on her or something, even an outtake from the cancer free video – but I guess 1) they tried using an outtake for their christmas card so that’s played out and 2) last time they released a BTS private family photo it blew up in their faces (deservedly so) sooo…..I guess ugly posed studio portraits are what we’re getting from now on.
Or just not release a photo because it’s 43 and most adults other than narcissists don’t do this. She’s been outside since trooping so it’s not like people were wondering where she is. This only confirms her priority is herself and her image and it sure as hell not any cancer charities.
“William” could have posted the message without a photo.
I will say these portraits for her bdays are weird to me because we don’t get them for William’s. Sometimes, maybe half the time, we get a picture Kate supposedly took of the family or William with the kids* but a lot of the times its just a picture of William from an event or something. KP isn’t releasing a professional portrait of William for each bday but they are doing that for Kate’s, which is weird to me.
*and I think its interesting to note in those pictures William and the kids are usually dressed casually and in casual poses, which is different from Kate’s overly posed bday shots.
As an aside, I think KP saying “happy birthday to the princess of wales” is sufficient. I mean I hate when my husband wishes me happy birthday on social media – its like why? We celebrated in person.
I mean I get why she posted a photo in that it’s like throwing the BM a bone. If she’s not going to do many events, as she’s saying she’s not, then it gives them a highly curated photo to discuss. She’s giving them content. Now doing something about a cancer charity on her birthday would’ve been very smart. What stands out to me though is the Telegraph writer’s dig at Kate embracing her age. It’s pretending to be a compliment but it’s not. So the very subtle knives are out for Kate.
I thought princesses don’t put their hands in their pockets, or is that just another rule for Meghan only?🙄
Spot the cheek-fillers
Last few photos I’ve seen of her she looks like a chipmunk stuffing its cheeks preparing for winter.
I like that look better than the crimson-rouge muttonchops.
I like the idea of a scarf for an outdoor look, but the choice is like a checkered tablecloth, so visually a bit confusing. If they’re trying for an outdoor look, an outdoor shot would be great, but it seems, with Kate, so much is fake, although I get the impression she really does love the outdoors.
At first glance I saw a keffiyeh, which would be mind-blowing but so appreciated. If she were someone else, I would wonder if the similarity was intentional… but let’s be real, it’s not.
Then she should be going with a shorter haircut then because it’s dragging her face down and she is approaching an age where it just doesn’t look good. Also, the “long, bouncy blowdry” is copying Meghan. Kate only used to blow out the ends. Since Meghan arrived she copies Meghan’s waves. Also, women “not afraid of facing their age” don’t go to town with fillers and botox on the regular.
The jeans too, way too casual from Kate before Meghan came along
Copying Meghan for sure! Except that Meghan’s long tresses don’t age her.
KKKhate won’t cut her hair until Meghan cuts hers. Meanwhile KKKhate’s ridiculous extensions will get longer and longer.
And yeah the “unafraid of facing her age” comment is mos def a dig. Even the rota rats can’t help taking a swipe at her. I love this for her.
I think photo was taken at the same as the one she released last June announcing that she was going to Trooping. It’s not a great picture but I also seem to remember the press attacking Harry and Meghan for taking black and white photos. What’s changed now?
Thought the same ..black and white is copying Meghan and Harry all over again . Unfortunately Kate looks awkward and badly assembled , that show off engagement ring , jeans , tartan , big hair ..don’t try to be Meghan because her magic is being herself, not a bad imitation .
Ruh-roh. Kate obviously received these photos back from her photographer and decided to do a little extra tweaking herself! There are a few obvious attempts to brighten and blur creases on both under-eyes and neck, in a way no professional would. Instead of a skin or blend tool, she used a lightening blunt-edge eraser-like smudge here and there. The left under-eye is particularly bad, with her highlighter crudely going over a small section of a wrinkle/crease but leaving the crease before and after untouched, so only the middle disappears. She also highlighted her right under-eye, and highlighted her neck without considering shadow. And I think she accidentally blurred her chin and neck. So amateur 😂 and the complete opposite of ‘facing her age’, teehee.
I guarantee you Kate’s office had a meeting to discuss how they can’t keep photoshopping her to look 23 when she’s 43 and looks exactly like her mother.
Each year, the discrepancy between her palace-released photos and her public appearances / photos by other outlets is getting bigger and weirder. So the solution was to hard launch a “less photoshopped” Kate and calling the accompanying story, “facing her age”.
But when Kate saw the photos, she said NOPE and proceeded to photoshop them herself thinking (once again) no-one would notice.
Well at least it’s not another “ghost bride” pic. This one at least looks like it’s from the 21st century.
Is today April 1st? “Minimal make-up”? “Unafraid of facing her age”?
Being a beautiful is never a must “requirement” of Royal bride in the history of BRF. Political alliance & keep the blood line pure “royal”/”aristocratic” was the choices. No one (normal people) expect her to not aging & showing wrinkles. But when all you have going for you (according to QE2) was your hair…… living an unauthentic life is exhausting.
Kate is the person who has least embraced her age. Not that anyone should let themselves go, but Kate had very visibly chased the fountain of youth since at least 2012. She is also at the point where she is in desperate need of a massive hair cut. Her hair is too heavy and too long. She can still have long hair without it being down to her waist and without looking like a cocker spaniel from the front.
Most of her hair is comprised of extensions and wiglets. The last time her hair looked natural and healthy was when she was pregnant with Louis and she had some extra weight on her. My guess is she may have spots of ED/stress related alopecia.
Meghan gets trash online regularly and Kate benefited from it. Kate let the Meghan made Kate cry lie stand for two years until Meghan corrected it on Oprah. And Kate was exposed as one of the royals who made comment on Archie’s skin color. Two big reasons why some people don’t like Kate.
Also when Kate was on video acting rude toward Meghan at church and lurching toward her at the walkabout.
Keen is the last person who is unafraid of facing her age. She maintains manic smiles in public to prevent her face from drooping. She knows how to work angles to ensure she gets the best photograph. She photoshops endlessly, despite it resulting in a worldwide laughingstock moment. Maybe if she let loose, all of this would seem more believable, but she’s too far gone in her own self-deluded Princess fantasy.
Kate has her photos airbrushed and photo shopped. She needs to get a good shoulder length hair do. It’s interesting how the writer sees 43 as old. So it implies Kate looks old for her age.
I love how the Telegraph included the colors of a black and white pic lol. The shirt looks white but it could also be another light color (though in this instance it probably is). Her blazer could also be navy blue, gray, or any other dark color. She continues to look really tired. Not haggard, but her eyes always look exhausted. I don’t know if this is just recovery from the chemo but it’s pretty clear she did go through chemo and health issues last year just based on the fatigue in her face. The picture is fine though impersonal against a nondescript wall/possible studio background. As for the message, it’s just weird seeing William address Kate as Catherine. We know he doesn’t call her that in private. The Catherine thing is so disingenuous at this point.
The black and white photo is very reminiscent of Meghan (she loves a good black and white!) and the outfit in a way. Had she worn a button up with the blazer it would have been Megan cosplay. Really glad Megan released her in memorial video to Guy yesterday and not today, all the headlines would have been “Meghan posts about her dog dying and ignores Kate’s birthday.”
Kate and her scarf era ready to dominate the fashion world 😂🧣
Unafraid of her age, sure…but totally afraid to put her hands all the way into her pockets…
LOL! I thought that was odd! I kept thinking, are the jeans so tight she can’t get her hands in her pockets but no, it was to show off her cursed ring. Such an contrived thing to do!
Reminds me of a cowboy strutting his stuff, with just his thumbs in his jeans pocket.
I absolute agree with everyone about her hair.
I cut my hair into a Debbie Harry Blondie crossed with a Marilyn Monroe bob recently. The difference it made to my aging face was amazing. It was almost like a facelift without actually having one!
I have a hairdresser who is superb at cutting (he only cuts, as it’s his speciality). I told him short please, and he worked such magic.
With Kate’s limitless money, so could get the best of the best to cut her hair shorter, and with lots of layers, and customised exactly for her, which is what a good hairdresser will do.
Why doesn’t she try this? After all, hair grows back if she doesn’t like it.
@Belinda. Yes! And if her hair, grown or purchased, stopped at her shoulders in this pic, she would look so so much better.
I haven’t seen these long front corkscrew styles flatter anyone, including Meghan.
Kate had looked so unhealthy in 2023–skin & bones, obvious wigs that hung in her face–that I believed she really was very sick a year ago. I hoped she would use the time away from cameras to get healthier, less fake.
Silly me.
What does her age have to do with anything?! My God, she’s 43. So sexist.
Yes it is sexist but it is also approved by Kate because no Telegraph article goes to print without KP approval. This is the image she wants to convey. This isn’t some daily mail churn piece but something involving KP. When we speak of trad wives and their false curated image, Kate is Queen of that trend. From day one she’s gone for the traditional feminine image to seem non aggressive and acceptable to the conservative base. The furthest she has strayed from that is being sporty.
Nic919–which is ironic, for Kate looks her best in sporty clothes.
The scarf is too heavy for the outfit, it should have been silky or gauze and definitely shorter; the pleating on that shirt appears to go all the way to the hem, so it’s not a ‘pleated bib’; why have a wildlife photographer photograph you inside a studio????, make use of his skills & expertise!; she’s at ease with aging? why would they even mention that???; the (almost) yearly release of a birthday photo is really odd for an adult. That’s all I’ve got.
@BeanieBean. Looked like tablecloth fabric around her neck.
Not sure what sort of fish or wild animal she wants to resemble.
One of the witchy female British columnists remarked about the “cancer free” video that it was clearly meant to lay claim to William and show they were still in love and attracted to each other. And they were write and that’s the point of this message, too. They want to put their “love story” back out there. VERY weird.
Ahh Kate , the woman of many faces .
I will never understand the need to release a photo of oneself on their birthday. Meghan released a black and white video of herself plus dropped her show’s trailer and a tribute to her recently deceased dog…i guess that’s reason enough for Kate! The photo is much like others they’ve released in the past: awkward looking. The scarf, the hair, the pose including stuffing hands into tiny pockets. I always wonder if there are better shots they don’t use…more natural ones…but Kate has final say and her taste has never been good.
One thing I found hilarious was the Telegraph’s comparison made to her Vogue cover… wasn’t that the same photo they used in the Mother’s Day Frankenphoto?
I agree that she’s copying Meghan. On her best day, Kate could never manage the casual yet classy Meghan chic. But of course, they don’t even THINK about Meghan and Harry anymore. How embarrassing for the royals to be lazy af when the prince and princess in California do real work that matters to many people. Just shaking my head.
We Brits simply can’t look laid back west coast American. Kate’s been chasing this aesthetic ever since Meghan came on the scene and just can’t get it.
I wear my Big Blue for all important occasions, including films and theatrical productions I do.
This sounds like some National Geographic commentary:
“The styling is particularly chic, with her sleeves rolled up and top button undone, with the scarf just resting on top, giving it a lived-in look. Naturally, Kate’s trademark long, bouncy blowdry is also present, with minimal make-up too, showing she is a woman unafraid of facing her age.”
Make up is not minimal
On second look, Kate would look very good with just the shoulder length bob, which seems to be her own hair, and had left out the two ropes of ringlets on either side that do not appear to be attached to the rest of her hair. They are so long, they cover the lapels on both sides. She looks like she has a two -story hair-do. I think her smile is very nice here.
Whenever you post that Frankenphoto you should really make sure that the kill notice is included.
I turned off ABC World news tonight when this photo of her came onto my screen. She’s done nothing worthy of world recognition.