In 2016-2018, Prince Harry consulted with lawyers from Farrer & Co, the long-time, long-serving law firm to the crown. Those lawyers did not give Harry very good advice, especially when it came to dealing with a rabid media-and-palace-generated smear campaign against Meghan. It wasn’t until 2019 that Harry began speaking to lawyers outside of Farrery & Co (QEII’s lawyers) and Harbottle & Lewis (Charles’s lawyers). Elton John was apparently the one who suggested that Harry hire his own lawyer (away from the royal conflicts of interest) and Elton likely introduced Harry to David Sherborne. Sherborne has represented Harry since 2019 and Sherborne had gone to the mattresses on Harry’s behalf, especially in regards to Harry’s media lawsuits.
One of the big criticisms of Harry’s actions in hiring Sherborne was that “it simply isn’t done” and “Harry should have stuck with his grandmother’s lawyers” and “why can’t he simply not sue the media outlets who have special arrangements with various royal houses?” I bring this up because the Copykeen Brother has now hired a different law firm to handle of his peggy business. Prince William has actually hired the law firm Princess Diana went to when she sought a divorce from Charles: Mishcon de Reya.
When Princess Diana was beset with worries in 1995 that she would be killed in a staged car accident, she voiced her fears to the man she trusted most, her lawyer Lord Mishcon. His firm, Mishcon de Reya, handled her highly acrimonious divorce from Prince Charles, which was finalised the following year. After the Princess died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 alongside Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul, Lord Mishcon passed his contemporaneously typed-up account of his meeting with Diana to senior Metropolitan Police officers who put it in a safe. But the note was not passed to French authorities investigating her crash for six years.
The Princess’s brother and sisters did not learn of its existence for more than a decade after it was written. Princes William and Harry were also left in the dark for a long time. At his meeting with police chiefs the month after Diana’s death, Lord Mishcon (who died in 2006) read his note aloud to stress its importance. He told officers that it recorded Diana saying ‘efforts would be made if not to get rid of her by some accident in her car, such as a pre-prepared brake failure, at least to see that she was so injured or damaged as to be declared unbalanced [in her mind]’.
I can disclose that, in a remarkable turn of events, Prince William has now turned to Diana’s lawyers again. The heir to the throne has instructed Mishcon de Reya to act for him and his family, in a break with tradition. William has previously been represented by King Charles’s lawyers, Harbottle & Lewis, in particular its partner, Gerrard Tyrrell.
‘William wanted to strike out on his own,’ a source tells me. ‘He did not want to continue using his father’s lawyers. It’s as simple as that. He wants to be his own man.’
A Kensington Palace spokesman declined to comment, but the instruction is the talk of legal circles. It is said to have disappointed Harbottle & Lewis, which has represented the Royal Family for decades. Media law specialist Tyrrell is one of the King’s most trusted advisers.
But William’s move will have delighted Mishcon and its deputy chairman Anthony Julius, who was chosen by Diana as her legal representative when she divorced Charles. Julius continued to work with William as one of the founding trustees of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and was vice-president until it closed in 2012.
William’s decision is being seen at Buckingham Palace as the latest example of his desire to follow a different path from that of his father. Of course, his inheritance of the vast Duchy of Cornwall estate when Charles ascended the throne in 2022 means that money is no object. Valued at more than £1billion, the estate includes more than 200 square miles of land in over 23 counties and provides William with an annual income of at least £20million.
‘William wants to do things differently from his father, and wants to be seen to do them differently,’ a friend tells me. This was made clear in 2023 when William chose to give a major interview to a national newspaper that was published the day after Trooping the Colour. It meant that coverage of the King’s first birthday parade was overshadowed by his heir’s declaration that he planned to end homelessness. William’s decision to branch out from his father’s legal advisers shows that he is more than willing to shake up the status quo behind palace doors as well.
I mean, it makes for a good headline: Prince William hires law firm which handled his mother’s divorce! It really makes you think, and this would have been HUGE news one year ago. Mishcon de Reya is full-service though, they don’t just do divorce cases and family law, they do everything. Diana adored her lawyers. Anyway, the Other Brother is his “own man,” that’s why he’s hiring a different law firm, just like Harry! Notice how William won’t be criticized at all for this either, not like Harry was for hiring Sherborne. Now, I know I give William a lot of sh-t – all of which he deserves – but it’s honestly a good idea for William to have legal counsel separate from his father’s. Conflicts of interest abound, which is what Harry discovered all of those years ago.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- The Prince of Wales during his visit to Aberdeen to mark the official launch of Invisible Cities Aberdeen, which has been supported by the Homewards Fund to introduce its walking tours to the city, as well as rolling out to all six Homewards locations.,Image: 980197356, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales during his visit to Aberdeen to mark the official launch of Invisible Cities Aberdeen, which has been supported by the Homewards Fund to introduce its walking tours to the city, as well as rolling out to all six Homewards locations.,Image: 980197405, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales during his visit to Aberdeen to mark the official launch of Invisible Cities Aberdeen, which has been supported by the Homewards Fund to introduce its walking tours to the city, as well as rolling out to all six Homewards locations.,Image: 980197431, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales during his visit to Aberdeen to mark the official launch of Invisible Cities Aberdeen, which has been supported by the Homewards Fund to introduce its walking tours to the city, as well as rolling out to all six Homewards locations.,Image: 980197439, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales during his visit to Aberdeen to mark the official launch of Invisible Cities Aberdeen, which has been supported by the Homewards Fund to introduce its walking tours to the city, as well as rolling out to all six Homewards locations.,Image: 980197463, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow/Avalon
So Willie hires his mother’s divorce law firm but the rats won’t discuss the link or connection to a possible divorce from Lazy.
Law firms are known to specialise in particular areas of the law like Sherborne in defamation, Robertson/Clooney in human rights… and Mishcon in divorces. Mishcon also represented Heather Mills in her divorce from Paul McCartney before Heather decided to represent herself.
But, nothing to see here of course. 😏
This could be nothing, and it’s probably not meaningful, but if Harry hired the same firm that his mother used in her divorce, every damn newspaper, tabloid, and morning show would be screaming that an H&M divorce was imminent. But it’s William, so this just means he’s a global statesman. 😒
Yep. It would absolutely be front page news on every single paper in the uk if Harry hired Diana’s divorce lawyers. And yeah, it doesn’t necessarily signify anything, but even here, the move is called remarkable and the talk of legal circles. It could be people are gossiping about this more than the papers are saying.
Nailed it! They would already have their assets divided if Harry hired his Mom’s divorce attorney.
He beat Kate to it. They can’t handle her side now. Well, well, well…
Good point. Though I doubt Lazy can afford divorce lawyers unless they do them pro bono. They do have a pre-nup don’t they? 🤔
I’m sure Diana had one, too.
Diana might not have because at that time I think the idea of the prince and princess of wales divorcing was not something anyone even contemplated.
I don’t think pre nups are a thing in the UK. Or at least I don’t think they were in 2011.
Pre nups were definitely not a thing in 1981. Matrimonial law in most western countries was pretty backwards. At that time sexual assault from a husband did not exist as a crime. Common law spouses had few rights as well. These things, including pre nups only started happening in the late 80s and 90s and the UK was slower to accept things than the U.S.
Also Charles had to borrow money from the Queen to pay out Diana. That is part of what Harry inherited from Diana.
I also doubt the Middletons had the power to ask for a pre nup. That said William wouldn’t get away with leaving Kate nothing. UK laws would not permit it, neither would the precedent set by his father.
@Nic919 prenups aren’t automatically binding in the UK but a court will consider one when deciding on financial settlements
@Blogger: No one need represent Kate pro bono in a divorce. She’d be able to expect a large enough settlement that they’d do it on contingency. That is, they’d get paid when she got her settlement.
My first thought, @hyacinth! 😂
IIRC they didn’t have a pre-nup when they got married. So Kate could take him to the cleaners if she desired.
No kate can’t take William to the cleaners. William’s assets aren’t transferable for the most part, especially the duchy. In a marriage where both parties pay regular taxes and don’t have special rules, then a wife of 14 years would get something. But despite the valuations by the Daily Mail, no court is going to overturn the medieval protections of the duchy land. She would get something for spousal support and they would have shared custody.
Charles had to borrow money from the Queen to pay a settlement with Diana. This would have to happen here too.
Nic is right. The future monarch’s putative fortune is safe. The Duchy is actually owned by the Crown, not William. It is merely an Act of Parliament which confers William that income. Kate is not entitled to any of it, save if William pays her out of those profits.
Equally, the land is held in trust. William doesn’t even own any of it right now.
Yes, this move by William certainly gets one wondering about the possibility of divorce and that perhaps Charles health is declining faster than is being reported.
Yeah, this does have a vibe of “Panic Stations I Cannot Ascend The Throne Shackled To This Coat-rack”
If it was anyone but William, I think it would be a good idea to change from the old lawyers. But this has an element of spite in it imo. Even Bullyiam must know that it gives major hints of divorce to people who associate Mishcon with Diana’s divorce. And also two fingers up to Charles…….
Sorry @Blogger, just saw your comment after I posted mine, you put it better than I did!
😂 how come we can both come up independently with the same link but the rats can’t? 🤣
Or maybe these are their tiny morsels to the public whom they treat with contempt.
William only cares about William 😎
Let’s connect the dots here:
1) Charles has a “bad reaction” to chemotherapy that he’s received for over a year, no end in sight, is hospitalized…a downturn? Six months to a year to live? Who knows…
2) William realizes that if he’s going to get a divorce, it’s go time. Now or never, or Kate becomes Queen and he has no second chance with another partner
3) William doesn’t want to use lawyers connected with Charles/BP/the Crown in any way, so chooses…his mother’s divorce lawyers. Why not? They won a big settlement for Diana. Alternatively, he wants to put them on retainer so Kate/Middletons can’t hire them
4) Concentrating on his divorce instead of, for example, taking up some slack for Charles, trying to do his duty by his father by working hard before he becomes King sounds like William. Then he’ll get a year of bad headlines to weather for dumping Kate then two to three years of Single William On the Prowl! William Picks His New Queen! William Marries His New Queen! plus a funeral and coronation tucked in there….he won’t have to “work” for at least 4 to 5 years. Perfect!
“he wants to put them on retainer so Kate/Middletons can’t hire them”
Yeah, this. It feels like he just plucked a potent arrow out of the Middletons’ quiver.
“he won’t have to “work” for at least 4 to 5 years. Perfect!”
🤣🤣🤣
Australian billionaire media mogul and polo player, Kerry Packer, now deceased, did the same in the UK when setting up a rival cricket competition against the establishment.
Your dots form a pretty probable picture. I’d also add that if he remarries it’ll be to someone young and he’ll have 2 more children. Partly because the new wife might want them but also to push Harry and his children further down the line of succession. Because, yes, I do think he’s that petty.
Plus just think of all the school runs he’ll have to do with his new young family! No possible way to work at the same time…rinse, repeat
Yes that sounds right new younger wife and she probably might want children. This sounds like Peg!
Good, if he has more children, Archie and Lilli don’t need asking him anything before marrying.
I don’t believe William will have more children. He’s done and didn’t really want a third. If he divorced, he will likely marry someone close to his age because a very young QC will not be suitable.
Slight correction, Convict: “He didn’t really want a third – WITH KATE.” It’s harder to divorce your royal wife if there are three children instead of just two. And they had already been on the rocks long before Louis was conceived. It was reported how much of a surprise it was to William and how thrilled Kate was about the pregnancy. I remain convinced that if Louis had not been born they would have publicly acknowledged their separation and probably been divorced by now.
Think how many men spend years with women and keep saying “I don’t want kids”, then the minute they move on to someone else they “switch” and suddenly become really enthusiastic about wanting a family and end up having 2, 3, 4 children with the new wife (after saying for years that they never wanted to get married ever).
Louis happened after the dad dancing at Verbier with other women. But what really delayed things was Harry getting serious with Meghan and getting engaged. Their jealousy of Meghan and Harry had them as uneasy allies. It stopped working once Harry and Meghan moved to the states and especially after the Oprah interview. William because noticeably ruder to Kate in public after that interview. It started with the zooms moving to Sandringham from Anmer. We also started hearing about them arriving separately after that. They did this in 2022 when George attended and he greeting William like he hadn’t seen them for a while. At the commonwealth games, William arrived with Charlotte only by helicopter as Kate waited for them in a Range Rover. She had an overnight bag with her.
In the UK you have to be separated for 2 years before you can apply for divorce especially if one side does not consent. The 2 years would have come up early last year, but then we had the missington situation.
Magdalena: I take your point and if we were discussing anyone but William I might agree. However, he isn’t the marrying kind IMO. We know he was forced to marry because it was more than mere expectation that he would produce legitimate heirs. Kate was the convenient choice, as we also know.
I posted below, in response to Samuel Whiskers, that he may remarry for appearances sake, not love. That would be to an aristo, because apparently, they roll that way.
#2 Carole will go nuclear.
She wants to be Queen Mother and she’s already disclosed so much of Willie’s peccadilloes: the Pegging (Lazy didn’t like it) and his head on her lap.
Then again, she’s defending her Lazy daughter so the public reaction will be “Meh, we knew all along.”
Carole can’t be Queen Mother because Kate can never be Queen regnant, or monarch as sovereign.
Carole’s sitting on a sh*t ton of kompromat on Wilbur so unless he makes her an offer she can’t resist she may very well spill to the tabloids in retaliation for him divorcing Kitty.
@Lady Esther — just read your post, great minds think alike 🙂
Honestly, I hold Kate to account for her actions, the lying story and the way she has treated Meghan and yet colonized everything about her. That said, if William divorced her and unleashed the full force of the press hounds upon her, over time, even I would be like yikes. But I think if ever it happened, it would be in William’s best interest to control the narrative that it is a very friendly conscious uncoupling. It would be better for the kids too. Which will only work if the Middletons play ball bc if they try to leak about him, William will have the press go hard in retaliation. That’s my guess anyways. I know they have kompromat on him but still. At the end of the day, the press wants the monarchy to continue and if things about William were to really be revealed…it might be bad. So the press would protect him.
@Bqm — oh Carole’s got dirt. Why do think the Midds got welcomed back into the royal fold after being benched for so long after the humiliation of PP folding, leaving a bunch of creditors penniless? They know what happened between the Wails that necessitated Kate’s disappearance for months on end. That Summer’s Eve soft-focus video was released because rumblings of an impending separation were getting louder and louder, and people were starting to hypothesize that Kate’s cancer diagnosis was a coverup. Too much stuff simply didn’t add up.
No way in a billion years would Will ever commit to a new partner much less make some other woman queen!
I’m confused where this image of Will as a devoted romantic lover willing to sacrifice everything for a woman comes from. I’m sure he’s had affairs and will continue to have them, but he’s too self-centred to ever sacrifice anything for a woman. If he and Kate were to split he’d simply remain single.
I agree with most of what you say, Samuel Whiskers. But I think there is a possibility he may remarry, for appearances sake, not because of love.
William needed to marry to have legitimate heirs. Whilst I do think he loves his children, I can’t see him being interested in having any more. It really would set a precedent that I don’t think would go down well for some reason. Children in the line of succession, born to the heir apparent, from a second wife? No, I can’t see it being accepted. Not even William is that mad.
Charles married Camilla, of course, but she was no longer of child-bearing age. I think that would be the extend of the UK public’s patience with William: second wife, no other children from that marriage.
Henry VIII already set this precedent. And birth order removed gender so it is easier now than in the Tudor era.
Global Statesman Peg hires a law firm because he wants to be his own man. He’s a big boy now. Congrats Peg! The rats write about him as if he’s 22 instead of almost half a century old. Any fool can hire an attorney. Geez.
@mslove
An independent guy with sixty people serving him.🤣🤣🤣
Did you fall off the Christmas tree?
Peg is not even 22. He looks like a grandfather, mentally a twelve-year-old. And why does he need a law firm, if he does nothing anyway.
This really is weird, they almost call this change William’s big boy lawyer.
@Christine, lmfao!
For once I don’t think this is indicating what we would think it would. I think he just wants different lawyers because he doesn’t trust his father’s lawyers and he seems increasingly paranoid. I do think he realizes how it looks and doesn’t care though. I frequently asked why don’t they just get a divorce because they clearly can’t stand each other, but I realized it’s not like he’s going to have to disrespect her less when he’s King.
Clearly no one, not the press, not his family, is going to hold him accountable so why bother? It benefits him to look like a dedicated father and husband with his college sweetheart. He can still act like a single man because he always has, and he’s already said he’s not going to work as much as you want, travel as much as you want, or show you his kids as much as you want. No reason to think he’s scared that he won’t be able to continue openly disrespecting his wife once he’s king.
I don’t necessarily think this means divorce but if it did, does it matter? I don’t think it would end the monarchy, nor would people care after the initial shock wore off. Hell, Kate made a cancer announcement and everyone moved on very quickly. And with the press on the royal family’s side, they could spin a separation any way they want to because William has them in his back pocket. When that photo of Kate and her mother in the car came out, William told the British press not to publish it and they didn’t. Everything depends on how the press covers it and I just don’t think those two divorcing would be as big a deal as people think.
All valid points, but have you *seen* William at the joint appearances he does with his wife lately? I think his rage at being married to her is beginning to weigh more heavily than his desire to be seen as the family man. The play acting was replaced with sneering asides and cold shoulder body language long ago.
I think divorce was the plan 1-2 years back, but things got off track after the events of late 2023 and early 2024. Looks as if things could be full steam ahead again.
Yes, but why does he agree to make these joint appearances? Why does he still want to pretend they’re a normal couple?
Biding his time until his efforts to free himself can resume. He couldn’t ditch her in the immediate aftermath of her cancer proclamation, could he? He’d look a right ass.
No, playing along will do for now. He’ll exhibit his contempt in public, but out of earshot of photogs. He’ll sit for the Overkill Video, but grimace his way through it (then promptly trot out his media mouthpieces to distance himself from the video once it’s clear everyone finds it nauseating).
He’s playing a long game, I think. Thus far in his life, he has never managed to successfully shake the Middletons off of him. His office announces a solo event for him, but his wife is added at the very last minute, and he proceeds to pout for the visit’s entire duration. Next event he goes alone. Then there are the mandatory events, the things involving many royals, and for which his wife’s absence would be noticed. He ignores her. Rinse and repeat.
Time will show us how many more times they do private visits together. She certainly has more shine on her solo outings these days.
Yeah, at first I thought this might be divorce, but Mishcon apparently provides a range of services. Interestingly, though, Mishcon also have a well-regarded speciality in defamation and media law. I wonder if Peg has been, or suspects he will be, involved in Harry’s upcoming suit against the Mail. Just speculating here.
I dont think this means a divorce is imminent. BUT its certainly an interesting look, right? I mean this is the DM, reminding us of how these lawyers worked with Diana, reminding us about Diana’s belief that the royal family was going to try to kill her in a car accident, etc. Like the DM is spending a lot of time in this article making sure you CANNOT miss the connection between this law firm and Diana. It’s not just “oh he hired his mother’s old lawyers, he’s his own man.” its…..a lot. And the DM is doing that for a reason.
Also, I’m kind of LOLing – “he is his own man!!! He doesnt need to use his daddy’s lawyers anymore!” so he’s using his mothers.
LOL @Becks1. I will always see William as a foot-stomping toddler, fuming every time he sees Little Brother with something he doesn’t have himself. He seems stuck in a state of arrested development at around the age he was when his Mother died, perennially teenaged and insecure.
Like you, I don’t think a divorce is imminent, but he stuck his toe into the waters last time to test them, and I sense that another toe is being extended to see how viable that option would be. I’m coming to the conclusion that it will happen in less than two years. He’s completely lost interest in even the pretense, and the only one carrying water for that marriage is rapidly losing her sanity.
It’s hilarious, isn’t it? And all this talk about William doing things differently. He doesn’t have to change attorneys for that- he’s already upstaging his father, lolling around watching football, not doing anything unless he feels like it. A change of attorneys won’t change Will. But maybe Charles’ “most trusted advisor” has been “advising” Charles about William’s activities?
Eden wording the change and making sure to include divorce lawyer is done for a reason. Likely just yanking the chain, but he could have worded it differently if he wanted to.
Also this big boy talk at age 43 is just sad. It’s very similar to how the mango moron is described.
I don’t think a divorce is imminent either–too close to the shampoo commercial, and he’s been holding up his end of the loving facade (in newspaper articles if not body language). That said, this particular divorce attorney is definitely a LOOK.
However, instead of divorce (at this moment anyway), he’s very actively trying to agitate his father (and/ or stepmother)? We were told that KP is keeping their schedule secret from BP and that they’d cut down on BP’s leaking because of it. The shampoo commercial leaned heavily into the Middleton family, and Kate was cut from the State dinner. I think this is aimed at KC instead of K.
The fact the DM used a headline highlighting “divorce firm” is what everyone needs to pay attention to. They could have said “William chooses new legal representation”, or “William hires new law firm” and keep out the word divorce. It’s almost like the British media wants to send a sign.
I also agree that a divorce is unlikely to be imminent. But I do believe that this headline is not innocuous either. I think William is taunting Kate and the Middletons. It’s a warning. If William didn’t want that headline, it would be gone. Alas, it’s deliberate.
Bill getting a divorce is wishful thinking. He has it made! His wife turns a blind eye to his running around with other men, she lives in her own home, the media is in his back pocket and bending over to protect his image.
So why divorce?
If that really is the case there’ll never be a divorce, W needs KM to beard for him now and in the future.
God knows what kind of deal has been struck with Carol Middleton, doesn’t bear thinking about. It would help explain his viciousness toward H&M.
However, the new UK government may have determined that a sordid situation is best brought to an end before there’s another scandal like last March’s.
William will divorce Kate if he wants to even if just to get his own way. He never married for love and it will be his revenge to prevent Kate from being crowned Queen Consort.
Where is Kate by the way , perhaps she is out dancing in the woods .
Hasn’t been seen for a while.
The kids are on a school holiday so of course Kate can’t be apart from them for an hour or so, at least not for work.
The Easter holy week begins from Palm Sunday (April 13) to Easter Monday (April 21). So exactly how long are these “kids-are-on-holidays” excuse going to be used.
Educ institutions (I;e primary/secondary and (govt) tertiary) give a 2- 3 week holiday break beginning anytime of week beginning Mon Aril 15.
So this worn out, tired, old, over-used excuse that those over-privileged royal kids “are on holiday” is a sham and a scam.
@Kingston the schools in the UK try to stagger breaks so not all the kids are off at the same time, state schools typically have two weeks and private schools three at Easter. My friends kids in private school broke up last weekend and are off until Easter.
They are still lazy AF but the kids could have been off for the last week.
@Kingston the kids go back 4/24 so they’re probably already on break.
It feels like these kids are ALWAYS on school breaks
Think I asked this yesterday but is it a school holiday? I’m curious to see if they’ll be out at all during Charles’ Italian tour. Obviously they won’t be if it’s a school holiday.
The last I remember, she and Will were telling people she is making jams too.
@sevenblue, but she apparently couldn’t remember the extremely basic recipe for jams: fruit, sugar, pectin, lemon.
She hasn’t been seen for three weeks. Easter is April 20. That’s one long school break! Is she really joining the kids on school break?
I think its the break in between terms, which can be pretty long. If you look at the school calendar, the summer term starts April 24th, and they don’t have the 2025 lent term listed, which tells me the lent/spring term is over and the kids are on break. They seem to get about a month between terms, a week at the half term, and then two months between the summer and fall terms.
so yes the Wales are probably away somewhere.
“Lent term”? Wouldn’t that be for Catholics only? I’ve never heard of it and my brother went to a Catholic school.
@Convict 🤷♀️ I never have either but I’m in the US. But that’s what it says on their website for 2026.
🤷♀️ thats what it says on the school website
Thanks Becks1 🙏😊
Maybe “lent term” is an Anglican thing. My kids attended an Episcopalian grade school, and Episcopalians are the American equivalent of the British Anglicans. We didn’t call the break “lent term” but, then again, our school calendar looked very different as it was on the American school year model.
British schools are divided into three terms, autumn, winter and spring. Some use different terms such as Lenten for the winter term (Jan-April). Perhaps Ladbrook is one of them.
Private schools have three terms.
Michaelmas… September to December
Lent … in other schools often called Easter term… January – Easter , and Summer term… after Easter – very early July.
Thanks for the replies.
As I said, my brother went to private Catholic school and I never recalled it being called “Lent term”. It is just bizarre to me, given the separation of Church and State in the UK and other Western democracies. Mostly, these private schools take anyone if the parents are silly enough to pay the extortionate fees.
But, with the British monarch as head of the Church of England, it may be different.
I saw something that said school break for the private schools started last Friday and will last until after Easter.
But Kate was not seen even prior to that break. Williams, did something last week before the break started.
Again with Charles literally going to a hospital and then back to engagements days later, it remains bizarre that Kate can disappear like this despite the video last summer announcing she’s was finished treatments.
Yes, Kate had been MIA for two weeks even before break started last Friday. This week brings us to three weeks of no Kate activities. You can tell the MoL is getting annoyed because they’ve been running retrospectives of her breakup with William and ugly wedding dresses from some company she might have patronized before she was married. Usually there’s a burst of activity (where “burst” means a few days) from both of them before they go out on break or holiday. But not this time.
Whenever I read that William “…wants to be his own man “, I just laugh and laugh! I don’t know if he ever does a single thing that is just his, it’s always in response to his brother, his father or his late grandmother. It must be so frustrating to have so many people live rent free in your head and have to base every action/response to prove that you’re better than they are.
I mean it makes sense when you think that his old lawyers advised him to take the million pound hush money from the Sun instead of fighting it out in court like Harry did.
I mean, in exchange he is getting praised to the heaven for every little things he does or doesn’t do. I think, it was a good deal for the future King. Can you imagine the Sun actually writing truth about him?
Yes he’s getting praise in the press but in his competition with Harry he ended up a loser. He would be more upset about Harry getting the Sun to admit wrongdoing, an apology for himself and Diana and at least 10 times what he got in damages
We don’t know what his lawyers advised. Harbottle and Lewis fought to the media on his behalf for 15 years before that. Since his payoff, the Sun has barely written about him. He may have extracted agreements other than just money. If anyone advised it, it was the palace. One thing we constantly have heard about him and Kate for 20 years is they don’t take any advice.
Huh. I’m surprised it took him this long to get new representation separate from Charles. Following in the spare’s footsteps. But even if it’s nothing to do with anything, he must know that hiring Diana’s divorce lawyers would raise eyebrows.
Oh this is getting good….
I think William is causing mischief, deliberately, yes.
Did huevo end homelessness yet
Yes. Right after he brought peace to the middle east. You missed both of these?
I think Peg is still struggling to get a fridge sent to the soldiers stationed in Estonia.
Whatever happened to that fridge?
Instead of asking his father, who happens to be head of the armed forces, to pull some strings and get the Estonian base a fridge, Peg is striking out on his own and being his own man. And I guess using his resources for good is a foreign concept to him.
OK, I’ve missed something…can someone PLEASE tell me what this name Peg is all about? PLEASE!!
@JustAskin’: Not sure how I can put this delicately but it has to do with rumours about his preferences in the bedroom. Google “Prince of Pegging” if you need more info, LOL.
Sure! Accomplished this right after ending racism in football.🤷🏾♀️
He loves to talk the talk, but action, that’s a different matter altogether.
So now that the Willionaire Slumlord has come into his own money — unearned, undeserved — he hires the law firm that was implicated in the Panama papers (specialising in setting up offshore tax havens), and, tangentially, in the Paradise and Pandora papers too.
Great look. No wonder Bulliam the Incandescent won’t bother with releasing any kind of tax returns for the Duchy.
Nothing to see here, not being fiducially reliable and accountable comes with the territory.
Good point. The Duchy money under scrutiny.
Ah hah – ding ding ding. William could find a way to sock away his millions (and billions, after he becomes King) so he can claim poverty just as Charles did in the event of any divorce. “I just can’t afford a settlement that high, Kate!”
Sounds like he hired the perfect lawyers for such a scheme if they were involved in the Panama Papers…
Mishcon also apparently has a well-regarded line of work in defamation and media law. Wonder if Bulliam has been, or suspects he will be, implicated in Harry’s upcoming lawsuit against the Mail.
Nanea, that is very interesting, but William does what he wants with impunity. All royals have shady dealings in the event that constitutional monarchies get abolished. They’ve all stashed away millions and billions in offshore tax havens with ill-gotten gains.
My thoughts went to Duchy money direction too, but in a different way. Does anyone remember the storyline that Charles knew very well how greedy and incomptent his son is, so he had built in mechanisms to stop Egg from raiding or destroying the Duchy? Well, maybe it took this much time for Huevo to hit walls in getting what he deserves for being born.
I wonder – did he ring them up before or after Chanduaka blew the “Sentebale takeover” gaff?
She blew through a lot of money – apparently w/o sanction from the Trustees – and she’s clearly tied to Huevo. Did the flare go up for the lawyers after the Charity Commission opened the case? If it was earlier, why are the media reporting it now – why keep their powder dry until now? Unless they’re trying to say something w/o saying it out loud…
Ingrid will write unfavorable articles about kate if divorce happens. The did that to Diana and Diana was more popular than keen.
William should make sure his own interests are represented whenever they could conflict with Charles’ and, importantly, stepmom Camilla’s interests. Charles is ill. This is timely.
Agree – another dot to connect, Camilla’s recent real estate purchase of the property next to Ray Mill (presumably for her children and grandchildren). Surely the timing of this is no coincidence…
People always say that William will stick it to Camilla when Charles is gone because he inherits everything. But Charles could give everything not entailed to Camilla if he wanted. There’d just be taxes. That’s the only reason it goes from monarch to monarch. Charles could also gift her plenty before he dies or set up trusts. I’m betting she makes out very well. Charles has an immense private fortune separate from homes, jewels and art. I’d always figured Harry would be the beneficiary of giant trusts until everything fell apart since William will inherited plenty. It’d actually be kind of hilarious if Charles gifted Camilla a ton of the jewels or Balmoral or anything like that and William is like wtf?!
Tin foil tiara: William is getting a new lawyer because of the Sentebale mess. His pal Iain Rawlinson is a current trustee and subject to the investigation; and there’s a print out of detailed payouts that Sophie signed off on: £24K paid, £66K owed for being a consultant.
That was my thought as well. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t have something to do with this Sentebale mess.
This news offers the amazing opportunity for BM to mention Willliam and Divorce in the same headline while keeping their hands clean.
I tend to think this has more to do with defending himself against whatever comes out of Harry’s lawsuit against DM. He has secrets to hide.
Harbottle and Lewis have done all of his and the Middletons’ dirty work for them against the media for almost two decades . They acted for the Middletons in the late 00s and early 10s. And while a full service firm, I don’t think Miscon are media specialists. If it’s like any of his other hires, he’s simply got a buddy there. Although again – excellent firm.
Mishscon are known for defamation and personal reputation management. Besides libel suits, I would think this would include media management.
Ah, thanks for the correction. Wouldn’t be surprised then if William is going to get aggressive with the media.
This article has an interesting slant:
It begins with 2 paragraphs of Diana’s divorce, her suspicions, her death and a police coverup.
One of the King’s most trusted advisors is “disappointed” – i.e. Charles.
A whole paragraph about how William is swimming in wealth.
And it ends with how William deliberately upstaged Charles’ birthday parade.
Interesting.
Yeah, I was struck mostly by the article’s focus on Diana’s concerns about being killed in a staged car accident. Charles and Camilla cannot be happy to be reminded of that.
This part of the story intrigued me: “At his meeting with police chiefs the month after Diana’s death, Lord Mishcon (who died in 2006) read his note aloud to stress its importance. He told officers that it recorded Diana saying ‘efforts would be made if not to get rid of her by some accident in her car …'”
In hiring Mishcon’s firm, William is almost endorsing Mishcon’s handling of Diana’s concerns all those years ago. Wondering if he’s trying to yank Charles’ and Camilla’s chain. If so, he ought to be careful. They’re smarter than he is (low bar and all that).
Kate is getting nothing in the divorce.
@Jennifer perhaps Camilla Toenail would remain loyal to the cause in the event of an official separation. Also Sarah Vile, Amanda Platell, Vanessa Feltz and batty Liz Jones are very bitter about their own husbands ditching them so Kate will retain their support. Jeremy Clarkson and Piss Morgan ditched wives for side chicks so Will will get their support.
I suspect Maureen is just tweaking Willy’s nose with this story. Quite a few are aware of the rumours of separation and longstanding tension between them in public. Servants will know where the couple are indeed living separately. Let’s face it breaking that story would be a huge coup and they’d be hacked off if US press broke it ahead of the Fail!
But, but, but William and Kate have the strongest perfect loving relationship 😎
Eden probably knows that the school break is being taken separately and he’s writing all this to let William know it.
Yep!
A law firm in the UK and Australia isn’t legal ‘counsel’. The latter is a barrister as advocate. Solicitors are lawyers in law firms who instruct counsel, who in turn are independent and usually work as a collective in chambers. But they cannot incorporate themselves the way that solicitors in law firms can and do. Solicitors go “on the record” in court, but barristers can change at a moment’s notice when they appear. Solicitors can appear in court, but that is mostly for smaller matters, directions, and mentions that are merely procedural and/or for clients who can’t afford counsel.
He looks like a boiled egg dipped in lint, giving Humpty Dumpty a run for his money.
I think Diana would be so disappointed in his attitude and laziness. Yuck.
I can’t help but wonder if this is the press’s way of saying there is
Marriage Trouble without actually saying the quiet part out loud.
At what point did Charles hire Harbottle and Lewis and stop using Farrer and Co., Queen Elizabeth’s lawyers? It sounds like this may be something that is traditional (using a law firm they choose) and those idiots in the BM just made a big deal of it because it was Harry.
The first time I remember seeing Harbottle and Lewis was the early 2000s in the leadup to the Kate 25th birthday pal stroll, and when the Middleton made PCC complaints. Tyrell was directly quoted by name on behalf of William about wanting his girlfriend to be left alone.
If they were to divorce, let’s be honest. Kate does not have the goodwill that Diana had because Kate has been lazy and has shown that she is not a charitable person and puts no effort into any of her patronages. Her family is seen as gold-digging pariahs looking for a come-up. From what I’ve read, her parents want titles and have never been given any. People are still mad about PP. The monarchy is weakened and Willy wants his freedom from Lazy Bones. I don’t think he will offer her much and I think that she’s not in a position to push because of her fake cancer storyline and overall laziness. The BM will likely be in his pockets because he will be the next monarch. He could demand custody of the children especially George to “prepare” him for the future. It will be interesting.
No reason for her parent to suppose they would get titles, none of the parents of the married ins got them. The Spencer’s had theirs generations back The DOY’s father is still just a Major, a rank he got in the army and Sophie’s parents have non either.
I might be totally wrong, but I don’t see how Will can get a divorce, honestly. Kate is like a saint to many white women now thanks to years long Meghan hate campaign. When he tried to throw Kate under the bus for photoshop fail, everyone took Kate’s side against the palace. Remember even some group about photography in UK gave a statement questioning the palace’s statement that it was Kate’s fault. Especially now with cancer story, there is no way Will would get a divorce and not turn into the public enemy one. Maybe he has personal connections there and that is why he chose this law firm and didn’t care about the potential headlines. He can order around and make them delete any bad articles anyway.
The guy has his family man image and his obvious affairs. Why would he want to get divorced? Who is gonna take him after that and endure the british media? It was only Kate who did and that was when he didn’t look like a total weirdo too. I don’t know, I don’t see it really.
William will always be protected, no matter how popular Kate is. He was born to be King. Kate is just a commoner who married him. Observe what happened to Diana, who was way more popular, not lazy and self-serving like Kate, who also has an odious family that are not popular. Most see through the Middletons, save the rusted-ons. The power of the monarchy as an institution will unleash the Kraken on the Middletons.
@convict, yes Will will be protected, but since Kate enjoyed enormous positive PR from british media since Meghan joined in, nobody is gonna believe any negative campaign against her. Throwing Kate under the bus for photoshop didn’t work because of this. Diana got incredible negative articles all throughout her marriage, the tabloids started writing about her somewhat positively after she died. Her situation was totally different from Kate, who is treated like a saint for more than 5 years now.
Maybe Bulliam had advanced notice of KC being “dragged into the Chinese spy scandal” and thought he better put space between him and darling father and uncle. Bulliam the coward
If they were headed to divorce, you’d think we’d see them majorly ramping up their charitable activities to get public opinion on their respective sides. Instead, crickets. In fact, Kate’s been MIA for the last three weeks and we aren’t likely to see her until after Easter on 4/20. You’d also see Bulliam sending out major hit pieces on her via his lapdogs at the Fail, but really the Fail is just recycling the same articles about her clothes and how she partied during their breakup. So unless they’re lying low because an announcement is imminent, I don’t see it. As others have said, he clearly can’t stand her, but she lets him have affairs and do his thing, so why should he wreck his image by divorcing Saint Kate?
William is untouchable and Kate doesn’t care. She just wants to be a lady of leisure on other people’s money.
The three Middletons are like the stepmother and her daughters from Cinderella. Trashy, primitive, greedy, eager for gold, carriages, servants, etc. From what I can see, Carole is the one who is most eager
If she could, she would most gladly become William’s wife herself, and it’s not about William, but about being the queen. Unfortunately, she had to use her daughters and it didn’t matter to her which one would succeed. Until William declared, the three of them went everywhere and traveled together, but Pipa seemed not desperate enough. It seems that she has a few more grey cells than her sister.
If William doesn’t get rid of Kate before Charles is gone, imagine what the RF will look like. All the Middletons, together with Uncle Garry, occupy all the palaces and the treasury.
The current RF is pathetic and tacky (at least they have some manners), and that’s nothing compared to what the RF Middletons will do. It will be self-destruction.
Puts me in mind of when the weasels and the stoats move into Toad Hall….. usurping it from the stupid, unwitting Toad.
All Saint Catherine ( and her wicked mum) wants is the throne, be queen. Having come this far she isn’t going to let a “minor” thing like Bulliam’s personality, his straying stand in her way. She ensured she’ll always be mother of the heir and future king. She’s probably relieved Bulliam has “other” interests and she can go her own way, have “other” interests as well. That’s where Harry would’ve come in, except that Meghan showed up and her well-planned scheme was torpedoed. Hence too the intense hate towards Meghan and the leaking storm.
Being mother of the future king did not prevent Charles divorcing dian a
It is no longer a guarantee of keeping a senior royal marriage together to be mother of the heir.
What is brewing? In the same news cycle Willy’s fingerprints are all over the Sentebale mess to smear Harry and now this? The Windsors do not need their charitable interests looked at too closely. I once read a book written by a sycophant about Charles and even the writer’s fawning coverage criticized the odd way the Prince’s Trust was (dis)organized (many overlapping charities and disjointed/ unfocused approach) and the reliance on constant fundraising. I remember reading the book and thinking how easily money could be laundered through Charles’s charities. London has to have dozens of high powered excellent law firns. Why pick this specific law firm unless he is being spiteful towards Charles? Could “the Harry needs to come back” coverage be originating from BP? Could Willy view this coverage as a threat and go scorched earth on his father before he passes because he cannot fathom that Harry isn’t coming back/isn’t pathologically jealous of his brother the way Willy is of him? I don’t think Willy has the backbone to divorce keener because he couldn’t stand living through a media firestorm like he has caused for Harry/Meghan. Keener’s reluctance to step up and work more is partially to hold on to the claim she is still ill and Willy will never be able to unload her while she can claim she is ill without massive blowback.
Charles has no qualms about using others to save his own ass.
William is exactly the same, that’s why they don’t like each other.
I remember two situations exactly.
THE FIRST was the scandal with millions in advertising for honors and citizenship.. The newspapers were red with articles, but only for a moment. Charles used Lilibet, whom he had previously completely ignored, when she was at Elizabeth’s jubilee and did not react when the media wrote about it, but when his bags of money “poured out”, he stood in front of the cameras and talked for quite a long time about his love for Lilibet, that she was wonderful, that he had spent wonderful moments with her, that “it’s great to spend time with Harry and his family”.
It’s all a lie, but the media changed the subject and the bags disappeared…
SECONDLY, when the Prince’s Trust money scandal came out, he tried to officially pass the blame on to Harry, “because Harry was the one in charge at the time” (he wasn’t). By then it was clear that HM was leaving. It turned out that Charles wanted to give the Prince’s Trust to Harry, but after reviewing the documents, Harry was horrified and refused, while also sending a letter to his father warning him against accepting the millions from improper sources that were then offered to Charles.
Despite warnings, Karol accepted the money, and as it turned out, he tried to blame it on Harry.
Unfortunately for Karol, Harry had copies of the letter he sent him. If not for that, Harry could have had trouble, because things had gone too far, he was threatened with court.
That’s the kind of daddy..!