This E! News story is a few days old, but I love it so much I want to get this story pregnant. I don’t know why E! is getting into the whole royal-coverage thing, but they are – with a vengeance! They have a bitchy, hilarious story with quotes from a “palace source” who has absolutely no idea how useless Duchess Kate is these days. The topic was supposed to be how the Queen would not approve of Kate doing the cover of American Vogue, despite how hard Anna Wintour campaigns for it. But then the “source” veers off into a hilarious diatribe about how Kate will not do anything to “trivialize” the monarchy (more like she won’t do anything – full stop) and how Kate is very “intuitive” about the media – just like Diana! Except she’s not.
If Kate Middleton really is thinking about “playing ball” with Vogue—as we’re told—she may want to reconsider. ‘Cause the queen would not be pleased.
“Kate is keenly conscious that while her new grandmother-in-law may not chide her for appearing on a Vogue cover,” a palace source close to the swanky sitch tells us. “But she would definitely not be amused, and Her Majesty is a real genius at making people squirm with simply a look or a ‘tut, tut.’ ”
How bloody intimidating! So what are the chances we’ll see Kate get her cover girl on?
Not likely! Well, at least for now.
“Both William and Kate are free to be interviewed or photographed by whoever they choose,” one senior royal aide told us. “They are a modern, progressive couple and I’m sure there will be lighter exchanges with the media in the future.”
Just don’t expect too many of those interviews to be glam-centric.
The palace aide dishes, “But both William and Kate feel it would be wrong for Kate to promote herself as a fashion or style icon. That’s not what they are about and they take their royal duties far too seriously to, in one sense, trivialize them.”
She is a style icon, whether she likes it or not.
And Kate’s well versed in being photo ready too, or so says our royal spy: “Kate is as intuitive as Diana was in knowing what a horde of photographers need, often making a bee line for the nearest children or grabbing a shovel to dig some soil during what would have been an otherwise yawn-inducing tree-planting ceremony.”
So what’s the big friggin’ deal then? Shouldn’t the divine Duchess of Cambridge be able to use her princess-like status for something fabulous?
“To be brutally honest, a request to sit down with The Times, the BBC or one of the major American networks to discuss the monarchy in general is one thing,” we’re told by the palace aide. “For Kate to be photographed draped in the latest creation of a couture house to, knowingly or otherwise, self-promote her status as some sort of fashion horse is something quite different. I’d say Architectural Digest might have stood a better chance.”
Hear that, Architectural Digest? Get on the phone—you’ve got a royal pad to peep!
[From E! News]
Look, I don’t think Kate will do American Vogue any time soon, if ever. I said that first off, when the story came out. But let’s not pretend that Kate isn’t doing Vogue covers because she’s got such great PR instincts and because she’s so, so serious about her royal duties. She barely has any royal duties, and I think her lack of ambition, her lack of genuine interest in serving her country as a royal does more to “trivialize” her image than any magazine cover. Oh, and if she was really JUST LIKE DIANA (as everyone keeps throwing on her, from palace to press), she would be talking to fashion editors and forming relationships within the British and international fashion industry, as Diana did. But… it’s not Kate’s fault. Will’s in charge. Kate’s just the geisha.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
She looks like a Disney Princess.
This girl annoys the hell out of me. Man, she’s irritating!
Great hair, though, I’ll never say that enough.
She will never be allowed to overshadow her husband. The Palace learned from their mistakes with Diana. Diana was the star, the rest of the Royals were considered dull and uninteresting. They won’t let it happen again!
The ignorant viciousness shown by people towards her is staggering.
If Kate were to do even barely half of what Diana did, she’d probably keel over of exhaustion. Oh, and style icon? AHA. AHA. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
bUT I do have to agree with Rocket Merry. As much as I hate these Middleton twits, that Waity does have great hair.
trolleydolly, you are spot-on.
I really like Kate. She is a breath of fresh air. I keep trying to classify how she represents & is viewed. She is not beautiful or fluffy pretty…but here is a truly handsome young woman who seems very sweet, respectful & in love.
Right.
“Takes her royal duties seriously” AHAHAHA that’s why she doesn’t have any right?
Diana wasnt all that. She showed up to charity events for photo ops. She wasnt ‘hands on’ in those charities. She made her name by marrying a Prince having two sons, and getting papped alot. Then she died young in a terrible car crash. I am sure if she was still around today we would be discussing her bad botox and second divorce.
Let Kate be her own woman for god sake. I am sure that she and most other women have better things to do than be a ‘style icon’. She is not Diana, and that is a good thing.
Duchess Dolittle is content to sit back, shop on Sloane St, attend the occasional ribbon cutting, and gaze adoringly at William. She won’t do anything to damage the Firm, but she also won’t do anything to add to it either.
Amen Ashley!
@Ashley. Really? She has better things to do? Could’ve fooled me seeing how she hardly does much of anything. We’re not exactly talking about a woman who has to work 12 hours a day at some high powered job.
And for someone who allegedly isn’t interested in being a style icon, she sure shops a lot, mostly for clothes. I found from personal experience that if someone isn’t all that interested in fashion, then they are not gonna spend much time clothes shopping either.
@trolley dolly agree with the first paragraph. BUT I have no sympathy for her she seems bland and inoffensive and I believe she loves Wil but the girl went into this with eyes open. She made the decision long ago not to develop herself in anyway so as to marry her prince and please her social climbing family. There is nothing about that choice that I can admire.
i love her. she reminds me of belle from Beauty and the Beast
ZOMG she goes shopping!! For SHAME. “Let he who is without sin…”
Ok, no Bible-thumping intended, but it’s getting pretty old trying to find reasons to pick on this girl. Sure, poke fun at her work ethic, but you must be running out of creative things to say since you’ve been harping about her lack of career since before the wedding.
I’ll say it again, watch and learn grasshoppers–watch.and.learn.
From a society that glorifies shows about rich housewives doing nothing to the point that there are multiple versions of that show out there, not to mention countless other useless, rich, non-working “celebs”, people sure are harsh on a young newlywed who hasn’t started her royal duties full time…YET.
Ashley, couldn’t agree more. Diana was an icon for some reasons, but boy was she flawed. Dying young has aggrandized her into a mythic creature that she simply was not.
Kate is only pretty. Diana was beautiful. Another poster said all Diana did was show up at charities, but didn’t do any real work. Wrong. She knew how to be very effective in bringing worldwide attention to her charities and causes. Kate seems like she’d rather not do that. If Diana were still alive, she’d still be working with a million charities, and would probably try to bring Kate along so as to teach her how it’s done. But I think Kate would only complain to William about doing such things.
If Waity and Wills were a modern, progressive couple, she would be doing something, anything really.
This reluctance to get busy may just be Kate’s downfall. The Palace, in time, will become frustrated with her. What makes any of the Kate fan girls believe she was going to do anything after the marriage anyway? She did nothing before. She has better things to do? Like what? The only thing I can think of is get pregnant.
The British public will grow tired of her, mark my words. In fact, I think it is already happening.
Atticus: Diana was, indeed, deeply flawed. But she had empathetic qualities Kate will never have. Diana was an icon, despite her flaws.
Lord knows that someone who is trying to avoid being seen as a clothes horse, would constantly be decked out in head to toe McQueen ensembles. Uh huh. Nothing says workhorse, quite like flashy military inspired couture to meet riot victims. She can’t work McQueen looks, yet insists on wearing the label(watered down of course) for the fashion cred.
If she’s so desperate to be taken seriously, she should try actually doing some steady work.
JulieM, agree – Diana was an icon for a reason. She related to the every day person, was magnetic, did amazing things and touched countless lives through her charity work. I just think she’s become larger than life, perfected in many minds, posthumously.
I hope the Diana comparisons fizzle out soon, but if people are going to keep drawing comparisons, they really need to compare Diana in her first year. Right now Kate is up against the memory of Diana’s entire legacy, and that’s impossible to live up to in her first 6 months as a royal.
LOL. Doesn’t want to trivialize her image and the monarchy? That must be why every time she attends an event, she’s dressed in expensive, brand new clothes and she’s not known for anything else but being a clotheshorse and having great hair, and waiting around for William.
All these vague statements from some “Palace source” just sound like they’re trying to come up with excuses as to why Kate hasn’t done much work and is not exactly coming across as interested in working or genuinely “connecting” with the public.
Kate not posing for US Vogue is not because Kate doesn’t want to…it’s because she’s not allowed. Royals rarely give interviews, let alone pose for magazines. It’s considered tacky and vulgar by many people.
Kate’s often seen in London shopping and spending money. She doesn’t have anything else to do and she doesn’t want to do anything else. Nothing wrong with shopping, but when that’s what you’re always getting caught doing and you’re not showing any other hobbies/interests aside from shopping, something is wrong. It wouldn’t be too bad if Kate is shopping and then she’s seen at a museum the next day, or in an art gallery, or the library, or visiting a hospital privately…anything that will show she has more depth. I don’t believe the theory that there is more to Kate than shopping. She must be really stealthy, hiding her interests and hobbies away as to not get caught by the press doing anything else besides shopping along Sloane St.
At least her sister Pippa uses her job as an excuse to make the sidewalks her personal runway.
I don’t get this, “The palace will not let her overshadow William.” That’s inevitable. Every commoner-born Princess overshadows their husbands to a degree. The media works that way, making the newest (and most vulnerable) member of the royal family their target/darling (whichever way you see it) because the commoner-born princess will always get the headlines and the attention. It’s not reason enough for Kate not to do any work. If Kate and William want her to work, they’d find something for her to do, no matter how small the event without overshadowing anyone.
If anything, Kate should use her popularity to boost her image now, to build rapport with the press and the public, and to carve out a positive impression for herself while the press and public are still mostly positive about her. Soon enough they’re gonna turn on her and she won’t have anything to use to repair her image.
As long as the public does not see Kate doing anything significant, they’re just gonna continue questioning her relevance and usefulness to the royal family. The public won’t always fawn over her clothes and hair…
I might get flamed for saying this, but if HM and Charles paid for her wedding and are paying for her outfits, she has to get to work in order to pay that off alone. There is no point in her lazing around doing ntohing. There is no reason to end up insulting American Vogue as well, it’s an American institution and many of our female politicians (who actually RUN their states) have done poses and interviews for it. Who is she to insult Wintour as well? Wintour MADE American Vogue what it is today and frankly I do not see why Wintour should be insulted as well. Wintour works her fingers to the bone and Kate has yet to do anything all that much for charity.
She needs to work and that is that. Can’t she stop being so self righteous and purer than thou? It wasn’t so long ago that she was going out on a regular basis and slurping champagne and booze and jet setting and partying. What has she done before that is so great? WHo is she to look down her nose at that magazine?
Not that it will do any good, but this article concisely illustrates the many ways in which Geishas were and are nothing like pampered wives: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisha
Diana, who didn’t graduate from the UK equivalent of high school, did nothing if significance until after she’d had children. Her charitable activities increased as she separated from & divorced Charles. Beautiful? Not without a make-up artist & stylist. Compare her early photos as a bride to the later ones. She really was a rather homely girl with a very big nose.
Nice, god forbid anyone offend American Vogue! Kate is currently receiving private lessons on the state of Britain to help her with her duties. THAT’S NOT DOING NOTHING! Neither is a state tour of Canada or opening a cancer unit, see pictures above. Apparently, Princess Diana complained that she felt overwhelmed and ill prepared for her new duties and wished for more support. Unlike Diana, Kate’s currently been eased into them.
Finally, Kate hasn’t gone clothes shopping more than 5 times in the last 5 months. That’s hardly excessive.(In the British paper I read they feel compelled to list everything Kate purchases every she shops, which is a bit excessive.)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/kate-middleton/8777723/Duchess-of-Cambridge-given-private-lessons-in-workings-of-the-State-to-groom-her-for-senior-Royal-duties.html
taxi: At this point in Diana’s marriage, she was making frequent public appearances while suffering from terrible morning sickness as she was pregnant with William. She was a terrible student, as you alluded to, but she “got in there” right away after her marriage with a lot less to work with that Kate. Diana never had a warm and supportive family, or, as previously mentioned, the education, or the benefit of 10 more years of maturity that Kate has. Not to mention, a loving husband. So what exactly is Kate doing with all that advantage?
BTW- I never thought Diana was a raging beauty, either. She did have that funny, crooked conk, as she called it. It was her compassion and empathy that made her attractive. Not to mention, those famous sideways glances.
@ Frog; Say what you will of the Daily Mail, but i tend to believe their royal stories because it is well known that they are the royal family’s unofficial mouth piece of choice. The point i am making is that your story was in the daily mail several weeks ago, but then was contradicted by another story with direct quotes from prince William last week in which he categorically said he wished, and had approval from HM and POW to take more time off with his work rather than become a senior royal. So if he isn’t expected to take up ‘senior royal’ duties for speculatively 2+ years [based on his 2013 contract RAF end], and he will not take on Senior Royal duties in that time, and we are all agreed that He is in charge of Kate, who only works as approved by him, is she taking up a university level degree in civics??
However, a more realistic timeline is this, based upon the fact that only senior royals are allowed to undertake royal duties ie receive the government red box. HM has another 10yrs working life in her assuming she doesn’t retire and lives as long as her mother, and POW probably 30 working years in him with same assumptions as his mother, that means at best William and Kate will not be called upon to attend to any ‘Senior Royal’ duties for 20years.
Is her study course going to take that long??
The point of snark here isn’t that she turned down American Vogue, but the reason given ie ‘she takes her royal duties too seriously to trivialise it with fashion’ As everyone on this and various threads keeps saying…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH the girl has no duties to trivialise!!
BTW given the billion dollar worth of the fashion industry, populated with businesses by self made working people like Kate’s parents, am sure they love to be called trivial by this work-shy duchess dolittle. It is such an insult to them.
For someone who doesn’t want to be a clothes horse, why is she in Mcqueen, the ultimate fashion label? Why not wear Catherine Walker or bruce Oldfield…you know, society labels that provide the appropriate clothing for royals and other upper class gals?
there is a reason for which is never wears her hair up, almost never, unless she has a scarf on, or any kind of jacket. the woman’s back is so incredibly curved and her posture is just unhealthy looking. i’ve noticed that when she had her photo taken while speaking with Reese Witherspoon. She had half her hair up and the picture was taken from the side. it just looks terrible. the hair covers up that really well.
http://www.osoblog.tv/2011/07/kate_middleton_meets_reese_wit.html
here is the pic, enjoy!
man, that head looks so heavy for that sick looking body
http://guestofaguest.com/directory/kate-middleton/91626/
Kate is sorry!! There I said it and everyone knows its the truth. She is only going to do the what she is told and no more. All she cares about is cameras, her sun damaged looks and trying to lose more weight.I hate when people compare her to Diana, she will never be Diana and we wouldn’t even be talking about her if not for Diana changing how people looked at the monarch and Diana just didnt show up to be photographed she actually worked hard for her charities!!! People are already sick of hearing about Kate, I know I am.
Diana, thank you for those pictures. The expression of the woman wearing that purple dress is hilarious! It’s like she’s looking at a two-headed kid.
I wonder where Steve is in all this? He’s Kate’s staunch protector. I would like to hear his views because his beloved middle class Duchess is getting trampled by Rashiel and co. here!
She has a hairy face
I may not know crown jewels from family jewels, but I remember living in Canada for the entirety of that state tour and by day seven many of us were consolidated in a firm belief that (even for those who were excited for the show) the held up by hooks smiles of broadcasters maintained by a punishing news cycle, hair flicking to hide scoliosis posture, wads of money thrown at the starving received pronunciation contingent, pretending that a will-be heir lost his hair in his 20s due to ‘concern’, and being forced to remember that we were duty-bound to fall into raptures over one Hazzer, whose sense of humour is just as sexy as is his grandfather’s and the peak of West Nile season had even the most gregarious of news outlets wishing that Calgon would take them away.
Could you spend almost two weeks locked up with your family? Imagine if you had to do that with someone else’s? Everything gets irritating by day three, that’s not venom, that’s science!