Over the weekend, The Mail’s Katie Nichol, one of the few celebrity journalists with lots of access to Duchess Kate and the Middleton family, reported that Duchess Kate wasn’t “allowed” to work with a charity close to her heart. That charity was The Blue Heart Campaign, a non-profit advocacy group working with issues of human trafficking, sex slavery and more. The Blue Heart Campaign has ties with the United Nations, and that “tie” or “affiliation” was cited as the “reason” why Kate couldn’t work with the charity – something about how Kate is now a member of the royal family, and The Queen doesn’t want her family members working with the UN…? It was all very hazy, in my opinion.
Anyway, it looks like Kate’s attempt to throw the Queen under the bus for her (Kate’s) own laziness has just backfired: Kate and William have just announced that they are making a trip to Copenhagen to do a photo op for UNICEF. Gulp. Don’t they know that UNICEF is affiliated with the United Nations, even more so than The Blue Heart Campaign?!?!?
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got engaged in Kenya this time last year. Now, they’ve pledged to help the region they hold dear.
The pair, both 29, have announced they will visit a UNICEF center in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Nov. 2, where they will learn about efforts to distribute emergency food and medical supplies to East Africa.
Famine is afflicting more than 13 million people, and some 320,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and are at imminent risk of death without immediate assistance.
William and Kate are hoping their visit, along with the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark, “will seek to maintain global attention on the crisis in East Africa, an area well known to the Duke and Duchess, where the situation is getting worse,” their office at St. James’s Palace says in a statement.
During the visit, they will help pack food and medical provisions and be briefed by UNICEF staff about the situation in East Africa. William also backs charities like Tusk Trust and the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund that work to help the causes of conservation and education on the continent.
[From People]
Good for them for doing the UNICEF trip and drawing attention to the ongoing crisis in East Africa. Now, Kate-defenders, tell me why she can’t be a UNICEF goodwill ambassador? Tell me why she can’t actually sign on to do long-term work with any organization affiliated (however loosely) with the United Nations?
The countdown has begun too – all of the palace spokespeople have set the date for “January” – that’s when we’ll hear about all of this “research” Kate has allegedly been doing (in between getting her hair done and shopping and dieting) and when she finally becomes a patroness to a list of charities. Do you think the date will change again? All of a sudden it will be, “Oh, she needs more princess training! Wait another six months.”
Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.
I think one of the big training things they are doing for her is public speaking, which I don’t understand the big deal. She is a well educated woman who probably has a team of speech writers anyways. It’s just like getting a job where you have to give presentations – it doesn’t require months and months of training. I say enough with the kid gloves – with all the crap she put up with from Williams’ friends because of her middle-class upbringing, she surely has thick enough skin to get up in front of people who are so happy she’s there in the first place, they probably don’t care what she says.
Damn, that woman knows how to dress and wear her hair and makeup (yes I like the eyeliner!) in public. Wish I looked like her. Maybe I have a girl crush! ha ha
Am I the only one who doesn’t really care what charities Kate chooses? Or when she “officially” announces it?
They probably want her to choose a charity that doesn’t rely on the UN because the UN does things that England might not agree with and they want to avoid a nasty falling out. It’s better to not let her get involved with them than have to separate her later. Plus, the UN is a joke.
There’s got to be a sex-trafficking organization not affiliated with the UN she could work with. That’s a very worthy cause; I’m glad she’s chosen something that’s not feel-good sunshine and rainbows.
Because the UN is a platform for Third World Dicators & they turn a blind eye to human rights violations.
I hate to defend Waity but is it possible that the actual reason is that Queen doesn’t want the monarchy associated with ‘sex-trafficking’ so the compromise is UNICEF???
Unless there is an official announcement from the palace, I don’t think you should take what one reporter says as the truth.
Duchess Dolittle is going to be with CP Mary? Oh, my…Poor little Duchess isn’t going to fare well. Mary will own her. Mary is very active and has 3 kids. Kate can barely withstand the pressure of being Wills’ wife. Oh, my…
Pathetic girl, get off your bum more than once a month. Packing boxes for UNICEF, good start. How long will the break be after this trip?
TOMia: Agreed. Waity doesn’t stand a chance next to Mary, a real working royal and person of substance.
She should feed herself before the world. This story will be filed under “Don’t Give A Rat’s Ass”
How unprofessional. I would not allow it if I were the Queen. But then again, maybe even she has to modernize.
I still stand that the UN is a disgraceful and corrupted political organization and that the policy of non-official involvement was better than this public endorsement everybody is doing.
I agree @Jen, @chainsawbuzzkill.
Katie Nicholl is the worst Mail ‘journalist.’ None of her stories end up being true, rather than blaming Kate for alleged opinions how about you toss the blame towards the moron writing the articles. Glad to see Will and Kate headed to Copenhagen to bring light to a very horrible and dire situation in Somalia.
Princess Mary is a ‘woman of substance?!’ The most hysterical thing I have heard all day.
It won’t be long before a baby announcement. That will stop the backlash against lazy-ass Kate. After all, who could ever criticize a pregnant woman? And then the nannies, I mean Kate, will be busy “raising” the kid, so can’t be expected to work.
I really think the royal family thinks she’s an idiot and cannot handle herself in public. They don’t trust her, and are worried she’ll embarrass them, and that’s why they don’t let her do anything meaningful. Must be hard living with people who look down on you. Maybe that’s why she starves herself and shops a lot.
I used to like Kate, but now the girl starts to upset me for her laziness, maybe she thought being married to the future king was going to be a fancy job made of dressing, smiling and posing,travelling, waiting, now she’s discovered she has to work,and she is shocked.
By contrast, Crown Princess Victoria studied political science at Yale, and interned at the United Nations in New York.
And Victoria is actually the future Head of State, not merely the spouse of a future Head of State, yet she got involved with the U.N.
I know she’s, like, 200 in line to the British throne, but is there some way to disqualify Charles, William, and all the other losers in the British royal family so that Victoria could take the throne there too?
I’d take anything that Mail reporter says with a grain of salt. And yeah, Waity is no duobt kinda lazy. And no doubt she should work harder. But honestly? I would trade places with her in a heartbeat. That said, she should trim the hair. It’s threatening to take up more space than her body, and that just doesn’t seem right.
@Lindy
Ditto.
Katie Nicholl got a slap down from the Palace, because UNICEF is a UN Organization, how dumbass can Katie Nicholl be. Also the Palace probably knows Kate Middleton is leaking stuff to Katie Nicholl now, how else would she have gotten all that crap about Beulah and Kate not being allowed to do it. Palace probably testing the Duchess to see where she leaks shite! Uh…directly to the Daily Mail only thing is Palace was playing both Kate’s.
My question is why can’t she find her own charity? UNICEF already has all the names in the world attached to it. Lazy Waity’s probably hoping to get the most recognition without putting much effort in (since UNICEF doesn’t really need to be stumped for). All of Willaim’s charities have either been startups or charities that need a name attached to them to get more recognition (or passed down from Diana). I’m sure Europe has MANY HT charities that need a big name.
But then again Waity doesn’t have a mind of her own so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that she needs to attach herself to something that doesn’t require much thought on her part. The bigger the charity the more minions it has to do her work for her.
Katie Nichol either has egg on her face or was used as a pawn. Apparently she usually has reliable gossip. It’s said that even Harry reads her weekly column and is surprised by how much she gets right.
Katie Nicholl reporting the crap Kate leaks to her. So stupid. Kate is leaking this stuff to Katie Nicholl, the Palace just caught someone in their web.
Unicef IS a UN organization. Katie Nicholl looks like a fool.
“I used to like Kate, but now the girl starts to upset me for her laziness, maybe she thought being married to the future king was going to be a fancy job made of dressing, smiling and posing,travelling, waiting, now she’s discovered she has to work,and she is shocked.”
That IS her job: dress up, pose, smile and talk to people. That’s it. There’s no other hard work waiting for her. Just this. So if she is just a lazy golddigger who wants to shop, dress and smile to photographers, why is she not working now? If this is what she wanted all along and what she worked for for nine years, why is she not doing it?
If W&K want to do charity work at the global level, they’re going to have to work with the UN, it’s just the way it is. The more globally effective an NGO is, the more likely it is to have ties to the UN.
Prince Harry’s own charity, Sentebale, works with multiple UN programs regarding orphans & vulnerable children and HIV/AIDS in Africa. One of the dozens of things Harry did while he visited NYC was to meet with UNICEF’s Deputy Exec Director at UNICEF’s Emergency Operation Center.
“…the policy of non-official involvement was better than this public endorsement everybody is doing…”
@ RocketMerry, What policy? Just because Kate Nicholl wrote it, doesn’t mean it’s fact. If anything, this Denmark trip proves that Kate Nicholl was totally wrong about royals not working with the UN.
Other sites are suggesting that the false info Kate Nicholl was fed is maybe being used to flush out a royal leak. Whoever told Kate Nicholl that BS certainly has some explaining to do.
The likely reason that Kate has not begun official royal duties and charity is that the Queen and palace are being overly cautious. The Royal Family took a beating with the Diana situation, they don’t want to be accused of repeating history.
If the Queen wanted Kate to be doing something then Kate would be doing it. No one in the Royal Family does or doesn’t do anything without the Queen’s approval, or they will find themselves cast out.
Quite true and it’s obvious Kate loves her press and the camera’s in her face, no wonder the Palace holds back a bit.
Why isn’t she preggers yet? That would put an end to all the speculation on/criticism about picking charities and head off the inevitable upcoming speculation on her fertility. She’ll earn her role in the firm, and it’s not like she’ll ever have to change a diaper. It’s a win-win-win-win.
The other royals have worked closely with the UN for YEARS, why not Kate? No excuses for her there.
I don’t know Kate’s situation too well, but if I were in a position to help any group of people in need,had the time, money and status to back it up, I would not wait to be ‘instructed’ on when and where to go.
Why not start as soon as you can and help people & groups in dire need?
Only two reasons come to mind:
1. She is scared of the queen’s disapproval
2. She doesn’t really have any organization that she is passionate about.
Well, Sunny, at least Mary had a job before she married Frederik. And has had four kids.
So the people of Denmark don’t like her? Who knew.
http://twitter.com/#!/IkonPictures
Waity might be pregnant!
Original Mia, why do you think Mary of little Denmark will own Catherine?
Of course one expects the wife of “lazy Freddie” to be more experienced because they’ve been married for seven years (they have four kids).
Catherine is new at the job, and will do just fine.
JulieM, her name is not Waity but Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
They all have to ‘work,’ or ‘be seen to work,’ to earn their keep. The Danish taxpayers aren’t going to pay for Freddie and Mary to do nothing. If it’s up to Freddie, all he wants to do is sailing, and then drinking. LOL Joachim is, in my opinion, better suited to be next in line. Too bad he isn’t the firstborn.