Duchess Kate wears a button-y Suzannah & an Amaia mask for a Baby Bank visit

kate baby bank3

How interesting that after a week and a half of staycation-ing (Top CEO-style), the Duchess of Cambridge stepped out on August 4, the Duchess of Sussex’s birthday. Not obvious at all! But I have some begrudging credit to give Kate and her staff: after nine long, hard, Top CEO years, Kensington Palace has finally figured out what Kate should “do,” especially since everyone seems to agree that the Struggle Survey was dead on arrival. They’ve been hitting it out of the park with these incredibly stage-managed events in quarantine, with no media scrum waiting and just the in-house photographer and videographer documenting Kate’s events now. They’ve also been giving Kate some easy projects: endorsing a program she had nothing to do with, going to a tree nursery and “planting” a tree. And now this: Kate went to a baby bank and briefly helped box up some baby supplies for low-income families. Not only that, but Kate took credit for personally (??) calling up businesses and asking them to donate items to the baby bank:

The Duchess of Cambridge revealed how she has been left in tears after hearing the stories of families coping amid the coronavirus pandemic during a visit to a baby bank in Sheffield on Tuesday. Kate – who sported a £15 reusable cotton floral face mask from London-based label Amaia – spoke of how she went home and wept after visiting a baby bank helping vulnerable families at the start of lockdown.

‘It can get very emotional,’ she said. ‘I remember a couple of the families I met from King’s Lynn and I went home and literally burst into tears, their stories were so moving. The struggles they have gone through, the bravery they have shown…in extraordinary circumstances. Helping their families through extraordinary times.’

The mother-of-three, 38, who cut a stylish figure in an elegant white £1850 dress by Suzannah, was talking on a visit to a Baby Basics UK, to launch a new initiative she has spearheaded, getting 19 major UK retailers and brands to donate more than 10,000 new items to more than 40 baby banks across the UK. Baby Banks are a crucial nationwide service, run by volunteers, helping to support some of the most vulnerable families in the UK by providing essentials such as nappies, clothing and bedding.

The banks have proved to be a lifeline for many struggling parents during the coronavirus crisis, but have found their services under increasing pressure, both as a result of demand and because they have been unable to accept second-hand donations on health and safety grounds. Hearing of this, Kate – who has also previously visited Baby Basics in West Norfolk the start of the crisis – decided to put out feelers for donations from brands and high street retailers. In all, she has persuaded nineteen brands to donate more than 10,000 items to Baby Basics, Little Village and AberNecessities, who operate more than 40 baby banks across the UK.

[From The Daily Mail]

I mean… good for her, I suppose. Whenever there’s a rare Cambridge event which seems really smart and like it completely suits Kate’s image and interests, I’m always left wondering why she doesn’t do more of those kinds of events. Like, seriously, this kind of thing is exactly what she should be doing all the time. So why isn’t she?

As for the style and the mask… I immediately remembered this Suzannah from last year’s Wimbledon, which she wore to watch Harriet Dart and Roger Federer. So, it’s a rare repeat in a summer full of new looks from Kate. She did some serious online shopping during lockdown but she pulled out a button-slathered Wimbledon favorite for this event. As for the mask… it’s literally August and this is the first time we’ve seen her wear a mask at an event. As the video shows (below), she didn’t even want to wear the mask upon her arrival. She walked into the baby bank without the mask.

PS… The wiglet “line” in the YouTube video, OMFG!!!

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Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace’s social media.

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168 Responses to “Duchess Kate wears a button-y Suzannah & an Amaia mask for a Baby Bank visit”

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  1. Milly says:

    She’s doing something good and looks pretty too, with a mask on and all.

    • Quick says:

      Kate looks good but she could’ve worn sensible flats at least while carrying/packing stuff. This screams photo op with the dress and the heels.

      • ChillyWilly says:

        Yeah, she could at least dress like she is there to do actual work. Lame.

      • Michelle says:

        Well there’s another event today with an old ugly dress, wedges and no mask. She heard us

      • Va Va Kaboom says:

        In the last Photo three of the four other women are also in heels. Two of those three are wearing dresses very similarly styled to Kate’s own. If they’re affiliated with the charity and find that dress code appropriate for the event, then we can’t really complain about Kate’s similar sartorial choices.

      • Nic919 says:

        They aren’t wearing a lily white dress though, which really isn’t practical if moving boxes.

      • Michelle says:

        My gosh, there is no winning. If she wore flats, someone would complain about that!

    • Hope says:

      She’s dressed up to look like a nurse and wearing white to move boxes . $1850 dress as a rewear to move boxes which means she’s either okay with the dress being potentially damaged or she’s only posing for a photograph. Why not pose with the people who actually did the work? Why take all the attention for herself? It screams insincere photo-op.

      • Katherine says:

        “Why not pose with the people who actually did the work?” because of social distancing?

      • Hope says:

        Yeah, no. We’ve gotten plenty of pictures of them with people over the last month. So that’s definitely not the reason.

        I wonder if Kate even knows their names?

      • Anners says:

        Can we also mention that in the video, which is a total of 1:15, they had to repeat her performance clips – they did not have enough shots of her actually working to fill 20 seconds of time. But, ya, this is a lovely charity and I guess it’s good that she’s bringing attention to it.

      • Nic919 says:

        She also used the chopper to go there when it was within driveable distance.

  2. Eleonor says:

    So why can’t she?
    Me think: she is lazy and she can’t outshine her husband

    • Tessa says:

      I think it’s because she’s lazy. I don’t think william demands no overshadowing like his father did.

    • notasugarhere says:

      William could be outshone by a rock. There is no excuse for her inability to function in this basic role, after nearly 10 years on the job. William didn’t make her lazy or selfish. She’s always been lazy, she’s always been selfish.

      • Dl says:

        Seriously again the question is asked. What do they do all day every day?

      • notasugarhere says:

        He wanders in Rose bushes, a long walk across the fields from Anmer.

        She gets her hair done, works out, shops online, and peeks her head in to watch the nannies raise the kids.

  3. Brit says:

    They really need to stop pushing Kate into the forefront especially since no one really cares, it’s not getting any traction except with a few tabloids and newsgroups. It’s has to suck that the world cares more about your sister in law than you. People can see through this foolishness and PR nonsense. They really need better ways to not make it be so obvious. William and Kate are not it and shows every single time.

  4. Sofia says:

    These “bread and butter” engagements are good for her and the Cambridges in general. They both seem to want to do minimal work so have them do the kissing babies, cutting ribbons stuff. They’ll be in and out within an hour and don’t really require long term commitment.

    Edit: these type of engagements ARE important even if they don’t seem like it. Having people meet a royal who brings the “allure and magic of royalty” is frequently touted as a reason to keep them around. So the Cambridges should do more of them.

    • Becks1 says:

      The irony is that Kate and William could do the bread and butter events. And I think if they did more it would be a big draw because I can imagine some people would LOVE to have a picture of William giving them the award for biggest pumpkin at the fall festival, especially when he’s king. But they try to do these initiatives and projects (cough Sussexes cough) and they all end up falling flat.

      Even this – which was a good project – its not enough for Kate just to visit the baby bank and bring attention to shortages during the pandemic, it has to be a big project. And that’s okay because this seems like it actually bore fruit – but now I wonder if that’s why it wasn’t publicized beforehand, if they were nervous, after the struggle survey fell flat, that Kate wouldn’t be able to drum up enough interest in a public campaign. Now that it was a success, they’re announcing it.

      Will and Kate in general aren’t that good at big projects/initiatives so they should stick to what they are good at, or at least competent at, which is bread and butter events, but they don’t want to do those because you have to do more of them.

      • Sofia says:

        Becks, they absolutely can and should do the bread and butter engagements. And if your kid/yourself got a medal from Prince William (or King William V), you would show that medal and picture to anyone you could for the rest of your lifetime, no matter how long ago said event was. That’s why these type of engagements are important.

        I think this is a good niche for her. Don’t launch full blown projects/events but promote existing projects and help to “add” to projects in the works. That way she doesn’t have to give much commitment or effort.

        Another reason why I think they don’t like doing these engagements is that they’re not “glamourous” enough. After the 20th hospital opening, even the rota will get bored and their fans will lose interest. They want the best of both worlds: the fanfare and publicity of the big projects but the easiness of the bread and butter engagements but most of the time, they can’t have both

      • sunny says:

        This is exactly how Will and Kate should be playing it. They don’t have the creativity and drive for big projects but smaller events like this are great for them. I wish they were more honest in their self-assessment of their capabilities(or lack there of).

        Smaller events are great and important for the royal brand as well.

      • notasugarhere says:

        They work so hard at dodging work, they don’t see how simple it would be to do these local engagements and get good PR. If you look at the CC, Anne isn’t working every day. She works a couple days a week but packs in 3-5 events each day. It isn’t difficult.

        This is why Charles wanting to manage it all makes sense. Now there can be three different royals in the same town the same day, each doing 1-2 engagements. They need to schedule it all from the top, and send one royal to the place to do all the events in that area that day.

    • MaryContrary says:

      That’s what I never got-instead of trying to create some big project (that almost always falls by the wayside) they could just follow the Princess Anne lead and just get out there and meet people, cut ribbons, smile, give a 2 minute speech. She should have been doing this the whole time-she wouldn’t even have to put in many hours. Spend 4 hours a day M-F (and she could still have plenty of time with her kids, shopping and getting botox and her hair done) and that’s it!

    • Nic919 says:

      The bread and butter engagements aren’t done once a fortnight though. The other royals who do them attend multiple times per week and in Anne’s case more than one a day. Kate and William are basically giving up on in depth things and taking the more shallow appearances and stretching them out as much as possible.

      Also if she was doing more than one thing every few weeks, it would not look as obvious that she decided to do something on Meghan’s birthday. But it looks petty.

      • Becks1 says:

        Exactly, and that’s the issue. She and William don’t want to work like Anne does, but they don’t have the motivation, vision and follow-through to work like Harry and Meghan. So this is what is left.

      • notasugarhere says:

        This. They don’t want to work, to have staff arrange it so they can do multiple engagements a day. From the beginning they have put forward the idea of doing less than the bare minimum, and it continues today.

      • notasugarhere says:

        And Beck1, Charles does both. He does the hundreds of local engagements a year plus the big things like Dumfries House, Poundbury, Prince’s Trust. William knows how big those shoes are to fill, so his petulant response is to refuse to do almost anything.

  5. Florence says:

    At last, a way to cover up the crazy insincere laughing! Go Kate!

    I can’t be more effusive with praise as this is bare-minimum safety. We all know Kate is Bare Minimum Woman, the laziest superhero in Britain.

    The bronde highlights are really really bad.

    And er. That’s all I have to say. Obviously she’s just standing on the backs of dozens of hard-working people and she’s being praised like she’s Mother Teresa.

    • Chrissy says:

      I wonder how long she was there for… Her usual 20 minutes? Also about the £1800 dress – I guess she doesn’t care that you could buy thousands of diapers or bottles of formula for that money.

      • Mumbles says:

        All of the young royals spend way too much money on clothes – ALL of them, Cambridges, Sussexes, Yorks, what have you. What amazes me is this rather blah dress costs that much.

    • Amy Too says:

      I was wondering why I was finding her more likable and normal-seeming in these photos, and I think it’s because she can’t hyena-grin at people. She’s not making any crazy, overly exaggerated, “look at me caring and being engaged!” facial expressions, and it makes me take her project and this visit more seriously.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Look at the exaggerated eyebrow movements. She may still be making those expressions but the mask hides them.

    • Noodle says:

      @florence, I can’t help but notice that the mask is so small and tight, it’s poking into her face.

      • (TheOG) jan90067 says:

        Probably Char’s mask that she grabbed last minute when told she HAD to wear one.

  6. Crowned Huntress says:

    Why did it take them MONTHS to wear a mask!?
    I just have to credit all the abysmal decisions & photo ops to all the right wing Tories that William & Kate surround themselves with. They’re useless on their own but I guess it’s something that their PR has improved marginally. Hopefully the business & organizations will benefit at last from Catherine the Great.

    • notasugarhere says:

      You’re talking about racist, abusive royals who have leaned in fully to the Little Englanders, with William following the Tory book of joking about COVID-19. Of course they haven’t worn masks until now, and William didn’t wear a mask or social distance in his football PR photo op last week. Because ultimately, they’re the kind of idiots who think denial means the virus will just go away. Or at least never impact them or theirs.

    • Thaisajs says:

      At least now they’re starting to wear them? Months late but better than never. If people start wearing them because they see Kate and William wear them now, well, that’s something good.

  7. Priscila says:

    “In all, she has persuaded nineteen brands to donate more than 10,000 items to Baby Basics, Little Village and AberNecessities, who operate more than 40 baby banks across the UK.”

    That is really good work and I want to give her credit. Unfortunately, knowing what I know now, I cannot conceive of Kate, by herself, having an idea, asking her team to bring her phone numbers, calling in, organizing a day event with the charity…

    I think, more likely is the other way around: her team is bringing her all these opportunities to do what she is comfortable doing, which is to arrive on the day, say something prepared, interact with kids, smile and then leave. I think the team made the initial contacts,and Kate just phoned in to thank the brands, appeared on the day and is getting the credit for everything.

    But this could be the recipe for her success and something that actually help people. They throw her a soft ball, spin the tale of how it came to be, make it appear she was much more involved, and call it a day.

    Regardless, it is a good thing!

    PS: Traditionally, getting involved with charities that provides material assistance- as in clothes, toys- to children has been a staple of rich housewives without a particular interest in social mobility. It is a benign form of social engagement that can be done at very low expense and is looked upon as socially acceptable by more traditional families than, let´s say, volunteering on a shleter for drug addicts. I am saying this because i keep seeing comments about how Kate is infatilized in the press she gets and how it feels weird she cannot strike conversations with adults, and that many feel this is why she chose children- because it is easier- so I just wanted to add another reason might be this particular brand of charity is a low risk, tried sucesss.

    • Becks1 says:

      So I just said something similar below but your post is better lol.

      And this:

      “But this could be the recipe for her success and something that actually help people. They throw her a soft ball, spin the tale of how it came to be, make it appear she was much more involved, and call it a day.”

      really is so true and its what they should have been doing with her all along. Everyone at KP and in the royal family knows Kate doesn’t want to actually work. So at least create the pretense that she’s working.

      • Priscila says:

        Yep, but you know, even if she does some good and I am ready to admit it, and I am going to say something I think is terrible, Kate is , I think, such a bad role model for women. I dont know her, but everything she embodies, represents and how she handles herself is so alien to me personally. I am nto saying being a homemaker is not valid. It is. I believe in choices and, as a feminist, I fight for them. But this whole narrative around her- that she placidly accepts- is so…retrogade. Kate, a shy woman who tries her best. Late, dutiful to a fault, crying about tights. Kate, barely able to put two sentences together….

        I have two daughters and I was a case of arrested development, I am a girly girl who likes to cook and made a choice to stay at home until both girls are in school, but man…I dont want my girls to grow up to be pushing 40 and their biggests accmplishments are : they married well, they do charitable work once a week, they are able to have children and they care for them with the help of a team.

        because, if you put it on paper, that is what Kate is and does.

      • Nic919 says:

        Kate isn’t a stay at home mom though. She’s a woman who dedicated her adult life to catching a husband with money and privilege and spent a decade being available for his whims until he finally decided to make a public commitment. And then once married into a power privileged family, she does nothing with that privilege and spends her time focusing on shopping, staying thin, wearing expensive clothing that is ultimately paid for by the UK taxpayer. She has now wasted almost another decade with her selfish existence and instead of giving back to the less fortunate, she has hidden away and only come out to do the bare minimum. She further said nothing while her sister in law was unfairly attacked by the media and silently took advantage of being the white woman and went further by being mean to her in public, confirming that she wasn’t a passive participant in the negative campaign.

        She is a shallow selfish woman who would walk over your dead body unless she could mark it as an engagement in the CC and so the negative reaction you have of her is because she’s proven by her actions and her omissions that she really is not a kind or good person and she will never live up to the legacy of her mother in law despite the cosplay and PR that pretends she ever could.

        There are plenty of stay at home moms who contribute to society and bring value to the world. Kate is not that person. She takes and will never repay in kind.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Well said, Nic919. She doesn’t contribute because she doesn’t care. She’ll show up for the bare minimum for photo ops, esp when William is forced to leave Rose and pose with her. But that’s it.

      • Vava says:

        nic919, you nailed it. People need to remember your words because they will ring true for decades to come. Kate has shown us who she is.

    • Lady D says:

      ” this could be the recipe for her success” No longer interested in her succeeding. Why does she deserve success? She’s miserable, lazy, racist, dishonest, and traitorous. None of these traits deserve success or admiration, so why should she be successful? (mostly rhetorical question)

      • Priscila says:

        She does not, but success has nothing to do with someone being a deserving person. A lot of dirtbags find a recipe for it, stick by it, and the public never knows better.

      • notasugarhere says:

        She doesn’t deserve success or praise, Lady D. Not after her behavior in the past four years.

  8. w1 says:

    I didn’t realise that second-hand items couldn’t be accepted. If the demand for essential items is high (which it would be during these strange and difficult times) then the only way for that demand to be met would be to get retailers involved. This is a good initiative.

    • Becks1 says:

      You don’t have to only go through retailers. I was part of a moms message board a few years back and we used to organize diaper drives every year for mother’s day. One year we delivered 10,000 diapers to a diaper bank. obviously these times are trickier. But this is something Kate could spearhead every year or two and solicit company donations as well as public donations.

  9. Belli says:

    I’m going to guess that the organisation mandated the mask wearing. She arrived not wearing on, the people around her when she does wear one are also masked and this is the first time we’ve seen her with one.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Notice she didn’t wear one on arrival and doesn’t show up in a mask until later in the video. Did her typical OTT guffaw of a laugh, not socially distanced from the staff person and not wearing a mask, then picks up the box and walks in. In MIT testing, live COVD-19 droplets have traveled at least 8 meters.

    • Priscila says:

      This is a child´s mask. Look at the women with Kate and their masks and hers. I know this because…well…I forgot mine once and all I had was my daughters. I wore and it looked exactly like Kate- very streched, barely comfortable and stupid because of the pattern.

    • yinyang says:

      I’m agreeing with yous. It’s a child’s mask, the organization probably handed one to her, some places have very strict policies about mask wearing, you can not enter the building without one even princesses.

  10. Osty says:

    So staged, but if its getting them good press then good for her . The hypocrites in the media and on twitter are quite about the poster girl for buttons using a helicopter u know “climate change ” I heard those companies were already donating to them ,they just increased their donations and of course offwilliam took the credit for it .Also how were they able to hear what she was saying with the masks on , when u can barely hear her gibberish .

  11. taylor says:

    She’s usually pretty good about dressing for the event, but maybe they should have skipped the “volunteering” photo-op while she’s wearing a crisp white dress and sparkly pumps.

    Anyway, isn’t it incredible that in 18 short months Meghan has basically given Kate a blueprint for doing charity work while a duchess? It’s a marvel how few things she thought/felt compelled to do before her sister in law joined.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Trousers and flats would have been appropriate here. The white dress and disco pumps are not.

      • Circe says:

        I know! Not only that dress but that dress in WHITE. Nothing says I’m not planning on doing actually work than a white dress and high heels in a warehouse. For someone who is so keyed in to optics, what was she thinking?

  12. ABritGuest says:

    This is exactly what Kate should be doing & should have been doing more of like how Sophie has been out volunteering at food banks during the pandemic so well done. Happy for the baby banks that will benefit from these supplies.

    And I wonder why the royals are (finally) wearing masks. Good to see but funny as many commentators here were responding to queries on why BRF weren’t wearing masks by saying it wasn’t mandatory in the UK. I wonder if govt has urged royals to wear them now.

    As much as the Firm apparently didn’t like how Meghan worked it’s certainly had an impact. Little Village was highlighted on SussexRoyal last April and Sussexes nominated them as recipients for donations before their baby was born. I think fans even got a nappy brand to give a bulk of nappies to them for free. Calling up brands (curious which ones) in this way also seems like how SmartSet came about.

    Reminds me of that comment from Wootton article that suggests Charles recognised Sussexes usefulness against the Cambridges. Meghan was the spark some needed to start doing more.

    • Pearl Grey says:

      “ This is exactly what Kate should be doing & should have been doing more of like how Sophie has been out volunteering at food banks during the pandemic so well done.“

      And I highly doubt Kate’s work will be left off of the Court Circular engagement numbers using the excuse that it was done “in her spare time”, like they did to Sophie.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Now now Pearl Grey. I’m sure she doesn’t want to set up the expectation that she show up more regularly. That being her excuse to the Irish Guards iirc.

  13. Harla says:

    Why did she have to take a helicopter to this event?

    • notasugarhere says:

      Because she’s Kate. She takes a helo to go have tea and shopping trips with her mum.

  14. Marjorie says:

    Oh my God the wiglet. You can tell she went into a room with a mirror to put on the mask and noticed the wiglet wasn’t “blending” and had it repositioned and combed out. Oh, Catherine.

  15. Lisa says:

    I could nitpick but I won’t since this is essentially something easy that Kate should have been doing for years instead of that ridiculous 5 question survey.

    • Vava says:

      I’ll nitpick for you then.
      She dressed inappropriately for this photo op, the white dress and pumps are ridiculous in this situation. She should have arrived with a mask on and worn it the entire time.

      • The Quill says:

        She doesn’t have a wiglet. She has good hair. I love her dress and wearing a mask prior to arriving is not essential. She’s wearing it when its appropriate.

      • Nic919 says:

        There is an obvious bump in the back of her head. It’s a wiglet. No one with all natural hair has that elevated bump midway on the skull.

        And wearing a white dress and pumps is the sign of a woman who doesn’t understand the meaning of work. She won’t be the one to clean up the stains on the dress after all will she?

      • Lady D says:

        Enough space in the helicopter for her to socially isolate from her aide, protection officers and pilot is there? Not appropriate to consider the peon’s lives?
        She doesn’t do well with appropriate.

      • notasugarhere says:

        There is another location of this charity 10-15 minutes from Anmer. No need for her to helo anywhere, but this is Kate we’re talking about.

  16. GR says:

    That photo of Kate sitting and staring at the laptop – is she supposed to look like she’s working?

    • ClaireB says:

      I thought she looked incredibly stupid, like a child enthralled by getting to watch their first show on a parent’s laptop, but I think maybe she’s supposed to look like she’s “calling” a manufacturer to ask for donations? Or to thank them? Maybe they’re showing her a big colorful pie chart and she thinks it looks like a button.

  17. Sarah says:

    I know that this is a re-wear but talking about being moved to tears but the struggles of hard-up families while wearing a dress that costs nearly two grand seems somewhat tone-deaf. I know that ‘smile and look pretty’ is a major part of her job description but this would have been a great moment to pick something from our (massively struggling) high street.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Or to rewear something appropriate for the visit, like her Meghan cosplay trousers from last year. Maybe this time with the blouse worn correctly instead of backwards.

    • Nic919 says:

      It’s pretty tone deaf to show up wearing a white dress and heels when you are expected to do some work. But then again Kate doesn’t know what work actually means but her staff should have informed her.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Same woman who showed up in a floral dress and wedge heels to ‘plant a tree’. She has no concept of work or dressing appropriately for the job at hand.

      • Nic919 says:

        There are minimal differences between Kate and Melania except that Melania never campaigned to be First Lady and she hasn’t been in the position for over ten years.

      • notasugarhere says:

        I suppose she hasn’t worn an ‘I really don’t care do u’ jacket. But wearing £2000 dresses to pretend to care about families in need? Tone deaf as usual from Kate.

    • Harper says:

      Burst into tears? Sounds like she might be trying to establish a “Kate is a sensitive soul who cries at the plight of the world” narrative to shift the focus from “Kate cries over superficial things like tights and hemlines.” Meghan is not going to be the only Duchess with a social conscience!

  18. chicken tetrazzini! says:

    That’s a child’s mask right? it’s cutting into her cheeks and those elastics are stretched to their end points… It’s a cute pattern and The Big C’s (Cambridges) should have been wearing them for months and visually encouraging their most rabid supporters to wear masks as well. Easy way to get people to be helpful and not harmful.

    • Amy Too says:

      Yeah, there’s something not right about her mask. It looks painfully tight, like I imagine it’s pulling her ears forward it’s so tight.

    • Priscila says:

      Yes it is. I wore my daughter´s once, because i forgot mine, and it looked like this on me.

    • notasugarhere says:

      It could be a child’s mask, as they use that fabric pattern for both adult and child masks. It doesn’t show on the video if she brought the mask with her, or if the staff gave her the mask after she entered the building.

      • Priscila says:

        It is. Juts see the other women, wearing adult´s masks. Kate looks incredibly tight and small in comparison.

    • Eugh says:

      Strange, I was thinking “wow good seal”

      • ClaireB says:

        @Eugh, I thought so too, looking at her cheeks! But a mask that is too small will leave a gap around the nose because the fabric is pulled too taut, so it’s not really safe. I wondered why her mask left so much of her upper face uncovered when my mask is hitting my lower eyelashes, but I agree with other posters that it’s probably a child’s mask. I think she did it on purpose, though, because she doesn’t want to cover up her face, so she’s going to resentfully do the bare minimum, as Florence said above.

  19. sara says:

    it’s so frustrating because this is the type of social media the sussexes wanted to be able to do instead of inviting every royal reporter along and they were denied and then – Kate just goes and does it. but whatever – good she is finally wearing a mask (wonder if it was her staffer reading internet comments, or a gov official who finally told her to do it)

    • Becks1 says:

      Well, to be fair, I think the photographer and the reporter who attended are part of the rota. The point of the rota is that every RR and photog doesn’t HAVE to attend every event because the pictures etc are shared, so it gives all the rota members basically the same story and pictures, so no one gets a scoop from a royal event.

  20. Becks1 says:

    On its face, this is a great project/initiative. This is EXACTLY what Kate should have been doing for the past 9 years, which is why its hard to give it the credit it deserves at this point. Baby banks usually have pretty significant needs and I imagine its so much worse during these times. So kudos to whoever in her team thought up this project and carried it out – because we all know it wasn’t Kate. She may have made the phone calls or sent the letters, but that would have been it.

    And you know what? That’s okay on some levels. The point is the work got done. But KP always oversells Kate.

    Also I am going to confirm what I suspected on twitter – she is wearing sparkly heels.

    You all know things are bad when I’m saying THIS would have been a perfect event for wedges.

    • w1 says:

      Her shoes aren’t sparkly they have a snake skin print on them. She wore these on her first tour of Canada.

    • Green Desert says:

      Re: the fashion – all 4 women in the photo with her are dressed more fashionably and appropriate for the setting than Kate. She looks so out of place.

      • yinyang says:

        Yes they are. I especially like the outfit of lady in the blue top and khaki skirt and casual block heels, I would wear all those outfits. Kate looks from another century with her puffy sleeved nurse dress and high heels.

  21. aquarius64 says:

    It’s a good cause but let’s give credit where credit is due. Most likely it’s the KP staff who reached out to businesses for the donations.
    It has been reported Kate is for doing the hands off approach for charity work. That’s why the dress and heels look off when she is posing packing boxes. (Points for wearing a mask. ) I believe it’s damage control because Kate was clobbered in the Finding Freedom excerpts.

    • Bren says:

      It is a good cause. Little Village HQ was on the list of four organizations the Sussexes highlighted for donations in lieu of sending gifts for baby Sussex.

  22. Jay says:

    I like the print on the mask – whether or not it was her choice to wear it, I think it was a smart move. Kaiser is right that Kate seems much more comfortable doing these sorts of small, on the ground engagements, where there is less interaction necessary and more control of the press coverage/release date.

    My one quibble is not for Kate alone, but a sort of white saviour tendency to centre oneself – notice how about half of her remarks in this article is about how “emotional” Kate was, how it made her feel, how much she cried etc, as though making her feel better is the whole goal of this organization.

    It’s not fair to compare her to Michelle Obama, but I’ve been watching a lot of old white house YouTube just to wallow a bit in a time when the American presidency wasn’t held by a malignant narcissist. It’s such a difference to see how many different groups of people both Obamas were comfortable interacting with, and they show genuine interest and respect. Highly recommend it!

    • notasugarhere says:

      ‘as though making her feel better is the whole goal of this organization’

      Such a good point. It isn’t couched in terms of how she can help them, but rather how they can help Poor Kate through this.

  23. Angela says:

    That outfit is actually super cute!

    • BayTampaBay says:

      I like this dress more than most she wears and really do not mind the buttons on this dress as they actually work as an embellishment.

      I would actually wear this dress to work.

  24. Sam says:

    But did anyone saw the pictures where her assistant is carrying both of her handbags…. like c’mon she can atleast carry her own handbags….. i do have screenshots but not the link. And she left via a helicopter. Was that all worth all the cost. But many few pages had that images of her assistant carrying her handbags.

    • Edna says:

      Where’s the outrage about being a hypocrite using a helicopter and talking about climate change. Oh that’s right, only the Sussexes get railed on about that.

    • notasugarhere says:

      But remember, she’s in tears about the poor children. Must have shed one full tear as she enjoyed her helo trip from the 10 bedroom mansion in the countryside.

      • Nic919 says:

        The cost of the gas for that helo trip alone would have provided much needed help to the poor kids she pretends to care about. It’s very Marie Antoinette to put out quotes like this. Her staff is idiotic. No one gives a crap if Kate is crying over poor kids. She could sell a few dresses and actually help them. Even though the dress is a repeat, it’s still a 1,500 dress which is crazy expensive for what it is and the fact she has money to spend frivolously on this stuff using money that ultimately comes from the tax payer is why there are poor kids in the UK who struggle. Class disparity is a serious issue and she’s too dumb to get she’s part of the problem. Her tears mean nothing in that regard.

      • notasugarhere says:

        She may ‘get’ it Nic919, but she only views it through her own lens. To Kate, class disparity is only a problem when it means aristocrats don’t like middle class Kate.

    • Vava says:

      She’s despicable.

  25. Amy Too says:

    I’m surprised that the royal reporters didn’t fixate on the crying since they seem to obsessively report on whenever Kate sheds tears.

    Baby Basics Made Kate Cry!!!
    or
    (A charity that helps) Brown People Made White (dress wearing) Kate Cry!

    Oh, they only report on that when it’s Meghan “making Kate cry”? My bad.

    All kidding aside, this is a great project for her. She can have other people do the behind the scenes work of asking for the donations, donating things, collecting and boxing those donations, and delivering the donations. Then she gets to show up, be photographed with all the donations, unbox things for awhile (giving her a stream of built-in things to talk about: “oh look! This box has baby lotion! Oh look! This box has *purple* baby lotion!” so she doesn’t have to come up with conversation on her own), and then spend a few minutes hanging out with babies.

    And this project could be repeated over and over and over again, thus continually providing these baby banks with new and needed supplies. It’s not a one and done, she could do this for years. She could even do seasonal theme packages: sunscreen and swimming diapers in the summer, warm socks and knitted booties in the winter. She could branch out into charities that help provide Christmas presents for families that can’t afford them that year, or charities that help equip children with all the things they need to start school: shoes, coats, backpacks, school supplies. This could be a large part of her Early Years work rather than the pretending that she’s some kind of serious Early Years scholar doing very important academic research surveys.

    • ClaireB says:

      Yes, but that would require her to actually show up regularly and work. And we all know what Kate thinks about our expectations of her on that score!

  26. Edna says:

    As others have noted this was a good initiative that was beneficial to many. And is exactly the type of events the Cambridges should focus on doing rather than trying to compete with and outdo the Sussexes. Hiring the Sussexes former social media guy has definitely upped their game and it really shows. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the one bringing new approaches to their team.

  27. mrs.no says:

    I mean, I get why you love shitting on her wiglet game and I’m the last one to defend her poor choice in head ware, but as a person who has struggled with hair loss and all the self-consciousness and emotional pain that goes with it, I feel really uncomfortable with the amount of it thrown around. She *probably* has no issues of that kind, but there are a lot of other things that she wears or does that we can bitch about. idk.

    • Becks1 says:

      I think the wiglet is an easy target because it kind of epitomizes what drives many of us batty about Kate and the coverage surrounding her. Her hair is one of the things that people constantly praise – so thick! so shiny! I want hair like hers! – and the reality is her hair looks like that because she wears a wiglet. I don’t judge her for the actual wiglet, its more that it just shows if you pull the curtain back a little bit on these people, you see how much is just for show. (like the constant narrative about how much of a hands on mother she is, or how down to earth and normal the cambridges are, etc. Pull the curtain back just a little…..and she is someone who takes a helicopter on a regular basis.)

      • Dee says:

        I might add that we got a palace statement about a “scar” that was really hair extension clips to defend Kate’s hair, but somehow, the statements defending Meghan and Archie from the onslaught of racist crap got lost in the mail.

      • notasugarhere says:

        And the fellow known for doing her hair extensions was removed from the salon as part of the scandal.

      • ClaireB says:

        Oh, yes, ScarGate! KP couldn’t let that go unanswered! But call Archie a ‘chimp’ and they’re all fine with it.

      • mrs.no says:

        Thank you for clarifying Becks1! I can see how that makes sense. Like I said, I know I was oversensitive to the topic, but I get it now.

    • Nic919 says:

      There is nothing wrong with wearing extensions, she just has lied about it for years and had as her first press release a denial of the use of extensions. Besides she pretends her hair is all real and that’s the bs that needs to be called out. Same with lying about botox. People have eyes and can see the difference. Just don’t lie about things and it won’t be an issue.

  28. Blue36 says:

    Guess no one is going to call her an attention seeking narcissist for releasing this on Meghan’s birthday

  29. Merricat says:

    Finally she’s done the LEAST that is expected of her. Congratulations! My problem with Kate isn’t that she’s from humble beginnings, it’s that she’s tried to eradicate those beginnings by pretending to be something she isn’t. She has assumed the look, achieved the life, and the accent, but she is not aristocracy and will never be accepted by them. That’s why Meghan drives her crazy–Meghan is proud of who she is (a pride that comes from having worked hard, lived independently, and possessing interests and opinions) and wouldn’t wait around or change everything about herself to bag a man, prince or not. She could not be less concerned about British high society. And as Kate is so aware of class distinctions, I don’t doubt she had summed Meghan up as a creature with three strikes against her: black, American, actress–yet Meghan is beloved by the people who know her, and nobody really knows Kate.

    • Nic919 says:

      I don’t think the Middletons struggled very much by the time Kate was born. Carole came from more humble beginnings and worked her way up, but then she got so obsessed with trying to get into aristo circles that she pushed her daughters into the fray and I’m sure any possible sign of working class roots has been brushed away with force.

  30. notasugarhere says:

    I see no need to praise this dress ‘repeat’. This dress was another of her ‘buy the same thing at least twice’ debacles. She did a disastrous Diana cosplay in a near-identical cream dress in India. The one where she flashed her bare ass and full frontal to the waist at the Gandhi memorial. One of the guards stepped forward to try to hold her skirt down, because Kate was doing nothing about it.

    • w1 says:

      I see where your going with this – to your absolute shock and horror Kate is involved in a good initiative so this is a great time for you to bring up something that happened years ago and is unconnected to this event just so you can drag her. Your hoping that others take your bait and start dragging her again. Even a blind man can see your true intentions for bringing up that incident in India, bless! 😂

      • notasugarhere says:

        To your absolute shock and horror, most of us here can see straight through this PR photo op.

        I see no reason to praise her for wearing a £1850 dress twice, when she had a near-identical one she’d already wasted money on. No reason for her to have purchased this second dress. Nor to praise her for wearing a completely inappropriate outfit to pretend to pack boxes for charity. As she wore a completely inappropriate outfit to pretend to pack boxes for charity for UNICEF in Denmark years ago.

        This is an ongoing issue with Kate, because she has never worked an honest day in her life. She has no concept of how to dress or act appropriately in a professional setting. Ten years on in this job, she’s not improving.

      • w1 says:

        You know you don’t have to praise her for wearing an £1850 twice, nobody is forcing you to do that but why are you bringing up the India incident here? It has absolutely nothing to do with this event. I had a look at the Wimbledon thread where she wore this dress the first time and you didn’t bring up the India incident there but you’ve brought it up here 🧐🤨.

        Just admit that you were hoping that people would take the bait and run with it, drowning out the positive comments here with many more negative ones. It’s so easy to see what you were trying to do it’s actually laughable. Try harder next time though 😂.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Gosh I must have missed my chance that day, when she was prancing around Wimbledon pretending to ‘work’. I’ll continue to criticize her inappropriate, 1950s housewife wardrobe all I like. As I’ll continue to call out her obvious PR photo ops, done deliberately on Meghan’s birthday, as the obvious PR flops they are.

      • w1 says:

        @notasugarhere

        …and I will continue to call you out for bring up random, unconnected events in to her threads just so you can drag her. Having lurked on here for a while I know that this isn’t the first time.

      • notasugarhere says:

        When we’re talking about Kate’s lack of work ethic, her ridiculous outfits, and her inability to function in a professional setting? The last twenty years all get to be brought up for reference at any time. Get used to it, or take your trolling elsewhere.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Gosh it would be amazing if people would read the screen. I pointed out in my post that she has a near-identical dress (the one from India) which is why it was spendthrift of her to buy this one too.

        Thanks for playing. Now we’ll all know to tag you both as trolls in the future.

      • Rani says:

        @nota, tag us for the crime of disagreeing with you? Go ahead I guess.

      • Lizzie says:

        TROLL

      • notasugarhere says:

        No trouble with disagreeing with me, disagree away. But showing up here on a clear mission to try to deflect the valid discussion because you don’t like the criticism of Kate? Or on a clear mission to attack a poster instead of discussing the royal in question? Yes, that’s trolling.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Oh goodness, if a gossip site makes you sad why are you here? There’s no baiting involved, it is discussing Kate’s antics as we’ve seen them for the past 10 years. And as we’ve discussed them on here going back years.

        Kate doesn’t exist in a vacuum, nothing she does exists in a vacuum either. Showing up for this PR op, inappropriately dressed, to pose for pics is part-and-parcel of what we’ve seen and discussed about her for years.

      • Vanessa says:

        Oh W1 is it a crime that some people are so obsessed with Kate’s bare ass that they keep bringing it up for discussion at every opportunity? 😂

    • Lizzie says:

      I think there is a believe it is a great treat to see whatshername in a new outfit. Her clothes are as basic as her. zzzzzzzzzzz.
      I think it was JFK Jr’s wife who wasn’t a attention seeking idiot so she wore a white blouse and black pants all the time so that all pic’s would look the same and that stopped the paparazzi.
      Just shows what an attention seeking nobody Cathy Cambridge is.

      • notasugarhere says:

        This is how she and William have played it from the start. That either of them showing up to work was supposed to be a Stop the Presses event.

        They refused to do everyday bread-and-butter engagements, still refuse to. At one point, they were even having their staff leak the idea that they were only appearing rarely to increase interest in each charity. That working less was a GOOD thing FFS.

        They’re trying it again now. They’ve announced they’ll focus on 1-2 charities for a few years, ‘help’ them with fundraising, then move on to another 1-2 charities. No intention of doing more everyday work the rest of the time.

      • Kkat says:

        We’ve all seen her ass many times when she deliberately flashed it at work functions. We aren’t going to forget.
        It speaks to her pathetic attention seeking character.

        And now she is wearing a almost 2000 £ dress to go “work” at a place that helps poor parents clothe and diaper their kids.
        It’s a disgusting tone deaf display of wealth.
        Plus she took a helicopter to get there. Do you have any idea how much the fuel costs? But that also they have to completely service and do maintenance on the helicopter each trip.
        So we’re talking thousands to make that trip.
        Why didn’t they drive to the identical charity 15 minutes away from her home?

        She should have stayed home and just donated the money

        She and her husband are worthless and we will keep pointing it out

  31. Digital Unicorn says:

    Dear lord, the bar is soo low that she is being praised to the skies above for wearing a MASK – JFC! Next it’l be stories about how she can go toilet herself.

    • Priscila says:

      Remember that story about Kate not wanting to show up every year for the Irish guards because she did not want them to expect her to do it every year? I think it was genius of her part: she undeperformed for so many years that, when she actually do something, people compliment her on.

      After eight years and with no baby nr4 in sight, I wonder if the people who matters- aka Charles and TQ- are impressed.

    • notasugarhere says:

      She wasn’t wearing a mask when she arrived and proceeded to expel droplets all over the staff person with her traditional guffaw laugh. ‘Oh this pretending to work is so amusing, isn’t it? Must remember that line about worrying about poor kids, then I can hop back in the helo and get over my exhaustion of showing up for 30 minutes. Maybe I’ll have the pilot buzz Houghton to let William know I’m home’.

  32. Elizabeth says:

    The title of this post brought me in more than anything. “Baby bank” gave me a chuckle.

    • Lady D says:

      Yakov Smirnoff: “New to America, I look in local grocery store. First I find powdered milk, just add water and you have milk. I think this is amazing. Then I find Tang. Just add water and you have orange juice. Amazing. Then I find powdered baby formula, and I think, what a country!”

      • bettyrose says:

        LMAO, Lady D! I didn’t think of this quote specifically, but the phrase “baby bank” definitely gave me pause. Only took a second to put together that it’s a baby supply bank not an actual baby bank, but like Elizabeth I LOL’d at that headline.

  33. S808 says:

    It’s crazy that this took 9 years to happen when these sorts of charities have been in her wheelhouse for forever but good. She should stick to stuff like this. Quite frankly, her and William are a bread and butter type of royal and that’s fine. Just stay away from big projects, they and their team can’t seem to handle them. The cold call tidbit was interesting— glad she learned something from Meghan’s stint as royal.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Some of her other charities have already failed after their royal patron failed to show up or be of any use to them. Not sure her showing up for this new initiative will turn out any differently. Remember the fellow a month or two ago telling her she hadn’t done anything for them in eight years?

  34. Andrew’s Nemesis says:

    In 1903 Edward VII visited a hostile France. Only thirty two years earlier they had been engaged in a bloody war with the Prussians, and then an equally bloody war (20,000 dead) between the Communard (proto-communist) government of Paris and the wider nation of France. ‘No more kings’ was the cry. Edward VII charmed them so greatly that they cheered him on his journey to the Elysee palace, and he was mobbed by the crowds when returning to the British Embassy. ‘Vive Eduoard,’ they cried, chanted, bellowed, and the streets rang with the spirit of the new Entente Cordiale.
    In 2020 we have a woman who can’t manage public speaking and for whom a 20 minute visit, wholly arranged by the initiative of others, is seen as a triumph.
    It makes me so terribly sad.

    • Sofia says:

      “In 2020 we have a woman who can’t manage public speaking”

      Exactly. I know public speaking doesn’t come to everyone naturally (myself included) but if I was entering a job which had an element of making speeches in public and I would most likely have said job for life, I would have gotten some help with speaking/speeches. Especially when you’ve got the money and resources that Kate has. If she was a Year 1 Duchess it would be excusable, but she’s been a Duchess for 9 whole years and is currently in her 10th year. I would expect some competency by now.

      Edit: Also hope your health issues aren’t troubling you too much AN

      • Andrew’s Nemesis says:

        @Sofia Bless you for that comment. I’m actually in a helluva state – I’m cycling through to the lowest point of ME at the moment and can’t get out of bed. But you CBers keep me sane – the discussions are funny, informative, interesting and intelligent, and they really lighten what are very difficult days.

    • Nic919 says:

      Charisma is something Harry has but they decided to push him out of the family. William won’t be able to charm anyone and Kate is simply a ridiculous figure to most women unless they are obsessed with Gilead as a real life fantasy.

      • notasugarhere says:

        I remember soon after their engagement, that was a huge portion of the new Kate fans. Early twenty-somethings who wanted nothing more than to marry rich and do nothing with their lives. Kate the Sisterwife is an ideal for some I guess.

  35. notasugarhere says:

    BTW, Little Village is a charity Harry and Meghan promoted in May of last year. For their son’s birth, they encouraged people to donate to four charities – Little Village, Baby2Baby, Well Child, and Lunchbox Fund.

  36. yinyang says:

    Are there still paparazzi out to photograh her, or do the RF only use their selected photgrapher because the coronavirus and all?

  37. LittlePenguin says:

    I personally always wear heels and white/off white to move boxes. (even if they are just empty prop boxes).

    I am glad she may have brought some press to this initiative. I really am. But, the bar is so low for her. If this moved her so much, than why wasn’t she doing more than a photo op for publicity? Putting out the call on their social media (instead of Willnot’s Dad Jokes series) , showing that she was making calls to all these companies (and not an aid or whomever)? Urgh. (sorry, I am grouchy this morning. We have to make schooling decisions this week and I am not liking the options)

  38. Connie says:

    Kate looks perplexed by the laptop

  39. Beach Dreams says:

    She could’ve and should’ve been doing things like this months ago. No credit for this half-assed (as usual) “effort”.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Oh but her stans are beside themselves with how amazing Kate is, saving the world from COVID while wearing an ill-fitting mask.

  40. Olenna says:

    Photo op. Periodt.

    • ABritGuest says:

      Apparently there isn’t even a baby bank in the area she mentioned where she met families whose stories made her tearful. Probably just a mix up but some funny comments on this on the Beeb

      • Olenna says:

        This visit was definitely a complete sham, then–all topped off with her white dress of purity and snake skin pumps. She’s so brave! /s

  41. Waitwhat? says:

    I’m sure other people have already mentioned this, but…

    she was “moved to tears” by the stories of how families in poverty are struggling to cope, and yet she wore a dress that costs almost £2,000 to a PR event to promote the charity that’s helping these families?

    Abolish the monarchy, FFS.

    • Tealie says:

      She was so moved, she went home to buy another £3000 dress to commemorate their suffering! 🤣🤣

  42. February-Pisces says:

    She went home and burst into tears? Why is she constantly trying to promote her tears?

  43. A says:

    She looks like she’s put on a bit of weight, and it’s looking good on her. Not a fan of the dress, it’s just too f-cking twee, as is the case with everything she chooses to wear to these types of things.

  44. nicegirl says:

    She doesn’t like to do events in her wheelhouse more often bc she’d be asked to do so more often and that does not help w plans to work shirk. She does not actually want to become personally involved or build authentic relationships. Multiple engagements encourages intimacy (I’m thinking this is more Duchess Meg!). Folks becoming too familiar just won’t do!!

  45. February-Pisces says:

    Slightly off topic, but someone mentioned on twitter that British vogue didn’t wish meghan a happy birthday on their Instagram page, they have done for all the other royals recently. They did mention it in twitter. But literally in the last 3 days they have about 4 or 5 posts on kate on twitter, and multiple pictures of her and the other royals all over their Instagram. The most recent post they have on their IG of Meghan was from may for archies birthday. I think BV have been bought off and stepped over the the dark side. Such a damn shame especially after Meghan made them all that coin.

    • Tealie says:

      British vouge is owned by Conde Nast, the head of Conde Nast is Anna Wintor who seems to be friends with Angela Kelly (hence the backtracking and including the Queen in the last forces for change issue. They also have under their arm Bon Apetite which is currently in a scandal after refusing to pay POC staff the same as their white counterparts and even at all in some cases. Edward definitely got the top on the shoulder, especially after the criticism he got for speaking out about being discriminated against at his work. They definitely told him to ‘tone it down’ a little bit.