Weirdly, there doesn’t seem to be a real push to turn the Duchess of Cambridge’s Tiny Happy People endorsement into a week-long embiggening campaign. That’s what I expected, because historically that’s what happens whenever Kate does one event: it becomes a week-long story about how hard-working she is, how she’s finding her voice, how this gentle, shy baby is finally coming out of her shell. The only thing I can really see so far is A) a million articles about Kate’s “bronde” summer highlights (it honestly just looks like she got a too-brassy wiglet) and B) this suspicious Grazia piece about how Kate and William are proud of their lockdown work even as Prince Andrew and the Sussexes get most of the headlines. Some highlights:
The Cambridges have been working while the family seems to be in disarray: ‘It’s a lot to take on,’ a royal insider tells Grazia. ‘William and Kate have spent months doing what they can to be present, supportive representatives of the family, and they’re proud of what they’ve achieved in such strange circumstances. So it must be frustrating to have that work, and the good work of other members of the family, overshadowed. They’ll keep going, of course – Kate is made of steel – but there is a definite sense that they are taking one step forwards and two steps back.’
Their active efforts are part of a plan set by Charles. ‘The generations above are getting quite a bit older,’ says Victoria Arbiter, royal commentator for CNN and author of Queen Elizabeth II. ‘And Harry and Meghan were very much part of Charles’s vision for the future. They have left a gulf of work that needs filling.’ Towards the end of last year, it was reported that Charles wished his sons and their families to be part of a smaller, core royal family, seen as a modernising move, and he was alleged to be ‘furious’ when Harry and Meghan’s news impacted his plans. ‘Now this slimline monarchy is even slimmer,’ Victoria says. ‘When you think of the plethora of engagements that the royal family undertakes, all of that is going to be on the shoulders of William, Kate, Charles and Camilla. It’s a huge amount of work. William and Kate have their patronages, there are military engagements, garden parties, the Commonwealth, investitures and regular engagements.’
Kate is keen and ready: ‘It’s hard work,’ the source tells Grazia. ‘But Catherine thrives under pressure. She is organised to a fault, and loves to be busy. I honestly don’t think she’s ever been happier, and she’s really pleased to be taking charge. She’s had the vote of confidence from Charles, and she’s able to set her own path.’
It’s not about actually doing lots of work though: ‘She and the younger generation are embarking on their official life in a different fashion,’ says Victoria. ‘The more senior members of the family have upwards of 500 organisations with which they’re involved. William and Kate are streamlining that focus: they’re concentrating on issues that matter. So when Kate is promoting her early childhood programme, she’s doing it from a place where she’s spoken to the experts and completely immersed herself in what needs to be done.’
I wonder how much longer William and Kate can play this particular con, the “we have so much work now that H&M left and we’re incredibly keen to do this work but you know that we’re not going to work anywhere near as much as you expect right?” How much longer can Will & Kate play this game? “William and Kate are streamlining that focus: they’re concentrating on issues that matter. So when Kate is promoting her early childhood programme, she’s doing it from a place where she’s spoken to the experts and completely immersed herself in what needs to be done.” LMAO. She spent eight years “immersing” herself in early-childhood development and then the result of all of this painstaking self-education was the vanity exercise of the five-question Struggle Survey, which was promptly abandoned. The truth is, much of royal work IS busy work, but before William and Kate, the busy work was never hyped to make people believe that princesses, duchesses and countesses were suddenly supreme experts in whatever field because of their “immersion” in behind-the-scenes studies.
Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace.
Harry and Meghan still have their patronages, Meghan didn’t even have many to begin with and Harry took IG and Sentabale with him so extra work where??? It’s not like her and William started a bunch of projects to compete and have to keep up the momentum so, again, what extra workload? Maybe keeping the press happy?
Charles has no right to be upset about his slimmed down monarchy plans going to crap. If you want to keep hardworking employees you have to create and maintain a stable, safe, respectful work environment. He didn’t do that.
It is my theory that Charles intended for Meghan & Harry to take on much more of the “bread & butter” type work in the UK that Princess Anne excels at and thrives on plus more overseas engagement in Commonwealth countries.
The UK “bread & butter” type stuff and Commonwealth engagement is not a good fit for Kevin & Karen Keen.
Yup. His intention was to use Harry & Meghan like workhorses while also not lifting a finger to help them against the abuse they were facing. And now Wilbur & Lazy Bones may have to take on all that extra work. Which is hilarious because it’s clear they didnt think there strategy through very well when they were pushing H&M out.
I’m not sure if you started it @BayTampaBay but I’m still here for you calling them Karen and Kevin. Appropriate nicknames. 😂
Yes I think that’s the way it is spun. Willie and Karen sit back and pretend to work on in-depth projects like spending 8 years to write 5 questions. But they don’t have anything to show for these ‘projects’, where are questions 6-10 on the survey, or are we going to have to wait until 2028?
why bother working when you can sit back and work on your tan, whilst the press praise you for your work ethic?
The crazy thing is their job is a piece of piss, a banana could do it. Seriously how hard is it, you turn up, shake hands, make small talk and cut a few ribbons. If they did that 5 times in a day twice a week, they would have 500 engagements under their belt.
All of the younger royals left will have to do more bread and butter work. Niche work is ok for younger royals but the older and nearer you get to the throne…
Seeing this revisionist history in real time is crazy. Can’t forget that the Sussexes wanted to keep doing royal duties p/t and the Firm said no. Firm only has itself to blame If they have fewer resources. as I’ve said previously where is all this extra work when covid means minimal engagements& no tours in near future. Plus Sussexes still have their patronages.
Plus all the leaking the Firm did suggests that some either wanted Meghan ‘put in her place’ or gone completely. The Tim Shipman article still seems to have the tea on much of what has transpired but wonder if anyone will ever properly expand on it.
Whilst Charles likely did want both sons as part of his reign, can’t see that he did anything to ensure it. A lot of what has happened is result of failure of leadership eg if the Cambridges has been doing full time duties earlier, they might have been more secure with projects behind them etc& might not have felt (allegedly) threatened. Failure to ensure united front was bad too if they wanted Sussexes to stay. The press would always have been nasty to Meghan for reasons but the Firm’s leaks& collusion made it much worse.
You are sot on, ABritGuest. No way could I have put it better.
That family was intimidated by an intelligent woman who stood up for herself. They probably had flashbacks of Diana because they knew she couldn’t be controlled like Kate was and pushed to the side. Her mere existence freaked them out and they could not adapt and use her talents to their benefit. The courtiers carried out the orders from the insecure royals, mostly coming from William, as the Shipman article points out, and now they look like fools for pushing her away.
Revisionist history is exactly right, so much so that I almost feel like I am getting trolled. To whomever wrote this ridiculous article with a “palace source”, your pants are on fire!
Kate looks like a buffoon with her manic expressions and bouffant lite hairstyle.
You eventually become the person that you really are on the inside.. One way or the other.. We all know that she is a buffoon 😜😂
Kate is annoying with so called “hard work.” It’s about her hair and her clothing. And all that exaggerated face making.
Kate hired Melania’s wig maker to create that new hair style.
Yes she does. Dolittle fails again.
Solace, thank you for saying that. Said it better than I did yesterday. She is trying too hard, is not genuine, and not compelling. She is boring as shit, and they are trying to liven her up. I
would be exhausted, but it is too entertaining. It just seems that in comparison, Harry and Meghan are genuine, self motivated, caring and intelligent people, and thus very compelling. And it seems to me that William and particularly Katherine repel off H & M constantly for their motivation, instead of just being themselves. (albeit grossly boring)
You said it, Katherine just can’t let it be. She has become a manic buffoon.
That wide-open maw is just too much at times. She’s got an unofficial fan club on Twitter (the grasping hen who runs the account admitted it was her “job” to post favorable tweets about Keen), and they love to post pics of her exaggerated grins and open-mouth laughter. They say she looks “cute” and “adorable”. SMH.
When can we stop calling the British Royal writers “press” or “journalists” and call them what they are: public relations fiction writers.
Paid liars is all.
I would have opted for ‘capitalism-oriented wing of the state propaganda machine’, but yours is also good.
@FicklePickle:
Excellent. Just like Faux News.
Ding ding!
I prefer court stenographers. They simply transcribe what they are told to say. There is no independent opinion or thought applied .
Someone who is “organized to a fault” would not have the myriad issues she has with her work. If she were, we’d see more substance in her projects and less focus on her appearance, better public relations campaigns, etc. The only thing she “organized” well is hanging around for years desperately waiting for PWT, and I think mummy had a lot more to do with that than Katie Keen.
No kidding. If she was so organized and serious about her “work”, she would have gotten professional help with her public speaking at the very least. She also would have hired a real stylist to help her establish a professional wardrobe that didn’t involve owning 15 identical blue coat dresses or wearing skintight jeggings at official engagements. Not to mention her lack of work ethic. The embiggening continues….
“Organized to a fault” is a phrase that sounds similar to when someone in a job interview describes their biggest weakness as “working too hard” Cheesy and inauthentic.
Super Hero Kate :
” Kate is made of steel”
Incadescent with rage Charles:
“Charles wished his sons and their families to be part of a smaller, core royal family, seen as a modernising move, and he was alleged to be ‘furious’ when Harry and Meghan’s news impacted his plans.”
( he was so pissed with Harry that he pushed for the one year review , right?)
Kate is the new Meghan- courtiers, watch out!
“But Catherine thrives under pressure. She is organised to a fault, and loves to be busy”
Anne and Wessexes- we are better than you! our work is the only one that matters!
“‘The more senior members of the family have upwards of 500 organisations with which they’re involved. William and Kate are streamlining that focus: they’re concentrating on issues that matter.”
The spin is a pathetic joke.
Wonder how those organizations who are told they don’t “matter” enough to keep a royal patronage will feel about Penis w/Teeth and Future Keen Kweenie Kate?
Hey FFK, FFQC,,, remember what happened in France when the “peasants” had enough? While heads won’t roll LITERALLY…they just may roll you off the throne. But then, PwT will get what he wants: to be a landed aristo w/out the responsibility.
When you want to look extra keen, add cocker spaniel ears to your hair cut, a little extra to your expressions, and of course polka dots.
I know we’re not supposed to compare them, but this is seriously amateur hour compared to the compelling speech MM just gave…
Please don’t insult cocker spaniels. They are way above this.
Puh-leez. She doesn’t thrive under any kind of pressure, she’s just lured into working by the promise of shiny new jewelry or new clothes.
Hahahahahahahahaha. These people realize that we’ve been following Kate for years, right? No, she doesn’t thrive under pressure, and she doesn’t love to be busy, unless we’re counting shopping and hair appointments as being “busy.” She doesn’t like to work and they need to stop pretending like she does.
Also, what a dig at Anne et al – the bit about focusing on “issues that matter.” That makes me think the Vanity fair quote from Anne about “reinventing the wheel” was 100% about Will and Kate. It seems a bit of a clapback, even though its a few months later.
This must a trolling article because Kate has never held down a real job for any lengthy period of time in her entire adult life and has been the laziest royal from the outset, getting outworked by the elderly Phillip until he finally stepped down at 98.
She still can’t give a speech worth a damn and has no idea what she is saying, as witnessed in the interview clip we saw yesterday. It’s Orwellian how much the media lies to cover her numerous deficiencies as a functioning adult. No recent royal in the last two generations has been as bad as Kate in practically everything related to royal work.
And here we go with William and Kate lowering expectations about patronages and the like. They don’t do the extra work on fewer causes, they simply have fewer causes and most of the time they come in when something has already been set up and they take credit for it.
Charles has many faults, but no one has ever accused him of being as lazy as William or having no idea what his causes are about. He’s the royal who actually immersed himself in issues and can speak to them decently. And while Anne doesn’t do things as in depth, she does many of them and is prepared.
Charles and Diana had genuine interest in work and getting things done re: charity work. Diana was only 20 when she married in and pitched in and worked. Kate with her University degree in art history and having “ten years” to become “prepared” fumbled by doing very little and riding on excuses from the moment she joined the Firm. Charles was interested in work and duties, William spent years postponing full time work. Pathetic.
Diana exemplified what could be done if one cared. She didn’t have the intellectual background, but got help to be a better speaker and cared about issues. Kate at 29 was already a useless mannequin when compared to Diana at 20 never mind when Diana was 29.
Carole and Mike raised all their kids to lead shallow and selfish existences, which is a failure on their part, and they remain leeches on society with nothing of value to offer. All the puff pieces in the world won’t hide Kate for the shallow being she truly is.
@Nic919…”Carole and Mike raised all their kids to lead shallow and selfish existences, which is a failure on their part, and they remain leeches on society with nothing of value to offer. All the puff pieces in the world won’t hide Kate for the shallow being she truly is.”
That is one of the most accurate statements I’ve seen about the Middletons!
This is the issue with the kind of racism and white privilege that is insidious within the BRF. They had an intelligent, hard-working, intellectually curious woman marry into the family. She could have and would have done so much for the family. Instead, they push her out in favor of a woman with no skills or anything to offer other than her white skin. Clearly that is better and safer to them. Among the many worse things you can say about them the BRF is so thoroughly un-modern. It’s maddening.
There is no excuse for Kate’s lack of preparedness, curiosity, or speaking skills. Public speaking makes me nervous. However, if it was a big part of the job i would work so hard at getting better. It is a skill that can be improved. That she’s still so bad this many years in shows that she does not care enough to know more or be better.
I think that too- Anne might have been iffy with they leaving, but Harry and Meghan were there for a couple of years and Will and Kate have been there creating problems for a decade .
Not to mention Harry and Meghan brought attention to one of Anne’ s patronages a few months ago, I think it has something to do with children.
Hey hey hey….I won’t have you slandering Kate like that!
You forgot working out. Hair, shopping, working out. And having a baby every few years.
Seriously, one of the laziest people in the public eye. Couldn’t even work five days a week when she graduated. Diana was a teenager and worked more.
If she has a real interest in childhood development, she could have actually earned a degree in it in the time she’s claimed to be interested in it. (Remember William dabbling in classes on farming and land management?) Or at the very least, retain some experts to give her a tutorial in it.
I bumped on that, too, Becks. “They’re concentrating on issues that matter” but the examples include “garden parties” and vague “engagements”👀
Actually, if they wanted a fundraising idea for their struggling patronages, I would absolutely pledge money to watch Kate read this article out loud to a stone faced Anne. The nerve!
This constant overselling. Every week it’s the same thing as if that’s supposed to make her interesting. That’s who they’re stuck with and you can’t tell me those reporters are happy with this. It’s boring and redundant.
They also really need to stop with the “Kate is made of steel” line. A person made of steel wouldn’t have freaked out over the Tatler article.
So much of the KP narrative is them showing what triggered them. Kate is steel? Sounds like Meghan is tungsten.
This is just an example, but other things as well. So much insecurity.
A woman of steel definitely wouldn’t have burst into tears about the bridesmaid attire in ANOTHER woman’s wedding.
She thrives under pressure? I thought she was so overworked at the “extra work”? I thought she was furious about it? Isn’t that what the Tatler article said?
Yeah, what happened to the “working like a top CEO without the benefits or holidays” complaint? Or the statement that she’s been forcing herself to grin and bear it even though she never wanted to be in this ‘difficult’ position? I know which narrative I think is true and it’s not the “Kate thrives under pressure” one….
That pic with the ‘jazz hands’ and manic facial expression. I was half expecting her to unhinge her jaws and start sucking souls. UGH. How bloody hard is it to show up and be actually sincere and interested for 15 minutes in something not about herself??
I worked as a reporter for a small town newspaper and also sold advertising for the paper. Between the two jobs, every single day I went somewhere new, met someone new and learned something new. It was far and away the best job I ever had, so far. I could not fathom being someone like Kate and showing absolutely no interest in something new. Not everything I learned was something I wanted to know, but I was learning every day. I don’t know how you could live any other way, and here’s Kate, treating the world like it’s merely background in the “Kate, Aint She Keen,” daily show.
LadyD, I feel the same way. I’m happiest when I’m learning something new. I took some free online courses during quarantine for fun, and I enjoyed them immensely. I can’t imagine living one’s life being incurious. How miserable!
We really have stepped through the looking-glass, haven’t we?
Are Kate and PWT using 1984 as a handbook, and rewriting every part of their history?
-Was trying to remember whose hair reminded me of Kate’s: it was my mother, ca. 1985. Farrah Fawcett’s lappets and wings and little rows of wave scudding across the surface. More cosplay?
Has Kate ever been busy in her life? I try to imagine her typical day and I really really struggle. To echo The Queen, what exactly does she do?
Someone organised to a fault would know that she hadn’t visited one of her charities for 8 years as well.
I don’t think thrives under pressure is the right phrase either. If they’d said thrives under competition, I’d consider it.
Dumb article because Charles has already done both approaches to being an active Royal–he is involved with hundreds of organizations and has also built legacy projects in areas that matter like his organic food and gardens and the Prince’s Trust. And what does “the Cambridges have been working while the family is in disarray” mean? It seems as if the Cambridges have two modes–vacation and work. Will’s default setting really is loafing around watching sports on the telly and he expects some kind of parade when he actually does something and this is how Kate views their obligations too. All the bad actions they have engaged in are not erased because Kate brays at some kids and Will buys a pint at the pub.
@harper
“Kate brays at some kids…”
LOL. Perfect!
Yes, absolutely perfect 🤗
the W&K media machine loves attacking Charles. While I do think Charles has done some amazing things with his money and power, he is an incompetent parent. He has let Will play at being prince and thus has put into place the end of the monarchy. The fact that W&K still feel okay running the bus over Charles shows clearly they fear no reprisals from him.
Charles could easily control them by releasing a few choice pieces that confirm just how much William was involved in turfing his brother and Meghan. We already see a few pieces in play with Christian Jones and Jason Knaud working with Wootton.
Did anyone listen to that interview? I did
My goodness, someone once told me this woman is not dumb; she clearly isn’t but when she speaks she doesn’t appear smart. The interviewer tried to help her by asking whether she has had interest in early childhood development before she became a mother; her response was head scratching; what was she really trying to say?
I suppose these pieces are really to mask her lack of ability to answer any question about this topic! it was hard for me to tell whether she was just too shy or was not familiar with the topic at hand!
Before the FlyBe stunt, I could empathize; after the stunt, this woman isn’t one that could uplift more successful and accomplished women! she is quite mediocre to be honest!
Her interview was shockingly bad. Especially considering she had time to prep (I’d debate whether she made the effort to or not), a really kind interviewer helping her as much as possible and such softball questions. After eight years, it was shameful.
That’s why i was surprised no one seems to comment on the interview itself; I know the US press mostly ignores her but even the UK press? this is seriously concerning; I guess her clothes and hair are more important 🙂
The clip you mention (the only part of it I watched) was so embarrassing, I almost felt bad for Kate. She totally fumbled a softball question and she knew it. I’m sure she had the questions in advance, so she should have been prepared. Or if she has been studying this as much as she says, she should have hard facts at the ready.
I don’t feel sorry for her after the way she treated Meghan. I can’t stand her and think she’s a phony. She probably does not feel the least big bad over her being complicit in putting down Meghan.
I also assume that she must have had the questions in advance and yet she still couldn’t answer them. She has a team of people to help with such stuffs, does that mean she didn’t read her notes? I assume she is lucky no one really pays attention to what she says
Last night BBC America with Katty Kay ran an excerpt from this Karen Keen interview and I must say it was embarrassingly bad.
If she’d been studying early years development for 8 years, as we’ve been told, she’d have been able to respond without much preparation at all.
In 8 years, she could have got a bachelors and masters degree in the subject and be most of the way to a PhD! She’d know her stuff.
The interview showed that she has nothing to say.
@Tessa – I said I “almost” feel bad for Kate, lol. I don’t actually feel bad for her because at this point, if she’s not prepared, its no one’s fault but her own.
Perhaps they should prevent her from giving interviews!!! pictures with kids should be enough LOL
I have said it before, Kate does not care about early years. This is something the RF threw at her because she needed SOMETHING. If she was working on this for 8 years there would have been meetings put in the Court Circular. We all know she will add anything to the CC to up her pathetic numbers.
She just doesn’t care and it shows.
Perhaps she’s not “dumb” but she’s obviously ignorant. I’ve known people like this: they’re technically considered “smart” for getting through college with good grades but they don’t seem to have an ounce of intellectual curiosity or critical thinking skills. To me that’s Kate in a nutshell.
I agree with you that there are some people who have absolutely no intellectual curiosity or can’t think critically……….Melania trump is another example; she doesn’t seem to want to know anything outside of her son and lifestyle
imo that’s ok but at least don’t pretend to be what you are not (which is what we see here); you’re right that KM is like that as well; no curiosity; is she even aware of what is going on in the world? to be generous, probably she is; does she care? probably not
Women shouldn’t be compared; but my goodness, when you look at her close to Meghan, my god, she comes up so lacking! Meghan couldn’t stay in that family! she has exposed too many things.
I completely agree with that BeachDreams. She’s not dumb, per se. There’s just a total lack of intellectual curiosity or desire to “know more.” And honestly, I think it says a lot about the people who surround her that she doesn’t want to “know more,” she doesn’t feel she has to step up her game, she’s praised to the high heavens for sitting around little kids, why should she bother to learn more? When I’m with someone who knows a lot more about a subject than I do, it makes me want to step up my game. I will leave the conversation and do more research. i’ll say to the person – “I had no idea about that, can you recommend a good book so I can learn more?” etc.
There’s a complete lack of that in Kate AND William and it shows. Its one of the reasons they don’t have good questions to ask at events. They don’t care to learn more.
Picturing Kate at a round table discussion with Queens Maxima, Letizia and Raina, really makes me laugh. No one could understand what she’s saying for a start, and she just has no substance to her. She would be like Ivanka pretending she is part of the conversation with world leaders.
I mean, rich people have been known to buy college admissions and degrees for their children.
She could indeed be dumb as a box of rocks.
Kate is aggressively mediocre in almost all things and when it comes to having an adult discussion she is massively deficient. Someone who has actually studied something for years would be able to hold a basic conversation but she remains unable to do so. Considering that interview was filmed days before it aired and that was the best they could do, it really does not bode well.
They would be better off looking for pity and saying Kate needs help for anxiety and eating disorders than pretending she is a fully self actualized adult that is super prepared and made of steel. People have eyes and can see what’s going on. She clearly needs help.
The FlyBe stunt just proved she has little agency of her own. She has spent and will continue to spend her life on doing whatever pleases William.
Kate knew darn well what she was doing when she cooperated with the FlyBe stunt, she was angry at Harry getting married, Kate liked being the center of attention of Two Princes. She was also undermining Meghan every step of the way. It was also obscene that the three children were part of the Flybe stunt.
The response to the question about whether she had an interest before becoming a mom was just so, so bad. She could have easily just said that she had always loved children and had been interested in their welfare, but becoming a parent gave her more insight into the realities of the early years and their importance. How hard is that?
The truth is she didn’t care about kids before her own were born. She was awful at kid events pre George and only got slightly better when her own were born. She is not a natural with kids and even now we see that older kids can see through the fake facade.
So, in translation then, Meghan and Harry have skipped off and left the rest of them with loads of work to do. Kate loves this as she is made of steel like a fork and thrives under pressure. But, they ain’t gonna do much because they are only going to focus on the work that really matters.
I’d love to say that to my boss:
‘I’m so steely that I’m going to work really hard and be terribly organised but not actually do all the work because, well duh.’
You would be fired in a sec lol…
OMG I’ve just realised she’s the woman fired from a company I once worked for – she was hired as a project manager and on the surface was super organised (lots of coloured pens and colour coded filing) but actually had very little idea how to do the job. Style over substance.
This is hilarious – she clearly loves to be busy shopping, dying her hair, getting wiglets, tanning and getting her face botox’d to sh!t.
I can buy she works well under pressure – she was under pressure for 10 years from Carole to get William to marry her and she succeeded in that. Kate was relentless in her pursuit of the Middleton goal.
I would not say it was a success to “get William to marry her.” He “settled for her” and was breaking up with her to explore other options for a future wife. IF he had not been a Prince she would not have put up with the breakups and her being treated as a doormat. He even told his friends on a ski trip he had “sex” waiting for him (“sex” being Kate).
Eh, I’d still say that for Kate (and the Middletons) it was definitely a success. I imagine at one point she and Carole were wondering if Will would ever marry her. The way he acted at the wedding and reception should’ve been an indication that marrying him would become a Pyrrhic victory.
It may or may not be a success if william decides he prefers someone else and ditches Kate. WIlliam settled for Kate and IMO the relationship was not the stuff of great romance. The Middletons “success” is totally dependent on William’s whims.
I give it another some years till Kate pulls a Jada Pinkett Smith and has an affair with a much younger man, lol.
“Sources”?!
I would love to earn as much as these “sources” for writing fantasy fiction about Keen Kate 😂😂😂
It clearly is a paying job
If it wasn’t, they would stop
I must say, at this point I am becoming thoroughly amused and entertained by the ever-changing, flip-flopping narrative put out there for CEO Kate. It is literally a different story every week, each one wildly contradicting the last. Kate’s team either get together, each write an angle on a piece of paper and then draw one out of a hat, or put them up on a darts board, throw the dart and see where it lands. Or maybe they have a giant colourful wheel in the Kensington palace office with buzz phrases like
“KATE’S YEAR”
“ALWAYS WORKED HARD”
“CONFIDENT”
“SHY”
“FINDING HER VOICE”
“QUIET”
“EXHAUSTED”
“THRIVING”
“KINGMAKER” and
“TRADITIONAL WIFE” written in glitter that they spin daily. Kate’s Wheel of (Mis)Fortune.
Translation: Traditional Wife equals Stepford wife.
Dear God, it’s just Groundhog Day with Dots and Buttons and Keeness over and over and over and over and over and over again.
They’re basically taking Meghan’s qualities and trying to apply them to Kate.
Absolutely. It’s sad and creepy.
THIS…. it’s gaslighting 101.
One of Meg’s biggest complaints was the fairness of commentary around her when she was a senior Royal.
They are essentially continuing to use Kate to triangulate Meghan due to the law suits. Once this debacle is all over, they will need their pound of flesh again so Kate better watch her back. They’re building her up to tear her down when that time comes. Careful pruning those English Roses William….
Kate’s ‘dazzle’ and new found confidence always makes me laugh. How many royal reporters is she going to ask to write that. If your constantly having to tell people you ‘dazzle’ my guess is you don’t. Meghan on the other hand just needs to stand there and we can see her shine.
It’s like these people live in an alternate reality. That’s okay with regular reality is pretty much normal but right now I just can’t with this sugar coating mess of a candy apple “reporting.”
She really needs to control those maniacal facial expressions
She is so ordinary
Has all the resources available to her to present herself & speak with confidence
Too lazy to do it
WHAT HAS SHE TAKEN ON???????????????????????????????/
Zooming.
All these false narratives and gushing makes me hate her more. Where was half that praise for Meghan or Diana, Lord knows they could have used it more.
I straight up laughed when I saw the headline this morning. This woman is hailed for being mediocre, thin and tanned. Her greatest accomplishment are her kids. There’s nothing of substance there and never has been. She’s not busy or organized. She has people to make sure she coasts through life without any real effort.
It’s also about the lightening and restyling of he hair. Nothing of substance.
Mia – I flat out giggled at the title too! My cat of 11 years was seriously sick yesterday, I really appreciated the laugh.
Ohh, I hope your boo gets better quickly!
The Cambridge’s could easily scam us with ‘we take lots of secret meetings’ except that Kate lists all her meetings on the CC. Remember how her ‘meeting’ with Richard Curtis was listed on the CC, then it turned out that harry, meghan and even William all recorded a voice over for Richard Curtis, and only Kate had a ‘meeting’ counted.
They also added kate being papped at the airport as an engagement on the CC. For years they used to dumb down Harry’s numbers, and never counted his work for the invictus games. Even Sophie recently got her volunteer work discounted from the CC, I’m guessing that’s gonna happen a lot to Sophie now that she’s there nearest competition, not that I care. Anyway I added up the days she worked a while ago in 2019 and it was around 30-40 something. But there are not even full days. She basically works the equivalent of 1 month (I’m being generous) a year, and takes 11 months off.
Harry was on an official visit to an African country that I work in. This was right when Meghan announced her pregnancy but they had not yet split their offices or started a separate Instagram account. I was familiar with his schedule and purposely looked at the court circular to see if the events he did made it on the list. Out of at least five- including a diplomatic reception- I think maybe two were listed and only one picture made it on the Instagram. It became very clear to me that his events were not being counted. These were big events and didn’t include private or smaller meetings with government officials! They have been manipulating the numbers for a long time.
It seems that Will just wanted them to do all the work but not get any attention for it. Similar to Princess Anne. She does a lot of events but rarely had press coverage. He was upset when the public became interested in the Sussexes and wanted all that glory for himself.
I have said it before, the palace should let Kate be a stay at home mom. She can come out for tours and photo ops but no need to let her speak or do charity/patronage work since she’s clearly not interested. The people will not complain as she already does the minimum and is worshiped to the high heavens.
The Cambridge brand is image driven so releasing photos of their family doing cute outings, going on tours and attending state/military events in jewelry and tiaras is all they need to do to promote the institution. I chuckle at the people who expect more because the Cambridge’s have been doing the same thing for over 10 years. They are not going to change now or once they become POW. The royal media has shown they will promote and elevate the Cambridge’s now more than ever with Harry and Meghan out of the control of the royal rota.
I think NOTA or others have addressed this before. She cannot be a SAHM. Other European royal consorts or FFC always have established causes or do bread and butter events to justify their royal existence. If she could be a SAHM, the Queen would have arranged for that after baby no. 2. And what about when they turn 18? It’s just not gonna happen. If she wanted to be a SAHM, she should have gone the Pippa route.
The next best thing for her to do is stop pretending to be a Meghan or Letizia or Rania. She can’t even be a Charles or Philip. I don’t even know if she has self-awareness and she really thinks she is special? She should just keep doing ribbon cutting and endorsements and William has to be the “innovative, charismatic” royal. Unfortunately, even if William has zero charisma, seems like the UK will still keep the royal family. I would be pleasantly surprised if the UK thinks nope, and just abolishes the monarchy. Let’s see.
Anyone else get the sense that they are constantly trying to sell the message that anything Meg can do, then Kate can do better?
This messaging appears to be straight from the William playbook. He strikes me as controlling and narcissistic husband. The sort of man whom views his wife only as an extension of himself and therefore controls her image accordingly. Pre-Meghan Bill was happy with Katie quivering and poorly elocuting in his presence to keep his manhood intact.
Post Meghan Bill appears to have cottoned on to the fact that the world has moved on and that his wife is viewed poorly for her laziness, lack of any real interests, talent and lack of visibility. It feels like he is now actively trying to push Kate into the a controlled part of the limelight and the messaging is always that she is preparing to be Queen. But in reality I believe that Kate’s ‘renaissance’ is more to do with William looking good, with Kate and Pimp Mama Carole going along with it to stick it to Meghan.
How much organization does it really take to show up to your patronage more than once every eight years. Dolittle failed again.
The hair and the dress are giving Melania Trump vibes!
You know who’s “organized to a fault”? ALL OF US HERE AT CB. We don’t have hoards of staff. We do our own shopping/cooking/house-cleaning/laundry. Those of you with young kids are home-schooling and trying to work your own jobs. We don’t get to hunker down in grandeur on a huge country estate and do an occasional, fumbled ZOOM call and call it work. We don’t get to faff around like William, thinking about what we’re going to do but never doing it, we get shit done.
I happen to be one of those “organized to a fault” people. Whilst in lock-down I’ve repainted the kitchen and bathrooms, I’ve re-tiled the laundry room floor. I’ve gone through every closet and cupboard and drawer and purged a lot of useless crap from our life (Mr. Jaded is a pack rat and I have to keep on top of it). I’ve also written a lengthy article on the benefits of Reiki therapy on the homeless and those suffering from mental disorders for a big shelter where I volunteered before the pandemic hit.
I get so angry when I read these stupid puff-pieces. Like Keen has ever worked a hard day in her life? GMAFB. The only good thing to come out of the BRF is that the Sussexes can now shine their full light on the world and no amount of vapid embiggening can ever replace what the BRF lost when Meghan and Harry left.
Jaded, you are amazing! 😊
Thrivng under pressure was Meghan, she was the one the world was tearing apart in her private life, but not once let it show to the public. She was organized to a fault, represented her organizations and never once aggressed her many detractors. Kate was in a sour mood, never under pressure, she was so comfortable she showed her ass repeatedly, and they have the audacity to flip the narrative and say that about her, she is a puppet not serious at all. Amercia is lucky to have the Sussexes, she is an american woman and she represents it well. Nobody cares about the monarchy. They want Meghan to be the second best to the likes of Kate, Queen Leitizia or Sophie, but Meghan is on whole other level, and this is a whole new ballpark.
+1,000
I’d take Letizia out of that list of ‘second bests’. Kate belongs in a group of bland royals with Sophie.
Meghan belongs in a list of dedicated professionals like Maxima, Letizia, Mary, etc.
I’m gonna say this and don’t care who laughs: I *love* that dress. I love polka dots. I love button down dresses. I love belts. But I’m an 80s/90s girls and I’d style it totally different. Black boots, chunky heel, possibly a denim jacket, and depending on the day, unbuttoned on top with a purple lace-trimmed camisole.
Oh, yeah, that what’s so frustrating about Kate for me (fashionwise). Half the time she’s got very good material to work with, she just makes the most bizarre styling decisions…or she’s wearing it five sizes too big, or she decided to alter the sleeves or the hemline in weird ways.
The dress itself isn’t bad – its just the third or fourth dress like that we’ve seen her wear during the pandemic (why so many new dresses?), AND she has it styled horribly, as per usual. It also seems wrong for the event. This would have been a nice event for a cute pair of ankle pants, a chic pair of flats, and a pretty shirt with fun earrings.
Kate should leave her hair brown and not do the fringe / bangs think.
Oh Kate is under pressure – by the queen, Charles and the grey men. Seeing the wife of the sixth in line to the throne getting international press while the future queen gets nothing but local UK press and gossip press has to be galling. As future queen she has to shine.
If she spent half the time working that her people spend defending and embiggining her, she would have solved early childhood poverty and mental issues and be well on her way to brokering peace in the Middle East! Seriously, when has Kate ever been under pressure or even what most people would consider “busy”? Even on her best workday, she has a cast of hundreds making her life easier by arranging transportation, laying out her clothes, preparing research/notes (which she and William proudly admit they don’t read), etc. The only thing she has to organize is her face into a happy or sympathetic look (depending on the occasion) and she gets that wrong at least 75% of the time.
This is their amo! The keenbridges are slaves to the British press because they are no substance just publicity driven.
The attempts to maintain the statuse quo by making them out as “overburdened” will massively backfire on them. Just one look at DM comments and you’ll see how fed up even the trolls are of their PR stunts. Come December when Brexit Britain is out of the EU without backup plans and unemployment and plunging pound are in the news, the public will be very aware of how much of a burden they are. I predict the BP renovation costs will be the trigger!! After Meghan wins her case and starts defamation lawsuit along with harry’s hacking case, I think even the tabloids bosses will be turning their back on them
So does anyone like Kate? I have been reading the comments on more of these blogs and it seems like a tough crowd.
KP has completely fumbled the ball with regard to how they are trying to promote Kate. The “embiggening,” as the Celebitches like to say, has become over-the-top in recent months and I think even some people who liked her well enough are starting to raise eyebrows because it looks ridiculous. And it all comes across as defensive moves done in response to some success that Meghan has either achieved or will achieve. The timing of the announcement of Kate’s “Broken Britain/ Early Years” project out of nowhere right before the event for the Hubb cookbook, when there had been nary a peep for almost a decade prior that Kate had any interest in something like that. And it eventually results in a 5-question survey a junior high school kid could have developed. Now out of nowhere again they announce Kate is going to help promote a BBC special that’s pretty much airing the next day. It feels like KP saw the announcement for Meghan’s speaking engagement and scrambled to find something for Kate to do too. If she had been part of it from the start, they would have promoted her involvement earlier. And in the end she completely flops during her segment. It’s a mess.
I used to like Kate around the time of the wedding. I was excited about what she would do. Then that excitement turned to indifference when she basically did nothing with her role. Then indifference turned to extreme dislike when she took part in a smear campaign and ousted harry and Meghan. The sugary over the top paid for articles about how she’s the greatest woman who ever lived are nothing but nauseating. Even if Meghan never happened and there was no smear campaign, Kate would have still fallen by the wayside. I know women who work and have children and they don’t have nanny’s or get paid millions a year. Those women work ten times harder than Kate and yet she’s someone we should look up to. And the fact she has no interest in doing the role it’s self and has no real passions in life again make her an unexceptional person. Behind the ridiculous wide grin there’s a woman who has a ‘kill or be killed’ attitude and it’s really starting to show.
This is pretty much me. I was a big Kate fan at the time of the wedding, I was excited to see what kind of work she would do, and thought she would breathe new life into the royal family. And she started out okay, but then her style got progressively worse (more boring, frumpy, just….off) and her work, which was never great to begin with, went to nothing once she had got pregnant with George.
I followed a few Kate fan blogs but was annoyed when she would wear the most HIDEOUS outfit and people would be like “wow, she can really pull anything off, cant she?” NO. No she cant. (and the blogs were mostly about fashion because there wasn’t a whole lot else to say about her.) I actually found this blog…I feel like it was 2016?….because I was looking for a less biased viewpoint on Kate. (I know this site has its own biases, but Kaiser et al admit that so I find it easier to navigate).
Then, the palace kept insisting that Kate couldn’t work more because she was a “hands on mom,” which I found to be insulting to moms everywhere – whether you work outside the home or not. Factor in the embiggening campaign and her treatment of Meghan, and I’m no longer a fan.
There are some people who were not royal followers before Meghan, and so don’t care/aren’t fans of Kate, but a lot of us WERE fans of Kate in the beginning, which also means we remember things like….her lack of work ethic. So when a story gets put out about how she thrives under pressure and loves to be busy, we know its BS.
Try People or Us. I have a family member who loves Kate and she reads those magazines and websites. Maybe there you’ll find people who like Kate.
I cannot get over how bad her hair looks. It was looking really simple and nice but that wiglet is horrendous! You can see the line where she placed it.
“But Catherine thrives under pressure. She is organised to a fault, and loves to be busy. I honestly don’t think she’s ever been happier, and she’s really pleased to be taking charge.”
Hmmm. I have a small, pet theory, backed up with little to no evidence whatsoever, that Kate has many of the symptoms of ADHD, or actually has undiagnosed ADHD herself. Like I said, I have no evidence for this whatsoever. I just suspect it, so take my theory with a grain of salt.
With that being said, this pinged my ADHD radar big time. I think there’s a difference between taking initiative and having it set for you, with you just having to show up and be there and being told what to do. And I think for a lot of people with ADHD, thriving under pressure is a different ball game to having to set your own schedule when you’re not under pressure. The focus automatically narrows, so you have a much easier time making decisions and knowing + doing what needs to be done.
What I notice with what’s said here, from a PR stand point, is that it’s also the exact opposite of what they wrote in the Tatler magazine article. In that piece, Kate came off as harried and frustrated with the pace of her life. Now, here, she’s described as being on top of things, organized and in control. It’s a total pivot, isn’t it? Plus, this seems to be like people who are in charge of setting the tone have become more cognizant of who their competitors, ie Meghan, are, and what they do + what they’re admired for. Everyone likes Meghan for being a splendid go-getter, a type A etc.
I really think they first tried to paint Kate as some kind of self-sacrificial saint, putting aside her needs for the good of the family, even if she didn’t like it. But that just made her come off as whiny and ungrateful, which is what she probably is. When people didn’t hop to that, they switched the tone to make her come off as more brusque and headmistress-y almost. “See, look at her, she’s coping, she’s doing what needs to be done, so that’s what we all want,” in a way.
I think you’re giving Kate a whole lot of benefit of the doubt, given you’re basing your entire theory on the pack of blatant PR lines contained in that one quote.
I think they wrote this to try to remove the impression that Kate cannot handle being an adult that was set in the Tatler article. They failed because Kate can’t or won’t put in the necessary work to look prepared. That interview makes her look dumb because she can’t even do small talk on a basic issue that she supposedly worked on for years. If English was not her first language it might have been more excusable but she can’t handle soft ball questions and she looks stupid being unable to do so. It was a filmed interview. Not live. This was edited and the best they could do. That’s pathetic.
Maybe they think if they keep saying it it will magically become true.
Dress is cute but would be cuter with a different shoe (boots or loafers). Girl needs to retire the exact same wedges she’s been wearing for ten years and explore other options.
It’s also pretty clear her hairstylist hates her guts. Yikes.
People need to stop making Kate happen. She doesn’t work hard, doesn’t care to help her charities, and isn’t fashionable. She’s as interesting as paste.