Just to compare & contrast, for those who wondered.
Notice how she connects personally, but doesn’t go overboard. Total of 4 lines mentioning her, but does so in relation to the choice and the work she has been and is doing. It’s fairly professional tbh.
I think she does too. Yes, like that anon noted, the behind-the-scenes people do a lot of work, but you only have to look at the contrast between Kate’s sport engagements and Meghan’s to see that the royal has a lot to do with the success of those events.
That intro to the exhibition was beautiful. The Huffington Post project was great. Her Nook Appeal has been highly successful. Heads Together is good. The fact that she takes her shoes off and runs and throws tennis balls is fantastic.
I just wish she did MORE of it, you know. Love Lola Heart just tweeted out how many times Kate worked for EACH and, I hate to say it, but it sounds a little bit skimpy. I think she still contributed mightily and made a big difference to their fundraising.
It’s not horrible. She repped EACH about once every six months, which is decent-ish, but, imo, they should be showing up at this patronages at least twice a year, writing letters/releasing videos/doing speeches at last twice a year, and doing at least one big fundraiser every two years.
“I feel like there’s a lot of Catherine Quinn’s influence in this” – How much exactly do think Quinn can do? She’s still an employee. All I see is Kate following the natural course and maturing in her role, finding her path. I agree they exaggerated on the compliments and totally believe royals are most build up images, but it seems you are always trying to give part of Kate’s credit to someone else, as this person was the mind behing her, and I don’t see you doing it with the others. William has been praised a lot lately and I don’t remember to see you including his staff on this. Not a long ago, you were still giving Harry the credit to have at least some genuine interest in his things, same with Diana, and now seems to have some hope of Meghan doing something right with RF help. You also easily say women like Chelsy and Jecca are good and very dignified based on their CVs. Sorry, but I have the impression you fall a bit on stereotypes and think Kate is not capable on her own bc she doesn’t fit the profile. Of course you don’t have to like her nor be impartial, as you state about Meghan, I just wanted to point something that is bothering me.
Thanks for sending this in! I didn’t realize people would interpret my post as a slight towards Kate. I don’t think mentioning Quinn takes away any of Kate’s glory. I think picking employees is a huge part of Kate’s job (and Will’s too) and I was generally disappointed in Rebecca Deacon and the rest of the KP Peyton Place gang. I feel they focused more on glamour and pr tricks than on substance and that did Kate a disservice. I feel picking Quinn was a great choice on Kate’s part and it signaled, as you said, that she’s maturing in her role.
I don’t give William’s team that much credit because he’s basically doing the same stuff he did before, just more of it and in better clothes. That doesn’t take a ton of team input, it just takes a stepping up of the work ethic and having more respect for the role. Personally, I do believe that Will’s change was mostly due to having a wake-up call during the Grenfell visit and suddenly realizing that what he does is actually important. I think his team is just doing what they always did, just more of it because he’s more motivated.
Kate is doing something different, bigger in scope, and more creative, and, I think, that does require a team. You can see the seeds of this project in the mental health issue she did for the Huffington Post. I think Kate looked at that and realized that she wanted to do something similar, but more focused on actual change and not just raising awareness (and also more focused on children). I think she also realized that she would need a more sophisticated team to carry this out. Then she did what any competent executive would do–go hire someone who could get the stuff done.
(I feel like I should mention Heads Together here because people probably think this solo project is more similar to HT than to the Huffington Post project. I think HT was a great project, but it’s an umbrella organization providing support to individual charities and that’s an easier proposition than the early childhood project, imo.)
Like I said, I don’t think crediting Quinn takes away any of Kate’s credit. I think Harry is probably the best example of how a team will do a great job BUT ONLY AS LONG AS THE PRINCIPAL KEEPS HIS EYE ON THE BALL. Harry basically had the same people during his “Hero Harry” and “Hollywood Harry” periods and look at the difference in his engagements, his press, and his interactions. He used to be the one who would get glowing charity coverage and now he’s getting Clooney vacation articles and “How Meghan Makes Him Feel Like A Man” headlines.
I’m not sure what the DoSex are doing. Frankly, this is what I was expecting Harry and Meghan to do this month–big charity launches that fit their individual interests, including a big solo project for Meghan. I’m very happy that Will and Kate are stepping up their mental health and children’s health work and creating these initiatives, but where are the Harkles?
William has his 7th house (marriage/partnership) lord (Mercury) conjunct Venus, the planet of love. The dude married for love. Get over the Jecca thing.
I think the hardcore sugars are here to stay, and I expect they will get more and more rabid as Meghan flounders. That has been my experience so far.
I suspect the tour will be meh, but I doubt the media will report that she “needs major help.” Her problem isn’t that she can’t show up and shake hands. Her problem is that the planned tour stops mind-numbingly boring, the clothes are repetitive, monochrome and ill-fitting, and all she does is hold hands with Harry and pose. Yes, there’s always a chance that there will be a major disaster, but I doubt that as they will be surrounded by people whose main job is to keep that from happening. I think their main problem is boredom. Meghan is by far the most repetitive royal I have ever seen, and I used to bitch about Kate’s lace dresses nonstop.
When I think of what made Will and Kate’s first tour (to Canada) amazing, I remember how Kate picked Prince Edward Island based on the Anne of Green Gables books, and how professional she looked in her navy Smythe blazer (Canadian brand!) as they boarded the plane. The Cambridges positively embraced the official events, attending a citizenship ceremony, Canada Day, and the Calgary Stampede. Kate looked amazing in her recycled engagement dress and red maple leaf hat and she rocked the maple leaf brooch like nobody’s business. She wore Canadian Erdem freaking everywhere (tbh, they weren’t that bad back then), posed with Anne of Green Gables, and even dressed up like a Calgary cowboy.
Yes, they had cute couple moments at the helicopter training, the French cooking classes in Quebec, and the sea dragon race, but what I remember most about this tour was that it was a celebration of Canada, including its natural beauty, history, and diversity. LOL, and the “Marilyn moment,” of course.
Kate launched her tour with a bang, with sources telling the DM that she’s personally chosen Prince Edward’s Island because she loved the Anne books. I remember this causing quite a stir at the time and this is still one my favorite parts of their Canada tour.
It’s a stark contrast to the Harkle schedule release, which left people scratching their heads as to why they’d picked some of the stops and why they were skipping out on Invictus. I’ve been wondering why I have such a strong feeling that this tour will be a dud, and I think the underwhelming release of the schedule is part of it. This does not feel like a celebration of Australia, or event the Commonwealth. It feels like a celebration of Meghan and Harry.
It allowed her to skip out on most of the family drama and competition rumors. It worked out pretty well for her.
I know I bitch about the long maternity leave (by US standards, I know), but it really is well planned. She bookended it with a royal wedding and ToC/AirForce appearances in May/June and she’ll come back in October to Eugenie’s wedding and a diplomatic reception. It subtly, but effectively, puts her in a completely different level than Meghan.
“People keep talking about and making fun of Kate- and how Kate should be threatened by Meghan- sweeties, Kate will have the last laugh. People were comparing Diana + Fergie- guess who’s still relevant now? Diana. It’s all based on your titles and your reputation- Kate, married to the future King, mother of the future King- has won the lottery- while Meghan, with a 38% approval rate has simply increased the popularity of Kate and the Middletons compared to the train wreck Markle family. Kate= WIN.” – Submitted by Anonymous
That seems to be the speculation I’m seeing. I would hope that W&K would be smart enough to start distancing themselves from this shit show. There is no reason for them to continue to bail out Harry. It’s a waste of their time and pr capital.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pass British Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip May as they attend the Men’s Singles final
in London, England
Scobie has the video. He describes it as M and C “having a chat” and then the camera pans out and you realize that C is talking to the president’s wife and Meghan is just self-consciously pretending to be part of the convo. It’s hilarious.
So I hate to do the whole “Kate vs Diana” thing but a lot of people in this fandom hold Diana up as a perfect royal so I thought it would be interesting to compare the number of engagements they were doing in the year they gave birth to their second child.
The total number of engagements is obviously lower due to the fact they were pregnant, giving birth, and on maternity leave.
In 2015, the year of Princess Charlotte’s birth, the Duchess of Cambridge carried out 62engagements.
In 1984, the year of Prince Harry’s birth, Princess Diana carried out 52engagements (x)
In 2015, Prince William carried out 122 engagements. In 1984 Princes Charles carried out 93 engagements (x).
It’s up to you to decide what that means for you but it’s interesting to be able to compare the numbers. Thoughts?
Thought I’d bring this back given recent conversation
The Duchess of Cambridge sit in Westminster Abbey for a service to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force (RAF), in central London, Britain | July 10, 2018
Regarding Kate looking so genuinely happy—I think the longer maternity leave combined with the constant drama with Meghan has provided a true reprieve for her. For the first time in over a decade, the intense pressure and glaring spotlight has shifted off of her.
And IMO, that’s how you truly know she’s not in this for the hype, celebrity, etc. as she is so content and thriving away from all of that. She does her duty, but she’d be just as happy living a very comfortable, quiet life at Amner forever. They’ve said similar things about HM as well—that she would have been happy to have been a military wife and then a quiet, country housewife.
When you look at it that way, the comparison to Meghan’s desires, goals, etc are strikingly clear.
Thanks for sending this in! Yep, she’s obviously super happy right now.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George during the Maserati Royal Charity Polo Trophy at Beaufort Park on June 10, 2018 in Gloucester, England
They both talk a lot in public about children’s health and wellbeing and I love that they actually walk the walk. They chose a school specifically because it prioritises emotional support, not because it’s traditional. They seem to respect George’s space and they encourage the things he likes. I think it’s wonderful to see how far things have come since Charles’s childhood
LOL, it’s “racist” to think that it’s too much money. And they bring up Kate’s clothes too. Dude, THE WHOLE POINT is that Meghan is spending ten times Kate’s yearly budged in six months, THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT.
Kate was famously wearing Reiss during her first year–heck, she recycled her engagement dress during the Canada tour–and she was STILL criticized for spending too much money. Kate was absolutely dragged for that 50k bill and it was a small fraction of what Meghan has spent.
And let’s not even mention that Meghan looks like absolute crap in her expensive couture. Her best looks so far have been the Halo dress, the blue off-the-rack Roland Mouret, and the black capris at polo this weekend. According to Katie Nicholls, Megs is now in the market for a stylist. That means she knows she’s royally fucking up. LOL, this is now the fifth person they’ve brought in to help.
I love that Meghan is setting up these copycat photoshoots because the contrasts are genius. Kate with her family and friends watching the game being totally normal in cheap clothes, and Meghan posing with celebs in the VIP area in something that’s five times as expensive and looks ten times worse.
Do you mean “visible” instead of “invisible”? Because Will and Kate were EVERYWHERE in 2011.
My recollection of the Cambridge’s first year is that they would disappear for weeks and then we’d get some ridiculously high-profile huge-press event like meeting the Obamas or touring the US or Kate having a solo gala. The DM has a summary of their first year.
There was a ton of coverage of everything they did (including mundane stuff like shopping or talking walks), and they were credited with re-invigorating the monarchy.
I remember there was a lot of curiosity about their personal lives–honeymoon, house, shopping, Lupo, date nights, relationship with the Middletons, Kate’s shopping trips to London. Also, Kate’s fashion had a ton of coverage. The beige Reiss dress she wore to meet the Obamas, in particular, was a sensation.
Even their first anniversary dinner was a source of huge speculation.
The main difference I see between the way the couples are/were covered by the press is that with Will and Kate there was HUGE interest in their interactions and private life. Everyone wanted to know what the cottage looked like, how they interacted with each other, what Kate was cooking, what the dog’s name was, etc… There was also a ton of interest in Kate’s clothes, organic interest and not just People mag trying to sell beach cover-ups.
With the Slutsexes, there’s more interest in how Meghan is handling the royal protocol than anything else. The “fish out of water” aspect of it is taking over. Will and Kate didn’t have that kind of coverage, mainly because Kate had been part of “The Windsor Show” for so long that her official intro was seamless.
Looking back the Cambridge’s first year, what strikes me is how “fresh” their appearances were–with the Obamas at the palace, in the Canadian wilderness, playing polo in LA, playing with kids. They really looked like a young couple who were having fun and putting a new spin on what it meant to be royal. In contrast, Meghan in her off-color pantyhose and 80s Diana outfits is already looking like a Madame Tussaud’s wax figure. Actually, the official was figure looks younger than Meghan right now.
House of Brat 