Kate finally came out of hiding!!! Kate Middleton made her first public appearance since returning from the Royal Tour of Australia and New Zealand (it’s been over a month since she made an appearance). She and Prince William travelled to Scotland for a day of appearances. Will and Kate’s correct titles are the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (even though I rarely call them that), but they were also given a Scottish title by the Queen upon their marriage and are known as the Earl and Countess of Strathearn while in Scotland. I’m going to refer to them by their Scottish titles for this post.
The Strathearns began the day with a visit to the Strathearn Community Campus in Crieff where they met some kids, and some bagpipers, and William took a tour of the Scottish Ambulance Service helicopter (Kate chatted to scouts instead—she’s a sometimes volunteer, remember). William seemed truly interested in the helicopter; he was chatting to the pilots and actually seemed interested in what was happening. Next, the Strathearns visited MacRosty Park, in Crieff, where they unveiled a plaque commemorating the restoration of the park.
The Strathearns then visited the Famous Grouse Distillery in Glenturret (and were greeted with more bagpipers). The Grouse is the oldest distillery in Scotland, founded in 1775 (it’s older than the USA). Will and Kate did a whisky tasting. That’s whisky without the E, thank you very much. I, as an American, have always spelled whiskey with an E, but the Scottish spelling of the word has no E in it. William tried a few different whiskies, and Kate had one that was 57.8 percent proof. I’m not sure how strong that is (I don’t know anything about percent proofs of alcohols), but it reportedly left her eyes watering. And that was the “girlie one”, by the way. I hate the taste of whisky personally, just not my drink. Will and Kate toured the facility and learned about the process of making distilled beverages. They then bottled their own whisky, which will be auctioned off. They signed the label and everything. They then officially opened the distillery’s new visitor center.
The last stop of the day was in Forteviot, for the Forteviot Fete (which is like a county fair?). They visited the different booths, including one where someone had made a picture of the Strathearn family out of candies. At one point, Kate took a shot of Strathearn heather rose gin and tonic and said, “I’d better not drink too much because of all the whisky I’ve had at Glenturret.”
Oh, by the way, I guess some trashy tabloids were reporting that Kate was pregnant with twin girls this past week or so; well since she tried the whisky and the gin, that rumor has been official dispelled.
Prince George picked up some more gifts. At some point Kate was given a giant teddy bear wearing a Strathearn tartan kilt. And George was given his first kilt, with the Strathearn tartan. I have to say, I rather like the Strathearn tartan. I think it’s quite pretty.
The Earl and Countess flew up to Scotland the night before their day of appearances, and stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel. They unveiled a plaque to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the hotel. Does that count as an engagement? I’ll have to check the Court Circular later.
The Countess wore a Scottish designer for her trip to Scotland (huzzah, local designers!). She wore a red/pink coat by Jonathan Saunders, the “Athena Wool Jacquard Coat” ($2,555). It’s red in the middle, and has strips of red as it fades to a pinkish, coral color at the top and bottom. It’s… not my favorite. It comes in another color variation, a navy and olive green color, which I much prefer. The Countess wore a coral-colored Goat dress underneath her coat. Kate wore her LK Bennet nude pumps again, and carried her LK Bennet Avona clutch. The Countess wore her Kiki McDonough citrine drop earrings and the Cartier watch she loves.
Kate debuted a new brooch. Kate wore a silver Celtic triskele design brooch. Supposedly, it was a private wedding gift—possibly from William (most articles simply say it’s a private wedding gift; the Evening Standard claims it’s a wedding gift from William). Kate has had appearances in Scotland before; I wonder why she hasn’t worn this brooch until now? It’s a pretty brooch.
Let’s talk about the hair situation. I would have loved if Kate had worn her hair back to show off the brooch more. We were able to get a good look at it when she moved her hair, but for the most part the brooch was hidden. Also, since the coat was buttoned all the way up to her neck, having her hair down made it feel rather constricting. I was getting claustrophobic just from looking at the pictures.
Kate made some crazy faces for a fan who was taking her picture. Also, homegirl looked kind of rough, right? Maybe those bare bum photos get to her more than we think. Or William yelled at her or something.
I want to talk about Will’s fashion for a moment. I usually don’t ever mention him, because he’s boring, but I want to say this. Since the Earl and Countess were in Scotland, I think it would have been nice if William had worn a kilt—in the Strathearn tartan, of course. Charles wears a kilt when he’s in Scotland; so does Philip. I realize that none of us really want to see Will’s legs, and NO ONE wants to see his bare bum should an “accident” occur, but it would have been nice if he had gone with the tradition instead of wearing his regular, boring suit.
New appearances have been added to Kate’s calendar. On June 10th, Kate will attend the launch of the America’s Cup at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. On June 12th, Kate will attend a garden party for the 150th anniversary of the British Red Cross at Buckingham Palace. On June 18th, Kate will visit Bletchley Park–she’ll tour the site and meet former codebreakers.
Photo credits: The Famous Grouse Experience Facebook.
Link: Getty Images. Daily Mail 1 and 2. Mirror 1 and 2. Express 1, 2, 3. Telegraph. Evening Standard.
so they once again they left george for the night, and why is she looking so haggard, she hardly works!
57 Proof is a nice mellow whisky. Johnnie Walker Black is 80 proof. Usually wine falls in the 20-30 proof range for comparison.
I don’t think Prince William has been in a kilt since he was ten years old. Prince Charles embraces them, it’s actually kind of endearing how much he gets into it.
Sadly, the pregnancy rumors will only be delayed for a couple weeks. Then mysteriously she will be four months pregnant. She does make a cute Grumpy Cat Kid, but I don’t know why everyone wants her to reproduce so badly.
I love how much Charles embraces the kilts.
“but I don’t know why everyone wants her to reproduce so badly” — It sells papers. That’s also why they were shipping Harry and Cressida so hard, because a royal wedding sells.
It’s her job. The number one item on her job description is to produce the heir, and preferably as spare as well.
Very true.
She looks a bit strange on DM in these photos. Like she’s drugged or something. She is not aging well I don’t know what it is. Just a few years ago she was looking amazing. I think she stopped with the spray tans and fillers.
It’s probably stress, that ages one a lot.
Stress adds to it and I’m sure she’s stressed but it’s mostly the fact that Charles hasn’t been footing the bill for her botox and fillers for a while now.
I think Kate looked pretty good considering what’s she been through. I’m not sure many would look their best after having their bare bum posted for all the world to see. It’s good to see her put her best foot forward and I hope that she has put this incident behind her (she took several weeks out of the public’s eye to get over it) I really enjoyed reading your post…. Well done!!Oh PW blah blah
She didn’t take weeks out of the public eye to get over it. The rumor about this photo started less than a week ago, with the photo being published just a few days ago.
IMO she just doesn’t care. In many of the flashing pictures through the years, she doesn’t move to hold her skirt down. It doesn’t occur to her, it doesn’t matter to her, and it doesn’t upset her. Otherwise she’d do something about it.
Really it wasn’t that long!! Well it felt like weeks since she made a public appearance, I stand corrected.
She didn’t take weeks to get over the photo coming out, no, but she did take weeks to get over the tour. She hasn’t had an engagement since April 26.
CrazyAMG, I’ve got to hand it to you posting here. Your opinions can be not very popular, but you express your pov well. I’m all for civilized disagreement!
I love this Blog!!! Enjoy the discussion and I find the opionions shared interesting and fascinating! Very intelligent group.
I am going to agree that she is clearly trying to increase her presence with these new engagements. I think it is the right think for her to do, too. The more appearances she can make without incident, the sooner Bumgate is forgotten. The real issue is that she needs to make sure it NEVER happens again. We will see.
Kate has 4 scheduled appearances in June, with 2 more possibles and two horse races she’s been to in the past. Hopefully she’ll do well and won’t have any incidents. I truly hope I never have to talk about her bum again.
With all(!?!) these scheduled appearances – I sense a nice vacation coming up, too. Also, I believe there will be maybe a couple more appearances placed on the court circular to help detract from the yearly expense report coming at the end of June. With all the remodeling and clothing for her tour, I bet it will be a doozy. Willnot & Kannot tend to increase their duties just before a report comes out (i.e. increasing visits from November to mid-December prior to the yearly royal duty tallies that come in January). I guess they think visits scheduled like this will lower the outrage from the tax-paying “peasants” that help to keep the RF one of the richest families in the world and allow them all the “help” – i.e. servants they could ever want.
That coat reminds me of an old wool blanket I used to wrap up in when sitting around a campfire on a chilly evening.
I think it looks like a western saddle blanket.
Yes! That’s probably what I was using around the campfire.
LOL!
Good news, Princess Charlene of Monaco is expecting a baby this year! Albert got married 3 after bill. dm just announced it today, it is Charlene’s 1st baby!
finally , i am sooooooooo happy for charlene, after all the name calling, shes so beautiful, elegant and hardworking, she will make an awesome mum , congratulations charlene, i am sure she will wear superb maternity wear cant wait!
Ooh, what name calling? Inquiring minds want to know…
I agree with you, I think the brooch was just a wedding present. I never believe anything that says something was a present from William, like the watch and the new ring. For some reason I get the feeling that its the Middletons (Carole) that buys something and gives it to Will to give to Kate, i.e. technically “from” Will but not really.
William doesn’t seem like the type of man who buys his wife things unprompted. He seems like the Fred Mertz type who, if his wife asked to buy a new dress, would ask what’s wrong with the old dress. But I could be totally off there. I really just wanted to make an I Love Lucy reference 😉
Hey, don’t insult my Freddie Mertz! 😉 At least he worked at keeping up the apartment building and later, as a chicken farmer. And he did buy Ethel a nice strand of Japanese pearls – in Japan (one of the last episodes). Can’t say the same for Willnot. (I love ILL, too.)
Hey, I just found your blog and I am going through all your articles now. I think you are witty and give good critique of Kate’s work and behaviour.
Anyways, I just saw a DailyMail article about Kate’s bare bum pics. Usually DM is busy singing praises of Kate. But, this one actually asks her to cover up and that this flashing is getting out of hand. Thought you’d wanna see:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2641053/Please-learn-covered-Kate-As-Duchess-embarrassed-wardrobe-malfunction-AMANDA-PLATELL-running-sympathy.html
I agree with you Ha5rika about KMR’s blog. She sticks to the facts, gives the appropriate amount of criticism and will praise Kate when she deems it appropriate.
Hello and welcome! And thank you.
I’m really surprised the DM was willing to criticize Kate that much. They usually are VERY pro-Kate. I think the gloves are starting to come off. First the Express article that was critical, now this DM article.
I hope Kate actually takes the criticism to heart and fixes the problem, and doesn’t just bush it off and/or blame the media for her problems (which is a trait I’m sure she learned from William, who has done just that for years now).
Welcome Ha5rika!
the royals aren’t supposed to accept freebies, but William and Kate sneakily accept them.
i can put money on the fact that they stayed at the hotel rather than their own scottish home [or that belonging to other royals] because they were gifted a free night at the hotel which receives publicity as a result of their stay, and everyone pretends they were there to unveil a plaque.
Call me cynical, but i bet when the floodgates of insiders with tales to tell open, i’ll be proven right.
Oh, absolutely! I believe the lazy duo will take every posh freebie that comes their way, saying it is part of “modernizing” the monarchy, will save money, and promotes local business/culture/etc. However, they will only admit it if they can somehow further benefit. It’s ridiculous. That makes them no different, no “better” than celebrities. And if that is true, then what is the need to continue to support the RF via taxes?
I think you’re right, Acquitaine.
They are not allowed to accept freebies, but the royals have long had an agreement about “discounts”. They had an arrangement with Audi where they got something like 90% off for their cars.
Wow, 90%! Tell me, where can I sign up for these? I need a new car. 😉
The coat is more for someone more mature, someone older perhaps. I think Kate is looking aged as she is very thin and gaunt looking, and all the years of sunning are taking there toll, the sun is damaging and ages the skin quicker than anything else.
Yes, that coat would look better on a little old lady–at least over 50, maybe into her 60s and older.
The “look” she has is kind of like the Queen’s. Some of us wanted her to change her style. But even though I think HM is fashionable, she is an elderly woman after all. Waity should try to look 35ish, not 85.
Very true, Seth. On Lola’s website I just mentioned that Kate has started to wear something of a uniform, with little variation among about 80% of her outfits, which is rather “ho-hum.” I agree this mimics HM quite alot, but doesn’t look right on a young woman in her early 30’s.
I also am beginning to think she overdoes temporary facial fillers, because her face was just filled with wrinkles. Granted, maybe the media didn’t do it’s usual “good” job of photoshopping, but I remember the last time she looked like this was in November, around Veteran’s Day (she was also wearing a red coat at the time). I bet she was due to get the filler injections in time for Christmas holidays, and now, 6 months later, they have worn off.
I remember those wrinkles! I pointed them out in a post and kept getting searches for “Kate Middleton Wrinkles” for like two weeks.
Seth you are so right. All she needs is the matching hat!
That is so sad! I feel sorry for Kate. I hope she is able to keep a little bit of herself as she conforms to the RF.
I hope she keeps some of herself, too. I want there to be some personality there, instead of some dead-eyed Queen-clone. And part of personality is the way one dresses. Just as long as she weights her hems 😉
Yes, I would agree with that assessment. She’s been very buttoned up recently, wearing a ton of coats that all look the same with a similar silhouette.
I love what the Queen wears, but that type of uniform (to use Med’s word) does not work on a 32 year old.
That coat….ugh. Not her best look. Also, I do not think that she looks any worse for wear than usual, but I do think these photos show her with little or no photo shopping. The DM usually bends over backward to make her look good, but it has been suggested elsewhere that this could be the British media’s passive-aggressive way of getting back at the RF because they were not allowed to bid for the Bumgate Pics. I suspect that is correct. I believe the gloves are coming off with Will and Kate, so they better pull themselves together.
Yes, definitely no photoshopping.
Speaking of British media and their passive-aggressive ways, Richard Palmer made some comments on Twitter that I find interesting, he said:
Looking at some of the commentary, I think Prince William might be setting himself up for a good deal of criticism if he returns to flying.
UK taxpayers may ask why, if William loves flying so much, did he leave the RAF without serving enough time to repay training costs?
Taxpayers may also ask why he and Kate spent so much public money moving their court to Kensington Palace if they go to East Anglia.
That whole “taxpayers may ask” thing is what I find interesting. My theory is that these are Richard Palmer’s own feelings, wondering why Will quit the RAF without serving enough time to repay costs, wondering why the move to East Anglia when they just spent so much moving to KP, and that Palmer is using the qualifier of “taxpayers may ask” in order to express his views without fear of repercussion.
I definitely think the UK press are getting a bit fed up with Will and his overbearing, lying* ways.
*Palmer had made previous comments about palace sources not being so reliable these days.
There are some (possibly astroturfers) who always pipe up with “the government sold us out and sold the RAF to the Americans” etc. Fact is, the privatisation wasn’t going to START happening until 2015 with final rollout by 2017.
www(dot)bbc(dot)com/news/uk-21934077
William could have stayed and served through 2015 or even 2017. Of course, he’d be taking a job away from someone who 1) really needed it and 2) would have actually worked it instead of being so low on flying hours as to nearly be kicked out. Same with the air ambulance idea: there are no current openings, a job would be being made for him, taking a job from someone else who needs to earn a living, etc.
Yes, he could have stayed, but that would have gotten in the way of his vacationing.
I have a feeling that Will left the RAF to spare him the embarrassment of them kicking him out. He was almost never there.
The air ambulance “job” is just another cover and excuse for him to not do royal duties while secretly vacationing all the time. Same as the RAF job. It’s such BS that the palace let’s him get away with it.
I wasn’t aware that his flying hours were significantly low – that speaks volumes towards his personal and professional responsibility. And to take a job away from a better qualified individual is just disgusting. He really doesn’t think much about his future duties or the people he will be representing as King. It seems that they really both “play” / toy around with the idea of work, and use it to justify that they are “like everyone else” when clearly they are not.
Agreed, KMR and med4kmd. The worst part of this is that these are jobs where people lives are at stake. William not being up-to-snuff on his flying hours (because he was always on vacation, it was just harder to track his movements out of Wales than London) endangered people’s lives.
The same will be true for the air ambulance program. He doesn’t even have the eyesight required for flying, he was let in because he was royal. Now he’ll be taking work away from someone who qualified fairly and who needs it, most likely a military veteran. Just indefensible.
@fairygodmom about charlene, i think the people i found most jealous of her are the uk citizens (reading from blogs), it all started with the wedding faceoff between char and kate, and honestly kate neveri mpressed me, her wedding from her dress, hair, ceremony, guesst, was just like any ordinary wedding only watched by millions, and after three months char wedding came and for me, she looked like a princess , her wedding was luxuurious and her dress, makeup, guests everything was just great………..so kate fans were not happy and started spreading all sorts of rumours to put charlene down, but here we are 2014 and the whole world knows whose better of the two, i dont care about Al past, but he definitely choose a wife well kudos to that!
It was also very difficult for Charlene coming in, as it would have been for anyone marrying Prince Albert. A friend of mine dated Prince Albert briefly and she said Monaco was a microscope unlike any other monarchy, she described it as a country of “Nosy Aunts”, she couldn’t walk down the street without her hips and teeth being judged for breeding potential. My friend found Prince Albert nice, a little boring, she would have stuck it out a little longer to see where it went but she couldn’t take the pressure. My impression of Charlene is that she had to truly be madly in love with Prince Albert or she wanted to be a princess like no one has ever wanted to be a princess. I’ve always felt it was the former. It was difficult for Charlene coming in because she didn’t speak French, it was very isolating for her, her intelligence was questioned because of the language barrier. There’s been a lot of pressure on her to produce an heir. I think Charlene has handled herself with a lot of grace and that having a child will bring her a lot of happiness.
I thought Charlene’s wedding dress was quite sleek and beautiful.
That’s really awful that Charlene’s intelligence was questioned just because she didn’t already speak French. Not everyone is adept at picking up languages, and some are harder to learn that others. Would be nice if Kate would TRY to learn another language, and not necessarily French. At least Charlene is trying.
It is exciting about her pregnancy. I hope that Albert treats this child better than he has treated his other children. What I mean is that once an heir is produced, MAYBE he will realize what an a*s he’s been towards his other children, and step up to be a loving and responsible father.
Lola – I think that’s pretty exciting you have a friend that dated Albert. Gives a whole other perspective on European monarchy.
One thing I liked about this visit – and this might seem weird – was the photo of Kate mugging for the camera making a funny face. At first it took me by surprise and I wondered what in the world she was doing. But it showed a glimmer of personality! (of course if she had had a couple of drinks before hand, that might be the reason, too).
The funny face for the fan photo? Yeah, that was playful. Nice to see.
Maybe the crazy faces is Kate showing us the “real Kate”? I thought they didn’t looking funny – more like demented?
There was one photo in which she looked liked she was about to push Hansel and Gretel into an oven. I don’t even want to know what that one was all about but it was nice to see her face unfrozen.
Some of her faces are a bit ridiculous. It’s like she’s trying so hard to appear friendly? outgoing? happy to be there? I don’t know, but there are times when she really over does it and looks demented.
at this point, i expect anything from her , is it me but i do find her a bit crazy!
I’m right there with you Adam. I think she’s whacko…and not in an endearing way.
I don’t think those faces were all that playful or endearing. Yes, it probably was her effort at being more engaging, likely brought on or compounded by the alcohol. However, the faces again appeared forced without any expression from her eyes. People who are truly being playful tend to have a glimmer or sparkle in their eyes, often accompanied by some soft wrinkling around the eyes. She has wrinkling everywhere except around her eyes. Honestly, to me, she looked downright scary and/or angry in some of the pics. Very unnatural.
Agreed. And if she really had a playful personality, we’d have seen evidence of it a long time ago. For example, look at Harry…he is definitely playful and he has that twinkle you write about. I think this mugging for the crowd is forced, a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to be liked.
Once again Kate is missing. Willy’s polo match. Guess he didn’t want her there either 😐
Tanna said on Twitter that there is a rumor she might show up tomorrow. I guess we’ll see.
There’s a story in the Mail today that Katie was the “guest of honour” at the wedding of Adam Middleton, her cousin, on Friday. The Dorchester Hotel in London is owned by the Sultan of Brunei, who the paper noted has an abysmal human rights record. Obviously the rest of the Midds attended the wedding as well. The Daily Mail noted that Waity arrived separately from the other Midds, by a private entrance and had NINE personal police officers with her. The Fixated Threat Assessment Centre must be getting a lot of threats against her for her to arrive with a squad of protection officers. Willy did not attend; he was in Windsor.
9 RPOs? Damn. She didn’t even have that many when she was pregnant.
Extra POs were supplied to stop Kate from acting crazy?
Who knows why they were assigned. I know she’s the highest profile member of the Family after the Queen and Willy (sadly) 🙁 so I know she would usually have at least 3 or 4 assigned per shift. Harry had 3 officers with him in Las Vegas when he stripped to his b-day suit, and there was a story last year that a 50-strong armed firearms unit was assigned for Prince George’s protection when he was with Grandpa and Grandma Middleton in Bucklebury. Probably the best guarded baby in history.
Look a website actually calling out Kate’s PR team! http://www.ibtimes.co.in/kate-middletons-pr-team-spreading-pregnancy-rumors-draw-attention-away-bare-butt-scandal-601752
Haha, that’s great. I wouldn’t be surprised if her PR team leaked stories about a pregnancy, seeing as George was a PR baby to stop everyone talking about the France photos. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we actually got another pregnancy.