Our dear Kate Middleton made an appearance yesterday in Islington, north London, to the Blessed Sacrament School to check in on a project she and the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry (could that name be any longer?) launched last year, M-PACT Plus. M-PACT Plus, which stands for Moving Parents and Children Together, is a program that provides early support for children aged 8-17 affected by parents who have drug or alcohol addictions. It’s a joint project by two of Kate’s patronages, Place2Be and Action on Addiction. So don’t confuse it with the air circuit breakers. Kate was joined by comedian John Bishop, who was there representing Comic Relief, who helped fund the project with the Royal Foundation. Bishop gave a speech; Kate did not.
Oliver Dixon / Imagewise via Place2Be Facebook
Kate visited the school for an hour and a half, and chatted to schoolchildren (where she actually bent all the way down to talk to them; +1 for her because she usually only bends at the waist to talk to kids) and met project coordinators and teachers to discuss how the project is developing.
Oliver Dixon / Imagewise via Place2Be Facebook
During the meeting with the project coordinators and teachers, Kate “listened intently” and asked questions. She asked, “Were the parents quite surprised by the things their children were saying?” and “Have you found it difficult to attract parents given the stigma that can be associated with these issues?”
I must say, Kate’s questions during this visit are much improved over previous questions she’s asked people. A KP spokesman said, “MPACT-Plus came about as a result of The Duchess of Cambridge’s desire to help children of addicted families break the cycle of addiction, and she has taken a close interest in its progress.” I wonder if this is true, that Kate really is interested in this project and that’s why her questions were better, or if she actually listened to her advisors when they told her about the visit. Either way, it’s an improvement. Another +1 for Kate.
Comic Relief Twitter
Kate also mentioned Prince George. She said he is “racing around” and that “He’s so fast and I can’t believe he is opening doors already.” So George is definitely walking and running around and is probably a huge handful. Nanny Maria must be getting a workout.
I have to call out the reporters on something. They made a deal about a kid Kate met, who when asked what his favorite part of school was replied “lunchtime”. Kate smiled at the answer and the reporters kept mentioning it like it was something hugely funny. Uh, clearly those reporters don’t remember what it was like to be a kid, because every kid ever has said lunch was their favorite part of school (at least at some point in their lives). I don’t know why either Kate or the reporters were surprised or amused at this response. You know what my response is, *straight-faced* “Yep, that’s about right.”
Rebecca English Twitter
Kate received a portrait of herself and Prince George made by a student in the style of Picasso. You can kind of see the painting in the picture above, but here is a better photo. Look, I don’t want to be mean to the kid, but the painting is terrible. I’m not a fan of Picasso at all, and think his works look terrible, too. His style is just not my taste at all. Anyway, I bring this up because Rebecca English of the Daily Mail said on Twitter that, “The portrait of the Duchess and Prince George looks far better than the official one of her hanging in the NPG!” I really don’t understand why everyone seems to hate that National Portrait Gallery portrait by Paul Emsley. I think it’s a fantastic portrait and very true-to-life. Every portrait that people have claimed is “better” than the Emsley portrait has been hideous and looked nothing like her. Emsley is a fantastic portrait painter; just because he painted Kate true-to-life and didn’t Photoshop his painting doesn’t mean his work is terrible.
National Portrait Gallery
Oliver Dixon / Imagewise via Place2Be Facebook
Kate wore a Goat dress, the “Scarlett pleat front dress” in the official “geranium” color, although you could call the color coral or salmon and you’d still be correct—it’s all the same color. The dress has pleating on the breasts that gather at the waist and flare out. The terrible pleats kind of make her breasts look saggy. It’s really unfortunate. I like the dress except for the breast pleats. It has a straight skirt, her arms are covered, it’s to the knee; it would be great if not for those pleats. Also, the pleating over the tummy gives her a pooch when she bends, sits, or moves at all. Cue the pregnancy rumors because omg her dress sagged. What was Goat thinking with that pleating?
We have not seen this dress previously, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a repeat. It’s possible that this was the dress under her Jonathan Saunders coat during her trip to Scotland in May—we were told it was a Goat dress and we could see the coral color peeking out from under the coat. I really like that Kate has chosen straight skirts for every appearance since the last bum photo. I don’t know if it will stick, but I really hope so. Is it too early to hope she finally learned her lesson about those loose, flared skirts? I’ll give her a tentative +1 for the straight skirts.
For accessories Kate wore her Cartier watch for the umpteenth time—she really loves that thing. She also brought back her Links of London Bubble earrings that she hasn’t worn publically since June 2012 when she wore them for Trooping the Color. She carried her LK Bennett straw clutch and wore her Jimmy Choo nude heels she recently debuted.
Here is a video about the visit from Comic Relief with footage of Kate inside the school:
There are two other Kate engagements to talk about, however these were not public, but they were “official” and are on the Court Circular. On June 23, Kate and Will attended a reception at Kensington Palace to mark the work of the Royal Foundation. And On June 30, Kate and Will attended the Place2Be conference at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. You can see photos of her leaving the conference here. She wore another Tory Burch dress (she previously wore Tory Burch to George’s playdate in NZ). I don’t like the dress at all.
I am so glad to see that Kate has made apperances! I was concerned that after all the news about the costly renovations and PW new job she wouldn’t be seen for sometime. She looked radiant!! I think she is relating to kids more because she’s a mom. Experience is the best teacher. Her questions are more genuine because she can relate. I wish she had given a speech. I am curious to see if she is improving or making an attempt at improving in this area. I think you are being hard on the kid and easy on Emsley. That portrait was dreadful and hideous! Kate is a beautiful women and that portrait did her no justice! I love the dress! I guess I am gushing over Kate because I am happy to see she’s back! Way to hang in there Kate!!!
Like I said, I don’t like the Picasso/cubism style, and I really don’t like that painting the kid did. If anyone, child or adult, had done that painting, I would be saying the same thing. And Paul Emsley is truly an amazing artist. Check out some of his other work:
http://thehipreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/181__540x719_dsc6079_2.jpeg
http://24.media.tumblr.com/b3f8c53093084900590cf47e7b43e253/tumblr_mgh5i6wLXs1r47deno2_500.jpg
http://paperbirdstudio.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/paul_emsley_bison_fi.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eoq2EnYfvPg/T4QuBTEpRnI/AAAAAAAAEm0/jd4DlEMFOQU/s1600/Wolf.+Chalk+drawing.+55.7+x+75.2+cm.jpg
KMR I will admit I don’t have an eye for art, so I really don’t know what is good or bad in the art world. I just don’t like the portrait of Kate, it is really unforgiving. As for as the kids Picasso, it’s a kid so they get a pass on critiques IMO. I trust your prospective on Emsley.
The Duchess is looking very thin and gaunt, it is affecting her posture, she is looking very bent over, it is not a good look at all. It is very aging. if you compare photos from a few years ago, she was a little more rounded and it was much softer looking. Her clothes do not fit her properly, she seems to lean towards tight fitting clothes to accentuate her thinness, but even then they seem ill fitting and on occasion baggy. She has a pretty face and now she is looking aged and hard looking, her hair is not helping. She really needs it to be properly groomed and styled. Maybe take a closer look at Princess Mary of Denmark. A princess of perfect grooming from head to toe. She is always immaculate, and a very beautiful woman. If the Duchess is getting advice from experts they need to rethink her whole look, but she needs to drop the severe dieting and put a few pounds on at least, it would look so much better.
Her posture does look terrible.
it has always been terrible, it just looks worse as she is too thin and also makes bad choices with her underwear. Sorry – had to put that in as I am tried of seeing photos of her where you can see the outline of her underwear. If Crown Princess Mary can manage to look well presented then why can’t Kate as they probably have the same resources to hand.
She also has GOT to do something with her damn hair than have it spill loose all over her shoulders. She could just try putting it in a simple up-do. Knowing her, she’d spend £100,000 on it, but then we could criticize her for spending more of her father-in-law’s money, instead of just taking potshots at her clothes.
Or just a ponytail. There are so many options, but of course her hair is her security blanket.
Yes, her hair is just awful.
Girl is picking up the pace… and not a minute too soon. Her rep was in shreds after BumGate and seems like someone realized this and is doing something about it. I would like to THINK it is Kate who is trying to turn over a new leaf, but reality tells me its probably the Palace Machine pushing her harder.
I like her clothes, but then I usually do. I have said many times I am not a fashionable person and middle-aged to boot, so not sure how much my opinion counts for. One think I would love to do is send that freakin’ straw clutch to the bottom of the ocean along with her wedges of doom, which we luckily haven’t seen in a while. Neither of these items go with ANYTHING. Both items are far too casual for royal engagements IMO. As far as her hair goes, I realize that I sometimes wear this semi-updo style too. Sorry Kate, I do. This leads me to think that we BOTH need an update. LOL!
If Kate’s people read thru this blog (and I suspect they do) and my hair comment does not send Kate running to a new stylist, I don’t know what will.
Even if it’s the Palace machine pushing her harder, she still has to listen to them. So it may be a new leaf of actually listening to her advisers. Who knows. I, too, would like to think she’s actually listening. She’s been doing well recently about certain things (like the straight skirts), I hope she doesn’t disappoint.
She has had some outfits that I truly love, but I haven’t been too impressed with her choices lately. I would have really like this dress had it not been for the pleating. That’s what she’s been doing with me lately, there will be one thing that makes me not like her outfit.
I agree about the straw clutch and the wedges of doom. And I wear the semi-updo on occation as well. I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with it.
Is that painting like ” The Picture of Dorian Grey”? Will it be revealing to the world what the real Kate looks like while Amanda Cooke Tucker tries to stop us looking more closely at Kate with more and more sausage roll curls in her hair?
Hahaha, that’s funny. and she was definitely back to her sausage curls for this appearance, until they fell out.
I just wish Kate would gain about 35 pounds (2.57 stone0 and get back to the weight she was when she first met Prince William. Diana, Princess of Wales was gauntly thin for awhile but she sought various healing treatments as well as special shoulder plumping up exercise-routine to enable her to build up upper body strength and firmer posture. Her efforts paid off as Diana left anorexia behind and did something about it, exiting that zone. Kate needs to do something similar and ignoring the weight loss is something the world should not be doing. Don’t enable Kate by saying she looks beautiful, great, etc. No she does not. /She looks dangerously close to anorexia-burnout and needs help. The three new kitchens ought to help get food closer to Kate’s mouth and the rest of the puzzle may be helped along by therapists and others. But to ignore the alarming weight loss is to fail caring for Kate. Right now she looks like Wallis Simpson and that ain’t no compliment. This can be changed though. Note to Kate’s teams of her handlers: Please don’t allow Kate to fade away all in the name of fashion or looking thin in photos.
She was a nice healthy weight when she was younger, then she got engaged and dropped a ton of weight for the wedding, then she dropped even more weight in the first few months of marriage. She had gained some back when she became pregnant, and then gained more. Her face looked the best when she was pregnant; nice and healthy weight. Then of course she dropped a ton of weight after the birth and around the start of the tour. She definitely limits her eating and it’s really not healthy. I think she looked the best when she was younger and had more weight on her.
… you think there is as much of a 35-pound difference between this in 2006 http://cdn01.cdnwp.celebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/14/Kate-Middletone-Bikini-2-435×580.jpg
and this at her approximate lowest in 2011?
http://www.awomensclub.com/wp-content/uploads/Kate-Middleton-and-Prince-William-Honeymoon-Photos-Published-by-Woman’s-Day-3.jpg
I dunno, maybe you don’t really mean that you preffered her in the earlier years.
I’m really tired of people thinking Kate Middleton has an eating disorder and that she is the epitome of skeletal and near organ failure. I implore such believers to become familiar with what that *actually* is.
Most eating disordered people would die if they had thighs as big as hers.
http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2014515/rs_634x1024-140615100812-634.Prince-William-Prince-George-Fathers-Day.jl.061514.jpg
**Not me – I would love toned and shapely legs like hers. Im just sick of the anti-thin, Fat America Movement. I also wish this woman would step up and do her damn job and quit mooching off the tax-payers dime.
That short video clip of Kate talking is such a disappointment.
She isn’t using diaphram support under her vowels so they come across as
slurred and indistinct.
More voice lessons are needed ASAP. Princess Diana was able to overcome
natural shyness using a number of actors/voice coaches and ended up making
quite decent public addresses; Kate might be able to do the same.
That’s funny because she already had voice lessons to learn that ridiculous accent she does. I think it’s because she’s trying so hard to force that fake accent that she doesn’t pronounce and enunciate things well.
I read somewhere that she has a better aristocratic accent than PW! I love Kate’s hair in this style. It’s off her face and she can still show it off (you have to admit, the girl has beautiful hair).
The actual hair is pretty…it is thick and shiny. Unfortunately. the styles Kate almost always chooses are not flattering. She is simply too old for sausage curls, she’s too thin and old for long, fly-away hair (unless she’s on a sailboat). She’s actually ruining something that could be a physical asset. Think how sophisticated she could look with a sleek, mid-length bob…or how regal she looks when she wears her hair up. Someone must get up the courage to tell her that she doesn’t look as good as she thinks she does.
l still dont trust her, everytime theres a scandal (kitchen kate) she put in a few more appeartances to make the masses forget, her hair is usually thin,, she cant weara ponytail because of the extensions!
I completely agree. There’s also probably another va-kate-tion coming up.
Or maybe it was to justify her mugging for the camera at Wimbleton the other day.
She has three engagements lined up for the rest of July. THATS IT.
Come on.
Hey we should be so lucky that she’s deigning herself to stop shopping online or getting a pedicure or whatever the hell she does every day, to put on $10,000 outfits to go to a museum or cocktail party and actually share chit-chat with the peasants for half an hour; not that she even does that very well.
Not sure about extensions. If she does wear them the person responsible for her hair should have one of those infomercial explaining the proper technique for applying hair extensions because Kate’s hair looks AMAZING!
True. She doesn’t have anything scheduled from now until the end of July, so there will probably be a vacation in there at some point. And, yes, she has a history of pushing out appearances after scandals.
Well, so waity katie has deigned to appear in public again….like wow…..did her uncle coach her about the influence of drugs do you think? Oh, wait…..doesn’t he make mega bucks messing about with them? She is really full of herself and I agree with other posters that she was forced to make an appearance and I highly doubt that she chose her own outfit….her butt guard probably laid out her clothing for her….I love the other speaker…he’s a hoot but also deeply involved and invested in this program….wonder if waity katie got the message that this wasn’t about HER….probably not…..yet another photo op but must have been exhausting and how ever did she cope with not being able to flash someone….I can just hear the comments coming my way…..she can’t win….some people are just jealous….she made an appearance….yada yada yada yada yada…..that’s fine….yesterday was the 4th of July and I was so very very thankful to the courageous people who gave their all so we here in the States are free and this totally decorative and expensive female is of no consequence to us….everyone is entitled to their own opinion so even being hammered and sand blasted is a tribute to those who sacrificed so very much….God Bless America!!!!
I do think it’s interesting that Kate has chosen a charity that deals with drug and alcohol addiction when her uncle was supposedly selling drugs or something. But then again I doubt Kate chose her own patronages. It really feels to me like someone else chose them for her.
It is quite ironic isn’t it….I don’t think waity is trusted with choices….this appears to be just plain damage control….love your blog!!
Thank you so much. And I agree it seems like damage control about the latest Bumgate.
And I totally agree with the posters who are suspicious…..pure PR bull kaka is what I think…..this female does nothing without a reward….and since her butt has been all over the internet she conveniently graces places with her presence…PR machine in high gear!!
I know it is non of my business. I would love to know what billy & the middletons have on the rest of the royals, because the clueless cambridge do what ever they want! No punishment, no lack of money or vacations?
I don’t know necessarily if they do. Willy was given A LOT of latitude b/c he lost his mother and he has her personality; Harry is closer to Charles in personality. The Queen loves Willy dearly b/c at this point, he will be King. She had a few years from 1947-1951 when she was a young wife and mother. Prince Philip was stationed in Malta with the Royal Navy and she relished the freedom of shopping and lounging in the sun as a Navy officer’s wife, without all the responsibilities of public duties (though she still did tour several Mediterranean countries on official visits). The Duke of Edinburgh was happiest in this time of his life b/c he was the first lieutenant of the British navy’s flagship in the Mediterranean Fleet and Philip is a Navy man; if circumstances had turned out differently, he could have earned his way through the ranks to admiral. They were talking about having another child; life was happy and care-free. But when Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, became severely ill with lung cancer, Philip had to postpone his naval career to stand in with Elizabeth in representing the King and Queen Elizabeth on tours of Canada and the United States, then again at the end of January 1952, when they set out on a grand post-war tour of Australia and New Zealand. They had only made it as far as Kenya Colony on the 6th of February when they received word that the King was dead and Elizabeth was Queen. Philip’s life took an entirely different turn. At the age of 30, at the height of his career as a naval commander, he was now reduced to walking two steps behind his wife and calling her “ma’am” in public. This was the 1950s. Men were supposed to be in charge of career and family. But as the first man of the Kingdom, Philip had no more control of his life at all. The Queen had Winston Churchill and Tommy Lascelles standing over her shoulder. In that era, it was humiliating to Philip that he couldn’t even pass on his name to his children. So I think the Queen wants to give Willy as much of a chance to enjoy having a family without all the “burdens” of royal duties. Charles, Camilla, Anne, Andrew, Edward and Sophie all carry out full public duties. I don’t know if the public really gives a damn if Willy and Waity show up to open the thingamany or not; I know I don’t. They will never say anything remotely interesting or controversial because to me, neither of them have the brains to say anything remotely interesting and if they are controversial like Philip and Charles, the chattering classes set upon them like vultures. That’s my take. Believe me, if the Queen really wanted to reign in Willy and Waity, she easily could. She may not have political power but in her family, she and the Duke rule with an iron hand in a velvet glove.
It took literally years for the Queen to rein in Charles and Diana and Andrew and Sarah. The Queen is the type who buries her head in the sand for as long as possible and only when things really threaten the future of the monarchy does she do anything. HM may hate the way Will and Kate conduct themselves, but she’s not going to say anything yet, because that’s just how she operates.
The “Philip was humiliated” thing may be true (and considering how misogynist Philip is, I would bet it is true), but he knew what he was getting in to when he married Liz. George VI was already King when Philip and Liz met and married, so Philip knew Liz would be Queen one day. The same thing I say to Kate about doing her royal duties, I say to Philip about having to give up his career and walk behind the Queen… suck it up, because you knew what you were getting in to when you married into the royal family.
Thank you for the historical information; history fascinates me. 🙂
This is great information and explains something I was wondering about. I bought a book about America’s self proclaimed ‘royal family’ and there was a picture of Joe and Rose with Queen Elizabeth and King George V1 and this explains it….totally off topic but the self proclaimed ‘royal’ family of America is just as ruthless, greedy, selfish, grandiose, full of themselves as are the ones across the pond but they are just a joke now and have no credibility except in their own minds …back on topic I agree with you….if the Queen wanted to reign in waity and wills she could….but maybe she is just plain tired….waity will always be waity…now I suspect that she is waiting for people to drop dead so she can be a consort (again)…..wills is sickening….he wants it all….no royal duties but all the royal perks….privacy but all the adulation….on his terms…everything on his terms…when I read about his being so busy being a daddy it’s maddening and nauseating….when waity katie came off that plane in Australia with her flashing in full force, her hair all over the place, and high heels carrying that baby while willy was oblivious….seriously, I am thankful that the baby wasn’t yet another victim of these two nitwits. Anyway…the history in your post was great!!
“on his terms” Yep, that about sums up Will. He’s such an egomaniac that he must having everything on his terms or else he throws a tantrum.