220 thoughts on “Kate Middleton in brown for St. Patrick’s Day”

1. My gosh, Kate and Rebecca look like they’ve been raiding each other’s closets! If I just saw that last picture out of the corner of my eye, I’d think that one of them had been cloned.

   1. They do look like twinies for this event. I could totally see Kate wearing what Rebecca had on.

      1. Rebecca usually echoes what Kate is wearing, opting for a more subdued interpretation. I think it’s funny, Single White Femaling the Single White Female.

   2. I do wish that Rebecca had done something with her hair though, it looks a little sloppy today. I wonder how it feels to work for a woman known as a “fashion icon”, does it make it difficult to feel “put together”. I remember seeing the skirt and shirt Rebecca wore to the beach in Australia and thought she looked nicer than Kate did in her white eyelet dress.

      1. Yeah, Rebecca’s hair was falling in her face. Not a good look.

         1. Her hair looked slovenly and that’s a horrible fascinator Rebecca’s wearing. I dislike the design and it’s perched too forward and should have been set back on her head.

            1. Rebecca looks like she grabbed something and velcroed it to her head. I really am not fond of fascinators. Give me a hat any day.

2. I love the hair and the coat does let the Shamrock stand out. I just want to see Waity and Wills look at each other with even pretend affection. Is hat too much to ask?

   1. I’ve said this elsewhere but Will, who’s not that good looking (anymore), looks smoking hot in is dress black Guards uniform.

   2. I thought they looked happier together today than they have in some time. It’s so interesting how people can see totally different things while looking at the same picture.

      1. You know, I thought they looked better together than they have in months, as well. They smiled when they looked at each other and Will actually seemed to acknowledge Kate’s presence. With all of her recent appearances (I wouldn’t much call what she does “work”) I think she is actually deserving of some public good will. The new PR guy is having some success with her image. We will see what the future holds.

         1. I’ll never think Kate is worth idolizing or fawning over (actually, she’s made me think that royalty is something of a farce), but I would be mostly okay with her if she could keep up a schedule like this. I think most of her critics would be.

            1. The bar is set so low for Kate that her recent appearances that other royals would knock out on a continual basis is the subject of marvel and praise. She’s putting in the work now so there won’t be complaints about her disappearance later. While it’s encouraging to see an increase in her events, keep in mind that the real test is seeing her continue a good work ethic in the future, but most likely we won’t see hide nor hair of Kate once she has the baby and for some time afterward.

            2. Sad but true, Feeshalori. I would be quite happy if she was really getting her act together (and if her husband got his together), but I think this is probably a way to boost her numbers for the total. Someone on the Daily Mail said something about being able to do something crafty with her appearance-related expenses for the tax year if she gets them in now, which I hadn’t considered.

            3. If she keeps this kind of schedule up post baby, then she’ll be doing really well. The thing is she has to actually keep it up. As Fee said, the real test will be after the baby is born.

3. KMR I agree, Kate looked absolutely lovely! Thanks for the video. Have you noticed that PW is still pointing out to Kate where to stand and that Kate loves to smile when she is surrounded by men wearing uniform! Just an observation! It’s good to see her happy so close to her due date.

   1. Sometimes I have the opportunity to be surrounded by men dressed up in their uniforms or tactical gear and believe me when I say I’m grinning like a fool!!

      1. Me too! I’m a fool for even one man in a uniform!

      2. I’ll jump up and stare over you guys’ shoulders. LOVE men in uniform. Even William looks hot.

   2. Yes, I noticed Will had to tell her to move over on the podium. She’s been to this event four times now, she really should know where to stand.

      1. I wonder if she “pretends” not to know something like this so that William can feel good about having to “instruct” her?

         1. Except that having to instruct her time and again tends to show his frustrations in her with his clenched jaw and fists.

         2. Hm… It’s a possibility. But, as Lisa said, usually William looks upset at having to constantly direct her. But maybe he likes it?

            1. Lisa and KMR, good points…maybe she thinks he’ll like it but he doesn’t? I just can’t imagine she can’t remember.

            2. That’s totally possible. He is the type of person who would need constant reinforcement and feeding of his ego. She may think letting him guide her makes him feel more manly or something.

4. Yes i like the coat,hat,hair and heels!!!
   but i dont understand why william its colonel?he fight some war?how he get there if it was harry ok,but will?its a strange world!!!!

   1. William is Royal Colonel, it’s an appointment by the Queen. She appointed hi Royal Colonel of the Irish Guards just before his wedding.

5. This outfit makes me want chocolate. To be fair, many things make me want chocolate. I liked her updo, but other than that, I wish she had at least accessorized the coat with a bolder color instead of going monochromatic, especially since the coat has cool undertones and the accessories are warmer hues. Given the history of the shamrock brooch, I also wish she would featured it more prominently, perhaps moving it to the Rolo hat, although every year, she seems to let a little more peak out from sprig. My favorite part of the engagement was the Irish Wolfhound, such a sweet and sensitive breed, Domhnall looks like quite a character, he had some adorable Grumpy Cat moments when marching with his handler.

   1. I love the coat and the shoes. I prefer round-nosed myself – they look more elegant than the pointy ones and they aren’t murder on the feet.

      I do wished that she had chosen a green hat since it would have made the outfit more visually interesting and she ought to a placed the brooch on the lapel so it wouldn’t have been obscured by that gread wad of greenery.

      Her hair was up. Jumpy claps.

      Bottom line: she still doesn’t know how to accesorize. She needs to take lessons from CP Mary who demonstrated how to accessorize a neutral coat with one colour contrast when she greeted Maxima and Willem-Alexander at the Copenhagen airport yesterday.
      http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.dk/2015/03/state-visit-and-tiara-watch-of-day.html

      1. Mary’s Laboutins don’t hurt the picture!

         1. Maxima really outshone everyone at last night’s State Dinner – she really brought the bling big-time!

            I was also really impressed by Mary and Marie’s deep curtsies at the airport. The DM brought stills, which do look akward, which brought the women a lot of flack in the comments. But if you watch the video, the effect is very fluid and elegant.

            1. Agree about Maxima, AH. She really brought it.

            2. Oh, yes, Max the Magnificent strikes again. She looked simply phenomenal in that huge sapphire and diamond tiara and vivid blue gown.

      2. Kate’s huge wad of greenery makes me yearn for a fresh salad. It unfortunately obscures the lovely brooch which should have be better placed. The monochromatic look is also too blah and matronly, and I agree that a contrasting hat and/or purse and gloves would have kicked this look up a notch. But I do love her hair and the cut of her coat.

         And Mary just rocks with her ability to accessorize and the use of one color to pull her look together.

   2. I love Irish Wolfhounds. I wish I had the room for one.

      Mary looked great at the airport. She seems to dress the way that Kate strives but never manages to achieve.

      1. Hi India, I so agree with you on both counts. Love Irish Wolfhounds and Mary looked great. I hope that as Kate matures and the kids grown up, she will find more solid fashion footing.

      2. I LOVE Mary. She ticks every single one of my “royal crush” boxes. She is fabulous!!

         1. I quite happy with the thought that’ll she by my queen someday, hopefully not for a long time because I absolutely adore Queen Margrethe. She has been one of, if the THE best Danish monarch in modern times.

            I also have a special fondness for Maxima. She’s always so expressive and happy-looking, and she seems to be a very warm and caring person – especially in the way that she’s supported CP Masako of Japan.

            1. I also love Maxima as Queen of the Magpies and her ability to dig out those long-unseen treasures from the vaults to titillate all of us jewel-a-loonies.

            2. I was in a swooning tiara-gasm as I followed the live broadcast. Max sure knows how to bring the bling and make us jewellery connoisseurs happy.

   3. I see what you mean re the warm brown accessories v cool brown coat, but I still think she looked pretty. She has green accessories she could have worn that would have looked nice.

6. I did like Kate’s outfit today though I wish Kate would wear a maternity dress. The bump looks like it would appreciate the room. Wasn’t it the hat worn for the Christmas service? I like the plait. One of the photos in the Daily mail that is on here shows William turning his back on Kate. There is clearly something wrong with William’s behaviour. He looks ill and his hair is thinning badly. When they split was there anyone else in the picture? It must have been so humiliating for Kate today for that to happen.

   1. William has aged so much in recent years. I wonder if it’s just stress or something more? It was either last year or the year before, William walked away and totally left Kate standing there all by herself. I thought it was rude.

      1. Ageing is most likely a combination of genetics and stress. And William just ticks me off in general – he presents himself as a such a rude, boorish and entitled oaf. Not unlike his uncle Andrew.

      2. KMR, I remember that incident well when she caught her heel in the grate, he didn’t help her but just stood by like a total putz watching her and then he and the other officers just went off in all directions leaving her there looking around. So cringeworthy to this day. I can’t remember how long ago that was, but the memory is still clear.

         1. It was when she was pregnant with George which makes it even worse.

            1. Yes, Lisa, that’s the most important point of all that I forgot to mention: she was pregnant at the time and her husband didn’t help her.

         2. That was in 2013 when she was pregnant with George. That was horrible to watch because she was pregnant and struggling not to fall over. She grabbed Will’s arm for support but he didn’t even do anything to help her; and then he just walked away and left her. Awful.

            1. Guess he thought his arm was support enough, ugh.

            2. After that incident, I lost what little respect I had left for Will.

            3. Definitely.

            4. Omg. Link please??

7. A flawless look from Kate today. I hope she keeps it up.

8. I see Kate found her blusher today?
   *Someone pass the sunnies please!*

9. This coat is lovely, the cut, the tailoring and the collar are great. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the color however, I just can’t decide what shade of brown it is. The hat Kate wore today is one of my favorites,so I was glad to see it again.

   i like this slightly retro look Kate seems to be favoring this pregnancy. I find it flattering to her figure and much better than the too short look from her first pregnancy.

   1. Yes, the collar especially! Beautiful lines! Frames her lovely (with the extra pregnancy weight) face.

   2. I agree. The cut of the coat was classic, can’t argue with that, but the color? I thought it was rather awful, actually, and I don’t normally get too worked up over the color brown! Her accessories were a lovely rich chocolate brown, and coordinated perfectly with the spring green shamrocks. In a generous moment I thought espresso for the coat, but that’s not it either. Anyone…anyone…??

      1. I think espresso is a good word for this color. I like the color of her accessories but just not the coat.

   3. I agree about the collar, it is a nice way for her to be covered but not look like the coat is strangling her. She has a number of coats that look like they are trying to strangle her.

10. I guess I am in the minority here. I do not like this outfit at all!! Way to much brown. Brown: coat, dress, clutch, shoes, hat and gloves. And brown isn’t even her best color. She needed to throw another color in there. The coat is a nice cut and I love her hair, but that is about it. I also don’t see why she brought her silly clutch. She set it down for most the day, so why bring it at all. All in all this outfit was super boring and dull. Kind of made her blend in with the overcast day.

    1. Yeah, I love the cut of the coat and her hair, but not digging the BROWNess of it all.

       1. I agree. The brown is too much. To make it worse, it wasn’t the same shade of brown. Brown does her no favors as it washes her out. The shamrocks as the only thing that didn’t make her look like a tootsie roll. The heels were too high. Outside of that, she looked great. I loved her hair.

          1. I liked her hair, that’s about it. Nice coat, but the browns don’t match. I’m glad she’s putting in more appearances, but for some reason I’ll be glad when she’s tucked away. Maybe if she did something other than the superficial show up, smile and wave.

             1. Seriously, how many times do we all have to suggest a scarf?

             2. Contrast is your friend. And, yes, wouldn’t a nicely patterned scarf looked great?

    2. So funny that Kate made her houses tan and beige too.

       I’m reminded of the SATC comment from Mr. Big to Carrie at the furniture show about how his wife wanted everything in the apartment to be beige or brown and then commented “Brown is bullsh-t!”

       One brown item is okay but Kate overdoes it. She looses any visual interest in her outfits.

       If Kate were a run-of-the-mill woman on the street she would look good but with her resources she should kick up her fashion achievements a notch.

    3. I’m with you, Overit. Boring! The brown coat was a downer. The brown hat, too. Yes, I agree with others who think she should have worn a shamrock pin on the hat, or a green hat and scarf. The cut of the coat was nice, but I think the choice of such a ruddy color on a dull day wasn’t the best choice. I thought she looked haggard in the close up photos, too. This pregnancy is not keeping her in full bloom.

    4. I like the individual pieces. And I think she looked good, but I agree with too much brown. It would have looked good with either a green dress underneath and/or a green hat.

       I don’t understand the dressing all in one colour. Is that a BRF thing?

       1. Well, QEII does it too, maybe Kate is taken her cue from Liz?

          1. Who doesn’t want to dress like an 89 year old woman? Long may she reign! (Or whatever the phrase is.)

          2. It’s true. It’s just a bit too matchy-matchy for me.

          3. Yeah, Liz always matches her hat to her coat.

             1. HM wears such beautiful colors and has really experimented with different shades. And she always brings on her brooch game. My eyes are constantly riveted to her outfit to see what delectable pretty she wears. Her collection elevates her outfits to whole new heights.

             2. QEII has the best brooch collection – though Maxima has begun to dig up some of the treasures from the Dutch vault.

             3. I was looking at a site recently about QEII’s jewelry and was shocked at how many brooches she has. She has tons.

    5. She never does anything with her bags expect clutch them to her crotch. I’ve often wondered if she even keeps anything in there or if they are just for show. They usually get in the way and seem like a hassle.

       1. I also wonder about the clutches of royal women in general – what does QEII have in her purse? I also noticed that Mary’s deep purple clutch she had with her at the airport a few days ago looked as though it was empty. Maybe a purse of some sort is mandatory when it comes to royalty? I also noticed that Maxima had a blue reticule that matched her blue gala dress at the State Banquet.

          1. I think Phil Dampier wrote a book about what the Queen keeps in her purse. It often seems to me that royal women have nothing in their purses, because they seem flimsy like they are clutching air. I don’t think a purse is mandatory, since royals do go without them on occasion, but I think it’s more about having something to do with your hands so you’re not fidgeting. At least that’s what I think it is for Kate.

11. So, everyone on this site is a Carole Middleton fan? For years she’s dressed and had Kate toned and tan-sprayed to catch Will. After some seriously bad press when using her own judgement/personal staff, Mommy moves in and everyone applauds. Kate hasn’t done jack except show up, take good pics and smile. I thought everyone here was about more than the superficial.

    1. I think they are reading comments and trying to fix the little things with waity.

       The pr crisis guy has made a slight improvement with her, apparently willy is a lost cause. I’ve noticed the hair is up and less crotch clutching this week.

       It’s almost too little, too late. People are fed up with bill and Cathy and small changes here or there won’t change the big picture. They like the workshy, big perks, little duty lifestyle.

       Showing up, waving at the plebs, shaking hands and learning about the charity doesn’t cut it anymore. They are useless.

       1. Thank you

          1. The proof of the pudding is in the making. Let’s see how she keeps up these appearances once she has the baby and afterward. I’m not holding my breath!

    2. Not going to lie, I’m a bit offended that you think just because Kate wore two nice coats that all is forgiven in Kate-land. It’s not. Of course, it’s not. But in my opinion, she did look very nice for the Afghan Service and St. Patrick’s Day (I would say these two looks are her best maternity looks so far). I don’t know or care who put those two looks together, but they do look nice. If that’s on Carole, then whatever, she put two nice looks together (I liked the brown St. Patrick’s Day outfit even though most of you guys didn’t). Do I like Carole as a person? No. Do I like that she schemed and pimped her daughter in order to get the ring? Hell no. Does her (possibly) putting two nice looks together negate all the negatives about her? Of course not.

       And I’m sure I’ll get disagreed with, but I’m about to make an argument for Kate just showing up and getting her picture taken at these last two appearances. For these last two appearances (Afghan Service and St. Patrick’s Day), there was nothing for Kate to do except show up, look nice, chat to people, get her photo taken, and not have any malfunctions. She accomplished that at St. Patrick’s Day, though she did have a wind incident leaving the Afghan Service. For the Afghan Service, all that was required of Kate was that she show up and attend the service. There was nothing else for her to do. It’s not like there was any opportunity for a speech and she didn’t take it. Same with St. Patrick’s Day. All that was required was she show up, hand out shamrocks, and chat to the Guards. Again, no missed speech opportunity as there was not an opportunity for a speech. If anything, William would have been the one giving a speech had there been an opportunity to do so. For these last two appearances specifically (not all of course, just these last two), she pretty much accomplished what was expected of her (because the only thing expected of her was show up and look nice).

       Does that change the way I feel about her in general? Of course not. I’m sure I’ll be back to criticizing her when I write up my post on today’s engagement later today. And I’ll continue to be critical of her, William, and the Middletons as long as they continue to be idiots. But for these last two engagements, I thought she looked nice, and that’s about all I can say since there was nothing expected of her for these last two engagements except to look nice. Yes, she does jack shit pretty much all the time, but since that’s all that was expected of her this time, it’s fine in my opinion.

       1. Yes, i know for the last two engagements nothing was expected, except to look nice and wave and chat to people.

          But i think: In general it´s sad she rarely gives speeches!

          1. Oh I totally 100% agree with you on that. She needs to step up her game and that includes giving speeches and speaking intelligently about the organization and not having wardrobe malfunctions and a whole host of other things. That has not changed just because I liked two of her outfits.

             1. When you think of it, where can you take a position and still struggle to get it right four years later.

                In the real world a person would have been fired long ago.

       2. My point wasn’t focusing on her looking good, because she does, and other women have stylists-Di did, etc. Kate demonstrates no personal ability to look in a mirror and help herself. She seems incapable of personal thought, and proves it was Mommy who caught Will with her scheme of virgin schoolgirl but hot body. Everything is pose with her, and when you all applaud, being her toughest fairest critics, Carole gets stronger. If you all want a monarchy actually headed by a Windsor, small clap for fashion sense but big boo for not appearing too at one of her charities and giving a speech before hibernating, since she’s so pulled together she should feel confident enough.

          1. So KM visited Home-Start this morning and spoke to the volunteers (per the Mirror’s report). Will we get details on what she said? I can understand the privacy issues, but if she just remarked about Home-Start’s mission and recent activities, this is bs photo op again, and she gets away with it because “she looks good” and the “ASOS dress is just like us” crap. Yes she looked nice. Notice that the primary attention is what she wore, and that it sold out. This is an important charity that needs others to know more about it and get involved, but no speech, and it becomes about her being a saint for “caring” and what she wore. It’s not about her, it’s supposed to be about the charity, and more than just a photo op. This is what angers me. Mental health is a critical issue and needs people to speak intelligently about. Don’t tell me she can’t do a 5 min speech about Home-Start’s work. Maybe I should be angry with the charities for groveling for so little.

             1. She did tell someone she’s due mid to late April, so we got something out of it other than what she wore.

       3. Thanks for everything you wrote KMR, I agree 110%. I will certainly continue to call bs when I see it but will also praise when I feel it’s appropriate. I feel that the bar is set so low for Kate that any improvement should be applauded, like you would for a young child or a puppy when you are trying to correct bad behavior. 🙂

          1. Right Lauri, but I’m saying that it’s Carole styling her, so I asked the question if everyone likes Carole now because she makes Kate look pretty? I’m not knocking KMR’s judgment that Kate looked good. I’m just asking if everyone’s good with the schemer being even more invaluable because Kate looked nice? K&W will read the good press/comments and be even closer to Carole.

             1. How to answer this question? I don’t dislike Carole, Kate or William as I don’t personally know any of them. I would say that I am more disappointed in K&W then dislike them. Leading up to and after the wedding I had high hopes for these two. It seemed, at the time, that William married a woman who would be a great partner and able to negotiate the royal system with calm and steadfastness. However, since that time seeing how little they both do, while taking full advantage of the royal perks, and reading more about their relationship pre-marriage, especially Kate’s lack of career or anything resembling an independent life my feelings have changed. I do continue to hope that maybe time and maturity will see them both grow up and learn to lead lives that have purpose.

                I am perplexed by Carole, for a woman who built a successful business from the ground up, I don’t understand why she raised 3 children who are so painfully over dependent and unable to make their way in the world without her constant presence. However, there have been times where I’ve liked the outfits she has worn, so if she’s advising Kate on her clothing choices I don’t see how she could do a worse job than Tash.

                In short I don’t dislike any of them, if I did I certainly wouldn’t be wasting my time reading this or similar blogs about them. I continue to hope that someday the unhealthy dependency they share will end, that W&K will grow up and do the jobs they are richly pre-rewarded for and of course, world peace.

             2. I’m not sure it is Carole who is styling Kate as Carole’s personal style isn’t that hot. She wears her skirts too short, Carole’s legs are not enough to finish over the knee and I’ve seen photos of Carole in some very scruffy shoes. I’m guessing that Carole has brought someone in?

          2. I agree with you Lauri. We must praise for things she actually get right – like every time she wears her hair up.

             And as for your description of why you are disappointed in Will and Kate, I am in the same boat. I, too, had high hopes for them until they showed how disappointing they are.

          3. Lauri, I agree with you. No one is all good or all bad. We’re all bits of everything. And, personally, if this is Carole behind this new wave of work then they should hire her full time until Kate feels more confident on her own.

             No she doesn’t do much when she is out. But she’s now out, which is what most of us have said. We’d be happy if she was out and about 3 days a week. Well, she has been, and at a time when most of us thought she’d be holed up at home waiting to have the baby.

             I’m not going to criticize it. I also don’t want to get into an argument about how she could do more while she’s out. I agree. But Rome also wasn’t built in a day.

             1. Yes, she’s been good recently about doing more appearances which is odd because I really thought she would only do a few in the new year and then we wouldn’t see her. She really proved me wrong on that one.

                Obviously the next step is to keep up the schedule after the baby is born, and then start doing more while on engagements, but her just getting out there when no one thought she would is a big step for her. So we need to praise that, then when she’s been consistent with that, push for more. One step at a time.

       4. I agree with what you said KMR. I am in no way a Kate fan and definitely not a fan of Carole.

          Should Kate be doing more? Yes. Should she be attempting more speeches and more meaningful interactions with her charities? Double Yes.

          At the same time, she has to start somewhere. I agree that she is really late with her sudden upsurge in work, and it is yet to be seen whether this is the start of a new focus on her part or just a way of earning herself a long maternity leave. I agree that the bar has been set so low that if she shows up and we don’t get flashed it’s counted as a success. But like I said, she has to start somewhere. She obviously isn’t comfortable making speeches, so maybe that is something that she has to work up to.

          I remember some of the other royals (Princess Anne, maybe?) saying that no one can really train you in how to do these appearances, you just have to learn through experience and getting your feet wet. The optimist in me is hoping that that is what Kate is doing – jumping in.

          1. It seems odd to me that she seems to be unwilling to give more to her charities and to the people that she supposedly represents. She had to know what was involved when she stalked and eventually nabbed William. The kind of work the members of the BRF do is not a secret. QEII, PP, PC, Camilla, Princess Anne, Edward and Sophia do a lot of these sorts of appearances, why on earth would she think she should be different. I guess she really thinks she is a special delicate flower.
             It is a sad state of affairs when a member of the BRF is praised because she managed to show up on time, look nice, and not show the crowd her lady parts.
             I understand that no one can train for these sorts of appearances, giving speeches is something that personally makes me nauseous, but as my college speech professor said, “suck it up and do it, it will only get easier.”
             My personal belief is that William doesn’t want to do these sort of royal duties, and she is taking her queue from him. Lazy husband, lazy wife. I weep for their children, if the monarchy survives that long how are they going to know what to do much less cope with the “work” load.
             Maybe Carole is pushing her to work, after all her’s would not be the first divorce in the RF. And then where would the social climbing mom be.

             1. I agree that William doesn’t want to do these royal duties either. He’s an even bigger baby than Kate.

          2. I agree, I don’t dislike Kate, Will or Carole. I don’t like the possibility that Kate will get a pass because she looks good, and in the meantime, who knows what kind of deals and influence Carole might be selling in the back? I don’t know if she’s doing this, but her access and their dependency throw out red flags. I don’t trust Carole and I’m encouraging everyone to watch with a skeptical eye as things play out, that’s all.

             1. Would you agree with me that all this attention on Kate suddenly PLUS the improvement in Kate’s outfits are actually a bit of a red herring and it’s all designed to make us look in one direction so we don’t pay attention to other things going on? Something is obviously not right with William, is he trying to walk? but he can’t do this as the Middletons have moved in and Carole is in major control of all? I do think his unwillingness is down to being frustrated as he has been trapped into a marriage with a girl who he possibly never loved but slept with because she was always hanging around.

             2. I agree, Cathy, that something fishy is going on with William.

             3. To Cathy down-thread. I agree, something is very off. I always thought that Kate was content to play a “smile and wave” role in order to not upstage Will. Suddenly, she’s done quadruple the events he’s done this year, including quotes that don’t focus on how difficult George is. Big steps, but it begs the question, did Will fall in a hole when he got back from China? He’s hard to get a read on (very unlike Diana). He’s smiling and interacting with Kate sometimes, ignoring her or when she needs an arm others. Does he feel isolated? He and Harry used to have a really good relationship. When did that go wrong? I could surmise the Midds increased isolation of Will but I don’t know that, it could be jealousy because Harry is so natural with everyone, everywhere. It’s definitely noticeable how distant Harry has become to W&K. I don’t buy the “Harry’s a bad influence” press; he works harder than Will. I do think Carole moving in with W&K will increase her influence.

             4. Sugar:

                If anything, William is a bad influence on Harry. Harry works hard and is very engaging, while William is surly as all get out. If Harry spent too much time around William, Harry would end up just as surly because William would tear Harry down.

          3. When trying to accomplish anything, it’s important that you celebrate the little things you do right. And then raise the bar. And then celebrate the next achievement. And then raise the bar again. And so on.

             Kate’s bar is set very low, but as you said, she has to start somewhere.

             1. Amen

             2. I feel a how-to manual could be published entitled, “Baby Steps for Kate.” She could keep it on the shelf in the nursery.

             3. Kate sleeps in a nursery?

             4. Carole has probably set up a nursery for all of them together. Would make things simpler for her when she goes in to check on all of the children. (okay I’ll stop being a smart ass)

             5. HAHAHAHAHA

    3. If you want to make an agruement for her not doing these type of “the only thing required is showing up an looking nice” appearances and say she should stick to charity appearances where she needs to engage and talk about the charity, I would fully agree with you.

       1. The thing is – I don’t know if either willy or Kate have it in them to do more and to be more.

          They are who they are. It’s unfortunate for Great Britain to have these two as representatives. Not getting into the value for money debate. It’s obvious they are not good value.

       2. No, this is part of the job, I was just pointing out that the bar is low that approval is easy. It’s easy for everyone to get used to this being all they can expect from her. For me, it’s something more. Carole is a class A manipulator and I can’t stand the bs III influence she has, plus how quick everyone responds when she’s pulling strings behind the scenes. If this was just normal celebrities, whatever, but PW is going to have a role and it will be Carole’s.

          1. The bar has been set very low for Kate. There could be several reasons, first being William’s vow to protect her from the treatment his mother received and another could be that the vaunted grey men decided after working with her and sending her out for test runs (she did do a couple of speeches) that this was the best they were going to get out of her. And that is not good.

             She has improved a bit on the last few outings. Will she continue to improve? I truly and sincerely hope so because she’s not just reflecting badly on the BRF, she makes herself look extremely bad. At the rate she’s improving, she’ll give a successful speech when she’s 40.

             I’m happy for the improvements we’ve seen but I’m still sorely disappointed in both of them.

             1. Hi Lisa, I think you hit on something here. I would bet that the powers that be saw Kate’s first speeches and said Nope, Nada, No Way. For now it seems that showing up and not having any wardrobe malfunctions might be the best she can do.

    4. I think you’re confusing this site with the What Kate Wore or Duchess Kate blog.

       1. Critical does not always mean negative. It can also mean a careful analysis looking at all the points and the end result does not have to be negative. Even Duchess Kate allows divergent POV’s although I grant you they are much softer than those expressed on blogs like this and they aren’t particularly popular. I always watch what I post there because I have crap thrown at me in truckloads over there. But the point is that it’s allowed. And there’s the diehards who won’t hear anything negative just as there are the diehards on some of the forums who won’t hear anything NOT negative.

          1. I had many hopes for Kate. I figured that she had 10 years to learn the job, a supportive family and a solid education. I thought that she could be a Rania. I was wrong. And disappointed.

             I voiced my opinions on other blogs and tumblr and it left me running for the hills. I appreciate this site because we all have a voice and varying opinions.

12. It´s sad she never gives a Speech at her engagements 🙁

    1. I hope someday she will or at least say something meaningful about the charity she’s visiting. But as KMR pointed out the last 2 events were not the places for speeches from the Duchess.

       1. Please see my previous comment up-thread about Home-Start. She’s never going to stretch herself if she keeps getting excuses like “the grey men said no” and hey, she looks pretty. This site was literally one of the few that wasn’t drinking the kool-aid.

          1. 100% AGREE!! Waity has no personality. I am also disappointed how this site is turning into Waity’s fan.

             1. I think there is a difference between a critique, in which you can comment on the positives and negatives, versus being a super fan (who only ever sees the positive) or one who ever sees the negative.

             2. I don’t think this site has become a Waity fan site. There is still plenty of criticism of Kate. There’s nothing wrong with saying she’s done something right. She will always be called out for not getting it right on this site, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with pointing out something good. I said it was POSSIBLE that the grey men thought it was best to send her out on fluff because she just kept getting it wrong. I never meant that as an excuse for Kate because it’s not. If anything it points out just how weak she is and that she can’t be trusted to get more than the superficial appearance right. And even then there are issues.

                This isn’t my site, I love coming here, but if one doesn’t care for the content they don’t have to read it. KMR, I’m sorry if I’ve overstepped any boundaries with that statement, but I feel like people are having to defend themselves for actually liking something she did or wore, when (at least to me) it seems we would welcome with open arms her getting something right. And for every person who likes something she did, others are allowed to say if they don’t like it. That is the great thing about this site.

             3. “it seems we would welcome with open arms her getting something right” Right. We should be happy when she does something good, and if all that means is she looked nice (or having her hair up instead of in her face), then that’s what we praise. It doesn’t mean all the other problems are forgiven. I dislike feeling the need to defend myself when say I think she did something well; that’s why I started my own blog instead of trying to post on a certain other site where I got attacked and bullied.

             4. I agree, bookworm and Lisa.

13. Bookworm, I’m pointing out that Carole is behind Kate’s better style, and my concern that no one is repulsed by Kate’s inability to do anything herself/Carole wielding significant control. Kate looking good here leaves me cold because Mommy Management is a big step in the wrong direction, which I expected many to agree with me on. Instead, I’m being overly critical. All I’ve asked is if everyone on here is good with CM stage-managing KM? I’m not being negative. I’ve laid out the facts for why I think it’s wrong to applaud the dramatic turn Kate’s made fashion-wise, and how it undermines the real work that needs to be done including speeches, so it’s not about “what the Duchess wore today.”

    1. Sugar, I’m not going after you in this reply. To be honest, I never even thought about CM dressing Kate for her recent events. I don’t know for a fact who is, but someone is finally getting a couple of things right (for me it’s been the up hair do’s more than anything)

       I personally can’t stand the fact that CM has her hands in so much of W&K’s lives. If she’s actually dressing her daughter now, why didn’t she stick her nose in before, especially considering the way she was getting criticized left and right for quite some time on her clothing choices. I think Jason has had some influence on the way she’s dressing and her current up tick in appearances. CM didn’t appear to think she had an issue with what her Golden Goose of a daughter was wearing. If she had, I think Kate would’ve changed up a while ago because it’s pretty apparent that what mummy says, Kate does. Again, just speaking for myself.

       1. I hadn’t considered that Carole might be behind it, either.

       2. I agree with you Lisa, I had not thought of Mummy dressing her recently, but want to know why she didn’t start before hand. It reminds me of me dressing my three year old for Kindy this morning and saying, “This leg first, and then this one”. And also, “Wave your hands in the air like you just don’t care” when I am putting a Tshirt on it. I think that Jason has been working overtime with these new engagements though too.

       3. I hadn’t thought of Carole being Kate’s new stylist, either. If that turns out to actually be true, that would be a very interesting turn of events. They would also get major side-eye from me.

14. Sugar: You complain about people liking Kate’s outfits and then you sarcastically state, “I thought everyone here was about more than the superficial.”

    This blog is definitely NOT superficial. We discuss politics, history, diplomacy, ethics, and philosophy. KMR does an excellent job of reporting on the other European royal families. Yes, we also discuss fashion, hair, and make-up. A fashion discussion amongst other topics does not make a blog “superficial”.

    1. Well said Dag. I must confess that I’m a bit shocked at the aggressive response to something so simple as saying that Kate dressed nice for an event. I give credit where credit’s due – and none of us have any idea if Carole had any hand in this look, and it doesn’t matter if she did.

       I know that for some people Kate can never do anything right – and perfectly entitled to that opinion. However, I think that it is bad form to respond aggressively when someone states a different opinion – it makes the atmosphere on this excellent blog less than fun and easygoing.

       1. Wow, way to slam me. Please explain where I’ve been aggressive. I asked a point, I respect if everyone else has a different one. You stated you don’t care if Carole is styling Kate, and I’m not stepping on that, I’m just asking what changed from the general consensus and 2 posts ago that Carole is bad news. I’ve been criticized harshly by several when I’ve just focused on a concern. I think it’s wrong that I’m being slammed because I asked a question. It might come across as an attack because the two positions are diametrically opposite. I mentioned today’s visit to Home-Start to make my point. By not giving any kind of speech, we don’t learn much about the charity, and the public’s primary focus isn’t on the charity, but the ASOS dress.

          1. Sugar, my “slam” is because you referred to the blog as “superficial”…that really bothered me, because it just isn’t. As Art pointed out, it’s a fun and easy-going atmosphere, where most who are critical of Kate (as am I) don’t hesitate to give compliments when we think she looked good and/or behaved well.

             1. If you go back and read my original post, I was not referring to this blog or anyone on it as superficial- I specifically said that people were focusing on the superficial, which is Kate’s fashion uptick despite knowing that Carole is in the background, and I asked the perfectly ok question if everyone is ok with Carole potentially having so much influence over them. I did misspeak when I said Carole is dressing her; I don’t know that but I laid out the evidence for it and asked for thoughts. I have not once attacked anyone or called them a name.

          2. Sugar, please see my comment down below for why I think this kerfuffle happened.

15. Kate nailed it.

    1. I’m not being sarcastic, I’m being criticized for asking a valid question based on KMR’s 2nd post back where pretty much everyone agreed it was unhealthy for Carole to be moving in, which is not a made-up story. She’s the only change that we know of in Kate’s life, and we can see that Kate is dressing more sophisticatedly now. If Kate, or even KP had hired a stylist, I would be the first person applauding because Kate needs to present a more professional, together look, and not the school-girl anymore. My problem is this look is Carole’s, and that she’s behind Kate being more confident. It proves that Kate is an empty shell. Kate took a press knocking 2013-14 for running to her mom, so I think Carole was trying to support her from a distance, but Kate can’t hold her own. Like I said, I’m just laying out the facts. Applauding Kate’s look is applauding Carole’s influence, and I think she makes people dependant.

       1. You have no idea that Carole is behind this look – and liking Kate’s look doesn’t not automatically mean that people approve of the weird co-dependant realtionship they have. You’re simply making an argumentative error.

          1. I’m not making an argumentative error, I’m being attacked by yourself and others who ignored my question. I asked a valid question and gotten nothing but nastiness and rhetoric. I’m realm surprised because this was always a site that people don’t have to be pc to have a conversation. I go back to my original point about many disliking Carole’s influence, she’s definitely living in Kate’s house, Kate is dressing/looking more like she did when she was 24-5 (sophisticated) while living at home, and if Kate does have a different stylist, why wouldn’t it be broadcasted to prove that Carole is just there to help. I don’t know if she’s truly behind today’s look, I said I want to applaud Kate for doing things herself and leading in her life like Mary and Victoria do.

             1. You are, in fact, making a rheotical error. You’re suddenly attacking people on this site for being Carole fans because some people liked Kate’s outfit at the Irish Guards.

                You’re basing all of this on a hypothesis that Carol is now styling Kate, which I have to point out NO ONE KNOWS! Then you go saying that liking Kate’s outfit (supposedly styled by Carole) is the EXACT SAME as approving everything else that goes on in what looks to be a weirdly co-dependant relationship (though none of us know what goes on behind closed doors).
                This is one of the most glaring rhetorical errors I have seen in a long time. There’s is not a casual equivalence between the two things – but you certainly made a very nice strawman argument here.

                You claim you are slammed and attacked – well, you started out with a pretty hard attack – slamming all of us who had something nice to say about Kate’s outfit!! Well, some of us responded to that attack because it certainly felt that you didn’t like our opinions. Then you set up that ridiculous strawman argument argument about Carole – and let me quote:

                “So, everyone on this site is a Carole Middleton fan? For years she’s dressed and had Kate toned and tan-sprayed to catch Will. After some seriously bad press when using her own judgement/personal staff, Mommy moves in and everyone applauds. Kate hasn’t done jack except show up, take good pics and smile. I thought everyone here was about more than the superficial.”

                That quote certainly looks like you were hankering for a fight! And It is certainly very aggressive to label everyone here as a Carole fan – you must have know that!!
                Neither Dag nor I has “slammed” or attacked you. Criticism is not the same as an attack! – we have expressed differing opinions and reactions. Neither of us have imputed anything about you personally.

                Bottom-line, you challenged people here aggressively with a strawman argument: “So everyone on this site is a Carol Middleton fan?”
                Well, you certainly got a rise out of people. If you don’t like that people disagree with you, and even dare to critize you for the kind of style you used to get a rise out of people here. Too bad – if you can’t take the heat, then don’t dish it out!

                This is not about being PC but it is about conducting a debate with different viewpoints in a respectful manner, which has been a hallmark of KMR’s blog – Sugar, you crossed that line yesterday and it behoves you ill to play that you’ve been hurt by your responses when you were the one who put the match to the bonfire.

             2. @Art Historian below post. I have not attacked anyone. I asked a simple question if people are liking Carole Middleton because she may potentially be styling Kate, and my concern that this positive PR would up her influence with W&K. Kate left the Goring hotel on March 2nd with make-up and skin looking rough, dress ill-fitting and appearing very tired (this is not just my thoughts on, but many media and other opinion posts). Before the Goring, she had several other visits where her roots were showing, ill-fitting outfit, and other missteps. Carole moved in March 7. Kate steps out in pink, looks great, and every other event since, her skin and make-up look flawless, improvement in outfits or at least an up-tick, and she’s glowing and seems rested. Jason has been there since January. If he is choosing her clothes, is it a coincidence that Carole moves in and things get better? I don’t know, but I put everything out for consideration, and you have consistently gone after me for having an opinion. Your below comments are frankly bullying. You don’t seem like that kind of person. KMR has a kind post at the end where she talked about how she took my post (as an attack) which I didn’t mean, but I assumed wrongly that everyone would see the potential at least that Carole-definitely a Kris Jenner- may be at the back. Adversity can be a good thing. All this criticism toward W&K could have pushed them out of their bubble and made them start making their own choices-I’m not saying they don’t but I see no indication that they don’t follow others guidance. They aren’t interesting to me (my opinion) if they aren’t individuals. I thought that was why many of us were so hungry for more, and when KMR started the Royal Roundups, we were like Yay!! People who are individuals!! Maxima taking chances with her wardrobe- love it! Victoria bringing Estelle to events and teaching her the role! I understand if you don’t agree with me, but you could have clarified– “Sugar, I want to make sure ai’ve got this right. You think everyone on this site are a bunch of Carole loving, superficial people who’s primary focus is on superficial things, like what Kate wears?” before you went after me. I would have quickly responded no, and clarified because I didn’t see that so many were taking it as a personal attack. I’m not, and I said this numerous times, stepping on any one’s personal opinion. You’ve said you think Carole’s involvement is fine if it’s resulted in this uptick from Kate. I never once, and I ask you to point out where, I criticized you when you stated this. I made the mistake of thinking everyone would be concerned about the possibility of Carole potentially increased influence. Many don’t agree with me that she’s even involved, some people don’t care, ok. I hope you will read back through the entirety of my comments and see that while staunchly advocating my position, I’ve said positive things, and don’t deserve this hostility.

             3. Sugar,

                But no one mentioned Carole in connection with Kate’s outfit.

                And I still contend that you framed you question in an aggressive manner (especially since it has always been quite clear that the commenters on this site are NOT enamoured of Ma Middleton. Can’t you see how a comment like “So everyone on this site is a Carole Middleton fan?” very easily can be construed as an attack? I certainly read that way – and it is indeed a time-honoured way to start a flame war on the internet. I’ve seen many of those in many very different forums.

                Furthermore, you didn’t mention all of those things that you’re listing here. In fact, you didn’t mention any Kate’s recent fashion choices in terms of PR in your original comment – it simply read as an inflammatory attack on people who liked this particular outfit.

                I have learned from hard-won experience that it is always a good idea to take a step back and think about how to formulate a question or a comment so it won’t cause undue offense – unless that was the intent.

                Being careful about how to express oneself makes it easier to avoid misunderstandings and people being offended.

             4. Another word,

                I never said that I was fine with Carole micro-managing Kate’s life – so please, don’t put words in my mouth.

                Besides, criticism isn’t the same as hostility!

16. Sugar, after reading your comments (as well as others), I’m not sure what is your issue! This site allows for many views to be heard. IMO, the only thing that everyone agrees on is respect for HM and disdain of CM!

    1. I know, I think it got lost in me having to defend myself. My concern is that we know that Kate is looking much more stylish, and if Carole is behind it, which I don’t know but I’ve laid out points that make it possible, that this is a big step in the wrong direction for K&W to be so dependant on her. They will see the positive press and potentially rely more on her. At some point, she will run them completely. I could be wrong, I just laid the case out because you all are intelligent, clear-sighted people and I don’t want to root for what really could be another successful Carole move and there is nothing individual about Kate.

       1. Sugar, if it does come out that CM is dressing Kate, I’ll be the first to scream bloody murder. Mommy dressing her little girl for her day out. Combine that with her choosing his ties and it will make them look completely and utterly helpless and dependent. I believe the uproar would be loud and long by many people and the Cambridges will either hang their heads in shame and tell CM she has to pull back or they will do as they currently do and completely ignore common freaking sense and go about their entitled, spoiled childish way. That could lead to more people demanding he be removed from the line of succession. Who wants a King and Queen Consort who are being dressed and coddled by her mother? That does not instill any kind of trust.

          1. Right, that’s what I was focusing on- keeping a jaundiced eye on them because we have no other information for this 180 turnaround except Rebecca Deacon who’s been arguably terrible job. Jason might be picking her clothes but I have hard time believing a young guy gets royal fashion. Kate’s had plenty of personal time to show she can look good and failed. That leaves Carole and that’s my complaint about why I only politely clap twice for this outfit.

          2. The new royal family special,

             Toddlers and Tiaras: The Ultimate Pageant Mum!

17. Good post KMR! I think things are changing a bit for the better with Kate. I hope it continues. I also wish that Prince William would listen to Harry when it comes to duty. Harry has made a lot of mistakes but he seems to take his position seriously. If CM is running things then she needs to cede influence to Harry stat.

    1. I’m reading the articles in reverse order since I haven’t been here in a while. I think Harry enjoys his work life, especially since he is the spare so to speak. He might be getting pushed into less work heavy roles by other family members to avoid a situation where Harry gets the most positive press. I wonder how much the family (excluding Willnot and Cannot) works together to manage a family image and not just individual images?

       1. Harry really is a star. I tend to think William is envious of Harry’s naturalness and charisma which is why he is constantly putting him down.

          In terms of the larger BRF, I would think they are mostly individual entities. Like, the Wessexes aren’t coordinating with The Duke of York, you know. That’s probably not the best way to go about it, but I would guess that’s what they do.

          1. Harry seems to be a natural when it comes to this time of public work – he appears to be an open, easy-going and charismatic personality. Just like Maxima of Holland is. I think it can very very hard and quite intimidating to have to inhabit the public aspect of a royal role if one’s personality is more introverted and less self-assured.

             1. ” I think it can very very hard and quite intimidating to have to inhabit the public aspect of a royal role if one’s personality is more introverted and less self-assured.”

                Yes definitely. An introverted person would find it so difficult to do the job. Just having to make small talk with so many people would be a major challenge, let alone having to make speeches and dealing with the press and the scrutiny and everything else.

             2. It bet it would induce a lot of anxiety – and that fact that the press will examine you under at microscope would certainly be enough to give me a slight panic-attack.

             3. One would have to be very confident to survive in that role, I think.

    2. I really hope that Kate pulls it together and doesn’t take a ton of time off post-baby. She’ll need to be around for a number of royal family things in June so hopefully she’ll get back to it soon. She’s been doing fairly well in terms of getting out regularly, I hope she keeps it up.

18. I really enjoy reading the comments of KMR and everyone who posts here. Everyone. I’ve learned more than I thought I would from a blog about a rather superficial figure thanks to everyone’s insightful comments. I hope you all stick around and keep weighing in, as it makes for a great community.

    1. I, too, love reading everyone’s comments. They are very insightful in a lot of ways.

19. Please look at this picture of Kate. Left hand side, second one down where she is squatting. Click on it to see it better.

    http://www.laineygossip.com/Princess-Catherine-at-Brookhill-Childrens-Centre-as-Prince-Harry-makes-an-appearance-for-Walking-With-The-Wounded/37930

    I am more than perplexed at how this is possible when you are that pregnant. You would think, at the very least, she would be scared of losing balance and holding onto something. This is not a poise you would readily do in public. Perhaps sitting on a chair but not that poise. I wish there was a better shot of what happened to the bump…..Where did it go?? Likely why it doesn’t grow and then boom next size up.

    1. It’s not possible.
       This is the woman, who trotted down the steps at St. Paul’s cathedral in high heels with no support.

       What mother to be would risk injury by being that cavalier?
       She really lacks maternal judgement.

    2. Ok, that is weird. How is she ale to do that? I’ve never seen an 8 month pregnant woman even be able squat like that. The belly looks squashed up?

    3. I asked the same thing in the new post. It seems like that would be very uncomfortable if not impossible to do.

       1. It’s the long torso. More room for bump to be accommodated when shifting positions. You can clearly see that her legs are quite apart, to make room for bumpster, when she squats. I’m the opposite; long legs, short torso, (ate for 3 and it showed). At this stage of my pregnancies, I would have had to take a knee for sure. But, as someone else said, she is in very good shape. I predict she’ll lose any lingering baby bulge faster with this one, than with George.

          1. Yes body type does play a major role in how one carries the pregnancy weight and whether the baby has room to grow up or has to grow out.

20. Sugar: disliking CM’s influence, seeing how well KM turned out for the past 2 outings, even with a suspicion of CM dressing her aren’t mutually exclusive positions.

    Reading all your comments, I see that you’d like them to be mutually exclusive, but they don’t have to be. KM remains an immature, vapid, child woman who can’t dress herself without mommy’s help, but on these 2 occasions, she did well. If this is a demonstration of CM’s capabilities, I can admire the game whilst still loathing the player because KM did good. Twice in a row. That’s how good her new stylist is, even if that stylist turns out to be CM.

    It’s the same reason I admire CM’s game in plotting a long term goal and achieving it where she landed her daughter (and herself) in the royal family.

    Personally, I despise social climbers, but I can’t help admiring her game. It’s a major achievement. And to achieve it, one has to possess cunning, patience and good strategy skills. If the skill includes dressing the daughter to look the part so the peasants are distracted, i say bravo woman, whilst recognising those qualities that got her there.

    These sorts of things are rarely black and white the way you want to have them.

    Complementing Kate on a couple of good showings isn’t an indication that we’ve lost our senses.

    If it turns out that CM did dress her daughter, then that’s a different conversation that includes everything we’ve discussed in previous posts about the malignant influence of CM.

    1. My point centered on where this will go if CM is behind Kate’s 180. I’m not liking or disliking her, I’m saying there’s credible evidence that she may be dressing Kate (this look) and while her involvement looks harmless, as you’ve acknowledged, she’s very cunning. So my question was, is this to just get her daughter’s press up, or is she playing a longer game? The press is applauding Kate’s style fix. Too many times, malignant things are left because it doesn’t seem that big of a deal. But what happens if she has PW 100% following everything she says? Will she sell that influence? I’m advocating that these looks potentially tighten Carole’s hold. I agree that she may turn out a great asset to the royals but I personally don’t trust a schemer.

    2. What you said is why I kind of have to admire Kris Jenner. I think she is a horrible woman who pimped out her daughters to make money, and all sorts of other things, but damn if that woman isn’t a shrewd businesswoman. She has hustle and turned a sex tape into a multi million dollar empire. I respect the type of determination that that would take. But my god I think using a sex tape in order to get fame is despicable, and the entire family is a blight on the entertainment world.

21. Sugar, now I understand your concerns. CM has not pulled the wool over my eyes! It took me sometime to figure her out, but now I see her clearly. There is something going on here, but it has not played itself out fully yet. Its not adding up. Why would the Midds leave their multimillion dollar business to go play pseudo-housekeeper/groundskeeper for PW/Kate? I agree with you that CM is probably scheming again!

    1. Thank you. I’m sorry I wasn’t as clear and that people felt I attacked them. The BRF can’t be stupid, and yet they allow her huge sway over W&K lives. Most web outlets are completely fooled and I don’t want this here because we get dazzled.

       1. Nah, don’t worry, we’ve got our heads on straight about Calculating Carole here!

    2. Or is Party Pieces doing that well? Maybe it can be left foe others to run? But I don’t trust any woman who has schemed so much to get her children into the right places. She subsidized Kate for years so Kate would be able to stalk William. Any decent mother would have encouraged their daughter to get a job and help her daughter to grow as a person. It seems like Carole has kept Kate close so Kate is still a child (even if she is over 30!).

       1. Carole really is a horrible mother.

          1. I hated the story where Carole guilt tripped a neighbour into having a birthday party for the neighbour’s little baby. It sounded like the mother was very busy and wasn’t going to throw a party for a one year old and Carole stuck her nose in and came along anyway. Total lack of empathy there Carole!

       2. People who manage what Carole have managed, even to a lesser degree, are people with a strong will and a need for control. People like that can often find it very hard to relinquish control when it comes to their children.

          My mother is a prime example. She managed to climb up a few ladders on the social scale. She came from dirt-poor family where no-one had an education. Heck, her own mother only went to school for seven years, every second day of the week. She managed to get an education as a teacher, got a well-paying job and she married my father, who came from a solid, slightly wealthy middle-class background with a well-paying job himself.

          She was an intelligent and focused woman but she has been incapable of letting me and my sister go do our own thing. We have had to fight her tooth and nail every step of the way since we were teenagers. It is hard and exhausting – and for it to succeed you have to be every bit as stubborn and driven as the controlling parent.

          My mother is very ill and her illness is part of why she can’t let go on a sense of control. In a sense that has made me and my sister stronger since we have had to deal with her illness and her worseing condition ever since we were children. I bet it would be a lot harder for a person who has grown up in a safe and happy environment to find the moxie to take that fight with a beloved parent. Because this particular fight start with the child becomes an adult – even if the childhood relationship with the parent has been a happy and loving one.

          1. Hm… I never thought of that. I would have assumed that a strong, confident businesswoman would be confident enough to let her kids go, but I understand what you said about not wanting to relinquish control. Thank you for sharing your experience and pointing this out.

             1. Another possiblity could be that she’s sheltering and coddling her children to an unhealthy degree out of misunderstood kindess. Some parents do that as well.

                I don’t have children myself but I can imagine that parenting is a difficult task, especially when the children become adults and have to find their own way in the world, make their own mistakes and learn how to solve their own problems. I think that I could be hard as a parent to take that step back instead of interfering and fixing things for their children. Then the child becomes to dependant on the parent and the parent comes dependent on the child as the carer, problemsolver, etc. Co-dependant relationships are generally not healthy.

             2. That’s a possibility. Yes, co-dependent relationships are terrible for all involved. I am also not a parent, but I think the mark of a good parent is an independent child. When your child doesn’t need you at all, that means you’ve done your job right.

22. As an American, I am slightly confused about the worries over Carol Middleton. What power does the BRF hold? Are they not just UK figure heads told what to do by the government? I could understand if they were actually holding power as they did before they became a Constitutional Monarchy — but Windsor or Middleton – what influence do they have in the world – besides Kate might sell out some dresses? Who cares if Carole Middleton has influence over William – who in turn has no influence in government?

    1. Both the queen and pow do have substantial power and influence. They don’t advertise it and let the plebs continue to think they are completely ornamental.

       Bottom line – none of carole’s kids have amounted to much.
       Pippa dabbles in this and that. No real prospects.
       Jimmy prints pictures on marshmallows.
       And then there is waity.

       Should ma midd really have influence on how a potential future king is raised? Her adult children have turned out to be fairly mediocre.

    2. If she’s using her connection with PW to enrich herself, it damages the monarchy even more. I don’t know if she would, I don’t know if it was just social climbing, but is she someone people trust not to trade in on her relationship? So I question the great styling because it may mean she’s helping Kate, or playing a longer game. She may not affect public policy but she can sell access to help Party Pieces financially (under the table). I’m just making the case that Carole may have upped her influence.

       1. Personally, I find the way the Middletons have attempted to capitalize on their royal connection both crass and inappropriate. And it certainly has the potential to damage the reputation of the BRF. In times past, grasping royal relatives has been very damaging – the Woodevilles of the 15th century is propably the most egregrious example. They made the popular Edward IV increasingly unpopular and they lost him valuable and powerful allies among the nobility.

          1. I agree. Another good example is Henry III, who gave castles, land and more to Queen Eleanor’s relatives. When Boniface received the see of Canterbury, it’s a wonder the people didn’t rise up in revolt. Prince Edward’s relationship-strategy-with Simon de Montfort is really interesting.

23. From my POV, I figure that sooner or later Carole might step in to help Kate with her fashion styling, if indeed that is the case. Given that Kate so depends on her mother, through Carole’s own machinations, I’m actually surprised that it took this long if Carole indeed had a hand in Kate’s makeover. Is that cause for alarm? No more than the stories of Prince Charles unable to see his grandson due to the favoritism given to the Middletons, Carole moving into Anmer Hall and taking over, cosseting Will and Kate, basically running the show and perhaps causing the staff to quit. I’m just going to sit back, put my feet up and my tinfoil hat on, eating popcorn while this soap opera plays out. Because once the sh*&t hits the fan, and eventually it will, it’ll be a sight to behold.

    1. “I’m just going to sit back, put my feet up and my tinfoil hat on, eating popcorn while this soap opera plays out. Because once the sh*&t hits the fan, and eventually it will, it’ll be a sight to behold.”

       I’m hoping the BRF steps up because I think Charles or HM giving Carole a beat down would be hilarious.

       1. I can’t wait for the tell-all books and the unauthorized biographies. Fun, fun!!

          I think we all have Carole’s number on this blog and while we can admire positive things that she may do for Kate to help clean up her image, we still dislike her for her influence, motivations and her egregious tactics that potentially can undermine the monarchy. We can also give Kate a pass when she does something good, but we’re certainly not sycophants. If we didn’t compliment her on what she does well or an attractive outfit after we say we want changes, then we’d be accused of always being haters, hypocrites and unable to see anything positive about her. Hope springs eternal that she can turn her act around, as well as William, but that remains to be seen. The jury’s still out on that.

          1. I SO want a tell-all of the Middletons to happen. I would read that in a heartbeat. It would be amazing.

             “If we didn’t compliment her on what she does well or an attractive outfit after we say we want changes, then we’d be accused of always being haters, hypocrites and unable to see anything positive about her.” It also just wouldn’t help her. If one is told to change, then does, and then people complain about the changes, one is going to get confused at what is wanted and revert back to one’s old ways. So it is important to praise Kate for the things she gets right.

             1. Yes, because we wouldn’t want to confuse the poor little dear, now would we?

             2. I swear it’s like training a puppy. Constant reinforcement and positive affirmation when they do right. Follow it up with a treat and you get and they quickly learn.

                I take that back, I don’t know any puppy that takes 4 years to learn a behavior.

             3. Lol, I was thinking in general, not just for Kate. The same thing happens when one person nags another too much – like a spouse or something. If you can’t ever do anything right, at some point the only person you will bother trying to please is yourself. And you’d be surprised Lisa, some dogs just WILL NOT LEARN. Or they just don’t want to. It’s always their either too stubborn or too stupid. But I swear the stupid ones are easier to train because the stubborn ones will think for themselves and outsmart you.

       2. Maybe this is why the BRF has not encouraged the Kate/Diana link and Kate has. If the public don’t equate her position in the Royal family with Diana’s then there will probably be less sympathy if/when the Queen or POW steps in. If people do link the two then it could be a public relations disaster if / when the Queen or POW steps in. Maybe they are biding their time until the public is completely awake to this Middleton situation and then will step in when the public is fully on their side.

          1. I don’t think they should be compared because they are two different people. Similar positions (wife to the heir) but otherwise very different. IF I were Kate I’d be forging my own path and identity. The ring is bad enough.

24. Hi all,

    Pippa attended a charity event this evening and made a little statement about why she was supporting this charity event. I think that these types of prewritten/prerecorded messages would work perfectly for Kate and allow her to highlight the good work done by her various charities, instead of making it all about her clothing.

    Here is the link to the article about Pippa

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3001163/Pippa-Middleton-shows-curves-tan-low-cut-maxi-dress-joins-sporting-champions-ParaSnowBall-London.html

25. Sugar:

    I’ve read all of your comments and it seems to me the problem is not in your argument, the problem is in how you framed your argument in your initial comment.

    From reading all of your comments, your argument seems to be: “I think Carole Middleton is dressing Kate, that’s why she’s been looking better, and that’s a problem because of all the things we talked about in the ‘Carole is the 3rd person in W&Ks marriage’ post”.

    But your initial comment came off as: “You are so superficial that all of the times you’ve criticized Kate are thrown out the window because you dared to complement her outfit two times in a row”. That somehow complementing her outfit twice in a row meant I had turned into a Kate sycophant, and everything I’ve ever said that was critical or negative toward her meant nothing. It felt like a personal attack on me that I am so superficial that I would completely change my way of thinking just because she looked nice twice in a row.

    One of the reasons I started this blog was because of situations where I would dare to say something nice about Kate on a hard-core anti-Kate site and would get called a sycophant for it even though I had criticized her in every other comment I ever made. I dislike the black and white line of thinking where if you aren’t hating on someone 24/7 then you must be a sycophant. That type of thinking is impossible to defend against because if you try and defend yourself they will say “See there’s proof, you’re defending your defense of Kate”. And then it ends up with me getting attacked and harassed.

    Because that’s how I read your initial comment, I got defensive. Every other comment you made was about defending your argument about Carole being a bad influence. But that initial comment seemed more like you were attacking me personally than asking a question about Carole’s influence.

    I have no problem with people having differing opinions; I enjoy the discussions we all have here. And I enjoy reading your comments.

    If my comment to your initial comment seemed like I was attacking you, I am sorry. I did not mean to attack you; I was simply trying to defend myself from what I felt was an attack. I am thinking this may have been a misunderstanding that got blown out of proportion. Hopefully we can resolve this issue and move forward.

    1. I appreciate you and your blog, and apologize for coming off critical. I made the initial mistake of thinking everyone on here, because we’ve all talked about Carole and her bad influence, that everyone would be thinking she was behind Kate’s better make-up and clothes, or at least highly suspicious and be ticked off because the girl needs to do things herself. She’s meaningless if she doesn’t have any individuality. I want to clap for Kate when she hires someone to help her, or picks out an outfit and wears it-that’s a pretty average bar, and I dislike that if Carole is at the back of things, K&W may become more dependent, like frightened children. What’s to be frightened of? If they had to run the country that would be something. if people know Carole might be dressing/influencing Kate and are good with it, I’m not stepping in that. I was just sounding the alarm because we had all stated we wanted good things for W&K, and they need the help.

       1. I didn’t even think about Carole being behind Kate’s recent style hits. It’s an interesting thought to bring up, I just think it could have been presented better.

          The initial comment started with a sarcastic, rhetorical question, and then proceeded to call everyone superficial, and implied that just because we liked Kate’s outfit that we suddenly drank the kool-aid and forgave her and Carole for everything.

          It was the tone that was used, rather than the question itself. If the question had just been a comment saying “I think Carole is behind this for these reasons”, then it would have gotten me thinking about something I hadn’t thought of. But because I was already defensive about being called superficial and forgiving Carole simply because I liked Kate’s outfit, I was defensive about Carole even having a hand in Kate’s outfit.

          Others clearly took offense as well. I won’t speak for everyone, but it seems to me after reading the comments that they took offense not because of the thought, but because of the way the thought was presented. It could have been an interesting discussion with people having differing opinions on whether or not Carole is involved in the style hits, and what that means for the W/K/C relationship going forward. And again, I won’t speak for everyone, but I would bet others would have reacted differently as well had the thought been presented differently.

          I’ve been in situations where I’ve said something in what I thought was an innocuous way, and others have taken it as an offense (in personal interactions as well, not just in written comments). When that happens, it is important that we discuss why the other person took offense and how our comments came off, that way we can learn from the situation (that’s not always possible for various reasons but it does wonders for personal development when it is). I hope you can understand that. I don’t want to start a fight or anything, I just want to clarify, so that way we can have even better discussions in the future.

          1. Sugar,

             I’ll add to KMR and say that it wsn’t the topic but the manner in which it was presented that ticked me off. I read and felt as an attack, which I have tried to explain elsewhere. I think it is very important that we all think about how we frame and state out opinions and comments – misundertsanding can arise very easily when people are not communicating face to face.

          2. I understand and apologize for my tone and especially for saying people on the site were drinking kool-aid. That was his wrong and I can understand why some were offended. I will be more thoughtful in future if I post.

             1. I hope you continue to post comments, Sugar, I enjoy reading your comments. This is just a kerfuffle that I hope we can all learn from and move past. I myself will take care to think and ask the intentions of the commenter before I post an emotionally defensive comment.

    2. I agree KMR. The reason I read your blog rather than most of the others is because you have been reasonable, yet critical. I like talking about Kate, and it seems silly that I have to go to one blog to say nice things, and come to another when I have criticisms. Why can’t I say them all in one place? I never quite understood that.

       1. Thank you, bluhare. It’s nice to know that other people feel the same way I do about the black and white viewpoint some other blogs take, and that my blog is appreciated.

          1. Yes, your blog is appreciated, KMR. It’s nice to give Kate credit where credit is due. Also, this is a good place for people to sound off. I hope we can all just respect one another’s opinions and not go overboard. If that comment makes it seem as if I am criticizing anyone, I am not. I just think we should respect one another’s opinions. It’s why so many people come here and continue posting.

             1. Thank you jenny! It is possible to have differing opinions and still be respectful. There was a kerfuffle on this post, but hopefully we can learn from it and move forward and continue the awesome discussions that we have here.

          2. Thank goodness we have a place to go to discuss how we feel about the DoC and and her shiny headed husband.

             I read through many of the comments and hope I am not out of line, but it seems each individual has a specific writing style, several with impressive royal history knowledge, add the inability to hear the tone in the individuals voice and mix in the lack of seeing non-verbal cues and things end in a mix up.

             I realize I am stating the obvious, but KMR you have been so good to all of us and we appreciate all your hard work. The rest of us get to have all the fun.

             1. Haha “shiny headed husband”.

                Thank you for your kind words, G. It’s a lot of fun to have people respond to the blog and I enjoy reading all the comments.

26. Considering the increased work load, and improvement in public appearances, i’d say Jason, PR guy is also a consideration in all of this.

    It may have escaped everyone’s notice, but Jason specialises in crisis PR. That type of PR isn’t about day to day management. It’s strategic, and looks at entire package. Jason was the chief PR for RBS bank. A bank so crisis hit and hated that no one expected it to survive all the scandals. After his tenure, whilst we may not love the bank, we don’t hate it either.

    He stage managed all the scandal hit directors as well as the bank’s message. So saying a young guy can’t know about fashion is ridiculous when that guy is in PR. Kate’s public image is tied into her personal presentation and it would be a very bad PR crisis manager who didn’t look at that. Her previous PR failed this task because they didn’t look at the personal presentation and rate of work. Jason starts in Jan/Feb and the first thing he does is get Kate to give a PSA, then pushes her out to work where she would have continued hiding, and helps her with her styling – whether he had a word with Ma to do it or called in a stylist. Overall, Kate’s image is improved exponentially in the two months he’s been in charge. The problem of course is that the bar is set so low that we applaud what she should have been doing out of the gate, even when those improvements are so miniscule they wouldn’t register with anyone else.

    1. I didn’t say that a young guy can’t know about fashion, I said I was skeptical that he was choosing her clothes. That’s my personal opinion and I would appreciate not being criticized for it. You’ve made a good point about Jason being crisis PR; I know his background too, and it’s possible that he’s the one that called in Carole for help. If so, he made a good choice. Carole could have made millions as a stylist. She’s got a gift for understanding the whole package.

       1. Personally, I don’t think Carole has anything to do with Kate’s recent clothing choices. The reason why is that Kate’s choices in clothing before she married William and in the 4 years after have been spotty. Sometimes she does really good, but more than often you kind of go huh?

          Carole had many opportunities to flex her power in the area of clothing. She and her daughters seem to have the same style. Why would she suddenly show this great, restrained influence over Kate’s recent and better appearances? I think it’s more Jason working with someone else (even if it’s Tash). I also think that it’s entirely possible he’s got some say in what she’s wearing.

          I actually did work in PR for a while and there are tons of men heading up PR firms and believe me, they have definite ideas as to what their clients should and shouldn’t be seen in. They may have a stylist bring in clothing for review and they may not have the final say, but they definitely have a hand in the image that is going out there, especially as they will ultimately be held responsible for the negative press that image receives. It’s a scapegoat thing because they can’t force a client to wear certain things, they only advise, but in the end they will get the blame for failures.

          So until we get the leak from the Midds that Carole is dressing Kate now (and that ego would want to be acknowledged) I’m going to hold off on giving her any kudos.

          1. Please see my up-post to Art Historian. My personal opinion is that Carole is behind Kate’s personal improvement based on dates, it’s a supposition based on the limited facts in the public domain. I’m just supporting my opinion but not stepping on anyone else’s. As I’ve said though, I completely understand how it could come off like that, and I apologize for it.

             1. I wasn’t saying you’re wrong and if it comes across that way I apologize. I was just responding about what I think. That’s what we do here. Nothing personal, just a lot of supposition.

    2. Yes, I think that Jason might be behind the schedule, and the DM article about Carole being the third person also said she helps picking out outfits. I’m glad she’s listening; she’s doing much better than when she was off on her own.

27. Check out this link and let me know what you think. I think she’s says something about being his wife and he says something then she says oh really and he says wait and see. Either way it’s very interesting.

    http://lookagiraffe.tumblr.com/

    1. Kate says, “Do they always [something] that many [something]?” William says, “[something] not any more than usual”. She says, “Oh really”. He says, “But we’ll have to wait and see.”

       Kate’s “strained face” looks more like she’s straining because the sun is in her eyes. William always has that look on his face.

       But that’s just my interpretation.

       1. Sorry I am late to the party on this one. It looks as though when Kate swallows and looks down that she is trying very hard not to cry…either that or give Wills a backhander in public

28. Will seems more like a d*ck every single day. It looked like she was trying to hold her composure. Like I said before, she made a deal with the devil and it’s time to dance. She wanted this so bad and now she’s trapped by his tomfoolery and her mom’s scheming. I am thisclose to feeling a little pity for her.

29. I first thought this coat was black, but I think she looked gorgeous!

    The coat was flattering (love the collar!), her hair looked fab, her makeup flawless.

    She looks great in brown. I also think it was nice to see her in a different colour, wearing green on St Pat’s Day is so cliche, and why buy another green coat for just one day of the year? It’s wasteful, at least she can wear this coat again.

    1. I hope Kate wears more coats with this collar, it seemed to be a hit with most people even if they didn’t like the overall outfit. And yes, it’s nice to see her mix things up a bit for this appearance.

30. Hi KMR. Would it be possible to do a “cost per wear” post about Kate. The Daily Mail LOVES to say Kate is recycling so how much does she really do this? For example, so the cost per wear for the sledges and the wedges of doom must be minimal (a few cents)? AN edited highlight of a few items could be fun?

    1. That would be interesting. She’s worn a few clothes more than once, but the majority of the “cost per wear” comes into play in her jewelry and shoes. It would be interesting since the high cost of her jewelry is an issue for a lot of people. Thanks for the idea, Cathy, I’ll do a post on that. Possibly tomorrow.

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