Does Kate Middleton spend her free time coloring?

Kate Middleton Prince William

Does Kate Middleton spend her free time coloring?

by katemiddletonreview105 Comments on Does Kate Middleton spend her free time coloring?

Yesterday, November 29, Prince William was in charge of doing the investitures at Buckingham Palace, at which William told one woman that Kate Middleton likes to color in coloring book for adults.

Johanna Basford, a Scottish illustrator who has published several adult coloring books, picked up an OBE for services to art and entrepreneurship from William. Afterwards, Basford said:

    “I think we’ve just seen the colouring community flourish. And Prince William actually said that his wife likes to colour in the Secret Garden, which was really sweet. I think people are just craving a digital detox.”

FYI Secret Garden was Basford’s first adult coloring book, published in 2013.

My first thought was to make a joke of “Oh, so this is what Kate does with all her free time”, but on second thought I think this is probably another instance of William saying he/Kate/his kids are into whatever the person he’s talking to is into, which is something he and Kate do all the time. So who knows if Kate actually does color for fun in adult coloring books.

Kate Middleton Goring Hotel 105th birthday painting
[The Goring Hotel Facebook]

Kate paints the mural
[Ben Ainslie Racing Facebook]


Websites: Kate Middleton Review Meghan Markle Review

105 thoughts on “Does Kate Middleton spend her free time coloring?”

  1. I believe it. She’s got a lot of hours to fill. She’s intellectually incurious. Colouring, online shopping, real life shopping, talking to her mother, checking in with the nanny to see how her kids are, bedtime!! Oh! I forgot working out. I wonder if she thinks she’s happy.

    1. She spends £100k+ every year on new clothes. She has a title. Children have a Norland nanny. Mansion in London, country pile in the country. Barely works. Let’s not forget wearing the in-laws’ jewels? I don’t think she sits in a corner and sobs in misery.

    2. As long as she’s ‘being looked after’, equating to all material comforts and status supplied, I imagine so. Kate has a lot of hours to fill given she has ‘worked’ only around 58 from 300+ days do far this year. Intellectually incurious sums her up.

      1. Jen, your comment reminded me of what Kate said when asked about her coping with being pregnant with George, and her supposed HG. “I’m being well looked after”.(not sure it’s an exact quote) With all that has happened in the years since, that appears to be a signature statement for Kate. I would absolutely loathe her life. Years ago my husband I went on a cruise (free until tax time thru his work) and I was uncomfortable with being waited on hand and foot. I was especially uncomfortable when a virus broke out and the staff who were from all over the world were all but under the whip to do everything, we couldn’t even serve ourselves at the buffet. I’ll never forget the look of almost ‘fear’ in the servers eyes when I unknowingly declined at first. I am always going to be a worker bee. Maybe it’s wrong to compare my life with Kate’s since I didn’t grow up in a situation such as hers, and quite frankly I thank God that I didn’t.

    4. I agree.

      Soon we will hear this lazy useless middleton is an expert hand at Calligraphy, don’t you know- playing catch up to Prince Harry’s Meghan interesting and full life (interesting women friends to be with), until her Prince ends HM/his Tour.

      Whiny need to butt out stop iinterfering in our well loved Prince Harry life. Who cares if he approve anything pertaining to PH/ MM relationship. He should worry about useless k, carol middletons.

  2. If an astronaut came through, he’d say she/George/Charlotte is into space travel. I know it’s small talk, but do you ever hear that Charles is into A,B,C up to Z? No need to lie, just ask a question of interest – which is what everyone else besides W&K does.

    1. And that’s the problem–it’s hard to ask a genuine question of interest when you really aren’t interested in anything beyond your own self.

      1. It doesn’t even have to be a genuine question of interest. Just an open-ended question to keep them talking about themselves (which most people love doing).

    2. WK’s must think that talking about themselves in relation to the genuine hard work and achievements of other people will somehow make the lazy duo seem accomplished. WK have the combined intellect and soul of a rotten turnip.

  3. Lol, I’m having a hard time imagining Kate with a coloring book.

    I understand talking about yourself as a way of making conversation and connecting to others, but this is becoming ridiculous. I wonder if anyone from their team ever called them out on that?

    1. I wonder if George and Charlotte tell Mummy to stay in the lines. I can imagine it. As for William he always has to have some talking point. It’s small talk. Yet it’s seems a struggle. On the flip side maybe he is trying to be genuine. Who knows though.

      1. Eleanor, I agree that W really struggles with understanding how to communicate with people. But then again, perhaps he doesn’t care enough to put any thought about how best to meet and chat wiith other people.

        1. I think his sense of humor. It very off the cuff. It’s suppose to be funny in his mind. Yet is comes off as rude and condescending. Maybe it’s the blue blooded aristocrat humor that falls flat. William did not inherit the It factor. Harry has it. He does not. William cannot hold a room. Perhaps he is extremely shy. Maybe he is an ass. Locking yourself away in the fortress of Anmer Hall, surrounding yourself with yes people. Doesn’t help you it hurts you. Hopefully, he will figure it out some day.

          1. People who think they are more important than others tend not to have a good sense of humour. You need to be a bit self deprecating to sell humour, which Harry can do and Will cannot.

    2. I so agree with KMR, open ended questions to keep people talking about themselves. I tend to avoid talking with others but when cornered I try to get someone else involved in the conversation and then quietly move away. Kate, of course doesn’t have that luxury but certainly does have the ability, should she care to use it, to get people talking about themselves, their interests, hobbies, families, or on the rare occasions she attends a charity event, about the people who work consistently. Does anyone else here, and I hope I am not out of line, see some narcissistic tendencies in this woman/child? Again, if I’m out of line KMR, please delete this comment.

  4. My first thought was William only said that to make a connection. Like you said KMR it’s how the Cambridges always try to relate. The problem is William is so utterly private and closed off I don’t believe for a second he would actually give away a true interest of Kates. God forbid anyone really know any kernel of truth about them. Kate may like to color. I love to (although I find adult coloring book images stressful, not relaxing). But William is so shady we will never know. It’s sad when we can’t take anything William says as truthful. It’s all a game to him

    2. I am so glad I’m not the only one who finds them stressful! I haven’t said anything to friends who do them out of fear of being attacked. Everyone loves them and I’m over here throwing mine against the wall. I much prefer my 4-year-old’s Hello Kitty coloring book!

    3. I like adult coloring, but I pick less detailed pictures so that I won’t go crazy with the tiny, tiny spaces. Glad to know I’m not the only one!

    5. “I think this is probably another instance of William saying he/Kate/his kids are into whatever the person he’s talking to is into, which is something he and Kate do all the time.”

      This is my take as well. He’s so secretive about anything that happens in private. Sharing something that is likely to be mocked? Unlikely unless it is related to PR.

  5. My first thought was, “Oh my gosh, I love her stuff!” Her work is absolutely beautiful. And if Kate does suffer from anxiety or depression, or PPD, or something else, or even if she’s just shy as she has said, coloring has shown to be hugely effective. I keep meaning to try it. So far I’ve just bought her books for my ten-year old because she loves them. And then I had the same two thoughts that Overit did. I think it’s probably the final, that it was just filler. But I can still hope for a moment that the veneer might have come down if ever so briefly.

    1. I also thought this was kind of fascinating–

      From The Express: “Leon Smith, captain of Britain’s Davis Cup tennis team, collected an OBE and said afterwards that William told him Kate screams at the TV when he and his team-mates are playing.”

      I just can’t picture Kate screaming.

      1. I’d love to know if William said something about the things Kate does or likes to just everybody he met that day. Obviously there wasn’t anything he could have said the children were keen on, so it was Kate’s turn. Sorry to be this grumpy again, but such comments from him just sound so staged. You could think this family has it all covered. Someone of them is keen on it, no matter what pops up.

          3. I think the Cambridges have single handedly changed the definition of “keen”. It used to mean “showing eagerness or enthusiasm”. It now means “pretending to show eagerness when really, you don’t give a rat’s patootie”.

          6. Is there any way to message? I have a historical question that I thought Herazus might be able to answer about a royal, but I didn’t want to just hijack a thread.

      2. The only stories about them I believe are those of old friends who said William would constantly mock and belittle Kate, calling her stupid, an idiot, etc, for not knowing the answers on University Challenge and how they had screaming matches over stupid little things.

          1. It made me really side-eye when I was reading about that, during the engagement, painted as oh look how funny and competitive they are! No, it’s not okay and not cool the way he treated her then and it just makes me think this is why she always looks so frail and quite frankly unhappy. It must be rough living with someone like William.

  6. Kate is pretty animated at Wimbledon and it seems to be the sport she is really into. So, I can believe her shouting at the TV.

    I can also believe the coloring, although I imagine it is something she likes to do with the children in kids’ books rather than on her own.

    1. I agree–I can see Kate shouting during the Davis Cup, since tennis is the only thing she actually shows any passion about. (Well, there’s Ben Ainslie, too.) But I wonder if she even watches the Fed Cup? She doesn’t seem to be interested in supporting British women’s tennis at all, so I doubt it.

      And for coloring, it would have to be with colored pencils with good erasers. Wonder how many shades of beige she has? Beige, desert tan, champagne, beach sand, cream, fawn, iced latte…….

    2. I *want* to see her doing it. I normally don’t advocate for a private and public persona. But I have hoped that “Strong Kate” is still in there, even if she doesn’t show that side of herself often, and that she didn’t just get muted over time. The ideal, of course, would be for her to be strong and confident in her public side as well. I believe that that is a person that the public would rally around.

    3. I thought the same about her getting all excitable over watching sports, we know for a fact that’s something she loves. Well, tennis anyway. I yell and carry on at the TV when I’m watching my favorite teams/ players too. I will try and restrain myself in public though….my birthday gift this year is tickets to the Paribas Open in March and I am SO EXCITED!!

  7. If she does, that’s fine. It doesn’t help the “lazy” rumors though. This would be a great time for Will to find out a nugget from that person. Or even do research and mention something close to their heart. And Jason, if you are reading, tell Will it’s okay to share some personal info. We won’t turn into stalkers because of it.

    1. I’m up in the middle of the night with insomnia and this just gave me a much needed laugh! +1 Jason. We’ll just find her to be more human, maybe even relevant.

    2. The people they get to meet are so interesting; I don’t understand why W (+K) don’t read the prep done for them on these occasions and resort to ‘X (fill in blank) loves…’. It becomes old very quickly as well as revealing an insular mind.

      1. Yes! I agree. Do some prep work and say something really relevant to the person whom you are honoring. For goodness sake, if Kate really does like to color, she must know this woman’s work and could have possibly said something about some of her favorite pictures. Oh, well. It’s just so much easier to say, “Kate likes to color.”

        If she does, I don’t blame her. It’s relaxing and like others have mentioned, I also don’t like to sit doing nothing. I love coloring with my kids, but on my own, too. It’s very relaxing.

      2. To be fair, these investitures are for hundreds of people at a time across a wide variety of industry. It’s hard to read up about that many people.

        Further, the receipients aren’t necessarily receiving the award in their expert field eg Angelina Jolie received her award for her contribution to UK foreign policy in the area of raising awareness of the effort to end war zone sexual violence rather than her better known areas of humanitarian efforts/acting/directing.

        The trick is to come up with a comment that shows interest in the person being honoured as they are announced to you.

        Sadly, William shows no interest in people and shares that incuriosity to some extent with Kate. Unlike Kate, he has been trained to feign interest even if he does it badly. Clearly he is still a work in progress.

    1. HAHAHAHHAHA!!! I’m pretty sure she “stays within the lines”. But I’m gonna stop at that. I don’t need my imagination running wild when it comes to these 2.

  9. I have a couple adult coloring books and really love them. I’m one of those people who has a hard time sitting still without doing something with my hands. I have to doodle in meetings to be able to pay attention (luckily my boss understands). So, I enjoy coloring books because it gives me something to do while I watch TV. I can imagine Kate enjoying them, but they seem to say they are into everything so it’s hard to believe anymore.

    1. Lazy snowflake could devote time giving back to BRF THE PEOPLE who has given her and middletons so much; spending time with duties in helping others less fortunate.

      Whiny also is speaking that george would like the train whiny visited – .why didn’t he take george along to teach him something about royal (fun) meet greet he and km is known to attend. Delicate george would be away from regular people/noise.

      2. William had several events today, not just the train one. He couldn’t have taken George. Plus, it was a factory, not some kid friendly event.

        And is there a reason you’re calling George “delicate”? Even if George is a shy, sensitive kid (which we don’t know, but everything William and Kate have said about him suggests otherwise) that is nothing to make fun of him for.

        Please do not make fun of any royal children – even the children of royals you dislike – it’s against the comment policy.

        1. I read ‘delicate George’ to mean that his parents pretend he’s too delicate to go out amongst the plebs? Not as a comment on the child but on his parent’s attitude.

  10. I love all the responses! So to be totally petty and shallow, I will say, since Kate has so much time to take care of herself, I do wish she would get a manicure. A gel manicure would work so she does not chip the polish while she is coloring.

      1. Hurrah to the Tindalls. Such happy news. Mia will have a play companion and Zara and Mike’s addition ensures that they are a wonderful family.

  13. I have a number of friends who color in adult coloring books and I know I scream at the TV during the Super Bowl, so I guess it’s possible that Kate does these things too. However, admitting this to the British people, the ones who pay your bills and would probably like to see some return on their large investment, is a smart move.

    Sorry if I’m being snarky, it’s just that I’ve crunched some numbers and while most of us work 2080 hours a year (based on a 8/40 work week), the Duchess has “worked” approximately 189 hours (126 x 1.5 hours per engagement) or 260 days per year versus her 58. Sigh…

    2. No, Lauri, you’re not being snarky. Your assessment is generous since many of Kate’s engagement’s rarely last beyond 30 minutes. What constitutes her work is not onerous, and we have yet to see evidence of professional performance from her ie one where she has clearly read her briefings, and can contribute intelligent discussion to both guests and hosts. Stammering out ‘well done’ as she and William do much too often does not cut it, nor does ‘learning’. And certainly not, ‘George likes (whatever)’.

      Just think of so many people in the UK who are struggling to survive. To give context, I read recently of sessional (adjunct) university lecturers with PhDs on paltry pay for a few hours per week, teaching at several institutions over a term, no security whatsoever from term to term, taking cleaning jobs – any jobs – to supplement incomes. So how can paying huge amounts to several members of the BRF to live in luxury and do so little of any worth be acceptable?

  14. My mother is very much a child of the 60s/teacher and we were not allowed to have coloring books as kids because they “might stifle our creativity” also not allowed to have barbies as they might give us unrealistic expectations of what a woman’s body is supposed to look like. So of course, I went off to college and bought coloring books! When I saw the new craze I told her it was probably thought up by someone who was also “forced” to color on blank paper =) I’ve seen her secret garden book and loved it. I no longer feel the need to color tho so haven’t bought it but they are supposed to be great stress relievers. And as adult myself, I can now appreciate and am thankful for her views =)
    The problem with William and Kate is that they are so fake in everything one never knows what’s real and what’s not. Which is probably the way they like it. We know Kate doesn’t have any real friends so I could see her lonely coloring in her book

    1. Sarah, I, too, was a child who was “forced” to color on blank paper! We had loads of construction paper and drawing pads, but no coloring books. And Barbies were absolutely forbidden at our house! I’ve actually thought about buying one of those adult coloring books for myself, but think my husband would laugh at me. And I’ll admit it here–I’d still love to have one of those Barbie closet cases with the little hangers for the dresses and shelves for the shoes and purses.

      1. Ha! It’s the old wanting what you can’t have. I’m sure if we had coloring books we’d want blank paper.
        My niece always wants me to play dolls with her and I tell her auntie doesn’t do dolls and she can blame Grammy. To be less of a b**ch I buy her dolls in traditional dress from my travels. They now have the American Girl thing which is Barbie on a whole other level!

    2. I had both coloring books and blank paper and neither one affected the other. Having coloring book didn’t stop me from creating my own art when I wanted to; and creating my own art didn’t stop me from wanting to color in my favorite Disney character.

      I’ve never understood the “Barbie gives girls unrealistic expectations about their bodies” argument since I had a ton of Barbies growing up and I never really cared what their bodies looked like or how they compared to mine.

      But that was just me; I know that other people have had different experiences.

      1. I think coloring books and blank paper are great to inspire creativity.
        And, Barbie was fun. I was into her clothes and every day she seemed to have a different career. Sometimes, she was a doctor, other times an actress. She often was a teacher, or a TV anchor.

        What I loved the most were the clothes my mom saved from her Barbie. Late 60s and so glamorous. My sister and I divided them up when we were older so that our kids would be privy to such beautiful clothes. I still love the gold brocade strapless dress with the matching coat that had fur cuffs. And, the pink satin evening gown that came with a white fur stole. So elegant!

        1. Well I’m not creative at all so that theory was lost on me! I’m more science minded and like structure. I should buy one of the adult bks for my mom and sister’s stocking =) just to be ornery

    1. I actually thought it was pretty funny. I’d rather hear stories like this than the act of pretending they’re just like us. They’re not just like us.

      2. I don’t see this as funny. Bea was being very irresponsible if she was slinging a sword around without paying attention to whether or not someone was around her.

        1. I agree, it was **not funny at all**. She could have seriously injured someone, and it just goes to show how ‘important’ she thinks she is, what with her ‘royal blood’ and all. I read that her mother used to ‘knight’ people with bread knives. Puffed up much? Sorry, the ‘yorkies’ irritate me.

    2. What a class act on Ed Sheeran’s part, even coming back to the party. I hope that soothed her nerves a bit. I’m such a klutz that I can totally see something like that happening to me.

      1. I think I’d classify it more as stupidity to go back to party where the hostess was goofing off with swords and I got maimed.
        And why was fergie there? Does she hang out with her daughter’s contemporaries? I didn’t think they still lived together.
        I actually really like Eugenie but don’t really care for Bea and this just solidifies that even more for me.

        1. They were at Royal Lodge. Fergie will cling like a limpet to those girls as long as they allow it. Somehow I don’t think the Queen was amused.

          1. Fergie said once to someone that she did deals with Beatrice and Eugenie, growing up. That was her idea of parenting. When Eugenie has children, I hope that Eugenie takes charge firmly but gently.

        2. I guess if she’s your friend and you goaded her into it and at the end of the day you were fine, you’d feel differently, kind of like Ed Sheeran, who was actually present and the one injured.

    3. Okay, I read this and soda came out my nose and I’m not to proud to admit it! Thank you for brightening up my day!
      I’m sure all of us have clutzy moments like that at a party, but gratefully we don’t really keep swords around our house unless young include the ceremonial one my husband bought for our son during one of his African deployments. 😛

      1. Poor Beatrice, but I can’t stop laughing! As far as PW is concerned, either throw Kate or PG under the bus, I guess it was Kate’s turn.

    1. Thanks for sharing Fifi! Sophie really has lovely posture.

      There was an EACH gala tonight to raise funds for the Nook. It’s rather sad their patron couldn’t attend but she did send a note.

  17. I have those adult coloring books. They really help with stress and anxiety. Particularly if you tend to rely on food, drink, or smokes otherwise. This keeps your hands busy and is very calming. So I wouldn’t mock her for this if she’s into coloring. If I were in her position I would be very stressed by the public speaking and just being in the public eye in general (yeah I know she knew what she was getting into but I can still empathize).

      1. I love playing with my kid’s coloring books. He prefers to paint. I like to color in his Disney coloring books with my fancy grown up pencils and markers. 🙂

        Let’s have a coloring party! lol

  18. PW mentioned a specific book by the author so this leads me to believe that it’s probably true. Otherwise, he would have just said “my wife’s into those” without mentioning which books she has. From a social psychology point of view, most people tend to not mention specifics when they tell pro-social lies (or white lies as they are known).

    1. He was speaking to the author of coloring books, and said specifically that KM liked a certain title by that author. That leads me to believe his PR people had a hand in this. “This is the title of her first and best-known book, William. Be sure to mention it.” Jason might have said.

  19. Oh Will… he’s created an atmosphere where basically they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t. It wouldn’t kill them to let loose a slight bit. It would actually endear them to the people. With all the privacy this and privacy that, they’ve put themselves on a pedestal. And the public will pounce at the sight of anything. Giving a little would actually keep people at bay.

    Let’s say his comment about Kate enjoying colour books is genuine. It’s a nice tidbit about her that makes her “normal”. Oh look, isn’t that what they want? To appear normal? But guess what? Because of all the crap of hiding, no one cares and actually finds it insincere.

    You made your bed Will. Now go lie in it. And when things start to go downhill (if they haven’t already), don’t go running to the public/media for help.

    1. I agree, Miss K. All William has ever wanted is to be left alone. Now he got his wish and no one wants to report on anything he or his wife does. Including that trip to Vietnam that most people didn’t even know about. He did indeed make his bed and now he has to lie in it.

    2. They’ve made themselves distant and completely unrelatable. It will take some time to dig up themselves out…providing that’s something they choose to do. I don’t think they care if people love them or not. William is who he is and buddy is breathing different air than the rest of us. Problem is, he never learned the trick of acting like he isn’t, and that is hard to forgive. A little humility never hurt a single person that I’ve ever known but a lack of it can do a lot of damage- as we have seen!

  20. I hope Her Highness was home coloring with her kids on the evening of the 30th. I was wondering why there was no mention of herself attending the gala for EACH on the 30th at the NHM. Ed Sheeran was there too and performed. Her husband was at the Tusk awards — with her parents. NHM & EACH are her patronages. What’s up with her and EACH?

    When searching for info about it I found this pointed blog about it:
    http://www.apetiteprincess.com/2016/12/this-needs-to-be-said/
    I know about the dinner in June with the Norfolk set. This was the big annual gala. This is the go-to event.

    1. Unless Kate was unwell it’s not a good look to miss such an event, especially when her diary is so empty. Sending messages to be read or videos has become normailsed when it should only be used when the patron is too ill to attend or in another country. But, in all honesty, is Kate dedicated to her charities? Over five plus years the evidence would not indicate so. The woman who runs the blog you’ve linked to is clearly disappointed in Kate but there’s a lesson to be learned in idolizing people who don’t deserve your admiration in the first place.

    2. Missing out event like this truly shows that she doesn’t care about the critics towards her work ethics. This whole November seems very odd to me considering it is usually her busiest month of year

      1. That’s true, it usually is very busy, maybe they have their numbers up after India etc? Longtime reader, thanks to KMR for your work and time while I’m at it. This really is the place for the open and fair minded fan or observer. I’m a bit of both x

    3. Quite easy really. She doesn’t care.

      The June dinner seemed more about catering to her whims, having it in Norfolk, versus this big gala they do yearly which she’s missed, what, twice?

  21. I would like to think that Catherine was normal in that she liked to colour in. With all the privacy that William and Catherine have surrounded themselves with it is hard to get through the surface. Throw in a successful illustrator and I am slightly disbelieving. I coloured in one fish and gave the adult colouring book to my cousin.
    I used to have colouring books, join the dot pictures and used to draw free hand. In recent years I copied/traced the pictures on Love in a cold climate and The pursuit of Love. I will have to do them again as they were thrown out. My dad is a good artist. He likes drawing very much.

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