159 thoughts on “Kate goes off-roading during visit to Birmingham”

1. When I saw the days events early today, the first thought I had was “yay, she drove the course”. I figured she would not and would let William drive the course. I was happy to see she did drive the course, even while pregnant. I like when she participates and doesn’t defer to William.

   Also, Quinn is a very stylish woman! I am not surprised since she is a successful business woman.

   1. I was thinking the same thing! Kate usually defers to William and doesn’t get involved or do anything and instead just stands there while he does stuff. So it was great to see Kate actually drive a car also, and push a button while William just stood there.

      1. Oh and Happy Thanksgiving to you too KMR 🙂

   2. The one time I’d give Kate a pass and say defer to William would be anything that advises pregnant women not to do it. I’m sure it was with the upmost safety but still.
      Happy to see she still looks engaged at these events. So maybe she just needed a six yrs learning curve?
      I love seeing Catherine Quinn and how stylish and professional she comes off! Hope she’s able to advise them and have them listen to it. At least Kare, I don’t think William really listens to anyone but himself.
      Anyhoodles Happy thanksgiving! my big decision is if I dare watch the pbs Anne of green gables. Megan follows is Always Anne and Richard farnsworth is always Matthew so don’t know if I can do a new one! May all our choices be so tuff =)

      1. Sarah, Ditto and don’t you think Farnsworth sweet blue eyes always choke me up, I was so sad the way he ended his own life, but he was an awesome Matthew Cuthbert, and their will never be a better Anne with an E than Meghan Follows!!!

         1. I’ve seen that movie a thousand times and I still cry when he dies telling her he wanted her from the get go! Tear
            I do like Martin sheen and pbs does’t usually let me down but still don’t mess with a classic! I’m dvring it! If anyone’s already seen it let me know if it’s any good

            1. I’ve heard mixed reviews— some people are more malleable in their ability to see through new eyes. I know myself though and knew I’d be judging it too harshly.

2. What does it mean that she received those professors? Like audiences the Queen does at Buckingham Palace? Also, what’s up with the jackets? Are they trying to look sporty because the jackets seemed out of place in the football engagement.

   1. “Receiving” someone is just a fancy way of say the royal had a meeting with them. Basically, it means that Kate didn’t leave her home and the professors came to her for a brief meeting (although she probably met with them in the offices at KP, rather than her personal apartment).

3. That Land Rover thing seemed like a free commercial for them. And if pregnant women are not advised to drive the mountain terrain course…. why would Kate do it?
   Normally I wouldn’t say she should stand back, but if they actually say pregnant women shouldn’t do it… then why?

   Keep including the CQ pics… she was dressed the best for the events.

   So now that they did playtime events… when does she visit her neighbours at Grenfell?

   1. I almost felt bad questioning. It was like, “You go Kate… get on out there… oh, wait, but it says not if you’re pregnant… but guys, she’s actually *out there* for a change!?!?”

      1. I am guessing the advice not to drive the course may be predicated on the pregnancy term; perhaps Kate is early enough in her pregnancy that the recommendation does not yet apply,

4. What bugs me is these two, well, three with Harry but Harry doesnt’ do it as often, all their bread and butter engagements are geared towards entertaining them. William loves Aston Villa, suddenly they have a Coach Core program. Land Rovers! You know? They have fun instead of walk-abouts and meeting poeple, popping into small businesses, stuff Charles and Camilla do for example. I love see Charles visit local pubs or businesses, popping in to say hello and see what’s going on, it really brightens these people’s days and gives them publicity–imagine if Kate did that! It would be great for the people and their businesses… You’d think that would be smart for them to do but nah, it’s beneath them.

   Kate looks cute and happy (hello, she got to drive a car and do sporty things) though I hate the outfit. Glad she participated more as it’s one thing we talk about.

   CQ is so classy. I really like her. She’s too good and polished to babysit these two, but I hope it gives her a good reference on her CV…

   Happy Thanksgiving to my KMR friends! Hugs!

   1. Popping in to pubs and local businesses, that is Waity’s style. That is just not her personality. I don’t know if it is because the girl is shy or if she has an anxiety disorder, but I find Waity very awkward with people just in general and besides that, she can’t relate to regular people and doesn’t seem to want to.

      Waity is also not good off the cuff. That godawful interview in Denmark, where she kept repeating her answers like her Stepford wife robot buttons short circuited is proof of that.

   2. The funny thing is that CQ’s CV is already quite lengthy and impressive. It really make me curious as to what got her to take the job. Too bad we’ll almost certainly never know, especially because she clearly has too much discretion to ever dish.

      1. Question is, how long is she gonna stay in that position? Does Willie boy have a Catherine Quinn in his life?

         1. That was just going to be question. I’ve been told I look like her and am a similar age and body type as she is. I am going to have to up my sartorial game! I love everything she wears and it looks practical.

            1. I love her coat! Buy something like it!!

               Did you have a disaster of a day in Birmingham yesterday due to their visit?

         2. I wonder if it is possible that CQ is in charge of both of them, not just Kate. To keep WK on the same page

   3. I agree – we’re supposed to the praise the fact they did an away engagement when it should be routine. And they just did a coach core engagement. Why not more weighty matters. I loved the photos of William in Merseyside greeting patients but that’s so rare for this couple.

      1. Catherine Quinn is my new woman crush! Smart, professional, intelligent and probably looks like she doesn’t suffer fools! Would be happy to see more pics of CQ. I have to say, CQ already has been a pretty good influence on Kate. Kate is dressing a lot more appropriately and isn’t behaving like a sullen teenager who’s been forced to clean her room for her allowance. Kate is actually looking engaged at her events and is more participatory. Of course, they do need to increase their overall engagement numbers and do a lot more of the visiting and talking to people-type of engagements; rather than they get carted around, waited on and being entertained.

5. WHAT.IS.SHE.WEARING. Are those pants under that horrible coat and what is with those boots, AGAIN? And again, why is Catherine Quinn always better dressed than Waity and why are those black pants skin tight?

   I don’t understand at all why it seems like there is always something geared to entertain Whiny and Waity when they do engagements. It happens on all their holitours and it happens too frequently in England. Waity and Whiny are adults, they don’t need to entertained, they need to roll up their sleeves and get to the meat and potatoes of it and this is not what is happening here.

6. Such engagements are surely not the happiest ones, but they made the best of it.I think they both made a good team here and Kate shows good will.
   What I remembered when I read the costs of the clothes, are the costs of Meghan’s clothes when shopping.I don’t want to bash Meghan for it all the time, but I think she has to change her whole wardrobe if married to.Harry.She is used to really expensive things, but if in public and royal, she would be criticised for it.Kate did also wear expensive earrings for example, but in general, they watch her spendings.
   I like Kate’s black clothes here, also her boots(even if they were newly buyed-again).She looks beautiful here.

   1. Unlike Waity, though, Meghan has made her own money for years and has likely invested it well. If she can afford it independently, why not? Also Kate wears a ton of expensive stuff: Dolce&Gabanna, McQueen and her Kiki jewelry. Kate’s spending is not being watched. Remember that whole two kitchen fiasco?

      Meghan will be fine.

      1. How will they ever delinieate if it’s her spending or Charles’ stipend? They’d have to make a public disclosure and that likely wouldn’t go well either.

         1. Exactly and transparency re the spending of the royals will never happen.

            1. Bluhare, I thought when she gets clothes the bill goes directly to Charles.

            2. See Hera’s much more eloquent response below, as opposed to what I could give.

         2. I foresee some problems with this. Let’s postulate for a moment that KP did disclose when Meghan bought something herself versus when Charles bought it for her, I could totally see KP getting quite shady there and claiming Meghan purchased big ticket items herself when really Charles/the taxpayer did, to lesson any public gripes about spending of public money. I highly doubt KP would disclose who bought what, though, because that would bring up more questions about the cost of items, and where the money comes from.

            And the issue of who pays for what will always be in contention among royal watchers. Meghan fans could/will always claim Meghan purchased her clothes herself whenever anyone criticizes Meghan’s spending. And Meghan criticizers could/will always claim Charles/the taxpayer purchased Meghan’s clothes whenever they criticize her spending.

            Ugh, I can already see this issue being a mess.

            1. Well before criticising her for something she’s not done let’s Waity (??) and see. I wonder if she will buy expensive items but reuse them more? Perhaps she has learned the art of buying key expensive accessories and making them work in different ways. I think people would be much less annoyed by Kate’s big ticket items if they weren’t perceived as being for single use.

               We all gave Kate a chance at the start, can we not do the same for Meghan?

            2. Oh I’m all for giving Meghan a chance. My comment was not intended to be a criticism of her, and I apologize if it came across that way, but rather a hypothetical postulation of what kind of mess could occur if the issue of her spending comes up in the future based on what I’ve experienced with the issue of Kate’s spending. I’m not saying Meghan’s spending will be an issue, but that it will be a mess if it is.

               ETA: My comment above wasn’t intended to be a criticism of Meghan in any way, but rather a criticism of KP’s history of lying and royal watchers’ in-fighting. Again, I apologize if I was not clear enough with my original comment.

            3. It will be a mess, but we are assuming this will happen. It hasn’t really happened with Waity, so I don’t see it going down with Kate. I do vaguely remember Fergie’s spending got her in gobs of trouble, but I think it was because she demanded freebies.

               Herezeus (spelling?) will most likely be able to shed light re the Fergie stuff, as she knows her history.

               And why are we assuming Charles will foot the bill for Meghan’s clothes?

               I see Meghan being more practical about clothes. She was a starving actress once, who once had a car that was such a mess, she could only enter it through the trunk because the doors were broken. She knows how to be practical.

            4. I think theres something that you all are missing out or ignoring. Diana’s states was 21 million EUROS at the time of death, Willian and Harry received 10 million euros (kind of 16 million dollars) when they recah the age of 30 plus her jewlery and dresses. So ist nonsense with people complain or get mad about Catherine buying clothes or whatever, 10 million Euros is no joke plus many other things that the boys got from Diana. So its unfair and weird to assume and acuse that they just live with taxpayers money (which is no issue here in the UK and people a very aware of it) Do you really think that with a fortune they actually and officially have, Kate that because is Willian’s wife has access to his money as well, she would not buy stuff for her self. Even more weird ehen people say they are suppouselly poor and got no money to spend. I suggest a little bit more information and education about the real story. Also the Spencer family let states to the boys.
               https://www.thebalance.com/what-does-princess-diana-s-will-say-3505096

               Theres many information about it around, and Kate’s parents had officialy a 4 million Euros house before Kate enter at the university that was also quite expensive, so say this woman had no means and just spend money that doenst belong to her is nonsense.

            5. Keep in mind that Charles’ money isn’t from the taxpayer. He rakes in about 20M pounds from the Duchy of Cornwall (and he pays taxes on that income). He’s draws a salary from its profits.It’s been the income source for Princes of Wales since the 1300s, and he has no direct access to its assets – just salary. The Queen gets the sovereign grant, as well as income from the Ducky of Lancaster. So now you know.

            6. I can see that. For example, if she goes in a store and pays for it, she bought it, right? But that doesn’t mean a personal credit card was used or there isn’t any reimbursement afterwards.

            7. Christine: The Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster are NOT owned by the BRF. They are owned by the people of Great Britain. If the monarchy did not exist, the profits the Queen and Charles use would be in state coffers. for public use.

            8. Bluhare, I thought when she gets clothes the bill goes directly to Charles.

            9. Kitty, I don’t know the mechanics of how it works. I don’t know if she uses a Duchy credit card when she buys work clothes, but hopefully those are the only clothes Charles pays for.

               Royal finances aren’t very clear; but he is supposed to fund their office and pays for work related expenses. I certainly hope he isn’t paying for their personal upkeep as well. William has money of his own, and not just from Diana. The Queen Mother set up trust funds for all her granchildren, including great grandchildren I think?, and I imagine there are more.

            10. Kate’s clothes are a tax write off for Charles which is why there have been issues when she wears clothing for an event publicly and then wears it again privately. William is notoriously cheap and spends as little as possible. There is a reason why they went to visit the new Duke of Westminster, because his father lent them the private jet and other goodies.

                The BRF needs a serious financial audit and there would be scandals galore. But in light of what Brexit will do to the UK economy, the BRF really should not escape unscathed.

            11. Agnes: Sorry to tell you, but the lifestyle that WK lead can’t be supported by Diana’s legacy.

                It’s ridiculous to bring up Diana’s money when William’s country house is valued at £10M + Stamp duty, and he spent over £6M refurbishing the house and his flat at KP.

                He received £10M at 30yrs old. That sum can’t purchase his own country home. And if he used it to refurbish his own homes, he wold have only £4M of it left.

                Nevermind the annual costs in staffing and general bills of his private life.

                He (and Kate) use helicopters as if they are buses or taxis, privately, not just for public events. The public accounts last year finally admitted that all their helicopter travel, regardless of private or public use, was going to be deemed public so the taxpayers pay for it.

                A one hour helicopter journey on a basic plane is £3K. Now imagine how much a security enhanced helicopter required for royal travel costs?

                A few years ago, there was the scandal of William suddenly changing a ‘private’ helicopter visit to spy HQ to a public visit after he was presented with the £6K cost of the helicopter.

                Then there was the time they insisted a journey between Anmer and London was a public visit after being presented with the £15K bill.

                They frequently ‘borrow’ the Grosvenor’s private plane. Perks of having a billionaire godfather. Not just for travel abroad, but within UK, especially to Scotland.

                Carole famously gets discounts for the family, not just the Middletons. Who can forget the cut-price shoot she organised last christmas so Willuam wouldn’t miss out on boxing day shooting after he refused to spend christmas with the royals. She threw about ‘royal discount’ in order to get a cut price.

                These are just a few examples to say that regular people are dazzled by William’s £10M Diana legacy, but frankly, it’s not emough for the lifestyle he leads. It would keep him going for a year at the rate he spends.

                And also, the Euro was at fx 1.2/1.3 to the £ max in 2012 when he received his money. That would make his legacy €12M-€13M at most. The Euro has never reached fx 1.6. The highest it has ever been was early 00s when it reached fx1.4. For the past 5yrs it has languised at fx 1.1.

                Also, i don’t know where you are getting your figures, but Diana’s estate was not in EUROS as you claim. It was in GBP. Stop inflating figures to prove misinformation.

                Diana’s will is available online. It’s always been publicly available. You don’t need a link to some journalist spreading false information to read it for yourself.

                It’s part of Charles’s annual accounts that he spends £4M annually on WHK lifestyle and office expenses.

                It’s also become public knowledge that they have over 30 staff after a christmas party they gave became public knowledge after the restauranter talked to the media. They publicly claim not to have any staff or at the very least have skeleton staff, yet these non existing staff keep quitting them and or show up for christmas parties thrown for them.

                The BP royal accounts that are made public include line items about WK, like the aforementioned helicopters.

                The british public doesn’t pay enough attention and the Palace uses heavy duty gaslighting PR to pretend that the royals cost nothing and or WK don’t use public funds even though they do.

                Btw, that £6M came from money earmarked for refurbishment of BP. It was a line item in the public accounts, spread out over 3years.

                Charles started out being transparent about the money he gave to them, after backlash, he calls it misc. Expenses.

            12. And don’t forget William’s trip to Jecca’s wedding, a private affair, and would have cost him… until he added in an official visit to a Prime Minister, thus transferring personal costs to the taxpayer. Where will it end…

            13. “… yet these non existing staff keep quitting them and or show up for christmas parties thrown for them.”

                Herazerus, you outdid yourself on this one! I can’t stop giggling.

            14. Jen: exactly.

                Em: you are welcome.

                Also, last year after William was photographed on a budget airline, the inhouse Middleton pap tweated that that was definitely a William purchase coz he was too cheap and not as wealthy as public perception. Anything private or costly was either freebies from friends or taxpayer money.

                And who can forget the famous story of him calling up the Jigsaw boss and asking for a free rental of their mustique villa on the grounds that he had no money to pay for it.

                The lady said he was that brazen about it. A regular person might have factored in their lack of funds precluding them from going somewhere they couldn’t afford, but not William.

                Jigsaw lady said they settled on his paying a small fee to charity to get the villa.

                It was widely known that the Middletons paid for his vacations to Mustique and to skiing holidays which was one of the reasons he was pictured so often with them on holidays.

                The man cab’t afford his own lifestyle.

                Nor can the Middletons given it was revealed that they had several mortgages on their home during the credit crunch.

         3. Agnes:

            It would probably get lumped in with the “family” expenditures Charles lists on his annual review. I’ve linked to the 2016 one. In it, he lists his income and expenditures. Paying for the Cambridges and Prince Harry cost 3,249,000 pounds. That includes staff, travel, and clothes. I can’t find it now, but I remember seeing a 200,000 + figure for Kate’s clothes somewhere. Charles pays for it all.

            It makes a certain amount of sense. This way, his sons can keep their personal wealth to transfer to his grandchildren when he’s no longer able to look after them.
            https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/media/annual-review/annual-review-2016

            1. When William becomes Prince of Wales and takes possession of that Duchy of Cornwall income, is he beholden to pay for Harry and family?

               I agree with Nic919 that a forensic audit of how the BRF utilises public monies in all its forms needs to be done and made public. Every recipient of public funds, from departments to welfare beneficiaries, are accountable. And so it should be for the BRF too.

            2. The Queen pays for her children (except Charles). Charles pays for his children, and William will pay for his. When William is the PoW, Harry will have to make do with public housing (probably), public security, his own money (inheritances, trust funds, etc.) and “representing the monarch” money from Charles. That’s likely to be generous until William is King. I suspect that any royal work stipend from William will be pretty meagre.

            3. Thanks, graymatters. Harry needs Charles or the Queen to step up with a house and any other benefits before the inevitable passage of time. I find it amusing that with all their private millions the BRF are reluctant to use them, as the rest of us need to do with our meagre (by comparison) incomes.

            4. William is cheap as hell and not a generous person so he’d probably leave his brother out in the cold but I’m sure Harry has a generous trust from Diana and the Queen Mum considering William gets everything and notoriously is a skinflint…then add in his attitude and personality and well, perfect storm eh?

            5. Did Charles paid for Harry’s drugs?(Yes, that’s a provocative question, but nevertheless interesting).
               And for underwear,too? Every little thing? Bubble gum?
               I think they get a certain amount of money and can choose what to buy or they have access to it,otherwise it would be strange.But if someone I love would use it for drugs, I would stop the money.Maybe Charles did and Harry got it from friends? We will probably never know.
               This whole “Who pays for what” is really strange.

            6. It’s interesting how Harry changed.
               I didn’t like him in his wilder years with all the partying and drugs.
               It must have been a hard time not only for himself, but the rest of his family,especially Charles.
               I’m really,really glad he changed for the better.He was able to make the right decision.

            7. Harry didn’t change. Your perception of him changed because the media stopped pumping out ‘wild, party prince’ articles of him.

               There is a documentary called ‘reinventing the royals’ that mostly discusses how charles manipulated the media that dives into how he used Harry to create a positive image for himself.

               Editors say how they often created headlines, used same set of photos repeatedly in different articles over several weeks to create the wild Harry image.

               When William and Harry gave an interview to Matt Lauer for the Diana concert in 2007, they both acknowlefged that Willuam was the real wild one. Partied more than Harry, drank more than Harry etc, but his public image was the sensible, sober brother.

               It was a parallel extended to their girlfriends where Kate was the cool, stay at home type whilst Chelsy was the wild, drunk party girl.

               Nevermind actual evidence of WK’s 4nights a week clubbing and drinking crack babies during this period. Making fun of Harry and Chelsy for being unable to keep up.

               Real evidence of Chelsy studying for her second degree and photos were of the rare nights out used several times across several articles.

               Then there is the unofficial heir vs spare Palace PR policy of always throwing the spare under the bus to make the heir always look good. Always. Policy dates back to David.

               Everything you think you know about the spares, especially if it’s negative, is a deliberate policy designed to make the public glad the heir isn’t as dreadful as the spare.

               Therefore any and all transgressions by the spare are allowed to be exposed by the media whilst most, if not all, transgressions by the heir are hidden.

               The only time this policy didn’t work was charles during the Diana years because Diana had so much more glamour and she was willing to work with the media and to give insider information.

               That is the only time the policy failed, but as soon as Diana was out of the picture, it worked like a charm in rehabilitating Charles because look how awful his brothers are.

               Harry was still getting ‘wild, party prince’ headlines until his first solo tour of South America. That was the first time the public had a proper look at him outside of PR driven narratives. The public respinse to him was similar to the public response to his mother. A few articles continued yo push the ‘wild, party prince’ line, but the public wasn’t as ready to buy into it, and the media realised it was more profitable to sell him in this new persona. Why fight what the public wants?

            8. A lot of the Harry drugs stories were made up.

               William was worse.

               I wouldn’t be surprised if both of them tried drugs, though, but William partied a lot harder; he was just protected. Harry was the scapegoat. You can tell even now in his behavior when he is around William how it has affected him.

            9. It makes sense. Remember this article? https://www.google.com/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3739360/amp/The-King-Queen-freebie-holiday-Kate-Wills-enjoy-breaks-20-000-week-resorts-thanks-Royal-Family-s-network-friends.html

   2. I’d expect Charles’s costs of supporting Harry and William (+ family) will rise once there is another marriage. It’s over £3 million pounds pa (2016). There will be another residence to refurbish, security etc etc. Of course Harry’s wife would be part of that expenditure. I’d guess that Charles pays for everything and accounts are fudged. We know there is huge secrecy surrounding how money is spent by the BRF; it’s riddled with dishonesty. If you’re exposed to endless privilege, at some point it becomes your normal. Look at Kate’s spending. Meghan will fall in line to that way of life. They all do. And when the royal privilege ends, as it did for Fergie and Diana, they had huge difficulties in coping. The privilege was addicitive.

      1. Jen, so then the royals do not pay for anything at all?

   3. Lovely Blossom-how is this not a happy engagement? Are you being sarcastic and I missed it? Cars and football are two things William loves- I would say this was a very fun away day for them. Nothing unhappy at all.

7. Exactly, give Meghan a fair shot. I did give Waity a shot-I truly did-for almost two years and then I began to see it was hopeless. But I tried.

   1. You are at the point i was around the wedding.

      I’ve been too close to believe the PR, BUT i hoped once she had the ring, she would prove everyone wrong. I allowed myself to buy into the bs engagement PR.

      I lost my hope afew days after the wedding when the Palace released the statement about her being a housewife.

      I immediately saw how we had been conned. Especially when the media started promoting the Malta lie to explain how Kate had 180’d from ‘she can’t wait to start working’ and ‘she’s going to hit the ground running’ and ‘most prepared, educated royal bride ever’ to ‘she’s going to be a housewife in Wales’.

      And that Malta lie became more embellished with each telling such that Kate was going to be such a good housewife and a supportive one that she would join her local RAF wives club.

      I was so outraged at all this media manipulation that for the first time in my life i joined an internet chatroom to express it.

      The good news is that i met a few people in that chat room who have turned into fabulous, real life friends. And i was the sour note in their chat group, until they all saw for themselves the con. One of them was particularly sold on the ‘joining the RAF wives club’ line, and was outraged to find it was a lie a couple of weeks later.

      So, Leah, all this to say that you are in the anger stage after finding out you were conned.

      Soon you’ll be in the cynical stage and eventually you’ll be in the indifferent stage my friends and i are in, and will find yourself impressed because Kate’s PA showed up dressed like a grown up. Who knew a grown up being a grown up was impressive?

      That is the lowbar Kate has set.

      I don’t expect anymore from Kate. I applaud when she shows up to do her job, and try not to notice the low bar.

      1. Until Kate does a solid three to four consecutive years of 400 plus appearances I am not going to buy any of the PR, even with the great Catherine Quinn. She is a write off at this point and sadly the UK taxpayers are stuck with her. I won’t be shocked if she has a fourth child because she isn’t exactly without any help when it comes to raising them and she gets her best reviews when she is pregnant and can provide a physical reminder of her fertility. No one really goes after pregnant women if they are lazy, even if Kate barely does in a year what most pregnant do in a month and with far less help.

         I have some optimism for now with Meghan, only because she has been a productive adult to date and has an interest in charity that existed before Harry came into the picture. She also comes from a place where she did not have all the white privilege that Kate has and I believe she understands that she could help others in this new position.

         I could easily be proven wrong on all of this regarding Meghan, but for now I will keep an open mind.

         1. I’d like to think you are right, though if you are joining the BRF the likelihood is that you are – or will be – in step with how it all operates and are fine with it. You’ve got to want it. So if Harry defers to W&K, so will Meghan. If Harry wants to work less for whatever reason, so will Meghan. And so on. Balance of position and ego will need to be maintained at all costs.

      2. Didn’t they barely live on Anglesey and Kate stayed with her parents, even after the wedding, fairly often?

         Anglesey seems right my speed but not Kate’s who wants the shops in King’s Road and all the paps…

         1. Ellie: Yep. More lies. The woman was papoed more often in London or in Berkshire than she was in Anglesey, but the public line was that she was being a good little housewife in Anglesey.

            1. I recall seeing a thing on Royal Dish years ago where people made a list of Kate pap sighting to prove how she was never in Anglesey and it turns out she was there rarely.

               William probably was too considering all the partying he did when he should have been working like during the flooding.

            2. I remember that list.

               It was so accurate that i started to worry about the security of it all because there was something stalker-ish about it.

               I think the peeps at Royaldish worried about it too because they deleted it.

8. I have to admit, I am really surprised at the numbers Kate is pulling right now. Maybe I am under a wrong impression but it seems as if she is working more (thought she would reduce even more in her pregnancy)? Please correct me if someone has the numbers. I also think she is somewhat more active at her engagements/ looks happy and like she is enjoying them- they were mostly easy engagements though.
   That leaves me wondering if this is part of a long term plan to increase their workload (especially after the DoE retired) or if she feels threatened by Meghan? If Meghan plays her cards right she could be a new Grace Kelly. Smart, successful in her own rights, beautiful, experienced in PR and charity and the poster child for how open and modern the royal family is. Sadly, Kate didn’t build up on her “Cinderella” image, so I can only see becoming a workhorse like the Queen as her way to up her position in the public eye (compared to Meghan- at least at the beginning). Maybe they will start playing the “happy family” card in a better way. Start bringing George (and Charlotte) to more child friendly occasions, release more “candid” photos and arrange more “spontaneous” outings. This would be very beneficial for their perception and might be a good way to ease George into this. I mean, who doesn’t love sugary family photos? The SRF is doing it all the time, and they perfected it.

   1. She is doing a few of the cancelled engagements now. For example next week would have been the Scandi tour for both of them, but Kate is not going and they postponed most of it. Kate has two engagements those days that were likely scheduled but cancelled before.

   2. I think it’s a combination of the cancelled engagement and normal end of year flurry to bump numbers up.

   3. She hasn’t even hit 100 yet so she isn’t even beating her numbers from last year. It is all smoke and mirrors. Despite the annual declaration to be keen, nothing has significantly changed.

      1. Nic919, Chutney isn’t keen about anything but Botox and shopping!!!

   4. They both do lots of engagements at the end of the year to UP their total before the annual reveal of overall engagement numbers.

      Suffice it to say that despite the last minute annual flurry, they always show up bottom of the numbers table.

      I am impressed by the rescheduled engagements. I put that down to her new PA Catherine Quinn.

      In the past, Kate never rescheduled. Cancelled engagements remained cancelled and that was that.

      I’m assuming that CQ won’t let her do that and when she cancels stuff, it’s rescheduled instead.

      That would also make it seem like she’s working more because her cancelled appts are still kept in the diary, albight squeezed into a smaller window that she normally schedules most of her make the numbers appts.

9. Both outfits are okay-ish, the jackets and tennis totally match the place they went. I like to see her little bump coming alive. I am also preggo and I would never drive that road, but my pregnancy is a risk one so in my case I must be more carefull.

   KMR is this the most busy trimester for Catherine or she did have a busier end of the year before?

   Also why people are squeezing Meghan in any post that has nothing to do with her?

   1. It’ interesting to see how people spend their money before they are under surveillance.
      With the huge amount of money Meghan gives those shops you can bet that she will have problems to find something suitable as royal wife.

      1. Meghan is a private citizen who has worked hard for her money. She is allowed to spend as she pleases

         1. If she marries, not anymore.
            That’s what I wanted to.say.

      2. What do you mean with the huge amount of money Meghan gives shops she will have problems to find something suitable as a royal wife?

         You’re contradicting yourself.

         1. That Meghan already dresses so expensively, she’ll have a hard time upgrading to princess style?

            1. Kate spends a lot of money too… 200 k every year isn’t chump change. It’s just that she has boring taste and so most of her stuff looks cheap.
               Diana spent a lot of money on clothes too, she just did a lot of Royal work so people were less inclined to notice the excess.

         2. No, I’m not contradicting myself.
            If she becomes royal, she can’t spend such huge amounts of money on such items like handbags or bracelets.She will have problems to.find clothing (believe me, people who.spend 2000$ for a handbag aren’t satisfied with one for 300$).
            AND I hate the fact that she was poor, that she sees hungry children in Africa and doesn’t have qualms to live a luxury life.I don’t care if she works for it, it’s called hypocrisy. And I can’t stand that.
            She doesn’t have to buy cheap things, I’m all for quality.But such spending is obscene when the same person travels next week to.Africa and pities the poor,poor hungry children there.
            It makes me sick.
            Kate also loves shopping, but she doesn’t pretend to be a benefactor on the same time.

            1. Please can we not do ‘but what aboutism’ with Africa.

               This is one of my pet peeves. I grew up in Africa. Different parts.

               Africa is diverse, poor, rich as other continents.

               Please pick another continent and stop feeling sorry for ‘poor, destitute, Africans’.

               It’s as offensive as my going to the poorest ghetto / slum on any continent and tarring the continent with the state of said ghetto /slum.

               And i have been annoyed by MM’s visit to poor African communities for this kind of virtual signaling, and said as much on MMR.

               Just.stop.it.

            2. Lovely Blossom, I fail to see Meghan’s hypocrisy. Diana visited the poor in Africa, India and lived a luxe life. Angelina visits refugess and wears expensive designer clothing.

               I don’t consider them hypocrites just as I don’t consider Meghan one. At least she goes and tries to make a difference. Waity does not.

               You just don’t care for Meghan and are looking for anyway to discredit her.

            3. Excuse me, Herazeus, I didn’t meant to offend someone.
               I just hate the behaviour of wealthy people to.make a show in poorer countries.
               You are right, they often take Africa as the prime example of a poor country(although, there live a lot of rich people).
               It’s often just PR.
               I never wanted to.offend the people there.
               And to Leah. It’s right, many celebrities do charity work an spend lot of money for themselves.But Meghan will become a royal wife someday and I have a bitter taste that her humanitarian work is often just PR.
               I hope I’m wrong and she really cares for these causes.
               I will stop.it now I despise to write so hateful, I really don’t like it.
               I wish Meghan and Kate all the best with the hope that Meghan does these things out of her heart, that is all.

10. Catherine Quinn looks fab.

    1. She does have way better style.

    2. I love her style. She’s impeccable.

       Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

    3. She seems to have a strong character.

       1. Plus, she has great style.It will be interesting how long she will stay with Kate.
          It will be a sad day when she leaves.

          1. I can’t believe William and Kate losing good, reliable and hard working staff. They might want more family time or to go on to another job but it is incredible that there is no consistency with the staff.

             1. Poor pay, long hours, demanding (aka difficult) employers are the reasons most people move on.

             2. There are perks like a Christmas pudding, seats in the box and Twickenham , Queens club etc and accommodation I think is available. A friend of the family’s daughter was nearly knocked down by Prince Philip when she worked there. It was very discreet how they handled the interview process.

11. Yes to repeat coats! And, Kate actually changed coats and put her hair up to be more appropriate for a visit with kids. She looks really happy too, and I’m glad she participated in the driving and model car activity. I would imagine Land Rover would not let her drive if they were truly worried about pregnant women doing it. It probably is a warning out of an abundance of caution.

    I’m glad Kate seems to be following through so far with her interest in maternal health with the private meeting…I hope she continues it post preganancy.

    1. Ann +1

       I love Kate’s coat.

12. Kate looked very natural and liked she enjoyed herself with the kids today. Hope we see more of this.

13. I think she looked Okeyish. But she now has started to look older than William. In some photos she is looking like a 50 years old.

14. Christine, re your comment up post. The Duchy of Cornwall is owned by the taxpayer – it is NOT owned by Charles personally, if we abolished the monarchy, for example, the Duchy land would revert to the government. Thus all and any money used from the Duchy IS taxpayer money. We go over this and over this with different commenters, but it is incorrect to suggest this is personal money. Charles has tried to have it reassigned as his personal land and was fortunately unsuccessful.

    Sorry couldn’t reply at the right place!

    1. I agree with you. Charles doesn’t own Duchy of Cornwall, although he manages it and I do think he’s been a very good steward of it. That being said, the income derived from it is his personal income, as income from the Duchy of Lancaster is the Queen’s. So it may come from quasi-governmental source, but the income is his. So it is his personal income now, but if the monarchy ends while he is POW, it will stop. Not sure if that means we agree or disagree, but I think we agree on the basic premise?

    2. Birdy, I posted the same comment close to Christine’s original comment. Part of the ‘confusion’ is deliberate obfuscation on the part of the BRF plus press ignorance/ laziness to call the Duchies “private estates” belonging to Charles and the Queen. The Duchies were described in these terms in the recent Paradise Papers scandal, which is just lazy journalism. But it also softens up the public to believe these royal ownership claims should Charles makes another grab for public resources. Vigilance is key in keeping these people accountable.

       1. What y’all said.

          Christine is living proof of the success of establishment obsfucation of the facts.

          Ditto that poster who keeps using brand finance as proof of Royal importance.

          1. “Ditto that poster who keeps using brand finance as proof of Royal importance.”

             The royal family don’t need Brand Finance ‘as proof of Royal importance’.

             1. BrandFinance’s report is an example of both misinformation and disinformation. It falls into the misinformation category because it makes false connections and its content is misleading. It falls into the disinformation category because it creates a false context, and manipulates and fabricates content.

                The intention is to conflate the monarchy with financial largesse for Britain. Further, it is a mechanism employed to keep people placated into thinking that the monarchy equals value – one penny a day! – and therefore the status quo should be maintained.

                When you drill down, most claims made are either incorrect, cannot be independently verified with reliable data or are rather fanciful and somewhat desperate. A frank discussion about the value of the monarchy cannot happen until, and only until, there is a full and transparent audit of all public monies awarded to the BRF.

             2. “most claims made are either incorrect, cannot be independently verified with reliable data or are rather fanciful and somewhat desperate.”

                This statement indicates you have little or no understanding of economic modelling. Brand Finance is the world’s largest, independent company in it’s field. Brand Finance and others, employ sophisticated economic modelling to assign a dollar/pound value to intangibles. For example, what is the value of a company’s goodwill; what is the economic impact of Wimbledon on the British economy, or, what are the economic implications for the UK following BREXIT?
                These parameters can not be valued using traditional economic/financial methodology. Brand Finance would not make spurious claims which would jeopardise or negatively impact on it’s reputation and credibility as a world leader in it’s field. For such a high profile company, loss of these would be ‘curtains’.

             3. Then BF needs to explain its sophisticated modelling techniques showing how, for example, they arrive at their conclusion that because William and Kate lived in Anglesey at some point – though rarely, it appears – that this accounts for the town’s increased/sustained hotel bookings for years. Sure, people might have heard that the couple were located there for a time, but how have they isolated that from all other reasons why people might holiday there? Where’s the data?

                Where’s the data that proves that the monarchy costs one penny a day for each citizen? No-one is privy to how much the monarchy actually costs the country because the current incumbents refuse to release full expenditure. Nor do we know of all sources of income.

                And on it goes.

                I stand by my comment that BF has indulged in misinformation and disinformation to conjure a particular picture flattering to the current incumbents of the monarchy. Not desperately impressed with economists as a rule; too often wrong.

             4. Jen, I’ve seen some things as in on video and such about Anglesey tourism using W&K as some sort of “look, it’s good enough for them, come visit!” as a draw. Maybe it worked? I dunno. Looks like a gorgeous place, I’d love to visit but not because of W&K–though I did hear about it due to their made-up love story about living in a modest cottage (cough house with staff cough) there.

             5. I don’t know about Brand Finance or economic modelling but I do know research, statistics, data manipulation and PR spin. I’m with Jen on this. Said ‘economic modelling’ doesn’t live in a vacuum, nor is it pure truth and fact, immune to biases and manipulation. There is so much wrong with BF’s declarations from a social scientist’s POV. One would have to look at the raw data just to begin with.

             6. When I saw that Brand Finance had included money generated from “The Crown” I read no further. Seriously, did they include that in their data? So did they also include “The Tudors” or that comedy soap opera “The Windsors?”

             7. The Spectator: Firstly, i couldn’t remember who kept posting Brand Finance, but by your defensive arguments for it, i’m guessing it was you.

                It works for you, and clearly you believe what it tells you.

                On the subject of the BRF, it is utterly wrong. @Jen, @Maven and @ Lizzie have pointed out some of the issues that are wrong about BrandFinance’s calculations.

                You choose to accept data that is legally and constitutionally known NOT to belong to the BRF, which operates independently of them and will not to affected by their removal, not to mention the obviously wrong parameters used in their calculations like using entire population of UK in denominators when taxpayers are the only relevant denominators.

                Brand Finance are operating like those people who assume that the crown estates belong to tge royals because they have the word ‘crown’ in the title.

                In that case, why aren’t they including the Crown prosecution service? Afterall, that’s a crown service and we all know it’s the Queen personally prosecuting peopke….oh wait!!

                Or what about HM prison service or HM’s face on our money. Clearly she personally owns us since we use hef money and when jailed we use her prison.

                That is how ridiculous BrandFinance’s paramenters, information, data modelling on the BRF.

             8. When you look at what the brand finance is measuring you can see that it’s pseudoscience disguised as real data essentially to prove that the royals are essentially worth more than the cost.
                Especially when you look at the categories they’re using

             9. All accounting reports are only as valid as the premises upon which they are based. If the premise is faulty then the calculations it makes are also incorrect. I know this because I cross examine accountants and their reports at trial. Everything from government budgets to private sector profit reports can be manipulated this way. Just because there are number doesn’t mean it is accurate. All accounting firms from PricewaterhouseCoopers on down do the same thing because they draft their report based on what their clients want to see.

             10. Brand Finance is simply a company that uses mathematical models in an attempt to measure intangibles.
                 The report on the value of the British monarchy is just one of many such reports produced by Brand Finance annually. Other companies that Brand Finance do consultancy work for include Apple, Amazon.com, Toyota, BMW, Shell, The Home Depot, Bank of America, IKEA and UPS to name but a few. Why would some of the largest and most successful organisations in the world engage Brand Finance to undertake their economic modelling?
                 Your comments indicate a lack of understanding of what constitutes economic modelling and how it is used to measure the value of intangibles. This, coupled with your personal bias against the royal family, demonstrates that any positive report (or even news) about the royal family would be rejected out of hand.

             11. Brand Finance Monarchy 2017 report is merely a glossy advert for their new Coat of Arms Service.

                 Extoll the monetary worth and value of the monarchy.

                 Include a fine print disclaimer at the bottom of page 13.

                 Explain the history of Coats of Arms.

                 Use the Brand Finance Coat of Arms as an illustration.

                 Advertise new Coat of Arms Service. Yes, Brand Finance can help your company apply for its very own Coat of Arms! What company can afford to be without one and the association with royalty that it brings?

             12. Thanks Matilda for helping to illustrate my point.

             13. It is very clear that the Brand Finance piece is a selling tool for flogging coats of arms. Because that’s what matters in life – faux credentials, like Middleton pinky rings and their own coat of arms.

                 As @Herazeus, @Maven, @Lizzie, @Sarah, @nic919 and myself have pointed out, the material is falsely drawn in the first place. The sad part is that media outlets seize upon such fanciful material and do not read beyond the assertions made in the executive summary, let alone use their brains to challenge them.

15. I really like that Kate drove a car instead of just deferring to William too. When my mum was expecting me, mum took her driving test and explained how calm she felt. It seems to be hormones. The calmest mum ever was. I am not sure about the outfit. It looks like theme dressing again. I wish Kate would have worn blue with a scarf. You can get scarves in charity shops they are that available.
    I think George should have a whistle and bring some life into the household. The little guy looks so down nearly all the time.
    Happy Thanksgiving KMR, and to all who celebrate. Feeling thankful for family and friends.

    1. N.b. I like toy cars. A guy friend had loads and I was never happier playing with them.

16. She looks very engaged and healthy which is good. Hopefully she receives some helpful guidance from Ms Quinn. She needs a professional not a friend, in that role. I see they did a few engagements in Birmingham so it’s pleasing to see them at work in England.

    However, the visit to Land Rover seems like one big advertisement, including lots of prominent logo shots shown (on news websites, not KMR). Of course the Royals support british companies (whatever that means in today’s global market) but it does seem a bit to tarnish their brand to be participating so enthusiastically in advertising. Particularly when the RF and its connections, eg. the Middleton’s all enjoy driving Land Rovers. It’s the lack of disclosure about this relationship and the benefits which arise, I find troubling. The RF needs to have a good look at its brand and risk to its reputation and its ethics around finances.

    1. I agree, but there is a refusal on the part of the BRF to be transparent with financial information, including deals done with Land Rover, Raybans and so on. They are even exempt from FoI inquiries which is mind-boggling. If organisations refuse to be transparent there is only one conclusion that can be reached as to why.

17. KMR is there a way on both this blog and on Meghan Markle review that the newest comments are always at the top so we don’t have to hunt for them?

    1. Leah, That would be so practical

       1. I know. But KMR has not responded to me. I just hate having to spend tons of time looking for new comments when it would easier if KMR could make it so the new comments were always at the top

18. So are we all ready. It’s looking increasingly like today to tomorrow.

    1. How do you know? What has Mister BBV heard?!!

    2. I read that bets have been suspended.. always a sign of something solid.

    3. Ooh is this coming from our oracle??! Doesn’t Harry have something tomorrow or is that next wk? Eek kinda excited and kinda wanted her to live there a bit before an announcement.
       It’s not my life tho so guess what I think would be best doesn’t matter =)

       1. Just the betting suspension which as Jen says is usually a very solid precursor but my Middleton contact got in touch tonight and was cryptic and said very little that could incriminate her but the fact that she raised the subject was quite telling. If nothing has happened by the weekend I will ask her a couple of direct questions. Xx

          1. Our very own KMR spy. Fantastic!!

             1. I know, I love it!!

          2. Thanks for the info Mrs BBV. I love that you have a Middleton contact. I wish she could tell us more inside info all the time 😉

             1. I’m really careful not to ask her too much…..I don’t want to break her trust or make her feel like I’m using her. We had been such good friends for a few years before she told me and I would never do anything to compromise her. But I admit when she’s popped up online last night it was all I could do to stop myself asking her what she knew. ?

       2. I wonder where Meaghan’s mother and father are ? Have either of them been spotted in the UK ? Good luck to H&M – they will need it. Hopefully he gets a country house as a wedding present.

    4. A Friday announcement? I would have thought they would have announced on a Monday or a Tuesday.

       1. KMR, did you see my question above?

       2. I think its going to be next month, a xmas engagement sounds more “fairy tale” like. Also the rules says they have to be engaged at least for six months before the weeding, and I dont think they want/can get married until the new baby is born.
          The engagement is coming but I personally still dont believe they will made until the wedding. They are living a LDR and life is much different living together and saying the whole of the another person.

          1. What rule says they have to be engaged six months and why do they have to wait for Waity’s baby to be born? The world does not revolve around Waity and it shouldn’t. Princess Madeleine was pregnant at her brother Carl’s wedding to Sophia. There is nothing wrong with Waity being pregnant at the wedding. People act like that would be a cardinal sin.

             1. Because William makes sure everything does revolve around him and Kate. Harry knows this.

                I’m sure if they are engaged it will be after the baby is born, enough time for Kate to recover and be slender again. That’s the most important thing to Kate I’m sure.

             2. OMG you should get educated about some royal protocol. I suggest the book “In the royal manner” with all oficial protocol and rules. The six months rule isnt for everyone just for Charles childen and grandchildren, Charles himself should have fallow the same but he proposed to Diana on February 3 and got married on July 29. Its not about Willian and Catherine choosing anything. Willian and Kate got engaged in October 20 (oficially announced November 16) and got married in the follow year in April, six months rule applyed.
                Leah you really need to chill out, this blog is for entertainement, I saw at least 5 times where people call you out to not put so much energy on this.

             3. Six months is more a guideline I’d imagine because it takes a lot to plan a huge thing, but I’ve read it’s basically pre-planned and just assume who the bride is and stick all the information you need in later but they’re so well-organized they know precisely what to do. They all know what’s going on and when and how, just pick a date which afaik they are given a list of by government officials where people are available to attend including other family members.

             4. Agnes: are you talking about the book by Paul Burrell?

                Because that book is only about Paul and his royal obsession.

                The only book that’s ever been written on royal protocol, dress and occasion was released in the 1920s by the Lord Chamberlain’s office.

                That book is out of print, though you can find it in Antiquarian bookstores.

                There are afew pamphlets about court ceremonies such as being presented to court, rules of engagement for all kinds of ceremonies. How to dress for court etc.

                Further, many of the rules are holdouts from Hanover eg the length of time to mourn the old dead King and crown the new one.

                Length of time between engagements and weddings.

                Most of these were organised according to ease of organisation.

                It probably took a year to organise a coronation because communications and preparations were not as easy as they are today.

                That said, The Queen still follows the rules laid down by her grandfather which means the book by the Lord Chamberlain is the most correct form on etiquette NOT the twitterings of Paul Burrell.

                Without the Lord Chamberlain’s guide, Debrett’s is a better source of court protocol and etiquette.

                And by the way, protocol is set by the Monarch. If the Queen decided everyone should conga during state banquets, that would be the protocol.

                She chooses to continue with her grandfather’s rules plus a few modifications by her father.

                But she can change the protocol if she chooses.

       3. Normally yes but on this occasion with there being so much to comment on given Meghan’s background I think Friday gives it a chance to die down a bit over the weekend as opposed to build momentum during the week. There are still a lot of Brits who find the fact that she’s American, a divorcee, an actress and of colour quite the scandal. And given that the DM comment pages are full of this kind prejudiced bollox it’s not going to be universally approved of in the U.K.

          1. That is a shame. Times have changed and people should think differently. I wish people would find it in their hearts to at least give Meghan a chance and see what she has to offer, but I doubt they will. And it is very sad, really.

             Why anyone in the UK is pissed that Meghan is American is baffling to me.

             1. Because unfortunately some parts of British society remain bigoted, stuck in the past, don’t like change and enjoy a good moan. It’s part of of our nation’s more negative characteristics I’m afraid.

                Some of the things written about Sparkles make me feel quite ashamed of my own nation but the DM comments board is international so everyone can share the blame with that board I’m afraid.

    5. I wonder if–they are engaged–it will be properly done rather than the disaster of William telling the press first, nobody prepared, etc…

       1. Yea apparently BBC has been told to expect an imminent royal announcement. And I’m seeing a lot of articles on things like what gift the Queen gave to Meghan for their engagement. Ok I’m curious to see if this news officially comes out tomorrow.

          1. Interesting if it’s an engagement, I never thought they’d get married due to all her baggage (most of all them not really knowing each other, LDRs kinda worry me honestly).

             But I think whenever Harry does get engaged he will do it the right way and consult with Granny first. Nobody has major engagements in the next few days do they?

          2. I want to know which gift was that hahahah

19. My Inner Snark popped up quickly after I saw that Kate and William were going to the Land Rover factory – he wanted to know if Kate was looking for Ben there, or if she was going shopping for a new car? “Time will tell” I told him, “and let’s not forget all the jobs that this factory has supplied to the region”. He grumbled for a bit and then asked if they had included an activity for Kate, cos she’s “Sporty Royal”. I said about the off-road driving course and my snark said he was very glad that Kate forgot to pack her HG and she didn’t throw up.

    I do want to commend Acme Whistle for keeping the business in Birmingham and not sending the manufactory plant to China. It’s companies like this who keep the jobs in the regional cities that deserve recognition.

    And a thumbs up for Catherine Quinn for getting Kate into appropriate footwear, even if Kate had to go shopping again as she mustn’t have any other pairs of low heel black boots? Another sign of the CQ effect, IMO, is that Kate managed to change clothing during this day out, unlike that day in Poland.

    Here’s to some great news about Harry and Meghan soon!

    1. If Kate is Sporty Royal, what is William? Grumpy Royal? Pouty Royal?

       1. Constipated Royal judging by the faces he makes all the time!

          1. I like how Charlotte copies her father (William). Charlotte does it so naturally. Petulant royal more like.

    2. “my snark said he was very glad that Kate forgot to pack her HG and she didn’t throw up.”

       Lol, Cathy!

20. Major gossip on twitter and I can barely contain myself with excitement ……Rumour is a 5pm announcement so it times with US news outlets.

    1. That would be a first for BP.

       Usually official *planned* announcements are 11am.

       And very rarely on a friday.

       It would appear that this particular rumour started with Niraj Tanna though he has now backed off and said he thinks it will happen at some point before Christmas.

       1. Yes…..I actually thought come 1pm that was it, nothing today. And also KP announced William & Kate on a Tuesday and historically Tuesdays are their preferred day but……

          Hera it’s probably bollox but I’m sooooo excited. If it happens today it will certainly signal that this couple are going to do things very differently and to their own beat.

          1. True.

             I think that’s the game he plays these days, especially after he was put outside the circle.

       2. Niraj is rather naughty with building the snowballs and then getting other people to throw them. Remember when William was ‘Dad Dancing’ with his friends in the Alps? Niraj started the rumour that one of the girls had sold her story to a down market tabloid and that never materialised either. And he stirred the pot re. Megan attending Pippa’s wedding……a lot. He has history of working Twitter up into a frenzy very quickly. ?

          1. I’ve just remembered that Charles and Camilla announced in the evening. On their way to dinner or was it afterwards?

             So perhaps 5pm on a friday might happen.

             I’m taking your cue and keeping a beady eye on BBC news around 5pm. ?

             1. There is a major incident in London today and no chance confirmation if the shooTing on Oxford St is a terrorist incident. Britain has suffered so much this year, how many more incidents need to happen! In light of this, it may be very ill timed to announce an engagement.

             2. Red Tulip: it’s a bigger deal to outsiders than to Londoners.

                We’ve had decades of terrorists going back to the 80s with IRA terrorists.

                Psychologically, the population is better prepared because we had no choice.

                Ditto emergency services cope better because the public know what to do and rarely panic when these things happen.

                I wish it didn’t happen, but it is what it is.

21. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5113581/The-TEN-clues-Prince-Harry-Meghan-engaged.html

22. These hardly feel like engagements. I don’t see what sort of work is involved here. What exactly does it mean to be a “working royal”? Willnot and Cannot are slowly re-defining work.

    1. Eh, the other royals do much the same with these type of ‘go to a place just to meet people’ events. These types are really just about meeting people and touring a facility, then unveiling a plaque to commemorate the visit. There isn’t much work involved for any of the royals for these types of engagements.

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