259 thoughts on “Prince William to snub BAFTA awards again”

1. He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. If he did attend the BAFTA awards I think people would make comments like he only attends the fun glitzy events. Doesn’t the Bond premier count as a BAFTA event (and Shaun the Sheep)? I think royals attending a movie premiere does more to lift the profile of British movies than attending an award ceremony. I’ll give PW a pass on this one.

   1. The SPECTRE premiere was for a different charity; William was not attending as president of BAFTA. The Charities Forum last October counted as a patronage visit for William because he is president of BAFTA and BAFTA hosted the event.

      1. As President of BAFTA he ought to attend every year! It is a prestigious position with minimal demands – the least he can do is attend a yearly event. In my book it is not about whether he helps lift the prestige of British cinema or not but rather that he holds a position within this organization and therefore ought to attend its most high profile event of the year. It would be a different matter if he already had a tight-packed schedule but he does little as it is – and it is a weekend to boot!

         The BAFTAs had become a prestigious award – along with the SAG, the Golden Globe and the Oscars, so I would agree that in itself lifts the prestige of British cinema.

         1. Absolutely. Well said AH.

         2. I’m in total agreement.

         3. +1

         4. He took on that responsibility so therefore he must attend, not sporadically, but regularly. If he is not up to that responsibility then give the position to someone else who has the time and dedication.

         5. Exactly. It’s not like William is going to bring any more recognition to the event since the event is already well known – I was watching the BAFTAs for years before I even knew William was president. But rather it’s the principle of the thing in that William holds this position and he should honor it by attending their biggest night of the year. William not attending the BAFTAs would be like the Academy president not attending the Oscars. It would be a huge slap in the face.

            1. It is a huge slap in the face. That’s why there is an article out putting William in a bad light. He has clearly pissed off some important people.

      2. Why the hell is he president anyway? What qualifications does he have? I’m surprised Kate didn’t beg to go with him. She never misses an opportunity to cavort with celebrities.

   2. “He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.”

      There is quite an easy solution to this. If he works regularly all through the year (instead of bulk engagments before a vacation or at the end of the year) and his engagements are 90% non-glitzy charity work no one will bat an eye about some red carpet/celeb events especially if it’s charity or patronage related.

      It’s no one’s fault but Will’s. He can change this alleged predicament very easily but it doesn’t look like he wants to. JMO

      1. I hate that defense/argument. It’s lazy. And it almost never is used correctly or holds up.
         If he does attend he wins. He upholds his position as president/BAFTA, adds another event to his count, and promotes british cinema.

         How is he damned for that? Because there are celebs? It’s not like he’s too busy and he doesn’t hold a high position there.

         As adults sometimes we just have to suck it up. Do our jobs. Especially the easy ones.

         1. I think the “damned if he does” is that people will criticize him for only doing glitzy events. But that argument doesn’t hold up because there is a huge difference between William attending the BAFTAs and William attending any old movie premiere. William is attending the BAFTAs as that president of BAFTA. He should be there. William doesn’t have to attend movie premieres.

      2. +1 I’m not asking the guy to work 80+ a week (like many people I know do). Just like a normal amount of hours. Is that so much to ask of someone that lives off of taxpayer money?

      3. Well said, Sarah. He should be damned as long as almost all his ‘work’ is fluffy and self-interested. He brought it on himself.

   3. By the same token, though, if we’re prepared to criticize Kate for not turning up at her patronages, I don’t think we can really give William a pass for missing the biggest event for one of his without a good reason–especially after he’s only sporadically attended in the past.

      1. Exactly.

         1. Where are his advisors? Why aren’t they doing their jobs? They should tell him off ( as for me I’ll give him a slap or two to wake him up ). Did they give any solid reasons for him not attending these 2 events or are they too high & mighty to give any explanations?

            1. His advisors can advise all they want. They can’t force him to go.

2. What is the purpose of a patron who is not present? I take RT’s point; however, William chose to accept the BAFTA patronage. These annual awards are internationally broadcast so hardly insubstantial. It is a showcase for British creative talent.
   I agree with your summation, KMR: the goodwill extended to Kate and William is evaporating, due entirely to their behaviour as two unlikable, over-privileged people who do nothing to warrant admiration and public funding.
   At some point William has to decide whether to ‘fish or catch bait.’

   1. Exactly. Why bother holding the title if you’re not willing to be associated with them? If William doesn’t want to do BAFTA events, then he should had the presidency to someone else.

3. I’m actually surprised Will and Kate don’t go every year. We know how much they like to mingle with celebrities and this is the perfect setting since it counts as work. It’s a win-win for them. Just fun and fluff. Even the pre bafta engagement I’m surprised about it. If they don’t want to go to the award show, the pre baftas allows them to still to meet celebrities and ‘work’ right in their backyard. I’m just shocked they don’t go every year

   1. I’m just shocked they don’t WANT to go- they love celebrities, she loves a new custom dress, they would get publicity all over the world, and the first part is essentially at their home!! If they are getting criticism you would think they would opt for some easy gigs quickly, and this would happily fit the bill. Wonder if Eddy can win an Oscar two years running? Wouldn’t that be great. I do think he’ll win the BAFTA. Now William, you’ve had the very same education as Eddy yet he works his socks off to achieve his success and will I think be remembered as one of the outstanding actors of a generation. You’ve got some catching up to do!

      1. I haven’t seen the Danish Girl yet – but I’m definitely going to! It is of special interest to me since Gerda Wegener was an artist (who also worked as a fashion illustrator). There’s an exhibit of her work at ARKEN in Ishøj near Copenhagen. Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander visited recently.

         http://uk.arken.dk/udstilling/gerda_wegener/

      2. Eddy is a great actor but he won’t win the Oscar this year. It is really hard to win 2 years in a row and you have a be an exceptionally loved person by the voters, like Tom Hanks. Sadly, most the time it is not just about the performance, but how much you get promoted by the studio and stupid politics. Leo will finally win this year because he has been snubbed so much. He has been winning everything else, which is normally evidence of who will win the Oscar.

   2. I completely agree with you Overit, the type of event is right up their alley. Apparently, William’s laziness really does know no bounds.

   3. Do we know if there’s a vacation in that timeframe?

      1. Yes. It coincides with Carole’s birthday and the annual Mustique trip. That’s exactly why he’s keeping it open.

   4. I have to say, I don’t actually think W&K enjoy being around celebrities. After all, they do spend an awful lot of time in private in the country and Kate has never been seen out shopping or having lunch with a celeb pal, attending any celeb parties that we know of, etc. I know all about Angelina and Brad visiting them but it’s not like this happens often, we would know about this type of stuff. I am not saying they don’t mingle with them in ways but they aren’t being photographed out and about with them having dinner and spending any amount of significant time with any big screen faces. Given the fact that they have only attended once, it’s safe to say this isn’t exactly one of their favorite’s like the sports events they never, ever miss. Last and only time they were on the red carpet in LA Kate gave so many fake smiles it was crazy. She totally looked like she was ready to get out of dodge ASAP if you go back and look at videos of the press photos of her with celebs.

      1. AccentBeach
         A journalist recalled seeing Kate at a more recent event where she met Jackie Chan. He noted she appeared very bored and distant, but lit up when Chan came around.

         Tom Hiddleston made a comment on meeting her and sorted said she wasn’t too bright.
         I don’t think they care to hang out with her outside of business.

         1. Does anyone remember how much Kate chased after Angelina in the first 18mths o marriage?

            That LA event was put on as a chance to meet Angelina. AJ couldn’t make it despite all the press reporting that she would be the star guest. Lots of attendant articles saying Kate was keen to meet AJ because she wanted to emulate her charity efforts.

            Fast forward to London Olympics and a grand party was thrown at one of the grand museums to celebrate the occasion a week or two ahead of the Olympics, once again articles saying Kate would attend because AJ was to be the star guest. A day before the party AJ is said to have turned down invite and suddenly Kate I not attending anymore either.

            The tea that they eventually had was a wish fulfilled for Kate and I wish i’d been a fly on the wall.

            Since then, Kate styling is vaguely AJ-esque. It’s quite funny.

            She looks positively animated at all celeb events, BUT it depends on the celeb event.

            She’s giddy around American celebs, not so much around British celebs unless they are also famous in America.

            I bet she wouldn’t turn down a chance to attend the Oscars, but BAFTAS aren’t as high profile enough for the type of celebs they want to hang with, and Leo diCaprio isn’t their jam because a high profile as he is, he isn’t glamourous enough.

            1. I’ve read people say she chased AJ, but never really saw the evidence of “chasing”. She did request that museum event and then drop out right after. No denying the coincidence at the least.

               Her styling? There’s almost no similar style. AJ is black and sack. Kate is color and sheath. Kate’s hair is down a lot. AJ is up and back a lot.

               I will say this. She threw herself at Jolie Pitt for tea. The personal invite to them while they were in town on business. The hours of time and extra time they found to donate to them for tea. That they stood outside KP to receive them. It all appeared like WK had a lot of time to just mess around.

            2. I would love to know how Angelina and Brad felt about their meeting. For all we know they are in contact with each other as we speak, but for some reason I seriously doubt it.

               Angelina strikes me as a come up with an idea and get it done kind of person, as does Brad. William and Kate not so much.

      2. Both Kate and William seem to light up in photos when talking to celebs. I think that’s where the idea that they love meeting celebs comes from. It’s not that they are or want to be pals with the celebs, it’s that they are star struck by them.

         1. Exactly KMR! They don’t hang out with the, but they light up when they meet them. Kate looked so over the moon when she met Daniel Craig. Every time she meets someone famous she lights up, unlike any other event. BAFTAS have a ton of celebrities, so I am surprised she doesn’t want to go. I wonder if they don’t fawn over her, like she does them, and that bothers her? I am not sure about Willilam

      3. They created the BAFTA event in Hollywood after W&K announced they were going to North America. The event had not been held before that, and only existed to give them an excuse to go to Hollywood. That and the dodgy polo charity event. They’ve now severed ties with that original group which makes me wonder what happened to the money.

4. Rather interestingly, Chris Evans called William out for this yesterday on his Radio 2 breakfast show. Asked if anyone else wanted to be Bafta President and would show up. Now this is to his 8-9 million listeners – Britains biggest radio show.

   William is being openly criticised now. The game is afoot.

   1. Wow. And Chris Evans has a royal link, too, since he does the 500 Words competition that Camilla is a part of.

      1. Chris Evans is also taking over Top Gear but my sons have already told me that will be a disaster. TG is I think the most watched tv in the world after Friends, but the real team are moving to Google. I think CE wants the BAFTA gig for himself…. I dislike him intensely he’s the sort of person who would climb over your sick granny to get what he wants, BUT nevertheless K & W could learn a thing or two from him about reinventing yourself, fresh starts and sheer bloody minded hard work. Even his worst enemy could not accuse him of being lazy.

         1. He’s no Terry Wogan (RIP) that’s for sure.

         2. James May had words on Evans taking over.
            That the “car sick” press was complete bs so people will tune in. To see the train wreck of a host of a car show that gets car sick.

            He and others made good points on this. Also no vomit was seen and he never lost color in his skin like most would.

            And I thought Top Gear was the most watched show in the world and reached the most countries. Maybe wrong.
            I’llwatch just to see, but with so much of the staff walkig out after Jeremy’s firing I suspect they’ll be revamping the show heavily.

            I’ll absolutely be watching their new show on Amazon.

            1. Completely off point, but I love Top Gear with the old crew and will join you watching on Amazon. Can’t wait.

   2. I’ve just realised 8-9 million must sound piddly to some, but it’s a big number for the UK.

      1. Whenever I see the name “Chris Evans” I immediately think of the actor who plays Captain America in the Marvel/Avengers movies hehehe. 😉

         1. Me too!! Whenever I see that name I go “Captain America is hanging with the royals?” And then have to remember that there is a British Chris Evans, too.

            1. Ah, now things start to make sense. 😉

            2. Yay, I am glad I am not the only one who thought that 🙂

         2. Me too hahaha “What’s Captain America doing over there?!”

            1. KMR and LizB~ I’m so glad it’s not just me hahahaha! I swear, if Chris Evans (the actor) didn’t act like such a frat boy, I’d still have crush on him. I LOVE how he does great charity work (with another awesome Chris-Chris Pratt!) and is close with his family. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s got that body and is a born Bostonian, just like me! 😀

            2. Kimothy:

               I agree with you there. I used to love me some Chris Evans but he’s done and said too many douche bro things. I still LOVE Captain America, though. He’s my favorite Avengers and The Winter Soldier is my favorite Marvel movie. So the Cap crush lives on even though the Evans crush is a bit tainted.

            3. Recently I finally got around to seeing the Winter Soldier and I must say that it was better than I expected.

            4. KMR,
               I’m so glad it’s not just me who noticed his “bros before hoes” attitude around his co-stars! Especially Jeremy Renner; I think they bring out the worst in each other when doing press junkets together. But when Chris Evans was with Chris Pratt visiting each other’s respective charities/children’s hospitals AS their respective characters? Oh Lord, I was sighing and starry-eyed!

      2. 8-9M is entire population of London.

         However, Radio One is nationwide. Target audience is teens-40yr olds.

         Basically the base WK need to engage with.

         1. I listened to radio one in the common room in sixth form. However at home I listened and still do to Radio 4 because it is what my mum listened too.

5. Prince William does sound depressed. I don’t think William lacks empathy. I think there is something in the bigger picture that is missing.

   1. Interesting point. I wonder if you’re right.

   2. Laura, I think you are on to something. Kate Middleton looks haggard and as if she had been crying more often than not these days. William Wales has lost his sunny smile and looks sombre. Major marriage issues?

   3. I think you are right Laura. I, too, think there is something wrong going on with William. To my eyes there a difficulties with Kate which isn’t helping. I hope there is someone William will be able to talk to.

      1. I hope I am not right Cathy , JL and Hyacinth. William is just so out of character from what he used to be.

   4. I also think there are some problems with William and depression could very well be one of them.

      1. I do not like bringing it up. It can’t be because of Diana though surely. William is a very tall boy and is hunched/stooping over at the funeral.

         1. I agree that Diana can’t be the only reason, but I wouldn’t discount it as being a huge part of it. I lost my dad 3 years ago to cancer and I’m still dealing with the grief, depression and anxiety I got from it. I’m not the same person I was before my dad passed away. So I can only imagine what it’s like for William who lost his mother so long ago. Losing my dad to cancer sucked and that can be considered “natural” because it’s a disease. He lost his mother because of a very specific reason and Diana may still be here today if the paparazzi didn’t follow her. So I can also understand why he hates the paparazzi.

            All that being said, he needs to deal with it and get his shit in order. Since Kate’s all about the mental health thing, you’d think that he would be first in line to get help to deal with his issues. Can you imagine? That would be an amazing example to use. “I’m all about mental health because I have first hand knowledge of what it’s like. I support this charity because it is what helped me and I know it works.” Maybe in more eloquent words, but you get the point.

            1. Miss K
               3 months after Diana passed my father passed very suddenly. It was a medical condition, but we and he had no idea he had it. I’m only a few months younger than Harry. So, I think i’m in the ballpark of circumstances on this.

               I’ve sort of seen people go 2 ways in these circumstances. You are dealing with early exposure to mortality of the highest figures in your life. You either break down and indulge or you try to live your life in a way that makes them proud. You’re so young and still so dependent on your parents. The loss wrecks you and you rebuild.

               As appearances go I think those 2 stages are William and Harry.
               Harry honors her and only speaks of her when doing so. Not to remind people.
               Because William doesn’t act the same as Harry doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss his mother. Just that he processed her passing in a different way. He indulged and imo still acts like the world owes him something for that.

               And anything regrding the paps. William hated them before her passing. He hated how she gave interviews about her love life and time with Charles. He was this way years before she passed. If anything those circumstances only reinforced his victim complex.

               And sorry to hear about your father. Cancer is horrible.

            2. My thoughts to you both, Miss K and Runaway Snarker; it’s never easy to lose a parent, and especially difficult at a young age.
               I think you are right about H and W processing their mother’s death differently. Perhaps as the elder son, William felt burdened by Diana’s inappropriate confidences to him… then the accident happened and gone was the time to address all that he felt. We all assume he got some help, but perhaps he didn’t or not the kind he needed.
               Hitting out at anything is just classic pain. I still feel this couple is a tragedy in the making.

            3. Jen
               Thanks
               Regarind Willam/Harry. They were raised differently. Bothers, sons, loved, but differently overall.
               William is the heir. He was treated differently from the start by decades of accounts from staff over generations of royals. The heir is comforted to a high priority. Not punished, not ignored. Treated like gold.

               The spare historically is raised with more of a normal upbringing. That the world does not revolve around them and to figure out your own problems rather than yelling until someone comes to your screams. With added burden of know the press will be extra unkind to you. That more spares aren’t more bitter at the results of birthorder is shocking. Although, looking back in history many, many spares were entirely bitter over not just the perks of the heir, but the struggles of the spare.

               And regarding WK. HM was said to have said the line “this will end in tears” when WK reunited. Relationships work when people push eachother to be better and they each want to be better for the imperfect person they see as perfect. Not tow the line.

6. As President, he should go. He should also have been at the BAFTA Film Gala that raises money for Give Something Back. Instead, Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Henry Cavill, etc were sponsors of the event. Not the President.

   Why is he President? I mean, other than being royal. Is that the only reason they chose him?

   1. I’m fairly certain the only reason William was chosen as president is because he is a royal, and a young hot (at the time) one to boot. William doesn’t even seem interested in film or art or anything like that. This patronage is one of the most random ones he has.

      1. I think Philip or Charles was President, long ago; before William it was Attenborough, far more appropriate if you ask me!

         William’s responsibility as President is to show, even if he doesn’t want to or not, but we know how he feels about responsibilities.

         1. Philip was president at one point, as was Anne. Then Attenborough. Then William.

         2. Sir Richard was an amazing man and an amazing President. May he RIP. He should have been replaced by someone equally well know in the film world with a real passion for film. One of our awesome group of Dames? Can you imagine the Dowager Duchess of Downton , or HM Helen Mirren? They would find the time to attend and to do the vital work behind the scenes. Will turn up or hand over. We’ve had enough excuses now.

            1. +1
               Wonderful idea about a Dame taking up the role.

            2. Gosh, what a great idea! Dame Maggie Smith would be brilliant as President and it would be great recognition of all those years she has spent working away as a stage actress as well as a movie actress.

      2. I think there must be some reason. I get the feeling William does not show his emotions easily. Harry can open up more. William shuts down and it seems that William is playing a role as it were rather than being emotional no matter what he says I think that William has trust issues due to Diana because they were close. If that makes sense. Not that Diana caused the issues.

7. I am sure Kate is keen to appear at the BAFTA ball and show the world that she is the fairest of them all. Maybe it is just PR to rumour the Cambs won’t appear and then ‘puff fairy dust’ they are there in the center of attention.
   The only reason I can imagine they are staying at home is that William has become even more paranoid to protect his privacy.

8. William again. I’m not surprised. He only does what he wants and deserves all bad press. Sometimes I think that Kate does few “works” because of William. I think that she can’t work more than him, and Harry can’t work more than both. I know this is a post about William but I will say again. I don’t feel sorry for Kate because she chose that life for herself. She had almost 10 years to walk away and have the so called normal life she wishes (according to some papers and magazines) but she didn’t. She chose to stay and now she’s having the life she brought upon herself. I really think her life is not happy, the pressure is huge but to me the worst is to deal with William. If we here, only seeing photos and videos, think he is arrogant, spoiled and petulant, imagine how is for Kate and his staff.
   I don’t think that Kate has to be perfect all the time, she has been photographed going grocery shopping and strolling her baby under dressed (jeans, t-shirt and sneakers) and no one gave her a hard time for it, because everyone knows that despite she’s a royal, there is no need for her to go grocery shopping in a party gown. She is a human being like us. I think that big part of the “sad expressions” she has is not because of her children (specially Charlotte, who is a baby), but is because Kate is really sad. For this reason I think she always looks forced and tries to look interested. Imagine smile when you are sad, it’s terrible. I can’t say if her sadness is because of her family life or because she is having to do a job she doesn’t like, or both. But I don’t feel sorry for her, she chose this life.
   I have a cousin with mental health and for this reason I REALLY HOPE Kate do a good job for this cause. I don’t trust her and don’t think she cares, but if she just do a good job I’m fine we her. I don’t hope her to do a “great” job because I don’t feel sincerity from her and I don’t believe in her potential, but imagining Kate using mental health as a form of make herself a fantastic humanitarian is disgusting, because I always think about my 7 year old cousin. Her name is Mayara Vitoria, Vistoria because she was born fighting for her life and she got the victory. She, and the others, don’t’ deserve being used this way. Her parents sometimes cry because is very difficult to take care of a child with mental health, we need first to accept the issue and then look for treatments, but the worst is to deal with prejudice. Some people act as if mental health is a disease, or worse, a contagious disease. Some people called my cousin “the little mute” and “the little crazy”. This is terrible, specially for a child. Our family suffer very much because of this. I had another cousin whose mother had had eclampsia during childbirth and this affected the baby. He died aged 44 but always acted like a child his entire life and WE LOVED HIM VERY MUCH (yes I am yelling because he deserves this). He went to all family engagements: birthday parties, graduations, weddings, christenings, even visited siblings in hospitals when they gave births. Today I am see that he, like Mayara, teach us what really is important: EMPATHY, RESPECT, KNOWLEDGE of the issue, and if you think that what is really important in life is yourself so you are very, very selfish, vain and futile, things I really think Kate is because of what she showed until now. And when Kate claimed that she was luck in having had a happy family as if it is one of the causes of mental health I got furious. This proves how much she is unprepared to deal with such a very serious issue like that. But I really hope, even pray, that Kate do a good job. With or without sincerity if she can help only one person with mental health I’m very happy. I’m in tears writing this. Have a good day everybody.

   1. Jamel thank you for sharing. What an amazing wonderful loving family you have. I too have married into a family with severe mental health issues and we get through it with a lot of love and support for each other. Take care and dry those tears and be thankful for all the love you clearly have around you. Sending big hugs from England.

   2. You make some solid points and I hope the best for you and your family. Support is key and they all sound wonderful. Sorry for your loss.

      The comments Kate made on happy family created some backlash within the community. It echoed a previous statement made that attributed mental illness to lower financial status or home factors. While this is somewhat true it very much casted aside the true causes being of physical/chemical balance. Factors like stressors of course play a role, but are not the causes.
      A few discussions on this have pointed to an elitist attitude within this community that the experts have been trying to counter for decades.

      I think Kate is getting bad advice here. It’s the wrong approach. Maybe taking on too large and sensetive of an issue too quickly?

      On a side note i’m a spin instructor among other things. I have a class that is a range of ages of those with mental health illnesses. All ranges from depression to CP. It’s a struggle to keep them all engaged and sometimes things get a bit dangerous, but the key here… The best results… Why these people ages 14 to my oldest in the 60’s make this my favorite class. They have a wonderful support system. Most could not have more patient and ideal circumstances for care and parents/family. A happy household has less than most think to do with mental health afflictions.

      This feild is best promoted by those with altruistic motives. Should Kate keep this going over a year with equal or increasing intensity I will likely no longer thing this is just a PR move.

      1. Jamel, another cyber hug coming your way. Your family situation is one all can learn from. The love and support for your cousin is inspirational. I can see why you would want Kate to succeed in her work on behalf of mental health in children. I think most of us want her to do so, too.

         I take affront to the statement that she makes that she had such a happy, loving family life that she is fortunate not to have mental health issues and she wants others from not so supportive families to have the same. I don’t think any 34 year-old who is so dependent on her mother has been brought up effectively- and thus free of emotional issues – and I would only applaud her more if she admitted to some issues of her own that she is treating with positive effect. How that would encourage and inspire others. I may be wrong about my theory with her health, but that is how I feel.

         As for William being depressed, I think I can see that. I doubt that he has ever dealt positively with the tragic loss of his mother and just continues to blame everyone and feel sorry for himself. Harry, on the other hand, seems to have a better handle on the same sad history. If William and Kate are depressed/sad, and anxiety-riddden, my heart goes out to them. I wish they find the help to lead happier lives and by doing so, perhaps help others to also do the same.

         Not attending the BAFTA Awards seems like a slap in the face to the organization. Honoring the major talents from the UK who make the film industry a true art, is something he should proudly do. And, why wouldn’t Kate want to join him? As others have said, it’s an easy gig. Get dressed up, attend the awards and hob nob with the stars. Not too hard, for certain. I’d like William and Kate to work hard for many types of causes, but this appearance is not work. Just fun, I would think. Gosh, I would love to attend the awards! Wouldn’t you all?

         1. Thank you very much for the comments. Do you believe I had a nightmare with Kate last night because of this? Awful. I didn’t say before but I liked Kate’s speech, not her but the words. I showed it to Mayara’s mother and she liked it too. But she HATED the expression of grief Kate does sometimes. People with mental issue don’t need grief, they need respect she said. Only this. And that ridiculous accent, oh My, I can’t stand it. As I said before I think Kate is unprepared for this cause. The families of people with mental issue live with them every day and here comes Kate the Keen, spend one or two hours with these people and receives all glories about the cause. It makes me furious. And I disliked very much the “William and I”. What? I’ve seen Harry speaking about mental health, but William not. I don’t know if Kate wanted to show her and William as a loved, engaged and united couple. But it didn’t work for me.

            1. This is truly bothering you, Jamel. I am sorry. I think your willingness to share your story and do your part to make the issue of mental health a prominent one which will be understood by all is a worthy one. I can see why you and Mayara’s mother would be upset by Kate. Mental issues do not need grief (or, fear), they need respect. I am very tired of so many clueless responses to people’s depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps,” or “Just volunteer, stay busy. If you don’t think about yourself so much, depression, anxiety (fill in the bland) will subside.” People don’t want to understand the root of the issues. People are frightened of the issues and that is sad.

               If Kate is serious about shining a positive light on mental health issues, then I will be very happy that she chooses to do so. But, I am talking about nonstop work and she does not seem capable of that now. Just showing up now and then to events, or “Guest Editing” for an issue of a publication that is dealing with the subject mean little, if the work does not go on. She is in a position to do a tremendous amount of good. Maybe, she means well, but it takes more than an occasional word or two. It takes commitment and work! Work is not in hr vocab right now. At least, I don’t think so.

9. Who’s the woman in the funeral photo wearing the very short dress to a funeral?
   Was it 80 degrees?

   1. I believe that is the deceaseds daughter.

      It was cold but sunny here yesterday morning, warming up a little in the afternoon.

      1. I never understood from a practical view if it’s cold enough to need a coat you’d wear the equivalent of shorts. Unless their church was very warm. In which case i;d like to visit the 1st warm church.

      2. It was his daughter. She’s 19 so I can see this being acceptable to her.
         If nothing else dresses with those hems when sitting always slip upwards.

         1. I had to go back and look at the photos, and did not find the dresses soooo short. On Christmas, we attend Mass at our local parish and I surprised myself by sounding like my mother or grandmother afterward. You want to see short skirts, you should have seen the teens who attended the service!
            It was shocking. Short, tight, so disrespectful! The dresses I saw on Christmas made the ones photographed above look like midi dresses!

            I think we’ve lost a great deal of respect for faith, for education, for one another by the way many people dress today. When I see kids coming out of high school in trousers hanging below their bums, or girls with low cut tank tops in the warmer months, I wonder how any learning goes on in schools. I guess I sound like someone in her later years, but I am about to turn 29. I really am sorry that there’s so much disrespect in dressing by so many people today But, I did not think the dresses in the above photographs were too short. I am sorry for the loss of the father. I’m glad William showed compassion and love to the family. They need support now and will do so for time to come.

            1. Pippa at Sandringham, another example

   2. I thought it was short as well, but then I also attended a family funeral some time back at which all the young women were wearing very short skirts/dresses. Apparently, the social expectations have shifted, although I don’t know that I’d call it a good look for the occasion.

      1. She’s a young lady who’s just lost her father. Let’s not criticise her. I doubt she had a ‘designated funeral outfit’ in her wardrobe. She was there, looked smart and was supporting her Mother. Good job girl.

10. While we all talk about the evaporating goodwill toward William and Kate, I don’t think they perceive it that way at all. There are still plenty of blog sites that fawn over the royal couple, one went so far as to say that since William and Kate are wealthy they don’t need to work at all if they don’t want too, and of course any event they (especially she) attend is covered on the front page of the papers. I think they perceive any negative comments made about them as rooted in jealousy, spite or just negative nellies and don’t reflect the actual mood of the people toward them. Or it’s quite possible that their staff shield them from the negative comments and just fill their heads with praise and glory.

    1. “one went so far as to say that since William and Kate are wealthy they don’t need to work at all if they don’t want too”

       May I ask which one? Because that’s really uninformed. Do they know where William and Kate’s wealth comes from?

       For several months now Kate has been getting the front page of papers less and less. It used to be that she’d get the front page after every engagement but that’s not the case anymore.

       1. That argument about “independent wealth” and not needing to work is all over the pro-Kate comments on the Daily Mail, too.

       2. Good observation KMR, I’ve also noticed that her events are not stealing the spotlight like they used to. Her most recent engagement with the Air Cadets was near the bottom of the Daily Mail website, at least here in the U.S. Stories about Sarah Ferguson, Kim Kardashian, and many others fell ahead of her in order. And you know these media outlets always put the most interesting, attention grabbing headline at the top.

          1. The Air Cadets visit was trending on Facebook in the US for three days on and off, so it did get some spotlight but in a negative more than positive light. The difference was most people commenting were more “Who gives a SH*T what the rich lady who never has to work does”. There is always the bunch who thinks she does nothing wrong ever and is the most beautiful flower in the garden but I have been seeing a ton of negative comments on FB when they start trending.

          2. When I went to the DM (I use the British site, not the US one), she was the header article for quite a while. And Harry’s visit the day before to flood victims in Yorkshire hardly rated a mention.

          3. I saw articles on her eyebrows trending more than her actual ‘work’ 🙁

    2. I realize that none of you are agreeing with “independent wealth” argument, but I still have to vent against those who are. Kate signed up to be a public servant. That’s where the difference is. If she wanted to be rich and not work, she could’ve married any rich man (there are many even wealthier than William!). She signed up for a life of public service with a family whose accumulated wealth was built over generations on the back of the UK taxpayer. She is not an ordinary, wealthy stay-at-home mom, she needs to stop thinking she is.

       1. So true!

       2. +1

       3. I really don’t think that all their independent wealth could fund a 20 odd room mansion in the middle of London — along with the refurb/retrofit, 24 hour security, and a 10 bedroom country pile plus refurb. And the staff it takes to run them.

          1. Spot on bluhare!

       4. +1 Agreed, and it’s clear that since it wasn’t just the money, it was the title, the position, the glory of marriage to a man that would elevate her family and herself. If he was just a rich guy, I think most of us agree that the Midds wouldn’t have targeted him.

11. The attitude towards funerals has changed a lot in recent years. At my aunt’s funeral recently, everyone wore purple because that was her favourite colour. The daughter’s dress may be a bit short, but at least the young lady made an effort and got dressed up. And with the world becoming way too casual in my opinion, dressing up for your father’s funeral is great show of respect.

    1. Things like color are better labled as tributes to the memory. They’ve been going on for centuries if not longer.

       The dress struck me as a summer/sun dress. Maybe it meant a lot to wear it? I can only speculate.
       The optics of it though. Seemed a bit off.
       I’m sure it was what she chose for some type of comfort.

12. Okay, wasn’t it just last year that some kind of story or announcement that William and Kate would not be attending so many glitzy, celebrity driven events? Unfortunately the dolt may be looking at the BAFTA awards as just that instead of looking at it as a prestigious event he should lend whatever star power/draw to by attending as it’s president.

    They have the party at KP for crying out loud. One of the reasons they got that huge apartment was so they could just pop into the party and not have far to go to get home.

    Honestly, I see this more as a Kate driven thing. William went solo and appeared to have a pretty good time. Kate could attend, but as much as she loves the celebrities and it appears anything on film or TV, she also would not necessarily be the center of attention and/or the prettiest girl in the room. It’s hard enough for her to pull her look together but add the pressure of dressing to impress a room full of celebrities and actresses who are stepping out in their designer best (usually with the help of said designer) and you’ve probably got a giant bundle of Kate nerves in the house. Kate nerves means she’s not going and if she’s not going William’s not getting out there to connect with these women either.

    And honestly, when William did attend that year, to me, he came off as a little awkward. I remember some singer coming down and involving him in the song in some inane way and William just looked like he was way in over his head and just couldn’t play along or even bop to the beat. He just sat there with this big goofy grin on his face.

    It really should be a source of pride that BAFTA is honoring these great films and he should be promoting in in some way, shape or form throughout the year and encouraging young film makers. He could even have something through his foundation to help young filmmakers learn their trade. He helped out that young guy with the stage play, he should just keep playing it forward.

    But instead he chooses to just stay home. I’m kind of hoping they dump him and find someone who’s willing to put in the time and work and truly enjoys the industry, like his uncle Edward. Edward would be all over it and Sophie would be right there by his side in her quiet elegance making everyone feel incredibly special.

    The possible future King needs to get it together or get out.

    1. Yes Lisa, it was this:
       http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3072901/EPHRAIM-HARDCASTLE-Royal-baby-William-perfect-excuse-skip-TV-Awards-ceremony.html
       And the quote to make your jaw drop:
       ” The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge want to be seen as ‘normal’ as possible, I am advised. ‘They don’t want to be too publicly associated with celebrity, the rich or the weird,’ says my source. ‘Kate avoids as much of the glitzy red-carpet stuff as she can. ”
       We can assume, then, that she was dragged kicking and screaming to the SPECTRE premiere?

       1. It is William who’s the President of BAFTA not Kate so her alleged negative attitude to celebrity is not relevant here. I don’t care whether they want to be seen as “normal” or not – William has a prominent position within this organization. If he doesn’t want to associate with celebrities then he shouldn’t have accepted it. Furthermore, to imply that artists who has excelled in their craft as mere celebrities and the weird is quite insulting.

          1. I totally agree with you. If this was the case, why take the position of President? He does have to make an appearance and if he really doesn’t care than he should pass the to someone more passionate about it!

       2. Thank you for this. I could just feel that this was the case by looking at videos of Kate on the red carpet in LA that one time. She did her eye roll thing to the side and fake smile too many times. As much as people think that Kate likes to get all dolled up and drink champagne with a room full of celebrities, I think this is farthest from the truth. I can imagine how draining being around all these attention hogs is for the two of them, especially Kate, who just wants to be in the country privately enjoying her life and perks with Scarole, kids and prince.

          1. But here’s one of my problems with Kate. She saw the attention she got when she was dating William. She had to know that the BRF didn’t sit around making jam, tottering around in the garden and watching “Downton Abbey” reruns, they get out there and make appearances. They meet with people with varying levels of talent in a variety of fields. Sometimes they even figure out how to put those people to use to highlight the charities they are patrons of to further the cause. They use the talents of these very people to accomplish things.

             Knowing this, why would she marry the heir to the heir? The future King with her at his side as Queen Consort. Just using Prince Philip as an example would show her the level of work expected by a consort. If she is so uncomfortable in the spotlight why did she court it so much? And it’s not that the photographers always followed her. They were alerted quite a few times to her location before, and it seems even after, the marriage. We can all say she did it for love, but seriously she was moving into the most high profile royal family on the planet and she knew she was going to be in the spotlight. And if she didn’t know, she learned very quickly how it all worked.

             I think once she got Big Blue, saw what she had to do and actually was in the room with people who were in a lot of ways more talented and harder working than she is she has developed a serious issue with herself, her lack of development and accomplishment and as a result she uses the excuse of just wanting to be a country wife/stay at home mom to not have those encounters.

             Really, think about it. What skills, talents, ideas, experience, small talk, whatever does Kate bring to the table? She’s not going to talk too much about William or the skills she used in getting the ring, she brings up George more often than not, she never even really seems prepared to chat about the visit she is making beyond the general niceties. Her main thing is to look good and she doesn’t always pull that off either.

             Again, pursuing this marriage has put her in a position she is really not suited for and things are being bent to coddle and cradle her and it cannot continue for the rest of her life. William supposedly promised Michael Middleton that he would take care of her and protect her, but at some point they are both going to have to put up or shut up. Kate is woefully ill suited for this position. William has stated since he could form the words that he didn’t want the job. They both need to decamp permanently to Anmer or Bucklebury or wherever they land, raise their family and live the private life they so crave. But that would mean giving up helicopter rides, outriders who whisk them through traffic, etc. They’d probably still get invitations to various premieres, etc. because of who they are/were, but they would be expected to live a fairly quiet life. And while they scream from the hilltops that this is what they want, I don’t think they really do deep down inside. Anonymity will make William crazy. He’s accustomed to being waited on and having people say how high when he says jump.

             Sorry, rant over.

             1. I love this entire comment.

             2. Exactly how I feel, word for word.

             3. +1,000

             4. This is a great sum up!

          2. Actually I think the point of the comment was that Kate can’t handle it since she wouldn’t be the prettiest girl in the room. AND she wouldn’t be getting all the attention. Kate loves the attention and I don’t think she likes it when it is not focused on her. Which at an award show with a ton of celebrities, it would not be. Kate is an attention hog, that is the point.

             1. Kate is out of her depth in pretty much every situation she finds herself. Unlike the people she is at a function to honor and support – Hedge Fund women, charity workers and their recipients, actors at premieres – Kate has no real achievements to match them, hence her insecurity.
                Kate utterly wasted her twenties, utilising youth and ‘availability’ to attach herself to a man’s status, one who pursues his own interests and needs first and foremost.
                Raising two daughters to see luring wealthy men as their sole ambition is reprehensible.

             2. Jen +1

             3. +1

             4. “Actually I think the point of the comment was that Kate can’t handle it since she wouldn’t be the prettiest girl in the room. ”
                Sadly I am feeling the same way too. Was this the reason why Kate didn’t attend the Ralph Lauren dinner either?

          3. I don’t see her as anti-celebrity and she’s always welcomed the attention she got dating William through the years. Always ready to smile for the paps and request copies of their pictures for the family album.

             She was the one sniffing after Angelina Jolie, trying at least twice to get Jolie at an event so she could meet her.

             Spending 2+ hours on the Downton Abbey set doesn’t sound like someone who dislikes celebrities.

             Too sick to fly to Malta but fine to add herself to the NYC visit to meet a bunch of celebrities at one event — and the mid-court ridiculous meet-and-greet with Beyonce and JayZ.

             As written above, she was bored silly at the State dinner with China but lit up when seeing Jackie Chan.

             The eye rolling at the Hollywood event was with a regular person, not a celebrity.

             When he was stationed in Wales, she was caught shopping in London 3 days a week. I don’t see her as country, but someone who wants the shopping and attention of London.

       3. Yeah, and what is Wimbleton, btw? Those top tennis players are celebs, aren’t they? Or, any top sports people? W and K go to matches and games?

          I truly don’t think that Kate wants to be considered too “normal.” Or, if she does, here’s a clue, Catherine, many “Normal” people would be chomping at the bit to dress up and attend any Bafta Ceremony. What a crock……..

13. Am I the only one who was surprised at the warm hug William gave this woman? I don’t think I’ve EVER seen him be this affectionate with Kate (George? Yes). If they focused more on their royal duties, there would be less time for the press/public/us to contemplate the state of their marriage.

    BAFTAs: Like someone else said *scrolls up to see who* (Lisa!), Kate would probably feel incredibly self-conscious about being in a room with X number of actresses who’ve worked hard at their craft for years and are wearing designer gowns made exclusively for them. What could she bring to the conversation? She might even go so far as to maybe forcing William to not go, out of fear of his roving eye. As for not attending? If he knew he’d be pulling this act, why continue to be patron? Give it to Edward since he’s the one who always enjoyed performing and the arts.

    P.S. I couldn’t help but notice the sharp contrast of lack of hair on William from February of 2010 to July of 2011–WOW!!

    1. I also thought to myself that I have never seen him be this affectionate towards his own wife!

    2. On point Kimothy on the Edward suggestion!

    3. As much as people think Kate loves to put on a custom gown and drink champagne with the stars, I bet this is the farthest from the truth. I am sure there are plenty of the diva celebs who think they are better than Kate for their “talents” and actual hours put in “working”, there will also always be the ones that fawn over them and are fascinated with royalty like the rest of us. But in reality, I can see why Kate could get annoyed with associating with these types of people. In that case, William should just go alone, unless he hates it as much as Kate and that means he should pass the position to someone who can stand it.

       Interestingly, I myself had an eye opening experience with the wife of a celebrity recently at a party, here in LA. The woman was so far from my expectations and I was shocked at the things she said and left the party very annoyed and disappointed. I had no idea she was going to be there but once I realized it was her, I could not believe my ears. She had said the wrong things, at the wrong place, at the wrong time over and over. Awkward, classless and too opinionated. Being that this celebrity wife has mingled with all the big names and faces, presidents through the years, etc., I guess I expected her to know what to say and what not to. I can’t imagine her being very well liked among other high profile people to say the least. You think that Kate would be the one that would have to make an impression to some of these people, when in fact most of them are not what you would expect, I am sure. I am not judging all celebrity women off my one experience, no. But let me say this made quite the impression on me of what it must be like.

       I mention this, because I can imagine with W&K’s stuffy and private lifestyle, that being around celebrities that have less class than them, or that they would consider, weird or trashy, is in fact, beneath them and something they would rather be disassociated with all together.

       1. I can understand what you’re saying about the celebrity wife. Most (if not almost all) celebrities come from regular working class backgrounds. A lot of them stay pretty decent in person, a lot of them develop attitudes.

          Either way, with William and Kate claiming to be “normal”, I find it odd that they should be able to categorize people as having less class than them or being beneath them. Had William not been born into the royal family where would he be? Kate was a middle class girl who attended some middle/upper class schools and managed to move into the circle that was needed to meet Prince William. I don’t think it’s right or fair to other people to say they are beneath William and Kate because of how they may or may not act.

          I lived in LA and worked in the music and movie industries and have seen the gamut of people who are truly amazing, “classy”, intelligent down to those who no matter how much you polish them up will always come off as, to use your words, weird or trashy. I think you can find that in any career path. People usually strive to better themselves in some way, through education, careers, marriage, changing their look and social set, etc. Doesn’t always work. Kind of that saying you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

          Basically I have a hard time with saying that William Kate are the exemplars of class and they can sit around saying the celebrities they meet have less class than them. Let’s not forget Kate falling out of clubs and flashing the world and the various things William has had swept under the rug.

       2. When he was stationed in Wales, she was caught in London shopping and getting her hair done three days a week. Smiling for the paps. Blowouts three times a week, $100,000 in clothing, and lots of celebrity events. I see her as firmly town, not country.

    4. I don’t think “surprise” is the word for me in my response to William hugging the grieving woman. In the past, William always seemed to have a kind nature. Especially, as a teen and young adult. Now, he’s more reserved. Part of being closer to being the future heir? Who knows. Surely, I wish he were more demonstrative toward Kate. I’ve seen him be very demonstrative toward George and we will hopefully see such gestures toward Charlotte when she is finally led out into public viewing.

       William appears to be very sad, very troubled. Kate, too. Whatever is going on, there’s a huge amount of unhappiness that seems to be surrounding them and how nice if it would be addressed positively. They need guidance and support.

       1. Jenny, I agree with you. Before anyone can help them they must admit that they have a problem & not be in denial all the time. Be open to counseling & not be high & mighty. The people around them also must be supportive & trustworthy. I think William is always suspicious & doesn’t trust many people.

14. It’s unfortunate that the Cambridges aren’t going. We could get a sound bite on how little George now wants to be an actor when he grows up. Every time I read an article like this, I have to ask – seriously, who is handling the PR and engagement bookings for the Cambridges? And if the Cambridges are choosing to disregard their staff and the advice they are being given, how can they have their heads so far up their a**es that they don’t see that as President of BAFTA, this is THE event of the year and a must attend? If you don’t want to be President and attend the main event of the year, pass the position over to someone who will fulfill what the job entails.

    1. Their main PR flack is a specialist in crisis PR, he has an impressive resumé and has had good results with previous clients. I think the problem with the Cambridge’s wobbly PR is William. This is a guy who has publicly bragged about doing the opposite of what he’s being advised to do! A good PR flack can only do so much with an uncooperative client. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink.

       It’ll be interesting to see how long Jason will last in this job. I guess it is diffulct working with/for William. At some point the hassle and frustration may not be worth the pay.

       1. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head ArtHistorian. Jason can give him all of the advice and talking points in the world, but he can’t stand behind William like a ventriloquist and talk for him. He also can’t force him to go to events if William doesn’t want to. There’s also only so much push back and advice that Jason can give before he might fear for his job.

          1. True. But if Jason is “only as good as his last clien”, I wonder if he might be stuck with the Cambidges. He may have been blinded by the prospect of working for royalty and the door’s they could open for him before taking the job but now I’m afraid their attitude tarnishes their staff and associates by extension. Sometimes, I really do feel for their advisors.

    2. +100! According to Kate, George has a terrible attention span. Of course he wanted to be a pilot as soon as he saw a plane – and as soon as Kate became patron of the Air Cadets. I sure hope he’s at Grandpa Charles’ coronation so that he will want to be a king one day. I hope he gets SO obsessed with the monarchy!

       1. You made me smile with your comment Amy!
          🙂

15. I’m just waiting for the crash.

    1. Me too. We all have a gut feeling that it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter as to when.

    2. it will be interesting to see what stories come out when this happens. I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason they are so private is because they have secrets, it will be interesting to see what those are.

       1. Sometimes I think there might be something difficult with Charlotte because they are hiding her so desperately.

          1. If you were to speculate, what would you think is wrong with Charlotte which makes them hide her so much and has made them both look very haggard.

             1. I wasn’t really thinking about Charlotte, so I’ll leave it to Carla to speculate on that. I was thinking more along the lines of the happiness of their marriage and the relationship. I just don’t believe that William has been faithful or that they sincerely have this magical, idyllic lifestyle in the country. I don’t buy it because no one has a perfect family life.

                One incident that keeps popping up in my head is when Jecca Craig went on the boys hunting trip in Spain. I certainly wouldn’t be okay with my boyfriend’s (let alone husband’s) ex-girlfriend going on a trip with him and all of his friends…However, maybe I’m just not as”confident” as Kate..

             2. Maybe Charlotte cries a lot or she needs attention all the time.
                This could make it difficult to show the public the picture of a royal family they would like to.

             3. To me, Charlotte is William’s Diana 2.0. In some strange way, she is his do-over. This is his chance to protect her, keep her away from the prying public and paps, his disloyal father and evil royal family.
                . He and Kate/Carole probably butt heads over this. Kate, the greatest mother that ever lived, has probably figured out that she needs the goodwill that comes with both children in order to justify her lifestyle and he doesn’t want that for Charlotte. Of course, I could be way off the mark but I think it’s interesting how much we hear of George since Charlotte was born. I’ve read that Charles and Diana and other continental royals close in age in to William and Kate make a point of talking about/including ALL their children in some way or form.

    3. I will be first to queue when the Tell-All book comes out.

       1. You’d actually be behind me. 🙂

          1. Haha–We’ll be jostling one another!

             1. It will be a three way tie my dears, as I will be in there a well.

                I think that when a book comes out ( and I am pretty sure that one will) that it will be explosive. I get the feeling that those two have a LOT of secrets.

             2. I’ll be right behind you ladies for those books. Either way you slice it though, you (again) have two small children, George and Charlotte, who might be caught in the middle, just like his daddy and Uncle Harry were all those years ago. I hope that they/the press/media consider the children’s feelings when the shit hits the fan.

16. He saves a boy from choking on peanuts, comforts a widow who has just lost her husband and the focus is not attending some stupid film event? You seem to be stretching a bit in your search for criticism on this one.

    1. I’m not sure if you read my article or not, but my main point in bringing up the BAFTA thing was to point out how willing the press is to criticize William versus a couple years ago when he got nothing but glowing press.

    2. Not to mention saving the little boy choking on peanuts is part of the job he applied for. It’s not like he pulled over his motorcade and personally performed the Heimlich maneuver on the little boy.

       The BAFTA commitments are in his purview as president of the organization. I’m sure he wasn’t chosen for his love of films but for his high profile and the presence he could bring to the organization and their awards…if he only participated more and attended.

       1. Yes, how much ink do the other paramedics get for saving lives? It’s nice that William has a job with the air ambulance, but part of his association with that job would seem to be that what he accomplishes is “just another day at the office.”

          Rescue workers save lives every day. Lisa is right. It’s not like he stopped his motorcade, exited, and personally saved the child Although, thankfully, the child is fine, I assume.

          1. William provided transport and wouldn’t be qualified to apply medication. I’m not diminishing that role. Only highlighting it’s made to sound like William and no one else saved that child.

          2. Just re-read my comment. I should have said, How much ink to the others — the paramedics, get? I know William is a pilot and not a medical person. I just think that he does his job well and should be given positive comments when he does, but so should the medical personnel? When to they get their day in the sun? Although, I am sure they are not doing their jobs for that reason. They really want to help others. William probably does, too.

    3. As far as I’m concerned, he has obligations to fulfill whether that means saving a life as part of his job, consoling a friend as part of his personal life, or accepting the position of President as a royal duty. If he can’t fulfill his obligations to the fullest capacity, then he needs to get out of the way.

    4. Shocking all these ‘new’ people with new names commenting on here today and defending Will/Kate. Makes me laugh 🙂

       1. Probably the same people in the past who assumed new names

    5. William is one part of a rescue team. He and his fellow colleagues work together. It’s not a ‘star turn’ as the press likes to paint it. It is disrespectful to all members of the rescue service to feature one person just because he has a title.

17. That funeral picture is not a good angle for his bald spot… there’s even a put of a glare from the sun shining off his head. Poor guy.

18. William is a master of psychological warfare. He feels protected by public adulation (whether real or not), so he thinks he can do just what he wants. Many here said on another thread that Charles holds the purse strings so Wills should listen to him. But Will knows how to manipulate the situation. Can you imagine the stories in the papers of Chas tried to pull rank? Wills is still protected by the glow of Diana’s memory. It will be all “poor Will” and “Charles is such a bad father” and more pics with the Middletons out with the kids while poor Chuck hopes and prays George comes to Trooping the Colour so he can see the kid for five minutes.

    I think he very much wants and NEEDS Will and Kate to do more. Otherwise his whole slimmed-down monarchy plan will surely fail. It probably breaks his heart that Will doesn’t want to take over The Prince’s Trust.
    But what can he do? Wills won’t even go to a BAFTA event in his own backyard! I feel like Kate would do more if pushed or not restrained by Will. Like someone above said, she can’t be seen to be doing more than him. He wants it all ways.

    1. I think it’s better if Harry takes over the trust. At least, he seems to genuinely enjoy interacting with people and charities. If Will took it over it would just be as half-a**ed as his work with his other patronages. PC has built up the Prince’s Trust to an amazing organization, it deserves more than William will give it.

       1. I agree! Maybe he will when the time comes. Now it would seem like he’s overshadowing Will, who will be “the Prince” – as in of Wales – in the name of the trust. Harry overall seems like a better person and member of the firm. But then again he did not have to grow up with the burden of kingship staring him in the face. But he did grow up, so …

    2. Amy
       I’m not sure I can agree.
       WWilliam isn’t a mater of it. He fumbles so frequently and his approach is more often described in ways that amount to temper tantrums. Not master level skills. The rest is result of staff.

       Also, Charles holds the cash, but William is a loose cannon. Much has to be done to avoid this becoming the main topic. Numerous times in the past his behavior has been hidden because it’s damaging to the image of the monarchy.

       I DO agree with Charles needing William and Kate to do more. He needs this very badly if he wants to meet his goals. And agree about the Prince’s Trust. A wonderful and transparent organization that truly helps. It makes no sense with William’s current structure for his charitable org because with PT everything is ready to go and operating smoothly. Unless, he has other motives.

       1 thing that’s been brought up a lot, but spectators. William appears to not like the attention Kate gets. If her name is called he pushes her along. If his is they stop for a few moments.
       I think he likes her as not royal hard worker. And she does not strive for more than to please him.
       Sad. Both.

       1. Hey Snarker – I see your point in that “master manipulator” implies skill and success and Wills has certainly faltered. I think his behavior is a frightening combination of the worst of Diana and Charles. All of Diana’s “poor me” and media manipulation with Charles’s petulance and need for pampering.

          I think I was mostly trying to say that really only the public can rein him in. I do think the queen does what she can in her own way. She probably hints about their work schedule and there’s still no Royal Family Order for Kate. Charles has no leverage when the public still seems to favor King Wills over King Chas in theoretical opinion polls. (I agree that to skip Charles would be completely stupid and a political nightmare- and really, UK, you’ve got bigger problems to solve than this, right??) Charles will have to grin and bear it or Wills will throw him under the bus. And drive over his body again and again, just like Mummy. It can certainly be argued that Diana had cause. But Wills does not. There is no excuse for not doing your job in the Royal Family. And that’s something Diana had surely taught him – if nothing else than by example. Hold your head up high, and square your damn shoulders KATE! Stop crotch-clutching and get the hell out there.

          1. Amy
             I think Charles has more worth in the public eye. Opinion polls are often hilariously wrong.
             Charles has the better record and better value for that role, but many people bother to not read past the food market magazine covers.

             And doubt William can hurt Charles too much. William has far too many skeletons and is of higher press value regarding gossip.

             Kate’s posture makes me cringe too. I hold none of that against her. Just 1 of those things.

19. Who was the president of BAFTA, before William was appointed?

    1. Richard Attenborough.

       1. Who decides the person who will be the president of Bafta?

          1. It doesn’t really answer your question but this is from Wikipedia:

             “Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, has been President of the Academy since February 2010.

             The Duke’s appointment follows a long tradition of royal involvement with the academy.[6] Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was the first President of the Society of Film and Television Arts (SFTA) in 1959 to 1965, followed by Earl Mountbatten of Burma and the Princess Royal, who was its President from 1972 to 2001. It was the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s generous donation of their share of profits from the film Royal Family that enabled the academy to move to its headquarters at 195 Piccadilly. The Duke of Cambridge succeeded Lord (Richard) Attenborough to become the academy’s fifth president in its history.”

             I think it’s more BAFTA wanting a royal patron than anything else.

             1. Thanks for the answer!

          2. He was given the role when his stock was hot and wasn’t pressed into a firm commitment (obviously thinking, why would he have issues honouring his role as president). There could be no other criteria for appointing the Duke, other than that he is royalty. I mean, really. I bet Kate would love to go to those events with him, pretty dresses and sparkly baubles!

             1. Thanks!!

20. Okay, I am not saying it is true. But I could totally believe Kate not wanting William to go by himself to the BAFTAS. William has cheated on Kate before and supposedly has a roving eye (although I hope that has changed since marriage). Plus, Kate come across very insecure, so I could see her not being comfortable with William going to an event that has arguably the worlds most beautiful women dressed to the nines. Even if Will has changed, I am sure Kate remembers how he was and would be nervous with him going by himself and being able to flirt with so many pretty women. She might tell him not to go (yes I think she holds that much sway on Will).

    1. It’s thought she told him to stop being so visible in his time with other women and he dumped her.
       I doubt there’s much control in Kate’s hands. He holds all the cars. and there are too many skeletons in the Midds closet to give Kate the type of leverage Diana was able to build.
       To her credit she’s called him home when he’s gone too long several times and it’s worked.

    2. So why not go with him? She loves this kinda stuff! I’m sure they’d be able to accommodate an extra person. Especially since it would be PW asking. He’d milk the “I’m your future king, give me an extra seat.” card.

    3. Several years lurker on this wonderful blog!
       I agree with above posters that William may be depressed. Putting aside the fact that he has lived a fantasy life, I think that William – because he had allowed the relationship to go on for so many years- was pressured to marry Kate (the whole “he had stolen her youth” outcries). I don’t think that William was ANYWHERE ready to get married. I think he loved his freedom, his job, hanging out with his buddies, and his ability to continue meeting/dating women with the thought that one day he would meet a woman that he would be head-over-heels for. I think that scenario might have fit William much better than the one he is in now. A stronger, more independent woman probably would have motivated him to be a man more inclined to do good with the position in life that he has (I’m thinking of The Duke/Duchess of Windsor and George/Amal Clooney – type couples). Men that flitted around with fun and games and women until wham!- they met someone who turned their world around.

       I feel strongly that William is a compassionate person and has a good heart; that has been very evident in his early work with Centerpointe and other things that he did in his earlier years. And I think that is why he got married when he did. I can imagine years of tears and guilt trips and I think ultimately that he felt it was the right thing to do by Kate, for her years of loyalty. And that does take compassion, although misguided. I think he, to a point, wanted to make her happy. I find it very sad to compare their wedding to CP and Sofia of Sweden’s, or even Charles and Diana’s. The difference between the 3 men, on one of the most defining days of their lives, is stunning. CP glowed with love, Charles at least looked relaxed and happy and very smitten, but smiles from William are few, small, and fleeting.

       I think William has tried to make a go of it, but of all the things in his life that made him look happy pre-marriage are gone. Now that the newness has worn off, the houses established, the two kids born (and I do think he loves his children), he sees his future. Nothing but 50 years of being expected to be at home unless working, expected to always look in love with Kate. I think that William may be feeling restless, bored, and trapped. Yes, he put himself in this position, but I think that at least in part he did it because he felt that getting married was the honorable thing to do.

       I also think that William seeing other women will be very different for him post-marriage vs pre-marriage. Again, I think that compassion and conscience will play a part. Charles was very blatant and callous. William saw first-hand, and as a small child, how devastated his father’s affairs made his mother. I think seeing other women now would probably make him feel guilty and somewhat ashamed, although I don’t know if it would stop him. Again, something else that would make him feel trapped and depressed. Yes, he could get a divorce if he fell in love with someone else, but he has also seen other family members crucified in the press and put through long, ugly protracted battles. I don’t think that he has much stomach for that, and I think he would go to great lengths to avoid putting his children through an ugly divorce after what he and Harry experienced.

       I think if he had been able to wait until he was about mid-30’s or 40 we might be seeing a much different Prince William. If anything, I think he probably very much envies Harry, as Harry still has all of the freedom and possibilities that William had to compromise on when he married. I’m sure he still does many things he used to, but he is well aware if it conflicts with the “family image” he has to keep them well-hidden or be lambasted. In today’s world, with the unlimited opportunities available to someone like Prince William, 28 is such a young, young age to tie into a marriage with someone unless you are crazy in love with them.

       1. Hi ZZZ, very interesting points you’ve made. I don’t think that William is “in love” with Kate any longer, he loves her I’m sure and they have history together but he doesn’t feel the passion for her anymore, like she does for him. Whenever I see them together at an event I almost feel sad for her, she clearly loves being around him and lights up whenever he pays her the slightest attention but I think she knows his affection for her is waning and I’m sure that hurts.

          During the first year of so of their marriage I had high hopes that they could really be something together. With Kate by his side William seemed much happier and open, very similar to how he was when he was younger. But I think the arrival of George was tougher on both of them then they let on. I too had a very fussy, hard to handle infant, I can tell you nothing makes you doubt yourself or your spouse like your inability to calm your screaming newborn; harsh words are spoken out of frustration and lack of sleep, blame gets put on both parents, your sex life goes to non-existent and then of course everyone is offering advice and are put out when you don’t follow it. I don’t know if William stepped out on Kate during that time but I feel that something happened that really put a strain on their relationship and I don’t know if they’ve truly recovered from it. Now it seems that neither of them are very happy, as evidenced in Kate’s posture (she almost rolls up into herself to hide her insecurities) and William’s fist and jaw clenching.

          1. This reminds me of that Whitaker interview. Very respected royal insider.
             Saying he thought William indeed loved Kate, but was not in love. That she was loved as a friend and he wanted to protect her.

             1. Does anyone have a link to James Whitakers interview?

             2. The full one has disappeared, as so much else has. You can hear some of those key Whittaker lines in the first few minutes of Kate Middleton Unfit Princess

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BncJtQlz94

       2. ZZZ you’re absolutely right. There would have been nothing wrong with William waiting to get married later. Finding someone who pushed all the right buttons and not being backed into a corner. The alleged put a ring on it or end it statement from the gray men didn’t help the situation any. William is notorious for not listening to advice from them. The fact that he didn’t really alert anyone in the family until the press conference announcing the engagement was basically a done deal speaks volumes to me.

          It’s a shame that he felt he was so honor bound. I wish he had had the strength and foresight to realize that he just didn’t love her the way he should have and had walked away. Instead he’s wrapped up in this.

          And I’m sure he loves his kids too. He and George appear to have a close relationship. But on the divorce front, they don’t all have to be acrimonious. Divorces are handled around the world every day in a civil manner. It would get ugly because a certain mother would become the Lion Queen protecting her cubs and starting slinging mud. If she were to step back and realize that her daughter is not happy and wanted the best for her she’d help her achieve that if divorce was what would bring some happiness back into her life. But I think it’s all about the titles and connection to the BRF for her and that’s what she’s going to have regardless of how her daughter might suffer.

          1. I read whilst browsing that parents still want their daughters to marry up when they want the grandchildren to live comfortably. It is sad that Kate was not supported in what she wanted to do if it was not this.

       3. Of all the reasons presented here (and I have read all the comments) about W&K missing the BAFTAS, Willam’s depression makes more sense to me. To anyone who knows anything about relative symptoms, depression makes you want hide away and certainly avoid any high profile glitzy glam event like BAFTAS. In the same time, attending a funeral comes easier.

          I’m saying this because I have a hard time believing that William would snub such an important event willingly, unless he can’t help it. So, in my mind, either he’s away (vacationing?) or if he stays home, then he must surely be in a pretty bad state.

          This doesn’t mean I agree with his choice of not attending, if he has a shred of work ethics in him then he should put a brave face and make an appearance, as the president. Something else really is happening here and is associated with the bad press he’s getting.

          It could be marital disillusionment, the strain two difficult little ones can put on a marriage (even with the army of nannies and aids in hand) or even the start of a reality check about the obligations of his role. There is no doubt about this increasing demise of public good will.

          Time will tell of course but I wouldn’t be so sure about the possibilities of divorce with Kate or stepping away from the throne in the immediate at least future, for a number of reasons.

          The sure thing is, that while we were talking about Kate all this time, it’s William now who needs a PR makeover, ASAP!

       4. This is precisely my perception of William too. The tragic history of his Mather predetermined his behavior towards the women. Of course he wants to speared them the pain his Mather endure. His marriage to Kate was along the line of doing things right way and giving her “deserved ” position. In engagement interview he stated ” she will do a good job”. It give him also opportunity to stand up against Charles who was opposing to this marriage and whom he blame for his Mather demise. Kate was riding on the tail of the tragic history of the family and benefiting from it. What William didn’t realized that she was and seem to be more obsessed (“consumed by the relationship”) with him than in love. This eventually will create a problem in the relationship and cause William lot of stress because divorce is something he would like to speared others.

          1. I also wonder if William has become frustrated with Kate’s inability to fit into the role well. Usually people move through different phases in their lives. William does have motivation and the ability to adjust to serious and mature roles when needed- overindulged teenager, college, Sandhurst military academy, rescue pilot, now ambulance pilot. He knows how to dress appropriately for occasions, and does. And in spite of statements of saying he didn’t want to be king, I think that he does enjoy representing the BRF on tours and on many other occasions. I think that he has intelligence and, in a sharp contrast to Kate, an eagerness and curiosity to get out and experience Life! Kate has proven she is a homebody. She has always retreated inside whenever something did not go her way, with the exception of the 2007 breakup. And that was a flashy, immature reaction. How she burned all those years doing absolutely nothing shows a real lack of curiosity and interest in engaging in opportunities and new experiences.

             I think that they are tremendously mismatched on that level, far more than Diana and Charles ever were. Diana grew in her role, from the early days, and that takes strength of character. When Diana made mistakes, she recognized that they were not appropriate for her Job and did not repeat them. Kate isn’t growing and when confronted by constructive criticism that is appropriate for ANY high profile government employee- lengthen your skirts, keep them down, dress appropriately for the occasion with your hair, outfit, shoes- nothing that ANY working individual might not hear in their workplace- she makes no changes, or, as I think she’s doing now, she quits. It takes character to push yourself to grow and change and improve. William has some of that character, but I don’t see it in Kate. She still dresses in what she thinks makes her look pretty, and then shows up for the event, not the other way around.

             I think she is the one that doesn’t want to go to the BAFTA’S, and Will going alone to anything anymore just shines a harsher and harsher light on Kate. I don’t think Kate enjoys being around accomplished people. I think she thought she would just be adored after her marriage, but she has to know that people don’t see her as an accomplished individual in her own right, but as someone who seems eternally stuck at the maturity level of a college student.

             1. William could be at this point quite confused about public perception of Kate, which took a different path he had anticipated or took for granted. Especially after all the effort on his part to make it easy on her. People don’t seem to see what he saw in her but see through her more than he. I hope William will work his problems through. I liked his Mather and was saddened that she had to experience so much pain.

21. I haven’t read all the comments yet, so forgive me if someone’s already mentioned it. The BAFTA’s are this Sunday? Sunday is Valentine’s day. My guess, he’s skipping out on it because he/Kate have something planned and working would just get in the way. Forget that it’s a fun event, it’s still work and asking them to work on a Hallmark holiday is just to much. *insert eye roll*

    1. Seriously I doubt that is the case.

    2. Love your sarcasm miss K! But what a better Valentine’s Day gift for Kate than being able to dress up and meet the people she watches on her screen?

22. I feel like in many ways William would love to be a repeat of Edward and renounce the throne but still have many perks. I think the whole family knows this especially the Queen and they are trying to placate him as much as possible. Kate and her family are oblivious to it all and couldn’t handle it if it happened. I believe Edward’s abdication really scarred the Queen and she could not handle this, or watch the possible destruction of the monarchy on her watch. Only time will tell.

    1. But the difference is that:
       1) he’s not going to renounce the throne for love
       2) Carole would flip her **** if/when he does renounce the throne
       3) if he renounces the throne, he’ll do it after both HM and PP have passed on
       4) he won’t tell anybody that he’s planned this so that when the announcement comes, it’ll be completely out of left field and without warning. The person most shocked will be Harry.

       1. That’s my feeling Kimothy. If William steps away it will be after HM passes. And I don’t know if Harry or Prince Charles will be all that shocked. In some ways I think Harry is being prepped for just that possibility.

          1. I totally agree. The table is being set, imho.

       2. +1 He also was purported to not tell HM about his engagement.

          1. Yup, he surprised them all and Big Blue was originally Harry’s but William went behind his back and took it from a vault. Harry didn’t know his brother had taken it until he saw it on Kate’s finger on television! (just realized I went way off topic…..sorry!)

             1. Kimothy, how did you find out about William going behind William’s back to secure their mother’s ring for Kate? I thought the two talked it over. Ugh, what a Royal Soap Opera.

                P.S. Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day. It’s not only a day for lovers, I think. It’s a day to show affection to everyone and so, I send you all a ton of kind wishes and loving ones. You are bright lights whenever I log on.

             2. Kimothy
                As time goes on we’re hearing from more sources closer to them this is not the case.
                Yes, Diana had in her will Harry gets the ring. And he gets the better part of her wealth because he wouldn’t have all the advantages William would.
                However, her will was rewritten post death. Not only was William getting the lion’s share, but many of her godchildren/nieces/nephews got written out entirely. As well as charities.

                What we can be more sure of.
                William traded a piece of jewelry with Harry for another. William traded the cartier watch.
                It does seem like a stretch Harry would if he had it, give up the ring admitting he didn’t know Kate. And now we know he had a pet name for her “limpet” so she was not well liked.

                It’s more thought the ring sat in a vault. Not William’s or Harry’s, but just a vault they had access to. The story of Harry releasing the ring to William was PR to say he approved.
                If you know something I don’t please reference it 🙂

             3. Runaway, isn’t that what I just said? **scratches head**

             4. Kimothy
                I did get a bit drifty there. And also did mean to include Jenny’s name as the comment was also directed to them.
                The point where you didn’t say… No one was shocked at the ring being there. He didn’t sneak it out. If anyone was a bit shocked it would have only been the Queen as she was notified as camera crews were entering to set up.

             5. I thought Harry was blindsided about the fact that Wills took the ring out of the vault knowing it was Harry’s…..

                Can anyone clarify that one for me? Thanks! 🙂

             6. One of the Tumblr blog owners would definitely agree with you on that one, Kimothy. She’s posted more than once that she has military connections, and she relayed the story you described – that Harry knew nothing of the ring until he saw Kate wearing it on television – based on what she was told by (I think) someone who was either there with him or who heard it directly from someone else who was. In all fairness, this is veering into multi-hand territory, so I’d take it with a grain of salt. But it’s very interesting, all the same, and I wouldn’t discount it completely.

             7. Melete
                I know what you’re referencing. It’s been partially debunked. It was believed until people started to not take it at face value. Because that’s tough to do online where anyone can claim anything.

                I do think k there was some sketchy secrecy with the engagement happening.
                But yes, grains of saltall around

       3. He would not do it for love, only because he never wanted to be king. Diana said that and I think she had a clearer picture of the boys even before things fell apart. I agree he will wait but, I don’t know how long. Thank God the Queen is well and could live for a long time, and so could Charles. I think as time goes on things will become harder and harder to contain. This will take a lot of good press or spin to stop questions and criticism of William and Kate.

       4. There is no way William would remove himself from the line of succession while HM is still alive. But after she dies, maybe.

    2. It would be more of a legal nightmare if he waited until HM is gone. Prince of Wales title has to be given/awarded, but what about Duke of Cornwall? I wish those brilliant history people from Celebitchy would wander over here.

       This is from a recent bill about the Duchy of Cornwall (I do not know if it passed). One of the things it changes is allowing for female succession to the Duchy (HM was never Duke of Cornwall and had to get permission from Parliament to access a portion of the Duchy money).

       http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2015-2016/0043/16043.pdf

       “Succession to the title Duke of Cornwall
       Whereas in accordance with a Charter of 1337 (Regnal 11 Edward 3) (“the Charter”) the title Duke of Cornwall devolves on the eldest living son of the monarch being heir to the throne, this shall be varied such that the title of Duke of Cornwall shall be passed to the eldest living child of the monarch being heir to the throne, regardless of gender.”

       What happens if the eldest living child of the monarch is not the heir to the throne? Does the Duchy pass to the new heir, or does William get the Duchy income even if he steps out of the succession and takes the kids out too? If he steps out of the line but leaves the kids in, what happens? Aside from admitting he cannot face the life but would force his child to do it. It means they might get $20 million a year income in exchange for doing no work until they die.

       1. Hi Nota!
          <FLORC
          I decamped. Had enough of the click bait and non-moderating. It was poster against poster (as you know)..

          1. I don’t want to throw other blogs under the bus, but Celebitchy’s comment moderation policy confuses me. On the one hand, I’ll see really rude, hateful, attacking comments that get through their moderation and get left up and not moderated by the writers; and on the other hand my comments that aren’t rude, hateful, or attacking get removed because they happen to disagree with other commenters and/or dislike the writer’s favorite people. The other day, I was trying to post a follow up comment and it did not get through moderation, and I have no idea why. I didn’t say anything that was rude, hateful, or attacking and there were no words that would have caused it to not get through. What does and doesn’t get moderated over there is confusing.

             1. I comment there, and scratch my head sometimes too. I have responded to really ugly comments, and my response wasn’t posted but the ugly comment stayed. Although I can also say that I’ve posted to an ugly comment and both my post and the ugly one were removed. And another one the same day. That happened a couple of weeks ago and took some other comments with it. So sometimes, you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although I don’t generally have issues with mine not going through on their own and I’ve been on moderation over there since practically Day 1. But I’m going to give Duchess Kate props for that. I learnt how to write very diplomatically worded posts by posting over there. At first, I couldn’t get past her moderation but I kept at it, and now sometimes I think she actually likes what I write. Sometimes. 🙂

             2. I gave up for a few reasons. The site is buggy and I never knew if comments were in moderation or didn’t post for a technical reason. There was no logic to the moderation. I was tired of being attacked and ordered to give documentation to prove my opinion.

             3. They banned an old IP address I had when I wrote privately that a comment was highly offensive. And reported it twice in 1 day. So… Yea
                Much more enjoy not getting at each others throats. Those articles can be purely clickbait with loose mods.

                KMR many times we’ve all posted and had our comments not make it. Something that does happen is your specific email used gets flagged and you can’t post

             4. Thanks bluhare, My2Pence, and Runaway. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who has had problems over there.

       2. My thought is that if William removes himself and his kids from the line, the monarch and parliament will do whatever legal maneuvers they need to in order to take the Duchy of Cornwall away from William and his kids. There is no way they’d let William walk away with the Duchy of Cornwall if he walked away from the line of succession.

          1. I don’t think anything would have to be done. The title and monies go to the heir, if you give that up it all goes. It is specifically a means of funding the office of P of W. However I don’t think Will will abdicate his inheritance ( if that’s the right expression) I think he’ll just expect everyone else to do the work. I have a lazy brother in law and he sails through life expecting everyone else to do his work for him.

23. Long time lurker here. Since we seem to be focusing on William and his possible depression I wanted to weigh in because I have suspected it for years. His appearance these days including the bags under his eyes from depression-induced insomnia are all too clear in my opinion. Also how slim he keeps himself. It’s a form of control.
    I think it may go even further- I hope this doesn’t sound melodramatic but it wouldn’t surprise me if there has been some self-harm or suicide threat from him at some point. It would explain why he has got away with doing so little, HM and Prince Charles having a panic and trying to pacify him. Also on another topic there was a comment further up about there being more of a friendship love between W and K. I agree with this and also the suggestions that her family were a big part of his attachment. For me photos like this show the dynamic in that relationship. He wanted the ‘normal’ family and also the holidays they were able to provide him (which Charles wouldn’t.) I know this is just one photo is time but it’s from a series and there are hundreds more like it. He never holds her hand and never walks with her unless he absolutely has to.

    https://www.google.ch/search?q=prince+william+kate+middleton+mustique&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTsr32yvXKAhVEFQ8KHQerAUQQ_AUIBigB#imgdii=ULajWIDinOzu4M%3A%3BULajWIDinOzu4M%3A%3BdWLxELk5-kHGCM%3A&imgrc=ULajWIDinOzu4M%3A

    Thoughts?

    1. William’s personality has never really changed since childhood. Best always show. These traits. And I’m not seeing depression. Just a new narrative to explain avoidance of work.
       We see carefully selected photos edited more or less to fit the headline.

       Regarding William’s weight. He’s well into average. Not follow or high. And we’ve seen him active. He’s healthy.

       Also, Charles lacks credit due to his normal he kept his sons. He protected their privacy from press and did vacation with them as a family. When schedules of boarding school and work fit.

       Regarding band holding. It’s thought mate avoids the hand holding. She’s pulled away more than you’d think.

       1. I’m not seeing depression either. He has never wanted the role and now the walls are closing in around him. He keeps pretending the rest of the royal family will live forever, so he can keep pretending he doesn’t have to step up or get out. I think he considered marriage an escape, an excuse to hide and play “normal” that the public would accept. Just another way to avoid his royal role, instead of manning up and walking away.

          1. If William would suffer from a serious depression he could not work as a pilot.

             1. Good point, but i’m not certain how the laws work over there.
                State side it’s a fine line since depression is a disability and you can’t ban someone from working with a disability.

                Then again, loopholes. Like William’s eye sight isn’t good enough to be a pilot. Nor did he maintain the proper amount of hours to keep his license, but did so anyway.

    2. I’m more with you Cat, as I posted earlier up thread. But, really, it’s all speculation, especially about the dynamics of W&K relationship. No, he doesn’t hold hands with her but BRF royals don’t usually show open actions of affection, anyway. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her even if he’s grown out of love with her, which would be kind of expected in any long relationship.

       She does look more dependent on him but maybe that’s the way Wills prefers it, if he has promised to her and her family to protect and guide her, therefore be the strongest/ the ‘man’ for his wife to lean on.

       All I’m saying is there may be things that unite these two and keep them together apart from just being in love. In all relationships there are subconscious psychological needs from each part to be fulfilled.

       I do agree that William has probably proposed to Kate in order to do the right thing. I think he has a strong sense of duty which sometimes feels like a heavy burden on his shoulders. It shouldn’t be this way and some of us have repeatedly commented on his need to address his psychological issues through professional therapy. He may have done some therapy in the past but I think he still needs it.

       Anyway, both W&K’s image is faltering right now, they really need positive promotion and this last tweet from KP doesn’t help as Lauri from Ca has started saying.

       This has turned out to be one of the longest comment section, there are so many threads and thoughts going on that at this point, I just want to join Jenny (from earlier) and wish Happy Valentine’s Day or a happy normal Sunday for anyone who’s not into the Valentine’s thing.

       1. Elina, I want to compliment you on a thoughtful post. You’ve addressed the points about Will and Kate with respect to what we do and don’t know, not excusing behavior but understanding that they approach issues from presuppositions that make their challenges sometimes like in the present instance more difficult. I wish that I could advise William and see if he really is as petulant as he’s unfortunately both being portrayed and presenting himself as, where he rejects professional advice put in a reasonable way with attention to how the public will perceive things. Would he make different choices if he wasn’t surrounded by ring-kissers? In the meantime, wishing you a very happy Valentines Day, and thanks for sharing.

          1. Thank you, Sunny for your kind feedback. I respect all opinions here but sometimes get the feeling that we’re winding ourselves up for the sake of it and then get carried away beyond common sense or reason. This only happens with the Cambridges, not other royals.

             Me too, I wish I could advise both W&K and give them the perspective of the common people. They need to learn, especially from Charles who had so many up and downs regarding his image and yet, managed to be respected and accepted as the future king.

             In the meantime, it will be interesting to watch but I don’t wish for the decadence or downfall of anyone.

             Hope you have a lovely day, Sunny.

             1. As I have posted several times recently I’m totally with you Elina. I think there is a danger of getting carried away in an unkind way with no facts to back up . We really don’t know the state of their marriage because we never see them together just hanging out . We don’t see other Royals in domestic situations either. I am happy to call them both out for laziness and lack of work ethic and commitment to their causes, but am a little uncomfortable with many of the more personal ‘attacks’ ( that’s a strong word but I can’t think of a slightly milder one ).

             2. People definitely assume things, and it’s easy to see why. But while we may want to dissect what we see and try to find some sort of meaning from it – since they give us to little else to focus on – it is important for us to remember we don’t know these people and have no idea what their life truly is like behind closed doors. I think it’s easy to get carried away with the speculation and sometimes we need to be reined in a bit.

             3. I think some areas are valid.
                Kate commenting William is away a lot.
                Miss pap finding William’s location when all other press reported he was in school and not vacationing with harryjecca. Outside of those glimpses who knows. However, there is much to be said to likely scenarios. Not as fact though.
                Personally I wish they’d work more. Their private life only gets this attention because it’s all they are.

       2. My opinion is that Kate thought that William would change, when they got married. Nothing changed, then Kate started to think that everything would change and be better once the heir was born. Nothing did! Then Kate thought that when William would get a daugher, a Diana, everything would change and be better. Nothing has! I see the face of a someone who has her adult life lied to herself. How everything would be better once…
          William again is someone who constantly feels dissatisfied. He thought that everything would be better once he got married and had kids. He would learn how to love Kate, when he got his own family. By the look of it, he has now realized that he feels excactly the same way as before marriage, nothing did change. Because he is a prick, he blames Kate. Everything is Kate’s fault! She even can’t handle the simplest of engagements. What William hates even more is how someone makes him look stupid.

          1. Larissa
             We were told they would change too. From the engagement press onward. Their actions said otherwise.

          2. That’s what you call emotional abuse. Been there. It’s not a good feeling. It leaves you battered and bruised, depressed and anxious just to name a few things. My self esteem and self confidence levels were in the tank. I knew it wasn’t my fault, but still felt like I was to blame. I isolated myself because I didn’t wanna admit that everyoe surrounding me had been right about him and his abuse all along. It is hard to get out. And there are days when I still feel like if I had just done something differently, things would be fine. Even though I had done nothing wrong and it really was all his fault! Not saying that’s where Kate is at, we’ll never really know, but it looks like emotional abuse.

24. Why do I have the feeling after reading this tweet, that KP is subtly saying that Kate won’t be making children’s mental health her primary cause?

    “The Duchess will continue to work to support #childrensmentalhealth care in the months and years ahead #ChildrensMHW”

    1. I don’t even get why they tweeted that. Did someone ask them about mental health and Kate? It just seems so out of the blue. I agree with you Lauri. The fact that they randomly tweeted that makes it seem like they are saying she will support them but it won’t be her primary cause. I guess she isn’t ‘keen’ to make a difference. Its like a preemptive comment

    2. That tweet was so totally random. It was tweeted on a Friday afternoon, too. It’s just so weird to me. I’s awesome if she does continue to support that cause, but do they really need to tell us that in a tweet? Why not show us that by adding appearances to her schedule and her showing up for visits? After all the PR BS last fall and earlier this year about how energized and keen Kate is to work for children’s mental health, if she drops it as her primary cause now, there would be no coming back from that.

       1. What puzzles me is how KP handles it all. It’s all through social media. I mean, using social media to promote the royals is a great thing, but when it’s your only real outlet there are problems since they’re purposefully marginalizing newspapers, journalists, photographers… Their own little world.

          1. I think that’s what William wants. He can control what goes out without having to deal with the press. No talking to them, no agreements with them, just release what they want, when they want and tough noogies if the real press doesn’t like it.

             The only problem with that thinking is they need the press more than the press needs them. The press can always find something else to report about.

          2. I think social media is a great tool for releasing bits of information, drawing attention to causes, and overall just promoting themselves. And that’s true of all royals – Princess Madeleine uses Facebook very well, the Duke of York (‘s PR team) uses his Twitter account very well. Even the British Monarchy Twitter account has gotten loads better about promoting the other royals. Clarence House does good job, too. Other royal houses have social media accounts as well which they use to promote the royal’s work.

             I think Maddie does it the best. She draws you in with personal photos of her and her kids so you like her page, then periodically promotes her causes. But she promotes her causes more than just when she does an engagement. She links research and articles on child trafficking, and of course promotes Childhood. So it truly is about the cause rather than just herself.

             The Duke of York’s account is good at promoting him, his engagements, and especially his Pitch at Palace initiative. But they also periodically promote the businesses of the entrepreneurs who have gone through Pitch at Palace process which is nice. The British Monarchy twitter used to only focus on the Queen and Philip but they’ve started promoting Anne, Sophie, Edward, Gloucesters, etc. But it’s still mostly just promoting the royals’ engagements.

             Clarence House promotes Charles and Camilla really well. They post photos from their engagements and post links to their various charities and articles about their visits. But it is still mostly about promoting C&C and their visits. That’s why I like Maddie’s page because she uses it to promote herself, but also her cause, so it’s not just about herself.

             But the thing about all of these accounts is that they are used as tools to supplement the coverage, not totally control the coverage.

             KP seems to want to only go through Twitter and leave out the proper media. The problem with that is that on the latest Twitter post (the one we’re discussing here), they got about 100 retweets, but the proper media gets hundreds and thousands of shares per article. The proper media reaches way more people than KP’s Twitter account.

             Social media is great to supplement proper media coverage, or when a royal is not getting media coverage, but it should not be the only media coverage if proper media is available. The other royal social media accounts promote their respective royals, but they aren’t shutting out the proper media, it’s supplementary.

             Another thing about KP is that they are only promoting W&K&H, and posting rare photos of the kids, but they don’t randomly promote their causes and such like Maddie does.

             1. KMR, I agree with everything you said.

                Time and a place for social media, and there are royals who use it properly to highlight their family life, their causes, and it is nice–despite my opinion on Randy Andy–that his twitter account talks about the entrepreneurs that he has helped. AFAIK Clarence House talks about it too. I want to see what these royal visits, support, etc truly MEAN. Let’s hear about the entrepreneurs Andrew has helped, or all the stories of success from The Prince’s Trust, not fluff about the Cambridges doing nothing and passing it off as doing something because it’s a tweet.

                The royals need the press hell of a lot more than the press needs the royals. William doesn’t know that. I assume his staff does, but working with William seems like an exercise in banging one’s head into a wall.

                Re: Mental Health Week, why didn’t the twitter for example post facts about children’s mental health, British charities that work with the children, information on how you can help, throughout the week? Major fail on their part, but these two never follow through and thus their staff never does either. I don’t think their staff know how to handle royals. William takes no advice from those who know better, like Charles, so…

             2. Best royal social media award goes to princess Estelle. Hands down. Her Instagram is amazing and she steals the show in every video.

       2. Well, it is the end of Children Mental health week so that might be the reason for it but I can’t shake the feeling that the Duchess is already starting to bow out. She didn’t even bother to make one visit to any charity championing that cause just did the video.

          1. I don’t think her little PSA got the result/attention she/they had hoped for and combined with the we’ll believe it when we see it anticipation for the HuffPost guest editor day maybe they are hedging their bets. Rather than keep going and really digging in it seems they are throwing out this vague little statement to cover the bases. It appears that if Kate doesn’t get the much sought after praise for throwing her hat into an arena she quickly loses interest and flits on to the next thing. Personally I think the next thing will be another pregnancy.

             1. This year’s video has 79,740 views as of right now, and only 306 likes.

          2. What they should have done is promote children’s mental health throughout the entire week. Not just the first two days and then a random tweet about continued support at the end of the week. KP really needs a better social media person.

             1. Agree. There should have been some follow through at least in social media on Cambridge’s behalf. I’m honestly suspecting they’ve snuck away for a quick vacation.

                And yes their social media handling is atrocious.

             2. I distinctly remember my eighth-grade English teacher telling us that, when you’re trying to persuade someone of something, you should “tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em, tell ’em, and then tell ’em what you told ’em.” KP seems to be stuck on the first part of that.

    3. I think it was in response to all the negative comments to the DM that Kate is dallying with mental health and will move on to something else. She’s been criticized here too for that, and her track record is poor, which supports people being concerned and irritated that this important issue might be used as a PR tool only. I think KP is trying to ineptly fight back against Kate’s reputation but all it did was look silly and raise the question even more. Another PR blunder.

       1. From a PR angle it is a problem that Kate the media is consistently overselling Kate. Once or twice a year we are told that now Kate is going to increase her workload, not she’s going to hit the ground running, she really is intelligent (we promise) and she’s going to give real speeches with substantive content, etc. Then come her actual follow through, which is lacklustre. It is unclear to me whether it is her PR or the media that independantly push this narrative – it is, however, not good for her image because she’s being set up to fail.

          I will compliment her for actually trying to do better late last year. She actually spoke in public (beyond chit chat) for the first time in years. She gave an introduction as well as an actual speech. It wasn’t impressive efforts but she tried to do something that she appears to be quite nervous about. I think we can all relate to being nervous about speaking in public. However, right now it looks like she has given up on this though she may surprise us all later this year.

          It is interesting to see how the Cambrige’s public image has deteriorated since the wedding where they had a lot of public goodwill – and for Kate, a clean slate. That was the moment for Kate to come out and build a solid base for her future work and to shape her public image as a member of the BRF. Instead she rested on the laurels and now she has an uphill battle where she’s hampered by her spotty track record and the fact that her public image is soo devoid of any genuine personality that she almost appears as a cipher, a blank canvas for people to project their pre-conceived opinions on, whether they be negative or positive. That makes it hard for her to control the narrative on her public persona. She has gotten a reputation for being vapid, lazy and frivolous – and it is going to take consistently hard work to shed that image. Sadly, she lacks the life and work experience to help her do this.

          When it comes to William’s public image there seems to be a lot of different factors coming into play. It appears as though his marriage marked an unspoken end of the protection that he had enjoyed as an adolescent and young man after his mother’s death. Then there’s the fact that Diana has been dead for almost two decades and her fading public memory no longer protects him as thoroughly as it used to. Then there’s his war on the press. We can all speculate on his reasons for doing this but I personally am very uncomfortable about acting the armchair psychologist when it comes to people I don’t know and haven’t met (and who hasn’t shared the more personal aspects of themselves with the public). With the circumstances of his mother’s death as the are, I can certainly understand him having mixed feelings about the press and it is important to set firm boundaries (especially with the British press). However, his relationship with the established press is looking more and more like a crusade and less about setting the aforementioned firm boundaries. Strategially this not a good approach since the royals need the press more than the press needs the royals. A constitutional monarchy is entirely dependant on the goodwill of the people and the government – and it’s position is more precarious because it is so so dependant on the individual members. The BRF ought to be more aware of this than any other RF (excepting the Spanish RF) due to past scandals.

          To sum up:
          The Cambridges are now having problems with their public image for various reasons but a common weakness is their spotty work record – not to mention that William is actively antagonizing the press, the very establishment that he needs in his future role as head of State. He hasn’t really made a secret of that he sees his future role as a burden. However, it is very unlikely that he will evade that role in the future. Old institutions like monarchies have an inbuilt inertia that makes it very hard to change drastically bar a generally drastic and/or violent upheaval in society. Whether he likes it or not, William is most likely going to be Prince of Wales and then King and antagonizing the press for years are going to make his future role so much harder to deal with when the time comes because I don’t think he’ll have a long a wait as his father.

          1. I love everything about this comment.

          2. King William (if he gets there) will probably be the end of the monarchy. I cannot see William accommodating the press in any way shape or form. He isn’t doing it now and he’s not going to change his ways because he gets the top title. If anything he’s going to double down and hide the monarchy into nonexistence.

             1. Lisa,

                Even if he continues like this, I highly doubt that William would be the end of the British monarchy. Besides Denmark, England has the oldest monarchy in Western Europe – and only Denmark has had a continual monarchy of more than 1000 years. There was a two decades long interregnum in the wake of the English Civil War in the mid 17th century.

                Old monarchies are extremely hard to dislodge – and no monarchy has ever been abolished by peaceful, democratic means. Many European monarchies has fallen due to civil unrest, war and/or political coups.

                The English monarchy fell briefly because Charles I set himself against Parliament (among other things). The French monarchy was dissolved in blood and terror – and its various restorations throughout the 19th century all failed fairly quickly. The Ottoman, the Austro-Hungarian and the German empires all fell after WWI and the Eastern European monarchies fell after WWII with the rise of the Iron Curtain. The Greek monarchy fell as a result of a military coup in the 1960s.

                So I don’t see one person being the end of the British monarchy. It is too deeply entrenched in society, the national culture and identity. I can only really see it fall through some incredibly drastic and possibly violent upheaval.

                One possibility is if William decides to renounce his place in the Line of Succession. I don’t think that is legally possible at present if he isn’t a Sovereign who’s abdicating. Laws can be changed but such a change would very likely open the debate on the relevance of the insitution itself, which the BRF (and large segement of the political establishment) isn’t interested in.

                Such a potential crisis could, however, be side-stepped if there is a successor that is seen as suitable and prepared. That’s why I find it interesting that Harry is presently seen as stepping up his work in a very focused manner – and to see how his public image is changing for the better. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is subtly being groomed just in case William takes a drastic decision and bolts, like a contingency plan. Charles isn’t stupid and whatever his faults his main goal is to preserve the monarchy.

             2. Art Historian
                Thank you for a very interesting overview of European monarchies. What might happen if governmental policy changed towards funding the BRF, basically reducing the role to a few ceremonial duties? I’m thinking of the confluence of a Corbyn-led government and changing public attitudes due to austerity measures.
                I agree that traditions are hard to dislodge. Australia (and probably New Zealand) will move to separate, already signalled by current conservative leaders here once HM dies. Hereditary positions and the public money demanded to support them are a hard sell, particularly in tough economic times and where meritocracy is idealised. While older members of the community believe in the monarchy, younger citizens consider royalty little more than celebrities. I wondered to what extent this may or may not be true in the UK.

          3. Completely unvarnished, sobering points.
             I can’t see Jason releasing PR that hasn’t had sign-off from W+K, and can only conclude that follow-through by W+K is lacking ie losing interest if whatever is attempted doesn’t result in sunny compliments. It always comes back to poor work ethic, disinterest or stickability. And appearing to just want good times.
             I agree; the only way to dig themselves out from this position – should they want to – is to truly engage in regular work plus make a sensible plan to share their family that all parties can uphold. If they are too arrogant to take and follow advice, well, what can anyone do.
             I suspect you are right about the longevity of Charles’s reign. I do hope the Queen hands over substantial duties to him upon her 90th birthday, if only to ease the inevitable transition.

          4. AH, I agree with every word you wrote. I don’t think I’ve ever totally agreed with a post this long ever, but I do with this one!

             1. Art Historian, with all respect, what Eastern European monarchies fall down after WWII?

             2. I don’t know which Eastern European monarchies fell after WWII, but I do know that the Russian monarchy fell in 1917 toward the end of WWI. As a direct result of their involvement in WWI. Several monarchies fell as a result of WWI.

             3. Roumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia – all deposed by the Communists. Interestingly enough, the last Bulgarian king Simeon II returned after the fall of Communism, formed a political party, got elected and served as Bulgaria’s Prime Minister between 2001 and 2005.

                The Bulgarian RF is related to the Windsors (their last name is Saxo-Coburg-Gotha, like the Windsors before they changed their last name)

                The Roumanian ex-king Michael is the great-great grandson of Queen Victoria and hence third cousin to several monarchs (England, Denmark, Norway, Spain and Sweden). His ancresstres Queen Marie (nee Princess of Edinburgh) was quite an interesting lady with an impressive jewellery collection – including a 478 carat sapphire!!!! She also had some very idiosyncratic tiaras and crowns made.

                http://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2015/09/queen-marie-of-romanias-sapphire-pendant.html

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_of_Romania

             4. Holy pendant and Tiara! I can’t say I love it as much as i’m wowed by it.

             5. Hi,

                I think I’m going to adopt that phrase of yours!

                The sapphire IS impressive but it is terribly difficult to design a piece of jewellery that can accommodate such a large stone beautifully and comfortably. The sautoir is the best option here.

                When it comes to jewellery design I’m not really in favour of overly large gemstones (100 carats and up) since they can be very hard to integrate in the overall design in a beautiful and aesthetically balanced way. Case in point: The Stuart Tiara that displays the famous Stuart Diamond but is a bit of an eyesore. I’m hoping that Maxima will dismantle it and restore the Stuart Diamond to its original use – as a pendant.
                http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.dk/2012/04/tiara-thursday-stuart-tiara.html

                Queen Marie had a number of tiaras and crowns made that are quite idiosyncratic and rather unique – often with aesthetic features referencing Romania’s medieval and Orthodox heritage. She also had quite a theatrical flair as seen in some photos.
                https://dk.pinterest.com/trinepaulsen33/queen-marie-of-romania/

             6. Thattiara looks unbalancedwith a gem large I hope she dismantles it too.

          5. Thank you Art Historian and KMR for the info about Eastern Europien Monarchs.

          6. Exactly, ArtHistorian. The press/KP keep promising Kate will do things that she will never deliver on. If they set the bar super low with her PR, then when she did do something it would be seen as a positive because she is excelling. As of now, she is failing because the PR bar is set too high for her (which is sad because it’s really already low).

             What disappoints me is that Kate did seem like she was getting better toward the end of last year, but then she just stopped all the momentum she was building by not doing anything in January and only doing one engagement and a video message so far this year.

             “her public image is soo devoid of any genuine personality that she almost appears as a cipher, a blank canvas for people to project their pre-conceived opinions on, whether they be negative or positive.” – So much yes to this.

25. There was a party at Kensington Palace last night for BAFTA nominees but of course the Cambridges didn’t bother showing up. Really disrespectful. That’s the whole darn reason they’re doing it at KP, to try to lure the President to show up to honor the nominees.

    1. Well, the BAFTA folk just had to struggle on without W+K and try their best to have a good time. They seemed to manage just fine: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/02/bafta-nominees-party

26. I didn’t want to believe that the Cambs would not show up at the BAFTA awards. After their unflattering press recently I could not imagine they would be so disrespectful. Their arrogance is so disappointing.

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