We haven’t seen Prince William and Kate Middleton in more than a week and we won’t see them until next Sunday (though we will probably get photos of Prince George sometime this week since his third birthday is on Friday), but sans press William and Kate attended an event for the 75th anniversary of the Special Air Service in Hereford yesterday, July 16.
The news of the Cambirdges’ visit first appeared on social media, and the Daily Mail has a little write up about it.
William and Kate brought George to the event, where they unveiled a statue called “The Pursuit Of Excellence” which is of two troopers and an Army working dog. The Red Arrows put on an air display and the royals spoke to a group of veterans in their 80s.
The Special Air Service is a special forces unit of the British Army which undertakes a number of roles including covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, direct action, hostage rescue and human intelligence gathering.
According to an SAS source, “Soldiers were not allowed to take photographs of the Royal party or the statue”, so there are no photos of the event at this time.
According to comments on the above Facebook post, there were official photographers there, so we may get a photo at some point. According to a woman named Donna who says she talked to Kate and that her children played with George, Kate was “stunning” in a long blue dress with white flowers and she’s a “down to earth hands on mommy”.
Until photos from this event emerge, here are some more photos from the Air Show on July 8.
The Grumpy Face is back!
No loss on no photos – Waity in another overly expensive blerg outfit and Wills looking bored – could be the tennis or any other “job”
They may release the photos in time for Prince George’s birthday.
I was actually thinking that the reason they went was to take photos for George’s birthday, but it doesn’t sound like it was a photoshoot. But they could use photos from this event for his birthday pics.
Plus it would mean that no family home and surroundings are revealed. Press went nuts when the Obamas visited KP – commenting on every item in the room. Too intrusive.
Maybe stupid question but what’s actually the point of not allowing soldiers to take photographs at this kind of event?
I mean it’s not some private party but some kind of work event – at least anniversary, unveiling a statue, info by KP make you think so. Why not give the Special Air Service the attention they deserve, especially for their anniversary…
But maybe they like to be in control of pictures, especially as George was there too. Anyway seems bit odd to me.
I was thinking it was because of security concerns, until I read in the DM that there were over 5,000 people at the event. I’m wondering whether the no photos policy was just for W&K or was that an event-wide thing? I don’t know.
Don’t see how they could enforce that – unless they collected cameras and mobile phones at the gate
Yeah to collect phones and mobile phones of 5000 people seems nearly impossible!
And ofc one can ask people nicely not to take pictures but to stop them completely these days… especially if they see official photographers around.
And also going to all kind of events these days peolle take pics/videos of themselves, family and friends, on things going on… hoe does one even woukd make sure there would be none of WK. Well we will see if official pics show up at some point!
Photos are never taken when the SAS are present. It’s due to keeping the SAS members identities private as they work often behind enemy lines or in hostile territory. Publishing photos of them makes them a known target to the enemy. Anyone associated with the SAS knows the rule about no photos so there is probably no need to collect phones. I personally think this was DM trying to make headlines out of nothing.
So even when they are at official events, photos aren’t allowed? They are obsessed and digging their own graves.
PR spin. Wouldn’t want any photos of them getting out that 1) they don’t approve and 2) doesn’t spin their message of hands-on parents. Incredibly rude of them to pretend to engage with the soldiers and the event but order everyone to not take photos. spin spin spin, control control control
As I read more about SAS I would understand that because of security reasons it wouldn’t be allowed to take pictures of people working there but it would be easiest to communicate it that way to the public. And still it wouldn’t have been a problem to take picture of the 3 of them…
I agree, there probably were security concerns about plastering the faces of many of members of the SAS. However, totally on board with your idea that the three of them still could’ve taken a photo. Especially in front of the statue.
Also, I wonder how the official photogs play in if it really is a security concern?
As we know that a photographer has been with them, it will be interesting to see what pictures they will release at some point. If it would just be the 3 of them, why wait… and somehow I don’t like the idea to use this event to take pica of George to release for his birthday when all others weren’t allowed to take pictures.
Cue the cute photos of George in a plane or helicopter for his birthday, only taken by the Duchess instead of Chris Jackson.
Ohh Lisa, you’re so right! I can’t wait for some slightly out of focus, boring photos of George dressed in some outfit that’s a hand-me-down from William. Buy the kid his own clothes!
As I stated below, the SAS members and their families would understand all of that. They would know not to show photos of themselves. W&K&G are public figures. People have every right to take their pictures at an official event.
Yes, my husband was a Green Beret. We are still careful about photos, but if it is at an event with 5000 people unless members were wearing uniforms and had ongoing missions then it wouldn’t be necessary to have a media black out. I remember one mission where their group went and the wives weren’t told where the men went, but one of the wives saw their husband on CNN. It happens and in this day and age it happens quite frequently.
I can understand not wanting pictures of the military facility for security reasons but even that doesn’t seem to matter as much because anyone can find out if they really want to.
My two cents would be that if it was required by a security for the SAS they would simply say that. I have to wonder if they wanted the pictures for George’s bday and that’s why they asked people not to take photos? Again, my opinion only, but there was quite a lot of criticism regarding the lack of ear protection with George at the last event and their parenting was critiqued, so I have to wonder if this didn’t play in to it as well.
When I met Prince Harry for a private function here we were required to drop cell phones at the door, but there were only about 50 of us and Vegas was fresh in the minds of everyone.
Thank you, SpringsMom. You explained that much better than I would, especially from the perspective of someone who lived that life.
The people attending this event would have been taking photos mostly for their personal albums. The day two (possible) future kings visited. Instead, they were basically informed they cannot be trusted and/or are not valuable enough to be allowed to take photos of the Oh So Exalted Ones.
Would the SAS soldiers even reveal their faces at this kind of event? Wouldn’t that be a huge security risk as well?
If it’s all so secret – except to the 5,000 in attendance – why report it at all? Why commission a statue if no-one can see it? I’m assuming it was paid for with taxpayer money. I’m assuming the Air Force is funded with taxpayer money. The ‘royals’ are funded by taxpayer money. The anniversary was celebrated with taxpayer money. If KP announces it to publicise their clients W+K, then surely it’s work. Public work.
The directive to the SAS was simply because William and Kate could control them; they are a ridiculous pair of fools. Not so easy to control the general public, let alone ‘Donna’, whoever she is, but presumably American if using the term ‘mommy’ rather than ‘mummy’.
The photo of William and Kate seems old; both are pretty haggard these days. Even George looks fed up with life, well, a week ago anyway.
The photo the Hereford FB chose is from 2011, that’s why it looks so old.
I hate to look at people’s FB pages just out of respect for their privacy, but I did check out the Donna people for the sake of answering your American v British question and her check-ins and groups do say Hereford. So I would assume she lives there. She may be an American, I don’t know, but she does seem to live in Hereford.
The DM was the one that reported it. KP hasn’t said anything.
Thanks for checking on Donna.
Jen, “Even George looks fed up with life” Lol! It’s assumed KM doesn’t pay attention to public opinion, but I wonder if the no picture mandate was in retaliation for criticism regarding her recent dress choices. In any case, both she and Wills behave as though they are always angry at the people who fund their extravagant lifestyle. What other reason can there be for banning photos? This couple emanates resentment and an affectation of preciousness at every appearance. Yuck.
“This couple emanates resentment and an affectation of preciousness at every appearance. Yuck.”
They sure do! Don’t forget paranoia. If it’s all too much, they should remove themselves from their roles, such as they are, and live off their own funds. Easy!
I chuckled at the name of the statue they were unveiling, a concept foreign to both of them.
+1
@Jen: “If it’s all too much, they should remove themselves from their roles, such as they are, and live off their own funds. Easy!”
I agree, but let’s look at the psychological aspect of it all. Wills uses such commands to increase his self-importance. I doubt that both of them would like it if there were zero pictures and/or headlines of them in the newspapers. I’m sure Kate scours the internet for articles pertaining to them, especially her.
KP very subtly releases information of where they’ll be on any given day. If not, their notoriety would suffer. They both thrive on such attention and uses the press to their benefit. It’s a little game of self-importance they are playing.
I think that they deliberately fuss over whatever they have to do to give people the impression that they have a difficult life. They think that people are easily fooled, and they are the only two bright sparks in the world. Ever since George was born, they began complaining of sleeplessness and portraying him as a difficult baby. And, now that they have Charlotte, it’s gotten worse. Everything, now is blamed on the children. Kate couldn’t honor the Irish Guards with her presence, as she needed to be at home with her children. I read on another blog that she was spotted at the hairdressing salon that day.They talk as though they are the only people who have kids and people are not smart enough to see through their games. Anyway, more power to them.
I think for valid security reasons the identities of members of the SAS are hidden for their protection, their covert operations could make soldiers and their families targets, so all there would have been well aware of the need for discretion. I doubt that it’s anything to do with the Cambridges.
As all of the soldiers and their families would have known that, they would have known how to take photos without endangering anyone or their identities. This was a W&K control issue, not a security one.
And hey, it was a top secret event but magically a woman named Donna was allowed to speak to the press and tell everyone that KM was stunning and a great mother. If you cannot see through this as a controlled PR exercise…
Donna didn’t speak to the press, she made comments on the Facebook post I embedded. That’s where I pulled her comments from.
Thank you for the clarification. Again, she was allowed to make those comments but no one was allowed to take pictures. Calculated to me.
Do we really think that people are smart enough to know what to post online these days? At least when its a matter of security? Honestly, a flip through the news and there are people falling of cliffs and trying to get into police stations to catch pokemon, so sadly I doubt that every single family member would exercise the right discretion. I also think they may be glad to restrict photos so they can release for PG’s birthday but if not, and the directive was from the SAS, they could never win. Heaven forbid a picture got posted/released and someone was compromised.
I have faith that the SAS and their families know how to protect themselves. Again, they would likely have been taking photos of the royal visitors for their personal albums. That they were forbidden to do so by this useless lot? Another control exercise from W&K.
I find it funny that people weren’t allowed to take pics of the cambs except the ones working on covert missions are the soldiers. I wonder what’s the deal though? Why the restriction for this one event? Curious and curiouser.
I think it the SAS that is very anti photos. Even when they win major bravery awards their names never used to be released. It is a very elite group and very secret. That may be the reason.
Completely off topic, many of you here know Tanya S in Australia and she told us she was moving to the country and taking over a Post Office. She has moved, Miss 4 is fine, and they start behind the PO counter tomorrow. I know the KMR family will join me in wishing her health, success and happiness.
Oh, absolutely! Good luck Tanya who should rename herself ‘Tanya of Condobolin’. Or ‘Postie’ (Aussie slang for postal worker).
Interesting info about the SAS. Why not simply say “No photos please at this event” rather than “No photos of the royal party and the statue”? Yet there were official photographers present…
Absolutely best wishes to Tanya. Is the word ‘please’ in the ‘firm’s’ vocabulary? And God forbid that anyone of the attendees not acknowledge the fact that there are ‘royals’ present. **Ghasp** and perish the thought! I’m loving what I’m learning here, ‘postie’ is fun. I wonder about some Americans wherever they reside, seems to me there was a little tussle a few years back, and we just celebrated Independence Day. Then again, what could anyone say about ‘the royals’ if asked, probably handed out leaflets with acceptable adjectives at the gate. I wonder if the SAS is the British equivalent of the Green Berets?
It is the equivalent to ASOT or advanced special operations training for select Green Berets as well as Delta Force.
Birdy, please pass along my very best wishes as well! Thanks for the update
That’s awesome! Tanya, wishing you the best. Sending hugs to Miss Four!
Thank you Birdy. Sending Best wishes for today now to Tanya for her first day at the Post Office and happiness in your new home and to Miss four for her first day at her new Kindergarten.
Oh, such good news from Tanya. All best wishes to you and to Miss Four. S So exciting for her. First day of kindergarten.
+1
SAS is a top-secret operation. Former members have been banned from the base for discussing it publicly, and the entrance is not on any maps. Several years back the entrance was placed on Google street view and then removed! The no photos ban extended to the entire event, not just the Cambridges.
It is ‘public work’, in a sense, and can be reported, but not photographed. Similarly, it’s perfectly appropriate, in my opinion, for a statue on a military base to be paid for out of public funds. In this case, though, the public can’t see it!
I’m assuming the official photographers were carefully briefed on what could and could not appear in the background of their photos. I also assume that SAS will review the photos before they are released.
I’m very familiar with the SAS as my husband worked with them and we have quite a few stationed here. What was put out to the public stated that no pictures of the royals or the statue were allowed. It doesn’t make any sense to not show a picture of the statue. It’s not going to be a specific person and if by some chance it is, then he would no longer be alive.
I have found the article and it still shows, quite clearly, the entrance to the base and surrounding area. There are also many instances of SAS members speaking out. More than likely these were after they retired or left. Green Berets and Delta Forces, in the US are the same in that they cannot speak out while continue to serve. I do agree, however, that the pictures will be reviewed with the SAS public affairs office.
In the end if it was the SAS that put the ban on photos out there then why didn’t they say that? Why invite 5000 people because that sounds like a huge security breach. We never had activities where 5000 people were invited and I don’t know of any of the elite forces entertaining on such a wide scale.
However this is just my two cents from my experience living the life.
Thanks for that information. Not photographing the statue seemed weird; why commission one in the first place if it can’t be seen? You make really good points regarding the vent. I suggest it is just William and Kate reminding people of their importance.
Nice to hear that W&K have taken George to another event. Somehow, I’m sure he wants to be a solider when he grows up.
I found this interesting bit on the Royal Foundation of W&K&H. I’m not surprised that it’s starting to go the way of other charitable foundations but I am rather sad that it’s going the way of other charitable foundations.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3691339/Why-Kate-s-foundation-cut-giving-good-causes-Staff-support-costs-taking-bigger-bite.html
As well as a pilot, tennis player, dragon slayer etc….I bet he love it there. I really admire taking him out the way they are. He must be so excited.
Not surprised there is no real todo in the press about this. The SAS and Hereford is very, very rarely mentioned in the press. Hereford is where the Royals go for their evasisive driving training and their handling of a firearm……well it used to be. The SAS are the best of the best and it is very rare that they identify themselves as belonging to the unit or have their photos taken. In the 80’s when they were involved in allsorts of covert missions folklore has it that even their families didn’t know they belonged to the unit but I’m not sure how much of that is actually true but hey are always discussed as a shadowy prescence who pop in and out of trouble all over the world and most people don’t know they’ve been until well after they’ve gone.
Oh you are a darling for thinking about me Birdy. Miss 4 starts her new Kindy tomorrow and we start training to take over. Lots of nerves but excitement as well xxxx.
Tanya S, wishing you and your family happiness and success in your new home and position.
They’ll love you there! Have a great first day…
Oh, guess I should have kept scrolling! Best wishes to you and your family in this new endeavour Tanya?
Much luck to you and yours as you settle in a new routine!
Yay Tanya!
I’m sending you and your family lots of good wishes and hugs from New Zealand!
Thank you all for your good wishes. Hubby and I had a great first day at the Post Office and I escaped early to pick up Boo at 3.30. She was quiet when I dropped her off this morning but when I picked her up this afternoon she was playing “Duck Duck Goose” and was being her normal noisy self LOL. The teachers said that she had a great day and it is like she has always been there. A very relieved Mummy!
Such a great first day of school! Good news And, hopefully, your first day at the P.O. was equally great.
Sending you many good wishes,
Jenny
You too could be stunning, Donna, for the price of xxxx dollars a day! Kate certainly was lucky enough to be born with better than average physical attributes, but stunning is expensive. She was the cute girl with a nice smile from next door till pretty much the engagement. Then Charles funded the upgrade to Duchess level and suddenly she’s a 10. It’s not natural, it’s not magic, it’s money!
It’s ridiculous. 🙂 Stunning? Well, I guess that could apply to Kate, but I rather wonder what this Donna woman was smoking. What could she say, really? “What the he$$ is that skinny, silly looking dame doing hanging out with the ‘royals’? She’s made up like a clown but didn’t the court jester become redundant years ago?”
I doubt that comments such as this would be put into print, so stunning, radiant, glowing, gorgeous, beautiful, lovely are some of the catchwords to describe the scrawny, silly, painted up, gussied up, slouching woman/child who shagged a prince and scored a title. I think that Kate had, as in had, a natural beauty once upon a time but with all the ‘changes’ I’ll have to count on pictures from that time to actually believe it. Somehow, I don’t see her as a 10, Ray, but certainly respect your opinion. In my opinion, all the money in the universe can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, and lipstick on a show pony doesn’t change it into anything else. Still a show pony. I think that beauty comes from within and shows on the outside, without that inner beauty and peace within looks are needing a whole bunch of very very, as you said, expensive help.
This is off topic but I think that Sophie’s little girl, Lady Louise is one of the most appealing of the ‘royals’, I am a Louise sugar, and to me she is just a lovely child.
Donna’s comments were only “put into print” by me and other bloggers. She made those comments on Facebook, not to the press.
Oh my. My sincerest apologies for not catching that. I really am sorry and I’ll be more careful in the future.
I want to give a shout out to the birthday girl today, Happy Birthday Camilla!!!
I’m very interested to know what this “long blue dress with flowers” is. Have we ever seen Kate wear anything that fits the description before?
Other blogs are speculating that it’s a new LK Bennett dress. Because, no, I don’t think Kate has a long blue dress with white flowers in her closet that we know of.
I keep getting a picture of Kate dressed as a ‘flower child’ every time I read the description of the long blue dress with flowers. Long flowing hair and sandals to complete the look.
The edict concerning “no pictures” is probably one of Wills’ many ways of punishing the public, in retaliation for comments made over the past month, especially those pertaining to their ‘iciness’ when interacting with Andy. Not to mention the public’s outcry over waity’s uncontrollable spending since the India trip, whereby the proverbial ‘clothes horse’ wore a new $3,000+ dress and accessories to Wimbledon. Geez, such self-importance comes in second only to his awful jokes and poor work ethic.
I suppose the SAS is akin to the US Seals who took out Bin Laden. Their identities remain a top secret. I can understand the need for such secrecy with regard to the lives of the SAS, but how did this ‘Donna’ woman enter the equation plus 5,000 more of the public? Wills’ edict does not make any sense to me, but if it makes him feel supremely in charge of his domain, then, more power to hm. He’ll eventually be eaten up by his anger issues.
It’s not healthy for anyone to perpetually retaliate against other people’s opinions, especially when they are not personally known to them. Anyone who serves the public is under scrutiny. I’d go out on a limb and state that all of the suppressed anger and huge dislike is what’s eating them and the reason for their unhappy countenance.
I’ll agree that Kate looks passable when she is seen from afar, but close-up, she is not. And, money can certainly help to transform even a bag lady. Kate has some serious skin problems. She has had a huge pimple on the lerft side of her face close to her chin for over one year, plus some others. And, that, coupled with her very lined forehead, pigmented lines around her throat, and the manly Adam’s apple, does not a pretty picture make. I don’t know why, but to me somehow Kate’s androgynous/hermaphroditic, i.e., manly side/attributes are increasingly overshadowing her feminity. She should be thankful for airbrushing and photo shopping for making her complexion in close-ups look somewhat average. I suppose Donna had to write such a comment, or else she’d probably not be allowed to set foot in anything pertaining to the Cambs again.
Donna didn’t have to write anything. She chose to write something on a Facebook post for an account that is not linked to the royals. I understand wanting to question Donna, but she really is just some random woman who wrote about her experience on a FB post, and I quoted her comments in my article.
I should have worded my comment differently. What I should have said is that Donna wanted for others to know that she had the enviable opportunity of speaking to Kate, and naturally, in such circumstances, like most of us, probably felt compelled to expound on Kate’s looks, e.g., stunning. Whether her remarks were genuine or not, only she would know. It wouldn’t have come across nicely for her if she had spoken derogatorily of Kate. I hope I’m conveying my thoughts clearly.
I don’t have a facebook account, nor do I tweet and engage in social media. However, I’ve seen comments from some people on blogs when they post facebook or twitter stuff as a reference for source.
I will have to look more closely for these pimples… How does Kate still have a pimple for a year now?! That’s just gross. Can’t she do something or see a doctor about it? YIKES!
I went and looked at photos. The “pimple” on her jawline on the left side of her face has been there for over a decade. It’s there in photos from 2005. It’s not a pimple; it must be a mole or something.
I suppose good on Kate and William that they aren’t hiding away as much this year and have been out and about more, doing their public duties. Guess the justified criticism did get to them after all, even if they like to claim that it’s all part of the job and they don’t care what anyone thinks.
As for the secrecy, perhaps it could be to protect the identity of the service people who are in this elite and very dangerous unit. Although, it doesn’t make sense that there’d be 5000 public members there and they can take and post up photos.
OK, so the Cambridges apparently showed up so be patient and wait for pictures plus detailed forensics of dress and shoes and hair. I could see why the SAS would be strict about photos and info.
You know what I find really weird? It feels like Kate’s been really busy and in our faces a lot. It probably has to do with the Queen’s three-month-long numerous birthday events. Excluding the India/Bhutan vacation (I mean tour), she has done 37 engagements this year. Thanks, KMR, for keeping that up to date.
As Mark Bolland himself said, “The Windsors are very good at working three days a week, five months of the year and making it look as though they work hard.”
37 engagements seem like a lot of work, but considering that it’s about 210 days thus far in this year, it’s a meager amount. Considering the majority of their appearances were fun and waity got to launch several new outfits, who would want to pass on such festivities? Anyway, the BRF should be thankful that the privileged one graced them with her awesome presence.
Waity had best make the most of her opportunities to dress up. Her face is already showing huge wear and tear, despite all the work she’s had done, plastic surgery wise. Kate should make the most of all the attention she receives from Harry, as that will end should Harry marry a fresh-faced, beautiful, young woman. And, then, the real competition will be on, as Kate most decidely loves male attention. Her penchant needs to be fed often.Thus far, there hasn’t been much competition as the other senior royals are much older than Kate, and the York girls are not featured on a grand scale. But, Harry’s girlfriend/wife would be a different situation altogether, however, only time will tell …..
Kate’s appeared on 37 days with 64 engagements which include 8 events/days where she was a member of the family. Interesting to note For her patronages she’s done 10 events in 7 days – these were done solo. She also did the Tennis workshop solo on the same day as her charity work and opened Hampton Court gardens on the day of other charity engagements. The only other time she appeared solo was when she gave out the Art Fund award. She’s only done 8 days by herself. The other 29 days are joint appearances with William.
Make of that what you will.
Correction – William attended one of her charity events – EACH at Houghton Hall – So it is:
7 days solo
8 days as a member of the Queen’s family
9 days in foreign country with William
13 days in home country with William
Apparently, there was a royal photographer–Chris Jackson perhaps–at the event.
So it was basically them hiding out to use this as PR for later I assume.
I expect to see some pictures come George’s birthday.
For whatever reason, security privacy or both, this event was off-limits to media fotogs.
The RIAT created an overload of photos from all the fotogs attending. I looked through over 120 before I stopped viewing. I wanted to see how many were posted and available on agencies. There were too many to look at, duplicate scenes and none that seemed to add to the narrative of the day. How many photos can there be of 3 people at an event?
PG’s tour of the event should have been arranged in advance as a semi-private tour of the event accompanied by pilots (arranged by RIAT), selected fotogs and, once the ‘sit-ins’ of the planes was accomplished PG should have been taken away by nanny into a private area. Then his parents would have been free to meet with the Air Cadets (Mummy) and take another look and ‘sit-in’ of the eqpt with the pilots (Daddy). It would have refocused attention onto the RIAT event , let the Duchess get her footing with her new honorary role and, let the duke reminisce about flying with the pilots.
Perhaps a schedule like the above was intended but thrown to the wind because the participants weren’t cooperating. I tend to think that the mummy and daddy weren’t even attempting to think of anything but daddy’s visit with the aircraft, mummy’s appearance as an in-touch mother and, being able to accomplish both by pushing a child around to various exhibits. Airshows are held this time of year. If they wanted PG to see aircraft, this was the time to do it with little effort. More care should have been taken to separate PG’s visit from his parents’ visit. His parents need to stop thinking about themselves first when bringing PG with them to events.
Today’s event avoids all the faux pas and unexplainable fotos by simply stating that there will be no fotos. It would be possible to take a foto of the threesome next to the statue, send that to social media and be done. But they didn’t.
No foto raises more questions. Why was PG with them? Why did PG need to see aircraft again? D&D of Cornwall were in London and not at Highgrove; did the family stay there; did they heli in and out? Back to Anmer or to B-bury? Either they have the worst PR staff or they think their own decisions are better than their PR staff. If they are making the decisions, they are wrong. To me, it shows a lack of trust in their staff. If I were their staff, I would begin quiet inquiries about obtaining another position — unless I was a glutton for embarrassment and was irrationally attached to royal employment.