Camilla is hosting her 13th annual Christmas party for charities involving seriously ill children, where they help decorate the Clarence House tree and have snacks. And meet reindeer (Dancer and Blitzen, specifically).
Thinking about this more though, it's a little weird that with all of this going on in the background in the past couple weeks, the big PR departure on the part of the royals was to release photos of the most recent diplomatic reception to the public. What did the photos show? The Queen, Camilla, and Kate all dressed in white and making a clear statement about the line of power. Meghan and Harry had another event that night but why not take photos with them to show support for Meghan in all of this? Why are they waiting till Christmas to release their "happy family" photos? Because the thing is, most of the stories combine criticism of Meghan with praise of Kate. Meghan is a demanding diva who is hard to get along with while Kate is "unflappable" and "regal" and "conciliatory." Don't they see the racism and classicism in those comparisons? It's so bizarre that they think that is enough.
The palace has been pushing the line of succession HARD the last 3 months or so.
I suspect the reception pics have to do with that. It’s also why I won’t be surprised if W&K attend the next opening of parliament. I think the pics have little to do with the Meghan story beyond hoping To change the subject but were pre-planned to keep up the blitz on W&K as the future they’ve been pushing
To look at it from their point of view though, is it a good idea to keep pushing W&K at this exact moment when the press is tearing down the newest DIL and either making stuff up completely or running with leaked gossip? Focusing on Kate at this exact moment feeds in to the subtext of the stories which is that "palace courtier"s believe Meghan needs to learn her place, behind Kate. And from Meghan's point of view, I'd be kind of pissed to be constantly criticized for things that didn't happen and not see my new family contradicting them.
I love Camilla. I feel like I have probably said that several times earlier in this thread lol.
Apparently one time Liam Neeson was at one of those summer garden parties and Camilla came to meet him with a cigarette in one hand and a cocktail in the other and he thought "oh so you're the fun one" lol.
Does the BRF typically address rumors like this, though? Their mantra is "never complain, never explain." They seem to do their best to ignore the press and let things like this die down. I don't think it's suspicious or unkind of them to not be parading Meghan out (especially if she's not feeling up to it nowadays) with Harry and the Cambridges to show how lovey-dovey they all are.
I don't expect them to all be best friends. I like my siblings' SOs just fine but I don't hang out with them. The media has built up this "Fab Four" crap for a long time and now they seem huffy that they're not getting a return on their investment.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall many other instances where the family has put out statements or staged obvious "Look how happy we are!" photos to combat rumors. A notable exception was Harry's direct request about not harassing Meghan while they were still dating.
Does the BRF typically address rumors like this, though? Their mantra is "never complain, never explain." They seem to do their best to ignore the press and let things like this die down. I don't think it's suspicious or unkind of them to not be parading Meghan out (especially if she's not feeling up to it nowadays) with Harry and the Cambridges to show how lovey-dovey they all are.
I don't expect them to all be best friends. I like my siblings' SOs just fine but I don't hang out with them. The media has built up this "Fab Four" crap for a long time and now they seem huffy that they're not getting a return on their investment.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall many other instances where the family has put out statements or staged obvious "Look how happy we are!" photos to combat rumors. A notable exception was Harry's direct request about not harassing Meghan while they were still dating.
They typically don't, but they did put out a comment/quote that the story about Meghan snapping at a staffer and Kate being all "that's my staff, I will speak to them" never happened.
So that leads many to the conclusion that the other stories are true. They would have been better served to not have commented on ANY of these stories.
I think they are trying to keep their heads down and ignore this latest round of gossip which makes sense on the one hand but on the other, like CheeringCharm said, there are optics at play and the royals play the PR game as much as anyone, and someone over there needs to figure something out pretty quickly.
Does the BRF typically address rumors like this, though? Their mantra is "never complain, never explain." They seem to do their best to ignore the press and let things like this die down. I don't think it's suspicious or unkind of them to not be parading Meghan out (especially if she's not feeling up to it nowadays) with Harry and the Cambridges to show how lovey-dovey they all are.
I don't expect them to all be best friends. I like my siblings' SOs just fine but I don't hang out with them. The media has built up this "Fab Four" crap for a long time and now they seem huffy that they're not getting a return on their investment.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall many other instances where the family has put out statements or staged obvious "Look how happy we are!" photos to combat rumors. A notable exception was Harry's direct request about not harassing Meghan while they were still dating.
They typically don't, but they did put out a comment/quote that the story about Meghan snapping at a staffer and Kate being all "that's my staff, I will speak to them" never happened.
So that leads many to the conclusion that the other stories are true. They would have been better served to not have commented on ANY of these stories.
I think they are trying to keep their heads down and ignore this latest round of gossip which makes sense on the one hand but on the other, like CheeringCharm said, there are optics at play and the royals play the PR game as much as anyone, and someone over there needs to figure something out pretty quickly.
OK thanks. Most of the blogs and Twitter accounts I follow go out of their way to NOT address any gossip or rumors, and they don't allow commentary about that on the blog comments. So I miss a lot of stuff like this.
mbcdefg , yeah I don't know what the thinking was but KP shot that story down pretty fast. Maybe that was the only one that caught Poor Jason's attention, or maybe it ticked Kate off enough that they refuted it, or something. But it was a poor move IMO to respond to just one but not others.
ETA like I think they could have put out a statement that was along the lines of "like all these other recent 'leaks' this story is false and never happened. We are not going to respond to each one individually beyond this." And at least then people wouldn't have said "well that must be the only false story then."
Post by CheeringCharm on Dec 6, 2018 11:04:55 GMT -5
Maybe it's the American in me but I think it's a mistake for "the palace," meaning the family and their staff, to ignore the racist and classist subtext of this relentless barrage of criticism against Meghan. Ignoring it isn't going to make it go away. In fact, it'll probably make it worse in the long run as tabloid journalists and readers will assume the stories are true if they are not contradicted by outright statements or shows of support for Meghan.
Also KP just said that one story wasn't true - that Kate said Meghan shouldn't speak to "her" staff that way. It wasn't like Kate said something like "No that never happened. Meghan is a doll and I adore her" that would firmly put all this speculation down once and for all.
The palace has been pushing the line of succession HARD the last 3 months or so.
That was the first thing I thought when I saw the pics from the reception this week. I feel like everyone is "stepping up" a level in their duties lately. W&K have never been more active. That, plus the story that said the Queen was trying to make sure everyone is with her this Christmas, is making me nervous that something serious is going on behind the scenes healthwise
The palace has been pushing the line of succession HARD the last 3 months or so.
That was the first thing I thought when I saw the pics from the reception this week. I feel like everyone is "stepping up" a level in their duties lately. W&K have never been more active. That, plus the story that said the Queen was trying to make sure everyone is with her this Christmas, is making me nervous that something serious is going on behind the scenes healthwise
I was thinking the same. Prince Philip retired, now those higher in the line of succession are getting more involved. Maybe it’s a specific ailment, maybe it’s an acknowledgement that she’s 92, but it seems like they may be readying for a new monarch.
That was the first thing I thought when I saw the pics from the reception this week. I feel like everyone is "stepping up" a level in their duties lately. W&K have never been more active. That, plus the story that said the Queen was trying to make sure everyone is with her this Christmas, is making me nervous that something serious is going on behind the scenes healthwise
I was thinking the same. Prince Philip retired, now those higher in the line of succession are getting more involved. Maybe it’s a specific ailment, maybe it’s an acknowledgement that she’s 92, but it seems like they may be readying for a new monarch.
I remember thinking Prince Philip's hands looked really swollen in Princess Eugenie's wedding portraits.
Even if the Queen and Duke are in great health, they're 92 and 97. Realistically, their time is limited. If they're going to spend time together as a family, and/or show the younger generations what they'll need to do once they're each "promoted" (for lack of a better word) to new roles, now is the time to do it.
Now's also the time - especially while the Queen still feels up to dressing up and attending events and doing walkabouts - to include the two younger generations in things, to ease the public into the idea of the coming transition.
That was the first thing I thought when I saw the pics from the reception this week. I feel like everyone is "stepping up" a level in their duties lately. W&K have never been more active. That, plus the story that said the Queen was trying to make sure everyone is with her this Christmas, is making me nervous that something serious is going on behind the scenes healthwise
I was thinking the same. Prince Philip retired, now those higher in the line of succession are getting more involved. Maybe it’s a specific ailment, maybe it’s an acknowledgement that she’s 92, but it seems like they may be readying for a new monarch.
I think this has been the plan for a while. It has been increasing since Prince Philip retired and stepped up once Kate returned from Mat Leave.
I suspect when he decided to retire the decision was made to begin preparing for the eventual transition.
I think the timing was partly trying to ease everyone in and accommodating Kate’s May leave
Post by CheeringCharm on Dec 9, 2018 8:08:17 GMT -5
Whoa tons more drama. Now the Sun is reporting that:
Harry and William had a massive falling out in 2016 when William voiced concerns about Meghan and the speed of their relationship to Harry. "Harry went mental and accused William of trying to wreck his relationship." Unknown senior family members also "objected" to Meghan, at least initially.
Meghan faced some opposition from the Middleton family, who didn’t want to invite her to Pippa’s wedding last May. They feared Meghan’s first public appearance with Prince Harry would overshadow the bride’s big day.
Meghan tried to reach out in friendship to Kate the other outsider in hopes that she would take her under her wing. Kate was too busy with her pregnancy and other kids, so Meghan felt totally rebuffed and has given up trying to befriend her.
"Harry did not take this lightly and spoke to William about making Meghan feel welcome. William, of course, took his wife’s side — after all, she was following his lead."
After all this went down, William was jealous when the Queen gave Harry the "plum" job of Commonwealth Youth Ambassador and had to be cajoled into agreeing to do anything else with the Commonwealth.
More disagreements stemming from William not liking how Meghan handled her family drama before the wedding.
Post by CheeringCharm on Dec 9, 2018 8:13:40 GMT -5
The Sun is a tabloid so who knows if any of this is true. But this is what I was trying to say earlier which is that it is a mistake for William and Kate to think they can just ignore this and it will go away. It's not going away and each story that comes out is worse and makes them look worse. A lot of their apologists say it's because they don't "lower" themselves to speak to the press or comment on tabloid gossip but that is simply not true. They are just choosy about when they do it. I think it's curious that they haven't chosen to speak out in support of Meghan as their new sister in law, especially since a lot of these stories have racist and classist undertones, which I would assume they don't want to be associated with. Even if it's true that they privately don't like her, why not do it to support Harry who they are supposedly close to? It would put an end to all this speculation.
For some reason he Commonwealth job thing is what’s giving me pause about this story. I don’t think William is the type who wants MORE work.
haha this is a good point.
I have no idea what the job entails but it was described as a "plum role" so I wonder if he is simply jealous that Harry was chosen for it instead of him. According to that biography on Charles that came out recently, William has a problem with jealousy in general but especially when it comes to his brother (which is not so uncommon, really, it's just uncommon that they are forced to work together like they are).
The Sun is complete shit. I wouldn't trust a word written.
This. If it is in The Sun I would discount 99% of it. That doesn't mean there is some version of this that somehow has some truth to it but The Sun is really not known for any sort of ethical journalism.
Also, Will has spent basically his entire adult life refusing to get into these personal things with the media for the most part, I don't really see that changing any time soon. So to expect that he and Kate would is probably futile.
I will say though, if it's true I don't really blame the Middletons for the Pippa part.
It sounds like normal family things blown out of proportion to get clicks. If they are in fact close brothers, they probably do get cranky and disagreee sometimes. It doesn’t mean there’s a big rift and feud.
I will say though, if it's true I don't really blame the Middletons for the Pippa part.
I don’t either, and really Meghan shouldn’t have wanted to attend if that timeline was accurate (first public appearance). Which is another reason to doubt the story’s authenticity.
I will say though, if it's true I don't really blame the Middletons for the Pippa part.
I don’t either, and really Meghan shouldn’t have wanted to attend if that timeline was accurate (first public appearance). Which is another reason to doubt the story’s authenticity.
I dunno. Like, I get that it's her pretty princess day, but her sister and Meghan are actual princesses and the only reason anyone would give a damn about some thin, white, rich people tying the knot in an overpriced wedding anyway. The overshadowing already exists.
I don’t either, and really Meghan shouldn’t have wanted to attend if that timeline was accurate (first public appearance). Which is another reason to doubt the story’s authenticity.
I dunno. Like, I get that it's her pretty princess day, but her sister and Meghan are actual princesses and the only reason anyone would give a damn about some thin, white, rich people tying the knot in an overpriced wedding anyway. The overshadowing already exists.
I dunno, in addition to the overshadowing thing, would you invite your sister's husband's brother and girlfriend to your wedding? I had a really small wedding, so maybe that's normal, but to me it seems like a stretch.
I dunno. Like, I get that it's her pretty princess day, but her sister and Meghan are actual princesses and the only reason anyone would give a damn about some thin, white, rich people tying the knot in an overpriced wedding anyway. The overshadowing already exists.
I dunno, in addition to the overshadowing thing, would you invite your sister's husband's brother and girlfriend to your wedding? I had a really small wedding, so maybe that's normal, but to me it seems like a stretch.
Pippa had hundreds of guests and a very elaborate reception with a spitfire display and fancy light show. A desire to limit the # of guests and therefore the cost of the wedding was not a big concern. I think they wanted Harry to come (and he is obviously going to want to bring his current girlfriend, famous or not), which is why they eventually gave in to inviting Meghan. The "no ring, no bring" rule they tried to bring up at first as a barrier to that was weird. If they really didn't want Meghan there, then Harry should haven't been on the guest list in the first place.
But considering how close William and Kate are to the Middletons, I think it is plausible that they are on very good terms with Harry too.
I dunno. Like, I get that it's her pretty princess day, but her sister and Meghan are actual princesses and the only reason anyone would give a damn about some thin, white, rich people tying the knot in an overpriced wedding anyway. The overshadowing already exists.
I dunno, in addition to the overshadowing thing, would you invite your sister's husband's brother and girlfriend to your wedding? I had a really small wedding, so maybe that's normal, but to me it seems like a stretch.
I would always invite the significant other of any of my guests. Would I invite my sister's BIL? Probably not, but by all accounts, Pippa and Harry were friends and have a similar social circle, so if he's coming, his serious girlfriend is damn well coming too.
And it's not like Pippa could play the whole, "Oh, yeah, we can only afford X guests" routine.
I heard that rumor when she got married - that they were iffy about having her there, which is why she only came to the reception. I'm guessing it's just getting recycled now that the press is dragging up whatever dirt they can on Meghan.
Post by CheeringCharm on Dec 10, 2018 8:45:10 GMT -5
Also of interest, the Middletons have put up the apartment that Kate and Pippa lived in before their marriages for sale. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms in Chelsea. Nice place!
You can see the photos here. I wonder if this is close to what it looked like when Kate lived there.
Also of interest, the Middletons have put up the apartment that Kate and Pippa lived in before their marriages for sale. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms in Chelsea. Nice place!
You can see the photos here. I wonder if this is close to what it looked like when Kate lived there.
Also of interest, the Middletons have put up the apartment that Kate and Pippa lived in before their marriages for sale. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms in Chelsea. Nice place!
You can see the photos here. I wonder if this is close to what it looked like when Kate lived there.
Also of interest, the Middletons have put up the apartment that Kate and Pippa lived in before their marriages for sale. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms in Chelsea. Nice place!
You can see the photos here. I wonder if this is close to what it looked like when Kate lived there.
Much like Kate's personal style, I find the "neutral colors" to be pedestrian at best, yet completely unsurprising.
I do wonder if they've renovated/painted/staged it for sale or if those are just their leftovers. The kind of things you leave at your hunting cabin year-round because that couch is 20 years old and after you got new formal living room furniture it made its way to the basement family room, and then finally the "extra" apartment. Or maybe it's really Kate and Pippa's "starter" furniture. The rest of us have Ikea, okay?