To think the Duchess of Cambridge has no place in sports personality of the year

[Nishky]

Martina Navratilova made a moving speech about female role models so who do they roll out to present it?

I assume his wife will be a SAHM, just like millions of MNers

Well, that has managed to raise a smile from me.

I haven't had the chance to read the whole thread but to Tough: I'm not in the least worried about any personal attack but thank you for the observation. The 'history' with LtEve is merely about my questioning her claim to have 'unique insight' into the functioning of all things army. Her somewhat sycophantic attitude is in some respects difficult for those of us with alternative army experience to hers. She and I also differ wildly in our take on the royals.

I've kept off this thread so far in part because I was appalled that Kate should appear, or be advised to appear, in public for the first time since her hospital discharge, at the same time as the children and husband of Jacintha Saldanha were accompanying the body of their mother and wife back to India for her burial. I have to say I feel that the pr machine got it horribly wrong. Perhaps I overthink things though. If I'd been Kate I would have said no. But that's me. Anyhow, that poor family. All because of this mad, mad sycophancy for a very ordinary, very dull, very underachieving set of people.

Flatbread, you should go to the papers and read the comments there. You'll find much more succour and support than you'll ever find here. More articulate views, more humour and some sanity at least.

Oh, I was right. Excellent

IMO this thread should have/could have died with the first reply the OP received. The same replies are now being repeated over and over again with a bit of vitriol thrown in.
I am off to Style and Beauty .

Well considering she turned up and was televised at a huge number of events during the Olympics, I don't see why she shouldn't be there as a presenter of an award.
I thought she looked really off colour, actually, and was standing there looking like she hoped it would soon be over so that she didn't have to keep wondering if something would set off her nausea.
I couldn't go into supermarkets when I was pregnant with my daughter ,because the sight of things (it didn't have to be food, it could be books or toys etc!) on shelves made me feel sick!! Or people's perfume, or car exhausts,or ...just about anything actually! And although I wasn't actually hospitalised, I lost a huge amount of weight and felt constantly ill and nauseous for about 8 months.

Ah, now then that is actually a Personal Attack. Way to go.

No, no I was talking about someone else entirely LtEve. Don't think it's all about you.

The Duchies are not the ?personal estates? of the monarch and her heir. This is very clear from a legal perspective and was clarified by a tribunal, when Charles tried to pretend they were. They are clearly public bodies, as has been ruled, latest in 2011

The land is NOT a personal possession. If Charles removes himself from the line of succession he loses the Duchy, as he does if he becomes King.

The Duchies are part of the state, set aside to provide an income for the head of state and her heir. Not personal land possessions of specific individuals. In becoming a republic, parliament would simply pass the Crown to the British people. And that means the income of £20 million would come back to the people, instead of being channeled into one person's pocket.

Evening all
Tis the season to read the guidelines falalalalalalalala

I did not know that Flatbread. Thank you for the clarification.

Oh and Thankyou Olivia, sorry

I agree with flatbread. All of it.
It's an award celebrating achievement, and it would have been so much more fitting to have an individual to present it who is an inspiring role model for the next generation.

I agree with Flatbread too. The whole palace pr machine is being deployed, softly softly, to persuade the more gullible amongst us of the fact that Kate did really truly have appallingly debilitating hg but now, two weeks later, she's 'much better'. I've had about ten doses of 'ordinary' morning sickness myself and no way, no how could I have possibly got dollied up, hair washed and blow dried etc, to attend a do. Not in a million years. I couldn't have made it into the shower really, not with scented shampoo. And that was 'ordinary' sickness. And I'm quite tough, me.

Someone died here. Because of the idiotic sycophancy meted out to these silly people. Surely no-one of any intelligence falls for this guff.

Those poor children and that poor husband. Look at the pictures. Not Kate's fault of course but defintitely the fault of all those who feel such a void in their lives that they have to fawn over such very ordinary people.

While all that is going on with such pain visible to see surely the palace pro's could counsel Kate to keep indoors and out of sight? Which is the place she'd surely rather be if she is in fact ill. Not putting out pieces in the Telegraph about her triumphant discovery of her own 'Blue Blood'.

'someone died here because of the idiotic sycophancy meted out to these silly people'
Absolutely agree with that!

Whether that nurse had other mental health problems or not, or disputes with the hospital management, the fact that there was an absolutely ridiculous, hysterical press presence obviously tipped her over the edge.

I am not particularly interested in who does or does not give out prizes in the Sports Award thing and felt sorry for the Duchess of Cambridge as she didnt look very well and surely must be now wondering what the hell she has got herself into....and it's only going to get worse.

To be fair to William and Kate, no one knows whether they are secretly apalled at the whole circus too, or really don't care. Who knows???

Yellowtip you know absolutely nothing about Kate's condition. She was on the stage for about 10 minutes, she looked so uncomfortable and she looked like she might vomit or pass out at any moment. How do you know that she wasnt sick in the shower or all over her make up artist? How do you know that she hadnt just wiped puke from her mouth just before going on stage?

I understand that you dislike the monarchy and that you dont think that it is appropriate that she presented that award. That is fine. But I dont really understand you speculating on her illness, when you know absolutely nothing about it.

I am sure she just couldnt wait to get up on that stage last night and shamelessly promote herself like that, knowing that people would be so nice about her the following day.

I don't know about full blown HG but to be fair to Kate, it is possible to function with bad morning sickness if you absolutely have to.

I'm sure there are plenty of us who had no option but to keep plodding on in spite of 24/7 nausea, regular vomiting and weight loss - it's not nice but it's not impossible.

She had every possible excuse to get out of it showme. Someone who failed to work for ten years right throughout her twenties doesn't suddenly develop a work ethic of that persuasiveness overnight 'for the love of her country and husband'. Give me a break.

I have quite considerable experience of pregnancy myself, having been more pregnant than most, with absolutely floor wiping morning sickness in each and every case. And no way could I have dressed up and come on stage even for 10 mins. Sorry, it's a complete joke. Not a good one though.

I didn't have a particular antipathy towards the monarchy in general until this younger lot came on, as a matter of fact. And I share some common ancestors with the Queen (a couple more bastards admittedly).

Why would the palace have made up her HG?

I suspect that she rushed into panic mode too quickly which is completely and utterly understandable (I thought I was about to die when morning sickness hit me). But I think the need to exaggerate so as to clip the wings of detractors has led to this.

Don't know why the Palace can't ever just shrug their shouldres and tell it how it is. They'd win far more fans, at least from amongst the brighter people.

So she was hospitalised for three/four days because she puked a bit?

Seriously?

Shoulders. I haven't gone all French.

Well InExit a) she'd have looked a bit daft had she gone home after a day, or two days, given all the crisis announcement mode etc. And b) she did manage to have six hours of visitors on Day 2 by which time she was evidently bored.

All I knew was that I thought the world was ending. And that was ordinary morning sickness, not hg. And I'm a toughie. A visitor? No chance. I was just moaning into a pllow when I wasn't being sick. God knows what hg does to people, poor things.

Remember King Edward VII is private. They're hardly pressed for beds. You pay your money, you stay as long as you like.

A friend of mine had HG - she lives at the other end of the country, hence my knowledge of it not being great, but I do know that she was in and out of hospital on rehydration drips several times over a period of 6-7 months, and not up to anything much in between.