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Original poster

To think Prince William and his wife are lacking appreciation of their position

806 replies

fideline · 02/03/2014 21:16

and good fortune?

He just seems a bit of an over-privileged posh boy?

I know everyone says he has lovely manners, but we can expect a bit more than that, surely?

They have just hired a 'forrin' nanny a) after making an enormous PR fuss about not having one b) at a time of high UK unemployment.

The list of god-parents for their baby was a bit multi-barrelled and Hmm No foreign royals, as is traditional, but Not the slightest whiff of any demographic diversity either.

There seem to be a LOT of luxury holidays going on with these two.

The uni course he is doing has been especially designed for him and seems designed to prepare him for inheriting the enormous (private) Duchy of Cornwall. Not exactly public-spirited?

In the much-hyped first post-baby interview, he was keen to promote a charity saving Kenyan Rhinos. Nothing intrinsically wrong with that, but the line between animals he shoots for fun and animals he wants to save is unclear and anyhow a charity for under-privileged (UK?) children would have been the nice, publicity-shrewd thing to do, maybe?

For a couple with a great deal of expensive PR expertise at their disposal they seem to be slightly missing the mark a bit too often.

OP posts:
Original poster
fideline · 02/03/2014 22:24

And thin, Nit

She has been nice, thin and quiet.

OP posts:
KarenBrockman · 02/03/2014 22:25

I find they do not offend me at all.

I do find that in her first year of marriage, being a teenager and pregnant Dianna did far more than a thirty year old who had no child. Basically I find Kate does the bare minimal before she was pregnant, she had two years as a wife of a Prince and did about thirty engagements. Princess Anne does about 300 engagements per year and is nearly sixty.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 02/03/2014 22:26

And her husband was terribly cross about people taking pictures of her topless...

Original poster
fideline · 02/03/2014 22:26

" I know plenty of people who have never bothered to get a job and instead live off their partner/spouse or family. I agree it is a valid criticism of Kate, but how many women (and men) do just what she does?"

But they are in the public eye and are part public-funded. It's different.

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Morloth · 02/03/2014 22:26

Being a royal used to be about being the biggest bastard with the sharpest sword.

These are those people's descendants.

You can talk about duty and all the rest of it all you like, but it is a crock of shit.

If I were a royal with lots of cash, I would absolutely spend all my time farting about and spending the money.

Their position is unearned, they don't have to do anything to keep it, so why bother? I wouldn't.

Unless you think they are actually a special sort of person?

Holamum · 02/03/2014 22:26

I actually think that Kate is very clever. The Royal family didn't want another Diana. Kate has been smart to keep her head down and nose clean - she knew what she wanted and so got it too.

As for appreciating it - well they are not exactly abusing their position, so what is the problem?

I think they are doing just fine.

FreudiansSlipper · 02/03/2014 22:27

that is all we can say about her

she does seem nice, she is very thin, is pretty and has lovely hair

and she may one day be queen, the dullest queen we may ever have but never mind she is nice

seriously we need to be able to vote is we want a royal family

SeaSickSal · 02/03/2014 22:27

I think part of the problem is that they are living like 'normal people' with their financial means would.

The Queen is only ever really on holiday quietly in Scotland, Charles slopes off and paints in Italy and Anne does something with horses.

William and Kate seem to be living it up more as Eurotrash, with the Maldives, Mustique, luxury Kenyan boltholes and hired French chateaus.

They're more like Princess Margaret than the rest of them. I think it will backfire on them hugely in the end.

When they are dependent on the public purse and estates which come as part of their position then they can't be seen to continue conspicously consuming in the way they do.

In fact, the one way which Kate doesn't seem to spend that much money on is clothes. And she could probably get away with that more because people that like that sort of thing love a clothes horse.

Original poster
fideline · 02/03/2014 22:28

Lurker she worked part-time, very p/t, in the family business and takes photos as a hobby. It hardly amounts to being usefully occupied.

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expatinscotland · 02/03/2014 22:28

They are a pair of leeches.

I don't feel sorry for them, either, that they don't have any 'privacy'. They have plenty, or they could also abdicate and swan off somewhere.

No one is forcing them to be royals.

Supercosy · 02/03/2014 22:28

TheOriginalSteamingNit.....that is pretty much exactly how I feel. I have nothing against them, I'm sure they are really nice people buy it pisses me off that she is so feted for basically being beautiful as though that is, in itself an achievement. Not her fault at all, just annoying as if she simply needs to be acquiscent and look good to be considered "amazing".

FreudiansSlipper · 02/03/2014 22:28

so keeping your head down, waiting and putting your life on hold by doing very little is the way for women to go to get the man and title they want

I hope if you have daughters this is not the advice you would give them

Original poster
fideline · 02/03/2014 22:31

^"If I were a royal with lots of cash, I would absolutely spend all my time farting about and spending the money.

Their position is unearned, they don't have to do anything to keep it, so why bother? I wouldn't.

Unless you think they are actually a special sort of person?"^

No I think they are incredibly ordinary, albeit wealthy people, who hold their rank and position by a quirk of history. I'm sure they are perfectly pleasant and all that.

My understanding was that the RF themselves felt they were dependent on public goodwill for their survival. I don't think those two read the memo properly and it surprises me that that is being allowed to happen.

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expatinscotland · 02/03/2014 22:32

'Poor Prince Charles couldn't even choose his own wife, first time round.'

No one forced him to take up that title. He was free to decline it and live how he pleased.

WooWooOwl · 02/03/2014 22:32

What difference does it make to anyone what she did in her 20's?

She wasn't a princess then, so it's irrelevant.

You really are scraping the barrel for having a dig at her for being thin.

Original poster
fideline · 02/03/2014 22:33

What seasick said.

Why are their PR people allowing it?

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IamInvisible · 02/03/2014 22:34

arabella I have been an RAF wife for 20 years. It's not just me who experiences these things, it is a lot of us.(One of the bits in my last post is happening to a very good friend). At the moment it DH's boss is very, very good, but there is a limit to what he can do.

When DH went away, they sent a hire car because they had no drivers. He had four months worth of luggage to fit in a Fiesta, and he is 6'4". When he came back, he, his boss and I had to fight to get someone to drive him back because we don't live where he works. DS2 had just had an operation, I am disabled and DS1 was working. We didn't know when DH was in the air how he was getting home.

I know it is not William's fault he doesn't have to put up with this shit, bit my point is because he doesn't he has no clue what it is really like. He may have flown a helicopter well, but that is as far as it goes imo.

FWIW the RAFFF is actually very, very good and very helpful. Well they have been to us.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 02/03/2014 22:34

I don't care how thin she is!

Original poster
fideline · 02/03/2014 22:35

It's not a dig Woo. It's an ennumeration of what we know about her.

Not much; think, quiet, big expensive hair, arty.

Spent her 20s doing very little.

What else do we know?

OP posts:
Original poster
fideline · 02/03/2014 22:35

That should be 'thin, quiet, big expensive hair....'

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Original poster
fideline · 02/03/2014 22:37

In fact the more I think about it, the more I think Seasicksal has nailled it;

^"I think part of the problem is that they are living like 'normal people' with their financial means would.

The Queen is only ever really on holiday quietly in Scotland, Charles slopes off and paints in Italy and Anne does something with horses.

William and Kate seem to be living it up more as Eurotrash, with the Maldives, Mustique, luxury Kenyan boltholes and hired French chateaus.

They're more like Princess Margaret than the rest of them. I think it will backfire on them hugely in the end.

When they are dependent on the public purse and estates which come as part of their position then they can't be seen to continue conspicously consuming in the way they do.

In fact, the one way which Kate doesn't seem to spend that much money on is clothes. And she could probably get away with that more because people that like that sort of thing love a clothes horse."^

Who can actually argue with that summary?

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CremeEggThief · 02/03/2014 22:37

The thing is, they were born into immense privilege, so how could they ever be aware of how lucky they are? Confused

That said, they seem to be more modest and have more to do with ordinary people than previous generations of royalty.

KarenBrockman · 02/03/2014 22:39

I think we should stop concentrating on her looks and her life pre marriage.

Right now she has done her job and produced a future monarch, after two years of marriage, doing annually what her peers do in a month.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 02/03/2014 22:39

I think I might dislike the queen a whole lot more actually. Sour faced woman that she is.

CumberCookie · 02/03/2014 22:40

ok yeah so them having a british nanny would solve the unemployment crisis? Hmm

Get off your bloody high horse