Shouldn't we expect just a little bit more of the Duchess of Cambridge.

[sweetgrape]

Never turned up for one single memorial service for the armed forces, but there at Center Court, Wimbledon, rubbing shoulders with a load of celebs,and entertaining Brad and Angelina Pitt at Kensington Palace. Is this what her royal life boils down to.

As a republican, I couldn't give a fuck how much or how little Kate Middleton does or doesn't do. She could spoon feed an entire orphanage before breakfast or could spend all day everyday watching Homes under the Hammer and scratching her arse and it would make no difference to the fact that the whole bloody institution is rotten and makes infants of us all, that vast sums of public money are ploughed into an unelected family who demand unearned deference and power.

The problem is not that she spends insufficient time unveiling plaques that say she unveiled a plaque or posing for photos with the 3rd Rowley Regis Brownie Pack it is the institution that she married into that is at fault.

I am absolutely positive that had there been a forum like this when Diana was alive there would have been massive criticism. Far more because she was far more controversial - so far the D of C hasn't done much to be controversial about. It seems a little boring when we are a discussing a women with 2 very young children going to tennis and not to a memorial service- it pales into insignificance set against someone going on TV to air their marriage problems!

Love your post of 22:23, Mehabietl6 - perfect summary

(Sorry. Brave attempt at your name went a bit wrong)

I can remember the appalling gossiping about Diana... Then the ridiculous out pouring if greif afterwards due to collective guilt. The sad thing us she was loved far more in death than in life. And in retrospect all she wanted was to be loved... She would have given all her jewels and dresses away for that.
Diana was a trajedy for human happiness but she didn't have a choice.
Kate is lucky... She got a choice.. She is loved in life and gets all the superficial riches.

Diana was a very damaged young woman who married a cold man whose heart was elsewhere and she was far too young for him. She wasn't emotionally equipped to do the job and she wreaked havoc within the Royal Family, mostly not her fault. A lot of it was the Establishment's fault, they were fed up waiting for Charles to marry and pushed him into it and he was a wuss. Then when she started having a meltowns they looked at her as a naughty toddler having a tantrum - ignore and it will stop. It didn't.

Kate has thought this through, she knows what her life is going to be like and she is going to do what she has to do. I do think we should give her a chance, it is early days in the big scheme of things. It's just good to see that her and William are in love, very refreshing especially after watching Charles and Di and their obvious discomfort with each other.

Yes roussette I agree. Of course we can never really know what happened but Charles and Diana barely knew each and had so little in common. William and Kate make a very good team and it's nice to see him having a happy family life. I watched a thing about Diana's death last week and he was sooo young. It was so wrong that he had to appear in public when he had just lost his mother. I wouldn't blame him for having a bit of resentment although if he does, he doesn't show it

I wouldn't blame him for having a bit of resentment although if he does, he doesn't show it

Maybe not in person but there is plenty of evidence of it.

When you see the footage of William and Harry meeting the public the day before the funeral, it looks so cruel to have put them through that. The Queen had the right idea trying to keep them at Balmoral. It was almost like the public thought their grief was more important.

You are no allowed to grieve in private these days- you are not grieving unless you show it!

I agree that William and Harry should not have been dragged in front of the public to admire the flowers laid out for Diana. It was, of course, done to appease a self indulgent public behaving, in front of her sons, as if they had lost a close relative themselves. I remember some women sobbing and gulping 'William, Harry' and these poor boys looking awkward and not knowing what to do.
I hope those drama queens were mortified by their behaviour afterwards.

Although everyone admired Diana for her charity work etc, she wasn't universally liked. There was a lot of criticism during her lifetime also.

There's some really bitchy and misogynistic posts in here.

I agree GraysAnalogy but it has been denied when I have said so. I wouldn't actually post remarks about people that I wouldn't say to their face. I wouldn't be so cruel, whoever they were.

Sadly we won't ever get that chance Mehit. It's not bitchy though to make remarks on the short comings of the royal family. It is a family that is massively supported by the tax payer, as such people are entitled to have very strong opinions on them and should be able to do so without being called bitchy, jealous or anything else.

It is bitchy when you single someone out and attack them on a personal level.

There's no need for any bitchy comments but if someone in the royal family isn't pulling their weight then it is going to be noticed and commented on. Andrew and Edward are another two who do nothing notable

There's no need for any bitchy comments but if someone in the royal family isn't pulling their weight then it is going to be noticed and commented on

If you did it about any other woman in the UK who was on ML you would be flamed

I am sure the daily mail did a graph which showed how many events the royals had attended. William and Kate were well low on that list...Get rid of them I say.

Rebecca Kate and William have done some very successful foreign tours which are very important for 'Brand Britain'. While I feel Kate could have gone to the 7/7 memorial I thought she has performed flawlessly on these trips. The Australia trip looked gruelling.
I think William deserves a lot of credit for trying to forge a normal career, particularly compared to his cousins or his Uncle Edward.

The main accolade anyone seems to apply to Kate is that she 'doesn't put a foot wrong' (both in behaviour and frocks) and that she's 'flawless'. Basically she seems to be loved for doing nothing wrong, which basically means for doing nothing. Now that's a problem in terms of how we are thinking about women.

"Performed flawlessly"

When she managed to keep her clothes on. Does anyone remember floaty skirt + helicopter + thong = entire world has now seen her arse

Hermione the wind blew my skirt up when I was on break duty last week so I refuse to judge Kate for that particular misdemeanor!

Can I just say that i actually went out with Prince Edward when we were very young and still at school and he's an actual sweetie?

lem she knew she was going in a helicopter! Frankly, it smacks of exhibitionism