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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think Duchess Kate is worryingly thin?

578 replies

louny · 29/12/2018 21:56

Just saw pictures of the Royal Family coming out of Church at Christmas and was struck by how incredibly thin Kate is, especially around the waist and hips.

I'm sure I will be accused of just feeling jealous, but honestly I would be concerned if I saw an 18-y-o girl that skinny, let alone a woman in her 30s with three children. I can't imagine how severely you have to diet to be that thin so soon after giving birth. I know she is naturally slim but even so, I am worried the constant media attention is having a bad effect on her self-image/mental health.

OP posts:
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RCohle · 29/12/2018 22:21

Jesus, saying that she looks haggard is really harsh Cherries. Isn't mumsnet meant to "make parents' lives easier"?

HildaZelda · 29/12/2018 22:22

I'm 5'3", 7 1/2 stone and a size 6-8, so I'm far from overweight, but I think Kate is very thin. It's starting to show so much in her face. She looks much older than she actually is. I think she'd look much better if she was a half stone heavier.

WorraLiberty · 29/12/2018 22:22

But please don't pretend that she's not working hard to achieve it. I imagine she works out and has a very restrictive diet. Very, very few women in their thirties, after having children are naturally that thin.

That doesn't make sense.

Just because you imagine something and others don't, it doesn't mean they're pretending Confused

The truth is none of us know.

SpikyHedgehogg · 29/12/2018 22:22

“Duchess Kate”? This is nearly as irritatingly wrong as “Prime Minister May”.

NextIssue · 29/12/2018 22:22

@WorraLiberty Paparazzi photos that have been published elsewhere in the world but aren't allowed to be published in the UK.

RebeccaWrongDaily · 29/12/2018 22:22

all those papped photos of her smoking, oh, hang on...

posh smokes like a chimbley (or did not so long ago)

NextIssue · 29/12/2018 22:23

As PPs have said, she lost about 1.5 stone between the engagement and the wedding and has never put it back on again

blackteasplease · 29/12/2018 22:23

I know school Mums of three who are in their 40s + (i.e. the youngest at primary school with older ones as well) who are as thin or thinner. Some people are just thin!

WorraLiberty · 29/12/2018 22:23

I thought the smoking photos were years ago?

NextIssue · 29/12/2018 22:24

This was on honeymoon. Looks very disciplined to me!

to think Duchess Kate is worryingly thin?
foxessocks · 29/12/2018 22:24

worra said it better than me.

TherightsideofHERstory · 29/12/2018 22:24

Not just the personal chef/time to exercise etc but also bear in mind that she can afford to have clothes made/altered to flatter her shape. I was very slim after baby #5, albeit with a bit of a tum, if I could have gone somewhere other than primark to buy my undies at the time I don't doubt I could have looked even more toned.

formerbabe · 29/12/2018 22:24

Just because you imagine something and others don't, it doesn't mean they're pretending confused

The truth is none of us know.

Kate looked much curvier whilst at university...still slim but definitely not as thin as she is now.

Cherries101 · 29/12/2018 22:24

@WorraLiberty - UK magazines don’t publish a lot of the ‘real’ photos of Kate. If you go to Europe, you can see a lot of photos of her with a cig.

Armi · 29/12/2018 22:24

She is slim, but looks healthy and happy to me. I do sometimes wonder whether, as someone who enjoys exercise, she exercises a lot as a way of mentally dealing with her peculiar life and its ‘gilded cage’ restrictions.

I think she’s as ok as can be expected, given her circumstances.

NerrSnerr · 29/12/2018 22:25

*you'll get loads of responses from the body shaming neurotic types saying that we're all too fat nowadays and Kate is a normal size and perfectly fine.

Personally I think she looks incredibly thin....far too thin.*

The irony! Saying she's far too thin is body shaming too!

She looks happy and in my opinion doesn't look unwell. It's her business whether she runs 10 miles a day or whatever to say slim.

WorraLiberty · 29/12/2018 22:26

Kate looked much curvier whilst at university...still slim but definitely not as thin as she is now.

She was much younger then

People gain and lose weight all the time without doing it on purpose

blackteasplease · 29/12/2018 22:26

cherries why do you think she smokes?

WorraLiberty · 29/12/2018 22:26

@WorraLiberty - UK magazines don’t publish a lot of the ‘real’ photos of Kate. If you go to Europe, you can see a lot of photos of her with a cig.

Yes Cherries but I believe the photos were taken years ago?

Or maybe not, I don't know.

JinglingHellsbells · 29/12/2018 22:26

I'm a big fan at Catherine, from what we can see in the media, but I too think she is very thin. I don't see how it's unkind of deserving of criticism to raise this, especially given her late MIL's MH issues partly due to media intrusion.

FWIW I am very slim too with a BMI at the lower end of normal and am often told I look slim. But I am petite and every pound shows. . But I still think she looks very thin. She is 5 10" and is looking very slim indeed. If you look at photos of her as a late teen and when she was at uni, she looked healthy. Now, her face is verging on gaunt and sometimes she looks quite old. She looked wonderful when she was pregnant and had a bit of extra weight on her face.

I don't think anyone is being nasty to express concern. She Is in fact the future Queen and a public figure- having an opinion is normal. Except on MN where you aren't supposed to have any. Confused

NextIssue · 29/12/2018 22:27

@blackteasplease Read the thread!

Gone4Good · 29/12/2018 22:27

When I see her narrow hips I'm always impressed she managed to push out such big babies.

She is slender alright, but not gaunt. She's lucky to be so slim.

formerbabe · 29/12/2018 22:27

She was much younger then

I've never once heard a woman say that she finds it easier to stay slim as she gets older Grin

GenerationSnowflake · 29/12/2018 22:27

She is naturally slim, but she is clearly working hard to be that skinny. You can see how much her body has changed and how quickly. She always had great legs, but she has shrunk. Nothing wrong with that. It's a mark of the upper class and the rich to be slim nowadays, and the pressure to look like that in the press must be immense. Other royals are just as slim.

She is lucky to have the time and resources to exercise and have access to the best food. Good on her to take the time and commitment to pull it off.

EmeraldShamrock · 29/12/2018 22:28

Though I am a bit confused about the poster who said they weigh less than Kate.
Not as tall as Kate but my shoulders and hips are smaller, I have a BMI of 22.5. Tbf lots of my friends are easy still a size 8.