The Middleton's did a great job raising our future queen!

[Brightstar12]

Kate has been fabulous since the Queen's death, such poise & self awareness. I think Carole & Michael did a great job & don't get enough recognition.
I don't know the family personally nor have i met them but there has never been tell all stories about them or Kate & Pippa which says alot..

I imagine she does have worries - just very different ones to you or I.

Re the topless photos of Kate - by 'scandal' I assume you mean the scandal it was that paparazzi trespassed (I think) and breached her privacy to get those photos?

There's a big difference between doing something in public (potentially inappropriate and 'shameful' for the RF) and doing something in private where you were only with your fiancé/husband and had every reasonable expectation of privacy. That applies to whoever the woman is.

Oops just saw @pilates said similar

It doesn't matter if it caused a scandal, it's not one you can blame Kate for. She wasn't doing anything wrong.

That’s ok Random.

It just shows how desperate that poster is to discredit Kate over something which was not her fault.

Didn't she go to Downe House? I thought it was a boarding school?

She left Downe house due to bullying

Boarding schools accept day pupils as well.

I said on another thread that her family has been a huge asset to the royal family. They have provided a safe, secure and normal background for both Kate and William and this must have helped Kate cope with royal life.
Sophie is similar.

Diana, Sarah and Meghan had grown up in fractured homes and Diana seemed to get little or no support from her parents, Sarah's mother lived overseas and Meghan is estranged from her father and siblings. All of them struggled with royal life and seemed to have no bolthole or place to go for support outside the Palace.

@Arbesque from the word go Kate wasn't daunted. The first pics I believe were of her skiing in Switzerland with Charles & William was a statement in itself!

Downe House has some younger years, so I can see how they can have day student.
Marlborough is full boarding.

Kate did board for her last year at the prep she had been at previously. So it makes sense that she would have boarded at Downe, but according to Katie Nichols (one of their mouthpieces ), she was bullied because she was a day student.

During that time, Downe house was known as being very 'intense'. Highly academic and sporty. They did not offer the hockey she was good in. Her HM never received any complaint of bullying from KM and family. She felt that KM was still unsettled. Not sure a HM can give a bad reference, but KM did not seem to have 'fitted' in quite quickly. Her parents moved her to Marlborough within the first term.

That just shows how on the ball her parents were & to use the courage of their convictions to get her out of there asap... Wonder what the bullies make of her now!

Wonder what the bullies make of her now!

Perhaps some of them are on MN, writing bitter posts about her...

We don’t know anything really. She may have been a bully herself. Not really on Meghan’s side here but KM has sort of a mean girl attitude towards Meghan, judging from event pics anyway. Could be following PW lead but that’s no excuse imo

Interesting - I didn't know she was only there for 1 term. Perhaps it was too academically rigorous at the time. They must have felt strongly enough to want to move her out of there ASAP. Those kind of decisions aren't the sort parents take lightly.

She looks more hurt and upset than mean.

Obviously her and Meghan remember certain things very differently but there seems to be bad feeling between them. I think Meghan hides it better than Kate.

I'm pretty sure if Kate had been a bully that would have come out by now. It's not really something you can hide in the days if SM.

I agree, one of my biggest issues with her is that while Harry welcomed her and befriended her, when Meghan came on board Kate never reciprocated. As a sister in law it would have been nice for her to treat Meghan the same way Harry treated her. I can't say I have seen her with Meghan - probably only once.
But then again, it's what we see on TV / media - I haven't seen her with her sister either, so perhaps we see very very little of their actual lives.

I know - it’s so depressing isn’t it. Hilary Mantel wrote a really interesting article on the way in which society projects images of passivity and femininity on royal females - focusing on Anne Boleyn but also mentioning Kate. It’s a bizarre obsession- her blandness is somehow seen as good’ whereas Meghan is the wicked witch. The last few weeks has turned me into a rabid Republican.

😄😄* *

I remember someone posting on here that they worked with one of the women who had bullied Kate and she was still pretty unpleasant.

Perhaps it was too academically rigorous at the time

Unlikely to be the reason why she left Downe House. She got nearly straight As at A-level (AAB - I blame everyone on these boards for making me addicted to them and making me know this information) and that was before the grade inflation of recent years. Bullying may genuinely be the reason.

The headmistress apparently admitted it was a very cliquey school.
Kate joined at 13 whereas most of her group had been there since 11 and had already formed friendship groups..
She was a day pupil in a predominantly boarding school.

It doesn't take much to get a bunch of teens ganging up. One or two Queen bees can do a lot of damage.

Anywhere parents did the right thing and very quickly moved her. She seems to be remembered as a likable, sporty friendly and bright teenager by those who were at Marlborough with her.

Could have been - we don't know.
I know kids who are practically geniuses but parents refuse to send them to those kind of schools.

It's all just speculation really. The parents don't come across as those pushy types, otherwise there would have been in different schools and universities.
Also could have been bullying as you say or maybe the school just wasn't the right fit. Really brave and wise to move so quick!

Of course you will not see anything bad in the media about her, middletons etc. We know the institution can ensure the british press doesn't publish certain things.

A lot of girls schools are cliquey! I imagine she just didn't fit in or make friends quick enough. It's no surprise she went to a coed after.

Bullying is the usual reason why someone is quickly removed from a school.