Was there anything Kate didn't excel at?

[Mommymoments]

Having read many articles Kate (pippa & James also) is so accomplished since she was tiny.
She is very sporty.. strong swimmer, excellent skier, hockey player, lacrosse, athletics, netball.. Plays piano very well & also was lead in schools drama production. Excelled at art.
It seems the Middleton's didn't do much in the way of equistrian sports?
Would love my dc to be as accomplished & well rounded. Can't afford Marlborough or any private for that matter!

Waitressing, apparently.

I am not especially a Kate fan but I stand by the fact that she is always impeccably groomed and never lets her personal issues get in the way of giving her best smile during public service.
She may appear boring but I have a lot more respect for her for keeping her personal views to a minimum out in public and for letting regular people do most of the talking and making it more about them than herself, I also like the lack of fake behaviour and bragging (humble or otherwise) and that she displays no obvious sense of entitlement.
If people want phony, self-congratulatory attention-seeking unsupported by long spells of meaningful action then I understand why they would dislike Kate and find her inadequate for the role.

I have a DGD who went to a sink inner city comprehensive, got A* in Maths went to university and got Degree in Maths and Economics and is now working at what is known as high flying job. She also had to work her way through uni like most of her fellow students whose parents could not afford to keep them.
The full loan they get hardly covers the rent and food plus books etc. then has to payed back if they earn over a certain amount after graduating.
The Princess of Wales just pulled the longest straw in the good luck stakes.Wealthy parents who made sure she had everything provided without working for it, and also both her siblings.
My DGD and others like her are far more accomplished due to the fact they did it unaided.

But how many mere mortals would fuck that up? Not easy.

@nildesparandum She did pull a long straw and your DGD is amazing!

Tbf though, the Middletons did set up a successful business and most parents want to spend their money on their children. I don’t begrudge the Princess of Wales her good start, I want to give my children as much as I can as well.

We all know statistics can be manipulated to show what we want others to see.
I'd be more interested if you highlighted the differences taking into account types of schools, socio economic backgrounds, etc. Especially as running through the thread is the general acceptance that opportunity is an indication of future success. But that wouldn't make your point I guess.

Kate had plenty of opportunity to excel but there are many others who have achieved more with very little opportunity available to them.
Some might be impressed that she was in the less than 1% to achieve AAB or 10% who managed to get to St Andrew's twenty years ago from her private boarding school.

I'm more impressed by trajectories like @nildesparandum gd. I have friends similar age to Kate who really did excel with few opportunities but a strong desire to do well, and one or two teachers who had time for them.

I just presented some data, @PreparationPreparationPrep and expressly said it’s up to the reader to decide how they assess her level of achievement.

I never said that’s the only measure of attainment, and I don’t believe it is myself. It’s one way (and not the only one either) to try to place her amongst her immediate generation though on the basis of data rather than subjective belief. Everyone will bring their own biases to bear - this thread demonstrates that.

She was a good all rounder. She had a good education and a very supportive family. She did well. But pretending she is like some kind of genius and an amazing individual is pushing it too far.
She does not seem to have used all those early advantages though except to marry a rich man. Her choice.
But not someone to promote as amazing.

I'm more impressed by trajectories like @nildesparandumgd. I have friends similar age to Kate who really did excel with few opportunities but a strong desire to do well, and one or two teachers who had time for them.

It’s certainly impressive, @PreparationPreparationPrep , but not the situation that most people want their children to be in.

My DH was similar, state school, worked 20hrs/week throughout uni, big loans, did really well. Our DD is going to uni this year and he recently said that he hopes her uni experience is more relaxed than his, as he didn’t have the time/money for much of the social side or join clubs, as he was always working. ☹️ It’s impressive, but the gd won’t want that for her own DC if she has them. Kate had the cushion of her parents’ hard work and did well enough, that’s fine.

Actually, Diana was born into an even more privileged background money and social status-wise. She got two O’levels, I think. And people thought she was amazing ( she was in her own way).

What a bitchy thread this is

I agree, @luckylavender , some posters really seem to resent Kate’s privileged background-why on earth shouldn’t her parents spend their money on her? She’s fine, she gets on with her duties, who cares that she didn’t pull herself up out by her bootstraps.

@luckylavender agreed. So much jealousy

Don't think anyone is being bitchy just saying it as they see it. All this fawning over Kate is laughable. She is an average looking woman who was average in education and has never worked. If you aspire to marry a rich partner then she is someone to look up to. If she hadn't married into the royal family then no one would give her a second look.

@theropeisslipping You don’t think there’s been some hints of jealousy then? I thought there were.

Perhaps the OP is fawning over Kate, but I think most posters view her as a good all-rounder. She’d probably have done well career-wise if she’d chosen a different path.

I'm not talking about having to fawn over her. She's a good looking well educated, accomplished woman. And everyone is trying to pretend that St Andrews isn't a good University, that an A in maths isn't that good & that she should be able to ride a horse. It's sad and pathetic really. Nasty too.

St Andrews is a good university, an A in maths is a good result, surely only a particular type of aristocrat cares if someone can ride a horse or not?

Such a credit to the royal family and the UK generally

Princess Diana was supposed to be frightened of horses, I think that's where the relationship with Hewitt started as he offered to teach her to ride.

She's the future queen consort fss!! She's going to be in the history books forever. Pretty impressive if you ask me & not a job many women could do nearly as well Kate.

Beautiful photos.

She's the future queen consort fss!! She's going to be in the history books forever. Pretty impressive if you ask me & not a job many women could do nearly as well Kate.

Why start are thread asking such a question if you don't want to hear opposing views?

I do not think it is impressive to be a King or Queen. It happens either through an accident of marriage, or because of who you marry. Some individuals might be good at the role, others will be poor at it. But simply having the role says nothing about your skills or abilities.

Kate is obviously very good at it, Meghan wasn't. I think Sussex fans need to get over that one, really.
Both of them were keen to meet and marry princes. It was certainly no accident in either case. Neither of those marriages would have happened if they were exactly the same guys working at Homebase.

Disagree, Meghan was extremely good at her job, she worked really hard on several projects while she was here, quite successfully, I may add. In the short time she was here she did a lot more work than katie. The difference between her and Kate is that she's not a doormat and refused to put up with BS from the media, some horribly racist, just to be a royal.