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!

"She worked as a buyer for jigsaw"

Part time for a year.

Because she personally, and the Jigsaw offices were being harrassed so badly by the paparazzi that her position was untenable.

Basically, being Prince William’s girlfriend meant a traditional career was all but impossible.

No that's not correct Serenster. There have been lots of pieces here and there over the years including one recently by the founder of Jigsaw which have repeated the fact that Kate only ever offered herself part time. Her mother also said that Kate needed to be available for William, which frankly is quite lame. Plenty of people in high profile relationships manage to work. Amal Clooney for example. Kate simply has form for doing as little as possible, there's no need to dress it up - her parents could fund her and seemed happy to. Her choice/ their choice.

Kate simply had form for doing as little as possible, there’s no need to dress it up.

You know, I’d rather hear the views of those who actually worked with her than your imaginary narrative:

In December 2006 a spokeswoman for Jigsaw said: "We can confirm that Kate joined our staff two or three weeks ago as an accessory buyer for Jigsaw and Jigsaw Junior. We can't comment any further”.

Kate them worked there for a year, part time, before leaving. A director of the company, Belle Robinson, later gave an interview about working with Kate:

“I have to say I was so impressed by her. There were days when there were TV crews at the end of the drive. We’d say: ‘Listen, do you want to go out the back way?’ And she’d say: ‘To be honest, they’re going to hound us until they’ve got the picture. So why don’t I just go, get the picture done, and then they’ll leave us alone,’”

Belle Robinson also noted that Kate genuinely wanted a job but she also needed an element of flexibility to continue the relationship with a very high-profile man and a life that she couldn’t dictate. Bella recorded that she saw first hand the demands made on Kate - she jokes that her own girls would never want to be a royal girlfriend.

And in case you are wondering what life as a Royal girlfriend was like for Kate back then, have a look at the video alone. I’d love to see how you would manage a normal job in the face of that kind of sustained harassment. FYI Amal Clooney has never faced anything like that.

Thanks @Serenster They always forget Catherine was straight out of university when this harassment started. Starting your career with all that drama around you would challenge most of us. Amal Clooney's career as a barrister had been going for years before she met George, and she was already high profile in her own right in legal circles and on the international stage.

But isn’t this the bit many people find so tragic — that a woman with an excellent education, some intelligence, and family money (meaning she could have gone in any direction without worrying about having to pay rent while in an unpaid internship) chose an undemanding part-time job in order to facilitate a relationship?

Kate is going to be Queen so she hasn’t done too badly. It’s just that this relationship is parallel to a job and she makes it look easier than it is. Some people might find being a royal very hard.

‘tragic’

Give over @DifferentAlgebra , I think you need to buy yourself a dictionary. 🙄

You know, I’d rather hear the views of those who actually worked with her than your imaginary narrative

I mean, it's not imaginary in the sense that the narrative has been culled from the words of the founder of Jigsaw and from Carole Middleton too. As I said: her choice and her parents' choice to fund her. Not for anyone here to impute a hard working ethic to Kate where it apparently never existed. I'm not even sure why people feel the need to impute one.

But isn’t this the bit many people find so tragic — that a woman with an excellent education, some intelligence, and family money (meaning she could have gone in any direction without worrying about having to pay rent while in an unpaid internship) chose an undemanding part-time job in order to facilitate a relationship?

My feminist beliefs mean I will support other women’s life choices, not judge them. I can’t answer for anyone else.

I also personally know several women - smart, university educated, with professional options open to them, who have followed their life partner, often internationally, because their partner’s career (Diplomat, technical specialist etc) required that kind of commitment. Often they ended up somewhere where working themselves was simply not possible. I don’t think they are “tragic” either.

Why shouldn’t someone be able to make a decision to do what is right for them and what works best of all regardless of their education, finances and status?

Feminism’s role is not to validate the life choices of individual women, especially when those choices centre men.

Telling me how to be a feminist? You know what you can do with that….

I went to Oxford in 1998 - I think Wills is a year younger than me and AAB was my offer for English.

I think my AAA from a state comp was probably more impressive than Kate’s AAB. But I’m not sporty or musical or a great all rounder.

Another thing people forget: this particular marriage carries with it a job for life until your husband is dead. You could say Catherine is the ultimate career feminist. Arguably, she saw a job she wanted, a job that would bring immense rewards, prestige and influence, and tenaciously held out for it and and put up with immense pressure and scrutiny to get it and retain it. Many feminists would kill to have a tenth of her platform.

Serenster · Today 12:16

CurlewKate · Today 12:06

"She worked as a buyer for jigsaw"

Part time for a year.
Because she personally, and the Jigsaw offices were being harrassed so badly by the paparazzi that her position was untenable.

Basically, being Prince William’s girlfriend meant a traditional career was all but impossible.

Exactly Serenster. And it wasn't just about Catherine - things became impossible for all her co-workers with the harrassment.

I remember when Diana suffered the same rubbish and didn't she get moved into Kensington Palace (or somewhere) so they could try and protect her from it?

And what feminist causes has she used her platform to advocate? Sexual violence and the appalling rape conviction rates? FGM? Honour crimes? Fighting attempts to erode safe female spaces and women’s hard-won rights?

No, because her ‘platform’ involves waving and smiling, and reciting the occasional bland speech for a safely-vetted charity. Her job is to appear to have no personal convictions or intelligence. It’s the coatdress of ‘platforms’ — unexciting, safe, unthreatening.

You don't need to be a feminist campaigner to be a feminist, just doing your job or living your life and making the decisions you want to make. There are literally millions of women who consider themselves feminists who do nothing to further any of the causes you cite, but are working women and/or living a life according to their own rules. In every single workplace, in academia, law, medicine, the arts, the home, you name it. Feminists all of them.

And what feminist causes has she used her platform to advocate? Sexual violence and the appalling rape conviction rates? FGM? Honour crimes? Fighting attempts to erode safe female spaces and women’s hard-won rights?

Does addiction issues in women’s prisons, women prisoners’ mental health and keeping women in the justice system with their children tick your boxes? She’s used her platform to advocate for all of those, visiting prisons and opening hostels as she has done so.

I for one am very pleased that our future queen is very well educated! She also has numerous hobbies, interests & is very sporty thanks to her excellent upbringing.

Her role is a diplomatic one & she represents the country magnificently due to her education & solid upbringing.

I never know on threads like this whether people are taking the piss or not. Career feminist? Seriously??

Actually, thinking about it, isn't it anti feminist to demand that a woman pigeon holes herself into campaigning about "women's issues". Are women's only interests to be domestic and sexual violence? Is a woman any less of a feminist for campaigning about science, sport, law, economics etc, and/or excelling in those fields as a participant rather than a campaigner?