General News for the Duchess of Cambridge 1: November 2010-February 2017


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Curryong said:
I don't know that the Press will cover the engagement as fully as they would have if Kate was there, TLLK (clothes, hat, hair.)

If, God forbid and please let it not be so, the Queen were to die tomorrow then as Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and later Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate won't be able to pace their engagements. Just like their father in law their diaries will be full and that will include daily engagements, followed by evening ones followed by ones the next day as well.

After all, Kate isn't being asked to run a marathon then follow it next day by a speech at the UN. These are two reasonably easy and pleasant Royal engagements, the former meaning a great deal to the Irish Guards. Kate should be honoured to visit such a famed regiment with a great history, not the other way round.
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Then IMHO we're fortunate that the focus will be upon the Irish Guards and their mascot without the annoying photos accompanied by the estimated prices of Kate's hat, shoes and coat.:)
 
Richard Palmer and even the Daily Mail should be ashamed on how they've tried to turn this on Catherine. If she can't make it do to other commitments, well then, she can't make it. I've always said, if she could be there, she would be there. She has formed a relationship with the Irish Guards and always enjoy giving them shamrocks, talking to them and participating in the annual photo and toast.
 
Macrobug said:
If the tradition really is that a female member does it then they have a number of ladies who are available - not just Kate. Why not a blood princess? The Yorks, Anne, Zara...even Edward's daughter. Why are they not being criticized? Kate has done it for the last few years. If the argument is that she should continue because she already has done it then one could argue that Anne dropped the ball by discontinuing herself after doing it for several years.
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Isn't this going too far?

Why go after a 12 year old? Louise is still in school.

Suggesting the media should criticize a 12 year rather than a 34 year old seem odd. Supporting Catherine is one thing but expecting the media to criticize children IMO is crossing the line.

Why complain about the media and then expect the media to criticize the overworked Anne when she passes some of her duties to the younger members.

Zara is not a working member of the BRF. Eugenie and Beatrice are not considered working members of the BRF.

See drop down list of names of people considered working members of BRF.
http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Royaldiary/Locationsandtimes.aspx
 
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All of this negative press regarding Kate and her lack of appearance to pass out the traditional St. Patrick Day shamrocks reminds me of the esteemed work of William Shakespeare. Its all "Much Ado About Nothing".

These days, the Cambridges can't get a fair shake no matter what they do.
 
Since their marriage the Cambridges have received overwhelmingly positive press, in comparison to Charles, the Yorks (including the Princesses) and Harry. Even the Queen's had her controversies (the 'Nazi salute' and Britex comments for example.) The only consistent criticism William and Kate have had has been in the past few weeks.
 
Queen Camilla said:
Isn't this going too far?

Why go after a 12 year old? Louise is still in school.

Suggesting the media should criticize a 12 year rather than a 34 year old seem odd. Supporting Catherine is one thing but expecting the media to criticize children IMO is crossing the line.

Why complain about the media and then expect the media to criticize the overworked Anne when she passes some of her duties to the younger members.

Zara is not a working member of the BRF. Eugenie and Beatrice are not considered working members of the BRF.

See drop down list of names of people considered working members of BRF.
http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Royaldiary/Locationsandtimes.aspx
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You have missed my point. If it has to be a female member of the RF handing out the shamrocks (which it obviously does not considering there is nothing stating that - just that a member does it. And the men have been represented over the years) then why is it Kate? Why is she the only one that is being criticized for not being there. She is not the only female member. All of those I listed are members of the RF, working or not. And so why is their absence not being noted? Why? Because they are not booked to do the event. But they are not being asked to come up with an excuse or reason for not attending. Because it would be obviously silly to do so. They aren't going because they aren't.

Well, neither is Kate. She isn't going because she isn't booked to do so. But she is being criticized. Unfairly. And people want a reason why. Well, the only reason required is that she isn't. William is doing it this year.
 
I think people were indulgent and tolerant when they were Newly weds and after that the appeal of new parents and adorable baby's carried them. The novelty of having a young fresh new princess was appealing also. But IMO the bloom is rapidly going off the rose at this point.
 
There is zero evidence that a few weeks of 'negative' press has any impact with the public.

There is lots going on in Britain at the moment, the EU referendum being a big one. I personally don't know many people losing sleep over whether Kate is handing out shamrocks.

As Robert Jobson told the BBC, the tabloids giving the Cambridges grief now will be the same tabloids sucking up to them in India next month
 
I completely agree with you. People in my clinic today were talking about the weather, the US elections, Syria, local gossip.

Not one of them mentioned the ground shaking scandal of Kate not handing out shamrocks.

When they got married, when the kids were born, when they came to Canada then yes, they were discussed.

For us, the royal watchers, we get caught up in this stuff. For the rest of the world, it really is not relevant.

So, in the grand scheme of life, the Great Shamrock Scandal of 2016 is a bit of a dud. Sorry, Richard Palmar.
 
Rudolph said:
I don't understand all this 'the tradition has been broken' stuff. If that's the case, the tradition was broken in 1950 when King George VI presented shamrocks
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King George VI presented the shamrocks that year because he was Colonel in Chief of the regiment and it was the 50th anniversary of the founding of the regiment which made it a special occasion.

Grand Duke Jean made the presentation in 1989 as Royal Colonel (he had been in the Irish Guards during WWII). The regiment was stationed in Belize at the time. The Queen Mother was almost 89 and couldn't make the trip. She also couldn't make the trip to Germany in 1999 so Prince Edward represented her.

In the current climate, Kate not showing up for something like this, is a major PR blunder. Also with regard to her having an engagement in Norfolk the next day, she has done engagements on consecutive days before like last week. And it is not like she has to walk get from Hounslow to Norfolk.
 
Lady Marlboro said:
King George VI presented the shamrocks that year because he was Colonel in Chief of the regiment and it was the 50th anniversary of the founding of the regiment which made it a special occasion.

Grand Duke Jean made the presentation in 1989 as Royal Colonel (he had been in the Irish Guards during WWII). The regiment was stationed in Belize at the time. The Queen Mother was almost 89 and couldn't make the trip. She also couldn't make the trip to Germany in 1999 so Prince Edward represented her.
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Yes and then there were the years the Queen mum was busy at the races and couldn't make it.

My point is it's incorrect to say Kate is breaking tradition by missing this year. The tradition was broken long ago. Also now that the regiment has a royal colonel, William is it's first, there is even less need to have a female royal there year in and year out.

If it was that big of a deal, another royal woman could go this year in Kate's place. There is no rule that says it must be the wife of the royal colonel because William is the first to hold the position
 
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Why is it a PR blunder? Why is Kate's absence the PR blunder and all the other royal women who are not booked for something tomorrow (which includes Anne who also has a recent history of presenting the shamrocks) get a free ride? It is being discussed only because some reporters have made it an issue. We have no idea how the scheduling was done. It is all speculation and it is not fair to criticize people based on speculation. The facts, the hard, cold facts are that in the past royal family members have handed out the shamrocks, sometimes male usually female. Anne has handed them out several years running. Kate has been the most recent one. Several years it has been missed. William is the Colonel and this year it is his honour to do so.


Maybe Kate wanted to do it, maybe she has a hissy fit about it, maybe the regiment didn't want her, maybe they are ready to rebel because she isn't. 'We don't know and I think it is a big stretch to call this a PR blunder when the only people calling it such are the reporters who manufactured the whole issue in the first place. Next month they may be going on about how the Cambridges are the bestest, brightest stars in the Royal Crown. It is hard to take them seriously.
 
General News and Information for the Duchess of Cambridge

The tradition is the passing out of shamrocks. That's it. Even that isn't an unbroken tradition since they didn't do it during the world wars. This isn't the ceremony of the keys which has been done nightly for 700 years. The Irish Guards will get their shamrocks from William just like the Welsh got their leeks earlier this year without a Royal doing it.


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Macrobug said:
You have missed my point. If it has to be a female member of the RF handing out the shamrocks (which it obviously does not considering there is nothing stating that - just that a member does it. Why is she the only one that is being criticized for not being there. She is not the only female member. All of those I listed are members of the RF, working or not. And so why is their absence not being noted? Why? Because they are not booked to do the event. But they are not being asked to come up with an excuse or reason for not attending. Because it would be obviously silly to do so. They aren't going because they aren't.
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Macrobug said:
Why is Kate's absence the PR blunder and all the other royal women who are not booked for something tomorrow (which includes Anne who also has a recent history of presenting the shamrocks) get a free ride?
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No, you are missing the point big time...

Supporting Catherine is one thing but going after other people defeats the purpose.

Catherine took over the responsibility from Anne four years ago.

Once Anne handed over, it is no longer Anne's duty.

Catherine attended for four years so the media expected her to continue. A reasonable expectation, especially considering her husband's position with the unit.

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What makes you think Princess Anne is not booked?

Today, is Ladies Day at the Cheltenham and the Princess Anne is there for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick Thursday at Cheltenham, Camilla sometimes presented the Cup at Cheltenham. This year, Camilla is in the Balkans so we will have to see who presents the Cup.

On March 18th, Princess Anne is scheduled to present the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

Princess Anne took over some of the Queen Mother's duties including Cheltenham and presenting the Shamrocks to the regiment.

Princess Anne and Camilla share the Cheltenham duties depending on their schedule. Catherine was given the duty of presenting the shamrocks because her husband became Colonel of the regiment in 2011.

Do you want to blame the Balkans and start a third World War?:lol:
(That will not help, as Anne has relinquished her duties to the regiment in 2011 so Princess Anne still would not have attended even if Camilla was able to make Cheltenham.)
 
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Anne don't have anything on schedule for tomorrow, neither does Kate. If you are surmising that the former may be busy anyways with some unannounced activity, then we can say the same for the latter.....

If, by handing over the job to Kate, Anne was no longer responsible for the job of passing out the shamrocks, then by the same logic, Kate has now handed it over to William.

However, I question that logic, now that William has done the last investiture then does that mean that none of the ones who did it before can do it again? Why, after others did the shamrock pass, did the QM go back to doing it again. I think you may see some error in the logic that you put forth.
 
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Macrobug said:
Camilla and Anne don't have anything on schedule for tomorrow, neither does Kate. If you are surmising that the former may be busy anyways with some unannounced activity, then we can say the same for the latter.....

If, by handing over the job to Kate, Anne was no longer responsible for the job of passing out the shamrocks, then by the same logic, Kate has now handed it over to William.

However, I question that logic, now that William has done the last investiture then does that mean that none of the ones who did it before can do it again? Why, after others did the shamrock pass, did the QM go back to doing it again. I think you may see some error in the logic that you put forth.
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Missing the point again.

The CC rarely lists Camilla & Charles engagements and rarely foreign visits.
Their trip to the Balkans was never in the future engagement section but they are currently in the Balkans until Friday.

The POW website listed their itinerary and it is posted in their thread on this website.

The CC does not list all engagements.

Princess Anne attending Cheltenham is a reasonable assumption as she was there today and will be there on Friday so thinking she might be there on Thursday is somewhat reasonable.

Missing the point again
Investiture have always been done by multiple people.

Handing over duties and having someone fill in are two different things.
Handing over duties is the same as leaving the job.
Filling in is the same as someone filling in at work when someone else is on vacation or sick.
 
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Macrobug said:
You have missed my point. If it has to be a female member of the RF handing out the shamrocks (which it obviously does not considering there is nothing stating that - just that a member does it. And the men have been represented over the years) then why is it Kate? Why is she the only one that is being criticized for not being there. She is not the only female member. All of those I listed are members of the RF, working or not. And so why is their absence not being noted? Why? Because they are not booked to do the event. But they are not being asked to come up with an excuse or reason for not attending. Because it would be obviously silly to do so. They aren't going because they aren't.

Well, neither is Kate. She isn't going because she isn't booked to do so. But she is being criticized. Unfairly. And people want a reason why. Well, the only reason required is that she isn't. William is doing it this year.
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And I think you are missing the other poster's point: Because they are not working royals. We expect working royals to do this silly thing called work. They get paid to do so.

Louise is 12 and in school. Zara is a totally private citizen. Bea and Eugenie have jobs (Bea is usually in NY for hers).

So no they aren't asked for excuses because they have no reason to be at these events in the first place.

As for Camilla?? It is unreasonable to expect Kate to be in London the day before Norfolk, but you want Camilla to fly back from the Balkans for the event. Their tour is not over till Friday.

Anne is busy at her own events with the races. She is a patron for it.
 
Countessmeout said:
And I think you are missing the other poster's point: Because they are not working royals. We expect working royals to do this silly thing called work. They get paid to do so.
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Could you clarify this for me? Who pays them? Do they work by the hour or are they on salary? Do they get paid weekly, monthly or yearly? I'd like to know.
 
Working members are paid with a grace and favor residence.

Security is also paid for working members.
 
Skippyboo said:
The tradition is the passing out of shamrocks. That's it. Even that isn't an unbroken tradition since they didn't do it during the world wars. This isn't the ceremony of the keys which has been done nightly for 700 years. The Irish Guards will get their shamrocks from William just like the Welsh got their leeks earlier this year without a Royal doing it.


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Good point. The tradition is maintained. The Irish Guards will receive theirs from their Colonel who was scheduled to be present and all will be well. :flowers:
 
:previous:

Not all of them

Duke of York has a lease on Royal Lodge (75 yrs) and had to agree minimum £5m refurbishment plus £1m lease price. As he spent £7.5m on refurbishment, Crown estates let him off the £1m. Lots of detail on Wiki.

The Wessexes pay Crown Estates over £90k pa (increasing by RPI) for Bagshott Park. It also needed renovation which was originally estimated to cost £2.18m, with £1.6m from the Crown Estate and the remainder being paid by the prince (bank of Mum, I should think).

Anne owns Gatcombe

All of those have rooms for o/night stays at either SJP or BP when doing royal duties.

The Kents and Glos do not (as far as I can discover) pay rent but do pay for water, electricity etc. I think this stems from an old agreement that as they were not allowed to get a job and have a salary; and were required to help the Queen re royal duties, they would not pay rent. They do not earn a salary from the Queen.


The "grace and favour" apartments are within the gift of the Queen. Most are rented out now. Prince Michael of KEnt does pay rent - cant remember exactly but its market rate c.£150000 pa


I assume that the Cambs and Harry do not pay rent.

EDIT: totally off subject but wanted to reply to previous post.
 
^^^Thank you cepe for supplying us with the facts.
 
cepe said:
:previous:

Not all of them

Duke of York has a lease on Royal Lodge (75 yrs) and had to agree minimum £5m refurbishment plus £1m lease price. As he spent £7.5m on refurbishment, Crown estates let him off the £1m. Lots of detail on Wiki.

The Wessexes pay Crown Estates over £90k pa (increasing by RPI) for Bagshott Park. It also needed renovation which was originally estimated to cost £2.18m, with £1.6m from the Crown Estate and the remainder being paid by the prince (bank of Mum, I should think).

Anne owns Gatcombe

All of those have rooms for o/night stays at either SJP or BP when doing royal duties.

The Kents and Glos do not (as far as I can discover) pay rent but do pay for water, electricity etc. I think this stems from an old agreement that as they were not allowed to get a job and have a salary; and were required to help the Queen re royal duties, they would not pay rent. They do not earn a salary from the Queen.


The "grace and favour" apartments are within the gift of the Queen. Most are rented out now. Prince Michael of KEnt does pay rent - cant remember exactly but its market rate c.£150000 pa


I assume that the Cambs and Harry do not pay rent.

EDIT: totally off subject but wanted to reply to previous post.
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All the working members have grace & favor residence in London.

The Queen & Philip in Buckingham Palace
Prince Charles and Camilla in Clarence House
William and Catherine in Kensington Palace Apt. 1A
Harry lives in Nottingham Cottage within Kensington Palace grounds
Prince Andrew in Buckingham Palace
Prince Edward & Sophie in Buckingham Palace
Princess Anne in St. James' Palace
Duke and Duchess of Gloucester in Kensington Palace Apt 1
Duke and Duchess of Kent in Wren House in KP grounds
Princess Alexandra in St. James' Palace

The Michael are now paying rent because they are not considered working members of the family.

Princess Beatrice and Eugenie have an apartment in St. James' Palace that their father has paid rent on since 2013. They are not considered working royals.
 
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Lady Marlboro said:
Macrobug said:
Why is it a PR blunder?


It is a blunder because if the press is gunning for you, the last thing you should do is hand them more ammunition and a bigger target.
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I disagree. IMHO it would be a blunder if her presence had been officially announced and she pulled out at the last minute.

Today is St. Patrick's day and IMO it is quite possible that a Norfolk pre-school is having its own celebration to which families were invited. If that is the case, then I can see why at least one parent would want to be present. :)
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Cheeks starring as snake #4 ☘


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Too Distracting

Perhaps it was thought that dozens of pictures of Catherine and her clothes would distract from C&C's visit to the Balkans. There have already twice as many comments on this thread about Catherine's absence than on the entire C&C Balkan thread. And the mainstream media would likely be similarly unbalanced in its reportage.
 
I think everyone should move on now. Catherine will likely be back on shamrock duty next St. Patrick's Day.

Catherine is now preparing to be on official duty tomorrow. Let's move on.
 
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