The Dss of Cambridge as Patron of the National Portrait Gallery 1: Ending Sep 2022


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Status
Not open for further replies.
I would think the same as well, that Kate would make it her business to get plenty of practice in public speaking since that's a major role for her charities and other public appearances.
 
I agree, it would have seemed to me that during this period of slowly introducing Kate into her role she would be learning in her down time. They were married almost 2 years before George she didn't 'work' wouldn't this have been a good use of her time.

I'm confused, what do you mean by she didn't work? She's been doing engagements since they married.

IMO, Kate has practiced her public speaking. She sounds much better than she did during her very first speech.
 
:previous: Considering the first speech was apparently cringeworthy, the fact she has improved is not much of an achievement.
 
I guess when I look at the number of engagements her father-in-law and Anne, Camilla, the Queen, Sophie (who has kids) does, sorry but what did she do? Stop stepping on eggshells there are those of us out there who have worked hard with and without children, I don't care that she is in the public eye. So what! She chose this life, she chose this when she agreed to marry Wills, so live it. No excuses, she has had time to 'learn' the role, practice and have access to those in the know.

BTW the Queen never expected to have to step into her role so quickly, but unfortunately her father died. She was then thrown into the role, while mourning, with young children, it would have been tough. Kate has the luxury of time on her hands, how long we don't know, but time. I don't think it is being nasty to say, use the time to learn.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Duchess of Cambridge Current Events 4: January 2014

The Queen was born a royal and had the media eye on her from the moment she was born. She was young but she'd been in the spotlight her entire life. The situations are not remotely comparable- same with Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

Kate has adapted faster than any other spouse in recent memory- even Sophie had her hiccups.

Some of you have absurdly unrealistic expectations.

Also- for those comparing Kate unfavorably to Princess Anne, who has done this her whole life? Anne has had many moments of misspeaking to the press and saying things construed (wrongly, In my opinion) as cruel or callous or distant.
I can't even imagine how some of you would react if Kate said similar things to the press- Armageddon no doubt.

Many of you cut those who were born royal a lot of slack and are unrelenting on anyone dating or marrying into the various royal families.
 
Last edited:
Some of you have absurdly unrealistic expectations.

In my opinion some here are prepared to indulge Kate far too much. She is a woman in her early 30s who is a university graduate. She accepted a job offer that required her to perform certain tasks in public for the rest of her life. In the three years since she took the job she has had ample opportunity to learn to do the things required of her in that position but doesn't seem to have advanced beyond the most basic level in some categories.
 
Duchess of Cambridge Current Events 4: January 2014

In three years she's done two tours and is about to do a third, has become a mother, done more individual engagements than her husband, dealt with near constant public scrutiny (including greeting the world press only several hours after giving birth) and integrated herself into the royal family in a way that has them getting better PR than they've had in many years.

But sure, her public speaking is still a bit unsteady, so she's probably just lazy.
 
In the long run, what is more important -William having a loving, supportive stable marriage with Kate with George and his future siblings growing up to be well adjusted adults or the perfect "Barbie" princess who never has a hair out of place or stumbles while making a speech.
 
In my opinion some here are prepared to indulge Kate far too much. She is a woman in her early 30s who is a university graduate. She accepted a job offer that required her to perform certain tasks in public for the rest of her life. In the three years since she took the job she has had ample opportunity to learn to do the things required of her in that position but doesn't seem to have advanced beyond the most basic level in some categories.


Some people are too quick to give both her and William a pass because they're young and still transitioning into their roles.

William has been in the public eye his entire life and has long known what is expected of him, yet even now in his 30s he needs to take a year to transition into being a full time royal and determine what causes he wants to support? I have a hard time understanding how a fully grown, adult needs such time, especially given as he's known since he was a kid that this was coming.

In regards to Kate, yes she's only been married just shy of 3 years. Yes, she's only been a royal for that time. But he's known William for almost 13 years now and been with him for most of that time. She had the better part of 10 years to prepare for this role before even becoming a royal - yet, we're making excuses for her because she's so new at it? It's not she's new at it, it's she's not actively trying to fulfill the role that she's supposed to fill. She clearly wants the benefits of being a royal, but she doesn't want the work.

Even without her royal status, I kind of question just how she got through a university degree without developing some public speaking skills.
 
HM and the DoE appear to want their own children on the forefront of royal engagements at this point in time. Their grandchildren are transitioning toward the full time list, but IMHO their grandparents "call the shots" on who does what and when in the BRF. This is a royal family in a very unique situation. There are far more representatives than any other European royal family and there is the unusual circumstance of having an adult heir-to-the-heir too. HM and the DoE most likely are choosing to introduce the younger generation to a full time royal role when they decide the time is right.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Some people are too quick to give both her and William a pass because they're young and still transitioning into their roles...
This is a re-run of what has been said by the "unhappy with Kate" brigade but there are 3 elements I'm going to answer.

Firstly, I have had to deal with university graduates for most of my career. They are not taught any aspect of public speaking in the UK. Only if they take an interest in a debating society will that skill be developed. Sad but true.

You may have all these expectations and it seems that if you are from Australia these expectations are particularly high. But they are not the expectations of HMQ or the PoW who made it very clear she was not a full time royal and being a wife and (eventually) a mother was the priority. In many ways she's only just starting out.

Finally - none of this debate has anything to do with her current events. If you want to discuss her abilities as a member of the BRF, then start a thread.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Finally - none of this debate has anything to do with her current events. If you want to discuss her abilities as a member of the BRF, then start a thread.

I disagree. This debate relates to the way in which she discharges her duties, and particularly they way she discharged them at her most recent current event. This is how she delivered her very short speech at her most recent current event:

I just wanted to say [looks at notes] how delighted I am [still looking at notes] to be here [looks at notes] [inappropriately long pause] this evening to celebrate the fantastic [looks at notes] work of the National Portrait [ looks at notes] Gallery [still looking at notes] [pause] The Gallery’s achievements are exceptional [looks at notes] [pause] They hold the most extensive [looks at notes] collection [still looking at notes] of portraits in the world [looks at notes] and their unique and brilliant [looks at notes] exhibition never fails to inspire us all [looks at notes][pause] but [looks at notes] it is more than [looks at notes] simply [still looking at notes] a world-renowned [looks at notes] visitors’ attraction [looks at notes]. The Gallery’s [looks at notes] outreach [still looking at notes] and [looks at notes] research program [looks at notes] [pauses] makes it one of the most [looks at notes] leading centres for the [still looking at notes] important study into [looks at notes] portraiture [still looking at notes] [pauses]. I simply could [looks at notes] not be more proud [still looking at notes] to be its patron.[looks at notes] [pauses] Thank you for being here tonight [looks at notes] and showing your support [looks at notes] I heeehope [blunders] [clutches chest] [embarrassed smile] I hope you have a wonderful evening. Sorry.

112 words, looking down at notes while speaking more than 17 of them, looking down at notes about 22 separate times.

Cutting out the commentary, this is all she had to say:

I just wanted to say how delighted I am to be here this evening to celebrate the fantastic work of the National Portrait Gallery. The Gallery’s achievements are exceptional. They hold the most extensive collection of portraits in the world and their unique and brilliant exhibition never fails to inspire us all. But it is more than simply a world-renowned visitors’ attraction. The Gallery’s outreach and research program makes it one of the most leading centres for the important study into portraiture. I simply could not be more proud to be its patron. Thank you for being here tonight and showing your support . I hope you have a wonderful evening.

Fairly straightforward stuff. Surely she could have learnt it rote within a few hours at the outside. She could have practised speaking it to a mirror, or to George, or to her mother if she wanted an audience. If she'd learnt it maybe she could have delivered it with a bit of passion and made us feel she meant what she was saying, and maybe she wouldn't have stuffed up at the end. That pause at the beginning before "this evening" made it appear as though this was the first time she'd ever seen the speech.

Three years in this job and this is the best she can do?
 
:previous: Considering the first speech was apparently cringeworthy, the fact she has improved is not much of an achievement.

Her very first speech wasn't the greatest, but I didn't think it was cringeworthy. I re-watched it and some of the areas that she needed to improve (pausing too much, nerves) have gotten better. Of course there is still room for improvement, but she'll get there.

And as someone else mentioned earlier, Princess Diana wasn't a master at speeches, but she improved over time. The same for William and a Harry.

I guess when I look at the number of engagements her father-in-law and Anne, Camilla, the Queen, Sophie (who has kids) does, sorry but what did she do? Stop stepping on eggshells there are those of us out there who have worked hard with and without children, I don't care that she is in the public eye. So what! She chose this life, she chose this when she agreed to marry Wills, so live it. No excuses, she has had time to 'learn' the role, practice and have access to those in the know.

BTW the Queen never expected to have to step into her role so quickly, but unfortunately her father died. She was then thrown into the role, while mourning, with young children, it would have been tough. Kate has the luxury of time on her hands, how long we don't know, but time. I don't think it is being nasty to say, use the time to learn.

Well Charles is the heir, so it's only natural that he does a lot engagements. As for Camilla, she started off in the low 200's and has worked her way up to the mid and high 200's. Sophie didn't start doing 200+ engagements until 2012, before that her engagement numbers were in the 100's. Both of these women started off slow and gained engagements over time. So I'm not sure why Kate is expected to do Charles and Anne numbers right off the bat. Plus, William and Harry have never done more than 90 engagements a year, so Kate is just following their lead.

But regardless of whether people think she's done enough work, she has worked.

The Queen is a born royal. She was brought up to be Queen. You can't compare her to Kate.
 
Last edited:
Did any of you maybe consider that the reason she kept looking down wasn't because she needed her notes, but because the photographers seemed to be standing quite close- flashes were probably going off in her face the whole time.

She smiled. She didn't lose her composure when she stumbled and her audience seemed to find it charming.

Ah well.
 
In three years she's done two tours and is about to do a third, has become a mother, done more individual engagements than her husband, dealt with near constant public scrutiny (including greeting the world press only several hours after giving birth) and integrated herself into the royal family in a way that has them getting better PR than they've had in many years.

But sure, her public speaking is still a bit unsteady, so she's probably just lazy.

Totally agree.
 
What a dreadful tragedy that William foolishly did not marry an actress who could memorize lines and emote on cue so that we gawkers would have less to complain about.
IME none of the Royal Family are good at public speaking - and they don't need to be IMO.
She is destined to be the Queen consort and as such her role is to support her husband, and least anyone discount the importance of choosing the right sort of person for that role I suggest you compare Charles during his first marriage to Charles during his second marriage. That she is not a polished speech maker like successful politicians or trial lawyers or actors or cons is a small price to pay for the stability, happiness and security she gives to William.
 
Very interesting conversations on this thread.

I just wanted to point out, despite being prepared and well practiced, it still takes time to get the hang of delivering public speeches. I don't think anyone is giving Catherine a pass or going too light on her. I just think some of us are just being realistic and not applying pressure on her, who's not in an easy job.

The Duchess of Cambridge has improved on the public stage and that I think is a real achievement. I'm personally enjoying watching her grow in her royal role, wife and mother. Do I prefer for her and William to become fulltime royals? The answer is -Yes- because I think the younger royals should be doing more for the "Firm" but I'm watching patiently on what the royal couple will do in the coming months and years. I'm not going to throw all my frustration on the royal couple and make it seem like their efforts and duties don't mount to much. That would be very much unfair to them, IMO.

Now my attention is on The Duchess of Cambridge's official engagement tomorrow (Valentine's Day).
 
Last edited:
Well, after finally finding and watching her "speech", it was really just a welcome, I would say that really she could have memorized it. There were far too many looking at notes.
She has a beautiful voice and presence, she needs to put in some time.
Many of the BRF are very good public speakers, that does not preclude them from having a stable family life, the two are not linked.
 
Interesting that Kate is the only one that's chastised for looking down at her notes. I just watched a speech given by the Queen and she looks down at her notes a lot. The Queen's speech was only a minute or so long, but she spent a considerable amount of time just reading straight from the notes and not looking up at all. I'm not sure about other members of the BRF, but I know William and Harry rely on notes too.
 
Last edited:
Expecting Catherine to train to be a royal while she was just a girlfriend is a bunch of BS. I wonder if Chelsy or any of Fred ex-girlfriend train for that job they never got :rolleyes:
 
What a lovely picture ... her happiness is very apparent, and her smile is contagious. Magic!

I think so too. The kind of happiness and exuberance that she exudes in that picture isn't something that can be taught or pasted on for the sake of looking pleasant. She is a very genuine person and I do think she honestly is enjoying being the Patron of the National Portrait Gallery.

You just have to believe that she's doing this because she wants to and not because she has to.
 
Duchess of Cambridge Current Events 4: January 2014

:previous: Considering the first speech was apparently cringeworthy, the fact she has improved is not much of an achievement.

She's given other speeches before this one that were fine. This is what I consider To be unreasonable about some of the criticism in this thread--a misstep is treated as complete failure on Kate's part for the past 3 years. Let's face it--one misstep, a quote out of context, an ugly dress--any and maybe all of these things are going to happen throughout her career. The Queen understands this, William and the other royals probably get it, too, which is why the Firm has apparently decided to ease Catherine into duties.

Why create drama where there is none? And, in my opinion, a less-than-perfect speech (out of a handful that she's given so far) is not a catastrophe worthy of treating her like she hasn't been doing anything.
 
Last edited:
She's given other speeches before this one that were fine. This is what I consider To be unreasonable about some of the criticism in this thread--a misstep is treated as complete failure on Kate's part for the past 3 years. Let's face it--one misstep, a quote out of context, an ugly dress--any and maybe all of these things are going to happen throughout her career. The Queen understands this, William and the other royals probably get it, too, which is why the Firm has apparently decided to ease Catherine into duties.

Why create drama where there is none? And, in my opinion, a less-than-perfect speech (out of a handful that she's given so far) is not a catastrophe worthy of treating her like she hasn't been doing anything.
IMO the Queen and DoE realized after the Diana and Sarah years the the newcomers needed time to adjust to their new roles. Allowing Sophie, Camilla, and Kate the opportunity to transition from one life to another that would be filled with constant scrutiny is a wise decsion on the part of the senior royals.
 
A few points -

First, as someone with more than one university degree, I can say, quite categorically, that expertise in public speaking has no part in any strictly academic syllabus, the only aim of which is to encourage learning and promote research, not turn students into a Demosthenes or a Cicero.

Second, I, for one, certainly do not 'take umbrage' at any criticisms of Catherine and have indeed criticised others. However, the difference here is that it's always been someone I've known or when there was conclusive proof that illegal or incompetent behaviour was involved. Lack of fluency in a public forum or a 'faulty' hair style does not meet any criterion, in my view.

Third, The Palace has made considerable effort to train and educate the Duchess and it's pleased with her progress. She was placed in a 'safe pair of hands', Sir David Manning, to advise and inform her on matters of state and foreign affairs. Sir David is seen to be playing a similar role to that of Gen.Sir Frederick Browning, a decorated soldier who fought in both World Wars, who acted as an adviser to Princess Elizabeth in the 1940s. Please note even a princess raised as a royal from birth and who was the heir for most of her young life needed a mentor and guidance. We know, too, that Her Majesty was a nervous public speaker and this when she was addressing her people via the radio - no tv cameras, flashbulbs and phone cameras in those days.

Of course it's not nasty to say 'use the time to learn', but it's ill-informed. The Duchess is being educated to understand the geo-political ramifications of the world that she is now a prominent part of as she will be expected to represent much on the entire Commonwealth's behalf as she becomes increasingly au fait with current political and historical expectations. With so much on her plate already, the art of public speaking may well be relegated to the back burner, with some believing that this will improve with practice and as her confidence grows.

In sum: it's one thing to say you don't like her dress, her hair, her smile, and quite another to accuse her of some sort of character-flaw such as laziness (showing no signs of 'learning anything') or to suggest a general dilatory existence in which she's willing to revel in the trappings but gives nothing in return.
 
Excellent post - I agree 100%. Thank you
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you, Polly, you summed up my thoughts on this beautifully.

A negative opinion like "I don't like that dress" or "I wish she'd wear her hair differently" is perfectly ok to say, what's been strange about the criticisms in this thread is that they've implied her whole life is a waste, that she's lazy, spoiled, unprofessional... all with no evidence. If you're going to imply someone's whole character is flawed, you should be able to substantially back up those opinions.
 
yes, the speech wasn't the best. her intonation is monotone, she refers to her notes almost all the time, and looks at only one section of her audience by turning her head always to the same people.
Did you ever see the Queen (the danish Queen also comes to my mind), on the throne for over 60 years and even before her accession used to give speeches, not referring to her notes?!
If Catherine would like to read her entire speech from the script she could do so if it pleases her! Many do so, even heads of state, republican or royal, and nobody cares! So, what´s the real problem here?!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
her speeches are fine . I started to cry whenever I had to read my homework aloud in class (even during my last year of highschool ) and managed to go through college with only one oral presentation (which I of course botched ). I can't talk in public .
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom