Prince William and Kate Middleton Current Events 7: November 2008-October 2009

[Elspeth]

Welcome to part 7 of the thread to discuss joint current events by Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Please remember that this thread isn't to discuss their relationship; if you want to do that, you can do it here or here. If you want to discuss their treatment by the press, you can do it here.

Also please remember that we have rules about bashing royals and their associates, so if you want to criticise William and/or Kate, please keep it civil. Thanks.

Part 6 of this thread is here.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

by Ella Kay I do wonder if Hello! is trying deliberately to set themselves up as an opposite to the Daily Mail and other papers and magazines who are so negative about Kate. Perhaps they're wagering that, if they keep the positive press going, Kate would be friendlier to them later if she does end up engaged to William? (Or, would be willing to grant them an interview if the pair does end up breaking up for good at some point?)

IMO you are right. As much as DM comes up with harsh or partly disgusting stories, Hello does the sugary part. Could be that its their intention to get the big stories lateron in case of an engagement etc but isn't this Hello's part anyway? They are usually very royal-friendly and not one of the "revealing" mags; they are the ones with the glossy pictures and blah blah harmony article, even for celebrities.

HELLO! exclusively reveals the truth about William and Kate

Nobody from the Middletons has spoken officially to Hello but this kind of coverage at this stage has to come from somewhere, I am not saying it's the Middletons themselves but somebody who has an interest in promoting both sisters. I am not sure though that this "positive" coverage (Pippa, the top socialite and Kate, the most loyal = suitable person on the planet, still waiting for Prince William) will actually be received in a positive way by the readers / public. My problem with the coverage is that it's pure celebrity and it does Kate not do any favours to be seen with her celebrity sister or even with the young royals, falling out of clubs as long as there is no substance to the Wills'n'Kate relationship in the public eye.

For now they are only dating and due to William's commitment to the army are bound to date for another few years. People think more and more, if somebody still doesn't know after six or seven years whether the person he or she has been dating is "the one" or not, it's probably not meant to be. We don't know but in public reception William is the one who doesn't seem to want any commitment what forces Kate to wait and wait and wait. If she kept a low profile while waiting, fine, but appearing like a celebrity in glossy magazines is not helpful and the people behind such stories might be pro-Kate but very naive and guilty of misjudgement of the impact on Kate's image, as her actions are seen more and more as desperate and attention-seeking in order to keep her grip on Prince William, having already "invested" so many years.

 

[Kezza]

Duke of Marmalade, I agree with the last paragraph you wrote and it is one of Kate's problems. Some people wonder why Chelsy doesn't get the same level of bashing by people and for me the answers are that Chelsy has never courted the media like Kate has, and Chelsy has never been over exposed by the press either as little miss perfect like Kate has in the past.

The biggest injustice on Kate is done by those who continue to hype her up as something she clearly isn't.

Where this relationship is heading right now I don't know. We have had reports of "Wobbles" unconfirmed report of the couple at Birkhall, and will she or wont she be at the Highgrove party? There is a rumour going around that neither William or Harry are attending the Highgrove party due to military commitments.

I agree with Ella Kay, I think the media can sense something is going on, but still don't know which way the wind is blowing in the regards to which way the relationship goes.

I think personally it would be better for Kate's sake and her family's sake that they keep quiet and not court the press.

 

[Isana]

I agree that Hello seems to be the "positive" counterpart to the DM and that their side of the story is just as much speculation as the stuff the DM writes. However I fail to see why Kate should be blamed for the fact Hello chose her as cover girl. A months ago when she was pictured shopping in London Chelsy was on the cover with her mother. I doubt they asked for their permission. It's the editor who decides on the cover not the person pictured. The cover picture is more than a year old. Apart from the fact that she smiles when photographed, I don't think Kate "courts" the press any more or less than Chelsy does. There were several positive articles about Chelsy putting the record straight on her "academical" bright nature etc. as there were bad ones calling her a party girl. Repeatedly private facebook pics of Chelsy end up in newspapers and we get one or the other story from a supposed "friend" telling us how she feels etc. The same goes for Kate except for the facebook pics. She actually seems to guard her private life more carefully in that respect. Kate may have gotten unwarranted praise and be put on a pedestal but again I don't understand why she should now pay for that or be blamed for the sugary press in the first year or two.
Since the information in the article is not new and does not include anything that would require a Middleton source, I don't understand why that is seen as "Kate PR" by some. One can always see two sides of every story - the negative Waity Katie one and the positive big love story. That doesn't mean that either story was fed to the press by any "inside source" that's just the two different angles this relationship can be played on.

 

[Mermaid1962]

Hello runs sugary articles about celebrities. Kate is Prince William's girlfriend and isn't hideous, and so she ends up on magazine covers. People buy the magazines, and so magazines with Kate's picture on them continue to be produced. I don't see the hand of Middleton self-promotion here, because IMO they don't need self-promotion. They've never invited HELLO into their home, and Kate has never done a glamour spread like Sophie Rhys-Jones did before her engagement.

 

[Duchess]

i agree with mermaid. i don't think that the middletons have to do any "sales" here. the public is interested because she "might" be the future queen consort. i also can't say that catherine has "courted" the media. she goes out in public, gets photographed because of who she is, she attends events with her boyfriend, who is one going to be king - i don't think that could be called "courting the press".

 

[blondie28]

"Courting the press" is when it looks like you want to be photographed, and you like attention, like apparently Kate does.

 

[Ella Kay]

Apart from the fact that she smiles when photographed, I don't think Kate "courts" the press any more or less than Chelsy does.

And if she didn't smile when her picture's being taken, we'd undoubtedly be swarmed by a pack of stories claiming that she was sad, angry, depressed, scary, etc. It's a no win. The papers are going to write what they want regardless.

 

[Duchess]

"Courting the press" is when it looks like you want to be photographed, and you like attention, like apparently Kate does.

thank you for the explanation however i know what it means . i can't say that it appears that she enjoys being photographed in the sense that she's courting the media rather than she is just being pleasant. more like "you take your photo then you let me get on with whatever i'm doing". if she had a sour face whenever they took her picture, or didn't smile, it would appear that she was unfriendly. i think she takes the high road and with her (possible) future in mind, she wants to put her best face forward. if she were courting the press, then she would have some sort of relationship with them, and not to get this thread off topic, but diana courted the press...she planted stories, allowed her friends to speak to the media and had a friendship with richard kay. we haven't seen any evidence that catherine has done any of that. she walks down the street and gets photographed...we can't expect her to lock herself inside just so her picture doesn't appear in the papers.

 

[ysbel]

"Courting the press" is when it looks like you want to be photographed, and you like attention, like apparently Kate does.

How quickly people forget, only a year and a half ago, people were complaining that Kate was looking too glum and never smiled at the cameras.

 

[Mermaid1962]

Exactly, because then the complaint would be that she's not doing anything or she's lazy or she's too "stuck up" to hang around with friends, etc. etc.

...we can't expect her to lock herself inside just so her picture doesn't appear in the papers.

 

[Warren]

Posts speculating about what may or may not have happened last year have been moved to the Rumours & Musings thread.

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

From Sunday, 16 November 2008

Royal namesake
Feisty 'Mail on Sunday' diarist Katie Nicholl has a history of breaking stories about Kate Middleton and is, I hear, planning a book about her. Earlier this year she reported that Middleton has earned the moniker Waity Katie, as she does nothing but wait to marry. According to one 'Mail' colleague, that was Nicholl's nickname before she got hitched.

Source: The feral beast: Angels interrupt Cameron - Press, Media - The Independent

 

[georgiea]

The Royalist - Diana Coroner: 'Kate Middleton Is Being Hounded Like The Princess'


I wonder if that is why Kate lives at home.

 

[Elspeth]

I've deleted the off-topic stuff about Kate Middleton's sister. This thread is supposed to be about William and Kate's joint current events. Since Kate isn't a member of the royal family, or even engaged to one, her independent activities aren't especially relevant, and the activities of her family are completely off topic.

Elspeth
for the British Royals moderation team

 

[Mermaid1962]

That is really, really interesting about the Waity Kaity Nicholl thing. So perhaps Nicholl is identifying with Kate Middleton but in a negative way. She's seeing herself in Kate. Well, that would explain things.

From Sunday, 16 November 2008
Source: The feral beast: Angels interrupt Cameron - Press, Media - The Independent

 

[Mermaid1962]

That could very well be, georgiea. I think that her staying at home and working in her parents' business is her best option until this is all settled one way or another.

The Royalist - Diana Coroner: 'Kate Middleton Is Being Hounded Like The Princess'


I wonder if that is why Kate lives at home.

 

[Elspeth]

Maybe this would be a good time to check your dictionaries to refresh your memories about what "Current Events" means.

 

[blondie28]

There are no current events.

 

[Warren]

In which case there will be nothing to post in the Current Events thread.
You can discuss Kate and Pippa and Jessica Craig etc etc to your heart's content in Members' Corner.

 

[kbear]

There are no current events.

hmmm still no bloody events. It would be interesting to know for sure about the birthday but if she did attend it would have been in good taste to have it off the record as it was Charles celebration.

 

[Shikha Pal]

Kate Middleton"s pregnancy scare.

This says that Kate Middleton had a Pregnancy scare.
Hope its not true.
Kate Middleton's pregnancy scare

 

[Lena]

Well, I hope she isn´t that desperate. Being the girlfriend of a heir to a throne, would actually mean double or even triple prevention during dating time...

BTW there is a thread "William and Kate: engagement..." and this one. And in the forum overview, you don´t see the whole sentences...and I was shocked the first time with the other thread and now again...

 

[QUEENECE29]

I think its balloon news
but
http://www.exposay.com/v/25211/prince-williams-girlfriend-kate-middleton-had-pregnancy/

another page
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0604915/

and
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s1i40179

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

I wonder if the tabloid reporters actually go through her trash to find this kind of gossip. How could they learn something like a pregnancy scare? I can't imagine she talks to anyone about it, thus risking it being overheard, or being betrayed.. Maybe the only people she could feel comfortable talking about it are her mother and sister, and they don't seem likely to betray her to the press.

 

[zembla]

They're probably just guessing that someone her age would have a pregnancy scare...LOL

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

^Yeah, Zembla, I can believe it.

 

[Odette]

This whole "pregnancy scare" sounds like a crockful to me. Firstly, if it happenned (which is not impossible) how did anyone besides these two know if William was shocked at the news??
Then if we assume it happened a few weeks ago this is about the time he was photographed at the night club before the departure for the bike races.. Can we believe that after all these years, he left her worrying and went clubbing then off to Africa with friends?
Apart from all this, if there was a scare and he is not scared yet, it must be true love and he intends to marry her someday.

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

Prince William and his girlfriend, Kate Middleton, have been left off the alumni list at St Andrews University’s new £2million museum.
by Ben Leach
Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie, actor John Cleese, and Olympic champion Chris Hoy, have all made the list.
But a spokeswoman said there are no plans to add the Prince’s name to the alumni list.
She said: “They are not part of the museum nor are there any plans at present to include them.”

Read more: Prince William and his girlfriend, Kate Middleton, left off university alumni list - Telegraph

 

[Al_bina]

Kate aims high as she joins bearded Wills, Harry and mystery blonde on royal shoot | Mail Online

A muddy field in Norfolk may not be the most romantic of venues.
But Prince William and Kate Middleton were clearly enjoying each other’s company as they went on a pheasant shoot at Sandringham yesterday. Kate, dressed in a dark jacket, scarf and warm hat, beamed broadly as her Royal boyfriend concentrated on taking aim at their feathered quarry above. ...