Tag: kate middleton

Over the weekend, Prince William tried to get some attention. Bad timing, because everyone was paying attention to the Duchess of Sussex’s appearance at Paris Fashion Week. I’m sure it wasn’t a purposeful tit-for-tat on either side – clearly, Meghan does what she wants and she doesn’t have to tell those fools where she’s going or when. William likely always planned to drop an Earthshot video this weekend, about a month away (??) from the Earthshot Prize ceremony.

This year’s Earthshot event will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. William has been keen to go to South America ever since the Sussexes had such a lovely tour of Colombia last year. So William’s video (at the end of the post) features William’s confirmation that he will go to Rio in November for the prize ceremony. Hopefully, he’ll remember to invite the prize nominees and winners this time! I’m sure some models and celebrities will be invited too, just like last year’s Earthshot event in South Africa. Heidi Klum confirmed that Earthshot contacted her and asked her to come, and I still believe she got a big appearance fee for the trip. It’s also a guarantee that Jason Knauf, Earthshot’s CEO, will be in Rio with William. In fact, the only person not invited to Rio is William’s wife.

Prince William will be flying solo to Brazil next month for the 2025 Earthshot Prize. The Prince of Wales, who founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020, will no doubt be excited for the ceremony on November 5.

However, while William, 43, will be making the long flight within a matter of weeks, his wife Princess Kate will not accompany him. This is believed to be because The Princess of Wales will instead stay at the family’s Windsor home with their children Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven. As the event is during the school term, it is believed the couple like to make sure at least one of them is at home with the children to make sure they can do the school drop offs and pick ups, as well as general parenting duties.

[From The Daily Express]

Kate has not attended an Earthshot Prize ceremony since 2022, the one in Boston where no one thought to invite the nominees. Kate skipped Singapore in 2023 and South Africa in 2024. Now she’s skipping Rio. Before anyone argues that Kate’s poor health is what is keeping her homebound, just know that she’s been on three ski holidays in Europe this year, AND she was in Greece for another vacation on a yacht. And she and William skipped the BAFTAs because they were on vacation in Mustique. Don’t worry though, I’m sure Knauf will be by William’s side the whole time!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

It’s so interesting that the Prince and Princess of Wales are still facing so much criticism for their planned move to Forest Lodge on the Windsor estate. In August, the criticism was about why William and Kate “need” a fifth forever home, and why they need a home which is so isolated and in need of such expensive, taxpayer-funded security upgrades. There was also criticism of the fact that William and Kate evicted residents with valid leases living in the cottages around Forest Lodge. One of those residents is an octogenarian cardiologist. This week, there’s a new thread of criticism: the “necessary” security upgrade to Forest Lodge means that a huge part of Windsor Great Park is now closed to pedestrians, pedestrians who pay an annual fee to have access to the park. William and Kate “need” 150 acres to ensure their privacy, as it turns out. Luckily, Will and Kate’s bonkers land-grab is all for a good cause: an interrupted view!

The new security fence at Forest Lodge will not block Prince William and Princess Kate’s views, thanks to a special feature already in place at the estate. The property includes a ha-ha wall, a sunken boundary designed in the 18th century to secure gardens and parks without interrupting the landscape.

The National Trust describes it as “a type of sunken fence… to give the viewer of the garden the illusion of an unbroken, continuous rolling lawn, whilst providing boundaries for grazing livestock.” The name is thought to come from the surprise of encountering the hidden drop, with some suggesting people would exclaim “Ha ha” if they stumbled across it.

While it is not known if the family plans to keep animals beyond their dogs, the wall will not interfere with outdoor play for Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The estate itself is surrounded by open countryside, ensuring uninterrupted views across the grounds.

[From GB News]

As I said a few days ago, if I was paying to access the park, I would sue the f–k out of these people. It sounds like this whole thing is less about “security” and more about Kate having her very own country estate with extensive, uninterrupted views. She’s trying to see all the way to Montecito! Meanwhile, People Magazine also had coverage of the land-grab, and they added some new info:

As Kate Middleton and Prince William prepare to move to Forest Lodge in Windsor, new security measures around the home are affecting neighbors. According to The Times, a 2.3-mile perimeter has been enacted around Forest Lodge, where the Prince and Princess of Wales plan to relocate by the end of the year. As of Sunday, Sept. 28, locals no longer have access to the area — and trespassers are to be arrested under the Home Office’s security plans.

Fences were being installed on Sept. 28, with neighbors losing access to the Cranbourne Gate entrance and parking lot of Windsor Great Park, which they pay around $150 per year to use, according to the outlet.

The Daily Mail previously reported that two households near Forest Lodge were asked to vacate earlier this summer. PEOPLE understands that there were no eviction notices, and the tenants have moved to similar or better housing within Windsor Great Park, with everyone remaining in Crown Estate properties.

In another move to ensure their privacy, Prince William and Princess Kate will continue not to have any live-in staff after their move to Forest Lodge, PEOPLE understands. Their three children’s longtime nanny, Maria Turrion Borrallo, and housekeepers will likely stay in smaller properties nearby.

[From People]

Did we already know that? I think it was more of an assumption, that of course the Waleses’ staffers would not be live-in. But to see it written in People Mag is interesting. So much privacy! Weird that they’re not the ones described as “privacy obsessed,” right? Even Nanny Maria can’t live-in. They can’t even allow a cardiologist to live somewhat close-by!

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

This week, the Daily Mail devoted yet another story – and a lengthy one at that – to the fact that the Windsors have run out of “working royals.” When King Charles kicks the royal bucket, William and Kate will preside over a monarchy which isn’t exactly filled to the brim with charismatic young royals eager to do the bread-and-butter events that make up most of “royal work.” William and Kate will have Prince Edward and Sophie, Princess Anne (who just turned 75), the Gloucesters (81 and 79) and that’s about it, unless they still plan to send out the poor Duke of Kent. We all know this. We’ve known it for years. So why churn out another piece about it? Unless it’s to point out that William is glum and work-shy? Hm.

No wonder Prince William is looking so glum these days. He’s running out of royals. The return of Prince Edward and wife Sophie from their hugely successful State Visit to Japan serves as a reminder to the future king that when his time comes, there’s almost nobody left to send abroad on these vital goodwill missions.

Once, there was a raft of royals who filled out the 25-yard wide Buckingham Palace balcony. Slowly one by one, they’ve drifted away. And it’s created a crisis for the times ahead. The golden years are all but gone – for the time being. In 2011, there were twelve major royals and their families sharing public-facing duties. Between them they covered 3,874 engagements, flying the flag both at home and abroad. But by 2024, the last figures available, the personnel had dropped by two down to ten – but the overall attendance figures had shrunk by almost half to 2,168.

The problem for William is that things can only get worse before they get better. The oldest royals – the Duke of Kent, 89, and Princess Alexandra, 88 – though maintaining links with their various charities and organisations, have effectively disappeared from view. Pictures of the Duke grieving at the funeral of his wife earlier this month were a reminder of his long length of service, but also graphically illustrated he can no longer play a part in the essential royal rituals of tree-planting, plaque-unveiling and ribbon cutting.

Prince Andrew retired in disgrace in November 2019. Harry, together with Meghan, fled the coop in 2020. The troops have left the battlefield, leaving their future commanding officer Prince William in despair. All that’ll be left when he steps up to the throne will be him and Catherine, Edward and Sophie, and Princess Anne.

Public demand for the attendance of a royal to mark major and minor events up and down the country remains as high as ever. And though King Charles has responded well to his cancer treatment and is working away as industriously as ever, William knows – as every heir to every throne knows – that kingship is always just a heartbeat away.

It’s clear from the various statements coming from Kensington Palace that William has formulated his plans for the future. But what do they include? And – just as important from the public’s point of view – what do they exclude? The answer, inevitably, is less contact with the public. And no amount of social media coverage can replace the lifetime’s memory generated by a real-life meeting with a royal.

The future king-but-one, Prince George, won’t be 18 for another six years. Add another three years for university, and that means he won’t step up onto the public stage until 2034. Like it or not, he’s born to serve – but there’s no guarantee his sister Charlotte, 10, will become part of the royal circus – or kid brother Louis, now just seven. William and Catherine have been rightly protective of their children and one suspects they may leave the choice up to them when they arrive at adulthood.

The future king could call upon his cousin Zara Phillips – by far the most popular of the ‘non-royal royals’ – but she has a successful business to run. And as King Charles pointed out in relation to Prince Harry last week, you can’t be half-in and half-out of the royal cadre – making money on the one hand and snipping ribbons on the other. And anyway, would Zara really want to give up the freedom of her glamorous freewheeling life she so clearly enjoys with adoring husband Mike Tindall?

[From The Daily Mail]

I honestly love these quarterly reports of how deeply f–ked the monarchy will be in the coming years. It’s especially crazy because the answer is SO OBVIOUS to everyone, and yet none of the king’s horses and none of the king’s men can put this egg-shaped monster back together again. The answer: allow for people to be half-in and half-out. Stop allowing jealousy, rage and cruelty to be the defining characteristics of British leadership. Beg William’s cousins and his brother to come back and work part-time for the monarchy by any means necessary for the survival of the institution. These people are going to gatekeep their way into extinction. Also: Sophie and Ed’s Japan trip got absolutely zero attention.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

On Monday, Prince William put on a big-boy suit and returned to big-boy statesman work! We know it was super-important because William’s office posted a breezy, wordless video about William’s meeting with the Crown Prince of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Sabah. The two heirs met at Windsor Castle. So I would assume that William probably returned from Scotland over the weekend. William wasn’t seen at church at Balmoral on Sunday, so his hunting trip had probably already ended. As for the meeting between the heirs… guess which one is older? Sheikh Sabah is actually 72 years old, only four years younger than King Charles. He honestly looks pretty good for his age, but that’s probably because of the side-by-side comparison with William, who has never touched a drop of moisturizer in his life.

Welcoming The Crown Prince of Kuwait His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Sabah to Windsor today ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/Y1LLmZ1U8T

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) September 29, 2025

They can post all of the wordless behind-the-scenes videos they want, it still doesn’t make Willy a statesman. It’s actually pretty sad, because William comes across as such a lightweight who can’t even be trusted in these kinds of meetings with friendly Arab royals. God knows what kinds of gaffes he made which will never be spoken about.

Anyway, I guess we can expect more of this kind of “work” – a meeting in Windsor Castle, a ten-second social media video, and they call it a day’s work. This will be William’s work life when he moves fulltime into his fifth forever home, Forest Lodge. As we learned, royal security apparently demands that a sizable chunk of Windsor Great Park is now off-limits to peasants because of the Waleses’ move to Forest Lodge. Those peasants paid an annual fee to be able to enter through the park’s gates to walk their dogs. So just how extensive is Will & Kate’s land grab? 150 acres is now Will and Kate’s “ring of steel” around Forest Lodge. What a huge f–king waste of money.

Work is underway on William and Kate’s new ‘ring of steel’ as they set about fencing off a 150-acre no-go zone around their forever home. The Prince and Princess of Wales have imposed a 2.3-mile personal exclusion area around Forest Lodge, a Georgian mansion in Windsor Great Park.

It is understood those who venture past the ‘no trespassing’ signs – intended to keep William, Kate and their three children safe – will face immediate arrest.

New images show the beginning of preparations aimed at keeping members of the public out of the area as cars and lorries arrive to erect a wooden fence. State-of-the art equipment is visible assisting workmen who hammer in the new measures. Meanwhile, pick-up trucks have also arrived on site transporting the necessary materials to ensure full protection.

Home Office plans mean the estate will be getting the latest CCTV equipment. In addition, the area around Forest Lodge is set to become a designated property under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005.

Security minister Dan Jarvis’s order, which came into force on Sunday, gives officers the power to arrest trespassers and is intended to act ‘as a deterrent for incursions’.

But the new plans have not gone down well with some locals, many of whom will see substantial changes to their access arrangements. A car park has been permanently closed, while there will no longer be access to Windsor Great Park at Cranbourne Gate, which residents could use for an annual charge of £110 annually.

[From The Daily Mail]

I’m mad on the dog-walkers and pedestrians’ behalf, but I’m also astonished by the collective shrug over this insane land-grab and these costly security measures. Did it seriously not occur to William, Kate or anyone in their office that turning Forest Lodge into their own sub-Windsor Estate was going to be an incredibly costly venture for British taxpayers. Will and Kate are paying out-of-Duchy-pocket for paint and furniture – taxpayers are paying to shut down part of the park and round-the-clock security to ensure that a dog-walker doesn’t step one foot on Will and Kate’s 150-acre royal estate.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Kensington Palace.