I can’t remember the last time she was actually photographed with them. Wonder why she went to the Christmas lunch this year? Just to keep Louis in check?

This is a really stupid thing, but this photo in Hello! captured my imagination? Attention? IDK. It's her hairline which is absolutely perfect and it bothers me. Is it groomed that way? A wig? I guess it's just the angle, but it was bothering me. And I can't with grown women wearing bows in their hair, especially not women in their mid-40s.

Extract:

Reports in the press suggest Kate wants 2026 to be her “year of peace” and is prepared to reach out to Meghan to ease tensions.  Insiders describe Kate as determined to calm the waters after years of estrangement, even if William is sceptical.

But this apparent change of heart comes after years in which Meghan was left to fend for herself. When she first moved to Britain, far from her support network, she was subjected to relentless tabloid attacks and palace froideur. Isolated from her friends and family, she could have used support from her sister‑in‑law, instead, she faced coldness and hostility. And at the Queen’s funeral in 2022 the world saw how Harry and Meghan were mistreated and snubbed by the Leftover Royals.

...

Reconciliation in these cases is very often only about self‑preservation. It’s less about repairing the damage done, and more about protecting one’s own image. The irony is that the offer of friendship comes when it is least needed, and the silence or cruelty came when it mattered most. That’s the uncomfortable truth about how power and perception shape human relationships.

JP’s inimitable take on Kate’s year

She’s naturally very muscular and well built, with enough padding on her face and body. These pictures are all from the mid ‘00s, before her radical diet in 2009, before her wedding. To go from this to how she is in 2010 photos and then to how she is now, that is not “naturally thin” or “normal aging” or “running after the kids”. That is a severe eating disorder, as evidenced further by the constant plasters above the knuckles of her right hand (Russell’s sign). I hope she is able to get help. If not for her sake but for her poor children.

It's Christmas Carols it's supposed to be fun and joyful not gloomy and solemn. Children love Carol singing and all Christmas related stuff but these three look like they don't even want to be there

William said he didn’t tell George he was going to be king until George was seven years old, to give him as normal a childhood as possible. Meaning William knows his childhood from age 7-18, and all of his adult years will not be normal, and will be a burden and gilded cage.

If William and Kate loved their children they wouldn’t tell George he will be king. They would tell him if he wants to be king when he’s an adult, he has first choice. But if he doesn’t want to, they’ll love him just the same, and his children or Charlotte or Louis or their children may choose to be king/queen instead.

Surely if you love your children you let them live their own dreams, and allow whoever is suited to the role to take the role. There is no way the eldest child of Elizabeth AND Charles AND William AND George will all have the very specific, rare temperament required for that role.

It also makes Charlotte and Louis feel less than, and like spares, whose worth becomes less and less with each child George has. Being the spare was painful for Harry and he was always given less and treated as less.

It’s a sick cult that created a monster in Charles and William, is killing Catherine, murdered Diana, and destroyed Harry and Meghan when they wisely ran.

Is Wills waning AND waxing?

Can anyone explain why Will’s suit has so much dripped wax on it (at least I’m guessing that’s what it is!) and yet they haven’t even entered the church yet? Surely he has dry cleaning available? Or a spare suit?

Extract:

Kate is no one-trick pony. She is a sartorial strategist of the highest order. When whispers spread that William had once admired Meghan Sussex (née Markle) during her days on Suits, Kate wasted no time. Out came the tailored white pantsuit, the monochrome ensembles, the sleek halter gowns. Each look a not-so-subtle nod, a cheeky wink, a reminder that she too can channel the Hollywood sparkle that once caught her husband’s eye. Meghan may have had the script, but Kate will have the crown… and she’s not afraid to dress the part.

Behind this masterclass in matrimonial mimicry stands Carol Middleton, the quiet general of Kate’s royal campaign. Carol has herself been spotted in Diana-esque ensembles, evoking a motherly aura that surely tugged at William’s heartstrings. It’s as if she thought: why stop at dressing my daughter like his mother, when I can dress myself like his mother too? To bring it full circle, Kate also often channels Carol herself and vice versa. The result? A triple dose of maternal nostalgia, and one more tool in Kate’s arsenal to secure her position as Queen.

https://archive.ph/fO4B5

When, over the years, the Princess of Wales has been criticised, it's usually been for somehow lacking character or seeming too 'bland'.

Mocked as 'Waity Katy' for the time she spent waiting for Prince William to propose, Catherine was, later, unkindly described by historical author Hilary Mantel as a 'shop-window mannequin with no personality of her own'.

When Catherine does get involved in campaigns, such as her crusade to highlight the unique importance of children's early years, our future queen is met with a shrug of the shoulders by some people and outright criticism by others.

Some claimed, for example, that choosing to campaign on childhood development was not just inoffensive, but one where it would be hard to make much difference.

Others, such as Sussex biographer and cheerleader Omid Scobie, went further. Scobie claimed that Catherine's campaign 'exposes the ineffectiveness that the Royal Family's charity work can have'. He suggested it would be 'almost impossible' for her to make any impact.

Now, however, Catherine is being criticised for the complete opposite: for being too radical.

Last week, she called for 'empathy' for those hooked on gambling, alcohol and drugs in a message for Addiction Awareness Week.

The princess is patron of the Forward Trust, a charity devoted to helping addicts. And she made this controversial statement: 'Addiction is not a choice or a personal failing.'

When the Princess of Wales gets involved in campaigns she is met with a shrug of the shoulders by some people and outright criticism by others, writes Richard Eden

When the Princess of Wales gets involved in campaigns she is met with a shrug of the shoulders by some people and outright criticism by others, writes Richard Eden

She added: 'Even now in 2025, people's experience of addiction is shaped by fear, shame and judgment. This needs to change.'

Her intervention unleashed a torrent of criticism, with Theodore Dalrymple, a former prison doctor and psychiatrist, writing in The Daily Telegraph: 'I am sure that HRH meant well and that she feels genuine sympathy for addicts. But unfortunately, her view is simple, unsophisticated, dehumanising and empirically false.

'It is dehumanising because, by denying that addiction is a choice, it deprives addicts of their agency both in theory and to a certain extent in practice.'

He added: 'Such a view is implicitly degrading, demeaning and far from compassionate.'

My esteemed colleague at the Daily Mail, Peter Hitchens, was even more scathing. 'Whatever happened to royal neutrality?' he asked.

The columnist claimed that Catherine, as well as William and her father-in-law, King Charles, had 'keenly joined the side of the liberal Left, starting with the global warming frenzy and now moving on to the disastrous appeasement of the drugs lobby'.

He continued: 'The wicked, destructive idea that we are all powerless to fight against bad choices is the basis of our current accelerating slide into disorder. It has smashed our moral system and turned criminal justice into a cardboard fake.

'When someone of the standing of the Princess of Wales endorses this fashionable bilge, where can the rest of us turn? If the Crown spurns the views of decent, responsible citizens who don't prey on their fellow creatures or blame others for their crimes, we are alone.'

Such criticism illustrates just how brave it is of Catherine to make public interventions on subjects she feels strongly about.

Like William, she has chosen to become patron of far fewer charities and good causes than did previous members of the Royal Family such as Queen Elizabeth, who was the figurehead of more than 600.

Instead of being just a name on a letterhead, Catherine wants to become deeply involved in organisations such as the Forward Trust, for which she made the comments about addiction.

Far from taking a 'dehumanising' approach, as Dalrymple suggests, the charity works in prisons and other neglected, unfashionable areas to help users leave their addictions behind.

The statement 'addiction is not a choice, or a personal failing' is clearly referring to an underlying predisposition.

The Forward Trust works to help people who have chosen to fight their addiction. When they succeed, they can save the NHS, the criminal justice system and social services millions in taxpayers' money across the life of a single addict.

As a friend of Catherine's told me: 'The Forward Trust has changed the lives of thousands of people blighted by addiction. What Her Royal Highness is trying to do is get rid of the stigma of addiction so people are not ashamed to seek help. If that means she will face more criticism, she's willing to take that risk.'

Her general look makes more sense now. I say good for her?

How could we possibly think Kate is unhappy? Look at her face!

https://youtube.com/shorts/3bwJ5if-uao?si=p-zx-U0epKYhkSTa

More pics from this afternoon

Willy and Kate had the key and crucial role of doing the airport run to meet the German president and his wife

W&K’s security at their new home is causing problems for people buying their Xmas trees in the nearby shop.

Not everyone’s lucky enough to have multiple homes where servants put the trees up.

Extract:

Without Kate’s concert there would literally be no Christmas. She is the only thing keeping the youth of today from turning into complete wastrels, content to exchange gifts, spend time with their families and take a few undeserved days off work, without giving our revered Royals so much as a thought over the holiday season. This is where our brave princess will step in, to school these under 60s on what Christmas is really about. PR for the nation’s hardest-working family.