The intra-palace code for Kate Middleton’s lack of job was ‘The Kate Problem’

The Duchess of Cambridge has always been work-shy. She never shared her mother’s work ethic, although it is abundantly clear that Carole trained and prepared Kate to social climb and “land” a prince to the exclusion of everything else. Kate graduated from St. Andrews in 2005, same as Prince William. In the years between her university graduation and her engagement to William in the fall of 2010, Kate only “had” two jobs. One was a real job with Jigsaw, which she was basically part-time for a handful of months. Her second job was as a “photographer” with Party Pieces, the Middleton family’s company. No one believes for a second that Kate did much work with PP, but sure.

It’s worth noting that from the beginning, there was always an awareness of Kate’s laziness and lack of work ethic. Even the Queen saw it. From The Palace Papers:

Even the Queen, who saw there was more than a chance that Kate might be here to stay, reportedly thought she get a “real job” or an attachment to high-profile charity work. William was dedicated to a grueling training schedule, but Kate seemed only to be drifting around, dabbling in her parents’ company so she could be available when William came home to party. The Queen’s discomfort increased after the economic collapse of 2008 when Her Majesty was not at all enamored of images of her grandson and his girlfriend leaving Boujis.

Palace sources briefed that the Queen “was acutely aware that Prince William’s public image could suffer if his girlfriend were not recognized as a working professional in her own right.” There had been conversations, says the sources, with a “few trusted friends” about how to tackle what was being called “the Kate Problem.” On the few occasions the Queen had met Kate, Her Majesty apparently thought she was a nice enough girl but had no idea what she actually did.

Concerned about his girlfriend’s lady-of-leisure rap, it was William who urged her to find employment.

[From The Palace Papers by Tina Brown]

It was reported at the time – circa 2006-07 – that the Queen thought Kate should get a job and stop waitying around endlessly. What I didn’t know was that it went so far as this, that palace aides were briefing the press about the Queen’s concerns about Kate’s lack of employment. That was likely the Queen telling Prince William to order his girlfriend to get a job, and William got the message. I also didn’t know that the intra-palace nickname for Kate’s laziness was known as The Kate Problem. Bonkers.

In this section of The Palace Papers, there’s also a story which I didn’t know, which is that William invited Kate to Sandringham for the Royal Christmas “house party” in 2006, but she said no because they weren’t engaged (I knew that part). So after Kate refused William’s invitation, she invited William up to Scotland where her family had rented a house for the holidays, and he was scheduled to arrive on New Year’s Eve… and he didn’t show up. Just ghosted her, cold, with no warning. William apparently had a heart-to-heart talk with his father over Christmas, and Charles told him to wait to propose until he was ready. Meanwhile, Kate still expected him to propose to her on or around her birthday in January 2007. William would dump her over the phone in April of that year, but not before he cheated on her.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.

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137 Responses to “The intra-palace code for Kate Middleton’s lack of job was ‘The Kate Problem’”

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  1. Chloe says:

    How did she even end up at jigsaw? Anyone?

    • Noki says:

      I am guessing any company would have jumped hoops to have her just by her associations.

    • Candy says:

      The owners of Jigsaw are friends of the Middletons.

    • c says:

      There’s an interview with Belle Robinson of Jigsaw from 2008. It basically details everything. She stated:

      “I’m amazed at how much people have made of a very simple thing. I don’t know Kate well. Some people asked us if we were happy for Kate and William to go and stay in our holiday house in Mustique with some friends. They’re not allowed to pay for it but in return they would make a donation to the local hospital. And I said: ‘Yeah, fine.’

      “Through that, as a thank-you to us, Kate supported a couple of Jigsaw events we did. Then she rang me up one day and said: ‘Could I come and talk to you about work?’ She genuinely wanted a job but she needed an element of flexibility to continue the relationship with a very high-profile man and a life that she can’t dictate. She’s going to be dictated to when she’s needed and not needed.”

      Kate worked 3 days a week and mostly got coffee for people. She had meetings here and there. William called her in the middle of a meeting and she left the meeting to take his call which is how he dumped her.

      • BeanieBean says:

        I think she was ostensibly an accessories buyer, with zero quals. I’d like to know how/why Prince William wouldn’t be ‘allowed’ to pay for staying in someone’s holiday home? What kind of screwy rule says that royals can’t pay rent for their vacation homes?

      • Chloe says:

        @C: omg i just found that interview! It certainly gives a little more insight into kate.

      • Digital Unicorn says:

        ‘Not allowed to pay for it’ is code for ‘I’m royalty/royalty adjacent and we want FREEBIES’!!!!!!

      • Lionel says:

        That interview is just bonkers to me. 1) “They’re not allowed to pay for it” and 2) being the girlfriend requires “being dictated to”? Um, Belle … I don’t think that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

      • Tessa says:

        I don’t think she put in three days a week. According to those who worked at Jigsaw she was not there that much.

      • Ainsley7 says:

        @BeanieBean- There aren’t any Royal rules around renting a place (unless security comes into question which is obviously not the case here). Given the time period, William probably didn’t have access to a lot of money to do whatever he wanted with. His inheritance from Diana wasn’t fully his and what he did have was likely not entirely liquid. Charles was likely the one saying telling William he wasn’t allowed. I can’t see Charles saying no to a donation necessarily or William used it as a tax write off (only Charles and the Queen are exempt from taxes).

      • Wiglet Watcher says:

        Ainsleley
        There was a video clip where William and Kate trailed behind Charles In A crowd. Kate nudges William and asks him if he asked his dad for money. They needed it for a vacation.

        William never spent his own for anything with the exception of the Middletons needing funds to buy a house.

        Tessa
        It was said Kate worked sometimes 2 days a week and only for a handful of hours each day. She’d leave without notice. One time this happened famously for William’s birthday celebrations. She packed up and boarded only to be sent home within hours. The rumors were William didn’t want Kate interfering with the other girls there.

      • anotherlily says:

        The “not allowed to pay for it” comment might relate to how things are managed on Mustique. It may be that there’s some kind of restriction preventing home owners from renting out their properties. It is possible to rent holiday homes on Mustique so this ban may be to protect the official holiday rentals.

      • Wiglet Watcher says:

        Anotherlily
        I know what you’re talking about. And that is handled by the owners needing to be present with any guests and there are very strict limits on those guests being at your residence without you. At times a day at most.

        Mustique doesn’t operate that way as we’ve seen with other celeb homes there and other Middleton vacations.
        This was just how William operates. As a leech. And at that time the Middletons did not have much cash. They were being especially thrifty renting and sharing clothes.

    • Jan90067 says:

      I remember it a little differently than Kaiser, that TQ was saying “But what does she DO?” And THAT prompted the Jigsaw job, given by a family friend who owned it. Said friend who said Kate always left to take William’s phone calls, or would just not show up to be with him instead. Didn’t that job last less than 6-9 mos…of barely being there? Too lazy to Google, but I’m pretty sure this was how it went down.

      • Nic919 says:

        Yes the “but what does she do?” comment from the queen ended up being a story with some traction because the jigsaw “ job” happened not long after that.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Carole knew the owners and asked for them to arrange a ‘job’ for her. Midds have also repeatedly gotten freebie use of the Jigsaw owners house on Mustique.

    • Tessa says:

      Belle Robinson is a friend of the Middletons and gave Kate a job with very flexible hours. Robinson was interviewed (and great to see the transcript in post by c says )and admitted that Kate would Need flexible hours to “see” William. So it was tailor made for Kate and those who worked there reportedly did not see much of Kate. Robinson also lent one of her vacation home in Mustique–that was reported by the media), so the Middletons and Will could go –this before the engagement. Robinson let her have a “compassionate” leave when Will broke up with her (how many young women can get compassionate leave in a company–for breakups? and Kate never returned.

      • Lorelei says:

        I remember at some point she also “curated” an art exhibit at some gallery, and acted as the host — I don’t remember details at all but it seemed like a one-off to pad her resume and make it look like she studied Art History for a reason.

      • Tessa says:

        That never happened. There was an announcement that she would show off her photography (different versions of the subjects of the pictures were to be displayed–some said they would be abstract art). After this nothing happened and it was not brought up again. Also, there was the story of her starting a baby clothes line, never happened. She was too busy dating William.

      • Lorelei says:

        Tessa, I should have known

      • Wiglet Watcher says:

        Kate did show off her photographs though. They were awful at worst and amateurish at best.
        The reviews were terrible and no one ever spoke of it again.

    • WithLove says:

      Wow. She really looks like Monica lewinsky here.

  2. Noki says:

    With Carole keeping an eye on just ONE ball she really did a disservice to her because it is now embedded in her and that will never change. But maybe Carole was also ‘smart’ enough to realise that the Royals could not afford to have some yuppie attention grabbing girlfriend. Since it was said they are done with attention grabbing married ins. Poor Kate was molded excatly how her mother saw fit ,she could have had the work ethic if Carole engineered it that way.

    • anotherlily says:

      Yes. The Middletons seem like a classic enmeshed family. This kind of family stunts normal development of independence. Children may never make the break into fully functioning adulthood. They over-share and are over-involved in each other’s lives.

      Added to this, if there is a family secret, something potentially threatening, then this will tighten the bonds. With the Middletons there are unanswered questions about their finances and the finances of Carole’s brother the notorious Uncle Gary.

      A potential threat arose a few years ago with the introduction of the ‘Unexplained Wealth Order’ allowing police to investigate where there appeared to be no explanation for huge cash purchases. People buying houses in London were an obvious target for UWOs.

      The Middletons sold their London apartment which they bought for cash when Kate was dating William. All three Middleton offspring had used it as a way of keeping in with the London social scene.

      Gary Goldsmith’s involvement in drugs is well known and it isn’t unreasonable to consider a possible link between his finances and the millionaire lifestyle of the Middletons.

  3. Angela says:

    That kind of makes me feel bad for her. Being brought up to think that being William’s doormat is her life’s purpose. The lazy part isn’t that. Shes just lazy. Also looked like she used to have some good outfits more than a decade ago. I wonder who she was copy cosplaying then, because it had to be someone. Shes too lazy to have any original idea.

    • ShazBot says:

      All the Sloans she desperately wanted to be a part of

    • Christine says:

      She could have crafted a life that has meaning for her, all she had to do was care about anyone other than herself. Think of all of the meetings about buttons, and what she could have been doing for charities who desperately need help.

      I feel sorry for her, in the abstract, and then I remember she has never bothered to help another human being in two decades, and then Meghan. That was the final nail in the coffin, for me. She is garbage.

      If only she cared about cosplaying her mother in law in action, not dress.

  4. BeanieBean says:

    I think it’s entirely possible that the ‘going to propose to Kate on her 25th birthday’ (January 2007) was pure fiction invented by the tabloids.

    • Blujfly says:

      At the time, the rumor very much was that Kate believed it. So much that the girls at Jigsaw mocked up British money with her name on it. She sent an email to her friends asking them to call her Catherine going forward. The rumor was placed into the stratosphere by the Sandringham invitation because everyone rightfully saw that as only happening if they were due to be married. The assumption was that she couldn’t carry on as she was, jobless and drifting, so William must propose. Instead he balked andditched her family for the holidays

      • Anners says:

        This is a strange aside, but why the insistence on being called Catherine? Are nicknames not allowed? I ask, because Harry obvs goes by Harry when his official first name is Henry. And William often went by Wills back in the day. And then Fergie, too. I just don’t get it.

        When I read these stories I feel a twinge of sympathy for Kate – like girl never really had much of a chance. She was stage-managed by her mother and then stuck (by choice, sure, but how much agency did she really feel she had?) in a miserable marriage with a rage-a-holic. It doesn’t excuse her bad behaviour or her unkindness (especially towards Meghan), but I’m not sure she ever really had a chance to grow up and expand out. Not sure how much this is due to her own innate lack of curiosity/desire for growth, vs how much she was raised that way. I dunno. She seems really unhappy. I hope she ditches the royal family, takes ownership for her bad behaviour, grows up, and finds some peace.

      • Tessa says:

        During this time, the Passing Out Parade for William took place. Kate wore vivid red (like a future Queen said some in the press). Carole chewed gum and lip readers said Kate (who was gurning) spoke about William being “sexy” in his uniform. This coverage may have put William off. Later they went to Cheltenham races and William looked very upset and did not look at Kate. Something was amiss, and soon after was the breakup. I don’t feel sorry for Kate after the way she treated Meghan.

  5. girl_ninja says:

    Will and Kate’s relationship is so depressing. The inception of the relationship and the current state. Never has there been mutual respect or love and there still isn’t. They just tolerate each other so that they can keep their roles as “working” royals and stay on welfare. What a pair of losers.

    • eb says:

      And by extension, the ugly “having babies to stay on welfare” trope.

    • Gillysirl says:

      They both did what they were brought up or told to do and they are both miserable. It is very sad.

    • HeyJude says:

      Absolutely, I never realized how miserable they looked in their engagement photos until looking back on them just right now. Even then they look like they hate each other.

  6. Bettyrose says:

    This book isn’t flattering to the Middletons at all. It’s not hateful towards them, but this is not the story Id want told if I were them.

  7. Fancyhat says:

    She really was so much more stylish when she was younger and you can see how much of Kate’s aging is due to extreme thinness

    • Lizzie says:

      Keen can only copy so I imagine there were girls at school whose style she copied. All I see is an average cute collage girl wearing average cute, but probably expensive, clothes.
      She has matured to be a tall and striking woman but not a beauty except in photoshop pics. She knows this so she got as skinny as possible but freaked out when a true beauty came on the scene.

    • Dee says:

      Those were the days of cosplaying Jecca Craig. Check out the hat.

    • The Recluse says:

      Noticed that too. She would look so much healthier if she had a little more weight.

  8. Candy says:

    Ugh, what a dud for a boyfriend. This really sucks for Kate because you never get a redo on your courting phase. And it does lay the foundation for how a man treats you. No wonder she always looked sad during those years. It sounds like he would just come home for a few breaks from the military and use her. Then leave.

    • Gee says:

      She had choices. She ditched previous boyfriends for Baldermort. She WANTED to be booty call. For 10 years! So no, it does not suck for her since she chose that life.

  9. Becks1 says:

    If this was a movie, it would have ended with Kate dumping William as she makes her own way in the world and realizes she is so much more than just someone’s doormat and she would tell her mother off on her way. (almost reminds me of Center Stage.)

    Alas, as it is, she married the ahole and now she’s stuck in her miserable marriage.

    The Kate Problem is still the Kate Problem – laziness, no real interests, no desire to actually engage in charity work, etc.

    • Nic919 says:

      Kate hasn’t changed her work ethic. She now just has a staff to cover for her and a media institution that turns a blind eye and pretends it doesn’t exist.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        Agreed. Kate has never had to work for anything but Baldimort, and what a “prize” he is!!

        CopyKeen will never venture on her own to make an impact. She put in the 10 years of humiliation, waiting, stalking and attacking every other woman that came around Baldimort. She is a mean girl through and through! She feels entitled to sit around and do nothing. CopyKeen has the work ethic of a stone. She hasn’t changed in the 10+ years and has no intention of doing so now, UNLESS she is rewarded.

      • The Recluse says:

        Buttons McQueen wanted to be at the top of the pyramid and so did her mom, so she’s reaping the rewards. I feel for the kids. The dynamic in that household and with Ma Middleton can’t be healthy.

    • TheOriginalMia says:

      Bingo! This is why I don’t have much sympathy for her. She’s known what William was all about since she was 19. He hasn’t changed. She’s had plenty of opportunities to leave the relationship (before the kids & even after George) and forge her own life, and she didn’t. Because ultimately, Kate likes being a duchess. She likes have money to spend on whatever she wants. Ultimately Kate has what she wanted, warts and all.

  10. Mslove says:

    Why didn’t Carole train Kate to take up a charitable cause since it’s a big part of royal life? Especially since the Queen noticed the laziness. Kate’s attempt at working was half hearted at best.

    • Dee says:

      Kate dumped the charity boat race thing when Bill showed back up. Can’t imagine a charity wanting someone that noncommital.

      • Tessa says:

        And she never has changed. She made that boat race about HER, with her standing up in the boat so she would get all the attention. She said it would be too “risky” and backed out and of course Will taking her back put a stop to that boat race. Carole DID sponsor an event so Kate could play hostess. I think it was the Starlight Foundation.

      • Mslove says:

        The charity boat race was a means to reel Bill back in after one of their many break ups. Kate wasn’t participating to help the needy.

      • Cairidh says:

        She told her friend who organised the boat race she was pulling out to concentrate on her relationship with William. She told other people/press the palace had ordered her to stop and William got angry because that wasn’t true. They had a row over it.

  11. Djea says:

    Sure, make her have a “profession” that they would then just demand she give up.

    • C says:

      You can have a day job without it being the end-all be-all of your life.

    • Kyle says:

      @djea. At least by working in a profession she could have developed skills and a work ethic that she could have transferred to her role

      • Chrissy says:

        It also might have helped her to built some self-respect instead of her being a means to an end for her mother’s creepy aristocratic obsession and a spineless doormat for a rich but disloyal boyfriend.

    • Jennifer says:

      Thought same. Hey, why get involved in a career if you don’t plan on having one other than being a duchess?

  12. Christine says:

    I think Will and Kate’s relationship mirrors Charles and Diana’s quite a lot in that it seems like a very loveless, keeping up with appearances marriage. Only Kate (Carole) will never accept defeat unless it’s on Will’s terms, and he likes to keep Kate around because it makes him seem human and proof that someone likes him.

    • Tessa says:

      I think Charles and Diana were better at keeping up appearances. It was only ca. 1991 where they obviously could not stand to be around each other even with cameras there. William gets those “looks” on his face with Kate around.

    • Alice says:

      Diana had jobs and more of a life (she more or less remained friends with her flat mates) and she got married at 19.

      For all the “modern woman” talk I’ve always found Kate a total anachronism. And we graduated from college the same year.

  13. notasugarhere says:

    Brown doesn’t have the basic timeline right. Late 2005 or early 2006 was What Does She Do All Day leak from QEII via courtiers. November 2006 Jigsaw ‘job’ appears. Kate demands 3 day work week, then two day work week and flexibility because of her high profile wandering boyfriend. Lasted 9 months, some of which was PAID COMPASSIONATE LEAVE when William dumped her again.

    May 2008 Peter and Autumn wedding where QEII and Kate met for the first time. There was no ‘QEII liked Kate just fine the few times she met her’ and THEN wanting Kate to get a job. QEII was calling for Lazy Kate to get a job back in 2005/6, several years before they even met.

    Kate didn’t take the photos for PP. All photos were credited to the real photographer, Millie Pilkington. MP was given the choice assignment of taking the private wedding pics for W&K. Middletons helping her promote her wedding photography business while also ensuring her silence about who did all the work at PP?

    • Nic919 says:

      Thanks for correcting the timeline. I knew that the “but what does she do?” Story preceded the jigsaw job but I had forgotten about the years.

    • Tessa says:

      I can only imagine the reaction from management if a woman with a real career (unlike Kate) wants paid compassionate leave because her boyfriend broke up with her. LOL. With Kate, she gets paid leave. Kate did not work for a very long time after Graduation.

    • Lorelei says:

      The Paid Compassionate Leave is ridiculous. I fully acknowledge that. But in Kate’s defense, most girlfriends don’t have the story about how they were dumped splashed all over newspaper covers. I would not want to leave my bed either in that situation— but there is no reason that she was PAID for it. Her mom’s friend could have just been aware of the situation and showing kindness, but paying her is a bridge too far.

      I *think* that top photo where she’s wearing the black + white dress was taken on her birthday one year, because the rumor that Will would propose by then was public. So I think that’s why she looks so upset; she’d been swarmed by photographers and she likely knew by then that there would be no proposal.

      I do feel sorry for her to an extent, but honestly, there are SO many times she should have seen how cruel William was and how degrading he was to her and walked away. But I didn’t grow up with a parent like CarolE, and I truly don’t know how much that can warp your mind or put fear into you at the thought of “disappointing” them? CarolE is the real villain in this story, JFC. Imagine growing up with a mother who had zero regard for your interests and well-being, and viewed you only as a way to enhance your social standing. I can’t even begin to wrap my brain around what a mindfuck that must have been for Kate.

      On the other hand, she was away at school a lot and with other girls her age, so it isn’t as if she wasn’t exposed to other ideas or didn’t have any girlfriends who would have been urging her to dump him, as my friends most certainly would have been if I’d been in her place. But CarolE seemed to have such a hold on her (and still does).

      I found the link— it was her 25th birthday that she was swarmed by paparazzi outside her apartment. Another article says:

      “According to report in Express UK, all attention was on Kate in 2005 when many speculated that Prince William was about to pop the big question. Photographers had swarmed her house in Chelsea, London on the morning of her 25th birthday on 9 January, 2005, to get a picture of the birthday girl and a ring, considering if the proposal had taken place.”

      https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/kate-runs-the-paparazzi-gauntlet-on-her-25th-birthday-7275842.html

      • Becks1 says:

        Kate’s 25th birthday was in 2007.

        That aside, I do think its hard to underestimate how much Carole effed up Kate. We know even now Kate is treated as special and different in the Middletons because of who she married. I think its hard to determine where Carole’s influence/machinations end and Kate’s own ambitions begin. Maybe they’re one and the same, who knows at this point?

        that doesn’t excuse Kate as a person; she’s still a garbage person as I like to say and at 40, if you are still that dedicated to the version of your life your mom laid out for you 25 years ago, then you should probably seek out therapy and try to figure out what you want from life, because I think its clear to all that Kate isnt happy.

        Carole isn’t why Kate was a bitch to Meghan and Carole isn’t to blame for all of Kate’s issues, but I think its obvious that Carole wasn’t doing Kate any favors with the whole “you need to catch a prince” thing.

      • Anners says:

        I should’ve scrolled down and read all the comments before posting! This is how I feel. I think her mother did a real number on her growing up, and it can be really hard for some personalities (especially people pleasing first borns) to see how messed up that is and outgrow that conditioning. Agree with Becks, though, that this in no way excuses her behaviour towards Meghan, or her continued laziness and casual racism. I’d like for Kate to grow up, take ownership for the hurt she’s caused others, make amends where possible, then get the hell out of that toxic family (well, both hers *and* his), and start fresh on her own. But that’s probably not gonna happen.

      • Tessa says:

        Even if the breakup is not public, the pain is still there. Kate did not sit home though, she went to nightclubs for weeks and apparently the press knew ahead of time, so she was not so “heartbroken” that she totally stayed home and she actively was trying to win back William. But work was out of the questions. Maybe a man breaks off the engagement and tells the young woman he is marrying someone else. But that said, I don’t know of anybody who got paid leave from work because her boyfriend broke up with her. That would not be in any Human Resources plans. Maybe the boss could just say take a few days off, but no way would the person get a paid compassionate leave. I don’t feel sorry for Kate. She fought hard to get where she is today and she could have said no to here mother and William could have not visited Carole and let her persuade him to “marry Kate.” A man in love would not look to see if there is somebody “Better” and let the long term girlfriend wait until he decides to settle.

    • TheOriginalMia says:

      Can always count of you, nota, with the facts about the Cambridges.

      • Lorelei says:

        Tessa, of course the pain is still there if a breakup isn’t public. My point was that Kate being dumped *was* all over the news, which imo makes it different (and worse, imo) from most people’s situations.

      • Christine says:

        Right, TheOriginalMia?? Thank you, nota, I had forgotten the timeline entirely.

  14. Lauren Too says:

    I remember her Jigsaw days. She would disappear for hours in order to take phone call from Baldingham. She really was a doormat and any attempt from Brown to show differently is just proving that Keeny Kate has always been a doormat.

  15. Lizzie says:

    One constant in her life has been her refusal or reluctance to work. She jumped through every hoop during the waity years except truly working as the queen suggested. Than is true devotion to laziness.

    • Christine says:

      This is where I also stop trying to make excuses for her. Diana had a fucking miserable life, and she found her solace in working to help others. Cannot has no leg to stand on, she’s just lazy and doesn’t give a shit.

  16. NCWoman says:

    Kate seems like a horrible person on many levels, but she has done what she was raised to do: mold herself into a twisted version of a charming, inoffensive 50s era housewife who is always available for her man. And I’m in no way defending her because she’s an adult and at some point we all have to take ownership of our choices no matter how we were raised, BUT is there a level of work that makes “palace sources” shut their mouths about the wives of William and Harry? Kate doesn’t work enough, so they belittle her. Meghan works too much, so they belittle her (plus throwing a giant dose of racism into it). What level of work exactly will make the palace misogynists happy?

    • Persephone says:

      Good question.
      I suspect there is no real answer – as a married-in you will never really be acceptable. Especially if you are a biracial woman.

      • Jennifer says:

        A lot of families may want grandchildren but they DO NOT WANT a daughter in law in the family to provide them. So many families shun in-laws or treat them like crap.

        I’m permasingle but I would consider myself fortunate if I had in-laws who didn’t actively try to destroy me. I’d never expect to have any that were nice, I’d be super fortunate if they put up with me 1-2 times a year, like my actual relatives.

    • Christa says:

      This! And same with the media except much worse. Who in their right mind would sign up for this? Megan really did give it a try before throwing in the towel. But Kate. You have to wonder if she will ever wake up. It can’t be a satisfying life. Maybe when the kids are older and her parents pass away? As long CM is alive and kicking, she’ll probably be a doormat. What exactly would the have to happen for Kate to leave Baldingham?

      • Jan90067 says:

        Maybe it WILL take Carole’s passing away. Some never “become adults” while their parent is alive

      • Tessa says:

        It is up to Kate to change. Even if Carole lives to be 100 plus, it’s up to Kate to change her mother cannot do that for her. It has to come from Kate herself. Apparently she was willing to fight for this lifestyle.

    • dlc says:

      excellent point.

    • UNCDancer says:

      Agree! The internalized misogyny is something… especially given there has been a woman on the throne for 70 years.

      • death by bacon says:

        maybe she has always been a useful puppet. So they have no respect for the queen.

    • Cairidh says:

      Meghan working wouldn’t have been a problem if it hadn’t been for the cambridges lack of work. The palace would have preferred all of them to work hard. But the spare and wife were outperforming the heir and wife and that’s never allowed.

  17. Nic919 says:

    It’s very interesting how the interviews from TB have been far more positive about kate than the book itself. She is rehashing a lot from the Katie Nicholls book but I do wonder if this might open up the eyes of those who aren’t devoted kate stans.

    It’s really hard to spin not working very much in your 20s to be accessible for a guy. That’s not a normal love story or the sign of a respectful relationship.

    • Christa says:

      I think the media just likes to have a whipping horse. Megan and Harry are the current whipping horses. It seems all of England does not care about the perversity of exalting these flawed people (the rest of them). The Saltines also seem not to mind that they are really publicly abusing them. The Saltines can’t possibly be that un-self aware? Shit if I were being publicly abused for sport, I might what to do fuck all, too except I don’t think Kate really gets the good part like massages and facials and the like. The Saltines can’t have their cake and eat it too. It must be the media’s perverse reward. Let us beat you up until there is a replacement and then we will treat your flaws benignly once your inevitable replacement arrives.

    • Agreatreckoning says:

      @Nic919, yep, a lot that Tina is putting out here, is from what I can discern, like you said, is from Katie Nicholls book realeased in 2011? and BM stories. Nicholl’s VF article, Wills and the Real Girl, covered a lot of this (it might be an excerpt from the book). The Queen and Charles telling Will to take his time was one of them.
      https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/12/william-and-kate-201012

      Brown isn’t introducing new information about Will & Kate. Pretty much everything she’s written about their past is available from other sources. I’m slightly surprised she renewed the old negative stories. Brown seems to try to appear she’s being balanced. When TB is discussing current and within the last five year events, she side steps the racism along with words that have come directly from Prince Harry. Brown has done the same thing Levin did with her Harry book. Using stories already out there. Interjecting their opinions and calling it the truth. fyi, Celebitchy has a great archive of stories. Pretty sure certain words & phrashes were lifted from here.

  18. Cessily says:

    So Kate has a “work shy” problem that is well known and is significant enough that the people who pull half curtains to clap at plaques were concerned 🫠🤭.

  19. Lurker25 says:

    Harry talked a LOT about how good Meghan would be at “the job” in their engagement interview. How perfect she was for it, how ready, how willing, etc.

    Makes a lot of sense if he’d been hearing about the “Kate problem” and thought “oh, don’t want that. Everyone will be happy that I’ve found someone without that problem.”
    Another way in which he didn’t realize all the undercurrents and took his family at their word.
    Bc of course he unwittingly set Meghan up to seem threatening and one-upping to khate, the mids, baldy, the courtiers, etc before she wrote a single perfectly calligraphic thank you note.

  20. Over it says:

    So I have a real question? Now that William and Kate are married and neither one really works, is it now called the Cambridge problem or Kp problem?

    • HeatherC says:

      The heir to the heir will always be protected. So it’s obviously a Kate problem, it will never be a William problem.

  21. Over it says:

    Not even in those engagement pictures does either of them look in love. It looks like two people in this for some kind of business arrangement. It’s just such a sad way to live.

  22. Brassy Rebel says:

    But Kate had a job. She was very busy trying to reel in William. It was very hard work and took ten years of her life. I don’t know why people can’t see that. She didn’t get paid at the time, but she is more than amply rewarded now by the British taxpayers. And now she can enjoy all the leisure time.

    • dawnchild says:

      Haha…was coming here to say this! She worked 24/7 at a very hard job for years, …waiting on one man, making sure no one else got close, reflecting what she thought he wanted…and that’s WORK! That’s why she didn’t have time for a second full-time job

  23. Merricat says:

    Lol, she looks like such a goober in that photo where she’s wearing the beret.
    She’s had ten years to “grow into” the royal job. She either won’t do it, or she simply cannot manage it; either way, she is not qc material.

    • phuggi says:

      Haha yes she does, but it also makes me sad because that’s some spark of a personality. You don’t see anything except the bland polite smile and open guffaw nowadays. She looked goofy and fun in that picture. Like someone enjoying herself.

  24. Brassy Rebel says:

    Kinda ironic the Queen was complaining because Kate didn’t have a job. The Queen’s never had one either.

    • Amy Bee says:

      Yeah I have a hard time believing the Queen was concerned about her not having a job. I think she was more concerned about Kate’s background.

    • Carolind says:

      That’s not true. The Queen does/did have a job and she was actually very dedicated to it. She is Britain’s Head of State.

      • Brassy Rebel says:

        Can she be fired, laid off, replaced by someone else short of death? Then, it’s not a job. And she is massively overcompensated for the few things she does do which she could refuse to do and still remain Queen. You and I have or had jobs in our lives. The Queen has never had a job like you and me.

      • SuzieQ says:

        As Brassy Rebel says, TQ doesn’t have a real job, though. To whom is TQ accountable? Is anyone with a real job given lavish clothing allowances, multiple houses and stolen gems? TQ reads briefs but can make no real decisions. She waves at crowds, but does not produce a thing. She has no power; she’s a figurehead. Her position is mostly perks — including traveling in conveyances designed especially for her — and no real pressure. She stabs cakes; wears fabulous coats; and in the end, her impact is only imagined, not real.

      • anotherlily says:

        Yes. She took over her father’s job when he died. The actual work of a constitutional monarch is similar to that of a senior civil servant and diplomat. There are daily briefings, meetings, information to absorb, advice to be given and received. What the public sees is only a part of the work. It isn’t just the number of engagements recorded in the Court Circular that amounts to the extent of the work although that gives an indication.

        The fact that the Monarch can’t be fired or laid off makes the job similar to someone who is self-employed.

    • Debbie says:

      @Brassy Rebel: You’re correct, the queen does not have a job, and whether she’s referred to as “Head of State,” “queen” or “Head of the Church of England” those are titles not jobs.

      • Brassy Rebel says:

        ANOTHER LILY, her father didn’t have a job either. He passed on a role, not a job.

        I must say, it’s puzzling to me that people insist a 96 yr old has a job–and she’s had it for 70 years! In the non-royal world, which is the real world, this would be considered elder abuse. No wonder Prince Harry is so worried about her.

  25. Lovely Rita says:

    I agree that Kate is work shy, but PW is just as lazy and yet Kate has to bear the brunt of it in the RM because he can’t be anything other than the fair-haired prince and FFK. It’s just an interesting pattern. I’m so glad Harry and Meghan got out.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Kate is no victim here. While William was wandering around pretending to work for SAR, Kate could have had a job. She could show up to every one of her few engagements completely prepared and professional. She chooses not to. She doesn’t want to work, she’s never wanted to work.

      • Debbie says:

        Still, it’s remarkable, isn’t it? The number of people who are rushing to express sympathy for the devil. No one, repeat no one, ever stopped Kate from working after leaving university and while she was single all those years.

    • Jay says:

      Yeah, I raised my eyebrows at the description of William’s “gruelling” training – he should get some side eye as well! To my memory, he was only part- time with the air ambulance service, with everything catered to his schedule and interests, and even then he barely finished!

      Doesn’t excuse either of their lazy butts, but it’s interesting that Kate takes the brunt of the criticism even a decade later, and even though so much of this book was clearly sourced from the Middletons. Makes you wonder if Brown was told not to take any shots at his royal incandescence.

  26. Amy Bee says:

    No matter how badly William treated her, Kate and Carole kept their eyes on the prize. Any other self respecting person would have left William a long time ago but she wanted to be Queen.

  27. DeluxeDuckling says:

    💚💚 Thank you, Kaiser – for combing through this book and giving us the tea! ☕✨✨ —
    From,
    All of us who wanna know dirt but not give Tina Brown any money 👍

  28. death by bacon says:

    that lead photo 🤣😂😅🤣😂😅😅🤣

  29. Cinders says:

    Even Diana worked before she was married – and she was a teenager with zero qualifications, and the daughter of an earl, at that. She certainly didn’t need to work.
    Kate has a degree in art history (not that I can recall her ever expressing an interest in the subject). Couldn’t she have got a job at an art collection or answering the phone in an art gallery? Plenty of rich girls do that sort of job, and it’s pretty part time. But no, apparently her priority was to keep her calendar completely free just in case William ever showed up. She had no interests at all apart from him. Such an empty life.

    • AnneL says:

      It’s interesting. My cousin has a degree in art history, though she later did a two-year Masters program as well. Her parents have money, not CRAZY money but money. But she went to work for a gallery, eventually opened her own and has been very successful. In addition to being a pretty woman from a well-off family (who also married someone with a good job), she’s ambitious and smart and she works hard. Then you have Kate, who just wanted the mother of all MRS degrees.

      • Jay says:

        I think there are plenty of “well off” art history majors who take on work as docents or volunteering for a charity etc etc. Sort of harkening back to that old social model of wealthy patrons and “noblesse oblige”.

        And what’s funny is that this kind of “job” would also have given her credibility with the royals as able to do the kind of bread and butter engagements they expect. Someone who already had experience volunteering for a children’s reading program or organizing a charitable event would seem like a good fit for the bread and butter engagements valued by the senior royals.

        I’ve always interpreted the Queen’s “But what does she DO?” to be not about Kate’s lack of a profession, but her lack of involvement. She was worried Kate would just be a clotheshorse with nothing to offer and nothing to say.

      • Tessa says:

        Laura Parker Bowles worked in an art gallery. Kate could have worked in one as well if she wanted to use her degree.

  30. death by bacon says:

    I just saw the comment “how he dumped her” yikes these people play some mean azz games. No wonder she’s the future queen of mean, the tolerance for humiliation and cruelty, because she married him. 😟

  31. Elizabeth Kerri Mahon says:

    Diana had several jobs; she was a nanny for an American family, cleaned houses, and worked as a teacher’s assistant at a nursery school. Kate could easily have parlayed her art history degree into a job at an art gallery, a graduate course, or even working part-time at a museum. I remember before the Jigsaw job, she took a photography course briefly. She could also have aligned herself with a charity the way that Camilla did as a way to change the public’s opinion of her.

    • Tessa says:

      I don’t think she took a photography course. There was an announcement she’d go to NY and work with Testino but he shut that down by denying this was true. She really did nothing of any significance except be ready for Will’s calls. There were stories of her founding a baby clothes line but nothing happened at all.

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        Tessa, there’s the tell that I missed. The things you’re stating are all about optics and nothing more. That’s been their strategy all along and it hasn’t changed at all. This is why photos at the charities visited are all that’s out for public consumption. The only thing (that Ma & Jr.) think is important is the optic/photo.

  32. serena says:

    This book seem to highlight just how awful and mean The Other brother is, damn. Kate just comes off as a jealous doormat, endlessly groomed by her mother to ‘catch’ the Prince (of all nightmares).. it kinda made me feel sorry for her for a second then I remembered how she’s equally awful lol.

  33. LoryD75 says:

    Today is their 11th wedding anniversary and the palace and papers have been noticeably silent. When they speak of Kate “learning the ropes”, she’s had 11 years to work, establish herself, follow her passions, support charities etc. she will never change.

  34. aquarius64 says:

    Both Harry and William have leeching in laws. The difference is Harry told his wife’s money grubbing relatives to kick rocks and settle for tabloid scraps. William gives his handouts but he has to deal with them possibly holding whatever over them.

  35. Patricia says:

    What William found out is he could treat her like a doormat and she’ll still be by his side.If he tantrums to loud,off to mummy’s.He sure copy’s his Dads behavior.

  36. Twinkle says:

    In the 21st century, when a woman can be anything, make a name for herself, be financially independent, have a career and a family, this woman had zero ambition to create her own identity. Instead, she waited around for 10 years, doing nothing, for William to pop the question. Some will argue: sure, what’s the big deal about carving out her own career and money compared to being the next Queen of England? But that is a big gamble to take. A lot can happen between one’s college years and when one is ready to marry. What if William found another woman and fell head over heels. It would then be a stupid gamble, and she’d be in her 30’s with no job and no skills. She’s a relic from a 17th century Jane Austen novel married into a dying and irrelevant institution. Her fortune, literally and figuratively, is tied to her husband. She’s nothing more than a baby making machine. It’s pathetic.

  37. Hot Wendy says:

    Kate could be a model, she’s very pretty.

    • Dhianna says:

      funny

    • Wiglet Watcher says:

      Oh Hot Wendy,
      I’ll give you the benefit of doubt you’re not a troll.
      Those are very old photos of Kate. She’s pretty at best. Now she relies on photoshop. Meghan however is naturally striking.

  38. TEALIEF says:

    This woman didn’t want to work. She didn’t want a life, she wanted a lifestyle. A lifestyle that she didn’t want to pay for, but that she is paying for. She never read past the first paragraph of chapter one, of Pride and Prejudice. Her mother, and she in turn, wanted an aristo lifestyle, status, and the acceptance of their ‘betters’. She got the first two. Apart from not applying herself to her school studies, her major mistakes that became problems starting in school through post university are: 1) not wholly owning and proclaiming her family’s working class – not middleclass – roots. Say my mother was a flight attendant. Undoubtedly, some would have chuckled and someone would have made a service comment.  Say yes she worked and was in service, in the service of saving lives and the likes of you if there was in flight trouble. 2) Not to have made and to have her own friends. She could have made real friends even in this set. 3) Not to have gotten a job that came with yearly earnings statements, and accompanying tax returns. They might not have liked her, but they would have respected her. So here she is, a title without accomplishments, trussed up, in service to her husband, not accepted, and disrespected. She has achieved a Pyrrhic victory.

  39. one of the marys says:

    Well… this sure makes for sad reading. Kate and William’s parents achieved a goal for them but from my point of view they failed them terribly. They come across as very unhappy people in spite of achieving their parents ambitions

    • ILady Digby says:

      Also both are jealous of their younger and more attractive siblings who overshadowed them by being more popular. What about Pippa’s work ethic, does anybody know about her CV as in did she also drift not working until she married well?

  40. Sass says:

    Lol that’s not code, that’s blatant 🤣