William & Kate 2

[tabitha2]

I suspect Troll butt is probably too busy fantasizing about Meg and with her  absolute obsession with Kates work history  as teenager to have her kids dress decently for any occasion. Priorities ya know. 

Edited April 19, 2023 by tabitha2

[Coconut Flan]

Since the concept was apparently missed I'll emphasize it.  The Queen was big on letting silent, physical signals send the message.  The monarch and the heirs plus the immediate adjacents being tightly color coordinated sends the message of unity and continuity in the last holiday before the coronation..  Charlotte likely had some say in which blue dress was bought and she wore.  George wore his regular blue suit.  Louis is of the age where we're wearing this today is still very normal especially for church or similar.   I expect like most kids they pick their play clothes and are guided for special occasions.

[prayawaythefundie]

7 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

The monarch and the heirs plus the immediate adjacents being tightly color coordinated sends the message of unity and continuity in the last holiday before the coronation..  

Yes, Charles & Camilla wore blue as well. Thanks for pointing that out. 

[KnittingOwl]

3 hours ago, Jackie3 said:

Let kids wear what they want!  It's not all about instagram.

Look, you delight in being obtuse, so I’m going to make myself as clear as I can. 
 

On an everyday basis, my kids can wear whatever they want. I routinely go to Target with a 5 year old wearing a princess nightgown, sparkly rain boots, and fairy wings. My 11 year old has a sense of style I would describe as “clashing.” But I keep those thoughts to myself. They do have to brush their hair in the morning before school though and pull it back before ballet. 
 

For school pictures, we compromise. I approve the outfit they pick out. This year, I showed my older daughter how tiny stripes sometimes look weird in camera (by taking a picture of her) and she changed her mind.
 

If I’m spending money on family pictures, I get a lot more control. I generally know my girls’ style and they do get to help pick things out, but ultimately, they can’t wear clashing leggings for the family Christmas photo. Sorry. Not happening. Or when they were flower girls, the younger couldn’t have the hot pink dress because the colors were navy blue and white. She learned that she had to find a dress that her aunt and new uncle okayed for their wedding to fit in with the style. And that’s ok too! They don’t always get to do whatever they want. Both girls picked different dresses that still fit their personalities but within the constraints they were given. 

[viii]

1 hour ago, Coconut Flan said:

Since the concept was apparently missed I'll emphasize it.  The Queen was big on letting silent, physical signals send the message.  The monarch and the heirs plus the immediate adjacents being tightly color coordinated sends the message of unity and continuity in the last holiday before the coronation..

No, I think most people understand this. It doesn't make it any less weird, though. And if the BRF has to match clothes in order to show unity, then they got a lot bigger of a problem on their hands. 

[Dandruff]

1 hour ago, KnittingOwl said:

Look, you delight in being obtuse, so I’m going to make myself as clear as I can.

IMO: If someone delights in being obtuse then attempts to reason are unlikely to help, especially if there's a long, consistent history of the same type of behavior.  If it also craves feedback then one can deny it and imagine it starving and whining with little to no hope of being fed what it really wants.

I see nothing wrong with members of a family wearing reasonably matching outfits for an occasion, as long as they're appropriate and a decent fit.  The coronation will likely be viewed by billions, at one point or another, and I'm sure it would be a little nicer for them if excess attention wasn't paid to whose look "fits" and whose doesn't...not that there won't be some nitpicking anyway.

[Jackie3]

4 hours ago, KnittingOwl said:

For school pictures, we compromise. I approve the outfit they pick out.

Why?

Why do you want to send the message that their choices are bad? Especially for al ow-stakes thing like school pics!

"I don't trust you to do this yourself" is the message you are sending. Also, "I care more about what other people think than what you want." Do you want to send those messages? 

Obviously if a child is in a wedding, then they wear what the couple wants.

I think most early-childhood experts (except Kate) would agree that it's good for children to choose their own clothing. I tend to doubt that the Cambridge kids decided -- on their own--to wear matching blue outfits.

If Kate truly wanted to encourage their autonomy and self-confidence in her kids, she'd let them make the call. A 7 and 9 year old can understand, "On Easter Sunday, we dress up."  Then let them have at it!

 

[prayawaythefundie]

How can a bit of over-the-top matching be that big of a deal? It won‘t solve their problems but it also won‘t make them bigger.

[Mrs Ms]

6 hours ago, Dandruff said:

IMO: If someone delights in being obtuse then attempts to reason are unlikely to help, especially if there's a long, consistent history of the same type of behavior.  If it also craves feedback then one can deny it and imagine it starving and whining with little to no hope of being fed what it really wants.

I see nothing wrong with members of a family wearing reasonably matching outfits for an occasion, as long as they're appropriate and a decent fit.  The coronation will likely be viewed by billions, at one point or another, and I'm sure it would be a little nicer for them if excess attention wasn't paid to whose look "fits" and whose doesn't...not that there won't be some nitpicking anyway.

I am utterly amazed that people are still engaging with the known troll. It has for the most part stopped twisting other posters completely normal/innocent posts into horrendous shit around here, so why not just completely ignore. No down votes, no eye rolls, no mentions, no references, just ignore. As I haven’t ventured into the H&M threads, I can’t talk about them, but this royalty sub genre in general must be the trolls absolute wettest of wet dreams.

Posters have spent more than a page defending basic, common sense parenting surrounding clothing. Why???

[TN-peach]

At least the clothing was well fitted, well chosen for body types, well tailored, and no visible bra lines for the ladies.

[viii]

Heaven forbid we see a bra line! 

[tabitha2]

With all that money they will be putting out and fashion resources they have there really is no excuse or reason for anything to be sagging, showing, bulging or flashing. 

[Dandruff]

16 hours ago, Mrs Ms said:

Posters have spent more than a page defending basic, common sense parenting surrounding clothing. Why???

I agree.

William and Kate recently took a train to Birmingham and - among other things - helped out at a family-run Indian restaurant and celebrated the city's creative trades.  Their schedule had been kept light in recent weeks while their children were on school break, so they could spend time together.  They're also preparing for the Coronation of King Charles:

Kate Middleton and Prince William Visit Birmingham for Their First Royal Outing Since Easter

Sounds like they're trying and succeeding at balancing royal duties with family time.

[viii]

Trying but failing, imo. I understand taking the odd day when your children is out of school, but majority of parents don't take off every single holiday that the school does. It's unrealistic and really shows their privilege. This is an age old problem when it comes to William and Kate and the many school holidays they take. I doubt it will ever change, personally.

However, the fact that so many news articles had to post about William and Kate doing an outing shows how little they actually do. I was willing to cut them slack when they were the heir's heir and their children were babies, but... they're the crown couple and they need to seriously step it up. All they're doing is highlighting how unnecessary they truly are. (And before I get jumped on, I mean how unnecessary their roles are, not them specifically as people). 

[prayawaythefundie]

Not denying the privilege but I guess they don‘t want to be accused of being distant and uninvolved parents until the day they die, like Elizabeth was.

[Coconut Flan]

I expect as the children get older they'll take less time with school breaks.  It's what three weeks a year?  Louis was still only four this past year.  If Elizabeth and Charles weren't yammering at them, then why not?  I used to take off the winter and spring breaks with my kids until the youngest was at least 8 or 10.  

Elizabeth used to hang out at Sandringham for weeks after Christmas before going back to visits and then there's the long August on holiday at Balmoral she had every year.   They might be taking less weeks off than she did.  Granted they aren't packing the official visits in the remaining time that she did, but I'm guessing they're going to have to up those.  

[Lollipopgirl]

School holidays in the UK are about 13 weeks per year and in private schools even more so I’d say it was a safe bet those kids get about 15 weeks a year off. Now that they’re second in line I don’t think they can reasonably take that much time off and I don’t think they will. I agree it will probably become less important to them as the kids get older. Their diaries are arranged a long way in advance so perhaps we haven’t seen the possible increase in workload since the Queen died yet. That said, we are in a bad economic way over here and I think people will start to get jumpy if they’re not seen to be upping their game a bit.

[Baxter]

I expect they will likely not take all the school holidays off in the future. However, this has been a year of incredible change for their kids. They will also likely be quite busy the next few weeks getting ready for the coronation. So I don't think it is unreasonable to have some family time together.

I hope they are doing a better job than Queen Elizabeth and King Charles in the past. The way they both parented was very common in the aristocracy at the time but as everyone now realizes not great for the children involved. 

[viii]

I would be more inclined to say that this has been a year of changes for the kids so it's great they're accommodating them if this behaviour was new but this is status quo for them. This year is no different than any other year for them regarding holidays and not working. And while it's great that other people here took time off when their kids were young, it's really not even comparable. The taxpayers weren't funding your job and lifestyle. 

And obviously everyone has realized that the parenting in generations past was lacking which is why we've seen such changes. However, there's a happy medium between hands off (QEII) and taking over 3 months of holidays because your kids do (W&K). 

[Coconut Flan]

1 hour ago, Lollipopgirl said:

School holidays in the UK are about 13 weeks per year and in private schools even more so I’d say it was a safe bet those kids get about 15 weeks a year off.

That includes the summer though and they've never taken the entire summer break off.  

51 minutes ago, viii said:

The taxpayers weren't funding your job and lifestyle. 

LOL  Actually the taxpayers were funding my job.  It's simply a funny coincidence.

[prayawaythefundie]

53 minutes ago, viii said:

The taxpayers weren't funding your job and lifestyle.

At the moment they do fund mine but, of course, it‘s not comparable to William & Kate‘s income. 😅 Still thankful for a whole year of parental leave with a little less than 50% of my last paycheck & and a discount in health insurance.

3 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

That includes the summer though and they've never taken the entire summer break off.  

True but they do take most of it.

Edited April 21, 2023 by prayawaythefundie

[viii]

Even if the taypayers do fund your job (as they fund mine) I think it's ridiculous to try and compare our lives to William and Kate's. 

[just_ordinary]

I think wearing somewhat coordinated outfits to get an harmonious look is part of the job to be honest. The Uber-matching (in blue) is unnecessary though. 
 

W&K have a problem in terms of engagements. They look lazy. There is no way around it. Partly, because they get measured against the old gen BRF. Their numbers are unmatched. Every other RF looks bad compared to them. Another reason is that their special interests just don’t seem as sincere as they want us to believe. That could easily be changed with smarter PR though. 
I do think their family unit and their children will benefit greatly of their set up- they have to even out the influences of decades/centuries of f****d up upbringing. But if you are employed by the people, get enormous privileges and trade on a relatable narrative you are held to a higher standard. Even if they took every school holiday off- all three are in school full time. That’s 36 weeks. If they would work a 5d/w that’s 180 engagements. And we all know everything can be an engagements. So make a zoom call in the morning, meet some workers for lunch and talk to one of your advisory boards before the kids come home. Ts-da 540. just saying……

[prayawaythefundie]

6 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

So make a zoom call in the morning, meet some workers for lunch and talk to one of your advisory boards before the kids come home.

That‘s already happening though and not all of it appears in the court circular or is counted when someone is trying to prove them being lazy again. I‘m not saying they couldn‘t work more but I managed to disprove those alleged 11 workdays in 2022 with just two minutes of my memory of public appearances (no zoom meetings or phone calls). With some research I could have found more, just didn‘t care enough. I guess their haters cared even less.

[just_ordinary]

3 hours ago, prayawaythefundie said:

That‘s already happening though and not all of it appears in the court circular or is counted when someone is trying to prove them being lazy again. I‘m not saying they couldn‘t work more but I managed to disprove those alleged 11 workdays in 2022 with just two minutes of my memory of public appearances (no zoom meetings or phone calls). With some research I could have found more, just didn‘t care enough. I guess their haters cared even less.

I agree. Maybe if you count all the hours up individually? But I think even then we get more than 88.