[dennab216]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YoninahAliza Well... to be fair we don't actually know what she's doing in Wales. Who knows she could be working with charities or planning something but it hasn't been announced. I like to hope that she's doing something, I honestly don't think William would have married someone who wasn't concerned or didn't want to make a difference. It's something that I think Princess Diana passed onto him and Harry. Both are quite involved in numerous organizations.

Sorry to disappoint you but she really does not care as far as I am concerned. IMO as Michelle Obama put it one day "you should do something not just when someone is looking". I think the difference on this thread is pretty blatant: there are those who followed her since day one and started wondering why she was never seen doing something else than partying, shopping and attending polo matches 2 to 4 years after graduation (and it's not as if the DM didn't make her a Testino apprentice, baby clothes designer, aspirant art gallery owner) and those who just met duchess Catherine and gives her some slack because she is new to the game while in fact she truly isn't. She has been around for 10 years, her only attempt at 'charity' were: the fashion show, an event organised for a kid charity and a rowing competition she didn't follow through because of 'security reason'.

IMO she is the kind of woman, like Marie of Denmark who will do charity work because she has to and because that's what is expected of her. That being said, nothing wrong with that. I don't think 75% of the population of the forum is into it as well or does something regularly but please don't make her a saint because she gained a title.
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[Aquila]

I agree with Ammarra. Catherine has had years to get involved in charity work, instead she chose to do... umm... nothing? She has had plenty of time to get involved with a charity. Not that I can judge her for it, I don't do any charity work.

[rox_yr_sox]

^ But I presume you have a job or are a student? Catherine has no form of employment or time consuming activity apart from 'princess-training', hence the free-time she could be using productively.

[dennab216]

Or maybe Catherine is not interested I am sure Catherine has different hobbies and I guess she feels like doing something outside of her home is too much of an hassle anyway. Back in the day her most devoted fans used to say that it would be putting herself in a difficult situation to have a proper job or get involved with any organisation. This is not entirely false as seen with prince Harry ex girlfriend who was a bit too social and ended up with all her Facebook private pictures out there and is followed to work and was at exams and during her numerous trip abroad. Catherine was really selective of the people she associated herself with so no faux pas could be made. In the end it paid off.
Anyway, William unlike Harry has never seem interested in women with their own lives and career. I believe he needed some steady and ready to leave everything and anything to be there and support him. Who can fault him?

Regarding her style if Mozah can still follow Islamic rules and wear Chanel, and Queen Rania can dress stylishly and as it pleases her, I am pretty sure Catherine can handle conservative/appropriate as well. She just needs help. Nothing wrong with admitting it
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[miche]

Catherine work for her parents company where she launched First Birthday but of course working for the family business meant you don't have a "real job".

[ATM1985]

We had a blurry picture a few months ago where she did a quiet, private visit to a school for their art program. The Daily Mail got wind and criticized her for not wearing a skirt, despite it not being an "official" visit. We also just recently heard that she will be getting medical certification. And the palace itself announced that post-marriage, Kate would be taking some time to research charities and projects, to determine where she what she wants to devote her time to. Also, in all likelihood, she's probably being further coached for her future role. There's a lot of etiquette and protocol that goes along with being royal, not to mention that William is the future king. There's a lot she needs to learn. I don't think it's fair to critique what she's doing with her time, as that's something we really don't know - nor is it our business.

As for her style, I like it, but I tend to prefer more conservative looks. I would rather be considered "boring" than "tacky," and that seems to be the way Kate's trying to dress as well. I think this is a matter of personal taste - some prefer people who take risks and as such, have misses, which is why we had some upthread lauding Eugenie and Beatrice, whereas I find their style not to my taste and a bit much. I don't think Kate needs help really. I think perhaps some need to admit that Kate's never shown much of an interest in being a clotheshorse, or cutting edge, and that's certainly not going to change now. Nor is it her job to do so.

[funkystar]

There was an interesting article in the Daily Mirror a few days ago regarding how many Royal engagements members of the Royal family have done in 2011. Here is a summary -

Prince Charles - 601 Engagements
HM The Queen - 370 Engagements
The Duke of Edinburgh- 330 Engagements
The Duke of York - 327. Engagements
Prince William - 90 Engagements (while serving as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot)
Catherine - 34 Engagements
Prince Harry- 16 Engagements (while training as an Army helicopter pilot)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/royal-w...5875-23670366/

I was actually quiet shocked looking at those numbers how many engagements the Royal family does throughout the year and how little Catherine has done in comparison, its not like she has any other commitments & duties such as serving in the Army .

I think Diana did over 500 engagements in her first year of marriage while she was pregnant with William which probably left her exhausted and the Royal Family don't want a repeat of what happened to Diana which is understandable. I'm not saying she has to do 500 engagements but even if Catherine did one engagement everyday for the next 4 months up until the 1 year mark of her wedding she still will have done less than half of engagements Diana did .

[ATM1985]

Well, to be fair, William has been a member of the royal family all year. Kate has only been an official member since the end of April, so she does have a shortened year in comparison.

So for William 90/365 = approximately 25% of the year is devoted to engagements.

In comparison, you have Kate's 34/245 = approximately 14%.

It's still low, but that's a more fair comparison, rather than a comparison straight numbers, when the rest of the members' numbers include four more months of engagements.

[KemAlnagdy]

how much work did Sophie of Wessex do ?

[ATM1985]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KemAlnagdy how much work did Sophie of Wessex do ?

191 engagements for Sophie. And apparently Kate's tally started with her first engagement on June 4th, so that does bump up her percentage to about 16%.

Beatrice and Eugenie don't even make the list - they don't even have round the clock protection because they don't do official engagements. I'm not sure about Zara. Princess Anne is generally the busiest overall, but I don't know if a lot of that includes Zara, as she has her own career. Most of William/Kate/Harry's age group do very little in terms of engagements, although I would guess that more is expected of William and Kate, given William's position as heir. It seems that right now, it's more expected of Queen Elizabeth's children to participate, and that the expectation will be higher now that her grandchildren are older. It will be curious to see how the statistics change over the next 2-3 years, as the royal family does seem to be in transition.

http://www.examiner.com/british-roya...ready-for-more

http://www.examiner.com/british-roya...for-themselves

[KemAlnagdy]

^ i heard that Charles wanted the working members in the family to be the queen , DOE , he Camilla , William , Harry and Kate only , and Sophie's engagements were shrinked ! but she will work along with the count , also Beatrice and Eugenie will work more this year , as they will get a royal job !

[ATM1985]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KemAlnagdy ^ i heard that Charles wanted the working members in the family to be the queen , DOE , he Camilla , William , Harry and Kate only , and Sophie's engagements were shrinked ! but she will work along with the count , also Beatrice and Eugenie will work more this year , as they will get a royal job !

I'm a bit skeptical of that. Princess Anne most often been the hardest working member of the family, which doesn't quite fit with the idea of the focus on Charles' line. I would also guess that Sophie's smaller number of engagements are because of her and Edward's desire to have a lower profile - by an agreement Louise and James, their children weren't given princess/prince titles.

Beatrice might work more because she's done with university, but Eugenie won't as she's still in school, and that has always taken precedence over royal engagements for the two of them (and most of the royal grandchildren).

[Lacroix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATM1985 We had a blurry picture a few months ago where she did a quiet, private visit to a school for their art program. The Daily Mail got wind and criticized her for not wearing a skirt, despite it not being an "official" visit. We also just recently heard that she will be getting medical certification. And the palace itself announced that post-marriage, Kate would be taking some time to research charities and projects, to determine where she what she wants to devote her time to. Also, in all likelihood, she's probably being further coached for her future role. There's a lot of etiquette and protocol that goes along with being royal, not to mention that William is the future king. There's a lot she needs to learn. I don't think it's fair to critique what she's doing with her time, as that's something we really don't know - nor is it our business. .

She's a public figure. What she does with the time - time paid for by the taxpayer - is people's business to an extent and when looked at in context. What you've listed is paltry at best and smacks only of duty and necessity as opposed to a drive to want to do it.
Also, in all likelihood, she's probably being further coached for her future role. There's a lot of etiquette and protocol that goes along with being royal,
It's probably things like that make people deride the monarchy. I mean, really; spending your days - and life - attending to something as useless as that.

[glitterpeacock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lacroix She's a public figure. What she does with the time - time paid for by the taxpayer - is people's business to an extent and when looked at in context. What you've listed is paltry at best and smacks only of duty and necessity as opposed to a drive to want to do it. Also, in all likelihood, she's probably being further coached for her future role. There's a lot of etiquette and protocol that goes along with being royal, It's probably things like that make people deride the monarchy. I mean, really; spending your days - and life - attending to something as useless as that.

As much as I love Kate, I have to agree with this.
I'll save my criticism until she's had her first few years though because I still believe that the biggest wastes of money are Beatrice and Eugenie.

[impossibleprincess]

Give the girl a break. They're clearly trying to avoid another Diana situation where she's given too much too soon and she ends up going slightly loopy. Didn't Harry even say William would have married her a long time ago had it not been for the fact that he was a member of the Royal family and that's a lot for a girl to take on? She's been in the public eye pretty much every week since she got married which is quite a lot given she's new to all this.

She's going to be our Queen one day - and she'll be doing hundreds of engagements by then.