Kate Middleton has had the title Princess of Wales for a year in September. Of course, no matter what status she’s held within the Royal Family, she’s always taken care to be humble and happy when meeting members of the public. Kate’s been the patron for several charities, including a children’s mental health charity.
Not long ago, she also created her first campaign as the Princess of Wales, while her husband, William, has focused on his new role as the Prince of Wales. In late June, Prince William started a campaign to help solve the homeless crisis in the UK.
Simply put, William and Kate have continued to work hard as the Royal Family moves into its new era. Even so, one royal commentator has accused Kate of wasting money while her country is in a living crisis.
Kate Middleton has proven very popular since becoming a member of the Royal Family. This is helped by how she engages with members of the public, but also her down to earth approach that covers everything from the way she talks to the way she dresses.
Which is why it’s strange whenever criticism is leveled at her.
Princess Kate – charity and royal patronages
Over the years, Kate has taken on several royal patronages. The Princess of Wales has shown a strong interest in many good causes, including sports, history, child care, and mental health.
Every year, each member of The Firm receives many requests from different organizations asking for their support. The official royal website describes that the so-called patronages “add status to an organization, and visits and involvement from a Royal Patron can often bring much-needed publicity.”
Since the royals get hundreds of requests each year, the members usually limit their patronages to a manageable number to give each organization quality time. Kate Middleton has done precisely that.
Some of her patronages include Action for Children – helping with family support, foster care, adoption, child neglect, and disability respite therapy – and the children’s mental health charity Anna Freud National Centre For Children And Families.
One of the patronages closest to Kate’s heart is East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, which supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions. Moreover, she is involved with the Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Kate has taken on about 20 royal patronages throughout her time in the Royal Family. Queen Elizabeth II covered more than 600 during her lifetime, so it’s safe to say Kate has a long road ahead.
Prince William launch campaign to end homelessness
Though she has a range of titles that reflect her external interests – such as the Royal Photographic Society and the Rugby Football Union – in June 2021, Kate founded the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood to help coordinate her work with children. It is also supposed to serve as a point of contact for other charities on the same subject that the princess could help and be a part of on her own.
As mentioned, mental health has always been very close to Kate’s heart. In 2019, she launched a new campaign for children’s mental health; at the time, some royal insiders argued that it would be a big part of her life’s work.
Of course, Kate’s not the only one in her family working on social issues. In the middle of June, Prince William launched a major five-year campaign to end homelessness. He said it should not exist in a “modern and progressive society,” with his foundation putting in three million pounds of start-up funding to help make homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated.”
“Everyone should have a safe and secure home,” Prince William said, adding that he wants to stop the “prejudice and stigma” around homelessness.
The BBC reports that more than 300,000 people are currently homeless across the UK. Prince William wants to have local coalitions of charities, price industries, and housing experts develop specific housing projects and support services to help people experiencing homelessness today.
But while some have praised Prince William’s new campaign, others aren’t convinced. Graham Smith, with the anti-monarchy group “Republic,” lashed out at the future king, calling him “hypocritical..”
“The last thing we need is for William to get involved in this issue, a man who has three huge homes and a vast estate gifted to him by the state,” says Graham Smith of the anti-monarchy group Republic.
Princess Kate criticized for outfit “mishap”
A Kensington Palace spokesman answered, saying that Prince William wants to use his platform to try and make a positive impact.
“This isn’t about a PR stunt. This is about trying to change the way that we as a society think about homelessness,” the spokesman said.
While William announced his campaign to battle homelessness, royal duties progressed for the rest of the family’s senior members. Kate Middleton attended the Order of the Garter ceremony, for example, only to then receive strong criticism for what she wore.
The princess donned a new polka dot dress from designer Alessandra Rich for the event. However, many thought it looked too similar to Kate’s dress at the Royal Ascot last year.
The new dress cost around one thousand pounds. The fact that she wore such expensive clothes while many Brits struggled with the cost of living and homelessness turned into a heated discussion. Royal commentators Michelle Thole and Rachael Andrews said she looked “beautiful.” However, the choice was a “mishap.”
“This was a bit of a flop, not the outfit, the circumstances under it. It just didn’t sit well,” Andrews said on their podcast Keeping Up With The Windsors, as reported by Express.
“And this year, she had on shoes that looked very similar to ones that she’s previously worn before, but again, its a different designer, but they look almost the same.”
Reportedly spent $337,000 on her wardrobe in 2022
Rachael Andrews added: “She’s obviously got her favourite designers but why [is she] picking a dress that’s so similar? Why not bring out the dress you’ve previously worn? Last year the dots were a bit smaller or this year’s were, and that was about it, and the colour. Come on!”
The royal commentator added that Kate’s stylist, Natasha Archer, also had it wrong. Andrews argued that she should have noticed that Kate already had a similar dress, and that she did not “need” the new one.
Michelle Thole stated that the decision to have a new dress “made no sense to her.” Especially since all clothes are tailor-made, which makes them even more expensive.
Figures revealed that the Princess of Wales spent $337,000 on her wardrobe last year, royal expert Daniela Elser reported in January. She argued that Kate’s 2022 events didn’t explain the “sartorial excesses.”
“It’s not as if she worked that much more. In 2020 she undertook 108 engagements, in 2021, that figure was 123, and last year, 138. And yet, over the course of that same period of time, the number of new things she has worn has risen from 134 in 2020 to 204 in 2022,” Elser wrote.
“So too has the average cost per item increased over those three years, from $1171 per item to $2007 per item.”
“It just seems like a big waste”
Rachael Andrews continued on the podcast: “As she’s Princess of Wales now, it is like she has a certain uniform, and I think we are seeing that, but she had so many outfits that she could re-wear to an event like this.”
“How many coat dresses has she got that she hasn’t worn more than once to a church service? Bring that out. Bring something out that you haven’t worn in eight, [or] nine years, and everyone would be like, ‘wow, she’s doing a re-wear, that’s so cool.'”
“We absolutely love Catherine and we’re normally all hot on what she wears but it just felt like a mishap this time and a lot of people felt the same,” Andrews added.
Thole concluded that it “does not look good” for William either.
“If it was a completely different dress, a completely different style, we wouldn’t be having this conversation but because it’s something that’s in her wardrobe already, it just seems like a big waste,” she said.
While Kate came in for much criticism due to her many dresses, William was recently under fire for his behavior towards her.
Some weeks ago, the Prince and Princess of Wales attended the wedding of Jordan Crown Prince Hussein and Rajwa al-Seif in the garden of the Zahran Palace in the Jordan city of Amman.
The wedding guests had a chance to greet the couple, sending them their best wishes for what was to come next. Cameras were all over the place, and they caught the moment when Prince William and Kate Middleton were to say hello to the bride.
William was criticized over his treatment of Kate
Prince William went first, and after exchanging a few words, it was Kate’s turn to speak. Yet after a few moments, William felt it was time to move on. While she chatted with Princess Rajwa, appearing restless, William gestured towards Kate, encouraging her to move faster. Moreover, reports suggest the future king told her, “chop, chop.”
Of course, William wanted only for Kate to hurry along. But his words have left several royal experts criticizing his behavior towards his wife.
Speaking to the Express, body language expert Judy James didn’t like what she saw. She said it wasn’t one of William’s “finest moments when it comes to either body language or words.”
“While he has clearly moved on from the meet and greet with the bride and groom, Kate stands talking to the bride in an animated and very friendly way,” James said. “She is not causing a ‘log jam’ [by] holding up the queue and the next guests are still talking to the groom, so there appears to be no logical reason for William to hurry his wife along, especially as she only adds a few seconds to the conversation.”
Moreover, the body language expert said that the hand gestures were “bad enough” She continued to congratulate Kate for ignoring William’s behavior. However, she added: “It has to be said that his behavior is overly dominant here, with his critical parent behavior putting her firmly in the implied role of naughty child.”
The prince was “rude,” James concluded.
Royal expert could “sense Kate’s tension”
“He could have walked back to stand beside his wife and used a subtle tie sign, like a small pat of the waist or back,” she suggested. “Most couples have subtle rituals that they use to communicate silently in public that don’t entail any obvious impatience, and the Waleses are normally very adept at these techniques.”
On an episode of the Podcast Royal, expert Rachel Burchfield said William was not disrespectful. However, she added that she could “sense Kate’s tension.”
“Husbands, do not do this, don’t do this. William told Kate to ‘chop chop’ as she spoke to the bride,” she said. “First of all William, you were talking to the bride forever, dude, and then Kate gets up there and she’s talking to her for like no time at all and then he/’s like chop, chop — no!”
“I know he wasn’t doing it to be disrespectful, I don’t think so,” she added. “But you can kind of sense Kate’s tension as they were walking off, or at least I could”
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