British in backlash against ‘out of touch’ Kate after rare speech
The world has moved on in the two years since Catherine started chemotherapy and an angry Britain has reacted badly to her ‘love over profits’ speech that marked her comeback this week.
Breakfast at their new eight-bedroom Georgian mansion, Forest Lodge, may have been a tad awkward this week as the Prince and Princess of Wales began to digest the impact of Catherine’s latest appearance in public with a rare speech. The carefully curated moment at the City of London on Tuesday (local time), was at first glance, a typical diary moment in front of hand picked 80 business attendees.
Hair? Glossy and gorgeous. The clothes? A well cut Roland Mouret suit and ruffled silk blouse.
The clothes hung off Catherine’s very thin frame, but otherwise she looked well and spoke authoritively in her first speech in two years.
Importantly, did business get the core element of the speech: to be more flexible about working arrangements for employees with young families?
Those in the room may have understood Catherine’s message about encouraging “love to flourish” was a subtle pitch for them to allow their staff more time off, work from home and be flexible about working hours.
But the public response was particularly harsh, centring not around Catherine’s message that she is back and thriving, but of their own message of struggle.
The world has moved on in the two years since Catherine started her medical treatment for cancer. And Britain at the moment is very angry.
The fury has been directed firmly at 10 Downing Street, with lame duck prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, and his inadequate chancellor Rachel Reeves paralysing the economy as Ms Reeves flip-flops about even more tax rises to help pay for unfettered illegal migration. Now that rage is spilling over to the royals.
The monarchy may be collateral damage for what’s going on at Westminster, with Britons finding it almost impossible to see a doctor, and, with rocketing prices, often having to choose between heating their homes or eating.
The royals are an easy and obvious target of those criticising privilege, wealth and hands-on nannies.
But this time some of the worst criticism has come from readers of the up-market and extremely pro-royal Telegraph newspaper.
Princes and courtiers alike will have been horrified to read the comments under the paper’s article about Catherine’s return to public speaking. They may have been expecting remarks that appeared in The Australian noting her “class” and “charm”.
Instead the British readers accused her of being “out of touch”, “tone deaf”, with “a terrible look”, and appearing “pompous” As reader SA Jure noted: “It is easy to prioritise ‘time and tenderness’ when you don’t have to prioritise footing the bills.”
Among other comments suggesting Kate “get a job,” reader Alex Wright wrote: “This is tone deaf. Most couples (except those on benefits) are feverishly juggling to keep career and home plates spinning just to afford decent housing – and all in a country whose policies consistently make it more and more difficult.”
Things didn’t get much better after William and Kate appeared at the Royal Variety Show on Wednesday. Readers agreed Kate looked beautiful if too thin, but Kanga Roo wrote: ”She’s definitely better seen and not heard. Telling us how to live our lives this week was not appreciated.” Drew Peboles wrote: “Rough sleepers were in awe”.
Over at the Daily Mail, another reliably pro-royal newspaper, readers were also piling in. Shashony wrote: “How nice for them. Meanwhile british men and women are sleeping rough and freezing in this cold weather. But wait!!! Illegal immigrants are being given the 4* TREATMENT. The Royals MUST SURELY KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON.”
Toadcardsteel joined in with: “Willie and Katy have 32 Regal estates to choose from. When Willie becomes King, he will lord over seven palaces, 10 castles, 12 homes, 56 cottages, and 14 ancient ruins where he can hang up his crown. … All this when full-time middle-class workers in the UK struggle to survive. This Royal wealth (unshared) is not only Obscene, it is Immoral. All the cutesy Royal family pics and all the glad-handing and tales to whip up public sympathy will Not make this Obscenity go away.”
And so on across Britain’s media.
The blow-back comes as the living standards of the British population continue to cave, with no obvious solution or government solutions in place, other than to tax those who create wealth and are not among the hundreds of thousands of high net worth individuals who have already fled the country.
What should have been an innocuous Catherine moment has turned out to be a canary in the coal mine, a signal for the entire monarchy that they have to be seen to be relatable, or at least understanding of the difficult plight of the nation and certainly not hector about net zero initiatives – hello William – and how to raise a child aka Catherine’s well intentioned interventions.
It has been easy for critics to load onto the now commoner Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for his extraordinary ill-judgement, hubris and friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. But if the ire of the nation is now turned on Catherine, the most popular member of the royal family, the monarchy will have to ask how relevant is this Carolean era to the British population?
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