‘Yet if you look back at what Mantel actually wrote, it’s barely contentious at all’. Yes, it is contentious, because the suggestion is that William had and has no love for her. By extension this suggests that William had no desire to marry someone he loved. On Kate’s side, the suggestion is that William had no personal attraction to Kate and that she married for the money and title.
Of course, Hilary Mantel might be correct. However, if she is incorrect, her suggestions are highly offensive.
You can see the £££ signs revolving behind her eyes. She and the Markel creature are very similar, it’s just that “Kate” is more subtle. I remember discussing the proposed marriage with a much older friend, who said something that has stuck with me – “he’ll never be able to divorce her; her family will never shut up and behave.”
“Kate seems to have been selected for her role of princess because she was irreproachable: as painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks, without oddities, without the risk of the emergence of character.“
The style is LRB – the substance is just catty gossip.
Totally agree. If this happens in a room with gilded chandeliers, heavily draped velvet curtains and wind breaking dogs before the fire place (perhaps even onlookers through peeping holes), I think the words ‘having intercourse’ or ‘consumating the marriage’ are more appropiate. Lets ignore the other abomination in this article.
The royals can’t have it all ways. They want to be seen, be one of the people, all over social media, open up about the problems etc, etc. If that’s what they choose to do, they shouldn’t be surprised when some turn on them if they don’t get what they want.
The royals are better being aloof, secretive and private.
Arthur King
1 month ago
UK culture is very trashy when it comes to dealing with the royal family. Canadians mind their own business.
Alison Tyler
1 month ago
Poor woman, she needs defending and leaving alone. No one in their senses would want to be Royal, there is no reward great enough to make it bearable.
Dougie Undersub
1 month ago
Kate doesn’t need protecting from “the people”. The people are quite happy for her to be left alone to recuperate. And of course, the pious agencies have never knowingly published an airbrushed photo of a celebrity …
leculdesac suburbia
1 month ago
Um,
Michael Layman
1 month ago
The problem lies not with Kate, but the Internet, where a tiny minority of trolls and naysayers control the conversation. Of course, the media outlets are whores to the matter, selling their stories and advertisements.
One cannot blame the monarchy for being over protective to the point of concealing information. For me, the recent uproar is much ado about nothing, and perhaps indicative of her popularity. I suspect that 99% of the populace views her in a positive light.
Oh, and as far as Colbert, his fall from grace is complete. He has managed to slide from a once respected late night comedian, to mediocre talk show host and finally a pathetic gossiper who is attempting to be funny.
Harry Child
1 month ago
Now Catherine has told the media of her treatment for cancer it should make all the adverse commentators on here reflect on jumping to conclusions.
Kasandra H
1 month ago
It’s so stressful to have your affairs out in the open where everyone has an opinion and you’re not even the one to willingly divulge them in the first place. Once everyone knows, everyone has an opinion. Think the only communication needs to be between her and her family and their treatment doctors/ practitioners. XO
‘Yet if you look back at what Mantel actually wrote, it’s barely contentious at all’. Yes, it is contentious, because the suggestion is that William had and has no love for her. By extension this suggests that William had no desire to marry someone he loved. On Kate’s side, the suggestion is that William had no personal attraction to Kate and that she married for the money and title.
Of course, Hilary Mantel might be correct. However, if she is incorrect, her suggestions are highly offensive.
Hilary Mantel is dead.
In life she was an Irish weirdo and thus hated everything English, no more be said.
I think you mean gifted writer.
The two are not mutually exclusive.
You can see the £££ signs revolving behind her eyes. She and the Markel creature are very similar, it’s just that “Kate” is more subtle. I remember discussing the proposed marriage with a much older friend, who said something that has stuck with me – “he’ll never be able to divorce her; her family will never shut up and behave.”
I don’t know, I read it and pretty soon it veered off into a discussion of Henry VIII, who is what Mantel really cared about.
Something tells me it would have been contentious had a man written it.
The devil is in the details. The details I couldn’t help but notice convinced me that Kate and William loved each other.
“Loved” past tense?
You obviously aren’t aware of the sequence of tenses rules of reported speech, Clare.
…
“Kate seems to have been selected for her role of princess because she was irreproachable: as painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks, without oddities, without the risk of the emergence of character.“
The style is LRB – the substance is just catty gossip.
No woman who wears a see-through dress to catch a man is “irreproachable”.
MEOW!
I’m not wrong, though. Manipulative madam, and lazy with it.
An improvement on Anne Boleyn?
Wasn’t Rachel first?
Not a princess.
This is just a piece of flummery. Sarah Ditum is better than that (i thought).
The author has nothing to say, but says it in many words. 🙁
So true!
Dictum’s use of the word “fucked” was a painfully obvious attempt to give her otherwise inane article street cred.
It was juvenile, jarring and useless.
Totally agree. If this happens in a room with gilded chandeliers, heavily draped velvet curtains and wind breaking dogs before the fire place (perhaps even onlookers through peeping holes), I think the words ‘having intercourse’ or ‘consumating the marriage’ are more appropiate. Lets ignore the other abomination in this article.
Or ‘had sex’ even.
True, but it woke me up mid-article.
A rather silly, bitter column.
And rather long.
The royals can’t have it all ways. They want to be seen, be one of the people, all over social media, open up about the problems etc, etc. If that’s what they choose to do, they shouldn’t be surprised when some turn on them if they don’t get what they want.
The royals are better being aloof, secretive and private.
UK culture is very trashy when it comes to dealing with the royal family. Canadians mind their own business.
Poor woman, she needs defending and leaving alone. No one in their senses would want to be Royal, there is no reward great enough to make it bearable.
Kate doesn’t need protecting from “the people”. The people are quite happy for her to be left alone to recuperate. And of course, the pious agencies have never knowingly published an airbrushed photo of a celebrity …
Um,
The problem lies not with Kate, but the Internet, where a tiny minority of trolls and naysayers control the conversation. Of course, the media outlets are whores to the matter, selling their stories and advertisements.
One cannot blame the monarchy for being over protective to the point of concealing information. For me, the recent uproar is much ado about nothing, and perhaps indicative of her popularity. I suspect that 99% of the populace views her in a positive light.
Oh, and as far as Colbert, his fall from grace is complete. He has managed to slide from a once respected late night comedian, to mediocre talk show host and finally a pathetic gossiper who is attempting to be funny.
Now Catherine has told the media of her treatment for cancer it should make all the adverse commentators on here reflect on jumping to conclusions.
It’s so stressful to have your affairs out in the open where everyone has an opinion and you’re not even the one to willingly divulge them in the first place. Once everyone knows, everyone has an opinion. Think the only communication needs to be between her and her family and their treatment doctors/ practitioners. XO