Happy Birthday, Kate!
Kate's big plans for January 2023
Today is the birthday of the Princess of Wales. In years past, William and Kate have hosted house parties at Anmer Hall and been photographed attending morning church services at St. Mary Magdalene the weekend of Kate’s birthday, often with members of the Middleton family and/or other friends.
This year, all was quiet on the Wales front Sunday morning, as King Charles was photographed attending services at Castle Rising’s St Lawrence Church, which is near his Sandringham Estate.
I don’t know if this year—because of the current media around William and the royals—the Waleses made other plans, or if we will see a permanent shift away from attending church now that the Queen is dead. I love the pictures we get of the younger royals attending church, and I hope this year is just an anomaly.
The Telegraph reports the Waleses are already back home at Adelaide Cottage, and, of course, the children go back to school on the 11th. William and Kate will kick off their 2023 shortly thereafter.
[T]he couple will be in the north of England for a long-standing engagement supporting one of the country’s most hard-pressed communities, a theme that will run like “a golden thread throughout the year”, according to aides.
Kate has been the subject of much media discussion thanks to the various revelations in Prince Harry’s memoir Spare and various comments he made in interviews that aired yesterday in the U.K. and the U.S. Although I am sure Kate is both hurt and annoyed by a number of the petty grievances Harry channeled from his wife to the media, at the end of the day, Kate is smart enough to let most of this nonsense roll off her back.
Among other things, Harry complained that Kate grimaced when Meghan asked to borrow Kate’s lipgloss before an event. I think most women agree it is very bad form to ask to borrow such a personal product. Rather than damage Kate’s reputation, this story, and others like it, have only served to cast the Sussexes in an even worse light.
Meanwhile, Kate is scheduled to run from strength to strength. After her very successful visit to Boston at the close of 2022, the Princess is set to debut what is suggested will be another landmark initiative. The Telegraph reports:
Later this month [Kate] will launch what royal aides describe as a “substantial” new initiative in her flagship Early Years campaign.
One source said she would be “straight out of the gates” with a “big moment” for her which she hopes will get the whole country talking about the importance of child development in the under-five age category.
Preparations for the King’s coronation mean the couple will not embark on a spring tour this year, meaning they will have more time to spend in Wales, deepening their bond with the principality whose name they bear.
While this is certainly a birthday like no other for Kate—her first as Princess of Wales, her first after such a massive change in the family with the death of the Queen, and her first with the Sussexes’ fire on her so directly—I can’t imagine she isn’t feeling calm and upbeat about the year ahead, because everything suggests she has a rosy year ahead.
Happy Birthday, Princess Kate!
