bitchy | Princess Kate is done being a ‘people-pleaser’ after pulling out of Ascot

Of all of the royal and royal-adjacent women, who would you consider the biggest people-pleaser? It’s the Duchess of Sussex, correct? Meghan tried so hard to fit in, she tried so hard to follow the rules and make everyone happy. The Princess of Wales is NOT a people-pleaser. She only “tries” when there are cameras around. She’s a follower who does what she’s told for the most part, and when she doesn’t do as she’s told, the institution tends to punish her severely. Kate is also not someone who bravely or resolutely pushes through anyone or anything. Her power is limited to getting away with the bare minimum and being praised for it – she’s spent years setting the bar lower and lower, and here we are.

Well, everyone’s still talking about Kate’s withdrawal from Ascot one week ago. Previously, a former royal staffer told the Daily Beast that Kate “has never found the public appearances, and the forensic attention and criticism that goes with them, at all easy to deal with, and it was just too much this week.” Well, now Ingrid Seward is chiming in about how Kate has suddenly decided that she can no longer be a people-pleaser.

Despite looking healthy and happy earlier in the week at the Garter Day procession at Windsor Castle, which came hot on the heels of her appearance at Trooping the Colour, it seems that a full day out in her finery may have been a little too much for the Princess when the time came.

“Kate might be back, but she’s doing it sensibly, and on her own terms,” Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, tells HELLO!. “Her priorities have changed and she’s listening to her body, instead of being a people pleaser. She’s absolutely got to be strict with herself and say: ‘No, I can’t do this.’ Maybe we’ve been lulled into a sense that we’ll be seeing her all the time again, because she looks so amazing. But it must be an effort to look like that when you’re not 100% full of energy.”

“Ascot is more exhausting than it looks; it involves an early start, and there’s a long process of hair and make-up and getting the right outfit. The royals have lunch at Windsor Castle; then there is a bumpy carriage ride while the whole world is looking at you. It was a very hot day, and she probably simply didn’t feel up to it. I’m sure she was disappointed and really wanted to be there at William’s side,” Ingrid adds.

“She loves racing and so does her mum. But this was a social event – for fun and pleasure – rather than an official or charity engagement, so I think it was a wise decision, even though it was probably a difficult one, too.”

[From Hello]

I actually think if they had just come out and said “Kate’s exhausted and she didn’t feel like she was up to going to Ascot for hours on a hot day,” all of this would have gone so much smoother and everyone would have been able to latch onto a relatively easy explanation. Instead, we’ve had a full week of wall-to-wall melodrama from “royal sources” and royal reporters who are all making it sound like people are crazy to expect Kate to show up to an event which was announced and on her schedule. This is a reminder that Kensington Palace still sucks at handling any kind of emergency communications, like a princess pulling out of an appearance at the last minute. KP’s incompetence has led us to “actually, riding in a carriage for Ascot’s royal procession is absolutely EXHAUSTING!” And once again, they set the bar even lower for Kate.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of Hello.