There is no secret that the Kate community loves to get up-to-the-second updates on everything Kate. We are sure any Royal Reporter would confirm that the interest in not only what Kate is wearing, but what she’s doing and what she’s saying are near all-time high levels. The downside to the constant curiosity of Kate is the hand-in-hand constant questions about her looks, her actions, her work… Everything about her. When we got this article from WWKD reader Christy Hamilton, whom some of you may know as @CambridgeAwe on Twitter, we knew we had to share.
No stranger to the royal watcher community, Christy has been extremely interested in the royal family since the age of 11. She shares that she’s now 46, so that’s over 35 years of royal watching experience – and life experience – to draw from. We are thrilled to share her insights on the world’s fascination with everything Kate, coupled with the negative comments often associated with it, and hope that you enjoy Christy’s great article.
For those of us who love to keep up with all things Kate, the internet provides us with instant gratification. This constant stream of information has allowed the public to develop a deep sense of connection that many of us never had with Diana. We don’t have to wait for the nightly news or the paper the next morning to see pictures of Kate at her engagements. We are usually inundated with tens (if not thousands) of photos from all angles and of all movements of our favorite royal. While this is extremely gratifying and exciting, it also comes with its own set of problems.
I’m sure those of us on social media have gotten a comment or two that stung a bit too much and ruined at least part of our day. We’ve learned that if we put ourselves out there, there is going to be criticism. But let’s imagine for a minute or two how this affects someone in the spotlight like Kate. We don’t know if she reads articles, blog posts, Twitter posts, or other forms of media about her, I’m going to assume for a moment that she does in fact check these out every once in awhile. Can you imagine what she must feel like having every single thing about her scrutinized and picked over? If it ruins our day having one mean or rude comment said to or about us, what must it feel like to be torn apart from head to toe, being harshly criticized about how we speak, move, gesture, or appear?
In this day and age, it’s easy to sit behind a computer and anonymously comment on a subject. When the subject is a person, famous or not, we should all bear in mind that what we are saying could possibly be read by said person and could do more than ruin their day. Kate has to have a thick skin, or she wouldn’t be able to be William’s wife and future Queen (Consort). We can all make the excuse that she “knew what she was getting into,” and therefore it doesn’t matter what people say about her, but this doesn’t excuse any of us from the moral obligation of being kind to one another.
Lately, it seems that the biggest criticism of Kate is her size. Comments like “she’s too skinny,” “she should eat a cheeseburger,” or “she’s definitely anorexic” are common after pictures of her engagements are posted. Body shaming is body shaming, no matter one’s size. The fact that Kate can climb a mountain without breaking a sweat, sprint with a smile on her face the entire time, or have an 8 1/2 pound baby and stand out on the steps of the hospital for the world’s cameras hours later tells me that she is in terrific shape no matter what anyone thinks she should weigh.
Before we write any comment about her or post any criticism, we should stop and think about what we would feel like if it was said to us; if we read that very comment about ourselves. Kate is a person before anything else, and thick skin or not, no one is impervious to those feelings of defeat while being torn apart by others. So while we all enjoy commenting on Kate’s fashion choice, make up, hairstyle, or other aspect of her life, let’s not forget to practice kindness in doing so and have fun with it without being mean-spirited. Knowing what we do about Kate, I believe she’d do the same for us!
We love seeing how Kate has impacted people in their daily lives, and Christy’s great coverage of thinking about what Kate would do in a situation many of us have faced is only one great example of that. Thanks for sharing with us, Christy!
Do you have an article you’d love to share with the WWKD community? We’d love to hear from you!
That was so sorely needed. Kindness seems to be one of Kate’s core virtues and she deserves it as well. it makes us all better.