The Princess of Wales turns 42 years old on January 9th. After her first full year as PoW, it feels like people are really underwhelmed by Kate’s whole (lazy) deal. Part of it might be familiarity breeding contempt, but Kate and her people spent the Cambridge years promising to be keen once Kate got the upgrade, and now that the title upgrade has happened, Kate is still the same old person only her hairpieces have gotten even cheaper and more obvious. Anyway, Becky English had a lengthy piece about Kate’s birthday and what the future will hold for Katie Keen. Some highlights:

The birthday celebrations will be low key. ‘They’ll be at Windsor as the children are just about to start back at school, so it will just be family,’ a source says, almost apologetically. ‘But to be honest, that’s just the way she likes it.’

People expect her to step up: While William has had to step up as the new Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and take on a whole host of further responsibilities, the demands have also been noticeable for his wife. And things are going to start shifting up a gear.

Kate might get a Garter robe: There is much chatter in royal circles that King Charles might even seal his daughter-in-law’s new position in the near future by appointing her as a Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior Order of Chivalry in Britain, established by Edward III almost 700 years ago, inspired by the tales of King Arthur and the gallantry of his Knights of the Round Table. The appointment, personally chosen by the monarch for service to the crown or national life, would cement her seniority and place her alongside Queen Camilla, the Princess Royal, Princess Alexandra (and the Royal Knights who include her husband Prince William, Prince Edward, Prince Andrew and the Dukes of Kent and Gloucester). Many senior figures believe that after more than ten years of peerless royal service she deserves a place in their ranks in her own right.

Keen royal warrants: There is also talk that the Princess – as well as her husband – might be given the power to issue her own Royal Warrants for the first time. Pressure is growing on the King to decide which members of the family he should permit to issue these sought-after marks of honour, a tradition which dates back to the Middle Ages and enables senior royals to allow companies who regularly provide them with goods or services to use their coat of arms. Holding a Royal Warrant, which can be displayed on their business premises, products, packaging, stationery, advertising and vehicles, offers huge commercial kudos both at home and abroad.

Kate’s royal warrants could boost the local economy: The prospect of Princess of Wales warrants would be welcome in many quarters. Several existing holders I have spoken to believe the value to British businesses of having the Princess of Wales officially endorse them would be almost incalculable. ‘It would be a huge boost to British industry,’ said one. ‘Interest would go through the roof, particularly in areas such as fashion and lifestyle.’ A royal source told me that the issue of whether the Prince and Princess of Wales would get the power to issue their own Royal Warrants was a ‘grey area’ and that a final decision rested with Buckingham Palace. ‘They are aware of it. Hopefully something will happen sooner rather than later,’ they added.

Kate could go on another solo overseas trip: I am also told this year may see the Princess of Wales undertake her first solo royal overseas visit for two years, the last being to Denmark in February 2022. While there is nothing in the diary yet, it is said to be something that the Princess is ‘actively considering’, in addition to a working trip to Rome with her husband this spring, which I exclusively revealed in the Mail last month, and is long overdue. For while the Waleses are a formidable force together, travelling abroad on her own would give Catherine a chance to spread her wings and better highlight the causes she is personally passionate about.

Lazy Kate: Indeed, the Princess’s workload is something that often prompts debate — and can elicit complaints that she is not pulling her weight. The annual round-up of royal engagements published last month (unofficial, but rarely disagreed with by palace aides) calculated that she carried out just 134 engagements in the previous 12 months – approximately one every three days. It is without doubt a fraction of those carried out by other senior royals well into pensionable age, including the King (516), Princess Anne (410) and even the 79-year-old Duke of Gloucester (190), and quietly noted to be a ‘little on the low side’.

Kate is rankled by the lazy label: This is something that rankles those close to her, however, who stress that she and her husband have long made clear their desire to be more involved with a smaller number of charities, both in front of and behind the scenes. One tells me: ‘What the court circular numbers don’t show is the hours and hours she spends with the team designing the programmes you see in public. Like her husband, she is deep in the reeds of the planning, something which isn’t reflected in the number of engagements undertaken each year. It’s irritating.’

Living in Adelaide Cottage: While the sad death of Queen Elizabeth in the autumn of that year — on the day the children started at Lambrook School — put paid to plans for them to spend more time with Gan-Gan, the move has been ‘good for them all’, says one who knows them well. There’s a trampoline in the garden and the children can often be seen cycling around the Windsor estate with their parents.

[From The Daily Mail]

During all of the coronation fuss, I kept thinking how weird it was that Kate wasn’t already a member of the Order of the Garter or the Order of the Thistle. I kind of shrugged it off because I think it takes forever for the “married-in” royals to get those kinds of honors, but yeah, it definitely feels like QEII made a point of not giving Kate specific honors, and Charles is doing the same. It would be a big deal (in those circles) if Kate became a Lady of the Garter or whatever. As for Kate’s laziness… yeah, they’re irritated by Kate’s refusal to do more. I think even Charles and Camilla are probably half-annoyed by Will and Kate’s laziness, even though Charles and Camilla are also extremely jealous of the heir and the wig.

Also: “What the court circular numbers don’t show is the hours and hours she spends with the team designing the programmes you see in public.” What programs?? She’s re-launched her Early Years bullsh-t three different times and each time, it’s the same old “awareness raising” word salad. What’s worse – the idea that Kate is too lazy and ignorant to do anything, or that she actually believes that she’s working her fingers to the bone on all of this asinine busywork?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.