Kensington Palace’s staffers are so bored right now. Prince William and Kate have been on vacation for months and there’s nothing to do other than cover up all of the problems in the Wales marriage. That’s why KP staff put their stink on that ridiculous “Americans love William” story, and KP also stage-managed this new piece in the Telegraph: “The year Kate became a true queen in waiting: From accompanying the King and Queen on an official engagement to raising her own profile, the future of the monarchy is in safe hands.” After an exhaustive inventory of Kate’s pitiful accomplishments (Kate wore a repeat, Kate’s queenly jazz hands, Kate’s Early Years busywork, Kate cosplaying a businesswoman), the Telegraph gets to the meat of it: Kate is a 41-year-old woman who is still learning and promising to eventually be keen. Congrats, everyone, we just got keened again.

Kate’s event with Charles & Camilla last year: “It was perhaps a more important moment than people realised at the time,” said one royal source. “It was the first joint engagement they had done in years, and when you look at the way the Princess of Wales has stepped up since then, it takes on even more significance.”

The Keen Template: “It’s quite tricky for William and Kate to know how to fit into this new role,” said one royal source, “but the King really did make a template for them and his encouragement, support and thought for how to do it – not telling them what to do but supporting them – is obvious. He knows how you make a role for yourself when you are not the head of state, and how you fill it sensibly and wisely, and William and Kate are both doing that.”

Camilla is seething: The Queen, too, is more than happy for the Princess to attract the headlines. Camilla has never been one to seek publicity, other than for the sake of the causes she champions, and she has not always found it easy to keep pace with the busy daily schedules that are a way of life for the King. Those close to the Princess say that not only do she and the Queen share a natural affinity as women who have both given up relatively normal lives when they married into the Royal family, but circumstance has often thrown them together, such as when they have ridden together in carriages at formal occasions, which has played a part in nurturing their friendship.

Kate is keen to do more!!! “It’s quite clear that Kate is keen to do more,” said the royal source. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another major project that she is intending to launch in the medium term. Obviously she will be consulting the King and Queen before she does that.”

Kate’s Business Taskforce: “This year has been a real milestone year for her,” said a palace source. “She has been focusing particularly on the area of work she is passionate about – early years and young people’s mental health – and the stepping up in that work has led to greater prominence. But the Princess – like the Prince of Wales – is getting on with the job, doing as much as possible to have as much impact as possible within the issues she cares about.”

A life in thirds: “She has devised a life plan based on dividing her time into thirds,” said one. “A third of her time is for parenting, a third is for being a wife – spending time with her husband and supporting him – and a third is for her projects and royal duties. I can’t imagine that will change, though with all three children now at school she will be juggling her time slots around, spending more time on her projects during the day and more time on the children in the evenings.”

It sounds like Kate doesn’t want to travel anymore: The logistics of trying to keep three children in check are rather more complicated. Apart from a week-long trip to the Caribbean in March last year, the couple have restricted foreign trips to a couple of days here and there, and have not carried out a blockbuster tour of any of the major Commonwealth realms – Canada, Australia, New Zealand – since 2016. That may be about to change, with palace sources saying plans for the next overseas tour are in the pipeline. With increasing talk of realms becoming republics, Project Kate will be vital to not only the future of the monarchy, but Britain’s influence on the world stage.

[From The Telegraph]

It’s always so amazing to me to read what amounts to William and Kate telling us how they need to be perceived. This is “image-making” in real time, only the Kensington Palace Brain Trust (Jason Knauf, assorted Tory political operatives, broke-ass Carole Middleton and a gopher wearing one of Kate’s wigs) can’t help but show their hand, over and over again. It’s literally all projection with them and every day is Opposite Day. Which means that Kate’s position has never been more tenuous, that she’s been relegated to a tiny separation cottage, that her marriage is in real trouble, that she’s so unimportant that no one will even let her hire a new private secretary (she’s been without one for a YEAR). You know what is also really pointed? The Camilla section – Charles and Camilla have the knives out for Buttons. Camilla wouldn’t even let Kate borrow a tiara for the coronation!

Note by CB: Get the Top 8 stories about Princess Kate’s Early Years Business Initiatives when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays.

Photos courtesy Avalon Red, Backgrid, Buckingham Palace, Cover Images.