For more than seven years, we’ve heard about the Duchess of Cambridge’s keenness. She’s keen about so much – keen to really get going, keen to truly take on more work, keen to become a full-time royal. Despite all of the “she’s so keen” PR, we mostly see Kate as someone keen to NOT work. But that was before… you know. Now that she’s had her third baby, Kate’s keenness has come along once again. For months, we’ve been hearing that Kate will do a big launch for her new charity project, something she’s been working on for a while, something which will be the biggest thing she’s ever undertaken. It’s supposed to involve kids and mental health and the people who have fallen through the cracks of “Broken Britain.” The launch date seems to be getting pushed back – I could have sworn that Kate was supposed to launch it this month. But now she’ll launch it in January, maybe. And the Daily Express had a big hype piece about it:

The Duchess of Cambridge aims to become the Royal Family’s charity powerhouse next year and prove her credentials as a future queen. Kate, 36, who visited Her Majesty alone at Buckingham Palace last week, is to put any petty squabbles with sister-in-law Meghan Markle behind her. After months of planning, she is to announce a fresh care initiative for struggling children in the new year, which could change the balance between royalty and politics. A team of academics, advisers, experts and aides has been working with Kate for around a year and studying Britain’s most crippling social problems. Aides believe that the project will cement the duchess’s future as a serious-minded, hard-working royal and future monarch.

One family friend explained: “There are those who are satisfied to turn up to get headlines and raise money, and there are those who want to get stuck in and make a difference. That is very much Catherine. If you’re looking for the causes of poverty, poor mental health, poor housing and poor social care, the politics also have to be dealt with. So there might be bumpy times ahead for her. But she has given this everything she’s got and is determined to make it work. Catherine would be the last person in the world to use the phrase Queen of Hearts but if the crown fits…?”

The mother-of-three’s campaign is being co-ordinated with the Royal Foundation charity, set up by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. Her aide Aida Cable – head of the foundation’s young people programmes – has been liaising with independent experts. Aida, daughter of Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable, is expected to submit a final report for Kate’s approval within the next few weeks, prior to the new year launch. The duchess’s plans are understood to have the full backing of the Queen and of veteran social campaigner Prince Charles.

[From The Daily Express]

“Catherine would be the last person in the world to use the phrase Queen of Hearts but if the crown fits…?” LMAO.

“There are those who are satisfied to turn up to get headlines and raise money…” That’s literally what’s expected of royal patrons. Many charities don’t want a duchess or a prince mucking around in the minutiae of their work because their work is complicated. Most charities really need a royal or celebrity patron who will come in and raise the profile of the charity and help them fundraise. And, incidentally, Kate has been terrible at that. She fails to show up at her patronages’ fundraisers, she fails to adequately represent them in public events, and there was a lot of talk that some of her patronages were looking to toss her aside and get new patrons.

As for the larger narrative of “Future Queen Kate’s Years of Keenness Has Finally Led to This,” we’ll see how the launch goes. I’m sure Kate has assembled a large team of people who have done a lot of work, for which Kate will get/take “credit.” But mostly I think Kate will be launching some initiative which will be like Heads Together – an umbrella organization for several different existing charities, and Kate will get credit for creating more of a bureaucracy around them.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.