Skip to main content

Kate’s ‘Eat, Pray, Picnic’ video vibe was corny but the subtext was clear: ‘I’ve changed’ | Barbara Ellen

The Princess of Wales wasn’t just cosplaying middle class with that video, she was totally reclaiming it

Give the Princess of Wales her due, she got our full attention with that video. Posted on Instagram to mark the completion of chemotherapy to treat her cancer, and her reintroduction to public life, filmed by Will Warr in rural Norfolk, it was instant PR dynamite. The Veronica Beard boho dress (a sell-out, naturally). Those flickering sepia-soaked scenes with Prince William and the children; wheat fields, haystacks, hugs, kisses. The heartfelt voiceover, and overall “Eat, Pray, Picnic” vibe, all pulsing with keynotes: home, family, recovery and hard-earned positivity.

How fascinating. Pointed. Revealing. You could appreciate why some fellow cancer sufferers might find it overly photogenic and filtered, and not just in terms of the images. Might the rupture with Harry and Meghan be playing into it? Probably. (When does it not?) It’s also telling how the video swerves palaces, grandeur and other jarring wealth motifs (mindful that British people are under financial pressure?). After the cyclone of scrutiny surrounding her diagnosis, one could easily imagine Kate feeling pressured into appeasing the ever-ravenous double-headed triffid of media and public. Rarefied regal reserve doesn’t cut it these days. Red meat must be thrown to the hounds.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ZoROnKA

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

England booed off after failing against Iceland once more in Euros warm-up

It was a long way from being the triumphant Euro 2024 send-off for Gareth Southgate and his England players at a sold-out and increasingly fretful Wembley. Never mind the result because it was not the main thing, however much it stirred memories of you-know-when against Iceland. It was the performance that raised the difficult questions, the worst one for quite some time and at exactly the wrong time. The home fans, thousands of whom made for the exits before the end, were forced to watch the second half – from about minute 55 onwards – through the gaps between their fingers. And it had not been great before that. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/4ndfQL0

Manchester City in title driving seat after cruising to win at Leeds

The title stare-off becomes steelier with each week. Elland Road was at its raucous best and a highly motivated Leeds played well enough to ensure Manchester City rarely neared full stride. Nevertheless the leaders mastered the situation, showing they can win via set pieces when means of higher aesthetic merit elude them. Rodri and Nathan Aké proved the point with goals in each half, garnished later by Gabriel Jesus’ sixth in three matches and a Fernandinho daisycutter, and Pep Guardiola’s delight at the outcome was obvious. This had been a possible banana skin, with the potential leveller of such a highly charged atmosphere; instead City cruise on and Leeds, who are in genuine danger of going down, must seek more viable routes to safety. This encounter had an edge from the outset. It needed to, because the heat had been turned up on both teams. City would have expected Liverpool to achieve what was necessary at Newcastle; Leeds might not have banked on Burnley’s turnaround at Watford...

Bins ‘overflowing’ in parts of England as Covid hits collections

Staff sickness in areas including London, Gloucestershire and Somerset leads to waste services being scaled back Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Bins across parts of England are reportedly “overflowing” with rubbish from the festive period due to Covid-related staff shortages. London, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Buckinghamshire are among the areas where councillors have warned that bin collections are being scaled back because of staff sickness. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3qIHK0C