Before I go ahead with my post, I would like to make a site-related comment. If I’ve done everything correctly, you should have already been redirected from my WordPress-hosted site, katemiddletonreview.wordpress.com, to my new self-hosted site, katemiddletonreview.com. This new self-hosted site has all the content from the WordPress site. Everything is the same, except it is self-hosted on its own domain. Oh, and I changed the theme. I got tired of the old one. I will leave the WordPress site up, and will continue to post on it, as I transition to the new self-hosted site. Anyone who followed my WordPress site, I would ask to follow this one now instead. There is a “follow” button in the bottom right corner. I hope this transition goes over well. I appreciate your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience.
The rest of this post will cover some random bits ahead of the start of the Cambridge’s tour of Australia and New Zealand. The Cambs arrive in New Zealand on April 7th around noon, but with the time difference it will be tonight (April 6th) for me. It has been a bit ridiculous with the pre-tour coverage. Anything to fill space and get clicks I suppose. It’s not like Will or Kate has done anything recently. I guess Will did attend a statue unveiling with the Queen and Philip (how great does the Queen look, by the way), but Kate hasn’t done anything except shop in a while.
First, there is an article from the Telegraph about the Maori dancers that will greet Will and Kate when they arrive. According to the article, the female dancers who are usually topless for special occasions such as this will cover up their breasts, and the male dancers who usually do not wear underwear will wear black underwear. It is tradition for the women to go topless and the men not to wear anything under their flax skirts. The dancers have apparently been instructed to cover up so they don’t “embarrass” Will and Kate. While I can understand the decision, I think having the dancers cover up is dumb. The topless dancers are a tradition in the Maori culture, and it’s rude to force them to change. I understand the “blushes” thing and not embarrassing guests, but it is also important to respect different cultures and their traditions.
Here is a Katie Nicholl (via the Daily Mail) article about how Kate is totally the new Diana. This time it’s because Kate is taking an interest in helping sick children by being the patron of children’s hospices—even though Kate can’t say the word palliative correctly. They really need to stop with the Diana comparisons; all it does is make Kate look bad. I am kind of surprised that Kate seems to focus so much attention (it’s not that much, but compared to her other charities, it is a lot) to the children’s hospice thing. I never do get a sense that Kate really connects to the children or anything, and it’s not like she really lights up when doing the children’s hospice thing like she does when she’s doing something sports related. I kind of feel like the children’s hospice thing was something chosen for her—possibly in an attempt to make her seem more like Diana?—than something she chose for herself.
According to the Mirror, Will and Kate will be spending a night in a luxury tent at Ayers Rock (also known as Uluru) when they visit. Not going to lie, that actually sounds kind of cool. Add that to the list of things to do if I ever visit Oz. BTW, Charles and Diana also visited Ayers Rock during their 1983 tour—because Will and Kate must recreate that trip to gain public support, right, because Kate’s the new Diana.
That’s all for this post. New posts happening later today when the Cambs arrive in NZ.