Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit the City of Derry Rugby Club in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Photo / Getty Images
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit the City of Derry Rugby Club in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Photo / Getty Images
OPINION:
Never work with animals or children, or so the legendary Hollywood saying goes. Clearly, this is not an adage that applies to royal life where during her HRH career, Kate the Duchess of Cambridge has spent an inordinate amount of time crouched on heels chatting to shy, bouquet-toting preschoolers and has, so far had contend with lambs, elephants, goats, a rhino, alpaca and at least one snake.
On Wednesday she added a tarantula to that list after asking to hold the eight-legged furry creature while she and husband Prince William were at Ulster University. (He, meanwhile, saying it was "very cool" and that "George is obsessed with snakes – he's going to be so upset he missed this." Don't worry George, you've got decades of handling all creatures great and small for the cameras to come.)
The royal couple also practised their kicking skills, watched Gaelic games and resisted the urge to dance when greeted by students playing traditional instruments.
The Cambridges arrived in Northern Ireland about 15 hours after walking the red carpet at the premiere of the latest instalment in the Bond franchise, with the duchess debuting the most dramatic (and fabulous) look of her royal career, wearing a heavily embellished, sculptural Jenny Packham gown. It was a portrait in dazzling self-assuredness and the sartorial equivalent of "Hear me roar".
Kate, Duchess of Cambridge handles a tarantula called Charlotte from Kidz Farm during a tour of the Ulster University Magee Campus in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Photo / Getty Images
If anyone was labouring under any sort of assumption that Kate might ease back into the work after taking an unusually long and unexplained 66-day break from her royal duties over the northern summer, this week has put paid to that.
Rather, the takeaway from this week's outings is clear: The Cambridges are coming out swinging.
With the UK back open for business, all the signs are pointing to the duke and duchess ramping up their goodwill efforts as the royal house tries to put this year's turbulent and deeply damaging events behind, while simultaneously preparing as the clock ticks down to a once-in-nearly-a-century shift at the top.
2021 started off abysmally for the house of Windsor with Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex launching an unprecedented fusillade against the Firm during their Oprah interview. Intense global scrutiny abruptly turned on the palace, which suddenly stood accused of institutional racism, a callous disregard for mental health and a malignant indifference to suffering.
While Britons generally sympathised with the royal family, the Windsors suddenly had a stars-and-stripes-themed target on their backs and some serious reputational damage to try and patch up.
Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visit City of Derry Rugby Club in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Photo / AP
Polling done of ethnic minority Brits weeks after the Sussexes' Oprah outpouring found that a relative majority of non-white voters (43 per cent) said they believe the royal family is racist. On the question of whether the UK should "continue to have a monarchy in the future", 43 per cent agreed, while 40 per cent said they wanted an elected head of state. Harry and Meghan had been treated unfairly by the royal family, according to nearly half (49 per cent) of respondents.
There are also troubling developments brewing on British soil.
In 2019, 46 per cent of 18-to-24-year-olds thought that the UK should continue to have a monarchy. That figure fell to 40 per cent in 2020 and as of earlier this year was sitting at 31 per cent.
A roughly 33 per cent fall in only two years? That sort of abrupt decline in support amongst the next generation should have courtiers stress-eating their way through packets of Duchy of Cornwall shortbread.
While the Duke and Duchess are clearly in the midst of ramping up their personal work on climate change, mental health and early years development, the bigger picture is that the royal family is in the midst of a readiness campaign to try and safeguard the crown ahead of the tumult of the coming years.
The Royal couple visited the rugby club during a one day visit to Londonderry. Photo / AP
Like a historic house in an earthquake zone, for Buckingham Palace it is a question of when, and not if, it is going to be shaken to its very foundations when the crown is handed down to Charles.
With Harry and Meghan having long absconded to live compassionate and authentic lives down the road from Ellen, that responsibility to shore up the monarchy ahead of this period of seismic change now falls exclusively to William and Kate.
Whether the crown emerges intact is pretty much on them, and them alone.
Like politicians on the campaign trail, the royal family must be astutely aware of which segments of Britain wholly support them (retired colonels, Tatler readers, people who collect commemorative shortbread tins) and those who are much more ambivalent about this whole hereditary monarchy palaver, which is to say younger and racially diverse audiences.
It is against this backdrop that the Cambridges' smiley, sunny outings should be read, not as them resolutely getting back to the 9-5 grind, but as part of this project to (try at least) to both patch their image up post-Megxit and to future-proof the throne.
Prince William, left, and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, arrive for the World premiere of the new film from the James Bond franchise No Time To Die in London. Photo / AP
Which is how we get to a future Queen in under 24-hours going from Oscars-worthy glamazon to demonstrating her best football moves to holding a tarantula, all as part of a hard week's work.
Also on the agenda yesterday, the usual tucking in to of local fare, including indulging in a regionally appropriate tipple. "Now we're talking – I'm going to go for a whiskey," William said, according to the Telegraph, before enjoying some Tayto chips. (Kate settled for a half pint of Guinness.)
Later, while playing a game involving trying to pronounce Irish names, William joked: "I'm going to have another drink – I'm not doing very well at this."
