This "Catherine the Great" story in Tatler just broke my mind so I am going to have to tweetstorm it sorry

This is the lede. Um wat?

"gruelling" = 11 engagements in 1 month. (Next graf: "She’s working as hard as a top CEO.")

"Out went safe shift dresses, in came silk pussy-bow blouses and softer blowdries." WHAT IS A SOFTER BLOWDRY

"Worse yet, Carole’s brother, Kate’s uncle Gary, is a flamboyant boulevardier"

This sourcing is so glorious: Kate's brother's ex-girlfriend's anonymous "friend"!

"her carefully modulated voice, coached with the help of the late Anthony Gordon Lennox, Old Etonian nephew of the Duke of Richmond"

"In 2018, the Queen bestowed on her granddaughter-in-law the Royal Family Order." (This really needs to be read in conjunction with the explanation in Harper's Bazaar that "Kate doesn't have a sash (yet), but it's likely she's working her way there.") https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a24125335/kate-middleton-royal-order-queen-elizabeth/

Kate wanted to wear tights at the wedding rehearsal even though it was hot! Meghan thought it was too hot for tights! This is a FIGHT, PEOPLE

OMG WHAT AM I READING ‘Kate is one of us in the sense that all her friends are Sloanes and aristocrats,’ says one of her group. ‘She’s very much decided that that’s her tribe, even though she wasn’t actually born into that background.’

"Then there’s her ‘Turnip Toff’ crowd, the Norfolk Sloanes, including Sophie Carter and Robert Snuggs, who live near Anmer Hall. And the Cambridges’ glamorous Houghton Hall neighbours, Rose Hanbury and her husband, the Marquess of Cholmondeley." GLAMOROUS TURNIP

Wherein we segue from "perilously thin" to "vigorous exerciser" in 2 short sentences

Do not try to make sense of this sequitur. Just accept it. If your brother announces a charity in LA, *obviously* that means you can't drive your kids to school in England

CONCLUSION: "Kate has emerged as the ultimate power player." Kissinger is quaking, I am sure

Oh wait I forgot the link! Here it is https://www.tatler.com/article/the-duchess-of-cambridge-is-the-julyaugust-cover