Articles by Charlotte Foster

Technology

Kate Middleton's mum gesture for Prince George that ended in disaster

Princess Kate has long been known for tapping into her creative side, taking part in art projects while on royal engagements and often flexing her talent for photography with portraits of her family . And while the Princess of Wales is seemingly good at everything she attempts, she once admitted that there is one craft she couldn’t wrap her head around when she tried it several years ago - knitting. Kate revealed that she first tried her hand at knitting in 2013 when she was pregnant with her eldest child Prince George , and attempted to hone the skill to make her new baby some hand-knitted clothes. According to Hello! , she told a group of royal fans while visiting Glasgow: "I've been trying to knit and I'm really bad. I should be asking for tips!" Years later in 2020, during a trip to Bradford, Kate visited Older Yet Wiser - an organisation that supports grandparents - and met with some grandmothers who were showing off their impressive crocheting skills. It was at this wholesome meeting that Kate revealed she had tried and failed to make Prince George a hand-knitted jumper, telling the group: "I tried knitting when I first had George. I tried to knit him a very special jumper, but I got halfway down and it splattered. It's such an amazing skill." The Princess of Wales has often got in touch with her creative side while on royal outings, most recently being when she joined a group of children for messy play when she visited a children’s hospice. She joked "the messier it is, the better the fun" when she joined children playing with clouds of flour. The princess helped them make imaginary cakes with plasticine and flour, and chatted to mothers about her own children. The princess spoke to sisters Mariam Namakula, 30, and Sumayya Nabatanzi, 28, from Oxford, as their combined five children ran around having fun. When one of the children injected Kate with a toy syringe, the princess was left with flour on the jacket of her trouser suit and she asked another child “what are you making, are you making a cake? Delicious”. In September, Kate also tried her hand at fabric printing while on a trip to Marina Mill in Cuxton, Kent. The princess donned an apron and looked excited to get involved, as she was shown how the fabric is dried and then transferred, before she got her hands dirty to print her own fabric.

Technology

'I worked at Buckingham Palace - everyone had same complaint about Prince Andrew'

A former royal chef had spoken out on his experiences working in the kitchen of Buckingham Palace , revealing which member of the royal family was more difficult than others. Dan Ottaway, who worked as a chef in Buckingham Palace and often cooked meals for the late Queen Elizabeth , has spoken candidly of his whirlwind experience working for the Firm as he started a new role as the executive head chef at a high-end hotel in Ireland. Ottaway said that among all the members of the royal family that he served, Prince Andrew was “quite difficult” and “much more demanding” than others, while also heaping praise on a sweet act by Princess Kate . Ottaway told the Irish Independent that Prince Andrew would bombard the Palace kitchen with extravagant last-minute requests that were difficult to fulfil and put the kitchen staff under immense pressure. He said: “We used to say that he was quite difficult, he would have been more demanding than the rest of them for sure. There would have been last-minute requests for lunches, guests, and stuff like that. Other family members would have told us weeks in advance because they understand we needed to prep for them.” Ottaway added that Andrew’s unreasonable requests kept coming, saying: “But knowing, sort of, that he could get away with anything really, because who’s going to tell him off really, nobody. And he was probably the queen’s favourite child, he was definitely different to the rest of the family in his meal requirements.” While the former chef admitted it was difficult to work with Andrew, he said the opposite about the Princess of Wales , revealing that Kate would always bring the children into the kitchen to thank the chefs after a meal. He said: “She didn’t want them to be ungrateful or whatever but it meant a lot to us in the kitchen to see the kids really bubbly. The former royal chef’s claims echo what a former palace staffer told biographer Andrew Lownie about Andrew and Fergie’s lavish feasts , and how their demands for expensive and luxurious meals may have contributed to Sarah’s financial struggles. The sacked staff member reveals to Lownie that "greed and wastefulness that contributed to the duchess's financial downfall." The former courtier claimed, as reported in Lownie’s explosive book Entitled: "Every night she [Sarah Ferguson] demands a whole side of beef, a leg of lamb and a chicken, which are laid out on the dining room table like a medieval banquet. It's a feast that would make Henry VIII proud." The source continued: "But often there is just her and her girls, Bea and Eugenie, and most of it is wasted. There is no attempt to keep it to have cold the next day. It just sits there all night, and the next day it's thrown away." The book also alleges that "her butler had to get in at 4.30am to put watercress on ice".

Technology

Prince Andrew's crushing blow as Brits deliver blistering verdict on disgraced royal

The public reputation of Prince Andrew has been in tatters for several years, as new details continue to emerge about his friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein . Now, in the wake of Andrew announcing that he would be rescinding his royal titles and honours amid the allegations against him - which he denies - his popularity in the eyes of the public has taken yet another nose dive. Pollsters from Ipsos asked the public for their opinion on Andrew just days before he made the shock announcement, and asked the same question just days later, with the polls having vastly different responses. The poll ran between October 10 and 11 - one week before Andrew’s announcement about his titles - concluded that 74 percent of respondents held an unfavourable view of the disgraced royal. The same question was posed by Ipsos on October 20 and 21 - just days after Andrew handed back his royal titles and honours - which saw his approval rating drop by a whopping 8 percent, with 82 percent of respondents holding an unfavourable view of the former Duke of York. Respondents were also quizzed over how well they thought the royal family at large handled the situation with Andrew when allegations first came to light several years ago. Two in five Brits responded that they believed the Firm had handled the situation poorly since Prince Andrew first came under fire for his relationship to Epstein, while an overwhelming 88 percent of Britons agree it was the right decision for Andrew to give up titles in the wake of the ongoing scandal. As discussions continue about introducing a new law to give the monarch the ability to remove royal titles, 51 per cent of Brits think there should be an Act of Parliament to officially remove Andrew’s titles - such as the Duke of York. A further 36 per cent of respondents believe an Act of Parliament is not necessary given that Andrew has vowed to no longer use his titles, while just two per cent of people said Andrew should not have to relinquish his titles at all. Despite the huge change in Prince Andrew’s popularity, the public view of more senior royals - such as the Prince and Princess of Wales - and the entire royal family as a whole, has not drastically changed, with many still holding them in a favourable light. Two in five Britons continue to think it would be worse for Britain if the monarchy was abolished in the future, Prince William remains the fan favourite member of the royal family with a favourability rating of 69 percent. The huge dip in Prince Andrew’s popularity rating comes after he announced on Friday that he would be renouncing his royal titles and honours in a bombshell statement issued by Buckingham Palace , as he said: "In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family . "I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life. With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me."