Queen of Hearts: How the Duchess has made sick children her mission

[SophieChloe]

 :goodpost:

If she was truly concerned about those darling children, she would visit her own charity more often.

[FanDianaFancy]

Pardon me for repeating myself  again.
Double post auto-merged: April 18, 2014, 06:10:43 PM

This is the second article about Kate sobbing and being moved to tears with sick children... There are over 400 photographers all of them focused on Kate Middleton and not one has caught her crying or teared up, yet this is the second article where the DM paper writes that Kate is moved to tears. She was not moved to tears, the pictures say so, despite this fictional recreation of the events to make Kate look good... I agree with the paper that most of us would have cried and crying would have made her look good but she didn't, she did, however, wear high heels and her hair all over her face to visit these terminally ill children and that is her idea of looking good... I don't think she is a bad person, but she is not the Teary Queen of Hearts the DM is fictionalizing...

Kate and William are moved to tears as Royal couple visit Sydney children's hospice | Mail Online

I  do not articles like this.

There is  a fine line between  being  a doer/caring/involved  person and patronizing something, someone. Belittling.
The  situations  of terminally  ill children  is very  sad.
They are dying.
No tears  help and they and they  families  are usually  passed  the dying stage and crying and sadness  and the  focus is   on their  living  by making each  day  count.  The kids  usually get  to do things  set  up by organizations  and  meet  people  , things like.     We  all have read  of things like  going to the ballgame. Meeting  the Broadway cast  of some family friendly  play. Horse  therapy. Therapy dogs.
A  train ride.   Starlight  Foundation.  I  coukd  not think of one organization here that does this sort  of thing. That is one  of many, but hardly enough.

Right there, maybe if K  had this as her focus , she  could set up something to take these kids and familiesto a day  in the country.  Horses. Fresh air.   Some  Lord/Duke/Lady  has  hundreds of acres. They  could spare  one acre.

WTH do I know. I am not her pr  person or  subject. Just sayin'. That is all.
Double post auto-merged: April 18, 2014, 06:28:43 PM

I  do  not mean to sound  critical of the P&P WnK.

This line fromthe article,
"Giving her only speech of the tour, Kate said she wanted to create a 'community of best practice' with East Anglia Children's Hospice, of which she is patron in the UK."

Read more: Kate and William are moved to tears as Royal couple visit Sydney children's hospice | Mail Online
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If that is true,then she should!!!!!

Time will tell but  as has been been their pattern,I  do not think you  will have to wait  long to see  no resultsof such.

I do not want  to be critical.
The  "moving to tears."  Quote of PW  "wanting to sob"  , booo-whooo....who are the  these people's  pr  people.  takeit, this is something unusaul,not  normal, only heard of not seen  in their world, but the crying  makes  it  seem thy  are  out of touch. Belittling.

I  say to those who have healhty  kids, THANK GOD it is you!!! I mean that sincerely.
Nothing like having a child  who  is  not  tube fed, in a chair, not cognizant  or being able to comprehend, can't  run, hug you  or  do something  wrong where they need a  time out  , swat on the bottom.
For those who have children who are Special Needs, they  day in, day out, never ends.
It is very hard.

Before anyone ehre is criticalof me..."How could say such a thing....about thanking God it is not you..."
I work in places where there  are Special Needs Kids.  I  have had no  dealings with them who are severe.
They are not dying. It  is  a lot.

Back to the Golden couple. Seems there Pr  teams should have told  them, do not  cry or mention that. Give them briefs  of waht they  would see. Google a pic  of kids in situations. PreparePreparePrepare.  Smile. Be normal as if  you are around family, friends healthy  kids.   No one wants to see you on verge of tears , turning pink in the face, voice swelling up...to make  a point that you care.

[cinrit]

It's true that Kate (or anyone) could take these children for an outing in the country, riding horses, or having a picnic.  But the children are at hospice to receive palliative care.  In the pictures, there are children that obviously could not ride horses, or maybe not even be in a condition to ride out to the country.  If Kate were to take the ones who are able, how might the ones who aren't able to go feel?  Would they feel neglected or overlooked or sad that they couldn't go?  She's doing the best thing that can be done for them right now, and that's just to be there with a smile and a few words.  These aren't just sick children ... sadly, these are children at the end of their life.  The fact that they're in a hospice means that they are at a point where they are unable to be cared for (medically) at home.

Cindy

[TLLK]

^^^I have to agree Cindy. From what I am reading I'm not sure that everyone understands why the children are at a hospice. This is for end of life treatment. They're only two of these facilities in Australia and bed space would be limited. Trips funded by Make-A-Wish etc...would have already happened.

Picnics, pony rides etc... are just not going to happen at this point.  :no:

From what I have read neither of the Cambridges were "sobbing," while meeting with the staff/families. I can understand why they needed to blink back some tears and take a deep breath. Especially when meeting with a child who is the same age as George.

If they needed to have a cry later than they'd do it privately IMHO.

[FanDianaFancy]

YES, we all understand the difference between hospice. Hospital . Special Needs. Terminally ill. Dying. Living  to die. There is no cure.
Severe Special Needs  with no comprehension  of their awareness, etc. Special Needs  but  not severe.
These are all  5 or 6 different situations which I listed above.



I said in my post above,
"The  situations  of terminally  ill children  is very  sad.
They are dying."

That  is different  from SpecialNeeds kids who are able to communicate or even dying but are  not able to do so and are not even aware of their  surroundings or themelves, etc.

We  all here  know the differences.
Maybe a hospic, that place  mentioned in the article in England  would not be best  for K.
The kids are dying. No  crocodile tears are needed. No pity from anyone. They  are  living to die and the families  count each day as a day  alive.

I was clearin my  post about that.

Rereadmy post.

I  did not state between the  first two paragraphs  ,I am talking about kids who are dying and not cognizant vs. those who are dying  , but  are cognizant.

I did site in the other paragraphs the  difference between the   Sp.Needs and hospice.

Truly, when you think about it, what would be the purpose  of  her supporting  that hospice in England? Certianly not being on verge of  tears with  serious  faces giving a  speech to  staff, some media, and parents.
The  kids are dying. Some  might be   able to  communicate  ...ex. termianl cancer  but not on morphine  yet... or on it in and out of conciousness, etc.
Support  for  hospice  care  is impt. To have these  places for families  to ensure care  with dignity for their children.
A push for her govt.to make these. 

To sum it up, Sp.Neds doesn 'tmean dying  all of the time or not able to  communicate,etc.
We  all know the differnce between hopstial adn hospice and even at Children's Hosptial and still there, if it  is  last stop before hospice or if they at  a Children's hosptial arevery severe, but not dying.
Croc Tears, face, lip service, hand shaking to parents, touch to  patients who are not cogizant,  etc. is not so good  when  dealing with such an emotional  cause.
Either P K n W  or PK is in all the way  the right  way  or not. Just  stick to shopping!

[cinrit]

^^ The purpose of Kate supporting the hospice in England (or visiting hospices in New Zealand and Australia) is to put a smile on the faces of the children.  Hospices not only provide palliative care for the terminally ill, they also provide spiritual and emotional support.  A special visitor to bring some sunshine into their lives, means a lot.

Cindy

[TLLK]

 And fortunately we have other members of the royal family who are patrons of charities/foundations/hospitals that cover a whole spectrum of healthcare needs not just the terminally ill.  :)

[FanDianaFancy]

 I am not being critical of you Cindy.

Yes, Cindy, for the few  who are  able to  comprehend.  Be cognizant. 
Many  are not.
Some are.
Many smile but  it  is not a real smile. It  is just a  muscle reflex.
Maybe those who are  in that state , YET, can  be  out  to some fantasy place  for sick kids

Bringing awarness to the place and the need for places, I get that more than her  visit. Funding, I get. What TTLK said, I get too.
So back to this thread. Really, the place in England  and all is  just  pr  , media  printed  words   by TPTB  for  K.

This  board, nice place to talk.
This  Golden Couple,   are what   they  aren and will continue to be  as they  are.

[Limabeany]

I will also repeat myself again, FanDianaFancy, terminally ill children in a facility where they are cared for, is an incredibly sad situation to witness that would make anyone teary, however, there are no photographs of either Kate or Will ever, at any Hospice in such a condition and with hundreds of photographers there, it would have been impossible to not obtain such, not one sobbing or crying or whatever is claimed they didn't do because they have a stiff upper lip and are strong can wait until they are alone and regally self-composed or whatever other reason, but teared up. Repeating the definition does not make anyone less cognizant of what a Hospice, nor does it magically produce a photograph of William and Kate Teary eyed on such occasions. Kate has visited each of her charities only one time last year, I don't think this is evidence of caring by a long shot, it just makes it seem like she needed to pick charities and sick children would make her look good and be grateful for her visit making her look even better so she picked that, those visits would make her seem caring but she rarely does any of those, not the fictional private ones she allegedly makes to explain the idle time in her schedule but the kind that would put the Hospice in the headlines bringing in donations from the general public... Visiting your charities only once a year when you only have 9 is, by no stretch of the imagination the action of a caring person however much she may smile on the few times she ventures out to work...

This  Golden Couple,   are what   they  aren and will continue to be  as they  are.

True Dat!  :nod:

[SophieChloe]

How long has she been back from the tour?...any sign of her "mission" for these children.....?
Or is she still sleeping of the jetlag  :Lothwen:

[cate1949]

well I'll chime in - first - to some extent this looks like exploitation - aggrandize Kate by using dying children.  Rather cynical.  Second - Kate is going to bring best practice to UK hospices?  I say bull to that - she is no professional - show some respect for the professionals - they know what best practice is - it is the FUNDING to achieve best practice that may be at issue.  So raise some funds super woman.  Third - I am sure she is genuine in a desire to help - you would have to be made of stone to not be touched by the children's lives being cut so short - by their suffering - and by the grief and stress of care of the families.  Fourth - I do not mean to be controversial but why must the woman do the kids charities?  Yes I know Harry does wellchild - but it seems her charities are all "girly" - go get involved with e regimental trust fund or support a scientific project.  It does start to seem a bit misogynistic. 

My problem is we get all these articles about Kate - yet nothing ever happens.  Raise some money.

[SophieChloe]

That is what makes me so cross about Kate.  Such a platform to do such good, and what does she do with it....nish...apart from empty platitudes... :thumbsdown:

[FanDianaFancy]

I agree  with cate.
Good post.

[Orchid]

-Second - Kate is going to bring best practice to UK hospices?  I say bull to that - she is no professional - show some respect for the professionals - they know what best practice is - it is the FUNDING to achieve best practice that may be at issue.  So raise some funds super woman.

Interesting perspective, cate, but I particularly agree with your critique of "best practice". To align Kate so closely with developments in best practice is extremely causal and absurd. It's also an insult to the actual policy makers and staff who develop such practices.  Knowing many people in the healthcare profession (NHS and private) I have a reasonable understanding of the complexities in developing improved working guidelines. A patron would not be involved on any level.  You used the term "aggrandizing" to describe the effect on Kate and I think it's a perfect description in this particular context. But also, I find that most of the duties and fanfare that surround the royals aim to aggrandize them. It's often (from my pov) image-making over substance.

- I do not mean to be controversial...

There's nothing "wrong" with controversy. It's often controversy that drives people to explore truth. :thumbsup:

[TLLK]

well I'll chime in - first - to some extent this looks like exploitation - aggrandize Kate by using dying children.  Rather cynical.  Second - Kate is going to bring best practice to UK hospices?  I say bull to that - she is no professional - show some respect for the professionals - they know what best practice is - it is the FUNDING to achieve best practice that may be at issue.  So raise some funds super woman.  Third - I am sure she is genuine in a desire to help - you would have to be made of stone to not be touched by the children's lives being cut so short - by their suffering - and by the grief and stress of care of the families.  Fourth - I do not mean to be controversial but why must the woman do the kids charities?  Yes I know Harry does wellchild - but it seems her charities are all "girly" - go get involved with e regimental trust fund or support a scientific project.  It does start to seem a bit misogynistic. 

My problem is we get all these articles about Kate - yet nothing ever happens.  Raise some money.

IMHO she's involved to bring awareness to the hospice care facilities that are available in the UK, Australia, NZ for the youngest patients. Showcasing that there is an alternative to long term hospital stays for the terminally ill. Especially if homecare is not a viable option. Regarding the press involvement and the royals during the visit, the parents have choices.  As the patients are minors then it is the decision of the parents to allow them to be photographed/filmed by the media during a royal visit. If the press is going to on the premises then the parents have say in the matter.

It is misleading though for the press to insinuate that anyone who is not a healthcare professional, mental health worker or specialist therapist would be involved in making policy that determines the end of life treatments/care for the patients.