*Warning: this piece may be triggering to those recovering or suffering from an eating disorder*
When the press was going after Kate Middleton’s weight loss in March, outlets like Jezebel called out the tabloids for obsessing over her body and sensationalizing something that wasn’t that bad. However, her weight loss appears to have kept going, and now I can’t believe outlets like Jezebel *aren’t* talking about it, and its implications for women and body image.
It is difficult and conflicting to discuss a public figure’s (specifically a woman) body without feeling like one is body snarking. So I will head up this post by saying: I KNOW I’m concern trolling a bit, I feel slightly terrible doing it, but other than worrying about Kate Middleton’s stress levels, I will not cast aspersions on her eating habits (even if others do).
But, I have to share that I experienced genuine shock and awe upon seeing photos of Kate Middleton last week (below). Where I feel I have some authority of some kind to have certain feelings about Kate’s figure is that we are the same height. I’m not used to seeing public figures, other than Supermodels, who share my height. It hits home with Kate because, though our bits and pieces may line up slightly differently, looking at her, I KNOW where she is right now, and I know it’s not right.
This is the image I saw on Jezebel that stopped me in my tracks
Kate Middleton, as we knew her previously, was probably on the low but healthy end for her height. I would speculate she weighed 135-ish (possibly 140), which is very small for 5 foot 10, but still considered OK in terms of BMI. She was beautiful (still is), and appeared to be healthy and fit. I assumed she had great body image because she didn’t starve herself down to some ridiculous size. She was tall and fit, with a pleasant shape.
Then came the engagement and wedding. There were many stories about Kate slimming down for the wedding, and, yes, she looked great on her wedding day. (though I would beg the question of why she or anyone else felt she “needed” to lose weight for her wedding day!) But whether it’s due to stress (likely) or a conscious decision to continue with her regime, the weight appears to have continued to come off.
For some context, I am 5 foot 10 and weigh 218 pounds. I am overweight but not huge (thanks ridiculous, date-busting height!), and if you want, you can see pictures here. At my thinnest, I was 160 pounds and a size ten. The lowest I would conceive of going is 145, and that is a stretch at my height. Better context: Supermodel Gisele is 5 foot 11 (one inch taller than Kate and I) and weighs 130 pounds. I throw out these numbers only to give context — when you’re this tall, what are “big scary numbers” to other women are NOT to you. 130 might be average to chubby (w/o toning and depending on diet) for someone 5 foot 2. 180 would be obese. But for someone 5 foot 10, 130 is THIN and 180 is a HEALTHY GOAL WEIGHT. Food for thought.
Add to that that now I’ve had the scary privilege of seeing an actress both on screen and off, and I can confirm that the camera DOES add ten pounds. So if you think someone looks sickly in a PHOTO, they are TERRIBLE in person. I’ve seen rib cages that I can’t unsee. Look at pictures of Kate and imagine she looks thinner in person.
Based on my best estimates, Kate is hovering around 120 lbs, at 5 foot 10. That’s ONE HUNDRED POUNDS less than I weigh, and we are the same height, and I’m a size 14. She’s thinner than a Supermodel. Can you imagine if I told you I was trying to lose 100 pounds? You’d recommend therapy! But because Kate started out thin and “dieted for the wedding” and is a pretty, pretty princess, few are questioning her new body. And I imagine girls are looking up to her and have cottoned on to the messaging, as well.
This is where I worry, and started to worry as soon as the wedding slim down started: Kate is a role-model, whether she likes it or not. And the message she’s communicating is that a Princess must be super thin and pretty, even if she was already thin, HEALTHY and pretty to begin with. Maybe it’s just stress and once she’s adjusted she’ll put the weight back on. But right now, she is scary skinny — and I know there are women out there who see her as a role model.
In fact, it’s been reported in several media outlets that Kate is now a “success story” in the pro-ana community. While this doesn’t mean Kate Middleton *has* an eating disorder, it does mean that those who *do* look up to her. Hell, I’d bet some members of the weight loss blogging community look up to her too — body dimorphism all around!
Here is a small gallery of photos of Kate BEFORE (with some comparison shots). She was svelte, but NOT scary skinny. Oh, what a difference 15 pounds makes on a tall girl…
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- This is the image I saw on Jezebel that stopped me in my tracks
What do you think about Kate’s recent photos? Am I imagining things?
I honestly don’t see much of a difference over time – maybe it’s the clothes she’s wearing – but the biggest change I see is in her face which could be easily age or stress instead of weight related. Though all this really makes me glad that I’m not a public figure for whom looks are currently. The pictures vs. reality thing is really scary, though. I realized that’s why when I watch HBO every single topless woman’s ribs show through. Because to look normal-thin on TV, most people’s bodies need to be bone-thin in real life (which some people’s actually are, but a very small portion of the bell curve).
I don’t really follow the royals but had to say that language about size and weight is a pretty poor gauge anyways. I mean, obviously, I am not your typical un-toned person but I am 5’2″ and maybe slightly over 130 and you would kick me in the ass if I ever called myself average to chubby.
I stand corrected! I am clearly an equally poor judge of bodies as are many who can’t conceive of how “heavy” taller women are. WEIGHT FAIL, I HAS IT.
I think most people have it. Our preconceptions tend to be based on the very small sample size of people whose exact height and weight we do know. Which in my case is a sample size of about 2 (me and my mom, who interestingly enough are the same height and weight and several sizes apart). When I try to guess what other people around my height weigh, I probably add about 10-20 pounds because in my mind most bodies distribute poundage the way mine does.
People come in such a diversity of shapes and sizes in so many different ways which makes it all the more distressing that the people we see in the media tend to range from “thin” to “super thin.”
whaaat?? you seriously don’t see a difference?? wow. it’s a huge and very obvious difference. i can only guess-timate (yes i’m making up a word) how much weight she has lost, but i would say a good 15 lbs, and the smaller & thinner of a person that you are, the MORE that it shows up.
so, no, it’s NOT the clothes she’s wearing (though yes, they are a good couple sizes smaller, but her body has to be so as well to FIT INTO THEM!), and no, it’s not stress, it’s not anything but good old fashioned weight loss.
I think they should all stop talking about her body size and leave it to the pro-anas because their thing is to be obsessed with body size and the media obsessing over it in a similar fashion gives them a leg to stand on.
I find more problem with the focus more than her actual weight loss. I think it’s on all of us to refocus what makes someone admirable. I often think that living here in LA. You don’t know if someone lost a family member, if they’re deficient in a vitamin, if they’re going through something in their head, all these things that cause regular people’s weight to fluctuate like 10+ pounds but we’re just not in the spotlight.
But of course, when you lose the weight in Hollywood, it’s best to keep it off and reap the rewards and compliments! (boo)
It would be awesome for Kate to be a role model at any size and have weight not even be a factor, to have a girl says she wants to be like Kate Middleton and not have it imply that she wants to be thin or white or famous.
She’s thin now, maybe she’ll put on 100 pounds. What does she stand for? What does she do? What are her passions?
But the problem is that we don’t live in that vacuum. People comment on what Kate LOOKS like more than anything else — she is a new style icon, what is she wearing, etc. etc. The media PRAISED her for losing weight for the wedding, so are we surprised she kept going? So the focus on her has been wrong all along…
Correct, we do not currently. But change comes through doing. So if there is silence in the media about her size, I’d rather just run with it and have the outlets use that opportunity to focus on her as a person. And if there’s nothing to say about her as a person other than how she looks, media needs to start talking about people who do have things going on. Or have someone point out the fact that hey! we don’t talk about Kate unless it has to do with her body size, wtf is up with that?!
There’s so many groups doing things for women and girls to teach them about media and correct a lot of that stuff, giving pockets of younger girls the chance to grow up in that vacuum (http://ow.ly/3tap2), I think that now it’s on the older generations (which includes us *UGHHHHHH so old*) to get on board.
I love the blah blah tactic where if someone comments on a woman physically, to come back with a comment about her as a person sort of blahing over their comment. Guy friend: “Sarah Silverman is hot.” Me: “Sarah Silverman gave some really great advice to the organization I volunteer with the other month. Some of the best I’ve heard in Hollywood so far.”
I’m not saying Kate’s not thin. Just that there’s so many reasons for weight to fluctuate and she has a husband and family whom I hope loves her and worries for her more than I ever could and if they don’t, well, I can’t do much regardless.
OMG. Annnnnd I sound so much like a WriteGirl volunteer right now it’s weirding me out. I drank the Kool-Aid. I’m done. LOL.
amen emily!! that is my thought and my hope as well, even though i’m on here and just commented about her weight loss, but i touched on what you are talking about as well.
one can hope i guess?? i’m hoping. here’s to hoping that what a person is ABOUT becomes at least a drop in the bucket as important to the world as LOOKS are!
I don’t follow the Royals *at all*, but they have been forced upon me via various news sites like Jezebel. Anyway, I remember seeing a picture of Kate with Resse Witherspoon, and the author was all “whoa, Kate is skinnier than Reese,” and she really *was*. That’s kinda freaky.
On another note. We all know for a fact Diana was bulimic. I can’t help but wonder if something in being in the public eye and the stress of being a royal, etc.., etc… makes them more susceptible to it? In any case, I do hope those around her, particularly William and Harry, will pay freaking close attention to her mental health, given what their mother went through.
For context, I’m 5’4″, 171, and a size 14.
Ha. I feel like Kate has kind of been forced on me, as well LOL. I thought of Diana, too. It feels creepily like history repeating itself, though Diana had a whole other set of stressers (including the whole Charles & Camilla thing). It makes me sad that she felt compelled to diet for her wedding — did she feel the media pressure? Did the designer say something? Did a publicist say something? I don’t know.
I genuinely hope it’s stress and that she bounces back. As much as I don’t like talking about her weight/size, I’d rather state some kind of concern than congratulate her for slimming down for the wedding, as many people have. That she is a role model in pro-ana circles is incredibly distressing :/
I’m 5’2″ (and a half!), and my goal weight is 155. That’s high according to BMI, but it works for me because I have almost 120 of lean body mass. 130 pounds would be less than 12% body fat for me!
I hope Kate’s still healthy, even if she doesn’t look it.
Yeah, if someone told me to lose weight for my wedding, I’d tell them where to get off. Even if I were a royal (which is very much not the case, ha).
I would pay to see you punch someone for suggesting so
I was just going to ask your thoughts on the Dukan Diet and then I saw this post! It’s apparently what Kate used prior to her wedding to drop two dress size and it was her mother Carole Middleton who introduced her to the diet. It originated in France with Dr. Pierre Dukan and then lept across the pond via the Daily Mail to the UK, the diet then came stateside in April and is gaining momentum. It’s strikingly similar to Atkins even down to its four phases. It does however have some key differences.
Anyways, apparently Gisele and Jennifer Lopez swear by it but it just seems so stringent and strict I dont know how the average person can follow such a diet.
I was just reading about her visit to LA and I too was shocked at how skinny she is. She appears to have a naturally lean body but she’s looking kind of gaunt. Eat your soldiers and bangers, Kate – Will probably likes a little cushion for the pushin’!
I was just wondering about this. Maybe she did it so she could look all willowy and elegant for the million+ photos she’d be in on her honeymoon tour?
Or maybe she’s just the type who doesn’t eat when stressed. My thin size 4 mother forgets to eat all the time on a busy day. Then suddenly the stress is dealt with and she realizes she’s swooning with hunger. She has a big dinner to make up for it, but it’s still nothing near enough calorie-wise to make up for what she skipped. I’d say a giant wedding viewed by millions followed up with giant “honeymoon” viewed by millions is stress enough!
I feel bad for Kate. People say the same things about me ( we are pretty near identical in size) and I eat tons and do not stick my finger down my throat to throw up. I enjoy eating and having fun and being normal, but people see my size and judge me. I wish people wouldn’t do that. If you are classified as over weight, would anyone like it if I said they were a lazy slob who sits around eating garbage all day? Probably not. Just because someone is quite small, does not mean they have an eating disorder. Stupid magazines!
the first image where she is in the white dress compared to the reiss dress she has definitely lost some id say 10lbs to a stone(14lbs) you can see she no longer has saddle bags (excess fat at the hips) and her legs are slimmer and she looks almost gaunt.
she looks great in the white dress and she is sporty anyway so her figure was great there, id say a uk10 or a us6 but now she is at least 2 sizes smaller.
im only 5ft6 and way 14 stone 8 lbs (204lbs) im considered obese, but im a uk 14/16 or a us 10/12 which isn’t huge, so consider that and that she is 4inches taller than i am and at least 80lbs lighter.
I would agree with Pougnet…just because she’s skinny doesn’t mean she has an eating disorder. I think the reason people pick on her and so many other celebrities that are in a healthy weight range is because they aren’t normal. 66% of the US is overweight and half of them are so far overweight they are considered obese…that is the normal. Just because she’s not normal, doesn’t mean she has a eating problem. Maybe we should start a discussion about the eating problem that over 2/3 of the US has…what kind of example are they setting for our young people by stuffing their face with sweets, fast foods, and soda pop everyday.
I really like Kate and think she is beautiful, but I do think that her weight had dropped dramatically since she and William got engaged. She used to look glowing and very healthy, now a lot of the time her face looks very drawn in and maybe too thin. Obviously she is under the spotlight and being judged an awful lot and I could see how that would make someone want to look super fit all of the time, but as she is such a huge role model for young girls, maybe she has taken the slimming slightly too far. I suppose everybody is a different shape and some people are just naturally thin and as long as you are healthy I guess it doesnt matter, but I do think that Kate looked healthier when she weighed a few more lbs. But can I just say that she is stunning and so classy, hope she is keeping healthy!!
At 5’11.5 I weight about 150lbs, and people are absolutely shocked when I tell them because they think I must weight much less. People really do have a hard time guessing tall people’s weight..
Three years ago I fell down to a weight of 128lbs and I actually lost my period for 8 months because I had so little fat in my body. I looked more skinny than Kate does now, which is a scary thought. That weight loss was completely stress related and because I would get too busy to remember to eat. Thankfully I bounced back, but that was a journey that had it’s own stresses.
I imagine that for Kate, if she does try to bounce back to her pre-wedding weight it will be really difficult with the media commenting on each gained pound. I know that for me, even though I wanted to gain weight, it still irked a bit when people would comment and say “hey, you gained weight!” Because somewhere in your mind you worry that you’ll just keep gaining forever or something. And the media made weight gain into such a negative thing, even when it actually is a good thing for someone, that it is just not pleasant to have people commenting. Also, I know it is easy to internalize the image of yourself as someone “skinny”. People just comment about it all the time and it reaches a point where it’s your main defining characteristic. You almost feel like you’re changing more than your weight when you start gaining it back. That will be tough for Kate too, I imagine, more so because she is in the public eye.
I recently got married (at my current weight) and whenever I would see bridal magazines with their bridal diets I would laugh and eat some chocolate
. A wedding is a stupid reason to lose weight, especially when you are in a good weight range or thin. I’m so happy to weight a normal weight 
, it is such a relief to not have to deal with comments like “you’re too thin”.
I wish Kate luck with this weight thing. Once you are a certain weight it is hard to break out of it for social reasons. It was hard for me too with people commenting the whole time, but once you reach a regular weight and stay at it for a few months… suddenly people just stop talking and accept it as your weight.
I am 5′ 9″ and 123 lbs. I eat a very healthy, normal diet and I exercise regularly. My weight and height is NORMAL and I think many of you who are saying that Kate has an eating disorder may need to re-evaluate their own lives…
You’re so right Pougnet et al. I’ll bet that all female celebrities are naturally excessively thin and they sit around feeling really sad that nasty bloggers express concern about their excessive thinness. I mean, it’s so much more likely that their unilateral extreme thinness is totally natural and it is so totally far fetched to suggest that it has anything to do with the overwhelming pressure on women to be thin or be utterly devalued. We should really focus all our energies on making them feel better about their thinness. Forget the thousands of women and young girls hating themselves over how fat and worthless they feel because they saw yet another picture of Kate Middleton. I for one would like to express my sympathy and support for all the 120 pound 5’10″ girls out there- it’s so hard having the body type that is most valued by our society- people are so mean and jealous. And it’s even harder when people on the internet so meanly point out that for most women it’s not a healthy possibility.
no, you are NOT imagining things at all!!! i was wondering the same thing myself and i’m not even a royal watcher in the least! i still haven’t even seen one minute of their wedding, BUT as time passes one sees pictures here and there, on magazine stands, online, etc etc. and i have wondered the very same thing myself.
WHY has she gotten sooo damn thin?? and you’re absolutely correct in stating that the camera adds weight (10-15 lbs!), i know everyone has always heard this and “knows” this, but i worked in the industry as a makeup artist & worked on many many actors & yes, some look great or “fine” on film but in person are SCARILY skinny!!! bones sticking out, you name it. i always think about that too when i see someone in a photo or on TV, that if they look crazy skinny on there to me, then they must look FRIGHTENING in person!!
but unfortunately, they are praised for it, UNTIL they reach the concentration camp look (aka nicole ritchie back in the day & angelina jolie all the time), then it’s tons of publicity about how sick they are, how thin, that they have anorexia, are dying, etc. but RIGHT before that weight (or lack of better topics around to pounce on), they are praised to the skies. oh but w/the opposite, forget it! gain 5 lbs or god forbid, even more and you’re a fat cow, who’s “ballooned” up to a horrifying 125 lbs or whatever. so yes, in the media, in the world & especially in urban cities (like LA, where i live) people are horrifyingly shallow & one is expected to look like a waif, regardless of if you’re healthy or not, as long as you LOOK “hot” aka THIN!
i could go on and on about this topic, obviously, but i’ll restrain myself and wrap it up here.
so in essence, no, you are not imagining things. as i’ve seen pictures over the years since she came into the public eye, up until now, i have wondered WHY the hell she has become a gaunt, almost walking skeleton. she’s young yet & attractive, so it will look “good” on her for awhile, but as she ages, it will not do her any favors, especially in her face. she will get haggard & will get more wrinkles than she normally would at a normal weight.
the thing that really galls me about this is that prior to getting so thin, she was a perfectly THIN, healthy, well toned, pretty girl! she didn’t need to lose a pound, not one!
then of course you have the pressure. the media, constant gawkers, picture takers, nonstop public everything, so i can understand it. look what it did to diana?
say kate had ONE unflattering picture at her previous weight (which for all i know she did) and wherever it was posted they pointed out that she was getting fat, or had cellulite or any other HORRIFIC, un-allowable thing, in her world and in this world as a whole….then she would have been tormented i’m sure. if indeed she wasn’t and that’s what led to her drastic weight loss in the first place?
we saw what all of this did to poor diana. they called her chubby, and/or the prince did and boom! eating disorder, f&^*ked up head time. we all are so fragile, our egos, our sensibilities.
no one wants to be called ugly or bad names, and women ESPECIALLY do NOT want to be criticized about our bodies, we do plenty of that on our own. we are constantly being reminded of it everywhere we turn. the internet, magazines, tv, movies, out in public, comparing ourselves to others & how they look, even the airbrushed, professionally made up, have personal trainers others, or worse, being compared to others by others! boyfriends, friends, whatever. we are bombarded w/youth, beauty, and most of all being THIN, being the perfect size, whatever that might be.
do NOT get old, do NOT get ugly, do NOT get fat!!! if you become or are any of those things, you are considered a loser in this world. or not good enough, or not as good as others or not at your “best”. whatever happened to internal qualities? whatever happened to things beyond the surface & only caring about looks??
i don’t know and sadly, it will probably never change. if this is the way we keep going, as a society, and have been going for a very long time, won’t it continue to go that way?? get even worse?
oh god, what a world we live in.