Prince William announces a new job for Kate: the sponsor of a naval battleship

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Last week, the Duchess of Cambridge added a new patronage to her very small list. She didn’t even make the choice to really add something new, it’s just that her patronage Action on Addiction merged with another charity, The Forward Trust, so now she’s patroness of The Forward Trust. So I guess she didn’t really “add” a patronage after all, since her patronage Action on Addiction has been absorbed into The Forward Trust. I would be very curious about why Action on Addiction needed to be merged with another charity. Is it because – and I’m just guessing – they didn’t actually have the money to continue as-is because their patroness is so lazy? Very curious.

Speaking of Kate, laziness and promises to be eventually quite keen, Kate got name-checked on Day 2 of William’s mini-tour of Scotland with the Queen. On Tuesday, William and Liz visited a shipyard in Glasgow where Royal Navy boats are being made. William promised that Kate would be a royal sponsor of one of the battleships being built:

Kate Middleton has a new role! She is a sponsor for a new naval battleship. Her husband Prince William made the announcement during a visit to the shipyard area of Govan in Glasgow, Scotland, early on Tuesday. Speaking at BAE Systems, William said his grandmother Queen Elizabeth had made the appointment for the Duchess of Cambridge to be associated with HMS Glasgow, which is being built at the yard.

It means Kate, 39, will have a longstanding “strong and enduring personal connection to the vessel and her crew, often supporting milestones, events and deployments,” her office at Kensington Palace explained.

In his speech, William said, “My family’s affection for the Royal Navy is well known, and as I saw the work taking place here today, I was thinking of my grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. He would have been fascinated and very excited to see such advances in skills and technology being put into practice. Today, I’m very pleased to announce that my family’s connection with Type 26 will endure for many years to come. Her Majesty the Queen has approved the appointment of my wife Catherine as Sponsor of the superb ship we see taking shape outside — HMS Glasgow. I know that Catherine will be delighted to join you here in Glasgow for the naming ceremony in due course.”

[From People]

This made me wonder about two things: one, is there any reason why William couldn’t sponsor a boat? Do boats need their sponsors to be women specifically? It just feels like William could – who was actually physically there at the shipyard – could have been like “yay, I’m the new sponsor of this boat, that’s awesome!” Two, if Kate was having another job foisted upon her (that’s the only way to get her to work), why wasn’t she there on this Scotland trip? I keep wondering about why William was the last-minute royal tasked with going on this trip, especially since he and Kate had just been in Scotland in May. It’s all so strange! But I guess Kate will be happy to be a boat sponsor. It means that she’s not being served with divorce papers any time soon.

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Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Getty.

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