Now Kate’s under fire from mums who say: She looked TOO perfect!
Women flood the web with photos of how THEY looked hours after labour
IT was the image that left most of the world asking: Just how does she do it?
Less than seven hours after giving birth to her third child, the Duchess of Cambridge appeared on the steps of the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington looking radiant.
In a red Jenny Packham dress and with her hair perfectly styled, she posed for three minutes with her 8lb 7oz new arrival on Monday.
But not everyone was impressed, with some women saying Kate’s impeccable appearance is ‘unrealistic’ and puts ‘ridiculous pressure’ on other new mothers to look perfect.
Leading the way was TV and radio presenter Katy Hill.
Miss Hill, 47, said that Kate, by summoning her hairdresser and stylist to the Lindo Wing, had missed out on precious time alone with her new son. Writing on her blog, the former Blue Peter presenter said that after giving birth to her two children she entered a euphoric haze that the duchess would not have allowed herself to enjoy.
‘Kate was basically robbed of the intimate magic of those first few precious hours,’ she said. ‘Her haze would have been filled with blow-dries and makeup and tights and heels and a flurry of business to get her camera-ready, to live up to protocol, tradition and expectation as the world’s Press awaited.’
Miss Hill, who has daughters Kaya Sky, 12, and Akira, ten, said of their births: ‘ On neither occasion can I remember feeling “put together” – or needing to.’ Kate’s fans didn’t expect her to look perfect so soon after childbirth, she added.
‘I wanted to shout, “Nooooo Kate”. I don’t expect to see a woman hours after giving birth wearing tights and heels and earrings.
‘I realise as a duchess she can’t do what I did and shuffle out in a baggy cotton sundress and flip-flops. But neither do we expect a new mum to be that put together. Had she worn something more casual, you’d have heard a cacophony of collective cheers from women around the globe.’
Hundreds of women also expressed their concern for
‘I was like a sack of spuds’
Kate on social media, claiming she was forced to perform in a ‘ridiculous circus’. Jane Garvey, host of Radio 4’ s Woman’s Hour, asked listeners to send in pictures of themselves after giving birth, adding that she had looked like a ‘sack of spuds’ and did not get her figure back for ten years.
One woman commented: ‘I looked like a jaundiced deflated barrage balloon. I’m still blaming my tummy size on my baby – he’s 16.’
Another, alongside a photograph of herself in a hospital bed, said: ‘This is me, 18 hours after giving birth. Massive postpartum haemorrhage, several units of blood and emergency surgery, and I still look like death warmed up. Note pale skin, swelling and general exhaustion.’ Susie Verrill, who has two children with Olympic gold medalwinning long jumper Greg Rutherford, posted a picture of herself in hospital bed with one of them.
She added a caption: ‘Me, 14 hours after giving birth. I would not have been up for standing on stairs.’
But she said that women should not be mean about Kate for being unrealistic, adding: ‘That’ll be because she’s a princess.
‘It’s her reality. Don’t think Liz [the Queen] would want her in joggers.’
In her blog yesterday, Miss Hill also called for mothers to stop worrying about how they looked and instead enjoy ‘every second’ they can with their children. In 2013, she posted a photograph of her post-baby body two months after she had her first child. Showing her in a white vest with her stomach sticking out, it garnered support from thousands of women.
Fans supported her comments, with one writing online: ‘I was in hospital for nearly 24 hours, I left it wearing a pyjama top, hoodie and leggings. I felt sorry for her [Kate] wearing a dress and heels, it is a shame, she should enjoy the first few hours’.
Another mother added: ‘I totally agree. My thoughts weren’t that her dress was a nod to Diana, or how amazing she looked, they were that that poor woman was being robbed of those first precious hours because she felt pressured to look a certain way for the world’s media.’