Photos can sometimes capture you doing something completely ordinary, while making it appear totally exaggerated. Poor Carole Middleton, who was caught chugging booze at the Rugby World Cup, is in hot water with Kate Middleton and the royal family for embarrassing the crew with her fun bad behavior.
Carole, along with her husband Michael and son James, attended the England vs. Australia rugby match this past weekend with Prince Harry. The family sat in the stands cheering on their team and neither Kate, nor Prince Will, were anywhere to be found. Well, rebel Carole reportedly hid a small bottle of white wine in her bag and smuggled it into the stadium, then proceeded to pour it into a tumbler and enjoy a drink.
No one involved has confirmed that Carole is actually drinking alcohol — or that she went to extreme measures to get the wine inside — but let's suppose that's what really happened. In the real world, this is no big deal. In the royal world, this is a publicity nightmare. Queen Elizabeth is reportedly livid about these photos and using them as yet another excuse for why she feels she is justified in disliking Kate's commoner family.
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As for Carole, you have to admire her pluck. As a woman who now has experience dealing with her daughter's in-the-spotlight lifestyle, she must have known that photographers would capture her every move at the rugby game. Did she honestly think she was slick enough to evade their lens for even a moment so she could drink? Or was she 100 percent aware of being photographed and only too happy to show the royals exactly how little control they can exert over her and her family?
At the end of the day, her sipping a bit of wine doesn't make her very different from the millions of other folks who like to have a drink while they're relaxing. It's the fact that she had to know Kate's in-laws would disapprove that makes her my punk mom hero of the day.
Images via James Whatling/Splash News