Around this time eight years ago, Prince William decided to leave his wife and children to go gallivanting in Kenya for four to five days, coinciding with the Easter holiday in 2016. It was a big deal – it was Princess Charlotte’s first Easter, and Kate reportedly took George and Charlotte to her parents’ house while William was off, pretending to be doing state business while he was really dropping everything to attend Jecca Craig’s wedding. Eight years ago, even the royalist media was attacking William for his choices and the shoddy optics of abandoning his wife and children during a Christian holiday so he could spend some time with an ex-girlfriend. There’s zero evidence that Kate was even invited, nor that Jecca or William wanted Kate there. William is the one who has always been close to the Craig family, while Kate has spent years simmering with jealousy and copy-keening Jecca’s style and energy. So, here’s something curious, in Richard Eden’s Mail column: Eden wondering if Kate will recover in time to fly to Kenya to attend Jecca Craig’s relative’s wedding.
Here’s something for the Princess of Wales to look forward to when she’s recovered: I hear that two of her old friends are due to get married in a place close to her heart.
Joss Craig, 29, whose father, William, runs the 55,000-acre Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, has got engaged to the sanctuary’s British horse-riding manager, Miranda Simpson. Lewa, in the foothills of Mount Kenya, is the romantic spot where Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010. ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely if Catherine could attend the wedding?’ says a friend.
When Joss’s cousin, Batian Craig, tied the knot in 2008, the future king attended the wedding, even though it was held on the same day as that of his cousin, Peter Phillips.
William spent some of his gap year in Kenya before university. He was rumoured to have had a ‘pretend engagement’ ceremony with Batian’s sister, Jecca, who was guest of honour at his 21st birthday party.
So… Batian and Jecca are siblings and Joss is their cousin. I’m just trying to get the family tree straight! I mean, considering that William dropped everything to attend both Batian and Jecca’s weddings (eight years apart), I would say that this report is some kind of precursor for William sneaking off to Kenya once again while Kate stays home. It’s actually been a minute since William visited Kenya, right? He went to Kenya in 2018, but that was probably the last time? It actually feels like he really did say goodbye to Jecca when she had her secret pregnancy and then a sudden Easter wedding.
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