Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, attends at a ceremony at Province House in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island as part of their Royal Tour of Canada, Monday, July 4, 2011.Robert F. Bukaty/AP
The Duchess of Cambridge could benefit from a king's feast.
At least according to Katie Couric. The television-anchor-next-door is the latest to lob a thinsult at Kate Middleton, whose slender frame remains an issue on which the world feels entitled to weigh in.
Midway through a recent interview with the web site SheKnows.com, Couric was asked who she still hopes to interview.
"I think it would be really interesting to interview Kate Middleton because I think she has comported herself so well since she's been thrust in the limelight and has done such a good job," Couric replied.
Then she dropped the non-sequitur: "Even though I think she needs to eat more because she's so thin."
And of course, nothing seals a flippant remark quite like a toothy smile.
In its coverage of the thinsult, the Huffington Post points out that body image concerns have proven a tenuously handled subject among the Royal Family. Princess Diana was a functioning bulimic, only revealing her struggles years after leaving Buckingham Palace.
That Middleton's collarbones cast their own shadows is beside the point. Couric's criticism in this clipped context serves no purpose.
If anything, Couric might have sabotaged any future opportunities to interview the Duchess. Put yourself in Middeton's Stuart Weitzman wedges for a very brief moment. Every icebreaker posed by Couric would be one question closer to the meaty stuff about what's for breakfast and how often she goes on the scale and whether being in the public eye can be the catalyst for an eating disorder. Cookie?
Middleton just so happens to not hide her thinness; we often see her in skinny jeans, body skimming gowns and knee-length numbers that show off her sinewy shape. But whether this is the result of a strict regime, excessive exercise or good genes is all just speculation until the Duchess speaks for herself (because remember, she has yet to do a single public interview).
Often, thinsults arise as much out of envy as concern. Couric has long been praised for her shapely calves but who knows the pressure she has felt throughout her career to maintain a trim physique.
So here's an idea. Maybe Katie and Kate should just go out to lunch. You know, break bread, split a pizza. The proof of this pudding really is in the eating.