More than tea time & tiaras

Royal-in-training: Kate Middleton goes to princess school (without JulieAndrews)

Anne Hathaway gets princess training from Julie Andrews The Princess Diaries
Kate Middleton

One might think a degree in art history from St. Andrews would qualify Kate Middleton for a rigorous schedule of waving to crowds and wearing interesting hats.

But after the last generation of royal princesses, Diana and Fergie, publicly struggled to adapt to royal life, Princess Catherine is getting lessons from senior advisors to help her adapt to her new role.

While princess school sounds like great fun, apparently it's more than just tea time and tiaras. Also it's reportedly not even run by Julie Andrews, which makes it 80 percent less awesome.

As a royal insider told The Telegraph,

The Duchess is being briefed on how the State works, getting to know our national institutions better and learning more about organisations such as the arts, the media and the government. It is a process that will carry on for several months but is being done privately. As well as meetings at St James’s Palace, the Duchess is spending time carrying out private research of her own."

Kate has also been meeting with assorted charities as she determines which she would like to support as royal patron—she's expected to announce her choices at the beginning of the year. (Strangely no one thought to make this process into a reality show called Britain's Next Top Royal Charity. Opportunity lost.)

What do you think Kate is learning at princess school? And would you want to attend?

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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