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The more we see of Rose Hanbury, the more I wonder if we’ll ever see the Princess of Wales again. The Marchioness of Cholmondeley was out in public for the second time in the past week. Over the weekend, she attended the Badminton Horse Trials and she was pointedly photographed with Queen Camilla. On Wednesday, Rose was seen out again at an event attended by Queen Camilla and King Charles: the Service of Dedication for the Order of the British Empire. That was where Charles and Camilla staggered around in their cheap-looking polyester robes and looked particularly grumpy.

So, yes, Rose was there with her husband David Rocksavage, aka the Marquess of Cholmondeley. AKA King Charles’s Lord in Waiting, a position the king gave David last year. I have no idea if Charles and Camilla have always been close to the Cholmondeley family or this association and friendship has warmed up in recent years. I would assume that Rose and David attended this service because of David’s position as Lord in Waiting. Interestingly, Rose and David’s son Lord Oliver Cholmondeley was also chosen to carry the king’s train in and out of the service. Oliver was also one of the pages at the coronation, as was Prince George. I know there are always paternity rumors about Rose’s kids, but all I’ll say is that when the stories first began circulating about Rose and Prince William (circa 2019), no one questioned the paternity of Rose’s sons.

Oh, and apparently Rose is wearing a hat which Kate wore on Remembrance Sunday several years ago. The vibes are definitely off and the energy around all of this is very unsettling. That being said, I do think Rose has an It Factor. She’s striking, she’s thin and leggy, and she really does have beautiful eyes.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.

The Windsors and their media allies are still incandescent with rage over the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Nigerian tour. Prince Harry and Meghan spent three days in Nigeria in what was called a “quasi-royal tour.” I mean, technically that’s true – it had the feel of a royal tour, but streamlined and done without any input from the left-behind Windsors and the British press. So much of the rage directed at the Sussexes is just based on shock – these people never believed that the Sussexes would survive away from the royal system, much less thrive. And now the Sussexes are doing it BETTER than the Windsors. Well, something must be done! We cannot let two charismatic people go around and be successful, charming and attractive. They must be stopped! Except the Windsors can’t figure out a way to “stop” the Sussexes, so they’re just sitting around, bitching and moaning.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have left King Charles and Prince William “absolutely furious” with their Nigerian tour, according to a royal expert.

Royal expert Tom Quinn has suggested the Prince of Wales isn’t happy with the couple. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, he claimed: “William is absolutely furious and determined to find a way to stop this happening in future. Charles is said to be angrier than anyone has ever seen him. What’s really upset the applecart is the fact that that the Nigerians treated Meghan and Harry as if they too thought this was an official tour – all the signs were there as the couple were greeted with dances, receptions, visits to schools and charities.”

The royal author said there had been fears among the Royal Family that Meghan and Harry “would try to pull a fast one” and believes the Nigeria trip “has confirmed their worst fears.” He explained: “It’s as if Harry and Meghan have gone rogue – their Nigeria trip is a bold statement that they refuse to accept they are no longer working royals. William and Charles are scratching their heads and thinking, ‘How are we going to control this nightmare situation?’” Looking back at Meghan and Harry’s trip, Tom said it’s “easy to see why the senior royals are worried”.

Tom explained: “Everything you might expect from an official royal visit was there – the receptions, the visits to schools and charities, to wounded soldiers and the disabled. Meghan and Harry’s speeches and their whole attitude has been designed to give the impression that they are still fully paid-up royals and William and his father King Charles don’t like it one bit. For Charles and William, it’s as if Meghan and Harry are saying, ‘We don’t need your permission to be working royals – we will do it on our own terms whenever and wherever we like’.”

“The fact is that Harry and Meghan are cocking a snook at their relatives back in the UK and this will further damage relations with William and Kate, and King Charles. When Meghan and Harry were told they could not be part-time working royals it was assumed at Kensington Palace and Clarence house that they would go quietly. The Nigeria trip was Meghan and Harry’s way of saying, ‘We don’t need your permission. We will organise our own royal tours’.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

“Their whole attitude has been designed to give the impression that they are still fully paid-up royals and William and his father King Charles don’t like it one bit…” So the Sussexes did something without the Windsors, which did not cost the Windsors or the British taxpayers anything, the tour was a galloping success and now the Windsors are banging their heads against the wall about their inability to control or undermine two people they exiled. What is the point of “fully paid-up royals” – they’re mad that British taxpayers aren’t financing the Sussexes? Jesus, they don’t even know why they’re mad. This is also quite telling: “When Meghan and Harry were told they could not be part-time working royals it was assumed at Kensington Palace and Clarence house that they would go quietly.” That really is what the Windsors thought. They cannot believe that Harry didn’t divorce Meghan (as they ordered him to) and come crawling back to them.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.

Jennifer Lopez has been stepping out solo a lot lately. For weeks, she’s been photographed without her husband in New York and LA. I’ve sort of quietly noted all of the photos and just thought “well, Jennifer and Ben Affleck have different things going on, they’re not joined at the hip.” It doesn’t really help that J.Lo is in a weird place professionally at the moment. Jennifer’s “This Is Me… Now” projects were flops and her attempt to organize a tour around the album flopped too, although there is some kind of “greatest hits” tour coming. There’s a lot of hate for J.Lo on TikTok too and… I don’t know, the vibe is off somewhere. I’m not sure the weird vibes are coming from her marriage, but In Touch Weekly is claiming that Ben and Jen are on the rocks and headed for divorce.

Ben Affleck has hit a breaking point with Jennifer Lopez and has “moved out” of the home they share, a source exclusively tells In Touch.

“The writing is on the wall – it’s over,” the insider dishes. “They’re headed for a divorce – and for once, [Ben’s] not to blame!”

Fans have noticed that Ben and Jennifer have been spending increasing amounts of time apart in recent weeks. The actor did not attend the Met Gala with his wife on May 6, despite her important position as co-chair of the event. Ben’s official excuse for missing the Met Gala was that he was busy filming The Accountant 2, but In Touch’s source says he “decided to call it quits” on his marriage to the A-list singer.

“He’s focusing on his work and his kids now,” the insider adds. “Ben already moved out and they’ll likely have to sell the dream house they spent two years searching for. They’ll never stop loving each other, but she can’t control him, and he can’t change her. There’s no way it could have lasted.”

Unfortunately, compromising ended up being harder than the couple thought. “They waited almost two decades to get back together, but in the end, they just couldn’t make it work,” the insider explains. “They both said they’d matured and learned from their mistakes, but some of the bigger issues that tore them apart the first time remained the same.”

[From In Touch Weekly]

Lord, I hope this isn’t true. They waited so long, they’re in such a different place in their lives than the first go-around, I want to believe that this is just about two people with busy schedules. The thing about real estate is weird too, because Jennifer has been looking at other houses, but I think that’s just her thing? She likes real estate, she likes looking at houses, she and Ben couldn’t decide on a new house for two years. Like… if Bennifer splits again, I will be so sad. These two Leos are perfect for each other.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

More “casual” looks for Anya Taylor Joy in Cannes. [Just Jared]
People might need a deep analysis of this Shawn Mendes photo. [OMG Blog]
The Golden Bachelorette has been named! [Seriously OMG]
Thoughts on Kerry Washington’s Brandon Maxwell dress? [RCFA]
Jackie Beat’s fake-therapy show got a second season. [Socialite Life]
Gucci’s new era is reflected in its front row. [LaineyGossip]
Kaitlin Olson has a new series, High Potential. [Pajiba]
Jane Krakowski’s very strange suit. [Go Fug Yourself]
Nneka Ihim is leaving RHOP. [Starcasm]
Isla Fisher thanks fans after splitting with Sacha Baron Cohen. [Hollywood Life]
People who worked for billionaires reveal some tea. [Buzzfeed]

Well, this is certainly something. On Tuesday, King Charles had a big unveiling ceremony for a new portrait painted by Jonathan Yeo. The portrait was commissioned by The Drapers’ Company, and it will hang in Drapers’ Hall in London.

This portrait is… incredible, honestly. Usually, royal portraits are pretty staid affairs, by the book and even kind of bad. One exception is Paul Emsley’s portrait of Kate in 2013, where he made her look like an un-Botoxed ghost haunting the royal family. Yeo’s portrait of Charles is both accurate (that genuinely looks like him) and avant-garde. The fact that this will probably be known colloquially as “The Bloody King portrait” or “The Tampon King portrait” or “The Charles-Burns-in-Hell portrait” is even more outstanding. It’s not a soothing, gentle painting. It’s not all about his Welsh Guards uniform or all of his pretend medals. It’s not about the trappings of royalty, nor is it meant to play to Charles’s substantial ego. He looks like he’s been doused in blood, or he’s in the pits of hell.

Apparently, Charles sat for Yeo four times, the first time before he was king. His final sitting was late last year. Camilla also got a look of the portrait before it was unveiled and she reportedly told Yeo that he had really “got” Charles. I mean, Charles did tell Camilla that he wanted to be her tampon.

Two things I will say – Yeo absolutely shaved a few years off Charles’s face. He also shaved some “sausage” off of Charles’s fingers.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Jonathan Yeo via Buckingham Palace.

It’s been two days since King Charles and Prince William’s handover event at Middle Wallop, where Charles officially made William the colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps. Prince Harry served in Afghanistan as an Apache pilot in the Army Air Corps. Harry trained for years to be able to fly Apaches, as he detailed in Spare. William doesn’t have the intelligence or patience to actually learn how to fly a complicated machine like the Apache. But William does have the audacity to try to “one up” his brother by posing in the Army Air uniform and posing for photos in the Apache. As I said, it’s been two days and I’m still astounded by just how poorly this scrambled-together event went, to the point where even the Mail’s military sources are sort of mocking William.

Getting to grips with the Apache helicopter was easy for ‘accomplished pilot’ Prince William – but Prince Harry demonstrated more flair and ‘Top Gun swagger’, experts have said. The heir to the throne, who is a former RAF search and rescue pilot and flew an air ambulance for two years, took control of the fearsome multi-million pound gunship on Monday, flying it from an Army airfield in Hampshire.

William’s debut came as he was made the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps during a rare royal outing with King Charles, where he was welcomed by his younger brother’s former unit – the 662 Squadron.

Defence expert Philip Ingram, a former Colonel in British military intelligence, said getting to grips with the basics of an Apache would be relatively straightforward for ‘accomplished pilot’, William. But the veteran officer said there was a big difference between simply getting the state-of-the-art gunship off the ground and flying it into combat like Prince Harry did during his time in Afghanistan. And while William appeared confident behind the stick, a body language expert has claimed his younger brother appeared to have more ‘Top Gun swagger’ when he was in the cockpit.

Col Ingram told MailOnline: ‘There is a difference between flying it and fighting it – I have flown a Harrier Jump Jet where I was in sole control for a good 20 to 25 minutes – it was a two-seater – but the instructor was shadowing my every movement. William is an accomplished helicopter pilot so taking control and flying wouldn’t be difficult with an instructor’s supervision.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Basically, William did the same thing he did as an air ambulance pilot – he sat in the cockpit and made vroom-vroom sounds while the “co-pilot” did all of the work. It’s difficult to have BDE when you’re obsessed with copying everything your little brother did but you don’t want to put in any of the work. William really thought he could put on the uniform and sit bewildered in the cockpit and people would rush to say he was clearly “better” than Harry. It does beg the question… what do actual military figures think about all of this jealousy and pettiness coming from the heir? How do they feel about being used in the Windsors’ increasingly unhinged games?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Petronella Wyatt is a Telegraph columnist and general delusional-monarchist on demand. It’s been a minute since she’s written something about the Windsors. The last pieces (that I saw) were Wyatt’s musings on how the Sussexes’ titles shouldn’t be removed, that it was all a trap, and this very weird piece about how the Princess of Wales “saved” William and the monarchy. Well, Wyatt is back at it with this new Telegraph column: “I never thought I’d say this, but it’s time to bring Prince Harry home.” Just Harry, mind you. It seems that even delusional monarchists can see the writing on the wall, that the left-behind Windsors are not getting it done. Some highlights:

A minor republican awakening: These days, even Tories like myself are finding it hard to defend the hereditary principle. Personally, I have no taste for republicanism, due to my incapacity for envy. That emotion or weakness is quite absent from my makeup. In the face of other people’s good fortune, I am as inert as a deaf person at a recital. But a Starmer government will find the fact that the Royal family has more money and more privilege than the rest of us interesting. I increasingly feel that the future of the Royal family may depend on its ability to cheer the public, and what it lacks now is the requisite joyfulness.

The Windsors need pizzazz: The King and the Princess of Wales are effectively hors de combat, poor Camilla is 76, life bears heavily on William, and no one fancies a Pizza Express. The Windsors are in grave need of some pizazz. Readers may succumb to the screaming abdabs, but the royal left standing who has most star power is Harry. It is easy to blame him and his puerile book for the continuing rift with his father and brother, but some courtiers of my acquaintance hold William equally liable.

Prince William is equally to blame: Recently, I spoke to a former palace official who used to work for both princes before the good times stopped rolling. “There is a public misconception about William and Harry,” he told me. “It is William who was often the difficult one, and it is William who is preventing his father from having a proper reconciliation with Harry.” He continued, “This isn’t helpful at a point in time when the country would be buoyed up by seeing them together again, as would the King.” It wasn’t helpful last week when the only family member to greet Harry with warmth was Earl Spencer. When it comes to his brother, William’s disgruntlement can at times seem mildly pathological.

The youthful Sussexes! Yet where William is concerned, Byronic unhappiness has taken hold. I realise Harry has at times taken joy out of William’s life, and that he and Meghan can be a cause of irritation. It remains tempting to call the pair one-trick phoneys. But isn’t that what most royalling is all about? Phoney good will and faked enjoyment? Moreover, the Sussexes have youth and glamour, and the young regard them as a religion with no dilution of agnosticism.

Oh, even Wyatt understands that William & Charles look cruel: To many, Charles and William’s continued coldness towards Harry is beginning to look inhuman. It is important to remember that the Royal family is a microcosm for every family in Britain, and that a divided family, like a divided political party, has an intrinsic weakness. Affection of parents for children, and of children for parents and siblings, is capable of being one of the greatest sources of stability, as well as happiness.

The Sussexes are successful & the Windsors need H&M’s shine: Whether we like it or not, the Sussexes’ Nigerian tour has been a triumph and I cannot help but feel that a visible reconciliation between William and Harry would strengthen the unity of the House of Windsor and reassure the public of its commitment. The legacy of the Royal family is deeply intertwined with personal relationships. Entente would not only honour the past but also pave the way for a consolidated future, ensuring that the family’s values and traditions are preserved for generations.

A happy ending, water under the bridge? By nature, I think the King would be reunion friendly. According to royal sources, he comprehends that reconciliation is the best solution for both of them and that everyone likes an MGM happy ending that would jerk tears from Caligula’s eyes. As for being unkind about the family; isn’t it time to see that as water under Tower Bridge, as the late Queen might have done? …I thought I’d never say this, but it may be time to bring Harry home on probation, and for William to clasp his prodigal brother to his bosom, even if he has been a bit of an asp.

[From The Telegraph]

While Wyatt calls Charles and William “inhuman,” she completely skirts past everything that’s happened in the past week, with Charles’s very loud tantrum and one-sided briefing war/gaslighting campaign against Harry. She’s blanking on the fact that Charles and William scrambled to set up that extremely gross Army Air handover event, in which William gleefully cosplayed his brother in an attempt to “snub” and “humiliate” Harry. My point is that everything shifted in recent days/weeks and we’re no longer in the default storyline of “of course Charles wants reconciliation, it’s William who can’t get past it.” Charles and William are consumed with hatred and jealousy. Besides which, the Sussexes are not playing this stupid f–king game anymore. This whole “bring Harry back” thing is a fantasy – even if Charles and William were willing to reconcile (they are not), the Sussexes have showed the world that they don’t need the monarchy whatsoever.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

One of the most ridiculous “royal stories” of the past decade was all of the hand-wringing and lies about Queen Camilla’s title. When then-Camilla Parker Bowles married Prince Charles in 2005, Charles’s team swore up and down that Camilla would only go by the Duchess of Cornwall (and never the Princess of Wales) and that when Charles became king, Camilla would be known as Princess Consort. This was all done “out of respect” for Diana’s memory, and because Camilla was never popular or well-liked or respected by the British public. Charles’s office then spent years campaigning for Camilla to eventually be known as Queen Consort. That got a boost in 2022, when Charles and QEII made a deal which involved QEII “signing off” on “Queen Consort Camilla” in a written statement. I still believe that the statement was written by Charles’s office, and that Charles basically manipulated and threatened his mother into “signing off” on it.

Skip ahead and just months after QEII died, the new king sent out notices to the media that they should only refer to Camilla as “Queen Camilla” and never “the Queen Consort.” Charles got what he always wanted and he spent decades lying, harassing, manipulating and bargaining to get it. Camilla got what she always wanted too – let’s not pretend that this was all Charles. Camilla was dying to lord it over everyone and finally “win.” Well, the Times has a new, overwrought story about what happened behind the scenes between QEII’s death and the coronation to ensure Queen Camilla’s reign.

Of all the conundrums facing Buckingham Palace in the months before last year’s coronation, there was one that particularly divided opinion: should they — could they — drop the word “consort” from Camilla’s title? Far from being a fait accompli, The Times understands that there were differing views within the royal household on the matter.

Now, as the King and Queen approach the first anniversary of their coronation on May 6, courtiers have reflected on how Camilla was eventually crowned and presented to the world.
They say that in the weeks after the death of Elizabeth II, the plan was that Camilla would be known as Queen Consort to differentiate between the recently deceased monarch and the new King’s wife. As the months passed, however, and the coronation drew closer, some within Camilla’s office voiced their concern that it was a case of “now or never”.

While sources insist that the Queen herself was “relaxed either way”, there were those who started to gently lobby for the word “consort” to be dropped. Their argument was threefold: it was cumbersome, unnecessary and could set an unintended precedent for future consorts. For example, would it mean that the Princess of Wales would only ever be known as Queen Consort when the Prince of Wales became king?

It is understood that the Queen’s aides met with some resistance. In the King’s office, there was a certain amount of trepidation. How would the public react? And when would be the right time to make the change? A game of courtier chess would be required to strategise how any such change would play out. A royal source said: “There was never a fixed timeline for when or if this would happen and there were certainly differing views among courtiers within the household. Above all the Queen was relaxed either way and felt it would happen organically.”

At first it made sense to use the term consort to differentiate between the past and present Queens. Yet as time went on, rumblings began within part of the household that there could no longer be any confusion. As such, they argued, the word “consort” was no longer required. The overriding questions, sources said, were “how had the public interpreted the late Queen’s message on the topic” and “how would they react”.

[From The Times]

LOL, there’s even more at the Times piece about how carefully and cautiously Charles’s office and Camilla’s office approached this bum-rushed final game to force the British public to “accept” Queen Camilla. Please, Camilla cared. She was the one pushing for it to happen as soon as possible. She and Charles didn’t care about any “confusion,” as they regularly referred to her as “the Queen” in press releases and schedules just weeks after QEII died. The Times’s royal sources also claim that the British press led the effort to drop “consort” from her title, without mentioning that the press only did so on Buckingham Palace’s guidance and instruction. Anyway, Camilla has always been the master manipulator and she won. She’s the Queen Side-Chick.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Here are some photos of Prince William today, Friday, visiting the Isles of Scilly. This is his first visit to the area as Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cornwall. Technically, the Duchy of Cornwall owns extensive real estate throughout much of Cornwall, including the Isles of Scilly. He walked on St. Mary’s Harbor, he chatted with local business owners, he picked up some “Cornish pastries” which he claimed were for his wife and children (but you know he’s probably going to panic-eat them himself while looking at the Nigeria photos on his phone). He also claimed to have taken a morning swim, which is probably a lot like his infamous Central Park run last year. Remember, this was his first night away from Kate in months.

Some days, I almost feel bad for Ol’ Huevo. You know he thought he looked charming and manly as he staggered down the boardwalk. What’s worse is that Huevo probably thought he would overshadow whatever the Sussexes were doing. The photos of H&M in Nigeria will make international headlines (and they’re the top story in Britain too), all while William just seethes. Speaking of, royal biographer Tom Quinn said words:

Mr Quinn told The Mirror : “Harry’s visit to the UK has done nothing to repair royal relations – Harry has been very publicly snubbed by his father and brother. Despite being stricken with cancer King Charles says he is too busy to see his son; Harry’s brother doesn’t even bother to issue an excuse.”

“He says nothing. It is as if Harry no longer exists. There’s been no obvious criticism from either side, but the silence from William is deafening.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

Considering that Harry didn’t make any public statement about his brother, I think it’s safe to say that Harry did not request any meeting with William. If we’re looking at Harry’s moves and the lack of statements, it also seems like Harry “said nothing” about William and the “silence is deafening” on the other side. That being said, Harry’s team confirmed to People Mag that Harry invited William, Charles and Kate to the Invictus service.

Also: “I hate Harry so much, I’m going to ignore him, point out that I’m ignoring him and make a point of scheduling events to look busy while Harry is in town” is not sending the message William thinks it’s sending.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

I’ve lost count of the number of British articles and commentary pieces angrily discussing the Spencer family. As we saw, the Spencers came out for Prince Harry and Invictus on Wednesday, with the Earl Spencer, Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale (Harry’s uncle and aunts) coming out to the Invictus service. The Earl Spencer’s heir (Harry’s cousin) was also there, as were at least two other Spencer cousins. The British media had already gotten their prewritten narratives straight from Buckingham Palace: Solitary Harry, shunned and alone. They had to backtrack and admit that, actually, Diana’s side of the family came out for Diana’s youngest.

The Ephraim Hardcastle column in the Mail admitted that “Team Sussex” see the Invictus service as a win, because the lack of Windsors ensured that Harry carried the event on his own, and he did it well. The Windsors ended up emphasizing that Invictus is Harry’s baby, and the Windsors ended up looking spiteful, cold and petty. The Mail’s Jan Moir wrote an overwrought piece about it too, here’s the only important part:

Just when it looked like the Sussexes didn’t have a friend in London, just when it seemed as if Prince Harry would be shunned by his entire extended family every time he came to the UK — a one-man pestilence to be avoided like a contagion, sidestepped like a puddle, dodged like a bullet — something remarkable happened. Enter the Spencers.

And Prince Harry could not have been more delighted to see them. Inside the great cathedral, in almost biblical scenes of redemption, he hugged the Spencers, he kissed them, he fell upon their necks like the return of the prodigal son.

Indeed, we haven’t seen Harry looking so happy in public since he trundled down the waterslide at Thorpe Park, all those years ago. Yet underneath the bucolic bonhomie and the cheerful smiles, a thunder of advancing hooves could be detected, if you listened hard enough. For the Spencers were a cavalry galloping to the rescue.

One wonders what King Charles and Prince William might think about this high-profile intervention, which has the potential to cast them in a cold and unflattering light by comparison; the perennial bad cops to the Spencerian good cops.

Yet who is snubbing who in these endless, exhausting skirmishes of transatlantic royal snubs and non-speaks? The truth is that if his father and his brother won’t see him nor support his pet causes when he visits London, then Prince Harry has only himself to blame. Who could ever trust him again?

[From The Daily Mail]

Charles and William look cold, petty and mean BUT IT’S HARRY’S FAULT. How dare the Spencers not spend years smearing and marginalizing the Sussexes, to the point where the Sussexes had to set the record straight? How dare the Spencers support Diana’s beloved son instead of attacking him and scapegoating him? Did the Spencers not get the memo that Harry was supposed to look SOLITARY in the UK? How dare the Spencers remind everyone that Harry still has deep family ties in the UK, Spencer ties which go back centuries.

The Telegraph also did a piece on the Spencers showing up – man, they are SO mad. This piece is just history and it’s really obvious stuff too, like “the Spencers love Harry” and “Harry has gotten a lot of quiet support from the Spencers for many years.”

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.