One of my favorite things about royal-approved messaging from palace staffers is that they always try to make it sound like they’re super-busy doing everything else but working on the giant crisis they themselves are responsible for. The entire world is asking if the Princess of Wales is still on this plane of existence and why someone who had serious abdominal surgery would manipulate a Frankenphoto as proof of life, and Kensington Palace’s staff are gaily briefing, “we’re too busy to deal with that, we have do much other stuff to do!” Like, Kate has not worked a day since Christmas and William looks like he fell ass first into a bottle of tequila, what else are their staffers doing with their time? Be a manager! Do your job! Speaking of, Harper’s Bazaar got this exclusive:

The entire world seems to be awaiting Kensington Palace’s next move following the unexpected controversy over the family portrait released on Sunday, which showed Catherine, Princess of Wales, for the first time since the firm announced she’d been hospitalized for a “planned abdominal surgery” in mid-January. But we are told Kate and her team are holding steadfast through the storm.

A royal source tells Bazaar that the atmosphere at Kensington Palace offices has been “tense, but there is a sense that this will pass. They aren’t too worried.”

A Buckingham Palace insider adds: “Some staff can’t quite believe how badly KP have cocked things up by not paying close enough attention to what was being released to the world. Didn’t anyone there think to check the photo before it went out?” The insider adds that King Charles III is being “kept abreast” of latest developments, but “isn’t too concerned” about the current situation.

As for Kate’s recovery, a source says the Princess of Wales is “doing well, all things considered,” adding that the princess has left the house at least three times in the past two weeks. On one of those occasions, just over a week ago, she was “smiling, upbeat, and enjoying being out.”

A royal insider says, “[This situation] has caused some stress for the princess, but she tends not to pay attention to online chatter or even the press. I think people forget that this was simply a mother wanting her family to look their best in a photograph that was going to be heavily scrutinized. She was protecting her children.”

Regarding the various rumors surrounding Kate’s so-called disappearance, the source added that the palace is ignoring the “ridiculous conspiracy theories. It was always made very clear that following the princess’s surgery, she would recover in private until returning to duties after Easter. Nothing has changed on that front.”

The Buckingham Palace insider says that, while “this is all rather unfortunate, there is also a sense that, despite the hysteria and fevered online response, it will also blow over soon. This is not the first storm to hit these parts!”

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

Note: this is the first time I’ve seen unnamed Buckingham Palace staff criticize KP’s screwups. Beyond this, it’s been radio silence, which is another story altogether. While there’s a lot of incompetence to go around, at least BP’s staffers can do their jobs without tripping over their d-cks 24-7. That being said, ostriching is not the answer here, and these people have literally no concept of how social media or international media function. They’re like “oh this will blow over, it’s no biggie!” Agence France-Presse’s director compared the Windsors to North Korea and Iran. The biggest international press agencies in the world have said that the palace has zero credibility and they’ll be going over every press release and photo with a fine-toothed comb. The British media was caught with their pants down, having colluded with the palace to bury these issues for months, and they’re mad as hell.

And if Kate is choppering off to Norfolk regularly and getting out of the house, why are they not planning to relaunch/revive/resurrect Wiglet Christ Superstar on Easter Sunday? Why are these sources like “we told you AFTER Easter?”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

The Royalist column at the Daily Beast has yet another hilarious exclusive about Prince William and the Princess of Wales. In case you missed it, Kensington Palace has been trying, throughout the week, to spin the Mother’s Day Frankenphoto Fiasco into their favor. As in, poor Kate is so stressed out about the manipulated Frankenphoto fallout, won’t someone please think of her health? Meanwhile, Kensington Palace staffers were the ones tossing her under the bus in the first place and making her shoulder the blame for the fiasco. The fact that all of this is playing out in the American and British media instead of being handled internally is also a KP f–k up, clownery on top of clownery, lie on top of lie. Sources now tell Tom Sykes that Kate is under intense stress and it’s all the Sussexes’ fault! Harry and Meghan forced the Waleses to surround themselves with clownish staff.

Friends of Kate Middleton have blamed “intense stress,” including the fall-out from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s repeated denunciations of her and Prince William, as being at least partly responsible for her absence from public life, and her need to spend several months recuperating from abdominal surgery. They predicted that William and Kate would move to “clear out” Kensington Palace staff who had made mistakes later this year after an extraordinary meltdown in royal communications triggered by Kate publishing a photo in which she was not wearing a wedding ring.

The friend told The Daily Beast: “She has been under incredible pressure for several years, and is now being harassed by the media over f–k-ups made by other people. How her office could have put out a picture without her ring when it was clearly going to be one of the most scrutinized pictures of all time is just unfathomable. And she is to blame? Sorry, no. That was their failure and they should have accepted the blame. They will clear out all those people when the dust settles.”

The friend added that Kate’s office’s failure to properly vet the photo was also “to blame” for the resurgence of speculation over the state of her marriage to William.

Another friend of the family also told The Daily Beast that they believed the stress of the last few years, including the regular and damaging attacks made on the couple by Harry and Meghan, and the pressure of a whole raft of changes that came when the queen died, had triggered a stress-related illness in Kate.

The source said: “She and William have been under intense stress ever since Harry and Meghan left the family. They spent three years just waiting for the next horrific media interview. On top of that they have moved house, the kids have moved school, the queen died, and she became Princess of Wales. It’s not surprising she got ill, and it’s not surprising she needs a break from it all to get better.”

A former staffer told The Daily Beast that Kate and William’s priority would now be protecting their children. They said, “The thing that will be absolutely top of both their minds right now will be the impact this is having on their children. They are very fortunate that other parents at the school are very loyal, but the reality is that keeping this from children these days is an impossible task. I imagine the Easter holidays can’t come soon enough.”

A friend of King Charles’ told The Daily Beast that he and the queen would be “wholly sympathetic” towards William and Kate over the debacle. “The only answer is for her to get better and get back to work,” the friend said. Riffing off a reputed maxim of the late Queen Elizabeth II, the friend said, “Now more than ever, they will have to be seen to be believed.”

[From The Daily Beast]

This reminds me, in a way, of last year’s week-long gossip-cycle over Kate’s thunder-stealing appearance at the Chelsea Flower Show. King Charles and Camilla were supposed to get all of the attention on the flower show’s Media Day – Charles’s first Chelsea Flower Show as king! – and then Kate bused in children and threw a picnic on the same day, and Buckingham Palace ripped her to shreds. That’s when “sources close to Catherine” ran straight to Royalist to hysterically defend her and claim that she could do whatever she wanted and the king can’t do sh-t about it. I’m reminded of that whole storyline because palace insiders are making moves against the future queen consort and Kate is defending herself by throwing a huge pity party about the stress she’s under. She’s also reminding those palace insiders that they should remember their common enemy: the Sussexes.

Anyway, I honestly believe that Kate is getting the blame for other people’s “f–k ups,” but that’s one of the most interesting parts of this whole fiasco – WHY is Kate getting the blame, why is she being thrown under the bus, why are Kate’s few allies throwing hysterical tantrums to the Daily Beast?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I enjoy Jennifer Lopez’s dogged, determined spirit. Plus I’m a gal who loves excess, so I admire the over-the-topness she was going for with releasing This Is Me… Now the album, This Is Me… Now: A Love Story the musical film, and The Greatest Love Story Never Told documentary. Only the album hasn’t done that well in the charts or sales, and as we all now know, Jennifer personally funded the $20 million it cost to make these projects. But J.Lo also has a This Is Me… Now Tour later this year, where she can deliver a great live show. Except now, one month on from announcing the tour, several dates have been canceled without much of an explanation

Some Jennifer Lopez fans will have to wait a little longer to be introduced to the woman J.Lo is now.

According to a message on Ticketmaster’s website, the pop star and actress has canceled concert dates on her upcoming This Is Me… Now tour dates, including planned stops in Nashville, Tenn., Raleigh, N.C., Atlanta, Ga., Tampa, Fla., and New Orleans, La.

The canceled dates were all planned to take place across a consecutive eight-day stretch from Aug. 22-30. EW has learned that a logistical issue through the promoter forced the last several dates to be canceled, but that there’s potential to work something out for the affected cities in the future.

EW has reached out to representatives for Lopez and tour company Live Nation for comment on the cancellation, as Ticketmaster’s note indicates only that, “Unfortunately, the Event Organizer has had to cancel your event.”

The cancellations follow the high-profile release of Lopez’s accompanying cameo-filled, self-funded streaming movie project and its parent album This Is Me… Now, a sequel to her 2002 album This Is Me… Then that, like its predecessor, chronicles Lopez’s love life — particularly her marriage to actor Ben Affleck.

While the streaming film (and a subsequent documentary about its creation) made headlines and courted viewer eyeballs according to Amazon streaming lists, This Is Me… Now the album marked one of Lopez’s least successful outings to date. It debuted and peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and fell off the ranking entirely the following week, though it did reach No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

On the one hand I’m really impressed with Jennifer sticking to her guns for the trifecta projects. It takes equal parts confidence, delusion, and chutzpah to say YES! when absolutely everyone else in your life advises NO! The thing is, though, you kind of have to be right in order to pull off this maneuver and, well… yeah. By the time Jane Fonda weighed in with her doubts, that’s at least where I would’ve taken a pause. As for these cancellations, it could be something or it could be nothing. I think it’s too early to tell. But it certainly gives the vibes of an inauspicious start. I had a dorky idea, though: if AARP can sponsor the latest Rolling Stones tour, do you think Ben Affleck is on the phone with Dunkin’ to broker a deal? This Is Me… Caffeinated!

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Photos credit: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages, IMAGO/mpi099 / Avalon, Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon, Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon

In this week’s Gossip With Celebitchy podcast (which comes out this weekend!), CB and I had a minor debate about whether Kensington Palace released the Mother’s Day Frankenphoto as a reaction to the Sussexes’ successful and well-received trip to Texas. I think the Sussexes were, as always, a factor in the palace’s calculations, but I failed to mention another theory. That theory? That KP went into overdrive to create a counternarrative because Kate’s horrible uncle was saying all kinds of sh-t on Celebrity Big Brother, then Uncle Gary was the first one evicted from the CBB house and he kept on giving interviews. Interviews which have barely gotten any attention because everyone in the UK is obsessively following KP’s fiasco. Something to consider! As for Gary Goldsmith, he spoke to Nigel Farage at GB News (one of the most cursed sentences in the English language).

Gary Goldsmith has said he believes his niece Kate Middleton will definitely return to public duties at Easter. Following abdominal surgery, Kate has remained out of the public eye for two months as she recovers. It comes as royal insiders claim that The Princess of Wales, 42, is recovering well and will be back by Easter.

Gary appeared on Thursday’s GB News with Nigel Farage following his short-lived stint on Celebrity Big Brother where he chatted about his family. He said of Kate’s recent health issues: ‘I think she has the best support on the planet, she has the best people looking after her. They [The Palace} have said we would see her at Easter and nothing has changed since that! They have been very transparent.’

He added that he was shocked when Kate revealed it was in fact her that had edited the Mother’s Day picture of her with her three children. Gary said: ‘I did say when it came out the photo ‘there’s not a chance in hell she photoshopped them herself’ and then it came out that she did!’

Gary also spoke on GB News about his experience in the Celebrity Big Brother house. He said: ‘I wanted to change perceptions. I’m not a celebrity really. Looking back I looked so uncomfortable in those first few days in the house but everything is down to an edit. But it was the best thing I’ve ever done. It was a sneak peak at the celebrity life. They were hoping I would win that vote and not get kicked out!’

Gary spilled royal secrets in the Big Brother house which have ‘infuriated’ his family, as his niece Kate recovers from abdominal surgery. Despite leaving some viewers cringing with his behaviour, Gary insisted in his exit interview that he ‘achieved his agenda’ while living in the house. Speaking in his first interview on Late & Live, he said: ‘I’ve had the best time, I went in with one agenda and I’ve achieved it in five days. I don’t consider myself to be a celebrity, I just happen to be related to someone who is a big celebrity.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I don’t have the time or patience to track the ever-evolving predictions for when and where the Princess of Wales will reappear. Going from memory, my recollection is that the official timeline was always “after Easter,” and then it morphed into “she’ll probably take off for her kids’ Easter holiday too” and then “well, she’ll probably be back by Trooping the Colour in June” and currently, sources are insisting that Kate will rise like Wiglet Christ Superstar on Easter Sunday. Whatever plan they had for Kate’s relaunch, the events of the past week have multiple people, including Uncle Gary, insisting that she’ll be seen ON Easter. Sure.

Re: the Mother’s Day Frankenphoto, in several interviews, Gary insisted that it was real and “genuine” and “beautiful.” On Good Morning Britain, he also admitted that he hasn’t spoken to Kate in a while: “I haven’t spoken to Kate for ages. Years, maybe a year,” he said, adding that he typically only sees her at “weddings and funerals.” He also said that he hasn’t spoken to anyone in the Middleton clan since he was evicted from the CBB house. Do you believe him?

Photos courtesy of CBB and Kensington Palace.

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RuPaul is having an excellent 2024 so far. Season 16 of Drag Race began in January and has had its trademark drama and celebrity guest appearances. Later that month the show won Best Reality Competition at the Emmys, where Ru also became the most decorated Best Host in the awards’ history with his eighth consecutive win. And just last week he released a memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings. This book is unequivocally RuPaul’s most searingly honest to date. Or at least that’s what the reviewers who were able to look away from the gorgeous cover photo say. Seriously, Ru is out of drag (even sporting facial hair!) in the black-and-white stunner, while staring directly at the camera, and by extension, us. Swoon! RuPaul sat down with Alex Cooper at the Call Her Daddy podcast on Spotify to discuss the memoir, in a conversation that covered his 30 years of drug use:

His first experience with hard drugs came when he was 13 in the form of a pill called a red devil. While RuPaul said he doesn’t remember the effects of that particular drug, he noted, “I wasn’t afraid of drugs.”

RuPaul said that in all the years he was a drug user, he “never shot up.” However, in his 20s, RuPaul “dropped acid every weekend.”

“Every weekend. Four hits of acid every weekend,” he said, before describing the experience of the drug. “It was the proof I had that this world is an illusion. That everything you think you know about solid objects or what people are is a lie. I had that suspicion before I dropped acid, so when I dropped acid, it was like, ‘Yes, this is it exactly!’”

“The people who freak out… those are the people that it never occurred to them that this is an illusion,” he added. “… It lifts the veil of the illusion, the fantasy that we collectively agree to in our lives.”

Looking back on his drug use, RuPaul said, “I used for 30 years. The first 20 were a blast. Had a great time. It was those last 10 that were pure hell.” Even so, RuPaul noted that he thanks “God for the drugs and alcohol, because it saved my life.”

“It gave me a layaway plan, a deferment plan until I was strong enough to deal with what was going on,” he said. “Thankfully, I found a 12-step program that really, really, really helped me so much that I am in love with. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that… The success I have today, I wouldn’t have that if it weren’t for this 12-step program… because it gives you all the processing tools to deal with all of the trauma of what life is.”

[From ET Online]

Wow, RuPaul offers a lot of depth just in that little summary alone. The perspective of being grateful for the drugs is intriguing. It’s certainly not what people usually talk about when discussing sobriety. But the way Ru explains his appreciation for a particular period of time, I actually understand his thinking? What I’m getting from him is that he’s afraid he would’ve shut down, either figuratively or in the worst way imaginable, if he didn’t have something to get him through until he was ready to deal with himself. Of course the huge caveat to that approach is, man was he lucky things worked out the way they did. You could think “this is what I need to get through for right now,” but your body could decide something else. Still, I think RuPaul sharing his full story, completely unvarnished, will do a world of good.

I’m ready to adopt “Everything you think you know about solid objects or what people are is a lie,” as a mantra. Though I haven’t ever dropped acid, I did have a very intense dream along these lines in my twenties that still haunts me. I was sitting in a circle with people from my childhood, in what felt like a meditation retreat. No talking, just sitting. And then kind of slowly yet suddenly, it was like a light was turned on and we realized there weren’t any definitions between us. The end of my arm or leg was just a trick of the eye. Once you had the right vantage point, it became apparent that everything was part of the same matter. We were all one, endless expansion of being, any perceived separations were merely illusions. I was so swept up in the moment, that when I woke up it nearly felt painful to be reconnected with solid, separated objects. The dream left me with the feeling that that field of connection is the place where I/we are supposed to find our way back to. Can I get an amen?

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Last month, the most anticipated superhero movie of the year, Madame Web, hit theaters. No one really knew why it was a thing, but the trailer was bonkers and well, it’s been a long four years, so there was some intrigue. Would it be one of those “so bad it’s good” movies? Or would it just be…bad? Sadly, not enough people dragged themselves to the theaters to hate-watch it, so it not only bombed with critics, it bombed at the box office too. It’s currently down to 12% on Rotten Tomatoes, woof.

At some point during the promotion for the movie, every star but Dakota Johnson bailed, as though they were distancing themselves from a trainwreck of a movie. Johnson’s co-star, Sydney Sweeney, is at SXSW promoting her upcoming horror movie, Immaculate. It’s about a virgin nun who ends up pregnant, a “seemingly miraculous event that soon takes a sinister turn.” While talking with the LA Times, Sydney gave some quotes about Madame Web, her acting method, and how she’s handling becoming more famous.

On Madame Web: Such is Sweeney’s current career trajectory that she is unfazed by the severe, mocking response to the recent disappointment “Madame Web,” saying, “I was just hired as an actress in it, so I was just along for the ride for whatever was going to happen.”

On producing: “I am a very hands-on collaborator. I like being able to give ideas, be a part of it, help come up with solutions. It just changes the whole process. It’s so hard for me now to be on a set and not be able to help in any type of way and be able to take action. And being able to actually have a voice and have a valued opinion — it means so much. And I still have a billion things to learn, but I love being able to be a part of the process from the beginning to the end. I’ve always built my characters from the ground up. And so I feel like I’m getting to do that on an entire script-level.”

She’s “dorky” IRL: “I am actually super dorky. I make very sarcastic dry remarks, and everyone close to me knows in real life I’m more of a comedian than a dramatic person.”

No method acting for her: “The number one thing [Andy McPhee, father of Kodi Smit-McPhee] always told me was to make sure that I separated myself as much as possible from my characters. Don’t put any of my own memories, emotions, feelings, people, relationships, anything in the thoughts of my characters, so that I can jump in and out.”

On how she’s handling her growing fame: “I am such a homebody that life kind of stays the same for me. I just hang out with my dog and my family and my close friends. There’s just more people who say hi to me when I go outside. That’s all…Nothing about this industry is normal. And I think it’s really important to remember that.”

[From LA Times]

I have the most to say about Madame Web, so let me first note that Sydney comes across as someone who is a very hard worker and very ambitious. It’s nice that she acknowledges that she still has a “billion” things to learn when it comes to producing. Also, good on her for being able to separate herself from her characters. That said, in some of her other answers, she gives me the impression that she is also someone who is trying very hard to say all of the “right” things to portray herself as a humble up-and-comer that’s been unchanged by fame.

Okay, so Madame Web. Lordy, the shade of pulling an “I don’t know her” about it. I think all of the actresses involved are missing a big opportunity here, and that’s to make it a cult classic. Do you think Susan Sarandon expected the following and residuals that would come from the The Rocky Horror Picture Show? That movie is crazy bonkers but I love the hella outta it thanks to the rituals that arose around it. Office Space was panned by critics too, but a red stapler, broken copy machine, and 15 pieces of flair made that instantly memorable. The groundwork was laid out for a campy classic when the whole “He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died” line trended on Twitter after the trailer came out. If a movie is laughably bad, there’s always a path to make people love it.

Photos credit: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon, Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon

Angela Bassett was “gobsmacked” when she lost the Oscar to Jamie Lee Curtis last year. Bassett also said it was a “supreme disappointment.” [OMG Blog]
Lupita Nyong’o & Joshua Jackson were hot & heavy in Mexico before the Oscars, and there are even more photos, hurray! [LaineyGossip]
This is one of the funniest political headlines of the week. [Jezebel]
Another explainer on the Rose Hanbury situation! [Pajiba]
St. Patrick’s Day trivia! [Buzzfeed]
Valerie Bertinelli is dating, two years after her brutal divorce. [JustJared]
Trip Wilson gives me Cristiano Ronaldo vibes. [Socialite Life]
Kim Kardashian & Bianca Censori hung out together. [Hollywood Life]
Gasp, John Legend had to walk his own dogs. [Seriously OMG]
Who was the best-dressed at the VF Oscar party? [RCFA]

It’s surprising that Us Weekly and not People Magazine put the Princess of Wales/Mother’s Day fiasco on their cover this week. People Mag is running a cover with Christina Applegate, and while I know Applegate is a well-liked and sympathetic figure for People’s readers, it does feel like a rather pointed editorial decision. My theory is that People Mag thinks something bigger is coming out soon and they’re saving everything for A Very Special Royal Divorce Issue. As for this Us Weekly cover story, it actually has some interesting quotes from “insiders” and unnamed associates of Prince William and Kate. It’s been months and apparently many of Kate’s staffers still haven’t seen her or spoken to her? And everyone is still being really tight-lipped about what the big mystery medical situation was in the first place.

The strange unfolding of events has only added to growing concerns about the 42-year-old princess. According to one royal source, Kate is “doing well” but has no intentions of sharing more about her condition with the public for now.

“Whatever the reason for the operation was, it’s of a personal nature, and Kate wants to keep the details as private as possible,” explains the source, adding that even some members of her own family are still in the dark. “Perhaps when she’s feeling up to it, she may reveal more, but she’s not making any promises.”

A second source says the palace is being “very hush-hush” about the whole situation. “A few of Kate’s senior staffers haven’t been able to see or speak to her, and they didn’t even know about the surgery until it was announced, so it’s caught them off guard,” the source claims to Us. Kate has just recently started to open up to members of her inner circle about the nature of her operation and recovery process. “Only a few people know what’s really going on, and they’re tight-lipped.”

The source says Kate’s had a few visitors — including King Charles III (who is receiving treatment for cancer, which Buckingham Palace announced on February 5), and his wife, Queen Camilla — but is otherwise covered by a “shroud of secrecy.” The source adds, “It’s confusing and causing some concern.”

Kate understands the curiosity — but aside from her closest family and friends, she’s adamant about maintaining some sense of privacy. “Kate’s said she feels she’s entitled to heal and recuperate without all of this frenzied speculation,” says the first source, noting that it was the princess’ decision to keep details about her surgery under wraps. “Neither Kate nor William think her medical records should be for public consumption.”

“She’s trying not to pay attention to all the rumors and gossip, and William is doing his best to shield her, but it’s distressing,” says the first source. William is at his wit’s end over the constant questions about his wife as he continues to fill in for his ailing dad and help out with the kids at home. Adds the source: “This has been a stressful time for William and Kate, but they’re made of tough stuff and are weathering through.”

According to the source, it was a “collective decision” to share the ill-fated Mother’s Day post. There’s talk the palace was frantically trying to control the chaos. “[The idea was that] Kate could thank members of the public for all the support and at the same time put some of those ridiculous conspiracy rumors to rest.”

Kate has taken the fall with her photo-editing confession, but it’s been a PR disaster. That’s the last thing the royal family needs right now, with Kate and Charles, 75, recuperating, and William pulling double duty to cover for them. (Camilla, 76, took some time off in early March after exhausting herself with 13 official engagements.)

“There’s an unsettling feeling that things are crumbling within the monarchy,” says the source. “William is under tremendous pressure to keep things afloat.”

[From Us Weekly]

“There’s an unsettling feeling that things are crumbling within the monarchy”– thanks, source, we got that! As for all of the secrecy and furtiveness… it would be wild if every part of this months-long catastrophe was simply “Kate not wanting to admit to an ‘embarrassing’ medical situation.” While I think the medical drama is legitimate, I also believe other things are happening here, including chronic palace mismanagement and William having one foot out the door with this marriage.

Photos courtesy of Instar, Cover Images, Backgrid. Cover courtesy of Us Weekly.

“Royal commentator” Dickie Arbiter was crying on Twitter on Wednesday about how people are still talking about the Princess of Wales’s janky Mother’s Day photo and the subsequent sh-tstorm. Arbiter tweeted: “Many of today’s UK morning papers are still squeezing the pips out of the Wales’ Mothering Sunday pic – you’ve had your ‘pound of flesh’ and some – time now to move on people.” Time to move on?? Really? That’s not what he would have said if the Sussexes had been tangled up in a similar situation. Besides that, the story hasn’t ended – things are still happening all around the Frankenphoto Fiasco. The global new director of Agence France-Presse was just interviewed and he ripped into Kensington Palace and compared them to North Korea.

One of the world’s biggest news agencies has claimed that Kensington Palace is no longer a “trusted source” after the furor over Kate Middleton‘s doctored Mother’s Day image. Phil Chetwynd, global news director of Agence France-Presse (AFP), told BBC Radio 4’s Media Show that the agency has reviewed its relationship with the Prince and Princess of Wales and will rigorously inspect future picture handouts from the royals.

Such a statement would have been unthinkable just a few days ago, but Chetwynd said the image raised “major issues” for AFP. He admitted that the agency should never have verified its use because it “violated our guidelines.” Middleton has apologized for “confusion” over the photo, which she attributed to an “experiment with editing.” Kensington Palace has not commented further and has declined to publish the original image, which was purportedly taken by Prince William this year.

Asked by Media Show presenter Ros Atkins if Kensington Palace is a trusted source, Chetwynd replied: “No, absolutely not. Like with anything, when you’re let down by a source the bar is raised … We sent out notes to all our teams at the moment to be absolutely super more vigilant about the content coming across our desk — even from what we would call trusted sources.”

Chetwynd revealed that the major news agencies, including Associated Press and Reuters, spoke before issuing notices to “kill” the picture on Sunday. He said Kensington Palace was asked if it would provide the original, but the agencies did not receive a reply and the image was pulled.

Chetwynd said it is unusual for media agencies to demand that photos be taken out of circulation. “To kill something on the basis of manipulation [is rare. We do it] once a year maybe, I hope less. The previous kills we’ve had have been from the North Korean news agency or the Iranian news agency,” he explained.

Chetwynd added: “One thing that’s really important is you cannot be distorting reality for the public. There’s a question of trust. And the big issue here is one of trust, and the lack of trust and the falling trust of the general public in institutions generally and in the media. And so it’s extremely important that a photo does represent broadly the reality that it’s seen in.”

[From Deadline]

Something which I want to reemphasize, which has gotten somewhat lost in the days-long fiasco: “He said Kensington Palace was asked if it would provide the original, but the agencies did not receive a reply and the image was pulled.” I’ve seen many royalists claim that international media outlets are “bullying” poor Kate and that how was she to know that she bungled the photo-editing so badly. KP knew on Sunday, as soon as Reuters, AP, AFP and Getty got in touch with them and began pressing them for an edited copy, that they had f–ked up. They even had a chance to get ahead of it or simply release the “original.” Instead, they froze in panic and refused to speak to these news agencies. What an unprofessional way to do business.

As for everything else Phil Chetwynd says… the comparison to North Korea, the “absolutely not” to whether KP is a trusted source, the promise to examine everything coming out of the palace… this sh-t is getting good. I hope these agencies, like CNN, go back into the archives and examine those as well. I’m adding more KP-released photos in this post to highlight!

Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace.

It’s hilarious to me that the Mother’s Day Photo Fiasco has so many moving parts and so many confusing side-stories. The biggest issue, arguably, is that the Frankenphoto was cobbled together, likely using much older pics, none of which were taken by Prince William, and that the Frankenphoto was so egregious that six news outlets killed the pic from their archives. But as that controversy rages on, a surprising number of people are pointing out something very interesting: whoever created the Frankenphoto clearly wanted to send a message by having “Kate” without her wedding band or Big Blue. Multiple royalists have complained about that alone: if you’re touching up a proof-of-life photo, why not add Kate’s rings? Unless that’s the point. Now the ring issue, combined with Stephen Colbert’s segment on Prince William’s alleged affair with Rose Hanbury, has led to this very interesting exclusive in the Daily Beast:

Speculation over the health of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s marriage, triggered by the absence of a wedding band on Kate’s ring finger in her notorious Mother’s Day photograph, has been thrust firmly back into the mainstream after Stephen Colbert trolled Prince William in his monologue Tuesday with rumors of an affair. Colbert astonished audiences Tuesday night by referring to an affair William is widely alleged to have had with his neighbor, Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. The palace has repeatedly denied an affair ever took place.

A former royal staffer told The Daily Beast that Colbert’s comments would be “deeply annoying” as William and Kate’s office at Kensington Palace desperately tries to course correct after a tumultuous few days of headlines. The former courtier, who worked with William and Kate when employed at the palace, said, “It’s deeply annoying and unhelpful for the palace, but it’s not surprising that the affair rumors are being reheated. What else are people supposed to think when she sends out a photo not wearing her wedding ring?”

Another source, who is a friend of Kate and William’s, said that they and their friend group were “completely baffled” as to why Kate put out a picture which showed her without a wedding band when it seemed “guaranteed to get people asking questions about the state of the marriage.”

The friend said: “They are often seen together at school events, and really it is remarkable how one and often both of them will always be at every match, every music concert and every prize giving. The relationship has always seemed incredibly strong despite the immense pressure they are under, so it’s fair to say we were all completely baffled when the picture came out with the wedding ring missing, especially as it was photoshopped. It just seemed guaranteed to get people asking questions about the state of the marriage.”

The affair rumors go back to 2019 when The Daily Beast reported on palace lawyers’ attempts to suppress reporting of the alleged affair by issuing stern legal notices to British publications, cautioning them not to write about the rumors. At the time, official sources in Kensington Palace told The Daily Beast that the allegations were “totally wrong and false.” Royal law firm Harbottle and Lewis issued letters to the British media stating that the stories were “false and highly damaging.” British newspapers instead reported that there had been a terrible argument between former friends Kate and Rose without giving a cause.

[From The Daily Beast]

I’m always amused by the argument of “Will & Kate’s marriage is fine, they turn up at school events together.” Yeah, pre-2024, they never had much on their plate work-wise, so of course they go to their kids’ school events. It doesn’t mean their marriage is strong, nor does it mean they’re actually living in the same home, nor does it mean that William is a faithful husband. Now that Colbert has discussed Rose Hanbury/Marchioness of Cholmondeley on American network television, he’s giving cover to all media outlets to revisit the Rose saga and report on it openly, five years after the story first broke and five years after Kensington Palace threw the Sussexes to the wolves to deflect from William’s wandering sceptre. That is what will be fascinating to watch: how will Huevo deflect from the renewal of the Rose conversation?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Kensington Palace.