Kylie Jenner brought her daughter and her mother to Paris Fashion Week. Kylie attended the Jean Paul Gaultier show (sat front row and got one of the better dresses) and she also took Stormi out to some PFW event. Kylie has become a regular at PFW, and just going from memory, she attends different designers’ runway shows every year. One year, Schiaparelli, another year, Acne Studios, this year Gaultier. If you ask me, many designers like her better than Kim. Anyway, people are talking about the Gaultier photos a lot because Kylie got photographed really close-up and they’re saying she looks “old.”

Kylie Jenner switched up her look yet again after going public with BF Timothée Chalamet — revamping her style at Paris Fashion Week … but being met with haters in her comments. Check it out yourself … the 26-year-old reality star stepped out in a strapless cream-colored sheer flowing dress at the Jean Paul Gaultier show Wednesday — a far departure from her bold, skintight outfits that she’s been rocking of late.

As you can see … Kylie paired the stripped-back ethereal sleepwear-inspired dress with towering heels, minimal makeup … and old Hollywood-style locks. A very soft ‘fit, for sure.

She was certainly feeling herself in the moment, and even posted some clips of herself from the show — but, unfortunately, a lot of people had less-than-nice things to say about her appearance … namely, the notion that she looked a bit “old,” at least in their eyes.

One person cruelly commented she was “aging in dog years,” while another added she looked 47 — and a third said she’d ruined her face. Like we said, very jerk-y remarks.

[From TMZ]

These photos hit in the middle of the “Gen Z is ageing like milk while Milennials look young” discourse was happening. Personally, I think Gen Z has always wanted to look older and Kylie is sort of the poster child for that – when she was 20/21, she was always styled to look much older, always with the heavy makeup too, and that’s been consistent throughout her teens and twenties. That seems to be a thing across the board with Gen Z women – they love heavy makeup, they don’t like a “fresh face” youthful look, they’ve already started tweaking their faces, and… yeah. That’s Kylie. Full disclosure: I did a double-take at some of the Gaultier closeup photos of Kylie.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Something to keep your eye on about the Princess of Wales’s mysterious medical situation is the behavior of everyone else in the royal family. The Duchess of Edinburgh is doing business as usual and she’s got a public schedule this week. Prince Edward is traveling – he was in South Africa and he made zero comments about the king’s prostate or his niece-in-law’s hospitalization. The York princesses were in Davos and Paris last week. Queen Camilla is assuring everyone that Charles will be fine and she hasn’t even mentioned Kate at all. It could be that, as People Magazine’s sources suggested in this week’s cover story, Kate’s hospitalization was a surprise to the family, but they’ve been privately assured that Kate will be fine after a lengthy recuperation. All I’m saying is that no one in the family is behaving as if Kate’s situation is dire. That seems to be the message People Mag got from unnamed royal sources as well. Some additional highlights from People’s cover story:

Kate will bounce back: “It does sound serious with the length of time [she’s taking]. But she is in great hands and will have lots of care and support at home and is a fit young woman,” a source close to the royal household tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “I am sure she will bounce back.”

Kate is in good hands: The palace has not disclosed the nature of her condition but has stated it is noncancerous. A former patient who had abdominal surgery at the London Clinic tells PEOPLE that the Princess of Wales is in good care there. “The physical therapists are amazing, helping you recover and get back on your feet. After abdominal surgery, you need a lot of patience, and it’s a bit scary at first,” says the insider, who was treated at the London Clinic last June.

William & Kate don’t have a huge private staff: A close family friend says the couple doesn’t have “a huge private staff,” and “as a result, William is really hands-on. He doesn’t want any mistakes made with the next generation. He wants to give them a proper upbringing and lots of love. That is foremost in his mind,” the friend says. Their family dynamic is “more like one we can all recognize,” adds a source close to the royal household.

Robert Hardman’s opinion: Hardman adds, “They are a modern royal couple. There would have been more delegation [in the past]. He doesn’t want to leave it all to the nanny. We know they are a very tight family unit, and he wants to be there for them. So much of what they do with those kids is about normalizing life and not making them feel like they are in a special gilded cage.”

[From People Magazine]

The couple “doesn’t have a huge private staff,” compared to what though? Everyone has a smaller private staff compared to Charles, who is notoriously overstaffed at every level. I actually believe that William and Kate have a bloated office staff but a leaner private staff, especially at Adelaide Cottage. No “live in” staffers, but I’m sure there’s more backup than just Nanny Maria. Surely a few maids, a cook, a personal assistant? And that will expand, especially if Kate actually plans on recuperating in Adelaide. There will have to be nurses, physiotherapists, etc, all coming in and out of the house for months on end. Kind of makes me wonder if Kate would be more comfortable recovering at her mom’s house? I wonder if they’re building towards that. Honestly, it would not surprise me at all and while I give Carole a lot of sh-t, Carole would be better at managing her daughter’s recovery than William and the palace lackeys.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, cover courtesy of People Mag.

Apparently, Prince Albert of Monaco fired his longtime accountant last year and the guy, Claude Palmero, is going on some kind of revenge tour through the French press. Palermo kept detailed accounts in every way, accounts of Prince Albert’s spending habits and those of his wife Princess Charlene. Albert had/has an intricate payment system to all of his children conceived before he married Charlene, and Albert and Charlene also employed undocumented immigrants as nannies. Some highlights from the Mail’s reporting:

Charlene’s allowance: According to Palmero’s notes, Princess Charlene, who at 45 is 20 years the Prince’s junior and spent four months in a hospital in 2021/2 for ‘deep fatigue’, was routinely given an allowance of around £1.2 million a year – but still managed to overspend. In 2017, she reportedly needed more than £500,000 to pay off a substantial overdraft. Two years later, the speed at which Princess Charlene apparently burned through money so worried the Prince’s accountant that he wrote in his notes: ‘It’s crazy! I have no control over the Princess’ spending.’

Charlene’s real estate: Charlene poured nearly £2 million into renovating a holiday house in Corsica and redecorating her office, Palmero said. He also claimed she rented another house on the French island where she spent time apart from Albert. Palmero’s notes also show that on one day in April 2016, she asked for £60,000. On another occasion, in 2020, Palermo recorded a one-off payment to Charlene from Albert of £171,000, plus £4,200 in cash.

Charlene’s family gets money too: Meanwhile, Charlene’s family, in particular her brother Sean with whom she runs a charity, were also benefiting from the spectacular largesse of husband Albert, with Sean receiving £786,000 to buy a house in 2022. He now runs a coffee shop in Monaco.

Albert’s finances are struggling because of all of his kids? The entries in Palermo’s notebooks seem to suggest that Prince Albert’s chaotic personal life has drained his riches. He has two acknowledged love children: Alexandre, by former air hostess Nicole Coste, born in 2003; and Jazmin, by U.S. estate agent Tamara Rotolo, born in 1993. According to Le Monde, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, 31, Albert’s love child with Rotolo, receives £73,000 every three months – despite not being part of the royal family. Palmero noted she was given £4,200 for her 18th and a flat in New York worth £2.6 million seven years later.

Nicole & Alexandre Coste: Palmero also noted that the palace was paying for kidnap and ransom insurance for Alexandre, 20, Albert’s son with Coste. The Prince acknowledged paternity of Alexandre in 2005. In 2015, Alexandre’s mother persuaded Albert to back her fashion business, which was fronted by a shop in London’s Knightsbridge, Le Monde said this week. Palmero noted in 2015 that it was ‘on course [to cost] one million [euros] a year’.

Albert’s private accounts: Libération, another of the French newspapers to whom Palmero spoke, said the Prince had an account at French bank BNP under the name AG for ‘Albert Grimaldi’. The newspaper said the account was used to pay Albert’s former mistresses and their children without his wife knowing. Prince Albert married Charlene in 2011. But Palermo notes that Coste ‘fears’ what Princess Charlene might do to her cosy financial arrangements upon the death of Prince Albert, which is why she had an apartment in London put in the name of their son Alexandre.

Charlene’s nannies: However, some of the most potentially damaging comments in Palmero’s notebooks refer to Charlene’s staff. He notes she employed nannies and other domestic staff who were illegal immigrants, or living in Monaco illegally. ‘Her Serene Highness the Princess makes people work for her who are not compliant,’ Mr Palmero warned Albert. He also referred to ‘a moonlighting Filipino woman who ties up dogs in the shower’. In a letter written in January 2017, he said another employee from the Philippines had been ‘illegal for five years’, despite being on a one-month tourist visa. ‘He gets paid 100 euros a day [£85] which is off the scale,’ Mr Palmero wrote.

[From The Daily Mail]

The stuff about Charlene’s allowance and her overspending… like, we still don’t know where she lives even now. She spends some time in Monaco, but she reportedly lives in Switzerland now? Or maybe somewhere else. I genuinely hope she squirreled away some money. The undocumented nannies situation is awful, especially given that Albert and Charlene were blowing through millions on ridiculous stuff, yet they couldn’t pay a regular, fair salary to a nanny with a valid work visa? The stuff about Albert’s other bank accounts and the money he gives to his other kids and mistresses… I mean, I expected that? No one is even sure how much Albert is even worth.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Tuesday night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a surprise appearance at the Bob Marley: One Love premiere in Jamaica. For hours, Sussex fans blissed out on the excellent vibes on social media, because the vile British media was fast asleep. As soon as the royal reporters woke up and saw the photos, the sh-tstorm commenced. Yesterday, I wrote about the Mail’s coverage, which was laugh-out-loud funny as they grew more and more outraged by how “insensitive” it was to pose for photos with the prime minister who fired William and Kate live on television. Well, it gets even better. The Mail’s Sarah Vine wrote a side-splittingly funny column about how Meghan and Harry should be stripped of their titles because they went to a premiere in Jamaica. For real. Vine is also incredibly bitter that the Sussexes did not issue a public statement about Charles and Kate’s health issues… and yet “royal sources” insisted days ago that H&M did get in touch privately, so who cares about a public statement? In any case, enjoy these completely unhinged highlights:

Vine is mad that Meghan isn’t ageing like milk: When I saw the pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the premiere of the Bob Marley movie in Kingston, Jamaica, the first thing that sprang to mind was how thoroughly refreshed they both looked. Indeed, I had to do a double-take to make sure it really was the duchess that Prince Harry was escorting and not some dewy, doe-eyed lookalike. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but she certainly seems to have upped her skincare routine since we last saw her.

Vine is mad that Harry has the money to sue the Mail: The prince, meanwhile, looked remarkably unfurrowed for a man who looks likely to have to pay three quarters of a million pounds in legal costs accrued by his failed libel action against the Mail on Sunday. I don’t know what they put in the water out there in Montecito, but it’s definitely working.

No word in public about the king’s health!! All that gloss doesn’t hide the ugly fact that the pair – normally so vocal when it comes to informing the world of their heartfelt sentiments – have yet to say a single word in public on the subject of Harry’s father, the King, and his health issues. Given how much the Prince likes to use his platform for good, you might have thought he would have seized this opportunity to remind other men of the importance of getting their prostate checked. As for the duchess, normally such a strong advocate for women’s health, it does seem rather unsisterly not to wish the Princess of Wales a speedy recovery from her abdominal surgery.

Vine is mad about racism (no, not that way): But there is something else driving Jamaica’s disdain for the Crown: the perceived notion that the British Royal Family is inherently racist and the Duchess of Sussex was a victim of prejudice during her time at the Palace. This idea was, of course, vehemently denied while the Queen was still alive but recently resurrected by the Sussexes’ mouthpiece, Omid Scobie, in his most recent hagiography Endgame, in which he ‘accidentally’ named the alleged ‘royal racists’ as King Charles and the Princess of Wales.

The racism allegations! These allegations will no doubt have caused a great deal of distress to both the King and the Princess. Effectively being cancelled by your own son must take its toll on a man, and I can only imagine how stressful it must be for the Princess of Wales to not only have to pick up the slack left behind by the Duchess of Sussex’s departure but to have to do so with a smile on her face while being kicked repeatedly in the teeth by the latter’s cheerleaders.

The Sussexes are sending a message to the palace! By choosing to break cover in such vehemently anti-monarchist company, the Duke and Duchess appear to be sending a very clear signal to the Palace. It appears to me that they intend to use their royal connection to undermine both the individual reputations of members of the Royal Family and that of the institution as a whole. I hope that I am wrong. By casting themselves as refugees from a regressive and repressive regime, they are tapping into the divisive culture wars that dominate so much of our public debate these days and helping to fuel anti-royalist sentiment throughout the Commonwealth and elsewhere.

Strip them of their titles: The late Queen, who loved the Commonwealth and used her position to foster forgiveness and understanding, would be heartbroken. As for King Charles, I can see only one course of action: he should give them what they claim to want and set them free of their royal shackles by stripping them, finally, of all titles.

[From The Daily Mail]

LMAO. As I said, royal sources (the palace comms team) rushed out to tell the British press that Harry and Meghan had gotten in touch and sent, I don’t know, get-well-soon cards to Charles and Kate. That’s all they can really do, right? While the press absolutely wants Harry to rush back to the UK, that’s not actually what Charles or William want at all. Even though the left-behind Windsors are being crushed by the bright, hot spotlight they craved for decades, they still can’t admit that they were wrong to throw the Sussexes away. So what else can Harry and Meghan do but live their lives and thrive? Ah, therein lies the problem – it’s not that the Sussexes didn’t issue statements about anyone’s health, it’s that the Sussexes are thriving. The fact that they were so warmly received in a country which will soon toss out the British monarchy is just icing on the cake. Strip them of their titles, I say! And explain that it’s being done because Harry and Meghan went to a premiere!

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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When we last checked in with Mark Zuckerberg, he was busy lowering his property tax rate by raising high-quality cattle and feeding them a steady diet of macadamia nuts and beer on his controversial, 1,600+ acre Hawaiian estate called Ko’olau Ranch. It was really taking “wealthy, sustainable, and wacky” to a whole new level. Speaking of, if you ever wondered what it would be like if Zuck had a bunker in the world of Leave the World Behind, you won’t have to wonder for much longer. The world’s sixth richest person is reportedly adding a 5,000 square-foot bunker underneath Ko’olau Ranch for a cool $100 mil.

Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly constructing an extensive compound in Kauai, Hawaii, featuring a unique blend of luxury and survivalist elements. The compound, known as Koolau Ranch, is set to include a 5,000-square-foot underground bunker, complete with its own energy and food supplies. The bunker’s design incorporates a metal door filled with concrete, a feature commonly found in bunkers and bomb shelters.

The project, which reflects a growing trend among Silicon Valley elites for preparedness and luxury, is estimated to cost around $100 million to build on top of the $170 million spent acquiring the land. This brings the total investment to approximately $270 million, according to Wired.

The project has been shrouded in secrecy since the beginning. Workers on the ranch are required to sign strict nondisclosure agreements, and reports indicate people have been fired for posting on social media that they are working on the project. Workers on the compound undergo constant surveillance from hundreds of cameras, and military-style security measures have been implemented across the ranch.

The methods to acquire the land also give rise to issues and speculation. Zuckerberg initially hid the purchases of land using shell companies and brokers to disguise them. Those shell companies are now involved in several lawsuits claiming they pressured locals with ancestral land rights to sell the land or get into a bidding war at auction with one of the richest men in the world.

The sprawling 1,400-acre compound is planned to house more than just the bunker. It will include over 30 bedrooms and bathrooms, two mansions connected by a tunnel to the bunker and nearly a dozen tree houses linked by rope bridges. The tree houses are designed to provide guests with an immersive treetop experience. The compound also will feature a fitness center, guest houses and other operational buildings.

The county where the compound is being built offers tax incentives for building hurricane-resistant safe rooms, which might partially explain the construction of such a robust structure. Despite the grand scale of the development, representatives for Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, emphasize their commitment to preserving the natural beauty of the ranch. They point out that the development occupies less than 1% of the land, with the rest dedicated to farming, ranching, conservation and wildlife preservation. Alongside the sprawling farm and ranch, the compound is being designed to be self-sustaining. From underground bunkers to its own energy and water supplies, the compound has nearly everything you would need to survive for months at a time.

[From Yahoo]

Whenever I hear these stories, I’m always torn between rolling my eyes and lowkey wondering if the people on that billionaires WhatsApp chat know something that we don’t know. But reading the description of that compound with its 30 bedrooms, two mansions connected to the bunker by tunnel, and treehouses is truly f—king wild. How gross to store that much food for a “what if” scenario when there are children out there who are starving. Also, what a bummer that the treehouses probably won’t survive the apocalypse.

The real kicker here is that Zuckerberg and his family don’t even need this estate on this land, which has forced Hawaiian natives off of it. Like, it’s all just too much. Tax the rich more. If they have enough money to build bonkers (typo and it stays) that are like four to five times the size of most people’s homes, then they can spare a couple hundred million in taxes to help benefit the rest of us. Ugh, the more I hear about what Zuck’s been up to lately, the more I start thinking that maybe it wouldn’t have been such a bad idea to let Elon and Zuck duke it out.

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Here are some photos from last night’s London premiere of Argylle. I couldn’t even make it through the trailer, but from what I gather, it’s Matthew Vaughn’s latest attempt at a glossy-yet-quirky action film full of British actors. He’s still trying to recreate the magic of Layer Cake (his first film) but nothing will ever touch it, honestly. Argylle is so full of celebrities, I couldn’t even fit all of the premiere photos in this post.

One big headline is that Henry Cavill brought his girlfriend to the premiere, a fact which I’m sure will upset the Cavill-cade or whatever his fans call themselves. Cavill has been with Natalie Viscuso for something like three years, and this isn’t the first time they’ve walked a carpet together. It feels like his fans aren’t in a full-blown panic about Natalie anymore, which is nice. Hopefully everyone has chilled out. They look nice together and three years together isn’t bad at all. Her ensemble is…not my jam. It feels very bridal in a weird way and that coat is just awful. Cavill always looks like a casino pit boss whenever he wears a suit.

Other photos…Dua Lipa looked fantastic, and I’m loving this hair color on her. Claudia Schiffer (Matthew Vaughn’s wife) looked beautiful and she got to carry the “cat backpack,” which is something significant in the film. Bryce Dallas Howard looked SO GOOD in that striking green gown. That’s one of the best things she’s ever worn!! Bonus pics of Sam Rockwell and Mark Strong (Strong looked delicious).

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

My Girl does not like the snow, so the past couple weeks have been hard on us. (Note: she’s a dog.) Last weekend I managed to scoot her out during a momentary reprieve, and while she was all about business and returning to indoor heating thankyouverymuch, we crossed paths with a pretty cute French Bulldog who was happily chowing down on the icy treat. His Person sheepishly said to us, “We’re just eating snow.” Hey, if it works for Reese Witherspoon!

So that little interlude is my segue into the breaking news in American Dogdom: after poring over records of newly registered dogs, the American Kennel Club is reporting that the French Bulldog is now most popular, taking the top spot from Labrador Retrievers who have led the pack for over three decades. What?! A French dog as America’s favorite?! Sacré bleu! Since My Girl is a marvelous Chihuahua-Dachshund mix, I have no horse in this race, so to speak. Here’s what AKC has to say:

Some statistics: According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000. The French Bulldog’s popularity has grown exponentially over the past decade. They were the #14 most popular breed in 2012, and since then, registrations have gone up 1,000%, bringing them to the top of the breed popularity rankings.

In the spotlight: The French Bulldog was famous among America’s upper class around the turn of the 20th century but then fell out of favor. Their resurgence is partly based on several celebrities who have gone public with their Frenchie love. Leonardo DiCaprio, Megan Thee Stallion, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Reese Witherspoon and Lady Gaga all own French Bulldogs. The breed earned a lot of attention as show dogs last year when a Frenchie named Winston took second place at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and first in the National Dog Show. The breed made national news in early 2021 when Gaga’s dog walker was shot in the chest while walking two of her Frenchies in a dog heist. He recovered from his injuries, and the dogs were later returned.

Looks, personality, size: “They’re comical, friendly, loving little dogs,” French Bulldog Club of America spokesperson Patty Sosa told the AP. She said they are city-friendly with modest grooming needs and “they offer a lot in a small package.” They are also popular with people who live in apartments. According to the AKC, Frenchies don’t bark much and do not require a lot of outdoor exercise. The French Bulldog stands out among other breeds because it looks like a miniature bulldog but has large, expressive bat-like ears that are its trademark feature. However, their popularity isn’t without controversy. “French bulldogs can be a polarizing topic,” veterinarian Dr. Carrie Stefaniak told the AP.

Health concerns: French Bulldogs have been bred to have abnormally large heads, which means that large litters usually need to be delivered by C-section, an expensive procedure that can be dangerous for the mother. They are also prone to multiple health problems, including skin, ear, and eye infections. Their flat face means they often suffer from respiratory problems and heat intolerance. Frenchies are also more prone to spine deformations and nerve pain as they age.

[From Upworthy]

Full disclosure: apparently this bulletin was originally released in March 2023, but I didn’t see the tiny fine print at the bottom of the article until after a few read throughs. But for whatever reason the news has been recirculating and that’s just dandy with me because I always want to talk about dogs!! More specifically, I want to rile up passionate debate over whether it’s appropriate that the French Bulldog has dethroned the Labrador Retriever as America’s favorite breed. Thoughts? Questions? Consternations? I’ll start us off… As a city dweller myself, I understand the appeal of their size and temperaments. Plus anyone who has a trademark of “expressive bat-like ears” is someone worth knowing. I wouldn’t call My Girl’s ears bat-like, but they are equally captivating and communicative. (Note from My Girl: “I’m listening for food, Lady. That’s all it is.”) So between those factors combined with a little celebrity glow, I understand Frenchies gamboling to favorite breed. After reading all the health problems they’ve developed thanks to human intervention, though, I can’t help but wonder if they’d declare the same of us.

photos via Pexels as credited in file names

Lily Gladstone celebrated her historic Oscar nomination. [Just Jared]
While I’m glad that Bradley Cooper didn’t get a Best Director Oscar nomination, I hate that he got a Best Actor nom! And yes, he’s sort of a scammer. [Pajiba]
Oh, SNL spoofed Club Shay Shay and Shannon Sharpe. [LaineyGossip]
Naomi Campbell and Kendrick Lamar at the Chanel show [Go Fug Yourself]
Trixie Mattell reviews The Brothers Sun. [OMG Blog]
Rep. Nancy Mace wants a Fox News gig, I guess. [Jezebel]
More photos from the PFW Dior show. [RCFA]
I love Tiffani Amber Thiessen! [Seriously OMG]
Did any of the RHOBH cast members go to college? [Starcasm]
Noah Cyrus went to Paris Fashion Week as well. [Hollywood Life]
The five biggest snubs of the Oscar nominations. [Buzzfeed]

For a full week – ever since we learned about King Charles and the Princess of Wales’s dual health crises – the British media has been screaming, crying and throwing up about how Prince Harry needs to get on a plane and come “back” to the UK to help his father and brother. Well, Harry got on a plane. He flew to Jamaica with his beautiful wife and they made a surprise appearance at the premiere of Bob Marley: One Love. Meghan looked gorgeous in a black ballgown-skirt and a spaghetti-strapped top. Harry looked buffed, hydrated, well endowed and wealthy.

There are just too many funny parts to this surprise appearance. First off, they were greeted warmly by Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness and his wife Juliet Holness. PM Holness was the same person who brought Prince William and Kate into his office and fired them live on camera in 2022, and Holness is currently taking the bureaucratic steps to remove Jamaica from its ties to Britain. Holness really said: Harry and Meghan are the only royals worth a damn. Apparently, the Sussexes were also greeted warmly by the Marley family (Harry was seen shaking hands and being friendly with Ziggy Marley), and back in 2022, the Marley fam refused to meet with Peg and Buttons.

Also: this is a huge kick in the ass to all of the Salt Island idiots trying to convince themselves that the Sussexes are “D-listers” who are loathed in Hollywood – Paramount’s CEO Brian Robbins went out of his way to pose with the Sussexes on the red carpet, and I’d be willing to bet that the Sussexes were either special, invited guests of either Paramount or the Marley family or both. So, the optics are just… perfect. Harry and Meghan made it to Jamaica before the new king and queen. The Windsor clan looks old and out of touch, while the Sussexes look fresh, young and modern. I’m enjoying this so much!

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

It’s interesting to watch Kensington Palace try to deal with a PR issue they created. In this case, the issue is their lack of transparency around the Princess of Wales’s hospitalization, surgery and recovery time. While I can understand why KP doesn’t want to provide every single detail of whatever Kate is going through, and Kate has the right to medical privacy, William and Kate do have a long history of being way too squirrelly about too many topics. Back in the pre-Meghan days, that was a consistent complaint about William and Kate – they were always talking about their “privacy” and they didn’t believe they had to show the British public any part of their lives. Let’s not forget that William hid his serious case of Covid for months after the fact too.

I’ll be fair – even if KP came out and made further disclosures about Kate’s hospitalization, I think there would still be a massive amount of speculation and conspiracies. But KP’s answer to the current speculation is to… get People Magazine to publish some truly odd stories. Yesterday, People Mag published quotes from an unnamed patient who went through a similar “abdominal surgery” and wouldn’t you know, the patient explained that their family couldn’t visit, etc. Now People has Kate on this week’s cover:

Kate Middleton shocked the world — and most of those around her — when the palace announced on Jan. 17 that she had been hospitalized. The Princess of Wales, 42, was admitted to the London Clinic a day prior for “planned abdominal surgery.” Yet just three weeks earlier there was no hint of any impending issue as Kate stepped out on Christmas morning alongside Prince William and their children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. Kate beamed as she greeted well-wishers, exchanging laughs and cheerful banter with the public following a church service.

Within their broader circle of family friends, there had been no indication that anything was wrong, and the carefully guarded news about Kate’s situation came as a surprise even to those who work closely with the royal family, PEOPLE understands.

Spending the holiday season at their country home, Anmer Hall, the couple and their children enjoyed family time with their royal relatives while catching up with friends for outings in the Norfolk countryside, PEOPLE reports in this week’s issue.

Around the New Year they spent time with Kate’s family, and as they resumed daily life at Windsor’s Adelaide Cottage, they celebrated Kate’s 42nd birthday on Jan. 9 privately. The following day George, Charlotte and Louis returned to their school, Lambrook.

However, as William resumed public duties on Jan. 11, it became evident that some expected public engagements for Princess Kate were unconfirmed—and behind the scenes, there were schedule changes and growing concern. According to the palace, Kate could remain hospitalized for “10 to 14 days” before returning home to continue her recovery, and it would be unlikely for her to “return to public duties until after Easter.”

“It is sensible to take the time,” says a source close to the royal household. “That is a great example to the rest of us, as you’re often told to get back to work as soon as possible, which can be damaging.”

Adds a former patient at the London Clinic: “The physical therapists are amazing, helping you recover and get back on your feet. After abdominal surgery, you need a lot of patience, and it’s a bit scary at first.”

Once back home at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, Kate will receive ample support from her close-knit family, including parents Carole and Michael and siblings Pippa and James, who are a short car ride away. “Her parents are an enduring factor in the upbringing of their grandchildren,” a palace insider tells PEOPLE. “And they will be a reassuring presence when she goes back to Windsor to recuperate.”

Adds the source close to the royal household, “She is in great hands and will have lots of care and support at home.”

[From People]

“Kate’s situation came as a surprise even to those who work closely with the royal family.” Hm. I’ve wondered this whole time if Buckingham Palace even knows what’s happening with Kate, and I think it’s notable that BP hasn’t stepped in to clean up Kensington Palace’s PR mess. You can tell that the royal reporters are getting some kind of holding pattern from the comms teams too – the rota is either being stonewalled or they know exactly what’s happening and they’re simply waiting for someone else to break the story before they can actually talk about it.

Also: People Mag sort of clarified the timeline – Kate and William were in Anmer Hall in Norfolk until NYE, then they returned to Adelaide Cottage, Kate had a quiet birthday and then… something happened? This continues to be very odd, and I’m genuinely worried about Kate’s health. I hope she makes it through OK and, as these sources indicate, it’s just a matter of recovery time and taking it easy.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, cover courtesy of People.