I was surprised to see that Prince William and Kate barely worked in December, a month which has historically been one of their busier months. They seem completely over it, and by “it” I mean the whole “working royal” thing. They didn’t go to the pre-Christmas lunch at Windsor Castle, they didn’t go on any foreign tours together in 2023 and they barely fulfill the bare minimum of a part-time work schedule. The most notable thing is Kate’s apparent refusal to travel for work, alongside William’s lack of interest in traveling with his wife. Kate didn’t go to Singapore for Earthshot and she only left the UK once for “work” – attending a royal wedding in Jordan. Well, that’s going to change in 2024 – the Foreign Office is sending Bill and Cathy to Italy in “early 2024.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales are to make their first official trip to Italy, but are unlikely to meet the Pope, The Telegraph understands. They are set to undertake a short tour of Italy in early 2024, planning to see the sights of Rome.

They will be travelling on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, representing the UK with a programme designed to further the relationship between the two countries.

The trip will be the first time they have been hosted by Italy in their capacity as senior members of the Royal family, and their first joint official visit since Elizabeth II died. It is likely to include meetings and state events.

The trip has not yet been confirmed and is in the early planning stages, but it is understood a visit to the Vatican, which would ordinarily be arranged long in advance to take account of the Pope’s carefully managed schedule, is not likely.

A spokesman for Kensington Palace said: “We look forward to announcing the Prince and Princess’ travel plans in due course.”

It will mark a return to official joint tours for the couple, who have not represented the UK together overseas since a challenging trip to the Caribbean in March 2022.

[From The Telegraph]

Once again, notice they’re not being sent to a British realm or commonwealth country. They’re going to Italy, not really a hotbed of monarchist sentiment nor a significant British ally. It basically sounds like Will and Kate fancied an Italian vacation. The thing about possibly visiting the Vatican is interesting too – the Telegraph is shutting down that speculation, but Becky English at the Mail claimed that “negotiations around the couple meeting with Pope Francis are still ‘very much on the table’ and ‘nothing has been decided yet’.” Basically, the palace put in a request for Peg & Buttons to go on a Vatican adventure and Pope Francis isn’t sold on the idea. Becky English also calls this upcoming trip part of a “European charm offensive.” The last time they invoked the “charm offensive” title, we got the Boston Flop Tour and the Caribbean Flop Tour.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Nicholas Witchell was the BBC’s royal correspondent for 25 years, and he retired this week, on Christmas Day. Ahead of his retirement, he sat down with Roya Nikkhah at the Times of London to talk about the Windsors, the role of royal reporting and of course the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Witchell went viral in 2019, on the day Prince Archie was born, because Witchell, doing a live BBC link-up, lost his train of thought completely and stammered around, trying to avoid saying “the first mixed race child in the royal family.” Witchell’s interview got a lot of headlines this week but really, he’s just saying what most royal reporters have said a million times. Some highlights from this interview:

They can’t ignore the Sussex saga: “You cannot ignore Harry and Meghan and that story, however tedious at times it may become. We’ve fully reported the split, the biography and all the other machinations of it. There have been soap opera aspects to the royal family for a long time and an appetite for the tittle-tattle, scandal end of reporting. It’s not an aspect I feel at home with, but I recognise it is part of the job.”

His viral moment in 2019, when Archie was born: “That was my worst single moment in 48 years. Drying up in front of the audience live on the telly. It was about Harry and Meghan and maybe subconsciously I just wasn’t that interested… I’ve obviously asked myself what went wrong. I was tired, you need to wind yourself up to stand there and do that, and I hadn’t. I was complacent, you cannot be complacent about live television because if you are, as I demonstrated in front of however many million people, it can bite you.” The public were mostly kind and he received letters of support from actors who had dried up on stage. “I’ve never been able to watch it and it shook my confidence quite a bit.”

His thoughts on the Sussexit: “I think probably it was always going to happen because he was looking for a way out and he perceived her [Meghan] as being the route out from a life that, as we now discover, he had never felt entirely comfortable with — a life to which psychologically I think he was not suited. Should the Palace have tried harder? Yes. In different hands, might it have handled things differently? Yes. I think by that stage the Queen was the age she was and would have found it difficult to understand the anguish Harry was going through.”

He dismisses the Sussexes’ narrative that the Palace machine was against them from the start. He praises their team of unstuffy courtiers — Samantha Cohen, a punchy Australian who served as their private secretary, and the equally punchy Americans Jason Knauf and Sara Latham, who both worked as their communications secretaries. “That team bent over backwards to accommodate them and to be in sympathy with her [Meghan]. Not one of them was the archetypal Buckingham Palace courtier and if anyone was going to carry it off, that team would have done so. Meghan is clearly a very intelligent, articulate, ambitious woman, and you would have thought she would have appreciated the fact that these people were working so hard to make it work.”

Meghan & the culture clash: “It was hugely complex, but I think there was a clash of cultures. I really don’t think race was a significant factor in it, I think it was more nationality and culture than it was race. But I must recognise that I’m an elderly white male — of course that colours my outlook on the world — and it clearly is not how she or they saw things. It’s a huge loss to the royal family, when you think what they might have done had they been prepared to try harder and give it more time. If she had perhaps just been less impatient, less inclined to see well-meaning people as being in some way against her. It’s sad, particularly the relationship [breakdown] between Harry and William.”

He has sympathy for Harry after reading Spare: “I hadn’t fully appreciated the degree to which he was struggling with his mental health until I read Spare.”

But he hates Harry’s battles against the press: “I think they’re misjudged, misguided, a touch paranoid — there is nothing to be gained from them. There is no doubt at all that he, like other members of the royal family, has been badly treated by the media on occasions. But I think they’ve [Harry and Meghan] been overly sensitive. They are public figures, they make use of the media. So they should be more prepared to take the knocks with the positive moments. But that’s not their way. I think their focus has become so narrow and is so suffused with this sense of paranoia that they are failing to recognise the bigger picture, the opportunities that they have. They’re obsessed, he is certainly obsessed, with the way the media portrays him. Unhealthily so.”

His thoughts on William & Kate: “He’s fulfilling a difficult role with considerable skill, panache and commitment — as is his wife. They are capturing public sentiment in a very positive way, I think their image is a good one, they both care very much to do it correctly and to do positive things, to find areas of relevance.” Referring to their work on homelessness, the environment and mental health, he says: “Their commitment to the various causes that they’ve taken to their hearts strikes a chord with the British people. Not everyone, not in all parts of the United Kingdom, but I think they are doing a difficult job as well as anyone could.”

[From The Times]

This is always so hilarious to me: “I think it was more nationality and culture than it was race.” We don’t hate her because she’s Black, we hate her because she’s American! They think that’s a winning argument, that they were on Meghan’s throat from the jump because she’s an American but of course it was never about race, nevermind all of the racist dog-whistles and dehumanization, lies and racist scorn. “If she had perhaps just been less impatient, less inclined to see well-meaning people as being in some way against her.” Kate lied and told everyone that Meghan made her cry. KP staffers were calling her ME-gain and Degree Wife. William’s press secretary sold out the Sussexes in exchange for burying the Rose Hanbury story. But Meghan was just so impatient! She saw the worst in people! His comments about Harry’s press lawsuits are interesting, in that they indicate (once again) that the British media acts as a cartel, and that includes the BBC.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Since QEII passed away, King Charles has included his disgraced, degenerate brother back into the royal fold. Considering QEII always wanted Prince Andrew included too, it’s less “Andrew is back” and more like “Andrew never left, and now his inclusion is even bigger and bolder.” Andrew was included in last year’s Christmas festivities at Sandringham, and he even stayed at Wood Farm (Prince Philip’s favorite place). Andrew was included at the coronation and at Easter in Windsor as well. Andrew is unquestionably “back.” But guess who else is back? His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Fergie was included in the Sandringham church walk on Christmas Day, and she even greeted well-wishers and collected flowers too.

Sarah, Duchess of York has been publicly welcomed back into the heart of the royal family as they celebrate Christmas at Sandringham. Prince Andrew’s ex-wife was seen with her daughters and former in-laws walking to the church of St Mary Magdalene for their traditional morning service.

She had been banned for decades from joining the family for Christmas after she was pictured with her financial adviser John Bryan in what became known as the “toe-sucking” scandal in 1992. Sarah and Andrew had already announced their separation and went on to divorce in 1996.

After the service Sarah and Andrew, both in jolly mood, joined King Charles, Queen Camilla and Prince and Princess of Wales in meeting the public in a walkabout. Sarah collected flowers and spoke with many wellwishers. Andrew was seen laughing and throwing up his hands as he joked with the crowds.

Her public return to the fold is a reward for her unswerving loyalty to the royals in contrast with the King’s younger son, who betrayed excruciating family secrets in his memoir Spare.

The gesture by Charles to accept Sarah will be deeply appreciated by Andrew. The Duke of York was welcomed back to walk with the Royal Family to the Sandringham church last year, following the Queen’s death and in spite of the removal of his HRH title in the wake of his friendship with the child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

[From The Times]

Yeah, Fergie is problematic and she was friendly with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell too, but I’m still more disgusted with Andrew’s inclusion. Andrew was credibly accused of rape and human trafficking – his ex-wife “only” took money from a human trafficking pedophile. Imagine thinking that Andrew and Fergie’s inclusion at royal Christmas is more palatable than “apologizing to Prince Harry.”

I’m also including photos of Prince Edward, Duchess Sophie and Zara Tindall – Edward has shown repeatedly that he’s fine with Andrew as well. Meanwhile, I think Camilla has been especially supportive of Fergie. All of the Epstein associations aside, I’m sure Fergie was included this year because she went through a real ordeal with her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. There was a lot of public and private sympathy for her, to the point where following Fergie’s diagnosis, King Charles completely dropped the Royal Lodge eviction threats.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

The Wales family was out in full force on Christmas Day in Sandringham. The family must have decamped to Norfolk last week, as they skipped the pre-Christmas lunch at Windsor Castle on the 20th. By most accounts, the Middletons (or just Carole and Michael Middleton) joined the Wales family at Anmer Hall, although the Middletons were not included in the Christmas Day church walk.

The Princess of Wales chose a pretty good blue ensemble – a bright blue McQueen coat, with navy boots and what looks like a navy turtleneck dress (or separates) underneath. She accessorized with her sapphire-and-diamond suite, which once belonged to Diana. Prince William, Prince George and Prince Louis were also in shades of blue and navy, while Charlotte was allowed to stand out in an olive green coat. Also along for the ride: Mia Tindall, who seemed attached to her second-cousins Louis and George, plus Mia was helping Kate out with all of the flowers she got from well-wishers. Little Mia looks like part of the Wales family, and it was super-cute that they “let” her walk with her second-cousins. They’re also making a big deal about how Louis was allowed to wear long pants rather than shorts. Eh.

Meanwhile, King Charles and Camilla both wore sad beige. Charles’s coat is super-old and one of his favorites – he always wears that old thing. I feel like Camilla should have worn something a lot brighter and more Christmas-y. A hunter green coat would have worked well here.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

I think it’s interesting that the York princesses really don’t bring their kids out to royal events… yet. I suspect it’s mostly because the kids are too young, but it will definitely be interesting to see if they keep August, Ernest and Sienna out of view for a while. There’s been one exception: Eugenie brought her son August to one Jubbly event last year and that’s about it. Now, Princess Beatrice has brought her stepson Wolfie to royal events in recent years, but Wolfie wasn’t with Beatrice and Edo for Christmas this year. Either that, or Wolfie didn’t feel like coming on the Christmas church walk this year, but I suspect this was probably Dara Huang’s year with Wolfie for Christmas.

These are photos of Beatrice and Eugenie in Sandringham on Christmas Day. Both were joined by their husbands – this is the first time in months (??) we’ve seen Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank together at an event. Jack is mostly based in Portugal these days – he’s got a fancy job at a luxury resort, but I think Eugenie splits her time between England and Portugal. Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi also put in an appearance.

King Charles has made these all-white family events a big centerpiece of his reign thus far. I wonder if it’s just as simple as saying that all of the Yorks and Tindalls are welcome, or whether he has to make some kind of special request that all family members put on a united front?

Also: that blind item about a royal couple splitting by February… lots of united fronts on display at Sandringham. Zara and Mike, Edo and Bea, Jack and Eugenie, Anne and Tim. Hm.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

We hope you have a great and safe holiday and Christmas if you celebrate! We’ll be back on Tuesday unless there’s major breaking news before then. Thank you so much for reading and commenting!

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Photos credit: Abel Ilacer, Ekaterina Chernomort, Jessica Lewis, Lisa Fotios and Eugene Golovesov on Pexels

Simone Biles’ name is trending right now because her husband was probably less gracious than he should be. Simone Biles is the gymnastics GOAT, and one of the greatest athletes of all time. Her achievements and her legendary career are often minimized because she’s a young Black woman and because (jmo) she makes it look so effortless. I never would have thought that Simone’s husband would be one of the people minimizing her, although I do not believe that Jonathan Owens’ comments were AS bad as some people think. Jonathan and Simone did a joint interview with the Pivot podcast (which was also filmed) and they talked about how they got together and who made the first move. Owens currently plays for the Green Bay Packers, while Simone is likely preparing to compete at the Paris Olympics – he’s 28, she’s 26.

According to Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens, when he first started his romance with now-wife Simone Biles, he’d never actually heard of the four-time Olympic Gold Medalist and record-smashing gymnast who is considered to be one of the greatest athletes of all time. Owens, 28, and Biles, 26, recently sat down for an interview on The Pivot podcast, and the newlyweds — who got hitched back in April — reflected on how they first met, which is when Owens made his surprising revelation.

“I’m like, ‘Lemme see who this is.’ I never really paid attention to gymnastics,” Owens said, recalling when Biles popped up on Raya back in 2020. “So it piqued my curiosity.”

While it may seem unlikely or even impossible for Owens to have never even heard of Biles, he tried his best to explain how the Olympic hero managed to fly under his radar.

“When she won the Olympics, I was in college, and we didn’t have NBC, we didn’t have Olympics channels, and we were in [training] camp in late July, early August,” he said. “So I’m not paying attention. I never had a moment where I would have watched [her perform].”

Owens added that when she first messaged him, “I didn’t know who she was at the time. But like, the first thing that I saw was that she just had a bunch of followers. So in my mind I’m like, ‘OK, she’s got to be good.’”

That being said, once they connected on Raya, things took off fairly quickly.

“She messaged me Tuesday, and then we were texting back and forth, and then we hung out Friday,” Owens recalled. “We couldn’t do much, because COVID happened and everything was shut down. So she came down to Houston. She lived in the suburbs, so she had to come about 45 minutes to me. Then the rest is history.”

When asked (seemingly as a joke) by host Ryan Clark if that meant Owens considered himself “the catch” in their relationship, Owens quickly — and seemingly genuinely — agreed that he did.

“I always say that the men are the catch,” said Owens — while sitting next to his wife, the single most highly decorated gymnast in the history of the world, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

[From ET]

I actually believe him that he didn’t immediately recognize Simone or understand what a big deal she is. It was sort of the same with Alexis Ohanian and (GOAT) Serena Williams – he simply didn’t follow tennis, and he didn’t recognize Serena right away when they first met. It feels like that would be especially true of a young football player who probably never paid attention to women’s sports. Now, the thing about “I always say that the men are the catch” – I can’t defend that. Simone is the catch. Simone is the bigger deal. That being said, it’s pretty clear that Simone chose him and she pursued him!

#SimoneBiles husband says he didn’t know who she was when they met & says he’s the catch. pic.twitter.com/gnbUFerFot

— The Gworls Are Fighting (@baddietvv) December 21, 2023

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A post shared by Simone Biles (@simonebiles)

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Simone’s Instagram.

Did you guys see Spencer, the Pablo Larrain film with Kristen Stewart playing Princess Diana? It wasn’t a great film by any means, but the whole thing takes place during the Windsors’ Christmas at Sandringham. Within the story, there are several real pieces of information: the strict Christmas lunch/dinner, weighing guests upon their arrival, the weirdness of the Sandringham estate. The scene where all of the food is brought in to be prepared by the kitchen staff is amazing. Anyway, I thought of that as I read this interesting piece about what the Windsors actually eat on Christmas Day in Sandringham. For Americans, it just sounds like a Thanksgiving meal (minus the pecan pie).

King Charles’ Christmas lunch meal has been revealed — and even his former chef isn’t impressed by what’s on the menu. Darren McGrady, 61, a Nottinghamshire chef who once cooked for members of the monarchy, opened up about the royal family’s holiday tradition in a new interview. The firm tends to celebrate at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, each year.

“It was the same meal every year. They’re actually boring when it comes to festivities. They didn’t do hams or anything, just traditional turkeys,” he recently told OK magazine.

He continued: “We did three turkeys for the queen and her family in the royal dining room, one for the children’s nursery and then more for the 100 or so staff, so everyone had a Christmas lunch.”

McGrady has also reportedly cooked for Princess Diana. Since Queen Elizabeth II’s death at age 96 on Sept. 8, 2022, the chef expects that the king will stick to what he had last year. Most likely, his main course will be accompanied by mashed and roast potatoes, onion stuffing, brussel sprouts, carrots, roast parsnips and two sauces of either cranberry or bread.

Charles and his loved ones — Queen Camilla, Prince William, Kate Middleton and the Cambridges’ children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, will have to make room for dessert though. Later in the evening, they will most likely feast on pudding, which tends to be brought into the dining room by the palace steward – hot and “flaming.”

The royal family’s big day actually kicks off with a personal breakfast before heading over to St. Mary Magdalene Church for an 11 a.m. service. After lunch and a supper filled with roasted hams and boar’s head, they all gather to watch the monarch’s Christmas message on television.

[From The NY Post]

So, wait, are they doing hams or not? The chef says it’s just about turkey, but then the Post says hams and boar’s head? I mean, it would make sense for such a large party to have two kinds of meat, surely, and I would imagine it would be turkey plus ham, or maybe a beef wellington or some kind of roast. As for all of the veggies… that sounds lovely. I could see how it could get boring for the chefs though, to cook the exact same things the exact same way, year after year. When QEII was alive, she reportedly wanted all of the food served very mild, without much or any spice. I wonder if Charles has changed that? He seems to have an even more delicate stomach than his mother, so probably not.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Judging from the general vibe and the palace briefing wars over the past fifteen months, it doesn’t seem like King Charles or Prince William spend too much time thinking about the Princess of Wales all that much. Kate has been effectively shoved away – she lives in her separation cottage, raises the kids with help of staff (who don’t live in Adelaide Cottage) and she spends a lot of time brainstorming with her grifter mother, who has also been politically neutered. If King Charles had his way, I suspect that keeping this status quo would be ideal. No messy divorce to pull focus, no need to drag the Middletons through the mud even further, no need to do anything at all with Kate. It’s worked out perfectly for everyone but Kate and her mother. There will be no divorce unless William wants out, and for the time being, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. So this is what Kate gets: Charles’s general appreciation.

King Charles ‘appreciates the Princess of Wales for the solid family network’ she has given to Prince William and for showing his grandchildren a ‘normal’ life, a royal expert has claimed. The monarch – who turns 75 today – is said to be completely ‘devoted’ to his grandchildren and ‘admires’ Prince William and Kate Middleton’s parenting approach.

Speaking to OK!, royal expert Jennie Bond opened up about Charles and Kate’s relationship and how the Princess’ ‘normal’ background is benefitting Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five. She explained: ‘I think Charles admires and appreciates the solid family network she has created for William. The King is devoted to his grandchildren, George, Charlotte and Louis, and photographs show that he has an easy relationship with all three. I’m sure he is very proud of the way Kate is bringing them up.’

What’s more, the expert – who is the BBC’s former royal correspondent – highlighted how the Princess of Wales had to learn exactly what it means to be a member of the Royal Family. Having grown up out of the limelight, Jennie labelled the Princess of Wales the ‘perfect person’ to help her children understand their roles in the Firm.

She added: ‘I think Kate is key to providing a balanced upbringing for her children, but particularly for a boy born to be King. She has learned what it means to be royal – the restrictions as well as the privileges.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Charles was coddled by his grandmother and assorted surrogate mother/nanny figures, Camilla included. William, in turn, looked to be coddled by his surrogate mother figure, Carole Middleton. Meanwhile, who coddles George, Charlotte and Louis? They really don’t have anyone in the Windsor clan giving them “royal lessons” like Charles and William received. And no, Charles is not a doting grandfather. He doesn’t give a f–k about his sons, why would he bother with his grandchildren? He went out of his way to evict his grandchildren from their secure home in England. Anyway, all of Jennie Bond’s dumbass commentary is pointing at this: Kate is the one raising the kids while William is off doing god knows what with god knows who.

Also: it’s been almost six months since Charles sent the dogs after Kate for upstaging him at the Chelsea Flower Show. I honestly don’t think Kate has ever recovered!!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Instar and Cover Images.

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