Last week, the British media began a curious campaign related to Prince Harry’s position on the board of African Parks. Harry was president of African Parks for six years, then last October, he was elevated to a position on the board. African Parks was one of the few royal-adjacent “things” that the Windsors could not take away from Harry – African Parks operates independently, and they choose their own board members and presidents (rather than allowing a British monarch to appoint them). Harry’s conservation work in Africa has always bothered Prince William because, you see, William thinks Africa is “his.” William thinks conservation work is “his.” So the rollout of this story over the past week has been interesting.

The short version is that African Parks guards were accused of rape in the Republic of Congo. The accusations came via another NGO, Survival International. African Parks quickly released a statement, saying that of course they were aware of the accusations and they are investigating, but Survival International has not cooperated or given them any additional information. Which makes it very curious that Survival International would seemingly contact the Mail instead of African Parks’ third-party investigative team? While accusations of rape should be taken seriously, the British media has used this moment to not only demand Harry’s resignation from African Parks’ board, but to launch a completely unhinged narrative about how THIS is why Harry and William actually fell apart, long before Harry met Meghan. Some highlights from this Times of London story, which (sadly) was probably the whole point.

William & Harry’s feud about Africa: The brothers’ feud, a palace source says, is one that pre-dates Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan and, perhaps surprisingly, involves the princes’ differing views of conservation work. Sharing a charitable foundation, William and Harry are said to have regularly disagreed on the best way to reduce poaching and save endangered species in Africa. “They are both very passionate about saving protected species but didn’t always share the same view about how to run projects in Africa,” a well-placed source who knows both brothers said. “William believes you should focus on community-led schemes where local people over time feel empowered to protect the land. Harry, on the other hand, was more interventionist. He felt that you need a more hands-on approach to ensure wildlife habitats were securely protected to enact change quickly.”

The complicated situation in Africa! The situation on the ground in Africa is far more complicated and sweeping than a group of rogue guards. The volatile conditions in which the charity operates on a donated budget of $100 million a year has led to a blurring of lines between conflict and conservation. Its 1,400-strong ranger force is often better paid and equipped than the local armies. In Benin, its anti-poaching units have been likened to a counterterrorism force in their defence of endangered species from Islamist militants.

Harry, a veteran of war, cannot navigate through a crisis: Harry still accepted a promotion from a purely figurehead position to one that will be far more demanding. Now a former member of African Parks’ management team, who asked not to be named, has questioned the Duke of Sussex’s suitability for a governance role guiding the charity’s management through complex and dangerous contexts. “Harry has neither the tools nor experience to navigate his way through such crises,” they told The Times, backing demands for him to step down. The late Dutch billionaire Paul van Vlissingen was among the organisation’s founders in 2000, seeing in it “an African solution for Africa’s conservation challenges”. But elevating Harry to a position of influence has just reinforced criticism of the charity as “green colonialism”. Half of the current board of eight are white and only one is a woman.

Harry’s just a celebrity! The former African Parks executive said: “By stacking boards with white males and failing to embrace the perspectives of black Africans and women, leadership is bound to be stilted. Yes, there is a role for celebrities as patrons or ambassadors, but not on a governing board.”

Harry reportedly wants to make a Netflix documentary about African Parks: With vast funds at their disposal, the African Parks expansion shows no sign of slowing. The deep pockets of its billionaire backers providing the annual $100 million budget have emboldened African Parks to set an ambition to manage 30 parks by 2030. It recently bought 2,000 southern white rhino from a private owner in South Africa who estimated it was costing him $425,000 a month to feed and protect them from poachers. The plan to rewild the animals across Africa over the next decade is one of the most ambitious conservation plans and no doubt why Netflix might see it worthy of a documentary.

Harry’s benefits!! Harry is not being paid for his role on the governing body of African Parks, though benefits include influencing the management of 49.4 million acres of protected areas, almost the size of England, Scotland and Wales combined. Harry will also get to network with some of the world’s richest philanthropists who bankroll the charity’s work. These include the American Walton family who founded Walmart, the Oppenheimers whose fortune was amassed from diamond mining in South Africa, and the Swiss tycoon Hansjörg Wyss, 88, a shareholder in Chelsea football club. With so many high-profile reputations at stake, African Parks will surely be keen to ensure it never courts such negative publicity again.

William will always refuse to help Harry!! Closer to home, there is one war which continues to rage: that of the Windsor brothers. No public messages have been forthcoming from the Sussexes to wish the King or the Princess of Wales well after their stays in hospital. One thing seems certain. With his wife’s recovery to prioritise, William won’t be stepping into a crisis management role to help his brother with the African Parks debacle any time soon.

[From The Times]

William just couldn’t help leaving his signature all over this truly deranged story. William’s wife was in the hospital for two weeks and William has been absent from public view for much of the past month, and after all that, we know he was just sitting there, stewing in his own incandescent rage about HARRY. Harry on the board of African Parks. Harry, part of a prestigious NGO with a nine-figure budget. Harry, who refuses to ask William for help! Trust the Times of London to side with jihadists too, did you notice that? How dare African Parks have the money and manpower to take it to armed jihadists who subsidize their terrorism through illegal poaching?!?! Won’t someone think of William’s feelings?

Meanwhile, I’m surprised that the Times didn’t mention William’s repeated statements about “African overpopulation” being the biggest threat to wildlife and conservation. Father-of-three William has made it clear, for years, that he thinks Africans are having too many children and that’s the biggest threat to his three children being able to ride elephants for fun. I wonder if William and Harry ever fought about that?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Olivia Rodrigo is such a princess! She turned up at the Grammys in a vintage 1995 Versace which was super-cute, although I probably would have put her in something else. Olivia was nominated for several Grammys for her sophomore album, and her first single from the album, “Vampire.” While Olivia claims that she has no beef with anyone, there was clearly some kind of falling out between Olivia and Taylor Swift, to the point where some fans even suggested that “Vampire” was about Taylor (I don’t think it is, but it was a conversation). In any case, when Olivia performed the song, there was a cutaway to Taylor singing and dancing to it. Beef quashed??

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Kylie Minogue wore custom Dolce & Gabbana. She looked great and she won a Grammy! Kylie is forever, but she won new fans with “Padam Padam.”

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Lenny Kravitz wore Dior. Amazing.

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Ice Spice looked really good in Baby Phat, but I’m starting to get the feeling that her 15 minutes are up.

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Speaking of princesses, Janelle Monae. She wore Armani. A literal goddess.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

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Dua Lipa was, no joke, one of my favorite people on the Grammys red carpet last night. She looked amazing! She wore a custom Courreges and some incredible pieces from Tiffany & Co, a diamond alligator set which really looked great with the plated chainmail dress. Dua opened the show and it was a great performance too!

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Billie Eilish wore vintage reworked Chrome Hearts on the red carpet, and then she performed in a Barbie cosplay look. People were raving about her performance and while the song is nice… I don’t really get it. I’m a curmudgeon though. Finneas was her date, and he wore Givenchy.

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Bebe Rexha wore Robert Wun. CB loves her makeup! She looked really good, honestly.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

Last Friday, the Mail’s royal rota reporter Becky English revealed exclusively that she “thought” that Prince William would return to royal work by the end of this week. Looks like she was right! LOL. She absolutely got an exclusive briefing from Kensington Palace, and she got the briefing right after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed that they would spend three days in Canada, Feb. 14-16. Before the Sussexes’ confirmed their plans, Kensington Palace insiders were soft-launching the idea that William would be “off” until April as well. Now KP is confirming that William will do an investiture on Wednesday and do a gala event that evening too.

The Prince of Wales is to return to work this week, with the Princess of Wales settled at home following her abdominal surgery. The Prince, who has been off public duty since January 16 when his wife went into hospital, will undertake an investiture on Wednesday at Windsor Castle, just down the road from home at Adelaide Cottage. Later that evening, he will attend the London Air Ambulance annual big fundraising Gala in Central London.

He has been patron of London’s Air Ambulance since March 2020, after supporting the charity’s 30th anniversary in 2019. He also flew with the crew to launch the 30 Years Saving Lives campaign and met staff and patients from the service at a number of fundraising events.

The Prince’s decision to go back to work suggests that the Princess of Wales is doing well in her recovery from planned surgery. He had said he would only return when she was settled and comfortable. She is due to be out of the public eye until Easter, and will work from home on her Early Years project when she is able.

[From The Telegraph]

In a “this is how the sausage is made” way, it’s interesting that KP officials are seemingly capable of organizing briefings about William’s schedule, yet they can’t manage their way out of a paper bag when it comes to damage control around the rampant conspiracies and speculation about Kate’s health. Anyway, I assume the same thing as the Telegraph – if William is back to doing public events, that must mean that Kate is recovering okay, that she’s not in any kind of mortal danger. I got that from the way Charles and Camilla were treating the situation too – Camilla wouldn’t have been wandering around England with a Cheshire-cat grin if Kate was at death’s door. In any case, I hope Kate really does have good nurses and medical help around her. And I hope William stops competing with his brother at some point but that’s probably not going to happen.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.

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I’m not going to act like I watched the Grammys past 10 pm last night. Sleep is rather precious to me. Celine Dion made an appearance toward the end that I’m sad to have missed live though! She presented Album of The Year, which of course went to Taylor Swift. (Ask Jay-Z about that.) Kaiser covered Taylor’s win here, including the fact that Taylor didn’t acknowledge Celine on stage, but did pose with her backstage. So many people were thrilled to see Celine. We’ve been worried about her after she retired from performing due to stiff person syndrome. Celine came out supported by her son, René-Charles, 23 (how is he that old already?!).

Access Hollywood reported that Celine is filming a documentary for Amazon Prime called “I am Celine Dion.” I look forward to seeing that. Celine was in Valentino and I love her cozy jacket.

Queen! I love her hair.

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Lainey Wilson won Best Country Album, for Bell Bottom Country. She looked super comfortable and cute in a Balmain tuxedo suit – with bell bottoms!

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Kelly Clarkson looked glam in a white off the shoulder structural Jason Wu gown. She brought her seven-year-old son, Remington Alexander, with her as her date! Look at his little velvet suit.

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Niecy Nash was in a plunging gold Marc Bouwer gown. Niecy and her musician wife, Jessica Betts, are goals. I love seeing them together!

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Photos credit Getty

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward has a new book out called My Mother And I, which is not about C-Word’s own relationship with her mother. The “my” in this case is C-Word assuming King Charles’s voice, and the book is supposedly a description of Charles and QEII’s relationship. Why then are the first excerpts all about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex? Wait, don’t tell me, I know. Much like Robert Hardman’s recent royal biography, it looks like King Charles’s court is full of busy little bees, dropping all kinds of revisionist history to royal biographers these days. Hardman’s book led to a weeks-long mess where Hardman had to rollback his bizarre claims that QEII was incandescent with rage over her great-granddaughter’s name (Princess Lilibet). Will C-Word have to roll back claims that Prince Philip hated Meghan on-sight and that QEII was judgmental about Meghan’s wedding gown?

From their very first meeting, over tea at Buckingham Palace, the Queen approved of Meghan Markle. Not only did she like her, she had high hopes for what the American actress might be able to achieve with Harry for the youth of the Commonwealth. Soon the country as a whole seemed to take to Meghan with equally genuine delight. One of the few wary of succumbing to her charm offensive, however, was Prince Philip. While the Queen continued to champion Harry’s new love, he warned his wife to be cautious. It was uncanny, he told her, how much Meghan reminded him of the Duchess of Windsor.

He wasn’t simply referring to the fact that both were pencil-slim, dark-haired and glamorous American divorcees. There was a wealth of subtext in his barbed remark. As one who had lived through this tumultuous period of royal history, and been directly affected by it, Queen Elizabeth II was perfectly aware what Philip meant when he drew parallels between Meghan and Wallis. Indeed, much later, she would remark in her clipped way that perhaps Harry had been ‘too in love’ with the American actress.

As for Prince Philip, he never appeared to change his mind about Meghan. From the moment he detected her apparent similarity to Wallis, he referred to her as DoW (short for Duchess of Windsor).

Queen Elizabeth II never voiced her true opinion about Harry’s wife except to her very closest confidantes, such as Lady Elizabeth Anson, or Liza as she was known to her friends. A cousin of the Queen, she used to speak on the telephone to the monarch on a daily basis. Lady Elizabeth told me that the Queen had made only one remark to her about Meghan and Harry’s wedding, which was that the bride’s Givenchy wedding gown was ‘too white’. In the monarch’s view, it was not appropriate for a divorcee getting remarried in church to look quite so flamboyantly virginal.

Nor was the Queen comfortable with the Prince of Wales’s decision to stand in for Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, and walk her down the aisle. She was also concerned about 96-year-old Prince Philip’s decision to hobble down the aisle without a stick, despite having had a hip replacement just five weeks before.

Then there was the service itself. Like many others in the congregation, she was startled by the impassioned outpourings of the American Archbishop Michael Curry, who spoke for more than 14 minutes. Both the Queen and Prince Philip, who hate long sermons, were desperate for him to finish. They must also have been aware that some of those around them were stifling their laughter. One can only speculate about what they thought when Curry, who admitted he didn’t know either Harry or Meghan, later said he’d felt the presence of the slaves from whom he was descended in the chapel, which he felt to be a ‘sign of hope’.

[From The Daily Mail]

This is most likely going to end up just like Robert Hardman’s Lilibet claims – a week of outrage, a week of “of course Philip was brilliant for hating a Black woman as soon as he saw her,” a week of “it was just awful for Harry and Meghan to invite a Black archbishop to church,” a week of “how dare Meghan wear white at her wedding,” and then C-Word will start rolling back all of these claims. You know why? Because King Charles’s biographers keep making QEII and Philip look horrible. The aim is to wound Harry and Meghan, to insult them, to belittle them, but they don’t have any ammo other than “Harry’s beloved grandparents hated his wife!!”

Also: the old-guard royalists have been trying to make “Meghan is the new Wallis Simpson” for almost eight years. They’ve yet to come up with one compelling reason why Meghan and Wallis are in any way alike (other than they’re both American and have dark hair, which was apparently enough for Philip). Anyway, I believed Meghan when she said she was cool with QEII and Philip. Philip was largely absent from family and palace life at that point, so Meghan probably only met him a handful of times anyway. And let’s be honest, Philip was in no condition to suddenly decide to beef with Harry’s bride.

Remember that stupid story about the Rolls Royce used by Doria and Meghan for H&M’s wedding? It transported Wallis Simpson at one point. There were absolutely people within the palace trying to force the Wallis connection, but I seriously doubt Philip was one of them.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

Well, well. King Charles and Queen Camilla stepped out for a walk to church on Sunday at Sandringham. This is the first time Charles has been seen since he walked out of the front door at the London Clinic on January 29th, allegedly just hours after the Princess of Wales was discharged from the same hospital (and not seen by anyone). Charles seemed to be using his umbrella as a makeshift walking stick, but he made a point of waving to the photographers and showing that he appears to be doing just fine. I’m actually a little bit surprised that he decided to recuperate at Sandringham and not Windsor Castle or Highgrove. His mother used to prefer Sandringham at this time of year – she would stay in Sandringham from Christmas through mid-February. Maybe Charles is trying to emulate that a bit.

I would also imagine that Charles wanted to step out and be photographed for a variety of reasons – assuring the public that the head of state is recovering, absolutely, but Charles was also probably a bit jealous of all of the sycophantic press his wife has been getting in the past week, including some particularly wild claims that Camilla is “practically ruling solo” and she’s “the last one standing.” This weekend was full of even more stories about how Camilla has won over hearts and minds after thirty years and the Times even published a piece called “Charles who? Camilla takes over the royal show.” CHARLES WHO??? Please, Charles always wanted Camilla to be accepted, but he has always preferred Camilla particularly because she would never overshadow him or be more popular than him. Joke’s on both of them because a lot of people still despise them!

Meanwhile, both Charles and Camilla are so much better at this than the heir. It’s been weeks and I’m still downright shocked that Prince William hasn’t done something like this, a proof of life pap stroll. He could have arranged to be photographed in the car, taking his kids to school. He could have arranged some explanatory briefings about what’s going on behind the scenes, like Charles and Camilla have clearly authorized about Charles’s health. It wouldn’t have to be a clinic briefing, just general updates so the media isn’t spinning its wheels. But he can’t or won’t. And it’s getting so weird.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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Last year, Luke Combs got to #1 on the country music charts with his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” His cover became a crossover hit as well – pop stations still play his cover constantly, and I’d say he helped new audiences and younger audiences learn about Tracy Chapman. Last year, Tracy even made a very rare public statement, congratulating Luke on his success with her song. Last week, we heard that Tracy would leave her house and actually perform at the Grammys, her first live performance in over a decade. Well, it happened. And it was SO well-done.

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs – Fast Car#GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/WWztcov2tJ

— Craig R. Brittain (@RealBrittain) February 5, 2024

The only bad thing I have to say about this is that it came so early in the Grammy telecast that no one paid attention to what came afterwards for like an hour. It was wonderful! There was some drama and angst about Luke covering “Fast Car” before last night, like why did he do it, why is trying to countrify Tracy’s iconic song, etc, but you could see that he was just in awe of her, in awe of being on stage with her. He treated Tracy and her music with the utmost respect and his cover earned Tracy a lot of money (because she owns the publishing rights). The way the audience reacted too, it was so special. People were so excited to see her at the venue, and they got a massive standing ovation after the performance. You know what? The duet actually sounded good too. They harmonized with each other very well.

Award shows are tedious and crass, but the smile on Tracy Chapman’s face when the auditorium goes nuts for her before she takes everyone to school with no lip sync, no auto-tune and no in-ear monitors is a pretty sweet moment to capture live. pic.twitter.com/YZGbWgMmHJ

— Sean Armstrong (@manatee73) February 5, 2024

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

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No joke, I was surprised by the love for Miley Cyrus at last night’s Grammys. While her most recent album was pretty good, Miley is still Miley. Miley ended up winning her first-ever Grammy for “Flowers” and she also performed the song on stage (the performance was awful). She showed respect for Mariah Carey, who presented her with her first Grammy as well. On the red carpet, Miley wore this Maison Margiela dress which… well, it was a look. The styling was insane and Miley’s hair/wigs just kept getting worse and worse throughout the night. The more weight she loses, the bigger her wigs. She performed in a vintage Bob Mackie look!

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Meanwhile, Paris Jackson looked kind of boring in Celine, with her tattoos covered with makeup.

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Kelly Osbourne was there with her partner, Sid Wilson of Slipknot, who was nominated for Metal Performance. She wore Christian Siriano.

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Issa Rae covers the current issue of Time Magazine, and the cover story is all about the racial wealth gap, and for Issa, it’s about Hollywood’s declines in employing Black creators and greenlighting shows written by, produced by and starring Black talent. Issa is one of the biggest Black creators working in Hollywood today – Time lists all of her companies and I was shocked to see how much she has going on (per Time): “Rae’s growing portfolio includes a production company (Hoorae), an indie music label (Raedio), a management company (Color Creative), a marketing agency (Fête), a prosecco line (Viarae), a hair-care brand (Sienna Naturals), and a stake in the U.S. SailGP Team.” AND she also owns an independent coffee shop in Inglewood. She’s not only a major creator, she’s a major employer, she is her own economy. Some highlights from Time:

Witnessing Hollywood backsliding on pledges to increase representation and diversity post-strikes. “I’ve never seen Hollywood this scared and clueless, and at the mercy of Wall Street.”

She doesn’t want to just create, she has to create successful projects: “I recognize that I have to do well economically to be able to make change. That’s frustrating, that’s ugly. But I recognize that money moves things faster—and so much of what I do is with the intention to help make those moves.”

Post-strike, so many projects disappeared: “But there was the frustration of, ‘Oh, my gosh, this project that I’ve been working on for five years just disappeared,’” she says. Rap Sh!t would not have been greenlit by WarnerMedia today, as all executives seem to want, she says, is safe, “universal” stories. Its cancellation is just one example of what Rae sees as a larger withering of promises Hollywood executives made in 2020 toward increasing diversity and representation, both on- and off-screen. “There is a bitterness of just like, who suffers from you guys pulling back? People of color always do,” she says.

On the current leaders of Hollywood. “I’m sorry, but there aren’t a lot of smart executives anymore. And a lot of them have aged out and are holding on to their positions and refusing to let young blood get in.” In prior eras, Rae says, the money-making suits mostly stayed away from creative choices. “Now these conglomerate leaders are also making the decisions about Hollywood. Y’all aren’t creative people. Stick to the money. The people that are taking chances are on platforms like TikTok: that’s what’s getting the eyeballs of the youth. So you’re killing your own industry.”

Questioning the feasibility of “smaller, quieter projects.” “When you have all of these streaming services that are competing with each other, it means they’re also moving the goalposts of what success looks like and what their brand is. It’s all mush. I know what my brand identity is and what I want to make. But if that doesn’t align with who’s paying me to make stuff, then that’s complex. We are malleable, but only to an extent.”

She doesn’t want her own blockbuster franchise. “I’m just excited to create and see what I can do in this space where everything is asking for those big, IP-driven things…I know what drives me and I know what brought me in—and I remember when they were telling me that they didn’t want to make my types of stories. So I’m still optimistic in that way.”

[From Time Magazine]

“Where everything is asking for those big, IP-driven things” – the thing is, Rae would likely never even step one foot in those meetings because the IPs aren’t there for Black women. No one is saying “let’s make the Black Barbie movie” or “we need to cast Issa as Wonder Woman.” That being said, I hope that she continues to dip her toe in those larger projects – she was wonderful in Barbie, and I hope she made lifelong allies in Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie. Robbie was similar to Rae when Margot created her production company, LuckyChap – the idea was to create more movies by and for women, and do it smaller. Then Margot asked to pitch for Mattel executives and the rest is history.

As for what Rae says about how the executives are scared, dumb and old… yeah, I believe that. We saw that play out during the SAG strike too – executives were truly saying the dumbest sh-t ever, and we saw Hollywood management slowly realize that they can’t actually treat their creators like garbage 24-7. She’s right about TikTok as well – executives are so far behind.

Cover courtesy of Time, additional photos courtesy of Avalon Red.