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Jason and Kylie Kelce met through Tinder. The couple, who have been married since 2018 and share three daughters, are not shy or ashamed about their origin story and have told it publicly several times. In fact, this past Valentine’s Day, Travis took Kylie out to dinner while wearing a Tinder shirt! So what’s this first date story that merits so many retellings? Well, it involves Jason getting drunk and falling asleep at a bar in the middle of the date. On this week’s episode of New Heights, we get to hear the story yet again, only from a third perspective. Eagles teammate Beau Allen appeared as a guest and described being the one who had to help carry a passed out Jason out of the bar.

Jason Kelce didn’t leave the greatest first impression with his wife Kylie! On the latest episode of the New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce podcast released on Wednesday, guest Beau Allen gave his take on the story of how his Philadelphia Eagles teammate Jason, 36, fell asleep at the bar on his first date with now-wife Kylie, 31.

“That was physically one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Allen, 32, recalled on the podcast as Jason laughed. “That was harder than climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, maybe,” he joked.

Allen shared that he was hanging out with Jason ahead of his first date with Kylie after the pair met on Tinder. “… For a week or two leading up to you guys meeting they were chit chatting online and Kelce’s talking about this girl and saying, ‘I really like this girl, I gotta make a good first impression,’ ”he said.

Allen went on to say that the pair had “pre-gamed” ahead of attending a holiday party in Philadelphia that evening as Jason announced he was going on his first date with Kylie that same night.

“Kelce’s like, ‘Yeah, I think we’re going to meet up with this girl,’ and I’d heard all about her and I’m excited to meet her,” Allen continued. “And the night just went a little bit sideways — and Kelce fell asleep on the bar, like snoozing.”

This hasn’t been the first time Jason has fallen asleep at the bar the pair shared, as Allen added that he has a “disturbing amount of like photos of [Jason] just asleep in various places.”

The football nose tackle then had the difficult task of trying to move Jason. “… It’s like cobblestone streets and you’re fighting me. I’m like straining and I dropped you,” he admitted on the podcast.

“I know I was sleeping but I remember it,” Jason said. “I remember fighting you and laughing my a– off.”

He then asked Allen if he was “shocked” Kylie agreed to go on a second date with him. “I was slightly surprised,” Allen responded jokingly. “But you’re a great guy, you know, charming … how can you not want to go on a second date with you?”

[From People]

Look, I like Jason Kelce and think he’s probably as good a dude as he seems, but I don’t know about that first date story! I wasn’t there and have no physical attraction/connection with him like Kylie does but if a girlfriend told me a story about their date getting drunk and falling asleep during the first date, it would seem like a major red flag to me! Am I being too judgy? Clearly, Kylie saw something in Jason while he was awake, though, so it all worked out in the end. I truly get the feeling that life with Jason is never a dull moment and that every day is an adventure.

During the pod, the brothers also discussed Jason’s cameo on the Season 3 premiere of Abbott Elementary earlier this month. It takes place in Philadelphia, so it makes sense that Eagles players would pop up at some point. To prep for watching his brother’s appearance, Travis started binge-watching the series, loves it, and urged listeners to watch it, too.

“I love that show, man. It’s one of my favorites. I just started binge-watching the first season,” Travis, 34, revealed, before Jason, 36, called the show “great” as he gave a “shout-out” to its creator and star, Quinta Brunson.

“I love what this show represents. And anything that shines light on public schools and the Philadelphia school system is pretty special,” the Eagles center said. “And Quinta does a fantastic job, as does the whole crew over there at Abbott Elementary, so it was an honor that they asked us to be a part of it for sure.”

Travis gave a shout-out to Abbott Elementary as he encouraged listeners to watch it. “I guarantee you’ll f—— like it. A lot of stuff you can relate to if you went to public school,” he said, adding that “the dynamic between the teachers is the best. I love it.”

[From People]

Well, no lies detected there! I love Abbott Elementary and am excited that it’s back. I second Travis and totally recommend anyone who hasn’t seen it to check it out. It airs on ABC and you can stream it through their app or on Hulu. Jason and his teammates appeared on the episode that aired on February 7.

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Greta Gerwig covers Time Magazine as one of their “women of the year”…in February?? Don’t get me wrong, the past twelve months have been great for Greta and given her success with Barbie, she can write her own ticket and that’s exactly what she’s doing. I just don’t get why this is happening in February! In any case, this is the first big interview Gerwig has given since she was snubbed for a Best Director Oscar nomination for Barbie. This is not a debate – she was snubbed. But she’s dealing with it well and she’s not making a big thing about it (even though she would be well within her rights to do just that). It looks like she’s already onto her next project, an adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia. Some highlights from Time:

On Barbie’s success: “I remember thinking, If this works, everyone is going to think later that it was inevitable. They’ll say, ‘Well, but it was Barbie.’ But this was not guaranteed.”

She was working on Narnia before Barbie: “Knowing that I’d laid the groundwork for Narnia and wanted to return to it—that’s probably something I set up for myself psychologically. Because I know the right thing, for me anyway, is to keep making movies. Whatever happens, good or bad, you’ve got to keep going….It’s never not astonishing to me that somebody gives you money to make a movie.”

Her movies aren’t just “for women”: “I always think about the intuitive way you love a song or a movie. You love something, and you just love it. You don’t think to yourself, ‘I have to love this because it’s by a woman, for a woman.’ That’s part of it. But it’s not why you love it. You love it because it’s great.”

The uneasy relationship between women and their ambition in a patriarchal society. “I don’t know if it’s gendered.But I know I want to be able to make a body of work that feels like it’s undeniable in terms of the work itself. I don’t want there to be an asterisk next to my name. Do I have more of that than male filmmakers? I don’t know! I know plenty of deeply insecure male filmmakers who are plagued in their own ways.”

On the Oscar snubs: “Of course I wanted it for Margot. But I’m just happy we all get to be there together.” There’s also, she points out, ample accolades for the film at the Oscars. “A friend’s mom said to me, ‘I can’t believe you didn’t get nominated,’” she says, laughing. “I said, ‘But I did. I got an Oscar nomination.’ She was like, ‘Oh, that’s wonderful for you!’ I was like, ‘I know!’”

Movies are for everyone: “You don’t need specialized knowledge to watch a movie. All you need is your human experience. Everybody knows what it is to love people, and everybody knows what it is to lose people.”

[From Time]

“You don’t need specialized knowledge to watch a movie.” This is why I hope she’ll never sign on to direct a superhero movie, because you have to watch everything in a particular order to know this or that backstory. As for what she says about the Oscar snubs… she’s a positive person, an optimist, and that’s reflected here. But make no mistake, she got the message. The Hollywood power brokers have told her in no uncertain terms that while they appreciate that her “doll movie” was so successful, they don’t consider it important or real “art.” Gerwig sees the glass as half full – regardless of the snubs, she still gets to make whatever she wants now.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid. Cover courtesy of Time.

As part of Prince William’s “pay attention to ME and not my brother” blitz this week, he ran to Roya Nikkhah at the Times to preview his latest housing scheme. William plans to build some form of “public housing” on Duchy of Cornwall land. The planned 24 homes will be built in Cornwall and William thinks the whole thing will only cost £3 million (it will not). William billed this project as part of his bid to “end homelessness,” because that dumbass loves to overpromise and hype himself as the savior of homeless people. In any case, people who are actually familiar with Cornwall’s real estate crisis are extremely peeved about William and his scheme. You can read the full piece here at Byline (it’s very interesting) and here are some highlights:

Cornish councillors and activists have warned that plans by the £1 billion Duchy of Cornwall estate – now controlled by Prince William – to build 24 homes for homeless people on Crown land will make little dent in a housing crisis that has left 23,000 people waiting for a council home.

Cornwall Council Labour group Leader Jayne Kirkham welcomed the scheme but told Byline Times that it represents a drop in the ocean to tackle the issue. “Obviously we need something more systemic than a project like this,” she said. “It’s a huge problem. We are struggling all across Cornwall. I’ve seen many families evicted from their private rented accommodation and having to live in caravans. It affects the kids’ schools, and parents’ jobs.”

Coastal Cornwall has a persistent issue with thousands of unregulated holiday lets and (often empty) second homes vastly outnumbering the number of homes available for rent. AirBnb listings show that, as of 20 February 2024, there are 976 ‘entire homes’ available as short-term holiday lets in Cornwall for more than £240 a night. Yet there are just 348 homes currently available for general private rent in the entire county listed on RightMove. Another site, OpenRent, lists 117; while OnTheMarket lists 145. Cornwall has a population of 570,000 people.

Lib Dem Councillor Thalia Marrington represents Mousehole and Newlyn, fishing communities which appear deserted at certain times due to the prevalence of second homes and holiday lets.

“You can never build enough because people want to move ‘down to lovely Cornwall’,” she told Byline Times. “But we have such a massive crisis. There are roughly 23,000 on the housing waiting list in Cornwall. When you’re talking about 24 homes… As soon as you hear ‘24’ you don’t look into it too much more, because it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are already around 800 households in emergency temporary accommodation here… Yet we’ve got thousands of AirBnbs and second homes in Cornwall, so you’ve got so much [housing] stock gone.”

“[William’s project is] all wrong housing – it’s houses with five bedrooms,” she said. “It’s not going to help the housing crisis… There seems to be the blanket approach that any housebuilding is good because they’re all sold, that stock is ‘trickling down’ [to locals]. It’s the opposite.”

Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic points out that the Duchy estate is not Prince William’s personal property but that of the Crown. It is, in effect, gifted by Parliament to the heir who is the eldest son of the monarch. The Duchy estate may expect to make profit from the homes, which will at any rate remain its asset, rather than being ‘donated’ to St Petrocs.

Graham Smith, Republic CEO, said: “The country will spend at least £3.4 billion on the monarchy over the next decade. That’s money that could be invested in homes for those who most need them, instead of two dozen palatial homes for one family.” Smith argues that Prince William is “part of the problem”. “Rather than be thankful for a few homes built on Duchy land, which William will profit from, we all need to be demanding the return of the Duchy to full public ownership and an end to the monarchy,” he told this newspaper.

[From Byline Times]

It’s always been so bizarre to me that British people, by and large, do not object to the fundamental fact that “the crown” owns so much real estate across the UK. Home ownership is such a fundamental part to “building wealth” for so many families, but British people are stuck in a deeply flawed system where they’ll live all their lives as renters, many of them in homes and farms owned by the crown or various duchies. As for William’s planned Cornwall housing development… it is a drop in the bucket and he’s also not going to be able to build 24 homes that cheaply, and clearly, what’s needed is political movement and the government stepping in and changing the local laws for renters and development. All of the people criticizing William’s big scheme should also know that he probably won’t even follow through! He gets bored a lot and just drops sh-t all the time.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Last summer, Dan Wootton’s fall from “grace” finally happened. Wootton had screwed over too many people and done too many terrible, terrible things over the course of his career. While he was “protected” for years, mostly as a result of the extensive blackmail material he assembled, at the end of the day, most of his powerful allies wouldn’t stick their necks out for him. By the fall of 2023, Wootton had been sh-tcanned from all of his jobs – fired from the Mail, suspended from GB News, and all of his former employers (even the Sun) were investigating his actions. He was reported to the Metropolitan police as well and they opened up some kind of investigation into his decades of abuse and blackmail. Quelle surprise, nothing has come out of the police investigation.

Police have confirmed they will be taking no further action over criminal allegations against Dan Wootton, the TV presenter has said. The broadcaster – who was suspended by GB News over a separate matter in September – claimed to have been “the victim of a politically-motivated witch hunt through the left-wing and social media”.

“Well six months on, I have now been completely cleared in two investigations by the Metropolitan and Scottish Police, who have confirmed they will be taking no further action,” he said in a statement issued to the Guido Fawkes website.

“While I knew this would always be the outcome, the process is now the punishment, with social media acting as the executioner,” Wootton added.

The allegations, which Wootton always vehemently denied, related to the use of deception and blackmail to obtain sexual images.

The New Zealand-born presenter continued: “Margaret Thatcher once said that if you ever get trial by media, or guilt by accusation, that day freedom dies. She was right. It is high time that all of our ancient rights were once again upheld, chief among them the right to be presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law. If it falls to me to be the champion of those rights, then so be it. It is a fight I am more than willing to take up, not just for me but for all of us.”

[From The Independent]

This is all he has – “It is high time that all of our ancient rights were once again upheld, chief among them the right to be presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.” I’m actually shocked that he didn’t cry about wokeism. I wasn’t expecting much to happen to Wootton on the legal side, although I seem to remember that several of his victims did speak to the police and it’s a shame their stories weren’t taken seriously by the Met. The real situation is with News Corp and the Mail’s in-house investigations about what Wootton was doing and how he was operating on the job and among his newsroom colleagues. That’s the kind of stuff which will get him blackballed from all English-speaking media outlets forever.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, GB News screencaps.

King Charles was in Sandringham over the weekend, where he stepped out for church on Sunday. He came back to London on Monday or Tuesday, and on Wednesday, he did his first in-person “audience” with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak since he was diagnosed with cancer. It felt like Charles was avoiding most in-person meetings, but the “weekly audience” couldn’t be done via Zoom, so here we are. In Charles’s case, the prime minister meetings seem to be more like “once a fortnight” or “once a month.” My guess is that Sunak also agreed ahead of time to the videographer and photographers recording the first few minutes of the meeting too. They met at Buckingham Palace.

Britain’s King Charles said during a meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday he had been reduced to tears by messages of good will following his cancer diagnosis. The palace announced earlier this month that Charles, 75, had been diagnosed with a form of cancer, less than 18 months into his reign.

“I’ve had so many wonderful messages and cards … it’s reduced me to tears most of the time,” Charles said during his weekly audience with Sunak.

“Everyone is behind you,” Sunak responded.

The monarch holds weekly audiences alone with the prime minister, although occasionally cameras have been allowed to capture the start of the meetings. Wednesday’s meeting is the first formal in-person audience Charles has held with Sunak since it was revealed that he was suffering from an unspecified form of cancer. Buckingham Palace has said the king will continue to carry out state business and his official paperwork while he undergoes cancer treatment.

Sunak began the exchange by telling Charles it was wonderful to see him looking so well.

“Well it’s all done by mirrors,” Charles joked.

[From Reuters]

This actually made me a little bit sad. I know Charles is a terrible father and he destroyed his first marriage and all of that, but still… he’s really feeling his mortality these days and I think his cancer treatments have knocked him on his ass. I feel sorry for him.

Now, I do want to talk about the timing of this – Charles ensures that he’s seen doing state business and meeting with Sunak just a day after his heir dove headfirst into an international political situation? In recent days, there has been a lot of commentary about how Charles’s reign will be short and “this is how King William will rule” and… yeah, I think Charles wanted to remind everyone that he’s still here.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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By all accounts, Blake Lively is a pretty hands-on mom. She has four children with husband Ryan Reynolds, daughters James, nine, Inez, seven, and Betty, four, and a fourth child who we don’t know anything about other than they are already a year old. Maybe Taylor Swift will give us the hot goss on Baby #4 in her next album. Anyway, this year’s Super Bowl looked a lot different than last year’s for Blake, when she used the occasion to slyly reveal via Instagram that she’d given birth. As you probably know, Blake has been Taylor Swift’s +1 at a lot of Kansas City Chiefs games this season, including the Super Bowl. There was even a hilarious Insta post from Ryan with the Deadpool trailer on the TV in the background as he asked, “Has anyone seen my wife?” We did see her, Ryan!

As it turns out, Blake’s trip to Vegas was her first overnight away from her kids, and she lived it up! In a funny post this week, she talked about her night of freedom. She wore crazy clothes, borrowed a lot of jewelry, took silly pictures, and went clubbing! Oh, what a night.

“Last week I left my kids for the first time ever,” Blake wrote on Instagram Feb. 20, referring to her and Ryan’s daughters James, 9, Inez, 7, and Betty, 4, as well as a fourth child whose birth they revealed in February 2023.

And for her rare mom’s night out, she went all out with her Super Bowl look, noting that it was also first time that she “wore pants that were shoes.”

Sharing new photos of the girls’ trip, Blake gave a closer look at her red Adidas track suit—complete with the shoe pants—while she posed in her Las Vegas hotel room. The Gossip Girl actress also showed off her stunning bracelet collection, joking that she “borrowed more jewelry than the skeleton in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.”

One of her bracelets was even dedicated to husband Ryan and featured the Deadpool & Wolverine poster design, with Blake adding, “I treated a friendship bracelet like a Flat Stanley for my husband like I didn’t realize it wasn’t ’07.”

After witnessing the Chiefs take home the trophy, the 36-year-old then joined in on the afterparty celebrations, though she joked that maybe a night of partying is no longer for her. “I went clubbing,” she quipped. “Now I know what my episode of the Twilight Zone would look like.”

[From E Online]

Hey, good for Blake! I think every mom understands the need for a little “me time” and what a better first trip away than a quick overnighter to watch your bestie’s boyfriend win the Super Bowl? And good on Ryan for setting the example that dads are parents who take care of their kids too and not just glorified babysitters. I had no idea until I saw the picture that her pants were also shoes. Blake has always been willing to try new fashion, so power to her, I guess. Having my pants attached to my shoes would make me feel like I’m wearing the bottom half of a child’s onesie, though! I also think the “Flat Stanley” Deadpool/Wolverine friendship bracelet was an adorable touch. Nice, subtle promotion to the Swifties.

When Blake got home, she recreated Ryan’s “where’s my wife” post, only captioned it, “Honey I’m home. My day was good. Yours?” Ryan and Blake’s public relationship where they tease and troll each other cracks me up and really endears both of them to me. I relate: Last week, Mr. Rosie made a Valentine’s Day post about me with unfortunate, funny pictures of me. I wasn’t mad at all. In fact, I’m currently plotting my revenge for his birthday post next month.

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The Guardian is basically the only British newspaper regularly questioning what the hell is going on with the Windsors. It’s mostly being done by Guardian columnists, but still. Recently, the Guardian published an extremely accurate column about the Sussexes’ trip to Jamaica, and how Harry and Meghan really could have been Britain’s best ambassadors, mostly because Meghan is “soft power dynamite.” Especially in comparison to diplomatic “kryptonite” William and Kate. Late last year, as Omid Scobie’s Endgame was making waves and there was a new round of “royal racism” talk, Zoe Williams wrote a funny piece in the Guardian about how the Windsors are “simply not in the intellectual shape to fight” accusations of racism. Well, Williams is back with her take on Prince William’s extremely bad performance at the BAFTAs, an organization for which he has served as president for fourteen years.

Actors know how to pose: The photos – all those magnificent faces that only actors know how to make – the “I’m so surprised to have won on this completely unsurprising occasion” face; the “of course I don’t mind not winning, the winner who won is, by happy chance, much more important to me than myself” face; the knowing side-eye, the straight-down-the-lens candour, the beaming sincerity. These are faces only the pros can make perfect. If the rest of us tried any of them, we’d look like we just got caught shoplifting.

And then there’s William: And into this Bafta array, as its president, steps Prince William. This job was not really optional for him. The only time in the organisation’s history that it hasn’t been led by a member of the royal family is when it was Richard Attenborough, who is like royal-plus. William, grinning at the rising stars Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Sophie Wilde and Mia McKenna-Bruce, hits the summit of his endearing awkwardness. In the great schism of the princes, in which all right-thinking Britons were supposed to pick a side, everyone who chose the elder and who was not motivated by fervour against the wokerati, misogynoir or keenly felt anti-Americanism was really responding to William’s self-consciousness.

William can’t even do the bare bones of the job: But it’s just so relatable. Which of us hasn’t smiled a little too widely, in anxiety, and then suddenly found in the moment that using all those muscles is surprisingly taxing, and then forgotten what we were going to say, and, oh, hell, now the terror is in our eyes, that’s not going to help, and now we’ve forgotten our name, all we can remember is that we had one job, for which we’ve been preparing all our lives, which is to be able to talk and smile, if not simultaneously, at least in quick succession?

Rictus grin formations: OK, that’s two jobs. But which of us hasn’t felt like that? A body language expert told me recently that King Charles is always playing with his cufflinks and Prince Harry is always buttoning the button that’s already buttoned. These are self-comforting moves to deal with social anxiety. But Prince William is off the scale, seeking comfort in rictus grin formations that most evolved humans don’t know how to activate any more, having last used them trying to make peace with a cheetah.

[From The Guardian]

Yes, this was an entire column devoted to William’s awkwardness. He’s remarkably charisma-free and incapable of simply standing with a group of actors and making small talk. That’s it – he can’t do it. It reminds me a bit of when they sent Prince Edward and Sophie to the Royal Variety show and Sophie was incredibly rude to comedian Frank Skinner, who had simply donated his time for a good cause. William was blundering around at the BAFTAs, telling people he didn’t watch any of their films and suggesting that an actress had a lot of “fun” on a film where her character is raped. He’s just… deeply incapable.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Last year, we kept hearing stories about President Biden’s dog Commander Biden. Commander was given to the Bidens as a gift, after the Bidens had to send their beloved dog Major Biden away from the White House because Major kept “biting” people. Commander was just a puppy when he came to the White House, and many hoped that, with the proper training, Commander would be a friendly family dog. But according to the (delicious) Secret Service agents, Commander has the same “biting problem” as Major. The Secret Service claimed they had meticulously documented eleven biting incidents last year, which was weird because their meticulous record-keeping was nonexistent when it came to domestic terrorism on January 6th, 2021.

The issue with Commander’s biting problem became contentious within the White House – other people’s experiences with Commander were that he was a friendly, well-adjusted dog, and reportedly, the Bidens kind of thought that the Secret Service agents were lying about some of the incidents. Still, the Bidens sent Commander away as well and he’s been absent from the White House for like four months already. The White House press corps loves to write about this sh-t though, which is why CNN FOIA-requested the Secret Service’s records on Commander. Apparently, they recorded 24 biting incidents.

Commander Biden, President Joe Biden’s family dog, bit US Secret Service personnel in at least 24 incidents at the White House and other locations, according to new internal USSS documents obtained by CNN.

That number does not include additional incidents CNN has previously reported involving executive residence staff and other White House workers. But the new documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal the extent to which the situation had become a serious workplace issue for the hundreds of staff supporting White House operations, and how agency personnel changed their habits to avoid being injured by the German shepherd.

“The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present – please give lots of room,” an unnamed assistant special agent in charge of USSS’ Presidential Protective Division wrote to their team in a June 2023 email, warning that agents “must be creative to ensure our own personal safety.”

That warning came months before the dog was removed from the White House, with multiple biting incidents taking place in the interim.

CNN has reviewed more than 400 pages of documents, many of which were heavily redacted to protect USSS personnel anonymity and operational details. In October 2022, an unnamed Secret Service technician described an incident and said they were “worried about the family pets behavior escalating and that … something worse was going to happen to others.”

The documented incidents included members of the Secret Service’s uniformed division, members of the president’s protective detail and other USSS officials. They took place inside and outside of the White House residence, but also at Biden family homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, at Camp David, and in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where the first family spends the Thanksgiving holiday.

A source close to the Biden family told CNN that the Biden family feels “awful” and has been “heartbroken” over the spate of biting incidents.

“They’ve been heartbroken over this. They’ve apologized to those who have been bitten, taken flowers to some. They feel awful. Commander was over-protective, and even though they tried and tried to work on it, they had to let him go live with other members of their family,” the source said.

[From CNN]

Commander really was out there barking “ACAB” all the time. Like, do I believe that the Secret Service agents were being purposefully melodramatic about two different dogs? Yes. Do I believe that Major and Commander were both bitey? Also yes. Do I believe that there’s something really f–ked up happening within the USSS? 100%. Not for nothing, but I honestly think some of this is just the breed – German shepherds are protective animals and both Major and Commander were trying to be good guard dogs for their mom and dad. I always believed that Commander, being so young when he came to the White House, was just doing puppy things and he didn’t know his own strength when he nipped people. But yeah, whatever. The dogs were sent away from the White House, it’s over.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, The White House, Backgrid.

King Charles is still receiving weekly cancer treatments. His new habit is to come into London at the start of the week for the treatments, then he goes back to Sandringham and spends the rest of the week there. Reportedly, Charles is still eager to be seen/photographed, which is why he’s made a point of going to church at Sandringham every Sunday and waving at photographers. He’s also done what are essentially drive-by photocalls from the car in London too. We can read between the lines though – his cancer treatments have knocked him on his ass and no one knows if or when Charles will be “back to work” in any public way. Speaking of, it’s now been confirmed that Charles will not attend the memorial service for the late King Constantine, one of his close friends and his second cousin. Queen Camilla will attend the service in her husband’s place. There’s no mention of whether the late Greek king’s godson, Prince William, will even bother to attend.

The King is to miss a thanksgiving service for his close friend and second cousin King Constantine of Greece as he continues his treatment for cancer. The Queen will lead members of the royal family as they gather in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on February 27 in honour of the former ruler and last King of Greece who was toppled from the throne decades ago in a military coup.

Constantine II – a first cousin once removed and sailing partner of Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh – died at the age of 82 in January last year. Charles had a close friendship with Constantine, choosing him as a godfather for son William, now the Prince of Wales. The former monarch was also godfather to Prince and Princess of Michael of Kent’s daughter Lady Gabriella Kingston.

Charles, 75, who was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer just over a fortnight ago, is not carrying out public duties while he has treatment.

Camilla and other family members will be joined by the late King’s widow Queen Anne-Marie, their eldest son Crown Prince Pavlos, other members of the Greek royal family and foreign royals for the UK memorial service in the nave of the 15th century chapel in Berkshire. Charles was unable to attend Constantine’s funeral in Athens last year due to commitments including meeting the president of Cyprus, and his sister the Princess Royal represented him at the ceremony.

[From The Evening Standard]

They named Anne-Marie and Prince Pavlos as attendees, so if William was confirmed for it, they would say it. William hasn’t confirmed. He also skipped Constantine’s Greek funeral last year. Back then, I understood why King Charles didn’t want his first overseas trip (as king) to be to Greece for a private (ish) family funeral, but it’s still bonkers to me that William didn’t go. And now it looks like William is too lazy to attend a memorial service IN WINDSOR, not far from Adelaide Cottage. I guess we’re not supposed to wonder if he’s ever really lived in Adelaide, just like we’re not supposed to wonder if Kate “returned” to Adelaide after the kids’ school break in Norfolk. This is all so weird. Anyway, I’m sure Charles feels bad about missing his good friend’s memorial service. Camilla will be there though.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Prince William is getting the attention he craved this week, just days after his brother completed a very successful and high-profile visit to Canada. With William, his need for (unearned) validation is mostly about Harry, but it’s also about deflection. Deflection from his god-awful gaffes at the BAFTAs, deflection from the fact that the Princess of Wales has not been seen or heard from in two full months, deflection from the fact that William is deeply and profoundly unprepared. But like all of William’s stunts, his sudden statement this week on the Middle East conflict landed with a dull political thud. There are completely valid questions about whether William’s statement means that he will enter the political fray all the time now, whenever he feels like it. The reaction from Israel has been officially “whatever, fine” while behind the scenes, Israeli officials are bitching about his naivete. That extends to the reaction from civilian Israelis:

Israelis reacted with a mix of indifference and irritation to a rare political intervention from Prince William calling for “an end to the fighting in Gaza”.

The Prince of Wales issued the statement on Tuesday in co-ordination with the Foreign Office, using the same phrase as Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron that “too many have been killed” during the Israel-Hamas war while calling for more aid to be allowed into Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Diplomatic sources suggested that less significance was being attached to the statement in Israel than in the UK. One aide to an Israeli MP compared the public reaction to previous calls from the Pope for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“The public is not impressed because the [Royal Family] does not have many powers,” the aide said.

Israeli social media discussion was often less respectful towards the British royal. Political lobbyist and former local government official Yamit Yanay-Malul accused the prince of a “ridiculous statement” and questioned whether he had used his connection to the Red Cross to press the charity to visit hostages in Gaza.

One Facebook commenter said Prince William should “first make peace with your brother”, alluding to the schism between Windsor and Prince Harry. Another urged him to “reprimand the citizens of Gaza, who co-operated with a…terror organisation”. Israeli news outlets carried reports on the statement, but typically short items placed below news on the progress of the war and negotiations with Hamas.

[From i News]

He “issued the statement on Tuesday in co-ordination with the Foreign Office” – no he didn’t. That was made clear by Kensington Palace’s briefings yesterday – the Foreign Office and Downing Street were merely “informed” of William’s statement but they did not coordinate with him about it. I genuinely believe that William has deeply irritated his Tory handlers, the men grooming him for the throne. As for “first make peace with your brother” – yeah, that’s another reason why William’s big political intervention falls flat. “Stop the violence, make peace” from a man who assaulted his brother, bullied his sister-in-law and, four years after their escape, he still seethes with violent rage about them. Hypocritical doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.