The British media has spent six years seething about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s powerful connections and charismatic celebrity personas. The media tries to scoff at Meghan and Harry for “using their royal titles,” which ends up giving up the game – Meghan and Harry are global superstars, regardless of titles. The titles are the only reason William and Kate have anything, because of a fluke of birth order, not because of their charisma or talent. Most recently, we saw Meghan and Harry invited to a ritzy fundraiser in Santa Barbara, hosted by Kevin Costner on his palatial estate, and they spent time with Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres and other bigwigs. But according to Richard Eden at the Mail, the Sussexes are “desperately try to establish themselves as a Hollywood ‘power couple’” while William and Kate have appointed some TV producer to a charity. The seething here is quite something.

While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle desperately try to establish themselves as a Hollywood ‘power couple’, the Prince and Princess of Wales are quietly boosting their own showbusiness links. I can disclose that Prince William and Catherine have appointed the producer of hit BBC drama Call the Midwife as a director of their Royal Foundation. Dame Pippa Harris will also be a director of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund Trustee Company.

‘This is a big appointment,’ a royal source tells me. ‘Dame Pippa knows everyone and is an expert at getting things done.’

Dame Pippa, 56, founded the hugely successful film company Neal Street Productions with the Oscar-winning director Sir Sam Mendes 58. As well as creating Call the Midwife together, they have produced acclaimed films including Revolutionary Road, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, and most recently the World War I epic 1917, for which they received two Bafta awards and a Golden Globe. Dame Pippa is also a chairperson of Bafta, of which Prince William is the royal patron.

The Royal Foundation originally included Prince Harry and there were concerns that it would suffer after he and Meghan quit in 2020. In fact, the opposite seems to have been the case.
It enjoyed a surge in income the following year, to a staggering £11.78million. That’s almost double the £6.68 million raised in 2019, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were still involved. Last year’s income was £10.1million, according to newly published accounts.

The foundation develops programmes and initiatives based on the Prince and Princess’s interests, particularly in the areas of early childhood, mental health and the environment.

Last year, Lord (William) Hague, the former Tory leader, quit politics to concentrate on his work as chairman of the Royal Foundation. He formed a warm relationship with Prince William and Catherine while he was Foreign Secretary, working with them to combat the illegal wildlife trade. As chairman of the foundation, Hague replaced Prince George’s godfather, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, who was William’s right-hand man for 15 years.

[From The Daily Mail]

While Eden is obsessively comparing the Sussexes and the Waleses, I’m more interested in all of the weird drama with the senior positions at the Royal Foundation. In March 2022, William hired Amanda Berry to the position of CEO of The Royal Foundation. Berry used to be BAFTA CEO, only she was pushed out in a quiet and confusing drama in January 2022, something about how she was way too cozy with William and Kate. It sounded like BAFTA told her to leave because they had enough of her sycophantic behavior towards their lazy-ass BAFTA president (Peg). Now William has made a somewhat random TV producer the “director” of the Royal Foundation? Why is he hiring people from BAFTA and the British film/TV industry? Is it because he’s desperate to show that he also has entertainment-industry connections? And why can’t William and Kate keep senior staff, even at their foundation?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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Here are more photos from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s second event on Tuesday, the Archewell and Project Healthy Minds’ Inaugural World Mental Health Day Festival. Earlier in the day, they visited the Marcy Lab School in Brooklyn, then this, the festival and panel discussion moderated by Carson Daly. H&M were joined by Dr. Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general. It got emotional very quickly, especially because Archewell invited parents whose children were mercilessly bullied online, sometimes bullied to the point of suicide.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped out in N.Y.C. on Tuesday, Oct. 10 for their Archewell Foundation’s first in-person event, providing a platform for parents navigating mental health challenges in today’s digital age. The summit featured parents who have experienced tragic loss connected to their child’s social media use. Meghan and Harry have been working with the parents involved in the event behind the scenes, PEOPLE has learned.

“I can’t start without thanking all the parents, the mothers and fathers for being with us physically today, but also being on this journey with us for the last year, creating this community of shared experience,” Harry said after taking the stage with Meghan for the panel. “We know it’s not easy for you guys to be here so thank you very much,” he continued.

Meghan then said: “A year ago we met some of the families, and at the time, it was impossible not to be in tears hearing their stories because it’s just that devastating. As parents, though our kids are really young, 2 1/2 and 4 1/2, but social media isn’t going away and by design, there was an entry post that was supposed to be positive and create community but something has devolved and there’s no way to hear that and not try to help these families have their stories be heard.”

Speaking as a father, Harry added: “I think for us, for myself and my wife, with kids growing up in a digital age, the priority here is to again turn pain into purpose and provide as much support as well as a spotlight and a platform for these parents to come together, to heal, to grieve and to also collectively focus on solutions so that no other family anywhere has to go through what they’ve been through.”

At the end of the panel, Daly turned to Meghan and asked: “As a mom of two young kids, after the stories that we heard today from these families that you’ve gotten to know over the past year and the work that Archewell is doing in this space, where is this on the priority list, not as a kick-ass woman, but as a mom? Excuse my French!”

Meghan replied: “Being a mom is the most important thing in my entire life — outside, of course, being a wife to this one,” she said, gesturing to Harry. “But I will say I feel fortunate that our children are at an age, again quite young, so this isn’t in our immediate future, but I also feel frightened at how it’s continuing to change and this will be in front of us.”

“They say being a parent, the days are long but the years are short, so it worries me, but I’m also given a lot of hope and energy by the progress we’ve made in the past year being able to have these incredible parents, these survivors of these experiences, share their stories and the more information gathering we’re able to do, the more we can move the needle a little bit,” she continued. “Everyone is affected by the online world and social media. we all just want to feel safe. I’m confident that with more ears and awareness and visibility of what is really happening, we can make some significant change together.”

[From People]

It was a really substantive conversation, focusing mostly on parents and how difficult it is to really understand how rapidly everything has changed for kids because of social media and online culture. Meghan, Harry and the surgeon general were all quite emotional about it.

It’s amazing that Access Hollywood (of all outlets) put the longest video on YouTube. I also saw that Sky News (a UK outlet) did a damn live-stream of the Sussexes’ event.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

A week ago, Aaron Rodgers’ last remaining brain cells worked overtime to come up with a punchy nickname for Travis Kelce. Travis, you see, is a big, burly tight end who does Pfizer commercials reminding everyone to get their Covid boosters and flu shots. Aaron Rodgers is the dumbass who lied about getting Covid-vaccinated, got Covid, exposed countless people to the virus, and then mainlined and regurgitated the dumbest anti-vaxx conspiracies out there. In any case, Aaron sneeringly referred to Kelce as “Mr. Pfizer.” When Travis was asked about it days later, his response was a thing of beauty – he has the sheer confidence and BDE of a man who believes in science. He said: “I thought it was pretty good. With the ‘stache, I look like someone named Mr. Pfizer. Who knew I’d get into vax wars with Aaron Rodgers, man? Mr. Pfizer against the Johnson & Johnson family over there…I got it because keeping myself safe, my family safe, the people in this building. I stand by it 1,000%. Fully comfortable with him calling me Mr. Pfizer.” Predictably, Travis’s amazing response to dumbf–kery enraged you-know-who.

Aaron Rodgers was joking last week when he called Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce “Mr. Pfizer.” Rodgers also wasn’t joking. There was an edge of disdain and derision in the term that Rodgers used. When the subject came up during this week’s visit with Pat McAfee and company, it was clear that Rodgers had a strong anti-vaccine (or, as some — like me — would say, anti-science) viewpoint lurking behind the effort at levity. Rodgers started by responding to Kelce’s reference to Rodgers as being aligned with Johnson & Johnson in the “vaxx wars,” given that Rodgers plays for the team owned by J&J heir Woody Johnson.

“It’s fascinating,” Rodgers said of the reaction to his coining of the “Mr. Pfizer” moniker. “I mean, the triggering, though. Was that not incredible last week? People getting absolutely triggered? Listen, you know, like I saw some of it. I love — I mean, the Johnsons have been great to me. So I don’t mind you calling me ‘Mr. Johnson & Johnson.’ Woody and Christopher and their families, they’ve been great. I don’t play for the Johnson & Johnson corporation, I play for the New York Jets. So I mean, you know, I made a tiny little joke about a guy shilling for a, you know, potentially — it’s not potentially, but it’s a you know corrupt company and everybody kind of loses their minds over it.”

Later, Rodgers challenged Kelce to debate the subject of vaccines in a public setting.

“Well, there’s a lot of propaganda out there,” Rodgers said. “Lot of propaganda out there. Listen, you know, Mr. Pfizer said he didn’t think he’d be in a vaxx war with me. . . . This ain’t a war, homey, this is conversation. But if you wanna have some sort of duel, debate, have me on the podcast, come on the show. Let’s have a conversation. Let’s do it like in John Wick IV, right? So we both have a second, right? So somebody to help us out. I’m gonna take my man RFK, Jr. . . . And he can have, you know, Tony Fauci or some other Pharmacrat, and we can have a conversation about this.”

[From NBC Sports]

“LOOK WHO GOT TRIGGERED” cries the triggered man, ranting about “Pharmacrats” and wingnut ratf–ker Robert Kennedy Jr. “DEBATE ME, BRO,” sobs the insignificant dumbass. It really is a shocking turn of events that Aaron Rodgers turned into this complete f–king moron.

Aaron Rodgers is inviting Travis Kelce to have a vaccine debate.

Rodgers proposes that it be him and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. against Kelce and Anthony Fauci.

(via @PatMcAfeeShow)pic.twitter.com/tcqPmptGtB https://t.co/xvH9M5MlpR

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 10, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.

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Barbra Streisand has written her autobiography, which means that for legions of fans, their bible will finally arrive on November 7. Clocking in at 992 pages (what, Babs, you couldn’t eke out another eight to make it 1,000?), My Name is Barbra covers everything — Marlon Brando’s pick up line to her, her pick up line to James Brolin, the fight to getting Yentl made, her signature eyeliner — and plenty more. Naturally, the woman who has an entire mall furnished in her basement has also lined up the very best press promotion for her book. Vanity Fair has made her the November cover story, and Editor in Chief Radhika Jones went to Malibu herself to interview Barbra. There is a lot to digest in the cover story, here are but a few highlights:

A heightened experience: Being with Barbra Streisand is a heightened experience. She comes prepared, carrying a folder with my name on it. She looks chic and comfortable wearing black pants and a gauzy top. We sit in her living room, the Pacific Ocean over her shoulder, and share a three-tiered tray of tea sandwiches and drink enormous cups of tea. Throughout our conversation she exhorts me to please eat, because she is eating, which she claims makes it easier to talk about herself. So we eat. At one point her three dogs come by for a visit. Two of them, Violet and Scarlet, are biological clones of Streisand’s beloved Sammie, a Coton de Tulear who died in 2017. Violet, despite allegedly being the well-mannered one, steals an egg sandwich.

A rose by any other name: To the extent that Streisand values fame, it’s not about a desire to be recognized or fulfilled by an audience. “I don’t think of myself as a movie star,” she says. Fame for her is a means to an end. Often, those ends are highly relatable. In the book, she recalls a moment in her third-floor walk-up on West 48th Street, at a time when she was earning $55 a week working for a press firm and eating at the Automat. She loved clean sheets and a freshly made bed but couldn’t get the knack of hospital corners. “I have a vivid memory of standing in the doorway of the bedroom,” she writes, “looking at the rumpled sheets, and thinking, I have to become famous just so I can get somebody else to make my bed.” The only time she brings up her own celebrity in our conversation — brings it up as a source of unalloyed joy, I mean — is when I ask her how she came to have a rose named after her. “Because I’m famous!” she exclaims.

The Streisand Effect: There are also moments that are highly Streisand-specific. For example, you may be curious to know her take on the Streisand Effect: “When I first heard the term, I naively thought, Is that about the effect of my music? Little did I know.” She writes that she didn’t intend to try to remove the picture of her house, she just didn’t want her name to be publicized with it, for security reasons.

You can’t clone a soul: On cloning, a topic on which precious few people can offer testimonials, she notes, “You can clone the look of a dog but you can’t clone the soul.” To clarify, she doesn’t regard that as a bad thing. (I can confirm that the dogs are their own individual doggy selves and also adorable.)

She tried for 20 years to make a sequel to The Way We Were: I venture, cautiously — aware I might be committing blasphemy — that these days the way to get this sequel made with Redford would be to de-age him. Streisand lights up. “Oh! That’s funny,” she says. “It’s actually a good idea.” It occurs to me that a director who cloned her dog would not hesitate to embrace all available technologies. Plus, she’d seen the first 10 minutes of the new Indiana Jones movie and thought they did a great job with Harrison Ford. We move on to other topics, and I even get to see the Barbra Streisand rose in the garden, but as we say our goodbyes, she circles back to the subject of the sequel. She’s going to call Redford and see what he thinks.

[From Vanity Fair]

Yeah, I highly doubt Robert Redford will say yes to a sequel now, but prove me wrong, Hubbell! As for Barbra’s wanting to be famous so someone could make her bed, I was gearing myself up for a takedown on how out of touch she sounds, but really I’m just jealous. My hospital corners are lousy, too.

The real news item here for our site, though, is the confirmation that Barbra Streisand reads Celebitchy. No, she does not say that outright. But in 2018 when we covered her cloned pups Violet and Scarlet, Kaiser said “I believe animals have souls and each one has their own personality, and that’s part of the joy of being mom to a fur-baby.” And now, five years later, Barbra is saying “You can clone the look of a dog but you can’t clone the soul.” She totally reads us, you guys. That’s enough proof for me! I also feel like her subtext in this instance is “no, I will not spend a kabillion dollars again to have my dog cloned.”

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The Prince and Princess of Wales’s joint appearance in Birmingham on Tuesday was another classic for the ages. The few times William did look at Kate, it was with disgust or disapproval. She seemed especially hyper and animated, like she was overcompensating. But “William looks irritated with Kate” is just one of my favorite keen photo sub-genre. Please enjoy the photos of “Kate making a speech” and “Kate is saying something and everyone around her looks bewildered or like they’re stifling a laugh.”

Kate’s yellow blazer was from LK Bennett and it was a repeat – I remember this now. She actually had a reason to wear yellow – she was honoring a campaign by the charity (YoungMinds) they visited, a campaign called #HelloYellow. Yellow is being used as the color of youth mental health. So… I won’t call her a Century 21 agent. As for Kate’s speech, she said in part: “William and I believe we need to do all we can as a society to help young people develop the emotional and social life skills they need for good mental health, and to thrive in the world around them.” That was it, really. She doesn’t have a plan, she doesn’t have advice, she’s just there to say “mental health is important, we should do more” and then take the helicopter back to her separation home.

This video has a clip of Kate’s speech. Note that Will and Kate spoke to groups of youths separately. William’s advice was actually much better than Kate’s speech. At least he had concrete examples of smaller things the youths can do to improve their mental health.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Julie Bowen isn’t a Fashion Girl and it’s fine! This Lela Rose dress is not great but she was supporting a great charity. [GFY]
Zaddy Pedro Pescal heads to the gym with his creatine. [JustJared]
I love Practical Magic too, it’s such a weird & funny movie. [Jezebel]
I would be into Guillermo del Toro’s Jabba the Hut origin story. [OMG Blog]
Zendaya looked great in vintage Louis Vuitton. [RCFA]
Anne Hathaway’s promotional style is getting better. [Tom & Lorenzo]
A glowing review of Todd Haynes’ May-December. [Pajiba]
Drake is disgusting and his new album sounds awful. [Buzzfeed]
Eminem & his daughter Hailie Jade went to the Lions game. [Egotastic]
The power of Barbie, Taylor Swift & Beyonce should worry Donald Trump. [Towleroad]
McDonald’s is bringing back Boo Buckets. [Seriously OMG]

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Director Pablo Larrain is developing quite the niche for himself as a filmmaker: hyper-focused biopics of very famous and iconic women. I was pleasantly surprised by Larrain’s Jackie, with Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy. I also thought he got an interesting performance out of Kristen Stewart in Spencer, where she played Princess Diana. Next up: directing Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Fremantle just released two new stills, and they’ve added more details about the SAG-AFTRA-waivered production:

Angelina Jolie transforms into legendary opera singer Maria Callas in the first images from Pablo Larraín’s biopic “Maria.”

The “Jackie” and “Spencer” director’s latest film will “explore the life of the legendary, iconic and controversial singer, often described as the original diva,” according to its official description. “Based on true accounts, ‘Maria’ tells the tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and re-imagined during her final days in 1970s Paris.”

As “Maria” is an independent film with an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA, production is set to take place over eight weeks in Paris, Greece, Budapest and Milan. The script, which was completed prior to the Writers Guild strike, is penned by Larraín’s “Spencer” collaborator Steven Knight. Alongside Jolie, the cast includes Pierfrancesco Favino (“Adagio”), Alba Rohrwacher (“La Chimera”), Haluk Bilginer (“Winter Sleep”), Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”) and Valeria Golino (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”).

“I am incredibly excited to start production on ‘Maria,’ which I hope will bring Maria Callas’ remarkable life and work to audiences all around the world, thanks to the magnificent script by Steven Knight, the work of the entire cast and crew, and especially, Angelina’s brilliant work and extraordinary preparation,” Larraín said in a statement.

Jolie’s costumes are based on real garments worn by Callas, including vintage fur items from Massimo Cantini Parrini’s archive collection, on which they consulted with PETA in order to not use any new fur.

[From Variety]

Purely going on looks, I assume Pierfrancesco Favino is playing Ari Onassis, probably in the flashback scenes. I wonder who Kodi Smit-McPhee is playing. He’s a very strange, other-worldly actor. As for the photos and everything else… I’m excited, honestly. Something which makes me so happy is that Larrain is clearly not interested in using prosthetics on Jolie – there will be no big, fake nose, thank God. I would assume Jolie’s transformation will be done through wigs, makeup, costumes and, you know, acting. I also think it’s cool that they’re using Callas’ real clothes or archival pieces. I’m also thrilled that this is SAG-waivered. Angelina’s most recent ex-husband is a scab, but not Jolie.

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Last Thursday, Prince William made two public appearances, neither of which brought many headlines. During the day, William did a very careful photo-op at Sustainable Ventures, where he posed for photos looking pensive, like he was playacting “I’m a good listener and I understand these conversations.” He went solo, and the absence of a certain gopher-gnawed wiglet meant that he flew under the radar and barely got any media engagement. Then, hours later, he flew solo again and caught an Aston Villa football game. He’s a longtime Aston Villa supporter.

What is remarkable, however, is that William has now made a point of making special trips to watch men’s sporting events. In September (the Invictus Games’ opening weekend) he flew to France for the Rugby World Cup, then he traveled to Birmingham for this Aston Villa game. While I know there’s a difference between “taking a private plane to France” versus “flying commercial to Australia,” the point is that William still made a terrible decision to not fly to Australia in August to support the Lionesses in the World Cup final. One of his many excuses was that it would be environmentally irresponsible to fly all that way… when clearly, he’s fine with flying the helicopter to Birmingham or taking a private plane to France, just as long as he’s supporting male athletes.

It’s also still bonkers to me that the Lionesses lost in the World Cup final almost two months ago exactly and the Football Association president still hasn’t met with them or done an event with them or visited their clubhouse to tell them how amazing it was to see them battle their way to the final. Misogyny, hypocrisy, laziness, poor planning, too focused on America.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.

Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi stepped out last night at the Art of Wishes Gala. Art of Wishes is part of the UK branch of Make-a-Wish, and it’s centered on the British art world helping out sick children and their families, and the gala was raising money to grant those kids’ wishes. The event was held at the Raffles Hotel in London. This feels like the kind of event which is perfect for Beatrice, honestly – it’s not one of the flashiest charities, but it’s still important enough to warrant a royal attendee. I wonder if Buckingham Palace okayed Edo and Bea’s attendance or if they just went on their own.

I found the IDs on Beatrice’s ensemble on Twitter and the IDs might be wrong, IDK. Apparently, Bea’s lace dress is Self-Portrait and her Chanel-wannabe jacket is from Alice+Olivia. Her purse is Anya Hindmarch and her shoes are Ralph & Russo. One of the Mail columnists suggested, weeks ago, that Beatrice accepts freebies when it comes to clothes and accessories. Maybe she does – I hope she does – but over the past year or so, I swear she’s dressing more like Kate used to. The lace dresses, the Downton Abbey style, everything is suddenly very prim. Bea’s style also changed when she married Edo.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

There are a few royal-adjacent projects coming up in the next few months, projects I’m eagerly awaiting. It’s not that I think the book or the show will be massively groundbreaking, but I do think the Windsors’ reactions will be fascinating to watch. First up: The Crown’s final season, Season 6, which will cover the Tony Blair years, from 1997-2005-ish. Then in late November, Omid Scobie’s Endgame will finally be published. November looks to be an interesting month in how the new king’s court responds to even lukewarm criticism or historical record-keeping.

Interestingly enough, Netflix is breaking up The Crown’s final season into two parts. Part 1 is, I assume, devoted to Princess Diana’s 1997 death and the subsequent fallout for the Windsors, including something close to a constitutional crisis for QEII. Part 1 will be released on November 16. Then on December 14th, Part 2 comes out – the later Tony Blair years, where we’ll see Prince William meeting then-Kate Middleton. Peter Morgan has promised to end the series on a “high note,” meaning Charles and Camilla’s 2005 wedding. Most of the actors from Season 5 are still around, although obviously they hired new, older actors for William, Harry and Kate.

Here’s the new teaser trailer. They also released two posters – the one of Diana in that turquoise swimsuit is so iconic and heartbreaking.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Netflix/The Crown.