On Monday, Robert Kennedy Jr. announced that he would run as an independent in the 2024 presidential campaign. It’s giving Kanye West 2.0 – a Republican stooge attempting to ratf–k the election by steering Democratic voters away from the Democratic candidate. Junior’s main backers, for months now, are all Republican operatives. Junior’s whole platform is a Republican fever dream of anti-vaxx, anti-science and anti-abortion stances. He fully supports a federal abortion ban (the government needs to control women’s bodies!) but he rejects every vaccine mandate (the government has no right to dictate public health issues!).

In a move that could alter the dynamics of the 2024 election, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday that he would continue his presidential run as an independent candidate, ending his long-shot pursuit of the Democratic nomination against an incumbent president.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters outside the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Mr. Kennedy, a leading vaccine skeptic and purveyor of conspiracy theories, said he represented “a populist movement that defies left-right division.”

“The Democrats are frightened that I’m going to spoil the election for President Biden, and the Republicans are frightened that I’m going to spoil it for Trump,” he said. “The truth is, they’re both right. My intention is to spoil it for both of them.”

In a 45-minute speech on Monday, Mr. Kennedy described encounters across America with people he called the “ranks of the dispossessed,” interspersed with angry barbs about “the surveillance state” and the “tyranny of corruption.” He quoted the Old Testament, John Adams, Martin Luther King Jr., Tennyson and his own father.

But Mr. Kennedy, the scion of a liberal political dynasty, has alienated his own family members and many Democrats with his promotion of conspiracy theories, his rejection of scientific orthodoxies and his embrace of far-right political figures.

“Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment,” four of Mr. Kennedy’s siblings — Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend — said in a statement on Monday. “We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country.”

[From The NY Times]

For several days now, there’s been some consistent reporting on Donald Trump’s growing concerns about Junior’s candidacy. I have no idea if Trump is spending the money for internal polling, but I would assume that someone has some data suggesting that, thirteen months out from the presidential election, Kennedy would pull more votes away from Trump than Biden. It will be interesting to see if Trump goes after Kennedy, just as it will be interesting to see if Junior’s Republican backers/handlers/ratf–kers begin to rein him in so he can position himself as more of a Democratic spoiler. The only reason he’s running as an independent is because the Dems didn’t take his bait – he has been a non-factor for months, despite the media trying to hype Kennedy as some major threat to President Biden.

Also: Kennedy’s wife Cheryl Hines introduced him at his big announcement. So… she’s involved. She was trying to pretend like she didn’t have anything to do with her husband’s politics, but she got that Republican-wife blowout and she’s never going back.

Cheryl Hines doing the introduction for RFK Jr. pic.twitter.com/IDSQf5llwv

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 9, 2023

RFK Jr’s campaign is off to a great start

*cue Curb music* pic.twitter.com/JMyKF3pvNA

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2023

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

In response to the devastating wildfires that swept Maui in August, Dwayne Johnson and Oprah Winfrey set up the People’s Fund of Maui. The aim of the fund was to provide local survivors with $1,200 a month to assist in recovery. Dwayne and Oprah each donated $5 million to start off the fund, and then publicly asked people to contribute. In my side-eyeing Paris Hilton for vacationing near the disaster site, I seemed to have missed that Dwayne and Oprah themselves received backlash… for starting a fundraiser to help. The criticism they received was for asking people to donate, despite the massive wealth between them. Over the weekend Dwayne posted an Instagram video update about the first round of $1,200 checks going to survivors, and he also took the opportunity to address the flack he and Oprah received during the launch:

“When we first launched the fund, there was some backlash,” Johnson said in a video shared to his Instagram on Sunday. “I get it and I completely understand, and I could’ve been better. And next time I will be better.”

The “Moana” actor acknowledged that he knows “money ain’t falling out of the sky, and it’s not growing on trees, and there’s a lot of people out there who’s living paycheck to paycheck. And I get it, and I know what that’s like.”

Many people criticized Johnson and Winfrey for not contributing more from their own pockets and asking their fans to donate.

“When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you are easily pissed off. It’s frustrating,” Johnson continued in his video on Instagram. “And the last thing you want to hear when you’re living paycheck to paycheck is someone asking you for money — especially when the person asking you for money already has a lot of money. I get it, I understand.”

Johnson’s net worth is estimated at $270 million and Winfrey’s is estimated $2.5 billion, according to Forbes.

“I’ve never launched a fund before, but I’m a quick study and lesson learned,” the “Red Notice” star added.

He also thanked his fans for their honesty in his caption, writing, “I’ll always appreciate and protect that straight talk between us – you have my word to always listen, learn, grow and do better.”

Johnson and Winfrey’s fund is intended to give adults displaced by the wildfires in Lahaina and Kula a monthly stipend of $1,200 to help them during recovery.

In Johnson’s latest post, he said the first round of applicants has started to receive the monthly stipend.

“I’m so grateful and moved by all the messages I’m receiving out of Maui from the survivors of the devastating wildfires who are now getting their personal funding from The People’s Fund of Maui,” he wrote in the caption. “The strength of our people of Maui is beautiful and inspiring. Watching families and community come together after this tragedy is inspirational and I’m proud of our Polynesian people.”

Johnson concluded: “Thank you to everyone who has helped by sending resources, love and prayers to all people affected by the fires and a loving mahalo and RESPECT to our OG cultural leaders, our local community organizations, and all our first responders and every person who came together to help our people.”

[From USA Today]

I don’t usually say this, but in this particular case I’m with the million-billionaires. Between Dwayne and Oprah, they started off the fund with $10 million of their own money. A drop in the bucket for each of them, sure, but I still don’t think they’re the bad guys here. They each routinely donate generously to worthy causes. And they didn’t single out any one group to contribute to the fund, it was a blanket plea that other millionaires were welcome to respond to! That being said, this was a well done move by Dwayne — to acknowledge the parts that didn’t land from the original launch and promise to handle it better next time, all while giving a positive update on money going out to survivors. But overall, I think the intent, context, and track records matter a lot here. I mean, it’s not like Dwayne and Oprah just showed up empty-handed to a refugee center or foodbank for the umpteenth time.

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Spain’s King Juan Carlos abdicated the Spanish throne in 2014, and then in 2020, he went into self-imposed exile following a series of reports of just how thoroughly he profiteered from his position as king. Juan Carlos’s financial shenanigans were honestly hard to follow and I suspect they were even harder to unravel. These days, he spends most of his time in the Middle East or possibly Switzerland, but he has come back to Spain a few times to visit his family. He and his wife, the former Queen Sofia, remain mostly estranged but not divorced. Sofia remains in Spain, but is mostly retired from public life. But what of Juan Carlos’s mistress? For years, his mistress was Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, only they fell apart and she sued him, claiming that he was threatening her, harassing her and he basically sent his goons after her. Well, her lawsuit was just thrown out. It looks like it was mostly a jurisdictional issue.

A £126m lawsuit brought against the former king of Spain by his ex-lover cannot go to trial in England, a judge has ruled. Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, a Danish businesswoman with homes in England, was attempting to sue Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014, in the high court of England and Wales. On Friday, the judge, Mrs Justice Rowena Collins Rice, said the case was outside the court’s jurisdiction.

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn claims she suffered intrusive, intimidatory and adverse episodes since their relationship came to public attention in 2012 in the aftermath of an elephant-hunting trip to Botswana.

She alleged that this included ordering the then head of Spain’s national intelligence agency to harass and threaten her. Documents submitted to an earlier hearing alleged that a book about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, was left in her home as a warning. Juan Carlos denied the claims made against him and had sought to have them struck out.

In her written judgment Collins Rice said her principal reason for not allowing the claim to proceed was “because it has not been brought against the defendant in his country of domicile, as is his default entitlement; and the claimant has not satisfied me she has a good arguable case that her claim falls within an exception to that default rule. That, in turn, is because she has not sufficiently established that the ‘harmful event’ of which she complains – harassment by the defendant – happened in England.”

The judge said even if she had concluded that the high court did have jurisdiction, she would have granted Juan Carlos’s application to strike out Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn’s claim because it did not apply with the rules for the drafting of a harassment claim. Other parts of the claim relating to alleged conduct before his abdication had previously been struck out on the grounds they were subject to state immunity.

Collins Rice said: “The claimant has an account she wishes to give of her personal and financial history with the defendant, and about the harm he has caused her peace of mind and personal wellbeing, and her business, social and family life. I take no view about that account as such.”

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn claims Juan Carlos’s alleged behaviour was connected to a payment of €65m (£56m) she says he made to her soon after the Botswana trip and told her it was an unconditional gift before changing his mind. She said she was “deeply disappointed” by the high court’s decision, adding: “Juan Carlos has deployed his full armoury to grind me down and the reach of his power is immense. I am considering all options.”

[From The Guardian]

Lord, this whole thing is so tawdry. I get why the English court didn’t want to touch it, because it’s seriously not clear that anything happened in the UK? It would be one thing if she was suing him in Spanish court or even Swiss court. While I’m pretty sure that Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn is some kind of mercenary mistress/hustler, I’m also sure that the former king treated her like garbage and she probably was threatened and harassed. So, IDK. Let’s see how far this goes.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid, Avalon Red.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus found out she had breast cancer one day after winning an Emmy, her sixth consecutive for playing Selina Meyer on Veep and eighth overall for acting. Julia announced her diagnosis in 2017, and is now Julia sharing more about the moment when she got the call that day six years ago. While appearing with journalist David Remnick at the 2023 New Yorker Festival last Friday, Julia spoke candidly about the way she responded to her doctor over the phone, and also described the powerful memory she said got her through the treatment that followed.

“I started laughing. Well, because the night before, I had won an Emmy. And so, I came downstairs and … the Emmy was there. It was like on the dining room table. I’m coming down to get coffee. My cell phone rings, and it’s my doctor saying, ‘Guess what, you have cancer,’” she recalled.

“And I’m like, ‘Huh? What?’ And so, it was a very bizarre juxtaposition,” she continued “And, of course, I did laugh, and then I became hysterical, crying, because I was terrified, as most people are, or as all people are if they get a diagnosis like that.”

She said she was fortunate to have her family rally around her as she began to navigate the unknown. “I have a very strong and supportive family, and for which I am eternally grateful, upon whom I relied — sisters, husband, my sons, my mother, my mothers, my stepmother, everybody,” she said.

Still, she continued, “I was deeply terrified because who wouldn’t be? I mean, all the tropes are true. You know, you get that call and it’s like, ‘What, me? No, no, no.’ I mean, you can’t imagine that something like that would happen to you.”

To get through her grueling chemotherapy sessions, Louis-Dreyfus told Remnick she focused on a memory of a particularly unnerving moment from her past to motivate her.

“I’ve said it before, but many, many years ago, I was on a boat with my husband. I was swimming in the water. He came to the bow of the boat and he said, ‘Jules, I don’t want you to panic, but there’s a shark in the water, so you need to come back.’ And I was far away from the boat,” she explained.

“And so, I just saw the ladder and I started swimming towards it, and I made the decision not to look around me at all. I was just going to stay looking at the ladder. And that very much applied to how I got through my cancer adventure — was sort of looking at the ladder. Just let’s get this done, let’s get there.”

[From People]

Ok, first of all, I hope her doctor didn’t actually say “Guess what, you have cancer,” but that’s just Julia’s way of highlighting the absurdity of going from Emmy win to breast cancer overnight. But I do appreciate the license she takes for storytelling purposes, because the way she recalls the moment is so vivid I felt like I could see each moment happening. The confusion to laughter to hysteria to tears (a trajectory you know she could act the sh*t out of, by the way). And while she mentioned speaking about the shark story before, it was new to me, and holy cow was that a powerful image. Again I find Julia’s language incredibly cinematic. It wasn’t her inclination to be public with her cancer diagnosis, but she’s given great comfort to others by sharing the many facets of her personal experience.

To end on a selfish note: I miss Veep so much. Julia said it was freeing to play Selina Meyer — it was also freeing to watch her! But I guess what I also miss is when it was just a funny show on Max (née HBO) and not, you know, our actual politicians.

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Photos credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images, MediaPunch/Backgrid and Getty

It’s hard to believe that we’re already into the second week of October and the Summer of Barbie is over. Has anything claimed Fall yet? I know we’re in the NFL Era, but surely, that’s not the cultural phenomenon of Fall 2023. Ah, it’s still early! Perhaps this will be the Fall of Barbie Halloween Costumes, lol. Anyway, over the weekend, Barbie director Greta Gerwig appeared at the BFI London Film Festival for a special interview with “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong. She described the film’s set as the “most joyful” set she’s ever been on (if she does say so herself!) and hoped that the set’s fun atmosphere translated on screen for audiences. Greta also shared that she snuck into NYC screenings of the movie during opening weekend to see viewers’ reactions first hand.

Gerwig also admitted that despite loving the process of making the film, she still experienced huge amounts of self-doubt over her creative choices, citing the “I’m Just Ken” dance scene where the numerous Kens are fighting on the beach. “That sequence, in particular, was just filled with choices that thrilled me and made me so happy, but then I’d be driving home at the end of the day and thinking…’Oh no!’”

Despite Gerwig’s nervousness, Barbie went on to break numerous records, amassing more than $1.4 billion, making it the highest-grossing film of 2023, Warner Bros.’ highest-grossing film of all time and the highest-grossing film by a solo female director.

“It’s like this incredible sense of ‘the song that it’s in my heart is in other people’s hearts,’” she said of the reaction to the film. “It’s been incredibly moving.”

During Barbie‘s opening weekend, Gerwig said she was in New York, but she didn’t wait to hear about the reaction to the film from other people, so she went to get answers for herself.

“I went around to different theaters and sort of stood in the back, and would then also turn up the volume if I felt it wasn’t playing at the perfect level,” she claimed. At one such screening, she heard one woman howl with laughter over the joke about the Proust Barbie, one of the numerous specific one-liners she inserted in the film. “And I was like: ‘That joke was for you!’”

Gerwig said she was currently working on another project, without giving many details away. “I’m in the writing process,” she admitted, “and it’s hard because I’m having recurring nightmares.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

I find this to be so endearing! I think we’ve all created something that we love so much that we’re anxious to share it with others, hoping they enjoy it as much as we do. How could we NOT love “I’m Just Ken?!” It’s a classic! Honestly, I’d probably also attend screenings around town just to covertly watch people’s reactions, especially if the early ones were positive, haha. As for turning up the volume, does she mean that she actually went into the control room and adjusted the movie’s sound level? Wouldn’t that break her cover?!

And, in full transparency, I made that lame joke about it being the Season of Barbie Halloween costumes because Mr. Rosie and I just decided that we are going to be Dojo Mojo Casa House Ken and Weird Barbie this year. We didn’t want to do the Roller Skating Barbie and Ken outfits because we were actually Ken and Barbie from Toy Story 3 last year because our younger son was Buzz Lightyear. Halloween is my favorite.

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Photos credit: PA Images/INSTARimages, Darla Khazei/INSTARimages, Backgrid and Getty

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Before Jimmy Savile’s death in 2011, he was considered by most British Establishment figures as a man who devoted himself to charity and children’s causes. As it turned out, Savile was one of Britain’s most prolific child abusers and sexual predators. After his death, it all came out. There have been a few documentaries about Savile and how he hid in plain sight, and there’s been a lot of energy given towards Savile’s connection with then-Prince Charles. Charles nurtured the friendship and even sought out Savile’s advice on media relations. Well, there’s another documentary and once again, Savile’s connection to Charles is part of the story:

King Charles might resort to a medicinal Laphroaig as he awaits the first segment of the BBC’s Jimmy Savile biopic The Reckoning on Monday. The BBC has said Savile used his connections with the Royal Family and other institutions to conceal his crimes.

Unwittingly Charles used Savile as an adviser on handling the media and as a marriage counsellor when his relationship with Diana hit the rocks. He also innocently used him as a guide to ‘ordinary’ people, even going with Savile as he collected his old age pension.

My mole whispers that appearances of the King are minimal with a brief scene alongside Diana at a hospital opening.

But HM surely regrets sending Savile Cuban cigars and gold cufflinks to mark his 80th birthday with the note, ‘Nobody will ever know what you have done for this country, Jimmy. This is to go some way to thanking you for that.’

[From The Daily Mail]

This is actually all old news, the latest twist is that there’s a new documentary and that Charles is king now, and he still has the worst instincts. That’s what I keep coming back to. Unlike Diana, who could read people quickly, Charles has been ensnared by a series of predators, gurus, pseudoscientists and sycophants throughout his life. The Ephraim Hardcastle column also followed up with this:

King Charles’s friendship with Jimmy Savile is further confirmed by my disclosure here that after Prince Harry’s birth in 1984 he had been included in a long list of names of potential godfathers. The selection was written by Charles and seen by his private secretary Edward Adeane.

Adeane was aware that Charles would not listen to any argument against Savile. Having a fractious relationship with Diana, he felt he could not approach Harry’s mother. He did discuss it with Sir Alastair Aird, the Queen Mother’s comptroller, who was duly horrified and assured Adeane that the matter would be ‘dealt with’. Savile didn’t make the final six.

As details of Savile’s crimes emerged following his death in 2011, David Cameron pledged to consider a legal change that honours could be rescinded post-humously. He never got round to it.

Perhaps Charles could rummage around the royal attic and return William and Harry’s Jim’ll Fix It badges to the BBC.

[From The Daily Mail]

Yikes, I actually didn’t know that Charles wanted Savile to be Harry’s godfather. That would have been in 1984. I can only imagine, if it would have happened, how the British media would have referred to Harry as “Jimmy Savile’s godson” in all of their reporting. Ugh.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.

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I know a lot of people who hate most vegetables. My dad is afraid of mushrooms and onions. But I don’t think I’ve ever encountered anyone who has never eaten a vegetable, full stop. In a way, it’s kind of an achievement. Al Michaels is a sportscaster who has been on TV since the 70s, and he’s currently the play-by-play announcer for Thursday Night Football. He’s also never eaten a vegetable to the best of his knowledge and is somehow still alive at 78. Al told Chris Wallace on CNN that he’s proven that vegetables aren’t necessary for survival, and he wouldn’t even try eating a carrot because he believes it wouldn’t “go down well.” Has he heard of soluble fiber?

Al Michaels is on a winning streak. His opponent? Vegetables.

The sports commentator, 78, opened up about his lifelong aversion to the produce in an interview with CNN, telling journalist Chris Wallace that he has gone his entire life without — at least, as Wallace put it, “knowingly” — eating a single vegetable.

In the excerpt of CNN’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, which premiered Friday on Max, Michaels said that his veggie-less diet traces back to his childhood.

“I was born when my parents were 18,” Michaels told the broadcaster. “So [my mom] just let me have the run of the course. And I always pushed the vegetables away. To this day, no.”

He continued, “And I guess what I’ve proven, Chris, is that man does not need vegetables to survive.”

When asked if it is possible that, if he actually tried it, Michaels may actually enjoy a “non-objectionable” vegetable, such as a carrot, the commentator replied, “Oh, please.”

“No, that’s an objectionable vegetable,” he continued.

And how does he know without ever having tasted the orange produce? “I look at it [and] I just don’t even like the look of it. And I surmise what it might taste like, in terms of the texture of it.”

“It just doesn’t look like something that would go down well,” he added.

[From People]

This man is not a serious person. I mean I guess you don’t need vegetables to survive but the vitamins, minerals, and fiber are key to helping the body function optimally and preventing diseases like rickets or scurvy. There’s more vitamin C per serving in broccoli than there is in oranges! Al looks like he has a case of the meat sweats in this interview, so that’s where his veggie-less life has got him. Sweating like a packet of deli meat left on a car dashboard in Memphis in August. But this story made me think about all the people in America who would like to eat more vegetables but can’t access them because of food deserts, poverty, or both. A lot of people don’t eat vegetables because there isn’t a convenient, affordable place to buy fresh produce in their neighborhoods. It’s annoying to me that someone like Al with a public profile is out there claiming that vegetables aren’t necessary. He gets to refuse them. A lot of people don’t even have the opportunity to turn them down. For what it’s worth, I’ve always hated Brussels sprouts. I don’t care if you slather them in bacon fat and maple syrup, they still taste like gym socks.

Al Michaels has never knowingly ate a vegetable. A heroic act. pic.twitter.com/szZJBupf1I

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 6, 2023

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In March, the Spanish royal family announced that their older daughter, the future queen of Spain, would be entering a three-year military training program this fall. In August, King Felipe and Queen Letizia dropped off Princess Leonor and her military training began. She’s only 17 years old! I know it’s like dropping your kid off at college, but still – Leonor still looks so young, and I can only imagine that Felipe and Letizia have been going through some serious empty-nest syndrome. Well, Leonor had some kind of flag ceremony this past weekend, and her parents came up to see it.

The future queen of Spain has made an important promise with her father, King Felipe, looking on and his pride in his daughter was clear to see. After joining the 68th class of cadets paying homage to the Pilar Virgin in an evening service on October 6th 2023, the General Military Academy in Zaragoza woke up the following morning decorated for a big celebration.

The religious ceremony took place in the Zaragoza Cathedral, where all cadets walked to be presented in front of the Pilar Virgin, considered the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces in Zaragoza, and the patron saint of the academy. After the service, cadets were allowed to be reunited with the family members who were waiting for them outside the church.

On the morning of October 7th 2023, Princess Leonor was among the 411 cadets who swore their allegiance to the Spanish flag in a moving and solemn ceremony in the main court of the institution. The ceremony was attended by King Felipe who was not only present as the Chief of the Armed Forces , but also as father of one of the cadets. Queen Letizia also beamed with pride as the ceremony unfolded.

[From Royal Central]

While it sounds like the king had a legitimate reason to attend this ceremony, both he and Letizia used it as an excuse to check in on Leonor. I also wonder if this is the kind of military training program where Leonor has to spend the entire time on the base/campus? Is she allowed to go home on weekends? Are there holidays in the training program? Hm. Anyway, Leonor looks sharp in her dress uniform and I’m sure she’s homesick a little bit.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Sometimes, I still think about that 2020 Tatler cover story about Princess Kate and I chuckle to myself. From what I gather, Kensington Palace’s minions went to Tatler and tried to arrange a big embiggening cover story about how Kate is all things to all people: a perfect mother, a top CEO, a harried woman who needs endless vacations, a childish mess who runs home to mummy all the time, a woman who looks the other way when her husband bangs her friends. Yeah, Tatler put their own spin on it and the results were hilariously shady. So much so that KP basically spent months waging war with Tatler and eventually got Tatler to take down the bulk of the story. Since then, there has been an uneasy peace between KP and Tatler, and I get the impression that Kate is still licking her wounds from how badly that ricocheted. So it’s funny that Tatler did a (month-late) story about Will & Kate’s “first year” as Prince and Princess of Wales: “One year on: how the Prince and Princess of Wales are subtly sowing the seeds of change to bring the royal family into a vibrant new age.” Some highlights:

A precursor to the Peg Era: The inheritance of monarchical titles, of course, should come as no surprise, but, after a lifetime of status quo, this new royal shake up feels like the beginning of not just Charles’s reign, but William’s. The heir to the throne assumed this title when his father was in his 74th year and – God Save The King not withstanding – the Carolean age can never reach the longevity of the Elizabethan. The first year of our new Prince and Princess of Wales has been, therefore, a precursor of sorts for what kind of King and Queen William and Kate may be.

Kate’s commanding funeral presence: Their tenure began, much like the King’s, under the shadow of immense familial and nationwide grief. William led the Queen’s grandchildren in formal funereal rites and Kate proved a steely, regal presence throughout. Whilst Camilla, always more loving partner than would-be Queen, appeared happy to fulfil the role of Charles’s emotional balustrade, it was the new Princess of Wales who stood out for her commanding presence. There was a streak of leadership to her stature, a sense of confidence that felt somewhat different to what we had seen before. The royal couple would take this fresh poise to the coronation where, decked out in their ceremonial finery, there was another gearshift moment. They were noticeably ‘Wills & Kate’ no more, but future monarchs of Great Britain instead.

Center stage: The couple have been thrust more than ever before onto central stage, filling their new roles but also the void left by now non-working royals Prince Andrew and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their confidence in this new prominence has been noteworthy: the Princess of Wales has taken on more solo projects than ever before, the first of which was a seminal meeting with the First Lady of Ukraine in September of last year, and the Prince of Wales was a self-assured presence on stage at the coronation concert in May.

Katie Keen is busier than ever: The Princess of Wales has been busier than ever, undertaking countless solo engagements, spearheading more action in her early years work, her advocacy for mental health and sport and wellbeing.

A relatable country family: For there has been much more of this from the Wales family this year: just as they have become more rarefied they have also, strangely, become more accessible. Their social media presence bears the hallmarks of this new duality. There are frequent cheery straight-to-camera videos as well as slick video montages of their trips and events. They are a social media savvy pair, aware of their online presence and thus shrewd curators of their image. The result is that they appear both approachable and down to earth, behaving as both a relatable country family and regal heads of state.

Laser focused: They are a couple determined to do things their way. Sources close to them have described them as ‘laser focused’ and possessing a very clear vision of how they wish to operate, both in their current roles and as future monarchs. As part of this – in a break with royal tradition-they have recently advertised for a CEO to run their household, someone who must be, according to the advertisement, ‘emotionally intelligent’ with a ‘low ego’ and a ‘strong self-awareness and understanding of their impact on others’.

Antithesis of the Sussexes? William and Kate may seem from the outset the antithesis to the Sussexes, being a couple who, by contrast, toe the line and fall into step with all facets of royal duty, but they are in many ways a Trojan horse duo. They have a pronounced desire for the monarchy to evolve and, in many ways, this aligns them with the King himself, who has long been an outspoken advocate for his passions; from the environment to the streamlining of the monarchy. William and Kate, like Charles, are unafraid to allow a gradual evolution from within; to subtly sow the seeds of change and bring the royal family – from the way it operates to the ideas it engages with – into a new age. From the year we have seen so far, it seems they are already off to a great start.

[From Tatler]

It feels like Kensington Palace has been trying to make “Kate is working more” into a thing for four years, and it hasn’t stuck – if you have to keep reminding people that no, really, she’s doing more than she used to, your PR has already failed. Also, the mention of “countless solo engagements” is part of the soft-launch of the Wales’ separation. Oh, and “Trojan horse duo” is kind of amazingly accurate – Will and Kate present themselves as a by-the-books, charisma-free extension of the grand Windsor tradition, but really, they’re going to usher in the end of the British monarchy.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

One year ago, at Paris Fashion Week, Kanye West set in motion his own professional and personal demise. He tried to bully and mock fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, and that was the beginning of the end. That one thing set off a months-long chain reaction in which Kanye was outed as a Nazi who has openly talked about his admiration for Adolf Hitler for years. He absorbs white-supremacist media and goes even further than their insane talking points (to the point where even Alex Jones was like “whoa, let’s not go that far.”) He lost his businesses, his representation and he had to (briefly) shut down his insane school. Then, in December/January, Kanye “married” Bianca Censori, a Yeezy employee. They’ve spent this year making asses out of themselves around the world as he dresses her up in little more than hosiery. Well, the Mail investigated and it turns out that their loosey-goosey wedding was actually perfectly legal.

After months of mystery surrounding their whirlwind union, Kanye West and Bianca Censori are indeed officially and legally married, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. The confusion around their intriguing marriage has finally been explained after the pair wed under a ‘confidential marriage’ license in California, meaning that it was not made public record.

Many had assumed that the 46-year-old rapper and Yeezy architect, 28, married in a ceremony that was not legally binding, as there was seemingly no evidence of the union, with reports claiming they had a private ceremony in Beverly Hills earlier this year in January without an official marriage license.

However, DailyMail.com can now confirm that is not the case, having obtained and reviewed the official document that lists their date of marriage as December 20, 2022 – just one month after he finalized his divorce from his first wife Kim Kardashian in November 2022.

Per their marriage license, the happy couple tied the knot in Palo Alto, California, known as Silicon Valley, and DailyMail.com has learned the pair picked a secret location for the special event. The document was filed under their full names, Bianca Censori, and simply ‘Ye’ for the rapper, who legally changed his name from Kanye Omari West to the mononym in October 2021.

[From The Mail]

The Mail also had extensive reporting about how Censori’s friends are really worried about her – she was once an upbeat social butterfly, now she’s an insane Nazi’s living doll. Kanye apparently has a “set of rules” for Bianca, like “never speak and wear what he wants her to wear. She is also required to eat certain food items and to work out even though Kanye doesn’t work out.” When her friends tried to stage an intervention, she told them to f–k off and said that her friends were just jealous of her stardom.

My concern is… what happens when Kanye gets bored with his doll? And is Bianca actually in on the game here, or is she like a cult member at this point? Like, is she consciously putting up with all of this so that she’ll be set up in the future as Kanye’s other ex-wife? Or is she truly his ride-or-die? Whatever it is, it’s gross.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.