It’s amazing to see, in retrospect, how much of Byline Times’ reporting was completely accurate. In October, Byline dropped their exclusive cover story on exactly what was going on behind-the-scenes in the first half of 2020, when Prince Harry and Meghan were exiting the UK and the monarchy. Byline reported that then-Prince Charles withdrew £700K in funding at some point, and it was all because Harry would not drop his pursuit against the Sun and against Christian Jones, who was Prince William’s press secretary at the time. Omid Scobie’s Endgame and Byline Times’s October story both laid out Jones’s relationship with Dan Wootton, and Jones was the one who leaked the entire Sussexit story to Wootton. Byline reported that, as Harry pursued legal action against the Sun in early 2020, the palace ordered him to stop because they didn’t want to see the entire rotten clownshow between the Windsors and the media exposed.

Byline gave another motive for the royals: they believed that by cutting the Sussexes loose financially, they would bring Harry and Meghan “to heel,” broke and humbled back in the UK. Byline spelled it out: the monarchy chose Christian Jones over Prince Harry. Omid Scobie spelled it out the same way, and he had even more details on how it went down, including an interesting timeline.

Harry was ready to pursue action against the Sun in early 2020:The Duke of Sussex wasn’t relying on his brother’s cooperation anymore because, by this point, he had all the evidence he needed: relevant documents, intel from Scotland Yard, and information from other journalists (including sources at the paper itself) who had passed details along to his team. Armed with a dossier, Harry went to the very top of the institution with a formal complaint and a suggestion that they take appropriate action against The Sun. The response Harry received, however, was far from what he expected.

The Lord Chamberlain overstepped: There, on Buckingham Palace–headed paper, was a reply from the Lord Chamberlain at the time, Earl William Peel, who had a particularly close relationship with Charles. The letter, a source said, included “some of the most strong” language seen on official household stationery, aimed at Harry, not Jones. “It was a threat,” said a source close to the situation, who added that the Queen wasn’t consulted before the Palace issued it. “[The Lord Chamberlain] said either drop the charges or face severe consequences in twenty-four hours.” A message from a lawyer for Jones, arranged by the Palace, soon followed. The decree: stand down from legal action against Prince William’s aide.

The palace in ass-covering mode: An exasperated Harry pointed out to Palace aides that he was not suing the aide or anyone on this matter—he simply had a desire for the situation, a public official with deep connections to private information about a senior royal being shared with a national newspaper, to be properly dealt with. For the duke, enough was enough. The Sun had a long and controversial history of inappopriate relationships with public officials, and the Palace, at one point, was also keen to put an end to these practices. “The Palace basically accused Harry of wanting to sue his brother’s [private secretary] and causing great distress to Christian,” the source continued. When they asked him to provide more evidence, Harry refused. “At this point he already had plenty and, given how defensive they were being of Christian, it was clearly going to be used to help him and not Harry.”

When the Sussexes were cut off: Within weeks, it was clear to all involved that the Lord Chamberlain’s threat of “severe consequences” was no bluff. Harry received two further letters in July 2020, one from Charles’s private secretary Clive Alderton and the other from the Queen’s, Edward Young, both stating the same thing: he was to be officially and immediately cut off from all financial support, including official security, which Charles had been privately covering with his Duchy of Cornwall income.

The palace sanctioned everything Christian Jones did: “I have never seen the Palace circle the wagons like they did with Christian,” a source later reflected. “In my experience, anyone who puts a risk to the survival of the monarchy is out.” It seems, however, that the actions of Christian Jones, who continued to work for Prince William until April 2021, were seen as a help, not a hindrance. As it turns out, William knew about Jones’s friendship with Dan Wootton since day one. Multiple sources confirm that during an early 2018 interview with Simon Case for his job at the Kensington Palace press office, Jones, in the interest of transparency, shared that he has a “working relationship” with Wootton.

[From Omid Scobie’s Endgame]

While I’ll never wrap my head around how the British media operates and how the British legal system is built to protect the media, it’s just sort of mind-blowing to think about how Harry really tried to operate in good faith throughout this entire ordeal. Even as late as January 2020, he still seemingly believed in William and believed that William could be reasoned with, or that William would take his side once he saw all of the evidence. Harry also seemingly believed that the institution would share his outrage that William and Christian Jones were both so compromised by Wootton, to the point where the Kensington Palace clownshow bungled every part of a sensitive royal story. Instead, the institution went into ass-covering mode and Charles withdrew funding and security, all because Harry could have exposed the whole rotten system.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

As we covered previously, Omid Scobie’s Endgame had a pretty good rundown of how the Prince William-Rose Hanbury story played out from a media perspective. As in, Dan Wootton (then the Sun’s entertainment editor) broke the “rural rival” story, then Wootton also broke the story about William and Rose’s “private dinners,” a story which was quickly edited and eventually erased completely. Throughout the months the Sun was hotly pursuing the story, William’s press secretary Christian Jones was freaking out about Wootton’s exclusives… until Jones suddenly wasn’t freaked out at all. The spring/summer of 2019, the Sun suddenly buried the Rose story and had a rash of negative Sussex stories. A deal had been made, and Christian Jones threw the Sussexes to the wolves, all to protect William. William knew exactly what was being done too. Thus began the blatant transactional deal between Kensington Palace and Dan Wootton, which led to Wootton breaking the “Sussexit” story in January 2020.

Christian Jones was desperate to stop the Rose rumors: When rumors about Prince William and gossip about Kate’s “fallout” with Rose Hanbury flooded social media feeds and American tabloid magazines in 2019, Kensington Palace press secretary Christian Jones…pulled out all the stops to get The Sun—the first outlet to allude to the gossip—to stop poking around in the detritus of the rumor and back off. Crises such as these require more than just strategic briefing, which drops us right into the third media relationship: tactics that teeter on the edge of ethical boundaries, and in some cases run right past them.

Jones tried to rope Omid Scobie into the dealmaking: “Christian was desperate to stop [the rumor] and made it his mission to do so,” a former courtier told me. Jones even tried to include me in his attempts. While the tabloid continued to dig around on the story, even sending a reporter to canvass Hanbury’s home in Norfolk, Jones—who had already admitted to me that the paper’s persistence was stressing him out—suggested that I connect with the journalist behind the initial reports—The Sun’s “showbiz” editor Dan Wootton. Christian clearly wanted to give Wootton something in exchange for standing down on the rumors. If he promised Wootton scoops from elsewhere, maybe The Sun would do him a solid. As for my supposed gain from this, Jones claimed, it would be a “great move” to help promote Finding Freedom before it was launched in August. “He would be helpful,” Jones wrote in a late-night text. “I reckon a story [from your book] to Dan that goes in The Sun, and then he goes on [morning TV show] Lorraine [to talk about it].”

Scobie was already aware of Jones’s relationship with Wootton: At this point I was already aware and dubious of the triad relationship between Jones, Callum Stephens (his partner and PR executive), and Wootton. I had zero interest in collaborating with the tabloid and Wootton, let alone with a notorious hack best known for bullying and hounding celebrities, including the late Love Island UK host Caroline Flack (who Prince Harry was romantically linked to in 2009), as well as a long list of worrying allegations, including blackmail, coercion and other repulsive acts…

The shift in coverage at The Sun: It was soon clear my book was not the only carrot Jones would dangle in front of his pal at The Sun. In late June the paper suddenly pulled reporters off the hunt and then dropped digs into the story entirely. “Christian helped make it end,” one high-level courtier told me. Curiously, Wootton and the paper—which does not have a reputation for giving up on potential scoops—shifted their focus to a series of revealing stories about the Sussexes. For Prince Harry and some other Palace staff, including one who was confiding in me at the time, the timing of this shift was dubious.

Jones blatantly leaked the Sussexit story to Wootton: For this book, several separate sources—including two Sun staffers—confirmed that Jones helped provide details to The Sun about the Sussexes’ move to Canada and their decision to step back from royal life. “Leaks got really obvious toward the end,” a senior ranking courtier confided to me. When Harry and Meghan’s head of communications Sara Latham sat down with Jones and Prince Charles’s press secretary Julian Payne in January 2020 to prepare a joint statement from Buckingham Palace confirming the couple’s official departure, details about it leaked to the newspaper while they were still working on the draft. “They hadn’t even spoken to anyone at that point and Dan [Wootton] was already calling her to ask for comment about details in the statement . . . It felt like Christian had literally been texting him under the table.”

[From Omid Scobie’s Endgame]

That last quote made me shudder – “It felt like Christian had literally been texting him under the table.” The way Charles and William have always operated, it’s like Harry never had anywhere safe. This was arguably one of the most tense, heated and delicate situations the Windsors had faced in several decades, and instead of doing a close-hold lockdown on information, the then-second in line to the throne had surrounded himself with the sleaziest opportunists out there and everything turned into a clownshow. Jones utterly f–ked it up, and even worse, Jones never really had to face any accountability for it.

Scobie also pieces together this Christian Jones information with Prince Harry’s story in Spare, where he and William went off and had a big talk after the Sandringham Summit, and Harry told William about his concerns about a member of William’s staff selling information about the Sussexes to the tabloids. Harry claimed that William was receptive to what Harry said and William said “Yeah, we’ve also got our suspicions.” Three months after that conversation, William promoted Christian Jones from press secretary to personal private secretary.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.

From Rosie: CB mentioned the Black Friday sale on Neutrogena hydroboost hydrating serum, which is still on sale now. I’ve always preferred creams and wanted to recommend their under-eye moisturizer with hyaluronic acid. It’s also fragrance free. Right now, it’s on sale for $10 off. People love how it feels around their eyes and affirm that it’s great for sensitive skin, too. “It feels so silky & makes the skin around my eyes hydrated & super soft all day long!” “I really like how this feels around my eyes. No breakouts with it. Nice fragrance. Good product for the money. It lasts a long time.” “I love using it morning and night to give my under eyes some extra moisture. I have sensitive skin but never had issues with this.”

50% off Amazon’s 5th Generation Echo Dot

From Rosie: A few years ago, I worked for a company that was run by a board of directors. One year, our outgoing president gave each staff member an Echo Dot that she’d bought from a Black Friday sale. I loved that gift and still use it. It’s handy to ask the day’s weather, set timers, and to shut off devices with smart plugs. Right now, Amazon is still running sales on their Alexa products, including this 5th generation Echo Dot. This model comes in three different colors. There’s also a version with a clock and two different kids’ versions. It has a 4.7 star rating and more than 37,000 reviews on ReviewMeta. Users love how convenient and versatile their Echo is. “The sound quality is so much better than the third-generation Dot. Now, I don’t find myself connecting via Bluetooth to my sound bar nearly as much because the speaker quality is just that good.” “[My parents] have a blast asking Alexa about the weather, and my mom has discovered a new partner in crime for her crossword puzzles. Alexa always comes through with those tricky words!” “One of the things I love most about the Echo Dot is how versatile it is. I use it for everything from playing music to controlling my smart home to setting alarms. It’s also great for answering my questions and providing me with information.”

A temperature-controlled Keurig on sale for $70 off (and reusable K-cups)

From Rosie: This Keurig is small but mighty. It brews in five different sizes and has settings to make both hot and iced coffee. There’s also an option for just hot water. Right now, it’s $70 off as a part of Amazon’s holiday sales. There are three different colors, too: slate, gold, and silver. I stopped buying the actual K cups several years ago and now use these reusable cups instead. I’ve had no issues with them! This coffee maker has a 4.7 star rating, more than 54,000 reviews, and a B on Fakespot. Users love the quality of coffee it makes. “My favorite feature is the ‘strong’ button! It brews a nice strong cup that tastes delicious. Another great feature is the temperature control.” “I chose this one for the large water tank. I can make several cups without adding more water. Makes a terrific tumbler of ice coffee.”

An affordable 3-in-1 vacuum that’s good on carpet and hard floors

From Rosie: This lightweight, corded vacuum can be used as a standing vacuum or as a handheld one with two different nozzles. The product description says that it’s great for hard floors, carpet, ceramic tile, laminate, and hardwoods. It comes in blue or black and is an affordable $34. It has a 4.2 star rating, almost 99,000 reviews, and a B on Fakespot. In reviews, people say it’s great for easy cleanups. “Small, lightweight, very easy to maneuver. Has strong suction ability, working great on both rugs and hardwood floors. It would be perfect as a second machine for quick cleanups, for furniture, or under items.” “I just got this little guy delivered today, very lightweight. Used on Hardwood laminate flooring, flat mat, and thin carpet. I would say this is great for light vacuuming, better than sweeping.”

A cozy Hanes sweatshirt under $8 you’ll want in several colors

From CB: This Hanes women’s long sleeve crewneck is currently on sale for 58% off making it under $8! You can also get the men’s version for a little more. At that price you’ll want it in several colors. It comes in 8 different colors and in sizes small to xx-large. This listing has over 60,700 ratings, 4.3 stars and the same score on ReviewMeta. People say it’s comfortable, long lasting and true to size. “This is a great, everyday, warm, comfortable, well-made sweatshirt. The turquoise color is pretty. I purposely got a size bigger than what I normally wear so it would be extra baggy and it’s perfectly oversized so I’d say the sizes are true to size. “ “I have bought four of these sweatshirts. They fit me perfectly. They hit a tad below hip level, are soft and comfortable, wash well, and I like the variety of colors available. Also, these are not tight but not baggy either…just right!”

40% off hyaluronic acid serum from Burt’s Bees

From CB: This hyaluronic acid serum from trusted brand Burt’s Bees is on sale for just over $13. It’s formulated with clean ingredients and naturally derived hyaluronic acid and algae for clearer, softer skin. This listing has 530 ratings and 4.3 stars on ReviewMeta. Reviewers say it brightens and moisturizes without bothering sensitive skin. “Love this serum! Have used it a little over a month and see my skin tone becoming more even.” “I have used this twice a day and it is literally getting rid of my eyebags! I’ve had so many people tell me that i look good and well rested lately. The dark circles under my eyes have almost vanished.”

A $150 dupe for the Dyson AirWrap

From CB: I have a Dyson AirWrap and if that’s not a painful splurge for you at a whopping $500 I highly recommend it. I got one in 2019 and it’s still going strong. I love it, it’s so quick and easy and I look like I just stepped out of the salon. (I had to look up tutorials on YouTube to get the hang of it.) This AirWrap dupe by webeauty is under $150 after you click the box to apply the $30 coupon. It has 203 ratings, 4.2 stars and the same score on ReviewMeta. People say it’s quiet, easy to use and makes their hair look great. “This combo set works great. It heated up quickly and dried my hair in no time. I LOVE all the attachments that came with it. I used the blow dryer and then before it was fully dry, used the big round brush. This device gave my hair so much volume. It is lightweight and heats quickly!” “It’s amazing!!! I’ve never personally used a Dyson (my stylist has one so I know how it’s supposed to work) but I can’t imagine that it’s several hundred dollars better. I’ve tried all the attachments and feel they are as described. Power is great and my hair (chin length blunt bob with longer curtain bangs) dried more quickly than with my normal dryer + round brush or my hairbrush dryer.”

A vegan lip butter with just the right amount of tint

We’ve featured these awesome lip balms by Melixir before. I have the Dewy Rose color and I love how hydrating it is and how it adds just enough color to look polished. These would make great gifts and stocking stuffers. This listing has 4.4 stars, over 8,700 ratings and a B on Fakespot. People say it leaves their lips feeling soft and that they’ve bought it in several colors. “I’ve bought this lip butter in almost all the colors, and each one was very beautiful and natural looking! I didn’t expect it to be super moisturizing thinking it was just a lip tint but the moment I used it my lips were very moisturized and I could see the difference basically overnight or even in a few hours.” “I like the shade, the texture, and the lack of fragrance.”

This week, the British media has been obsessed with the Dutch edition of Omid Scobie’s Endgame. Dutch journalists pointed out, on the very day Endgame was published, that their copies seemed to “name” one of the “royal racists.” In the English-language edition, Scobie wrote that in King Charles and the Duchess of Sussex’s letters to one another in 2021, they had openly discussed the identities of two royals who had said racist sh-t and/or voiced “concerns” about a Sussex baby’s skin color. The Dutch edition, seemingly out of nowhere, claimed that Charles was one of the racists named by Meghan. Scobie blamed the whole mess on a mistranslation issue, and he told the Dutch TV show RTL Boulevard: “There’s never been a version that I’ve produced that has names in it. Unfortunately I can’t speak Dutch so I haven’t seen the copy for myself, so if there have been any translation errors I’m sure the publisher’s got it under control.”

That should have been the end of it, surely. A janky translation, Scobie doesn’t even speak Dutch, and it’s absurd to think that Scobie or the publisher would want Dutch speakers to have this mega-exclusive information. Well, the British media has used the entire drama to show their hand and tell on themselves. As I’ve said many times before, everyone in the royalist media knows exactly who said what. They’ve been sitting on all of that information, hoping that Omid, Meghan or Harry would reveal it so they could all openly report what they’ve known for years. Piers Morgan was apparently tired of waiting. On his Piers Morgan Uncensored show on Wednesday, he decided to name the “two royals” he claims are named in the Dutch edition of Endgame. He named King Charles and Kate, the Princess of Wales.

Piers Morgan just named the Royals who had concerns. pic.twitter.com/k0oc4f2x2v

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) November 29, 2023

Did we even get confirmation that the Dutch mistranslation even named Kate? I saw the stuff about Charles (which honestly seemed like it was just a poorly constructed sentence more than a big reveal) but I’ve yet to see a translation which suddenly outed Kate. Anyway, the royalist media is panicked and so is the palace. It’s quite audacious for Morgan to just come out and say Kate’s name. It makes me wonder if his bestie, the queen consort, gave him a nudge. But of course, the palace’s stance is that they’re utterly dismayed by Piers’ words!

The monarchy is understood to be ‘utterly dismayed’ after Piers Morgan named the two senior royals who Omid Scobie claimed had ‘concerns’ over Prince Archie’s skin colour on UK television last night.

Meghan Markle first made the claim in the Sussexes’ infamous 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview when she revealed there were ‘several conversations’ between herself, Harry and Royal Family members about ‘how dark’ Archie’s skin would be. While the Duchess of Sussex chose not to name them amid fears it would ‘damage’ their reputation, Morgan last night identified the royals accused on his Talk TV show – and he followed the claim up by posting it to his 8.7million social media followers.

On Tuesday it emerged that a Dutch translation of Scobie’s book containing the names had gone on sale in the Netherlands. Its publisher was forced to withdraw and pulp copies amid much-mocked claims that it was an error in translation. The two senior royals accused had not been publicly named here until Morgan’s move last night.

The Royal Family is understood to be ‘considering all options’, including legal action – as royal sources told The Mirror there was ‘utter dismay’ at Buckingham Palace after the names quickly went viral on social media.

[From The Daily Mail]

Watching this performative ass-covering and pearl-clutching from afar is fascinating, especially because I’m absolutely sure that Camilla and William are the ones being protected here. But let’s just stand back and watch it all play out. Good times.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Piers’ social media, Cover Images.

Queen Maxima really is the Queen of More Is More. Maxima was in Paris this week for the opening of the “Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses” exhibit at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Iris van Herpen is a Dutch designer, Maxima is the queen consort of the Netherlands, so she was happy to travel to Paris to see a Dutch designer get honored with this kind of exhibition of her work. The exhibition will stay in Paris through April 2024, then it will move to Brisbane, Singapore, LA and Rotterdam.

For the opening, Maxima wore one of Iris van Herpen’s recent designs. I have no idea if this was already in Maxima’s closet, but I would think not – she hasn’t been seen in it before, I don’t believe. It has the look of something customized for Maxima too, especially since Beyonce got a different version (a cocktail-dress version) of this dress for her Renaissance tour. Maxima was hella overdressed, but she looks amazing. Brigitte Macron also came to the opening and she did not wear Iris van Herpen. Madame Macron kind of looked like “WTF” with Queen Maxima’s over-the-top entrance. It was cool though, Maxima was supporting a Dutch designer.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

The average lifespan of a dog is 10-13 years, but that number can go up or down depending on the breed and size of the dog. The average lifespan of a human is about 7-8 times that of a dog’s. A biotech firm has taken up the cause to close the lifespan gap between our species. A company called Loyal is developing a drug aimed at prolonging the life of dogs, and the FDA has just approved the drug for clinical trials:

A melodramatic opener: “When you adopt a dog, you’re adopting future heartbreak,” Emilie Adams, a New York resident who owns three Rhodesian Ridgebacks, tells Emily Anthes of the New York Times. “It’s worth it over time, because you just have so much love between now and when they go. But their life spans are shorter than ours.” Now, the San Francisco-based biotech company Loyal has announced its anti-aging drug for canines cleared the first of several hurdles needed for approval by the Food and Drug Administration. While the drug still must undergo clinical trials, this marks the first time the FDA has indicated a willingness to endorse longevity drugs, writes Hilary Brueck for Business Insider.

Dogs—the data bridge between humans and roundworms: Scientists have long been interested in ways to slow the aging process and extend life. Previous research on roundworms edited two cell pathways to extend their lifespans by 500 percent… But aging in more complex and longer-lived organisms such as humans has proved more difficult to hack. For one, clinical trials would need to span decades before researchers could collect any data, which would get very pricey. However, Loyal CEO Celine Halioua thinks dogs, which face similar age-related ailments at roughly the same time in their life as humans do, might be a good model for our own longevity. “If a big dog is, you know, getting sick and dying from age-related diseases at age seven, eight, nine, he’s going gray at age four. He’s getting a limp at age five… The rate of aging is so high that you can tell if a drug is impacting that in about 6 to 12 months. In 6 to 12 months, you’re not going to see anything in a person.”

Size matters: Loyal’s drug, called LOY-001, is an injection-based treatment that targets a growth and metabolism hormone called IGF-1. This hormone seems to be size-related — it appears in higher levels in larger dogs and in lower levels in smaller dogs. Research has shown that inhibiting IGF-1 in flies, worms and rodents can increase their lifespans, per Wired’s Emily Mullin… LOY-001 is designed for healthy dogs over the age of seven and above 40 pounds, and it would be administered every three to six months by a veterinarian. The company is also simultaneously working to develop a daily pill called LOY-003.

Warning! The drug does not offer immortality: “We’re not making immortal dogs, to be clear, but that rate of aging will be slower, hopefully, which means the pet will be in a healthier state for longer,” Halioua tells Megan Rose Dickey of Axios. “And that’s fundamental to all of the biology of what we’re doing.”

Loyal’s next steps: The company plans to begin a large clinical trial for LOY-001 with about 1,000 large and giant dogs in either 2024 or 2025, with the goal of having a product on the market by 2026, reports Wired.

[From Smithsonian Magazine]

Was anyone else giggling each time they used the term “anti-aging,” imagining a body lotion to give your pup a youthful glow? Olay regenerist, for your retriever. I’m of two minds on this one. On the one hand, I’m in favor of scientific research and investigating how the world works (you know, before we finish destroying it). But really, how much money is being raised and spent on this endeavor, that ultimately sounds like a reluctance to deal with reality — the fact that our beloved dogs will die before us. Curiously absent from this reporting is any indication of how much time this drug may add to Fido’s life.

So in an effort to relay some currently vital canine news, an update on our PSA from before Thanksgiving: the mysterious respiratory illness has now spread to 14 states. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, rapid breathing, wheezing, fever, nasal or eye discharge, weight loss, loss of appetite, lethargy. Veterinarians are still trying to identify the cause. It’s recommended to keep your pup up-to-date on all vaccinations, and to keep them away from other dogs. ‘Twill be the season of doggie social isolation.

Note by Celebitchy: There are anecdotal stories about dogs with the mystery illness being successfully treated with human inhalers.

Photos credit: Pawtography Perth, Nathan Mullet, Kanashi, Katja Rooke, Berkay Gumustekin and Rebecca Chandler on Unsplash

Remember that time when Brooke Shields had a tonic-clonic seizure from drinking too much water, Bradley Cooper materialized and rode in the ambulance with her, and the doctor prescribed her potato chips? Since then I myself have gone to see the doctor. Sadly, she did not prescribe me potato chips. But I’ve been eating plenty anyway for my own seizure-prevention health measures.

Back when Brooke shared her saga, I commented that Bradley Cooper must love the good press being out there while the SAG-AFTRA strike barred him from promoting Maestro. Now that the strike is over, Bradley has kicked it into high gear promoting his passion project. The first major awards show of the season, the Gotham Awards, were held on Monday in NYC and Bradley showed up to accept the inaugural Cultural Icon & Creator Tribute award. What I get from Gotham’s description of the honor is that it’s not so much about Bradley’s filmmaking, but rather his having made a film about an icon. Bradley and costar Carey Mulligan walked the red carpet together, and Extra asked him about Brooke Shields calling him a guardian angel:

“I was happy to be in the right place at the right time,” Cooper told Extra at the event.

Earlier this month, Shields revealed in a Glamour interview that Cooper sat with her in the ambulance after she suffered a generalized seizure before performing her one-woman show, Previously Owned by Brooke Shields in N.Y.C. at the famous Cafe Carlyle restaurant.

The actress said of the incident that she went “headfirst into the wall” and started “frothing at the mouth, totally blue, trying to swallow my tongue.”

“The next thing I remember, I’m being loaded into an ambulance. I have oxygen on. And Bradley f—ing Cooper is sitting next to me holding my hand,” Shields told the publication.

“I couldn’t really get any words out,” the actress continued. “But I thought to myself, ‘This is what death must be like.’ You wake up and Bradley Cooper’s going, ‘I’m going to go to the hospital with you, Brooke,’ and he’s holding my hand…and I’m like, ‘This is odd and surreal.’”

Cooper and Shields previously starred in the 2008 horror film The Midnight Meat Train together and have remained friends ever since.

Cooper was joined on the carpet at the Gotham Awards by his Maestro costar Carey Mulligan. The actor, who also co-wrote and directed the film, was honored at the event with the Gotham Cultural Icon & Creator Tribute.

[From People]

Watch the video below, I implore you! Bradley is doing that dance of campaigning: acting all humbled and saying what an honor it was to work on Maestro. He doesn’t want to seem too eager or desperate, but he also drives home how Bernstein’s kids were “a massive part” of the whole project — for the ultimate seal of approval. And then in the last few seconds the interviewer asks about Brooke and it’s like he deflates! There was a flash of a moment where I actually thought he might get angry. “I just bared my soul about my film-baby and you’re asking me about something else?!” Meanwhile, all Carey says during the whole interview is, “I’m wearing earrings.” I tell you, the only thing that would make this story better is if when Brooke was coming to in the ambulance, she looked at Bradley and said, “why the prosthetic nose?”

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos credit: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages, Diamond/Backgrid and Getty

Natalie Portman wore a sweet Dior at the Gotham Awards. Man, the gossip about her marriage sure quieted down, huh? She’s not wearing her wedding ring. [RCFA]
My nemesis Laura Dern showed up at the Gotham Awards wearing a Barbie shirt. Meanwhile, Margot Robbie wore another Barbie-doll look. [LaineyGossip]
Why is Hollywood so veneer-happy these days? [Pajiba]
What is your holy grail hand cream? I use the Vaseline Intensive stuff. [Go Fug Yourself]
Andrew Scott is giving “serial killer” in these photos!! [Just Jared]
Tina Lawson claps back at Beyonce’s haters. [The Root]
I’m sorry, this is supposed to be Sharon Stone?!? [OMG Blog]
I’m sorry, this is supposed to be Zac Efron?!? [Seriously OMG]
Congrats to Charlie XCX, she just got engaged. [Hollywood Life]
Comparing Dr. Biden & Melania Trump’s Christmas decorations. [Buzzfeed]

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Earlier this week, we talked about the part in Endgame where Omid Scobie carefully discusses King Charles’s ineptitude at managing any crisis, especially a family crisis. The Windsors are “increasingly frustrated” that their king and family patriarch has bungled this Sussex drama so badly. Throughout Endgame, there are details sprinkled around, like even Prince Edward suggested to Charles that he actually sit down and speak to Harry and try to make peace. This is something I’ve been saying for years now – Charles should have positioned himself as the father who extended an open invitation to his “wayward son” to hash out their joint grievances. That positioning would have put the onus on Harry. Instead, Charles has publicly shown himself to be a dogsh-t father, a terrible manager and a sadist who would rather “punish” his son than speak to him. Well, here’s an interesting piece of info: even QEII told Charles to make peace with Harry.

Charles has failed to manage the Sussex crisis for years: The new king is still dealing with the fallout from his inability to convene and command his own family. His ineptitude surrounding the Harry and Meghan saga has effectively turned the couple into the disruptors they were feared to become in the first place. “And so much of it could have been prevented,” said a mutual family friend. “For so long Harry had made it clear that he and Meghan simply wanted to be heard. That they wanted the opportunity to sit down and talk through the past, from both perspectives, and find a way to move forward. For Harry, it was about seeking accountability and, where appropriate, apologies.”

QEII told Charles to tell Harry what he needs to hear: A former Clarence House staff member said Charles was encouraged by senior aides and, on at least one occasion, the Queen herself to swallow his pride. “Just tell him what he needs to hear . . . That’s what was said,” admitted the former employee. Instead, Charles chose to say nothing and turn the other way as the Sussexes shared their story via Netflix in December 2022 and Harry’s memoir a month later.

Harry has tried to speak to Charles several times in the past year, only for Charles to ignore him or be icy towards him: “It’s complex, but there’s increasing frustration from some of the wider circle of family members that Charles won’t just fix things for the sake of everyone,” said a royal source.

The Sussexes are still the story in the British media: I’ve repeatedly witnessed up close how Palace aides do their best to muddy the truths the couple shared with the world (be it with misleading briefings to newspapers or, in some cases, lies to inquiring journalists), but the issues they raised—from institutional cruelty to unconscious racial bias—still loom large over the monarchy. None of this was helped by the fact that the Sussexes remain as much of the royal story today as the day they stepped back from their roles. For most royal correspondents, the couple are still the only surefire way to get prominent headlines and online traffic, whether it was the months of “will they, won’t they” stories about the couple attending the coronation or the breathless running commentary about the state of their various business deals in the United States. Instead of completely walking away from the Firm, they’ve unintentionally taken much of the royal spotlight with them to America.

[From Omid Scobie’s Endgame]

“Just tell him what he needs to hear.” Seriously. And I can imagine there are other family members saying similar things as well – as I said, Scobie claims Edward said the same thing to Charles and I would imagine Anne would also feel the same way as her mother. Which leaves the question – is this simply Charles being a terrible chief executive, too stupid to cauterize this years-long bleed? Or is it something else? Is it Charles not knowing how to parent, to be a father? Or is it truly all about what Camilla wants? Camilla played her cards well – she destroyed Diana, she exiled one of Diana’s sons and destroyed Charles’s relationship with his sons. Plus, she got the two brothers to go to war with each other.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.

Omid Scobie discusses the “royal racist” controversy in Endgame, and he does so through a conversation about the letters then-Prince Charles exchanged with the Duchess of Sussex. During the 2021 Oprah interview, Meghan spoke about conversations, while she was pregnant, about what Archie would look like, and what color skin their baby would have. Charles wrote a letter to Meghan following the interview and within the letters they exchanged, at least two “royal racists” were named. Scobie did not name them, although Scobie does note that both Prince William and Kate were “well aware” of the accusations before Meghan’s interview. Scobie also wrote that Charles “felt the Duchess of Sussex should discuss her feelings with the Waleses, too. Two years on, and neither Harry nor Meghan has received any word on the matter from William or Kate.” One former staff member told Scobie: “The last thing they wanted was for people to start pointing fingers at the bosses [William and Kate].”

In interviews to promote the book, Scobie has said that he knows the identities of the racists but for legal reasons, he won’t be the one to name them. My sense was that Scobie was very careful about how he wrote about all of this, but he also left some breadcrumbs. Of course, I’ve believed it was William for a while now and I’m sticking with that theory. Well, according to the Dutch translation of Endgame, Scobie suddenly declared that the royal racist was Charles all along! This is obviously a translation screw-up and the Dutch edition will be temporary pulled.

Omid Scobie’s controversial new book has been pulled in Holland after its Dutch translation appeared to name the ‘royal racist’. Publishers Xander have confirmed to the Daily Mail that it had received a last-minute request from the US to put sales of Endgame on hold and were ‘awaiting further instructions’.

Scobie does not name the member of the royal family said to have expressed ‘concern’ about the skin colour of Harry and Meghan’s future son, Archie, in his original edition of the book. He says libel laws prevented him naming them – although he has gone on to claim that a second person within the royal household also echoed the remarks.

But a page taken from a review copy of the book sent to Dutch journalists does seem to contain the person’s identity.

Referring to letters written between Meghan and the King discussing the issue, it reads: ‘But in those private letters [the identity] was confirmed: ….’ [the Mail has redacted the name concerned]

It is not clear why a foreign language version of the book would name an individual when other editions did not, or whether it was intentionally included or is a major publishing error. A spokesman for the Dutch publisher said: ‘You are right but I can’t talk about the details. We have, however, received a request to put the title on hold and that is what we have done.’

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s really funny to me that the Mail redacted the name, especially since they’ve been frothing at the mouth for YEARS trying to “unmask” the racist. It was always a feint though – all of the royal journalists know exactly who said what. You think all of these people leak like sieves about everything except racism? Of course not – they’re just waiting for Harry, Meghan or Omid to do their dirty work for them. Anyway, I’m pretty confident that this is just a weird translation issue, but what do I know? It would be absolutely bizarre for Scobie to be like “no, Dutch speakers will get this information exclusively, you guys.” Scobie dismissed all of this too, saying he didn’t have anything to do with this translation drama.

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This is – as far as I know – only regarding the Dutch version, not the English one. It seems as if only the Dutch version has published the person’s name who spoke about the skin color of the unborn child. Charles.

Translation attached. pic.twitter.com/lXMJJVjlO3

— Rick Evers (@RickEversRoyal) November 28, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.