Here are more photos of the Princess of Wales on Tuesday, for the official welcome ceremonies for South Korea’s president and first lady. Predictably, Kate made sure to exit the car with her skirt up around her thighs. It’s actually been a while since Kate had a major flashing episode, but her exhibitionist streak always comes out when she’s feeling ignored or she wants William’s attention. It might have worked – inside the palace, William and Kate joined King Charles and Camilla for a viewing of Korean art or Korean-inspired art in the Royal Collection. We’re never supposed to ask how the Royal Collection has so many African and Asian paintings, jewels, drawings, sculptures and objets d’art. Anyway, at the viewing, William put his hand on Kate’s back and she returned the gesture.

A very sweet moment between the Prince and Princess of Wales as they depart the Buckingham Palace Picture Gallery #statevisit pic.twitter.com/7xtKYvxtaR

— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) November 21, 2023

It’s fine. I’m actually surprised that she didn’t grope his ass in the middle of the diplomatic engagement. She did “joke” about wanting to do karaoke in South Korea though:

Kate Middleton has joked with South Korea’s foreign minister that she wants to set up a karaoke date should she and Prince William visit the country on a state visit in the future. The Prince and Princess of Wales were heard speaking with Park Jin about a possible visit to the country as dignitaries from the east Asian nation made the first incoming state visit to the UK since the King’s coronation.

While looking at pictures and gifts from Queen Elizabeth’s first visit to South Korea in 1999, the prince said: ‘I’ll put it in the diary’. Kate chipped in: ‘And karaoke!’

[From The Daily Mail]

What’s actually funny about this is that Kate probably won’t travel anymore. Her husband does not want her around, especially on foreign tours. If a South Korean trip ever gets booked, five years from now, I guarantee that Louis or Charlotte will have an important test to take and they’ll need their mother around.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Ridley Scott is 85 years old and still working at a frenetic pace. Martin Scorsese has talked about this too – when you’re one of the greatest directors of all time and you get to a certain age, all you can think about is how many projects you won’t ever get to. In Ridley’s case, he might get to them, considering how quickly he works. Ridley is currently promoting Napoleon, where he cast Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. It’s a reunion for the two men – Ridley fought the studio to cast Joaquin in Gladiator, which is still a brilliant piece of casting (and Joaquin was Oscar-nominated too). Joaquin and Ridley adore each other, and I think most actors enjoy Ridley’s whole vibe of “get the shot, get one good take and move on.” Well, Ridley recently chatted with the BBC and some of his IDGAF quotes had me chuckling to myself.

Does he seek out advice? Asking someone what they think is a “disaster.”

His lack of a best director Oscar: “I don’t really care.”

On critics who say Napoleon is historically inaccurate: “You really want me to answer that?… it will have a bleep in it.”

The length of the movie: The film is two hours and 38 minutes long. Scott says if a movie is longer than three hours, you get the “bum ache factor” around two hours in, which is something he constantly watches for when he’s editing. “When you start to go ‘oh my God’ and then you say ‘Christ, we can’t eat for another hour’, it’s too long.” In spite of the “bum ache” issue, it’s been reported that he plans a longer, final director’s cut for Apple TV+ when the movie hits the streamer, but “we’re not allowed to talk about that”.

On the French critics savaging the movie: Le Figaro said the film could be renamed “Barbie and Ken under the Empire”. French GQ said there was something “deeply clumsy, unnatural and unintentionally funny” in seeing French soldiers in 1793 shouting “Vive La France” with American accents. And a biographer of Napoleon, Patrice Gueniffey in Le Point magazine, attacked the film as a “very anti-French and very pro-British” rewrite of history. “The French don’t even like themselves” Scott retorts. “The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it.”

More on the historical inaccuracies: Scott says 10,400 books have been written about Napoleon, “that’s one every week since he died”. His question, he tells me, to the critics who say the film isn’t historically accurate is: “Were you there? Oh you weren’t there. Then how do you know?”

[From BBC]

Please, Ridley does not give a f–k. He never said he was making the most historically accurate Napoleon movie but this one will probably be the prettiest or the most cinematic. He wanted to do the (historically inaccurate) battle scenes more than anything else, at least that’s what I believe. As for the French critics… “The French don’t even like themselves” LMAO.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Vancouver this week. They went to a Canucks hockey game, Harry checked in on the preparations for the Vancouver/Whistler Invictus Games, and Meghan made a special visit to Justice for Girls. Back in January 2020, Meghan visited Justice for Girls and highlighted their excellent work, so this was Meghan’s second visit as a duchess.

Justice for Girls was delighted to have a return visit from Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.

Joined by Jessica Lake and Lauri Thompson from the Lake family’s All One Fund, we had an engaging and heartfelt conversation about justice and equality for teen girls living in poverty in Canada and around the world.

Together with our teen interns, staff, directors, and board members, we talked about Justice for Girls’ decades of work advocating for girls’ access to education, freedom from violence, Indigenous rights, and environmental justice.

A highlight of our conversation was the focus on girls’ and young women’s leadership. A feminist advocate from a young age herself, The Duchess was keen to chat with two of our teen interns to discuss their personal struggles for justice. Her genuine and understanding approach left the girls feeling heard, supported, and inspired.

[From Justice for Girls’ IG]

Once again, making a quiet visit and allowing the charity/NGO to release the information and photos. Once again, Meghan prioritizes the empowerment of girls and women. So, obviously, all the Mail can talk about is Meghan’s jewelry! I get it, I love the way Meghan wears jewelry too. She wore her Edge of Ember “wave” earrings, her Cartier bracelet, “Diana’s Gold Tank Française Watch, and her £15,000 Lorraine Schwartz ‘Against Evil Eye’ bracelet.” Meghan also wore her Ralph Lauren silk trousers, which she previously wore to Wimbledon one year. I love her whole outfit – white wide-leg trousers, a simple white top with all of that gold jewelry. She looks rich and beautiful.

Justice for Girls was delighted to have a return visit from Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.

Joined by Jessica Lake & Lauri Thompson from the Lake family’s All One Fund, we had an engaging & heartfelt conversation about justice & equality for girls in Canada & around the world. pic.twitter.com/ulZ6ldnW72

— Justice For Girls (@JFG_Canada) November 21, 2023

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram, Instar and Avalon Red.

Nicholas Hoult finally got cast in a superhero movie! He will play the villain Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. [Deadline]
Jimmy Fallon called Hunter Schafer “bud” and now there’s a discourse. [Buzzfeed]
Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck were back in Las Vegas. [LaineyGossip]
If they do a “Golden Bachelorette” season, they should do it Golden Girls style and bring in four senior women to eat cheesecake and gossip. [JustJared]
Jenelle Eason’s teenage son ran away from home. [Starcasm]
Advertisers are fleeing Twitter because of Elon Musk’s antisemitism. [Pajiba]
Julianne Moore’s ensemble is all wrong, yet I like it on her? [GFY]
Garth Brooks knows he married an absolute queen! [Hollywood Life]
Nick Cannon is afraid of snakes. [Seriously OMG]
In case you were wondering, it does not sound like Wayne Brady was at fault in his weekend car accident. The other driver was arrested though. [The Root]

MrBeast is one of those incredibly successful YouTube stars who can best be described as “annoying but entertaining.” We try to limit the amount of YouTube that my kids watch, but MrBeast (government name: Jimmy Donaldson) is on the very short list because my husband will watch it with them. His videos, which are spread out among several channels based on category, make millions per month. As of May 2023, he had more than 210 million subscribers. Part of the appeal is that he’ll do absolutely bonkers gimmicks and competitions, enticing people to compete in these challenges in order to win a ridiculous amount of money while also telling a story through great production value. In addition to the challenges, he also takes pride in being a huge philanthropist. Some of his videos are also outrageous but sweet, like the time he filled up his girlfriend’s house with 100,000 roses for Valentine’s Day, which sounded eye-rolling until Mr. Rosie made me watch it and I found myself genuinely entertained by the entire thing.

While some of the videos feature fans competing in challenges and others focus on Donaldson’s personal adventures (like the time he and a friend took an Uber ride across the country), there’s also a subgenre in which MrBeast himself does the challenges. A few years ago, he spent 50 hours being “buried alive” in a coffin. In his most recent video, he decided to get buried underground for SEVEN days in homage to Uma Thurman’s The Bride in Kill Bill. Yup. He literally got into a fancy coffin and buried it under 20,000 pounds of dirt for a full week. Claustrophobics, beware.

YouTuber MrBeast had claustrophobes heading for the hills after getting buried alive for a week for his latest stunt, as seen in a video with over 57 million views, which caused him “mental agony.”

“Please don’t try this at home,” MrBeast, a k a Jimmy Donaldson, 25, warned his 212 million subscribers in the caption to the underground hit. The youngster has become the world’s most popular and wealthy YouTuber — reportedly earning between $3 to $5 million per month in ad revenue — due to his outlandish and increasingly expensive challenge videos. These have entailed everything from counting to 100,000 and having contestants navigate a “Resident Evil”-style “laser maze.”

In his latest jaw-dropping stunt, the social media sensation decided to get buried underground for seven days a la Uma Thurman’s character in “Kill Bill.” To embark on this subterranean sojourn, the suit-clad Donaldson was first lowered into the ground in a cutting-edge transparent coffin outfitted with food and water like some futuristic vampire. They also equipped the human cicada’s sarcophagus with cameras to both record the video and make sure nothing went awry. Finally, Donaldson had his buddies use an excavator to dump 20,000 pounds of dirt on top of the coffin, effectively sealing the YouTuber beneath the surface.

“I’m entrusting my life to this coffin for the next seven days,” declared Donaldson while in his hibernation chamber.

Despite the safeguards, the seven-day dirt nap proved psychologically taxing for the daredevil. He was reduced to tears several times during his voluntary entombment, including when he was being released from the casket. There was also the concern that he wouldn’t be able to stand up due to blood clots in his legs from lying in a confined space for so long.

Thankfully, that fear never came to fruition, and Donaldson completed his temporary interment unscathed. In doing so, he shattered the previous record he set in 2021 after being buried alive for 50 hours.

[From Page Six]

I truly cannot even imagine doing this for seven minutes, let alone seven days. It sounds physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing. I mean, talk about loving your job or whatever. I’ve only seen a handful of his videos, but from what I’ve watched, a lot of MrBeast’s challenges seem to be psychologically taxing, especially the ones involving doing something alone for a set period of days/weeks/months. And while I admit each video is told in a way that you want to see what happens in the end, I do have mixed feelings about a society and culture in which people are willing to do some of that crazy sh-t for money.

My take on Donaldson himself is that he saw a lot of success at a very young age (he started the channel at age 13 but it didn’t blow up until he was 18) and I think it’s a marvel that by all accounts, he’s not a diva or an a-hole. From what I’ve read, he’s tried to learn and grow and genuinely seems to actually want to help people. Earlier this year, one of his best friends and longtime crew member came out as trans and after alt-right YouTubers and Twitter Blue Check Bros came for them, Donaldson stood up for his friend and called out the backlash as transphobic. So, I think he’s decent and well-meaning. However, I wouldn’t mind if his shenanigans were above ground from now on.

Photos credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon and screenshots from YouTube

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Travis Kelce is profiled in WSJ. Magazine’s current issue and the interview is SO GOOD. It’s thoughtful, not too football-heavy, but also not entirely about Taylor Swift. It hit the sweet spot – I learned a lot about Travis’s life beyond Tay, I learned his version of how he ended up manifesting his relationship with Tay, and he polished his “golden retriever boyfriend” credentials. There’s always debate about whether Travis is a himbo – I don’t think he is, but he’s himbo-adjacent. Like, a sweet jock with a heart of gold? Some highlights from this WSJ. Magazine piece:

Retirement talk & pain management: He thinks about retirement“more than anyone could ever imagine… That’s the only thing I’ve never really been open about – the discomfort. The pain. The lingering injuries—the 10 surgeries I’ve had that I still feel every single surgery to this day.”

How he met Taylor: It all started when he tried to meet Swift at her Arrowhead concert in July and got blocked, presumably by security. He then recounted the experience in a charming way on the podcast he does with Jason. Soon after, he says, he received an unbidden assist from inside Team Swift. “There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner [who said]: Yo! Did you know he was coming? I had somebody playing Cupid.” He wasn’t aware at the time, however; the revelation only came later, after he looked down at his phone and got the shock of a lifetime. “She told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out.” He lets slip that some of his early helpers were part of the Swift family tree. “She’ll probably hate me for saying this, but…when she came to Arrowhead, they gave her the big locker room as a dressing room, and her little cousins were taking pictures…in front of my locker.”

First date: “When I met her in New York, we had already kind of been talking, so I knew we could have a nice dinner and, like, a conversation, and what goes from there will go from there.” If anyone was nervous, he adds, it was his core group. “Everybody around me telling me: Don’t f— this up! And me sitting here saying: Yeah—got it.”

He was guarded about what he said about her at first: “That was the biggest thing to me: make sure I don’t say anything that would push Taylor away.”

Nowadays, he talks about Taylor openly: He doesn’t need to be asked about Taylor; he mentions her unreservedly, lavishes praise on her, calls her “hilarious,” “a genius,” notes that they share compatible worldviews, especially when it comes to family and work. “Everybody knows I’m a family guy. Her team is her family. Her family does a lot of stuff in terms of the tour, the marketing, being around, so I think she has a lot of those values as well, which is right up my alley.”

He’s a long-time Swiftie: “‘Blank Space’ was one I wanted to hear live for sure. I could make a bad guy good for the weekend. That’s a helluva line!” More often than not, he says, it was a Swiftian beat, a melody that captivated him. (“She writes catchy jingles.”) But lately he’s all about those lyrics; he’s scrutinized the breakup stuff. What a miracle, he says, the way Swift can turn life into poetry. “I’ve never been a man of words. Being around her, seeing how smart Taylor is, has been f—ing mind-blowing. I’m learning every day.”

Dealing with her level of fame: “Obviously I’ve never dated anyone with that kind of aura about them…. I’ve never dealt with it. But at the same time, I’m not running away from any of it…. The scrutiny she gets, how much she has a magnifying glass on her, every single day, paparazzi outside her house, outside every restaurant she goes to, after every flight she gets off, and she’s just living, enjoying life. When she acts like that I better not be the one acting all strange.”

He loves comedy films with Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Will Ferrell: “I told Taylor that I have that world, I’ve got to introduce it to her. I let her know: This is my jam right here.”

On Aaron Rodgers mocking his Pfizer endorsement: “Aaron’s always been cool to me. I knew he was trying to have some fun. He’s in a situation where Tuesdays are his game days…. So I get it, man, I’ve been injured too…. Who knows what the guy is going through?”

[From WSJ. Magazine]

The fact that Travis is probably telling Taylor that she needs to watch Tommy Boy, Happy Gilmore, Old School and Anchorman is… a lot. Taylor is a woman who wants to be accepted as a director and recognized as someone with a literary persona. He wanted to watch Billy Madison/I sighed and downloaded Aftersun. The rest of it is great though – I think “I’m not running away from any of it” is a great start. Is there a little part of me which thinks that Travis is also using this relationship to expand his sponsorship portfolio and make even more money with lucrative side-gigs? For sure. I think that’s part of it, but he genuinely adores her and he wants to be with her. He also wants to make even more money too.

Covers courtesy of WSJ. Magazine’s Instagram, photos courtesy of Backgrid.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee are on a three-day state visit to the UK this week. They arrived today and one of the first things they had to do was take a line-up photo with the Prince and Princess of Wales. Then the South Koreans were taken to King Charles and Queen Camilla, where they all viewed a Horse Guards Parade. Which is a pretty big honor. William and Kate were at the parade as well, and protocol demanded that Will and Kate travel by car together. There’s a photo of them in the car which reminded me so strongly of Charles and Diana pre-divorce. Peg and Wig are totally over it.

Kate finally got to wear something new as well – I genuinely believe her clothing budget has been slashed, but she still needed to buy her absurd coatdresses and whatever this is. It’s a caped coat by Catherine Walker, with a big, dumb bow. It reportedly retails for something like £3000. All that money for something which looks like a big, red potato sack with a bow.

Tonight, the Windsors will host a state dinner/banquet and there will likely be a lot of tiaras and jewels on display. I’m very curious to see if Camilla continues to put severe limits on what Kate can borrow from the royal collection. I suspect we won’t see anything “new” on Kate – she’ll probably get the Lotus Tiara or the Cambridge Lovers Knot.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Here are more photos of the Prince and Princess of Wales today in London, for the first day of the South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee’s state visit to the UK. The Sunak government literally rolled out the red carpet for the POSK and FLOSK, as did Buckingham Palace. This was one of the gaudiest parades and welcome ceremonies I’ve seen in a while. William and Kate arrived in a Rolls Royce and left in a gold carriage. The president and first lady traveled in a different gold carriage with King Charles and Camilla, while I think Will and Kate probably had to entertain the South Korean ambassador or SK’s foreign minister, someone like that.

The earlier story about Kate’s over-the-top Catherine Walker cape-coat will probably be one of the biggest and most-commented-upon stories of the week. Y’all have some strong feelings about Little Red Riding Hood and her fire-hydrant couture. I love it! This was so inappropriate, even for Kate. Kate is, as we know, a “literal dresser.” She prefers to cosplay flags, and given that one of the colors in South Korea’s flag is red, I would assume she sees this as literal dressing. Some even suggested – correctly, I think – that Kate was doing some kind of tribute to the South Korean clothing hanbok, with the prominent chest bow. I would guess that someone in Kate’s office put that together (not Kate). Still, the execution of this supposed “tribute” to South Korea fell flat. She looks attention-seeking and most people only see a 41-year-old woman cosplaying Little Keen Riding Hood.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

To recap, Roya Nikkhah at the Times got a new set of lies and orders from Buckingham Palace or Kensington Palace over the weekend. The new story is that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are desperate to be invited to Sandringham for Christmas, only King Charles doesn’t trust them and he’s dithering about inviting them. The follow-up stories are all about how Prince William would throw a tantrum and refuse to go to Sandringham for Christmas if the Sussexes are invited. Now there’s another follow-up, via a Jennie Bond interview with the Sun. William is incandescent with rage and YET Harry should absolutely bring his children (but not Meghan, I guess) to Sandringham so the kids can “know their place in the family.” Ah, yes, the grand Christmas tradition of treating children differently depending on their places in the line of succession.

Royal expert Jennie Bond exclusively told Fabulous: “Christmas is all about family. Being together, laughing together, sharing gifts and love. Sometimes it’s the only time in a year that whole families can get together for a proper catch up, so Harry’s absence from the celebrations at Sandringham will be painfully obvious.

“Little Archie and Lilibet should be running around with their many cousins, pulling crackers, opening presents and understanding their place in the family, connecting with their relatives even though their lives are thousands of miles away. But that’s not going to happen.

“I don’t think William will be shedding a tear over this. Deep down, I’m sure he still loves Harry, but I don’t think he can see a way out of the rift that has opened between them.”

Jennie said, “It was Harry who said in an interview that he would always love his brother even though they were on different paths, but there has been no similar declaration from William. I think he is still deeply hurt by Harry and Meghan’s attacks, particularly on Catherine. That is a no go area as far as William is concerned and he is understandably very protective of his wife, who was once regarded by Harry as ‘the sister he never had’. There are very few people that any member of the royal family can trust, but they always hope that they can trust one another. It’s the tightest of closed circles.

“But Harry has driven a coach and horses through that sibling trust. He has revealed William’s private thoughts and conversations – or at least Harry’s version of them – and that will be extremely hard to forgive, and impossible to forget.”

Instead of mulling over his fallout with Harry, William is throwing his energy into work, and was recently in Singapore for the Earthshot Prize. Jennie said: “William is thriving on his own. He is fiercely facing forward with his life, he’s forging ahead with his causes and preaching hope and optimism about projects to save the planet. He is shining on the world stage and, in truth, he’s probably quite happy not to share it with Harry.

“I think William has closed his mind to the prospect of reconciliation with Harry, and I can’t see a time when Meghan would be welcomed back into the bosom of the family – or a time when she would ever want to be welcomed back. I doubt that William thinks about them for more than a fleeting moment – and then he probably tries to blank out those thoughts.”

[From The Sun]

“Little Archie and Lilibet should be running around with their many cousins, pulling crackers, opening presents and understanding their place in the family…” Did you know that royal kids aren’t allowed to celebrate much of “royal Christmas” with their parents? The kids are shuffled off while the adults eat and drink. That’s how the Windsors show the kids “their place” in the family. The Windsors even have rules about what kind of “gag gifts” they have to give each other. Anyway, Christmas is what you make it – some people like to be around their extended family and some don’t. I shudder to think how Archie and Lili would actually be treated if the Sussexes did go to Sandringham.

Anyway, at this point, William is just using any excuse, any story, any narrative to scream “I’m still mad at Harry, I’ll never forgive him, I hate Meghan too!”

Photos courtesy of Instar, Avalon Red, the Sussexes’ Christmas cards.

Well, this news certainly explains all of the stupid drama over whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been invited to Sandringham for Christmas this year. All of a sudden, the Times and the Mail could speak of little else, how Harry and Meghan were desperate for a Christmas invite but none would be forthcoming, because William would throw an incandescent hissy fit. Now it turns out that was all some kind of distraction meant to soften the news that Queen Camilla’s children and grandchildren will go to Sandringham this year. I suppose it does look downright disgusting that the king is deeply estranged from one son and has barely spent time with two of his grandchildren, meanwhile Camilla is ensuring that her rottweiler relations are front and center for a royal Christmas.

King Charles is inviting the children and grandchildren of his wife Queen Camilla to the royal family’s annual holiday gathering at Sandringham, according to a new report.

Each year on Christmas Day, members of the royal family walk to church at St. Mary Magdalene and then return to Sandringham House for a festive lunch. According to the ITV report from royals editor Chris Ship, Camilla’s children — Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes — and other members of the Queen’s family will join the lunch for the first time this year.

The changed guest list may mean a change of venue for the meal. In a departure from the past and the days of the late Queen Elizabeth, the royals will sit down in the bigger ballroom rather than the dining room.

Ship writes that “the guest list of those attending Christmas lunch back at Sandringham House is being radically altered — and will include many members of Queen Camilla’s family for the first time.”

He quotes someone familiar with the plans saying, “The Queen has invited her children and grandchildren this year, which is different from previous years.” Also among Queen Camilla’s family is her sister Annabel Elliot, who is one of her “companions,” as the palace calls the ladies who help the Queen at her various official events and engagements. Annabel attended to her sister at the coronation in May.

The report adds that Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York (who hosted ITV’s This Morning show on Monday) would join the lunch too. Like last year, she and her former husband, King Charles’ brother Prince Andrew, will stay at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, along with any of their daughter Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and their children who might be there.

[From People]

Since Camilla and Charles got married, Camilla usually only sticks around the Windsors for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, then she leaves soon after and goes to Ray Mill to spend time with Tom, Laura and their children. It would not surprise me at all to see Tom, Laura and many of Camilla’s grandkids join the Windsors for the Christmas morning walk to church. This was always part of Camilla’s endgame too – to have her cake and eat it too, to legitimize her Parker-Bowles children as royal-adjacents, with full royal perks and God knows what else. Tom PB will probably end up in some royal property. Anyway, that’s what all of the Sussex bullsh-t was about – a conveniently-timed distraction from Camilla’s machinations. Camilla spent decades destroying Diana and Diana’s sons and alienating Charles from his sons. All for this.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.