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.

Did you guys know that King Charles is “subtly punishing” Prince Harry? So says “royal expert” Duncan Larcombe, who apparently thinks “revoking royal protection, leaking the Sussexes’ location, smearing the Sussexes and evicting the Sussexes from their British home” is all very subtle work from the king. This just brings up something I’ve noted for years: these people are sadists, but they’re also very stupid and unsubtle. They’re hellbent on “punishing” the Sussexes, trying to get Harry to react to their sadism, and when he shrugs it off, they leak sh-t about how badly they’re punishing him and project all of this sh-t about how he must be feeling.

They haven’t seen or spoken to each other for over a year, but King Charles is “subtly punishing” Prince Harry over the fall out with the royal family, according to a royal expert. Royal author Duncan Larcombe says while King Charles is open to a reconciliation with his youngest son, he is still unhappy with Harry for his “betrayal”. He will now only communicate with his son through palace advisors after Harry snubbed the King’s offer of staying with him at Balmoral last month to mark the first anniversary of the Queen’s death.

Duncan said: “It appears that King Charles’ approach towards Harry now is business as usual – ‘if you want to see me you need to make an appointment’. Harry will have to get past the grey suits and jump through hoops to talk to his father. It’s very standoffish but I think that’s a way that the king is subtly punishing his son.”

Duncan says the King is still deeply upset about Harry’s treatment of his stepmother Camilla, branding her a ‘villain’ in his autobiography. He added: “Harry has said some deeply hurtful things about Camilla, and yet the King will still correspond with his son, albeit not directly. It’s remarkable really, because when Charles became King he said he loved Harry and Meghan which was a huge olive branch – which Harry then took, snapped in half and then hit him with it. That said, the King is still keeping those channels of communication open, where William isn’t. The brothers’ line of communication is completely broken.”

William is still said to be mournful of the close bond the brothers once shared, but will still not back down and offer Harry an olive branch. News this week that Meghan Markle is rumoured to be writing her memoirs reportedly left William “frustrated” because he fears that he can’t reach out to his brother without any correspondence being made public.

Duncan told Fabulous: “William and Harry’s relationship is irretrievably broken. I’m sure William is full of regret that things are the way they are, as they were once very close. They had a very strong bond as brothers and always defended each other. But Harry has offered up a betrayal that no brother should put up with. William was deeply upset by the accusations towards Kate and how Harry and Meghan almost deliberately tried to drag Kate’s name through the mud for their own gain,” Duncan added. “I can’t see how William can get past that.”

[From The Sun]

“Harry will have to get past the grey suits and jump through hoops to talk to his father.” Most recently in September, Harry spoke to the grey suits, requested a room at Windsor Castle for one night and was turned down, but then he was invited to Balmoral to stay for the night. Then Harry’s father went on a briefing spree to three different newspapers about Harry’s request and what it meant. Super-subtle!! Charles is a weak, pathetic, sadistic a–hole who treats his son like sh-t, and Charles is making it abundantly clear that he despises his daughter-in-law and his mixed-race grandchildren. As for William being “full of regret”… he’s a violent psycho who is obsessively copying everything Harry does. None of Larcombe’s statements reflect well on William and Charles.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.

Taylor Swift did not go to the Kansas City Chiefs’ game in Minnesota last night. There was zero buzz about her attendance and no one is sure where she even is right now, but she sure as hell wasn’t in a private box at the Chiefs-Vikings game last night. It also does not appear that she was in Kansas City last week for Travis’s birthday. Now the question is: was Taylor, at one point, going to fly to Minnesota but she changed her mind at the last minute?

Taylor Swift left fans, possibly TV producers and even her rumored boyfriend in the lurch when she was a no-show at the Kansas City Chiefs-Minnesota Vikings game today. Photographers spotted that TV producers had labelled Taylor’s place in the stands with the same sticker used during her previous appearances supporting Travis Kelce.

The orange sticker, complete with the name ‘Tay’ and a target logo, helped TV camera operators find the celebrity spectator when the Chiefs played the Bears last month and for their game against the New York Jets last week. Anticipation soared about another appearance today but fans were left speculating about a late change of plans when there was no Taylor in the seat set aside for her under the sticker today.

‘Taylor Swift apparently drew the line at Minneapolis,’ tweeted podcaster Dan Hanzus.

[From The Daily Mail]

My take? Taylor never planned to go to last night’s game in the first place, and the sticker was wishful thinking from over-prepared broadcasters. I also believe that the biggest “tell” that Taylor wouldn’t go to Sunday’s game was the conversation between Travis and Jason Kelce on their podcast last week, where they talked openly about the NFL “overdoing it” with their focus on Taylor’s attendance at the previous two Chiefs games. Travis wants to keep the focus on football, and I would guess that Taylor is also feeling a tad overexposed (although she does that every so often, gleefully).

Meanwhile, the tabloids are having a full meltdown about this (arguably) month-long relationship and Taylor’s absence and what does it all mean? The Daily Mirror truly got one of their “body language experts” to say that Travis was in a “childlike sulk” about Taylor’s absence. My God.

Maureen Dowd at the NYT also devoted her most recent column to Traylor and whether Travis will be okay, long-term, in the shadow of Taylor’s enormous fame. Swifties are literally referring to Travis as “Taylor Swift’s wife,” so it really will get interesting.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Imagine being a royal reporter and being tasked with embiggening the Princess of Wales’s newfound obsession with ill-fitting pantsuits. Silk purse, sow’s ear, that’s the Rota’s assignment, and Kensington Palace has clearly been briefing reporters on Kate’s clothes and what her Big Pantsuit Energy says about She Who Keens. If you can imagine, this 41-year-old is only now coming into her own and “hitting her stride.” Someone at KP is very fond of the phrase “spread his/her wings” because this is like the fifth time I’ve read that phrase in the past week. It reminds me of when Buckingham Palace put out the notice that King Charles was “sanguine” about Harry. They used “sanguine” every day for a month, I swear to God. Anyway, let’s hear about the Pantsuit Queen:

Kate’s new look: [Her new look] has led many to ask whether there is a new face on the Princess’ team, or whether there is a style advisor in the wings. Sources close to the future Queen insist that is not the case, saying the spring in Kate’s step is simply down to her being a woman who has finally hit her stride. One explains that while the ‘step-up’ to become Princess of Wales was a daunting one, she now has a year ‘in the job’ under her belt.

Spreading her wings: A source said of Kate: ‘She’s been spreading her wings and creating a public awareness on important issues that are close to her heart. People have sat up and taken notice. This [Shaping Us] is a lifelong campaign for her and the fact that it has been so well received has given her an enormous amount of confidence.’

Kate wants credit for styling herself: Kate still works closely on her wardrobe with long-term personal assistant Natasha Jackson, but insiders said that to paint the Princess as a ‘passive participant’ would be to ‘massively underestimate’ her. Others believe the advent of the new Carolean reign has also loosened up Kate’s boundaries and emboldened her to plump for more cutting-edge choices, without having to complement the late Queen Elizabeth II’s traditional dress sense.

Her kids are getting older & she’s a Top CEO: Another insider said: ‘There’s a definite sense of the couple running their duties in a more business-like away, with far less of the historic fripperies, and I suspect that’s filtered through to other areas of their lives.’

Jo Elvin likes Kate’s new look: Elvin, host of Palace Confidential on The Mail+ and former editor of Glamour, gives her firm seal of approval to Kate’s new ‘chief of the board’ look. ‘It’s not very traditional princess-y and I suspect there are some royal fans who prefer seeing a member of the royal family in a pretty dress but I like the quiet luxury of her new look. She’s got so much more confident and relaxed about not following protocols so rigidly. I suspect she was probably always keeping half an eye on what the late Queen would have approved of. So now we are probably seeing more of what Kate likes to wear off duty.’

Reassuringly expensive?? ‘They are very mid-level labels that really appeal to that Mumsnet crowd. Real yummy mummy favourites,’ Ms Elvin said. ‘These labels are reassuringly expensive, in that you won’t see everyone wearing them, but not eye-wateringly so. There’s also a lot of tonal, taupe-y dressing, so sharp but nothing to shock the traditionalists. I really, really like it.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“A lot of tonal, taupe-y dressing” gee I wonder where Kate saw that! It’s almost as if Kate was just as obsessed as the British media when Meghan wore “sad beige.” Anyway, things are definitely afoot. At the moment, William and Kate are briefing the media separately, but they’re not really briefing against each other. Yet. There is a real separation though – William is off in one direction, spreading keenery about Earthshot and copying every since thing Harry does. Kate is in the other direction, embiggening Shaping Us and talking endlessly about her clothes. It’s also weird that people are like “how dare you suggest that Kate has a stylist, she’s VERY INVOLVED in what she wears!” Yeah, we know. Even a bargain-basement stylist would have done a better job styling her in flattering pantsuits and separates. Even the worst stylist in the world would tell Kate to burn her Meghan lookbook because it’s creepy AF. Kate constantly reveals that she only cares about the image, and that she’s really bad at the imagery. She doesn’t look rich, confident, content, hitting her stride. She looks like an insecure psycho who constantly copies her sister-in-law and can never get it right.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

The week before Prince Harry and then-Meghan Markle’s 2018 wedding was especially chaotic, mostly because of Thomas Markle and the British media. Thomas Markle faked a heart attack, threw a massive tantrum, lied to his daughter and son-in-law and was clearly working with the media to try to get the wedding called off. As we know now, it was also during this week that Kate tried to pick a fight with Meghan and Kate left Meghan in tears (which Kate then reversed and told everyone that Meghan made her cry). We also know that Kensington Palace staffers could not handle the fact that Meghan asked them to do their jobs, and the staffers had already begun revolting against being given tasks by a Black woman. Well, is it a surprise to think that these unhinged jackasses were also being petty about a Rolls Royce?

Millions of royal fans watched as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said ‘I do’ during their fairytale wedding at St George’s Chapel in 2018. There was much to catch the eye, including the Duchess of Sussex’s minimalist silk Givenchy wedding gown. But there was something else, too, that was worthy of attention: the Rolls-Royce chosen to take the bride to the ceremony.

Magnificent in its own right, the maroon-coloured Phantom IV transporting Meghan and her mother Doria Ragland from the Cliveden House Hotel to St George’s Chapel had a rather unique history. As 46 years earlier, it had been used to convey another American divorcee, the Duchess of Windsor, to the funeral of her husband, the Duke, in 1972. Was there anything significant in the choice? The Duchess of Windsor, a figure at the very heart of the abdication crisis, can hardly have been a welcome comparison.

The Daily Mail’s Sebastian Shakespeare asked if it might be a joke in regrettably bad taste. And why might courtiers or aides have wished to play such a ‘joke’? The answer might lie in the widely reported tensions before the wedding itself with Harry and Meghan described as ‘behaving like teenagers’ in Valentine Low’s book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Throne.

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s really ghoulish to create the imagery-comparison of one American woman burying her husband and one American woman going to her wedding. In the Windsors’ desperate attempts to get Harry and Meghan’s attention, they’re going to end up confessing every single sh-tty thing they did to H&M, right? I always think that whenever these kinds of stories come out: the snubs are meant for an audience of two (Harry and Meghan) but by gloating about the snub, the palace has no idea how f–king unhinged they look to everyone else. This was just petty for petty’s sake, a baroque “punishment” designed by out-of-touch courtiers who thought they were being so clever. “What if we make Meghan ride in a car once used by the Duchess of Windsor, ha, that will be such an amazing signal to send!” They were seriously so mad that they did everything they could to ruin or stop the wedding and it didn’t work. That alone speaks volumes about the lack of “support” Harry and Meghan had from Day 1.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.