This is a tried-and-true process for King Charles and the British media. The palace will openly brief a big lie about Prince Harry and the British media will insist that Harry is a villain and that his poor father and brother just don’t know what to do. Then if Harry corrects the lie or claps back in any way, guess what? He’s still the villain, because why is he constantly talking about his father, why is he constantly revealing all of the family secrets? So it is with this week’s dumb palace lie, that Prince Harry was invited to his father’s birthday party but Harry “snubbed” the invitation. The Archewell spokesperson denied the story to the Messenger yesterday. Now the Mail is running an exclusive… from the Sussexes’ perspective? Is this the Mail’s way of clapping back on the palace for lying to them, or is it a more undercover version of “this is still Harry’s fault?”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had ‘no contact’ from Buckingham Palace about an invitation to King Charles’ 75th birthday party next week, their spokesperson told MailOnline today.

‘There has been no contact regarding an invitation to His Majesty’s upcoming birthday. It is disappointing the Sunday Times has misreported this story,’ they said. The same spokesperson also denied that Meghan, who found fame on Suits, will be making a return to acting following reports earlier this week.

A source close to the Sussexes told MailOnline that they were not invited to Charles III’s party in London next week. ‘They had not received any invitation and were unaware of any celebrations until the stories came out,’ the insider said, adding: ‘I’m sure the Duke will find a way to reach out privately to wish His Majesty a happy birthday like he has always done’.

A friend of the couple suggested the Palace could even have leaked the ‘snubbing’ story to take attention away from the recent royal visit to Kenya, where the King faced calls to apologise for Britain’s colonial past.

‘The story is being positioned in a way to make it look like the Duke is snubbing his father, which he is not,’ the friend said. ‘Considering the trip [to Kenya] didn’t go well, this might be a welcome distraction.’

Royal and Government sources have been clear that they consider the Kenyan trip last week was a ‘resounding success’.

A friend of the Sussexes told MailOnline that they would normally have been included in plans for significant events in the UK, despite the widening gap between themselves and the rest of the royal family. ‘The story in The Times as well as subsequent stories have been positioned in a way to make it look like the Duke is snubbing his father, which he is not.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Look at the wording there – the spokesperson didn’t suggest that the palace lied to deflect from the Kenyan tour, it was the Mail’s so-called “friend of the Sussexes.” I tend to believe that the friend in question is just some Mail editor who wanted to point out the quid pro quo of the visible contract. The British media agreed to praise the Kenyan tour in exchange for a palace briefing about the Sussexes. The palace lied, so therefore the media is bringing up the idea (and crediting it to Team Sussex) that the Kenya tour was a flop and the birthday party lie was always meant as a distraction. Still leaves an open question about why the palace lied in the first place. My theory: the palace is in much the same situation as the royal press – they don’t have access to the Sussexes, they don’t know what the Sussexes are up to, they have no information to trade. So they just made up a lie and never expected Harry to correct them.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Something I think about a lot is how much time and energy the Tories have spent grooming Prince William into their future right-wing king. The Tories never really got their hands on King Charles in that way – while Charles has had Tory political operatives on his staff before, for years, he’s been associated with more progressive issues and he’s never been seen as some kind of de facto right-wing figure. On a personal level and private level, Charles is probably more apolitical than his critics give him credit for – he’s more interested in the trappings of being the king and he’ll do anything to not rock the boat. Which includes a dry recitation of Tories’ political goals in front of Parliament. Here’s some of the NYT’s coverage of the king’s speech on Tuesday:

King Charles III opened a session of Parliament on Tuesday for the first time as monarch, outlining the British government’s legislative priorities as part of a tradition-steeped ceremony that tested his skill at displaying the political neutrality for which his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was famous.

Drafted by the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, but delivered by King Charles, the centerpiece speech is a constitutional oddity — and one with a particular twist this year, as the new sovereign read out a list of government bills that included some policies likely to be sharply at variance with his personal views.

Among those were Mr. Sunak’s plan to exploit more of Britain’s oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. Although the Conservative government argues that it will still meet its targets for Britain to become a net zero emitter of carbon dioxide by 2050, the decision to license more fossil fuel extraction has angered campaigners against climate change — a cause close to the king’s heart for decades.

Still, wearing the heavy, jewel-encrusted Imperial State Crown and seated on a throne, King Charles on Tuesday showed the poker face expected of a British monarch as he delivered the “King’s Speech,” an occasion famous less for politics than for protocol, elaborate royal regalia and intricate choreography. As he announced that one of the government’s bills “will support the future licensing of new oil and gas fields,” there was little hint of royal disapproval in his expression.

The sovereign’s speech to open Parliament “is an oddity we have kept because the ceremonial is part of the monarchy — but the speech itself is just the government setting out its policies. That’s where the weirdness originates,” said Catherine Haddon, program director at the Institute for Government, an independent think tank. The monarchy’s commitment to political neutrality was consolidated during Elizabeth’s reign, and “everything we have seen suggests that Charles is looking to show continuity,” Ms. Haddon said.

[From The NY Times]

Yep, after decades of polishing his environmental credentials, Charles folded like a cheap suit when confronted with the realities of “the job.” He’ll do anything to cling to whatever power he has, so drill baby drill. Heads he’s the Tories’ useful idiot, tails he’s an unprincipled hypocrite. Catherine Haddon’s explanation of the king’s speech is a perfect example of Britain’s circular logic when it comes to the monarchy too – Haddon is basically like, yes it’s weird that we expect an apolitical unelected monarch to recite one party’s political agenda in Parliament but that’s the way we’ve always done it and we expect it now so what can be done.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

There are several royal commentators trying to push a narrative that Prince Harry should not have gone to Katy Perry’s Las Vegas show OR done a video for Stand Up for Heroes OR gone on the record to deny the palace’s lies about rejecting a birthday party invitation. The reason why the royalists are mad about all of Harry’s activities is because… King Charles was opening Parliament and it’s bad that Harry overshadowed that sh-tshow. Except that Charles’s other son (you know, the whole-ass heir) was in Singapore, trying desperately to make news and get headlines. Weirdly, the royalists are not concerned about William overshadowing his father at all. Think about that for a second – the argument coming out of the British media is “Harry should never step outside in America at the same time as his father’s big events!” But they’re radio silent about William’s blatant, willful and repeated attempts to overshadow the king.

Anyway, after skipping the State Opening of Parliament, Prince William then stepped on his father’s newscycle yet again by giving an impromptu interview to the rota reporters who traveled with him to Singapore. Per Roya Nikkhah’s tweet-thread:

Prince William says he’s focused on “social leadership” and “going a step further” than traditional royal work by “showing my intent more”, in an interview with the travelling British print media in Singapore.

“The thing that ties it all together for me is about social leadership. That’s what I’m trying to find my way in. I care about so many things and previously the family have been very much spotlighting brilliantly and going round and highlighting lots. I want to go a step further. I want to actually bring change and bring people to the table who can do the change if I can’t do it. It’s all about progressing, helping and advancing particular social causes that need to be given more support.”

“You have to remain focused, if you spread yourself too thin you just can’t manage it and you won’t deliver the impact or the change that you really want to happen. I’ve been in the homelessness sector for a long time and so rather than just being patron I want to do more, I want to actually build the homes, I want to provide them with the mental support, all the employment and the education they might need…

“It’s all these wraparound services, it’s kind of going deeper and longer, than it is the case of just having loads of causes that you sort of turn up and keep an eye on. It’s more about how do I show my intent more? How do we do more for you and give you a better future?”

On Earthshot, “We’re not just an award ceremony. People think this is philanthropy. They think it’s just a prize ceremony. It’s not, this is so much more. It’s about how much impact can we achieve by scaling and building up and spotlighting these incredible people. We’ve just got to join some more dots between policy regulators government’s money, and then you blend it all together and then see the impact from that. Every year we’ve got to get bigger and reach more people – the profile is massive so we need to make that bigger and better.”

[From Roya Nikkhah’s Twitter]

How many times is he going to say this stuff? He’s been saying variations of this whole schpiel for literally years – he goes on and on about how being patron of organizations isn’t enough for him, he needs to do bigger things and do less of the bread-and-butter royal work because he’s such a visionary global statesman. Nothing ever happens – Earthshot was largely ignored by the European and American media, his big “I want to solve homelessness” project was a bust and he’s too lazy and stupid to actually be a social leader on any issue.

Richard Palmer’s summary was accurate – it’s not about “I want to do bigger things,” it’s that William wants to work less and take on fewer patronages than his father did as Prince of Wales. William has been PoW for fourteen months and he’s totally overwhelmed and in over his head. This is also why he made such a BFD about hiring a CEO for Kensington Palace – he wants fewer things on his plate, he’s an incompetent executive and he is profoundly incapable.

Prince William says he wants to go further than his family has done before and provide social leadership that brings real change to Britain and the world. Reflecting on his first year as Prince of Wales, he said he wanted to focus on a smaller number of causes than other royals.

— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) November 8, 2023

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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Today is Election Day! Remember to vote today, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and everywhere else! It’s especially important here in Virginia because our governor is a liar and a misogynist who wants to ban abortion. [Jezebel]
Ariana DeBose wore Jason Wu to the CFDAs. [RCFA]
Ben Affleck & J.Lo went to the LACMA Art + Film gala. [LaineyGossip]
Lily Gladstone wore Gucci at the LACMA event. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Does Stranger Things need a stage adaptation? [Pajiba]
How did you find out your friend was really rich? [Buzzfeed]
Have Damson Idris & Lori Harvey split up? [JustJared]
Diwali party fashion! [GFY]
Kylie Jenner wore a crop top to work out. [Hollywood Life]
Kevin Bacon & Kenny Loggins got Footloose! [Seriously OMG]

Progress in Virginia is at stake in this election—and there’s no time to waste. Every single seat in the Virginia General Assembly will be on the ballot tomorrow, November 7th, so make a plan to vote and find your polling place at https://t.co/vsawTNmQkZ. pic.twitter.com/Dqhh1FmH6o

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 6, 2023

Prince Harry made a surprise appearance at the 17th Annual Stand Up for Heroes event. The event was held in NYC last night, but Harry sent in a video message, which was filmed at his home in Montecito. Stand Up for Heroes was started by journalist Bob Woodruff, who was badly injured in an IED explosion in Iraq. Harry has made remote appearances at the event before, and as always, he supports all veterans. I’ve yet to see the full video, but there was a clip released and Hello had a transcript of Harry’s jokes:

Harry went on to poke fun at himself, saying: “Due to the shockingly low representation of gingers last year, and out of respect for my fellow endangered species, here I am, reporting for duty.”

The 39-year-old also joked about never being scrutinised, as well as taking advice from a reiki healer. “As someone who never gets scrutinised, I haven’t even had to prepare much. But out of an abundance of caution, I have been working on this particular act for quite some time and everyone I know tells me it’s perfect. And no, these aren’t people who just tell me what I want to hear, these are people like my finance manager, my lawyer, and of course, my reiki healer.”

A cough was heard from someone off-camera, and Harry was handed a script. “So, we’re not doing the thing?” he asked, before reading the first sentence. “Thank you for having me to this splendid evening celebrating our incredible veterans.”

He then put the paper on the floor, saying: “It’s ok, I got this,” before delivering a more serious message in honour of the military community.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, service is what happens in the quiet and the chaos,” he said. “And whether we are wearing the uniform or not, we must continue to uphold the values we learned side by side on the base, on the drill square and on the battlefield. Values of service, values of honour and integrity and values of togetherness and solidarity.

“I know our journeys to this point differ but we are always connected through what we learned as humans, what we faced as families and how we’ve come out stronger because of our ability to listen, to understand, to support one another.”

[From Hello]

A really lovely message! I appreciate that Harry’s got jokes! It wouldn’t surprise me if he does have a reiki healer, honestly. Harry’s like his father in that way – open to alternative medicine. Is it also kind of funny that his appearance happened while his brother looks constipated in Singapore? Yes. That’s the biggest joke of all.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, screencap courtesy of ‘Stand Up for Heroes’.

I’m seeing Priscilla tomorrow and I can hardly wait. Even though the film has a SAG-AFTRA waiver and the actors have been promoting it, the most interesting promotional appearances are coming from Priscilla Presley herself. After many decades living in the shadow of her famous ex-husband, she gets to be the central character of the story. But, she’s still talking about Elvis, because that’s what people are interested in. She was at a Q&A at a casino in Vegas on Friday where she talked about why she never remarried. At first she decided not to remarry while Elvis was still alive. But even after he died, she never wanted to get married again. She says it’s because no one compared to him.

Priscilla Presley is opening up about her decision not to remarry after the collapse of her six-year marriage to Elvis Presley.

During a Q&A event at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas on Friday, the actress, 78, seemingly confirmed the rumor that she made a vow to never marry again as long as her ex-husband was alive.

“I just don’t think that he could handle that,” she said of the late rock music icon, to whom she was married from 1967 to 1973.

Despite the fact that Elvis died in 1977, Priscilla kept that promise over the past four decades. “To be honest with you, I never wanted to marry after him. I never had any desire,” she said. “No one could ever match him.”

Priscilla also explained why she and Elvis chose not to have more children after welcoming their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, in 1968. “Elvis felt he had a very busy schedule and he did have a bit of guilt that he wasn’t around that much when Lisa was younger,” she told the audience.

“With his scheduling and his touring, he just felt he wasn’t around enough to give a lot of attention to having another child.”

[From People]

She also said that Sofia Coppola is the only filmmaker she would trust to do a biopic of her life:

“I love [Coppola’s] filmmaking. I think she does a great job. She is for women, and when she approached me about doing a movie about me, I was moved by it,” Presley, who is credited as an executive producer on Priscilla, noted. “If anyone were to do a movie, it would be for her. I would never support another movie from anyone else doing it.”

[From People]

I interpret her comment about no one comparing to Elvis in two ways. On the one hand, it is true that Elvis is literally incomparable–an icon who changed American popular music and culture forever. Nancy Sinatra also said a similar thing about Frank–that there was no point getting married again after having been married to Frank Sinatra. But on the other hand, I think that the marriage probably scarred Priscilla emotionally and made it hard for her to imagine trusting someone in the same way again. If your first marriage was that stifling and that miserable, why try it again? As for what she says about Sofia, it’s very sweet. Sofia is so adept at telling stories of female isolation and alienation, it is a perfect fit for Priscilla’s adolescence and early adulthood.

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King Felipe and Queen Letizia are on a royal tour of Denmark this week. They arrived in Copenhagen yesterday, where the Danish royals greeted them at the airport, then Queen Margrethe hosted a big state banquet last night. Lots of tiaras, gowns and shiny medals. In retrospect, this is probably why the Spanish royals didn’t attend Prince Christian’s 18th birthday celebrations last month – this visit was already scheduled, and Letizia and Felipe knew they would be seeing the Danes soon enough. Here are some tiara details from the state dinner:

Queen Letizia of Spain, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and Queen Margrethe are a trifecta in tiaras! On Monday, the three royals glittered in the ultimate royal accessory at a state banquet at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. The glamorous evening capped the first full day of Queen Letizia and King Felipe’s state visit to Denmark, which runs until Wednesday.

Queen Letizia, 51, glittered in the Fleur de Lys tiara — nicknamed “La Buena” or “The Good One.” Meanwhile, Queen Margrethe, 83, sported the Danish Emerald Parure Tiara and Princess Mary, 51, topped her look with the Diamond Necklace Tiara. The Court Jeweller notes that the piece is uniquely convertible and can be worn as a tiara or necklace — and Mary has done both.

The Spanish royals also added a truly special new accessory: pale blue Order of the Elephant sashes. The Danish Royal Court announced the awards of Denmark’s highest honor of chivalry on Monday, explaining that the designation came directly from the Queen.

“When foreign heads of state pay a state visit, there is a tradition that in connection with the state visit there is an exchange of orders and medals if both the host country and the country from which the visit is made have a law enforcement agency,” a statement said. The memo noted that there has not been a Spanish state visit to Denmark since 1980, in a trip by Felipe’s parents, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

As part of the latest exchange, Princess Mary and Prince Frederik also received the Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Isabella the Catholic. They appeared to wear the new honor at dinner, along with the order’s signature yellow and white sash, per Identify Medals.

[From People]

Per The Royal Watcher, Letizia paired the Fleur de Lys tiara with “Queen Sofia’ Sapphire Earrings, Fleur de Lys Brooch, and Queen Victoria Eugenie’s Diamond Bracelet.” She was really blinged out. The vibes were pretty good between the two royal houses as well – CP Mary was seated next to Felipe, and Letizia was seated next to Prince Frederik, and there were conversations happening and everyone seemed to get along. I’m also adding a photo of CP Mary’s deep curtsy to King Felipe at the tarmac greeting!

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Here are some photos from last night’s CFDA Awards, which is sort of like the Met Gala but smaller (both events are organized by Anna Wintour). This year’s honorees included Gwyneth Paltrow (CFDA Innovation Award) and Serena Williams (Fashion Icon Award). Gwyneth wore a look from her very own “G Label,” her in-house Goop fashion line. I have to admit… um, Gwyneth looked good?

Here’s Serena in a custom Thom Browne. She just gave birth to her second daughter over the summer and I have to say, her “bounceback” has been amazing, especially given that she’s in her 40s and she has a long history of medical complications. I love that she looks and seems so healthy and happy.

Y’all are going to hate me when I say this, but I genuinely thought Kim Kardashian was one of the best-dressed women at the CFDAs. She wore a custom Chrome Hearts look. My guess is that the fashionistas will say that she looks too done, too over the top, but I wish she would dress like this for every event.

Here’s Karlie Kloss in a really bad black dress. LOL, Swifty’s Revenge.

Molly Ringwald wore Zac Posen and Posen was her date! She’s his latest muse and I kind of love it.

Emily Ratajkowski was a tad underdressed but the minidress is cute. Just not for the CFDAs.

Demi Moore in a sparkly Carolina Herrera – this was also one of my favorite looks of the night.

Bonus look: Anne Hathaway in Ralph Lauren. Mm, I’m not so sure about this.

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid, Getty.

It’s fascinating to watch, in real time, as the Middleton family clings to what little power and clout they have, all while the monarchy and the British media has their knives out. Carole and Michael Middleton’s Party Pieces collapsed in May and June of this year. Carole and others badly mismanaged the company and then defrauded banks, vendors and local businesses out of £2.6 million, money which will apparently never be paid back. There have been two separate poster campaigns in Bucklebury, calling out the Middletons’ fraud and pointing out that they should just sell their big manor house to pay off their debts. The problem is, as James Sinclair (the new PP owner) pointed out, the Middletons “haven’t got the kind of money people think they have.” And what’s worse is that there’s seemingly no way for them to start another company and begin to pay off these debts. From a Daily Express exclusive:

The Middleton family registered a company called First Birthdays with Companies House in the UK some years ago which they planned to launch once they had sold off their Party Pieces empire. However, we can reveal that following the collapse of their party planning business with debts of more than £2.6million, Carole and her husband Michael have finally decided to hang up their “entrepreneurial” dream and focus on family instead.

“The Windsor name took a minor dent when Party Pieces collapsed because of all the money it owed to hard-working people,” the source said. “There’s no way that the Palace will want that kind of thing to happen again. The royals are meant to be inspirational for hard-working people, not those that are seen to profit from the loss of others.”

Companies House records show that Carole and Michael set up the ‘First Birthdays’ business in 2006 to secure the name but it has remained idle since then. However, the couple signed on to keep it running as a dormant company in May of this year and changed the address of the company on August 31 from Party Pieces Childs Court Farm to The Manor Bucklebury in Reading, where the family now lives in a plush £4.7million mansion.

“The couple were busy planning their next move but have now scrapped any future business plans to protect their daughter’s reputation,” the source said. “Anything the Middletons do will inevitably swing back on Kate, so it’s best that her mum and dad keep a low profile moving forward.”

It was revealed last week how the Middletons have been the subject of a malicious hate campaign in their hometown of Bucklebury ever since their Party Pieces firm went bust owing millions to creditors.

“Everyone was surprised by how much money paper hats and cups were making, so nobody was surprised when Party Pieces collapsed,” the source said. “We just hope that the people affected will get their money back.”

[From The Daily Express]

One of the most shocking things to me is that I always considered James Middleton to the be the family’s black sheep, the one with zero business sense, the one who kept crashing company after company. As it turns out, James is a chip off the old block – the Middletons were well known grifters and everyone knew they were lying about their wealth for years. How embarrassing! Seriously, there’s a reason why Carole has disappeared from public view – she’s humiliated, her house of cards collapsed and the palace has made it clear that her lying grifter days are over. No more “businesses” being propped up God knows how. No more defrauding local businesses and small vendors. As someone who has always believed that the Middletons were never what they appeared, the past six months have been amazing to watch.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

If y’all want to Mute Challenge this story, I completely understand, but I genuinely want to talk about Prince William’s eagerness to be around attractive women and celebrities. The clout-chasing is really unseemly, and it’s really crass that a married man is paying people to brand him as a hot single guy. These are photos from the Earthshot Awards in Singapore. William made Cate Blanchett, Hannah Waddingham, Lana Condor and Sterling K. Brown fly all the way to Singapore for his sad Look At Me I Can Hang Out With Celebrities Too, Harry Awards. As always, William looks so much more relaxed when Kate isn’t around. He did mention her in a speech yesterday, as he clings to that dumb excuse about George’s exam:

Prince William is explaining why Kate Middleton didn’t travel with him on his visit to Singapore. In a speech on Monday morning, William said his wife couldn’t be with him because of an important family reason: Prince George’s schooling.

“Catherine is very sorry she can’t be here,” said the Prince of Wales, 41. “She is helping George through his first set of major exams.”

[From People]

If they really wanted to copy Harry and Meghan, William should have flown to Singapore (as planned) over the weekend, and then Kate could have joined him later so that she could support her husband at his big dumb event. The truth is, William didn’t want her there. That’s the big thing which no one can say out loud. William would rather do matching greens with Hannah Waddingham than spend one more minute with his wife. William would rather pose awkwardly with Cate Blanchett than get man-handled by Kate’s need to grope his ass in public. This whole situation is so bizarre to watch.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.