In recent days, the Mail has published a dozen stories (easily) about David Beckham and how much he hates Prince Harry and how much he loves King Charles and Prince William. I thought it was just the Mail banging their heads against the wall and endlessly recycling old stories for the hell of it. But no, it was based on something new. You see, David went to Davos, and he participated in a Q&A session as part of his UNICEF ambassadorship. The session quickly and unexpectedly turned into David campaigning for a knighthood and showing off his royal-bootlicker credentials. After all of that sucking up, the Windsors still snubbed him for a knighthood in their most recent honors list. Some highlights from Beckham’s session:

He’s such a royalist: “I always get emotional talking about anything that I do with our royal family, because I’ve always been a huge royalist. I was brought up in a household that adored and loved everything that came with the royal family.”

He’ll answer Prince William’s calls: “Over the years, I’ve done a lot with the Prince of Wales,” he continued, referring to Prince William. “I’ve always been there, when he’s asked me to get involved with things. Whether it be veterans, whether it be the London Air Ambulance Service, which we raised funds to get two new helicopters for London. These are the things, when I was a kid, I used to see the helicopters going over, and you knew exactly what they were going to do. They were on their way to an emergency. So to be involved in that, has always been a ‘Yes’ for me. Whenever the Prince of Wales sends me a message and says, ‘I need you to do this’ or ‘Be there’, it’s always a ‘Yes.’”

Becoming an ambassador for the King’s Foundation: The Inter Miami FC co-owner said he was “honored” when King Charles asked him to get involved with his foundation and that his mother, Sandra West, “burst into tears” when he relayed the news. “Because she’s so proud of obviously what I’ve done throughout my career, but she’s also proud. And she knows my grandparents would have been proud that I have played such an important role within the royal family and the charities that they have. So to be involved in The King’s Foundation, our King is an incredible man. But he’s not just been an incredible man for the last five, 10 years, he’s been an incredible man for decades. The work that he has done to empower people, the grassroots work, all of the sustainable work. All of these things, all of those lost arts, he’s trying to bring them back.”

Beckham & the king: “He’s into bees, I’m into bees. He’s into the countryside, I’m into the countryside, and he’s into empowering young people. So I’m very honored with that role.”

[From People]

“Whenever the Prince of Wales sends me a message and says, ‘I need you to do this’ or ‘Be there’, it’s always a ‘Yes.’” Ew. No wonder William has such a difficult time getting celebrities interested in his busywork – he apparently doesn’t ask nicely, or ask at all. Imagine Peggy ordering you to “be there” or “I need you to do this.” William’s really missing the charm gene. Even Charles has charm – a questionable charm, no doubt, but Charles knows how to schmooze and butter-up a wealthy donor. Charles knows how to fundraise and ask for something but make it seem like he’s doing you a favor. William doesn’t know how to do any of that. Peg is like the anti-personality hire. Anyway, I find all of David’s slavish devotion to the royalist cause really funny. The Windsors are going to keep him around, begging for a knighthood as long as they can get away with it.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Buckingham Palace.

Yesterday, News Group Newspapers settled with Prince Harry. Harry sued NGN nearly six years ago, and he stood tough as the Murdoch empire threw everything they could at him. The Murdochs were helped along the way by the royalist media class in the UK and the Windsors themselves. Because Harry was fully prepared to go through this lengthy process and put his money and reputation on the line, NGN really had no choice but to settle and admit culpability, giving Harry a full apology AND an admission of their wrong-doing. That was more than any other litigant had gotten through NGN’s settlements. Not only that, Harry secured an acknowledgement and admission about what the Murdochs had done to his late mother.

The settlement was huge transatlantic news yesterday, with “Prince Harry” and “Murdoch” trending on social media the entire day. Harry was praised across the board for his bravery in taking on the Murdochs and winning. Two groups of people were noticeably quiet and subdued: royal reporters and the Windsors. Some royal reporters did bare-bones updates on the case, but the Windsors issued zero statements of support, praise or acknowledgement of Harry’s victory. Given that Harry’s lawsuits with NGN were a major reason why the Windsors behaved the way they did in 2020, it feels like the Windsors are more concerned about their dear friend NGN than Prince Harry. Someone in Harry’s British family did make a public statement though – his uncle Charles Spencer, the Earl Spencer.

It takes an enormous amount of guts to take on opponents like News Group Newspapers, and great tenacity to win. And it’s just wonderful that Harry fought for – and gained – an apology to his mother. She would be incredibly touched at that, & rightly proud. https://t.co/ISqmvliRqy

— Charles Spencer (@cspencer1508) January 22, 2025

“It’s just wonderful that Harry fought for – and gained – an apology to his mother. She would be incredibly touched at that, & rightly proud.” I was touched and proud that Harry apparently insisted on an acknowledgement for his mother too. As many pointed out yesterday, this is not the first time NGN gave a settlement to a prince – the last time, they gave Prince William £1 million secretly, didn’t publicly apologize, admitted nothing and they probably rejoiced when William publicly called his mother paranoid.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

This is interesting news for us nerds. It’s been reported that Ryan Gosling is in talks to star in Shawn Levy’s untitled, standalone Star Wars film. The film has been in development since 2022. By my count, there are at least 10 other Star Wars movies currently in development, but the casting of Gosling is likely to help propel this one to the front of the production list. This is just a report, though, so Gosling’s casting isn’t a done deal just yet and neither party involved (Levy, Gosling, or Lucasfilm) have confirmed anything yet.

If you’re a Jedi, then Ryan Gosling is a Jedi… well, maybe.

The Barbie star is reportedly in talks to star in a new Star Wars movie written and directed by Deadpool & Wolverine filmmaker Shawn Levy, according to multiple outlets.

While other details surrounding the force-filled movie are currently floating in space, Ryan boarding the ship would likely send the project—which Levy has been slowly developing since 2022, including bringing on his This Is Where I Leave You screenwriter Jonathan Tropper—“into hyperdrive,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The new addition to the Star Wars franchise—which has seen Disney+ TV shows The Mandalorian, The Acolyte and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew added to its repertoire in recent years—would be a standalone movie, akin to 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, per the outlet.

E! News has reached out to reps for Gosling, Levy and Lucasfilm, but has not heard back.

[From E News Online]

Anyway, I admit that I am intrigued by this news, even though part of me thinks it’s overkill when big movie/TV franchises cast really famous actors in big roles. I like when relative unknowns or underexposed actors have a chance to make a role their own like that. That said, I also thought this way about Jude Law being cast in Skeleton Crew before I watched it and found him to be utterly fantastic in it. So, I’m willing to keep an open mind about Ryan. I like that it’s going to be a one-off and hope they don’t tie it into a spin-off TV show, lol.

I’ve been thinking about what type of role I can see Ryan playing and I honestly can’t decide. No matter how hard I try, I really can’t see him playing a Jedi or Republic politician. I also can’t see him playing a member of the Empire or some slimy smuggler character either. I guess it makes sense that he’d be a complicated anti-hero-turned-hero-type character a la Han Solo, especially because the one-off comparisons all mention Solo instead of my favorite non-original trilogy film, Rogue One. Speaking of Rogue One, it would be cool if he played a Rebellion character like Cassian Andor, but I have a feeling Ryan’s role will be a lot less serious and give us some comic relief.

Embed from Getty Images

photos credit: Backgrid, Avalon.red and Cover images

Move over Oscars — you’re not the only game in town announcing nominations this week! Because where there are Academy Awards to honor the best in film, lurking nearby are the Golden Raspberry Awards to recognize the worst achievements made in the past year, thus balancing out the cinematic universe. And of course, any daring actor worth their salt will find themselves acknowledged by both institutions over the course of a career, as brilliantly demonstrated by Halle Berry. Affectionately nicknamed the Razzies (as am I by a work colleague who calls me “Razzie,” short for Razzmatazz), the 45th annual awards take place a day before the Oscars on March 1. This year’s crop of nominees range from comic book to video game to breakfast cereal adaptations, plus whatever genre Megalopolis is. And the nominees are:

The voters behind the Razzie Awards have announced their nominees for what they deem the “worst” films and performances of the year.

Five movies tied for the dubious distinction of earning the most nods, with six each for video game adaptation Borderlands, the widely panned Joker: Folie à Deux, Marvel movie Madame Web, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis and Ronald Reagan biopic Reagan, featuring Jon Voight “imitating Bullwinkle’s nemesis Boris Badenov as its narrator,” according to a Jan. 21 press release.

Last year, the independent slasher parody Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey — based on the beloved A.A. Milne character — took home the trophy for “worst picture,” Megan Fox won “worst actress” for Johnny & Clyde and “worst supporting actress” for Exp4ndables while Voight — a “worst supporting actor” nominee in 2025 — took home “worst actor” for Mercy.

This year’s winners — who will take home a $4.97 gold spray-painted statuette, according to the release — will be revealed on Saturday, March 1, the day before the Academy Awards. Read on for the full slate of nominees.

Worst Picture
Borderlands
Joker: Folie à Deux
Madame Web
Megalopolis
Reagan

Actor
Jack Black, Dear Santa
Zachary Levi, Harold and the Purple Crayon
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker: Folie à Deux
Dennis Quaid, Reagan
Jerry Seinfeld, Unfrosted

Actress
Cate Blanchett, Borderlands
Lady Gaga, Joker: Folie à Deux
Bryce Dallas Howard, Argylle
Dakota Johnson, Madame Web
Jennifer Lopez, Atlas

Supporting Actor
Jack Black, Borderlands
Kevin Hart, Borderlands
Shia LaBeouf, Megalopolis
Tahar Rahim, Madame Web
Jon Voight, Megalopolis, Reagan, Shadow Land and Strangers

Supporting Actress
Ariana DeBose, Argyle and Kraven the Hunter
Leslie Anne Down, Reagan
Emma Roberts, Madame Web
Amy Schumer, Unfrosted
FKA twigs, The Crow

[From People]

I know what you’re all thinking: what about Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga — Parts 1-3,612?! History will judge this snub. There are a few more categories, but these are my predictions for the ones excerpted above: I’m going with Megalopolis for Worst Picture, down to its scale matching its degree of nonsensicality. I think Dakota Johnson has Actress pretty locked up, yes? Even if “He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died,” didn’t make it into the final film, the line from the trailer was a MOMENT. As for Actor, I’m torn, because while I’d love for Zachary Levi to be declared a worst at anything, he’d still be winning an award. Supporting Actress is a complete toss up, but Supporting Actor? Come on, it has to go to Jon Voight, for the sheer breadth of contributions alone! Not everyone can appear in four clunkers in a single year, it is impressive. No wonder the president tapped him to be a new ambassador to the country of Hollywood. (Sidenote: how did I miss the release of a Reagan biopic with a Rocky & Bullwinkle connection? Thank moose and squirrel that my father isn’t around to see my transgression.) So yeah, Jon Voight for the win, or the whole thing is rigged!

PS — I know Razzies are film and not TV, but it seems appropriate to reminisce here on Voight’s hilarious line reading from Ray Donovan. “What did yooooooooou do Raymond?”

photos credit: Cover Images and Avalon.red

The trailer for Opus – finally, someone put Ayo Adebiri & John Malkovich in the same film! Malkovich looks like he was having a ball. [OMG Blog]
Lucien Laviscount’s suit is something. [Socialite Life]
Kristen Stewart is blonde now, it looks good? [LaineyGossip]
Review of The Hunting Party. [Pajiba]
Timothee Chalamet’s scarf phase. [Go Fug Yourself]
Mikey Madison flew out of LAX. [Just Jared]
Keke Palmer looked great in Galliano. [RCFA]
Family Guy is finally coming back. [Seriously OMG]
“I got divorced because my wife wasn’t famous” is a thing, apparently. [Starcasm]
Tyra Banks lost her home in the fires. [Hollywood Life]
Zooey Deschanel lost her childhood home in the fires too. [Buzzfeed]

AMAZING! Prince Harry and News Group Newspapers have reached a settlement. The trial was supposed to start yesterday, but the Murdoch family made a “massive” settlement offer to Harry at the very last minute, because they were terrified of all of the sh-t that was about to come out in the trial. Years and years of criminality, illegal hacking, blagging and coordination with various royal courts. Not only has Harry accepted a reported eight-figure settlement, but NGN publicly apologized to Harry and Tom Watson.

Prince Harry settled his privacy claim against Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group on Wednesday after the publisher admitted unlawful actions at its Sun tabloid for the first time, bringing the fiercely-contested legal battle to a dramatic end.

In a stunning victory for Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles, News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, also admitted it had intruded into the private life of his late mother, Princess Diana.

Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, said the publisher had agreed to pay the prince substantial damages. A source familiar with the settlement said it involved an eight-figure sum.

Harry had been suing NGN at the High Court in London, accusing its newspapers of unlawfully obtaining private information about him from 1996 until 2011. The trial to consider the royal’s case, and a similar lawsuit from former senior British lawmaker Tom Watson, was due to start on Tuesday but following last-gasp talks, the two sides reached a settlement, with NGN saying there had been wrongdoing at The Sun, something it had denied for years.

“NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun,” Sherborne said. “NGN further apologises to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years.”

NGN has paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone-hacking and other unlawful information gathering by the News of the World, and settled more than 1,300 lawsuits involving celebrities, politicians, well-known sports figures and ordinary people who were connected to them or major events. But it had always rejected any claims that there was wrongdoing at The Sun newspaper, or that any senior figures knew about it or tried to cover it up, as Harry’s lawsuit alleges.

[From Reuters]

There were several big moments in this case where Harry really had their cojones in a vice – the fact that the court never bought NGN’s argument that Harry was bringing this case too late, the fact that the judge allowed Harry to have access to communications between NGN and the palace. It all worked in Harry’s favor, and NGN was running scared. My guess is that the “settlement talks” were less about the money and more about the wording of the apology. Harry not only got an acknowledge of wrongdoing and an apology, he got them on the record about what they did to his mother.

I’m certain there will be people nitpicking Harry’s decision, but this man has fought the most powerful media outlets in Britain for years, and he’s more than earned his right to walk away, especially because this is an unqualified victory across the board. He got the admissions he wanted, he got the apology he wanted, he got some justice for his late mother, and he got a huge f–king check. It also speaks to just how dangerous this lawsuit was for NGN, the Murdochs and Will Lewis, the current CEO of the Washington Post. Speaking of, here’s a statement on behalf of Prince Harry & Tom Watson (they were the only two plaintiffs left on this case):

In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices. This represents a vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling, without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them.

After endless resistance, denials and legal battles by News Group Newspapers, including spending more than a billion pounds in payouts and in legal costs (as well as paying-off those in the know) to prevent the full picture from coming out, News UK is finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law. It has also specifically admitted wrongdoing against Tom Watson, and admitted unlawful acts by The Sun, as well as by the News of the World, against Prince Harry.

The truth that has now been exposed is that NGN unlawfully engaged more than 100 private investigators over at least 16 years on more than 35,000 occasions. This happened as much at The Sun as it did at the News of the World, with the knowledge of all the Editors and executives, going to the very top of the company.

What’s even worse is that in the wake of the 2006 arrest of a Royal correspondent, there was an extensive conspiracy to cover up what really had been going on and who knew about it. Senior executives deliberately obstructed justice by deleting over 30 million emails, destroying back-up tapes, and making false denials – all in the face of an on-going police investigation. They then repeatedly lied under oath to cover their tracks – both in Court and at the Leveson Public Inquiry.

At her trial, in 2014 Rebekah Brooks, said “when I was Editor of The Sun we ran a clean ship”. Now, 10 years later when she is CEO of the company, they now admit, when she was Editor of The Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.

Far from being relics of a distant past, many of those behind these unlawful practices remain firmly entrenched in senior positions today, both within News UK and other media outlets across the world, wielding editorial power and perpetuating the toxic culture in which they continue to thrive. It’s perhaps no surprise that all of their senior executives and editors refused to turn up to court to give evidence. The failure of each of these key individuals to come and answer questions under oath spoke volumes in itself, but their collective silence is deafening.

Today’s result has been achieved only through the sheer resilience of Prince Harry and Lord Watson, whose willingness to take NGN to trial has led directly to this historic admission of unlawfulness at The Sun. It has only been by taking NGN – not just to the steps of court but inside the court room itself – that these Claimants have finally managed to extract this historic admission of guilt.

As a direct result of him taking a stand, Prince Harry and his immediate family have also had to repeatedly withstand aggressive and vengeful coverage since starting his claim over five years ago. This has created serious concerns for the security of him and his family.

The rule of law must now run its full course. Prince Harry & Tom Watson join others in calling for the police and Parliament to investigate not only the unlawful activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover ups along the way. It’s clear now this has occurred throughout this process, including through sworn evidence in inquiries and court hearings, and in testimony to Parliament, until today’s final collapse of NGN’s defence.

Today the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived.

This part is important – “Prince Harry & Tom Watson join others in calling for the police and Parliament to investigate not only the unlawful activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover ups along the way.” This is something at the heart of Harry’s lawsuit too, the idea that it shouldn’t be up to Harry and private citizens to sue their way to justice after the police and lawmakers abdicated their responsibility to keep these criminal enterprises in check.

Full apology statement from Murdoch admitting unlawful activity by Sun against Prince Harry and by News of the World against former MP Tom Watson

MORE pic.twitter.com/RAjhnwTZNJ

— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) January 22, 2025

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively are still furiously duking it out publicly, even though all of their drama is now part of multiple lawsuits. Last week, Baldoni finally sued Blake directly, as well as Ryan Reynolds and Lively and Reynolds’ publicist Leslie Sloane. This was after Baldoni sued the New York Times on New Year’s Eve, and after Blake Lively got everything going just before Christmas with a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department and then a lawsuit. In my opinion, the strength of Baldoni’s lawsuit is providing context and details around some of Blake’s claims. In the court of public opinion, he has (in my opinion) successfully shown that Blake has exaggerated and misrepresented certain events and situations. How it will all pan out in court, I have no idea.

Baldoni’s lawsuit also featured a treasure trove of written communications between Baldoni and Lively, as well as some comms between Baldoni and his Wayfarer team about Blake. Baldoni’s legal team now says that they’re launching a website to publish all of those communications so that people can read everything and decide for themselves. His lawyers told People: “Justin Baldoni and team has nothing to hide and this once more proves this. [Baldoni and his co-plantiffs] have the right to defend themselves with the truth. This is what we will be continuing to show with the upcoming website containing all correspondence as well as relevant videos that quash her claims.”

In addition to the promised website, Baldoni released the raw footage of one of the scenes in question in Lively’s lawsuit, where Lively and Baldoni’s characters were supposed to be slow-dancing at a bar. In Lively’s suit, she claims this is where Baldoni behaved inappropriately, “[Baldoni] leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘it smells so good.’”

Baldoni’s version of what this footage shows is that he and Blake both know they’re filming it for a “falling in love” montage without any dialogue and that Baldoni was in character, trying to act like he was falling in love, period. Lively’s response to Baldoni releasing the footage? Her team made this statement to TMZ:

“Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning. Every frame of the released footage corroborates, to the letter, what Ms. Lively described in Paragraph 48 of her Complaint.”

“The video shows Mr. Baldoni repeatedly leaning in toward Ms. Lively, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her out of character.”

“Every moment of this was improvised by Mr. Baldoni with no discussion or consent in advance, and no intimacy coordinator present. Mr. Baldoni was not only Ms. Lively’s co-star, but the director, the head of studio and Ms. Lively’s boss.”

Blake leaning away from Justin in the scene was not acting, according to her lawyers. They say, “The video shows Ms. Lively leaning away and repeatedly asking for the characters to just talk. Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort. They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent.”

[From TMZ]

They were both speaking out of character within the scene, for what it’s worth. He was trying to “act” but then she spoke to him out of character, so he was directing her within the scene and she was legitimately pulling away out of discomfort. There was an intimacy coordinator working on the film as well – Lively mostly blew off those meetings, which meant that Baldoni had to speak to the intimacy coordinator solo and communicate the IC’s suggestions to Blake. What a mess.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

I’m still on cloud nine because of Prince Harry’s unqualified victory. What a man! What a warrior! He spent years fighting News Group Newspapers and one of the most powerful media companies in the world. The trial, which was originally scheduled to start on Tuesday, was going to be a six-weeks-long affair which would have seen the Murdochs’ criminal empire put under a microscope. The Murdochs might have settled, but Harry got what he really wanted: an open and public admission that NGN was engaged in criminal activity for years, and a thorough apology to Harry and his late mother. Here’s the video of Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne making a statement outside of court today (this is the statement I included in the previous post).

What’s extremely notable to me is that Harry is still calling out NGN’s illegal activity. NGN’s apology is an on-the-record admission, not only of the crimes they committed but years of perjury and false statements in various situations. In essence, Harry is admitting that he took this further than anyone else could, but the rest of it must be done by the authorities, the police and politicians. And he’s right. This system of trying to fundamentally change the British press through civil litigation/out-of-court settlements was clearly not working.

NPR’s David Folkenflik – who has been covering this case for years – also reports something I long suspected, which is that NGN made multiple settlement overtures to Prince Harry and Tom Watson much earlier in the process, but the settlement offers never included an apology or acknowledgement of NGN’s wrongdoing. Basically, the only reason why Harry and Tom Watson agreed to the “massive” settlement this week is because NGN finally moved on the wording of the apology and admission.

Emma Jones, Hacked Off Board Director, spoke out following the settlement, saying: “It is now clear that the public and Parliament were lied to by the newspaper and its publisher, as part of the most extraordinary corporate cover up in living memory.” Tom Watson, the only co-plantiff left on the case with Prince Harry, also made his own statement via Twitter (see below). There are now widespread calls from media-watchdog groups, political groups and British citizens to force the government to truly investigate and prosecute NGN.

Update: People Magazine reports that the settlement “likely exceeded $12 million, covering damages in his case against the publisher over accusations of illegal information gathering by journalists and private investigators.” I was thinking that it would be much larger than that – surely it’s something more in the $20-30 million range, right?

Like every other person persecuted by News Group Newspapers, I wish they had left my family alone. But what happened, happened.

— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) January 22, 2025

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

The revival of the “Duchess Meghan bullies staffers” smear reminded me that we’ve yet to hear one concrete, specific, on-the-record story about exactly what Meghan said or did which drove staffers into a spiral of doom. The stories about Meghan are always purposefully vague, just “she made me feel this way” or “this is how she seems, because I’m projecting all of my insecurities onto her.” I bring up the Meghan stuff because vague is the name of the game when it comes to the Princess of Wales’s medical issues. Kate speaks in riddles and platitudes, like she’s trying to recite some half-remembered, barely read pamphlet for cancer patients. Kate’s staffers speak similarly, because I guess they feel like they can half-ass it and no one will ask follow-up questions. Kate covers this week’s People Magazine, and it’s all about “her life in remission.” The quotes absolutely came from a Kensington Palace briefing.

Kate Middleton is turning the page to a new chapter in remission. The Princess of Wales, 43, is focused on the future after releasing a statement on Jan. 14 sharing her “relief to now be in remission” after undergoing treatment for cancer last year.

“She has drawn a line under the last year, and she can move forward,” a close royal insider tells PEOPLE in this week’s exclusive cover story. “The word ‘remission’ is such a positive one to use, and it just feels a veil has been lifted on their life of the last year, and that they can move forward with positivity and hope.”

A source close to the royal household tells PEOPLE, “It has been a tough journey — harder than we perhaps thought. She has been through a lot, and it has been a rough road. Serious illness like cancer does change you. She has a young family, and it makes you rethink everything—your purpose and what you want to do with your life.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales, who are proud parents to Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, are now focused on settling into their “new normal.”

“For the princess, family — her husband and children — are more important than anything else,” the close royal insider says.

According to royal sources, Kate’s “new normal” won’t involve a dramatic “reset.” Instead, she plans to maintain a similar pace of royal engagements to what she embraced in late 2024. Highlighting her steady and gradual approach, her visit to The Royal Marsden marked her first solo engagement since 2023.

[From People]

I don’t want to give these people any ideas, but I’m surprised that KP hasn’t told everyone that Kate’s Christian faith has grown stronger because of this medical ordeal, that she is now even more humble in her faith and recommitted to Christian charity. They can’t do that though – William apparently despises going to church, and Kate considers church visits part of her “work” to be avoided. “She plans to maintain a similar pace of royal engagements to what she embraced in late 2024.” We’ll see her maybe three times in the next five months? But you have to remember, the Invictus Games are coming up (Feb 8-16), and Meghan’s show comes out in early March. Ten bucks says that Kate will be pushed out during Invictus AND in early March. Poor sausage.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of People.

Romance rumors about Demi Moore & Andrew Garfield?? [LaineyGossip]
Hot photos of James McAvoy, as a treat. [RCFA]
Bradley Cooper & Gigi Hadid cheered on the Eagles. [JustJared]
Rest in peace, Cecile Richards. [Jezebel]
Review of Back in Action (Cameron Diaz’s comeback movie). [Pajiba]
“Boundary phrases” for dealing with hateful people. [Buzzfeed]
Kid Rock tried to hit on a reporter. [Socialite Life]
I still don’t know why Snoop Dogg did it. [Hollywood Life]
Billy Ray Cyrus looks like sh-t. [Seriously OMG]
I’m not trying to start a war, but I don’t get the “George MacKay is hot/attractive” thing at all. Maybe I just need to see a different angle. [OMG Blog]