There are so many agendas playing out in all of these “Prince Harry at 40” stories. It’s a reminder that when Prince William turned 40 in 2022, all of the “Huevo at 40” stories were about how much he hates his brother and how William never, ever thinks about Harry. Two years later, the “Harry at 40” stories are about… how much William hates his brother. I’m just saying, William has been heavy-handed and obvious as hell in how many of these stories are being sourced. One of the rare pieces which seemed almost generous to Harry and his motives was this one in the Guardian, written by Caroline Davies. Some highlights:

How did Harry get here? Five thousand miles and 10 tumultuous years away, he may ponder, as he did following his dramatic departure from the UK: “What on earth happened? How did we end up here?” The “here” is the celebrity enclave of Montecito in Santa Barbara county, California, and the “how” – since played out incessantly in newspapers, TV interviews and courtrooms – has been laid bare in his scathing memoir, Spare.

The inheritance? According to reports, he is to inherit money from a trust set up by his great-grandmother the late queen mother. William and Harry were to receive £6m when they reached 21, with the bulk going to Harry in the knowledge that William would inherit the Duchy of Cornwall and, later as king, the Duchy of Lancaster. A further £8m was said to have been set aside for the brothers when they turned 40, the Times has reported.

Appears to be financially independent! Home, today, is a nine-bedroom, £11m mansion on the Sussexes’ gated 2.2-hectare (5.4-acre) estate, where mononymous neighbours include Oprah and Gwyneth. Hard-won privacy protects Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three. Harry is finally liberated from the royal institution he regarded as toxic, and appears to be financially independent.

Peter Hunt has some thoughts: “Fundamentally, I think he’s happier because he has a family. And I think that’s pretty crucial, actually,” said the royal commentator Peter Hunt, a former BBC royal correspondent. Yet, sections of the UK media persist in unrelenting negative coverage of a prince they see as having abandoned king and country, and who has, indisputably, made damaging slurs against family and institution.

The Sandringham Summit: Cast adrift by the hardline “Sandringham summit”, brokered by the royal family, [Harry] is seemingly so estranged from William that his brother reportedly does not want him at his own coronation. The stark “in or out” ultimatum delivered at Sandringham – which refused Harry and the Duchess of Sussex a semi-royal role – divined the couple’s path to Montecito, and, presumably, the interviews, documentaries and memoir that followed. It set a simple narrative: Charles, William and the late Queen Elizabeth were right. “And, therefore, Harry has got his comeuppance,” Hunt said. “But there is an alternative narrative that argues that, actually, Harry was treated very badly. They could have found a way to accommodate him if they had chosen. There are countless examples where the royal family has adapted, when needed, to survive. But there was too much bad blood by then. They were so entrenched.”

Harry’s war with the media: He remains committed to his legal battle against some UK media organisations over his claims of unlawful information gathering. “I think he’s utterly determined to see through this legal action for what he sees as media malpractice, which I think could be described as both brave and foolhardy in equal measure,” Hunt said.

Out in the cold: So, as he turns 40, Harry remains out the cold in the Californian sunshine. Anonymous sources have reportedly claimed that a restless Harry is keen for a partial return to the UK, that he’s ditched Hollywood publicists and recently contacted former royal aides and old friends looking for a low-key entry back. Named Operation Bring Harry in from the Cold, the Guardian understands such speculation is wide of the mark, and that, now and for the foreseeable future, he sees his future in California with his family. Why, ventured one source, would they have spent the past four years establishing their freedom, only to go straight back? They have established business and media interests, including their $100m Netflix deal, along with their Archewell Foundation with its charitable mission of “show up, do good”.

The photogenic Sussexes: The four-day tour to Colombia promoting causes close to the Sussexes’ hearts – including child online safety – garnered international media coverage. Described as a “quasi-royal tour” by some, the photo spreads it generated served as a reminder that Charles’s vision for a slimmed-down monarchy did not factor in the pulling power of the photogenic Sussexes. “Ten years ago, we certainly expected him to be a working royal,” said the royal author and historian Hugo Vickers, who predicts problems ahead for the couple. “They will do anything to keep going, I think. They are relying on their royal links, on their celebrity, to keep reinventing themselves and keep themselves in the public eye. And I think it’s going to end badly, personally. They may very sincerely believe they are doing wonderful good for the under-privileged of the world. But also, their lifestyle must be incredibly expensive.”

[From The Guardian]

“Harry is finally liberated from the royal institution he regarded as toxic, and appears to be financially independent.” Or, put another way, Harry escaped a violently toxic and abusive institution, managed to protect his wife and children, and is absolutely financially independent, much to the chagrin of the left-behind Windsors and the British media. It cannot be emphasized enough that everything that’s happened, all of the Sussexes’ success and independence, was never “the plan.” The plan was to force Harry to crawl back, divorced, broke and compliant. They did everything they could to make that happen and it didn’t and they cannot deal with it. Hunt brings up an interesting point, and not for the first time. Hunt has always said that the Windsors were spectacularly stupid to let the Sussexes go and to treat them the way they have. The left-behinds have never listened to Hunt though. So here we are – the Guardian and other outlets weeping as they begrudgingly admit that Harry isn’t coming back.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

James Middleton’s tawdry pseudo-memoir, Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life, has come out or is about to come out. Various outlets on both sides of the Atlantic have already published excerpts from the book, and it seems to be about James’s mental health and his associations with the Windsors in equal measure. So, I have to apologize for something? Months ago, Tatler was trying to hype the book and they revealed that James wrote about his visits to various palaces and castles, and he apparently also visited Highgrove. Highgrove is King Charles’s estate and I had a hard time imagining why James would even be invited there, much less with his dog? Because that’s his excuse for talking about the Windsors, he’s always talking about how the Windsors were nice to his dog and how Ella always got into adventures whenever she stayed at a royal property. Well, the Highgrove story is apparently true. Not only that, James claims to have stayed at the big house in Sandringham. Oh really?? This excerpt is via the Mail:

Whenever we visited Sandringham, the Queen, being a dog lover herself, welcomed Ella, and later her offspring Tilly and Zulu went, too. Her Majesty was always concerned about their wellbeing, and knowing the special place Ella held in my heart, allowed her unprecedented privileges.

‘Did you get my message, James?’ she asked me the first time I visited. ‘Ella is welcome to stay in your room.’ How thoughtful of the Queen to make a special concession for Ella. Naturally she wasn’t allowed to wander at will round the grand house, so I kept popping up to check on her and take her for walks.

On one visit, I didn’t close the bedroom door properly, and Ella made it her mission to find me and demonstrate her annoyance at being left behind. I didn’t realise this until a footman glided up to me and whispered: ‘I believe your dog has found her way into the kitchen.’ I quickly made my excuses and followed him to find a delighted Ella lying on her back, having her tummy rubbed by a friendly chef.

Ella made quite a habit of ambling off during family occasions. One Christmas, I popped into Highgrove to visit Catherine and William, who were staying with the King, who was then Prince Charles. Catherine and I were having a catch-up over a cup of tea and Ella was sitting at my feet. Then I realised she had wandered off. It wasn’t till later that I learned that she had made her way up to a private bathroom and had pushed open the door to say hello to the occupant as they were having a bath. I was absolutely mortified.

I didn’t imagine the Queen would ever find out about Ella’s little adventure into the Sandringham kitchens, but nothing escaped her. She said to me: ‘I hear Ella had a nice little wander round earlier.’ I apologised profusely, expecting a gentle telling-off.

Instead, with the understanding that comes from long association with dogs, she gave me a conspiratorial smile and said: ‘Well, dogs will be dogs.’ Everyone knows about her corgis, but few are aware that she also had a line of spaniels. One lunchtime, we were engrossed in a long conversation about them, and I was thrilled to discover she was extremely knowledgeable about the breed. She was always kind and solicitous about my dogs, too. ‘Have you taken Ella out, James?’ or ‘Are your dogs happy?’ she’d ask with genuine concern.

[From The Daily Mail]

Real question: do you believe any of this? Do you believe that William and Kate stayed at Highgrove one Christmas and that James “popped by”? Do you believe that James and Ella were regulars at Sandringham and that Queen Elizabeth was fond of talking about dogs with Kate’s brother? It all seems so bizarre, and the framing of it is making me lose my mind. Like, the whole world revolved around Ella, and every single person understood that James had a single-minded devotion to this dog?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Towards the end of August, Prince Harry’s office announced that he would travel to New York for UN Climate Week, which is next week. He’s booked and busy for the trip – he will have meetings and events in and around UN Climate Week, plus The HALO Trust, The Diana Award, Travalyst, Archewell and more. I’m convinced that he will actually have meetings AT the United Nations. Well, after Harry wraps up his events in New York, he’s flying to London for The WellChild Awards on September 30. WellChild announced this on their social media, and of course Becky English at the Mail is treating it like it’s her exclusive:

Prince Harry will return to the UK later this month to attend a high-profile charity event in London. It has been announced that the Duke of Sussex will be a guest at the annual WellChild Awards in his role as the charity’s patron.

The national charity for seriously ill children is one of the few UK-based organisations that the prince kept links with after his acrimonious departure from royal duties and move to the US. He chose to remain in the position, which he has held for 16 years, when his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, asked him to step down from his other royal patronages as a now non-working member of the family.

There was no mention of his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, accompanying him. According to some reports she has vowed never to set foot in the UK again, and when she flew into the UK earlier this year when the couple visited Nigeria she didn’t even set foot outside the airport.

With the King currently based in Scotland but returning to London regularly for his ongoing cancer treatment, it could give an opportunity for father and son to actually meet in private. However the King has a major engagement in Scotland just two days before Harry’s when he and Queen Camilla visit the Scottish Parliament to mark its 25th anniversary. This suggests he could well remain north of the border while his son is in the country. The last time they saw each other was in February when it was announced that the King had cancer and the prince flew from the US to see him briefly. When he returned again in May, however, the King was too busy to meet, although His Majesty did offer him alternative accommodation in one of the royal properties, contrary to reports. Harry chose to stay in a hotel instead.

[From The Daily Mail]

This actually feels like Harry boxing in his father once again. Sources close to King Charles couldn’t shut up about the birthday-wishes social media posts for Harry and how it was an “olive branch” and “the ball is now in Harry’s court.” Harry’s like, let’s see if you really mean that. My guess is that it’s the same play from May: Harry contacts his father’s office and asks for a meeting, and now the proverbial ball is in Charles’s court. If Charles refuses a meeting, Harry will release another statement saying, in essence, my dad’s too “busy” to meet with me. It’s interesting that the awards are on a Monday as well – I wonder when Harry will fly to the UK, and I wonder if a possible meeting was discussed between Charles and Harry in the “birthday phone call.” Ten bucks says that Charles is going to try to get Harry to come to Balmoral again.

Also: “He chose to remain in the position, which he has held for 16 years, when his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, asked him to step down from his other royal patronages.” Keep in mind that WellChild is not a “royal patronage,” it’s a private charity and Harry has loved spending time with those kids for years and years. Also keep in mind that all of the royal patronages which were taken from Harry were actually really mad about it, they wanted to keep Harry as their patron but QEII and her courtiers wanted to “punish” Harry. They thought punishing Harry was more important than charity work and service.

We are delighted to announce that WellChild Patron Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, will attend the 2024 WellChild Awards, in association with @GSK, on 30th Sept. The Duke will meet our inspirational winners at a pre-ceremony reception before joining them in the main event.… pic.twitter.com/J7WR2YExKw

— WellChild (@WellChild) September 17, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Since that cringefest “cancer free” video and subsequent backlash, the Princess of Wales has been trying out different talking points. In the immediate wake of the video and statement, the talking point was: f–k the haters, f–k the media, I’m going to do what I want. Then it was: of course I’ll eventually be back, I just need more time to rest and recover, but don’t hold your breath. There was an undercurrent to the backlash too, something about “Kate can grope ferns in the woods but she can’t do some Zooms for charity?” Well, Kate heard the criticism and she organized a “private meeting” at Windsor Castle, something about the fakakta Early Years.

Kate Middleton has officially returned to work, just a week after announcing she was cancer-free and had finished chemotherapy in an unprecedentedly personal video. Wednesday’s Court Circular, a bulletin published by Buckingham Palace every day detailing the official activities of the royals, said that the princess convened a meeting for her signature ‘Early Years’ project on Tuesday. She has previously described the cause, which focuses on raising awareness about the importance the first five years of life for children’s development, as her life’s work.

The statement read simply: “The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor.” It marked Kate’s first appearance in the Court Circular since December last year and will be seen as a huge milestone on her path to recovery.

The meeting was conducted behind closed doors and no images have been released.

Kate is only expected to make two public, official appearances this year, with attendance at the national Remembrance Day service in November pencilled into her diary, along with an appearance at an annual carol service which she sponsors in December.

[From The Daily Beast]

I’m glad she’s well enough to do this. What’s slightly funny to me is that “sources” have previously insisted that Kate was doing some work from home, that she was reading emails or briefing papers or what have you. But I guess none of that counted – it only counts when it’s on the Court Circular, right? The Daily Beast also referred to this meeting as a “special project.” Meaning what, exactly? Is she going to commission another ridiculous claymation video? Another survey? Another relaunch of “Kate is keen about Early Years, no follow-up questions needed.”

The photos in this post are from January 2023, when Kate wore a McQueen tuxedo jacket to a big Early Years meeting at Windsor Castle. She met with her “Early Years advisors” and carried a small notebook, to doodle pie charts.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Martha Stewart deigned to let a noted documentarian make a film record of her life for posterity, and Netflix is set to release the fruits of that labor at the end of October. R.J. Cutler has helmed excellent movies on formidable subjects such as The September Issue (about Anna Wintour/Vogue) and The World According to Dick Cheney. So in working with Cutler on Martha-the-film, Martha-the-legend was totally fine with not being the director and handing off the final edit to someone else’s vision. JK, JK! Despite promoting the doc alongside Cutler at the Telluride Film Festival, Martha is no longer calling the film a good thing. Specifically the second half that deals with her prison sentence for insider trading, or as Martha eloquently put it, “It’s more about my stupid trial, which was so unfair.” Martha shared her true feelings while at the 2024 Retail Influencer CEO Forum last week:

“I try not to talk publicly about the things I don’t like, [as] it’s not good business,” she said during an on-stage conversation with the Daily Beast’s Chief Creative and Content Officer Joanna Coles. However, as she was particularly put off by the documentary, she added, “I can talk a little bit badly about that.”

As for what she didn’t like, “It’s more about my stupid trial, which was so unfair,” she said. Stewart also didn’t like the doc’s inclusion of a sit-down with former Manhattan U.S. Attorney and FBI Director James Comey.

“[Cutler] has a picture of Comey [in the doc],” she continued, and “Comey says, ‘Oh, she’s going to jail because she lied, not because she committed a crime’ — some crap. And [he doesn’t put] underneath, ‘Comey was fired for lying.’” Comey was sacked by Donald Trump in 2017 following widespread criticism of his handling of both the Hillary Clinton email and the Russian election interference investigations, though the former president never provided a concrete reason for his firing.

“I would, as a documentarian, put that in,” Stewart continued, “so that’s the laziness part.”

Additionally, Stewart took issue with the level of collaboration she said she expected for her participation in the project. “I had a collaboration contract,” she explained, “We were going to be collaborators — and then he had final edit.” So when Stewart expressed that she wasn’t pleased with the second half of the doc (“the first half was great,” she said), Cutler had the final say: “He wouldn’t change anything.”

Stewart wasn’t expecting — nor did she want — full control, she added, but she expected more collaboration from Cutler. “You shouldn’t have a final edit, [but] you should have a cooperative edit.”

Despite the disagreement, both Cutler and Stewart have been promoting the film together. “We had to do a question-and-answer on the stage at Telluride last week,” she said, and added cheekily, “It was good.” After all, before things presumably became awkward, “I got along with him initially.”

Still, she feels the second half of Martha leaves much to be desired. “It doesn’t mention all my collaborations,” Stewart added. “I’ve had so many fabulous collaborations with thousands of wonderful employees who have worked so hard [and] like-minded people that I really am proud of. For them not to even have a part in this — it’s not fair, I don’t think, in a story of my life. That’s what really made me, me.”

[From The Daily Beast]

I think we can all agree in 2024 that the outsized zeal with which Martha Stewart was pursued, tried, and convicted in 2003 came down to good old fashioned misogyny, yes? I’m not saying she was innocent, but there was a certain glee the world showed in watching a successful woman fall from grace. I give Martha mad credit for her resilience in the aftermath; she boldly greeted the day from curtainless windows and came back for another act of palling around with Snoop Dogg, chipping off icebergs to add to her cocktails, and dining on chobsters.

But whatever you think of Martha’s 2003 conviction, it’s a little hard to believe that the fact of it being addressed in this documentary would take Martha by surprise, no? And then the James Comey stuff, my gosh. Without getting too much in the weeds, I’ll say that while I’m no Comey fan, Martha’s argument there is not what she thinks it is. In any event, I’ve seen enough to know I will definitely be watching this film next month. Of course, you’re talking to a girl who would be just as pleased to see an entire documentary focus on Martha’s bathing suit-as-underwear lifestyle choice. If ever something needed to be thoroughly investigated…

PS — “I try not to talk publicly about the things I don’t like,” coming from Martha, just about did me in.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Martha Stewart (@marthastewart48)

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos credit: Jennifer Graylock/Instarimages.com, Roger Wong/Instarimages.com, IMAGO/Stefan Lafrentz / Avalon, Getty and via Instagram

Review of Emily In Paris’s Season 4 Part 2. I watched the whole season over the weekend & I loved it so much. This show is so low-stakes, silly & completely enjoyable. That being said, I love all of the jokes about Emily’s visa situation. [Pajiba]
Yeah, I guess the Emmys are “over” Abbott Elementary. [LaineyGossip]
Allison Janney wore Gaurav Gupta at the Emmys, as did many others. [RCFA]
A young mother is dead because of Georgia’s abortion ban. [Jezebel]
I loved Catherine O’Hara’s envelope joke at the Emmys. [Buzzfeed]
Agatha All Along is getting rave reviews. [JustJared]
Is Lily Collins’ bob too severe at this point?? [Socialite Life]
Photos from the Emmy afterparties. [Hollywood Life]
Krispy Kreme’s Fall Harvest collection looks amazing, sob. [Seriously OMG]
Lady Gaga commented on the “Stefani Germanotta You Will Never Be Famous” page. [OMG Blog]

We rarely use NewsNation as a source because I haven’t really been able to gauge if their “exclusives” are real, or just sort of conservative-biased nonsense. But they’re running this new royal gossip piece and I thought, well, we might as well discuss it because it’s something different. This is from NewsNation’s The Scoop column by Paula Froelich, who formerly worked for Page Six. She claims to have gossip from royal “inside sources.”

My inside sources who speak with the Palace regularly say, both Catherine and Charles are, despite the bucolic picture painted in the video, not doing very well at all.

“(Kate) is not in remission and not cancer-free,” my insider said. “She’s not in good shape at all… it’s going to be a tough road ahead for both her and Charles. I had thought Charles was more treatable but both of them are not well.”

The concern is “one of them won’t live very long” and “plans need to be in place.”

Kensington Palace didn’t return emails.

…My sources point to the fact that anyone undergoing treatment for cancer must lead as stress-free of a life as possible — and that Harry with his constant complaining and whining about security is the opposite of stress-free.

“He’s very self-centered,” my source added. “He wants what he wants and has rarely been told no. Until now. When he left the Firm, that was it. They bent over backwards to make sure he understood what would happen — especially with security — but he keeps thinking he can (browbeat) his dad. It’s not good for (Charles’) health at all.”

And of course, there’s the fact that anything the Palace does, the Sussexes will try to outshine or piggyback on to. The most recent example: The day Catherine’s announcement was made, Netflix tweeted out a promotion and stills for Harry’s new documentary on Polo, saying: “POLO is a new documentary series that follows elite global players and offers an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the fast-paced world of the sport. From Archewell Productions and Boardwalk Pictures. Premiering this December.”

“It’s just so… tacky,” my insider sighed.

[From NewsNation]

Here’s the thing: I honestly believe that palace sources or royalist sources are venting to an American outlet about Netflix posting photos from Archewell’s Polo series. Those were probably the same people screaming about how some dog biscuits stole Kate’s thunder at Trooping the Colour. They are consumed with the Sussexes and everything they do or say, and none of that is actually about Harry and Meghan. Anyway, the stuff about Charles and Kate’s health crises is interesting. Given Kate’s video and the contradictory, nonsensical palace messaging after the video, my conspiracy is that Kate is actually doing a lot better, health-wise, than we’ve been led to believe. I believe the opposite is true of Charles – I think he’s been doing significantly worse than anyone will admit. I also think that’s why William seems to be in IDGAF-mode in recent months.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Will Warr/KP.

Tessa Dunlop is one of the few royal historians/commentators who refuses to adhere to the strict royal propaganda line. Dunlop has been, at times, critical of King Charles and Prince William, and the Sussexes as well. She’s one of only a handful of historians who actually understands that the current royal estrangements are horrible for the Windsors and for Britain. On Prince Harry’s birthday, Dunlop wrote this piece for the Independent: “Harry at 40 might miss Britain, but the uncomfortable truth is we may miss him more.” As in… the Windsors’ and British media’s obsession with Harry is pretty obviously about how everything fell apart for that family when the charismatic ginger prince left. Some highlights from Dunlop’s piece:

The first Invictus Games in 2014: In front of a 2 million-strong television audience, alchemist Harry had successfully melded the disarming qualities of his late mother with royalty’s powerful service platform. The effect was electric. The closing ceremony of those first Games coincided with his thirtieth birthday, when he “danced, sang and celebrated being alive.” Proof, if any were needed, that Harry was born to serve.

The Sussexes’ royal tours: It’s the duke’s aptitude for service that’s the main stumbling block for those who remain on the other side of the Atlantic. Royal stalwarts huff and puff about Harry’s hypocrisy; how dare the duke steer his ship into the rocky waters of Nigeria and Columbia, when he complains Britain, minus security, is unsafe for his young family. (Alongside the service gene comes a heft of entitlement, another hallmark of royalty.) But Harry’s princely expectations should not detract from his achievements: whether people like it or not, together with his savvy duchess, the Sussexes cut a dash in countries long resistant to Britain’s privileged royal brand. The then Cambridge’s 2022 Caribbean tour doesn’t bear comparison. The bitter note in Britain’s coverage of the Sussexes’ ‘DIY royal tours’ speaks for itself. Long may we wonder if Harry misses Britain, anything rather than invert the question and admit Britain misses Harry.

Harry always had more rizz than William: Always the more charismatic of the two, a new-age Harry, comfortable in his own skin, joshing with the kids in Colombia, is jarring for William. Even now, when a Cold War keeps the two siblings apart, the Prince of Wales finds himself inadvertently playing catch-up with little brother Harry. It was the duke who first defied royal rules to sport a stubbly beard, and long before Kate’s sumptuous, scripted recovery film, it was Harry and Meghan who produced heavily curated versions of their healing journeys.

The Sussexes understand the zeitgeist: The couple’s infuriating knack of identifying the zeitgeist and running with it, has kept Sussexes in the headlines, that’s why we tune into their effortless overseas spectacles and pour over the minutiae of their lives. When it comes to being royal – a toxic cocktail of privilege, service and celebrity – the Sussexes have nailed it. Back in Britain that hurts.

Charles must take the lead on reconciliation: Charles knows his reign is not for the long term and must now take the lead when it comes to mending father-son fences. It is one thing to feel threatened by a sibling, quite another by a child. That Charles does not like to be upstaged is yet another reason for him to make the first move. Wearing the mantle of kingship, as England’s Defender of the Faith, Charles can’t busk his reputation on man-hugs with rugby players and simultaneously leave a gaping wound at home. Time is of the essence…[In] Harry’s relationship with Charles, he’ll always be the child, and in his forties will continue to behave like one. In this royal equation, the King, as a parent, bears the brunt of responsibility. Ten years ago, Charles was proud of his ‘darling boy’. Today, he may wish him well, but he must dig deeper and find a vestige of that pride once more.

They need Harry’s fairy dust: Redemption and forgiveness are powerful forces in our fractious world, likewise the embrace of difference. The King sits on the British throne, there is no greater stage in the United Kingdom. To reach out and reconnect with Harry, who has forged a different path with his birthright, would inadvertently win back some of the Duke’s fairy dust for Britain. But the King must make the first move. Harry has another forty years in front of him, and even William may be glad of the day when his brother is not constantly cast in opposition to the royal family.

[From The Independent]

I just appreciate it when, after all of the ink spilled about “Harry must apologize” and “why isn’t Harry coming back” and “Harry must be so jealous of William and Kate’s awful video,” there’s at least one British person stating the obvious. That Charles and William are sick with jealousy over Harry’s life and success, that they’re mad that he took his star power far away from them, that Harry makes his father and brother look like charisma-vacuums. Britain does miss Harry. The Windsors were also slow to realize that Harry was the one keeping the whole sorry thing relevant.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

As we discussed, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were out in Beverly Hills on Saturday with their children. They went to the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel for lunch, and they got pap’d going into and out of the hotel. In front of the cameras, their body language seemed weird, not loved up. At one point, it looked like Ben was getting in Jennifer’s face about something. Jennifer also seems close to his kids – one of them gave Jen a big hug as they said goodbye, while Max and Emme were seemingly giving Ben the stinkeye. Having watched the way everything has gone down in the past four weeks, I’m getting the vibe that people in Ben’s life are actually disappointed in him and sad that he sabotaged this marriage. Those people include his kids.

While the photos have a weird energy, Page Six was the only outlet claiming that Jennifer and Ben were actually kissing and affectionate while having lunch at the Polo Lounge. Now a new Page Six story claims that Ben couldn’t keep his hands off of Jen, and it was also his idea to do the pap stroll outside the hotel.

Ben Affleck “could not keep his hands off” Jennifer Lopez at their brunch on Saturday, a source exclusively told Page Six. The “Argo” director wanted to meet his estranged wife at the Beverly Hills Hotel to show that they’re “friends,” and get their pics taken. But he wound up not being able to keep his hands off his ex, sources exclusively told us.

The estranged couple was having brunch with their children at the famed Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday — and the stars were seen “holding hands and kissing.”

A source tells us it was the “Justice League” star’s idea for the former pair to meet at the high-profile spot in hopes of getting their pic snapped. But Affleck apparently wasn’t counting on finding the “On The Floor” singer so irresistible in person, says our source.

“Once they were together, he could not keep his hands off,” our source said.

The insider added, “They have always had a lot of sexual chemistry. That was not planned. They are still attracted to one another.”

“It was Ben Affleck’s idea to meet there,” the insider said. “He wanted to show that they are friendly exes. He wanted those photos. You go there when you want to be seen. Paparazzi hang out there.”

[From Page Six]

For what it’s worth, Jennifer’s team clearly went to People Magazine to dampen the speculation that the Bennifer Reunification is back on. Sources close to J.Lo maintain that this whole thing was just a “fun lunch so the kids could hang out” and that Jen is “trying to be friendly with Ben. They are still moving forward with the divorce though. They are working out financial details amicably.” The same source said: “A divorce is never easy, but Jennifer doesn’t want to be selfish about it. The kids always got along and have fun together. It makes her happy seeing the kids happy together. Happy kids are her priority.”

So what the hell is going on? My theory is that Jennifer actually believed that she was done with Ben and she made sure that she fought back and let everyone know that she’s not the reason why they’re divorcing, that Ben is moody and he shut down and ghosted her. But Ben loves nothing more than when she’s suddenly unavailable to him. All I know is that his side is suddenly very eager to make it sound like Ben is open to giving it another go. If that happens, it will break me, ISTG.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.

It’s been almost a month since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump. It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long because sso many things have happened since that first debate in late June. At this point, basically everything feels like it simultaneously happened both months ago and just last week.

If you thought RFK Jr. was going to go away after he appeared on stage to endorse that orange menace, you were sadly mistaken. He’s just too bizarre to go away! First, there was the bear in Central Park story. Then, there was that picture of him with an (alleged) barbecued goat. Next, a story that his daughter Kick Kennedy once told circulated. If you haven’t heard that one, you can read in the quoted text below. For those of you with weak stomachs, it involved a whale, his family, and a minivan. That story was so gross and absurd that it caught the attention of authorities. Over the weekend, RFK Jr. announced that he was being investigated by the National Marine Fisheries Institute for “collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago.”

Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday he is being investigated for collecting a whale specimen.

“I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago,” Kennedy said during a campaign event for former President Donald Trump in Glendale, Arizona, noting that he received the letter “this week.”

Kennedy said that he responded in a letter, baselessly linking the National Marine Fisheries Service with whale deaths and calling for the agency to investigate.

“This is all about the weaponization of our government against political opponents,” he said.

Kennedy did not go into details about the whale incident, but his daughter had previously described a situation involving a whale that took place 30 years ago.

His daughter Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, 36, described in a 2012 article for Town & Country magazine how, when she was 6, her father used a chainsaw to cut the head off a dead whale that had washed ashore and bungee-corded it to the family’s car during their drive home.

“Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet,” she told the magazine at the time. “We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s comments came during a campaign event alongside former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for Trump at Arizona Christian University. Kennedy endorsed Trump in August and has since been on the campaign trail urging supporters to back the former president.

Kennedy told NBC News after the program that he has never killed a whale. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, did not immediately respond to a request for comment and confirmation Saturday night.

When asked by a reporter after the campaign event for details about the investigation, Kennedy said he was “not going to talk” about the incident, but would talk about “serious policy issues.” He criticized the media as wanting to discuss “gossipy nonsense,” adding, “I’m not interested in feeding that feature of mainstream media.”

After the 2012 story resurfaced last month, an environmental group urged federal officials to investigate the incident.

“Kennedy may think that his name and privilege mean the rules don’t apply to him, but if he had a shred of integrity left he’d surrender this whale skull and any other illegally collected wildlife parts to the authorities,” said Brett Hartl, political director for the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, in a news release. “If he doesn’t, NOAA law enforcement should open an investigation and potentially bring charges against him.”

[From NBC News]

Of course that weirdo would claim “weaponization of government” against him and then baselessly blame them for whale deaths. Heaven forbid his own actions have consequences. I bet he really doesn’t think he did anything wrong with or even remotely terrible to that whale. Just because he didn’t kill it, it doesn’t mean that he didn’t do something that was at best, extremely gross and weird, and at worst, illegal. Bah. I hope NMF seriously looks into it. Justice for the whale and for that minivan! There’s got to be so many stories about RFK Jr. out there, and I have a feeling that we’ve just barely scratched the surface, ugh. Well, at least Trump has always been consistent about only having “the best people” around him (/sarcasm).

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos credit: MAGO/hoo-me.com/MediaPunch / Avalon, Getty and via Instagram