The Duchess of Edinburgh has been sucking up to Prince William and Kate for years. It’s similar to the way she sucked up to Queen Elizabeth II, and Sophie made sure to milk her relationship with her mother-in-law for all it was worth. Currently, Sophie’s PR is that she’s a loving aunt and “big sister” figure to both William and Kate. William even took Sophie as his date to a documentary screening last year, and Sophie and Kate are often paired together for formal events. Sophie’s PR always lays it on so thick, and you would think that she and Kate are regularly confiding in each other, which I strongly suspect that basically only see each other at events like Remembrance Sunday. That was where Sophie was seen putting a supportive hand on Kate’s shoulder, which launched Becky English’s weird new story about how Sophie and Kate bonded over how much they hated Meghan Markle or something. Some highlights:

Kate and Sophie support each other’s work: While the future Queen has focused on domestic issues such as mental health and the well-being of under-fives, Sophie has travelled solo to Chad, Ethiopia and even war-torn Ukraine – campaigning on women’s rights and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. And yet there is no competition between them, as was sometimes claimed in the early days of Diana and Sarah. Both respect each other’s work and they are mutually supportive of their approaches to their royal roles.

Kate admires Sophie: I am told Catherine also has ‘enormous admiration’ for Sophie as mother to Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, 21, and the Earl of Wessex, 16 – both of whom have been brought up to value their privilege while having freedom away from the royal radar. It’s an approach Catherine is trying to adopt with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis within constrictions of their higher profiles and future roles. Catherine is said to be especially fond of level-headed Lady Louise, studying English literature at her alma mater St Andrews.

Sophie is pushing Louise to become a working royal: Louise is a member of the University Officers’ Training Corps and keen to pursue a career in the military, diplomacy or law. Some in royal circles suspect that, under a future King William V, Lady Louise could be called on to support the family at an increasing number of royal engagements – and shore up their dwindling ranks. ‘She’s an absolutely delightful young woman and would be a real asset,’ says a family friend.

Sophie & Kate’s issues with Meghan: Interestingly, I am told, both ‘repeatedly’ reached out to Meghan when she joined the Royal Family – Sophie particularly so as the late Queen valued her wise and steady counsel. They continued to do so even after the Duchess of Sussex first publicly voiced her unhappiness in 2019, telling journalist Tom Bradby that few people had asked if she was ‘OK’ as she struggled to adapt to royal life. Both women were ‘shocked’ (and probably slightly angered) at the suggestion – not least because they felt it was Meghan who had rebuffed them. But I know they were concerned enough at the apparent strength of the Duchess of Sussex’s feelings that they continued to offer their support. Needless to say, it was not taken up. There is no doubt the ensuing ‘Sussex saga’ brought Sophie and Catherine even closer as they defended Queen Elizabeth, their own families and the institution they had worked so hard to support.

Sophie wants to be Kate’s closest advisor: ‘There have been some really kind and wise people along the way who have helped the princess over the years, and Sophie is very much one of those,’ one royal insider says. Mark Foster-Brown, the Edinburghs’ close friend, has also echoed this, previously telling me: ‘Sophie has been a very positive reference point and sounding board for the Duchess of Cambridge. Their relationship has really strengthened. It will be absolutely critical for [the princess] to have a female backup. And she simply couldn’t get better than someone like Sophie.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Again, this is all written by Becky English, which means that one of the royal comms offices is pushing this narrative really hard, that Kate and Sophie lean on each other and that Sophie is an advisor/girlfriend/steady hand. I guess it’s all coming from Sophie, who continues to work with little attention, and she knows she can get a quick hit in the Mail if she briefs about her closeness to Kate and her “anger” towards Meghan. That alone with strengthen her bond with the Waleses – Will and Kate were never closer than when they were bullying the Sussexes, and Sophie has always tried to get a piece of that action.

As for the Meghan stuff… Kate and Sophie were not super-supportive at any point of Meghan’s brief, horrible time on that island. What did Sophie say when Kate and her mother were circulating endless stories about “Meghan making Kate cry?” What did Sophie advise when Kate was regularly freaking out about Meghan saying “baby brain” or not giving her an Easter gift? Was Sophie around when Kate was apparently regularly making disparaging comments about the skin color of Meghan’s baby?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

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If you can believe it, Angelina Jolie’s twin babies, her youngest children, turned 16 years old over the summer. Vivienne Jolie (as she calls herself) is a theater geek who was part of a Tony Award-winning production, The Outsiders musical. Meanwhile, Knox hasn’t been involved in much of anything of Angelina’s public life. He’s gone to some of his mom’s premieres over the years, but even Angelina’s biggest fans have no idea what he’s up to or what his interests are. Well, it looks like Knox is like all of the other kids in one way – happy to support his mom on a red carpet! Angelina brought Knox as her date to the Governors Awards last night.

The Governors Awards are where the special, pre-announced Oscars are handed out, like the lifetime achievement (honorary) Oscars and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (which Jolie won in 2013). Angelina was there because the Governors Awards are huge for Oscar campaigners, and Angelina is definitely campaigning for Maria. The fact that she gets to show up to premieres and events with her kids is a huge statement too. Knox is a cutie – I’ve seen some sites claim he looks more like Brad, but I don’t see it. As they kids have gotten older, they’ve gotten more of a Jolie/Marchand/Voight look.

Per WWD, Angelina wore a vintage gown which she bought at The Knit Vintage. The Knit Vintage praised Jolie on their social media for choosing a vintage look for an awards show, and they praised her low-key way of stopping into the shop on her own and picking out her own looks without input from a stylist or friend: “What makes this moment the most meaningful for us, is that we know what a true vintage lover, fan, and supporter she is. Every time Angelina shops with us, she comes in on her own. She is very present, engaged, and chooses each piece. There has not ever been a stylist with her to hold her hand or a FaceTime to a friend. It is her surrounding herself with vintage, inspired by what she puts on next.”

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

Republicans are making a big show of being “shocked” by Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, and many of them are tut-tutting the choices of Robert Kennedy Jr, Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth in particular. Kennedy is going to give everyone polio, measles and covid. Matt Gaetz is going to make the Department of Justice a haven for sexual predators. Pete Hegseth is going to ban women and people of color from the Pentagon and the armed services, all so he can create an ultra-right-wing white Christian army. But that’s not all – as it turns out, Gaetz won’t be the only sexual predator in Trump’s cabinet. Pete Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of drugging and raping her.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault as part of a nondisclosure agreement, though he maintained that their encounter was consensual, according to a statement from his lawyer Saturday and other documents obtained by The Washington Post.

Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said that Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” at the time of the incident, and maintained that police who were contacted a few days after the encounter by the woman concluded that “the Complainant had been the aggressor in the encounter.” Police have not confirmed that assertion. Hegseth agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to the woman because he feared that revelation of the matter “would result in his immediate termination from Fox,” where he worked as a host, the statement said.

The statement came after a detailed memo was sent to the Trump transition team this week by a woman who said she is a friend of the accuser. The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, alleged he raped the then-30-year-old conservative group staffer in his room after drinking at a hotel bar. The person who sent the memo to the transition team did not respond to requests for comment from The Post.

The accuser, whose identity has not been made public, filed a complaint with the police alleging she was sexually assaulted days after the Oct. 7, 2017, encounter in Monterey, California, but the local district attorney did not bring charges. Police confirmed that they investigated the incident. After she threatened litigation in 2020, Hegseth made the payment and she signed the nondisclosure agreement, his attorney said.

The detailed four-page memo about the incident has set off debate among senior Trump transition officials, but so far Trump has stood behind Hegseth. Spokesman Steven Cheung earlier this week said: “President Trump is nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his Administration. Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can get started on Day One to Make America Safe and Great Again.”

[From The Washington Post]

In the letter to the Trump transition team, the victim’s friend described in detail what happened, which is that Hegseth likely drugged her and she lost about nine hours in the night in question, and what she does remember is struggling to find her way out of Hegseth’s hotel room. She had a panic attack and felt certain that he had raped her, so she went to the emergency room and got a rape kit. The whole thing sounds like it could be a pattern. I doubt it was the first time for Hegseth, let me just say that.

Oh, and there’s also an issue about his tattoos. Several of his tattoos are, like, known white nationalist and Christofascist symbols.

And, sure enough, Hegseth has 2 Crusader tattoos: a Jerusalem Cross, the symbol of the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem on his chest, & “Deus Vult” the Crusaders’ theological cri de coeur (“God wills it”) on his bicep.

“Deus Vult” means God mandated Crusaders’ violence. 13/ pic.twitter.com/kAGwqjToyE

— Matthew D. Taylor (@TaylorMatthewD) November 13, 2024

Photos courtesy of Hegseth’s IG, YouTube videos.

While Denzel Washington has a villainous supporting role in Gladiator II, in interviews for the movie Denzel has come across as a respected elder, yet with a rather impish quality. It’s basically in the way he just talks about whatever he wants, not fearing any repercussions for spilling secrets. Like when he (probably) broke Marvel classified info by revealing he’ll be in Black Panther 3, or when he dropped ancient Roman tea that the same-sex kiss he filmed was axed from the final cut of Gladiator II. I mean, if even a king can’t push him around, why should he worry? And to give credit to Denzel, he doesn’t abuse his power (off screen). So in addition to telling King Charles not to rush him off his own red carpet, Denzel spent his time in London last week speaking with The Times for an in-depth profile. Some highlights:

On the reviews that he’s having fun in Gladiator II: “I’ve heard that too, and Macrinus is just more. More rings, more clothes, more.” He fixes me with a stare. “He wants power. How? By hook, crook, charm, smile, sex, murder, relationships and politics. Whatever it takes.” At one point, while discussing Macrinus’s sexual predilections, Washington blurts out, “Line up the virgins!” By which he means male or female, anyone will do. The actor claims that he shot a gay kiss for the film, but it was cut in the edit. “I think they got chicken.”

He doesn’t watch his films: “I watch it so I know what I’m talking about,” he says. “But I haven’t watched any film from my past from start to finish, not even Malcolm X. All you see is what you did wrong. Also why would you do it anyway?” He cackles before, rather campily, snarling: “‘Oh, wasn’t I good?’ You don’t read old articles do you? … It’s the same. ‘Ooh, I was brilliant here — what a sentence. I should try that again.’”

The three phases of life: “Well, in life, you learn, earn and then you return — as in give back. So if your life is 90 years long, up until 30 you learn and from 30 to 60 you earn.” He was 30 in 1984. “So in that era I was earning,” he laughs. “With a great agent, my career built into making money and so the earning kicked in and then life also kicked in, with bills, four kids and a house …” He grimaces. “After Malcolm X I made some real clunkers. Look them up — I won’t say their names.” However, I say, if you type his name into Google, one of the most common questions is “Is there a bad Denzel Washington movie?” “They are all in the 1990s. But I was earning. I had responsibilities.”

A good Samaritan: “You know, I stopped for gas the other day and I saw a woman stressed,” he continues. “I’m just sensitive, I guess. My sister is bipolar, so I could tell that she was mentally ill. So I said, ‘How you doing, sweetheart?’ and asked if she needed money. I said, ‘$500?’ She said no — $1,000! I thought she ain’t that crazy.!” Did she recognise you? “I don’t think so, but I gave her money. Then, as I’m pumping gas, she walked over to the shop window just rocking and a woman came out and looked like she was going to shoo her away. Then she saw me and said, ‘I love you!’ So I said, ‘You have a chance to help somebody, like I helped her.’ And the woman did. And I love that.”

[From The Times]

Denzel really can’t stop talking about all the rings he got to wear in this movie and it cracks me up! I guess the poor guy has been costume and accessory-starved in his previous films, and now he has a taste for the fun stuff. Welcome, Denzel, but fair warning: this path can get expensive. And speaking of money, I like the pragmatic way he acknowledges that there are films he made to pay the bills, the “clunkers.” And of course he’s too classy to name them, because they are solid parts of his resume that allowed him to live a life, support a family, and have enough wiggle room to help a lady out at the gas station. It’s also worth noting that he was still giving great performances even in “bad” movies. Not that he would exactly know, I guess, since he says he doesn’t watch his work. And boy did Denzel successfully spin that back on the writer, asking if he praised himself while reading his articles. I mean, to go back and marvel at your own particularly clever-witted, well-crafted sentence? That would totally be silly/idiotic/egocentric and is absolutely 100% not something I’ve ever done myself.

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Photos credit: Phil Lewis/Wenn/Avalon, IMAGO/mpi099/MediaPunch/Avalon, Starface Photo/Cover Images, Lumeimages.com/ImageBROKER/Avalon, Getty

One of the things I remember from those early seasons of The Office was how real and, for lack of a better word, accessible its cast mates were. My college roommate was cast as an extra on the season 3 episode “Women’s Appreciation.” In between when it filmed and aired, she told me that I had to follow Jenna Fischer on MySpace because she was always doing these blog posts from her computer while they were actually filming scenes. I checked her page out and thought it was so charming how engaged she was with fans. I remember that she had this really great post about her time trying to “make it” as an actress before eventually landing the role of Pam.

Whenever I’ve written about Jenna, I’ve always thought back to just how nice she seems, and it all stems back to these posts. IIRC, she even said that she’d show her castmates people’s comments and reactions. It’s been almost 20 years since the days of MySpace and The Office, and I feel like we’re finally getting some payoff. During his exclusive interview with People for his Sexiest Man Alive cover story, John Kraskinski talked about the public reaction online for those early seasons of the show. As you can imagine, there was some good mixed with some very scary.

John Krasinski has gotten used to navigating his life in the public eye. But when it comes to social media and online comments, Krasinski, 45, opted out of reading them years ago. “I remember on The Office, the computers we had [at our desks] were live, and that was the early days of like Myspace and IMDb chat rooms and stuff,” he tells PEOPLE for this week’s cover story.

His costar Jenna Fischer “was super into it and she’d go, ‘Guys, last night’s episode, they loved it and blah blah, blah. And so we’d all jump on,” the actor recalls. “One of my first forays down that rabbit hole, I was like, ‘Oh my God, what did they say?’”

Some of the comments made the actor immediately stop reading. “It was like, ‘Oh dear Lord.’ And I’ve never gone back. I’ve never gone back,” he insists. “Truly, that scared the absolute hell out of me, those chat rooms in the early days. So I can’t imagine where it’s gone since.”

Krasinski says the first time he even knew he was famous was in New York City where he lives. “It must have been season two [of The Office] because iPods had come out and I had no idea what an iPod was,” he recalls. “I remember a guy came up to me on the street and he held up an iPod and he said, ‘Look, you’re on my iPod.’ And the screen was [tiny], and I couldn’t see who it was, but it looked a lot like me. And I thought, ‘I don’t know if that’s fame or if that person’s going to kill me, but either way, that person knows me and that’s a stranger.’ So that was that was a big, big moment.”

[From People]

I totally get this. It’s fun to read the comments until it isn’t, lol. I think people gave Jenna a lot of grace because she was known for being very interactive with fans, which endeared her to a lot of them. But as The Office kept growing bigger outside of the tuned-in online fans, everyone was fair game. It’s kinda weird to remember those early days of online fandom (which started a good decade before The Office came out), but it’s equally trippy to put together in real time how it morphed into everyone thinking their opinion mattered. I’m glad John figured it out quickly and has prioritized his mental health since then.

Photos credit: Paul Drinkwater/Avalon, PNP/Wenn/Avalon, Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.com/Avalon

Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans and Lucy Liu have been hustling their film Red One in recent weeks. Given the cast, I thought this was some kind of standard espionage/action film, but no – it’s a Christmas movie. The Rock, who produced the film, plays “the North Pole’s Head of Security” and he teams up with a bounty hunter, played by Chris Evans, and they have to save Christmas after Santa is kidnapped. Sounds terrifically stupid, right? What’s hilarious is that Johnson has been giving some very out-of-touch interviews about the film, like when he claimed that watching Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer on IMAX convinced him that Red One should also be an IMAX film: “I watch ‘Oppenheimer.’ It was amazing, but I was thinking: ‘Holy sh-t. “Red One” on this screen and with this technology could be game over.’ I remember texting [director Jake Kasdan] a picture of my bare chest and a picture of the screen and we realized how cool [Imax] would be.” Which explains how Red One’s production budget bloated to $250 million, I guess. Well, funny story. Red One might be one of the biggest bombs of the year?

“Treat them the same way you treat us! How dare you?!” are some of the screams I’ve been getting from traditional major studios when it comes to the chilly box office performance of the Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans $200M Christmas action movie Red One. (“No! It’s $250M!” exclaims one ex-Amazon-er with knowledge). And at an opening of $30M, after a $10.9M Friday, we can’t ignore the fact that we’ve seen better from The Rock, as far as his solo non-Fast & Furious projects go.

And, damn, if this isn’t a high budget. That’s the biggest problem here with Red One overall. However, that’s what you get when you do business with the industrial complex that is the Rock. The gossip can cry tardiness, entourages, water bottles, schedules, studio execs asleep at the wheel and an exorbitant amount of jelly beans in Rock’s trailer — it doesn’t matter. Capisce? This is what it costs to get into business with Johnson, and the only ones who are bold enough to invest in this endeavor are streamers like Netflix with Red Notice and Amazon MGM Studios here with Red One. The Rock has yet to scale down the budget of one of his tentpoles.

First, to placate the irate, traditional model studio brass who want to put Red One side-by-side with the performance of Joker: Folie a Deux, let’s recognize the fact here that this opening for Red One is on par with the lower end of Johnson’s original IP, one of those examples being Skyscraper ($130M production cost yielding $24.9M domestic opening, $68.4M domestic final, worldwide was $304.8M booted by $98M+ from China). There’s an argument to be made that the movie in its execution is more like a lightweight Lethal Weapon for audiences than a family film, which is why we’re not seeing a rush from the latter audience.

In the same breath, Red One is arguably the best opening for a movie hatched by a streamer, besting Apple’s Killers of the Flower Moon ($23.2M) and it’s in the vicinity of where Christmas live-action movies open. Don’t knock the Rock’s star power: He’s arguably the first Hollywood star to have two No. 1 openings in a given month from two different films; the expectation is that Disney’s Moana 2 will soar to a $135M 5-day over Thanksgiving.

[From Deadline]

Deadline’s argument seems to be that The Rock’s dumbest and worst movies usually break even at the end of the day, or maybe even make the studio a little money. But it looks like Red One won’t even be able to limp along until it breaks even. While MGM-Amazon wants to keep Red One in theaters throughout the Christmas season, I doubt they’ll be able to? Not with Gladiator II and Wicked taking up so much space in the coming weeks/months, not to mention all of the awards-bait movies which will start to get wide or limited releases. All in all, it looks like Red One is going to lose a lot of money. Not as much as Joker 2 (lmao) but a lot of money.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

It is notoriously difficult to find someone to host the Oscars. It requires a lot of preparation, the pay is reportedly not that great, and thanks to social media, everyone has an opinion about what the host is doing wrong. I think Jimmy Kimmel did a good job hosting last year, but that’s because the only thing I really remember from it was him calling out a certain then 77-year-old orange man baby by asking him if it was past his “jail time.” This year, it was just a struggle as ever to find someone who was willing to do it. Kimmel said no, as did John Mulaney, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, and a bunch of other people. The only person who seemed to actually want it was RuPaul!

Well, the Oscars have found someone to host next year’s ceremony, and it’s a good pick, too: Conan O’Brien. On Friday, the Academy announced that Conan would be hosting for the first time. They also released a video featuring Conan holding an Oscar as he pretended that he’d won it as someone off-screen corrected him to tell him that he was actually the host, not a winner.

“America demanded it and now it’s happening: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme,” O’Brien said of the gig, adding: “In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars.”

Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang added that they are “thrilled and honored to have the incomparable” O’Brien serve as the host.

“He is the perfect person to help lead our global celebration of film with his brilliant humor, his love of movies, and his live TV expertise,” they continued. “His remarkable ability to connect with audiences will bring viewers together to do what the Oscars do best–honor the spectacular films and filmmakers of this year.”

In July, PEOPLE confirmed that Jimmy Kimmel declined to return to emcee the ceremony for what would have been the fifth time. John Mulaney also declined the gig, a source told PEOPLE at the time. Fellow stars like Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler and Dwayne Johnson had also been approached to host, Deadline reported in October, citing sources.

Craig Erwich, President of Disney Television Group, saluted O’Brien as the host, calling him a “preeminent comedic voice, whose decades-long success is marked by his distinctive humor and perspective.”

“He joins an iconic roster of comedy greats who have served in this role, and we are so lucky to have him center stage for the Oscars.”

“Conan has all the qualities of a great Oscars host–he is incredibly witty, charismatic and funny and has proven himself to be a master of live event television,” added Oscars executive producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan. “We are so looking forward to working with him to deliver a fresh, exciting and celebratory show for Hollywood’s biggest night.”

The 97th annual Oscars will air live Sunday, March 2, 2025, at 7pm ET/4pm PT on ABC from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

[From People]

I think that Conan is a great choice. He’s quick-witted and always brings fun, silly ideas. He also isn’t afraid to commit to the bit. His over-the-top appearance on Hot Ones still lives rent-free in my mind sometimes. I remember how hilarious his opening video montage was when he hosted the Emmys for the second time in 2006. The bit with Bob Newhart is a classic. Conan also has great relationships with the actors who have appeared on his wonderful podcast, “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” so I bet he has no issues pulling people in to do skits with him. I’m actually hopeful that the Oscars will be a fun watch this year. I’m excited to see what Conan does with the gig.

Conan O’Brien is officially your 97th Oscars host!

Tune into the biggest night in Hollywood on Sunday, March 2nd at 7e/4p, LIVE on @ABCNetwork! #Oscars @TeamCoco @ConanOBrien pic.twitter.com/ZpsGM9LEIq

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) November 15, 2024

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The Prince and Princess of Wales have not seemed especially close in years. They do not seem close emotionally nor physically, and their oft-rumored separation seems on the verge of being confirmed at times, especially when William keeps suggesting that he doesn’t see his kids for days or weeks at a time. We can see with our own eyes that William and Kate seem strained in each other’s presence, and that they seem to take pains to avoid touching each other. But this is the marriage everyone seems especially invested in, especially the royalists. Which means that it’s up to royal reporters to try to convince people not to believe their own eyes.

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s love story spans decades, and it’s still going strong. Roya Nikkhah, royals editor for The Sunday Times and co-host of the podcast “The Royals with Roya and Kate,” told Fox News Digital that the Prince and Princess of Wales are “still very into each other” after weathering a turbulent year.

“When you see them on engagements, they’re obviously still very into each other,” said Nikkhah. “One’s always looking out for the other. Recently, when they were in Southport together, you could see that… she was a bit more vulnerable. I think they’ve got each other’s backs. I think when you have that weight of public scrutiny on you, it’s very hard to keep a little bit of your private life private because you are so publicly scrutinized,” Nikkhah explained. “But if you look at the video they put out when [Kate] announced she’d finished chemotherapy, we never get to see them like that.”

“He postponed beginning full-time royal duties for as long as he could for this purpose,” said Fitzwilliams. “William and Catherine… have always indicated their private closeness and harmony, which they project publicly so well, as does their competitive spirit, especially when they relax during royal tours that involve competitive sports. As the future king and queen, they have a loving family who are the center of their lives. The recent video when Catherine told us she was clear of cancer showed intimate moments between them. The royal family is not known for public displays of affection, but their body language spoke volumes. Catherine’s illness with William spending so much time with her will, if that is possible, draw them even closer.”

[From The NY Post]

I think the timing of this story is supposed to be “the fourteenth anniversary of William and Kate announcing their engagement.” The purpose of this kind of story is muddier though – it’s not enough that Will and Kate are still technically together, it’s not enough that no one has sought the counsel of a divorce lawyer. It’s not enough that they trudged through a couple of joint appearances this year. Roya and the other royalists have to convince people that we’re witnessing some kind of grand love story. And very few are buying it. I also think that nothing has put Will and Kate’s marriage problems into sharper relief than the visible affection and love Harry and Meghan have for each other. It’s not enough to spread this fan-fiction about Will and Kate – they desperately need to convince people that the Sussexes are unhappy and on the verge of divorce.

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

On Friday, Prince Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne was in a London court for yet another hearing in the long-running lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publishers of The Sun, the Times of London, the Sunday Times and the now-defunct News of the World. Harry was part of a 31-person class-action lawsuit against NGN for their criminal activity, from hacking to blagging to paying private investigators to dig up information. At Friday’s hearing, Sherborne revealed that Harry and Labour leader Lord Watson are now the only two litigants remaining, and that everyone else had taken out-of-court settlements. Harry is potentially on the hook for millions in legal fees if this case goes sideways, but I think it’s fascinating that he has refused to take any and all settlement offers thus far. As it turns out, the hearing was about more than just setting a court date (in January). The judge ruled that Harry could use emails from courtiers and NGN executives in his case.

The Duke of Sussex can use further emails between executives of the publisher of The Sun and members of the Royal Household in his legal claim against the organisation, a High Court judge has ruled. Harry, 40, is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) over allegations he was targeted by journalists and private investigators working for the publisher, which also ran the now-defunct News Of The World.

Barristers for both sides returned to court in London to ask a judge to rule on preliminary issues before the trial in the two remaining cases, scheduled for January 2025, including whether Harry could be given access to emails between former NGN executives and members of the Royal Household between 2013 and 2019. In a ruling, Mr Justice Fancourt said there was a “degree of speculation whether any of the documents sought are going to assist the claimant’s case”, but ruled there was “sufficient justification” for some of the emails to be provided.

He said: “In all the circumstances therefore, it seems to me that there is a limited category of documents where despite the element of delay, and despite the relative lateness of the application, there is a credible case for saying a full picture is necessary in the interest of justice. I will however limit the documents that are being sought.”

David Sherborne, for Harry, had asked for the green light to see “relevant emails sent between five email accounts of NGN employees and five employees of the Royal Household” between January 2013 and September 2019, which he said would be “highly relevant” to the case. The NGN employees included Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News UK from September 2015, Robert Thomson, the chief executive of News Corp from 2013, and Mike Darcey, the chief executive of News UK until September 2015. The Royal Household employees “are those involved in Royal Communications and the Private Secretaries to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II”, the court was told.

He said: “Emails between NGN and the Palace would be highly relevant in terms of providing the full picture not only as to the actual knowledge of the claimant but also as to the position in relation to constructive knowledge, based on what the Palace was being told by NGN.” The court heard that some of the emails had already been provided by Ms Brooks as early as April last year, but Mr Sherborne said in court that these had been “cherry-picked”. These emails included contain discussions between NGN and the Royal Household before Harry began legal action in 2019, and included conversations about a possible apology being made by the publisher.

Mr Sherborne said that the further emails, as well as searching for 12 search terms within the communications of the 10 individuals, “are highly likely to be relevant” and may lead the court to draw “inescapable inferences”. NGN opposed the bid, with its barrister, Anthony Hudson KC, describing it as “disproportionate, time-consuming and costly” and that “extracting” the emails would cost £17,000.

[From The Evening Standard]

I have no idea if “the emails would cost £17,000” was intended as a laugh line, but I find it hilarious. NGN has, in recent months, shelled out millions of pounds, if not tens of millions, to settle the claims of 39 other litigants. NGN and Prince Harry have already spent millions in legal fees. And now NGN’s lawyer is quibbling over £17,000 in office fees to look for emails using certain keywords? It’s honestly worse than that – when the current CEO of the Washington Post, Will Lewis, was a chief executive for NGN, he apparently told everyone to delete everything and wipe their hard drives on a regular basis. Maybe the £17,000 is what a seance costs. Still, Harry will probably be able to get some of the emails and I bet those will be pretty damning. The ginger has been in fact-finding mode for years now

Meanwhile, the Telegraph is more explicit with who is actually being implicated in these emails – the Telegraph says, outright, that the emails will show that Harry’s father, King Charles, “acted to discourage and stymie him” in pursuing this lawsuit against NGN. There are also parameters for which communications are being sought – emails between NGN executives and senior palace courtiers in the time frame between January 2013 and September 2019. All post-Leveson. Harry wants all of the emails of Christopher Geidt and Edward Young, who were Queen Elizabeth’s private secretaries during that time frame.

There’s some talk about whether Harry will eventually have to settle as well – at some point, it’s very likely that NGN will offer a sum which is simply too big to refuse. I don’t think we’re there yet, but if that day comes, I will not blame Harry. He has taken this much further than anyone could have imagined.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Just days after the election, Justine Bateman threw a tantrum on Twitter. The tantrum was about the “intolerable period” of President Biden’s woke-ass presidency, where woke cops would arrest non-woke citizens for having incorrect opinions about cultural issues. As you can imagine, Justine Bateman is a white woman looking to center herself in the oppression Olympics, even if that oppression is “hey, you should mask up during a global pandemic.” On the heels of her Twitter tantrum, Bateman spoke to USA Today and she’s just as asinine as you would expect.

Trump won because of Americans’ exhaustion over political correctness. “Trying to shut down everybody, even wanting to discuss things that are going on in our society, has had a bad result. And we saw in the election results that more people than not are done with it. That’s why I say it’s over.”

She’s super-excited about America’s Fascist Era: Now, she says, she feels like we’re “going through the doorway into a new era” and she’s “100% excited about it.” In her eyes, “everybody has the right to freely live their lives the way they want, so long as they don’t infringe upon somebody else’s ability to live their life as freely as they want. And if you just hold that, then you’ve got it.”

The pandemic was her Vietnam: Bateman referenced COVID as an era where if you had a “wrong” opinion of some kind, society ostracized you. “All of that was met with an intense amount of hostility, so intense that people were losing their jobs, their friends, their social status, their privacy. They were being doxxed. And I found that incredibly un-American.”

Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter was a turning point. “The air kind of went out of the Woke Party balloon and I was like, ‘OK, that’s a nice feeling.’ And then now with Trump winning, and this particular team that he’s got around him right now, I really felt the air go out.”

Did she vote for Trump? She won’t say. “I’m not going to play the game. I’m not going to talk about the way I voted in my life. It’s irrelevant. It’s absolutely irrelevant. To me, all I’m doing is expressing that I feel that spiritually, there has been a shift, and I’m very excited about what is coming forth. And frankly, reaffirming free speech is good for everybody.” She also hopes “that we can all feel like we’re Americans and not fans of rival football teams.” Some may feel that diminishes their concerns regarding reproductive rights, marriage equality, tariffs, what have you. But to Bateman, she’s just glad the era of “emotional terrorism” has ended.

[From USA Today]

If the air has truly gone out of the Woke Party Balloon, why not say that she voted for Donald Trump with her whole chest? Why not own that entirely? Free Speech! But this is telling: “I’m not going to talk about the way I voted in my life. It’s irrelevant. It’s absolutely irrelevant.” It’s not actually – if you’re going to cry about wokeism run amok and how Trump won as a backlash against woke culture, why not say “and that’s why I voted for Trump?” Anyway, ignorant and hateful white women are always going to be ignorant and hateful. But hey, the majority of the electorate is with her.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.