Historically, this is the time of the year where we traditionally received an update on the current Princess of Wales. The kids were back in school and Kate would newly commit herself to promising to be keen at some point. I thought that’s what this weekend’s Times story was all about – a replacement of “a promise to be keen” with “a promise to do one appearance in November.” Sources close to Prince William heavily indicated that we should only expect to see Kate once or twice more this year, and that she would absolutely not go to Cape Town for Earthshot with William. But I was not expecting this – yet another “personal statement” from Kate, with a specially-made video. Kate is announcing that she is cancer-free, but everything else still stands – her health remains fragile, too fragile to make many commitments. Kate’s statement:

As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment.

The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown.

The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you. With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything.

This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.

Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus. Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes. I am however looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can.

Despite all that has gone before I enter this new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life. William and I are so grateful for the support we have received and have drawn great strength from all those who are helping us at this time. Everyone’s kindness, empathy and compassion has been truly humbling.

To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey – I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand. Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright.

[From Kensington Royal]

At some point, I hope we’ll learn what really happened over the past year. That being said, I don’t doubt that Kate was and perhaps is physically depleted and that she had some significant health struggles. I also genuinely hope she’s feeling better and that she gets to raise her children. All of this does feel like a phase-out though.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Real talk: I do not care about the Country Music Association Awards (the CMAs) nor do I care about the CMTs or any other country-music awards show. There are too many music award shows already without siloing country-music. But! The CMAs are arguably the most prestigious country-music awards in the country. And the CMA nominations just came out and they snubbed the f–k out of Beyonce. Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter was one of her best and most musically innovative albums of the past decade. Personally, I would put Cowboy Carter just below Lemonade and way ahead of Renaissance. Beyonce showcased her country roots, her Texas roots and claimed space for Black artists within the country-music arena. And white people hated that and they made sure to snub her for it.

The 2024 CMA Awards have showered Morgan Wallen and Post Malone with multiple nominations but heavily snubbed Beyoncé, though she had one of the year’s biggest country albums with Cowboy Carter and biggest country songs with “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

Wallen leads the way at the CMAs with seven nominations. He’s followed by Chris Stapleton and Cody Johnson, who each earned five nods, while Malone and Lainey Wilson picked up four apiece. Wilson, last year’s entertainer of the year winner, will defend her title against Wallen, Stapleton, Luke Combs and Jelly Roll at the Nov. 20 show, airing live on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter made history this year when it spent four weeks on top of Billboard’s Top country albums chart — making her the first Black woman to achieve the feat. She also became the first Black woman to hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot country songs chart with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which held the top position for a whopping 10 weeks. Both her single and album also led Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 and 200 albums charts, while seven other Cowboy Carter tracks hit the Top 10 of the Billboard country chart. The 27-track project, featuring Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, Miley Cyrus and Malone, drove cultural conversations about Black artists reclaiming the genres they started, including country music.

[From THR]

Yeah, “Texas Hold ‘Em” was great, and I feel like “II Most Wanted” should have been a major single, same with “Daughter” and “Levii’s Jeans.” It should not escape anyone’s notice that instead of recognizing an innovative, popular, brilliant country album by a Black woman from Texas, the CMAs instead lavished nominations on a violent drunk redneck who loves shouting the n-word. Choices were made and white supremacy was upheld.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Beyonce’s IG.

Karen Elson was married to Jack White from 2005 through 2013. She remarried, and her new husband is Lee Foster, who is also in the music industry. Foster owns the Electric Lady Studios, which is where Taylor Swift has recorded several albums. The Electric Lady is one of her New York hotspots, and back when she dated Matt Healy, she was constantly hosting group hangouts and recording. Well, Taylor and Travis Kelce were obviously invited to Karen and Lee Foster’s wedding, which was held at the Electric Lady. These are photos of TNT entering and exiting the wedding.

Taylor wore a floral dress by Zimmermann for the wedding. Vogue is mad about it! That’s because it’s way too pale for a wedding guest, especially someone as high-profile as Taylor. Yes, it’s more of an off-white/ecru, and yes, the floral sort of saves it. But I do think it’s iffy to wear this to a wedding, right? Her purse is Vivienne Westwood and her heels are Louboutins.

As for Travis, there have been a lot of hilarious comments about his latest look, especially with the mustache. The photos of Travis at the Chiefs game last week definitely gave a vibe of “a cop who just got suspended for excessive use of force.” But in these photos, with his hair cleaned up, I have to admit that he looks pretty good? Like… the man has an aura. He looks like he knows how to lay some pipe.

It feels like a big deal that Travis made a point of being Taylor’s date to this wedding. Sources told Us Weekly recently that their friends “hope an engagement is a sure thing in the future” and that Taylor wants to complete her Eras tour and then focus more on her future and her personal life. She’s got some time off right now and she apparently plans to spend most of it with Travis.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

I love watching Architectural Digest’s YouTube channel. Some of those crazy expensive houses that they highlight are to die for. I’m absolutely one of those people who loves looking at real estate listings for fun while d-cking around on the Internet during downtime. I really like when AD does the celebrity home tours. I can trace this back all the way to Mariah Carey’s 2002 MTV Cribs tour! That one was so iconic. Remember when she showed off her insane bathroom only to then confess to having only used the shower one time because she couldn’t figure out all of the knobs to turn it off? Absolute diva.

Anyway, Jennifer Garner did an AD tour last week for her custom-designed Los Angeles mansion. It’s absolutely gorgeous and although it’s super fancy, it’s also pretty down-to-earth. The video is around 11 minutes long and shows off a stunning living room with giant doors that open up to extend it out into a giant patio, a crazy “slumber party” room with a bunch of bunk beds for when her kids have friends over, and a Harry Potter-themed reading nook/office for her 12-year-old son, Samuel, which is, appropriately, in a space underneath the staircase.

Jennifer Garner opened up her gorgeous Los Angeles home for an Architectural Digest tour and it did not disappoint. From a Harry Potter-themed office for her son to an unofficial slumber party room, Garner’s home both centered on her children while simultaneously showcasing stunning design.

Garner, who built her home with designers Steve and Brooke Giannetti, walked fans through the modest mansion.

“I’m such a private person about my home and here I’ve just taken you through the entire house, and really it’s for a couple of reasons,” the actor said in the Architectural Digest video.

“I’ve never built anything all by myself before, and I’m so proud of it. I’m filled with gratitude every time I walk into my house, that I get to live here, that I’m so lucky to have my kids here. It’s unlike me, and yet I’m so happy to have shared it with you.”

Garner shares her three kids — Violet, 18, and… Fin, 15, and son Samuel, 12 — with ex-husband Ben Affleck. Throughout the tour, she mentions her kids’ activities in the home.

While showcasing the living room area — which featured an entire back wall of large sliding glass doors that open to create an indoor-outdoor space — Garner jokes that sometimes she has to look away when damp teens come inside from the pool.

“The only problem is, if my kids are having their class pool party here or something, it’s very hard to keep wet kids out of the house,” she jokes. “I have to really just stand guard and say, ‘Get away.’ I’ll look over, and there will be two wet teenagers playing the piano, and I’m just like, ‘OK, don’t look, don’t look.’”

Garner adds that she’s “so happy” with her cozy home, which she said makes you “feel like (you’re) inside a treehouse.”

“You know how you just imagine it, and then some day you have a perfect moment where it actually comes true? That is a, like, (chef’s kiss) kind of moment,” she says.

She showed off several gathering areas inside the home, including a gorgeous blue library/TV room, a study area with a giant fish tank and reading nook as well as a slumber party room with several bunk beds.

Garner also revealed her son’s Harry Potter-themed “office,” which, fittingly, is a small room under the staircase. Noting Garner and her kids are huge fans of the series — which opens on an 11-year-old Potter who lives in “a cupboard under the stairs” — they decided to make the room similarly magical. Painted a dark blue with darks and other fantastical elements, Garner says the room is meant to be a “little spot for him to come in and dream.”

“Mostly he hides from me and eats candy but I can’t blame him,” she jokes. “I’d do the same thing.”

[From Today]

Jen’s house is so nice! It really fits her personality. I love the Harry Potter office nook! That’s so clever. That outdoor deck and pool area is incredible, too. I also love that Jen confesses to keeping her children’s toys from when they were younger easily accessible because once in a while, as “big kids,” they’ll still pull those old toys out and play with them. That is so relatable because it’s so true! You know Jen Garner is that mom who takes Uno or some puzzle out on the weekends for them to do together while talking about life. At the end of the tour, she explains that she’s “so proud” of her house because she’s never built anything by herself before. I’m a big Jen fan going back to her Alias days and I’m really happy that she’s successful and not an a-hole about it.

Here’s Jen’s Architectural Digest home tour if you’re interested in watching it:

Photos are screenshots from YouTube/Architectural Digest

In late August, Prince Harry shocked the British media by turning up at Robert Fellowes’ funeral in Norfolk. Fellowes was married to Lady Jane Spencer, Harry’s aunt. Sources had previously indicated that Harry would not fly in for the funeral, and no one learned about Harry’s arrival until the day after the funeral. Harry reportedly stayed at Althorp, the Spencer family’s estate, with his uncle Charles, the Earl Spencer. I assumed that Harry used the visit to also spend some time at his mother’s grave – Diana is buried at Althorp, and Harry was last there in 2022, when he took Meghan. Now the Daily Beast has confirmation of that, only they’re presenting it in the grossest way possible.

Prince Harry visited his mother Princess Diana’s grave when he was staying at her ancestral home in the U.K. last week, The Daily Beast has been told by a friend and neighbor of Diana’s brother, the 9th Earl, Charles Spencer.

The gesture will cement a perception that Harry wishes to reinforce his identity as Diana’s son, rather than continuing to be defined by his exhausting feud with his brother, Prince William.

The grave is on a small island in a lake on the magnificent Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire. It was located in this isolated and hard to reach location to deter ghouls and sightseers, and has always been reached via a small rowing boat. In May, Earl Spencer revealed he had been given new handcrafted wooden boat by a friend to reach the island.

The Spencer friend told The Daily Beast: “Harry visited the grave when he was in Althorp. It’s a very special place for all the family but especially Harry. It was a significant part of his motivation for staying there.” They were not willing to divulge further details of Harry’s visit. Harry’s office declined to comment to The Daily Beast. However, sources in Harry’s camp did tell US magazine People that he had stayed at Althorp.

The funeral of Fellowes was previously described to The Daily Beast as a “a huge gathering of the Spencer clan.” Intriguingly, it seems that the service might have been delayed to enable Harry to attend. Fellowes’ died on 29 July and the funeral took place on August 28. Harry is required to give 28 days notice to U.K. police in order to receive police protection when visiting the U.K.

[From The Daily Beast]

CB and I talked about the issue of police protection in this week’s Gossip with Celebitchy podcast – my gut tells me that Harry did NOT give 28-days notice to the Windsors or the Met Police for his visit. It feels like the cops or the Windsors would have leaked his plans if he gave them any notice. I think this was some kind of maneuver by Harry, to experiment with how it would go if he went to the UK with just his private security and stayed at Althorp rather than a hotel. I’ll just say that the reaction from the Windsors after Harry’s visit kind of showed that they had no idea that he was in the country.

As for “The gesture will cement a perception that Harry wishes to reinforce his identity as Diana’s son, rather than continuing to be defined by his exhausting feud with his brother” – Harry has always made regular visits to Althorp to visit his mother’s grave, and he’s always nurtured his relationships with the Spencers. He is his mother’s son and he’s more of a Spencer than a Windsor, and everyone knows that. William is the one who’s mad that he can’t claim to be “Diana’s son” while simultaneously lying about his mother and calling her paranoid.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

King Charles loves nothing more than bullying and berating his brother Andrew through the British press. For much of the past two years, Charles has been trying to get Andrew out of Royal Lodge, the stately mansion which is part of the Royal Windsor estate. Andrew has a valid lease, but Charles doesn’t care. Charles has been trying to force Andrew to move into Frogmore Cottage, which still sits vacant ever since Charles evicted the Sussexes in January 2023. What’s funny/interesting is that whenever Charles briefs the media about some new punishment for Andrew, Andrew pushes back. Hard. Andrew’s “friends” spent all of August calling Charles a petty, jealous and childish king, and they also indicated that that Andrew will outlive Charles by many years. Ouch. Well, the latest is this new piece in the Times:

The King is keen to find a way to “solve” the issue of the Duke of York’s living situation as a new television drama serves up a reminder of Prince Andrew’s fall from grace. Andrew’s police security was removed after a Home Office review and he is now guarded by a security team which costs an estimated £3 million-a-year and is funded from the King’s private wealth. Charles also provides Andrew with a generous living allowance at his own expense. Now, however, the King is said to be losing patience with his brother and has made it clear that there are now “only two possible options” for Andrew.

The first is for the duke to find the means to become independent and pay for his own expenses, which would cover his security and the upkeep on his home. However, with no discernible income except for a modest naval pension it is not clear that Andrew could meet the costs. The second option, those close to Charles say, is for Andrew to agree to move to “more suitable accommodation”.

The King is understood to be happy to continue to support Andrew at Frogmore Cottage and also to continue to provide for Sarah, Duchess of York, Andrew’s former wife who, like the King, has undergone cancer treatment. A source said: “It is now two years into the King’s reign and he wants the matter settled.”

Despite the continued embarrassment of multimillion-pound television dramas depicting his downfall, Andrew remains insistent that he will stay at Royal Lodge, which he leases from the Crown Estate. The lease will run until 2078 although there is little indication that Andrew would be able to afford the upkeep costs without his brother’s support.

The King, meanwhile, is said to be “reconsidering” the amount of funding he gives Andrew. The contract, which provides a ten-strong security detail to guard the duke at Royal Lodge, runs out in the autumn and is not expected to be renewed. No replacement team is thought to have been lined up. It is understood that steps have already been taken to withdraw funding from Andrew. Rather than a punitive step, it is thought to be a decision of financial pragmatism and a way of securing the Duke’s long-term security as he gets older.

A friend of the King’s said that the duke was “taking longer than desirable to recognise the reality of the situation, even though it is clearly the most sensible course of action… It can be done tidily or untidily. It can be done with grace and dignity or it can be forced upon him. It’s all rather sad. But as things stand, life at Royal Lodge is set to become increasingly cold and uncomfortable for the duke. The only question now is when he will realise that he has become a prisoner of his own pride.”

[From The Times]

How many damn times is Charles going to brief the exact same thing? “We can do this the easy way or the hard way!” “I really mean it this time, I’m going to cut off your security!” “You must do as I say, I am the king!” Meanwhile, Andrew is like: stop acting so childish, you’re embarrassing yourself, and btw, I know where the bodies are buried. I’m not even on Andrew’s side about anything, but Charles’s behavior here is unsettling and his obsession with “taking” Royal Lodge is really messed up.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

It’s a good time to point out, again, that Jeff Bezos appointed a sleazy British tabloid guy to the CEO position at the Washington Post. The guy is Will Lewis, and he’s already done the most to turn the venerable institution into Fleet Street on the Potomac. He tried to bring in more of his old Murdoch-media buddies, and he’s playing by British-media games when it comes to trying to shut down stories about his own history of criminal and unethical behavior. Well, now this British-tabloidization of an American newspaper has seeped into the American presidential race and coverage of that race. WaPo published a long-read called: “Kamala Harris ran her office like a prosecutor. Not everyone liked that.” Would you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris won’t just be ordered around by staff? Who does she think she is? Yes, the Post is absolutely trying to “Meghan Markle” VP Harris. Where have we heard that before??

VPOTUS has a demanding management style!! On the day after President Joe Biden decided to end his reelection bid in July, more than 300 former staffers for Vice President Kamala Harris publicly endorsed her candidacy — a flurry of alumni support with little precedent in this already unusual campaign….But in interviews, former staff who signed the letter acknowledged it also addressed one of Harris’s perceived weaknesses as a candidate and elected official: her demanding management style. People who have worked for Harris say her interactions with staff can resemble a prosecutor prying details from a witness, asking pointed questions about everything from her schedule to policy briefings.

Biden threatened to fire people if he caught them leaking sh-t about Harris: The situation for Harris grew so worrisome in the summer of 2021 that Biden summoned his senior staff and issued a warning: If they were leaking negative stories about Harris, he would fire them, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. Biden, who as president was surrounded by a cadre of close advisers who had stayed with him for decades, also privately called Harris to reassure her that she retained his support, they said.

VP Harris wants her staff to know what they’re talking about?! Some of Harris’s early staff was also discomfited by her prosecutorial leadership style, former staffers said, which included pointed questions from Harris about footnotes in their reports or the reasons behind why certain items had been added to her schedule. “It’s stressful to brief her, because she’s read all the materials, has annotated it and is prepared to talk through it,” said one former aide. “You can’t come to the vice president and just ask her to do something,” said another staffer. “You need to have a why.”

You can’t compliment her!! That behavior manifests in other encounters, the staffer continued, such as when someone pays her compliments. “She’ll turn to them and say ‘why?,’ and that throws them off,” the staffer said.

[From WaPo]

There’s a lot more in the article, and what’s weird is that this is like the fifth attempt in the past three months to portray VP Harris as an “angry Black woman” whose “forceful” managerial style makes white people cry salty white tears. Sound familiar? The exact same people are running the exact same play that they ran on the Duchess of Sussex. The 5 am emails, the white tears, the inability to cope when answering to a Black woman boss. “It’s stressful to brief her, because she’s read all the materials, has annotated it and is prepared to talk through it.” OH NO, she’s prepared? She read the materials and wanted to discuss it?? No wonder these people are former staffers – they sound like f–king morons.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce flew from Kansas City to New York on Friday, and they were out and about throughout the weekend. They attended a wedding on Saturday, and then they unexpectedly turned up at the US Open men’s final, where Italy’s Jannik Sinner beat the snot out of American Taylor Fritz. Taylor is not a regular at tennis matches, and judging solely from the photos and videos of Taylor and Travis, she looked pretty drunk for much of the match. The US Open’s signature drink is the Honey Deuce, and she looked like she had several.

The bigger story is that Travis and Taylor were joined by an unpleasant guest, and no, I’m not talking about Travis’s unfortunate Gucci bucket hat. Patrick and Brittany Mahomes joined them in the VIP suite, and it appears that the Mahomeses probably flew into New York with them, possibly even on Taylor’s private plane. At last Thursday’s Chiefs game, Brittany and Taylor sat in separate suites, and many Swifties hoped that Taylor was distancing herself from Brittany after Brittany had made it abundantly clear that she’s a huge supporter of Donald Trump. But no, Taylor and Brittany were hugging and loving on each other at the men’s final. Taylor is totally fine with being this friendly with a Trump supporter.

I’ve been giving Taylor the benefit of the doubt for weeks, believing that she was in a tricky position given Travis and Patrick’s relationship. But I’ve run out of excuses for her. This coziness with a moron MAGAt plus her refusal to shut down Donald Trump’s AI “Swift endorsement” plus her absolute silence on the election in general? Nah.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Introduction: Minutes 0 to 4:15
I watched Thunder Force on Netflix and loved it. Chandra had to subscribe to ESPN+ due to DirectTV’s feud with Disney. She is watching In the Arena with Serena Williams. You can listen below or on YouTube!

Royals: Minute 4:15 to 21:00
The last time we recorded the Sussexes had arrived in Colombia. They pulled off that trip like professionals and the optics were amazing. Colombia’s Vice President Francia Marquez said that Harry and Meghan’s visit really highlighted tourism. We heard that it only cost Colombia less than $60,000 to provide security for them. The Sussexes did a great job making photos available to agencies. Emily Andrews let it slip that Buckingham Palace had talking points about this trip.

King Charles went to Southport last week to visit the families of children who were murdered in a knife attack. Charles has been staying in Scotland at his smaller home, Birkhall, while other members of the family stay at Balmoral. Kate was seen headed to church there on August 25th. There was a story in GB News that Zara and Mike Tindall were being asked to relieve Prince William and Princess Kate. There’s an undercurrent that William and Kate are incapable of doing their jobs.

Prince Harry made a secret visit to the UK last week to go to his uncle Robert Fellowes’ funeral. Harry stayed at Althorp with the Earl Spencer. You could tell that the Windsors were super mad they didn’t know about Harry’s visit ahead of time. The Windsors are mad at how much the Spencers support Harry.

There’s been a narrative in the British press that Harry wants to come back to the UK to do royal work. It’s clearly coming from William’s side. This narrative has been pushed by William for years. Chandra thinks this storyline is an attempt to distract from what’s going on with Kate.

Toward the end of this month Prince Harry is going to be in New York solo for UN climate week. He’s going to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative. Prince William will not be going to NY on behalf of Earthshot despite pathetically trying to copykeen Harry’s trip last year. We wonder why William and Kate didn’t do any events during the Sussexes’ trip.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: Minutes 21:00 to 31:30
This week both Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt premiered their movies at the Venice Film Festival. Angelina is starring as opera star Maria Callas in the biopic Maria. She is getting Oscar buzz for that and it’s coming out on Netflix. Braad is starring with George Clooney in the Apple streaming movie Wolfs. It was supposed to come out in theaters but that’s not happening. Brad Pitt made his red carpet debut with Ines de Ramon.

Brad and Angelina are covering People Magazine this week with the title “Brad and Angelina, their 8 year divorce, Can they Finally Move On,” as if Brad’s legal battle against Angelina is mutual. The whole narrative comes from Brad and it’s the same garbage we’ve seen from him for years as he uses legal means to continue to try and punish Angelina for leaving him after he abused her and their children.

Brad Pitt looks pulled and puffy recently. Here’s a link to the Instagram I mentioned about his face lift. Here’s a link to the Tweet I mentioned comparing Pitt, Cruise and Tim Walz. There’s been a shift in public perception about Brad Pitt, especially since Shiloh changed her last name.

Comments of the week: Minutes 31:30 to end
Chandra’s comment of the week is from It Really Is You, Not Me on the post about Justin Theroux’s engagement. My comments of the week are from HeatherC and Indica on Rosie’s post about Oasis potentially adding US dates to their tour. Here’s a link to the story I wrote about seeing The Cure and The Pixies.

Thanks for listening bitches!

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The British media has already spent several weeks hyping Prince Harry’s 40th birthday, which is on September 15th. He is a Virgo King, and I appreciate the reminders for his Virgo King status. What I don’t understand is why these people are going Full Stalker and screaming, crying and throwing up about Harry’s birthday and What It Means. The man has lived quietly in Montecito for over four years. He has made it abundantly clear that he does not f–k with 99.9% of the people he left behind in 2020. Why did the Daily Mail send their most unhinged columnist Jan Moir to Montecito just to stalk Harry? And why is this piece dripping with bile towards Californians, Americans and celebrities? Moir’s piece- “Inside Harry’s glitzy Montecito world as he turns 40. JAN MOIR visits the enclave and poses the tantalising question: What DOES the Prince do all day?” – is journalistic malpractice. Here are the parts which I found most telling:

Yet for most people, waking up on your 40th birthday inside a nine-bedroom Californian ­mansion with a ­beautiful wife and two adorable children would surely be a testament to success and achieving life goals. A vindication of good fortune and even better planning. So on the morning of September 15, Prince Harry could be forgiven for congratulating ­himself on the road he has travelled to reach this point. As his milestone birthday approaches, he certainly deserves credit for having the courage to change history and his own destiny by ­choosing a future he felt was a better fit for his family and for himself.

Yet although Harry has gained much in the four years since he fled to America to escape the oppression and tyranny of inherited wealth, it could be argued he has lost even more. As he reaches his fifth decade, he is far removed from the life he once knew and has lost touch with many of the friends he once had, while a sinkhole of family estrangement has opened beneath the soles of the grey suede booties he still inexplicably favours.

Perhaps the truth is that the Duke of Sussex had to destroy his past to create his future – but even those sympathetic to his cause wonder if he really had to damage so many other members of the Royal Family in the process. Boom, boom went his relentless artillery, wounding nearest, dearest and even firing a few cannonballs at the monarchy itself. The blames and claims made in his best-selling memoir Spare, along with accusations levelled in various television specials, appalled many in royal circles.

Today, Prince Harry’s reward for this treachery is living the ­American dream, right down to the five-car garage, the azure swimming pool and the orange and lemon trees in his own citrus grove. Yet there must be moments when even he wonders if the juice was worth the squeeze.

Turning 40 is a milestone for anyone, but it brings the Duke to a crucial crossroads. Surely it is now or never to make some kind of amends with his family back home. Not just for himself and his wife, but to provide a rich family heritage for his children, rather than the cold void of ­relatives they will probably never meet and memories they will never have.

In California, this birthday will no doubt be quite different: not just the dishes served but also the ­flavour of the life he lives. How does he fit in, what does he do all day? Surely there are only so many Zoom meetings, chicken feeds and strategy-planning sessions you can fit into an afternoon, along with the school runs and the meditation ­sessions he never skips. Yet amid the sunshine and the palm trees, does Harry ever wonder if he has escaped one prison only to end up trapped in another?

[From The Daily Mail]

What prison is he trapped in now? The prison of well-seasoned food, a beautiful wife, happy children and meaningful, fulfilling work? That kind of prison? They have nothing else to hold over his head. Charles evicted the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage, Charles refuses to make appropriate security arrangements, and Charles and William are sick with jealousy and rage towards Harry and that negativity spills out constantly, putting a target on Harry’s back. Instead of just admitting that Harry is better off and in a happier and healthier situation now, they cry about how his kids need to know the Windsors, or how Harry should want to spend time with the old mates who said racist sh-t about his wife. The crux of it is: why doesn’t Harry miss us like we miss him? Why doesn’t he want to be his father and brother’s scapegoat? Why is he so successful and busy, why does he keep making the Windsors look so dull and lazy?? Anyway, surely the Mail would be better off financing Jan Moir’s trip to Norfolk to investigate WTF is really going on with the royals y’all actually pay for.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.