Here are some photos of Prince William in London on Tuesday, where he did an event in Sheffield. He went to the “Homewards Sheffield Local Coalition meeting,” and this is all about his Homewards initiative, where he’s “solving homelessness” by giving some grants to local homeless charities and maybe creating some low-income housing in Cornwall. While in Sheffield, he spoke to Kate Joseph, chief executive of Sheffield City Council, who mentioned something about childhood experiences. William was quoted: “That’s my wife’s area. She needs to sit here.” This mention of his wife made national headlines in the UK, because Huevo has bungled this situation so badly. At his previous public events, he refused to make any reference to Kate or her health. Speaking of, there seems to be a steady stream of royal experts criticizing William and Kensington Palace for all of their communications f–kups.

As the best selling royal author Christopher Andersen told The Daily Beast: “Every time Kate pops her head above the parapet, it only serves to remind us that we still don’t know what the hell is going on. Throwing gas on the fire every few days is no way to put it out.”

Rumor or not, the idea of a sit-down interview with the BBC must have crossed the minds of Kate’s staff as one way to definitively end the speculation. However, one reputation and crisis manager, who asked not to be named, told The Daily Beast: “I deal in outcomes, so I wouldn’t advise doing an interview with the BBC because interviews with royals on the BBC have not gone well in the past. The truth is that the correct thing to do entirely depends on what is wrong with her. If, for example, it is a hysterectomy, as has been widely rumored, it might make sense to do an interview with a newspaper explaining what was wrong with her.”

“It would also be sensible to release the originals of the Mother’s Day photographs. That would go a long way towards re-establishing trust. Don’t forget that, on the plus side, they do now seem to have both the Sun and the Mail on-side, basically saying, ‘She’s fine, leave her alone.’ That is a huge part of the British press and it’s no small accomplishment. They might decide to stick to Plan A, ignore the social media stuff, have her appear on Easter Sunday and hope it all goes away.”

[From The Daily Beast]

The idea that Kate would actually deign to do a sit-down interview is a pipe dream. She’s not doing that! Nor should she, honestly. If this whole thing is about “protecting Kate,” then they shouldn’t have to prep her for days/weeks to answer questions and add to all of her stress. Of course, it’s not clear to me that William actually gives a sh-t about protecting Kate – he and his staff were happy to toss her under the bus for the Mother’s Day photo fiasco, so that certainly wasn’t about protecting her.

Robert Jobson also wrote a curious piece in the Mail, all about how William and Kate are handling everything brilliantly – such mystery, such magic! – except he also points out that William was wrong to pull out of King Constantine’s memorial so abruptly and William has been wrong to be so furtive and secretive. Jobson even writes: “William and Kate are the stars of the Royal Family now and will be in the future. After a series of own-goals, there is less cause for confidence elsewhere, however. This has not been the British Monarchy’s finest hour.” Jobson’s Buckingham Palace sources are telling him that this is purely a KP problem, but Jobson points out that the credibility of the entire British monarchy has been damaged by KP’s shenanigans. Anyway, the piece is overwrought but gently critical, and I think that’s significant.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Here in America, I think people have a healthy sense of privacy and most Americans have a sense of “that’s not any of my business.” Like, we have a healthy curiosity (sometimes an unhealthy curiosity), but we generally believe that everyone has a right to privacy, especially medical privacy. There are also laws governing who can access medical records. We have HIPAA and the UK has similar regulations about private data. That being said, as an American, it’s unthinkable to me that someone like the Princess of Wales could have major abdominal surgery and no one saw her come in or out of the hospital and no one in the hospital leaked anything about her two-week hospital stay. Like, in America, someone would have sold some info about a VIP. A nurse, a tech, hell even a doctor, they would have sold some info to TMZ or made a TikTok for clout or something. The thing is, it’s the same way in the UK – VIPs are constantly having their medical information sold out in the press. It’s been more than a month and a half since Kate left the London Clinic (allegedly) and we still haven’t heard one thing about her mysterious hospital stay. Apparently, a staff member at the London Clinic did try to access Kate’s records though!!

The world renowned hospital where the Princess of Wales was treated has launched an investigation over claims staff attempted to access her private medical records. Bosses have launched a probe into the claims Kate’s confidentiality was breached while she was a patient in The London Clinic in January. At least one member of staff was said to have been caught trying to access the 42-year-old’s notes. The allegations has sent shock waves through the hospital in ­Marylebone, Central London, which has a reputation for discreetly treating of the royal family, former presidents, PMs and celebrities.

One insider revealed: “This is a major security breach and incredibly damaging for the hospital, given its unblemished reputation for treating members of the Royal Family. Senior hospital bosses contacted Kensington Palace immediately after the incident was brought to their attention and assured the palace there would be a full investigation. The whole medical staff have been left utterly shocked and distraught over the allegations and were very hurt that a trusted colleague could have allegedly been responsible for such a breach of trust and ethics.”

The probe comes after comes as video and pictures emerged this week of Kate and Prince William at a farm shop in Windsor, amid conspiracy theories being churned out by internet trolls about her absence since having an abdominal operation. It is a criminal offence for any staff in an NHS or private healthcare setting to access the medical records of a patient without the consent of the organisation’s data controller. The Metropolitan Police did not confirm whether it had been informed of the allegations.

The London clinic refused to comment on the claims but said: “We firmly believe that all our patients, no matter their status, deserve total privacy and confidentiality regarding their medical information.” The hospital informed the Palace of the alleged breach as soon as it was discovered, sources said. Kensington Palace said: “This is a matter for The London Clinic.”

Kate is understood to have been made aware of the alleged incident. Kate, who has been recovering at home in Windsor since she was discharged from the hospital on January 29 after 13 nights there, has chosen not to reveal the reason she was admitted.

[From The Daily Mirror]

Again, I know it’s none of my business and Kate has the right to medical privacy, the same as anyone else. But I would absolutely be curious to learn the exact dates of when she was checked in and how many times William visited her, because I get the feeling people told a lot of lies about both of those subjects. I would assume, given the nature of the British press, that the person who tried to access Kate’s records was probably going to sell the information to one of the tabloids. Don’t you think? Perhaps one of the tabloids even contacted the person and asked him or her to specifically access Kate’s records.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Dakota Johnson has an interesting interview with Bustle, and my first thought was “wow, quick turnaround from Madame Web bombing at the box office.” While she does get into the Madame Web catastrophe, the point of this interview is Dakota promoting her production company and her new book club, TeaTime Book Club. It’s yet another side-gig for Dakota, and it feels like she’s trying to go for the Reese Witherspoon route of starting a production company and book club to find properties to buy and produce. Dakota is not online and she would rather be sitting in her beach house reading a good book or spending time with artists and her family. Some highlights from this Bustle piece:

She’s a beach person: “I live way out by the beach, out in Malibu. I need to be in nature. I can be out at my house and not see or speak to another human for days on end, and I feel wonderful.”

Her book club is different: “There are a lot of people who do things like I do and they have book clubs, and I was always like, Oh, the way that I read books, it’s so different. I want to fall down the rabbit hole every time I read… to invest in the book, invest in the language, invest in the references. Like, Oh, what is that piece of art she’s talking about? Who’s that musician?” I’ve found in book clubs that you’re just kind of on your own. You watch someone like me have a conversation with the author, but I don’t feel invested in that.”

Press tours are ridiculous: “Publicly… all that stuff is ridiculous. It’s hard for me to fake it. It’s hard for me sometimes to go along with the silliness of doing a press tour. I had the LA premiere for Madame Web and then went to Mexico City. I had pneumonia and was on steroids and the nebulizer and doing all these little things, and I was really, really sick and felt horrible. I looked horrible. I was like, Ugh. And then the movie came out and it was… Like, I can’t take any of it seriously at all. I dunno.

The critical reaction to Madame Web: “Unfortunately, I’m not surprised that this has gone down the way it has. It’s so hard to get movies made, and in these big movies that get made — and it’s even starting to happen with the little ones, which is what’s really freaking me out — decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it’s made by committee. Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not. Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullsh*t. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to f*cking want to see those.

Her thoughts now that ‘Madame Web’ is over: “It was definitely an experience for me to make that movie. I had never done anything like it before. I probably will never do anything like it again because I don’t make sense in that world. And I know that now. But sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it’s one thing and then as you’re making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you’re like, Wait, what? But it was a real learning experience, and of course it’s not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds, but I can’t say that I don’t understand.

On the Puriteens questioning the need for sex scenes in movies: “I feel like people get up in arms about things just to be up in arms about things. This culture of hating — it’s so boring. Because you know those people who are like, “Why is there a sex scene in it?,” are going to go home and watch p0rn. If there’s a sex scene that feels gratuitous and out of context, then yeah, say that. But if it’s part of the story and it makes sense, what are you going to say? It’s also like, can everyone just f*cking relax and stop judging each other so hard? Everyone’s doing their best. I mean some people are not. Some people are really doing their absolute worst and we see you.

Being in love with a musician: “I love me a musician. I think it’s talent. I think it’s the way that they see the world. But I think it really depends on the musician. I’ve known some sh-tty ones. I love watching [Chris Martin on stage]. I could watch him every day. I don’t know how to explain it. I feel like, I don’t know… I’m watching my most favorite being do his most favorite thing. When people are really good at things, it is [sexy.] Except being a dictator.

She refers to Chris’s kids as her stepkids: “I think as long as you’re not hurting anyone physically, emotionally, psychologically, do you. I like that people are exploring existence and how to relate to other people. My stepson had a friend who was saying that at her school, some kids are identifying as cats. And I was like, OK, good for you.

Being a stepmom: “I love those kids like my life depends on it. With all my heart.”

She loves to lie in interviews: “The most fun. The most fun. Sometimes when you’re in a ridiculous situation, you just have to be ridiculous.

[From Bustle]

I was prepared to hate on her Madame Web answers, but she handled that really well. She telegraphed all of that during the publicity tour as well, that the thing she signed up for was not the thing which was made. Too many cooks in the kitchen, too many executives putting their two cents in, etc. Some of MW’s failure will fall on Dakota’s shoulders, but she won’t own it solely. A lot of people made a lot of bad decisions.

As for the rest of it… it’s interesting that she refers to Chris’s kids as her stepkids! We’ve known for a while that Dakota and Gwyneth are fine with each other, and Dakota and Apple Martin have been photographed together too. I can’t imagine what it’s like to navigate all of that. I also wonder if Chris will be mad that Dakota talked about him in an interview. She usually avoids all of that.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.

Richard Simmons sent the interwebs into a frenzy on Monday when he tweeted that he was dying. You see, the public mistakenly took that to mean… that he was dying. But he’s not! Well, he is, in the sense that “we all are dying,” as he further said in his post. But the point is he is not presently dying. He just wanted to inspire us all to seize the day and take care of our health. And he never meant to cause upset or confusion by posting a nuanced message on Twitter that could have ambiguous interpretations. Are we clear now?

Richard Simmons got social media users working up a sweat.

The beloved fitness personality — who rose to fame in the 1970s and ‘80s thanks to his eccentric and energetic personality and his accessible at-home “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” line of aerobics videos — posted a cryptic message Monday on X, formerly Twitter, that confused and concerned a lot of users.

“I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am …dying,” Simmons began his post. “Oh I can see your faces now. The truth is we all are dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death. Why am I telling you this?”

Although some wrote off the post as just a joke — especially since Simmons followed up that tweet with a thread of health tips — its wording never specifies whether Simmons is just trying to make light of the fleetingness of life or an actual life-threatening diagnosis.

It was especially bewildering because Richards has been reclusive from public life since 2014, as was pointed out in Dan Taberski’s popular 2017 podcast, “Missing Richard Simmons.”

The tweet even seemed to confuse media outlets that reached out to Simmons’ reps to verify whether or not the 75-year-old aerobics instructor was in good health.

The tweet seemed to cause such a fiasco that hours later, Simmons tweeted a clarification.

“Sorry many of you have gotten upset about my message today. Even the press has gotten in touch with me,” Simmons wrote. “I am not dying. It was a message about saying how we should embrace every day that we have. Sorry for this confusion.”

Tom Estey, a spokesman for Simmons, clarified to CNN that Simmons is fine.

“I can confirm with one hundred percent certainty that Richard is not dying,” Estey told CNN. “He’s, in fact, very healthy and happy. The sole purpose of the post was meant to be inspirational.”

[From HuffPost]

To be fair to Richard, a quick perusal of his Twitter shows that he routinely posts inspirationally-styled messages. So his explanation about Monday’s tweet makes sense when taken in the context of all his be-good-to-yourself tweets. Furthermore, Richard has been mainly a private person for the past 10 years. He doesn’t want the spotlight these days. He just wants to drop into people’s feeds here and there to remind everyone to give themselves a hug, or relay the all-plot, no-drama story of how he bought his first Barbra Streisand record. With this particular tweet, Richard’s words and tone didn’t make sense on the platform the way they did in his head. And then Twitter did what Twitter does. I hope Richard dusts off his spandex and keeps sharing his somewhat random yet overall positive anecdotes.

All that said, did I miss a horoscope reading foretelling that Monday March 18 would be a day to fact check death announcements? Cause that sounds more like some Ides of March sh*t to me! The day began with King Charles III being cast out by a (likely) Russian disinformation campaign, and then Fitness King Richard the First fell on the sword (of his own words). I’m dubbing it the Ides of Twitter. Beware!!

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photos credit: Getty and Optic Photos, PacificCoastNews / Avalon, Dominic Chan / Wenn / Avalon

A few weeks ago, Lindsay Lohan confirmed that a Freaky Friday sequel was in the works, with Lindsay and Jamie Lee Curtis reprising their original roles from the 2003 version of the movie. Well, I guess Lisa Ann Walter also wants to get in on the LiLo action. Lisa Ann and Lindsay worked together on the 1998 version of The Parent Trap, with the former playing Chessy, the nanny for one of the twins who’d been separated at birth. People caught up with Lisa Ann and asked if she’d be down to work with Lindsay again in the future. Lisa Ann responded with a resounding “hell yes” (paraphrasing) and proposed either doing a Parent Trap sequel or having LiLo as a guest on Abbott Elementary, playing one of Melissa Schemmenti’s relatives.

Abbott Elementary star Lisa Ann Walter is keen to collaborate with Lindsay Lohan again! Walter, who costarred with Lohan in the 1998 version of The Parent Trap, told PEOPLE at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday that there are two fun ways she and Lohan, 37, could work together.

“Yes, absolutely,” Walter, 60, says when asked if she would revive her Parent Trap character, Chessy. “I would love to go back for another version of it — or if [Lohan] wants to come on to our show, I’d love that, too.”

Walter plays Philadelphia second-grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti on the popular ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary, which won outstanding comedy series at the NAACP Image Awards.

The actress and mom of four previously said she’d “love’ if Lohan played her redheaded relative on the show. “I guess we’d have to make her a relative since we’re both redheads — since I’m a ‘redhead,’ and she actually is,” Walter told Entertainment Tonight in January.

In The Parent Trap, Lohan famously played Hallie Parker and Annie James, 11-year-old twins who randomly meet at a summer camp after being separated at birth, while Walter played Hallie’s nanny.

If Lohan guest starred on Abbott Elementary, she would join an acclaimed cast on the show, which has won four Emmys, including an outstanding casting statuette, since its 2021 series premiere.

[From People]

Lindsay’s enjoying a lowkey career resurgence right now, so I don’t blame Lisa Ann for wanting to get her on board for an AE guest appearance. We’ve already met Melissa’s sister, Kristen Marie, a teacher at a rival school who’s played by Lauren Weedman. I suppose Lindsay playing another relative could work, too, but hear me out. Why not just combine both of Lisa Ann’s ideas and have Lindsay guest star as a character whom Melissa used to nanny for? Lindsay seems to be playing it “safe” with her comeback, as in, she’s sticking to playing romantic leads in Netflix rom coms and understandably avoiding the Hollywood scene. She also seems eager to not have her past brought up, as well. Taking that into consideration, I’m not sure if she’d want to play a character in conflict with Melissa or if she’d want to stick to playing more of a sweetheart type. But hey, I’m not a sitcom writer, so that’s for someone else to figure out. I’m just saying that out of Melissa’s two suggestions, I’d be more welcome to an Abbott guest appearance because enough already with the remakes/sequels. Plus, a good guest appearance on a popular show does wonders for buying some goodwill from the public. Just ask Bradley Cooper about the positive press he got from his cold open immediately following an awards season where we all collectively rolled our eyes at him. The Internet loved him for quite a few days after that aired.

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Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, IMAGO/RW/mpi099/Avalon, Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon and Getty

FKA Twigs covers British Vogue and explains how she burnt off her eyebrows. Did they never grow back?? [OMG Blog]
Anne Hathaway was a huge hit at SXSW. [LaineyGossip]
Kim Kardashian basically takes her private jet to the grocery store. [Jezebel]
The Walking Dead is finally giving some fan-service. [Pajiba]
Dwayne Johnson showed how consent works in real time. [Buzzfeed]
Aryna Sabalenka’s boyfriend Konstantine Koltsov passed away suddenly. [JustJared]
Richard Simmons is not dying! [Socialite Life]
Everything to know about Kristen Stewart’s fiancee, Dylan Meyer. [Hollywood Life]
The many faces of Glenn Close. [Seriously OMG]
Priyanka Chopra looks amazing in Gaurav Gupta. [RCFA]

Even when grumpy Daniel Craig was still James Bond, there were endless conversations about who would be cast as the “new James Bond.” Barbara Broccoli – who is mostly in charge of casting new Bonds – always insisted that the role was Daniel’s for as long as he wanted, but No Time To Die was finally his last one and he’s definitely not coming back. So they spent three years hunting for the new Bond and they’ve settled on… Aaron Taylor Johnson?

Aaron Taylor-Johnson ‘has been formally offered the opportunity to play James Bond’, putting an end to months of speculation regarding Daniel Craig’s successor. The actor, 33, is yet to officially accept the role, but should he do so he will become only the seventh actor to play the iconic British secret agent since the franchise launched in 1962.

A recent poll suggested Idris Elba was still the public’s number one choice for the role, despite being 51 – old for a Bond candidate – and already ruling himself out of the running in order to focus on his crime drama, Luther.

But Aaron, who is known for his roles in Nocturnal Animals, Kick-Ass, Nowhere Boy and Avengers: Age of Ultron, has landed the coveted part, reports The Sun.

A source said: ‘Bond is Aaron’s job, should he wish to accept it. The formal offer is on the table and they are waiting to hear back.

As far as Eon is concerned, Aaron is going to sign his contract in the coming days and they can start preparing for the big announcement.’

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Aaron for comment. Responding to the rumours that he could step into Bond’s shoes last week, Aaron played coy, telling Numero: ‘I find it charming and wonderful that people see me in that role. I take it as a great compliment.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I wish it was Idris Elba too, but I don’t think Idris even wants it anymore and he is sort of too old, especially since they like to use the same actor for at least three or four films. Dev Patel was right there though – and I think Dev would have done amazing work as James Bond. As for Aaron… I have this view of him as kind of too-whiny-sounding to play Bond, but he’s such a shapeshifter, he might actually be able to pull it off. A James Bond born in 1990. That makes him a young Millennial, correct? He will be the first 007 who is younger than me. I don’t know how to feel about that.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

In 2020-21, Robert Lacey released a royal book called Battle of Brothers, all about the larger falling out between Prince William and Prince Harry. In the first edition of the book, Lacey was quite critical of William, leaving enough breadcrumbs to reveal that Huevo has always been a rage-monster who flies off the handle (sometimes violently) often. Lacey also made it clear, in the original version, that William was incandescent with rage and jealousy towards Harry, that William did everything to “edge out” his brother, and on and on. Then, for the reissue of Lacey’s book, magically he had new sources deep within the Camp Huevo and wouldn’t you know, Harry and Meghan did some bad things too, and William was merely justifiably angry at them! Or something. Well, adding to the sense of doom and gloom around the Windsors these days, for some reason, the Daily Mail decided to remind everyone of all of this: “Not-so-Sweet William! There was a time when the prince was prone to rant and rave, says a leading royal author… (And can you guess the target of his anger?).”

Prince William, it is often said, has come a long way. The ‘Party Prince’ of yesteryear has today been replaced by a loving father who rarely fails to cut a dignified and often humorous figure in public. At 41, the Prince of Wales is not only a key force in the monarchy but popular with the public, too. The outlook has not always been so sunny, though, as author Robert Lacey explains in his best-selling biography, Battle of Brothers. Storms were all too frequent.

Perhaps that is to have been expected. King Charles himself has been no stranger to the occasional outburst. Nonetheless, William’s step-mother Camilla was said to have been taken aback by the ferocity of his tantrums.

‘He has proved no Sweet William when roused,’ writes Lacey. ‘In the years after her 2005 marriage to Prince Charles, Camilla recounted to members of her own family and close friends her surprise at discovering this unexpected side to Prince Charming – “the boy’s got a temper!” Charles’s wife was horrified at the ranting and raving that William unleashed on occasion against her husband in her presence. The rows were shattering, by Camilla’s account in the early days, with William doing the shouting and Charles submitting meekly on the receiving end. As she described it, William held nothing back.’

It was a wrath, suggests Lacey, commensurate with William’s sense of himself as future King. Today, it is largely hidden, but younger brother Harry has his own views on William’s anger. Writing in his memoir, Spare, Harry claims that in one 2019 row at Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace, William had ‘grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.’ A dog bowl was apparently broken in the fracas. (Prince William has never given his version of events.)

[From The Daily Mail]

The more I see of how William operates or “functions” at a professional/public level, the more I realize that he has so little in the way of management skills. He can’t manage his office, he can’t manage his emotions, he can’t manage his temper, he can’t manage to read his briefing papers, he can’t manage the patience to read a book, he can’t manage a crisis he created, and on and on. I would argue that both of his parents probably tried to teach him those management skills in various ways in his childhood but none of it really stuck. So we have an heir to the throne who is temperamental, violent, tantrum-prone and unable to manage his way out of any situation. The real question is: why are they bringing this up again right now?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, Backgrid.

One of the biggest “tells” of the Rose Hanbury story is that Prince William’s defenders are still desperate, five years later, to pretend that the whole thing started on social media, or that the rumors were only spread by “Sussex Squad” people with an agenda. While we might not be able to provide evidence of an affair between the Marchioness of Cholmondeley and Prince William, there is ample evidence that the affair rumors spread like wildfire in aristocratic society in 2018-19, and that William’s people have done the most to cover up any speculation, even sending out legal threats to British outlets. Which makes Stephen Colbert’s jokes last week even funnier. All it took was a three-minute segment on The Late Show for a careful, five-year coverup to get blown to smithereens. While the British media is still treading carefully, the story cannot be contained internationally. I’m curious to see if the British media even picks this up as well – Rose’s lawyer denied the rumors on the record to Business Insider.

Rose Hanbury would very much like to be excluded from any Princess Kate Middleton narrative, it seems. Hanbury (whose full name is Sarah Rose Hanbury), 40, reportedly denied rumors that Middleton’s public absence is due to an affair with Prince William after Stephen Colbert brought the idea to the masses.

“The rumors are completely false,” Hanbury’s lawyers allegedly told Business Insider on Saturday, March 16, days after the Marchioness of Cholmondeley was name-dropped on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. (Us Weekly has reached out to Hanbury for comment.)

[From Us Weekly]

So, a flat denial. What’s interesting is that I think this is the first time Rose’s lawyer has ever gone on the record? Before now, it’s always been “sources close to Rose” or “sources close to William.” Plus, it’s easier to deny something which hasn’t been happening for years, by my guess. I doubt William is still playing hide-the-salami in rose bushes. There were rumors, a few years back, that there’s another woman, someone London-based.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.

Last week, in the middle of the Princess of Wales’s Mother’s Day photo fiasco, a Daily Mail columnist started making sense. The columnist was Liz Jones and she wrote several scathing pieces about how Kensington Palace is probably lying about everything and Prince William was “ungentlemanly” for shoving Kate under the bus to protect himself from the photo fallout. It was great! Well, Liz Jones has a new column and it’s in the same vein. Other people have caught up to it too – this weekend’s “sighting” of Kate at a Windsor garden store is yet another weird moment in a series of very weird moments. Now Jones and her ilk are publicly begging Huevo and Buttons to get their acts together. (Note: Liz Jones wrote this before the garden shop video was published.)

Kate still hasn’t been photographed: “We are informed that William and Catherine were spotted at the Windsor farm shop on Saturday and the next day went to watch their children play sport. Yet, in this age of smart phones, no one – just no one – took a photo. I was on the phone to three girlfriends yesterday when we heard the rumour that a big announcement was impending. We were terrified. In tears. To then hear, a few hours later, that the Royal couple had been spotted out relaxing was like a kick in the teeth. We felt foolish. And we’re still not convinced. In fact, we feel royally shafted. If the Royal Family is all about respect, about doing the right thing, I for one feel completely disrespected. Have we spent all these days worried sick for nothing?”

The Kate speculation is not bullying: I am tired of commentators saying that all this speculation is bullying or mere time wasting. One Sunday paper tried to dismiss the online concern for Kate as ‘prurient’, a cruel theatre, both ‘degrading and infantilising’. Really? I agree with Earl Spencer when he said that the attention focused on his sister Diana was far more dangerous than the current online scrutiny of Kate. The fact is that we play detective because we care. So, stop trying to downplay the doctored Mother’s Day photo. A source close to the Waleses has been quoted saying that Kate’s not a ‘show pony’. But, in the nicest possible way, that’s EXACTLY what she is. Ninety-nine point nine percent of us will only ever know the Princess of Wales through the lens of a camera. The late Queen once said that monarchy must be seen to be believed. Now? We don’t believe what we are seeing.

Image is everything: If she wants to be ‘amateur’ about her pictures, as she put it, then she’s in the wrong job. Because Kate matters. She could be Queen in a few short years. As long as she’s okay, we’re okay. We need her to be stable, happy, smiling in a world that is very far from that. And we need her to accept that a portrait of a film star or model in a magazine – possibly ‘tweaked’ – is completely different to an eagerly awaited news photograph. Reputable picture agencies cannot be party to any distortion in this age of artificial intelligence. Most newspaper reports and television bulletins are still patting us on the head as if we’re children, acting as if everything is going to plan.

The phone calls of support: One stated that the palace phones have been ‘ringing off the hook’ with good wishes from the public. I don’t believe that for one second. Who rings a landline these days when they can post online?

The solutions: The solution to all this speculation and ridicule is simple: don’t ignore us, as the Prince of Wales did when he arrived for his Earthshot speech on Thursday evening. When a reporter called out, ‘William, how’s Catherine? there was no acknowledgement at all, which just seemed clumsy, given the furore. William: we understand you want to protect your family, to have a private bubble. But Earthshot was a public moment. Why not smile and say she’s doing fine? Oh, and don’t take four weeks off over Easter leaving others to hold the fort. Kate: be seen smiling and waving for a few seconds. King Charles is doing it, valiantly, although he looks pasty. Hiding away makes a mockery of all your mental health initiatives, about how important it is to be open. The world is waiting, with bated breath. Yet no one can produce a photo from that farm shop trip, not even a blurry profile.

[From The Daily Mail]

Before the Mother’s Day photo furor, I was on the conspiracy bandwagon that the only reason they hadn’t released a photo of Kate is because they couldn’t – either she wasn’t conscious or she was in such a poor state, they didn’t want any lens on her. But now? After the events of the past two weeks? I think a huge part of what’s happening is stubbornness and arrogance on William and Kate’s part. Like, I still believe that some weird sh-t had happened in the past three months and we probably don’t know the half of it. But all of the media-management part of this, the communications part of it, is just a reflection of William and Kate’s arrogance, stupidity and incompetence, and their inability to hire effective, capable people to help them. What’s incredible is that people are starting to notice too. When the Mail is running multiple pieces calling them out, you know something has shifted in a big way.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.