Last summer, Senator Mitch McConnell had several moments where he appeared to be profoundly unwell. More than a year ago, McConnell had some kind of fall, after which he needed extensive rehab over the course of months. When he came back to the Senate, the Republicans tried to keep him away from the cameras as much as possible. When he finally started doing those press conferences, that’s when the trouble started. He froze for a full 30 seconds during one presser in DC. A short time later, he froze again in Kentucky. Reportedly, he had some other falls which he didn’t tell anyone about. All in all, it sounds like McConnell has been hiding some very serious medical issues for more than a year. Well, now he plans to step down from Senate leadership, but he said he will serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2027.

Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party for almost two decades, will step down from that position in November. McConnell, who turned 82 last week, announced his decision Wednesday in the well of the Senate, the chamber where he looked in awe from its back benches in 1985 when he arrived and where he grew increasingly comfortable in the front row seat afforded the party leaders.

“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” he said. “So I stand before you today … to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”

McConnell said he plans to serve out his Senate term, which ends in January 2027, “albeit from a different seat in the chamber.”

He spoke at times haltingly, his emotions evident, as he looked back on his career. Dozens of members of his staff lined up behind him on the back wall of the chamber, some wiping away tears, as family and friends looked down from the gallery above. Senators from both parties — most of them taken by surprise by the announcement — trickled into the chamber and exchanged hugs and handshakes.

President Joe Biden, who has had a productive working relationship with McConnell, said he was sorry to hear the news. “I’ve trusted him and we have a great relationship,” the Democratic president said. “We fight like hell. But he has never, never, never misrepresented anything.”

Aides said McConnell’s announcement was unrelated to his health. The Kentucky senator had a concussion from a fall last year and two public episodes where his face briefly froze while he was speaking.

[From The AP]

While McConnell is absolute scum, there’s a completely legitimate fear that the men who come after him will be even worse. The MAGA “suicide caucus” has already run roughshod over everyone in the House, and the Senate is next. That being said, McConnell was one of the biggest pieces of sh-t *because* he was so effective at getting his way and setting the agenda. If not for McConnell, Obama would have been able to fill Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court and that would have been just one radical difference in the past eight years. Anyway, I f–king hate this turtle man and I hope the rest of his life is an utter misery.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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Eagles co-founder and member Don Henley has spent over 10 years trying to get back hundreds of legal pad pages with his handwritten lyrics for several of the band’s 1970s hits, including “Hotel California.” At long last the trial began last week, with three “collectibles experts” as defendants charged with conspiracy to criminally possess stolen property and scheming to conceal the property’s disputed ownership. What they’re not charged with, is actually stealing the lyrics pages, and the reason why they’re not is where this case takes a turn on a dark desert highway. That original (alleged) crime dates back to 1979 when a writer was contracted to write a book on the band (which was never published), and given access to materials as research. This week Henley took the stand at “Courthouse New York” where he testified that the defendants knew they were selling stolen property. Then the defense cross examined Henley to challenge his claim that a) the defendants knew the pages were stolen, and b) that the pages were even stolen to begin with. Confused? Take it easy, don’t even try to understand.

Don Henley takes the stand: After spending Monday telling the New York court about topics ranging from Eagles songwriting to his past personal troubles, the Eagles co-founder [Henley] underwent further questioning Tuesday from lawyers for three collectibles experts who are on trial. Henley was asked about the writing of “Hotel California” and how he didn’t notice for decades that the handwritten pages were missing. He was also queried about his past cocaine use — retorting that he was no “drug-filled zombie” — and even about a $96 limousine bill from 1973. He continued to insist that he never voluntarily parted with handwritten sheets from work, including the Eagles’ 1976 release “Hotel California,” the third-best-selling album ever in the U.S. “I believed that my property was stolen,” Henley said.

The man who “stole” the pages isn’t on trial: The defendants — Edward Kosinski, Craig Inciardi and Glenn Horowitz — are charged with scheming to conceal the lyrics pages’ disputed ownership and sell them despite knowing that Henley claimed they had no right. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to criminally possess stolen property. They are not accused of actually stealing the roughly 100 legal-pad sheets. Horowitz bought them in 2005 from writer Ed Sanders, who had worked with the Eagles decades earlier on a band biography that never got published. Horowitz later sold the documents to Inciardi and Kosinski, who then started putting pages up for auction in 2012. Sanders isn’t charged with any crime. He hasn’t responded to messages about the case. Henley bought back four pages of “Hotel California” song lyrics from Kosinski and Inciardi in 2012. He also went to authorities then, and again when more pages — some from the hit “Life in the Fast Lane” — turned up for sale in 2014 and 2016.

Recollections may vary… At the trial, Henley has testified that Sanders was allowed to view the pages, and nothing more. Henley said Monday that he didn’t give permission for the “very personal, very private” lyrics drafts to be removed from his property in Malibu, California, though he acknowledged that he didn’t recall the entirety of his conversations with the writer in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In a tape of a 1980 phone call that was played in court, Henley said he’d “try to dig through” his lyrics drafts in order to aid Sanders’ book. But Henley said Tuesday that “there is no tape or document anywhere where I say, ‘Mr. Sanders, you’re free to keep these items in perpetuity, and you’re free to sell them.’”

But contracts are binding? Sanders’ 1979 book contract with the Eagles said that material they provided him was their property. Defense lawyers have suggested that Henley is making a criminal accusation out of a clause in a contract that they say Kosinski, Inciardi and Horowitz knew nothing about. “The idea that the items were stolen from your barn was perhaps an overstatement, fair to say?” defense attorney Stacey Richman asked Henley. He replied that he didn’t know. The defense also has sought to show that the Eagles provided Sanders with copious insider material. … The defense also has questioned how clearly the rock star remembers whatever he told Sanders during the book project, which spanned a tumultuous and fast-living time for Henley.

[From CBS News]

I understand that the broad function of the defense is to raise reasonable doubt. After all I was a defense attorney myself (in high school mock trial). But this tactic of challenging whether Ed Sanders — who, again, is not charged here — stole the pages or not, it just seems to undercut the main contention of the defendants, no? Isn’t their main point that they had no knowledge of the work being stolen? How much does saying, “But even if they did!” make it seem like, yeah, they knew the ownership was sketchy? (Which I think they totally knew.) But ok let’s say I’m wrong about that (I know, ha!), then I still struggle with the defense’s next argument. “Your honor, it’s outrageous of the plaintiff to sue over a breach in the contract!” How dare he use a legal document that both parties signed to back up his claim that what was spelled out in the document has been violated!

And of course the biggest question hanging over these proceedings is… why isn’t Ed Sanders charged?! But more than an answer to that question, I’m praying that this trial comes to a swift resolution. Not for Henley’s sake, because I fear that “Hotel California” may never stop playing on a loop in my head. This could be heaven or this could be hell.

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photos credit: Getty and Ron Sachs/Aude Guerrucci/POOL/startraksphoto.com, Aude Guerrucci/Mr Tickle/John Marshall/Avalon

Adele postponed her March dates for her Vegas residency. [Seriously OMG]
Prince William’s unsteadiness & the communications clownshow. [LaineyGossip]
I don’t understand why so many nice-looking guys are doing mustaches these days. Is it some kind of Fug Challenge? [Socialite Life]
Sarah Ramirez is leaving And Just Like That. [Pajiba]
Anne Hathaway looked great at the Versace show. [Go Fug Yourself]
These New York subway people have lost their minds. [OMG Blog]
Travis Kelce’s dad is beefing with Bethenny Frankel. [Just Jared]
More photos from the PGA Awards. [RCFA]
A Seeking Sister Wife star gave birth to a baby girl. [Starcasm]
Melania Trump wanted her husband to be humiliated. [Hollywood Life]
Ariana Grande thinks she’s being unfairly targeted because she & Ethan Slater cheated on their spouses and broke up two marriages. [Buzzfeed]

Last week, I read a lot of the analysis following Prince William’s sudden statement on the Middle East conflict. I was once again reminded of how unnecessary this entire royal storyline was. It’s clear that William wanted his statement to act as a “preview” for his visit to the British Red Cross headquarters in London, but instead of just an apolitical focus on humanitarian efforts in Gaza (and letting the visit speak for itself), William arrogantly inserted himself into a sensitive sh-tstorm for no other reason than he wanted attention and he wanted to compete with Harry. Kensington Palace has done wall-to-wall damage control on William’s boneheaded move and they’re desperately trying to finesse the situation to make it sound like William is a bold, emotional and at times impulsive leader. Baked into this is a rewrite of the past five years, including William’s assault on his brother. I sh-t you not. Some highlights from Kate Mansey’s recent piece in the Times:

The 2019 assault on Harry: The future King William, however, has pinned his colours to the mast. In his autobiography, Spare, Prince Harry accused his brother of being aggressive, pushing him onto a dog bowl. It revealed an impulsive side to William, a temper perhaps inherited from his father and, if reports of the time are accurate, King George VI.

Impetuous Peg: When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex effectively accused the royal family of racism in their interview with Oprah Winfrey, William was furious. Understandably so. He snapped when a reporter shouted a question about the allegations during an engagement, responding: “We are very much not a racist family.” Again, he appeared impetuous when his godmother Lady Susan Hussey was revealed to have asked a black guest at Buckingham Palace where she was “really” from? Keen not to be drawn into the debacle, particularly as he was about to board a plane to the US for his Earthshot awards, William gave instructions to an aide to address the claims. Speaking with the prince’s authority, a Palace spokesman said the actions were “unacceptable”, adding: “Racism has no place in our society.”

Why speak out about the Middle East now? William and Kate are understood to watch the television news together and William is said to get updates from Sky News on his phone. Like many people, and perhaps particularly millennial parents of young children, as William is, he has been appalled by the latest atrocities in the Middle East. The images of maimed children are unending. Aides say that, like his mother before him, he feels the burden of using his platform as a royal to make a difference.

It’s all part of the plan, you guys: Yet there’s also something more seismic happening here. Sources say it is part of a plan for William who, with no time to lose, is manoeuvring from being the well-meaning Duke of Cambridge, who champions mental health causes, to someone altogether more serious. Someone people around the world can recognise as a legitimate king-in-waiting. He has only been Prince of Wales for 18 months and is now the heir to a 75-year-old monarch with cancer.

A presidential office: One look at William’s office — for it is much more of a professional office than a royal court — shows that his outlook is much more presidential. He is in the process of hiring a chief executive and has confirmed the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel Tom White, the Queen’s former equerry, as Kate’s private secretary.

He’s still being “launched” as a global statesman: Action in the face of horror is clearly William’s forte, if the past week is anything to go by. So what does this new office hope to achieve as it launches Prince William as a global statesman? Aides say there are two prongs to William’s ambitions: legacy and impact. With regards to the latter, Kate and William seem to have it in spades. Together they seem to have an alchemy of magisterial glamour. Legacy is something a little harder to grasp: it’s impossible to tell if you’re doing a good job until you’re looking back from a future vantage point.

In the reeds: “He’s in the reeds,” a Palace source says. “And by that I mean he is across his briefs. He has done his homework and he’s thought about it.” The message is clear that his Middle East intervention was a tactical and deliberate attempt to continue to establish him as a king-in-waiting on the world stage.

[From The Times]

“He is across his briefs. He has done his homework and he’s thought about it.” No, he hasn’t. The president of BAFTA was too lazy to even read summaries of the nominated films, which led to a sleazy gaffe. He couldn’t even talk about the Russian invasion of Ukraine without sounding uneducated and out-of-touch. He regularly throws temper tantrums and hissy fits when something doesn’t go his way. He has a short temper. He violently attacked his brother and threw Harry to the ground. While William IS impulsive, that’s not the bigger problem – the bigger problems are that he’s lazy, mean, short-sighted, arrogant and violently stupid.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Last October, Prince Harry made a surprise appearance at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. We knew that Harry was/is a Formula 1 fan and, even more than that, he’s friendly with Lewis Hamilton. What was even funnier about Harry’s surprise appearance was that he was a special guest of Mercedes. He spent time in the Mercedes garage and hung out with Mercedes executives and everyone was like “cool, he’s a VIP, of course Mercedes wants some ginger rizz.” As it turns out, Harry’s appearance in Austin was about more than “Harry enjoying a Formula 1 race.” He was there on business! Mercedes has now partnered with BetterUp:

We’re proud to announce @BetterUp is partnering with the @MercedesAMGF1 team to bring mental strength, resilience, and agility to the racetrack — all in the name of performance. pic.twitter.com/mUEUgEMwzQ

— BetterUp (@BetterUp) February 27, 2024

What’s fascinating is that BetterUp is using a photo of Lewis Hamilton in their social media, which probably shows that this has been in the works for months… because Lewis is no longer with Mercedes. He moved over to Ferrari and the announcement came about a month ago. If Lewis was still with Mercedes, I would say that this is all part of Harry’s networking strategy and a huge reason why Harry is BetterUp’s Chief Impact Officer. But with Lewis gone, I don’t even know! Do you think Harry knew that Lewis was leaving when he, BetterUp and Mercedes were working out a deal?

Mercedes AMG Petronas updated their site with the BetterUp news – Lewis or no Lewis, they’ve really partnered with BetterUp. Is this the whole reason why Harry was a special guest last October? LOL, maybe Ferrari will partner with BetterUp too. Hopefully, Lewis will put in a good word.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

One of the dumbest storylines of the past year was “the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were lying about being chased by the paparazzi in New York.” Last May, Meghan, Prince Harry and Doria Ragland attended the Ms. Foundation gala, where Meghan was being honored. They posed for official photos on the gala red carpet, and Harry and Meghan also left the event through one of the main exits, giving the swarm of paparazzi some good “street” shots. The Sussexes got into their security SUV and then all hell broke loose, as paparazzi chased the Sussexes’ convoy for two hours. NYPD officers were already part of the convoy, and at one point, the swarm/chase was so bad, the Sussexes had to go inside a police precinct and gather themselves. In the wake of the chase, the British media claimed that it was all make-believe, it was all an attention-seeking fantasy cooked up by the Sussexes. Meanwhile, CNN and other outlets were being briefed by the Sussexes’ private security people – some of whom are former Secret Service – that the incident really was a very bad situation. Well, guess what? The NYPD officially backed up the Sussexes’ story:

Prince Harry finds himself Wednesday in the unenviable position of having lost his war on the British government over his security arrangements, with a judge rejecting his demand for automatic police protection while in the U.K. He has, however won a battle, and some consolation may yet be found by the Sussexes after their much-mocked claim that they had been involved in a “near catastrophic” car chase through the streets of New York City last year, was vindicated in the judgment.

… Now, however, it has emerged in the judgement that the NYPD found that the chase in May really did happen, and has concluded that the behavior of the paparazzi chasing Harry and Meghan was not just “reckless” but also “persistently dangerous.” In what is likely to be a sweet vindication for Harry and Meghan, a senior officer at the NYPD has said the city not only holds enough evidence to arrest two people for reckless endangerment, but has also upgraded its security protocol for visits by Prince Harry and Meghan following the incident last May.

In a letter to the Metropolitan Police in London dated Dec. 6 2023, the NYPD’s Chief of Intelligence discussed “certain changes to the security posture that will be afforded to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex” following a “thorough review” of the incident.

The intelligence chief wrote: “We found the following: reckless disregard of vehicle and traffic laws and persistently dangerous and unacceptable behavior on the part of the paparazzi during the night in question. The individuals operated vehicles, scooters, and bicycles in a manner that forced the security team, which included an NYPD Lead Car, to take evasive actions on several occasions and a circuitous route to avoid being struck by pursuing vehicles or trapped on side blocks. Our conclusion, upon review with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, is that we have sufficient evidence to arrest two individuals for reckless endangerment.”

The intelligence briefing was published Wednesday in the judgement in the lawsuit Prince Harry was bringing against the British Government over his security provisions in the U.K. While the NYPD has yet to actually arrest anyone in connection with the incident, there has been an immediate upgrade in the security extended to Prince Harry and Meghan when they visit New York in the future, according to the officer.

The letter was addressed to the Chief Superintendent and Commander of the Royalty and Speciality Protection, and was produced in court by Harry’s lawyer.

[From The Daily Beast]

Yeah – you could tell from the fact that everyone involved (including the paparazzi) shut the hell up that something serious went down that night. It really was just the British media insisting that no, it wasn’t serious, of course Harry and Meghan are lying! I always thought that one of the reasons why everything got so hush-hush was that not all of those people were paparazzi. It was an unsafe situation because there were people chasing them with a specific intent to do harm. You could also tell that the NYPD was taking it seriously because when the Sussexes visited New York last October, the Sussexes practically had a presidential convoy of NYPD security as they moved around the city. The British media was really mad about that too, almost as if they’ve been desperately trying to inflict harm on the Sussexes for years.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

A confluence of events has led to this week being some kind of breaking point. The Princess of Wales has not been seen, photographed or heard from since Christmas Day, over 63 days ago. Prince William looks like he can barely crawl out of a bottle for his few public appearances since Kate went missing. There was the mess with the staged photos outside of the London Clinic, then William wasn’t seen visiting Kate at all even though they claimed she had major abdominal surgery. Kensington Palace can’t even keep anyone properly updated on Kate’s condition – “sources” claimed that Kate went to Norfolk two weeks ago, then they never mentioned whether or not she “returned” to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor. Kate’s parents have also been MIA – no updates from Carole Middleton and no sightings either, all while Kate’s siblings enjoy ski holidays and beach holidays, and all while Queen Camilla looks like the cat who got the cream.

Meanwhile, for the past two months, William has looked alternately bleak, panicked, drunk and/or in over his head. It feels like King Charles used Prince Harry’s quick visit as a way to “smoke out” William from whatever bender he was on, and it worked – William was suddenly very eager to throw a very loud tantrum over all things Harry, and William also rushed out and did a handful of “events.” Then William disappeared again, suddenly pulling out of an appearance at his godfather’s memorial service and loudly insisting that it had nothing to do with the death of Thomas Kingston. It’s turning into an Agatha Christie mystery.

Added to all of that, suddenly We Got This Covered decided to publish this story: “What would happen to Prince William if he was charged with a serious crime?” Sub-head: “Can you send a Prince to prison, and what happens when he becomes the King?” I won’t excerpt it, but you can read it at the link. It was making the rounds on Twitter yesterday, alongside all of the other royal news.

So many people are paying attention to these royal dramas nowadays. “Kate Middleton” has been trending for 24 hours and I get the feeling that Kensington Palace had no idea how international their mess would become.

pic.twitter.com/ORiw2AyGTg

— Tom Zohar (@TomZohar) February 28, 2024

Huge if true. pic.twitter.com/HmDUyDttmR

— No Context Brits (@NoContextBrits) February 27, 2024

oh i am falling down the rabbit hole here so fast it’s crazy https://t.co/CC76JbG3rH

— David Mack (@davidmackau) February 27, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

According to Becky English at the Mail, Kensington Palace only informed the media about Prince William’s absence from his godfather’s Windsor memorial service less than an hour before it began. KP told reporters that William had contacted the Greek royals beforehand, but William’s name was still in the program (he was supposed to give a reading) and KP would not explain why William was skipping, other than “Kate is doing well.” Hours later, Thomas Kingston’s passing was announced – Kingston, the husband of Lady Gabriella Windsor, died in Gloucestershire on Sunday and the Windsors waited two days to announce it. KP rushed out and told every royal reporter that William’s memorial absence had nothing to do with Kingston’s death. It’s all very strange and I don’t have one coherent conspiracy theory to explain what’s happening. But I know that it’s notable that even royal commentators are openly discussing the weirdness around William:

Royal experts said today it ‘was strange’ that Prince William pulled out of attending a memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece at the last minute for unspecified ‘personal reasons’. No further detail was given on William’s absence, with royal sources saying his wife the Princess of Wales is ‘doing well’ at home as she continues to recover after her abdominal surgery last month. William was last seen at the Baftas on February 18, while Kate has not been seen since Christmas at Sandringham.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams described the Prince of Wales’ cancellation ‘very strange’, especially because the heir to the throne was due to give a reading. The last minute decision resulted in the Greek royal family posting online an old order of service containing his reading and a eulogy given by Lord Soames in which he spoke about how ‘very touched and proud’ King Constantine would have been that it had been given by his godson.

He told MailOnline: ‘William’s non-appearance at the Memorial Service for his godfather King Constantine, the last king of Greece, owing to a personal matter is certainly unexpected. This will be an event that William will be extremely sad to have been unable to attend.’

‘King Charles was close to King Constantine and his second cousin. Queen Camilla led the royal family. Princess Anne deputised for him at the King’s funeral in Greece last year as he could not attend owing to a prior commitment. The late Queen famously met Camilla at a party given by Charles when Prince of Wales for King Constantine’s 60th Birthday which was symbolically a highly important moment in their relationship and seen as giving her approval to it’.

Royal biographer Phil Dampier told MailOnline that the move was ‘worrying’.

‘Constantine was his godfather and very close to all the royals, particularly King Charles, and he would have wanted William there as he didn’t attend,’ he said. ‘William only lives a stone’s throw away, so it’s very concerning.’

Mr Dampier praised Camilla, who he said was doing a ‘fantastic job in recent weeks keeping the royal road show on the road’.

[From The Daily Mail]

“Worrying,” “strange” and “concerning,” all while pointing out that William lives just a short distance away in Adelaide Cottage, and if William was actually staying at AC (no one knows), then the church service would have been within walking distance. Take your pick of conspiracies: William was too drunk or hungover to go; William is forever lazy; William didn’t want to see his family, particularly his stepmother; William was too tired from doing the school run; William is upset following Thomas Kingston’s death. As I said, I don’t have one theory which answers all of these questions, but it definitely feels like something significant has shifted and more people are paying attention to how f–king weird the Windsors are acting these days. This week really has been a turning point.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Prince Harry “lost” in court today, in his years-long attempt to get some accountability for how his royal security was removed in 2020. In the four years since the Sussexes’ royal protection was withdrawn, we have gotten a fuller picture on how and why it happened. Basically, the fix was in as soon as Harry refused to stop pursuing all of the leaks from Kensington Palace, plus Harry started suing all of the British newspapers. There was a lot of drama with QEII’s private secretary Edward Young, who was also on the RAVEC committee which oversees who gets royal protection. Young and Charles’s office made sure that the Sussexes’ security was yanked suddenly in 2020, and Harry has spent years trying to get everything on the record about how and why that happened. Plus, Harry wants royal security when he visits the UK, which Ravec and the Met Police have rejected (even though Harry wants to pay back the costs). In any case, Harry lost:

Prince Harry has lost a High Court challenge against the government over the level of his security protection when he is in the UK. The Duke of Sussex had been trying to overturn a ruling which saw his security status downgraded after he stopped being a “working royal”. His lawyers argued there was unfairness in how the decision was made. The Home Office previously said his security was decided on a case-by-case basis.

Back in December, when the challenge was made, Home Office lawyers told the High Court Prince Harry would still have publicly-funded police security, but these would be “bespoke arrangements, specifically tailored to him”, rather than the automatic security provided for full-time working royals. Much of the legal proceedings, which covered security arrangements for senior figures, were held in private in December, with the ruling issued by retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane on Wednesday morning.

The ruling could have implications for the Duke’s future visits to the UK, as he previously argued that the lower level of security has made it difficult to bring his family to the country.

In the ruling, Sir Peter rejected the Duke’s case, finding that there had not been any unlawfulness in reaching the decision to downgrade Prince Harry’s security status, and that any departure from policy was justified. It found the decision was not irrational, nor marred by procedural unfairness. In the 51-page, partially redacted document, Sir Peter said Harry’s lawyers had taken “an inappropriate, formalist interpretation of the Ravec process”.

Ravec, or the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, arranges security for members of the Royal Family and other VIPs. It has delegated responsibility from the Home Office, and has involvement from the Metropolitan Police, the Cabinet Office and the royal household. The ruling also found that the “‘bespoke’ process devised” for Prince Harry by Ravec “was, and is, legally sound”.

[From BBC]

I have no idea if Prince Harry actually thought he was ever going to win any of these legal challenges, but I’ve always believed that he did all of this to simply put some things on the record and to show everyone that the whole process was pretty hinky. Plus, I think Harry was going on his own little fact-finding mission, because he initially did not understand how and why he got screwed over so badly. I always go back to Harry’s mother and how she didn’t have royal protection in the last year of her life, and how the Firm always claimed that Diana herself rejected royal protection. Harry was like: they’re not doing that to me, I’m putting it on the record that they removed my security by a shady, unfair process and that the order came from Buckingham Palace and Clarence House.

Update: This is Harry’s response, via a legal spokesperson: “The Duke is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of RAVEC’s own rules..The Duke’s case is that the so-called “bespoke process” that applies to him, is no substitute for that risk analysis. The Duke of Sussex hopes he will obtain justice from the Court of Appeal, and makes no further comment while the case is ongoing.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

I don’t know why, but I honestly didn’t expect to see Prince Andrew at the Windsor memorial service for King Constantine on Tuesday. I thought it would be family-only and much smaller than it turned out, but even then, I wasn’t aware that Andrew had any particular closeness to the Greek royals at all. But he let it be known that the Greek royals invited him, and the Windsors okayed his attendance by saying it was a private family event rather than a public event. Which is true – it wasn’t a state event because Constantine was not the head of any state, and there are familial ties between the Greek royals, the Windsors and the Spanish royals.

Still, even if you argue that it was “fine” for Andrew to attend, whoever allowed this staging needs to be out of a job. Andrew, striding in front of his sister Anne and the rest of the family, all while Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia trail behind the most minor of British royals. Yiiikes. And what a moment for Sarah Ferguson to once again be included in a family event. At least Sarah looked well – her color looks better than King Charles’s.

Not only was the walk to church bizarrely staged, but Andrew was also allowed to sit “just five seats away” from Queen Camilla in the front row. Andrew was also seated in front of Prince Michael of Kent and his horrid wife, plus Andrew’s daughters were seated behind him too. While King Charles and Prince William were absent, Andrew was the “highest-ranked” Windsor man there. Also: given how many of the Windsors came out, it feels notable that Prince Edward and Sophie skipped the memorial, right? Hours after the memorial service, Sophie and Edward were photographed on a ski holiday. Huh.

Anyway, this just serves as a reminder that the Windsors are still totally fine with Andrew. They never tossed him out, they never demanded that he go away and never be seen again. Even when the Jeffrey Epstein files were coming out at the beginning of the year, King Charles was reportedly more concerned about Andrew’s “diminished confidence” and mental health. They’re totally fine with rape and human trafficking, okay?

Leading royal. pic.twitter.com/FdFBdvtI1E

— Peter Hunt (@_PeterHunt) February 27, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.