Here are some photos from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s final day in Canada, where they did events in Vancouver. The biggest photo event took place at the Vancouver Curling Club at Hillcrest Community Centre, where Harry tried out some adaptive ice-rink sports like curling. Meghan watched from the sidelines, looking very rich. Y’all know I adore Meghan and her wealthy style, but I am so tired of her love for beige and camel. Her camel coat in these photos is from Sentaler, one of her favorite brands. I associate this style with Meghan now, but I just wish it had been a different color. Please don’t give me “she didn’t want to stand out, it wasn’t about her.” First of all, you need to make your peace with the fact that she just loves Sad Beige and more than half of her wardrobe is Sad Beige. Second of all, the “not standing out” thing could have been achieved with cream, navy or black (and those colors would have looked much better on her).

At the Curling Club event, Meghan and Harry were joined by Michael Buble and his wife Luisana Lopilato. Buble is pretty much the prince of Canada, and it’s really cool that he and Luisana are big supporters of Invictus. Not only did Buble join Harry on the ice, Buble also performed at the Invictus dinner later, Friday evening. On Thursday evening, Michael and Luisana took Harry and Meghan out to dinner at Vij’s in Vancouver. Meghan apparently ordered her food extra spicy while Harry turned bright red when he looked at a pepper.

I just knew that man’s tastebud is yt as hell, and his ancestors colonized half the globe for spices??? Not Meghan asking for extra spicy when buddy can’t even handle a basic curry without turning bright red. I’ll sleep in peace knowing that the kids will grow up eating FLAVORS. pic.twitter.com/Qphz9u9eM5

— Pearl Kadupul (@PearlKadupul) February 17, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Last June, Prince William couldn’t wait to step all over his father’s very first Trooping the Colour parade. William gave Roya Nikkhah an exclusive interview that weekend (Trooping weekend), all about his new groundbreaking, William-centered initiative in which he alone would “solve homelessness.” How would he solve it? By handing out £3 million in grants to various homeless organizations and adding at least three new layers of bureaucracy attached to the money. The whole thing might have been an okay story for William, if only he hadn’t run around, briefing every media outlet that he was going to “solve” everything and he is the savior of homeless people. The whole thing was dead on arrival – experts in the field blasted the program and blasted William. He’s barely mentioned Homewards since he turned up in Aberdeen to absolutely zero crowds. Well, I guess Homewards has been successfully buried (RIP) and now he’s got a new thing – Slumlord Peg, the affordable housing savior.

The Prince of Wales is to build and fund a £3 million social housing development on his land to tackle homelessness. William has overseen plans to construct the 24 homes in Cornwall to be ready next year. They will provide high-quality accommodation in an area with one of the most acute homelessness problems in the UK. The development in Nansledan, a suburb of Newquay, the Cornish seaside town famous for its surfing, will include a mix of four-bedroom houses and one-bedroom flats.

It will deliver on William’s pledge in an interview with The Sunday Times last year that he would put social housing on his Duchy of Cornwall land, the 130,000-acre property portfolio valued at £1 billion stretching from Cornwall to Kent, which he controls as the Duke of Cornwall.

The duchy, which provides the heir to the throne with an income, recorded profits of £24 million in 2022-23. It will supply the land for the project free of charge and cover all construction costs. It will also invest in local infrastructure, including a bus link and connections to electricity, water and superfast broadband.

The new low-carbon homes will feature slate roofs, granite lintels, solar panels, heat pumps and colourful timber windows. It will be built in a “traditional Cornish seaside” style, designed by Adam Architecture and local firm ALA Architects.

It is understood William wants the development to “look and feel as homely as possible” to combat the stigma of social housing. The site will also be re-landscaped and shrubs and wildflowers planted to encourage biodiversity.

Sources close to William, 41, said he wanted to “lead from the front” and encourage other landowners to build more social housing. He is said to be considering further projects on his land. The duchy is working on the project with the Cornish homelessness charity St Petrocs with the long-term aim of helping people move from temporary accommodation at Nansledan into permanent homes.

[From The Times]

The basic idea of this reminds me so much of Brad Pitt’s Make It Right NOLA, which ended in utter catastrophe because of shoddy materials, shoddy construction and a poorly-operated organization which left homeowners twisting in the wind. It took MIR NOLA’s victims 15-17 years to get justice and any kind of compensation for how badly they were screwed over. In this case, it sounds like the Duchy of Cornwall is making rental units, correct? So at least no one will take out a mortgage. Anyway… communities always need affordable rental housing, especially in urban areas and especially in the most high-traffic tourist areas (like Cornwall). I hope this goes well and I hope William has learned his lesson about proclaiming himself to be the homelessness savior. Funny that Roya Nikkhah got this briefing straight from William and Kensington Palace but no one will talk about Kate whatsoever.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

These are some photos of Donald Trump on the “campaign trail” in Nevada on January 27th. Is it just me or does Trump look especially unkempt and drawn? His wig is crooked and he even looks like he’s lost some weight? Many people are saying he’s on Ozempic. Anyway, this past week was a funny one for all things Bigly. First, Trump lost his motion to dismiss the Stormy Daniels & Karen McDougal hush money case. The trial will proceed and jury selection begins on March 25. That’s just one upcoming trial out of many, but by the end of the week, we got the ruling in Trump’s civil trial for his decades of fraud. That motherf–ker’s guilty and he’s probably going to sell off real estate to pay these enormous fines. LMAO.

A New York judge on Friday handed Donald J. Trump a crushing defeat in his civil fraud case, finding the former president liable for conspiring to manipulate his net worth and ordering him to pay a penalty of nearly $355 million plus interest that could wipe out his entire stockpile of cash.

The decision by Justice Arthur F. Engoron caps a chaotic, yearslong case in which New York’s attorney general put Mr. Trump’s fantastical claims of wealth on trial. With no jury, the power was in Justice Engoron’s hands alone, and he came down hard: The judge delivered a sweeping array of punishments that threatens the former president’s business empire as he simultaneously contends with four criminal prosecutions and seeks to regain the White House.

Justice Engoron barred Mr. Trump for three years from serving in top roles at any New York company, including portions of his own Trump Organization. He also imposed a two-year ban on the former president’s adult sons and ordered that they pay more than $4 million each. One of them, Eric Trump, is the company’s de facto chief executive, and the ruling throws into doubt whether any member of the family can run the business in the near term.

The judge also ordered that they pay substantial interest, pushing the penalty for the former president to $450 million, according to the attorney general, Letitia James.

In his unconventional style, Justice Engoron criticized Mr. Trump and the other defendants for refusing to admit wrongdoing for years. “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological,” he said. He noted that Mr. Trump had not committed violent crimes and also conceded that “Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff.” Still, he wrote, “defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”

Mr. Trump will appeal the financial penalty but will have to either come up with the money or secure a bond within 30 days. The ruling will not render him bankrupt, because most of his wealth is in real estate, which altogether is worth far more than the penalty.

[From The NY Times]

$450 million, plus $4 million per failson? Please, this is too funny. I read somewhere that Trump can’t ask for donations to cover any of the fines, nor can seek donations for the money he owes E. Jean Carroll. He doesn’t have the money, so it really does seem like he’ll either have to mortgage his real estate or sell some stuff off? Which of Trump’s properties would he be willing to sell to pay for all of his business failures, frauds and sexual assaults? Trump Tower? Bedminster? The golf club in Virginia? Mar-a-Lago will probably be the last thing he sells. I would also love to know what all of his lawyers are going to do when they all realize that he’s never going to pay any of them.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Some people were criticizing Amy Schumer’s “puffy” face this week & she clapped back. Amy has had a lot of health issues in recent years, so I do not understand why that conversation even started. She wrote, on her IG, about having endometriosis. [Buzzfeed]
Kim Kardashian knows it will be difficult for her to find another husband with her big, chaotic life. I doubt she even wants another husband, tbh. [Hollywood Life]
Donald Trump wants people to believe that he looks like Elvis? [OMG Blog]
An interview with the queens behind Idol Worship. [Socialite Life]
IDK, I think this seems like an OK cast for the Fantastic Four reboot? [LaineyGossip]
They Called Him Mostly Harmless sounds so sad. [Pajiba]
Photos from Netflix’s Bridgerton hype event. [Go Fug Yourself]
I like how Gerard Butler just exclusively makes dad movies now. [Just Jared]
Greta Gerwig went to the Dune 2 premiere (she wore Jil Sander). [RCFA]
Joseph Gordon Levitt was in a Pop Tarts commercial. [Seriously OMG]
Seeking Sister Wife Season 5 cast. [Starcasm]

 

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Prince Harry gave an exclusive interview to Good Morning America’s Will Reeve (son of Christopher Reeve). GMA followed the Sussexes around Canada in their first two days in Vancouver and Whistler, all part of the “One Year To Go” events around the Invictus Games. In the first clip from the interview, Harry was asked about his father, King Charles, and his dad’s cancer diagnosis. Harry kept it very simple, especially when asked about his sudden trip to London last week: “Um, look, I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.” Harry also said, after a leading question, that he was “sure” that his dad’s cancer could have a reunifying effect on the family: “Throughout all these families I see it on a day-to-day basis – the strength of the family unit coming together. Any illness, any sickness, brings families together.” As you can imagine, Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast immediately (within minutes!) got friends-of-the-Windsors to throw a tantrum about this:

Friends of the royals reacted with fury today after Prince Harry used an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America to discuss his father King Charles’ cancer diagnosis—and agreed with an interviewer’s suggestion that it could have a “reunifying” effect on the family. In comments bound to infuriate the palace, Harry, when asked about his recent dash to Britain to see his father, said: “Um, look, I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.”

Harry was being interviewed by GMA presenter Will Reeve, son of the Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who went on to make an apparent reference to his late father’s paralysis, saying: “I’ve also found in my own life that sort of an illness in the family can have a galvanising or a sort of reunifying effect for a family. Is that possible in this case?”

In a clip aired Friday morning, Harry replied: “Absolutely. Yeah, I’m sure. Throughout all these families I see it on a day-to-day basis, again, the strength of the family unit coming together. I think any illness, any sickness brings families together.”

One friend of Charles and Camilla, when told of Harry’s comments by The Daily Beast, responded: “It seems Harry has taken it on himself to use the diagnosis to publicise his own agenda. If it wasn’t so sickening it would be funny. What really would have helped the family come together would have been if Harry had said he wouldn’t be taking questions about his father.”

Another friend of the family said: “It’s hard to believe that Harry can keep finding ways to make things worse. He just needs to pipe down.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Just so we’re clear, Harry did not say anything that the royals themselves weren’t briefing to the British media last week. If anything, Harry kept it more general: lots of families come together when someone has cancer, I love my family, I’m grateful I got a chance to visit my father. Imagine being “sickened” by that, or telling a son to “pipe down” when he says “I love my family.” Unhinged.

Here’s the GMA interview – Harry said “that stays between me and him” when asked about his outlook on his father’s health. He also says he has other planned trips to the UK coming up, so he’s definitely going to see his father again. He says Archie and Lilibet are really funny and keep him and Meg “grounded.” On his life in America, he says “I love every single day.” Whether he feels American, he says: “Aaaaah, do I feel American? No, I don’t know how I feel.” Oh, he’s asked if he’s considered becoming an American citizen and he says yes, he has considered it and he really wanted to get out of that conversation. Methinks he’s already in the middle of his years-long naturalization process.

EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry to @ReeveWill on visiting King Charles after cancer diagnosis: “I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go see and spend anytime with him, I’m grateful for that.” https://t.co/yDp82WU7Bk pic.twitter.com/lO0cebeO9i

— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 16, 2024

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have always been very tactile with each other. It’s their love language, to be physically connected, to hold hands or put their hands on each other’s backs. It’s always been that way, from the very start of their relationship. Big Red truly looks for any reason to stay physically connected to his wife and he’s always reaching out his hand to Meghan, or touching her hair or looking heartbroken and lovesick when she’s speaking to another man. The only “bad” thing about their hand-holding is that Meghan is a lot shorter than him and she really has to scurry to keep up with his pace when they’re walking together and holding hands. Of course, that’s not the complaint of this new and absolutely unhinged Telegraph column which has gone minorly viral. Telegraph columnist Judith Woods wrote: “Sorry, Harry and Meghan, but your performative hand-holding fools no one.” The kicker is the subhead: “These two clearly want it to be known that they are inseparable – and nothing like William and Kate.” Oh, that’s an unintentional confession, huh.

Right. That’s it. Does anyone have a pair of bolt cutters? Or maybe a water cannon? Because frankly, I think that’s the only way we can stop Harry and Meghan from holding hands. Like so many other things about them, it is fingernails-down-the-blackboard grating. Annoying. And so g-ddamn performative.

The whole “young and so very much in love, not like frosty and uptight William and Kate” routine has worn thinner than a cigarette paper. Harry is 39; Meghan is 42. They have two offspring, aged four and two. Nobody has free hands at that age and stage; they are either full of squirming children or their ridiculously bulky paraphernalia. Any free hand is for patting down your partner’s body to find the car keys. Fact.

“Every time I see those two holding hands, it triggers me,” confesses a colleague who also has a brace of little ones. “It’s inauthentic, it’s unbelievable, it makes me want to scream because it bears no resemblance to the realities of parenthood.”

We know Meghan is (whisper it) “a hugger” as well as being “one of the most influential women in the world” according to the couple’s new website, which means it must be true. Doesn’t she grasp that clinging on to her husband’s arms all the time isn’t feminist? Quite the opposite: it projects a bizarre image of childishness and codependence.

The irony is that Harry, formerly known as Prince, is a man who knows exactly what to do with empty hands. He was born into it. It was bred into him. It’s pretty much the USP of Windsor man 1.0; slip one hand into the jacket pocket, occasionally open a button, close the button, hands behind the back, pause and repeat.

[From The Telegraph]

Again, they’re painting Meghan as aggressively forcing Harry to hold her hand – they’ve “blamed” Meghan for the hand-holding for years, as if she alone is doing it. Please, Harry is the one reaching out for her 90% of the time. Meghan is his security blanket – he feels more confident when he’s physically connected to her. Anyway, this whole column is giving Bitter Karen. Imagine having such strong negative opinions about a married couple holding hands? Imagine setting up William and Kate like that too. I guess that’s what these people really want to talk about – why do Harry and Meghan have to look so loved up, why can’t they look at each other with spite and disgust like Will and Kate? Why can’t Harry wince when Meghan touches him, like William winces whenever Kate tries to grope his ass in public?

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

Last week was fascinating to watch as a long-time royal gossip. Prince William rage-briefing against his brother, then in the same breath, insisting that he would not return to “full time work” until his wife recovers. On the eve of William’s under-the-influence appearance at an investiture ceremony two Wednesdays ago, his office told Becky English that William would be gone “for a bit.” This past weekend was full of speculation that William would skip several big events in March: Commonwealth Day, the Maundy Thursday service and Easter Sunday. We were also told it would be unlikely that BAFTA President William, currently on holiday in Norfolk, would attend the BAFTAs this Sunday. Then the Sussexes arrived in Canada and they’re still getting a great reception there. Harry even gave an interview to Good Morning America. Suddenly, William is expected to sober up for the BAFTAs.

Prince William is set to attend the glitzy BAFTA film awards on Sunday evening after a short break in duties while the Princess of Wales continues her recovery from abdominal surgery.

William, who is the president of BAFTA, was thought to be set to miss the event as the Royal Festival Hall. He usually attends the star-studded night with his wife, but this year she will stay at home as she continues her recuperation after a two-week stay in hospital last month. Since the royal health announcements, which have also included his father the King’s unspecified cancer diagnosis and separate prostate treatment, William has attended few events.

When Kate was first admitted to hospital last month and underwent surgery on January 16, William cleared his diary to care for her and their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Last week, after having over three weeks away from the public eye, he returned to duties by carrying out an investiture ceremony and attending a gala for the London Air Ambulance.

However, this week, he has been in Norfolk at the Wales family country retreat of Anmer Hall, as the three children have been on their half-term school holidays and Kate has been well enough to leave Windsor for the first time since returning home from hospital. It is believed him attending the BAFTAs will mark a more full return to duties.

[From The Daily Mirror]

“It is believed him attending the BAFTAs will mark a more full return to duties.” Keep dreaming! Now, I think Buckingham Palace is going to do the most to force William to go to the Commonwealth Day service in March and likely recite a speech written by BP. Or maybe they don’t even trust him to do that (William is not a reader, as we’ve heard and seen many times). But it will be really interesting to see if William does anything between the BAFTAs and Commonwealth Day. It will also be interesting to see the state of him at the BAFTAs. Anyway, it’s telling that we heard “of course he’s not going to the BAFTAs, his family vacations are sacrosanct” and then Harry gets attention and suddenly family vacays aren’t that important after all.

The Prince of Wales has returned to royal duties after his wife’s abdominal operation and following the announcement of the King’s cancer diagnosis.https://t.co/Ig4ZQJ3Vi4 pic.twitter.com/KUXAYfZZfp

— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 7, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Tony Hale was so excited to work with Beyonce on the Verizon commercial and he said that she’s just lovely in person. [Pajiba]
Another view of the Bennifer messiness this week. [LaineyGossip]
What’s up with Selena Gomez & her cryface emoji? [Buzzfeed]
I love this – an NBA fan is using astrology to predict team chemistry. [Jezebel]
Salma Hayek celebrates 15 years of marriage. [JustJared]
Matt Damon talks about the Dunkin Donuts commercial. [Socialite Life]
Travis Kelce admits he crossed a line with his coach. [Hollywood Life]
Kate Hudson was in Home Alone 2. [Seriously OMG]
Juliette Binoche wore Dior to The New Look premiere. [RCFA]
Kim Petras has new music! [OMG Blog]

Here are some photos from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first public event during their three-day trip to Canada, all part of the “One Year To Go” Invictus Games publicity. They arrived in Vancouver late Tuesday, and they stepped out on the slopes on Wednesday. They did a photo op to show off the adaptive ski trail, one which will be used during next year’s Invictus Games. There’s much more on the Sussexes’ itinerary and it’s my hope that we’ll get to see them at a lot of public events. Meghan looks absolutely gorgeous in these photos – something about the snow, the light and the way her winter beanie frames her face… it’s giving PRINCESS. Anyway, we’ll have more, I’m sure. For now, I wanted to highlight this hilariously seething story in the Telegraph, which was published to coincide with the Sussexes’ first events in Canada. The headline? “Prince Harry and Meghan have three days to prove they can behave.” You guys!!!

The Sussexes have landed. Fresh from launching their newly rebranded website, complete with coat of arms, Prince Harry and Meghan are in Canada for three days in the spotlight. They will spend Valentine’s Day hobnobbing with athletes and families at an event to countdown to next year’s Invictus Games with a speech from Harry later this week and hugs a plenty. The question back in Britain is: will that be it?

With the world’s television cameras on site in Vancouver and Whistler, will there be interviews, “secret” charity visits and a quasi-royal tour complete with wall-to-wall social media commentary to promote the Games and the Sussexes? Their fragile peace with the Royal family, tested to its limit over the last few years, hangs in the balance once again. It would be fair to say there is some trepidation. Gone are the days when the palace waited anxiously to discover which truly image-shattering bombshells would rain on them in Netflix documentaries, books and Oprah interviews.

“What is left to say?” one source said. But the timing, while the King is behind closed doors recuperating from his second round of cancer treatment and the Princess of Wales bounces back from abdominal surgery, still leaves something to be desired.

Not only is there a marked absence of real working royals from the public eye – the Queen and Princess Anne soldiering on, notwithstanding – but Harry is fresh from a 30-minute face-to-face meeting with his father for the first time since the Coronation. His team appear to have reached a truce with the Buckingham Palace aides the Duke distrusts: neither side has leaked a squeak of information about the meeting so far.

Sources close to the Sussexes confirm that the Canada trip is intended to be strictly on-message at Invictus, with no extra visits around Vancouver on the schedule. With three days out and about stretching ahead, the chances of Harry being asked about his father are high. He usually takes part in multiple television interviews as well as being surrounded by endless mobile phone cameras with the capability to video and upload his conversations to social media. Palace insiders will be watching from afar with morbid curiosity to see what their cross-Atlantic outpost will say and do.

This year, the Duke is expected to use his Vancouver speech to detail “how special Canada has become” to him and his wife. It is just the sort of thing the King would hope to say in person, had his health allowed him to travel to the Realm since his accession. In another world, Harry could deliver that message on behalf of King and country. Instead, he is working freelance but still wields the power to boost or damage all-important international relationships.

The next three days will be make or break. More than ever before, the Sussexes must make a decision. If they want to salvage a relationship with the remaining Royal family, they must prove their discretion. In palace terms, that means keeping schtum. But in a world where they need to build their brand to pay the Californian mortgage and ever-present security bills, they also need to generate publicity.

[From The Telegraph]

Everything I have to say, I’ve said a million times before. This was always about control. How to control Harry and Meghan, how to bring them in line, how to cage them, how to bring them to heel, how to force a divorce, how to leave them in mortal danger without security, how to impose the royal soap opera on their independent lives. The Windsors ran out of bargaining chips, threats and punishments long ago. All the Windsors have are these pathetic attempts at guilt trips, crying into their gin-and-tonics about how this trip could be make or break, this one needs palace approval, this one has every palace aide on edge. The Sussexes do not give a f–k about the clownshow over there. The Windsors are once again clout-chasing the popular royals they exiled.

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.

Various Daily Mail columnists are still ranting and raving about sussex.com, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new all-in-one website for all of their charitable and commercial projects. Those columnists swear up and down that THIS is the moment for King Charles to “finally remove their titles.” Yeah… if Charles didn’t do it after the Netflix docuseries and Harry’s memoir, he’s not going to do it over a website, especially not when the left-behind Windsors’ asses are dragging. Maybe I’m wrong! Charles is incredibly petty and vindictive, but on this title issue, he seems fine with the status quo. Probably because he thinks it’s the one final thing he can hold over Harry’s head. In any case, the Mail’s Ephraim Hardcastle column (which is basically a catch-all Mail staffer-written column) had this:

Harry and Meghan continue to toy with royal rules as they launch another website, but will the King remove their titles?

‘Not likely, that would involve Parliament and might easily misfire,’ says my reliable royal source.

Many of Charles’s subjects – particularly those in the older age groups – are tired of the Sussexes but young people might find such a move unfair, particularly if the Duke of York is allowed to keep his titles.

However, my source adds: ‘King William might think otherwise.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Considering the Punxsutawney Prince crawled out the bottle last week to call up every media ally and rant about how much he hates his brother, I would say there’s a very good chance that when “King William” is on the throne, his reign will be solely devoted to trying to punish and smear his brother from afar. Just the fact that William’s allies were already talking about how the “next time William speaks to Harry, it will be at their father’s funeral” last November, shows you that William is already thinking about what he’s going to “do” to Harry. It will start at their father’s funeral.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.