From the looks of things, Zara and Mike Tindall were in England for Christmas, and they walked with the royal family to church on Christmas morning at Sandringham. Soon after Christmas, Mike and Zara – and maybe their kids? – jetted off to Australia for the new year. Zara and Mike have been photographed out and about – shopping, attending a polo game, and Zara took part in some horse thing on the beach which I don’t completely understand (so I won’t try to explain). They’ve been photographed a lot and it seems that the Tindalls have gotten positive coverage in the Australian media, and of course they’ve also gotten positive coverage in the British media. But because the Brits can’t help themselves, the Tindalls’ visit to Australia has to be made into a comparison with… Prince Harry and Meghan. From Robert Jobson’s latest piece in the Mail, “The Tindalls show Harry and Meghan how it’s done: As Zara and Mike are predicted to become top Royal earners, they have made their lives a huge success… without spilling family secrets or attacking the Royal Family.”

It comes as no surprise to me that Zara and Mike Tindall go down well in sporting mad Australia. They’re honest, funny and candid, as I saw at first hand when I interviewed Zara at her Gatcombe Park home for an Aussie TV channel. Yes, she was working – promoting Magic Millions which is the paid gig she does Down Under every year – but she couldn’t have been more friendly and professional.

Zara has always been open, which is why people seem to see her as relatable pretty much everywhere she goes. She’s got the likeability X-factor. People warm to Zara, like they do to her mother, Princess Anne, because she’s hard-working and authentic. Her achievements speak for themselves. She is a bone fide Olympian, a member of the Team GB equestrian team. Mike, a hulking centre, was at the heart of the England rugby side which won the world cup in 2003 – in Australia, beating the Australians.

There is a ‘what you see, is what there is’ self-confidence about them as a couple. Mike is a man happy to admit he once split his trousers dancing with the Princess Royal, his mother-in-law. He’s got the confidence and humour to tease the Prince of Wales as ‘One-pint Willy’ for his lack of drinking prowess. Mike and Zara are tactile, unafraid to show affection, offering beaming smiles to the cameras.

So it’s no wonder the Aussies like them – or that Sydney-based commentator Angela Mollard wrote in yesterday’s MailOnline that the Tindalls’ approach could kill Republicanism stone dead. All this while making their own money – without being a burden to the taxpayer.

Mike and Zara have done well commercially, too, making millions between them. They are not Down Under just for the sun, after all. They are there because Zara is sponsored by the Magic Millions thoroughbred auction house, which runs a festival of horse sales and racing on the Gold Coast. Mike has business ventures of his own, including a well-received podcast with fellow ex-international James Haskell, the Good, the Bad & the Rugby.

It’s been suggested that the Tindall’s earning power could have even greater potential than that of Zara’s cousin Harry and wife Meghan in Montecito. One analyst, Giles Kenningham from Trafalgar Strategy, said yesterday that the Tindalls are now the ‘premier royal couple’ when it comes to commercial deals as the Harry and Meghan brand has become tarnished.

It would be daft to write the Sussexes off just yet. But we can be clear about this: unencumbered by royal titles or regal airs, Zara and Mike Tindall have made a huge success all round. And unlike the Sussexes, they’ve achieved it without disclosing family secrets or attacking the Monarchy.

[From The Daily Mail]

“They’ve achieved it without disclosing family secrets…” Mike talks about the Windsors constantly in interviews, in his podcast and on the cheesy reality show appearances he does. The difference is that Mike mostly compliments the Windsors or stays in his lane as the family clown/boor/lout. As for money… I assume that the more money Zara and Mike make, they’re be less welcome at family events? Isn’t that the whole paradigm they invented for the Sussexes? The Sussexes have “paymasters” and “they’re commercial,” therefore the sanctity of the Windsors cannot be besmirched by the Sussexes’ commercialism? Weird how no one is saying that about Zara and Mike. Anyway, considering how little attention Zara and Mike have actually received in Australia, I think Jobson shouldn’t hold his breath waiting for Zara and Mike to become the new Sussexes.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Victoria Beckham is one of the best parts of the Beckham docuseries on Netflix. She’s interviewed separately, chiming in stories about her husband’s life, and she’s just great. You can really see and hear about all of the storms they’ve weathered and how they managed to stick together. It made me feel differently about both David and Victoria, and I understood their marriage more too. Well, Victoria covers the latest issue of Allure, and she talks about the series but mostly she’s just talking about her own stuff, makeup, being bullied, her kids, etc. It’s a good interview.

On being bullied as a child in school: “I’ve never really told my story about being the underdog at school. I was bullied — a lot.. .I never fitted in socially. And when anybody is different, kids can be really mean. I remember being mentally bullied, physically bullied, literally pushed around.”

Raising her children to be kind to others because of her own experience with bullying: “I have always said to [my daughter] Harper, ‘If you see a little girl sitting on her own in the playground, that was your mum. Go up and talk to that little girl…My entire school life was a misery, an absolute misery. Kids can be bloody horrible. I would never, ever allow my children to treat anybody like that. I know everybody thinks their kids are angels, but my kids are genuinely very kind. That’s the most important thing, isn’t it?”

On working hard just to be “less-than-average”: “I’ve always had to work really hard. At school, I had to work really hard to get less-than-average grades. When I was dancing and singing, I had to work really hard to be good, but was never good enough. I was an alright dancer. I was an alright singer. People were very quick to say, ‘You can’t sing.’ I can joke about it better than anybody. I’ll take the mickey out of myself…I mean, obviously, I could sing a little. But I always had to work very hard just to be okay at anything. That’s why the Spice Girls worked: Individually we were underdogs, but collectively we worked.”

On what she would never leave the house without: “I test everything. If you were to say, ‘What are the two items you don’t leave the house without?’ BabyBlade Brow. I’m obsessed with brows — my husband has never seen me without my eyebrows. And Instant Brightening Waterline Pencil to make my eyes look more awake. Makeup is my thing. Probably the only thing I was any good at in school was art.”

On watching the final scene of the Beckham documentary: “I cried when I saw the last scene of the documentary. It was an emotional experience. Then when you look at our journey and us dancing [to “Islands in the Stream”] in the tent…”

On their youngest son, Cruz’s, reaction to the documentary: “Cruz, our youngest son, said, ‘Wow, I had no idea Dad was so good at football.”

[From Allure]

Re: her kids’ kindness… after the Beckham docuseries, people were like “how did their kids end up so unmotivated with zero hustle?” But I get it – David and Victoria went through hell and back with the British media and all of the traveling, and they still managed to raise four healthy and relatively well-adjusted kids. Their priority was never “raising another generation of excellent footballers” or whatever, they just wanted to raise kind and gentle kids. And I think they did that. Also: “my husband has never seen me without my eyebrows” – she’s said that before and I get a kick out of it every single time. She’s really applying her eyebrows before David wakes up every morning.

Photos courtesy of Sølve Sundsbø for Allure.com, received via promotional email.

Dua Lipa is apparently dating (hottie) Callum Turner. [Just Jared]
Brittany Watts will not be prosecuted for having a miscarriage. [Jezebel]
Barry Keoghan is such a fashion dude. [RCFA]
Ten-foot-tall aliens were seen in Brazil! [OMG Blog]
I’m obsessed with Jessica Chastain & Anne Hathaway’s mother-off. [LaineyGossip]
Body-language experts are the worst people on the internet. [Pajiba]
Jason Statham at the premiere of The Beekeeper. [Go Fug Yourself]
Bret Michaels loves Christmas. [Seriously OMG]
The trailer for Summer House Season 8. [Starcasm]
Kate Hudson shares pics of her three kids. [Hollywood Life]
Some of these pranks are not cool (some are funny though). [Buzzfeed]

As we discussed, Prince Harry will be honored at the Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards on January 19th. It’s something nice and unexpected, and I’m happy for Harry. It does feel like people are going way overboard on both sides though – this isn’t the biggest honor to ever be bestowed on anyone, nor is the most ridiculous honor ever. I even argued that Harry is probably being honored more for Invictus than his military career. The news really triggered the derangers, and yes, I’m including the royal commentary class. They’re spitting mad that their whole January storyline of “no one likes the Sussexes” has been blown to smithereens with one award.

The ceremony will take place on January 19 in California and will be hosted by John Travolta as the “Official Ambassador of Aviation”. But the Duke’s latest award was slammed by a royal expert who branded the term of living legend “ridiculous”.

Richard Fitzwilliams claimed Prince Harry will “doubtless” be pleased to be inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame but questioned whether a “living” legend applies to him.

He exclusively told Express.co.uk: “The term ‘living legend’ surely does not apply here, if to him then why not to every pilot who has seen service? No doubt his founding of the Invictus Games has been taken into account but ‘living legend’ is surely ridiculous.”

Prince Harry has served the military for ten years, completing two tours of Afghanistan where he flew in several combat missions, as well as flying in training missions in the UK, US and Australia. He is also the founder of the Invictus Games, a sports tournament for wounded and sick ex-military personnel.

[From The Daily Express]

“Why not to every pilot who has seen service?” These people don’t bother to do one minute of research. This isn’t some super-official organization, nor is it affiliated with the military. Being inducted as a “Living Legend of Aviation” is like saying “you’re doing great work AND you’re a pilot or you have something to do with planes!” Tom Cruise was inducted into this thing. So was Harrison Ford! They’re just pilots for fun. Angelina Jolie has been inducted too – she has her pilot’s license, she’s filmed tricky aviation stunts as a director and she does amazing work outside of her aviation hobby. Anyway, you can really tell from the outrage and scorn that certain people simply despise it whenever someone vaguely positive happens for Harry or Meghan.

Also: I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t figure out the John Travolta connection – Travolta famously danced with Princess Diana at the White House in the ‘80s, and now Travolta will MC an event honoring Diana’s son.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.

For months, people have been gossiping about a possible engagement between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Would he propose on her birthday, would he propose over Christmas, will he propose at the Super Bowl? My feeling, from the start of Traylor, was that Travis is in it to win it. He checks every box for her – he’s fun, dorky, he has his own career, he has his own money, he’s not embarrassed to be with her, he’s not obsessed with privacy. He pursued her, which she loves. They seem happy together and he seemed to indicate very quickly in the relationship that he was ready to get serious and lock it down. So, an engagement feels inevitable, but when will it happen? According to Page Six’s sources, Travis and Taylor have already talked about it and they’re planning to “get engaged this summer.”

It might not be such a cruel summer for Taylor Swift. A source tells Page Six that there’s buzz around Swift’s camp that the “Cruel Summer” singer and her NFL star beau, Travis Kelce, plan to get engaged this summer.

There are rumors the pair held off from having Kelce pop the question over the winter holidays because “they don’t want it to seem like it’s rushed insanity.”

Our source also said he won’t go down on one knee for Valentine’s Day for the same reason.
“Taylor and Travis discussed it and there is a plan,” the insider claimed.

But the buzz is, “They will get engaged on their one-year anniversary in July.”

Swift, 34, and Kelce’s first public appearance was in September when she came to watch him play at Arrowhead Stadium for his Kansas City Chiefs game. But Swift subsequently revealed in her Time magazine Person of the Year interview that the duo was actually dating for much longer.

[From Page Six]

Eh. This seems weird to me, that they would decide, together, to wait to get engaged. It feels too self-conscious, if that makes any sense? They aren’t kids, they’re both in their 30s, and this idea that they would “wait” to get engaged because of the way it would look… I don’t know, it just feels false to me. But what do I know?

PS… Taylor was out in New York yesterday, she was seen going in and out of the Electric Lady Studio, where she’s been recording and re-recording albums for much of the past year. Taylor wore some gear (shoes and a fleece) from Beyonce’s Ivy Park collection. Unpopular opinion, maybe, but I think Taylor has cute taste in athleisure gear as opposed to her not-great “dressing up” style.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

In September 2022, just weeks after Queen Elizabeth II passed away, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe decided that her own royal house needed some upkeep. She announced, seemingly out of nowhere, that she was stripping the royal titles and styles away from four of her grandchildren. The four kids were Prince Joachim’s children, the children of Margrethe’s second son, “the spare.” Joachim and his second wife Marie were incredibly hurt by the queen’s decision, and they gave tearful interviews questioning the wisdom of removing royal titles. Margrethe ended up apologizing to Joachim but she didn’t change her mind. In 2023, Joachim and Marie moved from France to America, where Joachim now works as some kind of government/military attaché with the Danish embassy. It felt and looked like a permanent exile for the Danish spare. Well, here’s further confirmation of that – Joachim will attend this weekend’s abdication event, but his wife and children aren’t coming.

Prince Joachim of Denmark will attend the abdication of his mother Queen Margrethe without his wife and children.

Queen Margrethe’s second son and his wife, Princess Marie, relocated to the United States last year with two of their children nine months after the monarch stripped Prince Joachim’s four kids of their royal titles, and Hello! has reported that Prince Joachim will attend her abdication day events on Sunday solo.

“Prince Joachim will be there, but the children go to school, there is no special reason,” a palace spokesperson told the outlet. The rep added that Princess Marie will stay in Washington, D.C., where they now live, and that Prince Joachim will leave Denmark the next day.

Prince Joachim is a father of four, and shares his two eldest sons, Count Nikolai, 24, and Count Felix, 21, with his first wife Alexandra. They divorced in 2005 after a decade of marriage, and Joachim remarried in 2008. He and Marie went on to welcome a son and daughter — Count Henrik, 13, and Countess Athena, 11.

[From People]

It’s very “Prince Harry attending his father’s coronation.” Meghan didn’t go, neither did Archie or Lili. Granted, in Denmark, they’re not doing some big coronation or anything involving pomp or fuss. The whole thing will be done in a bureaucratic way, with Margethe signing a document and then (presumably) King Frederik X signing something or some kind of proclamation being made by the prime minister. It would be interesting to hear if Princess Marie or Joachim’s children were even invited. Anyway, “the children go to school, there is no special reason” is very frosty. There are still a lot of hurt feelings for the way everything went down.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

The ink was barely dry on King Charles’s throne lease agreement when Prince William began openly briefing Roya Nikkhah about HIS coronation plans. Seriously, it started just a few days after Charles’s coronation, with the Times publishing a lengthy piece about how: William was too lazy to involve himself in the planning of Charles’s coronation; William will demand a smaller coronation than his father; William is too lazy to actually begin planning for his accession; William has rejected every attempt to have an investiture as Prince of Wales. Seriously, Charles wanted William and Kate to go to Wales and have some kind of pomp-heavy investiture service. But William refuses to learn Welsh and he also doesn’t give a sh-t about Wales, so no PoW investiture for Willy. I bring all of this up because the Mail’s Ephraim Hardcastle column had this interesting note:

William and Kate will be studying Queen Margrethe of Denmark’s abdication, with the future King noting how the transfer to Frederik X involves little other than the signing of papers, the changing of royal standards and a proclamation.

For William, keen to downsize his own coronation, the relative simplicity may be appealing.

Kate, meanwhile, is said to be delighted that Crown Princess Mary is becoming Queen. She spent a lot of time in conversation with Mary at Royal Ascot when she visited in 2016.

They exchanged numbers. Will her low-key elevation help Kate to pick up tips for her own no-fuss crowning?

[From The Daily Mail]

The thing is, Denmark’s whole abdication/non-coronation thing will probably be TOO lowkey for most people. There won’t be anything but paper-signing and a proclamation from the prime minister. While I think British people would welcome less pomp and a more streamlined and modern coronation, they probably don’t want a ceremony which could have been an email. This is William’s problem too – I don’t think he actually has his finger on the pulse of the nation, and he doesn’t actually want to do any of the arcane setpiece events associated with the monarchy. The idea that Will and Kate’s coronation, whenever it happens, would be like Denmark’s, is enough to really upset all of those old-guard monarchists. Also: it’s sort of crazy that the “no PoW investiture” issue wasn’t a bigger story.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Jay-Z & James McAvoy attended the Book of Clarence premiere. [GFY]
Tom Cruise is officially in business with Warner Bros. [LaineyGossip]
People forget that Hunter Biden is a lawyer too. [Pajiba]
What does Gen Z do for fun? [Buzzfeed]
Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s stylist is doing an amazing job! [Tom & Lorenzo]
Prince Harry’s Spare, one year later. [JustJared]
Photos from Vanity Fair’s Globes party. [Socialite Life]
Selena Gomez is leaving social media for a while (probably a day). [Hollywood Life]
Rest in peace, Fruit Stripe Gum. [Seriously OMG]
The hot guys of the Governors Awards. [RCFA]

Denmark’s Queen Margrethe announced her abdication on New Year’s Eve. The abdication isn’t official until January 14th, this Sunday, when Margrethe will sign the abdication document and her son will become King Frederik. Many of us have wondered when Frederik and Mary learned of Margrethe’s decision, especially since just a few weeks prior to the NYE announcement, they had been looking miserable in Australia and there were rumors of significant marital discord. Many people believe that the marital discord was a factor in why Margrethe decided to step down when she did. But when did she tell her sons? When did Mary know that she would be queen sooner rather than later?

It appears as though Queen Margrethe of Denmark’s abdication news came as a surprise not only to the world but to her sons, Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim, too. According to Danish newspaper Berlingske, Frederik and Joachim found out about his mother’s plans to abdicate the throne on Dec. 28 — just three days before her official announcement.

Prince Joachim, who lives in Washington, DC, with his family after announcing plans to move across the pond in March 2023, is expected to return to Denmark for his brother’s accession. Joachim and his family made the transatlantic move after Queen Margrethe stripped his four children of their prince and princess titles.

On Sunday, Margrethe is expected to sign a declaration of abdication at Copenhagen’s Christiansborg Palace during a Council of State meeting. After she signs, her son will become King Frederik X, and her daughter-in-law will be Queen Mary.

The new rulers will hold a reception at the palace to mark the occasion, however, there will be no official coronation ceremony as there was for King Charles in May 2023.

[From The NY Post]

So… she did it on December 28th, after Christmas. Mary and Frederik spent several weeks in Australia, with Mary’s family, but they returned to Denmark a few days before Christmas. I wonder how icy they were during all of the royal Christmas stuff and what Margrethe saw between her heir and daughter-in-law. And did it really come as a huge surprise to Fred and Mary, not to mention Joachim? I’m also curious if King Fred will ask Joachim to come back to Denmark to live full time, or if this “living in America” solution is permanent.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

In recent weeks, it’s been really friggin’ cold in the mid-Atlantic and up and down the East Coast. We all got a lot of rain, freezing rain and snow over the weekend and again on Tuesday, and temperatures have gone below freezing as soon as evening falls. So why did Blake Lively and Taylor Swift step out in New York last night without any coats, scarves or gloves? Blake looks especially underdressed, while Taylor at least looks seasonally appropriate, although I bet she wished she wore a coat.

Taylor and Blake were out last night at Lucille Pizza for a “private party.” That’s what Backgrid says, although other outlets say that Taylor and Blake went to Lucali. Maybe they went to multiple locations. They were apparently joined by Jack Antonoff and Zoe Kravitz and some other friends.

Going back to Taylor’s ensemble – she’s wearing a lot of green, snake-themed clothes lately because she’s previewing Reputation (Taylor’s Version). She’s rerecorded her 2017 album and it will likely be released in the coming months. Her Eras Tour picks up internationally next month as well. Anyway, that’s why she’s doing the snake looks – Reputation is heavy on the snake imagery. Taylor’s boots in these photos are the “Jimmy Choo Snake Boots” and they retail for $2450. Also: the crushed velvet and the cut of Tay’s dress is SO 1990s.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.