Prince William and his wife did jacksh-t for two weeks during their kids’ school break, then there was a sudden blitz from William as he traveled to Singapore last weekend and spent four days doing Earthshot things. His trip did not garner much attention domestically or internationally, mostly because William is a charisma-vacuum. In fact, the most attention he got throughout the entire trip was on his final day, when he spoke to the reporters traveling with him and said that he has zero plans to take on more patronages because he’s more interested in “social leadership” and making “change” in bigger, keener ways. William’s Singapore trip also happened in the middle of King Charles’s attempted to dominate the newscycle by A) briefing lies to the Times about Prince Harry snubbing his birthday party invitation, only for Harry to correct the lies and B) doing his first-ever Parliament opening with the “king’s speech.” Hilariously, both Charles and William got overshadowed by the Sussexes going to a Katy Perry show and Harry doing a video for veterans. Still, it’s clear that William and Charles are absolutely engaged in a PR war with each other. Without the Sussexes to gang up on, the rats are eating each other. From The Daily Beast’s Royalist:

Friends of the king are sending a warning to William: Friends of the royals have cautioned that competition between King Charles and his son and heir Prince William could trigger Charles’ well-documented jealous streak, after William appeared to criticize his family’s habit of taking on “loads of causes that you sort of turn up and keep an eye on.” The friend of the king and Queen Camilla said: “William is entitled to make these comments, which, frankly, are pretty unremarkable, but part of the reason the marriage with Camilla has worked so well is that she understands that Charles is the star. William has to be careful not to wake the green-eyed monster.”

William wants to make it clear that he’s simply too lazy to overshadow his father: A friend of William’s, however, denied the comments would spark conflict with the king. The friend of William’s told The Daily Beast: “William is in no hurry to be king. This is not him parking his tanks on his dad’s lawn. William and Catherine have three children, the eldest of them is ten, and that’s very much their priority. They are totally focused on maximizing impact and always have been. He was just saying that having 500 patronages isn’t how he is going to do things, which I think is fair enough. Any idea that he is attacking his dad is just rubbish.”

The King’s Speech clashing with Earthshot: On Tuesday, the signs were that William, in Singapore, had accepted that this was just the way the cookie had crumbled on this occasion. His event received some coverage, but arguably less than it might have done were it not for that iconic royal first unfolding on the same day back home. He certainly did nothing to upstage his father (unlike Harry, who released a video in support of veterans just hours before his father started speaking—but Harry’s unpredictable interventions are largely priced into royal calculations these days).

The palace isn’t mad about William’s interview?? Palace sources sought to play down the [interview] While the king’s office and William’s office did not respond to requests for comment, one courtier said the comments were not designed as a headline-grabbing intervention, but were in fact made as part of a casual meet and greet with the print media. This is a carrot that is often afforded media traveling on foreign trips to encourage attendance.

Charles’s people insist he’s no longer seething with jealousy: While William’s comments stirred up the prospect of a jealous Charles for some, another friend of King Charles denied William’s comments would annoy Charles, telling The Daily Beast: “The model is his mother [Queen Elizabeth II]. His mother allowed Charles the freedom to do what he wanted as Prince of Wales and, especially in the last years of her life, he was king in all but name. That model worked very well as it ensured continuity between the reigns. People will no doubt want to suggest he is jealous of William, but that’s just media rubbish. He wants nothing more than for William to start thinking about what his reign is going to look like. What matters more than anything to Charles now is the strength of the institution.”

Whether Charles has, historically, been jealous of his family: Asked whether they thought there was any truth in the well-known accusations of jealousy made against Charles by Princess Diana and Prince Harry, the friend said: “Yes, but it’s not his personal ego. The problems have arisen when he feels the work is overshadowed. I don’t think, looking at the first year of Charles’ reign, anyone could say the collaboration between William and Charles has been anything other than a massive success.”

[From The Daily Beast]

“Part of the reason the marriage with Camilla has worked so well is that she understands that Charles is the star.” I would go so far as saying that the reason why Charles married Camilla is because he knew that nag would never be more popular than him. What has always fascinated me about the Windsors is that none of them have ever taken a remedial business or economics class and they truly believe that the entire “royal project” is zero-sum. That if William gets attention, it’s “taking away” something from the king. That there’s only a limited amount of attention/press, there’s only one pie and they’re all fighting over who gets the biggest slice. That’s not how any of this works or should work, but it just shows that all of these people are idiots. And Charles and William are definitely at war with each other. I would even go so far as to say that Camilla has her knives out for both William and Kate. The fall of the House of Middleton didn’t just happen accidentally – there was and is some palace orchestration happening there.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was treating the British media’s criminal surveillance of citizens and royals as a “privacy issue.” The argument of “it’s illegal to tap my phone and surveil my text messages” isn’t a privacy issue, it’s a criminal issue. Just something to keep in mind when you’re reading all of the headlines about how Prince Harry’s “privacy case” can move ahead. The news came out this morning – Prince Harry, Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and others can take their case against the ANL/The Daily Mail to trial. ANL sought to have their case dismissed back in March. Prince Harry, Elton and others went to court for the hearings, and now the judge has made his ruling that their cases will not be dismissed.

Prince Harry and stars including Sir Elton John and Liz Hurley have won their bid to take the publisher of the Daily Mail to trial over alleged phone-tapping and other breaches of privacy.

Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) stood accused of carrying out or commissioning unlawful information gathering, such as hiring private investigators to placing listening devices inside cars, “blagging” private records, and accessing and recording private phone conversations.

The publisher “firmly” denied the allegations. At a preliminary hearing in March, its legal team asked Mr Justice Nicklin to rule in its favour without a trial, arguing the legal challenge had been brought “far too late”.

But in a ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Nicklin said ANL had “not been able to deliver a ‘knockout blow’ to the claims of any of these claimants”.

In his 95-page judgment, he said each of the seven people have a “real prospect” of demonstrating ANL concealed “relevant facts” that would have allowed them to bring a claim against the publisher earlier.

“I consider that each claimant has a real prospect of demonstrating concealment by Associated that was not — and could not with reasonable diligence have been — discovered by the relevant claimant before October 2016,” Judge Matthew Nicklin said in his ruling. “What was deliberately hidden from the claimants – if they are correct in their allegations – were the underlying unlawful acts that are alleged to have been used to obtain information for subsequent publication.”

Actor Hugh Grant, who is a board director for Hacked Off, a press reform campaign group, described the ruling as a “significant blow to the Daily Mail”. He added it is “great news” for anyone who “wants the truth about allegations of illegal press practices to come out”.

Harry brought the privacy case along with six others, including Sir Elton’s husband David Furnish, actress and designer Sadie Frost, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, and former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Simon Hughes.

[From Sky News]

It’s great news for Harry, Elton, Elizabeth and everyone else involved in what amounts to a larger class-action suit against ANL. The fact that the judge believes that they can prove that ANL used criminal methods to surveil them is a big deal. There’s still a long way to go though. This too is part of Harry’s mission – to change the practices of the British media, to get some form of accountability and justice.

Update: Prince Harry’s lawyers made a statement about the judge’s decision, saying: “We are delighted with today’s decision which allows our claims over serious criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by the Mail titles to proceed to trial. The High Court has dismissed ‘without difficulty’ the attempt by Associated Newspapers to throw these cases out. Indeed, the Judge found that each of our claims had a real prospect of showing there was concealment of unlawful acts by the Mail titles and that this could not have been discovered until recently. Our claims can now proceed to trial.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Over the summer, Keke Palmer went to Las Vegas with some girlfriends and they caught Usher’s show. Usher brought Keke on stage and serenaded her and it was a really cute video. The video went viral, as did Darius Jackson’s reaction to it. Darius was, at the time, Keke’s boyfriend/partner. They welcomed their son earlier this year and Darius and Keke lived together, but let’s be clear: Keke was paying all the bills and Keke is extremely famous. The first time I even paid attention to Darius was when he basically went on a misogynistic rant about Keke wearing a “revealing” dress to Usher’s show. Black Twitter read Darius for filth, and for a few months, everyone crossed their fingers that Keke had dumped Darius. It went back and forth – some weeks, it seemed like they were together, some weeks it looked like she dumped him. They finally seemed done by the start of autumn.

Most women assumed that Darius was emotionally abusive towards Keke (because he was doing that openly online). Turns out, it was much, much worse. Darius was physically abusing her, breaking into her home and terrorizing her. Keke filed for a protective order and some screenshots were released from the security cameras she had installed in her home.

Keke Palmer is requesting sole custody of her 8-month-old son Leodis, whom she shares with Darius Jackson after alleging the child’s father has been physically abusive on multiple occasions. On Thursday, the Nope actress, 30, filed a request for a domestic violence restraining order in Los Angeles, according to documents reviewed by PEOPLE.

In the California Superior Court filing, Palmer alleges that on Sunday, “Darius trespassed into my home without my knowledge or consent, threatened me, then physically attacked me — lunging for my neck, striking me, throwing me over the couch, and stealing my phone when I told him I was going to call the police.”

She also includes screenshots of what appears to be security footage of a man striking a woman over a sofa. Palmer alleges that Jackson, 30, has abused her multiple times over a 2-year period.

Another incident was allegedly recorded on “home security footage [from] February 13, 2022 when Darius body slammed me onto the stairs by my neck.”

In the declaration, Palmer alleges there were “many instances of physical violence, including striking and grabbing me around the neck, descriptions of Darius destroying my personal property, including diaries and prescription eyeglasses, throwing my belongings into the street, throwing my car keys to prevent me from driving away, hitting my in front of our son, spewing profanities about me to our son, threatening to kill himself with a gun if I left him, harassment, and other physical and emotional abuse.”

Palmer went on to state that during the incident on Sunday, Jackson came to her home to take Leodis to a football game, but the 8-month-old was not home because he’d gone with Palmer’s sister to visit family. After a verbal disagreement, Jackson allegedly “knocked me backwards over the couch, stole my phone out of my hands, and then ran out of the house.” Palmer maintains that the entire incident was “captured by my home security camera, which will be played for the Court at the time of the hearing.” She said she followed him outside to retrieve her phone and “he nearly hit me with his car.”

Palmer’s filing states that on or around April 21, 2022, the former couple went out to eat at a restaurant in Santa Barbara when Jackson allegedly became upset after accusing Palmer of flirting with a woman, causing the parents to head back to their hotel early. “Darius grabbed my prescription eyeglasses away from me, threw them on the ground and stomped on them. He then opened my bag, threw all of my belongings onto the pavement in the rain, and threw my car keys across the parking lot before he got into his own car and drove off,” the document reads.

She alleges that he would also “love bomb” her. “The abuse during our relationship was not just physical, but emotional and manipulative,” the filing for the restraining order reads. “Darius would ‘love bomb’ me and make me feel like I was the most important woman in the world, only to get extremely distant and cold over a perceived insult to him. If we were at a party or event, and I spoke with one person too long or looked at someone a “certain way”, he would storm off in a rage – telling me I was ‘slut’ and a ‘whore,’ accuse me of cheating on him, and that I did not love him. Darius had a way of gaslighting me to make me feel like I was doing something wrong even though I wasn’t.”

[From People]

I believe her and I feel so sorry for her. Darius Jackson is a complete POS, a violent abuser and dumb as hell. My guess is that Keke didn’t have security cameras in her house originally, that she had them installed at some point when she broke up with him. It’s heartbreaking to think that Keke had them installed because she knew that Darius would continue to terrorize her and menace her after their split. Darius clearly didn’t know about the physical evidence she compiled either, because before Darius and his sister knew about the video footage, they were on social media, calling Keke a liar. They apparently deleted all of that stuff last night, but Darius left one tweet up which reads like a threat, like he’s going to kidnap their son to “punish” Keke. I hope this f–ker goes to prison.

pic.twitter.com/pIKFXngOdj

— v (@ViralContentz) November 10, 2023

I love you, son. See you soon. pic.twitter.com/uRe6N1RYqL

— Darius. (@dvulton) November 10, 2023

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.

It’s so funny to watch Kensington Palace try to go another keen blitz, where they’re briefing to their favorite outlets all about Prince William and Kate’s big, major, significant plans to be keen. There is never any pot of gold at the end of this keen rainbow, but I do enjoy watching KP staff try. If anything, William and Kate are doing less now that they have the Wales titles, and yet they need more staff and more hype to tread water and be completely unimaginative. Well, Victoria Ward at the Telegraph was tasked with writing yet another “no really, William and Kate are on the forefront of changing the monarchy” piece. The fact that the Caribbean Flop Tour is cited as the start of all of this “change” is amazing, as is the fact that the Telegraph used some of the worst photos from last year’s disastrous tour (so I’ll do the same!). Some highlights:

Will & Kate will not do traditional royal events: Rather than the traditional “away days” that for decades have involved members of the Royal family sweeping into towns and villages across the UK, greeting crowds and unveiling plaques before leaving, they instead launched a fundraising drive during a visit to Scarborough to galvanise long-term support for young residents’ mental health. It was a pilot project but one that has since been repeated in towns and cities across the UK and will continue to be rolled out.

Will & Kate have been working on these changes for years! Yet this was no knee jerk, last-minute change in tack; William and Catherine had been working up to this change in approach for years. Both laser-focused and determined to use their roles to instigate change, they recognise that today, we live in a different world to that of their predecessors. Their attitude is no comment on the approach taken by William’s grandmother, the late Queen, who successfully navigated 70 years on the throne by saying very little, acknowledging that she simply had to be seen. They understand, aides say, that times have changed. The public wants more from its figureheads-from the Royal family – and they believe they have more to give. They want to be more relatable. They want to use their time to create something more tangible, something that will actually change society for the better.

William is not like his father!! Of course, William’s approach is not wholly unique. His father spent decades as Prince of Wales campaigning on issues such as the environment, and continues to strive for change as King. But whereas Charles has often been criticised for his approach, his son and heir is savvy enough to know that times are changing.

The Caribbean Flop Tour haunts them: We only need to look back to the couple’s ill-fated Caribbean tour of March 2022 to see the origins of this approach. As William reacted to criticism that the tour, with its colonial overtones, was “tone deaf” and “out of touch”, he acknowledged that the royal world was shifting on its axis. With several Commonwealth realms demanding independence and slavery reparations, he made it clear he believed his family’s fabled “never complain, never explain” mantra was outdated. Aides said then that he had thought deeply about what kind of King he wanted to be when the time came, what needed to change and how certain protocols must evolve. That tour, he admitted, “brought into even sharper focus” questions about the past and the future and they are questions that William has mulled over ever since. He is keen to have his own voice.

The Kensington Palace CEO: Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September, his new model has been slowly unveiled. The Prince and Princess are recruiting a new chief executive that will answer directly to them, rather than their private secretaries. The message was clear. Kensington Palace was, if not reinventing the wheel, then certainly shaking things up.

No abrupt changes: The shift in tone is being introduced slowly and carefully. The couple cautioned their staff against abrupt change. They are determined to be perceived as authentic voices within the small number of key spaces in which they work; the early years, the environment, mental health and homelessness. These themes are the focus of long-term projects that will last years, if not decades, each rooted in their Royal Foundation. The Prince and Princess are absolutely hell bent on doing this their own way. And they have never felt more ambitious.

[From The Telegraph]

Kensington Palace sources insist that if everyone could go back in time, the Duchess of Sussex would have put William and Kate on the cover of the British Vogue “Forces for Change” issue she guest-edited. We are told that William and Kate came up with the word “change” themselves, that it is wholly their own initiative to say “change” endlessly, and that they needed a year and a half to mull over questions of whether the British commonwealth was ready for the British royals to stop with their colonialist and racist nonsense. William has insisted to sources that he must be referred to as handsome, single, and a change-making heartthrob who has his own voice and is keen to be a global statesman. Seriously though, I love how stupid this is.

Photos courtesy of Instar.

Pixar films have the reputation of being gut-punching tearjerkers so I generally avoid them. That being said, I’ve seen Inside Out a few times and I cry every time. It’s a really beautiful movie about growing up and being a kid and trying to figure out your own sh-t. The first film featured voice work from Amy Poehler (Joy), Mindy Kaling (Disgust), Bill Hader (Fear), Phyllis Smith (Sadness) and Lewis Black (Anger). The trailer for the sequel was just released this week:

It’s basically like… okay, this girl has to navigate puberty now, with some new emotions and anxiety. It should be great and moving. We’ve known for more than a year that Mindy and Bill Hader were not returning for Inside Out 2, but until this week, I had not heard why that was. Mindy especially was so proud of Inside Out and she was so moved by the story. So what happened? Pixar only offered Hader and Kaling 2% of what they offered Amy Poehler.

If you watched the trailer for Inside Out 2 released on Thursday and wondered why the voices of Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader were nowhere to be heard — here’s the answer. A report from Puck News published in 2022 revealed that Kaling and Hader, who played Disgust and Fear in the first film, were offered just 2% of Amy Poehler’s salary for voicing Joy.

“Star Amy Poehler is making $5 million (plus additional fees and bonuses), but Disney originally offered the other main voice cast just $100,000 (with no bonuses) to return, an insult that was politely declined,” the outlet explained.

Disney reportedly tried to up their initial offer after it was declined but Hader and Kaling still said no. As for Fear and Disgust? Tony Hale stepped in to replace Hader, and Liza Lapira will be taking over Kaling’s role.

Kaling confirmed that she would not be reprising her role in the film while speaking to TheWrap in January. “I had a great time working on Inside Out and am sure Inside Out 2 will be great,” the actress said. But I’m not working on it.”

[From The Messenger]

This really should have made more news at the time because WTF??? I get that you can make a solid argument that Amy is the “star” with her voice work as Joy, but the first film was truly an ensemble and it’s insane that Pixar thought they could get away with making such a low-ball offer to Hader and Kaling. If it had just been Kaling, I would say racism was at play (and maybe it is), but they treated a white guy like sh-t too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive issue this year seems to have a theme: remember when you loved all these guys ten, twenty or thirty years ago? Patrick Dempsey as the SMA in the year of our lord Beyonce 2023 is quite a choice. But I’m not beefing with People about their inclusion of Kevin Bacon on their SMA list. Kevin Bacon has been awesome for a very long time and he’s still a very handsome man. He minds his business, he stays married to Kyra Sedgwick and they raised two kids, both of whom are in their 30s now. Kevin’s People interview is so charming – he mostly talks about food and their life out in the country, in Connecticut.

Kevin no longer eats bacon: “I no longer eat goat and I no longer eat pig, because I have goats and I have pigs. My wife [actress Kyra Sedgwick] is like, ‘We can’t get any more animals, because you’re going to stop eating everything.”

They raise animals & he has a garden: The couple has a farm in Connecticut where the aforementioned goats and pigs reside (as well as 3 alpacas and 3 miniature horses that are not part of the food chain). ”I love animals, they are a joy to be around, and they’re very, very calming for me. But we also really love to go into the garden and get fresh herbs or tomatoes or basil or peppers or zucchini. Taking something hot off the vine that feels warm and smells like it’s been created by all these natural forces of the sun and air and water and earth and dirt, and then putting it back into your body to sustain yourself…it’s a great lesson in terms of just how important it is to do our best to try to protect this boat that we’re all riding in.”

His cooking when he was a struggling actor in New York: “I would take anything that I had and put it into a pan and just fry it up, and then eat it with a fork out of the pan, because it would also cut down on the minimum amount of dishes for me to have to clean.”

He prefers to cook rather than eating out: “I feel like if you’re always eating out or you’re always getting something to go, then you’re always giving your power over to the people that are going to prepare the food for you. I can’t do that my whole life. I need to have a little bit more control over what I’m putting in my body.”

He doesn’t follow recipes: “I rarely follow a recipe. I love recipes because I learn something new, I get inspired by something. I like that stuff, but I generally adjust it.” Despite his freewheeling cooking style, Bacon is pretty strict when it comes to cleaning up. “I clean up as I go along. My wife does not. I clean up as she goes along. I want to sit down and know that the cleanup is not going to be longer than the dinner.”

[From People]

The secret to Kyra and Kevin’s success is, I think, that they both think they lucked out when they found each other. He’s always sounded like the more organized one, and I’ve seen Kyra’s interviews where she seems ditzy as hell. Anyway, I love them both and I appreciate that Kevin likes to mix it up in the kitchen. I bet he cooks for Kyra all the time. Now, I love some takeout, but I respect the fact that Kevin is all about farm-to-table.

Bacon did a cooking video for People too, where he makes some very strange “pancakes,” only they’re more like…I don’t even know, a hokey banana-and-egg concoction. The real star of this video is Kevin’s hair. He truly is blessed in the hair department – if he got plugs, I can’t tell. It looks like his real hair, maybe with some dye. His kitchen is fab too.

Strike over! @sagaftra pic.twitter.com/BshR7GIwGZ

— Kevin Bacon (@kevinbacon) November 10, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Nicole Kidman wore Coperni to the CMA Awards, but look at Keith’s SHOES! [JustJared]
More photos from last night’s CMA Awards. [Hollywood Life]
Quinta Brunson looked cute-but-unamused at the Glamour event. [GFY]
Who was the best-dressed lady at this week’s CFDAs? [RCFA]
That interview between Jeezy & Nia Long has caused a lot of conversations. [LaineyGossip]
Matt Bomer should model more often. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Moms for Liberty are Nazi a–holes. [Pajiba]
The Mean Girls tagline is so bad. [Buzzfeed]
Nikki Haley’s weird/crazy messaging on abortion rights. [Jezebel]
Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” is about Barbra Streisand? [Seriously OMG]

Here are more photos of the Princess of Wales at her event on Wednesday in Norfolk. She made her first-ever appearance as Colonel-in-Chief of the Queen’s Dragoon Guards. She’s truly Colonel Keen! Initially, the only photos I saw of Kate were from the waist up, so I thought the Dragoon Guards had provided her with a full camouflage uniform. Perhaps they did and she refused to wear the pants, or maybe she was told that the photos would only be from the waist up, I have no idea. But your girl was riding shotgun in an armored tank while wearing jeggings. Surely some kind of war crime as well as a crime against fashion. Some of those men seemed aghast too – their honorary colonel rolled up in jeggings and was like “let’s ride in a tank, boys!”

While I give Kate a hard time because she deserves it, I will say this – she seemed happy and somewhat engaged at this event. She’s noticeably happier doing solo events and she’s happier around men. While it’s clear that the Windsors don’t care either way, it would have been so easy for Kate to actually create a base of public support for herself by doing more of these kinds of events. Oh well.

Remember how we heard that Kate gave a promotion to a pony? We now know the name of the pony and we have a photo of the pony. The bay Welsh mountain pony’s name is Trooper “Longface” Emrys Jones. Kate promoted Longface from lance-corporal to corporal. Longface seemed proud. Kate’s extensions were trying to escape though.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Kate has been Princess of Wales for fourteen months, and in that time, it feels like she’s been backsliding significantly. Her hair is a mess, her Meghan cosplay is all over the place, and she disappears for weeks and months at a time and then, when she comes back to work, she looks exhausted. I genuinely believe that she’s been shuffled off to Adelaide Cottage with the children and a strict budget, while William lives large in Duchy money. I think that would explain Kate’s increasingly janky and obvious wigs and hairpieces too – she doesn’t have the money to maintain her hair like she used to. But, according to Us Weekly’s cover story, all of this has been part of some larger strategy, a Project Keen, if you will. Some highlights from Us Weekly:

Kate has become much more “strategic” about modernizing her image. “Kate feels the spotlight more than ever since the queen’s passing,” says the source. “She’s in a new phase of her life, and she wants her image and actions to reflect that. Kate used to portray the perfect, feminine wife, mother and caregiver. Now she wants to be seen as a powerful and kind humanitarian leader. Kate wants to be seen as a leader.”

An image overhaul. “Kate spoke with her team and people she works with, including stylists,” says the source, explaining that they wanted to focus on Kate’s relatability and play up her ability to connect with people. Her style transformation is a significant component of the plan. She’s begun to replace frilly dresses with power suits and more casual looks. “Kate wants people to see her as a strong leader, someone who’s capable of taking the title of queen into a new generation. She’s been wearing pants, more casual shirts and less high-priced clothing, and she’s ditching the long dresses and heels [in favor of] more accessible pieces.”

Worried about The Crown: The source says Kate’s moves have been partly motivated by the upcoming final season of The Crown, part two of which, premiering December 14, will cover her early romance with William, which began while they were students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She believes she’ll be portrayed as a “very privileged, lovesick young woman” in the hit Netflix series and is eager to get a jump on any negative press that might come as a result. She no longer wants to be seen as William’s dutiful wife but as the accomplished woman she’s become. “Kate’s switching up her style in an effort to win people over,” says the source, “and also to get ahead of the beating she feels her image will take when The Crown’s new season debuts.”

Aftermath of the Sussexit: Rehabbing the entire family’s image has been top of mind for Kate, especially in the aftermath of “Megxit,” Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle’s contentious departure from the U.K. in 2020. The couple accused the palace of racism (which William himself denied) and bullying (which the palace denied). Says the source: “After Meghan and Harry’s attacks on their family, Kate’s had to work hard to show the public that they still want a royal family.”

PDA with William: “William and Kate were told they can be more affectionate in public if the mood strikes them,” says the first source, noting that’s why they’ve been kissing, holding hands and even touching each other’s bums — tastefully! — while out and about. At the end of the day, they do it all for the crown. “After the queen’s passing, Kate and William started [channeling] their grief from losing her into honoring her legacy. They’re ready to blaze a new trail.”

[From Us Weekly]

Every time Kate gropes William’s ass in public, she’s doing it for king and country, people. Every time he tries to dodge her classless, tacky attempts to grope him, she’s thinking about the crown. Speaking of, it’s an interesting new thread to consider, that Kate is worried about how she’ll be portrayed in The Crown. I don’t think she has anything to worry about – Peter Morgan has never suggested that he will tell the true story of how Kate stalked William for years and attempted to throw herself in his path. Nor will The Crown show how Kate and her mother basically honey-trapped the heir, who was too stupid to figure out that he was marrying into a family of grifters. Anyway, Kate couldn’t “lead” her way out of a wet paper bag and the Kensington Palace gopher does not count as a style advisor. Something is happening here but it’s not an image overhaul for Kate.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and Cover Images.

As we discussed, there’s a rumor going around the Spanish tabloids that Prince Frederik, the crown prince of Denmark, cheated on his wife Mary. The reason the Spanish outlets broke the story is because Fred apparently flew to Madrid in late October and that’s where this very alleged affair took place. The thing that struck me about People’s reporting was that Frederik’s trip to Spain was unannounced, and basically no one knew he even went to Spain before Hola (and other outlets) published the photos. According to Spanish journalists, Fred’s trip was “secret.” Not only that, but the Spanish media now has a more detailed timeline:

The Spanish magazine which published photos of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova together in Madrid has revealed what it claims is a timeline of their night out.

As Genoveva, 47, strenuously denies ‘malicious’ rumours she and the heir to the Danish throne, 55, are romantically involved, Lecturas has claimed the royal father-of-four visited the socialite’s apartment on October 25 after attending a Picasso exhibition together. The magazine alleges the Crown Prince, who has been married to Princess Mary of Denmark since 2004, dined with mother-of-one Genoveva at El Corral de la Moreria that evening, with the pair leaving the restaurant at 1am.

The magazine published photos of Crown Prince Frederik which it claims show him leaving Genoveva’s apartment. In the photos, he is alone and wheeling a hand-luggage-sized suitcase along the street. The timeline comes as the editor of Lecturas, Luis Pliego, claimed on Spanish TV station Telecinco, that Frederik ‘came in secret’ to Madrid.

Now Lecturas has reported more details of Crown Prince Frederik and Genoveva’s evening out in Madrid. The magazine claims that, following their visit to a Pablo Picasso exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, the pair strolled around El Retiro Park in the centre of Madrid on the afternoon of 25 October. Following the walk, at around 7pm, Lecturas claims both Frederik and Genoveva went to her apartment building separately, and both re-emerged at around 9pm, two hours later, both having changed their clothes into evening wear.

In photos obtained by the publication, Genoveva has ditched her chic camel coat with a tie belt in favour of a white shirt, black wide-leg trousers and a black jacket worn on her shoulders. Meanwhile Frederik appears to have changed from a navy jacket and brown trousers into a white shirt and dark trousers with a smart dark jacket. Again, they are reported to have emerged from the building separately, but got into the same white car.

The magazine claims the pair watched a flamenco performance at a Spanish restaurant, El Corral de la Moreria, which finished at midnight. It also claims they remained at their table, which had been flanked by two of the Danish Prince’s bodyguards, while other customers left, waiters finished up their shifts and the lights were being switched off. Lecturas claims the pair did not emerge from the restaurant until 1am, when they walked out onto the street and got in a car. In a ‘gesture of courtesy’, Lecturas reports Crown Prince Frederik opened the car door for his dinner companion.

Next day, the magazine claims the heir to the Danish throne was taken to the airport via car where he flew home to Denmark.

[From The Daily Mail]

Yeah, while I gave him the benefit of the doubt at first, it looks like the Spanish media has this story locked down. Even if Fred could argue that the photos and eyewitness accounts are not definitive proof of a sexual affair, the evidence they’ve compiled is completely damning. What is a married man – a crown prince of Denmark!! – doing in Madrid, carrying on this way with a socialite, going to her apartment to change, going out for a romantic late-night dinner and seemingly spending the night in her apartment? Come on.

¡EXCLUSIVA! Genoveva Casanova y Federico de Dinamarca, juntos. La portada del año solo y en exclusiva en Lecturas. Las fotografías de las que todo el mundo habla #ExclusivaLecturas pic.twitter.com/R97KOHB7fp

— Lecturas (@Lecturas) November 7, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.