It’s funny, to me, that Brian Cox has become the de facto face of Succession’s promotion. The show is an ensemble, and while Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin do promote the show, Cox does far more interviews and makes much more news. Jeremy Strong, on the other hand, has done ONE magazine interview and he was so vulnerable, I doubt they’ll ask him to do much more. So, Cox it is. It’s also funny that Cox’s Succession patriarch, Logan Roy, spends most of the show criticizing and bullying his children and then… Cox kind of does the same thing to the actors and characters in his interviews. Who’s the Method actor now?? Speaking of, Brian Cox chatted with Variety recently about how much he hates Jeremy Strong’s Method acting? This show is an ouroboros. Some highlights:

Cox loves that Succession is ending this season: “[Jesse Armstrong’s] very disciplined in that way, and also he’s very British in that way. The American inclination is to milk it for all it’s worth.” Not that Cox, 76, won’t feel the loss. “I’ll miss the cast, I’ll miss the atmosphere, I’ll miss the bonhomie,” he says, ticking off reasons during a recent Zoom interview from London. And Logan? “Logan, probably, I’ll miss a bit. But upward and onwards.”

What his fictional kids would do with Logan’s throne: “They would absolutely destroy it. It would last in their hands probably no more than five minutes. And yet that’s what he wanted. He wanted his successor. Four seasons to prove it! And they simply haven’t proved it.” Roman is “the gifted one,” but he did accidentally send Logan that d-ck pic meant for Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron), and can’t be trusted. Shiv is Logan’s “darling,” but “she just doesn’t know who she is, or where she is. And she also can’t stop talking.” As for Kendall, “his own avarice is what’s gotten in the way,” not to mention his “‘Oh, poor me’ kind of thing” that Logan finds “very unpleasant.”

Cox on his public back-and-forth with Jeremy Strong over Method acting: “I’m glad he is not in pain personally,” and praises Strong as “a wonderful actor.” But there’s more. “It’s really a cultural clash. I don’t put up with all that American sh-t. I’m sorry. All that sort of ‘I think, therefore I feel.’ Just do the job. Don’t identify.”

He worked with Daniel Day Lewis: He points to the case of estimable Method actor Daniel Day-Lewis, with whom he worked on the 1997 film “The Boxer,” and blames those immersive techniques for Day-Lewis’ early retirement. “He retired at the age of 55, and I’m going, ‘That’s when the roles become really interesting. You’ve retired just at the point when actually the roles get better!’ Of course, Jeremy was Dan Day-Lewis’ assistant. So he’s learned all that stuff from Dan.”

[From Variety]

My take is that at the root of Cox publicly criticizing Jeremy Strong is Cox’s honest affection for Strong as a person. Cox is an older actor who has worked with everyone, and he’s trying to tell Strong: you don’t have to pour your entire soul into every character, you’ll burn out, please take care of yourself. Only Cox is, again, too much like Logan Roy to actual say those words of “I love you, please take care of yourself,” so it manifests this way, with Cox publicly bullying the actor who plays his son.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Instar.

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Another main character is leaving Grey’s Anatomy. Ellen Pompeo recently had her last episode as series regular and now Kelly McCreary, who plays Maggie Pierce, Meredith’s half-sister and the daughter of Ellis Grey and Richard Webber, is leaving the show too. Kelly’s last episode as series regular will be next month. But the famously deadly show won’t be killing Kelly’s character off, as they’ve said she’ll recur on the show in the future.

Another doctor is saying farewell.

EW has confirmed that Kelly McCreary, who first joined Grey’s Anatomy as Maggie Pierce at the end of season 10, is preparing to say goodbye. McCreary’s last episode as a series regular is set to air on April 13.

McCreary is the latest exit for the series, which also said farewell to Ellen Pompeo as a regular in the Feb. 23 episode, and will see longtime showrunner Krista Vernoff depart at the end of season 19. Although, much like Pompeo, McCreary is likely to return to Grey Sloan Memorial in the future.

“After nine seasons, I am saying goodbye to Maggie Pierce and her Grey Sloan family. It has been a tremendous honor to be a part of such a legendary television institution as Grey’s Anatomy,” McCreary said in a statement. “I will always be grateful to Shonda Rhimes, Krista Vernoff, and ABC for the opportunity, and to the incredible fans for their passionate support. To spend nine years exploring a character inside and out, while reaching a global audience with impactful stories, is a rare gift. It has afforded me an opportunity to collaborate with, learn from, and be inspired by countless brilliant artists both in front of and behind the camera. Playing Maggie Pierce has been one of the true joys of my life and I leave with profound gratitude for every step of this journey. I am excited for this next chapter, and what the future holds.”

Showrunner Krista Vernoff adds in a statement: “Kelly McCreary is a writer’s dream come true; brilliant, nuanced, thoughtful, and kind. We will deeply miss her and her beautifully crafted Dr. Maggie Pierce.”

McCreary’s exit marks the loss of another Grey. Although she doesn’t use her mother’s name, she is Meredith’s half-sister (and Ellis’ daughter). With Meredith (Pompeo) gone, she was holding down the fort for the family name (and the title of the show).

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Kelly joined the show in season 11 right after Sandra Oh’s Cristina Yang left for Europe. Her character filled the cardio surgeon role on the show and was a surprise relative for Meredith and Richard and of course drama ensued. I remember that storyline very clearly as it aired and it’s crazy that it’s been nine seasons since that happened. This show has been on way too long! Anyway, it sounds like Kelly is just leaving because it’s been a long time and she wants to explore new opportunities. Maybe that’s new opportunities as an actress or maybe it’s related to her personal life — Kelly married a director she met on Grey’s and they have a young child. Also, this show has been on for 19 years and Kelly has been on it for 9 of them so it must feel repetitive at this point. I’m guessing her exit will likely have something to do with her career and the marital strife her character has been experiencing lately. With Kelly gone, so goes the last Ellis Grey relation on the show.

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Here are more photos from Colonel Keen’s Big Shamrock Adventure, also known as the Prince and Princess of Wales’s trip to the Irish Guards’ base for St. Patrick’s Day – we covered some of this on Friday. This year’s St. Patrick’s Day event was slightly different because Kate is now the honorary colonel of the Irish Guards, a position she’s taken over from William. It’s part of the shift now that King Charles is on the throne – William had to take over his father’s old position with the Welsh Guards, so Kate replaced William, etc. That’s why both William and Kate gave speeches on Friday, it was “the changing of the guards,” only the guards are two lazy 40-year-olds who barely do anything. Here’s the video of their speeches:

While Colonel Keen’s speech-making has improved, she really needs to review her speeches and try to memorize whole sentences before giving a speech. She has to look down, on average, at least three times per sentence. And that was a short f–king speech, my God.

After the speeches, William and Kate joined the Irish Guards for a pint of Guinness and a laugh. Also: the two tweets below went viral and most of the people commenting seemed confused about the shamrocks, especially Kate’s giant shamrock corsage. Here’s the thing – that’s what is given to her by the Irish Guards. When she arrived, she was only wearing that delicate gold shamrock brooch. It’s some Irish Guard’s job to present her with a corsage of shamrocks and I believe the guard has to pin it to her chest. My point is that Kate would obviously not choose to stick an entire shamrock salad on her boob. Nor would William choose to nail a huge garden to his hat. This is the tradition of the Irish Guards, although the big leaf thing underneath the shamrocks seems to be new.

I’d honestly rather u just called me a slur pic.twitter.com/eAz6gwur4c

— Róisín Lanigan (@rosielanners) March 17, 2023

this has radicalised me pic.twitter.com/i1CGz25mHn

— Sorcha Ní Nia (@Luiseach) March 17, 2023

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

I have to apologize to Law Roach – after I read his interview with Vogue last week, I thought he announced his retirement from styling because he was burned out and “the well was dry.” Now that I’ve read his retirement interview in The Cut, I completely understand what was going on and it’s a wonder he managed to be an A-list celebrity stylist for so long, especially given the daily racist microaggressions, the disrespect, the personal politics and the outright racism within the fashion industry. Instead of burning the whole f–king industry down – which would be his right – he simply quit for his own mental health. I hope he finds an amazing job where he’ll be treated with respect and love. Anyway, he explains his exact breaking point – dressing one particular client for the Vanity Fair Oscar party – and it’s already turned into a huge blind item. You can read his full piece in The Cut here. Some highlights:

The lead up to the VF Oscar Party was his breaking point:

“You know, last week, for us, Oscars Week and building up to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, is some of the most stressful times in the world. And I’ve always been a stylist that did multiple clients, so I’m trying to prepare for multiple clients that week. And I had a lot of pressure because of Meg [Thee Stallion] — it was her first time coming back and anybody seeing her since the trial. And so that was a lot of pressure, you know, because I wanted to make her feel secure and comfortable and make her feel and look as perfect as possible so that she can have the strength to do what she had to do.

So that morning I got a call from one of my clients, and it was her, her publicist, and somebody from a brand that I’m supposed to do project with, and I found myself on the phone with these three women, and I felt like I was defending myself because the one woman from the brand was like, “Oh, he’s not communicating, and you’re not gonna have a dress,” and all these things. And it was just a lot of things that were not true.

And that’s how we lose clients as stylists — somebody from a brand will say something to the publicist, then the publicist will say something to the client, and then, it’s this thing. I thought I had a really strong relationship with this client, and I thought that she knew that my goal always is to protect my clients.

And at that moment I just didn’t feel like I was being protected, because there’s no one who can ever say that they’ve worked with me that I didn’t pull my whole heart and soul into them or that I left them hanging and they didn’t have a dress. It’s never happened. No one can ever say that about me. And I was like, “Okay, yeah. Whatever, we’ll do whatever. We’ll work it out.” And then I got off the phone, and I was like, I’m literally depleted from the day before. I’m an extreme empath, and I give everything to the point, after that night, I could barely finish a sentence. I had given so much.

That call was very early the very next day after [the Oscars]. And the client was one of the clients that I dressed that night. And it’s just like, I got off the phone and I felt like I’m still fighting. I’m still fighting. I’m still defending myself. And one thing people who work with me also know is I don’t like to be managed or feel like I’m being chastised. You know what I mean? That just doesn’t work for me or my personality and especially when I feel like I’m giving so much. And I’m doing the job, I’m getting paid to do the job, and that’s the real of it. But the care and the love that goes in me to do my job, I just feel like I should sometimes be a little bit more taken care of, if that makes sense.

Why he said he’s tired of the lies and false narratives.

“I end up having a real connection with the client, and it very quickly becomes a thing where they trust me and understand me and we have this relationship. And that’s not the way it goes, especially in Hollywood. You have the gatekeepers, right? You have the person that’s in between you and the client, and all the scheduling, and you have to talk to this person to talk to this person. And I think what happens is a lot of times, they become intimidated by the relationships I’m able to have with the clients personally. And so what happens is it becomes a thing like I just don’t hear from the client anymore. Or I’m booked for jobs and then, all of a sudden, I’m released.

And then I’ll bump into the talent at a party or an event or whatever, and I’m always like, “Hey, what happened? I haven’t heard from you.” And they’re like, “Oh, yeah. Yeah, you know, I know my team reached out a few times, but you were busy. Our schedules didn’t match up.” Or, you know, “The whoever said that you were way too expensive,” and it’s always that.

It’s always the narrative of, “Oh, he’s never gonna treat you the way he treats Zendaya. You’re gonna get what she doesn’t want.” And that’s not true, because none of my clients ever look the same. Like, I don’t use edits. I don’t walk around with suitcases of edits that Zendaya didn’t want and offer ’em to other people. It’s always those narratives, and I’ve lost a bunch of clients that I really care for and really wanted to work with because of the gatekeepers.

[From The Cut]

He also addressed whether he was the one who told Priyanka Chopra that she wasn’t “sample size,” and he said that wasn’t the conversation and that he works with clients of all sizes (which is true). But the specific conversation has led people to believe that maybe Priyanka was the one on the call the day after the Oscars, the breaking-point call where he decided he was done. For the VF party, he styled Kerry Washington, Hunter Schafer, Hailee Steinfeld, Megan Thee Stallion and Eve Jobs. Law says he dressed a sixth woman in Galliano, but her dress ripped before she got to the party. So… who was the woman on the call? It doesn’t sound like it was Megan. I honestly don’t think Hunter is famous enough to pull that? Neither is Eve Jobs. It doesn’t sound like Kerry. People think it was Priyanka, just because… Law didn’t name her as one of his final clients, and he didn’t post her photos on his social (and Priyanka attended the VF party). I will hate it if Priyanka caused him to retire.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

On Saturday, “C U Next Tuesday” was trending and I honestly thought it was just some random niche celebrity thing, because Elon Musk’s Twitter is unspeakably broken. But no, as it turns out, people were being hilarious about Ol’ Diaper Don, Donald Trump. During the Dark Brandon administration, I’ve gotten used to tuning out the daily political conversations, as I’ve said before. I trust Joe Biden, and I love the fact that I’m not spending every single day in a state of terror because of what the man in the White House might do on Vladimir Putin’s orders. Well, over the past year, there’s been a lot of movement in multiple investigations and prosecutions of Trump associates and Trump businesses. The investigations in New York have gotten especially heated, so much so that Donald Trump believes that he’s about to arrested. On Tuesday. Thus, C U Next Tuesday.

With a Manhattan grand jury indictment likely but its timing unclear, Donald J. Trump sought to rally supporters to his side, declaring that he would be arrested on Tuesday and calling for protests.

Mr. Trump made the declaration on his site, Truth Social, at 7:26 a.m. on Saturday in a post that ended with, “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”

Two hours later, a spokesman issued a statement saying that Mr. Trump had not written his post with direct knowledge of the timing of any arrest, adding, “President Trump is rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system.”

But Mr. Trump’s social media post had immediate impact: Within hours, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, one of the most powerful people in federal government and who partly owes his position to Mr. Trump, posted on Twitter that he was calling for investigations into whether federal funds were being used for “politically motivated prosecutions,” a thinly veiled threat to Manhattan’s district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg.

Prosecutors working for Mr. Bragg have signaled that an indictment of Mr. Trump could be imminent. But they have not told Mr. Trump’s lawyers when the charges… would be sought or an arrest made, people with knowledge of the matter said. At least one more witness is expected to testify in front of the grand jury, which could delay an indictment, the people said. One of the people said that even if the grand jury were to vote to indict the former president on Monday, a Tuesday surrender was unlikely, given the need to arrange timing, travel and other logistics.

The statement from Mr. Trump’s spokesman did not explain how he had landed on Tuesday as an arrest date. One person with knowledge of the matter said that Mr. Trump’s advisers had guessed that it could happen around then, and that someone might have relayed that to the former president.

[From The NY Times]

It’s the Lucy-with-the-football thing from Peanuts. How many times are we going to get our hopes up that Diaper Don will be handcuffed and dragged to prison? HOW MANY TIMES? I honestly believe that *if* there’s an arrest warrant issued, it won’t happen on Tuesday and the New York DA absolutely would not be able to arrange a surrender that quickly. My argument would be: why does Trump need to surrender anyway? Why not send people down to his Florida compound and hog-tie him and ship him back to New York? Anyway, I’m hopeful yet not getting my hopes up. C U Next Tuesday!

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Keanu Reeves cuddles a pile of puppies on the Tonight Show. [Just Jared]
Pajiba is doing a Ted Lasso podcast. [Pajiba]
A dog named Tofu had to be rescued from her ocean swim! [Dlisted]
More of Keira Knightley’s Boston Strangler promotional fashion. [LaineyGossip]
Hugh Grant & Drew Barrymore also hate each other. [Seriously OMG]
Nick Cave will have an exhibit at the Guggenheim. [OMG Blog]
If you told me this (new) photo of Naomi Campbell was twenty years old, I would believe you. That’s a compliment to Naomi but also a WTF to McQueen. [GFY]
Who was the best dressed at the VF Oscar party? For me, Sophie Turner. [RCFA]
Utah is banning abortion clinics. [Jezebel]
Iggy Azalea is still around. [Egotastic]
Book recommendations if you’re into fantasy romance. [Buzzfeed]
Balmain wants men to have buttons and sparkles. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Bono was “too macho” to admit that he loved ABBA. [Towleroad]

It feels like people are only realizing it now, that they’re going to watch King Charles’s mistress-turned-wife be crowned alongside him at the May coronation. We knew it as an abstraction, like “oh, yeah, obviously that’s going to happen.” But over the past month, Queen Consort Camilla has been making it clear that she “won,” that the coronation is HER victory lap, that everything is going to be all about Camilla. It feels like that energy is being met with widespread revulsion too, the fact that Charles is so weak that he’d allow Camilla to take over his coronation this way. Tom Sykes – Daily Beast’s Royalist columnist – has a new piece about all of this, with some interesting insider quotes. Some highlights:

Camilla’s victory lap: The decision to give Camilla Parker Bowles’ grandchildren official roles in the coronation represents a “victory lap” for her and Charles, a friend of hers has told The Daily Beast. The move will cement her family in a powerful and influential position at the heart of the British establishment. “Camilla never asked for any of this,” one friend of hers told The Daily Beast, “But Charles always wanted her to be queen. Lots of people doubted he could pull it off but he has, and including her family in the coronation is something of a victory lap for both of them.”

Prince William wasn’t consulted on this: However the news that her five grandchildren are to be given a starring role at the coronation, holding a golden canopy over Her Majesty during literally the most sacred part of the ceremony—the anointing of the royal personage with holy oil—came as a surprise to Prince William, who does not have a close relationship with Camilla’s children, journalist Tom Parker Bowles and gallerist Laura Lopes, a friend of his said. Prince Harry is not believed to have been consulted about any aspects of the coronation given his estrangement from his family.

The significance of Camilla’s grandchildren having roles: The idea that the queen’s five grandchildren would have a prominent and official role at the coronation would have been laughed out of court two years ago, simply because none of them have royal ancestry or are expected to perform public service in their adult life, and a coronation is a state event, not a family one. To include them, therefore, is tantamount to announcing them as members of the inner circle; it will elevate them to an entirely new public and social status as Official Royal Grandkids. The corresponding exclusion of the Sussex kids will also, of course, send the opposite message to the Sussex grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who will be passing the Parker Bowles clan on the down escalator.

Camilla’s grandkids: As of May 7, this new famous five will be among the most eligible teenagers in the land. Socially ambitious parents will be well aware that a friendship with them will guarantee their children a VIP pass into the privileged center of British society. It is a leg-up like no other and an extraordinary decision by Camilla and Charles, given that it was only in February last year that the palace finally gave up the line that Camilla would never be queen. Their inclusion is testament to the huge power and authority that Camilla has consolidated since the announcement by the late Queen Elizabeth that she wished Camilla to be known as Queen Consort when Charles ascended the throne.

Charles’s cynicism: The pledge that Camilla would only ever be known as Princess Consort was made on Charles’ behalf to assuage public anger over Charles marrying the woman who Diana blamed for making their marriage impossible. It was never intended to be honored. It was a straightforward, cynical deception aimed at buying time while a team of spinners worked on the long game: improving Camilla’s image and acceptability to the British public. The job is now done, and not only is Camilla queen, but her grandchildren are being publicly recognized as royals in all but name.

William & Kate’s surprise: The move by Charles to include Camilla’s grandchildren in May’s ceremony—Palace spinners have been briefing that it shows Charles is a champion of the “blended family”—has surprised friends of William and Kate. One friend of William and Harry’s told The Daily Beast: “It was unexpected. If you’re meeting William and Kate for the first time, it’s best not to say you’re a friend of Tom or Laura’s. It’s not that they actively dislike them, it’s just that they don’t really know them and are not close to them. Also, all their friends are journalists or in the media in some way because of their lives as writers and critics. It’s a slightly louche scene and it makes [William and Kate] nervous.”

How Tom Parker Bowles feels: A friend of Tom’s said, “He didn’t exactly meet the boys [Harry and William] under the best conditions and they were never mates.” Asked if they were surprised Tom wanted his children to have a pivotal role in the ceremony, the friend said, “Tom is very savvy, and I think he would see it as an amazing opportunity for them. But ultimately he would have left it up to them. I assume they have said they want to do it.”

Christopher Andersen’s take: “It seems like an obvious slap in the face to Harry and William—both of them, we now know for certain, begged Charles not to marry Camilla. There is this gnawing sense that, were it not for Camilla, Diana is the one we would see being crowned queen on May 6. The message it sends is, ‘We really don’t need you and your family, Harry. Camilla’s will fill in the void just fine.’ As for the whole ‘Aren’t we a modern blended family?’ bit, it seems to me that that is little more than a kind of disingenuous New Age cover for Camilla getting her way—yet again.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Sykes overemphasizes the point about “Parker-Bowles in, Sussexes out” when it comes to the royal grandkids, although Sykes claims that Charles “had little choice but to accept Sussex demands that their children got their princely titles.” The Sussex didn’t demand, they acknowledged the reality of the Letters Patent, and they called Charles’s bluff publicly. It’s also clear that the inclusion of Camilla’s grandchildren is MEANT as a slap in the face to both Prince Harry and Prince William. This is Camilla’s victory over her two stepsons as well, her need to lord it over Diana’s sons and completely write Diana out of the narrative as thoroughly as possible. It’s funny that William and Kate’s “friends” are suddenly worried about the optics of all of this and that the louche Parker-Bowles crew is now part of the royal establishment. Hilariously, William is part of the coronation committee too – guess he missed the meeting where it was decided that Camilla’s grandchildren would get precedence over Charles’s grandchildren. Whoopsie!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Up until this year, Prince William has been the honorary colonel of the Irish Guards and Kate has just been his plus-one at the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Kate’s role was more defined than that, honestly – there was a lengthy history to a royal woman passing out shamrocks on the holiday, a history which was broken when Kate simply didn’t feel like working one year. In any case, now that Kate is Princess of Wales, her husband had to take over an honorary position with the Welsh Guards and so Kate was given the Irish Guards position. Today, Kate and William traveled to Aldershot to do the shamrocks-and-Guinness thing. This is Kate’s first-ever St. Patrick’s Day as Princess of Wales AND Colonel of the Irish Guards.

For the special day, I’m glad that she didn’t repeat one of her many green coat dresses. She wore a new one – a turquoise-y Catherine Walker coat and matching Jane Taylor fascinator. She also wore the traditional shamrock brooch (a Cartier piece) from the Royal Collection. I have no doubt why she chose this design – she loves buttons and she loves a military-style shoulder on her coats and jackets. She loves some button-slathered Colonel Keen Reporting For Duty energy. It is what it is, and this is her “real” style. This is what she loves.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty.

There’s a new “royal book” coming out called Gilded Youth, written by Tom Quinn. Quinn bills himself as some kind of royal expert, mostly to American tabloids. From what I’ve seen, Quinn has little to no insider information, but he’s also not a deranged lunatic frothing at the mouth about Meghan. He just sort of goes by vibes. Well, in Gilded Youth, Quinn writes about how Kate is much different than Princess Diana, and how Meghan hated being controlled by the palace.

Kate’s parenting style: Kate is happy for her children, Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis, four, to have the ‘luxuries and privileges of a royal upbringing’. He adds: ‘Kate makes no effort – unlike Diana – to bring the children down to earth, because she doesn’t want them to have a “normal” childhood in the sense that Diana wanted it for William and Harry.’ Kate feels her late mother-in-law’s modern style created issues, ‘most especially with Harry’ by seemingly adding to his ‘dissatisfaction with his royal role’.

Diana loved shrugging off her aristocratic background: The book also quotes a former member of the palace staff, who said: ‘Diana enjoyed slumming it and was in many ways downwardly mobile – she wanted to escape her aristocratic childhood. Kate wants to escape her middle-class childhood. She dislikes burgers and chips and wouldn’t dream of taking her children to McDonald’s, and she doesn’t rock the boat when the vast weight of traditional royal pursuits bears down on her children.’

Meghan was disappointed by royal life: Writing in his new book Gilded Youth, royal biographer Tom Quinn explained he had spoken to a ‘Kensington Palace staffer who remembered Meghan well’, who said she was stunned by the reality of life in the family. The insider claimed: ‘I don’t think in the whole of history there was ever a greater divide between what someone expected when they became a member of the royal family and what they discovered it was really like. She was a global superstar but was being told what she could and could not do, what she could and could not say. She hated it.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I don’t know, I think this all sounds vaguely accurate? I think Meghan was shocked with the amount of control the palace wanted to exert over her life – all while she was paying for everything while she was in the UK – and she was shocked that no one within the royal institution would protect her or treat her fairly. That’s not a character flaw on Meghan’s part, by the way. And yes, Diana was a disruptor who wanted to expose her sons to the real world and enable them to be more than useless toffs in a colonialist institution. Of course Kate doesn’t want to cosplay THAT. Kate loves the institution. She hates being middle class. She would never raise her children as middle-class kids.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

It’s honestly funny and terrifying to watch as the British media decides, en masse, to completely ignore a big story involving Prince Harry. For the better part of seven years, Harry’s every utterance, his every move, his every thought is breathlessly reported and misreported in every British tabloid. But when it comes to Harry’s multiple lawsuits against the British tabloids, suddenly the British media has a code of omertà. Well, Harry is part of a class-action lawsuit against the Daily Mirror (or Mirror Group Newspapers, MGN) for their years of phone-hacking back from 1996 through 2011. According to Byline Times, Harry is scheduled to give direct, in-person testimony in the case:

The Duke of Sussex is set to appear before Judge Mr Timothy Fancourt to give his evidence – and face cross-examination by lawyers for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) – as one of five test cases alleging extensive illegal snooping by its three national tabloids between 1996 and 2011. It covers Morgan’s often controversial editorship of the Daily Mirror between 1995 and 2004 – and his period as de facto ‘editor-in-chief’ of the Sunday Mirror from April 2001 – until his high-profile sacking for being “hoaxed” into publishing fake photos of British troops supposedly abusing Iraqi prisoners of war.

Justice Fancourt, at a preliminary hearing on 8 March, put the Duke’s case in a small group among around 120 current Claimants who would “not settle without having come to court and had their trial and said what they want to,” having seen MGN vacate five previous trial dates by paying out large settlements on the proverbial steps of the court.

Barrister David Sherborne also confirmed that the arrangement for video-link evidence of witnesses in the seven-week trial starting 9 May “certainly doesn’t involve any of the individual claimants,” seemingly assuring a live public appearance from the Duke.

Full details of Harry’s personal case against MGN – a subsidiary of Reach plc and publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People – have yet to enter public record, but they are understood to claim he was targeted from the age of 12 if not earlier.

[From Byline Times]

“…Seemingly assuring a live public appearance from the Duke.” Meaning, Harry will actually have to go to London in May to give testimony and sit for cross-examination?? No wonder his father is evicting him from Frogmore Cottage – King Charles must be utterly panicked and doing the most to keep Harry away from London, away from giving evidence, away from hurting Charles’s partners in crime. It would not surprise me at all if we start seeing a lot of threatening and unhinged stories about Harry’s “security” in next two months.

Byline Times also says that Harry is prepared to talk about how his voicemail messages and phone records were tapped and intercepted as a teenager and young man in his early 20s. Per Byline: “It is also understood the Duke will say MGN journalists unlawfully intercepted voicemails he shared with, among others, his father Prince – now King – Charles, late mother Princess Diana, brother Prince William, ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, and friend Caroline Flack, whose suicide in 2020 was partly attributed to her struggles with tabloid Press intrusion.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Piers Morgan’s social media.