Prince William finally got off his ass this week and made his first public appearance since St. David’s Day last Wednesday. William and his keen wife stopped by the Hayes Muslim Center in London today. They’re highlighting the work the center has done to fundraise for the communities affected by the massive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last month.

While they weren’t entering a mosque, Kate still showed respect to Muslim culture by covering her hair with a black-and-white headscarf. The scarf is apparently from Pakistani brand Elan, and she bought the scarf years ago for their 2019 trip to Pakistan. Kate also “recycled” a McQueen dress in black. A respectful length on the skirt too – when in doubt, simply cover up.

The Hayes Muslim Center raised £25,000 for the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal. William and Kate met with volunteers who raised the money, and with aid workers who have only recently returned from Turkey and Syria. Um… it looks like William and Kate turned up empty handed and they didn’t make a donation? Maybe I’m wrong – it’s possible that they donated via their Royal Foundation and the announcement will come later, but considering that they keep showing up to foodbanks and refugee centers empty-handed, I don’t think it’s some wild speculation that they also didn’t bring anything (financial or otherwise) for this visit.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

One would think that a child being christened at home in Montecito – with her godfather Tyler Perry bringing a gospel choir – would be a good enough story on its own. Surely, it hits so many good-gossip buttons: a prince and his American bride, their two photogenic ginger children, a billionaire mogul godfather. Come on, that’s a great story. So of course Salt Island is ripping out their hair and wailing over… titles. It looks like Buckingham Palace is still openly briefing the media as well, probably because they know their cult of anti-Sussex monarchists can’t stand the fact that King Charles hasn’t found some way to abuse his grandchildren from afar. Charles tried to convince everyone for months that he could arbitrarily take Lilibet and Archie’s titles away because the titles had to be “earned.” Only the Sussexes reminded everyone that their kids were Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie the moment Charles became king. So here we are, with the palace briefing against the Sussexes yet again. From the Times:

The title dispute: The children have officially been allowed to use the titles since Elizabeth II’s death, under rules set out by George V in 1917. However, neither the palace nor the Sussexes have used the titles until now. The palace said it had been Harry and Meghan’s decision not to use the titles. A source said: “They would have been entitled as male-line grandchildren of the sovereign to use the titles, but their parents decided they did not wish them to be known as prince and princess.”

The palace thinks the kids won’t use the titles: It is understood the titles will be used in formal settings but not in everyday use by the couple. Harry and Meghan are understood to be keen to not deny their children their birthright, but to allow [them] to decide as adults whether to drop the titles.

Remember when Charles pretended he could take their titles away? The question of Archie and Lilibet’s titles has been a source of much confusion since the death of the late Queen. It was previously reported that the King had not decided whether to let them use their titles of prince and princess, which had heightened tensions with the Sussexes.

Harry & Meghan’s HRHs: Harry and Meghan have not been allowed to use their styles as His (or Her) Royal Highness since stepping down from royal duties. Now, Archie and Lilibet will not be HRHs. A palace source said: “The use of the style HRH would come through their father and the Duke of Sussex’s HRH is in abeyance.”

The palace was simply waiting for the Sussexes to make a move! The reaction of Buckingham Palace to the Sussexes’ announcement suggests that it had been waiting for Harry and Meghan to take a lead. A source said that the Sussexes had been entitled to use the titles since the King’s accession. Now that the Sussexes have confirmed the titles, the website would be updated “in due course”. At the time of the late Queen’s death and the King’s accession, a spokesman for the King pledged to update Archie and Lilibet’s names on the site “as and when we get information”.

[From The Times]

This is the first we’re hearing about the Sussexes’ HRHs being “in abeyance.” I believe the palace is playing fast and loose on that issue – QEII never removed Harry and Meghan’s HRHs, but they “agreed” to simply not USE their HRH styles. Which is not the same thing as their HRHs being in abeyance. And no, I would not expect Archie and Lili to have HRHs. Who cares, they’re American kids. It’s funny to watch the palace try to do damage control and try to play both sides here, when Charles’s people have been trying to use the kids’ titles as a bargaining chip to manipulate Harry for MONTHS. Some of you believe this was Harry publicly challenging his father: now that we’re publicly referring to Lili and Archie as Princess and Prince, are you going to change the Letters Patent just to publicly deny titles to your mixed race grandchildren?

Photos courtesy of SussexRoyal IG, Cover Images, Netflix, Misan Harriman/The Sussexes.

At Queen Camilla’s first big Buckingham Palace reception, her lady-in-waiting/companion Lady Susan Hussey barraged Ngozi Fulani with a racist interrogation. What followed was somehow, incredibly, even worse. Fulani reported what happened publicly and the palace lied about contacting Fulani with an apology, then they allowed Hussey to “resign.” Then silence – the palace left Fulani out in the cold, where the British racists and British media began smearing her, ripping her life apart and threatening the work she did at Sistah Space. Queen Camilla still didn’t do a f–king thing when the charity commission suddenly launched an investigation into Fulani, one of the most obvious “punishments” designed for a woman who reported her treatment by the racist establishment.

Seventeen days after the inciting incident, the palace finally arranged for a “sit down” between Hussey and Fulani. The palace made a big splashy statement about Hussey offering “her sincere apologies for the comments that were made and the distress they caused to Ms Fulani” (I’m sorry you were offended!) and Hussey “pledged” to try not to be so racist anymore. The palace also noted that Fulani “accepted this apology and appreciates that no malice was intended.” The palace’s statement went on to treat Hussey and Fulani like they were equally at fault and equally victims. Well, that was nearly three months ago. Now Ngozi Fulani has announced that she’s stepping away from Sistah Space because the racist abuse has been too much, and by the way, the palace still hasn’t apologized to her:

Black charity boss Ngozi Fulani is stepping down as CEO of Sistah Space, blaming racist abuse she received following the Buckingham Palace race row. The activist said the charity for Black women survivors of domestic abuse had suffered as a result of the row, which saw senior royal aide Lady Susan Hussey, 83, interrogate her about where she was “really from?” at an event in November.

Ms Fulani told Good Morning Britain that she had been subjected to “violence” following the incident and claimed the palace hadn’t done anything to help. Sistah Space was “forced to temporarily cease” many of its operations in December after Ms Fulani spoke out about her treatment by Lady Hussey, who later resigned as a royal aide.

“I’ve now temporarily stepped down as CEO of Sistah Space,” Ms Fulani announced on Wednesday. “Sistah Space charity has suffered as a direct result (…) because of this incident, violence has been directed to me. The palace hasn’t intervened – I think they could have. (…). The service users and the community can’t access us properly. This whole thing has cost us a fortune because we had to pay our own PR to stop the press from coming up, it was horrible.”

A royal source said these [palace pledges] have all been honoured by the palace but Sistah Space disputes this. Moreover, Ms Fulani insisted that she has yet to receive an apology directly from the palace and suggested that royal remorse over the incident was merely referenced in the statement.

“I’m just making the point so that everybody understands what is so hard to say I’m sorry,” Ms Fulani added. “You sent me the invitation so you know how to find me. You know how to say sorry. If you’re sorry then say sorry, if you’re not, I get it. But when you make this apology to everybody, I don’t know who you’re apologising to.”

[From The Independent]

Don’t get me wrong, I know why Fulani agreed to that stupid palace photo-op with Susan Hussey – Fulani had been attacked, smeared and abused for seventeen days after she reported the racist treatment she was subjected to at the palace. She wanted it to stop and she believed that meeting and that photo-op would stop it. She seems to be saying that she didn’t have approval over the palace’s “they’re BOTH victims” statement, which I also believe. The palace grossly mishandled this from the beginning and the Windsors’ refusal to deal directly and sincerely with Ngozi Fulani speaks volumes about how they view her as unimportant and expendable. To make matters worse, Hussey is already back in the royal fold – she’s already back representing King Charles and Queen Camilla, all while Fulani’s life has been ripped apart.

‘I don’t see what is so hard to say I’m sorry.’

We’re joined exclusively by Ngozi Fulani, founder of @Sistah_Space for the first time since the former Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen – Lady Susan Hussey asked her where she was “really from.” pic.twitter.com/EhGqA0u10O

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) March 8, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, YouTube and Buckingham Palace.

This week, we have to watch as monarchists and derangers pretend that royal titles are based on “merit” or “popularity” rather than birthright, primogeniture, proximity to the monarch and an ancient and archaic system built on bloodshed, racism, theft and property. Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet were always going to be prince and princess because of the Letters Patent, because their grandfather became king last September. While Charles has talked a big game about changing the Letters Patent and while he’s done the most to shun and exile his mixed-race grandchildren, he didn’t end up changing jacksh-t. So Archie and Lilibet have had those titles since September. The palace tried to play fast and loose when they updated the line of succession list following QEII’s death and they didn’t include Lili and Archie’s titles then. It’s only now, today, at approximately 9:30 am GMT, that the palace changed the kids’ titles on the line of succession:

“Sources” told the Daily Mail that the Sussexes were “frustrated that Buckingham Palace failed to immediately recognise Archie and Lilibet’s titles after the Queen’s death six months ago,” especially since Prince William’s kids’ titles changed immediately. Buckingham Palace claims that “they were waiting for Harry and Meghan to make a final decision,” except that the palace and the Sussexes were apparently in communication over the kids’ titles for months. Royal sources also insist that “Charles not blocking it – despite the turmoil Harry and Meghan has caused – is seen as an olive branch….[but] Charles would never have ‘punished’ his grandchildren like that.” He certainly let everyone believe he would punish his grandbabies that way, and he continuously refused to update the line of succession to reflect his grandchildren’s titles for months, so this is not the win for Charles. Meanwhile, the Sussexes’ spokesperson released another statement:

“The children’s titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became monarch,” a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told PEOPLE. “This matter has been settled for some time in alignment with Buckingham Palace.”

[From People]

Yeah, again – the Sussexes are saying the palace has known for “some time” that the Sussexes had “made a decision” (again, that’s not how it works) on titles and King Charles still assumed an air of punitive manipulation, that he would remove the kids’ titles to punish Harry for writing Spare. Charles turned what could have been a positive story for him into yet another fumble.

Photos courtesy of Misan Harriman/The Sussexes, SussexRoyal IG and Netflix.

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As we know by now, Hugh Jackman will reprise his very popular (and very dead) character Logan aka Wolverine in Ryan Reynolds next Deadpool movie. Hugh has been busy, both with films and a successful The Music Man run on Broadway. None of them, however, have called for Hugh’s famous Wolverine physique. So he is currently trying to get back into comic book shape, and to do so, he’s consuming over 8,000 calories a day. Eight thousand. That sounds like a punishment! I mean, I’d love to not have to count every tiny crumb I put in my mouth but if the alternative was to power down the entire buffet at Olive Garden, I think I’ll stick with my menopause diet, thankyouverymuch.

Hugh Jackman is bulking up to become Wolverine again.

The Golden Globe-winning actor shared a photo of a “day in the life” of becoming one of Marvel’s favorite X-Men. He has been gradually adding calories to his diet as he prepares to reprise the role he played over the course of nine films since 2000.

Now the actor is back on a diet fit for a mutant and packing on the protein with daily meal prep consisting of black bass with veggie rice and herb sauce (2,000 calories), Patagonia salmon with potatoes and hot sauce (2,100 calories), two chicken burgers with sweet potatoes (1,000 calories each) and two grass-fed sirloins with noodles (1,100 calories each.)

“Bulking. A day in the life,” Jackman captioned a photo of the calorie-rich meals. “Thank you, Chef Mario, for helping me stay healthy and properly fed whilst… Becoming. Wolverine. Again.”

The daily intake of 8,300 calories is paired with a rigorous fitness regimen, which the actor is also sharing via social media. In one post, Jackman, 54, shared a shot of himself with bulging biceps as he curled a massive weight. “He’s only 46. I’m older. But it’s not a competition,” reads the caption, which pokes fun at Ryan Reynolds.

[From LA Times]

Actually, reading what Hugh’s eating made me hungry. Those meals sound tasty. I couldn’t eat two burgers or sirloins, but I could put a dent in one. Hugh and I are the same age and I’m allowed less than 1/8th of his calorie allotment per day. I am not, however, powerlifting refrigerators in my downtime either. But this is so much. We speculated how Wolverine would factor into the new Deadpool and general consensus was probably in flashbacks. Which likely means digital de-aging for him, so couldn’t they also digitally bulk poor Hugh up? This is a flex – literally. Men love this crap. Watch me eat my way through Foster Farms while pulling a semi uphill all for a role. I’m so dedicated… and fit, perhaps you noticed. He’ll look phenomenal, he always does (except too veiny for my tastes). And I’ll have to hear about it from my husband who will start asking for chicken breasts and if we can run by Play It Again Sports on the way home to pick up another barbell. Why don’t men ever get inspired when actors in films do the dishes instead? Now that’s sexy.

Definitely go check out Hugh’s chef, Chef Mario Spina’s IG, though. Mmmmmmm.

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Celebrities have become more open about sharing their various health struggles, and the latest to do so is conservationist Bindi Irwin. She posted a photo from a hospital bed after a recent surgery and revealed that she’s been dealing with painful endometriosis for 10 years. Doctors removed 37 lesions. Bindi shared her story alongside International Women’s Day and Endometriosis Awareness Month.

The Australian conservationist Bindi Irwin revealed Wednesday she has undergone surgery for endometriosis after a decade-long battle with the condition that affects the uterus.

“For 10 years I’ve struggled with insurmountable fatigue, pain and nausea,” Irwin shared in posts on social media alongside an image of her in a hospital bed.

“A doctor told me it was simply something you deal with as a woman and I gave up entirely, trying to function through the pain.”

Irwin’s posts coincided with both International Women’s Day and Endometriosis Awareness Month.

Endometriosis is “a condition in which the tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside the uterus,” according to the United States’ National Institutes of Health.

Symptoms can include pelvic pain, heavy bleeding during periods and fertility issues.

Irwin, 24, said doctors had found 37 lesions, some of which were “very deep and difficult to remove,” but she was now “on the road to recovery.”

“I’m sharing my story for anyone who reads this and is quietly dealing with pain and no answers. Let this be your validation that your pain is real and you deserve help,” she added.

She gave birth to a daughter, Grace, in March 2021.

“Please be gentle and pause before asking me (or any woman) when we’ll be having more children,” Irwin wrote in her post Wednesday. “After all that my body has gone through, I feel tremendously grateful that we have our gorgeous daughter. She feels like our family’s miracle.”

[From CNN.com]

Several celebrities like Amy Schumer, Halsey, and Lena Dunham have talked about struggling with endometriosis before. And Bindi said she shared her story to help others who might be struggling as well, to show them that they’re not alone. It’s good that Bindi was able to get the surgery and hopefully it helps her find some relief. She is young, 24, and endometriosis most commonly affects women in their 30s and 40s. The number of lesions found, coupled with her age sounds like she must have had pretty bad symptoms and hopefully she recovers quickly. Hopefully Bindi sharing her story helps others who may be struggling and she’s able to rest and recover for herself and her family as well.

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Sarah Ferguson is on a book tour in New York this week to promote her latest historical romance. She stopped by Good Morning America in a segment which aired Tuesday, and after she spoke about her book, she gave even more quotes about the Windsors, how much she adores and respects King Charles, and how much she likes the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

After QEII’s death, she “feels liberated”: “It’s like I’ve taken the mental shackles out of my brain. I don’t know whether it’s the queen passing on that I now think I can just sort of say openly what I want to say without worrying I’m going to offend somebody. I’m really truly authentic Sarah now.”

On the Chubbly: She also still believes in the “absolute unequivocal institution of the monarchy” and is looking forward to her former brother-in-law King Charles’s coronation in May. “I totally support the King and the Queen Consort…I’ve known them all my life,” she said, although she added that she’s not sure whether or not she will be invited to the big event. The duchess added that she has “adored” Charles all her life and believes “he is an extraordinary person.”

On Harry: “What I’m thrilled about is seeing Harry so happy. He’s got his lovely wife and he’s got beautiful children. He deserves to be loved.”

[From VF]

She’s also said (a few times) that she hasn’t been invited to the coronation but she adds that the invitations haven’t gone out yet. It sounds like she’s prepared to sit at home and eat a sandwich during the coronation. She also says that if Diana was still here, the two of them would be having a “granny-off,” and that Diana would be immensely proud of her grandchildren. Of course, she also says tons of sh-t about Prince Andrew. My favorite part is when she says outright that QEII told her to keep writing – she’s practically giving her books the royal warrant.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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Spoilers for already aired episodes of Barry
All good things must come to an end, and that goes for TV shows as much as anything. In addition to Ted Lasso and Succession, we will be saying goodbye to Barry after season 4. The reason? Series creator and star Bill Hader said the ending came to him and it just felt right to close it out. I found it interesting how the ending came to him. Apparently, when Covid shut down production of season 3 in 2020, Bill used the time to write season 4, which is when it occurred to him that was the end of the show. But he went back and rewrote season 3 to set up the ending better. That leads me to believe season 4 is going to be so flushed out, I’m going to have to go back and play catch up now. The new teaser for 4 is out. I posted it below and we’ll talk a little more about it below. Here are a few quotes from Bill’s Variety interview about the ending.

On why there’s a season 4: Yeah! It was very much in the writing and the storytelling. I mean, a lot of people after last season were like, “Why are you doing another season? It should have just ended.”

But to me, there are still so many questions with the other characters, and with Barry — and there’s so many things unsaid. What happens in Season 4 is structurally radical in some ways, but it made sense for what I think the characters needed to go through, and what I think the whole show is always kind of headed towards.

You realize, well, we could pad a lot of stuff, and just make story. But if we’re going forward, it ends in Season 4.

Why he rewrote Season 3: Well, Season 3 was always pretty dark. Actually, in some parts it was darker, and we cut it back! I think naturally the show just gets darker by virtue of what’s happening with the characters, and people knowing this thing that Barry’s kept hidden. This whole show has been about him trying to better himself, and change himself. And I think a lot of people — maybe us included — thought, “Oh, that gonna happen.” And then as you write it, you go, “Oh, no, that’s never — I don’t know if that’s gonna happen!”

Season 3 was solidifying that, and then setting up stuff that we wanted to happen in Season 4. So 3 and 4 to us felt like one big season — those 16 episodes were all kind of conceived together. And then, like I said, there’s something that happens in 4 that is kind of strange, though thematically it makes a lot of sense.

What series finales inspired him: To be honest, I don’t watch a whole lot of television. But I get excited by good endings to books — things that have a really satisfying ending.

I’ve never seen it in terms of a TV show, I guess — even though it is a TV show. Even when we’re cutting right now, I don’t even think I’ve ever referred to it as the “series finale” when we’re working on the last episode. It’s just the end of the story, you know what I mean?

[From Variety]

I’m one of those people who absolutely thought that the series should’ve ended with Barry being led out in handcuffs at the end of season 3. I was really disappointed they were going to try to drag another storyline past that. However, knowing now that Bill and Alec Berg rewrote the whole season to set-up the final season makes me trust the decision.

In the teaser, it looks like Barry is coming unraveled. While that might seem like a cop out, if you layer it over the whole redemption arc he’s been striving for while further digging his own grave, it makes sense. And the phone call at the end, trying to figure out who he’s threatening, it gives you chills. It would be interesting if Barry does a full snap back to the person he was before he came to LA. It would also be brilliant (and very Sopranos) if we don’t ever find out who was on the other end of that phone call and the final shot was Barry on the other side of the jail wall, cocking a gun and heading off into the night to find his victim. But I love that kind of thing. I also love that Bill knew when to end Barry and did so. It’s hard to say goodbye to good TV but it’s harder to watch good TV go bad. I’m glad he got to end his series on his terms. I’m definitely intrigued to see what he does with it.

Complete left turn but just fyi, Barry co-star and America’s Grandpa Henry Winkler has written an autobiography. You can pre-order it now.

The teaser:

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Jenna Ortega wore a Jean Paul Gaultier deconstructed tux to the Scream VI premiere this week. I really like this? [Go Fug Yourself]
Zendaya went to Paris Fashion Week! [LaineyGossip]
I still haven’t tried Raspberry Rally Girl Scout cookies. [Dlisted]
Canadian artist Zac Rosen has new paintings. [OMG Blog]
I totally didn’t remember that this happened?!? [Pajiba]
Lucy Liu’s giant Carolina Herrera dress is… a lot. [RCFA]
Owen Wilson is doing some kind of Bob Ross-like character. [Just Jared]
Hollywood doesn’t actually want women to talk. [Jezebel]
Miley Cyrus will drop a new video on Friday. [Egotastic]
There’s medical racism in how dementia patients are treated. [Buzzfeed]
Priyanka Chopra & Nick Jonas went to the Valentino show. [Tom & Lorenzo]
I love when people say “they hate me because I’m so confident.” [Starcasm]

I do wonder if the cast of Ted Lasso feel a bit sad and angry over the end of the show. For Hannah Waddingham especially, this made her a household name. So many actors got their big breaks from this show too. Like… can’t we have one more season, please, as a treat?? Anyway, here are photos from the big Ted Lasso Season 3 premiere in LA. Hannah wore a black jumpsuit with a train and wet-look hair. It’s… not great. She wanted to play Rebecca forever!

Jason Sudeikis just wore a high-fashion tracksuit to the premiere.

Toheeb Jimoh – I hope he gets so much work post-Lasso.

Brett Goldstein, aka He’s here, he’s there, he’s every f–king where ROY KENT.

Cristo Fernandez, best hair of the show.

James Lance aka Trent Crimm, The Independent. Second best hair on the show. I really love his minor character arc, it’s so cool.

Phil Dunster, himbo.

Brendan Hunt, making a bold fashion choice.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.