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Jackie Goldschneider of The Real Housewives of New Jersey is getting in on the Ozempic news cycle again. She called it “an eating disorder in a needle” back in January, then in February said it was “horrifying” and that its usage would likely cause a lot of eating disorders. And Jackie isn’t invoking anorexia lightly — she’s been open about being in recovery for it herself. Anyway, Jackie threw some shade at a fellow Housewife. Fans accused one of her OC counterparts of using Ozempic, then Jackie said she’d “be the last woman standing.”

Jackie Goldschneider won’t jump on the Ozempic bandwagon like other “Housewives.”

The “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star, 46, declared Saturday that she has no plans to start taking the diabetes-turned-weight-loss drug.

“I’ll be the last (wo)man standing,” she commented on Page Six’s Instagram post about fellow Bravolebrity Emily Simpson looking slimmer recently.

Fans accused the “Real Housewives of Orange County” star, 47, of using Ozempic after she shared a photo of herself appearing noticeably different at home with her twin sons, Luke and Keller.

“I was trying to get a cute photo of the jumpsuit but my boys and dog kept jumping in the photos #momlife,” she captioned her post Friday, causing her followers to raise their eyebrows.

Simpson is far from the only “Housewives” star fans have accused of lying about their use of the medication.

Bravo exec Andy Cohen even joked last week that the “Real Housewives of Ozempic” was currently airing on Bravo.

Goldschneider, who has battled an eating disorder for most of her life, has not shied away from discussing the dangers of drugs like Ozempic, which is intended for those with Type II diabetes or clinical obesity.

“An eating disorder in a needle,” the reality star commented under an Instagram post in January.

Goldschneider has also talked extensively about being in recovery for anorexia.

She said it was “going well” but “not as easy” as she thought it would be when she sat down with Page Six last year.

“I thought I would just start eating more and everything would come together, but there’s been a lot of hurdles for me, so I’m definitely, like, well on my way, a thousand times better than I was last year, but I do have issues,” she explained at the time.

Goldschneider later said she was “horrified” by the latest celebrity weight-loss fad running rampant in the “Real Housewives” world.

“You should know that I can talk about Ozempic all day. It gets me so fired up,” she said on Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast in February.

“I’m horrified by it,” she went on.

“There’s going to be a lot of people with eating disorders. … You start dropping massive amounts of weight. That’s so addicting. That’s how I spiraled into anorexia.”

“Housewives” who’ve admitted to using Ozempic include Goldschneider’s “RHONJ” co-stars Dolores Catania and Jennifer Fessler.

[From Page Six]

I think here a few things can be true. Jackie is in recovery for anorexia and is adamantly against the use of Ozempic and similar drugs. But she’s also throwing shade at her fellow Bravolebrities and keeping her name in with the Ozempic news. I understand Jackie has strong opinions about it based on her own experience and I don’t disagree with her opinions, but popping into the comments about other Housewives seems petty and unnecessary. Even as I have empathy for Jackie being in recovery, it does seem like a weird cousin of virtue-signaling to keep belaboring this. At this point, it seems more like snark than sharing genuine concern. I think Jackie sharing her own experiences, as she has done in the past, is important and more helpful for what she’s trying to achieve than the social media comments at the expense of the other women.

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I enjoy the wording of Chris Wallace’s current show, because Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? can have many readings, and mine is always, “Is anyone actually talking to him?” After his woefully inadequate moderating of the first presidential debate in 2020, I thought he was going to be encouraged into retirement (he’ll be 76 this year). Instead he has his own show, where this weekend he hosted Harrison Ford–on the promotional trail for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, opening in theaters this Friday–and pestered Ford (who will be 81 next month) about his retirement:

Harrison Ford simply isn’t ready to retire from Hollywood.

As Ford appeared on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?, the 80-year-old Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny actor told host Chris Wallace, “I don’t do well when I don’t have work,” when asked whether he’s given retirement any thought.

“I love to work. I love to feel useful. It’s my jones,” Ford, who turns 81 next month, said during the interview. “I want to be helpful.”

“It is the people that you get to work with,” he continued, when Wallace asked what aspects of making movies he loves. “The intensity and the intimacy of collaboration. It’s the combined ambition somehow forged from words on a page. I don’t plan what I want to do in a scene, and I don’t feel obliged to do anything. But I am, I guess, naturally affected by the things that I work on.”

Elsewhere in the appearance, Wallace asked Ford about what he meant by saying he desired the new movie to be “ambitious” in his final turn as Indiana Jones. The actor said he wanted the film to “confront the question of age straight-on, not to hide my age, but to take advantage of it in the telling of the story.”

“I feel very strongly that it does [pull it off],” he added, before noting: “It’s time for me to grow up,” as he moves on from the longtime action-adventure franchise.

“Six years ago, I thought maybe we ought to take a shot at making another one. And I wanted it to be about age because I think that rounds out the story that we’ve told and we’ve brought it to the right place,” he said, opining that 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull did not end with “a real strong feeling of the conclusion or the closure that I always hoped for.”

“Speaking to this issue of age, not making jokes about it, but making it a real thing,” Ford added of his desire for the new film.

When Ford–who has been filming scenes for the next Captain America movie lately–spoke with PEOPLE recently, he said he has not lost any of his love for the film industry.

“I probably enjoy making movies more now than I ever did,” he said. “I don’t want to be young again. I was young, and now I enjoy being old.”

[From People]

The whole episode is available now and runs thirty minutes long (although I’d wager that the actual interview time is closer to twenty minutes if you cut out the excessive use of film clips). Wallace starts out with a real winner, when he lobs the following question at Ford: “Why is it that for fifty years people have wanted to sit in the dark and watch you?” I think that may be the most perfectly-worded question in the history of journalism. Glorious, and matched only when Wallace then asks about Ford retiring, and Ford shoots him a look that essentially says, “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed in you.”

Truth be told, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Harrison Ford be such a range of emotions in such a short time frame. There are moments of giddiness, like when he shares that Christopher Walken was almost Han Solo and nearly shouts “Which would have been FANTASTIC!”, and moments where he’s weepy, recalling colleagues and mentors who have passed. Clearly, it’s the people he gets to work with that bring him joy and fulfillment in his career, and why he doesn’t want to stop. Why should he? He also gives great credit to writers for why he’s still working so much right now. As for this final installment of Indiana Jones tackling age? I’m sorry, but all I’m seeing in my head when I hear that is the SNL take–like now he’s using the whip to help get him out of bed in the morning. Or the lost artifacts he’s hunting down are his meds. You can tell by the printing on the label that it’s an early Walgreens-era-filled prescription, before its overhaul of the DuaneReade empire… PLEASE someone at SNL write that skit! (Once the writers’ terms are met and the strike is over, of course.)

Photos credit: UPPA/Avalon, James Warren/Bang Showbiz/Avalon

Travis Barker & Kourtney Kardashian had a gender reveal. It’s a boy. [Dlisted]
Phoebe Waller Bridge looked great in Berlin. [Go Fug Yourself]
Photos from the BET Awards, which were held even with the ongoing writers’ strike (who wrote the stuff on the teleprompter?). [Just Jared]
The pics from the Barbie photocall are amazing. [RCFA]
Review of No Hard Feelings, with praise for Jennifer Lawrence. [LaineyGossip]
Kim Petras drops a new album for Pride Month! [OMG Blog]
Everyone’s raving about Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City! [Pajiba]
NBC doesn’t want the rebooted Magnum, PI. [Seriously OMG]
The more we know about Ron DeSantis, the more we hate him. [Jezebel]
Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice promote Barbie. [Egotastic]
Getting to know Andrew Barth Feldman. [Buzzfeed]
Elton John performed his last British concert ever at Glastonbury. [Towleroad]

Over the weekend, Page Six ran an exclusive about Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner’s divorce, taken from some of Christine’s filings to the court. Christine hired a forensic accountant basically as soon as she decided to file for divorce, and that accountant provided Christine with a detailed summary of just how much money Costner has coming in and how much he’s spending per year. Costner isn’t overextended, but he’s spending way too much money, in my opinion. I suppose the point of filing those financials with the court is to emphasize just how badly Costner intends to screw over Christine if the prenup is upheld. Costner’s spending probably also justifies Christine’s request for $248K a month in child support. Meanwhile, the Sun’s sources now claim that Costner was really mad when Christine served him with divorce papers, because… he intended to file first??

Kevin Costner was stunned when he was given divorce papers — as he wanted to serve them himself. We can reveal the actor thought he and wife Christine had agreed to have an amicable split. He broke the news of their impending divorce to their three children in a family summit at a restaurant near their £115 million mansion in Montecito, California. But the 68-year-old Bodyguard star was “blindsided” the next day when Christine, 49, seized the initiative.

A source said: “Kevin sat his family down, told them he and their mum were getting a divorce and his lawyer was getting the paperwork drawn up. He wanted everything to be peaceful for the sake of his kids and told Christine he didn’t want a messy divorce because he’d already been through one. Then first thing the next morning, boom, Christine sneak attacks him and serves him with her own set of divorce papers. Kevin was so shocked. Christine has since made him look terrible, and has continued to do so.”

She has claimed her husband — worth £200million — told their kids they were divorcing in a ten-minute Zoom call.

[From The Sun]

Yeah, Christine told the court that Costner told the kids on a Zoom call from Las Vegas, and now he’s trying to say that he did it in person the day before Christine filed? I don’t believe it, any of it. When Christine filed, he was not acting like a man eager to go through another divorce. His team was doing furious damage control and publicly pleading for Christine to change her mind. Even if Christine and Kevin had spoken about a separation before she filed, it’s not like she could have arranged everything last minute as a way to surprise Costner – she clearly planned out everything, hired the forensic accountant, hired the divorce lawyer and had all of her ducks in a row. This is clearly Costner’s bruised ego. Hell hath no fury like a man whose wife charged a forensic accountant and divorce lawyer to his credit card.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Earlier this year Priscilla Presley did something very tacky and cold when she attempted to invalidate her daughter Lisa Marie’s will after her death. Priscilla wanted to be a trustee of the Presley estate, but Lisa Marie had amended her will several years ago to take Priscilla out of that role, and make Riley Keough and her brother the main trustee. Riley paid Priscilla a lump sum of $1.4 million to get her to back off, basically, and remains the sole trustee of her mother’s estate. It must have been such an ordeal for Riley Keough to go through–to have her grandma basically sue her when she was still processing her mother’s death. I’m putting that to one side. But I wanted to mention it as context because I think that all of this drama is one reason why some people at the Presley estate has some less than complimentary things to say about Sofia Coppola’s upcoming biopic, called Priscilla. Several nameless “officials” from the estate ran to TMZ to complain about the film after getting an advanced viewing. They accused Priscilla of doing a “money grab” but also took aim at Sofia Coppola.

After recently igniting a bevy of family drama over the fate of her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley‘s trust, Priscilla is once again ruffling feathers when it comes to the Elvis Presley Estate—but this time, it has to do with the new biopic coming out about her life with the late music icon.

Earlier this week, the trailer dropped for the new Sofia Coppola film, which is based on Priscilla’s 1985 biography, Elvis and Me. Shortly after the teaser premiered for the upcoming picture, titled Priscilla, a member of the Elvis Presley Estate spoke out to denounce the film, claiming it was made without their knowledge.

Officials from the estate told TMZ that the film was “produced without the Estate’s knowledge or consent,” and called it a “money grab” on Priscilla’s part.

One official who already saw the film also criticized Coppola’s writing and directing, calling it “horrible,” and stating, “It feels like a college movie.”

“The set designs are just horrific, it’s not what Graceland looks like,” the source added.

But Priscilla, on the other hand, has a much different feeling about the upcoming movie, taking to social media to voice her excitement over the film adaptation of her book.

“I am excited about the interpretation of my book by the masterful Sofia Coppola,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday, along with a shot of the movie poster, starring actors Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny as Elvis and Priscilla.

“[Coppola] has such an extraordinary perspective and I have always been such an admirer of her work,” Priscilla continued in her post. “I’m certain this movie will take everyone on an emotional journey.”

[From Parade]

I highly doubt the “officials” from the Presley estate did not know about this movie. The trade papers reported on this movie going into production in September of last year. I do believe that Priscilla wanted to keep these people out of the film. Honestly, it’s a movie about her life, not just Elvis, and Sofia has said that Priscilla is an executive producer, so it’s her call. She’s the foremost expert on her own life, and I don’t think she needs the estate’s consent to tell her own story.  I LOLed at the comment about horrific set designs. I feel like set design is something Sofia usually gets right. It is true that Sofia’s movies have an impressionistic kind of vibe–they may have historical anachronisms, but those things reflect the perspective of the main character. That’s why a pair of Converse All-Stars sneak their way into Marie Antoinette even though it takes place in the 18th century. If she isn’t doing a perfectly accurate recreation of what Graceland looked like, she probably has a good reason artistically for doing that.

She may be the most nepo baby to ever nepo baby, but Sofia is a skilled and accomplished writer and director in her own right–only someone with an axe to grind would say otherwise. I can’t imagine these same complaints being lobbed at a male director. I think the folks at the estate are also worried about it being a story from Priscilla’s perspective because Elvis basically groomed her when she was fourteen years old and he was an adult man. I don’t think Sofia is going to shy away from that in this movie, and that’s what the “officials” at the estate are really mad about.

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Two weekends ago, the British media started a rumor about how the Duchess of Sussex would soon get a brand ambassadorship with Dior. It was all over the place in the British press – the Telegraph, the Mail, the Sun and the Mirror all ran multiple stories about how their “sources” claimed that Meghan would soon sign up with Dior and what did everyone think about it and blah blah blah. What’s weird is that… there was nothing there, no evidence that anything like that was happening. Team Sussex eventually shut it down and then Camilla turned up at Royal Ascot in a tent-like, sad-sack Dior and I guess that was the end of it. Camilla was the source, and she wanted to make a point of wearing Dior. I still don’t understand that whole British-media-exclusive obsession with that story. Now the Telegraph has an even more ridiculous follow-up: “How Marmite Meghan can still rule fashion.” Subhead: “The Duchess could have a renaissance in the industry if she chooses her moment correctly.” All of this was just an excuse for the Telegraph’s fashion reporter to speak to British fashion industry people about how they all hate Meghan (yet they’re all obsessed with her).

“Over my dead body,” said one independent luxury fashion consultant when I asked whether they could imagine ever advising any of their clients to sign a sponsorship deal with the Duchess of Sussex. This was early last week, when stories were still circulating about the couple’s putative lucrative agreement with Dior. The denial was swift and came not from Dior, but from the Sussex camp. No surprise to anyone who knows anything about the powers who run Dior. A formal contract with the Duke and Duchess, especially one that would supposedly pay Meghan $200,000 (about £157,300) for every post on her resurrected Instagram account showing her in Dior (the rumour-mongers were having a field day) was never anything but entertaining speculation.

The fact is, the Duchess splits opinion dramatically – this week, YouGov reported that Meghan is the least popular she’s ever been in the UK, with a positivity rating of -47 per cent. Few people are neutral about her and while for some brands association with a live wire, deftly handled, can be beneficial – maybe Marmite could pull off a witty, knowing collaboration with the Duchess – it’s the last thing Dior, still mindful of the spectacular fallout from its former creative director John Galliano’s anti-Semitic ramblings in 2011, wants to ignite.

No brand does at the moment. Kanye West’s recent (also anti-Semitic-related) implosion at Adidas, and the outrage directed at Balenciaga at the end of last year for the cavalier way it juxtaposed images relating to child abuse with its product, have confirmed to the industry the need to stay away from anything or anyone that might be contentious. The public mood is too volatile to take risks. Objectively, Harry and Meghan have never said or done anything remotely as heinous as Galliano, West or Balenciaga, although their insinuation that the Royal family and by extension the UK is institutionally racist wasn’t an endearing move. Harry’s autobiography also infuriated many.

“Personally,” says another fashion industry veteran who’s worked with international brands for two decades, “I don’t like what they [the Duke and Duchess] have done. It makes my blood boil. But putting my own feelings aside, they’re just too divisive for a big, international brand to take on”. This view turns out to be widespread across a sector which once embraced Meghan. Publicly, the fashion industry’s tone is non-committal – no one wants to go on the record criticising the pair in case they’re dragged into a social media brouhaha, accused of being envious or out of touch with Gen Z, who have traditionally been more supportive of the Sussexes than other demographics. But nor is anyone gushing.

When the Sussexes’ spokesman confirmed on Monday that the couple weren’t officially involved with Dior, the overriding response at the 77-year-old French house was probably relief. It meant it was spared the embarrassment of having to issue its own denial, which might have looked churlish.

[From The Telegraph]

So… because of the six-year sustained hate campaign against Meghan in the British media, Meghan is deeply unpopular in the country she left over three years ago, and the British fashion industry doesn’t want any part of Meghan. And because this is a British fashion reporter writing in a British newspaper, we’re to assume that Britain is the only possible market for a potential brand ambassadorship? That’s what gets me – like, I realize that Meghan is unpopular in the UK. We don’t have to unpack why that is, we all know why. But why does it follow that the international fashion industry would balk? London is not the center of the fashion universe. Britain is not the weathervane for global popularity or global style. Besides that, almost every designer wants to work with Meghan and they all hope she wears their stuff. You know why? Because she’s incredibly popular and stylish and everything she wears makes news.

Photos courtesy of Instar, Backgrid, Cover Images.

It just occurred to me that the British media has no idea how many film and television projects are at a stand-still in America right now because of the writers’ strike. While some shows and movies are filming during the strike, there is simply so much on hold right now, stuck in development limbo or stuck in a months-long holding pattern of preproduction. The WGA strike is happening for many reasons, but one big reason is because the streamers have f–ked up how writers and actors get paid. That’s going to be a huge part of the negotiations if and when the actors strike as well. I would imagine people who have exclusive development deals with streaming companies are getting a lot of pressure from the streamers to work through the strike. Well, speaking of, the Sun had an “exclusive” about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix deal:

Harry and Meghan have been told to come up with more must-watch shows for Netflix if they want to be paid £40million in outstanding fees, it is claimed. The couple’s six-part soul-baring series was the streaming giant’s most-viewed documentary. But the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are believed to have been paid only half of their reported £81million contract. And they will get the rest only if they produce content of real interest, an industry source has revealed.

The source said the US giant is happy with the viewing figures for the couple’s Harry & Meghan series. It proves they can be box-office hits with the right format. But if no suitable follow-ups can be agreed, the outstanding cash will not be handed over, it is claimed.

But the couple will not face a public split similar to their one with Spotify. Their Archewell company’s £18million deal with the platform was ended by mutual agreement after Meghan, 41, produced only 13 broadcasts in two-and-a half years. The industry source said of the Netflix arrangement: “There’s no question of a headline-grabbing, public parting of the way. Netflix was pleased to sign Harry and Meghan and is looking for some great ideas going forward. But the remainder of the deal relies on them producing those good ideas. The deal’s continually under review which is normal for ones of this magnitude.”

[From The Sun]

The Sun is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, and NGN also owns the Wall Street Journal, and WSJ has been doing the most in recent weeks to break some really oddly-sourced news on the Sussexes’ contracts with Spotify and Netflix. Harry is also suing NGN, which explains some of this. Anyway, from my (limited) understanding, many of the streamers structure their development contracts in a certain way, as in “you’ll be paid this much when you hit this target,” etc. It’s not a surprise that the Sussexes have only been paid half of the reported $100 million, especially given that their contract is reportedly a five-year deal. I’m sure they’ve got some other stuff in development beyond Heart of Invictus too. But again, the writers’ strike. And what will probably be an actors’ strike. Everything is going to come grinding to a halt very quickly and I’m not looking forward to the British media making everything about the Sussexes.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Instar.

So, I usually think Kim Kardashian’s critics are way too harsh. Kim isn’t my favorite person, but she’s not the devil and I’m even on her side on some things. All that being said, I was laughing my ass off on Friday as Kim cluelessly stumbled into a really unnecessary controversy. Months ago, Kim was hired to appear in the latest season of American Horror Story. She’s acted before, and I would assume that she’s a SAG-Aftra union member. Well, the Writers Guild of America is on strike, but that hasn’t stopped AHS from filming right now in Los Angeles. Basically, the only way a show like AHS could film during the writers’ strike is if every single one of the AHS scripts were completed pre-strike, and no WGA-union member is on set to do any rewrites. If there is a writer on set, they are a scab. So Kim just traipsed across the picket line and then began tweeting cluelessly about being “on set.” The striking writers ripped her a new one:

Did anyone remind Kim there’s a #WGAStrong Strike right now? https://t.co/6nwdlIEIMb

— Los Angeles Magazine (@LAmag) June 23, 2023

Picketing, Kimberly https://t.co/nVhmIjrQFU

— Lauren Ashley Smith (@msLAS) June 23, 2023

currently on day 53 of this thing called the writer’s strike, Kimmy https://t.co/x37MoQnhmi

— Caroline (@carolinekwan) June 24, 2023

Excuse me ma’am but you crossed a picket line https://t.co/e9HT2XGQDx

— Jorts (and Jean) (@JortsTheCat) June 23, 2023

Hi Kim! What are your thoughts on the current WGA strike while you film a show without any guild writers? https://t.co/WVN2uG6z5M

— Tim Fitzgerald (@tim__fitzgerald) June 23, 2023

babe!!! so exciting!! Just curious where are you shooting? And what times? and is anyone modifying the script at all https://t.co/gfH6An0YeX

— danielle weisberg (@danielleweisber) June 23, 2023

Of all the things Kim has been called, scab is the most accurate. What an unforced error by Kim – do you know how f–king easy it would have been for her to actually go to a picket line ONE TIME and just show some general support? Instead, she just blundered into this controversy because she hasn’t been paying any attention to what’s actually happening in the industry.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

The past two weeks have been full of gleefully nasty reporting about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s business, and the reporting has absolutely not been limited to the British media, not with Rupert Murdoch’s media outlets in America doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and the trade papers piling on. Given that the British media has always been utterly clueless about how American celebrity works and how Netflix and Spotify work, the British media’s hive-mind has come back to their familiar talking point, which is that Prince Harry solely is somehow desperate to “come back” to his abusers and tormentors and desperate to reconcile with his family (all evidence to the contrary). Camilla Tominey wrote a lengthy and delusional piece about how the Windsors feel about all of this, and how the Windsors will “solve a problem like Harry.” Well, we saw how Charles solved a problem like Diana, and I suspect Charles has planned the same for Diana’s youngest son, especially given what already happened in New York.

Solving a problem like Harry: Having pulled off a successful Coronation and even managed to persuade the public to accept “Queen Camilla”, there is only one more pressing conundrum for the Firm to grapple with: how to solve a problem like Prince Harry? Yet while the Sussexes may be impatient for an apology, their royal relatives appear in no hurry whatsoever to bury the hatchet.

Charles & Meghan’s letters: The emergence of a letter written by Meghan to the King, expressing her concerns about unconscious bias in the Royal family, seems to have put paid to any imminent hope of reconciliation…Sources close to Meghan say she feels that she has not received a satisfactory response to her concerns, which is one of the reasons why she did not attend the Coronation. The King, meanwhile, remains “sad” and “disappointed” that his son and daughter-in-law felt the need to make such high-profile and damaging allegations in the first place. It is understood that Meghan’s letter was sent in reply to one from the King, believed to be the only senior member of the family to make contact with the Duchess after the interview.

The Windsors are forever salty: According to one source, the royals were “only just coming to terms with the Oprah interview” when the publication of Spare, Harry’s tell-all autobiography, in January, “took everything right back to square one”. “There’s a sense of high irritation about everything they’ve done. The Netflix documentary was viewed as largely anodyne and nothing much to worry about – it’s the book that, for the family, has really cemented the view that all Harry ever seems to want to do is air his unhappiness.”

Harry could write another book: Referring to Harry’s suggestion that “there’s enough for another book”, but that he “cut the memoir in half to spare my family”, the insider added, “There’s not a lot of trust left to allow the family to maintain a good and open relationship. How do you speak openly without it ending up in volume two?” Or, indeed, Meghan’s memoirs, when the time inevitably comes. If the Duchess is minded to finally name the royal “racist”, then all hell will likely break loose again.

LMAO: For the couple’s part, they are sticking to the narrative that the press is in cahoots with a palace that constantly briefs against them – which is why there was no official “recollections may vary”-style statement in response to Spare. As one former aide explained: “One of the reasons you haven’t heard a peep from the King or the Prince of Wales about this lately is because the couple in California are incredibly sensitive about briefing to the media. They hate it. So, people at the palace are having to be punctilious in refusing to speak in any way about the relationship.” An irony, perhaps, when you consider just how many beans have been spilt by the Sussexes about their nearest and dearest – but it seems one royal’s briefing is another royal’s “truth”.

How Camilla feels: Royal watchers could have been forgiven for thinking that the Queen was getting her own back on Tuesday when she appeared at Royal Ascot dressed in Dior – just as the French fashion house was distancing itself from reports of Meghan becoming a “brand ambassador”. Yet while there is no doubt that the Queen was upset by Spare, friends insist she isn’t the type to bear grudges. One former employee added: “If you think of all the years when she nearly had a bread roll thrown at her – how did she respond throughout that period? She was just really stoic. Her most admirable quality is certainly her sense of humour.”

The Sussexes won’t visit the UK for a while: With the Duke and Duchess having no reason to return to the UK (sources close to Harry say he is unlikely to make another High Court appearance any time soon), there is no impetus to initiate peace talks. “In the run-up to the Queen’s death and the Coronation, there had to be an institutional response,” explained one insider. “But with no major royal events on the horizon, the Sussexes are no longer the subject of strategy meetings.”

Charles is a dogsh-t father: One school of thought is that the King will eventually start the ball rolling again. “Most parents ultimately love their children a tremendous amount, and reconciling with them is something they want, although not necessarily at any cost,” said a source. But the dynamic has shifted since Charles became King. “A deference is suddenly introduced that is much more than a conventional father-son relationship,” explained one source. “You’re effectively disrespecting not just a person, but a sovereign. The monarch’s need to protect the institution as its only head figure makes everything more challenging.”

William & Kate act like children: It seems unlikely that a white flag will be raised without William’s approval, however, and the Prince and Princess of Wales appear determined to play the long game. “It’s a 1,000-year-old institution and they have long horizons,” said one source. “It’s a case of ‘Let the work speak for itself.’ The working family is working hard and it is working. The birthday parade was well received and no one seems to be missing the Sussexes on the Buckingham Palace balcony.”

Peg & Buttons are more concerned about Prince Andrew & Royal Lodge: While William and Kate, both 41, acknowledge that the impasse will eventually have to end, they believe that there are more pressing issues that remain outstanding, not least the future of the Duke of York. The couple, who are currently living in Adelaide Cottage, on the Windsor estate, have earmarked Prince Andrew’s much larger mansion, Royal Lodge, as a future family home – but the Duke is refusing to budge, despite reportedly receiving his marching orders from the King. “Having no contact seems to be the right answer for everybody right now,” said one insider. “At the height of it, it was all-consuming – and that’s not healthy for anyone.” Determined “not to be sucked back into the psychodrama”, the Waleses are very much in “keep calm and carry on” mode. “You need a level of distance in order to be detached and do your job. In that respect, the Waleses are a bit like Queen Elizabeth II – they actively avoid conflict. If you avoid the drama, it allows you to be stoic. The Princess is always very good on these things. Ultimately, it’s a relationship that’s probably worth saving, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” It perhaps also helps that there is “less anger than there was”. “It’s like a form of grief,” added the source. “There’s anger at what happened, but sadness at what could have been.”

[From The Telegraph]

TL:DR version: the Windsors continue to obsess over the Sussexes constantly and they, alongside their media partners, are uncomfortably focused on what the Sussexes do and say, all while the Sussexes live their lives in sunny California. Immediately following the coronation, there was a sudden realization among these morons that they no longer had any “big events” to hold over Harry’s head, to force him to come back. If it’s true that Harry won’t have to return to the UK to testify in any of his civil trials for a while, then how will the British media explain their continued obsession with a family who has not lived in the UK for three-plus years? At what point will the Windsors stop obsessing over the Sussexes and briefing about them on a weekly basis too?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Here are some photos of Prince William today at Mosaic Clubhouse in Lambeth, London. This was the first stop in his “homelessness project” tour, which I guess means that he’ll be staging events across the UK to launch this program. The name of the program is called Homewards, and if I’m reading this correctly, William is solely financing the project… through the Royal Foundation. William has been previewing the project and I honestly thought it was going to be something much bigger and more comprehensive, given William’s desire to have some big, signature initiative (to compete with his brother). But this just sounds like William is financing six half-way houses across the UK? That’s nothing to sniff at, but it’s nowhere near the kind of program which will eradicate homelessness as we know it.

Prince William today launches an ambitious £3million programme to ‘end’ homelessness within five years. The future king is personally funding, through his Royal Foundation’s charitable arm, six projects in flagship locations across the UK. They will bring together local stakeholders, experts and even house builders to eradicate rough sleeping, ‘sofa surfing’ and temporary hostels and bring about substantive change.

As a member of the Royal Family, William acknowledges his critics may question why someone from such a privileged background believes they can solve such a widespread issue. Figures suggest more than 300,000 people – nearly half of whom are children – are homeless, whether living on the streets, in cars, or hostels and other types of temporary accommodation.

He has been involved with several organisations working in the field ever since, including Centrepoint and The Big Issue. Now the 41-year-old heir to the throne believes he can use his unique convening power as a member of the Royal Family to bring together coalitions of individuals, organisations and businesses to work together based on specific local needs.

The programme, run by his Royal Foundation, will be known as ‘Homewards’. Launching the initiative today, with hopes of turning conventional thinking about the problem on its head, the prince will say: ‘In a modern and progressive society, everyone should have a safe and secure home, be treated with dignity and given the support they need. Through Homewards, I want to make this a reality and over the next five years, give people across the UK hope that homelessness can be prevented when we collaborate. It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated.’

William will unveil the six locations over the next two days on a tour of the UK. Sources say he feels inspired by his mother who would be celebrating her 62nd birthday this week. ‘She is very much in his thoughts as he embarks on this,’ said one source. ‘This isn’t just his legacy, it’s his mother’s legacy. This means so much to him and meant so much to his mother. He is committed to transforming the way we as a nation think about homelessness. The prince really is the heart and soul of [the programme].’

[From The Daily Mail]

Imagine having millions of pounds in resources, an overstaffed office at Kensington Palace, a whole-ass Duchy of Cornwall (a billion-dollar real estate empire) and then sending out your staff with talking points like “The prince really is the heart and soul of [the programme].” No one said “but sir, why are you centering yourself in this program?” No one said to him “do we need to do wall-to-wall keenery in which we attempt to wrest control of Diana’s legacy in this way?” Is this solely an exercise in William’s narcissism?

Besides all of that, I will be curious to see the breakdown of how this “£3 million” is allocated. When I saw the breakdown in how the money is allocated for Earthshot, I was shocked – Earthshot claims to hand out five £1 million grants every year, but the grants are structured in a way that the prize winners don’t actually get all of the prize money at once, it’s parceled out over the course of three years. Not to mention the fact that Earthshot blows through £7 million on vague Earthshot keenery per year (compared to the “£5 million” in grants) by throwing the big Earthshot ceremonies in different cities and NOT INVITING THE PRIZE WINNERS. I’m just saying, if Homewards is organized in any way like Earthshot, nothing about that “£3 million” figure is as it seems.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.