The Crown Prince of Jordan’s wedding is happening today, likely as you’re reading this. Crown Prince Hussein – the 28-year-old son of King Abdullah and Queen Rania – will marry Rajwa Alseif at Zahran Palace in Amman. For weeks, royal-watchers have been talking about the guest list for the wedding, which will include many European royals and international dignitaries, given Jordan’s historic ties and allies within Europe and the West. But before now, we didn’t know that the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales had flown to Amman to attend the wedding as well.

It wasn’t going to be announced officially until their arrival but with so much circulating already on social media, it can now be confirmed that the Prince and Princess of Wales are attending the wedding of Crown Prince Al Hussein and Miss Rajwa Khalid in Jordan today.

— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) June 1, 2023

This is happening during William and Kate’s kids’ school break, which is also why Will and Kate have been in the wind for a week – they’ve been on vacation, but I guess their kids are staying with the Middletons for a few days while the Waleses attend the royal wedding of the season.

Per People Magazine, William and Kate are far from the only significant royals in attendance. Also in Amman: “Queen Margrethe, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, Princess Hisakoa of Japan and her daughter Princess Tsuguko, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg and King Philippe and his daughter Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands.” Dr. Jill Biden has also flown in for the wedding ceremony. (Jordan is a major strategic partner for the US, and King Abdullah has been a good ally to many American presidents.)

While the religious service will take place at Zahran Palace, the reception is being held at Al Husseiniya Palace. I would imagine that the royal court will release wedding photos, but I wonder if we’ll get any reception photos. I wonder if You-Know-Who will wear white to another woman’s wedding. Again.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.

Post-coronation, there has been a very real effort to make it sound like the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s marriage is in trouble. In some ways, this is the British media trying to “punish” the Sussexes because Meghan didn’t go the stupid Chubbly. In other ways, it’s disturbing to see such coordination across the British tabloids and newspapers to convince themselves that Harry and Meghan are struggling, as opposed to “the Sussexes are fine and they’re not giving the media access to their business.” Well, it’s getting even weirder. After creating stories out of thin air about Harry staying in hotels solo to get away from Meghan and Meghan going out partying without Harry, these same people are now getting “royal sources” to react to the fictional marriage-trouble drama. Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast is always quoting from “friends close to Prince Harry” and “sources close to the king,” and those insiders are bizarrely focused on the ginned-up rumors:

Friends of the royals have said the family would be hugely concerned if reports of difficulties in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s marriage turned out to be accurate, as finding a role for a divorced or separated Harry who decided to return to the U.K. would be “a bloody nightmare.” However the friends emphasized that reports alleging the couple are struggling all appear to be “groundless,” and based on speculation.

A friend of William’s told The Daily Beast: “William and Kate had plenty of reservations about the marriage in the first place, precisely because they feared Meghan wasn’t right for Harry. But what’s done is done and now William, like everyone else in the family, just hopes it all works out. Harry returning to the U.K., and trying to find him a job, would be a bloody nightmare.”

A friend of King Charles’ told The Daily Beast: “The marriage has to work. That’s not a case of Charles saying, ‘Harry has made his bed and has to lie in it.’ It’s a case of a father wanting his son, who he loves very much, to be happy and to have his wife and children in his life. These stories are groundless anyway. I don’t think anyone is seriously concerned that they are on the point of separation.”

Rumors that the marriage might be in trouble first started to circulate after reports surfaced that Harry was spending occasional nights away from home, staying at the exclusive San Vicente Bungalows resort in Los Angeles.

However the journalist Petronella Wyatt wrote in the Daily Telegraph this week that she believed the couple would never split up, citing, “friends of mine in LA who know Harry and Meghan socially…. There is something almost heroic in the way they have held their perilous ground, disdaining all compromise, unmoved by their vociferous critics. They have faced every conceivable form of attack that rational people are capable of mounting and yet they have scarcely budged an inch.”

[From The Daily Beast]

William, Kate, Charles and Camilla did everything they could to stop Harry and Meghan’s wedding. Then post-wedding, everything was done to force Meghan out of the UK, to abuse her to the point of killing herself or divorcing Harry to save herself. Then when Harry and Megha left, these people spent three years trying to convince Harry to “come back to them,” to leave Meghan and return to the royal fold. The goal is, as always, to separate the Sussexes and marginalize or neutralize Meghan. So… it’s pretty rich for “a friend of William” to suddenly panic and declare “Harry returning to the U.K., and trying to find him a job, would be a bloody nightmare.” It would not be a nightmare for William, since he wants nothing more than to have Harry under his thumb once again. In any case, none of this is real. Absolutely none of it. Even if – A HUGE IF – the Sussexes ever did split up, Harry would stay in America, I’m absolutely sure.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

It’s really crazy to watch as multiple British newspapers work in concert with an American right-wing think-tank to pull off some kind of “operation” to get Prince Harry deported from America. While a big chunk of the Heritage Foundation’s FOIA request and lawsuit is about generating content and headlines in “niche” British newspapers, make no mistake, this is an operation with larger goals and objectives. They’re convinced that if they scream loud enough and make utter nuisances of themselves, they can somehow FORCE American authorities to “kick out” Prince Harry. That’s literally the plan – that they can work the system in a way which ensures that a “helpless” Harry has nowhere to live except the UK. Speaking of, this is the Daily Mail’s latest exclusive: “Prince Harry could be DENIED entry to the US by any border guard who has read his admission of drug taking in Spare, claim legal experts.”

Prince Harry could be denied re-entry to the US by any border official who was aware of his drug-taking admissions in his autobiography, legal experts have claimed. The border officials could grill him on the admissions if he failed to declare it on his visa application form.

It means the Duke of Sussex could be stopped from returning to the US next month after his trip to London as he sues Mirror Group Newspapers over allegations of phone hacking.

The revelations come after it emerged the US government will appear in a federal court next Tuesday to answer questions regarding Harry’s visa application after he admitted taking cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms. Washington DC-based think tank The Heritage Foundation is suing Joe Biden’s administration to force officials into releasing the Duke’s immigration files.

Raymond G. Lahoud, an immigration lawyer at Norris McLaughlin, told DailyMail.com that Harry could be barred from re-entering the US if he came up against the wrong border guard. A CBP officer would not be able to quiz Harry on his previous drug use if he had declared it at the time of his visa application, since a decision would already have been made to issue a waiver.
It is not known whether Harry declared this.

‘Every time he comes into the US he is supposed to go through Customs and Border Protection (CBP),’ Mr Lahoud said. ‘Any person would be asked those questions and would be turned away if there is a clear record of drug use [that has not previously been declared]. If I am a customs agent, I have the right to answer whatever questions I want. If he has violated any law with regard to drug use, that’s grounds to be turned away, regardless of whether there was a conviction.’

Mr Lahoud added that he thought it was unlikely to happen even if Harry had not declared his drug-taking because he was not a ‘normal citizen’ – and agreed with The Heritage Foundation’s claim that he was ‘getting special treatment because is Prince Harry’.

[From The Daily Mail]

“If” is doing so much work in all of these stories. The Heritage Foundation’s lawsuit and this legal expert’s commentary are all based on the idea that Harry wasn’t truthful on his visa. No one has evidence of Harry lying on his visa, no one even knows what information Harry provided on his visa. Their entire argument hinges on “if Harry lied.” This is so embarrassing from the Mail, the Telegraph and Heritage. They’re all so pathetic.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

SPOILERS for the final season of Ted Lasso.

I didn’t write anything about Ted Lasso’s finale yesterday because I only watched the final episode late in the day on Wednesday. I have to admit, the third season was not “must watch” for me at all, and there were several weeks where I delayed watching the latest episode until the weekend. While there were some good parts of Season 3, I hope even diehard fans can be honest and recognize that this final season was a bloated mess of half-finished and forgotten stories, weirdly uneven storytelling and Jason Sudeikis completely sleepwalking through his performance.

That is something that will stick with me, and I hate that it will stick with me – Jason Sudeikis was absolutely f–king miserable in Season 3, and his misery affected every part of the show. It was shocking to watch “Ted Lasso” disassociate with everyone (especially Rebecca!!) as they were sobbing and telling him how much they’ll miss him. There were also so many parts of these really significant plotlines which just… happened off-camera. We never saw Nate make the decision to quit working for Rupert and handing in his resignation. We never saw Lasso tell Rebecca and the team that he was leaving. We never even saw Colin *actually* come out and tell his teammates that he’s gay. The choices were so f–king weird.

As it’s been said, I understand that Sudeikis was going through a lot of sh-t in his personal life with Olivia Wilde and the custody fight for their kids. That drama was peppered into so much of the third season in really obvious ways as Sudeikis “worked out” his feelings through Lasso and his ex-wife. Then at the end, Lasso goes home to Kansas and actually returns to the home he shared with Michelle and their son? Are we supposed to believe that they got back together? The final shot of Lasso breaking the fourth wall as his coaches his son’s soccer team was also just… like, he didn’t look happy. He looked like a man trying to get through the day as he has a nervous breakdown.

Do you think they’ve set it up for the spinoff? The Richmond Way? With Beard and Roy Kent and basically all of the cast except for Sudeikis? Maybe.

Photos courtesy of AppleTV, Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Are Kaia Gerber & Austin Butler engaged or what? [LaineyGossip]
Jeremy Strong actually drank that disgusting smoothie in Succession. [Dlisted]
Brie Larson’s Chanel wardrobe in Cannes was not great. [Tom & Lorenzo]
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ended this week too. [Pajiba]
The white feminists are still crying about Shiv Roy’s choices. [Jezebel]
Sienna Miller is still with Oli Green. [JustJared]
A look at Alexander McQueen’s pre-fall collection. [GFY]
Is Kylie Jenner attempting a “quiet luxury” rebrand? [Buzzfeed]
Japan just legalized gay marriage? [Towleroad]
Which Kardashian-Jenner would you like to get drunk with? I think Kim? If you get drunk with Khloe, you’ll probably both end up arrested. [Starcasm]
Riley Keough wore a Loewe bedsheet, basically. [RCFA]

The Heritage Foundation is still trying to get their hands on Prince Harry’s visa application in America. We don’t exactly know the specifics of Harry’s legal and tax status in America, but I suspect he’s classified as a resident alien, married to an American citizen and paying taxes here in America. I also suspect that he’s already started – or will soon start – his green card application. Prince Harry is a wealthy man with a lot of access, and I trust that he has great immigration lawyers helping him navigate the American immigration system. The Heritage Foundation is relying on British readers of “niche” British newspapers not understanding the complexities of American immigration. Heritage’s lawsuit is a big setpiece designed solely to attack Harry in the British media and to convince British readers that Harry could be “deported” from America. Well, next week, Heritage’s lawyers will be in court for a hearing about how badly they want to get their hands on Harry’s visa application.

The US government will appear in court next week to answer questions over Prince Harry’s visa application, after he detailed his drug use in his tell-all memoir. The case has been brought by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, which is demanding the release of the Duke of Sussex’s American visa application. The US government has so far refused to release it, despite a freedom of information request.

A federal judge in Washington will hear arguments from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday, June 6, deciding whether to compel officials to release the Duke’s immigration records to the public. The hearing is the first of what is likely to be many more motions and hearings. Judge Carl J Nichols, appointed to the court by Donald Trump, is expected to make a written statement at a later date.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, said the hearing was a “very significant development”.

“It significantly raises the stakes here,” he told the Telegraph. “I think that so far the Biden administration has been stonewalling the freedom of information request. But ultimately, this issue will be settled by a federal judge.”

The Heritage Foundation has argued that it is in the public interest for the authorities to divulge what the Duke said on his application, and the details of any waiver he was granted, including the identity of the person making the decision.

“The American people deserve answers to the serious questions raised by the evidence. Did DHS in fact look the other way, play favourites, or fail to appropriately respond to any potential false statements by Prince Harry?” the think tank said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Gardiner told The Telegraph: “It’s in the public interest for the American people to know exactly what was in Prince Harry’s immigration application. And if he has nothing to hide he should support the release of the records.”

[From The Telegraph]

Spoiler: it’s not in the public interest to publicly release a resident alien’s visa application. Harry is not running for public office. Harry is not being charged with a crime. Harry is not a foreign national purchasing an American TV station. Those are the only situations where one could argue that his visa application is “in the public interest.” Simply saying that “he’s a famous British prince living in America with his family and he wrote about his past drug use” is not a sufficient legal argument for “it’s in the public’s interest.” The legal argument from the Heritage Foundation doesn’t even make any sense – they have no idea and no evidence that Harry “lied” on the application. It’s a fishing expedition targeting a celebrity, an expedition led by niche British publications working in concert with a right-wing think-tank.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

The British media is obsessed with royal family members paying taxes. No, not King Charles. Not Queen Camilla. Not Prince William. Not Princess Anne or Prince Edward either. All of those royals live tax-free and much – if not all – of their lifestyles are funded by the British taxpayer. And again, the Windsors are not taxpayers. So instead of doing a deeper dive on why the king doesn’t have to pay a cent of inheritance tax or property tax, the British media is once again obsessed with the fact that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex pay property taxes. Last year, the Mirror did a big story about that simple fact – “family pays property taxes on their mansion” – and wouldn’t you know, Richard Eden got the exclusive this year:

In Royal circles they’ve been nicknamed ‘the Kardashians’ — in tribute, it’s explained, to their appetite for ‘accepting awards for themselves, talking about themselves, doing programmes about themselves’.

But it should, in fairness, be said that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are paying the price for embracing the ‘celebrity lifestyle’ in California — such as the property tax (the U.S. equivalent of council tax) slapped on their mansion in Montecito.

I can reveal that, this year, it amounts to a vertiginous £116,746 — more than 24 times the highest council tax in Britain.

The property, built in a ‘Tuscan style’, has a library, cinema, gym, spa, pool, tennis court, seven bedrooms and 16 bathrooms, although, by one account, that last figure is now a rather intriguing 13-and-a-half.

Perhaps the half is reserved for the bodyguard? Earlier this month, Meghan was seen out walking, accompanied by Kim Kardashian’s former ‘muscle’ who, like the most robust US bodyguards, may well have a price-tag of £1,460-a-day.

[From The Daily Mail]

The Sussexes have paid for their own lifestyles, their homes, their clothes, their travels and their staff for years now. They live as private citizens, in a private home, with private security, and they pay their taxes. That’s it. That’s the story, spiced up with Eden’s attempts to pour scorn on Harry and Meghan for… earning money, accepting awards and making programs which people want to watch. I think there’s also so much scorn for the number of bathrooms, still, to this day. Three years later and Salt Islanders are still weeping in the streets at Harry and Meghan’s thirteen bathrooms.

Photos courtesy of Archewell, Netflix, WellChild, AppleTV.

For years now, King Charles has had very little to do with the daily operations of his signature charity, The Prince’s Trust. Neither of his sons wanted to take over the trust, and so Charles basically put people in charge to operate it like a business, with a board of directors and regular fundraisers and events hosted by any of the dozens of Prince’s Trust ambassadors. So many celebrities are ambassadors for the trust, including Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Luke Evans, Ant and Dec, etc. Well, Phillip Schofield was an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust as well. In the wake of Schofield’s scandalous relationship with a much-younger man, that ambassadorship is now over. The trust didn’t even fire him outright – they came to a mutual agreement. Face-saving wording for Schofield. Why does he deserve that?

Phillip Schofield has been dropped as an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust after his admission of an affair with a younger male colleague. The charity, founded by the King, said it was “no longer appropriate” for it to work with the presenter. Schofield left ITV’s This Morning last week after two decades as host.

A spokesperson for The Prince’s Trust said: “In light of Phillip’s recent admissions, we have agreed with him that it is no longer appropriate to work together.”

The announcement comes after Schofield admitted to having an “unwise, but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague on the show. His admission saw him quit all his duties for ITV and be dropped by his talent agency, YMU. It comes as ITV bosses will soon be quizzed by MPs over their handling of the situation at This Morning.

[From Sky News]

I mean… Charles has always been a terrible judge of character. He was close to Jimmy Savile for decades while Savile was a serial predator of children. Charles was also mentored by Lord Mountbatten, who likely abused children too. I always wonder if all of it is an open secret when you get to the upper echelons of British society – like, Schofield’s (despicable, criminal) arrangement with his victim was in plain sight, and people went out of their way to cover up for him and protect him. Same with all of the other white men in Charles’s orbit.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, Cover Images.

Last week, the Princess of Wales did some appearances at a couple of London-based charities and programs. Most of us didn’t pay much attention to what issues Kate was trying to highlight because we were so overcome by her giant pearl belt and pink McQueen suit. Well, one of the programs Kate visited was Kinship, a charity focused on providing help and resources to people raising the children of a family member or friend. After complaining about it for years, I’m happy to take credit for the fact that Kate’s crack team of palace sycophants is finally doing one thing right: they’re tagging her charities on social media and highlighting ways for people to get more information. It’s not just “Kate showing up somewhere and posing for photos” without any attempt to put the attention on a worthy cause. All of that tagging and awareness-raising has finally been successful… for one charity, Kinship.

For years, royal philanthropy has focused on raising awareness and rewarding people around the world for the service they have already carried out, so it can sometimes be difficult to see a direct effect between a royal visit and positive change. But on Friday, the head of Kinship, a charity that works with Princess Kate and her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, said that an engagement with the princess last week led to an increase in outreach to the group’s advice service.

“Following the event with The Princess of Wales, there’s been a surge in inquiries to our advice service,” Kinship CEO Lucy Peake wrote on Twitter. “Our advisers have responded with skill, expertise and compassion. Huge thanks to them all.” According to the organization, their services work with more than 10,000 families consisting of relatives raising children who cannot live with their parents every year. Earlier this year, Kinship also launched an online resource hub to better reach kinship families.

Last Thursday, Kate attended an event with the charity at London’s Foundling Museum with Professor Green, a British rapper and mental health activist who signed on as an ambassador for Kate’s Shaping Us initiative earlier this year. The pair spoke with adults who experienced foster care while they were young, who had written poems to go along with the museum’s new exhibition Finding Family. Later, Kate sat in on a support group organized by Kinship for grandparents and other relatives who are raising children who can no longer live with their parents.

“There are over 162,000 children being raised in kinship care in England and Wales, many of whom have experienced trauma in their earliest years, and who benefit from remaining in the care of their wider network of family and friends,” the Centre for Early Childhood wrote in a statement. “Professor Green was joined by his own nan, together with a grandmother currently caring for her eight year old granddaughter, for an intimate conversation with The Princess about their experiences of these vital kinship relationships.”

[From Vanity Fair]

“There’s been a surge in inquiries to our advice service…” But has there been a surge in donations to Kinship? Again, I’m glad that after twelve-plus years, we finally have some evidence that one of Kate’s events has led to something positive. I’m glad that she actually managed to raise awareness of Kinship and the services they offer. But still… Kate is obsessed with copykeening the Duchess of Sussex in every way except for impact and fundraising. Kate’s defenders will say that Kate doesn’t want to look too political, but again, we’re simply suggesting that Kate add the link to the donation page to her social media every single time she visits a charity. Which she still doesn’t do. Because the whole point of these visits is NOT “impact,” it’s “look at Kate in her Barbiecore suit.”

The brilliant @kinshipcharity helps families across the UK where grandparents, relatives or friends raise someone else’s child.

Spending quality time with these families today has been wonderful. pic.twitter.com/0btALGJlxe

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 25, 2023

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Azealia Banks has a problematic history of trollish and MAGA behavior, but one thing Banks will always do well is write everything down. She’s one of the best writers and social/culture critics out there, and I’ve come to enjoy it when she chimes in on pop culture stories of the day. I loved what she had to say about the Julia Fox-Kanye West situation (Julia did not) and Banks loves it when celebrities try to beef with her (who can forget the Lana del Rey back-and-forth). Well, apparently Banks has had a soft spot for Taylor Swift for some time, and Azealia Banks is worried about her girl. She’s worried that Taylor is letting a “full incel” like Matt Healy “climb the rich white coochie mountain.” OH MY GOD.

What’s your favorite part? “Taylor, this guy is gonna give you scabies” or when Banks ships Taylor with James Mercer from The Shins? I agree with Banks that Healy is a “downgrade” for Taylor, but in that downgrade, perhaps we’re seeing Taylor’s true self.

Azealia also read Healy’s New Yorker profile, where he shrugged off concerns of his racism and bigotry by claiming his haters were too online and a bit “mental.” Azealia had a read for Healy on Ice Spice too:

Oh she’s MADD pic.twitter.com/7D5M6Up8y1

— Leo (@Swiftsbeatles) May 30, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Instagram, Cover Images.