One of the things I appreciated about Netflix’s Harry & Meghan is that Prince Harry really began to tell the truth about palace briefings and how certain stories are “planted” and certain narratives are palace-driven. Even if some people don’t believe that part of the equation – hilariously naive, but sure – then surely Harry’s second point holds, which is that he repeatedly asked for his family and their communications offices to simply clap back on all of the negativity, racism and sexism, only to be refused. That’s why the first clip released by 60 Minutes was Harry explaining what was happening yet again:

“Every single time I’ve tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife… You know the family motto is ‘Never Complain, Never Explain’ but it’s just a motto. And it doesn’t really hold. They will feed or have a conversation with the correspondent. And that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story. And at the bottom of it they will say that they’ve reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting. So when we’re being told for the last six years we can’t put a statement out to protect you but you do it for other members of the family, there becomes a point when silence is betrayal.”

[Via Yahoo]

Those quotes should blanket any and all coverage of the Salt Island freakout. Because wouldn’t you know, some correspondents were “spoon-fed” some information about how the family really “feels” about Harry’s interviews:

The Royal Family are ‘completely exhausted’ with the ‘stream of misinformation’ from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, sources claimed last night. The comments come in the wake of Prince Harry’s publicity blitz for his new autobiography, Spare, set to be released next week, during which he has claimed his family ‘have shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile’.

A royal insider told the Mirror: ‘It all feels very repetitive. Harry’s constant sniping is rather draining and he knows full well it is highly unlikely they will engage in a tit-for-tat battle of words.’

Another source added that the duke’s claim that his family refused to reconcile with him was ‘unadulterated nonsense.’

Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on the trailers, which were filmed at a hired ranch in Montecito.

[From The Daily Mail]

I laughed at “he knows full well it is highly unlikely they will engage in a tit-for-tat battle of words.” Harry knows full well that Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace will engage in a briefing spree and smear campaign in advance of Spare’s publication. Which is the whole reason why he wrote the book and why he’s saying all of this in interviews. Harry’s like: this is what will happen. And the Windsors fall all over themselves to prove his point.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

One of the weirdest things about the conversations and comparisons about the Windsors’ treatment of Prince Andrew versus Prince Harry is that I get the feeling that the aim is always to “wound” Harry. Like, the Windsors are genuinely directing so much of this TO Harry: look at how we’re treating a rapist human trafficker, look at us treating Andrew better than you, Harry. It’s like the Windsors don’t realize that their actions actually look despicable to the wider audience, that their protection of a rapist and trafficker only highlights the fact that they treated Harry like garbage for the “sin” of marrying a pretty biracial American woman. Anyway, the Daily Beast’s Royalist column had an analysis of how Andrew was included in the Windsors’ Christmas at Sandringham, and how Andrew was even allowed to walk with the family to church. King Charles wants credit for the “magnanimous gesture” of allowing Andrew back in the fold, but Charles doesn’t want any questions about what kind of kompromat Andrew might have on Charles and the rest of the family. Some highlights:

Andrew’s inclusion on Christmas Day: “It was a magnanimous gesture by the king,” a friend of Charles and Camilla told The Daily Beast when asked why, after an absence of three years, Andrew was this year permitted once again to join the family procession to church. What makes Charles’ decision to include him this year even odder is that much of Andrew’s exclusion from the life of the royal family has been at Charles’ behest, and against the wishes of their late mother, who always regarded Andrew as her favorite and tried to create opportunities for him to be included.

Part of the family but not part of the Firm: So Andrew suddenly being allowed, by Charles, to participate in the Sandringham stroll to church, when a precedent had effectively been established that he was not to be included in this tabloid moment, presumably to his brother’s satisfaction, is rather remarkable. “Andrew is no longer part of the institution, but he is part of the family. His mother made that very clear,” says the friend.

Will Charles make exceptions for Andrew AND the Sussexes? This formulation—part of the family but not part of the Firm—could come back to haunt Charles. It leaves open questions about whether Andrew will attend almost every high-profile event, most notably the coronation, surely an institutional event if ever there was one. Yet it would be unwise to assume that he will not be there at his brother’s big day in May, especially as the Palace strongly hinted that Harry and Meghan will be invited to attend, with a source telling the Telegraph: “All members of the family will be welcome.”

Andrew’s silence/kompromat: Asked if his inclusion in such a totemic royal event as the Christmas walk was a reward for his silence, the friend of Charles and Camilla said, “He has done what he has been asked to do in terms of keeping a low profile. It’s no secret that Charles has never been close to Andrew, but Andrew has, for all his other faults, been intensely loyal to the institution.” In an arch reference to Harry and Meghan’s recent Netflix show and Harry’s forthcoming memoir, Spare, the friend added, “[Andrew] hasn’t sold out the family secrets to the highest bidder.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Ah, Andrew “hasn’t sold out the family secrets to the highest bidder.” So it’s not actually about human trafficking or rape or family disgrace or paying millions to one’s rape victim. The cardinal sin, by the Windsors’ own emphasis, is speaking about the family. Everything else can be forgiven, up to and including rape, violence, predation, international disgrace and borrowing millions to pay off one’s victims. And as I said, this is being directed at Harry shamelessly. They’re so focused on making a point to and about Harry, they’re literally cosigning a sexual predator’s protection and inclusion in the family.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.

The Daily Mail spent New Year’s weekend freaking out about Prince Harry’s memoir and trying to drag Harry’s wife into the drama. Meghan is just sitting in Montecito, minding her business and raising her children, all while her husband’s family is constantly briefing the media about their pathological hate for her. Harry has made it clear that Spare is HIS memoir, his story, and he’s doing the promotional interviews solo. But the Mail still tried to drag Meghan into the drama. The Mail’s “Hollywood sources” claimed that Meghan would do a tell-all memoir as well. Now Entertainment Tonight says no, that’s not happening.

As the world anticipates the release of Prince Harry’s forthcoming memoir, Spare, rumors have been swirling that his wife, Meghan Markle, will also be releasing a tell-all book.

This week, a Daily Mail source claimed that Markle is “contemplating getting entirely candid about her time in the royal limelight.”

However, ET has learned that reports of Markle writing a memoir are not true.

The Duchess of Sussex is a previously published author, with her children’s book, “The Bench,” released in June 2021. The reports also hint toward Prince Harry’s multi-book publishing deal with Penguin Random House — which is releasing Spare — as a factor in Markle’s rumored future memoir.

[From ET]

Yeah, I believe that Meghan will write some additional books. They’ll probably be children’s books or Young Adult books, because that’s her energy, that’s her interest. As much as I would love for Meghan to tell her story in memoir-form, if she hasn’t done it by now, she probably won’t do it. That being said, Meghan has been telling her story. That’s what the Netflix series was, that’s what the Oprah interview began to do, that’s what her podcast has done, that’s what her magazine interviews have done.

Also, I get the feeling that Meghan isn’t trying to make any news this week or this month – she’s giving the floor to Harry and Spare. Keep that in mind, because the Windsors are going to drag her and smear her wall-to-wall once Spare comes out.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Have you set New Year’s resolutions this year? I’m trying to go easy on myself and set resolutions that are fulfilling. Two of my resolutions are to get a room in my basement finished and go on a vacation. Now that I’m reading coverage of this new study I plan to drink more water too. A new study by the National Institutes of Health published in the journal eBioMedicine examined health data which showed that people with high serum sodium levels, an indication of being dehydrated, had biomarkers that made them seem biologically older than people with ideal serum sodium levels. The high serum sodium group also had higher levels of disease. While the study authors are careful to say this doesn’t mean that being dehydrated ages you or that drinking more water makes you biologically younger, it can’t hurt, right? Here’s part of a writeup on this by CNN:

You may know that being adequately hydrated is important for day-to-day bodily functions such as regulating temperature and maintaining skin health.

But drinking enough water is also associated with a significantly lower risk of developing chronic diseases, a lower risk of dying early or lower risk of being biologically older than your chronological age, according to a National Institutes of Health study published Monday in the journal eBioMedicine.

“The results suggest that proper hydration may slow down aging and prolong a disease-free life,” said study author Natalia Dmitrieva, a researcher in the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a division of NIH, in a news release.

Learning what preventive measures can slow down the aging process is “a major challenge of preventive medicine,” the authors said in the study. That’s because an epidemic of “age-dependent chronic diseases” is emerging as the world’s population rapidly ages. And extending a healthy life span can help improve quality of life and decrease health care costs more than just treating diseases can.

The authors thought optimal hydration might slow down the aging process, based on previous similar research in mice. In those studies, lifelong water restriction increased the serum sodium of mice by 5 millimoles per liter and shortened their life span by six months, which equals about 15 years of human life, according to the new study. Serum sodium can be measured in the blood and increases when we drink less fluids.

Using health data collected over 30 years from 11,255 Black and White adults from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, or ARIC, the research team found adults with serum sodium levels at the higher end of the normal range — which is 135 to 146 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L) — had worse health outcomes than those at the lower end of the range. Data collection began in 1987 when participants were in their 40s or 50s, and the average age of participants at the final assessment during the study period was 76.

Adults with levels above 142 mEq/L had a 10% to 15% higher chance of being biologically older than their chronological age compared with participants in the 137 to 142 mEq/L range. The participants with higher faster-aging risk also had a 64% higher risk for developing chronic diseases such as heart failure, stroke, atrial fibrillation, peripheral artery disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes and dementia.

And people with levels above 144 mEq/L had a 50% higher risk of being biologically older and a 21% higher risk of dying early. Adults with serum sodium levels between 138 and 140 mEq/L, on the other hand, had the lowest risk of developing chronic disease. The study didn’t have information on how much water participants drank.

“This study adds observational evidence that reinforces the potential long-term benefits of improved hydration on reductions in long-term health outcomes, including mortality,” said Dr. Howard Sesso, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, via email. Sesso was not involved in the study.

However, “it would have been nice to combine their definition of hydration, based on serum sodium levels only, with actual fluid intake data from the ARIC cohort,” Sesso added…

“Decreased body water content is the most common factor that increases serum sodium, which is why the results suggest that staying well hydrated may slow down the aging process and prevent or delay chronic disease.”

[From CNN]

CNN has more analysis at the source, so I would suggest you read it at the source if you’re interested. As their quoted expert mentioned, I would like to know the fluid intake of the people with low serum sodium levels, however it’s not possible using retrospective health data collected over 25 years. I’m excited about this study since drinking more water is such an easy change to make! My friend uses a free app called Water Drink Reminder (not an ad) to track his fluid intake and I installed it yesterday. I drink so much that I met my goal of 67 ounces by lunchtime. It does count coffee though so it doesn’t hurt to drink more than that.

Photos via Pexels and credit: Cottonbro Studios, Cats Coming, Ekaterina Bolovtsova, Nigel Msipa

The Daily Mail is trying to convince its readership that Prince Harry’s memoir will be a flop, all while they simultaneously and breathlessly report on just when, where and how people will be able to pick up their copy. Most people with sense have already preordered their hardcopy or Kindle copy weeks ago, and the Mail would like you to know that your Kindle copy will be downloaded after midnight on the 10th, and the book will be in all bookstores bright and early on the morning of the 10th. Apparently, Penguin Random House really spent the money to have a lot of security for Spare, and I think it’s a good sign that there have been no leaks thus far (despite what the British media tries to claim).

Even with all of that, the build-up to the publication will be very dramatic, with Prince Harry’s ITV and 60 Minutes interviews airing within hours on Sunday. I’m actually a little bit stressed over the fact that American viewers won’t get to see Harry’s ITV interview as it airs on Sunday. I guess I’ll have to cover it by using quotes from the Guardian and maybe People Mag. Hilariously, the only f–king thing Buckingham Palace wants to talk about thus far is Harry telling Tom Bradby that there’s been “no willingness to reconcile” from the family. Like, all of the sh-t Harry has already said on the record, and that’s the thing Charles is worried about? Apparently. Because BP has been on a briefing spree this week – the Telegraph got their palace talking points, and it looks like Russell Myers at the Daily Mirror also got a palace briefing.

Prince Harry ’s claims that his dad and brother showed “no willingness to reconcile” with him have been rebutted by royal sources after the King invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to stay with him. Harry and Meghan were “always welcome” to spend Christmas with the royal family, despite taking part in a six part Netflix series where Harry called Charles a liar and William a bully, insiders have said.

On two occasions last year in a bid to improve relations the then Prince of Wales asked Harry and his family to come and visit at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire and just weeks before the late Queen’s passing, reiterated his invitation for the Sussexes and their two children to visit him in Scotland when on holiday.

Royal sources revealed to the Mirror last year how Charles and Harry had held several “good natured and enjoyable” video calls in the previous months, despite the Duke taking part in a tell-all interview with US chat show legend Oprah Winfrey. But this week ahead of the release of his eagerly awaited memoir Spare, Harry, 38, delivered another stinging attack on the royals claiming they had shown “no willingness to reconcile”.

One well placed royal source called the claim “complete and unadulterated nonsense”.

They added: “It takes some audacity to say that when his father invited him to stay at his house when in the UK, invited him to spend Christmas with the rest of the family and continued to make public statements of support. It’s outrageous.”

A source told The Mirror: “(Charles) has been saddened that he hasn’t had the opportunity to spend time with his grandchildren, which he really does miss. He cherishes being a grandfather and certainly feels there is something missing from his life without the ability to get to know Harry’s children. He has always left the door open for his son and will continue to do so.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

Something I keep thinking about is how King Charles extending an invitation to the Sussexes for his coronation isn’t some magnanimous offer from a loving father – it’s a very real political crisis for Charles because the optics are simply awful. Think of how terrible it will look if Charles throws himself this big coronation party and… his son, daughter-in-law and their two mixed-race children skip it. If the Sussexes choose to be absent from Charles’s coronation, that’s Harry telling everyone on a world stage that his father can’t manage his own family, how can Charles be king to a commonwealth of nations? I also think it’s notable because William, Kate and the British media have smeared and slandered the Sussexes for years, all to reinforce this lie that Harry and Meghan are awful, they’re bullies, they’re not needed or wanted… and yet Charles retains an official position that he wants to reconcile.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN and Instar.

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On New Year’s Day, Jeremy Renner was severely injured in a snow plow accident near his property by Lake Tahoe. Renner was first tended to by a neighbor (who is a doctor) and then Renner was airlifted to a hospital. Since then, he’s apparently had a few surgeries to deal with the “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic issues” he suffered. On Tuesday, Renner posted a selfie from his hospital bed. Dude looks wrecked, but it’s a good sign that he’s alert enough to hold a phone. He wrote (or someone wrote for him): “Thank you all for your kind words. Im too messed up now to type. But I send love to you all.” Meanwhile, the local sheriff’s office gave additional details about exactly what happened:

The actor Jeremy Renner, who was critically injured on Sunday, was run over by a snow plow weighing more than 14,000 pounds that he had used to tow his car on a snowed-in private road near his home in Reno, Nev., the authorities said on Tuesday.

Mr. Renner, 51, had been helping a family member who was driving the car and had gotten stuck, Sheriff Darin Balaam of Washoe County said during a news conference at which the authorities offered new details about the accident.

After successfully towing the car, Mr. Renner got off the plow, which then began to roll, the sheriff said. He said that Mr. Renner had attempted to get back into the driver’s seat to stop the rolling vehicle, but was “run over.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Renner, who underwent surgery on Monday and had “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries,” remained in intensive care in critical but stable condition, according to a statement from his representative, Samantha Mast.

Ms. Mast, the representative, said that Mr. Renner was “making positive progress and is awake, talking and in good spirits.”

[From The New York Times]

Holy yikes. 14,000 pounds of snow plow ran him over and he’s still lucid? He’s lucky he didn’t break every f–king bone in his body. What a horrible accident, my God.

Photos courtesy of Instagram, Avalon Red.

For Prince Harry, having his security and his wife’s security removed in 2020 was one of the most significant moments of his life. He understood that the institution was throwing him to the wolves and leaving his family to die. That moment probably triggered something in him about his mother’s death in Paris in 1997. We’ve been told – and Harry has been told – for 25 years that Diana turned away her royal protection, and that Diana’s death was the result of a drunk driver and inadequate private security from the al-Fayed family. But what if… none of that was true? I think that’s one of the things Harry has been questioning since his protection was removed in 2020. Around the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death, there was a rash of stories about everything happening around the night in Paris, including one al-Fayed bodyguard who still claims that Diana was being monitored all summer by British intelligence. There are also still questions about the official story of Diana rejecting her royal protection.

So, will any of those conversations be included in Prince Harry’s Spare? Well, we’ll find out soon enough. One woman, Sue Reid, claims she was interviewed by “researchers” working on Harry’s memoir. Reid wrote a piece for the Mail about the many questions she still has about Diana’s death and what happened in that tunnel.

Former bodyguard Lee Sansum still says Diana had fears she would assassinated: Sansum has recalled how Diana talked to him about fears for her safety after the murder in July 1997 of her friend, the fashion designer Gianni Versace. Although the Italian was killed in a random attack, his death was initially suspected to have been a professional assassination. ‘She confided in me her own fears that she might one day be assassinated, too,’ said Sansum in interviews to promote his new biography, Protecting Diana. ‘She said something like: ‘Do you think they’ll do that to me?’ She was shaking and it was clear from her tone that she really thought they might, whoever ‘they’ might be.’

Sansum believes there were non-paparazzi trailing Diana into the tunnel: Tellingly, the ex-bodyguard outlined his own suspicions that something strange happened in the tunnel. He said: ‘A witness driving a car that was travelling in front of the Mercedes in Paris told Diana’s inquest he saw a high-powered motorbike overtake the car just seconds before the crash. Another witness travelling in the opposite direction saw a second motorbike swerve to avoid smoke and Mercedes wreckage, then carry on out of the tunnel without stopping. The bikes’ riders were never found, and that is no coincidence.’

Henry Paul’s blood-alcohol level: One of my most haunting experiences was interviewing the parents of Henri Paul, the Ritz’s 41-year-old chauffeur, who was, within hours of Diana’s death, being described in French security-service briefings to Paris newspapers as having been ‘drunk as a pig’ that night. The couple, who live in Brittany, told me, with tears in their eyes, that their son was not a heavy drinker: they said he enjoyed only an occasional bottle of beer or a Ricard, a liquorice-flavoured aperitif. They added that, during a meeting at the British Embassy in Paris with Scotland Yard in 2006, they were assured their son was not drunk.

Henri Paul & the carbon monoxide: Forensic reports presented to the inquest later showed that Henri Paul had three times the French limit of alcohol in his blood samples. But, curiously, the same samples also showed a high level of carbon monoxide, the deadly gas found in car exhaust fumes. Could the samples, as some conspiracy theorists suggest, have been swapped with those of a suicide victim? The judge at the inquest said this anomaly was impossible to unravel. Professor Atholl Johnston, a British clinical pharmacologist, said at the inquest in open hearings that no explanation for the carbon monoxide concentrations had been found. ‘It was not a ‘measuring glitch’,’ said Johnston. ‘The most likely possibility is that it isn’t Henri Paul’s blood.’

Is Harry trying to unravel this? Perhaps Prince Harry’s memoir will help to unravel this mystery, as well as all the others surrounding his mother’s death — a death which so many witnesses have suggested was not the ‘tragic accident’ it has been claimed to be. The question many still ask is: could Henri Paul and the paparazzi following the car have been made scapegoats that night to cover up a more sinister plan by the British Establishment to stop Diana’s ‘inappropriate’ romance? My investigations have shown that paparazzi photographers who supposedly hounded Diana to her death were not even in the tunnel at the time of the crash.

[From The Daily Mail]

There’s a lot more, and Reid speaks of one eyewitness who claims that two motorcycles did a complicated maneuver which included flashing a bright light in Henri Paul’s eyes. I remember that from the time – there were widespread reports of a blinding flash just before the crash, reports which have never been explained either way. Anyway, it’s enough to make my blood run cold, I can only imagine how hard it’s been for Harry to try to learn more about what happened to his mother and what the Windsors and the British establishment really did to her. And to see the eerily similar things happen to himself and his wife too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN, Cover Images.

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I have to admit, I don’t pay much attention to Ayesha Curry (or her husband). So I was completely unaware she was on a weight loss kick — 35 pounds is a noticeable amount so I was really not paying attention. But she talked to People about her health and fitness goals for 2023 and they’re pretty relatable and definitely more doable than some of the dramatic resolutions people make for themselves.

Like many, Ayesha Curry is starting the year off right by setting new health goals.

In an interview with PEOPLE, the chef and cookbook author, 33, opens up about kicking off 2023 with big health and fitness goals and how she plans to stay on top of accomplishing them.

Curry admits that when it comes to the typical New Year’s resolutions, she’s actually more of a “monthly resolution type of girl.” She explains that it’s easier to keep track of her small wins throughout the year that way.

“I’ve kind of been going through a health journey for the past three years now,” she tells PEOPLE. “I’m into manifesting and writing things down and setting my intentions and goals. I am obsessed with that and I find that it really works for me, being able to visibly see things.”

“One of my big resolutions for January is going to be to build a little bit of lean muscle,” Curry adds. “I’ve lost 35 lbs. over the past year, which I’m really excited about, but now I want that definition and I want to feel strong in my skin.”

To begin the new year, Curry has partnered with MyFitnessPal for the nutrition and fitness app’s two-week Jumpstart Your Health Challenge, lending her tips and recipes to help others meet their personal health goals. She boasts the program’s “approachable” way to meet New Year’s resolutions, which she admits are hard to maintain.

“When the new year comes around every year, everybody’s going all in, balls to the wall and wants to do the most, and you almost always end up failing,” Curry says. “And so with this Jumpstart Your Health Challenge, it just makes it easy. It’s not overwhelming, it’s approachable.”

[From People]

I hadn’t really thought about it until not, but Ayesha is right. Setting smaller and/or monthly goals is more manageable than some lofty annual resolution. I also think programs like Ayesha is doing, with a clear end date, are easier to stick to than just adopting some crazy exercise schedule and new meal plan on January 1 and in perpetuity. And I’ve actually been doing the smaller goals thing for awhile with my Apple Watch and Apple Fitness+ app. There are monthly challenges based on your own tracked activity level and different awards you can get, so I’ve been obsessed with completing the challenges and getting the badges rather than losing a certain amount of weight. And if I don’t complete one of my little goals — like doing all the core classes from a certain trainer on the app — I know I can still do it later and don’t feel too bad. Ayesha is right that doing too much makes it too hard to stick to these plans and smaller goals are more effective.

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As we count down until Sunday’s 60 Minutes interview with Prince Harry, I love it even more that the first clip 60 Minutes released was about Harry dismantling “never complain, never explain.” You can really tell that the British media doesn’t want to get into what Harry actually says here, like “That correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story. And at the bottom of it they will say that they’ve reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting.” Once more, with feeling:

I bring this up because, wouldn’t you know, the Telegraph published a piece about King Charles’s thoughts about his younger son. This kind of detail appearing in the Telegraph – not one of the tabloids, and a long-time monarchist newspaper – would surely mean that Buckingham Palace’s comms office had pulled in Vicky Ward and briefed her precisely on what they expected her to write, correct? Alas, one of the last lines of this Telegraph article is “Buckingham Palace declined to comment.” Drats, now Prince Harry has no “proof” of his claims!!! Some highlights from the Telegraph:

King Charles IS willing to reconcile: The Duke of Sussex was wrong to claim that the King has shown “no willingness” to reconcile, sources have said. Harry said of the Royal family: “They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile… I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back.” However, those close to the King insist that he has always made clear how much he loves both of his sons, keeping communication channels open throughout the last few years, despite the many barbs from California.

Jubbly meetings: Father and son are understood to have remained in contact, meeting several times during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations last June. Their relationship has occasionally been tense but the King has repeatedly said that his door remains open and that the Duke and Duchess are welcome at any time.

Deeply saddened: Although he has not watched the couple’s Netflix series and is not expected to read Harry’s book, he is said to have been “deeply saddened” by much of the criticism aimed at the institution by his son and daughter-in-law. But as several sources have made clear in recent weeks, he has no desire for further acrimony and would always welcome his younger son back into his arms. One insisted that the King would never let personal hurt prevent him from building bridges, noting that he had insisted the Sussexes were invited to his coronation.

The Queen’s funeral shenanigans: What the Duke and Duchess want, specifically, from the Royal family is currently unclear. They are likely still smarting from their perceived treatment in the immediate aftermath of the death of Queen Elizabeth II when Harry was not personally contacted by the King before a public statement was released. There was also confusion over a mistaken Sussex invite to a state reception at Buckingham Palace – never fully explained – and tension over military uniforms. The King was said to have seen “tremendous flickers of hope” in his interactions with the Sussexes over that period, raising the prospect of a rapprochement.

[From The Telegraph]

So, obviously, this came straight from BP’s communications team and this is King Charles’s real perspective. So much complaining and explaining! The thing is, I have gotten the feeling that Harry and Charles are communicating a bit more in the past year. I do think Charles and Camilla met with the Sussexes a few times (and at least one meeting, with the kids, which was not publicized whatsoever at the time) last June. I also think Charles made some kind of half-hearted effort to “include” the Sussexes during QEII’s funeral. My point is that Harry and Charles are on speaking terms, which is better than Harry and William’s relationship. I believe that in Harry’s interviews and in his memoir, all will be made clearer about who Harry blames for what. I also believe that Harry has always had pretty low expectations from his father, but what really hurt him the most was when William turned out to be such an incandescent pig.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, 60 Minutes/CBS.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, meet your new Queen: Star the Bulldog. Monday night we learned the gorgeous and aptly called Star was named Best in Show (to which Star sniffed, “as if I didn’t already know that”) at the 2022 American Kennel Club’s (AKC) National Championship. The actual contest took place mid December but the world was kept in rapt suspense until this week when Star, whose show name is GCHG CH Cherokee Legend Encore, trotted over 5,300 dogs and allowed the world to bask in her shine.

Meet the “Star” of the 22nd annual AKC National Championship Presented by Royal Canin.

On Monday, the American Kennel Club announced the winner of its annual canine competition. Star the bulldog went home with the event’s top prize, winning the Best in Show title and $50,000.

Star — show name GCHG CH Cherokee Legend Encore — beat out over 5,300 canines to win the dog show, which took place December 17-18, 2022, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The 2022 AKC National Championship aired as a three-hour special on ABC on January 1, 2023.

A family from Glen Rose, Texas, owns the talented Star, who was also crowned “America’s National Champion” by Best in Show judge Mr. Desmond Murphy at the AKC dog show.
Star won Best in Group in the event’s Non-Sporting Group before moving on to the Best in Show round, where six other talented pooches joined the canine: Bogart the Schnauzer, winner of the Working Group, Trumpet the Bloodhound, winner of the Hound Group; Josie the Spinone Italiano, winner of the Sporting Group; Stache the Sealyham Terrier, winner of the Terrier Group; Clark the Havanese, winner of the Toy Group, and Mercedes the German Shepherd, winner of the Herding Group.

[From People]

If you find yourself in need of a pick me up today, please go to the ACK website and read their Ode to a Rising Star (my title) write up on her win. I swear it’s the first draft of her biopic that’s being pitched to four major studios and already has Angelina Jolie attached to direct. Here’s a taste:

The Masons know that firsthand, having purchased a promising Bulldog that has become so successful she now has her own trophy room. And hanging on one of the walls, amid Star’s ribbons and win photos, is that original Bulldog photo from Kevin Mason’s final year of college, signed by Sickle on the day Star went to her new home.

[From American Kennel Club]

Can you imagine what Star’s Trophy Room looks like? She probably lets her little bulldog friends select which cup they want to drink from while declaring, “I can’t even remember what I won *that* for. Sometimes I just walk down the street and they just hand trophies to me.” I wonder if all the 2002 AKC Best Ins have a group text that just consists of bone emojis. And can we take a minute for some of these names, please? Trumpet the Bloodhound and Stache the Sealyham Terrier – come on. Who doesn’t want to hear the antics of Stache the Terrier? Mercedes, of course, is Star’s best friend. Look at the way she comes to Star’s side after she wins.

Star’s beautiful. I’m worthless here because a dog show is the only time I condone every participant getting a trophy. Look at her mug – this bitch knows she’s fabulous too. Will she retire for a life of belly rubs and behind the ear scritches now that she’s done her victory lap? Speaking of victory laps, I love that no matter how high an honor a dog wins, they all get that “I’m a dog” face at some point during their winning walk-about.
Bogart the Schnauzer, the little suck up, was runner up, making his Reserve Best in Show. So now he waits in Star’s shadow, plotting and scheming how to snatch her crown. That and the occasional nap in the mid-afternoon sun.

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STACHE!

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Okay, I take it back. Bogart and I could hang. He’s a bud

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Photo credit: Instagram