Something’s bugging me! The so-called carnival of royal experts are getting very basic royal history wrong. Netflix’s trailer (teaser) for the Harry & Meghan docuseries was released yesterday, and the royalists keep misidentifying some of the photos. The stark image of Meghan in black is not from QEII’s funeral, it’s from Remembrance Sunday (when Meghan was a working royal). The photo of Kate giving bitchface is from the Commonwealth service… in 2019, not 2020. I bring this up because a new genre of royal commentary popped up in the past 24 hours: royal reporters weeping about the teaser trailer. Richard Eden provided some absolutely hilarious commentary and he’s getting a lot of sh-t wrong. The photo above, the one used in the teaser, is from Commonwealth 2019, when Meghan was pregnant with Archie. I know it’s difficult – Kate was constantly bitchfaced around Meghan, especially at Commonwealth services.

Friends of Prince William and Kate Middleton have said they are ‘sickened’ by the way the couple have been portrayed in the trailer for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s upcoming docuseries, The Mail’s Richard Eden has revealed. Speaking to Mail+, the expert said he was personally ‘appalled’ by the trailer, which was released by Netflix today, which he said was ‘everything we feared’.

The one-minute clip showed a host of never-before-seen pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as well as a black and white picture of a stony faced Prince and Princess of Wales taken during the Commonwealth Day Ceremony at Westminster in 2020. Richard said Harry and Meghan, who are based in Montecito, California, deliberately aimed to ‘upstage’ his older brother and his wife, who are currently in the US visiting Boston ahead of William’s glitzy Earthshot Prize reception tomorrow night.

‘I was appalled when I watched this trailer, frankly, It’s everything we feared, it really is,’ Richard told Mail+. ‘I’ve heard from Friends of Prince William and Catherine today, and they’ve been frankly sickened by what’s appeared in this video. The use of William and Catherine and the image and the way it’s presented, my goodness,’ he added.

He said he was particularly shocked about the juxtaposition of footage of Meghan crying, and a picture of a ‘stony faced, stern image of Catherine at Westminster,’ which was taken on Commonwealth Day in March 2020. ‘Remember, this is a service that Omid Scobie, Meghan’s cheerleader, wrote about,’ Richard pointed out. ‘He said that Harry and Meghan had been left that William and Catherine had refused to make even eye contact with them that day and this seems to be referring to that.’

The expert went on to say friends of the Prince and Princess of Wales have pointed out that the team behind the docuseries ‘seem to have gone to great lengths to find the one unflattering image of Catherine for this trailer.’

‘I mean come on, Meghan is meant to have given up acting but she seems to be back acting again for this reality show or documentary series. We don’t just see her in tears at one point. That’s not enough: not one single tear dripping down her cheek. No, no, she has to tub her face to emphasize these tears, ‘ he went on. ‘This could be an Oscar winning performance.’

‘The timing of this trailer could hardly be worse. We’ve got William and Catherine going on their big American visit. They’ve got the ceremony for the Earthshot Prize on Friday. And the day before comes this curtain racer comes this trailer, which of course will attract huge interest and be watched around the world. It’s a deliberate attempt to upstage [Kate and William] and the use of their images in it really rams that point home, you know, this documentary series is meant to be about Harry and Meghan. Yet, they’re featuring William and Catherine in the one minute trailer. I think the royal family will be waiting nervously to see what’s in it next week, you know. The trailer is deliberately meant to whet the appetite of the public and that’s what it’s doing and they’re certainly hinting at, you know, a lot of controversy, a lot of scandal. It’s “see behind closed doors,” that’s what they are emphasising in this trailer. I think there’s going to be a lot of nerves in the palaces this evening,’ Richard concluded.

[From The Daily Mail]

Again, can you trust a royal commentator who can’t even get simple things right about what year a photo is from? I suspect that the use of that photo in particular was used specifically because Meghan was pregnant with Archie and the smears against her were in full force, to the point where she was suicidal. As in, that time period will be discussed in the docuseries. Also: you really do not have to look that hard to find unflattering photos of Kate. I literally have a photo archive full of them. And let me tell you, Kate has no poker face, and it was even worse when she had to make appearances with Meghan in 2018 and 2019. Kate always looked like a Disney villainess. Anyway, CRY HARDER.

Photos of the 2019 Commonwealth service, courtesy of Avalon Red.

I love the 2003 film Love, Actually – I’m just going to say that up front. That’s not popular to admit these days but it’s true and I can’t pretend otherwise. I know there are problems with it, and I understand why people don’t like it, but I just felt we should start this post from a place of honesty. The film is 20 years old. While it came out in 2003, it was filmed in 2002, so I guess that’s how that math works. Diane Sawyer did one of her sit-down specials to acknowledge the milestone. It’s called The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later and aired last Tuesday. One of the more interesting things said during the special came from director Richard Curtis. He told Diane that he is embarrassed about the lack of diversity in the film. I mean, obviously I knew there was a lack of diversity, but I was surprised not only that Curtis acknowledged it, but is embarrassed by it.

When Love Actually writer and director Richard Curtis considers his 2003 hit today, he has some regrets.

“There are things you’d change but, thank God, society is changing, so my film is bound, in some moments, to feel out of date,” he told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later special that aired Tuesday. (The movie was filmed in 2002.)

“The lack of diversity makes me feel uncomfortable and a bit stupid,” Curtis explained. “You know, I think there are sort of three plots that have sort of bosses and people who work for them.”

The large Love Actually cast is predominantly white. So much so that some Netflix subscribers called out the streamer in 2018, accusing it of targeting them according to race or ethnicity with that movie and others. Black customers, for instance, said they were shown a photo of Chiwetel Ejiofor, one of the few non-white actors in the romantic comedy, to advertise it. They found that to be misleading, because Ejiofor’s part is so small. At the time, Netflix said reports that it considered demographics when personalizing artwork were “untrue.”

[From Yahoo]

“There are things you’d change but, thank God, society is changing, so my film is bound, in some moments, to feel out of date.” Curtis is an inherently optimistic person so it makes sense that he would find a way to spin this in a way to highlight progress. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think we should focus on the fact that society has evolved to a point that it shines a light on movies like Love, Actually and how blindingly white they are. Good for Curtis for admitting he was short-sighted when he made it and recognizes that out loud. And shame on Netflix for trying to put all the non-white actors out front while trying to promote it as if viewers wouldn’t notice how little representation there was.

The Diane Sawyer special is on Hulu if anyone else is still a fan. There are some sweet moments and funny behind-the-scenes parts. Many of the stars are interviewed. Curtis said he’d like to make another positive Love inspired film but based on the acts of kindness stories from the Covid pandemic. That would be amazing, I’d watch the hell out of that.

Here’s the trailer for the special:

Photo credit: Cat Morley and JPI Studios/Avalon

Remember when Taylor Swift used to do her whole #SquadGoals and #TayMerica thing? I think that was the first time I realized she was friends with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. The couple popped up at the Fourth of July party during Taylor’s Hiddles era and then there was one of those zoomed in posts on Ryan’s face like “how did I get here” in a cheesy photo with the couples cuddled up in beach towels. At the time I thought they were just a get for the party/squad, but it turned out they’re close enough that Blake and Ryan allowed their eldest daughter’s voice on one of Tay’s songs and allowed Taylor to reveal their third daughter’s name in another song.

So Taylor is a family friend, like an aunt. In a recent interview, Ryan said that’s all the kids knew for a long time and they thought music was just a hobby for her. He said the girls didn’t realize until they eventually went to a concert that Taylor is actually a pretty big deal.

Is having Taylor Swift as a close friend beyond your wildest dreams?

Well, that’s the reality for Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and their children. In fact, the Deadpool star recently revealed what it was like when their daughters—James, 7, Inez, 6, and Betty, 3—realized the singer’s level of superstardom.

“I think what’s most exciting for them is that for the longest time they just thought Taylor’s just a, you know, like an aunt, like a friend of mommy and daddy that’s very, very close, almost family,” he said while appearing on the Nov. 7 episode of SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show. “And then they went to a concert one day and were like, ‘Ohhhhh, this isn’t a hobby.’”

And yes, the kids are fans of her music and were excited about Midnights. So much so that Ryan noted earlier in the episode that it’s “like a religion in our house” and said he, Blake and the girls were going to have a dance party to Taylor’s 10th studio album after the interview.

“I’m not making this up. We are having a Taylor Swift Midnights dance party right after this,” the actor continued. “It’s Sunday. We’re headed straight to the porch where we’re doing a full dance number set to Midnights—swear words included. My favorite thing is when a 3-year-old is just throwing down the F-bomb in a song and has no idea that that’s yeah.”

[From E! Online]

So the girls just thought that Taylor was their singing aunt with a guitar and British boyfriend and three cats? That’s actually pretty funny. I’m picturing Taylor at their house with her guitar and cat bubble backpack, pausing playdates to hum to herself and scribble down lyrics. That has to be her songwriting process. It makes sense that the kids didn’t really understand how famous she is. They’re pretty little so they wouldn’t be on social media or like, watching E! News or MTV. Taylor is not ubiquitous like a Disney or Nickelodeon star would be — she’s not specifically marketed to little kids and she can hide when she wants to. I can’t really picture Ryan Reynolds having a Taylor Swift sing and dance party, but he’s really leaning into his “girl dad” image. I also am still surprised by the fact that they’re friends. I don’t think Blake is as twee and family-focused as she presents herself to be and I think Taylor is far more shrewd and self-possessed than either of them. I stand by my original theory that they were a cool get for Taylor’s squad and party and then became/remained friends for reasons.

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photos credit: Backgrid, Getty and Instagram via Avalon.red

On Thursday, Kanye “Ye” West was kanyeing. I’m not minimizing it, but I’m also not particularly shocked by what was said and what went down. I genuinely don’t understand people acting like any of this is new behavior, never-before-seen antisemitism, bigotry and despicable sh-t from Kanye. This is who he’s been for years. Literally, years. Kanye appeared on Alex Jones’s show yesterday. The same Alex Jones who just lost in civil court when he was sued by Sandy Hook families after he lied about their dead children and encouraged violent harassment against the parents who lost kids. Kanye and Alex Jones began talking about Adolf Hitler and how much they admired him.

Alex Jones desperately tries to get Kanye West to clarify that he doesn’t actually love Hitler … but nope.

Ye: “There’s a lot of things that I love about Hitler. A lot of things.” pic.twitter.com/QI87RNcx8A

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) December 1, 2022

It’s not funny, but Alex Jones trying to give Kanye an out by talking about the Hugo Boss Nazi uniforms from a design standpoint is sending me. But yeah, Kanye didn’t take the out. He’s talking about how much he loves Hitler. This is why all of his business deals were canceled – Kanye is a white supremacist, a neo-Nazi, a fascist Christian fundamentalist and one of the stupidest f–king people in the world.

After that, Kanye started ranting on Twitter about Balenciaga, Jesus and how Kim Kardashian slept with Chris Paul (???). Then he posted a swastika and suddenly it was game over. He was suspended from Twitter, per Elon Musk’s orders. I bet Kanye’s back on his account this weekend though, don’t you think?

Also: after the Alex Jones interview, Kanye’s deal to purchase Parler (the Nazi Twitter) was terminated. Apparently, that’s too much Hitler-love even for Parler.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Danny Masterson’s rape trial ended in mistrial. The prosecution will retry the case next year. Apparently, a mistrial is just what Masterson’s lawyers were going for. [JustJared]
Hakeem Jeffries is the new leader of the House Democrats. [Buzzfeed]
Top Gun: Maverick is coming back to theaters. [LaineyGossip]
Camila Cabello brings some Quissmoss cheer. [Egotastic]
Laura Hasn’t Slept was the inspo for Smile. [OMG Blog]
Every cat is extremely picky about something. [Dlisted]
Tiffany & Co collabs with Andy Warhol for a holiday collection?? [Tom & Lorenzo]
I don’t think Timothee Chalamet should get “jacked” per se but I would like to see him fill out a little bit? He’s very slight. [Gawker]
A not-so-rave review of Netflix’s Wednesday. [Pajiba]
Zoey Deutch wore Tiffany-blue. [GFY]
What’s the menu at the Southern Hospitality restaurant? [Starcasm]
Election deniers are “on life support”? [Towleroad]

Salt Island: We’re going to take away your titles!!
The Sussexes: We’re calling our Netflix show ‘Harry & Meghan’.

Seriously though, that’s how good their brand is. Salt Island is constantly screaming, crying and throwing up about how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would be “nothing” without their titles, that they’re “trading” on their titles, that no one would care about them without their titles, and H&M are like “hey, that Netflix show you were so worried about? It’s just our first names.” Love that for them. Netflix has released the first trailer for Harry & Meghan. Shivers!!!

Just the fact that we’re getting so much never-before-seen Sussex content is amazing. I’m geeking out about all of the private photos, the photos from Meghan’s pregnancies, the loved-up pics from their marriage. Love that for them. I also love that the trailer dropped about 15 hours after Prince William and Kate arrived in Boston. Peg & Buttons were so keen to have the spotlight to themselves and the Sussexes were like “lol, here’s our trailer.” Peg and Buttons have a cameo in it too, which leads me to believe that there will be some discussion about what exactly went down between the two couples.

It also looks emotional, more like Harry’s The Me You Can’t See, where he was spitting truths about how the establishment wouldn’t stop until Meghan died. And yes, we needed to hear from them. That’s what the royals hate most of all, that H&M can tell their own story.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, screencap from Netflix.

On Tuesday, Ngozi Fulani was the victim of a racist senior aide in Buckingham Palace. Fulani was attending Queen Camilla’s event for activists and advocates working in the field of gender-based violence, and Fulani is the CEO of Sistah Space, a domestic abuse charity focused on providing resources for Black women. Apparently, Fulani wasn’t even in the event for ten full minutes when Lady Susan Hussey approached her, touched her hair and began making a series of demeaning and offensive racist remarks, questioning Fulani’s citizenship and ethnicity. One of the more remarkable parts of the story is that when Fulani posted a transcript of her exchange with Hussey, Fulani was overwhelmingly believed. There were no “recollections may vary” arguments or gaslighting campaigns. Fulani described what happened and people were justifiably horrified, full stop.

Within hours of Fulani’s social media post, Susan Hussey had resigned and Buckingham Palace released a statement claiming that they contacted Fulani and invited her to come back and speak to them. That was a lie – they didn’t contact her, nor did they directly invite her back, nor did she receive a direct apology from Hussey or anyone else in the palace. Then Queen Camilla’s people had to eat sh-t and revise their statement to make it more vague about whether they had been in contact with Fulani (they still hadn’t been at that point). Meanwhile, Fulani was being contacted by multiple media outlets eager to give her a platform to tell her story. She spoke to the Independent about what went down and how she wishes Hussey hadn’t resigned.

Speaking exclusively to The Independent about her encounter, Ms Fulani said: “This is bigger than one individual. It’s institutional racism. What’s the lesson here? When I drove into the palace, the car was searched and we were searched as you would expect because they have to protect the household. But what protects us, Black people, from that treatment? This incident is unfortunate and shows that nothing has changed.”

Ms Fulani said Lady Hussey moved her dreadlocked hair out of the way of her name badge after arriving at the event, before asking questions about where she and “her people” were from. Posting what she said was a transcript of the conversation online, the prominent campaigner for survivors of domestic abuse described how Lady Hussey had subjected her to “relentless” questioning about her heritage.

“I was in shock after it happened and anybody who knows me, knows I don’t take this kind of nonsense,” wrote the Sistah Space founder. “But I had to consider so many things. As a Black person, I found myself in this place where I wanted to say something but what happened would automatically be seen as my fault, it would bring Sistah Space down. It would be ‘oh, she has a chip on their shoulder’. There are so many things to consider before you can even react to the pain of racism. Can you imagine? I’m just processing the incident.”

Ms Fulani added: “This woman was relentless and determined I am not British. I was thinking ‘what can I do here now?’ Nothing. ‘Who can I tell?’ No one.”

However, the charity boss did not welcome the news of Lady Hussey’s resignation – which she learnt about online – and said it was a missed opportunity for real lessons to be learnt within the palace.

“My nature is not that somebody of senior years should be vilified even though she did it to herself. I don’t want to be part of that. I’m old school. This is an elder and that’s not an excuse, but I’m thinking why don’t we just do something different such as pull her up, re-educate, demote her, keep her from public-facing roles? Having been in this position for decades, it’s horrible that she goes out like this because of ignorance and racism.”

Ms Fulani is calling for the royal household to implement anti-racism training of the kind that earned her an invitation to the palace in the first place. Ms Fulani said her organisation would be willing to oversee training at Buckingham Palace.

“It is that very training that got us the invitation in the first place. It is ironic, therefore, that the thing that we’re fighting to end was targeted at me. I was not the only one standing there, and certainly not the only one affected. And I’ll go as far as to [suggest that] even those who were not there must be affected by this.”

[From The Independent]

Wow, Ngozi Fulani fully gathered that crusty old racist bitch. “This is an elder and that’s not an excuse, but I’m thinking why don’t we just do something different such as pull her up, re-educate, demote her, keep her from public-facing roles?” That is one of the coldest suggestions ever and I love every word. Exactly, why does Lady Susan Hussey need to resign? She’s old, racist and evil, so what Fulani wants to do is single out her racist ass, make her sit through an in-depth inclusion training course, then demote her and say that she can’t ever participate in a public event again? LMAO!!!! Anyway, I love Ngozi Fulani and I hope Sistah Space gets tons of donations and funding out of this and I hope she nails the royal balls to the wall. It will be sooooo much worse for the Windsors if Fulani keeps coming at them with this energy: “y’all need diversity training, let me come in and do it for you, I’ll teach the class!”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Sister Space’s social media.

It’s actually a really big deal that Queen Camilla threw out Lady Susan Hussey. On Tuesday, Camilla hosted a reception for activists working on violence-against-women issues, and her new companion/lady-in-waiting Lady Susan Hussey was part of the group. Hussey decided to take it upon herself to be a giant f–king racist to Ngozi Fulani, the CEO of Sistah Space. Fulani posted a transcript of their interaction on her Twitter, and within four or five hours, Hussey “resigned” and “apologized.”

Hussey, an aristocrat, has long worked for and around the Windsors, and Hussey was one of QEII’s most trusted aides and her “favorite lady-in-waiting.” Hussey had been associated with QEII since the 1960s, and it was probably a mark of honor and respect that Camilla chose Hussey as one of her “companions.” QEII sent Hussey to give advice to both Princess Diana and the Duchess of Sussex before their respective royal weddings. Hussey complained about both Diana and Meghan too – Hussey told people that Diana “didn’t want to be told anything” and that Diana only cared about music and dancing, that Diana “didn’t try.” But that’s not all – this was reported over the summer:

An aide to the royal family allegedly predicted that Prince Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle will “all end in tears,” an explosive new book says. Lady Susan Hussey, who has been a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II since the 1960s, allegedly made the comments during a lunch with theater executives months before the couple’s wedding in May 2018, according to a report.

The comments from the longtime aide were revealed in investigative reporter Tom Bower’s “Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors,” released earlier this month.

“While discussing the possibility that Meghan might become linked with the National Theatre after the wedding, Hussey became unexpectedly serious about the couple’s future,” Bower writes. “‘That will all end in tears,’ she is alleged to have said. ‘Mark my words.’”

Lady Susan, 83, had been part of the team of palace courtiers asked to help Markle adjust to life inside the royal family, according to Bower.

[From Page Six via previous CB story]

So, let’s get this straight. Susan Hussey was QEII’s lady-in-waiting since the ‘60s, and she was QEII’s favorite. QEII sent Hussey out to “prepare” royal brides for their marriages. And what ended up happening was that Hussey met these royal brides and instead of giving Diana and Meghan advice, she was a giant a–hole to them and then bad-mouthed them for years. And of course she’s a racist see-you-next-Tuesday on top of everything else. I can only imagine how awful that meeting was between Hussey and Meghan.

Oh, and Hussey is Prince William’s godmother too. LMAO.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar and Cover Images.

From CB: I bought these mouthwash dispensers so that my bathroom countertops would look more elegant. They are easy to fill and use and they even came with mouthwash labels and blank labels if you want to use them for vinegar or rosewater. They come with a funnel and two shot glasses for dispensing the perfect amount of mouthwash. The dispenser is plastic, but it doesn’t look cheap to me and it works fine. Here are some more things Hecate and I are looking at on Amazon that would make great gifts!

Toothbrush protectors make a great inexpensive gift

These toothbrush protectors by MSpan would make a great gift for just about anyone. They’re priced at $6.99 for four protectors in multiple colors and they fit most manual and electric toothbrushes. These have over 8,000 ratings, 4.7 stars and the same score on ReviewMeta. People say they do the job and let your toothbrush breathe enough to stay dry too. “I usually get the long tube looking ones that are sold at Walmart & my toothbrush remains wet. However this product not only protects the toothbrush but keeps it dry.” “Does what it supposed to do, easy to clean, and can use on any toothbrush and stick in your purse. Highly recommend it.”

A maple syrup gift set you can give individually or as a set

From CB: I was reviewing Oprah’s favorite things to see if there were any gift ideas I missed and I found her Laurel & Ash Maple Syrup Gift Box which is a generous 25 ounces but it’s $65! If you’d like a more affordable giant maple syrup alternative, Crown Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged organic maple syrup is $36 for 25 ounces. Tree Juice has maple syrup gift boxes at lower price points (not per ounce) with a $24 option of three types of two-ounce maple syrups or $35 for six two-ounce bottles. These have 216 ratings, 4.7 stars and a B on Fakespot. Tree Juice is a family-owned business in upstate New York. People say these syrups are delicious and make great gifts. “I bought this as a Christmas gift for someone who enjoys the pancake + maple syrup breakfast experience. Followed it up by making pancakes for them, of course. They loved it. Packaging was cute and effective with no damage. All the flavors we’ve tried so far have been great, but my favorite is the bourbon barrel maple.”

Hand cream you’ll want to keep in every room

From CB: I have to wash my hands so frequently now that I have a dog that they’re dry and cracked. I bought a travel size Gold Bond hand cream out of desperation and it worked almost immediately! It is scented, but the smell is light and pleasant. It was so good I got the full size along with a bunch more to give in gift bags for little Christmas gifts. You can now get the full 5.5 ounce size for under $4.50! This listing has over 12,700 ratings, 4.7 stars and a B on Fakespot. People say it heals their hands like nothing else. “I love this cream! My hands get dry from being in and out of the weather so often! The moisturizing happens overnight!!” “Best I’ve found for those really dry areas such as toes and feet. Actually it helped my dry back too.”

Inspirational cards to give with gifts or on their own

From CB: These inspirational cards from Mr. Pen are just $7.79 for 100, making them the cost of a single greeting card! They’re the size of business cards and have cute illustrations and sayings like “You are sunshine,” “You’re a total badass” and “You already have everything it takes.” They’re blank on the back so you can add your own message. These would be great to add to gifts or to give alone, especially at work or school. These have over 1,000 ratings, 4.6 stars and an A on Fakespot. People love them. “Great inspirational quotes and sturdy cards- exceptional value for the money. I insert them in Birthday, Get Well, etc Cards. Also perfect for inserting in lunchboxes.” “Used these cards for work with my clients. They found them to be both cute and encouraging.”

A classic jean jacket for your fashionable friend

From Hecate: I feel very strongly that you can’t go wrong with a good jean jacket. I wear mine with everything. I don’t even know how long I’ve had it. About three years ago I added a second one in army green and now I alternate the two. I promise you can give a jean jacket to anyone and they will be happy. This luvamia on Amazon comes with many options, both in colors and trim. And the fabric has stretch to it, so it will adapt to any outfit. They have a few options with the cut edge that’s fashionable right now and some with embroidery on the sleeves. The sizes range from XS to 3XL Plus and the prices range from $26-$44, depending on which color/size and trim you pick. The jacket has over 2,500 reviews and 4.4 stars from ReviewMeta. Customers say it’s great for layering, “I love a Jean jacket with stretch and this one fits the bill! It does not feel confining. I’ve been wearing over flannel shirts this Fall and the light denim is great for that.” Bonus: double pockets! “I have been looking for a jean jacket with pockets forever. Not only does this one have exterior hand pockets, there are 2 interior ones as well.”

A set of four carafes for your fancy brunch friends

From Hecate: This gift was inspired by Dan Levy’s The Big Brunch’s competition show. If you have a bruncher in your life, these would be perfect for them. It’s four one-liter carafes with acrylic lids and fancy name plates included. The write-up suggests them for a mimosa bar, which, again, fancy. But you can use them for different milks and creamers for a coffee bar or fill them with granolas or waters flavored with fruits. The point is, they are pretty and make a standout presentation. But they’re also something people probably don’t get themselves. They have almost 1,400 reviews and 4.8 stars from ReviewMeta. They sell for $27 for all four. With the lid the jugs go from table to fridge, “These carafes worked great for a wedding shower mimosa bar. I then re-used them at the wedding for water for the tables. The lids fit well for refrigerating the carafes.” Customers said they were thrilled with what they got, “They were the perfect size. Sometimes when buying things on here you never really know their size, but these were perfect!” A few tips: keep the box they come in for storage and wash the carafes in the dishwasher but the lids by hand.

Mini aroma balms for your mindful friends

From Hecate: This is a sweet little bread and butter gift or stocking stuffer that only costs $20. It’s five travel sized essential oil blends in travel sized balms. And they come in a cute little metal tin, too. The blends are De-Stress, Happy, Focus, Sleep Well and Escape. The collection is paraben free, 100% natural, vegetarian and the pagaking is sustainable. With over 1,500 reviews, these balms got 4.5 stars on ReviewMeta. Customers liked the so much they went for every last drop, “I realized how much I liked them when I found myself scrapping out the remainder of the balm when they were running out.” A lot of people talked about the size, but as customers said, these are samplers, “Ok yes the the tester sized sticks are small but that’s the whole point. It’s a little sample of each smell and was an ideal way for me to get to know each one.” Plus, the size makes it an even better gift.

A fun card game for your social friends

From Hecate: As you know, we are big game players. I love a good, sprawling board game but sometimes you just want a quick card game. Strawberry Sunset claims to be just that: “A Sweet & Simple Card Game.” That applies to the price, too, at only $14. It’s a strategy card game for 2-4 players that only takes about 20 minutes for ages 7+. And the makers are a small business, too. Over 600 people gave the game 4.5 stars and Fakespot rated it an A. People who played it said it’s fun and flexible, “ I also enjoyed that while there’s one winner (unless you adapt to play collaboratively, which was also fun and worked well) it’s not COMPETITIVE; the pace is fairly slow (although it’s a short game) and there isn’t really a feeling that you’re “stealing” cards from other players.” And it’s a good gift because it’s fun but also pretty, “I ordered this game specifically to play in down-time for a vacation. It is a very compact game which is a big plus. The package is very aesthetically pleasing as well as the actual cards themselves.” Perfect stocking stuffer too.

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It felt like too much to hope for, that we would get a repeat of the absolute shambles of Prince William and Kate’s Caribbean Flop Tour from March. But all of the signs were there that this Boston trip was going to turn into a big, fat mess. First off, all of the palace-approved previews couldn’t hide the creeping sense of panic that the Boston trip was make-or-break, and that the Keens absolutely needed to do a flawless job, and we know they’re incapable of anything resembling flawless. Then, as William and Kate were in the air, flying to Boston, William’s godmother Lady Susan Hussey resigned from her emeritus position at Buckingham Palace after she was a racist a–hole to Ngozi Fulani, the CEO of Sistah Space. The fact that it was amateur hour at the palace for hours as they lied and obfuscated didn’t help. As the Keens were IN THE AIR, they had to release a statement about Susan Hussey, who is (again) William’s godmother. This is what William’s spokesperson said on the plane:

“I want to address the story relating to a guest attending a reception at Buckingham Palace last night,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson said before the start of the Boston visit. “This is a matter for Buckingham Palace but as the Prince of Wales’ spokesperson I appreciate you’re all here and understand you’ll want to ask about it. So let me address it head on.

I was really disappointed to hear about the guest’s experience at Buckingham Palace last night. Obviously, I wasn’t there, but racism has no place in our society. The comments were unacceptable and it is right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.”

[Via Vanity Fair]

“Obviously, I wasn’t there.” LOL. Hear no evil, see no evil, peg no evil. Yeah, so all of the headlines were “Prince William’s godmother resigns in racist row” and it was a pretty awful way to start the big, all-important, make-or-break Boston trip. Then this happened at their first event in Boston:

A black reverend ambushed the Prince and Princess of Wales at their Earthshot launch event today by making a lecture about the ‘legacy of colonialism and racism’ – just hours after Buckingham Palace became embroiled in a furious race row when William’s godmother was accused of making racist remarks at an event hosted by Queen Consort Camilla.

Just minutes before William and Kate took to the stage at the Boston launch event of the Prince’s Earthshot Prize, Reverend Mariama White-Hammond – the city’s Chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space – gave a strong speech in which she told the crowd to ‘consider the legacy of colonialism and racism’.

As the Prince and Princess Wales watched on from the wings, Reverend Hammond, who founded a youth organization focused on ‘teaching the history of the Civil Rights Movement’, said: ‘On this day, I invite us all to consider the legacy of colonialism and racism. The ways it has impacted people across the world and its connection, its deep connection to the degradation of land and our planet that we are all seeking to reverse. The stories lost, the species made extinct, but also the persistence of people in the face of oppression and the fundamental dignity of all of our relations.’

Although no mention was made about Lady Susan Hussey – former lady-in-waiting to the Queen and William’s own godmother – who was accused of making racist comments at a Buckingham Palace event on Tuesday night, few could fail to connect the controversy with Reverend White-Hammond’s remarks.

[From The Daily Mail]

Well done to William and Kate, they’ve positioned themselves so precariously that if anyone around them mentions the words “racism” or “colonialism,” it’s taken as a personal attack on Will and Kate. Welcome to America, where regular people of all races have conversations every day about white privilege, racism, oppression, colonialism and class. Were Rev. White-Hammond’s comments particularly pointed or was she just expressing a general sentiment that we cannot do the work of dismantling systems of oppression without understanding those systems and how we got here? Peg said “I has earthshot!!” Oh, and Caroline Kennedy skipped Wednesday’s event? LMAO!!!!

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.