In 2020, Dominic West was carrying on an affair with Lily James in broad daylight. The were working together in Italy, and they were photographed canoodling and grabbing each other, and looking generally loved-up and sexed up. Dominic has been married to Catherine FitzGerald for years. She comes from a very aristocratic family, and her family owns Glin Castle. West and FitzGerald have kids together, and they managed to stay together for the sake of the castle and their kids although there were some bizarre moments back in 2020. Interestingly, West and FitzGerald move in royal circles too – West is an ambassador with the Prince’s Trust, and King Charles has been friendly with Catherine for years as well. One could even argue that casting West as then-Prince Charles in The Crown was a massive compliment to Charles too. Which brings me to this very strange story in the Mail about how Charles called Catherine when he heard about Dominic’s affair. Hmmmlmao.

To recap: in October 2020, West and James — who played father and daughter in the TV adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit Of Love — had been pictured looking more than cosy on a mini-break in Rome. They were snapped sharing a scooter, with West apparently nuzzling her neck, and in other pictures looked like a dreamy couple having a long lunch in the sun. After the pictures were published, he flew home to his wife Catherine FitzGerald in Wiltshire and the next morning the two of them staged an excruciating photocall — his wife’s red-rimmed eyes obvious to all.

They left a note for photographers which explained: ‘Our marriage is strong and we are very much together.’ The mother-of-four had a balled-up tissue tucked into the sleeve of her jumper.

West then started to prepare to play Charles, in the throes of a passionate (and adulterous) relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. It was a bold move, but spool forward 25 months and no wife could have looked prouder than Catherine FitzGerald at the premiere of series five of The Crown on Wednesday. It was very much a family affair — the Wests’ son Senan plays Prince William in this series — and his brother and sisters were present with their parents. It was also one of those hall-of-mirrors moments where life imitates art, for as we shall see, West and his wife know King Charles very well.

In fact, the King and West’s wife are particularly close, thanks to a shared love of horticulture and Georgian architecture.

It’s said that he actually called FitzGerald at the height of the Lily James crisis to offer his support.

A friend said: ‘Charles rang Catherine up when Dominic was photographed with Lily James in Rome, saying he knows how she feels, how beastly the papers are, how hard it is to be married in the public eye. All of that. Some of us thought it rather meddlesome. She and Charles have known each other for years, decades really. He has had her do gardens with him and so on. They share a lot of interests.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“Some of us thought it rather meddlesome. She and Charles have known each other for years, decades really. He has had her do gardens with him and so on. They share a lot of interests.” I mean, it’s not really breaking news that British royals and aristocrats are all sleeping with each other all over the place. Catherine is sort of Charles’s type, right? She has the look of a young Camilla, only prettier. And Catherine is into gardens and garden designs. Would Charles? Yes, he would. Did he? Probably not. But I’m sure Charles did call and the old dog is probably up for it.

Photos courtesy of Netflix/The Crown, Sue Andrews/Avalon, JW / Bang Showbiz / Avalon.

I finished watching The Crown Season 5 over the weekend. It was an uneven season, especially given the wealth of verifiable information about the Windsors in the 1990s. There were so many stories which weren’t even touched upon, and some of the characterizations were a bit two-dimensional. Considering the freakout from Buckingham Palace ahead of the season premiere, you would think that this season would have been wall-to-wall criticism of King Charles. It was not – Peter Morgan soft-pedaled a lot, and he force-fed his audience some Charles apologia, especially with the Tampongate phone call, the Jonathan Dimbleby interview and the utter lack of dramatization of Charles’s campaign against Diana.

That being said, what The Crown does so well is simply dramatizing events and letting the audience fill in the rest. The Windsors can’t help but look out of touch, petty, selfish, smug, self-satisfied, inappropriate, warped, ignorant, immoral and vindictive… because that’s who they really are. Anyway, Dan Wootton had to throw his hat in the ring as the latest commentator freaking out about The Crown. Wootton’s commentary added something extra special: a demand that Prince Harry MUST cancel his Netflix contract.

After weeks of non-stop hype and worrying leaks about what to expect from its ‘storylines’, I knew The Crown was going to be bad. But I had no idea it would be this bad. As you’ll know if you binged the royal drama at the weekend like me, the fifth series is an all-out assault on the credibility, reputation, heart and soul of our beloved recently departed Queen Elizabeth II, her husband Prince Philip, the new monarch King Charles and his late ex-wife Princess Diana.

While all four, like most human beings, had their failings, Peter Morgan has set out on an all-out character assassination in his re-telling of the Windsor’s trials and tribulations during the troubled 1990s era, including the family’s annus horribilis.

I’d certainly hate to think that this dark turn in the highly influential hit show’s presentation of our Royal Family has anything to do with the streaming service signing Prince Harry as its most famous staff member, adorned with a £77 million deal.

The downright malicious presentation of the late Queen as cold, unloving and cruel is in stark contrast to the compassionate and pragmatic leader described by those who worked closely with her at the time. It rankles me that Hollywood is prepared to damage the memory of our greatest ever monarch so soon after her devastating passing, not to mention the portrayal of her devoted husband Philip as an uncaring philanderer.

So surely their own grandson – well known for his various public brawls with media organisations who sully the reputation of his loved ones – must be catatonic with rage? Especially in regards to the tawdry and factually inaccurate treatment of Diana, who is wrongly portrayed as a bad mum on a solo mission to bring down the monarchy.

If The Crown was produced by any other media organisation, Harry would be firing out Archewell press statements, alerting his trigger-happy lawyers at Schillings, and giving heartrending interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King about how the horrible media is out to destroy his life. Given he’s on the payroll, what do we have instead? A telling and deeply uncomfortable silence.

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s weird that Prince Harry is simply never complaining and never explaining about The Crown and suddenly that’s what he’s NOT supposed to do? Why aren’t the Windsors more like Harry, who has brushed off The Crown like water off a duck’s ass? Yet more evidence that “never complain, never explain” is only selectively used. Wootton then writes “the letter Harry should send to Netflix” wherein Harry complains that The Crown is “now causing damage to my family and the monarchy itself” and that Netflix should “agree not to broadcast my reality series before the coronation of my father King Charles. He is grieving his mother and deserves this time to start his reign without additional stress.” LOL.

It’s actually hilarious that the Windsors and their sycophantic press machine want to exploit their “grief over the Queen’s passing” when it comes to Netflix, but when Harry simply wanted to bring his wife to Balmoral so that they could be together while HE grieved the loss of his beloved grandmother, the Palace went apesh-t and Charles personally called Harry to tell him that Meghan was unwelcome and not part of the family. Charles made it abundantly clear during QEII’s funeral week that the Sussexes were not part of the Windsors’ future or part of the family. Don’t get mad when Harry behaves accordingly.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Netflix/The Crown.

Lauren Hutton interviews are becoming some of my favorites. She exudes care-free confidence from every pore. She seems perpetually unbothered and I wish I could pull that off. Lauren is a brand ambassador for StriVectin. She said she connected with them because of their pro-aging approach. From the start, Lauren said the brand looked to include mature women in the skincare discussion. And not in a way that made them feel bad about who they were. Lauren said the whole idea of “anti-aging” is “old-fashioned” because getting older is the goal, so why would we be anti-winning the end game?

Her lipstick routine: Clinique’s Almost Lipstick ($22) in Pink and Black Honey. [I like to] put Black Honey on the inner edges of the lips and then Pink Honey all over.

We need to ditch “anti-aging”: Whether it’s beauty or fashion, there’s an obsession with youth. But if we’re lucky, we’re all going to get old. I think it’s time to realize that anti-aging is an old-fashioned term. There’s a lot of research that shows that our attitudes have so much to do with how we age, so instead of worrying about this wrinkle or that spot, we should all be focused on taking good care of our skin and ourselves, and the industry can help shift that conversation for the future.

What keeps her grounded: Above all, LOVE. Wildland and wild animals. Books. Spending many hours outside both day and night (with no light pollution, stars, and a telescope). Hanging with my friends, cooking and eating, good movies, calling my three younger sisters, and laughing!

Her go-to scent: I don’t have one. I don’t wear perfume, but I moisturize with fresh toasted, amber-colored coconut oil that has a beautiful scent.

[From Birdie]

Just FYI, this isn’t a sponsored post for any of the products. It’s a Lauren Hutton fan post, but not sponsored. I thought her lip routine was interesting and left the brands in there because it was easier than trying to describe the colors. I also liked Lauren’s scent being her coconut oil. I rarely put on perfume. But I have this one hair styling lotion that smells so good, it’s kind of becoming my scent and I’m okay with that.

Mostly I agree with Lauren’s comments about anti-aging. I’ve bought products that promised to fade my age spots (they didn’t) or minimize my wrinkles. I’m not immune to letting the mirror depress me. But overall, I am embracing my age. Because like Lauren said, I’ve earned this. I did my time, paid my dues – I *get* to be in my 50s. Hopefully I have a couple of decades left in me and sure, I’ll pick a moisturizer that works for skin my age, or a cleanser focused on elasticity rather than acne. But I’m not interested in fighting my age, I want to work with it.

Photo credit: Cover Images and Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon

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Paulina Porizkova has a new book of essays coming out called No Filter: The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful. I’m sure it will be raw, Paulina doesn’t hold much back. I’m a fan, it’s interesting for me to see a successful woman willing to allow herself to be vulnerable in a public space as much as she is. I worry about the toll it takes on her, but I think that’s just how she lives her life. Like in this interview to promote her book, she talked about her late husband, Ric Ocasek. Ric and Paulina met when he was 40 and married and she was 19 and at the top of her game. They were married for 28 years before they separated but living together with their two sons. Paulina discovered Ric’s body when she was bringing him coffee. Then she found out he’d tried to squeeze her out of the will because she’d “abandoned” him. She was able to settle the estate legally, but it was a lot of heavy emotions to deal with all at once. Paulina went pretty dark the year following Ric’s death but has comes to terms with it. Now she can miss him but still remind herself what he put her through.

Paulina Porizkova wanted to die in the aftermath of her estranged husband Ric Ocasek’s death.

“I mean, how many people wouldn’t [think about it], you know?” the model, 57, tells Page Six exclusively in an interview promoting her upcoming book of essays, “No Filter: The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful.”

“It’s not even so much that I thought about how to kill myself or when to kill myself; it was just that feeling of, ‘I just don’t know how to go on. I can’t do this anymore. … I just want to go away. I can’t bear waking up tomorrow morning, being the same person with the same feelings. I can’t carry it anymore.’”

“It was really, really hard because obviously, first of all, you’re grieving a person that has been your whole life, the most important person in your life … there was so much pain just stacked up on top of each other … and then this betrayal was a lot,” she tells us.
The “Anna” actress shares that she doesn’t even remember the first year after Ocasek’s death.

“I remember feeling kind of numb for a certain amount of time and then sliding into anger,” she recalls. “And then, for me, it wasn’t like, ‘I love him, I hate him, I love him, I hate him.’ It was more like, ‘You know, I miss him, but look what he did, too.’ Like, how can I miss a man who did this to me? I mean, I still miss him like that. You can’t erase parts of your entire life. It was complicated, and it will probably remain complicated for the rest of my life.”

[From Page Six]

I was a Cars fan so I liked Ric as an artist but I didn’t know anything about him. I always had a soft spot for his relationship with Paulina because she was stunningly beautiful and he, well let’s just say he wasn’t what I would have thought was her type. So I put them in the “love wins out” category. But then all of this crap came out and I saw him completely differently. I understand where Paulina is coming from with, “I miss him, but look what he did,” though. For one thing, time gives some distance. And I’m sure they had some beautiful moments together. He’s the father of her sons, that probably factors into it. They may have had a better relationship with him, and she doesn’t want to hurt that. It’s probably healthy to remember a person for who they really were, flawed but also important in our lives. I mean, I hope Paulina’s worked through it because there was a lot to process in the wake of Ric’s death.

I haven’t, though. I don’t miss him and just remember what he did. So I don’t really listen to Cars songs the same any more.

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Here are some photos from the big New York premiere of The Menu, starring Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Fiennes and Nicholas Hoult. Honestly, I thought the movie looked interesting and cool, but Ralph’s interviews are kind of ruining my old opinions about him. It might seem inconsequential because I’m sure the kids don’t care about Fiennes, but he’s the lead of the film!! His name comes before Anya’s name on all of the promotional materials! Plus, it continues to be disconcerting to see Fiennes – a once-delicately beautiful man – turn up at premieres looking like a glum mid-level banker.

As for fashion, Anya repped her Dior contract and wore this Dior cocktail dress, I guess we’re calling it. Several designers have been doing these stiff crinoline skirts and I loathe the trend/throwback. That being said, it feels “very Dior,” and this is admittedly one of the better versions of the trend. Anya definitely pulls off some interesting stuff. I would have probably removed the gloves – the different patterns of the gloves and the lace on the dress is throwing me off.

If you look closely at Hoult, you can see that he’s wearing three layers – a gorgeous greige topcoat over a beige-and-silver button-down, over some kind of sheer white tank or tee. It’s amazing. Just a little pizzazz. I love that his trousers are a bit flared too. He’s SO stylish.

Photos courtesy of Robin Platzer / Twin Images / Avalon.

The drama on Love is Blind is usually around relationships, emotional connections, and occasionally there’s a vague conflict over physical attraction or lack thereof. Last season, Shake was really gross about trying to figure out the women’s sizes in the pods and was rude about Deepti, but whatever comments he made were supposedly offscreen to third parties and not to her directly. So I think this conversation might be a first for the series. At the reunion, Zanab Jaffrey says that her former fiancé, Cole Barnett, body shamed her repeatedly in cut scenes throughout the show. When she dumped him at the altar, Zanab told Cole he’d destroyed her self-confidence. And at the reunion she shared specifics.

Zanab Jaffrey of Love Is Blind is letting fans know what happened when cameras weren’t rolling.

After leaving Cole Barnett at the altar on the season 3 “Wedding Day” finale episode, Zanab Jaffrey said Wednesday on the Netflix show’s reunion that body shaming played a part in her decision and it was her ex’s “saving grace” that those scenes were cut from the show.

“Because so much of that stuff, the pushing food away from me, asking if I’m going to eat that, trying to get me to order a salad, the daily comments about my face and my body were not used [in the show],” Jaffrey, 32, explained. “And that’s great because it really did protect you and you are now denying it, and now calling me a liar in front of all these people.”

She went on to accuse him of “trying to control what I ate and changing my eating habits,” which Barnett, 27, called “hilarious,” claiming: “I never once cared about what you ate.”

“I stopped eating,” Jaffrey continued. “I was eating a banana and a teaspoon of peanut butter just so I wouldn’t pass out on the long days we were filming.”

Jaffrey also recalled an unaired incident in which she grabbed two Cuties clementines, during which Barnett discouraged her from snacking.

“He looked at me and he goes, ‘Are you gonna eat both of those?’” she recounted. “And I said, ‘Well, yeah. That’s a serving.’ And he goes, ‘Well, we’re going out to eat later. Maybe you should save your appetite.’”

As Barnett continued to dig in his heels, Jaffrey rebutted: “This is all working out so wonderfully in your favor because they did not use it.”

Barnett later offered Jaffrey and their costars an apology as married co-hosts Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey closed out the reunion.

“Zay, I came here. I fell in love with you. I really did wanna get married to you, and I’m sorry for hurting you on the way and everyone else who I’ve hurt,” Barnett said. “I’m sorry I’m working on it.”

Jaffrey previously said “I don’t” to Barnett during what would have been their wedding ceremony, telling him he “single-handedly shattered my self-confidence.” She’s since opened up to PEOPLE about the decision to call it off.

“I did not stand up there and say no to the Cole that everyone got to see,” Jaffrey explained. “There was a lot more. I stand by everything I said.”

[From People]

I’ve never had a boyfriend that tried to monitor my food intake, but my friends have told me about those guys and they absolutely suck. Pushing food away from her, trying to get her to order a salad — all that stuff is awful. Making comments about her face is especially cruel. Even if Cole wasn’t doing it with the intention of hurting her and he was just thoughtless, think before you speak. Thoughtless little comments like that can be so insidious. Did production cut a bunch of that stuff to protect him? Including it would certainly counteract their supposed goals of making the show more welcoming and body diverse, especially after Vanessa Lachey stepped in it and Danielle Ruhl checked her. If memory serves, only thing they really left in were Cole’s comments after the pool party rating Zanab a 9 and someone else a 10. Which is sh-tty and also very immature.

Production did include the footage from the unaired clementine story at the end of the reunion and I actually don’t think Cole said anything wrong in that particular instance. They’re eating fruit together and he’s talking about their plans to have a big dinner later when Zanab goes for the clementines. She volunteers that she’d only eaten a banana that day and he says something like “Why would you do that? I offered you a poke bowl.” Production definitely could be protecting him and their show, but the clementine story seemed different than Zanab’s memory of it.

Photos courtesy of Netflix

I’m completely obsessed with Timothee Chalamet’s Bones & All promotional looks and I really want that heart sweater. [Just Jared]
A Ukrainian soldier created a kitty checkpoint. So sweet. [Dlisted]
Lupita Nyong’o looked amazeballs in Mexico City. [Go Fug Yourself]
Elon Musk has no emoji game. [Gawker]
Maybe bananacore will dethrone Barbiecore. [LaineyGossip]
Review of Wakanda Forever. [Pajiba]
Jeopardy contestants never know anything about celebrities or sports! [Seriously OMG]
More from Elon Musk’s Twitter catastrophe. [Jezebel]
Marion Cotillard in a very boring Chanel. [RCFA]
Shakira stars in a new holiday Burberry campaign. [Egotastic]
Many of these “Boomer opinions” are actually Gen X opinions. [Buzzfeed]
President Biden is very pleased with the midterm turnout. [Towleroad]

We’re now just weeks away from an eventful post-Thanksgiving royal gossip period. Prince William and Kate are due in Boston in early December, where the second Earthshot Awards ceremony will be held on December 2nd. They’ve promised to do additional events around their trip to Boston, and it’s possible they’ll end up making a surprise visit to New York or DC. I predict DC. On December 6th, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will attend the Ripple of Hope gala in New York, where they’re both being honored for their charitable and humanitarian work. Harry and Meghan were chosen to receive this award. William half-assed an environmental awards scheme and he spends more money promoting himself than giving out prize money. See the difference? Well, the Mail sees a difference too, but just wait until you see what they’re whining about.

Rich Americans are spending up to $1 million to rub shoulders with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at a glittering New York gala. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will receive an award at the Ripple of Hope gala in New York on December 6, which honours people for their humanitarian and philanthropic efforts.

Hosted by President John F. Kennedy’s niece Kerry Kennedy, the gala has a top-tier ‘Pioneer’ package that costs a cool $1 million and will include four seats at the top table where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to be seated. Other packages cost from $500,000 and will include access to a VIP reception at which photographers are expected to snap the Duke and Duchess with the event’s main benefactors.

The gala is organised by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organisation, named after President Kennedy’s younger brother, who was assassinated in 1968.

Previous winners of the prestigious Ripple of Hope award include US President Joe Biden, former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and former Democrat Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Al Gore. Hollywood A-lister Alec Baldwin – himself no stranger to controversy following the shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of Rust – will preside over the gala, which will also honour Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and Bill Russell, a basketball great and civil rights icon.

The gala will take place four days after the Prince and Princess of Wales attend the Earthshot prize in Boston – although that event is strictly-invitation only.

Prince William has joined forces with Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, whose 1960s ‘moonshot’ mission to put a man on the moon inspired the Earthshot Prize, described as the most prestigious eco-award on the planet. The Prince of Wales will hand out five $1 million grants on December 2 in a room filled with global leaders in the worlds of philanthropy, climate change, environmentalism and government.

‘This is quiet wealth and power,’ said one person with knowledge of the event. ‘Think Rockefellers and people like former Vice President Al Gore.’

Philanthropists across America are vying to attend both events. One wealthy Los Angeles heiress told the MoS: ‘We love the Royals. I’d love to try to get tickets for both. You can buy a ticket to the Meghan event so that’s no problem but the William and Kate event is strictly invitation only, which is making it much harder to get into.’

[From The Daily Mail]

First off, the Mail is behaving like the Ripple of Hope ticket money is going to Harry and Meghan. It is not. This is the big gala event for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a non-profit which works towards peace and justice. The money goes to the non-profit to extend their work. Meghan and Harry have likely generously donated their time and their names to help this non-profit bring in more money at their gala. Second of all, the first Earthshot Awards were basic as hell and poorly attended. Yes, they happened while the pandemic was still raging, but you couldn’t miss the fact that there was a significant lack of star power, and that no one important came to it. This Mail piece is showing that William is VERY worried that his brother’s NYC event will be bigger and fancier than Earthshot.

“This is quiet wealth and power.” LOL. Spoken like a loser who knows his Earthshot Awards is about to flop. That’s the thing about quiet power though, if you have to point out that it’s all about quiet power, is it really quiet or powerful? You know what’s powerful? Harry and Meghan being recognized by a major Kennedy-affiliated non-profit and using their power to generate more money for that non-profit. You know what’s not “quiet power”? Copykeening your brother because you’re too lazy to develop your own personality.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Instar.

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Tiffany Trump got married at Mar-a-Lago this weekend, with classified-document confetti thrown at the happy bride. Tiffany, 29, married Michael Boulos, 25. They got engaged in January 2021, so they had a long time to plan the wedding, which was almost derailed by a fast-moving hurricane. Anyway, Tiffany’s father walked her down the aisle, even though Donald Trump often forgets he has another daughter. Ivanka helped Tiffany plan and organize everything and I guess Ivanka was a bridesmaid or maybe even the matron of honor. The bridal party all seemed to be wearing that shade of blue. Tiffany’s wedding gown is Elie Saab, and Marla Maples also wore Elie Saab. Tiffany also had a cake which was “modeled after Donald and Maples’ custom, 7-foot-tall Sylvia Weinstock wedding cake.” Hm.

Even People Magazine said that Donald Trump was in a foul mood though – he’s been “upset and ranting like a raging bull for the past couple of days” but he still managed to pose for photos with Tiffany and Marla. He apparently danced with Tiffany too, which was probably pretty bad. He’s also planning on announcing his 2024 candidacy this week, even though he’s so bigly mad about the midterms.

What else?? Well, during Tiffany’s wedding, the last Senate race was called for Democrats. Mark Kelly’s Arizona race was called on Friday and then the Arizona Senate race was called on Saturday! Catherine Cortez Masto defeated Republican Adam Laxalt. This means that the Senate is now at 50 Dems and 49 Republicans, with Raphael Warnock’s race heading to the runoff in Georgia. I believe Warnock can turn out his voters, don’t you? Which means we’ll have a 51-49 Senate and Dark Brandon is going to get even more done legislatively. There are still a bunch of House seats left to be called, but there’s an excellent chance that Democrats could have a razor-thin majority in the House too.

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Three years ago, Lady Anne Glenconner wrote Lady in Waiting, a memoir about being lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret and coming up through the aristocracy, and her life and times, basically. The book was a massive success, and her appearance on the Graham Norton Show – alongside cast members of The Crown – became an instant classic, especially when Lady Anne told the story of her honeymoon in Paris, when her new husband took her to a brothel. Olivia Colman’s reaction to the story was particularly amazing (the video is at the end of the post). Well, her first book was such a success that she’s written a second book called Whatever Next? She’s currently promoting it, and she’s giving interviews right and left, which is why she spoke to the Times of London. She talked about the glamour of royalty in the old days, how much she adores King Charles and Prince William, and she also shared her thoughts on the Sussexes. Some highlights:

King Charles’s slimmed-down coronation. “I think it has to be. And anyway, I’m so fond of King Charles but, you know, he’s not young. The Queen was so beautiful, so glamorous, and look at the Duke of Edinburgh. He was to die for. People were madly in love with him. It was absolute perfection.” She thinks Charles will make a “great” king. “He’s had long enough. He really minds about things and people and you can see it. And she’s great. She’s wonderful for him.”

The Crown needs a disclaimer: “I think it should,” says Glenconner, who was portrayed in an earlier series. “Absolutely it should. One saw the moment when I was on, and Princess Margaret, and it bore no relation to the truth whatsoever. I don’t watch it now. I couldn’t. It would make me so angry, seeing people trashed like that. Well, not trashed, but not like them. It’s fiction. I think it should say so clearly. And,” she says darkly, “a lot of people do.”

She’s a “big fan” of William and Kate: “I think she’s absolutely fantastic. I don’t know her very, very well, but they come to Mustique quite often. I think she’s wonderful, and Prince William. They’re so good together. And lovely children. And she looks stunning, doesn’t she? That’s a help. I think she was very well brought up by Carole.”

The Sussex section: As for Megxit and the ongoing Sussex psychodrama, she went to their wedding but met Meghan only once, briefly, which is at least more than some of the other guests. She sighs. “I feel that probably the sort of things the royal family have to do, they’re just not very interesting. You’re not driven around in a golden coach. They had a wonderful wedding, but life isn’t going…” She pauses. “One’s own wedding was fantastic, but next day you’re back to normal. I don’t know whether she thought it was going to be all very grand.” Princess Margaret was something of a royal renegade herself, so she might have sympathised. She gives me an arch look. “I rather doubt it.”

[From The Times]

“She looks stunning, doesn’t she? That’s a help. I think she was very well brought up by Carole.” I think in a limited way, that is how those inside WindsorWorld view Kate and the Middletons. Kate is “doing her duty,” nothing more or less, and it helps that Kate is somewhat interesting to look at. It also helps that Carole trained her daughter to be a doormat and do anything to secure the ring and maintain her marriage. As for what she says about the Sussexes… “I don’t know whether she thought it was going to be all very grand.” Harry and Meghan have made it abundantly clear that they wanted to work and they wanted to exist without being smeared and denigrated in the media. This whole idea that royal life wasn’t glamorous enough for Meghan is asinine. But I’m sure that’s one of the prevailing thoughts within the aristocracy.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, screencap from Graham Norton.