Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and all of the mourning-period events were very symbolic and beautiful. It’s one of the few things the British monarchy does well: fussy pomp. Did everything go off without a hitch? Of course not. Mistakes were made, mostly by the new king and his staff. It was an extraordinarily bad look that in the 48 hours following QEII’s death, the biggest story about Charles banning his son’s wife from Balmoral. The focus on the “Montecito royals” genuinely overshadowed the pomp, which is why Charles could not avoid having Harry and Meghan included in everything. I imagine it will be the same for Charles’s coronation, which is reportedly set for early June next year. The Mail on Sunday has all of the fussy plans so far, none of which include the Sussexes. Which is fine – we don’t know if they’re invited, nor do we know if they want to go. But it absolutely feels like a huge, gaping hole in Charles’s careful plans if they aren’t making contingencies on top of contingencies to deal with the Sussex issue. Anyway, here are some highlights from the MoS:

A breezy one-hour coronation: King Charles’s cut-down Coronation is set to last little more than an hour, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The service at Westminster Abbey next year will have fewer arcane rituals and be significantly shorter than the 1953 ceremony when Queen Elizabeth was crowned. King Charles is understood to want his Coronation to set the tone for a streamlined and modern monarchy, while retaining some of the pomp and majesty that stunned the world during the Queen’s lying-in-state and funeral ceremonies.

The blueprint known as Operation Golden Orb: The Coronation ceremony is set to be dramatically cut in length from more than three hours to just over an hour; The guest list for the ceremony is likely to be slashed from 8,000 to 2,000, with hundreds of nobles and parliamentarians missing out; Discussions have been held about a more relaxed dress code, with peers possibly allowed to wear lounge suits instead of ceremonial robes; Ancient and time-consuming rituals – including presenting the monarch with gold ingots – will be axed to save time; Prince William is likely to play an important role in helping to plan the ceremony.

Who will miss out? Among those set to miss out will be MPs and peers who are likely to be told that they cannot be guaranteed a place. It will be more religiously and culturally diverse. While the 1953 Coronation required the Queen to make various outfit changes, a source said: ‘King Charles is unlikely to do the same and the language will be adapted so as to be understandable to a more modern audience.’

What will stay: Some key rituals will be retained, including the anointing of the monarch, who will swear to be the ‘defender of the faith’, not ‘defender of faith’ as previously speculated. The 1762 Gold State Coach, which was refurbished at great expense for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, will also once again be part of the Coronation procession.

No Ingots: The traditional presentation of gold to the monarch is also likely to disappear. In 1952, it was reported that ‘an ingot or wedge of gold of a pound weight’ was presented to the monarch by the Lord Great Chamberlain before being placed upon the altar. A source said: ‘In an age where people are feeling the pinch, this is not going to happen.’

Will royal women wear tiaras? Diplomats and other male guests invited to the 1953 Coronation were instructed that ‘knee breeches’ were in order, while women were advised to wear headgear, preferably tiaras. The dress code next year will be less prescriptive. Discussions had taken place on relaxing the requirement for peers to wear so-called coronation robes. A cloak of crimson velvet, the rank of the peer is indicated by rows of ermine – a stoat’s white winter fur and black tail end – on the cape. Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Mather, who started the plan for King Charles’s Coronation – which has since been updated – told The Mail on Sunday: ‘No Coronation robes. Give them to a museum where they belong. It’s not going to be a tweed jacket and pair of jeans – but morning suit or lounge suit.’

William’s role: Seventy years ago, Prince Philip was instrumental in chairing the Privy Council Coronation Committee that oversaw many of the ceremonial arrangements for the big day. A great moderniser, he agreed that the service should be televised. This time, as heir to the throne, Prince William is expected to play an important role on the committee.

[From The Daily Mail]

LOL, I hope King Charles doesn’t actually expect William to do anything on the Privy Council. William refuses to read briefing papers or learn languages or make one iota of effort. All of the other people will organize the coronation and then William will swoop in and take credit for everything. As for the rest of this… it’s typical of Charles to try to dial down the one thing people expect: pomp, glamour, the connection to British history. I get that some/all of the coronation rituals will be a bad look for a modern audience. But the jig is up, right? If you’re going to do a coronation, do a coronation. Dust off all the gold carriages and make women wear tiaras and drape everyone in ermine. Charles is going to do some cheap Brexit coronation. Oh well!

Photos courtesy of Instar, Avalon Red.

In February, Brad Pitt sued Angelina Jolie over her sale of Nouvel, her 50% stake in Chateau Miraval, the home and winery they bought together in 2008. Pitt accused her of going behind his back and selling Nouvel, claiming that they had some kind of understanding or agreement that she would only sell Nouvel to him. Last week, Angelina’s lawyers filed her cross-complaint, laying out the extensive timeline, pointing out Jolie’s lengthy receipts for her many attempts to sell Nouvel to Pitt, and documenting his attempt to tie the sale to a gag order about how he terrorized and abused her and their children in 2016. Ever since Jolie’s cross-complaint went public, Pitt’s team has been scrambling. “Sources close to Brad” cried about parental alienation to TMZ, Pitt’s rep cried about how Jolie’s cross-complaint was “completely untrue” and Pitt’s lawyer basically huffed “I’ll see you in court!” On Friday, Angelina’s attorney spoke on Jolie’s behalf.

A lawyer for Brad Pitt has responded to abuse allegations that were detailed at length this week in a legal document filed by ex-wife Angelina Jolie, saying Pitt isn’t about to cop to any false accusations. On Friday, Jolie’s attorney added his own comments to the dispute.

“Brad has owned everything he’s responsible for from day one — unlike the other side — but he’s not going to own anything he didn’t do,” Pitt attorney Anne Kiley said Thursday in a statement to The Times. Kiley said in Thursday’s statement, Pitt “has been on the receiving end of every type of personal attack and misrepresentation. … Brad will continue to respond in court as he has consistently done.” A representative for Pitt declined to comment further.

However, Paul Murphy, a Jolie attorney, took issue late Friday with the Pitt camp’s statement.

“The carefully worded statement from Brad Pitt’s divorce attorney, Ms. Kiley, clearly did not address any of the very serious accusations in our Cross-Complaint. Mr. Pitt has been accused of harming his children and he has not denied any of his specific abhorrent behavior,” he said. “Instead, he is continuing his attempts to misinform and deflect, just like he has done for the last six years.”

Eve Sheedy, former executive director of the L.A. County Domestic Violence Council and former director of domestic violence policy at the L.A. City Attorney’s office, noted Friday that in situations similar to that of Pitt and Jolie, it wasn’t unusual for an abusive partner to “seek to exercise power and control” through means other than physical force, including controlling finances and decision-making.

“It takes courage for any survivor, especially those like Ms. Jolie who is subject to intensive public scrutiny, to come forward to reveal acts of abuse that were both terrifying and dangerous,” Sheedy said in a statement. “[I]n cases where specific conduct is at issue, general nonspecific denials of responsibility and efforts to lay blame on others reflect another tactic that can be used to further manipulate survivors.”

[From The LA Times]

Angelina was focused on the welfare of the children; Brad was focused on his professional reputation. Angelina wanted the children to have therapy and to process what had happened to them; Brad wanted to manipulate and financially abuse Angelina to get her to shut up. What I kept coming back to in Jolie’s cross-complaint was how many other people were involved at every stage too – clearly, Jolie has people she trusts, people who help her keep her documentation and receipts. The business side of this seems extremely clear-cut from her side, backed up with extensive communication between lawyers and business managers, etc. All Brad has is rage and lies – he’s clearly in over his head and what kills me is that… he brought this entirely on himself. Did he think he was just going to vibe his way through a huge lawsuit when Angelina clearly has everything documented?

Also: Jolie’s lawyers added another document to her cross-complaint. This is the letter she sent Brad informing him on January 21, 2021 (the day after Joe Biden’s inauguration!) that she wanted to sell Nouvel to either him or the Perrin family. This letter is heartbreaking – you can really feel her pain at coming to the realization that Pitt is not going to change, that he’s a conniving, cruel, abusive a–hole about every single part of their relationship. This letter also blows up Pitt’s entire case.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

It’s no secret that Prince Philip cheated on his wife and that he had many special friends over the years. One of his most special “friends” was Penny/Penelope Knatchbull, sometimes called Penny Brabourne or Countess Mountbatten. They were special friends for many years, decades really. She was a constant companion for Philip after his retirement to Wood Farm. None of this means that Penelope was *only* close to Philip. She was very close to Queen Elizabeth II too. I believe, especially towards the last years of Philip’s life, the Queen was happy that Philip had a friend, someone discreet and someone who knew all of the rules. After Philip’s passing, Penelope was invited to his funeral and this year’s service of thanksgiving. Penelope was also invited to sit next to the Queen during the Royal Windsor Horse Show this year, that’s how cozy this relationship was.

Well, it’s also not a secret that The Crown is going to feature the Penny storyline to some degree. We knew last year that they had cast Natascha McElhone as Penny. Well, now that we’re a month away from the premiere of Season 5, guess who’s dusting off the controversy for rage-clicks?

Netflix is to show Prince Philip ­pursuing an affair in The Crown — just weeks after the Queen’s funeral. He will be shown in intimate scenes with close pal Penny Knatchbull. The Queen’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter said: “This is cruel rubbish.”

Royal experts said showing intimate scenes with Philip and family pal Penny was cruel so soon after the Queen was laid to rest next to her husband.

Netflix considered stalling the release of the fifth series, but will go ahead on November 9 as planned.

Viewers will see the Duke of Edinburgh, who died 18 months ago, pursuing an affair with high society beauty Penny, now the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, 69. They are seen touching hands as he divulges details of his marriage.

It infuriated experts including the Queen’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter. He said: “Coming just weeks after the nation laid Her Majesty to rest next to Prince Philip, this is very distasteful and, quite frankly, cruel rubbish. The truth is that Penny was a long-time friend of the whole family. Netflix are not interested in people’s feelings.”

Majesty magazine editor Ingrid Seward added: “It’s in exceedingly bad taste. This is fiction. There’s no way in a million years he’d discuss his marriage with anybody. The royals probably won’t watch it for their own sanity.”

[From The Sun]

I mean… I might have agreed that the timing was in bad taste if this particular storyline came out weeks after Philip’s passing and his widow was still alive. But that’s not the case. The two married people in this situation are both entombed and beyond caring. Not for nothing, but wasn’t it also in exceedingly bad taste to cheat on his wife?? I f–king love that Ingrid Seward is mad about the dramatization that Philip would… tell his mistress about his marriage troubles? Seward doesn’t sound mad that Philip had affairs, she’s mad that some of those affairs might have been emotional and that The Crown might dramatize exactly that. Also: Peter Morgan never “considered stalling the release.” That’s royal commentator fiction. Morgan paused the filming for a few days and that was it.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, WENN, Getty.

Former Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel has filed a lawsuit. And for once it’s not over her food and alcohol brand designed to prey on women’s insecurities. Bethenny is suing TikTok and it’s a class action suit. She says the platform is using her image to sell counterfeit products and she wants “to be a voice for change in the space,” as they’ve done the same to other creators.

Bethenny Frankel is suing TikTok over ads she claims used her images and videos to sell counterfeit products on the app.

She claims a September TikTok video she posted “was allegedly stolen and re-posted for marketing purposes by a company selling counterfeit products.”

“I want to be a voice for change in the space,” Frankel said, claiming other creators are facing the same issue.

Bethenny Frankel has filed a class-action lawsuit against TikTok over ads she claims used her images and videos to sell counterfeit products on the app.

In a statement from her lawyers at law firm Morgan & Morgan, the “Real Housewives of New York City” star says that a September TikTok video she posted “was allegedly stolen and re-posted for marketing purposes by a company selling counterfeit products.”

Frankel seeks compensation for the “significant damages to her business and reputation, as well as broad changes to impose stricter regulations regarding TikTok’s advertising,” her lawyers said.

“It came to my attention that TikTok was disseminating videos using my proprietary content without my consent to sell merchandise with which I have no affiliation,” Frankel said in a statement. “I’ve discovered that this is a widespread issue affecting creators of all sizes across the space. It’s unacceptable, and I want to be a voice for change and use my platform to create a shift in the industry.

“I want to be a voice for change in the space,” Frankel continued. Her lawyers called for other creators who believe their content was used in scams to contact them to potentially join the suit.

TikTok did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

[From Yahoo]

You could tell me anything about Bethenny or any Real Housewife’s personal life and tenuous legal situation, and it would be pretty unsurprising. This scenario wouldn’t have made the list, honestly! Rather, it’s not surprising that she’s suing over something related to her brand, but that it’s TikTok and it’s a class action suit is the shocking part. Class actions are intended to benefit others as well and I wouldn’t have guessed that from Bethenny. Although the “voice for change” language is a bit melodramatic. C’mon, it’s TikTok. Overall, she’s right to sue. If she’s not a part of the product, they shouldn’t be allowed to use her image to sell merchandise with which she has no affiliation. And it’s bad for her brand to be affiliated with counterfeit products. If companies are using her image, she should get a piece of that pie or stop them entirely. On this one, narrow, issue I think Bethenny is right. It also looks like TikTok needs to address this issue and with this class action lawsuit, they may be forced to.

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In the last week of September, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe announced that she was removing the royal titles from four of her grandchildren, and specifically all four of Prince Joachim’s children. This set off a very real royal scandal, as Joachim and his second wife Marie did several interviews in the Danish media about how hurtful QM’s actions were, how the kids don’t understand why this is happening. Joachim also seemed to indicate that there’s some internal drama within the family, describing his relationship with his brother and sister-in-law (Frederik and Mary) as “complicated.” Crown Princess Mary even came out and said that, in time, they’ll probably have to make similar decisions with their own children too.

In any case, it was all very dramatic and then something even weirder happened: Queen Margrethe publicly apologized to Joachim and Marie. Margrethe didn’t reverse her decision, but she acknowledged that her actions were hurtful and that she caused them pain. That seemed to work – Joachim and Marie haven’t given any additional interviews and now it looks like Joachim returned to Denmark for “peace talks” with his mother. The Mail interspersed news of the “peace talks” with a story from a Spanish tabloid about how Joachim is deeply in love with his sister-in-law? Oh, boy.

Queen Margrethe and her son Prince Joachim have had peace talks this week to smooth things over, the Royal Household has said – amid reports the Prince had a secret crush on his sister-in-law Princess Mary for years. The palace has confirmed that the Queen and her son want to ‘look foward’ following a row over the matriarch’s decision to remove princely titles from Prince Joachim’s children, which he claimed ‘hurt’ them.

Royal fans will now hope any animosity within the family is coming to an end after the Danish royal household confirmed to a publication that the mother and son are trying to ‘find their way through’ their differences after holding talks this week. The palace told B.T: ‘The Queen and Prince Joachim have spoken together at Fredensborg. Everyone agrees to look forward, and as the Queen herself has expressed, she and Prince Joachim want calm to find their way through this situation.’

Amid the scandal, Joachim, 53, and his second wife Princess Marie, 46, admitted their relationship with his older brother Crown Prince Frederik, 54, and his sister-in-law Crown Princess Mary, 50, is ‘complicated’. And now the Spanish magazine has sparked more speculation around the rift, after reporting that Joachim ‘was deeply in love with his sister-in-law Mary’.

A photograph was even published by Swedish woman’s weekly magazine ‘Svensk Damtidning’, allegedly showing Joachim trying to kiss Mary at a gala party of the Royal Guard Regiment.
The Spanish magazine recalled: ‘With obvious signs of drunkenness, it seems that the youngest son of Queen Margarethe tried to stamp his lips on his sister-in-law’s mouth, that she got out of the way as she could and with an unperturbed smile, while Marie witnessed the embarrassing moment.’

It also suggested that shortly after Frederik and Mary’s wedding in 2004, Danish media began to speculate that Joachim ‘was deeply in love with his sister-in-law’.

‘In fact, it didn’t help that in 2007 he announced his engagement to a French girl (Princess Marie) with the same name and a striking physical resemblance,’ wrote the magazine. But with such strong rumours about the prince’s crush on Mary, the magazine claims Margarethe called ‘them to order’ and ‘started a campaign to show that there were no problems between the two women,’ including ‘unscheduled outings’ together.

[From The Daily Mail]

The part about “Joachim has a crush on Mary” seems like royal fan-fiction – the photos of Joachim “trying to kiss Mary” look more like the European double-cheek kiss gone awry, which happens all the time if you don’t time the cheek-kisses properly. Now, is it possible that Joachim is just generally kind of creepy? Perhaps. But it sounds more like CP Mary’s fandom claiming that every man is in love with her. As for the peace talks… interestingly enough, CP Frederik and CP Mary were not involved:

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark ‘was not part of the meeting’ between his mother Queen Margrethe II and his younger brother over royal titles, the Royal Household confirmed – after Prince Joachim admitted the siblings’ relationship is ‘complicated’. Following the meeting, the palace confirmed that the monarch and Joachim want to ‘look forward’ and are trying to ‘find their way through’ their differences – however, Frederik did not attend the meeting at Fredensborg.

Danish publication B.T. reported: ‘According to the Royal House, the Crown Prince was not part of the meeting’, with a statement from the palace reading: ‘The Queen and Prince Joachim have spoken together at Fredensborg. Everyone agrees to look forward, and as the Queen herself has expressed, she and Prince Joachim want calm to find their way through this situation.’

B.T.’s royal correspondent Jacob Heinel Jensen said of the ‘significant and positive development’ between the monarch and her youngest son, that it was ‘not surprising’ that Frederik wasn’t included. The expert said: ‘Prince Joachim himself has acknowledged that the relationship with the Crown Prince couple was complicated, so it is not surprising that he was not there. It is the Queen’s decision, and she is the one who must bear the brunt of it.’

He added of the meeting: ‘This is crucial for their relationship. There will be an event in the future where it is important that we as a population believe that they have become friends again, now the first stones have been laid.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Big Sandringham Summit vibes, right? That was when Prince Harry sat down with courtiers from Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace to work out an exit, only William was too incandescent with rage to sit down with his brother. I’m not saying that’s Joachim and Frederik’s dynamic, I’m just saying that it’s very strange that the Crown Prince of Denmark wasn’t included in this important family meeting.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

The Women’s Rugby World Cup is happening right now. The group stage is still going on. Apparently, there is no “British women’s rugby team” – there are national teams, meaning there’s a Scottish team, an English team and a Welsh team, and they’re all in competition currently. Back in February, the then-Duchess of Cambridge was given the patronages of the Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union, meaning she’s the patroness of record for all of the English rugby teams (men’s and women’s). She took over those patronages from Prince Harry. The thing is, now Kate is Princess of WALES. And her first “video of support” as Princess of Wales was to… wish the English women’s team good luck.

A special good luck message for the #RedRoses from our patron The Princess of Wales.
#TeamDream | @KensingtonRoyal pic.twitter.com/XsI5loL6U0

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 7, 2022

Yeah, again – Princess of WALES is telling her patronage, the English women’s rugby team, to win it all. When the Welsh women’s team is also playing. As is the Scottish team. I realize that she did this for her patronage, but surely she could, I don’t know, wish all three BRITISH teams well?

Also: I actually looked it up, the red coat she’s wearing in this video isn’t the same one she wore to Wales last week. At least she didn’t record a message to the English team on the same day and wearing the same outfit as her visit to Wales.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Mila Kunis is currently promoting Luckiest Girl Alive, which is why she’s on the cover of C Magazine. I haven’t looked at Mila the same since she and Ashton Kutcher kicked off the whole “do rich white people bathe” conversation, which lasted for months. Mila and Ashton barely wash themselves or their children and they proudly announced that last summer. Well, their dirty asses also went to the Oscars this year, and Mila used this interview to brag about how she and Ashton didn’t stand up for Will Smith when he won Best Actor (which happened an hour after he slapped Chris Rock). Predictably, Mila has a particularly smug and patronizing take on that and many other subjects. Some highlights from C:

Mila & Ashton didn’t stand for Will Smith: “The idea of leading by example, only makes sense when you actually have someone to lead. We have our tiny little tribe here at home, and never once do I want to tell them to do something if I’m not willing to do it myself. Not standing up to me was a no-brainer, but what was shocking to me was how many people did stand up. I thought, wow, what a time we’re living in that rather than do what’s right, people focus on doing what looks good. It’s insane to me.”

On her Ukrainian-Soviet roots: “I’m American. I assimilated so quickly. I don’t speak Ukrainian, and my Russian is stunted at an 8-year-old level. But I will say that this war gave me a sense of identity larger than being just American. Having kids changes your perspective. When I was in my twenties, even my teens, my drive was always ‘how can I be more successful at work?’ After I had kids, it was ‘how can I be a person that I want my kids to admire?’ So I went from career growth to self-growth. When the war broke out, my kids identified that Ukraine was a part of me before I did. They were like, ‘Mom, isn’t that where you’re from? Do we have family there? There’s a war happening—what are we doing about it?’ ”

Their Los Angeles farm: “My husband’s from the Midwest, and a lot of this has to do with his upbringing. He’s like, we’re building a farm and we’re all going to work on the farm. I’m from L.A., and I was like, we are? This has been a big learning curve for all of us. My parents make fun of me that it probably costs more to grow a tomato here than to get one at the store. But I say, at least my kids will understand the value of a tomato and how much work goes into growing it. It’s good not to be afraid to get dirty. I was just listening to a doctor who said that the people who grow and thrive in life are comfortable being uncomfortable, daily. Whether it’s learning something new, doing something a little bit scary—all of that makes you stronger.”

The family took a trip in a van: “A trip like this can allow you to love America again. You drive through a lot of red states. Clearly we were from California. No one cared. It was more like, oh, what are you guys grilling? Want to trade? What kind of beer do you have? We’d hang out, talk until midnight. The people we met were wonderful. You realize how the news can create a divide that doesn’t naturally exist, and how much more alike we are than different.”

A beach house in the “weird little town” of Santa Barbara: Back in California, the family divides time between L.A. and their home outside Santa Barbara, which offers the children a reprieve from what Kunis calls “the fishbowl.” Recently her daughter asked whether, if she were to enter her name into Google, she would see paparazzi pictures of herself. “That was a bummer,” Kunis says. The beach house, by contrast, gives them “privacy but with people. It’s a weird little town where no one cares who you are. After two days they all got used to it.”

[From C Magazine]

Oh, we just take the dirty children to our quaint little beach house in a tiny, weird little town called Santa Barbara, where the beach houses go for anywhere between $5 million and $90 million! Seriously, none of those backwater yokels even understand how famous we are, it’s so refreshing, darling! We do that in between looking after our city farm, where we don’t have to adhere to drought conditions to water these precious tomatoes, my dear. But don’t mind me, I am merely an iconic heroine who has to recount my own heroics to a magazine just so they know that it was terribly wrong to stand for a Black man winning an Oscar!

Seriously though, she sounds like a complete a–hole. If you didn’t like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, okay, fine. It was wrong and he shouldn’t have done it, there. But the slap wasn’t the greatest moral dilemma of our time, for f–ks sake. It’s not like it would occur to Mila that all of the people in the Dolby who stood for Will when he won his Oscar were actually appreciating his work? Or they were genuinely happy for their friend and colleague?

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The Telegraph’s Hannah Furness had a surprisingly normal story about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex this weekend. Ever since QEII’s funeral, royal sources have been abuzz trying to predict what Harry and Meghan would do about their Netflix docuseries and Harry’s memoir. These sources have literally no idea what they’re talking about, but they keep throwing sh-t at the wall to see what will stick. This Telegraph story has some of that as well, but it actually sounds like Furness spoke to someone who has actual knowledge of what’s happening in Camp Sussex. The reason I say that is because the quotes don’t sound like they come from a barking lunatic and the explanations given sound completely reasonable.

A documentary & a memoir: In the coming months, Prince Harry and Meghan are to embark on a round of media activity never-before-known in royal history. A Netflix series and a book from Prince Harry, both part of the blockbuster commercial deals that the Sussexes have signed in the wake of the departure formerly known as Megxit, are on their way. Timed for release one after the other – at least until the death of Queen Elizabeth II changed everyone’s calendars – they are set to be a tour de force of the Sussexes’s truth. Or “truth”, as some might pointedly call it.

The Netflix docu-series: “This is about where they’ve come from, what they’ve been through and where they are,” said a source familiar with the Netflix show. “I think it will explain a lot about the decisions they’ve had to make and how they’ve ended up here.”

LOL, these people are still dumb though: Netflix has still not confirmed that any such television series exists. The reluctance to promote what will doubtless be a ratings hit has been remarkable by UK standards, a sign either of the streaming services’ last-minute shock-and-awe PR strategy or, perhaps, nerves over whether the programme would ever actually make it to the screen. It will, television insiders believe, be make or break for the Sussexes careers. Their deal with the streaming giant is reliant on their output, and their appearing on screen to a certain degree.

The series is not being massively edited: “Ok, the timing isn’t ideal,” said one source yesterday, with some understatement. But, another insists, there is no wholesale editing going on to add or remove bombshell royal revelations. “There seems to be a big misconception that they need or want to turn the project on its head,” they said. “There are always edits being made, but that’s how it works – people give notes, sometimes things are changed if there’s time before a deadline.”

Industry back-and-forth: One industry source confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that there has been “back and forth” on release dates, with a multi-episode series pencilled in for December. The Harry memoir will follow, probably next year and likely subject to edits to make it make sense after the Queen’s death, even down to the basics of clarifying the tenses. Fundamentally, The Telegraph understands, there has been no thawing of the relationship between the Sussexes and their British family that would leave a contrite pile of deleted accusations on the Netflix or Penguin Random House cutting room floor.

LOL: It was the Queen both Harry and Meghan have always publicly lauded above all others. Even a sympathetic American audience will draw the line at her being disrespected after death. With “the boss” gone, one school of thought goes, there is less to stop the Sussexes unleashing their version of events. But, one who knows them insists, the documentary and book are not designed as “Harry’s version of the story. They are his story, full stop. This isn’t supposed to be a take-down of anyone or anything,” they said, predicting people who watch will have greater “empathy”. “There’s no finger-pointing.”

Ruffle feathers: “Everything they do ruffles feathers,” said one dismissively. “It doesn’t matter what they say or write, the chatter will be there regardless. Even if they didn’t mention the Royal family at all, people would still say it’s a snub.”

Double LOL: The Telegraph understands there are no plans for palace aides to be able to read the memoir or watch the Netflix series before the general public.

[From The Telegraph]

What I genuinely hope for with the schedule is this: The Crown Season 5 comes out on November 9, Buckingham Palace goes into full panic mode and Charles calls on all of his media allies to whine on his behalf. Then, in the space of about six weeks following that, Harry’s memoir is released and their Netflix docuseries comes out. It should be like dominoes falling. As much as these people are crying about Harry’s memoir, what’s even f–king funnier to me is that Harry will probably do some interviews to promote the memoir and he’ll spill even more glorious tea. Fingers crossed for a November and December full of receipts! ‘Tis the season.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar.

Introduction: Minutes 0 to 6:00
My dog did not do well at doggy day care. I’ve been watching 9-1-1. Chandra is watching Archer and Abbott Elementary. I watched a few House of the Dragon episodes but I didn’t care about anyone. Chandra is reading the book Blackout by Erin Flanagan but she hates it. You can listen below!

Royals: Minutes 6:00 to 22:15
Of the three royal biographies we talked about last week, Valentine Low’s Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Throne has the most tea. Low wrote about how Meghan was smeared back in March of 2021, right before the Oprah interview aired, for wearing earrings which were a wedding gift from Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. It’s unclear what Meghan was told about the provenance of the jewelry. These earrings were part of the royal collection and had to be lent to Meghan to wear.

Katie Nicholl wrote in The New Royals about how mad the royal rota was at Harry and Meghan for keeping the news of Archie’s birth a secret at first and for staging the photos at Windsor castle. Meghan said in her Oprah interview that she was scared Archie wasn’t going to be kept safe because he wasn’t being given a title or security, and that she also wasn’t asked to pose for photos outside the hospital. Nicholl said in an interview that staffers were mad that Meghan expected them to do work, essentially. She also wrote that Charles was jealous of Diana, that he was jealous of Kate and that Kate and William were jealous of Meghan.

We got a new official photo of Charles, Camilla, William and Kate that was taken on September 18th at a diplomatic reception the day before Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. The tone is off as they’re all smiling. We talk about how Kate raided the Queen’s jewelry right after the Queen died. We also got two new photo portraits of Meghan and Harry, taken at the One Young World Summit before the Queen passed.

Charles wants to stop Harry’s memoir. The Telegraph reported that Charles is considering getting his lawyers to explore options. They’re also upset about Harry and Meghan’s upcoming Netflix documentary.

Last week we talked about how Queen Margrethe of Denmark was taking away the HRH and Prince and Princess titles from her four grandchildren from her younger son, Prince Joaquim. Joaquim and his second wife, Mary, gave an interview admitting that they were hurt by this decision and that their relationship with the family was complicated. After that Margrethe apologized and said she hopes that they can all make peace, but that she stands by her decision. Joaquim’s oldest son, former Prince Nikolai, 23, said he’s in shock and sad about the decision. Joaquim and Mary have been living in France for years. I play a segment from Zoom where we talk about the royals.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: Minutes 22:15 to 28:30
We last talked about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in episode 132, when the heavily redacted FBI report came out. We didn’t hear until now that Brad choked one of their children, that he poured beer and wine on the children, and that he hit one of the children in the face. Those details were included in Jolie’s cross complaint to his objection to her selling her portion of Chateau Miraval, their wine company. It took her years of legal harassment from Brad to come out with this information. She gave him so many chances to buy out her portion of the company. Stoli, which bought Angelina’s portion of the business, is now suing Brad. I play a segment from Zoom where we talked about Brad and Angelina.

Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady: Minutes 28:30 to 31:45
Gisele Bundchen is divorcing Tom Brady. This divorce has been exceptional in that she’s been clear about the reasons she’s doing it, because he went back to playing football after announcing his retirement. She’s been caring for their children for years and he’s promised her that she could return to her career when he retired but he reneged on that. They’re being admirably open about their problems. Gisele’s Elle interview was so breezy and forward-focused. There was a story about how Tom was attentive to their children “in the off season.”

Comments of the Week: 31:45 to end
Chandra’s comment of the week is from Emmi on the post about who should be the next Bond.

My comment of the week is from girl ninja on the post about Naomi Watts talking about menopause.

Thanks for listening bitches!

A lot was happening with and around Kanye West last week, and we only covered a fraction of it. It’s always tricky – people want to acknowledge that Kanye is bipolar and unmedicated, but we also need to acknowledge that he’s a complete a–hole who is desperate for attention. “Bipolar” isn’t a catch-all excuse for being racist, for promoting violent ideologies, for body-shaming women, for being a misogynist or for being anti-Semitic. On Friday and Saturday, Ye was at it again. I won’t even do a comprehensive breakdown of all that was said and posted on social media, suffice to say that Kanye got his social media accounts suspended for anti-Semitism:

Kanye “Ye” West’s Instagram account has been restricted for violating the platform’s policies, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

A Meta spokesperson confirms to THR that the company deleted content from the rapper’s Instagram account that uses the @kanyewest handle. Additionally, although the account is still visible, a restriction has been placed on it, according to the rep. Meta has a policy of putting restrictions on users after repeated violations, which could temporarily prevent the user from sharing posts, writing comments or sending direct messages. The Meta rep did not specify which content was pulled or how long the restriction would last.

On Friday, the performer returned to Twitter after a lengthy hiatus, where he criticized Meta chair Mark Zuckerberg and tweeted, in part, “How you gone kick me off instagram.” Elon Musk, who this week confirmed plans to buy Twitter, responded to West’s tweet by posting, “Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!”

This follows West having recently posted to Instagram an exchange purportedly between himself and Diddy in which West used language criticized by other social media users as anti-Semitic. The post has since been deleted.

West also received backlash for comments he made about Jared Kushner during the rapper’s recent appearance on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight that were perceived as perpetuating Jewish stereotypes.

[From THR]

After all of that, he went on Twitter and threatened to go “death con” on Jewish people, so his Twitter account was suspended as well. Celebrities are now speaking out about Kanye’s vile anti-Semitism and hate speech. He was previewing this ramp up all of last week too, as THR notes – the anti-Semitic dog whistles about Jared Kushner, and some stuff he said about who is “controlling” the Kardashians. The messages he posted to and from Puffy were crazy as well – Puffy was trying to reach out to him as a friend and help him and Kanye told Puffy that he (Puffy) was being controlled by Jewish people.

Meanwhile, “sources close to Kanye” told Page Six that Kanye’s friends are incredibly worried about him. He’s not sleeping, he’s ranting day and night, he’s alienating all of his friends and employees. Sources fear that his behavior is “the result of a mental break, and they believe it’s the most serious such episode that the rapper has suffered.” I mean… I remember Kanye having manic episodes which were as bad as this if not worse. The man was in the middle of a full-blown episode in the Trump White House. He had a complete breakdown and needed to be hospitalized right after Kim was robbed in Paris.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Fox news.