From CB: I got the NYX eyebrow gel we featured a couple of weeks ago and it works great! The brush is bigger than the previous brand I was using and it works very well to keep my eyebrows in place all day. I also reordered my favorite serum of all time, the Cos de Baha niacinamide. That stuff is the bomb. Here are some more things Hecate and I are looking at on Amazon.

An affordable pencil eyeliner that lasts like a liquid
From CB: I wanted to make a transition from liquid eyeliner, which I’ve worn forever, to pencil liner. I got this NYX liner and loved the results. It’s so easy to apply and is long lasting. NYX Epic Wear Liner Stick comes in 21 colors, all under $9. Plus there’s a coupon on some colors. This liner has over 5,000 ratings, 4.3 stars and a B on Fakespot. People call it their favorite eyeliner and say it lasts forever. “I love the rich color and smooth glide pencil and it literally will last all day and night with no touch ups.” “One of the best eyeliners in my opinion and I have tried a lot! It’s dark ,and smooth and looks so good!”

Full coverage foundation for a flawless look

From CB: I use and like L’oreal True Match foundation but I’d like to try another brand and this foundation by Phoera came up. It has 10 different shades and comes one for $10 or 2 for $15. This has almost 16,000 ratings, 4.3 stars and the same score on ReviewMeta. Reviewers say that it’s as good as more expensive high end brands. “Love this flawless look. It is perfection in a bottle. It can stand up to the heat and humidity of the south!” “I can’t say enough good things about this foundation. The coverage is complete without looking heavy. It feels light & I use very little to get the look I want & need. The quality absolutely meets & beats that of the higher priced foundations I’ve purchased in major department stores.”

Cloth napkins to impress your guests and make dinner time fancy

From CB: Honestly I’ve never owned cloth napkins and I usually just use paper towels. Sometimes I buy the seasonal napkins but I always end up with unused Christmas or Halloween napkins. These 17 x 17 polyester cloth napkins come in 14 different colors and in packs of 12, 24 or 288 if you’re throwing a big party. They have over 4,000 ratings and 4.5 stars which ReviewMeta confirms. People love how affordable they are and say they clean up easily and don’t require ironing. “These napkins have gone through multiple parties and they’ve always washed so well!” “Machine washable. No ironing. Fabulous size. Great absorbency. We use them everyday.”

A fast portable air compressor with so many uses

From Hecate: This air compressor was designed for tire inflation and works at 35 L per minute. But it has multiple nozzles so you can use it for most household needs. Like air mattress and that will help with family visiting over the holidays. And you can charge it with your car charger so you can keep one there for emergencies. They’re normally $45 but this week, you get a tire gauge, the compressor, the inflating tube, the charger and five nozzles for $33. It also comes in four different colors. It has over 52,000 reviews with 4.5 stars and a B on Fakespot. People seem to like the peace of mind this provides, “Fiancé and I went out of town with my family on our way home mg fiancé and I was following my mom back to home and her tire light came on luckily we had this in the car and was able to air up her tire and get going again.” And, what’s really important, it’s super easy to use, “Easy to use and the power cord is nice and long so that you can reach your tires. Retains my 35 PSI tire pressure setting so I just connect it up and turn it on, and it inflates to 35 PSI on the dot.”

Cute mushroom night lights for ambience

From Hecate: I have to be careful about looking at product posts late at night because I want to buy everything. Like these adorable mushroom plug-in floor lights I saw on Buzzfeed. I don’t even think I need them but I want them so they are going in all my bathrooms. They would also go in my kids rooms if I had little kids. You plug these guys directly into the wall so they can be floor lights, night lights or make Hecate happy at her desk lights. They have seven color changes for added fairy-experience. There are three options, you can choose mushrooms, mushrooms with lotus leaves or mushrooms and lotus plants. And they are only between $5 – $8 depending on design and whether you want a one pack or two pack. And they’re energy saving so you can feel good about your little colorful mushroom forest. 747 customers gave these guys 4.5 stars that ReviewMeta confirmed. Customers say they aren’t overpowering, “They do have a light sensor that brightens as it gets darker, but at full strength are really not that bright.” so they’re perfect for guest bathrooms or guideways. And this just sounds like the start of a fairy tale, “ highly recommend theses nightlights for anyone looking for a cute way to light up a dark area just enough to see where you’re going. (If I had a bigger house, I’d definitely buy more!)”

A spooky drying mat to decorate your kitchen

From Hecate: I realize not everyone is as nuts about Halloween as I am but maybe this will appeal to you. I keep a drying mat by my sink most of the time so I try to keep it in theme with whatever dish towels I’m using. I have a couple Christmas ones but no Halloween ones… until now. Like these black and white bat print drying mat for the spooky season. It’s a nice basic design so it blends in with whatever you’re going for with your Halloween look. And black and white goes with everything. They come in two sizes, the 16”x18” is running low so grab it while you can. But they also have a larger size for even more bats! There are lots of designs if you want to just get pumpkins for fall or a jump start on your Thanksgiving or holiday decorating too. It’s machine washable, quick-drying microfiber with a nonslip cotton mat. The mats are $15-$18 depending on size. They have over 750 reviews with ReviewMeta giving them 4.5 stars. Reviewers were pleased at how well it gripped, “I love the pattern and the soft feel of the fabric, with a nice grippy surface on the bottom.” And they said it’s really absorbent, “the mat does it job in drying and absorbing.” The photos show it being used as a hot pad too. It could be a center table decor too, that holds soup tureens and platters. If you need something fancier, I kind of love this Haunted Mansion-inspired one.

A great deal on bestselling body wash for the whole family

From Hecate: This is a great deal – 34 ounces of Dove Deep Moisturizing Body wash for under $10 a pump. We have three people who use our shower upstairs, one of whom is a teenager. We go through body wash like nobody’s business. So I tend to look for the cheapest buy I can get, But the last time the teen got the wash and they got this soap stuff that has completely dried out my skin. So I need something like this to try to put some moisture back into it. Plus it’s sulfate free and a 98% biodegradable formula in a 100% recyclable bottle. I can attest to how good this works, but it also has over 11,000 reviews on Amazon with 4.8 stars and a B on Fakespot. This person said they were allergic to all products but did not have an issue with this, “Skin seems a little softer – if there is a scent, it cannot be much – and not irritation to my skin either.” And many customers talk about it benign a unisex formula and scent, “Both my wife and I use Dove body wash in our showers. The pump bottles of body wash are great for cleaning and moisturizer.” I agree, the pump saves time in the shower for sure.

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Once again, I hate that I know so much backstory on Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson. Let’s start with some somewhat recent history. In December 2020/January 2021, with the pandemic raging, Tristan was screwing around on Khloe Kardashian with multiple women, some of whom were talking about it openly. In January-April 2021, Tristan was (again!) screwing around with various women quite openly. He was sleeping with Sydney Chase, and when she spoke about their hookups, Khloe contacted her to try to get her to stop talking. During that time period, Tristan also impregnated Maralee Nichols, who would give birth to Tristan’s child in December 2021. Then in June 2021, Khloe and Tristan were still “together” when he cheated on her at some kind of party, and Khloe then made a big deal about how they broke up. No one bought it, for good reason – they were still together, and by November, they arranged for the surrogacy for True’s sibling.

Now we have to overlay this story on top of that ^ timeline. While all of this illicit boning was happening, Tristan apparently proposed to Khloe – ?? – and she said no, but she also said yes. In the latest episode of Hulu’s The Kardashians, Khloe and Kim discuss how Tristan proposed in December 2020 but Khloe turned him down. But then Buzzfeed’s sources say that actually, Tristan proposed in February 2021 and he and Khloe were “engaged” when she found out about Maralee Nichols.

BuzzFeed News can now exclusively reveal that Khloé accepted a proposal from Tristan in February 2021 — just one month before he impregnated Maralee — and they were still engaged at the time his paternity scandal broke.

In the most recent episode of The Kardashians, the subject of Tristan proposing came up during a conversation between Kim and Khloé. This was filmed between January and February of this year — roughly a month after their final breakup following the news he’d fathered a child outside of their relationship. During the chat, Kim says the breakup wasn’t necessarily such a bad thing, hinting that Khloé perhaps always knew that Tristan would end up humiliating her.

“I mean, the fact that he proposed and you never told us…” Kim casually says to Khloé. In her confessional Kim gives more details, explaining that Tristan had called her the year before to say he was planning to propose on Valentine’s Day. However, after hearing nothing from Khloé on the big day, she followed up with Tristan who told her he’d actually popped the question two months prior. “I was like ‘Hey, I never heard anything from Khloé … did you propose?!’” Kim recalls of their conversation. “And he was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I did in December.’”

Khloé goes on to explain that she declined the proposal and kept the whole thing completely underwraps because she didn’t feel comfortable with the state of the relationship, or telling her family news that she wasn’t “proud” of or “excited” about.

“I said, ‘I need to make sure that this is a totally different relationship, because I wanna be proud to say I’m engaged to anyone!’” she says. “And that’s why I said, ‘You know, I’m not comfortable accepting this right now, because I’m not excited to tell my family.’”

Kim’s comments initially suggested that Tristan had proposed in December 2020. However, sources with knowledge of the situation have told BuzzFeed News that he actually proposed to Khloé for the first time in December 2019 when they weren’t officially together. While Khloé turned him down at the time, they revisited the subject of an engagement in February 2021, and this time she accepted the proposal. The couple never announced the news officially, but the insider added that they remained engaged until Tristan’s paternity scandal broke 10 months later.

[From Buzzfeed]

We’ve been getting some weird comments about “poor Khloe” and “he lied to her and love-bombed her” and “her mother sucks, that’s why Khloe is so damaged.” Like, Khloe is a grown-ass woman with money, access and agency. She’s chosen all of this. She’s choosing to present herself this way too, like she’s a victim of evil Tristan, with whom she’s desperate to reunite. She’s also not some naif, constantly in a state of shock whenever she learns about some new side-chick. She was literally contacting Tristan’s side chicks to threaten them or hush them up. She also lies constantly about what she knew and when and how they “broke up” except really they were engaged. Anyway, I believe that she was stupid and delusional enough to get engaged to him.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid, Instagram.

The British markets do not like Liz Truss, her government or her financial proposals. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the British currency was in freefall and everything in the British economy seems to be tanking. On Wednesday, the Bank of England began emergency procedures to stabilize the British economy by buying 65 billion pounds worth of bonds. This is on top of the looming energy crisis in the UK and Europe and what seems like a somewhat localized – but still catastrophic – post-Brexit recession in Salt Island. When the new Princess of Wales heard about all of that, she reportedly said “gosh” and “can you test the recession by testing it?” No, what she actually said was deemed “a rare foray into politics.” Because she acknowledged the obvious, that British people are struggling.

The Princess of Wales made a rare foray into politics as she spoke of the need for food banks as millions of families struggle with the cost-of-living crisis. Kate made the comments about the importance of community services during a discussion with volunteers and members of the congregation at St Thomas Church in Swansea – her first visit to Wales since inheriting her new title.

Over the last two years the church has been transformed into a community hub, which includes a food bank, facilities for homeless people, and a not-for-profit café and community training kitchen. The site is also home to the Swansea Baby Basics baby bank, a volunteer-led project that distributes essentials to vulnerable mothers and their newborn babies across the city.

During the visit with husband William, Kate said: ‘With the cost of living crisis, there are a lot of desperate people out there.’

The royal said that the food bank was a ‘lifeline to so many people’ particularly after the pandemic and amid the soaring cost of living.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Given the number of visits and conversations that take place during these, we are unable to verify specific comments that are reported upon.’

Chatting with a group of elderly worshippers, she added: ‘What’s so wonderful about this place is that there is such a good mixture of young and old. It’s extraordinary. You have 90-year-olds as well as youngsters. It’s a real family organisation. We need places like this to bring people together, places where people can come and engage. It’s what we need post Covid and with the cost of living crisis. Lots of people are too scared to come an engage so it’s wonderful that you go out to see them too.’

[From The Daily Mail]

The Mail’s headline was “Princess Kate wades into politics.” Imagine if the Duchess of Sussex had mentioned something about the “cost of living crisis” though – the Mail’s banner headline would have been “Woke American Lectures Welsh About Recession Then Returns to Her 74-Bathroomed, $92 million Montecito Mansion!” Because it’s Kate, none of the coverage even dares to mention the fact that this woman already has FOUR homes and she will soon move into Windsor Castle, which has over 1,000 rooms. She was literally wearing a new coat too! And she’s been dripping in QEII’s pearls and diamonds from the very second QEII died. At some point, hopefully very soon, people will start to question this very gross arrangement.

Now, all that being said, I don’t even believe Kate said that sh-t. She never speaks like that at events or during walkabouts. Usually she’s just talking about her kids or how she wants another baby. These quotes feel planted by KP to make her seem “in touch” with the peasantry briefly before she literally took a private helicopter back to her castle.

Another thing… they visited a baby bank and yet again, Kate brought nothing. No baby clothes, no diapers, no baby slippers, nothing. “With the cost of living crisis, royals can’t just give things away to peasants!”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Katie Couric is a controversial figure, but she has done amazing work for health. She turned the tragedy of her first husband’s death from colon cancer into raising awareness about a subject that used to never get any mention due to the nature of the exams. Now people are having their colonoscopies filmed to support early detection. It looks like Katie’s going to do the same work with breast cancer. Unfortunately, this time it will be her own story. Katie revealed yesterday that she had been diagnosed with the disease. She said after putting off her mammogram for six months, they found an olive-sized tumor that came back cancerous. Now that it’s removed and she’s almost finished with radiation, Katie is making a plea to her followers to get checked regularly and to push for additional screenings if they think there is any reason for it.

Katie Couric revealed in a personal essay on Wednesday that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The legendary journalist and author, whose first husband Jay Monahan died of colon cancer in 1998, opened up about her health while urging her female followers to get their mammograms — something she said she had to be reminded of during a visit to her gynecologist.

“Please get your annual mammogram,” wrote Couric, 65. “I was six months late this time. I shudder to think what might have happened if I had put it off longer. But just as importantly, please find out if you need additional screening.”

She explained in her essay that she learned she had cancer after her mammogram — and a breast sonogram she routinely undergoes to detect abnormalities that sometimes can’t be seen through her dense breast tissue — spotted something her doctor wanted to look at further.

A biopsy came back as showing cancer in her breast.

“I felt sick and the room started to spin,” the former Today anchor wrote of the moment she learned of her diagnosis. “I was in the middle of an open office, so I walked to a corner and spoke quietly, my mouth unable to keep up with the questions swirling in my head. ‘What does this mean? Will I need a mastectomy? Will I need chemo? What will the next weeks, months, even years look like?’ ”

She also considered her family’s history of cancer (he father had prostate cancer and her mother, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma), which led her to think, “Why would I be spared? My reaction went from ‘Why me?’ to ‘Why not me?’ ”

Couric had a lumpectomy on July 14, doctors removing a tumor she wrote was “2.5 centimeters, roughly the size of an olive.”

Pathology results came back as showing that her cancer was stage 1A. She also learned that the likelihood of the cancer returning was “considered low enough to forgo chemotherapy.”

The former talk show host — whose husband John Molner had “a tumor the size of a coconut on his liver” surgically removed prior to their 2014 wedding — started radiation on Sept. 7, with her final round occurring just this past Tuesday.

[From People]

The article goes on to say that Katie will cover every aspect of breast cancer throughout the month of October, from the latest technology and diagnostic tools and tests to treatments and prevention strategies. She’ll also talk to other people who’ve battled the disease. It’s a great use of her platform and I hope it keeps the discussion on breast cancer moving forward. Katie touched on this in her essay, and we can never stop beating this drum, but screenings have to be made available to everyone. My insurance covers my annual mammograms and some additional screenings, but I pay through the nose for my insurance, so they get you one way or the other. I have friends, though, who don’t even get a full mammogram covered. One frequently skips hers as a result. That’s dangerous and yet, I would probably make the same choices she does if I was in her shoes. We have to do better for all women’s health in this country. Katie spoke of insurance companies reimbursing patients for breast ultrasounds, I’m talking about covering it in the first place so no one has to save up just to be seen.

I hope Katie’s at the end of her cancer story and I’m glad she got to forgo chemotherapy. I know not everyone is so lucky. If breast cancer has touched your life, I’m sorry. I know that’s not much but know we’re here if you want to share your story with us.

Photo credit: Instagram, Cover Images and Avalon Red

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Diane Kruger wore Self Portrait to Norman Reedus’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. I’m actually surprised he agreed to all of that! Also: that’s his son Mingus. [RCFA]
Paris Hilton closed the Versace show in Milan. [Go Fug Yourself]
It’s okay to love Brendan Fraser and want the world for him and also to have qualms about The Whale and fatsuits. [Pajiba]
Degenerate Prince Andrew looked sad on a horse. [LaineyGossip]
Michelle Branch made new music, on top of her chaotic personal life. [OMG Blog]
Mike Rinder’s book dishes a lot of dirt on Tom Cruise. [Dlisted]
An American is suing Malta over their abortion ban. [Jezebel]
Don’t Worry Darling was probably always doomed to fail. [Gawker]
Christian Bale & Rami Malek did a special screening of Amsterdam. [Just Jared]
Virginia students staged a walkout to protest Gov. Youngkin’s anti-trans policies. [Buzzfeed]
Netflix’s Jeffrey Dahmer series is problematic from start to finish. [Towleroad]
Candice Swanepoel poses in a furry bikini. [Egotastic]

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The mood between the Duchess of Sussex and the wider Windsor klan was set as Queen Elizabeth II took a turn for the worse on what would be her final day. Charles called Harry and berated him, telling him that Meghan was not family and Meghan was not welcome at Balmoral. Then two days later, Meghan was “included” in a walkabout outside Windsor Castle and William and Kate barely looked at her or engaged with her at all. That kept happening – Meghan would be included in the procession and the funeral, but the Windsors all made a point of being seen to “freeze her out.” Apparently, that was exactly what happened behind the scenes too – sources say that Meghan and Kate didn’t exchange words at all.

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton did not exchange a word in the ten days preceding the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth, reports claimed Wednesday, and Harry’s truce with his brother will collapse if Harry presses ahead with plans to publish a memoir.

Sources told respected royal correspondent Russell Myers of the Daily Mirror that despite careful attempts to portray a united front, including a public walkabout by Harry, Meghan, William, and Kate at Windsor Castle, there would be no reconciliation until all Harry’s “cards are on the table,” and the book is either published or scrapped.

A source described as a “royal insider” told Myers, “The family continue to be in mourning and are now finally being allowed to grieve for the queen away from the gaze of millions. However, any talk of a truce between the Prince (William) and the Duke (Harry) would only be temporary. There is still a serious amount of distrust in the air and there hasn’t been any cause for that to change.”

Referring to Harry’s memoir, the release date of which is unknown, but which may now be delayed from its originally scheduled publication date of “late 2022,” the source added, “The feeling is very much that there is little point in pursuing a repair in relations until all the cards are on the table.”

Myers added that sources said Kate and Meghan were “not known” to have exchanged words throughout the whole period that the Sussexes were in the U.K. Relations between the two tanked after Meghan accused Kate of making her cry at a bridesmaid fitting ahead of her wedding, but said that press reports subsequently twisted the incident to say it was Meghan who had made Kate cry, and that the palace refused to back her up.

[From The Daily Beast]

Hint: the relations between Meghan and Kate didn’t “tank” after the Oprah interview. Kate had already gone berserk on Meghan just before the Sussex wedding, Kate had already made Meghan cry, Kate and her dreadful mother had already launched a smear campaign about Meghan and on and on. Despite all of that, Meghan is perfectly capable of being professional, kind and even conciliatory towards the family. She just didn’t get the chance because they were so busy being icy a–holes. They just f–king hate her.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

In 2019, Sweden’s King Carl Gustav announced that his grandchildren by his two younger children, Prince Carl Phillip and Princess Madeleine, would no longer have royal styling. Carl Philip’s sons are still technically princes, but are not the Swedish equivalent of “your royal highness.” Layered into that announcement was that only Crown Princess Victoria and her children would be expected to work for the Swedish crown, and that Carl Philip and Madeleine’s children would not work for the crown and they can do whatever they want with their lives. Well, now Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II has made a very similar declaration, stripping the royal titles from four of her grandchildren.

The Danish royal house just got a lot smaller. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has decided to strip four of her grandchildren of their prince and princess titles, the royal palace announced on Wednesday. The children of Prince Joachim, her second son, will be known instead by His Excellency Count of Monpezat or Her Excellency Countess of Monpezat starting on January 1, 2023.

All four grandchildren — Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20, Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10 — maintain their places in the order of succession.

“With her decision, Her Majesty The Queen wishes to create the framework for the four grandchildren to be able to shape their own lives to a much greater extent without being limited by the special considerations and duties that a formal affiliation with the Royal House of Denmark as an institution involves,” the palace said in the statement.

The decision does not pertain to the four children of Crown Prince Frederik, who is heir to the throne, with his wife, Crown Princess Mary.

Unlike their cousins, Prince Christian, 16, Princess Isabella, 15, and 11-year-old twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine will both continue to be part of the royal house.

The Danish palace also noted that “the Queen’s decision is in line with similar adjustments that other royal houses have made in various ways in recent years.” Similarly, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf announced in October 2019 that the children of Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill as well as Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia would no longer official members of the royal house. They retained their titles of prince or princess, but the titles became personal and any future spouses or children will not have a right to them.

[From People]

People are obviously going to compare this to what’s happening now with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children’s titles. The thing is, I think everyone would probably accept it for the Windsors if King Charles actually stripped *everyone* of their HRH “royal style.” As in, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are no longer HRHs. Take the royal styling away from Anne, Edward and Andrew too (since technically Andrew still has his). Take away the HRHs from everyone but William and his children, the very direct line of succession, and say that no one other than the Waleses has to work for the crown. But instead of that, we’re getting King Charles and his henchmen being highly selective about not only royal styling, but titles too. Instead of making a similarly bold decision, Charles comes across as petty, vindictive, selective and racist, because he seems to only be concerned with the royal titles and styles of his mixed-race grandchildren.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

When Prince George was a baby, we all predicted that he would be a little hellraiser. On his first royal tour to Australia – before he was even one year old – George was punching other babies, trying to grab a bilby and throwing gifts on the floor. He was a fun baby. But as he matured, George is not really the hellion we thought he would be. He gives off more of a shy, reserved energy. He and Charlotte actually seem super-wary these days, as their parents force them out in public more and more. Well, Katie Nicholl’s book, The New Royals, has a story about George. Remember, Nicholl’s sourcing for the book is almost entirely Kensington Palace and Middleton Manor. Meaning, Prince William and Kate want this story out here, and they probably think it’s “cute.”

Do you even know who my father is? Prince George warned classmates who were on his bad side that they’d better “watch out” because his father, Prince William, will one day be king, according to royal author Katie Nicholl.

“My dad will be king so you better watch out,” the royal expert claims the future monarch, 9, once said in her book, “The New Royals.”

According to the Daily Mail, Nicholl also writes about how George is very much aware that he will one day be king himself.

“They are raising their children, particularly Prince George, with an awareness of who he is and the role he will inherit, but they are keen not to weigh them down with a sense of duty,” the author said.

[From Page Six]

This bugs me. It bugs me that it’s being presented as a cute story and not like a bratty streak which should be addressed through parenting. I suspect George is getting this kind of sh-t from his parents and from Carole Middleton, who spends a lot of time raising and influencing her grandson. Children are very influenced by what they see at home. George is likely mimicking what he hears his father say, and that sh-t is being reinforced by Kate and Carole, that George is special, that he’s different, that he can do whatever he wants because he’ll be king one day.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, Backgrid and Cover Images.

Here are more photos of the Prince and Princess of Wales in Anglesey on Tuesday, their first trip to Wales with their new titles. They kept everything pretty low-key, just visiting a boat and doing a little walkabout. Upon their arrival – which happened after noon – both Kate and William knelt down to speak to a little Welsh boy who was waiting to give Kate flowers. The catch is, he had been waiting hours. Apparently, someone arranged for him to start standing there at 8:30 am. The child was shivering in the cold for something like four hours, waiting for Will & Kate? Yikes.

As I’ve been reading the excerpts from Katie Nicholl’s The New Royals and Valentine Low’s Courtiers, I’ve been thinking a lot about the incompetence of Kensington Palace staffers. We’ve seen that in a million ways over the years, from Kate’s Five Big Questions to her whole stupid “Early Years” initiative, to William’s boredom with Earthshot, and on and on. The staff can’t even make adequate and appropriate arrangements for a small child to hand Kate flowers. They organized the Caribbean Flop Tour and they really thought it was going to land. In Low’s book, there doesn’t seem to be much mention of the actual flaws within KP’s staff and why that might be. Probably because KP’s staffers are Low’s sources.

Anyway, just a reminder that it’s kind of weird that the new Prince and Princess of Wales are likely keeping their rogue’s gallery of morons, sycophants and embiggeners on staff, and they probably aren’t taking on new people who would actually challenge them to do better and work harder.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Hayden Panettiere got so much criticism when she relinquished custody of her then-toddler daughter to her daughter’s father, Vladimir Klitschko. I remember covering it in early 2019 and giving her credit for doing the difficult thing to make sure little Kaya was well cared for by family. Hayden was in an abusive relationship at the time and was struggling with addiction. She also sought treatment for postpartum depression, which she was open about. It must have been hard for her to give up custody of her daughter. It turns out it wasn’t her decision. In a clip from Red Table Talk, the new episode of which comes out this afternoon, Hayden talks about how hard it was to sign over custody. While she’s clearly parsing her words, it sound like she was forced to by her ex. Here’s more.

appears on this week’s new episode of Facebook Watch’s Red Table Talk, opening up to co-hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield Norris, and guest host Kelly Osbourne about the “very upsetting” experience of relinquishing custody of her only child to ex Wladimir Klitschko.

In a clip from the RTT conversation shared exclusively with PEOPLE, Panettiere calls signing the custody papers the “most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.”

“You thought this was an agreement that you came to that it was best that your daughter be with her dad,” Banfield Norris asks the actress to clarify.

“At first it was not because it wasn’t a discussion,” the actress explains. “If [Klitschko] had come to me and said I think because of where you’re at right now and your struggles that you’re having it would be good for her to be over here with me for a while — which if I had probably had enough of a conversation I would’ve said okay that makes sense, I get it, I’ll come there to visit and stuff like that.”

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“Because of the way that it was done, it was very upsetting,” she continues. “I mean, it was the worst signing those papers, the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever, ever had to do in my life.”

“I was gonna go work on myself, I was gonna get better, and when I got better then things would change and she could come to me and I could have my time with her but that didn’t happen,” she adds.

[From People]

Hayden’s then boyfriend was arrested multiple times for assaulting her, she wasn’t sober and it seems like Kaya was in the right place. Hayden has since gotten sober from an alcohol and opioid addiction and she’s made peace with Vladimir and his family. At least she posts nice things about him. Maybe she’s doing that out of necessity because she hopes to get more time with her daughter.

In Hayden’s cover People interview, which came out this July, she said that she visits with Kaya, now seven, and that they’re close. I am interested to see if she talks more about that in her RTT interview. Again, she’s wording things carefully. If she doesn’t have custody of Kaya, she is probably scared to say anything bad about her ex and his family. Sometimes people make tough decisions because the other parent isn’t able to care for their children.

photos credit: Cover Images and Avalon.red