Many European monarchs came into London this weekend, as Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral is basically the biggest international event in decades. QEII was related to many European monarchs as well, including Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, a distant cousin. Queen Margrethe was invited to the funeral, as was Crown Prince Frederik. Apparently, the invitation initially included Frederik’s wife, Crown Princess Mary. Buckingham Palace dis-invited CP Mary last week?

On Friday, Danish BT reports that Crown Princess Mary (50) is no longer invited to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral after all. The royal house confirms this to the newspaper. In the past, the royal house has assumed that Mary was among the royals who were to participate in the queen’s funeral.

[A letter was sent, uninviting CP Mary]: There has been a regrettable error in the invitation from the British Foreign Ministry’s protocol. It is thus only the queen and the crown prince who from the Danish side will participate in Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral on Monday. This is stated by the Palace’s communications department.

Se og Hør’s royal house expert Caroline Vagle explains what could be the reason for the sudden cancellation, saying: “There are of course many people who want to participate in this funeral, but there is by no means room for everyone who wants to. I have understood it to mean that only one person from each country (head of state) has been invited, as well as an accompanying person,” says Vagle.

[From Postsen]

I know that there’s a space issue at Westminster Abbey, but I doubt that QEII would want other European royal families snubbed in this way. It’s deeply insulting to CP Mary and, frankly, it’s deeply insulting to Prince Frederik and Queen Margrethe. Someone said to me that all of these Funeral Shambles make the Jubbly Shambles look like small potatoes. It’s true.

I kind of wonder if the Windsors didn’t want an attractive, hard-working, brunette, interesting crown princess around because it would have stolen Kate’s thunder.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Instar.

I truly don’t know how many times this family will go out of their way to snub Prince Harry only to have him coming out of it looking like a dignified king, but here we are. They never learn. You would have thought that last Wednesday’s procession would have taught them that putting a combat veteran in civilian mourning dress and surrounding him by a bunch of fake military men in their costumes would only make Harry look better. But they didn’t learn, and so once again, at Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral, Harry stood out. The cameras lingered on Harry’s tragic dignity as he paid his final respects to his beloved grandmother.

Also: because he was banned from wearing a uniform, he wasn’t allowed to salute his commander-in-chief’s coffin. These people will burn for what they’ve done to him.

I’m including more family photos from the funeral too – I’m surprised Sarah Ferguson got to attend, this really must be the final hurrah for the Yorks. All of the Queen’s grandchildren (save William, Peter and Harry) arrived at Westminster Abbey before QEII. The seating arrangement was pretty interesting for the family too. While I’ve seen Richard Eden smugly announcing that Harry and Meghan were placed “in the second row,” the Sussexes actually got a place of honor right behind King Charles III. Harry looks like the heir, not William. Also fascinating: Princess Anne got a place of honor in the first row, right beside Queen Camilla.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Here’s an Open Post for today’s state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II. It’s already the weirdest social event of the year, perhaps of the decade. World leaders, diplomats, foreign monarchs and the dregs of the Windsor clan are all coming out for this. Seriously, every awkward cousin and Nazi-relation from the Windsors will be there, but the guest list for “foreigners” has been limited to one primary plus a guest, meaning that someone like Princess Michael of Kent gets priority over Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

On Saturday, suddenly the Mail began wondering whether Prince George would come to the funeral. George just turned 9 years old this summer and he’s already being scheduled like a working royal, making appearances throughout the Jubbly and wearing an uncomfortable suit to Wimbledon. The Mail claimed that the courtiers tried to convince William and Kate to bring George (and only George): “Courtiers are keen for Prince George to be at the funeral in some capacity, if only to reassure the nation of the order of succession.” Literally, there’s a new king and a new Prince of Wales, and yet the line of succession needs to be polished at QEII’s funeral? Apparently so, because late Sunday, we learned George AND Charlotte would come to the funeral and walk behind their parents in the Abbey. They are way too small for that.

Anyway, we’ll have posts throughout the morning about the funeral, especially once we get photos in.

Here’s the live stream:

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.

On Saturday, Queen Elizabeth II’s eight grandchildren (the ones we know of, in any case) did a special “vigil” for their gran. QEII’s adult children had done their vigil on Friday evening. These vigils only take about fifteen minutes, and they’re a sign of respect and contemplation… in full view of cameras and the endless Queue of mourners. The grandchildren’s vigil was organized specifically around Prince William and Prince Harry taking the “head” and the “foot” of the casket (or catafalque, a word we’ve learned this week). The other six grandchildren were positioned just so around the “body” of the casket. As with the Friday vigil, I do wonder if the Windsors have to practice all of these regimented mourning acts.

Zara Phillips-Tindall seemed to be walking with a limp, and she also seemed to lose a shoe as she walked up the stairs. I think Viscount Severn, the youngest grandchild, is a little bit too young for this kind of thing (James is only 14), and I feel so bad for Lady Louise. She’s supposed to be starting college at St. Andrew’s right now. Beatrice and Eugenie both seem pretty gutted. They were both very close to their grandmother.

I was going to say that all of the grandchildren looked and behaved with utter dignity, but it looks like Buckingham Palace handed Harry a huge insult. King Charles “requested” that Harry wear his uniform – because the Windsors were getting a massive amount of criticism for insulting veterans internationally – but when the Palace sent him his uniform, there was something missing:

Prince Harry wore his military uniform during a vigil for Queen Elizabeth II after getting special permission from King Charles III to wear it — but it may have come with a hidden insult. While both Harry, 38, and his brother Prince William, 40, wore the Blues and Royals No. 1 dress uniform “at the King’s request,” the outfit that Harry received from Buckingham Palace notably lacked a crucial piece of hardware: the late queen’s royal cypher, her initials “ER.”

William’s uniform, eagle-eyed royal watchers noted, sported the cypher on both shoulder epaulets. Harry’s did not.

“He is heartbroken,” a friend told the Sunday Times of London. “To remove his grandmother’s initials feels very intentional.”

So “devastated” was he, the friend said, that the prince nearly donned a morning suit to avoid the “humiliation.” One insider disputed the account, denying that an alternate outfit was ever under consideration — but admitted that the “ER” cypher had indeed been removed from Harry’s uniform.

[From Page Six]

Again, the pettiness and cruelty is the point. This family wants the world to see them shun and insult Harry for marrying a Black woman. The instituton wants the world to watch as they try to destroy this couple merely for walking away. If I was in Harry’s position, I would have worn a suit, but he’s probably just trying to get through these final days in the UK.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Kate Middleton, aka the Duchess of Cambridge and Cornwall and the Princess of Wales, loves to cosplay and “homage.” Over the past eleven years, we’ve gotten used to all of the Diana cosplay although it’s creepy every f–king time. What I don’t understand is how Kate apparently has no one in her life saying “hon, this is coming off as massively creepy.” It was the same thing with William and Kate’s overeagerness to claim the Cornwall and then the Wales titles – no one in their carefully curated, kiss-assy all-white world has the balls to say to them “wow, that’s really tacky.”

So, something has been bugging me ever since QEII passed away – Kate has once again been extremely creepy. It really feels like the first thing she did when QEII died was raid the Queen’s jewelry. She’s worn several pairs of QEII’s earrings and Liz’s big, shiny, tacky Christmas tree brooch at the procession. Then on Saturday, Kate wore QEII’s three-strand pearl necklace to the Buckingham Palace Commonwealth lunch/reception. She also appears to have grabbed QEII’s multi-strand pearl bracelet and a pair of pearl earrings. While QEII had lots of pearl pieces in her private collection, I wonder if these pieces are part of the Royal Collection. I also wonder if Kate hauled her ass to Buckingham Palace to raid the jewelry collection as soon as she heard the news two Thursdays ago. It’s just… so tacky. It looks grasping, right? The overeagerness to grab jewelry?

As for the photos… one of the biggest problems for King Charles III is that his heir and the heir’s wife are diplomatic lightweights. My favorite photo is Kate making a conscious effort to put her colonizer hand on a Black person. My second favorite photo is Peggington pretending to listen to a Black woman.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

As soon as it was clear that Queen Elizabeth would pass away, the Windsors all moved into action to travel to Balmoral. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced, via their spokesperson, that they were traveling to Balmoral as well. Which is when then-Prince Charles apparently called his younger son and ordered him to leave Meghan at Frogmore Cottage, saying explicitly that Meghan would not be welcome in Scotland. Harry arrived late to Balmoral, hours after QEII passed away, and returned to Windsor early the next morning. We didn’t find out about Charles’s call until hours later, when the new king and new Prince of Wales began smearing the f–k out of both Harry and Meghan for having the audacity for wanting to travel together to Scotland. That set the tone for everything that’s happened since.

After all that, King Charles III has been lurching from one self-made catastrophe to another self-made catastrophe. First it was the 180 on whether Harry could wear a uniform to memorialize his grandmother – that reversal only came after widespread international condemnation for forcing a combat veteran to wear civilian clothes while the non-veteran royals waltzed around in their uniforms. Then, on Friday, it got even worse. At first we heard that King Charles would host a reception, at Buckingham Palace, on Sunday evening for all of the visiting world leaders and dignitaries. When the reception was announced, they made a point of saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were invited. Then, hours later, a stunning reversal: suddenly, the Palace was flat-out insisting that the Sussexes were “uninvited.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appear to have been uninvited to a state reception hosted by the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace on Sunday evening. The couple received an invitation to the grand event for world leaders and foreign royals earlier this week but are thought unlikely to attend after palace officials insisted it was for working members of the Royal family only.

It remained unclear on Friday night why they had received an invitation for an occasion that Royal aides insisted they were not expected to attend. Sources close to them appeared baffled, while palace aides continued to insist that they were not invited and were not expected to show up.

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron will be among hundreds of heads of state who will be welcomed to London on the eve of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. Presidents and prime ministers from across the globe will arrive in the capital throughout the weekend alongside foreign royals, governors-general and ambassadors. As dusk falls on Sunday, they will be driven into the gates of Buckingham Palace before rubbing shoulders in the picture gallery and state apartments.

Despite the grandeur of their surroundings, the reception will be a muted affair, with guests asked to wear lounge suits or morning dress, with no hats or decorations. Guests will be greeted by Royals including the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Princess Royal and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Drinks and canapes will be served.

The confusion over the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s attendance follows similarly mixed messaging over Prince Harry’s right to wear military uniform this week. It hints at a lack of communication between the London and California-based branches of the family as well as a lack of certainty over how exactly to deal with Harry and Meghan as grieving members of the Queen’s family.

[From The Telegraph]

King Charles III is a clown. I strongly suspect that – initially, at least – perhaps an invitation was extended, although probably not formally. You know these dumbasses speak in riddles, so there were probably feelers put out to see if Harry and Meghan were interested in attending. My guess is that Harry shut it down, because it’s all happening again. The palaces are briefing against them freely and viciously, and then the palaces still want to use the Sussexes’ star power to make the family look good. My thinking is that Harry said “nope” and now the Palace is trying to turn Harry’s refusal into yet another “look at us, punishing Harry and Meghan, we hate them” moment. And once again, the royal court looks like a whole-ass clownshow. As for “a lack of communication between the London and California-based branches of the family”… Harry and Meghan have been sitting in Windsor for more than a week. Charles knows their number.

Speaking of, Page Six claims that Harry and Meghan “received an invitation” to the reception earlier in the week and yet no one has called them to tell them they are uninvited. Sources claim the Sussexes learned of this story through the media. Funeral shambles.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

King Charles III had an extremely busy Friday. The plans for Operation London Bridge always involved a lot of activity for the new sovereign in the weeks following his mother’s death. We always knew he would have to go on tour of the UK, and that’s just what he’s done. On Friday, he went to Cardiff, Wales. He visited the castle, he gave a speech, he did a lil’ reception and a short walkabout. After the day-trip to Cardiff, Charles was back in London for a meeting with faith leaders, then in the evening, he did the “vigil” thing with his siblings. I’ll include the video for that at the end of the post.

Mostly I wanted to talk about his day-trip to Cardiff. Charles is now the former Prince of Wales, and I believe he held the PoW title the longest in history. He actually speaks some Welsh (he’s not crazy fluent, but his pronunciation is reportedly pretty good) and he has a home in Wales. One would think, out of everyone in the Windsor clan, Charles would probably get the best reception in Cardiff, right? Wrong. They were booing him:

BREAKING: King Charles met by BOOS and JEERS as he arrives at Cardiff Castle in Wales with Camilla. It was his first tour as monarch. #Wales #QueenElizabeth #kingcharles #QueenElizabethII #Cardiff pic.twitter.com/ob0uXvMyg5

— Urban Pictures (@Urban_Pictures) September 16, 2022

Some members of the crowd can be heard booing as King Charles and the Queen Consort arrive at Cardiff Castle.

Follow live updates here: https://t.co/zri53jSvDB pic.twitter.com/s0Y7OuVG2Z

— ITV Wales News (@ITVWales) September 16, 2022

While I’m not going to even attempt to Yanksplain why this is happening, I generally assume it’s a grab-bag of A) Charles is simply much less popular than his mother, B) Welsh peeps really hate it that the Crown still thinks it “owns” the “prince of Wales” title and C) just a general dislike of the monarchy. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. Check out this video of a Welsh man saying something which displeased the new king:

What’s the worst part? Is it that Charles doesn’t acknowledge the man whatsoever and immediately turns when he realizes he’s being criticized? Or is it that a royal protection officer immediately puts his body in between Charles and that dude, like the dude’s words were a threat to Charles? This is completely asinine.

Here’s the vigil video, which also happened on Friday.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Emma Watson wore a very bridal doily dress (it’s McQueen) to the Kering Foundation’s “Caring for Women” dinner last night. [RCFA]
Republicans are trafficking humans to score political points on Fox News. [Jezebel]
Diego Luna looked handsome at the Andor premiere. [Just Jared]
YouTuber Trisha Paytas named her newborn daughter (rumored to be the reincarnated Queen Elizabeth II) Malibu Barbie. Perfection. [Dlisted]
Ben Affleck apparently wrote a 12-page speech for his vows to Jennifer Lopez. I honestly believe she loved that. [LaineyGossip]
Here’s the trailer for the Willow series. [OMG Blog]
This Tom Ford collection is… odd. [Go Fug Yourself]
Rachel Aviv’s new book sounds interesting. [Gawker]
As someone who read and disliked Joyce Carol Oates’ Blonde, it’s slightly funny to see the reviews from people who are like “omg, this is such a dark, disturbing movie!” [Pajiba]
Lots of people have stories about how they intuited (or had outright premonitions of) dangerous or deadly situations. There were people who worked in the Twin Towers who felt like something terrible was going to happen before 9/11 too. [Buzzfeed]
My 600 Lb Life star got dumped because she wanted to lose weight. [Starcasm]
Donald Trump really wanted to buy Greenland. [Towleroad]
Carrie Underwood plays with guns. [Egotastic]

Embed from Getty Images

The original plan for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s British and German tour was to attend the WellChild Awards last Thursday and then head back to California. Then, as we now know, Meghan was going to New York next week, the week of the 19th. She was apparently due at the United Nations, and she was scheduled to appear on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote Archetypes. When Queen Elizabeth II passed, the Sussexes’ plans were put in disarray. They had to stay in the UK, Meghan postponed her Archetypes episodes this week and she canceled her appearance in New York. SOB! Now another postponement: she was supposed to be on this week’s Variety cover.

Meghan Markle’s upcoming appearance on the cover of Variety magazine has been delayed.

The Duchess of Sussex, 41, was chosen by the magazine as one of its honorees for the upcoming Power of Women issue, they announced Wednesday.

Following Queen Elizabeth’s death last week, however, the magazine announced that Meghan’s cover was being held “out of respect for the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II.”

The outlet also said Meghan will not be attending the Power of Women event in Los Angeles on September 28.

Variety is also honoring Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay, Malala and Elizabeth Olsen.

[From People]

Man, the Windsors really screwed up everything for our Meghan. We were going to see so much of her, see her out and about in New York, laughing with Fallon, making speeches at the UN and chatting with Variety. It sounds like the Variety cover story will come out at some point, hopefully next week or the week after. There are rumors in the British media (eyeroll) that Meghan is postponing Archetypes for six weeks, but I honestly doubt it will be that long. I think it will be two weeks. And hopefully, she’ll reschedule some TV appearances too.

As for Variety, they interviewed Mariah Carey about the anniversary of Butterfly and her career and a lot more. They asked her about sitting down with Meghan for Archetypes too:

Speaking of royalty, just a week before Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Carey was a guest on Meghan Markle’s “Archetypes” podcast on Spotify in an episode titled, “The Duality of the Diva.” Once together on the podcast, Carey and Markle discussed intimately what it meant to be called the “difficult” version of diva and their shared experiences of being biracial women.

“I don’t know that I should be an authority on anybody but myself, but to preface my answer — I did not meet the Queen,” she says. “I am, however, obsessed with the show ‘The Crown.’ And the podcast with Meghan, I felt, was an important moment and one that I truly enjoyed — getting her take on things, she’s had her journey and I’ve had mine. There are some similarities, like being biracial. I tend to dwell on that topic because I just can’t get over it. It’s always a thing, whether I bring it up or someone else does. I assume that’s why it was interesting for she and I to talk for her podcast. There are so many misconceptions about her and about me — you can’t even realize how many misconceptions.”

[From Variety]

I honestly thought Meghan and Mariah’s conversation about being biracial was more interesting than the diva talk! I get why Meghan didn’t devote the episode to The Bifurcation of Biracial (our girl loves alliteration) but I do wish they had talked more about it.

Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, was chosen as one of one of this year’s stellar honorees. The Duchess’ cover will be postponed to a later date, out of respect for the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II.https://t.co/tMeOgru12h pic.twitter.com/Pqiolo2W2a

— Variety (@Variety) September 14, 2022

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Just a few days ago, that awful Tom Bower was screeching about Prince Harry’s memoir. Bower claimed that his sources (the ghosts in his padded cell) were telling him that Harry refused to delay the publication of his memoir and it was still due out in November. Keep in mind, in general, no one has any idea when the book is coming out or what’s in the book. The Windsors have no idea. The royal rota – save, perhaps, Omid Scobie – have no idea. But gosh darn it, that’s not going to stop them from making bold pronouncements about it! In a new piece in the Telegraph, someone claims that Harry will delay the memoir and he will likely write some “new chapters” about the death of his grandmother. Is this fan-fiction? Or rather, hater-fiction?

The Duke of Sussex’s memoir is expected to be delayed because of the royal mourning period and is now likely to be published next year, sources have confirmed. Ever since it was announced last summer, the book has cast a long shadow over the Royal family amid fears that it will be used to settle scores. Published by Penguin Random House, it was originally scheduled for release in “late 2022” and was expected around Thanksgiving in time to cash in on the Christmas market. But the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week threw long-held publication and publicity plans into turmoil.

The King announced on Friday that the Royal family would remain in mourning until seven days after the late Queen’s funeral on Monday. Protocol dictates that official duties are then gradually phased in as appropriate, with military and charity engagements likely to be given priority and personal projects coming later.

A source close to the Sussexes indicated that the book would not now come out as planned as the couple respect a mourning period that is likely to last well beyond the official ten days. Archetypes, the Duchess’s Spotify podcast, is said to have been put on hold for up to six weeks as a mark of respect. There are no plans to pull the Duke’s book but publication will be delayed, probably until next year.

The manuscript, ghostwritten by American author JR Moehringer, is understood to have been finished some time ago. But the Queen’s death is such a seismic moment for both the monarchy and for the Duke’s family that the book will likely have to be updated throughout. With publication delayed, Prince Harry will have time to write additional chapters about his grandmother’s death, ensuring it does not appear out of date.

No members of the Royal family, their aides or lawyers have had sight of the book in any form. Neither have they been informed when it is due to be published.

[From The Telegraph]

Yeah, again, if Harry completed the manuscript months ago, and everything has cleared legal, that means the memoir has probably already gone to print. This isn’t some half-assed royal biography/Deranger fan fic – this is a serious memoir written by a prince and being published by a serious American publisher. Penguin Random House isn’t going to agree to significantly delay the book so that Harry can write a few updated chapters about Queen Elizabeth’s death. Please, he’ll save that for his second book. I mean, yeah, I’m talking out of my ass, but I just think this is wishful thinking from the Telegraph. It’s not even up to Harry anymore. And I actually doubt Meghan will delay Archetypes for as long as six weeks. Maybe two weeks?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.