For all of the self-styled Protocol Police and fussy, bitchy, viper-like courtiers, it’s remarkable how many people believe that this kind of overzealous gatekeeping is good for the British monarchy. The way the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were treated within the institution and by the British press was horrible, not just in real time, but horrible for the monarchy in general. It revealed that the Queen, Prince William and the press entirely were short-sighted, petty, racist and parochial. After the Queen, William, the courtiers and the press had successfully bullied the Sussexes out of the UK, they’re all now apparently hysterical over the fact that Harry isn’t coming back (and Harry alone). It’s interesting then that those courtiers are only now really considering the long-term ramifications of what they’ve done:

The future of the British monarchy depends on Prince Willam and Prince Harry mending their rift — as a palace courtier stressed, “we cannot have them at war,” a new book reveals. Palace staffers were so worried about the feud between the two brothers following Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle that it was the hot topic of discussion at a summit in the spring of 2019.

According to the newly released read, “Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family,” Harry distanced himself from William to protect his wife. Their relationship is still frosty as William remains upset by the fallout over Megxit. “It’s not anger, it’s hurt,” a source said.

“We need to design a system to protect the monarchy full stop,” said one source at a palace retreat before Harry and Meghan moved from Kensington Palace to Windsor.

“The future of this monarchy relies solely on the four people currently in Kensington Palace. The public popularity only lies with them,” said the insider, issuing a battle cry. “When [Prince Charles] becomes king, the only way it lasts is if the four of them are not at war.”

As Harry and Meghan now spend their days working on their new charitable venture, Archewell, at home in California with their 1-year-old son Archie, a friend of Harry’s admitted it will take time to heal the family wounds.

The pair were set up by friends Misha Noonoo, a designer, and Markus Anderson, the book confirms for the first time. But when the former “Suits” actress came into the prince’s life, one senior royal referred to the American as “Harry’s showgirl,” while another told an aide that, “she comes with a lot of baggage.” One high ranking courtier was overheard telling a colleague, “There’s just something about her I don’t trust.”

[From Page Six]

“We need to design a system to protect the monarchy full stop,” says the palace source whose job it was to protect the monarchy. “Why didn’t someone stop this disaster,” cries a stuffy old dude whose job it was to stop royal disasters. I’m not even saying the courtiers are entirely to blame nor am I saying that William is even solely to blame. There is a profound dysfunction within the House of Windsor and it involves the family AND the people around them. I’ve been saying this for two years now: the entire Sussex drama was the point where everything changed for the monarchy. Ten years from now, we’ll look back on that moment and the choices which were made and we’ll be able to say that this is where and when everything fell apart, I really believe that.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN, Backgrid.

A post shared by Molly Sims (@mollybsims) on Jul 11, 2020 at 5:35pm PDT

Molly Sims has a new interview with US Magazine to promote her partnership with a CBD beauty line. She talks about her skincare routine and getting facials. Molly used to get facials over Zoom from an esthetician who would coach her on what to do with a roller and a nuface, which is an electrocurrent device to tone your face. (I have a nuface Trinity, I really think it works, but I got mine off eBay. I’ve had two nuface minis at a more affordable $200 price point and they both stopped taking a charge after a few months. The Trinity is expensive on Amazon at $325 but you can get a refurbished model around $150 cheaper on eBay.) Anyway Molly has since gotten an in-person facial again, which she called “life changing.” That sounds so obnoxious out of context, but she clarified that she was just talking about her own experience and said that everyone has a different level of risk that they’re willing to take. Her comments seemed decent overall.

I work out a lot and I put that Extra Strength Relief [Sagely Cream] and Recovery Cream on after I shower and I can’t tell you how much it works,” she says. “When I don’t do it, I notice a difference. I also like to work out hard.”

“I know a couple of great facialists who will go on Zoom with me,” she says, referring to celeb favorite Georgia Louise. During this process, [Molly] will start by heating up some washcloths in a microwave, getting a hot bowl and steaming her face. Then they’ll talk her through a hard facial massage using a roller and oil, a NuFace with radio frequency.

And as great as it is, it’s just not the same. “Listen it’s at home. I did get a facial for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it was like life changing. I missed those things so much.” Haven’t we all!

Now that things are starting to slowly open back up, she said it’s been all about finding that safe balance. While it was both “nice and strange” to get a facial, it was something that was important to her. “I was kind of scared sitting there getting a facial but I was gonna do it cause I needed it,” she says. “You have to pick and choose. Every person is different. What I’m going do someone else might not do. It’s all a balance.”

[From US Magazine]

Are CBD muscle recovery products that effective? Now I want to try them and also reorder the CBD oil I used to take. (I only took it at night over the weekends as it made me a little groggy.) As far as facials, I’ve only had two and I really didn’t like getting my whiteheads manually extracted, although I know not all facialists do that and that they typically ask you if you want it first. I’m more about DIY facials and products, but if you’re used to getting them regularly I can see missing it. I would have a really hard time letting someone touch my face in a professional setting though. I’ve only had one haircut this year, we both wore masks and no one else was in the salon, but it was stressful. Getting a facial seems somewhat frivolous at this time.

A post shared by Molly Sims (@mollybsims) on Aug 4, 2020 at 3:11pm PDT

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Not only am I shocked that I haven’t gotten coronavirus, I’m shocked that I haven’t injured myself in lockdown. I’ve been trying to stay active by walking/hiking, and my gym opened back up in June, so I’ve been weight training and riding the stationary bike. I worried that after several months away from the gym that I would injure myself, or that I would hurt myself on a hike or something. But I haven’t. I considered buying a bike but there aren’t many good places to bike around here, and apparently everyone is buying a bike these days. Simon Cowell is one of those new bike owners. He apparently got an electric bike and… he already had a really bad fall. The fall was so awful that Simon BROKE HIS BACK.

Simon Cowell is on the mend. The America’s Got Talent judge and executive producer, 60, was hospitalized on Saturday after a minor accident in Malibu, California.

“Simon has broken his back and will be having surgery this evening,” a rep for Cowell tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Simon had a fall from his bike on Saturday afternoon whilst testing his new electric bike in the courtyard at his house in Malibu with his family. He hurt his back and was taken to the hospital. He’s doing fine, he’s under observation and is in the best possible hands.”

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Cowell has been spending quality family time with his girlfriend Lauren Silverman and their 6-year-old son Eric as well as her 14-year-old son Adam from a previous relationship. In May, Cowell told PEOPLE that he had been spending the quarantine with his son at home. “We definitely have more family time together now. We watch movies in the evening, play together, read books, comics, everything,” he said at the time.

And the father of one also shared his exercise routine. “Cycle, walk, swim, push-ups. I haven’t cheated on my diet,” he said. “I feel really healthy at the moment.”

[From People]

“…As well as her 14-year-old son Adam from a previous relationship…” Lauren’s son Adam is from her first marriage, the marriage Simon homewrecked. She was a married woman when she and Simon began their affair and she got pregnant with their son Eric. It is what it is, but lord, that was messy. As for the broken back… it’s no joke and I feel sorry for him a little bit. That must have been a really awful fall. Can you even imagine? He probably got up and thought he might be able to walk it off but no, he broke his f–king back. And he’s 60 years old, which means that his body will have a harder time healing anyway.

Anyway, Simon did have surgery on Sunday – his back surgery lasted 5 hours (insane) and they inserted a metal rod into his back. He’s apparently warning of the dangers of e-bikes now.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, WENN.

Dakota Fanning was on The Kelly Clarkson show promoting season two of her Showtime series, The Alienist. The finale just aired Sunday night. It’s not my type of show, but I’ve heard it’s good. You guys know I’m not a fan of Kelly Clarkson. She’s constantly interrupting her guests and making it all about herself. This interview wasn’t much different, but Dakota was so fun to watch that she made up for Kelly. She always seems so genuinely sweet and kind. Dakota, 26, said she’s quarantining with her younger sister Elle, 22. I can’t believe how old those girls are now! I remember when they were in high school. In lockdown Elle has been ambitious about baking and Dakota has been painting by numbers. She shared one of her creations and it was beautiful. She also said she loves true crime podcasts and that she listened to them often while she was filming in Hungary.

She’s quarantining with her sister, mom and grandmother
We gotten to spend a lot of time together which has been good. We are really close. [Elle] made Boston cream donuts from scratch the other day, which took like eight hours. I left in the morning and I came home at night and they still weren’t done.

She’s been doing paint by numbers
I’ve ordered a million paint by numbers sets. I love doing it. This is by a brand called Pink Picasso, the fancy paint by numbers. It’s actually a canvas. It’s all about filling in the little [segments].

She loves true crime
I’m always really up to date with [true crime podcasts]. When everyone was watching Tiger King I was like ‘I listened to this podcast in Budapest last year.’ When you’re by yourself for seven months in a foreign country there’s a lot of alone time. I’m a big true crime person I listened to all those podcasts watched all the documentaries.

On if she has ever wanted a different kind of job
Like the detective agency having your own office. I really liked that. I suppose I can have an office one day. That’s something I can do. It’s fun to have a desk and sit behind your desk and have everything decorated.

[From The Kelly Clarkson show via YouTube]

I’ve always wanted to go to Budapest after seeing a documentary on the historic public baths there. I’ll put that on my after-quarantine travel list along with Greece. Also I love her paint by numbers results! I’m not much of an artist and am not into crafts, but I think I could do that. My friend Karen has been doing a project like that with little colored beads and she says it’s relaxing. I need a new hobby as all the baking, cooking and cleaning isn’t cutting it. The paint by number kits from the brand she mentioned are $42 each, which seems pricey but I guess it’s not so bad if you get a real canvas. Amazon has some really nice ones too for about half that cost.

Here’s Dakota’s interview!

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@ellefanning @camerondiaz ?

A post shared by Dakota Fanning (@dakotafanning) on Aug 1, 2020 at 8:27pm PDT

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Aurora and I are here to tell you #wearadamnmask ! Thanks for the nomination @susansarandon ?

A post shared by Elle Fanning (@ellefanning) on Jul 8, 2020 at 12:42pm PDT

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Considering People Magazine’s silence on this subject this morning, as I’m writing this, I would assume that Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger have already organized some kind of spon-con photoshoot and announcement with People to debut their newborn. Yes, it looks like Katherine has given birth. We don’t know if she and Chris had a son or daughter, but it seems like she gave birth a few days ago in a hospital and she and the baby are already home:

New mama alert! Katherine Schwarzenegger has given birth to her and husband Chris Pratt’s first child together. The 30-year-old’s brother, Patrick Schwarzenegger, confirmed the news in an exclusive video obtained by ET on Sunday.

“They’re doing great — just got her a little gift,” Patrick said, while leaving a market in Santa Barbara, California, on Sunday. The 26-year-old gave a thumbs up when congratulated on becoming an uncle. He then showed the camera a package with a pink ribbon, before getting into his car. It’s unclear whether the gift was for his sister or the baby.

While Patrick did not mention when the baby arrived, a source tells ET that Pratt’s car was spotted at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California, on Friday afternoon. Katherine’s father, Arnold Schwarzenegger, mother, Maria Shriver, and siblings, Christina and Christopher, were snapped visiting her house. The clan later left with Arnold smoking a cigar as he headed to the car. Later in the morning, Maria and others were seen paying the new mom another visit. Arnold meanwhile headed out for a bike ride, during which he bumped into Patrick and Christina at Caffe Luxxe.

A delivery van was seen dropping off flowers to Schwarzenegger’s house on Saturday.

[From ET]

I’ve always thought that Katherine and Chris Pratt were perfect for each other, but this just hit me: I bet Pratt absolutely loves that Katherine’s family is around and that he and Katherine have so much help and support. Pratt has a son, Jack, with Anna Faris, and for the first year of Jack’s life, he had a lot of medical issues. I’m sure Chris and Anna both went through the wringer emotionally, and it must be so comforting for Chris to welcome a second child and have so much family around. Anyway, congrats to Chris and Katherine. I can’t wait to find out if she had a boy or a girl, but I bet the name will be pretty boring either way. Neither of them seems like a wacky baby-namer.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Granted, I’m a Virginian and I’ve always loved Tim Kaine. I had the pleasure of voting for him as governor, senator and as Hillary Clinton’s running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket in 2016. As a Democrat, do I think Tim Kaine was Hillary Clinton’s boldest choice for her running mate? Of course not. Tim Kaine has never been anyone’s bold choice. But he was a quiet, decent man in a toxic political climate and I still find that refreshing and I will defend him to my last days! That being said, I do sometimes forget that he exists. So does Maureen Dowd, the New York Times columnist who – it has been said – can make or break certain political campaigns. Originally, the Times ran her column with this tweet:

The NYT is broken. pic.twitter.com/sfEvr1OsvM

— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) August 8, 2020

There have only been three male-female major party tickets in history: Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro, John McCain and Sarah Palin, and Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. Weird that Dowd could not even remember Clinton/Kaine, right? I read Dowd’s piece and while she mentions Hillary Clinton, she basically glosses over the fact that Hillary faced the kind of ingrained sexism that Ferraro faced times a million, AND that by the year 2016, Clinton and Kaine were beyond the dated gender stereotypes of a man and woman on a presidential ticket. Basically, Dowd is just sitting there, daggers at the ready, to attack Joe Biden’s running mate. She’s almost gleeful at the prospect of Trump’s MAGA Blondes taking Kamala Harris to task for simply existing.

I wasn’t even going to write about this but Hillary Clinton responded. Dowd has a long history of hating on the Clintons, it’s how she really made a name for herself in the ‘90s. Just desserts. Oh, and Kaine responded too!

Either @TimKaine and I had a very vivid shared hallucination four years ago or Maureen had too much pot brownie before writing her column again. https://t.co/J3SSwtkg7x

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 8, 2020

Might I respond with my friend Hillary, borrowing from the great Stephen Sondheim:

“Good times and bum times
I’ve seen ‘em all
And my dear
I’m still here” https://t.co/nbW0G7p2c3

— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) August 8, 2020

Tim Kaine is such a goober. *crying*

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Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.

Kanye West is still on vacation with his family. They’re staying in a “fortress” in the Dominican Republic. He posted a video of himself (filmed by Kim) dancing with North West at the fortress/compound. Just visually, he looks like he’s in a better place at the moment. Kim Kardashian clearly sees this trip as a make-or-break moment for their marriage, but we’re getting mixed signals from her about Kanye’s fake-ass presidential run. As we’ve heard, Kim is loosely supporting him because she basically doesn’t want to fight about politics, but she really wants him to stop running and stop doing all of this stupid sh-t. Kim is reportedly “exhausted” and “it’s been hard for her to think clearly.” Which I believe.

But I do wonder if people are taking advantage of the fact that Kim is drained and exhausted and refusing to engage Kanye on a political level. Because while Kim thinks Kanye’s mind is on the state of their marriage, all of Kanye’s little MAGA elves are working on “his behalf” to get him on various state ballots. And someone – not Kanye – wrote up a campaign issue-memo and apparently sent it out to various media outlets. TMZ posted the PDF of the memo (you can see it here). Here’s a summary:

Kanye West wants you to donate to his campaign so he can become the 46th POTUS, and he’s making the pitch by laying out his positions on various issues, and one thing’s clear … he’s playing to both Democrats and Republicans. Ye, who calls his platform, “Creating a Culture of Life,” is seeking contributions ranging from $20 to a grand. As for his positions, the first is revealing … “Restore faith and revive our Constitutional commitment to freedom of religion and the free exercise of one’s faith, demonstrated by restoring prayer in the classroom including spiritual foundations.”

That seems to be a cornerstone of his campaign … freedom of religion, which for him includes a hard-line, antiabortion stance. This position clearly targets Republican voters.

But, then he pivots to the Dems, promising to reduce household debt and student loan debt. He also wants to restructure the educational system, by opening it up to “at-risk and vulnerable populations.” He takes a stand on policing, promoting policies that “treat all Americans the same, regardless of race, color, or ethnicity.” And, he promises to protect the environment by promoting clean air and water as well as renewables.

And, then he pivots back to Republican voters, promising to “place Americans’ best interest first and foremost.” He also vows to “Maintain a strong national defense.”

[From TMZ]

Hard pass. I don’t doubt that Kanye feels strongly about being anti-choice and pro-religion, especially considering those are consistent facets of his belief system whether or not he’s in a manic state. He loves controlling women and controlling women’s bodies. He loves to view himself as some kind of man of god or a prophet or something. This is all so offensive. Which MAGAt wrote this? Stephen Miller?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Rihanna has obviously launched a Fenty Skin collection, which includes stuff like moisturizers and cleansers. I should be paying attention to that stuff and buying it, but I wash my face with soap (literal soap!!) and then I expect my night cream to do all of the heavy lifting. It’s… not working out completely. Like, I’m actually happy about my night cream, which I recently changed. I was using the basic-bitch Olay night cream for years and it was fine, nothing special. But in quarantine, I splurged on Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Cream and I really like it. It’s not too heavy and I feel like it’s giving me glowy skin. The problem is that I need a better eye cream though, because my dark circles are getting worse!

I have a point with all of this! Gwyneth Paltrow is more relatable to me than Rihanna in this particular instance. Rihanna is selling stuff for younger girls, Gwyneth is selling a new Goop skin line which seems to be for older gals. Gwyneth’s line is called GOOPGENES, which I suppose is supposed to be a play on “good genes,” but all it makes me think about is that she’s just selling this to rich, bored white women and I don’t want to think race and wealth and “genes” when I’m buying night creams. Anyway, here is Gwyneth’s somewhat relatable story:

Gwyneth Paltrow takes beauty tips from her mother. The 47-year-old actress and GOOP founder says she and her mom Blythe Danner, 77, both suffer from dry skin and Gwyneth has picked up Blythe’s tip of wearing night cream during the day as it is more nourishing.

‘I got this trick from my mom – using night cream during the day; we both have dry skin,’ she said as she talked up her new GOOPGENES skin range. ‘So I wanted a cream that was that nourishing, one that I could use night and day and my skin would just keep reaping the benefits.’

The Iron man star then said: ‘This one leaves my skin so soft that I just keep touching it all day. It helps with fine lines and wrinkles for sure. It’s actually really a challenge to get a clean formula that’s this rich and nourishing and with results like this. I love it so much.’

[From The Daily Mail]

My skin changes so much depending on the season, so in winter, I definitely need some kind of recovery cream or something for day-wear. I am not above using my night cream for day-wear, but I never thought of that as a beauty hack or a trick, just a necessity. I do have an Olay day cream (Olay Regenerist Whip) which is super-light, almost too light for winter. But I don’t wear it most days! Ugh. I need to be better about all of this.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

A post shared by WSJ. Magazine (@wsjmag) on Jul 21, 2020 at 8:24am PDT

Earlier this year, Post Malone covered GQ Style and the interview was a mess! Up until that point, I thought Post was a chill guy with no drama. He is sort of like that, only he’s armed to the teeth and he’s constantly drunk or on drugs. He mostly drinks A LOT, which is still not a good combination with all of the guns he keeps in his home. He owns a big spread in Utah, and I guess it would qualify as a “compound” or “lair.” But… being in Utah, there are strict laws and regulations about liquor stores and purchasing alcohol, because the state is majority Mormon and Mormons rarely (if ever) drink. So long story short, Post found a work-around:

Post Malone is getting crafty while quarantined in a state with strict alcohol laws. The 25-year-old artist revealed his trick for stocking brews while living in Utah, where purchasing and possessing containers of beer larger than two liters is illegal.

“We’re just getting hammered every day and doing funny s–t. I just drink in my house, and if I need a keg I go to Wyoming and bring it back,” he recently told WSJ. Magazine, adding with a laugh, “But don’t tell anybody.”

The “Better Now” rapper explained that the state has definitely eased up on their drinking mandates amid the pandemic.

“It’s just interesting here. But it’s getting better every day because [the Utah government] realizes that the world is so f—ing crazy,” he said. There is an exception to the no-keg rule if “the person is a beer retailer authorized by this title to dispense beer on draft for consumption on the beer retailers premises,” according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.

While he is not a retailer of beer, he has certainly tapped into the world of wine. Post launched his very own rosé called Maison No. 9, of which he peddled 50,000 units in just 48 hours, WSJ reports. “We flew to Provence [France] and picked the grapes and made the blend and everything. And I said, This is something that I really, really like,” he said. “I’m so blessed and happy that we’re crushing it the way that we are. We’re trying to make an empire so that we can drink for free and our kids can eat forever.”

[From Page Six]

I don’t know how it is in Utah, but here in Virginia, our governor said at the very f–king start of the lockdown that liquor stores were essential businesses and that they would stay open (but they could change their hours). Most states are like that, and it would actually be smart governance for leaders to encourage drinking-at-home. I know bar owners are struggling and restaurants with liquor licenses are struggling, but still… don’t go to bars. Drink at home. Like Post Malone. And it’s friggin’ crazy that he has to go out of state to buy kegs!!

Post also spoke to WSJ. Magazine about how he’s working on a new album in lockdown and he actually feels more creative and vibe-y in relative isolation.

@maison9wine is now available in stores and online:) link is in their bio

A post shared by @ postmalone on Jun 25, 2020 at 2:29pm PDT

Photos courtesy of WSJ. Magazine IG, Post’s IG.

Prince Harry wrote a piece for Fast Company about how the social value of social media is being undermined by toxicity and is urging major companies to participate in rehabilitating social media platforms. He says that he and Meghan Markle have been meeting with business leaders to determine how bes…