This f-cking idiot. Before we even get to his interview with Emily Maitlis on Newsnight this weekend, we have to address another one Prince Andrew’s messes – this time his alleged use of the n-word. The Evening Standard reports that he said it at a meeting back in 2012.

“Rohan Silva, who was Dav…

This f-cking idiot. Before we even get to his interview with Emily Maitlis on Newsnight this weekend, we have to address another one Prince Andrew’s messes – this time his alleged use of the n-word. The Evening Standard reports that he said it at a meeting back in 2012.

“Rohan Silva, who was Dav…

We’ve been talking a lot about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and whether they’ll be forced out of the UK (exiled by Prince William) or whether they’ll seek a second home base in America willingly, because they’re tired of being trashed 24-7 by the British press and by members of their own family. I genuinely feel like the Sussexes are at a crossroads at the moment, and I don’t think their “six week break” from royal work is simply about “needing time off.” I think they’re making some larger decisions about their future.

All that being said, I wonder if Harry and Meghan had some advanced knowledge about how Prince Andrew’s sh-tshow was going to play out, because now the Sussexes look like geniuses for escaping the royal Christmas at Sandringham. They’ll be spending Christmas with Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mom, but no one knows if they’ll be in England or America or somewhere else entirely. I’ve thought this entire time that Harry and Meghan would end up doing *some* of the pre-Christmas activities, like the Buckingham Palace lunch about a week before Christmas. But maybe they’ll be skipping that too. I hope they do skip it after Andrew’s mess. So… in an effort to have some kind of story around the Sussexes in the wake of Prince Andrew’s trainwreck interview, we have this:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were urged to slow down by palace aides after not taking a full maternity leave and summer break, an insider claims. The pair have had a busy year with various engagements, the birth of baby Archie and a tour of southern Africa – sparking worry for those close to them.

An insider told the Sunday Telegraph they have been implored to “slow down” for months as “there was no maternity leave, there was no summer break”.

[From The Sun]

Basically, after weeks of hand-wringing about the Sussexes’ six-weeks “off,” the palace is now taking credit for it, saying that the Sussexes were basically ordered to take time off because they were working too much? I can’t even keep up at this point. I guess the point is that the Sussexes need to be criticized for something, anything. They work too much! They need to be lazy! Palace orders working royals to take a nap!

Also: a cute story about how Harry took Archie to a playgroup session. Meghan and Harry both attended a playgroup close to Frogmore Cottage and it was Harry’s first time at the group. Harry enjoyed himself and so did Archie.

Photos courtesy of WENN and Avalon Red.

Prince Harry stepped out for the first ever Onside Awards on Sunday to honour young activists and the volunteers and the mentors who are helping youth who are trying to make a difference. For a change, though, he wasn’t the top royal headline this weekend. That, of course, would be his uncle, and we…

Prince Andrew is a liar, a rapist, a human trafficker, a boor, a moron, and a sweaty, useless, privileged dumbass. But did you know that he’s also a racist? Who would have thought, right? Prince Philip is one of the most racist old coots alive, and who would have thought that his large adult children would carry some of the same racism? For what it’s worth though – I don’t think Princess Anne has ever said or done anything racist? But the Duke of York has. I enjoy the pile-on, truly. Let’s get it all out. Prince Andrew said the n-word to a man of Sri Lankan descent in 2012. *deep sigh*

Prince Andrew was today accused of using the N-word at a Buckingham Palace meeting with a Downing Street adviser of Sri Lankan descent. Rohan Silva, who was David Cameron’s key aide on the tech economy, claims that the “offensive” incident took place in 2012 during a discussion about trade policy. Mr Silva said he asked the Queen’s second son whether the government department responsible for trade “could be doing a better job”. He said the Duke of York responded: “Well, If you’ll pardon the expression, that really is the n***** in the woodpile.”

Palace sources categorically denied that Andrew ever used the phrase, insisting he would never use such language. But Mr Silva, 38, now a co-working space entrepreneur and an Evening Standard columnist, said he clearly recalls “how I walked blinking into the sunshine outside Buckingham Palace, reeling at the prince’s use of language” after the meeting attended only by himself, Andrew and a palace aide.

He added: “For a long time afterwards I kicked myself for not confronting the prince on his choice of words — and it’s something I still regret today. After all, he clearly wasn’t taken to task very often by the people around him, which meant offensive language went unchallenged.”

At a Buckingham Palace meeting the previous year, Andrew and Mr Silva had been discussing European Union reform. Mr Silva claimed Andrew said: “What you have got to remember is that you’ll never get anywhere by playing the white man.” Mr Silva added: “I genuinely didn’t know what he meant, and the discussion moved on. But the phrase ‘playing the white man’ stuck in my head, as I’d never heard it before. So when I got back to my desk, I immediately googled it. The definition flashed up on my screen: an old-fashioned saying, used during colonial times, meaning that only white people can be trusted to follow the rules, unlike dark-skinned natives.”

[From The Evening Standard]

The worst/funniest part of the Evening Standard article is when ES tries to explain the background on the phrase and after explaining its racist American roots, ES says: “It was once widely used to refer to a hidden problem or threat, but is now regarded as wholly unacceptable.” Here’s what it means BUT DON’T EVER USE IT. Which is true. Don’t ever use it. It’s appalling that this uniquely awful, racist American expression is being used by members of British royalty, or any British person. As for Andrew’s use of the awful expression… Jesus, the man is an utter buffoon. A rapist AND a racist? This really can’t continue.

Photos courtesy of WENN, BBC screencaps.

Dear Gossips,

This weekend Beyoncé was in Florida supporting Jay-Z at the Shawn Carter Foundation Gala. And we STILL don’t know who/what she was as for Halloween this year! Remember, Beyoncé and Jay-Z hosted a Halloween party. All kinds of celebrities showed up. No one has revealed what her cost…

Dear Gossips,

This weekend Beyoncé was in Florida supporting Jay-Z at the Shawn Carter Foundation Gala. And we STILL don’t know who/what she was as for Halloween this year! Remember, Beyoncé and Jay-Z hosted a Halloween party. All kinds of celebrities showed up. No one has revealed what her cost…

Last Thursday, Taylor Swift posted a lengthy message on her social media about Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun, and how they’ve banned her from singing her old (pre-Lover) songs at the American Music Awards, and refused to license those Big Machine-era songs for her Netflix documentary. Taylor wrote that Braun and Borchetta were basically holding her Big Machine-era songs hostage so they could somehow get her to stop re-recording the music next year, and that the message was that she needs to “shut up.” Taylor also wrote: “Please let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this. Scooter also manages several artists who I really believe care about other artists and their work. Please ask them for help with this…”

The next morning, Big Machine issued their own carefully-worded (and legally vetted) statement where they said Taylor owes them millions of dollars and that she’s playing the victim and they can’t stop her from performing her music live. Suddenly, the Snake Fam all became lawyers with a special interest in music-industry contractual law. I get that Big Machine’s statement was carefully-worded and that they did not actually deny the bulk of Taylor’s claims. I also get that Taylor has a history of misrepresenting situations to look like the victim. And I also get that this nearly 30-year-old woman with unimaginable wealth and access to the best auditors, lawyers and advisors in the world sicced her fanbase on Borchetta, Braun and Big Machine. It got so bad that Big Machine’s Nashville offices had to close last Friday:

The feud between Taylor Swift and Big Machine has reached a scary new level. A source with knowledge of the situation tells ET that Big Machine Label Group’s headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, was forced to shut down early on Friday, at 12:30 p.m. local time, due to direct and hostile death threats being made to employees of the company.

The source believes that Taylor Swift fans are going to extremes to leak personal contact information and addresses of company employees — not just Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta. Authorities have not been notified. ET has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment.

[From Entertainment Tonight]

Taylor’s silence on this is disgusting, actually. She sent her spokesperson out to contradict Machine’s statement within two hours. But Taylor won’t say sh-t to her fans who are doxxing and threatening employees of Big Machine? That’s a bad look. As for Swift’s spokesperson’s statement…

With many celebrities taking sides, Big Machine said in a statement to ET on Friday that, “At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere.” A spokeswoman for Swift, however, disputed that claim in a followup statement to ET, writing that Borchetta “flatly denied the request for both American Music Awards and Netflix.”

“The truth is, on October 28, 2019 at 5:17 p.m. the Vice President, Rights Management and Business Affairs from Big Machine Label Group sent Taylor Swift’s team the following: ‘Please be advised that BMLG will not agree to issue licenses for existing recordings or waivers of its re-recording restrictions in connection with these two projects: The Netflix documentary and The Alibaba ‘Double Eleven’ event.’”

“To avoid an argument over rights, Taylor performed three songs off her new album Lover at the Double Eleven event as it was clear that Big Machine Label Group felt any televised performance of catalog songs violated her agreement,” the statement continued. “In addition, yesterday Scott Borchetta, CEO and founder of Big Machine Label Group, flatly denied the request for both American Music Awards and Netflix. Please notice in Big Machine’s statement, they never actually deny either claim Taylor said last night in her post. Lastly, Big Machine is trying to deflect and make this about money by saying she owes them but, an independent, professional auditor has determined that Big Machine owes Taylor $7.9 million dollars of unpaid royalties over several years.”

A Big Machine executive, however, told ET: “Taylor can 100 percent perform all of her catalog, past and present, at the AMAs. Big Machine has no issue with her performance going out on live broadcast because it recognizes it doesn’t have the right to block her. Labels can’t block any artists from performing any songs live.”

[From Entertainment Tonight]

The two sides are throwing around some really big accusations at each other, and what’s striking is that very little of this is a he said/she said situation. This isn’t “Borchetta said some sh-t to me in private.” These are legal, corporate, financial and contractual issues for which there will be a paper trail (or “receipts”) on both sides. Which means that this should be an issue with lawyers on both sides. If Taylor has the evidence that she’s being treated unfairly or illegally, then go to court. What she should stop doing is encouraging her fans to doxx and threaten people.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Here are more photos of the Duchess of Cambridge at the EACH opening of The Nook hospice on Friday. While Kate barely has to lift a finger these days to get glowing press, the Kensington Palace press office made sure that everybody dutifully reported that Kate is “just like us” in that she took the train (the peasant train!) to Norfolk for this hospice opening and there were bystander photos and everything. The director of EACH even noted that when he first met Kate, she was a bit meek when it came to public speaking but now she’s all grown up and she gives big-girl speeches and everything. I mean, I found his comments a bit patronizing, but whatever. I’m sure they were on-message from the palace.

Meanwhile, did you know that Kate lost another staffer? Just a few months ago, Kate fired a personal staffer just after the woman came back from her honeymoon. The gossip around it was shady too – the woman’s position was made redundant because something something, the split up of the Sussex and Cambridge offices, something something it’s probably Meghan’s fault. It didn’t make any sense. Well, now Kate’s private secretary (“chief of staff” in American-public-office terms) Catherine Quinn is leaving. Quinn wasn’t fired. She doesn’t have another job lined up. She’s just been working with Kate for almost exactly two years and Quinn is done.

The Duchess of Cambridge is set to lose her ‘gatekeeper’ after just two years – but the pair are said to be parting on the ‘best of terms’. Royal right-hand woman Catherine Quinn has worked as Kate’s private secretary since October 2017, a role that is similar to a chief of staff. She is responsible for everything from organising Kate’s diary and meetings to accompanying her on engagements. But she has also been instrumental in helping the future queen develop her ‘early years’ project, working with organisations to better support children in order to avoid issues such as addiction, social exclusion and crime in later life.

The high-flying Oxford-educated mother-of-one’s appointment was seen as sign of the duchess’s determination to ‘beef up’ her office and public profile as a working royal and future Princess of Wales. Her six-figure salary was met by Prince Charles, through his private income from the Duchy of Cornwall. But now Lancashire-born Miss Quinn has decided to quit the role in search of new challenges. She will be leaving just after Christmas. Her decision to go after just two years is unusual. The job is considered a plum one and private secretaries can often stay in the role for a decade or more. But sources insist the parting is amicable and Miss Quinn simply wants to take a step back from what is a demanding, full-time job and return to her charitable roots, working part-time.

‘Catherine is a thoroughly lovely lady and has achieved a lot working for the duchess. But she simply wants to take a step back and focus again on her charity work,’ a source said. ‘Working for the duchess was actually never a job she had ever thought of taking on as she was scaling down her commitments, but then it came up and she couldn’t resist. She has done an incredible job but just wants some more time for other interests and feels she has helped the duchess create a solid platform in order to move forward. Catherine has helped to created such a strong team around the duchess, sources say, that she feels it is a good time to move on. They are parting on the best of terms.’

Kate, who is due to make some major announcements on her work with young children early next year, is now having to look for a new right-hand woman at a crucial time.

[From The Daily Mail]

When Quinn first came on, I predicted that she would last about a year, long enough to see that her main job was pushing the “keen” narrative. As in, Kate is keen to learn, keen to try, keen to be keen. The point is never to lock Kate into actually doing much of anything, but to merely be keen and exist. Well, I was wrong about the timing – Quinn lasted a whole two years. I wonder if she considers those two years a waste of time? I mean… they were? And I truly wonder if we’ll get any stories about Diva Kate losing all of these staffers for being so unhinged. *waits patiently*

Also: “Kate, who is due to make some major announcements on her work with young children early next year…” Suddenly the Early Years initiative isn’t coming out by the end of the year?? Funny.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Just note: I absolutely loathe threadjacking. I’m sure that many of you have already seen, linked to and discussed all of these stories and I get it, it’s a big story. But can you please ease up on the threadjacking in general? Thank you. As we discussed over the weekend, Prince Andrew’s BBC interview was one of the worst disasters I’ve ever seen in my life. He lied constantly, he came across as boorish, stupid and ensconced in royal privilege, and he showed zero empathy for the victims of rape, abuse and human trafficking, some of whom he almost certainly abused and raped himself. Here’s the interview again:

There are so many lies here. It’s interesting how many outlets are merely picking apart the “I never partied” lie – the Daily Mail and other sites have pulled out their old photos of Andrew partying is fat ass off in 2007. He also looked pretty sweaty, contradicting another stupid lie.

But really, the larger story is “can the royal family just retire Andrew and send him away?” I think they could retire him, but it would have to come from the Queen, and right now she’s not listening to one bad word about her favorite son. She went to church with Andrew yesterday and he told her all about how the interview was a great success:

Prince Andrew told the Queen today his disastrous BBC interview was “a great success”. Prince Andrew was “buoyant” as he attended church with his mum despite the furious backlash which has put his official role under threat and plunged the Royal Family into its biggest crisis in years. Astonishingly, the Duke of York believes he has now put to bed any criticism over his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a close friend of the royal. In a show of support yesterday, the Queen stood by her “favourite son” as they attended church on the Windsor estate where they live.

His pal revealed last night: “The Duke went to church with the Queen and was heard telling her it’s all been a great success. He thinks he’s done the right thing and has put the criticism to rest. He was all smiles and was looking very buoyant and happy.”

The Queen arrived in a car while Andrew went separately to the Royal Chapel of All Saints. The pal went on: “As well as chatting, Andrew and the Queen also prayed together. He walked to the church so they weren’t pictured together.”

The royal’s pal said his aides do not “have the heart” to tell him how badly it has gone down. They went on: “He’s told his friends and advisers he is delighted because he thought he acquitted himself well. He’s cock-a-hoop. He seriously believes he’s pulled off a master triumph. It’s astonishing. No one has the heart to tell him that he’s delusional — and this is the overall problem. He’s surrounded by people who tell him what he wants to hear. Yesterday he was looking happier than he has been for months, totally unaware his interview had caused a firestorm of criticism.”

It is unknown if the Queen watched the BBC programme, though she is said to have been the only member of the Royal Family to have been told of it beforehand. Buckingham Palace last night said they will not comment on royals’ private time or confirm the Queen went to church with her son. But our source revealed: “The Queen is very much intending to stand by Andrew. The sad reality is that she’s got a blind spot when it comes to him, as her favourite son. It’s a bit like how Margaret Thatcher was with her son Mark. Andrew can’t do any wrong in the Queen’s eyes.”

We can reveal the Duke intends to return to work tomorrow for an official engagement, which sources have described as “madness”. Our insider explained: “He is planning to push ahead with his engagements and doesn’t want to duck out of anything.”

[From The Sun]

I… don’t have words. Talk about living in a bubble. Is it really that likely that the Queen’s advisors wouldn’t have told her how Andrew’s interview was poorly received? I know the royals don’t officially “read the papers” but they totally do and the headlines and analysis of the interview were everywhere, even in royal-supporting papers. Is the Queen that out of touch? Clearly, Andrew IS that out of touch. Oh well… if this is the end of the monarchy, then so be it.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Screencaps courtesy of the BBC, additional photos courtesy of Getty.