George & Amal Clooney stepped out in New York last night. [Just Jared]
Adam Levine & Behati Prinsloo are putting on a united front. [Dlisted]
Yeah, this part of Brad Pitt’s Vogue interview was stupid too. [LaineyGossip]
Apple Music replaces Pepsi as the sponsor of the Super Bowl Halftime show. [Seriously OMG]
A woman was denied pain medication because she’s of child-bearing age. [Jezebel]
Roberto Cavalli wants everyone to wear pineapples. [Go Fug Yourself]
Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka was suspended for cheating on Nia Long. [Gawker]
Did you know Eva Mendes has a sponge line? [Pajiba]
Rich people spend money in some really bonkers ways. [Buzzfeed]
Billy Eichner looked cute on Late Night with Seth Meyers. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Nikki Haley thinks it’s racist for people to question why she’s actively trying to bury and cover up her Indian heritage. [Towleroad]
Gigi Hadid designed a “workwear” collection. [Egotastic]

The Windsors are just vile people, and they surround themselves with dumb sycophants, and the right-wing British media just eats it up and hypes them endlessly. It’s all a toxic cycle, an ecosystem built on stupidity, cruelty, racism, short-sightedness and buttons. Even though royal commentators are giving the royal institution a hint that, actually, y’all are in trouble without the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the institution is going to barrel ahead with their unhinged revenge plot. Nevermind the fact that, as I’ve said many times, there’s a fundamental miscalculation being made by both the British media and the Windsors. The miscalculation is that Harry and Meghan give a sh-t or that they would come back in any way, under any circumstance. Following the cruel shenanigans of QEII’s funeral, Harry was shown exactly how small and ridiculous his family really is. But please allow King Charles’s aides to brief the media about how Harry is absolutely being permanently “exiled.”

Prince Harry faces a life of permanent “exile,” with King Charles plotting to follow the playbook drawn up by the royals as they overcame the crisis triggered by Edward VIII, the king who abdicated in 1936 and was obliged to live the rest of his life outside the U.K., The Daily Beast understands.

A friend of the king’s told The Daily Beast: “The royals handled the abdication crisis by exiling Edward which meant he and Wallis ultimately came to seem like unimportant, misguided, disloyal, and even treacherous individuals to almost the entirety of the British people. It was a masterful operation in the service of which the Queen Mother, in particular, worked tirelessly. The same thing is already happening with Harry and Meghan, and will only gather pace over the next few years under the rule of King Charles. And of course a wayward second son is far less of an existential threat to the fabric of the monarchy than a wayward king.”

Another source, a former Buckingham Palace staffer, told The Daily Beast that King Charles’ accession statement, in which he encouraged his son and Meghan to “continue to build their lives overseas” was an undisguised message to them to not disrupt his reign by making frequent trips to the U.K.

“Harry and Meghan will get an invite to the coronation but they will be firmly seated in the cheap seats along with Beatrice and Eugenie, as they were at the funeral. That will be it. Charles will be ruthless when it comes to protecting the Crown, and that means keeping Harry and Meghan as far from the center of gravity as possible,” the former staffer told The Daily Beast.

One reasonable interpretation of Harry’s treatment in the days after the queen’s death and at her funeral is that it was part of a strategy of chipping away at Harry’s importance, of reframing him in the public eye from being, “Prince Harry, sixth in line to the throne” to “Prince Harry, minor, non-working royal who lives overseas.”

If Harry and Meghan had sought to blur the lines, via charitable commitments, between their present identity as private citizens and their former identity as royals, the last two weeks offered the palace an unprecedented opportunity to render them again in sharp relief. The most explicit illustration of this was in the seating arrangements at the queen’s funeral which, humiliatingly, denied Harry a front-row seat in favor of his cousins Peter and Zara Philips. Palace sources have insisted that the seating was decided purely in order of age and that there was “no snub” involved.

[From The Daily Beast]

Over the past two weeks, I’ve thought a lot about how sad Harry must be, how much he loved his grandmother, how he was determined to show respect, dignity and class throughout this ordeal, all while his family made asses out of themselves, briefed against him, plotted to destroy him, smeared his wife and kept bringing the focus to Harry and not QEII. I don’t doubt that Charles is making ruthless plans to shun, embarrass, snub and smear Harry and Meghan even more than he already is. I also have no doubt that the media simply cannot play along. Harry and Meghan are where they make their money. The Sussexes’ charitable visit – which got hijacked by QEII’s death – was getting wall-to-wall coverage in the British media. The Sussexes will continue to get wall-to-wall coverage in the UK and everywhere else, even if Charles plots to (somehow) delegitimize Harry as “unimportant.” It actually seems like Harry & Meghan’s importance has only grown and magnified in the past two weeks, as none of these f–king people can keep their names out of their g–damn mouths.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

The second season of Hulu’s The Kardashians premiered this week, and the first episode was apparently about Khloe Kardashian welcoming her second child via surrogacy. I’m going off of reporting and summaries of the episode – I’m not watching this show. There was footage from the birth, and Khloe invited Tristan Thompson to come to the hospital after the birth to meet his latest son. Tristan has two other sons – Prince Oliver (with Jordan Craig) and Theo (with Maralee Nichols). We still don’t know the name of Khloe and Tristan’s son and she didn’t reveal anything on the show other than it’s probably a T-name. So Tristan has four children by three women now. Maralee Nichols was pregnant – and about to give birth to Theo – when Khloe and Tristan arranged for the transfer/embryo implantation. That was also discussed in depth on the show:

Now Season 2 of The Kardashians has returned to our screens, we’ve learned all of the details of the surrogacy journey and paternity scandal — including that Tristan was actively pressuring Khloé to go ahead with their baby plans while knowing full well that Maralee was pregnant. During the episode, Khloé revealed that Tristan had found out that Maralee was pregnant on July 2 2021 — a whole four months before their surrogate underwent an embryo transfer around Thanksgiving on Nov. 25.

But just days after the embryo transfer took place, Khloé was hit with the news on Dec. 3 that Tristan was having another child. And Khloé went on to admit that Tristan had actually been “encouraging” her to go ahead with their surrogacy plans and the embryo transfer “by a certain date” — presumably because he knew when his other baby was due to be born.

“All I know is I was being encouraged to do it by a certain date,” Khloé explained during one confessional. “In hindsight, he always knew when the other baby was being born — especially getting the paperwork that we saw, he found out July 2, so he did know.”

And in another telling scene from the show, Kris, Kendall, Kim, and Kylie gathered to discuss the situation, with Kris and Kendall in agreement that Tristan had deliberately talked Khloé in to going ahead with having a second baby in order to “trap” her. During the meeting, Kylie said, “I just don’t like the fact that Tristan knew that this was happening.” Kendall replied, “That’s what’s wild. Like, you were encouraging Khloé to go forward with this while you knew that this was also happening? It’s almost like he wanted to trap her.” Kris Jenner agreed: “Well, he wanted to hang onto her for sure, and thought that maybe if they did that she would marry him.”

To make matters worse, despite there being much speculation that Tristan and Khloé had split for good over the summer of 2021, she made it clear in the episode that they were actually very much still together — and she’d intended to raise their family with “mom and dad” in the “same home.”

“I thought this was a real, healthy, loving, protective relationship,” Khloé said through tears during her confessional.

Khloé went on to explain that she was terrified of the news of their second baby being made public, because of the vitriol she faces online — including being called an “idiot” and a “dumb bitch” — each time Tristan is caught out.

She was also keen to highlight that she had no idea that Maralee was pregnant when she decided to go ahead with the embryo transfer. “We did an embryo transfer days before Thanksgiving,” she said. “I found out about Tristan’s situation the first week of December, and it’s just so close, I wouldn’t want anyone to think I did this after the fact.”

“Why would I have a baby with someone that’s having a baby with someone else?” she added. “I’m not that much of a sociopath. I’m a lunatic but not, like, that deranged.”

[From Buzzfeed]

Deep sigh… but SHE IS DUMB AS HELL Yes, Tristan is the problem, he’s absolutely a compulsive cheater, liar and psycho, but Tristan wasn’t trying to “trap” her dumb ass. Khloe had already taken him back fully when he was cheating on her constantly and SHE KNEW THAT. Of all the dumbass narratives the Kardashians try to spoon-feed the public, one of the stupidest has always been “Khloe is so naive, she’s always surprised when Tristan cheats on her constantly for years!” He cheated on her constantly during her first pregnancy, he cheated on her constantly when they got back together, and please remember, she made a big deal about how she dumped Tristan again in June 2021 when he cheated on her and didn’t hide it. Then her dumb ass got back together with him last summer, denied getting back with him all summer and fall of 2021, then went ahead with the embryo transfer in November, then suddenly she was shocked all over again a week later? Baby girl, he wasn’t trying to trap your stupid ass.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram.

That hateful old bag Angela Levin has written an authorized biography of Queen Consort Camilla. Levin started writing the book months ago, but the whole thing is being revised in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. There’s a cover change too, to reflect the fact that everyone is supposed to call her Queen Camilla now. I’m calling this book “authorized,” because it’s clear that it was written with Camilla’s permission, and it’s told with an abundance of generosity towards Camilla and all of her motives within the family. Bye-bye homewrecking rottweiler and hello Queen Consort, and all of that. Levin is completely unhinged, so I think it speaks volumes about Camilla that she would agree to this and cosign all of these stupid narratives, but here we are. Levin’s book was excerpted in the Telegraph and, as I said, the sh-t is bonkers. Some highlights:

Prince Andrew’s scheme: Queen Elizabeth asked several people for advice on the matter of Prince Charles marrying Camilla, including Prince Andrew. She had always had a soft spot for Andrew, who seems to have had a way of persuading her to do what he wanted. This time, a senior insider told me, he had a treacherous request. “He tried to persuade the Queen to block Charles marrying Camilla by being quite poisonous, mean, unhelpful and very nasty about Camilla.” His claims included that she was insufficiently aristocratic and that she was not to be trusted. The same individual went on to say that “when Diana was alive, through her friendship with Andrew’s wife Sarah, [Duchess of York] she plotted with Andrew to try to push Prince Charles aside so Prince Andrew could become Regent to Prince William, who was then a teenager.

Camilla had always been suspicious of Prince Harry: One insider felt that being Prince Harry’s stepmother in particular wasn’t easy. “The Duchess always felt quite wary of Harry and used to see him out of the corner of her eye looking at her in a long and cold way. She found it rather unnerving. Otherwise, they got on quite well.”

Camilla’s relationships with William & Kate: Today, the Queen Consort gets on well with the new Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales. An insider might call it “a very grown-up rapport”, which basically means their relationship works, but they are not in each other’s pockets. Her relationship with Prince Harry, however, developed somewhat differently.

Camilla was keen to help Meghan: They had lunches together and Camilla spent a lot of time offering advice on how to handle the pressure. She tried to be supportive, was happy to be her mentor and took her out for private lunches. A source at the time told me: “She doesn’t want to see anyone struggling and she is fond of Meghan.” Meghan, however, seemed bored, was unresponsive and preferred to go her own way, with the result that the Queen Consort’s advice landed on stony ground.

Supporting Meghan’s Together cookbook: The Queen Consort and King Charles wanted to show their support and invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, plus their friend Lucia Santa Cruz, to lunch at Highgrove. Lucia recalls: “As a surprise, Camilla went out of her way to make sure the lunch consisted only of recipes from Meghan’s cookbook, and that included a very hot salsa. It was a really nice gesture.” One that made no impact.

Harry & Meghan have been “horrible” to Camilla: A reliable source has told me that Prince Harry has recently been very negative about Camilla, but believes it, “could be part of his therapy process to relive certain things and he may want to blame someone else for his own mistakes. As I understand it his father and stepmother have become hateful in his mind. I’ve also been told that Meghan has been horrible about her too.” Another source added: “What has happened and how [Prince Harry] has behaved has been very upsetting for her. There have been a lot of hurt feelings all round, but like all families you have to embrace it all and hope it will improve.”

The future with the Sussexes: I was told that there are several options. One is to hope that “interest in what the couple say fades away”. My source said, “Indeed, it already looks as if they have written themselves out of the script.” Other options suggested were to “shrug off” any harmful comments Prince Harry might make or “try to privately negotiate some kind of ceasefire. But that is unlikely to work if Meghan just wants to win.” An important alternative is to keep America close. My source added, “The Sussexes are more liked in America than in the UK, which can damage not only Charles and Camilla but the whole monarchy. The American issue has to be dealt with. The Cambridges have to go to the US to show who the real stars are. As will the Queen Consort and King Charles.”

[From The Telegraph]

Yeah… my take is that Harry always made an effort to get along with Camilla, and then something shifted in 2017-18, during his courtship with Meghan and after their marriage. I strongly suspect that Camilla was saying sh-t about both Harry and Meghan and it came back to Harry. And I’m sorry, the whole idea that Meghan would go to lunch with Camilla and be bored and not listen to her? That doesn’t seem in character with Meghan at all. There’s a real eagerness from Camilla, Sophie and Kate to put it out there that they “gave Meghan a chance” and they were all super-nice to her at the beginning, and then Meghan ruined things by “not listening to them” or what have you.

But really, this is the most important part: “The Sussexes are more liked in America than in the UK, which can damage not only Charles and Camilla but the whole monarchy. The American issue has to be dealt with. The Cambridges have to go to the US to show who the real stars are. As will the Queen Consort and King Charles.” Why is America so important? Because of American media, American charitable contributions, American tourism to the UK and American interest in the British monarchy in general. It’s weird that the Windsors didn’t figure that out before they ripped an American woman to shreds for her “American work ethic” and “American mindset.” Can’t wait to watch Camilla’s haggard charm offensive in America.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

It was interesting to watch the Duchess of Sussex and Countess of Wessex arrive at various funeral/procession events for QEII. Clearly, the Windsors made a conscious choice to NOT put Meghan (in particular) with Prince William and Kate. Part of that was simply a reflection of Kate’s position now, as the Princess of Wales. Part of it was the very real fear that Kate would yet again go berserk on Meghan and/or be obviously evil towards Meghan in some way. So, Sophie was tasked with traveling with Meghan and standing next to her for the most part. It didn’t seem like there was much interaction between the women, and it definitely appeared as if the Windsors were trying very hard to freeze Meghan out. It’s not that they don’t care about the optics, it’s that they believe “the optics” of freezing out Meghan are what the British public wants. Meanwhile, Sophie is trying to get an extra boost from hating Meghan, because apparently she’s always hated her.

Not only did the Queen enjoy Sophie’s company but, remarkably, for someone who had got things so badly wrong when she was newly married to Edward, she came to be viewed by Her Majesty as the Royal Family’s safest pair of hands.

She also has a reputation as a peacemaker – visible last week when she leant in to exchange words with Meghan Markle while the Royal Family waited for the arrival of the Queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall. The Duchess of Sussex seemed visibly more relaxed after the exchange of words as the pair shared in their grief.

Given Sophie’s seemingly unassailable position as the sovereign’s favourite, she was well-placed to offer lessons to the latest female member of The Firm.

A member of the Wessex circle informs me: “Sophie was one of the first to invite Meghan, on her own, to Bagshot for tea.”

However, they add: “They got on perfectly well, but Sophie could feel they were never going to become the best of friends. Let’s just say that Meghan seemed to have her own agenda and was not in the market for words of advice, however well-intentioned.”

[From The Sun]

This comes from a nation which insisted that they “gave Meghan a chance” but “there’s just something we don’t like about her.” It’s her race, you guys. It’s not a big secret. Sophie knew after having tea with Meghan that “they were never going to become the best of friends” because Meghan is Black. Oh, no, I mean “Meghan seemed to have her own agenda.” An agenda of being Black!! I would absolutely love to know what kind of “advice” Meghan was given in the beginning by all of these a–holes too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

Sharon Osbourne covered Queen Elizabeth II funeral for England’s version of The Talk, on which she is a panelist. I didn’t realize that Sharon was employed again. She and husband Ozzy moved back to England supposedly because they didn’t like the violence in America, which is a perfectly valid reason to leave. But I think they actually moved back because Sharon keeps getting asked to leave her jobs after she shoots her mouth off. But as Oya predicted, she had no trouble getting hired in Ol’ Blighty. And at the same show that fired her. For those who forgot, Sharon was fired for racist comments and then wouldn’t shut up when everyone said, ‘hey, could you stop being racist?’ So back to the funeral…

Sharon was glued to the television the whole day. We’re supposed to be impressed with that, but she was getting paid for it so, I’m not. She loved it, too. The corgis and Emma the pony made her cry. You know who else made her cry? Prince Harry. Being back in England where he belongs. Beside his brother and father. That’s what she said, shouting all those names she left out. The problem is, no one asked her.

Sharon Osbourne was glued to the screen for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

The Osbournes matriarch, who was in England for the country’s historic event, tells Yahoo Entertainment she got emotional watching the funeral and processions. Seeing Prince Harry back in England for it left her affected as well.

“It was a magnificent funeral, wasn’t it?” Osbourne says of Monday’s final farewell.

And while it was grand — and people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the procession — the small, thoughtful details, like the queens’s corgis and horse waiting for her casket at Windsor Castle made for tear-jerking moments. “Oh, God was it ever,” she agreed.

Osbourne — who gave commentary to Fox News during the funeral broadcast, one of several gigs she’s juggling in addition to being the topic of new Fox Nation documentary out next week — says seeing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle back with the royal family for the funeral and for the events leading up to it made her emotional too, but in a different way.

“I felt really, really sad for Harry when he came back,” she admits. “And I felt sad, sad for the country because it’s — it’s where he belongs. To see him walking with his father and his brother, I just felt very, very sad.”

Though she’s hopeful the face-time between the royals — estranged since Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior royals, alleging they were mistreated by “the firm,” and moved to California — could lead to a reconciliation.

“I think it would be amazing,” she says. “I think it would be amazing for him and his father and brother. They’re family. They need to be together.”

[From Yahoo]

None of us are shocked by Sharon’s glaring omission of Duchess Meghan or Prince Archie and Princess Lili in who Harry needs by his side. Sharon’s racist petticoat is always showing under her skirt. This pitying Harry angle is new, but I guess in keeping with the whole mourning vibe of the funeral. Maybe she and buddy Piers Morgan called each other and decided who got which terrible talking points.

There were many reasons to feel sad for Harry and Meghan, but none of them were provided by Sharon. You’d think someone whose own family acknowledges it’s best to stay the f**k away from each other would get this. But no one is ever going to accuse Sharon of being perceptive. I guess those who want to see Sharon’s ignorance in full force will get their chance on Monday when her Fox Nation documentary airs. It’s called Sharon Osbourne: To Hell & Back. It’s where she belongs.

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Photo credit: Instagram, Cover Images and Backgrid

Here are more photos from the Prince and Princess of Wales’s outing yesterday at Windsor Castle. I say “outing” like they actually went somewhere – they technically live at Adelaide Cottage in the Windsor estate, so they just had a brief drive over to the castle to greet castle workers and volunteers who worked on QEII’s funeral. There was some kind of meet-and-greet inside the castle, which is where these photos come from. Honestly, there’s a tone problem and there’s been a tone problem the whole time? Not to tone-police the Windsors, but can they actually look sad about QEII’s passing? Kate and William were yukking it up at this event, and they’ve had the same cat-that-ate-the-canary look for two solid weeks.

Meanwhile, I guess we have to talk about the rainbows? Ever since QEII passed, there have tons of rainbows all over Scotland and England. When the first one appeared, I argued that it was Princess Diana hollering “gay rights!” But Kate thinks differently:

Kate Middleton is sharing a personal moment following the death of Queen Elizabeth. While meeting with volunteers and operational staff who helped organize the committal service for the Queen on Monday, the Princess of Wales, 40, said the royal family felt the late monarch’s presence when five rainbows astonishingly appeared over Balmoral Castle the day after she died.

“In Scotland, how many rainbows turned up?” Prince William asked his wife at Windsor Guildhall on Thursday. “You hardly ever see rainbows up there, but there were five.”

“Her Majesty was looking down on us,” Princess Kate replied.

Rainbows similarly broke through the crowds at two other historic U.K. landmarks in recent days. Shortly before Queen Elizabeth’s death was announced on Sept. 8, a double rainbow broke through the clouds over Buckingham Palace. The day before her funeral, on Sept. 18, another rainbow ignited the sky over the Palace of Westminster, as the Queen’s coffin was lying in state.

[From People]

Sure. People can believe what they want, I’m not the Rainbow Police. I do believe it was more about Diana though!

Additionally, William and Kate have made zero plans to visit Wales? I think that’s weird, especially for the new Prince and Princess of Wales. No one is expecting the palace to organize the investiture in a week, but surely William and Kate could stop by Wales?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Ana de Armas covers the latest issue of Variety, all to promote Blonde, the Marilyn Monroe bio-pic (sort of). The cover and photoshoot actually leans into Brigitte Bardot-esque styling, which actually works for Ana. I friggin’ love those fishnet stockings too, this cover alone has made me want to buy a pair of fishnets. I haven’t owned fishnets since college! Lord. Anyway, Ana is promoting the hell out of Blonde but all of her magazine profiles are sort of bleeding together for me. Netflix and Ana are going the “Lady Gaga route” of making this role sound like it was the most all-encompassing and soul-crushing job of a lifetime. Except Ana at least acknowledges that she didn’t live inside Marilyn, Method-actor-style, 24-7. You can read the full Variety piece here. Some highlights:

Finally premiering ‘Blonde’ in Venice: “It’s been a roller coaster of emotions. There were moments where I thought maybe this movie would never come out.”

Chris Evans on seeing the first camera-test photos of Ana-as-MM: “I remember looking at it and saying, ‘OK, that’s Marilyn … where’s your shot? That’s you? Holy sh-t! You’re going to win an Oscar for this!’”

Why ‘Blonde’ has such raw exploitation & abuse scenes: “We’re telling her story from her point of view. I’m making people feel what she felt. When we had to shoot these kinds of scenes, like the one with Kennedy, it was difficult for everybody. But at the same time, I knew I had to go there to find the truth.”

She didn’t stay in character constantly: “When I’m doing my hair and makeup, it’s just me, it’s Ana.” But she describes her state of mind while playing Monroe as “deeply sad. I felt heavy. I felt helpless that I couldn’t change what was happening. I just had to go through a story that I know how it’s going to end.”

On direct-to-Hulu movie ‘Deep Water’: But in another disappointment for de Armas, the film was something of a disaster, receiving poor reviews and an ignominious dump on streaming. “I learned that I cannot compromise on a director,” she says of that film, which was helmed by “Fatal Attraction’s” Adrian Lyne. “Because at the end of the day, that is what the movie is going to be, and that’s what the experience is going to be, and that’s the person that you have to trust the most.”

Her pap strolls with Ben Affleck: Her ongoing role seemed to be as a partner in romantic walks with Affleck around Los Angeles in view of invasive photographers. This wasn’t exactly new for de Armas, whose screen career began in Spain after studying theater in Cuba. “When I was living in Madrid, I was a very well-known actress and had press and paparazzi after me. It’s something that you learn, unfortunately.” But the intensity of focus on de Armas’ romantic life frightened her. “I have never been someone that wants any attention that’s not about my work. So when the attention is not about my work, it is upsetting, and it feels disrespectful, and it feels inappropriate, and it feels dangerous and unsafe. But, especially in this country, I don’t know how you can find protection. I don’t know how you can stop that from happening, other than leaving.” Her breakup with Affleck was first reported in early 2021; now, de Armas lives in New York City.

She knows that naked clips & screengrabs from ‘Blonde’ will hit the internet: “I know what’s going to go viral and it’s disgusting. It’s upsetting just to think about it. I can’t control it; you can’t really control what they do and how they take things out of context. I don’t think it gave me second thoughts; it just gave me a bad taste to think about the future of those clips.”

On being a Cuban woman playing a famous American: “As drama students, we did Tennessee Williams. We did Shakespeare in Spanish. To me, this concept of ‘You can’t play this or play that’ — what does that mean? I’m an actress, I want to play that role. It’s a personal desire and ambition to play roles that I wasn’t supposed to play. To me, art is to be repeated and replicated and reinterpreted; that’s the whole point of culture. And I deserve that challenge.”

[From Variety]

While I have qualms about a Cuban-accented Marilyn Monroe, I agree that casting Ana isn’t really problematic to me in general. There’s so much whitewashing and American-centrism in Hollywood, it’s kind of cool to see it go the other way around, for a Havana native to tackle this role. All of Ana’s quotes about Ben Affleck and Deep Water though… hilarious. Those were super-obvious pap strolls and both of them knew what they were doing. Now she wants to play it off like it was super-invasive – they were walking on the street, POSING for photographers. My God.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, cover courtesy of Variety.

Omid Scobie’s new Yahoo UK column this week is about King Charles III, the first weeks of his reign and what the future holds. Scobie says something interesting which I’ve seen repeated by a lot of the right-wing royalist media, which is that Charles is enjoying some kind of bump in popularity because his mum died. Is that true? Like, is there genuinely British polling on it? Or are royal reporters just catching a vibe of “King Charles is super-popular right now!” I also thought Charles’s first two weeks of kinging were kind of shambolic, but that’s because I was mostly paying attention to the fact that he briefed against his son Harry and Meghan the minute QEII died, then he banned Harry (a combat veteran) from wearing a uniform, then he refused to put Lilibet and Archie’s royal titles in the line of succession, plus all of the other petty, passive-aggressive and grossly punitive sh-t he did. That is where we will allow Scobie to take over. Some highlights:

Will Charles make the goodwill last? The public sentiment and goodwill following Her Majesty’s death has seen the new Carolean age off to a strong start, but Charles’ biggest test will be making it last. Unlike the Queen’s near-impeccable reign, her son has stepped into her pristine shoes with mud and all.

Financial impropriety: In the 18 months leading up to this moment, his media coverage was dominated by an ongoing police investigation into allegations of cash for honours scandals linked to his charity, the Prince’s Foundation, that lead to the resignation of the foundation’s CEO. There were also the reports that Charles had accepted significant charitable donations in plastic bags stuffed with cash. While none involved any wrongdoing by the King, the claims raised serious concerns about his personal judgment and put him in an uncomfortable spotlight.

Charles might not have time to carve out a legacy as king: Charles is no doubt hoping for his own successes. Though he is currently enjoying fevered support from monarchists, the question still remains whether he can extend that to the rest of the nation and younger Brits? Recent polls show that Gen-Z and young millennials—many of whom were still moved by the death of the Queen—are less interested in the monarchy than ever. And while it may not appear to be his highest priority, it’s worth pointing out that the elder royalists rushing out to buy commemorative newspapers aren’t going to be around forever.

Charles did try to be progressive: Ultimately, Charles needs to ensure that the monarchy keeps up with the times. In some ways it’s something he has been doing since first taking on royal duties. Whether it’s his focus on environmental activism since the 1960s, his deep interest and presence in Britain’s panoply of faith communities, or the 40 years of charitable contributions the Prince’s Trust has made to disadvantaged youth, even naysayers would be hard pushed to suggest that the King hasn’t tried to be progressive in the best way a sheltered heir can.

Racism & the Sussexes: But there’s room for improvement. The racism that was alleged by the Sussexes still lies in the tall grass it was kicked into and The Firm’s silence during the Black Lives Matter movement is still hard to forget for those it mattered to. And as more of the 14 Commonwealth Realms move towards ditching the monarchy and calling for reparations (an inevitable outcome for countries seeking full de-colonisation), the carefully scripted “personal sorrow” over the slave trade first wheeled out by Charles will continue to not be an acceptable response for the monarchy’s significant role in it. The departure of those realms (Antigua and Barbuda being the most recent to announce plans for a republic referendum) will see the power of the House of Windsor continue to shrink on the world stage.

Charles has to be a friend to multicultural Britain: If anything, the Royal Family will soon need more of the U.K. on its side. For that to work, multicultural Britain has to see an ally in King Charles. A voice unafraid to speak out against the systemic and pervasive racism that impacts so many lives. So far, he’s not done much of that.

An actual downsizing: As the nation falls further into its cost of living crisis, and news of interest rate hikes brings the country closer to a full-blown recession, Charles’ talk of a slimmed down monarchy also won’t be enough. With less royal residences occupied, and royal duties now mostly being carried out by himself, Camilla, three of his siblings and the new Prince and Princess of Wales, the public will need to quickly see how the Royal Family can cost the country less under Charles’ reign.

Sink or swim: It’s a sink or swim moment for the new King, who must quickly adapt to the times we are in and connect with people from all walks of life if he wants success. For if he drowns, it won’t just be him who disappears to the bottom—he’ll be bringing the entire monarchy down with him too.

[From Yahoo UK]

I genuinely believe that Charles has seen the writing on the wall when it comes to Commonwealth nations dumping the British monarch as their head of state. While Charles paid lip service to the importance of the Commonwealth while his mother was alive (the Commonwealth was one of her big issues), I think Charles has always known that those countries would head towards the door as soon as QEII passed. Maybe he still cares about Canada, New Zealand and Australia, but actions speak louder than words, and Charles’s actions show a man who is prepared to merely speak to a limited domestic audience.

Scobie wrote: “Multicultural Britain has to see an ally in King Charles. A voice unafraid to speak out against the systemic and pervasive racism that impacts so many lives. So far, he’s not done much of that.” The thing is, I do think Charles cares about “multicultural Britain” up to a point, and he’s done far more outreach to diverse British communities over the years than, you know, William or anyone else in that family. But yes, Charles is fundamentally unwilling to address racism head on or even acknowledge systemic racism and the white power structures which prop him up.

As for the cost of the monarchy… well, that’s funny because Peggington and Buttons are absolutely going to spread themselves out in about seven different homes and Kate is going to buy all of the buttons in Europe.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

In the 48 hours following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, King Charles III’s first acts were to brief against Prince Harry and Meghan. All of the British papers led with coverage on that Friday and Saturday about how Charles banned Harry from bringing Meghan to Balmoral. Charles instructed his aides to spread the news far and wide that he had personally called Harry on Thursday and told Harry “that it wasn’t right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time. It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.” Charles also wanted it to be known that Harry was denied a seat on the RAF plane going to Balmoral, and that “many behind royal walls, frankly, were incredulous” that Harry would want his wife’s support as QEII passed away. King Charles emphasized that “this was a private, family moment,” meaning Harry’s wife of four years and mother of Charles’s two grandchildren is NOT “family.”

I bring this up because the cruelty of the Windsors and the new king was on full display. They were proud of their actions and they continue to be proud of the way they snubbed Harry and Meghan throughout the mourning and funeral week. But they’re also aware that they look like extremely sh-tty people, especially since there’s so much international attention on just how cruel and asinine their actions have been. So they’re trying a new tack – it’s all Harry’s fault!

Furious Prince Harry snubbed dinner with Charles and William at Balmoral after Meghan was banned from joining the family on the day the Queen died. Harry, 38, had insisted his wife be there on September 8, but Charles phoned to say it was “not appropriate”.

It saw Harry miss an RAF flight to Scotland with brother William and uncles Andrew and Edward. He was told to make his own travel arrangements and eventually landed at Aberdeen without Meghan at 6.35pm — minutes after the Queen’s death was announced to the world.

When he was driven into Balmoral 90 minutes later he declined dinner at Birkhall, Charles’s home on the estate, with the new king, Queen Consort Camilla and William. Insiders say the sulking prince instead mourned with Edward and Sophie Wessex and Andrew, seven miles away at Balmoral Castle.

A source said: “Harry was so busy trying to get Meghan to Balmoral and rowing with his family that he missed the flight. Charles has an open invitation for Harry to dine with him whenever he is in the country. But Harry was so furious that he refused to eat with his father and brother. It was a massive snub. And he got out of Balmoral at the earliest opportunity to catch the first commercial flight back to London.”

[From The Sun]

Note the subtle rewriting of the narrative. Two weeks ago, King Charles wanted everyone to know that he was treating Harry like sh-t and that he was going out of his way to punish Harry. Now it’s all on Harry – Harry “snubbed” Charles by not having dinner with him after Charles was a massive douche to him, I guess. Anyway, even Page Six had a denial for this story. Their sources say that Charles and William had already left for Birkhall before Harry arrived at Balmoral. Which was the original story anyway.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.