I genuinely don’t know what the original promotional plan for Don’t Worry Darling was, but I have to believe that it wasn’t “Olivia Wilde goes out solo repeatedly to make an ass out of herself.” I haven’t seen Gemma Chan, Chris Pine or Florence Pugh do one dedicated interview for DWD, although Harry Styles has done some interviews to promote the film, plus his tour plus his other film, My Policeman. Still, DWD’s promo has become The Olivia Wilde Show.

Olivia actually had a one-week reprieve last week, when most gossip outlets were focused on the Toronto International Film Festival and Queen Elizabeth II’s death. Olivia managed to squeak by without too much backlash for her completely f–king bonkers Vanity Fair cover story, which mimicked the lies she told to Variety. In the rare moments when she could have actually clarified or apologized for her lies, she’s smugly pontificated about how the DWD shambles is all some gossip conspiracy or something. Meanwhile, Florence won’t do any promotion, and neither will Chris Pine.

So here’s Olivia, going solo this past weekend at the San Sebastian Film Festival. She’s the only person from DWD to show up. For the photocall, she wore a ‘70s-style dress from Kwaidan Editions. For the premiere, she wore a green Valentino. I actually like the bold print, I just think she styled it poorly? I hate to say it, but this would have been the moment to do a center part with pin-straight hair, leaning into the ‘70s vibe. The Valentino is meh to me too – I hate this recent design element to cut the bust so narrow, all to expose some side-boob or whatever.

Meanwhile, Don’t Worry Darling opens this week. Some prognosticators are trying to say that all of the drama around the film will help the box office. I’m not so sure.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were seemingly persuaded to bring Prince George and Princess Charlotte to QEII’s funeral today. No one was expecting that a few days ago, then suddenly the Mail reported that “courtiers” thought it would be a good idea to stress the line of succession at QEII’s funeral. George is only 9 years old, Charlotte is only 7 years old. Way too young for a state funeral, in my opinion. Charlotte and George walked alongside their parents, with the Wessexes and Sussexes following them in the final procession into Westminster Abbey.

As for the new Princess of Wales… she styled herself a lot like Prince Philip’s funeral. She even wore the same pearl-and-diamond necklace/choker. I believe her jewelry is all from QEII or the Royal Collection. Kate’s hat is very big but I thought she would style herself to be more attention-grabbing, honestly. As for the Duchess of Sussex, she wore a sleek look – a simple, somewhat fitted black dress, below the knees, with a built-in cape. She looked elegant and beautiful. I’m sure the haters are mad about it.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Here are more photos of the Princess of Wales and her two oldest children. Kate traveled to Westminster Abbey (from Buckingham Palace) with Charlotte and George, plus Queen Camilla. Charlotte was made to wear a little hat, but George didn’t have to. I don’t get the hat thing honestly – the military men remove their hats as a sign of respect to their fallen queen, but the women (and even girls) are expected to wear hats and veils even in church.

Once again, just like at Prince Philip’s funeral, it felt like Kate organized some “glamour shots” of her mourning look. It was more obvious at Philip’s funeral, especially because there seemed to be a special photographer there dedicated to taking glamour shots. This time, the photos are just from outside of the Palace, and Kate was positioned particularly to give photographers the shots of her necklace and veil. Fashion note: people think that Kate is wearing McQueen, because she has strikingly similar McQueen coats in different colors.

Oh, I double-checked on Kate’s necklace – this is absolutely the same necklace she borrowed from the Royal Collection for Philip’s funeral. I believe those earrings are also borrowed from the Royal Collection too. Again, she’s been wearing pieces from QEII ever since Liz passed. It was seriously the first thing Kate did – she raided the jewelry.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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.