The Princess of Wales?s ?emotional return to work? and ?reclaiming her role? cover this week?s People Magazine. People Mag finally noticed what I?ve been saying ? that Kate has been out and about much more often than courtiers predicted at the end of last year. In fact, it sounds like Kate?s 2025 work schedule has even surprised the courtiers and the royalist press. I have my theories, of course. I think Kate?s sudden ?work surge? was down to the Duchess of Sussex?s sudden visibility in the first quarter of 2025. Plus, Kate was irritated that two of her vacations were outed by the press in the past three months, so she had to look busy. Anyway, People published another piece of their cover story, all about how the Wales marriage is strong (hm) and the Waleses love being affectionate in public. Hahaha.

Kate Middleton and Prince William are typically known for keeping their public displays of affection to a minimum, but lately, the couple have been sharing glimpses into their private connection.

From a romantic photo shared to mark Valentine?s Day to sweetly holding hands during a recent visit to Wales, the Prince and Princess of Wales have not been shy about their love for each other as Kate returns to her royal role one year after she revealed her cancer diagnosis. Most recently, the couple attended the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 10, where William, 42, and Kate, 43, were spotted leaning in close, exchanging glances and laughing together.

?They are happy for people to see them be touchy-feely,? royal expert and biographer Ingrid Seward tells PEOPLE in this week?s cover story. ?They?re in a different phase of their life now. William is very protective and very proud of her for coming through this and carrying on with her life.?

Recent years have seen the Prince and Princess of Wales navigate turbulence stemming from the departure of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the COVID pandemic, the deaths of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth and the devastating cancer diagnoses of both Kate and King Charles. Through it all, William has remained by Kate?s side as a steady source of strength.

Royal historian Amanda Foreman tells PEOPLE, ?There is a sense of protectiveness and partnership?And just in time, frankly ? if there was ever a time when the country required stability, this is it. The international stage is so unstable, it is rather extraordinary to see how both have risen to the occasion.?

[From People]

I actually forgot about that Valentine?s Day photo, so I?m including it and the stills from last year?s ?cancer-free? video below. The thing is, I haven?t really noticed them being particularly affectionate or even warm to each other in the past year at all. Yes, they smiled at each other briefly at the Commonwealth service, and yes, William briefly put his hand on her back to get her to move at a diplomatic event, but that?s about it? You?ve got to remember, Kate genuinely went through a phase a few years ago where she was repeatedly grabbing William?s ass when they were in public. That changed ? I don?t think we?ll be getting any more ass-gropes for a while, if ever. All the British public is getting is some ?festive glances? and a lot of strained body language which they dutifully ignore. It?s obvious that everyone sort of wishes that William and Kate were as hot for each other as the other couple, you know? The projection goes in both directions ? H&M clearly have a happy, passionate and affectionate marriage, so everyone has decided to just SAY that Will and Kate do too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Kensington Palace and Cover Images.

It was painful to watch the gleeful ?will Prince Harry get deported?!?!? commentary in the past week. The deportation commentary reached a fever pitch ahead of Tuesday?s document release of Harry?s ?visa records.? Even before the release, it was perfectly clear that the court was only going to release heavily redacted documents, but I think the scope of the redactions shocked the Deportation Derangers who genuinely believed that Harry was just hours away from being forcibly removed from America. These horrible people have been smoking their own supply, and now that they got their asses handed to them in court yet again, they?re incandescent with embarrassment. Speaking of, another Heritage Foundation nutcase ran to the Daily Mail to huff and puff about how Harry should (wait for it!)? SELF-DEPORT!

Prince Harry should self-deport from the US because he ?hates America?, the right-wing think tank pursuing the release of his immigration records has claimed. Samuel Dewey, a lawyer with the Heritage Foundation, said that the Duke of Sussex was ?furious? at voters for electing Donald Trump in the 2024 election. If he dislikes the President, Harry should just ?go home? back to the UK, Dewey exclusively told DailyMail.com.

Dewey also revealed that Heritage has filed a second lawsuit to obtain the Duke?s immigration papers to find out whether he lied about his drug use on the forms. That means the case will drag on for months more, potentially causing further anxiety for Harry amid speculation that Trump could deport him.

Dewey said that the documents have given Heritage a new ?working theory?, that Harry was in the US on an O-1 visa, also known as the ?artist visa?, and that they believe he may have lied on the paperwork about his drug use.

And aside from Harry?s paperwork, the Duke ?really ought to go? from America after repeatedly criticizing Trump including a recent thinly-veiled jibe about ?weak moral character in the world?, Dewey said.

?He?s in a country he clearly hates. He?s clearly furious at the American voters and attacking them for the result of the 2024 election. Harry should just go home?.

[From The Daily Mail]

In every interview and public statement Harry has given in the past five years, he?s spoken about how much he loves America and how this is his home now. ?He?s in a country he clearly hates!? No, YOU clearly hate that he?s in America. ?He?s attacking Donald Trump!? He hasn?t said one word about Trump. ?Harry should just go home!? He is home. He?s in the home he owns in Montecito, California.

But clearly, the Deportation Derangers have all decided that this is their new talking point and argument: their efforts to harm Harry through the American courts have failed, so now they?re openly appealing to Donald Trump to personally order the deportation. The Daily Mail?s Richard Kay has a new piece which blatantly lays out this strategy too, with Kay openly threatening Harry with further harassment from the Heritage Foundation, and a public reminder that Harry and Meghan donated money to Ashley Biden?s women?s wellness center. They?re trying to provoke Trump into seeing the Sussexes as ?aligned with Democrats? and acting as enemies of the Trump Dictatorship.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

I guess I?ve been listening to too much Lady Gaga and movie music scores, because I was today-years-old when I learned of Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys. (Massachusetts, please forgive me!) Anyway, the band is touring and has won me over as a new mega fan. Not because I?ve attended one of these concerts, but because band member Ken Casey has been making a habit of calling out Maga hat wearing audience members that he spots from onstage. It happened at a Florida show earlier this month, and again over the weekend in Boston. Both instances made their way to social media, prompting President Elno?s X to say Dropkick Murphys? official account had been ?suspended for violating X rules.? Only the band had receipts, which even X couldn?t deny, that proved the band hasn?t operated that account since 2022. Or as Dropkick Murphys put it themselves: ?We quit Twitter in 2022 when he was only half a Nazi.?

[Ken] Casey, Dropkick Murphys founder and lead vocalist, had a few choice words about MAGA merch after he spotted a fan wearing a white cap at a sold-out show in Boston on Saturday night.

?The Chinese (expletive) red that they all wear, and I think it?s dyeing their brains. Ya got the black-on-black Elon Musk, true Nazi edition And then my man here is getting ready for summer with a nice (expletive) white white one,? Casey says in a clip reposted to YouTube.

Casey went on to say that he admired the man?s ?dedication,? asking the audience: ?If you?re in a room full of people and you want to know who?s in a cult, how do you know who?s in a cult? They?ve been holding up a (expletive) hat the whole night to represent a president.?

?This is America, there?s no kings here,? Casey yelled to a cheering crowd.

Various media outlets reported that the Dropkick Murphys account was suspended on X after the interaction between Casey and the fan.

The Dropkick Murphy X account currently says it was suspended for violating X rules, but the band says they have been off X, formerly Twitter, since 2022. The exact details and the timing surrounding the band?s suspension were not immediately available.

?We broke up with him first. We quit Twitter in 2022 when he was only half a Nazi,? Casey said in a Tuesday statement.

Someone else, unaffiliated with the band, later took the band?s X handle and pretended to be ?our official account,? Casey said.

?So we filed a legal complaint to put a stop to that?which is why @dropkickmurphys shows as suspended,? Casey said. ?Look, we pulled our account because we didn?t want to be part of that guy?s empire. But if we were still on there, I?m sure he would have suspended us by now.?

An X spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY that the information shared by Dropkick Murphys on Tuesday afternoon was accurate.

Dropkick Murphys, who have been vocal about their disdain for President Donald Trump, also called out another fan sporting a MAGA hat at a show in Clearwater, Florida on March 8, according to a fan video shared by the band.

?The reason we speak out, we don?t care if we lose fans because when history is said and done, we want it known that the Dropkick Murphys stood with the people,? Casey said in the video. ?We stood with the workers. It?s all a (expletive) scam, guys.?

[From USA Today]

?The reason we speak out, we don?t care if we lose fans because when history is said and done, we want it known that the Dropkick Murphys stood with the people.? THIS. Every action we take these days, the ways we choose to respond to this moment, history is watching. Casey?s expletive-laden manner of prose comes across a bit aggressive just reading as a transcript, but in watching the clips I found him more playful during the interactions. It?s not just him yelling at a concert goer ?WTF?!? It?s Casey asserting that as an audience member, you?re on the band?s turf, so to speak. So if you show up in a convicted felon adjudicated rapist con artist snake oil salesman?s hat, you?re gonna hear the band?s thoughts on the matter. At the Florida show, Casey even got the Maga hat attendee to do a wager in which Casey bet that the Maga hat would not be made in America (whereas all Dropkick Murphys merch is). Guess who won?

Erin go bragh!

This video is NSFW or around kids:

Embed from Getty Images

Photos credit: IMAGO/Christoph Hardt/Avalon, IMAGO/Eibner-Pressefoto/Daniel REINELT/Avalon, Getty and via Instagram

Here?s the trailer for Materialists. This is Celine Song?s second film after her directorial debut Past Lives, and I love that she went super-mainstream romance/drama. Pedro Pascal, Dakota Johnson & Chris Evans star in it! [OMG Blog]
George Clooney looks like a jackass with a bad dye job. [LaineyGossip]
Thoughts on the impending constitutional crisis. [Pajiba]
Leslie Bibb looked cute in NYC. [Go Fug Yourself]
Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco stepped out in NYC. [Just Jared]
Gigi Hadid wore Rabanne for her perfume launch. [RCFA]
The trailer for Big Freaking Rat. [Seriously OMG]
More Mormon drama on Sister Wives. [Starcasm]
Who will perform at Lollapalooza this year? [Hollywood Life]
I?ve never seen photos of Ian McKellen in his 20s. [Buzzfeed]
An interview with actor & artist Fernando. [Socialite Life]

I suppose I?m the one who?s the fool, for thinking this day would never actually come, even though all signs were pointing in this direction. First Warner Bros. Discovery, under the inexpert stewardship of David Zaslav, took down half the classic Looney Tunes catalog (and the better half, at that) from their all-encompassing streaming app, Max. That was at the beginning of 2023, and by the end of that year WBD tried to remove all the remaining episodes, but backlash was swift so WBD backtracked. And of course there?s the tangential issue of Zaslav canning the completed film Coyote vs. Acme for a tax write-off ? twice!! ? which star Will Forte is still salty about years later. And well, folks, here we are: WBD has gone and removed all of the last standing classic Looney Tunes cartoons from Max, for a purported reason that?s a real stinker.

Of course you realize, this means WAR!

That?s all folks.

The original Looney Tunes animated shorts, which ran during the golden age of animation from 1930 through 1969, have been scrubbed by Warner Bros. Discovery-owned Max.

Deadline confirmed with a representative that the original shorts are no longer on Max. This is part of a new plan whereby the streamer will prioritize adult and family programming. Children?s programming, such as Looney Tunes and Sesame Street before it, doesn?t fare as well and is no longer viewed as a priority.

Other spinoff versions of Looney Tunes remain on the service, including six seasons of 2020?s Looney Tunes Cartoons, two seasons of 2015?s New Looney Tunes (the third season and some episodes from Season 1 are not available), two seasons of 2002?s Baby Looney Tunes, 2021?s four-episode scripted podcast Looney Tunes Presents: Bugs and Daffy?s Thanksgiving Road Trip, two seasons of 2023?s Tiny Toons Looniversity and its corresponding 42-minute Tiny Toons Looniversity: Spring Break special (thigh its winter spinoff is not streaming), five seasons of 1995?s The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries and two season of 2022?s Bugs Bunny Builders.

This marks a departure from previous maneuvers: In 2023, Max clarified that the classic cartoon was not leaving the platform after an erroneous list of titles being removed in December included the program on it. ?Looney Tunes was included in error as a title leaving the platform. This is not the case and the show will continue streaming on Max,? a statement read at the time.

The decision is not a surprising one, as children?s animation has long seen a steady decline. Last year, the parent company shuttered Cartoon Network?s website, just a week after its Boomerang streaming service ? which aired mostly classic cartoons from Warner Bros. Animation library ? shut down.

The move to scrub Looney Tunes from Max comes amid the March 14 release of The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Story, the first fully animated feature-length project receiving a theatrical opening in the franchise. That movie was originally greenlit for Max. However, when Warner Bros. Discovery took over, the straight-to-streaming movie wasn?t deemed a priority and sold to Ketchup Entertainment out of the American Film Market. The previous David Zaslav-led administration at Warner Bros. also made the Looney Tunes feature film, Coyote vs. Acme. That movie was shelved by the current WBD administration as it was deemed too costly to release, with the pic?s $70M production cost getting a writeoff from the corporation.

[From Deadline]

That?s the last straw for me; I?ve HAD it with the current WBD (and WH) administration! Our country is being dismantled, and now you?re also taking away Bugs Bunny?! This is not a tenable situation!! I am completely unable to ten at this point! Give us our goddamn Looney Tunes, Zaslav, you monster! (I thought of calling him an ultra-maroon, but ultimately decided it would be too great an honor.) Hyperbole Objectively sound analysis aside, what is this cockamamie argument of theirs for why just the classic Looney Tunes have been removed? First of all, will someone please explain to me the difference between ?family? and ?children?s? programming? Regardless, how are we supposed to take that line seriously, when a dozen other LT spinoffs, many if not most for children, are being kept on Max? And finally, show of hands: how many adults have watched our beloved vintage loonies without any kids present, simply for their own entertainment? Yeah, me too.

Still, I take full responsibility for not heeding the warning signs of this eventual outcome. As the great hare himself once said: ?What did you expect in an opera, a happy ending??

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photos credit: Image Press Agency/Avalon, Getty and screenshot of Max search page

Just a month after Jonathan Majors was arrested for domestic violence in 2023, he stepped out with a new girlfriend ? actress Meagan Good. The relationship with Good has been Majors? one ?effective? PR ploy ? he?s trotted Meagan out publicly since the beginning, and she?s been at his side for all of his legal troubles, public appearances, court appearances, etc. I have no idea what the arrangement was initially, but it was pretty obvious that something was arranged between them. Last fall, they announced their engagement at an Ebony event. Well, this week, Rolling Stone published a recording of Majors admitting that he strangled his then-girlfriend Grace, and wouldn?t you know, now Majors and Good are confirming that they got married.

Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good have tied the knot, a source tells PEOPLE on Tuesday, March 18. The source revealed, ?They truly care for one another.?

A second source added: ?They are very much in love. At Paige Hurd and Royce O?Neale?s engagement party in Studio City this past Saturday, they were smiling and happy. They were both glowing. She was introducing him to everyone as her fianc?. At one point, Meagan was sitting in his lap and you can tell they are both enamored.?

The couple confirmed their engagement to PEOPLE at the EBONY Power 100 Gala in November 2024, where the Think Like a Man actress showed off her diamond engagement ring while posing on the red carpet. The news of their wedding was first reported by Entertainment Tonight.

?We?re feeling great,? Good told PEOPLE of the engagement in November. Majors added: ?It?s a season of joy.?

?It?s a season of all the good things,? Good continued, with Majors adding, ?Amen.?

[From People]

I truly hope nothing bad happens. I feel so sorry for Meagan, while simultaneously feeling nothing but fury that she agreed to this, that she?s now legally tied to this despicable abuser. He was literally convicted ? in a criminal trial ? of domestic abuse in his previous relationship, the relationship which ended when he put Grace in the hospital after brutally assaulting her. I don?t even know the kind of mental hoops Meagan has jumped to justify this to herself and the people who care about her.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Could you ever be a football WAG? There are some sports where WAGing seems fun or enjoyable ? I could be a tennis WAG, a basketball WAG and a swimming WAG. But football? Watching my man get tossed around a field? Dealing with his concussions, concussion protocols and eventually his CTE? Hard pass. I think Gisele Bundchen got to that point too, in the final years of Tom Brady?s career, where she simply didn?t want to watch Tom put his body through all of that anymore. But Taylor Swift isn?t at that point with Travis Kelce. While Taylor and Travis were taking a break after the Kansas City Chiefs got dog-walked at the Super Bowl, Taylor apparently encouraged Travis to go back to football for one more season.

Taylor Swift was a sounding board for Travis Kelce when he was deciding whether to retire from the NFL. Sources exclusively tell Page Six that the Grammy winner and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end ?definitely discussed? the life-changing topic ?as a couple.? We?re told Swift, 35, made it known she was definitely in favor of Kelce playing again.

?She didn?t want Travis to retire,? an insider says. ?She wanted him to go out on a high note.?

The Chiefs suffered a devastating loss against the Philadelphia Eagles on Super Bowl Sunday 2025, with a final score of 40-22 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

Kelce said on an episode of ?New Heights? in February that the defeat was a ?tough pill to swallow,? adding, ?Just wasn?t our day. Couldn?t find a lick of momentum..I?m kicking myself for some of the tiny, tiny decisions I made on the field.?

Although Swift?s opinion on a potential retirement was taken into consideration, we?re told the final call was ultimately on Kelce, 35.

?He has to be able to physically do it,? an insider says, noting that it?s up to the athlete to feel confident that his body could play a full season again without putting himself at risk for injury. On Feb. 27, Kelce finally broke the news on Pat McAfee?s ESPN show that he would not be retiring yet. ?I?m coming back, for sure,? the Super Bowl champ, who has spent 12 years in the NFL, told the host via a text that was read aloud on the show at the time.

After Kelce finally decided to return to the Chiefs, we?re told Swift was ?happy [with his decision].?

[From Page Six]

I know every sport is different and pro athletes hold themselves to different standards, but ?She wanted him to go out on a high note? is f?king brutal! That was a high note! Travis made it to the Super Bowl even though he had a really slow start to the season and the Chiefs had to win some really gritty games. He made it to the Super Bowl for the fifth time in his career and he already has three rings! The Chiefs were going for a hat trick, their third SB win in a row! What more does Taylor want from him, damn?? If he doesn?t win the Super Bowl next year, is she going to tell him to keep playing until he does? Good lord. I mean, granted, she probably knew that Travis wanted to go back anyway so she was just being supportive. But ?go out on a high note? really is a brutal comment, if any of this is true (it?s Page Six, so? yeah).

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.

Time for one of my least favorite gossip sub-genres: trademark stories. British journalists have become self-styled trademark experts in recent years, with their expertise solely devoted to the Duchess of Sussex?s businesses. Apparently, Meghan is still wrangling with the trademark office over her As Ever brand. We?ve heard that As Ever will be launched ?in the spring? and we?ve already seen the first product line on Meghan?s As Ever site, which includes preserves (JAM), tea, crepe mix, cookie mix and, of course, flower sprinkles. The packaging is already done, the website is already launched, the newsletter emails have already gone out and As Ever is the established brand name. And yet, the Telegraph would have people that Meghan?s As Ever brand is in serious danger because of trademarks!

The Duchess of Sussex has again been told to amend the trademark application for her As Ever lifestyle brand over a series of errors. Meghan has been given three months to respond in order to avoid having to abandon her attempts to register the trademark. She has already been forced to rename the business because its original name, American Riviera Orchard (ARO), was reliant on a geographical location.

The latest setback could delay the launch of the business, which the Duchess has announced is coming this spring, and which will sell items including edible flower sprinkles, dried biscuit mixes, teas and a ?fruit spread?.

Official documents reveal the As Ever trademark application could not be verified because a statement confirming intent was left unsigned. Various categories also needed updating as they were considered ?indefinite or too broad?; namely ?spoons for serving jams and fruit preserves?, ?textile napkins? and ?crystallised sugar for decoration?.

There is some good news for the Duchess, however, as the US Patent and Trademark Office said it had found no conflicting trademarks that would bar As Ever?s registration.

Concerns had been raised that the As Ever logo, a palm tree flanked by two hummingbirds, was the official symbol of Porreres, a small Majorcan village. But although the town?s mayor, Xisca Mora, claimed that Meghan?s new logo was ?a total copy? of its coat of arms, there was no official trademark clash.

[From The Telegraph]

LOL, the freakout over With Love, Meghan totally overshadowed the stupid f?king drama over the logo, I completely forgot about that. The British tabloids were close to setting up a legal fund for that Spanish mayor so that she could sue Meghan, lmao. Anyway, as I said, As Ever is the brand name and everything has been done already. It?s just a matter of getting all of the paperwork completed and I?m sure it will be soon enough. And no, this will not delay the launch.

Photos courtesy of Netflix, As Ever and Cover Images.

Gwyneth Paltrow?s Vanity Fair cover interview was massive. As I said in my coverage, it gave me such nostalgia for those old-school interviews where actual movie stars actually gossiped and talked about real stuff. All of which to say, Gwyneth talked about so many different topics, it was difficult to cull through the interview to get all of the good parts. I wanted to highlight what Gwyneth said about the Duchess of Sussex especially, and that was definitely one of the biggest headlines from the interview. But Gwyneth was also asked about that blind item which circulated last year about a guest at one of her homes ? I wrongly thought this happened at Gwyneth?s Hamptons home, but apparently the original incident allegedly went down at Gwyneth?s Montecito home. The guest apparently had ?Ozempic-induced diarrhea? and absolutely ruined Gwyneth?s guest room, then the guest left without saying anything and it was a big to-do in A-list gossip circles. Well, VF mentioned the story and this is how Gwyneth reacted:

As a host here, Paltrow is boundaried. A friend gifted her with a cheeky pillow embroidered with her well-known dinner party policy: ?Please Leave By 9.? After a 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. start, she says guests will be ?enthralled? in conversation before realizing, ?Oh my God, hurry, it?s 8:49! We?ve got to get to the end of this.? I broach a piece of gossip that somehow became very public, when a socialite houseguest supposedly soiled a room in one of her properties, possibly the one in which we sit. ?I understand,? a pained Paltrow says, ?and I also, like, am just not going to?? she trails off with an existential cringe, saying nothing more but, I note, not leaping to denying it.

[From Vanity Fair]

Given how openly she discussed everything from intimacy coordinators to exes, it feels notable that she just cringes and refuses to say anything about the story. So? a confirmation that it happened? A confirmation that something happened, surely. It?s also notable that no one has rushed in to defend Derek Blasberg in the past ten months ? his name was ?confirmed? by various outlets as the guest-room-sh-tter. Given Blasberg?s many A-list connections, it?s weird that this story was just allowed to sit out there for months and months, without anyone stepping in to dispute it or stand up for him in any way.

As I was looking into this to see if there was anything I missed, I saw this DeuxMoi story from last August, in which their sources confirmed that it was Blasberg but: ?While some sources were quick to point fingers at trendy weight-loss meds, our sources say that wasn?t the culprit. The bigger issue seems to be Derek?s alleged attempt to either pay off the cleaning staff or just expect them to silently clean up the mess. Needless to say, Gwyneth was not amused.? Their sources also say that Gwyneth was willing to forgive and forget, but Blasberg did some other things she didn?t appreciate (like putting her daughter Apple all over his socials) and so the friendship is basically over.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, cover courtesy of VF.

We?re just days away from the one-year anniversary of the Princess of Wales?s ?cancer announcement? video, which was released on March 22, 2024. Kate sat on a bench in Windsor and told the world that she was being treated for cancer following her still-unspecified abdominal surgery months prior. Since that video, Kate has made other videos and announcements ? last September, she announced that her chemotherapy was completed and that she?s ?doing what I can to stay cancer-free.? This January, she announced that she is in remission as well. Kate has also been out and about with some regularity this year, which has been a big surprise given that everyone swore that she would be largely MIA. Anyway, that?s what this week?s People Magazine cover story is all about ? ?Kate Reclaims Her Role.? Some highlights:

Kate?s events this year have surprised courtiers: In fact, Kate, 43, has surprised many palace insiders with her approach to royal duty. While some speculated that her public appearances would remain limited ? and largely alongside Prince William, 42, ? she defied expectations with a string of solo engagements early in the year. ?She is the MVP of the royal family, and no one knew when she was going to come back,? says royal historian Amanda Foreman. Adds royal expert and biographer Ingrid Seward, ?It takes time to feel comfortable and do things your way without always worrying.?

Kate?s office will no longer confirm fashion IDs: Just weeks after sharing news of her remission, reports surfaced that Kensington Palace would no longer consistently share details about her outfits for official engagements. That decision underscores Kate?s evolving public image ? one of quiet confidence, resilience and relatability. ?She has an inner steel about what she wants and a drive that will be reflected in what she does and what she wears,? The Telegraph fashion director Bethan Holt tells PEOPLE in this week?s exclusive cover story. Adds Foreman, ?She is staying on message and is projecting this very mature image, a restrained elegance.?

Kate is good at managing expectations, lmao: ?She has been very good at managing expectations, and it?s wise for her to downplay it a bit because when she does more than people anticipated, it has a greater impact,? says royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith. ?It?s evident that she is feeling closer to 100 percent than one would have thought at this stage.?

Foreman believes Kate is redefining her role in real time. ?She?s making her outings more meaningful in a way that had never been done before,? says Foreman. ?And she?s ahead of the curve ? creating the meaningful moment rather than the Instagrammable moment.?

William is at Kate?s side: ?There is a sense of protectiveness and partnership,? Foreman says. Adds Seward, ?They?re in a different phase of their life now. Kate feels enveloped by the love people have for her ? that gives her extra confidence.?

One year later: Adds Ailsa Anderson, former press secretary to the late Queen Elizabeth: ?Fast-forward, and what a difference a year makes. She?s even more beloved in the nation?s hearts than she was.?

[From People]

?She has been very good at managing expectations, and it?s wise for her to downplay it a bit because when she does more than people anticipated, it has a greater impact.? Not so much? Granted, I think it?s good that Kate has been more visible than people expected this year, and it genuinely does feel like a ?return to normal? in some sense. I?m glad she feels well enough to do these events. But I actually believe that Kate has surprised people within Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace, because they were clearly preparing everyone for Kate to only show up at a handful of big events this year. This wasn?t Kate ?managing expectations,? this was Kate deciding to be more visible at the last minute because Meghan was suddenly getting so much attention. That, more than anything else, caused Kate to get out and about. I also think that it would have had a ?greater impact? if Kate really was only making rare appearances ? but instead, it just feels like ?back to normal.? Her events have a short shelf-life and the British media will talk about her for a second, then they go back to obsessing over all things Sussex.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of People.