“Woke Royals”

It must be a strange time to be Prince Harry. A year and a half ago, he was the most famous man in the world, thanks to the headline-grabbing publication of his autobiography Spare. Whether you thought it was brave, incisive and fascinating, or overwritten tawdry nonsense, it was hard not to have an opinion on both the book and its subject; Harry’s every movement and utterance was eagerly scrutinized. But an awful lot has happened since, not least the illnesses of his father and sister-in-law. Even his wife’s increasingly desperate-sounding America Riviera Orchard brand has overshadowed his own efforts to put himself in the spotlight.

I still say Meghan dumps him.

The King has told Prince Andrew that after the Epstein controversy there are to be no more royal duties and no more living at his vast house in Windsor Great Park. But in an increasingly bitter stand-off, his brother refuses to budge

When the King, then Prince of Wales, met his brother, the Duke of York, at Birkhall in the weeks before their mother died in 2022, lunch was not on offer. The brothers’ conversation was perfunctory, with neither wishing to prolong the agonising encounter.

Charles had the unpleasant task of breaking the news to Andrew that there was no way back for him in terms of royal duties. The controversy over his friendship with a convicted sex offender, the American financier Jeffrey Epstein, was not going away and the Palace was preparing for its greatest transition in 70 years. Andrew became tearful during the exchange.

I must say I enjoyed last week’s social media dialogue over Jonathan Yeo’s chaotic new portrait of our King, which the 53-year-old star painter began before his subject came to the throne in September 2022. What I enjoyed especially about it is that it wasn’t easy to predict anyone’s individual reaction based on their politics.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were welcomed to Nigeria last week by a fugitive who has been federally indicted in the United States for allegedly orchestrating a $20million money laundering and bank fraud scheme, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Air Peace CEO and Chairman, Dr. Allen Onyema, whose airline the royals took for their flight from the nation’s capital Abuja into its largest city Lagos on May 12 was a key member of the welcoming committee that met the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they touched down on the tarmac as part of their three-day-tour of Nigeria.

Dressed in navy and wearing shades and a red kufi hat, Onyema was one of a small group of dignitaries, which included senior military and government officials, photographed alongside the Sussexes as they deboarded their Air Peace aircraft.

Meghan Markle returned ‘home’ last week. Not to her children and chickens in Montecito, California, but to Nigeria – a country where she has never lived, never before visited and has no known living relatives. And yet, accompanied by Prince Harry, on a royal tour in all but name, Meghan thanked Nigerians for ‘welcoming me home’.

Meghan and Harry’s California-based Archewell Foundation charity has been ordered to stop spending or soliciting money after being found to be delinquent.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who abandoned their duties to the British Royal Family in favour of money-making ventures in Hollywood, have let their official registration fees for their charity lapse since at least the beginning of May, according to a letter from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

In the gardens of Buckingham Palace the King, recovering from cancer treatment, was surrounded by his family and 8,000 guests. Two miles down the road at St Paul’s Cathedral his younger son, Prince Harry, cut a lonelier figure.

The Duke of Sussex made a rare UK public appearance to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games, his Paralympics-style competition for military personnel and veterans. However, no senior members of the royal family joined him at the service and it was revealed that the King was too busy to see Harry during his brief transatlantic visit.

Update – Kate Middleton reveals SHE edited Mother’s Day portrait – as she apologises ‘for any confusion the family photograph caused’

Major photo agencies have pulled a new image of the Princess of Wales from circulation over concerns it was “manipulated” by “the source”.

The image was circulated by a number of picture agencies on Sunday before Reuters, Associated Press (AP), Getty Images and Agence France-Presse (AFP) told media outlets to “kill” the photo from their systems and archives.

Others are claiming further errors.

One of America’s most popular TV comedy programmes was asking the question that had captured the nation.

It was not about the Super Tuesday primary contests ahead of the US elections, or the State of the Union address, which elicited an exaggerated yawn from the presenter. Instead, The Daily Show’s Ronny Chieng turned to look straight into the camera to ask: “Where is Kate Middleton? Where are you, Kate?”

King Charles won’t drag us out of the doldrums

In 1946, lorries and diggers rumbled into the grounds of Wentworth Woodhouse, then one of England’s grandest mansions. Its manicured lawns, gardens, and parkland stood on a coal seam that neared the surface, and the Labour Party’s Minister for Fuel and Power, Manny Shinwell, wanted to mine it. His aim was to address a national fuel crisis — and also, as historian Catherine Bailey shows, to strike a blow against the hereditary privilege Shinwell believed the mansion’s owner, the Earl Fitzwilliam, to represent.

The first scheduled engagement for the Princess of Wales following her surgery has been announced by the Ministry of Defence — but confusion mounted when Kensington Palace declined to confirm whether Catherine would be well enough to attend the event on June 8.

A Ministry of Defence website started selling tickets for Catherine’s review of troops ahead of this year’s Trooping the Colour.

My conspiracy theory: Things are much more grim for Charles and Kate.

Donald Trump has warned that Prince Harry will be “on his own” if he is re-elected as president and criticised the Duke of Sussex for his “unforgivable” betrayal of the late Queen.

The former president said that Joe Biden’s administration had been “too gracious” to the Duke of Sussex since he moved to America with his wife, Meghan Markle, in 2020.

The Prince of Wales has called for an end to the fighting in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages as he warned that “too many have been killed” in the conflict.

The Prince, 41, who will meet aid workers involved in the humanitarian effort, attracted criticism for his comments that will be considered a significant intervention in the conflict.

Nigel Farage claimed he should “stick to the Baftas” rather than intervene in the Middle East crisis.

A statement from The Prince of Wales pic.twitter.com/LV2jMx75DC

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) February 20, 2024

Not a good look William.

h/t Sweetpea