“Woke Royals”

In many ways, this could not have come at a worse time for the Duke of York.

‌There he was, strolling to church on Christmas Day, back in the bosom of his family. Not only had he been publicly welcomed back into the fold but his former wife the Duchess of York, with whom he still lives, was also invited to join the annual show of family unity for the first time since 1992.

‌While most observers noted the presence of a visibly delighted Fergie, Prince Andrew barely got a mention – and this, after years of hugely damaging headlines concerning his ill-advised relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual abuse, was progress.

2023 has left the arrogance of Charles and the ridiculousness of the Sussexes brutally exposed.

2023 – the year of King Charles’s coronation and Prince Harry’s Spare – was a weird year for a republican like me. Though I nurse a profound and lifelong loathing for Charles, I found myself repeatedly taking his side against Harry and Meghan of Montecito. Add to this my weakness for Diana-faced Prince William (even when he is manhandling man-necklaces) and his well-groomed, well-meaning wife (great-great-granddaughter of a miner, daughter of a trolly dolly), and my attitude towards the British monarchy became something of a hot mess.

If ever Prince Harry writes another volume of memoir, he may choose to look back on 2023 as his annus horribilis. The year began in high-profile fashion, with the publication of his autobiography Spare. This book swiftly became the fastest-selling non-fiction work of all time; he marked its appearance with promotional interviews that alternated between defensive, irritable and unduly arrogant. Yet Harry’s year is ending with myriad humiliations. These include losing one of his apparently innumerable court cases, he and his wife, Meghan Markle, being described as the ‘biggest Hollywood losers’ and a much-ridiculed video clip of the various endeavours of their charitable foundation Archewell over the past twelve months.

It’s not the happiest of Christmases for Prince Andrew who is said to be freaking out ahead of the unsealing of Jeffrey Epstein’s court documents in just over a week.

The King has used his Christmas message to preach the “universal” values of Christians, Jews and Muslims “at a time of increasingly tragic conflict around the world”.

The King, in his second annual festive message, said that the “Abrahamic family of religions” all hold the same fundamental beliefs about imagining oneself “in the shoes of our neighbours, and to seek their good as we would our own”.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are no strangers to criticism. Even so, a take-down from The Hollywood Reporter would have hurt. The magazine, the trade bible in the world of film, television and showbusiness has included the couple on their annual “winners and losers” list for 2023. They were not on the right side.

“In 2020, the royal duo fled a life of ceremonial public service to cash in their celebrity status in the States,” its citation as one of the year’s losers read. “But after a whiny Netflix documentary, a whiny biography (Spare – even the title is a pouty gripe) and an inert podcast, the Harry and Meghan brand swelled into a sanctimonious bubble just begging to be popped – and South Park was the pin.”

Prince Harry has had a win. The fifth in the line of succession to the British throne won his phone hacking lawsuit Friday against the publisher of the Daily Mirror and was awarded over £140,000 pounds ($180,000) in the first of a string of cases against tabloid newspapers to go to trial.

King Charles recorded his annual Christmas speech this week — ahead of his fifth Christmas without his son Prince Harry.

But while Harry won’t be with his “Pa” over the holidays, he is planning to reach out to the monarch, along with his wife Meghan Markle and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, from their Montecito mansion.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation suffered an $11 million drop in donations last year, meaning the organisation made a loss, tax filings reveal.

A public disclosure form filed with the American tax authorities shows Harry and Meghan’s foundation recorded a deficit of $674,485 due to a sharp plunge in donations.

The foundation received $13 million in 2021, including $10 million from a single donor, but that figure dropped to $2 million last year, the filing shows. The donations from last year were from two individual donors who each gave $1 million, though their identities are not revealed.

This marriage is toast.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand to lose millions of dollars if they’re ever stripped of their royal titles, according to a Hollywood expert.

The couple, who stepped down as senior working royals in 2020 and hightailed it across the pond, have kept their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles ever since.

But entertainment expert Mark Boardman says the pair’s finances may be in trouble should their Sussex titles ever be taken away from them.

A judge ruled against Prince Harry in his libel lawsuit against a British newspaper.

According to the Associated Press, the judge dealt the blow to Harry in the case he brought against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

However, the ruling only came during a preliminary ruling.

Harry and Meghan are facing a mounting backlash as they continue to maintain their silence on royal racism claims made by their ‘mouthpiece’ Omid Scobie in his new book.

The couple are yet to speak on the book publicly and a meeting between King Charles and Prince William is now set to take place next week to discuss the topic.

It could have serious consequences for Harry and Meghan as William is believed to ‘want action’ after his wife Kate was named alongside Charles as the two royals who expressed ‘concern’ about Archie’s skin colour.