Devastating news for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that neither they nor their children Archie and Lilibet will be invited by King Charles to commemorations marking the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death.
Given that Harry and Meghan’s only motto is to be royals, the snub must be particularly bitter. It also suggests that the king has finally found his courage.
We’ve all been in despair that the Royal Family didn’t retaliate after the extraordinary allegations leveled at them by Harry and Meghan while the late Queen was still alive.
Now it’s recovery time. And for that, we should all shout “Three cheers for the king!”
The message is clear: they are not welcome here. Great too – the snub will mean the couple can’t enjoy the most poignant royal ceremonies since the Queen’s death next month, for their self-serving documentaries.
Scenes from the fifth episode of the Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan
Adding insult to injury, even the disgraced Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah are invited to the family reunion at Balmoral on September 8.
And Harry and Meghan can’t claim their absence is due to conflicting diary commitments, as the next day they will be a stone’s throw from Britain in Düsseldorf, Germany, to kick off the Invictus Games. They have already moved out of Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, meaning they have no home in Britain.
Now they are publicly shunned by the royal family. He must realize that they could be looking at a bleak future. Perhaps that explains why we’ve seen a very different Harry and Meghan in recent public appearances together.
Before, they held hands and looked into each other’s eyes.
But in their vain video this week thanking the winners of a youth tech award they fund, they never made eye contact or touched.
And in photos of them celebrating Meghan’s 42nd birthday in Montecito on Wednesday, she walks straight out of the restaurant in front of a miserable-looking Harry.
No handshakes, no pats on the back. Is the royal show over for the Sussexes?
Millions of us sincerely hope so.
Amanda’s Racy Revenge
Lots of outrage when Amanda Holden was humiliated by misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate on Twitter after posting a photo of herself in a bikini.
Tate said, “You are a wife and a mother and you are past adolescence.” Amanda, 52, then shared this even more racy image – as he still awaits trial on human trafficking charges (despite being released from house arrest yesterday).
Revenge is sometimes a dish best served hot.
Lots of outrage when Amanda Holden was humiliated by misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate on Twitter
When TikTok star chef Thomas Straker proudly posted a picture of the mostly young staff at his hit London restaurant Straker’s, he was hit with a volley of online abuse for being all-white , all male and lacking in diversity.
Crikey, when did young, hard-working white people with jobs become the butt of derision?
Ken is the greatest
Readers may think I write my column while listening to Rachmaninoff and other BBC hit tunes. Sorry to break the news, but I’m a Ken Bruce fan and – along with a million others – ditched the Beeb and followed him on Greatest Hits Radio.
Yesterday Craig Crouch was sentenced to life for the murder of his 10-month-old stepson Jacob.
The baby’s mother, Gemma Barton, has been found not guilty of her son’s murder but sentenced to 10 years for causing or permitting his death.
Half of the sentence will be served under licence, so she will only be in prison for five years. I can’t help but wonder why the mother, whose duty it is to protect her child, is so often released with a lesser charge in cases like this?
Yesterday Craig Crouch was sentenced to life for the murder of his 10-month-old stepson Jacob
Singer Lizzo is responding to a lawsuit filed by three of her ex-dancers, containing allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and fat-shaming. She denies the claims, saying they are ‘heartbreaking’ – a choice phrase given her famous circumference.
Wide appeal
England cricketer Stuart Broad is in talks to take part in Strictly Come Dancing. Famous for his white headband and intoxicating masculinity, the 6ft 6in ace scored a six with his last shot and took a wicket with his last ball, on his final test before retiring.
I can’t wait for Broad to wear skintight sequin pants and a clingy shirt open to the navel. Skip the smelly salts!
Ben Barbie. . . not the boyfriend
A new TikTok craze is encouraging young women to dump their boyfriends if, after seeing the Barbie movie, men don’t embrace its core messages about female empowerment and the evils of patriarchy.
Only a Barbie brain could be so stupid. As for the boyfriends dumped, I’d say it was a lucky escape.
A new TikTok craze encourages young women to dump their boyfriends if, after seeing the Barbie movie, men don’t embrace its core messages about female empowerment and the evils of patriarchy
Meanwhile, the Bairbie.me website – which turns real people into their Barbie or Ken likenesses – produces this Ken version of no, not Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling or Jude Law, but Boris Johnson.
Who said Barbie didn’t have a sense of humor?
Strict judge Shirley Ballas posts photos from her sunny vacation in Portugal where she enjoys “four juices a day, colon irrigations, yoga, long hikes, spinning classes and gym workouts”.
As fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood might put it, this sounds “absolutely disastrous darling” – and the kind of vacation that wouldn’t get any points from me.
Freddie Mercury’s lifelong friend Mary Austin has auctioned off her prized possessions, including a cat vest with her favorite felines on it.
Freddie wore it in his last video with Queen.
I had to tell my moggie Ted – who thinks it’s the cat’s whiskers – that, at £30,000, another bites the dust when it comes to wishes.
Westminster Wars
The young doctors are “very angry” that Rishi Sunak blamed their strikes for the increase in waiting lists, which have now reached 7.47 million.
Yet it’s hard to deny the facts when NHS England’s own figures show that more than 600,000 hospital appointments have already been affected due to their walkouts.
It is certainly time to overhaul the legal system, given that the lawyers for the man who murdered Tory MP Sir David Amess in front of witnesses in his constituency cabinet have been awarded £100,000 in legal aid – even though the jihadist confessed admitted to stabbing this handsome man to death.
How did it take the cops two hours to even realize that Greenpeace protesters had invaded the Prime Minister’s Yorkshire home and another five to arrest the intruders? Does it have any security? Have any lazy cops been caught napping?
If it had been the United States, they would have been arrested on sight – or possibly shot.
Young doctors are ‘very angry’ that Rishi Sunak blamed their strikes for rising waiting lists, now reaching 7.47million
Melania Trump is nowhere to be found as The Donald appears in court again, nor has she been seen campaigning with him.
Meanwhile, his fiercely loyal legal spokeswoman Alina Habba tenaciously defends him outside the courtroom.
Melania must surely be happy to see her husband in such safe hands – as any devoted wife would be.
