A few odds and ends from this past week:

• In sad news, it was announced on Wednesday that Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was found dead in her home. An official cause of death hasn’t been listed, but she was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2016. The Palmer-Tomkinsons are close family friends of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, while Tara has maintained a friendship with the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry since childhood. She also befriended the Duchess early on in her relationship with William, notably standing by her during the couple’s 2007 breakup when many had written Kate off as the “university girlfriend.” Tara later said that during this time she told her:

“We have had lots of fun nights in relaxed situations and when they briefly split up I said to her, ‘He’ll be back, don’t worry.’ She and her sister Pippa came to my brother’s book launch during the split and people were being kind of horrible to her, but I knew William would be back as soon as he realised what he was missing out on.”

Prince Charles released a public statement in response to the news, noting that he was “deeply saddened” and his thoughts were with her family.

• In addition to attending the BAFTAs this Sunday with William, two more engagements have been added to Kate’s calendar. One will be on Tuesday with the RAF, a patronage she took over from Prince Philip in 2015, while the other will be on Wednesday, Feb. 22 with Action for Children, a patronage she officially inherited from the Queen at the beginning of this year. This doesn’t include, of course, her attendance on March 9th with other members of the Royal Family for the unveiling of the Iraq Afghanistan Memorial in London.
• Engagement speculation for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has gone into overdrive with bookmakers slashing odds on an announcement being made by the end of the year. It has also been reported that Meghan will accompany Harry to Pippa Middleton’s wedding to James Matthews, scheduled for May in Berkshire.