After nearly a day of speculation courtesy of a news article from The Sun, it’s been confirmed that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to “vacate” Frogmore Cottage, a house on the grounds of the Windsor estate that was gifted to them by Queen Elizabeth and has been used as their UK base since they stepped down as working royals.

To draw a firm line, that’s all of the detail that’s been confirmed. But here’s what else is out there: 1) the couple were asked to give up their UK house shortly after the publication of Harry’s memoir, Spare, and 2) part of the move is because King Charles is hoping to jettison his brother, The Duke of York, from the much larger Windsor estate, Royal Lodge, and thinks Frogmore Cottage is a better fit.

Continue reading “Royally Evicted” →

Ok, bridesmaids dresses for children. Let’s get into it. On May 14, 2018, TMZ reported that Thomas Markle, father of The Duchess of Sussex, suffered a heart attack six days prior (so, May 8). This came on the heels of the publication of embarrassing tabloid photos and, as we later learned, an anguished back and forth between the Sussexes and Markle.

The same day the news was reported, according to Spare, the now-Princess of Wales texted Meghan to say that Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress needed altering. The dresses had been created by Givenchy based on measurements of each little girl, not in-person fittings. Upon trying them on, the dress didn’t fit. Meghan doesn’t respond. According to The Duke of Sussex, she was mostly wrapped up in dealing with her father.

On May 15, Meghan finally responds to Catherine that a tailor is on standby at Kensington Palace – where the then-Cambridges lived – to make any necessary alterations to Charlotte’s dress.

Continue reading “I Can’t Believe I’m Writing About This Again” →

I’ve danced around writing this post for ages now because it always feels like a massive undertaking and frankly it’s a narrative that we’re still seeing play out with the recent Netflix documentary and Sussex memoir. But now feels like a good a time as any to at least try and get this ball rolling, so here we go.

First and foremost, I think it’s important to unravel the various threads of what comprises the Sussexes’ grievances. In my mind, there are three:

• The British tabloids are unregulated, dishonest, and perpetuate sexism and racism.
• Palace staff, at the direction of members of the Royal Family, not only failed to protect The Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their respective tenures as working royals from negative press, but actively worked against them.
• Harry feels betrayed by King Charles III and The Prince of Wales after a lifetime of feeling let down or held back by them.

Continue reading “Royal Households “Briefing Against” One Another” →

The long-anticipated memoir of The Duke of Sussex is due for publication tomorrow, January 10. Ahead of its release, a series of television interviews were scheduled, including one with Tom Bradby on ITV, Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, and Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. Three of the four are now completed.

In-between the dropping of interview trailers, however, the memoir was accidentally released ahead of schedule in Spain, allowing journalists to get their hands on advance copies and resulting in a media firestorm over the last few days that was sparked by a scoop in The Guardian that began picking out the most salacious details from the book.

Continue reading “The Spare Media Tour Thus Far” →

I’m going to use this post to cover Queen Elizabeth’s funeral procession over the next six days, beginning with the events of Sunday and ending with the lying-in over this coming weekend. I will cover her funeral on Monday, September 19 in a separate post, as well as any odds and ends that crop up in the meantime.

Continue reading “Elizabeth II’s Funeral Procession (Sept. 11-14)” →

Ok, so this is going to be one of those speculative posts where I *could* just wait a few days or weeks for the actual answer, but instead I’m going to write a few hundred words wondering, in this case, what’s going to happen to the traditional royal residences in the reign of Charles III. A few years back I wrote a post on whether or not Charles would take over Buckingham Palace from Queen Elizabeth based on the fact that there were a few news stories out at the time that reported he was considering keeping Clarence House as his home and converting Buckingham Palace only into office space and, of course, using the State Rooms for official functions. Unfortunately I can’t find it anywhere, and the issue seems to have evolved since.

So, let’s get into it, starting with what everyone’s current arrangements are.

Continue reading “Where in the World (er, England) are the Royals Living?” →