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William

bitchy | Scooter King William will ‘remove titles’ from the Sussex family & the York family
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bitchy | Scooter King William will ‘remove titles’ from the Sussex family & the York family

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Tom Sykes is doing his Royalist Substack full-time now, and he’s had some interesting exclusives, straight from sources close to Scooter King William. That was the case in Sykes’ Daily Beast days as well – his sources are consistently Scooter-adjacent, let’s say. Well, in one exclusive, Sykes was going on and on about how Prince William was claiming credit for Prince Andrew’s title-demotion, all because King Charles is “dying” and William is regent in all but name. Sykes also noted: When William “ascends to the throne, I am told he will issue new letters patent (as royal executive orders are known) to strip Andrew (and Harry, Archie, Lilibet, Eugenie, and Beatrice) of their HRH and Princely titles.” Perhaps sensing that this was a bigger exclusive than “William demands credit for Andrew’s demotion,” Sykes then spun out this Letters Patent story into a second exclusive:

Prince William will strip Prince Andrew, along with all other non-working royals, of their HRHs and princely titles when he ascends to the throne, friends and allies of the Prince have told The Royalist. The dramatic change will be effected by an executive royal order known as “letters patent” ratified by Parliament in the early weeks of the reign of King William V. It will remove princely titles not just from Andrew but also from Beatrice, Eugenie, Harry, Archie, and Lilibet. The children of Prince Edward and Princess Anne have never used princely titles.

Meghan and Harry will also see their dukedoms and HRHs formally revoked by the new king, the source said. Meghan continues to use her HRH despite being ordered not to do so by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

A source said William’s own children may have their titles informally “parked” until they become adults and can decide for themselves if they want to be full-time working royals or lead lives as private citizens. The source said they are never addressed as prince or princess in any situation by their parents, teachers, staff, or family.

As an ally of William’s told The Royalist: “On Wednesday, the king’s office was saying that removing the dukedom would be a completely lame and ineffectual gesture unless you took away the prince title as well. On Friday, it’s suddenly the other way round, and persuading him to drop the duke title, without even taking it away, is being held up as a triumph of the king’s steely will. His operation is a mess.”

Another friend of William’s, who told The Royalist about the plan to remove a huge swathe of princely titles, said: “It should have been done by Charles this week, but William knows he doesn’t have the strength because of his illness. William is understanding of his father’s situation. William won’t be afraid to take the next step.”

They added: “William thinks about Queen Margrethe of Denmark a lot.”

In 2022, Queen Margrethe II removed princely titles from four of her grandchildren—Nikolai, Felix, Henrik, and Athena. The Queen said the decision was made to allow her grandchildren greater freedom to shape their own lives.

The intel gathered on this issue by The Royalist meshes with a report in the London Sunday Times today that Andrew will be excluded from William’s coronation, that he considers his uncle a “threat” to the monarchy, and is deeply concerned about the message Andrew’s presence at royal events sends to victims of sexual abuse.

[From The Royalist Substack]

While this is not the most important thing to note, I can’t help thinking that William’s coronation is going to be really pitiful. He openly loathes the pomp, he hates most of his family, and he hates to work. He’ll probably demand that they pop the crown on his egg head in front of literally twos of people, and then straight from his coronation, he’ll head to one of his castles and no one will see him for weeks.

As for William’s promises to strip almost everyone of their HRHs, ducal titles, what have you… so be it. He’s been threatening that for years, specifically with the Sussexes. At this point, it makes no difference to Harry and Meghan or their children. I find it bizarre that William is so set on “punishing” his niece and nephew, considering he’s only met Archie once or twice and he’s never even been in the same room as Lili. But the Scooter King’s Letters Patent will just show how idiotic the whole thing really is. Either it matters that you’re born into royalty or it doesn’t. Either all of QEII’s descendents have magic royal blood or they don’t. Make up your mind.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images and Kensington Palace.

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bitchy | Prince William wants credit for Prince Andrew giving up his titles & honors
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bitchy | Prince William wants credit for Prince Andrew giving up his titles & honors

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Included in this post are some photos of Prince William out in London on Friday. He barely works, full-stop, but he rarely works on Fridays in particular. The event was William visiting the London Ambulance Service, where it looked like he was awkwardly making small-talk with EMTs and then awkwardly sitting at a big kids’ table and making “I’m listening” faces. By most accounts, this was his last bit of work before he and his family took off for the kids’ school break. God knows when we’ll see him again.

I bring up his family holiday, because William and his office want people to believe that William is responsible for what happened with Prince Andrew on Friday. Throughout the day, there was a persistent buzz that Buckingham Palace was going to make a move on Andrew, or that some kind of news would be forthcoming. It was all centered on what King Charles would do, and the potential conversations between the brothers (Charles and Andrew). In the first few hours after Andrew’s big announcement – that he would no longer use his ducal titles or his honors – the story remained centered on Andrew and Charles, and their consultation with each other. It still seems to be that this was all a generous deal struck between brothers, especially given that Andrew will retain Royal Lodge. Well, a short time later, William wanted credit for the Andrew situation.

People Magazine kept it simple, merely stating that William had been “consulted” about Andrew’s decision to “give up” his titles. GB News said the same – a mere consultation about the situation, and that consultation could have been an email or text for all we know. The Sun fleshed out some of the details – Charles was in Scotland in the past week, and he was on the phone with his courtiers and with Andrew, “leading frantic negotiations.” At some point, Charles “held crunch talks” with William about the situation. The Sun also points out that William won’t be happy about Andrew remaining at Royal Lodge, which is only half a mile away from Forest Lodge, the Waleses’ new forever home. Well, all of this vague “consultation” has led the Royalist to one inevitable conclusion: this was a huge victory for the Scooter King! Some macabre highlights from “The Fall of Prince Andrew is The First Great Triumph of King William V.”

William is responsible for all of this: Prince Andrew was publicly humiliated yesterday, forced to renounce his ducal title, and is now a duke only in memory. Buckingham Palace is furiously spinning the stripping of his titles as the personification of a resolute monarch, but let’s be very clear: the practical author of Andrew’s public annihilation is his nephew, the Prince of Wales. The announcement may have come from the office of the king, but it was William who wrote the latest chapter (one dare not say the ending because I’m told William still believes too many privileges remain to Andrew).

King Charles is dying: What the Palace refused to say [last year] —what the British papers continue not to print—is that the diagnosis was grave from the start. Reporters on the at times almost corrupt “royal rota” (a press pool) have spread the fiction of the “doing brilliantly” monarch. But everyone can see the truth: Charles looks exhausted, he has lost alarming weight, and he is still receiving regular radiotherapy and immunotherapy. He spends long stretches at Highgrove and Balmoral in near-total rest.

William has been gunning for Andrew since Charles’s cancer diagnosis: The announcement of Charles’s illness fired the starting gun on what courtiers call “the change of reign.” From that moment, power began to flow from the king to the heir. And from that moment, William’s patience—for his father’s sentimentality, for his brother’s chaos, and for his uncle’s entitlement—ran out.

William hated being ordered to chauffeur Andrew at Balmoral: William’s determination to do something permanent about Andrew when he becomes king can be traced to a single, humiliating moment: Balmoral, August 2023. William was ordered to drive Andrew to church. At that moment, Charles hadn’t pre-announced his own death. He was the all-powerful monarch who had to be obeyed. So William obeyed. The image—grim-faced heir behind the wheel, the disgraced Duke beside him—circulated around the world. William’s aides briefed furiously afterward that he had been obliged to do it, that it was not his wish. Those who know William say the episode hardened him. “That,” said one, “was the day he decided he would never be made to do something like that again.”

The Waleses refused to go to Christmas lunch in 2023: In retaliation, he refused to attend Christmas lunch with his family at Sandringham that year after learning Andrew and Sarah would be there. Charles imagined that inviting Andrew and Sarah Ferguson to join the family walk to church at Sandringham Christmas 2023 would be taken as a gesture of magnanimity. It was read as proof of delusion by William, who was incandescent.

William’s succession plan: “This is the pre-succession,” one former courtier told me. “It’s what Charles did to the Queen when he fired her private secretary, Christopher Geidt. Only now it’s being done to him.” William, for his part, has no interest in the sentimental family unity that his father prizes. He sees the monarchy as a brand, and Andrew (and Harry) as hugely damaging to it. His view, expressed repeatedly to aides, is that his uncle should never again be in the presence of the monarch. When Andrew attempted to get into a photograph at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral in September, William’s fury was instant.

William is already lobbying for credit: Intriguingly, the media looks ready to credit William for Andrew’s downfall. I’m noting repeated references to his role in reports, and I expect a lot of lobbying from his side on the matter in the next few days and weeks.

The Scooter King’s Letters Patent: But William, I am told, isn’t finished. When he ascends to the throne, I am told he will issue new letters patent (as royal executive orders are known) to strip Andrew (and Harry, Archie, Lilibet, Eugenie, and Beatrice) of their HRH and Princely titles. “When the king announced he had cancer,” said one palace source, “the reins slipped overnight.”

[From The Royalist Substack]

I like how the pro-Scooter royalists are gleeful at the thought of a vengeful, enraged, incandescent, jealous and punitive king. They’re rubbing their hands together at the thought of all of the screeching vengeance from the Scooter King, but they forget that William actually doesn’t give a sh-t about much, and he’s also lazy as hell. Sure, William is lobbying for credit for this Andrew situation, but you can actually tell from the quiet generosity of the “deal” that William had nothing to do with it. The deal is classic Charles – a half-measure, mid-dither, with barely enough red meat to appease the critics. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure William despises his uncle and I’m sure William wants Andrew completely gone. But I just don’t believe William had much to do with what happened to Andrew on Friday. Maybe I’m wrong! Who knows. As for the new letters patent… lmao. It is what it is. William will look absolutely pathetic, but he’s too stupid to understand that.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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bitchy | Guardian: Prince William ‘should release his children’ from the ‘royal family brand’
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bitchy | Guardian: Prince William ‘should release his children’ from the ‘royal family brand’

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Do you believe that Prince Andrew’s many sordid scandals will mark a turning point for the Windsor clan? Do you think it’s all downhill from here, and that the Windsors will never recover from it? Eh. I don’t know. Granted, I think Andrew has been completely awful for decades, and it says something about the institution that he’s still being protected and coddled to this degree. I’m just not sure how much of it is really being absorbed by the general public. What’s changed, this week, is that there’s been a willingness to write about how bad it actually is for the Windsors as a whole. The Guardian’s Simon Jenkins wrote this: “The latest Prince Andrew abuse claims are a new low for the Royal Family. In this form, it can’t survive.” Some highlights:

A disaster waiting to happen: The royal family was always a disaster waiting to happen. Its creation as a marketable entity in the 1960s by the late Queen Elizabeth II was meant to “modernise” the monarchy for the 20th century. It worked, but only up to a point. Her son Prince Andrew has long been its biggest liability, this week in trouble yet again due to his alleged behaviour within that ghoulish circle, the friends of Jeffrey Epstein.

The postwar Windsors: Queen Elizabeth was not to retreat like other postwar European monarchs at the time into an anonymous obscurity, to stick to their bicycles. She would refresh Britain’s semi-divine concept of monarchy as embodied in an “ordinary family”. It was portrayed as “the Firm”, a term that originated with Elizabeth’s father, George VI. It worked. The family looked lovely as their young children picnicked by a Scottish loch. The film was watched and admired by millions. But there was a lurking risk. One day the same children would be different. They would be tormented teenagers, rampaging twentysomethings and matrimonial casualties. They might be offered grand palaces and safe jobs, “representing” the monarch the length and breadth of the land. But then what? Would they all behave? It was like writing a play when you have already cast the actors. The children became instant global celebrities.

So many crises in the 1990s: Another crisis came in 1997 with the death of Diana and its initially woeful mishandling by the late queen. Her personal approval rating sank to an all-time low of 57%. Charles’s fell to 40%. Serious questions were raised of the future of the crown. At such times monarchy has nowhere to turn for sustenance but to public opinion. Its image is dependent on the media and the reaction to how it performs its rituals.

The bicycle monarchies: The so-called cycling monarchies such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium did not go down the same path as the late queen. They became figureheads, anthropomorphic thrones, legacies of history and tradition, but they hold office strictly at the declaration of elected parliaments. Such monarchs practise none of Britain’s nonsense about religious anointment. They head up no “family firm”. Their relatives, close and distant, can go about their normal lives and do normal jobs. The king of the Netherlands still occasionally pilots a KLM jet.

William must plan a different kind of monarchy: Prince Andrew was already being eased out of the limelight before the publication of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir. The next move is for the future king, William, to plan a refashioned monarchy. He has already indicated his intention to live not in London but in a modest house in Windsor Park. He will presumably hand his Westminster estate to the government, and its gardens to the public. That would be all to the good. But above all, William should release his children. He should do away with the royal family brand, disband the Firm and take to his bicycle. No more Andrews.

[From The Guardian]

The thing is, Prince William has been telegraphing his agreement with this advice for some time. His view of the British monarchy is one of radical downsizing. Mostly, his idea of a downsized monarchy is that he still has all of the money, castles and power, but very few of the responsibilities and a fraction of the workload of his father, grandmother or great-grandfather. The idea of William “releasing his children” is interesting too, and I suspect that William actually has no desire for any of his children to “work for the Firm” in any way. When we talked about his appearance on the Reluctant Traveler, I brought up the old gossip, the pre-Sussex gossip, that there was always a sense that William was a closet republican anyway, and that he didn’t actually want to be king. Post-Sussex, it often feels like William now wants to be king solely because it’s something his brother can’t have.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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bitchy | Republic wants a full disclosure of Prince William & Kate’s meager schedule
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bitchy | Republic wants a full disclosure of Prince William & Kate’s meager schedule

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Republic, the anti-monarchy group in the UK, is having a hell of a week. Republic’s chief executive Graham Smith has been all over the Prince Andrew stories, making some excellent points about how the Windsors are treating Andrew like a family problem to be buried. As opposed to treating Andrew like a rapist criminal who should be investigated by British and American authorities. Well, Republic is also making another big move. They’re calling for a full disclosure of the Windsors’ bare-bones work schedules. Republic wants a full accounting of how few events the “working royals” actually do, especially the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Campaigners have called for a full disclosure of “just how little the royals do” following media coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to Northern Ireland. Despite media outlets reporting his visit to Northern Ireland this week, anti-monarchy group Republic has shared records showing Prince William has a “work-shy” schedule. Data taken from the court circular – the official record of past royal engagements – shows William only has only had engagements on 13 days in the space of two and a half months between August 1 and October 15 and several of these are described as “brief”. Republic says it suggests he engaged in “the full-time equivalent of three to four days of engagements” during the period.

Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, said the royal family give a “false impression” of being busy and has called for more honesty.

“The palace likes to paint a picture of busy royals supporting good causes. The reality is a workshy family who occasional patronise charities – usually a short drive from Windsor – to give an entirely false impression. William and Kate are particularly lazy, putting in just a few weeks full-time equivalent of engagements, while the public pay William a private income of more than £23 million a year. We need full and honest disclosure about just how little the royals do and negligible impact they have on public life.”

August was completely blank in William’s calendar before a “brief visit” to the Natural History Museum in London appears on September 4. He then went to a rugby match on September 6 before visiting Ascot and going to a couple of Homewards engagements – a programme he launched to tackle homelessness – the following week. The only other engagements he had in September were brief visits to Cardiff and Southport, private meetings, a charity dinner, investiture, and a video call with organisation Earthshot.

An investiture ceremony is a formal event where someone receives an official title, rank, or award. He has only had five days in October so far with engagements scheduled so far including a brief meeting with the Estonian president and a charity launch event. During their first visit to Northern Ireland for three years, William and Kate met recently-qualified firefighters and visited farms.

A 27-page report from Republic last year laid out how the royal household now costs the taxpayer £500m a year. The estimated price tag of £510m included hundreds of millions of pounds not accounted for by the Sovereign Grant – a payment that is made annually to the monarch to help fund their official duties. Republic said the bill for the royals included lost income from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, as well as an estimated £150m security bill, costs to struggling local councils and lost revenue from state buildings used exclusively by the royals. It was confirmed in July that soaring profits from the Crown Estate to £1.1 billion mean the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant will increase from £86.3m in 2024/2025 to £132m in 2025/2026.

[From The National]

I didn’t realize that this week was Will & Kate’s first time in Northern Ireland in three years!! I knew it had been a while for Kate, but I thought William had traveled there more recently. Guess not. That’s crazy. “Despite media outlets reporting his visit to Northern Ireland this week…” That was just one day. The National is like “but we saw him working this week!” Because I keep track of these things for this job, William and Kate had one day of real work in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, where they jammed in several events over the course of several hours (Kate even had a costume change). On Wednesday, Will and Kate did a “greeting” with Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein and his wife. William and Hussein then did a second event at an RAF base while Kate… went home and sulked, apparently. I guess my point is that yes, William and Kate are extremely lazy. William actually works more than Kate, but people don’t realize it because William’s solo events get so little attention. Even for William and Kate’s regular, decades-long laziness, they’ve been exceptionally lazy this year. They skipped the BAFTAs because they went on vacation. They had a long summer holiday. They’ve gone on at least three ski holidays this year. The only reason why we saw them at all in September is because Prince Harry visited the UK. “Competing with the Sussexes” explains more than half of their events this year.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

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bitchy | Prince William & Kate welcomed Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein & Princess Rajwa
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bitchy | Prince William & Kate welcomed Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein & Princess Rajwa

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Project “Scooter King Rebrand” continues unabated. As many pointed out, all of the “Meghan is rebranding” stories are projections, straight from Kensington Palace. Something really broke in Prince William last month, during and after Prince Harry’s visit to the UK and Ukraine. It sounded like William had a nervous breakdown over all of it. But Jason Knauf dusted William off and they put together some kind of plan. An awkward appearance on The Reluctant Traveler, performative tears in a Kensington Palace production, and a treasury of public events to compete with his brother and sister-in-law. They even slapped an old hairpiece onto the back of Kate’s head and made her leave the house too.

On Wednesday, Prince William and Kate welcomed Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein and his wife Rajwa. William and Kate attended their wedding in Jordan in 2023, which is the only time Kate traveled out of the UK for “work” in the past three years. Kate repeated a camel-colored Roland Mouret pantsuit for the photo-op at Windsor Castle. Rajwa and Kate then went… somewhere, and probably not together, all while their husbands headed off to RAF Benson. William was especially smiley and animated at the RAF base. He seems to like Prince Hussein, who is 12 years younger than William. Oh, I just saw the Mail’s coverage – after Kate did the photocall at Windsor, she went home (I guess) while Rajwa had an event with Princess Eugenie. They highlighted the work of a mental health charity, which sounds like something Kate should have done. Alas, you’re forgetting about the school run!!

This is such blink-and-you-miss-it soft diplomacy from Kate. I’m stunned but not surprised that she couldn’t be bothered to entertain Princess Rajwa for a few hours while their husbands had an event at an RAF base.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, screencaps courtesy of KP’s video.

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bitchy | Prince William swatted Kate away when she tried to grab him in Northern Ireland
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bitchy | Prince William swatted Kate away when she tried to grab him in Northern Ireland

by jummy84
written by jummy84

On Tuesday, the Prince and Princess of Wales made a “surprise” trip to Northern Ireland. They played with firefighters and visited an apple orchard. Kate played with hay and she and William tried their hand at baking something in a kitchen. They’ve definitely been organizing more food/beverage/kitchen activities since With Love, Meghan debuted, that’s all I’ll say. Kate also did that thing she always does, which is bring up her kids in context of whatever random thing she sees. She saw an apple pressing machine and she claimed that she and her kids tried to hand-press apples at home, and “It was quite good fun with the children. It was very messy.” Something else happened in Northern Ireland as well – Kate tried to grab William from behind and he awkwardly swatted her away:

In all of William and Kate’s copykeening, it’s so funny that they can never manage to copy the Sussexes’ natural warmth and affection for one another. Harry is literally emotional-support-groping his wife in public, and whenever Kate tries to touch her husband, he winces and swats her away. Something else W&K could learn from Meghan and Harry is how to approach people as a couple on a physical level. Harry often walks ahead of Meghan but he waits that split-second until she’s by his side and then he greets people or shakes hands. William didn’t wait for Kate, that’s why she was grabbing at him – he didn’t make room for her.

Meanwhile, there’s more talk about Forest Lodge, William and Kate’s fifth forever home. Sarah Vine wrote this week: “I can’t say for certain, of course, but I don’t imagine Prince William – or for that matter, the Princess of Wales – has much time for friends and associates of known sex traffickers. And given that they have decided to make Windsor their ‘forever home’, are they really going to tolerate Bad Uncle Andrew living it up next door? They will want to put some serious distance between themselves and this whole stink, and that might not bode well for the Duke, especially if his brother is no longer around to shield him. Who knows what Prince William will do.” My theory is that Charles is not evicting Andrew from Royal Lodge on purpose, because Charles wants William to take that hit when the time comes.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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Prince William misses 'glory days' of search-and-rescue pilot
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Prince William misses ‘glory days’ of search-and-rescue pilot

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Prince William misses the “glory days” of being a search-and-rescue pilot.

Prince William misses his RAF days

The Prince of Wales served with the RAF from 2009 until 2013 before flying with the East Anglian Air Ambulance from March 2015 until July 2017 and at a joint engagement with his “dear friend” and fellow helicopter pilot the Crown Prince of Jordan, Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire on Wednesday (15.10.25), William looked back on his military days with great fondness.

According to the Daily Telegraph, he said: “I left and went straight into the Air Ambulance afterwards and did three years or so there and… it sort of merged into one big flying trip. I miss the search and rescue days, the glory days.”

The prince told how he loved hearing the sound of the Sea King helicopter flying during US Premident Donald Trump’s state visit last month.

He added: “Seven aircraft were flying over and Sea King comes in and I was like ‘there she is’ – that noise went straight to my heart, it was a great sound.”

The 43-year-old royal still enjoys flying when he can and admitted piloting an aircraft is his “happy place”.

Asked whether he still flies, he said: “I do still fly – I keep my hours going because, when you learn that skill set, you just don’t want it to go. I’ve definitely lost a lot of the skills Ι had, but I like to just keep on top of flying and keep doing it. It’s my happy place when I’m flying.”

During their visit, the princes met trainee aircrew and staff from No. 28 (AC) Sqn and No. 22 Sqn – with whom William served during his time at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales – and heled engineers work on the main rotorhead of a Chinook aircraft, with the British prince joking someone would come along to “check” his counterpart’s work.

They then attended a private meeting with RAF personnel.

The two princes flew to the engagement by helicopter from Windsor Castle, with Kensington Palace stating it highlighted their “strong relationship” and mutual respect for the Armed Forces.




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bitchy | Prince William cried while talking to a woman whose husband died by suicide
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bitchy | Prince William cried while talking to a woman whose husband died by suicide

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Have you ever watched Broadcast News? The James L. Brooks film came out in 1987 and largely predicted the decline in quality of broadcast journalism in America. It starred Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks and William Hurt. Hurt played Tom, the handsome newscaster who was not intelligent enough to really be the anchor of a national news broadcast, but he looks the part and he’s good at playing to the cameras. Holly plays Jane, the hard-edged news producer who falls in love with Tom. Part of the plot hinges on Tom doing a one-on-one interview with a rape survivor, which airs as a segment on the nightly news. During the interview, as the rape survivor describes the ordeal, there’s a cutaway to Tom as his eyes well up with tears. Jane thinks the segment is good, but Albert Brooks’ Aaron realizes what happened – Tom was only given one camera for the interview, and he made himself cry and then spliced in the reaction, which is extremely unethical journalism.

I bring up one of my favorite Holly Hunter movies because Prince William went to speak to a Welsh widow whose husband died by suicide. William brought a camera crew with him, and I definitely want to know how many cameras were there, because William was also caught on camera, tearing up as he spoke to Rhian Mannings. The video of William’s interview was published on KensingtonRoyal’s social media and William & Kate’s YouTube channel:

It was possibly a three-camera set-up. One camera for the wide shot of William and Rhian at the table, one camera on Rhian’s closeup and one camera on William’s closeup. Or it could be something else entirely. If KP has the money and personnel for a three-camera set up, just to make their in-house YouTube videos, that’s a stand-alone scandal in my book. What I do know is that William’s tears, however sincere or not, do not make up for his actual words and deeds in the past decade. From calling his mother paranoid, to assaulting his brother, to bullying, smearing and abusing his sister-in-law until she was suicidal, William has zero authenticity or credibility here. It reads as performative because of everything we already know about William. It also reads as performative because royalists are gleefully using the video as evidence for William’s preparations for his reign. From the NY Times:

At a time when the British royal family has been convulsed by drama, infighting and a tendency by some royals to over-share, Prince William has remained largely aloof — loath to reveal the kinds of details found in “Spare,” the memoir by his estranged brother, Prince Harry.

Yet William, too, has lifted the veil in recent weeks, in his own carefully managed way. Appearing with the Canadian comic actor Eugene Levy on an episode of his travel series, and later with a woman who lost her husband to suicide, William has shown a more personal side, speaking about his desire to change the monarchy after he becomes king and tearing up over another family’s tragedy.

The exercise in image making has taken on more urgency since his father was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in early 2024. While Buckingham Palace insists that Charles, 76, is on the mend, the prospect of William having to step up to the throne no longer seems so distant.

“He’s on fast forward,” said Tina Brown, the British American journalist who has written two books about the royal family. “His father had 50 years to tell the world who he was before becoming king. It’s essential for William to show the human side of himself before his image gets set in stone as the stoic foil to Harry.”

In a video released Friday to coincide with World Mental Health Day, William met with Rhian Mannings, who lost a baby to illness and her husband to suicide. As the two sat at Ms. Mannings’s kitchen table in Cardiff, Wales, William asked her what she would say to her husband, if she could.

“I would just like to sit him down like this and say, ‘Why didn’t you come to me?’” she replied. “Because he’s missed out on just so much joy.”

William looked away, his eyes brimming with tears.

“Are you OK?” Ms. Mannings asked.

Struggling to compose himself, William said, “I’m sorry; it’s hard to ask you the questions.”

It was a startling display of emotion — not least in contrast to the stiff-upper-lip stoicism of older-generation royals like Queen Elizabeth II — though it recalled the emotional encounters his mother, Princess Diana, had with people with AIDS in the 1990s. William’s focus on suicide prevention echoed his mother’s desire to destigmatize AIDS.

[From The NY Times]

“The exercise in image making” – Jesus. Am I alone in finding this incredibly exploitative? I’m sure Rhian Mannings simply wants her story out there, with the hope that more people will be willing to talk to loved ones and reach out to people when they’re at their lowest point. But for William to rather ruthlessly exploit her family’s tragedy as part of his really obvious and plodding image rebrand is pretty ghoulish, even for William.

Photos courtesy of YouTube video. Cover courtesy of the Daily Express.

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bitchy | Prince William & King Charles stepped out for a pre-COP30 event in London
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bitchy | Prince William & King Charles stepped out for a pre-COP30 event in London

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have spent much of the past month trying to convince everyone that King Charles is quite close to his heir, Scooter King/Prince William. They were even up in Scotland at the same time, but as it turns out, Scooter King was on a hunting trip while Charles rested at Birkhall. My point is that we were due a joint appearance to “prove” that Charles and his heir are still on speaking terms. The fact that the photo-op looks very much like a “take your dumb son to work” day is just icing on the cake, as is the fact that once again, the left-behinds rushed around, trying to look busy and important because they knew the Sussexes were scheduled to appear at an event on Thursday.

Charles and Scooter King attended a pre-COP30 event at the Natural History Museum last night. They even traveled to the museum in the same car – there were photos of Charles exiting the car first, and then William following. Charles took the lead, William trailed behind and tried to look interesting (he failed). Charles looked like hell, btw. He did not have a restful, rejuvenating summer break. Notably, neither of their wives bothered to come. Kate begged off, citing something about a gopher and her wig room. Camilla was probably at the bottom of a gin bottle.

At the pre-COP30 event, Charles and William met people from the Brazilian government, because this year’s COP30 conference is being staged in Brazil. William’s Earthshot Prize ceremony is apparently scheduled for November 5 in Rio, and then COP30 starts on November 10 in Belém. KP announced that William will be in Rio from November 3rd through the 5th. The big question is whether William will actually go to Belém and attend any part of the conference. KP claims it’s on his schedule. So… what will Scooter King be doing for five days in between his Earthshot sh-t in Rio and the start of COP30?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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Prince William fights back tears in painful talk about suicide
Celebrity News

Prince William fights back tears in painful talk about suicide

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Prince William was left fighting back tears during a candid talk with a woman who lost her husband to suicide.

Prince William fought back tears during a moving interview to mark World Mental Health Day

The Prince of Wales visited Rhian Manning at home to talk about the death of her husband Paul in 2012 as part of a video filmed to mark World Mental Health Day on Friday (10.10.25). The heir to the throne was seen getting choked up as he sat with Rhian in her kitchen and talked about her loss, which came just days after the death of the couple’s infant son George.

William said: “From the families I’ve spoken to who have had to endure suicide. There’s a lot of unanswered questions that live with you forever, really, don’t they? … If you could say something, or wanted to say something to Paul. What would you … what would you have said?”

Rhian replied: “I would just like to sit him down like this and just say, ‘Why didn’t you come to me?’ Because he’s missed out on just so much joy, and we would have been okay. And I think that’s what’s hardest – we would have been okay.”

William was then seen getting visibly emotional and Rhian asked him: “Are you OK?”

The royal touched her hand and replied: “I’m sorry. It’s just … it’s hard to ask these questions that I … “

The widow then went on to tell him: “No, it’s fine. It’s just … you’ve got children. It’s hard … and you’ve experienced loss yourself …

“Life can throw you these awful curveballs, but by talking about it, by, you know, having hope, you can continue.”

William added: “The best way to prevent suicide is to talk about it. Talk about it early, talk about it with your loved ones, those you trust, your friends. So thank you for talking about it.”

Since the death of her husband, Rhian set up the charity 2 Wish Upon A Star, to help others affected by the loss of a child or a young person while William has donated more than £1 million through his Royal Foundation to help set up the UK’s National Suicide Prevention Network.




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