If anyone had said two years ago that Harry and Meghan would leave the royal family and take up residence in Los Angeles, I would have said they were crazy. I certainly didn't see it coming, and I'm curious to see how it all plays out.
Showing posts with label royal weddings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label royal weddings. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
This Day In History, 2018: Harry And Meghan Get Married
If anyone had said two years ago that Harry and Meghan would leave the royal family and take up residence in Los Angeles, I would have said they were crazy. I certainly didn't see it coming, and I'm curious to see how it all plays out.
Monday, February 24, 2020
This Day In History, 1981: Charles And Diana Announce Their Engagement
It was 39 years ago:
#OnThisDay 1981: Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer announced their engagement to the world https://t.co/TtYDvzss7c— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) February 24, 2016
Four years ago, in an article at the Washington Post, writer Amy Argetsinger looked back:
Thirty-five years ago this week, the people of the United Kingdom rejoiced at the news that its bachelor Prince of Wales had finally found a bride. Charles was 32, and Lady Diana Spencer was 19, but, as he noted, "she'll be 20 soon and I was about that age" when he undertook his royal obligations.
The world swooned hard for this pairing; words like "fairytale" and "refreshing" got tossed around a lot. There was just the tiniest hint of a raised eyebrow in The Washington Post story of their engagement, written by London bureau chief Leonard Downie Jr., who a decade later would become The Post's executive editor:
Lady Diana is a strikingly attractive young woman with large blue-gray eyes and short blond hair. She wears little makeup or jewelry and has usually been seen in public wearing simple skirts, sweaters and low-heeled shoes. . . . He cuts a dashing figure, providing vicarious thrills for the average British bloke. He can fly a jet, repair a helicopter and jump from a plane with paratroopers. He has tried dangerous deep-sea diving and wind-surfing. (Click here to read Downie's entire article.)
Downie noted that she had met the prince ("a 16th cousin once removed") on a pheasant shoot a couple years earlier when she was 16 and he was dating her older sister. "A lack of a romantic past is believed to be desirable by the royal family for a future queen," he wrote. (See image of that day's paper at the bottom of the post.)
It took another whole day for a Washington Post writer to say what he really thought. . .
That writer was Richard Cohen. Now a political columnist for The Post's op-ed page, he was then writing a column for the Metro section. And he had some thoughts about this matrimonial pairing. Oh yes, he did. We have republished it below.
This is Cohen's article, titled "Lady Diana, Beware: A Palace May Be a Jail":
One of the wonderful things about writing a newspaper column is that you get to say what you think about matters that are sometimes none of your business. It is in that vein that I bring up the impending marriage of Lady Diana Spencer to Charles, Prince of Wales, heir to the throne and all of that. I'm against it.
I should point out right away that I know neither Charles nor his intended and my only familiarity with the royal family is limited to a few moments spent peering through the gates of Buckingham Palace. But a few moments is all it takes to realize that what may look like a palace on the outside, can amount to a jail on the inside. Where Lady Diana is about to go, there is no exit.
I suppose I have the standard American ambivalence toward royalty. I sort of like it — over there. I like all royal families — English, Saudi Arabian, Jordanian (although not very much) and even those in exile. I find them essentially very amusing, diverting and silly, like a good operetta. But there is nothing amusing or silly when the conventions or royalty conspire to have a 32-year-old man marry a 19-year-old girl. If Charles were not a prince, he would be a dirty old man.
Okay, Charles is a bit young to be called that, but the fact remains that Lady Diana is nothing more than a kid. Take away the title of Lady and what you have is a teenager who is about to marry a man 13 years her senior. She knows little of the world. She has been boarded and tutored. She teaches kindergarten. She lives with three other women. She drives a little red car and is about to marry a man who can, as someone once wrote, "command a ship, pilot a helicopter, drive a tank, pilot a jet, parachute out of one and is fully trained as a frogman and commando." But for all of that, he will be a failure as both man and monarch if he can not coax an heir from his bride. They are both trapped in their roles.
Hers, though, is the real trap. She is about to enter a life of cutting ribbons, sitting with legs crossed at the ankles and, God and passion willing, producing heirs to the throne. You could train a horse to do much of this, but a horse, it goes without saying, would not have to suffer the glare of endless publicity. It is Lady Diana's fate to live in a nation that has the most rapacious and boorish press imaginable — a columnist in every car, a photographer behind every potty and the man from the Daily Mail crashing through the skylight.
It is this press, in fact, that has all but insisted that the new queen be what only one previous queen remained, and then only in legend — a virgin. There is no room for scandal here. This is no place for women who have pasts — who are, in a true sense, women. Those who have been linked to Charles (UPI says there have been 40) have been chased and investigated and photographed. Their lovers have been induced to come clean, the gossips to gossip. In one case, a woman confessed that her husband left her for a woman who was even then, in fact or fancy, linked with the Bonnie Prince. With a press like that, it is a wonder he stayed bonnie.
So what we had was a nation embarked on some sort of search for a child bride — for a virgin. It is almost medieval, a true return to the old days. But the upholder of conventional morality is no longer the Church, it is the press and the Bulls are not papal, they are journalistic. The only woman to qualify, the only woman who could marry the future king, is a woman virtually without a past. No mature woman, no woman of experience who had lived out in the world alone, who had had a career, could possibly be considered. She might have. . . God forbid. . . .
But a woman so young, so inexperienced, so unworldly is not prepared to decide if she should be, for now and evermore, the queen of England. There are no trial separations and there most emphatically are no flings. For royalty, marriage is forever, irrevocable — a sentence rather than a continuing option. There is, after all, no divorce for a king and queen. What Lady Diana Spencer needs is not a summer wedding but a few more years. After all, she's no lady. She's just a kid.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Issue dated October 29, 2018: Meghan's Baby Joy
Issue dated October 29, 2018: Pregnant Meghan
No surprise about the cover this week and I even called the headline: Baby Joy! (See the Guessing Game post here.) Also as expected, princess bride Eugenie is downgraded to a sidebar; on the other hand, no sign of new mom Pippa, possibly because no pictures of her with the baby are out yet. So far People.com hasn't posted the large version of the new cover, so for now we'll go with reporter Simon Perry's Instagram post.
Last year at this time: Issue dated October 30, 2017
And one more thing. I just had an intriguing thought. As I mentioned last week, the annual Sexiest Man Alive cover should come out in November. Could new husband/dad-to-be Prince Harry get the title this year? The more I think about it the more I think it's a pretty good possibility. Stay tuned...
No surprise about the cover this week and I even called the headline: Baby Joy! (See the Guessing Game post here.) Also as expected, princess bride Eugenie is downgraded to a sidebar; on the other hand, no sign of new mom Pippa, possibly because no pictures of her with the baby are out yet. So far People.com hasn't posted the large version of the new cover, so for now we'll go with reporter Simon Perry's Instagram post.
Last year at this time: Issue dated October 30, 2017
And one more thing. I just had an intriguing thought. As I mentioned last week, the annual Sexiest Man Alive cover should come out in November. Could new husband/dad-to-be Prince Harry get the title this year? The more I think about it the more I think it's a pretty good possibility. Stay tuned...
Saturday, October 13, 2018
The Guessing Game - Updated
What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses:
Eugenie's wedding: This will almost certainly be the main cover story. Eugenie by herself isn't that important but Harry and Meghan, Will and Kate, George and Charlotte, not to mention the bride's grandmother the Queen, were all in attendance. One request for the editors: Feature George and Charlotte if you must, but please, please come up with something more original than "stole the show." It's been done, done, done.
Pippa Middleton: Kate's sister was at the wedding on Friday and she's due to give birth any minute
Hope Hicks: At age 29, the former White House staffer has a new, very high level job as the head of PR for Fox
Joe Giudice: Will he be deported to Italy when he gets out of prison
next year?
Selena Gomez: Some kind of a breakdown
Melania: The big 20/20 interview
Kanye West: A strange visit to the Oval Office
Jamal Khashoggi: The Saudi journalist, who had been living in the U.S. and working for the Washington Post, is now believed to have been killed by the Saudi government at their embassy in Turkey. A strange and disturbing story.
Ryan Gosling: His new movie about Neil Armstrong opened yesterday, could he possibly be the sexiest man of 2018?
Khloé Kardashian: Is her relationship with Tristan Thompson falling apart?
Kane Brown: The country singer got married last night
Sunday morning update: Bristol Palin & Dakota Meyer, and/or Jordan Kimball & Jenna Cooper. Two reality TV couples are in the news right now, at least for people who care about such things. Palin and Meyer finalized their divorce a few weeks ago, but in the delayed reality of Reality TV, their break-up is now being shown on the MTV show Teen Mom OG and they've taken to sniping at each other in real time.
Jordan and Jenna got engaged on the final episode of Bachelor In Paradise, which aired the same day Reality Steve released text messages from Jenna to another man, which appeared to indicate that she doesn't really even like Jordan and she only went on the show to build her business/brand. Jordan publicly ended the relationship, Jenna hired a lawyer, Reality Steve snarked about it on Twitter, etc. Normally I wouldn't put an "Inside Bach Nation" story like this on the Guessing Game list but now I see that Jordan is going to be on Dancing With The Stars tomorrow night, dancing as part of a trio with Grocery Joe. There are many (many) Bach Nation men out there who would would jump at the chance to be back in the national TV spotlight on Dancing. The fact that ABC picked Jordan makes me think we might be hearing more about this soon. From Jordan's Instagram:
Update #2: Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson: They've called off their engagement.
Monday morning, update #3: Meghan is pregnant, wow. Here's the text of the official announcement:
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019.
Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public.
I say wow because this announcement comes just as she and Harry have started their first big international tour, a 16-day slog through Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. If my memory is correct, Charles and Diana cancelled their first big tour when she got pregnant very soon after their wedding. On the other hand, and as I've said here in the blog before, Meghan is now 37. There's no question she and Harry needed to get on with it. I just thought they'd get the trip out of the way first.
Regardless, congratulations to the happy couple. Two big questions now. Will their child get the title of prince or princess, or will he/she have to make do with lord or lady? (My guess? Prince or princess.) And will this news bump Eugenie's wedding from the main cover story? My guess? Yes.
Tuesday morning, update #4: Princess Kate's sister Pippa gave birth yesterday, a nice tie-in to the royal baby narrative that exploded yesterday morning. (Pippa's not royal, but close enough.) Between this new baby and Meghan's pregnancy, I'm almost certain "Baby Joy" will be the main story on the new cover that comes out tomorrow, with Eugenie's wedding downgraded to a sidebar headline and a small picture. Are the Yorks annoyed that Meghan's baby news, in particular, has stomped all over Eugenie's moment in the spotlight? I've seen some stories that say yes, but after watching the royals for all these years, one thing I've learned is that the hierarchy is clear and unchanging. Meghan and Harry will always be more important than Eugenie, and Will and Kate will always be more important than Meghan and Harry. In truth, Eugenie's wedding got more coverage than I would have expected, given her place in that hierarchy, i.e., 9th in line and falling lower every time the Cambridges or the Sussexes have a baby. (Even big sis Princess Beatrice's kids, if she eventually has any, will slide into the line of succession ahead of Eugenie.) She's also outside the absolute top tier, which consists of Prince Charles, his sons and his grandchildren.
Another possibility is Melissa McCarthy, whose new movie, titled Can You Ever Forgive Me?, comes out Friday.
Stories that appear on the cover will be highlighted in green.
Wednesday morning, update #5: See the new cover, with Meghan front and center and Princess Eugenie on the side, here.
Eugenie's wedding: This will almost certainly be the main cover story. Eugenie by herself isn't that important but Harry and Meghan, Will and Kate, George and Charlotte, not to mention the bride's grandmother the Queen, were all in attendance. One request for the editors: Feature George and Charlotte if you must, but please, please come up with something more original than "stole the show." It's been done, done, done.
Pippa Middleton: Kate's sister was at the wedding on Friday and she's due to give birth any minute
Hope Hicks: At age 29, the former White House staffer has a new, very high level job as the head of PR for Fox
Joe Giudice: Will he be deported to Italy when he gets out of prison
next year?
Selena Gomez: Some kind of a breakdown
Melania: The big 20/20 interview
Kanye West: A strange visit to the Oval Office
Jamal Khashoggi: The Saudi journalist, who had been living in the U.S. and working for the Washington Post, is now believed to have been killed by the Saudi government at their embassy in Turkey. A strange and disturbing story.
Ryan Gosling: His new movie about Neil Armstrong opened yesterday, could he possibly be the sexiest man of 2018?
Khloé Kardashian: Is her relationship with Tristan Thompson falling apart?
Kane Brown: The country singer got married last night
Sunday morning update: Bristol Palin & Dakota Meyer, and/or Jordan Kimball & Jenna Cooper. Two reality TV couples are in the news right now, at least for people who care about such things. Palin and Meyer finalized their divorce a few weeks ago, but in the delayed reality of Reality TV, their break-up is now being shown on the MTV show Teen Mom OG and they've taken to sniping at each other in real time.
Jordan and Jenna got engaged on the final episode of Bachelor In Paradise, which aired the same day Reality Steve released text messages from Jenna to another man, which appeared to indicate that she doesn't really even like Jordan and she only went on the show to build her business/brand. Jordan publicly ended the relationship, Jenna hired a lawyer, Reality Steve snarked about it on Twitter, etc. Normally I wouldn't put an "Inside Bach Nation" story like this on the Guessing Game list but now I see that Jordan is going to be on Dancing With The Stars tomorrow night, dancing as part of a trio with Grocery Joe. There are many (many) Bach Nation men out there who would would jump at the chance to be back in the national TV spotlight on Dancing. The fact that ABC picked Jordan makes me think we might be hearing more about this soon. From Jordan's Instagram:
Update #2: Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson: They've called off their engagement.
Monday morning, update #3: Meghan is pregnant, wow. Here's the text of the official announcement:
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019.
Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public.
I say wow because this announcement comes just as she and Harry have started their first big international tour, a 16-day slog through Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. If my memory is correct, Charles and Diana cancelled their first big tour when she got pregnant very soon after their wedding. On the other hand, and as I've said here in the blog before, Meghan is now 37. There's no question she and Harry needed to get on with it. I just thought they'd get the trip out of the way first.
Regardless, congratulations to the happy couple. Two big questions now. Will their child get the title of prince or princess, or will he/she have to make do with lord or lady? (My guess? Prince or princess.) And will this news bump Eugenie's wedding from the main cover story? My guess? Yes.
Tuesday morning, update #4: Princess Kate's sister Pippa gave birth yesterday, a nice tie-in to the royal baby narrative that exploded yesterday morning. (Pippa's not royal, but close enough.) Between this new baby and Meghan's pregnancy, I'm almost certain "Baby Joy" will be the main story on the new cover that comes out tomorrow, with Eugenie's wedding downgraded to a sidebar headline and a small picture. Are the Yorks annoyed that Meghan's baby news, in particular, has stomped all over Eugenie's moment in the spotlight? I've seen some stories that say yes, but after watching the royals for all these years, one thing I've learned is that the hierarchy is clear and unchanging. Meghan and Harry will always be more important than Eugenie, and Will and Kate will always be more important than Meghan and Harry. In truth, Eugenie's wedding got more coverage than I would have expected, given her place in that hierarchy, i.e., 9th in line and falling lower every time the Cambridges or the Sussexes have a baby. (Even big sis Princess Beatrice's kids, if she eventually has any, will slide into the line of succession ahead of Eugenie.) She's also outside the absolute top tier, which consists of Prince Charles, his sons and his grandchildren.
Another possibility is Melissa McCarthy, whose new movie, titled Can You Ever Forgive Me?, comes out Friday.
Stories that appear on the cover will be highlighted in green.
Wednesday morning, update #5: See the new cover, with Meghan front and center and Princess Eugenie on the side, here.
Sunday, May 20, 2018
The Royal Wedding
Issue dated June 4, 2018: Harry and Meghan's Royal Wedding
I had figured People would probably publish the new cover early, but I was thinking Tuesday, not tonight. Surprise, here it is, before I could even get my Guessing Game post published. I had started to make a list of potential cover stories, in addition to the big wedding, including the following:
Tom Wolfe: The author died May 14
Bill Clinton and James Patterson: Their new book, titled The President Is Missing, comes out on June 4. Publisher's Weekly released their review last week. (Read it here.)
The Bachelorette: Becca's season starts May 28
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend: Their son was born
Alec Baldwin: He and his wife also have a new baby boy
Last year at this time: Issue dated June 5, 2017
I had figured People would probably publish the new cover early, but I was thinking Tuesday, not tonight. Surprise, here it is, before I could even get my Guessing Game post published. I had started to make a list of potential cover stories, in addition to the big wedding, including the following:
Tom Wolfe: The author died May 14
Bill Clinton and James Patterson: Their new book, titled The President Is Missing, comes out on June 4. Publisher's Weekly released their review last week. (Read it here.)
The Bachelorette: Becca's season starts May 28
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend: Their son was born
Alec Baldwin: He and his wife also have a new baby boy
Last year at this time: Issue dated June 5, 2017
Our Old Friend Nacho!
Do you remember Nacho Figueras? He's an Argentine polo player, a *very attractive* polo player (that's the first picture I ever saw of him, above,) and I blogged about him a couple of times back in 2009:
June 20, 2009: Just For Fun
August 4, 2009: Still Thinking About Nacho
I may have been thinking about Nacho in 2009 but since then I've gone years without thinking about him at all, then, all of a sudden, today, in an article at people.com featuring the invitation to Harry and Meghan's reception, I came across this:
Prince Harry‘s friend, polo player Nacho
Figueras, shared a photo of the program alongside a bottle of cologne and his
Ralph Lauren tuxedo in an Instagram post that he has since deleted. (Read the people.com article here.)
Nacho! I went right to his Instagram account and although he had indeed deleted the picture mentioned above, I did find this:
And from Google Images, some pictures of Nacho with the groom. Apparently they really are good friends:
Saturday, May 19, 2018
The Empty Seat - Updated
photo credit: Getty Images
Sharp-eyed royal wedding viewers noticed an empty seat next to Prince William. Was it symbolically saved for the woman who wasn't there, William and Harry's mother, Princess Diana? It's a sentimental thought but no, it turns out there's a more prosaic reason. Apparently the seat was empty so as not to block the view of the Queen, seated directly behind it in the second row. Why not just put the Queen in the first row? I have no idea.
More royal wedding blogging to come? Probably.
Saturday night update: I love this picture:
photo credit: Jane Barlow/PA Wire
Sunday, May 6, 2018
The Guessing Game - Updated
What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses:
The Royal Wedding: Less than two weeks away now, on Friday the palace released lots of juicy details about the wedding day. I could see a cover story focusing on Meghan's girlfriends, including Serena Williams, Jessica Mulroney and Priyanka Chopra, one about her parents and possibly, one about her estranged half-siblings, one of whom wrote an open letter to Prince Harry advising him to call off the wedding
Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte: Cute new pictures were released over the week-end
John McCain: His book and a new documentary come out soon, he made news this week-end with a New York Times article saying he regrets not choosing Senator Lieberman as his running mate, and he doesn't want the president at his funeral. I wrote about that here
Stormy: She's still in the news, with help from Rudy Giuliani, and she killed it on Saturday Night Live
Kanye West: What the heck's going on with him anyway? I have no idea, but he's been getting a lot of press this week
Cheryl Burke: The Dancing With The Stars pro is engaged
Jennifer Lopez: Launched a new make-up line
Rudy Giuliani: Also still making news, possibly not helping the president as much as he thinks
Melania: She's announcing her "initiatives" tomorrow, I'll keep putting her on the list
Michael Skakel: His conviction for murder was overturned. This wouldn't be news except for a slight connection to the Kennedy family (He's Ethel Kennedy's nephew)
Monday morning update: Trenton McKinley. The 13-year-old wakes up after being declared brain dead, his parents had signed paperwork to donate his organs
The Cleveland Kidnapping Survivors: Five years later
Monday night, update #2: The Met Gala. The Met Gala is one of those things I really don't care about. However, it's currently the top story at People.com, which makes me think it could be one of the sidebar stories on the the new cover. In particular Amal Clooney, who is a co-chair of the gala and turned up with husband Gorgeous George, could get the cover this week.
Tuesday afternoon, update #3: Robin Williams. A new biography of Williams, by New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff, comes out next week
Wednesday morning, update #4: See the new cover here.
The Royal Wedding: Less than two weeks away now, on Friday the palace released lots of juicy details about the wedding day. I could see a cover story focusing on Meghan's girlfriends, including Serena Williams, Jessica Mulroney and Priyanka Chopra, one about her parents and possibly, one about her estranged half-siblings, one of whom wrote an open letter to Prince Harry advising him to call off the wedding
Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte: Cute new pictures were released over the week-end
John McCain: His book and a new documentary come out soon, he made news this week-end with a New York Times article saying he regrets not choosing Senator Lieberman as his running mate, and he doesn't want the president at his funeral. I wrote about that here
Stormy: She's still in the news, with help from Rudy Giuliani, and she killed it on Saturday Night Live
Kanye West: What the heck's going on with him anyway? I have no idea, but he's been getting a lot of press this week
Cheryl Burke: The Dancing With The Stars pro is engaged
Jennifer Lopez: Launched a new make-up line
Rudy Giuliani: Also still making news, possibly not helping the president as much as he thinks
Melania: She's announcing her "initiatives" tomorrow, I'll keep putting her on the list
Michael Skakel: His conviction for murder was overturned. This wouldn't be news except for a slight connection to the Kennedy family (He's Ethel Kennedy's nephew)
Monday morning update: Trenton McKinley. The 13-year-old wakes up after being declared brain dead, his parents had signed paperwork to donate his organs
The Cleveland Kidnapping Survivors: Five years later
Monday night, update #2: The Met Gala. The Met Gala is one of those things I really don't care about. However, it's currently the top story at People.com, which makes me think it could be one of the sidebar stories on the the new cover. In particular Amal Clooney, who is a co-chair of the gala and turned up with husband Gorgeous George, could get the cover this week.
Tuesday afternoon, update #3: Robin Williams. A new biography of Williams, by New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff, comes out next week
Wednesday morning, update #4: See the new cover here.
Friday, May 4, 2018
A Big Day
photo credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images
Do you recognize these women? It's Prince Harry's granny, of course, on the right, and his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, on the left. What's the occasion? They're celebrating the Queen Mum's 81st birthday, on August 4, 1981. (Coincidentally, just six days after the wedding of Harry's parents.)
Did anything else of note happen on that day? Actually, yes. Across the pond in Los Angeles, Meghan Markle was born.
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Meghan Markle, Times Two
Wednesday update:
Last year at this time: Issue dated December 19, 2016
Original post:
Issue dated December 18, 2017: Meghan Again
Issue dated December 11, 2017: Harry and Meghan
It's official, Harry and Meghan are engaged, and it's big, big news, with two cover stories in a row. If you don't follow the royals as closely as I do, you may not be aware of how groundbreaking this engagement really is. First, consider the last time a 2nd royal son got engaged, back in April, 1986, when Prince Charles' younger brother Prince Andrew planned to marry Sarah Ferguson. Here's how People explained "an especially significant aspect of the engagement":
Thirty or 40 years ago this marriage would never have been allowed to happen.
Fergie, as her friends and now the world know her, is a woman with a past. It isn't much of a past, actually, but she has lived with two men and openly enough so that it has been widely reported by the ever-diligent British press. At Buckingham Palace, where divorce is still enough to get a servant kicked out, Fergie might once have been blackballed for that. Three things have served to give the story a happier ending. The royal family, along with almost everybody else, has loosened up. Andrew (who almost certainly will become the Duke of York) stands a remote fourth in the line of succession, behind Charles and his two sons. And everybody likes Fergie, especially considering the alternatives. (The word "alternatives" is a cheeky reference to Andrew's previous, non-aristocratic girlfriends, including American Koo Stark, who was described as a soft-core porn star.)
Some number of years ago Harry's marriage to Meghan would also never have been allowed to happen. Why not? Because of one or more of the following, officially or not:
She's American. She's been married and divorced. At 36, she's three years older than Harry. She's an actress. She's bi-racial, with a white father and an African-American mother. Something about religion. (I've seen reports describing her as both Catholic and Jewish, although neither appears to be true. She attended Catholic schools, apparently, and her first husband was Jewish, but she is neither. It's been announced that she will be baptized into the Church of England.)
The royal family really has loosened up. Everyone from the Queen to Camilla to Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge has said they're delighted and the wedding will take place at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, with the Queen herself in attendance. (Will Harry's good friends the Obamas be invited? I hope so. Will the Trumps be invited? Almost certainly not.)
There will be a lot more to say about this and more blogging to come, I promise.
Last year at this time: Issue dated December 19, 2016
Original post:
Issue dated December 18, 2017: Meghan Again
Issue dated December 11, 2017: Harry and Meghan
It's official, Harry and Meghan are engaged, and it's big, big news, with two cover stories in a row. If you don't follow the royals as closely as I do, you may not be aware of how groundbreaking this engagement really is. First, consider the last time a 2nd royal son got engaged, back in April, 1986, when Prince Charles' younger brother Prince Andrew planned to marry Sarah Ferguson. Here's how People explained "an especially significant aspect of the engagement":
Thirty or 40 years ago this marriage would never have been allowed to happen.
Fergie, as her friends and now the world know her, is a woman with a past. It isn't much of a past, actually, but she has lived with two men and openly enough so that it has been widely reported by the ever-diligent British press. At Buckingham Palace, where divorce is still enough to get a servant kicked out, Fergie might once have been blackballed for that. Three things have served to give the story a happier ending. The royal family, along with almost everybody else, has loosened up. Andrew (who almost certainly will become the Duke of York) stands a remote fourth in the line of succession, behind Charles and his two sons. And everybody likes Fergie, especially considering the alternatives. (The word "alternatives" is a cheeky reference to Andrew's previous, non-aristocratic girlfriends, including American Koo Stark, who was described as a soft-core porn star.)
Some number of years ago Harry's marriage to Meghan would also never have been allowed to happen. Why not? Because of one or more of the following, officially or not:
She's American. She's been married and divorced. At 36, she's three years older than Harry. She's an actress. She's bi-racial, with a white father and an African-American mother. Something about religion. (I've seen reports describing her as both Catholic and Jewish, although neither appears to be true. She attended Catholic schools, apparently, and her first husband was Jewish, but she is neither. It's been announced that she will be baptized into the Church of England.)
The royal family really has loosened up. Everyone from the Queen to Camilla to Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge has said they're delighted and the wedding will take place at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, with the Queen herself in attendance. (Will Harry's good friends the Obamas be invited? I hope so. Will the Trumps be invited? Almost certainly not.)
There will be a lot more to say about this and more blogging to come, I promise.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
This Day In History, 1981: The Wedding Of The Century
photo credit: Reuters
Diana's 1997 death is getting most of the attention this summer, but it was the "wedding of the century," 36 years ago today, that started it all.
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Pippa's Wedding (And Rachel)
Issued dated June 5, 2017: Pippa Middleton's Wedding
People goes with Pippa's wedding as the main cover story, no surprise, although Pippa herself isn't the focus. Bachelorette Rachel, who has ended the "suspense" and announced that she is indeed engaged, gets a topline tease.
People goes with Pippa's wedding as the main cover story, no surprise, although Pippa herself isn't the focus. Bachelorette Rachel, who has ended the "suspense" and announced that she is indeed engaged, gets a topline tease.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Pippa's Dress?
Is this Pippa Middleton's wedding dress? Could be. British papers are breathlessly keeping track of all the preparations. Another tidbit? The glass tent:
Read more at the Daily Mail website.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
This Day In History, 1956: Grace Kelly Marries A Prince
Photo credit: Getty
As the world wonders if Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle, a look back at another royal wedding in which an American actress married a prince.
Monday, April 10, 2017
Another (Sort Of) Royal Wedding
Remember this?
Issue dated July 7, 1986
Prince William turned four on June 21, 1986; one month later he served as a pageboy at Uncle Andrew's wedding to Sarah Ferguson. Now it's his kids' turn. Kate's sister Pippa is getting married on May 20 and her royal niece and nephew are in the wedding party. George will be two months shy of four years old, Charlotte will have just turned two on May 2. Will they steal the show? Almost certainly, and they'll probably look way cooler than William did during his "official debut:"
Prince Harry is also attending, either with or without girlfriend Meghan Markle. I've seen articles saying that of course she'll be there, indicating the strength of the relationship, but there is also reporting that Pippa is sticking to a strict "No Ring, No Bring" policy. Will Harry and Meghan eventually go the distance and tie the knot? No way to know, but once royal in-law Pippa is married, royal romantics will turn their eyes to Harry and wonder longingly, when, Harry? When?
After all, Harry is now older than his father Charles was when he married Diana. At some point soon it will be time to get on with it, if not with Meghan then with someone else. In the meantime, now that Kensington Palace has confirmed the royal kids' participation in Pippa's wedding, will she get a People cover story? It wouldn't surprise me.
Issue dated July 7, 1986
Prince William turned four on June 21, 1986; one month later he served as a pageboy at Uncle Andrew's wedding to Sarah Ferguson. Now it's his kids' turn. Kate's sister Pippa is getting married on May 20 and her royal niece and nephew are in the wedding party. George will be two months shy of four years old, Charlotte will have just turned two on May 2. Will they steal the show? Almost certainly, and they'll probably look way cooler than William did during his "official debut:"
Prince Harry is also attending, either with or without girlfriend Meghan Markle. I've seen articles saying that of course she'll be there, indicating the strength of the relationship, but there is also reporting that Pippa is sticking to a strict "No Ring, No Bring" policy. Will Harry and Meghan eventually go the distance and tie the knot? No way to know, but once royal in-law Pippa is married, royal romantics will turn their eyes to Harry and wonder longingly, when, Harry? When?
After all, Harry is now older than his father Charles was when he married Diana. At some point soon it will be time to get on with it, if not with Meghan then with someone else. In the meantime, now that Kensington Palace has confirmed the royal kids' participation in Pippa's wedding, will she get a People cover story? It wouldn't surprise me.
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