The World of Style & Entertainment

[MJ2004]

The FT rarely reports on the royal family, unless it's part of a larger news story. This article addresses the wider ranging implications JazzNU was referring to:

From fairy tale to culture war: Britain gripped by royal race row
Meghan Markle’s and Prince Harry’s interview on US television splits opinion in the UK

At the time of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018, many commentators seized on signs Britain’s royal family was embracing the 21st century.

The young prince was marrying a mixed-race, divorcee from America who showed independent spirit like Harry’s late mother Diana, the princess of Wales, and who was being welcomed with great fanfare into the royal household.

“It was as if the exclusivity of royalty and blue blood could be erased with a photo-op,” one black British commentator, who asked not to be named, said in hindsight of the hopes the wedding once inspired.

Any vestiges of that fairy tale reached a bitter end during the US television personality Oprah Winfrey’s two-hour interview with the former royals when it was aired on CBS in America on Sunday night.

The most explosive revelations in the interview, carried out in California where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have exiled themselves since they retreated from royal life last year, revolved around race.

There were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”, Markle said about the couple’s then unborn child, Archie, prompting Winfrey to pause. Harried and sometimes vilified by Britain’s tabloid newspapers, Markle was driven to feeling suicidal, she said, but was denied the help and protection she sought from the royal household.

While the revelations were not directed at any member of the royal family, they painted the monarchy in an unflattering light at a difficult time for race relations in Britain — after the Black Lives Matter protests and the high number of black and minority ethnic victims of coronavirus.

Markle’s revelations — and those of Prince Harry, who said his father, Prince Charles, had at one point refused to take his calls — have split opinion in Britain, prompting torrents of commentary, much of it highly partisan to one side or another, in the media and on social media.

Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London and a historian of the ruling Tory party, saw dangers that these polemics will feed into the culture wars unleashed in the wake of the 2016 Brexit referendum, providing ammunition for some politicians to exploit.

“If they can portray Meghan and Harry as prince and princess of woke in opposition to the rest of the royal family and establishment they will be tempted to do so,” he said.

The interview has prompted an outpouring of support for Markle from some members of the British black community. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, the author, lawyer and women’s rights activist, said that the Queen herself should have intervened to try to halt the “divisive and hateful treatment” of Markle by some sections of the media.

“I get that families have feuds, and I have no interest in getting into that. But if you can treat one person that way, if you think it’s OK for a member of your family to be treated like that, how can I trust you, as the monarchy, to speak up for me. This is a matter of principle,” Mos-Shogbamimu said.

The palace made no response to the revelations ahead of their broadcast in the UK on Monday evening. But it had vocal defenders.

“Meghan and Harry’s nauseating two-hour Oprah whine-athon was a disgraceful diatribe of cynical race-baiting propaganda designed to damage the Queen as her husband lies in hospital — and destroy the Monarchy,” television presenter Piers Morgan wrote in the Daily Mail.

Also describing the interview as a betrayal, Penny Junor, a royal biographer, wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper: “It is hugely damaging for Harry too. For him the monarchy is not some quaint, outdated institution, as it is for millions of Americans . . . For Harry the monarchy is family.”

For the Queen, who turns 95 next month, the saga bears echoes of what she called her “annus horribilis” back in 1992, when the household was riven by divorces, and Diana published a damaging account of her broken marriage with Charles.

It comes as her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip recovers from a heart procedure in hospital, and after a year in which her second son Andrew was forced to step back from royal duties as a result of allegations surrounding his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced former financier and convicted paedophile. Prince Andrew has denied wrongdoing.

It also weakens one of the few institutions that binds the UK together, at a time independence movements in Scotland, Northern Ireland and, to a lesser extent, Wales have all gained ground, strengthening the case for wholesale reform.

Support for the monarchy in the UK has remained consistently strong overall. However, there is a growing generational divide, according to the latest survey on the issue by YouGov, carried out at the end of 2020. More than eight in 10 people aged over 65 preferred to preserve the monarchy over an elected head of state, compared with only half as many among 18-24-year-olds. There is also a roughly even split among adults over who should succeed the Queen, Charles or his son William.

“When Meghan came into the royal family, as Diana before, they had their second chance to move into the 21st century. But rather than embracing these people, they tried to smother them and pretend the past is still there,” said Norman Baker, a former government minister and author of a book on the cost of maintaining the monarchy: And What Do You Do? What The Royal Family Don’t Want You To Know.

Referring to reports in the British press of a bullying complaint against Markle filed by a former royal aide, he added: “I do believe she did cause difficulties for people who worked for her, but there is no excuse for the way the palace has handled this.” Markle has denied the bullying claims.

Only a few hours before the Winfrey interview was to be aired in Britain, prime minister Boris Johnson on Monday was among the few who did not have an opinion on the row, only saying he had “the highest admiration for the Queen” and the work she did “for the country and the Commonwealth”.

“I really think when it comes to matters to do with the royal family the right thing for prime ministers is to say nothing. And nothing is what I propose to say on this matter,” Johnson said.

[ti-amie]

There is a scene in "The Crown" where Prince Phillip tells an ever more isolated and spiraling Princess Diana that she should "accept her place" like everyone else in the Royal circle does. The only one that matters, he goes on to say, Is Queen Elizabeth, even for him. We're nothing he says.

It's interesting that William, the oldest, seems to be following "protocol" and if rumors are to believed has/is carrying on an affair with a woman who had been close to Kate. Kate, like Diana, has had sons and is now free to do what she wants, with discretion.

[ti-amie]

[MJ2004]

If nothing else good comes of this, at least this clown is gone:

"Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”

[the Moz]

If nothing else good comes of this, at least this clown is gone:

"Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”

For sure. Piers is the worst!!

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

"Red Carpet" Photo's from the Grammy's.


Megan Thee Stallion in Dolce & Gabbana and jewels by Chopard.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images


Lizzo in Balmain and Bulgari on the red carpet.
Getty


Chloe x Halle in Louis Vuitton. "Chloe is 22 and Halle is about to turn 21, and they want the freedom and fluidity to explore being a little sexier in their look," their stylist Zerina Akers told The Hollywood Reporter prior to the show.

Courtesy of Louis Vuitton (2)
Chloe x Halle wearing Louis Vuitton for the Grammy Awards. Chloe Bailey, at left, was photographed in Los Angeles by Jahmad Balugo; Halle Bailey, right, was photographed in London by Greg Williams.


DaBaby in Dolce & Gabbana.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
(I actually like this get up.)

[ti-amie]

Whoever this is actually makes JLo's Grammy shocker look modest.


Doja Cat in custom Roberto Cavalli by Fausto Puglisi and black-diamond earrings by Lorraine Schwartz.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images


Host Trevor Noah. His stylist Jason Bolden posted on Instagram that Noah is wearing a custom double-breasted tuxedo by Gucci, accessorized with a brooch by Tiffany & Co.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images


Grammy-nominated artist H.E.R. wore a burgundy velvet embroidered robe and matching wide-leg trousers from the fall/winter 2021 collection by Dundas.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images


Nominated for best Latin pop or urban album, Debi Nova wore a hot-pink strapless cocktail dress with a floral-printed hem and train from Georges Chakra's spring/summer 2020 haute-couture collection.


Jhené Aiko hosting the Premiere Ceremony.
Rich Fury/Getty Images

[ti-amie]

This is all I've seen so far. I think it's the first time I'm going with two men for best dressed.

[skatingfan]

Whoever this is actually makes JLo's Grammy shocker look modest.

That was like 20 years ago - standards change.

[JazzNU]

Though I don't care for the dress and I don't find it all that shocking for whatever reason, I'm more disappointed with the rest of Doja Cat's look. She's pretty and I can't tell that here at all with this entirely too heavy and severe hair and makeup styling.

[ti-amie]

From the Daily Mail unless otherwise noted



Comfort is key? The Grammys took place semi-virtually this year - but that didn't stop stars from making serious fashion faux pas - including Noah Cyrus, who looked as though she was wearing a white bed sheet on the red carpet

Some are snarking that they know why there was a toilet paper shortage a little while ago when discussing this "gown"


Cynthia Erivo
Style: The actress, 34, cut a glamorous figure as she walked the red carpet in a fluorescent green sleeveless gown

From Vogue


Dua Lipa in Versace and BVLGARI jewelry
Photo: Getty Images


Harry Styles in Gucci on stage
Photo: Getty Images

[ti-amie]

More from Vogue


Billie Ellis in Gucci
Photo: Getty Images


Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Taylor Swift
The folklore singer shuts down the red carpet in a delightful Oscar de la Renta creation, which is decorated with an explosion of flowers.

Love the shoes. Hate the dress.


Francis Specker/CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Ingrid Andress
A vision in white! The Grammy nominee shows up and shows out in a power suit by Armani Privé.

I love Armani and this is why.


Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Beyoncé
Sometimes, all you need is a little black dress to steal the show. The Grammy winner stunned in a daring black design by Schiaparelli.

The face and body say middle age but she's fighting it every step of the way. I don't like the hair she chose with the top of the dress being so busy.

[ptmcmahon]

Taylor's Swift flower dress is "delightful"? Not what came to my mind.

[ti-amie]

Toby Keith is trending on Twitter because of some new video of his. This anecdote was posted to remind people of who Toby Keith is, and why country music has a problem outside of its base audience.



I did crack up at the end.