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Prince William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, “really missed a trick” by not attending the funeral of Constantine II on Monday, a royal commentator has claimed. By mingling with European royals at a highly emotional event, Kate and William would have helped dispel the “overall characterisation of the Windsor famille” Prince Harry painted in his book, titled Spare, journalist Daniela Elser said.
In a comment piece for News.com.au, the commentator wrote: “The most damaging thing about Spare, if you get down to it, is not a specific incident of Palace fisticuffs or some frosty showdown in a royal garden among the topiary corgis but his overall characterisation of the Windsor famille as pathologically self-interested sorts with all the innate warmth of a freezer full of Paddle Pops. Photos from the funeral show a visibly emotional Queen Anne Marie and Crown Prince Pavlos embracing Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands (formerly the country’s Queen), King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain, Prince Joachim of Denmark, among others. William and Kate being seen in this touchy, feely titled mix would have added a certain warm, humanising element to their image at exactly the moment they needed it the most. And yet instead, they were nowhere to be seen.”
The funeral of Constantine II, who was one of Prince William‘s godparents, would have been a “golden PR opportunity”, Ms Elser added. By attending, she continued, Kate and William would have reminded how they do a “cracking job” at representing the UK abroad.
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Meghan Markle’s best pal Jessica Mulroney, 40, has broken her silence after the publication of Spare and previous issues with the former royal in a subtle show of support.
The pair seemingly drifted apart after Mulroney was shamed for so-called “white privilege” and cancelled by her employer, ABC, where she worked as a fashion contributor for Good Morning America.
After months of staying silent about Meghan and Harry’s attacks against the Royal Family, Mulroney — a Toronto-based stylist – published a series of sweet throwback snaps of her and Meghan
The friends, who shared a house in Canada, were close pals. Markle even called Mulroney on the day Prince Harry proposed in London, according to the Netflix Docuseries Harry and Meghan.
But in 2020, they drifted apart after lifestyle blogger Sasha Exeter attacked Mulroney for comments allegedly which were demonstrable of “white privilege”.
At the weekend, she shared a black and white picture of herself at Harry and Meghan’s wedding. The photo had featured in the Netflix series.
The King has requested that profits from a £1billion a year crown estate windfarm deal should be used for the “wider public good” rather than as a financial boost for the monarchy.
Under the sovereign grant, funded by the taxpayer which is currently £86.3 million a year, the monarch receives 25 percent.
He also receives an extra 10 percent for the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.
Six new offshore wind energy lease agreements have generated a significant amount of money for the estate which would usually lead to an increase in the monarchy’s funding.
However the King, who discussed the cost of living crisis in his Christmas speech, has requested that the additional fund “be directed for wider public good” instead of being sent to the sovereign grant when so many are facing hardship.
It is not clear what the exact amount of taxpayer funding the King has passed on but it could be many millions.
Prince Harry’s memoir Spare has made a series of bombshell allegations against the Royal Family, with the Duke of Sussex being particularly critical of his stepmother Camilla.
The Duke of Sussex described the Queen Consort as a “villain” and “dangerous” while promoting his memoir in the US.
A new Express.co.uk poll has found over 90 percent of readers agreeing that Harry has gone too far in his attacks on Camilla.
Harry told Anderson Cooper on CBS’ 60 Minutes ahead of the publication of Spare that following Camilla’s marriage into the Firm 2005 she needed to work hard to improve her reputation.
He said: “She was the villain, she was a third person in the marriage, she needed to rehabilitate her image.”
He continued: “That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. And there was open willingness on both sides to trade of information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being Queen Consort, there was going to be people or bodies left in the street because of that.”
Royal biographer and editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, Ingrid Seward said Harry’s comments on Camilla are “unnecessary”. She told The Mirror: “Prince Harry’s attacks on his stepmother the Queen Consort are unnecessary and gratuitously nasty. Camilla has never been anything but kind to Harry and took great care to keep out of his orbit.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have continued to hold on to their royal titles following countless claims made against the Royal Family but this could all change.
Royal author Christopher Andersen has pointed out that Harry’s grandmother had “no qualms” about removing his military titles following Megxit.
The expert added that King Charles could “channel” the Queen’s “decisive action”.
Dan Wootton grilled a guest on his show about whether Prince Harry used “dangerous” terms regarding women in his latest memoir, ‘Spare’.
Starting the debate with Mr Clarkson, he asked if Ms James also believed that he should be “cancelled”, the GB news host asked her viewpoint.
Ms James said: “I don’t want him to be cancelled. I like Clarkson and I am friends with his daughter.
“I think what I have an issue with is one thing you said about its humour and also you saying it’s not dangerous.
“I actually disagree with that because of this sort of sexist language, whoever they say about, I don’t particularly care if it’s Harry or Meghan or if it’s somebody else that he said about.
“But what it does is the media it forms the attitude of society. It also begins with sexism.”
Taking on her words, Mr Wootton asked her if she believes that Prince Harry’s language was “dangerous.”
He went to read extracts from Harry’s memoir and pointed out areas where Harry has spoken about the women.
Mr Wootton said: “You are saying that misogynist language against women can be dangerous. Do you believe that Harry’s language was dangerous?
“Following your logic, Prince Harry is as dangerous as Jeremy Clarkson?”
Ms James responded: “If there is sexism if it comes from Prince Harry, then of course.
“He (Harry) didn’t call for somebody to be stripped naked. So I don’t want to put it on any list.”
Prince William should made a statement in a “regal manner” in response to the allegations made by his brother in Spare in order to “humiliate the Sussexes”, according to a royal author.
Speaking to GB News host Dan Wootton, Tom Bower said that the Prince of Wales needed to make it clear that Meghan Markle was initially welcomed in Britain but the fact that the Suits actress wanted to be the “star” was what led to the breakdown of the relationship between the Duchess of Sussex and the Firm.
He said: “I think that once the publicity campaign of Harry to promote his book dies down, which obviously it will at some stage.
“Only William can make a seasoned and reasonable statement to the world to assert the following fundamental facts.
A piece of jewellery once owned by Princess Diana has been bought at an auction by Kim Kardashian for over £160,000.
A representative for the star picked up the Attallah Cross, which was worn by the late princess on several occasions, at the famous Sotheby’s auction house.
The purple cross was designed by Garrard, the first official jeweller to the Royal Family, and is made up of square-cut amethysts and circle-cut diamonds, weighing approximately 5.25 carats.
Diana also picked out her iconic sapphire engagement ring from Garrard, which is now worn by Kate Middleton.
She most famously paired their pendant with a Catherine Walker dress at a charity gala held in support of Birthright, a charity working towards the protection of human rights during pregnancy and childbirth, in October 1987.
Piers Morgan has hit out at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for not accepting Jeremy Clarkson’s apology after he wrote a controversial column about the couple.
Mr Clarkson wrote a public apology on Instagram saying he was “mortified” when he realised the mistake he had made.
In his now-deleted column for The Sun, Mr Clarkson said he hated Meghan “on a cellular level” and was dreaming of the day that she was made to parade naked through every British town while crowds hurled excrement and chanted “shame”.
His apology was not received well by the Sussexes.
A spokesperson for the couple said Clarkson still has a “long-standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny.”
The statement added: “Unless each of his other pieces were also written ‘in a hurry’, as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate.”
Earlier this week, Mr Morgan discussed the row on his TalkTV show ‘Uncensored’.
The host hit out at Harry and Meghan for not accepting Mr Clarkson’s apology, branding them “perennial victims”.
Britain’s gold winning curling team have another medal to add to their haul after collecting their honours from Princess Anne.
Winter Olympic stars Jennifer Dodds, Hailey Duff, Mili Smith and Victoria Drummond were made an MBE at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Wednesday, as was coach David Murdoch.
They were part of the team which brought home the curling gold for Team GB at Beijing’s Winter Olympics in 2022, beating Japan to the prize 10-3 in a sensational final where they won the first curling title since Rhona Martin threw what has been dubbed the “Stone of Destiny” in Salt Lake City two decades before.
Vice skipper Drummond, 29, who worked throughout the pandemic as a nurse at Forth Valley Hospital in Larbert near Falkirk, said it was a “really special” day in the Scottish capital.
She added: “Princess Anne was on great form today, we have met her a couple of times now, she’s just so lovely and we’re really honoured to receive this.
“A year ago we were about to go into a bubble out to the Olympics so I can’t believe it’s been a year already, it’s been so quick.”
Smith, 24, added she was pleased to be getting the award north of the border, and added: “It’s so amazing to be involved in it all and it’s such a special experience, so I’m really grateful.”
The pair were officially made MBE’s during the morning ceremony, while Dodds, Duff, and Murdoch picked up their medals in the afternoon.
Harry was liked by 31 percent and disliked by 38 percent giving him a net approval rating of -7.
Almost half of Americans, 44 percent, also said Harry was wrong to include details of private family conversations in his book, while 26 percent said he was right to do so.
Meanwhile, Meghan has dropped 36 points in just more than a month according to the pollsters who carried out the survey for Newsweek.
Read the full story
Mr Spencer, a passionate historian, shared a smiling snap of himself alongside the Rev Richard Coles as he prepares for the release of a new podcast. Fans praised Mr Spencer for his height.
In the caption of his Instagram post, he said: “With @revrichardcoles and @catjarman – and, to the left, Simon Clancy, our gifted producer- after we recorded the seventh episode of our podcast, which will debut in February.
“Never has ‘work’ been such fun. Here’s hoping the podcast-listening world will enjoy it, too…”
One of his followers, named Hilda Evelyn Hill, praised Mr Spencer – the uncle of Prince Harry and Prince William – for his genetics which contribute to making him look “tall and stately”.
She said: “Charles, Earl Spencer, you are tall and stately, Diana was tall and elegant. The genes are wonderful how they slip down the family line!”
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In his memoir Spare, published last week, the Duke of Sussex claimed royals “feverishly” competed with each other to top the list of the most public duties in the Court Circular — the official record of royal engagements.
He said some members of the Royal Family were “obsessed” with having the highest number of official engagements each year, resulting in friction within the Palace.
While Harry did not specify names, he claimed the list was “rigged” as it was self-reported, suggesting some royals boosted their numbers to give the impression they were more hard-working.
Princess Anne was revealed as the hardest-working royal of 2022, a title she maintained from the year before.
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Edward Coram-James, a PR, reputation management expert and CEO of Go Up, told Express.co.uk: “What can he do to revive his reputation? Keep his head down and push on with his vital issues based work.
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Leon Panetta, a former US Defence Secretary, said Harry should have “focused on the mission” rather than the number of people he had killed.
He told Piers Morgan on TalkTV: “I have to tell you that the strongest warriors I knew in battle were those who focused on the mission, not how many individuals they killed.
“Prince Harry would have done better to focus on the missions he was involved in…Harry could have handled this better as a soldier.
“I think that when you start to detail how many you have killed, that becomes the issue. And what I am offended by, frankly, is the distortion focusing on the number of kills rather than the mission.”
Read the full story
Royal commentator Rachel Bowie has said Prince Harry “hero-worships” his wife.
Speaking on the latest episode of Podcast Royal, which she hosts alongside Roberta Fiorito, Ms Bowie called Harry out for excessive admiration of his wife.
She said: “The way that Harry hero-worships Meghan is weird to me, to be quite frank with you.”
The host prefaced her comment by saying she “appreciates when men love their wives,” but added: “It’s like Meghan is a demigod to him and Meghan can do no wrong.”
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Valon Asani says Harry and his family should “acknowledge” the hurt that has been caused on both sides if they are to repair the damage of the last few years.
She said: “When being faced with a broken family, often we say, ‘I don’t know where to start’ but what we actually mean is: ‘I’m scared to start’.
“After a family fallout, one of the hardest aspects to deal with is to accept the idea that the other party feels wronged in some way by your actions, even if they were not intended to cause hurt.
“However, acknowledging how the other party feels, whether you agree or not, can show empathy and understanding that can then lead to more effective communication to be built.”
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In a poll that ran from 10am on Friday, January 6, to 4pm on Wednesday, January 18, Express.co.uk asked readers: “Should the Royal Family respond to allegations in Spare?”
In total, 3,751 votes were cast with the overwhelming majority, 89 per cent (3,330 people) answering “no” the Royal Family should keep their silence.
By contrast, 10 per cent (379 people) said “yes” they should speak out while one per cent (42 people) said they did not know either way.
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According to Nielsen BookScan, nearly 470,000 of those sold copies were in print alone, which is said to be worth around £6.6million.
Tom Tivnan, who is the Managing Editor of The Bookseller, told The Mirror: “It’s a phenomenal number, and probably a lot more than the publisher would have dreamed of really.
“Non-fiction doesn’t really sell in these numbers normally. 250,000 copies would be an amazing goal in the first week, but 470,000 is historic. It’s the fastest-selling non-fiction, adult hardback book of all time.”
He added: “I think the publishers are probably deliriously happy. It’s an amazing number for the first week but they paid a big advance.
“We’ll see if sales keep coming – I expect they will.”
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Valon Asani, of dating app Dua, said: “It has been reported that Prince Harry and Meghan have been invited to King Charles III’s coronation in May, which is an olive branch from the family to the couple.
“The trauma that Prince Harry has recounted and shared with the world recently can manifest itself in many ways, and Prince Harry likely has feelings of abandonment from his family and is seeking some form of compassion and communication from them.”
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Questioning whether the Duke’s new book, Spare, is the “appropriate forum” for airing grievances, CEO of ghostwriting company StoryTerrace, Rutger Bruining, said there are drawbacks to Harry “using this book as a forum” to reveal intimate emotional details of his family life.
Mr Bruining said: “It really seems like Harry has gone for broke in terms of what he’s decided to reveal, without taking into consideration how this might impact his family…or rather, he’s made a conscious decision not to hold back, regardless of how his brother and others might feel. Harry clearly feels aggrieved and is using this book as his forum to tell the world what he believes is his truth.”
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The Princess of Wales visited Foxcubs Nursery in Luton, as part of her ongoing work within the early years sector.
During the visit, one little boy caused the Princess, and all the adults present, to burst into laughter after trying to get in a shot of the crew filming.
The little boy, dressed as a construction worker, can be seen moving towards the front of the camera as Kate, who was standing behind, laughs.
The video, which was posted on Twitter by the Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English, caught the attention of royal watchers.
One user, @KaylaAdams_, reacted to the post, and wrote: “Hahaha he’s so cute!”
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Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, has urged his nation’s ministers to “move ahead with speed” in implementing the measures necessary to transform Jamaica from a constitutional monarchy to a republic.
However, he ackowledged the procedure was not simple and that he had never anticipated it to proceed in a “straight line”.
Speaking at a function in Montego Bay, St James, Jamaica’s Prime Minister declared: “It is time that Jamaica becomes a republic.”
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The visit marks the new Queen’s first appearance since Prince Harry‘s claims in his explosive memoir, and accompanying televised interviews.
King Charles’ wife was in attendance to view demonstrations in the university’s labs and meet staff and students.
As she made her exit, Camilla, who is Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, received a bouquet of flowers from Elspeth Cameron and Rosa Alexander, both aged four, from the Rocking Horse Nursery.
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Hours after Kate completed her first solo engagement of the year, the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Twitter account shared an adorable video showing the royal taking part in activities with the toddlers.
Learning through play at Foxcubs Nursery!
Outstanding early years settings like this play a huge role in positively shaping a childu2019s development. The collaboration between staff and parents is just one of the ways children here are supported in their first five years. pic.twitter.com/DMC3OSZ8UO
Prince Harry “didn’t go far enough” with his criticism of the Royal Family, an editorial in the LA Times has said.
Writer Meredith Blake analysed the Duke of Sussex’s recent Netflix series, interviews, and memoir, adding that he has exposed serious flaws in the royal framework.
She wrote that the Windsors have been portrayed as a “cold, dysfunctional and ruthless clan” where “hugs are beyond the pale but leaking stories to the Sun about your own kin is standard practice”.
The writer also claims that, in Harry’s view, King Charles is “detached and relentlessly self-serving”, Prince William is “dull and peevish” and Camilla is “a conniving stepmother straight out of Disney-villain central casting’.
However, Ms Blake says Harry didn’t go far enough because he fails to challenge the monarchy itself.
Read the full story here 
The Daily Mail had previously reported that Charlene’s parents were planning to move not far from the Palace of Monaco from their home in Benoni, South Africa.
This is a claim that those close to Charlene have quickly denied.
Speaking on behalf of Charlene’s parents, her sister-in-law Chantell Wittstock pointed out the rumours to be “totally false”.
She added that “Michael and Lynette are still in Benoni” and have “no intention of moving to Monaco”.
Read the full story here
The Princess of Wales chose to head to a nursery in Luton for her first-ever solo engagement of 2023.
Kate appeared in high spirits as she was welcomed to Foxcubs Nursery by staff members.
After chatting with staff, the royal sat down with children to take part in their activities, including playing with a sandpit and learning Chinese letters.
See all the pictures here
Although the attendance list for the coronation remains unknown, he told People magazine: “I’m certain that it’s going to be an incredible ceremony and a very moving one.”
Despite not talking to him “personally”, he confirms that he has “maintained contact since His Majesty became King”.
Speaking about the historical event, Prince Albert added: “I’m certain His Majesty will add his own ‘personal touches’ to the ceremonies.”
Read the full story here
The comments following a Jimmy Kimmel skit bashing Prince Harry – to much amusement from the audience – about his frostbitten penis, the story of which the Duke details in his memoir.
Royal expert Kinsey Schofield claimed that this sort of mockery of Princess Diana, who was extremely popular in the United States, would have been unheard of prior to the release of Spare.
“Princess Diana had become such a saintly figure to the world. One year ago there is no way you could joke about her being deceased. You would be cancelled.
She went on to claim: “Unfortunately, Harry’s lack of judgement is jeopardizing his mother’s legacy.”
Read the full story here 
According to bookies, there is a 75 percent chance the Duke of Sussex won’t be at the historic event, to be celebrated at Westminster Abbey by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Buckingham Palace has not yet shared the guest list for the event.
Asked earlier this month by ITV’s Tom Bradby whether he will attend the event, Prince Harry said: “There’s a lot that can happen between now and then. But, you know, the door is always open. The ball is in their court. There’s a lot to be discussed and I really hope that they can – that they are willing to sit down and talk about it, because there’s a lot that’s happened in six years. And prior to that as well.”
Meghan Markle’s friend Jessica Mulroney, 40, has broken her silence after the publication of Prince Harry‘s memoir Spare in a subtle show of support.
It was reported the pair had drifted apart after Ms Mulroney was shamed for so-called “white privilege” and cancelled by her employer, ABC, where she worked as a fashion contributor for Good Morning America.
After months of staying silent about Meghan and Harry’s attacks against the Royal Family, Mr Mulroney — a Toronto-based stylist – published a series of sweet throwback snaps of her and Meghan.
See the picture here
Good morning from London. I’m Alice Scarsi, I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments on the Royal Family and the fallout from Prince Harry‘s book, titled Spare. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work if you have a story or tips to share! Your thoughts are always welcome.
Email: alice.scarsi@reachplc.com
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