There are A LOT of people on boats right now. That said, Prince Harry HAS popped out and proved that he’s still alive. And so is his beard.
Elsewhere:
- Marie Claire takes a look at royalty that have lived in the United States
- Let’s take a look inside Clarence House! This article is quite interesting, and packed with pictures and interesting tidbits (Charles has an official harpist, which I really wish I’d known when we were writing The Royal We; that said, there are photos here of a couple of the rooms that DO appear in the book, albeit sans harp). I think you will enjoy it. (The Crown Chronicles)
- Speaking of The Royal We, we had a long and (I think) interesting interview with the Los Angeles Review of Books about it, which touched on lots of issues about Kate, as well as Scruples, Lupita, Kim Kardashian, and other Topics of GFY Interest.
- Crown Princess Mary and Princess Marie went to some snazzy bash at at Danish castle on an island, which is — I assume — what we’re all doing with our summers, and Royalista has video.
- Over at Royal Central, an interesting look at QE2’s racing pigeons. WHO KNEW.
- This is great. As you may have read, several never-before-seen photos from Diana and Prince Charles’s wedding are up for auction. The Express runs down whatever happened to several of the people in them, from the obscure to “she’s still the Queen.”
- Mike Tindall is finally getting his glorious Picasso of a nose — to borrow a phrase from ourselves (there is a very tertiary rugby player in The Royal We) — fixed. (Hello!)
- You can rent cottages at Sandringham. Let’s go! (People)
- The Jewel History at The Court Jeweller this week is SOOOOOOOO good and also includes a tiara mishap that makes an appearance in The Royal We. (If you’ve read the book and read the acknowledgements, we thank both Ella Kay at The Court Jeweller and the kind folks at Order of Splendor; we spent a lot of time doing Tiara Research. WHAT AGONY.)
- Kensington Palace has released a statement regarding paparazzi photos of Prince George (like the ones in the sand dunes with Carole Middleton that I linked to last week). Apparently, the paps situation has gotten really bad (and William in particular is EXTREMELY sensitive to it, for obvious reasons) and they’re asking media outlets not to purchase those photos anymore to discourage invasive behavior. Basically, no UK outlets buy them anyway, and from what I can tell, PopSugar is the main purchaser of them in the US, but they are widely purchased in Australia and across Europe. (There is a French magazine that will run any candid shot of any royal that you’ve got — they ran topless pics of Camilla, about which, if I were Camilla, I would be delighted in secret.) I have felt hesitant linking to shots like that of the kids in the past — the casual photos we’ve run of the kids here on GFY, like the ones of Mia in today’s slideshow, or ones of George at polo, are always from public events where the family knows there will be press photographers — because it did seem invasive, and I think I’m sensitive to the situation after having spent over a year writing about what it’s like to be in similar shoes. For what it’s worth, there has been coverage with pics of Kate and George, or George and his nanny, that I’ve made the editorial decision to skip because they were so clearly taken from, like, inside a bush. But it has been hard to resist when the snaps are particularly cute — I am human, and I think we ALL are tempted to look at them, and that’s natural. All that said, I think I’m going to stop linking to them at all. I will note that while I don’t think anything will make the paparazzi leave the Cambridges alone entirely (they just make too much money for everyone), I wonder if the situation might be mitigated if Kate and Wills released more sanctioned pictures of George and Charlotte to the press. I am absolutely not blaming them — I think keeping their children’s lives as private as they want is their decision, they are coming from a protective, parental place, and no one is owed pictures of anyone; they shouldn’t have to do anything — but I wonder if loosening the reins might actually help a little bit, as unfair as it might feel to them to have to do so. Food for thought, anyway. (BBC)
- Also, this seems like as good a place as any to note that every year around this time, Royals Round-Up comments tend to veer slightly more contentious than I think is fun for anyone (I’m not blaming anyone; I think it’s the weather), and so consider this your annual friendly moderator reminding everyone (including myself!) to please keep it light and polite. Thank you!
[Photos: Getty, African Conservation Experience]
