161: Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry were in New York, Princess Kate and Prince William did some events

Explicit content warning

10/14/23 • 28 min

Introduction: Minutes 0 to 3:30 We should have an episode out next week and then we’ll be off on October 28th. I recently discovered a British woman on YouTube who feeds the foxes in her suburban neighborhood. I also love videos of huskies. Here’s a link to the video I mention where the husky is complaining and the German Shepherd is chill. (The husky has since passed over the rainbow bridge.) Here’s a link to the video Chandra mentions of the Husky who refuses to come in after it snowed. Chandra loves this interview with Daniil Medvedev from after he beat Alcaraz at the US Open. There’s also a cute interview where he’s doing a puzzle. Chandra is going to watch the Beckham docuseries.

Royals: Minutes (3:30) to 20:00 Harry and Meghan were in New York City as part of their work with the Archewell Foundation for World Mental Health Day. They were in a terrible car chase with the paparazzi the last time they were in New York, in May. This time they brought a security team. Chandra thinks some of that security might be NYPD. The British press was snarky about their security.

Harry and Meghan visited a school in Brooklyn and also took part in a discussion with at the World Mental Health Day Festival with families of children have been bullied online. They were on a panel with US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. The Sussexes have been advocating for regulating social media for a long time. We remember Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony in Congress in late 2021 and Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony in 2018. Congress is not regulating these awful social media companies because they have no clue. I pay a segment of Meghan’s discussion on that panel. Chandra does not think Meghan will return to Instagram. We remember when her friend posted a photo of avocado toast and the press connected it to war and drought.

The Waleses hired an entertainment producer, Pippa Harris, as director of their Royal Foundation. Pippa runs a production company with director Sam Mendes and is one of the producers of Call the Midwife. We’re surprised that show is still running after 12 seasons but we both only watched the first two seasons. The story about William hiring Harris was written by Richard Eden and framed as if Harry and Meghan would be jealous of William. It was ridiculous. William’s private secretary is leaving after the news that William wants to hire a CEO. Kate hasn’t had a private secretary in over a year. She tried to hire someone but that woman quit before she started.

The Waleses went to Birmingham for World Mental Health day where they spoke to young people. I thought Kate’s speech was a little better than usual, but Chandra says she hasn’t improved. William just gave basic examples of improving mental health like getting outdoors and talking to friends. The Royal Foundation also

Previous Episode

160: Princess Kate will step out solo while William will spread his wings

Introduction: Minutes 0 to 6:00 I’ve been watching Encounters on Netflix! Chandra is watching a friend’s cat and it’s being naughty.

Royals: Minutes (6:00) to 19:45 The British press is making excuses for why Kate can’t go to Singapore for the Earthshot Awards. They’re saying that she’s a reluctant traveler, that she is focused on her kids and has to stay back because that’s the week George has some kind of qualifying test for school. Kate made sure to mention this at an event. We think this is just an excuse.

Robert Jobson reported in the Daily Express that Kate will increasingly “step out solo” and that William is “spreading his wings.” The press still writes about them like they’ve just graduated college.

Will and Kate did a couple of events together recently. They met with Apple CEO Tim Cook at Kensington Palace where they likely got free iPhones. They also went to Cardiff to do multiple events for Black History Month where they looked especially awkward. We got stories afterward about how hunky William is.

Kate visited a community center without bringing anything. I play a segment from Zoom where we talk about Kate’s style. Zakia mentions that Kate may have lost some sensation in her face due to injections and be exaggerating her expressions for that reason. This makes sense because celebrity women have said that they weren’t able to smile after bad Botox. Ashley says how disrespectful it is that Kate repeated an outfit within a couple of days for an event with Black people.

Sophie Turner and Taylor Swift Minutes (19:45) to 28:30 Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas are divorcing. We talked about that in episode 157. Joe tried to push the narrative that Sophie is partying, which was a crap PR move but more than that he didn’t need that because the children have US residency. A lot of people don’t understand international child custody rules, which is that the children stay where they are "habitual residents." The latest news is that they’re going to mediation to determine custody. I play a segment from Zoom where we talk about that. We think Sophie is getting bad advice after some of her recent public moves.

Taylor Swift is dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. She’s been attending to his football games and Swifties and the NFL are going crazy. She went to a game with his mom in Kansas City on September 24 and on Sunday October 1 she went to a game in New Jersey with Sophie, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.

Comments of the Week: Minutes (28:30) to end Chandra’s comment of the week is from Kreama on the post about Prince William being a royal hunk.

My comments of the week are from Steph and Susan Collins on the post about Commander Biden being sent away.

Thanks for listening bitches!

Next Episode

162: Princess Kate and Prince William are living separate lives, Britney Spears is dishing the dirt in her memoir

Introduction: Minutes 0 to 6:00 We’ll be off next week. Chandra thinks the gossip will pick up when The Crown and Omid Scobie’s book come out. I’ve been watching The Fall of the House of Usher. Chandra can’t do ghosts or body horror. Chandra watched the Beckham series and loved it.

Royals: Minutes 6:00 to 14:00 We’re getting more details about the bankruptcy of the Middleton’s business, Party Pieces. We talked about that in episode 153. Someone has been putting up posters in Bucklebury where the Middletons live calling them out for stiffing creditors and suppliers. We’re wondering why there aren’t any photos of the posters. The man who bought Party Pieces earlier this year, James Sinclair, said it’s all the investment firm’s fault and everything was fine before Carol sold half her business. These excuses don’t add up.

William and Kate are said to be divided over whether Prince George should go to boarding school at Eton where William and Harry went. It looks like they’ve been separated for some time. William went to the Rugby World Cup semifinal in France with George on Saturday. Then Kate went solo to another match on Sunday.

Britney Spears: Minutes 14:00 to 20:30 Britney Spears has a new memoir coming out on October 24th called The Woman in Me. We’re getting advanced details and she really dished the dirt. She talked about how she’s been controlled and criticized since she was a teenager, and she revealed that Justin Timberlake got her pregnant when she was 18 or 19 and convinced her to have an abortion. She said he cheated on her with another celebrity. She also admitted that she made out with another guy, a choreographer named Wade Robson, when she was with Justin. We are sure Justin cheated a lot and we remember when he cheated on Jessica Biel. In response to this story a source told Entertainment Tonight that “Justin has been focusing on his own family... and just want[s] everyone to grow and evolve instead of continuing to bring up the past.”

I read a quote from Lisa from the Eat, Pray, Britney podcast. We wonder how Justin Timberlake dumped Britney over text when not many of us were texting in 2002. Did he use a Blackberry? They had just come out in 2002 and Britney and Justin broke up in March of that year.

Comments of the Week: Minutes 20:30 to end Kaiser’s COTW is from Ameerah M on the post about Travis Kelce’s love of fashion.

My COTW is from Bee on the post where Jada Pinkett Smith said that people blamed her for Will smacking Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Thanks for listening bitches!