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A very successful charity indeed

Archewell Foundation received $10 million from one unknown individual donor and $3 million from another, alongside $4,470 in public donations.

Just look at that astonishing level of public support.

No, really, near five grand surprises the hell out of me.

Culture? ABBA?

ABBA fans have been banned from wearing 1970s “disco wigs” to the pop group’s virtual concert because they are “culturally insensitive”.

Ticket-holders for the ABBA Voyage show – which is held at a purpose-built venue in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and features holograms of the band performing their greatest hits – received an email telling them Afro-style hairpieces are “not appropriate” for the event.

In the email, seen by the Mail on Sunday, promoters said: “Many of our guests will want to get in the spirit of the show by dressing up for their visit. [But] please do not wear so-called ‘Afro’ wigs.

“These wigs are culturally insensitive and not appropriate to be worn as fancy dress. If any guests are wearing this style of wig they will be respectfully asked to remove them as a condition of entry to the arena.”

Bit of a category error to include any derivation of the word “culture” alongside the name of this popular beat combo, no?

As an uncultured vileness myself my reaction is “Fuck off, tossers” but that’s as may be.

Eh?

Prince Andrew has been left “bewildered” that he has not yet received any inheritance from Queen Elizabeth II, royal sources have claimed.

After the Queen’s death last September, her £650 million Duchy of Lancaster estate was automatically left to King Charles.

However, Prince Andrew, 63, is said to have told friends he feels “despair” that the King has not shared any of his new wealth among his siblings.

But the Duchy of L ain’t his money. It’s the King’s money. There’s also the point that the Duchy of Cornwall – which has now gone to Willy – is larger, so that Charles is poorer as a result of the swap.

But the real point is that this isn’t from Lizzie W to Charles W, this is from Queen to King.

How very odd

The subject of Archie and Lilibet’s titles has caused much confusion since the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September amid claims that the King was undecided about whether they should use them.

The Royal family’s website, which lists them as sixth and seventh in the line of succession, still refers to them as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

That should, of course, by Lady Lilibet, as the daughter of a Duke. And whatever they say, he’s really Earl of Dumbarton. I think that’s the subsidiary title, yes?

Aha! We have a fellow monomaniac!

It is a pity the Sussexes’ spokesman has a feeble grasp of titles in general. The Bishop of Los Angeles, the Rt Rev John Taylor, was called “Archbishop” in the announcement, but the Archbishop of Los Angeles is a Roman Catholic. In any case, canon lawyers agree, baptism of the Princess would be valid whether by Catholic or Anglican Episcopalian.

To add insult to confusion, the Sussexes’ announcement called the bishop “Reverend”, though he is Right Reverend. Of course, titles might not matter to some. But then why insist that Lilibet is a Princess?

Err, yes?

According to Tom Bower, author of Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors, both potentially lucrative alliances suggest the Duchess is “building up to something big”.

But what?

It comes as Meghan has also been linked to Gordon Getty, following unconfirmed reports the pair were spotted having lunch together. The San Francisco billionaire is the scion of the late J Paul Getty, whose oil fortune made his family among the richest in US history.

She’s spotted her next mark?

Ha Ha Ha

The Academy Awards has found itself at the centre of race row after Andrea Riseborough’s unexpected nomination for a best actress Oscar for her performance in To Leslie, seemingly at the expense of Viola Davis for The Woman King and Danielle Deadwyler for Till.

Following the Oscars nominations announcement last Tuesday, Till director Chinonye Chukwu denounced the film industry for “upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women”, and in a lengthy comment piece in the LA Times film critic Robert Daniels wrote: “Although it’s easy to point a finger at Riseborough for taking a slot from Black women, broken systems persist when we focus our ire on individuals … what does it say that the Black women who did everything the institution asks of them – luxury dinners, private Academy screenings, meet-and-greets, splashy television spots and magazine profiles – are ignored when someone who did everything outside of the system is rewarded?”

Erm, try acting better?

No wonder it’s so awful then

The director said the Sussexes viewed the Harry & Meghan documentary “very much” as their love story but that for her, it was important to “connect the dots” to issues such as racism, colonialism, and the British empire to provide a historical context.

Wise man then, inn’e?

Prince Harry told ITV on Sunday night that his brother had voiced concerns about him marrying the Duchess,

Given events since seems wise.

and claimed that Prince William and his wife had never got on with Meghan “from the get-go”.

Saves time.

There’s a certain thing about life that Harry seems not to grasp. Not everyone will share your tastes in other people. You might like someone and others of your friends might not. You know, it happens. You might be head over heels in love with someone – no reason your brother has to be so, or even like them, as you do so.

You can, possibly should, insist that your brother is vaguely polite and tolerant. But that’s all you do get to demand.

Haha

Lovely line:

Who, for example, was looking out for him when he was humping the Princess Anne tribute act behind the Rattlebone Inn?

From reputation unlikely that the original, rather than the tribute act (and no, obviously, not suggesting they’re West Virginians) would bother with taking a virginity but if she did then damn lucky for that taken.

Well, yes

During the Sussexes’ interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, the Duke said his father had “literally cut me off financially”.

Leave the family business and that’s the sort of thing that can happen.

How surprising

The Duke of Sussex has claimed he and Prince William “begged” the King not to marry Camilla Parker Bowles in a devastating memoir used to settle scores with the most senior members of the Royal family.

When Mummy’s angelic then of course the kiddies are going to be upset about new Mummy.

This is news to whom?

Referring to her as the Other Woman, he says she had “played a role” in the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales because she had been “pivotal” in the disintegration of his parents’ marriage.

He says he and William were prepared to forgive her if she made their father happy, but told Charles they would only welcome her into the family on condition that he did not remarry.

Well, bully for you. Your father’s a widower. And?

Nowt else here that even rises to this level.

Well, maybe, this could be fun:

There was intrigue earlier in the day when what is believed to be an English-language copy of the book found its way to The Guardian, …….Although Harry has condemned leaked stories about his private life, he and Meghan have made no complaint about The Guardian story.

It’s the Spanish version which has breached publication date. But The G got an English lang version. Gosh, how?

Choices, eh, choices

Prince Harry: I want my father and brother back
Duke of Sussex claims Royal family unwilling to reconcile in trailers of hard-hitting interviews to promote tell-all memoir, Spare

You are entirely at liberty to choose who to spend your life with. And the very best of luck to you as you do so. The thing is, other people also have the same choice – up to and including reacting to your choices.

This is hardly the first time – even within your own family – that the choice for the marital bed has led to a certain distance from others in the family now, is it?

Go boil your heads

But on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Sussexes said Meghan had not been contacted by the newspaper to apologise.

The spokesperson said: “The fact that the Sun has not contacted the Duchess of Sussex to apologise shows their intent. This is nothing more than a PR stunt.

“While the public absolutely deserves the publication’s regrets for their dangerous comments, we wouldn’t be in this situation if the Sun did not continue to profit off and exploit hate, violence and misogyny. A true apology would be a shift in their coverage and ethical standards for all. Unfortunately, we’re not holding our breath.”

Sorry, Honey, but being slagged off occasionally is part of the price of fame. Tough.

BTW, please do go hold your breaths.

How things have changed

Expressing what he said was a “hatred” for the Duchess, the former Top Gear presenter made the comments in his regular Sun newspaper column.

He wrote: “At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, “Shame!” and throw lumps of excrement at her. Everyone who’s my age thinks the same way.”

Fairly standard Clarksonian rhetorical flight there.

Mr Clarkson’s comments also drew a backlash from other public figures including Nimco Ali, the former government adviser on tackling violence against women and girls, who said: “A young black woman opens up about her struggle with suicidal thoughts as a result of the abuse she got from the media and this is how some men in the media react. This is absolutely horrific.”

Black, struggle, suicidal. Gerroutofit, she’s a narcissist whining at insufficient attention. But more importantly in terms of detailing those changing standards she’s not a young woman. She’s a middle aged matron. Fact that is.

Impressive delusion here

As Harry explains, Meghan – for the very brief time she was actually in The Firm – was doing a better job than the rest of the Royal family.

Indeed, as Meghan later reveals with characteristic humility, she was even thanked for her enormous contribution to Britain by an air steward on her flight out of this godforsaken place.

“The issue is when someone who’s marrying in who should be a supporting act is then stealing the limelight or doing the job better than the person who is born to do this – that upsets people,” says Harry, clearly blind to his own publicity-hungry one-upmanship in this very programme.

There is a point that self-belief, narcissism, spill over into delusion, isn’t there?

To play with numbers

A poll found three in five Britons think negatively of the Duke of Sussex and two-thirds of those polled have a low opinion of the Duchess

60% don’t like Harry, 66% don’t like the pair. So, more than 55% don’t like her then, right?

Based as ever, the British public.