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  • Brian May’s wife Anita Dobson gives major health update after Queen icon’s stroke

    Brian May’s wife Anita Dobson gives major health update after Queen icon’s stroke

    EastEnders actress Anita Dobson has issued a huge health update on her husband Brian May as the Queen rocker had a terrifying stoke last year that came ‘out of the blue’

    Anita Dobson has issued a major health update on her music icon husband Brian May following his terrifying stroke.

    The Queen star, 77, said in September that “out of the blue” he suddenly lost control of his left arm, and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. where he was diagnosed with a stroke. He was later told to take it easy and made the announcement himself with a social media video.

    Actress Anita, who has been married to Brian for 24 years, has revealed he is in a “stable” condition. She also gave an insight into how they spent Christmas together as Brian proved he was up for the celebrations. The EastEnders star revealed they were able to take their 15 grandchildren to Lapland.

    Giving a health update, Anita told the Sun: “Brian is stable now. Brian has never been happier since we moved. For me it’s been a curveball as I’m a London girl born and bred so going to the countryside to a house that needs a lot of work was a bit of a shock. To see what it has done to Brian…he loves it.”

    Sir Brian May after being made a Knight Bachelor by King Charles III, with his wife Anita Dobson
    Anita has given an update on Brian’s health 
    Image:
    PA)

    She revealed he has been taking things easy by feeding the birds and animals that come into their garden. Brian has also taken up cooking. Anita shared they are “just chilling at the moment” and “spending time at home”. The health scare has also changed her outlook on life as she insisted: “You have to live every day as if it was your last.”

    The ‘We Will Rock You’ legend took to Instagram to share the news with his followers last year: “I hope you’re all well out there. I’m here to bring you first of all some good news. I think the good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days and I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup that I mentioned happened about a week ago and what they called it was a minor stroke and all of a sudden – out of the blue – I didn’t have any control over this arm so was a little scary.”

    He also heaped praise on the medical team at Frimley Hospital in Camberley, Surrey, for their excellent care: “I have to say I had the most fantastic care and attention from Frimley Hospital where I went blue lights flashing… the lot. Very exciting!” In 2020, Brian also suffered a heart attack, and fears he “could have died” at the time, having initially thought he had simply suffered a gardening injury.

    He subsequently had his heart fitted with three stents, which are tiny tubes that hold open blocked arteries, that helped him recover. Speaking in September about his “minor stroke”, he requested fans not contact him with well-wishes. “I really don’t want sympathy,” he said. “Please don’t do that because it’ll clutter up my inbox and I hate that.”

  • Exclusive: Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland skips tour as fans question his absence

    Exclusive: Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland skips tour as fans question his absence

    Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland has become the first BBC show champion to skip the programme’s UK tour in favour of his own career venture

    Strictly Come Dancing’s Chris McCausland has become the first winner to skip the show’s UK tour, as he performed his own comedy show just miles away from the BBC dance show’s first night in Birmingham.

    The 47-year-old comedian wowed audiences on Strictly Come Dancing as his pro partner, Dianne Buswell, helped him become the first blind contestant to win the Glitterball Trophy. While it is usual for the winner to then head the UK tour of Strictly, Chris has decided to continue his stand-up comedy tour rather than cancel dates to perform in the dance show.

    Chris has explained previously: “I’m afraid I will not be able to do the Strictly tour. My own tour was meant to be on the road in September and a lot of dates were moved to Jan and Feb to accommodate doing #Strictly. It’s unfortunate as it’s been so much fun, but my own dates can’t be moved for a second time.”

    As Strictly opened its tour in Birmingham, Chris was just miles away in the West Midlands, performing at the Walsall Arena, where the audience was lapping up his humour. In exclusive photos, Chris was seen smiling and confidently performing his stand-up set while dressed in a grey suit and white T-shirt.

     

    Chris McCausland
    Chris McCausland is the first Strictly winner to opt out of performing on the live tour 
    Image:
    JAMES CURLEY)

    Dianne Buswell and Chris McCausland lift the Glitterball Trophy
    Dianne Buswell and Chris McCausland lift the Glitterball Trophy 
    Image:
    PA)

    While Chris isn’t joining the tour, his dance partner Dianne is keeping a tradition going, which they started while starring on Strictly. Sharing a video on Instagram, Dianne is seen playing a game she used to play with Chris, ahead of the tour kick-off.

    Chris would take different KitKats and get her to guess the flavour just by taste and smell. With Chris back on the road doing stand-up, Dianne stepped into Chris’ shoes and got her dad, Mark, to take the place of the guesser. Getting into the spirit, Chris jokingly said that she could expect to see him in court.

    Chris McCausland
    Chris McCausland had already postponed his tour for Strictly 
    Image:
    JAMES CURLEY)

    Chris McCausland
    Chris McCausland went down a storm on stage 
    Image:
    JAMES CURLEY)Kicking off the video, Dianne explained: “I’m going to do Chris’ role, and you’re going to try and do what I would do, which is guess the flavour.” She then got her partner, Joe Sugg, 33, to model a ski suit, and revealed that the eye-catching look was up for grabs as a prize: “You’ll get a double pair for you and mum, and it’s state of the art – because that’s what Chris would always say.”

    Unfortunately, Mark wasn’t as skilled at the game as Dianne and Chris, and it took multiple rounds of guessing and clues for him to figure out that the flavour was cookies and cream. Dianne offered all sorts of prizes, eventually landing on a flight back to Australia for her parents.

    “TheChristmasspecial of guess the flavour ! Don’t worry production manager @chrismccauslandcomedy has given the all clear to go ahead with the episode without him ! Our special guest is the one and only MARK @mark.3802,” she captioned the video.

    While Dianne joked in her caption that gamesmaster Chris had given permission for them to use his game, the comedian quickly snapped back in the comments: “Wow. I’m speaking to my lawyers. You must’ve really wanted him back on that flight to keep it going that long,” he joked alongside a laughing emoji.

    “My dad makes me look like the Einstein of Kit Kat tasting!” Dianne responded.

    With the first night of the Strictly tour under her belt, Dianna celebrated by posting a snap on her Instagram Story of her performing on stage. She captioned the snap: “Ok, that’s enough for tonight. Good night. Thank you to everybody who came to the show tonight and see you soon if you are coming along.”

  • Exclusive: Bros star Matt Goss’ huge marriage bombshell as he issues three-word statement

    Exclusive: Bros star Matt Goss’ huge marriage bombshell as he issues three-word statement

    As he prepares to head on UK tour, former Bros frontman Matt Goss talks crazy fans, career highlights – and drops a a big hint about his plans with girlfriend, Chantal Brown

    As soon as Matt Goss walks into the room, you know you’re with pop royalty. He may have ditched the ripped jeans and peroxide hair, but there’s no ignoring the former Bros frontman’s famous cheekbones and piercing blue eyes. The 56-year-old became a pin-up for legions of teenage girls in the late 1980s when he was in the band with twin brother Luke (on drums) and Craig Logan (on bass), as reports OK!.

    And now, as well as laying down tracks for a new album and preparing to shoot a movie with Stephen Dorff, he’s preparing to hit the road again with a show that will include many of Bros’s big hits, such as When Will I Be Famous? . When we catch up with Matt, who’s an intriguing mix of shy and charismatic, he’s eager to talk about music, but he also opens up about his love life, the losses that have shaped him and some pretty crazy fan encounters.

    Matt Goss and Chantal Brown in selfie
    Matt and Chantal have been together for three years 
    Image:
    Dave Benett/Getty Images for Pavyllon London)

    “I’ve been touring my whole life, I love it,” he says when we ask about his upcoming tour, Matt Goss:The Hits & More , which kicks off in March. “This time, I wanted to do a show of all the hits. Every single song you’ll know. I just want people to dust off their gladrags and have a really fun night out.”

    Matt is now based in London, but spent 17 years in LA – 12 with his own live show in Vegas, which he admits was “terrifying” at first. “I was scared. Everyone said Vegas is a tough nut to crack. But I did it,” he says. He’d previously performed in front of almost 80,000 adoring fans when Bros played at Wembley Stadium in 1989. “Those experiences become a part of your DNA,” he says.

    Matt Goss standing in a white room with hat on
    The singer recalls some out-there experiences with over-enthusiastic fans 
    Image:
    Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

    Behind the scenes, Matt is loved-up with model turned jewellery designer Chantal Brown, who he’s been dating for three years. He lights up when she’s mentioned and says, “She’s kind, funny – she says life with me is like flying by the seat of your pants. She always has to be make-up ready!” There have been engagement rumours, so does Matt think Chantal could make a married man of one of the most eligible bachelors in pop? “Absolutely, I do,” he says. “I love her, isn’t that what it’s all about?”

    As for his admirers, many of whom have matured alongside the singer, it seems they’ve become more demanding over time. “Once upon a time, female fans wanted a hug and a kiss,” he says. “Now, they want everything! It’s a… sexier place. When you’re older, you know exactly what you want. My older fans do – and it’s not just a hug and a kiss any more!”

    Matt Goss on stage with a guitar
    The star, who had a Vegas residency for 11 years, says touring is his ‘great love’ 
    Image:
    Redferns)
    But that doesn’t mean there weren’t over-enthusiastic fans back in the day. Once, while on tour, one hid under his hotel bed. “Yeah, they grabbed my ankles and let’s just say, I did not react in a cool way. I screamed my head off and shot off my bed,” he admits.

    On another occasion, Matt went into the bathroom of his hotel room and found a naked woman standing in the shower. “When I told my mates, they laughed and asked, ‘Did you have a good time?’ I was like, ‘No! This person’s been waiting in the shower anywhere between two and five hours to meet me. That’s not someone I want to be getting involved with!’” Matt seems unfazed, but adds, “I’ll still check the shower and under the bed on tour.”

    Of course, fame can have a darker side, and Matt was recently faced with someone posing as him online. He says the Met Police were “brilliant” and the catfish has been arrested, but admits the whole affair left a bitter taste in his mouth. “I’m sympathetic to the person who was duped, but it started to make them very angry, then they began to show up at places I frequent,” he explains. “At one point, it was a restaurant near my house.”

    Matt was introduced to a whole new audience when he competed on Strictly Come Dancing with Nadiya Bychkova in 2022, although he famously had mixed experiences on the show. Would he consider doing another big primetime show – the jungle perhaps? “I would genuinely go to a jungle and hide out there to avoid doing a show like I’m A Celebrity ,” he laughs. “I’m too shy to do all those things.”

    Matt Goss dancing on Strictly
    Matt competed on Strictly in 2022 – but says there’s no way he’d ever do I’m A Celeb 
    Image:
    PA)

    Matt and Luke Goss in black and white photo from early 80s
    Matt and his brother Luke rose to fame in Bros 
    Image:
    Getty Images)However, he assures us he’s a lot of fun. “I have a good laugh and I like a good time, but it doesn’t mean I can be ‘that guy’ all the time. Sometimes I feel crushed by self-consciousness, sometimes I feel like a king. But a show like that would strip me down in all the wrong places, I think.”

    Matt’s success over the years has led to him meeting many other icons, including boxing legend Muhammad Ali and Princess Diana. “She knew how to make you blush,” he recalls. “She had such a light. She told us she was following our career. I was doing promo in Germany when she died. I cancelled it and came home. I was devastated.”

    Sadly, Matt has also experienced loss closer to home. The darkest moment of his life, he tells us, was when his sister Carolyn was killed in a collision with a drunk driver in 1988, when Bros were at the height of their fame. And he lost his mother to breast cancer in 2014, having cared for her himself in her final days.

    Matt Goss with his late mum Carol in 2013 in London
    Losing his mum Carol (pictured) and sister Carolyn has left Matt feeling ‘a little orphaned’, he admits 
    Image:
    Getty Images)
    “My mum and sister not being here leaves me feeling orphaned. Those losses had a huge impact,” he says. “Carolyn had such a generous spirit and heart. Maybe she was taken because she was so ahead of the game. She was such an emotionally intelligent woman.”

    Although he doesn’t address their estrangement directly, Matt seems to be referring to his twin when he talks about how relationships sometimes break down in life. “You turn yourself inside out to try to find solutions. But if I can look in the mirror and say I’ve done everything I could, that’s enough. That philosophy has saved me. You can’t make people love you.”

    Has he found peace? “Yes, but our time here is finite. Before my mother died, the last thing she said was, ‘Please surround yourself with people that can see your heart.’ And sometimes, that’s not family. But I’ve got my wing-men.”

  • Molly-Mae’s Tommy Fury split bombshells – wedding hell, ‘cheating’ and final straw

    Molly-Mae’s Tommy Fury split bombshells – wedding hell, ‘cheating’ and final straw

    In her new Prime documentary Molly-Mae Hague doesn’t not hold back as she says she had no choice but to end romance with Tommy Fury sobbing there was ‘no light at the end of the tunnel’

    Molly-Mae Hague has laid bare her reasons for splitting with Tommy Fury – admitting their relationship ended after a string of issues including his battle with booze and vicious rumours which included he had got a girl pregnant.

    The couple met on Love Island in 2019 and have a daughter together called Bambi who turns two this month, but they split last Summer without fully explaining why. Molly-Mae’s new Prime documentary series begins with the split still fresh in her mind and in the opening minute she can be heard dramatically saying: “The last couple of months has been like the worst couple of months of my life.

    “The feeling of a break up, it’s like a physical pain, like your heart actually hurts. For everyone else, it’s news, a bit of like gossip. But for us, it’s real life. Your whole world just feels like it’s over. You don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m dealing with the falling apart of our relationship.”

    But in a look to the future she also tells the cameras her love for Tommy “didn’t disappear overnight” after they were spotted kissing at a party on New Year’s Eve and fans will likely have to wait and see on social media what happens next with the pair.

    Molly Mae and Tommy Fury
    Molly Mae and Tommy in happier times 
    Image:
    Instagram/ @tommyfury)
    Turning to discuss the split in-depth for the first time, Molly-Mae said: “It’s horrible the situation, but there’s nothing you can do, like that’s just, how things have happened and we move on. All I ever wanted was for me and him to get married next year, which we’d already started planning, you know, have more children and live a really happy life together. I would never have believed what’s happened, and that’s not being together, because there was just never a world in which we weren’t going to be together.”

    She is then shown speaking to her mother Debora Gordon about the split. Molly said: “Obviously, I never, ever wanted Bambi to come from a broken home because I did come from a broken home.” Debora says baby Bambi would have seen “unpleasantness” if they had tried to stay together and said there were occasions that made her “beyond worried” about her daughter.

    Molly added: “There was exterior issues going on for him that was causing our relationship to have problems. It was drinking isn’t it? I never, ever wanted to be with someone that drank, because my mum had a period of time in her life where she struggled because her marriage of 25 years had just ended, and she turned to drink, probably more than she should have.

    “I was only about 14,15 when that happened, and I saw my mum in some like states, going through a really, like vulnerable time. So I have never, ever, ever been around it in a positive light. He (Tommy) wanted to have a family life, but then also have the life of a 25-year-old boy with no responsibilities. And that’s not…the two don’t go hand in hand. He’s never had an alcohol problem. It’s just that alcohol caused problems for us. It got to a point where I wasn’t really looking forward to anything, because alcohol affected it so much.”

    Mum Debora then added: “I could only cite a couple of examples where he had some alcohol and it’s not led to anything disastrous.” Molly replies: “I mean, I actually don’t know any. I really don’t. At my sister’s wedding, like I literally pleaded with Tommy, like I begged him to not drink. It is really sad, just so sad. It affected me, that’s why my relationship with alcohol is so damaged. When you reflect on it, it was so hard.”

    But there were other allegations against Tommy. This week he admitted to Men’s Health UK that he had problems with drink in the past but said allegations he had cheated were “b*llocks”. On those other rumours Molly admits she heard them and saw them on social media.

    Tommy Fury
    Tommy Fury admitted this week on a podcast he had “problem with alcohol “ 
    Image:
    Men’s Health)
    She said: “Even over the last like year or so, like, I have become so much more aware of a lot of things that have been going on that I was so naive to for so long. And I still don’t think I know the full picture. I think there’s like a lot I don’t know. The rumours that were coming out at the time. I mean, it’s just like, it was just a lot. People genuinely believe everything they read, because I was getting messages from people quite close to me about, ‘oh, I’m really sorry to hear that he’s gotten somebody pregnant’. or ‘I’m really sorry to hear that he’s been with this person’. And I was just like, where is this coming from?

    “It was a build up. And it was a lot of times of sort of okay, like, last chance type situation. Last chance, last chance, last chance. There’s only so much that you can take. You don’t have another choice. You have to do what you have to do. I thought I am not doing it anymore.

    Molly-Mae says she put a statement about them splitting up on social media to ensure she went through with it. But in the third episode Molly-Mae gives hope she and Tommy will reunite, something fans have predicted after they kissed at a New year’s eve party. She said: “The positive part of my life right now is that Tommy and I are working on things, and things are going in a more positive direction. I think, like, if things were in a really, really bad place with Tommy and I, and I have all this drama going with Maebe(her fashion brand), like, I genuinely think, like, I’d just have a breakdown.

    “Co-parenting is going well. We are communicating about Bambi. It’s not that you’ve really lost that person, they’re still kind of there. Tommy and I are always gonna have that common ground in Bambi, and we’re gonna always have that special connection.” She added: “I would be lying if I said my love just disappeared overnight. He is trying to better himself, the good outweighs the bad. He wants to make it right.

    “I probably haven’t been honest with anyone in this situation, because, actually, I’ve just been holding on to the hope and the idea that as soul mates, we will always come back together. I don’t want to not be together. It is just so hard because all I want is to be with him.”

    Molly-Mae and sister Zoe
    Molly-Mae confides a lot in her sister Zoe in the Prime series 
    Image:
    Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)However speaking to her sister Zoe in the same episode she sounds unsure what to do. She said: “Up until now, I had the mindset of we will end up back together one day, but right now, we need to be apart. He needs to work on himself. But how it’s looking this week is that maybe we are actually just done. All I want in this life is to be with him and to have another baby with him, and to grow old as a family, and to live in a nice house together and to have a nice life together.”

    Zoe Rae says “unfortunately you can’t” and says she has to be strong in the situation.

    Molly-Mae added: “I just feel like everything this week’s been building up, and it’s just just kind of realising that, these problems are just not going to go away, no matter how much I want things to fix themselves and just be a happy family forever. Like, it’s kind of just like realising that that is kind of not possible.

    “I think I know what I need to do, it is just doing it.”

    More details on their relationship are expected be revealed when parts 4-6 are released of the series later in the Spring.

  • Prince Harry to ‘protest’ against Royal Family on UK visit by ‘rejecting offer’

    Prince Harry to ‘protest’ against Royal Family on UK visit by ‘rejecting offer’

    Prince Harry is set to make a solo trip to the UK next month as part of his ongoing trial at the High Court – and he will use his visit to send a message to the royals, according to an expert

    Prince Harry will likely reject an offer from the royal family when he returns to the UK next month as a form of “protest”, a royal author has claimed.

    Harry is expected to travel to London alone in the coming weeks in order to appear before the High Court for his ongoing trial against News Group Newspapers (NGN).

    It’s understood that wife Meghan Markle will remain at their Montecito home with their two children, as she has done on previous occasions.

    Given Harry’s fractured relationship with the royals, it’s not known if he will reunite with any members of his family during his trip in London. Prince William is said to have completely cut ties with his younger brother, while King Charles was ‘too busy’ to see Harry during his visit in London in May 2024.

    Now, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliam has predicted that Harry will turn down an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace next month, as some sort of protest.

    He told GB News: “We do know that Buckingham Palace was offered for the last visit and rejected in favour of a hotel. Now, that’s never been explained. I don’t understand. It’s obviously part of a protest.”

    He added: “So far as security is concerned, we know he’s appealing the Home Office’s decision not to automatically grant him security. Who would have thought he’d prefer a hotel to Buckingham Palace?”

    It’s been five years since Harry and Meghan announced their decision to step down as working royals. Since then, they have become practically estranged from the royals after making a series of scathing allegations against the monarchy. And the rift is all the more painful for King Charles for one particular reason.

    The monarch is said to be greatly saddened by the fact he has only seen Harry and Meghan’s children a handful of times. They are being raised in the States, thousands of miles away, and it’s believed the King has only met granddaughter Lilibet just once since she was born. Instead, he has watched them grow up in rare photographs and clips of the siblings on Harry and Meghan’s public social media.

    Royal expert Jennie Bond told The Mirror: “It must remain a great sadness to the King to be so distant from his two US-based grandchildren – he hardly knows them and there’s no prospect of that changing any time soon. The early years in a child’s life are so magical – and once they’re gone, they’re gone. I hope the King doesn’t dwell on his loss too much, but it must hurt. Maybe, behind the scenes, Harry and Meghan have sent pictures to the King… we can but hope!”

    The Duke has only made a handful of trips back to the UK in recent years, attending the funeral of Prince Philip and the late Queen, and briefly visiting Charles after his cancer diagnosis. Having lost his tax-payer-funded security when he quit the Royal Family, Harry has said he does not feel safe bringing his children and wife to the UK.

  • Prince William’s big decision on important Prince George role decoded by expert

    Prince William’s big decision on important Prince George role decoded by expert

    If Prince William broke a longstanding royal tradition when it comes to his son and heir to the throne, Prince George, one royal expert would be ‘stunned’

    Prince William would leave people stunned if he ripped up the rulebook on one very old tradition, according to one expert.

    In many respects, Prince William is determined to do things his own way – with the future King already setting out an agenda and path for himself that is quite different from his father King Charles, and the late Queen Elizabeth. However, there are some royal traditions that it doesn’t seem that likely the future King will break away from.

    One royal expert has said that if William broke with one longstanding tradition in particular he would be absolutely “stunned” – and it has to do with the destiny of Prince George, 11, William and Kate’s eldest child and the second-in-line to the throne.

    The expert, Huw Thomas – an author and BBC royal broadcaster – said on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show that while there are some ways in which the public might be able to expect William to forge his own path, when it comes to the titles that Prince George will one day inherit, William will likely be sticking to the script.

    When King Charles took the throne, he rapidly bestowed the title of Prince of Wales on William and Kate accordingly became Princess of Wales – a title last held by the late Princess Diana. Charles was himself the person to hold the title Prince of Wales for the longest in British history, as heir-in-waiting for over 64 years.

    The expert believes that William will pass on the title that is usually held by the heir to the throne to George when the time comes and William becomes King.

    While it is custom for the heir to hold the title, the monarch has to actively choose to give it to the first-in-line to the throne, as ‘Prince of Wales’ doesn’t pass on automatically through inheritance.

    Thomas said: “I’d be stunned if it disappeared, only because the monarchy is built on tradition. It may not be an inherited title, but it is the tradition that the monarch gives their son the title Prince of Wales.

    “So it would be quite stunning if they didn’t. History tells us they stick to tradition. Charles barely waited 24 hours before passing it on to William.

    “And you would be surprised that if in future William thought, ‘now I’m going to kind of ditch this one,’” the expert concluded.

    Charles held the title of Prince of Wales from 1958, when he was aged nine, until 2022 – and he also had a lavish investiture in Wales in 1969, during which he was officially presented to the Welsh people with the pomp and pageantry the public have come to expect from the Royal Family.

    The ceremony took place in Caernarfon Castle and saw Charles give a speech in Welsh, which he had spent several weeks at Abersywyth Unveristy learning beforehand to make sure he was properly prepared.

    While William now holds the title of Prince of Wales, he made it clear after his father bestowed it upon him that he had no plans for a lavish investiture ceremony, with Kensington Palace saying the ceremony was “not on the table” in 2022.

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  • Meghan Markle ‘reparenting’ Prince Harry as locals hit out at changes in their neighbourhood

    Meghan Markle ‘reparenting’ Prince Harry as locals hit out at changes in their neighbourhood

    Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are deeply in love and always protect each other, a source familiar with the couple said, but the former actress is ‘the one who makes things happen’

    Meghan Markle seems to be “reparenting” Prince Harry, a source has said, after some locals in Montecito blamed the couple for changes in their neighbourhood.

    A person who worked closely with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex noted the couple were deeply in love and “so hot with each other” – but they show different attitudes when they are alone and when they are in public. The source said: “You know how you meet those couples where you’re like, the way they’re looking at each other, I should probably not be here right now?”

    According to the insider, Harry is “very personable” and “very at ease with people” when he is alone as, just like his mother, Princess Diana, he “has this way of, like, making people feel very comfortable.” However, the source added that when the prince is in public with his wife, “there is a circus” as he is “so protective of her because people are so nasty to her.” They added: “It’s a whole different experience.”

    Meghan Markle during the SXSW 2024 Conference and Festivals at the Austin Convention Center on March 8, 2024
    The insider said Meghan is ‘the one who makes things happen’ 
    Image:
    AFP via Getty Images)
    In a 2019 statement Harry wrote about Meghan’s treatment by the press, he revealed his “deepest fear” of “history repeating itself” as he drew parallels between his wife and his late mother. He said: “I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

    The person familiar with the couple said that while Harry is always vigilant about Meghan’s safety, the former Suits actress is the caregiver and facilitator in the family – and is “the one who makes things happen.” Speaking to Vanity Fair, the insider said: “Pre-Meghan, Harry would just pop in [to the palace press office], ask a few questions, and leave, like he was a little bored but also very keen.”

    But now Harry would not engage with the media in such a way, the source revealed, as he always has his wife’s support, and in a way she seems to be “reparenting” him. The source continued: “I can picture him meeting Meghan and being just a deep breath of, like, ‘I’ve been so exhausted, and you make everything so easy.’… I don’t want to be like, oh, it’s an Oedipus thing or whatever, but it kind of feels like she’s reparenting him in a way.”

    The Sussexes' home in Montecito, California
    The Sussexes’ home in Montecito, California 
    Image:
    Sotheby’s International Realty)

    Harry and Meghan bought their mansion in Montecito in Santa Barbara County back in 2020, after announcing they would step down from official royal duties. They purchased the mansion for $14.65million (£12million) at the time and since then, the property’s value has increased astronomically in the nearly five years.

    The property is now reportedly valued at $29million (£23.5 million) – around double what they are said to have paid for it. Several celebrities including Oprah, Leonardo DiCaprio and Gwyneth Paltrow live in Montecito, which according to a local was once a quiet area whose main characteristic was its neighbourliness.

    But since Harry and Meghan moved to the area, things changed, according to local people who see the Sussexes as the local villains, Vanity Fair reported. Some of the most common complaints are the increase in housing prices and people visiting from out of town, driving too fast and taking up all the street parking located near local trails, such as the one Meghan was photographed hiking on while Harry travelled to the UK for his father’s Coronation in May 2023. According to a Montecitan who spoke to VF, since the pair moved to the area, locals can no longer just walk into restaurants for dinner as the area has become more popular.

  • Prince Harry and Meghan’s ‘olive branch from William and Kate’ after emotional night

    Prince Harry and Meghan’s ‘olive branch from William and Kate’ after emotional night

    According to an acclaimed biography of King Charles, in the days after the late Queen’s death, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had to come together with the Prince and Princess of Wales for an emotional night at Buckingham Palace

    The bitter rift between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with the Prince and Princess of Wales is still as icy as ever.

    The Sussexes have taken aim at William and Kate numerous since they dramatically quit as working royals, with relations between the two couples said to be almost non-existent now. But despite their feud, one royal book has claimed the Waleses offered Harry and Meghan a ‘small gesture’ of an olive branch after an emotional night at Buckingham Palace – and the late Queen would have approved.

    It reportedly came in the days after the death of Elizabeth II when all members of the Royal Family converged on the palace after the former monarch’s coffin was taken there before being processed to Westminster Hall the following day for the lying in state.

    William, Kate, Harry and Meghan during a service for the late Queen at Westminster Hall
    The two couples during a service for the late Queen at Westminster Hall 
    Image:
    Getty Images)
    The Firm awaited the arrival of the coffin before an informal supper, throwing together the two warring couples. However according to the biography Charles II. New King. New Court. The Inside Story by author Robert Hardman, William and Kate offered a small olive branch.

    He explains: “Inside the palace, all members of the Royal Family were there to welcome the Queen back to royal headquarters for the last time, followed by an informal supper. Afterwards, the Prince and Princess of Wales suggested that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex should attach their car to their police escort for the journey back to Windsor since they were all going the same way.

    “It was only a small gesture (they would not be sharing a car) and nowhere near any sort of reconciliation. However, the late Queen would have approved.”

    The death of the late Queen came just months before Harry and Meghan released their controversial Netflix docuseries where they dropped a series of bombshells about life in the Firm. Both William and King Charles came under fire in the series, with William accused of “screaming and shouting” and King Charles of ‘lying’ at a high-profile summit.

    But a pal tells the book that Harry’s apparent pointed snipe at Kate in his Netflix series was the “lowest of the low” for Prince William. Speaking in the first episode of the Netflix documentary, he said: “I think for so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with.”

    And according to the book friends of the Royal Family believed it was clear he was talking about William and Kate. One tells the author in the book: “On top of all the other breaches of trust, here was Harry making a blatant attack on Catherine. For William, this was the lowest of the low.”

    Several weeks later, when Harry’s memoir Spare was published, he also didn’t hold back when dishing about Kate and revealed private details about a falling out between her and Meghan in his memoir Spare. He also described how Kate allegedly ‘grimaced’ when Meghan borrowed her lipgloss and how the women had a disagreement after the Duchess of Sussex said William’s wife had “baby brain” after Prince Louis was born.

  • Meghan Markle struggled with her veil during wedding to Prince Harry – here’s why

    Meghan Markle struggled with her veil during wedding to Prince Harry – here’s why

    Meghan smiled and waved to fans who had gathered to celebrate her fairy-tale wedding to Prince Harry – but the Duchess struggled with her 16ft-long veil at a crucial moment

    A royal expert revealed the reason Meghan Markle struggled with her wedding veil when she married husband Prince Harry.

    The Duchess’ minimalist silk £200,000 Givenchy wedding gown stunned the world as she tied the knot with the prince on Saturday May 19, 2018. Their wedding ceremony appeared to be stripped of stuffy formality as millions of people tuned in to watch their fairy-tale wedding unfold.

    Meghan smiled and waved to fans who had gathered to celebrate her wedding to the prince – then 33 – before going up the steps to the church. Her extensive veil, decorated with flowers representing all 53 countries of the Commonwealth, was carried by two of her page boys.

    But the dress’ 16ft-long veil became a problem, as it got caught when she stepped out of the Rolls-Royce as she arrived at St George’s Chapel in Windsor. Footage from the day shows Meghan’s veil had become twisted in the vehicle – and another aide along with dress designer Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy rushed to assist her.

    Meghan Markle arrives for her wedding to Prince Harry at St George's Chapel
    Meghan’s veil caused a huge problem when she arrived at St George’s Chapel 
    Image:
    Getty Images)

    However, a military man who was tasked with opening the car door for Meghan did not offer his help. And according to Tom Bower, the author of Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, he didn’t want to assist due to what had happened the previous day.

    During an episode of the Mirror’s Pod Save the Queen podcast in August 2022, Mr Bower claimed: “A military man told me an extraordinary story about Meghan when she arrived at the wedding at Windsor Castle on that glorious day in 2018. You see her get out of the car unaccompanied and she has problems with the train of her dress and the army officer doesn’t step forward to help her.

    “And the reason is, is the day before in the rehearsal, she had been very rude to him so he thought ‘well I’m not going to help you today’. I didn’t get the story from him but a fellow officer of his, who explained what had happened.”

    Meghan and Harry stand at the altar together before Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
    Royal author Tom Bower explained why Meghan struggled with her 16ft veil 
    Image:
    AFP/Getty Images)

    Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle during their wedding service
    Millions of people tuned in to watch the fairy-tale wedding unfold 
    Image:
    PA)
    Eventually Meghan managed to sort out the veil herself and stepped out of the car, but she refused to take the arm of a different escorting officer.

    “Ms Waight Keller designed a veil representing the distinctive flora of each Commonwealth country united in one spectacular floral composition,” Kensington Palace said of the show-stopping piece. The Commonwealth family of nations – of which Her Majesty The Queen is Head – will be a central part of Prince Harry’s and Ms Markle’s official work following His Royal Highness’s appointment as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.

    “Ms Markle wanted to express her gratitude for the opportunity to support the work of the Commonwealth by incorporating references to its members into the design of her wedding dress. Significant time was spent researching the flora of each Commonwealth country and much care was taken by Ms Waight Keller to ensure that every flower is unique.”

    Prince Harry lifts the veil of Meghan Markle during their wedding ceremony in St George's Chapel
    Meghan and Harry tied the knot in August 2018 
    Image:
    Getty Images)One of the biggest guests at the wedding by far was Harry’s late grandmother the Queen – and many have wondered what she thought of the nuptials. And according to the book My Mother and I by royal biographer Ingrid Seward, the only remark the late monarch made about Harry and Meghan’s wedding was regarding the bride’s white, flowing Givenchy wedding gown.

    The expert writes: “Lady Elizabeth [Anson] told me that the Queen had made only one remark to her about Meghan and Harry’s wedding, which was that the bride’s Givenchy wedding gown was ‘too white’. In the monarch’s view, it was not appropriate for a divorcee getting remarried in church to look quite so flamboyantly virginal.”

  • Important reason royals wear coordinated outfits – and it’s not just for fashion

    Important reason royals wear coordinated outfits – and it’s not just for fashion

    When the Royal Family takes part in public engagements they are often seen coordinating their outfits – and a fashion expert has revealed the sweet reason behind the fashion choice

    The Royal Family are known to never have a hair out of place when they appear in public, officially representing the crown.

    No detail is too small for the House of Windsor, especially when they are all attending a major, high-profile event. The royals often are spotted in outfits that match – or are cleverly coordinated – and a fashion expert has revealed that this isn’t just because they want to look picture-perfect, there is also a sweet reason behind their decision to do so.

    Royal fans often spot that Prince William, Princess Kate and their three children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, are the royals that take part in this trend most often. The Wales family rarely appears altogether without at least one throughline to be seen in the outfits they have all chosen to wear: whether this be a colour that they have all donned, or a style of clothing.

    Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge and Prince Louis of Cambridge clap for NHS carers
    Kate and William also make sure their family is coordinated 
    Image:
    BBC Children in Need/Comic Relief via Getty Images)
    Speaking to Fabulous magazine, fashion expert Amber Graafland explained, “When Kate, Prince William and their children wear coordinated outfits it’s about more than just looking good.

    “By complementing each other, and sticking to a colour theme, they are showcasing a united front. It’s a technique Prince William and Princess Kate use to show [how] in tune they are when they attend official engagements together, and they also deploy it with their children.

    “Adept at using their clothing to convey coded message, the Waleses know that by presenting a refined and harmonious image they convey a close-knit family with a strong bond. It also makes them instantly recognisable on the world stage.

    royal family
    The royals present a ‘united front’ with matching looks 
    Image:
    AFP via Getty Images)
    There are almost too many occasions when the royals have coordinated their outfits to count. At King Charles’s coronation, for instance, Charlotte was her mother’s mini-me. The pair both wore white dresses designed by Alexander McQueen, and shoes to match. Charlotte’s cape-style coat dress reflected the shape and silhouette of of the Royal Victorian Order mantle that Kate donned for the historic occasion, which was cut from a rich blue fabric with a scarlet trim. The pair also wore their hair in matching up-dos and floral silver headpieces, designed by Alexander McQueen and Jess Collet.

    Kate arrived with Charlotte and Louis
    Charlotte was Kate’s mini-me at the coronation 
    Image:
    PA)But the coordination didn’t end there. Both Kate and Charlotte’s custom dresses featured symbolic floral embroidery that relates to the UK. And these themes were also seen in Queen Camilla’s coronation attire, something that the two senior royals collaborated on with the designers, the embroider Chloe Savage told People magazine, noting that “Kate and Camilla together were involved”.

    And when the Royal Family attended church on Christmas Day at Sandringham, they coordinated in shades of dark green and navy blue. Camilla and Kate both opted for the same shade of forest green coats, and Kate added a tartan blue and green scarf that matched Charlotte’s coat and her son’s ties. Only Charles stood out, as monarch, in a timeless camel-coloured coat and a pale tie with lavender grey hues.

    The Wales family also coordinated their looks at the annual carol service Kate hosts at Westminster Abbey – all seen wearing outfits with a matching shade of red, for William, George, and Louis this came in the form of a red tie, with Kate and Charlotte both wearing red coats.