unsurprising news from People...
 

Meghan Markle Will Not Be at Prince Philip's Funeral, Prince Harry 'Planning to Attend'

8 hours ago, Wordsworth said:

BTW, the chap whose tweet I shared earlier has an interesting feed today, if you want an insight into the protocol for reporting a senior royal’s death. He has videos of the BBC announcement and the protocol followed. 

I just read through some of this and... I’m a little astonished as an American. I guess you can’t compare someone who “holds office” for 70 years to  a president who might last 4, but I am realizing that I just have no frame of reference for the level of protocol. Is it the same for any very senior royal, like if it were Charles or William? Or is this because of the fact that this one individual is the only one in that position most living citizens of the country have ever known in their life times? As much as I thought I understood royalty, I realize not growing up in it is different. We didn’t have social media when Diana died. I know there was a lot, but was the level of intergovernmental coordination this detailed?

I have to admit I’m a little disappointed about the funeral. If there’s one thing the British royal family does well it’s pageantry. And boy have we had a year and a half of no pageantry! Although realistically I know they probably couldn’t have done much, it’s one of the things that I will miss from Covid. 
 

I’m assuming Harry will be there immediately and that they will use the pregnancy as an excuse not to bring Meghan home so as to avoid the controversy at this time. And honestly I think if Harry doesn’t show up, unless she is actively pushing out that baby, that will really be a bridge too far on him for me. But I cannot see the world in which that would happen.

23 minutes ago, Hoyaheel said:

Kirsten Dunst pregnant with #2

https://www.today.com/parents/kirsten-dunst-reveals-she-s-pregnant-baby-no-2-w-t213409?cid=sm_npd_td_tw_ma

I’m happy that she seems to be happy and semi stable? More that I had hoped for her. I also really like this quote at the end of the article above. 
 

She also revealed that after her son was born, she decided to embrace her post-baby body by getting rid of clothes in her closet that didn’t fit anymore.

“I want to look nice for how I look now,” she said. “There was a time when I was like, ‘S---! I don’t fit into anything anymore.’ I just bought clothes in the size I am now. I don’t care.”

I liked this article from the Irish Times. Clearly anti monarchy, but pretty fair read on the situation overall and pretty amusing first two paragraphs. Also, some of my ancestors were killed by clowns too, so I sympathize somewhat.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/harry-and-meghan-the-union-of-two-great-houses-the-windsors-and-the-celebrities-is-complete-1.4504502?fbclid=IwAR12CXE-sWsGHjPNMm-CGiZFNa-x_FQzdjIScCAlTVsp0n9Mt8EE6pcIMRM

Unfortunately this just frees up piers to be on Fox News. I do think a lot of the “slights” to Archie are procedural and part of the rules - just not what Williams kids get because he’s the heir. BUT considering the fact that there were significant threats to them, I feel like the family should have compromised more and extended protection despite the protocol. Of course this is all one sided, but it feels to me there were probably a lot of compromises that could have saved this situation. 

Come on... who else is watching? Of note so far?

they actually got married privately three days before the wedding.

she says Kate made her cry over the flower girl dresses, not the opposite, but that at the time Kate apologized and was super gracious about it. Everyone involved knew what really happened but they allowed the fake stories to oersist, making it clear than no one had their back  

menbers of the family expressed concern to Harry that the baby that became Archie might be dark skinned

she says she was suicidal and asked for help, to go to a treatment center for mental health issues and was told (by a very senior member of the family) she was unable to go. This was a big part of getting out of the country. The photos of them at the royal albert hall, she is pregnant wearing a sparkly blue dress, were taken that night just after she was told no. Interestingly when he discussed this later, i thought he said he didn’t ask anyone for help because it just wasn’t done... so I’m unclear if they got no help or just didn’t ask for it because they thought they could have no help  

It’s a girl due in the summer  

charles stopped taking Harry’s calls

I got my second dose today. Fingers crossed it’s an easy process! 

Apparently, Pippa is pregnant again. I must have missed that when I didn’t care about Pippa. 

Honestly, I love that she actually looks like a new mum. Hair pushed back in a headband, engagement ring off because fingers too fat, looks like she hasn’t slept or had a makeup artist, dad looks like he slept in the fold out chair in the room... it’s much more real looking than the Kate picture shows.

Not for the poll, but i also feel like we could see a rapid fire marriage and divorce from Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly. They’ve entered the Angelina/Billy Bob blood wearing phase already. 

Kaley and Karl actually moved in together over the pandemic, so I could see that breaking them up. Alec Baldwin for a wild card? Any of the Trump marriages?

I got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine yesterday. I feel like I’m starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Harry and Meghan expecting again. She looks relatively far along in the picture. Earlier this week there was a photo published of the two of them that talked about how happy and relaxed they looked. I remember thinking she looked pregnant.

Meghan Markle Is Pregnant, Expecting Second Child With Prince Harry

After suffering a miscarriage in July 2020, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are expecting another baby. Scroll on for the couple's announcement

Photo by Misan Harriman, Copyright owned by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex © 2021

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's family is growing.

On Valentine's Day, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they are expecting another baby.

"We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child," the couple shared in a statement on Sunday, Feb. 14.

At this time, other details of Meghan and Harry's little one are unknown.

The news comes just months after Meghan disclosed she had suffered a miscarriage in July of last year. The Duchess of Sussex candidly detailed the "unbearable grief" she endured in a piece written for The New York Times.

She recalled feeling a sharp pain in her stomach as she changed son Archie Harrison's diaper, writing, "I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second."

Meghan acknowledged that many women experience a pregnancy loss at some point in their life, but few discuss the grief it brings. She reflected, "The conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning."

In recent weeks, the 39-year-old star kept news of her pregnancy under tight wraps because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

She, Harry and their 21-month-old son have been social distancing at their Santa Barbara, Calif. residence, where they've occasionally participated in virtual appearances.

Just last year, Harry and Meghan opened up about enjoying this downtime with baby Archie. Speaking to Edward Felsenthal, the Editor-in-Chief and CEO of TIME, the former actress shared, "For us, we're trying to embrace all of the quality time we get with our son right now and to not miss a single moment of his growth and development, which has been really special."

In a separate conversation on Oct. 11, the couple also raved about witnessing some of Archie's major milestones while they've been home. "We were both there for Archie's first steps, his first run, his first fall, everything," Harry said in a video conversation with Malala Yousafzai for International Day of the Girl.

Meghan added, "In so many ways we are fortunate to be able to have this time to watch him grow, and in the absence of COVID, we would be traveling and working more externally. We'd miss a lot of those moments. So I think it's been a lot of really good family time."

Back in July 2019, Harry actually hinted that he and Meghan wanted to have another baby. In an interview with Dr. Jane Goodall for British Vogue—yes, the same issue that his wife guest-edited—Harry and the world-renowned primatologist talked about everything from climate change to preserving the planet to children.

"It does make it different," the royal shared. "I think, weirdly, because of the people that I've met and the places that I've been fortunate enough to go to, I've always had a connection and a love for nature. I view it differently now, without question. But I've always wanted to try and ensure that, even before having a child and hoping to have children..."

Goodall interrupted, "Not too many."

Harry responded, "Two, maximum! But I've always thought: this place is borrowed. And, surely, being as intelligent as we all are, or as evolved as we all are supposed to be, we should be able to leave something better behind for the next generation."

Back in October 2018, Meghan announced she was going to be a first-time mother, with their son Archie finally arriving in May 2019.

At the time, Harry gushed, "It's been the most amazing experience I can ever possibly imagine. How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension but we're both absolutely thrilled and so grateful for all the love and support from everybody out there. It's been amazing so we just wanted to share this with everybody."

I only know how many books I read because if I don’t use Goodreads, I end up reading the same books over again by accident. 

Hoya, I was the SAME! I usually read anywhere between 60-100 books a year but last year I went months without reading. I finally started reading more again towards the end of the year. This year I’m sort of back to normal. I also wonder if it wasn’t that I was too busy doom scrolling Twitter to read because of Trump. That or low level quarantine depression. 
 

edited to add my current books.  I’m about 40 pages from finishing the Obama book, I finished My Sister the Serial Killer last night.  I started The Secret Life of Bees this morning because daughter’s IB English class is reading it now. I just downloaded The City We Became on audible to start when I finish Obama. 

I haven’t watched the show but I read a few of the books back when they came out. My response was similar to yours. I was surprised they are so popular. I just reread book 1 about two weeks ago and liked it even less this time. 

Strangely enough I was reading an article this morning about the guy who created Deadwood, which led me to Google Westworld, which got me to articles about her where she categorically denied that he was her abuser. So this is very fresh in my memory. I have heard rumors about him for ages so I was always very surprised that she said it wasn’t him. Hope that she is getting the help she needs and has a good therapist. Sounds like she suffered a lot of trauma.

Eh. Maybe it was a one-off, But in general  I don’t buy this simply because I think she spends all of her time in Potomac and now the Florida version of Potomac with her parents/ preferred male company. Why even bother. I’d assume that at this point she never really has to see him again if she doesn’t want to. I don’t think she cares enough to make the effort. 
 

or at least that’s the fantasy I’ve created in my head for all of these wicked wicked people. 

You can put mittens Bernie Sanders in your front yard and be part of the meme.

https://bernie-sits.herokuapp.com

I am so relieved.

Does he have his own thread? This is too funny.

Please Let Us Know If You Rescued Ben’s Ana de Armas Cutout From the Trash

If there was any hope in your heart that news of Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck’s alleged breakup was idle gossip, Ana de Armas Updates has come through with a definitive image of every relationship’s coup de grâce: the day you throw away your lover’s cardboard cutout. ‘A life-sized cardboard cutout of Ana de Armas from inside Ben Affleck’s residence was seen being thrown out into a trash can,” the Twitter account posted Monday evening, along with photos a masked man really making a meal out of tossing a cardboard cutout of de Armas into a trash can. Wait, can you not recycle cardboard cutouts of your lover?!

The No Time to Die actress and the Way Back actor trolled the paparazziwith the cutout over the summer, during those heady days when you couldn’t go an afternoon without seeing Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas drinking an inhuman amount of Dunkin while laughing and walking or, occasionally, walking and laughing.

Ana de Armas Updates also alleges the person throwing out the cardboard cutout is none other than Affleck’s brother Casey Affleck, implying Casey Affleck put together that ensemble, placed his reading glasses atop his camo sun hat, and took a cardboard cutout of his brother’s one-time love to the curb in broad daylight. Some things just weren’t meant to last the new year, and by “things,” we do not mean that Ana de Armas cutout, because we have to believe someone pulled it out of the trash. If so, please, let us know!

I am exhausted by this. Just exhausted. Can we just make it stop? Can he just go live in exile with his buddy Kanye on the ranch and let us all live in peace.

Dawn Wells, Mary Ann from Gilligan, dies of Covid at 82. 
 

https://apple.news/ArQS280SST6i_1ji8gcEGOw

Every day I think he can’t possibly be any more nuts and every day I am proven wrong. He must know exactly what they have on him and how badly screwed he is when he leaves town. I cannot wait for him to be gone. I am tired of his super spreader events raising the Covid numbers in town and impacting my life. I am tired of the stupid people he’s brought to town with him. I am tired of the idiots on my neighborhood Facebook page fighting to defend him. I am tired of not being able to call my dad without a horrible sense of dread about how the call is going to go and will this be the day that we no longer speak to each other Because he has been brainwashed by a cult.  I am tired of him being here. I am ready to move on.