During her life, Queen Elizabeth II was close to her eight grandchildren, and spent many holidays and family occasions with her numerous great-grandchildren. Because the late queen would have celebrated her 97th birthday on April 21, Prince and Princess of Wales are honoring her memory by sharing a previously unseen photograph of the queen and a handful of her descendants, taken by Princess Kate last summer at Balmoral.
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The photograph is also a who’s who of the young royals we’re likely to see at events over the next few decades. It features her two youngest grandchildren, Lady Louise Windsor and James, the Earl of Wessex as of last month, the children of Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. William and Kate’s three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are standing in the second row, each with a wide grin. To the left of the queen are Zara and Mike Tindall’s three children, Mia, Lena, and Lucas, and to her right are Isla and Savannah Phillips, the daughters of Peter Phillips.
Four of the queen’s great-grandchildren are not included in the picture. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children, Prince Archie and Prince Lilibet, have never visited the Balmoral Estate. August Brooksbank, the son of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, and Sienna Mapelli Mozzi, the daughter of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are also not pictured. (In January, the palace announced that Eugenie and Jack are expecting a second child this summer.)
The royals’ main family Instagram account also posted a tribute to the late queen, a photo taken during a walkabout in Edinburgh last June, and a reference to the fact that she wasn’t actually born as the nation’s heir presumptive. “When Her Majesty was born in April 1926, Princess Elizabeth and her family did not expect that she would one day become Queen,” the caption read. “Following the abdication of her uncle King Edward VIII in 1936, her father acceded to the throne.”
London — Buckingham Palace dropped a juicy bit of coronation news this week, and it has nothing to do with who’s attending the ancient ceremony for King Charles III or which of the Crown Jewels may have been looted from the former British colonies. The official dish of the coronation has been announced: It is Coronation Quiche.
Let’s dig in.
The dish:
Even the palace’s use of the word “quiche” in the official recipe made some culinary commenters balk. Few saw much French influence on the new king’s trademark dish of cheddar, eggs, spinach and a few other choice ingredients encased in a buttery pastry crust.
An image from the U.K. royal family’s official website shows an example of a prepared “Coronation Quiche,” the official dish of King Charles III’s coronation.
On a more personal note, Darren McGrady, former chef to the royal family, found the choice entirely in keeping with the king’s tastes, tweeting that “The King loves anything with eggs and cheese.”
The monarch and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, are said to have chosen the dish personally to mark the occasion of their crowning. It was suggested by the royals as a feature dish for the “Coronation Big Lunches” that are being organized at the community level across Britain to mark the occasion.
Quiche controversy:
There’s been significant discussion about the optics of holding a taxpayer-funded coronation ceremony, brimming with jewels and inherited wealth, as millions of non-royal Britons struggle through a dire cost of living crisis and join labor picket lines to demand fair pay.
So, the palace may have been wise to offer up a recipe for coronation quiche that calls for relatively cheap and common ingredients. But that ingredient list — and one ingredient in particular — has not gone down particularly well.
My take on the coronation quiche as an ex professional chef and baker is that broad beans are such a weird choice. Are they fresh? Are they double shelled? Have these people peeled broad beans, because it’s a pain in the arse. And tarragon? Why?
It’s unclear what authority might actually rule on whether beans belong in a quiche, but the coronation quiche recipe calls for broad beans (fava beans, to Americans) or soybeans to be included in the filling. The addition was blasted by some Twitter users as “disgusting,” and “nonsense” on the more vitriolic end of the spectrum, and as “a weird choice” by another who chose less harsh words for the lunch fare.
The history:
Coronation quiche isn’t the first official royal coronation dish to hit the British isles, and its predecessor remains a common feature in grocery store aisles and café shelves across the U.K. to this day.
In 1953, the famed Le Cordon Bleu cooking school developed a recipe of cold chicken in a mild curry cream sauce to be served to guests attending Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Luncheon.
Coronation Chicken has retained steadfast popularity in the U.K., even weathering the controversial recent addition of raisins. It can be found in restaurants as a salad served on lettuce or rice, or even stuffed into baguettes and sold as a lunch offering at cheap sandwich shops.
Coronation chicken salad, served on rice.
Getty/iStockphoto
Bean-bashing and raisin debates aside, food journalist Felicity Cloake said the quiche recipe — which she described as “more like spinach pie” — was less original than its predecessor, “but it’s also likely to be less divisive, which is exactly what the country needs right now.”
Perhaps that will be its legacy — a non-divisive, if mildly controversial, quiche-like pie to united a divided Britain. If you can buy it in a London sandwich shop between two pieces of bread when Prince William is crowned at some indeterminable date in the future, the coronation quiche will be vindicated.
On Friday morning, King Charles III suited up in his full military uniform to attend the 200th Sovereign’s Parade, the annual ceremony at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst honoring the recently commissioned officer cadets, for the first time since he became monarch last September. During the event, he carried a ceremonial scepter and presented a new banner that will be flown alongside the one representing Queen Elizabeth II. In a speech to 171 officer cadets who completed 44 weeks of intensive training, he emphasized the royal family’s close ties to Sandhurst and military service.
Addressing the cadets and their families, Charles mentioned the emotions he felt when his two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, both completed the grueling training course in 2006. “Speaking as a father of two alumni of this Academy who remembers their passing out parades, I know they will be full of immense pride in witnessing you on parade,” he said. Both Charles and the late queen were present for the Sovereign’s Parade when Harry and William finished their training.
In the 1970s, Charles served in both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, eventually completing training courses at Royal Air Force College Cranwell and Royal Naval College Dartmouth. While speaking to the cadets, he mentioned his own experiences. “Having attended—and survived— two of the other military academies 50 years ago, I think I have some idea of the challenges which are inherent in military training,” he said. “I have experienced the nerves, the exhaustion—even the self-doubt – but, despite such recollections, it is the lifelong friendships which are forged through shared hardship, and the humor that you find in the darkest hours of the coldest, wettest nights, which remain with you.”
Earlier this week, Harry confirmed that he would be present for his father’s coronation on May 6, though he will not be accompanied by Meghan Markle or the couple’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Sources close to the couple told the Times that the couple understood they would have faced criticism whether Meghan attended or not. ““It is important for Harry as the King’s son to show up for his father,” one source told the newspaper. “That seems quite genuine.”
As for Charles, sources told the Telegraph that he is “generally quite forgiving” and is pleased that both his sons will attend the event. “There’s a warmth around the place and a proper rallying around the King, who in turn is showing some serious [emotional intelligence] by ensuring the family is given the opportunity to pull together,” added a friend of Charles.
For the first Easter Sunday since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III and Queen Camilla led a large contingent of the royal family for traditional services at St. George Chapel in Windsor. the day marked the first time Prince Louis, who will turn 5 on April 23, attended the service alongside his parents, Prince William and Princess Kate, and his siblings, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Best known for his scene-stealing facial expressions at last year’s Platinum Jubilee, Louis was more subdued this time around, but he did wear one accessory that gave a little insight into his personality: a navy tie embroidered with small bicycles.
Easter 2023 took place exactly two years after the funeral of Prince Philip was held in the same church, and James, the 15-year-old son of Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, wore a green tie emblazoned with Land Rovers, a favorite car of the late prince. Philip owned an array of Land Rovers throughout his life and he spent nearly two decades designing the green Land Rover hearse that carried him through Windsor Home Park during his funeral. In March, Edward and Sophie became the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the title that Philip held after his marriage to the late queen, and James is now the Earl of Wessex, the title Edward was given when he married Sophie in 1999.
From left: Prince George of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales and Catharine, Princess of Wales attend the Easter Mattins Service at Windsor Castle.Photo by Yui Mok – WPA Pool/Getty Images.
Both Kate and Camilla wore bright royal blue tones, matching with Charles in a more subdued royal blue suit. Kate first wore her Catherine Walker & Co coat dress to the 2022 Commonwealth day service. Unusually, she also wore bright red nail polish. The royal procession into the service also included Prince Andrew, Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Princess Anne.
A childhood letter written by King Charles to his “granny” has been discovered by a couple living in Warwickshire, England, as they cleared out their attic during the Christmas break.
“Dear Granny, I am sorry that you are ill. I hope you will be better soon,” the letter reads on one side, carefully written on lined Buckingham Palace notepaper and dated March 15, 1955, when the King was six years old.
“Lots of love from Charles,” it says on the other side, alongside colorful kisses and doodled circles.
It was discovered inside an envelope addressed from Queen Elizabeth II to the Queen Mother, providing a “three generation run,” Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers and who is responsible for the sale of the letter, told CNN Thursday.
Finding the letter, which Hanson estimates could fetch as much as £10,000 ($12,000) at auction, left the couple “gobsmacked” as they sifted through their loft.
“It had belonged to my late grandad Roland Stockdale,” the seller, a 49-year-old farm manager who has not been named, said in a statement.
“My wife said ‘wow, look at that!’ We were pretty gobsmacked but we weren’t sure whether anyone would be interested in it.”
Stockdale worked for the Metropolitan Police where he was part of the Queen’s personal protection force during the 1950s after he had left Carlisle, northern England, and his previous job as a farm worker, the seller added.
Stockdale’s folder containing the letter had “been gathering dust” in various attics for “30 to 40 years” as it was passed around family members following his death.
“I have absolutely no idea how he came to have the letter written by King Charles when he was a boy,” the seller said. “It’s one of many things he kept.”
Citing postcards and birthday greetings that Stockdale received from the Queen and Queen Mother, Hanson hypothesized that “these keepsakes were gifted to the officer” since he “was clearly so highly regarded.”
The couple found other royal memorabilia in the folder, including an invitation to a dance at Balmoral Castle, a note signed by the Queen Mother, gift tags signed by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, as well as a copy of the Queen’s 1956 Christmas broadcast.
Australia has decided it’s had enough of the British monarchy – at least on its dollar bills. The country will replace the last of its banknotes featuring the late Queen Elizabeth II with something much closer to home.
Britain’s King Charles III, the late queen’s first son and successor, may have inherited the throne, but his face will not appear on Australia’s five-dollar bills.
Australian $5 notes are pictured in Sydney, Septembe 10, 2022. King Charles III won’t feature on Australia’s new $5 bill, the nation’s central bank has announced, signaling a phasing out of the British monarchy from Australian banknotes, although he is still expected to feature on coins.
Mark Baker/AP
“I think that’s absolutely brilliant,” said Sydney resident Leanne Nijemeisland. “This is Australia.”
Instead of the king, Australia’s government decided that new five-dollar bills will carry an image honoring the country’s indigenous culture.
“The five-dollar note will say more about our history and our heritage and our country, and I see that as a good thing,” said Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
The U.K. will start rolling out new banknotes bearing King Charles’ image next year, but especially in light of Australia’s move, it’s unclear how many other countries will stick with the tradition.
Not everyone in Australia is glad to see the monarch replaced.
One Sydney resident, who didn’t give her name, said “the queen is amazing and so we should keep her, in like, loving memory of her. Maybe the king can go on another note, but keep the queen.”
Charles’ face will make it onto Australia’s coins, but the monarchy’s 100-year monopoly on the country’s cash is finally spent.
Ian Lee is a CBS News correspondent based in London, where he reports for CBS News, CBS Newspath and CBS News Streaming Network. Lee, who joined CBS News in March 2019, is a multi-award-winning journalist, whose work covering major international stories has earned him some of journalism’s top honors, including an Emmy, Peabody and the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Tom Renner award.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia is removing the British monarchy from its bank notes.
The nation’s central bank said Thursday its new $5 bill would feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III. But the king is still expected to appear on coins that currently bear the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The $5 bill was Australia’s only remaining bank note to still feature an image of the monarch. The bank said the decision followed consultation with the center-left Labor Party government, which supported the change. Opponents say the move is politically motivated.
King Charles III won’t feature on Australia’s new $5 bill, the nation’s central bank announced Thursday.
The British monarch remains Australia’s head of state, although these days that role is largely symbolic. Like many former British colonies, Australia is debating to what extent it should retain its constitutional ties to Britain.
Australia’s Reserve Bank said the new $5 bill would feature a design to replace the portrait of the queen, who died last year. The bank said the move would honor “the culture and history of the First Australians.”
“The other side of the $5 banknote will continue to feature the Australian parliament,” the bank said in a statement.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the change was an opportunity to strike a good balance. “The monarch will still be on the coins, but the $5 note will say more about our history and our heritage and our country, and I see that as a good thing,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
The new $5 bill will feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton likened the move to changing the date of the national day, Australia Day.
“I know the silent majority don’t agree with a lot of the woke nonsense that goes on but we’ve got to hear more from those people online,” he told 2GB Radio.
Dutton said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was central to the decision for the king not to appear on the note, urging him to “own up to it.”
After taking office last year, Albanese started laying the groundwork for an Australian republic by creating a new position of assistant minister for the republic, but holding a referendum to sever constitutional ties with Britain has not been a first-order priority for his government.
The bank plans to consult with Indigenous groups in designing the $5 note, a process it expects will take several years before the new note goes public.
The current $5 will be issued until the new design is introduced and will remain legal tender even after the new bill goes into circulation.
The face of King Charles III is expected to be seen on Australian coins later this year.
One Australian dollar is worth about 71 cents in U.S. currency.
British currency began transitioning to the new monarch with the release of the 50 pence coin in December. It has Charles on the front of the coin while the back commemorates his mother.
This week, there were 208 million $5 notes in circulation worth AU$1.04 billion ($734 million), according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Australia’s smallest denomination accounts for 10% of the more than 2 billion Australian bank notes circulating.
Albanese’s center-left Labor Party is seeking to make Australia a republic with an Australian citizen as head of state instead of the British monarch.
After Labor won elections in May last year, Albanese appointed Matt Thistlethwaite as assistant minister for the republic. Thistlethwaite said in June there would be no change in the queen’s lifetime.
Australians voted in a 1999 referendum proposed by a Labor government to maintain the British monarch as Australia’s head of state.
When the queen died, the government had already committed to holding a referendum this year to acknowledge Indigenous people in the constitution. The government has dismissed adding a republic question to that referendum as an unwanted distraction from its Indigenous priority.
At one time, Queen Elizabeth II appeared on at least 33 different currencies, more than any other monarch, an achievement noted by Guinness World Records.
Prince Harry told CBS’ 60 Minutes Sunday he hasn’t spoken with his brother, Prince William, for “a while,” in the second of two major interviews ahead of the publication of his memoir, “Spare” on Monday.
The Duke of Sussex told Anderson Cooper he doesn’t “currently” speak with the Prince of Wales, “but I look forward to us being able to find peace,” he said. It follows an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby, ahead of what is likely to be an explosive week for the British royals with the release of Harry’s memoirs.
The interviews address a wide range of topics from the death of Prince Harry’s mother, the Princess of Wales, his frustration towards the British press, the treatment of his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and the subsequent fallout with his family since his marriage.
Buckingham Palace has repeatedly declined to comment on the contents of Prince Harry’s forthcoming memoir.
In the interview and in excerpts from his memoir shared by ITV, the Duke of Sussex addressed how strife in his family has been fueled by the relationship between Buckingham Palace and media outlets.
“We’re not just talking about family relationships, we’re talking about an antagonist, which is the British press, specifically the tabloids who want to create as much conflict as possible,” Prince Harry told Bradby. “The saddest part of that is certain members of my family and the people that work for them are complicit in that conflict.”
He also stated that the “leaking” and “planting” of “a royal source” to the press “is not an unknown person, it is the palace specifically briefing the press, but covering their tracks by being unnamed.”
Prince Harry added that he thinks “that’s pretty shocking to people. Especially when you realize how many palace sources, palace insiders, senior palace officials, how many quotes are being attributed to those people, some of the most heinous, horrible things have been said about me and my wife, completely condoned by the palace because it’s coming from the palace, and those journalists have literally been spoon-fed that narrative without ever coming to us, without ever seeing or questioning the other side.”
He spoke about how his mother was hunted by paparazzi, recalling the traumatic night his father told him Princess Diana had died from injuries sustained in a car crash.
“I don’t want history to repeat itself. I do not want to be a single dad. And I certainly don’t want my children to have a life without a mother or a father,” Prince Harry said in the interview.
The Duke of Sussex also talked about his decision to write the book, saying, “thirty-eight years of having my story told by so many different people, with intentional spin and distortion felt like a good time to tell own my story and be able to tell it for myself. I’m actually really grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to tell my story because it’s my story to tell.”
Prince Harry pointed out that he has tried over the last six years to resolve his concerns with his family privately.
“It never needed to get to this point. I have had conversations, I have written letters, I have written emails, and everything is just, ‘No, you, this is not what’s happening. You, you are imagining it,’” he said. “That’s really hard to take. And if it had stopped, by the point that I fled my home country with my wife and my son fearing for our lives, then maybe this would have turned out differently. It’s hard.”
The duke said he wants “reconciliation but first there needs to be some accountability,” with respect to his family.
“You can’t just continue to say to me that I’m delusional and paranoid when all the evidence is stacked up, because I was genuinely terrified about what is going to happen to me,” he said.
“And then we have a 12-month transition period and everyone doubles. My wife shares her experience. And instead of backing off, both the institution and the tabloid media in the UK, both doubled down,” he added.
Still, the duke said, “forgiveness is 100 percent a possibility,” during the interview.
“There’s probably a lot of people who, after watching the documentary and reading the book, will go, how could you ever forgive your family for what they have done? People have already said that to me. And I said forgiveness is 100% a possibility because I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back. At the moment, I don’t recognize them, as much as they probably don’t recognize me,” Prince Harry said.
On Monday, the duke’s interview with “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan will air on the ABC show, followed in the evening by a half-hour special on ABC News Live. And to top things off, the duke will make an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” hours after his book is released on Tuesday.
With that all to come before the public is even able to get their hands on book, one has to wonder if there will be any revelations left to read. For days now, leaks from the upcoming tome have sparked headlines around the world.
It is now known the duke has made a slew of damaging accusations against the British royal family in “Spare” after several outlets obtained early copies of the book before the weekend. CNN has not seen a copy of the book but has requested an advance copy from the publisher Penguin Random House.
Perhaps the most incendiary revelation to emerge was Prince Harry’s claim of a scuffle with the Prince of Wales during an argument over his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in 2019, as he described while reading in an excerpt of his memoir on air on Sunday.
Prince Harry said his brother never tried to dissuade him from marrying Meghan, but expressed some concerns and told him, “‘This is going be really hard for you,’” Prince Harry recalled during his interview.
“I still to this day don’t truly understand which part of what he was talking about,” Prince Harry continued. “Maybe he predicted what the British press’s reaction was going to be.”
His relationship with Prince William is just one of a series of incredibly candid accounts of life as the “spare heir” in his memoir.The book’s title of “Spare” – a reference to a nickname the duke lived with while growing up. Prince Harry’s version of events also tackles his final moments with the late Queen Elizabeth II, his attempts to seek closure after his mother’s death, and other deeply personal conversations with members of “The Firm.”
One part of the book that is seeing some backlash is his reported remarks on killing 25 Taliban fighters during his time in the British Army in Afghanistan. In addition to disclosing the figure, the duke is also quoted as describing the insurgents as “chess pieces” taken off the board rather than people, according to UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
Prince Harry’s comments have prompted criticism from some British security and military figures – and an angry rebuke from the Taliban.
Before publicity ramped up around the duke’s book, the Sussexes had previously opened up about the challenges and hardships of royal life in their Netflix docuseries and to Oprah Winfrey.
In both those royal exposés, the couple outlined their acrimonious split with the House of Windsor and blamed the media for invasive, unrelenting coverage, particularly of Meghan.
The Sussexes announced in 2020 that they were stepping away from their roles as senior royals and planned to work towards becoming “financially independent.” The following year, the palace confirmed the couple had agreed with Queen Elizabeth II that they were not returning as working members of the royal family.
In the recent six-part Netflix documentary, Prince Harry didn’t hold back when he blamed the press for placing undue stress on his wife, saying it led to her having a miscarriage and suffering suicidal thoughts.
Meghan said she wanted to go somewhere for help but claimed she wasn’t allowed to because of the optics on the institution, without specifying who she believed stopped her. She made similar comments in her explosive 2021 interview with Winfrey.
Prince Harry may have “stepped back” from his royal duties in 2020, but he and his wife, Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, certainly haven’t stepped away from the spotlight. Just last month they appeared in a six-part Netflix documentary about their relationship and their decision to leave their royal lives behind. But now, the 38-year-old Prince Harry is telling his own story. In a new memoir, coming out Tuesday, called “Spare” — a nod to his backup role in the line of succession. The book is a stunning break with royal protocol. It’s a deeply personal account of Prince Harry’s decades-long struggle with grief after the death of his mother Princess Diana, and a revealing look at his fractured relationships with his father, King Charles, his stepmother, the Queen Consort Camilla, and his brother, Prince William, the heir to his spare.
Anderson Cooper: You write about a contentious meeting you had with him in 2021. You said, “I looked at Willy, really looked at him maybe for the first time since we were boys. I took it all in, his familiar scowl, which had always been his default in dealings with me, his alarming baldness, more advanced than my own, his famous resemblance to Mummy which was fading with time, with age.” That’s pretty cutting.
Prince Harry: I don’t see it as cutting at all. Um, you know, my brother and I love each other. I love him deeply. There has been a lot of pain between the two of us, especially the last six years. None of anything I’ve written, anything that I’ve included is ever intended to hurt my family. But it does give a full picture of the situation as we were growing up, and also squashes this idea that somehow my wife was the one that destroyed the relationship between these two brothers.
Anderson Cooper: I think so many people around the world watched you and your brother grow up and feel like you two were inseparable. And yet in reading the book, you have lived separate lives from the time your mom died.
Prince Harry: Uh-huh (AFFIRM)
Anderson Cooper: Even when you were in the same school, in high school…
Prince Harry: Sibling rivalry.
Anderson Cooper: Your brother told you, “Pretend we don’t know each other.”
Prince Harry: Yeah, and at the time it hurt. I couldn’t make sense of it. I was like, “What do you mean? We’re now at the same school. Like, I haven’t seen you for ages, now we get to hang out together.” He’s like, “No, no, no, when we’re at school we don’t know each other.” And I took that personally. But yes, you’re absolutely right, you hit the nail on the head. Like, we had a very similar traumatic experience, and then we– we dealt with it two very different ways.
Prince Harry
Anderson Cooper: William had tried to talk to you occasionally about your mom, but, as a child you could not– you couldn’t respond.
Prince Harry: For me, it was never a case of, “I don’t want to talk about it with you.” I just don’t know how to talk about it. I never ever thought that maybe talking about it with my brother or with anybody else at that point would be therapeutic.
In August 1997, Harry and William were vacationing in Scotland with their father. Harry was 12, William, 15. They were asleep at Balmoral Castle on August 31st, when Harry was awakened by his father who told him his mother had been in a car crash in Paris.
Anderson Cooper: In the book you write, “He says, ‘They tried, darling boy. I’m afraid she didn’t make it.’ These phrases remain in my mind like darts on a board,” you say. Did– did you cry?
Prince Harry: No. No. Never shed a single tear at that point. I was in shock, you know? Twelve years old, sort of 7:00– 7:30 in the morning early. Your father comes in, sits on your bed, puts his hand on your knee and tells you “There’s been an accident.” I– I couldn’t believe.
Anderson Cooper: And you write in the book that, “Pa didn’t hug me. He wasn’t great at showing emotions under normal circumstances. But his hand did fall once more on my knee and he said, ‘It’s going to be okay.’” But after that, nothing was okay for a long time.
Harry says his memories of the next few days are fragmented. But he does remember this: greeting mourners outside Kensington Palace in London the day before his mother’s funeral.
Anderson Cooper: When you see those videos now, what do you think?
Prince Harry: I think it’s bizarre, because I see William and me smiling. I remember the guilt that I felt.
Anderson Cooper: Guilt about?
Prince Harry: The fact that the people that we were meeting were showing more emotion than we were showing, maybe more emotion than we even felt.
Anderson Cooper: They were crying, but you weren’t.
Prince Harry: There was a lotta tears. I talk about how wet people’s hands were. And I couldn’t understand it at first.
Anderson Cooper: Their hands were wet from crying–
Prince Harry: Their hands were wet from wiping their own tears away. I do remember one of the strangest parts to it was taking flowers from people and then placing those flowers with the rest of them. As if I was some sort of middle person for their grief. And that really stood out for me.
The funeral, on a cool September morning, was watched by as many as 2.5 billion people around the world. Perhaps the most indelible image: Prince Harry and his brother, walking behind their mother’s casket on its way to Westminster Abbey.
Anderson Cooper: What do you remember about that walk?
Prince Harry: How quiet it was. I remember, the occasional wail and screaming of someone. I remember the horse hooves on the road.
Prince Harry: The bridles of the horses, the gun carriage, the wheels, the occasional gravel stone underneath your shoe. But mainly the– the silence.
After the service, Princess Diana’s body was brought for burial to her family’s ancestral estate, Althorp.
Prince Harry: Once my mother’s coffin actually went into the ground, that was the first time that I actually cried. Yeah, there was never another time.
Anderson Cooper: All through your teenage years, you did– you didn’t cry about it?
Prince Harry: No.
Anderson Cooper: You didn’t believe she was dead.
Prince Harry: Unh-uh (NEGATIVE). For a long– for a long time, I just refused to accept that she was– she was gone. Um, part of, you know, she would never do this to us, but also part of, maybe this is all part of a plan.
Anderson Cooper: I mean, you really believed that maybe she had just decided to disappear for a time?
Prince Harry: For a time, and then that she would call us and that we would go and join her, yeah.
Anderson Cooper: How long did you believe that?
Prince Harry: Years. Many, many years. And William and I talked about it as well. He had– he had um, similar thoughts.
Anderson Cooper: You write in the book, “I’d often say it to myself first thing in the morning, ‘Maybe this is the day. Maybe this is the day that she’s gonna reappear.’”
Prince Harry: Yeah, hope. I had huge amounts of hope
He held onto that hope into adulthood. When Harry was 20, he asked to see the police report about the crash that killed his mother, her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed and their driver Henri Paul while they were being pursued by paparazzi in a Paris tunnel.
Anderson Cooper: The files contained photographs of the crash scene. Why did you want to see it?
Prince Harry: Mainly proof. Proof that she was in the car. Proof that she was injured. And proof that the very paparazzi that chased her into the tunnel were the ones that were taking photographs– photographs of her lying half dead on the back seat of the car.
Anderson Cooper: You write in the book, “I hadn’t been aware before this moment,” talking about looking at the pictures of the crash scene, “that the last thing Mummy saw on this earth was a flash bulb.”
Prince Harry: Yep
Anderson Cooper: That’s what you saw in the pictures?
Prince Harry: Uh-huh (AFFIRM) (good face). Well they were – the pictures showed the reflection of a group of photographs taking photographs through the window, and the reflection on the window was– was them.
He only saw some of the crash photos, his private secretary and advisor dissuaded him from looking at the rest.
Prince Harry: All I saw was the back of my mum’s head– slumped on the back seat. There were other more gruesome photographs, but I will be eternally grateful to him for denying me the ability to inflict pain on myself by seeing that. Because that’s the kinda stuff that sticks in your mind forever.
Harry says he believed his mother might stillbe alive until he was 23 and visited Paris for the first time.
Anderson Cooper: You told your driver, “I want to go to the tunnel where my mom died?”
Prince Harry: I wanted to see whether it was possible driving at the speed that Henri Paul was driving that you could lose control of a car and plow into a pillar killing almost everybody in that car. I need to take this journey. I need to ride the same route–
Anderson Cooper: The same tunnel, the same speed–
Prince Harry: All of it.
Anderson Cooper: –your mother was going.
Prince Harry: Yup. Because William and I had already been told, “The event was like a bicycle chain. If you remove one of those chains, the end result would not have happened.” And the paparazzi chasing was part of that. But yet, everybody got away with it.
Harry writes he and his brother weren’t satisfied with the results of a 2006 investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police, concluding Diana’s driver, Henri Paul, had been drinking and the crash was a “tragic accident.”
Prince Harry: William and I considered reopening the inquest. Because there were so many gaps and so many holes in it. Which just didn’t add up and didn’t make sense.
Anderson Cooper: Would you still like to do that?
Prince Harry: I don’t even know if it’s an option now. But no, I think– brrrr– would I like to do that now? It’s a hell of a question, Anderson.
Anderson Cooper: Do you feel you have the answers that you need to have about what happened to your mom?
Prince Harry: Truth be known, no. I don’t think I do. And I don’t think my brother does either. I don’t think the world does. Um – do I need any more than I already know? No. I don’t think it would change much.
Harry now says it wasn’t until he served in combat with the British Army in Afghanistan that he finally found purpose and a sense of normalcy.
Prince Harry: My military career saved me in many regard.
Anderson Cooper: How so?
Prince Harry: Got me out of the spotlight from the– from the U.K. press. I was able to focus on a purpose larger than myself, to be wearing the same uniform as everybody else, to feel normal for the first time in my life. And accomplish some of the biggest challenges that I ever had. You know, I was training to become an Apache helicopter pilot. You don’t get a pass for being a prince.
Anderson Cooper: The Apache doesn’t give a crap about who you are.
Prince Harry: No, there’s– there’s no prince autopilot button you (LAUGH) can press and just whff– takes you away. I was a really good candidate for the military. I was a young man in my 20s suffering from shock. But I was now in the front seat of an Apache shooting it, flying it, monitoring four radios simultaneously and being there to save and help anybody that was on the– on the ground with a radio screaming, “We need support, we need air support.” That was my calling. I felt healing from that weirdly.
Anderson Cooper: And that multi-tasking the brain work of that, that felt good to you?
Prince Harry: It felt like I was turning pain into a purpose. I didn’t have the awareness at the time that I was living my life in adrenaline, and that was the case from age 12, from the moment that I was told that my mom had died.
Anderson Cooper: you say, “War didn’t begin in Afghanistan. It began in August 1997.”
Prince Harry: Yeah. The war for me unknowingly was when my mum died.
Anderson Cooper: Who were you fighting?
Prince Harry: Myself. I had a huge amount of frustration and blame towards the British press for their part in it.
Anderson Cooper: Even at 12 at that young you were feeling that toward the British press?
Prince Harry: Yeah. I mean, it was obvious to us as kids the British press’ part in our mother’s misery and I had a lot of anger inside of me that luckily, I never expressed to anybody. But I resorted to drinking heavily. Because I wanted to numb the feeling, or I wanted to distract myself from how… whatever I was thinking. And I would, you know, resort to drugs as well.
Harry admits he smoked pot and used cocaine. And he writes that in his late 20s he felt “hopeless” and “lost.”
Prince Harry: There was this weight on my chest that I felt for so many years that I was never able to cry. So I was constantly trying to find a way to cry, but– in even sitting on my sofa and going over as many memories as I could muster up about my mum. And sometimes I watched videos online.
Anderson Cooper: Of your mom?
Prince Harry: Of my mum.
Anderson Cooper: Hoping to cry?
Prince Harry: Yup.
Anderson Cooper: And you couldn’t.
Prince Harry: I couldn’t.
He sought out help from a therapist for the first time seven years ago. And he reveals he’s also tried more experimental treatments.
Anderson Cooper: You write in the book about psychedelics, Ayahuasca, psilocybin, mushrooms.
Prince Harry: I would never recommend people to do this recreationally. But doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, then these things have a way of working as a medicine.
Anderson Cooper: They showed you something. What did they show you?
Prince Harry: For me, they cleared the windscreen, the windshield the misery of loss. They cleared away this idea that I had in my head that– that my mother, that I needed to cry to prove to my mother that I missed her. When in fact, all she wanted was for me to be happy.
Prince Harry says he’s found that happiness with his wife in California, but he’s far from at peace with the royal family.
Harry’s memoir “Spare”, is anything but spare in its unflattering portrayal of the royal family, especially his stepmother, Camilla, now the queen consort. She married then-Prince Charles in 2005, though the two had been romantically involved on and off for decades. When Princess Diana famously referred to Camilla as the third person in her marriage, the British tabloids ran with it, and Prince Harry has never forgotten.
Prince Harry: She was the villain. She was the third person in their marriage. She needed to rehabilitate her image.
Anderson Cooper: You and your brother both directly asked your dad not to marry Camilla?
Prince Harry: Yes.
Anderson Cooper: Why?
Prince Harry: We didn’t think it was necessary. We thought that it was gonna cause more harm than good and that if he was now with his person, that– surely that’s enough. Why go that far when you don’t necessarily need to? We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her. So, at the time, it was, “Ok.”
Anderson Cooper: You wrote that she started a campaign in the British press to pave the way for a marriage. And you wrote, “I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she’d be less dangerous if she was happy.” How was she dangerous?
Prince Harry: Because of the need for her to rehabilitate her image.
Anderson Cooper: That made her dangerous?
Prince Harry: That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. And there was open willingness on both sides to trade of information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her, on the way to being Queen consort, there was gonna be people or bodies left in the street because of that.
Harry says over the years, he was one of those bodies. He accuses Camilla and even his father, at times, of using him or William to get better tabloid coverage for themselves. Prince Harry writes, Camilla, “sacrificed me on her personal P.R. altar.”
Prince Harry: If you are led to believe, as a member of the family, that being on the front page, having positive headlines, positive stories written about you, is going to improve your reputation or increase the chances of you being accepted as monarch by the British public, then that’s what you’re gonna do.
In his book, Harry writes that when he introduced Meghan Markle to his family in 2016, his father initially took a liking to her, but William was skeptical, disdainfully referring to Meghan as “an American actress.” Though Harry doesn’t specify who – he says other members of the royal family were uneasy as well.
Prince Harry: Right from the beginning, before they even had a chance to get to know her. And the U.K. press jumped on that. And here we are.
Anderson Cooper: And what was that based on, that mistrust?
Prince Harry: The fact that she was American, an actress, divorced, Black, biracial with a Black mother. Those were just four of the typical stereotypes that is– becomes a feeding frenzy for the British press.
Anderson Cooper: But all those things within the family also were– were sources of mistrust,
Prince Harry: Yes. You know, my family read the tabloids, you know? It’s laid out– at breakfast when everyone comes together. So, whether you walk around saying you believe it or not, it’s still– it’s still leaving an imprint in your mind. So if you have that judgment based on a stereotype right at the beginning, it’s very, very hard to get over that. And a large part of it for the family, but also the British press and numerous other people is, like, “He’s changed. She must be a witch. He’s changed.” As opposed to yeah, I did change, and I’m really glad I changed. Because rather than getting drunk, falling out of clubs, taking drugs, I had now found the love of my life, and I now had the opportunity to start a family with her.
Soon after their relationship became public, Harry insisted on putting out a statement condemning some of the tabloid coverage of Meghan and what he called quote “the racial undertones of comment pieces.”
Anderson Cooper: You write that your dad and your brother, William, were furious with you for doing that. Why?
Prince Harry: They felt as though it made them look bad. They felt as though they didn’t have a chance or weren’t able to do that for their partners. What Meghan had to go through was similar in some part to what Kate and what Camilla went through, very different circumstances. But then you add in the race element, which was what the press– British press jumped on straight away. I went into this incredibly naïve. I had no idea the British press were so bigoted. Hell, I was probably bigoted before–
Anderson Cooper: You– you–
Prince Harry: –the relationship with– with Meghan.
Anderson Cooper: You think you were bigoted before the relationship with Meghan.
Prince Harry: I– I don’t know. Put it this way, I didn’t see what I now see.
They were married in May 2018, in a ceremony that seemed to promise a more modern and inclusive royal family — and given the titles duke and duchess of Sussex. But behind the scenes, according to Harry, William’s mistrust of Meghan only worsened.
Anderson Cooper: Did you ever try to meet with William and Kate to try to defuse the tension?
In early 2019, Harry writes, the rancor between William and him exploded at Harry’s cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace.
Anderson Cooper: Your arguments with your brother became physical.
Prince Harry: It was a buildup of– frustration, I think, on his part. It was at a time where he was being told certain things by people within his office. And at the same time, he was consuming a lot of the tabloid press, a lot of the stories. And he had a few issues, which were based not on reality. And I was defending my wife. And he was coming for my wife– she wasn’t there at the time– but through the things that he was saying. I was defending myself. And we moved from one room into the kitchen. And his frustrations were growing, and growing, and growing. He was shouting at me. I was shouting back at him. It wasn’t nice. It wasn’t pleasant at all. And he snapped. And he pushed me to the floor.
Anderson Cooper: He knocked you over?
Prince Harry: He knocked me over. I landed on the dog bowl.
Anderson Cooper: You cut your back.
Prince Harry: Yeah. I cut my back. I didn’t know about it at the time. But, yeah, he– he apologized afterwards. It was a pretty nasty experience, but—
Anderson Cooper: He asked you not to tell anybody– not to tell Meghan?
Prince Harry: Yeah. And– and I wouldn’t have done. And, I didn’t until she– until she saw on the– on my back. She goes, “What’s that?” I was like, “Huh, what?” I actually didn’t know what she was talking about. I looked in the mirror. I was like, “Oh s***.” Well, ’cause I’d never s-I hadn’t seen it.
Meghan has said constant criticism and pressure led her in the winter of 2019 to contemplate suicide.
Prince Harry: The thing that’s terrified me the most is history repeating itself.
Anderson Cooper: You really feared that your wife, Meghan…
Prince Harry: Yes, I feared, I feared a lot that the end result, the fact that I lost my mum when I was 12 years old, could easily happen again to my wife.
In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan announced they intended to, in their words, step back as senior members of the royal family. They moved to California three months later. Then there was the headline-grabbing interview with Oprah Winfrey and a deal with Netflix worth a reported $100 million. Critics say the duke and duchess are cashing in on their royal titles while they still can.
Anderson Cooper: Why not renounce your titles as duke and duchess?
Prince Harry: And what difference would that make?
Anderson Cooper: One of the criticisms that you’ve received is that okay, fine, you wanna move to California, you wanna step back from the institutional role. Why be so public? Why reveal conversations you’ve had with your father or– with your brother? You say you tried to do this privately.
Prince Harry: And every single time I’ve tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife. You know, the family motto is never complain, never explain. But it’s just a motto. And it doesn’t really hold–
Anderson Cooper: There’s a lotta complaining and a lot of explaining.
Prince Harry: Endless–
Anderson Cooper: Private– being done in– through leaks.
Prince Harry: Through leaks.
Prince Harry continues to claim he would never leak against his family.
Prince Harry: So now, trying to speak a language that perhaps they understand, I will sit here and speak truth to you with the words that come out of my mouth, rather than using someone else, an unnamed source, to feed in lies or a narrative to a tabloid media that literally radicalizes its readers to then potentially cause harm to my family, my wife, my kids.
Last month, the British tabloid The Sun published a vicious column about Meghan written by a tv host.
Anderson Cooper: He said, “I hate her. At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day where she is made to walk naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame,’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.” Did that surprise you?
Prince Harry: Did it surprise me? No. Is it shocking? Yes. I mean, thank you for proving our point.
Anderson Cooper: Has there been any response from the palace
Prince Harry: No. And there comes a point when silence is betrayal
Harry has been back in the United Kingdom. He was in London last September for a charity event when the palace announced his grandmother, the queen, was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
Prince Harry: I asked my brother– I said, “What are your plans? How are you and Kate getting up there?” And then, a couple of hours later, you know, all of the fam– family members that live within the Windsor and Ascot area were jumping on a plane together, a plane with 12, 14, maybe 16 seats.
Anderson Cooper: You were not invited on that plane?
Prince Harry: I was not invited.
By the time Harry got to Balmoral on his own, the queen was dead.
Prince Harry: I walked into the hall, and my aunt was there to greet me. And she asked me if I wanted to see her. I thought about it for about five seconds, thinking, “Is this a good idea?” And I was, like, “You know what? You can– you can do this. You– you need to say goodbye.” So I went upstairs, took my jacket off and walked in and just spent some time with her alone.
Anderson Cooper: Where was she?
Prince Harry: She was in her bedroom. I was actually– I was really happy for her. Because she’d finished life. She’d completed life, and her husband was– was waiting for her. And the two of them are buried together.
As they had 25 years earlier, Harry and William found themselves walking together, but apart, this time behind their grandmother’s casket.
Anderson Cooper: Do you speak to William now? Do you text?
Prince Harry: Currently, no. But I look forward to– I look forward to us being able to find peace. I want—
Anderson Cooper: How long has it been since you spoke?
Prince Harry: A while.
Anderson Cooper: Do you speak to your dad?
Prince Harry: We aren’t– we haven’t spoken for quite a while. No, not recently.
Anderson Cooper: Can you see a day when you would return as a full-time member of the royal family?
Prince Harry: No. I can’t see that happening.
Anderson Cooper: In the book, you called this, “A– full-scale rupture.” Can it be healed?
Prince Harry: Yes. The ball is very much in their court, but, you know, Meghan and I have continued to say that we will openly apologize for anything that we did wrong, but every time we ask that question, no one’s telling us sp– the specifics or anything. There needs to be a constructive conversation, one that can happen in private that doesn’t get leaked.
Anderson Cooper: I assume they would say, “Well, how can we trust you how do we know that you’re not gonna reveal whatever conversations we have in an interview somewhere?”
Prince Harry: This all started with them briefing, daily, against my wife with lies to the point of where my wife and I had to run away from our count– my country.
Anderson Cooper: It’s hard, I think, for anybody to imagine a family dynamic that is so “Game of Thrones” without dragons.
Prince Harry: I don’t watch “Game of Thrones,” but–
Anderson Cooper: Oh. Okay.
Prince Harry: –there’s def– but there’s definitely dragons. And that’s again the third party which is the British Press so ultimately without the British press as part of this, we would probably still be a fairly dysfunctional family, like, a lot are. But at the heart of it, there is a family, without question. Um – and I really look forward to having that family element back. I look forward to having a relationship with my brother. I look forward to having a relationship with my father and other members of my family.
Anderson Cooper: You want that?
Prince Harry: That’s all I’ve ever asked for.
We reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. Its representatives demanded that before considering responding, 60 Minutes provide them with our report prior to airing it tonight, which is something we never do.
Produced by Draggan Mihailovich. Associate producer, Emily Cameron. Broadcast associate, Eliza Costas. Edited by Warren Lustig.
Anderson Cooper, anchor of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” has contributed to 60 Minutes since 2006. His exceptional reporting on big news events has earned Cooper a reputation as one of television’s pre-eminent newsmen.
LONDON (AP) — Allies of Britain’s royal family pushed back Saturday against claims made by Prince Harry in his new memoir, which paints the monarchy as a cold and callous institution that failed to nurture or support him.
Buckingham Palace hasn’t officially commented on the book. But British newspapers and websites brimmed with quotes from unnamed “royal insiders,” rebutting Harry’s accusations. One said his public attacks on the royal family took a “toll” on the health of Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September.
Veteran journalist Jonathan Dimbleby, a biographer and friend of King Charles III, said Harry’s revelations were the type “that you’d expect … from a sort of B-list celebrity,” and that the king would be pained and frustrated by them.
“His concern … is to act as head of state for a nation which we all know is in pretty troubled condition,” Dimbleby told the BBC. “I think he will think this gets in the way.“
Harry’s book, “Spare,” is the latest in a string of very public pronouncements by the prince and his wife Meghan since they quit royal life and moved to California in 2020, citing what they saw as the media’s racist treatment of Meghan, who is biracial, and a lack of support from the palace. It follows an interview with Oprah Winfrey and a six-part Netflix documentary released last month.
Harry is not the first British royal to air family secrets — both his parents used the media as their marriage fell apart. Charles cooperated on Dimbleby’s 1994 book and accompanying television documentary, which revealed that the then heir to the throne had had an affair during his marriage to Princess Diana.
Diana gave her side of the story in a BBC interview the following year, famously saying “there were three of us in this marriage” in reference to Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles.
But “Spare” goes into far more detail about private conversations and personal grievances than any previous royal revelation.
In the ghostwritten memoir, Harry discusses his grief at the death of his mother in 1997 and his long-simmering resentment at the role of royal “spare,” overshadowed by the “heir” — older brother Prince William. He recounts arguments and a physical altercation with William, reveals how he lost his virginity (in a field) and describes using cocaine and cannabis.
He also says he killed 25 Taliban fighters while serving as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan — a claim criticized by both the Taliban and British military veterans.
“Spare” is due to be published around the world on Tuesday. The Associated Press obtained an early Spanish-language copy.
Harry has said he expects counterattacks from the palace. He has long complained of “leaks” and “plants” of stories to the media by members of the royal household.
In an interview due to be broadcast on ITV on Sunday — one of several he has recorded to promote the book — Harry says people who accuse him of invading his family’s privacy “don’t understand or don’t want to believe that my family have been briefing the press.”
“I don’t know how staying silent is ever going to make things better,” he said.
New York City ushered in 2023 with a dazzling Saturday night spectacle in iconic Times Square, anchoring New Year’s celebrations across the United States. The night culminated with a countdown as a glowing geodesic sphere 12 feet in diameter and weighing almost six tons descended from its lofty perch atop One Times Square.
Its surface is comprised of nearly 2,700 Waterford crystals that were illuminated, officials said, by a palette of more than 16 million colors.
At the stroke of midnight, a ton of confetti rained down on revelers, glittering amid the jumbo screens, neon and pulsing lights.
Last year, a scaled-back crowd of about 15,000 in-person mask-wearing spectators watched the ball descend while basking in the lights and hoopla. Because of pandemic rules, it was far fewer than the tens of thousands of revelers who usually descend on the world-famous square.
Before the ball dropped, there were heavy thoughts about the past year and the new one.
“2023 is about resurgence — resurgence of the world after COVID-19 and after the war in Ukraine. We want it to end,” said Arjun Singh as he took in the scene at Times Square.
“New York City, I’m hoping it’s coming back and thriving after COVID,” a woman said before the festivities in Times Square.
A person wearing a hat celebrates in Times Square during the first New Year’s Eve event without restrictions since the coronavirus pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, December 31, 2022.
Reuters/Andrew Kelly
New Year’s celebrations across the globe marked an end to a year that brought war in Europe, a new chapter in the British monarchy and global worries over inflation.
The new year began in the tiny atoll nation of Kiribati in the central Pacific, then moved across Russia and New Zealand before heading deeper, time zone by time zone, through Asia and Europe and into the Americas.
At least for a day, thoughts focused on possibilities, even elusive ones like world peace, and mustering — finally — a resolve to keep the next array of resolutions.
Ukrainian soldier and mortar battery commander Taras Lukinchuk, 30, takes a photo of soldiers as he celebrates New Year’s Eve in a military rest house as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk, Ukraine, December 31, 2022.
Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
In a sign of that hope, children met St. Nicholas in a crowded metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Yet Russian attacks continued New Year’s Eve. At midnight, the streets of the capital, Kyiv, were desolate. The only sign of a new year came from local residents shouting from their balconies, “Happy New Year!” and “Glory to Ukraine!” And only half an hour into 2023, air raid sirens rang across Ukraine’s capital, followed by the sound of explosions.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported an explosion in Holosiivskyi district, and authorities reported that fragments of a missile that had been shot down had damaged a car in a central district.
In Paris, thousands celebrated on the Champs Elysees, while French President Emmanuel Macron pledged continuing support for Ukraine in a televised New Year’s address. “During the coming year, we will be unfailingly at your side,” Macron said. “We will help you until victory and we will be together to build a just and lasting peace. Count on France and count on Europe.”
Big Ben chimed as more than 100,000 revelers gathered along the River Thames to watch a spectacular fireworks show around the London Eye. The display featured a drone light display of a crown and Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait on a coin hovering in the sky, paying tribute to Britain’s longest-serving monarch who died in September.
People record a drone depiction of Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II during New Year’s celebrations, in central London, Britain, January 1, 2023.
Reuters/Toby Melville
Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach welcomed a small crowd of a few thousand for a short fireworks display, and several Brazilian cities canceled celebrations this year due to concern about the coronavirus. The Brazilian capital’s New Year’s bash usually drew more than 2 million people to Copacabana before the pandemic.
Turkey’s most populous city, Istanbul, brought in 2023 with street festivities and fireworks. At St. Antuan Catholic Church, dozens of Christians prayed for the new year and marked former Pope Benedict XVI’s passing. The Vatican announced Benedict died Saturday at age 95.
In Australia, more than 1 million people crowded along Sydney’s waterfront for a multi-million dollar celebration based around the themes of diversity and inclusion. More than 7,000 fireworks were launched from the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and another 2,000 from the nearby Opera House.
“We have had a couple of fairly difficult years; we’re absolutely delighted this year to be able to welcome people back to the foreshores of Sydney Harbor for Sydney’s world-famous New Year’s Eve celebrations,” Stephen Gilby, the city’s producer of major events and festivals, told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Fireworks explode over Sydney Harbour during New Year’s celebrations in Sydney, Australia, January 1, 2023.
Reuters/Jaimi Joy
In Auckland, New Zealand, large crowds gathered below the Sky Tower, where a 10-second countdown to midnight preceded fireworks. The celebrations in New Zealand’s largest city returned after COVID-19 forced them to be canceled a year ago.
In China, people cautiously looked forward to 2023 after a recent easing of pandemic restrictions unleashed the virus but also signaled a return to normal life. Like many, salesperson Hong Xinyu stayed close to home over the past year in part because of curbs on travel.
“As the new year begins, we seem to see the light,” he said at a countdown show that lit up the towering structures of a former steel mill in Beijing. “We are hopeful that there will be more freedom in the future.”
Concerns about the Ukraine war and the economic shocks it has spawned across the globe were felt in Tokyo, where Shigeki Kawamura has seen better times but said he needed a free, hot meal this New Year’s.
“I hope the war will be over in Ukraine so prices will stabilize,” he said.
Photographer, filmmaker and cooking show host Mary McCartney joins “CBS Mornings” to discuss her new documentary about Abbey Road Studios, “If These Walls Could Sing.” She also shares her best holiday hosting tips and her memories of photographing Queen Elizabeth II.
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LONDON (AP) — King Charles III evoked memories Sunday of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as he broadcast his first Christmas message as monarch in a speech that also paid tribute to the “selfless dedication” of Britain’s public service workers, many of whom are in a fight with the government over pay.
Charles, 74, also empathized in the prerecorded message with people struggling to make ends meet “at a time of great anxiety and hardship.” Like some other parts of the world, the U.K. is wrestling with high inflation that has caused a cost-of-living crisis for many households.
The king’s first remarks, however, recalled his mother, who died in September at age 96 after 70 years on the throne.
“Christmas is a particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones,” Charles said. “We feel their absence that every familiar turn of the season and remember them in each cherished tradition.”
Charles immediately ascended to the throne upon the queen’s death. His coronation ceremony is scheduled for May.
For his televised Christmas message, he wore a dark blue suit. Unlike Elizabeth, who often sat at a desk to deliver the annual speech, Charles stood by a Christmas tree at St. George’s Chapel, a church on the grounds of Windsor Castle where his mother and his father, Prince Philip, were buried.
Charles said he shared with his mother “a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others and to shine a light in the world around them.”
“The essence of our community and the very foundation of our society” can be witnessed in “health and social care professionals and teachers and indeed all those working in public service whose skill and commitment are at the heart of our communities,” the king said.
Strikes this month by nurses, ambulance crews, teachers, postal workers and train drivers have put pressure on U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government. Opinion polls show a high level of support for the workers, especially nurses. Unions are seeking pay raises in line with inflation, whch stood at 10.7% in November.
Soaring food and energy prices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have created financial strains for many individuals and families.
Speaking over video footage of food banks and other charity work, Charles expressed sympathy for “those at home finding ways to pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm.”
Charles also reached out to people of other faiths in the United Kingdom and across the British Commonwealth, saying the meaning of Jesus Christ’s birth crosses “the boundaries of faith and belief.”
Charles believes the monarchy can help to unite his country’s increasingly diverse ethnic groups and faiths. It is part of his effort to show that the institution still has relevance.
The six-minute message concluded with an appeal to heed “the everlasting light” which, Charles said, was a key aspect of Elizabeth’s faith in God and belief in people.
“So whatever faith you have or whether you have none, it is in this life-giving light and with the true humility that lies in our service to others that I believe we can find hope for the future,” he said.
The king made no reference to the recent clamor over this month’s Netflix documentary series about the acrimonious split from the royal family that accompanied the decision of his son Prince Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan to step back from royal duties and move across the Atlantic Ocean.
Video footage accompanying the Christmas message showed working members of the royal family at official events. Harry and Meghan didn’t appear, nor did Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his honorary military titles and removed as a working royal over his friendship with the notorious U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew did, however, join Charles and other senior royals for a Christmas morning walk to a church located near the family’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk county England.
The king and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, led family members to a service at St. Mary Magdalene Church. They included Prince William, Charles’ older son and heir to the throne, and William’s wife, Kate, and the couple’s three children, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4.
Joining them on the walk was Charles and Andrew’s younger brother, Prince Edward, and his wife, Sophie.
After the family entered the church, congregants sang “God Save the King” followed by the Christmas hymn “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Sandringham has been the private country home of four generations of British monarchs for more than 160 years, but this was the royal family’s first Christmas there since 2019, according to Britain’s Press Association news agency.
Elizabeth spent her last two Christmases at Windsor Castle because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Crowds lined the streets near Sandringham to greet the royal family Sunday for its return to the holiday tradition.
“It will be in King Charles’ thoughts about his mother, about her legacy. They will be thinking about it over Christmas,” said John Loughrey, 67, who lives in south London and camped out overnight to be first in line. “It’s going to be a sad time and a happy time for them. That’s how it’s got to be.”
King Charles III evoked memories Sunday of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as he broadcast his first Christmas message as monarch in a speech that also paid tribute to the “selfless dedication” of Britain’s public service workers, many of whom are in a fight with the government over pay.
Charles, 74, also empathized in the prerecorded message with people struggling to make ends meet “at a time of great anxiety and hardship.” Like some other parts of the world, the U.K. is wrestling with high inflation that has caused a cost-of-living crisis for many households.
In this image released on Dec. 23, 2022, King Charles III is seen during the recording of his first Christmas broadcast in the Quire of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Victoria Jones / Getty Images
The king’s first remarks, however, recalled his mother, who died in September at age 96 after 70 years on the throne.
“Christmas is a particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones,” Charles said. “We feel their absence that every familiar turn of the season and remember them in each cherished tradition.”
Charles immediately ascended to the throne upon the queen’s death. His coronation ceremony is scheduled for May.
For his televised Christmas message, he wore a dark blue suit. Unlike Elizabeth, who often sat at a desk to deliver the annual speech, Charles stood by a Christmas tree at St. George’s Chapel, a church on the grounds of Windsor Castle where his mother and his father, Prince Philip, were buried.
Charles said he shared with his mother “a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others and to shine a light in the world around them.”
“The essence of our community and the very foundation of our society” can be witnessed in “health and social care professionals and teachers and indeed all those working in public service whose skill and commitment are at the heart of our communities,” the king said.
Strikes this month by nurses, ambulance crews, teachers, postal workers and train drivers have put pressure on U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government. Opinion polls show a high level of support for the workers, especially nurses. Unions are seeking pay raises in line with inflation, whch stood at 10.7% in November.
Soaring food and energy prices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have created financial strains for many individuals and families.
Speaking over video footage of food banks and other charity work, Charles expressed sympathy for “those at home finding ways to pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm.”
Charles also reached out to people of other faiths in the United Kingdom and across the British Commonwealth, saying the meaning of Jesus Christ’s birth crosses “the boundaries of faith and belief.”
Charles believes the monarchy can help to unite his country’s increasingly diverse ethnic groups and faiths. It is part of his effort to show that the institution still has relevance.
The six-minute message concluded with an appeal to heed “the everlasting light” which, Charles said, was a key aspect of Elizabeth’s faith in God and belief in people.
“So whatever faith you have or whether you have none, it is in this life-giving light and with the true humility that lies in our service to others that I believe we can find hope for the future,” he said.
The king made no reference to the recent clamor over this month’s Netflix documentary series about the acrimonious split from the royal family that accompanied the decision of his son Prince Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan to step back from royal duties and move across the Atlantic Ocean.
Video footage accompanying the Christmas message showed working members of the royal family at official events. Harry and Meghan didn’t appear, nor did Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his honorary military titles and removed as a working royal over his friendship with the notorious U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew did, however, join Charles and other senior royals for a Christmas morning walk to a church located near the family’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk county England.
The king and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, led family members to a service at St. Mary Magdalene Church. They included Prince William, Charles’ older son and heir to the throne, and William’s wife, Kate, and the couple’s three children, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4.
Joining them on the walk was Charles and Andrew’s younger brother, Prince Edward, and his wife, Sophie.
Prince Charles walks with his wife Camilla, Queen Consort, and other members of the royal family. They attended Christmas Day services at Sandringham Church on Dec. 25, 2022.
Samir Hussein/WireImage
After the family entered the church, congregants sang “God Save the King” followed by the Christmas hymn “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Sandringham has been the private country home of four generations of British monarchs for more than 160 years, but this was the royal family’s first Christmas there since 2019, according to Britain’s Press Association news agency.
Elizabeth spent her last two Christmases at Windsor Castle because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Crowds lined the streets near Sandringham to greet the royal family Sunday for its return to the holiday tradition.
“It will be in King Charles’ thoughts about his mother, about her legacy. They will be thinking about it over Christmas,” said John Loughrey, 67, who lives in south London and camped out overnight to be first in line. “It’s going to be a sad time and a happy time for them. That’s how it’s got to be.”
LONDON — King Charles III evoked memories Sunday of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as he broadcast his first Christmas message as monarch in a speech that also paid tribute to the “selfless dedication” of Britain’s public service workers, many of whom are in a fight with the government over pay.
Charles, 74, also empathized in the prerecorded message with people struggling to make ends meet “at a time of great anxiety and hardship.” Like some other parts of the world, the U.K. is wrestling with high inflation that has caused a cost-of-living crisis for many households.
The king’s first remarks, however, recalled his mother, who died in September at age 96 after 70 years on the throne.
“Christmas is a particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones,” Charles said. “We feel their absence that every familiar turn of the season and remember them in each cherished tradition.”
Charles immediately ascended to the throne upon the queen’s death. His coronation ceremony is scheduled for May.
For his televised Christmas message, he wore a dark blue suit. Unlike Elizabeth, who often sat at a desk to deliver the annual speech, Charles stood by a Christmas tree at St. George’s Chapel, a church on the grounds of Windsor Castle where his mother and his father, Prince Philip, were buried.
Charles said he shared with his mother “a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others and to shine a light in the world around them.”
“The essence of our community and the very foundation of our society” can be witnessed in “health and social care professionals and teachers and indeed all those working in public service whose skill and commitment are at the heart of our communities,” the king said.
Strikes this month by nurses, ambulance crews, teachers, postal workers and train drivers have put pressure on U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government. Opinion polls show a high level of support for the workers, especially nurses. Unions are seeking pay raises in line with inflation, whch stood at 10.7% in November.
Soaring food and energy prices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have created financial strains for many individuals and families.
Speaking over video footage of food banks and other charity work, Charles expressed sympathy for “those at home finding ways to pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm.”
Charles also reached out to people of other faiths in the United Kingdom and across the British Commonwealth, saying the meaning of Jesus Christ’s birth crosses “the boundaries of faith and belief.”
Charles believes the monarchy can help to unite his country’s increasingly diverse ethnic groups and faiths. It is part of his effort to show that the institution still has relevance.
The six-minute message concluded with an appeal to heed “the everlasting light” which, Charles said, was a key aspect of Elizabeth’s faith in God and belief in people.
“So whatever faith you have or whether you have none, it is in this life-giving light and with the true humility that lies in our service to others that I believe we can find hope for the future,” he said.
The king made no reference to the recent clamor over this month’s Netflix documentary series about the acrimonious split from the royal family that accompanied the decision of his son Prince Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan to step back from royal duties and move across the Atlantic Ocean.
Video footage accompanying the Christmas message showed working members of the royal family at official events. Harry and Meghan didn’t appear, nor did Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his honorary military titles and removed as a working royal over his friendship with the notorious U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew did, however, join Charles and other senior royals for a Christmas morning walk to a church located near the family’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk county England.
The king and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, led family members to a service at St. Mary Magdalene Church. They included Prince William, Charles’ older son and heir to the throne, and William’s wife, Kate, and the couple’s three children, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4.
Joining them on the walk was Charles and Andrew’s younger brother, Prince Edward, and his wife, Sophie.
After the family entered the church, congregants sang “God Save the King” followed by the Christmas hymn “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Sandringham has been the private country home of four generations of British monarchs for more than 160 years, but this was the royal family’s first Christmas there since 2019, according to Britain’s Press Association news agency.
Elizabeth spent her last two Christmases at Windsor Castle because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Crowds lined the streets near Sandringham to greet the royal family Sunday for its return to the holiday tradition.
“It will be in King Charles’ thoughts about his mother, about her legacy. They will be thinking about it over Christmas,” said John Loughrey, 67, who lives in south London and camped out overnight to be first in line. “It’s going to be a sad time and a happy time for them. That’s how it’s got to be.”
LONDON — King Charles III evoked memories Sunday of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as he broadcast his first Christmas message as monarch in a speech that also paid tribute to the “selfless dedication” of Britain’s public service workers, many of whom are in a fight with the government over pay.
Charles, 74, also empathized in the prerecorded message with people struggling to make ends meet “at a time of great anxiety and hardship.” Like some other parts of the world, the U.K. is wrestling with high inflation that has caused a cost-of-living crisis for many households.
The king’s first remarks, however, recalled his mother, who died in September at age 96 after 70 years on the throne.
“Christmas is a particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones,” Charles said. “We feel their absence that every familiar turn of the season and remember them in each cherished tradition.”
Charles immediately ascended to the throne upon the queen’s death. His coronation ceremony is scheduled for May.
For his televised Christmas message, he wore a dark blue suit. Unlike Elizabeth, who often sat at a desk to deliver the annual speech, Charles stood by a Christmas tree at St. George’s Chapel, a church on the grounds of Windsor Castle where his mother and his father, Prince Philip, were buried.
Charles said he shared with his mother “a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others and to shine a light in the world around them.”
“The essence of our community and the very foundation of our society” can be witnessed in “health and social care professionals and teachers and indeed all those working in public service whose skill and commitment are at the heart of our communities,” the king said.
Strikes this month by nurses, ambulance crews, teachers, postal workers and train drivers have put pressure on U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government. Opinion polls show a high level of support for the workers, especially nurses. Unions are seeking pay raises in line with inflation, whch stood at 10.7% in November.
Soaring food and energy prices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have created financial strains for many individuals and families.
Speaking over video footage of food banks and other charity work, Charles expressed sympathy for “those at home finding ways to pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm.”
Charles also reached out to people of other faiths in the United Kingdom and across the British Commonwealth, saying the meaning of Jesus Christ’s birth crosses “the boundaries of faith and belief.”
Charles believes the monarchy can help to unite his country’s increasingly diverse ethnic groups and faiths. It is part of his effort to show that the institution still has relevance.
The six-minute message concluded with an appeal to heed “the everlasting light” which, Charles said, was a key aspect of Elizabeth’s faith in God and belief in people.
“So whatever faith you have or whether you have none, it is in this life-giving light and with the true humility that lies in our service to others that I believe we can find hope for the future,” he said.
The king made no reference to the recent clamor over this month’s Netflix documentary series about the acrimonious split from the royal family that accompanied the decision of his son Prince Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan to step back from royal duties and move across the Atlantic Ocean.
Video footage accompanying the Christmas message showed working members of the royal family at official events. Harry and Meghan didn’t appear, nor did Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his honorary military titles and removed as a working royal over his friendship with the notorious U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew did, however, join Charles and other senior royals for a Christmas morning walk to a church located near the family’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk county England.
The king and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, led family members to a service at St. Mary Magdalene Church. They included Prince William, Charles’ older son and heir to the throne, and William’s wife, Kate, and the couple’s three children, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4.
Joining them on the walk was Charles and Andrew’s younger brother, Prince Edward, and his wife, Sophie.
After the family entered the church, congregants sang “God Save the King” followed by the Christmas hymn “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Sandringham has been the private country home of four generations of British monarchs for more than 160 years, but this was the royal family’s first Christmas there since 2019, according to Britain’s Press Association news agency.
Elizabeth spent her last two Christmases at Windsor Castle because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Crowds lined the streets near Sandringham to greet the royal family Sunday for its return to the holiday tradition.
“It will be in King Charles’ thoughts about his mother, about her legacy. They will be thinking about it over Christmas,” said John Loughrey, 67, who lives in south London and camped out overnight to be first in line. “It’s going to be a sad time and a happy time for them. That’s how it’s got to be.”
The Bank of England has released images of the new banknotes that will featured King Charles III’s portrait.
Bank of England
The Bank of England released images of the first bank notes to feature the portrait of King Charles III Tuesday. The new notes will enter circulation from the middle of 2024.
The new £5, £10, £20 and £50 polymer notes include a portrait of the king in the notes’ see-through security panel. They are otherwise unchanged from the designs currently in circulation.
“This is a significant moment, as the King is only the second monarch to feature on our banknotes,” Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said in a statement.
The tradition of having monarchs on banknotes only started in 1960. Coins have long showcased images of the sovereign.
Taken together, they can convey the feeling of a world convulsing — 150 Associated Press images from across 2022, showing the fragments that make up our lives and freezing in time the moments that somehow, these days, seem to pass faster than ever.
Here: a man recovering items from a burning shop in Ukraine after a Russia attack. Here: people thronging the residence of the Sri Lankan president after protesters stormed it demanding his resignation. Here: medical workers trying to identify victims of a bridge collapse in India. And here: flames engulfing a chair inside a burning home as wildfires sweep across Mariposa County, Calif.
As history in 2022 unfolded and the world lurched forward — or, it seemed sometimes, in other directions — Associated Press photographers were there to bring back unforgettable images. Through their lenses, across the moments and months, the presence of chaos can seem more encircling than ever.
A year’s worth of news images can also be clarifying. To see these photographs is to channel — at least a bit — the jumbled nature of the events that come at us, whether we are participating in them or, more likely, observing them from afar. Thus do 150 individual front-row seats to history and life translate into a message: While the world may surge with disorder, the thrum of daily life in all its beauty continues to unfold in the planet’s every corner.
There is grief: Three heart-shaped balloons fly at a memorial site outside the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed by a gunman.
There is determination: Migrants in a wooden boat float across the Mediterranean sea south of an Italian island, trying to reach their destination.
There is fear: A man looks skyward over his shoulder, an expression of trepidation on his face, as he walks past homes damaged by a rocket attack in Ukraine.
There are glimpses into calamity: Villagers gather in northern Kenya, in an area stricken by climate-induced drought.
There is perseverance: A girl uses a kerosene oil lamp to attend online lessons during a power cut in the Sri Lankan capital.
Don’t be blinded by all of the violence and disarray, though, which can drown out other things but perhaps should not. Because here, too, are photos of joy and exuberance and, simply, daily human life.
A skier soaring through the air in Austria, conquering gravity for a fleeting moment. Chris Martin of the band Coldplay, singing toward the sky in Rio de Janeiro. A lone guard marching outside Buckingham Palace days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. An 8-year-old Afghan girl, her eyes locked with the camera, posing for a photo in her classroom in Kabul, days after a bombing attack at her school. Women taking a selfie at a ski resort in Lesotho.
Finally, allow a moment to consider one of those pauses in humanity’s march: a boy drenching himself in a public fountain in a heat wave-stricken Vilnius, Lithuania, reveling in the water and the sun and the simple act of just being. Even in the middle of a year of chaos on an uneasy planet, moments of tranquility manage to peek through.
‘Tis the season for family gatherings, festive markets, cookie exchanges — and wondering exactly how those very well-off royals spend the holidays.
As it turns out, the House of Windsor had more than their share of quirky and downright unusual Christmas traditions that will leave you scratching your head. From gut-busting gag gifts and garlic bans to proper teacup etiquette and a rather shocking before-and-after dinner weigh-in (yes, really!), we’ve uncovered some of the most bizarre “holiday commandments” the royal family followed under the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
Thou shalt… attend the annual holiday luncheon
A week before Christmas, Queen Elizabeth would host an annual luncheon at Buckingham Palace for her entire extended family — an exclusive guest list that typically totals more than 50 people.
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Although she delivered fancy invites well in advance, woe betide anyone who declined the generous offer to spend the afternoon balancing their tea cups while mingling with a slew of faces only seen once a year. Little else is known about the top-secret event (no photography was allowed), leaving royal watchers and the British tabloids speculating about what actually went on behind those gilded gates.
If you thought prepping a Christmas turkey for your holiday feast was stressful, how do you think the royal cooks feel? Christmas week at Sandringham House, on the grounds of what is now King Charles’ Norfolk estate, is an absolute must-attend — although the rare exception is sometimes granted.
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Once upon a time, close family wouldn’t be allowed to spend Christmas away from Sandringham. Just ask Diana, Princess of Wales, who never got to spend the big day with her Spencer clan. In recent years, however, the queen allowed for some wiggle room, letting Prince William and Duchess Kate visit the Middleton family in 2014.
Set aside any preconceived notions you might have as to the types of presents the Royal Family buy one another during the holidays. As it turns out, it’s all about a good gag. On Christmas Eve, the Windsors lay out their gifts on a table and exchange them over piping hot cups of tea.
The theme? Cheap, cheerful and full-out hilarious.
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That’s right — as a way to cut loose and avoid flaunting their wealth, the Royal Family buys each other gag gifts instead of expensive items. A few years back, Kate famously bought the then-single Harry a “Grow Your Own Girlfriend” kit while the prince allegedly bought his beloved granny a shower cap with “Ain’t Life a B*tch” printed across the top.
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when the queen opened that gift.
It’s something of an annual tradition for the Norfolk locals to line the streets leading to St. Mary Magdalene church on the Sandringham estate to catch a glimpse of the Royal Family as they walk to attend the Christmas morning service.
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The Windsor clan — minus the little kiddos — walks the entire way, greeting royal watchers along the path, with the exception of the queen, who would arrive promptly at the church door via car.
The 2017 service, in particular, was a biggie for royal fans since it was the first time the not-yet-a-duchess Meghan curtsied to the queen in public. Naturally, it was dissected by news outlets for days afterward. A few things the former actor needed to remember: curtsies should never graze the floor; you simply put one leg behind the other, allow for a gentle bend at the knees and bow your head slightly. (Markle nailed it, for the record.)
This shouldn’t really come as a surprise, but it still needs to be said: there’s no lounging around in PJs — not even on Christmas morning. (Our sympathies go out to the little ones — George, Charlotte and Louis.) The entire family is expected to be dressed and ready for all the Christmas Day festivities, from the morning church service to the formal evening dinner. Modesty first, while still being fashionable.
This is not a joke, friends. According to royal expert and Majesty editor-in-chief, Ingrid Stewart, every Royal Family member is weighed before and after their Christmas dinner. (We’ll give you a moment to let that sink in.) It’s apparently a tradition that dates back to the early 1900s during the reign of King Edward VII who, as a way of determining whether or not his guests had been sufficiently fed, asked them all to step on the scale.
Given the fact that the Windsors enjoy three huge meals throughout Christmas Day, the scale seems more than a little excessive. Some traditions just don’t age well.
The queen was highly fluent in French and preferred for it to be used during all formal dinner occasions. That meant, the Christmas dinner menu was supposedly printed in French, as well. No word on whether Kate or Meghan were familiar with the language when they spent their first Christmas with the royals.
We’ve all got those foods or seasonings we simply can’t stand, be it due to taste or texture. Queen Elizabeth, however, had one intense dislike that also happened to be a common cooking ingredient: garlic. As former royal chef John Higgins told the National Post in 2016, “they’re missing out on garlic because, at Buckingham Palace, you don’t cook with garlic. I suppose, in case you get the ‘royal burp.’” The real reason, according to reports? The queen hated the smell.
One of the great things about being a queen is that, when it comes to meals, you set the pace. During meals, when Queen Elizabeth had taken her last bite, she reportedly would quietly put down her fork and everyone else would have to follow her lead, whether or not they were actually done with their food. We imagine this must have been a struggle for the majority of her guests.
When at the table, napkins must be folded in half at all times to avoid unsightly stains and food bits. Royals are expected to gently wipe their mouths and hands inside the fold of their napkins. To do otherwise would risk dirty clothes — gasp! — and gross napkins coloured in a variety of less-than-appetizing food stains. Out of sight, out of mind.
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Thou shalt not… play Monopoly
During the holiday break, the royals would enjoy rousing games of charades. Queen Elizabeth loved it so much that no one else would be allowed to retire from the room until she was done playing. But there’s one game, in particular, that was strictly prohibited — Monopoly.
Yes, that board game where you collect real estate and “get out of jail free” cards. The reason? In the past, it’s gotten too competitive and heated so the queen had it banished. What we want to know is who the guilty party was.
Thou shalt… use utensils properly
The majority of us commoners don’t typically spend time dwelling on how we cut into our food during a meal, but the royals take their dining etiquette very, very seriously. Regardless of whether you’re right-handed or left-handed, knives must be held with your right and forks with your left (with the tines facing down, of course). It doesn’t end there: once you’ve cut off a piece of food, it must be balanced on the back of the fork, instead of poked through with the tines.
Entrances are an important factor in the Windsor family hierarchy, and the Orders of Precedence pecking order is nailed down to an exact science. The procession, naturally, used to begin with the queen and would continue in order of those next in line to the throne. For example, prior to his death in April 2021, Prince Philip never entered a room alongside his wife — he always trailed behind her by a few paces during all public and formal events.
Now, King Charles will be the head of the pack.
Thou shalt… drink tea correctly
Yes, there’s a correct way to hold a teacup and saucer — and, yes, that means you’ve probably been doing it wrong. As etiquette expert Myka Meier told People, a royal is expected to use their thumb and index finger to hold the top of the handle, with the middle finger gently supporting the bottom of the cup. Keep those pinkies tucked in! In addition, the women have an extra rule to abide by — one must sip from the exact same spot to avoid lipstick stains around the rim.
Thou shalt not… take down Christmas decor until February
Although most of Queen Elizabeth’s guests would start to leave Sandringham House after Boxing Day, the queen reportedly continued with the festive feels until the second week of February. Although this might seem odd to some, there’s actually a really poignant reason behind the queen’s desire to keep the tree and tinsel up for an extra month and a half.
Her father, King George VI, passed away on Feb. 6, 1952, and it was her way of remembering him during the holiday season before she would head back to London for the year.
Royals ‘happy to lie’ to protect William, Prince Harry claims in new trailer
Prince Harry said it was “terrifying” to have his brother, Prince William, scream at him during his bitter split from the royal family, in the final installments of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s controversial Netflix documentary that were released Thursday.
The fourth, fifth and sixth episodes of “Harry & Meghan” cover the pair’s challenges since their 2018 wedding,Meghan’s deteriorating mental health and her 2020 miscarriage, and ultimately their decision to quit as working members of the family.
Harry said he initially asked for a “half in, half out” arrangement, where Harry and Meghan would have their own jobs but still work in support of the Queen, during a crunch family meeting. “But it became very clear very quickly that that goal was not up for discussion or debate,” Harry said.
“It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother quietly sit there and take it all in,” he said, recalling the conversations with Prince William, then-Prince Charles, and Queen Elizabeth II.
“But you have to understand that from the family’s perspectives, especially from hers, there are ways of doing things. And her ultimate mission and goal, responsibility, is the institution … she’s going to go on the advice that she’s given,” Harry said.
The pair describe throughout the new episodes how, in their view, their position within the royal family became untenable after constant hounding from Britain’s media and repeated disregard for the couple’s wellbeing inside palace walls.
Buckingham Palace reiterated it will not comment on the documentary on Thursday. Royal engagements are meanwhile continuing, with King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, set to visit a community kitchen in London and attend a carol service with the Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the family.
Harry hinted that there was jealousy from other royals towards Meghan given the amount of media attention she was initially receiving. “The issue is when someone who is marrying in, who should be a supporting act, is then stealing the limelight or is doing the job better than the person who is born to do this,” he said.
“That upsets people. It upsets the balance. Because you have been led to believe that the only way that your charities can succeed and your mission can grow is if you are on the front pages of those newspapers.”
The series also touches on Meghan’s deteriorating mental health and her miscarriage in July 2020. “I was pregnant. I really wasn’t sleeping. The first morning that we woke up in our new home is when I miscarried,” Meghan said.
She described experiencing suicidal ideation, telling the filmmakers she believed “all of this will stop if I’m not here. And that was the scariest thing about it, it was such clear thinking.”
“The lies, that’s one thing. You kind of get used to that when you live within this family,” Harry added. “But what they were doing to her, and the effect it was having on her… enough. Enough of the pain, enough of the suffering.”
“I just did everything I could to make them proud, and to really be a part of the family,” Meghan said in the fifth episode, speaking of her relationship with the other royals. “And then the bubble burst.”
“I realized that I wasn’t just being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves,” she said.
The highly anticipated Netflix documentary marks the Sussexes’ latest attempt to reclaim the narrative surrounding their departure from royal life.
It features details on the increasingly tense relationships between Harry and his brother, WIlliam, and his father, King Charles III. And it emphasizes the suggestion that the royals wanted to sideline and isolate the couple, often through the planting of negative media reporting, rather than have them dwarf more senior royals in popularity.
“My dad said to me: ‘Darling boy, you can’t take on the media. The media will always be the media,” Harry said, describing the palace’s relationship with news outlets as a “dirty game.”
The culmination of the breakdown between the royal institution and Harry and Meghan, who were once touted by parts of the media as the modernizing force the monarchy needed, was their historic and controversial decision in early 2020 to quit as working royals and leave the UK.
Harry said he spoke to Queen Elizabeth II and arranged to meet her, with Meghan, before that split was finalized.
“She knew that we were finding things hard. I’d spoken to her many times about it,” Harry said. But as the meeting approached, Meghan said they received a message from an aide telling them they were not allowed to see the monarch.
“I’ve actually been told that I’m busy all week,” the Queen then told Harry, according to his recollection. “I was like, wow,” Harry said. “This is when a family and a family business are in direct conflict … really what they’re doing is blocking a grandson from seeing his grandmother,” added Meghan.
The couple were critical of the Queen’s aides but again were again complimentary of the late monarch herself, who died aged 96 in September, shortly after filming concluded for the series.
Their documentary, and Harry’s upcoming memoir, focus more attention on the difficult relationship between the prince and his father, King Charles.
Thursday’s release follows last week’s batch of episodes, in which Prince Harry criticized “unconscious bias” inside the family.
It remains to be seen whether the venture will enhance the reputation of the couple as they look to sculpt their post-royalty personas.
Six in 10 Brits believe it was a bad idea for the duke and duchess to release the Netflix documentary, according to a Savanta poll of 2,250 British adults carried out online between December 9 and 11, between the release of the first and second parts of the series.
The same poll found that Harry and Meghan both have negative approval ratings among the British public – -3 and -19 respectively, when subtracting those with a negative opinion from those with a positive one – unlike the high popularity of Prince William (+60) and Charles III (+36).
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 to connect with a trained counselor or visit the NSPL site. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide also provide contact information for crisis centers around the world.
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