The Academy is celebrating the 90th Oscars this weekend. The Oscars are always a big ass deal in Hollywood but when it’s a nice round number like that, they usually want to make it even more extra. And the challenge with the Oscars every year, though they may not admit it, is that many of the films nominated aren’t seen by most of the television viewing audience. Which is why they have to rely on the star power that the Oscars attracts – the nominees, for sure, but also the presenters. As mentioned earlier, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty may show up again at the end of the show to present Best Picture. But that may not have been the first choice?
Multiple sources have told me that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were invited by the Academy to attend the Oscars. They wanted to get them there, whatever that would look like – as attendees, great, but as presenters, even better. And the invitation was seriously considered. I hear that Harry and Meghan really wanted to go. There were calls back and forth between teams, some early fashion queries were even made. The issue was security and logistics. The Oscars red carpet is a tricky dance. And having the royals walk a red carpet is a tricky dance. That red carpet gets a LOT of traffic. There are typically two streams – guests who are attending the show and guests who are attending the show and also on display for the press. They try to time arrivals at intervals, holding the stars in the arrivals tent before releasing them on the carpet for their photos and interviews. Creating that gap for a royal saunter would be complicated. And I’m told, at last check, they couldn’t make it work. We’re in the town where magic happens though. So I guess nothing is impossible. But my sources told me, though the willingness was strong on both sides, it’s very unlikely that it will happen. Can you imagine what might have been?
