Dear Gossips,
My first thought when the news broke yesterday was that, oh, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle can present at the Oscars now. You’ll recall, it was a thing that was considered a couple of years ago and logistically they weren’t able to make it happen. But now that they’ve decided what they’ve decided, that kind of thing is much more possible. Also going on holiday with Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
But first, let’s not forget that there’s another member of the British royal family who has stepped back (though involuntarily in his case) from royal duties because of his association with Jeffrey Epstein, the dead rapist pedophile. That, of course, would be Prince Andrew and today, on Good Morning Britain, Dickie Arbiter, the Queen’s former spokesperson, when asked how the Queen’s doing over all this Harry and Meghan business, said that, “The Queen will be feeling very let down and very angry. Probably more angry than she felt after Andrew’s car crash interview last year”. Which elicited gasps from people in the studio. And then he continued, “Because look, the Epstein and Andrew thing has been going on for ages.”
Good to know that rape and sex trafficking become less offensive over time.
Dickie hasn’t worked with the Queen in 20 years so I don’t know if he’s still an authority about her “feelings” but it does tell you about certain attitudes over what is and isn’t considered offensive.
A reminder, then, before we get to the Sussexes and this bombshell that they’ve just dropped, about the wide range of players and perspectives involved here and how that undoubtedly informs the entire situation.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
