Nutty Flavor Blog

Sometime within the next seven days, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will release a new photo of their little-seen son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, according to an article in the Sunday Times ( quoted in the Sun, with no paywall ). It tickles the imagination to think about what this image might look like, particularly considering the Sussexes' passion for Photoshop. The classic Archie photos - the ones used again and again in British tabloids, including the link above - were taken in South Africa in September 2019, a good 7 1/2 months ago. The little red-haired fellow in those images looked healthy and well-fed, although entirely uninterested in the two people who were supposedly his parents. None of the nuzzling or the seeking of comfort or approval that infants usually display with their primary caregivers, or people they know and like. (Prince Charles' recent image with his grandson Prince Louis is a good example) Babies change a lot Babies change a lot in 7 1/2 m...

Let's discuss today's High Court hearing. If you're just joining us now, the Daily Mirror live-blogged the event , and Joshua Rozenberg, a QC and commenter on British law, also weighed in on his Twitter account .

People Magazine - whose owners have just asked staff to take a big pay cut - has put its name behind tonight's documentary on the little-watched American broadcast network CW. The documentary, " Harry & Meghan: A Royal Rebellion " will for nearly two hours on Wednesday, April 22, not counting ad breaks. Here's the program description: "From their captivating love story, to their shocking exit from royal life, the world has been fascinated with every twist and turn in the romantic real-life drama of Harry and Meghan. A team of full time, royals-focused PEOPLE reporters in New York and London break down the ins-and outs of all things royal, offering new updates and insights into the couple who have thrown out the royal playbook." It must be rather hard to produce the final cut of a documentary when the main figures - who had promised to live a quiet, private life - keep coming up with new idiocies every day. Let's discuss the new documentari...

Twenty-four hours before broadcast, Duchess Meghan's first television interview since her departure as a senior Royal is the top story on the New York Post online version. (This may be because it's easy for the Post to run ads on stories that have no relation to the corona virus. Many advertisers refuse to have their ads next to corona-related stories.) The interview will be broadcast on Good Morning America, which is on the ABC Network, owned by Disney. FWIW, Meg's old friend Jess Mulroney also does fashion segments on GMA. The topic will supposedly be the elephant documentary Meg narrated for the new Disney+ network. Importantly, she is being billed as Meghan Markle, not the Duchess of Sussex. Studio or home interview? It's not clear when and where the interview was recorded. Presumably Meg will not be flying to the GMA studios in New York, but what about being driven in one of her multiple rental cars to the ABC studios in Los Angeles? Or will she broa...

The New Yorker - which, for non-US readers, is seen by many as the journal of America's educated elite - took on the Meg and Harry story today with a story entitled " Prince Harry and Meghan's Fractured Fairy Tale ." The story is currently at the top of the New Yorker's "most read" list. It is somewhat sympathetic to the Sussexes: According to royal experts, the only approximate modern precursor to Megxit—the term that was inevitably coined for the Sussexes’ departure—was the abdication crisis of 1936. Then, King Edward VIII stepped down from the throne in order to marry the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson, of Baltimore, Maryland; he became the Duke of Windsor and retreated into a long exile of decadent mooching, in France and elsewhere....Harry’s retirement from the family business does not affect the succession. It has, however, inspired a collective reckoning, for which the British public has been especially primed by three seasons of “ The Crown ...

Enty ran another of his blind items on the Sussexes the other day, to wit: "This alliterate former actress has the best, if not the best team you could hire in town. Apparently though she has sent word out through her media mouthpiece to the north that she isn't happy with them. Why? No one wants to hire her at the rate she thinks she deserves. Her demands are much higher than reality. Oh, and as a side note. Since she can't use the title any longer, the movie studio asked her if she wanted to change the name under which she is credited. She said of course not and that is who she is even if she "can't use" it any longer." Enty, as usual, mixes fact and fiction. Meg can certainly use "Meghan, Duchess of Sussex," which is how she was credited in her Disney elephants documentary. The only thing she has agreed not to use is her HRH - and she didn't. The "media mouthpiece to the north" is clearly Lainey Gossip. But the ...

Supposedly, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are living in a borrowed or rented house somewhere in the Los Angeles area. Supposedly, they are parents to a child named Archie who is about to turn one year old, who lives with them in California. Supposedly, they're working hard to launch a new charity venture, assisted by Catherine St-Laurent , a former employee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who focused on women's health issues. Supposedly, Meg is looking for acting jobs and Harry is still maintaining connections to his veteran's charities. Are any of the above true? All of them? None of them? The Sussexes' finances Also, while I generally believe it is poor manners to peek into other people's finances, I'll make an exception for the Sussexes. How much money do you think they have left? And, given that a lot of it seems to go for PR, what do they use it on? Food, security, fashion, drugs?  Health care or health insurance? How many staff d...

One of the challenges I find about living outside my country of origin is pronouncing people's names. I meet people from all over Northern Europe as part of my business life, and it's never a good start to a business conversation to say, "And how do you say your name?" Meg and Harry - or Meg, let's face it, this was her decision - have put all of their future business contacts into that situation by naming their new foundation "Archewell". Arche , the Greek word Meg says is at the root of her foundation name, is pronounced ar-khay' , with the emphasis on the second syllable. That would properly make the foundation "Ar-KAY-well". Or perhaps the foundation should be pronounced like "architect" - in other words "AR-ka-well" in US English or "AR-ki-well" in UK English. Alternately, it could be pronounced with a silent "e," a bit like Madewell , the successful woman's clothing brand it's...

In her famous New Yorker essay, a different Meghan - the writer Meghan Daum - confesses that even as her life crumbled because of overwhelming credit card debt , she still bought fresh flowers every day. "I have a compulsive need to keep fresh-cut flowers in my apartment at all times," Meghan Daum wrote. Meghan Markle, who is still the Duchess of Sussex although no longer HRH Duchess of Sussex, also has a spending compulsion. She must have PR, a habit that started when she was an up-and-coming actress and continues today. Even now - when she is desperate for income and effectively homeless - Meghan Markle has managed to keep her PR machine rolling. God only knows who is paying for it. Trying to be a distraction One might guess that when the world is gripped by the coronavirus crisis, people might not be interested in a mid-level celebrity couple. But Meg hasn't let that stop her - perhaps she's hoping to be a "Tiger King" type distraction for p...