Serial dating can obviously have a devastating effect on one’s social life, as singer and lothario Harry Styles has discovered.
Invited to New York’s event of the year, the Met Gala, he chose to avoid it “like the bubonic plague,” according to a friend.
The reason? Both his ex-girlfriend, the director of his latest film Olivia Wilde, and his current partner, the woman he had quickly moved on from, Emily Ratajkowski, would show up. What a wimp.
The two women, formerly friends, duly turned up and went to the same after party. What’s the bet that a friendship has been rekindled and a coward forgotten?
Harry Styles was not present at the Met Gala in New York on Monday because both his ex-girlfriend, the director of his latest film Olivia Wilde (pictured), and his current squeeze Emily Ratajkowski were expected.
Party buddies: Emily Ratajkowski (pictured), the woman Harry quickly moved on with, and ex Olivia Wilde went to the same after party
I was only three, but the Queen’s coronation made me the feminist I am
I didn’t expect to be excited about the coronation, but I can’t wait for Saturday when I will sit on my sofa and enjoy the spectacle of no one doing it better than the British. The anticipation takes me right back to June 2, 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
I had just turned three and earlier that week my father had come home with a television. He was working in a TV repair shop at the time, and his boss had given him the television for the express purpose of enabling us to see the very first live broadcast of such an important event.
Of course everyone on the street had seen my father carry the big box to our town hall. No one else in the area had one, so a slew of visitors knocked on the door asking if they could ‘just drop by on the day’.
All were made welcome.
There was supposed to be a party that day in a farmer’s huge barn nearby. It was a fancy dress costume for the kids and I insisted on being a fairy – a kind of test for my mother who had a lot of talents, but needlework wasn’t one of them.
She managed to put together something white and floating with wings. I had a wand and a tiara she found in a toy store in town. The first thing I did the next morning was I was dressed and ready for the show.
Our little sitting room was packed with people. I sat at the front of the floor and watched in disbelief as the beautiful young woman, sitting in her golden carriage next to her handsome husband, was pulled through the bustling streets of London by eight beautiful gray geldings.
It was a fairy tale and I, always blessed with a vivid imagination, convinced myself that I could be a queen too.
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place on June 2, 1953. The young queen, sitting in her golden carriage next to her dashing husband, was pulled through the bustling streets of London by eight beautiful gray geldings
We had no idea how colorful the procession was – the screen was black and white – but we could see how gorgeous the Queen’s dress was and how beautiful her six bridesmaids were, wearing her long, long robes of state.
Some of our guests, more traveled than myself, had called out place names as the procession passed – Trafalgar Square, Marble Arch, Oxford Circus – and I imagined that one day I would set off to walk the nearly 200 miles from Barnsley, Yorkshire. lay , to London to see all the places she passed.
I remember everything I saw on TV that day, but I think the most powerful memory is my realization that I was watching a woman who was the center of attention.
There were many men around her – her husband, the peers of the realm and the clergy – but she was the person who mattered. They all followed her and bowed to her.
It was my first clue that a woman could be something other than wife, cook, cleaner, and mother. She was a mother, but she also had power.
It was a life-changing moment for a little girl at a time when girls were generally believed to be inferior to boys.
It was a good thing the party was going to take place in a barn. It rained all day – as planned for this Saturday – but no one stayed home.
Barnsley, a mining town, was a strong left constituency. I remember my mother scoffing that if we put my dog Taffy forward as a Labor candidate he would be elected to Parliament.
Jenni Murray was only three when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned. She remembers that her family’s small sitting room was packed with people watching the coronation on the new TV
Yet I do not recall anyone in our community expressing republican sentiments.
Everyone was delighted to celebrate the Queen’s coronation and God Save the Queen sounded many times that day.
I remember being exhausted when the party came to an end. All children took home a piece of cake and a sixpence. I still have the sixpence. It is dated 1953 and features a photograph of the young queen.
It had been a great day and the best part was the way it brought our community together; all determined to love and respect our new head of state.
There have been times in my life when I had my doubts about the monarchy. As an atheist, I never got up in the cinema at the end of a movie in the days when God Save The Queen was played.
I wondered why some were born with wealth and privilege and others with nothing. I asked myself why the royal family needed so many houses when so many had nowhere to live. Then I grew up and saw the good the royal family has done.
In the early 1980s I interviewed the then Prince Charles about the Duchy of Cornwall. I found a man with a great sense of humor.
He called me the KGB, but was happy to answer those tough questions about wealth and privilege. He was even willing to invite an entire BBC crew to join him in his sitting room for a drink, which he poured himself.
King Charles knows his work and he has a wife, Queen Camilla, who also knows her work. I have met her several times and have always been impressed by her charm, easy conversation and ready smile.
So I will wish the King and Queen well on Saturday, but I will not swear to be faithful. It’s the God thing again. Save King Charles will be fine, but “May the King Live Forever” is definitely a prayer too far.
Prove it’s your face or figure
Beware of the unwanted results of rapid weight loss caused by one of the new injectable drugs, Ozempic or Wegovy.
There are reports of rapid facial fat loss leading to unexpectedly sagging, wrinkly skin.
It was Barbara Cartland who told me years ago, ‘Honey, it’s either your face or your figure.
“Try to stay a little chubby.”
Best advice ever.
Michael Palin always seemed like the kindest and happiest man, and proudly thanked his wife, Helen, for keeping the fires burning in the house while he traveled the world making a living making shows.
Michael and Helen were married for 57 years. He used to proudly thank his wife for keeping the fires burning in the house as he traveled the world making programs
As he announces her death, after 57 years of marriage, he thanks her again for being the “foundation of my life.”
May she rest in peace and may he find comfort in his three children who share his “indescribable loss.”
With a new mower in the house, Jenni is out of the question to join No Mow May, an initiative that has been proposed to help plants and wildlife
I’m not doing No Mow May under any circumstances!
Sorry, but I’m not participating in No Mow May, an initiative by a British conservation organization to help plants and animals.
I have a new mower. The old one broke. It will mainly be used to mow my lawn as I can’t stand daisies in my lawn.
Too many memories of making endless daisy chains on the border while my dad played cricket.
Daisies remind me of total boredom. They’ll be gone.