169: Princess Kate has been missing for over 60 days, Prince William skipped King Constantine's memorial

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Introduction: Minutes 0 to 7:30
The Oscars are next weekend so we won’t have a podcast unless something huge breaks. Since we last talked Chandra and I both saw American Fiction, that was my favorite. Chandra liked it but wanted it to focus more on Issa Rae’s character. She thought The Zone of Interest was very disturbing, but loved Poor Things. She is also watching Capote vs. The Swans and loves the performances. If Emma Stone takes home the Oscar over Lily Gladstone, Chandra is fine with that.

Royals: Minutes 7:30 to 29:00
In our last podcast we mentioned Charles’ cancer diagnosis and Kate disappearance following abdominal surgery. Kate has not been seen in over 60 days. A Kensington Palace spokesperson gave a snotty statement about it to Page Six that did not reveal much. Their PR is so terrible.

On February 15th the Sussexes made a three day trip to Canada to do events ahead of next year’s winter Invictus Games. Harry had an interview with Good Morning America. The Sussexes also launched Sussex.com and Meghan got a podcast deal with Lemonada media. They’re getting positive coverage apart from silly criticism. Harry was also criticized for answering questions about visiting his father.

At first we heard that William, who is BAFTAs president, was not going to attend the BAFTAs on February 18th. That’s pretty typical for him. However after Harry and Meghan got so much press for their Canada trip, he announced that he was going. A photo went viral where William was talking backstage to actresses, including Ayo Edebiri and Phoebe Dynevor, who were looking at him skeptically. It turned out that Prince William had made a very inappropriate comment to Mia McKenna-Bruce about her movie. He was very unprepared to meet the actresses and admitted to not having watched any of their films.

On Tuesday the 20th, William issued a statement on the Middle East crisis, which no one was asking him about. William was scheduled to visit the British Red Cross and could have just issued a statement about their work instead. On Thursday, February 29th, William went to an event at a synagogue in central London to discuss anti-Semitism. Kate was originally scheduled to go with him to that event. We remember when Kate did an event with Holocaust survivors in 2021 in which she was engaged and charming. After William’s statement on the Middle East and after he looked drunk at an investiture ceremony, Piers Morgan published a story about how William has been drinking wine since he was 13.

On Tuesday February 27th there was a memorial service in London for King Constantine II of Greece, who passed last January. Neither Charles nor William went to the funeral in Greece in 2023. Charles announced ahead of time that he would not make it to this memorial. William was scheduled to give a reading, but canceled less than an hour before. It became international news.

At the service were Camilla, at the head of the procession to the church, and Prince Andrew and Fergie were also upfront. Also there were Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. She’s a notorious racist.

The Kents’ son-in-law, Thomas Kingston, passed away at just 45 in Gloucester on Sunday. His death was not announced for two days and his in laws went to that memorial service before the news got out. The press announced that William’s absence at the memorial wasn’t due to Thomas’s death.

Meanwhile there are all these stories about how the monarchy is fragile and the cracks are showing now. The way the Waleses have bungled their own PR is astounding. Here’s a link to the story Chandra mentioned from The Daily Beast.

Comments of the Week: Minutes 29:00 to end
Chandra’s comment of the week is from Walking the Walk on the post about Harry l