Alexander Larman is an author and books editor of Spectator World, our US-based edition
Even for those of us who are not well disposed towards the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, it is hard not to wish – occasionally – that they might catch a break. Yet apart from Harry’s well-judged and unostentatious appearance at the coronation, things have gone from bad to worse over the past six months
As Oscar Wilde said of the death of Little Nell, you would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh. During Prince Harry’s recent travails in court he was given the in-depth public interrogation about ‘his truth’ that he has never faced before. As if this were not enough to disturb the equilibrium
It’s fair to say that, after an unimpressive first day on the witness stand in his case against the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), Prince Harry rallied somewhat yesterday. This may well have been because he now had the measure of his interrogator, Andrew Green KC, and was able to respond with greater detail and fluency.
As Prince Harry walked into the High Court for his second day of cross-examination, he might have been forgiven for approaching the stand with trepidation. The Duke of Sussex’s first day being grilled by Andrew Green KC did not cover him in glory. It is unlikely that the Prince has ever found himself under such
Prince Harry is on a mission. ‘How much more blood will stain their typing fingers before someone can put a stop to this madness’?’ Harry asks of journalists in his witness statement in his case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). After the prince became the first member of the royal family to give evidence in
It is disappointing to learn that, after critics and cynical audiences everywhere had sharpened their fish knives in the expectation of the new live-action Little Mermaid film being a catastrophic disaster, early reviews have suggested that it is… fine. It attracted a great deal of attention, and some criticism, for the casting of the black singer-actress
Today, Prince Harry lost a court case. If the law of averages is to be believed, he has involved himself in so many that it was inevitable that at least one was not going to go his way. Still, this particular defeat is likely to be difficult for the Duke of Sussex to take, as
There are a few things in this world that you can truly count on: death, taxes and Taylor Swift’s love life attracting headlines. To their number can be added the certain knowledge that, when Martin Scorsese collaborates with either of his two muses, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, the results are somewhere between fascinating (Gangs of
Since the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare in January, Meghan has kept an unusually low profile by her standards. Her non-appearance at the coronation earlier in the month was widely interpreted as a snub to the Royal Family, whom she has missed no opportunity to castigate. Now the Duchess of Sussex is making a
The late director Anthony Minghella made three films with actor Jude Law: The Talented Mr Ripley, Cold Mountain and Breaking and Entering. They would undoubtedly have made more if Minghella hadn’t died at the cruelly young age of 54 in 2008. He referred to the actor as ‘my muse’, but had a more perceptive comment about him too. ‘Jude
There’s something rather wonderful about the idea of settling down for the night in the spot where one of your favourite writers once slept, played or dreamed up a plot. There are a range of hotels across London with a vast array of bookish associations: some have played host to writers both famous and infamous,
At the beginning of her biography of the novelist, ‘fairy sprite’ and proto-feminist Lady Caroline Lamb, Lady Antonia Fraser hints that this may be her final book. Not for her a dramatic, Prospero-breaking-his-staff exit; instead, she writes mildly in the prologue that ‘this book… can also be regarded as the culmination of an exciting and
In the run-up to the coronation, the Prince of Wales was a rather detached figure. Prince William kept an unusually low-key profile right up until the week of the coronation, along with his wife: a woman increasingly seen as the Royal Family’s secret weapon. The Princess of Wales combines glamour, accessibility and a welcome sense
For the coronation of Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953, all the members of the Royal Family were present, with one notable exception: her uncle, the former Edward VIII, now the Duke of Windsor. Although Edward had attempted to build civil relations with his niece after her accession to the throne the previous year, it
In the end, after months of speculation, the coronation was a success. In the run-up, the distracting aspect had been the ‘will they, won’t they’ presence of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, fanned by their desire to make themselves the centre of attention. Yet in the event, Prince Harry was an inconspicuous, even diffident
Seasoned observers of Meghan Markle – and by now, surely, there cannot be any other kind – might be forgiven for wondering why the Duchess of Sussex has been keeping a comparatively low profile so far in 2023. Her husband seems ubiquitous, whether popping up in the law courts to denounce the media, plugging his
I am beginning to wonder if there are, in fact, two incarnations of King Charles that co-exist simultaneously. The first is a remarkably generous-spirited and forgiving man, who responds to insults and slights with Christ-like forbearance and shows nothing but a genuine love for his country and his people. And the second is a more
Today’s announcement that Prince Harry will be coming to London for his father’s coronation is not a surprise. Yet it comes with a sting in the tail. It has been revealed that Meghan will not be attending; the official statement from Buckingham Palace, while saying that they were ‘pleased’ that the Duke of Sussex would
Two thousand among the great and the good from around the world will soon receive a letter from King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The invitation to the coronation on 6 May, which has been unveiled today, is not what people might have expected. Elizabeth II’s coronation invitation was formal, and, even by the standards
You’ll know where you are with Ted Lasso – the third season of which has just started on Apple TV – as soon as you hear the Marcus Mumford co-written theme song. It peddles a sort of sub-Coldplay uplift, with a lot of big, meaningless anthemic ‘yeah’s in the chorus. Bright, accessible, catchy and instantly forgettable, you
