“None of us will live forever”
The Queen reminds world leaders what’s really important and finally talks about Prince Philip
It was full of world leaders, but one woman stood out at Cop26 and she wasn’t even there, technically. The Queen gave a powerful and moving speech at the climate summit on Monday, via video, after doctors ordered her to rest and not travel to the event in Glasgow.
Clad in green, appropriately, the Queen finally opened up about Prince Philip, saying, “The impact of the environment on human progress was a subject close to the heart of my dear late husband, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh. I remember well that in 1969, he told an academic gathering, ‘If the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment, it is as certain as anything can be, that the situation will become increasingly intolerable within a very short time … If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance,’” she said.
“It is a source of great pride to me that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people to protect our fragile planet, lives on through the work of our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William. I could not be more proud of them.”
Indeed, there was nobody else present who had worked with so many world leaders for so long. “For more than 70 years, I have been lucky to meet and to know many of the world’s great leaders. It has sometimes been observed that what leaders do for their people today is government and politics. But what they do for the people of tomorrow - that is statesmanship. It is the hope of many that the legacy of this summit - written in history books yet to be printed - will describe you as the leaders who did not pass up the opportunity; and that you answered the call of those future generations.”
And she added a poignant note, “We none of us will live forever. But we are doing this not for ourselves but for our children and our children’s children, and those who will follow in their footsteps.”
Kate’s eco-style
It’s a tricky thing marrying fashion with sustainability – particularly if you are in the public eye and inevitably need an ever-changing wardrobe. But it’s not as impossible as it seems, as Stella McCartney has proved with her vegan high-fashion brand.
The designer unveiled the Future of Fashion exhibit at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow this week with Prince Charles at Cop26 and said she was ridiculed for her ideals when she began. “I insisted that it (my collection) was all organic, it was all sustainable, which at the time, you know, I was ridiculed and I was like a freak for coming to them with that.
“The future of fashion and our planet is vegan,” she added.
As for Catherine, she chose a blue Eponine London 2020 coat dress to attend the reception. The high-end British brand uses wool from local mills and recycled material. She teamed it with her £495 Rupert Sanderson Malory heels.
Meghan’s renegade relatives are back
Every family has its embarrassing relatives, but Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s never seem to shut up.
This week it was Thomas Markle Jr’s turn to dish the dirt again on Australia’s Big Brother VIP. Kerry gave her opinion on his appearance for The Sunday Telegraph.
He wasted no time sledging his royal half-sister, from how selfish and shallow she is, to the letter he wrote to Prince Harry, warning him not to marry Meghan. Can’t think why he didn’t get an invite to the wedding. In fact, Doubting Thomas went out so fast on the Channel 7 show, he peaked too soon and peed off his housemates, who like us, have heard his “I hate Meghan” story many times before. Still, he’s only carrying on a family tradition – dad Thomas Sr recently said he could sue to see his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet and Meghan’s half-sister Samantha penned a memoir on how horrible she thinks the duchess is and told TMZ she reckons the royal couple will end up divorced.
Still, Meghan can console herself with the fact she’s far from alone. Nobody is immune from a renegade relative getting press for the wrong reasons, including Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, whose uncle Gary Goldsmith hit the headlines when he was charged with punching his wife in a drunken row and the Queen’s cousin Simon Bowes-Lyon has just served a jail sentence for sexually assaulting a woman at his ancestral home Glamis Castle in Scotland. Then there’s Prince Andrew…
Kristen pulls it off
The much-hyped Spencer finally opened on Friday. So did Kristen Stewart pull it off with her portrayal of Diana, in the days before she decided to leave the Royal Family?
The first reviews are in and they’re mixed. Kristen’s performance is praised, although noted isn’t as good as Emma Corrin in The Crown, but the movie itself is a matter of personal taste, say critics. The Guardian calls it an “arthouse-bizarro Diana … an entertaining, if overwrought, overpraised and slightly obtuse movie, an ironised fantasy opera without music.” Entertainment Weekly says Stewart dazzles in the movie and “gives one of the best performances of her career so far,” and the UK Telegraph says “Stewart is masterful as Diana in this thrillingly gutsy, seductive film.” The Wall Street Journal was much harsher. “Stewart reigns, drama drains,” it said, calling the movie a “surreal nightmare.”
While Kristen’s performance is universally praised, it seems like a divisive movie – we would love to hear your thoughts. Have you seen it? Let us know what you think.
Diana’s famous dance
While Kristen takes Diana back to the big screen, it was this week 36 years ago that Diana danced her way into the world’s hearts – and John Travolta’s – at the White House. On November 9, 1985, Charles and Diana ended the first day of their trip to the USA at a gala dinner in the White House, hosted by President Reagan and Nancy.
The couple were proving popular, but it was when Diana took to the dance floor with the Saturday Night Fever star, she stole everyone’s hearts. Twirling around in her midnight blue velvet Victor Edelstein dress, which was recently bought by Historic Royal Palaces and pearl and sapphire choker, Travolta later said, “There we were, dancing together like in a fairy-tale. Who could imagine that something like this is going to happen to you one day?
“I was smart enough to register it in my memory as a very special, magical moment.”