
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Meghan's 'desperate to trump the royals', claims former friend
When they both attended the LA Children's Hospital Gala last year, TV presenter Lizzie Cundy claimed the Duchess of Sussex was there just 'for the photographs'.
Now, Cundy, who used to be Meghan's friend, says her behaviour has worsened since then.
'Meghan is desperate to be liked, desperate to be powerful and desperate to trump the royals with anything she does,' Lizzie, 56, tells me at the Diva Awards at 8 Northumberland Avenue in London.
'Sadly for her, you can't buy likeability, and she's lacking in that by the bucket-load.'
Lizzie adds of Prince Harry: 'He looks deeply unhappy. I think he is missing his family and, obviously, worried about his father's health.'
Poppy's in bloom for baby shower
When I disclosed a year ago that Poppy Delevingne had found love with Archie Keswick, Sienna Miller's ex, friends told me he hated being photographed in public.
Archie, who is a member of the Jardine Matheson dynasty which owns the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, was, however, happy to be pictured at Poppy's baby shower.
The actress and model, who turns 39 this weekend, is expecting her first child, a girl, next month with Archie, 43, whose family fortune is reputed to top £6 billion.
Poppy wore a pink dress for the London party, where she and Archie were joined by family members including her sister, Cara Delevingne, 32, her mother, Pandora, 65, and Archie's sister, Willa Keswick, 40.
Birthday girl Sofia dodges power cut
Princess Sofia of Spain, who turns 18 today, has just one term left at UWC Atlantic College, in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
The younger daughter of King Felipe and Queen Letizia followed in the footsteps of her sister, Princess Leonor, and enrolled in the school which has been described as 'Hippy Hogwarts' thanks to its progressive approach and castle setting.
This photograph, issued by the Spanish royal household to celebrate Sofia's birthday, was taken at Zarzuela Palace, her family's home in Madrid. Sofia is second in line to the Spanish throne.
I've been very lucky, says Fry
Sir Stephen Fry says he can't help young people seeking his advice because he's too privileged.
'I get requests from people and their parents, saying my boy or my girl wants to get into showbusiness, wants to get into publishing, has written a book, has a YouTube channel that nobody subscribes to, and how do they get an agent? How do they get noticed?
'And I'm in the awful position of saying I don't know,' he admits. 'I have had every door open to me without me having to knock on it… it's deeply unfair for me to be so lucky.'
While Prince William was in Rome attending Pope Francis's funeral on Saturday, his uncle and aunt Prince Edward and Sophie were enjoying la dolce vita in London. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were at the River Cafe, Ruth Rogers's celebrated Italian restaurant in west London. 'They were attending a 60th birthday dinner for their friend Tanya Rose,' a pal tells me. Tanya, a travel public relations boss, has known King Charles's 61-year-old brother since they were at Gordonstoun school together.
Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes fears for fellow athletes when they retire.
'I'd been in the military for ten years and an international athlete for 12, [then] I lost all of that structure and purpose,' she tells me.
'We always need to do more to support retired athletes, as with veterans. There has to be a structure in place.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
'Most hated city in Europe' where Brits love to go on holiday
Benidorm is one of Europe's most popular holiday destinations, welcoming some 800,000 British tourists a year - but that doesn't mean it's not also one of the most controversial Benidorm has been branded 'The worst place on Earth' by some, despite the resort town attracting roughly 800,000 British holidaymakers annually. Indeed, for certain travellers, its unenviable title stems precisely because of the influx of Brits each year. This Spanish seaside city, famous for its "strip" crammed with bars and nightclubs, revels in a reputation of limitless revelry where drunken antics and indecent exposure are as typical of the vacation experience as sunshine and sandy shores. YouTuber Ben Morris set off to Benidorm investigating whether its infamous notoriety is merited, pointing out that many attribute the resort's issues primarily to one thing: "Brits abroad." Ben observes that English is far more common than Spanish even in the scenic Old Town, stating: "Lots of people refer to Benidorm as 'Mini Britain,' with the British greatly surpassing the local population." He was taken aback by the sheer number of people thronging the streets, saying: "I knew that this was a popular holiday destination but I was really thrown off by how busy it actually was." However genteel Benidorm seems by day, the night transforms it completely, reports the Express. As darkness falls, encounters with illicit drug peddlers and, curiously, condom vendors become routine, targeting inebriated tourists to splurge their holiday funds. "I just couldn't get over how different the energy was at night-time," Ben said. "It was like feeding time at the zoo with Brits drinking and partying all down the streets." The bustling Calle Gerona is tailored for a certain type of holidaymaker. "It's just crazy walking down the strip; it's pub after pub after sports bar after pub," Ben remarked. One infamous destination in Benidorm, Sticky Vicky's, notorious for its peculiar adult performance involving unexpected objects and a woman's nether regions, remains open even after its founder passed away in 2023. Taking the limelight is María Gadea Aragüés, Vicky's own daughter, who began mastering the unconventional family talent at the tender age of 13. Ben could only stomach roughly 10 minutes of the show before he had to make a swift exit. Yet, for those seeking a break from the brash strip's neon embrace, a short ride away lies the tranquil Altea. "It's a completely different vibe to Benidorm," Ben observes, suggesting it as a serene escape when the risqué antics of Sticky Vicky's become overwhelming.


Spectator
7 hours ago
- Spectator
Channel 4's Beth is a sad glimpse into the future of terrestrial TV
On the face of it, Beth seemed that most old-fashioned of TV genres: the single play. In fact, Monday's programme was the complete version of a three-parter made for YouTube and excitedly announced as Channel 4's first-ever digital commission. A less excited interpretation, however, might be that it was Channel 4's first sign of surrender to the hostile forces of streaming now threatening all of Britain's terrestrial networks. Either way, it was a peculiar watch that, over the course of its 36 minutes, felt less like a fully fledged drama than notes towards one. In a nervous bid to ensure YouTube viewers were gripped before they could search for something else, it began with a good-looking couple having sex. But not for long. Within 50 seconds, the man, Joe, noticed blood on the sheets and the woman, Molly, realised she'd had the latest in a series of miscarriages. Seconds after that, the pair were visiting their hunky private doctor who advised them to knock off the IVF, in favour of 'lots of sex': advice he bestowed with a distinct leer in Molly's direction. Following the consultation, Joe and Molly (Nicholas Pinnock and Abbey Lee) wondered about adoption or fostering, but as an interracial couple, decided they wanted 'our kid to look like both of us'. In one of these 'notes towards' moments, it also appeared that Joe himself had been unhappily fostered. But of course there wasn't time to get into that and instead the first 12-minute section ended with Molly suddenly pregnant. Once she was, there were some more hints at a theme the show would clearly have liked to explore in more depth, in this case Joe's class unease about having a much posher partner. Yet, no sooner was this suggested than we cut to the delivery room, where Molly gave birth to a white baby – moments later, a white primary-school girl whom Joe, now separated from Molly, was picking up from a party. Despite his (and our) suspicions, the reason for the child's colour wasn't the pervy doctor, but something wholly unguessable which relied on a lurch into the supernatural that I'd better not spoil, but that, once again, the show didn't have time either to prepare us for or to reflect on, and so simply plonked in front of us. Beth was by no means a disaster. The two leads did their considerable best with what they had to work on – as did the script, which often managed to be intriguing before the time constraints rendered it merely frustrating. Nonetheless, you couldn't help thinking how much more could have been done with the material in a mini-series that wasn't quite so mini. If this was a glimpse of the terrestrial-TV future, the best you can say is that its programmes certainly won't overstay their welcome; the worst is that they'll be badly lacking in the swagger and storytelling confidence of the pre-streaming era. Still, if it's old-fashioned you want, there's always Not Going Out – the longest-running sitcom now on British television and by some distance the most traditional. There remains something almost heroic about Mack's determination to keep the British-sitcom faith Defending his chosen form, its creator Lee Mack said recently: 'The thing you always hear people say about studio sitcoms is: 'They're so 1970s.' But then you ask people to name their favourite British sitcoms and they're all from the 1970s: Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army, Steptoe and Son.' Sadly, I'm not convinced that many of these 'people' would be under 50. But there remains something almost heroic about Mack's determination to keep the British-sitcom faith, especially as he can get at least as many laughs from his lightning ad-libs on Would I Lie to You? without any of the hard writing yards required here. Even so, it's not quite true, despite those references, that the show's influences are all British – because it's too full of wisecracks for that. Captain Mainwaring, Basil Fawlty and the Steptoes would be wildly indignant if they knew we were laughing at them, whereas the characters in Not Going Out (like those in say Cheers and Frasier) constantly make remarks that are intended to be funny. So it was that the 14th series started with the fictional Lee and his wife Lucy (Sally Bretton) being shown round a property by a seller who doubled as a straight man setting up Lee and Lucy's stream of one-liners – which carried on just as relentlessly once the episode developed into a full-blown, well-plotted farce based, naturally, on implausible lies, implausibly believed. I can't claim that Not Going Out is among my weekly unmissables (unlike Would I Lie to You?). But I'm definitely delighted that Mack continues to fly the flag for a sitcom that has no desire to throw in some dark drama to provide an edifying moral lesson – or indeed to do anything much beyond making us laugh.


NBC News
9 hours ago
- NBC News
Singer and TikTok star Addison Rae changes her stage name
Addison Rae is now going by a new stage name. The singer and TikTok star, who just released her self-titled debut album on June 6, has dropped the name 'Rae' from her professional moniker and is now known simply as Addison. 'I said it in an interview, I was just like, 'Oh, I think I've grown past being called Addison Rae,'' Addison told host Quenlin Blackwell during a June 8 appearance on Blackwell's 'Feeding Starving Celebrities' YouTube series. 'Then the album being named 'Addison' kind of was a tie-in for that,' she added. The 'Diet Pepsi' singer, 24, said there is also a more practical reason behind her decision. 'I just am tired of also signing Addison Rae. It's really long. I just would rather sign Addison,' she said, laughing. 'And then I was like, 'Yeah, it just makes more sense because, like, it's going back to the roots really.'' Still, Addison, who was born Addison Rae Easterling, said she won't be upset if longtime friends and fans still think of her as Addison Rae. 'Whoever knows me as Addison Rae and knew me as Addison Rae will always know me as that,' she said. Addison joins a growing list of celebrities who have opted to tweak their professional names during the past year. Just last month, Angelina Jolie's 19-year-old daughter Shiloh Jolie — who'd already dropped her father Brad Pitt's surname from her own in 2024 — choreographed an original dance piece under the name Shi Joli. Former 'Teen Mom 2' star Kailyn Lowry's 15-year-old son, who was formerly known as Isaac Elliott Rivera, announced last week on his mom's 'Barely Famous' podcast that he was now going by his middle name, Elliott. Meanwhile, Malia Obama, the 27-year-old daughter of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, has been using the professional name Malia Ann as a writer and director in Hollywood. Michelle Obama opened up about her older daughter dropping the Obama name professionally when she recently appeared on Kate and Oliver Hudson's 'Sibling Revelry' podcast. The former first lady said it was natural for young adults — especially those from famous families — to want to 'push away' from their family name at some point. 'You're trying to distinguish yourself,' she explained, adding, 'It is very important for my kids to feel like they've earned what they are getting in the world, and they don't want people to assume that they don't work hard, that they're just naturally handed things,' she added. ' 'They're very sensitive to that. They want to be their own people.' 'Malia, who started in film, and it being her first project, she took off her last name, and we were like, 'They're still going to know it's you, Malia,'' she added with a laugh. 'But we respected the fact that she's trying to make her way.'