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Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Moment Meghan Markle was interrupted publicly during panel event: How actress Brooke Shields stopped Duchess's gender activism story to share just how 'different' they are
When Pretty Baby star Brooke Shields appeared on a panel to mark International Women's Day last year, she sparked global amusement when she interrupted the Duchess of Sussex 's story about advocating for gender equality at the age of 11. Breaking the tension in the room, Brooke, said: 'Excuse me, I'm so sorry. I've got to interrupt you there for one minute. I just want to give everybody here a context as to how we're different. Well, when I was 11, I was playing a prostitute.' She later mentioned the encounter to podcaster India Hicks as she had been worried, at the time, about the audience not wanting to listen to anyone being too serious. And Hicks, daughter of Lady Pamela Mountbatten, lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II, and the late interior designer David Hicks, agreed. Now Australian historian Michael Reed has revealed that, while Meghan, 44, is now a member of the Royal family, Brooke, 60, is a real Princess. Her grandmother was Princess Marina Torlonia and her great-aunt Infanta Beatriz Torlonia was a great-aunt of the current King Felipe IV of Spain. He told the Daily Mail: 'I think Brooke Shields has the right to think that she does royalty better than the Duchess of Sussex. After all she is actually royal, rather than having married a royal.' Born on October 22, 1916, at Palazzo Núñez-Torlonia, in Rome, Shields' grandmother Marina was the youngest daughter of Marino Torlonia, fourth Prince of Civitella-Cesi, who was descended from Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan and patron of Leonardo da Vinci. Her father introduced the first motor car to Rome in 1892, causing the demise of carriages, and the Torlonias were renowned for having drained Lake Fucino - a feat attempted by Julius Caesar - to prevent frequent flooding. Her mother was American Mary Elsie Moore, the daughter of a wealthy shipping magnate and Connecticut heiress, who was studying in Rome. She had three siblings, Princess Olimpia; Alessandro, who married Infanta Beatriz of Spain, the elder daughter of King Alfonso XIII and Queen Ena of Spain, who were the grandparents of King Juan Carlos and great-grandparents of King Felipe IV; and Christina. At the age of 18, she made her New York debut, juggling work as a charity fundraiser for the Democratic Party with spending the night at clubs. She quickly became a society fixture and on January 30, 1936, she was invited to President Roosevelt's 54th birthday celebrations where she dressed as 'Wealth' with a tall headdress and two handmaids. At the following year's Roosevelt Birthday Ball, she was one of 100 women, dressed as 'The East', representing the Eastern United States Fashion. She married her first husband, Francis Xavier Shields, an American amateur tennis player, in 1940, in North Conway, New Hampshire, and the couple had two children, Brooke's father Francis Alexander and Marina, before divorcing in 1950. On December 29, that year, she married her second husband, Edward W Slater, who was an architectural partner at the firm Slater and Chait. She had a third child, Edward Torlonia Slater, in 1955. But tragically, she was killed in a car accident on September 15 1960 after leaving the wedding of her nephew Marco Torlonia, sixth Prince of Civitella-Cesi, to Princess Orsetta Caracciolo, niece of film director Luchino Visconti, in Piacenza, Italy. An obituary on Associated Press, stated: 'Princess Marina Torlonia Slater, member of one of Italy's noble families, was killed in an automobile accident tonight after she had attended a wedding. 'Princess Marina, 44 years old, was the sister of Prince Alessandro Torlonia of Rome. Two others killed in the accident were identified as Duke Raffaele Canevaro, 47, of Galluzzo, and the Countess Eleanor Terry. 'Princess Marina Torlonia Slater was married December 29, 1950, to Edward W. Slater, an architect with the firm of Slater & Chait of 244 East Thirty-second Street. Her marriage before that, to Frank Shields, former Davis Cup tennis star, ended in divorce. She had two sons: Frank Shields Jnr and Edward Slater and a daughter Marina Shields.'
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
King Charles's goddaughter India Hicks dons military gear as she joins sons on humanitarian visit to war-torn Ukraine
King Charles 's goddaughter, India Hicks, has shared an Instagram update from her recent trip to Ukraine with two of her sons. The British businesswoman, now based in the Bahamas, travelled to the war-torn country with Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), a non-profit organisation providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief. The 57-year-old, who is the daughter of Lady Pamela and David Hicks, helped to provide aid to the country with her sons, Conrad, 22, and Amory, 26, Flint Wood. India explained that Amory chose to spend his birthday in Ukraine, working alongside GEM, which encouraged her younger son Conrad to also travel to the area. In the first Instagram image, India stood with her sons, each dressed in protective gear, against the backdrop of a damaged building. 'When Conrad heard that his brother Amory would be spending his birthday in Ukraine, he wanted to be there with him,' India wrote, adding, 'Love you both so much.' In the second post, India shared a clip of Conrad standing in a location with battered buildings, which he had previously visited in January. She wrote, 'Conrad, standing where he stood in January, 'It keeps getting worse.' She went on to share a selection of images and clips from the trip, including her meeting an elderly local woman. 'She tells me everyone is exhausted by this war,' India recalled. Elsewhere, she also shared a clip of a man 'teaching school children how to load weapons,' she wrote, adding that it's a 'horrific reality'. India added that the GEM boxes providing relief for Ukrainians are a 'lifeline,' writing, 'The GEM boxes are a lifeline. They are also a sign of hope.' In another post, India, who also visited the country's first underground school, encouraged her followers to donate to GEM via a link in her bio, writing, 'Social media can be astonishingly powerful in support of humanitarian work. 'Its greatest strength is speed, information shared in real-time allows individual stories to spark immediate responses. Shares become donations, likes become awareness, and DMs become lifelines. 'Social media can do more than just entertain; it can inform, inspire, and ignite curiosity. A single post, a shared story, or an image from the field that clearly catches someone's eye and lingers in their mind might prompt them to want to know more. 'This week, many people have reached out to ask how they might donate to's incredible and varied work around the world.' It comes after India, who was a bridesmaid at Charles and Diana's wedding, recalled a 'nerve-wracking' encounter in her younger years. Photographer India remembered the occasion that her 'thoughtful' godfather tasked her with taking the family Christmas card photo - despite being 'young and inexperienced' at the time. The 57-year-old was invited by Charles to photograph himself alongside his former wife, Princess Diana, and their sons William and Harry. She revealed in an interview with Hello! magazine: 'So, I went to Highgrove and photographed him and Diana and the boys, which was quite nerve-wracking.' At the time, India had recently finished photography school and was 'quite young and inexperienced', but her 'thoughtful' godfather entrusted her with the job anyway. She said that Charles had taken a big 'risk' when employing her as photographer since she 'could have been a complete idiot with a camera'. The fashion designer called the King 'a very considerate godfather', and spoke affectionately of his dutiful habit of always remembering to write Christmas and birthday cards. She also praised the monarch's vision for the future, as well as his long-standing commitment to combating climate change and backing for green energy. She said he was 'ahead' of the curve' in his progressive beliefs. India was one of five bridesmaids at Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981 and was aged 12 at the time. Her mother was a lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II and cousin of Prince Philip. The mother-of-five caused a stir recently after sharing domestic tips - drawing parallels with Meghan Markle 's Netflix cooking show. The business mogul took to Instagram where she shared her tips for hosting, declaring even 'an unskilled culinary idiot' can do the job. In the clip, she shared how she recently prepared to host guests, supermodels Jerry Hall and Helen Christensen. It drew parallels with Meghan's performance in Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, in which the former actress shared her own vision of domestic bliss, including how to arrange aesthetically pleasing fruit boards. 'It seems that trays and platters laden with edible displays are on-trend for a reason,' India said. 'First, even an unskilled culinary idiot like me can gather together some inventive ingredients and lay them out temptingly.' India's account of hosting drinks at her Bahamian island home is refreshingly 'unpolished', self-deprecating and chaotic. 'It's hard to say what creates the perfect drinks hour,' India said. 'In reality, who has the time to make it perfect, especially since most of us haven't slept since 1997.' Revealing her tips, she said: 'Jerry Hall and Helena Christensen came over for last minute drinks. 'I ran around like a headless chicken lighting candles, putting on music and setting up our plastic folding table, and spreading out my newest Pomegranate tablecloth, which didn't quite fit. 'I worried, only briefly, about them seeing our dining table also laid up for a family supper in our courtyard, would they think they have been included for dinner as well as drinks? 'Unbreakable plastic plates (also from Pomegranate) and good fake palm leaves were rushed out onto the drinks table and lots of stinky cheese, which David says, doesn't go off, it just changes it's name. Intimate, unpolished, and slightly haphazard, this is how I entertain.' India, who moved to the Bahamas to embrace an 'unconventional' life, married David Flint Wood in 2021, having already had five children together. She had long insisted there were no plans to marry the former advertising executive, even after five children together. 'Having lived a fairly unconventional life together on a small island in the Bahamas for more than two decades, we decided that our wedding should, in contrast, be very conventional,' India wrote in an article for Vogue. Speaking to the Daily Mail before the big day, she said: 'He very much asked me to marry him. I said: 'I love you dearly, but no. I don't want to be a wife.' I didn't. 'I wanted to be this fiercely independent woman. I wanted children, and I wanted them to have his name, but I didn't want to be married.' She later admitted: 'I didn't really expect being married to feel any different than not being married. We had been locked in a loving relationship for 26 years already. 'But it took my breath away to find how spiritual it felt to walk into the church on the arm of my eldest son and to say those vows to David in front of all our friends and family, in the church where I had been christened and where my father lay buried just outside. It felt intensely intimate.'
Daily Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Telegraph
Brooke Shields' podcast episode criticising ‘precious' Meghan is quietly deleted
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News. IN LONDON One week after its headline-grabbing release, the podcast in which Brooke Shields called out Meghan for being too 'precious' has been deleted. The actress, 60, was interviewed by India Hicks for an episode of her podcast recently, which appears to now no longer be available online. Hicks is the goddaughter of Meghan's father-in-law, King Charles. The original podcast link currently takes users to a 'page not found' message on the content creator's Substack. During the conversation, Shields had reflected on her experience sharing a panel with the Duchess of Sussex, hosted by Katie Couric and titled 'Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen', which took place during last year's SXSW festival. Meghan, Couric and Shields during the panel. Picture:'Katie asks the first question to Meghan and she talks about how at a young age, she was already advocating for women,' Shields told Hicks on her An Unexpected Journey podcast. 'She starts telling a story about how when she was 11 — and she keeps saying, 'Well, when I was 11, I saw this commercial and they were talking about how washing dishes was for women' And she said, 'I didn't think only women wash dishes. It wasn't fair, so I wrote to the company.'' 'She kept saying she was 11!' Shields exclaimed. 'She wrote to the company, they changed the text, they changed the commercial. It was just too precious, and I was like, 'They're not going to want to sit here for 45 minutes and listen to anybody be precious or serious.'' It prompted Shields to jump in an effort to lighten the mood. 'I go, 'Excuse me, I'm so sorry, I've got to interrupt you there for one minute.' I was trying not to be rude, but I wanted to be funny because it was so serious,' she recalled. 'I just want to give everybody here a context as to how we're different. When I was 11, I was playing a prostitute,' referencing her 1978 historical drama, Pretty Baby. 'The place went insane', Shields added, with the crowd becoming 'more relaxed'. Shields – seen here earlier this month – described Meghan as being too 'precious'. Picture: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images The episode has now been deleted. Picture:/AFP Meanwhile, Meghan has shared the origin story of her passion for social justice a number of times in the past. She opened up about it at the 2019 International Women's Day panel at SXSW, explaining that the ad – originally featuring the slogan 'Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans' – had been a formative feminist experience. 'Truth be told, at 11 I don't think I even knew what sexism meant. I just knew that something struck me internally that was telling me it was wrong, and I knew that it was wrong,' she said at the time. 'And using that as my moral compass and moving through from the age of 11, at that age I was able to change this commercial. It really set up the trajectory for me to say, 'If there was a wrong, if there is a lack of justice, and there is an inequality, then someone needs to do something. And why not me?'' The company, Procter & Gamble changed the slogan to 'People all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans.' Originally published as Brooke Shields' podcast episode criticising 'precious' Meghan is quietly deleted
News.com.au
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Brooke Shields' podcast episode criticising ‘precious' Meghan is quietly deleted
IN LONDON One week after its headline-grabbing release, the podcast in which Brooke Shields called out Meghan for being too 'precious' has been deleted. The actress, 60, was interviewed by India Hicks for an episode of her podcast recently, which appears to now no longer be available online. Hicks is the goddaughter of Meghan's father-in-law, King Charles. The original podcast link currently takes users to a 'page not found' message on the content creator's Substack. During the conversation, Shields had reflected on her experience sharing a panel with the Duchess of Sussex, hosted by Katie Couric and titled 'Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen', which took place during last year's SXSW festival. 'Katie asks the first question to Meghan and she talks about how at a young age, she was already advocating for women,' Shields told Hicks on her An Unexpected Journey podcast. 'She starts telling a story about how when she was 11 — and she keeps saying, 'Well, when I was 11, I saw this commercial and they were talking about how washing dishes was for women' And she said, 'I didn't think only women wash dishes. It wasn't fair, so I wrote to the company.'' 'She kept saying she was 11!' Shields exclaimed. 'She wrote to the company, they changed the text, they changed the commercial. It was just too precious, and I was like, 'They're not going to want to sit here for 45 minutes and listen to anybody be precious or serious.'' It prompted Shields to jump in an effort to lighten the mood. 'I go, 'Excuse me, I'm so sorry, I've got to interrupt you there for one minute.' I was trying not to be rude, but I wanted to be funny because it was so serious,' she recalled. 'I just want to give everybody here a context as to how we're different. When I was 11, I was playing a prostitute,' referencing her 1978 historical drama, Pretty Baby. 'The place went insane', Shields added, with the crowd becoming 'more relaxed'. Meanwhile, Meghan has shared the origin story of her passion for social justice a number of times in the past. She opened up about it at the 2019 International Women's Day panel at SXSW, explaining that the ad – originally featuring the slogan 'Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans' – had been a formative feminist experience. 'Truth be told, at 11 I don't think I even knew what sexism meant. I just knew that something struck me internally that was telling me it was wrong, and I knew that it was wrong,' she said at the time. 'And using that as my moral compass and moving through from the age of 11, at that age I was able to change this commercial. It really set up the trajectory for me to say, 'If there was a wrong, if there is a lack of justice, and there is an inequality, then someone needs to do something. And why not me?''
New York Post
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
King Charles's goddaughter wipes video criticizing Meghan Markle from her website after backlash
King Charles' goddaughter has deleted a video from her website that featured Brooke Shields criticizing Meghan Markle. India Hicks, who is the daughter of Lady Pamela Mountbatten, had initially featured the clip prominently on her Substack page. The video showed Shields describing the Duchess of Sussex as 'too precious' following the 2024 SXSW panel. 4 King Charles' goddaughter, India Hicks, has deleted a video from her website that featured Brooke Shields criticizing Meghan Markle. @indiahicksstyle/Instagram Hicks, 57, was immediately targeted by fans of the 'Suits' alum, who had contacted her online with offensive language, The Post understands. 'Damn. Now I need to write f–k you on Brooke's social media. Apparently something about Meghan triggers the b–h in some women,' one person wrote online, per the Daily Mail. Others accused Shields and Hicks of being 'racist Karens' in the video. The former former fashion model turned entrepreneur has since replaced the clip with a feature video about London's best patisseries to avoid further scrutiny. 4 India Hicks is the daughter of Lady Pamela Mountbatten, who had served as the late Queen Elizabeth II's lady-in-waiting. Getty Images Hicks' mother, Lady Pamela Mountbatten, had served as the lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II. She and late interior designer David Hicks had welcomed India in 1967. India, for her part, had served as a bridesmaid at the king's wedding to the late Princess Diana in 1981. The 57-year-old interviewed Shields, 60, on her podcast about various topics, including her awkward encounter with Markle. 4 In the video, Shields described the Duchess of Sussex as 'too precious' following the 2024 SXSW panel. SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images During their conversation, Shields revealed she had interrupted the As Ever founder during a live speech at an International Women's Day event in Austin, Texas, in March 2024, which was moderated by journalist Katie Couric. 'Katie asks the first question to Meghan and she talks about how at a young age, she was already advocating for women,' Shields told Hicks on her 'An Unexpected Journey' podcast. 'She starts telling a story about how when she was 11 — and she keeps saying, 'Well, when I was 11, I saw this commercial and they were talking about how washing dishes was for women' And she said, 'I didn't think only women wash dishes. It wasn't fair, so I wrote to the company.'' 'She kept saying she was 11!' the 'Mother of the Bride' star exclaimed. 'She wrote to the company, they changed the text, they changed the commercial. It was just too precious, and I was like, 'They're not going to want to sit here for 45 minutes and listen to anybody be precious or serious.'' Shields, 60, recalled intervening at one point in an effort to switch up the mood. 'I go, 'Excuse me, I'm so sorry, I've got to interrupt you there for one minute.' I was trying not to be rude, but I wanted to be funny because it was so serious,' Shields remembered. 4 Markle speaks onstage during the 'Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen' panel during the 2024 SXSW Conference. Getty Images 'I just want to give everybody here a context as to how we're different. When I was 11, I was playing a prostitute,' she joked, referencing her 1978 historical drama, 'Pretty Baby.' 'The place went insane,' Shields shared, claiming the crowd became 'more relaxed' after her comments.
