A teal independent is pushing to change the way junk food advertising and marketing is regulated in a bid to stop Australia’s growing childhood obesity “epidemic”.
Sophie Scamps, who was a GP on Sydney’s northern beaches until recently becoming the MP for Mackellar, will put together a private member’s Bill to target fast-food advertisement and sponsorship.
The Bill is focused on the impact junk food has on children’s health, with Dr Scamps seeking to tackle the industry’s prevalent advertising during prime-time television, promotion on social media and its sponsorship of children’s sport.
“We do have an epidemic of overweight and obesity in this country and children are affected by that,” she told NCA NewsWire.
“We need to make the healthy food choices that parents are providing for their children the easy choice, we need to minimize that pest power.
“What I’m calling for really is a regulation of junk food advertising to children across TV and social media channels.”
Dr Scamps said childhood obesity not only creates issues for the individual involved, but the whole Australian health industry.
She said this makes taking preventive measures early on in people’s lives so important.
“Obesity and being overweight creates so many chronic diseases, everything from cancers, to diabetes, to heart disease, strokes, even depression,” she said.
“We also know with children that it’s much harder to gain a normal weight into the future if you have the problem when you’re a child.
“You can see into the future there’ll be a massive burden of disease created by this epidemic. So we either act now or we start investing in our public hospital system.”
But junk-food advertising remains a fixture of any prime-time television viewing experience, and some of the industry’s biggest restaurant chains sponsor the largest sports codes and teams from around the country.
Dr Scamps said junk food advertising through sport can have a big impact on a child’s health choices.
“We know that sport does influence children’s decisions, and we no longer advertise tobacco or alcohol to sport,” she said.
It’s another thing to look at, who is advertising or children’s sport?
The National Obesity Strategy, which was released in March earlier this year, noted that Australians “are regularly exposed to unhealthy food and drink marketing”, which included multimedia advertising and sports sponsorship.
It revealed an average five to eight-year-old child who watches around 80 minutes of television per day is exposed to 827 advertisements and four hours of “unhealthy food advertising” each year on free-to-air television.
A key potential strategy in the 10-year framework is reducing “unhealthy food and drink advertising, branding and sponsorship” to stop childhood obesity.
While the Bill is in its “early stages”, Dr Scamps believed it would be supported by parents and other MPs.
“It’s a common sense measure, it’s something that there’s precedent for. Mindsets change quite quickly once they’re introduced,” she said.
“I think parents will welcome because parents want the best for their children. They want those healthy choices to be the easy choices, they don’t want to be pestered at the checkout.
“As we’ve seen, there’s a lot of doctors who are new in the parliament as well.”
The Bill has the support of the Obesity Policy Coalition, with the group’s executive manager Jane Martin calling for urgent action to improve children’s diet habits.
“Our children deserve to go about their daily lives without being bombarded by ads for unhealthy food and sugary drinks which is the wallpaper that surrounds their lives,” Ms Martin said.
“Kids should be free to enjoy their favorite prime-time TV shows like Lego Masters without seeing ads for cookies or attend their weekend footy or netball games without fast-food sponsorships.
“This marketing influences children’s diets and impacts what kids want to eat, what they ask for and shapes their palates from an early age.”
The practices of the advertising industry are generally self-regulated through the Australian Association of National Advertisers’ Ad Standards code.
The code was updated last year to stop images of junk food being used in sponsorship advertising targeting children.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart will reportedly be suspended for one game and slapped with a $20,000 fine for his “weak-gutted dog” spray directed towards Panthers player Jaeman Salmon.
Stuart produced the stunning comments after the Raiders’ loss to the Panthers on Saturday. It was triggered by Salmon kicking Raiders hooker Tom Starling during the game.
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“I have had history with that kid (Salmon). I know that kid very well,” he said.
“He was a weak gutted dog as a kid and he hasn’t changed now. He is a weak gutted dog person now.”
news corp Journalist Phil Rothfield reported on NRL 360 that Stuart will likely be stood down from coaching the Raiders’ clash with the Dragons on Sunday.
“I spoke to them (the NRL) about 15 minutes ago and Ricky Stuart will not be coaching the Canberra Raiders this weekend,” Rothfield said.
“In the next 24 hours they will announce, the NRL, a one-week suspension and a $20,000 fine.”
NRL 360 co-host Paul Kent revealed Stuart had spoken to Jason King at the Integrity Unit and revealed the “personal” story behind the attack on Salmon.
“I rang the NRL today, they are aware of it and they will put their investigation together and such is the personal nature of this investigation there will be things that will not be going into the written report,” he said.
“King will speak to (Andrew) Abdo, disclose some of what’s happened, but out of respect for the personal nature of what it actually is about, it will be kept out of the written submission.
“Whether that damages Ricky in his overall fight to not get suspended, I don’t know. When I asked him about that he was prepared to live with the consequences of that.”
Rothfield confirmed that the NRL is “aware” of “all the personal details” and while Stuart has not revealed anything publicly, he “did tell the Integrity Unit every single detail.”
Rothfield added: “This is something that’s been boiling away at him for over a decade and he hasn’t been able to have closure on it. It’s his own kids from him… I’m not defending him but I’m trying to give context on what triggered what happened.
Kent, who had also heard about Stuart’s looming one-game suspension, slammed the NRL for entertaining a suspension when the investigation had not yet completed.
“The investigation is not even over yet and you’re saying — and I’ve heard the same — one game for Ricky,” he said.
“I’ve got no problem with them fining him, but to suspend him for this… (News Corp journalist) Dave Riccio was speaking on radio saying how the NRL has come out and basically for some time now has been saying coaches aren’t ‘t paying enough attention to the ends, we might need to start suspending them.
“That’s in one area, then in the second area we’ve got all these people saying this is well-beyond what anyone else has done so he needs to be suspended. The two things don’t actually correlate, yet people are marrying it up together to give him one game.
“It looks like a Kangaroo court the fact that the disciplinary hearing is not even over and we’ve all heard he’s going to get a game — it’s not even over yet.”
However, news corp journalist Michael Carayannis believes the ban is “fair.”
“I would have much rathered if Ricky confronted Jaeman after the game in the sheds and sprayed him one-on-one… but you can’t be doing that in public. He essentially slandered him — he can’t be unpunished,” Caryannis said.
“I think the one-game suspension is fair. You can’t be doing that.”
Kent reiterated that the issue for him is the suspension, to which Caryannis asked “what’s the deterrent then?”
Meanwhile, Rothfield revealed that Stuart will be the first coach to cop a one-game suspension.
“It’s never ever happened before in the game,” he said.
Originally published as NRL’s punishment for Ricky Stuart over ugly spray revealed as ‘kangaroo court’ slammed
There are fresh fears for the Queen’s health after she was forced to cancel an annual event in the royal calendar.
Her Majesty, 96, spends her summers at Balmoral in Scotland and traditionally holds a welcome ceremony outside the castle in Aberdeenshire.
But the event was on Sunday canceled and replaced with a smaller gathering, which saw her inspect troops with no TV cameras present.
It is the first time the Queen has skipped the event, with the exception of during the Covid pandemic.
“The traditional welcome to Balmoral is normally cemented in the Queen’s calendar and something Her Majesty really enjoys, being able to greet locals who travel to see her,” a source told the Daily Mirror.
“It’s a bitter disappointment the ceremony will not take place in its traditional form.”
Another insider grimly warned the Queen’s absence was “very much a sign of things to come”.
Buckingham Palace said the Queen’s schedule was being adjusted for her comfort.
At some recent royal engagements, Her Majesty has been seen using a cane to help her get around.
She usually stays at Balmoral until October, but it is understood that she will make a brief return to London – either at Buckingham Palace or at Windsor – on September 6 when Boris Johnson hands in his resignation as Prime Minister of the UK.
Her Majesty will then welcome the winner of the Conservative Party’s leadership contest, which will be either Foreign Secretary Liz Truss or former Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
She is then expected to return to Scotland.
Queen was forced to pull out of Royal Ascot – one of her favorite events in the royal calendar, earlier this year.
She had attended every meet since ascending to the throne in 1952.
The monarch was replaced by Prince Charles, Camilla and Peter Phillips.
Her Majesty was also absent from the Epsom Derby and a service at St Pauls’s Cathedral during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, but appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony for a fly-past.
Before that, she attended the Chelsea Flower Show with the help of a mobility scooter.
The Queen’s health issues appeared to start last year, when she was forced to miss the Remembrance Day service with a sprained back.
She later came down with Covid, but continued to hold meetings via videolink.
The 39-year-old British actor has taken on his boldest role yet in HBO’s upcoming House of the Dragonthe much-anticipated prequel to game of Thrones debuting locally on Binge and Foxtel August 22.
Smith, who is best known for becoming the youngest actor to helm Doctor Who from 2010,-2014 as well as his Emmy-nominated performance as Prince Philip in Netflix’s The Crownenter the thrones-sphere as Prince Daemon Targaryen.
The main antagonist – Daemon is the impulsive, power-hungry brother of King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) in a world set around 200 years before the events of GoT.
While joining a franchise as universally lauded as thrones was reason enough to jump on-board, it was the complexities of this character that enticed Smith most.
“I thought he was really interesting and unknown. And I thought I could add something to him,” Smith says.
“I think you always feel an element of nerves going into every part, it felt sort of slightly outside of anything I’d done before, which is which is why I was attracted to do it.”
That’s not to say I loved every minute of it.
Smith says the nature of this production took an extreme physical and emotional toll on him. From sitting in the makeup chair for two hours to having the iconic Targaryen silver-haired wig fitted, to waiting around in hot, heavy armor.
“It was a great privilege to be apart of something like this, but it was grievous as well. It was a tough shoot. And it was a year over Covid and it wasn’t easy. It’s not like it was just bells and whistles,” he says.
“And this type of show, there’s so many characters in it. There’s a lot of hanging about on the set.”
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Admittedly, Smith feels overwhelmed on every set, saying his roles become his “sole focus.”
So, how does he stay sane?
“A pint of Guinness, watch some football. Go to the gym, do the normal stuff, walk my dog, you know, [I would] just go and do something that had nothing to do with blonde wigs and swords,” he says.
Few sets are as dynamic as this one. game of Thrones won Emmys for its immense fight scenes. Season 6’s ‘Battle of the Bastards’ (which was directed by HotD director Miguel Sapochnik) is as edge-of-your-seat-viewing as it gets.
Though, rehearsing such battles to the point of perfection can be risky.
French actor Fabien Frankel, who plays Sir Christen Cole in the prequel, reveals he almost damaged the money-maker – Smith’s pin-up face.
“I hit Matt in the face in our first rehearsal,” Frankel says. “My sword cut him in the head. We didn’t even really know each other.
Smith interjects, “It was your shield (which) hit my sword.”
While they laugh about it now, Frankel genuinely feared he was “going to get fired.”
“It was like, you know, you don’t want to insult Matt Smith,” he says.
Smith was one of the millions of diehard thrones fans, having watched the entirety of its eight season run.
He says he feels privileged to be welcomed into the world of Westeros for a new era, but of course, that sort of legacy warrants high stakes.
“But ultimately, it’s a good pressure,” Smith says.
“That had its own cultural footprint. And its success will never be repeated.
“There’s a huge fan base there. They love it. And we’re going to try and deliver something that’s original and entertaining and move the story forward, even though we’re moving the story backwards.”
House of the Dragon premieres express from the US on Binge and Foxtel August 22
The prospect of the 2023 Formula 1 grid not featuring Daniel Ricciardo is difficult to fathom.
Fortunately it’s not just a hard sell of the average F1 fan; several teams are also sure the eight-time race winner has more to give to motorsport’s premier series.
In the wake of persistent rumors that Mark Webber was lining up Oscar Piastri to snatch Ricciardo’s seat from underneath him in 2023, rival teams have been probing the availability of the affable 33-year-old for his next chapter.
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As many as four rival constructors have sounded out Ricciardo, per ESPN, in the weeks leading up to McLaren reportedly issuing him his intention to break his contract.
Deducing which teams ought to be a simple case of arithmetic.
Before Fernando Alonso’s bombshell move there were six teams with possible vacancies: Alpine, Alfa Romeo, Haas, AlphaTauri, Aston Martin and Williams.
Alpine assumed it wouldn’t be going to market given it thought it had Piastri on the books as a fallback for Alonso, reducing the list to five.
AlphaTauri is also moving closer to re-signing Yuki Tsunoda, who Franz Tost wants to give a third season to establish himself. Anyway, signing 33-year-old Ricciardo also doesn’t click with what’s supposed to be Red Bull’s development team. Four teams remaining.
Aston Martin has also removed itself from the list, but with Alpine seemingly sure to need new blood, the group possible suitors is stable at four, including Haas, Alfa Romeo and Williams.
So which is most likely to be seriously pitching for Ricciardo’s services, and which has the best chance of attracting his attention.
Ricciardo set to be replaced by Piastri | 00:32
ALPINE: THE CLEAR FRONTRUNNER
Alpine is unlikely to have been among the teams to have reached out to Ricciardo before the Hungarian Grand Prix given it was certain to the point of complacency that Alonso would re-sign, and it assumed in the unlikely event the Spaniard left, Oscar Piastri would be aligned to replace him.
But you can guarantee that the French team has reached out in the week since the driver market kicked into gear, and it’s the obvious frontrunner for Ricciardo’s services.
why it makes sense
Alpine is the highest placed team in the constructors standings with an availability — in fact it’s a place ahead of McLaren, occupying fourth with a four-point margin, so it would represent a step forwards on the grid, even if that step would be almost imperceptibly small.
The team is also on a hiring spree to match the workforce size of the frontrunners, and having undertaken some capital works to upgrade its factory, it’s well placed to maximize its budget cap allocation in the coming seasons.
Alpine also has a weak bargaining hand given it’s now 35 races deep into a 100-race plan to be a regular podium-getter. Esteban Ocon is credible enough but really the team needs a high-caliber spearhead, and there’s no-one on the market who comes close to Ricciardo’s potential or brand value.
And then there’s a certain unquantifiable appeal for both sides—one that neither would admit to, although stranger things have happened—that they’d be united by a common adversary. Both would surely be keen to defeat McLaren in a straight fight, and they’re each other’s best chance of doing so.
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Why it doesn’t
The only thing that would prevent Ricciardo and Alpine from renewing the relationship that ended in 2020 is pride. Ricciardo would be returning to a team he’d previously ditched, and Alpine would be taking back a driver who decided to walk out after only a year of racing.
But it’s debatable that this would be a strong disincentive to join.
For one, Alpine has been through a management clean-out since Ricciardo left, meaning there could be only so much bad blood to influence decision-making.
Team principal Otmar Szafnauer was even receptive to Ricciardo as a possible re-hire as early as last week, when he was still trying to project an air of confidence about keeping Piastri.
“I mean, if you look at Fernando, for example, he comes and goes, and I think that happens to other drivers too,” he said, per autosport. “I don’t think that’s an issue [with Ricciardo] at all.”
As for Ricciardo, he’s proved during his McLaren tenure that he isn’t afraid about claiming responsibility for his actions. He’s been upfront about his underperformance, and returning to Alpine, where he had one of the best seasons of his career in 2020, would just be an extension of that.
Alpine may not have been among the early suitors of Ricciardo’s services, but it’s certainly at the head of the pack.
Piastri backflip as he denies Alpine F1 | 01:07
HAAS: TRYING ITS LUCK
Haas is the next team in the constructors standings without an obvious solution to its driver line-up if it parts ways with Mick Schumacher, whether on its own motion or because the German switches teams given the pathway to Ferrari is closed for the foreseeable future.
why it makes sense
Daniel Ricciardo is box office in the United States partly thanks to Drive to Survivepartly thanks to his love for the US and partly thanks to his personal team’s efforts to get his personality out there.
For a Haas team that’s on the up but in need of some brand cut-through, Ricciardo would be a great get — and maybe even enough to convince Gene Haas to increase his commitment to funding the team, at least for purposes of snagging a star. driver.
Ricciardo would also enjoy the relaxed and apolitical atmosphere at the midfield team, perhaps enough to sway a decision.
Why it doesn’t
While the morass of the midfield is a bit of a minefield in terms of their prospects in the next few years — Alonso clearly doesn’t think ninth-placed Aston Martin has dimmer prospects than fourth-placed Alpine — Haas has been particularly inconsistent this season . It would be a difficult sell to Ricciardo to take a punt on things moving forwards rather than backwards.
Haas might also question whether it’s ready for a driver of Ricciardo’s ambition at this stage of its rebuild.
There’s also a lack of clarity around whether Ferrari has finally said over Haas’s second seat as part of its technical agreement with the team, which would presumably rule Ricciardo out of the running.
Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFPSource: AFP
WILLIAMS: WITHOUT AN OBVIOUS SUCCESSOR
Williams was set to be a major player in the driver market when it was tied to Alpine’s decision-making around Oscar Piastri and Fernando Alonso, but that power was stripped from Grove when both drivers sensationally abandoned the French team.
It’s also left Williams without an obvious candidate for its second seat, currently occupied by Nicholas Latifi, who’s likely to be shown the door at the end of the year.
why it makes sense
Williams has fielded mostly rookies for the last five seasons, with the only exceptions being Robert Kubica in 2019, who was making his comeback an eight-year injury hiatus, and Alex Albon, who had two disrupted years in the Red Bull system before sitting out last year.
It means the team is without a proven, established bar with which to measure its car’s ultimate performance. Ricciardo would give the team a chance to know just how much more might be in the car or whether what we’re seeing today is the best the team’s got.
If Ricciardo were desperate to continue his Formula 1 career but unable to secure a contract at a better placed team, Williams would surely be happy to accept him.
Why it doesn’t
Much like Haas, Williams may not feel ready for a heavy hitter of Ricciardo’s stature. It’s also seriously debatable whether Daniel, with a point to prove about his last 18 months and eager to restore his reputation, would see value in a contract that would struggle to guarantee him more than lower midfield levels of performance.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
ALFA ROMEO: NOT IN NEED OF A LEADER
Alfa Romeo has been one of the sport’s great improvers this year and is on track for the best points haul of its independent history. It also has Zhou Guanyu out of contract this season, and though the Chinese rookie has acquired himself well, the team is yet to re-sign him.
why it makes sense
The Sauber-run Alfa Romeo team’s biggest card is that it’s reportedly in negotiations to be bought by Audi. Sauber would then become the German marque’s works constructor, complete with a power unit program.
If the best route to a championship is to race for a fully fledged manufacturer, getting in on the ground floor before Audi potentially buys in — and presumably spends big to accelerate progress where it can — might be the best shortcut to the front.
Why it doesn’t
Valtteri Bottas’s strong performances and long-term contract mean Alfa Romeo doesn’t need a team leader, no matter your opinion of the abilities of the Finn relative to the Australian.
Further, the team has an eye to promoting its development driver, Théo Pourchaire, from Formula 2. Pourchaire is only 21 points off the title lead, and if he wins the series this year, he won’t be able to enter again — and even if he missed out, another strong campaign would likely be enough to get him into F1 by 2024.
Wedging Ricciardo into Zhou Guanyu’s seat makes no sense when it’s already earmarked for one of Sauber’s own drivers.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
WHAT ABOUT THE LONG GAME?
There’s one other criterion that might be on Ricciardo’s mind aside from getting himself into the most competitive seat available next season: ensuring he’s available to take part in driver market movements among the frontrunners in the coming seasons.
Out of contract next year are both Lewis Hamilton, who is inching closer to retirement, and George Russell at Mercedes, and team boss Toto Wolff has previously described himself as an admirer of the Australian. A Mercedes-powered team might therefore enjoy a small boost in bargaining power.
The 2024 season is Sergio Perez’s last under his current contract, while Charles Leclerc will also be up for renewal. Fernando Alonso is understood to have signed a two-plus-one deal at Aston Martin that could also see his seat made available.
But before leaping at any such hypotheticals — if indeed they’re on his mind at all — Ricciardo will need to nail down a contract to keep him in F1 next season.
Gold Coast’s leadership group has made an impassioned plea for out-of-contract young star Izak Rankine to reject Adelaide’s advances and remain a Sun.
News Corp revealed last week that the Crows were making a major play for Rankine, offering him a five-year deal worth as much as $800,000 per season to return to his home state.
Gold Coast is highly unlikely to match that financial offer and will instead rely on convincing him that his best chance of realizing his potential is at the Suns, while still being willing to pay him about $650,000 a year.
Adelaide is increasingly confident Rankine will request a trade to play for Matthew Nicks’ side, but that wouldn’t come until after Gold Coast’s season ends.
Suns chairman Tony Cochrane told News Corp on Monday they would do “all we can to retain him”.
“I think the club has proven over four years we’re doing everything possible to keep him there and obviously he’s a required player,” Cochrane said.
Izak Rankine is weighing up a five-year offer from the Crows. Picture: Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
“We’ve got a great association and relationship with Izak, as everyone has around the club. He’s bought a house up here, he’s very much settled in up here, so that’s just our position for the moment.
“He’s an incredibly popular person around the club. I know first-hand how much time and effort people like (coach) Stuart Dew have put into him and, importantly, I know how highly Stuart rates him.
“He’s got that message loud and clear at the Gold Coast footy club.”
Co-captain Touk Miller also made it clear that convincing the “special” small forward to stay was a top priority, having already re-signed Ben King, Jack Lukosius, Ben Ainsworth, Elijah Hollands and Mac Andrew this year.
“I know there’s a lot of speculation around him and his future, but for us we really want him to be at this club. He’s a special person, a special player,” Miller said.
“We’ve gone to him and had a few chats about how much he means to us and means to the club, so whether that plays a part in the decision, hopefully it does.
Stay or go? Izak Rankine has a big call to make on his playing future. Picture: Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
“As a leadership group; that’s part of what you have to do. This club wants success, and he can be a key part of that.”
Miller sympathized with Rankine’s situation as he weighs up a career- and life-changing decision, especially with the Suns looking to have turned the corner as a club.
“I know speculation like that can make it really hard around the club and can make things awkward and nervous, but we want him to feel as comfortable as possible, feel like he can still be himself and play his best footy,” he said.
“He’s human. I can say it’s not easy for him and you probably do have your head down a bit more. In saying that, we’ve still got a lot of good things out of him on game day.
“I’m not in his head, I can’t exactly say what he’s going to do, but we really want him to stay. He’s such a special part and key part to our club going forward. We’d love to have him.”
Miller was famously forthright with ex-Gold Coast co-captain Tom Lynch when he revealed in 2018 he was exercising his free agency rights to join Richmond after meeting with several Melbourne-based clubs.
Normally, the royal family is thoroughly predictable. They do the same things, eat the same things, and turn up at the same places like Swiss-made precision clockwork.
Summers are for long weeks in Scotland, the Queen habitually sets up shop at her Sandringham estate from December until February 6, (the Christmas decorations stay up until then too) and she is reportedly woken up at the same time, 365 days a year. (At 7.30am by her maid bearing Earl Gray tea.) Queens don’t ever get sleep-ins it would seem.
Likewise, royal birthdays. If it’s a big one and involves one of her children de ella, there might be an Admiralty or an extra earldom on offer; in every other instance it’s a peppy social media post involving an emoji (which always looks a tad incongruous) and a £10 WH Smith voucher. (OK, the last one I’m just guessing.)
However last week, with no fanfare and little press coverage, the 96-year-old Queen broke with longstanding tradition for the 41st birthday of her granddaughter-in-law Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Her Majesty did…nothing.
Even in the treacherous years post Megxit, in 2020 and 2021, we have seen the @royalfamily account share posts marking the birthdays of Meghan, the couple’s son Archie and their daughter Lilibet.
Up until now, the most notable thing you could say about this seemingly set-in-stone practice was that the poor Buckingham Palace communications staffer tasked with the job has only ever had one photo of baby Archie and the Queen to work with to deploy every year.
But, whoa Nellie. Something has clearly changed because here we have the Queen essentially blanking Meghan on her birthday. (Or in the immortal words of Mariah Carey, “I don’t know her.”)
Since Meghan joined the official royal ranks in 2018, this is the first time that the palace has ignored the former Suits star on birthday, a marked departure from previous polite celebratory offerings.
What makes this situation such a puzzler is that up recently, the Queen’s strategy when it came to her bothersome grandson and his wife has been appeasement, with certain signs that Her Majesty was going out of her way to minimize tensions.
When Prince Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lili jetted into the UK for the Jubilee, according to the Sunthe nonagenarian arranged for three of her protection officers to collect the family and for a bulletproof car to take them to their UK home, Frogmore Cottage.
Later in June, it was revealed that the details of the inquiry, conducted by an outside law firm, into allegations that Meghan had bullied royal staffers was going to be “buried”. (The Duchess has always vehemently denied the claims of bullying.)
The reason, in part, for the surprise decision, was “to limit tensions between the Sussexes and the palace,” the Times reported.
Then in July, the Sun reported that Her Majesty has extended an invitation to the family to join her for a spell during her annual holiday. (Though the chances of them taking her up on it would surely have to be up there with Princess Michael of Kent getting on to OnlyFans.)
Leading up until Meghan’s birthday last week, there was no indication that this year’s big day would be different to every other, given that even last year, after the Sussexes’ dynamite Oprah Winfrey interview, she received warm social media wishes.
If popping up on global TV screens to lob accusations of racism, cruelty and of the palace life being abjectly miserable was not enough to mitigate Meghan getting a birthday post last year, what has changed? What gives?
The answer may or may not have something to do with Harry’s memoir, rumored to be hitting shelves in October.
In late July, the Sun reported that the manuscript was complete and publisher Penguin Random House’s lawyers had finished dotting the ‘i’s’ and crossing out the most libelous claims about the corgis (just kidding).
the Telegraph followed that up by reporting that while “the royal family or its lawyers have yet had sight of the completed manuscript” they might soon learn about some of what the 37-year-old has written because, “by convention, those potentially defamed in writing – including the royal family – are usually given a right to reply to accusations ahead of publication”.
While the sovereign herself is unlikely to come in for anything but paragraph after paragraph of obsequious praise, her son Prince Charles, daughter-in-law and next queen Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and grandson Prince William might not be so lucky.
Since the beginning of the year, there has been nearly continuous reporting claiming that Harry may well target his stepmother.
The heir to the throne, it would seem, is already getting his starched and ironed knickers in a twist.
“Prince Charles’ operatives have been scrambling for months to find out what other bombshells await, but to no avail,” royal author Christopher Andersen told TheDailyBeast. “No one expected Harry’s book to be a Valentine to his relatives. But you get the sense in the wake of the Jubilee that now the gloves are truly off.”
The prospect remains that while the Sussexes’ Oprah blitzkrieg was hugely damaging for Buckingham Palace, they still managed to largely withstand the strike. Hundreds of pages of revelations and detailed, lengthy disclosures about royal family life and palace operation could be another kettle of fish entirely.
After all, this is the very first sensational tell-all written by someone who was born into the royal family since fellow exile the Duke of Windsor (Edward VIII) published his tell-all A Royal Life, albeit 15 years after his abdication. (Yes, I know the Duke of Kent published a memoir earlier this year called, err, A Royal Lifebut I’m not sure if anyone aside from the Duchess of Kent has actually read it.)
As Duncan Larcombe, The Sun’s former royal editor, put it when speaking to TheDailyBeast: “The reality is that if, as a senior member of the royal family, you have written a tell-all book, you have broken rule number one of the royal family.”
Richard Palmer, royal correspondent for the Express, has offered up another theory, reporting that the absence of any sort of warm wishes for Meghan was down to a change in palace policy and that the royal family “will only mark the birthdays of non-working members of the family when they end in a zero.” The test of this will come on Monday, UK time, when Princess Beatrice turns 34.
Even if this new birthday arrangement is the case, the fact that Buckingham Palace chose Meghan’s birthday as the time to put the new strategy into effect is seriously eyebrow-raising.
The bottom line is that no matter why @royalfamily decided to give Meghan the brush-off, being the first non-working member of the House of Windsor to come in for a regal blanking on their birthday, has some serious sting in the tail.
After all, if Her Majesty had been concerned that cold-shouldering the LA native might inflame tensions, or wanted to keep the peace with the fractious Sussexes, surely the palace would have waited to roll this new social media approach until after the Duchess’ birthday . No one is going to get up in arms or write news stories if Beatrice’s special day goes unmarked now, are they?
While the Queen is currently at Balmoral, settling into the big house after spending two weeks in Craigowan Cottage elsewhere on the estate, there are some choppy seas ahead for the royal family. Between September and Christmas, there will be the release of Harry’s book, the debut Sussexes’ “at home” docuseries for Netflix, the new season of The Crown focusing on the Diana years in the ’90s, the publication of books by two highly credible royal reporting veterans (Valentine Low, who broke the Meghan bullying story, and Angela Levin), the possibility that Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Giuffre could write her own tell -all and the ongoing fallout from Charles’ various questionable financial dealings in regards to his charity, including accepting a $1.7 million donation from a brother of Osama bin Laden.
It’s a list that seems to perpetually grow ever longer and ever more brow-furrowing for the royal house.
In 2016, Princess Eugenie told a documentary of the Queen’s Scottish estate: “I think Granny is the most happy there… You just have room to breathe and run.”
For Her Majesty, some long, deep breaths sound like a tip-top idea right now.
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
Read related topics:Meghan Markle Queen Elizabeth II
Normally, the royal family is thoroughly predictable. They do the same things, eat the same things, and turn up at the same places like Swiss-made precision clockwork.
Summers are for long weeks in Scotland, the Queen habitually sets up shop at her Sandringham estate from December until February 6, (the Christmas decorations stay up until then too) and she is reportedly woken up at the same time, 365 days a year. (At 7.30am by her maid bearing Earl Gray tea.) Queens don’t ever get sleep-ins it would seem.
Likewise, royal birthdays. If it’s a big one and involves one of her children de ella, there might be an Admiralty or an extra earldom on offer; in every other instance it’s a peppy social media post involving an emoji (which always looks a tad incongruous) and a £10 WH Smith voucher. (OK, the last one I’m just guessing.)
However last week, with no fanfare and little press coverage, the 96-year-old Queen broke with longstanding tradition for the 41st birthday of her granddaughter-in-law Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Her Majesty did…nothing.
Even in the treacherous years post Megxit, in 2020 and 2021, we have seen the @royalfamily account share posts marking the birthdays of Meghan, the couple’s son Archie and their daughter Lilibet.
Up until now, the most notable thing you could say about this seemingly set-in-stone practice was that the poor Buckingham Palace communications staffer tasked with the job has only ever had one photo of baby Archie and the Queen to work with to deploy every year.
But, whoa Nellie. Something has clearly changed because here we have the Queen essentially blanking Meghan on her birthday. (Or in the immortal words of Mariah Carey, “I don’t know her.”)
Since Meghan joined the official royal ranks in 2018, this is the first time that the palace has ignored the former Suits star on birthday, a marked departure from previous polite celebratory offerings.
What makes this situation such a puzzler is that up recently, the Queen’s strategy when it came to her bothersome grandson and his wife has been appeasement, with certain signs that Her Majesty was going out of her way to minimize tensions.
When Prince Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lili jetted into the UK for the Jubilee, according to the Sunthe nonagenarian arranged for three of her protection officers to collect the family and for a bulletproof car to take them to their UK home, Frogmore Cottage.
Later in June, it was revealed that the details of the inquiry, conducted by an outside law firm, into allegations that Meghan had bullied royal staffers was going to be “buried”. (The Duchess has always vehemently denied the claims of bullying.)
The reason, in part, for the surprise decision, was “to limit tensions between the Sussexes and the palace,” the Times reported.
Then in July, the Sun reported that Her Majesty has extended an invitation to the family to join her for a spell during her annual holiday. (Though the chances of them taking her up on it would surely have to be up there with Princess Michael of Kent getting on to OnlyFans.)
Leading up until Meghan’s birthday last week, there was no indication that this year’s big day would be different to every other, given that even last year, after the Sussexes’ dynamite Oprah Winfrey interview, she received warm social media wishes.
If popping up on global TV screens to lob accusations of racism, cruelty and of the palace life being abjectly miserable was not enough to mitigate Meghan getting a birthday post last year, what has changed? What gives?
The answer may or may not have something to do with Harry’s memoir, rumored to be hitting shelves in October.
In late July, the Sun reported that the manuscript was complete and publisher Penguin Random House’s lawyers had finished dotting the ‘i’s’ and crossing out the most libelous claims about the corgis (just kidding).
the Telegraph followed that up by reporting that while “the royal family or its lawyers have yet had sight of the completed manuscript” they might soon learn about some of what the 37-year-old has written because, “by convention, those potentially defamed in writing – including the royal family – are usually given a right to reply to accusations ahead of publication”.
While the sovereign herself is unlikely to come in for anything but paragraph after paragraph of obsequious praise, her son Prince Charles, daughter-in-law and next queen Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and grandson Prince William might not be so lucky.
Since the beginning of the year, there has been nearly continuous reporting claiming that Harry may well target his stepmother.
The heir to the throne, it would seem, is already getting his starched and ironed knickers in a twist.
“Prince Charles’ operatives have been scrambling for months to find out what other bombshells await, but to no avail,” royal author Christopher Andersen told TheDailyBeast. “No one expected Harry’s book to be a Valentine to his relatives. But you get the sense in the wake of the Jubilee that now the gloves are truly off.”
The prospect remains that while the Sussexes’ Oprah blitzkrieg was hugely damaging for Buckingham Palace, they still managed to largely withstand the strike. Hundreds of pages of revelations and detailed, lengthy disclosures about royal family life and palace operation could be another kettle of fish entirely.
After all, this is the very first sensational tell-all written by someone who was born into the royal family since fellow exile the Duke of Windsor (Edward VIII) published his tell-all A Royal Life, albeit 15 years after his abdication. (Yes, I know the Duke of Kent published a memoir earlier this year called, err, A Royal Lifebut I’m not sure if anyone aside from the Duchess of Kent has actually read it.)
As Duncan Larcombe, The Sun’s former royal editor, put it when speaking to TheDailyBeast: “The reality is that if, as a senior member of the royal family, you have written a tell-all book, you have broken rule number one of the royal family.”
Richard Palmer, royal correspondent for the Express, has offered up another theory, reporting that the absence of any sort of warm wishes for Meghan was down to a change in palace policy and that the royal family “will only mark the birthdays of non-working members of the family when they end in a zero.” The test of this will come on Monday, UK time, when Princess Beatrice turns 34.
Even if this new birthday arrangement is the case, the fact that Buckingham Palace chose Meghan’s birthday as the time to put the new strategy into effect is seriously eyebrow-raising.
The bottom line is that no matter why @royalfamily decided to give Meghan the brush-off, being the first non-working member of the House of Windsor to come in for a regal blanking on their birthday, has some serious sting in the tail.
After all, if Her Majesty had been concerned that cold-shouldering the LA native might inflame tensions, or wanted to keep the peace with the fractious Sussexes, surely the palace would have waited to roll this new social media approach until after the Duchess’ birthday . No one is going to get up in arms or write news stories if Beatrice’s special day goes unmarked now, are they?
While the Queen is currently at Balmoral, settling into the big house after spending two weeks in Craigowan Cottage elsewhere on the estate, there are some choppy seas ahead for the royal family. Between September and Christmas, there will be the release of Harry’s book, the debut Sussexes’ “at home” docuseries for Netflix, the new season of The Crown focusing on the Diana years in the ’90s, the publication of books by two highly credible royal reporting veterans (Valentine Low, who broke the Meghan bullying story, and Angela Levin), the possibility that Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Giuffre could write her own tell -all and the ongoing fallout from Charles’ various questionable financial dealings in regards to his charity, including accepting a $1.7 million donation from a brother of Osama bin Laden.
It’s a list that seems to perpetually grow ever longer and ever more brow-furrowing for the royal house.
In 2016, Princess Eugenie told a documentary of the Queen’s Scottish estate: “I think Granny is the most happy there… You just have room to breathe and run.”
For Her Majesty, some long, deep breaths sound like a tip-top idea right now.
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
Read related topics:Meghan Markle Queen Elizabeth II
A Woolworths customer has been left “mortified” after a staff member stepped in to help her out during a tough moment.
The Melbourne woman explained she was having technical issues while paying for her groceries during a recent trip to the supermarket.
At the same time, her newborn baby was “kicking off”, prompting a Woolworths worker to step in and pay for the woman’s groceries.
The customer took to Reddit to explain that while she was very “grateful”, she was also “mortified” over the experience – and wanted to see if there was a way she could thank the woman without getting her in trouble.
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“I just got back from Woolworths where I tried to pay with my phone on self-checkout,” she said.
“It wasn’t working so they printed me a barcode and took me to the service desk to pay, but my phone payment still didn’t work.
“After trying a few times and my newborn kicking off, the staff member said, ‘Don’t worry it’s on me.’
“I was really taken back and asked if I could transfer her the money.
“She said no and then said, seriously it’s on me. My baby was screaming the place down by this point. I was so grateful and also mortified.”
The encounter left the woman asking questions about the Woolies staff member was allowed to do this or if it was “dodgy”.
“I want to go back and give her something to say thank you, but don’t want to get her in trouble if she’s done something she’s not supposed to have done,” she said.
“Anyone work at Woolworths and can tell me what the deal is?”
People were quick to tell the woman to leave it and not draw attention to the worker’s actions.
“Maybe accept the kindness shown and pay it forward to someone else in need. In that way, you don’t risk getting the staff member in trouble,” one person said.
Another added: “What’s more likely? They risk being sacked or even arrested for a total stranger, or pays a few bucks to help out someone obviously trying their best but struggling.
“My partner works at a supermarket and has paid for people before. It feels good. Pay it forward.”
A third, who works at a different supermarket, said: “I’ve paid the difference for a few people that have come up short a couple of times and as far as I’m aware that is completely fine, even seen my boss do Item.
“Don’t know why it would be any different at Woolies. Sounds like excellent customer service to me.”
Another added: “I work at Woolworths, the company only cares if the products are paid for. She likely paid out of her own pocket for you, I’ve done it before.”
He’s honest to his players, honest to his fans, honest to his assistants and searingly honest to the media when he fronts the cameras each week.
Now, with Hinkley’s contract nearing the end of his tenure, will Port Adelaide deal in honesty as well as its senior coach has over the journey?
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Tigers down Port to keep finals alive | 01:09
If it is time to part ways – and every week suggestions keep bubbling away that it could be – how do Port Adelaide and Hinkley come to terms on a respectful way to end a partnership that has lasted nearly a decade?
Hinkley has to this point dismissed any links with the vacant Greater Western Sydney senior coaching job, let alone North Melbourne’s, and as he said after last Saturday’s loss to Collingwood, “I’ve had a habit of being true to my word”.
Speak to those in and around Port Adelaide, however, and the narrative appears to have shifted.
Where once Hinkley was a guarantee to be coaching the club in 2023, chances to categorically declare that (and there have been plenty) have been passed up in recent weeks.
Hinkley has bristled at questions surrounding his future and understandably was upset at club supporters who stuck a ‘Sack Hinkley’ sign on club property.
Regarding Hinkley’s future, the general belief is that any conversation would have to be initiated or at least welcomed by him – There is simply too much respect between Hinkley and the club for it to get ugly.
The Giants and Leon Cameron proved this year there’s merit in avoiding ‘the long goodbye’ and coming to a somewhat mutual agreement to end things before the fallout becomes too arduous.
Last year, the same situation was faced by Collingwood and Nathan Buckley, with a decades-long partnership ending as cleanly as it possibly could’ve given the length of the relationship.
Cameron’s scenario, in particular, shares echoes with Hinkley.
“The Leon Cameron example sits really heavily,” Gerard Whateley observed on AFL 360 this week.
“Leon went to a final series, won a final, he goes into the last year of a contract where they start poorly and it’s over. You do have to weigh that up.
“I hope if they’re going to do it they do it early enough because he’s a godsend for North Melbourne or the Giants. Don’t do it so late that everything else is done.”
That will cost them at the end’ | 00:51
As things stand, it will all be done in the postscript of 2022 – any possibility of a home Showdown send-off being announced ahead of time are remote, mostly because Hinkley and the club itself seem undecided on what the best move is heading into next year.
From all reports, Hinkley still has the players, while injuries and close losses have made the ladder situation perhaps an unfair reflection on where the side is at.
Still, the reality is Port Adelaide lost its first five matches, recovered, and now has lost four of its last five games.
There have been considerable declines in several key statistics, including points for (from sixth in 2021 to 15th), points from turnovers (sixth to 13th), inside 50 differentials (fifth to 10th) and contested possession differentials (fourth to 10th).
Winnable games against Essendon and Adelaide will close out the season and all focus is on the final fortnight, but it’s hard to imagine the results won’t have at least some influence on how the club sees itself heading into next year.
Also as big a question for Port Adelaide would have to be: If Ken goes out, who comes in?
Perhaps the easy first option would be Alastair Clarkson, but the Power are a few meetings behind North Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney in that race already.
The Power could easily appeal to Clarkson’s sense of coming full circle given the four-time premiership coach spent a couple of years there as an assistant coach, including their run to the 2004 premiership under Mark Williams.
Clarkson understands what it means to represent Port Adelaide, much like Hinkley has learned in his time at the club.
Then there’s the likes of Adam Kingsley, Ashley Hansen and Adem Yze, who lead a pack of assistant coaches just waiting for their opportunity to lead an AFL side, with Craig McRae a prime example of how well such a move could work.
Speaking on Monday, club president David Koch insisted post-season deliberations will not center squarely on Hinkley, but did nothing to suggest the winds of change won’t be sweeping through the club this off-season.
“It’s not just about one individual person. It’s the whole program. Turn it around or watch out,” he told FIVEaa.
“Because every single person’s role will be assessed at the end of the year, as we do each year. But this year is more important than ever and we are not afraid to make change. We have made plenty of changes.
“We have got to win games and we know that is what we exist to do.
“We will be making those hard decisions at the end of the year across the entire program to make us better next year.”
Whatever happens next deserves to happen on Hinkley’s terms, such has been his incredible contribution to the club for such a long period of time.
And if anyone is truer to their word about their belief they’re the best person to take Port Adelaide forward or to hand over the reigns, it’s Hinkley.
