Meghan Markle & Prince Harry latest news: Spotify work to continue despite ‘concerns’ as Duchess set to ‘relaunch blog’

Pictured: The four day Platinum Jubilee weekend

The Palace said the extra days off will “provide an opportunity for communities and people to come together and celebrate the historic milestone”.

But Brits can take advantage of the extra two days off by simply booking holiday for the three days before the new Bank Holiday dates.

This means if they book off Monday, May 30, Tuesday, May 31, and Wednesday, June 1 they will get NINE days off in a row.

This is because they will already have the weekend off before the days they book as holiday.

'Furious' William

Prince William didn’t want to attend a memorial for Diana with Harry amid their ongoing rift, a royal source has claimed. 

The Duke of Cambridge was reportedly still “furious” with his brother in the weeks before a statue was unveiled at Kensington Palace last year to mark their mother’s 60th birthday. 

Both brothers had been warring with each other after Harry and wife Meghan chose to step down as senior royals. 

It appeared the siblings had put aside their differences to honour Diana – although Harry reportedly left 20 minutes after sharing a glass of bubbly following the unveiling.

Now a close pal has revealed that William did not want to go to the event with his brother. 

They told the : “William was still furious. He had taken the view that he’d only give so much. He just didn’t want to go there [with Harry].” 

Meghan’s undisclosed sum is ‘substantial’ says spokesperson

Meghan’s spokesperson described the undisclosed sum for copyright infringement as “substantial” and said it would be donated to charity.

They said the duchess was clear from the beginning that this case was primarily about the difference between right and wrong.

The fact that Meghan won on privacy and copyright matters demonstrated the strength of both claims, they said.

The spokesperson added that, after winning the case on a summary judgment, Meghan chose to recover the profit the paper had made from the letter, relating to copyright, rather than a financial remedy of damages regarding the privacy part of the case.

The appeal judges’ order said Associated Newspapers had agreed to pay the £1 nominal damages for misuse of private information, and the “confidential sum” for copyright infringement by January 7.

Judges also said Associated Newspapers should pay £300,000 of the duchess’s legal costs, on account, by the same date.

William ‘reeling’ after Meghan claimed Kate made her cry in bridesmaid row

PRINCE William was left “reeling” after sister-in-law Meghan Markle accused his wife of making her cry at a bridesmaid fitting. 

The Duchess of Sussex told Oprah Winfrey in a bombshell interview that the Duchess of Cambridge had made her cry and “really hurt” her feelings. 

Tensions between Prince Harry and Prince William, along with their wives, had been reaching boiling point in the months after Meghan and Harry’s wedding in 2018 despite at first being known as the Fab Four.

And initial reports claimed that Meghan had “left Kate in tears” over her demands for Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaids dress during a “stressful” fitting.

Meghan, 40, then went on to claim the opposite had happened – accusing Kate of making her cry. 

Now a royal source has told  that William, 39, was left “reeling” and his head was “all over the place” after Harry and Meghan made several allegations against his wife and family. 

Read more here.

Platinum Jubilee programme (continued…)

Official Jubilee celebrations will begin on Monday when Fortnum & Mason launches the Platinum Pudding Competition to find a dish to dedicate to the Queen’s 70 years on the throne. Recipes will be judged by an expert panel including Dame Mary Berry.

It is hoped it will serve as a long-lasting reminder, alongside the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, which will continue to plant new trees to present to her at the end of the year.

From May 12 to 15, more than 500 horses and 1,000 performers are expected to take part in a show in the grounds of Windsor Castle, which will take the audience through history from Elizabeth I to the present day.

More ceremonies are to take place later in the year, starting on Thursday June 2, the first day of the special four-day bank holiday, when the Queen’s Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) will take place in Horse Guards Parade.

On the same day, the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories will come together to light a beacon at the same time as the principal beacon at Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace unveils full Platinum Jubilee programme

Buckingham Palace has unveiled the full programme of events to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Celebrations will include the 95-year-old monarch opening her private estates to the public, and some of the world’s biggest stars performing outside Buckingham Palace.

It is not clear which events the Queen will attend or take part in as she was ordered to rest by doctors in October last year following an overnight hospital stay for unspecified preliminary investigations.

The bulk of the Jubilee duties are thought likely to be given to the rest of the royal family, including the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

The Queen usually spends the anniversary of her accession privately at Sandringham.

Meghan & Harry’s 16 bathroom property susceptible to water shortages

Meghan and Harry’s nine-bed, 16-bathroom property is particularly susceptible to water shortages because it was built on land with no natural creeks, 

Despite that, there’s a swimming pool on site – as well as an artificial pond, brook and waterfall.

One local water expert, who asked to be kept anonymous, told the publication: “There is only a certain amount of available water for the community, no one really knows how much. 

“Why should the wealthy be able to drain these community water sources at will, from their private wells without oversight, only to sustain lush green lawns and gardens?”

The cost of the fine is small change to most of those who live in Montecito, where houses sell for tens of millions of dollars.

But the Sussexes will doubtless observe the rules regardless.

Royal Family’s ‘whole future rests with William & Kate’

With the Queen now 95 and stepping back from public duties on health grounds, William’s father Charles and his second wife, Camilla, have become more prominent.

But with Charles now 73, his reign, when it starts, is already being seen as a transition to William and Kate’s more up-to-date, empathetic, Instagrammable version of a venerable institution.

Royal author Phil Dampier said with Harry in self-exile, Andrew in the shadows, and other senior royals ageing, “the whole future rests with William and Kate”.

“Fortunately they look up to the task and I’m sure her best is yet to come,” he told the Daily Mail.

Kate Middleton's 'appeal'

A royal expert has claimed that Kate Middleton holds the 'appeal' and 'power' to one day be Queen.

Roberta Fiorito, host of Royally Obsessed, said: “If you look at the Royal Family, we have the Queen, everyone adores the Queen.

"She is a huge figurehead that people around the world look to, but she [Kate] goes beyond the Queen, I think Kate holds so much an appeal, so much power.

"She is kind the matriarchy waiting, I know that we have Camilla, and obviously she is perhaps gonna be Queen when Charles comes the throne certainly be the kind of most senior women in the Family, in terms of that kind of brand of the Royal Family. 

"And the whole world, why they are interested? Why they want to keep reading about the Royals. I think Kate is completely pivotal to that, there is a huge amount riding on her, but I think she will continue to kind of let that too much to her."

Meghan's gestures reveal true feelings for Queen

MEGHAN Markle's subtle hand gestures reveal her true feelings for the Queen, a royal expert has claimed.

Despite  and Meghan Markle's bombshell two years ago that they were stepping down as senior royals, they continued to attend royal engagements with the Queen - even travelling up to Chester in June 2018 for the opening the Mersey Gateway Bridge.

Body language expert Judi James commented on this day and Meghan's several subtle hand gestures that revealed her true feelings towards the monarch.

Judi said: "It was clear from the Queen's congruent and very spontaneous-looking smiles that she was delighted to have her new granddaughter-in-law beside her on this visit.

"Meghan did appear rather nervous initially though, emerging coyly from the train and using some more tentative gesticulation than usual.

"Without new husband Prince Harry beside her to touch and hug her, there was a noticeable increase in Meghan's self-comforting self-touch and checking rituals, suggesting she is still quite in awe of her doting grandmother-in-law."

Revealed: The Queen’s favourite fast food

THE QUEEN'S former chef revealed the Monarch's fast food favourite, despite tending to avoid the convenient meals on the whole.

Pro chef Darren O’Grady worked in the royal kitchen for 15 years and has revealed that the Queen dodges fast food as a rule but there was one thing that she really enjoyed.

But, unlike most people we know, she didn't hop on the bus down to McDonald's or Burger King to get her fast food fix, instead having her kitchen team prepare her a meat patty from scratch.

Darren said: “It always tickled me at Balmoral, we would make our own burgers. They would shoot deer, and we would do venison burgers.

“There’d be gorgeous cranberry… stuffed into them, but we never set buns out.”

Royal news you may have missed

• Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle ";wanted to appear friendly" at Wimbledon as Kate attempted to include Meghan "for the first time since she married Prince Harry".
• Princess Charlotte was spotted carrying a £6 Beanie Baby unicorn purse at the polo last week.
• And Meghan had Idris Elba play "bare tunes" like Whitney Houston at her royal wedding

Charles on making Camilla Queen

An expert has warned Prince Charles that he will need the backing of Number 10 if he is to make his wife Camilla Queen. 

Dr Robert Morris, from University College London’s Constitution Unit told Express.co.uk that Charles would need government approval if he were to change this. 

He said: “What we have thought in the Constitution Unit was that Charles would be wise to discuss this matter with the Prime Minister of the day.

“He really has to have the Government behind him if he wants to make the lady Queen, I think.

“Although opinion over Camilla has changed quite radically in recent years, it’s still a tender point.

“And the new King would be well advised to have the Government behind him in this matter.”

Prince Harry ‘thinking about skipping Oscars’ over Diana film

Sources in the US say the Duke of Sussex doesn't want to run into Kristen Stewart during awards season following her portrayal as Princess Diana.

The actress is likely to be nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the film Spencer.

The source told  that Spencer "struck a sour note with Harry".

They said: "He's pretty appalled by the film.

"[Meghan and Harry] have been invited to all the big events and planned on attending the Oscars too, but they'd almost certainly come face-to-face with Stewart since she's a lock for a best actress nomination."

Kate Middleton causes 'One shoulder dress' searches to explode

Kate Middleton's ‘one shoulder dress’ searches spiked 733% after Duchess wore one in her birthday portraits. 

Analysis of Google search data reveals that online searches for ‘one shoulder dress’ exploded 733% in the UK on the 10th of January, two days after Kate Middleton appeared wearing a red one shoulder dress in new portraits released in celebration of her 40th birthday.    

A new finding by fabric experts  reveals that online searches for ‘one shoulder dress’ skyrocketed to seven times the average volume in one day.

Kate Middleton’s £3450 one shoulder dress, which was designed by Alexander McQueen features an asymmetrical design with a puff sleeve and cinched-in waist detail. 

This stunning red dress paired with some statement diamond earrings made for the perfect regal look.  

Novak Djokovic’s dad calls on the Queen

NOVAK Djokovic's dad has called on the QUEEN to intervene in his son's visa drama and "protect the human rights" of the tennis star after he was allegedly arrested.

The World Number One's father, Srdjan Djokovic, slammed Australia as a "fake democracy" and claimed his son was being treated as a "political prisoner".

During a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, Srdjan urged the Queen to get involved in the fiasco and "protect the human rights" of his son, the  reports.

According to a translation, he said: "I call on Queen Elizabeth, the leader of the Commonwealth, to intervene and protect the human rights of my son and to stop the political prosecution carried out against him since he came to Australia."

Queen extending popular adventure playground

The Queen is EXTENDING her popular Kate Middleton-inspired adventure playground on the Royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk by adding a new tower based on the ruins of an abandoned medieval church.

Last year the Sandringham Estate, which attracts 500,000 visitors a year, was inspired to build a giant adventure playground modelled on famous local Norfolk landmarks.

It has proved so popular with visitors, the Queen is now adding a new tower based on the ruins of St Mary the Virgin Church in Appleton, which has been abandoned for over 300 years.

The new play tower, which is currently under construction, is being modelled on the small round towered church, which has been ruined since the 18th century.

The Royal estate is also adding additional high-level walkways, landscaping and new seating areas in the playground, which has proved hugely successful since it opened.