Keeping up with the Kardashians...err Windsors

It seems every few days brings another breathless headline: Prince Harry still estranged from his father and brother! As if we’re all waiting for a surprise reconciliation, when really, we’re five seasons deep into As the Tiara Turns.

Harry packed up the tiaras (and the rescue chickens) years ago and moved to Montecito, but the royal rift refuses to retire quietly. According to reports, Harry and King Charles aren’t on speaking terms, and Prince William remains perpetually incandescent with rage. Some say Harry wants to reconcile. Others say Charles is too busy. William, for his part, has “moved on." Or so the palace press machine would have us believe. 

Let’s face it: we all have a “Harry” in the family. The cousin who dramatically declares they’re done with everyone. The one who talks about auras and essential oils. The grandmother who wears white to your wedding. The aunt who writes one too many memoirs. And of course, the sibling who moves halfway across the world, burns down the group chat, and then wonders why they’re not invited to brunch.

You’d think that after all this time, the royal family might want to be the bigger institution, especially now that grandchildren are involved. Maybe have their private secretaries sit down over tea and hash things out. “We’ve all said things we didn’t mean… especially in our memoirs.” Then drop a few carefully curated family photos into the Christmas broadcast to remind everyone: we remember, but we don’t forget.

Sure, the rest of us don’t have castles to hide in, but we do know how to smile through gritted teeth at family dinners, crop someone out of the holiday card, or “accidentally” forget their gift. Most families don’t need a press release when Uncle Peter feels snubbed, but when you're royal, it’s all tiaras, tabloids, and well-timed leaks to The Times.

To be fair, comebacks do happen. Just look at Aunt Fergie and Camilla, two women once seen as royal outliers, if not outright exiles. Fergie, after the toe-sucking scandal and various headline-grabbing ventures, was firmly shown the palace gates. Camilla spent decades as the unwelcome “other woman,” vilified by the press and perpetually compared to Diana.

And yet, here we are. Camilla wears the crown with the calm of someone who’s already survived the worst of it. Fergie may not be back on the official royal roster, but she’s got Windsor access, the late Queen’s corgis, and a front-row seat to the family awkwardness. As for Prince Andrew? Well… every royal family needs a redemption arc no one asked for.

Because in Windsor tradition, forgiveness is always possible, provided it's strategic and mutually beneficial.

© Marilyn Braun 2025  

The Beginning of the End: How a Twerking Video Might Topple the Monarchy

After centuries of wars, abdication crises, and tragic royal deaths, we may have finally arrived at the moment that brings the British monarchy to its knees.

We knew this day would come.

It wasn’t Wallis Simpson. It wasn’t Diana’s BBC interview. It wasn’t even Prince Andrew’s catastrophic denial over Pizza Express. The monarchy survived Charles’ tampon-gate, Fergie’s toe-sucking scandal, and 1992’s official annus horribilis. But this. This might finally be too much. 

A video of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, twerking to induce labour may be the thing that pushes the institution off the edge for good. 

The monarchy has weathered worse, at least on paper. King Henry VIII disposed of inconvenient wives. Charles I was executed. Edward VIII gave up the throne for love and questionable judgment. Even the glossy dramatization of The Crown didn’t kill it off. But apparently, a royal spouse dancing in a hospital delivery room, under fluorescent lights is where the pitchforks come out.

The video, shared to celebrate Princess Lilibet’s fourth birthday, shows Meghan dancing in a hospital room, smiling, swaying, and, by her own account, trying to get labour started. It was personal. It was confident. It was, depending on who you ask, either charming or catastrophic.

For some royal watchers, this was confirmation that the mystique is well and truly gone. The monarchy depends on carefully curated distance, ceremonial grandeur, and the illusion that the Windsors are somehow not quite like the rest of us. Twerking does not support this illusion.

If anything, it yanks the curtain off entirely.

Perhaps it was meant as a playful gesture. A private moment shared publicly to reclaim the narrative. Instead, it triggered renewed scrutiny and shifted the conversation to what truly matters: how many twerks does it take to bring down a thousand-year-old monarchy?

The monarchy has endured civil war, family feuds, wiretaps, leaks, Netflix. Now it must face the most fearsome force of all: viral content.

It survived Cromwell. It may not survive the comment section.

© Marilyn Braun 2025

Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.

Meghan Twerks Into Royal History

Royals have been having babies for hundreds of years. At this point, it takes something truly unexpected to earn a footnote in the royal history books. All of the royal firsts appear to be covered. Queen Victoria took chloroform during childbirth. Prince William was the first direct heir to be born in a hospital. We’ve had decades of royal mothers exiting maternity wards in carefully chosen outfits, smiling politely for the press while quietly recovering from what was, let’s be honest, global interest in a deeply personal event. 

Just when we thought the tradition had been perfected. Along comes Meghan. Twerking. In hospital. To bring on labour. 

The video, shared on social media to mark Princess Lilibet’s fourth birthday, shows a heavily pregnant Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, dancing with enthusiasm in a hospital room, hoping to get things moving. No doubt in 10 years, Lilibet may look back and cringe, wondering why she couldn’t have had a nice, boring royal birth like the rest of her ancestors.

Royal watchers were, predictably, horrified. Shocked. Aghast. Much of the response was openly derisive. But I, for one, think Meghan should be hailed as a trailblazer. A history-making royal birth we’d never have heard about if not for the famously privacy-seeking couple letting a little daylight in on the… ahem… magic.

The result of sharing the video has been, predictably, more speculation. If Meghan was trying to troll her detractors, it worked, though not quite in her favour. Yes, she did it her way, possibly as a not-so-subtle response to years of whispers about her pregnancies. The conspiracy theories, the scrutiny over her belly, the surrogacy accusations. None of it put to rest. If anything, the video just gave people more to pick apart. A hip thrust and a smile can only do so much.

Whether Queen Victoria would have approved is difficult to say. It’s just as likely she wouldn’t have known what twerking was and would have had to be told by a footman.

In any case, Meghan has become the first royal mother to twerk her way into the historical record. Not through tradition or duty, but by dancing to induce labour. It’s not the usual route to royal legacy, but it appears to have worked.

A trailblazer? A cautionary tale? Depends who you ask. But one thing is clear, future royal mothers have a very tough act to follow.

© Marilyn Braun 2025

 Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.

The Throne Speech Heard Around the World

In the lead-up to King Charles III’s throne speech in Ottawa, the mood was part royal visit, part political litmus test. No one knew exactly what he’d say, only that every word, pause, and brooch would be scrutinized.

With Trump dangling annexation like a minor formality, Canada found itself in a strange moment. Sovereignty suddenly trended, and the throne speech became more than tradition, it became a statement. The question: Would he address the elephant in the room? And how?

Spoiler: he did. Not with a full-bodied rebuke, but with something far more effective, measured, pointed language.

The speech stayed within royal decorum (no mic drops, no off-script flair), yet some lines landed heavy. “Many Canadians are anxious about a drastically changing world,” he said. “Fundamental change is unsettling. Yet this moment is an incredible opportunity. An opportunity for renewal.” Not a battle cry, but far from filler.

This wasn’t the Prince of Wales of spider-letter fame, the passionate commentator on modern architecture and alternative medicine. This was King Charles III, fully aware of the stage, cameras, and geopolitical undercurrents.

Restraint, yes, but no passivity. You could hear it in how deliberately he spoke of Canada’s identity and autonomy. This wasn’t routine throne speech, it was a message built to travel. And travel it did: across news feeds, headlines, and group chats of people who hadn’t cared about the monarchy in years. Trump, in his own way, united Canadians like hockey finals do. Suddenly, those who never cared about sovereignty were sitting up straighter.

Even the line about Canada building a coalition of like-minded countries sharing values, believers in cooperation and open exchange, sounded less like policy and more like a diplomatic side-eye. Subtle, pointed, unmistakable.

Everything from his tone to his tree planting was loaded with meaning. Exhausting? Absolutely. But that’s the role. He played it, then flew home.

If anyone came for royal fireworks, they likely left disappointed. But for those paying attention, this was a quiet yet firm assertion, delivered with unmistakable Canadian clarity. He didn’t write the speech, but he knew exactly how to land it.

Enough to make even cynics stop scrolling.

© Marilyn Braun 2025

 Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.

Elbows Up: A Royal Visit That’s Mostly Just Symbolic

If you haven’t already heard, King Charles III and Queen Camilla are dropping by Canada. For a quick pit stop, just long enough to remind the world we still have sovereignty. Because nothing screams “strong, independent nation” quite like having the King pop in for 48 hours to say, “Yep, we’re still here.”

His visit has been hyped as rich with symbolism. But let’s be honest: what Canadians will really be watching for is the raised elbows. Not the usual royal wave, all delicate wrist flicks and finger flutter, but the full elbows-up move: arms bent sharply, elbows thrust high and proud, forearms jutting out like tiny barricades.

Picture the scene: photojournalists scrambling, cameras firing away. T-shirts, souvenirs, commemorative magazines and coins in production. Breathless commentary as royal watchers obsess over every micro-movement. Historians analyzing what this means for Canada's future. Hockey analysts and body language experts called in to judge: Did Charles nail the elbows-up? Did Prime Minister Carney brief him properly? Should we have sent Mike Myers instead?

Because elbows up is more than just a physical stance. It’s a diplomatic dance move. A way of saying, “We appreciate the gesture, but hands off the maple syrup and the moose.” It’s the polite, Canadian version of a “Back off,"  delivered with just enough stiff upper lip to confuse the Americans.

The King and Queen will visit the Senate chamber to make a historic throne speech, plant a tree (because what else do you do when you want to say, “We’re here, but we’re leaving soon”), make polite small talk with select individuals and watch a street hockey game. Meanwhile, Canada will do its best to look excited without breaking into a full parade, after all, this is a 48-hour visit, not a hockey final.

Some might wonder why the monarchy still bothers. Isn’t this visit just a fancy postcard from the past? Maybe. But in a world where political chaos is the new normal, the sight of a man and a queen showing up just to say “we’re watching” has its own odd charm.

And when it comes down to it, if elbows up is the way we say “We’re still sovereign, thanks very much,” then Canada might just have found its next great national pastime.

So get ready, Canada. Keep your elbows sharp, your politeness sharper, and maybe practice your own elbows-up move for when the cameras come around. Because this royal visit? It’s less about allegiance to the crown and more about staging just enough pageantry to remind the world Canada is not for sale.

© Marilyn Braun 2025 

Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.