Category: 5. Entertainment

King Charles’ former butler, Grant Harrold has just come forward with his thoughts on Prince Harry’s plans for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

He spoke to Study Dog, per Hello! when delivering the verdict, and started by commenting on how “keen” the Duke looks when it comes to enrolling his kids in a British school.

“It’s very likely and completely possible,” he was also quoted saying.

“If they have their younger education in America, I’m sure their father will be quite keen to have a bit of a British education.”

However it’s important to note that “then it depends on how the relationship is with the rest of the family when the time comes.”

It is pertinent to mention though that Meghan holds a polar opposite view, which she shared in a 2022 interview with The Cut.

“Sorry,” Meghan said at the time. “I have a problem with that. That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy. That makes me a strong and good parent protecting my child,” she said in reference to cameras probably following her children around the school premises in case they would have ended up in British schools.

Still, the two children of the Spare to the throne are still entitled to the titles of Prince and Princess, which are often given to all grandchildren of the current King.

However, a big reason the Sussexes vied for this ‘birth right’ is because “Prince Harry wants to keep the HRH [His/Her Royal Highness] titles for his children so that when they grow older they can decide for themselves whether they want to become working royals, or stay out of public life.”

Reuters
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Teatime revels in China now include hugs with lion cubs in a four-course afternoon set offered by a restaurant in the northern province of Shanxi, drawing widespread attention online and fueling concern for the animals’ welfare.

Customers cradled the lion cubs as if they were babies in pictures and video clips posted online on China’s Wechat and Weibo platforms.

The Wanhui restaurant in Taiyuan city features llamas, turtles and deer in addition to the cubs on its page on Douyin, China’s counterpart to social media app TikTok.

Wanhui, which opened in June, sells about 20 tickets a day to customers looking to snuggle with the animals as part of a set menu costing 1,078 yuan ($150), the state-run Shanghai Daily said on its official Wechat page.

“The service has raised serious concerns about legality and animal welfare,” the English-language newspaper added.

Reuters was unable to independently contact Wanhui.

Online comments were mostly critical, saying the venture was dangerous and not good for the animals.

“This is for the rich to play,” said one Weibo user. “Ordinary people even can’t afford to drink.”

Another user urged action by the authorities, adding, “The relevant departments should take care of it.”

The incident comes just after authorities investigated a hotel in June for offering a “wake-up service” starring red pandas, state media said.

The hotel in the southwestern region of Chongqing allowed the animals to climb onto beds to awaken guests.

It has been the tropical jewel in one of the UK’s most famous gardens for more than 175 years, and now the Palm House in the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is to get a green makeover.

The attraction, which houses Kew’s tropical rainforest, will close for five years to allow engineers and botanists to transform it into the first net zero glasshouse in the world.

The £50m plan will result in 1,300 plants – including the world’s oldest potted plant, a gigantic Encephalartos altensteinii that dates from 1775 – being removed from the iron and glass structure and rehoused in temporary greenhouses until their new digs are ready. The plants include 45 plant species on the verge of extinction, and while some can be dug up and placed in containers for relocation, others will be delicately propagated.

The imposing Grade I-listed Victorian structure will have each of its 16,000 panes of glass replaced and recycled, while its soaring wrought-iron frame will be stripped, repaired and encased with a high-tech waterproof paint in the exact shade of white used when the Palm House was first opened to the public in 1848.

But perhaps the biggest change will be the replacing of the Palm House’s ancient gas-fired boiler system and leaky pipework with state-of-the-art air source and water source heat pumps.

According to the gardens’ accounts and annual report, Kew generated £369m for the UK economy in 2023. The renovation of the Palm House and its little sister, the Waterlily House, which account for more than a fifth of Kew Gardens’ carbon emissions, is part of its plan to become climate positive by 2030. Other carbon reduction changes will reduce energy use by 49% across the 200-hectare (500-acre) site.

Tom Pickering, the head of glasshouse collections at Kew, said: “At the heart of this project is the need to protect the extraordinary plant collections housed in the Palm House and Waterlily House. Besides being beautiful, many have cultural, scientific and conservation value, and replacing these collections is unimaginable. Achieving net zero in these historic buildings is an unprecedented task, it’s a complex challenge which must consider the interplay of horticulture, climatic control, engineering, and architecture.”

The redesigned interior of the Palm House will be more accessible and have more places for visitors to sit and wonder at the tropical rainforest collections. Planning permission for the project has been submitted, with funding coming from central government, the Julia Rausing Trust, the World Monuments Fund and other donors.

The renovation is likely to start in 2027, with the exact date dependent on planning permission and funding.

The surprise appearance of The Cure’s Robert Smith during Olivia Rodrigo’s Glastonbury 2025 set has been widely celebrated by fans and critics alike, but few were as overcome with emotion as Rodrigo’s own guitarist, Arianna Powell.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Powell recalled the moment she first found out Smith would be joining them onstage for duets of The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” and “Just Like Heaven” at Worthy Farm last month.

“We found out in Nashville when we were rehearsing for Bonnaroo, which ended up getting cancelled,” Powell said. “Stacy [Jones], our music director, came and told us, and was like, ‘This is very secret – you cannot tell anyone, but he’s going to be joining us.’ And I swear to God, I started crying. Like, I started tearing up.”

Powell, a longtime fan of The Cure, said the news hit her particularly hard because of her deep admiration for Smith’s guitar work. “I’m a huge fan, especially those guitar parts,” she shared. “I love, love, love the guitar parts, specifically in those songs, especially ‘Friday I’m in Love’. So I was just so stoked to get to actually play that with the artist.”

Beyond the onstage collaboration, Powell spoke about Smith’s generosity and warmth backstage. “He was so cool. He was leaving his dressing room door open for us to hang out. He wanted to talk and be social,” she said.

“Through conversations with him, he was just saying, ‘It’s just another show.’ And he was talking about how much he enjoys performing, and he loves it every time. That really inspired me and my energy for that night. Like, ‘Yeah, it’s just another show – and I love doing this.’ The collective energy of the band that day was really infectious.”

The performance also marked a milestone for Rodrigo, who has spent 2025 on a global tour supporting her sophomore album GUTS. The LP, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2023, has seen a resurgence in streams following her Glastonbury appearance, with “vampire” and “bad idea right?” climbing back into the upper reaches of the Billboard Global 200.

It is, incredibly, 25 years since Craig David broke out with his debut album Born to Do It, a classic of British garage and R&B. The Southampton-born musician has since proven to be one of the former genre’s greatest ambassadors: he has said his recent single, Wake Up, is about “respecting my garage roots” and the importance of preserving genres and cultures “for generations to come”.

That mission feels typical of David, a tireless and earnest pop presence due to release his ninth album, Commitment, next month. You can see the esteem he commands from the collaborators on it, among them Toddla T, Wretch 32, Jojo and Tiwa Savage. “Making music still turns me into that giggly, excited little kid who wants to feel the magic of it all,” he has said.

You can ask David about his quarter-century in the game – from joining up with the Artful Dodger to breaking the US, getting permission from David Bowie to sample Just Dance, performing at the Queen’s platinum jubilee and campaigning for more social housing for Shelter – when he takes the Guardian’s reader interview. Post your questions in the comments by 22 July and the best answers will feature in a future edition of Film & Music.

Billy McFarland, the controversial figure behind the infamous 2017 Fyre Festival, has officially sold the rights to the event’s brand on eBay for US$245,300. As reported by NY Daily News, the auction included intellectual property, trademarks, and social media accounts tied to the Fyre name, and drew 175 bids before concluding on Tuesday afternoon.

McFarland, who previously served four years in prison for wire fraud related to the original Fyre Festival, had attempted to relaunch the event multiple times without success. One such attempt was a promoted May 2025 revival in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The promotional campaign included a website, named producers and partners, and ticket packages priced between US$1,400 and US$1.1 million. However, the event quietly faded without any follow-through.

In a livestream during the eBay auction, McFarland appeared disappointed with the final result, commenting, “Damn. This sucks, it’s so low,” when bids surpassed US$240,000. According to Rolling Stone, the sale will barely make a dent in his outstanding US$26 million restitution order tied to his criminal conviction.

Following the original Fyre Festival disaster—which was chronicled in the Netflix documentary The Greatest Party That Never Happened and Hulu’s Fyre Fraud—McFarland insisted there was still public interest in the brand. In a 2024 interview with The Music Network podcast, he said, “The idea of Fyre 2 is still there. People want to escape reality for three days.”

In a more recent Instagram statement, McFarland announced his decision to step away, writing: “This brand is bigger than any one person. It’s clear that I need to step back and allow a new team to move forward independently.”

The identity of the buyer remains unknown.

Lola Tung, star of The Summer I Turned Pretty, shared that she nearly fainted when Taylor Swift acknowledged her during a 2023 Eras Tour concert.

In a July 15 appearance on The Tonight Show, Tung recalled watching Swift perform “False God” from her front-row seat.

“We were right by the stage when she played ‘False God,’” Tung said.

“She looked at us, and she kind of waved and was like, ‘I love you guys.’ I nearly passed out. It was great.”

Tung attended the concert with author Jenny Han, whose bestselling book series inspired the Prime Video adaptation.

She described the concert as a magical experience and noted it was her first time seeing Swift live.

Swift’s music plays a key role in the show’s storytelling. Songs such as “False God,” “Back to December (Taylor’s Version),” and “August” are featured in the upcoming third season of the series.

Tung said the music adds a “beautiful and cinematic” layer to the narrative.

The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 is expected to be the final season, continuing the story of Belly Conklin’s summers, relationships, and personal growth.

Hill 5.14, the Black female-led production company founded by Tobi Olujinmi, has optioned J.L. Seegars’ New Haven romance novel series for television adaptation. The deal marks the first literary option for the London-based scripted label since its launch in 2022.

The adaptation of the self-published titles Restore Me and Revive Me (Parts 1, 2, and 3) will be developed in collaboration with Sony Pictures Television and Eleventh Hour Films, as part of Hill 5.14’s ongoing first-look agreement with the two companies. A UK broadcaster is also attached, with further details to be announced.

The New Haven series gained viral traction on TikTok, garnering over 16 million views under related hashtags and becoming a standout in the BookTok community across 2024 and 2025. The novels trace the interwoven romantic lives of several couples over more than a decade, exploring themes of trauma, healing, and emotional recovery within a Black Southern community. For the television adaptation, the action will be relocated from its fictional South Carolina setting to the U.K.. Phoebe Okeowo, who worked on Amazon Prime’s book-to-series adaptation The Power (2023) will adapt the novels for the small screen.

“The moment we read Revive Me and Restore Me, we knew that this was a Hill 5.14 story,” said Olujinmi, noting that Seegars’ stories fit Hill 5.14’s creative mission of positioning itself as a home for diverse and distinctive stories. “Janil, through these beautiful characters, explores healing throughout, powerfully depicting what love looks like after trauma, healthy sex after violation.”

Seegars praised the partnership, noting Olujinmi and Okeowo’s evident enthusiasm for the material.

“From our first meeting, Tobi and Phoebe’s love for my characters and their world has been evident, and I have every confidence that passion will translate to the finished product,” she said in a statement.

In addition to Okeowo, Hill 5.14 has collaborated with such writers as Victoria Asare-Archer (Missing You) and Sex Education contributors Thara Poopla and Bella Heesom and has attracted onscreen talent including Weruche Opia (I May Destroy You), Adelayo Adebayo (The Responder) and Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton), who also fronts the Hill 5.14-produced podcast Discover Me.

Under their deal with Hill 5.14, SPT-owned Eleventh Hour have a first-look option to co-develop and co-produce TV projects on the company’s slate, with SPT acting as the distributor for these projects.

Seegars is represented by Sugar23 and Laura Dail Literary Agency.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s latest move fires back as the public peace summit with King Charles is dubbed a publicity stunt.

For the unversed, the Duke of Sussex’s chief of staff and communications director, Meredith Maines, and the Montecito couple’s U.K. spokesperson, Liam Maguire, were photographed with the monarch’s communications secretary, Tobyn Andreae, in London on July 9.

It was called a ‘first step’ towards reconciliation between Harry and his father, Charles, who is currently undergoing treatment for his undisclosed form of cancer.

However, royal expert Eric Schiffer called the Sussexes for making a private matter public.

As per Express, he said, “If this is a peace deal, why does every shutter click crack like a gunshot at the Firm’s credibility, turning a solemn summit into the potential for septic muck reputational carnage?”

He shared that the monarch kept the meeting low-key, but Harry had “unleashed paparazzi. The royal commentator added, “Charles craves calm; Harry brings carnival barkers with cameras.”

Eric further shared, “Guess who swaggered away looking regal and who looked like clickbait chaos.”

He warned the Duke of Sussex not to make the intimate moment into a talk for the media.

“Crisis comms 101—don’t torch your own olive branch; Harry just napalmed his,” Eic said.