What’s up with People Magazine’s ‘the Queen loves to laugh’ cover story?

Hope Hicks meets with members of Congress

Whenever a royal figure appears on the cover of People Magazine, seemingly out of nowhere, I wonder what’s going on behind-the-scenes and why that royal needed a hit of sugary People Mag PR. It happens all the time with the Duchess of Cambridge, who in recent years has gone to People Mag to take a “mulligan” on whatever negative story is out there at the time. So it’s very strange to see Queen Elizabeth doing the same. QEII had a horrendous 2020 – she went into lockdown too late, then she refused to say much in the way of public support during the pandemic. She wandered around maskless, she made people give her a birthday parade and she also forced her 99-year-old husband to travel to Scotland and change his living situation several times for no good reason. It was a mess and it was all so bloody unnecessary. So, it’s time for a soft-focus piece on how the Queen loves to… laugh?

Queen Elizabeth is known for her stoic nature, but there is an unexpected side to the monarch. The Queen “is much livelier in private than what the public sees,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, tells PEOPLE in one of this week’s cover stories.

The author quotes a source at the Queen’s country estate in Norfolk, Sandringham, once saying, “‘You can hear her laugh throughout that big house.’ She has a big laugh!”

The Queen, 94, can also be surprisingly self-deprecating. Not long after Prince Charles’ 1981 wedding to Princess Diana, a rerun of the ceremony was playing on TV during a party in London that the monarch was attending. Spotting herself on the screen, “The Queen said, ‘Oh, there’s my Miss Piggy face,’ ” Bedell Smith recalls. “She has the ability to laugh at herself.”

And while Queen Elizabeth’s portraits are often serious and unemotional, she knows how to have some fun too. During a shoot celebrating her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the Queen told photographer Barry Jeffrey to “just keep the camera rolling!” as she broke from the norm. The Queen proceeded to strike a “series of poses, slipping her hands in and out of her pockets and placing them onto her hips, mimicking the stances of a professional model,” recalled her dress maker and close confidante Angela Kelly.

They stood “in disbelief. The Queen was a natural,” Kelly marveled. “Barry and I felt we were experiencing something really special: a moment never to be repeated.”

When the Queen wants to relax, she turns to her beloved animals: her last living dorgi (a crossbred corgi and dachshund), Candy, and her stable of Fell ponies, a distinct English breed.

“She goes into a peaceful mode when she is with horses,” says her close friend and equine adviser Monty Roberts.

[From People]

Interesting that Angela Kelly is quoted. Kelly ran around last year, claiming that Meghan and Harry had cursed her out after she pulled some tiara shenanigans. She was the central source for the entire “Meghan’s tiara drama” story. Then, to get the final word, Angela ran to Richard Kay at the Mail, pushed stories about how close she is with QEII and basically made them sound like late-in-life lovers, like she’s the sole gatekeeper to the Queen. It was unhinged. As for this People cover and the effort to make the Queen sound like a normal person… please. This is the same petty, grumpy a–hole who denied a veteran of war the opportunity to have a wreath laid at the Cenotaph. Liz of House Petty is reprehensible.

Oh, and in another cover story excerpt, “sources” claim that the pandemic is “the only slight rest she’s ever had in her whole life.” Are you f–king kidding me? The woman goes to Balmoral EVERY YEAR for two (sometimes three) months so she can “have a vacation.” She did that in 2020 again, and forced all of her workers to quarantine for weeks away from their families, just so she could have a few months sitting on her royal arse at a different palatial estate.

National Service Of Remembrance At The Cenotaph

The Queen attends a ceremony to mark her Official Birthday

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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92 Responses to “What’s up with People Magazine’s ‘the Queen loves to laugh’ cover story?”

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  1. Christine says:

    Wow, she put her hands IN AND OUT OF HER POCKETS? Does Vogue know about these amazing model moves? Who in the palace approves this stuff? I am almost embarrassed for them at their attempts to stay relevant. It’s a definite self own at how out of touch, stiff and idiotic they are.

    • Becks1 says:

      It was something special, okay?!?!?!?! A moment never to be repeated!!!

      These royal sycophants are just sound more and more out of touch every day.

    • My Two Cents says:

      I think it was Buzzfeed who had these photos of the Queen with her hands in her pockets, and photos of Meghan in the same pose – to show yet again the double standard that happened when Meghan did it and was called out for her lack of protocol or whatever the hell they said!

    • Lorelei says:

      It’s hilarious to me that she’s almost 100 years old and the “wildest” thing she’s ever done is pose with her hands in her pockets once 😂

      Also, THE ONLY SLIGHT REST? Almost 100% of her entire life is what most of us with actual jobs/homes to maintain would consider “rest.”

    • Amy Too says:

      They were in disbelief! Hands in the pockets and then out of the pockets! Hands on hips! Radical! Amazing! Never to be repeated again! Super special!

      I also like how People is printing a quote from a lady who is talking about her book in which there is a quote from someone else about how the Queen laughs sometimes. And it’s an old quote! It’s not something she found out when interviewing people for her book, it’s an already reported on quote from some years ago. The layers of distance here is so ridiculous.
      People —>Author —>book —>Previous reporting —>Source —>Old quote. About how the Queen can laugh. And it’s the cover story!

  2. Kalana says:

    It’s part of a huge People pr press in the US because the Windsors have spent 2020 really showing their rear ends. Flouting lockdown rules, lying about being sick, spreader train tours, tantrums about Christmas. They have a lockdown on the British media reporting that they’ve been leaking and helping the tabloids against Harry and Meghan and they’re starting their damage control here.

    Sally Bedel Smith is a completely drooling sycophant. Look her up, she’s said completely batshit things. She had a decent bio of Jackie O but all her Beckyism is on full display with the royals.

    Speaking of white feminism, Claire Messaud coopted Meghan’s racist harassment in Britain to try to use her as an example of a white woman social climbing
    Not a peep of 72 female MPs speaking out because that would be inconvenient to Messaud’s mysogynoir.

    • windyriver says:

      Are you referring to that peculiar NYT article, where Messud goes into detail about a social climbing character in an Edith Wharton work, then suddenly pivots to a modern parallel with Meghan’s life? I wondered if someone would mention that. IIRC, she based her Meghan information on Andrew Morton’s book from a few years back (have no desire to go back and reread the article to check). It sounds like Messud is someone I should have been aware of, but wasn’t, and my immediate thought was, this author is so enamored of her theory, she’s fine with whatever information is out there that supports it, with no desire to dig deeper than a fingernail. Perhaps I’ve been reading Celebitchy too long; or maybe, have enough common sense to realize, from the headlines and events around Meghan’s time as a royal, and her exit, that something more was going on than a young woman looking to make her way to the top at all costs. (Hmm, which young woman married to a prince does that really sound like?). In any event, being previously unaware of Messud, I dropped her right back off my radar.

      • Nic919 says:

        To ignore how one duchess dedicated her entire adult life to catching a prince and literally doing nothing else while trying to impose that narrative on Meghan, who had a career and got married and divorced prior to even meeting Harry, is the ultimate gaslighting exercise. It’s offensive that they even use the words social climber when the meaning clearly applies to the other one.

  3. Amy Bee says:

    I don’t know what’s going on with People Magazine these days. It’s become very royal centric. I know the editor is British but still it’s supposed to be about American celebrities for the most part. Almost every other week now we get a royal cover story. I think next two weeks we’re going to get the ‘Prince William preparing to be King’ story.

    Obviously, the Palace felt that the Queen needed some positive PR after she disappearing for most of last year and then ending 2020 boasting that she prevented Harry’s wreath from being laid. The excerpt rings false to me, like they’re trying to convince readers she’s really not as mean-spirited and petty as people think she is. I also noticed that Queen has given Angela Kelly and others permission to speak to People. I thought royals were not allowed to let their friends talk to People Magazine. Is the royal rota going to pitch a fit that the Queen let Angela Kelly speak to People?

    • Harla says:

      I am so disappointed with People magazine! I’ve had a subscription forever but am waiting for the current one to runout so that I never have to receive and immediately throw away another copy. I don’t know who the current editor is but they’ve lost a customer in me.

    • Becks1 says:

      I think its interesting that they (the palace) know they need positive PR and they know they need it in the US. Yes, People has always ran positive royal stories, but like you said, its almost every other week lately. It says to me that someone, somewhere, in the palaces realizes how damaging the past year in general has been for the monarchy, and especially how bad Sussexit made them all look.

      • Amy Bee says:

        Agreed. Plus Meghan and Harry living in the US is pulling away focus that would usually be on the Queen and the Royal Family

      • equality says:

        But why are they so concerned about PR in the US? It’s not like the US keeps the monarchy in funds.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Equality – it goes along with what we have been saying here recently – in the eyes of the BRF, its not enough to be well-liked/respected/popular/whatever in the UK, they want to be the GLOBAL royal family, so to speak, and they want international popularity, starting with the US. I think someone realizes that is slipping because most Americans would rather hang out with Meghan than Kate.

      • JT says:

        Funny how nobody in the royal family thinks that they can improve their image by not being assholes to Harry and Meghan. There is no mention of support or happiness for them. They would do well to get on H&M’s good side, seeing as these two are the ones who get the global coverage. Any major event happening is told through the lens of Harry and Meg. Stories about the royals only get any traction if the Sussexes are apart of it and yet they still have the nerve to brag about denying a war veteran an already made wreath. How can you convince people your aren’t an asshole when you treat your grandson like shit?

      • atorontogal says:

        They blew their global popularity when they f’d over Diana!

      • Amy Bee says:

        @equality: Popularity in the US = Palace revenue from US tourists.

    • Lorelei says:

      It’s funny to me because the royalists and Cambridge stans online will scream until they’re blue in the face that the royals “aren’t just celebrities!!” yet, here they are covering People magazine and likely working with them behind the scenes.

      They absolutely are just like any other celebrities, especially to Americans.

      @Becks, I’d argue that PR-wise, they already are the world’s most prominent royal family. Has any other royal from another country, with the exception of Monaco, ever even been covered by People? For some reason, the BRF are the ones that are worldwide celebrities, always have been. So why they think they need to work this hard is beyond me.

      Besides, why does the palace care so much what Americans think?? We don’t pay to support them and we wouldn’t have a vote re: whether to abolish them or not, so we’re irrelevant to their existence. Shouldn’t they be focused more on their own “subjects,” especially the Commonwealth which is already starting to slowly move away from any association with the BRF? This entire thing is very strange.

      • equality says:

        You could have something there with the Commonwealth. People magazine is apparently popular in Canada.

      • Nic919 says:

        I doubt they are thinking of Canadians. The queen has lost popularity for protecting Andrew over here and our GG fiasco has raised once again the issue of “why the hell do we even have this archaic bs?” And that’s in English Canada only. Quebec has not had any use for them for a long time.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Lorelei – they’re the most well known and I guess as a result of that you could say they’re the most popular, but that doesnt mean a lot anymore. They’re not beloved and the international sensations they think they should be (especially Will and Kate.) And that’s why the palace cares so much – the palace wants huge crowds at international tours, they want standing ovations when they enter a room (instead of the awkward BAFTAs entrance), and so on – and at this point, they’re not getting those types of receptions and you know it is driving some royals INSANE.

      • Amy Too says:

        Maybe it’s because Americans have a large presence on social media and they’re not afraid to be loud and harsh in their criticism of the BRF, especially pointing out their racism, their support of pedophile Andrew, their glaring hypocrisy, their wealth and privilege, and their treatment of Meghan and Harry and Archie. We trend on Twitter. Our reporters have more international reach than the royal rota. America is sort of “in charge” of pop culture and sets pop culture narratives. And we can’t be silenced or sued or threatened by the BRF like the royal rota or other British reporters can be. Social media is global. I think they’re worried that Americans on Twitter might be influencing Brits and other Commonwealth citizens.

    • starryfish29 says:

      I feel like BRF feels the need to ‘shore up’ their support overseas and in particular in the US. Two of the key arguments that they use to justify their existence are that they are representatives of the best of Britain to the rest of the world and that they drive tourism, most of which comes from Americans that are enamored with princess fantasies. The last year has shown them to be completely ineffectual in their role as public figures, and with Covid tourism is dead in the water for a while. They’ve taken a serious hit in the US in particular over the last 18ish months, between the fallout with Meghan & Harry and The Crown. Most Americans love the royals BECAUSE they loved Diana, and having her pain back at the forefront has not been good for BRF’s image over here, and the blindingly obvious parallels with Meghan have done damage to the spin they’ve built around drama as well. ‘Losing the US market’ would be the proverbial canary in the goldmine.

  4. Lizzie says:

    Maybe the queen has had enough of Keen on People’s cover?

  5. Ginger says:

    Wow, she loves to laugh? She is just like a normal person! Because only commoners laugh!

    What a ridiculous and stupid article.

    • Mac says:

      Who doesn’t love to laugh and have good time with family and friends? HM can do all the puff pieces she wants, but we’ll never forget how she treated Harry and Meghan.

  6. Sofia says:

    Royal gossip and news has become an industry on its own now thanks to Meghan. Being a “royal expert” is literally a job even if you have done no formal research into the monarchy. Almost everyone wants a share of that and that includes People. Hence their foray into the royals.

    • Poppy says:

      This job existed long before Meghan came onto the scene.

      • Sofia says:

        A job that was made into a massive deal after Meghan and has made into an industry of its own.

        How many people cared about “royal experts” and “royal news” before Meghan?

      • Amy Bee says:

        Yeah but they had a quite fallow time since the death of Diana. There’s no denying the role of royal expert has exploded in recent years and it can be attributed to Meghan joining the family. Those experts were getting a lot of jobs in the US, not so much now that Meghan and Harry has left. Now they’re just being reduced to surmising what the Queen and Philip think.

      • Mac says:

        Diana was People’s bread and butter for years. They tried to make Kate a thing but it never took because she is boring and her clothes are ugly,

    • Becks1 says:

      honestly I would kind of like that job. You can just go on “news” programs and just talk about the royals and maybe you have some inside sources, maybe you dont, the average person doesnt know.

      • JT says:

        Meghan was a game changer. A RR said that the press made the most money in the past 4 years with Meg than they had previously. He said it was bigger than Diana. I guess it occurred to no one to treat the actual money maker decently to keep the gravy flowing. They didn’t even have to kiss ass like they do for the RF, all they had to do was be fair like Meghan said in the Africa doc. It would’ve have been decades of following her work, fashion coverage, a little access to Archie. But they placed the their bets on keens and buttons.

      • Chris. says:

        The Royal Experts have gone broke since the Sussex’s departures. When Meghan joined the RF, there was an explosion of podcasts, royal segments, royal specials. American Networks, and mags were bombarded by royal news. Since they moved to America, the interest has gone down to the toilet. We hardly ever talk about the royals now. The only royals we talk about in the states , are the Sussexes. I think they are scared in the Palace, and trying to start a new campaign. IT will not work, because nobody cares about the RF here. Plus People Mag is struggling as far as sales. I called this a suicide move.

  7. EllenOlenska says:

    I think pretty much everyone in media is expecting Phillip and/or the Queen to die soon…and secretly hoping one follows the other so they can milk even more stories out of it. This is just the warm up to a year of crapola. May I suggest “ the secret side of grumpy granny” will be followed by ( mix and match as you please and feel free to class up…or down the headline depending on what media publication you want to be)
    1. How the Queen and Phillip saved Britain from the Nazi’s.
    2. What the Queen only told her butler/ cook/ dog handler/ dresser/ man she secretly placed bets on the ponies with.
    3. The love that never wavered…months/days after (The Queen/Phillip) passed a heartbroken (Phillip/Queen) followed…unwilling to continue without their great love.
    4. How Kate spent the pandemic helping the Queen in her last days, spoon feeding her homemade chutney.
    5. How H & M broke their grandparents hearts despite the love they showed them
    6. Meghan kept Harry from his grandparents in their dying days!
    7. Heartwarming photo of George ( likely sans Charlotte and Louis) as he holds the queens last corgi/ cradles his grandfathers ( insert iconic personal item here) and looks pensive like the great future leader he is.
    8. The leadership advice the Queen gave Normal Bill on her deathbed.
    9. Why Charles and Billy are the future leaders Britain needs.

  8. Elizabeth says:

    Pay no attention to Andrew conspiring with Epstein on American soil, raping American sex-trafficked young teens! Pay no attention to this “queen” shielding Andrew from American investigation!

    This is grotesque. This is why rich men keep getting away with crimes.

  9. Becks1 says:

    The pushback on twitter to the rest/vacation story was awesome, and it seemed to be coming from all corners. I think more and more people are starting to question the “work” of the royal family in general, so to have a piece that suggests the Queen always works hard and never has any rest, as she is surrounded by servants and lives in palaces etc – its not a good look.

    (Now I will say that as royal work goes, the queen does a lot of that, does it well and she has done it consistently. But lets not act like that “work” is close to what most people do, and lets not act like she never takes vacations – she goes to Balmoral for two months, sometimes longer, and Sandringham for another month or so in the winter.)

    As for the laughing – meh, I’m sure she laughs. It doesnt mean she’s a good person. Also, the Andrea Kelly tidbit was weird. She was “a natural” because she kept putting her hands on her hips?

    It is interesting that Angela Kelly is one of the few high level aides who will let their name be printed. She must have a LOT of power in the royal household.

    • Lorelei says:

      Twitter is one thing, but IRL, no one I know cares one bit about the Queen except for one of my aunts who’s always loved the royals (she’s the one who got me interested in them, starting with Diana’s wedding!), and she’s turning 75 in a few months. And even she doesn’t care enough to buy a magazine about her.

      For the most part, as far as they care at all, Americans are only interested in the Sussexes and the Cambridges.

      People will pay attention when she dies just because that will be a worldwide event, and some will probably watch the funeral because of all of the “pomp,” but their interest is superficial and doesn’t really go beyond that.

      People magazine is, imo, WILDLY overestimating how much Americans care about the BRF.

  10. Deering24 says:

    So, Angela Kelly is the Queen’s Mrs. Danvers. 😈😈🤣🤣

  11. SexyK says:

    The editor People Magazine hired last year used to work for a British tabloid. Newsweek hired a former Sun reporter last year too. This happened when Harry and Meghan moved to the US. I think their job is to do PR work for the Royals still in the UK and keep an eye on Harry & Meghan. The UK royals are desperate for US attention, money, and admiration because they know our media impacts the world. They also want to compete with Harry and Meghan.

    The UK royals also want to stay in the US good graces because Brexit has been bad PR for the UK, Biden-Harris election shows the UK will not get its way from the US politically, and fear that the US government will go after Prince Andrew.

    • Lorelei says:

      It’s funny because these publications can try as hard as they can to push the Queen and the Cambridges, make editorial decisions that portray the BRF in a positive light, whatever— absolutely none of it will negate the fact that Americans love the Sussexes and couldn’t care less about the rest of that family.
      The one thing they can’t do is make them interesting; the Sussexes just naturally ARE interesting. It’s a losing battle.

    • Beach Dreams says:

      Actually Wakeford (the ‘new’ British editor) got the position in March 2019. Jess Cagle was the longtime People editor beforehand and he retired a couple of years ago. It’s interesting to see how People’s coverage of the royals has shifted in these past two years. There was always the fluffy tone towards the Cambridges (and a less positive but still professional attitude towards the Sussexes), but Wakeford turned this magazine into a Cambridge/royal stan brigade. Their coverage of the Sussexes also took a tabloid-lite tone at one point, though it seems they’ve backed off of that angle a bit.

    • EllenOlenska says:

      Keep in mind too that Covid has likely eliminated 60% of the usual Hollywood stories…so they’re working with what they’ve got.

  12. Alexandria says:

    They read this blog, that’s why there’s a push to make her seem normal and unpetty. #AbolishTheMonarchy

  13. ABritGuest says:

    Peoples British editor is a former tabloid hack so this royal propaganda which is like something out of the Fail, isn’t surprising. Royals trying to fight back against the dent to their image because of the Crown, Sussexit etc.

    It’s interesting that the firm seems to care so much about the American market seeing as people like Camilla Tominey insisted that the beef with Meghan was because she was American. Apparently America is quite the lucrative market for royals though & Americans are some of the top charity donors which is another reason those who wanted to send the Sussexes away didn’t want them in America

    • JT says:

      This what pisses me off. The entire time Meg was in the uk, they disparaged her for being American. Working too American. Talking too American. Now all of these RR and the RF are following H&M to America. It just confirms the “banish them to Africa” nonsense. The royals just seem straight up jealous at Harry and Meghan’s success here. Why isn’t the uk enough for them? Why isn’t 53 countries in the commonwealth enough? That’s where their PR should focus.

      • Amy Bee says:

        When the British press thought that Harry and Meghan were going to live in Canada, there were some discussions about papers sending royal correspondents to or having a journalist stationed in Canada to cover them.

      • Chris. says:

        The Sussexes are coming straight from America now, and are then, spread around the world. The British Media do not have anymore control. It really hurts them financially . I find it funny how the BM always look down on Americans, too Hollywood, too American., blah, blah , but look at them now, begging for American Spotlight!! Ha ha ha ha This is he second time in less than 2 months that they are putting the Queen on their cover. Not a good move. There is not great interest in her, I am sorry. The Sussexes are upstaging the RF on the global stage, and the palace is freaking out. Too bad, cause they should have welcomed Meghan.

    • Nao says:

      So they’re nothing more than grifters?

  14. Kalana says:

    The Queen spends most of her day drinking so she’s plenty relaxed. Her massively expensive hobby is raising race horses. She enjoys hiding her pedophile son from the authorities and probably laughs a lot while doing so.

  15. SarahCS says:

    I have a feeling this is old news and we’ve had various stories about her joking and liking to laugh over the years. Very possibly true, you can like a laugh and be an awful person. But either way I think it’s an ongoing message that gets pushed out whenever they’re deflecting from something else. She’s just like us!

    • Feeshalori says:

      These stories about her sense of humor go way back from years ago along with the Miss Piggy face because l remember reading about this. Also that the queen is an excellent mimic and she used to entertain her family and friends with excellent impersonations of leading figures of the day. So that tidbit of information may well get regurgitated again.

      • Lorelei says:

        The sugary coverage when she dies is going to be insufferable. At least news cycles move so fast now that it won’t be the main story for weeks on end like it might have been a decade ago.

  16. JT says:

    It shouldn’t be important to a bunch of British royals to have coverage over here. They should be focusing their attention in the uk. All of the whining about H&M moving to America had nothing to with distance or missing Archie, it has everything to do with the Sussexes having access to American media. The RF is showing themselves to be incredibly thristy, like straight up parched. There was no need for this story stateside. Shouldn’t they be trying to persuade their subjects that the queen is just like you? So the daily heil or the sun wasn’t good enough for this drivel?

  17. OriginalLala says:

    Unless it’s an article that dives into the Queen’s shady financials, her protection of her rapist son, and her absolute pettiness towards H&M, it shouldn’t be published – where are the actual journalists?

  18. Hell Nah! says:

    Desperate positive PR is desperate positive PR.
    This woman is reprehensible.
    #AbolishTheMonarchy

  19. Mignionette says:

    Carole calling in favours with her chums at people.

    I guess there is a special surprise in the works for Duchess Karen of Cambridge.

  20. equality says:

    Wow, she loves to laugh. Google “Putin laughing” or “Kim Jong-un laughing” and there are all kinds of pictures and articles with them laughing. Does that prove something? Angela seems to be allowed to control the crown jewels. She has been allowed to use her association with the Queen to profit off of books and a clothing line. What hold does she have? Are there deep dark secrets she isn’t leaking or is it just that she has sacrificed her entire life for the Queen?

    • Sofia says:

      I bet it’s just because Angela has been a loyal employee and a close confidant to a woman who does have many (anymore).

      HM doesn’t have many people she can call friends or even people she can spend time with. Her husband is dying and is barely with her, he sister died almost 20 years ago, her friends are dead or dying, she’s not particularly close to her kids/in-laws except Andrew and Sophie and while Beatrice/HM are close, Bea also has her own life and husband so she can’t constantly be there for her grandma.

      So all HM has on a daily basis is her employees.

    • Poppy says:

      Are you seriously comparing the Queen to Putin and Kim Jong Un?

      • Zut alors says:

        Why not? Her reps committed unspeakable atrocities ito the people they colonized in her name. Has she ever issued any apologies?

      • equality says:

        The comparison is that all people do laugh at some things and joke around. It’s not some incredible feat. I don’t understand People magazines fascination with the fact.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Poppy I think she was using it as a comparison to show how ridiculous People magazine is to try and make it a story that she laughs, as if everyone on earth doesn’t do the same thing. Kind of like how people will argue that “Hitler also liked dogs!”

  21. Smices says:

    People is apparently launching a special royals focused zine. So I guess this is them trying to create some hype? I don’t know who this story is appealing to though.

  22. Lizzie Bathory says:

    Nothing like casting back to a single comment made in 1981 to show how normal & self-deprecating you are.

    • Shannon says:

      I think this really frames the issue. 70% of People Magazine’s readership is aged 18-45 and American. The upper end of that group was less than 5 years old in 1981. Those under 24 now weren’t even born yet when Diana died. I’m 32 and don’t remember anything about her except her funeral.

      There is nothing interesting, relatable or glamorous about the BRF to millennials or gen z. They threw away their only shot at relevance when they rejected Meghan. It’s too late to recover their cachet in America now.

  23. Snuffles says:

    Interesting, I wonder if this is connected to the leaking of the LONG buried royal family documentary from 1969

    The documentary was Philip’s idea to show the world how they were worth hundreds of millions of pounds annually to the British taxpayer. I watched it and could see why it went over like a lead balloon.

    First of all it was dreadfully BORING and incredibly STAGED. Yes, the Queen was quite busy but the majority of it seemed like pointless busy work designed just to keep up appearances. And the conversations with people were SO awkward. Especially during Commonwealth Day. Yes, she had an incredibly busy schedule FILLED with awkward small talk. If anything of substance was discussed, it was not shown on screen.

    Most of it was an endless stream of garden parties and dinner parties in various locations. There was a RIVETING segment of the Queen planning her future outfits to match some pilfered from the colonies Crown Jewels. And a Downton Abbey-esque sequence of all the downstairs support staff and the work they do only without the drama and interesting personalities. Again, very staged.

    The only mildly interesting part was watching family time. I noticed a marked difference in Charles when he was around family versus him being around his peers. He was extremely reserved around the family and very animated and chatty around his friends. Anne came across as the most comfortable with herself and had a sense of humor. Very no fuss no muss.

    Edward was only 6 so was pretty innocuous. Although there was one scene where he was having a snowball fight with Andrew where he pleaded with him not to throw so hard because it was hurting him. To which Andrew basically replied “nonsense!” and threw them harder and faster.

    Let’s talk about Andrew. He was 9 and utterly OBNOXIOUS, spoiled and attention seeking in EVERY scene and refused to listen to anyone. At one point he shoved a dog. Charles and Anne looked like they could barely tolerate him. While they seemed patient and sweet with Edward.

  24. Nao says:

    An old woman in a scarf on the cover of an American magazine is not very appealing to Americans, Queen or not.

    The more they push this royalty thing on Americans the sooner they’ll grow tired of it. It’s a losing battle for the royals

  25. Tiffany says:

    Maxwell’s trial is coming up real soon and her request for a new jury is already in the headlines.

    • (TheOG) Jan90067 says:

      New docs were just unsealed overnight saying how Maxwell stole the passport of a 15 yr old, and tried to force her to have sex w/Epstein. So we KNOW more and more is going start dripping out. This PR move, th announcement of Keen CEO, and Top Brenda on the mags…trying to counteract/distract.

  26. Merricat says:

    Yeah, it’s People magazine, which means it’s all fantasy. No one goes there looking for reality.

  27. Lowrider says:

    An American iconLarry died and this old bat is on the cover of an American magazine?!?!

    • Lorelei says:

      @Lowrider I had the same thought— Larry should have had this cover. And I never even liked him that much, but come on.

    • equality says:

      And Hank Aaron. Surely he is worthy of a cover.

    • Beach Dreams says:

      It just goes to show how far People has fallen since they transitioned to a new editor a couple of years ago. It had one of the most solid reputations as an entertainment magazine, but now it focuses way too much on doing royal PR.

    • lily says:

      Exactly! why isn’t Larry on the cover? I find him disrespectful and out of touch with the American audience. How much is the British royal family paying for PR in the US and is it part of their campaign against H&M?

  28. A says:

    They’re trying to humanize her. The people who write this stuff know that people love stories about how the Queen is “just like us.” They love those stories more than they love stories of the same type regarding Kate. Somehow, the Queen being “just like us” is just something that people really appreciate, for whatever reason.

    It’s why there are always those endless litany of stories about how she drove an ambulance during WW2, how she pined for a quiet country life as opposed to being a monarch, how she’s super casual and dressed down when she’s over at Balmoral, to the point where she -gasp- SERVES HERSELF HER OWN FOOD. She’s so normal, she does a really good Eliza Doolittle impression. That’s how normal she is. So normal, she acted for a whole total of 30 seconds in the James Bond skit she did for the London 2012 Olympics.

    It is an attempt to rehab the Queen’s image. She’s fallen off the wagon as the lovable grandma who likes horses, and become the sort of grandma who everyone loathes because she would rather cover up her favourite son’s disgusting behaviour rather than tell him to face the music. I don’t know how well this attempt is going to go for her. They’re going to People magazine for this because People caters to an American audience, and they know that Americans have been cold to the BRF since about 1776, and that’s only intensified now that the BRF ran Meghan out the door with their harassment.