The demander in chief, uh, demands

May 23, 2018

Royal wedding afterglow did not last too long for America. No sooner was the ring on the finger of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, than President Donald J. Trumpet was demanding a special prosecutor investigate alleged FBI spying on his campaign. To which Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – who often has to play the role of soothing Donnie whisperer – said he would refer the matter to the Inspector General – which is what you do when you want to placate people whom you think have no real ax to grind.

Not that Donnie is going to let go of this one. One of the surest ways to divert attention from an ongoing investigation into alleged wrongdoings on your part is to put up a smokescreen announcing that someone else needs to be investigated. …

‘Justify’-ing his worth

May 22, 2018

Last weekend was one for hats – at the royal wedding Saturday and later at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes, in which Kentucky Derby winner Justify edged past Good Magic, then hung on to beat Bravaro and Tenfold. (At least that’s what seemed to happen. It was hard to see the horses for the fog on the rainy, muddy track.)

Can Justify become the first undefeated horse since Seattle Slew in 1977 to win the Triple Crown? Already the naysayers – the No, No Nanettes – are out in force, noting that Justify looked tired and just squeaked by Bravaro. But he got the job done, didn’t he? …

More thoughts on the royal wedding

May 20, 2018

More thoughts on the royal wedding

Clothing is a powerful symbol. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s modern, romantic wedding dress by Givenchy was a nod to the goddesses he dressed – Princess Grace of Monaco, Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, among them – as well as to the woman who now heads the house, Clare Waight Keller, its first female artistic director. The columnar effect of that simply elegant dress …

A world lit by fire in a reverse fairy tale

May 19, 2018

In the end – after all the melodrama about in-laws and outlaws, race and clashing cultures – it was both a deeply personal moment and a global event brimming with cultural meaning.

A justifiably proud, almost wistful mother seeing her daughter off into a new life; a father-in-law stepping in to escort a bride who might’ve represented the daughter he never had; a self-possessed scion supporting his adored, rougher-around-the-edges kid brother on his big day; and oh, that kid brother – like a hero out of Jane Austen – waiting, craning his neck, hoping almost against hope, as it were, for “her” to appear. Then, finally, yes, it was she, of course, poised at the entrance of the church, but then, who else would it, could it, be? Looking like a goddess …

Negotiating with the stars

May 16, 2018

One of the more endearing but also infuriating things about Americans is their belief that anyone can do anything if he just works hard enough, fast enough. This is the “Dancing With the Stars” philosophy of life that says you, too, can be a ballroom dancer if you have three weeks of intense training and, possibly, Maksim Chmerkovsky as a partner.

This would be amusing if it weren’t sometimes so deadly. Now we have a president who lacks the talent, temperament, training and technique for the job and it shows in the country pulling unilaterally out of the Iran nuclear deal, moving its embassy to Jerusalem with violent consequences and now facing a North Korean pullout from the planned summit due to American-South Korean military maneuvers. …

Picking global winners and losers

May 15, 2018

For someone who’s an isolationist and protectionist, President Donald J. Trump sure has an odd way of showing it. He appointed son-in-law Jared Kushner to lead the White House’s Mideast peace team only to sabotage any chance of achieving that goal by moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, thereby acknowledging Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and enraging the Palestinians.

While Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump were celebrating the dedication of the American embassy there yesterday on the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel – along with preacher John Hagee, who once said that all Jews were going to Hell – the Palestinians in turn clashed with Israeli soldiers 40 miles away in Gaza where more than 50 were killed and more than 1,000 injured. …

Royal fever

May 12, 2018

I have a confession to make: I am in love with a much younger man – Prince Louis.

OK, so he’s only 3 weeks old but he has stolen my heart. Prince Louis is already a star — thanks to his shutterbug of a mother, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge — but even he will have to take a backseat this week as we get set for the Olympics of romance. I am talking, of course, about the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry May 19 at 7 a.m. (EDT).

As with any such event, this is not a sprint for the press but a marathon. In my guise as editor of WAG magazine, I have been among those whetting the appetite with wedding previews …