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Science & Environment
Prince William ended his birthday celebrations by taking his two oldest children to the Taylor Swift concert in London on Friday night.
The 42-year-old royal, Prince George and Princess Charlotte joined thousands of fans at Wembley Stadium during the first night of the Eras Tour stop in London.
Swift, 34, posed for a selfie with the three royals, as seen in a photograph shared on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ official social media accounts.
“Thank you [Taylor Swift] for a great evening,” the posts said.
The singer also shared a separate selfie with the royals that also included her boyfriend Travis Kelce.
“Happy Bday M8! London shows are off to a splendid start,” she captioned the post.
According to Kensington Palace, the photos were taken ahead of her concert. Catherine, Princess of Wales, who is undergoing treatment for an unspecified cancer, stayed home with the couple’s youngest, Prince Louis.
Princess Kate has remained largely out of the public eye since announcing her diagnosis earlier this year. She made her first public appearance in months on June 15 at the Trooping the Colour parade, the annual celebration that marks King Charles III’s official birthday. The event did not signify a return to public duties, with future engagements depending on when she feels able and under the guidance of her medical team, according to the palace.
Kensington Palace released a new photo of William and his three children Friday to celebrate the future British monarch’s 42nd birthday.
The image included the message: “Happy birthday Papa, we all love you so much!” It was signed “Cx,” an abbreviation for the Princess of Wales, who’s often referred to as Princess Kate.
The palace said the image was taken by Kate in southeast England in May.
Earlier Friday, Swift was welcomed to London by the royal guard when the band played “Shake It Off” in front of Buckingham Palace.
“Can’t stop, won’t stop groovin'” the royal family captioned a video of the performance on social media.
Science & Environment
London — Catherine, the Princess of Wales, offered a rare health update Friday, saying in a statement that she is still undergoing chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer and has “a few more months” of treatment left, but that she is making “good progress.” Princess Kate, as she’s often known, also announced her first formal step back into public life.
The princess said in her statement, which she also posted on social media, that she would attend a massive military parade on Saturday with her family to mark King Charles III’s birthday.
Kate was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and has remained out of the public eye as she undergoes her chemotherapy treatment, which she said in March was “preventative.” Without sharing more about her condition, her office had said she would not return to her public duties until she was cleared by her medical team.
She has been seen once, visiting a farm shop with her husband in early March, several weeks before she announced her diagnosis, but Saturday will be her first formal public appearance since she was hospitalized for abdominal surgery in January. It was during that procedure that the cancer was detected.
Kate said in her Friday statement that she was “not out of the woods yet,” and that she had been “been blown away by all the kind messages of support and encouragement over the last couple of months. It really has made the world of difference to William and me and has helped us both through some of the harder times.”
Kensington Palace released a new photo of Kate in conjunction with her statement on Friday, which it said was taken earlier in the week at the royal family’s Windsor estate west of London.
Matt Porteous/Handout from The Prince and Princess of Wales
“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days. On those bad days you feel weak, tired and you have to give in to your body resting. But on the good days, when you feel stronger, you want to make the most of feeling well,” she said.
Kate said she had been doing some work from home, and it’s understood that she will start taking on a bit more on the days she’s feeling well enough to do so.
Kate did not attend the Colonel’s Review last Saturday, a formal dress rehearsal for the annual Trooping the Colour parade that marks the official birthday of the British monarch. Trooping the Colour is a tradition that dates back to the 18th century, and it does not coincide with the monarch’s actual date of birth, which for 75-year-old Charles is in November.
Kate is the honorary colonel of the Irish Guards, and the military unit shared a letter on social media in late May in which the princess sent her apologies in advance for missing the parade rehearsal.
“Being your colonel remains a great honor and I am very sorry that I’m unable to take the salute at this year’s Colonel’s Review,” Kate wrote in the letter. “Please pass my apologies to the whole regiment, however I do hope that I am able to represent you all once again very soon.”
Kate’s father-in-law, King Charles III, was also diagnosed with an unspecified cancer earlier this year and has been undergoing treatment. He has eased back into his public duties and said he will attend the Trooping of the Color parade, though he said he would ride in a carriage rather than on horseback for the procession.
Science & Environment
London – Catherine, the Princess of Wales, will not return to her public duties to attend a major British military event in early June after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and undergoing chemotherapy. Her father-in-law, King Charles III, who’s still undergoing treatment for cancer, will attend the Trooping the Color parade soon after, but will ride in a car instead of on horseback.
Last week, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace said Princess Kate was “not expected to return to work until it’s cleared by her medical team,” but gave no indication of when that might be.
An official confirmed to CBS News on Thursday that Kate would not attend the Colonel’s Review on June 8, which is a formal dress rehearsal for the Trooping the Color parade that takes place exactly a week later in central London.
Kate announced that she was receiving “preventive chemotherapy” in March after being diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer, which she said was discovered during an abdominal surgery a couple months earlier.
King Charles resumed his public engagements a few weeks ago as his treatment continues, though Buckingham Palace said some would be postponed as the U.K. heads for general elections in early July.
Charles paused most of his engagements in February after his diagnosis.
Science & Environment
London — Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, wrapped up a three-day tour of Nigeria on Sunday that saw the U.S.-based couple use their celebrity to highlight some of the causes they care most about.
Harry played a game of sitting volleyball with disabled athletes — all of them Nigerian army veterans.
Nigeria has expressed interest in hosting the Invictus Games, the charity sporting event for wounded soldiers founded a decade ago by the duke.
Meghan co-hosted a women’s leadership event where she referenced her Nigerian ancestry for the second time during the trip.
“Thank you very much for how graciously you’ve all been welcoming my husband and I to this country,” she said, pausing before adding, “my country.”
The simple two words were met with cheering and applause.
Andrew Esiebo/Getty for The Archewell Foundation
Predictably, given the couple’s longstanding enmity with the U.K.’s tabloid media, some British newspapers pointed out that Harry and Meghan’s visit to Nigeria looked very much like a royal tour – including the duke’s inspection of a Nigerian military guard of honor — despite them having left behind their roles as “working royals.”
At one point Harry stood to attention for his country’s national anthem, God Save the King, just days after the couple’s press team said King Charles III couldn’t carve out time to meet his youngest son during Harry’s visit to London earlier this month.
The Nigeria trip seemed to be a success for the Sussexes, at least for the people Harry and Meghan came to visit. Nigerians welcomed them with open arms.
“On camera they are good, but in person, holy moly!” said Malaika Gyang-gyang, a student at the Lightway Academy in Abuja, which the duke and duchess visited as soon as they arrived on Friday.
Science & Environment
CNN
—
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have an early Christmas gift for their supporters.
A new trailer for their Netflix docuseries, “Harry & Meghan,” was released Monday, along with a schedule for when the episodes will stream.
Volume I will include episodes 1-3 and will stream on December 8, and Volume II with episodes 4-6 will be out December 15.
In the latest trailer, the couple appear to be offering more insight into how life was for them being a part of the royal family.
“There’s a hierarchy in the family,” Prince Harry says. “You know, there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories.”
He ends the trailer by saying, “No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth.”
The docuseries is directed by Liz Garbus.
Science & Environment
CNN
—
Brendan Lawlor is a man of his word.
In October 2020, the Irishman told CNN Sport he hoped to “keep the ball rolling” for the next generation of golfers with disabilities.
Now No. 1 in the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability, Lawlor has driven that ball across the fairway and over the summit – and it doesn’t look like it’s landing anytime soon.
Three years ago, he was acclimatizing to his new life as a professional athlete. Since then, the 25-year-old has become the first golfer with a disability to compete on the European Tour, won three disability events in a row through 2021, and rocketed to the top of the disability golf world rankings.
Brendan Lawlor: Irish trailblazer paves the way for disability golfers
In recent weeks, he has helped Prince Harry improve his swing and headlined a landmark new Tour for disability golf – yet perhaps Lawlor’s most cherished moment came at the final trials for his country’s disability golf European Championships team.
“It’s pretty crazy – last year in Ireland we had no disability golfers and this year we had a final trial with seven players – all below three-handicap, which is amazing,” Lawlor told CNN.
“They all say, ‘we started this because … we saw you playing The Belfry (on Lawlor’s European Tour debut), we see you doing this,” he added. “It’s a feel-good feeling in your stomach when people try something because you’re creating the path for them.
“I don’t really care about rankings – I just want to go out and win as many events as I can, and change as many people’s lives as I can.”
From his hometown of Dundalk, north of Dublin, Lawlor was chatting ahead of the start of the inaugural Golf for the Disabled (G4D) Tour at the British Masters.
A four-time host of the Ryder Cup, in Warwickshire, England, The Belfry provided an iconic setting for the launch of the Tour, to be contested by the world’s 10 best-ranked golfers with disabilities in seven events across six countries.
Where disability events were once swallowed up between European Tour events, the new G4D Tour will run in association with – and across two days immediately prior to – the European Tour. With each tournament the subject of a full-length broadcast documentary on Sky Sports, disability golf is enjoying more exposure than ever before.
World No. 2 Kipp Popert was victorious in the maiden event, with Lawlor finishing four shots off the Englishman in fourth.
Watch: European Tour CEO on name change to DP World Tour
“If we can keep sending this message, if we can impact even 10 people’s lives, it’s massive,” said Lawlor, who already dreams of expanding the Tour to as many as 50 players. “This is going to have a roll-on effect for disability golf.”
Lawlor’s recent Belfry outing marked a return to the course he made headlines at in 2020 when he competed alongside major winners Danny Willett and Martin Kaymer – as well as former world No. 1 Lee Westwood – at the ISPS Handa UK Championship – the first time a golfer with a disability played in a professional European Tour event.
Born with Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, a rare genetic condition characterized by short limb dwarfism, Lawlor has no knuckles on the top of his fingers. While welcoming his platform as a leading disability golfer and the opportunities it brings, the Irishman is keen for himself and fellow players not to be defined by their disabilities.
“We’re getting these massive opportunities because we’re doing abnormal things – we shouldn’t be able to do what we can do with a golf club or a golf ball,” he said.
“So we’re getting these opportunities because we are disability athletes, but I don’t like it when people categorize you and put you in a disability category, because golf is for all – you play at any level.”
“That’s the beautiful thing about our game,” he added. “Yes, we play disability golf on a disability tour, but if you’re good enough to play on the European Tour with able-bodied golfers, you get that chance.”
Lawlor turned professional in September 2019 and signed with Modest! Golf Management, a company founded by fellow Irishman and singer-songwriter Niall Horan. An advocate for disability golf, the former One Direction star is now a close friend.
“He’s changed my life really – ever since I signed, he’s brought me some incredible endorsement deals and has really embraced disability golf,” Lawlor said. “He’s just a genuinely nice chap and he’d do anything to help you.”
And as if a hugely successful music career wasn’t enough, Horan is also an impressive golfer, currently playing off an eight-handicap.
Horan isn’t the only famous face to have picked up a club with Lawlor. In April, the Irishman dished out swing tips to the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, at The Hague in the Netherlands.
Lawlor was promoting the fifth edition of the Invictus Games, an international event for wounded serving and veteran military personnel, with Prince Harry a Patron of the Games’ Foundation.
Using a golf simulator room, Lawlor spent the day giving lessons to veterans from across the globe who shared their stories of various battles, both physical and mental.
Related: Steph Curry launches all-expenses paid golf tour for young underrepresented players
“These guys were trying out golf for the first time and making contact with the ball,” Lawlor said. “It only takes one person to get involved and start the game and that can get more people into it.”
And how was the Duke of Sussex’s swing? Not bad at all, Lawlor says.
“He grabbed the club and I just tweaked one or two things and he hit it really well,” Lawlor added. “He was a really nice guy.”
