TV personality Gemma Collins revealed she would love to become a Dame in a video shared online. It comes as David Beckham was knighted in the King’s Birthday Honours List
Gemma Collins reveals desire to become a Dame as David Beckham earns knighthood(Image: INSTAGRAM)
Reality star icon Gemma Collins revealed her wish to become a Dame as she joked the title had “a ring to it”. The TV personality’s wish comes as David Beckham became a Sir, and his wife Victoria a Lady, when he was announced as part of the King’s Birthday Honours List this weekend.
Gemma is mostly known as being a reality TV icon who provided fans with unforgettable moments on TV. However, she has now set her sights on bigger and better things as she talked about becoming a Dame while getting her makeup done on the set of the Paddy Power Ascot Ladies’ Day advert from last month.
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Gemma would love to be a Dame(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
“I ain’t being funny, but Dame Gemma has got a ring to it,” she said in a clip shared online. “And this year at Ascot I’m going to find King Charles because it’s what his mother would have wanted.”
Meanwhile, football star Sir David’s knighthood was finally confirmed last night as the King’s Birthday Honours list was released.
It comes after the news was leaked a week before the official announcement made – a move which could have jeopardised the 50 year old’s much longed for title, the Mirror exclusively revealed last week.
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It comes as David Beckham was knighted(Image: @victoriabeckham/Instagram)
Luckily for Sir David, the leak hasn’t prevented him from getting the title he has wished for for a number of years as the news was confirmed in the King’s Birthday Honours List, which was released last night.
Sir Beckham is receiving the knighthood for his services to sport and charity, it has been announced.
After the news of his knighthood was released, his wife Victoria took to her Instagram page to pay tribute to the football icon with a sweet photo of her planting a sweet kiss on his cheek.
In the caption, she penned: “You’ve always been my knight in shining armour, but now it’s official. Sir @davidbeckham!!!
“What an honour, I couldn’t be prouder of you. Your dedication to the things that matter most — your country, your work, your passion, and most of all, your family — has never wavered.
“The way you’ve touched so many lives over the years with kindness and humility speaks volumes about the man you are and continues to inspire us everyday. But above all else, I’m so, so proud to call you mine.I love you so much xxxx”.
His sons Cruz and Romeo also shared their pride in their own posts, with Romeo writing: “So so proud of you,” and Cruz adding: “I’m so proud of you dad I love you. Sir David Beckham has a nice ring to it.”
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Love Island husband and wife couple Camilla Thurlow and Jamie Jewitt are caring for their children after their household fell to the common infection of chickenpox
Camilla Thurlow has shared an update on the health of her children(Image: @camillathurlow/Instagram)
Camilla Thurlow has given an update on the health of her children after members of her household were struck down by chickenpox. The 35-year-old former Love Island contestant is a proud mother-of-three and has been married to model Jamie Jewitt since 2011.
Camilla and Jamie, 35, are parents to daughters Nell, four, and Nora, three, and young son Brodie, one, who arrived in May last year. But this weekend, Camilla has revealed her children are fighting chickenpox.
The highly contagious condition is common in children – but can be caught be adults too. Symptoms involve the appearance of itchy spots which can form anywhere on the body and in the mouth.
The condition clears after one to two weeks with the body then forming resistance to the disease. Symptoms can be soother with cooling creams, antihistamines and paracetamol – and it seems Camilla has been trying to help one of her children that has been worst affected.
Taking to Instagram Stories on Friday, Camilla shared a photo of a pot of home made soup. She wrote alongside the image: “Always some kind of chicken soup when the kids are ill (partly because Nora finds it so hard to eat when she’s ill so I strain some broth to go in a bottle to try and get something in).”
Camilla posed alongside her daughter who is covered in the itchy rash(Image: Instagram )
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She gave another update on Saturday, sharing a snap of herself with her daughter, Nora, who is covered in chickenpox blisters. She wrote: “Poor love is having such a tough time with chicken pox. She did drink some soup, thankfully.”
She continued: “It’s difficult when she’s ill because she always seems to get things the worst.
“And it’s so hard for her that she can’t tell us how she feels, and that we can’t explain to her that the medicine will make her feel better, so every dose is just a horrible and upsetting experience for her.”
The reality star added: “Nell fortunately so far has been v minimal.” Camilla has previously explained that Nora is autistic and has been slower to learn language and walking.
Marking her 3rd birthday last month, Camilla shared an string of photos of herself and Jamie posing alongside their daughter. She wrote at the time: “On the eve of Nora’s 3rd birthday, there is so much to say, and here she is doing it on her own terms.”
She continued: “While she may not speak I hope you can hear exactly what she is saying here. That you understand her the way we do, through those eyes that tell every part of the story of the gentlest soul and the strongest heart.”
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She continued: “Thank you for meeting her here with understanding, encouragement and most of all, joy. For her love, our love, needs no words at all – it just needs us.”
Proud dad Jamie also paid tribute to their daughter. The Love Island star wrote: “Happy birthday little explore.”
Vitality T20 Blast North Group, Edgbaston, Birmingham
Leicestershire 196-5 (20 overs)
Derbyshire 197-3 (18.2 overs)
Derbyshire beat Leicestershire by seven wickets
Derbyshire Falcons took East Midlands bragging rights after successfully chasing down Leicestershire Foxes’ target of 197 in the Vitality T20 Blast at Edgbaston.
The win lifted Falcons off the bottom of North Group although they still need a continuation of their recent improvement to reach the knockout stages after losing five of their seven games thus far.
In the first of two Midlands derbies at Warwickshire’s home ground on Saturday, Foxes opener Sol Budinger’s bludgeoned 49 off just 24 deliveries to help set an imposing target for the bottom side.
When Budinger was eventually dismissed by veteran spin bowler Samit Patel (2-33), the Foxes had rapidly moved to 64-2 at the beginning of the eighth over.
Rehan Ahmed and Shan Masood were dismissed in quick succession by Falcons seamer Pat Brown, who finished with 3-51, but Logan van Beek (26 not out) and Ben Cox (28 not out) put on 55 off the final five overs to hand Derbyshire a tough chase.
In reply, Derbyshire opener Aneurin Donald continued where he left off following Friday’s knock of 73 not out against Nottinghamshire with a terrific 60 to help them race to 80-0 after six overs.
That included the fastest half-century in the club’s history from just 18 balls – beating his own previous record set in last year’s competition.
Leicestershire were given a glimmer of hope when seamer Tom Scriven removed both openers in his first over.
And when Wayne Madsen found Matt Salisbury at deep fine leg for Scriven’s third wicket, Derbyshire were still 43 runs shy of their target with 32 balls remaining.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made a fortune since leaving The Royal Family. However, a new Channel 5 documentary reveals the money could run out
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have earned millions since leaving the Royal Family – but can they keep it up?(Image: Getty Images)
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will see their income dwindle and costs soar as their multi-million pound deals dry up, according to experts. After striking their ‘Megxit’ deal in 2020, King Charles removed all financial support from the couple, with Harry moaning to Oprah that his dad “literally cut me off financially”.
Now a new Channel 5 show called Meghan and Harry: Where Did The Money Go? shines a light on their finances revealing Harry’s surprising inheritances, Meghan’s millions and their staggering Montecito mortgage. The documentary counts the multi-million pound deals the pair have cut to sell their story since leaving The Firm – but it also details their astronomical outgoings.
Royal expert Norman Baker tells the show: “There’s no doubt in my mind that Meghan and Harry’s income is going to decline in the future. It’s declining now. They’ve done the big hits that they could do. They’ve done the big Spotify event, they’ve done the big book, there is nothing else to come, nothing else to sell apart from themselves.”
Norman Baker believes the couple’s earning power is waning(Image: PA WIRE)
Upon moving to America the pair splashed out on a family home costing $14.65 million (£11m). However, they also took out a mortgage of $9.5m (£7m), with repayments in the region of $50,000-100,000 (£73,000 – £37,000) a month. Until now, it’s been unheard of for a senior Royal to require a mortgage.
On top of that, Prince Harry has been forced to fund his own security, and he rarely travels anywhere public without a four-car convoy.
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Former royal protection officer Simon Morgan explains the costs of specialist protection, saying: “It’s always very difficult to identify the cost in relation to specialist protection, purely because there’s a lot of other factors that go into it. You are looking at somewhere in the region of about £3 million a year to protect somebody who stays at home. As soon as they leave the residence, even if they go down to the shops, that could see that cost double or triple and go from £3m to £6m or £9m or £10m, conservatively. Security is not a fashion accessory, it’s a need. You’ve got to address your needs versus your wants.”
Prince Charles ‘cut Harry and Meghan off’ financially after Megxit(Image: Getty Images)
To pay for it, the pair famously signed a £100 million five year deal with Netflix in 2020 and a £15 million deal with Spotify. The Spotify deal has already ended with a top exec at the firm dubbing the pair “grifters”, while the Netflix deal is due to end this year, with no renewal in sight.
Before Megxit, the Sussexes were earning £2.3m a year as working Royals, receiving money from the then Prince Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall. But when the pair left The Firm that all stopped, leaving Harry forced to live on the inheritance his mum Diana, Princess of Wales left him in her will. When she died in 1997 Diana left £6.5m to the boys each, which had grown to around £10m when Harry received it upon turning 30. Talking to Oprah, Harry said “Without that, we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” referring to the family’s move to California. Meghan, meanwhile, was thought to be worth around £5million when she met Harry – money built up from her time as an actress on Suits and from her lifestyle brand.
His tell all book Spare earned Harry a $20m (£15m) advance and sold an incredible 3.2 million copies in its first week. He’s expected to have received a further £7m from the hardback sales.
Now PR expert Nick Ede is backing Meghan to become the family’s breadwinner. He says, “Meghan is the best way of making money for the two of them. She is the breadwinner.”
Prince Harry and Meghan now live in California with their children Archie and Lilibet(Image: ARCHWELL)
Nick believes that having to build her own fortune before she met Harry means she’s more savvy with deals than her Royal husband.
Nick continues: “Megan from an early age knew it was very important to be secure. If you’re a jobbing actress that means you don’t know literally where the next pay cheque will come from and I think that will have added to her drive.”
Broadcaster and critic Bidisha Mamat agrees with Nick and admits she fears that Harry has a lot to prove. She says: They are going to run out of ideas before they run out of money. Meghan is going to do fine, Meghan is going to make her money, Harry has the bigger financial, personal and emotional challenge. Harry has to prove he really can have a career.”
Following the collapse of the Spotify deal, Meghan did indeed land another podcast deal. This time, however, her deal was with smaller company Lemonada and expected to be worth just $40,000 (£30,000).
Meghan is also still coining it in from Suits, from which repeats are thought to have recently added another $200,000 to the Sussex bottom line.
Indeed, Meghan might be more savvy with money but Harry has just come into another inheritance – this time from his great-grandmother, Elizabeth, Queen Mother. In 1994 the Queen Mother set up a Trust Fund to benefit her great-grand children and this is expected to have paid out £8m to Harry.
It’s a tidy sum but royal journalist Emily Andrews reckons Harry doesn’t contribute much else to his household. She tells the documentary: “Meghan gets up at half six, half an hour before the children, then the children gets up and she gets them dressed, gets their breakfast, and then she makes their packed lunch and takes them to kindy (nursery), then at 9 o’clock she sits down and is a girl boss… Where is Harry in all of this? He’s not making money, he’s not looking after the kids, what is Harry doing?”
Emily Andrews wonders what Prince Harry does in the Sussex family
Emily accompanied Harry and Meghan on their tour of Australia in 2018. She recalls how Meghan moaned to Harry that they weren’t being paid for their work.
Emily says, “It has just been announced that Meghan was pregnant. I’m inside the Sydney Royal Opera House with Harry and Meghan and they come out. Meghan turns to Harry and looks at the screaming crowds who are waiting for them and says, ‘I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this.’ I think that speaks to how she viewed her role in the Royal Family.”
Since they left the Royal family, the pair have become more famous than ever and commentator Afua Hagan believes the pair will go on to achieve more and more.
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She says: “What is clear about Harry and Meghan is that they are very savvy with their money. America is a good spot for them at the moment because it definitely fits in with their idea of entrepreneurship. Harry and Meghan have proven time and time again that they can stand on their own two feet that they can provide for themselves and their family. Definitely we can never count them out.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been contacted for comment.
British Para-triathlete Henry Urand has added the European title to his world crown with a superb performance in Besancon, France.
Urand, who was fourth at the Paris Paralympics in the PTS3 division, finished almost a minute and a half ahead of his closest rival – Paralympic silver medallist Max Gelhaar of Germany.
The 22-year-old was well down the field after the swim but gradually made up ground on the bike leg to contest the lead.
He then went clear on the run to claim gold in one hour 11 minutes and 41 seconds.
Team-mate Mel Nicholls took silver in the women’s wheelchair division while Josh Landman was third in the men’s wheelchair event.
A massive military parade is set to roll through Washington, DC, as United States President Donald Trump marks his 79th birthday with a contentious show of force that coincides with the US Army’s 250th anniversary, as nationwide “No Kings” protests are held against Trump policies in more than 2,000 cities and towns.
The Washington, DC event on Saturday hastily added to the Army’s long-planned celebration, has drawn criticism for its cost, timing, and overt political overtones. There will not be a “No Kings” protest in the US capital to avoid confrontations.
The parade unfolds against a febrile, tense national backdrop. This past week, Trump deployed US Marines to manage protests in Los Angeles over aggressive immigration raids. He also activated the California National Guard without the governor’s consent, provoking legal challenges and accusations of federal overreach.
The military parade will begin at the Lincoln Memorial and snake down Constitution Avenue, flanked by security fences and watched closely by armed personnel at 6:30pm local time (22:30 GMT).
Nearly 6,200 soldiers will march, joined by 128 military vehicles – including 60-tonne M1 Abrams tanks – and 62 aircraft. A parachute jump, a concert headlined by Lee Greenwood, and fireworks are planned to cap off the night.
Trump announced on social media that the parade would proceed “rain or shine”, brushing off concerns over forecast thunderstorms and nationwide protests.
The National Weather Service has warned of possible lightning, which could force delays. Officials say they are prepared to evacuate the National Mall if necessary.
Despite assurances from the White House, the event has triggered backlash over its projected $45m price tag and fears of militarisation of domestic politics.
Critics argue that the use of heavy armoured vehicles risks damaging infrastructure, prompting the Army to install steel plates along the route to protect roads.
A recent poll by the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research found that 60 percent of Americans believe the parade is not a worthwhile use of public funds. Among those polled, 78 percent who expressed no strong opinion about the parade itself still disapproved of the expense.
Massive snowploughs have been stationed to block traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue, turning the thoroughfare into a pedestrian zone filled with food stalls and souvenir vendors. The festival atmosphere includes fitness competitions, military equipment displays, and a ceremonial cake-cutting.
‘No Kings’ rallies
Civil rights groups accuse the Trump administration of using military assets to intimidate and suppress dissent.
Protesters planning to take part in the demonstrations said they oppose Trump’s deeply divisive policies. The organisers’ website said the administration has “defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services”.
“No Kings” protesters rally against the Trump administration in New York City. [Andrew Hirschfeld /Al Jazeera]
Since Trump’s inauguration, the administration has sent immigrants to foreign prisons, set immigration arrest quotas, clashed with courts, slashed government jobs and proposed reductions to social services.
Although no demonstrations are formally scheduled in Washington, organisers of nationwide “No Kings” rallies say the parade reflects Trump’s personal ambition and ego, rather than any genuine tribute to the armed forces.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly reaffirmed that the event would proceed regardless of weather or criticism. However, lightning could lead to sudden delays and crowd evacuations.
The military spectacle is divided into historical segments, with troops and equipment representing different eras of US Army history.
An estimated 200,000 people are expected to attend. The parade will conclude with Trump swearing in 250 new or reenlisting troops and a dramatic skydiving display by the Army’s Golden Knights.
While the Army insists the event is about heritage and honouring service, critics argue the spectacle veers uncomfortably close to a political rally with troops as props.
