Queen Elizabeth II Says "Faux Fur Only Going Forward"

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Queen Elizabeth II via W Magazine

Queen Liz is onboard: no more fur. Faux fur only on very cold days. Her Majesty has already had all the mink trim -- and any other animal fur -- removed from her most favorite coats, replaced with faux fur.

Stella McCartney has a marvelous new faux fur that is impossible to distinguish from the original — although the Queen’s longtime personal adviser and official dresser Angela Kelly says that Her Majesty’s preference is to move away from fur entirely.

The Humane Society International formally announced that it's "thrilled" before calling on the British government to make the U.K. the first country in the world to ban the sale of fur. The UK branch of PETA, hardly known for low-volume press messages on the subject of animal rights, tweeted "we're raising a glass of gin and Dubonnet to the Queen’s compassionate decision to go fur-free".

After a quick sip, the organization then suggested that perhaps the Queen’s Guard, known worldwide for their enormous bearskin hats could follow Her Majesty’s lead. PETA has been lobbying for faux fur hats to replace the current ones for almost three years, even sending her prototypes from Only Me in 2017, writes Town and Country.

We all curtsy to a modern woman very concerned about protecting heritage and protocol, while keeping British royalty relevant with evolving values.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Wears Maori Cloak To Queen's Dinner At Buckingham Palace

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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Wears Maori Cloak To Queen's Dinner At Buckingham Palace

New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, made quite the style statement, attending the Queen's Dinner at Buckingham Palace Thursday evening. Ardern was in London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and arrived at Buckingham Palace wearing a traditional Māori cloak (or Kahu huruhuru).

 The Guardian explains that the cloaks are traditionally "bestowed on chiefs and dignitaries to convey prestige, respect and power."

Mark Sykes, an expert on the Māori special collection at the National Museum of New Zealand, further explained the garment's significance to the publication, stating: "Cloaks are worn for warmth, protection and to symbolise your status and mana [power]."

He continued, "I think it shows how she is portraying herself as a leader of Māori, of all of New Zealand, of everyone."

Watching 'The Crown' With the QE2 Falling Apart In Dubai & John Boehner's Tears Long Gone From Trumpworld

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Watching 'The Crown' With the QE2 Falling Apart In Dubai & John Boehner's Tears Long Gone From Trumpworld

Could we agree that any woman trying to lead the free world, who cried in prime time, would be run out of Dodge? I finally tuned into the Netflix series 'The Crown', and I assure you that the young queen Elizabeth will be steely and duty-driven -- keeping it together when her father dies. And that is exactly how the second episode ends, with Elizabeth burying her adoring love and grief for her dead father deep in her heart, now masked by royal obligations to her public and the entire British Empire.

Watching 'The Crown' knowing that the electoral college voted on Monday for Donald Trump as America's next president, I can't help thinking about Republican John Boehner's arrival as Speaker of the House.  He wept through his 2010 60 Minutes interview, a reality that did not amuse me in the least, given the Republican agenda for America. In fact, those tears are typically called a charade when a damsel in distress turns on the floodgates.

Indeed when I wrote about Boehner's intentions to lead the charge against abortion and contraception rights in America, it was after after watching a chilling meeting with his chief of staff Mick Krieger accepting one of those tiny plastic babies in perfect form meant to represent a six-week old embryo. In reality, those cells and molecules are a blob about the size of a pomegranate seed, and I don't mean to be disrespectful in any way. But it's another example of post-factual information suggesting that these perfectly formed cereal box creatures (I am not making this up. Republicans put them in cereal and candy boxes at state fairs) are in any way representative of the actual pregnancy process.  To me the meeting signalled the hell that poor women in America would go through as Republicans ripped away not only abortion rights but also access to contraception and general health care for women living all over America in impoverished communities. There is no satisfaction in saying that my instincts were correct.

Eye | Kate Middleton Art Muse | Taylor Swift 1989 & Victoria's Secret | Johnny Depp Loves Pegasus

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ArtTracker

Another People’s Princess?

Last month a spray-painted image of a pregnant Duchess of Cambridge appeared on a wall in Islington, the North London borough Kate Middleton has visited several times in her charity work. The mural is not the work of the street artists Banksy or JR, but Pegasus, a 29-year-old American who goes by Chris.

He spent all night doing this image of Kate because she seems to be really supportive of this borough and people here love her for it,’ says a spokesman for the Faith Inc Gallery on whose outside wall Kate is painted.

It’s only been up since last night and I’ve already had two offers to buy it prised off the wall, which isn’t possible anyway,’ reported London’s Daily Mail.

Johnny Depp Pegasus Drop In

Fast forward to Saturday December 6th where Pegasus had his first solo show at London’s Faith Inc. Gallery. Jaws dropped when actor Johnny Depp made a surprise visit to the gallery, paying £25,000 for a Pegasus painting of a young Queen Elizabeth posing 1950s style in a bathing suit and the Diamond Diadem Tiara.

Depp also commissioned a new work of Catherine Middleton with nothing except a crown on her pregnant stomach. One assumes the final painting will resemble the Islington wall painting.

Related: If Banksy thinks he’s following in Andy Warhol’s footsteps, he’s tripping The Guardian

To quote another guru of modern culture (Marshall McLuhan) the medium is the message: what you do is less important than how you transmit it. If you make street art you instantly, by that act, proclaim so many hip affinities that your art becomes a symbol of widely admired associations and meanings. All graffiti is cool. The form, not the content, defines that coolness. Calling out Banksy as a bad artist is therefore impossible. If you say he’s crap, he will turn out to be in on the joke. He’s the perfect fraud for our time.

So it goes, to the streets of New York, and Warhol is undoubtedly amused in the great sushi bar in the sky.

View more Pegasus artwork at his online gallery.

Pop It

Givenchy 2015

Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci turns to American actor Julia Roberts for its Spring Summer 2015 ad campaign. Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott capture Roberts styled by Katy England.

Asked why he chose Roberts, Riccardo Tisci told WWD:

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