Prince Harry and Meghan Markle celebrated the New Year in Monaco after taking a helicopter to the millionaire’s playground. The loved-up royal couple’s private flight was a considerable upgrade from their economy trip to Nice – where they are said to have sat beside the toilets among other passengers. In an attempt to remain incognito, the pair boarded their 9.55am flight from Heathrow before any other passengers and headed straight to the back of the plane, next to the rear toilets. They also took up three rows of economy seats, either side of the aisle, even though there were only themselves and three ‘edgy and nervous’ bodyguards in their party.
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Harry, 33, apparently slumped down next to the window dressed in jeans, a jacket and with a baseball cap pulled over his face. Bride-to-be Miss Markle, 36, was sitting next to him in a black beanie hat and minimal make-up. According to one fellow traveler, the aircraft actually took off several minutes early, much to the surprise of other passengers, and shaved 20 minutes off its two-hour flight time. And if anyone hadn’t spotted the group by that point, they couldn’t mistake the two heavily armed officers from the French border police waiting for the party as they disembarked, ready to whisk them out through the VIP area.
Other sources have told the Mail that several members of France’s elite Service de la Protection – the police unit responsible for the protection of foreign dignitaries – have flown down from Paris to guard the couple during their stay. Asked if Kensington Palace had requested them, they said: ‘No, it would have been offered and would have been non-negotiable. After what happened to his mother in this country and the issue of terrorism, it would be insisted on even for a private trip such as this.’
All officers within the force are armed with a Beretta M9, while at least one of them would also have a machine gun. It is understood that Harry and Miss Markle flew out to celebrate the New Year with friends and plan to stay several days at a private residence in the Riviera region. The weather is perfect for a short break – sunny and a pleasant 15C (59F).
The trip to the South of France may well be a welcome break for Harry and Miss Markle before wedding preparations begin in earnest. One decision that has already been made is the catering firm they will use for their May nuptials. While royal household staff will man and cater the main event – and will be paid for by the Queen and Prince Charles privately – the couple have also employed society favorite Table Talk, most probably for the evening reception. The firm has royal pedigree – it was used by Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge for their 2011 wedding and by Kate’s sister, Pippa Middleton, when she married last year.
[From The Daily Mail]
Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” Tour Has Yet To Produce A Single Sellout
What is Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” worth? Not the jacked-up prices she’s charging for concert tickets.
A look at Ticketmaster’s interactive seat charts confirms that Swift’s schedule of 33 dates for the North American “Reputation” tour has yet to produce a single sellout, from its May 8 launch in Phoenix to its Oct. 6 finale in Arlington, Texas.
By comparison, all the dates on Swift’s “1989” tour in 2015 “sold out within minutes,” according to concertsandsports.com.
“Sales so far have been a mega disappointment,” one music-industry insider told The Post. “There are hundreds if not thousands of tickets left for every show.”
On top of high prices, some prospective buyers are getting irked by Ticketmaster’s “Verified Fan” program, which required participants to register weeks before tickets went on presale, proving they were and bona fide fans and not bots looking to buy tickets for scalpers.
By charging higher prices and blocking out scalpers, Swift and her promoter Louis Messina could fatten their coffers by as much as $1.5 million per show, according to an estimate in Billboard.
