Celebrity
Kate Middleton and Prince William Are Reportedly Vacationing in Mustique With Their Kids

After a crazy few months-including a new baby, a royal wedding, a christening, and so much more-Prince William and Kate Middleton are reportedly vacationing in Mustique, according to Hello!.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis were spotted arriving in St. Lucia and then boarding a private flight to the private Caribbean island of Mustique, royal blogger Tea Time with the Cambridges pointed out yesterday. This would be the first trip that the family of five has taken together, and Prince Louis' first trip ever!

    A lovely follower on Instagram messaged me that her friend spotted The Cambridges along with The Middletons on their way to Vacation in St. Lucia!
    - Tea Time With The Cambridges (@TeaCambridges) July 18, 2018

It was also reported that Middleton's parents came along for the trip, but not her younger sister Pippa who is pregnant with her first child.

Mustique is a private island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, about a hundred miles west of Barbados. The secluded getaway boasts crystal-blue waters, white sandy beaches, and a ton of privacy. The island is a no-fly zone, Hello! reports, and there are only 100 villas for guests to stay in, making it a perfect spot for the royals to relax away from the chaos of crowds and paparazzi.

This isn't the first time the Duke and Duchess have spent time in Mustique. They vacationed there back in 2012, and Kate brought Prince George on his first trip to visit the island in 2014. Middleton's parents frequent Mustique, and go to the island almost every winter to relax

The adorable family of five celebrated Prince Louis' christening on July 9, their first official outing all together. They were all smiles as they posed for photos and honored the youngest member of their family.

Celebrity
Kate Middleton And Prince William Are Reportedly On Their First Vacation As A Family Of Five

It goes without saying that being a member of the British royal family means your life is pretty great. But even a Duke and Duchess of Cambridge need a break once in a while. After a busy few months, including birthing a potential future monarch, a worldwide-famous wedding, and endless public appearances, Kate Middleton and Prince William are taking some time out for a family vacation. The trip is set to be quite special; it will be their first as a complete family of five.

But where in the world does a royal couple head to unwind away from the media spotlight? According to Hello!, Kate and Wills have chosen the island of Mustique to spend a quite few days with children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

The island, in Saint Vincent and the Grenadies, is about a hundred miles west of Barbados. Expect to find picturesque white sand beaches, a crystal clear, blue ocean and absolutely zero paparazzi thanks to its no fly zone status. It’s a pretty exclusive choice of location, too, as just 100 villas are available to reserve.

According to royal blogger Tea Time with the Cambridges, Kate’s parents were also seen arriving to share the trip, so it’s set to be a whole family vacay. It must be a firm favorite for the Duke and Duchess; the couple have previously spent time in Mustique in 2012 and in 2014 when George was very young. With two more young children in the family this time, their latest trip will probably include a whole lot more ice cream, sandcastle building and swimming pool inflatable assault courses than ever before.

Prince Louis, two months old and already taking better vacations than I ever will.

The secluded island, perfect for a little bit of privacy in paradise, is set to jump straight to the top of every Must-Visit Hot Spot list. The whole royal gang were spotted arriving in St. Lucia earlier this week before boarding a private flight to the Caribbean island of Mustique.

Inside Prince Philip's Busy Summer — Including Becoming a Godfather Again at 97

The 97-year-old became a godfather to the child of Thomas and Alexandra Hooper, who is the great-granddaughter of Philip’s uncle, the late Lord Mountbatten. While the Queen was hosting President Donald Trump at Windsor Castle last week, Philip appeared for the baby’s christening at Romsey Abbey in Romsey, Hampshire.

Philip took a helicopter – paid for out of his own money – for the 190-mile journey south west from Sandringham to Romsey.

He and Queen Elizabeth both missed the royal christening of their great-grandson Prince Louis earlier this month. The decision that the couple would not be attending the event was “mutually agreed” between the 92-year-old monarch, Prince William and Kate Middleton “some time ago,” a palace source told PEOPLE.

Prince Philip joined the rest of the royal family in May for his grandson Prince Harry‘s wedding to Meghan Markle. His attendance was in question even in the days before the ceremony as he was recuperating from hip replacement surgery, which took place on April 4. He had been recovering at Windsor Castle — just a short walk away from St. George’s Chapel, where Harry and Meghan tied the knot.

Although Philip sat out royal events such as Trooping the Colour, the official celebration of the Queen’s birthday, and the Royal Ascot, he accompanied the Queen to two polo matches in June. A week after they attended Cartier International Day, the duo enjoyed a day of polo at the Royal Windsor Cup. The monarch wore a peach coat and hat alongside Philip, who sported a suit paired with an olive green tie.

AP sources: Pence, Bolton, Kelly confronted Trump in Oval Office about Russia comments

National security advisor John Bolton listens
while President Donald Trump speaks to the press
before a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on July 2, 2018.
(Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

Facing condemnation from allies and foes alike on Capitol Hill, President Donald Trump was outnumbered even in the Oval Office. Top aides gathered to convince the president to issue a rare walk-back of the comments he'd made raising doubts about U.S. intelligence conclusions of Russian election interference as he stood alongside Vladimir Putin.

Vice President Mike Pence, national security adviser John Bolton and chief of staff John Kelly stood united in the West Wing on Tuesday in their contention that the commander in chief had some cleanup to do. They brought with them words of alarm from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well as from a host of congressional leaders and supporters of the president for whom Trump's public praise of Putin proved to be a bridge too far.

Even for Trump, a leader who has increasingly come to cast off the constraints and guidance of aides, the him-against-the-world position proved untenable. Trump may like doing things his way, eschewing advice and precedent like no president before, but he never likes being alone.

Walking off stage with Putin following their joint press conference in Helsinki, Trump was riding high after his second summit with an adversarial leader in as many months. The highly choreographed affairs had been sought out by the U.S. leader as a way to boost his credibility abroad and his favorability at home, and he believed the latest one had accomplished the task.

But as Air Force One took off into Finland's endless sunlight on Monday night, Trump's mood darkened.

He told confidants in the days that followed that he was pleased with how his summit with Putin went, believing he had taken the measure of the man and opened the door to deals down the road on a number of thorny issues.

But that was not how it was being portrayed back home.

On the long flight back to Washington, the president began dialing around to allies and aides and started to stew about negative media coverage, even from usually friendly Fox News, according to five outside allies and Republicans close to the White House not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

The reviews he received were muted — Trump rarely takes kindly to direct confrontation — but it was a taste of what awaited him on his return in Washington, where stalwart allies like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich were speaking out.

By the time he arrived home, the parade of critical statements had become a stampede, leaving Trump the most isolated he'd been in the White House since last year's controversy over white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville. Some in the president's circle saw parallels in the response to that incident, when the president walked back his August comments critical of "both sides" for protests in the Virginia city, only to later revert to his initial position — that both white supremacists and their detractors shared blame for the violence.

Trump waited 27 hours, sent five tweets and sat for two television interviews after his initial comments in Helsinki before claiming he'd used a confusing "double negative" and meant "would" instead of "wouldn't" in a key sentence at his press conference about who was responsible for election meddling.

"The sentence should have been: I don't see any reason why I wouldn't -- or why it wouldn't be Russia," the president said Tuesday before a meeting with Republican members of Congress.

The next day brought a fresh challenge. Trump appeared to answer "no" to a reporter's question asking whether Russia was still targeting the U.S. Hours later, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders emerged to say Trump had merely tried to put a stop to the questioning by saying "no," although he continued discussing Russia after that.

And Sanders created a fresh headache for the administration when she said the White House was still reviewing a proposal from Putin to allow access by Russian law enforcement officials to Americans whom the Kremlin accuses of unspecified crimes in return for U.S. access to interrogations of Russian agents indicted for their alleged roles in interfering in the 2016 election. The State Department, by contrast, rejected the proposal — which Trump days earlier had called an "incredible offer — as "absurd."

Many in the White House did not immediately see fault in Sanders' comments that the West Wing was merely considering the Kremlin offer, but it provided fresh tinder for the bipartisan firestorm.

As each White House effort to clean up the situation failed to stem the growing bipartisan backlash, Trump's mood worsened, according to confidants. He groused about his staff for not better managing the fallout. He was angry at the two American reporters, including one from The Associated Press, who asked questions at the Helsinki news conference. And he seethed at the lack of support he believed he received from congressional Republicans.

Also a target of the president's ire was Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats , who issued a rare statement rebutting the president's Monday comments. But it was Coats' televised interview Thursday at a security conference in Aspen, Colo., that set off the president anew, as the intelligence director questioned the wisdom of the Putin meeting and said he had hoped Trump wouldn't meet alone with the Russian leader.

It all left White House staffers in a fresh state of resignation about their jobs.

"I saw the screaming headline on cable TV that there is malaise in the West Wing and I look forward to meeting her," quipped presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway. "I don't see that."

Lemire reported from New York. Ken Thomas contributed to this report from Washington

Politics
'When he gets into bunker mode, he kind of goes back to his true believers': Trump faced a PR crisis after the Putin summit this week — and whose advice he took is anyone's guess

Donald Trump.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

    President Donald Trump faced a public relations crisis following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.
    In watching the week's events transpire, a former senior administration official told Business Insider it was unclear to them whose, if anyone's, advice the president was taking regarding the fallout from the summit.
    "In situations like this when he gets into bunker mode, he kind of goes back to his true believers like [Corey] Lewandowski, David Bossie, and his old friends like Chris Ruddy and Tom Barrack," another former administration official told Business Insider.

It was just after mid-morning on the East Coast on Monday, and President Donald Trump had a public relations crisis on his hands.

He had just completed a press conference alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin that had followed an hours-long private meeting between the two in Helsinki, Finland. And his answers caused widespread alarm and outrage across the Atlantic.

During the press conference, Trump cast doubt on the US intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election. He also attacked his Democratic opponents and the FBI, and said he held both countries accountable for the state of their relations.

"My people came to me — [Director of National Intelligence] Dan Coats came to me, some others — they said they think it's Russia," Trump said of election interference. "I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."

He cited Putin's "extremely strong and powerful" denials of such interference. And he seemed to endorse a plan Putin proposed that would allow special counsel Robert Mueller's team to work with Russian investigators to question 12 Russians indicted last week in the investigation into Russian election meddling.

Within hours, Democrats and Republicans, pundits, intelligence officials, and others were condemning the remarks. The word "treason" was floating around social media. People were speculating whether Putin had some sort of leverage over Trump that was making him behave in this manner.

A day later, Trump offered up a small correction to his comments.

Trump said he misspoke alongside Putin and actually meant to say the opposite of what he said — that he didn't see any reason why it "wouldn't" be Russia who interfered in the election.

But Trump made some adjustments to the written statement he read aloud, adding that the meddlers "could be other people also."

The fallout continued. In the days that followed, the White House said Putin's pitch to Trump — one he seemed intrigued by — involving turning over American citizens to the Russians for questioning was in fact something the president disagreed with. Meanwhile, the press went back and forth with the White House over the meaning of a "no" Trump said when a reporter asked whether he felt Russians were actively trying to influence US elections.

To cap it all off, the White House announced late in the week that the wheels were in motion on getting Putin to visit Washington, DC.
'When he gets into bunker mode, he kind of goes back to his true believers'

One question that seemed natural following the week was whose advice, if anyone's, was Trump taking in handling this episode.

In watching the week's events transpire, a former senior administration official told Business Insider it was unclear to them whose, if anyone's, advice the president was taking regarding the fallout from the summit.

In recent months, it has been reported that Trump has increasingly been acting alone when faced with such crises, passing on the advice of some of his top staffers. In March, The New York Times reported that Trump "now believes he has settled into the job enough to rely on" his instincts "rather than the people who advise him."

In April, the Associated Press reported that Trump was tuning out the advice of his staff as a result of both personnel changes and his own attitude toward the job. One big moment was the departure of staff secretary Rob Porter, who was accused of spousal abuses by both of his ex-wives. Trump had viewed Porter as "an honest broker" who would "make sure" different opinions were being "faithfully presented to him."

Another former Trump administration official told Business Insider that at the moment, the person within the White House who has the most influence with Trump in regards to advice on how to handle such a crisis is Bill Shine, the former Fox News executive who was recently hired as deputy chief of staff for communications.

As the AP reported in April, Fox News can sometimes be a place where Trump finds opinions he considers to be in his best interest moreso than within his own White House, and Shine's high-profile position at the network lends him additional credibility with the president.

More often, however, Trump goes outside the building when seeking advice, this former staffer said.

"In situations like this when he gets into bunker mode, he kind of goes back to his true believers like [Corey] Lewandowski, David Bossie, and his old friends like Chris Ruddy and Tom Barrack," the person said.

This week, the president did appear to accept some internal advice. In a private conversation with the president, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged him to clarify his remarks from the Putin press conference, NBC News reported. He made his clarification soon after.

"There's a myth that the president never listens to anyone," Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax and a longtime Trump confidant, told Business Insider. "He actually takes advice from a lot of people. I don't think there's ever one single person that he relies on. Ultimately he's his own advisor."

"He absorbs a lot of information, he's an information junkie, but then he makes his own decision," Ruddy continued. "He built his brand and career over 40 years being his own PR guru. He understands how to create publicity and spin news like no one other. They used to call Reagan the great communicator, but Trump has outpaced him for sure."

Whether or not Trump accepted the advice of others regarding his remarks, Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist who was once a high-ranking official in President George W. Bush's administration, told Business Insider it was clear the president's "heart wasn't in it" regarding his walk-back.

"I think the advice and decision to try to clean up the press conference was correct, and the president was smart to allow it," he said. "But the route to walking back the press conference was never going to run through something as simple as a double negative and an apostrophe. It should have included a stronger recitation of the president's tough record on Russia, and a reaffirmation of his views on American exceptionalism."

The president, and the administration at large, he said, needs to "think in terms of legacy, not news cycles."

Celebrity

Ummm, Meghan Markle's Future Sister-in-Law Was Just Arrested for Assault

Between Thomas Markle becoming BFFs with the press and Samantha Markle maybe joining the cast of Celebrity Big Brother, Meghan Markle's family is being um...a lot lately.
And now? Now her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr.'s fiancée Darlene Blount has apparently been taken to jail. The Daily Mail reports that Darlene was arrested in Grants Pass, Oregon, on Friday. The charge? That would be assault in the fourth degree.
A deputy at Josephine County Jail told Daily Mail that Darlene was bailed out on Saturday, and-while not much is known about what happened-a source said "Last night there was a domestic violence call at the home of Thomas Markle [Jr] and Darlene Blount. Darlene was arrested on assault charges."
For the most part, Darlene and Thomas are pretty low-key, though Thomas does have a history of talking to the press. In fact, he once described his family as "a cross between Married With Children and Dexter, probably. And the Dukes of Hazard and The Simpsons versus the royal family."
Okay then. As you were!

It's no surprise that Duchess Kate and Prince William have strived to raise their children as normal as possible. Similar to how Princess Diana treated Wills and Harry to fast food and forced them to wait in line at Disney alongside all the other park goers, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge want their children to have as normal of a childhood both inside and outside of the palace.

This means that for the family of five, hand-me-downs are favored instead of designer duds, while Prince William and Duchess Kate often take turns with carpool duty. Their decision to send George to Thomas's Battersea in London was an unconventional choice for the couple, who forwent the traditional "Eton-style feeder" many royals have attended over the years.

Duchess Kate has reportedly been "adamant" about raising George, Charlotte and Louis her own way by "keeping stuffy ­royal protocol far from their apartment at Kensington Palace." And for the family, that includes keeping one big secret from their eldest child, now 5.

According to reports, George, who is third-in-line to the throne behind Prince Charles and Prince Philip, does not know that he is heir to the throne. And they plan to keep him in the dark for at least for a while to ensure that the youngster grows up without the stresses Prince William reportedly endured during his own childhood.

As reported by Marie Claire, Prince William has been known as the "reluctant king" due to the immense pressures he felt during his childhood and knowing about his future . There's a "time and a place" for Prince George to learn about his future, says Prince William. 

Explained royal biographer Catherine Mayer to E! News in 2015: "With George they are trying to delay that moment of realisation and give him normality before they thrust this on him."

“But it will be, nevertheless, part of his upbringing both in terms of what he sees his parents and grandparents doing and probably quite soon a beginning of an understanding that he is in public life and what that means," she said.

Celebrity
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry kissed on stage — and it shows how different their relationship is from Kate Middleton and Prince William's

     Meghan Markle and Prince Harry kissed on stage after Harry's team won his charity polo match .
    The very public display of affection is something we rarely see Kate Middleton and Prince William do.
    Due to royal precedent and William's place in line for the throne, it is believed that the two typically refrain from PDA to maintain an extra professional appearance.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are no strangers to a bit of PDA.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are different from Kate Middleton and Prince William in several ways, but their frequent PDA is probably the most glaringly obvious difference . The royal duo is regularly seen holding hands and linking arms during their public outings, and on Thursday they shared a kiss that made the internet swoon.

Markle attended Harry's polo match in support of his Sentebale charity and was on hand to give out the award to the winning team. When it came time to give the trophy to Harry's team, Markle gave him a celebratory kiss on stage.

Meghan and Harry's celebratory kiss.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Daily Mail's Royal Correspondent Rebecca English shared a video of the sweet moment on Twitter.

    —Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) July 26, 2018

Though it may seem like a normal kiss at first, it's quite surprising compared to Middleton and William's public appearances. Due to royal precedent and William's place in line for the throne, it is believed that the two typically refrain from PDA to maintain an extra professional appearance .

Celebrity

Meghan Markle, duchess of Rorschach

By Joan Wickersham   July 27, 2018

Her clothes are beautiful. Her clothes are dowdy. She’s spending too much on clothes. Her husband can’t keep his hands off her. Her husband doesn’t always want to hold her hand in public. Her handwriting has changed. She’s developed a phony English accent. No, she hasn’t. She and her sister-in-law are close. No, they’re rivals. She’s ruining her feet with those unfeminist stilettos. She crosses her legs at the ankle: The royal family has squelched her spirit. She crosses her legs at the knee: She’s defying the royal family, the queen is not pleased. The queen feels a special bond with her. Her messy bun is too messy. She’s a breath of fresh air. She married up. She married down. She’s terrified; she can’t make a move or utter a word without permission from the palace; they’re erasing her.

In a summer when the news is urgent, relentless, and horrifying, royal-watching is a welcome diversion. And the show hasn’t been this good in years. What is it about Meghan Markle, the new Duchess of Sussex, that has unleashed such a frenzy of decoding? Why do people project so many different meanings onto her, as if she were a living Rorschach test, begging to be interpreted and analyzed?

Well, for one thing, she is one of us. Or more nearly one of us than anyone who’s ever entered the royal family. She’s American, biracial, self-made, a grown-up. She’s had a career. She’s not like Diana Spencer or Kate Middleton, who were unknown before they emerged as princesses-to-be, appearing as public figures at the same moment that they began to disappear into the mystery of royal life. Meghan was already visible, and we’re hoping she’ll stay that way. We know the sound of her voice — she’s been an actress, she’s written a blog, she’s expressed opinions about feminism and race. We want her to keep talking.