Kate Middleton’s uncle entered the Celebrity Big Brother house in Britain last night bringing fresh chaos to Kensington Palace’s handling of her recovery from abdominal surgery.
Gary Goldsmith was asked by presenter AJ Odudu whether Kate would be watching the show and acknowledged his presence might not be entirely welcome among the royals.
“If she is it will be behind a sofa, I guess,” he replied. Odudu and co-host Will Best also gave the subtlest of invitations to discuss Kate’s whereabouts following frenzied social media speculation she was “missing” when he asked which sofa she would be watching from.
Managing to avoid giving away her location, Goldsmith replied: “It would be a nice one, in a nice house. I can guarantee that.”
X, formerly Twitter, went into overdrive last week with jokes, memes and some wild conspiracy theories about why Kate hasn’t been seen publicly since Christmas Day.
Paparazzi pictures of Kate in the passenger seat of a car being driven by her mother Carole Middleton in Windsor then emerged on U.S. tabloid website TMZ just hours before Goldsmith was due to step in front of camera on U.K. network ITV.
British news organizations maintained a boycott of the images out of respect for the princess’ privacy, but it triggered a debate about whether the palace should release its own image of Kate to end the speculation.
Goldsmith also did an exclusive interview with The Sun in which he praised his “beautiful” niece and took a swipe at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
He said: “She’s beautiful on the outside, but more beautiful on the inside and really is a doting mum . . . so the way the monarchy is moving, it’s family-centric.
“That’s why I got so upset with Harry and Meghan because you don’t put a stick into that spoke and reinvent history.
“I’ve got pretty miffed when they had a pop at my beautiful niece who couldn’t say anything for herself.
“I think everyone felt the same about how much did we love Harry and then throwing your family under the bus just seemed inappropriate, especially what was happening with the Queen. I just thought it was totally unnecessary.”
Gary Goldsmith’s Chequered Past
Goldsmith was convicted of assaulting his wife in October 2017, outside their London home and fined £5,000 after the court heard she had accused him of taking drugs during an argument in a taxi, the BBC reported at the time.
Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot told him during sentencing: “Both had been drinking and the taxi driver listened as you argued. Your wife accused you of taking drugs and leaving her alone for most of the evening. You called her a nothing and whore.”
The taxi driver told the court he punched Julie-Ann Goldsmith to the ground with a left hook while she released a victim impact statement which said the attack left her “extremely anxious and very stressed, and suffering panic attacks.”
Goldsmith had long been described in the British media as the “black sheep” of the Middleton family, a term still used in newspapers today.
He famously had a villa in Ibiza called Le Maison de Bang Bang and The Sun reported in 2017 that he approached a mother and her 17-year-old daughter in a bar in Portugal asking for a threesome. He denied making a series of lewd remarks to the pair.
Jack Royston is Newsweek‘s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek’sThe Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.
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This story was originally published March 5, 2024, 5:05 AM.
source: star-telegram
