Here are some photos from Vimy, France. On Monday, leaders from around the world gathered in Vimy to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (which went down in World War I). I was going to cover these photos along with a story about Prince Charles, but then I spied Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and suddenly I just had to look at all of the Trudeau photos. Like, if you came into this post knowing nothing about anyone, wouldn’t you assume that PM Trudeau is the prince? He looks like he was manufactured in Disney’s Handsome Prince Factory. My favorite photos are the ones of Trudeau and Prince Harry. I could write some serious slash fiction about those two together. Also: I do think when Trudeau and Charles shook hands, Charles must have made a joke because the look on their faces is sort of priceless. As for William… so dull, so bad at faking serious emotion.

As for the Charles story, we’ve been talking about Sally Bedell Smith’s book Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life for a few weeks now. I said at one point that from the way certain issues and topics were being discussed, it was pretty clear that this was a somewhat authorized biography of Charles. As it turns out, I was right. Sort of. Bedell Smith chatted with the Daily Beast and she ended up confirming that her books about the royals were “sanctioned,” but technically unauthorized.

No sooner had she finished with Elizabeth than she found herself re-embedding with the royal family for another four years, interviewing hundreds of sources ranging from grooms and dog trainers to peers of the realm. She also attended countless private receptions, charity dinners, and balls at various palaces and country estates, where she occasionally met the queen, Prince Philip, and the Prince of Wales. Smith lives in Washington. D.C., but she has family in London, and when she’s researching, she often spends as much as five months a year there, diligently cultivating the connections necessary to penetrate the inner workings of the family known as “The Firm.”

Her persistence has paid off: Eight years ago Buckingham Palace granted her “sanctioned but not authorized” permission. What that means, she explained, is that “it’s not official, but they knew exactly what I was doing and they knew I was serious about it and it would not be a cut-and-paste or once over lightly. Through advocates, I broke the code,” and the gates of the palace swung open….To enhance her knowledge, Smith traveled to Malta and Sri Lanka as part of the prince’s entourage, and she also visited him and his wife, Camilla, at their primary residence, ”Highgrove.”

[From The Daily Beast]

People can parse all they want, but this is an authorized biography, for the love of God. Which means all of that stuff about Diana is the official line coming out of Team Charles. Which… is not a good look. What else does Smith say? The Queen likes Camilla and Camilla will eventually be Queen. Smith says that Charles basically lets Harry and William do their own things and organize themselves however they see fit, but I don’t believe that either.

Photos courtesy of WENN.