LOS ANGELES: As Meghan Markle’s gown undergoes final adjustments for her wedding to Prince Harry, her gaffe-prone American family has been sending royal courtiers into a spin by airing its dirty laundry in public.
The bride-to-be remains close with divorced parents Tom Markle and Doria Ragland but other relatives have been barred from the May 19 nuptials amid unwelcome stories of bust-ups, heavy drinking — and even an arrest.
Markle, who grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, will be walked up the aisle by Tom, 73, an Emmy-winning Hollywood lighting director of Dutch-Irish descent who is enjoying retired life in Mexico.
Around the turn of the century, the future Duchess of Sussex was filmed as an aspiring teen actress by childhood friend Ninaki Priddy discussing her relationship with her father as they drove across LA.
“We aren’t going to go there,” she says on the video — posted to YouTube last year — as they near Tom’s Los Angeles home, before adding: “We aren’t on the best of terms.”
There has been a detente in the intervening years, however, with Markle publicly expressing her love for her father in an Instagram message in 2016 and declaring, “Your hugs are still the very best in the whole wide world.”
Markle’s introduction to Hollywood came thanks to her father, who would bring her daily to the set of ABC’s “General Hospital” and Fox sit-com “Married... with Children.”
“There I was, behind the scenes of a glossy soap opera and a TV sitcom, surrounded by famous actors and their glam teams, multi-million dollar budgets, and crew lunches that always included filet mignon,” Meghan wrote on her now-defunct blog, The Tig.
Tom reportedly put Markle through Hollywood’s most exclusive schools and the private Northwestern University in Illinois after winning $750,000 in the state lottery in 1990.
He met Harry in Toronto in mid-2016 and took to the prince immediately, describing him on a video obtained by British tabloid The Sun as “a gentleman.”
Markle’s mother, a 61-year-old African American yoga instructor and clinical therapist, met Tom while working as an assistant make-up artist at “General Hospital.”
The Ohio native has been through her own financial woes, according to the Daily Mail, which reported that she filed for bankruptcy in 2002 with assets of just $10,400 and credit card debts of $58,000.
“While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that,” Markle wrote in a 2015 essay for Elle magazine about being biracial.
She and Prince Harry revealed in an interview with BBC they’d spent much time with Ragland ahead of their engagement. “Her mum’s amazing!” enthused Harry, who is sixth in line to the British throne.
There was speculation that Markle’s father would be left off the guest list after the American star barred estranged half-siblings Tom Jr and Samantha, Tom Sr.’s children from a previous marriage.
Tom Jr, 51, who lives in Oregon, was arrested in January on suspicion of holding a gun to his girlfriend’s head while drunk, although the charges were dropped and the couple got engaged.
The twice-divorced father-of-two says he and Meghan haven’t been close since she moved from LA to Toronto in 2011 to start work on legal drama “Suits.”
Relations are unlikely to have improved since Tom Jr sent Prince Harry a letter to call off the “fake fairytale wedding,” arguing that his half-sister was “obviously not the right woman” for the royal.
“As more time passes to your royal wedding, it became very clear that this is the biggest mistake in royal wedding history,” he said in the April 26 missive, which he shared with In Touch magazine.
He professed to be bored with Markle — “like a below C average Hollywood actress” — playing the part of princess and accused her of draining their father’s money until he went bankrupt in 2016.
Samantha, 53 — who lives in Florida and recently changed her surname from Grant to Markle — is said to have angered the Markle clan with the announcement that she was planning a tell-all book called “The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister.”
Other members of the extended family include Thomas Jr’s sons, Tyler, 27, and Thomas Markle III, who has berated his “crazy” father and aunt for their public feuding.
There is another half-nephew and an uncle, Tom Sr.’s older brother Frederick, who runs a Florida chapel that reportedly has little or no congregation.
Royal Wedding: will raucous US in-laws out-sparkle Markle?
Royal Wedding: will raucous US in-laws out-sparkle Markle?
- The bride-to-be remains close with divorced parents Tom Markle and Doria Ragland but other relatives have been barred from the May 19 nuptials amid unwelcome stories of bust-ups, heavy drinking — and
- Around the turn of the century, the future Duchess of Sussex was filmed as an aspiring teen actress by childhood friend Ninaki Priddy discussing her relationship with her father as they drove across L
AlUla institution to select Saudi artist for residency in Paris
- Initiative aims to bring France’s creative expertise to Saudi Arabia
- Artist will also join Villa Hegra in AlUla for a residency organized by the institution’s cultural program
RIYADH: A cultural institution in AlUla plans to select a Saudi artist to host a residency in Paris in an effort to promote French artisanal traditions in the Kingdom.
The artist will be chosen by Basmah Felemban and Gael Charbau, artistic directors of AlUla’s Villa Hegra.
A collaboration with the Mobilier National, a French governmental body that produces and preserves artisanal furniture, the initiative aims to bring France’s creative expertise to Saudi Arabia.
The artist will also join Villa Hegra in AlUla for a residency organized by the institution’s cultural program.
Villa Hegra is a planned initiative that hosts a variety of artist residencies, creative spaces for cultural initiatives, an exhibition hall, a cinema and performance art studio.
The partnership between Villa Hegra and the Mobilier National will also involve displaying a selection of design pieces from the French organization’s collections at AlUla.
Herve Lemoine, the president of Manufactures Nationales, said: “This partnership continues the Mobilier National’s rich tradition of collaboration with cultural villas, bringing French artisanal excellence to creative spaces around the world.”
Feriel Fodil, the CEO of Villa Hegra, said: “This long-term collaboration also strengthens Villa Hegra’s primary mission: To promote artistic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and France, while celebrating their respective artisanal heritages.”
Villa Hegra was officially announced in an intergovernmental agreement signed on Dec. 4, 2021, by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah, and Jean-Yves Le Drian, then-French minister for foreign affairs.
One of Villa Hegra’s goals is to foster cultural dialogue between Saudi Arabia and France.
Fodil previously told Arab News’ French edition: “It is a state-to-state initiative that represents the willingness of two parties to collaborate at the cultural level.”
Deal signed to promote traditional arts in Saudi Arabia
- Royal Institute of Traditional Arts and Namaa Almunawara sign strategic MoU
- Aim is to advance the creative economy and preserve national cultural heritage
RIYADH: The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts and Namaa Almunawara signed a strategic memorandum of understanding in Riyadh to foster collaboration in supporting traditional arts.
The aim is to advance the creative economy and preserve national cultural heritage, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
The MoU focuses on key areas: building human capacity through training programs and workshops, offering consulting services, and designing specialized initiatives.
It also aims to strengthen the handicrafts sector by launching entrepreneurial initiatives, enhancing craft products, and empowering emerging talents.
Additionally, it includes organizing local and international events and developing community-focused traditional arts initiatives.
The institute plays a key role in promoting Saudi traditional arts locally and internationally, supporting artisans, and encouraging the teaching and development of these crafts.
The Ministry of Culture has designated 2025 the Year of Handicrafts to celebrate cultural heritage and promote the creation, preservation, and modern relevance of handicrafts. It will host events, exhibitions, educational programs, and competitions throughout the year.
Gerard Butler to touch down in Riyadh for ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ premiere
DUBAI: Riyadh will host the first stop of the international press tour for “How to Train Your Dragon,” the live-action adaptation of DreamWorks Animation’s film franchise, with actor Gerard Butler set to arrive in the Kingdom this May.
Butler returns as Stoick the Vast in the upcoming film, slated for release on June 12.
“How to Train Your Dragon” is directed by three-time Oscar nominee Dean DeBlois, the filmmaker behind the original animated trilogy.
“On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup (Mason Thames; The Black Phone, For All Mankind) stands apart. The inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, reprising his voice role from the animated franchise), Hiccup defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking societ,” the film’s logline reads.
“As an ancient threat emerges, endangering both Vikings and dragons, Hiccup’s friendship with Toothless becomes the key to forging a new future. Together, they must navigate the delicate path toward peace, soaring beyond the boundaries of their worlds and redefining what it means to be a hero and a leader,” the logline adds.
The film also stars Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2), Gabriel Howell (Bodies), Bronwyn James (Wicked), Harry Trevaldwyn (Smothered), Ruth Codd (The Midnight Club), BAFTA nominee Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Murray McArthur (Game of Thrones).
Works by renowned 20th-century Latin American artists presented in new exhibition in Doha
DOHA: One of revered Mexican artist Diego Rivera’s best-known paintings is now on display at the National Museum of Qatar. Titled “Baile en Tehuantepec” (“Dance in Tehuantepec”) and completed in 1920, it depicts a group of female Oaxacan dancers dressed in bright costumes poised to begin the Zandunga dance. The painting, like others by Riviera at the time, aimed to depict the social life of Mexico. With time, the work, exhibited a few years later at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, became one of the most expensive paintings in Latin American art.
Nearly a century after Riviera painted the work, it is on show in Doha in “LATINOAMERICANO,” a comprehensive exhibition running until July 19. Showcasing over 170 artworks, including paintings, sculptures, installation, video, photographs, films and archival documentation by over 100 artists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Paraguay, Mexico, Venezuela and Uruguay, the exhibition offers an in-depth look at Latin American art from 1900 to the present in what marks the first-ever show of its kind in West Asia and North Africa for the genre.
The exhibition, organized in partnership with Qatar Museums, is a pivotal aspect of the Qatar, Argentina and Chile 2025 Year of Culture. It presents modern and contemporary artworks from the collections of Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Eduardo F. Costantini and Qatar Museums institutions like Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and the Future Art Mill Museum, among others.
Curated by Issa Al-Shirawi, a Qatari curator, researcher and head of international exhibitions at Qatar Museums, and Maria Amalia Garcia, curator in chief at Malba, the show ambitiously strives to capture the diverse art and culture of an entire continent.
“The exhibition promotes an exchange of knowledge through art, continuing Qatar Museums’ emphasis on showing art histories from underrated and underappreciated art histories,” Al-Shirawi told Arab News, underlining how Latin American artists have consistently challenged narratives, readapted local traditions and influenced artistic movements across the world.
There are several pieces Al-Shirawi notes that highlight the artistic exchange between the Middle East and Latin America.
One is by Uruguayan-born artist Gonzalo Fonseca who traveled to the Middle East during the 1950s where he visited archaeological sites that made a lasting impact on his sculptural work, highly conceptual with great references to architectural forms.
Another is a vibrant painting by Lebanese-born artist Bibi Zogbe, who emigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina and became known throughout South America as “la pintura de flores” (“the flower painter”).
These works are displayed alongside those of both globally renowned artists from the continent, like Colombian artist Fernando Botero, Cuban painter Wilfredo Lam, Belkis Ayon, also from Cuba, known for her work on African influences in the Caribbean island, and Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, among many others.
The exhibition’s in-depth thematic sections provide a first taste for those new to Latin American art.
“At first, we thought we would organize the show chronologically, but then we realized that it was crucial to show the connections between traditional art and various modern and contemporary movements and what influenced these,” Al-Shirawi aid. “How does the traditional translate back into the contemporary? And how does the contemporary go back to the traditional?
A poignant multisensory installation that demonstrates this and that, in Al-Shirawi’s opinion, serves as one of the “anchor” works for the exhibition is by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuna. Titled “Quipu desparecido” (“Disappeared Quipu,” 2018), it refers to the Andean civilization’s quipus — knotted strings made of colored and spun or plied wood or llama hair — used to record information. The practice was crucial to societal organization across the ancient Incan Empire but was decimated by the Spanish colonization. Vicuna’s artwork pays homage to these important threads to reactivate the memory of the quipus, which she refers to as a “poem in space, a way to remember, involving the body and the cosmos at once.”
Kevin Hart brings laughs and life lessons to Abu Dhabi with ‘Acting My Age’
ABU DHABI: Kevin Hart returned to the stage at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Friday with his signature energy and a new show, following his successful performance there in 2023.
“It’s good to be back,” Hart said, kicking off a night of relentless humor and heartfelt honesty.
As part of the Abu Dhabi comedy festival, Hart performed a classic American standup show mixed with a lot of self-deprecating humor.
Titled “Acting my Age,” the show is themed around understanding old age and realizing that aging is about gaining experience and wisdom.
With jokes about his endless injuries and health problems, Hart’s signature facial expressions and animated vocals brought the show to life, and left members of the audience in tears of laughter.
The show was targeted at an older crowd, and Hart was able to capture their attention with his personal anecdotes.
Crowd work and audience interactions were missing from his performance and some people yelled out to grab his attention, but he mostly ignored these callouts.
As usual, his line delivery was on point and he was able to easily transition from one story to the next while maintaining running gags throughout the show, which lasted about an hour.
Opening for Hart were a group of comedians who go by the name of “Plastic Cup Boyz.” The trio, consisting of Joey Wells, Will “Spank” Horton and Na’im Lynn, delivered an entertaining and captivating opener for the show.
Hart ended his performance with heartfelt sentiment, saying: “The win in life is old age. Old age is not guaranteed.”
