Pregnant Meghan jetting to Morocco
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will make a three-day trip to Morocco later this month — despite Meghan being seven months pregnant.
The royal couple will travel to the country on February 23 at the request of the British Government “to highlight the vital role girls’ education and youth empowerment is playing” after the 2010 Arab Spring.
A royal aide said the couple were following official NHS guidance which advises that women can fly until they are 37 weeks pregnant, adding: “The Duchess feels well and able to fly. Most airlines permit women to fly up until approximately the last month of their pregnancy.”
They will fly on a commercial airline but Kensington Palace declined to comment on whether a doctor will accompany them.
The Duke and Duchess are expected to meet King Mohammed VI, Morocco’s ruler; Saad-Eddine El Othmani, the country’s prime minister; and visit major tourist attractions.
The announcement comes as more revelations are expected from the Duchess’ family.
Her father Thomas Markle is thought to have given an interview to a Sunday newspaper after five of the Duchess’ friends gave interviews to People magazine in the United States defending her and claiming her texts and calls to him had gone unanswered.
Meghan’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jnr gave an interview to Germany’s Bund magazine claiming their father “just wants to hear from his daughter and have her back in his life”.
Their half-sister Samantha Markle launched a Twitter tirade against “wealthy narcissist” Meghan, describing the People article as “fake news”. — Daily Telegraph Michael Jackson’s estate is calling HBO’s decision to air a documentary next month which includes allegations from two men that the superstar molested them “disgraceful” and urges the cable network to investigate their backgrounds.
A 10-page letter released yesterday offers a meeting with HBO to try to discredit the stories of the two men featured in the documentary Leaving Neverland, Wade Robson and James Safechuck. The estate contends the men are lying and court filings and story inconsistencies prove that.
The letter assails the documentary for focusing solely on Robson and Safechuck’s stories and not interviewing anyone from Jackson’s family, his estate or others who knew him. It states Robson raised the allegations only after he wasn’t hired on a Jacksonthemed Cirque du Soleil show.
Robson and Safechuck alleged they were molested and unsuccessfully sued Jackson’s estate after the singer’s June 2009 death. Robson testified in Jackson’s defence at a 2005 molestation trial that ended with the singer’s acquittal.
Second US/North Korea summit
US President Donald Trump says he will hold his second summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Hanoi and predicted the authoritarian country would become “a great Economic Powerhouse” under Kim’s leadership. On Twitter Trump added, “I look forward to seeing Chairman Kim & advancing the cause of peace!”
Governor’s second accuser
A second woman in the US accused Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax of sexual assault yesterday. A lawyer for Meredith Watson, 39, said the Democrat raped her 19 years ago while they were students at Duke University. Fairfax said he would not resign from office and vowed to clear his name.