"The Duchess explained that she would like to be portrayed naturally — her natural self — as opposed to her official self."

So says the artist of the official painting that is apparently horrifying people.

"If this has worked, it's the easiest prank call we've ever made. Your accent sucked, by the way."

Here's the full audio of the prank call that led the person who was fooled by the call to commit suicide:



It's a completely ridiculous Queen imitation, and they obviously expected to be laughed at immediately. They were entirely unprepared for success. And they make it very funny.

How much outrage/blame/consequences should come down on these 2 djs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian?

The London nurse whose shocking death followed a cruel radio prank will be laid to rest in her native India was found dead after she was globally humiliated by two Australian deejays posing as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.

What was "cruel" about it? It's only cruel retrospectively because the woman — Jacintha Saldanha — killed herself, presumably out of humiliation for being so incredibly stupid and careless.

Should pranking end? Howard Stern has been doing calls like this for many years. And what about the prankster who claimed to be David Koch and got through to Governor Scott Walker? Many people found that hilarious. And I'll bet there are people who think it would be hilarious to say: It would have been even more hilarious if Scott Walker had reacted by committing suicide.

Pranking is what it is. Stupid, but potentially hilarious. It has a special role to play in puncturing pomposity, and if you listen through the Greig and Christian call, you'll hear the satire of royalty. Royalty deserves that! I don't know what all went through the suicide's head, but I suspect she took royalty very very seriously. Should we have more seriousness, more deference toward our superiors?

Which way lies suicide? I say more pranking, more satire, more laughs and unseriousness.

And by the way, the suicide, with her heavy respect for royalty, has laid a horrible burden on the very person she presumably intended to show respect for: Kate Middleton. But you know, it's possible the suicide intended to express hostility and to hurt the royal family, which she did, in fact, wound terribly. It should be a time of great joy for Kate and the rest of the bunch, but now everyone is talking about and sympathizing with this previously unknown nurse. There's much more to the story. How was Saldanha treated by her coworkers and supervisors? Isn't that the location of the cruelty?

"A hospital nurse caring for the Duchess of Cambridge, who was duped by two DJs pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles..."

"... is understood to have committed suicide."

The DJs... apologized for the hoax — sheepishly noting that they were surprised that the call was put through and that their Australian accents were not detected.

"Kate Middleton's pregnancy: 10 stories I don't want to read."

Aw, come on. We're not supposed to amuse ourselves with the reproduction of the royals?

"Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house.

"It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them... The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so."

"Ann Romney slammed for $990 Shirt, Michelle Obama praised for $6,800 jacket."

What a sharply tailored double standard!

But let's take a closer look. Michelle Obama was consorting with royalty and representing the United States at a very posh event of the highest importance to Great Britain. Her clothes had to express our country's respect. They had to be completely appropriate and a thorough defense against criticism, as she would be minutely examined by hundreds of millions of persons, many of whom love to slag her, especially when they get their hands on pictures of her next to Kate Middleton, the #1 fashion icon in the world, whom the Brits love to fawn over and adore. Do you think that's was all narcissistic fun for Michelle? Remember last time she was photographed with Kate? Everyone went wild over Kate's simple beige dress, while Michelle stood there in something very shiny and colorful that ended up looking really awful. There was a lot of pressure to get it right this time, and she did. It was pretty, it was flattering, it was not overly showy, and it was appropriate for the occasion.

Ann Romney was going on TV in that $990 short. It was just another public appearance. She needed to look pretty and appropriate, but there was no gala event and no anticipation of comparisons with other women. She could have worn a $25 long-sleeved black top and been perfectly fine. No one would have thought to ask about it. But she wore a top with a giant photograph of a yellow fish printed across her chest. Of course everyone's going to talk about it. Naturally, we found out the price of the shirt. We wanted to know all about it. It was so in our face, that fish face. Ann Romney and her stylists chose to make us talk about her fish shirt. They knew many of us would be flummoxed by the style, that we'd hear the price, and we'd be all you paid a thousand dollars for that?! It's not just that the very rich lady wears thousand-dollar shirts. It was that particular shirt. It shouted at us that she wanted to be judged as a style icon. She wanted to stir it up. Maybe she wanted at least some of us to think: It will really be fun to have her as our First Lady.

In short: This isn't proof of a double standard. The 2 things compared are not equivalent. (And I'm currently really disgusted with the extreme pro-Obama bias in the press. It was going to be the first thing I blogged about this morning, but I got distracted. So I am absolutely not a defender of the neutrality of the press.)

"What else an one expect from a Republican magazine, they probably dislike themselves."

Outrage over photoshopping Kate Middleton's teeth for a magazine cover about how something's "rotten" in Great Britain. But the magazine is The New Republic... not the New Republican.

"Many in India are asking whether the woman routinely referred to as the most beautiful in the world..."

"... and who occupies a place in Indian popular culture akin to Kate Middleton or Victoria Beckham, has an obligation to her fans to lose weight."

6-months after giving birth, Aishwarya Rai hasn't found her way back to that pre-pregnancy look.

One website posted a video, complete with elephant sound effects, entitled "Aishwarya Rai's shocking weight gain", which has been seen more than 500,000 times. "She is a Bollywood actress and it is her duty to look good and fit," suggested one commenter. Another added: "She needs to learn from people like Victoria Beckham who are back to size zero weeks after their delivery."

The criticism has started a debate about Bollywood's attitude towards women and motherhood. "There is a glorification of motherhood in India and Indian cinema," said cinema professor Shohini Ghosh. "But people are confused because they don't know whether to glorify Aishwarya in her new motherhood or lament that she is not looking like a runway model."