New York's iconic St. Patrick's Cathedral has claimed it was tricked into holding a “scandalous” funeral service for a transgender activist who was celebrated at mass as “the great whore.”

The Catholic cathedral, which bills itself as 'America's parish church', has been ordered to hold a 'restoration mass' after hundreds of scantily clad admirers danced in the aisles for former sex worker Cecilia Gentili.

The self-described atheist died on February 6 at the age of 52, and organizers have admitted they kept her identity 'a bit hidden' when they booked the mass with cathedral authorities.

Now the cathedral's pastor has issued a groveling apology to his parishioners, thanking the “many who have let us know that they share our outrage.”

“The cathedral only knew that family and friends were requesting a funeral mass for a Catholic, and had no idea that our reception and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive manner,” Father Enrique Salvo said in a statement.

'The fact that such a scandal has occurred at 'America's Parish Church' makes it even worse.

“That it occurred as Lent began, the annual forty-day battle with the forces of sin and darkness, is a powerful reminder of how much we need the prayer, restoration, repentance, grace, and mercy that this holy season invites. us.'

Born in Argentina, Gentili began sex work in New York City after moving illegally to the US and struggling to find a job in Miami.

In 2009, she was arrested on drug possession charges and imprisoned on Rikers Island, but released with an ankle monitor after a judge ruled she could not be safely confined with men or women without risk of attack.

But she was granted asylum in 2012 and became a prominent advocate for LGBT rights and HIV prevention.

Just days before her death, Gentili was successful in winning a $540,000 grant from the CDC for her trans outreach program aimed at combating community transmission of HIV.

Funeral organizer Ceyenne Doroshow said she chose St. Patrick's for the Feb. 15 funeral because “it's an icon, just like them.”

The pews were packed with about a thousand mourners, many dressed in revealing outfits, including one wearing a feather boa made from $100 bills.

A photo at the altar showed a haloed Gentili surrounded by the Spanish words for “transvestite,” “whore,” “blessed” and “mother” above the text of Psalm 25.

Actor Billy Porter kicked off the “political theater” with a performance of “This Day,” before Father Edward Dougherty gave the service and declared that “Cecilia died with Christ.”

“This great whore, Saint Cecelia, mother of all whores,” declared a mourner from the pulpit.

“Today we say that we will see you soon and that you will give us the strength and courage to continue your legacy, to continue the challenges ahead.”

A priest singing “Ave Maria” was unexpectedly joined by a mourner singing “Ave Cecilia” as they danced down the aisles, twirling a red scarf.

New York City is home to at least ten gay-friendly Catholic parishes, but St. Patrick's Cathedral is not one of them.

Father Dougherty has previously written lovingly about his first ministry in Tanzania, where gays face life in prison and lawmakers have pushed to make gay sex a capital crime.

Gentili, who faced abuse from her family and neighbors after coming out as gay at age 12, became a U.S. citizen in September 2022 and released a book that year titled Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn't My Rapist.

She also worked as a stand-up comedian and appeared in the critically acclaimed FX series “Pose,” playing Miss Orlando, a New York City woman who performed discount plastic surgery.

Organizers believe hers may have been the first-ever funeral service for a trans person in the 19th-century cathedral.

Gentili died at home in Brooklyn, not far from Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, where priest Jamie J Gigantiello issued a groveling apology and was fired as church administrator in November after allowing singer Sabrina Carpenter to make a “sacrilegious” pop video filming on the altar.

The video showed 24-year-old Carpenter arriving at the church dressed provocatively in a pink hearse for the “funeral” of ex-boyfriends, in front of an altar decorated with their pastel coffins, one of which was inscribed “RIP B* ***' contained. .

“I agreed to the recordings after a general search of the artists involved revealed nothing questionable,” Gigantiello wrote in a letter to parishioners.

Princess Margaret's decadent daily routine has sent royal fans wild after it resurfaced on social media.

A glimpse of the late royal's decadent schedule has been shared several times on X/Twitter in recent days, leaving people in awe of her luxurious lifestyle and aspiring to emulate the routine in their own lives.

The routine, which involved sleeping in for two hours after waking up at 9am and having a small drink of vodka once midday arrived, has proven incredibly popular with X users.

Some even joke that the royal family's routine, which she is believed to have followed throughout her 20s, has surpassed MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace, who sent the internet into meltdown last week with his account of a typical Saturday.

Princess Margaret's average day, recorded around 1955, originally appeared in Ma'am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret, written by Craig Brown.

The book explains how Princess Margaret, aged around 25, began developing a luxurious routine that reflected her taste for the finer things in life.

The day started with a meal brought to her in bed. It is believed that she lived with her mother, the Queen Mother, at Clarence House at the time.

She then spent two hours listening to the radio and reading the newspapers while chain smoking, often leaving the papers scattered on the floor.

At 11am, Margaret would take an hour-long bath, prepared for her by a maid, before having her hair and make-up done in her dresser.

The book continues, “As you might imagine of a princess, she never wore her clothes more than once before being cleaned.”

Exhausted from the morning, Margaret headed downstairs for a 'vodka pick-me-up' before a four-course lunch with the Queen Mother.

It is said that the average lunch consisted of 'half a bottle of wine per person plus 'fruit and half a dozen different types of native and continental cheeses.'

The clip first appeared online in 2017 when it was posted to X/Twitter by an adoring fan.

However, it has resurfaced after being reposted on Sunday, with the caption: “I think we can agree that the late Princess Margaret's daily routine is the one we all aspire to.”

Reacting to the scheme, people showed their admiration for the princess and her relaxed lifestyle.

One person said: 'Princess Margaret walked so Gregg Wallace could run.'

Another, also referring to the MasterChef judges' Saturday morning routine that starts at 5am, joked: “None of this coming to the gym half an hour before opening,” referring to Gregg's very early start at the weekend.

One reader desperate to establish routine in their own life said, “I aspire to live like this. I am an aristocrat, trapped in the body of a peasant.'

In yet more references to Gregg's Saturday morning routine, some asked when Princess Margaret managed to fit in a trip to Harvester (where the MasterChef judge has breakfast) or a session with Total War.

Most readers were in awe of the late royal's routine, declaring that they aspired to “be more Princess Margaret” and describing her as “inspirational.”

The Princess, Queen Elizabeth's younger sister, was known to smoke up to 60 strong Chesterfield cigarettes a day, chain-smoked between courses during meals, and drank Famous Grouse whiskey heavily at home.

Although her tastes sometimes ran to gin and tonic or a glass of wine, her favorite drink was whiskey – especially Famous Grouse with a splash of water.

Margaret would have quickly noticed if a different brand of whiskey had been poured into her glass, and would have refused to drink it.

She also insisted that only Malvern Water was acceptable as a mixer.

In his controversial biography, Margaret – The Untold Story, Noel Botham said that in the 1950s there was always a decanter of Grouse on the drinks tray in Margaret's apartment at Clarence House, and that she would have a drink before heading out for a night out. .

The Margaret Set was often invited after a night out on the town, but while the champagne was flowing, she preferred her favorite whiskey and water – 'it was the only drink she really enjoyed in the evening', Botham wrote.

The hosts were made aware that Famous Grouse and Malvern Water should always be available to her, whatever the time, place or occasion.

By Jason Chester for MailOnline

Published: 06:37 EST, February 12, 2024 | Updated: 06:41 EST, February 12, 2024

From picnics by the river with her four siblings to a doting father who was ‘the nicest man in the world’, Brigitte Hoss had an idyllic childhood by any standards. 

Her mother described their home in Poland as a ‘paradise’ with cooks, nannies and cleaners to tend to the family’s every need. 

But some of these domestic staff were prisoners from the Auschwitz concentration camp just across the road from the family home, with the prisoner blocks and old crematorium visible from the upstairs window. 

How a family could live such a peaceful existence on the edge of one of the greatest horrors mankind has ever known is explored in a new film by Jonathan Glazer, based on the real life story of Rudolf Höss, the Nazi in charge of Auschwitz.

The Zone of Interest reveals how Höss, along with his wife and five children lived just outside the walls of the concentration camp where more than one million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

The Oscar-nominated movie also takes loose inspiration from the 2014 novel of the same name by acclaimed British author Martin Amis, who died last year.

Höss, who was the longest serving commandant of Auschwitz, oversaw daily mass murder for three and a half years, before returning to his home just 150 metres from the crematorium’s chimney – which pumped out ash and smoke day and night.

He was sentenced to death in 1947 and was hanged outside – next to the crematorium at Auschwitz.

Despite living in such close proximity, his wife Hedwig claimed she was kept in the dark about what was going on in the camp. She died in her 80s after moving to the US following her husband’s execution, while two of his five children have also passed away.

One of Höss’s daughters spoke about her past in a 2013 interview, while his grandson has also been in the news after being accused of fraud.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the chilling real tale behind Jonathan’s film, and what happened to the notoriously cruel commandant and his family…

TIME IN AUSCHWITZ 

Höss was appointed commandant of Auschwitz, in the west of Nazi-occupied Poland, in May 1940, when it housed political prisoners.

He then went on to perfect and test techniques for mass murder, leading to the construction of four large gas chambers and crematoria across Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II, and Birkenau.

Although he was replaced as camp commandant in 1943 after being promoted, Höss’s wife Hedwig and children – Klaus, Heidetraud, Inge-Brigitt, Hans-Jürgen and Annegret – continued living at the villa.

Höss later returned to Auschwitz in May 1944 to oversee the murder of 400,000 Hungarian Jews in less than three months. 

But despite the horrors taking place, the Höss family lived in relative seclusion behind the walls of their home.

The family enjoyed a wholesome childhood with boat rides and playing in the sand – just moments away from where the atrocities were being committed.

His daughter in a later interview – with author Thomas Harding – that they didn’t know ‘what else was there’, insisting there was no ‘smoke’ or ‘smell of something’. 

The original interior of the house is described vividly by Polish housekeeper Aniela Bednarska in her diary, which also detailed how some of the furniture in the home was made by camp prisoners.

The house – which still stands today – was visited by historian Ian Baxter in 2007. His photos and recollections were published by MailOnline in 2021. 

In words collated by Mr Baxter, she wrote that the living room comprised ‘black furniture, a sofa, two armchairs, a table, two stools, and a standing lamp.

‘There was Höss’s study, which you could enter either from the living room or the dining room. 

‘The room was furnished with a big desk covered with a transparent plastic board under which he kept family pictures, two leather armchairs, a long narrow bookcase covering two walls and filled with books.

‘One of its sections was locked. Höss kept cigarettes and Vodka there.

‘The furniture was matte, nut-brown, made by camp prisoners.

‘The dining room was decorated with dark nut-brown furniture made in the camp, an unfolding table, six leather chairs, a glazed cupboard for glassware, a sideboard and a beautiful plant stand.

‘The furniture was solid and tasteful,’ she added.

Describing Höss and his wife’s bedroom, she wrote: ‘The room had two dark nut-brown beds, a four-winged wardrobe made in the camp and used by Höss, and a lighter wardrobe with glass doors used by Mrs Höss.

‘There was also a sort of couch – hollowed and leather. Above the beds there was a big colourful oil painting depicting a bunch of field flowers.’

The housekeeper of another member of the SS who worked at the camp described in her testimony – detailed by Mr Baxter – how Klaus, the eldest child, was ‘naughty and malicious’.

She described how he used to carry a ‘small horsewhip’ which he used to beat prisoners who worked at the house.

‘He always sought the opportunity to kick or hit a prisoner,’ she added.

Auschwitz prisoner Stanislaw Dubiel worked as the Höss family gardener.

In his testimony, he described one moment where he was saved from execution by Höss and his wife, adding that they were ‘strongly opposed’ to it and ‘got their own way’.

But he said: ‘Frau Höss often reminded me about the incident, thus forcing me to be zealous in doing whatever she asked me to do.’

He said that the couple were ‘both fierce enemies of Poles and Jews’.

‘They hated everything that was Polish. Frau Höss often used to say to me that all Jews had to disappear from the globe, and there would even come a time for English Jews.’

Among all the staff who worked at the house, Mr Baxter claimed that Jehovah’s Witnesses they employed ‘were the most trustworthy and caring’.

‘They were particularly touched by the love and consideration they gave the children, and Höss could quite easily see how much the family adored them,’ he added.

Mr Baxter even described how Höss became romantically involved with an Austrian political prisoner at Auschwitz, Eleonore Hodys.

After working in his family’s villa, she described in testimony given in 1944 how Höss became ‘strikingly interested’ in her.

‘He did all he could to favour me and make my detention much easier,’ she added.

She then described how Höss then kissed her when they were alone.

‘The commandant expressed his particular feelings for me for the first time in May 1942. His wife was out and I was in his villa, sitting by the radio,’ she explained.

‘Without a word, he came over and kissed me. I was so surprised and frightened and ran away and locked myself in the toilet.

She added: ‘From then on, I did not come to the commandant’s house anymore. I reported myself as sick and tried to hide from him whenever he asked for me.

‘Though he succeeded time and again in finding me, he never spoke about the kiss. I only ever visited the house twice more, by order.’

The family left Auschwitz in November 1944, when Höss moved to Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp north of Germany’s capital Berlin, to oversee further extermination of political prisoners and Jews.

AFTER THE WAR

After Nazi Germany’s defeat in the Second World War in 1945, Höss evaded capture for nearly a year before being arrested.

Höss testified at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. When he was accused of murdering three and a half million people, he replied, ‘No. Only two and one half million—the rest died from disease and starvation.’

He was sentenced to death in 1947 and was hanged outside next to the crematorium at Auschwitz I.

However, the story for the rest of Höss’s family is less clear cut. 

In 2013, his third child Inge-Brigitt – going by Brigitte – was living in Northern Virginia, and gave an interview to the Washington Post. She would be 90 today, but it is not clear if she is still alive.

Speaking to author Thomas Harding, the daughter of one of history’s most prolific mass murderers explained that she often steered the conversation away from the Holocaust if it ever came up. 

The outlet described how their mother Hedwig and her children ‘scraped by’ after Höss’s execution. 

Shunned because of their connection to the Nazi regime, Brigitte and her family spent the following years in extreme poverty.

During the 1950s she left Germany to make a new life in Spain where she worked as a model for three years with the up-and-coming Balenciaga fashion house.

In 1961 she married an Irish American engineer working in Madrid. When she confessed to him about her background he was understanding and believed she was ‘as much a victim as anybody else’.

They agreed upon an ‘unspoken and unwritten agreement’ not to talk about her family background.

His work took them to Liberia, Greece, Iran and Vietnam before they moved – together with a young daughter and son – to Washington in 1972.

Initially Brigitte struggled to adapt to her new life, but it helped the she had found a part-time job in a fashion boutique.

Not long after she was hired, she confessed her family background to her boss. Fortunately for Brigitte, the owner told her that she understood that she had not committed any crime herself and she ended up working at the same boutique for the next 35 years.

Brigitte and her husband divorced in 1983 and her daughter is dead, but her son was living with her at the time of the 2013 interview. She explained then that she saw her grandchildren often but as yet had not been able to bring herself to discuss her dark secret because she didn’t want to upset them.

She explained that she had spent much of her life afraid to talk about her father and even though she knew what he did was terribly wrong, she remembered him fondly.

‘He was the nicest man in the world,’ she said. ‘He was very good to us.’

She also told Harding that her father was ‘sad inside.’

She maintained that he was forced to do a lot of things and didn’t have a choice.

‘He had to do it. His family was threatened. We were threatened if he didn’t. And he was one of many in the SS. There were others as well who would do it if he didn’t.’

Brigitte didn’t deny the atrocities at Auschwitz and other camps took place, but she questioned the numbers that were killed.

‘How can there be so many survivors if so many had been killed?’ she asked.

When it was pointed out that her father confessed to being responsible for the death of more than a million Jews, she said the British ‘took it out of him with torture’.

In a video of the interview, Brigitte also said her father was always ‘tired’ when he came back from work.

‘It seemed sometimes like he was not very happy, but he was nice. I could see things maybe bothered him, also.

‘I’m sure he wanted to get away. But if you’re in something, you’re in.’ 

The outlet also revealed that Brigitte’s mother Hedwig visited her daughter every few years. 

By the 1960s, Höss’s widow was living near Stuttgart, in Germany, with one of her daughters.

Other reports also say she remarried and moved away to the US.

She had passed away in Washington, aged 81, in 1989.

According to Findagrave.com, Höss had deliberately kept Hedwig in the dark about what was happening in Auschwitz to prevent from any future ‘finger pointing’.

She had eventually, allegedly, overheard comments about the atrocities going on a the camp from another Nazi and then refused to share a bed with her husband.

What happened to Höss’s remaining children is less known. According to the Washington Post, his eldest son Klaus died in the 1980s in Australia, while Hans Jürgen and Heidetraud were – as of 2013 – living in Germany. However, according to Israel Hayom, Haidetraud died of cancer ‘a few years’ before 2020.

In recent years, Höss’s grandson Rainer has also made headlines. At first, he shot to fame after making his associated with the Nazi commandant public, and using the opportunity to speak out against right-wing movements.

In 2014, he urged British voters not to vote for far-right anti-immigration parties.

However, in 2020, the Irish Times reported that Rainer was accused of exploiting and defrauding survivors.

The outlet said a court found him guilty of defrauding one businessman of €17,000. Rainer alleged this was money he wanted to finish a movie about the Holocaust but the court heard there was ‘no such film, just €200,000 in personal debt’.

LEGACY 

Now a new film available in the UK tells the story of the Auschwitz commandant’s time in Nazi-occupied Poland with his family, including the picnics they enjoyed at the local river.

The film stars German actors Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller as Höss and his wife Hedwig.

It does not show any scenes inside Auschwitz itself but instead focuses on the everyday lives of Höss and his family. 

It is directed by Englishman Jonathan Glazer, whose previous work includes 2000 hit Sexy Beast and horror Under the Skin in 2013. 

Speaking to the BBC, Jonathan revealed that he wanted to use a ‘fly-on-the-wall technique’ to tell the story.

‘The phrase I kept using was “Big Brother in the Nazi house”,’ he told the outlets, evoking the feeling that filming was going on without visible camera crew set-ups. 

‘The idea of eavesdropping felt like the way to show the drama – although there is no drama… It was a way of being in the house with them.’

Speaking to The Guardian, Jonathan added it was challenging for him to humaniae the real Nazi commandant and his family.

‘To acknowledge the couple as human beings… was a big part of the awfulness of this entire journey of the film,’ he revealed.

‘But I kept thinking that, if we could do so, we would maybe see ourselves in them. 

‘For me, this is not a film about the past. It’s trying to be about now, and about us and our similarity to the perpetrators, not our similarity to the victims.’

Comical footage from a Christmas night out in Swansea has gone viral today, following in the footsteps of a similar photo of Manchester nightlife in 2015.

The photos show a number of people interacting with police officers on a busy Wind Street in the Welsh city on the last Friday evening before Christmas.

In one fell swoop, a man is held to the ground by police officers and arrested outside the Bambu Beach Bar. The officers are surrounded by a group of young people, three of whom talk animatedly to the police officers, while two girls pose next to them for the camera.

A second photo shows a similar scene from the other side of the road. In this shot, one of the men is now lying on the ground taking a selfie for the officers, while another is holding a police hat and a third is posing for the camera in front of a large group of onlookers.

The third photo shows a man and a woman arguing with a police officer in the hectic street, while another woman lovingly embraces them.

On the last Friday before Christmas Eve, also known as Black Friday, a number of party goers and nightlife enthusiasts take to the streets to drink and party with their friends, meaning it is usually also a busy night for police forces in the whole country. .

There are also images of the man being dragged away in handcuffs by the police and of a woman vomiting in the street.

This chaotic series of images from Swansea has gone viral since being posted online today, with one person commenting: ‘And they said The Last Supper was good, obviously I didn’t see this.’

The photos match the famous Well Street sculpture in Manchester on New Year’s Eve in 2015, which was jokingly compared to a modern piece by Michelangelo.

The image, dubbed the ‘Creation of Manchester’, showed Mike Deveney dramatically reaching across the concrete for a bottle of beer – against a backdrop of girls eating takeaways outside a Greggs – as officers found a man on the ground next to arrested him.

The photo amused thousands of people, but the 47-year-old father doesn’t even remember it being taken.

His girlfriend Hannah Kirby, who stands in the foreground in a red dress, said that far from being ‘chilling outside, having a beer’, Mr Deveney had just been knocked to the ground – but cleverly managed to save his drink with his outstretched arms. arm.

When asked if the photo was seen by millions of people around the world, he said: ‘I’m not really worried about the photo, I just felt a bit crazy. I heard about it about two days later.”

He added: ‘I don’t remember anything (of being on the ground). I remember getting up about twenty minutes later and going home with Hannah.

‘We’d been to the Gluepot, the pub in Newton Heath, and then we went to Mambo’s next to the Printworks.’

He says he kept a low profile on New Year’s Day and only learned of the photo when it went viral on Saturday.

Roland Hughes tweeted the photo with the caption: ‘There’s so much to see in this New Year’s Eve photo in Manchester from the Evening News. Like a beautiful painting.’

A group of young people gather in the background of chaotic Well Street, in front of a Superdry and Greggs, watching the commotion as they hold takeaway boxes in their hands.

Meanwhile, an older man dressed all in blue, now identified as Mr. Deveney, lies in the middle of the road, his outstretched hand reaching for a beer bottle as his T-shirt slides up over his exposed stomach.

After comparing the photo’s composition to a Renaissance painting, social media users quickly turned it into a series of hilarious memes, inspiring one internet hack to Photoshop the Man in the Blue Shirt into Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam.

Ms Kirby, who is also pictured, previously revealed that Mike was knocked over during a scuffle involving police and another reveler.

Ms Kirby told the Manchester Evening News: ‘[On New Year’s Day] my dad called and said I was in one of the photos. I went to the website and couldn’t believe it. Hilarious!’

By Shannon McGuigan

Published: 05:06 EST, December 19, 2023 | Updated: 05:07 EST, December 19, 2023

Suranne Jones is said to be phenomenal in her return to the role of Chief Inspector Amy Silva in the BBC thriller Vigil.

The Manchester-born actress, 45, has been praised for her chemistry with on-screen love interest Detective Sergeant Kirsten Longacre (praised by Rose Leslie), with many calling her acting ‘incredible’ and the story ‘thrilling’.

The show, which returned to screens last night and is also available on BBC iPlayer, is a follow-up to season 1, one of the biggest TV hits of 2021, with more than 12 million viewers.

Season one was a cat-and-mouse thriller set aboard a Royal Navy nuclear submarine embroiled in espionage and assassination, in which Jones excelled as DCI Amy Silva, a detective turned action hero who battled evil submarines and her own sense of claustrophobia. the gripping series won an International Emmy for Best Drama Series and was nominated for a BAFTA.

Now there is no locked room involved in the mystery, instead DCI Silva and DS Longacre are transported to a Royal Air Force base in Scotland.

When an exercise at the fictional Dundair air base to show off an attack drone to foreign buyers goes horribly wrong, several soldiers are killed.

Dougray Scott, Romola Garai and Alastair Mackenzie provide additional star power as air force officers are drawn into the ensuing police investigation.

Viewers are quick to label Suranne as a “modern Anne Lister,” referring to her Gentleman Jack character.

‘I watched the first brilliant episodes of season 2 of ‘Vigil’. Gosh I miss Suranne Jones,” said one.

‘That episode of #Vigil was phenomenal!! It’s so good to have Amy and Kirsten back. I missed Silvacre so much. I love how their relationship has progressed. Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie have great chemistry together’.

“I thought Vigil was pretty good. I see the story developing nicely. Think the biggest strength though is the acting/partnership of Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie,” said another.

‘This is so modern Anne Lister. Honestly, I’m screaming, I’m going to throw up,” said one.

“I thought #Vigil was really good…#BBC,” wrote another.

“If you get a chance to watch season 2 of #Vigil, do it!”

Speaking to Weekend magazine ahead of the series, Suranne said she ‘loved doing the stunts’

‘There are some brilliant fight scenes this time around.

“I had four amazing stuntwomen on this series because we were filming in different locations. They all made me do as much as I could and we had a lot of fun – I ended up with a lot of bruises, but they were so worth it.

“That’s what I like about it, that I get to do that and at the same time portray the clarity and intelligence of Amy’s character.”

Amy gets out of trouble as her investigation crosses continents. The training exercise with the high-tech drones was intended as a showcase to attract buyers from the fictional Middle Eastern country of Wudyan.

Air Marshall Marcus Grainger (Dougray Scott) oversees the demonstration, and when it ends in tragedy, possible espionage and the British military’s morally questionable relationship with an autocratic regime are spotlighted.

Grainger becomes irritated when DCI Silva pokes her nose into the RAF’s interactions with Wudyan. “Their relationship has been tested, to say the least,” said Dougray, 58.

“Grainger sees Amy as someone who has a job to do, so he respects and admires that, while also being quite annoyed by her relentless investigation.”

Those investigations bring DCI Silva to Wudyan, and the Middle Eastern setting marks a big change for the show. Gone are the tight shots in a submarine, replaced by equally menacing open spaces with nowhere to hide.

‘We were in Casablanca and Rabat in Morocco, so there’s a completely different aesthetic from the first series,’ Romola Garai, 41, who plays Eliza Russell, acting squadron leader at Wudyan air base and another formidable woman who had to move into a position of power added to Weekend.

‘We have these vast desert landscapes of openness and heat haze, where people disappear into a vast horizon instead of being trapped in a small submarine.

“It’s a completely different experience for the viewer as we explore a different world within the military.”

Romola explains that while DCI Silva and Russell are on opposite sides, they find common ground. “If Amy has a guardian on base when she gets to Wudyan, it’s Eliza Russell.

“To some extent she distrusts Amy – she’s an outsider who comes to investigate this crime – but at one point in the story we see them asking each other for help. They are strong women in positions of power who sometimes clash, but there is camaraderie between them.’

As DCI Silva risks her own safety in search of the truth, she knows the stakes are higher than ever. She and DI Longacre are now in a committed relationship and are expecting a baby, while the couple are also caring for Poppy, the daughter of Silva’s late boyfriend.

“We left series one with Amy and Kirsten picking up Poppy after the trauma of the submarine,” Suranne explains. ‘We saw that they had decided to give their relationship a chance.

‘In this series Kirsten is pregnant, they are very happy together and very much in love. So we see Amy in a very safe place in her life.”

Suranne adds that the opportunity to work with Rose again was a big draw. “We got along so well, so it was a pleasure to come back and continue to grow our relationship both on and off screen,” she says.

And as in the first series, Rose was pregnant during filming (she had her first child, a son, with her Game Of Thrones co-star husband Kit Harington in 2021). Rose has spoken about throwing up between scenes during filming of series one, but her stomach was hidden from view.

This time it was worked into the plot. “I told the producers I was pregnant before my first trimester was over, purely because I wanted to give them as much time as possible to adapt the storyline to the script that had already been written,” says 36-year-old Rose.

‘They were fantastic and incredibly supportive throughout, especially during the first seven weeks of filming. They’ve really woven it into the storylines seamlessly as it’s almost an echo of the first series where Amy goes off to investigate and Kirsten stays on site working on the investigation.”

Suranne loved acting opposite a pregnant Rose. “It was wonderful because Rose really had the belly that we see in the series,” says mother-of-one Suranne.

“Even when she had to have her real baby, the sound department did something amazing: they recorded Rose’s dialogue and when I called her they would play her on the phone, so it felt like she was there.”

Vigil once again takes viewers on a wild ride with maverick DCI Silva as she explores the murky world of military drones, weapons transactions, politics and warfare. “It’s brave to tackle the issues and ask some of the questions you see in the series,” Suranne says.

“It’s done in a way that keeps you in a hit blockbuster entertainment show, but is very intelligent and attentive to what’s going on in the world.”

Hannah Waddingham’s Christmas Special has been dubbed ‘spectacular’ and ‘sensational’.

The Ted Lasso actress stars in Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas, which debuts today on Apple TV+.

The special has already won a string of positive reviews from critics who say the Emmy-winner is now set for ‘world domination’ for her ‘perfectly pitched performance in more ways than one’.

Recorded live at The Coliseum in London, the one-hour special features the Ted Lasso star ringing in the season with musical performances of beloved Christmas classics. 

The Independent praised it as ‘like an old-fashioned variety show’ and say it is ‘reminiscent of An Audience with’ while the Guardian said ‘not even the Grinch could bah-humbug’ it.

Joining Hannah on stage is Sam Ryder, Luke Evans, and Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. as well as Phil Dunster who plays Jamie Tartt in Ted Lasso and more special guests.  

There are also appearances from additional performers including the English National Opera, the London Gay Men’s Chorus, The Fabulous Lounge Swingers and an 18-piece band. 

Along the way, Hannah shares her personal journey to this magical moment with anecdotes and memories about her own holiday experiences. 

Speaking to Forbes, Hannah said that in pitching the tone of special, she told executives that it would be, ‘somewhere between Dean Martin and Carol Burnett [shows],’ describing it as, ‘that style of having people over for the holidays, dropping in in their finery. 

‘I mean, I feel like it’s a bygone era with people in beautiful dinner jackets and beautiful dresses, so I was keen for the band to be in their tuxes and my backing vocalists to feel a million dollars.’ 

And she certainly achieved her goal, in the show she opts for an array of red and gold festive outfits which she pairs with huge heels and old Hollywood make-up.

‘Already an undisputed legend and icon, Waddingham has ascended even further into the stratosphere with this special, something she confessed had been a lifelong dream of hers to do,’ Yahoo said of the episode.

‘She’s smashed it out of the park, proving once again why she is the bright shining star she is. As well as killer, show-stopping vocals Waddingham also brings her characteristic warmth, humour, and infectious energy to the 45-minute special,’ the review adds.

‘Heralding the incipient tsunami of holiday programming, this may be the one program to watch, perhaps while preparing Thanksgiving dinner,’ the Wall Street Journal said.

‘Waddingham doesn’t need to prove herself to anyone anymore. Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas makes that clear,’ Screen Speck said.

‘If this special proves anything it is that Waddingham is the very definition of star quality. Let’s hope for another one in our stockings next year!’ The Gay Times said. 

Hannah said it ‘was uncommonly sweaty in London,’ when she filmed in May.

Speaking to the Associated Press, she said: ‘There was us putting out an invitation saying, “Please wear your Christmas finery.” So many of my friends rang me, were like, “Dude, really?” I was like, “Yes, get your Christmas sweater out. If I´m going to be sweating, so can you.”‘

The show is a dream come true for the performer, an Emmy Award-winner and three-time Olivier Award nominee. 

Her mother, Melodie Kelly, was an opera singer and Waddingham says she essentially spent her childhood at the Coliseum.

‘I’ve run around those corridors since I was 8 years old. The reason why I am who I am as a performer is from sitting in that theater watching the great opera singers of the day. … And then, of course, you know, my mother I didn’t mention it in the special, but my mother is heavily afflicted with Parkinson´s disease and is in a wheelchair. 

‘So the fact that she was even able to be there, my father sitting next to her, who had had quintuple heart surgery while I was shooting Ted Lasso… and to have my little girl, who by some quirk of the universe was 8 years old when we were shooting it, is unbelievable. Kismet.’

The special caps off an eventful year for Waddingham. 

Besides “Ted Lasso” airing its third season, and taping Home for Christmas, she hosted the Olivier Awards, and also co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest and the Earthshot Prize in Singapore alongside Prince William and actor Sterling K. Brown.

‘2024 is really going to have to go some because 2023 has been insane,’ she said.

It comes as FEMAIL dubbed Hannah ‘the Queen of Christmas’ a moniker that has now been widely used to describe the star.

 As well as her Apple TV special, Hannah is starring in Christmas adverts for Baileys and Marks & Spencer.

And it seems Hannah, who has also had roles in Sex Education and Game of Thrones, has always loved the festive season.

Speaking about her Bailey’s advert, the 48-year-old said: ‘Christmas is my favourite part of the year; a time to get together with my friends and family and indulge in our own festive traditions. 

After getting her big-break on Ted Lasso in her mid-forties, the starlet has gone from strength to strength, from wowing Eurovision audiences to now nabbing the Christmas advert crown.

Fans have been raving about the Ted Lasso actress, with one declaring: ‘Christmas 2023 belongs to Hannah Waddingham only.’

Her appearance in Ted Lasso’s Christmas episode, which first aired in 2021, has become a firm fan favourite too, scoring and impressive 8.6/10 on IMDB with one fan dubbing it ‘their favourite Christmas episode of any show, ever’. 

But the Emmy-Award winning actress’ recent string of success did not happen overnight.

It was only three years ago that the born-and-bred South-West Londoner believed she would never achieve the current adoration she has been drowned in, during 2023. 

Waddingham spent decades playing various roles on television and the bright lights of the West End, touring across the country with Spamalot, as well as appearing as Tonya Dyke in the ITV hit series, Benidorm.

Although the starlet achieved a success many only dream of, she only achieved her big break in her mid-forties. 

In 2019, Waddingham became a household name in the UK and across the pond after landing a role of Richmond FC owner Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso, a show that has since bagged 11 Emmys.

Waddingham, who shares a daughter with her former love Gianluca Cugnetto but is apparently happily single, has bagged two Supporting Actress Emmy wins and met President Joe Biden since appearing in the hit Apple TV+ series.

The Christmas season has not been the only time of the year where the actress has dominated. 

The 48-year-old host’s eternal joie de vivre captured the hearts of Eurovision fans when it aired in May.

Waddingham earned herself the new shiny position of Eurovision heiress apparent from Eurovision hero, Terry Wogan, after she swooned fans across the world. 

Fans of the singing contest, with a global audience 160 million, declaring ‘my douze points go to Hannah Waddingham’. 

The London actress, who present presenting alongside Norton, Alesha Dixon and Julia Sanina, enamoured the Liverpool crowd with her masterful French skills, lively dancing and witty banter. 

In the months following the singing contest, her Instagram following has grown 667,000 to nearly a million.

It wasn’t just ordinary folk who expressed their adoration of the starlet, celebrities were also just as charmed. 

Carol Vorderman wrote: ‘Can I just vote for Hannah Waddingham to be on everything on the telly at all times please?’

Nigella Lawson declared: ‘Just need to say I love Hannah Waddingham with every cell in my being.’   

When asked by a journalist in a press conference prior to the competition final about her plans ‘for world domination’, Waddingham modestly answered: ‘Oh my God! Can I just digest that for a moment please?!’

By Eleanor Dye for Mailonline

Published: 12:02 EST, November 19, 2023 | Updated: 12:02 EST, November 19, 2023