HARRY MAGUIRE knew Kobbie Mainoo had the wow factor when he first set eyes on his young teammate.

Now Maguire is determined to help the 18-year-old through the uniquely intense pressure that comes with playing for both Manchester United and England.

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The centre-back is adamant about playing in the goldfish bowl at Old Trafford, meaning United’s English players – such as Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and himself – are scrutinized more heavily than those from other clubs.

And that could serve as a warning for Mainoo as he enjoys a honeymoon period as an immensely talented United rookie celebrating his first call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad.

Maguire has emerged from a professional slump – when he was largely shut down by United boss Erik ten Hag – to re-establish himself as a regular starter for England and its most famous club.

And now he believes Mainoo has the chance to join him on the plane to Germany for this summer’s Euros.

Maguire said: “I have been a huge fan of Kobbie since he first started training with us.

“I remember talking to Tom Heaton about him and saying, ‘I feel like this kid has everything.’

“He handles the ball brilliantly. He is very strong and powerful, and you can see his progression to play that number 6 role, especially for United.

“The ‘six’ role is a huge responsibility and I am sure the positional part of his game will improve dramatically.

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“You have seen how much skill and talent he has, and he fully deserves his call-up. A role and responsibility for the senior players at Manchester United is bringing in players from the youth academy.

“The club has always been built on giving young people opportunities. Many of them train a lot with us, we try to make them feel welcome and we did that to Kobbie.”

Maguire compares Mainoo to Jude Bellingham – who made his Three Lions debut at the age of 17 – in terms of his remarkable maturity.

The United defender said: “I wasn’t worried about Kobbie.

“It’s unbelievable that he’s only 18, he’s so mature. He looks a bit like Jude when he was a young boy. He has an adult head on his shoulders.

“I see his capabilities in training day in, day out. I congratulated him, he absolutely deserves this. He has been excellent for us this season.”

When asked if Mainoo could be part of England’s European Championship team, Maguire replied: “I don’t see why not.

“To play in a big tournament it is important to have experience, but also the young people come in and sometimes they play without fear and can excel.

“We have a lot of good centres, players who have shown they can do it in big tournaments.

“He will continue to work hard, I’m sure, because he is a great boy. And we’ll see where it goes.”

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Maguire’s own place in England has been the subject of debate for years, with Southgate remaining loyal to the 31-year-old, who is expected to win his 63rd cap against Brazil on Saturday evening.

Last autumn, as Maguire emerged from United’s first team, he scored an own goal in a 3-1 win over Scotland while facing dog abuse from the crowd at Hampden Park.

At the time it seemed unlikely he could force his way into Ten Hag’s United plans and prove himself as England’s first-choice player at the European Championship, but the Yorkshireman has since turned his form around.

However, Maguire believes being a United player has increased the spotlight.

He said: “Different clubs have different levels of control and that is a big aspect when fans see Gareth choosing a squad.

“I could have played for Leicester and had one bad game, six good ones, a couple of bad ones, and everyone would think I’m in great form.

“When I do that for Manchester United, it doesn’t happen like that.

“Fans see the control. Every goal we concede is analyzed and that’s the pressure of playing for United.

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“You see it a lot in careers in England. You keep building up and then you have to maintain that level to stay there, otherwise you get knocked out pretty quickly.

“Everything you do when you play for a big club is analyzed.

“Every player who has played for United and England has had a time when people have not been happy.

“Beckham had a lot, even Wayne Rooney had said a lot and he was one of the best players to ever play for his country.

‘Wayne has experienced times when he was criticized. But it’s part of playing for such a historic club. I wouldn’t change it.”

Maguire thanked Southgate for showing faith in him during difficult times but claims his England form merited his continued inclusion even if he was not a United regular.

He said: “There are a lot of people now who probably don’t think I should be in the squad. There are millions of people who think I should be.

“But given the way I have played for my country in previous tournaments and matches, the fact that I didn’t play for my club as regularly as I should for six months shouldn’t really be a guarantee that I won’t be included in a squad included. Because when I did play for my club, country, I performed well.”

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Justin Timberlake just released his sixth studio album, Everything I Thought It Was, on Friday, March 15, marking his first batch of new songs in six years.

And just hours after the official release, wife Jessica Biel couldn’t resist going into promo mode for the 10-time Grammy Award winner by posting a series of photos from his album release party.

‘Everything I thought it was is out NOW! Congratulations @justintimberlake,” she gushed in the caption.

The couple, who have been married since 2012 and have two children together, are seen in the photos hanging out for the camera with a blue sky and white cloud background.

Pictured from the waist up and both dressed in black, Biel and Timberlake showed off their undeniable chemistry, as the actress is seen giving her man a big hug, while in another image the Hollywood star put a big smile on the singer’s face as she came in for a kiss on the cheek.

Biel, 42, showed off her cool fashion sense when she showed up at the promotional event in Los Angeles wearing a black miniskirt with a gray hoodie under a black jacket.

She also added a dose of SexyBack by wearing black knee-high boots and black sheer stockings.

The former 7th Heaven star couldn’t keep her hands off Timberlake in the series of photos, which she also captured flashing a peace sign in one photo.

The duo put their heads together for another photo or two, causing them to burst out laughing more than once.

The former boy band star looked stylish at his party in a black suit which he teamed with a black t-shirt and matching leather shoes.

For an extra dose of cool, the singer-songwriter wore red-tinted glasses during the impromptu photo shoot.

Timberlake and Biel have quite the legendary relationship dating back to when they were first romantically linked in 2007.

They would date for several years but eventually broke up in 2011, only to get back together and get married the following year, according to People.

“Once you find that person, it’s like a baptism, where you’re like, ‘I can’t go back,’ you know what I mean?” Timberlake said in October 2019 about finding “the one” in Biel.

They would welcome two children into their family: sons Silas, eight, and Phineas, three.

Timberlake first made his mark in the music industry as a member of the boy band *NSYNC, which released four studio albums between 1997 and 2001 that were a hit with young fans.

The Memphis, Tennessee native opted to go solo and saw his star power rise with the release of Justify (2002) and its follow-up FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), which sold over 10 million copies alone.

The new album was preceded by the single Selfish and the promotional Drown. Now that the record has fallen, the second official single, No Angels, follows.

Timberlake reunited with his former *NSYNC bandmates for a collaboration on the song Better Place.

“My sixth studio album Everything I Thought It Was will be released at midnight (ET),” the singer and actor shared on Friday. “This album is the culmination of where I’ve been and where I’m going – and I’m so grateful, nervous and excited to bring it into the world for all of you. Thank you for the love, it really means so much to me.”

In total, Everything I Thought It Was contains 18 new songs that translate into over an hour and 16 minutes of music.

Tracy King’s young life was blighted by her father’s killing: not only by profound grief and loss, but also abject terror, because she believed his killers — seemingly wrongly acquitted — roamed free near her home.

For 34 years this misunderstanding cast a malign shadow. ‘I thought my dad, Mike, had been killed with a karate chop to the head by the ring-leader of a gang of five violent youths who had fled the scene after the fatal attack,’ she says. ‘The dread, that I could be passing them in the street or at school, consumed me.’

Tracy stopped going to lessons, stopped sleeping and says she lived ‘in a state of constant exhaustion and fear’. ‘I didn’t know how to cope with the enormity of my feelings,’ she adds. ‘My Mum, severely agoraphobic and anxious herself, was ill-equipped to help me. I had a noise in my head like tinnitus or the buzz of a thousand bees. Our doctor prescribed sleeping pills.

‘I remember sitting by the side of Mum’s bed sobbing, holding the packet. I didn’t intend to take them. I didn’t want to die. I just wanted to stop the noise that plagued me.’

The trauma persisted, unresolved, into her adult life. Then, two years ago — when Tracy was 46 — she confronted it head-on. Writing her new memoir, Learning To Think, she decided to research her father’s death.

With astonishing courage, she arranged to meet Andrew Reynolds, the man she believed had killed him — it was a meeting that would shatter every conviction she had harboured.

Today, instead of clinging to the truth as she perceived it, she admits, with spectacular honesty, that she was wrong. ‘I met the man who killed dad… and I liked him very much,’ she says. ‘Andrew is a kind, thoughtful person without a shred of hatred or aggression. He told me how very sorry he was that he had struck the blow that ended my dad’s life.’

That was Tracy’s first surprise: Reynolds’ genuine contrition. But there was more: ‘Since I was 12, I had been convinced the dad I loved so much — my dear, kind, clever, flawed father, who was so engaged with my learning and taught me to be curious — had met a brutal death at the hands of an aggressor.

‘This belief tortured me for decades. But then, in 2022, Andrew’s story shifted my perspective on the events that changed my life that evening in 1988. It was liberating to know the truth at last.’

Today Tracy, 48 — a writer, producer and science communicator — lives in London with her partner and two cats. She is amiable, talkative, likeable, approachable.

She was a confident, irrepressible child — ‘rent-a-gob… a showbiz version of my more introspective older sister Emily,’ is how she puts it — until her beloved dad was killed.

The family lived hand-to-mouth on a council estate in the Midlands. Her father Mike, 44, a former RAF engineer, worked in a succession of low-paid jobs.

But Tracy remembers his questing mind: ‘He was interested in logic, puzzles, but also fostered my creativity. He took us on walks and we’d pretend to be hobbits or spies. He was also anxious, an alcoholic, and we were poor. We struggled to survive.’

Tracy’s mum, Jackie, loved writing, literature and poetry, but agoraphobia made her anxious and over-protective of her children.

The day Mike died began happily enough. Emily, then 14, had a local authority-funded boarding school place and she’d come home for a visit, so the family decided to celebrate with a rare takeaway.

Mike went to order the meal and called Jackie from a public phone booth to tell her he was going to pop into the pub as he waited for it. It was their last conversation.

When Mike didn’t come back, Jackie and the girls assumed he’d got waylaid in the pub, which wasn’t unusual. Later that evening, police arrived at the house to say Mike had collapsed and been rushed to hospital — where he was on life support.

‘I felt disbelief, dread and overwhelming fear,’ Tracy recalls. ‘The next day they turned off the life support machine. I wasn’t there. Mum didn’t want us to see dad in the hospital bed attached to tubes. I wanted to cry but shock doesn’t always show in tears. Every muscle was tense, my throat and chest a solid mass.’

Doctors told the family that Mike’s death had been caused by an aneurysm — a burst artery in the brain — a random ticking time-bomb which had exploded minutes after the phone call to Jackie.

Then came a fresh and horrifying twist: just as the family was adjusting to the shock of their loss, police arrived to tell them they were investigating Mike’s death as a potential murder. A manhunt was underway with 15 CID officers on the case.

A group of teenage boys had been sitting on a low wall close to the phone boxes taunting Mike, calling him names — until one, Tracy was led to believe, suddenly flew at him with a karate chop that instantly felled him.

‘Dealing with bereavement, I suddenly had a reason to be terrified, blinded by a fog of rage,’ says Tracy. ‘Life would never be the same again.’

Her overriding emotion, aside from sadness, was ‘abject fear’, her terror centring round the youths — 14-year-olds Reece Webster, Chris Hendon, Anthony Mears and Ian Burrows — she believed had been involved in the death, along with 17-year-old ringleader Reynolds.

‘We didn’t know these kids, other than Reece, a neighbour who had played with Emily and me. The vision of Dad being knocked out by Reynolds played over like a film reel as I tried to sleep. The police were adamant: Reynolds, a martial arts black belt, had landed the fatal blow.’

The five boys were arrested on suspicion of murder, held and questioned for several days. Four were then released without charge; Reynolds was kept in custody.

‘I’d been a teacher’s pet, a model pupil, but to get to school I had to walk past the spot where Dad had died,’ Tracy says. ‘A rumour circulated that the boys had made off on BMX bikes, running over dad’s head. Mum, plagued by her own fears, did not force me to go to school.’

It was over a year before her father’s case came to court. While her mother and the family went in to follow the proceedings, Tracy and Emily waited outside in the lobby.

The four boys would be called as witnesses, milled around the court precincts. Reynolds was held in a police cell. Tracy saw his parents sitting near them as they waited for the case to begin. ‘They looked like a nice couple,’ she remembers.

The trial was supposed to last five days, but on the second day it collapsed and Reynolds, to shock and fury, was acquitted of manslaughter.

‘All I remember was our family’s outrage, their contention that the whole thing had been a farce, a miscarriage of justice, their firm belief that Reynolds had got away with the killing.

‘I didn’t go back to school at all after that. I was too frightened of meeting the youths who were now – to my complete dismay — free to roam our estate.’

Instead, she educated herself with the help of her mum, who encouraged her love of reading: ‘I devoured the classics – Hardy, Orwell, Dickens — taking no interest in teenage hobbies such as fashion and boys.’

Tracy flourished academically, gaining qualifications in computer studies, and excelled in her first job, leaving with an impressive CV.

Until 2020, she continued to live uneasily with her dad’s brutal death. As well as the karate chop, she believed his assailants had fled after he collapsed.

When Tracy started to write her book, she began to question accounts, searching for the truth.

The idea of contacting the ‘gang’ — now all grown men — made her feel sick, but she quickly found Reece on social media. Assuring him she harboured no ill-will towards him, she suggested a Zoom meeting. To her surprise, Reece agreed.

‘As the screen flickered into life, there he was,’ she recounts. ‘There was no stabbing pain in my heart, no sickening lurch of recognition; just a slightly familiar man with a kind and unthreatening gaze.’

What Reece told her during their two-hour conversation was totally unexpected. In fact it overturned everything she believed.

Yes, the five teenagers had been sitting on the brick wall near the phone box and, yes, they had been taunting Mike — but far from being floored by a vicious karate chop from Reynolds, it was her dad who’d struck the first blow.

‘One of them, Chris Hendon, had apparently called him a slap-head; perhaps even said “f*** off old man” when asked to be quiet.

‘But after the call, Dad had retaliated by hitting Chris quite hard in the face. Chris tried to hit back but the punch did not really connect and Dad reeled backwards towards Andrew, who threw out his arm in self-defence. His fist connected with the side of Dad’s head. It was a hard hit — one of the boys heard my dad say, “Bloody hell, that was a good one,” before collapsing to the ground.

‘I was very calm when I heard this. Although Dad was a kind and loving man — he had never been remotely aggressive towards any of us — these events made sense.’

She tracked down and spoke to two more of the five men — Chris Hendon and Anthony Mears — finding their separate recollections persuasive.

‘They told me their memories, the subtle disparities in their accounts making them all the more convincing. There was nothing for them to gain from speaking to me. I respected them and I believe what they told me,’ she says.

In 2022, Tracy spoke to Andrew Reynolds on the phone.

She recalls the quickening of her heartbeat before the hour-long call, the huge effort of will and courage it took.

‘My heart hurt, my head was buzzing,’ she says. ‘The first thing he said was how sorry he was. He told me he’d been sitting on the wall that night waiting for his girlfriend. The boys weren’t a gang; they weren’t even friends. Andrew was 17 and came from an owner-occupied part of the estate.

‘After Dad had punched Chris, Andrew recalls he’d also kicked him in the stomach. Andrew had taken a swing in self-defence.’

Reynolds wasn’t a black belt in anything: ‘He didn’t jump off a wall and land a karate chop to the back of my dad’s head, but clumsily defended himself in the scuffle as my dad lunged towards him.’ Mike had then staggered away, fallen to his knees and collapsed. It was, she concedes, a very difficult conversation. 

But also ‘warm and positive’. ‘What happened had clearly affected him deeply his whole life. He told me barely a week had passed that he hadn’t thought about it, how he tried, in vain, to help my dad. I liked Andrew very much; for his genuine remorse, his sincerity.’

In late 2022 they met in a pub in the town where they’d both lived as children.

‘He seemed nervous, but as we’d spoken on the phone several times, I trusted him,’ Tracy adds. ‘I looked at his hands and thought about how the karate chop that had never happened had haunted me.

‘He said again how sorry he was and as we left I opened my arms for a hug. We parted as friends.’

They’ve since stayed in touch a few times a year via text. ‘I feel no guilt at all for liking him. He is a lovely man.’

Today Reece, too, remains a friend. ‘We talk regularly. I realise now he was a daft kid, not party to a murder.’

Reece’s life had been turned on its head by the accusation: ‘His grandmother never spoke to him again. His father disowned him.’

She now realises she misunderstood large swathes of her father’s death. Rumour and gossip added to the fear that consumed her. The police investigation had concluded that Reynolds probably acted in self-defence, which made his acquittal on manslaughter charges the right verdict.

And, perhaps most conclusively, the boys had in fact tried to help Mike when he fell — the police concluded they would’ve stayed at the scene until the ambulance arrived were it not for two adults who told them to ‘scarper’.

Does she forgive Andrew Reynolds for striking the blow that killed her father? ‘The fact is,’ she says, ‘I do not blame him. I think he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’ After years of unresolved trauma over her father’s death she has now had therapy.

‘And knowing the truth about what really happened to him has been liberating,’ she says. ‘Actually, it has set me free.’

Some names have been changed. Learning To Think by Tracy King (£16.99, Doubleday) is out now

SIR ALEX FERGUSON celebrated his first ever win at the Cheltenham Festival as Monmiral claimed victory in the Pertemps Network Final.

The legendary Manchester United manager was seen with a big smile on his face moments after the win as the 25/1 shot came in for Kyntara.

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It is the biggest outsider to win at the festival so far this week, as pre-race favorite Cuthbert Dibble had to settle for third.

Fergie co-owns the seven-year-old horse with Ged Mason and John and Lisa Hales.

After the win, the ex-Red Devils boss said: “Well, that was fantastic, what a jockey.

When asked if it was “the same buzz as the Champions League”, he added: “Oh no, that’s different, that’s different.”

He also claimed that the horse is “absolutely” a champion in the making.

Jockey Harry Cobden said: “I can’t believe this horse won, he was 25-1 and I thought he should have been 125-1.

“Fair play to the trainer, Hannah, who rides him most days. The blinders have made a huge difference.

“I am very happy with this winner.”

Former England manager Sam Allardyce was spotted with Fergie as Monmiral crossed the line.

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The Sun is your destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, stunning pictures and can’t-miss videos.Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.

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The Princess of Wales wanted to own up to her Mother’s Day photo blunder as she believed honesty was the ‘best policy’, it has been claimed.

In an astonishing move, Kate Middleton admitted yesterday that she ‘edited’ an image showing her celebrating Mothering Sunday with her children.

But a palace insider told The Telegraph that the princess felt ‘awful’ about the altered image, and she had tried to make the photo the ‘best it could be’. 

A friend of Kate also said she would be ‘upset’ by the storm caused by what was meant to be an ‘innocent family photograph’, the Mirror reported. 

It comes after the princess said in a rare personal message on Twitter that she ‘occasionally experimented’ as an ‘amateur photographer’.

She apologised for any ‘confusion’ the photograph had caused, after six global picture agencies sensationally pulled the image from their wires and libraries – an unprecedented reaction to an official royal photograph – amid concern that ‘the source has manipulated the image’.

The kill notices by the agencies added fuel to the fire as a litany of conspiracy theories continue to swirl about Kate’s health.

There were questions over everything from why Princess Charlotte’s wrist did not match the sleeve of her cardigan, to Prince Louis’ strange fingers. 

The photograph of Kate and her children, taken by Prince William at the family home in Windsor on Friday, was the first to be issued since her abdominal surgery in January. 

Although the couple have regularly issued something personal to mark Mother’s Day, it was hoped the picture might also quell vicious social media speculation about the nature of the princess’s condition, which has deeply upset and angered the couple.

 Instead, the royal blunder resulted in another public explosion of conspiracy theories.

Royal sources said the princess had made ‘minor adjustments’ to the picture, which she and her husband had hoped would be a lovely ‘informal’ shot to share on a special day.

One source said: ‘The princess made minor adjustments, as she shared in her statement on social media. The Wales family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day.’

The Mirror reported that a royal insider said: ‘It is a bad day at the office for the palace and something which will no doubt be reflected on in future.’

Publicly taking the blame for the furore, the princess wrote: ‘Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.

‘I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.

‘I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.’

Kensington Palace said it would not reissue the unedited photograph of Kate and her children, which in itself sparked further debate.

Last night, the Palace faced growing pressure over the debacle with claims it has damaged public trust. The row overshadowed yesterday’s Coronation Day service at Westminster Abbey, which was being led by Queen Camilla for the first time – accompanied by Prince William – in the King’s absence as he undergoes cancer treatment. His Majesty recorded a video message for the first time instead.

Yesterday Kate was seen in the back seat of a car with her husband as he left Windsor to travel to London for two public engagements. It is understood she was en route to a ‘private appointment’ and she did not accompany William publicly.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline her ‘sudden appearance ‘s not a dignified response’ to what has occurred.

He said: ‘When journalists have been saying they want to “see“ Catherine, no one, as I understand it, meant in quite this way. A sudden appearance, which she has just made, is a knee jerk reaction which lacks what royals must have, that is dignity. 

‘This business has also overshadowed Commonwealth Day. There should never have been two and a half months where she seemed to disappear, we should, occasionally, have felt we were in touch whilst it was important she felt she had kept her privacy.

‘William and Catherine are under tremendous pressure, which is particularly horrible if one has been seriously ill as she has. However, the mistake of editing the photograph, though extremely embarrassing, is not a major calamity. 

‘What it shows is that she looks well again and that her children look very happy. However, their current handling of public relations is potentially perilous. 

‘What the small but growing number of republicans want is to mock the monarchy. 

‘Whilst Queen Elizabeth lived this was all but impossible. Ill-health and the crises affecting the Sussexes and Yorks have given them a good opportunity. The public relations at the Palaces needs to be responsive and disciplined which it clearly is not. William and Catherine are the world’s most glamorous and high profile royal couple. 

‘They need dignity to continue to do good for their charities and project soft power like no one else can for Britain. They must put this embarrassing episode behind them and appear publicly confident. It will take time and common sense, kept in touch, the people will respond…’

Here, the Mail examines how the publishing of a seemingly innocuous family photograph turned into a royal furore:

Growing concern

News that the Princess of Wales had undergone what was described only as ‘planned abdominal surgery’ was announced on January 16.

Kensington Palace confirmed that Kate had been admitted to The London Clinic in Marylebone the previous day and the surgery had been successful. Appealing for privacy for her to recuperate, it said no updates would be given unless there was a major announcement to be made and made clear it was unlikely she would return to public duties before Easter.

But the absence of any official news has resulted in an explosion of sinister, and often slanderous, speculation about her condition, with the hashtag #WhereIsKateMiddleton trending almost daily. While some has been obviously ridiculous, such as the claim she is recovering from a Brazilian bum lift, one Spanish television journalist claimed she was in a coma. Many other theories are unprintable.

Palace discussions

William and Kate are known to have been deeply upset by recent public discussion about her welfare.

Speculation reached fever pitch, first when William pulled out from his godfather King Constantine’s memorial service for a ‘personal matter’ just 45 minutes before he was due to arrive. 

Then Kensington Palace reacted angrily to the Ministry of Defence advertising tickets for a Trooping the Colour event featuring the princess in June, resulting in the offending webpage being taken down. A spokesman said testily that only the Palace was entitled to confirm her public appearances.

Last Monday a grainy paparazzi picture was also published on the US gossip site TMZ – having been refused by all major UK news organisations on the basis that Kate had an expectation of privacy – apparently showing the princess returning to Windsor with her mother, Carole, driving her after the school run.

Instead of calming concern, it prompted even more speculation, with conspiracy theorists claiming the picture had been digitally altered – or wasn’t even her.

At Kensington Palace, senior aides were debating whether to issue their customary Mother’s Day picture. In a normal year, this would have been a ‘no-brainer’, but given that the princess had asked for space to privately recuperate and the ‘craziness’ of the speculation, officials wanted to be reassured that this wouldn’t add to it.

That picture

Kensington Palace gave just a few minutes’ notice to the Press that the picture would be released on its social media platforms. It was likely designed to attract maximum engagement with their social media channels. The decision had the desired effect with more than 78 million views on X, formerly Twitter, alone.

Social media sleuths

Shortly after the picture was published, social media sleuths began to comment that parts of it appeared to have been ‘Photoshopped’ or digitally manipulated.

The most obvious instance was Princess Charlotte’s sleeve, but questions also began to arise about the leaves on the tree in the garden, with some saying it was too early in the year for such lushness. The general chatter about the image grew louder and louder until news websites began running articles about the apparent discrepancies late on Sunday afternoon.

Agencies ‘kill’ photo

Matters became more serious on Sunday night when respected international picture agency AP issued a ‘kill’ notice, asking clients to delete the picture and saying: ‘At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image.’ Kensington Palace was thrown completely off guard and swiftly declined to comment, saying it would ‘not be drawn’ on the issue.

Crisis at the Palace

The Mail understands the first the Palace heard of the furore was when it was contacted by journalists on Sunday night.

It can be difficult to raise the Waleses, who now live at Adelaide Cottage at Windsor during term-time, particularly at weekends, when they value their private family time.

But it was clear that conversations were going on through the night and into the morning about the best way to respond. None of the Press team was responding to messages, the surest sign of crisis talks.

The Palace has hugely extended its operation to include extensive internal media teams. The downside is that control is tighter and pictures, particularly those taken by the princess – will drop on the press office at the last minute. While William took the picture on Friday, it was Kate who sent it in. Meta data – information attached to images – showed that the picture was saved twice on Photoshop, once on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning. But this would have given the Palace only Saturday afternoon and evening to go through the image with a fine-tooth comb, if indeed it did.

Mea culpa

By yesterday morning, the story was on the front page of most British newspapers, as well as leading television bulletins. There was still silence from Kensington Palace, but it was clear that this was a row that could not be allowed to fester.

At 10.30am, Kate’s unprecedented mea culpa dropped on Kensington Palace’s social media platforms. There is no suggestion that the princess did not write and post it herself, although the Palace would not be drawn on that either.

It is worth noting, however, that the statement was cleverly worded to deflect criticism. As well as emphasising Kate’s status as a keen but very much ‘amateur’ photographer who seemingly only dabbles with editing, it signed off with a message about Mother’s Day that only the churlish would quibble with.

Unanswered questions

The Palace is hoping to draw a line under the issue, but questions remain. What were the ‘minor adjustments’ that were made and can the Palace confirm what software was used? Was the photograph checked thoroughly before it was issued – or indeed were staff even aware of the possibility that attempts might have been made to alter it? And has this happened with any of the princess’s photographs before?

Royal insiders say it is increasingly rare to find any image released publicly that hasn’t been altered slightly or had a filter applied. The issue here is how much? 

The fallout

While this weekend’s events are significant, they should not be overstated. This appears not to be wholescale fakery, but a classic Photoshop fail.

But it is vital, if the public and media are to have confidence in the story the Waleses are publicly telling about their lives, that their images are true and authentic.

The fallout from the episode has resulted in a further explosion of ridiculous conspiracy theories at a time when the Crown could well do without any further conjecture.

It’s awards season and that means one thing: eagle-eyed fashion fans are watching the events as intently as movie buffs.

For some viewers, seeing what the A-listers choose to wear as they strut down the red carpet is just as important as seeing who picked up the gong.

And two actors who get a lot of attention – much of it unwanted – for their ensembles are Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt.

The two theater makers opted for a trend that upset some fashionistas – with one even wondering if their dresses had fallen victim to the dreaded ‘wardrobe malfunction’.

And the feature in question is “floating straps,” a design where the stars wore dresses with the shoulder straps placed several inches above their shoulders instead of resting on top.

Best Supporting Actress nominee Emily Blunt may not have won her category, but she did appear on several best-dressed lists, thanks to her champagne-colored, beaded Schiaparelli dress with floating shoulders.

Stylist Jessica Paster, who helped Emily choose the dress, shared Vanity fair: ‘Did I know that people started talking over their shoulders? Absolute. Do I care what anyone else has to say? Absolutely not.’

Jessica added: ‘At the end of the day she looked absolutely beautiful. It was such a beautiful dress.’

She also noted that she was surprised to see Florence Pugh wearing a similar detail on her silver Del Core dress, as she “thought” [Blunt] would be the first to wear it [the floating shoulder]’.

While the stylist may have liked the details, it was surprisingly controversial among some viewers, who shared their negative thoughts on social media.

One Instagrammer said: ‘I thought it was a wardrobe malfunction.’

And an X user (formerly Twitter) wrote: ‘The floating bands need to go. one of the worst trends in years. I just want to push them all DOWN.”

Another said: ‘Why are Emily Blunt’s dress straps just floating in the air?’

In a similar vein, another commenter wrote, “What’s going on with Emily’s top dress straps? They look like they’re floating.’

Meanwhile, another wrote: ‘Apparently there are floating straps in there?’

However, a small minority of viewers seemed to be fans of the trend and shared positive thoughts about the new look.

One wrote: ‘I didn’t know what to think at first… but I love Emily Blunt and Flo Pugh’s floating shoulder straps.’

And another added: ‘OMG FLOATING BANDS OF BEAUTIFULNESS. Charlize! I live!’

Additionally, Emily’s figure-hugging sequined Schiaparelli couture gown faced a backlash due to the dress’s quirky, bejeweled Y-front.

Emily’s stylist Jessica Paster took offense to fans who said the girth of the underwear ‘ruined the whole look’ when she shared photos on Instagram.

She replied: ‘because you have absolutely no refined taste.’

When another criticized: ‘I just think this is too cool a dress for her and the glamor didn’t help’, Jessica hit back: ‘I didn’t see you on the red carpet???’.

The cream-colored dress was covered in sequins and had gravity-defying straps, but as Emily walked the red carpet, all viewers could talk about was the beaded outline of a pair of Y-fronts on her dress and the bizarre shoulders.

One wrote: ‘Is Emily Blunt wearing the tight white men’s underwear dress? Yes she is’, while another said: ‘thanks Emily Blunt for bringing back the handball goalkeeper jockstrap’.

Others said: ‘Why does Emily Blunt’s dress have rhinestone fronts?’ and “Emily Blunt’s dress has shopping bag handles for shoulder straps.”

“Emily Blunt wearing that dress makes me miss Joan Rivers and Fashion Police. Joan would have made great jokes.”

‘What’s going on with Emily Blunt’s dress? Miranda Priestly frowns.’

Jessica has been a stylist for over twenty years and has dressed a number of stars, including Eva Longoria, Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Aniston, for major red carpet events such as the Emmys, Golden Globes and the Met Gala.

Cate Blanchett once raved about her when she said, “The great thing about Jessica is [her ability] to inhabit the fashion world and be human and real.”

Emily’s film Oppenheimer won a whopping seven Oscars at Sunday night’s Academy Awards, while rival Barbie won just one.

The two actors weren’t the only ones looking unusual: Also sporting modernist ensembles, Kim Kardashian and Emily Ratajkowski pulled out all the stops for the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty.

Kim opted for a sculptural white satin dress from Balenciaga for the ‘do at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills.

However, the 43-year-old mother of four contrasted the ultra-modern dress with a classic cosmetic look.

She styled her hair in waves, stunning in an old Hollywood style, and then finished her look with a smokey eye and nude lip.

Also dressed in a futuristic dress was Emily Ratajkowski, 32, by French fashion label Jacquemus.

Emily posed sideways and showed off the backless gown, which had an unusual asymmetrical bodice.

The bodice tilted slightly to the left and almost seemed to detach from her figure.

EXCLUSIVE

A former classmate of Samantha Murphy’s accused killer has revealed that in high school he had big dreams of changing the world by creating a solution to combat climate change.

Patrick Stephenson, 22, the son of former AFL player Orren Stephenson, was this week charged with murdering the 51-year-old mother of three on February 4 after she left her Ballarat home for a morning run.

The development – four weeks after Ms Murphy’s disappearance – has shocked the rural town of Victoria, where both the Stephenson and Murphy families are well-known and respected members of the community.

As the search for Ms. Murphy’s body continues, a Damascus College graduate who attended the school with Stephenson for two years said he was also surprised by the arrest of his former classmate.

The man, who was a grade older than Stephenson, said they were in the same roll call class and that the alleged killer was friends with his younger brother.

‘He loved IT [Information Technology] and he was always tinkering with cars and tools and stuff, he was interested in mechanics and science,” the classmate said.

‘We both participated in a science fair [at school] and we worked on robots together. He would ask teachers for extra time to use the classrooms and tools.”

The former student said Stephenson was outgoing and an avid rower who was a member of the school’s sports team.

Outside of school, Stephenson would sometimes visit his parents’ house to hang out with his younger brother, where the pair would “work on stuff in the shed.”

However, his most vivid memory of Stephenson was his ambitions to tackle air pollution caused by the transport sector.

And the former student believed he seemed tenacious enough to succeed.

“I remember him talking about how he wanted to come up with a solution to make cars more environmentally friendly and reduce CO2 emissions,” he said.

“He seemed passionate about it, like he was going to tackle it later in life.

“You know, like ‘wow, he could be the next Elon Musk.’

Stephenson started high school at St Patrick’s College, before transferring to Damascus College for years 10-12.

He graduated in 2019 before taking up a profession as an electrician, like his father, a local electrician and telecommunications technician.

Police say Stephenson and Ms Murphy did not know each other, but she worked in the uniform shop at St Francis Xavier Primary School around the same time he attended the school.

Mrs Murphy’s eldest daughter Jess, who is also 22, was also a member of the same school community.

While Jess attended different high schools than Stephenson, Ms Murphy’s youngest daughter is currently studying at Damascus College.

In recent weeks, the high school has publicly expressed their support for the distressed Murphy family as they frantically search for their missing mother and wife.

“As the search for Samantha continues, Damascus College extends our prayers and support to the Murphy family,” the school wrote in a Feb. 9 message.

“As a community we have seen and heard Michael [Ms Murphy’s husband] and Jess about the recent news, and our hearts are full as we remain steadfast in hope.

“In times of challenge and uncertainty, we may experience mixed emotions, and we recognize the sadness and vulnerability that the Damascus community may be experiencing at this time.

“We keep the Murphy family in our hearts and prayers as we pray for a positive outcome.”

Former student Stephenson would be arrested just four weeks later on March 6 while holed up with his girlfriend in a house in Scotsburn, 19km south of Ballarat.

Police will allege Stephenson killed the mother in Mount Clear – about five kilometers from her Ballarat East home – while she was running through Woowookarung Regional Park in the morning.

Victoria Police say they do not believe anyone else is involved and have seized a number of items including a car and CCTV footage from local pubs as part of the investigation.

Over the past month, police and dozens of volunteers have carried out large-scale searches of the area, but no traces of Ms Murphy have been found.

Stephenson has been in custody since Thursday and has not disclosed the location of her body to investigators.

A gag order on Stephenson’s identity was lifted by a Victorian magistrate on Friday.

His case will return to court at a later date.

A DATING coach has shown that even she is not immune to dating disasters.

Navigating work relationships can be tricky at the best of times, but hers was certainly a difficult one.

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She had been in a relationship with a man at work who insisted that “no one should ever know.”

But she was shocked to find out the real reason after he saw her in the office.

Nowadays Dani Coco (@dani.coco1) says she would not tolerate similar behavior.

But she was younger and less sensible in such areas.

She shared her experience in the hope that it might help someone going through similar dating trauma.

And there were plenty of them in the comments on her video.

San Diego Dani shares “dating advice and stories on her TikTok.

“Possibly my most unhinged dating story,” she gushed after.

“So one time I went out with a guy I worked with. It was just one of those offices, and everyone was dating each other,” she said.

“But he was adamant that no one in the office should know.”

The procedure at her workplace was that every arrangement between employees had to be reported in the interest of openness and transparency.

‘He wasn’t my superior, so it wouldn’t have been a problem. But he said no one should ever know,” she added.

“Now that I’m that age, with my life experience, I would have said: OK, bye.

“But at that moment I thought: fine, he’s just a private person.”

He tried to justify his position by saying that any knowledge of the relationship would ruin his chances of promotion.

‘I should have run for the hills. I didn’t know any better,” she said.

Even going out for dinner was fraught with intrigue as he insisted they go in separate cars.

“He made me take my car because he didn’t want us to be seen together, which is ridiculous because people knew we were friends.”

But after a few months of dating, things took a turn for the worse and she didn’t see that coming.

“One day I texted him and said we had to do something this weekend.”

That was it. The end. The end. Kaput. She never heard from him again.

“He just stopped texting,” she said.

Back at the office, he gave no explanation, avoided all eye contact and made excuses and trips to avoid bumping into her.

“He wouldn’t answer questions I sent in our team chat and wouldn’t engage with me,” she wrote.

“I was so stunned I couldn’t even be angry. Eventually he quit and we never spoke again.”

Without a chance conversation with mutual friends, she might never have known the true reason behind his behavior.

“They told me that right before he quit, his long-term, long-distance girlfriend moved in with him.

“That was the part that surprised me. Because it wasn’t just that he was an asshole, it was also how far in advance he thought about it,” she said.

Dani’s post brought back memories of dating hell for commenters.

“My fiancé ghosted me after I found out he had a girlfriend of four years and that he lived in my house and drove my car that was registered in my name,” was a horrible experience for a woman.

“I dated a colleague who moved in with his girlfriend who traveled a lot for work. “I only found out through the mailroom guys because he was collecting boxes,” said another.

“Something similar happened to me until I was hanging out with a girl from work and she told me she was pregnant by him,” was one person’s sad story.

“I once dated a man for six months. He came to my house every weekend until the weekend he didn’t come and found out he was getting married to his long-term fiancée that weekend,” was an equally unfortunate experience from a second person.

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