Category: Life Style

Kids were in tears: visitors complain of Santa ‘shambles’ at Hampshire grotto”. So goes one headline this week though, in truth, it could have been written in any December of any year. For ’tis the season – not, it transpires, to be jolly, but to be disappointed by chronically lacklustre Christmas “experiences” up and down the nation.

At this latest iteration of a hastily thrown-together Santa’s pad, hosted by the Great Hall in Winchester, it was the fat man himself who prompted parents’ wrath and children’s weeping. St Nicholas was accused of not only having a “blatantly fake beard” and “cheap red suit”, but of even lacking the good-time persona that you’d assume was a prerequisite for the job. “He wasn’t very talkative at all – he didn’t seem very jovial,” complained hacked-off father-of-three Matthew Fernandez. “It ruined the experience.”

Several parents described the grotto as a “shambles” and called for it to be closed down; one alleged that a monosyllabic Santa provided “no hohoho, no merry Christmas, nothing”.

The backlash provoked such a furore that the Great Hall was forced to address the accusations, refuting suggestions that the event had been “mis-sold” but offering a full refund to anyone who was yet to visit. “This year’s Santa experience is brand new and does offer some great new additions which expand the offer. At no point have we suggested that this year’s experience was the same as that delivered by the previous operator,” reads a statement.

Though I  sympathise with the bawling offspring and their beleaguered caregivers forced to shell out £18.50 per child for a thoroughly uninspiring day out, I do have to wonder at Brits’ perennially misplaced optimism. At this stage – after this many identikit stories year after year – shouldn’t we just admit that the UK doesn’t, well, excel when it comes to Christmas events? Can’t we simply accept that we’re more likely than not going to feel let down and pay through the nose for the privilege?

A prime example of the festive anticlimax comes courtesy of Winter Wonderland, London’s annual hate-inducing venue in Hyde Park. Kicking off in November and running until early January, it’s become synonymous with tourist trap prices, Bavarian-themed tat and vibes best characterised as “basic”, plus the kind of ungodly queues usually associated with music festivals. Entry costs up to £7.50 for a peak ticket; once inside, visitors can look forward to paying a premium for absolutely everything. Think £22 for a rack of ribs; £11 for churros; £9 for a Bratwurst; £7.75 for a pint. The rides, which are definitely more funfair than theme park, also don’t come cheap, with the Looping Coaster priced at £11 a pop and the giant wheel at £8 per go-around. Blink and, before you know it, you’ve flushed fifty quid.

Every year, social media fills up with complaints of “£10 for cheesy chips!” from outraged patrons. Every year, people keep rocking up and hoping for the best.

When they reached the North Pole, her nine-year-old queried ‘why all the buildings had holes in them’

But it’s the events specifically aimed at children that often trigger the greatest sense of disillusionment. Unfortunately, parents wanting to provide little ones with a “magical” experience they’ll never forget are some of the easiest marks, willing to plough huge amounts of cash into yuletide memory-making. Want to clean up with minimal input or effort? There’s arguably no better get-rich-quick scheme than scattering some cotton-wool “snow”, bulk buying the glitter, throwing on a highly flammable red suit and charging a small fortune on the door.

A friend of mine has been burned more than once by the desire to see her adorable offsprings’ faces light up with delight as they meet the “real” Father Christmas in his workshop. Last year’s outing saw the family transported around a shopping centre carpark by golf buggy, inexplicably encouraged to take photos of cardboard cut-out elves. It was, of course, pouring with rain. It was, of course, strictly verboten to take their own pictures when the kids were introduced to Santa. Parents were instead forced to pay an exorbitant amount for the “official” shots, taken on what appeared to be a CCTV camera.

This year they opted for driving an hour and a half to have a go on the Polar Express (TM), a festive franchise loosely based on the Tom Hanks animated film, where an immersive adventure takes place aboard a train. They had, in fairness, gone the week before the attraction’s official opening to experience the dress rehearsal, swerving the jaw-dropping £200 fee for a family of four in the process. Still, my friend was a little taken aback at the undeniably shonky aesthetic: the northern lights consisted of “four coloured spotlights in a tunnel”; when they reached the “North Pole”, her nine-year-old queried “why all the buildings had holes in them” and looked like they’d been repeatedly shot at. “Was it worth it? I can certainly say it was not!” came the unforgiving assessment.

Then there’s the scourge of “rip-off” Christmas markets that pop up across the country like clockwork each December. Manchester seems to have copped particular flack this year, branded “overpriced” by disgruntled shoppers on Tripadvisor. “Utter rubbish, only stalls selling food or drink,” reads one review. “Next to nothing in the way of gifts, definitely save your money and go elsewhere.” Another commented that it was “the perfect place to go if you’ve recently come into a large inheritance and it’s burning a hole in your pocket” – proving that at least we haven’t lost our sense of humour in all of this.

Christmas aside, the UK’s track record when it comes to novelty “experiences” in general is objectively crap. Remember the infamous Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow earlier this year, so manifestly terrible that it went viral and garnered worldwide attention? More than 800 people had to be refunded and the event, advertised as “immersive” and “enchanting”, shut down early after families bemoaned the “disorganised mini-maze of randomly placed oversized props, lacklustre candy station that dispersed one jelly bean per child, and a terrifying chrome-masked character that scared many kids to tears”.

My point is this: why do we keep making the same mistake? Why do we keep expecting more when this is evidently an area where acute disappointment is all but assured? Insanity, the popular saying runs, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you still opt to attend a hellscape of a festive excursion this year, go in with your eyes wide open, lower those expectations – and, if you’re still disappointed, I regret to inform you that you’ve only got yourself to blame.

A British man has received a £70,000 settlement from his doctor after claiming that medication prescribed for restless leg syndrome caused him to develop compulsive gambling and shopping habits, his legal team announced on Friday.

The story revolves around 66-year-old Philip Stevens. In 2017, he was prescribed Ropinirole, a dopamine antagonist. However, he was not cautioned about potential side effects, including impulse control disorders.

Before taking the medication, the man, who had a long-standing interest in horse racing, described himself as “careful” with his betting.

But after taking the medication his gambling “spiralled out of control” and he regularly made bets on his smartphone and even woke up in the middle of the night to place a wager.

He also started shopping compulsively for clothes and became obsessed with purchasing excessive amounts of fishing equipment.

“Over the four years that Philip took Ropinirole, he spent thousands of pounds on online gambling websites,” a spokeswoman for legal firm Leigh Day solicitors said.

“His gambling became compulsive, and he was betting on anything he could and stopped caring about winning altogether,” she added.

Stevens, from Hampshire in southern England, eventually halted the medication on the advice of another doctor, a neurologist.

His compulsive behaviours stopped, but due to not receiving advice on ending the medication gradually, he suffered serious withdrawal symptoms such as paranoia that saw him asking his children to take DNA tests because he had become convinced they were not his.

Lawyer Angharad Vaughan said she hoped “important lessons will be learned from this case to ensure that, in future, patients receive all the information they need about the potential side effects of such drugs”.

Leigh Day’s spokeswoman said the financial settlement was agreed without the doctor accepting liability.

Hope Walz has gone viral for a quintessentially Midwestern clip of her parents, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his wife Gwen, decorating their Christmas tree.

The 23-year-old took to TikTok on Wednesday (December 11) to share the video she was sent from her parents at their home in Minnesota with her 202.5k followers. Hope began the video by explaining that she wasn’t going home for Christmas this year, and shared some of her family’s holiday traditions.

“So I don’t get to go home for Christmas because I work, it’s like the busy season at one of my jobs,” Hope said. “We love Christmas as a family, Christmas is our favorite holiday. We always decorate a couple trees and our family all spends a lot of time together and we play Yahtzee.”

“I’m obviously sad I can’t go home, I didn’t get to last year either, and my family’s sad about it too,” Hope explained.

To keep the holiday spirit alive, however, Hope revealed that her parents sent her “the most hilarious video.” She decided to share the clip for those who “don’t get to go home for Christmas” or have a “different sort of relationship” with their family and “just need a little Christmas joy from people that are accepting of you no matter what.”

The TikTok then cut to the video sent by her parents Tim and Gwen, who were seen standing in front of a tall Christmas tree decorated with homemade ornaments from over the years. The former Democrat vice presidential candidate held the phone’s front camera up to their faces as they showed off their tree in the family room.

“Hey, Hope. Mom and Dad here,” Tim began, as Gwen chimed in: “Hey, Hoper-girl.”

The state governor explained to his daughter that they had just finished decorating their family Christmas tree filled with “all of the handmade ornaments.”

“We were thinking of you and I just wanted to show you a couple, we were cracking up about a couple of these,” he said.

Tim gave viewers a close-up look at their tree, including one ornament that featured an old photo of a young Hope decorated in a star.

“Here’s Gus, your brother,” Tim continued, showing an ornament of the now-17-year-old dunking a basketball.

Her parents then saved the best ornament for last – an angel Christmas tree topper made by Hope from a toilet paper roll. As Tim reached the top of the tree to place the angel, Gwen burst out into the song “Joy to the World.”

“Alright, there you go,” Tim told the camera. “I know you’re missing your Griswold family. Decorate your house for Christmas. We’re thinking of you.

“Love you, Hope. Bye,” he signed off the clip, as Gwen waved.

After sharing the clip with her followers, Hope appeared back on the screen to poke fun at her parents. “My parents are literally so midwestern,” she joked.

“Happy holidays, Merry Christmas from the Walz family. Hope you all have a peaceful, joyous time,” she concluded the TikTok.

Since it was posted, the video has been viewed more than 620,000 times. In the comments section, thousands of fans gushed over Hope’s “wholesome” video and once again praised Tim as America’s dad.

“Your family is so wholesome,” one TikToker commented. “I’m obsessed.

“Christmas with the Walz’s is a series we didn’t know we needed,” another user joked.

“I will never forgive America for not making this man VP,” someone else said.

Hope and Tim have previously shared glimpses at their close relationship on social media. After the Minnesota governor was selected by Vice President Kamala Harris as her running mate, one video resurfaced as an example of the “quintessential American experience” — aka, being trolled by your father for being vegetarian.

In September 2023, Tim and Hope visited the Minnesota State Fair, which he explained in an Instagram video is a longtime tradition for the family. As he and his daughter discussed rides at the fairgrounds, they got into a little disagreement on what food actually counts as meat.

“Then we’re going to go get some food. Corndog?” Tim told the camera. He then turned to his daughter, who reminded him: “I’m vegetarian.”

“Turkey, then,” he replied, to which Hope interjected: “Turkey’s meat.”

Without skipping a beat, the governor jokingly said in his heavy Midwestern accent: “Not in Minnesota, turkey’s special.”

Following his selection as Harris’s pick for VP, the clip once again went viral on social media as people praised the father-daughter moment. “Midwestern dad telling his daughter that turkey is actually vegetarian is the quintessential American experience,” said user Pat Dennis on X/Twitter.

“Midwestern dad energy absolutely off the charts,” another person wrote, while someone else agreed: “I’m vegan and still find this hilarious. What a wholesome father-daughter moment.”

Tim and his wife Gwen were married in 1994. Their daughter Hope was born in 2001 and their son Gus was born in 2006. Their daughter’s name also has a special meaning, as Tim has been open about their family’s struggle with infertility. Both of his children were conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Fossils from three rare dinosaurs — two Allosaurus and one Stegosaurus — fetched a staggering $15.7 million at a recent auction at Christie’s in London, United Kingdom.

The skeletons of the dinosaur trio date back approximately 150 million years and were excavated from a site in Carbon County in the United States’ Wyoming, the BBC reported.

After the excavation process, the fossils travelled to the capital of England in 12 crates and were meticulously rebuilt to be displayed at Christie’s for auction.

“It is humbling to stand in the presence of these ancient giants and marvel at the wonders of our Earth’s past,” said James Hyslop, head of Science and Natural History at Christie’s.

The Allosaurus and Stegosaurus fossils represent two of the most recognisable dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic era, approximately 150 million years ago.

The Allosaurus, often viewed as a precursor to the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex (T rex), was a formidable predator of its time, recognised for its sharp claws and a powerful bite.

In contrast, the Stegosaurus, an iconic herbivore, boasted distinctive armoured plates and spiked tail, which provided effective defence against predators and helped it adapt to a challenging environment.

“There is no complete dinosaur skeleton,” said Hyslop as he explained to the BBC that all three fossils were enhanced with cast, sculpted, 3D-printed materials, and were displayed on custom frames.

In terms of fossils, the Stegosaurus has around 144 bone elements; the adult Allosaurus has about 143, with the juvenile version having 135.

Dinosaur bones can sell for millions, but auction sales have been criticised by some experts, who argue that fossils often end up in private collections which then denies researchers and the public any access to these significant discoveries.

However Hyslop claimed that, in his experience, “the majority of private collectors active in this area are keen to share their passion”.

“In the case of the two most recent dinosaurs sold at Christie’s — Stan, the T-Rex, and a raptor skeleton — both are now in the care of museums, or on public display,” he said.

Feel compelled to remind your in-laws that Christmas might be the perfect time to “drink Baileys until you s*** yourself?” There’s a card for that. Want some double entendres based around (delete as inappropriate) sacks, packages, nuts or the phrase “ho, ho, ho”? You’re in luck. And if you prefer your profanities to gesture in symbolic reverie, perhaps you’d be interested in an illustration of a raised middle finger, wrapped in Christmas lights? Christmas cards, it seems, have gotten rude.

The pervading bawdiness that underlies many of this year’s options didn’t materialise out of nowhere, Angel Gabriel-style. Instead, it’s the inevitable culmination of a shift towards quote-unquote “cheekiness” in our greetings cards that seemed to take hold of the industry in the mid-2010s, when you’d see novelty versions featuring edgy, pop culture-adjacent jokes in millennial-favoured stores like Urban Outfitters. Endless variations on “Happy Birthday, you t**t” soon jostled for space on shop shelves. Cards bearing vintage-style images overlaid with not-safe-for-work captions proliferated, and it became hard to hunt down a Father’s Day card that didn’t colour the recipient as some sort of heavy-drinker or flatulent bore who rarely ventures outside of the garden shed.

In 2017, the BBC reported that card shop Scribbler had started placing “parental guidance” cautionary signs in the window of each branch, warning customers to “please be aware that some of our cards and gifts are of an adult nature”. The same year, Paperchase (RIP) recalled a line of sexually explicit Valentine’s Day cards after shoppers complained.

It seems like those outraged customers were a minority, though, because the crude card has only got more popular since then. A spokesperson for Moonpig, the customisable card company, tells me that they’ve “noticed an increased demand in the humour category as a whole”, which they reckon can be put down to “people wanting to see a more authentic tone of voice and realism”. Pip Heywood, the managing director at online card marketplace thortful, says that their “rude/funny” category has seen sales increase by 10 per cent year on year from 2023 to 2024. “It’s what the people want,” Heywood says, suggesting that the British public tends to have a “cultural love of dark or dry humour”.

For a while, Christmas was marked safe from the onslaught of banter, because, well, it’s a religious holiday and one that’s heavily geared towards kids. But as year-round offerings have become more risqué, this mood has naturally crept into the festive season, perhaps helped along by the fact that Christmas is becoming more and more secular (a 2020 survey from YouGov found that 82 per cent of Brits believe the religious aspects of Christmas are on the decline). It’s no longer enough to present the family with a nice watercolour rendering of a robin in a snowy garden and consider the job done. You need to run the risk of mortally offending them, or needle their biggest insecurity.

The loosening up of our social norms over the past few decades might have had an impact, too. Swearing is no longer a total taboo: a 2021 study from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) found that six out of 10 respondents swore daily. “Contexts that used to be more formal are now much more informal,” says Dr Rebecca Roache, author of For F*ck’s Sake: Why Swearing is Shocking, Rude and Fun. “A lot of workplaces are more casual and there’s a flat hierarchy, with people calling their managers by their first name. Swearing tends to be inappropriate in polite contexts, but often in friendlier, more casual contexts, we can get away with it without causing anyone offence.” So, our baseline for what is truly unacceptable has shifted – and it’s now much higher than it would have been, say, half a century ago. Roache also wonders whether our digital lives might be sneaking into the offline world, too. “We’re so used to seeing sweary jokes, maybe more than we would have before social media,” she adds.

Neil Taylor is the founder of Deadpan, a brand whose niche is “cards that are a bit rude, but not in a sweary way” (sample slogan: “You are a frequent topic in my therapy”). He points to a linguistic phenomenon known as “semantic bleaching”, whereby a word’s meaning might gradually become diluted over time. “Take swear words: we use them to get a reaction, but the more you use them, the less impact they have – that’s the ‘bleaching’,” he says. “So to get the reaction, you need to use new or more offensive words. I think that’s why cards that used to say ‘I love you, you wally’ are now full of four-letter words.”

These days, everyone wants content … No one’s going to post a card with a picture of a cute sparrow

Neil Taylor, founder of Deadpan

He also agrees that social media plays a part. “These days, everyone wants content,” he says. “You can post a picture of a funny or shocking card on Instagram, either as the giver or the receiver. No one’s going to post a card with a picture of a cute sparrow.”

Surprisingly, though, rude greeting cards pre-date social media by centuries. Even the seemingly prudish Victorians loved them. “Sending greeting cards became hugely popular in the late 19th century because colour printing was cheap and accessible, and postage was really cheap after the Penny Post came in,” says curator Stephanie Boydell. She works at the Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections Museum, home to the Laura Seddon Collection of 19th- and 20th-century cards. The archive includes various “vinegar Valentines”, postcards featuring insulting caricatures and mocking messages designed to offend the receiver.

“They’d say things like ‘you think you’re really pretty, but in fact you’re quite ugly,’” Boydell explains. “Or, ‘you think you’ve got the voice of an angel, when in fact you sound like a strangled cat.” One of the more devastating cards in the collection reads: “You are not the belle of the ball, dear girl.” Many were sent anonymously, she adds, and while some might have been sent as a joke, “they weren’t necessarily received like that”. Who knew the Victorians were so dedicated to trolling?

In this century, trading insults is more likely to be a topsy-turvy way of showing our love, so sending a card with a coarse or four-letter word-laden message isn’t necessarily some sort of targeted attack on the recipient. “Swearing can be this intimate form of interaction,” Roache explains. It can show that you consider them “part of the inner circle, who you can swear with without [them] taking offence”.

Swearing can be this intimate form of interaction

Dr Rebecca Roache

Buying a card, she notes, is “an affectionate act in itself” – especially when we’re so used to digital communication – so “the fact that you’re doing something nice for them is a sort of insurance against them being offended”. The niceness of the gesture should mean that the message is taken in good humour. Conversely, those wary of pouring their hearts out can couch that sentiment in a layer of silliness. “Sending cards these days feels a bit sappy and earnest,” Taylor says. “People still quite like making the gesture, but want to subvert it at the same time. This is like men showing their closeness by taking the mick out of each other in the pub.”

Of course, humour is subjective, and the same card might delight one potential recipient and disgust another. It also depends on the bond you share. “If somebody buys their dad a card saying ‘you old git’, it [can be] a way of saying: ‘I love you and I’m happy we have this closeness,’” Roache says. “Whereas if you don’t have that relationship with your dad, that’s potentially awkward.”

This particular genre of card is going nowhere, so it’s up to us to use our common sense (and caution) when browsing. Got an auntie or uncle who complains to Ofcom every time there’s an expletive on TV before the watershed? Steer clear of that “Merry f***ing Christmas” slogan, complete with “cheeky” illustrations, lest you usher in an excruciating conversation over the mince pies.

Google’s Year in Search report reveals that people around the globe were tuning in for updates on the US election, the latest iPhone release, major movie premieres, TikTok trends, style tips and more, the New York Post reported. 

Top searched items in different categories are mentioned below:

Searches

• Copa America
• UEFA European Championship
• ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
• India vs England
• Liam Payne
• Donald Trump
• India vs Bangladesh
• iPhone 16
• Olympic Games Paris 2024
• Catherine, Princess of Wales

News

• US Election
• Excessive heat
• Olympics
• Hurricane Milton
• 台風 気象 情報 台風 第 10 号 (Japanese for “Typhoon Weather Information Typhoon No.10”)
• Iran
• Rafah
• Crowdstrike
• Trump shot
• Menendez brothers

People

• Donald Trump
• Catherine, Princess of Wales
• Kamala Harris
• Image Khelif
• Joe Biden
• Mike Tyson
• JD Vance
• Lamine Yamal
• Simone Biles
• Diddy

Passings

• Liam Payne
• Toby Keith
• OJ Simpson
• Shannen Doherty
• Akira Toriyama
• Ratan Tata
• Alain Delon
• Maggie Smith
• James Earl Jones
• Silvio Santos

Actors

• Ka Williams 
• Pawan Kalyan 
• Adam Brody 
• Ella Purnell 
• Hina Khan 
• Kieran Culkin 
• Terrence Howard 
• Nimrat Kaur 
• Suon Foster 
• Brigie Bozzo 

Athletes

• Image Khelif 
• Mike Tyson 
• Lamine Yamal 
• Simone Biles 
• Jake Paul 
• Nico Williams 
• Hardik Pandya 
• Scoie Scheer 
• Shashank Singh 
• Rodri 

Games

• Connections 
• Palworld 
• Innate Cra 
• Sprunki 
• Helldivers 2 
• Wuthering Waves 
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Strands 
• Brawl Stars 
• PokéRogue 

Movies 

• Inside Out 2
• Deadpool & Wolverine
• Saltburn 
• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• Dune: Part Two 
• It Ends with Us 
• Oppenheimer 
• Kung Fu Panda 4 
• Alien: Romulus 
• Terrifier 3

Musicians

• Diddy 
• Usher 
• Linkin Park 
• Sabrina Carpenter 
• Justin Timberlake 
• Ángela Aguilar 
• Drake Bell 
• Tracy Chapman 
• Dave Grohl 
• Angelina Mango 

Food and drink recipes

• Olympic chocolate muns 
• Tanghulu 
• Tini’s mac and cheese 
• Mango pickle 
• Dubai chocolate bar 
• Dense bean salad 
• Chia water 
• Sleepy girl 
• Lemon balm 
• Viral cucumber salad 

Songs

• Not Like Us – Kendrick Lamar 
• APT. – Rosé and Bruno Mars 
• Bling-Bang-Bang-Born – Creepy Nuts
• Thick Of It – KSI 
• Espresso – Sabrina Carpenter 
• Hai Yorokonde – Kocchi no Kento
• yes, and? – Ariana Grande 
• WILDFLOWER – Billie Eilish 
• Fortnight – Taylor Swi 
• Katchi Sera – Sai Abhyankkar 

Sports teams

• New York Yankees 
• Los Angeles Dodgers 
• Inter Miami CF 
• Bayer 04 Leverkusen 
• Boston Celtics 
• New York Mets 
• Dallas Mavericks 
• Argentina national football team
• Minnesota Timberwolves 
• Edmonton Oilers 

TV shows

• Baby Reindeer
• Fallout 
• House of the Dragon 
• Heeramandi 
• Shōgun 
• The Perfect Couple 
• Queen of Tears 
• Marry My Husband 
• 3 Body Problem 
• Nobody Wants This

Prince Harry has opened up about the complexities of father-son competition in polo in his new Netflix documentary about the sport.

In the five-episode series, the Duke of Sussex, who has played polo both alongside and against his father, King Charles, reflects on the dynamics of playing against family. Speaking with Argentine professional polo player Adolfo Cambiaso, Harry discusses Cambiaso’s experiences competing with his 18-year-old son, Poroto.

“You’ve created something special,” Harry tells Cambiaso, acknowledging their bond formed through their shared love of the sport.

Cambiaso replies: “We play together a lot, you know. You can play with your kid, something that you love.”

Harry replies: “Yeah, but what’s it like playing against your kid?”

Cambiaso replies: “It’s difficult. And worse when you lose.”

Harry laughs, adding: “You’re proud, but also angry.”

The documentary adds to Prince Harry’s ongoing public commentary on personal relationships and interests, including his widely reported strained ties with his father since stepping down as a senior royal in 2020.

Harry and Meghan are executive producers of the five-episode series which is shot primarily at the US Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida.

The Sussexes make an appearance themselves in episode five, filmed at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge staged in aid of Sentebale, in Florida in April, with the pair shown sharing a kiss on the podium.

The series by Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions is their fourth output with Netflix, as part of their multi-million pound deal with the streaming giant. It follows elite global players on and off the field, with the “sexy” sport billed in the trailer as showcasing “dirty, sweaty boys…riding”.

Footage includes Harry scoring a goal, as the commentator enthusiastically tells the crowd: “Prince Harry on the move, working it. Oh, what a run. Ladies and gentleman what a run and what a goal by the prince. Give it up, if you will, for the Duke of Sussex.”

A proud Meghan, wearing sunglasses, round gold earrings, a cream halterneck dress and what appears to be the late Diana, Princess of Wales’s Cartier watch, is seen smiling and clapping, and giving a small whoop as she celebrates Harry’s success, with his team eventually triumphing 3-1.

The duke is described as wanting to “win at all costs” as he competes in the charity match.

Professional polo player Louis Devaleix, who was on the opposite team, says in a sitdown excerpt to camera: “Prince Harry was not relaxing and he wanted to win at all costs, and I was the same way.”

Meghan presents the trophy to Harry on the podium, greeting him with a kiss – a moment that was previously widely reported.

An overlay on the screen tells viewers that since 2020, Sentebale, the charity Harry founded in 2006 to help Aids orphans in Lesotho, has received over 15 million dollars (£11.75 million) from charity polo matches.

The documentary follows the couple’s controversial six-part documentary released on the platform in 2022.

In Harry & Meghan, the duke and duchess shed light on their troubled life within the royal family, accusing Kensington Palace of lying to protect William, and Charles, now King, of lying at the Megxit summit.

Another non-fiction series for Netflix, produced by Meghan, on “the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining and friendship” is in production.

Harry and Meghan’s tennis star friend Serena Williams makes a fleeting appearance in Polo, being greeted by Harry and standing next to Meghan.

Meghan is also shown perched, sitting on the edge of the boot of a car, concentrating as she watches her husband in the match, with Williams stood next to her.

HONG KONG: A half marathon in China’s northeast province of Jilin announced an unusual selection of prizes, with first over the line winning a cow and other runners getting wild fish, geese or roosters, in a bid to attract more participants and promote local produce.

The organisers of the Nong’an Taipingchi Ice and Snow half marathon on December 29 said in a WeChat post that male and female champions of the half marathon would be awarded a cow. The farm animal could also be exchanged for 6,000 yuan ($827.81).

Second place gets wild fish from Taiping pond, while other prizes were geese, ducks and roosters from the same pond. Ten kilogrammes (22 pounds) of rice and wheat would be given out to other finishers.

“Grand prizes are coming and the champions are so proud. The organising committee is full of sincerity,” the post said.

The notice was widely circulated on Chinese social media and ranked as one of the hottest topics on platform Weibo on Tuesday.

“If the first place person lives overseas, do you need to buy a high speed train ticket for cattle?,” asked one user.

The event is due to take place in the Wetland Park in Nong’an County, Jilin, which is a major agriculture producer.

Marathon running has grown rapidly in China in recent years with a total of 622 marathons and half marathons held across the country in 2023, with events taking place at a rate of nearly two per day on average, according to the Chinese Athletics Association.

Smaller cities and counties with populations of a few hundred thousand have also begun organising different kinds of running events.

Chinese social media is teeming with comments on marathon events, sportswear, equipment, training and diet tips.

More than 30 marathons and other road-running events were held across China between Nov. 2 and 3, drawing approximately 400,000 participants, the Xinhua official news agency said last week.

Drew Barrymore’s new kitchen range has come under fire as TikTok users slammed the appliances for being too “confusing” to use.

The 49-year-old actor and TV personality launched the patterned edition of her homeware collection earlier this year. After the kitchen products developed a cult following, Barrymore branched out into a partnership with Walmart, bringing her designs to a wider audience.

Items in the “Beautiful by Drew” product line include microwaves, crockpots, non-stick pans, toasters, waffle makers, and air fryers.

But users on social media have shared their frustrating experiences with the kitchenware on TikTok.

“I have a couple of bones to pick about this Drew Barrymore ‘Beautiful’ line,” began user @chaos_coordinator.

“First of all, I love that they’re non-stick, they do great in that aspect but the handles get hot. Secondly, the microwave, it’s a nice large size, but I was surprised to find out that there are no numbers that you can type in? You just have to hold this button down”.

The user then demonstrated holding down the “+” on the microwave, increasing the heating time by 10 second intervals. However, she also added that once the appliance is started, it is locked. She reported that this is supposed to be a child safety feature but added, “I can’t quite figure it out, I’ve got to find the manual”.

However, she said that her “biggest problem” is with the crockpot.

“This is so hard to turn on and off, I constantly have to unplug it, I can’t press the buttons in the right way. I don’t know if it’s worth returning?”

Users offered their sympathies on TikTok as they wrote, “Why do you need a degree to figure these settings out?” and “No numbers on the microwave is diabolical”.

“The microwave locking would send me over the edge,” read another comment, while some called the design simply “confusing”.

Another added, “My microwave number display has stopped working after 6 months. I had the same issue with the crock pot and I threw the toaster away because it BURNED EVERYTHING”.

However, others defended the designs as they reasoned, “I wonder if they are having a manufacturing issue because I have not had any problems with any of my stuff. I have the pots and pans, air fryer, and the blender, and they’ve all been great.”

The Independent has contacted Walmart and a representative of Barrymore for comment.

A rare Roman coin featuring the portrait of Brutus, the assassin of statesman Julius Caesar, sold Monday at a Geneva auction for 1.98 million euros, according to organiser Numismatica Genevensis.

The historic item was purchased by a “European collector following intense bidding among eight online bidders” for more than 1.83 million Swiss francs ($2.09 million), the dealer said in a statement.

The coin was originally priced at more than 800,000 euros.

Weighing eight grams and similar in size to a euro, it is “a piece of history” marking the last chapters of the Roman Republic, Frank Baldacci, director of Numismatica Genevensis told AFP ahead of the sale.

The coin was minted in 43-42 BC by Brutus and his supporters who murdered Julius Caesar in March 44 BC, Baldacci explained.

It features the profile of Brutus surrounded by a laurel wreath on the front and has war symbols on the reverse to celebrate his military victories.

The wreath in particular is a sign of “someone who wants to promote himself as emperor”, Baldacci said, adding its circulation offered “propaganda value” for Brutus.

It is one of only 17 known artefacts of its kind, the auction house said.

It resurfaced in the 1950s, was published in a private collector´s catalogue and later appeared in a 2006 auction in Zurich where it was sold to another private collector for 360,000 Swiss francs.