Forty-eight blocks south and a few avenues west from where Princess Diana would stay in New York City, HELLO! convened its first live recording of A Right Royal Podcast in the United States.
An intimate gathering of HELLO! readers and royal fans gathered on the second floor of the Moxy NYC Chelsea hotel for an afternoon with HELLO!‘s Emily Nash, Andrea Caamano and Emmy Griffiths, listening as the podcast hosts recounted their whirlwind visit to the Big Apple. Their New York trip had been inspired by one Royal Editor Emily made months earlier during King Charles and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit to the U.S.
“It made us all realise this love affair that the royals have had with your city for a very long time,” HELLO!‘s Chief Content Officer Sophie Vokes-Dudgeon told the audience. “So we wanted to dive a little deeper into it.”
Anecdotes of royals in the city
After a few days of retracing the steps of British royals around NYC, from The Carlyle, where Princess Diana would stay, to The Mark Hotel, where Meghan Markle‘s baby shower was held, and the Empire State Building, which has lit up for the royals on various occasions, the visit culminated on a sunny June afternoon at the Moxy NYC Chelsea. There, the hosts of A Right Royal Podcast reflected on their trip to the “Empire State” and ones previously made by members of the British royal family, including Queen Elizabeth’s 1976 visit to Bloomingdale’s.
Jokingly calling it the “most ridiculous anecdote,” Andrea said “the fact that they reversed the traffic on Lexington Avenue so that she could come out on the right-hand side of the vehicle. I mean, honestly, only a Queen could do that.”
The hosts also reminisced about the then-Duchess of Cambridge’s 2014 engagement at the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem. “At the time, we thought, well this is a lovely, very safe engagement for a future Queen,” Emily said of Catherine. “It’s her going and hanging out with small children. And, of course, she’s a new mother, and this is a lovely thing for her to do.
“But actually, what we now know is that was really foreshadowing what has become her life’s mission, which is early childhood development,” adding that the Princess of Wales has “now really hit her stride, I think, in her public work, and we’re really seeing a different side to her.”
JFK Jr. and Diana
The live recording of A Right Royal Podcast in NYC also featured a special guest, who spilled the tea on a secret meeting between Princess Diana and America’s unofficial prince: John F. Kennedy Jr.
© Mike McGregorJFK Jr.’s former chief of staff RoseMarie Terenzio, author of Fairy Tale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love and Loss and JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography, joined Emily, Andrea and Emmy at a mic, revealing how she helped pull off “the biggest caper in New York City” at The Carlyle.
“They didn’t want a rumour started that they were having an affair, or there was something tawdry going on at The Carlyle. And so John said, ‘Well, if you come with me, if I’m walking in with you and I do get spotted, it’ll look more professional,'” RoseMarie recalled, revealing that she waited in the hotel’s lobby while the meeting took place upstairs.
Once it was over, RoseMarie remembered John describing Diana as “shy” and having “great legs.” The meeting is said to have been “warm,” with the Princess having a “sort of motherly tendency toward” John, who by that point had lost both of his parents. “She felt for him and she felt empathy for his life,” RoseMarie said. “And I think she also had a lot of respect for the way he carried himself and the way he lived his life.”
JFK Jr. had wanted the Princess to be on the cover of his magazine George, but she ultimately declined. Revealing one of the concepts for Diana during HELLO!‘s live event, RoseMarie shared: “There was one that was actually really eerie afterwards, which was her in the back of a limousine, a sketch, and the window is down halfway and she’s wearing sunglasses and there are paparazzi surrounding the car.”
“In hindsight, it was chilling,” RoseMarie added. “But that was really, most of her life.”
Special goodie bags
Following the recording and audience Q&A, guests mingled and snapped photos with the hosts of A Right Royal Podcast, before heading home with HELLO! branded tote bags filled with goodies that included Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream, Nexxus KERAPHIX Reair Liquid Crystallizer, TRESemmé Dry Texturizing Spray, No.7 products (Future Renew Serum; Future Renew Defense Shield Lightweight Moisturizer SPF 50; Lip Shine Oil + Purse Lip Chain), Bubly Wine Refresher Rosé, red doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant made especially for HELLO!‘s VIP guests, a $25 martini, burger and fries voucher for NYC spot The Noortwyck and Nixie soda.
© Mike McGregorThe afternoon was a celebration of royal stories in New York, spanning generations of British royalty, with a sprinkle of American royalty through JFK Jr., who used to call the city home.
It’s that royal connection that made New York City the perfect setting for HELLO!‘s first live podcast on American soil. And while the event is over, it’s far from goodbye. We’ll be saying HELLO! to New York again soon.
© Mike McGregorHow to watch the special podcast episode
If you were unable to attend the event in NYC, but would like to listen to the podcast recording, sign up to HELLO! VIP. As a member, you will have access to the interview and be the first to hear about future HELLO! events.
Here’s a ten-minute teaser to whet your appetite:
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land.com ’
