Royal Family

The killing of George Floyd has been recreated in an awful attempt at parody -- with a French magazine using Queen Elizabeth as Derek Chauvin kneeling on Meghan Markle.

Charlie Hebdo just released a new edition of its weekly publication -- and it features a crudely drawn cartoon version of QE2 pressing down on the Duchess of Sussex's neck ... who's laid down on the ground and struggling for air -- much like George Floyd last year.

The caption reads ... "POURQUOI MEGHAN A QUITTE BUCKINGHAM," which translates to "Why Meghan left Buckingham." There's a quote bubble coming from Meghan as well in the drawing, which roughly comes out to, "because I couldn't breathe anymore."

The message they're trying to communicate -- or so it seems -- is that Meghan felt smothered by Royal racism (headed up by the Queen). It turns out to be a swing and a miss -- 'cause folks aren't entertained.

Many are calling the magazine racist ... demanding they pull the new issue. While Charlie Hebdo pegs itself as a satire, a lot of people say this goes way too far -- mocking Floyd's death for cheap thrills. Not only that, but it's inaccurate ... according to Harry and Meghan.

Remember, Harry explicitly ruled out his grandmother and grandfather as the party who allegedly brought up skin color concerns as it pertained to Archie. There's a lot of speculation it was either Prince Charles or Prince William -- but the latter denied as much.

Bill Maher delivered again Friday night, with a blistering review of America ... a "silly country" he says, especially when compared to China.

The 'Real Time' host dissected the American psyche ... a country that is now obsessed with Dr. Suess' books. By contrast, he notes China couldn't give "a crouching tiger, flying f***," because they're not "silly people."

The "silly people" reference is from "Lawrence of Arabia," but Bill said the moniker fits like a glove in the U S of A.

Maher concedes China does a lot of "bad stuff," but then he lowers the boom, grousing, “We all know China does bad stuff" ... but there’s got to be something between a totalitarian government that knows what to do and a representative government that can’t do anything at all.”

He wasn't done. Bill divides the country into 2 groups -- half the U.S. is consumed with whether Mr. Potato Head has a d***, and the other half is obsessed with wacky conspiracy theories.

But, wait -- there's more. Bill goes after the movement to favor equity over merit in college admissions, and while he's on the subject, he references a few classes filled with silly students ... The Philosophy of Star Trek at Indiana State University, The Sociology of Seinfeld at SUNY Oswego, and Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse at Michigan State.

Megyn Kelly is apparently amused by the image of Queen Elizabeth packing heat to settle the beef with Meghan Markle ... at least based on Megyn's Twitter account.

As you can see, the meme -- which Megyn retweeted -- shows the Queen holding a handgun with a silencer, with the caption, "When you spend £32 million on your grandsons wedding and his wife starts bitching about you to Oprah."

Her review of the threatening meme was ... "So good." She, or someone on her team, has since deleted the tweet -- but she's already made her position known on Harry and Meghan's interview.

Kelly played Monday morning QB, criticizing Oprah for not asking the couple to be more specific about the racist allegations -- and made it clear she didn't buy Meghan's claim she didn't know anything about the Royal family before hooking up with Harry.

We reached out to Megyn's camp about the tweet ... so far, no word back.

Prince William insists the Royals are "very much not a racist family," but photos of him and his wife being carried on elevated thrones don't exactly reflect that.

The pictures resurfaced Thursday after the Duke of Cambridge emphatically denied the allegations of racism made by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during their Oprah interview.

They show him and Kate Middleton being carried on thrones back in 2012 by people of color in the Solomon Islands. William and Kate were on their Diamond Jubilee tour of the British Commonwealth nations in the South Pacific at the time.

During the tour, they were carried on the backs of locals several times ... including in the nearby country of Tuvalu.

Understandably, these images juxtaposed with both William's and Buckingham Palace's statements about alleged racism have people wondering ... if the British monarchy has an issue with white supremacy.

While one could say the throne carrying ceremony is tradition, one would also have to look at why and how that tradition began -- and that's where race and colonization become an issue.

Meghan Markle’s friend is calling BS on the Royal Family's claim it didn't fully understand the challenges Meghan and Prince Harry were going through ... and she says she has receipts.

"The Morning Show" actress, Janina Gavankar, has been friends with Meghan for almost 2 decades, and she spoke out earlier this week to support her pal and call out Buckingham Palace for essentially playing dumb about her mental health struggles.

Janina says she has emails and texts proving the Queen's family and staff were all fully aware of what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were going through ... which contradicts Buckingham Palace saying they didn't know the "full extent."

Though Janina says she's happy Queen Elizabeth's people are finally publicly acknowledging Meghan and Harry's issues, she adds ... "Though their recollections may vary, ours don’t because we lived through it with them."

Piers Morgan's fuming after claiming his friend, Sharon Osbourne, was shamed into making an apology for defending him ... and now he wants her 'Talk' cohorts to say sorry to him!

The ex-"Good Morning Britain" host said early Friday morning he can't believe "this is where we've reached" after Sharon posted a lengthy apology Thursday night for the on-air spat she had with her cohosts.

If ya missed it, Sharon went to bat for Piers against claims his criticism of Meghan Markle was rooted in racism.

In her mea culpa, Sharon said, "To anyone of color that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down by what I said, I am truly sorry. I panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive & allowed my fear & horror of being accused of being racist take over."

She added she doesn't condone racism, misogyny or bullying, and ... "There are very few things that hurt my heart more than racism so to feel associated with that spun me fast!!"

Piers, however, is adamant Sharon herself got bullied into posting that apology, and stood up for himself ... insisting that just because he "doesn't believe Meghan Markle's bulls**t" ... that doesn't make him a racist.

He added, "I demand an apology from those @TheTalkCBS bullies for their disgraceful slurs against ME."

Claudia Jordan says the Royal Family will continue to be labeled exactly what it claims it isn't -- racist -- until Archie gets the same respect as other royal babies.

Claudia -- who co-starred with Meghan Markle on "Deal or No Deal" -- tells TMZ ... if Queen Elizabeth wants to patch things up with Prince Harry and Meghan, the Royals need to prove the monarchy is inclusive.

She believes the best way to do that ... is to give Archie the title of prince and the private security that comes with that.

Claudia says Archie not only deserves security but NEEDS it ... citing rabid British media and fans that can be "stalker-ish."

While current British monarchy rules dictate only Prince William's firstborn -- George -- gets the title of Prince, that rule can be broken by the Queen. In fact, she did just that for Wills and Kate's other kids ... Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Claudia does acknowledge the Royals made sure there was a strong Black presence at Meghan and Harry's wedding, which at least made it seem the monarchy was down to become more modern and inclusive.

She now questions how genuine that was ... on the heels of Harry and Meghan's claim one or more family members were concerned Archie's skin might be too dark when he was born.

The Black choir that sang at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's wedding has a hard time believing Prince Charles is racist, because he personally invited them to perform.

Ms. Karen Gibson, founder and conductor of the Kingdom's Choir, tells TMZ ... Charles came off as very sincere in his invitation, and he's gone out of his way to personally congratulate them on their success since the wedding.

As you know, there's widespread speculation Charles or Prince William is the Royal Family member Harry and Meghan claim was worried Archie's skin might be too dark. Harry told Oprah it wasn't Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip.

But, Karen tells us every interaction between her Black choir and Prince Charles has been gracious. So, she's finding it hard to believe he would have said such a thing about Meghan and Harry's firstborn.

Plus, the fact Charles invited the choir certainly makes it seem like he made an effort to make Meghan feel included.

Dean Stott, one of Prince Harry's close friends, says the royal bros are staring down a deadline to squash their beef over alleged racism and other issues in the monarchy.

Dean joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and told us how Harry and Meghan Markle are dealing with the fallout from their Oprah interview, and why it's important for Harry to open a dialogue with his brother.

Remember ... William revealed Thursday morning he has not spoken to Harry since the interview aired -- a sign of just how deep the rift is between the brothers.

Although there's been no movement yet, Dean believes there will be in the next few months because they'll be face-to-face soon. Harry and William are both scheduled to attend events this July to honor their late mother, Princess Diana.

As for the bombshell revelations in the Oprah interview ... Dean says he knew about some of the issues plaguing Harry and Meghan but was totally blindsided when they said someone in the royal family voiced concern about Archie's skin color.

Prince William is a man of few words, but the words are revealing ... super revealing.

Harry's older brother visited a school in London Thursday when a reporter asked point-blank if the Royals were a racist family. William addressed it head-on ... "We are very much not a racist family."

There has not been such a declaration from the Royals up to this point ... not even close. The Queen said Harry and Meghan's revelation was concerning ... that someone from the family worried about the color of Archie's skin, but William went further.

It's interesting he placed emphasis on his statement ... "We are VERY MUCH not a racist family."

William clearly knows ... there's lots of speculation that the comment about Archie's skin tone might have been made by him, or his dad, Prince Charles. The reason -- Harry apparently told Oprah the comment was not made by the Queen or Prince Philip. He apparently did not eliminate William and Charles, which adds to the speculation.

That said, William also revealed he has not spoken to Harry since the interview, adding he intends to do so.  That's a little weird ... what's he waiting for? It underscores the fractured relationship between William and Harry.

As we reported, they have hardly spoken since even before Meghan and Harry left England, and Harry made it clear during the interview ... they are still estranged, at least for now.

As you know, the Palace has said the racism allegations were being taken "very seriously." The statement went on to say, "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan."

Tiffany Haddish has the BEST, and funniest, take yet on Meghan Markle's interview -- complete with a shout out to Queen Elizabeth, and ... Jerry Seinfeld!!! Yeah, it's that kinda clip.

So, we got Tiff Wednesday night on her way out of Catch LA in WeHo, and when we brought up the Duchess of Sussex, she made one thing clear ... "I believe anything a Black woman says!" She added, Meghan "didn't lie on the Queen. She respects the Queen."

Now, you really gotta see HOW she says all this, because it's fair to say Tiff probably enjoyed a drink or 2 at dinner -- and the guys helping her into her car know this. They tried, but ya just can't contain Tiff's comedy.

Just watch, because that's the only way to understand how she got from Meghan and the Queen to ... owning her own microscope!!! Trust us, it'll make sense.

Oh, and Seinfeld? That's about Tiffany's Grammy nom, and she's got plenty to say about that too.

Sharon Osbourne's going to bat for her pal Piers Morgan, and his right to sound off about Meghan Markle -- but doing so has her feeling "like I'm about to be put in the electric chair."

Yeah, things got that heated when Sharon squared off with her co-host Sheryl Underwood on "The Talk," and demanded to know how in the world Piers is racist for simply criticizing Meghan.

Wednesday's argument brought Sheryl close to tears ... while Sharon was pissed she actually had to defend herself as not being racist.

Sharon begged Sheryl to explain how anything Piers said about Meghan was racist, and not just his opinion about the Oprah interview. Watch the clip, Sheryl made a calm and passionate attempt to explain ... but Sharon wasn't having it.

As you'll recall ... Piers dragged Meghan over her and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah ... calling her a liar over her claims of racism against the Royal Family, among other things.

He doubled down on "Good Morning Britain" before he quit the show. Since then, the UK's media regulator said it received over 41k complaints over Piers' comments.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might have bid farewell to their royal titles, but one woman in the U.S. is still fighting to cash in on the "Sussex Royal" name anyway ... and she says she's doing it for the Queen!!!

As we first reported ... there was a rush here in the States shortly after the "Megxit" news last year to trademark the term, something the Duke and Duchess of Sussex filed for, but eventually withdrew a bid to do in the UK only.

Since then, however, it looks like everyone in America who was pursuing the "Sussex Royal" trademark has abandoned their filing ... except Carrie Devorah, who filed for use of the phrase to sell bedding products, specifically for kids.

Carrie tells TMZ ... she filed her trademark paperwork in January 2020 because she figured Queen Elizabeth would not allow Harry and Meghan to capitalize off their titles, but she didn't think there'd be anything stopping her.

Carrie says she thinks the Sussex Royal name is beautiful and she likes its cultural connection to the Royal Family, and -- being that she was born in Canada -- she insists she wants it to pay homage to the Queen.

She's facing an uphill battle locking the trademark down though, because the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office already rejected her application because it found the phrase falsely suggested a connection with Harry and Meghan.

Carrie has a few weeks left to respond to the USPTO's rejection, and tells us she plans to do so by arguing that Harry and Meghan didn't bother filing for the trademark in the U.S. ... and also didn't file in the bedding category like she did.

Meghan Markle set the wheels in motion for Piers Morgan to quit "Good Morning Britain" ... reportedly by filing a complaint with his bosses about his remarks after the Oprah interview.

According to multiple reports, The Duchess of Sussex went directly to honchos at ITV -- which airs 'GMB' -- shortly after Piers' initial tirade where he questioned her suicidal thoughts.

Meghan's concern wasn't only about the personal nature of his inflammatory comments, but she was more worried about how Piers downplaying mental health could affect UK viewers dealing with suicidal thoughts.

It's unclear for certain if her calling had any impact on Piers deciding to leave the show altogether -- but he certainly made it seem that way in a follow-up interview outside his home Tuesday night ... where he doubled down on not believing a word she says.

Check out the clip ... he also talks about the notion that he had to "fall on his sword" to make a point about free speech -- so, it seems clear he didn't go on his own terms.

On paper, Piers offered his resignation ... and ITV said they accepted it, refusing to comment further. Piers' exit came on the heels of another dramatic day on set.

Remember, PM got into it with ITV weatherman Alex Beresford ... who claimed he had a personal vendetta against Meghan after she cut him out of the loop, suggesting they were actually friendly once upon a time. Piers eventually stood up and stormed out.

As for the reported complaint Meghan filed, there were lots of others that came in right around the same time -- a reported 40,000 or so came flooding in after Piers' comments Monday ... and UK media regulator Ofcom has said it's investigating whether Piers might've violated any of their rules.

Meghan Markle's frozen yogurt shop shoutout is bringing a business boom to her first employer ... and now she's getting honored with her own special flavor.

Meghan mentioned her first job during her interview with Oprah, she says she served froyo at Humphrey Yogart in Los Angeles when she was 13 years old, and now the place is getting overrun with customers.

Check out the scene at the last remaining Humphrey Yogart ... there's a huge line, and we're told the shop served more than 200 folks the day after Meghan's interview aired. We're told a normal Monday sees 50 or so customers, so the Meghan bump is real.

Meghan didn't even work at this location, tucked inside a Gelson's grocery in Sherman Oaks, but that didn't stop fans from taking pics in front of the stand and snatching up all the merch.

FYI ... Meghan used to work at the Humphrey Yogart on La Cienega, which is now closed, just like every location aside from the original.

While the owners of Humprey Yogart tell us they don't even remember Meghan working for them, they're still honoring her and Prince Harry with their own limited-edition flavor, called "Banana Royale."

The special flavor is a blended combo of banana and peanut butter ice cream with chocolate chips mixed in ... we're told it's inspired by Meghan's love of chocolate chip banana bread and Harry's love of PB&J.

Piers Morgan's throwing up his hands and saying 'good day' on the set of his own show, because a co-host called him out to his face about constantly bashing Meghan Markle.

TV presenter and weatherman Alex Beresford was going in on Piers during a 'Good Morning Britain' segment ... calling his comments about Meghan in the aftermath of her Oprah interview "diabolical" and accusing him of having it out for her no matter what.

Beresford made the point that aside from their wedding day, Meg and Harry haven't much good press at all in the UK -- and he suggested Piers played a big part in that.

Then came the crucial blow that forced Piers' hand -- Beresford seemed to spill some insider info ... saying he knew Piers had been pals with Meghan once upon a time, but that at one point or another ... she cut him off. Beresford implies that's why Piers is always trashing her.

Morgan then got up and said he was done, walking off while Beresford continued going off to others on set.

Piers got into another spat over Meghan and Harry just a day earlier with Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, who also took him to task for his one-sided slant against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

BTW, Piers insists Tuesday's walkout wasn't staged -- but did say the chat that followed in his absence was great TV ... so, worth it.