All posts tagged: Albert

Inside 77th Monaco Red Cross Gala 2026: Princess Charlene, Albert II

Inside 77th Monaco Red Cross Gala 2026: Princess Charlene, Albert II

Published by Daniella Wilson

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, The Hollywood Reporter may receive an affiliate commission. The Monaco Grand Prix, the Rose Ball and the Red Cross Gala: the Monégasque social calendar’s trifecta of prestige. Serving as the pinnacle of black tie elegance, Monaco‘s Red Cross Gala — or the Gala de la Croix-Rouge Monégasque, in French — is the yearly flagship fundraiser for the Monaco Red Cross, which, from 1958 to 1982, was presided over by none other than Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco. Cut to the evening of July 18, 2026: Even without the Oscar-winning movie star’s physical presence, the Old Hollywood glamour at the 77th annual charity ball was palpable. Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco (aka Grace Kelly) arrive at Sporting Monte-Carlo for the annual Red Cross Gala on July 19, 1958 . Courtesy of AFP via Getty Images Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco arrive at Sporting Monte-Carlo for the annual Red Cross Gala on July 18, 2026. Courtesy of The …

Albert Camus Did Not Think Everything Was Meaningless and Neither Should You

Albert Camus Did Not Think Everything Was Meaningless and Neither Should You

Published by Sam Flores

Published: Jul 8, 2026written by Simon Lea, PhD Philosophy Summary Albert Camus argued we must create our own meaning, embracing the freedom of a world without a pre-ordained purpose. Inspired by Nietzsche, Camus saw the “death of God” as a call to action to invent new values and myths. The “absurd” isn’t despair; it is the challenge to rebel against meaninglessness by making your own life valuable. The myth of Sisyphus illustrates Camus’s core belief: even in a futile task, one can find happiness and meaning. Show more   Search online for Albert Camus, and you will inevitably find numerous memes in which the idea is expressed that Camus believed life to be meaningless. Indeed, Camus did not believe life comes with a purpose, but he also believed it is impossible to live a meaningless existence. In his philosophy, we must find meaning in our lives for life to be possible. To better understand Camus on this topic, we must make a distinction between “meaning” as in comprehension and “meaning” as in significance or meaningfulness.   A Life Lived Without Meaning? …

Monaco’s Princess Charlène and Prince Albert Had Everything at Their 2011 Wedding

Monaco’s Princess Charlène and Prince Albert Had Everything at Their 2011 Wedding

Published by Sam Flores

To create the dress in the Giorgio Armani Privé ateliers, 50 meters of duchesse silk and 80 meters of silk organza were used, along with 40,000 Swarovski crystals, 20,000 mother-of-pearl beads, and 30,000 gemstones in golden hues: a project that took a total of 2,500 hours to complete, 700 of which were spent on embroidery alone. Added to all this was the veil, crafted as if it were a work of art, which required 20 meters of embroidered silk tulle and 100 hours of work. Such a massive undertaking made it possible to present the Principality of Monaco with a contemporary royal bride, very different from the previous one embodied by Grace of Monaco. The tiara that remained tucked away in a drawer Charlène of Monaco did have the traditional royal bridal tiara—Albert had given it to her in anticipation of the wedding—but she chose not to wear it. The prince turned to Van Cleef & Arpels, the official jeweler to the House of Grimaldi since 1956—dating back to the time of Princess Grace—and commissioned …

The Children by Melissa Albert

The Children by Melissa Albert

Published by Jenni Sidey

There is a particular spell certain children’s books cast on a reader. You return to them as an adult and the spine cracks like a coffin lid; what felt like wonder at eight rereads at thirty as something colder. Melissa Albert understands this magic, and the rot at its edges, better than almost any writer working today. The Children by Melissa Albert, her first novel for adults, takes that quiet creeping recognition and builds an entire house around it. A literary, slow-burning hybrid of family mystery and modern gothic, this novel asks what happens when the children who lived inside a beloved fantasy series grow up to be the only ones who remember what really happened. The setup, briefly: Guinevere and Ennis Sharpe were written, lightly fictionalized, into their mother Edith’s wildly popular Ninth City series before her early death in a fire. Two decades later, Guin is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir, and Ennis, an installation artist she has not seen since they were children, announces a new show titled simply Mother. The Story …

The Children by Melissa Albert review – intriguing fairytale of creativity’s dangers | Fiction

The Children by Melissa Albert review – intriguing fairytale of creativity’s dangers | Fiction

Published by Sam Flores

Children’s writers are sometimes cruel, and often damaged. And, as AS Byatt put it crisply when talking about her 2009 novel The Children’s Book: “Writing children’s books isn’t good for the writer’s own children.” Think of Christopher Milne, raging at having been Christopher Robin; Vivian Burnett, dragging Little Lord Fauntleroy behind him; Alastair Grahame, lying down on train tracks. This is fertile material, as Byatt recognised, for a grown-up book. The American author Melissa Albert, herself a very successful children’s writer, has made it the theme of her first adult novel. The Children’s protagonist is Guinevere Sharpe, who as a grown woman is trapped by a very public version of her childhood. Her mother, Edith, a sort of JK Rowling/Enid Blyton composite, wrote an era-defining run of children’s portal fantasies called the Ninth City series, in which Guin and her older brother Ennis appeared as the named protagonists. They didn’t know it at the time, but they were becoming as famous as Christopher Robin – with all that implies. In the present day of the …

What Albert Camus Wrote About the Nauseating Reality of the Guillotine

What Albert Camus Wrote About the Nauseating Reality of the Guillotine

Published by Sam Flores

Published: Jun 2, 2026written by Simon Lea, PhD Philosophy Summary The death penalty is a second sickening act of violence, not a just solution that brings peace to society. Camus argued the state’s true motive is primitive revenge, masked by euphemisms because society is ashamed of the reality. The condemned man suffers two deaths: the psychological torture of waiting and the final physical execution itself. A secular state lacks the right to execute, as it requires a pretense of infallibility that it does not possess. Show more   The death penalty was abolished in France in 1981, with the last execution taking place in 1977. Albert Camus wrote ‘Reflections on the Guillotine’ twenty years earlier in 1957. His argument against capital punishment is not primarily based on sympathy for the condemned but on the legitimacy of the state’s right to take life. Camus concludes the essay with a warning against allowing the state the power to decide who in society must die. To do so, he argues, requires the pretense that agents of the state have god-like infallibility.   Sickening …

Why ‘A Happy Death’ Was Albert Camus’s Most Shocking Novel

Why ‘A Happy Death’ Was Albert Camus’s Most Shocking Novel

Published by Sam Flores

Published: Jun 2, 2026written by Simon Lea, PhD Philosophy   In this article, we examine Camus’s first novel, its shocking content, and possible reasons he came to abandon it. A Happy Death shares a lot of similarities with Camus’s masterpiece The Stranger. Their central characters, Patrice Meursault in the first novel and Mersault in the second, are almost identical, with “u” in the surname making only difference. However, there are also crucial differences in what motivates these two characters. Here, we look at the two most shocking differences between the works: the killing and the way others are treated.   Situating the Text Albert Camus in Paris, 1957. Source: Los Angeles Times.   Albert Camus’s first published novel was his 1942 masterpiece The Stranger (L’Étranger). It was published alongside his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, and both works introduced Camus as a serious player on the French literary and philosophical scene. However, prior to writing The Stranger, Camus worked on a novel that dealt with similar themes, shared a central character, and even included whole …

David Attenborough: Biggest must-watch TV moments ahead of star’s 100th birthday Albert Hall celebration

David Attenborough: Biggest must-watch TV moments ahead of star’s 100th birthday Albert Hall celebration

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter When Sir David Attenborough was born in 1926, George V was on the throne, Stanley Baldwin was in Downing Street, and the BBC, the institution where he would spend many productive decades, was, itself, still in nappies. Over the years, Attenborough has become the face and voice of natural history the world over. From chasing animals through jungles and deserts, to observing the myriad changes to our ecosystem in his near century on planet earth, Attenborough has been a guide through the wild citizens and untouched places of our world. With the presenter turning 100 today, we look at some of the moments from his televisual oeuvre that have defined Attenborough for generation after generation. Attenborough and the puffins, Wild Isles As the years have gone by, Attenborough’s forays in front of the camera have become increasingly rare. Appearing in 2023’s …

Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday to be marked by star-studded live BBC event at Royal Albert Hall

Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday to be marked by star-studded live BBC event at Royal Albert Hall

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter A star-studded live event is being planned to celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, featuring broadcasters including Sir Michael Palin, Steve Backshall and Chris Packham. Hosted by Kirsty Young, the evening will take place at London’s Royal Albert Hall and include performances from musicians featured in his BBC Planet Earth TV series. Dan Smith, the frontman of Brit Award-winning Bastille, will join the BBC Concert Orchestra to perform “Pompeii”, which appeared in Planet Earth III. Icelandic band Sigur Rós is also set to play “Hoppípolla”, famously used in promotions for Planet Earth and Planet Earth II. The event will also combine memorable wildlife moments from the BBC’s natural history archive. Those who have worked alongside Sir David – including Backshall, Packham, and Sir Michael – will reflect on his immense impact and lasting legacy. Sir David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday …

Albert Camus’s Early Philosophy in “The Wrong Side and the Right Side”

Albert Camus’s Early Philosophy in “The Wrong Side and the Right Side”

Published by Sam Flores

Published: Apr 22, 2026written by Simon Lea, PhD Philosophy Summary These early essays are the source material for all of Camus’s subsequent work, revealing his developing philosophy. The title symbolizes inseparable dualities, meaning you cannot have life’s good times without the bad, like a coin. Camus explores life’s ambiguity and uncertainty, contrasting themes of alienation, death, and the indifference of the world. He often suspends judgment, observing life from a state “between yes and no,” or between affirmation and rejection. Show more   Towards the end of his career, Camus looked back on his first published essays, collected in The Wrong Side and the Right Side, and concluded that the work started here was still in the process of becoming in his present work. What we find expressed in these short essays can be considered the source material of all his subsequent work. Naive yet beautiful, these essays are worth reading in their own right but are also tremendously useful for those seeking a deeper understanding of Camus’s philosophy of life.   Background to the Essay Collection Postcard of Algiers, early …