Queen Elizabeth has launched her own line of condiments.

The 95-year-old monarch is releasing her own tomato ketchup and brown sauce, made from ingredients grown on her Sandringham estate, with the ketchup described as “ideal for breakfast or any time of the day,” while the brown sauce is “packed with vinegar and spices.”

They come in a 10 oz. glass bottle with a Royal Estate label.

A note on the bottle states: “A real family favourite, packed full of tomato and lightly spiced, this ketchup is delightful. Vibrant and fruity, this ketchup can be enjoyed any time of the day, perfect to add flavour to a dish.”

Queen Elizabeth is said to be a fan of fish and chips, with a source previously explaining: “She very occasionally treats herself to fish and chips when at Balmoral. A footman is dispatched to get it from the local town of Ballater.”

And former royal chef Darren McGrady once revealed that kitchen staff would make their own versions of takeout food for the Queen and her family.

He said: “It always tickled me at Balmoral, we would make our own burgers. They would shoot deer, and we would do venison burgers. There’d be gorgeous cranberry and everything stuffed into them, but we never set buns out.

“The only thing you would pick up and eat with your fingers is afternoon tea.”

Adele has reportedly pulled out of performing live at the Brit Awards.

The ‘Easy On Me’ hitmaker – who indefinitely delayed her Las Vegas residency earlier this month – was planning to take to the stage for the event at London’s O2 Arena on 8 February but has left organisers with a “massive headache” after she told them she’ll no longer make the ceremony, though it is still possible she could sing for fans via a video link.

A source told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: “Adele was confirmed to perform on the night, but has now pulled out — which has been a massive blow for the organisers.

“They are talking to her team to see if she can appear by videolink.

“It’s a massive headache but they want her involved in any way she will agree.”

Adele is also nominated for four awards at the event – including the prestigious Artist of the Year accolade – and so now Brits bosses will need to find someone to accept any prizes she wins on her behalf.

The insider added: “They also now have to find someone to accept her awards — should she win.

“And several big names have already said no.

“Names already mentioned include Sam Smith, and even Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa — who are both up against Adele for awards — but they are all looking unlikely. They have also made an approach to Stormzy, in the hope that they can persuade him.”

It is believed the 33-year-old star pulled out of the show because her team were concerned about a backlash following her decision to delay her US shows at the last minute.

The source said: “It seems there were concerns of another backlash if she’d performed on the Brits so soon after calling off her Vegas shows last-minute.

“That decision has understandably caused a great deal of disappointment and, in the wake of that, Adele and her team decided to call off her Brits performance.”

Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake are “very good friends”.

The ‘Cry Me A River’ hitmaker accidentally exposed the pop star’s breast during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004 and the 55-year-old star insisted people need to “move on” from the controversial incident, which she feels was “blown way out of proportion”.

In a message to fans recorded for her Lifetime and A&E documentary ‘Janet’, she said: “Honestly, this whole thing was blown way out of proportion. And, of course, it was an accident that should not have happened, but everyone is looking for someone to blame and that’s got to stop.

“Justin and I are very good friends, and we will always be very good friends. We spoke just a few days ago. He and I have moved on, and it’s time for everyone else to do the same.”

The scandal let to a backlash against Janet while the ‘SexyBack’ hitmaker’s career continued to skyrocket, and the ‘Together Again’ singer recalled how Justin asked her at the time if he should make a public statement but she advised him to stay out of the “drama”.

She told her brother Randy Jackson in the documentary: “We talked once and [Justin] said, ‘I don’t know if I should come out and make a statement.’ And I said, ‘Listen, I don’t want any drama for you. They’re aiming all of this at me.’ So I said, ‘If I were you, I wouldn’t say anything.’ “

Last year, Justin issued a public apology for the incident, and in 2018 he confirmed he “absolutely” took time to make amends with Janey.

He said: “I don’t know that a lot of people know that. I don’t think it’s my job to do that because you value the relationships that you do have with people. II stumbled through it, to be quite honest. I had my wires crossed and it’s just something that you have to look back on and go like, ‘Okay, well you know, you can’t change what’s happened but you can move forward and learn from it.'”

Despite her comments now, in 2006, Janet said she felt “all the emphasis was put on me” following the incident, “as opposed to us.”

And asked if she felt Justin had “left her hanging”, she replied: “To a certain degree, yeah.”

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have expressed “their concerns” to Spotify over misinformation spreading on the platform.

Musicians, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, asked for their music to be removed from the app amid calls for Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast to be removed for giving false information regarding the coronavirus vaccine.

And now, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who set up Archewell Audio, signing an exclusive mega-money multi-year deal with the streaming giant to release a number of podcasts, have revealed they urged Spotify to help stop the “global misinformation crisis”.

In a statement, an Archewell spokesperson said on behalf of the royal couple: “Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis.

“Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of mis- and disinformation every day.

“Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of Covid misinformation on its platform.

“We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis.

“We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does.”

Spotify insisted it bans “false or dangerous deceptive content about Covid-19, which may cause offline harm and/or pose a direct threat to public health.”

‘Heart of Gold’ hitmaker Neil had his music removed from Spotify earlier this week.

In a request to the company, the 76-year-old singer said: “I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform. They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.

“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them. Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule.”

The streaming service later responded: “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”

In a note on her official website titled ‘I Stand With Neil Young!’, Joni, 78, added: “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”

Jessica Chastain felt guilty for judging Tammy Faye Bakker before playing her on screen.

The 44-year-old actress portrays the late televangelist in the new movie ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ and believes it the way to atone for her “harsh” views of her alter ego when she was younger.

Jessica said of Tammy Faye: “I didn’t watch religious television, but I knew she was silly and easy to make fun of.

“She was on the cover of tabloid magazines, so I thought she must be a terrible person.”

The ‘Molly’s Game’ actress explained that her opinion on Tammy Faye changed after she had watched a documentary about her life – which serves as inspiration for the film.

Jessica told the Daily Mail newspaper’s Baz Bamigboye column: “I felt guilty I’d judged her so harshly.”

Tammy Faye’s marriage to her husband Jim Bakker (played by Andrew Garfield in the flick) fell apart after he was convicted of fraud but Jessica feels that her character was harshly treated for Jim’s mistakes due to her looks.

She explained: “Her husband made some mistakes – and Tammy was vilified for it.

“But really, it was because of her appearance. Women have been commodified in society. So much is about physical appearance and that’s how women have been judged.”

The ‘355’ star continued: “She was shamed, and Tammy’s the physical embodiment of that shame.

“People would look at her and go: ‘She’s the kid from a broken family.’ That’s how it was.

“She knew what it was like to be unloved and unwelcome. Her thought was to connect and reach out to strangers, because she believes in God’s good grace.”

One of the world’s most famous romantic artworks is the latest to be sold as unique digital versions, as Vienna’s Belvedere museum prepares to sell NFTs of Gustav Klimt’s legendary Art Nouveau painting “The Kiss”.

Ahead of Valentine’s Day, the museum has announced that it will begin selling digital romance in the form of 10,000 NFTs of Klimt’s “The Kiss”, each costing around 1,850 euros (2,060 dollars).

Hyped by some and dismissed as a money-making scheme by others after NFT artworks fetched millions at auction, these so-called non-fungible tokens are digital certificates of authenticity meant to prove this is the original, even if countless other digital copies of Klimt’s artwork still exist.

With this project, Belverede is tapping into a new source of income, a spokeswoman said of the campaign, which could bring in a total of up to 18.5 million euros.

The museum says buyers can register for a chance to pay and “own a fraction of the digitalized image” and use these registrations as “a digital declaration of love” on Valentine’s Day (February 14).

The Belvedere’s project is only the latest in a string of high-profile NFT sales following a boom in this new technology. Proponents say that even though there can be any number of identical copies of a work of art or object, only one NFT can be considered the original.

The authenticity of the files in most current NFTs is secured with the tamper-proof blockchain data chain of the cryptocurrency Ethereum.

“The conversion of digital reproductions into virtual originals opens up new forms of participation that, in financial terms, should be taken seriously, yet can also be viewed playfully,” said Belvedere Director General Stella Rollig.

Jamie Dornan has been “in a perpetual state of drag” his entire life.

The 39-year-old actor – who has daughters Dulcie, eight, Elva, five, and Alberta, two, with wife Amelia Warner – admitted growing up in largely female households led to him having to dress up to get involved with the games of his sisters and then later his children.

He said: “I’ve two sisters, so I’ve gone from my sisters dressing me up in wigs and lipstick to my kids doing the same thing. I’ve basically been in a perpetual state of drag for 39 years.”

The ‘Belfast’ star joked he and his wife are only “capable of making” girls and he’s doubtful he’ll ever have a son.

Speaking on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’, he quipped: “That’s all we’re capable of making.

“No, I’ll keep trying maybe but I don’t think we’re going to have another boy.”

But having another child may be unlikely because Jamie admitted he and Amelia have their hands full with their three girls, particularly because the youngest is such a “hurricane” of energy.

He said: “She’s going to be three in February, we call her the hurricane. She’s a lot. She’s amazing, but she has a lot of energy…

“Two is a crazy age, there’s a lot of energy there but it’s compounded by the fact we’ve got two other girls, so there’s Tazmanian Devil energy around us all the time.”

Jamie has been nominated for a string of awards for his role in Sir Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical drama ‘Belfast’ and he believes his late father – who died of COVID-19 before the film was released – has had a hand in “the love” the movie has received.

He said of his dad not being able to see the film: “It’s brutal but I take some comfort in the fact he knew I was doing it, we filmed it before he passed and I think in some way he’s having some control over the love we’re getting.

“He was just happy that I was working with, like, Judi Dench, the legend, Dame Judi Dench plays my mother in this and I think he was just happy I was working with someone he knew.

“I ‘ve worked with some cool people and he was just like, ‘Nope, I don’t know who that is’. On this I was like, ‘I’m working with Dame Judi Dench’ and he was like, ‘Whaaaat?’

“[And] I grew up with a picture of Kenneth Branagh and my dad together on the bookshelf in our living room. My dad was a doctor and Kenneth had come to cut the ribbon and open a new maternity ward at the hospital where my dad worked. Little did I know that I’d end up working with Ken, crazy.”

Washington (AFP) – The dog-loving Bidens have finally fulfilled a key White House pledge — they got a cat.

The political pussycat is a short-haired tabby named Willow, a spokesman for Jill Biden said Friday. Pictures posted by the first lady on Twitter showed the gray-and-white-striped pet prowling in the red-carpeted splendor of the presidential residence.

It was the kind of soft, even cuddly Friday news the White House might need in these days of tension with Russia, soaring inflation and a stubborn, if receding, Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’re waiting for a bad news day,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki joked back in June about going through with the long-expected cat plan. “If you see a tail wagging coming out of the briefing room, you’ll know something bad is about to happen.”

Willow brings serious political chops: she’s a farm cat from Pennsylvania — ground zero in tight presidential elections — and was first encountered in 2020 when she jumped onto a stage where the future first lady was campaigning.

“Willow made quite an impression on Dr Biden,” Michael LaRosa, the first lady’s press secretary, said.

“Seeing their immediate bond, the owner of the farm knew that Willow belonged with Dr Biden.”

LaRosa said, “Willow is settling into the White House with her favorite toys, treats, and plenty of room to smell and explore.”

There was no answer to questions on Willow’s ability to bridge the bipartisan divide with dogs, but Washington probably won’t have to wait long to find out: the Bidens got a new German Shepherd puppy, Commander, just before Christmas.

Sean Penn thinks men have become “quite feminised”.

The ‘Flag Day’ actor-and-director has hit out at “cowardly genes” and suggested males have changed themselves to please females, but insisted the “strong women” he knows don’t view “masculinity” as a way of “oppressing” them.

He said: “I think that men have, in my view, become quite feminised. I have these very strong women in my life who do not take masculinity as a sign of oppression toward them. There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt.”

Sean’s daughter, Dylan Penn, was also present for the interview and went “quiet” and “stared into space” following her father’s comments.

Elsewhere during the interview, the 61-year-old star criticised the “failed citizens” who live in “privileged countries” such as the US and have declined to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Sean – who has “enormous faith” in the vaccination programme – told Independent.co.uk: “Sometimes people take their privilege and freedom as a right to be anti-citizen, to be failed citizens – those who will search out the kind of bogus science that would give them legitimacy [when it comes to] not being vaccinated.”

The ‘Milk’ actor’s non-profit organisation, CORE (Community Organised Relief Effort), was founded in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake but has recently focused efforts on testing and vaccination in the wake of the pandemic, and he’s hopeful they can make a difference.

He said: We plug along. We continually try to educate and to incentivise more people to accept the vaccine. And we advocate for the distribution of vaccines in places where people are hungry for it.”

And while Sean wants people to see ‘Flag Day’ in cinemas, he thinks it’s important theatregoers are vaccinated.

He said: “I mean, what value are we to ask people into a theatre to have a growing experience – or we hope it can be – if their body is being affected in a degraded way?

“So yeah, we all have to be thinking about that and in doing so, get through this so that going to the theatre is not a reluctant experience anymore.”

Marie Osmond is turning into her mother.

The 62-year-old star admitted she is finally embracing her mother’s positivity as she explained how Olive May – who sadly died in 2004 – always “chose to find the good” even during difficult times.

She told America’s Closer magazine: “My mother was a very positive person.

“Looking back, I realised she had a lot of tough things happen in her life, but she chose to find the good.

“Now I find, I’m her. If your life is happier, it’s because you choose to see the happy in your life.”

Marie’s comments come after she recently released solo album ‘Unexpected’, but her priority is on her home life with husband Steve Craig and their family.

She said: “I want to play first and work second, which I have never done in my life. I really want to play. That’s my number one goal.”

After a life in the spotlight, Marie – who released her first single at the age of 14 – is learning to say “no”.

She added: I think sometimes we are afraid to move from something that may be good in a job but not good due to the environment or your physical happiness.

“I am not afraid to close the door. I have learned not to be afraid to say, ‘No, this does not work for me.’ “

She’s striving to make up for lost time, and she described the last decade after remarrying first husband Steve in 2011 after 25 years part as the “best time” of her life.

She explained: “I have friends that say, ‘Oh my gosh, the kids are gone. I don’t know what to do.’ I’m like, ‘Connect. Be with the love of your life. Fall back in love!’ “

And the loved-up couple are looking to travel across America in a new motorhome complete with a king-size bed, while she’s embracing being a grandmother to eight kids.

She said: “You know, you get to do all the loving and none of the discipline. It’s really fun.”

Washington (AFP) – A school board in Tennessee has added to a surge in book bans by conservatives with an order to remove the award-winning 1986 graphic novel on the Holocaust, “Maus,” from local student libraries.

Author Art Spiegelman told CNN Thursday — coincidentally International Holocaust Remembrance Day — that the ban of his book for crude language was “myopic” and represents a “bigger and stupider” problem than any with his specific work.

The ban, decided by the McMinn County Board of Education in eastern Tennessee on January 10, sparked a national uproar among advocates of literary freedom after it became widely known in the past few days.

It was the most recent controversy over conservatives seeking to purge school libraries of books they find objectionable, with the focus on works that offer alternatives to traditional views of US history and culture, particularly from the viewpoints of African Americans, LGBTQ youths, and other minorities.

“Maus” was highly acclaimed when it was published as a compilation of Spiegelman’s serialized tale of the experiences of his father, a Polish Jew, with the Nazis and in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.

The book, which depicted characters in the story as animals — Jews are mice and Germans are cats — won a Pulitzer Prize and other awards, and was accepted in many secondary schools as a powerful and accurate depiction of the Nazi murder of millions of Jews during World War II.

The ban by the McMinn County school authority though focused on the use of eight crude words like “damn” and “bitch” and one scene of nudity, which some parents said were inappropriate for schoolchildren.

“There is some rough, objectionable language in this book,” said school board director Lee Parkison, who proposed just redacting those parts of the book.

But others argued that, while teaching teens about the Holocaust was necessary, a different book was needed.

“It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids; why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise or healthy,” asked board member Tony Allman.

‘Beyond comprehension’

Others defended the book. But they recognized the possible legal challenges over copyright and censorship that redacting could bring, and voted along with opponents to remove it from school libraries altogether.

“They are totally focused on some bad words that are in the book…. I can’t believe that,” Spiegelman told CNN from his home in Switzerland.

Jewish groups were deeply critical.

“Given the pronounced lack of knowledge about the Holocaust in the US, especially among younger Americans, a Tennessee school board decision to ban Maus… is beyond comprehension,” said David Harris, chief executive of the American Jewish Committee.

In a statement Thursday the McMinn school board defended its decision.

“Maus” was banned “because of its unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide,” they said.

“Taken as a whole, the board felt this work was simply too adult-oriented for use in a schools.”

They stressed they were seeking other works that will teach about the Holocaust “in a more age-appropriate fashion.”

“We all have an obligation to ensure that younger generations learn of its horrors to ensure that such an event is never repeated,” they said.

Culture wars

The “Maus” ban added to the list of so-called culture war fights in which conservatives have forced local schools to proscribe books, particularly those written with the perspectives of ethnic and gender minorities.

In October, a Texas school district temporarily withdrew copies of a book, “New Kid,” that explains the unintentional “micro-aggressions” an African-American child suffers because of the color of their skin. 

In Virginia, parents fought to have the widely lauded book “Beloved” by Black author Toni Morrison, a winner of the Nobel prize for literature, removed from reading lists.

In York County, Pennsylvania in October, students battled to reverse a ban on several books, including works about South African icon Nelson Mandela and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, and many about minority children.

While nearly all recent attacks on books for students has come from the right, in recent years the left has also acted to force schools to drop some longtime popular classics.

Targets have included “Huckleberry Finn” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” because of their use of anti-Black epithets and negative characterizations of African Americans in relation to whites.