Royal Family

You can officially put a "Sir" on it -- Ringo Starr took a knee Tuesday morning and received his Knighthood, a mere 21 years after Sir Paul McCartney ... but no one's counting, right?

The Beatles drummer was dubbed into the club, of royal knights by Prince William at Buckingham Palace. Aside from Paul ... he joins Elton John, Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger as the biggest rock stars to get the honor. Bono got an honorary knighthood ... that's why he doesn't get the Sir treatment.

Of course, it's debatable why it took so long for the 77-year-old Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer to get knighted.

John Lennon and George Harrison won't get it at all -- current rules require honorees to be living. Mostly everyone would agree Paul deserved it in 1997, and would also buy Ringo getting it AFTER Paul ... but TWO decades after???

Sure, Paul wrote the songs, but someone played the drums on those hits ... someone had to lay down the beat for The Beatles!

We're sure Ringo ain't complaining. Just peace and love, peace and love, baby.

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton are going the way of Kim Kardashian and Blac Chyna and getting their own line of emojis.

A company called DRKHORS filed docs to trademark KateMojis and MeghanMojis.

We're told the two will be different ... KateMoji will focus on Kate and her royal family, while MeghanMoji will focus on Meghan and Harry falling in love. Each package will include British sayings and phrases -- some, like "American princess" and "cheeky bugger," are already up on the company's website, along with some KateMoji and MeghanMoji prototypes.

A rep for DRKHORS tells us the emojis are scheduled to launch May 2018, so just in time for texting around the Royal Wedding. Best of all ... the apps only cost $1.99 each.

Prince Harry has the perfect way to inspire the young women of Great Britain -- show off his bride-to-be, Meghan Markle.

The betrothed royals were in Birmingham, England Thursday to celebrate International Women's Day. Teenage girls, and several older girls too, lined up for an up-close and personal look at Harry and Meghan.

You can almost see what the young subjects were thinking as they greeted Meghan -- I wanna be you. Ditto for Harry -- I wanna be with you.

Harry and Megs gave them some more attainable goals too, while attending an event to promote careers in technology and engineering.

Queen Elizabeth was the target of an assassination attempt in New Zealand, but government officials covered it up over fear of losing future Royal tours ... according to new declassified docs.

New Zealand's Security Intelligence Service says 17-year-old Christopher Lewis fired a shot at the Queen during her October 1981 visit to Dunedin. He was arrested shortly afterward -- a rifle and used gun cartridge were found in a building overlooking QE2's parade route.

Police at the time claimed the gunshot sound was caused by a falling sign, and journalists have said cops told them not to report the incident.

According to the docs, Lewis intended to kill Elizabeth, but was never charged for it. Instead, he was accused of merely discharging a firearm. The lesser charge was an apparent attempt by top officials to cover up any connection to the Queen's parade.

The Spice Girls aren't just reuniting, they're becoming a wedding band ... but only for one very special couple.

Mel B went on "The Real" Tuesday and had a very hard time keeping anything secret about the group's involvement with the Royal Wedding -- first disclosing that all 5 girls got the invite from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ... then really spilling the beans.

Scary Spice kept getting pressed for more deets by the 'Real' ladies, and eventually seemed to confirm the Spice Girls will provide some wedding entertainment, as well.

We broke the story ... the girls have agreed to reunite for a series of concerts in the UK and U.S. beginning in late summer. We've also been told their contracts are signed ... despite Victoria Beckham saying there is no reunion tour.

Mel, btw, confirmed they've ALL signed back with their producer, Simon Fuller, and concerts dates are in the near future.

Clare-Hope Ashitey -- star of the new Netflix drama "Seven Seconds" -- is addressing the issue of race in America ... by pointing out the vast differences between the U.S. and her homeland.

We got the English actress at LAX Friday, and she tells us the racial atmosphere here makes her feel more uncomfortable and tense than she does back home ... and she has a few ideas why.

Clare admits things are far from perfect across the pond, but she thinks her people have more empathy and, more significantly, she claims they aren't still recovering from the "gaping wound" that is America's history of slavery.

The actress also brings up another hot-button issue -- guns -- specifically regarding police, as another key factor.

The good news -- Ashitey thinks the addition of Meghan Markle to the Royal Family will do some good for race relations both in England and here ... seriously.

Btw ... "Seven Seconds" is available now on Netflix, and also deals with these same topics.

Queen Elizabeth made a rare appearance on the sidelines of a catwalk as she graced London Fashion Week alongside Anna Wintour ... but she didn't seem that impressed.

The Queen was spotted sitting in the front row Tuesday at Richard Quinn's fashion show, and while a bunch of people -- including Anna -- clapped for the models as they strutted ... Elizabeth seemed to hold back a bit on the applause.

Based on this video, it's unclear if she had just wrapped up a polite Royal mini clap ... but she definitely didn't hold it as long as everyone else. Richard and co. shouldn't feel too bad, though ... apparently she hardly claps for anything.

Prince William ain't exactly the "Easy Rider" type, but he's trying his damnedest to look the part.

The Duke of Cambridge suited up Tuesday, hopped on a Triumph motorbike, popped the clutch and zoomed off -- but not too far. This was mostly a photo op, after all.

Wills visited Triumph Motorcycles and MIRA Technology Park in England -- and took a tour to celebrate the British company's world-class facilities.

Really though ... it was an awesome excuse for the father of 2 to live in the fast lane again. William used to own a Ducati back in his youth, and seemed to recapture some of that while test riding a Triumph Tiger 1200 around the factory's private track.

Kate Middleton was fighting the clock when she put on her green gown for the BAFTA Awards -- instead of black -- and her pregnancy made a switch near impossible.

Royals expert Katie Nicholl -- who wrote the book, "Kate: The Future Queen" -- tells us the Duchess of Cambridge was in a "no-win situation" Sunday with her wardrobe choice. She was criticized for going against the suggested Time's Up all-black dress code -- but Nicholl says Kate's dress was likely pre-ordered months ago and custom-made with her pregnancy in mind.

Point is ... the dress would've been chosen way before the Time's Up's buzz began in late 2017, and would preclude a last-minute wardrobe change.

There's also this -- Nicholl says members of the Royal family are encouraged to avoid political statements. That could be at play, but taking a stand against sexual harassment -- as tons of celebs have during award season -- hardly seems like a controversial stance.

So, we're going maternity dress issues for the win.

Kate Middleton either wasn't aware or simply didn't care about the suggested all-black dress code for Time's Up at the BAFTA Awards -- 'cause she went another way.

Kate and Prince William attended the annual award show Sunday in England, hitting the red carpet in a dark green gown while her hubby rocked a classic black tux.

It's a notable fashion choice, especially since most of the big stars of the night stuck to the blackout we saw during the Golden Globes. Actresses that wore black include Angelina Jolie, Margot Robbie, Jennifer Lawrence, Naomie Harris, Lupita Nyong'o, Salma Hayek, Octavia Spencer and others.

Whether she didn't get the memo, or just didn't want to weigh in on a controversial issue ... Kate definitely made a statement.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have touched down in Canada to start production on a new Lifetime movie about their love affair -- or at least the actors playing them have.

The actors playing the couple in "Harry & Meghan: The Royal Love Story" were spotted Wednesday in downtown Vancouver, where they're shooting the film -- and ya gotta compare 'em to the real deal.

Parisa Fitz-Henley seems to be getting a green light on social media for her resemblance to Meghan. Murray Fraser, on the other hand, might not be getting double takes for the right reason. Good looking guy and all, but he's no Prince of Wales.

The movie's about the story of how Harry and Meghan fell for each other ... way back in 2016. 'Memba that?

Megan Markle is fitting in across the pond right down to her plaid when it comes to accompanying Prince Harry on royal duty.

The couple's in Edinburgh, Scotland Tuesday and shook hands with locals after being greeted by the Royal Regiment of Scotland's mascot, Cruachan. Cruachan's a Shetland pony and comes with its own handler, Pony Major Mark Wilkinson.

They didn't engage with the tiny horse long before making small talk with folks outside Edinburgh Castle who showered Meghan with gifts and waved flags with the couple's mug on them.

Prince William and Kate Middleton slapped around some balls on the ice this week -- but don't call what they're doing hockey ... 'cause it ain't quite that.

The Prince and the Duchess of Cambridge were seen getting their bandy on Tuesday in Sweden, where they were on a Royal visit from the UK. While there, they were seen hanging with Stockholm team Hammarby IF and trying out the sport first-hand.

It's basically a European version of American hockey -- except they use balls instead of pucks ... apparently with the same slapshot techniques, though.

Meghan Markle's on her way to joining the Royal Family, but before that, she had her sights set on becoming queen ... of the lollipop biz.

According to docs obtained by TMZ ... Meghan and a friend filed trademark paperwork back in 2012 for the term "Lali" -- with the apparent intention of selling their own line of lollipops and drops.

It evidently never panned out, because a little more than 2 years later they abandoned their trademark application ... and haven't filed anything since.

Good news for Markle, though -- if she ever wants to revive the "Lali" pops ... Royal protocol won't get in her way.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were late, but worth the wait for their first official visit to Wales.

The royal couple arrived at the iconic Cardiff Castle Thursday in the capital city of Wales, a pretty personal visit, of course -- he was born to the Prince and Princess of Wales. The overflowing crowd was all smiles when Harry and Meghan stepped out to greet their subjects.

Afterward, H&M headed inside the castle and joined a festival to celebrate Welsh culture.

Turns out Queen Elizabeth ain't so down with her crown, after all.

QE2 caused a bit of an uproar in the U.K. during her first sit-down interview with the BBC ... because she damn near bounced her crown. You gotta see her attempt to lift the crown, only to quickly drop it, saying ... "It weighs a ton."

The Queen makes it seem like she hasn't seen her crown in years and, in fact, couldn't tell the front from the back. Can ya blame HRH?

Family jewels can be confusing ... and heavy.