Oh, what a time to be a royal enthusiast. There have been an untold number of well-publicized royal scandals over the years, many points in history where the ongoings of the British monarchy have dominated newspaper headlines and whipped the general public into a frenzy. The current state of affairs must surely rank among the most tantalizing. Not only has the whole saga regarding Kate Middleton’s recovery from a mysterious abdominal procedure captivated all and sundry since January,
but King Charles also received a shock cancer diagnosis. That’s not to mention the ever-present controversy where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are concerned. In most other decades the reigning monarch’s fight against cancer would be the focal point of the media attention. It speaks volumes, then, that the maelstrom of speculation surrounding Kate has virtually pushed all other topics into the shadows. It could be argued that the royals only have themselves to blame for the intense scrutiny placed upon Kate’s recovery. Aside from confirming that the Princess of Wales was undergoing a “planned abdominal procedure” in January, adding that she would be out of action until around Easter time, the Palace has been thrifty to the point of arousing suspicion with its updates. Just what Kate was suffering from that required surgery remains unknown to the public. Compounding the sense of confusion was the fact that Kate – until last week – hadn’t been seen since Christmas. And if the vacuum of concrete information brought the pot of speculation to boiling point, the debacle surrounding the image of Kate and her children released to mark Mother’s Day in the UK blew the lid off with such force that the various conspiracy theories suddenly became of interest worldwide. Among the mostly hotly debated possibilities was that Kate and Prince William were experiencing marital troubles, the likes of which had left Kate with no option but to withdraw from the spotlight until a solution could be found. At this stage we’d be remiss in our duties if we didn’t point out that any and all reports of William and Kate’s romance being in crisis remain unconfirmed. That said, the topic has generated enough attention to make it an undeniable fact that the public are at the very least extremely intrigued. The crux of the aforementioned marital bother William and Kate are purported to have found themselves in centers around the rumor that William had engaged in an affair with Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. According to reports, Rose and her husband David Rocksavage, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, have been in William and Kate’s social circle for some time. Once upon a time, the ever-reliable Sun newspaper tried to flog speculation that Kate and Rose had a falling out (leading to a not-insignificant amount of people claiming the cause was an affair between Rose and William). And it seems as though that candle of scandal continues to burn even today, some five years since The Sun published the aforesaid information. Last week there were multiple articles written about Rose – in the midst of the media throng to find out where Kate Middleton was – with some news outlets even being accused of ‘soft-launching’ the Marchioness in preparation for a time wherein her alleged affair with William became official news. Of course, the outlandish rumors appear to be just that… outlandish. Even so, Rose Hanbury herself was bothered enough to break her silence and firmly deny that any affair had ever taken place. As per reports, Business Insider reached out to Rose’s lawyers this weekend for comment. The reply they got read: “The rumors are completely false.” So there you have it… case closed, perhaps, maybe, for now. What do you think to the incessant speculation about Kate Middleton and Prince William? Let us know in the comments.
This ’70s Blonde Bombshell Still Stuns Audiences Today – You Won’t Believe How
*All In The Family* was one of the greatest shows ever, and I believe its lessons are still relevant today. It made several actors famous – and Sally Struthers was one of them.
Today, the beautiful woman with her iconic blonde hair looks quite different – but she’s still working in the industry…
**A Precocious Talent**
For many of us, Sally Struthers will always be remembered for her role as Gloria Stivic in the ’70s sitcom *All In The Family*. The iconic show was about a working-class white family living in Queens, New York, and it received an incredible 73 award nominations and won 42 times during its run.
However, I wonder if people born after the show ended can really understand how groundbreaking it was. There had been funny sitcoms before, but they rarely addressed social issues and taboos. *All In The Family* took many of these topics and made them funny, heartbreaking, or sometimes both.
Watching old episodes of the show on YouTube really makes you feel young again. It makes you laugh and helps you forget about today’s problems. Many of the issues back then are still the same ones we face today, just presented in a comical way.
The main characters in *All In The Family* are Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor), Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton), Gloria Bunker-Stivic (Sally Struthers), Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner), and Stephanie Mills (Danielle Brisebois). They all had great chemistry together.
In my opinion, Sally Struthers was very talented and often underrated as an actress. She even sang in some episodes of *All In The Family*, and I could see how she grew as a performer throughout the series.
“At first, I behaved like an idiot on the set. I thought that was how to get people to like me. I’ve learned to be myself, and now they respect me,” she told *Longview Daily News* in 1973.
When the series premiered in January 1971, Sally was a 22-year-old unknown with little TV experience. Producer Norman Lear, who Sally called the “father of us all,” discovered her while she was dancing on *The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour*.
Despite her lack of experience, Sally did a fantastic job, just like the rest of the cast. Six months after the premiere, she was a certified star as *All In The Family* became the No. 1 show on television.
At the peak of her fame, she could hardly walk outside or go to dinner without being swarmed by fans. For an innocent 22-year-old, it was a very challenging experience.
During the first seasons of the show, Sally was happy playing Gloria Stivic. However, she was rarely given a chance to fully develop her character or showcase her acting skills. During a break from *All In The Family*, she told producers that she wanted to try a more dramatic role.
“When we go on hiatus, I want to do something different,” she said.
“There are so many ways to represent a woman. I would like to play a murderess, an unwed mother, a nun, and an old Jewish mother. At the end of my career, I’d like people to say that I am as funny as Judy Holliday and as respected as Ruth Gordon.”
Unfortunately, typecasting can hurt a career – how often do we see someone become famous from an iconic show, only to struggle afterward?
Sadly, that was somewhat true for Sally.
She won two Emmy Awards for her role as Gloria and was given leading parts in a few other shows after leaving *All In The Family*. But the reality was that she didn’t receive many offers, and work soon began to slow down for her.
In the 1990s, Sally was a semi-regular panelist on the game show *Match Game*. Others might recognize her as Babette Dell in *Gilmore Girls*.
Today, she has been a regular at the Ogunquit Playhouse since the early 2000s. This regional theater is located in Ogunquit, Maine, and produces four or more shows each season.
In 2022, she starred alongside AJ Holmes as Frau Blucher in Mel Brooks’ *Young Frankenstein* at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.
The *All In The Family* star has also worked hard to advocate for impoverished children in developing countries. Sally has been a spokesperson for the Christian Children’s Fund for many years and has appeared in their well-known TV commercials.
**Sally Struthers’ Daughter**
Many might not know this, but Sally is a mother of one, even though she never really wanted a child at first. After meeting famous psychiatrist William C. Rader, she changed her mind. The couple married in 1977, and two years later, they welcomed a daughter named Samantha.
Over the years, Sally has had her ups and downs. She lost her mother to Alzheimer’s in 1996; her mother passed away in Sally’s arms just two days before Christmas. Sally has also faced mean comments about her looks and weight over the years, mostly from random people on social media.
But the actress has handled all these challenges with charm, integrity, and a sense of humor.
“From the time I was able to walk and say a few words, my whole aim in life was to make people laugh,” she told *Spectrum News* in 2022.
“And when I hear other people laugh, and I know that some silly face I’ve made or some line reading has made them double over, I’m transported to heaven. That’s my thing. Laughter.”
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