Prince William said Thursday that 2024 was the “hardest year” of his life amid ongoing health battles in the British royal family. “It’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life. So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult,” Prince William said to reporters in South Africa, where he was presenting awards for Earthshot, the family’s global environmental award given out annually. In February, Buckingham Palace revealed that King Charles had cancer. Six weeks later, Prince William’s wife Kate Middleton announced to the public that she was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer as well. “I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” William said. “But from a personal family point of view, it’s been brutal.” On Wednesday, the Prince of Wales presented $1.2 million each to five environmental innovations.

Donald Trump’s presidential victory has reportedly triggered a spike in calls to LGBTQ+ youth crisis hotlines. The Washington Post reported that The Rainbow Youth Project, which offers mental health and suicide prevention counseling, received more than 3,810 calls so far in November—which the organization said soared above its monthly average of 3,765 in just six days. The Trevor Project, which also provides suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youths, said it also a 125 percent increase in incoming calls, texts and chat messages on Election Day. More organizations offering services for LGBTQ+ people have also reported increased calls and inquiries, reported WaPo. And with Trump regularly spewing anti-trans talking points on the campaign trail, the calls have not been without warrant. “We are receiving these calls out of fear,” Rainbow Youth Project director Lance Preston told WaPo. “Fear that we will lose our children to suicide and fear of the challenges this new administration will set up for us.”

If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.

Looking for a memorable gift for a dog parent in your life—or for yourself? Embark’s Dog DNA test offers a unique way to bring owners and their pups closer than ever.

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Actress Rashida Jones memorialized her father, legendary music producer Quincy Jones, in an Instagram post Thursday after he passed away over the weekend at 91. “My dad was nocturnal his whole adult life. He kept ‘jazz hours’ starting in high school and never looked back. When I was little, I would wake up in the middle of the night to search for him,” Rashida wrote, along with a baby photo with her dad. “He would never send me back to bed. He would smile and bring me into his arms while he continued to work...there was no safer place in the world for me.” She continued, “He was a giant. An icon. A culture shifter. A genius. All accurate descriptions of my father but his music (and ALL of his work) was a channel for his love. He WAS love. He made everyone he ever met feel loved and seen. That’s his legacy.” She finished with, “Daddy, it is an honor to be your daughter. Your love lives forever.” Rashida directed a 2019 documentary on her father’s life, which won a Grammy.

Trump Media share prices plummeted on Thursday, wiping out the post-election gains that briefly made Donald Trump a much wealthier man. As Trump looked to be headed for victory Wednesday morning, the company’s stock skyrocketed by 35 percent in premarket trading. As a result, the value of the president-elect’s shares shot up from $3.9 million to $5.3 million at the opening bell. At the end of regular trading, the stock was still up by a more modest 5.9 percent. But on Thursday, the share price plunged by 20 percent during morning trading, CNBC reported, eliminating the electoral bump. Throughout the election, the share price for Trump Media & Technology, which operates the social media platform Truth Social, fluctuated wildly based on its majority shareholder’s perceived chances of victory. The end of the election doesn’t seem to have brought an end to the share price’s wild ride. One thing has remained consistent, though. The company released an earnings report on Tuesday saying it had lost $19.2 million in the third quarter of this year. That’s on top of $58.2 million it lost in 2023 and $28.5 million it lost during the first half of 2024.

The Daily Beast Podcast episodes are released every Thursday. Like and download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. And click here for email updates as each new episode drops.

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After a long day of putting out fires both at work and home (or maybe just after watching the news), many of us feel like we need a little something to take the edge off. If you’re looking for a zero-proof remedy to replace your glass of wine, can of beer or nightly cocktail, TRIP’s calm-boosting sparkling drinks may be just what you need to unwind sans the side effects of alcohol. Available in four delicious flavors—cucumber mint, elderflower mint, peach ginger, and raspberry orange blossom—TRIP’s Mindful Blend is infused with natural ingredients like magnesium and lion‘s mane, which may help reduce stress, boost mood, and enhance focus. Each can contains just 27 calories and has zero added sugar. Plus, your purchase offers more than just tasty drinks.

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Simon Kinberg, writer and producer of the X-Men movies, is set to develop a new Star Wars trilogy. Though plot details haven’t been confirmed, Kinberg’s films will feature new characters, Deadline reports. The original nine-part “Skywalker Saga” ended in 2019 with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Kinberg will write the trilogy and produce them with Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy. Kinberg previously worked with Lucasfilm co-creating the show Star Wars Rebels and consulting on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. The new trilogy joins a host of other Star Wars projects in the works, including The Mandalorian & Grogu, set for ​​May 22, 2026, along with two untitled movies premiering Dec. 18, 2026, and Dec. 17, 2027. Lucasfilm previously announced several other Star Wars projects by filmmakers James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Taika Waititi and Donald Glover— but it’s unclear when these movies will be developed, if at all.

All of his bouncing has paid off: Elon Musk appears to have been absorbed into Donald Trump’s family fold. The billionaire was included in an election-night group photo—posted to Musk’s X by Don Jr.’s daughter Kai and captioned “the whole squad”—featuring all the Trumps except Melania. In the pic, Musk is sandwiched between Eric and Lara Trump, holding his son X-AE-A12 and sort of smiling. Unfortunately he has a lot to sort of smile about: For starters, the $119 million he spent on the Trump campaign proved to be a lucrative investment, the win accompanied by a $21 billion stock-fueled surge in Musk’s net worth. Trump has also floated the idea of offering Musk a cabinet position; something fake-sounding and as-yet nonexistent like “secretary of cost-cutting.” And now, it looks like he’s part of the family. Huh!

The Daily Beast Podcast episodes are released every Thursday. Like and download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. And click here for email updates as each new episode drops.

Actress Elizabeth Hurley has a few ideas of what she’d like to do as queen for a day. Speaking in a Q&A with The Guardian, Hurley, who played Queen Helena on the TV show The Royals, said she’d want to ban air fresheners in cars and have better labels for ultra-processed foods. She’d also want to ban prison sentences for white collar criminals “and make them give back to the community instead,” she said. “Imagine if Lester Piggott had had to spend years teaching inner-city kids to ride horses,” Hurley added, referencing the British jockey who served a year in prison in 1987 for tax fraud. On the flip side, she said she’d want longer sentences for violent criminals. Hurley’s answer was a response to a Guardian reader question on what laws she would pass to make the country “a happier (or unhappier) place.” Hurley also said her favorite part of playing the queen on the show was “saying ‘walk away’ when anyone annoyed me and watching them dutifully scurry off.”

As the election data continues to roll in, a clearer picture emerges of Donald Trump‘s victory and just how broad support for his candidacy was. Not only did Trump win every swing state, he also swept the blue wall and made inroads in previously Democrat-voting districts. One of those was Blue Earth County in Minnesota, where Kamala Harris‘s running mate Tim Walz lived before he became the state’s governor. Walz spent two decades in Blue Earth County, first as a social studies teacher and football coach, then as its Representative in Congress. Despite going blue in 2020, the county tilted Trump in this contest, awarding the president-elect 49.6 percent of the vote to Harris’s 48.3 percent, per The New York Post.

The Daily Beast Podcast episodes are released every Thursday. Like and download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. And click here for email updates as each new episode drops.

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Apparently, boosting prostate health can actually be pleasurable—at least, that’s what premium sexual wellness brand MysteryVibe says. The Molto, an ultra-slim and bendable prostate vibrator designed by a doctor, is engineered to be the same size and width as a doctor’s finger and to mimic similar motions to that performed during an exam, allowing for not only intense prostate (the prostate is often hailed as the male ‘G-spot’) and anal stimulation but also a release of prostatic fluids. According to the brand, some studies have found that excess prostatic fluid can lead to inflammation and pressure, so not only is this a sex toy, but it’s also possibly an investment in your prostate health. Think of it almost like a lymphatic massage for your prostate—except one that can give you intense orgasms, too.

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Made with body-safe silicone, the multifunctional and gender-fluid vibrator is powered by one “anatomically-placed” motor that delivers potent yet precise vibration to the anus and prostate without feeling bulky or inflexible. It’s a great sex toy for those new to anal play or who are looking for an ultra-sleek vibrator with possible health-boosting benefits. The prostate vibrator is equipped with 16 vibration settings and eight pre-set vibration patterns, allowing for superior control and customization. Plus, the device comes with access to a catalog of vibration patterns with the free MysteryVibe smartphone app. Best of all? Because the Molto vibrator is an FDA-registered class II medical device, it’s also FSA/HSA eligible.

Queen Elizabeth II made a “factual and practical” last entry in her diary, believed to be her final written words, just two days before her death, a new biography of King Charles says. Elizabeth, who died in 2022 at the age of 96, wrote, “Edward came to see me,” understood to be a reference to her private secretary, Sir Edward Young, who was memorably dubbed “the bee” by Prince Harry. In a new biography of Charles by historian Robert Hardman, the author says: “It transpires that she was still writing (her diary) at Balmoral two days before her death. Her last entry was as factual and practical as ever. It could have been describing another normal working day starting in the usual way – ‘Edward came to see me’ – as she noted the arrangements which her private secretary, Sir Edward Young, had made for the swearing-in of the new ministers of the Truss administration.”

Police in South Carolina are trying to hunt down and capture a group of 40 monkeys that escaped from a research facility in the Lowcountry. Yemassee Police Department said in a Facebook post Wednesday that multiple officers, plus staff from the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center, were searching for the runaways using thermal imaging cameras (and, presumably, some big bunches of bananas). “Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” it said. “If you spot any of the escaped animals, please contact 911 immediately and refrain from approaching them.” Social media posters said it was not the first ape escape from the Alpha Genesis facility, which, according to its website, “provides the highest quality nonhuman primate products and bio-research services world-wide.”