This is an excerpt from Incoming, BuzzFeed News’ morning newsletter dedicated to making sense of this chaotic world we live in. Join the club here.
King Charles III has now officially been proclaimed king.
Queen Elizabeth II’s son was formally proclaimed King Charles III on Saturday, at the first-ever televised Principal Proclamation ceremony. King Charles III, 73, automatically became the monarch after the Queen died on Thursday, but Saturday marked the first major formality in a series of events that will take place during the transition. He is the oldest person to ever become a British monarch.
Camilla, Charles's spouse and the former Duchess of Cornwall, has become the Queen Consort — whose primary role is to “provide companionship and moral and practical support” to the King, Buckingham Palace said. (Although she will be known as “Queen Camilla,” only members of the royal family who are born in the direct bloodline of succession can become the monarch.) The Queen Consort does not hold a formal position in the structure of government.
The late Queen is also reportedly leaving behind more than $500 million in personal assets, which will be inherited by King Charles. The coffin of the late Queen is expected to be flown on Tuesday to Buckingham Palace before it is transferred to Westminster Abbey to lie in state prior to the funeral. Her state funeral will be on Monday, Sept. 19. Until then, Britain is in a period of national mourning.
For more info about what’s going down in the UK following the Queen’s death, read our Q&A.
Sunday marked the 200th day of war in Ukraine
Ukraine just launched a "highly effective" counterattack against Russia near Kharkiv, the Associated Press reported. This comes after Ukraine also attacked Russian infrastructure and supply lines with rockets supplied by the US.
The forced retreat from Kharkiv was the most dramatic blow to Russia’s invasion in months, according to military analysts.
SNAPSHOTS
Antigua and Barbuda may vote to remove the British monarch as head of state and become a republic. The British monarch remains the head of state of 14 countries outside the UK.
Prince Andrew and his roommate and ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, will take care of the Queen's corgis. Pups Muick and Sandy will live with the former couple at Royal Lodge in Windsor.
How counterfeit hauls online killed the taboo of the knockoff and disrupted luxury influencing. For some consumers of high-end fake designer clothing, their purchases are considered a small act of defiance against an industry that has thrived on scarcity and being exclusionary of specific demographics.
The Don't Worry Darling drama just keeps getting worse. A 2019 interview with Olivia Wilde has come back to haunt her, with the actor turned director insisting in the resurfaced clip that a bad movie is solely a reflection on a bad director.
Some people are happier (and healthier) being single.
The cultural pressure and financial incentives of paired relationships — specifically marriage — are tremendous. From the tax and health insurance benefits to obligatory plus-ones at celebratory events, our society sends a clear message: Romantic partners are the norm, and if you don’t have one, well, time to download a dating app and find your One True Love.
But more people — particularly straight women — are realizing that partnerships aren’t always happy or healthy, and that dating culture can be emotionally draining, anxiety-provoking, and sometimes downright humiliating. A 2019 analysis of US Census data shows that about 40% of adults between ages 25 and 54 were unpartnered (neither married nor living with a partner). That’s up from 29% in 1990.
Singles live “psychologically rich lives,” said Bella DePaulo, an expert on singlehood who works in the department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. They’re able to pursue a variety of interesting and novel experiences, and research shows that single people generally have a much stronger network of supportive relationships than those with partners because they’re better able to stay connected with family, friends, and coworkers, for example.
The best science fiction and fantasy coming out this fall
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
The story takes place in a near future where, amid dwindling sealife, octopuses have developed their own language and culture. The DIANIMA corporation has hired a team of three to study the octopuses: marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, the world’s first and only fully sentient android, and a war veteran security droid. The more Dr. Ha observes, the more she believes that indeed the octopuses seem to have formed a communication system, and she might be just the person to break it.
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
Tesla Crane, an engineer and wealthy heir, is honeymooning on a space liner when disaster strikes: A passenger is murdered, and the liner’s security peg the murder on Tesla’s husband, a former detective, and arrest him. To clear her husband — and to satiate her own curiosity — Tesla can’t help but try to discover the real killer for herself.
Poster Girl by Veronica Roth
Roth, famous for her Divergent series, returns to a future dystopian setting in her second adult novel. Once the poster girl for the Delegation — an oppressive, surveillance-driven regime — Sonya Kantor has spent the last 10 years imprisoned in the Aperture, where all former Delegation members have been taken after their overthrow and mostly forgotten. When the man responsible for Sonya’s imprisonment proposes a deal to allow Sonya out of Aperture, she soon finds herself working for her former enemy for the chance of freedom.
Don’t miss out on the full list of sci-fi must-reads here.
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