The Ladies in the Media

[FozzyBear]

Anybody know of a place to stream all the seasons?

[HunterHunted]

Oh do shut up Juliet. No one asked you for styling help 5 years ago or now, especially not Meghan Markle.

http://people.com/royals/juliet-angus-claims-no-designers-would-dress-meghan-markle/amp/?xid=amprecirc1

[SweetieDarling]

3 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Oh do shut up Juliet. No one asked you for styling help 5 years ago or now, especially not Meghan Markle.

http://people.com/royals/juliet-angus-claims-no-designers-would-dress-meghan-markle/amp/?xid=amprecirc1

She looked awful in that picture! She's been hitting the botox, et al. a little hard. 

I always thought she had a horrid sense of style. For some reason that busy pattern with busy pattern thing hits a nerve. It's too much. It reminds me of old Eastern European women, or at least the one we used to live across the street from). 

[HunterHunted]

11 minutes ago, SweetieDarling said:

She looked awful in that picture! She's been hitting the botox, et al. a little hard. 

I always thought she had a horrid sense of style. For some reason that busy pattern with busy pattern thing hits a nerve. It's too much. It reminds me of old Eastern European women, or at least the one we used to live across the street from). 

Funny that you mention Eastern Europe. Juliet is Polish-American. Juliet looked really hard.

[SweetieDarling]

17 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

Funny that you mention Eastern Europe. Juliet is Polish-American. Juliet looked really hard.

LOL. I remember her saying that and thinking, "Well, that explains it." 

Agreed about her looking hard.

[Sun-Bun]

Juliet’s face always reminded me of a rodent or something—-she’s not a very pretty lady, unfortunately. The constant sneer on her face and her annoying personality didn’t help. Honestly, she’s the textbook “ugly American” stereotype they tried to push on that show; ditto Caprice and her hideous plastic surgery/stank attitude. Actually, none of the American women on this show were raving beauties, save for maybe Season 1’s Noelle—-beautiful Caroline and the similarly lovely Danish gal made the show for me.

[ivygirl]

Apparently Julie Montagu covered the wedding for the BBC? Or at least parts of it...

http://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/prince-harry-meghan-markle-wedding-covered-by-ladies-of-london-star-julie-montagu

[biakbiak]

Annabelle died, cause of death hasn’t been released.

Edited July 16, 2018 by biakbiak

[cyberfruit]

Damn, I'm sorry to hear this. May she rest in peace. 

[SweetieDarling]

How sad.

[Sun-Bun]

She always seemed so sad and quiet, just a little lost and oddly in her own morose little world when she wasn’t riding horses. It’s like all she did was reminisce upon her fabulous years being a part of the London fashion “it” crowd and mention how much she missed her dear friend Alexander McQueen—-hope those two are happily reconnecting again somehow.

Sounds like it’s either an accidental overdose and/or suicide.

[TheFinalRose]

I am so sorry to hear this. I loved Annabelle on the show.  

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

So sad. 

[lunastartron]

2 hours ago, Sun-Bun said:

She always seemed so sad and quiet, just a little lost and oddly in her own morose little world when she wasn’t riding horses. It’s like all she did was reminisce upon her fabulous years being a part of the London fashion “it” crowd and mention how much she missed her dear friend Alexander McQueen—-hope those two are happily reconnecting again somehow.

Sounds like it’s either an accidental overdose and/or suicide.

I wouldn't be surprised at either. But I would conjecture organ failure/corrosion from opiates used to treat any lingering pain she suffered from the broken back and pelvis. 

The news came as an honest shock to me. She had posted on Instagram just over the weekend. 

May she rest in peace after her emotionally tumultuous recent years. 

[TheFinalRose]

According to Page Six, she died on Thursday, but her Instagram still updated on Saturday. Her family has since scrubbed her feed, but to people who knew her/followed her it was upsetting and made them wonder if her death was a hoax. 

https://pagesix.com/2018/07/16/ladies-of-london-stars-friends-hoped-death-was-a-hoax/

[Babyfoot]

Annabelle's death is all over the media at this point but Bravo has yet to offer condolences.

[QuinnM]

1 hour ago, Babyfoot said:

Annabelle's death is all over the media at this point but Bravo has yet to offer condolences.

Not sure it makes a difference but Ladies of London was/is not a Bravo produced show.  Not part of the Real Ho franchise.

[LemonSoda]

1 hour ago, Babyfoot said:

Annabelle's death is all over the media at this point but Bravo has yet to offer condolences.

Horrible and tacky. Especially considering securing Annabelle for the first season was what helped get this show off the ground. I wish I could find the old article that mentioned that. I remember reading articles before the first season where they said she was a huge catch (along with Caprice) because usually well connected British women weren't in to doing reality tv. Securing American/Expat cast members was easy, signing on British women was difficult. 

 

She wasn't always enjoyable to watch but ever so often you could see glimpses of her personality and energetic spirit when she wasn't sullen, engaging in unnecessary but necessary for storyline drama or full on depressed. When she was up, you could see that she seemed fun to be around, someone you would want to invite to your country home. Definitely adventurous. Even after the issues in Season 2 I remember feeling badly for her because she placed so much of her own indentity upon McQueen and what seemed like a fun fashion era that was over. I hoped her children's book would become a series and she could bask in the glow of simply being herself not as a muse, friend or lover. Just Annabelle. 

 

I hope she's resting well. 

[LemonSoda]

16 minutes ago, QuinnM said:

Not sure it makes a difference but Ladies of London was/is not a Bravo produced show.  Not part of the Real Ho franchise.

It was. They outsourced production/camera crews from Adjacent Productions/BBC because that was cheaper than shipping an entire crew and equipment over. But it was filmed/created for Bravo. It did air on ITVBe, Slice, other networks as all reality shows do. 

[HunterHunted]

10 minutes ago, QuinnM said:

Not sure it makes a difference but Ladies of London was/is not a Bravo produced show.  Not part of the Real Ho franchise.

Yes, it was a Bravo show. BBC Worldwide produced it, but I think Bravo was its original and only broadcast network. It is listed as a Bravo show on Wikipedia. Regardless, Bravo was Johnny on the spot when Daisy from Blood, Sweat, and Heels died. They issued a condolence statement that day. In their defense, Daisy's death was anticipated. I think Bravo might be waiting until all the details of Annabelle's death are announced, but that doesn't preclude them from issuing a short statement.

Not all of the Real Housewives shows are Bravo shows; the foreign ones are not Bravo produced.

[QuinnM]

18 minutes ago, LemonSoda said:

It was. They outsourced production/camera crews from Adjacent Productions/BBC because that was cheaper than shipping an entire crew and equipment over. But it was filmed/created for Bravo. It did air on ITVBe, Slice, other networks as all reality shows do.

Andy has made quite a big deal out of the fact that it wasn’t.  The Australian shows weren’t either.  He usually brought it up when LOL women were on WWHL.

[biakbiak]

45 minutes ago, QuinnM said:

Andy has made quite a big deal out of the fact that it wasn’t.  The Australian shows weren’t either.  He usually brought it up when LOL women were on WWHL.

It was definitely a Bravo created show, it was one of the first shows developed after Andy stepped down, so he had no part of it. The international RH shows weren’t Bravo created but this was.

It was developed by Kathleen French when she was first hired. 

Edited July 17, 2018 by biakbiak

[NewGranny]

2 hours ago, Babyfoot said:

Annabelle's death is all over the media at this point but Bravo has yet to offer condolences.

Andy has made a statement about it.  I follow Ladies of London on Facebook and it is there.  I think that he payed some sort of tribute to her last night on WWHL.

[HunterHunted]

http://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/ladies-of-london-annabelle-neilson-dies-at-49-andy-cohen-reacts?amp

[ScoobieDoobs]

She was such a sad mess in the second season she was on the show -- depressed, depressing to watch, and hobbled by her injuries.  She did seem a bit more upbeat & she seemed to be healing from her severe injuries when we last saw her on the show.  But she was still an absolute mess.  Honestly, I'm not at all surprised by this news.  She was a really, really hard partier.  Those are just words.  She drank endlessly & did very hardcore drugs for extended periods.  True, some who have done what Annabelle did have managed to reach their sixties, but they are the few.

Reading her obits, I got that she clearly led a very exciting life & was close friends with some extremely influential people -- in addition to Alexander McQueen.  But that's NOT the Annabelle we ever saw on this show.  She mostly seemed sad, constantly reflective on her "happier" past life & snobbishly looking down on anyone near her.  Very occasionally she would let go, but not often.  She was mostly a downer & just not good on the show.  Annabelle from 20 years ago, who was a famous model with famous friends & in a continuous daze of booze & drugs, might have been an interesting addition to the show.  But bitter, haughty, sad-sack, mid-40's Annabelle was meh.

[LemonSoda]

6 hours ago, ScoobieDoobs said:

She was such a sad mess in the second season she was on the show -- depressed, depressing to watch, and hobbled by her injuries.  She did seem a bit more upbeat & she seemed to be healing from her severe injuries when we last saw her on the show.  But she was still an absolute mess.  Honestly, I'm not at all surprised by this news.  She was a really, really hard partier.  Those are just words.  She drank endlessly & did very hardcore drugs for extended periods.  True, some who have done what Annabelle did have managed to reach their sixties, but they are the few.

Reading her obits, I got that she clearly led a very exciting life & was close friends with some extremely influential people -- in addition to Alexander McQueen.  But that's NOT the Annabelle we ever saw on this show.  She mostly seemed sad, constantly reflective on her "happier" past life & snobbishly looking down on anyone near her.  Very occasionally she would let go, but not often.  She was mostly a downer & just not good on the show.  Annabelle from 20 years ago, who was a famous model with famous friends & in a continuous daze of booze & drugs, might have been an interesting addition to the show.  But bitter, haughty, sad-sack, mid-40's Annabelle was meh.

Beautifully written! From time to time we could see glimpses of that exciting fun person shine through briefly like shooting at Mapperton. But we never got to fully see her. I would've liked to see the motorcycle driving, helicopter flying Annabelle. 

 

She had such a sullen "Is this it?" look. As if she almost couldn't believe the fun life would ever end. Facing the now what? 

[ScoobieDoobs]

Remember when Annabelle wore a really incredible McQueen dress?  I think it was only once.  Uh, why?  I bet she had tons just like that faboo dress.  A visit to her closet would have been a show in itself --  that I'd watch the hell out of.

And the very, very, very few times she did speak of McQueen or her past life as a model were fascinating.  It's a shame she didn't write a memoir.  I bet she had oodles of awesome stories to tell.  Maybe it was too painful?

You know, of ANYONE ever on this show, Annabelle was by far the most interesting.  I couldn't blame her for having no patience for a wannabe nitwit like Juliet.  But her personality as it was in her 40's just didn't fit being on any reality show.

[LemonSoda]

1 hour ago, ScoobieDoobs said:

Remember when Annabelle wore a really incredible McQueen dress?  I think it was only once.  Uh, why?  I bet she had tons just like that faboo dress.  A visit to her closet would have been a show in itself --  that I'd watch the hell out of.

And the very, very, very few times she did speak of McQueen or her past life as a model were fascinating.  It's a shame she didn't write a memoir.  I bet she had oodles of awesome stories to tell.  Maybe it was too painful?

You know, of ANYONE ever on this show, Annabelle was by far the most interesting.  I couldn't blame her for having no patience for a wannabe nitwit like Juliet.  But her personality as it was in her 40's just didn't fit being on any reality show.

I would've liked to see more of her wardrobe and her fabulous house! I think the memoir would've been too painful in different ways. It was like she couldn't accept it was all over. She always struck me as the After story of a fabulous life that we rarely get to see. The what happens when the good times are over and what remains? After all that fun, adventure and glamour, what do you do with yourself when the party is over? The lucky ones begin a new chapter. Start a family, take up new hobbies, make new friends. She took up riding again and was never the same after the accident. I agree that her personality in her 40's didn't fit a reality show. But at least she tried. I can't remember if it was Julie or Caroline Fleming who said it but on a podcast a few years ago one of them said Annabelle was much warmer than she came off on the show and they felt she didn't get a good edit. Of course it was also mentioned that Juliet wasn't the insufferable loud beast she came off as and Marissa being less than polite seeped out a bit too. 

[ScoobieDoobs]

I kinda remember these broads being accused of American hate.  Well, maybe "hate" might be a tad strong.  But Annabelle's constant sneering & looking her nose down at Juliet made me uncomfortable.  Sure, Juliet played up her role as the Ramona/Vicki/Theresa of this show, lacking any filter, screeching, crying & causing drama over nothing.  But I never took to Annabelle.  Something seemed mighty cold, cold, cold about her to me.  The news of her death didn't get any reaction from me other than mild curiosity.

[biakbiak]

Juliet was atrocious so I have no problem with that.

[teapot]

12 hours ago, LemonSoda said:

I would've liked to see more of her wardrobe and her fabulous house! I think the memoir would've been too painful in different ways. It was like she couldn't accept it was all over. She always struck me as the After story of a fabulous life that we rarely get to see. The what happens when the good times are over and what remains? After all that fun, adventure and glamour, what do you do with yourself when the party is over? 

live in a grey-gardens-esque brokedown palace while you awkwardly hit on the help and claim that you "party on John-John's yacht" even though the aforementioned has been deceased for 20 years?  oh Lady Morgan, I cannot quit you...

My memory's fuzzy but wasn't Annabelle getting close to one of the ladies (Julie?) and she wanted to be coddled  and she got pissed at her friend when she was having fun with the other ladies?  That's how I remember her.  I *wanted* to like her but she was just...a lot.

[lunastartron]

16 hours ago, teapot said:

live in a grey-gardens-esque brokedown palace while you awkwardly hit on the help and claim that you "party on John-John's yacht" even though the aforementioned has been deceased for 20 years?  oh Lady Morgan, I cannot quit you...

My memory's fuzzy but wasn't Annabelle getting close to one of the ladies (Julie?) and she wanted to be coddled  and she got pissed at her friend when she was having fun with the other ladies?  That's how I remember her.  I *wanted* to like her but she was just...a lot.

From my subjective perspective, Annabelle invested a significant amount of time and energy into her friendships and expected that effort to be reciprocated - not necessarily, in my view, because she kept a score sheet of emotional expenditures and balances but because she was essentially an intensely sensitive soul. 

That kind of personality can certainly be exhausting for those with a different approach to friendship but I always thought the deterioration of her camaraderie with Julie revealed a pretty unsavory degree of opportunism and disingenuousness in the Viscountess.

Annabelle proactively took Julie under her wing and effectively ensured she won a full-time spot in the second season because Annabelle had been old friends with Julie's husband. Fast forward to the end of filming that year and Julie was disparaging Annabelle to Caroline Stansbury. 

Ultimately, there were, of course, difficult and guarded aspects to Annabelle's character but I found her to be probably the most fascinating and complex figure to ever appear on a Bravo show. I don't really find the when-the-music-stops reads on her to be especially accurate. From what we saw, she had one of the fuller, varied, and productive lives on the network. Sure, she enjoyed the leisure afforded by her wealth but consulting on/styling London fashion week shows for fledgling designers (as she did in season one) to putting out three children's books to training with her horses made for a fascinating and diverse schedule. 

I think it was natural for anyone with her biography to exude an air of melancholia during an age when midlife crises are the norm. 

The enormity of her privilege, the richness and excitement of her youth, the brutal violence she endured (I had no idea she had survived an attack by a serial killer), the whirlwind pace of her marriage to one of the hemispheres wealthiest men, the early loss of and complexity of her relationship with the man who was by all accounts her soulmate - it staggers the imagination. 

It's being reported that she passed away from a stroke - I hope it was swift and painless. And though it is quite tragic to consider the contributions she could have made in the future to the arts and the lives of her family - oh, what an exhilarating rush of a life Annabelle lived. God grant her rest. 

Edited July 20, 2018 by lunastartron

[biakbiak]

4 hours ago, lunastartron said:

t's being reported that she passed away from a stroke - I hope it was swift and painless.

Her family clarified that it was a heart attack.

etb: I legit don’t believe that morning needs to happen on SM but I find it odd that Julie hasn’t posted anything on IG but actively posts awesome yoga posts!

Edited July 20, 2018 by biakbiak