Sometimes I think Point de Vue has been trying to remake itself into a magazine more like Paris Match, with more celebrity, entertainment, and political figure coverage. It's been sliding this way for years -- maybe they figured everyone would lose interest in royals after Diana's death.
I liked the old format, with 3 or 4 feature articles on royals and sections in the front and back with short pieces and gossip, much better than the current setup. The stories were better, too -- they went much more in depth on weddings, christenings, funerals, etc.
They seemed to have more exclusive, longer interviews with people like Alexander of Yugoslavia, the Count de Braganza, the French enfants, German princes, Michael of Romania, etc. Now it's all Kate Middleton's fashion sense, Maxima's shoes, whether Frederik and Mary are on the rocks, and other gossip.
(I think that the writing isn't as sophisticated as it used to be either, because my French isn't great, and these days I can read Point de Vue without needing a French-English dictionary. I feel certain my French isn't magically improving, so it must be the magazine.
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BTW, I live in the U.S. and subscribed through Express Mag for years, and it was very reliable. For the last year or so, I've been reading the entire magazine online through
Relay. It costs about the same as the paper magazine, but I don't have to wait for the mail and I can preview the contents before buying it. It's also nice to be able to save issues I really like without having magazines pile up around the house.
kal
I subscribe to Hello and usually I have never heard of about 75% of the celebs that are featured in the magazine. I consider myself pretty "up" on most things across the pond but when it comes to British television programs I haven't a clue. And I have found that most of the Royal news is already reported here on the board, so when there is an article on one of the Royals in the magazine, it's old news by the time it reaches my door.
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