Still keeping some secrets, Beyoncé's mother opens up

MEMOIR
Matriarch: A Memoir
Tina Knowles (with Kevin Carr O'Leary)
John Murray Press, $34.99
When Tina Knowles was five years old, she once sat with a child-like defiance in the whites-only section of the bus.
The mother to superstar singer Beyoncé was mistaken as white and allowed to remain there, owing to her fairer complexion. When her dark-skinned sister went to pull Knowles back to the segregated section, a white woman intervened, thinking Knowles was a white child 'worthy of her protection'. Once the woman discovered Knowles was black, she gave a 'snarl' as if the little girl had 'sold her something I did not own'.
Sobering stories of racism, social injustice and police brutality in America form the bedrock of Knowles's earnest, if sometimes guarded, memoir Matriarch. The book reveals some admissions from the mother of Beyoncé and Solange, but gives scant detail on two celebrity daughters famously guarded about their private lives.
The 71-year-old was one of seven children, each one accidentally given a different version of their surname. (The name 'Beyoncé' is Knowles' recorded surname and the moniker she gave her firstborn.) Knowles' mother once tried to correct the record but was told by a white city clerk she should be thankful that she was even getting a birth certificate.
It's one interaction emblematic of the frequent harm the family suffers for being African-American. One brother is later beaten nearly to death by a police officer in a case of mistaken identity. Knowles is strip-searched and arrested for a minor traffic infringement. Brutal episodes like these are 'indicative of what families like ours endured and continue to endure all over', Knowles writes.
Decades later, racial prejudice resurfaces in the music industry's treatment of Beyoncé and her bandmates in the R&B ensemble Destiny's Child. As the girl group climbed the charts, Knowles was told to stop sewing their outfits as the clothes were 'too black'. The aesthetic, which drew on Motown's look of glamour and opulence, didn't align with the popular 'white' girlhood fashion of crop-tops and denim jeans.
For those expecting major revelations in Matriarch, know that this memoir is less interested in exposing Beyoncé's rarefied world and more preoccupied with meditating on black motherhood. Knowles reflects on the power African-American mothers bring to those in their care, like Knowles offered to 'Uncle Johnny', a gay friend whom she helped shield from a homophobic world: 'It was my honour to be his protector,' she writes. (Beyoncé would dedicate her album Renaissance to him.)

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There is one perfect moment though that, let us pray, gets recreated somehow. In 2019, Queen Camilla went viral after being caught on camera winking behind Mr Trump's back. Oooh errrr Your Majesty. Give us another one, please. Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and commentator with more than 15 years' experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles. Originally published as Picture exposes Kate's Trump nightmare

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Venice is divided ahead of next week's celebrity wedding of US tech-tycoon Jeff Bezos and Laura Sanchez, with some looking forward to the glitz and glamour, while others fear it will turn the scenic city of gondolas and palazzi into an amusement park. Many details of the wedding are still under wraps - including the precise day it will happen - but it is certain that scores of stars from film, fashion and business will arrive to see Bezos tie the knot - provided they can get past the protesters. One group has plastered banners on the city's famous Rialto Bridge reading "No space for Bezos!" and threatened peaceful blockades, complaining that the medieval and Renaissance city needs public services and housing, not celebrities and over-tourism. "Bezos arrogantly believes he can take over the city and turn it into his own private party venue," said Tommaso Cacciari, a leading light of the "No space for Bezos" campaign. 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After a swirl of media speculation about the venue of what has been dubbed "the wedding of the century" Brugnaro confirmed in March that it would take place in Venice, which last year began charging tourists a fee to enter the city. The date is expected to be some time between June 23-28 in the midst of three days of stylish celebrations. In the face of early protests from residents who feared the arrival of thousands of celebrities and hangers-on, the city issued a statement clarifying that it would involve around 200 guests and would not disrupt Venetians' everyday life. Bezos and Scott had four children together, while Sanchez was previously married to Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell, with whom she has two children. She also has a son with NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez. Venice is divided ahead of next week's celebrity wedding of US tech-tycoon Jeff Bezos and Laura Sanchez, with some looking forward to the glitz and glamour, while others fear it will turn the scenic city of gondolas and palazzi into an amusement park. Many details of the wedding are still under wraps - including the precise day it will happen - but it is certain that scores of stars from film, fashion and business will arrive to see Bezos tie the knot - provided they can get past the protesters. One group has plastered banners on the city's famous Rialto Bridge reading "No space for Bezos!" and threatened peaceful blockades, complaining that the medieval and Renaissance city needs public services and housing, not celebrities and over-tourism. "Bezos arrogantly believes he can take over the city and turn it into his own private party venue," said Tommaso Cacciari, a leading light of the "No space for Bezos" campaign. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and regional governor Luca Zaia, on the other hand, argue that the wedding will bring an economic windfall to local businesses, including the motor boats and gondolas that operate its myriad canals. Eleven years ago actor George Clooney married human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin in Venice, turning the city into Hollywood on the Adriatic with a weekend of lavish celebrations. Then, locals and tourists alike were excited to witness a memorable moment in the city's long history of hosting stars for its film festival, the world's oldest. Bezos, 61, the founder of e-commerce giant Amazon and the world's third-richest man, got engaged to journalist Sanchez, 55, in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to Mackenzie Scott. After a swirl of media speculation about the venue of what has been dubbed "the wedding of the century" Brugnaro confirmed in March that it would take place in Venice, which last year began charging tourists a fee to enter the city. The date is expected to be some time between June 23-28 in the midst of three days of stylish celebrations. In the face of early protests from residents who feared the arrival of thousands of celebrities and hangers-on, the city issued a statement clarifying that it would involve around 200 guests and would not disrupt Venetians' everyday life. Bezos and Scott had four children together, while Sanchez was previously married to Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell, with whom she has two children. She also has a son with NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez. Venice is divided ahead of next week's celebrity wedding of US tech-tycoon Jeff Bezos and Laura Sanchez, with some looking forward to the glitz and glamour, while others fear it will turn the scenic city of gondolas and palazzi into an amusement park. Many details of the wedding are still under wraps - including the precise day it will happen - but it is certain that scores of stars from film, fashion and business will arrive to see Bezos tie the knot - provided they can get past the protesters. One group has plastered banners on the city's famous Rialto Bridge reading "No space for Bezos!" and threatened peaceful blockades, complaining that the medieval and Renaissance city needs public services and housing, not celebrities and over-tourism. "Bezos arrogantly believes he can take over the city and turn it into his own private party venue," said Tommaso Cacciari, a leading light of the "No space for Bezos" campaign. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and regional governor Luca Zaia, on the other hand, argue that the wedding will bring an economic windfall to local businesses, including the motor boats and gondolas that operate its myriad canals. Eleven years ago actor George Clooney married human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin in Venice, turning the city into Hollywood on the Adriatic with a weekend of lavish celebrations. Then, locals and tourists alike were excited to witness a memorable moment in the city's long history of hosting stars for its film festival, the world's oldest. Bezos, 61, the founder of e-commerce giant Amazon and the world's third-richest man, got engaged to journalist Sanchez, 55, in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to Mackenzie Scott. After a swirl of media speculation about the venue of what has been dubbed "the wedding of the century" Brugnaro confirmed in March that it would take place in Venice, which last year began charging tourists a fee to enter the city. The date is expected to be some time between June 23-28 in the midst of three days of stylish celebrations. In the face of early protests from residents who feared the arrival of thousands of celebrities and hangers-on, the city issued a statement clarifying that it would involve around 200 guests and would not disrupt Venetians' everyday life. Bezos and Scott had four children together, while Sanchez was previously married to Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell, with whom she has two children. She also has a son with NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez.