Palm Beach locals will recognize these famous names in new 'Palm Royale' TV series
Watch one episode of the new Apple TV+ series "Palm Royale," and revel in the name-dropping.
After all, the new hit series starring Kristen Wiig is set in 1969 Palm Beach. A little name-dropping is fitting.
In "Palm Royale," Wiig's character Maxine seeks to find her place in Palm Beach society — and that place is at the top of the island's hierarchy.
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With a cast that includes Ricky Martin, Carol Burnett and Allison Janney, "Palm Royale" seeks through setting, costume design and frequent mentions of major Palm Beach names of the time to immerse viewers in the microcosm that was the 1960s social season.
Here's a look at some of the names that Palm Beach locals — or frequent readers of the Shiny Sheet, like Maxine professes to be — will recognize in an instant.
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Marjorie Merriweather Post and Joseph Kennedy
The wealthy cereal heiress known for her vast fortune and taste for luxury was mentioned in the first episode of "Palm Royale," in the same breath as Joseph Kennedy, the father of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
Post was the socialite, businesswoman and philanthropist who built Mar-a-Lago, the iconic estate now owned by former President Donald Trump. It is one of the few remaining estates in Palm Beach that stretches from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Atlantic Ocean. She was married four times and had three children, including actress Dina Merrill.
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While the heiress could have rested on her family's laurels and wealth, she instead worked to build Post into an empire that included real estate and communications companies. In Palm Beach, she frequently hosted charity events at Mar-a-Lago. Post gave Mar-a-Lago to the U.S. government with the hopes that it would become a "winter White House," as it did during Trump's presidency.
Joseph Kennedy's work spanned business, politics and public service. He built a fortune by investing in film production, stocks and real estate. Kennedy was the first chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and he was U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom before World War II. In Palm Beach — where he had one of his two permanent homes — some viewed Joseph Kennedy as an outsider, while other news reports from the time document his membership in and leadership of some of the island's social clubs, including The Everglades Club and The Bath & Tennis Club.
Joseph Kennedy died in November 1969.
Palm Beach Daily News aka Shiny Sheet
Yes, we're including our own publication on this list. The Shiny Sheet is mentioned at least once in each episode, but viewers will frequently hear it mentioned more often. The Palm Beach Daily News and the Shiny Sheet were name-dropped at least five times in the first 15 minutes of the first episode of "Palm Royale."
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Maxine's lifelong love of the Shiny Sheet and her desire to see her name in its pages help to drive the action in "Palm Royale."
When Maxine makes the front page of Palm Beach Daily News and is catapulted to prominence with the island's social set, she reacts with glee.
"I feel like I'm gonna throw up. Or maybe I'm gonna doo-doo," an overwhelmed Maxine says. "No, I think I'm gonna throw up. Or I might do a little bit of both."
The series also features the character Ann Holiday, portrayed by Mindy Cohn, as the Shiny Sheet's new society editor. Ann has a nose for fraud, and her mild-mannered investigation methods are key to several developments in the series.
Ceil Chapman
The leading ladies of Palm Beach society in "Palm Royale" spend quite a bit of time trying on designer dresses and getting pinned and tucked in at the island's fictional Ceil Chapman boutique.
Chapman was a fashion designer prominent from the 1940s through the 1960s. She worked with many celebrities.
Other notable designers name-dropped during a second-episode montage: Malcolm Starr, James Galanos and "Oscar," perhaps short for Oscar de la Renta, who rose to prominence earlier in the 1960s as a favorite designer of Jackie Kennedy.
Barbizon modeling school
We meet Mitzi (Kaia Gerber), a West Palm Beach manicurist with dreams of bigger and better things, during the first episode as Maxine scolds her for not reading the Shiny Sheet.
When Maxine asks Mitzi if she dreams of one day not having to work, Mitzi responds that she studies modeling on the weekends at "the Barbizon."
It's a reference to the Barbizon Modeling and Acting School, founded in 1939 and already expanded to many locations. Barbizon comes back into play later in the series as Maxine discovers someone she believes to be an important figure is actually a fraud.
The Coconuts
The Coconuts of "Palm Royale" aren't the quite the Coconuts of the real Palm Beach — though the ones in the series' final episode certainly look like a lot of fun.
The real Coconuts are a group of prominent Palm Beachers who for the past century have thrown one of the most elaborate and well-attended New Year's Eve parties on the island, a black tie gala that in some years has featured privately funded fireworks displays.
According to Palm Beach Daily News Society Editor Shannon Donnelly's column on the Coconuts' 100th New Year's Eve party, membership in 2023 included chairman Alex Fanjul and honorary chairman Rodney Dillard, as well as Kane Baker, Girard Brownlow, Robert Evans, Alexander Griswold, John Grace, Bingo Gubelmann, Daniel Hanley, Leonard Lauder, Troy Maschmeyer, William Matthews, Michael McCarty, Christopher Meigher, George Merck, Blair Meyer, David Ober, Christopher Orthwein, Blakely Page, Harold Paull, Oliver Quinn, Caldwell Colt Robinson, Wilbur Ross, Earl E.T. Smith Jr., Percy Steinhart and George Summers.
Without giving away too much, the Coconuts of "Palm Royale" are a little more ... playful than the Palm Beach group.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Royale: Palm Beachers will recognize Meriweather Post, Kennedy