Believe it or not, I really do think that the “smear campaign” against the Duchess of Sussex has slowed down a bit. There are still negative stories blaming her for everything under the sun, of course. But the tone and tenor has definitely weakened in the past month. As it turns out, that Christmas morning stroll to the church with Meghan and Kate walking side-by-side really did wonders. The story shifted away from “Meghan and Kate hate each other’s guts and Diva Meg makes Kate cry” to “Meghan isn’t doing everything perfectly, let’s burn her as a witch!” Page Six has a long article which is mostly rehashed drama from the Daily Mail, The Sun and other British tabloids, but they did have some new quotes and info. You can read the piece here. Some highlights:
Harry & Meghan didn’t host journalists for drinks before their South Pacific tour: Royals usually host royal reporters for drinks before a big tour, but “They basically blanked the media on this tour, which is very short-sighted,” according to Duncan Larcombe, who covered the royal family for London’s The Sun for many years. Larcombe says Harry has changed. “All of Harry’s staff have always thought he was fantastic, but the two of them [together] are high maintenance,” said Larcombe of the royal couple, adding that the prince has become “quite grumpy and aloof from his own inner circle of staff. Harry was always very pally with [them], so this is very unlike him. What people love about Harry is that he wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s down to earth, a normal guy trapped in the royal world, and he doesn’t take himself very seriously. But now he is.”
Meghan is strong-willed & independent: The difference, sources say, is Meghan — whose American independence is rubbing some royal insiders the wrong way. They add that it’s been tough for the strong-willed duchess, who is expecting a baby in April, to go from controlling her own personal and professional life to not being allowed to make all her own decisions. As a result, she is allegedly taking her frustrations out on those around her. “During their tour, just before they were about to go to the Invictus Games, Meghan was bawling at her hairdresser to get her hair right, while at the same time someone was ironing the bottom of the dress she was wearing,” said a tour insider.
Larcombe has a lot to say: Larcombe said he is “not in the least surprised there’s been teething problems” as the duchess adjusts to her new life and the constraints that come with it. “As an actress, Meghan expects perfection,” he said. “But when you’re in the royal family, you have to learn that it’s not about you, it’s about what you represent.”
Larcombe thinks Meghan is super-keen: “Harry wants to be protective of Meghan,” Larcombe explained. “If she’s getting frustrated and stressed, he is the one reading the riot act to the staff and doing the demanding on her behalf. But you can’t blame Meghan, she’s gone into her biggest role yet and she’s put her heart and soul into it. Yes, she is firing off e-mails to staff at 5 a.m., but she’s super-keen and Harry is taking his lead from her. He is under a lot of pressure behind the scenes.”
Why is Duncan Larcombe so salty and butthurt? I don’t get it. Do you remember the weekend that Meghan and Harry left for Australia? That was the weekend of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s wedding. If Meghan and Harry had hosted drinks for members of the press before they left, they would have been accused – even more so – of “pulling focus” from Eugenie and “stealing her thunder.” Plus, Meg and Harry announced her pregnancy as soon as they hit the ground in Australia in what turned out to be a very busy tour, and a very press-friendly tour. The press had a lot of access to them, lots of photo-ops and M&H interacted with tons of people. Compare that to Will & Kate’s tours, where they are always arguing that they need more “private” time (journalists even ganged up and revolted against William & Kate’s “private time” during the Indian tour).
As for the larger narrative that Meghan is a perfectionist, or that she’s demanding, or that she bitches out staffers or that she – GASP – expects people who work for her to actually do some work… I mean, we’re going to be hearing that a lot. That’s the narrative. As for “teething problems” – how f–king gross. Why can’t royal reporters analyze without infantilizing royal women?
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Is it really crazy that harry wouldn’t be “pally” with the press after a full month of negative Meghan stories?
Exactly. The same “press” had been writing crap the whole summer before the tour, why would the subject of their mess want to hang out and have cocktails with them?
Larcombe is acting like Harry has no logical reason not wanting to be around these people if he doesn’t have to.
YES, and the same press that made his mother’s life pure hell and in the end caused her death.
The press didn’t cause Diana’s death. She was in a car driven by a drunk driver, and she wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
And if no one was chasing them to get pics, they wouldn’t’ve had to leave the hotel, get in a car and be chased. It’s the old catch-22. Regardless, being hounded led to them fleeing the hotel, and being chased. Add in a drunk driver and it was truly the perfect storm for what happened.
The French judicial investigation exonerated the paparazzi (the British inquest blamed both, but that was because a jury was involved). The vast majority of the blame lies with the driver of the car.
Actually it is. For the most part, the nasty stories haven’t been from the official royal correspondents. It’s been a mix of editors slapping rude titles on to fairly neutral articles and random writers who were told to write nasty things. Many of the official correspondents have been unfairly blamed for articles that they had nothing to do with. They’ve been harassed all summer for things that are out of their control. Snubbing them gives them little reason to try to change the narrative.
There is also the fact that the Royals need the press more than the press needs the Royals. It’s in their best interest to work with the press and try to turn things around rather than being rude and hoping that will teach them. The correspondents toe the line out of fear that they will lose access. If you deny them access to begin with then you will inevitably lose control of them entirely. Which is why they didn’t hesitate to print what the courtiers were saying after the tour.
I can accept that for the press from the Times and the Telegraph, and even the Mirror. But if you choose to work for the Sun or the Daily Mail, you have to know what you’re working for.
Sounds like Meghan has a strong work ethic, and it’s rubbing off onto formerly lazy Harry. And people who don’t share her work ethic don’t like it. I think that reflects badly on them, not her.
The palace leakers are just pissed that they’re attempts to put her in her place with these leaks aren’t working.
Yep!!! I’d say they were accustomed to not that much and are now griping about an increased work load!
Also, considering the very nasty leaks from staff that have been constant of late, is it a wonder that Harry doesn’t pal around with them so much anymore and is a bit grumpy?? I’d be grumpy too if staff I thought I was close to were bitching about my partner to the press!
Love the red shoes
Can someone please clarify for me. Is Meghan waking up at 5 am, doing her own thing for several hours and then texting staff during business hours OR is she texting staff at 5 am?
The former shows keenness and directness. The latter is disrespectful (even if she doesn’t expect an immediate response, it encroaches on staff’s personal time). I hear different versions and wondered which was them original story.
Original story: she wakes up at 5am. She emails 6-7 times throughout the day. Of course, this gets conflated into “she texts at 5am.”
That’s typical work culture in the U.S. Most people don’t live close to our jobs, so it’s usually a 20-40 minute commute by car. If you need to be at the office by 7 or 8 and want to get a shower and breakfast and workout in before getting ready, 5 am isn’t that unreasonable.
Also, I’m dying that they think 6-7 texts a day from your boss is insane. If I haven’t texted my secretary 6 times before lunch, she would send a search party out looking for me. The only time during work hours that I’m not electronically communicating with her is when she’s with me. Do they think they’re decorative?
Yea, because everything you say is soooo believable 🙄
The original quote about this – as I remember it was something about how Meghan wakes up at 5 am, and then mentioned that her staff said she was difficult to work for because she texted frequently throughout the day. It was never said that she texted her staff at 5 am – at least not initially. but those two things – the texting, and the early wake ups – very quickly became combined into one thing.
This quote here says that she is emailing at 5 am, which doesn’t bother me as much as texting would (if the stories are true at all, which…who knows at this point.) I think emails are much easier to ignore and not as intrusive as a text.
I have a manager who works non-stop and I will admit if I receive a message from her before 8/9am or at all on the weekends I am annoyed . Bc no I won’t respond immediately but it takes me from my personal headspace into a work headspace. I know there are European countries (France maybe or Germany) that have now set up laws that you can’t message staff outside of work hours.
If Meg is doing this I can see it being both fine and annoying depending on how the message is received. Maybe a person thinks oh I’ll do this later or maybe like me they think couldn’t you have waited to send this.
I have a new manager who is very keen (but has none of Meghan’s emotional intelligence). And she’s in over her head, with a habit of belittling those who know more than she does. Weekends are prime time for emails that either promote what she’s done or to remind staff (who are already working insane amounts of overtime) of the small things they haven’t done.
I sincerely doubt this is what working for Meghan is like… but it’s terrible. A good supervisor is such a gift.
In my last job, I often didn’t have time to respond or send emails until very late at night or early in the morning. I have sent emails at 9am, and I have sent emails at 1am and I have sent emails at 5am.
I never expected for a response immediately. That was just how my schedule worked some times; but I didn’t expect anyone else to have my schedule. I feel like this is pretty typical of how many professions operate in the US.
Perhaps Meghan sends emails/texts when she has the chance or when something crosses her mind. She may not care if it takes a bit to respond, unless it’s super urgent.
I worked with a lawyer when I was younger who worked every sunday morning and sent dozens of e-mails and it stressed me out so much. Even though I had no intention of dealing with any of them until Monday morning, and she (mostly) didn’t expect a response immediately, it caused anxiety just knowing it was sitting there waiting for me. It meant that I was never truly away from work and I hated it.
Now that I’m in the more senior role, if I ever need to send an e-mail at odd hours (to someone who I know has access on their phone) I set it to deliver the next morning at start of business. Everyone deserves time away from work. And this way, if something actually urgent comes up off hours it is much more likely to be noticed.
This is the norm in many jobs across many sectors. After hours work is to be expected, especially in a high profile role. There is no work/life balance in the gig economy.
Please, Harry has been polite to the press but has never liked them, especially after the nonsense they pull on Meghan such as the ‘straight out of Compton’ comment. Why would he host them?
Why would he host them indeed. The most that can be said abt Harry and the press is that he’s not outright hostile. They may forget but he hasnt forgotten why he had to issue that letter when he and Meghan began dating officially. But even loooong before Meghan……back to the way his mother died……. Do these people have collective amnesia? Prince Harry came into adulthood many years after his mother’s death-by-(being-chased-by)-paps and he has NEVER courted the press. I suppose they took his politeness for ‘courting’ and his gentle ridicule of them for being “pally”.
The keywords is “it’s not about her, but what she represent”. I think RF and the courtiers are still trying send message to Meghan trough the press.
That line made my eyes roll so hard. Everyone in that family cares about themselves and their public profile. Everything they do isn’t purely altruistic. Also, if she is crying maybe it was because she was pregnant and stressed and tired. And if Harry is salty maybe it’s because he thinks his staff is leaking stories because they are uptight and racist.
What about direct communication? Do they really have to shame her in front of the whole world by using the press? Oh, I bet that will really make her get the message and she will submit herself. Honestly, I would sack those people straight away. They should get some training in modern interaction, team spirit. They are still living in mediaeval times.
Eyfalia that’s the thing getting to me too. So to see his father Harry probably has to send a formal request to Clarence House to determine availability. To communicate with her Maj they communicate back and forth with Buckingham Palace.
Just pick up the phone and speak to each other! I remember reading about the faux pas when Meghan went on the train ride with the Queen and apparently didn’t under stand that when the Queen pointed out she would be wearing a hat it meant that Meghan ought to wear a hat too. Well turns out that she didn’t and that caused a brouhaha in some quarters.
Stop communicating through the press!
I’m laughing at this whole story. If anything, Meghan seems to be the most press-friendly member of the royal family, and she is certainly going to understand the importance of the press and social media. They may have had a few private events over the course of their tour but overall it was packed full of events and lots of photo ops, etc.
And with the pre-tour cocktail party – I can see them wanting to avoid that because if Meghan wasn’t ready to announce her pregnancy yet (or did not want it announced before Eugenie’s wedding), then hosting a party where she isn’t drinking may have felt uncomfortable to her. And plus, it wasn’t like the days before the tour weren’t busy, when you do consider the wedding and the attention that was getting in the press and with the royal reporters.
And finally – if Harry and Meghan are more closed off from their staff now, and more “aloof from the inner circle of staff,” WHO CAN BLAME THEM considering the leaks in the media. Same with Harry’s attitude towards the press – you’ve spent months dragging his wife through the mud, and now you’re hurt that he’s not as friendly towards you as he used to be?
PreZactly!
Meghan has actually been commended by the royal press corps for how friendly and amenable she is to their needs. At least one of them made a comment about how she’ll always make sure to look at the cameras and allow photographers to get the money shot during engagements and such, unlike William and Kate, who pointedly refuse to do that during outings. So for someone like this reporter to say the things he’s saying is kind of ungrateful if you ask me.
Their first baby is due to be born just around the time its daddy’s country may be plunging into a period of economic and social disaster, with obviously broad impact and maybe some negative implications for the royals as well. His new wife is black and American in a time of open bigotry. If I were him in that situation, I’d be just a wee bit extra thoughtful and protective, too.
And this article practically details every reason they should be press shy. First Meghan is too detail oriented, worrying about hair and hemlines, then she lacks awareness that she’s a representative of the RF? Girl can’t really win either way on that one.
So. Much. This. She can’t win, so why play?
Also remember that the weekend before the tour was when the pregnancy rumors went into overdrive. Imagine the scene when Megan avoided all alcohol while having drinks with the very people who were perpetuating the baby mania. Or GASP: imagine if she’d gone with the flow and nursed a glass of champagne and then announced she was pregnant 48 hour she later… it would’ve been a sh*tstorm larger than the “did she/didn’t she announce at the wedding” debate. I’d like Lacombe to square that circle for us.
I think Megan is neither a saint nor the devil, she’s human. Anyone Harry married was guaranteed to get lambasted in the press, it’s the life of the spare and his family. And Megan being a divorced biracial American actress was only ever going to make it worse, but does anyone think it could’ve been better than this?
I’m sincerely asking because I expected negativity, but even I’m shocked by how vicious and pervasive it is. Especially this early in the marriage. By all accounts the press and people should still be in a honeymoon phase with Megan, but that lasted for maybe a day. I don’t remember it being so bad for Kate, but maybe I wasn’t paying attention.
There were negative stories about Kate, but I feel like not initially. As I remember it, there were some negative stories about her before the engagement, and then during the engagement/wedding/first year the press just ADORED her and she got a lot of leeway that Meghan is not getting.
There were never stories about her working too hard or waking up too early, lol.
And that’s what gets me about some of these stories – they are so blatant about being anti Meghan. Meghan getting her hair done while someone irons her dress? Sure, Kate has never had her hair done before an event and no one has ever taken care of her clothes.
I feel like the negative stories about Kate and Will only picked up around 2014-2015-2016 when their lack of work became a hot topic and when they would ever actually be “full time.” Then after Meghan came on the scene those stories stopped as well.
I’ve always felt like they went really easy on Kate. Even the negative stories were always fairly easygoing. And she deserved every criticism lobbied at her.
Aa far as the claims being made in this article:
1. Meghan ‘balling out’ her hairdresser- the press has been giving her crap about her hair from day 1. Of course she’s going to keep her hairdresser on task
2. ‘Expecting perfection’- these courtiers are ridiculous. You get paid to do a job, you do it to your boss’ specifications. If she’s a perfectionist, you’re a perfectionist. If you can’t handle that GTFO.
3. Not being ‘chummy’ with inner circle- well, yeah, what did these fools expect? Act disloyal by not exercising discretion or protecting your bosses, don’t expect to be kept in the inner circle of trust.
4. Press entitlement to the royal couple- this institution has lasted for centuries, if the press thinks that poison pen coverage is going to lead to better access, they’re idiots.
i completely agree. no way they could have hosted drinks without losing the slight lead/control they had over releasing the pregnancy news. and also no way could they have hosted drinks without pulling attention from eugenie’s wedding
Oh, and the part about Meghan crying while getting her hair done – you don’t want to know the things I cried about during my pregnancies, especially when I was tired or stressed. IF that story is true (and again, who knows) I think most of us here can understand that.
Exactly, if it’s true, then it could be a combination of baby hormones plus the press’ requirement, yes requirement, that Meghan look perfect or else.
Also, isn’t her hair dresser her longtime friend? If you’re jetlagged, hormonal, only at the beginning of a VERY exhausting weeks-long work trip, and constantly getting criticized for the “messiness” of your usual bun, yeah, I’d let a few tears flow to a buddy as well.
Or how about the story of Kate crying during a fitting for Charlotte’s dress… everyone was VERY quick to mention she was pregnant with or just had Louis. The story made Megan sound like a demanding tyrant.
I don’t remember the time frame exactly, but the point is it was considered entirely understandable on Kate’s part.
But now we’ve got a story of pregnant Megan being overwhelmed during a similar event, but sympathy for her is seriously lacking. What’s different about Kate crying at a fitting and Megan crying during a hair appointment?
And Kate’s crying was also used as a way to prove how mean and unreasonable Meghan was, that she wasn’t nicer to pregnant/post partum Kate.
I didn’t read as she was bawling whilst getting her hair done, I read it to mean she was bawling out her hairdresser, as in screaming at her to get her hair right.
Perhaps that’s one of those words/phrases which mean different things on either side of the pond. In the U.S. it means crying profusely. In the U.K. perhaps it means yelling at someone.
Yes, that’s right. “Bawling out” means reprimanding loudly in the UK. (And even in the US, would you say “bawling out” to mean crying? Wouldn’t you just say bawling?)
Hold up. She was very involved in activism and charity work WAY before she ever met Harry. If you’re going to complain, at least do your homework.
I think it’s hilarious that there’re quotes that Harry is getting “grumpy with staff” and that they’re all butthurt, followed directly by quotes about his staff bitching about Meghan. Maybe he’s a little miffed that they’re being disloyal tw@ts and going to the press rather than addressing their issues with him and Meghan? Maybe he’s a little tired of (presimably, formerly loyal) staffers selling Meghan down the river? Or maybe Meg coming in made him realize that what he was acclimated to as normal was deeply unhealthy (see also: smoking and drinking.)
Idk, y’all. I don’t blame Harry one bit for being prickly with staff after the sh!tshow that’s been the last several weeks of everyone piling on his pregnant wife.
The wake up early story started in Australia, due to jet lag, and she said she did Yoga, months later it went to emailing or texting depending on which tabloid writes the story.
Harry can’t be the court jester forever, so now it’s grumpy Harry, not too many stories there, like drunk Harry.
Harry was getting praised in an Article, celebrities will work with him, because he puts in the ground work in any Charity he is associated with.
While William and Catherine are all talk and no action, and will take credit for others work, celebrities want to support Charties, that actually deliver what they promised.
You hit the nail on the head Peg! She woke up early once and did some yoga to relax and hopefully go back to sleep and now it’s “she’s up at 5 every morning , doing yoga and texting her staff” the press certainly did stretch one little event made it Meghan’s whole life and we walked right into it and believed it.
I can just see her texting whilst doing yoga! LOL.
Someone in the royal family(or very close with the family) really hates the idea of Meghan and Harry being together. So many of these story seem so personal, that only someone with access to the couple would know about. This is a person out for blood
I don’t blame her for allegedly bawling at her hair dresser. Her hair looked healthy and glossy before she signed on to the Firm. Now it does not look as healthy. They need someone on staff who knows how to care for Black hair. You can’t just wash it in Pantene and put it in rollers or straighten and go.
Don’t you think she’s avoiding products & processing that she might not consider 100% safe during pregnancy? Lots of women I know have foregone hair coloring, keratin treatments, etc. & avoided nail gels or even polish while pregnant. The formaldehyde in the keratin is a known health hazard.
She’s likely not using keratin or other straighteners during her pregnancy. Which means shes overly relying on blowouts which are crazy damaging to black hair if done too often. But given all the nastiness and pearl clutching about her hair, I would be super picky about it as well.
I think it is that the employees can’t get away with as much now that Meghan is there. They probably took advantage of Harry’s big heart and he probably let some stuff go. Meghan might be encouraging him to tighten it up, so to speak. And not letting them take as much advantage of him.
With each new article it’s increasingly clear that the palace staff and reporters didn’t expect a Duchess who loves to work.
Poor tabloids, they no longer have their jester Harry and now they’re so pissed
He might’ve been polite in the past, but I aways thought Harry disliked the press because of the way they treated his mother, and the press being part of her car accident that killed her. The stories the tabloids have been writing about Meghan since they’ve been together might be a reason Harry’s no so happy with them lately
Wow. I must be really high maintenance, I had one person getting my hair done, one person helping me with my dress and one person tying my shoes. And all during an amateur dance/theater/musical show at university. (3 min costume change into renaissance period dress)
Sometimes it is easier for those who are responsible to get you out on stage looking the way you should look, if you do not move at all during the preperations.
Jesus H, even without the pregnancy hormones I would probably cry if my hair wasn’t turning out right and my dress was wrinkled and I I needed to be out the door (to be photographed for millions of people) on a deadline.
Hell, I’ve cried during PMS when I’m in that situation. I was late for an event once and my zipper broke, so a friend had to literally sew me into the dress with the hotel sewing kit and I was in tears because I was late.
I read Harry and Meghan did talk to the press during the Oceania tour and thanked them. Jobson backed that up. This guy is a younger Piers Morgan, mad because he is not a “confidant” of Harry so he can get fresh material for his writings.
I don’t know about the tour, but a poster here commented last week or the week before that she worked for a newspaper and that Meghan was the current favorite royal to work with from a press perspective because she was more open during events than others (in regards to little things like smiling at the cameras so they can get a good picture, etc.)
Yes, I saw that as well. It was from poster Jewell, who said the papers may give her a hard time bc they know it sells, but the journalists and photogs who cover the events are very fond of her, for the reason you state.
Jobson is a turd, I saw him on Australian TV, laughing at the new press guy, saying he work as a press Secretary for the Brexit Minister and looked how that turned out.
implying the guy had control over Brexit. He seems to be a very bitter man.
He also bitch about Meghan and Harry were spending too much time with people on the Oceanic trip.
He wrote a book about Charles and thought he had an in with Harry, then found out that he was just another member of the press to Harry.
The tour insider is the Duncan guy.I remember a clip of him trying to explain this so called incident and he couldn’t even do it.
He wasn’t on tour with them and he stuttered a lot trying to explain it and all the details he gave was that she snapped at someone.
youd think that if this came from someone actually on tour,there would be a lot more details on why and not just that.
The RRs and royals are not friends,Idk why they think they are.
Why should Meghan and Harry entertain the very people that write negative and slanderous articles about her.Who knows what they would have printed out the next day after the dinner;probably more Meghan slander so is it any surprise the couple are wary of the press?
And such a lie,the tour was very media friendly.The media got good access,they had a lot of quotes and chance to talk to Harry and Meghan.What more do they want?
She hasn’t started blanking them like some other royals do and my petty ass wants her to.She has been pretty nice to them compared to how they’ve treated her
Larcombe sounds bitter. Why does his account differ from so many other reporters who accompanied them? Just say you don’t like the black girl and be done with it. Also…why would have be chummy with the tabloids who have done nothing but enable his wife’s abusive family & write nasty articles about her?
Unless he was in the room, how would he know what is going.
First she shouted at Kate, now it’s the hairdresser, next it will be the cook, oops they don’t have a chef.
They can write all the negative stuff, they want about her, it’s not stopping people from coming out in the cold to meet her.
In the Charties she is patron, the staff are damn glad to have, because they know she will put in the effort.
Bawling in this instance means shouting in a loud voice not crying. Maybe she was shouting over the noise of the hairdryer. I’m sure there is a grain of truth in some of this but also that a lot of it is twisted and amplified distorting the truth. If Harry has changed it could have upset the staff, but he is entitled to live his life as he wishes! If they don’t like working with him now they can leave.
Cirrus insight lets you schedule your emails, not an ad but it lets you shoot off something. While it’s on your mind and then you can schedule it to send out during business hours.
My phone has a setting that prevents alerts! It’s super modern.
Can we all just take a minute to laugh at the fact that Duncan is crying about a tour he didn’t even go on!
He wasn’t a part of the press pit that traveled with them for these two weeks and he’s crying like he was.
The media doesn’t get to trash Meghan for everything from her father to her eating avocado and everything in between and expect Harry and Meghan to bend over backwards to give them what they want. Respect is a two way street and no one has to tolerate your cruelty.
Harry was supposed to be chummy with the same people who have been attacking his pregnant wife for months now?
As for the staff, Harry has always been the fun and easy going Royal both with the public and in private. If he is cold towards staff, I would bet money it’s because they disrespected his wife or made comments that bother him.
Meghan, for all they want to claim, is pretty nice to them. Even the loser Richard Palmer admits that she is one of the few Royals who actually wave and say hello to them. She’s even, recently, thanked them for coming. I’ve seen far more Royals be colder to them for lesser crimes.
Duncan wrote this like he had glorious new details moving forward from 6mos old news, from pals of Harry and inside the palace, then all he did was repeat what was already written. This whole thing was an eye roller. How can he be trusted when proven refuted lies have been corrected and he just repeats them. A joke. Sure, there can be a trace of reality in the bits but it’s spun to such into performance. I mean, common sense, sure it’s easier to work for a bachelor who barely cooks or travels often than a newly married couple, ready to jump start married life. Seems obvious he’d wrinkle feathers bc people hate change, and who’s easier to blame for that change than Meghan. It’s like saying to him not to get married so I can be lazy and carry on with jovial partying Harry. Nothing lasts forever, so they need new staff that actually respect Harry and not take advantage of his kindness. As for Melissa and assistants on tour, what a mess they made. It’s even more clear, none of the existing staff really wanted the new Married Harry and The Wife. Staff on tour left tags on dresses, why weren’t dresses pressed beforehand and I have to say I thought her hair looked bad on tour lol. It looked like she hadn’t had a perm or keratin which is understandable but it wasn’t laying flat either – her roots were crazy thick and her buns were slapped together. It was a big no for me lol, hearing she was upset about it, not surprising. I know the position is, take what we get and don’t complain bc you’re only serving the bigger picture. That’s a crock, your staff is still suppose to give an effort and help you perform as well as expected and if they can’t do basic duties like ironing beforehand, getting her hair right while she writes her own speeches, meeting 100s of new dignitaries and supports Harry, why are they paid to be there. They should’ve stayed home. They were awful.
The press being upset because they got no party. I hear both sides but it still seems obvious that they were busy beforehand and Harry’s interested in taking it slow with the media because there’s definitely a level of distrust and they’ve not being truthful – if they were he’d give in some. You don’t get a party while calling Meghan an interloper. And maybe being newly pregnant, she wasn’t up for it. The first leg of the tour, Meghan seemed drained. That said, during the tour, besides that dust up Emily Andrews made saying Meg wanted to leave vs security saying it was unsafe, all the press during the tour seemed fantastic and they got on well with everyone. Duncan is definitely butthurt, like Richard Palmer, Camilla and Piers. Thank you, next.
Does anyone else here besides me wince when others use the phrase “butt hurt”? It is used mindlessly and without malintent, but it always feels insensitive to me like a passive gay slur.
Just something to think about
http://persephonemagazine.com/2013/01/can-we-please-stop-using-the-term-butthurt/
I feel the same way, BuddyJack. I’ve been guilty of using it in the past, but it’s something I chose to stop doing because of how insensitive it comes across.
I can honestly say I have never in my life connected the term butt-hurt with homophobia. It just didn’t occur to me. To me, butt-hurt is Trump crying about the fake media, or someone who whines unnecessarily and nonstop.
Off to read the posted link.
Agree, and it’s dissertation time (/s)! The term ‘butt hurt’ has nothing to do with homophobia, transphobia, rape culture, or anti-femism, and I can’t understand how the author of that article drew those parallels. Butt hurt is just another way of saying ‘ass is burning’, both being powerfully insulting (LOL!) terms that almost graphically convey just how much an upset person can’t get over their feelings of being offended or wronged. They highlight that burning, stinging feeling the offended one gets when he/she can’t take a joke, when someone puts them in their place, or when someone they don’t like has gotten something over on them or is ‘winning’. The author thinks the juvenile word ‘asshat’ is a great word. Right there, she lost all credibility with me. If someone appears to be functioning with their head up their ass, why mince words? That shit is dangerous for all concerned. And, if someone is still smarting over a perceived offense or got ‘spanked’ with a good clap back, well, for me butt hurt says it all.
Yes, I’m with you, BuddyJack!
Thank you for this post, BJack! I agree!
Captian Harry Wales wll be visiting British troops in Norway, carrying out joint maneuvers with the Norwegian troops in their yearly exercise.
It’s on Valentine’s Day, the troops will be away from their love ones also.
One of the Roles he took over from DOE, who held the post for 60+ years.
The royal gossip media pack are a negative bunch.
Drunk, lonely, miserable Harry is a better story than happy, healthy, mature Harry. Harry used to go along with whatever was tossed at him, let people walk over him and played his spare role. Now he is putting his foot down and of course some are not happy they cannot use him as they did before.
I too imagine he is cautious with the inner circle because he doesn’t know who to trust anymore. That’s a horrible atmosphere to work and live in.
What baffles me about all the negative press is that I can see with my own eyes how she is received by her patronages, the public etc. I haven’t seen one photo or video that supports the narrative that she’s unpleasant, difficult, uptight etc. She seems like a dream to me, she brings *so much* to the table. What the hell is the problem?
Overspending on clothes.
Sending emails at 5am.
Million-dollar refurbishments.
Same things that can be hold against Will and Kate except for that email thing but therefore the latter two are lazy.
So I know that much has been made about the 5am emails in the press, and a lot of North Americans don’t get it. I’m Irish but living in Canada for the past 8 years, and my sister lives in London with an American boss. She gets 5am texts and emails from her boss all the time and it drives her nuts! We were talking about it over the holidays and I realized that living in NA I’ve become conditioned to it, and I even send out late emails to my staff on occasion ( always with the disclaimer that the email doesn’t need to be acted on until the next working day, but still). I don’t think people in NA really get how odd it is for the royal team to get those 5am emails. It’s just not done. In Ireland and the UK, we tend to work our hours and go home. When we’re not on the clock, we don’t respond to emails. That is changing slowly but there isn’t the same 24-hour-on-the-clock mentality you see in North America, particularly in the US. That expectation just isn’t there. That’s why it’s mentioned so much!
It was never said that she texts at 5:00 am. She gets up then and at some point sends texts. The two got combined incorrectly.
Thank you Kaitx.
Quite frankly these emails which arrive hours before you start your work shift are an impertinence and exploitation. There is work time and there is non-work time. Employers should get that. And bosses should get a grip on their management of tasks and send out those emails during their work time and they shouldn’t expect employees to read emails BEFORE work time.
And if they need more working hours to be done then they can pay either for over-time or they can employ more people.
Why is this 5 a.m. texting thing such a big deal? Do the people who work for her not have regular working hours? If they do, and those hours include 5 a.m., they should be up anyway, not sleeping at work. If the hours don’t include 5 a.m., why are their phones on? Why is this even a big deal? LOL if they’re trying to make her look bad, in my mind, they’re doing a piss poor job of it. She really comes off sounding kind of impressive and very enthusiastic which, in my mind, should be a plus.
People often have their phones on for personal reasons (an ill parent, a sister or friend expecting a baby). Mobile phones are not generally paid for by employers in the UK.
There are several possibilities why those 5am emails might be a problem.
Very few people in Europe start working at 5 am because in Europe employment rights are a bit more strict and employers can get punished if they overwork their employees (nurses, bus drivers and postmen are exceptions). For example a normal work day would be 8-9 hours. If Meghan’s staff started working at 5am then they would be finished working at 2 – 3 pm and it is unlikely that they finish so early. And if Meghan expected her employees to take emails at 5am despite that her employees do start working officially at 7/8/9 then that might be illegal. Nope, European employees don’t have to be on beck and call any time because that is exploitation and we don’t want that over here. Frankly those royal duties are predictable and well-planned in advance and I really see no reason why there is a need to read emails at 5am.
The only people who come to mind and who might need to read emails at 5am are stock exchange brokers and analysts and their lawyers and such.
So yes, if Meghan expects her staff to read her emails at 5am or 6am then that is a legally problematic attitude.
FFS! IT NEVER STATED SHE SENT EMAILS/TEXTS AT 5AM. THE STORY WAS SHE ARISES AT 5AM AND LATER, NOBODY KNOWS WHAT TIME, SHE SENDS HER STAFF 6-7 TEXTS. UPTHREAD SOMEONE HAS WRITTEN THE ORIGINAL STORY BUT FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER SOME PEOPLE JUST DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT AND USE THE FAKE STORY AS A WAY TO ATTACK THE POOR WOMAN!
CAN WE PLEASE LET THIS 5AM FAKE STORY GO! (Rant over, as you were) Thank you. 🙂
Meghan you can text me at 5am! LOL I’m up 90% of the time! Ha!
Anywho, this has nothing to do with Meghan but the current social media and technology climate we work in IS exhausting. We are suppose to be reachable 24/7 and always accessible!! I know people who have to email and work over their tropical vacation. It’s BS. Everyone should be allowed to unplug. Moreover, we all have devices now and it makes it overwhelming when the phone is making noise nonstop. I stay at home with my babies currently but when I get back in the ring, I’ll be dreading the 24/7 communication and even if you aren’t expected to read and rely to the messages…..you hear the incoming noises of the emails or texts. I’m really not looking forward to it, but how do you tell a boss or company you will only reply business hours 9-5 Monday-Friday?! You don’t.
You do tell them. You tell them, these are the hours that I’m available.
And then, outside of those hours, you *turn off the ringer* on your fancy phone.
How is this so complicated? The entire point of asynchronous communication is that you can respond at any time! This is why it’s better than a voice call!
Jeez.
Sometimes people want to be available to people in their lives who have nothing to do with work.
Some chick, I get you but hear me out. It’s not that ‘simple’. Like lots of homes, we no longer have a land line. It’s my ‘fancy’ cellphone for everything. I wouldn’t turn it off in any way because family and friends need to get ahold of me. I want to know when my family is ringing me! Also, lots of bosses and colleagues do in fact expect a response!
Anywho, maybe some day when I work, I’ll get a separate cell phone for my work contacts and not pass out my personal cell phone?? That sounds expensive tho. Who knows.
There are some crossed wires here due to British terms being misunderstood. To bawl someone out is to reprimand/shout at them, not to cry (although to bawl can also mean to cry/ wail like a baby – it’s all about context). Also, the term “teething problems” is so widely used it is absolutely not considered to be infantilising nor offensive.
THe British tabloid press or any type of press in Britain makes their living off of being small-minded and disrespectful towards Meghan and some members of the royal family. Since Harry has matured into an adult man they seem angry or upset about the changes they see in him. Harry is on the world stage more because his grandparents are retiring from public life. He has more responsibilities to take care of than before. I am proud to see he is taking his jobs seriously. He can’t act a fool for the rest of his life. He is putting his work life and personal life in focus. He is putting his best foot forward. Anyone who has a problem with his life changes do not love or care about him-the monarchy. Do not have his best interest at heart only their greedy desire to hurt and humiliate. So called Christians. God bless Harry and Meghan and the entire royal family who have to put up with these so called journalists.
Here’s the thing though–if Meghan were to step out without her hair and her hems perfect and accounted for, what would the press print tomorrow? That she is a sloppy hot mess and isn’t it just so perfectly American and so very black of her to step out looking like a slob? How dare she not care about how she projects herself when she’s representing the royal family? She’s clearly not fit for her role and Harry should divorce her tomorrow and pack her off to the same island as Queen Letizia when she also inevitably gets divorced and exiled!
The press, at this point, is just mucking up trouble for the sake of it. Instead of being concerned about Meghan bawling at her hairdresser, why not put this same amount of energy towards criticizing Prince Philip for his driving? I feel like the latter would be a better use of their time, and they’d be doing the public a great service too.
You can still treat people with respect that is no excuse to yell at them . That is bullying , especially if that person has less power than you .
The report says that Harry is more grumpy and takes himself more seriously aka is no longer the easy-going prince. I am not sure that that is an improvement.