While I await the photos of the Duchess of Sussex at her International Women’s Day panel event, I thought I’d cover some new information about the two duchesses, of Sussex and Cambridge. For months now, I’ve been waiting for some kind of confirmation that Meghan would be given the title of Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, just like Harry. But no, she’s getting a different title: Vice President of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust. Damn, Meg.
The Duchess of Sussex will today become Vice President of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust. Meghan has joined her husband Harry, who is president, at the body, while the Queen is its patron. The Trust aims to champion, fund and connect young leaders around the world. It focuses on helping those who are driving positive social change, serving their communities and providing hope, work and self-employment opportunities for others.
In this new role, Meghan will highlight the Trust’s partnerships with young people across the Commonwealth, and in particular its work supporting women and girls. In celebration of International Women’s Day, Meghan will this afternoon join a special panel discussion of female thought-leaders and activists convened by the Commonwealth Trust, to discuss a range of issues affecting women today.
This is a big deal. The Queen is a big believer in strengthening Great Britain’s commonwealth ties. The Queen was reportedly pro-Brexit because she believes that the UK needs to lean into the strength of the commonwealth as opposed to going all-in with the European Union. Her Maj is all about the commonwealth, so she’s assigning two of the most popular royal figures to her signature commonwealth initiative. Meg’s already a VP and she hasn’t even been a duchess for a full year too, lmao.
Also: the palace confirmed something for Kate too, or else Big Willy probably would have thrown a massive foot-stomping tantrum. Kate and the Queen will do a joint engagement later this month at Kings College London. This will be the Queen’s first one-on-one engagement with Kate since March 2012. To be fair though, the Queen doesn’t do a ton of one-on-one stuff with her daughters-in-law or granddaughters-in-law. Her Maj has started doing more one-on-one stuff with Princess Anne though, have you noticed that? I think being around Anne is very comforting for the Queen. And she’s also reportedly very close – privately – to the Countess of Wessex.
Going back to Meghan, People Magazine ran a piece which was like “when is Meghan ever going to go on maternity leave?” Well, she claims to be due in late April, so… she’s still going to make appearances throughout March. She keeps adding sh-t to her schedule too. People Mag’s sources think that she’ll be on maternity leave by the end of March.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
I love it. Go, Meg, go!
I am proud of both Meghan & Kate for the way they handle the sexiest media.
Gotta thing for Richard Palmer, eh 😉
LOLz! Snorted coffee!
LOL!
Maya i second that.
Btw both men married up. Harry especially.
I second that emotion, Maya. They are different people who want different things, and that is fine. I like Kate and Meg, but I have a soft spot for Megan since we are from the same place.
That’s a lot of trust The Queen is showing in Meghan. She’s not stupid, she knows when she’s got a good asset on her hands.
This is impressive for Meghan! Awesome
News.
I think the queen is doing more engagements with Princess Anne since Philip retired. I have noticed a lot of their joint appearances are ones where you might have seen Philip a year or two ago.
That’s what I thought, Anne is filling in for Phillip
Yes, there was talk that several royal would be stepping in and doing engagements with her after his retirement. I’m surprised it has been mostly Anne and not more of the others.
Congrats to Meghan for the appointment! A big vote of confidence and telling the critics and trolls, family or not, to kick rocks.
Uh, unless there are complications, most working women don’t go on maternity leave until they have their babies. Maybe Meghan plans to follow suit.
It’s a bit different here in UK. Most pregnant ladies go on maternity leave with 1 month left.
Will this be another thing for the media to beat on her about? Working up until the baby’s due date.
They seen to think they know her due date better than her.
It’s hilarious when they get caught in their lies, like Wednesday claiming she was having Braxton Hicks Contractions, then she showed up at Buck Palace.
Gosh that would be nice. I worked until the day before my daughter was born, back to work 3 months later and haven’t stopped being harried since. How nice to have some time before the baby to prepare and just rest.
@yoyo, she could have been having BH contractions and still gone to the palace 😂. I had them my entire 3rd trimester(and the latter part of my 2nd) and still went about my day. BH don’t mean a whole lot.
@curachel20,
Agree that usually BH are nothing more than “practice contractions”- until they aren’t… I was having them a lot, and when examined at 31 weeks, my daughter was at a +1 fetal station. I was advised to stop working and stay in my home, off my feet as much as possible to attempt to ward off pre-term labor.
@curachel20
How would the media know?
I live in the UK too and haven’t heard or known of anyone going on leave 1 month before they are due. 1 week or some days maybe but most people I know work until close to the end of the pregnancy.
In Canada I’ve seen both.
Some women work till they deliver and others have to stop early.
Same. Usually depends on the job and the overall ease of the pregnancy. My SIL is a nurse and was put off work early- she works in addictions and mental health and there was a big news story just before she was put off work about a pregnant nurse getting beat up by a patient and not much being done to ensure her safety.
It would be nice to have that be the standard break in the US too. I think a lot of this particular press coverage is the regular speculation on baby Sussex’s arrival date, as it is never really announced on any royal baby. Still people have a point Meghan is born American, and may work closer to due date as most American women do.
Did anyone read the article about the findings from a Hope not Hate study that 70% of Meghan’s disgusting online comments/trolling are coming from only 20 users. That’s a bit weird and creepy to me. So few people can cause such crap. Cause the whole thing feeds on each other. Crappy comments add to crappy press stories as it seems popular.
Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. The Cumberbatch loons who hate his wife are only about half a dozen people.
I blocked two posters on Datalounge and all the Meghan bashing threads vanished.
Yeah, my (American) college students were really baffled by this. Them: “When are you going to stop working?” Me: “Um, literally when the baby is coming out of me. This is America, bro.” Them: “Are you going to take a year off?” Me: “No, this isn’t Canada. I get 12 weeks and I’m lucky for that.”
It blows my mind that people in our own country don’t know this.
Great news for Meghan.
Sure, use the WOC daughter in law to strengthen ties with the so called Commonwealth – what is essentially modern day British imperialism.
And the sad thing is most people will applaud this rather than see the commonwealth for the british imperialism that it represents. Massive royal PR at work here. The commonwealth is just a sham to prop up the British monarch & government, and I for one can’t wait for it to dismantle after the Queen dies.
I don’t think that’s entirely fair. It is intended that the relationship be one of equals. No one is required to be in the Commonwealth. I also don’t think the Queen is necessarily pro-Brexit – witness the EU flag hat she wore to the State Opening of Parliament the other year.
The relationship is definitely not one of equals and it never has been. If it was then the head of the commonwealth position would be rotated among countries and top positions would not automatically go to the Queen’s relatives & their spouses.
It might be *intended* as a relationship of equals but it is certainly not how that is. How could a relationship between two countries be equal if the citizens of one country are considered as the subjects of the other country’s Queen? Being interested in the British royal family and commenting on what Meghan and Kate have been wearing are all nice and stuff and almost everyone enjoys this kind of escapism. But please let’s don’t pretend that the UK isn’t pining after its good old imperialist days after all these years which is the whole reason behind the Queen’s fondness for the Commonwealth. Just a week ago, India and Pakistan came to the brink of a war for the umpteenth time and please let’s all remember whose fault all that mess in that region is.
As a British person, I can promise you that I for one am not pining after the “good old imperialist days” and I think even the most ardent Brexiter has had that fantasy drummed out of them at this point. And can I stress, no one is a “subject” of the Queen and hasn’t been for decades. We are all citizens of our respective countries. And yes, India-Pakistan is a mess. But that’s nothing to do with the Commonwealth as an organisation. (And Charles was not automatically appointed as head of the Commonwealth, they voted on it).
Charles being ‘voted’ in as head of commonwealth was not a democratic process. All the discussions & ‘vote’ took place behind closed doors. We also know a lot of strings were pulled by the British government including the Queen who uncharacteristically stepped in to voice her support for her son. If the commonwealth was truly equal they would rotate the leadership similar to the U.N. and the Queens relatives would not be parachuted into top positions.
As I say, countries are free to leave the Commonwealth, which indeed includes some countries (Mozambique and Rwanda, which joined in 2009) that were never part of the British Empire. They must think they are getting something out of it.
I always said Meg was brought in to strengthen ties with the Commonwealth countries, slap bang in the middle of Brexit.
British imperalism at play here but most commonwealth countries have moved on.
The royal family isn’t progressive and moving with the times, they look after themselves and use whatever they can for good PR.
Im currently waiting to see if Baby Sussex is granted HRH…. 🤔
So Harry and Meghan (a US citizen) were forced to marry because of Brexit? Riiiiiight…..
Edward and Sophie’s children are not HRH – nor are Anne’s – I think it is a case of slimming down which started several decades ago,. But no doubt it won’t be seen that way.
If those Commonwealth countries had moved on as you say, why would they still be members?
Some explanation here:
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a23782043/prince-harry-meghan-markle-royal-baby-title/
@ohno!
We remain as members because leaving would be seen as an insult to Britain, and that would be more hassle than any marginal benefit that we get from staying.
No country is forced to be a member of the Commonwealth, it is a choice not compulsory.
As others above have said, British Imperialism is not something anyone, I as a Brit have ever met in all my 70 years, gives any thought to. It is an in many cases a shaeful part of our past, but not something we yearn for or want to go back to. We don’t want to rule the world – unlike the governments of some countries we could mention.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/zimbabwe-applies-rejoin-commonwealth-180522062016470.html
And why, oh why has every article/happening with Meghan got to be interpreted as shade?
If you’re trying to throw shade at the US, throw some at Russia and China to be fair. China has openly said that it wants to be the dominant country.
You as a citizen have no such lofty ideas perhaps but your government is fighting tooth and nail to hold on to any remnants of power and influence it has.
See the recent ruling regarding the Chagos Island. Britain’s behavior has been abhorrent and this is not something which took place 100s of years ago.
To be fair, I don’t think anyone in the UK particularly wants to hang on to the Chagos Islands, but the government feels obliged to do so. Courts in the UK have been giving the same ruling for decades. It’s the US base on Diego Garcia (the subject of a long term lease), which the US very much wants to keep, that’s the main issue, and we don’t want to upset the US.
Boris Johnson personally called the Mauritian PM to issue threats to drop the court case. So i don’t think its a matter of , oh its just the US that wants it, we brits don’t care.
Your government cares.
I’m not defending Boris (whom I despise) but the UK government cares because the US cares. If there was no base on Diego Garcia, the original UK court ruling in 2000 would have been followed and the islands given back to Mauritius then.
to a mauritian , i’m sure you can see that the reason “why” the brits care is irrelevant. it is how they are handling the matter that is important.
Absolutely, and I’m sorry about that (for the record, I think we ought to have given the islands back decades ago, and screw the US). Neo-colonialism absolutely exists, but I find it galling to be told how imperialist the UK is by Americans, who are just as neo-colonialist but in different ways and (usually) different locations.
@Ohno! I never said they were forced to marry because of Brexit, the UK needs a lot of friends and allies right now to appear strong and the commonwealth countries standing with Britain helps and then theres the trade situation.
There is no doubt in my mind that Harry and Meghan love each other, I’m just suspicious of the royals and know they will do almost anything to survive. I believe they allowed the marriage to take place as it’s good PR and shows the royals are progressing, modernising which is bull. As many of my fellow black Brits have stated, if Harry brought home Lupita Nyong’o I’m sure she wouldn’t have been embraced as Meghan has, (too much melanin), no shade on Meghan, I’ve always thought this.
There are a few commonwealth countries that I know of that have been looking at leaving, I’m not sure if it’s as strong since Charles got the vote but I’m hoping it is. Once the Queen passes then I think they will start dropping out, it’s respect for her that they stay in, at least some of them.
It would be nice of the Queen to offer HRH status to the child if not just for optics as that baby is going to be ‘othered’, Edward and Sophie was offered it for their children but declined. Hope the same is extended for Harry and Meghan whatever they decide.
I didn’t think about that…but it is very true what you are pointing out!
As a Canadian, I don’t like the idea of the Commonwealth either… but I’ve got to say, it’s nice being part of a group. The cultural and economic ties are there, the ability to travel on working visas is there… if my sister hadn’t been able to easily get a working visa to New Zealand, she wouldn’t have met her partner. It’s got perks.
@Mika I’m sure most of the Windrush generation victims that was turfed out by our government to a country they hadn’t been back to since birth or very early childhood don’t feel like they were part of a nice ‘group’.
These were people from commonwealth countries but they were made to feel unwelcome and like illegal immigrants when they had spent all their lives in the UK, working, paying tax etc ,when their parents were invited to come here and help build up this country after the war. My parents were part of the Windrush Generation and I was born here in London but haven’t felt British for the past couple of years and I haven’t even gone through what these poor people have. So yes its nice being part of a group but only if your face fits.
This working visa is only extended to the “right sort” of countries.
In order for me to work in the UK, my company had to provide mountains of documentation, and even then i was interviewed for 45 mins at Heathrow before i was allowed into the country. So much for being a part of a nice group.
Except for the fact that Kate’s engagement with the queen has been public for damn near 2 days before Meghan’s commonwealth thing was announced. You had to throw in a subtle dig on another woman because of another woman you dunno on #IWD. It didn’t even feel ironic to you? Whew
It’s pretty much SOP here.
Happy International Women’s Day to my fellow Celebitches! Love this community of strong, smart women.
Pretty sure she was making fun of William. Pretty sure the writers here have been very very open that they feel this is a rift between William and Harry. That’s all I get out of this.
Good for Meghan. Also she is not due till late April or May so I expect she will continue her pace for a few more weeks.
The queen is reportedly pro-brexit ? Where is this “report” coming from ?
As far as i have read, she has remained resolutely above the discussion preferring to concentrate on pro-unity messages.
Regarding this commonwealth malarkey .. Good on Harry & Meghan to be named president and vice-president, but seriously this is too little, far too late.
For decades, the CW had been abandoned to die a slow death and during that time, most of the CW countries have forged ahead with their own destinies away from Britain. My own country relies more on trade deals with India and China than it does with the UK. This is unmistakably the UK’s desperate attempt at improving trade deals in the event of a possible no-deal brexit.
I wish the royals would concentrate on their domestic issues, gang culture & knife crime is rife in the UK and i’m sure that both Harry and Meghan could and would be willing to help there.
The youth ambassador agenda to help with climate change/women rights/education in CW countries ( read Africa / India) etc is just more white saviorism which depicts us AGAIN as countries is need, unable to stand on our own feet, always needing a western crutch.
Who benefits from this ? A few charities may get a some money, but this is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. The big winner is Britain itself which uses this aid as a way push forward their political and strategic interests. In the process, the Royals get some low hanging PR fruits thrown their way.
Should you care, i find the British Aid to India to be a very interesting case study of the aid fallacy : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9061844/India-tells-Britain-We-dont-want-your-aid.html
See, now this is all 100% true.
@Mrs bump +1
@Mrs Bump, I’m going to reply here because I appreciate your comment! But also referring to above comments stating that everyone is in the CW voluntarily. That is true technically of course but modern day imperialism is different from the original kind. There are a lot of British interests in these countries, and the relationships are not in the least equal. If, in the US (because I think most commentators here are American), you can talk about the legacy of slavery that still reverberates, does it make sense to ignore the power disparity that exists between a former empire and former colonies, even if they are technically free now?
Nothing against Meghan here, she fell in love and got married and is trying to do good in the world. But why should be excited about how a popular British Prince and his biracial wife are totally going to be the face of neo-colonialism? The BRF is using Meghan and as a fellow WOC I’m not here for it.
Edit: Mrs Bump, you’re so right that there is so much to do in this country, esp. regarding the issues facing youth. For example I think Meghan doing the cookbook was a good initiative.
I mean, there’s certainly a legacy of soft power, but the empire was a long, long time ago. In terms of present-day economic power, we are a strong but by no means US-sized, middling economic power. When we leave the EU and seek trade deals with the likes of India, we will rapidly discover that we have absolutely no advantage in negotiating with them.
“I wish the royals would concentrate on their domestic issues, gang culture & knife crime is rife in the UK and i’m sure that both Harry and Meghan could and would be willing to help there.
The youth ambassador agenda to help with climate change/women rights/education in CW countries ( read Africa / India) etc is just more white saviorism which depicts us AGAIN as countries is need, unable to stand on our own feet, always needing a western crutch.”
THIS. But domestic issues don’t give the opportunity of posing as world-changing humanitarians and don’t offer the same level of self promotion that,for example,a “royal tour” gives and rabid stans can’t scream how every country in the world wants the “rockstars of the family”.. To do what is not clear.. And your remark about white saviorism is spot-on. Why do these
countries need to be lectured by members of the royal family who barely know what they are talking? And I can’t help but think about some of the pics from M&H’s tour,and some of W&K’s ones as well,and how they were cringe worthy.
How’s about the heir-to-the-heir, third couple of the land, future king and queen consort get the f*ck to work and focus on the issues inside the country? People could stop fussing so much about the former “spare” and wife. So pressed about the “minor royals” they insist are “irrelevant”.
My post was about how the white saviorism from western countries negativity impacts the very countries they are purporting to help, and you’re bringing it back to Kate Vs. Meghan.
It might come as a shock to you but from where i stand there isn’t all that much difference between these two women.
If the spare and wife are irrelevant, why are you fussing so much about them when you insist they don’t matter? If you think the Commonwealth doesn’t matter, or ports in Morocco come Brexit, etc. If the only ones who matter are William and Kate, they should stop going on tours outside the UK. Get their asses to work in the UK as they have failed to do in the last 8 years. If the foreign office decides to send any royals overseas since they’re the ones who decide? They’ll only send Harry and Meghan from now on.
From your comments, MrsBump, it is clear you have a starkly different attitude when it comes to discussing Meghan vs. Kate. Should I be kind and pretend maybe you don’t recognize that in yourself?
Meghan looks so good at King’s College”s IWD panel. I just wish the dress was shorter. There’s a WHOLE lot of leg showing when she sits.
Catch a glimpse of the biscuit? We could celebrate IWD with no shame!
Great for Meghan
Let me go peak at royaldish 😏
Losing their minds, per usual.
I was going to check out what they were saying and apparently all discussion about Harry and Meghan has been banned from there. There really was a meltdown.
You go, Meghan!
This is an impressive assignment for Meghan. I mean…wow. The Queen must be seriously impressed with her attitude and work ethic.
Yep, it’s going to be hard for the royal reporters to spin Meghan as a failure now. The Queen has shown incredible confidence in Meghan between this title and giving her top patronages and not even a year after her entrance to the BRF
Very impressed with what Meghan to say today on the panel. She spoke confidently and authoritatively and it was clear that she knows what she’s talking about. She doesn’t just have a history of supporting herself as an actress but I didn’t realize how much “hands on” philanthropic work she has done. Not merely writing a check, but travelling and rolling up her sleeves to do meaningful work. Bravo Meghan
Hang on. Did I read correctly? She’s been made Vice President of a trust that her HUSBAND is the president of? Why are we celebrating this? Is playing the VP to husbands a great achievement in life now? Way to forge your own path. Come on Queen if you’re only going to make her a VP let’s not make it to an organisation where her husband is president.
This, exactly. It’s amazingly sexist and diminishes Meghan. She is far more qualified than he is for these positions!
Harry and Meghan’s child is not entitled to be HRH until Charles becomes king. Originally, only the oldest son of the oldest son of the Prince of Wales was entitled to HRH but a Statute or something was passed to include all of William’s children in this. No such thing has been done for Harry. Even when Charles does become king, I think Harry’s children will still have titles similar to the Wessex children and without HRH.
Congratulations to the Duchess of Sussex. Well Done!!
I definitely don’t think the Queen is pro-Brexit. She gets briefed on all aspects of the UK — economics, politics, and security/defense, anyway — and she was already on the throne when the Common Market was initiated. She knows the deal when it comes to the EU and the UK, she has all the facts. And anyone who has the facts knows what a disaster Brexit would be for the British people.
She made a speech a few months ago about trying to work things out and it was interpreted as being pro Brexit. She has stayed away from making political comments for decades and wouldn’t be so dumb as to get involved one of the most controversial ones. The media tried to create a story.
Did people see this feature from Max Foster, CNN? It was also on Anderson Cooper’s facebook show.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/07/uk/meghan-kate-social-media-gbr-intl/index.html
Some interesting observations:
Hermansson said the anti-Meghan trolls have also seized on themes like so-called “cultural decline.”
“Meghan Markle fits into this bigger idea of the West and the UK in decline,” he said. “She does that by not fitting in, by being who she is, which is mixed race. People tie these things so much to what they think it means to be British, which is white. So, it has a racial element to it.”
“But there’s also this idea of cultural decline — [that] what we were before, a strong palace, a monarchy, an empire … is falling apart, and that of course is brought on by these other far-right conspiratorial ideas, like what mass immigration is doing with our society, the replacement of British people of British culture.”
It’s fine if they want to work together,but why is news a big deal? Harry was already the president of the QCT,they probably didn’t even bother to ask the queen.
No, this was something HM decided to give to Meghan. Didn’t have to, Meghan could have worked with the QCT without a title, but the Queen decided to give her this position.
It is ridiculous you think Harry just up and creates a position for Meghan, when the Queen had always been hands on in the Commonwealth. This position was given to Meghan by the Queen. Not even Harry could get away with creating it and asking forgiveness later.
We needed an american that was never part of the commonwealth experience. Because the commonwealth is full of idiots and what would we do without brilliant Harry and Meghan, an american, to guide our youth.
keep your rude comments to yourself – meghan is an american yes but the fact that she has been given high profile patronages sd be praised esp if she can help as much as she can
I’m just here for Princess Anne’s outfit.
I love it if it’s an actual coat but not so much as a dress.
I like that Duchess Meghan has a voice but im a bit worried that maybe that she wants to be in the public eye too much its Kate who will be queen one day maybe it could breed jealousy between Kate and Meghan if it hasnt already not to mention William and Harry
I think the commonwealth is ok the royals do a lot of good I think I didnt like that tax payers had to fund their coming to australia when our farmers were undergoing a drought Duchess Meghan just made a banana cake i dont think it was enough really hopefully more support came their way