I appreciate what People Magazine did with their cover so that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Duke and Duchess of Sussex are all coordinated with each other in shades of blue. That’s very appealing to the eye. Beyond that, think of People’s editorial decision here: Prince Andrew’s catastrophic BBC interview dropped on Saturday night, and it’s been dominating headlines ever since. The New York Times, CNN, NBC News, CBS, all of these legitimate American outlets have been covering the interview and covering the British reaction to the interview. And so People Magazine decides to… do a cover story on the Sussex/Cambridge rift?? Don’t get me wrong, there’s legitimately a rift between the brothers. But that’s not the conversation this week!! So, here you go: People Magazine got a bunch of “royal experts” to royalsplain how William Will Be King and that’s the root of all of these problems. What the hell…
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reunited with Prince William and Kate Middleton for back-to-back Remembrance Day events earlier this month, there was no mistaking that the space between them went far beyond protocol. “Everyone was doing their duties, doing what they needed to do on behalf of the family—and that was that,” a source tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “But there is a divide between the four of them. It’s hard for people to digest, because everyone wants them to be such a unit.”
Multiple insiders say the chill between the couples runs deeper than many outsiders realize. Today, fallout from the rift that began two years ago with Harry’s engagement to Meghan (sources say William cautioned Harry about moving too fast with the American actress) continues to ripple across the royal family, from seating to staffing to Christmas plans, as Meghan and Harry announced they would not be spending the holiday with the royal family at Sandringham.
Those close to the couple say both Meghan, 38, and Harry, 35, struggle with ongoing feelings of isolation from the rest of the family, with Harry’s friend Tom Bradby—who interviewed the couple for their emotionally candid October documentary—describing them as “bruised and vulnerable.” At the same time, William and Kate, both 37, are moving further into their future roles as King and Queen. It’s no coincidence that the division comes as Queen Elizabeth, 93, hands off many of her duties to her heir, Prince Charles, 71, with William sliding in behind him.
“William is the future King. There is going to be some competitiveness between him and Harry,” says the source. “That already puts a rock in the relationship.” Some of the distance between William and Harry, say those in palace circles, is a normal consequence of their moving into adulthood. “After the death of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997, the two brothers were thrown together by the tragedy of their childhood,” says longtime royal historian Robert Lacey. “But it’s inevitable, as they grow up and develop different personalities, that synchronicity won’t apply anymore.”
A royal source emphasizes that any change in the brothers’ relationship is merely a result of the new chapters in their lives. “As is often the case in any family, when one of your siblings gets married, there’s always a period of readjustment,” says the source.
As they head into the holiday season, Harry and Meghan are taking a rare six-week break to regroup amid the family stress and tabloid scrutiny. “Just on a human level, if you take everything else out of the equation, I don’t think they’re in very good shape to deal with anything right now,” says a friend. “Everyone is hoping that they will come back from this break stronger than ever, and maybe with some time out of the spotlight, they can figure out what path to take next.”
Whichever road they take, it is likely to continue to diverge from William and Kate’s. “They’re going to have to try to figure out how to be civil, but they are on different paths now,” the source adds. “It’s just the reality of the situation.”
It’s annoying that the narrative of “Harry and William are at odds because their lives will be SO different!” No, that’s not the root of it. They’ve dealt with different expectations all their lives and while Harry might have some grumpiness around it – even Diana thought Harry had a better temperament to be king – that’s NOT the root of the problem between the two couples. The root is two things: William freaking the f–k out when Meghan came into the family AND William throwing Meghan under the bus constantly. Harry caught on that William was unsupportive privately and publicly. Harry caught on that William used Meghan as a shield to hide his (Will’s) indiscretions with Rose Hanbury and more. Not to mention the Embiggening Kate Project, which is all one big subtweet of Meghan.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN & Backgrid, cover courtesy of People.
I always figured Kate would freak out most about Meghan for various reasons. Never thought Will would be the one to have a full on meltdown, but it is indeed characteristic.
I think Meghan should be Queen Regnant. That is all.
Nah. Brexit england doesnt deserve a hard working inclusive king or queen. They deserve lazy and pathetic so that’s what god gave them 👍
Well I guess by that logic, that’s why God gave the Americans Trump.
Ah thanks for that. So does that mean that the US deserves Trump? The anti-British generalisations here are out of control now.
A major difference is trump can leave in 2020. England’s stuck with Brexit and their future monarchy 🤷♀️
I don’t believe the US deserves Trump anymore than the UK deserves their Royals. The same stupidity and fear mongering that lead to Trump being elected, also lead to Brexit and there is still a sizeable number of deluded Brits who are Royalists, in the same way for some unfathomable reason, Trump still has supporters.
What I don’t understand is why this site is so heavy on racism (as they should be) but seems to see xenophobia as perfectly acceptable.
@Pip, the US certainly deserves the man that a sizeable percentage of their population voted for and vocally support, yes. In the same way Britain deserves the very monarchy which they are not taking any pains to remove. We all deserve the things we ask for, and sometimes, the things which we don’t vocally oppose.
Let us not forget that he did NOT win the popular vote. The majority of people who voted were for Hillary Clinton. There was an insane amount of electioneering that went into the final outcome. I don’t think we “deserve” him. I think we got screwed over.
There’s Kate’s charming, natural smile that can light up any room.
They always do such weird photoshopping to her face. Like, okay touch ups or whatever – but its like they go out of their way to make her look NOT like herself.
It’s so weird!!
Sometimes I like to wonder what the comments would be like if someone on this site made fun of Meghan’s looks like they do Kate’s.
Meh, i’m making fun of the photoshopping, which is always so weird for Kate when she is on the cover of People. Its like they do it on purpose. They don’t necessarily make her look bad, they make her look like a different person.
Good point Jade
I comment on Kate’s appearance because that’s all there is to Kate. And that’s how SHE wants it. She doesn’t really want to be judged on her work, or personality (does she even have one?), intelligence (?), talent (does she have any?). Her own people said she does her “work” through her physical appearance.
Yes, whataboutism is always a choice.
@mrs.krabapple I have no problems with people talking about her work, or lack thereof, or her wardrobe choices however, when we start demeaning someone’s physical appearance it is juvenile and inappropriate. We really aren’t that much better than the trash daily mail commenters if we are reducing ourselves to such levels. I’m not okay with it and I think its gross and crosses a line. I am positive Meg would hate for her fans to criticize another woman in such a way.
Go to other millions of sites that do rip Meghan apart if that’s what you’re wondering about. And we remark on Kate’s smile because it’s a phony performance.
@Maria I dont think you understood my point, how can we criticize those sites for unfairly attacking Meg when we are criticizing Kate’s looks? It comes off as very hypocritical. If we claim to be better then the trash daily mail commenters then lets actually be better. And I dont know how someone else gets to decide that a smile is phony? Again criticize the things that she is directly responsible for, her work and clothing choices but to rip apart someone based on their looks is serious grade school bullsh!t.
I think it’s strange that you equate my comment with the toxic stuff that’s said about Meghan everyday. Why didn’t you take my comment at face value? I’ve never commented on Kate’s appearance before. I don’t have a track record that you could extrapolate from. Maybe I was being genuine. Or, maybe you inferred the meaning that you did because she clearly is smiling in a way that is very unnatural and unsettling. I think Kate is beautiful. In fact, I had better think she is beautiful because people stop me on the street to tell me I look like her. But, I also think she is a very fake person (through her actions) and that quality just also happens to be imparted by her smile. A picture is worth a thousand words.
I will stop commenting on Kate’s physical appearance when Kate’s own people stop using Kate’s physical appearance as a reason for us to respect her. Why is Kate ready to be the future queen? Because she had her hair highlighted! The tabloids can print whatever they want about Meghan without being called out on it — but if people notice the hair extensions on Kate, then we need a press release calling it a childhood “scar” (that has mysteriously disappeared), because God forbid Kate be seen as a woman who doesn’t have a perfectly — and naturally — full head of glorious hair. This is all HER people’s doing. I agree that this focus on a woman’s physical beauty is toxic — but that is HER people’s doing. THEY are making her a walking Barbie doll, and that is toxic and insulting to women everywhere.
I think I made a mistake with my comment. I should have thought it through a bit more. I’m sorry that I upset people
@machineelf I apologize if I misconstrued your comment, it sounded sarcastic especially considering the follow up comment. Obviously my past experience of reading hateful comments influenced my perception. That being said I stand by my statements, we cant criticize the daily mail commenters if we are acting no better.
We criticize the Daily Heil and its commenters for being RACIST.
And criticizing a woman for her looks is toxic and sexist.
@Jadedone no need to apologize. I should’ve expressed myself differently. I’m glad you’re making the points that you are
You keep changing the topic, Jadedone. You really are embracing whataboutism spectacularly.
I’m not sure if this is the type of white feminism matters that ignores intersectional biases & racism of women of color or if it’s just to constantly deflect about what a victim Kate is using what Meghan goes through with constant public smearing by the press & on social media solely because she’s biracial.
I have not changed the topic you are ignoring my main point which was that if someone on this website criticized Meg for something as ridiculous as her smile they would be rightfully ripped apart. However, when Kate is the subject we pile on. My point is, and always has been, that criticizing women based on their looks is juvenile, stupid and sexist. I have blatantly said that you can criticize Kate’s lack of work all day long but to criticize someone for something that is out of their control is as ridiculous as is criticizing someone for their race. They can both be unfairly criticized for things they can’t control, it’s not exclusive to one member of the royal family.
@Jadedone Except that Meg has been criticised for smirking and looking smug. This happened on this very website. And no that commenter was not ripped apart at all.
Saying Kate’s smile looks fake, which is how I interpreted the original comment, is not the same as commenting on a physical characteristic. It’s not like we don’t have nine years of Kate making these over exaggerated smiles saved only for engagements. She doesn’t do that in other settings, which is why people comment on it being fake.
Thank you Nic919. That is what I meant. I did not expect my comment to be interpreted the way it was.
Very weird article from People. I used to consider them a little more factual than other tabloids, but this entire piece is purely speculative.
Glad they picked a nice photo of Meghan.
Yes I wish we’d keep the focus on the rapists who think they can get away with it and the families that protect them.
Seems like a much bigger deal than two grown men who cannot get along.e
In that hot mike comment that a newscaster was caught saying a few weeks ago, she said she had wanted to report on the Epstein story years ago but was knocked down because the Royal Family said they would retaliate by limiting access to Kate and William and the other younger royals. That’s what this People Magazine cover makes me think of. Choosing to maintain whatever kind of access they have to the younguns in exchange for silence on the pedoAndy story.
William was a horrible, icky child (look at old videos), a nasty entitled teen and a truly shitty adult. Harry is more genuinely liked and that enrages the old twit. William will never change nor will his unscrupulous wife. Neither William or Catherine seem to find joy in much besides the material in life.
I agree but I also think a lot of it is a consequence of being privileged from birth based on when you and your father were born.
Abolish the monarchy.
@Jen I’m with you.
William sounds a lot like his Uncle Andrew…….
Yes, you are right. I had not made the connection.
Actually I don’t fully think so….please hear me out
1) William sounds a lot like this father; I heard Charles was jealous of Diana’s appeal to people.
2) At the same time, Harry saw Andrew and decided that he didn’t want to be that type of spare.
3) William inherited the worst traits of both of his parents; this could have been more acceptable had he had the business acumen of his father but unfortunately he seems aimless like Andrew even though he is a future future king (assuming the monarchy survives of course).
The rift is imo because Meghan was thrown to the wolves and William said nothing! Harry has publicly supported Kate and seems to be one going out of his way to make her feel welcome, well at least publicly. I think he might have assumed William will do the same for his wife……….boom boom surprise!!!!
Anyway this story is a distraction from the Andrew’s mess……..BP is managed by a bunch of amateurs. Those are the people M&H should listen to? especially Meghan? she is probably smarter than all of them combined
@VS – I agree with you on all of this. I do think that the rift was due to William’s lack of assistance when it came to Meghan.
I think William is Edward VIII all over again – he just got to keep his place in the line of succession because he had the sense to marry someone vaguely suitable before sleeping with inappropriate (usually married) women.
Andrew will never be king, William will, if the monarchy lasts, so I think he’s much more like Edward VIII, someone who from birth knew he would be king but had a grandparent and parent as monarch so he doesn’t need to take anything seriously.
It’s not really a competition when you’re running las around your opponent who already had a head start. The Cambridge’s brought this on themselves and see the embodiment of a better King and Queen in Harry and Meghan. The whole family sees it, we see it…And W+K have had several years to change that narrative around. But they haven’t and won’t. I’m honestly tired of the press trying to pretend it is anything other than that. They hate seeing minorities beat them at activities where they thought they had secured a stronghold. This is just now playing out on the royal stage.
There’s a rift because William is a mean, resentful, angry d*ck. To everyone, not just Harry.
The End.
Yup.
Is it threadjacking to say this is all about RACISM? Like, it is sad that reporters are so unethical as to miss the WHOLE POINT of why Meghan and Harry are fed up. They are not “delicate and needing to be coddled as they figure out the future.” They are angry and sick and tired of the racism and jealousy and fighting back legally. I’d like to see THAT NARRATIVE. They are farking done. Love how Andrew the pedophile rapist rates a tiny bubble comment. Do you guys remember when People actually was a thing to be read?
Actually no; they never were a ‘a thing to be read’. They are a tabloid focused on Celebrities and should be treated as such imo
Unlike the UK, there are plenty of reputable newspapers in the US; those of course treat the royals as they are, a bunch of celebrities mentioned when they reproduce or during a state visit or when one does something extraordinary or duplicitous
IMHO People magazine is the G Rated Playboy. All about the pictures, though its said people read it for the articles. 😁
Ha, I enjoyed that HMC.
Remember Jeff Goldblum’s character in “The Big Chill”? He was a writer for People, and his character said (paraphrasing, but this is almost word for word):
“We are not allowed to write an article that has more length or content than people can absorb for the length of a dump.”
And that was in the early 80s! Hasn’t gotten any better since (Please pardon the word/image, but that WAS the dialogue!)
But to be fair, when people FIRST came out in the mid 70s, it was about 50-60% about REAL “inspirational” people, people who made some kind of a difference for their community/the world, and in the 80s it exploded into a celebrity rag with the coming of the paps.
(The OG): I remember People from the 70s as well. I always liked it because you could find stuff about interesting people in the back half of the magazine. This was, of course, before the internet, so if it wasn’t in the local newspaper, you never heard about it.
Miss all of that.
Yeah I remember when People was actually a pretty good magazine. I always enjoyed when they featured average, normal people doing good works and they used to actually interview the people who appeared on their covers. Sigh…those were the good old days.
@Pineapple It’s always been all about race. From the second Meghan became Harry’s official girlfriend and the first ‘Straight out of Compton’ headline. What’s happened to Meghan would never happen to a White woman. That’s why so many people are desperate for pictures of Archie. They’re want to see if the ‘Black’ is showing.
@kerwood,
Exactly! It has always been obvious from the first
I’ve always seen People magazine as a PR mouthpiece for the British monarchy just as PBS TV channel that mainly airs British historical drama and popular TV shows.
I still believe the whole thing is about them having a baby. It started when Meg got pregnant. I think the BRF wanted/assumed Meg and Harry wouldn’t last, and got upset when they realized they would have a permanent connection to the biracial woman via Archie. It was only okay for H to marry M as a starter wife, not make her the mother of his kids. I will forever believe it has to do with that racism coming out.
Alternate theory: H found out W was allowing smears of M to hide W’s Rose tending. While she was pregnant.
How about of those theories.
*both of
“William is the future King” wouldn’t count of the monarchy surviving that long to be honest, not after this Randy Andy interview.
Yup, there is that.
Exactly.👌👌
Scotland will almost certainly leave Brexit Britain.
Australia, Canada, New Zealand will divest themselves from the crown.
Commonwealth has already made clear the monarch is no longer automatic leader.
Let;s see what’s left 10 years from now.
I am Scottish. I loathe Brexit but I want to stay in UK. I don’t think people quite understand how independence will rip Scotland apart, with its many family connections to England. I live in north of Scotland. The SNP only bother about the central belt. The result of an independence vote is not a given.
Just finished Crown S3 and definitely think monarchy is on the way out. Not gonna threadjack but hope we have a thread to discuss soon because I need input from our RF experts on what to take away from this season.
I haven’t seen s3 yet but I’m really looking forward to it. The first 2 season were great and I’m a big fan of Olivia Colman.
@bettyrose Seconded! I need to talk about thi season! Olivia Colman might as well start polishing her Emmy and Golden Globe now.
I think I’m staying on topic and not spoiling anything by saying what I’ve really learned from the series is that the monarch requires an unimaginable strength of character to always put duty above both self and the needs of loved ones. Liz it seems was naturally suited to that – in addition to having decades to get it right before invasive media coverage became a thing. I suspect Charles at this point can display stoicism, and his days of scandal are probably behind him. But William and onward aren’t products of a repressed era.
I watched The Crown season 3 over the last few days. One takeaway: The family is full of snakes! And that hasn’t changed one bit. The way they treated Charles (and Princess Margaret in season 2) was horrific, and it’s not much different from the smear Meg campaign.
Also, separately, to my taste, there was way too much Philip and not enough Queen in these episodes.
I watched Season 3 and it is great! A few things though. One, I wonder if they are trying to troll the modern royals or if history is just repeating itself. I mean this People story looks a lot like some of the other stories on the Crown they use to quiet stories, like Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend’s affair and them squashing it seems a bit like this. Although they are not using one story to squash another just creating another story. Still it feels similar. Plus apparently, they took big dramatic license on that as the Queen was finding a way for them to marry then Margaret decided no, or that’s the royal story now. Who knows. The other thing is some of the Crown’s part are creative license. You need to look up what really happened to see it and not take it as gospel. Sorry for the slight thread jack, but I swear the Crown Season 3 might be trolling the modern royals. It’s a bit weird actually, down to the monarchy shouldn’t exist in modern society part. Sure that existed back then, but it is extremely relevant now. Not sure they weren’t right about that then and now, but I’m a yank so I just gossip about it. No monarchy for me.
It’s amazing how People just skips right over the fact that Charles will be King first, and possibly for decades. I get that they want the focus to be on the glamorous, young royals, and that they sell more magazines that way, but pushing this “future King” narrative before William is even Prince of Wales is ridiculous. I guess since their audience is American, they don’t bother with details like that and just give people W/K/H/M.
Prince Charles is 71 years old. I don’t imagine he has “decades”. Even if he manages to be as long-lived as his parents and grandmother, I imagine he’d step back when he got to 85 or so.
I think we can also safely say this family won’t step down they have to die in the office. I mean 94 is old to do even a ceremonial job. I agree though don’t think Charles will live that long. Somehow both his parents did, but not his grandparents. It’s just unlikely.
Harry has never been jealous about William being future king and has been on the record about that many times. The media is being lazy by trying to make this a Charles v Andrew 2.0 situation. It has never been that between them.
The rift is because William is going after Harry’s wife, either because he doesn’t like that she’s assertive and makes Harry more assertive (as opposed to his doormat wife) or she’s an easy cover for his rosy peccadillos. In any case this is William’s issue. Harry remains publicly loyal to his brother despite the bs.
I honestly think that might be part of it for William – that he hates that Harry ISN’T jealous of him. That he’s out there, living his life, doing his thing and couldn’t care less about kingship. Now that Harry is married, and they seem to really love each other, and now they have a family, Will can’t even hold the one thing he has going for him over Harry’s head because Harry does not care.
William is the king of temper tantrums.
I wonder that too. Because aside from being the future future King, what does William have that Harry doesn’t? And Harry doesn’t care about the crown.
I’ve always thought it was William who was jealous of Harry. ALWAYS. William “may be king”, but Harry has always had much more “freedom” than William.
Also, while William may “love” Kate (and I do think he does), I don’t think he’s IN love (passion) with Kate. She really is the only one that was left standing, and she WAS in love with him. Harry, on the other hand, HAS made a love match, and IS IN LOVE (passionately) with his wife, who RETURNS that passion.
THAT is what I think pisses the hell out of William. He sees what Harry and Meg have, and he doesn’t, and THAT is what is making him act this way, consciously AND subconsciously.
@(TheOG)@Jan90067 totally agree.
I don’t think William is jealous of Harry’s marriage but I can see Kate feeling envy because she wants that with William. William doesn’t like his family being overshadowed in the media. He is threatened by the possibility of Meghan becoming another star like Diana. Heck they’re all fearful of that.
@TheOG,
Honestly I’ve never really followed the Royals until Meghan. I’m a black woman and I will admit that I got the warm fuzzies LOL! when she married Harry. That being said, I cannot comment on William, but it is obvious that Harry and Meghan really love each other. The way they look at each other and the way that he always reaches for her hand without even looking back is beautiful
@Sondra: TOTALLY agree! I LOVE to watch the two of them. They are *truly* a TEAM!
I think the whole “feud” started when Harry found about “Rose Who?” and it upset him to the point of no return for two reasons: 1) He was very close to Cathy and 2) because of everything that happened in his parents marriage regarding unfaithfulness causing destabilization of his childhood.
Normal Bill then began to throw everyone under the bus to cover up for “Rose Who?”.
Shhh, Navy, no one’s allowed to talk about that.
@navywife there is a difference between cheating on your girlfriend and cheating on your wife and mother of your children. Both the girlfriend and wife may be devastated by the cheating, but the breaking of marital vows, especially after “The War of the Wales” is seen as worse in many sectors, legal, societal, press.
Is there anything substantive to the claim that Harry and Kate are close?
Like, I see that stated often as if fact but I’ve never actually seen anything in either’s behavior that indicates that they’re actually very close or even close.
I’m curious.
Harry was nice to her in public settings but there is nothing to suggest they were close friends. That said, he did say in an interview that the media should leave pregnant Kate alone. Something his brother never did for him.
@bonobochick I remember in the early years of W+K’s marriage when Kate would refer to W and H as “my boys.” That made me think they were all pretty close.
Unless they’re both amazing actors, which is unlikely, Harry and Kate were clearly quite close for a long time, and I don’t see a need to pretend otherwise. They quite obviously enjoyed being around each other. You can find plenty of old photos of them from events when she was dating and engaged to Wills, and her and Harry were comfortable and joking and talking to each other.
I think William also just resents that Harry got married and has become a grown up. Harry was always more charming but also a little lost. He made William look like the responsible one for a bit. Then he was the affable third wheel to William and Kate.
Now he’s independent and a loving husband and father and William looks worse by comparison. The only thing William has on his brother now is that he’ll be King, so his PR people take every chance they can to remind people of that.
William and Kate have to know they just don’t have the appeal and star power of Harry and Meghan. People just care more about Harry and Meghan, both good and bad. They’re like the Brad and Angelina of royalty. The courtiers can say all they want about how royalty is different than celebrity, but it clearly bothers people in the RF that Meghan and Harry get so much attention.
And I’d also imagine that Harry just isn’t ‘old Harry’ in the way that he was seemingly a lot more care-free in the scheme of things. He probably used to lighten the mood quite a bit. But once you’ve spent a couple of years being hounded, and watching the people you love get ripped to shreds I’d imagine the stress really piles up. And I could see William looking at what had changed to be the source of the difference in attitude, and instead of looking at the tabloids (especially earlier on) he probably chalked it up to Meghan. It’s not right, but I could see that happening.
That’s it in a nutshell Kebbie. William has lost control of Harry too.
Have said before, and still believe, the seeds of this rift began a few years ago, when Harry started to deviate from Will’s plan for what his generation of royal work was going to look like. That is, nothing like Charles, Anne, HM, etc. That’s why it’s taken Will into his mid-30’s before he started doing much of anything, and why Kate never bothered to develop the necessary skills. They didn’t plan to be working much.
In a sense this is a variation of Harry growing up. But, Will’s the big brother, the future king, probably expected to always be calling the shots. But, Harry found a purpose, and a wife who shares it, and even though what they do is in service of the monarchy, and Harry seems content as the spare and no threat to Will’s position, Will resents the heck out of it. He and Kate waited too long to look like they were doing anything, to build up goodwill or a visible profile based on anything other than the fact that he was the heir and they had cute kids. Along comes Harry and Meghan, doing the kind of substantial work royals have always done (Charles, etc.). Yes, they’re charismatic, but because Will and Kate did so little, there was a vacuum of interest just waiting to be filled. And Harry and Meghan attracted that attention.
If Will wasn’t such a petty, jealous, lazy person, if there were any half decent PR people working for the royal family, and if Will listened to anyone but himself (and possibly Carole), Meghan joining the family could have been played in a way that benefitted everyone. Instead, here we are.
@Nic919, well said.
I don’t think there’s ANY part of William’s life that Harry envies. On the other hand, I think William resents EVERYTHING about Harry’s life. Harry’s married to a beautiful, intelligent, ambitious woman who he’s CRAZY about. William’s married to a woman that wouldn’t go away and word is that he cares more for her mother than he does for her. It must have been such a shock to see his brother fall madly in love and marry a woman who didn’t NEED the royal family to be somebody.
I’m sure Normal Bill and others in the royal family tried to paint Meghan as a gold-digger but, let’s face it, we’ve never seen a picture of Meghan’s ass.
Well said, Kerwood,
Yep, absolutely. Harry is:
Better looking than William
More successful in the military than William
Harder and more successful worker than William (Invictus and Sentebale vs crickets from Will who is not even taking over the Prince’s Trust)
Better liked than William
Better with the public than William
More happily married than William
Married to a beautiful, articulate, intelligent woman who makes a better royal than William’s wife right from the off
Closer to Charles than William (look at photos of the three of them together and Charles is usually smiling and turned towards Harry – not least of which the photo that KP itself posted for Charles’ birthday last week)
Closer to the Queen than William
More free to do what he wants than William
Apart from that, can’t think of ANY reason Will would resent his brother and want to undermine him…
As said above, the ONLY thing William has is the future King thing – so that’s what we keep being reminded of.
Yall.. I’m telling you, I been telling you, these stories are coming out to protect Andrew. I dont think there was a fued – at first – please grab your tinfoil hat with me.
There might have been a fight between Will and Harry, and stuff was starting to bubble up around Andrew, the palace starts to release inside information all twisted and makes the fight worse. I think that the Palace fanned the fumes on whatever the initial argument was between Harry and Will and marched out the smear campaign to protect Andrew.
This family throws each other under the bus constantly, and like Harry said.. he and William are brothers, sometimes they get along sometimes they dont, but that the media will literally print stories out of thin air, things that never happened.
I’m not denying Will is guilty in not protecting or speaking up to defend his SIL and Brother, I’m just saying I dont think he was the one to March out the campaign. I think the Palace released the Rose story and the stories about the supposed Meg and Kate fued that probably never existed.
So Will responded with the gaslighting of the “they’re fragile” and “Kate is Queen” when really – we haven’t seen any difference from Kate, I highly doubt shes insecure about Meg or that Meg has any thoughts about Kate. They are business partners and in-laws.
The saddest part about all of this, well two things is one, this is all probably to protect a pedophile and their kids (Archie, Louis, Charlotte and George) are going to have to read about how their parents hated each other, just like Harry and Will have to be constantly taken back to their parents horrible split, their fued, the cheating, her death etc.
At the end of the day I’ll continue to quote John Oliver until I die, “they are a group of fundamentally flawed people doing a very silly pseudo job.” Dont take your eyes off of Pedo Andy.
“we haven’t seen any difference from Kate, I highly doubt shes insecure about Meg or that Meg has any thoughts about Kate. They are business partners and in-laws.”
@Cidy, your above statement is what I always thought regarding Cathy & Megs.
I don’t think Kate hates Meghan or vice versa, but Kate is absolutely threatened by Meghan. Its why we are getting all these stories about Kate being FFQC and about the Early Years Initiative etc.
I don’t buy that the entirety of the smear campaign is to protect Andrew. That just doesn’t ring true to me. And I definitely don’t think the palace released the Rose story. The last thing BP wants is the story of William sleeping with his Norfolk neighbors whose husband is the Lord Chamberlain to be out there. Wiliam’s entire appeal rests on his role as a good father and husband. And even now, his appeal goes a long way and many people STILL talk about how Charles should step down and let the crown go to William. Destroying William’s public appeal would be a really bad move on the part of BP, and I just don’t think they would purposely do it.
Would BP throw Meghan under the bus to protect Andrew? Yes, that I believe, but to me that makes more sense for the slew of articles over the summer, when the Epstein/Andrew relationship was coming under increasing scrutiny.
Like I said yesterday my guess is that this smear campaign started with leaks from different sources, but I think KP was the house that really went balls to the walls with it.
@BECKS1
Good observations, lots of things I didnt think about. The only reason I would say the Palace rolled out the stories of Will is because if the ENTIRE story got out before Will could stomp it out people would be drawing comparisons between his parents and it would be a big enough scandal to snuff out some sneaky stuff. But honestly great observation.
@Cidy that’s a good point too. where I go with that is – what was BP trying to snuff out? Andrew’s connections to Epstein? We all knew that. Yes, it was coming under increasing scrutiny like I said, but IIRC in the spring it wasn’t as “hot” as it was in the summer/early fall.
BUT, if your theory is correct – then it makes me think that there IS something big out there re: Andrew and Epstein (something that confirms Virginia’s story, even more damning than a picture) and the palace let this Rose story leak out to distract from that, or even in a quid pro quo (lol) – here, leave Andrew alone, William is having an affair, just be sneaky about it when you break the story. The press jumped, but William clapped back with lawyers and such, so the press was left with nothing, so took it out on Meghan.
That seems messy and inartful, but this family is nothing if not messy.
@BECKS1 those are my thoughts exactly. I think they fanned the fumes of the brothers argument and started the entire smear campaign because there is something nasty shady going on with Andrew and, in their head, as long as we are arguing about Rose and Kate or Meg and Will – then no one is watching Andy, but they’re so, so wrong. We are all watching Andy. What they have done is create a giant mess of themselves all over the place instead of just one mess, did I word that right?
@BECKS1 AND BECKYLU
Good points. Its going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.
@Becks1 I like your point about seeing who benefits, that’s a great point. When I think about it I think it’s more like an unintended consequence. I think that the story of Kate crying was meant to be like “Look this woman our nation is supposed to love was made to cry.” I think they were tone deaf enough to not realize the racial undertones. I really think there was an original argument that was fanned into what we see now.
I do hope that they are able to somehow mend things if my theory is true, Will and Harry have been through enough, they should learn on each other in adulthood.
My biggest stickler with this is that we shouldn’t be pointing at Kate and Meg when we have all said time and time again that they probably dont mind each other, I think Kate doesn’t make the huge PR decisions in their home, she hasn’t been able to master that and it just might not be a skill she has; I think the embiggening campaign is coming from Will or The Middletons, I wish the women did more events together, I think they could help each other.
I agree with a lot of this especially the Andrew part. I think William and Harry had a fight (name one group of siblings who haven’t) it wasn’t that big of a deal but the Epstein stuff started and the palace needed other things to talk about so they blew it up. And once they blew it up it made mending it harder. And now they are in a mess. I also find the timing of this rather odd, there was nothing strange with them during the events. This feels like the courtiers trying to change the subject from the interview.
I don’t think William is the main person behind the media smearing, I just don’t and I know that will forever be viewed as wrong and for some reason anti -Meghan here (which I don’t understand) and this will continue even if the source are proven to be elsewhere.
I will say and I know I’m going to be attacked for it here, but I think there is truth to the stories that Harry is jealous about the King thing. And not in the way that he wants to be king but in that stuck in middle management way. Imagine being 36 and finding out ok this is it, this is your role you can’t move up and you can’t be more all while watching someone else have more steps. I can’t imagine how hard that would be. And let’s not forget this is a family that believes William is more special because God ordained him to be (which I pray no one believes but I wouldn’t hold my breath).
add all this up along with a new marriage, new baby, a new house, a fight with your brother and a media attack. And I can see Harry really struggling and William not being supportive.
I know you think we are all just crazy anti-William people, but something definitely happened between the brothers, not just your usual sibling fight.
William and his budget flight over the summer showed he has no qualms about using bad press against Harry to his own advantage and that, quite simply, he’s an asshole. There are many more examples but that’s the most obvious one at the moment. They have also been at many public events together where the tension is obvious.
Harry may feel like he’s stuck in place in some ways, but he knows William is even more stuck and so because of that, no, I don’t think he’s jealous. The “steps” William gets to have are not ones that Harry wants to take.
@ Becklu
“I don’t think William is the main person behind the media smearing….”
I asked you yesterday what your reasoning behind this was…..I ask because I would genuinely like to know why/how you’ve come to that conclusion…..I don’t mean it as an attack at all (like you thought yesterday), it would just be nice to have a different perspective and I notice you haven’t spelled out your reasoning in this post either.
Hi @becks1 I don’t think you are crazy. I would never say that as I don’t like calling people names and honestly this is not serious. We have differences of opinions.
I personally think Harry is in an emotional state. I think so much happened so fast and he is stuck unless he walks away from his life and that seems like a lot.
I think they had a normal fight, then the media stuff started and it got way worse. And now they are both so mad at each other they don’t know what to do. So William pulls stunts like the flight and Harry does an interview.
@bella as I stated yesterday I don’t think William is innocent I just don’t believe he is the driver because honestly the only one who has benefited is Andrew (not talking about him) and Charles (stable). And remember in the monarchy that is what matters stability.
If you look at it now people are picking sides and can’t see things rationally. It’s like the crying story if you think well rationally this could have happened since both women were is very stressful emotional situations. Then you’re anti Meghan or embiggening Kate and sometimes racist. If you say Meghan does a great job at a speech (not here) you’re attacked for attacking Kate. So honestly neither couple looks great (which to be fair they didn’t do anything but the fans have soured their images)
Again I don’t think William is 100% innocent but I don’t think he’s the main driver. He’s done some dick moves no questions and he for sure is not helping settle it down but I think when you look at it more strategically William doesn’t make sense to be the main driver.
@BeckLu – but I guess that’s where we differ. Because I think overall, William and Kate have benefited more from the smear campaign than the other royal houses. At the beginning, it looked good for Charles, bc he was trying to bring them together etc, but now it just looks like Charles raised two sons who loathe each other, and like he cant control the royal family, neither of which are good looks for him.
For the crying story – as you’re a newer name you may not remember (I mean that without snark) but w did discuss that a great deal at the time and many of us thought it was possible. Kate being post partum, Meghan being stressed, Kate crying for a reason that had nothing to do with Meghan, etc. BUT, you still need to consider who leaked it, and why. It wasn’t leaked to Meghan look good, and it helped to make Kate look like the fragile white woman brought to tears by the Angry Black Woman. It’s not necessarily about whether a story is completely true.
my starting point a year ago for many of these stories was, who looks good here, and then figuring out who might have leaked it. The Kate crying story? Kate looks good. No one else, bc no one else was involved. So it makes sense that KP leaked it, especially as it plays into the overall change in media coverage of Kate.
@becks1 see I don’t think William and Kate have benefited, I also feel it’s to heavy handed of Cambridge vs Sussex or good vs bad that it feels like someone wants you to think it’s the Cambridge court leaking. Which makes them look bad.
For me when I look at it- I think what aren’t we talking about and who truly looks good?
Oh, Kate and Will have definitely benefited. I would say they have benefited the most, especially during last winter and spring. Even if they had nothing to do with the campaign against Meghan (which I don’t believe but lets say), they still directly benefited. Plane stunt was, again, the perfect example. “look how normal! Look how considerate they are of taxpayer dollars!!! NO PRIVATE JET HERE!” When Meghan was being slammed for the cost of her clothes, Kate went out of her way to repeat outfits, which she has always done but never at so many appearances in a row like that. Etc.
ETA and it is heavy handed which is exactly why KP makes sense. None of these people are the PR masterminds they think they are, as we have seen this past week. BUT, I will say that I do think the uptick in negative articles in the summer was partly from BP on behalf of Andrew.
It comes from @joshtpm about the Trumpsters, but I think the verb form “underbusing” should be used when talking about the British royal family. The shorthand form is needed and makes sense.
There is also the related “Schrodinger’s underbus,” when a story is evolving and it’s hard to tell if what you are hearing is gossip naturally arising or if there is an underbusing going on. Or you know that there is an underbus occurring, but you don’t know who is throwing. I think the second meaning is an important one in understanding BRF gossip.
Will has always been future king, and Harry’s always known this. The only way that would be causing a sudden riff is if Will was using it as an excuse to throw H and M to the wolves and Harry was sick of it, especially if it was to cover Will’s infidelity.
I’m convinced Andrew is behind ALL of this. I wish someone with more time could lay it all out and how it leads back to him. Everything was fine until Meghan showed up pregnant at that wedding.
Hopefully the lawsuits with The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday will shed light on all this due being forced by the courts to reveal their sources.
Except…..everything wasn’t. The smear started long before the wedding/tour. It only intensified afterwards. My money is behind a combination of William, Andrew and other outside forces.
@Bella – right. The smear campaign has been ongoing for a while. It definitely intensified after the pregnancy announcement, which makes me think that what someone said elsewhere about how the family thought Meghan would be a temporary wife, and the baby made her presence permanent. Or, the success of the Oceania tour really threw some people for a loop.
So I have some insider tea. It might be a bit of Andrew cover, but the Cambridge circle toss out this Duchess Difficult narrative into the general sphere. The “word” is that Kate is beyond kind and lovely but Meghan is “HORRIBLE” and yells at staff and they are different types of women and don’t get on.
I really like Meghan and all she does, so hearing she’s rude/mean to people was a tough pill to hear.
Uh sure…except your “insider tea” completely contradicts the pleasant reputation Meghan had for years. Everyone who worked with/for her pre-royal life had nothing but good things to say about her. It even contradicts the tabloids’ initial complaints/claims that Meghan was “too affectionate and casual” with staff and even hugged them. The fact that you’re claiming this is allegedly coming from “the Cambridge circle” should immediately raise red flags. Of course they’re going to prop Kate up as “beyond kind and lovely” and make sure to tell anyone who’d listen that Meghan is evil incarnate. Provided you’re not actually trolling in the first place.
How did Duchess Meghan work successfully in the entertainment industry without being known as a bratty actress?
@Beach Dreams, I’m not trolling, it’s gossip from an aristocratic set, and I said myself it comes from their camp and friend set. How I interpreted this info was maybe some culture clash, but I’m sure they are publicly deriding her and have the knives out – in addition to whatever deflections the other parts of the family adds to distract from Andrew
Also you don’t need to snark me, it’s a gossip site. I’m just sharing what I’ve heard, and was also surprised by it. And as I said I like Megan and her work very much
The housekeeper who left after 5 months tells a different tale about Kate. The second housekeeper who left after two years and her leaking out demanding W&K are. The guard who was fired after posting about what a bitch Kate is to staff tells a similar tale. Kate is not a nice person to most of the people around her.
It says a lot about the Cambridges friends then if they keep spreading mean gossip about Meghan. Do you seriously think she’s going around yelling at staff and being mean to them? If that was genuinely the case, I don’t think that Cohen would have stuck around for as long as she did.
Harry WOULD make a better King. And maybe that’s what REALLY stick in William’s craw above everything else.
No, Harry wouldn’t make a better king cause he’s to emotional.
LOL. Harry has emotions, valid ones around his wife’s abuse, that he expresses well vs. William the temperamental diva. William’s rollercoaster, lashing out emotional nature is much more worrisome in a potential future monach.
Do any of us really believe William will be king? The monarchy might?/should? naturally die with the current monarch…. If it wasn’t going to happen anyway, surely Andrew is ensuring its demise.
Watching these dysfunctional, miserable, entitled people is painful. A predetermined, mandatory role in life is inhumane. Let it go.
Totally agree Elizabeth II’s death should be the end of it all.
And she will be in the history books as the queen who’s downfall for protecting her disgraceful pedophile son will be the standout feature of her record-breaking reign.
He will be king, maybe not George but William will be king.
Harry and Meghan both seem to know what their roles are, so this article is some straight bs. Why would William doing more to become king cause a riff?
The riff is because William is a shit and didn’t like others getting more attention then him so he put the vultures on his brother and sister-in-law.
The mess with the press really started after the Oceania tour.
Bollocks article. People is about as believable as the National Inquirer.
Which is sad because they used to be a pretty good magazine, for a tabloid-ish magazine. I remember the days when they actually interviewed the people on the covers, oh to be that young again lol
InTouch Weekly is much worse…pure fan fiction with great pictures.
I think Harry is very happy to not ever have to be King and if his brother/other royals wasn’t conspiring with the tabs to dragging his wife every day, he’d definitely be content. Honestly, I just think W doesn’t like the fact that Harry is now independent of him and that he and his wife make such a great, charismatic team. As for Kate, I think she’s just trying to hold on. I have a feeling she has much bigger problems than Meghan and Harry.
Curious what problems you think Kate has- I sort of agree there is something going on there. I mean she has shut down her personality completely and I feel like a lot of her abuse has been private vs public. (Please note I’m big saying physical)
But I think the courtiers went after Meghan publicly and horrifically to break her and with Kate I think they did a little public but most of it was private because they can’t have the heirs wife imagine tarnished
Although I full disagree with the vast majority of this site that William doesn’t love her or was forced to marry her etc. I think he does and is just cold like his grandmother.
But I do feel like something is going on with Kate that is different so I would love your thoughts.
She means William is cheating on her and their marriage is on the rocks.
I’m no romance expert, but I’ve never seen Wills look at Kate like he loved her or was in love with her. Convenience, yes. Love???
That Rose story is 100% legit, so she must be silently suffering.
I think William and Harry have minor problems, and it’s all being used to cover Andrew I’m friends with and probably am a rapist and pedophile mess. I mean compared to the previous generations William and Harry are saints with limited issues. I mean Margaret was involved with an older married man with two kids when people didn’t do that or let others see. Phillip apparently had a lot of affairs on Elizabeth plus was a racist and classist to boot also tied to some rumors of gay affairs too. The Queen Mother was a b*&ch and controlling to just about everyone when she was younger and right after her husband died and blamed her brother in law for her husbands death and was despicable to them till the day they died. King Edward fell in love and married a twice divorced American and partied it up with her while she was married, and if people think the monarchy is mean to Meghan, they don’t know how nasty they were to Wallis Simpson. She was never granted the HRH title despite staying married to him till he died, and they really went after her. Princess Anne had quite the party life too, at a time when girls weren’t allowed to do that. I don’t begrudge her, but it’s scandalous for the times. Prince Charles his affair and the wiretapping and tampon conversations are beyond publicly gross. No one needed to hear that. Hardly, what either William or Harry have done. William could be having an affair, but compared to his grandfather and father he seems to be a bit discreet about it at least. Harry just married an American divorcee who happens to be bi-racial, a bit of a turn for the monarchy but it’s just different for royals not everyday people. He was a bit of a party boy too, and I guess he wore nazi garb which someone said William did too, but still better than his ancestors. Three of their great aunts married Nazis and King Edward and Wallis Simpson socialized with Hitler. Although, that might have been overblown a bit to make sure they were thrown under the bus more from the monarchy. These boys don’t even come close to the scandals before. Good news CNN reports that Prince Andrew is curtailing most public events. The beginning of his end and maybe the monarchy, but who knows.
…and I believe King Edward was notorious for his affairs with married women before he met Mrs. Simpson. Noway, thank you for reminding us of the colorful history of the BRF, which indeed makes the current crop seem quite tame by comparison.
I love how People found a way to tie the rift into being FFK and FFQC. It feels like this is just another attempt to remind people that William is in line to be king and harry ISNT (well, hes a lot farther down that William.)
The only way I can see that being the source of the right is if Will was like “your job is to make me look better and to take the negative press so that no one reports on my affairs” and Harry was like, “nah, they’re after my wife and child, you’re on your own bro.”
William is going to be king (unless there’s a referendum). Harry, even if he wanted to, can’t take that away from William.
But I do think Prince Pedo is trying to deflect so he could have very well leaked this
People is People, but it WAS the publication that exclusively published the story earlier this year full of long accounts from multiple unnamed friends of Meghan. If anyone claims that article wasn’t done with the approval of Meghan herself, I don’t believe it.
People is weird to me bc its obviously a total gossip rag, but its still got this weird semblance of respectability. Like it still gets actual exclusives and has some inside gossip – but just enough to keep it from being InTouch. So I think 9/10 stories are just made up (I mean often they just cite body language experts or whatever, lol), but then I think once in a while there is an authorized, legitimate story. The Meghan story is an example. Think of when Brad and Angelina used people to introduce Shiloh (I know that was ages ago, but still). That kind of thing. But then the majority of the stories are crap.
I always viewed People as being a bit of a celebrity mouthpiece. Kind of like a pro-celebrity tabloid.
I think they write a lot of fluffy, flattering articles that have at least some basis of truth. But I think because of how easy they are on most celebrities, they have developed a working relationship with a lot of them.
I think it’s the kind of mag that celebrities that want to get a specific angle out will go to. I think they also make up a lot of stuff to keep themselves on the up and up with the people they’re writing about – at least for the most part.
I mean, how many of the sexiest man alive or whatever issues seem to be paid promotion?
I agree, and some sites call People magazine ‘Kneepads’ because its reputation as a celebrity PR mouthpiece. US magazine is the same for certain celebs such as the Kardashii and Gwen Stefani.
One thing I will say for People, unlike US magazine, they are NOT pro Trump in any way shape or form. They do not run puff pieces on Ivanka or Melania like US (which is owned by the same company that ran the proTrump National Enquirer). Every year since the 1970s People ran annual holiday covers on Christmas with whomever the current President or First Lady was— they don’t do that with Trump. They also give coverage to women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment and assault. So I respect People for that—-they so far have refused to normalize Trumps administration and cater to the MAGA cult.
@Tourmaline
Kardashii slayed me
Sexiset Man Alive is *total* paid permotion. Hell, back in the 90s, there was one actor who pretty much saved his job on a TV Show by getting listed as one of the sexist men alive that year. Even fans of the show who saw him listed there that year were like “what?” his inclusion was so out of left field.
But the rumors that he was about to be let go/fired from the show (which has been going on half the year) pretty much stopped and then, suddenly another person (and actress) was fired/let go from the show instead.
I think the smear campaign revolves around the fact that both Harry and M are fantastic public speakers and they have charisma and are well liked around the world. William knows that and is JEALOUS of it.
That appears to be a common theme with RF men – Philip, Charles, Andy and now William. They are all beginning to realise that they are relics of a by gone era when being a while Aristo male was all they needed to get by…
Harry wasn’t a great public speaker but I think he is rehearsing with Meg. You can see the difference in his speeches where some of Meg’s statements are included.
They are a team, he should give credit where credit is due LOL and pay royalties to his wife LOL………
I think you like Harry, but William is a good public speaker. I think he’s a bit better than Harry. Charles is actually a very good public speaker too, much better than all except Meghan. Apparently, Charles did a bit of acting at Cambridge. I watched the Crown season 3 and then looked it up and it was correct and not an embellished part. He did a fair amount of acting in his day, and not surprisingly Phillip didn’t like that. May be one reason he connected with Meghan so much. Kate is the only one who seems a bit shy in the public speaking arena, but she does seem to be very good, one on one with people. Meghan is the best of all of them, but again she was a professional actress and trained more for it.
“but again she was a professional actress and trained more for it.” ——— if this was true, all actors would be good public speakers and we know that’s not true!!!!
Acting != public speaking just in case you didn’t know
some people are just very good at gathering their thoughts and presenting them in an organized fashion!
Of the young royals, Meghan is miles ahead of all of them; actually she is ahead of all in the RF. Harry is getting there; I didn’t say anything about William in my comment! There is something in public speaking that some in that family just don’t have
BO and MO are amazing public speakers but they are actors…….or maybe they are but only you have known about it!
If anything this choice of editorial cover (aka swerving of Andy content) pretty much confirms whom has been flooding People Magazine with the Kate the Great story lines….
The cover story is the same old sh*t, different day. But tell me more about the phantom freeway serial killer- now THAT looks like it could be interesting,
Haha that intrigued me too
Harry isn’t jealous of William’s status. He’s known about it his whole life and he has stated no one really wants to rule. Harry is rightfully pissed because William threw his wife under the bus to hide his own affairs. There is a rift because Harry isn’t going to allow William or anyone else in that family to do to his wife what they’ve done to others. And then there’s the racism…
William can’t handle the fact that Harry has grown up, married a woman with a brain and spine, and is living his best life.
This is poor journalism. Prince Harry has recently embraced the idea of being a full time royal. He stated publicly that he has a limited time to make a difference as a royal before his nephew will have mature and starts to do royal endeavours. Prince Harry stated “that he wants to help his brother.”
After the Sussexes nuptials and two early tours it became apparent that more people found them interesting and relatable: it created the envy that let the tabloid mob to attack the Duchess of Sussex. The Sussexes are stronger for stating that they would not tolerate the gaslighting and slander. It was reported that the Duke of Cambridge sic the press on them instead of waiting it out. The Sussexes would have eventually blended with the rest of the royals as they performed their duties. Prince Harry simply ignored his brother advice in regards to timing and choice of wife as Duchess Meghan ignored keen Catherine concerns about the launch of the garden.
The brothers may have always had their disagreements in the past but now Prince Harry’s priority seems solely towards his family while he does his duties.
His brother and wife on the other hand are comfortable with mediocrity and are competitors by nature so we have this brouhaha.
Prince William will be king but he is not as interesting nor charismatic than his brother and beautiful Meghan.
It is what it is.
Precisely because this article is such bs, I don’t think People came up with it randomly – I think it was pushed by palace insiders desperate to create a non-Andrew story.
I agree with some of the posters that so much of the campaign against Harry and Meghan started in and was pushed by Andrew’s people (going back to the wedding).
That doesn’t absolve William. I don’t think he began the campaign, but he was happy to profit off it, especially when the Rose scandal surfaced. I don’t see how Harry can forgive that.
LOL of course they have to bring it back to the ~future king~ nonsense. Harry’s been vocally happy that he’s not the heir and William used to talk about how much he dreaded his position when he was younger. That’s not the cause of their rift.
Simply put, William seems to have inherited his father’s jealousy and resentment. It was fine when Harry got attention when he was a bachelor, because that goodwill still rubbed off on Will and Kate. They got to benefit from him being the third wheel. But I bet Will never expected Harry would marry someone who would totally eclipse the attention that he and Kate used to get.
Yes, there’s the Rose issue too, but Harry and Meghan certainly get too much attention for Will’s tastes. The Oceania tour ruffled way too many feathers, especially when local reporters said that the crowds were the biggest for ANY royal visit. Bigger than even Elizabeth’s crowds. That’s something that would seriously piss off someone as petty and jealous as Will.
The Royal Variety show he and Kate visited the other night? Crowds were nothing compared to the Sussexes’ visit last year. Both nights were cold and rainy, yet people couldn’t be bothered to come out for the ~future king and queen (consort!)~. They even had their car stop further away from the door, closer to the photographers, so it would look like they had a big crowd 😏
The tiara story came out before the Oceania tour had even finished. Why? That’s because Harry and Meghan had huge crowds all over and people got worried. That was the start of the non stop smears.
While Andrew and the Epstein story was out there, it didn’t pick up steam until much later, after Epstein died and Giuffre’s lawsuit got more media attention. This article may be a bit of a diversion for Andrew, but the campaign against Harry and Meghan started well before that.
Yes @nic – that’s why I cant get behind the idea that this whole smear campaign was orchestrated to distract from Andrew. The timing doesn’t add up. (I know there was negative press before, but I think we all agree that the smear campaign kicked into high gear at the time of the Oceania tour.)
Yeah, the Oceania tour was in the fall of 2018. Epstein didn’t die until the end of Summer 2019. Yes there was some talk and chatter about Andrew being friends with Epstein back then, but Epstein himself was still alive. He still had the majority of the press and focus.
Andrew started to get more intense focus and scrutiny once Epstein died, which was LONG after the smear campaign against Meghan started.
My tinfoil tiara theory is that when Harry met Meghan, he met someone who would encourage and support him as he started becoming who he wanted to be and it threw his relationship with his brother into a tailspin. William was used to having Harry be the dim one, the uneducated one, the party boy and the one he could tease and make fun of whenever he wanted. But now that dynamic has changed, Harry is no longer willing to be teased and made fun of and I suspect that Meghan is not accepting of that either so William is left feeling like his little whipping-boy has abandoned him. Also, Harry changed for the better and William is unable to accept the positive changes that occured in his brother because it highlights how little William has grown, changed and matured.
My last tinfoil tiara theory is that William is intimidated by Meghan, by what she’s achieved on her own, by her work ethic which highlights how little the royals do and by her genuine desire to be of service. And instead of being humble and making her feel welcome, his giant ego is causing him to lash out like an enraged toddler.
My tinfoil hat theory is that yes William is intimidated by Meghan, but may also be attracted to her as well. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he has “feelings” for his sister in law. Harry definitely married well.
I’ve read that theory before and I can see it. Meghan is perhaps similar to women he dated in the past and was hoping to marry plus she is warm and vibrant and full of compassion and passion. I do wonder though if he is even aware that he might be attracted to her or is he suppressing those feelings even with himself?
No please let’s not go there……..Sibling’ spouses are sacred.
William is a jealous man but even him cannot be attracted to his brother’s wife; just NO please please let’s not go there….
Zero evidence for this soap opera fantasy of yours.
Oh for heaven’s sake, no one is saying they’re having an affair, they’re saying that for an incredibly beautiful woman to come on the scene and not be impressed by William at all probably definitely damaged his ego, since he’s used to beautiful women like her deferring to him.
I agree with Harla’s theory. Harry listens to his wife now not Will. That is the reason for Wills tantrum. He’s a bit like papa Markle who can no longer control his prized child so he’s lashing out.
Meghan is highly intelligent and lived and worked in the real world long enough to develop some pretty sophisticated people skills. Has anyone else coming into the BRF in the past generation had that combination of book smarts, worldliness, and ability to articulate the family’s dysfunction? (I’m sure Diana and Mike Tindall, etc., saw where things need to change, but Meghan is more eloquent. Is there anyone I’m forgetting?) I think William is intimidated by her, but I think it is probably more accurate to say that the entire BRF is threatened by her. She is the little kid pointing out that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes.
I am sick of the “Meghan and Harry are so fragile and weak, etc”. Saying that you are fed up with how you are being treated and then fighting back is a sign of strength. Of the four, they are the strongest in my opinion.
Exactly! And in light of all their “mental health championing” saying they are weak and fragile because they struggle is horrible and just continues to feed into the negative stereotype of mental health issues.
The “they’re fragile” discourse is just so gross.
William and Kate are being so short sighted focusing only on the present and trumpeting that they are preparing to rule one day. I thought the royals played the long game. If so, as parents, W&K need to use foresight and “break the wheel”. Otherwise their 3 children will suffer at the hands of the media and courtiers as well. This narrative about the Sussexes is foolish….they’ve shown that they are committed and focused on supporting the Crown, but will not allow themselves to be used and abused.
This is what I don’t understand. When they perpetuate the media heir vs spare stuff, they are setting up Charlotte and Louis to be attacked to protect George. Harry isn’t making gaslighting comments about his brother and William shouldn’t be calling his brother fragile. He should be supporting him 100%. Harry’s media battle will help his own kids.
I agree. What the whole Andrew debacle has shown is how utterly stupid, myopic, and short-sighted the royals and their courtiers actually are. They’re clinging to tradition so hard that they are refusing to participate in the world as it is. Every problem they have right now is one of their own making. All they had to do was embrace Meghan into the fold, not throw her to the wolves. All William had to do was pretend to like her in public. All Andrew had to do was shut up and keep his head down. These people are complete morons in their drafty old castles. And because they refuse to get past their petty little jealousies, they are setting up the next act of royal drama 10-15 years down the road. George, Louis, Charlotte, Archie, and the other kids are going to grow up in a world that’s vastly different from the 20th century world. The royal peccadillos of the past (with cover ups) won’t be possible in the same way they had been. Someone needs to tell William (or better yet Kate): look at Charlotte, who’s already showing that she’s strong willed. Do you want her to be treated like Harry’s being treated right now? And it will be infinitely worse because she’s a pwetty pwetty pwincess and girls are subject to double standards without that trope.
This is why I was shocked when the knives came out after the Oceania tour. H&M’s popularity would’ve died down eventually, there was no need to try so hard to stomp it out only to make them even MORE popular. All eyes were on the RF and Charles was the only one with enough brains to leverage H&M’s popularity to his advantage I.e. walking her down the aisle. I’ll never understand why the rest of them didn’t saddle up next to them, get some good publicity while they’re the shiny new couple and just wait till people moved on. I mean it wouldn’t have looked as obvious that they were all backstabbers that way. idk if I’m saying it right I just think everyone was really short sighted and blinded by jealous when it came to the Sussex’s. Even the tabloids.
Honestly, at the rate things are going, William won’t be King until 15-20+ years from know if they pass the amulet keeping Philip alive off the Charles. William will be pushing 60 at his coronation unless Charles abdicates the throne. That’s all assuming that the Monarchy survives after the Queen dies. There’s a bit of maternal love and devotion to the Queen that’s not going to translate at all to Charles and William.
now* to*. Don’t post without coffee on an exciting impeachment morning.
The odd timing makes me wonder more and more if the culprit is either the Yorks or Queenie herself.
Charles and Will would have no need for this to be brought up. The focus on Andrew is good for them.
Seems way too suspicious and out of touch for people not to capitalize on the bigger story of Andrew.
Same old story. The heir is strong, and stable while the spare is weak, and emotional.
You don’t go from being a Nazi uniform wearing party boy to marrying an unapologetically black biracial woman and doing meaningful work without massive changes to your personality, to your inner circle, to your outlook.
And honestly, that’s likely the crux of it. Families do not do well when one of them becomes a reformer. They feel judged, whether they are or not. And they react badly.
Ask anyone who comes from a fairly conservative family and who over the years, has become more educated, more immersed in not just politics but social issues and making a difference.
This is true too. Harry changed before Meghan, he became more socially conscious. No more colonial and native parties, no more out of Africa parties, no more Nazi uniforms, no more racial slurs…unconscious bias. Now he’s married to a half black woman and father to a mixed race child.
His family has to make the change too and I bet they hate him for it. The RF is filled with proudly ignorant members.
Harry changed the dynamics.
I knew there was more to Harry when he and Michelle Obama became such good friends. Michelle clearly doesn’t suffer fools, and she clearly was very big-sister affectionate with Harry. And this was all before he met Meghan.
So yeah, Harry was already growing and changing but his family probably couldn’t really see it until Meghan.
I think this is all very obvious and barely consider it “reporting” at all. I suspect that the REAL story is that Harry and Meghan have been thrown under the bus, not just by jealous Will, but by Andrew, as a distraction from the ongoing dumpster fire that is his life.
So, does anyone believe that William is just a good guy keeping his head down and focusing on his family and his responsibilities? Have even the Cambridge supporters accepted that *William* is feuding with his brother?
Why does he have supporters anyway? Or are they there for Kate and just making excuses for William because of her?
All these people are pushed forward as distractions from William. I wish we could get an in-depth VF style article on William.
He’s certainly not focused on his family, given his own comments about how hard it apparently is to find time to spend with his kids.
Talk about deflection.Meanwhile, it’s all about Andrew. Guess the Cambridge’s are being used along with the Sussex‘S to distract. Honestly, no one cares about this article as Andrew basically just “retired”. I suspect a lot more royals might be having tropical Christmas holidays to escape the cold.
Meghan and Harry really have brought out the worst in people in both the UK and the US. So much racism, hatred, xenophobia and hero worship. Just so much extremism. I read these articles now and already know the comments are going to be full of hypocrisy and hate. I think I need a break from here.
I respectfully disagree. It wasn’t Meghan and Harry who brought out the worst in people, the worst was already there. They were merely the target, they did nothing to generate the vitriol and racism. They happen to be doing their jobs extremely well, but still being castigated for it because of the ill will and consequences of said ill will in the media that has developed due to William’s jealousy and one-up-man-ship.
Eh. Obama’s election unearthed the worst of people in the US and Trump was it arriving full force (basically those terrible people’s primal scream). The treatment of Harry and Meghan just made a lot of people in the US more quick and savvy to see their treatment for what it was, or just reinforced their terribleness. (Most Meghan haters in the US are also Trump supporters. And many pro-Harry and Meghan people on tumblr were joking before the wedding about if the next smear to be leveled at Meghan would be asking her to produce her birth certificate to prove she wasn’t born in Kenya, because it was all following the same patterns Obama would get from the racist haters).
Meghan is basically the UK’s Obama moment.
@Jaded and @morrigan01 ——–exactly!!! BRAVO for your comments
The same thing happened in the US as well with the elections of BO. Never had I seen, displayed so publicly, so much ugliness
As @Jaded said, it was already there, latent but Meghan agreeing to marry H brought the worst in all racists and MAGA fans.
They are now all Cambridges fans, which is great; if only they could stop there!
Yep it is not only William both Kate and William freaked out when Meghan came in.
A strong and experienced woman who won’t submit to their wishes.
William and Kate are just trying to save the face et demolish Harry and Meghan.
This only working in the proportion of peoples who won’t be there when they will be “king and queen”.
If it was about “differents path “
We wouldn’t see William and Kate cosplaying Harry and Meghan and copying everything the Sussexes are popular for.
Their sudden love for PDA ,William letting Kate walking in front of him IN FRONT OF THE CAMERAS ONLY..
Because once in the building she is relegated in the back.
All of this screams desperation and insecurity
There’s always been a baked-in antagonism between Britain’s “heir and spare” but you’d think they would have evolved past this by now. Harry should be glad it isn’t four or five hundred years ago when William could have him quietly murdered and his wife shipped off to a convent somewhere.
Great comment.
But finally even People magazine and mainstream gets it – it’s about William. Finally. So I’m very glad that finally it’s official truth.
I don’t think there’s quite a full-blown rift there anymore, but I do think that there are definitely tensions between the two of them for a while, and those tensions still exist. I think Harry has felt increasingly unheard recently, especially after his marriage to Meghan. It was fine before, when it was just him. I think he’s perfectly alright with taking one for William if it’s just him as the target, as it was for so long. But it’s got to suck watching your wife go through that. And it’s got to be alarming when you think of your child being set up for a potential future where that could happen.
William, by nature, is stubborn, willful, far too grand and aristocratic, and he definitely thinks he knows better than pretty much everyone else in the room, including all of his staffers, his father, and his brother. He’s got an attitude that’s only been magnified by the fact that he is the heir. I imagine that people definitely treat him as the top dog behind closed doors because he is the heir.
So it must be incredibly difficult for him to contend with the fact that when it comes to the press and the people, he is not in fact first in their affections or preference, but that his brother, who has always played second-fiddle support for him, is. You spend your whole life being told that the world as you know it revolves around you, and then you constantly have to deal with the fact that this is not the case with the public. It kind of makes the whole purpose of him being the heir because of his birth order crumble to dust. If he’s not the most charismatic, the most easily relatable, the more popular one, then that begs the uncomfortable question, why does he get to be king at all?
So that’s what you have. Two different brothers, each of whom feel overlooked and unappreciated for their contributions to the public discourse in their own way. How do you resolve something like that? Fwiw, I don’t think Harry is in a similar situation to Margaret. He doesn’t seem to have delusions of grandeur about being better suited as a monarch, even though he’s very likely been told that by multiple people over the years. I think he’s loyal to his brother in that way, in that he definitely thinks William will be the king and he is okay with it. He’s probably fine being second-fiddle support, but the very least he wants is respect for the role he plays and support in turn, and the family has shown so far that they are not willing to provide that for him. Especially not his brother.
Harry has always made it very plain that he has ZERO desire to be King. I think until now Bill has also been dragging his feet and then came along Meghan who upset his quiet cosy arrangement life of doormat wife, human shield brother and everyone hanging onto his every word because he is the heir. Bill has never been the smartest cookie in the jar, he only just passed his degree and narrowly missed out on getting a third, whilst even Kate got a high 2.1
Having read between the lines of the reports over the last three years, what strikes me is that the RF members (all of them) are entitled, spoiled, lazy, out of touch and left behind. The rest of the world moved on towards a meritocracy of sorts but the very foundations of monarchy are diametrically opposed to that. That has resulted in mediocrity being enabled by other RF members and staffers. Then someone from the real world joins the fold offering real solutions and the willingness to work and that is what is causing the rift.
William is classically the spoiled brat who has been over-indulged and does not have another setting. The way he treated Kate leading up to them getting married is further evidence of his record levels of entitlement.
Well, US did vote for Trump and Britain has got Johnson. These two leaders sum up what the US and Britain have become – and it is bad.
It’s horrible. A whole host of racists are upset that other people now have rights.
@THE HENCH you’re ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! The feud and smearing campaign against
Sussex is obviously driven by insecurity from KP (just look how #mypalacesource stopped after they moved out of kp). Its obvious that it’s more than one camp leaking but we MOSTYLY got leaked info from KP and they made NO EFFORT to defend the Sussexs whilst they were releasing corrective for kates botox and hair extensions stories.
Lol the FIRST thing I noticed is how they chose photos where each one is wearing the same shade of blue. I just came here to say this.
That photo of Kate is excruciatingly unattractive.
Use it for everything forever.