According to Us Weekly, the Duchess of Sussex was sighted in Canada on Sunday. She was seen “driving herself” around Vancouver Island, running errands and an eyewitness saw her going into a “drugstore parking lot.” I would presume that she actually entered the drug store, but who knows. I think it’s interesting that she was driving herself around – as an American, she probably never got used to driving in England, and possibly never got a chance to even get a British driver’s license. Those are the kinds of little things – being able to drive yourself around and run some errands – which you really do miss. As much as Meghan is unfairly getting the blame for Sussexit, I do think she was just legitimately homesick, and there was a lot of culture shock with moving to England. So, what has Meghan been up since she returned to North America last week? I don’t know, probably getting her side of things out to a friendly American outlet like People Magazine:
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s decision to step down as senior royals became inevitable as the couple increasingly felt ostracized from the family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement on Wednesday announcing their intent to “carve out a progressive new role within this institution” — however, the public announcement came with little formal warning and left senior royals “hurt,” something that was “so avoidable,” a royal source says.
But in this week’s cover story, a family friend tells PEOPLE that the couple felt they had no choice but to manage things the way they did, even as they went against the family’s “never complain, never explain” mantra.
“This is not how they wanted to handle this, but Meghan and Harry’s hand was forced,” says the friend. “There is so much bad blood in that family — it’s toxic.” The friend adds, “If relationships had been better, things would have been different.”
The negative press they endured and Meghan’s outsider status as a biracial American left her “deeply, deeply hurt,” says a source close to the royal household — and feeling unsupported by the royal family.
“Meghan and Harry didn’t feel they got enough comfort or solace from them,” says the source.
I’m sure this is Meghan’s version of events, and I’m sure it’s all probably true. During the past two years, we’ve seen the Windsors for what they really are: a den of vipers, a group of toxic, dysfunctional people who get petty and jealous of anyone who gets attention, or has fresh ideas, or wants to work. Speaking of, Us Weekly had a hilariously bad take on how Poor Kate feels so let down by Sussexit:
Distant duchesses. Duchess Meghan and Duchess Kate haven’t communicated much in recent months, a source tells Us Weekly exclusively. “They barely speak,” the source reveals.
Meghan, 38, and Prince Harry announced their plans to step back from their senior royal roles earlier this month. According to an insider, Kate, also 38, and Prince William, were “blindsided” by their Wednesday, January 9, announcement, which the couple made via Instagram.
“When Harry was feeling low or had problems, William was always there for him, as was Kate,” the source added. “Kate’s incredibly hurt too. She acted as a mentor to Harry before Meghan came into the picture and hates seeing her husband so upset.”
Keen Kate “mentored” Harry and Kate is upset because William is so upset? Lord have mercy. But this is what Meghan dealt with: everything to position Kate as the most innocent and delicate flower to ever exist, and Meghan was denigrated and ripped apart in comparison. TOXIC.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, WENN.
I thought it was HARRY who mentored Keen Katie. Wasn’t he the one who supported her when she was having a hard time adjusting to royal life? Pity she didn’t have the decency to return the favour.
I thought that too!!! Harry was very supportive of her.
I will always remember that photo where william forgot about kate and left her & Harry was gesturing towards his brother about it.
*Takes a long sip of tea…*
Found the only photo left of that incident.
https://twitter.com/wkgeorgielottie/status/411854087651872768/photo/1
Oh, that picture is everything. In a nutshell.
Oh so edgy you are
That was before Kate’s elevation to sainthood.
Which brings the question: who’s royal by blood and who’s royal by marriage. I thought H was born into the RF which gives him more than twenty years of practice.
What I remember is him calling her “barnacle” or “limpet” or somesuch. So it seems evident that the add-on family member in waiting didn’t mentor him, rather, the exact opposite is true.
This is gaslighting by the racist courtiers.
Seriously, what advice would Harry (royal by birth) possibly need from Kate (royal by 10-year wait)? 🙄🙄🙄
I hope Canada embraces Harry and Meghan with open arms, and showers them with love and much success.
I’m sure they will. As an American looking north, Canadians are the warmest, most open and welcoming nation of people on the earth. As long as they don’t go over there and use tax money without the people’s consent to fund a luxury mode of living, Canada will be a very solid place for them. I’m sure Harry and Meghan know that. All they have to do is go to Canada, recognize that they’re not in London anymore, and refrain from outrageous entitlement.
And even IF they go over there with an entitled attitude and irritate the least-irritable people on the planet…Canadians would NEVER allow the criticism of their spending turn into a misogynistic racist freak show like the UK has.
Hello. Friendly Canadian here. Not really super thrilled to be using my tax dollars for security. It will probably annoy me more next time I spend 10 hours waiting in an ER with my kid with a cough or wait 4 months to see a dermatologist. Nothing against them personally though.
Yes, Canada is great in many ways. But don’t kid yourself that it doesn’t have its own racial problems. As an American who lived there for a year or so, it was pretty on-par with the U.S. on that front. People still have implicit bias blind spots in Canada. Many white women in Canada still have issues they can’t recognize when it comes to black women.
However! Since Meghan is traditionally beautiful*, a celebrity, and really into yoga and that whole vibe, she’ll do great there.
*I’m thinking of “the bubble” episode of “30 Rock” when I say this. Just how people who are stand-out attractive live in a bubble; beauty is its own privilege.
Canada is a very racist place. The racism and bias that indigenous people face is off the charts. It’s ingrained in our history. Honestly. Of course not everyone is racist. And yes Meghan tv star beautiful royal will do just fine. She is dripping of privilege. No worries for her.
@chrissyms Oh please. Canada is NOT a very racist place. Yes, there are long standing issues with the indigenous people but we are one of the most welcoming nations in the world. I have friends that immigrated here from so many parts of the world, from almost every continent, and they say they feel so grateful to be living here as most of us in Canada truly feel it’s one of the friendliest countries on earth. God, as much as I love this site, there are just so many people who have nothing but negative things to say about everything.
I live in a rural area near a reserve and I see differently. People treat native people like shit and assume the worst of them. I used to live in Toronto and racism was not as much of an issue. Lots of different people lived in a small space peacefully. But there is a lot of prejudice in Canada. Don’t kid yourself
This tax money thing is a red herring. They have said they do not want to use taxpayer money and that they’re looking to transition into becoming financially independent – from Charles. They do not want your tax dollars!
As far as “many people in Canada are commenting on message boards” you have no way of knowing that those comments are even from actual people, much less whether or not they’re really Canadian.
People (and bots) can say anything they want on message boards. Why, just the other day I was having tea with The Queen and Katie Nicholl, and The Queen said the funniest thing! That Wootten guy was peering in the window and we ran him off!
Many people in Canada are commenting on message boards that they don’t want them to live here.
Chrissymas, why would you be taking your child to emergency for a cough? That’s what walk in clinics are for. People going to emergency for non urgent reasons create the wait time. It should be used for EMERGENCIES. I agree that Canada has a huge problem with our First Nations people being treated badly. There is certainly racism involved with how they are treated and it’s shameful.
My son was injured at work recently and I took him to the ER. I had time to read 231 pages of a Stephen King novel before they saw him and his smashed jaw.
Small town with no walk-in clinics open on weekends. It’s pretty common
We wouldn’t know for real but there has never been a narrative that Kate mentored Harry. Mentored him for what exactly? Military life? Sentebale? Invictus? I don’t think so! Harry has always been on his own but tried to make things work even as a third wheel. The one thing we could observe was Harry making Kate laugh or smile. Or allegedly telling off William when he walked off without sheltering Kate with his umbrella.
We don’t know if there was a telling off. We are able to see the video of William walking off the Jubilee boat in the rain, leaving Kate behind, and Harry seen calling out to William while gesturing towards Kate. Easy to infer, ‘Look idiot, come get your wife and hand her an umbrella’. Much William fist clenching and Kate hitting him (accidentally?) with the umbrella ensued.
Bless that the Sussexes are putting some distance between them and the BRF. Hopefully, time and distance (as well as the need for optics) will give everyone a chance to step back, decompress and get a grip on things. Meghan is a very strong woman to have endured what she did and Harry is a strong man for doing what’s right and best for himself and his family. Praying their future holds good fortunes for them.
It is so stupid and archaic that just because someone is born or marries into a family, they owe their lives to them. Free will people. Harry never looked like he enjoyed being a royal member. Let them live.
I don’t think it’s worth much to speculate about it.
The monarchy is an arhaic institution, that is only interested in self-preservation and it will throw people under thebus.
I see this all as typical behavior, targeted at anyone in the family who so happens to be mroe popular than either the reigning monarch, or, the heir to the throne.
If people love Diana or Meghan more than the Queen or Kate, then the publicity machines will fire at them in an attempt to make the public hate them / love the ruling persn more.
What they don’t seem to realize is that most people see thorugh this and find such mistreatment terribly unjust, regardless.
My opinion Id like to throw in since the start of this debacle:
It isn’t “Meghan” causing anything here.
She isn’t pulling him away from anyone.
Harry chose Meghan.
Harry was always the wilder one, the more independent one, and he chose a more independent woman to fit his personality and ambitions.
He married for love and personal taste, and not for the crown (WIlliam just did his boring duties and that shows)
Meghan is likely seeing the struggle Harry has had being in this position, and the great pain he has suffered because his mother was taunted and hounded like Meghan is now being hounded too– and nothing would please him more than to break away from that and “stick it to em” by defying it all, I would imagine.
This would never ever happen, if Harry didn’t want this.
I think also he learned, what a foolish mistake it is to marry as part of the duty only and not for love– just look what a huge mistake Charles made to drag poor Diana into this quagmire, only to marry Camilla in the end. A slap in the face to the whole Kingdom.
So this is Harry’s main choice, not Meghan’s evil doing. It isn’t so much a racial campaign as it is a blind, ignorant and repetitive campaign to reserve the main control of the people for the ruling monarchs only.
At least the Queen is wise to condone and support this split-off, rather than earn even more ire of the people by targeting who the people love even more openly.
It’s bad enough the PR spin is allowed to go on like it is.
This entirely about racism. A white woman would never have been treated this way. And if she had, the BRF would have shut it down.
So when Kate or Camilla were copping bad press for years, was that racism? Was the royal family able to shut that down?
Not about racism? Because cartoons with your child as a chimp is done every day to white people?
Please see the recent NYTimes opinion piece, the female MPs issuing a support letter for Meghan, etc.
OMG did they seriously do that?! I choked a little. Great Britain…oh. my. God. What is happening in the UK?
I about lost it when they took to calling Meghan “nutmeg” in comment sections. I thought I’d never seen anything so boldly racist before, but they actually made a cartoon of Archie as a chimpanzee? HOW did the BRF not respond to that?
I didn’t know this or I would’ve cancelled the queen and all…the day it happened.
“Nutmeg” is apparently a term of affection Meghan’s friends use sometimes, or so she’s confirmed. But yes, the utilization of it in the press has not been with that intent.
And it’s the least of the names she’s been called. Maggot is a common one.
The man who did that thing with the chimp was sacked. Isn’t that enough punishment, or do you want a public hanging?
you had me till you said this wasn’t about race. Oh so Wrong…and willfully blind if that’s your call. If you choose not to see it, well, welcome to your white privilege. Also, welcome to this site, where you will learn about white privilege and the stain it has placed on all humanity. One of my initial responses was….”not me”….but with prayer, thought and listening, listening, listening, and determined learning, you too can come alongside and learn to call it out when you see/feel it. You’ll be better for it, the world will be better for it…and yes, it will be uncomfortable, sometimes twice in one hour, when you check-in with yourself to see if that’s who you strive to be and/or how you see yourself. The discrepancies in my mirror confounded me at first, and I hope you have your own (it’s ongoing) moments of clarity.
That’s awesome, Shirley!
Great point, Shirleygailgal. Same here. The years I’ve spent reading the comments and perspectives of WOC here at CB have made me such a better ally- well, a real ally, honestly. It’s hard not to be defensive and “not all white feminists” at first, but it’s so profoundly important to let those who’ve been wronged just speak their truth without getting interrupted by people who don’t live that experience.
Shirley well said and 👏👏👏
ShirleyGG, this is great. This is how it’s done. Listening. Thinking. Speaking up when others need feedback. We all need to work to solve this problem.
Yes. I feel very fortunate to have spent my life with and be influenced by a wonderful woman. She marched for civil rights, founded a chapter of NOW, (National Organization for women), and believed, engaged in and celebrated diversity. One of my son’s is gay, and we have native americans, bi-racial, etc., in our family. Four generations strong, and yes we have differences but diversity is a source of celebration. Listening, thinking, engaging. I belong to a hiking group in my community, have been an avid scuba diver on boats with people from around the world enjoying it all. The only thing missing in the monarchy is the bell tower. It needs to take it’s place in passing.
Not about race? Has there EVER been a campaign for the Duchess of York to be stripped of her title in spite of her very public toe sucking naked pictures with a man not her husband and in the presence of her royal children; in spite of her being despised by the Duke of Edinburg; in spite of her merching her title; in spite of her asking/taking bribes in exchange for royal connections and in spite of her no longer being a member of the RF?
Did the Duchess of York get even a fraction of this kind of hate even though Prince Andrew was the Harry of his time in terms of popularity?
Has stripping Sarah Ferguson of her title EVER crossed the minds of even her haters? I wonder why not.
Thanks for that. I’d never thought about the fact that Fergie just goes on and on. The only reason she lost her HRH was Diana threw a fit at the idea of her having to curtsy to Fergie (because Diana had already given up her HRH in divorce negotiations). Yeah, maybe the rapid press needs to look at Fergie’s behavior and her titles.
It is about 80% racism and 20% American we can throw under the bus and make fun of for being loud and working too hard…like a peasant.
You can’t say it isn’t racist anymore. You can’t. You cannot read the comment sections and the code words in the articles and the names they’ve given her and then say it’s not about racism with a straight face.
I’m white. I’m real white. I’m middle class, evangelical, poster child stereotype for the average clueless white person in America….and I can see it glaring from every piece of coverage about Meghan. If someone like me can see the racism in every single article–even when the slang isn’t my slang and the idioms are not my idioms, then anyone can see it.
You have to work VERY hard to convince yourself that this isn’t about race with Meghan. It is. It’s hostile, it’s not even veiled, and it’s the boldest campaign of relentless racism in the press I have ever seen. Seriously. You don’t get to say it isn’t about race anymore at this point. You just don’t.
I think the tabloids would have picked at anyone Harry married, BUT – they went after her in very, very racist ways. You can’t look at the things people said and insinuated about her and not see that there is a racial component to all of it.
And the palace sat silently and let it all happen.
True, all of that.
BUT: I am only talking about the mechanics of TRF and the reason why they will attack— and that is: if someone is more popular, period.
Here, it really does not matter who it is: see Diana as one example.
What a certain particular JOURNALIST decides to write, is something else. (if he is using race as a grounds for demeaning, while others just demean for made up reasons)
TRF is not doing anything to stop it and is allowing it to be spun from the inside, yes, and all kinds of jabs are being taken- some of them race- which I think is irrelevant to TRF.
Just so long she is being smeared, all is well.
And a good section of the population will gladly buy the race angle, so, the job is being done.
TRF dos not stop to consider that she is another ethnicity and perhaps its a terribly stupid idea to do a smear campaign against her, because its the last thing a woman like her would need.
But I still do not think, its because of her race (human?).
I think its because she is more liked and more listened to and watched, than Kate.
I do believe the royal family itself is racist, and treated Meghan worse than a white woman would have been treated. On the one hand, yes, I do believe there is resentment about hierarchy — but, it never rose to this level until an African-American woman came on the scene. Meghan shouldn’t be more popular than Kate? Well, Kate shouldn’t be more popular than Camilla. And yet, the royal family doesn’t take Kate to task for trying to out-shine Camilla. But with Meghan, it’s a crime. And when Meghan faced racists attacks, the royal family had to put out a statement that Kate was equally a victim — as if being called lazy for not working is on the same level as racism. They cannot have a “black lives matter” moment without laying a “Kate is a victim too!” blanket over the issue. And yes, THAT is racism.
Prince Philip’s numerous racist remarks are well-documented and Princess Michael of Kent wore a blackamoor brooch for Meghan’s introduction to the larger family!!!! The fact that she felt comfortable doing that says a lot. Of course the BRF is racist.
I’m 100% white, blond, hazel-eyed, european, born in Africa. This all situation is racist. It’s about racism. The RF are racist. Whether they realized it or not (some white people have trouble saying or fully understanding they are racist – in their mind, they’re not – it’s difficult to accept one’s flaws and do something to change them)… their behaviour and that of the British press was racist…
I feel like the “family friend” in the People article is Tom Bradby. The quotes are extremely close to what he’s been saying since this started.
I’m not entirely convinced that atom Bradby is a real ally of the Sussexes. He went on GMB and barely challenged a single thing that nasty bully Piers Morgan said. In fact, he barely defended them *at all*. I don’t know what sort of “friend” acts so indifferent to listening to abuse about their “friend”.
Yeah, I feel like he’s more pro-monarchy than anything else. He obviously likes being in the spotlight too, so he’ll take any chance he gets to talk.
someone on yesterday’s thread said he was actually more team W&K.
Just what I was thinking Beach Dreams
I wonder how different things would be if they dated in the public eye for an additional year.
I think she wouldve (rightfully) run for the hills. The BRF and media has ALWAYS operated this way. I also imagine the British class system was a clusterf*ck to navigate as an American. I hope they choose to live in private for at least a six months or so to get some peace of mind before making the next move.
+1
“We’ve seen the Windsors for what they really are: a den of vipers, a group of toxic, dysfunctional people who get petty and jealous of anyone who gets attention, or has fresh ideas, or wants to work.”
We have already seen this with Diana, so…it’s history repeating…
Harry spent all his life as a Royal but Kate mentored him? What a stupid take.
Exactly!
Exactly, on what? Wiglets and fugly outfits?
Has Harry removed weights from the hems of his kilts?
😂
Right? I have never heard of the narrative “Kate mentored Harry” before. It’s total BS.
This sounds about right to me, based on what we’ve seen/heard over the past year or two. It wasnt just the smear campaign, it was the smear campaign coupled with the lack of support from the royal family. (or the fact that the smear campaign was actively encouraged by members of the royal family.) I feel like the budget plane stunt must have been the final straw for the Sussexes.
I think Harry has proof of William’s involvement in the negative press (or Charles’s involvement) and that was part of what he discussed with the Queen on Monday when they were one-on-one with no one else there. That may be veering into Tinfoil Tiara Theory territory, but I feel like there was definitely something else going on behind the scenes. Meghan’s friends wouldnt leak something about bad blood and toxicity otherwise.
(and yes I do think the People story is from Meghan’s camp, especially as it paints such a different picture than the other stories.)
Or Kate’s involvement. Or Carole’s involvement. The Middletons en masse are not innocent here.
Yup, yup, yup…… I can practically feel the hands of Carole Middleton in this. I can imagine her working quite hard with William to “manage” the Sussex situation. I bet she’s absolutely ecstatic at the news. Finally, the biracial American climber can stop trying to overshadow her daughter.
@Nota – yes! The Middletons are definitely not innocent. And I think especially once the rumors started about Rose Hanbury, the Middletons went into PR overdrive. And its sad because I do think that having a relationship with Meghan could have benefited Kate from a PR perspective.
Thats something I keep coming back to. the royal family looked SO GOOD when people thought they were fully supporting Meghan – the queen taking her on the train, Charles walking her down the aisle, heck even Meghan and Kate at Wimbledon together. She was a huge image boost for them. They so totally screwed this up (without even taking into account the personal impact on H&M) that it just reiterates what many of us have said here for months now.
For a family based entirely on PR, they are really bad at PR.
Which is really sad to me if Carole is involved in harassing and bulling a young woman through her new marriage, pregnancy, and early motherhood. Her own son has been very honest about his own mental health issues and his feelings of suicide but apparently Carole has different take on whose allowed to be vulnerable. To deliberately push Meghan hard enough to try and bring her down speaks of a really nasty personality.
Which is crazy to me. Kate didn’t achieve sainthood till the press latched on to Meg. It wasn’t till Meg became a punching bag did the story emerge of Kate never putting a step wrong
This is my main point of view. It’s mostly the Middletons. Even this article: Kate mentored Harry!?!?!? Kate is sad that her husband is sad? Everything for the past year or more has been Kate-centered, not William centered. She is always the one the story is about. She is always the one who is being built up at the expense of everyone else.
I think Carole was very unhappy with how popular Meghan was and how Kate came off lazy, boring, dull, meek, unprofessional, and old/old-school in comparison. So Carole started her campaign to devalue Meghan and elevate Kate. When it wasn’t working, she ramped it up, and ramped it up, and ramped it up again. Is it surprising that at the same time we’re getting all these “the mum who will be QUEEN!” pieces, we’ve also gotten cute stories about James Middleton and his doggy bike? And Carole’s amazing bikini bod? And Pippa’s rapist father in law isn’t written about? And party pieces failing isn’t written about? And Nazi marshmallows was twisted into a “poor James” piece?
William wouldn’t be doing this. William isn’t about building up Kate. William is about building up himself. William is the type of guy who threatens to sue when his affairs are exposed, but the Middletons are the type of people who get the line about how “William and Rose have platonic suppers when Kate is out of town,” stripped from the story. Maybe because it revealed that Kate and William don’t always live together, and not because it made it look like William was cheating. The Middletons are the ones getting stuff like “Sweet, long-suffering, never puts a foot wrong, not-dull-just-following-protocol Princess Kate is the one single handedly keeping a William time-bomb from exploding.” They don’t care about making William look bad sometimes in order to lift Kate up.
yes @Becks1, they are upset about the media coverage, the lack of support from their family AND most of all how their family has had a hand in the coverage.
@AmyToo – I made a similar comment farther down thread. It’s telling that the stories are all about Kate and how she is saving the monarchy rather than about Wills. Either they are coming from the Middleton’s, or the media is just obsessed with putting women against each other.
Just had my second baby and it’s incredibly isolating on its own. You don’t want to go many places until the 2 month vaccination mark and you’re awake at strange hours for months and feeling very unsure of yourself with your first.
Couple that with culture shock, an inability to walk through target with other exhausted moms, and unsupportive family who think royaling is a competition and you probably have a very depressed woman. Hope Meg enjoyed running her errands – the announcement probably felt like a weight lifted off her chest.
The press is really out in left field with this mentoring garbage. When you ask how low can you go, just look at the British media. They’re throwing all absurdities out there now seeing what will stick. They’ll be building up William and Kate for the time being before they rip them to shreds eventually.
Why’d US only list the women’s ages there?
When Will and Kate first got married William had a private job as a pilot so that him and Kate could adjust to family life. Maybe Megan and Harry want to take a step back because they want that time and space to develop as a family as well before retaking the position.
William wanted that “job” because he was too lazy to want to do work for the RF, not because he wanted actual adjustment time.
This. W&K had been together for 10 years. There was no need for them to ‘settle in’. They went off to Wales, refused to work as royals, and no one understood why. The stans and reporters came up with the Malta Lie as an excuse.
And then moved to Norfolk and avoided royal work again. And then finally, finally when they were supposed to be full time royals, Kate got pregnant with Louis and we are still waiting for her to put in full-time work.
This is exactly why I don’t think they will be working more. Will and Kate prefer to live in the shadows and be left alone. They don’t necessarily want to live in the spotlight, but they don’t want anyone else in the spotlight either. Their ideal lifestyle is enjoying the perks without the work. But now circumstances have changed. They’ve made a deal with the devil. The beast must be fed and now they don’t have Harry & Meghan to serve up. So where does that leave them? Now they’re being pap’d on school runs which was forbidden until now. Be careful what you wish for.
Kate mentored who?!? Naw, I think they got that one backwards lol.
One thing I’ve noticed is that everything is performative with this family. It’s done in front of a camera or done once, and then it can be said it was done. All this “We welcomed her to the family and everyone was nice to her” happened what, 3 years ago? To a normal person, welcoming and supporting someone is more than a once-in-three-year occurrence. That’s why it’s impossible to enter this family as a newcomer; normal rules don’t apply, and they eat their young.
I just read on one of the articles — and who knows how true this is — but it was 2 months before William and Kate met Archie. If true, says something about their deep love of Harry doesn’t it?
Totally. And remember that every photo op is for a purpose. Remember the “Happy Family Photos with Zara and Mike” at the fair over the summer? Where the nieces and nephews rode on shoulders and it was very clearly a slap in the face to the Sussex’s, like “We love and support you so much and will not contact you until it’s time for us to talk about tennis together.”
I’m sorry, what??!! Kate mentored who?! Kate couldn’t even mentor herself to wear knickers or wear weights in her dresses. My gosh.
I think the story goes much deeper than that. Things became odd after the Australian tour and even odder at “Lettergate.” I think Charles or William or both may have taken offense to Harry refusing Earl of Dumbarton for Archie. I think that is truly when Harry began discussions of moving away. Everyone thought it would pass. It didn’t and they freaked out. I think the fallout with William would be along those lines.
I also think the smear campaign against Meghan began shortly after Harry’s comments in 2017 about nobody really wanting to be a royal realizing this was her influence. They thought they could drive Meghan away but they underestimated driving Harry away too. I don’t think they expected her to get pregnant so quickly.
I think the Queen has given Harry a special purpose with this. Part of me feels the Queen herself knows the monarchy may not survive Charles and William. I’m sure that’s not true but my goodness, why else would she cave completely? There must be some gain.
I don’t think she’s caved completely to anything. All we have here is an ‘everybody calm down, we’re working on it’ statement.
I think this “transition period” she speaks of will be the rest of her life. He will keep his HRH and collect money from the Duchy for the rest or the rest of HER life. I would think at this point we may see a consolidation or “streamlining” of royal press to prevent fratured family PR. I’m guessing she may downgrade them to Earl and Lady Sussex but it seems unlikely. William will keep his kids off limits to the press for as long as humanly possible. But if things don’t get better in the UK soon. Any extravagant spending by the royals will make it difficult for them to continue. At least let this Scottish Republican dream.
William has already traded good PR for letting his kids be papped in public. They’re not off limits anymore. It started this spring with the Rose stories. He’s fully in bed with the press now, but too stupid to realize he has no idea what he’s done.
Stupid question here…Why doesn’t Harry just relinquish his title completely and go off and do whatever he wants to do? There’s a snowballs chance in he(( he would ever be king, so why not just break from the family completely and go live his life?
Why isn’t Andrew the rapist stripped of his title? Why are Beatrice and Eugenie keeping their titles and HRHs while out working jobs?
I think the point of the question though is that if Harry wants out ( which the Yorks don’t) what’s stopping him from just going. IDK the answer but my guess is he doesn’t want all the way out, at least not yet. Until he has time to figure out who he is outside the RF, walking away from all you’ve ever known is terrifying. We also don’t have exact figures on how much money is legitimately his to walk away with. Meghan’s private wealth isn’t enough to start a foundation.
Because I don’t think he or Meghan want out all the way. I honestly think they just wanted to restructure the way they work. Harry knows he’s a Prince of the UK and has a duty to the crown, his grandma, his father, his brother, and his nephew. Meghan also knows that. They want to continue to work for the royal family, for the UK, and especially for the Commonwealth. They just want a little more freedom to work with the press that they trust, to spend more time outside the UK, and to fundraise for their foundation differently. They don’t want their one and only job to be “full time senior working royal.” They want to work MORE. They want to have other jobs in addition to this job.
My guess is he’s hoping this step away will improve things, rather than be a clean break. But I would imagine if he doesn’t get shown some more support, leaving 100% is an option.
Does Kate not see this as a preview to what may eventually be a similar scenario with her children? Or does none of this matter as long as she becomes queen consort? As a white woman, she has more leverage than Meghan in that had she voiced her concerns over how meghan was being treated, just maybe the outcome would be different. I don’t understand how in this day and age she chose silence and complicity over being a strong mother/wife and do what is right. It’s not to say that she goes in kicking and screaming, but why not speak on behalf of Harry and Meghan? We as women have more power and skills to negotiate than we are given credit for, and many times we fail to exercise this right. What a shame, especially since she has a little girl who will have to navigate her way through this messy family. Well at least she’s white?Hope all of this is worth it.
I agree, at the very least she could have done a friendly photo op with Meghan shopping or strolling in the park or something simple. Change the narrative and make it positive all around. I really don’t understand why anyone thinks it’s in anyone’s best interests to bully and exclude Harry and Meghan.
Or interacted with her AT ALL at that polo game they both went to with their kids. They acted like they didn’t even know each other at that event.
There’s an article just out today, that right before that polo match — on site apparently — William and Harry had a horrendous fight. Must have been very awkward for Meghan and Kate as I’m sure Kate didn’t dare interact with Meghan or she’d have to justify it later to William. Seems Kate always totes William’s line.
She did, they went to Wimbledon together.
I think another factor is that Kate simply isn’t all that bright and tries to make up for her deficiencies by being a fashion plate. Not very bright people aren’t introspective nor do they have the capacity to consider the long game. Also Harry is much more intelligent than William despite reports to the contrary. William is as thick as a post.
All of it is pretend…not real. Harry has to schedule talks with his father and grandmother. Can you imagine that. They only get together as a family for symbolic events. From what I read Christmas is like living in the 1400’s everything is scheduled and very formal. The Royals believe in that pecking order so they have to position themselves based on their husbands i.e. Meghan with Harry and Kate alone means Kate has to curtsy to them or Meghan without Harry has to curtsy to Eugenie (a bunch of BS). The media has built up this fantasy around the RF. It didn’t take Meghan long to figure this out. She wasn’t going to play the role as the token and allow them to abuse her as well. She also knew that Archie’s future would be limited. Because until George had children and William was King, Archie would be 5th in line which means William would determine his future (I.e. punching bag for the Cambridge’s children). Who would want that life if they could create something better.
Really good point about Archie. How weird that must’ve been for Meg that a toxic BiL would get to make decisions about her child.
Archie is 7th in line.
If William becomes king before George has kids…
They all expected Meghan to be grateful she was allowed to marry in and grovel and scrape for all eternity as a thank you.
And black woman can tell you that story and has a thousand more about feeling like you were seen and accepted in the beginning only to find out how performative it all was once you settle in and start existing.
I am so pleased and relieved for the Sussexes.
And I am looking forward to seeing how they create their own path.
Yeah I think the was at the heart of the problem. Not only was the family not there for them, some of them were more than likely behind the horrible stories about her. Of course Meghan was upset but I think that really cut Harry deep.
They – MM PH- won’t be back in the UK after all of this. Can you imagine them all on the balcony for the Trouping?
I hope I never see them at those events again tbh.
For the love of buttons, they’re not telling them to f*ck off and never call us again, they’re just stepping back from some duties and living their lives. The RF sounds like a damn cult! If you really love someone, you’re genuinely happy when they make choices that will make themselves the happiest. When they do things that are GOOD for them.
Spare me the sob story, Kate.
I’m of the mind that something happened to make Meghan say she doesn’t want to be around those people anymore. I don’t believe Meghan should be in the talks because it’s Harry’s family, and Harry’s baggage that he brought into the marriage – but the fact that she isn’t back in England says a lot. This isn’t just about a leak. I am of the mind that something was done or said to Meghan and Harry did what he had to do.
Tom Bradby made the comment that there were things said that might never be forgiven, or something like that. It made me think someone used a racial slur towards Meghan (maybe not realizing that Harry overheard or something). but I’m trying to think of what could be said that could never be forgiven and that seems about right to me.
We havent seen Meghan with the royal family since the Rememberance events and before that it was…..what? Trooping? When we saw her with other members of the royal family? Last year they went to Scotland with Charles and by all accounts they did not do that this year.
As you look back over the past few months it seems obvious that “something” happened behind the scenes and I dont think it was “just” the smear campaign.
@Becks1 I think it all comes back to the engagement and wedding. Will was against it and he’s used to getting his way. He spoke ill of MM, and Harry defended and their life together. Harry has always been Will’s always-there pal. From all accounts it sounds like Harry practically live with W&K In the early years. They formed the tight little family they always wanted and needed. Then they grew up and Will didn’t have the control he did before. Harry wouldn’t always be there when he wanted him, and Harry resents being his whipping boy. It’s all complex and convoluted.
When Archie was born, there was a lovely pic of TQ, DoE, Doria, H&M, with M holding Archie. They all looked so happy in that pic.
Me too 😐
Does everyone remember Meghan and Archie papped at a polo match withKate and her kids and they weren’t interacting? That was very telling to me. That Kate, the purported lover of babies, wasn’t seen giving Archie a cuddle. Kate’s kids weren’t interacting with Archie. It was like they were studiously ignoring each other. And don’t give me some bollocks e cuse like germs. It wasn’t a normal family interaction.
Completely. It was odd because it was as if they made sure to be near each other, so as to give the appearance they were hanging out, but there were no pics of them chatting, laughing or anything.
The exit hurts Kate because she benefited from the negative press about M, and when M is gone more the spotlight returns more on K. And the press being what it is will be more negative towards K ( let’s be honest no one reads solely for sunshine we all like gossip )And the other royal women. It benefits K because it seemed to me she had to do more to keep up with new M, so now she doesn’t have to compete with cookbooks and clothing capsules. Most importantly this affects K because 2 of her children are spares also and no matter what one thinks this will be a blueprint for how they will be treated as adults.
The media really did a number on Meghan by triangulating and comparing her to Kate. Sadly the IQ range and capacity for critical thinking is at an all time low in the UK and dumb Brits ate it all up,
I hope Meghan is able to heal and come back to herself in Canada. I really want that family to thrive and show the RF via their successes how outdated they are.
Kate could fill the space in the press that is going to be left open from Meghan and Harry doing less engagements, just by visiting her patronages in ugly clothes. She doesn’t even have to do anything big or great or special. If she just showed up to something, even if it was just a 15 minute hand shaking event, a couple of times a week, newspapers would write, and people would comment obsessively on, articles about what she wore. That’s what most of the Kate articles on this site are. They cover the clothes and we all spend half the day writing 150+ comments about what she wore. It’s so easy! No one is really going to dissect what she actually did, if it was helpful, how long she stayed, or what the point of it was. She just needs to leave her house more often in some Diana-cosplay so the press can take her picture and write an article full of stuff like,
“Jane YadaYada of Little Bum, Sheepsgate, who was lucky enough to shake hands with the Duchess, says that Kate was extra sweet and kind. ‘She commented on the fact that her children are also a handful sometimes’ says Mrs. YadaYada when the Duchess noticed Mrs. YadaYada’s infant son trying to tug on his mum’s earring.”
The British press will keep on talking about Meghan.
Kate will be sold as the perfect princess that puts the country over anything else and is happy to shake old ladies’ hands in Devon while Meghan will be the American obsessed with money and her famous friends.
If anything, it will only solidify Kate’s “regal looking future queen” narrative.
Yes, but now the Sussexes will not be forced to deal with the Royal Rota anymore, either by communication, like releases, or in person at engagements. That, to me, is a huge win for them. imagine being at an engagement and their having to make nice to a reporter for the very paper that they’re suing?!
I truly believe there was purpose in Meghan’s pain. By transcending the difficulties of her own family, she was able give hope to Harry that there is another way to live away from the codependent toxicity that embalms the Windsor’s.
This is a great point.
This is a beautiful take on it.
You know that toxic Tom is out there saying it’s sad that they’re leaving BRF, nothing about his daughter or SIL pain or what they’re going in through.
His paydays are over, along with Scammy and jailbird jr.
Empathy wins. “I know how you feel through my experience.”
I am sorry if I seem stupid, but how in the hell did Kate mentor Harry? He’s was raised a royal. I think that they have the scenario reversed. The ridiculousness of this “poor Kate” take on the whole thing is tragic. It’s like they will literally spin the story in absolutely every other direction possible, rather than admit that Harry and Meghan weren’t given the support they needed. Do I think that Meghan was naive about what it would be like joining the Royal Family? Completely. I’m not British and still have seen the way they’re a cutthroat, unfeeling bunch of elitists, but there’s no way that she could have known she’d face this kind of racism and vile abuse from the press and that the same Royal Family would be throwing her and her husband under the bus, on what seemed like an almost daily basis, all while expecting her to maintain a stiff upper lip and complete loyalty. How Kate is suddenly up for canonization is beyond me. She and William must be besides themselves with the prospect of having to get off their asses and perform their duties AND finding someone new to scapegoat. What a challenge. I’m sure Kate will solve it with another pregnancy to serve as a distraction.
So they would have us believe this woman who has accomplished nothing but bagging the heir to the throne – fair play, she worked super hard at it – mentored a combat veteran who was born into the royal family? That’s a bit of a stretch.
My recollection is she kept trying to set him up with women she approved of until he finally told her to back the f*^& off. This Fabulous Kate Keen – savior-of-all-that-is-royal spin is nothing if not entertaining.
Must’ve been real bad for Meghan to say “that’s it, I’m outta here..”
I lean towards maybe someone in the BaRF must’ve made some racial slur against her.
This toxic family and the monarchy. Theres this clip on the balcony of one of those cermonies I cant remember which, it looked like Meghan and Harry were having a little quarrel of some sort, Harry looked like he was being a little quick tempered, this was while Meghan was heavily pregnant she looked unhappy. It seemed like all this keeping up appearances for the sake of the monarchy was wearing on them, they weren’t being themselves. I think we’ve all been there, when we’re focused on winning someone unworthy approval at the expense of the ones we love and our happiness, eventually we realize how foolish that is. I’m glad Harry came to his senses, if I was in a heartless institution, surrounded by competeitve brothers and sisters in law and the press who treated you like crap because you were a citizen of the public, I would leave too, you only live once.
BuzzFeed has a brilliant post with 20 headlines from the British tabloids that praise Kate and tear down Meghan for the exact same thing. It’s a great side by side comparison of how toxic the tabloids have been towards Meghan while embiggening Kate.
WOW.
I don’t follow the royals that closely, and had no idea about half of those headlines. That comparison should be shared far and wide.
I agree! Thank you Jojo for reporting this!
Kate scented Westminister Abbey and it was cute and her favorite scent, Meghan was villanized…wow. Can’t wait till this situation calms and Harry and Meghan can move unto a quiet life.
No kidding! I’m so glad BuzzFeed did this and that they have it posted at the top of the homepage. The one that killed me is the wedding flowers — Kate knows “the language of flowers” and her are so symbolic, while Meghan is trying to kill her flower girls with poisonous ones — even though they had the same flowers!
Never saw this before about the perfuming of the Abbey. You sure?
@Carolind it’s true. I remember press about Kate’s Jo Malone candles at the time of her wedding, and then Meghan getting slammed by the DM for using fragrances during hers.
Thank you for posting this. If anyone still thinks Meghan wasn’t singled out for vicious attacks, this should be an eye-opener.
On a shallow note, looking at that cover photo, man do they make a beautiful couple!
Meghan is gorgeous. Harry is meh. Being a Prince adds lustre.
I think Harry had been thinking about stepping down from senior royal duties for a long time, because I suspect Diana had been planning exactly that before her untimely passing. Diana had been spending time in NYC, going to public events with a great new look, and there was speculation that she would move part-time there. I think Harry saw why his mother might have wanted to consider that move, and then saw what was happening to his wife, and thought he would pick up the thread where Diana left off. Obvs, just my speculation. But I don’t think this was a Meghan plan, I think Harry initiated it.
I had hoped Diana would have moved here and saw this as a possibility. She was well liked in the US and could easily have set up a charitable foundation and been a paid administrator.
The people article is not saying anything new, so to claim that Meghan is getting her side of the story out this way is just ridiculous. Anyone who’s been reading the online comments, tabloids etc for the past few days can tell that this article is simply a compilation of other articles published by eg.The Times, Harper’s Bazar, plus all the stuff Tom Brady said. It’s an absolute nothing burger.
(I love all the “Tom Brady said” comments. I’m imagining him in his football helmet with his super bowl rings on, furiously typing away about all of this!)
Hey I fel so bad for them.
LOL @ “I’m sure this is Meghan’s version, and I’m sure that it’s all probably true”. The only innocent one in this entire mess is the baby Archie.
Why so many stories building up Kate and not Future King William? Does that mean a lot of the leaks are coming from Kate’s camp or is it part of the media’s obsession either building up and tearing down women? Overall, there has been SO much more coverage about the wives and not the actual power players in the monarchy who are making the big decisions.
Before Meghan, Kate never got this type of press. She was “Waity Kaity.” Now she is Future Queen Kate and Meghan is the devil personified. And Kate mentored Harry? The same Harry who was raised in the Royal Family to play this role is being mentored by someone the media used to photograph shopping 6 days a week? Please.
I suspect it’s Kate’s family. It could be they saw an opportunity to boost Kate’s image (with an African-American woman to compare her to), and ran with it. And/or William’s affair rumors have made them insecure about Kate’s future, and they need to remind William how “popular” Kate is. And/or Meghan’s lawsuit against the tabloids will reveal the source of “leaks” as coming from the Middletons, and this is a preemptive strike to build up Kate before any negative stories come out. And/or the tabloids want to have “access” to the royal family going forward, and they think kissing Middleton arse is the way to go.
I could see it coming from William, if he feels Meghan putting Kate to shame somehow reflects badly on *him* (as the person who chose Kate, and controls Kate), and thus the need to put out the narrative that William made a “good pick.” I could also see it coming from the royal family in general, as a distraction to Prince Andrew.
But over-all, the Middleton camp seems the most likely.
Vancouver Island is a three hour boat ride to Seattle, Washington in the US. Meghan is an American citizen. Archie is both American and UK. Both would be protected under US law. We have strong parental rights and no child would be removed from a parent without cause.
Has anyone else wondered why H&M left Archie in Canada, and then Meghan raced back to be w him there? Aside from logistics, it seems that technically the Queen has rights to custody over all minors in the family inc her great grandchildren. I vaguely remembered that from the Diana days when W&H were little. Now I wonder if H&M needed to make sure that Archie was safely out of the UK, and that Meghan was w him, so that even veiled threats of custody could be silenced. And maybe not having that as leverage weakened the BRF position in negotiations? Also to qs about BRF racism, isn’t the whole institution sort of peak white supremacy? maybe not individually but certainly the wealth draws so much from slavery and colonization and the sense of their pre-ordained, by birth, rights to that?
The Queen does not have any legal custody over great-grandkids. This has been established.
thanks for the info, I’ve been unsure of it, cheers!
actually, I did find this, and other sources citing same…it’s a technicality not fully exercised in modern times but it is on the books… I do think M&H were cautious/smart in keeping Archie in Canada while the discussions went on…
https://www.newsweek.com/weird-royal-baby-facts-meghan-harry-archie-queen-custody-1420239
I know the daily fail is a horrible place to get news, but they always have the best photos. I read the comments a lot to see what people think..and they are just AWFUL to Megan..AWFUL..And Kate is practically a Saint..like she wears the pants, and sort of props Wills up and is the “real royal” in the cambridge house. This thing about PW saying he warned Harry about getting serious too quickly makes it sound like the situation they are in is all Megan’s fault, no one has any culpability but her. SMH..and who is Mr 2nd in line, can’t keep it in his pants. to be giving relationship advice???
I agree the poster DeeKay above. This was started by Harry a long time ago. Wanting to leave but couldn’t. I am not saying he decided to get married and have a child to do this. But someone stated on their wedding day Harry said they were not going to wait to have children. That process will begin on their wedding night.
PS- Prince Andrew was seen at Buckingham Palace today or yesterday. He’s back to get his old job back and his offices!