I honestly thought we would get some kind of major announcement about the Sussexes on Friday, but no – reportedly, the issues were still being worked on at the close of royal business on Friday, like security, titles and finances. Except that everything seemed to have come together by today? Weird. My guess is that they timed this so that the news would make the front pages of all of the Sunday papers, actually. Which sucks, because that means Buckingham Palace was dictating the timeline here, not the Sussexes. That being said, it’s pretty clear at this point that the Sussexes don’t give a f–k. As I suspected, their royal-title status was an issue. They’re giving up their HRH-status, but they will still be the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They’ll be “paying back” some of the cost of refurbishing Frogmore Cottage, and they won’t be getting any public funds from here on out.
The deal is done: Queen Elizabeth II has finalized an agreement for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal split, under which they will no longer use the titles His and Her Royal Highness, no longer receive public funds for their duties carried out on behalf of the family, and even repay the some $3 million spent on renovating their U.K. home.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are grateful to Her Majesty and the Royal Family for their ongoing support as they embark on the next chapter of their lives,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “As agreed in this new arrangement, they understand that they are required to step back from Royal duties, including official military appointments. They will no longer receive public funds for Royal duties.”
“With The Queen’s blessing, the Sussexes will continue to maintain their private patronages and associations,” Buckingham Palace’s statement continued. “While they can no longer formally represent The Queen, the Sussexes have made clear that everything they do will continue to uphold the values of Her Majesty. The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared their wish to repay Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home.”
“Buckingham Palace does not comment on the details of security arrangements,” the statement continued, addressing another controversial issue regarding Meghan and Harry’s royal split. “There are well established independent processes to determine the need for publicly-funded security. This new model will take effect in the Spring of 2020,” the statement added.
In her statement, the Queen also wrote, “Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family. I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.”
She also praised Meghan, whose intense scrutiny by the U.K. tabloids over the past couple of years helped lead to the couple’s decision to step back from their royal duties.
“I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family,” the Queen said. “It is my whole family’s hope that today’s agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.”
The removal of the HRHs bothers me because… well, Prince Andrew is still an HRH and he raped teenagers trafficked to him by Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. But he’s white and the Queen’s favorite, so I guess that’s A-OK. I’m also irritated with the fake-ass punishment of reimbursing the crown for the renovations on Frogmore Cottage – the Queen gave them a shabby little cottage with the understanding that it needed to be renovated, and so that’s what they did, which is the same thing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did with Kensington Palace Apartment 1, and they also let their KP apartment sit there, barely used for years as they lived full-time in Norfolk. Anyway… the Queen made it clear that she was “punishing” the Sussexes and the Sussexes made it clear that they don’t give a sh-t, and they just wanted to get out in any way they could.
Also: I find it interesting that the statement is very vague – “the Sussexes have made clear that everything they do will continue to uphold the values of Her Majesty” – about how they’ll earn money from here on out. That was a sticking point too – in exchange for their HRHs, they get to make some business deals.
Update: The Sussexes’ statement says they “will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family.” Their HRH status was not “taken away,” they’re giving up the usage by themselves? Is that a distinction without a difference? Trust me when I say that everything is carefully worded on purpose.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
The Queen’s statement said “Following many months of conversations”. So much for being blindsided, huh.
It seems like they’re not losing the titles, just not using them in the future. How that works in practical terms, we’ll see.
I think the Frogmore repayment was just to make sure every last excuse the press could use to come after them was gone. The misinformation had spread so far that they wouldn’t be able to correct it, but I’m sure they consider it to be worth it.
Honestly I’m so happy for them. The Queen’s support of Meghan in her statement was so little so late that it felt completely false.
“The Queen’s statement said “Following many months of conversations”. So much for being blindsided, huh.”
^^^ THIS. I’m sure now we’ll get retractions/apologies from all those people who were out there crying and howling about how they didn’t inform the queen. Right? *eyeroll*
My take is it was worded deliberately to demonstrate that these loose conversations had been happening behind the scenes – that was no secret – but serious discussions about the practicalities didn’t take place until recently when the statement was made. Harry and Meghan have by no means come out of this looking like saints so I don’t see why everyone is so salty about the other side being a bit snippy about it.
It was an actual lie when the media reported that Harry and Meghan blindsided the Queen with discussions of departure. This statement confirms it. And again it shows how the UK media has distorted the truth when it comes to their coverage of those two.
After the first day of the announcement of them leaving, it was made clear that the Queen was not blindsided by the information. She was blindsided because they didn’t hold off releasing the statement like she told them to. She was not blindsided by their desire to leave.
I agree with @Amelia I don’t think the Queen had ever made out she was blindsided. That was the press. Maybe they were blindsided by the announcement timeline but not the idea itself.
Amelia490, they were forced to release their info early because W&K leaked the whole thing to Wooten. Rather than let W&K once again try to spin things as pro-W&K, anti-Meghan&Harry? Meghan and Harry released the info first.
Agreed! Wishing them all the best with this transition!
Drummed out by the bully press/tabloids. I read an article online where the racist comments against Meghan were thinly disguised such as putting the word “niggling” in write-ups about her. When someone called Archie “a chimpanzee in baby clothes” I thought, why don’t you just get out of there.
If only the Queen had corrected the constant falsehoods written about Meghan and her feelings about Meghan by the press. The Queen included this in her statement to make the break as clean as possible and end the media speculation as soon as possible. It was likely asked to be included by Harry so the press could stop writing all their Meghan every foot wrong stories.
I agree! The “intense scrutiny” wasn’t what did them in, it was the blatant racist, classist and misogynistic reporting and the lack of family support that made them say enough is enough. By denying this the Queen has done yet another disservice to her grandson, his wife and her great-grandson. Somebody’s got to save these people from themselves.
Yeah, I agree Emily — Lovely statement from the Queen about Meghan, but at least a year too late.
Harla, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Am I crazy? I clicked on all the linked articles but don’t see the statement about “months.”Grateful if you can direct me to it so I have a source to cite when I discuss this offline.
The Queen’s message is posted on H&M instagram page, SussexRoyal, and it has the statement “ following many months.”
Thanks!!
https://www.royal.uk/statement-her-majesty-queen-0
Not a problem! Right from the royal website!
Thanks, Belli! I guess I could have Googled it, but it seemed like everyone was commenting on something I’d missed. Pretty clear when you read the statement, ” many months of conversations.”
Dw, there’s so much information flying around it’s easy to miss a bit!
I agree, I think they knew that people shit talked them for the renovations and they can afford to pay some of it back and so they will so that people can’t use it against them.
It sounded to me like they got most of what they wanted, all the personal acknowledgements of how they have suffered and how she is proud of Meghan, sound like things they must have requested.
Now the haters want them to refund their wedding. Insane.
I don’t think HM asked for those statements about scrutiny and proud of M, I think it was put in to avoid Diana like situation where Queen appears unsympathetic. The whole thing (to me) is worded to try and make Queen/ royal family look better.
I don’t get “required to step back from Royal duties”. It seems pretty absolute, complete and short sighted to completely sever ties with HM royal duties wise because HM are popular and when things cool down they could do more royal duty wise, which would garner more publicity for the royals, probably mostly positive. Do you all think royal family insisted on that or HM?
@GM, I just can’t see how H or M could perform Royal duties at this point. They said “we are out” for real and legit reasons. And they left the UK for equally real and legit reasons. Royal duties, as I understand them (as an American who very briefly studied in Scotland– ie someone who knows nothing about this), are mostly PR for either the BRF or the UK. At this point how could M or H honestly do PR for either the UK or for the BRF? Sure they love their patronages and I’m sure Harry has conflicting feelings about his family and his homeland. But no matter how much they are beloved internationally, they are hardly the people to be selling the BRF or the UK. I am proud of them from stepping back completely–I think it shows integrity. Do you think there is another angle I’m missing?
Completely. Paying back the money for Frogmore, frees them from that criticism. It removes just about every bit of leverage the press can have on them. The only thing which remains is the security costs.
I’m also shocked by the loss of the HRH and that feels like a direct punishment. I’m no fan of Harry & Meghan or any of the royals for that matter but even the Duke of Windsor kept his HRH status after abdicating. This does feel like a punishment and the statement by the Queen felt like damage control rather than having any real meaning.
@Belli – I agree re: Frogmore. I think thats just their way of saying to the press – we owe you NOTHING. We aren’t using HRH, we paid “you” back for the cottage – now we’re out.
Not out. Still get millions for their security and millions from his daddy. AND, and this is a huge and, they get to sell the royal name. On everything. And never work again except when they miss their adoring fans. Harry will be back-without Merch.
Ah, tumblr chiming in again. So upset she won the internet boyfriend and that he’s leaving with her.
They have stated repeatedly they’re working to become financially independent. A change this large isn’t going to happen overnight, but they are working towards it. Unlike rapist Andrew.
I think it’s a cover by the Firm to extricate themselves as quickly as possible from the situation. I had thought it within the possibility if H&M were to continue in any capacity the insane reporting would continue. I’m thinking again, strong possibility they never return to the UK and simply focus on career building.
@Sylvie – why don’t you save your vitriol for someone who deserves it like Prince Pedo Andrew.
I agree about Frogmore but I think losing their HRH status must have stung. They’d made it pretty clear that they’d hoped to keep that and they’d hoped to still be working Royals but on their own terms. It’s interesting that the Royals frame it as though they’re being supportive but actually seem to be drawing their line in the sand.
Bella, I definitely agree with you about the Queen’s support of Meghan, it comes too late and renders what she has said meaningless, as actions speak louder than words. Buckingham Palace, Clarence House etc shojld have stood up to the vile gutter press on Meghan’s behalf when the latters hatred towards her was not subsiding during her pregnancy but rather becoming more out of control. Their radio silence further facilitated the press’ unethical behaviour.
They will no longer be using their HRH Styles meaning they will no longer be referred to as “Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess”, they will just go by their titles Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Harry and Archie are still in the line of succession regardless.
I’m just so sad for Harry that he had to give up his military titles in the process.
I hope the world supports their endeavours over the next few years as they need all the love and support they can get.
He gave up honorary ones, but not the ones he earned himself while in the military.
I agree with Bella’s opening comment above, but I also agree with Kaiser. The USE of Frogmore Cottage was a wedding present from the Queen to the Sussexes. They will never own it as it is part of the Crown estate which was the reason that funds were approved from the Privy Purse as it was renovating a Crown property. — (Oh, here’s a lovely gift for you, so sorry it is in such bad shape it needs £2.4 million pounds worth of structural work to make it livable.). That said, if you are as rich as the Queen, and you gift a beloved grandson a crappy cottage that must be renovated from multi-staff apartments into a single family home before the gift of it can be enjoyed, then you’d think you would pay for the structural renovations. Which she did. However, the Queen chose to pay for those structural renovations from the Privy Purse funds — which historically covers renovation of Crown properties. She is privately estimated to have a personal fortune of 88 billion. You can’t tell me she couldn’t now reimburse those costs from a different pool of her personal money. The Sussexes personally paid for all the fittings, furnishings etc. It has been leaked that one of the first things Harry threw on the negotiation table at Monday’s meeting is that the Sussexes would repay this £2.4 million renovation cost to prove they were serious about the exit. What I don’t get is why hasn’t the Queen said…. appreciate it and now you are stepping back, I will take some of my private money and reimburse the Privy Purse myself, because after all IT WAS MY WEDDING GIFT TO YOU. Petty. Petty Petty and Cheap. So essentially, the Sussexes are paying the cost of Necessary renovations to a Crown owned property. I can understand rent and paying expenses, but nobody else in that family has ever had to privately pay to renovate a Crown property.
I agree with you @Ja the paying back is extraordinary. I also thought that time that the Queen’s gift was a crappy one which she didn’t even pay for herself.
But the paying back thing could also read like this: Ok, Granny, see we are not just breaking away from Brittain and the Crown, we are breaking away from you personally and are giving back your present – which you did not even pay for. As long as we can not give back the hous as it is not ours, we paying back the renovations because we do not want anything from you.
That being said I am still kind of interested to know what private financial support they are getting from TQ and dady, if any.
The Windsors are good at getting stuff paid by public funds so that they don’t have to touch their private funds.
I think that it is absolutely outrageous that Buckingham Palace is such a bad shape that it requires an enormous extra endowment of public funds to renovate so it doesn’t completely crumble. And why does no one ask about why the Queen’s residence has been so neglected and what has happened with the funds that ought to have been used for the continuous upkeep of her official residence?
Well, who really knows who is paying for what? For all we know maybe the Queen or Charles will find a way to reimburse the Sussexes later.
Yup…the Queen is as stingy as Scrooge.
If you read their own website, it states that they chose Frogmore, because the other option would have ended up costing much more. They have been dragged over coals despite trying for the cheaper option. Read “How was the Official Residence of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Frogmore Cottage) funded?” https://sussexroyal.com/funding/
Not using their HRH titles is not punitive, it is essential. They cannot be seen to be making money off their Royal status and they absolutely cannot express political opinions as Royals. Now they can do what they want. As for the $3M, I am sure Daddy will cover that from his private income, but it does take tax payer money out of the equation and that is good for everyone concerned. I have always been a fan of streamlining the Royal family so I am actually really happy if this sets a precedent, just like I was really happy to see gender set aside in the line of succession.
The funds don’t go back to the taxpayer, they go back into the Queen’s privy purse for her use. The Privy Purse funds are the percentage given back to the Queen every year in an agreement worked out with the government. You, as a British taxpayer will never see it go back into some general fund to pay for street repair, healthcare, etc. once it goes in to the Privy Purse it is the Queen who controls it.
I have wondered before and still do, if they don’t use the HRH how does that affect their brand which is literally styled Royal?
Oh the price we pay for our sanity!!!! I too left a toxic work environment for less money and a demotion. But my sanity is all the better for it. Good for them. Lord only knows how bad it really was for three to decide to say good bye. And that repayment for the cottage is BS. They all need upkeep. Maybe her Maj has too many buildings in her portfolio and she can’t keep up. But to make them pay is rubbish.
And I used to think what a sweet old lady (QE2) and now I think sour old domineering bitty who cares nothing about others.
Can’t wait to see how things go now for them, now that the sacrificial lambs have left the fold.
The article indicates they were not told to pay for their remodeling of Frogmore:
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared their wish to repay Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home.”
Seraphina, I did the same thing!
Screw the cash when you’re having mental breakdowns on a daily basis. No money or career is worth that.
Good riddance to an appalling family and a horrendously toxic situation! Between the racism and the raping of trafficked girls, the entire lot of them should lose their titles, their privileges, their castles, their ostentatious jewels and their endless closets of bespoke clothes. If there has to be a monarch, I’d much prefer Anne or Edward as I have not one iota of respect left for QEll, Charles and Andrew. THE ONE TIME Charles redeemed himself was at Harry & Meghan’s wedding but nothing after that. Honestly the entire family needs to be fumigated and evicted.
.
They’ll be okay. I hope Meghan gets on social media again. I wonder what will Harry do/ work as.
I wonder if she’ll go back to the blog she had. It was pretty popular when she was living in Toronto.
Paid speeches for sure but they’ll have so much freedom to do more without having to answer for representing the royals.
Scobie is reporting that although Harry will no longer be the Commonwealth Youth Ambassador (must be something William wants for himself now). Scobie said he has been told that the Sussexes are still the President and Vice President of the Commonwealth Trust.
Yes, William wants the Commonwealth because it was making the Sussexes too popular.
Harry still has Invictus too. And I’m sure Meghan will do 100 community initiatives focusing on female empowerment that will completely overshadow what the RF will even try to do now.
It just remains to be seen how public their life as celebrities will be.
In Canada, we don’t have much of a celebrity culture, per se. At the moment, the paps are no doubt swarming the Victoria area hoping for a scoop, but my hope is that they’ll get bored and leave before too long.
Hope so too.
I live in Victoria and everything is business as usual. No wandering paps, in fact a fellow who owns a boat taxi wouldn’t take a pap past the mansion where H&M were staying – he said it was unethical and not what islanders here are about.
@ Jaded – Three cheers for that boat taxi owner and like minded Canadians! ! ! It’s the best thing I have read today.
I think we should stop using this word ‘celebrities’, l think they want to be social entrepreneurs, where they will work to create opportunities for deserving causes, and get involved in some commercial ventures in order to fund their charitable ventures.
They may be ahead of the game, we know Charles has to provide favours in return for funds and this means the Sussexes can do it openly. People will make large donations to their Foundation to attend dinners they or others host. What can William and Harry do.
I agree, ‘celebrities’ has too many negative connotations. How about good, old fashioned ‘philanthropists’?
Agree with you totally. Use of the word “ celebrity” almost seems like a way to slander them. From all indications their intentions are as you say, to be social entrepreneurs and try to make a difference in the world. I think people just want to be spiteful anyway they can towards them.
Being a celebrity is not slander. This site used to follow celebrities before it became all about the royal family.
I hope that they do philanthropic work but I they have made it clear that they want to be financially independent. I would imagine their lifestyle might cost more than your average person. If not, good for them. Charles may well bankroll them until they are established entrepreneurs with an emphasis on philanthopy. If celebrity is so objectionable, which I don’t know why it would be, then I’ll say that their fame will make their post-royal life not exactly private. They have a lot to navigate. I hope it is all that they need it to be.
Yeah, I love how everyone glosses over the Duchy estate having been turned into a very successful business by Charles that sells a lot of Duchy label products and rakes in millions of £.
If the Sussexes have to give up ‘SussexRoyal’ tag, I vote for ‘SussexGlobal’ because that’s where they are taking it.
I meant to add that l wonder if William and Kate will be able to attract donors as successfully as Charles.
Apart from Duchy originals Charles makes a lot of money simply by inviting people to dine with him and then getting a donation. People pay huge sums of money just to sit in seats close to Royals e.g Remembrance Sunday concert. People get royal access in exchange for donations. So a lot of double standards.
PrincessK, W&K do not have that kind of pull. Their visit to NYC? Oh right, she’s too sick to work in the UK while pregnant, but has no problem traveling to NYC for dinner with famous people? The St Andrews lunchtime fundraiser without W&K raised more money than the dinner with them. So few people bought tickets to the dinner event, the organizers had to remove a bunch of tables in order to announce ‘oh it sold out, so popular’.
@notassugarhere…ooo, burn where did you learn about the dinner event removing tables? That’s too funny…As for the rest, I’m gonna flat out admit it…I’m deeply disappointed in the crown. This whole lotta crap has made me want to support Canada leaving the Commonwealth, because the crown has proved itself to be so far out of touch, they (the crown not D&DoS ) may actually be BAD for Canada. SHE TOOK ANDREW TO CHURCH WITH HER THIS MORN FFS. I’m done with her and her freeloaders. Also, Prince Charles’ DoCorwalls white cheddar cheese is THE BEST!! so, there’s that.
I don’t see it as a punishment. And it was clarified that Harry and Meghan chose to not USE their HRH, not that it was taken away. Also, they could’ve chosen to not pay back Frogmore, but it’s clear they will continue to live there while in Britain so I think it’s fine that they’re removing another shackle the BRF and British media would use against them. The racists think they’ve won by driving her in particular out, but Harry and Meghan are the true winners. Freedom is a blessing really.
ETA: Just saw the update. I really do think they decided it wasn’t worth the headache to keep the HRH when the Sussex name is what they really wanted to keep. Some people wanted them to give up everything, but that wouldn’t make sense so I think it was their decision to not use it as it may help them with the business side of things and further endear them to those they’re trying to work with/for.
Looks like they are following the model of Princess Märtha-Louise of Norway, she gave up her HRH to have her own business and she doesn’t represent the Crown but she is still a member of the royal family of Norway, she’s still a princess.
Cool!
Yes, 100%!
I don’t get this grinding away about ‘they should give up everything.’ Andrew is complicit in the sexual exploitation of underage trafficked girls and has a long history of graft, yet no one has suggested that he give up his HRH or pay back anything. Hell, their doing everything they can to keep him from possibly facing REAL criminal charges.
It is mind-boggling how the press wants the Sussexes punished. They harassed a young couple who wants to do good and are good at it, yet they don’t care that much about the criminal in the RF. Andrew will probably slither back while the press will continue to make up new ways to try to punish the Sussexes. And, yes, this solely about Meghan being biracial and American, which is apparently a bigger crime than raping trafficked teenagers and skimming the profits of charitable endeavors. The fact that the Queen immediately made it clear that she supported Andrew but only could express public support of the Sussexes after the public abuse had made then feel it necessary to step back is such a bad look. Both the press and the BRF has come out looking very bad.
The Frogmore repayment is targeted against future press criticism of this. It’s very pointed to have that in the statement and I can see why they did it. It’s very much a back off message.
I am more interested by the focus on military positions being given up- that was the one bit of the job Harry seemed to give up. Surely they have to make Andrew give up his military positions now?
Hes still doing invictus so what military position is he giving up?
The Invictus Games are his private thing. He’s giving up military appointments given to him by the Queen. There’s more info here:
https://www.forces.net/news/prince-harry-renounce-hrh-title-and-military-appointments
I am afraid that they haven’t quite purchase their freedom from the toxic tabloid press. Richard Kay has a hit piece in the DM about how poor Charles has been sweating the bills he’s paid for Harry and William, but especially Harry. It is all basically casting shade on Harry for the expenses of the wedding. Which is what the nasty commentators on the FAIL were harping about since they can no longer cry foul on the Frogmore renovations. The haters will never be appeased. And the Fail will continue to find things to whip them into a frenzy over.
Charles won’t be sweating, his mother is the richest woman on Earth. Their actual personal wealth is undisclosed for a reason. The biggest cost for the wedding should be security which is very likely borne by the country, not the BRF.
Charles himself is worth an estimated $400M. He is sweating nothing.
@Alexandria. Agreed. But it’s eyeroll inducing to see this scum trying to paint Charles as some long suffering father struggling to cover the debts of his profligate children. Kay even indulges in dragging a dead woman into this by describing in a subtle nasty tone how the terms of the divorce had Charles scrambling for funds from the Queen to pay Diana.
I think we’ve got a few weeks ahead in which we will see a lot of “poor long suffering Charles/Her Majesty/William” articles.
Meanwhile, as with the private flight “scandal” these members of the royal family are not wasting the free publicity and are busy doing image building visits and donations while the public is paying attention. I’ll give credit to people like Camilla and say maybe she does acts of charity all the time and we just don’t pay any attention. Let’s face it, these people are torpor inducing. I haven’t paid any attention to the royals after Diana died. I came back for Meghan. I didn’t pay any attention at first because I don’t watch much tv and didn’t know who she was. When I found out Harry had married a biracial woman, and even better, an absolutely charismatic, compassionate, interesting woman, I was stunned and could not stop paying attention. I’m biracial and multi ethnic myself. But her race alone wouldn’t have kept me interested. She and Harry were really trying to build on Diana’s legacy. For Meghan, it was also a continuation of her own years of work. For the first time in decades, royalty was interesting again. This woman was getting things done!
I am so damn mad and disappointed to see how this has all turned out. The Royals are as hopelessly stupid and dysfunctional as they were when Diana was around. Also I’m profoundly disappointed in William. I had assumed after the mess with his parents that his marriage was the real deal. I’m surprised and saddened at how he’s living out the same mess his father made. Is that sapphire cursed or what?
Yes, l stopped following the royals when Diana died and only came back for Harry and Meghan. I even started buying Hello magazine again because of Meghan. I noticed the editor of Hello magazine looking particularly unhappy being interviewed on TV. Kate doesn’t sell as much as Meghan, and we will get fewer Meghan pictures now.
The Queens private wealth has been estimated by FORBES as being around £88 billion. As they said, not the richest woman in the world by far, but certainly not the poorest.
WTF, why shouldn’t Charles have paid for Harry’s wedding? He paid for William’s.
@Guest yes the media can continue with the hit pieces but the difference now is Harry and Meghan do not need to care. They care more about their new family, their security and their philanthropy work. These 3 elements are not reliant on what the royal reporters think of them any more. They are still royals and they can still promote their causes without going through the royal rota anymore. They can still attend royal family functions. Using their and Charles personal fortune is technically none of anyone’s business regardless how many times the UK press want to write about it. If Charles doesn’t like the hit pieces on how he is sweating, then he can put a stop to them. It has been done before, the BRF has muted pieces. The press can remain obsessed about Harry and Meghan but this time they can’t easily explain their obsession like before. Before they can say Harry and Meghan are beholden to the press and the public, but now they can only reveal they are obsessed because they are just….crazy like that and like to say dumb things for the sake of saying it.
I actually wonder if paying back that money was important to Harry and Meg. They may have wanted to pay it back and make sure everyone knew it as a fuck u for all the flack they have taken for it in the first place.
I think it’s a good move. They have the resources, just do it. Be free!
Except their original announcement and details on their website said they wanted to stay at Frogmore when in the UK and for free. It was only after the meetings and ‘summits’ with the Queen that the staffers were let go and now we find out they have to repay it. Going in order that shows it’s indeed not what they wanted.
The website did not say “for free”.
They didn’t have much staff at Frogmore Cottage, only two and they’re reassigned to Windsor Castle, they had people from WC that came in to clean.
KJ, It is not unreasonable to assume the Sussexes’ wishes changed through the course of the negotiations. The Statement from Buckingham Palace clearly indicates it was the Sussexes desire to repay remodeling of Frogmore:
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared ***their wish*** to repay Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home.”
They never said they wanted it for free. It was assumed at the time that they’d have to pay rent to the Queen, as other non-working/part-time royals do. Paying for the renovation is just them going above and beyond.
My understanding was that this is/was a grace and favour home so it wouldn’t have been common for them to be expected to pay rent. I
@Maxime It was a grace and favour home when they were working royals. They’re not working royals anymore, so they may have to or want to pay rent. It was gifted to them, but that was with the understanding that they’d be working royals. All speculation at this point. Maybe paying for renovations is enough of a gesture.
@kj Nowhere in their original statement, did they state, they want to live in Frogmore free of charge. They talked about making it their UK home. The Queen’s statement, states that H&M wish to payback the 2.4m, they were not forced, they are just simply, fedup with the constant reminder of taxpayer’s money on Frogmore. They still have HRH, but they offered not to use it if they are not doing any royal duties. I think, all in all a good deal. I am only sorry for Harry’s Army duties, but they were honourary. Best of all, he has his Invictus, which he singlehandedly founded, and more important and purposeful.
They had a full time housekeeper and one or two part time staff (one was a cleaner). They have been reassigned into Windsor Palace system, which Scobie says staff like this are often reassigned when these properties are shuttered for several months. They were reassigned before Sussexes went on their break in November. This nonsense about footman, etc is all RR spin and exaggeration. No one has lost their job.
I get the feeling it was something they put on the table, not the other way around. They just seem like the kind of people who would say, “See? No more strings attached” and be done with it.
Yeah I agree MNM. The BRF seemed to think that they could continue to hold the purse strings over H&M but I bet that by the end of the year they will no longer be taking any funds from even Charles.
Always go in asking for more than you need: you come out with what you want. This could be their strategy, and they got their ultimate goal: their name (DoD) and freedom (to leave and earn money).
I get why they are paying for the renovations to get people off their back. But it’s stupid that people think they should pay for it. They don’t own the deeds to Frogmore, all the royals are basically ‘renters’ who don’t pay rent. When you invest your own money into a property the whole point is that you some day see a return on your investment when you sell it. They can’t sell Frogmore. I hope they’ve cut some sort of deal where they can get that money back if they move out, or that money would basically be their ‘rent’ toward the property. To be honest I think most the haters want the shirts off their backs, they are that petty.
Meghan was never in it for status or a title – as far as I can tell, she was there in spite of these things. She joined this miserable family prepared to work and put her heart and soul into it and in return, was treated unfairly and some would argue “abused”.
How did the royal family abuse her?
Nothing says welcome to the family like a blackface brooch. Then there’s using her as a human shield to cover for your resident paedo duke. The leaking from KP. And never doing anything to show support for in the face of the racist press coverage. Fuck that family.
Thanks ProfPlum
@ Moxie
The Royal Family failed Meghan by not reacting to the abuse she was getting for the press.
It was the most devastating passing aggressive attitude.
There was never a statement of support or a show of togetherness.
Well now they can take her title but not her status. She’s a household name now and will continue to be known for her works. As evidence, I and most people know zilch about Wallis Simpson beyond the abdication, but we all know her name..meanwhile, Meghan will continue to build her name recognition through her work. Maybe it wasn’t the way she wanted to gain name recognition, but I have confidence she’ll use her new status for worthy causes.
But they are not taking anything from them. They are still HRH and Duke and Duchess. They just won’t use HRH since they won’t be working for the crown, they’ll be working for their own endeavors. I think Harry and Meghan won y’all.
I didn’t expect them to give up their titles either and as you said Kaiser the Pedo Prince gets to keep his. They should of been able to keep them. Not good optics to me. And I suspect the payback for renos for Frogmore is to shut up the press and the haters. But it’s still their home when they are in the UK so that’s good for them. The statement mentioned security as still to be worked out and I suspect it will be done privately. Also too it said to be reviewed in a year which is interesting too.
What this all looks like and means for them in the future remains to be seen.
I’m in no way defending the RF for harboring pedo-Andy, but has the RF ever taken an HRH from someone who wasn’t actively trying to leave? I realize Diana didn’t want to give up her title, but she did want to leave her position as the wife of the future king. Edward may also not have wanted to give up HRH, but he did want to leave. Andrew doesn’t want to leave. Should he be pushed out? Fk yeah! But is there a precedent for that?
Edward kept his HRH.
As noted Edward kept his but they did NOT bestow it on Wallis. So in a similar way…..this whole “they won’t be using it” banter really means that as long as Harry & Meghan are together, they won’t (can’t) use it. If H&M a ever break up……well guaranteed H is back as HRH.
They aren’t actually giving up their titles. They just aren’t using them. Only parliament can strip them of their titles.
They didn’t take the HRH away. Diana and Fergie were stripped of their HRH titles, the Sussexes have simply agreed not to use their HRH titles so as not to compromise how they privately pitch their brand.
It says something like “The Duke and Duchess shared their wish to repay the tax money for Frogmpre”. How do you interpret that as the Queen punishing them? I assume strongly that the Queen does not want any of them starting to pay back tax payers money (don’t give the peasants ideas!) and that it was Harry and Meghan who insisted on this.
Agree! I think they offered to pay it back.
Yes, and it was the Palace highlighting H & M’s principled stance in wanting to repay the money. They could’ve just not attributed it to them. I thought the whole statement was really warm and supportive in tone. TQ mentioned the “intense scrutiny” on them, which is as close as the establishment royals have ever come to referencing the press’s execrable campaign against the Sussexes.
I think it’s sad that the only biracial member of the RF is paying back what I effectively class as reparations to an insitution that has raped and pillaged en masse for hundreds of years with impunity and no comeback.
They will inevitably find more to bitch about, but it’s done now and everyone can move on. What I am not liking is all the commentary about how Harry has been forced into this by Meghan. It points to the fact that the Bristish never really saw Meghan as his legitimate wife and now there are even people wishing them divorce so Harry can come back.
The whole thing is just disguting, toxic, racist and mysoginistic and stinks to high heaven.
Stop using and abusing the pain and suffering of black slaves to excuse the bad behavior of black political opportunist and black greedy social climbers. Meghan and Harry are grown men and women who should not be living off of other people money in the first place. Meghan after marrying Harry realized she could milk the system, observing how, celebrities the rich and famous worshipped at her feet. consumed with envy of Kate, Meghan tried to design a system so that she can behave and act similar to Princess Diana around the world. She and Harry had already stolen the HRH symbol and using it on line. Now they are worse off, they did not expect their royal names to be taken, they are on the same level as Fergie. Harry cannot like that. that was not what they were going for , they wanted to be part-timers. Royal Brits and Royal ambassadors around the world.
dollybee – bless your silly heart.
‘stolen the HRH symbol’ ‘names stolen’, both of which are blatant lies.
Goodness, Jaded, the haters really are desperate and lying for all it is worth, aren’t they? They must be truly scared of unfettered Harry and Meghan.
I respect them for doing that . . . but renovations are increased equity. In a privately owned house, it would be insane to pay a landlord back for renovations that in increased their property value.
They most likely won’t be paying fair market value for rent, so they will eventually recoup the expense. Non working royals who live at KP pay fair market value.
@bettyrose, we don’t know all the terms of the arrangement. So for all we know they publicly state they are paying back but perhaps Charles is reimbursing them or perhaps they are considering that to be several years rent paid in advance or perhaps the queen is paying it back to them. I am sure they got a lot to compensate for the atrocious treatment by the family and press. I am not worried about the Sussexes financially. They will do just fine and that reimbursement was an attempt to silence that talking point.
This is great for them. They were going to be sidelined once William was king anyway, so why not set up something independent from an earlier time.
The HRH thing does place more scrutiny on Andrew who isn’t working and Beatrice and Eugenie, who never worked. And it also makes Charlotte and Louis getting one silly too, since they are kids and probably won’t be working royals.
As for the Queen’s positive message about Meghan…. yeah too little too late. Had she said this years ago perhaps the media would have stepped off.
This is a good thing for Harry and Meghan, but it’s not a good look for the royal family and how they never seem to be able to deal things properly.
This was my thought too. They just got ahead of the game and took away any power Wills might have had over their situation.
Over all, I’m rejoicing with the Sussexes tonight. I just wish the Queen would have spoken up on Meghan’s behalf long before now, but whatever. I really with H, M&A the best.
Yeah too little too late. That was just put in to give the impression everyone in the family loved Meghan when they didn’t.
And it seems like they’ll be revisiting things in year…
Yeah that part stood out to me. It does make sense to not make it seem like a closed door on them returning to working royal status and to ensure they really are able to be successful in achieving what they want and what role they’ll be playing within the BRF moving forward.
I wonder if that’s wishful thinking on the part of the Queen/Charles/RF in general. From everything we’ve heard since the initial announcement, the RF kept trying to avoid the issue and gave Harry the run around. BP’s initial reaction and the Queen’s post-Sandringham meeting statement showed that the Firm was not happy to let the Sussexes (or let’s be real, just Harry) go.
Absolutely, later on the true story will come out. The discussions to stop them have been going on for months, and Meghan took Archie and the dogs 🐶 to Canada to let them know that they meant business.
The statement says that they will continue public engagements up until the Spring, so l wonder what that means.
That Meghan took Archie to Canada and left him there and that this all unraveled so quickly makes it seem like there’s more we don’t know here. More to the story that made them need to bolt. I wonder if we’ll ever know.
On a different note—are they connected to the people of Sussex? Or is that not a thing for a duke?
Could also be that at TQ’s age, in particular, a lot can happen in a year. TRF could NEED them back, and be willing at that point to make MAJOR concessions to make that happen. Who knows?
It could be that ways may be found for them to reintroduce some ‘royal duties’.
Taking away his military titles was unnecessary, they should be able to be HRH when on British soil.
I’m furious that Andrew is hanging out there with all his titles, living in his paid-for house, and the Sussexes have these consequences for asking to step back from being senior royals. How can this make any kind of sense to normal human beings??
It seems like they are serious about living a life separate from being royals, and I am 100% team Sussexit. Happy for them.
I am proud of them for doing what they have to in order to keep their sanity, and I’m glad Harry is standing with his wife and child.
I wish this would be the end of the toxic media treatment and royal family behavior toward them but I doubt it.
They are still HRH. They didn’t lose them. They just can’t use them in their private ventures, like anyone outside of the royal family and other pro-monarchy sites cares. Their names Harry & Meghan are worth more than HRH and they know it. Also, the Dukedom is Harry’s and will pass to Archie regardless of this pact. Can’t take that away from either of them.
Harry and Meghan basically have paid $3M for their home and William can’t kick them out of it after Charles dies. It’s theirs. Probably on a 100 year lease like the Wessexes. It’s a small price to pay to give the finger to the press and public grousing about Frogmore.
As for not working for the Crown anymore, that should concern W&K because that means more work for them. Congrats, William, you’ve played yourself. It’s either the Cambridges or the Yorks. Charles is going to want the Cambridges to finally FINALLY perform as the senior royals they truly are. They have no choice. They ran the only other couple willing to take on the bulk of the work out of the freaking country.
That is a good point about William not being able to kick them out of their home. Because William would certainly do just that. However, I’d be shocked if H&M spend more than a few weeks a year in the UK.
Yes, even though they are keeping Frogmore l wonder for how long. I cannot see them spending much time in the U.K.
My take from the Statement from Buckingham Palace was that they did give up their HRH. But I did find the wording ambiguous.
Them having Frogmore as a 100 year ‘leasehold’ would make sense. It was annoying me that they were paying so much for the renovation when they are technically ‘renters’ who would probably be evicted the first day William is king.
I think they made the right choice. However, I have to question why Andrew is still an HRH, and so is Philip, and so is Kate, and so is Prince Michael of Kent, and so is Duke of Gloucester, and other membets of the royal family who now do nothing or next to nothing as far as official”work” for the monarchy? I think without the restraints, Harry and Meghan can amass a fortune, but I still side eye stripping them of the HRH (even though other non-working royals like Andrew and Michael keep their HRH while hustling for money). The differential treatment is very telling (and by “telling” I mean “racist”).
Philip and Kate are spouses of senior Royals who are HRH, both are also spouses of the Monarch/future monarch. Very very unlikely that they would not have had HRH. Philip retiring also does not mean stripping him of HRH when he’s still married to the Queen. Dislike Princess Michael however much you will, she’s also married to HRH Prince Michael. In a roundabout route a lot of married-in’s get HRH when their royal spouse is also HRH. Just the way it works. The difference is that Harry and Meghan are leaving to pursue their own interests (not for retirement etc), which they can not use their royal status of HRH to promote for.
Though yes, Andrew in particular should have been stripped of it. Even being the Queen’s son.
Prince and Princess Michael are NOT working royals. They hustle for money with book deals, etc., (or to use your words, pursue their own interets), yet are still HRH. And Mchael is only the Queen’s cousin while Harry is future King Charles’ son. But Michael is HRH and Harry is not. I really hope that was Harry’s choice because otherwise, like I said, the differential treatment is telling.
Michael is the current queen’s cousin but he was the king’s grandson first.
@ Bookworm –
No, Michael was the son of a younger (fourth?) prince, not the son of a king.
Princess Michael of Kent literally put Her Royal Highness on the title of the books that she sells. She’s most definitely using her HRH to make money. I looked up one of her books and her author credentials are presented like this:
Her Royal Highness
Princess Michael of Kent
Her HRH is literally given a prominent place in the cover design though her name, Princess Michael of Kent, is printed in a larger font.
Beatrice and Eugenie also have an HRH and have never worked officially either.
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester never expected to take on the royal title, he was a trained architect when they married, and fully expected to support himself and his family. Then his older brother died in a plane crash I believe, so they were more or less duty bound to step in.
None of their kids are though, so it’s the last of the cousins, along with the Kents.
All children/grandchildren plus spouses of the sovereign are granted HRH, even if that specific sovereign is dead. It can be granted to others like Charlotte and Louis in advance & Archie if he had any titles – they’d get it anyway when Charles takes over.
Yeah, repayment of the Sovereign Grant funds used to make Frogmore Cottage habitable for their family seems like a small price to pay to gain their freedom and cut the complaining wisea**es off at the knees, taking away their “taxpayers paying to tart up their home” excuse. I’d really bet that H&M proposed that as part of their exit package.
I agree @C-Shell – they can Jon Snow the entire thing. 🙂
Why would it address what’s essentially Charles’ private money and security costs, which is a private governmental matter to be handled by the RPS?
ETA: was in response to a troll post that’s been deleted.
It’s not private money . It’s government money
Why do Bea and Eugenie get to work and have HRH titles, royal residences, serve at the Queen’s request, etc.? I think all this is about a confidentiality agreement.
Who cares about the HRH titles? It’s such an insignificant loss in order to gain complete freedom and earn the big bucks.
They still can cash in on the Sussex brand and that’s all they needed to “win”.
Totally agree. But the viper courtiers value it and are being blatantly inconsistent, which while unsurprising is interesting.
Yep, my thoughts exactly. Agreeing to not use HRH is a small sacrifice in return for their freedom to be financially independent and to be able to live life on their own terms.
IMO, Harry and Meghan not using their HRH titles (they still retain their HRH) is like Camilla not using her Princess of Wales title – it is a bone thrown to a hostile press, a bone that doesn’t really have much value, especially since the global audience that Meghan and Harry are aiming at don’t really understand and care about the technicalities of the HRH title. They’ll always be known as royals.
Diana gave up her HRH – yet people still remember as Princess Diana, she’ll always be remembered as Princess Di, even though she technically wasn’t of royal status at her death.
Beatrice and Eugenie do not have royal residences and they do not work for the Queen. What is questionable here is that B&E get to keep their HRHs while earning a living, with jobs that *might* be related to them having royal titles and connections.
They are unlikely to have obtained those positions otherwise, especially since they don’t work full time hours as I am sure the rest of the people at their respective companies do.
I think Eugenie’s interest and commitment in art would have gotten her her low-level, internship type of job at Paddle8. Beatrice’s work path is much more based in her connections.
I think Eugene lives in Harry’s old cottage at KP. And Bea is at SJP?
Eugenie and Jack rent Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace, next door to the Duke of Kent in Wren Cottage. Harry and Ed Sheeran filmed a charity bit at Ivy Cottage a few months ago, with the wedding photo of Eugenie and Jack on the wall behind the doorway. We’re told Eugenie is paying market rent. What that means we don’t know, because it could be Andrew paying it for her behind the scenes. Bea was at SJP, but we were told she gave that up when she moved to NYC. She could be back there secretly, she could be at Royal Lodge Windsor.
@notasugar here, The Yorks, live in royal residence free of charge. Jack Brooksbank lives on Kensington Palace Estate, there are so many non working royals living in KP, and other palaces, or grace and favour ptoperties.
We were told, in statements from BP, that Eugenie is paying market rent for her place at KP. If that means Andrew is secretly paying it, we don’t know. We were also told in a palace statement that Beatrice moved out of the SJP apartment, with rent also ‘paid’ by their father, when Eugenie married. Where she lives now, we don’t know. We also know, because of the Crown Estate lease Andrew paid, that Beatrice and Eugenie inherit his lease at Royal Lodge without paying anything.
Sure, security might need to be worked out, and it may be be safer to not reveal details about it. But why does ‘living off daddy’s money’ have to be addressed. It’s not public funds so details should remain personal within the family. It’s not like other famous families with private trusts are revealing details about who gets what and when to the public. And they already said they’d be working towards financial independence, not that they’ve already gained it. It will be a transition, but I’m not sure that details about their non-public funds should have to be public now that they’re not working royals.
Oops. Post got deleted I guess
Ok Cambridge’s!!!!!
They are out.
Its all on you.
Get to WERKKKKKKKK.
All the best Sussexes.
I think there will be a flurry of activities for the royals in the near future, then they’ll go back to their old habits.
The Cambridges will be too busy steering the royal family through this crisis Meghan created, to have time to do much else. After all, the monarchy comes first, and saving the monarchy will take up most of their time.
Sure krappy, it was Meghan’s fault that she was abused. /s
smh!
I am assuming this is sarcastic because otherwise, get help girl!
@Hey ginger snaps
You miss the snark in mrs.krabapple reply.
Saving the monarchy, they will not have time to work.
Yes they will do it using their usual smoke and mirrors with the fawning media fluff pieces and pimping out their children. As long as that continues to work for them.
The BRF must be a bunch of incompetent, drooling imbeciles if a single American actress can practically destroy them and the institution they represent simply by saying that she doesn’t want to be part of their dog and pony show anymore…
~or~
you’re being overly dramatic and blaming Meghan for their shortcomings.
(I’m pretty sure its that second one ).
Watch Will change his mind about Baby Number 4.
Long time lurker, but wanted to say that I literally had that same thought less than 30 seconds before I saw your reply!
Get to Werrrrk hahah no kidding…Kate walks to the closet. Pulls out 34 pussybow blouses. Her slender shoulder stoop a little as she looks out the window and says…“I am Keen…I am Keen…I Am Keen…”. End scene
😂 priceless
It’s been said on this site that William wants the perks and privileges of the monarchy without the duties and responsibilities…he’d rather be a wealthy aristocrat. Guess, William is really pissed now, cause Harry actually gets to live life on his own terms now and William is stuck.
I wonder what excuse the Cambridge’s are going to use next to avoid work. When Kate was a GF she couldn’t work cause her Boyfriend was a prince. When they just got married she wanted to focus of ‘being a housewife’ and they were easing her into the role. Also they ‘didn’t want to make the same mistakes they made with diana’. Then Kate was pregnant with George and couldn’t work, then they had a baby so couldn’t work. Then William was ‘working for the air ambulance so couldn’t work. He also couldn’t work much at the air ambulance either because he was busy ‘not’ doing royal duties. Then they were living their ‘malta’ years because one day when they are 70 they might have to work more. Then it was back to ‘we have kids’ and ‘the queen and Charles were crap parents cos they worked’. My guess is they are going to use the Sussex’s departed as an excuse like ‘we don’t want to push them too hard because they are all we have left, the monarchy depends on them’.
They will continue as they are, doing next to nothing. Pretending to do work via ‘umbrella initiatives’ where experts to the work, W&K don’t even show up to meeting, but they take credit for everything. Lather, rinse, repeat.
“While they can no longer formally represent The Queen, the Sussexes have made clear that everything they do will continue to uphold the values of Her Majesty.”
This wording is interesting too, like they some of the offers they’ve received was discussed among them all. At least that’s my take on it.
I really doubt the Sussexes are letting the RF dictate in any way their future commercial projects or let them see them. I think that sentence was just something to make the Queen look better.
You may be right but after thinking more on it I wonder if that is eluding to an NDA? Who knows as I’m sure it’s come up in discussions.
I think so, too. I’m guessing it will become apparent why they won’t be using HRH.
I think it is a great shame that they have to give up the Commonwealth roles, which were perfect for them. I bet that the Cambridge’s will pick those positions up because the Sussexes were proving too good putting W&K in the shade, and so the Cambridge’s will now try and drum up popularity for themselves in Commonwealth countries. This is all down to jealous William. Kate must be furious at having to smile her way through the next 40 years.
“Kate must be furious at having to smile her way through the next 40 years.” LOL!
I would imagine that the whole structure of the monarchy will have to be looked at and revamped. It will be interesting to see what is decided in the coming days and the future.
The second Kate publicly expresses any difficulty or we start getting leaks in People magazine and the like, ALL these critics running their mouths will stop. And then they will use the Sussexes to explain to the rest of use why we should be nonjudgmental and gentle to Kate or be considered hypocrites.
They will absolutely and shamelessly use a black woman’s pain to prop up a white woman’s privilege. And still not give a f about Meghan who will go on to build a great life for herself. Instead they’ll try to reframe what happened as the best thing for her.
Since the Queen’s values include protecting a sex offender and not standing up for the only person of colour in her family I doubt anything Meghan and Harry do will be antithetical 🙄
Don’t be too sad over this people. Not being able to use the HRH, paying back the renovation and not being on taxpayer funds reflect quite badly on the rest of the HRHs who are NOT working or senior royals. This doesn’t enable them to lie low and the press can easily turn on them anytime now and ask what these lot are doing. This is not the Queen’s request, this is what Harry and Meghan wanted. I believe it’s not what the Queen wants (at this time) because she knows this will set a precedent and risk giving the Republicans some ideas. Charles has been wanting to have a more streamlined royalty and he got it faster than he wished and without his other son, so he must have mixed feelings now. William and Kate really have a bigger spotlight now too, there are years to go before the spotlight heads to the children. Thin ice. Thread carefully.
They still have them they simply won’t use them for commercial reasons. Not using them gives them more freedom. It’s a good thing not bad. Also Andrews still a working royal, he’s statement said it was temporary- if the media/public ever quietens down enough he’ll be back doing royal duties.
Also the Cambs apartment wasn’t falling apart, a charity was in there and were shunted out cause Kate decided that’s the one she wanted. They weren’t even offered it initially but she refused the others cause they weren’t big enough and demanded 1A and got her way. Frogmore was going to be renovated anyway but seeing as it was then given to the sussexes before it started it was changed to their specifications- possibly why they’re paying for it. Although I think it’s more that they don’t want anything tying them to public money anymore.
Anyway I’m happy for the sussexes it seems they got pretty much everything they wanted.
I’m happy they got to keep the Queens Commonwealth Trust. Bet that was a essential, as well as retaining some of their patronage’s. They eventually would have had to give up all public funding, so might as well do it now. They have to look to their life beyond this Queen and Charles.
Really? If that is true, that is wonderful but l thought that they can no longer represent the Queen.
Even if Meghan had to give up all of her patronages today, she still did more for them in the last year than Kate has in nearly a decade.
They will be representing the Commonwealth Trust not necessarily the Queen. Charles was just voted in by the Commonwealth members — I think last year — as Head of the Commonwealth Trust.
He was voted in, because of pressure by the Queen, as the non-governmental figurehead of The Commonwealth. Not of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.
Nicola Brentnall is Chief Executive of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust. Harry was President and Meghan Vice-President but they have obviously given up their positions.
We’ve been told Harry will no longer have his position as Youth Commonwealth Ambassador, but their positions with QCT are still happening iirc.
Andrew will never be a working royal again. Much like the “statements” put out about Harry and Meghan at first, it was just window dressing to get through the “crisis”. The Queen won’t risk her entire legacy over Andrew and, even if she would, Charles will not agree.
I am dancing for joy !!!! Good for Meghan and Harry and a big salute for them !!!!
Now that the Cambridges having removed the competition, they can work as little as possible or just stay home, do nothing and be praised for it.
The irony of them not being working royals so they cannot use their royal highnesses….. Are Beatrice and Eugenie working royals ? What about Andrew ?
The one thing I get from the released statements:
– The statements are still vague and some issues are still hanging, expected better from the Queens office.
– Harry and Meghan refused to give in to whatever may have been demanded of them.
– The BRF still fears that having them as junior working royals will have them still overshadowing the FFutures. Afterall Prince and Princess Michael are part time working royals and they are TRH.
– Statement of Harry and Meghan mainly being stationed in North America seems to be a warning for them to know their lane.
Or just maybe, Harry and Meghan want to spend most of their time in North America.
Harry don’t play Around, is is chucking it all in. Despite all of the negative coverage Meghan was getting, this is the most settle Harry must have experienced since his days in the Army.
Beatrice and Eugenie are not working royals. They are out ‘earning a living’ while using their HRHs. Once the Queen passes, Charles may strip their HRHs along with Andrew’s.
Exactly Nota. This is why I say this sets a precedent that the Queen may not have wanted (at this time). This gives Charles an excuse to remove their HRHs or disallow their use during his reign and this really puts the spotlight on the rest of these HRHs. They really have to thread carefully now.
This agreement makes the royal family look terrible and petty. They are punishing H&M by taking away their use of HRH while the Queen rides to lunch with Andrew today. Just gross.
However, the royal reporters have nothing left to complain about nor do the racists. H&M gave up everything. They are free and you’ll barely see any of the Sussexes in the UK again IMO.
They did not give up everything, giving up everything would mean giving up funding from Charles and truly being on their own and training for a job rather than receiving monthly payments in the millions from dad. They have plenty of funds already to maintain a pretty luxurious life, so let’s not be melodramatic. Nobody needs tens of millions of pounds to be happy.
yes, they don’t need 10millions to be happy but they need a few millions to pay their staff, business managers, lawyers, etc…because they will need a lot of help and the best advice to navigate this transitional period
I know – I can’t believe she rode to lunch with Andrew. Today of all day! Such gross optics.
It occurs to me that the Queen is signalling to the dark forces that they had better not suicide/JeffreyEpstein dear Andrew.
Hey Devon —— Oh but if you look at headlines and official press commentaries for the last 48 hours, complain they are!! The press is dredging and hitting on every little thing. Here’s one: MEGHAN stored some of her clothing in Toronto — press take is, see — she never intended to stay, it was always her plan to marry Harry and take him away from his family and his country. I kid you not, I read that article yesterday.
I’m happy for them but so angry that Pedo Andy gets to keep his HRH status. So. F-ing. Angry.
Isn’t it better for them, I mean in terms of making their own money? And Andrew, with all his being honourable and stuff, should give his up too since he’s like been fired?
Totally. They still have it, but won’t use it commercially. It means they can now engage in commercial activities without being criticised for using it . They’ll make enough waves being Harry and Meghan and their history. They won’t need to use HRH in the future for people to know who they are.
They didn’t get anything they wanted but their freedom. But it is all worth it.
They got everything they wanted. I think the rest of the BRF are the losers here.
I love Meghan and Harry but they lost here and big time. Sucks. But they love each other and will be happy.
What exactly did they lose? Might want to go back and read the statement again…slowly.
Yes, they clearly won.
They lost the HRH titles but that set them free or they’re able to cash in on their Sussex brand without any conditions or restrictions.
The Queen had to look like the “winner” to save face but Harry and Meghan won when you understand the whole situation.
I think they lost the PR war. Most of the press is negative and it seems like they have been kind of booted from the family. That’s just my impression. I am not picking a fight. I like them. But I don’t call it win when they’re no longer HRH and they can’t do official royal duties anymore. William and Kate have come out looking loyal and long suffering. Looks like a loss to me. They’ve been forced out and essentially in exile. I hope it works out for them but i have concerns after the initial excitement it’s going to be hard on Harry cut off from the life he’s always known. But i hope I’m wrong and they come out ahead.
The UK media may be trying to spin this as a loss for Harry and Meghan but the rest of the world is covering it as a young couple breaking away from an archaic institution. Perhaps the UK media is too blind to see how bad the BRF looks for letting this happen but the other countries, especially the commonwealth ones are not beholden to rank and British tradition that the emotional well being of a young family should be compromised.
They lost literally…nothing. They get to keep their Sussex titles, they get to retain Frogmore Cottage when they are in the UK, AND Harry still retains a salary from Charles. The inly thing they truly lost is the HRH titles – and Harry is STILL Prince Harry. The only thing they are truly giving up is money to pay for the Frogmore renovations- which the Queen was due to pay for. Small price for freedom.
But the Queen looks pretty awful allowing Andrew to keep HIS HRH title while being a non-working royal.
I hope you guys are right. I like your interpretation. In the end, they need to be happy. But I can’t shake the sense it’s a loss for them.
They lost the use of the HRH. But I wonder if that will not be revisited later too. Especially if H&M are successful. Like someone said Princess Michael uses HRH to sell her books and the world hasn’t ended. I think that Charles is waiting to see how this works out.
There’s so much misinformation floating around. They haven’t lost their HRH titles, they just won’t use them, like Camilla doesn’t use her Princess of Wales title but goes by her Duchess of Cornwall title. It is meaningless bone to a hostile press.
They didn’t lose the PR war, it’s still happening with their lawsuits and they will win. Given that this has been brewing for months, they had their ducks in a row and wanted to come out of it with clean consciences, something that the other royals don’t have because they were complicit in the blatant racism Meghan had to face.
They had to give in about a few things but they have 100% won.
Keep the all-important Sussex title? Check.
Keep Charles’ millions? Check.
The HRH titles loss is irrelevant and doesn’t damage their brand in any shape or form. Paying back the house costs set them completely free from British taxpayers as they now don’t owe them anything.
Harry and Meghan are set to earn money in any way they want to. Their popularity may wane overtime but they’ll make enough money within the next decade for Archie’s great-grandchildren to be set for life.
The only issue remaining is the security. It now makes even less sense for us Canadians to pick up the bill for a couple that aren’t even working royals anymore.
I don’t think they are set to earn their money any way they want, their statement places some restrictions on them: “…the Sussexes have made clear that everything they do will continue to uphold the values of Her Majesty.”
@Maxie exactly — worldwide, very few people care about the HRH and probably don’t even realize it exists. Prince Harry will still be Prince Harry. I mean it’s 2020 and we’re all still saying “Princess Diana” even though that was never her title at all.
The only people on Twitter I saw who were really worked up about the fact that they technically got to keep it were nitpicky royal historians, fussy old-school monarchists, etc. But outside of England I don’t think it makes a bit of difference if they don’t use “HRH” going forward.
I wonder if they delayed announcing in order to give Harry time to get out of the country before the vultures descended.
I doubt we’ll see him for a while
I think they will be out and about, with this weight off their shoulders.
Canadians on Vancouver Island are funny, the Inn sign reads welcomes the three of then, a Pub is naming a beer the Duke for Harry, another suggestion is for Harry to get a pickup truck like the locals.
I bet we do. And Archie too.
I just read that we’re supposed to see Harry with Charles (and I’m not sure who else) on Monday at Buckingham Palace?
Yes, and it wouldn’t make sense for an important marital reunion to take place with a friend visiting from out of town. Meghan had her close friend come keep her company ’til Harry gets back.
Mich —- Harry will attend an event — at BP on Monday for something to do with Africa — that is now being hosted by the Cambridge’s and co-hosted by the Wessexes. The RR is already putting articles out there about poor Harry will see just how far he has fallen as he is “forced” to attend this event where he will be shuffled to the back and ignored because he is nothing any more.
Is he really going to attend, so they are working Royals until the Spring? When does Spring start?
Harry still outranks Edward.
Very honorable of them to pay the renovation costs back. A quality we have yet to see from any other member of the family. And yet the scum Andrew doesn’t get his wealth scrutinized and gets his renovations for free. It’s because they own Andrew. So proud that Megs and Harry told them peace out. Keep your £££.
Shallow comment, but God, Meghan is gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve seen her smile like that in the past year. Those two are just radiant.
She has been positively glowing in the last few photos we’ve seen since the news broke. They both appear to be relieved and good on them for it.
There’s something about her that goes beyond how nice her features are. She has that “it” factor. I don’t necessarily see it in her Suits photos, so it’s something that lights her up from within when she’s engaged in work that’s meaningful for her. It is beautiful to see.
Well said and I agree. It’s inner beauty.
She comes off as genuine. That comes from the heart and can’t be faked.
Harry still has his HRH title, he just cant use it because hes not a working Royal. It hasnt been taken away from him, but it has Been from Meghan because she isnt a blood Royal.
Is pedo Andy still using his HRH title now that he isnt a working Royal either?
Princess Michael of Kent is using her HRH to make money and she is not a working royal either. I suspect that the Sussexes declining to use their HRHs is solely due to the fact that the press is so hostile to them.
Yes ArtHistorian. And Andrew and Fergie have certainly grafted his HRH to the tune of millions. Even Sophie tried to sell access to the Queen in the early days of her marriage. Edward did that horrible tournament thing where a lot of them dressed up in medieval costumes. Even Prince Charles sells millions of his Duchy Originals brand from tea towels to hand soap and everything in between. But God knows Meghan should be dragged for doing a Disney voice over where her “pay” goes to an elephant preserve in Africa.
Good for them. Personally I think that not using HRH indicates that they weren’t going to accept whatever restrictions the RF was planning to place on them. I can’t imagine what those courtiers were trying to cook up to “offer” them.
I think this is going to be a huge (and frankly karmic) mistake for the RF. Harry and Meghan have countless opportunities now. The RF will now have to lean on the Cambridges more than ever, which…well, let’s just see how that goes.
Agree that it’s a massive loss for the BRF.
I just hope all of the tell-alls are released in my lifetime 🤞
I think it is a massive loss all the way around. I will miss Harry and Meghan at royal events. They have to put their family first though.
So happy for them!!! It hurts now, but every chain they break must feel so good. I can’t wait for something I can publicly support, knowing the Sussexes will handle the funds wisely and W&K aren’t going to waste it in the muddled finances of their foundation.
And I can’t wait to see Hollywood and businesses rally around them. They’re beautiful, charismatic, and relatable.
Interesting, that there are no actual concrete info about their security arrangements. I wonder if Canada even has a choice or will just have to pay for their bodyguards.
In any case, as goes with most rich and powerful families, the Sussexes will get a better deal than any other “normal” couple would ever hope for, including future sources of income, living arrangements, citizenships and all the rest of it.
I read it as it’s going to be covered (by the crown or Charles) and reviewed in a year, but perhaps I’m reading between the lines too much.
No, it specifically states that the security measures will not be discussed.
By letting them “retain but not use the HRH” The Queen has given them a path to come back to Royal duties, which was very smart and generous. She is showing them and the world that she loves them and would prefer them to stay and they can always come back. However, The Queen can still take the HRH away if this agreement doesn’t work for The Crown. Charles can cut off funding if he becomes unhappy with their actions. It’s a smart deal for the Crown, how it plays out….🤷🏻♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏽♀️🤷🏾♀️
I’m sad they are leaving, I’m sad he’s giving up all military patronages, I’m sad we won’t see him at official military events. I’m sad for my Brit friends who feel very hurt and sad. But, for Harry’s sake, it seems this is the best course of action for him.
Cat, did you get kicked off Twitter?!?!
Omg!! I did!! FOREVER!! Because I called Maureen Down a “see you next Thursday” – I literally said “Maureen down is a c—t” which is basically a compliment on twitter, as we know. And was shut down FOR LIFE. Dowd is famous for this: if you criticize her, Jack removes you FOR LIFE. Meanwhile think of all the abuse on twitter, and this Cat gets the boot? For life?? Horrible timing with this royal crises and the AUSTRALIAN OPEN😭😭😭😭 I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my twitter family. One could argue with a baby coming …. perhaps it is for the best, bit still!!!! I miss you guys 😩😩😩😩😩😩and the AO is going to be so hard without you
Oh god, that’s awful! I can’t believe you won’t be around for AO!! That sucks. I mean… you could maybe create a new Twitter profile though??
I tried to make a new profile!! It didn’t work, they’ve blocked me and my IP address. I’ve “appealed” and they won’t reinstate. Just stay away from politics, I guess. Jack has to keep the Nazis and Trump supporters happy. Back to AO: Can you believe Venus has to play Coco in the first round? I’m so upset about this. And very upset about Andy Murray’s pelvis and would plead to his wife to take it EASY!! Serena looks very fit, I’m so PSYCHED for all of it.
Wow, that’s so harsh. Well, email me whenever you want, you know I like to gossip about tennis!
Catherine, look at an IP blocker like NordVPN. Not expensive, good for digital security.
@Catherine – not really knowing what you’re talking about, your phrase “very upset about Andy Murray’s pelvis” is kinda hilarious.
@Catherine, I’d invest in a VPN. I’d do some research and see what options there are. Not only do they let you circumvent the Twitter ban, they also go a long way towards protecting yourself and your identity online. Good luck!
@Catherine …..l also thought it was tough Venus getting Coco again, who l think is being overhyped, but l have money on Venus to win. As for Andy Murray he is pushing himself too much.
@Catherine
Thank you for your comment, it gave me the last push to delete my twitter account. I suspected it to be protective of nazis and you confirmed it. Twitter plays a major part in the smear campaign of Meghan. They enabled the haters to join and draw large groups. I always wandered why Twitter had so much difficulties in suspending these hate accounts. But they react swiftly when critics of these trolls are concerned, I noticed at least 3 accounts are now suspended.
I wrote a tweet where I expressed hope that one of the trolls had hit the bucket. This was reported and twitter suspended me for 12 hours and I had to delete that tweet. But the person, who reported me, had taken a screenshot of my tweet and spread it on twitter happily. When I reported this, Twitter said that it did not violate their rules.
I agree that it leaves the door open for them to come back should they choose to. And it that also backs up the part that said they’d revisit this in a year,
Also too it said, “This new model will take effect in the Spring of 2020” So this maybe the timeframe for the transition.
There’s been some talk about their lawsuits against the media and how the fact that they’re not using the HRH title and not representing the monarchy makes it easier for them to go all in on those lawsuits. I think that’s another reason why they’re leaving it open-ended.
Good point about the law suits, l have been thinking about that. The Sussexes are still going to be front stage and centre during 2020.
I agree with everything you said.
What’s super interesting about this development is the example for future “spares.” Let’s face it, Princess Margaret had nothing useful to do once she was pushed further down the Line of Succession. Once the dashing hero of the Falklands War, Prince Andrew is a gong show now. Irrelevance was in Prince Harry’s future too, so good for him that he and Meghan are travelling a new road and opening up an option for Princess Charlotte to take someday. This is her inevitability as much as the throne is Prince George’s.
@Prairiegirl, this is what I think too, and I think that Princess Anne and Prince Edward planned accordingly for this fact when they got married and had children. Anne’s husband(s) refused any aristocratic titles conferred by the Queen. Her children were never going to be HRH because they’re the grandchildren of the monarch in the female line, and she was smart enough to understand that even an aristocratic title would confer undue scrutiny upon them. Prince Edward and Sophie decided to decline the title of HRH/Prince(ss) from the jump, because they’re low enough on the totem pole that their children wouldn’t be playing a meaningful role in the monarchy in the future at all. Both of them wised up to the reality, likely after watching Princess Margaret struggle with her position and her life as a public figure. It’s only Andrew who didn’t get the fcking memo, because he’s a craven a–hole who was mollycoddled by his mummy for far too long.
Margaret also chose not to do anything useful. Charles has his flaws, but he took the bull by the horns and chose not to sit around doing nothing. His Prince’s Trust and the successful business model he has created with the Duchy of Cornwall speak to his decision to make his life worth something more than just the longest serving POW in history. Harry had already established Sentebale and the Invictus Games before he met Meghan, so he was already choosing to work hard to make his life matter.
Response to Catherine (no. 40) above re Charles’ Funding: According to records, Charles releases about Duchy expenditures, he supports both his sons by defrays their working costs at about £6.5 million a year, with Harry getting less than half of that. Thus, we are talking somewhere around £3 million pounds a year that Charles provides the Sussexes. I think he has agreed to cover this for another year or so until they have their private funding in place, then I think the Sussexes will not take funding from him. All the other attempts to bang on about their living off poor poor Charles and sucking him dry is Royal Rota spin and — yes, I think he can be this small — Charles putting himself out there as being a martyr to the Sussexes stepping back.
I wish Harry and Meghan all the best on their new life. The BRF really screwed up here. That message of support should have been out a year ago. The queen threw shade at the press and she should have done this last year too.
Oh the Cambridges. The workload has tripled thanks to their shenanigans. Pressure is going to be on Kate to be the perfect queen in waiting. Nature abhors a vacuum and the tabs need a royal scandal to chew on.
I think another reason for the complete stepback is Meghan’s lawsuit. Since the Fail implied that Toxic Tom may take the stand I think Meghan and Harry needed the HRH shackles off so they can put up a real fight in court.
“Be careful what you wish for “ is going to make itself apparent very shortly. Had they been serious about being full time royals, we would have seen numbers to approach Edward and Sophie, but nothing of the sort. The departure of the Sussexes will make their lack of work even more obvious now.
There is no reason whatsoever Kate can’t do Sophie-like numbers. Meghan would have reached those, further embarrassing the FFQ. Kate is probably panicking. William is most likely fuming.
It’s not the number of engagements that matters but the measurable impact.
Kate has neither good engagement numbers nor measurable impact.
@Aquarius64, you’re on to something regarding the lawsuits. They can get on with them now, unhampered by royal protocol. I also want to see them, particularly Meghan, sue the daylights out of Piers Morgan. His rantings are completely out of control now, and I am afraid that his rage-filled comments will only incite some bad behavior. I hold him the most responsible for this situation, and he needs to be held accountable. Sue early, and sue often is my attitude when it comes to him!
Don’t worry Piers Morgan is going to get his karma soon. Harrys Lawsuit for phone hacking dates back to when Piers Morgan was editor of The Mirror. It’s gonna open up a whole can of worms. Andy coulson went to jail because of it, so piers should be very worried.
He is already named in the hacking lawsuit continuation that Harry has joined. ByLine Investigations has some interesting stuff about Piers and the hacking issue.
Piss Morgan needs to shut-up and get some therapy because he’s looking completely unhinged.
Love that Aquarius 64 …..nature abhors a vacuum. Also the RR has a strong taste for blood and that must be fed.
A HUGE loss for the BRF especially with brexit!! They’re in for a big scrutiny after driving out the only biracial member. The media will still continue to follow the Sussexs just like when Diana left the family. I wonder if we’ll get a Panorama interview as well and perhaps expose the BULLYING from jealous bill/KP??
I’m so happy for them. It might be scary but Hary got lucky with Meghan. He found someone who can encourage him to finally make this big step which he always wanted. Now I’m wondering if Archie will go to school in canada or??
Yeah. If Harry had married some “English Rose” or, hell, anyone who was part of that Aristo Set in the UK, I don’t think it would have been someone willing to do this, to throw up deuces and walk.
Because Meghan wasn’t from the UK and wasn’t at all enamored by the titles or status, she was full ride-or-die with Harry about leaving.
Archie will totally go to school in Canada. No way, after all of this, does Meghan want to send him to some boarding school in the UK. And if they have another kid (and I totally think they will) that kid will be born in Canada too.
Brexit is partly responsible for Sussexit. Britain is very divided and xenophobic at the moment and the wave of Trump style MAGA popularism is making inroads in Britain. The tabloids have seized on this and Meghan has sadly been collateral damage.
The good news is that the younger population are much more open and inclusive, and along with an increasing non white population will be the future. William and Kate take note.
I personally don’t know how to feel about this. I guess I’m sad on their behalf that they lost the HRH but at the same time, I’m happy for them gaining their freedom. Maybe they both valued their mental health and their freedom more than they valued those titles. I guess now they get paid for all the things they were doing on behalf of the crown? Good for them. I think from here forward, their future looks brighter than what it’s looked all the time they were in the BRF. I wish their family all the best.
No more crying about the price of Meghan’s clothes. Her and Harry are fuckn FREE! I wouldn’t have offered to pay a cent back for Frogmore but I get why they offered. The RF truly fucked up with these two. And I hope the commonwealth false apart after the Queen croaks.
I’m not sure the UK press or bad publicity is what drove Harry & Meghan away. Harry’s lived with it all his life and Meghan as an actress has experienced being a public figure and can’t be naive about how tabloids work. Something else caused a deep hurt and unhappiness and whatever it was, it hasn’t been fixed, they’ve just all agreed to part ways in a civil fashion. I hope that going forward, having their independence and freedom from royal constrictions will allow them to enjoy life and ignore the sh*tty press which is probably never going to end.
Please stop saying that Meghan is an actress and should have been able to cope with everything….really, the non stop relentless wicked racist tormenting throughout her pregnancy?
Thank you.
Tabloid culture in the US is *vastly* different to tabloid culture in the UK. Plus, Meghan lived in Toronto Canada for 7 years, specifically *because* she didn’t want to deal with the LA scene.
NO ONE should have to cope with being dehumanized, and that is exactly what the UK tabloids were doing to her. Racism, both blatant and microaggression type are dehumanizing. The UK tabloids treated her as a *thing* – something to be monetized by them in however they saw fit to, even if it meant outright lying. No one should have to just put up with such a thing.
That said though? The treatment by the UK tabs IS, IMO, only part of what was going on here, for sure.
She lived in Toronto because they filmed Suits there.
@mj
Just because they filmed Suits there, she didn’t have to live there full time. The show was not shot every day of every month of the year. Her costar Gina Torres didn’t live in Toronto full time when shooting the show, he main home was still in LA.
Meghan *chose* to live full time in Toronto. She very well could have still made her primary residence LA like Gina Torres did, and returned there during hiatus. She didn’t.
No one should have to suffer abusive press, especially when they’re expecting their first child and are more vulnerable to stress-induced health issues. This “she’s an actress, she should know about media” slant is extremely dehumanizing and basically implies she should just sit there and take the abuse.
Huh. Meghan is suing the press. Harry is suing the press. Everyone from George Clooney to a cross-party mix of female MPs have written excoriating letters about the cruelty of the press. The press likened her baby to a chimpanzee, obsessively nitpicked every little move she made, regularly told her that she wasn’t welcome in the UK, and delighted in fomenting actual hate towards her. But, yeah, okay, it has to be something else that drove her away.
@Mich, I love this comment so much, I want to marry it! The common thread here is the press, and there is no way Meghan or a Harry could have fully prepared themselves for this onslaught. I feel sure that he thought his statement telling them to back off in 2016 would be strong enough to make them stop. When they refused to stop, and basically quadrupled down on their attacks, he had enough and put the safety of his wife and child first. I wish nothing but the absolute best for them, and I think the Crown will come to regret their inaction in the not too distant future.
I always found interesting that —- after Harry put that pre-marriage statement out there in 2016 about asking the press to back off. —- someone in the Firm (KP, BP, CH) made sure to leak that Harry’s statement was unauthorized. I think the Firm has been part of the problem all the way back to pre-wedding. Instead of leaking that his statement had not been approved, one of them should have come out supporting his statement. None did, and so the undercutting began.
@Nan – that “something else” that caused deep hurt and sadness was FEAR. She was getting death threats, she was sent an envelope of white powder, she was clearly insulted by William, by Princess Michael (remember the blackamoor brooch?) and the rest of the BRF in their tacit compliance with the RRs and tabloids. Can you imagine living your life constantly looking over your shoulder, waiting for the next insult or attack to happen? I can’t.
Harry is still Prince of Wales and they are still Duke & Dutchess of Sussex. They aren’t losing their HRH titles. They just can’t be styled as HRH. I think this is key. If they divorce down the road Harry can get his reinstated easily enough.
I just wonder if Megan will be able to get this rumored global life style brand off the ground as people are speculating.
Andrew isn’t being stripped of anything since he did exactly as Mummy told him to. Harry went rogue with the announcement before approval.
He is still a prince, but not necessarily of Wales. The ‘Wales’ part was his defacto title because his father is the Prince of Wales. When he became ‘Duke of Sussex’, the ‘of Wales’ part sort of disappeared. Once Charles is king (and no longer POW), Harry doesn’t have any claim on the ‘of Wales’ part.
Actually, Charles in the Prince of Wales.
Harry chose Meghan, deal with it.
If they are not HRH, then they are not royal. Being a duke doesn’t make Harry royal unless he is also HRH (in a different reply I used Duke of Gloucester (HRH) versus Duke of Devonshire (not HRH ) as an example). Harry still being a prince is also not dispositive. Diana was “Diana, PRINCESS of Wales” after the divorce, but she was no longer HRH. So she was no longer a royal, and anything she did was a private matter not a royal one (which is why her death was considered just a private matter for the Spencers to deal with, not a royal matter).
Incorrect. Lady Louise and Viscount James are royals, they are just not styled HRH Princess Louise and HRH Prince James.
You truly believe that this is about her getting a lifestyle brand off the ground? Like she wants to be GOOP? Please. The only people who are speculating that are tumblr and twitter warriors. This is about being able to serve communities with out the constraints of having to hold back so they don’t outshine the anointed one and his wife – as she has shown again, and again, and again with the actions she has taken since (before) her wedding.
@GuestWho “You truly believe that this is about her getting a lifestyle brand off the ground? Like she wants to be GOOP? Please.”
These are the same people who were *so sure* that she would go back to acting and only married Harry to raise her profile in Hollywood to get bigger parts. Now that it’s becoming clear that she *isn’t* going back to acting, they’ve had to come up with another narrative in the same vein.
When the lifestyle blog never materializes, they’ll be twisting in the wind trying to come up with some other asinine thing to fit their pre-set narrative.
Yes, Harry’s camp mentioned recently that the Sussexes saw this as a way of being able to work more. That they were frustrated that they had to reign it in.
I agree the gossip about her her Netflix series , Disney voiceovers and lifestyle blogs is complete rubbish . There is no way she is this calculating and mercenary. She will not promote her self at all . That just isn’t her style . I wish people didn’t say stuff like this
Charles is Prince of Wales. The Queen didn’t direct Andrew to diddle with underage, trafficked girls and become BFFs with Epstein, she merely enabled him. Harry didn’t go “rogue”, the decision to relocate to Canada was LEAKED, no doubt by his ridiculous brother. There, fixed it for you.
This is about negotiation and personally think Meghan and Harry got what they wanted and needed. No more micro-management by the courtiers or all the roles they had to play. Both of them have played the long game, and are winning.
I can’t wait until they lower they boom about how they are going to make money, which I believe has been in the works for months. LOL. It’s going to be great to see the egg on certain people’s faces.
Robert Lacy said in an PBS interview that he understands they already have their “hugely funded America-based foundation” almost ready to role out. The Sussexes themselves have said their Foundation will go live sometime in the Spring.
My first reaction is that they were punished, which pisses me off. I hope it ends up working so well for them, the RF’s collective heads explode. I am also boycotting any royal post on any other member of that family. At least they won’t get my clicks while they keep the pedo fine and dandy. On a side note, it has been telling to see on Twitter how some of the same people or bots who hate on Meghan defend the pedo (“they were just friends, no proof”). Trash defends trash
I think this bit about parsing the HRH (give it up or just agree to not use it….who cares which, it’s the same result from 2 different pathways) would be disingenuous except two thoughts .
I’m sure the Sussexes agreed to do that in exchange for something (likely the Charles funded Duchy $$ still being available and/or something security provided)….and
If it’s “they agree not to use it” not “it’s taken away”…..I’m wondering if the BRF is holding out hope that there will be a divorce eventually and Harry will return the fold. This prohibits its use by her and by him as long as he’s with her? Just a thought. I’ve read other gossip sites that are basically floating that the BRF don’t believe this marriage will last.
Wonder what this does to thr whole “Sussex Royal “ branding work they’ve done?
This was a loss for H&M. If they knew this was coming, I doubt they would have named their website SussexRoyal.com.
JMO but that could also have been a move to block anyone else using the website url. 😉
Then they’d just have bought it and kept it empty, not used it for themselves.
Yeah, some guy has the SussexRoyal on Twitter and won’t give it up to them.
They are still the Duke and Duchess of Sussex though right?
Yes, they are. They retain those titles. The only thing they lost is the right to use HRH before those tiles.
I tend to agree. I think this places “Sussex Royal” in the wastecan. As said above, I think this is a power move to keep Meghan from ever being styled HRH and allows them to refresh Harry as same down the road if they end the marriage. Which the BRF are likely banking on.
I wish they’d chosen The Sussex Foundation instead- it has a better ring to it
The Sussex Foundation sounds so much better. IMO ‘Sussex Royal’ is a really odd branding decision, even if they’d kept the titles.
So many brands use Royal in the name, and it’s usually the crappy brands. Sussex Royal sounds like it could be cheap pet food.
Also we know who they are. Calling it Sussex Royal is like calling it the Clinton Presidential and Senatorial foundation.
How about SussexGlobal
They are still royals. Edward abdicated as King but nobody can say he was not a royal. Harry and Meghan requested to be minor royals which everybody interpreted to be one big breakup but it’s not. They are still royals and they are still part of the royal family since they did not renouce any familial ties either. Again I would like to repeat, they are still royals. The Swedish royal family has lesser HRHs now too but they are still royalty.
I think “royal” is inappropriate now, also for their own sake they should not risk being perceived as cashing in. They’ll get much more respect if they truly embark on this new life on their own.
Also, trademarking the sussexroyal means nobody else can use it even if they can’t use it or it is considered inappropriate for them to use.
Speaking about inappropriateness, for me it’s even more inappropriate for Andrew to have HRH or be out of jail. But I’m sure the UK royal reporters and DM public is more than ok with it. Harry and Meghan should have used Eipstein’s private plane and the Queen would have protected them.
Maybe it is inappropriate but I’d prefer for him to have gone through a trial first.
I think you are missing that they don’t want to be royals in any significant way. That is what this is all about. If they still wanted to be royals with their associated duties and restrictions, they would be. They do not want it.
Gosh, Lisel do you think it is inappropriate for Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Andrew, and Beatrice and Eugenie? Or just for Harry and Meghan?
Rhetorical question because I recognize your rhetoric from tumblr.
Yeah no, not sure how you can see this as a loss for them. I think they chose Sussex Royal because that’s the name of their instagram, which was around before they made this decision. I’m no expert in this area but maybe they can rebrand? After everything that’s happened, they got exactly what they wanted and good for them.
Geez the people on here still trying to find something to nitpick. Clearly Harry and Meghan made the right decision.
Free at last! The British Royal Family just lost it’s brightest stars. Look at what’s left.
I think they chose to pay for the Frogmore renovations, so the media (and social media bots) can’t go on about the poor beleaguered British taxpayer, who seem to have no problem paying for a sex offender.
I’m sure the Queen and Charles will pay for security and they fucking well should. It’s the least they can do since they weren’t arsed enough to defend a FAMILY MEMBER while she was being attacked by racist hyenas.
I worry the most about Harry. He’s been a prince his whole life and the transition is going to be hard on him. But I admire him so much for giving up so much to protect his wife and child. Hey William (and Charles),, that’s what a REAL man does.
The real winner in all of this is Archie. He won’t have to grow up being the literal ‘black sheep’ of his family. That c*nt Princess Michael, won’t be able to wear her blackamoor brooch to his birthday parties.
I hope their first stop is Oprah/Gayle King. I want to hear their side of the story.
I really hope their first stop is not Oprah/Gayle King. I’d lose all respect for them if that was the case. No-one needs a rinse & repeat Fergie. Besides, they promised to uphold the values of the Queen.
You mean ‘values’ like White supremacy and ignoring pedophilia? I certainly hope the Queen keeps those ‘values’ to herself.
Only they can reply to what that means to them. But I suspect it does not mean Oprah.
Most people would find that distasteful and I don’t think that they will do that. Just like when Diana did her interview, that was one side of the story and then we had to hear Charles and Camilla’s through “friends/sources” until Charles stupidly did his interview. No one gains from it in the end, imo.
Amen to that Lisel.
That would definitely cheapen them . They are above that
Remember this guy was in the army for ten years and rose to the rank of Captain, he wantEd a career in Army, but alas his Cover was blown.
Harry may surprise a lot of people, I don’t think he is afraid of hard work and he has people skills.
Now all the stories are coming, Harry and Meghan was told to slow down their work so as not to out shine the layabouts.
Charles at seventy is going to have to up his game, because Cain is not going to add to his work load, maybe he will get to be King sooner rather than later.
Charles is a gutless.
@Peg, I don’t think Harry is afraid of work and I’m a big fan of his people skills. But this HAS to hurt and I feel bad for him. Remember when Harry was assuring the world that his family would be the family that Meghan never had. He BELIEVED that. And the first thing the woman he loves is greeted with is a blackamoor brooch by the Nazi’s daughter. The betrayal by his family, up to and including his father and grand-mother, must be so painful. That’s what makes me worried for him. Even the strongest person would have an emotional reaction to this nightmare.
Meghan’s lucky. She’s had a nightmare family her whole life, so THIS is no surprise for her, and she made her own way in the world. She’s going to have guide Harry through the next part of their lives.
I really feel sorry for Harry too. He’s had to deal with the abuse leveled at his wife and child as well as the betrayal by his own family after he thought they’d welcome Meghan. His little family has basically been drummed out of Britain by a press baying for blood. He’s had to maintain his control, I’d imagine, through all these intense negotiations which had to have ripped him apart along with bringing him a sense of relief and release. I’m sure this has had such a deep effect that a lot of various emotions are now crashing down on him from all directions. As Kerwood stated, Meghan coming from her own dysfunctional family will have to guide him. They’ll be supportive of each other going forward as it has been, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Harry sought help with this as well.
@Peg, I think Harry has always, in some sense, known the truth, which is that he wants to do meaningful work with his life, and being a member of the RF is simply not conducive to that in any capacity. It’s different if you’re a direct heir who’s going to become a monarch. There is a clear cut constitutional role that you have to fulfill, even if you think the rest of it is bunk. But that’s not the case for someone in Harry’s position. This is the tension under which the British monarchy came into the 20th century, and as times continue to change, they’re still not doing a very good job of solving the issue definitively.
Harry didn’t include William in the charity he founded at age 19. He’s known all along exactly what William is behind the scenes. Harry has what he wanted – away from that family including his petulant abusive brother.
Its in the Sussexes’ best interests to NOT engage in that kind of stuff, uphold queen or not. If they want a solid meaningful brand with continuity and longevity, they’ll steer clear of any tell alls. Should they decide to be interviewed by Oprah, Gayle or anyone else, it has to be in the contract that they will ONLY discuss their causes, charity Foundation and their philanthropic work, nothing personal. If it veers into anything personal, keep it at just addressing the UK media racism and abuse that eventually made it absolutely impossible to continue in their roles as senior members of the BRF. Take cues right from public figures before them (eg. BO and MO) AND, from Harry’s previous interviews where he has NEVER discussed anything personal unless it was absolutely necessary. I’m just interested to find out what Oprah and Harry’s series will cover, I cant wait.
This!
Agreed Babsorig. I want them to go high, not low. No tell alls — as much as I’d like to know, I don’t want them to go there or have their friends go there for them. I hope they a leaf out of the Obamas game book. .
Yeah, if they do an interview, I hope it’s not with either Oprah or Gayle King. Don’t do an interview with anyone who is in the inner circle loop (Oprah was at the wedding and Gayle was at Meghan’s baby shower).
Pick an outside, respected journalist. Soledad O’Brien has already said on twitter that she’d so it. And I’m sure someone like Anderson Cooper would be happy to do it as well (likely for 60 Minutes).
Apologies if this is answered up thread, but practically speaking what difference does it make if they are the Duke/Duchess of Sussex vs HRH(s) the Duke/Duchess of Sussex?
It means they are not members of the royal family anymore (they are still relatives of the royals, but not royal themselves). Harry remains a duke but not a royal one. For example, the Duke of Gloucester is the Queen’s cousin and is HRH – he is a member of the royal family. The Duke of Devonshire is very wealthy but not HRH – he is not a member of the royal family.
When Diana divorced Charles, she was stripped of HRH. That’s why when she died the royal family wasn’t going to do anything to acknowledge it, because it was a private (not royal) matter. (They only changes their minds after public outcry).
Similarly, Harry and Megan are a private family now, not royal family. On the plus side, they will be able to distance themselves from those toxic people.
Mrs krabapple, is there a strict legal definition of the British royal family? I understand if there is one for HRH and when it is permissible to use but how about for the members of the BRF? Are Zara, Mike, Edward’s kids not royals? I thought they are still royals but they are not working royals.
Diana wasn’t stripped of her HRH when they divorced. She gave it up willingly in exchange for more money from Charles. Her solicitor was interviewed years later and said that.
When Fergie and Andrew’s divorce was final in the spring of the same year, Fergie maintained her HRH. When Diana realized she had to curtsy to Fergie, she started screaming lies about the royals stealing her HRH. To shut it all down, the Queen issued a new order that anyone divorcing out of the family lost their HRH. That cost Fergie her HRH after the fact, because of Diana’s pettiness.
This is INCORRECT.
Harry and Meghan are STILL royal. They are STILL members of the royal family. They are STILL HRH. Harry is STILL 6th in line to the throne; Archie is STILL 7th in line to the throne.
@Emmett
My replies are based on the reports that Harry and Meghan are no longer “HRH” — if the reports are not accurate and they are still HRH, then please ignore my comments.
And just to clarify, I never said anything about Harry and Archie losing their place in line for the throne either way – you dont have to be “HRH” to be in line for the throne. That is a whole different issue.
If Harry and Meghan were stripped of HRH, I assure you, it wouldn’t have been left vague. The royal family takes this stuff very very seriously. It would be a specific edict just like with Diana. It would be public and crystal clear.
They agreed not to “use” HRH. Very different. All this about Harry no longer being royal is wrong also. He’s born royal. He has “royal blood,” as they love to say. He will always be a prince. There is no (modern, at least) precedent for stripping a Prince of the blood royal of the “royal” designation. This is not to say the queen couldn’t do that, but that she has not done that, and if she did, she would make it very clear.
@ Alexandria
I didn’t know if I should reply because others are clarifying that Harry and Megan are still HRH, so this may be moot. But Anne’s kids are commoners – they are members of the royal family only in the common usage of “member of a family” (in that, they are related). But they have no royal status. By comparison, William’s kids are all HRH and are royals. And then there’s Edward — his kids are not HRH, and therefore have no royal status, but unlike Anne’s kids, they are not commoners either. Edward is an earl and one day his son will inherit that title. So they have a peerage. Edward’s son James is Viscount Severn — he is not royal, but he is a peer. And all the grandchildren (William’s royal children, Edward’s peerage son, and Anne’s commoner children) are all in line for the throne — the titles don’t affect their line of succession.
Edward’s kids are HRH but they don’t use it. As grandchildren of the monarch through the male line both Louise and James have the HRH. They announced that they wouldn’t be using when Louise was born. Anne’s kids don’t have it because it doesn’t apply to female children of the monarch.
Prior to George being born, the letters patent were amended so that all of Williams children were HRH, in case the eldest was a girl, as the letters patent at the time only applied to the eldest male of the heir to the heir of the monarch.
Response to notasugarhere: You’re right. Diana also chose to give up her security team too and we all know how that turned out. Hopefully, the Firm learned something from that!
They are still HRH, the Sussexes. They’ve agreed to not use the HRH in their commercial ventures. That’s it. When they are in the U.K., they’ll still be HRH. When they are doing business, they’ll still be the Duke and Duchess of Sussex or Harry & Meghan Mountbatten-Windsor.
Katie Nicholl was just on CBC talking about this, and stating how Meghan just ‘couldn’t adjust to and had trouble with being in the limelight and being part of the BRF’. Give me a friggin’ break. So they’re still going with that narrative and chosing to ignore the fact that it was the malicous press that pushed them out of the country. They’ll continue to refuse to take any reponsibility for H & M’s actions and continue to blame her. They wanted her gone from the get-go, and now that she is, they’re pissed. No pleasing them, hmm?
I also heard that they’ll pay off the Frogmore renos, and will pay rent for the property to keep it as a UK base. Harry is still Prince Harry, HRH and Duke of Sussex; Meghan is Duchess.
Have you read the article Black British Group Pens An Open Letter to the British Broadcast Media on Racism and Meghan Markle’ on Influencher? Excellent take on how the white media will never understand or take responsibility for their racism.
I think the family refuses to accept that Meghan was treated differently too. I think they don’t see any difference in how the tabloids treat them vs Meghan. Maybe that’s just projection on my part based on my opinion of them though.
I’d like just one of them, to say you know I went to far and I feel bad. I actually read Rebecca English’s article for the Daily Mail yesterday as she said some nice things about Reporting on Harry over the years. But right towards the end of the article — I guess it’s like diarrhea for these tabloid hacks — she took the gloves off and went off on both Harry and Meghan.
Is that the one where she sounded like a jilted lover? Because that was AWFUL.
Yes!
It bugs me too Kaiser. A pedophile can keep his HRH status and no longer be a working royal but no Harry and Meghan?? This only underline how garbage this family is and why Harry and Meghan wanted to leave. The underlying aspect of all of this is by giving up their HRH status the Royal Rota now has no grounds to demand access to ANYTHING. And I suspect that is why both Meghan – and ESPECIALLY Harry who truly loathes them – were perfectly willing to give them up. And making them pay back the money for Frogmore which was undergoing renovations anyway – utter bullsh*t.
Congrats to Harry and Meghan. Their freedom is much earned and much deserved.
It doesn’t matter if the RRs cannot demand access. This isn’t going to stop the racist tabloids and RRs from continuing to write vile things about these two.
True but they’ll be far away from it and won’t have to pay it any attention.
No, but the main issue HARRY has always had was dealing with the Royal Rota. He hated them and publicly stated as much (as has Charles).
The thing is, they can no longer say it is in the name if the taxpayers, and they’ll have to focus on the working Royals, since that is their job. What is the point of coming after Harry and Meghan from that distance if what they are doing is private and they pay for it themselves. They’ll snark but a lot of the casual observers will have moved on.Ill continue to focus on the Sussexes and wish them all the best, but the Royal family is not my real interest or concern.
I think the reason some of the British Media gossip writers and presenters are going crazy, is that they were still hoping Harry and Meghan were going to be pressurized into dropping the lawsuits. That hope is now gone. Watch PM behaviour escalate to being commited level !!!!!
Yep. They want those lawsuits dropped big time and were so sure they would be. They were surprised by the lawsuits in the first place, never saw them coming (they kept questioning “why now?” on twitter and other places about the lawsuits). But they were so sure they would be dropped and that H&M would cave and start giving them more transactional access.
Instead, the walked. And now no one can pressure them to drop the lawsuits. Most of the RRs and others in the UK Press have been in flat out denial that Harry and Meghan would actually, really walk. Maybe Meghan would, but they really, *really* thought, really were still as of yesterday, trying to convince themselves that Harry wouldn’t really go.
This press release has, however, confirmed that it’s really happening. They’re both going, and the Daily Mail and whomever else can stall as long as they can, but this lawsuit is going to court. It isn’t getting dropped or settled. And they are apocalyptic about that.
Sorry, very ignorant on titles. Why can’t they change change Sussex@Royal to another name? What’s the big deal?
Does anyone know if Harry loses his place in the line of succession?
No, he does not!
Everyone–or at least most people–are stating that Meghan and Harry lost their HRH titles but if you read the statement it states that ‘The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles because they are no longer working members of the Royal Family.” Given how carefully worded this and previous statements have been, I think that’s significant. I’ve seen a few reporters on Twitter make the distinction that the Sussexes will retain but not use their HRH titles but I’m not familiar with them so I don’t want to put too much stock in them but if they are correct it confirms how I interpreted the statement. I do wonder if this (them retaining but not using HRH) leaves the gate open for a way back or is a cynical attempt to stop comparisons with Andrew not losing HRH?
The British media is desperate to twist this statement into a loss because of the international scrutiny it’s gotten in the past two weeks. The fools in the press refuse to take responsibility for their actions and I suspect they’re in denial about how poorly this reflects on the UK. They’ll harp on “Meghan and Harry lose their HRH!!!!” for the rest of the weekend and Monday because they’re just that petty. What’s truly telling is the door the Queen and the RF left open to “revisit” the situation. They are the ones who truly lost in this and they know it.
Yeah, good luck getting that horse back in the corral once it’s had a year of freedom. I think the Sussexes’ train has left the station.
I agree, not “using” a title is different than losing it. A subtle distinction.
The protection of Andrew is so outrageous. There’s obviously no comparison, but they’re treating it as if he farted in public, not that he’s hiding from the FBI.
I think it leaves the door open for H&M to return to full time working Royal status. I believe that’s also why the statement was included that the issue would be revisited in 2021.
I don’t think H&M will return unless significant changes are made within the Family, the Firm and their relationship with the tabloid press. As I said below, change can be messy and things can need to be tweaked so having a plan in place to meet and discuss those issues is a great plan.
I think so too.
I don’t think they’ll return within a year, but I can see Harry being induced into coming back in some fashion when William (or perhaps Charles) becomes king. It’s really ironic how, out of everyone else, William is the one who needs Harry the most, especially as the years go by and he takes up more responsibilities. Harry is the only other person in the RF who, in time, will be able to provide a specific type of wisdom that William will need after all the other older members of the family are gone and can’t be tapped for advice. And he’s the one who William chased away for selfish reasons.
If I’m being generous, maybe the Royals are hoping this is a trial separation to give the Sussexes space to breathe, and set up whatever changes they need to get working. However, I think their motives toward the Sussexes are suspect.
Yeah, who knows — maybe after a year of working their collective asses off — the Cambridge’s will be begging for their return, but I think there’s no putting this back the way it was.
Its bs about Harry’s military patronages. You have the British media already saying hes turning his back on the military. Also good luke to whomever takes over his jobs like commonwealth ambassador. I’m sure they will have the personality he did.
Members of the military have been speaking up praising Harry for the past two weeks on their personal SM accounts. Athletes from Invictus, people who served with him. Those in the military know Harry has supported them for years, and they are supporting him and Meghan in return.
I’ve been reading some of the comments on the Daily Mail re H&M and it scares me how hateful people are. Not just one, but hundreds of comments wishing death to Meghan, usually in a tunnel. It’s so sad. And tons of comments lately that Charles isn’t Harry’s biological dad. I honestly can’t imagine saying I wish death to anyone – especially online in such a cowardly fashion. (And I really despise Trump and fam) But especially to someone I’VE NEVER EVEN MET!! Who hasn’t impacted my daily life WHATSOEVER! What is the genesis of this insanity? Race, most definitely yes (loads of comments making veiled remarks re M’s coloring) – but good lord there must be more. I’ve read that British society dislikes people deviating from their social cast – must stay in one’s place.(Not sure if true – I’m American) All this social climbing nonsense might derive a bit from that. Plus American, divorcee, actress… but I guess I’m just rambling on because I genuinely can’t understand the level of hate shown towards this family. I’ve been following the stories – understand what role Harry was forced to play in the Royal family, understand the Rose-trimming stories and how this could have resulted in more leaks to the press. But still – situation is totally nuts and can’t be rationalized.
LOL, if Charles isn’t Harry’s biological dad, then that means Harry isn’t a real royal. So why then, would they be mad that Harry’s leaving? #somethingtothinkabout
“I’ve read that British society dislikes people deviating from their social cast – must stay in one’s place.(Not sure if true – I’m American)”
It isn’t true. Kate’s grandfather was a coal miner, and her parents are ‘in trade’.
Ordinary people rise all the time in Britain. They do it through talent, energy, education, and luck. My husband is a perfect example of that.
If you are reading comments in the DM glance at the nationality the commentators making racist comments. Most of them are American.
However much British racism played a part in the enormous amount of abuse Meghan was expected to tolerate, I think something else was behind it.
And how well has Kate been treated in the past, both by the press and by the aristocrats in whose company she is now in? She didn’t deal with any where near the level of hate that Meghan did, but there was a considerable amount of it regardless, and a lot of it was because of her class.
Just because people CAN succeed in spite of their class in Britain doesn’t mean that 1) it’s the norm, or that 2) society facilitates it. Societal factors are still weighted quite heavily against anyone who wants to achieve something beyond their class distinction in Britain. Ask anyone who’s working class who went to Oxbridge.
Thousands of those comments are BOTS.
Her Majesty forgot to finish her sentence…”and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family,” the Queen said.” even when we leaked racist reports and generally made her life a living hell. There, now it’s finished.
@Harla +1
👏👏👏👏
The lack of self-awareness in that family has to be genetic! Especially since so many of them seem to be afflicted with it!
Ha ha —- or ….”so proud of Meghan…..” even though we thought she was only here to dust a bit and take out the trash.
They are just not allowed to “use” their HRH titles, which is fair because who knows what deals they are going to be doing now that might be in conflict with the RF and what they would want to be associated with. It’s also been released that the “refund” is coming from the duchy funds, as will a continued yearly allowance. So that financial independence is very very big of them. I really hope they are going to be OK
They wanted financial independence from the PUBLIC funds (5%) to shut the Press etc the f-ck up. They would have to be morons to cut off their rightful trusts/ inheritance from one of the richest families in the world.
I am really happy for them and wish them all the best. As a woman of colour, I have found her abuse to be stressfully to me, so I can only imagine the impact on them. So this is a resolution I can get behind. I don’t care how the press spins it.
It was good in a way that Kensington Palace leaked this story to toady Wooten, see when push come to Shove, the Queen can get things done.
The Sussexes wanted to be out of this back stabbing family pronto, one of the tabloids said when M&H extended their vacation, the Royal Family knew they definitely serious, none of us paid attention, when that couple said they had their dogs in the park.
I’m laughing at the tabloids saying Meghan left Harry to deal with this on his own, abandoning was the word used, the same people that for years have been saying Meghan is the boss in the relationship.
Hey Peg — Are you saying William actually did them a favor? Ha ha. I guess maybe that was his belated wedding gift to them because i agree with you. The Queen was deferring the issue to Charles and Charles would have dragged this out forever. WIN/WIN for the Sussexes.
There is only one issue I don’t understand – money. For security and Charles. They have potential to earn a lot, they already have money so why fight for it so hard? it’d be for them like 100$ for me. or 1000.
Because the kind of security they need is extraordinary. They can’t use a private firm. They need to be connected to intelligence channels that aren’t available to the public. They are targets because they are so closely related to the Queen. And that is really expensive.
This makes sense. I was thinking they should just pay for their own security so they could truly just be done with it all. But I don’t even know if they could reimburse for publicly paid royal protection officers. According to the Queen’s statement, an independent process determines who requires publicly funded protection. Prince Harry is one of the most famous people alive, he’d be a huge target for terrorists and lone crazies.
I’m guessing hiring their own security would be nonstarter with the Queen and Charles anyways. They’d want him and his family protected by people they trust.
@Kebbie, I think, setting aside the fact that Harry is their grandson/son and he’s family and in spite of everything they definitely want him to be safe, they’re also wary of potentially dealing with any fall out SHOULD something happen because they didn’t have the adequate security. Whose fault would that be, if Harry needed, but couldn’t afford, a specific level of security? Would it be Harry’s fault, for not earning enough as a private citizen? But is it even his fault that he needs this type of security, considering that he was born into the royal family and he didn’t choose this life to begin with? Is it the fault of the British government? The government of whichever country he chooses to reside in? There are some truly gnarly questions here, and the fact is, a lot of this is entirely because of factors out of Harry’s control entirely.
That makes sense GuestWho. At a minimum, I’m sure the Firm doesn’t want another death like Diana’s because adequate security tied to government intelligence agencies isn’t in place. Diana was allowed to give up her security in the divorce. Hopefully, Harry accepts that his mother might still be alive if she had still had her royal protection security in place. I’m sure he wants the best security out there for his family.
This. It’s entirely in the BRF’s interest to make sure they stay safe. If anything were to happen to even one of them, the backlash would be so swift and severe, they would shoulder ALL the blame for not putting a stop to a cascade of events that led to it. Which would be justified, IMO. A statement of support like the one we just read, a year ago, was certainly called for, but these inbred racist garbage dumpsters of people were happy to let it all continue so they could protect a pedophile and the non-secret of an extramarital affair.
To me this seems that the Sussex’s got pretty much what they wanted – good for them and good luck with the new life. The RF will rue to day they let these 2 go and as for the Cambridges, they will forever be tarred with running them out of the country – everyone now knows that the brothers falling out was one of the root causes of this. The damage to them has already been done and its only a matter to time before the tabloids that they have been so eager to feed turn on them – karma is a b!tch W&K and it will come for you (and the Middletons).
I hope the Middletons are completely ignored. Their meddling played a big hand in this. All those pap pics over Christmas was very telling.
Being ignored would be fitting Karma for the Middletons. That would crush Carol.
I could not agree more. I kept scratching my Head wondering why there were stories on Carole’s bikini figure? And Pippa’s daily vacation pics. It is so so obvious now.
I don’t think that people will necessarily hold the Cambridges accountable for this, even though William definitely shoulders a significant amount of the blame for everything that’s happened. But I definitely think that, without Harry there to smooth over the edges, William is going to have a much tougher time as Prince of Wales and as monarch when the time comes. It’s not so much that William won’t have Harry to throw under the bus anymore–he’ll find someone else who can fulfill that particular job in no time. It’s the fact that Harry was, on his own, incredibly popular and well-liked. He was warm and friendly, and people got a good vibe from him that they don’t necessarily get from William, who is more uptight and rigid and not as personable. Without anyone to balance this particular aspect of William’s personality, he’s going to be in for a long struggle where people try to relate to him and come up entirely cold, especially now that he’s the only public face of the monarchy’s future.
I fully expect to see more sightings of William with his children, and with his family as a whole, as a way to soften his public image. But I also expect significant missteps on his part as well, especially during instances when he’s tasked with being empathetic and compassionate and he isn’t.
I think they’ll see William as a cold authoritarian that they can rely on to not make any changes and Kate will be one tasked with softening the hard edges. Very regressive but that is their audience. And their defenders will say that anyone who doesn’t like it doesn’t understand the monarchy because they’re not celebrities and don’t have to care about being likable. Unless it’s bad optics -but that’s only a concern for Harry and Meghan, of course 😉
Actually when you don’t have to care about being liked, that is a show of power and I think that’s what attracts a lot of their fans -that comfortable, protected from real concerns, don’t have to worry about other people, show of privilege and power. That’s why they don’t care if they do any work.
I agree “A”. Harry made William a better man. William is now a much smaller man due to his jealousy.
I think it will be interesting to see how William will come to be perceived when the older generations of monarchists die out.
the next time William bangs on about bullying I hope someone taps him on the shoulder and asks what he did for his sister-in-law who is/was the most bullied woman in the UK.
He got Harry to collaborate on a statement absolving him of any responsibility!
Wonder what negotiating point Harry got in return. Must have been a biggy.
I wonder the exact same thing JA?
This is definitely a winning situation for Harry & Meghan. I wish them all the best and pray they have a long and lasting marriage. It’s scary the hatred within so many people’s hearts wishing them death, divorce. It’s easy to understand why so many right wing fascists are in power now cause of the mindless, ignorant haters who live amongst us.
I also wonder if the statement about revisiting the issue in 2021 is twofold. One, to see how things work out for H&M and second, to see if the RF NEEDS H&M to come back into the fold. Things may not work out with W&K picking up the slack and the RF may need H&M to come back and help.
I think, in regards to revisiting it in 2021, change can be messy and isn’t always isn’t what one expects. I think it’s a great idea to set aside some time in the future to revisit how everything is going on both sides and see if anything needs a bit of tweeking. I’m hoping that by then H&M will be completely financially solvent and won’t need any further help from Charles.
They wanted financial independence from the PUBLIC funds (5%) to shut up the Press etc. They would have to be morons to cut off their rightful trusts/ inheritance from one of the richest families in the world.
There is no “rightful trusts/inheritance” at the moment except the money that William already inherited from his mother & great grandmother. Charles gives them money from his income from the Duchy of Cornwall, but all this goes to William once Charles becomes king.
Yeah, Guest 2.0. Some of them they have simply reset their Sussex divorce countdown clocks. Talk about going low!
It was scary that is for sure. The obvious not even bother to hide hopes for a divorce or worse. Some of the most disturbing human behavior you could ask for. May they have wonderful peaceful lives. Maybe Archie can grow up away from the pap walks for positive press.
Can they still use the “royal” in Sussex royal?
They are still members of the RF. the retain their TRH but won’t use it. They can do what they wish.
I like to imagine H&M walking onto an airplane giving all of their detractors, is the word I’ll use to be nice, a giant middle finger.
As well as, Harry patting William on the back and saying “you’re on your own.” All of the bs is now all his to take.
ETA: Anything they want to shill in the future I will buy it.
Same here!
I agree! I haven’t bought my copy of the Together cookbook yet. I’m a little confused about where the money to support that project will go now. I had read that Will and Kate’s foundation was trying to claw back the proceeds since the foundations hadn’t been separated at the time of the publication, and they felt that the money should stay with them. I don’t want to support any of W&K’s endeavors, so I am undecided about buying the book. Can anyone clarify if Meghan and Harry still have control of funds from the sale of the books since she created the project?
I think I read on one of the threads on this site that when. They split from Cambridge Foundation there was a hard legal deal about all FUTURE profits generated by cookbook sale would be handled appropriately. That word future would seem to imply that the Sussexes were unhappy with what they found out about how that money stream was being directed.
It is also interesting that the media keep writing about the negative fallout but nothing about the positives such as the fact that the cookbook is a no.1 bestseller in the Middle Eastern food section. Also that #SussexGreatForest has planted tens of thousands of trees.
I would advise you to buy the book because it’s not just the money but shows Meghan’s intelligence and initiative.
Any word from Charles or William? Or they, like the press, doesn’t want to admit their role in this? British media is mad there was no divorce announcement.
CNN is doing a special tonight at 9pm: Harry and Meghan: Royal Revolution. Should be interesting.
Thanks for the tip aquarius64, I just hit record.
It’s the same title for a documentary that ITV broadcast in the UK late last year so I *thinK* it’s probably the same thing and won’t contain any current info?
Let me just clarify re: HRH.
The Duke and Duchess will not use the HRH because they aren’t working members of the BRF. But, both are still technically HRH’s under the law, since Harry is still the son of the the Prince of Wales.
Translation: We’re not *legally* stripping his HRH… because circumstances may change and he may some day return to the fold.
Also, they are still receiving funding from Prince Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall income and he will also most likely chip in for security. Again, things could change.
Everyone is leaving the door *open.*
Thanks anon. And it makes sense to leave the door “open “ for both sides as they all figure out how this will work.
I don’t believe the door is open. Harry is his mother’s son and will likely not miss the BRF. He suffered a good deal of anguish in the thought he would lose a wife and possibly a child. Harry has said they would like to have two children, and I suspect within the next two years they will have full careers and another child.
This is simply a transitional period and I think they will settle between Canada and California. Easy to travel for them and do both business and charitable work, owning a home in both places. Welcome back Meghan and welcome home Harry and Archie.
I suspect that they insisted on losing the HRH and ‘paying back’ the Frogmore renovations, plus QEII saying something nice about Meghan. Give the press as little cause to tantrum as possible. I would also not be surprised if they got a parting gift of ‘private funds’ from Charles that would cover the cost for them. If there’s any punishment at all, it’s that they no longer represent the queen in any official capacity. Their website definitely sounded like they wanted scaled back rather than gone entirely, but somebody probably gave an all-in or all-out ultimatum.
Ah, ensuring I will never feel an ounce of pity for his deservedly ghosted soul, Toxic Tom is chiming in that Meghan and Harry are turning the Royal Family into Walmart with a Crown on. I don’t know the details because I refuse to click on the headline.
Well if anyone would know about cheapening a family, it would be this loser. I do not understand the sympathy for this man. How willfully stupid can some people be?
In other news, I thank the Celebitchy site owners for working on a weekend. If my post isn’t moderated and gets lost, I understand. I appreciate today’s blog entry. Have a good weekend, everyone.
Evil Papa Smurf (and the other daughter) are mad that the Markles have lost their “prestige” of being connected to the royal family marriage and by blood. For the Sussexes not being senior royals anymore the Markle jackals know their fantasies of going to Frogmore and meeting the royals are forever gone and getting access to major royal money. These clowns are also afraid the press will eventually turn on them and report how THEY played a role in the “intense scrutiny” as mentioned in the queen’s statement. Expect “palace sources” to leak to the press why TT and the rest of the klan were ghosted from the pregnancy and birth announcements, Archie’s christening and what the BRF really thought of them. This Tom-foolery is probably the other reason the Sussexes stepped back: they have freedom to deal with Meghan’s monster family once and for all.
I think we’ve seen all the support the Sussexes are going to get in media releases from the Firm. I don’t think any palace sources are going to leak anything favorable about them.
I’m sure the British media and RRs are busy twisting this to justify their racist behavior. The hate pieces and attacks will continue unabated for awhile, but will hopefully die down once H&M have put enough time and distance between them.
Also, I knew that a lot of the hate that H&M received were from Trump loving American white women but I didn’t realize until now that H&M have been targets of the American right wing media (Breitbart, etc,). Apparently, they’ve been writing think pieces and fomenting hatred against H&M.
Lots of nasty comments from Americans on Daily Mail from Day One.
I really dont think they planned for No Titles.
I think they wanted to be working Royals for the Crown but be minor ones so the palaces cant dictate what they can/cant do.
The Queen probably asked ‘are u in or r u out’ and they chose out.
Their foundation has a really long name with HRH in it – they might have to change the name. And given that they no longer work for the Queen, not sure they’ll be allowed to be ‘Sussex Royal’ anymore.
No more tours or charities. Theyre basically Harry and Meghan now. I really wonder if thats what they wanted.. and i dont think it is.
They are NOT losing their titles. Nothing has been stripped. They’re just not USING the HRH part for their own endeavors. They are still the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
@Coffee, They didn’t lose their titles; they’re CHOOSING not to lose them. The statement is quite clear.
And no matter where they go or what they do, they will NEVER be JUST Harry and Meghan. Right now they are two of the most famous people on earth and that’s not going to change any time soon. Imagine all the charities and associations that had been promised a visit from Harry and Meghan and are now facing the possibility that they’re going to be stuck with Normal Bill and Keen Katie. Yay?
My point was they didnt ‘choose’ to lose the titles, or at least they didnt WANT to. It was clear from their statement they wanted to retain the title and continue working for the Crown while also pursuing their personal endeavors towards financial independence.
The options put on the table to them was probably youre either in or out – so in that sense i guess they did chose out and subsequently lost the titles.
100% certain the Brits and The British Press will never leave them be. They want to see complete failure. They want Meghan to divorce Harry and Harry to move back to the U.K. and suffer abuse for leaving. They want be satisfied until they can punish Harry. Harry and Meghan will only become stronger. I personally will support every single thing they do and will put my money behind my words. Americans love to see a fight through adversity….We’re cheering and supporting you Meghan!!!
@Coffee,and others are continuously politely stating that the Sussexes did NOT lose their titles, but you stubbornly continue to insist that they lost the title, SMDH.
@Babsorig —
It’s incredible, isn’t it!? But it’s also a great example of how humans selectively — and often subconsciously — filter information, and let in (absorb) things and ideas that conform with their established opinions and beliefs, and just ignore the rest.
They didn’t lose any titles. They are still HRH, they just won’t be using it in the work they will be doing.
The interesting thing will be Harry. Meghan May be happy but how will Harry be 2, 3 years from now after being upended from all that he knows? I don’t think it’s as easy as saying he’s doing this for love and will be fine.
Harry will be fine. The Tumbler folks rooting for them to divorce is getting so trying. Harry was always going to be phased out so he did it on his terms. I mean it doesn’t look like Andrew is doing to well so I think H & M made the exact right choice.
Harry did it for his WIFE AND SON. I don’t think he’ll ever regret THAT.
Yes Kerwood exactly
How happy would Harry be watching his wife go through this harassment another 2, 3 years?
Yes, thankfully she will have a relatively stress free pregnancy. I think she couldn’t bear to go through another pregnancy being continuously hauled over to the coals.
How do you know this wasn’t Harry’s decision? I’d drop my family in a heartbeat if they treated my husband like that. And there would be no regret to escape a toxic family.
Harry said years ago that he didn’t want to be in the RF but was staying out of duty. I think he’s going to be fine.
The interesting thing will be Harry. Meghan May be happy but how will Harry be 2, 3 years from now after being upended from all that he knows? I don’t think it’s as easy as saying he’s doing this for love and will be fine.
Upended from all he knows? He’s moving to North America with a wife he loves and their son. Harry has shown they are more important to him that a life as a royal.
It’s not easy. It’s never easy even when you’re fully in love and are committed to each other. The hardest thing in the world is to stick to your principles and upend everything that you have ever known. The second hardest thing is figuring out how to deal with the changes and weathering them. But the fact is that nothing in life is ever easy. Maintaining the status quo of your life because you prefer the familiarity comes at a price too.
One of these days (hopefully sooner rather than later), we’re going to get the name of the grey man in the grey suit who thought it was a good idea to cancel the Queen’s meeting with Harry. Maybe it WAS the Queen’s idea but I doubt it. Harry is one of her favourites and I can’t believe she’d blow him off so disrespectfully. This ‘courtier’ thought it was the best way to handle ‘bolshie Harry and his Black wife’. He was wrong. We might be witnessing the decline and fall of the British monarchy.
“I can’t believe she’d blow him off so disrespectfully” I believe it. I fully believe that she wanted to avoid any conflict with her grandson on this subject, which is why she refused to meet with him and kept blowing him off. If there’s one thing about the Queen that people should know, it’s the fact that she will not, under any circumstances, tolerate any situation that makes her feel even slightly uncomfortable or vulnerable. She’d let the whole monarchy burn down around her before she’d lift a finger to do something that goes against the grain. And she knows this, which is why she gets her men in grey to do the dirty work for her on this front.
+100.
This is such an insightful take.
Exactly. The Queen has always put the monarchy before her family which is why they are all messed up. Being 6th in line Harry just felt that the extent of the sacrifice for him wasn’t justified.
The Queen has a very bad habit of sticking her head in the sand when it comes to family dramas like this. Her continued support of Andrew must really stick in Harry and Meghan’s craw while everyone else simply turns a blind eye, and mummy and Andrew still do the church run. I can’t forget that she had to be forced to pay taxes. A billionaire and she balked at paying taxes. She really is a loathsome woman masquerading as a caring grannie.
Good for them!!!! Did anyone see Bill Maher last night. He was right royal is a horrible institution. Putting people ahead of each other just cause you won at 23 and me is not right. He was willing to give them some credit, but he said you can’t do it just halfway. I agree. Now they haven’t, it’s 100% in. Good for them and wish them luck with their new life.
I don’t like Bill Maher, but that’s essentially one of the fundamental problems with the monarchy as a system of governance. Not only does it entrench inequality on some fairly spurious grounds, its stability rests on, amongst other things, this idea that biology will always come through and keep it going. Looking at history, we can clearly see that even in the best care scenario, that doesn’t always happen. But because the monarchy is an institution that has to remain stable and unchanged in order to appear legitimate, it can’t adapt accordingly when biology fails to come through. This flaw is what leads to wars and conflict.
Yeah I saw the clip of that. I usually can’t stand Bill Maher, but he was pretty funny with the monarchy rant. Loved the various curtsy photos he used. They were pretty funny with his voiceover.
The freedom will be worth it in the long run, and I think also, not having to compromise their values quite as much? I’m picking up that they were as disgusted as anyone at Andrew, but that they were being expected to quietly nod along with the Queen standing by him, and flush their own values down the toilet in the process. I’m sensing that might be a big part of what’s triggered this move.
@Sue
^Yes
This arrangement will be reviewed in a year. At least the queen does not want the Sussexes gone . It seem that Prince Harry was willing to leave when offered “all or nothing ” .
There were two problems the British media being the first – 80% is owned by five billionaires: they do not pay taxes because they claim that they are operating at a loss. Instead of failing as in a meritocracy they are given tax breaks and use their platforms to hold hostage the need of members of the BRF respectability. Their enormous power allow their bullying and blackmailing. By bringing legal action to 3 of the owners, Prince Harry and his wife is establishing healthy boundaries.
I hope the Sussexes endure.
The other problem is the family itself, the queen has publicly embraced the Sussexes and wish them well. The others are unknown. We will never br privy to all the details (as it should be), while the law can establish legal boundaries for the tabloids, it is powerless against intra-family disagreements.
Time will tell.
Clearly Prince Harry chose his family over the myth to the dismay of the trolls, may they be forever unhappy and learn to embrace the consolation prizes.
I hope the Sussexes love endures as they face the inevitabile challenges of life.
Best wishes to Harry, Meghan and Archie.
May your thoughts, actions and deeds align to create healthy internal lives.
Well put Well-Wisher very well put.
Honestly, the review in a year makes me nervous.
I read once that the Queen said something like she says yes to Philip to avoid an argument and then makes very sure that he does not get whatever it is. They already put on a performance of support for Meghan and then dropped her within three months of the wedding. Are they going to make the next year hell for the Sussexes to essentially break them and make them come back into the fold? These are not people who like being told what to do and the Sussexes setting boundaries with them probably left them all “incandescent with rage.”
Andrew got to keep his HRH, use his title and royal properties to make a personal income, and there the Queen is publicly supporting him yet again. Is she sending a message?
Agree WellWisher ==. it’s like Edward’s …the woman I love ….abdication speech. History shows it was a lot bigger and uglier than that romantic PR spin that was put on it at the time. However, I think in 50 years or more the facts will come out just like they have on everything that went down around the Abdication. I don’t think history will show a “happy families” exit for the Sussexes.
This public embrace by the Queen is just PR, the letter would have been drafted by her Private Secretary to ensure that she comes across in the best possible light and keeps her subjects happy. Nobody really knows what the Queen thinks, she has spent her whole life holding it in. The only time she showed emotion was over the death of one of her dogs in a six page letter to a friend.
Elizabeth’s acknowledgement of Meghan is disingenuous and way late in the game.
I find it interesting that on the day this is announced Elizabeth is lunching with her disgusting son, who by the way, should no longer be known as HRH.
Yes, it’s very telling where her loyalties lie. And I agree, much too little, much too late
If the Queen could put pen on paper now to sing the praises of her granddaughter-in-law, she could have done that a year ago when the press was ramping up its nastiness. She didn’t care then, and she doesn’t care now. Too little, to f-cking late.
Yeah, you’d think she would be seen lunching with Harry.
My guess about Frogmore is there is no way they will make those two pay for it. They’ll “pay” for it because there is so much undue press spotlight right now but someone else is picking up that tab behind the scenes. It’s just to please the nasty press who are barking about it. Or they will get that money back at some point.
That was my thought too. I suspect that publicly it is as it is, but Harry has damning leverage. That, or Charles does not want to create a wider wedge with his son. Or both.
Racists Twitter was elated. They think they are “winning.” I’m not sure what they are winning at.
Team Sussex all the way. I hope royals get their comeuppance.
That’s the fundamental scam of racism, isn’t it? Racism convinces you that you’ll be happy, if only those “other” people would get the f-ck out of your way. Everything will become much better if only the immigrants stop immigrating. Everything will become much easier if only you get rid of all of the non-white people from your country. They fully expect that they’ll be much happier now that they’ve gotten Meghan out of Britain, but the fact is that they won’t. They’ll never be happy. They’ll always be miserable, because the problem was never Meghan or Harry or anyone else. It was their own racist selves all along.
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed ONLY if there is light from within. -Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
So without their HRH titles they’re no longer Royals. What happens to the brand Sussex Royal then? Are they going to keep it nonetheless?
If they’re no longer working for BP, does that mean they’re fair game for the press? No “royal” restrictions on coverage? Yikes.
I have to ask, what “royal restrictions “ on the press are you talking about? Meghan has been harassed and vilified for years and the royals have said not a word or done anything to prevent it.
They were already fair game for the press, no?
Not a regular royal watcher so help me out here. What about inherited money from Diana?
That money is still there. Harry inherited a fair chunk from Diana and the Queen Mother with the belief that he won’t be coming into a great deal of funds, unlike William, who would have access to the Duchy of Cornwall when Charles becomes King.
TY. I can’t help feeling like Diana would embrace Meghan and be very proud of her Harry. Also can’t help but think that this situation along with nasty Andrew has done real lasting damage to the monarchy. It makes me seriously wonder how those two boys were raised amongst that cold hearted RF and stuck with Charles who treated their mother horribly along with that foul Camilla. I’m thrilled Harry and Meghan have each other and not beholding to the monarchy.
I read that he also gets funds from other family trusts that are unnamed or unknown to us as the royal family’s private money is pretty difficult to parse out.
No matter what’s he’s called, Harry will always be Diana’s son …. like JFK Jr. he’ll be followed with interest wherever he goes. I’m glad they are keeping Frogmore–unfair or not that they are “paying back” the renovation costs, they can come back and have their own place and privacy without the tabs screaming about them being grifters. And they can still visit with great-grandma as long as she is still here.
Before the news of the deal hit, I saw that The Guardian said they had done their own analysis of the press headlines and agreed that coverage of Meghan had been overwhelmingly negative. They also linked to the Buzzfeed article that compared the headlines. I hope to see more mainstream British news sources follow up. There should be a collective shaming of the tabs for driving Harry away and for turning public opinion against Meghan. And if it turns out that that commoner Ma Middleton had anything to do with it I hope she gets sent to the tower.
JFK, Jr. Exactly! This is what their detractors who are praying for their failure don’t understand. No one cares about the royal family like that. No one’s crazy about Lizzy Windsor and her clan. For most people, Harry’s star power doesn’t come from the fact that his granny’s the queen and that he’s a British royal. It comes from his mother, the globally beloved Diana. Diana is the reason so many pro-Sussex folks still can’t fully write off William. She still looms large, outshining them all. And the royals and their sycophants don’t realize it. Breaking away from the Windsors is just going to make him that much bigger. Throw in the fact that he himself is very charming, driven, and has his mother’s empathy, etc. The sky is the limit for him and Meghan.
Gotta admire the Daily Fail readers, they’re still trying to make this out as a loss for Meghan and Harry and TQ ‘put them in their place’.
Assume they can keep ‘Royal’ on their website /instagram?
It’s hard to see this as anything except a win. But the family do seem like their waiting for the marriage to end so Harry can go back to normal.
I’ve often thought that, should the British monarchy be abolished, Meghan and Harry would be the best equipped to handle it. Meghan is used to hustling (not an insult in the least) and is very driven; I think she saw marrying into the BRF, aside from being in love with Harry, as a platform for her causes and really went into the marriage determined to do her best. Harry fell in love with Meghan and was revitalized and recommitted to his role when he saw the enthusiasm she brought to her responsibilities. But, once they both realized they would not get the support from the BRF and that the luxury and privilege didn’t outweigh the cons, they were okay with walking away and doing what is best for their family, even if they had to leave their “HRHs” at the door.
I wish them both luck in their future endeavors and I hope it works out the way they would like. Selfishly, I hope we continue to see pictures of that cutie Archie M-W 😉
This might not be popular here but I think they lost a lot. I think according to the website that they have they fully intended to make money on their own with their name and titles as well as do tours for the Queen. I think they wanted the best of both worlds. I think that the queen would not allow this and they had to give it up. It will be interesting to see how they change their website. I think that the title is very important as what does it really mean for Harry to do a “visit” without the title, it just won’t be the same. In the update they still called themselves their royal highness. So that is interesting and obviously very important to them. With that said I think they have other things in wings. But without the title it will not be the same. I mean they visit and then what? How many charities and without the royal rota I don’t think that reporters will follow them for long. Obviously they need Charles money, so as long as you take money from someone they own you. Sad but true. There is a lot to play out but just like Angie and Brad were a few years ago the most popular on the planet it all fades. What then? I think that Harry wanted out for a long time but I am not sure how he will really cope. No doubt he will be very homesick. The whole thing is really quite sad. I don’t think that things will pan out like they have planned.
You should read for comprehension. Your understanding of the details is 100% incorrect. Must be a bitter Brit.
@THEREALME I totally agree with you. Also re the money given what his mother and great grandmother left him and Meghan’s alleged funds, and the fact that he wanted independence, I am not sure it looks good that Harry will stay be subbed by Charles.
@therealme
Agreed. That website was such a mistake. The instagram post was enough to speed up negotiations if they went public earlier than intended because of the leak.
H&M laid out their wish list very publicly and BP said nope to carrying out private work and “collaborate” with the Queen on Royal duties at the same time.
In any case, it looks like they had to choose between staying in or leaving, and they chose to leave which is what anyone would have done. They need to strike while the iron is hot. It is not easy to sustain celebrity and star power on philanthropy alone. Unlike many here, i cannot see the parallel with H&M and the Clintons, Obamas, Bill Gates or even Oprah.
I do wonder if the Frogmore payback money will come from their private funds but i suspect it’ll be Duchy money.
Sorry tumblr, but nope.
It appears they maintain their titles (Sussex brand is theirs), the HRH, Harry and Archie’s places in the succession, Frogmore. They can use the titles however they choose, but will not use the HRH portion while earning money privately. That may mean, they can continue to use the HRH when doing certain charity work.
Tumblr? Really ?
Are you still with that tired insult?
Nota, agreed 💯. The haters were upset when Frogmore cottage was being renovated, and now that H&M has decided to repay the taxpayers, the trolls are bleating about it.
MrsBump, I call it like I see it. It is clear that for months, CB has been invaded by tumblr trolls. Good news is, they are easy to spot.
@nota
And how is this spotting done exactly? Is there some sort of xray vision that travels via the internet bandwidth ?
No such superpowers needed. The themes, the words used, the tone. They are so pathetically obvious. The only way you can fail to see them is if you are deliberately wearing blinders.
If you are able to deduce this from mere word associations, then perhaps you are spending too much time there yourself..
I’ve speculated on that as well, the stated intention to still collaborate, go on tours, carry out limited duties for TQ etc part…what if the Crown doesn’t call? Which appears to be what happened.
It’s also clear that Chuck is going to foot the bills for awhile.
I am reading compromises on both sides for a temporary solution that allows them an immediate break. Only time will tell winners and losers – or maybe a naive hope, both sides find value in the solution.
I believe Harry and Megan would have stayed had the Cambridge’s not repeatedly stabbed them in the back. I believe both Charles and TQ know the truth. Which is why they still have their title albeit styled differently, can use HRH if they want to, still have Frogmore (100% certain TQ will just pretend they paid because she controls the books) for them as well Archie in the future, Charles still provides an income and the Brits still pay for security. So really H& M got what they wanted at little cost to them…..FREEDOM probably feels real good to them!! FYI RR and Brits….your lost now go focus on the Cambridge’s…good luck with that!
Oof. This is all a lot, and I don’t like any of it. But at the same time, they’re fixing pretty much everything that the British tabloid press said they were doing wrong. They’re paying the tax payers back for the expenses on Frogmore cottage. They’re taking themselves off the public pay roll. They’re no longer going to be using their royal and noble titles. It’s like the Daily Mail comment section’s wet dream, lmao. And yet, there will be troglodytes who won’t like what they do, no matter what. They’ll find something or the other to nitpick.
I think Harry and Meghan will do fine. They’ll thrive even. I think we’re in for a real treat with these two, and what they decide to do next. I think, more than anything, that they’ll highlight why the monarchy in Britain is wholly irrelevant beyond its constitutional role. If you can do good works without any of the titles and the public stipend and everything else, then what function does a monarchy serve for the people, truly? I think all of the people who had a huge hand in harassing them, who think that Britain will benefit from their departure, are in for a nasty shock. When the Sussexes leave, you’ll have to contend with what’s left. And what if whatever left isn’t actually as great as everyone insists it is?
Liz keeps company with a sex pest. Is this the value Harry has to uphold?
Everybody needs to take a breather. The royal family will pick up and keep on going as usual. The Sussexes will redefine non working royals. The one thing sticks in my mind is that makes me chuckle-when Harry was doing a patronage on Wednesday. He looked relaxed and at ease or rather not bothered by the talking noise. I say this Harry/Meghan network very well with good people to help their charity endeavors is truly the biggest take away. To control someone by using financial threats is obscene and vile. This is what they the dark forces were using to get the Sussexes to behave the way dark forces wanted. The Sussex family will like be like drop-in relations-here today and gone tomorrow. Let them try to rehab Prince Andrew’s reputation and put him back on the working block and that is the plan. History will have plenty of info to use to write this story. The tab media will get their just desserts. God bless Harry and his family and keep them safe.
I agree Blunt Talker — Even Robert Lacy said in PBS interview that this streamlining needed to be put in place to keep the monarchy relevant. Something Lacy says Charles really understood and wanted done. So it’s happened earlier and messier than expected. The monarchy will go on for the foreseeable future and a Harry and Megan will thrive instead of just survive.
He also ignored one of the troll RRs when she unprofessionally screamed out personal questions at him. Harry grinned and ignored her. He’s loving this.
I’ve been LMAO, with Harry and Meghan not doing any more royal duties then the workload falls on Prince Willie and Doormat Kate. Those two lazies better get to work. LOL
I’m so happy H&M took their lives into their own hands and will be away from the nasty British press, I wish them and Archie the happiest life. On their terms. The toxic RF, racist press and Meghan’s opportunistic traitorous POS father and sister can F-off. Meghan and Harry won, and those losers will always be losers.
This path will be challenging for them. They’re taking chances. There will be difficulties, there will be successes and things that don’t work out so well. Like everyone else they will learn. Just because Charles is supporting them for now doesn’t mean it will be forever. Yes he has expectations but H&M also have expectations for themselves. They’re not banned from going to England they can go whenever they like. They’ll pop up in the UK without notice which is how it should be LOL. Popularity fades like everything else. It’s about the work. If they do the work ppl will seek them out. You don’t need to be popular for that.
Exactly Tashiro! Change is messy, it’s difficult, it’s exhilarating, it’s exhausting, it’s awesome! There will be highs and lows along the way, because that’s life and H&M will make mistakes but I bet they won’t make them twice. But I sincerely believe that at the end of the day Harry, Meghan and Archie will be just fine.
I feared this would happen, my thoughts were that if they were allowed to “have their way” it would set a precedent and other royals might try the same in the future, so that’s where I think this is coming from. I have always wished them the best and completely understood their decision but feared it would end like this.
Also re Frogmore cottage, I wouldn’t call it a shabby cottage by any stretch, the younger main royals always get a property and renovate it, it’s the ‘done’ thing, so I am not surprised they’ve been told to pay it back. I hope they can still be involved in their main patronage and expand further. It’s a messed up family and this just proves it (not that we didn’t already know this!).
Also re Andrew, I’d love to see him convicted and punished for what he’s done, but until that happens BP aren’t going to remove any titles because that’s effectively and admission of guilt and they don’t want that. No family would want to admit that regardless of their status.
They weren’t told to pay it back, they offered to.
I read every last comment to make sure i wasn’t repeating someone else’s thought. Now that they are free agents, god bless ’em, Meg’s wardrobe which is already pretty nifty, will be truly epic because EVERYONE will be giving her stuff to wear, which ( as i understand it) was not allowed before because protocol and stuff….no more buttons and pill boxes and capes for this lovely woman. I cannot wait for the fashion. Too soon? Shallow? Probably.
Not shallow, other than arguing fan fiction, the fashion is the only thing that makes any of it interesting.
If you are shallow so am I. I hope Meghan lights up the fashion world and we get side by sides of Kate in pussybows forever. If Kate was an innocent actor I would not feel that way, but she helped drive the knife in Meghan’s back and I want her to get everything she ever wanted until she screams for mercy while Meghan is dressed like a boss
I do wonder how much if this will change when Charles becomes King. If he’ll go out of his way to bring them back in once he sees how little he can rely on either his elder son or his Toff Barbie daughter-in-law.
There are many years to come, and I honestly doubt that this isn’t a fluid situation.
Waity Katie is many things, but “Toff” she is not. She’s from a working class family who clawed and connived their way into the middle class. Nothing wrong witht that (they are probably smarter than most if not all of the royal family), but they were no aristocrats.
That’s why I said “Toff Barbie.” She wears the clothes and gas the dream houses bought for her to look and be posed for the part and Still doesn’t ring true.
Barbie isn’t really any of the things she’s marketed to be, she just wears the clothes and has the names. Just like Kate.
Kate’s a “faux-toff” which is why it’s patently obvious that she can’t handle the job. The phony accent, the manic grinning, the “deer-in-the-headlights” stiffness when she has to do any public speaking. She is not to the manor born and by that I don’t mean it’s because of her middle class background, rather she’s been raised to bag a rich man and not to develop her own identity. She’d better find that identity soon because now that Harry and Meghan are out of the picture she and her punter of a husband can’t ride on their coattails any longer.
How exactly will Harry and Meghan “build and expand their global brand”, if that is their intention? I really like them, I just don’t get how a business venture is going to play out in the long run. Being royal IS their brand. The public fascination with royalty and the royal soap opera is the reason they are famous, and the further they distance themselves from it, the harder it will be to maintain public interest. Right now they are hot property, but will the public still care about a couple of middle aged semi-royals who once used to live in a castle?
Philantropy alone won’t be enough to make them cultural icons. Comparing their star power to e.g. the Obamas is very far fetched. The Obamas were the most powerful couple on earth, and there’s no denying they are highly intelligent, eloquent, and got where they are due to their unusual talent. They are now paid a fortune for attending events or giving speeches. Harry and Meghan are not in the same league – apart from their royal experience (which they probably won’t discuss publicly), what would they give speeches about? Maybe they can monetize public interest for the next couple of years, and then go live a comfortable but quiet life with their family. Maybe they would be content with that, and are under no illusions. I wish them the best.
Nice try. These are two people who came to work, to use whatever they have to make things better for vulnerable populations. Their leverage hasn’t decreased, it has increased with this change.
They will be able to grow now that the shackles of the royal family are off them. They will continue to attract positive attention because most of us know how Machiavellian the BRF is and that M&H chose to walk away from a crumbling, greedy, archaic monolith. They’ve made their mark and will bring a great deal of knowledge and experience and, most important, compassion to their work.
Agreed. I see them as bigger and able to keep growing globally, now that they are no longer encumbered by W&K.
Am so happy for the Suxxeses. They got everything that was truly important. They removed the last hold anyone can use on them and are laying a blueprint for the future. It also says volumes of their commitment to spend a lot of time in North America. Canada does not have an aristocracy and except for a few grandfathered exceptions anyone with a title is expected to renounce Canadian citizenship (staying in the line of succession is not a problem). Not being known as HRH is a great move if they want to establish permanent residency here. It removes the grey area constitutional issue.
Good for Harry and Meghan. You only get one life, and they want to live theirs their way, and raise Archie in a way that they feel is healthy. I think the Royal family environment is toxic, and that William and Kate have their noses so far up in the air that I’m surprised they can still walk. I think having the baby prompted the move. It’s one thing to make the choice yourself to live all that drama, but another when you have a child and he is put through it. Plus it’s a modern world, and a lot of the royal stuff is just stupid in today’s world. They worry so much about the Crown’s image, but Andrew has done far more damage to it than Harry and Meghan. They don’t need the Crown. I’m Canadian, so I’m biased, but I think they are making a great move to base themselves in Canada where they won’t be hounded and smeared by the media, the way they are in the UK, or even in the US.
I think the whole revisiting in a year plan may have to do with the rumours of Charles taking over. I think Charles the monarch will reach out to them because he could use them or partner with them.
I don’t expect Kate and Will to do anything differently actually. Unlike many comments I don’t expect them to have to work harder or make more appearances etc etc. I think they’ve really dug in that they don’t want to work more or they would have done it this past year. Instead they’ve driven away the people making a harder working example before it could take hold and endanger their lazy lives
I leave a message of support on all their Instagram posts simply to up those numbers for whoever is doing all the data analysis
HRH just stands for Her Rapey Highnesses anyway *cough* Andrew