Throughout the weekend, various “palace insiders” and “royal commentators” gleefully tore into the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their statement, which was released late Friday. There was a tone to the Sussexes’ statement and that tone was exasperated, annoyed and shady. I feel they were justified: in the days leading up to the Sussexes’ statement, those same palace insiders and royal commentators delighted in the reports that the Queen was withdrawing Harry and Meghan’s ability to brand themselves “Sussex Royal.” Those same insiders and commentators continue to be performatively “shocked” when Harry and Meghan attempt to correct the record or clarify what’s happening. So basically, everything is always Harry & Meghan’s fault, coming or going. Anyway, the Daily Mail has a story about how the Sussexes’ Friday statement was “sniping” and ungracious and whatever:
The statement claimed they had been treated differently from other members of the Royal Family and reminded readers that Harry remains sixth in line to the throne and an HRH by birth. Last night it was clear that the Palace was exasperated by the intervention, although not unduly surprised. Others described the couple’s words as unhelpful to their public image and family relations.
‘Let’s just hope they feel they have got whatever they want to get out of their system,’ said one. Another royal insider – who is not part of the negotiations – told the Mail that the couple seemed to have ‘lost all sense of perspective’.
‘It was their decision to do this and the family is clearly trying their best to facilitate it,’ the source said. ‘But it inevitably requires sacrifices on both sides and the Sussexes need to be rather more gracious about it. Sniping from the sidelines doesn’t help anyone.’
Most irritating, it seems, were the not-so-subtle references to other royals, including William and Kate. However, officials were at pains not to be drawn into a war of words with the couple ‘for everyone’s sake’.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman refused to comment, but stressed that several statements had been issued since the couple decided to announce their departure last month. Unusually, some of those statements, they said, were from the Queen – in which she expressed her sadness that her grandson and his wife wanted to walk away but said she would support them.
Over the weekend, Harry and Meghan faced widespread criticism for their statement, with one royal expert calling the comments spiteful. Tom Bower, who wrote a biography of Prince Charles, added: ‘The comments smack of spiteful fury. I fear it will get worse.’
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, said: ‘It appears to be a gratuitous and ungracious swipe at the Queen. It is kind of saying, ‘By the way we know we can use royal if we want to’. The Queen is doing everything she can to keep the peace, but the Sussexes believe the Royal Family is against them. The more you read it, the nastier it appears.’
I love how irritated and pearl-clutchy these people are. “How dare Harry and Meghan make factual statements in an annoyed tone!” “How dare they be disgusted by all of the petty roadblocks being set up in their path!” This whole idea of gratitude, grace and anger… there are layers of racism and sexism to it, because what this whole thing amounts to is “how dare this biracial woman think that she should be treated fairly and how dare she be annoyed when she’s not treated fairly?”
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
This feels like gas lighting with a strongly racist overtone
I wonder what it will take for the Sussexes to just go nuclear and start drip drip dripping leaks to the press of all the shady s__t about the BRF that we don’t know. I am a petty b___ch, so if it was me, I would just start leaking stuff to send a warning to the BRF: tell the tabloids to back off of us or we are going to air your dirty laundry.
But I’m a terrible person. I’m sure the Sussexes are better than me!
Can I join you on the petty b—ch couch?? I’ll bring the wine 🙂
I’ll sit in the corner with you. I’m petty enough to sit here with my popcorn and watch it happen.
I’ll bring cheese!!
Me too!!! I just am in awe at the restraint Harry and Meghan are showing.
Don’t mean to be the party pooper here, but I have to say: If they want to be successful, they cannot engage in open warfare against the BRF. Sussexes need to keep this at guerilla warfare level of intensity, not open, no holds barred level of destruction. Which is why the media is *DESPERATELY* trying to ramp things up as much as possible for both sides.
They have to try to at least keep things civil on the surface as that is a pretty powerful institution and they haven’t survived for thousands of years for nothing. the talent for destruction of their enemies is embedded in their dna and has been for generations.
@Bella – I’m with you. Open war against the royal family would not be good. I’m here for the digs against the media though.
@bella &@becks – I’m also with you on this. As unfair as it is H & M have to be seen to be taking the high road at all times.
“But it inevitably requires sacrifices on both sides…”
No wine, no cheese, sorry ladies. We’re ALL ‘sacrificing’ dontcha know.
The tipping point will be the death of QE. They might talk then and it will not be nice. Anyway, I think H is a kind soul so I doubt he will tell anything bad of his own will. Let’s see if and when this happens.
I would love for them to threaten to out that family’s dirty deeds. They’ve got every right to. But they can’t. It would ruin them. They have to go high as the royals go low. It’s not fair but I think it’s best. Imo, there should be no more clarifying and correcting, no matter how mild. In a month, these people will have zero access to them and their good work through their non-profit will stand on it’s own. And I think they will be well received by the public when they return to London next month. I think the media will be surprised by that and ramp up the hateful commentary. Also, I’d love if they dropped a surprise project or two. Shower their charities with attention and money and let the haters seethe.
Here is what I would like to see happen.
Harry remove he and Archie from the line of succession
Harry and Meghan cut all ties with the royal family and make no appearances with them ever again
Ghost the royal family like Meghan did the Markles
This is just exhausting and they are just scape goats now. A school bus with Andrew’s face wanted by the FBI for questioning drove around Buckingham Palace for hours the other day yet no commentary on that? This is surreal.
@MJM, that would be the ultimate “F you” to that institution. Also, as the Epstein case moves forward, a complete break from those people might actually have to happen. Andrew is involved is some sick shit. Who runs around with TWO known sex traffickers, hanging out for days at their mansions, surrounded by teenage girls?! Not one sex trafficker, but TWO? We don’t know the half of what Andrew has been up to with these kinds of people and you can bet your behind his dear mama helped cover his tracks. I hope she’s still alive when it all comes out.
I didn’t think it was terse or snippy or ungrateful, I must be missing something.
@StartupSpouse See you think like me! I was thinking this a long time ago. I would leak something that was small and that they would KNOW had to come from me and use it to say there is a whole lot more where this came from. Keep messing with me and my family and I will go medieval on your @ss! I have not doubt in my mind all of this would stop.
The Media is upset that their narrative has been disturbed, because The Sussexes get to tell their side of events. Don’t forget, even though they had Sarah Latham, she was muzzled, because she was under the queen’s PR, and could not make any move without the go ahead from The Queen’s PR. Now she is not under BP, that is why you saw the tone in the latest info on their website. Michael Gove, who is married to Sarah Vine of The Daily Mail,was part of the Sussexes Royal deliberations, so make your own conclusions.However, all shall come to pass. No situation is permanent.
The palace is “exasperated by the intervention.” The Sussexes just keep intervening in their own lives and in the official narrative surrounding their life. HOW VERY DARE THEY!?
But yeah, I’m sure the palace is pissed that the Sussexes keep intervening in the smear and spin campaign by interjecting with…. facts. Actual facts about what’s going on with them coming directly from them as opposed to “royal sources say….” I find it interesting that the palace appears to be admitting that they have been behind the recent leaks about “royal” and the twisting, spinning, and smearing that’s been going along with the leaks, since there weren’t actually any direct statements from the palace about the use of the word “royal” that the Sussexes could have “intervened” in. There were just these speculative articles written with leaks from sources. Nice job, palace, you outed yourselves as being directly behind the recent articles.
I agree BellaDuPont and Amy Too —- The press are driving this bus and it’s total gaslighting. Making much ado over nothing in my opinion. Statement was professional, concise, and stated their truth on specific issues. There was nothing in it as petty and nasty as the ongoing continuous leaked or anonymous insider comments or outright vicious saber rattling of the Firm and the RR. One article with photo of an unsmiling, nose-in-the-air Queen being driven to church on Sunday was written to offer an “anonymous source providing a supposed direct quote from the Queen” that she ‘just wanted this to be over, she was so tired of them, and she wasn’t going to think about them anymore’. I had a good laugh at that one, as I thought geeze, this is what they’ve got — a blood prince who has been forced down by her due to his probable sexual activities with sexually trafficked teenagers, a beloved grandson and his family that have been (and continue to be) so totally and viciously HUNTED in her own country they feel forced to leave, and two just announced divorces —- but her exhaustion is ALL about the Sussexes releasing a single page statement? Why are the Sussexes the only ones in this process that must be above emotion and feelings! The press are doing everything they can to create an ugly, unwelcome, confrontational, and dangerous return for the Sussexes. The Sussexes are being used for a drama play that the press is not only writing, but directing and staging. They won’t be happy — to quote Earl Spencer — at Diana’s funeral —- until they have “blood on their hands.”
The media is driving the bus, but William, Katie Keen and mum, Charles and the Queen are providing the rocket fuel.
Too true BlueMoonHorse!
Let me add to your comment: it’s smelling more and more fishy by the minute.
I don’t like at all the way the things are rolling and I pray for the best.
This ghastly mess is becoming messier all the time and made me think when my hubby bought me a magazine about Lady Di and I saw several pictures of her with sanpaku eyes. Well… everyone knows how it finished.
I don’t like anything at all in this story and what I dislike the most is those 12 months period of “adaptation”… That sounds omninous. Sorry for the paranoia.
I think there ARE a lot of people who haven’t been following all of the goings on who do believe that they’re being ungracious. The average person isn’t paying a ton of attention to gossip blogs or whatever, and they just genuinely aren’t aware of all the inner workings and shade and betrayal going on. All they know is that a prince is leaving the royal family, and the occasional sound bite or buzzword that has come from that. So to them, I’m sure there are some things that come off whiney first world problems based solely on the fact that they’re not aware of the details leading up to this.
Now, obviously it’s different for the ones who are gleefully misconstruing things… they’re just trash. But I’m also not going to blame some random joe for not realizing everything that M&H have had to deal with because it’s just not something they followed.
A lot of the people not really following also think it’s a way bigger deal that she’s protecting pedo Andy. An alleged ungracious statement is pretty minor compared to that.
Oh 100%. I’m actually impressed that my family, who does not follow celebrity gossip more than once in a great while are quite happily team M&H and are absolutely appalled by the queen.
Yass NIC19. !
Everything is pretty minor when compared to protecting a pedophile.
Yeah there are a lot of people who have no interest in this story that are buying into this narrative which is only really being pushed by the tabloids, the Fail in particular.
The Sussex’s have a LOT more support from the British public than people think – esp from younger people. They see the crap that Meghan had to put up with from the British tabloids and the death of Caroline Flack has only reinforced that. It’s the older people (think Brexit supporters) who are problematic and as far as they are concerned the sun will forever shine outta the RF’s ass no matter what happens. The amount of excuses I’ve heard from older people trying to excuse Andrews behaviour is appalling – they keep using the age of consent as an argument, wilfully ignoring that fact that she was trafficked and age is NOT a factor in the eyes of the law if the victim was trafficked. The same people think the Cambridges are the saviours of Britishness.
Sometimes I am embarrassed to be British.
That’s how I was hoping it would be. I think the loudest ones out there aren’t nearly the majority – and especially when it comes to the younger generations. From what I’ve seen (in Canada) the people following it at all are pretty impressed with Meg, and think she’s fantastic. But they’re also not out there posting and sharing and buying tabloids. So I think there is a skew in a lot of ways that makes it seem like there’s more negativity than there is because those are the people who like to make a big fuss.
It’s so strange to me that people are so quick to excuse Andrew. Truly, you would think that sex trafficking of minors would be a bigger sticking point with folks. My own 92+ year old gram is horrified and basically like “the queen can gtfo” (in nicer terms, but definitely not less sassy haha).
@Digital Unicorn, if what you say about the views of young people vs old is true, then I’m embarrassed to be old. Well, 53 to be exact. I’m not sure where my age group in the UK stands on the Sussexes. I could see some of my age group being stodgy. But I’m hoping more will remember how we saw Diana being treated and remember how treacherous and unfeeling the royal family can be. Especially Queenie.
Where the Cambridges are concerned, all these years I wasn’t really paying attention and just assumed Will saw the mistakes his parents had made and waited the 9 years out of consideration for Kate’s needs and that they married for love. I paid the barest minimum of attention to the fact they were having babies. Oh cute, whatever.
I only started paying attention to the royals again because of Meghan. And only because Meghan herself was so charismatic and enthusiastic and engaging. If she’d been as pretty as she is, but kind of a self effacing lump who walks behind Harry and does her best to fall in line and fade into the shadows then I would have quickly turned my attention away. I am trying to stress it wasn’t just the fact she was biracial alone that drew and kept my attention. The woman was clearly on fire with projects and ideas to help the people of UK help themselves. She had projects that could be repeated and be self sustaining.
And then William showed HIS true colors. I’m very sad and disappointed that the Cambridges are not who and what I thought they were. I don’t mind that they were lazy and lacking direction. I’m not particularly bright with great ideas myself. I’m disappointed that they’re jealous and backstabbing. That, I am not. I learn from and am inspired by people who are smarter and better at things than I am. And I’m a good support person and a happy second fiddle. I believe in synergy, not in making a greater light dim itself down to my level.
What the Cambridges have done with their endless self embiggening efforts is shoot themselves in the foot. At least in the long term. In the short term, yes, they’re riding a positive press wave. But like all waves, this one is bound to crash. And then what?
@Erinn, I’ve even heard people who claim they don’t like Meghan (for whatever reason) say that they agree that she has been treated badly by the tabloids. Contrary to the comment bots on the Fail website, a great many of the British people see the situation for what it is. But there are also people who believe whatever the Daily Fail tells them.
@Guest with Cat. This is an observation based on my own personal interactions/discussions on the subject with people of all ages (colleagues etc..). And not all of them have the same view point but it was certainly a trend that I noticed. I firmly believe that Brexit has emboldened people to be more vocal with their discriminations. I was reading over the weekend that there has been an increase in abuse directed at Chinese communities over the coronavirus.
To add, I also think Caroline Flack’s death woke a lot of people up to how the British tabloids behave and more people are having their eyes open not just with how the Sussex’s have been treated but how female politicians are being treated compared to their male counterparts. The nasty stories the Fail put out with weekend about Priti Patel (UK Home Sec) and about how MI5/MI6 limit what information they tell her as she doesn’t ‘understand the subtles’ of the intelligence reports, implying that she was undermining them and being difficult.
It also seems Digital Unicorn, that they press is deliberately deflecting on the Flack suicide and the role their rabid hounding of her might have played in her decision to hang herself. And Guest with a Cat — my trajectory of re-interest followed almost the same thought process as yours. Meghan was the turning point for me based on her articulate, reasoned and compassionate beliefs. I liked (and still do) her active and engaged work ethic towards those beliefs and I was (and still am) awed by her pragmatic and real support she delivers every time she steps up.
@JA Lowcountry Lady – I didn’t know she hung herself 🙁
Piers Morgan released an instagram message he had from Caroline about Jameela Jamil. I don’t agree that he should have done that but Jameela did fan the flames of the SM pile on against Caroline. Jameela is now saying they were friends, yeah right.
To be fair Priti Patel is a thick racist and a far right wing extremist who claims that NHS workers, paramedics and care home workers are “unskilled” and should be kicked out of the country if they’re not white (sorry, I mean “not British”). And yes I know she is of Indian descent – she still has a long, long history of overtly racist comments and actions.
Honestly, she makes Sarah Palin look like a model of decorum and intelligence. There’s a reason she’s the most hated woman in the UK and it isn’t the press being mean or MI5 gaslighting her.
@erin – re the first world problems. Mr Redgrl doesn’t usually follow the royals (he generally refers to them as a bunch of inbred upper crust twits) but commented drily that “wow, good thing Harry & Meghan aren’t Royal any more -how tough they get to live in a $14million mansion on Vancouver Island instead of a castle.” He’s not sufficiently interested to follow the back story so that’s the optic he took away from it, along with “now they can do their own thing without all that stupid curtsying and hanging out with the inbred twits.” Which, for the average joe who isn’t into following the whole story, in fairness, I can see how he would see that. He’s way more outraged about Andrew still being around and not being prosecuted.
That’s essentially where my husband is with it, too. He’s asked the odd question while we’re standing in the grocery line, but he’s basically like “yeah well, screw the royals then, they’re asses” and thinks Meghan seems cool. He’s uninterested in the finer details, just has a general ‘Meghan = good, queen needs to stop shielding her son” sentiment.
It’s bloody near impossible to feel gracious, let alone behave graciously , towards those who have hurt, betrayed, disrespected, undermined, gaslighted, sniped about, sidelined and back-stabbed you over and over again. Let me just top up the wine while we concentrate on the spilling of a copious amount of tea.
Right? Who is actually “sniping from the sidelines” here?
Couldn’t be the FFK!
I feel sick when I glance at the DM comments. The Poor Queen this The Poor Queen that. Comments saying Meghan is a sociopath and a narcissist and Harry is really illegitimate. These are sick and twisted Comments. Yet the Royals never did anything about it. Sorry could the duplicate comments be removed. Computer acting up.
I feel sick when I glance at the DM comments. The Poor Queen this The Poor Queen that. Comments saying Meghan is a sociopath and a narcissist and Harry is really illegitimate. These are sick and twisted Comments. Yet the Royals never did anything about it.
I feel sick when I glance at the DM comments. The Poor Queen this The Poor Queen that. Comments saying Meghan is a sociopath and a narcissist and Harry is really illegitimate. These are sick and twisted Comments. Yet the Royals never did anything about it.
I feel sick when I glance at the DM comments. The Poor Queen this The Poor Queen that. Comments saying Meghan is a sociopath and a narcissist and Harry is really illegitimate. These are sick and twisted Comments. Yet the Royals never did anything about it.
I feel sick when I glance at the DM comments. The Poor Queen this The Poor Queen that. Comments saying Meghan is a sociopath and a narcissist and Harry is really illegitimate. These are sick and twisted Comments. Yet the Royals never did anything about it.
Tone policing – the surest sign that you have no valid arguments left. Ooookay.
And of course the biracial woman gets tone policed. Ungracious is just a synonym for uppity. How dare the half black woman complain or tell a truth that makes an old white lady look less than perfect? The dog whistles are so loud.
To be honest, a lot of the non royal following people have no idea she’s biracial. Hell I watched two seasons of suits and thought she is white. I could see someone not following this eye rolling it and thinking they’re making a tacky cash grab.
But then you learn about the gorilla baby stuff and the different way she’s been treated than the other chick and yeah definitely racist. I would want out of dodge too!
Frizzy NO ONE can claim they do not know Meghan is half black. She is the most prominent woman of color in the UK now and one of the most famous in the world. Her wedding heavily featured elements of AA culture. Her mother, who is BLACK, was front a center. She herself has spoken about being a woman of color. Every bit of news coverage talks about it. There have been major national conversations about race and the racism she experiences in the UK since she married in.
And Meghan is clearly and has always been clearly a woman of color and specifically Black. I am always perplexed when people claim they thought she was white. Meghan is lighter skinned but she looks ethnic.
Also how can you claim to watch two seasons of Suits and not know she is biracial when in season 1 Rachel talks about being biracial???
IF “frizzy” here actually watched two seasons of Suits (dubious) and thought Meghan was “white” then that says more about “frizzy.”
GTFO with that.
So tired of the TROLLS.
*yawn*
Meghan herself has been quoted in interviews saying that many Suits fans complained when the black actor playing her father was introduced as they didn’t understand the “story” choice. She said during press junkets and interviews and in reading fan comments, she realized many people didn’t realize she was biracial. So, when storyline involving her father was introduced, she and the show runners deliberately chose a black actor as she wanted to use it as a ‘teachable’ moment.
Yup. When you can’t refute the facts, you police the tone in which those facts are being presented.
Bahahahahahahaha
Eat it. The gall.
Ahh yes how dare they not have a gracious tone after being gas lit, backstabbed, stifled and straight up lied on for 3 years? The horror.
No, Grandma was ungracious by letting their baby be compared to a chimp while standing by silently. The Sussexes were direct and clear to counter leaks and misinformation.
I believe Harry when he says “if you knew what I knew”… and pray one day we know and the Sussexes can be free of this hate campaign. Before it destroys them.
Rapunzel- Grandma aka petty betty
😂😂😂😂😂
I really hope Tina Brown’s upcoming book, The Palace Papers, rips the lid totally off!
I CANNOT WAIT for Tina Brown’s new book. No idea when it’s supposed to be published but I will be ready to pre-order immediately!
I doubt Harry or Meghan will do any sort of blatant tell-all anytime soon (hopefully eventually!) but some of what’s gone on the past few years should make it into Tina’s book.
It is difficult to know which way Brown will go.
If my family was cruel to my husband, I’d be gone in a heartbeat.
My husband didn’t realized he let me be abused by his family for years. He always said that I was overreacting and they “didn’t mean it that way”. It nearly tore us apart.
One day the veil was lifted and he saw how they gaslit and manipulated him for years. He apologized profusely to me and told them off. We haven’t seen them for a few years now and we don’t miss them. Our marriage has never been stronger.
Omg, I am sorry you had to go through that but glad it worked out for your marriage.
That’s rich coming from them.
What’s their problem?
It is a fact that everyone can use the term « royal ».
On Twitter screenshots of « royal dildos » were posted.
I do not think the queen gave her approval.
The palace and British media want to hound Harry and Meghan.
And expect them to never clarify their situation.
Freaking out over whether a written statement is ungracious and acting like it’s a bigger deal than the queen covering for Andy the pedo is what’s wrong with the entire system. It is truly despicable how they have said so little about Andy but are non stop outraged about Harry and Meghan speaking up for themselves.
The palace was actually briefing reporters a few weeks ago that the Royal Family was actually frustrated with ongoing coverage of Andrew after it was reported that he hasn’t cooeperated with US authorities yet. They also seemed to be making clear that Andrew was a support for the Queen with Sussexit.
As some have said apart from vested interests, Andrew isn’t clickbait so the press don’t want to invest in making his activities as much of a scandal as it’s not profitable whereas Meghan is. Still unless you were living under a rock I cannot see how average joe isn’t more outraged at Andrew post Newsnight interview as they are Meghan& Harry leaving royal duties. this result of media manipulation or prejudice?
Exactly! They are just the meager 6th in line and his small family and these people are SO pressed! Objectively, this has an agenda either to just sell clicks and tabloids, or they are using them as deflection from other deeper issues. I go with the second, this is too much than just clicks.
Sorry about how you are bien manipulated and used, haters, but it’s total hypocrisy what you are doing. Let them be, just as other royals have done. Stop trying to blame them for the plagues that are devastating your country.
For real, England has been an empire with everything that that involves, slavery, looting, inner power struggles, etc., but even then the country has been a leader for human rights, thanks to the public. I have admired many things about the UK, I learned English due to my love for English literature. It is sad to see that people can be so vicious, and I imagine that it is a noisy minority.
All Harry and Meghan have done is set out the facts, which is following up on what they said in their first statement. They aren’t leaking, they aren’t playing games. These are the facts, this is the arrangement, this is how they’re moving forward.
The RRs cannot stand it because it blows holes in all their lies. Lies fed to them by other royal houses.
@notasugar I agree with your perspective. If there’s any impatience or tone in the statement, I saw it as being primarily directed toward the media, with maybe a slight side eye towards the courtiers/royal family.
I agree they shouldn’t get drawn into war of words with the Firm etc but this is very typical. Two years of leaks, comments/nicknames allegedly from people within the institution eg Meghan made Kate cry, why is she wearing white to her second wedding, staff hate her, Me-gain, Hurricane Meghan, degree wife, don’t mention Sussexes to the Queen, Queen more upset with Sussexes than Andrew, they will be punished re Sussexit etc but moment they make one statement addressing reports about transition, THEY are the ones being ungracious, spiteful etc. And number of comments I see that Meghan should be ‘grateful’- very telling
I totally agree with what you’ve written. For me, it’s a little odd to still ask/expect Charles to give them an allowance and have security paid for and wanting to use their titles while also wanting to walk away. But to that, I come back to how they actually did not want to leave- just wanted to step back, and they were effectively pushed out. It is indeed true that Beatrice and Eugenie are half in/half out because they do show up for events but also earn a living on their own.
Their security requires the involvement of Interpol, intelligence agencies and police departments. They are “high value targets” because of his family. Not hers, his. So, yes, it is on the Royal Family to make sure it is covered.
He is a prince by birth, an HRH, and HRH Duke of Sussex because that’s how this family works. Unless you’re demanding the removal of HRH and all titles from any one who isn’t a working royal? You’re once again saying these ‘rules’ only apply to Harry and Meghan.
B&E are not ‘half-in, half-out’. They use their HRH, titles, and connections to earn money. Any charity work they do, they do as volunteers. They are not working royals funded by taxpayers and Charles will fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.
People are in prison for plotting to kill Harry as a race traitor for marrying a bi-racial woman. As Mich writes, he’s a target because of his family. The government decides who requires security, not the royal family. Diana had taxpayer security after the separation and divorce because the government deemed her a high-profile target. Harry and Meghan will have taxpayer security because the government has a responsibility to protect them.
I bet that in a years time the Sussex’s will no longer be taking any money from anyone in the royal family, especially Charles.
That makes sense about Interpol. And I didn’t realize that, Nic. I’ll bet you’re right, Harla. Wow- I do feel bad for M&H.
Just to clarify — Diana was offered protection and turned it down as she thought it would be another way for the Firm to spy on her. She is quoted as stating this to multiple friends. Her former head protection officer Ken Wharfe — has been very vocal in writing and public statements that he believes that this decision on her part was a major contribution to her death. He believes if she had had someone like him with her — and not Fayed’s security team — that that whole day would have played out differently security-wise and that the car would not have moved one inch until her seat belt was engaged. This refusal of government security by Diana is referenced in almost every biography on her that discusses her death.
I will never understand the argument that Diana died for lack of seat belt. Did she fly out of her seat and landed outside the car and died from injuries sustained from flying out of the car seat? Did the car overturn and her lack of seat belt caused her head to bang around thus causing interracial pressure that resulted in brain death etc? The woman died sitting where she was seating and died from hemorrhage from wounds sustained from the car crash. The lack of seat belt played a very minor role in Diana’s death. But every time people talk about the car crash, they reference lack of seat belt as the main cause of death which is just mind boggling.
Diana did accept security, but she chose to dismiss them at times.
Many forensic, trauma, cardiac, and thorasic doctors have studied what happened and the trauma she sustained and concluded that if she had been wearing a seatbelt she would PROBABLY not have sustained the fatal rupture to her heart caused by being thrown around the car so violently. The bodyguard in the front shotgun seat is the only one that was wearing a seatbelt that night. He’s the only one that survived. These forensic medical opinions have even been written up in prominent medical journals. Ken Wharfe has written, spoken, and been quoted many times that Diana hated wearing a seatbelt and that he often had to refuse to allow the her car to move “even one inch” until she belted in when he was in charge of security. I’m not making this up or trying to belittle Diana or blame her. I’m just making a comment on what her former head of security has said consistently and what I have read in medical journals about forensic medical opinion as to her fatal injury. Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Just because you’re sitting in the backseat not wearing a seatbelt, you can still sustain severe injury when your body slams with great force in the car’s interior from a high impact collision. And Diana did not die sitting where she was sitting, she was discovered on the floor with her back against the front seat. And if I recall correctly, her heart was ruptured so badly it shifted position to the right side. So her body may not have traveled far in the car, but she certainly traveled with enough lethal force and impact to kill her.
Not wearing a seatbelt kills people because the impact launches their bodies in the car and their necks can’t handle the impact. Even a minor car accident in a parking lot can cause head trauma if not wearing a seatbelt. While there is responsibility on the paparazzi for starting the car chase and the driver of the limo for being drunk, not wearing a seatbelt is the main reason she died. If you watch a few of the crash test dummy videos you can see exactly what a human body does in a high speed impact. It’s scary enough with seatbelts and an airbag much less without anything.
Babs if you don’t understand why wearing seat belts vastly increase your chance of surviving an RTA then I suggest you need more academic help than a gossip blog can provide.
@MeganBot2020, I am a RN by profession, I graduated from UBC with a BScN and MSN and been practicing nursing for over 15 years. On top of that, I am a mother of 5, and have held my class 5 driver’s licence for almost 20 years, so your rudeness is really unnecessary and uncalled for.
I didn’t say that lack of seat belt did not contribute to Diana’s death, I said it played a role but it was just one factor. Cause of death was a combination of being chased by paparazzi, an impaired driver, over speeding and of course unfastened seat belts. If they weren’t being chased by paparazzi, there’d would have been no car crash, if the driver wasn’t impaired, he would have made rational decisions that would have saved all their lives instead of blindly following Dodi instructions, if they weren’t over speeding, there would have been no car crash. Or how about it was their time to go? Maybe even if they had seat belts, driver not impaired and were not speeding but it was just their time to die and the survivor survived not because of anything he did but because his time to die had not come?
I agree it is sickening the way Diana is derided about the seat belt trying to portray her as “careless.” Her sisters even publicly spoke out and said Diana was always careful and buckled up. It makes no sense that only That One Time did she avoid it. I don’t think the belts worked and the sole survivor had buckled up which begs the question why did he not make sure that all buckled up. He can’t answer now because he has amnesia. Christian Barnard the renowned heart surgeon said Diana probably would have been saved had she been gotten to the hospital in time. She was doomed because it took eons to get her to the hospital.
I’ve always read too that Diana was very diligent about buckling her seatbelt. If it did work, I can only speculate that because it was a very hectic and fraught day with sudden changes of plans and switching of cars with the photographers chasing them, she just may have forgotten that one time to have buckled up which cost her her life.
I’m sure Diana’s sisters are being truthful, but human memory is provably extremely faulty. (Google the gorilla test.) There is a known psychological phenomenon where basically things that DO happen stick out in your memory much more than things that DON’T. Remember that time you were thinking about a person and then they phoned you out of the blue? (The kind of incident people constantly talk about as proof of ESP or whatever.) How many of the no doubt zillions of times you were thinking about someone and they didn’t phone you do you remember?
Point being, there’s no way of knowing how vigilant she actually was, how frequently she buckled her seatbelt (100%? 90%? 80%?) or under what circumstances. It’s quite possible she made a point of not only buckling up but commenting and drawing attention to it while in the presence of her sisters, due to the sibling dynamic (not saying that in a critical way but we all behave differently with family than with others). Plenty of people are scrupulous about buckling up while with children but not when alone, or when sober but not when drunk.
I don’t think it is “definitive” that the seat belt would have saved her. She probably would have been still injured from the impact and the same “health care” would have been applied to her so she would be too late getting to the hospital. The slow trip to the hospital IMO did her in. There is one survivor who can’t remember what happened. My question is why HE made sure HE buckled up and apparently did not make sure the others did before they went speeding away from the Ritz.
If there was an RPO sitting in that car with Diana, he’d have definitely made sure she and the others were buckled in before that car moved. And while a seat belt may not have absolutely saved her life, perhaps she wouldn’t have sustained such fatal injuries if she was wearing one. She wouldn’t have been violently catapulted around the car, that’s for sure. And if she had lesser injuries, maybe that slow ambulance trip to the hospital wouldn’t have contributed to her death. So many factors and poor decisions that played a fatal role on that terrible day.
Of course they’re annoyed! They’re being told not to release any info by the family, meanwhile that same family is briefing the press incorrect info behind their backs designed to paint in the most malicious light possible!
Harry must be so upset at how awful his relatives turned out to be.
Do the family realise that they’re putting Meghan and Archie’s safety at risk or is that exactly what they want?
I am appalled at the way the Queen and Charles are acting. They forget a baby is involved in this! This is Kate and WIlliam’s nephew! How can they be so cold hearted. Kate when she was photographed near Archie could not have been bothered to go over and at least smile and talk to the baby like she does with those children she visits. This is her children’s cousin. The coldness of that family is just awful.
I think the point from a UK point of view is that they have left the jobs they were doing. When I leave a job I don’t expect to continue to be paid for it or keep the benefits from it. It stokes me ( and I say this as someone who used to love them both) that they seem to have an overwhelming amount of self entitlement. I have been very disappointed by both their behaviour and their assumption that they can maintain all the benefits of their job without any of the responsibility.
Bore off.
‘Self-entitlement’ ‘very disappointed’ ‘used to love them’
Sure, Jan
LOL at Andrews nemesis. Well said!
That doesn’t quite track considering they offered to give up the perks while still doing the job full time and were told no.
Using “Royal” is not giving up the perks…
They said they weren’t going to use the word royal so what perks are they still keeping at this point?
@Sarah — How is commercial use of the word “Royal” a “perk” of being supported by the public? Isn’t that the OPPOSITE of what should happen? The royals who are supported by tax money are the very ones who SHOULD NOT be cashing in on using “Royal” for their enterprises, because it’s an abuse of their public position for private gain. However, if someone receives no tax money and doesn’t have a public position, then I think they should be free to pursue commercial enterprises because there’s no conflict. So I think you have this whole issue @ss backwards.
I expect you are equally as disappointed in the Firm’s obvious support/protection of Andrew?
Ah the old ‘I used to like them but’ trope.
He is a royal prince, he has the HRH and the title HRH Duke of Sussex. Those are things that are his, whether or not he is a part of the working Firm.
They offered to continue to work for the abusive Family Firm, for free, but you still complain?
Haven’t seen you complaining about the other HRH’s using their HRH and titles while not being part of the family firm. Because of course those don’t upset you.
“Overwhelming entitlement” is thinking you can abuse people incessantly and they have to sit there and take it.
Exactly.
Whoa, Sarah, do you understand what’s been happening, what’s been going on for 3 years now? Anyone ‘disappointed’ in THEIR behaviour is obscene, in My opinion. They have been gracious to the point where I’ve wanted to scream FIGHT BACK….and yet, no…all they do is release FACTS, with NO opinions attached. Just Facts. And further, they have left the jobs and the only financing they’ll get is what is their JUST DUES!!! FFS…they even said it…because Harry IS royalty (No One can take his bloodline away from him, or Archie) their safety IS compromised and they will FOREVER require protection, no matter where they are in the world. They (willingly or not) gave up using SussexRoyal, so why are they still being attacked for it? AND WHERE IS YOUR OUTRAGE ABOUT ANDREW, eh? Whoa, Sarah, time maybe to sit down and review your self.
Thank you Shirleygailgal!!!!!
Unbelievable gaslighting. I thought their tone was mild given the circumstances.
You never loved them both. What behavior have you been most disappointed in? Harry trying to keep his wife and son safe or their countering the misdirection from the RF and the RRs?
This is the latest troll theme. ‘I used to like them but’
Yes, haters are trying to sound “civil”, si they don’t get called out and deleted as they’ve been left and right.
You don’t need to be a fan to see how they’ve been treated by the press and a handful of people ( most of them from out of their country or even the commonwealth). He has the right and the possibility to stop the abuse. How sad is that you, having been a fan, cannot see it.
At this point, “I used to like them” is the new “I would have voted for a third Obama term” or “I don’t have a problem with female candidates, just THIS woman”.
You made me change my name.
I don’t mean to make light of your trauma TheOtheSarah, but that was really funny.
I feel you. I use to like the royal family, and respect the queen, not anymore. They’re no better then Trailer trashy, dressed nicely, with crusty accents. William is banging his neighbor, and Andrews rapes little girls, Charles was an adulteress pig, who made his young wife’s life a breathing miserable hell, but the British public, queen, and tabloids are fine with that. Harry gets tired of seeing his wife abused, and worries his son will be abused the same, and takes them away, the racist tabloids have a stroke. Screwed all. The palace, William and his wondering Penis, and Andrew the rapist. They’re trash.
Sarah, they didn’t “leave a job”, they left a toxic, lying, cheating, threatening, gaslighting and racist environment – both family and media. Equating it to you leaving your job is risible.
How can you honestly say that when you can read the same headlines and see the abuse in the press on a daily basis.You think this has been fun for them? The fact that the leaks have been coming from within the family, that they have been undermined, with outright lies told against them. Even the royal reporters have confirmed this, the jealousy, especially from William, and the resentment of their work ethic and them wanting to get things done, not just show up and smile. They were not able to do their jobs and I suspect t their jobs were going to be further curtailed. They were entitled but they saw it as an opportunity to give back. I really think they wanted them to break, break down or break up. I think your statement is disingenuous and ignorant. Sorry they didn’t meet your expectations of waving and wearing tiaras and pretty dresses.
That’s not the “UK point of view” and doesn’t answer why other non-working royals get their security costs paid for, or why Harry and Meghan are being singled out for unfair and punitive special treatment.
If this is the “UK point of view” then the UK is full of sh*t.
I know that they need to sell papers, but I wish the press would give them a few months to do their thing. If they succeed, they succeed. If they fail, they fail. (I don’t think they are going to fail.) But at least there will be an actual story to write about either way instead of hiring linguistics experts like the Daily Mail did this weekend to analyze their statement word by word.
I didn’t think my opinion of the BRF could sink any lower, but the way they have handled M&H has just proved to me that the whole damn clan needs to go….
His everyone, I am new to comment but have been lurking for a while. Actually the palace and the RR maybe annoyed by the “ingratitude of the Sussexes” but the telling statement for me is the one where the palace doesn’t want to get into a war of words, and here is the telling phrase” most annoying is the references to the Cambridges and other royals, but officials don’t want to get into a war of words fir their sakes as well as everybody else” Ha! What is the real reason you don’t you want to get into a war of words, grey men, it is most certainly not because of the Sussexes which you have been brow beating with words of betrayal from day one. So, it must be to avoid all the shady stuff of other royals with jobs, confirming all the trademarking they did was the exact same as the Cambridges foundation and pointing out to be treated with different rules. That is why they don’t want a war of words. Plus the weekend reporting of the Sussexes wasn’t as bad as it was on Friday.
Yep, I totally agree! Good catch!
Hi Hirut! Welcome, we hope to read from you often.
I am reading this book for work, and came across this quote, thinking it was salient to this story. The faux outrage to a plain statement of truth on a website reeks of white fragility, and the expectation that M and H will just roll over and be bullied.
White fragility functions as a form of bullying; I am going to make it so miserable for you to confront me—no matter how diplomatically you try to do so—that you will simply back off, give up, and never raise the issue again.
From “White Fragility” by Robin DeAngelo
Love your posts Noodle.
@Carmen. Thank you; I really appreciate and am encouraged by that! It’s an excellent book if you are looking for some non-fiction to kick your ass. I work in a very diverse place and am considered an ally by my coworkers; I speak and teach and publish on some of these issues, and goodnight, this book convicts me at deep levels. I read it in small chunks so I can digest it and not respond defensively with “White Woman Tears.”
I’m going to Pull that book down onto my Kindle, Noodle. Sounds educational and thought provoking. Thanks.
@jalowcountrylady – I wish there were a way we could talk about it after you’ve read it! We need a Celebitchy Book Club!
Amazing and so so true
Her Royal Highness Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, First Mother of Mountbatton-Windsor, Khaleesi of the great Atlantic Sea and North America. Breaker of Royal Balls and Old Wheels. Queen of Change and Freedom.
+1,000,000,000
yaaaaas
Oh Mabs A’Mabbin — I always look forward to and love your comments. This one was priceless. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Jealousy and bullying are strong drugs for some people. H&M are calling “them” out on this behavior and the jealous bullies don’t like it. H&M will prevail once this spring is over.
The statement was brief and factual. RRs/tabloids are reading all manner of drama into it, which doesn’t exist.
I read the announcement on the Sussex’s website, and you know what I saw?
I saw Medium Chill in action. Emotionless laying out of facts, and word choices that hinted at shade but could be taken for neutral on their face.
The thing with narcissists/collective narcissism: when you go Medium Chill as a defense, they lose their goldanged minds. These “reporters” (more like reptiles) live for provoking a response. Harry and Meghan refused to give them that, so the Rota are basically throwing the tantrum *for* H&M now. It’s another extinction burst. It all boils down to “How VERY DARE you refuse to dance to our tune”. Expect more emotional blackmail articles about how H&M are breaking the Queen’s heart, Charles’ heart, ad nauseam.
And when one of the nonagenarians, Betty or Phil, passes away, it’s going to be Meghan’s fault.
Absolutely 100% correct. The Queen is SO frail she just can’t handle M and H making a truthful statement on their webpage. However will she go on?
Exactly Where’sMyTiera — that is exactly what I got when I read it.
I have been following this soap opera all along and I also thought that statement was overly long and gratuitous. I’m totally on team Harry/Meghan, but giving in to your emotions and showing that kind of snippiness is never ever helpful. And yes, I know they’ve been through a lot. But I wonder if there’s some self-pity and circular thinking going on in their complex and they honestly don’t understand how these sorts of statements read to ordinary people, who aren’t following along every twist and turn?
Either way, I subscribe to the Michelle Obama, “When they go low, we go high,” theory of dealing with trolls. Just my 2 cents.
The Michelle Obama “When they go low, we go high” has been misunderstood and miscontrued.
People think Michelle Obama’s statement is just another way of never explain, never complain. When they say bad stuff about you, you just let it go with a smile and move on. It’s not.
“When they go low, we go high” doesn’t mean “We’re just gonna let it go.” It means “We’re not going to get into the muck with you.” It doesn’t mean we’re going to let it go.
There was a speech MIchelle Obama was giving and a heckler was heckling her. Michelle Obama didn’t let it go. She didn’t try to reason with the heckler. She didn’t argue with the heckler. She told the group she was giving the speech to that it was either going to be her or the heckler, but it couldn’t be both. If it was going to be the heckler, she would be leaving.
They got rid of the heckler.
Same with the Sussexes. It’s either going to be them or The Cambridges/Royal Rota. The Royal Family has chosen the Cambridges/Royal Rota over the Sussexes, so the Sussexes gotta go. That doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want about them and it should go unchecked. That’s not what “when they go low, we go high” means.
What exact quotes were overly emotional? It was literally just facts. The whole thing was facts. Did you not like some of the facts? Was the inclusion of some facts upsetting to you? How do you read emotion, self pity, circular thinking, and sniping into facts?
Giving into emotions? You mean, like being “incandescent with rage” or refusing to have someone’s name mentioned in your presence? Yeah I agree with you that is definitely petty bullsh!t and a bad look. Totally.
There was no overly-emotional hyperbole in their statement, it was simply clear, concise and to the point. That is what “going high” is, it’s maintaining civility whilst giving the facts, not simply turning the other cheek. It’s standing up for oneself in the face of lies, cheap shots and ill-informed nonsense.
I think they were just countering the ridiculous narrative floating around in the papers. Maybe it came across that way because the Royals never speak for themselves., so it is very direct to say, this is the actual law, here is what we will and won’t do. We haven’t done anything differently from this or that person, this is the structure of our future organization. It’s direct, the press may say this isn’t accurate or not very gracious, but a lot worse has been said and written about them, much worse. They will be speaking for themselves and people will have to get used to it. One thing I do wish they had done differently was say they would split their time between US and UK even before the marriage, from the get go.Once Brexit passed and Trump got elected, it was obvious they’d be living in a hostile atmosphere. Hindsight is 20/20 right.
First time commenter here, and I don’t think the overly specific tone of their latest statement was driven by emotion. Harry is the emo one in that marriage, and we know what his statements sound like, they’re not officious and they don’t sound “nice-nasty” at all. I think Sara Latham and the whole comms team over in Sussex-land are being given conflicting information by the Palace, and are reacting to every change in agenda. I say, let those who would believe the DM is the mouthpiece of the BRF think what they want, and unveil everything on April 1st, when you no longer have to coordinate or go through the BRF (and when they can be assured there’s no more leaks).
I have read previous comments that criticized the Sussexes for being overly specific in their original announcement (that they made to counter the original leak that blew this all up). I have to say I’m glad the Sussexes stated clearly from the beginning what their intentions were and what they expected to be able to do. Yes it was brash and bold. But they showed that the original intent was not for a “divorce” but a desperate bid for freedom from the royal Rota that was basically destroying every single thing they do and are.
We know by their own words that they tried to hold onto the possibility of continuing to serve the Queen. We saw that they tried to keep to a bare minimum the changes and disruptions they’d have to make in order to get free of that Rota and shut up taxpayer dissent and claims of ownership over Archie. (“We pay to support that baby, we claim the right to see him on demand!”)
By comparing what they wanted to what has actually been left to them, and by seeing the progression of leaks and comments from the various palace mouthpieces, we who have eyes and open minds can see the toxicity at play. They have inadvertently made Harry’s case for him that everything we see now is what was forced on them; they left him and Meghan no other choice but to take the path they have taken.
This couple has been leaked against and stonewalled and manipulated and abused. Anyone who claims they could or should have done anything other than what the Sussexes have done needs to stop and really think about the kinds of challenges this couple wakes to daily. Yes, they have wealth and privilege. Th
And they just want to set up something that will let them use that wealth and privilege to do some good for people. And the media and their families act like they’re trying to build a chain of puppy mills. 🙄
I don’t think the Queen has been gracious or generous to them at all. And frankly I think the only reason she left Harry’s military honors intact was to hold them ransom when the one year review comes around.
He has them but can’t use them. So what’s the point then? Why didn’t she outright remove them as initially reported? I think she and her nasty advisors know how much he values his military service and therefore think the possible revocation or restoration of his military honors can be used to manipulate him. Of course I could be wrong. I’m not an expert in the laws they’re operating under. Maybe the Queen has a legitimate reason for this messing about with his honors. But it’s not like Harry would be using them to get a discount at the seafood buffet. So I really would rather enjoy my salty cynical view of the old dear as I have my morning coffee.
He earned his own military title and honours in combat. He created the Invictus Games for his fellow military members. He got into mental health work to assist veterans. She cannot remove what he has earned, what he has built.
Bitter Betty can stuff the others, frankly.
I agree with your comments about the Sussexes’ statement. I did not find it defensive at all. Their website is their mouthpiece for stating facts; the media takes facts about the Sussexes and distorts them. So if I want to know what is going on with them, I know I can look to their website for the truth.
You go girls! Totally agree.
They backtracked somewhat on the military honors part after there was significant pushback from the military community. It was an entirely petty move to begin with, and it was rightly called out.
Can we all agree, that all these awful things being written about Harry & Meghan and their son could be easily squashed by Her Majesty herself? With one swoop of a pen (press release) or whatever the palace would deem appropriate. The important issue that everyone is forgetting is this is a family. If someone was doing this to my son, his wife and especially my grandson, I would take great offense to it. But that’s just me, as I’m sure others will agree. Anyone of them could stand-up and say, “Okay press, news ‘reporters’, any and all who report, you all need to stop. We as a family stand behind their decision. Leave them alone to live as they chose. Please respect their privacy.” Of course this hasn’t happened because of their protocols and whoever surrounds the Queen, Harry’s father and brother are giving very bad advice. Why can’t they, for once put family first before the monarchy?
Reminds me of our elected officials in office, making horrible decisions based on putting their party first before their country and people.
With that said, I feel something terrible will happen if changes aren’t made.
Do you know, I believe if the British Royal Family actually did put family first, just to step outside of themselves as monarchs and make the statement you suggest, Rob, I believe THAT would/could very possibly be their saving grace?? !! I really do, and agree 200% with your last sentence, sadly and with a heavy heart, I agree.
Rob, you need to watch The Crown. The Monarchy is first. Always has been. The Queen will not make a statement telling the public and press to leave the Sussexes alone. That would be showing empathy and emotion. Something that the Queen and the Monarchy does not have.
But she’s hurting the monarchy right now. She’s lost a bunch of empathetic, kind people who support the Sussexes and now actively hate the queen. She lost all those new, young, commonwealth, global, POC fans who thought maybe the monarchy actually liked people like them. They lost a lot of their old supporters who followed and always liked diana and Harry. She could’ve played this so much more neutrally but she is actively punishing the Sussexes, and she’s forcing them to abide by every single rule, norm, or protocol that she can come up with that no one else in the family has ever had to abide by. She is mad at them for some reason and is actively punishing them. And out loud, in public. It’s bizarre.
That’s the thing though Michelle. With Sophie’s sheikhgate scandal the Queen released a statement denouncing the News of the Worlds sting. The palace knows how to make it known when they are frustrated with press coverage eg recently with Andrew & reports on him not cooperating with US authorities. When public was disgusted with Andrew’s Newsnight interview the palace moved quickly to let it be known that the Queen didn’t authorise it, even though the producers said she had.
I know it’s political so more urgent but recently when David Cameron talked about her reported intervention in the Scottish referendum, the palace made clear they were unhappy with his comments on private discussions.
BP know how to push back/clarify press reports when they want to.
The British Royal Family IS putting their family first: their family continues with WILLIAM, not Harry. Harry is quite frankly not important and not needed because William’s family continues on through WILLIAM’s children.
The problem with Harry is he thinks of his family as an actual FAMILY, not as a family business. EVERYTHING Harry is doing threatens to destroy the family business. Harry never made these moves until he got married, so Meghan will and must be blamed. If you get rid of Meghan and Archie, you can save the family business:
Harry wanting to be his own person and have his own sense of accomplishment & purpose threatens William (and the entire royal system) because people will question, if Harry can do it, why can’t William?
Meghan being a success with her patronages even while pregnant/new mom will have people questioning, why can’t Kate do it too? If Kate can’t do it, what’s the purpose of her?
(the only reason they want to see Archie so badly is to see how “black” Archie is. I’m pretty sure Meghan has warned Harry any children they have could have brown skin, even if the baby is white at birth …and that’s why Archie’s middle name is HARRISON (Harry’s son) because if Archie’s skin tone ended up more brown, Daily Wail, KP and others would claim Archie was not Harry’s child.)
Harry & Meghan stepping away and becoming financially independent threatens all of the non-heir royals because “the taxpayer” would be wondering if Harry & Meghan are making their own money & being financially independent, why the hell are they supporting Beatrice, Eugenie and the rest?
It’s in the entire British Royal Family’s best interests to make sure Harry & Meghan fail and fail spectacularly to ensure no other member of the BRF tries to break free too. The British Royal Family’s future depends on the Sussexes failing (or Meghan leaving Harry, or Harry dumping both Meghan and Archie*)
In order to escape royal life and become his own person, Harry never could’ve chosen a white English wife because if they did try to leave, all of England’s businesses would’ve closed ranks and shut Harry out. Harry’s choice of an American bride was perfect because American businesses & money makers aren’t going to let allegiance to the Monarchy get in the way of securing their bag.
*Everyone talks about the Monarchy having custody of Archie. If Harry and Meghan divorced today, I doubt seriously the British Monarchy would fight to keep Archie. They would probably pay Meghan a settlement to take Archie back to America and never bring that kid back to the UK ever again.
@ Emmitt – some interesting thoughts here.
“Harry wanting to be his own person and have his own sense of accomplishment & purpose threatens William (and the entire royal system) because people will question, if Harry can do it, why can’t William?
Meghan being a success with her patronages even while pregnant/new mom will have people questioning, why can’t Kate do it too? If Kate can’t do it, what’s the purpose of her?”
Actually, this seems like a really good explanation of why the RF doesn’t want Harry and Meghan to be any kind of “part-time” royals, despite the obvious inconsistencies with what other family members have done re: earning private money while still retaining royal connections. Because if H&M were very successful, but still considered working members, it would be a direct comparison with what Will and Kate are doing (or not). With them completely out, the RF could peddle the idea that H&M are successful because they don’t have the extra burden of royal responsibilities, etc.
Each and everyone of us should ask ourselves the following: If I’ve been through as much shit as PH and MM, on such a public scale, would I be content to sit still and keep taking the punches? People forget that these two have been dealing with this blatant media bullying for years now! I read the note released by Caroline Flack’s family where the deceased basically lamented that her pain had been turned into “entertainment” as her life’s narrative was seized by the press. At what point are people supposed to fight back? Would it be better if they sunk into depression? Constantly sweeping things under the rug doesn’t make it go away…it’s simply a recipe for illness in the long run! Meghan and Harry are human…there’s only so much people can take! It does not make them ungrateful.
Absolutely Bubs. I have been the recipient of overt bullying and I know how difficult and demoralizing it was for me. I wouldn’t have come through it without a strong sense of self, good friends, AND excellent therapeutic support. Having said that, I still can’t imagine dealing with it on the multi-source, public level the Sussexes are living with on a worldwide platform. As an American, I had never heard of Flack until her suicide. When her family released that note, it just broke my heart. I will never understand racism, bullying, and deliberately vicious and harmful behavior that we humans are capable of inflicting on each other. I believe strongly that each of us must make a choice to fight these behaviors against ourselves and call them out in others when found.
@JA, I’m so sorry for all you had to go through. Thank God you came out victorious.
I wonder why they are so upset if Meghan is just a “degree wife”?
Being serious, I knew they wouldn’t let the Sussexes walk away with everything they wanted. But still, it’s just sad to witness their own families trying to destroy them since the beginnig.
I think the royals were counting on Meghan being a degree wife and either she’d tire of the royal business and leave Harry and go back to North America or Harry would tire of her and kick her to the curb, back to North America. No harm, no foul.
The problem is, she got pregnant right away with Archie and Archie is a permanent tie to the BRF. You can get rid of Meghan all you like, but 25% black Archie is still in line for the throne. In my opinion, that’s why the attacks on her ramped up after the pregnancy announcement: they were trying to make her miscarry Archie and then they could get rid of her.
I have always felt that Meghan getting pregnant so soon ( or I guess pregnant at all) was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Sh!t got real once that baby was on board. When Archie gets old enough to read about all of this, I wonder what his reaction will be? Being called names and having his mother mistreated from time his conception was announced? I am always shocked at the level people will stoop to mistreat others but given human history I don’t know why I am.
Before and after the wedding there was hope on some blogs and comments sections that Meghan was “barren.” After all she did not get pregnant with Trevor, her ex husband so these bloggers said And it would “free” Harry to go and marry someone more “appropriate” said some on those blogs. Really horrifying posts.
Yup, agree with others about the tone-policing etc.
I said yesterday that I did think the statement was a little terse. Pointed may be a better word. But I don’t blame them for it. Every step of the way the press has been hammering at them and just making up lies, or exaggerations, etc – like the story about the staff at BP, heck even the argument last week over the word “royal” considering H&M withdrew the trademark application in mid-January.
The comment about the Cambridges was needed, in my opinion – the press acted like wanting to trademark Sussex Royal (back when they first did it, with the expectation of being working royals) was some sign of Meghan wanting to sell tshirts with her picture on them or something. But it was a pretty standard move. And I think we are going to start seeing more of that from the Sussexes. They are not going to refute every story, obviously, but I think once in a while we are going to get these pointed reminders about what other royals do, to show the hypocrisy of the press.
There is new talk they recinded the copyright filing related to SussexRoyal in mid-January. If true, they never had any intention of using it in their new lives. It was merely a protective act as done by other royals, as you point out, so it couldn’t be misused by anyone else.
Exactly Nota – and that makes the outrage over the last week and the narrative that the Queen “banned” them from using it etc even more absurd. They knew a month ago they weren’t going to be using it. Now maybe they wanted to, but its clear this hasn’t played out the way the press is portraying.
Someone on yesterday’s thread said 14th Jan so these discussions around the use of ‘royal’ have been ongoing and this is not a surprise to the Sussex’s.
When have facts ever got in the way of a good click bait story. Someone leaked this to ensure they got to go away on a nice warm sunny vacation without being papped. We’ll know when we see them again in public with their golden tans that they certainly didn’t get sheering lambs in Norfolk.
Thing is the RF haven’t shown much support and graciousness to the Sussexes at all. Charles walked her down the aisle and the queen did and engagement and that’s it. What’s that phrase again? Treat others as you wish to be treated? Perhaps if the RF were far more supportive and the courtiers didn’t leak things, Meghan and Harry may still be working royals or at the very least be far more willing to work with the RF
And for the last fucking time: No, the Queen can’t take the titles away that requires and act of parliament. No, they can’t take their security away because it’s not decided by the family but the government and agencies. No, they can’t not have security because they are two high profile targets. The only thing is Charles’ duchy funds but some people keep whining about it saying they don’t need it so if they don’t need it then what’s left?
Some blogs have posters who are demanding the loss of the titles. And I have read even more vile comments about Meghan.
Non-sequitur but did anyone else see that The Sun recorded a £68m loss last year because of falling sales and legal costs from the hacking case? You hate to see it 🙂
That’s good news and also explains the war on H&M since they stand to lose much much more. All the RR are scared and they should be.
Finally, some good news!
I always had little to no respect for Elizabeth now it is nonexistent.
She went from revered to despised with the speed of a smile.
i have to say that with all of this I am very worried about their safety while in the UK. I’m not sure it’s a good idea they go at all
Oh good. Im not the only one. Im not sure they’ll be safe. How do we know the palace won’t arrange an accident or assassination for them. Those people are petty and bitter. A dangerous combination.
In the worst case scenario If something happens to the Sussexes (knocks on wood) who will retain custody of Archie? Doria, Charles or TQ?
I can’t wait for April 1st. I hope Harry and Meghan unleash on the press.
I do wish people would stop assuming that Canadians are thrilled that H and M are here ,We actually don’t care but will be definitely annoyed to be footing the security bill if that is in fact the case .
I agree. We don’t care they are here…they are welcome. But most of us don’t want to pay their security bill. Justin said he hasn’t spoken to the Queen about it yet, but what is there to speak about? No way should we pay ! You’ll get the “but they’ll make tourists dollars for Canada”. Canada is fine with the amount of tourists we get. In fact, some places would like less tourists lol.
It isn’t a good look for members of the BRF to move whenever they want and expect the taxpayers to cover the security costs. It reeks of entitlement.
Canadians don’t owe them a cent. Charles should foot the bill for his son, his DIL and his grandson.
Not sure who’s covering their security at the moment. It may be both Brits and Canadians until March 31.
I agree with this but the statement from M&H indicated that we may never know if/what we will pay here in Canada for their security. After they stated that they have a valid need for it, they indicated that the matter is closed and the public will not be told anything further:
“No further details can be shared as this is classified information for safety reasons.”
I wonder if the public will hold Justin Trudeau accountable here and demand some transparency.
If you don’t want to pay for royal security, you should leave the Commonwealth, you know. You’re already paying for them and everyone else.
@Ms Louise Scrivener Excuse me? I am Canadian and l am more than happy to have the Sussexes living In my country, most of my extended family, friends AND coworkers are happy to have them here. Don’t assume we are paying for their security bill unless you have proof! Please don’t speak for me!
I find it sad and disappointing that the queen, is participating in and allowing the attacks of petty heaped on them. The tabloids continued to treat Meghan differently then Kate. Meg holds her belly, she’s acting, Kate does, shes an earth mother, meg eats a avocado, she’s contributing to slave labor, Kate has one, shes combatting morning sickness, poor thing, Meghan wears an off the shoulder dress, shes a whore, Kate does, shes glamorous, Eric, etc. they compare their child to a monkey, the palace remains silent, so does Charles and William. Not one word. Not a single peep in defense of their grandchild, niece of nephew respectively. They have behaved horribly and i think they expected Harry to simply toss her aside, instead he choose his wife and new born son, and for THAT they, the queen included, want tp punish him. Yet. Andrew raped sex trafficked girls, and the tabloids are silent, the queen walks proudly beside him in public, to church, and the palace friendly tabloids talked about the rapist being the queens rock. They’re racist, selfish, petty and a disappointment. Im disgusted with the lot of them, including the queen. It’s petty what they’re doing. They are doing all they can to undermined Harry and Meghan. They don’t want them to succeed and that in itself tells me all I need to know about them. It makes me wonder now if Diana’s death really was an accident. They’re so petty and hateful nothing would surprise me about them.
I posted my theory about this last night but it was late and buried in comments, so here I go again:
I wonder if the family is acting out so angrily at Harry right now because he is the reason that one of the will and Kate scandals got out. It’s clear that something happened that deeply upset Harry enough to want to leave, but it’s also made the family mad and want to punish him, against their own best interests. Maybe will had his affair, or the royal foundation funds were shady and illegally being used. Harry finds out, tells someone, it gets out in the media and threatens the whole “golden image” of Will and Kate and their “normal, wholesome family and marriage” image. Will and Kate are now forced to sell out their kids and give the media much more access now than they ever did before. This makes them and the RF mad. So they start/intensify the smear campaign against Harry and Meghan in retaliation. At the same time the RF starts putting out all these embiggening stories about future queen Kate and how great William is. The queen and Charles go from supporting Meghan openly to stepping back a bit because this is a problem between the brothers and they don’t want to pick sides. Plus, they think Harry should just take his medicine and accept the smearing as retaliation for what he did. The smearing intensified and gets racist and brings in Meghan and Archie. Harry, rather than take it or work it out with Will, leaves. This pisses everyone off even more because now he’s left rather than play by the family rules and he’s taken his information about Will and Kate with him. And he keeps referring to it a bit. “If you knew what I knew…” etc.
I’m just trying to figure out why the RF are so ANGRY at him and I’m thinking it’s because he’s endangered the image of the golden couple and he’s forced will and Kate to play ball with the press and start bringing out the kids more often.
@amytoo – I get your theory, but I don’t buy it. The smear campaign kicked into high gear around the time of the tour/pregnancy announcement. THAT was what set someone off in the royal family.
Maybe Harry did leak something about William’s affair, but my guess is if he did, it was a retaliatory move of his own – “you’re bashing my wife in the media, well I’ll let this little detail about the rural rivals out” and then it just snowballed from there. But I don’t think that was what happened.
I think the royal family is so angry at Harry like you said because he is refusing to play ball. He isn’t playing by the royal family’s rules and he’s not going to go along with the embiggening of Will and Kate at his family’s expense. I think he found out that smear campaign was being encouraged/enabled by William and that set him off more than anything.
The other thing I can see that sort of goes along with that is -if William made a deal with the press in order to silence the Rose rumors – more photo ops, etc – and part of that deal was “Meghan is fair game” – William could be ticked that Harry wasn’t going to go along with that in order to protect William.
Basically I think at any given moment Harry has enough dirt to bury William, and I don’t think he would let slip one of the more damaging bits of information. If he did leak that info about the affair, it was completely intentional, and I’m not sure he would do that because he had to know that William would strike back.
Maybe the family just THINKS he was the source of a leak then? And that’s why the retaliated so hard? Or maybe Harry threatened to unload and tattle? And will and Kate preempted that by starting/intensifying the campaign?
I keep getting stuck up on why is the queen herself so angry that she’s being petty to the n-th degree and causing damage to the RF’s image. Why did the queen and Charles go from walking Meghan down the aisle and taking her on the train and all sorts of welcoming and liking her articles to stepping SO FAR back as to do absolutely nothing to help her, letting their own palaces and courtiers leak, and now exerting every punishment they can?
It’s obvious to me that it’s something to do with Will and Kate originally but has now spiraled out to engulf the entire royal family and make all of them, including the queen, angry. Not just disappointed or frustrated but PISSED. It’s also something that started or happened around the wedding. And something that royal reporters know about but can’t comment on due to ongoing legal issues. I wonder if Harry found out that will and Kate encouraged and weaponized Bad Dad Markle against Meghan starting around the time of the wedding? Markle would’ve been talking with and making his travel plans and getting advice from KP then as Harry and Meghan were under KP still. That would explain why Harry is angry enough to leave and burn it all down, but it doesn’t really explain why the WHOLE family is mad at him.
So did he do something in retaliation when he found out? Did he threaten to do something? I get why will and Kate are pissed that Harry is choosing to leave rather than take their crap anymore. I get why they would want him to fail and have a miserable life. They’re petty and don’t want to be outshone but also don’t want to do anything to help themselves. But why is the rest of the family so mad? Rather than just doing the usual “live and let live, everyone can do what they want, we’ll worry about it later, it might get better on its own” type of thing.
@Amy – yeah, I know, it makes me scratch my head too. And its not “just” that they are stepping down/back, the royal family seemed angry before this. there is some really bad blood there and it didn’t seem like it was there 18 months ago.
My Tinfoil Tiara Theory of that day is that William is REALLY ticked at Harry over something – who knows what – and that WILLIAM threatened to walk away. (or maybe has nothing to do with Harry, maybe something else entirely) At that point the family rallied around the Cambridge’s to avoid another crisis and did nothing to defend the Sussexes and Harry felt betrayed. I don’t think William ever would walk away, btw, but I could see him threatening it if he thought it gave him some leverage. Or maybe when Harry and Meghan first started to discuss this the royal family freaked? Maybe it is “just” Sussexit that is ticking the family off.
But I don’t buy that theory that I just typed out lol because I think that whatever “the issue” in the family is – that “issue” played a big role in the Sussexes decision to step away.
Maybe the affair rumors started to come out and the family expected everyone, but especially Harry and Meghan, to help bury them? Maybe they asked Harry to publicly support the Cambridges by issuing a statement of support for them, or distract the media by being seen publicly with them a lot to reinforce the “lovely family” narrative. Perhaps the family demanded that Harry bury the hatchet and forgive William for the leaking he had been doing up to that point (or the weaponizing of Markle to throw in my other theory) so that Harry could help rehab Will’s image and Harry refused. Maybe he was just like “I don’t care if it comes out. I don’t care if Will gets in trouble for cheating. I’m not going to play happy families to distract.” So instead William and Kate had to start selling out the kids which made them, and the family, pissed. They figured Harry was just being stubborn and wasn’t properly playing the spare, couldn’t believe he was okay with the monarchy taking a huge hit with the affair story and the crumbling of the Wholesome Cambridge Family facade. So will and Kate really intensify their leaking, they get mean and nasty about it, while also embiggening themselves and Kate hugely. Then the rest of my theory is the same: The rest of the family doesn’t help Harry and Meghan or issue any media statements about the horrible racist way they’re being treated. “If you’re not willing to issue statements for your brother and help him with his media problems, we won’t help your with yours in the future. Do you want to take that risk?” Harry holds firm, he’s not going to help William because he’s still mad about the Thing and isn’t ready to forgive. He agrees to deal with any media issues on his own and to not expect family support. So the family doesn’t help him, even when the media attacks start to get way out of control, and go in on baby Archie. They expect Harry to be cowed into making up with William at any time now and learn his lesson. He doesn’t. But he does try to get around his media punishment by asking the family to let him go part time, let him out of the rota. They’re like “no way. This is the bargain you made. You knew we wouldn’t help you with the media if you didn’t help William, and we’re not going to let you wiggle out sideways now.” Could even explain why Charles and the queen wouldn’t listen to him to even take his meetings about needing something to give in relation to his press treatment and position in the family (wanting to be part time so he wouldn’t be expected to be William’s main little helper as the traditional full time working spare). So instead he just leaves. Everyone is super pissed because he didn’t play by the rules they had all agreed to: if you don’t help William, we don’t help you.
@Amy – now that may be a little too much tinfoil for some, but I can actually see that playing out. William was leaking/encouraging the negative press, when the affairs come out the family is expected to protect William, the family refuses, and the rest is like you describe. So there was an already issue between the brothers, but Harry being asked to be the sacrificial lamb AGAIN for his brother was too much with the other issues going on. the family wont protect Harry because he refused to help protect William.
And maybe the budget plane stunt was the final straw there – “not only will we not help you, we’ll make it worse.”
I don’t think the family cares that much about affairs. I don’t see Charles protecting his son when he got raked over the coals for it. The turnip toff story came out as pretty vague anyway and in the Sun and DM, both papers that Harry would never deal with. I don’t think he was behind that story at all.
I do think there are financial shenanigans with the foundation and money is something the BRF cares about. If Harry was in a position to set it on fire with the shifty funds transferred to non successful projects, that could get everyone’s attention.
Harry would never go to the press. By releasing his previous statements he’s shown that when something needs to be said, he just says it outright, not to a reporter. I think he’d consider leaking to the press to be consorting with his enemy; it’s totally out of character for him.
It’s important to remember that this is more than just 1 house leaking to the press. KP, BP and CH all leak to their various preferred mouthpieces, and usually not in a coordinated fashion. Leaks occur from one side when they want to get out in front of an impending release from DDoS to undermine their control over their own narratives and make them look as bad as possible (like the private plane nonsense before Harry announced Travalyst, pushing the Sussexit story through Dan Wooton, etc). I believe all (or nearly all) of those types of leaks come from KP. Leaks also occur from all sides whenever H&M can be used to coverup any unsavory stories – Will’s rumored affair(s), Prince pedo, misuse of funds from the royal foundation, failing health of elder members, recent divorces, etc.
The other thing to keep in mind is that while it’s been mentioned that *something* happened around the time of the wedding, I don’t think it actually came to a head until months later. A few snide looks at the wedding aside, I think overall the family looked fairly supportive at the wedding, and you’re right that they were still putting out some favorable stories. All the negative stories around the wedding (making Kate cry, air freshener, etc) didn’t come out until much later, after the Oceania tour was so incredibly successful. I think that most of this boils down to jealousy of H&M’s popularity, a desperate need for cover from real scandals, and a battle for power among the future kings.
I don’t think that the queen is as involved in all this as everyone thinks. I think most of her “pettiness” can be attributed to her being 93, literally not having a clue about digital media (same goes for Charles) and having an incompetent staff. In their initial statement, Harry said that her courtiers were running interference to prevent him meeting with her. Her long-time chief of staff (or something) was pushed out a few years back by Charles. I think that is no coincidence – the person who was able to corral the rest of the courtiers and keep a lid on things is now gone and everyone is running amok with their own ulterior motives.
I also think the 1-year review might be wishful thinking on Charles’ part that the queen might step down around that time (she will be 95 a few months after the year period ends) and perhaps the Sussexes would want to rejoin the fold to help smooth the transition to Charles’ reign.
@Amy Too – don’t think it has to do with the affair. For one thing, doesn’t seem in character for Harry to leak it. For another, regardless of how much he currently likes or dislikes Kate, I don’t think he’d want to humiliate her by exposing the affair to the press. And they have kids. He was old enough when Diana died to have some inkling of what was going on with both his parents…
But mostly, there’s no certainty the news about Will wandering came from his side. Plenty of people around Rose must have been aware of what was going on. Not hard to imagine Will pissing off one of the other Turnip Toffs for one reason or another, he’s just that kind of guy.
From the vague comments by a few media people, it’s something very serious. I’m not sure even the idea Will/the RF were responsible for what happened with Meghan’s father is significant enough. I lean towards some kind of monkey business with the foundation and it’s funds, or very possibly something very private we have no clues about at the present time.
The RF as a whole may be pissed about the lawsuits, that could be why the group of them seem so angry, because it’s going to expose what’s been going on behind the scenes with the leaks and negative PR. IIRC, Harry joined a larger suit about phone hacking? But Meghan has a stand alone case – so, of course it’s all Meghan’s fault. Didn’t Harry say something about, the action they were taking in filing wasn’t the safe one, but it was the right one?
Finally, I think Becks1 idea about Will makes some sense. Seems to me he’s the epicenter of much of the current negative PR, out of jealousy and spite (though Andrew likely throws in his two cents as well). Will just doesn’t want to see Harry being happy or successful, being more popular; doesn’t want Harry getting away from his control so he can’t use him anymore as he has for so long. Will is spoiled, entitled, and listens to no one – but bottom line is, he’s the (future) heir, he’s the one that has to be protected. I could easily see Will throwing tantrums and making all kinds of threats about what he will and won’t do – it’s taken long enough to get him to do any kind of significant work as it is. That he’d threaten to walk away himself as a power play isn’t hard to imagine.
Hi everyone, thanks for participating in my tinfoil theories! I love the back and forth. When I said that Harry may have been how the leak about the affair got out, I meant more like he told a friend, who told someone, who told the press, not that Harry called up the daily mail or the sun. Maybe he was mad at William for all the various crap that William does (leaking, being incompetent, demanding others work less to make him look better, questioning Meghan, etc) and he ranted to a friend about how William keeps leaking and saying shit about him, all the while William is screwing around so who is he to talk? That kind of thing.
The thing around the wedding: I agree, it happened around the wedding but appears to not have been discovered until later. I think it’s maybe something to do with thomas Markle and what he was doing before the wedding (pap pictures, interviews, saying he’s coming then not, releasing photos, letting that other daughter start talking). KP staff, acting under Will, might’ve encouraged that mess to embarrass Meghan. That makes sense from the whole “for legal reasons, we can’t talk about it but it happened around the wedding” that we’re hearing from reporters. Meghan has her case against the daily mail going on right now specifically about Thomas Markle. They might have discovered that KP and/or Will played a big role.
And if it wasn’t the fact that William was having an affair that the RF really wanted to hide—though I honestly think it could be, the RF has a lot invested in will and Kate being the next great perfect wholesome family heirs—then maybe it was the stuff about the foundation? Maybe they really didn’t want Meghan and Harry to split away from the foundation and found their own because it would expose how poorly the Cambridges are doing at bringing in money and doing projects if they no longer could claim all the Sussex stuff under their foundation? Foundation money being used incorrectly could also be it and might be a “legal matter.” The Cambridges foundation failing due to Harry leaving could definitely be something that would make the extended family angry, as it would provoke questions about what they all do with their foundations and all the money they get.
It just seems to me like it’s not only that Harry was sick of being treated like the whipping boy spare so he was suddenly refusing to do Williams bidding and be his fall guy, and then William getting super mad about it and unleashing a massive anti Sussex campaign that the rest of the RF didn’t stop, picked up, and actually added to themselves. Because that’s a reason for Harry to be mad and leave. But it’s not reasons for the whole RF to be mad back at him and not intervene at all to the point where a blood prince, one of only two of Charles’ kids, the future future King’s only sibling, is leaving the monarchy. There has to be more.
@AmyToo I definitely think the whole miserable descent into vitriol and slander started around the time of the wedding. Kate looked as if she were sucking on rocks (and a post I saw on some blog – could be OTT/coincidence – that the hat she was wearing tilted over her right eye so she couldn’t see the ceremony and never looked up from her Order of Service?) and both her and William (Penis with Teeth) faces were frozen in rictus grins in the photos. Perhaps they had ambushed Harry before the wedding and thought they could persuade him to call it off? Perhaps that was the moment at which he threatened to air PWT’s dirty laundry? I don’t think Charles had anything to do with the falling-out but, my goodness, he’s done nothing to support his daughter in law (perhaps he thinks she’s Tungsten enough to deal with the outsize racism, misogynoir, gaslighting ans overt threats)? Perhaps PWT went running off to Mummy Middleton to whine that little brother wasn’t listening and MaMid went nuclear? So many perhapses, but as you say there had to be something seismic to cause such a meltdown
@Ms Louise Scrivener Excuse me? I am Canadian and l am more than happy to have the Sussexes living In my country, most of my extended family, friends AND coworkers are happy to have them here. Don’t assume we are paying for their security bill unless you have proof!
I think the tabloid leaks are coming from William/Kate, and/or the Middletons. That would explain the embiggening of Kate — the tabs are giving glowing praise to her as payment for the leaks.
The tabs would probably favor Kate over Meghan anyway, since Kate is white, and kissing the @ss of the future king and queen is more important that treating Harry and Meghan fairly. But, I’m not looking at the tabloids in a vacuum. There are definitely leaks, and that plays into it. Also, the fact that the palace will shut down any rumor as ridiculous as Kate’s hair extensions, but won’t lift a finger to stop the racist attacks on Meghan. This make me think there is collusion from within.
All these “theories’ make more sense if Megan not Harry, leaked the Rose story. But I don’t believe that. Why would she have leaked anything, she knows better so…
At least Harry gets the blame as well! It’s his family after all and he’s known for his temper.
Meghan vs Daenerys comparision someone mentioned – I see similarities. I wish John Snow behave 10% like Harry did though. *still bitter*
So excited to see what H&M have been working on and further plans away from the sewer that is the monarchy. They need to sneak back to support their groups and never again dance to TQ’s hateful tunes. The whole debacle has shown us all why the monarchy needs to be relegated to history books only.
“Sniping from the sidelines doesn’t help anyone.” the source sniped, from their position on the sidelines.
@Chickaletta Brava! Nice one
Also, how far removed is “ungracious” from “uppity” ?
That’s always been the narrative surrounding Meghan. She’s not gracious or humble enough, she’s too confident, she doesn’t know how to be in the background, know her place, etc, etc. I think they really wanted her to show some level of ridiculous deference that really was jut never going to happen. The Royal family wanted Meghan and Harry to be front and center, but also not grabbing the spotlight. They saw the spark and life she brought to the institution, but at the same time wanted everything to be business as usual. Put it positively or negatively, depending on ones view, they are disrupters. I don’t think they were trying to shake things up, but they did just by their approach, charisma and world view. There was always talk about harnessing the Sussexes, but they didn’t want to be mistreated and have the royal family ride a wave of popularity at their expense. Once they withdraw completely and they focus their efforts and energy elsewhere, I think the Royals try to will act Meghan was never there, but it won’t be the same.
After slamming all episodes of “The Crown” this weekend…I will say this….It looks like The Firm is handling things the way they handled them back in the 70s/80s….which makes sense because a lot of the staff that they’re getting advice from is from that time period…yea, 2020 is NOT 1989…and it won’t play out that way either….
Harry was inevitable….Harry saw what happened to his Aunt and his Father and his Brother….and his Mama paid for it with her life….
To be FREE…to be his OWN PERSON…I think Harry will burn it ALL down…and he’s got the right partner to do that with…and I’m here to warm myself by the fire…
Scooch over, lala11, I’m joining you. And it will be glorious!
the sad thing is everyone thought Diana boys will be different, this shows that Windsor always protect the heir. So sad the same things will repeat for Louis and charlotte. Kate should have known better that these things will happen to her own kids, she was complicit in smear campaign. The time and time again whatever Sussex did is nothing compared to pedophile son and showing off to the world with her support. The queen from the very beigning handle all the stuff in worng manner.
I really don’t think Kate is very smart. Add that to her egocentricity and we’d all better pray for the Cambridge kid’s futures.
You do know that’s a fictional show right…?
“We’re not going to respond except to respond to say that we won’t respond. And if you respond to our response, we will have to respond to your response. And we don’t want to respond to your response, so don’t respond.”
It’s a psychotic Monty Python sketch on acid come to life.
Yes, A Guest —- I too constantly liken this entire drama to Monty Python. Unfortunately it is a TOXIC Monty Python sketch. When Meghan said, “I knew it would be difficult, but I always thought it would be fair”. …..I so wished, she had turned and looked directly into the camera and added….but no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
I read PHarry and Meghan’s statement. It was clear , concise, and matter of factly. There was no intentional slight against anyone, most especially against the Queen. The lady up thread is correct : the RF and the British Media are stirring the pot in preparation for the Sussexes coming home. They want them to be booed and jeered by the British crowd during their visit and walkabouts. When Brits do this, they will be unmasked before the world and the whole world will be justified to call the Meghan bullying outright racism without a doubt. Good luck PHarry and Meghan . Excited and looking forward to your homecoming. Only the best to you both.
Of course they should be so gracious through all the bullying and leaking. We tell them when to be silent and leak as we see fit. Why can’t they be gracious after their royal patronages and Ceremonial military ranks were removed and then graciously re admitted.
The men in grey are serious psychopaths.
Honestly, I’m just ready for this whole situation to go quiet for a bit. I like them, I think they have a right to do this, I wish them well, but good lord am I over them and the whole royal family….
How dare they post simple facts after being abused by the press and their own family for years. *eyeroll*
OK. I think we should call a spade when we see one. I admire your unwavering support but this is where I will concede that they erred here. You can’t claim you want independence from royalty and still reap it’s benefits. I believe there is a saying for that, you can’t eat your cake and have it. This whole abdication was not well thought out or executed. Personally, I am just appealed that someone with innate sense and advisers will do this.
they did not want nor declare independence from his family. Their proposal was never severing ties to work with them and the causes they support.
BTW did you know that “calling a spade a spade” is actually a racist phrase?
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/09/19/224183763/is-it-racist-to-call-a-spade-a-spade
I’m sure the poster knew that.
The troll knew.
@BLUEMOONHORSE
I didn’t know that and I am black. Thanks for the tip-off.
@Linda I always contributed it to The Importance of Being Earnest but learned more about it later. So people shouldn’t assume everyone knows – it is a very common phrase.
Sigh. It is in no way an abdication. What benefits did they really want to retain? The name of a website for their foundation (that they stopped trying to trademark over a month ago)? Stop it.
@Ada, Prince Harry cannot abdicate; he’s not on the throne. Further, Prince Harry did not ‘abdicate’ any responsibilities or duties because he is not the heir to the throne nor is he required to work for the monarch and no one else. Try laying off the tabloids for a while and getting your facts straight, then your definitions right, and then stowing your self-righteous, judgemental mentality someplace that doesn’t make you look so ill-informed about what the Sussexes, themselves, announced in January about how they planned to become independent. Your megx*ter manifesto bulls*t is just loathsome.
I think there is (partially) a cultural difference in interpretation with this statement maybe? Americans are very direct and to the point so we don’t see a problem with their statement. Brits are more indirect and less confrontational so maybe they would take offense. I don’t believe Meghan wrote the statement but it doesn’t sound like it comes from someone who grew up in their culture with deference to the Queen.
But I also believe that it comes from justified frustration with their treatment. I can’t imagine enduring all they’ve gone through and I fear for their safety while they are in the UK. The royal family and the press want their pound of flesh and won’t be satisfied until H & M are humiliated or hurt. I really hope they aren’t boo-ed or heckled because the press will have a field day. I will be keeping them in my prayers and I hope they only make private trips to that god forsaken island in the future.
Brits are less confrontational, but the tabloids? they spew lies that needed be debunked. It is fitting that they did so through their website, and not some second hand source.
I think the tabloids use that cultural difference in tone to stir up animosity. They know how to manipulate their readers. I wish they could have debunked it sooner but we know why that wasn’t allowed.
I used t lurk in the DM years ago but I stopped when I noticed how they were getting paid by the Kardashians. I understand payola, but that coverage discussed me. I also noticed at yahoo. I haven’t hardly ever clicked on that site for years, much less now with the way they’ve treated Harry and his wife, they’ve blown things artificially out of any proportion. Same with TMZ, gossiping is nice, but it is too exploitative. F them.
I wish we knew how much the noise in the media reflects people’s actual views. Like, doe the average UK resident really feel this way? Do they not see the see the abuse or do they see it but their POV is not expressed? Maybe most people just don’t care.
I know I am so anxious for the tides to turn and for the Royal Family and their horrible reporters to become targets.
I think it’s quite telling that none of the other media organisations have reported anything on this since January. People just don’t care. It’s difficult to muster sympathy for people who are far better off than you’ll ever be as your elected government is driving your country into the ground.
Not true. SussexRoyal brand news even in republican papers like the Guardian, was breaking news on Sky, BBC etc. Sadly not only are Sussexes likely used to cover Prince Andrew but also ‘entertaining’ distraction from ongoing mess that is Brexit, a prime minister that doesn’t care now he’s in power& is a shadow leader to UK’s Steve bannon equivalent& a Home Secretary who the intelligence services say they can’t trust
One story does hardly make it news. It was reported once in all the papers and that was it. And if this is meant to distract people for the shit tornado that is Brexit and it’s leaders it’s done a pretty poor job.
Zilin you said not many outlets have reported about Sussexit since January. As I said It’s simply not true, its not just been one story it’s been daily news& even debates on TV shows& radio about the ‘royal’ brand issue today.
Everyone wants to believe so badly that Meghan is the one driving the bus, but it’s HARRY that’s driving the bus, leaving the ranks of the working royals, leaving his country etc. Harry must feel awful the woman he loves gave up everything: career, country, autonomy etc. to be with him, only to get crapped on daily by the press, the public and his family.
If the Royal family would have shut down this racist media years ago none of this would be happening. Harry and Meghan have done nothing wrong but are continually abused.
Shutting down media – whether one likes their reporting or not – would be FAR worse than any annoyance those media may provoke.
They shut down the media about William’s affair(s)
They shut down media about rapist Andrew.
They can shut down media when they want. They chose not to for Harry, Meghan, and Archie. Because the exchange was – shut up about William, shut up about Andrew, and you can do whatever you want to Harry, Meghan, and Archie.
This piling on makes me think the RF and courtiers are doing their best to undermine H&M. It wouldn’t be surprising that they’re working behind the scenes to ensure corporations, businesses, etc. won’t want to work with the Sussexes. Whatever it takes to sabotage the Sussexes success and force them to come back to the family business at the end of 12 months.
It will work with British companies. I don’t think it will work with American companies.
Agree. It’s a joke if the RF think American companies give a damn about the antiquated monarchy.
Guest 2.0 I agree. This is about trying to torpedo the brand before it begins. I don’t think it’ll work, at least I hope not.
Interesting, two posts up thread with the same ‘wanting the benefits not the work’ talking points.
The BM will not be happy until H&M lash out, proving the BM’s point or H &/M are hounded to death. H&M decided the perks of royalty were not worth dealing with constant racist and vicious attacks, so they decided to leave (a simplistic view). They tried to leave gracefully and live independent lives; they continue to be attacked. They tried to eliminate arguments against them by going off the Sovereign Grant, offering to pay for repairs to Frogmore and making other concessions; they are still attacked.
And Piss Morgan is front of the line. Hopefully he’ll froth himself into an apoplexy before he can do too much damage on M&H’s return.
I for one am looking forward to seeing them (though I worry for their safety, the bloody Wail and Dumb are to all intents and purposes inciting violence) and hope that security will be tight; also that troublemakers are removed. M&H deserve the absolute best.
Girl crush continues unabated…
Love the name! I agree – I’m looking forward to seeing them (and hope to get a glimpse of that happy cutie chunk Archie), I am worried about their safety. The media has gone beyond the rather tame “Waity Katie” or “Lambridge” jabs to concerning racist venom. Who knew a beautiful, successful, intelligent, educated, hard-working woman could incite such hatred by simply marrying a man she loves, doing her job well and having a child? I wasn’t familiar with Meghan’s work before, but I am rooting for her now.
I truly believe racism was the tipping point for Harry. Harry saw it, heard it, felt it when he first brought Meghan around. He’s not dumb or blind. He saw how the royals behaved at his wedding. I imagine he had to endure and defend Meghan far more than we’ll ever know. Whatever problems he had with the family and media before was ratcheted up to unbearable. There is no doubt in my mind he with Meghan’s encouragement tried to be as respectful as possible with their stepping back but it’s become untenable now. I also have no doubt the RF is out to destroy his credibility. TQ and all will not quit. The media will not quit. Both have too much at stake, money and their own credibility. I sense this will not end well for the monarchy and even if the class action suit is lost, all the leaks and dirty tricks will be revealed in court.
And I can’t wait until all the dirt is revealed. F%%% the BRF and BM.
The Sussexes are “allowed ” to tell their stories. From now on one will be informed by them , on the what, where,who, and how.
So liberating for them.
This is the first time today I got to post. So the BRF is upset that the Sussexes stand up to them. They are afraid some of mudslinging they are doing will stick to them. That Home Secretary went on record that Meghan’s treatmemtwas not fueled on racism. She just got her black/brown girl wake up call with MI5/MI6 limiting Intel. They don’t respect her. That GMB segment with that reporter saying more went down about the wedding. I still think slick Willie weaponized Bad Dad and he’s paying him a boatload. It explains demands to see the queen and touring Buck House and the current interviews. William is Dr Frankenstien and Thomas is the creature he created. If this gets out and proven the only throne William sits on is the one that flushes.
@aquarius I dont understand what you mean about MI5/6.
the UK british intelligence.
Thx I knew that but don’t understand the wake up call part of it, they won’t protect her? Thx in advance for your patience.
As Home Secretary I believe she should have unfettered access to Intel.
@SCollins the Home Secretary is a British Asian woman& she claimed that she didn’t think the media had been racist to Meghan. It’s since been reported that the intelligence services don’t trust her/think she’s dumb so aren’t briefing her fully. Her friends are suggesting sexism is involved.
Think that’s what Aquarius was referring to
Thanks so much!
the vipers known as the royal family. How can anyone live within a family so awful with jealousies, sneak media attacks on each other, and downright meaness to family members. Some of you might remember the tabloid stories after Diana’s death. They were horrendous. Imagine Will and Harry reading that their own father and grandma had something to do with her death. I felt so sorry for them when this happen because being that young and reading these stories can warp their young minds that shows up later. Harry and Meghan realized or so I read after the birth of Archie, they would have make a decision about their future in the royal family. God’s speed for the Sussex family going forward.
@Olenna My definition of ‘abdication’ still stands. English may not be my first language but you have no authority over the use of its terms and interpretation either. Calling a spade a spade may have a racist origin (which by the way I am just learning about today) but I am black and I used it in a different context which I am sure most of you can deduce. Again, let me reiterate that Harry and Meghan should learn to accept that they are not handling this properly. Supporting all they do here just because will not change that. They should stick to the original plan of simply cooling off until all the i(s) are dotted (I hope this doesn’t have racist connotations as well).
@Ada, your definition of abdication is just that–yours. It is not commonly accepted, and you appear to be using it to over-dramatize the Duke’s decision (and plans) to transition to a private life. Further, you don’t know these people. You have no clue what the Sussexes have to contend with day-to-day, with the royal family, the monarch, and with trying to make a very serious and major life change. And, what cooling off period are you talking about? The Sussexes have been ‘boots-on-the-ground’ ready to work since before their marriage, and offered to continued to do so for the monarch while making the transition to a private life and financial independence (which means working, too, for themselves). You are sitting in your home or job, or wherever, judging a man and woman who are dealing with a institution centuries old and a vicious tabloid press, and believe you have all the answers, that you know what’s best for the Sussexes. Please. We can all speculate about what they should or shouldn’t do, but the constant criticism of this couple from self-appointed life coaches and detractors is just unwarranted and, IMO, disgusting.
@Olenna I doubt if any of us truly knows what the Sussexes are going through. They jsut made a major life decision, so common sense demands they take the time off to more or less acclaimatize to this new change especially with all the chaos in the media, the new baby etc. Why add more fuel to the fire? How is that wise? We all thought that taking some time off will be the next step which will help highlight Williams and Katie’s aversion to work but it appears that they can’t help being in the limelight and the press, being the hungry wolves that they are, are always lurking waiting to fish out something negative to write about. Well, I wish them both well. They should hire a good publicist cos the current team they are working with is just shitty